by Simon Hawke
As she waited and watched, one of the men left the house and started walking briskly down the street. Perhaps, she thought, this would provide an opportunity. She followed him, being careful to keep her distance and not be seen. The night aided her in her efforts. The streets were poorly lit and full of shadows.
The man she followed was being cautious, constantly checking the street behind him, but in her black clothing, she was easily able to blend in with the shadows. After several blocks, he seemed more confident and did not check behind him, but walked purposefully through an alley and into the Rue Ferou. He walked for a short distance down the street, then slowed to a casual stroll. Andre decided that it was time to make her move. Slowly, she closed the distance between them. Then the man stopped.
Andre pressed herself flat against a building wall. She was so close to him that she could hear the low, almost inaudible whistle that he gave, three short notes, the third one rising, like a bird call. He waited a moment, then repeated it.
She heard an answering whistle, reversing the progression. The man ducked into an alley.
Andre kept to the side of the building, running up to the mouth of the alley. She could hear his footsteps going down the alley, then stop. The night was perfectly still. Somewhere, a baby cried.
Slowly, edging around the side of the building's corner so that she would not be silhouetted at the mouth of the alley, Andre crept into the alley.
"Freytag?" said the man that she had followed.
"Right here," said another voice, and she saw a giant shadow detach itself from the side of the building opposite. She stifled a gasp. The man was huge, monstrous.
"Everything's all set," said the first man. "I think it'll be tonight. The musketeers will probably be leaving around dawn or shortly before then. D'Artagnan was out like a light when we left, but Sparrow will make sure he comes around." He chuckled. "Our phony Madame Bonacieux has that Gascon cretin wrapped around her little finger."
"What about the two commandos?" Freytag said.
"They'll be exactly where I want them. By the time it all goes down, they'll be miles away, galloping across the French countryside with Richelieu's men harassing them every step of the way."
"What about your people?"
"Spread out. Most of them are already in position along the route that the musketeers will be taking. They'll be standing by just to make sure that everything goes smoothly and according to the scenario. As soon as D'Artagnan gets the musketeers together, I'll send our two soldier boys out to join the party. Their story will be that the cardinal's guards were none too gentle in their questioning, but since they didn't know anything, they were released. And of course, they immediately rushed back to see if their friend D'Artagnan was all right. It will give them the perfect excuse to join the musketeers on their trip to London."
"You'd better be right," said Freytag. "Personally, I'm not too crazy about having commandos underfoot."
"Don't worry about them. I told you, I'll take care of it. The refs stuck me with those soldiers, but I've got them so hamstrung, they can't tell the players without a scorecard. They won't be any trouble. I'll make sure they never even get near you and Taylor. How's he holding up, by the way?"
"He's fragmenting. Half the time, I'm not even sure he knows who he is. Part of the reason that he's been so good is that he's always been able to immerse himself in his characterizations, but this time, he's added a new wrinkle. He speaks of himself in the third person these days. He keeps vacillating between being himself, being Milady de Winter, and being some weird combination of the two. I tell you, it's a little scary."
"Can you keep him under control long enough to get the job done? I don't want him going off the deep end on me before I'm ready."
"Frankly, I don't know," said Freytag. "He's very volatile and you never know what he's liable to do next. He killed Darcy, you know. That guy gives me the creeps. Darcy's a bloody mess upon the floor and he pours out some wine and asks me to join him in a drink. I'm the only one he's got left now, so you'd think my position would be pretty well secure, but Taylor's crazy. He doesn't really think that he needs anybody. I could be next."
"You losing your nerve, Bruno?"
"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a little scared. It's a close game that we're playing. It's pretty goddamn risky."
"I know it's risky, but I've gone to a lot of trouble to set this operation up and we're going to see it through to the end. I'm going to pull this off and I don't need you getting paranoid on me. You pull yourself together and do what you're told."
"Once Mongoose gets his teeth into something, he just doesn't let go, is that it? You know, it's funny how much you and Taylor have in common. I just hope to hell you know what you're doing."
"Count on it."
"Looks like I'm going to have to. I'd best be getting back."
"Goodnight."
"Yeah. Good luck."
Andre dropped to the ground, lying close against the wall, face down behind a foul-smelling pile of refuse. The man whom she had followed passed so close beside her that she could have reached out and touched him. The other man, the one called Freytag, went out the other way.
She remained there for several minutes, thinking furiously, trying hard to understand what she had overheard. What did it all mean? She had become involved in some complicated plot in which it appeared that no one was who or what they seemed. Constance was not Constance, but somebody named Sparrow. Taylor, the leader of the Timekeepers, had become Milady. The man called Freytag was with Taylor, yet he answered to the man called Mongoose. She had heard the soldiers use the name of Mongoose when they spoke of someone who was "in charge." They had wanted Jack Bennett to speak with Mongoose. Mongoose, then, was in a position of authority over the soldiers, yet now it seemed that he planned somehow to betray them, with the help of the man named Freytag. She could make no sense of it. What was going on? Who was on whose side and where were the battle lines drawn?
Perhaps the two soldiers would understand it, if she could figure out a way to reach them and tell them what she had overheard. She felt the laser in her pocket and took comfort in the sword and dagger at her side. It felt as though she were wading into a battle in which there were no allies, only enemies. She had trusted Bennett and the old man had helped her. Bennett said to help the soldiers. She could think of nothing else to do. She hoped that taking the side of the soldiers was the right thing to do. In any case, her fate was linked with theirs.
She hurried back to the house on the Rue Servadoni.
Finn and Lucas did not get much sleep. They had rested for a little over an hour when Mongoose came into their room and said, "All right, let's go."
He issued them their lasers and their comsets, the latter being tiny units consisting of a miniature receiver that was worn inside the ear and a miniature transmitter that was taped in place over the larynx and covered with a sheer, flesh-colored strip of adhesive that rendered it invisible.
"Okay, listen up," said Mongoose, "we're running short of time and I only want to go over this once. At this moment, D'Artagnan is with Captain de Treville, securing leave for himself and the musketeers to go to London. He has already contacted Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. They will all be meeting at D'Artagnan's house. You'll meet them there. You're going to be extremely angry at having been arrested and detained by the cardinal's men and at having been accused of plotting against France. You didn't know anything, however, and you were able to prove to their satisfaction that you are employed by the wealthy Monsieur Levasseur, who has influential friends at court. This is only in case you should be asked; don't volunteer anything. The gist of it all is that you were concerned about your friend, furious with the cardinal's guards, and anxious to even up the score. D'Artagnan will undoubtedly welcome your offer to go with them to London, knowing they'll need all the help that they can get. You'll have back-up all the way and the two floaters will be giving you recon reports periodically. Remember, I want Taylor alive if
possible. You'll need horses. Yours are waiting in the stalls in the Rue Cassette. You can pick them up on the way. Any questions?"
"Where are you going to be?" said Lucas.
"I'll be in position at the palace, just in case anything goes wrong and Taylor tries a last-minute play of some kind. Remember, he's still got that chronoplate; but if we can take him out, we won't have to worry about it. If we take him alive, we'll find the plate. If not, then we can just forget about it. It'll be protected by its fail-safe code and the first person who tries to mess with it will also be the last. Now the floaters will start monitoring you as soon as they get in the air, which should be around an hour from now. They'll be picking you up sometime after you get past the barrier of St. Denis. I doubt you'll have any trouble until you're well away from Paris, but to play it safe, the floaters will be tracking you with nightscopes until daylight, just in case. Any questions? No? All right, get moving."
They put on their cloaks and took their weapons and went out into the street, walking quickly toward the house in the Rue des Fossoyeurs.
"What do you think?" said Finn.
"I think I'm not going to like this very much," said Lucas. "Mongoose has the whole thing laid out like a major operation, but we're still working blind. We'll be going through a lot of wooded areas en route to the channel and the floater scouts won't be much use to us if they can't penetrate the cover of the trees. We know Taylor has lasers, we know he's got a chronoplate, God knows what other ordnance he might have available. Any way you look at it, we're still cannon fodder. When Taylor makes his move, the floater scouts may spot him, but we might be dead by then."
"That's about what I was thinking," said Delaney.
"You know what else I think?" said Lucas. "I think we're being followed."
Delaney didn't turn around. "Where?"
"About half a block back and closing," Lucas said. "One man, I think."
"Think Mongoose has someone trailing us to provide security?"
"If he does, he didn't mention it. Duck into the next alley."
They walked about another three hundred feet and turned right into a dark and smelly narrow alley between two rows of buildings. Finn stepped on something and almost lost his balance. The rat squealed angrily, tried to bite him through his boot, and then scuttled away into the piles of garbage. Finn spat in disgust. Lucas motioned him to stand against the far wall while he took up a post at the corner, right next to the entrance to the alley. They waited several seconds and then heard running footsteps approaching. Lucas held his breath as the footsteps slowed to a walk, then stopped altogether just around the corner. He reached for his laser. For a moment, nothing happened. Lucas could barely make out Finn, standing across the way, almost invisible in the darkness.
"I am not an enemy," came a soft voice from just around the corner from where Lucas was standing. "I must speak with you. It is a matter of utmost urgency!"
Lucas licked his lips nervously. He seemed to recognize the voice, but it could be a trap.
"Clasp your hands over your head and step into the alley, slowly," he said.
Hands clasped over her head, Andre stepped into the alley.
"Here," said Lucas.
Andre turned toward him and Finn immediately came up behind her with his laser.
"Don't move a muscle," he said.
"De la Croix!" said Lucas.
"May I bring my hands down?" she said.
"You just leave them where they are for the time being," said Finn. "What do you want?"
"You are going to be betrayed," she said.
Lucas glanced at Finn quickly, then looked at Andre and put his finger to his lips, shaking his head. She looked puzzled, but nodded that she understood. Lucas glanced at Finn and pointed to his throat. Moments later, they had both removed the miniature transmitters from their throats. Lucas held his hand out and Finn gave him his transmitter; then Lucas took off his gauntlet, placed both units inside the thumb of the gauntlet, rolled it up, and tucked it into his boot.
"All right," he said, "talk quickly and quietly. What do you mean we're going to be betrayed? How do you know? What's your interest in this?"
"I have no one else to turn to," she said, softly. "Although I did not know Jack Bennett long, he was my friend. He said we had to help you. Without you, I am trapped here in this time. I have no desire to remain here."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to take me with you to your future time," she said. "I want this implant Hunter promised me."
Finn and Lucas exchanged looks.
"We'll see," said Lucas. "If you convince us, we'll both do what we can. But we have to be convinced."
She nodded. "I thought that the men who broke into D'Artagnan's house and killed Jack Bennett were your enemies," she said. "The ones you call the Timekeepers. They gave chase when I fled, but I killed one of them and escaped the other. Then I returned to the house, only to see you being led away. I thought you had been taken prisoner. I followed you to the house on the Rue Servadoni, thinking that I had to help you, but I could not think how at once. While I watched and waited for an opportunity, I saw a man leave that house. I learned it was the one called 'Mongoose.' I followed him."
"Why?" said Finn.
"I thought perhaps that I could take him prisoner and then ransom you with him."
"Goon."
"I trailed him to the Rue Ferou and was about to take him when he stopped and gave a little whistle, like a bird. He waited, then whistled again, and this time someone answered and he stepped into an alley. I followed, keeping to the shadows. He met a man, a very large man, a giant. He called him Freytag."
"Freytag!" said Delaney.
"You know the man?"
"Go on, go on!"
"I did not completely understand what was said between them…"
"Can you repeat it? As much as you can remember?" Lucas said.
"I will try. The one called Mongoose said that it would be tonight, that the musketeers will be leaving at dawn or shortly before. He did not say where, but he said something about Constance Bonacieux. He called her 'Sparrow' and said that she had D'Artagnan wrapped around her little finger."
Finn gave a low whistle.
"Continue, quickly," Lucas said.
"The one called Freytag asked about you, and Mongoose said that you would be right where he wanted you, riding across the countryside, harassed by Richelieu's men. Then he said that his people would be spread out, in position along the route that the musketeers would take. He said that he would send you out to join them."
"He did," said Lucas. "You're doing fine, keep going."
"Freytag seemed concerned about you, but Mongoose reassured him, telling him that he would make certain that the two of you would be nowhere near him and Taylor. Then they spoke about Taylor. This was a part that I did not fully understand. Freytag said that there was something wrong with Taylor, that he was not sure who he was, I think. Mongoose asked Freytag if he could control Taylor long enough to get the job done and Freytag said that he did not know, that Taylor was crazy. He said that he killed Darcy. He said that he was the only one Taylor had left now, but that Taylor did not believe he needed anyone and that he-Freytag-could be next. Then Mongoose asked Freytag if he was losing his nerve. Freytag said that he was not ashamed to admit that he was frightened, that there was a great deal of risk involved. Mongoose replied that he had gone to a great deal of trouble to arrange things and he told Freytag to do as he was told. Freytag was reluctant, but he seemed to have no choice but to obey. There was no mention made of what it is they plan to do. No details were discussed. Freytag said that he had to return. He wished the man called Mongoose luck and they went their separate ways. I remained in hiding until they had gone. I do not know where Freytag went, but the man called Mongoose returned to the house in the Rue Servadoni and a short while later, you came out and I followed you."
"You can put your hands down, Andre," Lucas said. "You've convinced us. You co
uldn't have made that up."
"I do not understand this peculiar plot," she said, "but I can offer you my services, if I can be of any help."
"Maybe you can," said Lucas. "It looks like we're going to need all the help that we can get."
"Mongoose and Freytag," said Delaney. "Can you believe it? Obviously, we can't join the musketeers. The whole idea was to decoy us away. But why?"
"At this point," said Lucas, "your guess is as good as mine. I don't know what the hell is going on, but one thing is for sure. We've really been had."
"Damn," said Finn. "This whole thing is crazy. It's been wrong right from the start. We've been used and lied to from the very beginning. Mongoose has had our hands tied ever since we got here."
"The thing is, what can we do about it?" Lucas said. "We're totally dependent upon Mongoose. We can't push the panic button because it would only alert Mongoose. This isn't a military operation, it's a TIA show and we're essentially auxiliary personnel. Andre, I don't doubt your word for one moment, but the sad thing is that we don't have any proof. It'll be the word of a member of the underground against a high-ranking TIA agent. And without Mongoose, there's no way we can get home."
"Worse than that," said Finn, "with Mongoose in charge of the operation, there's no way the TIA can stop the terrorists. It's ironic, isn't it? The agency got wind of this plot because they managed to infiltrate the Timekeepers, so they put one of their best men in charge of the operation and he turns out to be on the other side, playing the double game. I've got to hand it to the Timekeepers-subverting a TIA agent. I wonder how long Mongoose has been one of them?"
"Does it matter?" Lucas said. "The point is that they got to him. Or maybe he got to them. I think I can even understand why he must have done it. Mongoose is a thrill junkie, he's in it for the risk, to play the game. What game can be more risky than burning the candle at both ends? If the Timekeepers succeed in creating a timestream split, it will probably mean chaos, and people like Mongoose thrive on chaos. Just think of the opportunities."
"It's crazy," Finn said.