by Jamie Davis
The guards stood there dumbfounded, watching along with Kurt to see if she bobbed back to the surface. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her head pop up. She waved at them all, offered a double middle finger salute to the guards, then turned and started swimming downstream. She was swept away from the truck and their captors by the swift water and disappeared around a bend in the river.
“Don’t worry about her,” The leader snarled. “We’ve got him and the golden relic for the General. She’s just a woman and is unarmed. There’s no way she’s going to cause us any trouble.”
Kurt stared at the rough wooden planks of the flatbed truck and tried to hide a smile. He was more than a little worried about her, but the lead guard’s words amused him. These guys were in for rude awakening if they thought Marci was helpless or harmless just because she was unarmed.
As for not causing any trouble, Marci never caused trouble. Nope, Kurt thought to himself. She brought trouble along with her for the ride.
“Let’s get moving,” the leader growled. “The General is waiting.”
“What about the girl? Shouldn’t we tell someone to start looking for her?” One of the guards in the back with Kurt asked.
“No, you idiot. We don’t say a word about the girl. As far as anyone knows, this guy came through alone with the relic.”
“What if he tells someone?” The other one riding on the back of the flatbed asked, pointing at Kurt.
“I’m not telling a soul,” Kurt said raising his hands before him, palm outward in surrender. He shrugged. “I’ll play along. I’ll say I was alone if that is what you want me to say.”
“See, he gets it. Now shut up and try not to lose him, too.”
The leader turned around and pointed down the dirt road. The driver took the hint and shoved the double levers forward, lurching the truck into motion again.
They traveled for well over an hour until they entered a small valley. Nestled in the center of the valley, amidst fields and small farms, stood a grey-walled fortress that looked to be made of simple, rectangular concrete blocks or something like it. It was devoid of anything Kurt would’ve called adornment or architectural flair. It was a strictly utilitarian structure.
There were guard towers every twenty meters or so along the sides of the compound’s walls and at each of the four corners. Each tower was occupied by a guard armed with another of the odd muskets his guards carried. He’d have to keep the towers in mind if he was to effect any sort of quick escape. Kurt studied the flat open terrain and tried to judge the potential range of the guns these guys carried. He wanted to plan his exit from the fortress in case he needed to leave in a hurry.
Of course, none of that meant anything until he found Clara. Once he got her back or at least discovered her whereabouts, Kurt could plan a way to break her out and get back to the portal.
They approached the big double gate in the wall closest to them and two guards standing beside the double doors pulled them open and allowed them to pass with a wave. These guys all had more of the same long guns as his captors and the guards on the walls.
The gateway led to a courtyard with several similar trucks parked along the inside of the adjacent wall. The driver of the flatbed pulled the truck up next to the others and parked. One of the guards in the rear flipped a switch, shutting off the noisy engine.
Kurt realized he wasn’t going to steal one of those things and drive away unnoticed. They’d catch him based on the engine noise alone long before he ever made it out of the gates.
The two guards riding on the flatbed with Kurt jumped down. When he didn’t immediately start to climb down, they grabbed his legs and pulled him to the edge of the flatbed. His backside scraped along the rough wooden bed of the back of the truck, causing him to pick up several splinters along the way. Kurt cursed at the guards as he hopped down from the end of the wagon’s bed.
“Watch your mouth in there,” the lead guard said. “You are about to go in front of the General and he doesn’t like people giving him any lip. Make sure you remember that. You can call him your lordship or General. That’s all you need to know.”
“Well, that’s better than hey stupid,” Kurt said under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. I was just grumbling about how your goons pulled me off the back of the truck.”
“Feel free to complain if you think whining will get you anywhere. I’ll give you a hint. It won’t. Remember, don’t say a word about your missing girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“I don’t care if she’s your sainted grandmother. Not a word about how she got away.”
“Mum’s the word.”
The leader and one of the others got on either side of Kurt, grabbed him by the shoulders and hustled him along between them. The final two soldiers grabbed the counter-grav handles and used them to navigate the heavy object into the fortress behind Kurt and his escort.
The heavy wooden double doors leading into the central fortress were studded with metal plates and reinforced on the inside with large timbers running from the floor to the ceiling inside the doors. Kurt kept his eyes open, looking for any possible opportunity that might help spell out a route of escape. He didn’t see much so far.
The entrance opened into an entry hall with long tables on either side stretching from one end to the other in long rows. There were benches arrayed on either side of both rows of tables.
Kurt assumed this was where the soldiers who fought under the General took their daily meals. It was probably also where they gathered for entertainment and feasts.
Aside from a few servants tidying up from what must’ve been the lunch meal, there was no one in the Great Hall. His captors led him to another door at the back of the main room. A short hallway led from it to a closed wooden door. Here they all stopped while the leader of his guards rapped on the door with his knuckles.
“Yeah, what is it?” came the voice from the other side.
“It’s me, boss. I am back from the gate. The guy with the relic finally came through.”
Rapid steps approached the door from the other side and the door swung open. Kurt was greeted by a large man wearing a leather vest over a modest white button down shirt. He also wore blue jeans of all things. Levi’s, Kurt thought. This guy apparently had contact with people from Earth prime.
“Why do you have him clutched between you like that? Did he give you trouble?”
“Oh, no boss. But we didn’t want him to give us any trouble so we took precautions. He, uh, was armed with this.” The lead guard handed Marci’s pistol over to them.
The General took the semi-automatic pistol and pointed to Kurt.
“Let go of the guy. He’s here doing me a favor. Aren’t you, Kurt? It is Kurt, right?”
Kurt nodded and smiled. “Yes, I’m Kurt Carter.”
The General turned and moved behind a large wooden desk with a plush, padded leather chair behind it. He sat down and gestured for Kurt to come in and sit in one of the two wooden chairs across from him.
Kurt pulled his arms free of the guards and crossed over the stand in front of the desk. He sat down after a brief look around the room. He was struck again by the lack of any adornments or architectural flourishes.
“Is that the relic?” The General asked, pointing past his lead guard at the object carried by the others in the hallway.
“It is,” Kurt said.
The General waved his hand at his men.
“You all can go. Pull the door shut behind you as you leave. Make sure the relic gets put in the vault before you get anything to eat.”
“You got it, boss.”
The guys who captured Kurt left and pulled the door shut behind them. It left him alone in the room with the man Kurt assumed had planned the whole plot to kidnap Clara and take her prisoner.
“I delivered the package as you requested. I would like to see Clara now. I assume you have her here somewhere in the fortress?�
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“She’s safe, I assure you. No harm came to her while in my care. Before you go and see her, though, I’d like to make an offer to you.”
Even though it was put in terms of a request, Kurt knew it for what it was. It was an order plain and simple. This guy was the type to expect his generosity to be accepted.
“My man, Cat, led me to believe it would be difficult to recover the relic from the storage facility on your world ourselves. He was the one who recommended the plan to kidnap your woman, letting you figure out how to get the relic free from the storage area. Do you mind if I ask how you retrieved it and brought it to us so quickly?”
“I hope you’ll understand if I don’t tell you exactly how I managed it. Consider it a professional secret. I cannot give away all of my methods. Suffice it to say, I had the contacts needed to get the sarcophagus out of the impound warehouse.”
“I suppose I can allow you that one indulgence. I don’t usually take no for an answer, though.”
“I mean no offense. It is necessary for me to maintain secrecy around my methods. In my special type of business, if people were to discover how I did everything, everyone would be doing it.”
The General shrugged. “I guess I can accept that answer, and it brings me to the reason I wanted to talk with you in person when you arrived. You see there are some things in your world that I could use here to help me consolidate my power and bring peace to this area. We are in the midst of a divisive civil war. Your assistance will protect what I have acquired so far from the rebel forces arrayed against me.”
“I assume you mean weapons of some sort?”
“You’re very astute, Kurt Carter. Yes, I mean weapons. You may have noticed the technology in this world is somewhat lacking compared to yours. In fact, most of the more modern technology including the truck used to transport you here are all cobbled together from what we could glean of how things worked in your world. We’ve learned fast based on our limited contact with the people on the far side. A few have been willing to trade with us, but only small things and nothing approaching what you would consider modern weapons.”
“Why don’t you just establish an official trade route through the gate to my world? Many other worlds have created profitable and legal trade routes back-and-forth between their home world and my earth. Our government even allows limited transfer of weapons.”
“Unfortunately, it is those limitations and restrictions on what kind of technology can be exchanged that I don’t want to deal with. Isn’t it based on the technology level on our world in comparison to yours?”
“In part, yes, that is true. However, there are ways around those restrictions. Especially, if you have the resources to grease the right palms.”
“Why should I go to all that trouble when I have you?”
“I think we have a bit of a misunderstanding here, sir. I have provided you a valuable service in exchange for the payment I arranged with your man, Cat. That is how I do business. If you wish to arrange further transactions, you will have to go through my broker on earth. I can put you in touch with him if you’d like.”
“I see you are a man of principle. I’m afraid I don’t have much use for men with principles in my line of work. Men with principles cause me problems.”
“I don’t mean to cause you problems, sir. You must understand I have to think of Clara first. After that, we can make other arrangements as needed. It is just a business arrangement and nothing personal.”
“It has been my experience, Kurt Carter, that when someone says ‘it’s just business, nothing personal,’ it often is very personal.”
“I can understand how that might appear to be the case with some people. I assure you I handle my business and clients in such a way that I rarely have problems with personal and business intentions crossing over to interfere with each other.”
Kurt stood. It was time for him to go see Clara. He needed proof she was alright.
“I wonder, my Lord General, if I might see Clara now. I’d like to verify she is well and I’d like to begin making arrangements to return her home.”
“I suppose there’s no harm in letting you see her at least. Understand, I have not yet decided whether I will let either of you return at this time.”
“You have made your wishes clear, General. I will endeavor to do my best to honor them and our current arrangement.”
The General waved his hands in the air in a shooing motion and Kurt understood it was time for him to go. He turned and opened the door. He found a guard standing outside waiting for him.
The General called to the guard with instructions.
“Take this gentleman to see the woman upstairs.”
“Yes sir, General.” He turned to Kurt. “If you will follow me, sir. I will take you to see the other prisoner.”
Kurt turned back and bowed to the General and then followed the guard down the hallway.
Chapter 15
The guard took Kurt on a winding path down several different hallways until they arrived at a spiral staircase leading upward. The steep stone steps were likely the servant stairs rather than the main staircase he saw in the large entry hall. That would make sense as something one of the guards would use.
They climbed the stairs to the second floor and down another hallway with rooms on either side. A few minutes later, the guard arrived at one of the doors and stopped. The guard took a black iron key from his pocket, inserted it into the lock, and turned it. He opened the door and stepped back, gesturing for Kurt to enter.
Kurt strode through the doorway and found Clara standing at the far side of the room by the window. She was wearing what must be local attire. It resembled the clothing he remembered seeing Ilsa and the other women at the trailer camp wearing.
Clara’s outfit included a long, brown skirt, a flowing blue blouse, and some sort of diaphanous scarf made of silk or something very much like it. The guard pulled the door shut behind him and Kurt heard the lock click. He was now locked in the room with Clara.
He smiled at Clara and became puzzled by the glowering stare she gave him. Something was wrong.
“Kurt, what on God’s green earth are you doing here?”
“I am here to rescue you.”
“What makes you think I need rescuing?”
“You disappeared from the apartment. When I returned, I had a visitor waiting for me. He told me you were abducted from my apartment. He also told me where you’d been taken and that the only way I could get you back was to deliver the sarcophagus to them here in this world.”
Clara threw her hands in the air and let out an exasperated sigh. “You fell right into their plan without even questioning whether or not it was the right thing to do. As usual, Kurt, you’ve screwed things up, yet again.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. You were kidnapped by aliens from my apartment. What was I supposed to think? Some guy projects a hologram so he looks like he is sitting in my apartment issuing demands and instructions to ensure your safety. How am I supposed to understand that I’m not supposed to follow those instructions?”
“Look, Kurt, it’s too late now. You’re here. That means you’ve brought the sarcophagus with you.”
“Of course I brought it.”
“I was afraid of that.” Clara stomped her foot and turned to look out the barred window. After a few seconds, she spun back around to face Kurt.
“We’re both in more trouble now than you know.”
“Clara, you’re not making any sense. How can me showing up with the object that can win your freedom cause us both a boatload of trouble.”
“Because your showing up here forces my hand. That means we have to find a way to get out of here and quickly.”
“I thought that’s why I brought the sarcophagus, to get us out of here.”
“You don’t understand, Kurt. I never wanted them to get their hands on it. That is why I dropped a dime on myself and had it picked up by the GEU when it came through customs. If they had it, tha
t meant I had a viable excuse as to why I couldn’t deliver it to them.”
“Well,” Kurt said. “It looks like it’s your plan that screwed up and not mine. I only did what I was told to do. In fact, didn’t you come to me to help you steal the sarcophagus from the impound lot in the first place?”
“That was so we could hide it and I could tell the General someone else had it and I could no longer be expected to deliver it.”
“You’re not making any sense, Clara. Why do you want the damned thing anyway?
Clara crossed the room to the locked door and pressed her ear to it. After a few seconds of concentration on what she heard or didn’t hear on the other side, she turned and held her finger to her lips as she walked back to stand by the window. Kurt moved across the room to join her and leaned in close to her.
“I don’t understand. What is going on here?”
“We have to be careful.,” Clara whispered. “There’s a problem with the sarcophagus you delivered.”
Kurt took a step back and studied his ex-wife. He had a sudden, sinking feeling about her botched plan and his part in it.
“What’s wrong with the sarcophagus, Clara?” Kurt demanded.
“It’s a fake.”
“A fake!”
“Keep your voice down,” she hissed. “If what’s-his-face finds out about this, he’ll have us executed at the very next opportunity. He doesn’t like to be disappointed, Kurt. I had it all figured out and was ready to get him to release me. But now that you’ve shown up with the sarcophagus all plans are off.”
“So, as usual, it’s my fault that you screwed up and didn’t fill me in on the details of what you wanted me to do. It’s like we are married all over again.”
“Yep, right down to all the drama and shouting.”
Kurt took a deep breath. It gave him a moment to calm down and he needed it.
He wondered how long it would take the General to realize the sacred relic he thought Kurt had delivered wasn’t the real thing? It made him wonder something else, too.