The Kalispell Run

Chapter Nine

He abruptly became conscious, wishing he hadn’t. His head was sore, his temples throbbing. He had the impression of being carried. And, somewhere close, someone was whistling.

Whistling?

Blade opened his eyes and squinted in the morning sun. He realized his arms were tied behind his back.

“Welcome back, yes? Sleep good, no?”

His assailant was effortlessly toting him across a barren field, one arm under his knees and the other around his shoulders.

“Put me down!” Blade ordered.

The creature chuckled. “You make Gremlin laugh.”

Blade took stock of his situation. His weapons were gone. “Where are my Bowies?” he demanded. “And my revolver and the Auto-Ordnance?”

“Not needed, no. Left behind,” the thing replied.

Damn! Unarmed, in hostile territory, and a prisoner. This day was definitely not getting off to a good start. “What if we are attacked?” Blade questioned his captor.

“Not worry, no. Gremlin protect,” the creature responded.

“I take it your name is Gremlin?” Blade probed.

The thing actually grinned. “You smart, yes?”

Blade realized the creature had a sense of humor. What else? It was incredibly strong and fast, obviously intelligent. So many questions flashed through his mind. Where to begin? “Why do you talk the way you do?”

“Know brain, yes?” Gremlin countered Blade’s query with one of his own.

“Do I know the brain?” Blade repeated. “A little bit. Anatomy wasn’t my primary study, but we had to learn the nervous system, pressure points, kill zones, and the like. Why?”

Gremlin glanced at Blade and frowned. “Warrior training, yes?”

Blade involuntarily attempted to straighten, surprised at the creature’s knowledge of his Family status.

Gremlin stopped and looked around. A patch of grass to their right arrested his attention, and he crossed to the roughly circular area and gently deposited Blade on the ground. “We stop, yes? Walked all night.”

He remained standing, alert for any potential threats.

“How do you know I’m a Warrior?” Blade demanded, perplexed.

“Doktor tell, yes?” Gremlin answered.

“Who is this Doktor? You mentioned him before,” Blade noted.

“You meet soon, yes?” Gremlin chuckled. “Wish you hadn’t.”

“Well,” Blade pressed the creature, “how does this Doktor know so much about me?”

“Doktor know everything,” Gremlin informed him.

“But how?” Blade asked.

“Learn soon, yes,” Gremlin replied.

This was getting him nowhere! Blade returned to his original question.

“You still haven’t told me why you talk the way you do. Does it have something to do with the brain?”

Gremlin’s features seemed to soften, to sadden. He nodded. “Brain control words, yes? Part of brain kaput!”

“Part of your brain has been damaged?” Blade requested clarification.

Gremlin shook his head, one corner of his mouth slanted downward.

“Damaged, no. Gone, yes.”

“How could part of your brain be gone?” Blade asked skeptically.

Gremlin’s jaw muscles tightened. “Doktor.”

Blade struggled to a sitting position. “The Doktor removed part of your brain? Why?”

Gremlin avoided looking into Blade’s eyes. “Experiment.”

Blade’s mind was racing. What was going on here? What type of physician experimented on the brains of… Wait a minute! Inspiration struck. “Gremlin, what are you? Where are you from?”

“From, Doktor, yes? Understand, no?” Gremlin angrily glared at Blade.

“Enough talk, yes? Rest!”

“Just answer one more thing for me,” Blade said, taking advantage of the creature’s loquacity and apparent friendliness. “You could have killed me and didn’t. You said I would meet this Doktor soon. Is that where you’re taking me? To the Doktor?”

Gremlin nodded. “Doktor say take alive, yes?”

“Where is the Doktor, Gremlin?”

The creature pointed to the southeast. “Citadel.”

“You’re taking me to the Cheyenne Citadel?”

Again, Gremlin nodded.

No! He couldn’t allow it to happen! He had to get back to Geronimo and the SEAL.

“Rest!” Gremlin ordered.

“One more question,” Blade said, refusing to comply. “You said this Doktor knows everything, that he knows I’m a Warrior. How could…”

Blade paused, his memory stirring. Deja vu. When Alpha Triad had made the run to Thief River Falls and fought with the mysterious Watchers, they had learned that the Watchers evidently knew all about the Family and the Warriors. For weeks afterward, they had engaged in futile speculation, debating possible methods the Watchers could have employed to gain their familiarity with the Family. Was there a spy in the Family? Were the Watchers mind-readers?

Was the answer staring him in the face? Was there a connection, Blade wondered, between the good Doktor and the Watchers? Only one way to find out.

“Gremlin.” Blade nudged the creature’s left ankle with his right moccasin. “Have you ever heard of the Watchers?”

Gremlin grinned at his prisoner. “Yes.”

“Are the Watchers and the Doktor related in any way?” Blade inquired hopefully.

“All the same, yes?”

“How do they know so much about everything?”

Gremlin gazed skyward. “Spy in the sky, yes?” He glanced at Blade.

“And parabolic ears, yes? Understand?”

Blade shook his head, confused.

“Rest!” Gremlin directed. “Talk more later.”

“But…” Blade began.

“Rest!” Gremlin curtly cut him off. “Now!”

Blade shrugged and reclined on the grass. What was he to make of all this new information? The Watchers and the Doktor were related in some respect. Did the Watchers hail from the Citadel? Was the Doktor the head of the Watchers, or simply part of their organization? What in the world was a spy in the sky and a parabolic ear? Was Gremlin deliberately speaking in riddles? Each answer received created dozens of new questions and only compounded the overall picture, producing additional uncertainties.

Of one thing he could be certain, though.

He was positive his wrists were bound by stout rope, and no matter how firm a rope might be, if it was worked on long enough, pulled and stretched and tugged at every opportunity, any rope would eventually slacken. Surreptitiously, during his conversation with the creature, he’d applied his powerful arm muscles to work on the rope.

It was only a matter of time.

And then, Mr. Gremlin, Blade vowed, I’m returning to Kalispell whether you like it or not!