The Timekeeper Conspiracy

14

As D'Artagnan started on his journey back to Paris, a trip he would make at breakneck speed in just over twelve hours, word was passed quickly among the TIA agents, with mixed efficiency. The operation which, up until that point, had gone off like clockwork began to fall apart.

The suddenly disorganized agents had to move quickly, since Taylor's hand had been forced and there was now no way of telling where he would strike or at whom. There was no time for detailed planning and coordination. There was little opportunity to check new, unsurveyed destination settings programmed hastily into the chronoplates. As a result, there was a great deal of confusion and there were several casualties.

One agent, clocked out to cover Aramis, had the misfortune to arrive in the middle of the English Channel. He also had the misfortune of not being a strong swimmer.

Another agent, assigned to Porthos, clocked in much closer to his destination than he had intended, appearing inside the musketeer's room at a tavern in Beauvais. The wounded musketeer, who had been recovering at the innkeeper's expense by consuming massive quantities of food and drink and refusing to pay for same, turned over in his bed and saw what appeared to be an armed man about to attack him in his room. Thinking that the innkeeper had hired someone to exact payment in a pound or two of flesh, Porthos grabbed his pistols off the table by his bed and shot the man to death.

Two of the men departing to look after Athos never arrived. A too hastily programmed chronoplate consigned them to the limbo that soldiers of the Temporal Corps had named "the dead zone." Trapped somewhere in nonspecific time, they would, theoretically, continue to exist, but no one could say exactly where or in what form.

Several of the agents, clocking out from different points, tried to arrive in the safehouse in the Rue Servadoni in the same place, at the same time. The agent that Cobra had stationed there watched in horror as the shapeless mass of flesh that materialized before him briefly became a writhing grotesquerie of thrashing arms and legs that flopped spastically on the floor, making a sound that no human ear should ever be subjected to. It died in seconds and was quickly clocked out to a prehistoric time, where its bones would be picked clean by reptilian scavengers.

Lucas and Andre both had a close call. They had tried for the vicinity of the palace and they materialized in the middle of the street outside the Louvre, in a spot where, scant seconds later, a carriage driven by a team of horses was to pass. No sooner had they materialized than Lucas, reacting quickly to the sound of thundering hooves almost on top of them, pushed Andre to one side and then threw himself in the opposite direction. The carriage hurtled by them and they missed being run down by inches. The coachman was a bit shaken. He had been directed to drive full speed toward the palace, not a wise thing to do in the streets of Paris at that hour, and he had been watching very carefully to avoid running anybody down. It was a mystery to him where those two people had come from. Suddenly, they were simply there. There had been no way to avoid them. Had they not jumped out of the way, they would surely have been seriously injured, if not killed. He would have had to stop. It would have meant disobeying the instructions of Milady, but he would have had to stop. As it was, he glanced quickly over his shoulder, saw that the two pedestrians appeared to be unharmed, hastily crossed himself, said a silent prayer of thanks, and turned into the gateway to the palace.

"Maurice," he told himself, "it's past time that you retired to the country and became a farmer."

Lucas and Andre picked themselves up and dusted themselves off.

"I will never grow accustomed to this method of travel," Andre said, taking a deep breath. "Be it magic, be it science, I care not. It is unnatural."

"That's true," said Lucas. "However, you will find that in my time, it is quite natural to live with the unnatural. We call it progress."

"Well, at any rate, we appear to have arrived safely," Andre said. "What happens now?"

"Ever break into a palace?" Lucas said.

"Not one such as this," said Andre, "and not without armor."

"This won't be quite as elaborate as a siege," said Lucas, "but we will be wearing armor, in a sense." He indicated a group of four of the cardinal's guards who had just left by the main gate. "I think that out of the four of them, we should be able to find two uniforms that we can fit into."

Andre grinned. "You think they will mind lending us their clothing?"

"Well, why don't we go ask them?" Lucas said.

Finn and Cobra, accompanied by one other agent, ran as fast as they could toward the Louvre. They had been forced to leave the luckless agent Jaguar behind them in the alley by Moreau's. His leg had broken in his fall and there was no time to waste on tending to him. Besides, Cobra was feeling far from charitable. The three of them reached a small gate at the side of the palace, in the Rue de PEchelle. Cobra asked for Germain and, when he arrived, he said the words, "Tours and Bruxelles." Germain nodded. "How may I serve you, Monsieur?" "We must see Constance Bonacieux at once," said Cobra. "It is a matter of life and death." "Say no more, Monsieur. Please follow me." Germain took them into the palace, through a series of back corridors and several secret passages until they arrived just inside the doorway of the outermost chambers of the queen's apartments.

"Please wait here," Germain said. "And pray, be silent. There are guards stationed just outside this door."

He left them alone for a few minutes which seemed like hours and, finally, the doors on the far side of the room were opened and Constance Bonacieux, alias agent Sparrow, entered. Upon seeing Cobra, her eyes widened and she beckoned them to her urgently, holding a finger to her lips.

She admitted them into the next room, shut the door, and immediately turned to them, an expression of alarm upon her face.

"What is it? What's happened?" she said, anxiously.

"It's hit the fan," said Cobra. "We made our move, but Taylor got away. We figure he had his plate preset with the coordinates for another hideout, just in case. He wasn't taking any chances. He's probably on his way here right now, if he hasn't already arrived."

"Here! The palace?"

Cobra nodded. "His target's here. It could be the queen, it could be Louis, it could be Richelieu, or it could be all three."

"My God," she said. "What do you want me to do?"

"You have your laser?"

"I've got it hidden in my room," she said.

"Get it. And don't let the queen out of your sight. If you see Milady, don't even hesitate. Waste her."

She nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"We've got to get next to the king and Richelieu somehow," said Cobra. "Got any ideas?"

She thought a moment. "I've discovered a secret passageway that leads from the queen's bedchamber to the king's. It seems that there's never been much trust in royal relationships. But the queen is in her bedroom now."

"Can you get her out for a couple of minutes?"

"I'll think of something," she said. "But I have no idea how you can get to the cardinal without being challenged in the halls. There are guards stationed outside the queen's chambers."

Cobra pursed his lips, thoughtfully. "All right. Get us in that passageway and we'll just have to improvise from there. Remember, don't let the queen out of your sight, no matter what. Now think up some excuse to get Anne out of her bedroom, quickly."

Lucas and Andre, dressed in ill-fitting uniforms of the cardinal's guard, entered the main gate. Two of the four guards they had attacked lay tied up and unconscious in a nearby alley. The other two had both been wounded, although not fatally, and they were also bound and gagged with torn strips of clothing and ignominiously covered over with refuse. If they survived the rats, they would come out of it with nothing but their dignity impaired.

"What do we say if we are stopped?" said Andre.

"We bluff our way through," said Lucas. "I'm wearing the uniform of a captain of the guard. I don't even remotely resemble the man to whom this uniform belongs, but if we both act as though we know what we're doing, we just might get away with it."

"And if we do not?"

"Then do everything you can to avoid killing anybody. If we have to fight our way in, use the laser and aim for the extremities."

"What do we do once we're inside?"

"We've got to get to Richelieu. We have to make sure that he never takes delivery of those two studs."

"Suppose he already has them?" Andre said.

"Then we'll have to find a way to get them away from him," said Lucas.

"One thing occurs to me," said Andre. "What if the two studs that the cardinal is to receive from Taylor are, in fact, genuine and it is two of the studs upon the ribbon that D'Artagnan is bringing back that are the false ones?"

"I've thought of that," said Lucas. "But it would have taken too much time to examine them in London. We would have had to find some pretext to get them from D'Artagnan and he would not have parted with them easily. Besides, I think that Taylor would rather arrange things so that he can be sure that his fake studs get into the right hands. I'm betting on it. If I'm wrong, then D'Artagnan still won't be in Paris for some time yet. He'll be delivering the diamond studs to Constance, and Constance is an agent for the TIA."

"You have thought it out quite well," said Andre.

"I sure as hell hope so," Lucas said. "But we're not out of the woods yet."

"What are these two studs that they are so dangerous?" said Andre.

"I can't be sure," Lucas said, "but I think they're something quite old-fashioned. I think that they're bombs."

There was a soft knocking at the door and Cardinal Richelieu said, "Come in."

The Count de Rochefort entered. "Milady de Winter, Your Eminence."

Richelieu smiled. "We have dispensed with secret rendezvous, I see. I find that most convenient. Show Milady in."

"Your Eminence," de Rochefort said, inclining his head in a respectful bow and backing out the door. A moment later, Milady entered.

"Ah, Countess," Richelieu said, rising to his feet. "How good of you to come to me directly, for a change. I was growing weary of our elaborate precautions. Am I to take it that our business has been concluded successfully?"

Casually, as if it were an afterthought, the cardinal held out his hand, palm down, to Milady. She bowed low and kissed his ring.

"I no longer have need for stealth, Your Eminence," she said, "since I now possess a carte blanche from yourself that grants me immunity from virtually anything."

Richelieu smiled. "Yes, I can see where that would be a useful thing to have. However, take care that you do not abuse it. What was granted can just as easily be rescinded. Have you obtained those items which we spoke about?"

"I have, Your Eminence," Milady said. She handed him a small golden jewelbox.

Richelieu took the box from her and opened it. Inside, resting on a cushion of mauve velvet, were two diamond studs.

"Excellent," he said. "I trust that you were not overly inconvenienced to obtain them?"

Milady smiled her dazzling smile. "It was my pleasure, Your Eminence."

"I'm certain that it was," said Richelieu. "You have done very well, Milady." He crossed the room and opened a drawer in his desk, removing from it a weighty purse. "You have done France a great service," he said. "Please take this on account. Come back and see me again after the ball and we shall discuss this matter further."

"You are most generous, Your Eminence. I am always glad to be of service."

"The Count de Rochefort will see you to your carriage," Richelieu said.

"Oh, please, do not trouble the count, Your Eminence," said Milady. "I have found that I quite enjoy being able to go where I please these days, now that I have your official pass to grant me safe conduct."

Richelieu chuckled. "As you wish, Milady, although I think the Count de Rochefort will be sorely disappointed."

In the corridor, she flashed Richelieu's carte blanche at the guards and was allowed to pass without even being questioned.

"You see, Adrian, how easy it all is?" she said. She felt the little transmitter hidden in the inside pocket of her cloak. "Richelieu is as good as dead. Now all we have to do is see to the king and queen. First, Anne. Then, Richelieu goes to serve God in His own kingdom. The blast should draw everyone to that end of the palace and they won't discover Anne's body for hours, which will allow me plenty of time to attend to Louis. It will all happen very quickly and efficiently and then, Adrian, you can rest. In peace."

She turned into the corridor that led to the queen's chambers. Again, a brief display of Richelieu's signature and the added words, "An urgent message for Her Majesty," were all that was needed to get her past the guards. She knocked upon the door of the queen's outer chambers and was greeted by the queen's valet, Germain.

"I must see the queen at once," she said. "Tell Her Majesty that Countess de Winter has arrived with an urgent message from abroad."

Germain admitted her into the outer chamber, standing aside to let her pass and then closing the door behind her.

"Wait here, please, Milady. I will announce you."

The moment Germain turned his back on her, Milady leapt upon him with a knife.

They found the little peephole in the panel and looked through. They were greeted by the sight of King Louis's nude posterior. His Majesty was making preparations for the grand ball and he was surrounded by attendants, each holding up a luxurious garment for his inspection. However, at the moment, the king was not paying attention to any of the items of clothing being offered for his perusal. He was otherwise engaged. Standing regally before a full-length mirror and wearing nothing but a pair of high-heeled red velvet shoes with golden buckles and a scarlet silk garter around his left thigh, the king was examining his reflection with open admiration, turning first slightly to the left, then slightly to the right. He was as pale as a corpse and he had further exaggerated his royal pallor by liberally dusting himself with powder.

"I feel like a damn pervert," said Delaney, pulling back from the peephole to let Cobra have a look. The agent put his eye to the peephole and remained there, saying nothing.

"Look, I'll tell you what," said Finn. "One of us has got to find a way to get to Richelieu. You stay here and cover the king. I'll go back and figure out a way to get past those guards outside the queen's chambers. I'll see if I can't get Sparrow to distract them. Okay?"

Cobra did not reply, being intent upon observing Louis.

Finn nudged him. "You hear what I said?"

"Yeah," said Cobra. "I never saw anyone put a beauty mark there before." He looked away from the peephole. "Try to get through to the cardinal's chambers if you can. Don't kill anyone unless you absolutely have to."

"I've done this sort of thing before, you know," said Finn.

"Sorry. I guess I'm just on edge. Good luck, Delaney."

"Same to you."

Finn moved quickly back down the passageway, heading toward the queen's bedroom. Anne was seated at her writing table, with "Constance" by her side. The queen was wringing her hands and working herself up into an agitated state.

"Oh, Constance, Constance, I was such a fool" she was saying, as Finn put his eye to the peephole. He saw that the queen's back was to the panel behind which he stood. If he opened it a crack, he might be able to attract Sparrow's attention and signal her to get the queen out of the way for a moment or two.

"Be strong, Your Majesty," said Sparrow. "Have faith, D'Artagnan will return with the diamond studs, I'm sure of it."

"But suppose that he does not return," the queen said, "or suppose that he does not return in time? Richelieu knows everything! Think of all the obstacles he must have set in your Gascon's path! The cardinal is out to ruin me! Oh, how I despise that man!"

Finn eased the panel open just a crack and tried to catch Sparrow's eye. The queen was only yards away from him, so he could not risk making any noise. He could only hope that the agent would glance in his direction. As he stuck his head out, the door to the queen's bedroom opened and Germain stumbled in.

"Germain!" said Constance, "how dare you enter without knocking! You know that the-"

Germain fell face down upon the floor. A dagger protruded from between his shoulder blades. Anne let out a shriek and fainted. Sparrow bolted through the door. Finn opened the panel and barreled out into the room, following hard on Sparrow's heels.

As Milady plunged the dagger into Germain's back, Taylor seized control. Furiously, Milady tried to subdue him and, for a moment, they were at an impasse, each personality struggling to dominate the other.

Germain sank to his knees, hands clawing for the dagger in his back. He could not reach it. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Milady standing there, rooted to the spot, eyes glazed over, shaking as if with St. Vitus's dance. He crawled forward on his hands and knees, trying to cry out, to call the guards, but all that would escape his lips was a strangled gasping for breath. He struggled to his feet, backing away from Milady, who stood there quivering, seemingly entranced, her fingers hooked like the talons of some predatory bird, clutching at the air. It took his last ounce of strength to reach the queen's bedroom door. As Germain opened it, he died.

Taylor stood in the center of the room, drenched in perspiration, breathing heavily. He was dizzy and his head felt as though it had been squeezed in a vice, but he had won. His hands were shaking and he fought to calm himself, to steady his frazzled nerves. He took a deep breath and reached into the pocket of his cloak for the transmitter that would trigger the tiny, but immensely powerful, explosive charges hidden within the synthetic diamond studs now in the cardinal's possession. It wasn't even necessary for them to be on his person. The blast would take out the entire wing of-

The door flew open and a young woman burst into the room, holding a laser in her hand. As she fired, Taylor threw himself to one side. The tiny transmitter fell to the floor. As she fired a second time, Taylor rolled and pulled out his own laser and shot Sparrow, who never had a chance to fire a third time. Finn threw open the door. Taylor raised his weapon and fired again, but Finn ducked back out of the way in the nick of time and the deadly beam passed by him. Sparrow crawled forward, reaching for the transmitter. Her hand closed around it.

"Guards!" shouted Taylor, getting quickly to his feet. "Guards!"

The two men stationed outside the queen's chambers responded immediately and rushed in. As Finn glanced out from behind the door, hoping to get off a shot, Taylor quickly pointed at him and said, "An assassin! Save the queen!"

The guards drew their rapiers and ran forward as Delaney slammed the door, cursing. As the guards pounded at the door, Taylor moved toward Sparrow, who had died clutching the transmitter in her hand. As he started to bend over, he felt Milady surfacing within him once again. He froze, doubled over, trying to force her down, to stay in control.

"Run, Adrian, " she said. "Run, save yourself! "

"No!"

"Run, I said!"

The door flew open and one of the guards was knocked off his feet as Delaney engaged the other with his rapier, still holding his laser in his other hand and trying to get off a shot at Taylor.

Milady ran.

Finn fired, but missed Taylor and got the guard who was getting back up off the floor. The other guard froze at the sight of the laser beam and Finn took advantage of his astonishment to smash the handguard of his rapier into the man's face. The guard crumpled to the floor.

He ran to Sparrow's side, saw that she was dead, then noticed the tiny box she clutched in her hand. He pried her fingers away from it and carefully put it in his pocket, then ran after Taylor.

As she ran down the corridor, Milady kept glancing over her shoulder. She was almost to the end of the corridor when she looked back and saw Delaney coming after her. She stopped, raised her weapon, and fired wildly. Delaney dropped to the floor and rolled, but as he raised his own weapon, Milady turned the corner-

— and ran right into Lucas Priest. They both fell to the floor and Milady lost her grip upon her laser. Seeing her drop the weapon, Andre was on her in an instant. For a moment, they rolled around, thrashing like wrestlers as Milady screamed hysterically, raking Andre's face with her fingernails, going for the eyes. Andre grabbed a fistful of her hair and slammed her head against the floor, once, twice, three times. Milady went limp and Andre quickly patted her down, searching for other weapons.

Finn arrived upon the scene to see Lucas standing over Andre, holding both his and Milady's weapons as Andre searched her.

"Dead?" he said.

"Alive," said Lucas, "but out cold. Were we in time?"

Finn took a deep breath. "Just barely," he said. He looked up. "We've got company."

Guards were running toward them from both ends of the hall, rapiers drawn.

"I left one guard dead back there and one unconscious. If he comes to, we're going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Perhaps not," said Andre, rising to her feet. She held a piece of paper in her hand.

As the cardinal's guards ran up, Lucas quickly hid the lasers and drew his rapier. "We're going to have to bluff our way through," he said.

"What is this? What's going on?" said a lieutenant in the cardinal's guard, arriving at the head of a group of five men. They were joined at once by six other guards who had come running from the opposite end of the hall. They were surrounded. The lieutenant glanced at Lucas, frowning. "Captain?" he said. "Do I know-"

"It's all right," said Andre, approaching him. "These men are with me."

Finn and Lucas exchanged quick, uneasy glances.

"And who are you? What have you done with this woman? Speak and be quick about it!"

"This woman is an English spy," said Andre. "This man," she indicated Finn, "is an agent of the cardinal who has been working with us to unmask her. This will explain," she said, handing the paper to the officer.

The lieutenant opened the paper and read aloud, "It is by my order that the bearer of this paper has done what has been done. Richelieu."

Finn quickly picked up his cue. "These two officers had arrested this spy and were conducting her to the Bastille when she tried to escape. As you can see by this man's face," he indicated Andre's scratches, "she became very violent and had to be subdued."

"We will take charge of her now, Lieutenant," Lucas said. "You and your men are to be commended for being so alert and responding so quickly. I will be sure to tell the cardinal. What is your name?"

"Lieutenant Bernajoux."

"Good work, Bernajoux. I will include your name in my report to the cardinal. This could mean a promotion for you."

"Thank you, Captain! Thank you very much, indeed!"

"Don't mention it. You're a good man. And now that you and your men have helped us to get things under control, we can go about our business with our prisoner and you can return to your posts."

"Yes, sir!" The lieutenant looked around at the other guards. "Well? You heard the captain. We've got matters well in hand. Go back to your posts!"

The lieutenant saluted Lucas, turned smartly on his heel, and marched off with the other guards.

"That was pretty quick thinking," Finn said to Andre.

She grinned. "With you two, one learns to think quickly." She tapped the paper that Bernajoux had handed back to her. "This helped a great deal. I will never regret having learned to read and I am thankful that Reese Hunter took so much trouble in furthering my education to prepare me for this time. I will miss him."

"So will we," said Lucas, remembering how Hunter had saved their lives on their last mission. And now, through Andre, he had helped them once again.

Finn picked up the unconscious Milady. "I think we'd better get while the going is good," he said.

"I'm with you," said Lucas. "Let's head back to the safehouse. We can commandeer a carriage."

As they started walking down the hall, Finn, carrying Taylor in his arms, chuckled.

"I just remembered something," he said. "I left Cobra in a secret passageway, watching the king preen bareass before his mirror."

"Getting him out might prove to be a problem," Lucas said.

"Yeah, his problem," said Delaney. "I think we'll just let him sweat it out."