Jordan went to inform Security that the four of them would be carrying out a spot check of the facility, to ensure that everything, at least as far as Zeor was concerned, was in order.
The places that had been picked out by Laurie yielded nothing. They quickly moved on to their other designated areas. The search had been started at Noon, and many hours later the two Gens at least were both exhausted and hungry. Another two hours passed by before Jason finally let himself into Vidal’s suite of rooms. Then, with a deep sigh, he stretched out on his stomach on the couch his head buried in his arms.
Although his stomach had begun to rumble, his tiredness won out. He forced the hunger pangs to the back of his consciousness to be attended to later.
He had already spoken to Vidal, telling him that he had been unsuccessful in the search. On his way back here he had bumped into Laurie who had also had no luck. From the shattered look on his face, Jason had little doubt at all but that he, too, would by now, be sound asleep.
Finally his eyes closed and he slept. His dreams, however, were muddled. One dream blending almost seamlessly into another till suddenly everything changed, and he was in a strange room witnessing what appeared to be an argument between Jordan and Laurie.
Unfortunately, he did not seem to be able to get close enough to hear their conversation. Almost angrily, Jason lifted his fist to break through what appeared to be a glass barrier, when he suddenly jerked awake and realised that someone was shaking his shoulder.
‘Jason. Come on. Wake up!’ Opening his eyes he found himself staring up into Vidal’s anxious face.
‘What’s up?’ He finally managed to croak.
‘You haven’t eaten all day. I’ve brought you a light meal. Come, you can sleep afterwards,’ and putting his arm under the Gen he lifted him up.
Jason laughed inanely as he observed, ‘Your priorities sometimes leave a lot to be desired my friend. At the moment I’d much rather sleep than eat.’ He yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes with one fist as he went on, ‘However, as you’ve gone to the trouble of fetching it here for me, I’ll try.’
Vidal smiled and placed the tray in front of the Gen, before he too sat down beside him.
‘I was dreaming about Jordan and Laurie, but you interrupted it.’ Jason said between mouthfuls of creamy rice, ‘They were arguing, but I couldn’t hear what it was all about. At least it wasn’t a nightmare.’
Vidal grinned at his partner, ‘I’m glad to hear that.’
‘I take it you and Jordan didn’t find anything interesting?’
‘No. We didn’t, which means the device has probably not yet been placed in position.’ The Channel stated wearily, ‘Of course, they could be doing that even as we speak.’
‘Let’s hope not,’ Jason yawned again as he pointed out, ‘Even if they are, we can’t keep searching the place again and again can we?’ He pushed the tray to one side.
‘No, we can’t.’ And the Sime removed the tray and watched as the Gen settled down again. ‘Would you prefer to take the bed? I, myself, will not be using it tonight.’
‘No thanks. I’m fine here,’ he mumbled and closed his eyes.
Walking into the bedroom, Vidal picked up a pillow and duvet and carried it back to drop the light cover over the Gen, careful not to disturb him for he was again, sound asleep.
A sudden chime at the door heralded Jordan’s arrival.
‘Laurie?’ He asked, as his fellow Sime walked past him.
‘Asleep.’
‘As is Jason,’ he pointed towards the Gen’s recumbent figure with one tentacle.
‘I thought we should talk’ Jordan said as he moved to a hard backed chair, straddled the seat, and folded his arms along the back. ‘We have to decide our next step,’ For the next two hours they sat and talked quietly whilst they drank a bottle of wine.
Finally Jordan said, ‘I trust Gavriel, my man in charge here, implicitly, he’s pretty astute. Let’s go and have a word with him. We don’t have to tell him anything specific about Alex Judy or anything else, but he may have noticed something that at the time did not seem important. But to us…’ He looked across at his friend who nodded his head slowly in agreement. A few minutes later they both left the room.
***
Jason was deeply asleep, when once again the door chime sounded. As before he slept through it; until his unknown visitor began pounding on the outside of the door. Jason came awake with a start, ‘What the shen?!’
He staggered to his feet, rubbing his eyes and cursing silently to himself as he made his way across to the door. The pounding still went on. The only thing he knew for sure was that his late night caller was quite obviously, not Sime.
‘Laurie! What’s up?’ He demanded, as the Gen pushed past him, a bag in one hand and the plan of the building in the other.
‘Where are the others?’
‘Search me. Vidal must have left while I was asleep.’
The other Gen placed the plan on the table as he explained, ‘I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and had another look at the plan to see if we’d missed anything before – and we did.’
Jason stared down at the plan before he asked, ‘What did we miss?’
‘This.’ Laurie pointed to the bottom of the plan with one finger.
‘The footings?’
‘That’s the mistake we made last time. That’s not the footings. Jason, it’s the cellar, and it stretches the whole length and breadth of the building.’ He said triumphantly. ‘I went into the computer again. You stopped when you found the plan, but I went on. It seems that the cellars were closed off about fifty years ago, but they’re still there, fully intact.’
‘An ideal place to plant a bomb,’ Jason said softly.
‘Exactly,’ he glanced at Jason again, ‘You’re still dressed, that’s good. We have to go and take a look down there.’
‘Shouldn’t we wait for the others?’
‘Do you know where they are?’
‘No.’
‘Me neither, which means they could be anywhere. Look we’re wasting time sitting here. It’s time we can’t afford to waste. If you want to stay here and wait for them to come back, that’s fine by me, but I’m going now.’ He began to walk towards the door.
Jason sighed as he followed him across the room, ‘All right you win. Let’s go and see what we can find.’ He glanced down at the bag the other Gen still had in his hand, ‘What’s that for?’
‘It’s my kit. I may require it if we find anything interesting in the cellar.’ Laurie informed him as he walked out of the door in front of Jason, and called over his shoulder, ‘Come on! Get a move on.’
‘Wait a minute, we may want these,’ Jason replied as he pushed two torches into his pocket.
As they made their way along the deserted corridor Jason asked how they were to get down into the cellar.
‘Not from inside the building, that’s for sure. The entrance in from the house was probably closed off over fifty years ago when they discontinued using the cellar. So, unless you think we ought to bring in some heavy building equipment and wake the whole house in the process…’
‘All right you’ve made your point. But it still doesn’t tell me how we’re going to get in there, does it?’
‘I’ve already scouted around outside. I think I may have found a way. Did you know that this building is over 200 years old?’
‘I didn’t realise it was that old!’
‘Well it is. According to the records there was a large drain that led from the house to a cesspit, long before modern drainage was installed.’
‘You got all this from the computer?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m impressed. I should have delved deeper. I’m not usually that lax.’
‘Thanks. Anyway, I think I’ve found one of the inspection hatches they would have used to make sure the drain wasn’t clogged up with…stuff.’
‘Charming. Sounds like fun.’ Jason wrinkled his nose in distaste as he went on, ‘If you’re suggesting what I think you are, I’ll register my protest right now. I don’t like the sound of this, or should that be smell?’
‘There won’t be anything obnoxious down there, not after all this time,’ Laurie assured him.
‘Do you think Alex and his cronies got in the same way?’
Laurie shook his head, ‘I doubt it. They’ve had a lot longer than us to plan all this. I expect they’ve found a way in from the house itself, but it’ll be well hidden. We just don’t have the time to look for it now, not without alerting them. After all, we took one hell of a chance when we searched the place.’ He pointed out.
Laurie suddenly smiled broadly as he approached the guards at one of the side doors. ‘Can’t sleep,’ he explained, ‘We thought we’d go out for a breath of fresh air.’
‘Don’t blame you. This place may be big, but after a time is gets quite claustrophobic,’ one of the guards agreed, and opened the door for them.
‘Don’t leave the main paths or stray into the grounds,’ the other guard warned. The two Gens waved an acknowledgement as they began to stroll along the side of the house.
Several minutes later, they turned the corner of the large building and veered off along another path that led them away from the house.
Stopping abruptly in front of Jason, Laurie bent down to push aside the branches of a low growing shrub, before he kicked away the leaves, and pointed downwards. ‘This is the inspection hatch I found, help me get it open.’
After some time, and much puffing and panting, the two Gens finally got the metal hatch to lift out of the ground. It came away with a sucking sound, and they found themselves staring down into a dark hole.
Jason pulled out one of the small torches and handed the other to Laurie. Then, leaning forward, he looked down again. ‘Shen. I thought you said it wouldn’t stink!’
Laurie laughed at the other Gen’s expression of disgust as he, too, shone a torch down the hole. ‘It’s only about five feet to the bottom.’
‘You know I’ve got a distinct feeling of déjà vu,’ Jason informed him, ‘Would you believe I was crawling around in a hole similar to this, not too far away from here, just days ago?’
‘Well look on the bright side, you’re getting used to it aren’t you?’
Laurie replied, as he led the way down into the sewer.
The large pipe was lined with bricks. Thankfully, it was dry. Laurie directed the beam of light down the tunnel and the two of them set off in the direction of the house. They could not stand upright, and had to almost bend over double to make any progress at all.
Jason heaved a sigh of relief as Laurie called over his shoulder that he had found another inspection hatch, although he was unsure whether it was actually inside or outside the walls of the building.
This time, however, it was not so easy to open. They both began to push with their hands unsure what, if anything, was on the other side of the metal hatch. Finally, the whole piece of metal moved freely and they managed to push and heave it to one side.
Cupping his hands for him to step into, Jason hoisted the other Gen out of the hole. Once he was on top, Laurie turned around, and helped Jason to climb out.
‘We’re inside!’
Laurie smiled, ‘So it would seem,’ he agreed, as he swung the beam of his torch around him and said, ‘We’re definitely in the cellar.’
‘It’s empty.’
‘This is only one room of many,’ Laurie reminded him. ‘As I said before, the entire area of the cellar runs under the building. That’s a lot of space. You look in that direction, and I’ll look down here.’
They set off and Jason’s hopes began to fade as he stared into one empty room or area after another.
‘Jason! I’ve found it.’ Laurie’s voice interrupted his thoughts and sent him running back towards the sound.
He finally found the right room and skidded to a halt, as he stared at the ominous looking piece of technology that was sitting on a cushion of air in the centuries old cellar. It looked totally out of place.
Jason was not exactly sure what he had expected, certainly nothing like this. The device itself was about four feet high, silent as a tomb and encased in a silver coloured metal that had two blue lights at the very top, flashing on and off.
Jason bit his lip before he said softly, as though frightened that just the sound of his voice might set it off, ‘That’s it?’
‘That’s it.’ Laurie agreed as he busied himself with emptying the contents of his bag onto the stone floor, and then said, ‘Good. I’ve found it,’ and he pulled a small sphere out of the bottom of the bag and after touching a button on the smooth surface he placed it on the floor beside him. Within seconds the sphere lit up brightly and the room sprang immediately into clear focus.
‘You came well prepared,’ Jason stated as he looked around the bare room and then he asked softly, ‘Can I help?’
‘Not at the moment, no. I may want your assistance once I’ve removed the outer casing, and can see what’s inside.’
‘Er... Do you know if it’s set to blow up on its own, or does it have to be detonated by remote?’ Jason whispered.
‘You don’t have to whisper, it can’t hear you.’ Laurie said with a tight grin, ‘At first glance, I’d say remote control. Of course, I could be wrong. Again, I’ll have to have a closer look to be absolutely certain.’
‘Are you sure you can do this? It looks complicated.’
‘It is. And to be truthful with you… no. I’m not completely sure I can deactivate the thing, but I’m going to try.’
‘Is that wise?’
‘Of course not, but we have no choice. This weapon is fully primed and one way or another either its going to blow itself up, or Alex Judy is going to press a button…and boom! That is, unless I can close it down first.’
Kneeling down, Laurie picked up one of the tools from those strewn around him. Before he touched the outer casing of the device he glanced across at Jason and said, ‘Wish me luck.’
‘Good luck,’ Jason said under his breath, and then went on, ‘I’ve got everything crossed, fingers, toes, and eyes.’ He then watched with open fascination as the other Gen set to work to remove the side panel.
Several minutes later Jason asked, ‘Shall I go and warn Vidal and Jordan, and tell them what you’re doing?’
‘No, not yet. I may require your help. On top of that, if I’m unsuccessful, or they realise that someone is tampering with their toy, we’ll all go up anyway. So a warning isn’t going to help anyone, is it?’ He said bluntly and then said, ‘Besides, I like to have company.’
Jason fell silent as he watched the other Gen’s deft movements.
‘I really would let you go and warn them you know. If I thought for a second that you’d all leave the building, and it would save your lives.’ Laurie said suddenly, ‘We both know that none of you would do that, don’t we?’
Jason remained silent.
‘So come on. Talk to me.’
‘I thought you’d prefer silence, so that you can concentrate.’
‘When I get to the interesting part, I shall. For now, I want to talk.’ He grinned across at Jason, ‘It helps.’
‘What do you want to talk about?’ Jason asked, completely bereft of ideas.
‘You choose.’
‘I’d love to know what happened between you and Jordan?’ Jason said hopefully.
‘Is that the best you can come up with?’
‘No, but I’m curious.’
‘Sorry pal, no sale. Pick another subject.’
***
Jordan and Vidal left Gavriel’s office feeling disappointed. The renSime had not noticed anything untoward at Eaglestone in the last week.
As they walked down the hallway, Jordan said, ‘If we return to our rooms to talk, we stand a good chance of waking up one of the Gens. Suppose we sit in one of the lounges and talk.’
A short while later they were both settled in the comfortable seats in an empty lounge, a glass of red wine in front of each of them.
‘I feel we’ve exhausted the whole topic as far as explosives are concerned,’ Vidal said wryly. ‘Sometimes I find that if one speaks about something entirely different for a while, when you return to the original subject, new ideas can often be generated.’
Jordan nodded his dark head, ‘Yes. I agree. Are things improving between you and Jason?’
‘I believe so. At least we appear to have called a truce for the remainder of this assignment.’ Vidal stated before he asked, ‘And you and Laurie, how are things there?’
‘Not good.’
‘We’ve been friends for many years Jordan. Are you sure you don’t wish to tell me what’s troubling you?’
The Sectuib sighed and ran his tentacles through his thick hair. ‘It’s not something I feel comfortable discussing, even with someone as close as you.’
‘Leave it then. I’m sorry I asked.’ Vidal said quickly.
‘No…I…’ Jordan hesitated momentarily and then went on, ‘Laurence Knight was born into Zeor, originally his people came from Carre in the Gulf Territory, but his Great Grandfather joined us, and the whole family have been ambrov Zeor ever since.
‘When we were young, Laurence and I often played together. He was always a difficult and wilful child, hard to understand or get along with. Even his own family found him difficult. But my Father always insisted that I keep trying. He said it would help me in later life, though I can’t say that it has.’ He smiled ruefully.
‘As we grew older, I was surprised to find that Laurence was displaying an interest in Zeor history. As you know, we have the largest archive of books and records on Earth, not counting our museum of antiquities and relics.’
Vidal nodded his agreement, and the Sectuib went on.
‘We have always been careful that only bona fide scholars would have access to them. However, when I realised that Laurence appeared to be genuinely interested, I decided to help him.’
Vidal grinned, ‘You pulled a few strings on his behalf, am I correct?’
‘Indeed you are. I obtained a Pass for him to enter and use both these facilities whenever he wished. I still didn’t understand him, nor, to be brutally honest with you, did I like him very much. But my Father, before he died, had asked me to keep an eye on him. I don’t know what he saw in him that I did not. However, I endeavoured to carry out his wishes.’
He swallowed another mouthful of wine before he went on. ‘I should not have bothered. A few months after he received the Pass, one of the renSimes who worked in the Archives told his superior that he believed several of the oldest tomes appeared to be missing. Within a short space of time, it was found that several of the older and more important artifacts in the museum also appeared to have gone astray.
‘Margon, the Gen in overall charge of both facilities, ordered that an inventory be carried out. He came to me with the result.’ Jordan shook his head as he went on. ‘Even then, I did not want to lay the blame at Laurence’s door. Not till I found out from others that he was addicted to gambling. He had apparently been stealing from Zeor to pay his debts.
‘When we confronted him with this he remained silent and did not deny or confirm his guilt. As we had no real evidence, he was given the benefit of the doubt.
‘Then, less than a month later, he tried to steal more books. We had set a trap, and one of the Gens who works down there saw him placing something in his bag. The Gen tried to apprehend him and was subsequently hit over the head with a heavy tome. He was left unconscious. When he recovered we discovered he had brain damage.’
Vidal shook his head in disbelief.
‘Of course, far worse than the actual theft, at least as far as I was concerned, was the fact that although the Gen he had hit was lying on the floor covered in his own blood; Laurence Knight made no attempt either to help him, or to call for help.’
‘Unbelievable.’
‘And this time when we challenged him, he again made no attempt to deny it. Mind you, we found blood on his shoes. Tests proved it belonged to the Gen. His guilt was clear, so there was little he could have said anyway.’
‘Far be it from me to interfere in the affairs of Zeor, Sectuib, but shouldn’t you have had a far better alarm and surveillance system in both the Archive and the Museum long ago?’ Vidal said quietly.
‘Of course we should, and now we have.’ Jordan said with a wry smile. ‘I know it’s rather like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. We never thought one of our own people would rob us.’
‘Zeor always did expect too much of its people. So what happened to Knight? He was punished, I hope?’
‘Oh, yes. However, the father of the Gen who was injured knew Laurence’s father and begged Zeor for leniency, which is why he was not handed over to the civil authorities. However, his own family disowned him. He was dismissed from Zeor in disgrace, forever. No other Household will accept him, and his name is dishonoured.’
‘No wonder you did not want to accept him as your donor this month.’
‘It was a hard decision.’ The Sectuib admitted. ‘The only thing that influenced me into working with him on this assignment, was the fact that he actually works for the TIB. Although he does not give transfer, he is a registered Tecton donor. Only under that umbrella, could I accept him.’ Jordan paused for a moment and then said softly. ‘Before any of this happened, however, he did have one redeeming quality. His abilities as both a First and a Companion were phenomenal.’
‘If he’s banished from Zeor, should he be under your roof now?’ Vidal asked.
‘In the strictest sense of the ban, no, he should not. But sometimes, like now, circumstances alter cases. He didn’t actually walk in here remember? I carried him in unconscious. On top of that, he is apparently more of an expert in deactivating bombs than any of us, so his presence is, in part, justified. At least that’s how I’m salving my conscience.’ The Sectuib explained honestly.
***
Jason searched his mind once more for a topic of conversation and finally asked, ‘Do you often work off-world Laurie?’
‘Yes, I prefer it. Er… Just pass me that attenuator, would you? The one with the red handle – thanks.’
‘I like working off-world too. Mainly because I like to meet aliens.’
‘Where’ve you been?’
Jason told him briefly.
‘With Vidal, I suppose?’
‘Always. I wouldn’t want to go without him. ’ No sooner had the words left his mouth, than he remembered the trip he was taking with Neil at the end of this mission, and his mouth went dry.
‘Put this back for me will you?’ Jason took the attenuator off him, and watched as Laurie picked up another tool from just in front of him.
‘Vidal told me you’re take one of the new breed of drugs. Steremin, I think he called it.’
‘That’s right.’ Laurie pushed the side of the panel and carefully lifted it off and placed it on the floor before he instructed. ‘Tell me about one of your assignments off-world. I know you’re not supposed to tell anyone, even a fellow operative; but what the hell, you can always change the names if you want to. I don’t mind.’
Jason obeyed, telling him about one of their more exciting missions, and only embroidering slightly when he thought the other Gen might be getting bored.
‘Shut up for a minute will you Jason. I’m coming to a tricky bit. I’ll tell you when you can go on.’
For several minutes, Jason sat in complete silence almost afraid to breathe, as Laurie probed inside the device with a long, thin instrument.
‘See that little square object on the top row? It’s a magnet. Pass it to me, will you? Thanks.’
Holding a piece of metal to one side with the thin instrument, he pushed the magnet between it and the side and pulled the instrument out.
‘I think I’ve got it stabilised.’
‘Stabilised. What does that mean, exactly?’ Jason demanded.
‘It means that with any luck the damn thing shouldn’t explode, even if Alex Judy does a war dance before he sends the destruct signal.’
‘Congratulations.’
‘Don’t celebrate too soon.’
‘Why? Do you think there are more devices like this one around?’
‘I doubt it. Not when you consider the yield of this one,’ Laurie said, ‘That really would be overkill.’ He paused before he went on, ‘I’ve made it safe for the time being, but there’s no way I can completely disarm it. Now, I suggest you go back to the house, find Jordan and Vidal and fetch them down here. We have several loose ends to tie up.’
‘I don’t like leaving you on your own.’ Jason admitted, and then asked. ‘Have you got a weapon?’
‘I’ve got two. Don’t worry, Jason, I can take care of myself.’
‘I’ll get back as quickly as I can.’
‘Fine, just make sure I know it’s you before you come bursting in here.’
Jason nodded, and then glanced at his chronometer before he left. It was just a little before 04.00am.
Entering the house, Jason made straight for Vidal’s rooms. Not finding either of the Channels present, he then went to Jordan’s suite. Here, again, he came up with a blank. It took him a further twenty minutes before he found both of them sitting in one of the main lounges.
The two Channels looked up in surprise, zlinning the Gen as he entered the lounge.
‘Jason?’ Vidal’s eyebrows rose in surprise as the Gen waved his hand and approached quickly weaving his way between chairs, couches, and the small tables till he reached them.
‘Couldn’t you sleep?’ Jordan demanded as Vidal waved him towards a chair.
Leaning forward Jason said quietly, ‘Will one of you do me a favour and zlin the area? I don’t want anyone overhearing us.’
Both Channels obliged. Jordan stated categorically that there was no one listening.
‘What’s happened?’ Vidal wanted to know.
‘A lot. Look time is short, so you must do what I say without arguing.’ Jason stated glaring at Vidal, for he knew where any opposition to his orders would come from. ‘I want you both to go outside. Use the east door and meet me around the back. I’ll be using the door on the other side.’
‘Jason I don’t understand. Why…’Vidal began.
‘I said don’t argue, remember? Just meet me outside and I’ll explain everything,’ he promised as he quickly stood up, and without further comment, left the lounge
Once he had gone, the two Channels looked at each other. Vidal shrugged his shoulders as he said softly, ‘I suppose we’d better obey him,’ and Jordan nodded his agreement.
Jason saw both men as soon as they turned the corner of the house, and came unerringly towards him.
‘You took your time,’ he muttered, ‘This way. Come on,’ and hurried down the path before they could question him. Pulling out his torch as he walked along, Jason stopped beside the entrance to the sewer and shone his torch down the hole.
‘I’ll go first,’ he said, knowing that the Channels would be able to zlin by using his field. ‘I’ll warn you now, you’ll both have to bend over double once we get down inside.’
Sitting on the edge of the inspection hatch Jason lowered himself down, the two Simes were close behind.
‘It’s a sewer!’ Vidal wrinkled his nose as soon as his feet touched the floor.
Jason grinned across at him, ‘Yes it is, isn’t it? Did the smell give it away? Come on follow me.’
Reaching the room where Laurie was waiting, Jason called out and then stood to one side as he waved the two men inside.
‘Laurence! What’s going on here?’ Jordan asked, as he entered the room and caught sight of the bomb, and immediately zlinned it.
Vidal, too, zlinned it, before he asked, ‘Is it safe?’
‘For the time being,’ Laurie replied.
‘This place is directly under the house isn’t it? How did the pair of you find it?’ Vidal demanded to know.
‘It was Laurie. He discovered that what we thought were footings under the house were actually cellars. According to the computer, they’ve been closed off for decades. We couldn’t find a way in from the house, although I expect Alex Judy has. We did find the sewer that led directly into here.’ Jason explained quickly.
Jordan was still busy zlinning the bomb, before he asked, ‘Is it fully deactivated?’
‘No, only partially,’ Laurie admitted. ‘It was obviously primed by someone with tentacles, probably Alex Judy who’s a Sime, and since I’m not…’ he shrugged. ‘As I said before, it’s only partially safe. In other words I’ve stopped the mechanism from actually working when a signal is sent to it. But if someone removes the magnet that I’ve inserted into it, it will undoubtedly reactive itself.’
‘Can I do anything?’ Jordan asked at once.
‘Unfortunately, no, you can’t. Even with tentacles you still have to be an expert to know in which sequence you apply pressure. We’re going to have to ask Sam Betjeman to send someone down to help us. If he’s available I’d suggest Rich Bradley. He taught me, and he’s good.’
‘It’s going to take hours to get someone drafted up here from HQ.’ Jason stated.
Jordan shook his head and said with a grin, ‘No it won’t. With luck, we could have him here within the hour. Eaglestone has had a temporary transmuter installed for the benefit of our distinguished guests.’
Vidal stared at his friend in surprise as he said, ‘Why didn’t you say that before? It would have saved us that horrendous journey up here!’
‘I didn’t know about it till I got here,’ the Sectuib confessed, ‘My office was notified of course, but with everything else happening, I just didn’t get around to reading all my memos. That’ll teach me not to cut corners another time, won’t it?’
Laurie stood up and stretched his arms above his head several times before he bit back a yawn and said, ‘Can I suggest that one of you go now and call Sam Betjeman so we can get this thing organised? If I’m not mistaken, our friend Alex will be trying to detonate this device within the next few hours, while everyone is still in the house. Once he realises there’s no big bang, he’s going to come down here hot footed to find out why!’
Jordan agreed at once. ‘I’ll go now and speak to Sam Betjeman and see what we can organise. I’ll get him to send some TIB security guards at the same time, to help us secure the cellar, and protect the bomb till it’s moved away from here. After all, we still don’t really know who in the house is actually on our side, do we?’
Vidal looked at the two Gens and shook his head. ‘I can’t say I’m all that happy with what you’ve been doing. You should have told Jordan and I what was going on before you rushed headlong into all this. Supposing you had found Alex Judy and the others still down here when you arrived?’
‘We had no idea where you were.’ Jason pointed out.
Vidal opened his mouth, but Jordan jumped in first and said in a conciliatory manner, ‘Be that as it may, Vidal, you must admit they’ve done a great job. Especially you, Laurie. And on behalf of Zeor, I thank both of you.’
Then, smiling at Vidal he walked towards the door, ‘Do either of you want to go and rest?’ he asked looking at the Gens, ‘Vidal can stay and watch.’
Laurie immediately shook his head, and pointed out, ‘I’ll be grateful for Vidal’s help in keeping guard, but I have to stay, just in case anything untoward happens with the bomb.’
‘I’m staying, too.’ Jason said before he could be asked.
‘One last thing,’ Laurie said looking at Jordan, ‘You’d better tell Sam that the device is very similar to an XZ27D.’
‘Will do,’ the Channel called and disappeared from view.
‘Why don’t the two of you try and get some rest?’ Vidal suggested.
Jason nodded at once, ‘A good idea,’ he said, and slid down to sit on the floor his legs stretched out in front of him, his back against the wall.
‘By the way what weapons do you have?’ He asked squinting up at the Sime.
Vidal smiled down at his partner, ‘Don’t worry, I’m well armed.’
‘Good.’ Jason closed his eyes, and within seconds his chin dropped down to touch his chest, and he was sound asleep.
After a few moments Laurie, too, sat down on the floor. Instead of sleeping, like Jason, he took up the lotus position, and began to meditate.
Vidal crouched down on his haunches his back against the wall, his hands clasped loosely between his knees; his mind fully alert to any movement anywhere in the cellar and beyond.
Just under an hour had passed when Vidal zlinned that Jordan was returning to the cellar accompanied by five others. Two Gens, and three renSimes, none of whom were familiar to him.
As soon as their footsteps could be heard, Laurie immediately stood up.
‘Jordan?’ he asked softly, and the Channel nodded his head.
Seconds later, the Sectuib led the way into the room, followed closely by five others.
Laurie’s eyes swept over the three renSimes. He stepped forward as he saw the Sime face he was looking for, ‘Rich, great to see you,’ he said, and the two men embraced.
‘It’s good to see you again,’ Rich Bradley said quickly, ‘Although to be honest, I wish we didn’t always have to meet under these sorts of circumstances.’
Then, moving closer to the bomb he zlinned it carefully before he said, ‘You’ve done a fine job.’
‘Thanks.’
Jordan, meanwhile, was introducing the four TIB guards to Vidal, as Rich Bradley began to unpack the tools he had brought with him.
Without delay, the Sime moved to stand beside the device. Before starting, he turned his head to look at Laurie as he said with a grin, ‘It’s a pity you can’t sprout a set of tentacles.’
Laurie nodded his head in agreement as he said, ‘Don’t forget you promised to leave me yours, in your Will.’
The Sime picked up a tool that was balanced for use with tentacles as he observed wryly. ‘Problem is, when I finally go, I’ll probably be blown into so many pieces there won’t be enough left for you to find.’
The four guards went to take up positions around the cellar, while the Channels moved over to where Jason was now lying curled up like a ball, still sound asleep.
Read Chapter 9
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