breath smelled of cigarette smoke.
Cigarettes.
Right. The cigarettes.
Behind the hatchet-faced, tough guy in the expensive, raw silk suit was another man cut from the same cloth, a smoothly styled sharpie in a mauve suit with a purple silk shirt and a purple tie the same shade as the shirt. And beside him stood the lovely, treacherous Krista, staring down at him as though he were some interesting new bug she hadn't seen before.
“Who are you? asked the hatchet-faced man.
'George Palmer,' Hunter mumbled, giving the name that he'd been using.
Whack!
'Wrong. Try again.'
“My name is George palmer. I don’t-'
WHACK!
The force of the blow split his lip and he felt blood trickle down his chin.
'Look, my friend,' hatchet-face said softly, bringing his face up close to Hunter's,
'we know who you're not, okay? What we'd like to know is who you are. And where you got this pretty bracelet.'
Huntcr's gaze was riveted on the warp disc being dangled before him.
'I don't understand,' said Hunter. 'Why are you doing this? If you want money-'
WHACK!
'Okay, now listen to me, all right? That was the last time with the open hand. I'm getting impatient. Next one’s a closed fist. And if losing a few teeth doesn't loosen you up…'
Snik. The six-inch blade sprang out of the handle.
'That will do, Vincent. Take Krista and go make some coffee in the kitchen. I'll call you if I need you.'
Hatchet-faced Vincent gave Hunter a long look and then left the room with Krista.
Domenico Manelli came around from somewhere behind Hunter to stand in front of him, looking like an investment banker in his tailored pin stripes and rep tie. So far as Hunter could tell, there were only three of them in the room now-himself, Manelli, and the smoothie in the mauve suit.
Manelli loosened his tie and took out a pack of cigarettes. He shook one out and offered it to Hunter. 'Cigarette? These aren't drugged, by the' way.' While Hunter watched, he took
one himself, lit up and inhaled deeply. 'I have no need of playing tricks,' he said.
He shrugged. 'Now that you're tied to that chair, I could shoot you up to my heart's content. A little Pentothol to make you talk, some uncut heroin to make you stop.. or I could call Vincent back in for some of your more basic persuasion. I'd really rather not, though. You strike me as a reasonable man. I think we could discuss things like intelligent human beings.'
He shook out another cigarette and offered it to Hunter. Hunter nodded and
Manelli held the pack out so that Hunter could take the protruding cigarette between his lips. Manelli lit it for him with his gold lighter. The man in the mauve suit hadn't said a word. He hadn't even moved. He simply watched Hunter expressionlessly. Hunter decided that this man worried him even more than
Vincent.
“The reason I sent the others out of the room is because they don't know what this is,' said Manelli, holding up the warp disc, dangling the bracelet in front of him as Vincent had. “However, I do. And so does the gentleman behind me. In fact he has one just like yours. Now isn't that an interesting coincidence?'
Suddenly, it was a brand new ball game. Hunter stared hard. the man in the mauve suit, but his face gave nothing away.
'I see we have your full attention,' said Manelli, with a smile.
'All right, what do you want?' said Hunter. 'Let's start with your name.'
'Hunter. Reese Hunter.'
It was pointless to lie. If they did administer drugs, he'd tell them the truth anyway. The thing was to convince them that he..as already telling them the truth and at the same time withhold some of it.
Manelli smiled. 'There, you see? I knew we could discuss things in a reasonable manner. And how about your rank, Mr Hunter?”
'Captain.'
Manelli looked impressed. 'A captain, no less. And your unit?'
Hunter hesitated, his mind racing. Should he risk a bluff?
'They could easily find out, but how much time would it buy him?
Fortunately, Manelli misinterpreted his hesitation.
'Ah, I think I understand,' he said. 'You're a deserter, aren't you?'
Hunter chose not to reply, implying assent by his silence.
'Yes, I do believe you are,' Manelli said, with a smile.
'That would explain your rather interesting and somewhat reckless behaviour.
Actually, you've proven to be quite resourceful, Capt. Hunter. Your one mistake was that you moved too quickly. You got greedy.'
'Am I under arrest?' said Hunter.
Manelli raised his eyebrows. 'Why, Capt. Hunter, do I look like a policeman?'
Hunter frowned. 'I don't understand. You're not.
And then it came to him. 'You're the Underground?'
Manelli smiled. 'No. Not exactly.' He reached out and removed the cigarette butt from between Hunter's lips before he burned himself. 'We'll be back soon, Capt.
Hunter,' he said, 'Regrettably, we're going to have to leave you tied up for the moment. I'll instruct Krista and Vincent to see to your comfort as much as possible under the circumstances. If you've been completely honest with us, you have nothing to be concerned about. In fact, we might even have a proposition for you.
But if you have not been completely honest with us, then it won't be your comfort that Vincent will be seeing to.',
'He was a gentleman. A very large man, built like a bull,' said Gulliver, 'with black hair and the most disquieting eyes I'd ever seen. A bright, emerald green, they were. At times, they almost seemed to glow. He was quite-a handsome figure of a man, except for the disfiguring scar upon his face, from here to here.' Gulliver ran his forefinger along his cheek, from beneath his left eye to the corner of his mouth. 'A wound made with a sabre, I should think, or perhaps a knife.'
Simon Hawke
Lilliput Legion
'That's a perfect description of Drakov, all right, “ said Lucas.
They sat at the table in the house on Threadneedle Street, sharing a light meal of bread, smoked sausage and cheese along with a bottle of red wine. Finn poured himself another glass and shook his head.
'I can't understand it,' he said. 'Forrester shot Drakov. I was there. I saw it.'
'I saw Lucas get shot, too,' said Andre.
'What are you saying?' said Steiger. sarcastically. 'That Drakov had a twin in the parallel universe too, and that Dr. Darkness switched the two of them, as well?'
'I wouldn't put it past him,' Lucas said, 'but maybe what we're facing here is a result of what Darkness did with me. If there was some sort of temporal disruption that came about from his changing my past, maybe it resulted in Drakov's past being changed, as well.'
'I can't see how,' said Finn. 'As you said, Lucas, nothing was changed by Darkness altering your past. Nothing, that is, except that you survived. I don't mean to downplay that, obviously, but the circumstances were unique. Your being alive instead of dead hasn't altered any of the events that took place since your death.'
'Excuse me…' said Gulliver. 'Uh, Finn, would you mind-'.
'Don't ask me to repeat it, Lem,' said Delaney, wryly. 'I'm not even sure I understand what I just said. The point is, either Darkness was right and the uniqueness of this situation hasn't resulted in any disruption at all or you're the disruption yourself, Lucas. Or all of us are.'
'I'm very confused,' said Gulliver.
