Lucas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The other day, one of the grooms came up to me and handed me a note, addressed to Sir Percy Blakeney. Thinking it might be yet another invitation or some such thing, I didn’t open it right away. I should have. It was from Mongoose. It seems that he’s our contact. Oh, and by the way, the groom was a tall, dark-haired fellow with a beard. I’ve since discovered that none of Blakeney’s grooms wear beards. Mongoose still likes playing games with cute disguises.”
Finn shook his head. “I don’t believe it. How in hell did he manage to pull field duty after screwing up so badly on the Timekeeper case? I thought Forrester said he’d been demoted to the TIA’s evaluations section? How did he wind up in the
Observers?”
“He does have the necessary qualifications,” Lucas said.
Simon Hawke
The Pimpernel Plot
“I know that. I just can’t believe that the Observers would accept him after he almost blew an adjustment. Besides, doesn’t it strike you as one hell of a coincidence that our paths just happened to cross again?”
“No more of a coincidence than our meeting up with Andre in 17th Century Paris,” said Lucas.
“Maybe,” said Finn. “Back when I was in RCS, we did a whole year on coincidence as it relates to the Fate Factor. We used to call it ‘zen physics.’ But I somehow doubt that temporal inertia had anything to do with Mongoose’s showing up here at the same time as we did.”
“You’re thinking that it’s too much of a coincidence.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking. In fact, I’ve thought of little else since Andre gave me your message back in Dover. I just can’t see him being given an assignment in the field after what happened. I can’t believe it’s on the level. It occurs to me that if he had spent some time in evaluating TIA data, then he had access to the records. He might have indulged in some kind of creative programming.”
“That occurred to me as well,” said Lucas, “but I wanted to hear you say it, just to convince myself that I wasn’t getting too paranoid. Still, what we’re talking about is computer crime. Unauthorized access and alteration of classified information would carry a sentence of life imprisonment. No reeducation, no parole, just hard time in confined social service. Would Mongoose chance something like that?”
“We’ve already established that he’s several cards short of a full deck,” said Finn. “He’s a megalomaniac who thinks that he can get away with anything. But that’s not what worries me. We’re the ones who caused his fall from grace as the TIA’s number-one field operative. We’re also the ones who blocked the agency’s attempt to muscle in on the army’s jurisdiction in adjustment missions.”
“Mongoose brought what happened on himself,” said Lucas.
“You don’t really expect him to see it that way, do you?” Finn asked. “Not our boy Mongoose. His ego couldn’t handle that. You been in touch with Fitzroy about this?”
Lucas shook his head. “I didn’t want to do anything until I talked to you first. According to the note I got from Mongoose, Fitzroy’s set up a safehouse in Paris so he can be close to where the action is. Mongoose is our contact in England, which means that if I push the panic button, he’s going to respond and not Fitzroy. At least, that’s the way it should work in practice. You think he’ll answer if we signal?”
“I’m not sure what to think,” said Finn. “It doesn’t look good.”
“The first year of RCS includes some heavy courses in advanced computer science, doesn’t it?” said Lucas. “You take that and add it to the fact that Mongoose had to have top clearance to work in the evaluations section and you’ve got all the necessary ingredients for his figuring out a way to program an unauthorized transfer. Still, I don’t see how he could possibly hope to get away with it. He might be smart enough to have figured out a way to beat the safeguards in the TIA data banks and to have interfaced with the Temporal Corps personnel files, but the records could still be cross-checked against the Referee Corps’ databanks.”
“But there would be no reason for anyone to run a crosscheck on him unless someone specifically brought the matter up,” said Finn. “The refs have too much to do to bother running routine checks on personnel records. Hell, maybe we’re way off base and someone just screwed up and approved his transfer.”
“You think maybe Darrow might’ve covered for him?” Lucas said. “Mongoose was his top agent, after all. He had a good record until he got in over his head. The fact that Darrow didn’t bust him out of the agency proves that he was protective of his people.”
“But Darrow resigned as director after that whole Timekeeper flap,” said Finn.
“So?” said Lucas. “He resigned because his position gave him the luxury to do so. Mongoose would’ve been stuck in an administrative job. Forrester might have considered it a slap on the wrist, but Mongoose loved field work. We both know he got high off taking chances. For him, a desk job would’ve been slow death and with a new director coming in, a black mark like endangering an adjustment mission might have cost him even that job in a periodic review. Darrow might have done him one last favor before he left.”
“It’s possible,” said Finn. “In any case, there’s no way I’m going to work with him again. I’m going to have to lay the law down to Fitzroy. Either Mongoose gets pulled off this mission or the Scarlet Pimpernel goes on strike for the duration.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Lucas. “You know you can’t do that.”
“Yeah, you’re right. That’s wishful thinking. Still, we can do our damnedest to convince Fitzroy that Mongoose represents a threat to this operation. We’re not exactly his favorite people. He’s got it in for us, I’m sure of it. This is all just a bit too serendipitous.”
“You don’t suppose he’d purposely jeopardize an adjustment just for his own personal…” Lucas’s voice trailed off.
“Yeah, funny thing about that,” Finn said. “That’s exactly what he did the last time. He almost blew the mission just so he could fight his own private war against the Timekeepers. It wouldn’t be out of character for him. I’ve got this feeling of deja vu and I don’t care for it one bit.”
“Well, all this guesswork isn’t going to get us anywhere,” said Lucas. “We’re going to have to find out for sure what the situation is. I think I’d better send Andre back to Paris to see Fitzroy.”
Finn shook his head. “No, you go. Besides, I need her here to keep an eye on Marguerite. You could do a better job of convincing Fitzroy to check him out than Andre could. The fact that Mongoose is here and apparently acting like nothing ever happened has me extremely nervous. If we’re wrong about him and everything is on the level, you’re going to have to make Fitzroy understand that Mongoose is a bad risk. If we’re not wrong, then we’ve got trouble and we’re going to need some help.”
“I’ll leave right away,” said Lucas. “I’ll get back as quickly as I can, but meanwhile, watch yourself, okay?”
“Count on it,” said Finn.
The social pecking order had to be observed, which meant that the invitation of the Prince of Wales had to be accepted first. However, when the prince’s invitation was replied to, he responded by saying that he would be most pleased to welcome Sir Percy Blakeney back to his native England officially and that he could think of no finer way to mark the occasion than a shoot at Richmond with a group of boon companions, followed by a housewarming dinner. In this manner, the future King George IV of England invited himself and most of London society to Richmond, which made it incumbent upon Finn to crack the whip in Lucas’s absence and personally see to it that the Blakeney estate would be prepared for the invasion.
In a way, it was advantageous for him in that it took up a great deal of his time and Marguerite, as hostess, also had a great many preparations to make. As a result, she and Finn did not see very much of each other during the next several days. Finn did not complain. She made him feel very ill at ease. They hardly spoke to each other beyond the necessary polite exchanges and the strain of it, as well as her obviously growing disenchantment and resentment, was wearing on him. Entertaining the Prince of Wales would naturally mean that anyone who mattered in the proper social circles would be in attendance, which would give Finn an excellent opportunity to establish the character of Sir Percy Blakeney in precisely the manner he intended. It would also provide an excellent opportunity to introduce the Scarlet Pimpernel to England.
Sir Andrew Ffoulkes had returned from France, along with the old Duc de Chalis and his sons. On a trip to London to see Blakeney’s solicitors, Finn had a chance to look up Ffoulkes, who had already been briefed by Dewhurst concerning their forthcoming plans. Delaney found Andrew Ffoulkes to be an amiable, easygoing young man in his late twenties, tall and slim with dark hair, a clever look about his angular features, and a charming, deferential manner. Ffoulkes, like Dewhurst, was a wealthy young man, although his personal fortune paled into
