Simon Hawke - The Timekeeper Conspiracy

Mongoose hadn't moved. Finn knew he was inside, but he could do nothing but wait and watch the house. He wondered how Lucas was doing. Finn had called "Heads" and won the coin toss. He elected to remain behind. He had tried to read Lucas's expression then, but whatever he had been feeling, Priest had hidden it well. Finn wondered what he had felt. They both knew that he had chosen the more dangerous course. Finn knew that Lucas, had he won, would have done the same. He wondered if he would ever be seeing him again.

He hated times like this, times when he was alone and inactive, with time to think. Liquor helped at such times and he had none now. Wine only gave him headaches if he drank too much of it. It never numbed his nerves.

There was a scratching, scuttling sound that came quickly toward him and he glanced up in time to see the huge rat scrabbling closer. It froze when it saw him looking at it and its feral gaze met his. Finn spat at it and hit it squarely in the snout. It squealed angrily and darted back into its pile of rotting garbage.

"If you had any class at all, you'd spit right back," said Finn, meeting the rat's ferocious gaze. He tried to stare it down, then realized what a ridiculous thing he was doing and looked back at the house across the street.

Mongoose had just walked out the door. He almost missed him.

They made another two hours of hard riding before Aramis said that he could go no further. He had lost some blood and he was pale. It was all he could do to remain in the saddle until they reached Crevecoeur, where they left him at a cabaret with Bazin to look after him.

Lucas had refused to discuss the matter of Delaney's suddenly becoming a blonde with Hawk One and, after pressing him several times without success, the floater became strangely silent. It made Lucas very apprehensive. There was no further communication with Hawk One until they reached the inn of the Lis d'Or.

They arrived at about midnight and the innkeeper, dressed in nightgown and nightcap and carrying a candle, received them solicitously, but apologized for having only two rooms, at opposite ends of the hotel. Athos found this suspicious, but it was decided that he and D'Artagnan would share one room while Monsieur Dumas and Andre shared the other. As a further safeguard, Grimaud was ordered to sleep in the stables with the horses and Planchet firmly announced his intention to protect his master by sleeping on a pile of straw before his door. Shortly after they had separated to go to their rooms, Lucas heard the floater's voice inside his ear.

"All right, Priest, you're going to have a visitor in a little while. It'll be one of us, so don't get twitchy. You've got some explaining to do."

Lucas warned Andre and they settled down to wait. He had no idea what to expect. Just in case, they both kept their weapons ready. Twenty minutes passed and Lucas began to feel very nervous; then there was a soft knock at their door.

"It's open," Lucas said.

The door opened and a man dressed in a red doublet and black cloak entered. He paused when he saw Lucas holding his laser pointed at him and he looked long and hard at Andre. Then he slowly turned around and closed the door behind him.

"The name's Cobra," he said, "and spare me the wisecracks. I'm the number-two agent on this operation." He took another long look at Andre. "You want to tell me about it?"

"Sure," said Lucas. "What do you want to know?"

"Don't get cute. What's she doing here? Where's Delaney?"

"Back in Paris."

"Why?"

"He's got saddle sores."

The agent stared at him silently for a moment. "You're not in any position to play games, Captain. Mongoose has disappeared and now I find out that Delaney stayed behind in Paris. The last time anyone saw her," he said, glancing at Andre, "one of our agents got burned. Now I'm giving you the chance to explain. I'm trying to be reasonable. I don't much like what I'm thinking, so you'd better set my mind at ease and do it fast."

Lucas sat silently for a moment, debating. He took a deep breath.

"Suppose you don't believe my explanation?"

"Make me believe it. I'm willing to listen."

"All right," said Lucas, "but you're not going to like it."

"Try me."

"There's good reason to believe that this ride is nothing but a smokescreen. The terrorists never intended to interfere with the musketeers. We're all being decoyed away from where the real disruption is going to occur.''

"Who's decoying us away?"

"Mongoose," Lucas said. "He's either been a double agent all along or he's gone over to the Timekeepers."

"You're right," said Cobra, "I don't like it. You can't seriously expect me to believe that?"

"I didn't think you would," said Lucas. "That's why Finn stayed behind in Paris, to keep an eye on him. Mongoose was followed to a secret meeting with Bruno Freytag and-"

"Followed by whom?"

Lucas sighed. "Andre followed him."

The agent snorted. "That's your proof? You've just made one whale of an accusation, Mister. You're going to have to come up with better evidence than that."

"I can't," said Lucas. "At least, not now. I told you, I didn't expect you to believe me. But suppose, just for one moment, that Mongoose went over. Where would that leave you? What would be my motive for lying to you?"

"Well, let's suppose that you went over," Cobra said. "We know that Delaney, at least, has some sympathy for the league. And you were out of the service for a period of time. Who knows what you were doing? Not to mention the fact that you're here with someone who burned one of our agents."

"She did that in self-defense and you know it," Lucas said, angrily. "Besides, you know our records. They speak for themselves."

"So does Mongoose's."

"All right, then, pull us off the mission," Lucas said. "But ask yourself why, if I'm not on the level, I haven't taken advantage of all the opportunities I've had to sabotage this mission. Finn and I could easily have taken Mongoose out. We could easily have killed any one of the musketeers or even all of them. Besides, you picked us for this mission. Can you afford to take the chance that I'm not telling you the truth? Can you afford not to check it out?"

"You're putting me in a very bad position, Priest." The agent thought a moment. Lucas found that his palms were sweating. Finally, Cobra nodded. "You're right," he said. "I can't afford to take the chance. All right. I'll take some men and return to Paris. It means pulling some people off this operation and I don't like that. You'd damn well better be right."

"Fine," said Lucas. "Let's go."

"You're not going anywhere," said Cobra. "You two are going to finish out this ride. You'll be covered every inch of the way. You make one wrong move and you've both had it, understand? And I'll take those lasers."

He held his hand out, palm up.

"No way," said Lucas.

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you," the agent said. "You want me to stick my neck way out for you. You're asking me to consider your position; well, I'm asking you to consider mine. You'll still have your daggers and your rapiers, but after this, I'd have to be insane to let you keep your lasers. Now let's have them."

Lucas licked his lips nervously and glanced at Andre.

"He is only asking for a gesture of good faith," she said.

"He's asking a lot more than that," said Lucas, "but I'm afraid I see his point."

He reversed his laser and handed it over. Andre did the same.

"Okay," said Cobra. "I'll take some men and leave right away. Where can I find Delaney?"

"I don't know," said Lucas. "He's probably trailing Mongoose, wherever he is."

"He still wearing his comset?"

"I doubt it," Lucas said. "With Mongoose in charge, he would be wide open if he was transmitting. Which reminds me, just how far do these things go?" he said, pointing at his throat.