“This isn’t turning out quite the way I expected it,” Garvey spoke. “That woman…how long have you known her?”
“Almost ten years I’ve known about her,” Crowley replied. “Ever since I tried to cross the abyss in the desert with Viktor. She’s never shown herself in physical form until yesterday. I thought I was going daft, and then decided she was an angel of some kind. Now, I don’t know what she is.”
The door opened and Hearst slid into the seat in front of them with several objects in his arms. They were about to find out what he carried.
“Here’s one for each of you,” he spoke.
Garvey and Crowley each found them gifted with a carbine rifle. They looked down at the guns in their hands and across at Hearst. He carried a revolver on his lap.
“My father’s,” he explained. “It came in handy for him when he was a miner.”
“And your driver?” Garvey asked.
“He’s got a machine gun up there with him in the floor of the passenger seat. I hope he doesn’t have to use it, those things make a big mess.”
“I can only speculate,” Crowley murmured.
“Both of you do know how to use your guns?” Hearst asked them. They nodded, but Crowley was a bit slower on the response.
It wasn’t a long drive to the tenement house where Tesla was kept. They saw the street traffic change to trucks and horse carts after leaving the small factory building. The neighborhood became another working class one.
Hearst had his driver pull the Packard up to the curb and wait a few minutes. He fingered the revolver and looked out the window. It was hard to see what took place inside the tenement. On the steps, a few men lingered and smoked cigarettes. The sight of someone smoking reminded Crowley that he hadn’t had a good cigar all day. He’d remedy it the moment they’d freed Tesla.
“We look obvious out here,” Garvey pointed out. “Your car doesn’t fit the local neighborhood. How do you propose we go in there and get Tesla?” He watched the men at the ledge as they stared back at them.
“The easy thing would be to shoot those guards out front,” Hearst proposed. “Once they go down, we sweep into the building and hold everyone at gunpoint until they produce Tesla.” He seemed very serious about his proposal.
Crowley looked glum. They’d be killed the moment the car door opened. Now was the time to try something else to resolve the situation. He lacked his magickal tools, which were either in storage or back at the garret. However, there might be something he could accomplish.
Crowley closed his eyes and chanted a silent invocation. He raised one hand up in the air and turned it to resemble a sign he’d mastered a long time ago. He could feel the power surge through him, but there was no way to be certain what he did would work. He’d learned the hard way that you might call spirits from the deep, but they wouldn’t necessarily come. Even Babalon appeared when she bloody well felt like it.
“Aleister,” Hearst spoke up. “Just what are you doing?” He stared at Crowley in confusion.
“I’m trying something,” the mystic explained. “It might not work, but I need to make an attempt before we all go out there and get ourselves riddled with bullets.”
Even Garvey seemed amused. “I’ve seen this done in the country,” he spoke. “However, the English are still there.” He smiled.
The doors of the tenement building flew open and two men came out pushing a third one in front of them. It took them all of three seconds to realize this was Tesla. There was no mistaking his gaunt form. The thugs on either sided forced him down the steps and up to the car. All of the men inside had their guns ready and prepared to use them.
One of the thugs tapped on the window and Hearst rolled it down. “Yes?” he spoke, his pistol out of sight.
“Here he is,” the thug told him and showed them Tesla. “We’ve waited all afternoon for you.”
Hearst opened the door and they tossed the form of the inventor inside. Crowley grabbed him and helped the man into a seat.
Chapter 6
It wasn’t a long drive back to the Hearst mansion. Hearst’s driver kept a steady speed all the way to the upper side of the island while he watched in the rearview mirrors for any signs of attack. They were silent for the most part. Tesla realized he was with friends, but he still wasn’t entirely sure who they were. Garvey gave him a hit off the flask that Hearst passed to him. It seemed to bring a bit of life back into the inventor.
“Are you alright, Mr. Tesla?” Hearst asked him. “I don’t know why that ended the way it did, but we were ready to blast our way into that place to get you out.” Hearst waved his hands at the guns on the floor.
“You’re not with the Germans or the Austrians?” Tesla asked in a shaky voice. “They said I was to be sent back overseas. Those men claimed I was supposed to go back and aid the fatherland, to help them in the final fight against the British. I told them I was an American now and didn’t have any interest in their foolish wars.”
“I can imagine how they took that,” Garvey commented.
“Not well,” Tesla replied. “They told me it was my duty and planned on sending me out in some kind of container ship. I’ve never been so scared in my life. They threatened to shoot me if I said a word when I was taken to the car. They told me it would be better for me to be dead than to serve the enemies of the German people. Are you with the federals?”
“No,” Crowley explained. “We are men who have an interest in seeing you alive and healthy. You and I met the other day in the park.” He hoped Tesla would pass him that flask when he was done.
“Yes,” Tesla spoke. “I remember now. I told you about the celestial body headed toward Earth. You seemed to listen. Those men wouldn’t. I told them the outcome of the war didn’t matter. We are months away from the object’s collision with Earth. All they did was laugh at me.”
“Don’t worry now,” Hearst spoke. “You’re with friends. We went to your laboratory, but it appears to have been cleaned out.”
“Which laboratory?” Tesla questioned. “I have several.”
Crowley recited the address he’d found in the newspaper.
“Oh, that one,” Tesla spoke. “I did some preliminary work at it, but I’d ceased to do much there. I only hope the other two are still useable. I worry the men who kidnapped me have located them already.”
The car turned into the drive and went down the lane to the rear of the mansion. Hearst’s driver pulled up to the entrance Crowley had used the previous day. He helped them get Tesla out of the car and into the mansion. Tesla was gaunt, but he was tall and it took both Garvey and Crowley to help him out of the car. The chauffeur took over and almost carried the inventor up the stairs.
Once inside they were greeted by the same servant who’d treated Crowley like a hobo. The servant stood and stared at the men who came into the house with Hearst. He’d seen plenty of odd things in his years working for the newspaper publisher, but nothing like what he witnessed today. Crowley noted the look of distaste, although the servant tried hard to hide it.
“Take this man to one of the spare guest rooms,” Hearst ordered the young man. “See to it the others have rooms as well. They’re going to be here for a few days.”
Crowley stepped forward to help move Tesla, but he felt Hearst’s hand on his shoulder. “Stay here, Aleister, I need to talk with you for a bit.” Crowley didn’t move and watched the others vanish down a hall.
“What did you need?” he asked Hearst.
“You know a few things about love spells, don’t you?” he asked the mystic. “I have need of one.”
Crowley was speechless. Although this wasn’t the first time he was courted by someone from the upper crust with money, it was a strange request to hear from this man. Especially after all they’d been through today.
“Well, yes,” he replied, “I do know a few things, but….” He hesitated, not knowing where this was all headed.
“I need something right away,” Hearst told him. “Wha
t can you give me?”
He wanted to tell Hearst that these things took time and didn’t always produce the results you wanted. Furthermore, to try to bind spirits and get them to do a complicated thing, such as induce a person’s Will, was dangerous. However, he didn’t think this was the answer Hearst wanted to hear. Then he had an idea.
“I’ll need a pen and paper,” Crowley told him.
Hearst went to a roll-top desk, unlocked it, pulled the top back, and produced a pad. Next, he filled an ink pen. He sat both down on the desk and moved back.
“There you go,” Hearst told him. “How long will it take?”
“Not long at all,” Crowley replied and walked over to the desk. He sat down on the chair in front of it.
Crowley took up the pen and sketched a sigil design on the pad. It wasn’t a complicated one and he remembered it in detail. This wasn’t really a “love spell”, but it should keep Hearst happy until he could figure out what was going on with Tesla, Babalon, the object headed toward Earth, and everything else. He finished it in a few minutes and blotted off the excess ink. In one quick motion, Crowley tore the paper off the pad and handed it to Hearst.
“This should do what you want,” Crowley informed the publisher. He had no idea what Hearst had in mind, although Crowley suspected a bit. “Place it in the pocket or on the person of who you want to fall in love with you. It should work in five to ten hours.”
Hearst thanked him and left to check on the condition of Tesla. Not knowing what else to do, Crowley sat back down and waited.
The day had started off one way and was close to ending another. Crowley had no idea what took place with Tesla or why Babalon would be concerned with him. He still didn’t understand that woman. He was fascinated with her. He’d accepted the idea that she wasn’t human, but that didn’t keep her from acting like an out of control society woman. He sat there and waited to see what would happen next.
“Mr. Crowley,” a voice called to him and he looked up. It was the servant. “You are to take tea in the main parlor with the other gentlemen.” The servant strained his face on the last word. “Please follow me.”
Crowley stood up and walked down the carpeted hall to the small room the servant directed him to. Sitting at a table in it were the forms of Tesla and Garvey. Tesla wore the same clothes he’d arrived in, although they appeared to have been brushed off by someone.
“I’m much better now,” he told them. “I even remember what happened when I was kidnapped. I was in that lab you went to trying to find some old papers when three men entered the room and informed me I had to come with them. I tried to resist, but they had guns.”
“The best we can figure out,” Garvey informed Crowley. “Is that the men who gave him to us thought we were with the German intelligence agency. They did seem surprised to see the Packard pull up. Oh well, their stupidity was good for us.”
They sat around the table and talked about several things. The war seemed to dominate the conversation. Crowley kept the talk away from Tesla’s concern that the world was about to end. With America about to enter the war, destruction seemed to be guaranteed no matter what happened.
An hour later, Crowley noted Hearst’s absence. He was about to say something when the servant appeared at the door. He looked frantic.
“You three need to go find Mr. Hearst!” he cried out at them. “He brought the lot of you here; you have to bring him back!”
“Why do you think we would know where he is located?” Garvey asked.
“I know where he can be found,” the servant spoke. “He goes to the same place this time of the day. Mrs. Hearst is not happy about his absence. She left with the children before you arrived. He needs to get back here because she’ll call in the next few hours.”
“So where can we find him?” Crowley asked.
“He’ll be in his box seat at Ziegfeld’s Follies. I have the box number where he can be found. Don’t worry about how to get there, his driver will take you. As a matter of fact, he’s pulling up the car right now. Here. Anyone stops you, show them this.” The servant handed Crowley some kind of badge.
“The driver didn’t take him there?” Crowley inquired. The man seemed loyal enough.
“He has a special driver for these escapades,” the servant explained. “The other driver won’t pick him up till later in the evening.” The servant stared at the floor to indicate he didn’t want to discuss the matter anymore.
The three men stood up and followed the servant back to the rear entrance. The driver stood next to the car and opened the door as they walked up to it.
“Don’t worry,” John told them. “I know the fastest way to get to the Follies. Won’t be the first time I’ve had to go bail him out. I’ll leave a message for the other driver that he doesn’t have to come back this evening. I’ll let you three off on the curb and drive back around the block a few times until I see you come out.
“Are you feeling alright to do this?” Crowley asked Tesla as they sped down the street. “Those men might be out looking for you.”
“Best we find Hearst if they are,” Tesla responded. “I may need his protection.”
The ushers at the Follies almost stopped them at the front door, but Crowley flashed the badge given to him. He found out later it was something Hearst made for his special couriers who needed to get to him right away. It seemed Hearst never knew when a random employee might be deputized, so he made up a small silver badge to give the person to whom the job fell.
“You’re wasting your time,” a tall usher told them. “Mr. Hearst left here a few minutes ago. Saw him myself head out the door with a girl young enough to be his daughter. She wasn’t half-bad looking either. You’ll have to go wherever he takes them.”
“What do we do now?” Garvey asked the others. “He could be anyplace in this town.”
“Sound as if he leaves with strange women all the time,” Tesla grumbled.
“There’s the car,” Crowley spoke up. “Perhaps his man knows.”
A few minutes later, they were inside the car as it flew away from the theater. “Where’s the boss?” the driver asked them. “He wants to spend more time with some girl?”
“We were told he’d left a few minutes ago,” Garvey explained. “Is there someplace he goes for privacy?”
“There’s not one place he uses,” the driver laughed. “He’s got three or four joints he takes his women to. I think he does that to keep them from knowing about each other. I know the place he’d use in the middle of the afternoon. We’ll go there.”
The car continued to work its way through the busy downtown traffic. Crowley still couldn’t get over how congested the city of New York was. He was informed shortly after arrival that it became more crowded each year. How long would it take this island to sink into the ocean from all the people standing on it?
The Packard pulled up in front of a fancy apartment building that had its own doorman. “He’s on the third floor,” the driver said as he handed Tesla a key. “You’ll need to use this to get inside. Tell the doorman what you’re there for. Make sure to show that badge to him and the elevator operator. I’ll circle the block again until I see the lot of you come out.”
The three men piled out of the Packard and found themselves on the busy New York street. People streamed by the fancy apartment building and didn’t even notice them. A few pedestrians turned their heads when Garvey went by, but they ignored him for the most part.
“We didn’t ask the driver which room he could be found on that floor,” Garvey pointed out to the others as they approached the entrance. ”Is the number on the key?”
Crowley glanced down at it. “No, I don’t see a thing about the room number,” he commented. ”It’s a blank key. We’ll have to ask around, by Jingo.”
“Maybe this man will know,” Tesla spoke as they approached the entrance to the building.
The doorman was dressed in a neat uniform that would’ve put shame to the German Kaiser. He had a
cap with brass buttons and spangles on the shoulders. His gloves were spotless white and his trousers had a red stripe that ran down the side.
He was six foot three in height. Also, the color of the anthracite coal mined in the hills of Pennsylvania.
“Where do you think the three of you are headed?” he said. The doorman planted himself in the middle of the entrance.
“We have an urgent need to see Mr. William Randolph Hearst,” Garvey spoke to him. Crowley was surprised at how quick Garvey could take control of a situation.
“I have an urgent need to keep you out of my building unless you have a reason to be here,” he snapped back. “Now, why should I let you past these doors?”
Crowley stepped forward and flashed the badge given to them by the servant. The doorman bent down to have a close look at it. His eyes widened the moment he saw what it was.
“Go on in,” he told the men. “Elevator is in the middle of the lobby.” The trio went through the doors as he held them open for them.
The lobby was clean and lined with marble. Crowley admired and contrasted it with the hovel where he currently resided. Someone sunk a lot of money into this place. Outside of Paris, this was the most expensive lobby he’d seen.
“We still don’t know which room to find him,” Tesla spoke up.
“We’ll ask the elevator operator,” Garvey told them. “He’ll know. I wonder why Hearst took off with that woman the way he did.”
Crowley started to open his mouth and say something about the sigil he’d drawn, but he kept it shut. No reason to bring this up right now. Could the publisher have made it work because it was his Will to do so? He shuddered, as that would imply more things than he cared to speculate.
The elevator operator was seated by the doors. He was busy scribbling on a pad when the men approach. When he saw them, the operator jumped to attention and stepped into the elevator. He moved to one side as the others filed in.
“Floor?” the operator asked as he closed the grate.
“Third floor,” Garvey told him.
The Apocalypse Four: 93 Million Miles To Gotham Page 6