"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" said Delaney. "We haven't got time for jokes!"
"Who's joking? They'd make a dandy chess set. Only I'd need thirty-two and you've got only twenty-six. Think you could manage to rustle up another half a dozen?"
"Forget about it," said Delaney. "What's happened to Andre and
Gulliver?"
"They were abducted. "
Delaney rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. We already know that. Where were they taken?"
"New York City," Darkness said. "The 20th century. September 13, 1992, to be exact."
"Are you sure?"
"I am always sure, Delaney," Darkness said, wryly. "I do not make idle pronouncements. I observed the settings on their warp discs, and to be doubly sure, I followed them. They were clocked to an old warehouse building on Washington
Street. They're in a loft, on the top floor. The man who took them prisoner is some sort of renegade T.I.A. agent, a member of the Network. I didn't hear him say his name, but he's a tall, slim, dark-haired, rather bored-looking individual dressed like a giant boysenberry'. He was holding them there alone, apparently waiting for someone."
"He was waiting for General Drakov," a small voice said from behind them.
They turned to face the table where the Lilliputian prisoners were all laid out.
"What did you say?" Delaney said.
The Lilliputian commander struggled to sit up. "I said, he was waiting for General Drakov. That warehouse on Washing 138
Simon Hawke ton Street was one of our base camps. And the man your friend described sounds like Victor Savino. I've met him. He controls a criminal organisation known as the Family through a man named Domenico Manelli."
"Savino?" said Delaney. "Vic Savino? Tied up with the 20th century Mafia?" He glanced at Lucas with astonishment. "Savino's the T. IA. section chief in that temporal zone. Steiger's mentioned him dozens of times. They started out together.
The man is something of a legend in the agency."
"And he's with the Network," Lucas said. "That means Drakov is not only still alive, but he's hooked up with the Network somehow. The most dangerous enemy we've ever faced, and our own people are involved with him. Christ, I don't believe it!"
"It doesn't make sense." Delaney said, shaking his head. "Why would the Network be involved with Drakov?"
"Because he has something they want," the Lilliputian commander said. "Us.
Hominoids, tailor made to your specifications. All it took was just one demonstration and they let Drakov name his price. "
"Why are you telling us all this?" Delaney said. "Because I'd like to see the bastard burn," the Lilliputian said, to a chorus of grumbling assent from his men.. "Why?"
Delaney said. "And why should we believe you?"
"The son of a bitch marooned us on that island," the Lilliputian leader said. bitterly. "I've seen him squash men underfoot as 'an object lesson in discipline.' We were never people to him. We were cannon fodder. A toy mercenary force that used live ammo. It was kill or be killed. When the hit on
Gulliver went bad and he escaped, Drakov decided to evacuate the island. We're all that's left of the original regiment, the 'first generation,' as he called us. And he hung us out to dry. The second generation helped him do it. They just left us there for you to find. “
"You mean he knew we were coming?" said Delaney.
"He said it was only a matter of time," the Lilliputian leader said. He grimaced. "No pun intended. When he found out Gulliver had escaped with the help of an Observer, he realised that Gulliver would be interrogated and you'd eventually find the confluence and discover the islands. He said that it would be a pity if there was nothing left for you to find."
"So he left you there," Lucas said, "to kill us when we arrived."
The Lilliputian nodded. "He said that our only chance to stay alive would be kill you. We'd have all died anyway. Our commanding officer was killed.. A snake got him. I was the exec." He snorted. "Some great commandos we turned out to be.
There were five hundred of us in the first generation. We're all that's left."
“Well, Lieutenant, regardless of whatever Drakov told you, you're not going to be killed," said Lucas. "We're going to dock you to our headquarters in the 27th century. And you're going to be treated humanely, like prisoners of war. Special arrangements will obviously have to be made for your detention, but nobody's going to kill you. I guarantee it."
"Wait, Lucas," said Delaney, "let's think about this for a minute.”
Lucas frowned. "What do you mean? What's there to think about? We have to deliver the prisoners. Surely, you're not suggesting that we-"
"No, no, of course not," said Delaney. “You know me better than that. I was merely thinking that we might be overlooking an opportunity here." He glanced at the Lilliputian leader. "Lieutenant, how'd you like a crack at your old friend, Drakov'?"
"Finn, no!" said Lucas. “Absolutely not! I know what you're thinking and you can just forget about it!"
"Why?"
"Why? Are you serious? We can't simply dock to the 20th century with a suitcase full of Lilliputians! It's too risky! How do we know we can trust them?"
"When you get right down to it, we don't," said Finn; "But I believe him.
Everything he's told us fits with what we already know about Drakov. And if the
Network is involved, we're going to need help. We can't ask headquarters for backup because we don't know who we can trust back there."
"Maybe not in the T.I.A., but we can trust our own people, the First Division,"
Lucas said.
Delaney shook his head. "They wouldn't have anyone to spare. You don't know what it's been like, Lucas. Ever since Forrester uncovered the Network and set out to break it, it's been all-out war. 'The only people he can trust in the entire agency are our old First Division people and there simply aren't enough of them to go around. Most of them are on adjustment duty, just like we are, and most of the rest are engaged in ongoing undercover work, trying to help expose new Network cells and break them up. We're not only trying to preserve the continuity of the timeline, we're faced with hostilities from the parallel universe and from within the T.I.A., as well. And with the old man in the hospital, Steiger's going to have his hands full. We can't ask him to spare us any reinforcements, Lucas. And even if we could, there’ll be no way to be sure that word of their clocking out to help us wouldn't leak out and someone would clock back ahead of them and warn Savino. "
Lucas-nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I guess it's going to have to be just you and me, like in the old days. Only this time, we've got the Doc along to help us."
“Just one moment," Darkness said. "When did I become a temporal agent?
Somehow, I don't recall enlisting."
"Don't hand me that, Doe," Lucas said. "I don't recall asking to be brought back from the dead and made into an experimental human time machine, either! Now if you want to see how your prototype functions in the field, then I suggest you come along and help, otherwise I'll just go and, do it myself!"
He disappeared.
“Lucas! What the… where did he go?" Delaney said. "Oh, hell," said Darkness.
"I'm afraid he translocated to the 20th century. "
"You mean-"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Darkness said, with a sigh. "He was thinking about going and doing it himself and that's precisely what he did. I fear I didn't quite get all the bugs out of system. It does tend to interpret one's thoughts rather literally."
"Well, don't just sit there, for God's sake! Go and help him!
He could be in trouble!",
"Not if he keeps his wits about him," Darkness said. He grunted. "That'lI be the day. I'd better go and help him."
He vanished.
Delaney quickly programmed new transition co-ordinates into his warp disc. He glanced down at the Lilliputians.