The second dark ages box.., p.42
The Second Dark Ages Boxed Set, page 42
part #1 of The Second Dark Ages Series
Gerard couldn’t quite make out the Duke’s comment. “Sir?”
“Nothing, Gerard.” He spoke louder, “I see the answer to a question, and the fates have provided me with the means of revenge this time.”
William didn’t usually tell his enemy his plans before he implemented them. Perhaps if he didn’t have a choice between execution of the plan or lording it over Michael he might have been tempted.
Execution won. He reached over to a second device and started punching in a code.
A moment later, he pressed a button.
The muffled multi-directional explosions caught both Akio and Michael by surprise. They bolted out of the room as Michael yelled, “Meet you back here!”
Then he disappeared.
Japan
The last two police cars were sitting on the side of the street. The officer didn’t want to interrupt the inspector, but they had finished everything. It was now close to three in the morning, and he had noticed both the young man and woman yawning. Hell, he had been yawning.
He walked up to the inspector and asked, “Time to go?”
Thankfully, the inspector didn’t seem upset. “We have everything, inspector,” he said.
“Okay.” Hirano turned back, but didn’t get to say anything before Yuko spoke up.
“Do you need a ride somewhere?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” he said, before he realized that Eve had just looked at Yuko with annoyance.
Yuko turned to the officer. “Thank you, we will make sure the inspector gets home safely.”
He nodded and left.
No way was the officer telling her that the inspector was supposed to go back with them.
“You,” Eve spoke quietly, too softly for the human inspector to hear them, “are doing this to tweak me!” Jacqueline was having a hard time keeping a straight face.
“Is it bothering you?” Yuko asked, just as quietly.
“Are you that into him?” Eve shot back.
“No, Eve.” Yuko replied. “I’m not doing this to tweak you.” A moment went by before Yuko asked, “Did you know he and his father have a research folder on us, and he was trying to get a glimpse of you earlier today at the police station?”
Eve turned in confusion as they walked through the park. “There are no files on any of us. I constantly make sure of that.”
“There can be,” Yuko answered, “when all the information is on paper.”
“Paper,” Eve spat, “is one of the most annoying storage mediums on this planet.”
“That’s because you can’t hack it,” Mark said.
“Who asked you, Vamp-Nerd?” Eve asked.
“I believe,” Jacqueline said a moment later, “that would be Vamp-Geek, wouldn’t it?”
“Annoying,” Eve clarified and then closed her eyes a moment before opening them and saying, “I’ve just become Akio.”
Michael was already standing outside the room they had found when Akio returned. “Three hallways, all blocked.”
“Three my way, the same.” Michael agreed.
“Myst?” Akio asked.
“Possible,” Michael answered, “although I doubt it. The workmanship seemed very good and upgraded. Almost like someone wanted to get some revenge. Turnabout is fair play and all that.”
“He thought you would come?” Akio asked.
Michael waved a hand. “I doubt he thought about it consciously. But I made it very unlikely he would ever be able to leave his prison, so maybe he was subconsciously trying to best what I had accomplished?”
“How is just shutting us in besting us?”
“Well...” Michael broke off as a voice from the other room caught their attention.
“Hello, Michael, it’s William. I can hear you two talking out in the hall. Why not come in here where we can chat more easily?”
Michael raised his voice. “I think not, William. You don’t expect this to hold me, do you?”
“Only long enough,” William replied.
“I’ll bite,” Michael answered before grimacing. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
Akio nodded. “Bad pun.”
“You two can continue the fun-and-games routine,” William said from the room, “but you might want to practice holding your breath. Goodbye, Michael. I do hope you pass away in a spectacularly painful fashion.”
“Eve!” Akio shouted, but Michael shook his head.
“Not yet,” he replied to Akio.
“Why not?” Akio asked.
“Because we haven’t tried hard enough yet. Plus, we have time,” Michael said as another thump of explosives sounded. There was a small rumbling, then a larger crash that caused both men to look around in alarm.
“That, gentleman,” William said, his voice barely audible over the rapidly rising noise. “Is the River Seine coming to cradle your dead bodies in her bosom. I can’t claim to have built most of these traps. I just found them, and perhaps added a few modifications to make them deadlier.”
Michael pursed his lips. “Well, fuck.” He turned to Akio. “Don’t suppose you have a technological way out of this one?”
Akio slowly shook his head. “For what it is worth,” he replied, “Eve could not have gotten here quickly enough.”
“I do so love to hear your witty dialogue,” William said.
Michael turned towards the room and stepped in. “Oh, hello Michael...” The static was immediate when Michael tossed energy throughout the room.
“I hope that broke his eardrums,” Michael said as he walked back out of the room. “Now, let’s see if I can reverse my last trip to the Etheric with a modicum of ability.”
The water started sweeping into the room. “Gott Verdammt!” he spat. “I’m not getting my coat wet!” Michael opened himself up to his anger, something that seemed always to reside just below the surface of his calm thoughts, and traveled beyond it, seeking the connection that allowed the energy to flow into and out of him. Somewhere during the search, he found the path of the energy streaming to the other dimension, more felt than seen.
“Hold my arm,” Michael said, extending that appendage. He felt Akio grab his upper arm, as he clasped Akio’s. He looked into Akio’s eyes. “I hope to see you on the other side.”
“Of what?” Akio asked, but then he was blinded by white energy.
Inspector Hirano was surprised to see what looked like a large black shipping container from decades ago, perhaps even before the war, sitting on the ground behind the trees in the park. The dark allowed it to remain hidden, but he was certain that during the daytime it would be easily seen.
If someone came back here.
Eve walked to the door and lifted a latch.
“You keep it unlocked?” he asked, and then checked himself. “Of course not, there is an electronic lock for when you are gone, and Eve controls it.”
Eve opened one of the doors and the lights came on inside. She waved. “In we go, please keep the sticky blood off the floor.” She put a hand out, stopping Jacqueline. “That means you.” She pointed to the left. “You will find some disposable towels over there. Use them or you get to clean the floor.”
Jacqueline nodded and Eve let her enter. Eve looked over at Mark. “Hey, you have blood all over your sleeve! What happened?”
Mark looked down. He had cleaned his hands back inside the building when he was helping to get the police through the rubble of the fourth floor, but the blood was still on his shirt. “I ripped someone’s heart out.”
“Seriously?” Jacqueline grabbed a towel and tossed it to the ground. Then she used two more to move along until she pulled a seat down, pitched a towel onto it, and sat. “How come?”
Mark pulled down the seat next to her. “He was going to tell some people they should shoot you.”
“So,” Jacqueline clarified, “let me get this straight.”
He nodded.
“Someone says to shoot the tall scary wolf-woman.”
“Uh-huh,” he agreed.
“And you come up and stick your hand...” she continued.
“Clawed hand,” he interjected.
“Clawed hand,” she amended. “Through his chest and rip out his heart so no one would shoot me?”
“Well, of course,” Mark shrugged. “That bullshit isn’t going to fly with me.”
“That’s pretty hot,” Jacqueline murmured, her eyes sparkling.
Yuko smiled as the inspector tried to take in the casual carnage the two younger people were discussing. “You have to forgive them, Inspector.” He turned to look at her. “About eighteen or so hours ago, they were in the area we called France. There, outside of the somewhat ruined city of Paris they were standing between a couple thousand Wechselbalg and the humans who call it home.”
The inspector blinked a couple of times before turning to the pair, who were ignoring everyone except each other. “Them?” Yuko nodded. “Oh.” He processed that thought a moment. “That’s why they weren’t too worried about a bunch of guns and wolves.”
“Well,” Yuko shook her head, “part of the reason they didn’t run was Michael, of course.”
“Who?”
“Michael,” Yuko told him. “Think Akio, but even more deadly. There isn’t any danger he can’t get out of.”
Michael looking around the whiteness that was the Etheric Dimension. “We aren’t fucking getting out of here.”
Akio turned in all directions. “I have been here only a few times with Bethany Anne.”
Michael grunted and ran a hand over his bald head. “Yes, she makes my travel through the Etheric look like I’m using a tricycle while she drives a Ferrari.”
Akio looked over at Michael. “I’m thinking the right term is ‘flies a spaceship.’”
Michael blinked. “I think Jacqueline would say, ‘Ouch!’ Akio.”
Akio shrugged. “Okay, what do you really want to do, and how soon can we get out of here?”
“I’m not fooling you?” Michael asked.
Akio shook his head.
“Hmm.” Michael shrugged noncommittally. “If I remember correctly, we walk some distance and then we try to get out.”
“How well did you do this last time?” Akio asked as Michael turned and started walking.
“Get out?” Michael asked over his shoulder.
“Figure out the distance,” Akio corrected. “It is obvious you got out.”
“Well,” Michael said and stopped walking, “I figured out the horizontal distance very well, thank you.” He waited until Akio was close enough that he could grab his arm. “It was the vertical that was the challenge.”
The two men disappeared once more.
Japan
The container set down in a darkened area near the inspector’s apartment building, and Yuko opened the door. The inspector walked through and she followed him out.
“What happens now?” he asked her.
She looked up to the stars. “We are moving into our next stage, now that Michael has returned.
“Next stage?”
“Yes.” She returned her gaze to him. “We have been in our first phase up until now.”
“Where was he?”
“Dead,” she replied.
He missed the slight grin on her face. “Dead?” he asked.
She winked. “Not really, just in another location.”
“Oh,” he murmured, not really wanting to travel too far down a path with a vampire at the end. “May I know what the first phase was?”
Yuko thought about it. “Okay.” She waved across the valley and up towards the lights on the mountain. “We were charged by Bethany Anne...”
“Who?” he interrupted. “Sorry,” he said when she looked at him.
“She is my Queen, and responsible for Japan being in its current position. So much more advanced than the rest of the world.”
“Why did she do it?”
“For Michael,” Yuko said. “I did it for her, Akio and Eve both did it for her. Now that we have him, we will be using the preparations we have made here in Japan and elsewhere to finish our job.”
“May I ask...” he started.
Only to have Yuko finish for him. “What that job is?”
He nodded.
“We have to make sure the two of them reunite.”
“Where is she?”
Yuko held a hand up to the stars, but then pulled it back down a moment later and looked where she had been indicating. “Actually, over there,” she said, pointing to another area of the sky.
“She’s part of the people that left?” he asked, amazed, and then looked down at her. “You are part of that group?”
“Yes,” Yuko said. “That is why we have the technology that helped keep Japan safe through these dark ages.”
“And now what are you going to do?” he asked. “Stage two?”
Yuko smiled. “Well, if you care to keep a secret for now?”
He shrugged. “So long as it doesn’t include breaking the law.”
“No laws, Inspector.” She pointed back up. “Now that we have Michael back, we need to build a spaceship so we can all leave Earth.”
A few moments later, the inspector told the amazing woman goodbye, not sure if he would see her again, or even remember.
Once the black craft was gone from his sight, he turned and hurried into his building and up to his apartment. Once inside, he grabbed the diary of musings he had written over the years and started describing this evening’s events.
The two men stepped out of the Etheric and immediately began to drop. Michael pressed his lips together in annoyance and changed to Myst again as they fell past the top of a ten-story building. He leveled them out and started to head out of the city, then remembered it wouldn’t matter. He relocated them to a nearby building that had a solid rooftop. Landing, they rematerialized.
Akio looked around and turned his head slightly. “Eve?” He waited a moment. “Yes, I need the Pod, thank you.”
Michael walked over to the edge, his arms behind his back. Akio joined him a moment later. “I wonder how Sabine is doing?” Akio said.
Michael glanced sideways. “How about we check on her in a few days? We can drop in and read her thoughts, and if she isn’t super happy we can have a conversation with her.”
Akio nodded his head once sharply in agreement. “I understand,” he said to Michael, “about the vertical comment now.”
Michael shrugged. “We didn’t drown.” He turned to the black Pod as it came out of the sky. “And now I have a serious case of wanting to kill him even more.”
“Isn’t that what Bethany Anne was trying to help you overcome?” Akio asked as the Pod hovered above the rooftop and the canopy came up.
“Hmm,” Michael answered as they took off their weapons and laid them in the ship. “Not exactly the killing part, more the constant ‘kill them all’ stick up my ass. I think she did a poor job; her lessons about killing them all didn’t stick.”
Akio shook his head. “Passing the blame to her is not going to get you points when you two get back together.”
Michael jumped into the back seat. “I’ll work on my inner peace in the meantime. I figure it’s like someone striving to become a vegetarian. There’s always the desire to eat meat, if for no other reason than because protein is necessary.”
Akio turned to look at Michael. “Have you ever tried to become a vegetarian?”
“Every night from when I go to sleep to when I wake up,” Michael replied. “I fall off the wagon usually twice a day. But one day I’ll be successful. Then, my goal will be two days in a row.”
“So,” Akio said as the canopy started to close and the Pod rose, “just plan on trying to be a calm, cool, collected Michael who doesn’t kill when he is annoyed every time you go to sleep.”
“It’s a start, Akio. Don’t push it,” Michael replied as the canopy locked and the Pod, rising into the sky, turned east.
A pair of eyes watched as the Pod ascended into the sky.
Two Weeks Later
The man displayed a crooked, one-sided smile. “So theoretically if I had, say, a mist, how would I tear apart the atoms of said mist?”
The scientist looked at the aristocratic-looking businessman. “Well, given the energy constraints we have now it might be difficult, at least using any of the more exotic methods we would have employed in the past.”
The man tilted his head. “Oh? Why’s that?”
The scientist shrugged. “Well, particle physics has relied, for the last couple of centuries at least, on smashing atoms apart and then studying what happened. But in order to accelerate atoms to a high enough velocity to smash them, you need a shit-ton of power. And a certain set of conditions.”
The man’s brow furrowed at the useless vernacular. “What kind of conditions?”
“Well, a vacuum, for a start,” he explained. “Or else all the air molecules get in the way of the atom you’re trying to fire at a target to smash.”
The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “A vacuum, you say?”
The scientist nodded.
He asked another question. “And in order to have a vacuum, you need a sealed chamber?”
The scientist looked at him blankly. “Well, of course.”
“So, if air can’t get in, then a mist certainly wouldn’t be able to get out?”
“That is correct.”
The businessman wandered over to the window, deep in thought. “Tell me,” he said, barely turning his head in the scientist’s direction, “do you have any idea where we might find such a chamber?”
The scientist breathed in. “Well, there were many of them around, once upon a time. The trouble is, most of our research facilities were either destroyed or have since been torn up for parts.” The scientist slumped down in the chair, dropping his head into a hand.
The Duke turned to look at him. He could sense a but coming.
The scientist looked up. “I suspect there is still a section of pipe in Geneva that might be uncompromised. There was a battle there and half of it was destroyed, but a segment remains. I had been hoping to get back there at some point and see if there was anything there worth experimenting with for fuel cells.”
