Barron’s answer surprised Dodge a little. “Along with Dr. Newcombe, Mr. Lafayette and Miss Holloway. I’m sure they’d all like to get back to New York.”
The master of the Majestic offered a tight smile. “Of course, if that is what they wish, I have no objection. But as you are no doubt aware, I have engaged Dr. Newcombe in a matter of scientific research, and Mr. Lafayette is assisting me with my memoirs. Have they expressed a desire to depart?”
“No. Not as such. I had just assumed…” Dodge took a deep breath. “Mr. Barron, let me be straightforward with you. After the… incident in New York… the attempted kidnapping… I was told that it had been the intention of the kidnappers to take me. They got Lafayette by mistake.”
Barron’s expression betrayed nothing, so Dodge continued: “They thought that you wanted Doc Newcombe and myself. Doc is helping you build your wave device, but I’m wondering is why you wanted me.”
“You were told? By the anarchists responsible for the abduction?”
“One of them, yes.”
Barron smiled. “The answer is quite simple. I told you that Mr. Lafayette is working on my memoirs, but I had originally hoped that you would do so. You might say that I wanted to give you the opportunity to redress some of the… shall we say, slanderous accusations, that have appeared in your fiction. I had hoped that, given the chance to hear my side of the story, you might want to set the record straight.”
“Those are just stories. Until today, I didn’t even know you were a real person.”
“Be that as it may, I am not the villain you have portrayed me as.”
“I suppose I understand that, but as you just said, you aren’t Baron Von Heissel anymore. What difference would it make? Or am I missing something?”
Barron laughed. “Touché. It was, I suppose, a rather self-indulgent motivation, and as it turns out, quite unnecessary. Mr. Lafayette is a capable author, and quite eager to wield his pen on my behalf. The point is moot.”
“So that’s it? You just wanted someone to write for you?”
“That is what you do, is it not?”
“Among other things.” Dodge took another breath. “You’ve been working with General Vaughn; I’m sure he’s told you a little about some of what I’ve been involved in of late.”
“More than a little, actually.” Barron brought his fingers together under his chin in a thoughtful gesture. “Ah, I see. You perhaps imagined that I wanted you to help find the adamantine source.”
“It had crossed my mind.”
“I have employed Miss Dunn for that task, and she has proven quite capable thus far. But since you have raised the issue… and since it is evident that, acting on your own, you located the library at Alamut simultaneously, might I infer that you are interested in participating in the search? Or is it your intention to… what’s the expression? Beat me to the punch?”
Dodge shrugged. “I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with this adamantine stuff if I found it. But Doc Newcombe is my friend, so I’m more than willing to help him look for it.” He paused a moment. “I’d certainly hate to see it fall into the wrong hands.”
Barron laughed again. “As would I.”
He’s hiding something, Dodge thought. Barron’s measured replies hadn’t exactly been incriminating, but the very fact that he had so adeptly avoided any kind of emotional response only added to Dodge’s sense that the man formerly known as Baron Von Heissel was still very much the kind of man that Captain Falcon would have counted an enemy.
“You know, maybe I can help you find this adamantine. My plane can get where you’re going a lot faster than your airship. What if I were to take the search party there? Get a head start. With a little luck, by the time you show up, we’d have what you need.”
“That’s a very interesting offer, Mr. Dalton.”
“Sure. There’s room in the plane for the Doc and Miss Dunn, and a few others, too. And that wave device that Doc used in Alamut might come in handy.” Then, with a laugh, he added: “Hell, you can even send General Vaughn along to make sure I don’t misbehave.”
Dodge could almost hear the gears grinding in Barron’s head as the man considered the implications of what was being proposed. Dodge didn’t think Barron would give his assent, but if he did, it would go a long way to disproving the idea that he harbored villainous intent.
There was an alternative choice available to Barron; one that Dodge had hoped would not occur to the man. He almost groaned aloud when Barron abruptly clapped his hands together and declared: “An excellent idea. I’ll go with you.”
Chapter 15—Into the Pit
Dodge was more than a little surprised that their quest had brought him back to Naples, Italy. During the brief stopover only a few days earlier, he had been painfully aware of two things. First, that the breakneck pace of their journey was denying him an opportunity to actually enjoy the places they were visiting; and second, that the world was changing, and there was no guarantee that he’d get another chance to see these places again.
Dodge was acutely aware of the political situation in Italy. The Fascist government had grown increasingly belligerent, and diplomatic relations with the United States were strained to the breaking point. Of course, Italy had historically never thought of itself as a single nation, but rather a collection of small city-states, each with its own very distinctive cultural identity. The people of Naples saw themselves as Neopolitans, first and foremost; the political affairs of Rome were less important than the potential to earn some lira from tourists with deep pockets. And Walter Barron had very deep pockets.
Despite his apprehensions about traveling with Barron, the long flight had been incident-free. Hurricane sat in the front with Dodge, while the rest occupied whatever space they could find. The Catalina had been designed as a working military aircraft, so most of its empty seats were positioned according to utilitarian considerations like the bubble-windowed gun turrets — though the plane was not armed — and observation ports originally designed for spotting enemy submarines. The closest thing to conflict had been Fiona’s displeasure at being denied a chance to sit in the front. A relatively new pilot himself, Dodge understood her eagerness to broaden her experience, but he wanted to keep some distance between Hurricane and Barron.
Fiona’s can-do-anything attitude and her experience as a flyer also reminded Dodge a lot of Molly, and that led to a place in his mind he didn’t want to go.
Eight souls made the flight from the Caspian to the Tyrrhenian. In addition to Barron, Fiona and Newcombe, Vaughn had come along, at Dodge’s urging. Faced with the possibility that Barron might be up to no good, Dodge and the general had mutually put aside their prior differences.
The remaining two seats would have gone to a pair of crewmen, but upon learning of the flight, Nora Holloway had insisted on being allowed to come along, much to Lafayette’s dismay. Dodge wasn’t sure how he felt about having her along. He like her well enough, even though she also reminded him of his lost love, but his automatic instinct was to want to protect her from the uncertain dangers of traveling into the earth’s interior. Alamut had been bad enough; there was no telling what sort of perils they would face journeying into a place the ancients had associated with Hell itself. In the end however, it had been a very different consideration that had prompted him to let her come along; with her taking up one of the available seats, Barron would be able to bring along only one of his “loyal crewmen.”
If the arrangement bothered the industrialist, he gave no outward sign of displeasure. During the flight, he had contented himself with a seat in one of the gun turrets, more or less completely isolated from everyone else, but upon arriving in Naples, he had been personable in his dealings with Dodge as well as in making arrangements for an overnight stay before beginning the next phase of their search.