by Gini Koch
“Sheila, look at the milk bag box. I need the address for that division of Gaultier International.” I looked around. “I have to save Paul. The rest of you have to get to Jeff and the others.”
“Kitty, you can’t be serious.” Mom sounded as though I’d just suggested I was going to shack up with a drug addicted car thief instead of go to college.
“Mom, I promised ACE when we first found him that I’d never desert him. If I don’t get to them, then Paul dies, and ACE will die, too. We need ACE.”
“I have the address, Kitty. It’s in France, I think it’s outside Paris.”
“Makes sense.” Since I was pretty sure Paul and ACE were on a train or the Metro.
“I’m going with you,” Naomi said.
“Me, too.” Abigail stood up.
“No. You two have to find the others. They’re most likely at the Gaultier location, but I have no idea if they’ve been moved or not. You two have the strongest talents, since Jeff and Christopher aren’t here.”
“You can’t go alone, Kitty.” Mom sounded like she was going to stop me physically.
“She won’t. I’ll accompany her.” White sounded very calm. “I would like to request that the three pregnant women stay here as well.”
“I agree. Look, before the arguments start, if they catch you, your babies are going to be experimental fodder. Let’s avoid that, okay? Mom, you’re staying put. If something happens to me and Jeff, I want Jamie with you and Dad, okay? Living will, witnessed by everyone here.”
Mom looked as though she was trying not to cry. “We thought we’d lost you earlier this week.”
“And during Operations Fugly, Drug Addict, and Invasion. Face it, Mom, I’m the best there is at thinking like the loons, and that means I’m in danger. So what? Everyone’s in danger right now. ACE and Paul don’t have a lot of time. I don’t know what time the others have, but we don’t know what that PPB net will do if Paul dies with ACE inside him.”
White coughed. “Actually, we do.” Everyone stared at him. “The net will collapse and destroy the Earth.” There was dead silence for a few moments.
“Okeydokey! Richard and I are going to go off and save the world, while the rest of you, you know, save everyone else we happen to love. Chop, chop, time’s a wastin’. Oh, and Sheila, welcome to my world.”
She shook her head. “In a weird way, it’s kind of nice to know Chuck was right all along as opposed to totally deranged.”
“Yeah, let’s hope he’s still alive.” I went to my mother and took Jamie. I held her as tightly as I could, which wasn’t as tightly as I wanted to. “You be good for your Nana Angela, okay, Jamie-Kat? Mommy has to go find and save Uncle Paul and your fairy godfather ACE and then, hopefully, everyone else can find Daddy and save him and everybody else we love who’s in danger.”
I kissed her and looked at her face. I wondered if I’d ever see it again. She blinked her big, blue eyes, and something flashed in them. I saw a train car with a human-sized box in it. I also saw the words on the side. She blinked again, and I saw a Gothic structure I, and any other person who’d ever taken a day of French, knew well.
I kissed her again. “You are such a good baby. Mommy loves you so much.” I handed her back to Mom. “Serene, please look into Jamie’s eyes if one of us calls and needs help.”
“Okay, Kitty. Why?”
“Because Jamie knows where everyone is.”
CHAPTER 50
WE HYPERSPED TO THE launch area. I was able to keep up with everyone without holding onto an A-C. I felt a tiny bit of nausea, but nothing like I was used to. I had a little trouble stopping, but White grabbed me before I barreled into or through a gate.
“Okay, Gladys, where did Jeff have you send them?”
“We marked on Captain Crawford.”
“How?”
“All personnel have transmitters installed. His went live again just before Commander Martini requested location.”
“I have a transmitter?” Jeff hadn’t told me about this.
White sighed. “Yes, Missus Martini. Jeffrey had it put into you after, as you call it, Operation Drug Addict.”
“When? How?”
“Kitty, is now the time?” Hughes’ voice was strained. “We all have them, they aren’t dangerous.”
“Who knew to unscramble just before Jeff wanted a location?”
“Missus Martini,” White said patiently, “I believe we agree we’ve been infiltrated? I thought the goal was to save our people in peril before we hunted said infiltrators down.”
“Fine, fine. So, they got Amy and Michael and realized they wouldn’t be working alone—frankly, realized that neither was an active agent and so they were the decoys for Alpha Team. So they let Tim’s sensor go live, however they scramble and unscramble, so that Alpha could find them easily, either because they were advised or just because their timing worked out.”
“Makes sense,” Jerry said. “I’m betting on advised, by the way. So, where are we going? Same mark?”
“No. That’s another trap point. That’s how they hit Paul—they knew they’d be coming and had some kind of weapon or gas or whatever that got him. For all we know, they got all of them. ACE has to focus on keeping Paul alive in an airless chamber.”
“Oh, that’s what you meant by Houdini.” Walker sounded relieved. “Makes more sense now.”
“Whatever.” I looked to the A-Cs manning the gate calibrations. “We need a gate to send everyone but me and Mister White to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Make sure they land either outside or on the top where the gargoyles are.” Hands started spinning at hyperspeed—I could watch them, and it didn’t make me sick.
“Why?” Naomi asked. “Why not land where the others are?”
“Because I just know they’re in Notre Dame, not where. Outside means they can’t catch you instantly, and they’re inside somewhere. Christopher was seeing Tim and the others inside a big room.”
“Is there a dungeon in Notre Dame?” Joe asked. “I’ve never been there.”
“I thought it was join the Navy, see the world?”
“We joined the Navy and have gotten to see other worlds,” Randy said. “We’re okay with that, of course.”
“Good to know.”
“I don’t think there are dungeons, Kitty,” Brian said. “And, remember, we’re arriving in the day there, early morning, I think.”
“Why are they in a tourist spot?” Jerry asked. “That seems stupid.”
“I have no idea. As I say all the time, I don’t make up these plans, I just have to foil them. Stay in touch; stay together if at all possible. Girls, remember that none of the guys can move at hyperspeed, so you have three guys each to keep somewhat safe.” They nodded. Naomi took Joe, Randy, and Brian, and Abigail took Jerry, Hughes, and Walker.
“Gate to Notre Dame exterior is ready, Commander Martini,” the A-C in charge of the bigger gate said.
“Be careful, you guys.”
“Have guns, med kits, and two cute A-C girls, will travel,” Jerry said with a grin. Then the eight of them stepped through.
“Okay, need a gate for me and Mister White, going through together. We need to land on a moving object.”
“Difficult, Commander,” the gate A-C handling our transfer said. He was young, but then again, a lot of the active agents were. He also looked vaguely familiar.
“Wow, really? Don’t care. Make it work, make it so, do it now. We need to land on the Transilien Paris-Lyon. It makes stops, but I’m not betting our luck will be any good, so figure it’s between stations right now. Move it or we all die within, I’d guess, fifteen minutes.”
“Transmitting train stats to you now,” Gladys’ voice came over the com. The A-C looked at something on the floating info board near his head and started calibrating.
I hooked my purse over my neck. “I think, under the circumstances, we want to be very sure we stay together, Mister White.”
“Just out of curiosity, why do you call me Mister White whenev
er you’re in an active situation?”
I shrugged. “Makes me feel more official, I guess.”
“Whatever works. They’re after you, you know.”
“Yeah, I figure you’re right. Why do you think, though?”
He sighed. “You’re the real test case. They knew it wasn’t killing Serene, so they knew the slow method worked. They couldn’t kill Jeffrey with a massive dosage, and we found the antidote, or at least the counter. So they already knew how it would affect A-Cs. My guess is that they still believed Christopher was in love with you. Get him insane enough, have him kidnap you and bring you to them. Something along those lines.”
“Maybe. Do you think they knew Jamie would be affected and that it would affect me?”
“No idea. If I were a risk taker who was also scientific enough to create this drug in the first place, I’d bet on the side of yes.”
“You know, you really should do more fieldwork, Mister White.”
“I have a suspicion I’m about to do quite a lot right now, Missus Martini.”
“Gate is ready, Commander. Do you want a team to accompany you and the Pontifex?” The way the A-C asked, I knew he wanted me to say yes.
“No. We don’t need cannon fodder. They’re killing the guys who aren’t big shots. Let’s keep our grunts safe, and let the folks in charge do the fighting, okay?”
The A-C gave me a long look. I looked back. He looked upset, in a quiet way, but still, upset, worried. He was working a gate, which meant he didn’t have any A-C talents. I usually didn’t see a lot of emotion out of the gate A-Cs; they were part of the Security team, trained to stay cool under pressure. But there was one gate agent who was really aware of when the Commanders went through and was awed by our presence and standard politeness. I knew because his brothers had told me.
“You have immediate family involved in this, don’t you?” I asked. He nodded. I took a shot. “William and Wayne?”
He swallowed hard. “Yes. Good luck, Commander. Please come home safely.” He didn’t add that he wanted me to bring his brothers home safely, too. He didn’t have to.
“We’ll do our best.”
“They have to go, now,” Gladys said urgently.
White and I didn’t hesitate. He took my hand, and we ran through the gate.
CHAPTER 51
SADLY, GOING THROUGH A GATE still made me sick to my stomach. Figured.
Then again, it might have made me sick because we landed on the top of a speeding train. “Down!” White pulled me and we fell onto the roof, just before we went whooshing under a bridge.
“Love their freaking timing!” I had to shout, the train was going so fast.
“Can we get inside?”
I looked around. No bridge, lovely countryside. Stood up, helped White up, and then realized we were in the middle of the train. Had no idea where Gower was from here. “Hang on.” I got back on my stomach and crawled to the side of the car.
Thankfully White grabbed my ankles as the train curved, and I started to slide off. Got an interesting view of the side of the car. Wasn’t the car Jamie had shown me. Indicated White should pull me back.
“Well, that was fun, and I have no idea where to go.” Remembered I’d been a hurdler. Still no sign of a bridge. Got up, ran to the end of the car, hurdled the scary open space, landed, managed not to twist an ankle. White showed up next to me, we did the look over the side thing again.
“I think we’re going the wrong way.” Turned, ran, hurdled, kept on running, hurdled again, got to the next car. White arrived, over the side. Stood up, flung ourselves down. Reminded myself to look for freaking bridges before standing again.
“I think they’re toward the front.”
“Presumably the cargo is stored there. Lead on, Missus Martini.”
“You okay on the roof? I think we’ll go faster.”
“I live for danger and excitement.”
“Mister White, you’re learning how to lie.”
“No, Missus Martini, I just enjoy sarcasm as much as the rest of you. Will our passage alert the other passengers?”
“Don’t care. Besides, I haven’t seen many when I’ve looked in. For all we know this train was commissioned specifically. Or else everyone’s up front or something.”
He nodded. “We’ll cross that metaphorical bridge when we come to it. Presuming a real one doesn’t take our heads off first.”
Looked ahead, no bridge. At least we were running toward the front, so we could see if a bridge was coming.
This was a long train, naturally, because our luck wouldn’t let us be on a two-car vehicle unless it was hurtling down the side of a mountain. Did the run, hurdle, run thing over and over again. Stopped to check a couple of times and felt pretty sure we were heading for the car closest to the engine. Saw a few people scattered in the cars. They seemed unperturbed by the sound of pounding feet on the roof or my face staring at them upside down. Either things like this happened all the time, they were in the employ of Gaultier Enterprises but not paid enough to take an interest, or Parisians were really as blasé and “been there, done that” as they were reputed to be.
Only had to fling ourselves down for bridges a couple more times, got to grab each other once each to keep from falling off when the train curved, and I only missed one jump. White was, fortunately, right behind me, so he hit me in the air and we both hit the top of the next car. Rolled to the side, but I managed to grab the air filtration unit on the top, and he grabbed my purse before he went over the side. I was definitely stronger than normal, because I pulled him back to me without any issue.
“Are we there yet, Missus Martini?”
“I think so.” There were only two cars left, the one we were on and one in front of it. Stayed on our stomachs and scooted to the back of this car. Thankfully, there were railings to hold onto between the car connections. Unhappily, there were no ladders. It so totally figured I didn’t even bother to complain about it.
Grabbed a railing, did a sort of flip and landed on the platform. The door was locked. I looked through the little window—yep, luggage. Did a Jeff and wrenched the door open. Was so impressed with myself.
“Missus Martini, could you go inside so I could get off the roof?”
“Oh, sure, sorry.” Trotted in. White joined me. “Look for a Paul-sized box.”
“You take the front, I’ll take the back.”
“Works for me.” I ran to the front. “There’s no door leading to the next car.”
“I anticipate another roof frolic with great joy, Missus Martini.”
“Yeah, I’m not seeing anything big enough either.” White was picking things up and putting them back. I was ransacking. Whatever worked. There was nothing in here that was big enough.
We met in the middle. “Next car, Missus Martini?”
Had a thought and slammed my foot on the floor. It made a funny sound. “Hidden compartments.”
We bent down and ripped the carpet up. Superstrength was awesome. Found the hatch, White ripped it up. I got in. “Wow, absolutely nothing in here.”
“Good practice for your new career in destruction, I’m sure.”
“Ha ha, funny. Let’s get to the other car.”
Raced out, stood there trying to figure out how to get onto the roof. White picked me up and lifted me over his head. Okay, that way worked. Had to duck because of another stupid bridge.
“Can you scream a bit less loudly?”
“No, not that I’ve ever noticed.”
“Yes, true. You know, babies can be awakened by loud noises.”
Crawled onto the roof, stayed on my stomach, put the hand down, pulled White up. “You know, we live in the Lair. Unless you’re all listening in on the intercom, I can’t believe our sex life is disturbing anyone anymore.”
“Just mentioning it, parent to parent. Shall we?” Checked for bridges, cursed, ducked, got up, ran, hurdled, didn’t miss or fall this time. Turned around to see White lower himself from the other
end of the last car. Show off. He’d already ripped the door open and was inside by the time I got down.
I was really surprised, but there were no goons in here waiting to attack us. Just a lot of big boxes. “Great.”
White slammed his foot on the floor. It sounded like the other car had. “Let’s err on the side of overly suspicious.”
We ripped the floor up. There was one big box in this secret compartment. “You a betting man, Mister White?”
“No. I assume it’s rigged?”
“I’d think so.” I had no experience with how to defuse a bomb or a booby trap. “You see anything?”
“Not that I can spot.”
I pulled out my phone. “Mom, need help with what could be a bomb.”
“Nice to hear you’re still alive for the moment. What’s the target?” Brought her up to speed with what it looked like. “Have Richard check the other boxes, just in case. This could be the decoy.”
“Good point.” Told White, and he started opening things at hyperspeed. Come to think of it, we’d been doing everything at what I’d call slow hyperspeed. I hadn’t noticed. At all. “So, what do I do?”
“Look around the box. You’re looking for anything unusual or that seems wrong.”
Climbed down into the hatch. It was pretty cramped with the big box in it. “It’s metal, that’s all I’ve got.” Mom cursed. “Hey, not in front of Jamie!”
“Serene has her.”
“Tell her to ask Jamie if there’s something that’s set to hurt her Uncle Paul and fairy godfather ACE. Use those words.”
Mom sighed, but relayed my request to Serene. I heard voices. “Huh. Well, if we’re to trust that your child is now the all-seeing one, there’s a gas that will release when you unlock the box. It’s deadly, of course.”
“Of course. Okay, thanks, Mom, I’ll call back. If, you know, I’m still alive.” Hung up. “Mister White! Need the muscles. We need to get this box up out of the hatch.”
It was heavy, but A-Cs were strong and now so was I. I could tell I wasn’t as strong as White yet, because I had a harder time with my end of the box. But there was no way I’d have been able to do anything if I hadn’t been enhanced.