by James McEwan
“I know, but I don’t know their names, yet.” he lied.
Tommy smiled because he had cracked the armor of the great Sergeant Domenic St. Claire. “Yet, what does that mean?”
“It means that I know what they look like, where they are coming from, and how they are going to get here. What I don’t know is their names.” St. Claire said, picking up his coffee cup again.
Their conversation was cut short by the young waitress as she returned and took their order. After she left the table, St. Claire sat in silence watching the horizon.
Chapter 19
The faded lettering on the door read. “Security Office.” As Thad waited for the door to open, he checked his link to Vergil. Using his comm implant he was able to communicate with him by thought. This was useful, because he was able to speak to Vergil without being overheard by anyone. “Hey, Vergil, you in place yet?”
“Just about, once I am, I will comm you. Until then leave me be. It is hard enough to find my way around in this mess.” Vergil said, sounding irritated.
“Mess? I thought these vehicles were pretty much identical and you knew the air vents like the back of your hand, or at least that is what you told me.”
Vergil paused at a junction that was filled with bundles of cables. “Yeah, well let’s just say that my ship is a bit cleaner and more organized. Their engineers are a bunch of lazy bums. This place is a virtual rat’s nest of cabling. Cabling that shouldn’t be here.”
“I will make sure I mention it to the commander when I meet him.” Thad said.
The door slid open and Thad was shown in. The office was much like you would expect to find in a security office. Desks for officers to do paperwork, a rack attached the wall where the officers stored comms, weapons and other gear. There were two doors at the back of the office, one most likely led to the on board brig . The other was the door to the chief’s office. He was shown to that door.
Painted lettering read. “Janis Case, Chief”. Inside the office he found Ms. Case sitting behind her desk reading, her tight leather jacket was now unzipped to just below her breasts showing off what little cleavage she had. “Chief Case.”
“Agent Hammer.” She replied, with a conservative smile.
“Please, call me Thad.” he returned her smile.
She stood up and handed him a tablet. “Here are all the files you requested. Now if you will follow me, lunch is ready.” She led him through to her private dining room, which was adjacent to her office.
The spread was impressive. There were meats and cheeses, crackers, and fresh fruit. The table had been set for three. “Three? Are we expecting company?” Thad asked as he took his seat.
“Yes, the commander wanted to meet you and is on the way down to join us.” she answered.
“I have to say that I’m impressed with the way that you have treated a lowly public servant.” Thad said, trying to make small talk.
“You are a representative of the Federal government, not just a mere local lackey. You deserve the treatment befitting your rank. Wine?”
Thad held up his glass. She poured a deep red wine, which had a pleasant aroma to it. “Yes please.”
Thad was enjoying the woody smell when the door slid open and a short, but stern looking woman entered. She was a least an inch shorter than the twins, but whatever she lacked in height she more than made up for with beauty. Her light brown hair was cut short, but in a way that framed her face nicely. Thad noticed a few gray strands hair hiding in the mass of soft brown. Her body was shapely and she had few wrinkles for a woman her age, which he guessed was somewhere in her sixties. Thad found her to be quite attractive. It was her deep gray eyes that he found so inviting ... something about those eyes seemed familiar.
“Ah Commander, this is Agent Thaddeus Hammer.” Janis said, as they both stood. “Agent Hammer this is Commander Amanda Hayes.”
He took her hand, stared into her steel gray eyes, and could not shake the feeling of connection to this woman. She too stared into his eyes and felt some kind of connection. They stood there shaking hands in silence staring at each other. It was the Commander who broke the ice. “Agent Hammer, have we met before?”
“No, I don’t think so.” he replied.
“I’m sure we must have crossed paths at some point because there is something very familiar about you.” she finally let go of his hand.
“I know the feeling.” he said as he wracked his brain trying to think of anywhere he could have seen her or met her before.
Noticing that there was something going on between the commander and Thad, Janis spoke up. “Shall we.” She pointed to the table.
“Ah yes.” the Commander said and joined them at the table.
Thad instantly recognized the way Commander Hayes carried herself as someone who had been in the military. She also noticed that he was studying her. “So, Agent Hammer you seemed to be a little shocked when you met me.”
Oh, she is good, he thought. “Yes, I must admit I was little surprised to see a female commander as that I was led to believe that the commander of this convoy was a man.”
“Ah, yes. The former commander was a man. However, he suffered a great personal loss and never fully recovered from it. The grief of the loss of his sister was too much for the poor man to bear. He wanted revenge, but that would have meant war between convoys, which no one wanted… So we did something that was rarely ever done. He was relieved of his command.”
"He wanted to take revenge on the man who killed his sister, but he was too well protected and so he tried to start a war between the two convoys to kill him. The people of this convoy didn’t want to die just so he could have some revenge. So they relieved him of his command.”
“Where is he now?” Thad asked.
“Unfortunately, the man (having believed he had lost everything) sadly took his own life.”
Thad transmitted his thoughts to Vergil. “Are you getting all of this?”
“Yes, and I guess it means our Intel is a little out of date.” he replied.
“You think? This changes the plan.” Thad transmitted.
Thad could not transmit thoughts and talk at the same time and to keep them from questioning a pause in the conversation, Thad shoved a cube of cooked beef in his mouth. As it turned out he didn’t need to, the commander didn’t pause, she just kept on talking for another five minutes. She explained that she had been born on the convoy but later left it to become a fleet officer in the Star Guard. She had just retired when she was contacted about coming back and commanding the convoy.
As fascinating as it was Thad was trying to think out his options. His plan was now shot to hell and he was going to have to do things on the fly, which seemed to be standard procedure for him lately.
Thad did his best to keep the conversations light and focused on them. He steered clear of questions about himself as much as he could. Luckily, for him, most people are far more interested in talking about themselves than they are about hearing about you. The lunch was tasty and filling. Thad was starting to believe that, as it was drawing to an end, he might just get through this.
It was a thought that he knew better than to think, but he just couldn’t help it. Things had been not going his way for a while now and he just wanted something to be easy. However, things never are. and no sooner had the thought of easy success crossed his mind when a security officer entered and handed Chief Case a tablet.
She read it, and then calmly placed it on the table. “Excuse me commander, but it seems that Mr. Hammer is not who he claims to be.”
“Excuse me?” Thad said, looking as shocked as he could.
“Oh.” was the commander’s response.
“Yes, Agent Hammer did not exist until this morning. You see Mr. Hammer, I’m very good at my job, and it will take more than some bullshit story and some hastily forged credentials to get one over on me.” Chief Case smiled.
“I’m sorry Ms. Case, but wherever you are getting your information from it seem
s to be quite wrong.” Thad said trying to place doubt in her mind.
It wasn’t working. “Mr. Hammer, you can stop it now. My sources are never wrong. I know you are not a Federal Safety Inspector, and I know that you don’t exist, at least not legally. Your DNA is not on file anywhere in any database. So as far as the government is concerned you are noone, and therefore no one will miss you if we were to shoot you right here.”
Thad could see there was no point in lying. “I must say, Commander, you have a top notch security chief here. She’s a keeper.”
“Flattery will not save your skin, Mr. Hammer. I suggest you come clean and tell us who you are and why you are here.” Commander Hays said, as she poured herself another glass of wine in anticipation of a long drawn out story, one that she didn’t think she would believe.
Ms. Case echoed the commander. “Yes, Mr. Hammer I suggest you follow the commander’s advice because you don’t have a lot of time.”
“Time?” Thad asked not sure what she meant by her comment.
“Yes Mr. Hammer, time Something you don’t have a lot of.” Seeing the worried look on his face Chief Case said. “Don’t worry Mr. Hammer, we are not going to shoot you. We don’t do that kind of thing very often. No, you have to worry about the planetary authorities.”
All emotion drained from his face. “The authorities…”
“Yes, I contacted them as soon as I learned that you are wanted along with two others. Now, I am going to ask you one last time, who are you and why are you here?” Chief Case said, sternly.
“Oh, you stupid woman.” Thad said. It slipped out before he could stop himself.
“Petty insults, really Mr. Hammer. Is this the level you are going to stoop to?” The Commander asked.
“It wasn’t an insult, it was a fact. Ms. Case here has just put you and your whole crew, the whole convoy in serious danger.”
Ms. Case flushed red with anger. “Mr. Hammer I have had just about all I’m going to take out of you. You can start talking or you can sit in the brig until the authorities come for you.”
Thad took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly. He chose to tell them the truth and hoped they would believe it. He told them everything, from who he was, to the other dimension that he came from. When he was finished, he stared at the two women waiting for some kind of response.
The security chief stood up, straightened her jacket. “That is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard. You really expect us to believe that you are a reformed super-assassin from another dimension here to save the daughter of a madman from us?”
Thad shrugged his shoulders. “Well, yes.”
The commander was oddly silent, but Ms. Case didn’t seem to notice. “Mr. Hammer you are either the worst liar on the planet, or just plain crazy. Not that it matters, either way, you are going to be turned over to the authorities as soon as they arrive.”
Thad stood up to find himself flanked by two security men that seemed to pop out of nowhere. “You really don’t want to do this.”
“Yes, I think I do. I hate being lied to.” Chief Case said. “Take him and put him in an isolation cell. Oh, and one more thing Mr. Hammer, if you are really here to rescue the girl from us, you should know that she is not here and according to my information she and Roman left Nueva Texas some time ago.”
The security officers took Thad by the arms. He didn’t resist because he didn’t want to hurt them for just doing their jobs. As he was being escorted out he asked one last question. “Why would she leave the world?”
“Because that monster wants her dead. He believes she helped her mother betray him” was the answer Ms. Case gave him as he was taken from the room.
The commander sat still in silence. She seemed to be lost in thought. Ms. Case crossed over and sat down next to her. “You are strangely silent, what’s up?”
The commander shifted in her chair. “Not sure, but there is something about that man and his story that is bothering me.”
“You don’t believe that crap do you?”
“Not sure what I believe yet. I need more information. What did you turn up in your investigation?”
“See for yourself.” she handed the commander the tablet.
The commander read the report. She was in the middle or reading it when she stopped and set the tablet down. “You said his DNA was not in any database anywhere.”
“Well, yes that is true. We couldn’t find any record of his DNA anywhere.”
The commander pointed to a line in the report. “You want to explain this to me then?”
Ms. Case picked up the tablet. “Oh that is just a partial match in our own database, not a full match, so it was discounted.”
“Did you look closely at the type of DNA that matched?”
Ms. Case looked at the report again. “No, I had skimmed over that part, but it says here that it is a mitochondrial DNA match.”
The commander stared at her waiting for her to understand. “So?”
“So it just means that his mother is or was part of the convoy at some point.”
The commander rolled her eyes. “Look at the match more closely, see who it matches.”
Ms. Case’s jaw opened, closed, then opened again. “But that is not possible, is it?”
“I think I would have remembered having a child, after all, I would have been there, right?”
“Right, one would think. Maybe it is a mistake. I will look into it more if you would like?”
The commander stood up. “Yes, please. I would like to know just what the hell is going on.” Ms. Case nodded, and both women left the room.
Thad found the isolation cell to be quite nice as far as cells go. The bunk was comfortable enough and the toilet facilities were clean. Not that he planned to be there long enough to use either one of them. “Vergil, new plan.”
“Okay, what?” Vergil replied over the comm.
“You need to get me out of here now and we need to get the hell of out Dodge.”
“Dodge?” Vergil asked.
“Never mind, just pop the lock on my cell and meet me back at the landing bay.” Thad said.
“Okay, but it is going to take a while to get you out of that cell.”
Not the words Thad wanted to hear. “What was that? Did you just say a while?”
Vergil was typing, as fast his little digits would go. “Yes, and the longer you talk to me the longer this will take. The security is really good. It is going to take me a least an hour to break it, maybe more.”
Dammit, Thad thought. He was really missing Eve right now, she would have had him out of that cell by the end of the conversation. “Okay just do your best, but we may not have an hour.”
“What does that mean?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know. Just keep working, Thad out.” Thad cut the link and with nothing else to do until Vergil cracked the security codes, sat down on the bed and waited.
He didn’t have to wait long before the door to his cell slid open. Great, Vergil did it and fast too, he thought, but as he jumped to his feet, his hopes were dashed. The same two officers that had escorted him into the cell where at the door. “This way.” one of them said.
They escorted him to what looked like an interview room. There was a desk with mag-strip for mag cuffs, but so far he had given them no reason to use them so they didn’t. There was one chair on one side and two on the other. He was led to the single chair where he sat down. The officers left him alone in the room.
A minute later the door opened and a tall handsome man with chiseled features, jet-black hair,and steel gray eyes stepped through. Thad knew instantly who he was, however, Marcus didn’t know who Thad was because of the reconstructive surgery he had. Thad sat in silence waiting for Marcus to make the first move. Marcus said nothing. As he sat down the only sound in the room was the light whoosh of the door closing.
The two men stared at each other looking into their own gray eyes. Finally, Marcus spoke. “So you are the on
e who has caused me so much trouble.” Thad cracked a smile. Marcus sat unmoving, unflinching. “I have to give it to you, whoever you are, you are good. I mean really good. No one has ever bested me before, oh and thank you for that. By the way, you really made me look bad with management.”
“Did mean old Georgie yell at you?” Thad asked with a pouty lip.
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “Care to tell me how you know that?”
Thad smiled ear-to-ear. “I know all kinds of things about you, Marcus. Oh don’t look so stunned, the fact is I know everything about you.”
“That is impossible! Who are you?” Marcus bellowed.
Wow, I can’t believe I was that easily angered, Thad thought.
“Are you some kind of test? Did Thorne create you to push me? To see if I can handle a real opponent?” Marcus said, as his face flushed. “Answer me, damn it!”
I have really gotten to him, man I was an ego driven asshole. “You want the truth, do you?”
Marcus realized he was losing his temper and calmed down. He thought it strange no one had ever made him lose it the way this man had. “The truth would be nice.”
“Okay, but you are not going to like it.”
“Try me.” Marcus said, with his emotionless face again.
“To answer your question, yes, Throne made me just like he made you, but he didn’t make me to test you. The George Throne you know doesn’t know that I exist any more than you did before a few days ago.”
Trying to understand what Thad was saying Marcus asked. “So what, like a lost brother or something?”
“No, nothing like that, I am you, Marcus.” Thad sat leaning back in the chair, testing to see if it was bolted to the floor: it wasn’t ... good.
“What do you mean me? A twin? But how could that be? You don’t look like me.” Marcus was having a hard time with Thad’s explanation.
“No, you idiot.” Thad paused, was I so thick back when I was him? “I am you from another dimension. I look this way because of reconstructive surgery after, let’s just say, an accident. Look at my eyes, your eyes and you will know I’m telling the truth.”
