“Where in hell have you been?” Finn said angrily, despite his enormous relief at seeing him.
“Take it easy, Your Majesty,” said Lucas, reaching out and taking the cigarette out of Finn’s mouth. He took a deep drag off it and sat down on the bed, wearily. He exhaled the smoke in a heavy sigh. “Derringer is dead.”
“Oh, hell,” Finn said, softly.
“I don’t think he even knew what hit him,” Lucas said. He held up a hand. “Give me a minute, okay? I haven’t slept in 48 hours and I’m exhausted.” He rubbed his eyes. Finn gave him another cigarette. Lucas lit it off the butt of the one he had taken from Finn.
“Take your time,” said Finn. “You look all done in.”
Lucas sighed heavily. “I’ll bear up. If I could just catch a couple of hours’ sleep, I’d be okay.” He inhaled deeply on the cigarette, then lay back on the bed. Finn sat down beside him.
“It happened at around oh-three-thirty last night,” said Lucas. “I had taken up a post at the southwest corner of the lodge, where I had a good view of the west side and the rear. Andre was at the northeast corner, where she could see the east side and the front. Derringer took up position a bit farther to the northwest, where he could see part of the front of the lodge and all of the road leading up to it. At about oh-three-thirty, Andre spotted laser flashes. Two quick beams, coming from Derringer’s direction, one firing and one returning fire. We couldn’t raise Derringer. I had Andre stay put, covering the lodge from her side in case it was some sort of diversion, then I circled round wide to check on Derringer. I found him dead with his neck broken. No signs of a struggle.”
“His neck broken?” Finn said.
Lucas nodded. “His laser had not been fired.”
“So who-”
“I have no idea. I didn’t see a thing. Oh, one other thing. His chronoplate remote was gone.”
Finn swore. “We’re screwed. By now they will have hit the safehouse and taken the plate. I hope you like the neighborhood. Looks like we might be staying for a while.”
“Maybe not,” said Lucas. “Derringer did have security setup. Maybe we’ll get lucky. If not, we go on with the mission. S amp; R will come looking for us eventually.”
“Yeah, in a few months, maybe, if they’re on the ball. Where’s Andre?”
“I sent her to check the safehouse. I’ll be heading out there as soon as I leave here.”
“Take it back from last night,” Finn said. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Lucas said, shaking his head. “We expected them to hit us, but they never did. It was pretty nerve-wracking. With only two of us left to cover the lodge, we didn’t want to risk trying to get to you and leaving ourselves open. We held tight, expecting them to make their move, thinking maybe they were watching from somewhere and waiting for us to expose ourselves, but it must have been a hit-and-run. When you left in the morning with Sapt and von Tarlenheim, Andre took one of the other horses and trailed you. She was supposed to stick with you until you looked reasonably safe, then head right for the safehouse.”
Lucas paused, taking a deep breath. “I had to stay behind and bury Derringer. I picked a spot S amp; R should be able to find without too much trouble. But that was later. First I watched the guard arrive. Three men went inside the lodge. Detchard was one, I heard his name mentioned. I’m assuming that the other two were also part of Michael’s Six. They sent the guard on ahead while they remained behind. Shortly after that, they brought out the king, draped him over one of the horses, and rode off in the direction of the castle. Let me tell you, it was tempting as hell to burn those bastards on the spot. After they left, the old woman came out, carrying a carpet bag, and set off down the road to the village on foot. I waited some more, then went in to check the lodge. I found the king’s servant in the cellar with his throat cut. I left him there and went to bury Derringer. I searched the woods in the vicinity, but I didn’t find anything. Not that I expected to, but you never know. By that time, it was well after noon. There wasn’t anything more I could accomplish there, so I went to Zenda Castle and set up watch on that spot where we were before. I saw one horseman leave, riding hard down the road to Strelsau, then they raised the drawbridge. I didn’t think I’d have a chance to contact you before dark, so I stayed put. Just as I was about to leave, two riders came galloping up to the chateau from the direction of Strelsau. One of them was Black Michael, the other one was Hentzau, I think. They lowered the drawbridge, the two riders went in-they rode their horses right through the chateau, which must be a little hard on the housekeeping staff-then the drawbridge went back up again. I figure they’re holding the king in that new addition. It was the only part of the castle where lights were burning. It didn’t look as if they’d be coming out again, so I headed straight here. It took me a while to time the rounds made by the palace guard, but getting in here wasn’t very difficult. So that brings you up to date. I wish I could have brought you some good news.”
“Damn,” said Finn. They sat in silence for a moment. “He was just a kid.”
“Maybe I could have done something to prevent it,” Lucas said, his voice strained. “I keep thinking that it was my responsibility.”
“As an Observer, he wasn’t under your command,” said Finn. “It could have been Andre or it could have been you. Blaming yourself isn’t going to help. Things are tense enough as they are. They’re playing games with us. Falcon had a chance at me during the procession, but she passed on it. It would have been easy. She had me dead to rights.”
“You saw her?”
“Plain as day and bold as brass.”
“You’re sure it was her?”
“It was Falcon, all right. No question. She was on the balcony of the Grand Hotel as we rode by. You should have seen her, standing there and grinning at me. She made my stomach do somersaults. She’s established an identity here as a visiting aristocrat of some sort. The Countess Sophia, if you please.”
“Not very subtle, is she?” Lucas said.
“No, just one look at her would tell you that. That hologram didn’t do her justice. She’s one of those people who can knock the wind right out of you with just a look. She really puts it out there. Feral.”
“Sounds like she impressed you.”
“Oh, she did that, all right,” said Finn. “That was the whole point. She’s really something. Charisma with a capital ‘N’, for Nasty. Sapt tells me that the lovely Countess Sophia has managed to acquire quite a notorious reputation in the short time that she’s been here. If he only knew. He suspects her of being involved in the plot because she’s been keeping very close company with Black Michael and Rupert Hentzau. I got a look at Hentzau, but it didn’t tell me very much. He seems very young and quite fit, dark and good-looking in a go-to-hell way. According to Sapt, he’s the worst of the lot. The other five, Detchard, Bersonin, De Gautet, Lauengram and Krafstein, are all reasonably young, apparently efficient, and generally standoffish. They’re not well thought of in court circles. Michael’s tarnished his prestige a bit by hiring a bunch of cutthroats. So far, it all fits the scenario, but it’s occurred to me that it wouldn’t have been very difficult for the Timekeepers to dispose of the real Six and take their places. Anyone could be a ringer in this Chinese fire drill. They’ve got the mobility and we’re the sitting ducks, or at least I am. It makes me feel wonderfully secure. Much as I hate to say it, I think our best bet would be for you and Andre to leave me alone to take my chances and concentrate on taking out the Timekeepers. They must have a base of operations around here somewhere.”
“I think I’ve already found it,” Lucas said.
Finn glanced at him sharply. “What do you mean, you think?”
“Call it an educated guess. A good hunch.”
“I’ve learned to respect your hunches.”
“It hit me this morning, when I was crouching in the bushes and watching them take the king away,” said Lucas. “Put yourself in their position. You’ve had some time to set this up. You’ve considered all your options very carefully. If you wanted to play it safe, if you wanted to have an easily defensable position and still be right on top of things, where would you hole up?”