The Stainless Steel Rat eBook Collection (124 page)

It was a little disconcerting moving helplessly like this through the darkness, particularly when the occasional missile whined past. By accident, I hoped. This street was narrow and blocked at both ends by Cliaand
troops. If they knew what was happening they could sweep the street with a deadly crossfire. But hopefully they were involved with the robutlers for the moment. All we had to do was quietly cross the 20 meters or so of open road, to the apartment dwelling on the other side. If we reached this unnoticed we had a good chance of going through it to the mixed business and residential plaza on the
other side. From here we would break up and scatter through the warren of streets and walkways and tunnels, hopefully merging into the civilian population and disappearing before our absence was noticed. Hopefully.

I was counting my steps so knew I had almost reached the building – which meant that half of our number were safe – when the voice called out nearby.

‘Is that you, Zobno? What did
the sergeant say about robots? It sounded like robots?’

The line stopped, instantly, in breath-holding silence. We were so close. The voice was male and it spoke Cliaandian.

‘Robots? What robots?’ I asked as I pulled the hand from my shoulder and placed it on Angelina’s shoulder before me.
‘Move,’
I whispered in her ear. Then left the line and stamped heavily towards him in my new boots.

‘I’m
sure he said
robots,’ the voice complained. Behind me I was aware of the faint stir as the line started forward again. I stamped and coughed and moved closer to the unseen speaker. My hands before me ready for a quick clench and crush as soon as he spoke again.

All of which would have worked fine, and have given me a little sadistic pleasure, if the evening breeze had not sent eddies around the
corners of the building. The wind moved coolly on my face and a rift opened in the smoke. I was looking at a Cliaand trooper, helmed and armed with his gaussrifle at the ready, a shocked expression stamped on his face. With good reason. Instead of gazing upon a fellow trooper he saw an unknown individual with snapping fingers, red eyes and unshaven jaw, dressed in totally transparent dungarees
and ladies’ boots, with bundles and packs slung on his shoulders. Gape was about all he could do.

This paralysis lasted just long enough for me to reach him. I grabbed him by the throat so he couldn’t shout a warning, and by the gun so he couldn’t shoot me. We danced around like this for a bit and the smoke closed over us again. My opponent wasn’t shouting or shooting – but neither was he submitting.
He was burly and well muscled and holding his own. Luckily he wasn’t too bright and kept both his hands on the gun and tried to get it away from me. Just about the time he realized he could hold it with one hand and slug me with the other I got a foot behind his heel and went down on top of him. Before he hit the ground he managed to get two quick punches into my midriff which did me no good.
Then we landed and I knocked all the air out of him. This freed my throat hand and, before he could suck in enough breath to shout with, I rendered him unconscious.

I sat on him, waiting for my head to stop spinning and for the knot of pain in my
gut to ease, when another voice sounded close by.

‘What’s that noise? Who is it?’

I breathed in a deep shuddering breath, let a bit of it out and
worked for control of my voice.

‘It’s me.’ Always a good answer. ‘I tripped and fell down. I hurt a finger …’

‘Then you’ll get a medal for it. Now shut up.’

I shut up, took the gaussrifle from my limp companion and stood up – and realized that I was completely lost in the smoky darkness.

Not a pleasant sensation at all. The smoke was thinning and I was alone with no sense of direction. If
I walked in the wrong direction it would be suicide.

Panic! Or rather a moment of panic. I always allow myself at least a brief panic in any tight situation. This flushes out the bloodstream, starts the heart pumping faster, releases a jolt of adrenalin and provides other nice things for an emergency. But only a little panic, time was pressing. And after the basic bestial emotion drained away,
lips dropped back over fangs and hair on neck down again and all that, I put the old logic center to work.

ITEM:
I was not alone. The silent line of escapees may have marched into the building and safety, but my Angelina would not desert me. I knew, as clearly as if I could see her, that she was outside that door to survival and waiting for me.

ITEM:
She had her sense of direction, I didn’t.
Therefore she would have to come to me.

‘This finger is killing me, Sarge,’ I whined, then whistled in supposed agony. One short whistle and one long one. The letter
a
for Angelina in the code that I knew she knew well. That I needed help I knew she would figure out for herself.

‘Stop that whistling and
noise,’ the other voice growled back, ending in a note of suspicion. ‘Say, who are you?’

I groped through my memory for the name I had heard a few moments earlier.

‘It’s me, Sarge. Zobno. This finger …’

‘That’s not Zobno!’ a second voice called out. ‘I’m Zobno …’

‘No,
I
am,’ I shouted. ‘Who’s that said that?’

‘Both of you come here –
now!’
the sergeant ordered. ‘I’m going to start shooting in five seconds.’

The real Zobno stumbled through the smoke and I didn’t dare say a thing
or move. And I could already feel the slugs tearing through me – when something plucked at my sleeve and I jumped.

‘Angelina?’ I whispered, and received a silent answer when she threw her arms about me. I reached for her but she wasn’t waiting; taking my hand she pulled me after her. There were voices behind us in the smoke, then the sudden whine of a gaussrifle and shouts of command.

I stumbled
over an invisible step and waiting hands pulled me through the doorway.

‘S
EARCH PARTY
… search
party …’

The words came dimly through the throaty growls of the attacking teddy bears. I could have fought them off, even though the candy canes I was using for swords kept breaking on me. But even without a candy cane, give a teddy a quick kick in the gut and over he goes, no staying power. The teddies I could have handled alone if they hadn’t got those
damn wooden soldiers on their side. They would make a good bonfire and that is just what I had in mind, fumbling for matches, when one of them got me in the arm with the bayonet on his toy rifle. It stung and I blinked and opened my eyes to look up at the whiskery face of Doctor Mutfak who was staring back at me.

‘An alarm, that was, very badly timed indeed I must say. I have given you an injection
to cancel the hypnotic drug.’ He held up the hypodermic and I rubbed my arm where it had stung me. ‘Very badly timed.’

‘I didn’t arrange it that way,’ I mumbled, still only half awake and wishing I could have finished off the teddy bears.

‘The treatment is going well and it will be time consuming to start over again. I have regressed you to your childhood and – my! – you have had an interesting,
not to say repellent childhood! You must give me permission to write up this case. The symbol of the teddy bear, normally one of warmth and comfort, has been transmogrified by your obnoxious subconscious into …’

‘Later, doctor, if you please,’ Angelina said, coming to my rescue. A picture of golden
charm, she had been sunning herself on the balcony and the wisps of fabric she wore for this operation
had about the same surface area as a butterfly’s wing.

I sat up and shook my head, still foggy with the traces of the drug. The room was colorful and luxurious, with one entire wall opening onto the balcony, with the blue sky and bluer ocean beyond, perched high on top of the Ringa Baligi Hotel. This hotel, supposed to be the best one on Burada and I could well believe it, was in the center of
a lagoon and approachable only by water or air. This gave us advance warning of any unwanted visitors – and the warning had just been given. The drill was carefully worked out. I had worn swim trunks during the brain-bending session, just in case of an emergency like this one, so I took Angelina’s hand and we trotted to the private elevator. As we got into it the sound of engines on the landing
platform above was loud and clear. We held the grips as the high-speed elevator dropped out from under us.

‘Do you feel up to this?’ Angelina asked.

‘Just a bit foggy, but that will go away. Do you think this brain-drainer is any good?’

‘He’s supposed to be the best on the planet. He’ll straighten out the kinks Kraj put in if anyone can.’

‘He could work a bit faster. Three days now and we’re
still in my childhood.’

‘You must have been a
terrible
little boy. Some of the things I’ve heard …’

Before I could think of a snappy comeback the elevator whooshed to a stop and we emerged at water level. Steps led down into the ocean from an enclosed diving room. The attendant was waiting with our scuba gear ready and we buckled it on and dove in. Straight to the bottom and out among the coral
reefs. Even if they came looking they would never find us
here. I snapped on the sonar communicator and called in.

‘Not much of a search,’ the operator told me. ‘I’ll let you know when they reach the lower level.’

Angelina and I dove deep. Rainbow-hued fish burst out and around us, green plants bowed to our passing. The water was clear and warm and was rapidly restoring my thoughts and good
spirits. We swam to a grotto, completely surrounded by coral, that we had found on an earlier visit during an alert, and settled down on the golden sand. I put my arm around Angelina and she snuggled up to me, both for the fun of it and to get our masks touching so we could talk.

‘Anything new come in on Kraj and his boys while the doc was slogging through my gray matter?’

‘They’ve been located,
but that’s all. Now that the first stage of invasion is over the Cliaand forces seem to be settling down for the occupation. They’ve taken over this immense office building, the Octagon it’s called, probably because it has eight sides, and have cleared everyone out. They seem to have moved most of their administrative operations there – and one of Kraj’s gray men was seen coming out of the building.
This must be where they are holed up.’

‘I wonder why they left the last building?’

‘Afraid of you and your relentless revenge, no doubt.’

I snorted. Hard to do in a face mask. ‘You’re only saying that, but by Belial there is more than an element of truth in it. The Cliaand operation in general has to be knocked out, but those gray men need special attention. But first we have to grab one of
them. I’ll have to get inside the building.’

‘You’ll do nothing of the sort.’ She pinched the skin over my ribs and I tried to slap her hand away but you can’t do this under water. I settled for a pinch myself, and she was surely far more pinchable
than I, and we played around like this for a while until I remembered why she had distracted me and returned ruthlessly to the interrupted conversation.

‘Why can’t I try to get into the building? I’ll be disguised, I speak Cliaandian, I know the ropes …’

‘And they know yours. They’ll have cameras on every entrance feeding data to the computers. Which will know your height, your build, your weight, manner of walk, retinal pattern, the works. You can’t disguise everything and you know it. They’ll have you in the bag the instant you walk into the
place.’

‘You’re just saying that because it is true,’ I muttered. ‘So I suppose you have a better plan?’

‘I do. I speak Cliaandian and they have no records on me at all. And I’m an experienced field operator, the only one on the planet besides you.’

‘No!’

‘Why the instant no?’ She scowled at me and the next pinch hurt. ‘You’re my husband, not my owner - remember? I’m as good at this business
as you are, maybe better, and there is a job that needs doing. Let’s have none of your male superiority and possessiveness.’

She was right of course, but I couldn’t let her know it.

‘I was only worried about your safety.’

She melted at this, even the smartest woman is a sucker for the loving attention, and rubbed against me. I felt like the heel I was.

‘You do love me, Jim, in your own horrible
way. But I’ll be all right, you’ll see. There are some women among the Cliaandian supporting echelons – I don’t see how they can wear those ugly uniforms – and the girls and I will grab onto one. With her uniform and identification I’ll get into the building, find Kraj—’

‘You won’t do anything foolish?’

‘Of course not. This
is too important to bungle by trying it alone. I told you I wanted to
give him my
personal
attention at my leisure. This will be a scouting trip only. I’ll locate the gray men, map the layout and take a look at the detection devices – and leave at once.’

‘Great.’ I was getting enthusiastic now and trying to put my fears for her safety aside. ‘That is all we will need to mount a quick kidnapping. Hit them fast and hard, walk right in and grab Kraj and right out
again. Foolproof.’

The sonar communicator buzzed and I flicked it on.

‘The search party has gone. You may return.’

We swam back slowly, hand in hand, enjoying the moment. Doctor Mutfak was waiting when we climbed out of the water.

‘Good, we pick up where we left off.’ There was no warmth at all in his smile. ‘The teddy bears, we must probe the symbolism here so we can move on to more recent
things.’

He tapped his foot impatiently while Angelina and I clutched in a nice wet embrace and kissed with abandon. Wearing the masks had been quite frustrating. Then back to the room. I let the doctor put me under at once since I didn’t want Angelina to catch my jumpiness before she left. The mission would be difficult enough without my giving her things to worry about. She waved and went to
dress and I waved back and Mutfak stuck a needle in my arm. No romance in his soul.

We must have moved along nicely because when I awoke next the teddy bears had long since vanished and the last dream I remembered had something to do with exploding spaceships and solar flares. Dr. Mutfak was packing up his instruments and the last glimmer of daylight was fading in the night sky outside.