by Pam Uphoff
The women were in a state of near panic, but at least they were still there.
"What have you done? The TV is all about . . ." Blondie froze, staring at his head. "Who . . ."
"Hi, Blondie. The traffic was horrible, I had a terrible time getting home. Now, what have we got in the way of extra clothes? I've got a couple of teenagers who, well, I'll help them clean up, but I'm sure they'd appreciate some clean clothes."
They all eyed him, wide-eyed.
"Look . . . just watch TV while I get the boys cleaned up and then we'll talk, all right?"
The little crumble woman held out a store bag then retreated.
Leon popped the trunk and managed to get out of the car. Wobbled across to the bathroom.
Axel carefully woke the other boy, and lifted him out of the trunk. "How do you feel?"
The young man was almost as tall as Axel, but desperately thin. He looked around blinking. "Best hallucination I've had in years?" He fingered the white lab coat and tried to take some of his weight as Axel put an arm around his ribs and walked him carefully to the bathroom.
Fortunately the dried remnants of the gel were water soluble, and with a drain in the floor of the lavatory, he didn't worry much about splashing water around.
"I'm Igor, this is Leon, one of your fellow portalmakers."
"Robert Kramer. Well, foster child of the Kramers. Where . . . What?"
Axel helped him out of the damp and messy lav and helped him into very loose pants. Sat him down in the arm chair at the table and fetched socks and shirts. And another set for Leon. All his wigs. "So what color was your hair before?"
He cut the wires shorter, and got Leon into a light brown wig and Robert into a blond one. Shrugged and went for the black himself. Left off the beret.
"Now brace yourselves. Hysterical women incoming."
He opened the door to the front offices. "All right, come on back and meet the people I was actually here to rescue." He glanced back at the boys. "Or liberate, or kidnap. It's all a matter of how you look at it."
They stared at the boys in consternation.
"How young are you?" Krümel looked over at Axel. "Did you lie to us? To everyone?"
"No. Everything I said is true. I am an Alliance agent. I am investigating a complaint from Siberia Max about the behavior of Stuttgart. But I left out the part about 'and I'm from Siberia Max, and I'm really pissed, and I'm prepared to take action after I check out the possibilities.' Sorry." He looked around at the six Stuttgartans. "I'll be leaving in three days. I suppose, if any of you really want to stay, you may choose to do so. But I recommend you all come with me."
And they may choose, but they aren't going anywhere until I'm gone . . . and I just might really kidnap them, anyway.
He trotted back to the car and returned with all the snacks he'd bought.
"Robert, Leon, take it slow and carefully, until your system gets used to the idea of solid food again . . ."
Hallo Du's mouth fell open, then she gulped. "You two . . . are you portalmakers?"
All the women stared from the boys to Axel.
Then Shy started giggling. "Oh, Mein Gott! You stole two Portalmakers!"
Leon and Robert watched uneasily as all the women started grinning.
Axel shrugged. "The Cybernetics people were going to see if they could harvest any zivvy from the ladies. Killing them in the process, but who cares about a few widows without support?"
Blondie wiped her eyes. "Yes, and if we stay, they'll try it again. Or just kill us, so we can't tell the public about what they had planned for us, not to mention them losing two portalmakers."
Krümel nodded. "So, Igor. I will take you up on your generous offer to help me immigrate to Siberia Max."
The others nodded. Enthusiastically.
"We'll leave in three days. I have a Portal scheduled."
Then Shy fixed a healthier dinner, while Axel cleaned the lav.
And after dinner, hand washed and hung towels to dry. And his slimy clothes, the overalls, the lab coat . . . cleaned his boots . . .
Got plenty of dubious looks.
"I do a lot of work with explorer teams; you take care of your gear. There are no servants." He laughed at them. "Don't worry. I know how to be a stuck up Lord, and I'll do it when I have to. But I'd much rather not."
The boys sacked out on the two mattresses he'd left in the truck. He didn't say anything about "in case we have to leave in a hurry" but he suspected they all understood.
He slept in the car again. And worried. Helped the boys to the lav and back to bed. Had nightmares. Gave up on sleep at dawn and turned on the TV.
In the morning news, the Siberia Max Embassy had been raided overnight. There were pictures of the Ambassador and all his staff being hauled away in handcuffs. No mention of a specific crime, just "espionage."
More reports about the Plague. They were apparently in some sort of contact with other tier two and their own tier three Worlds. No more new infections reported. Three Worlds reporting no new infections in the last month.
No mention of the "annexing" of Siberia Max.
In other news, mechanical problems had forced the shutdowns of two of their four portals, and deliveries were being prioritized.
I wonder if they'll start house-to-house, building-to-building searches.
Day eight. I wonder if Natasha will get the free portalists to the facilities, not to mention getting all the workers there, the power plant back to full power . . . early?
What's the bigger risk? That they can detect the beacon, or that they'll find us if we sit around too long.
I really want to go home and haul all these guys and gals out to the "Rehab Center."
And then I'll find out if I'll be returning right away to rescue the diplomats.
***
It was a long boring day. TV and physical therapy, as best Axel could figure out what Leon and Robert needed.
On the evening news, a government spokesman denied that a portalmaker had died.
And a report from Colonel Lehr about how the Siberia Max situation was coming along. "I've just come from a very cordial meeting with the local Police and Security people. The police force is small in numbers, but they have excellent training, and high quality people, top to bottom. They are going to be a very welcome addition to our cluster during these trying times. The Alliance Security people are also very good, and will coordinate well with our troops."
As everyone hit the sack early, Axel caught a faint mental probe . . . Not very close. He brought up a slow mental shield around the boys, hopefully making it feel like the prober was getting further away from his prey.
If he felt the boys at all. He was pretty distant. I may have felt him before he could get a reaction.
The wife chips will keep the women invisible to that sort of hunt. And I'm already tight.
He didn't get much sleep.
And on the morning of the ninth day, decided it was time to take a bit of a risk.
"After breakfast, we need to load everything we're going to take with us into the truck and be ready to leave immediately."
A lot of wide-eyed women.
Leon looked back at the car. "But you are taking the totally cool car, right?"
Axel hesitated. "I hate to leave it behind; if the gang uses it and it gets identified, they'd be in deep trouble. But I can't drive both of them . . ."
"I can drive!" Krümel perked up. "It's about all I can do. Herman married me to raise his grandchildren, because he couldn't afford a nanny. I drove them everywhere, and when they were grown, well, by then I needed to drive Herman everywhere . . ."
Axel but his lip. "Driving a portal isn't hard. You just take aim, like it was a parking space and roll through at thirty-five miles an hour or more and Do. Not. Stop! Until you are completely clear."
She nodded, eager. "Now I can finally help!"
"Well. Breakfast. Then we'll load up and be ready." Axel looked around. "Not that we have much."
&
nbsp; Shy sniffed. "We should take the mattresses, so those boys don't just move in. And empty the fridge. And all the wine. Especially the stuff you've doped up."
Robert looked around. "Doped up?"
"Yep, and you'll get some as soon as . . . well, the stuff is fantastic, but it's got an incredible aphrodisiac in it, and this would be a bad time for an orgy."
The boys blushed worse than the women.
After breakfast they cleaned up and loaded up . . . "Just the essentials! Like as not nobody's even looking for my beacon yet. So we may be here through tomorrow night."
Blondie sniffed. "I suspect we'll be sleeping in the truck tonight."
Axel nodded. "Might not be a bad idea. Right now though, I need to add a delay to the garage door opener."
By the time he'd tested it, they'd packed the truck with as much as they could fit and still get in themselves. He talked to Krümel about backing the car down to there so he could back up the truck and have enough room to accelerate to a safe speed for transit. How she'd need to follow closely and not stop.
"I know! It's in all the movies." She grinned. "I feel like a secret agent!"
Axel shook his head, and rolled under the truck to disassemble the hiding place of the beacon.
They eyed the translucent bar, wide-eyed.
And boggled as he cut a two foot deep slot in the concrete foundation at the wall in front of the truck. Turned on the beacon and lowered it into the slot, and replaced most of the concrete. And startled when he jerked away from the tiny shock.
"Into the truck! Now!"
"Already?"
"Yep." He boosted Shy up so she could get Robert to a seat. "Krümel? If you could open the door and back the car out?"
Blondie and Hallo Du scrambled into the back and Leon got a boost in. Then he closed them in. And climbed into the truck. Started it and backed out. The sparking ball spread out and gave him a view down a street . . . Right. Portal Facility Two. Excellent.
He gave Krümel a thumbs up. Tapped the garage door button, and drove through the portal. :: One more car coming! :: and out onto the street. Behind him, the car popped through, and behind her, the portal closed.
No hostile activity in sight.
A happy Natasha, :: Keep going. Take the third right and I'll meet you in the parking lot of the grocery. ::
:: Will do. :: He slid the window to the back open. "Welcome to Siberia Max. I'm going to stop and talk to some people, catch up on the news . . . then we'll see which of several places we'll be going."
He turned right, spotted the grocery store and pulled into the parking lot. Krümel pulled up beside him, and Natasha beside her, eyeing each other curiously.
"So what's going on here?"
"Lots of encounters with cyborg soldiers, with, so far, eleven cyborgs killed, and three civilians. Then yesterday Colonel Lehr pushed too hard and it turned into a big battle right in front of the Council building. Actually it started inside . . .
"Well, eighteen dead soldier cyborgs, two dead officers. On our side, only one fatality, four serious injuries . . . umm, Barf killed one of the officers with one of those knives you gave him, and then he blew up a tank-thing, well he called it a AGC, with probably two men inside, and the shrapnel . . ."
She looked down. "He said I better not tell you he cried, later."
"Oh dear . . . I'll talk to him. Where . . ." He broke off as Henrik got out of Natasha’s van and started talking to Krümel, and his quad was following his lead . . . "Guys, we probably need to get out of here pretty quick."
Natasha nodded. "And Director Rasputin wants to talk to you, but Up Top is under siege after yesterday and there's a lot of phone interference so, take this. Pauli says it'll work and encode between it and the one Barf has. The buttons at the top are for us, and 'Mr. Var' is Up Top pretending to be a normal secretary, except he worked out this morning with the Fast Response Teams and said he heard all sorts of stories about Igor."
"Well . . . Right . . . I need to take six people out to the Rehab Center, so I'll be back in four or five hours . . ."
"Nope." Henrik grinned. "I'll take your latest group of rescuees out there, so you can plot with your minions and bosses . . . if you'll let me drive that slick little car, later."
Axel snorted. "Deal. Now let's get out of here before the Stutties notice that one of our Portals spontaneously started working."
Henrik grinned and climbed in the truck cab. Krümel trotted around and climbed in the other side.
Natasha shook her head. Eyed the car and sighed. "I want to drive it too. But maybe after you've kicked the Stutts out, and Pauli's 'fixed' the registration. Now, be careful! You're still a wanted man."
"Yeah, I'll head for the warehouse, and talk to the boss from there." He climbed in the car, readjusted the seat . . . and drove off, staying a few cars ahead of the truck, eyes open and watching for Stutties who might notice a Stutt registered car, or a truck that had gone through their portal but not back . . .
Like the military style vehicle pulling out . . . he made a left and hit the gas. They never even glanced at the truck, and he led them all over the south-side, then when more showed up he started throwing anti-electricity impressions at them. Got eight before he ran out and finally headed for the warehouse.
Pauli yelled at him. "N-not that it wasn't f-funny, w-watching their cars mysteriously d-d-d-d-die, one after an-nother! But, but . . ."
Axel shook his head. "Really! You guys worry about me way too much. Now, I need to check in with the boss . . ."
"And I'll ch-check that th-there aren't any t-tracking d-devices on the c-car." The boy stomped off to his work bench, which had accumulated a lot of equipment in the last nine days.
Axel grinned and poked the "V" button on the phone, and the "code" button.
"Office of the Director, may I ask who's calling." Barf's voice, in the snootiest accent imaginable.
"Does the boss actually let you get away with being that snotty?"
"Certainly not! And Mr. Matveev would be horribly put out if we weren't expecting you to call. And here's . . ."
"Me. So, six people?" The Boss's voice
"I only managed to grab two portalmakers, but the other two are very old and I suspect the Stutties will work them to death rather quickly. The other four people I hauled here are youngish widows that their scientists were going to see if they could get live zivvy out of their chips and keep it functional enough to use."
A whistle from the Boss.
"Yeah, when the 300 hear about them experimenting with zivvy . . . Well, the Stutties obviously think it'll never happen."
"And we haven't a clue. Regulus hasn't opened a portal to check on us, which is rather alarming, but we'll have to worry about that after we've dealt with the Stutties." A sigh from the Boss. "I wonder if Lehr knows about losing the Portals?"
"Well, I caught an interview with Lehr on the news . . . last night . . . but it was all about a productive meeting with the Governor and so forth, so it was probably recorded before he got the news. It's been . . . about forty-eight hours since the alarm went up, over there."
"So twenty-four hours before yesterday's fun. I'll bet he got a message to find our portalmakers and any zivvy we have, fast, before a panic sets in."
Axel braced himself. "Another new report I caught. They raided the Siberia Max embassy, arresting six people on charges of espionage."
A moment's silence. "Expectable. Stay out of sight. Murphy removed a couple of traps from your house, which they vandalized, but there's no guarantee they haven't gone back, and they're probably watching it."
"Right. I'll be around if you need me."
"Sitting down with your feet up, doing nothing, no doubt." A snort. And click.
Axel looked down at the phone. No. I can't call Dina. I don't know what surveillance they have in the neighborhood. Especially watching the only neighbors who'd ever met the evil Axel Vinogradov.
Chapter Fifty
Shopping
&n
bsp; December 21, 3739
They were followed all the way from home, so Dina stopped talking.
Kept her eyes open and finally spotted the cause of her certainty. A middle-aged man. Sandy-brown hair, a touch of gray. Taller than average, but not notably so. Like Axel, but heavier. In work clothes you'd never look twice at him. In a good suit you'd think him an intimidating Lord.
In good but casual clothes . . . he's hard to categorize. Working class lord, like Dad and Vlad? Spy? Well, a Stuttgart Agent of some sort. Or could he be one of ours, guarding us because of our connection to Axel?
I should call him Lord Axel. Even if I'd had a wife chip I'd be so beneath him. And no matter that the zivvy's gone, it's in my records, and the great-grandson of the Founder is not going to marry a servant.
And sex has nothing to do with it, he'd just had that wine and I know how it made me feel. I shouldn't have . . . given in to my own desires. He's not Red. He's a man I'd met four times before I rescued him.
But I could feel that he liked me.
And what about that? When I was eighteen I had just the start of talent. But I knew Red . . . Axel . . . Lord Axel was in trouble, and I figured out what he needed me to do.
And I know he came back yesterday, pleased. Alert but relieved . . . How did I know that?
"Excuse me, aren't you a neighbor of mine? Do you know what's going on with that house down the road?"
Dina looked around. The man was addressing her mom, not her.
"Oh, I only met him three times? Something like that. And he seemed like such a nice young man." She dropped her voice. "I heard they chipped him and he went crazy. But that can't be true, because there was no trial. I think those rude Stuttens are trying to get rid of him, because he's so important!"
Dina blinked. Did Mom just call them Mares? Not that there's anything the least bit wrong with mares, but I'll bet the Stutties would not like to be called female animals, even horses. I wonder if I could get it to spread . . .
