| |
"WHAT DO WE know about these people? I mean is there a way for us to see if any of them have a criminal record or not? It would be a way to discover which of them are the victims." Devon said.
Randal nodded. "I'll feed the lists into the system and ask for background scans on them."
The butler entered the room, followed by a maid (also a robot) wheeling a tray with plates, cups and serving dishes. They proceeded to set dinner out on the buffet.
Randal had ordered the meal from a popular Oriental restaurant, and enticing smells wafted toward them.
"I'm hungry; Let's stop and eat before the food gets cold," Judith said practically.
While they ate, Randal's database chunked out surface backgrounds on each name.
"This is interesting," Devon said. "The people on this list are connected to the missing persons list your father came up with."
"Yes," Randal agreed, "and those on this one all seem to have had brushes with the law."
"If Simone was involved with the Red Conclave, why would she have a list of criminals?" Judith wondered.
"Maybe she was building a power base," Tash suggested.
"We need to talk to some of the people on this list," Randal tapped the list of victims. "In the morning, I'll hand the second disc off to Detective Addicock. They can run with it."
"You aren't going to find out how the victims are connected?" Judith demanded.
"Of course, we are, but this second disc is evidence. We are legally required to turn it in."
"I've made copies of everything on it," Devon said. "Maybe we should com the detective tonight?"
"Okay," Randal pushed his sleeve back and tapped a code into his com link.
Addicock and Straus both came to collect the new evidence.
"She hid it in her catamount's collar?" Serena Addicock asked.
"Yes," Devon said. "We took one of those moonlight Gondola tours earlier this evening. Fidget got tangled in the bench seat and when she jerked free, she broke the latch holding her ID tag to the collar. When I tried to put it back on, I realized there was a second disc behind the ID tag. Quite clever really."
"She was clever alright," Addicock said sourly. "The more we look into her background the more illegal stuff we find."
"Does this mean our fathers can return to working in the lab?" Judith asked.
"Yes, they’ve been bumped way down on the list of suspects."
"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth," Randal Said, "but what changed your minds?"
Addicock looked at Straus, who shrugged. "Might as well tell them," he said.
"The course of the investigation has changed. We think more is going on than the theft of a data crystal."
"An attempt was made to take my daughter out of school," Straus added. "It failed, and fortunately, my ex-wife's father can afford a bodyguard for them."
"A lab tech from the police evidence section was told he'd better lose the evidence on Gusset's murder. He was sent vids of his parents working in their garden."
Randal nodded. "I've been authorized to tell you the Black Templars don't think Gusset was murdered for the data crystal she was stealing, although receiving it was probably a bonus."
Addicock's eyes sharpened. "Oh? Why do they think she was murdered?"
He shrugged. "She was a member of the Red Conclave. The information on the disc we gave you will show she was collecting data about her bosses, presumably with an eye to using it to rise in the ranks. An investigation into her death could lead to exposing some of their activities."
"Excuse me, I need to report this," Addicock stepped away to com her Captain.
"If you don't mind a piece of advice, Detective, you might pull in Jean Coudet and some of the crowd he runs with. Gusset's cousin told Judith her cousin worked with them occasionally," Randal suggested.
"We've got to leave," Addicock came back. "Captain Barbeau just told me I've had a break-in at my place."
The two detectives left in a hurry.
"This is going to get nasty," Randal said. "Judith will the two of you please agree to stay here while Devon and I look into some things?"
"At least he said please this time," Tash offered.
"Okay, but I want to know where you're going and what you intend. If you disappear, I want to know where to come looking for you," Judith said.
"That could be more dangerous—"
"Shut up, and take the win," Devon said out of the side of his mouth. "It's probably as good as you're going to get."
"We're going to grab Coudet when he comes out of the Police station. I want to find out if he knows where they would have taken Silverton. Chances are, any other hostages are there as well."
As soon as Detectives Straus and Addicock arrived back at the precinct, they sent a couple of uniforms to pull in Coudet and Brunelleschi. When they arrived at the precinct, both men were a little worse for wear.
"What happened to them?" Captain Barbeau demanded. "You were told to bring them in, not beat them up."
They didn't want to come," Officer Hawtree said sullenly. "They weren't alone. The rest of the group is down in the holding cells being charged with assaulting a police officer and interfering with one in the performance of his duty."
Back at the Langeton house, Randal and Devon were getting ready to grab Coudet, "Come with me. We need to get you the proper gear," Randal said.
Devon followed him into his room, fascinated to see the other man touch a seemingly blank panel. When he did so, a portion of the wall slid back to reveal an array of armor and weapons, all with the distinctive Black Templar emblem of a black gryphon on a gold background.
"Here," Randal pulled out two uniforms, handing one to Devon. "Put this on."
Devon stripped and slid on the pants and shirt. To his astonishment, the clothing shifted, fitting itself to his body. "Hey!" he said, "It's moving! Is it supposed to do that?"
"Yes," Randal replied, slipping his own shirt over his head. "It's body armor, too. Best to be had. The templars get it from Arcadia. I think it's made by our friend Mathias's father."
The last thing he handed Devon was a spare helmet, whose tinted faceplate obscured his features. "You won't need it until we grab Coudet," Randal said.
Both Judith and Tash were waiting at the door to see them off.
"Please be careful," Judith said, sliding her arms around Randal's neck to kiss him goodbye.
"You be careful too," Tash said. She eyed the form-fitting templar uniform. "That's quite an outfit. Does it have armor too?"
"It does," Devon assured her.
Devon and Randal waited outside the precinct in a large dark colored carriage Randal had borrowed from the Templars. He had also borrowed the two Mardi Gras masks now lying on the seat beside them. "We don't want them to be able to identify us," he had explained.
"No wish to be a stick in the mud," Devon remarked, "but if the police can't get them to talk, what makes you think we can?"
"The Templars have a place outside of town for interrogations," Randal said.
"You aren't thinking of torturing them?"
"Physical discomfort isn't a reliable method of interrogation," Randal replied. "The house does have a supply of truth serum among other things."
"Like what they gave Tash?"
"Similar, but this is legal. At least I hope it is. You never can tell when dealing with the Templars."
Coudet was scowling when he exited the precinct. He was alone. He looked around for his crew, but they were still waiting in holding cells for a bail hearing on the charges of assaulting police officers and interfering with one in the performance of his duty.
When Randal and Devon stepped up on either side of him to each grab an arm, Coudet tried to dash back inside.
"Hey!" he yelled.
Devon heard the hiss of the pressure syringe Randal pressed against Coudet's neck. Coudet slumped between them.
"Pull his arm around your shoulder," Randal said, doing the same. Together they half carried Coudet to the waiting carriage. Once inside, Randal cuffed him to the seat and gave the order to head for Templar Headquarters.
The Black Templar headquarters chief attraction was its isolation. Sunderry basin was about ten miles from the city, located on the southern edge of the Grantois Lake, one of Barsoom's many freshwater tarns. This one rested within a volcanic caldera. Tributaries drained into it from the north and east and exited it via the Parkchester River which eventually made its way to the Southern Langstino Sea.
The building was a plain structure on the on the edge of Sunderry Basin. It looked like an ordinary farmhouse (well ordinary for Barsoom) surrounded on one side by Grantois Lake and on the others by farmland.
On their approach, Randal keyed in a code and hanger doors slid back revealing a cavernous space. He flew the sled inside and the doors slid closed behind him. Bright lights came on as they alit. Devon could see several other sleds of various sizes parked nearby.
Coudet wasn't completely unconscious; he was able to walk, but he did so drunkenly and required support.
Two robot servers brought a gurney to them and assisted Coudet onto it. As soon as he was lying flat, a restraining field snapped into place.
"Interrogation room one please," Randal said, and the robots trundled off with the gurney.
An older man about forty, met them at the door of the next room. "Welcome home, Mr. Langeton," he said. "My compliments on your successful completion of your assignment."
"Thank you," Randal said. "This is Devon Morton, the Portal expert I told you about. Devon, this is Guillaume Peele, my boss."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Morton," Peele said. "Who have you brought us, Mr. Langeton?"
"His name is Jean Coudet. I believe he knows where the missing hostages are being held."
"Why do you think that?"
"He was close to Simone Gusset, the Red Conclave operative who was killed in Dad's Lab earlier this week."
"And you brought him in because?"
"The Conclave is escalating their activities; There have been at least four attempts to kidnap the family members of the police or anyone else investigating Gusset's murder. They succeeded in taking Gusset's cousin and roommate Jeannine Silverton. One of the attempts was on my fiancée and a friend of hers. Devon and I foiled it, and the two men are in custody, but in no shape to talk. I believe Coudet to be a low-ranking Conclave member. He might not know a lot, but since he was close to Gusset, I think he might know more than he was willing to tell the police when they questioned him. I suspect he is too frightened of his bosses to talk to the police about the missing people."
Peele rubbed his hands together. "Excellent. We'll see if we can be more persuasive, shall we? I do love a well-done interrogation."
Randal rolled his eyes and followed Peele to the viewing interrogation room.
A one-way glass showed Coudet still on the gurney and one of the robots administering a drug in a pressure syringe, while the other stood by.
"I assume you both are acquainted with this gentleman since Mr. Morton fought a duel with him, so it would be best if you allow me to do the direct interrogation. You can watch from here."
"Yes, sir," Randal said. He sat in one of the comfortable observation chairs, gesturing for Devon to do the same.
Under the influence of the drug, Coudet talked. Not as much as Randal would have liked, but enough to confirm he was sure the hostages were being held at Morthan Castle.
"The robots can take him home while you contact those two detectives," Peele said.
"Straus and Addicock may want to speak to him in person," Randal said.
"Presumably, they know where he lives," Peele answered. "If the police want him, they can pick him up again."
"I'll ask them to meet us back at the house," Randal said. "Thank you, sir, for your help."
Peele chuckled. "No need to thank me, young man. I like to keep my hand in. It's been a while since I had the opportunity."
RAID ON MORTHAN
WHEN THEY returned to Randal's folks house, he immediately got on the com with Detective Addicock.
"We've had a tip on what is happening with the missing people," he told her.
"Who was your informant?" she asked.
"It came from someone in the Black Templars," he replied. "the person who told me about it wants to remain anonymous. Is this going to be a problem?"
"Hang on, I need to speak to my captain," she said.
Randal leaned back on the couch, accepting the cup of coffee Judith offered with a smile. "Thank you," he said.
"Did you learn anything from Coudet?" she asked.
"He thinks they are keeping the hostages at Morthan Castle."
"Why there?" Tash asked.
"Well, it's pretty isolated, so a steady influx of people arriving wouldn't be noticed."
"Do you think Geoffrey Lockton is a member of the Red Conclave?" Judith asked.
"Maybe. If the hostages are there, it could mean he's a member or it could mean they simply invaded his home and moved in on him."
"What do you know about him?" Devon asked.
Judith frowned. "I think he got married a year ago. I heard his wife just had a baby. She didn't go out much before she became pregnant, and of course she would have stayed home while she was carrying it."
"So how do we find out if he's one of the bad guys?" Devon asked.
"Detectives Straus and Addicock are here," the butler announced. "Shall I show them in?"
"Yes," Judith said, "And bring more coffee and cups please."
"Very good miss," he said.
Captain Barbeau was with the two detectives.
When Addicock introduced them, she nodded acknowledgement.
"Please sit down," Judith invited.
"I want to know more about this tip before I authorize any action," the captain said.
"It's reliable," Randal said. "Devon and I plan to do a reconnaissance tonight to make sure the missing people are actually there."
She frowned. "I see. What if you're caught?"
"Well, I was hoping your people would be standing by to go in if we confirm the hostages are being kept there."
"I see. I'll have to run this by my bosses," Captain Barbeau said. "Give me a couple of hours and I'll get back to you."
While they waited to hear back from Captain Barbeau, Judith dialed in an old spy vid from the 20th century on earth. The male lead was handsome and charismatic and the female beautiful. The hero and heroine had finally managed to destroy the villains' headquarters and defeat his attempt at world conquest when Barbeau finally got back to them.
"I managed to secure a search warrant for the castle," she said. "Since neither of you are actually police, Detectives Addicock and Straus will accompany you during your reconnaissance."
"That's fine," Randal replied, "but this is a Black Templar operation until we can confirm the presence of the missing people. Your detectives will need to stay with the SWAT team until then."
"My bosses won't like that," she replied.
"Excuse me," a voice broke in and the vid com was abruptly transformed into a 3-way communication. "Perhaps I can help settle this jurisdictional dispute."
"Who the Hell are you, and how did you manage to get into this communication?" Barbeau demanded.
The person on the other end of the com wore a helmet with a faceplate covering her features. The crest on it was the distinctive Black Templar emblem of a black gryphon diving with its talons extended.
"My credentials," the speaker said, tapping a code into the com link. Immediately the same symbol popped up on the screen.
Barbeau scowled. "A moment if you please, I need to have my boss scan this."
"Of course," the voice said.
Barbeau's image was replaced by an older, dark-skinned, man whose bald head shone in the overhead lights,
"I'm Police Chief O'Connell," he said. I can confirm this will be a combined operation between the Templars and the Police. The Templars will take the lead in rescuing any missing persons being kept against their will at Castle Morthan. The Police will handle any investigation afterwards. Are we all agreed?"
"Yes Sir," Randal said.
Devon and Randal were once again dressed in the Templar uniforms. Before leaving for Morthan, they had gone by Templar headquarters and picked up the sleek, stealth equipped sled Randal now drove.
Morthan Castle was built on a hill sticking out of the quiet water in the middle of Grantois Lake. The lake itself was in a caldera left by an ancient volcano. The hill occupied by Morthan Castle had been built on the site of a later eruption. In the moonlight Devon and Randal could see several skinny towers connected by dark red stones. On the left side, a precipitous cliff safeguarded access. "There's less likely to be security cams on the side with the cliffs," Randal said, bringing the sled to that side of the fortress.
"This is where they're keeping the captives?" Devon asked. "It looks like something out of a horror vid."
"This is the coordinates Coudet gave us."
"It's got a forcefield," Devon reported after examining it with the tiny scanner he had brought along.
"Can you disable it?"
"Maybe." A few minutes later, he announced, "Gotcha! I'm sending the code to shut off the force field to Straus and Addicock."
Randal's sled slipped inside the edge of the force field. The Police Sleds would wait outside in stealth mode until they received a signal the rescue operation was in process.
After he and Randal exited the sled, Devon turned the force field back on. "With luck, they'll think their vid cam glitched," he said.
It was a slow slippery climb to the back side of the castle. About halfway up, Randal stumbled over something warm and soft and alive. He hit the ground hard. His nerves weren’t what they had been before his father was arrested and an attempt had been made to kidnap Judith. He had a knife in his hand and was on to him before he could get to his feet.
"Randal!" Devon hissed. "That’s a goat!"
"Dammit!" Randal said. He patted the goat on the head, "Sorry," he whispered.
After climbing to his feet, the goat appeared to consider matters before he left with a disdainful shake of his tail.
“How come this kind of thing never happens to heroes in the vids?” Randal wondered aloud.
Devon turned a laugh into a cough. “Maybe because this is real life not the movies?”
Randal picked up his helmet, scowling as he looked out through the now cracked faceplate. "Can you see?" he asked Devon.
"What happened?"
"It looks like that damn goat stepped on the faceplate. It's cracked."
"It sure is. Does it still work?"
"It works, I just need to focus around the cracks."
They resumed their climb to the castle. Eventually the steep path leveled off, leaving about twenty feet to the edge of the rock-walled castle.
There was a guard. Of course, there would be a guard, Randal thought in exasperation. He touched Devon on the shoulder and pointed. Devon nodded.
The guard was walking away from them as he made his patrol, but he was bound to see them when he turned around.
Devon lifted a handful of loose pebbles from the path and tossed them over the cliff. They made a satisfactory noise as they bounced off the interior of the forcefield surrounding the castle.
The guard immediately went to peer over the edge of the cliff, suspecting someone was attempting to scale it.
Randal and Devon were on him in a rush, Randal grabbed him around the neck, pressing his gun into the guard's side. Devon grabbed the man's pulse rifle and pistol, disarming him.
"Now," Randal said, his voice echoing oddly from the misshapen helmet, "you're going to be a good boy and open the door for us."
The Guard, a man in his early twenties, with a nose already broken in some altercation, glared at them, and spat on the ground. "Go to Hell," he said.
"You first," Randal replied, dragging the man to the edge of the cliff. "How far down do you suppose it is?" he asked.
"Oh, maybe a hundred feet," Devon replied. "Do you think he'll survive the fall?"
"I doubt it," Randal said. "How much do you want to bet he does?"
"I can go for fifty—"
"Alright!" the guard said, sullenly. "I'll open the damn door."
"If an alarm goes off when we enter, we can still throw you off the cliff," Randal warned as the guard entered the code to open the door.
"It won't," the guard replied. "I'm not that stupid."
"I sure hope not, for your sake," Randal said cheerfully.
Once inside, he instructed the guide, "Now you're going to show us where the prisoners are being held."
"It's this way," the guard pointed a finger at the stairs leading into the interior of the castle. "Old man Lockton built some real good cells. Guess he wanted this to look like a real castle."
The path took them past the family rooms. As they passed the library, they heard voices.
"You sure got the poor end of the deal," A man's voice said. "Instead of attempting to figure out a way to get you out of this, your dear hubby is stinking drunk."
"He's only one man, against you and the others!" a woman's voice retorted. She sounded close to tears. "He won't risk my life or his son's. It's no wonder he gave in to despair."
"Sure, you keep thinking that," the other voice mocked.
Randal and Devon exchanged glances. The other voice had to be Thurston Albyn. They knew they couldn't afford to leave him behind with two potential hostages.
Randal handed off their prisoner to Devon and stepped into the room, and fired his pistol, stunning Albyn, who collapsed to the floor.
Mrs. Lockton let out a tiny scream.
The guard, seeing a chance to get away while Devon's attention was on what was going forward in the library, jerked away from him, and tried to dash down the stairs. Devon fired his pistol, hitting the man squarely in the buttocks. The guard collapsed, unconscious.
"Well, Damn," Randal said. "We needed one of them awake to show us where the other guards are and where prisoners are being kept."
"I think he only had about three men here," Mrs. Lockton said. "The others took off this morning for somewhere."
She rose and went to her husband, shaking his shoulder. "Geoffrey, you need to get up to show these men the guard rooms."
He peered at her owlishly, "What? Sorry, my dear, I'm a useless idiot. Thurston's right: you made a bad bargain."
"A moment if you will, please, Mrs. Lockton," Randal said. He opened a small pouch on his uniform and selected a vial. Unscrewing the vial, he poured it ruthlessly down Lockton's throat.
Lockton gasped and coughed. He slid out of his chair to his hands and knees, breathing like a freight train. "What the Hell was that?" he managed when he could speak.
"It's called Sober Up," Randal said. "Can you stand?"
"Yes," Lockton said, grabbing the arm of the chair to push himself to his feet. He looked down at Albyn and kicked him. "What happened to him?" he asked.
"I stunned him," Randal said. "The police are outside with a SWAT rescue team, but before I signal them, I need to get the rest of Albyn's men. Do you know where they are?"
"Probably in the guard barracks, playing cards," Lockton said. He pointed to Albyn, and the guard Devon had pulled into the room. "What about them?"
"Give me a pistol and I'll make sure they don't go anywhere," Mrs. Lockton said.
Devon handed her Albyn's pistol. "Here, you may as well use his," he said. He piled the guard's rifle on the library table and handed the other pistol to Lockton.
"They should be out for a couple of hours," Randal told her. "Hopefully, we'll be done by then."
"Thank you," Lockton said. "I don't know who you are but thank you."
"Courtesy of the Black Templars," Randal said. "Let's go find those guards."
The three remaining guards were indeed engaged in a card game. When they saw the armed trio in the doorway, one of them attempted to draw a weapon, and Geoffrey Lockton shot him.
The other two men raised their hands in surrender.
"Where are the keys to the prison cells?" Randal asked.
"He had them," one of the guards pointed to the man Lockton had killed.
"Back away," Randal ordered, as Devon searched the fallen guard.
He found a small crystal on a chain. "Is this it?"
"Yes," one of them said.
"Shut up!" his colleague hissed. "We don't talk, or we'll get killed, remember?"
"I'm turning off the forcefield," Devon said. "Do you want me to let Straus and the rescue team know?"
"Do it," Randal said.
When the SWAT team arrived, not much was left for them to do except take Albyn and his men into custody. A medical team followed them in and were soon busy administering whatever medical attention the hostages needed.
Jeannine Silverton approached Randal and Devon who were about to leave. "She sent you, didn't she?" she asked.
"Who?" Randal asked.
"Judith Garneys. She's the only one I can think of who would have looked for me," she said.
"Then you need to thank her when they get through with you," Randal said.
––––––––
