Vortex of Evil (28 page)

Doug looked up at her in surprise.  It took him a few seconds but then he took her two small, soft hands in his.  Images started flooding his consciousness.  He could recognize the landscape around Selenton.  He saw a dark haired man running through the grass with the camera following him.  He realized the “camera” was Dara’s view looking at each scene.  The dark haired man turned towards her, smiling and ran to hug her.  He looked fit and had a military bearing.  The scene changed and they were in a house or apartment.  It was furnished with the strange and sparse furniture similar to the rooms at the compound.  There were two small children, both boys, running around playing with the man and a small puppy that he was holding.  Then there was a scene of the man looking extremely sad with tears streaming down his cheeks.  He said goodbye and turned away, escorted by two uniformed men into a doorway.  Then the scenes ended.

Doug looked up and saw tears running down Dara’s face.   Instinctively he put his arms around her and held her close as she cried quietly.  He thought to himself that if this was a game, she was playing it well.  He completely forgot his plan to strangle her.

“It isn’t a game, Doug.  Everything I have told you is real.  Now lay down on the bed.”

Doug lay down and Dara joined him.  Her thoughts were now instructions.  “When we are done communicating, we are going to hug and kiss for a couple of minutes and then you are going to loudly say ‘I just can’t do this’ and I am going to stun you mildly, get up and leave.  Ok?”

Doug nodded.  “You are building a cover story that they can monitor biologically as to why you were here.”

“Yes.  I would have suggested actual sex for a more convincing story, but from what you have told me, I knew you would object to that.  Despite your casual attitude, I can tell you are deeply in love with that woman back on the island.  I can respect that.”

“So what is it I need to know that brought about the elaborate ruse?”

“You will be joined by several other people shortly.  You will join up with one of them and go to a place called Lopfa.  It is a resort about two hundred miles from here on the end of the peninsula we passed on the way here.  You will be approached by someone.  You will know them and they will have more details.  That is all.”

“Can I ask questions?  I mean think questions?”

“No, we have already risked too much.  Remember what I have told you.”

With that, Dara put her arms gently around his neck and began to kiss him lightly on the cheeks and lips.  He responded by putting his arms around her slender body and pulling her closer to him and kissing her full on the lips.  Her thoughts betrayed the sense of humor again.  “Hey, tiger.  Don’t oversell this.  I may forget about the get up and leave part.”

Doug suddenly realized he had gotten too wrapped up with the pretending part.  It had been a little too easy with this beautiful woman lying next to him and expressing so much feigned interest in him.  He was a man and he wasn’t dead yet but he was acutely embarrassed by his reactions.  He was appalled at his willingness to forget all the evil things she had done in this unexpected moment of faux passion.

“I am glad you think I am attractive, even if you continually remind yourself that I am evil to the core.   Since my husband died, I have felt like my life was reduced to being a temporary caretaker for the boys while I waited to die.  It was nice to pretend to be romantic again, even if it was just a sham.  Thank you for understanding, Doug.”  Doug thought how this sharing of their thoughts was far more intimate than the hugging and kissing. 

“You have shown me a lot of trust, Dara.  I hope this all works out for all our sakes.”

Dara kissed him one more time.  He thought it was one kiss beyond what was absolutely needed for pretending.  Her final thoughts mirrored his.  “I hope so too.  Good luck.”

She pushed him away firmly, so much so that he nearly fell off the edge of the bed.  “But I just can’t do this, Dara!” he said loudly.  “I love somebody else.”

“Fine.  Then you are not worth a second thought.  Sleep well.”  She got up and walked around the bed.  As she went by Doug, she touched him lightly on the cheek, holding it for just a second until he looked up into her eyes.  Then she winced slightly and sent the stunpulse through him, causing him to blackout and fall on the bed.

Dara stared at him laying there, verified that he was still breathing and quickly left the room.  He awoke thirty minutes later with a bad headache and a lot of questions.  Since that time seven days earlier, he hadn’t seen Dara alone and neither of them gave any indication about their clandestine rendezvous.

Doug wanted desperately to tell Erin the whole story but he couldn’t.  He would have to save it for a time when they were away from Transarctica and they were free to talk.  Even then, he wasn’t sure either Erin would want to hear about his romantic interlude with Dara. 

“What is it, Doug?  You look troubled.”  Erin wondered what planet he had suddenly gone to visit since he didn’t seem to notice her sitting next to him.

“Just thinking about our trip.  We need to get going.  I would like to spend some time in Selenton the next two days.   Why don’t we go into town and see what we can find for breakfast?”

“Sounds good.  What about Peter and Gaby?”

“They aren’t here anymore.  They were gone when I got up.  The doors to their rooms were open and the stuff was gone.   I have no idea where they went.”

Erin took a deep breath at this news and sighed.  “I guess I am not surprised.  They seemed to be planning to stay here since they didn’t have much life to return to on the island.  But I am disappointed they didn’t say goodbye. Maybe they were worried about having their plans changed by discussing them with us.

Doug seemed slightly irritated.  “At a minimum I think they should have told us they were leaving?  I thought you guys were in sync with each other.” 

“I think they just figured you and I will be together to get through this and they were free to go.  Unless there is something else going on that we don’t know about.  You don’t think Dara did something to them do you?”

Doug shot her a glance and realized he hadn’t considered that Peter and Gaby could have been approached by Jelk or Dara as well.  Or something bad might have happened to them.  Was the mission for him and Erin to go to Lopfa real?  Or was it just another part in an elaborate evil game where they were all being used as pawns.  He was definitely ready to find out.  “Let’s check their rooms one more time to be sure and then head into town.  Maybe we will run into them.”

Chapter 31

Tom was reeling in a salmon when he heard the two shots.  He didn’t know if they were meant to be a warning signal or not, but he knew trouble when he heard it.  He called out to Megan, “Get Alannah and these salmon and hide somewhere around here.  Maybe in one of those caves further up the beach.   I will come get you when I figure out what’s happening.”

Megan ran up to him and started to protest.  “I don’t want to be separated from you.”

“I understand, but in this case, we need to be sure Alannah is safe.  That takes precedence.  We can’t go running into a firefight with her, and I am better equipped to fight than you are.”

“I can fight too, Tom.”  Alannah didn’t understand their concern.  This was her island and she was tough enough to stand up for it.

“I know you are, Ally, but I couldn’t face your mom if I did anything to put you in harm’s way.  You and Megan can be our reserve force if we get into trouble.  If I am not back in twenty-four hours, come rescue me.  Ok?”  Tom her the AK-47 that was leaning against a rock.  Megan took the rocket propelled grenade launcher and backpack with extra grenades.  “You should be able to fight a small war with this stuff if needed.  But be careful and keep your heads down.”

Ally nodded, but she believed she had the heart of a lion and hiding from a fight was for little kids.  She was ready to do her part.  “Be careful Tom.  Call if you need our help.”

Megan couldn’t argue with Tom’s logic and she knew that she wouldn’t want a daughter of hers fighting if there was any way to avoid it.  “We’ll watch for you.  Take care, my love.”  She kissed him on the cheek and he hurried away, carrying his machine pistol at the ready.  Megan turned to Alannah.  “Let’s get the fish and the fishing gear and head to that cave you told me about that is just up the coast from here.  There may be dangerous people around and you never know when they will drop by.”

The young woman and her “aunt” grabbed the two salmon, their weapons and the makeshift fishing gear that was a key to their survival on the island.  “It isn’t far from here, so at least we won’t have to carry these darn fish too far.”  They had a piece of wood pushed through the jaws of the fish so they could carry them easily.

“You know, some exercise is good for you, Aunt Megan.  It helps you older gals stay in shape.”  Alannah laughed at the indignant look she received from Megan.  “Staying in good shape helps you catch a man, not just fish.”

“You are lucky I can’t throw this salmon very far, but don’t push your luck.  I am armed.”

“Point taken.  I’ll try to be nicer.”  The two women smiled as they made their way cautiously along the trail that would take them to the one of the caves in the nearby cliffs.  It was just to the north of their usual fishing spot.  The wind had died down to a light, steady onshore breeze, but they still needed to be mindful of the occasional large wave that could hit the narrow stretch of rocky beach they needed to cross.

Rin had taken the girls to the cave a few years earlier when they were studying geology.  She wanted them to see one of the seaside caves and this one was the closest to their camp.  Megan had never been there, but the girls had told her about it one night when they were telling stories.  She was very interested in every detail of this island since she had made up her mind that she would likely be spending the rest of her life there.  With Tom.  Hopefully on the other shore in the cabin they would build in the “clothes drying meadow” as they called it.

“Is it really strange to have an identical copy of yourself running around?  You and my mom, I mean.”

“I don’t know if I have gotten used to it completely, but it isn’t so bad.  She is like a sister to me.  Erin is.  I am still not sure what your mom is to me.  An older sister, maybe?”  Megan thought what a great story she would have to tell her daughter if she was ever lucky enough to have one.  But in this case, it was Rin’s daughter that was the one with the stories to tell.  Megan wanted to hear them all.  “How much farther is it to the cave?”

“Not far.  We need to get around that rock outcropping and then the cave should be above the next little stretch of beach.”

A finger of rocky land came out from the high ground to their right and extended into the ocean.  It was no great obstacle, but with the constant mist from the crashing waves, it was going to take some cautious work on their part to get over it safely while carrying the fish, fishing gear and their weapons.  “There is a crack in the rocks about half way between the water and the cliffs.  We might be able to climb through there.  When my mom brought me here, it was low tide and we went closer to the water than we could go now.”

“I guess we could try it.  If it is too hard to climb through there, we can wait for low tide.”  Megan crossed the rocky beach and started to balance on the first rock, looking for a path to go forward.   It was at that moment that Alannah grabbed her by her belt and pulled her backwards.  They both fell roughly to the pebble-covered beach in a pile. 

“What the hell?  Why did you . . .” Megan felt Ally’s hand clamp over her mouth as she heard a desperate “Shhhh!” from Ally.

The girl leaned close to her aunt’s ear and whispered, “There is a boat of some kind just off-shore.  I don’t think they saw us yet.”

Megan rolled over and saw what appeared to be a navy sailing ship from the 1700s coming into view from the north.  It was heading south and hugging the coastline.  It was the size that would probably be called a frigate, she thought, trying to remember what movie she had seen where they explained the various navy ships of that era.  It only had one row of gun ports so it wasn’t a Man of War, the battleship of that era.  It was flying the flag of France.

“Have you ever seen that ship before, Ally?”

“No.  But passing ships are not all that rare.  A couple of them stopped at the island a few years ago, but there was some disturbance that scared them away.”

Megan smiled.  I am sure there was, she thought.  Doug might have had something to do with that disturbance.  She hoped these Frenchmen didn’t run into the Vikings since their cannon would give them a distinct advantage over the Viking swords and axes.

Megan and Alannah held still and hoped the ship would not see them.  It was several hundred yards offshore and proceeding at a slow pace in the light breeze.  Then suddenly, there was a commotion on deck.  With the binoculars she could see several of the men pointing towards the two women lying on the sand with the two fish.  The order to lower the sails went out and they dropped anchor.  Clearly, they were going to take a long boat and investigate what was happening on the beach.

“Let’s stand up and see what they do.”  Megan stood up and set the fish next to the rocks.

“Is that wise?  What if they are hostile?  They probably think we are natives?”  Ally looked at the ship nervously.