It's hard to tell which physical forces are in play at this altitude.

OK, sunshine, listen up and listen good. There's five vandalised telephone boxes out there and I know you're responsible.

Bessac's account of his trek in Life magazine stressed the high adventure of the journey, with no ,mention of the political dimensions of the mission or of Mackiernan being a CIA agent. Bessac wrote that he was in western Asia to study Mongolian anthropology, claiming that he headed to Inner Mongolia from Chengtu after recovering from eye surgery because this was the region he considered least likely to be bothered by the Communists (Bessac 1950:131).

The tiniest of looks and an unsmiled smile passed between Gabriel and his mother.