Doc Savage: Death's Dark Domain by Will Murray Lester Dent Kenneth Robeson

stars, which were out in full force. It was then that he
     began having the unsettling feeling that he was being watched.
    It struck him as preposterous. His disguise was clever, and there was no reason for
     anyone to think that Long Tom Roberts was on this vessel. He had told no one, leaving
     only a message for Doc Savage on a headquarters window, which could be brought out
     by application of ultra-violet light. And his disguise was good enough to pass muster.
     Long Tom had resorted to it not because he was concerned about being shadowed, but
     because his fame was such that ordinary passengers, had they recognized him, would
     no doubt pester him with questions about his work with the world-renowned Doc Savage.
    Still, the feeling persisted. It added to the chill of the evening.
    Pretending not to notice, Long Tom sauntered about the after deck, keeping his eyes
     peeled.
    It was during this circuit that he laid eyes on the striking woman with the very pale
     skin.
    She was as tall as any man, but carried herself with a kind of spectral elegance.
     Long Tom was no connoisseur of femininity, but this specimen caused him to stop dead
     in his tracks. She wore a slinky evening gown that shimmered, and a chic turban the
     hue of polished emerald. Not a tendril of hair coiled out from its tight confines.
     Nor were the color of her eyes discernible at a distance. The length and thickness
     of her eyelashes accounted for that.
    In spite of himself, Long Tom drew near her. There was something eerie about her,
     lounging at the rail, that seemed to invite attention.
    Other men were eyeing her, as if considering whether to make an approach. Long Tom
     gave that no consideration. He merely observed the woman.
    Then she sidled up to him and started a conversation.
    “Good evening,” she said coolly.
    “Nice night,” Long Tom returned vaguely.
    “It is very cold out here. In the Atlantic.” Her voice had a touch of accent Long
     Tom could not place. “Cold as the grave.” She shivered in her sleek gown.
    Long Tom couldn’t think of a suitable reply, so he volunteered, “Name’s Walter Brunk.”
    “I am Countess Olga. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Valter Brunk. Vat is your
     destination?”
    “Southampton,” Long Tom said cagily. It was no lie. The liner docked at Southampton
     before going on to the Continent.
    Countess Olga nodded. “It is good that you are disembarking at Southampton. Europe
     is not a pleasant place these days. There are troubles brewing. You can read it in
     the clouds. They remind one of var clouds. It is better to disembark at Southampton,
     than it is to travel on to unpleasant places such as…Ultra-Stygia.”
    Under the constant rushing of water against the hull, Long Tom swallowed his surprise.
    Ultra-Stygia was the strip of disputed land between the kingdom of Tazan and neighboring
     Egallah. Both nations claimed it as their sovereign territory.
    “Ultra-Stygia,” said Long Tom in his Walter Brunk voice, “is probably the last place
     I would want to visit.”
    “That is very vise,” replied Countess Olga. “For many who go to Ultra-Stygia are buried
     there. You have been varned.”
    “Warned! See here—”
    But Countess Olga began to drift away like a languid specter of womanhood.
    Long Tom let her go. But he watched closely as she departed. Then, deciding that there
     was more here than met the eye, he attempted to follow the unusual woman.
    His puny size made Long Tom an excellent shadower of men. He could duck out of sight
     or behind the trumpet-mouthed ventilators easier than a larger man might. His light
     weight made it a simple matter to muffle the sound of his footsteps.
    Still, Countess Olga managed to elude him.
    It was very strange, the manner in which Countess Olga evaded Long Tom Roberts. He
     had been stalking her along B Deck, staying well behind and otherwise acting nonchalant.
    He lost sight of the statuesque woman only once. That was when she turned a