"You losing your nerve, Bruno?"
"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a little scared. It's a close game that we're playing. It's pretty goddamn risky."
"I know it's risky, but I've gone to a lot of trouble to set this operation up and we're going to see it through to the end. I'm going to pull this off and I don't need you getting paranoid on me. You pull yourself together and do what you're told."
"Once Mongoose gets his teeth into something, he just doesn't let go, is that it? You know, it's funny how much you and Taylor have in common. I just hope to hell you know what you're doing."
"Count on it."
"Looks like I'm going to have to. I'd best be getting back."
"Goodnight."
"Yeah. Good luck."
Andre dropped to the ground, lying close against the wall, face down behind a foul-smelling pile of refuse. The man whom she had followed passed so close beside her that she could have reached out and touched him. The other man, the one called Freytag, went out the other way.
She remained there for several minutes, thinking furiously, trying hard to understand what she had overheard. What did it all mean? She had become involved in some complicated plot in which it appeared that no one was who or what they seemed. Constance was not Constance, but somebody named Sparrow. Taylor, the leader of the Timekeepers, had become Milady. The man called Freytag was with Taylor, yet he answered to the man called Mongoose. She had heard the soldiers use the name of Mongoose when they spoke of someone who was "in charge." They had wanted Jack Bennett to speak with Mongoose. Mongoose, then, was in a position of authority over the soldiers, yet now it seemed that he planned somehow to betray them, with the help of the man named Freytag. She could make no sense of it. What was going on? Who was on whose side and where were the battle lines drawn?
Perhaps the two soldiers would understand it, if she could figure out a way to reach them and tell them what she had overheard. She felt the laser in her pocket and took comfort in the sword and dagger at her side. It felt as though she were wading into a battle in which there were no allies, only enemies. She had trusted Bennett and the old man had helped her. Bennett said to help the soldiers. She could think of nothing else to do. She hoped that taking the side of the soldiers was the right thing to do. In any case, her fate was linked with theirs.
She hurried back to the house on the Rue Servadoni.
Finn and Lucas did not get much sleep. They had rested for a little over an hour when Mongoose came into their room and said, "All right, let's go."
He issued them their lasers and their comsets, the latter being tiny units consisting of a miniature receiver that was worn inside the ear and a miniature transmitter that was taped in place over the larynx and covered with a sheer, flesh-colored strip of adhesive that rendered it invisible.
"Okay, listen up," said Mongoose, "we're running short of time and I only want to go over this once. At this moment, D'Artagnan is with Captain de Treville, securing leave for himself and the musketeers to go to London. He has already contacted Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. They will all be meeting at D'Artagnan's house. You'll meet them there. You're going to be extremely angry at having been arrested and detained by the cardinal's men and at having been accused of plotting against France. You didn't know anything, however, and you were able to prove to their satisfaction that you are employed by the wealthy Monsieur Levasseur, who has influential friends at court. This is only in case you should be asked; don't volunteer anything. The gist of it all is that you were concerned about your friend, furious with the cardinal's guards, and anxious to even up the score. D'Artagnan will undoubtedly welcome your offer to go with them to London, knowing they'll need all the help that they can get. You'll have back-up all the way and the two floaters will be giving you recon reports periodically. Remember, I want Taylor alive if
possible. You'll need horses. Yours are waiting in the stalls in the Rue Cassette. You can pick them up on the way. Any questions?"
"Where are you going to be?" said Lucas.
"I'll be in position at the palace, just in case anything goes wrong and Taylor tries a last-minute play of some kind. Remember, he's still got that chronoplate; but if we can take him out, we won't have to worry about it. If we take him alive, we'll find the plate. If not, then we can just forget about it. It'll be protected by its fail-safe code and the first person who tries to mess with it will also be the last. Now the floaters will start monitoring you as soon as they get in the air, which should be around an hour from now. They'll be picking you up sometime after you get past the barrier of St. Denis. I doubt you'll have any trouble until you're well away from Paris, but to play it safe, the floaters will be tracking you with nightscopes until daylight, just in case. Any questions? No? All right, get moving."
They put on their cloaks and took their weapons and went out into the street, walking quickly toward the house in the Rue des Fossoyeurs.
"What do you think?" said Finn.
"I think I'm not going to like this very much," said Lucas. "Mongoose has the whole thing laid out like a major operation, but we're still working blind. We'll be going through a lot of wooded areas en route to the channel and the floater scouts won't be much use to us if they can't penetrate the cover of the trees. We know Taylor has lasers, we know he's got a chronoplate, God knows what other ordnance he might have available. Any way you look at it, we're still cannon fodder. When Taylor makes his move, the floater scouts may spot him, but we might be dead by then."
"That's about what I was thinking," said Delaney.
"You know what else I think?" said Lucas. "I think we're being followed."
Delaney didn't turn around. "Where?"
"About half a block back and closing," Lucas said. "One man, I think."
"Think Mongoose has someone trailing us to provide security?"
"If he does, he didn't mention it. Duck into the next alley."
They walked about another three hundred feet and turned right into a dark and smelly narrow alley between two rows of buildings. Finn stepped on something and almost lost his balance. The rat squealed angrily, tried to bite him through his boot, and then scuttled away into the piles of garbage. Finn spat in disgust. Lucas motioned him to stand against the far wall while he took up a post at the corner, right next to the entrance to the alley. They waited several seconds and then heard running footsteps approaching. Lucas held his breath as the footsteps slowed to a walk, then stopped altogether just around the corner. He reached for his laser. For a moment, nothing happened. Lucas could barely make out Finn, standing across the way, almost invisible in the darkness.
"I am not an enemy," came a soft voice from just around the corner from where Lucas was standing. "I must speak with you. It is a matter of utmost urgency!"
Lucas licked his lips nervously. He seemed to recognize the voice, but it could be a trap.