The Timekeeper Conspiracy

12

Shortly before dawn, ten people on horseback left Paris by the barrier of St. Denis. The group consisted of Aramis and his servent, Bazin, a somber man of forty who dressed in black and affected a priestly air; Porthos and Musqueton, his lackey, an amiable peasant of about thirty-five who was dressed considerably better than his fellows in his master's cast-off clothes; Athos and his man, Grimaud, whose taciturn demeanor matched his name; and D'Artagnan and Planchet, the comical scarecrow of a man whose aimless, spirited babble more than compensated for Grimaud's and Bazin's glum reserve. They were just about to leave when their party was increased by two new arrivals.

Andre was readily accepted, both because Lucas vouched for "him" and because D'Artagnan, in a moment of careless exuberance, had let it slip that Andrew was the "brother" of that fascinating woman who had taken their side against the cardinal's guards at the abbey. That woman had been an object of intrigue and speculation among the musketeers ever since and now, with the appearance of her "brother" on the scene, each musketeer secretly hoped to obtain a private introduction. D'Artagnan was furious with himself for not having kept his mouth shut and thereby losing an advantage. In spite of their precarious situation, Lucas was quite amused by the musketeers' exaggerated overtures of friendship toward Andre and the sudden, boisterous camaraderie.

Of necessity, no one but D'Artagnan was to know the true nature of their mission, since the honor of the queen was at stake. Andre and Lucas knew, of course, but they feigned ignorance. As for the other musketeers, all they were told was that it was to be a mission of great importance and that they had to go to London and very possibly get killed along the way. D'Artagnan told them that he had been entrusted with a letter and that, should he fall, one of the others would have to deliver it. Save for a few brief instructions regarding that delivery, the three musketeers knew nothing. Initially, Porthos had raised some doubts, but following a brief discussion of the risks involved and the reasons for their going, Athos settled the matter once and for all.

"Gentlemen," he had said, "is the king accustomed to giving you reasons for doing everything that you must do? No. He says to you, very simply, 'Gentlemen, there is fighting going on in Gascony or Flanders; go and fight,' and you go there. No, here are our three leaves of absence, which came from Captain de Treville, and here are three hundred pistoles, which came from I know not where. So let us go and get killed where we are told to go. Is life worth the trouble of so many questions?"

The issue settled, they departed for Calais, which was the quickest route to London. Finn had given Andre his cloak in place of her much more ornate one in an effort to fool the floaters. It was still dark and Lucas and Andre rode at the tail end of the group. Shortly after they left Paris, Lucas received his first contact from the floaters.

"Hawk One to Ground Squirrel, Hawk One to Ground Squirrel. Do you read? Over."

The throat transmitter enabled Lucas to speak softly, so that the others would not overhear him, but they would not have heard in any case, since they were all ahead of him and the group was in full gallop. Andre did not have a comset, so she was oblivious of the contact, but Lucas burst into laughter.

"Hawk One to Ground Squirrel, I'm getting a lot of noise. Are you reading me loud and clear? Over. ''

"You're getting a lot of noise because I'm laughing my ass off," Lucas said.

"Did you say 'over'?"

"Yeah, yeah, over, roger-willco," Lucas said. "What's with this Ground Squirrel shit? Who the hell is Ground Squirrel?"

There was a slight pause.

"What do you mean, who's Ground Squirrel? You're Ground Squirrel."

"No kidding?"

"Didn't Mongoose give you your call-sign? How the hell are you supposed to respond if you don't know your call-sign?"

"I am responding, you nitwit."

This time, the pause was appreciably longer. Lucas couldn't stop laughing.

“I don't see what's so funny, Priest. ''

"Well, Christ, if you know my name, why don't you use it?"

"Well, it would be a bit irregular, but I suppose there's no reason why-"

"Look, have you got something to report or are you just providing comic relief?" said Lucas.

There was a slightly longer pause. Finally, "Hawk One" came on and said, rather tersely, "All clear up ahead.''

"Assholes," mumbled Lucas. There was no further contact until they reached Chantilly.

The group arrived at a roadhouse a little after eight o'clock. They left the horses saddled, in case they should have to depart in a hurry, and entered the inn to have a quick breakfast. The only other patron besides themselves was a drunk who greeted them with exaggerated bonhomie. They exchanged token pleasantries and nothing more was said between them until it came time for them to leave, at which point the drunk lurched to his feet, holding a wine goblet aloft and swaying unsteadily.

"Gentlemen, a toast!" he shouted, nearly overbalancing. He clutched at Porthos's baldrick for support, then lurched back several feet, accomplishing the act, miraculously, without spilling a single drop of wine. "A toast to the health of His Eminence, Cardinal Richelieu! Gentlemen, will you join me?"

"I have no objection," Porthos said, "if you, in turn, will join with us to drink the health of good King Louis."

The drunk spat upon the floor. "Pah! I recognize no king other than His Eminence!"

"You're drunk," said Porthos. "Otherwise, I might not so easily forgive your insolence."

"Drunk, am I?" said the man, reaching for his rapier and missing it. He grasped at air in the vicinity of his waist until his hand found his sword and he pulled it from its scabbard. "Well, we'll see who's drunk!"

"That was foolish," Athos said to Porthos. "Still, there's nothing to be done about it now. Kill the fellow and rejoin us as quickly as you can."

Porthos shrugged and drew his own rapier. The drunk came on guard with a sudden, remarkable sobriety. As they left the roadhouse with the sound of clanging steel behind them, Lucas suggested that it might be simpler, since there were ten of them in all, to gang up on the man and quickly get it over with. Athos looked at him with shock.

"My dear fellow," he said, in tones of strict rebuke, "that sort of thing simply isn't done!"

"Why?"

Athos gave him a pained expression for his answer, mounted up and galloped off.

"It would be a bit dishonorable," Andre ventured, cautiously.

Lucas shook his head. "Boy, have you got a lot to learn," he said. They mounted up and galloped off after the musketeers.

"Ground Squirrel to Goony Bird," said Lucas.

"That's 'Hawk One,' " came the annoyed reply.

"Says you. Where's the other birdbrain?"

There was a short silence.

"Hawk Two is scouting up ahead. I'm at ten thousand feet, keeping you on scope. "

"How come you didn't report that character in the tavern?" Lucas said.

" What character?"

"Jesus, you're a lot of help."

" You expect me to see indoors from way up here? Give me a break, I'm doing the best I can."

"Then we're in a lot of trouble."

"Not yet, but you're going to be. Hawk Two just reported an armed party about a mile outside Beauvais. "

"I didn't hear anything."

"He's on another frequency. "

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Well, aren't your people supposed to be providing back-up on this ride? We're still well away from there. Move your agents in and clear the way."

"They're moving into position, but we can only take defensive action in case the terrorists are among them. If they're not, you 're on your own. "

"You've got to be kidding."

"Sorry. Orders."

"Okay, look, is there another road that we can take to get around them?"

"No go," said the floater. "This is part of the original scenario. You've got to go on through."

"Terrific," Lucas said.

They stopped at Beauvais for two hours, both to rest and walk their horses around to cool them off and to wait for Porthos. Lucas motioned Andre over to him. "Look," he said, "there may be some trouble up ahead. How good are you on horseback, out of armor, I mean?"

"I have been riding since I was a child," she said. "Why?"

"Well, there's a little trick I learned from the Sioux Indians at the Little Big Horn. Now listen carefully…"

The two hours passed and Porthos did not arrive. "I fear we must assume the worst," D'Artagnan said. "We can wait no longer, gentlemen. To horse!"

They mounted up and proceeded on their way at a rapid clip. After they had ridden for about one mile, they reached a section of the road that was banked steeply on both sides.

"Watch yourself," said Hawk One.

Lucas gave Andre a prearranged signal and, as she rode up even with him, men popped up on either side of the road, firing upon the party with muskets. Musqueton was hit immediately and he tumbled from his horse. Aramis took a ball in the shoulder and he reeled in the saddle, but he hung on and spurred for dear life. Andre and Lucas, riding side by side, both dropped out of their saddles to hang on the sides of their horses, using the animals' bodies as shields. Since they were riding behind the others, their maneuver went unnoticed. As soon as they had ridden beyond the ambush, they both swung up into their saddles. "An excellent tactic!" Andre said. "I must remember it." Lucas looked at her, grinning, then the grin disappeared as he saw that she had lost her hat. Almost immediately, Hawk One came on.

"Nice trick, " he said, "but I've got just one question. Since when is Private Delaney a blonde?"

Finn was getting tired of alleys. He had been sitting in the dark alleyway across the street from the TIA house in the Rue Servadoni for hours and his legs were beginning to feel stiff. The smell was offending his nostrils and once someone with a second-floor window facing out onto the alley dumped a chamber pot out and the contents landed right next to Finn, missing him by inches. He had lasered several rats that had become too curious, but there was one big one, almost the size of a house cat, that proved to be too quick for him. Clearly regarding the alley as its turf, it was annoyed at his presence and twice it attacked him. The first time, it sank its teeth into his boot and he kicked it away. The second time, he fired at it with his laser, but missed. Thereafter, it remained in the shelter of a large pile of rotting garbage and he could see its lambent little eyes glaring at him malevolently. Finn occupied himself by spitting at it.

Mongoose hadn't moved. Finn knew he was inside, but he could do nothing but wait and watch the house. He wondered how Lucas was doing. Finn had called "Heads" and won the coin toss. He elected to remain behind. He had tried to read Lucas's expression then, but whatever he had been feeling, Priest had hidden it well. Finn wondered what he had felt. They both knew that he had chosen the more dangerous course. Finn knew that Lucas, had he won, would have done the same. He wondered if he would ever be seeing him again.

He hated times like this, times when he was alone and inactive, with time to think. Liquor helped at such times and he had none now. Wine only gave him headaches if he drank too much of it. It never numbed his nerves.

There was a scratching, scuttling sound that came quickly toward him and he glanced up in time to see the huge rat scrabbling closer. It froze when it saw him looking at it and its feral gaze met his. Finn spat at it and hit it squarely in the snout. It squealed angrily and darted back into its pile of rotting garbage.

"If you had any class at all, you'd spit right back," said Finn, meeting the rat's ferocious gaze. He tried to stare it down, then realized what a ridiculous thing he was doing and looked back at the house across the street.

Mongoose had just walked out the door. He almost missed him.

They made another two hours of hard riding before Aramis said that he could go no further. He had lost some blood and he was pale. It was all he could do to remain in the saddle until they reached Crevecoeur, where they left him at a cabaret with Bazin to look after him.

Lucas had refused to discuss the matter of Delaney's suddenly becoming a blonde with Hawk One and, after pressing him several times without success, the floater became strangely silent. It made Lucas very apprehensive. There was no further communication with Hawk One until they reached the inn of the Lis d'Or.

They arrived at about midnight and the innkeeper, dressed in nightgown and nightcap and carrying a candle, received them solicitously, but apologized for having only two rooms, at opposite ends of the hotel. Athos found this suspicious, but it was decided that he and D'Artagnan would share one room while Monsieur Dumas and Andre shared the other. As a further safeguard, Grimaud was ordered to sleep in the stables with the horses and Planchet firmly announced his intention to protect his master by sleeping on a pile of straw before his door. Shortly after they had separated to go to their rooms, Lucas heard the floater's voice inside his ear.

"All right, Priest, you're going to have a visitor in a little while. It'll be one of us, so don't get twitchy. You've got some explaining to do."

Lucas warned Andre and they settled down to wait. He had no idea what to expect. Just in case, they both kept their weapons ready. Twenty minutes passed and Lucas began to feel very nervous; then there was a soft knock at their door.

"It's open," Lucas said.

The door opened and a man dressed in a red doublet and black cloak entered. He paused when he saw Lucas holding his laser pointed at him and he looked long and hard at Andre. Then he slowly turned around and closed the door behind him.

"The name's Cobra," he said, "and spare me the wisecracks. I'm the number-two agent on this operation." He took another long look at Andre. "You want to tell me about it?"

"Sure," said Lucas. "What do you want to know?"

"Don't get cute. What's she doing here? Where's Delaney?"

"Back in Paris."

"Why?"

"He's got saddle sores."

The agent stared at him silently for a moment. "You're not in any position to play games, Captain. Mongoose has disappeared and now I find out that Delaney stayed behind in Paris. The last time anyone saw her," he said, glancing at Andre, "one of our agents got burned. Now I'm giving you the chance to explain. I'm trying to be reasonable. I don't much like what I'm thinking, so you'd better set my mind at ease and do it fast."

Lucas sat silently for a moment, debating. He took a deep breath.

"Suppose you don't believe my explanation?"

"Make me believe it. I'm willing to listen."

"All right," said Lucas, "but you're not going to like it."

"Try me."

"There's good reason to believe that this ride is nothing but a smokescreen. The terrorists never intended to interfere with the musketeers. We're all being decoyed away from where the real disruption is going to occur.''

"Who's decoying us away?"

"Mongoose," Lucas said. "He's either been a double agent all along or he's gone over to the Timekeepers."

"You're right," said Cobra, "I don't like it. You can't seriously expect me to believe that?"

"I didn't think you would," said Lucas. "That's why Finn stayed behind in Paris, to keep an eye on him. Mongoose was followed to a secret meeting with Bruno Freytag and-"

"Followed by whom?"

Lucas sighed. "Andre followed him."

The agent snorted. "That's your proof? You've just made one whale of an accusation, Mister. You're going to have to come up with better evidence than that."

"I can't," said Lucas. "At least, not now. I told you, I didn't expect you to believe me. But suppose, just for one moment, that Mongoose went over. Where would that leave you? What would be my motive for lying to you?"

"Well, let's suppose that you went over," Cobra said. "We know that Delaney, at least, has some sympathy for the league. And you were out of the service for a period of time. Who knows what you were doing? Not to mention the fact that you're here with someone who burned one of our agents."

"She did that in self-defense and you know it," Lucas said, angrily. "Besides, you know our records. They speak for themselves."

"So does Mongoose's."

"All right, then, pull us off the mission," Lucas said. "But ask yourself why, if I'm not on the level, I haven't taken advantage of all the opportunities I've had to sabotage this mission. Finn and I could easily have taken Mongoose out. We could easily have killed any one of the musketeers or even all of them. Besides, you picked us for this mission. Can you afford to take the chance that I'm not telling you the truth? Can you afford not to check it out?"

"You're putting me in a very bad position, Priest." The agent thought a moment. Lucas found that his palms were sweating. Finally, Cobra nodded. "You're right," he said. "I can't afford to take the chance. All right. I'll take some men and return to Paris. It means pulling some people off this operation and I don't like that. You'd damn well better be right."

"Fine," said Lucas. "Let's go."

"You're not going anywhere," said Cobra. "You two are going to finish out this ride. You'll be covered every inch of the way. You make one wrong move and you've both had it, understand? And I'll take those lasers."

He held his hand out, palm up.

"No way," said Lucas.

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you," the agent said. "You want me to stick my neck way out for you. You're asking me to consider your position; well, I'm asking you to consider mine. You'll still have your daggers and your rapiers, but after this, I'd have to be insane to let you keep your lasers. Now let's have them."

Lucas licked his lips nervously and glanced at Andre.

"He is only asking for a gesture of good faith," she said.

"He's asking a lot more than that," said Lucas, "but I'm afraid I see his point."

He reversed his laser and handed it over. Andre did the same.

"Okay," said Cobra. "I'll take some men and leave right away. Where can I find Delaney?"

"I don't know," said Lucas. "He's probably trailing Mongoose, wherever he is."

"He still wearing his comset?"

"I doubt it," Lucas said. "With Mongoose in charge, he would be wide open if he was transmitting. Which reminds me, just how far do these things go?" he said, pointing at his throat.

"Not to Paris, if that's what you're thinking. They're short-range. Assuming what you're saying is true, and Mongoose is a renegade, Delaney will have every reason to expect hostility from us. Can you think of anything that I can do to convince him that I'm giving you a chance to prove your allegations?"

Lucas thought a moment. "Yeah. Tell him that I wish he had called 'Tails.' He'll know what it means."

Finn followed Mongoose to the same alley in the Rue Ferou where Andre had seen him confer with Freytag. Mongoose was being sloppy. He didn't expect anyone to be on his trail, so he didn't even bother to check to see if he was being followed. Just the same, Finn gave him plenty of room. It was late and the darkness made it easier. As the agent stepped into the alley, Finn quickly ran across the street. He would be in good position to fire at them in the alley, but then he'd have no idea where Taylor was. He debated the question of whether or not to go for the sure thing and kill the two of them now, hoping to catch Taylor on his own, or follow them to Taylor and try taking them out all at once.

It was tempting. All he had to do was step into the mouth of the alley and sweep it quickly with the laser and it would be all over for Mongoose and Freytag. But then it would mean cutting it very close with Taylor. Finn's cover did not gain him admission to the palace, whereas Taylor's did. He'd either have to sneak into the palace somehow and catch "Milady" inside, which would be next to impossible considering the odds, or get Taylor before he went into the palace, and there was no way of knowing for certain which entrance he would use. Finn could not cover all of them at once.

Staying low and keeping to the shadows, Finn glanced into the alley. He could just barely make out two shapes in there. The big one had to be Freytag. On the floor directly above him, a man and a woman were screaming at each other and there was the occasional crash of crockery. The noise made it impossible for him to overhear anything that went on inside the alley. He cursed the quarreling couple, but didn't want to risk getting any closer. He felt the laser in his right hand and wished that he could get it over with right now, but he fought down the impulse to fire. Two of them would not be good enough. He'd have to get all three. He steeled himself and waited. They would lead him to Taylor. They had to.

"All right, let's do it," Mongoose said.

Freytag smiled. "Sure. Anything you say. Adrian would just love to see you."

Mongoose looked down at the slim laser in Freytag's hand. It was aimed directly at his midsection.

"What the hell is this?"

"Just don't move a muscle, friend, or I'll fry your guts right here," said Freytag, reaching out with his other hand and patting him down. He relieved Mongoose of his weapon.

"I thought we had a deal," said Mongoose,

"Immunity from prosecution and a blanket pardon in return for handing Taylor over to you personally?" Freytag chuckled. "That's not what I call a very attractive deal. It won't put any money in my pocket."

"How much do you want?"

"You must really take me for a fool," said Freytag. "Once you had Taylor, you'd hang me, as well. You should've tried your pitch on Darcy. He might've been stupid enough to go for it; but then, he's dead."

"Don't be a fool, Bruno. You'll never get away with this."

"Who's to stop me?" Freytag said. "You wanted Taylor to yourself so badly that you sent all your people off on a wild goose chase. Your own colossal ego did you in, Mongoose. If not for that, you might've stopped us, but you blew it. You did just what Taylor said you would. You know, I didn't believe him. I told him that nobody could be that stupid. But here you are."

Casually, Mongoose reached up as if to scratch himself. Freytag slapped his hand down.

"You go for that panic button one more time and you've had it," he said.

"Taylor wouldn't like that," Mongoose said. "I'm sure he'd be real disappointed if you didn't bring me in alive."

"I'm sure he would be, but nothing says I gotta bring you in with both your hands still attached to your wrists."

"I'm afraid you've got a point," said Mongoose.

"All right. Now we're going to take a little walk. You walk in front of me, nice and easy. I'll tell you where to go. And don't get any ideas. You try anything and I'll burn your legs off at the knees and carry you the rest of the way. Now let's go."

Finn could hardly see inside the alley. Occasionally, he would catch some motion in there, but it was hard to make out what was happening. There was a fresh burst of screaming from the couple fighting upstairs and a crash as a thrown footstool hurtled through the window and out into the alley. Finn ducked down, quickly. When he looked up, both men had moved out into the center of the alley and were silhouetted as they walked out the other end. He followed, keeping at a distance.

They went several blocks, walking casually down the street until they came to a familiar neighborhood. With a shock, Finn realized that they were heading straight toward Moreau's Tavern. They passed the entrance to the tavern and went into the house right beside it.

"Jesus Christ," said Finn. "They were that close all the time!"

There was a light burning on the second floor, on the right side of the building. Finn looked up at the second floor of Moreau's Tavern, where the rooms were rented out. It was possible that he might get a shot-

“Don't move, Delaney. "

A hand of ice clutched at his intestines and he froze, damning himself for not being more careful. If I turn around fast and fire, he thought-

"Priest said that you should've called 'Tails.' "

Slowly, Finn turned around, holding his laser pointed at the ground.

"I saw the muscles in your neck and shoulders tense," the man said. "It's a bad habit. You should learn to control it. You telegraph that way. The name's Cobra, TIA."

There were two men standing with him, all three were wearing black cloaks. Cloak-and-dagger, thought Finn, stifling a chuckle.

"I should have been more careful," he said. "How long have you been tailing me?"

"We picked you up about two blocks back," said Cobra. "It's a lucky thing you kept your comset. We don't like to lose our equipment, so we set it up with tracing signals."

Finn reached into his pocket and pulled out the comset, wrapped in a handkerchief.

"I should've thrown the damn thing away," he said. "Seems like I have lots of bad habits. I don't like to lose equipment, either."

"Fortunately for you," said Cobra, "that's one habit that worked for you. We caught onto your little switch and I had a chat with Captain Priest. He told me Mongoose was working both sides of the street. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself." He nodded toward the building they were in.

"What made you believe it enough to check it out?" said Finn.

"Well, it was pointed out to me by Captain Priest that I could not afford to take the chance that he was not telling me the truth," said Cobra. "Also, I've been at this for a while. After a few years, it gets so that you don't trust anybody. You don't take things for granted; that way you live longer."

"I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be thankful for spook paranoia," Finn said.

"I'll take that as a compliment, though I'm sure you didn't mean it as one," said Cobra, with a mirthless, tight-lipped smile. "And now I really think we ought to do something about those three in there."

"At least the odds are on our side," said Finn. "Four against three."

"Six against three, actually," said Cobra. "I've already got two men in that tavern there. They should be in position in that room opposite the window on the second floor there. If there's anybody in that room, they'll be temporarily inconvenienced, I'm afraid."

Even as he spoke, an agent came running out of the tavern, approaching them.

"All set," he said. "It was one of the whores' rooms. Jaguar's got a prosty in there, but she's unconscious. Used a nerve pinch. When she wakes up, she won't even know what happened."

"Good work. How's it look up there?"

"We're in luck. There's a window directly across the way. It's shuttered, but that shouldn't present much of a problem. We'll be able to swing right across and break through."

"Sounds almost too easy," Finn said.

"Nothing ever is," said Cobra. "Fortunately, they won't be expecting anything. They'll be thinking that we're all miles away."

"It will still have to be pretty tight, though," Finn said. "Remember, they've still got at least one chronoplate. Which reminds me, where's yours?"

"Back at the safehouse," Cobra said. "I've got a man stationed there. We lucked out there, too. Mongoose didn't take his plate with him. He must've figured on returning. This must be some last-minute conference. I get the shakes when I think about the fact that we'd all be clocking in back there one at a time when we'd finished covering the musketeers. He would've been able to take us all out with no sweat." Cobra took a deep breath. "It was a close call for me. Soon as the floater said one of the commandos was an imposter, I clocked right back to check with Mongoose. He must've just left. If he'd still been there when I arrived and if I had told him…" He let it hang.

"We've all had close calls," said Finn. "I'm thinking that breaking in on them might not be a good idea. Why not just get them as they come out?"

Cobra shook his head. "That might work, but I don't want to take the chance that any of them might be using that plate to get into position for whatever it is that they've got planned. You think it's a hit?"

"I think it's a hit."

"Give me that comset," Cobra said. He took it from him and handed it to the agent who had just come from Moreau's. "Take this and give it to Jaguar. I've got one on me." He pulled a tiny box out of his pocket. "Tell him to put it on, but to keep his mouth shut, just in case. You never know. Don't even breathe hard. Have him get ready to swing over. We're going in the front way. We'll burn through the lock and get as close to them as we can. When I say now, we hit 'em from both sides. You stay in that room and cover Jaguar as he goes across. Delaney, you stay right here, in case any of them get by us. Cover the street."

"I'd much rather be going in with you," said Finn.

"I know," said Cobra. "But odds are someone's going to get burned breaking in there. It was our man that went bad. I figure we owe you one."

"What are you going to do with Mongoose?"

"If I can, I'll try to take him alive," said Cobra. "But I'm not going to try too hard."