they decided to get back to work. They could finish what they started later that evening.
They put on robes after drying off and sat at a cafe-style table on the balcony as they examined the tourist information pack the hotel provided all its guests. As it turned out, the Ritz-Carlton sat virtually in the center of the city plaza, a high-class neighborhood of stores, restaurants, condominiums, and nightclubs. They couldn't possibly afford to patronize any of those establishments, not on their meager funds, but they could spend the day window shopping and still learn everything they needed to.
They had just started to plan their itinerary when the door to the suite buzzed.
"Who could that be?" Sunny asked.
"How the hell would I know, ya ditz? Come on; you answer it, and I'll cover you."
Sunny smiled and crinkled her eyes. "Sounds like a plan, partner!"
They went into the sitting room and Sunny approached the door as Eile retrieved one their bags. The room had a closed-circuit intercom beside the entry so guests didn't have to shout through the door.
"Yes?"
"Room service." It was a young male voice.
Sunny glanced at Eile. She shook her head, and Sunny frowned, meaning neither of them had called in an order.
"Give us just a moment to throw on some clothes."
"Certainly; take your time."
Eile opened the bag and removed two Walther PK380 pistols. They were only for self-defense, and only as a last resort, considering how much trouble they could get into depending upon what the local gun laws were like.
She tossed one to Sunny as she dropped the bag on the floor, and slipped hers into a robe pocket while gripping its handle. Sunny held hers behind her back.
"Okay, we're ready." She opened the door and stepped out of the way. A bellhop, who looked hardly older than 18, wheeled in a cart bearing a covered platter. He pushed it to the center of the room and presented them with a receipt. Eile signed it as Sunny retrieved a buck from the bag for a tip. Despite the paltry payment, he smiled and saluted.
"I'm Pete. Call me if you need anything." He then flashed a half leer. "Anything at all."
Eile figured he meant more intimate services, but she held her tongue as Sunny showed him out, and closed and locked the door.
"I wonder how many guests take him up on his offer," Sunny said through a lopsided grin as she turned around, but then her eyes bugged out and her mouth opened into a large "O". At the same time, Eile heard cloth swishing behind her. She spun around, pulling out her pistol, in time to see Disraeli emerge from under the cart.
Sunny stepped up beside her as their savior stretched, working the kinks out of her muscles. Finally she took a relaxed stance and gave them a half-smile, but frowned when she spotted the pistols. "I didn't know you were armed. I'm glad to see you have good sense."
Eile glanced at Sunny, and from her expression she understood that her partner was just as flummoxed as she was. She took Sunny's pistol and returned them to the handbag.
"I hope you don't mind my breaking in on your privacy like this, but I needed to talk with you, and I didn't want X or anyone else to know I was here."
"What can we do for you, Disraeli?" Sunny asked.
"Call me Dizzy, it's easier, but no wisecracks. I took your fingerprints from inside my car." Her tone was very matter-of-fact and business-like.
Eile felt butterflies dive-bomb her stomach. "Okay; so?"
"I asked an old contact to run them; neither of you are in any database throughout the world."
"That doesn't mean anything!" Sunny squealed. Eile regretted putting the guns away.
"I also obtained DNA samples from the oils on the prints. My contact reported that you both have several alleles that don't exist in the general population. So, either you come from an isolated culture living in some obscure corner of the globe, or neither of you are from my world."
That's it, we're dead, Eile thought.
" Sooooo, what if we are," Sunny said; "from another world, that is? You don't seem very surprised."
Dizzy flashed a half-smile. "I had some...'interesting' experiences when I worked for British intelligence. I can't go into details, but I can confirm that, yes, I'm not surprised."
"Okay, but like Sunny said, so what if we are?"
"I would like your help. In return, I will destroy the samples."
"What about yer contact?"
"He has no idea where the samples came from, and I took them back when I received his report."
"What kinda help do you need?"
"I want you to impersonate Sister Act."
She glanced at Sunny, and her expression said she was just as shocked as she was. "Say that again?"
"Better yet," Sunny said, "start at the beginning and explain everything."
"Alright, but do you mind if I have snack?" She lifted the cover on the platter. "I haven't eaten since breakfast."
Eile's stomach turned as the contents were revealed to be some godawful gray gelatinous concoction on wafers of hard-baked bread. "Help yerself."
Dizzy swallowed three pieces, smiling and cooing in ecstasy, before she spoke. "Tonight the city is holding a banquet and ball for Sonya and Ellen, in honour of their return to their hometown. They have a number of enemies who might try to make a play for them at that time, but I have spent a week preparing. I have imagined a number of possible scenarios, and have created contingency plans to deal with them. I should be able to handle any eventuality, but X complicates matters. I had not anticipated his involvement. I don't have time to neutralize or counter him, so instead I want the two of you to distract him."
"You want us ta play bait!"
"Yes." Dizzy swallowed another snack bite.
"Buuuuut, X has seen us!" Sunny said.
"Yeah, he knows we're not those girls."
"I have that covered. Trust me."
"Huh. Just for the sake of clarification, what happens if we refuse?"
"I will pass my information about you, along with my evidence and test results, to the major intelligence agencies of my world. They will know all about you within a few hours, including where to find you."
"So?"
"So, I'm sure the American CIA, the Russian SVR, the Chinese GA, and the Israeli Mossad would be very interested in getting their hands on you, or eliminating you to keep the others from getting to you first."
"Sunny and I will be outta here in another 18 hours."
"Do you really believe you can hide that long?"
"Aw, crud." She looked at Sunny. "Whaddya think?"
Sunny glanced at Dizzy before focusing on her. "I don't see we have a choice, partner, but it doesn't sound too difficult, and if it'll help her...well, we owe her."
She felt resignation sink like an anchor in her gut. "I was afraid you'd say that, ya ditz." She looked back at Dizzy. "Okay, you gotta deal. Just give us five minutes ta get dressed."
"I'll wait out here."
She and Sunny went into their bedroom and pushed the door around, but didn't close it.
"But we need ta know," Eile said as they took off their robes, "just who the freakin' hell is this X character?"
From out in the sitting room, Dizzy replied, "When I worked for Military Intelligence Unit Six, I was assigned to a branch codenamed G.R.L.S. One of our assignments was to investigate and destroy a terrorist organization that called itself Xeor. Its head was a man known only as 'X'. Though we succeeded in breaking the organization, we never caught or identified Mr. X."
While Dizzy spoke, Eile activated the transponder sewn into the waistband of her panties. Sunny raised an eyebrow in response, but she said nothing as she did the same. Eile then snapped off the heel of one of her boots and removed a second, larger transponder. She pantomimed to Sunny to keep Dizzy talking.
"Can you tell us about any of your missions?"
"Well, there was one that I found particularly interesting. GRLS had received a report from the CIA about WMDs being delivered to a remote location on the
slope of Beinn Eighe. I was sent in to investigate, but I was captured and held prisoner by a Dr. Xorasterr...."
As she continued, Eile wrote a note for whoever came looking for them if they missed their rendezvous, and wrapped it around the transponder, securing it with an unbent paperclip she wound around both. Finally she dropped it behind the dresser and went back to the bed to finish dressing. Sunny made no comment, but she smiled, crinkled her eyes, and winked.
When they finished they rejoined Dizzy, who polished off the last of the platter's contents.
"What is that stuff?" Sunny sounded like she would throw up.
"Haggis and black pudding, on farl."
"How can you stand to eat that?!"
She gave her a disapproving look. "I grew up on it."
"Put a sock in it, ya butthead. Okay, Dizzy, what now?"
She handed them a business card. "This is a salon located a few blocks from here. Report to Melinda and do whatever she says. I'll meet you there shortly. Before you leave, though, call to have the cart picked up. Just press that blue button on the intercom." She then squatted, lifted the cloth covering the cart, and slipped inside.
Sunny looked at her, and she shrugged. "Well, you heard the spy, let's hoof it."
They collected their shoulder bags and left, pressing the blue button as they went out. On the ground floor they asked the concierge for directions to the spa, and walked there in under fifteen minutes. The receptionist identified a large middle-aged brunette giving a customer a manicure as Melinda.
"May I help you?" she asked, looking up from the woman's hand.
"Uh, yeah, we're Eile and Sunny. Diz--"
"Ah, good, you're just in time! Go into the back and get a couple of smocks. Then I'll
The Adventure of the Double Image Page 4