Anselm nodded in agreement, “Can you get someone to sit on this place tonight In case he comes back”
She frowned, “Maybe. I’ll call the chief and see if I can get the overtime approved.”
“Tell him that Interpol will cover half of it.” Anselm said, “My expense account will cover that, at least.”
She smiled, “It’ll help.”
He grinned back, “Usually does.”
They became serious a moment later though, the same thought striking them at the same time.
“If he’s not here,” Anselm said, voicing it first, “where is he”
“Blue Yonder maybe.” Gwen replied, “I can call a couple friends.they might know.”
Anselm nodded, thinking about. “Alright, do it. If they don’t, we’ll call it a night and get back on the job tomorrow.”
“Agreed.” She said, snapping open her portable.
“Hello Kamir.”
Kamir jerked around, unable to see under the hood that covered his face. “Jacob Is that you What’s going on”
“You have committed.an error in judgment, Kamir.”
The cold voice sent a thrill of fear through young man as two sets of arms grabbed him and hauled him to his feet. He could feel a warm wind pass over him as they wrestled him around, holding him upright between them.
“What did I do! I’ll fix it! I swear it, Jacob!”
“You tried to kill Ronald Somer.” The voice replied, “Can you `fix’ that”
“The cop! Who cares!”
“He wasn’t a police officer, Mr. Kamir,” Jacob said in his dull voice. “And to answer your second question, I care. I care when someone under me is stupid enough to decide to kill a man without orders. I care when someone under me is foolish enough not to consider the consequences. Put simply, Mr. Kamir, I care.”
The small man shook under the black hood, “I’m sorry, Jacob! I won’t do it again!”
“I know you won’t,” Jacob replied. “Put it on him.”
The men holding Kamir began wrestling him around again, and something slid over his right arm, then his left as he was held in place. He could hear snapping sounds of plastic and metal clipping together, and suddenly the men let him go and he had to catch himself from falling to the ground.
“Amir is angry with me, because of you.” Jacob told him as he braced himself with his hands on his knees and began to straighten up. “You’ve endangered the plan.”
“I’d never do that, Jacob! I swear! I live for Amir!” Kamir protested, pulling the hood off.
He instantly blinked in the harsh glare of light that erupted around him, blinding him. He held his hand up to shelter his eyes and peered around.
Mr. Jacob was standing just a few feet from him, the lights at his back. Kamir looked around, and realized that he was inside.
But the wind, He thought wildly, then his eyes widened as he realized where he must be.
He was inside the tower, near the center of the project where the heated air from the greenhouse created a constant wind as it was drawn up the length of the kilometer high tower.
“Jacob.” He started to say, trying to puzzle it out, but was cut off.
“Amir has told me to do you a great favor, Kamir.” Jacob said, smiling for the first time since Kamir had met the man. “And so I am here to do so.”
The smile sent another chill down Kamir’s spine as the huge man that was Mr. Jacob stepped forward, then patted him surprisingly gently on the shoulder.
“Go with God, Kamir.” Jacob smiled again, showing teeth this time.
Kamir had time to look confused before Jacob jerked his hand down, yanking the chord attached to the harness Kamir now wore. He looked down at the familiar harness, then up in shock at Mr. Jacob as the memory plastic surged from its compressed state and began to flutter open in the wind.
“No.” He had time to say, more of a shocked whisper than anything else, and then the air foil snapped open and jerked him off his feet.
The foil followed the wind current, snapping Kamir off the ground in an instant, yanking him up the tower as he struggled with the snaps to his harness, his scream of terror echoing for a few moments as he went up the thermal chimney, right into the blades of the power turbines that began two hundred meters above.
“Nothing,” Gwendolyn said as she and Anselm watched the deputies carry equipment out of the disaster zone that was Mr. Kamir’s home.
She’d contacted all the people she knew who kept in contact with the Thermies, knowing that asking around herself would do little good. She had some friends in the community, but as a whole the thermies saw her as a cop and wouldn’t talk. Those that would, didn’t know anything about Kamir.
“Alright. Call it a night,” Anselm told her. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I still want to see that box you say you found out in the desert.”
She nodded, not bothering to correct him on who had found it.
“Alright. Good Night Agent Gunnar.”
“Good Night, Inspector Dougal.”
Anselm had set his wakeup call for ten am, though he woke a half hour earlier as the lights in his room slowly brightened in a simulation of the rising sun. He lay there for a few minutes, just trying to relax and wake up slowly, but it was of little use. He was awake, and he had to get up and get moving.
He rose quickly, stretching to work out the sleep in his body, then grabbed a shower. When that was done he palmed the swipe card Inspector Dougal had given him and walked over to the room’s phone and passed the card over the receiver strip.
“Inspector Dougal.Oh, hello Anselm.” The red head greeted him, her eyebrows twitching in amusement as she looked out of the screen at him.
Anselm looked down and realized that he’d only thrown on his pants and was still damp from the waist up. “Just got out of the shower.”
“I can see that.” She smiled, looking away for a moment. “My chief tells me that we’ve been formally instructed to show you all possible cooperation.spirit of international brotherhood and all that.”
Anselm snorted lightly, but nodded. “Tell him I appreciate it. Are you at the office”
“That’s right,” She nodded. “I woke up and took my shower hours ago.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He smiled, “I’m going to grab something to eat, then I’ll take a Mag-Lev in to see you.”
“I’ll be here,” she told him, shrugging with a painful look on her face. “I’m filling out paperwork on the Eliica.”
“Ouch,” Anselm winced in sympathy, and then smiled at her. “Better you than me, Gwen.”
She scowled at him and reached for the disconnect button, “Don’t forget to dress before you go out.”
Anselm was about to retort, but the connection went black, so he just chuckled and shook his head.
Alright, He decided, first breakfast, then work.
An hour later Anselm walked into a station house that was considerably different than the one he saw the day before. There were three other inspectors gathered in the main room, chatting back and forth over something or other while three of the part-time deputies that Anselm had met the day before, lugged stuff back toward the evidence room.
“That the stuff from the raid last night” He asked, walking up casually.
One of the inspectors looked over at him, frowning. “We know you, mate”
“Anselm Gunnar,” he said, flipping open his identification. “Interpol.”
“Oh, hell. You’re the guy that’s got everyone buzzing round here then!” The man said in surprise.
“Well I don’t know how much to blame for it I am,” he said with a smile. “But things do seem to be turning since I got here. I guess that’s not how it normally goes, huh”