'You are the temporal agent. Andre Cross?' he said, in excellent English, albeit with a Chinese accent.
Startled. Andre stared at him. 'I don't know what you're talking about. Who are-imhhhh!'
The man sitting on her right touched her on the side, just below her kidney, and she felt white fire lance up her spine like an electric current.
'Please.' said the old man. He held up her warp disc, holding the bracelet gracefully and gently between his thumb and middle finger. 'You will he so kind as to reply, so that I may be certain whom I am addressing.'
'Yes,' she said, seeing no point in denying it. 'I am Andre Cross.
The old man nodded once. 'You need have no concern over your warp disc.
Miss Cross.' he said. 'It is undamaged. I have removed it carefully, so as not to activate the device which prevents its misuse. It shall he returned to you after we have spoken.'
'Who are you?'
'I am Lin Tao, master of the Green Dragon tong.”
'You work for Drakov,' she said bitterly.
'You are mistaken,' Lin Tao said. 'You were about to walk into a trap, as Mr. Doyle and Mr. Stoker have already done. They are in the hands of Count Dracula, the vampire Nikolai Drakov has created.'
'I don't know where you've been getting your information,' Andre said, 'or even where you stand, but Drakov didn't create any vampires. A man named Moreau-'
Lin Tao held up his hand and she fell silent, fearing another nerve pinch or whatever it was the man beside her had done.
'Have the goodness to hear me out please,' Lin Tao said. 'It is not Phillips Moreau who has created this monstrosity, but his pupil, Nikolai Drakov, who has taken his work and carried it to a point beyond all sanity. However, Dr. Moreau does not deny that the responsibility is his, which is why he has pursued Nikolai Drakov to this timeline, to stop him even if it costs his life. I have undertaken to assist him in this task, as has Mr. H.G. Wells, who is at this very moment with your fellow temporal agents, informing them of this.'
'Why should I believe you?' she said.
The man beside her moved, but Lin Tao shook his head very slightly and the finger withdrew from her side. Andre relaxed a little.
'Ask yourself how else I could know these things.' Lin Tao said. 'If I were not here to help you, what reason would there be for my attempting to deceive you? You are powerless to do anything against me and I could easily kill you. If Dr. Moreau and I were in league with Drakov, would you not now already be in Drakov's hands? Or dead? Or, perhaps, much worse than dead?'
He gave her back her warp disc.
'Go quickly and inform your fellow agents that Mr. Doyle and Mr. Stoker are in the gravest danger.'
He nodded and one of the men opened the door of the coach for her. She stepped out into the street. at the entrance to a small courtyard.
'When you return with your fellow agents.' said Lin Tao, 'pay particular attention to the warehouse you will find at the far end of that courtyard.' He pointed with a bony linger. 'Please do not delay. Time is of the essence.'
The driver whipped up the horses and the coach drove off into the fog.
There was a soft knock at the door.
'Yes, who is it'?' said Moreau.
'It is Madame Tchu. Dr. Morro.' said the mistress of the bordello. 'Please to open door.'
Jasmine glanced at him with alarm. 'The old woman!' she said. 'She mast have told her about me!'
'It's all right, Jasmine.' said Moreau. 'I won't let her send you away. But when your grandfather returns, remember your promise to abide by his decision.'
'He will be very angry,' she said. 'He will send me home.”
'And with good reason,' said Moreau. 'But remember that you promised.”
The knock was repeated. 'Dr. Morro!”
'
I think we had better let her in,' Moreau said. He got up and went over to the door. 'One moment, Madame Tchu,' he said. He drew back the bolt and opened the door.
'You should have left well enough alone. Moreau,' said Drakov, pushing the door open and shoving the woman in ahead of him.
'Forgive me, Dr. Morro!' said the madame. 'Forgive me!' Moreau bolted for his revolver on the nightstand by the bed, but Drakov was too quick for him. He shoved Madame Tchu hard into Moreau and they both tumbled to the floor. As Drakov reached inside his coat, Jasmine let out a ki-yai and came flying across the room, feet extended, and delivered a punishing kick to Drakov's chest. He staggered back, but managed to keep his balance. He blocked her next two kicks, which came like a blur in rapid succession, and deflected the third kick by turning it aside, adding his force to its momentum to spin her around, exposing her back to him. He moved in quickly and seized her from behind in a judo choke hold, jerking her up into the air, ready to snap her neck, when Moreau came up with his revolver.
'Nikolai. no!'
Drakov hesitated, maintaining the pressure, not allowing her to breathe. Jasmine thrashed in his grip and started making choking sounds.
'Put down the gun or else I'll kill her.' Drakov said.
'If you kill her, Nikolai,' Moreau said, 'nothing will save you. I will shoot you where you stand.'
'I have no doubt of that,' said Drakov, 'but she will be dead, too. If her life means anything to you, throw down the gun.'
Moreau hesitated. His hand holding the gun started to shake. Drakov applied more pressure and Jasmine started to rattle in her throat.
'Damn you,' said Moreau. He threw the gun down on the floor.
'And your warp disc, as well,' said Drakov. 'Take it off carefully and drop it on the floor.'
Moreau complied.
Drakov dropped Jasmine and she fell to the floor in a heap, coughing and gasping for air. Drakov pulled out a laser pistol and trained it on Moreau.
'That is the difference between us, Phillipe,' he said. 'I would have fired.'
Moreau got down on his knees beside Jasmine and held her in his arms. She started sobbing.
'That is a rather dangerous young woman you have there,' Drakov said. 'She was much quicker than the guards downstairs.' He prodded Madame Tchu with his foot. 'Get up, woman. Go tend to your whores. Tell them to keep quiet if they know what's good for them.'
She got up slowly and looked to Moreau, shaking her head with tears in her eyes.
'Go on, Madame Tchu,' Moreau said. -Please go. There is nothing you can do.”
She ran out of the room.
'Somehow I never imagined I would find you in a whorehouse.' Drakov said. 'Really, Moreau. You disappoint me. Did you think I would fail to notice your Chinese thugs snooping about? Whom did you think you were dealing with? What did you hope to accomplish?'
'You know perfectly well,' Moreau said.
'Why?' Drakov said. 'What are these people to you? You are on opposing sides. Your superiors in the Special Operations Group would consider that I was doing them a favor.'
'Perhaps they would condone what you have done,' Moreau said, 'but I cannot.'
'I have only carried on your own work,' said Drakov. 'You should be proud. The pupil has surpassed his teacher.'
'Yes, indeed you have,' Moreau said, 'and I will never forgive myself for the part that I have played in this. You may as well kill me now and get it over with. I no longer have any great desire to go on living. But if there is even one spark of human decency left in you, let her go. She is no threat to you.'
'True,' said Drakov, 'but she seems to mean something to you, and I would hate to kill you now and deprive you of the opportunity to see just how far I have advanced your work. We will bring her with us.”
'Nikolai, please…
Drakov fired the laser and Moreau cried out as the beam grazed his shoulder, scorching the skin. Drakov
