Chapter 23

The doorbell rang loudly in the nearly empty foyer of the apartment. It sounded twice and was followed by an insistent knocking on the heavy double doors. Frank Brackenridge paused his packing with a sigh and crossed the length of the spacious penthouse to reach the foyer, grimacing at the repeated thumps on the expensive solid timber doors.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” he yelled in his best parade ground voice, quelling the demands for entry on his priceless doors. They had once graced the entrance to an old country house in England and he was going to be very annoyed if the visitors had damaged them in any way.

He deactivated the security system and flung the doors open. The people on the other side jumped back in alarm at his sudden appearance, which mollified him a little.

“I’ve been expecting you” he told the Police Auxiliary Detective, noting with perverse pride the man had brought no less than four heavily armed Guards and Mika Frost from Division X along for the arrest.

“Mister Frank Brackenridge, I have a warrant for your arrest” the Detective announced with a tense face, obviously expecting an argument or worse from the CEO of Brackenridge Transportation. As if to prove it was true he held up a Police issue datapad with the warrant details displayed on the screen. Frank ignored him and nodded politely to Mika, an individual he had encountered before due to the relationship with his wife.

“You’re a few minutes early” he told the group and gestured them to follow him inside. “I haven’t finished packing my overnight bag” He turned and walked away, his face creasing into a smile as he heard the Detective scramble to catch up to him.

“Mister Brackenridge, this is a serious matter!” the Detective called out to him. “You are being arrested for the manufacture and distribution of a prohibited substance!”

“If you mean Heightened Experience, that is a perfectly legal material being manufactured under licence” Frank explained reasonably to the Detective. “Which is what our lawyers will be telling your bosses in quite extensive detail”

“Does that mean you are resisting my arrest?” the Detective said with a gulp. He had noticed that the ex-military man was looking exceptionally large, fit and strong for someone of their age. He laid a hand involuntarily on the pistol holster at his hip and his Guards adopted a ready stance, assault rifles held low and safeties off.

“Please don’t be silly, Detective Cobb” said the smoothly unemotional voice of Mika Frost. The Detective shifted his head to regard the operative, a Special Agent from the fabled Division X. According to the stories he had heard, Mika was genderless, neither identifying as male or female. Looking at them right now, the Detective could not say for sure either.

Mika was of average height, slender with a thin elfin face, narrow lips and eyes of piercing blue. They wore their snow white hair in a tightly cropped style, flat and spiky across the crown. If they were a young man they would be effeminately handsome and if a woman would be considered boyishly pretty.

Detective Cobb gave up trying to work it out and yielded to their superior rank.

“What do you suggest we do, Agent Frost?” he asked.

Mika just shrugged their narrow shoulders under the long black coat they wore.

“Mr Brackenridge is already planning to come with us” they said in their quiet voice. “That is why he was packing a bag”

“You always were a smart one, Mika” Frank told them. He put the last items into his bag and closed it up, handing the expensive leather case to the Detective. “If you would be so kind as to have this taken to my cell, it would be appreciated”

With that done, Frank held out his hands, wrists together towards Mika. The Agent gave him a small smile and took their handcuffs from a pouch at their waist.

Mika snapped them closed around the captive and stood back.

“After you, Frank” Mika said and gestured towards the apartment lobby. The big man nodded politely and walked out, the Guards parting to let him through.

“So how do you know Mister Brackenridge?” whispered Detective Cobb, in awe of the professional ease with which they had handled the arrest.

“His wife and I belong to the same Coven” Mika answered, leaving the dumbfounded Detective behind as they followed the small entourage to the private elevator.

“Where is my daughter, Miss Tengaki?” Yolanda snarled down the phone. “I thought you had a team watching over her?”

The voice at the other end of the phone connection gave no hint at the terror she was sure the Security Chief must be feeling.

“Unfortunately the attack on the Archimedes Tower rendered two of my operatives out of action and the third is still missing” Naomi answered her boss. “All I know for sure is that she was last seen in the company of her school friend, Carmody Brentwood”

“I am very disappointed in your performance so far, Miss Tengaki” Yolanda seethed. “Please don’t force me to send Monique to claim what you owe me!”

This time there was an audible gulp on the other end of the phone call, bringing a grim smile to the face of Yolanda.

“I understand, Mrs Brackenridge” Naomi assured her hurriedly. “I will locate your missing daughter as quickly as possible”

“Thank you, Miss Tengaki” the older woman told her and disconnected the call. The phone was dropped on a side table with careless abandon, knocking against a cup of strong black tea.

Yolanda sat back in her favourite chair, a woven affair made from white painted wicker that swept out like a fan shaped throne behind her head. She gestured to her Head Maid, Monique Shaw, to come closer and the blank faced woman complied.

“Have they arrested my husband yet?” she demanded. Her maid nodded silent agreement, dark eyes fixed on her mistress. “And I am guessing there has been no sign of Hammerton?”

“No, Mistress” Monique finally spoke. “The Master has not yet returned to this dwelling nor the City apartment”

“I see” Yolanda muttered to herself. “Husband, daughter and butler are all taken from me. At least I have a good idea where Frank will end up”

She steepled her fingers together, contemplating the situation she found herself in. As she had told Monique, she knew her husband would be held by the Police Auxiliary for no more than a single night. They had expected this and their legion of highly paid lawyers were already deployed for battle with the City’s Prosecution team.

Archimedes may be the smartest machine on the planet, but she employed the most devious of lawyers. She was confident whatever charges they dreamed up it would be hard to get a conviction. Her only concern was they might hold her husband in custody until the preliminary case was heard, but she had members of the Governing Board who owed her favours.

Getting her husband sprung from jail, legally or otherwise, was not something she was worried about.

Where had Angelina gotten to? That was the perplexing issue. Her daughter was wilful and headstrong but never disobeyed her parents. Having Hammerton go missing at the same time was a concern too.

Yolanda had no fear for the wellbeing of the butler, rather concern for anyone who got in his way.

“Monique, prepare the Circle” she told the woman, standing still and alert in the same position. “I need to seek out my missing Master and child”

“Of course, Mistress” her Familiar replied.

The man who called himself Warren Jenks had pulled his rented electric Micro car into the roadside diner to grab a bite to eat. It was late in the evening and he had not eaten since breakfast. It was always like that when he was on a job – too keyed up to eat or drink, ever watchful for any sign his cover might be blown.

Now he was out of the city he felt he could relax a little. In a couple of hours he was going to meet his contact in Port August, the one who would get him onto a fishing boat and safely away from the Zone.

Jenks parked his tiny two seater in the empty parking lot, picking a spot where he would not be seen by the solitary security camera watching over the vehicles. Pulling a cap down low over his face, he exited the car and locked it, pocketing the smart key in his plain blue jacket.

The diner was a cheap looking affair, made of pre-fab panels of concrete painted many years ago in an out of fashion graffiti style. It had an air of fading desperation, trying to stay in business on a route that saw far too little road traffic to sustain it.

The man opened the front doors and saw he was the only customer, much as he had hoped. A tired looking waitperson slumped against the counter, her vacant expression brightening momentarily when she spotted him.

His bland, innocuous looks and cheap clothing dimmed her spark of enthusiasm but at least she stood upright and gave him a half hearted smile of welcome.

“Hi honey, welcome to the Open Road” she declared with a trace of old Port August twang. “Take a seat wherever you like”

Jenks looked at the scattered collection of tables and booths and chose one end of the scarred plastic counter. He sat himself on the high stool and twisted it sideways so he could observe the waitperson and the front door.

“Quiet night” he observed in his neutral voice.

“Uh-huh” the woman agreed. She came to his end of the counter and offered a cup of steaming coffee, her nametag identifying her as Melanie. “The road is pretty empty, what with all the dramas in Pan City today. Most folks are staying home and I was just about to close up for the evening. Do you fancy something to eat, Mister?”

He ran his eye over the big electronic menu mounted on the wall behind her.

“How about a grilled cheese and ham sandwich with a side of fries?” he asked her.

“Not a problem” Melanie said in her Port August accent, reminding Jenks of some keen surfers he remembered from his own youth along the west coast of California. She wandered back to the kitchen area and soon he heard the sound of refrigerator doors opening and the fryer bubbling as his frozen fries met the hot oil.

A large view screen in the corner was on but muted, showing scenes of the riots and fires in Archimedes Tower. Jenks watched with mild interest, glad he had followed his instincts and gotten well clear of the place. Whatever it was his delivery had contained, it had caused a lot of damage and injury.

The screen switched to a related story, a good news piece about the incredible rescue of a falling child by a Levitator. Under the images of the attractive woman catching the child mid-air was a banner saying the public were calling her the Angel of Pan City.

Jenks wondered what had happened to the woman when the riots began. He was not a vindictive man, he just did not care much for other people; yet he hoped she had escaped the chaos. Chaos he had caused, even if it was at the orders of his unknown employer.

He shrugged those thoughts aside and took a sip of the coffee. It was surprisingly good if a little bitter, so he tore off the top of a sugar packet and mixed it into the dark brew.

“The coffee smells good” said a deep voice behind him and Jenks coughed in sudden alarm, spilling some of the hot drink down his plain grey shirt. He spun on his stool to see a tall, dark haired man standing about a meter behind him. The new arrival was wearing what looked like an old fashioned formal suit, with some rips and dust stains visible on the dark fabric.

“What the hell!” Jenks spluttered. “You made me spill my coffee!” Now that he thought about it, he wondered where this guy had come from. He had not heard the diner door open and looking out through the glass windows there were no other vehicles in the lot.

“My apologies, I did not mean to cause you alarm” the suited man replied calmly. He leaned forwards and inhaled deeply, like he was checking how Jenks smelled or something. “At least, not until I was certain you were the one I was looking for”

“Huh?” mumbled Jenks and leaned back from the strange arrival. His waist pressed against the solid counter-top, holding him in place and he mustered a weak grin. “I think you have mistaken me for someone else, Mister” he said aloud. “I’m just passing through to the north”

The tall man twisted and regarded the view screen, once again showing the images of the Levitator woman racing around the Tower and then catching the small boy.

“Do you believe in Angels, Mister Jenks?” the guy asked him, eyes still fixed on the view screen. Jenks flicked an eye at the screen, then slid his left hand into his jacket pocket. The small plastic pistol he carried there was a reassuring weight as he wrapped his fingers on the grip.

“I’m not really sure” Jenks replied. The guy turned and looked at him with dark grey eyes narrowed into a frown.

“I know how you feel” the guy told him. “If you believe in Angels, it means you also have to accept the existence of Demons”

“That’s a bit too heavy for me” acknowledged Jenks with a small swallow. “Anyway, thanks for the chat but I need to get back on the road” He slid sideways off the stool and tried to edge past the dark suited man.

“You haven’t eaten your dinner yet” the guy said with a slight edge to his voice. “Lovely Melanie is making it for you right now and it would be a shame to waste it”

“Look Mister, you can eat the sandwich if you want” he snarled. “I’m leaving this place!” Jenks pulled the pistol he had been concealing and thrust it warningly at the man.

The man stepped slightly to the side, blocking Jenk’s path to the exit. He showed no concern at all about the pistol aimed desperately at his chest and cocked his head to one side.

“You and your associates caused me to violate the Covenant today” the big guy intoned to Jenks. “You made me hurt the one person in this whole world that I love. That cannot be forgiven”

Jenks squeezed the trigger on his pistol. Or at least he tried to, but he just wasn’t quick enough.

=====

“Here you go, hun” Melanie announced brightly as she came out from the kitchen, a tray with a big grilled sandwich and a bowl of fries balanced with practised ease on one open palm. She went to the end of the counter but her customer was no-where to be seen.

“God damn it!” she muttered and laid the tray of food on the counter. “He was my only customer tonight”. She glared at the stool he had been sitting on, the cooling cup of coffee still on the counter in front of it. What was next to the coffee cup caught her eye and she moved over to examine it more closely.

A small gun, a plastic one but it looked like a real working pistol, was laid there. Underneath it was a crisp Fifty Panda note!

“Guess he had to leave in a hurry” she pondered and slipped the note out from under the gun, placing it into her bra. She got a pair of tongs from the kitchen and carefully lifted up the weapon, making sure she put no fingerprints on it. Then she went out the back door of her diner and flung the weapon into the bushland that edged close to the building.

Melanie used to run with a rough crowd in her old days on the Port August docks so she was no stranger to guns and bad people. She was certain her customer had been in some kind of trouble but it was no concern of hers now. With a small sigh she picked up the sandwich and bit into it, enjoying the crunchy bread and hot cheesy filling.

Her eyes wandered over the view screen, seeing a news report about a maintenance technician wanted by the Police Auxiliary. Something to do with the riots and explosions at the Archimedes Tower that afternoon. Melanie squinted at the security camera image, showing a bland faced man walking out of the Tower.

“I hope they catch that guy” she murmured to herself and stuffed some fries into her mouth.