"Let's first have lunch", Lara said. "I have a great idea. Let's buy one of those quadcopters with a camera and fly it over the suspect area. This will give us a better and more detailed view than the Google Earth view that may be outdated."
Le Docteur liked the idea, "So, we'll go back to the hardware store in Coburg, check if the equipment we ordered has arrived, and purchase one of those quadcopters. By the way, can any of you fly the thing?"
Lara laughed, "I used to fly the most sophisticated jet-fighter in the world, and you think I cannot fly a quadcopter?" Le Docteur gave her a warning look and she stopped talking.
Rudolf was surprised by this statement and began to wonder about his new friends. Like everyone else in the civilized world he had heard rumors of a highjacked jet-fighter and a renegade female pilot who turned on her own American people. He didn't say anything out loud, but decided to ask Fiona about it, when they were back in their hotel room.
They drove back to Coburg and had lunch in one of the new fast-food joints. Later, Le Docteur and Lara returned to the hardware store. The proprietor proudly showed them the metal detector and radiation monitor and presented them with the bill. When they asked him for a quadcopter, he showed them a large assortment of different models, and was pleased when they chose the most expensive one. The overall bill was close to 5,000 Euros, and Le Docteur pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and paid. The proprietor gave them a stack of batteries and said that they were on the house and quietly he wondered who his customers really were but took the cash and didn't ask any questions. He decided that he'd tell his friends about this strange, and profitable transaction, when he invited them all for a drink in their favorite beer-cellar on Friday evening.
Le Docteur and Lara returned to the hotel and checked their purchases. Le Docteur loaded the batteries in the metal detector and tested it by throwing a coin under the bed and using the metal detector to find it. Next, he installed batteries into the radiation detector and looked around the room for something that may emit radiation. Lara saw him searching the room and pointed at the smoke detector on the ceiling. She said, "This contains a small amount of americium — a radioactive element that also emits gamma rays." Le Docteur stood on a chair and stretched to touch the smoke detector with the radiation monitor. The quiet chirping of the monitor increased in volume and intensity and returned to its normal chirping as he stepped down from the chair. Meanwhile, Lara switched on the TV set and pointed at it. Le Docteur placed the monitor close to the screen but the chirping level only rose a little.
Lara unpacked the quadcopter and read the instructions. She plugged the battery charger and started charging the battery. She said, "We need to charge the battery overnight, before we can take it to the site. Let's take the afternoon off and have some fun."
Le Docteur smiled, "Lara, you are great. I am glad that we are together."
Rudolf opened the minibar and took out two miniature bottles of vodka and a can of natural orange juice. Fatima gladly accepted the drink and raised her glass, "Here's to you, Rudi, and to the success of our mission."
Rudolf raised his own glass, "Fiona, I am glad we are together" not realizing that Le Docteur had said the very same words to Lara in the adjoining room, "but, I would like to know more about you and your friends. You are all very nice and really helped me when I needed help, but I think that you are more than simple, fellow-anarchists."
Fatima realized that she was on slippery ground, "Rudi, I assure you that we are pursuing the same cause — to get back at the corrupt society that exploits the common people. Please, don’t ask too many questions." She then patted the spot next to her on the bed, "Come here — I need you just like you needed us a while ago."
Rudolf obeyed, but his suspicion grew. He decided to wait for her to fall asleep and then go through her bag and look for any documents that may attest to her identity. Fatima fell into a deep sleep after their intensive love-making. Rudolf nudged her gently, and when she didn't respond, got out of bed and went to the bathroom, taking her bag with him. He sat on the toilet seat, opened the bag and found her passport and driver's license. Her Irish passport said that she was Fiona Wordsworth, gave her age as 32 and place of birth as Dublin. Her driver's license corroborated the information. English wasn't Rudolf's mother-tongue, but he thought that Fiona's accent had traces of other languages and was not pure Irish (his knowledge of the proper accent of the natives of Dublin stemmed from listening to the Frames and the Pogues — two of his favorite groups). He decided to ask her about her childhood and where she grew up, but to do it in a nonobtrusive manner.
He flushed the toilet, replaced Fatima's bag and returned to bed. Fatima stirred, moaned softly and pulled him to her side of the bed. Rudolf held her tight and massaged her back with long gentle strokes, just the way she liked it. She mumbled, "Don't stop", and after a while turned to face him. She laughed, "Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours", and started caressing him. Afterwards, they lay on their backs side by side, holding hands.
Rudolf said, "Fiona, tell me about your childhood and growing up."
Her eyes opened wide, although he couldn't see that. She suspected that he had gone through her bag and was ready with her cover story. "I was born in Dublin, but my parents separated when I was five years old, so I spent part of childhood with my mother in France and part with my father, who moved to Luxton." Luxton was the name of a fictional company, portrayed in a TV series — not a real place, but she was sure that Rudolf wouldn't know that. She countered, "Where did you grow up?"
Rudolf had nothing to hide, "My father served in the German military and our family followed him to wherever he was stationed. As he was busy most of the time, my mother took care of me. All this moving around was problematic for me, because I couldn't make any real friends. I also had to change schools every few years. I think this disruptive childhood shaped my attitude towards society and turned me into an anarchist. I never formed a long-term relation with girls, or for that matter, even with boys. During my young adulthood, I felt like a rolling stone — no ties to people or places. With you, I feel different — perhaps because you are a little older and more experienced." He turned to her and kissed her lips.
Fatima knew that she was deceiving this gentle young man but felt that any sacrifice for the cause was justified. "Rudi, we both suffered during our early years. I hope we can make up for it, now that we've found each other."
Rudolf accepted this, but then recalled what Lara said earlier, "Fiona, what did Lara mean when she said she had been a jet-fighter pilot?"
Fatima was prepared for this question, "She was only joking, because she had spent hours on end with those stupid computer games. She really has a knack for the game in which she is a jet-fighter pilot and must shoot down enemy planes. We'll soon see if she can fly a quadcopter in the real world and not just on a flat computer screen. Don't worry about it — she is an exceptional woman, with many attributes."
Rudolf accepted the explanation, but something else had been bothering him since Le Docteur told him the role the two women played in the attacks in Bologna. "Did you and Lara plant those bombs in Bologna, or was our friend just pulling my leg? I cannot believe that you are responsible for so many deaths and so much destruction."