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CHAPTER THREE

Suspicions.

October seventh

Morning found Sukoloff back with his trainees and on hearing Alment�s laughter he forgot Tzavros� disapproval and Woods� warning. Alment was alive and that was all that mattered, wasn�t it? A disturbing thought came to him. There was a strong possibility that someone had tampered with the gun. Sukoloff personally examined every gun before use and twenty minutes before the incident that gun had fired perfectly. The only people to have touch it afterwards were Nutt, Alment and Peter Steele.

�� Mr Nutt, watch me. You can do next one. Tanen, let�s see what you learnt in survival school. In center of room is a bomb. You must defuse it in ten minutes or we all die... Nutt! For goodness sake, man, you don�t have to back up. It an exercise, you know like... What�s the word I want?�

�Dud, Sir?�

�Da, It a dud. I watch and if I see Tanen make wrong move, I say boom and next person has a go.�

�� Slowly and methodically, screw by screw, Tanen started. Wire by wire, with each cut the rest of the trainees backed further away. They had all done this before and even though they expected it, when Sukoloff shouted boom they all jumped.

�� You�ve hit a trigger, Tanen... Cut right wire now or you�re dead... Think man... Ten... Which wire?... Thousands of lives are at stake here... Five... Blue, green or red?... One... Boo...�

�� Sukoloff�s voice was drowned by an explosion ripping the air apart and as the final rumbling died down, again came that deathly silence. One look at Tanen was enough�he was on his last breath now�mouthing the breath which his lungs could not do�terror showing in his eyes. As Alment pushed the emergency alarm and yelled in anger, Sukoloff smiled.

�You�ve hit a trigger, Tanen... Cut right wire now or you�re dead... Think man... Ten... Which wire?... Cut red now, Tanen! Now, man... Thank God... Mr. Alment, call armory and tell them to expect me, that little baby was live.�

�� Cor blimey, Sir,� whimpered Nutt still backing up. �If that little bute ad gorn orf, Tanen would have lorst is ead.�

�� Anger coursed through Sukoloff�s veins, yes the trainees had backed up, but Nutt had pinned himself against the wall with his hands over his ears. �Nutt? I think we need little talk. Why did you back up when this should have been a dud? And, what language are you speaking now? Not your usual is it? Mr. Tanen, take Mr. Nutt to car lot and wait for me there.�

Rats scuttled for cover as Steele switched on the light and Bird managed to suppress a scream. Windows in the small, filthy kitchen were covered with old newspaper. Half empty tins provided a meal for the rats and many hungry maggots. A months supply of dirty dishes mingled with rotting vegetables adding to the stench.

�� Jade, why don�t you wait outside?�

�� No way. After all this time I�ve finally been given the chance to work with the top agent. You aren�t getting rid of me.�

�� Henn told you to watch me, didn�t he?� he asked bitterly.

�� No, he didn�t... Watch out!�

�What?�

�You nearly stood on a dead rat!�

�� In one way he was pleased to be working with a girl as attractive as Jade Bird, but in another he was angry. Henn no longer seemed to trust him. Maybe Henn thought he might shoot Tzavros in the back and this was why his partner was being kept away from him. The news about the child was not good. There had been no improvement whatsoever and doctors were considering withholding life support. Everyone involved wanted an explanation. Mist began to blur the kitchen as Steele relived the shooting. He saw the wall with its tangle of paintings. He saw the boy, indistinct against the bright colors. Something... There was something he must remember. Pain flicked through his head as he tried to bring the boy into focus. It was something about his eyes�something very familiar...

�� Peter! Come here, quickly!�

�� The urgency in her voice broke through his spinning mind and he ran into the small hall colliding with one of the many black bags as he did. This brought a smile to his face as he thought of Tzavros. Pulling himself up and brushing rotten tomato from his knees he could hear his partners� comments, �typical American. Never to look where going.� The smile vanished as he stumbled into what once had been the living room.

�� Surprisingly clean, the room was without furniture. Large marble statues were arranged neatly in front of a large inglenook fireplace whilst the floor was covered in unlit black candles. Steele sucked the stale air in rapidly and felt his knees tremble.

�� Black Mass! Oh God, no!� he whispered, almost to himself.

�� Pardon?�

�� It�s all right, Jade. I was thinking, that�s all. All this brought back memories best forgotten.�

�Of the battle with Kijac?�

�The computer code for Sasam was �Black Mass�. All this reminded me.�

�� His eyes closed and the memory flooded back. The madmen laughing�Tzavros beginning to lose his temper�the shot�the pain�the devil brought through by Sasam being unleashed onto the world. One of his young agents shouting, �Reverse Sasam, it�s an anagram! A Mass, the code is Black Mass!�

�� Peter! What is it!� Jade shouted fearfully.

�� Her voice again rescued him from the realm of nightmares and he lit a cigarette with unsteady hand. Henn is right, damn him. I am suffering from stress, he thought, as he threw the cigarette to the floor.

�� Come on, let�s note all this down,� he said, shaking off the growing fear.

�� There were no clues to why a man of ninety would turn rapist. His life until two weeks before had been mundane. Not even a traffic violation blotted his long life. Neighbors and friends could only speak good of this quiet, reclusive little man. Something in this room must hold the key to why he turned evil. Yet all it contained were black candles and statues of cats and dogs.

�� Got something!� Jade shouted, pointing to the mantelpiece. �Isn�t that a photo of that bloke Tzavros and Nutt were after?�

�� He looked closely at the tatty snap of a fat man in uniform and sighed. Perhaps after all, Musshurren was important. Although how could that man, who had as much intelligence as an amoeba, bring back an organization as complex as Kijac? He was the type who could not plan a picnic. No, there was obviously a simple reason, maybe they were just acquaintances.

�� Where did you find it?�

�� Under that brass insect, is it important?�

�� Again pain flicked through his head as he tightly gripped the brass beetle. He looked back to the small photograph and examined it carefully. It was there! Sown onto the sleeve of Musshurren�s uniform, another beetle, a scarab, the sign of KIJAC.

�� Jade, how about a late lunch?� he said trying to put fear out of his mind.

�� Sorry, you�re not my type. Now if you can get me a date with your friend...�

�� Not Tzavros?�

�� That would be great. He needs someone to look after him. He�s such a pretty boy.�

�� He did not know whether to feel anger or amusement at Tzavros who although no longer at his side was still one up.

�You drive, Nutt. Anywhere will do, just drive.� To say Sukoloff was disappointed was an understatement. He had always regarded Nutt as trustworthy, an agent who would one day become a leader. Everything pointed to Nutt having tampered with the gun and bomb. He had touched the gun and he had carried the bomb in from the armory.

�� Did you fix that bomb?� Sukoloff spoke through clenched teeth and his eyes flashed in anger.

�� Sir, I don�t know what you�re talking about.� As Nutt spoke his eyes never left the road ahead, never looking in Sukoloff�s direction. Sukoloff was quiet for a moment, then stated, �You knew that bomb was armed, who armed it? Was it you?�

�� I had this awful feeling it was armed, Sir... I thought it was armed... Sometimes I see danger before it happens. I look at something and know that it will explode, or it contains something dangerous. But I didn�t arm it, maybe I should have said that I had a bad feeling, but would you have listened to me?�

�� Premonitions? No I wouldn�t have believed you. I still don�t because that doesn�t account for accent.�

�� OK, yes, I have such a multinational family that I also have multi accents. Like you, I forget which one to use sometimes.�

�� Right, we do have problems here, you knew bomb was armed. I have to inform Mr. Henn and investigate you further. I�m going to place you under house arrest for a few days under the charge of Tzavros. For your sake don�t attempt to run from him. If you are telling the truth you will rejoin the trainees, if not, well you know the consequences... Nutt! What are you doing?...�

�� With a violent jerk of the steering wheel Nutt switched off the engine and swerved just as another car rounded the corner on his side of the road.

�� Phew, how close can you get? Now that was a premonition. Why didn�t you just break?�

�� We haven�t any, Sir. I just know we haven�t!�

October eighth.

�You two are very quiet lately. You haven�t got problems have you?� asked Henn scowling at the two Russians. Usually they were heads together planning dreadful deeds that would later be unleashed on both him and Peter Steele. Today they were at opposite ends of the room, silent.

�� Difference of opinion that�s all. By the way, Alex, we�re having no luck with this code breaking and I think they could have serious undertones.� Sukoloff spoke in his usual matter-of-fact way but Henn picked up the underlying worry.

�� Mr Tzavros, what have you so far?�

�� He paused briefly as his partner Peter Steele walked into the office. �These are latest messages, Peter to Cat Woman... Ibis fell for that one, but constantly interfering. Followed with, Cat Woman to Peter... Ibis is no problem. Trouble with this is I can link so many together. For example, Clive Peter Nutt, associated with two mishaps, that�s your Peter. He used to have a girlfriend called Paula Swan, that your bird. One of hobbies is camp� camp� Bell-ringing, that�s your Ring the Changes.�

�� I�m working on Nutt,� added Sukoloff. �Carry on.�

�� Ok, how about, Christopher Robin Alment, the bird. Expert on codes and breaking them. Girlfriend Cat Lacy, your Cat. Close friends include, Clive Peter Nutt. Shall I continue?�

�� No, I think not,� said Henn. �I think we�d better have a chat with all on your list, plus... Jade, punch me out the medical reports on those deaths this morning. Tzavros? Is there a problem?� Henn had noticed the quickly raised eyebrows and the smirk that accompanied the action.

�� Could be, yes we could have problem. I didn�t read latest message� Well, I mislaid it for moment.�

�Carry on.�

�Cat Woman to Peter... Continue with the changes... I am dealing with Ibis... Will Steel his heart. Let�s look at this again. Code name, Peter, working with cat and closely associated with Ibis. Changing something, ringing something, dealing and Steel with capital letter. My conclusions are... Peter Steele is in romantic situation with Jade Bird. Would much prefer Elaine Catline, so he going to change from Bird to Cat and ring it, marry her. Dealing he always does, card wise. But this time lady wise, simple deduction, my dear Henn.�

�� Mister, to suggest that my Chief enforcement officer is involved in a love tangle is one thing. To suggest he�s also placing this organization in a state of total confusion with silly coded messages is another.�

�� Sukoloff looked away, Nutt was his number one suspect, but why? Steele had touched the gun, Nutt had said Catline had given him the bomb and she had received it from Steele. Worse, Steele had been the last driver of the car before him and Nutt. Always Steele, no, that was impossible, it had to be Nutt.

�� Tzavros,� Henn�s commanding voice shook Sukoloff free of his thoughts. �You get the job of interviewing and baby-sitting Nutt. Sukoloff, these deaths, they might be in your field. Mr. Tremain a long serving member of Pia and recently transferred to armory.�

�Yes, I know him.�

�He was found dead this morning in a room locked from the inside. Also, Mr. Yuseff, one of our mechanics and found dead...� Before Henn could continue the intercom spat its warning. �Sir, we have a half naked, painted Maori running down the corridor... Sir, he�s gone... �

�� Security, have you been playing in Mr. Tzavros�s Lab?�

�� No, Sir... I...� Henn switched off the intercom as a large Maori warrior stormed out of his washroom shouting, �Sukoloff, go to your lab now and wait for me!�

�� How dare you speak to me like that, whoever or whatever you are!�

�� I dare and you know it. Don�t try the color change routine or the silly electrical display or I�ll give you a demonstration of fireworks that you won�t forget in a hurry. I need to talk to you, go now please.� As Sukoloff subduedly left, Henn snapped at the warrior, �Who the heck are you? How did you get past security? How dare you speak to Vacily like that?�

�� Mr Henn, I apologize for my behavior. What you don�t understand is how frustrating he can be. He knows so little and does so much harm. It�s our fault because I�m sure that you would never leave a baby in charge of a gun. That�s what we have done, left an infant in charge of a big box of matches and expected him not to play with them. He of course, started one heck of a fire.�

�� Baby? What are you talking about?�

�� He�s a baby, Alex, he�s fiddling the books.� With that he left.

�� Who was that?� asked Henn.

�� One of Vacily�s type... You know? Those what go bump in night?�

�You know who I am and why I�m here?�

�� One of those guardian things,� snorted Sukoloff.

�� In five years, maybe, if death happens near you, you may catch the essence of that human and give him the choice of staying on this plane. Nothing else!�

�� I have been given a gift. That of being able to prevent unnecessary deaths.�

�� The warrior smiled as you would with a child not understanding the wrong in nipping his father. �You must learn. You must obey the rules. It�s dangerous if you don�t. You can go back in time but touch nothing. Kill no-one and save no-one. If you kill then someone in this time will no longer exist, in fact will never be born. Save a life and what will that person become? Possibly the murderer of Pasture�s mother before he was born and because of it history could be changed. We have ancient spirits working in the past all the time repairing holes caused by evil spirits. They want the destruction of this world and to claim it for themselves. We can�t allow baby spirits like you to help them, even unintentionally.�

�� I�m a grown man!�

�� Never stop the inevitable again or you will have to be taught a lesson. We do understand that you must grow in strength and in knowledge. Go and play in the future. That is allowed because that time hasn�t happened yet. Every time you go forward something will be different because of something done in this time.�

�I did no harm!�

�In the future there will be relatives of the men you saved. Maybe one invented a new piece of equipment or a cure for some disease. But maybe one killed the inventor and a cure still hasn�t been found. Just slight changes, Sukoloff, happening all the time so that no one knows for sure what is in the future or how far it goes forward.�

�For ever!�

�� Yesterday I went 2,000 years ahead, but today? What if one of Alment�s descendants turned out to be a Hitler and caused the ultimate war? The war that will devastate the planet? 2,000 years in the future won�t exist, because of you. Think before you change what must be.�

�� No, I�m sorry, I can�t see what I did was wrong. Two minutes, that�s all. Their souls hadn�t left their bodies. They weren�t dead, not really. All I did was resuscitate them. I�m not a child.�

�� In spirit terms, my friend, you are a baby and I am but a young man. You will do childish things and relive your teenage years, everyone does. You are a mischievous spirit and prone to pranks against the living. We allow this, this growing time. Your human make-up was intelligent, cautious and serious. But you�re not human now and there will be times when the baby side of you will spring forward and push the adult you aside.�

�� Stop calling me a baby, two minutes was all! Two men are alive just as they should be. I�m not wrong.�

�� We are all tempted to do it, those of us that realize it can be done. Few have the courage to do it and those that do must be told of its dangers.� Not two minutes, Vacily, four. This is your second warning.�

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