BEYOND THE LOOKING-GLASS: Book One in the BEYOND Series by Rothwell Gordon

Author:Rothwell, Gordon [Rothwell, Gordon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Burgeon Press
Published: 2016-01-17T18:30:00+00:00

~*~

NINE

Anton Falconer sat by the small campfire watching the younger agent turning a roasting animal on a spit. He thought she looked quite attractive in the flickering firelight.

Rosetti chuckled to herself and turned to give him a broad smile.

“What is so amusing, may I ask?” he inquired.

“I was just remembering the look on that old man Fagin’s face when you tossed his coin purse to the crowd.”

“It seemed the appropriate thing to do at the time. And the townsfolk seemed to enjoy it. I imagine that old thief has swindled everyone in London--at one time or another. Served him right.”

Nikki added another stick to the fire. “And I can still see that old pit bull called Bull’s-Eye scampering off with its tail between its legs when you gave it that look of yours.”

“What look?”

“You know. That stern, imposing one that makes everyone shake in their jackboots.”

“Does it affect you that way, too?”

“Of course.”

“Then I must work on looking friendlier in the future.”

Nikki laughed. “Don’t you dare. That look is truly magical. Those people back in that town were mesmerized by it. They couldn’t help giving us all this food to take with us.”

She cut some hunks of meat from the spit and handed them to Anton. He took it absently, but he was busy fussing with the chip locator. After giving it several shakes and a few bangs, he cursed and tossed the device into the nearby brush.

“Damned locator. It got broken somewhere along the way. It’s useless to me now. Don’t worry. We’ll find our perpetrators without it.”

“I’m not worried, sir.” Nikki stared at him in the flickering light. “Why are we really here, Director? Who’s this Marlowe? And what about his wife?”

“Ex-wife,” he snapped. He chewed on a morsel of meat. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Rosetti.”

“I mean no offense. It’s just that…I may be a rookie agent, but I’m no fool, sir. I saw the way you looked at her in the laboratory. You’re in love with her.”

Anton slowly pulled a pack of cigarettes from his tunic, extracted one, and lit it up. He sat back and blew a single, perfectly formed smoke ring. He offered Nikki one but she waved him off.

“It’s a long story, Nikki.”

“So give me the condensed version, sir.”

He took another long drag on his cigarette. The embers at the end glowed like the red eye of a beast lurking in the forest. He waited a bit then began to speak slowly.

“This Marlowe used to be a big-shot on TV years ago. He got himself involved with a radical, subversive movement dedicated to toppling the incumbent Government.”

“The one we have now?”

“Primarily.”

“Go on, sir.”

“Marlowe produced and starred in an anti-regime TV broadcast. He pre-empted regularly scheduled programming and caused a nationwide upheaval. There were riots in the streets, huge demonstrations, massive property damage, and hundreds of casualties.”

“I never heard about that, sir.”

“You won’t find any references to it in your Government altered textbooks at the Academy.”

Nikki moved back from the campfire. She leaned back and propped up on one elbow.

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