Dark Matter (46 page)

'The flight is not for an hour madam.  If you would like to go to the Business Lounge while you wait.’

Severine had barley registered what the woman had said.  She looked at her ticket and on it was printed Business Class. 
That was thoughtful of them,
she thought, never having travelled in anything other than standard class.

'Thank you.  The Business Lounge is....'

'That way madam.'  The woman replied pointing the way.

The Business Lounge was quite busy she noted.  Predominately men in suits talking loudly on the phone or to each other.  Severine hated and pitied them at the same time. 
They seem to care so much about what they do.  “Sales are up and that's fantastic.”  “We have sold more this month than the competition.”  “My bonus is going to be huge and bigger than my colleagues are.”  If they all fell down dead I'm sure there would be ten more to replace each one.  If all their companies stopped trading, would the world miss their products?  I wonder if I should kill one and find out....

'Excuse me is this seat taken?'  The gentleman in question was tall, good looking and another suit.  Severine waved him to sit down. 

'So where are you headed?'  The man asked brightly.

'Zurich.'  Severine replied without thinking.

'Cool.  Conference or meeting?'

'Funeral.'  She said wanting to end the conversation before it properly began.

'Oh.  I'm so sorry.  Anyone close?'

Damn is this guy trying to network or hit on me? 
'My Great-Aunt.' 
Oh what...
  Severine defrosted and engaged the man in conversation.  She had time to kill and she realised whilst this man sat here others were unlikely to join them.  He was thirty-eight, claimed to be divorced, although she doubted this from the white ring where his wedding ring normally resided. 
Probably takes it off on every trip.
  He worked for one of the multi-nationals as some kind of consultant.  He seemed pleased with himself, but more pleased to be talking to Severine. 
I bet he claims his wife doesn't understand him.
  She laughed out loud, unable to stop herself.

'What's so funny?'  He asked.

'I'm sorry,’ she replied easily, 'I was just remembering my Great-Aunt, she was quite a woman.'

'Like her Great-Niece.' 

Smooth, but a bit cheesy,
Severine thought.

He looked at his watch.  'I must be going.  Well it was nice to meet you Severine.'  He reached out his hand to shake hers.  Severine smiled and took his hand.  She wrapped her hand around his thumb, held his forearm with her other hand and pulled him across the table, enough to unbalance him, but not so much that he fell.  She whispered into his ear.

'How do you know my name?  I never told you.  Who are you and what do you want?'  She put more pressure on his thumb.  He groaned satisfactorily. 

'OK' he said calmly, 'I work for Group 79.  I was sent here to check up on you.'

She relaxed her grip a little.

‘I've never heard of them.  I am on my way to a funeral.'

'In that case my apologies madam.  It was my mistake.'

'Yes it was.'  Severine released him and let him go on his way.

Jesus, they are everywhere.
 

The Tannoy announced her flight was boarding.

18:35               28 December  [17:35  28 December GMT] 

Zurich, Switzerland.

The taxi seemed to find its own way though the traffic and the streets.  The driver was hardly involved.  Severine relaxed and left him to find the hotel.  She did however keep an eye on where they were going and where they had been.  The incident in the airport had pulled her out of her slumber and placed her on high alert.
If he had been an enemy, I would probably be dead now.

The taxi stopped outside the hotel.  The driver got out to retrieve her suitcase from the boot and place it on the pavement for her.  Severine walked into the lobby and realised this was the nicest hotel she had ever been in.  Not that her experience of hotels was that extensive, it wasn't.  However, she realised that this must be on the quality end of the scale.  After checking in the porter showed her to her room, waiting anxiously for his tip, which after she realised what he was waiting for, she duly produced from her purse.  The porter left, compensated but not impressed.  Severine picked up the phone and dialled the room number she had for Solomon.  She let it ring for a full minute and not getting any answer she showered and changed.  Refreshed, she flipped through the hotel manual to discover it had a swimming pool and sauna. 
I could be waiting ages.
Then she realised that she hadn't packed any swimwear.  She called down to reception.

'But madam we have swimwear available in our shop.'  The voice said.

'Excellent I'll be right down.'

The pool wasn't busy.  A few guests were swimming, a couple more lying on loungers by the side.  Severine eased herself into the water, the coolness enveloping her made a dramatic change from the stuffiness of the flight.  She pulled a couple of gentle laps to loosen up and then began to exercise in earnest.  On a return lap, a woman swam beside her, matching her stroke for stroke. 
She must have forgotten her costume too, as she is wearing one identical to mine.
  They continued like this for several more laps.  The woman stopping first, she swam to one side where a young girl was doing widths.  The girl had on the same patterned costume.

What are the odds?
  She wondered. 
How do I approach this?
  Severine swam over to them.

‘Hi’ Severine said, smiling at them both.  'I've just arrived.  Could you recommend anywhere to eat?'

The woman blinked.  'No I'm sorry, we have not been here long ourselves.'

Severine noted the woman's strong accent.  'Oh that's a shame.  I believe that there is a good restaurant here it was recommended by a friend, the Duke of Hertfordshire.'

The woman's eyes flashed noticeably.  'Oh really?'  She was giving nothing more away.

'Yes.  I am meant to be meeting some friends of his here.  Solomon and Natasha, do you know them?'

'Who are you?'

'I'm Severine, and you are Solomon, aren't you.'

'Yes.'  Solomon said quietly.  She held her daughter close.

'Good.  The Duke gave me a message for you.  He said,
he has tickets to the ballet
.'

Solomon relaxed so much that she involuntarily bobbed under the water.  She came back up spitting water at Severine.

'Sorry.'  Solomon apologised.  'I don't know why I did that.'

'Fatigue.  It's OK.  I hear you have been on quite a journey.  It's almost over.  How about we get showered and dressed?  Then we can talk about getting you to England.'

England
, thought Solomon,
paradise could not be more welcoming.

They met in the lobby after showering and changing.  Severine had already asked at reception about a suitable restaurant.  She wanted something busy, so it would be noisy, but where they could get a table without booking.  The restaurant lived up to her hopes.  It was a steak house furnished and decorated in the style of an American ranch.  The food and service were efficient and edible, which was all they required.  Natasha had a burger and fries coupled with a milkshake, it was a delightful pink colour, and she spent many happy minutes blowing bubbles through it with her straw.  Ordinarily Solomon would have corrected such behaviour, but she could not deny her this chance to be a nine year old. 

They discussed how to get to England.  The lack of official identification for Solomon and Natasha was the main issue.  Flying was out of the question.  Money was not an issue, but money could not solve every problem.  They could get false documents, but Severine judged that the risk was too high.  Anyone who dealt with such things would surely sell them out, especially as the Russian Government had offered a substantial reward.  This left the train or the road.  The train would be quicker, but the road offered more routes, anonymity and wouldn't leave them trapped.  They agreed to buy a second-hand car, as renting would leave a trail.

The following morning at breakfast, they decided that Severine would go to buy the car whilst Solomon and Natasha headed to the bank to collect the remaining items.  Severine would then pick them both up from the bank and they could head off from there.             

The car salesman looked Severine up and down, he then showed her a nice respectable Peugeot in dark blue.  It was a few years old, had many miles on the clock, but otherwise was in fine shape.  She took it, negotiating a small discount to avoid seeming desperate.  She paid in cash and the salesman was busy counting it rather than checking what information she put down on the sales paperwork.  She had been there less than half an hour when she accepted the keys and drove away in it.  Low on fuel she stopped at a garage and filled up.

Severine parked on the opposite side of the street to the bank's entrance.  The radio was playing a song she didn't recognise but she was tapping her fingers along to it.  The road was quite clear except for two cars parked next to the bank.  They were both dark in colour, almost identical, she noted.  There was a gap between them of about a hundred feet.  This put one either side of the entrance to the bank. 
Good place for an ambush
, she reflected. 
Why did I think that?
She concentrated on their licence plates and then realised that they too were nearly identical. 
Two cars of the same make and model with consecutive licence plates, this cannot be good.

Severine started the car, slipped into first and pulled down the street.  She turned the car around, but parked back on the opposite side of the street so she had a good view of the bank's entrance.  She unlocked all the doors, opened all the windows, and waited.

Solomon thanked the clerk again.  She had everything now, all stowed away safely in her new wheeled suitcase.  It was raining outside now, she could see.  She opened her umbrella in the covered entrance.  Two men got out of a car and looked straight at her.  She didn't care for them at all.  She turned round to glance at Natasha, and saw two more men getting out of another car. 
Shit.  Shit, shit, shit.
  She heard an engine scream, a car drove directly at them, bumping on to the kerb.  Her heart stopped.  It was Severine, she screamed at them and Solomon froze.  The men started to run towards her.  Severine jumped out of the car and headed for two of the men.  Solomon saw one man's face explode in a fountain of blood, the other fall to the floor.  The second group were nearly upon Solomon now.  Her heart started again and she thrust the umbrella in the face of the first man.  The other one grabbed her arm and she started struggling, forgetting her military training in the heat of it all.  Severine slammed into the man; he fell over pulling Solomon to the ground, still holding her arm.  Severine grabbed Natasha and threw her into the back seat of the car.  Then she kicked the man holding Solomon and he let go, instinctively protecting his head from further assault.  Severine dragged Solomon towards the car, Solomon's feet scrabbling to gain traction. 

'My bag!  My bag!  I must have it!'  Solomon was shouting.

Severine let go of Solomon and yanked open the passenger door for her.  She spun round and went for the bag.  The man who had received the umbrella was in her way. 
Big mistake
.  Severine kicked at the man's left knee, it gave way instantly sending him crashing on top of his colleague.  She grabbed the bag and tried to shove it into the car but the handle got in the way.  She struggled with it, deciding to leave it poking out of the window with the bulk of it on top of Solomon.  Severine darted round the car and jumped into the driver's seat.  She floored the accelerator and sped off down the street.  She had no idea where she was going.

Think Severine, think!
She rounded the street corner and sped on, taking a left then a right at random.  She entered a one-way system, and at the bottom turned right.  Now they were driving alongside the Zürichsee, the lake that extends from the south of the city.  Severine felt trapped,
it is never good to have the sea to your back
, she reflected.  She took the next right trying to head back into the city. 
Gottfried-Keller-Strasse,
she noted, her heart began to sink as she realised that she had been down this road before.  She slowed down;
this leads back to Theaterstrasse and the bank!
  It was too late.  The two cars from outside the bank were driving down the other side of the road.  With their windows all wound down, suitcase handle still sticking out of the passenger window, they were more than easy to spot.  Severine watched her rear-view mirror and saw the two cars turn around to follow. 

'That's them isn't it?'  Solomon asked, still shaken from the rapid events.

'Yes.  Don't worry I will not let them get you.  Could you ask Natasha to lie down in the back, it will improve my rear view.'