* * *
Our landing at Andrews was smooth and uneventful. We were met by a small welcoming committee of military types, and allowed to walk around the grounds while our plane was refueled. There was a winter chill in the air and patches of snow around the little park we stumbled upon. “Can we talk here?” I asked. “Jesus, Jill, I’m not used to being so paranoid.”
“Let’s just go for a walk and talk in low voices, Marty. And stop thinking about giving my booty a big squeeze, okay?”
“Damn, Jill, you are one hell of a sexy bitch. Too bad you know everything I’m thinking. That kind of spoils the male-female dichotomy, you know? Unfair advantage to the female of the species. And now that I know what you really look like….”
“Marty….” Jill was wearing a strange smile when I looked over at her.
“Okay, Jill, here’s what I’m thinking about. You probably already know, but I’ll say it anyway. First, this is amazing news that they have found Leela. That’s the good news. But why does this Anderson guy have to have his nose in everything? And also, how the hell are you and I going to become software experts in such a short time? That was the bad news, by the way.”
“Marty, no need to be worried about Mr. Anderson. Jealousy doesn’t become you. He has been Leela’s control guy for quite awhile, and he works for the same people we do. That’s all he does. So get over it.
“Then…we will learn enough about software design to bluff our way past these boobs at Black Swan Beta. We will have a crash course. I have a few memory tricks up my sleeve. Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that these people are behind the Internet attacks. Maybe that will be part of our assignment: rescue the Internet. I think we could pull it off with Leela’s help.”
“Okay, okay, Jill, I respect your confidence. I have my doubts about the whole caper, but I’m with you all the way. Now, one more question, please. Why are we going to Cyprus, which is way the hell out of the way, instead of checking in at the American embassy in Rome? Much closer to Switzerland, where they’re holding Leela. Or Florence, or Nice, or Geneva, or some other fun city. I found out that Cyprus is about fifteen hundred miles from Zurich or any cool place in Europe.”
“Marty, there are things you don’t know about yet. Most of Europe is a mess. There are food riots in Rome; in fact, all over Europe. Tent cities everywhere. The computer saboteurs have shut down the power grids all over Germany and France. In Paris, they are rioting in the streets. Little wars are breaking out. It’s a bad scene everywhere in Europe, and getting worse. Only in Switzerland is everything running smoothly, which happens to be where the main Black Swan operations are located.”
I looked around. No one in sight. A few drab military buildings off in the distance, the drone of aircraft, birdcalls, the bare trees, elm and oak and some kind of pine. So peaceful.
“Jill, I said, “I get the picture. But really, how can I help rescue Leela? I don’t have your psychic abilities. All I’ve got is my good looks and charm and a little experience creating websites.”
“No time to tell you the whole story, dear one. There are some surprises in store for all of us. We land in Cyprus, which is a safe place and still relatively civilized, and get a briefing from the State Department honchos there.
“Marty, I got a message from the State Department while you were in the shower. In Cyprus, after our briefing, a high-speed chopper will take us to somewhere near Davos. We set up a base camp and meet with our support people. Then we drop in on the Black Swan Beta headquarters and—”
“Oh, right. Just walk right in and tell these armed-to-the-teeth cyber-terrorists we want to see a friend. Who we understand is being held prisoner in their dungeon by means of an electromagnetic force field.”
“Not exactly. We have our cover, which is the computer software thing. Black Swan will want to meet us for our expertise. Once we are inside, we will figure out what to do.”
“That’s fine for you. How about me?”
“I promised you there would be some surprises when we got to Cyprus. You worry too much, Marty. Just trust.”
“Trust and….Too bad I don’t believe in prayer. I’m not sure if just trust is enough, Jill.”
We had been walking shoulder to shoulder toward the terminal. Jill stopped suddenly, planted her beautiful self in front of me, took me by the shoulders, and gave me the warmest, lovingest hug I have had in quite some time. She looked me straight in the eyes.
“Trust is enough, Marty,” she whispered. “Now let’s get on that plane and fly off into the wild blue yonder.”
Jill stepped away from the hug, gave me a big smile, and extended her warm hand to mine. That’s how we walked, briskly, hand in hand, back to our waiting C-20. My heart was beating wildly. My mind was empty.
14 Darkness Prevails
The flight to Cyprus was uneventful. Dinner was served somewhere over the British Isles—vegetarian, at Jill’s request—while our pilots navigated us through choppy skies. Jill and I kept our spoken conversations to a minimum while aloft. I managed to fall asleep on the queen size bed, alone, after popping two or three Melatonins and putting some sleepy music on the wrap-around stereo.
I dreamed of Leela in some kind of great danger, locked in a room guarded by a vicious, snarling dog which lunged at me as I tried to enter the room. Several men with lizard heads and human bodies came at me, but I escaped by waking myself up. In a cold sweat. A real nightmare. I stretched, thought about a threesome with Leela and Jill, and drifted back to sleep with a smile on my face.
Hours later. “Marty. Wake up. Time to get up and prepare for landing.” It was Jill, calling from the doorway, a dark silhouette in the harsh gray backlight of the aircraft.
“C’mon in, Jill,” I called sleepily. “We just have time for—”
“Don’t be crude, dear boy,” she said, shimmying and smiling her way into the tiny bedroom. Jill looked almost translucent. She was wearing a white blouse and tight jeans, her hair tied back in a ponytail, no makeup as usual, gorgeous and unattainable. For the moment. She sat on the edge of the rumpled bed, put her hand on my forehead.
“You’ve been having some bad dreams, huh, Marty?”
“Oh, just my wife being abused by lizard-men and attack dogs, that’s all. And then the falling from the sky dream, and something about you, far away beyond the mountains, disappearing in the mist….”
“Just your mind processing some useless information, that’s all, dear one. Dreams aren’t real, you know.” She looked at me with such kindness that I felt tears forming behind my eyes.
“What’ve you been doing while I was dreaming?” I managed to ask.
“Plenty. I watched the vid again from Kali’s temple that Benny Bravo gave you. Verrrrry interesting. Kali is a force to be reckoned with. She has incredible powers and seems to be just getting stronger.”
“Yeah, I agree. Stronger, and weirder. Hey, is this room bugged?”
“No. I did a scan earlier. It’s clean. We can talk.”
“Well, nobody’s perfect, Jill. Not even you. I know a bug you missed. Maybe even two.”
“You mean that moth at my house? I know Hacker’s work. I wanted him to tune in on that scene. And that noisy bird outside? Yeah. No problem.”
“Migawd, Jill, you are one hell of a—” I reached out to encircle her waist with a long arm. But she was off the bed and at the doorway before I could connect.
“Marty, we land in Cyprus in less than an hour. You’ve just got time to take a shower and get yourself together. Come join me and I’ll show you the decoded message I got from the State Department. We’ve got a great adventure ahead of us. Hurry up.”
A cold shower was just what I needed. It felt like things were heating up, and that I needed to be ready. Ready for what…? I had no idea.