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Here you'll find
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Mount Robillard
20. An EncounterRori tried to find a more comfortable position, pushed the back of the seat ¨lower, stretched his legs, slid an arm under his head. God, he was tired. How long was it now since he'd had more than an hour or two of uninterrupted sleep? He wasn't sure. His eyes simply would not stay open, but when he closed them he could feel his eyeballs grating against dry lids.Irritably he bundled a small comforter into a ball and pushed it under his cheek, wanting nothing more than just drift into sleep. He could not decide if the quiet hissing of air against the vehicle's streamlined surface disturbed him or not. Maybe it did both. It reminded him of the fact that they were going somewhere, but it also provided a steady background noise to accompany the hum of the engine. Soothing. Relaxing. André looked at Rori, frowning. "I don't understand this. He's not been primed, not at all, but he's on Jehan with his guardian. We never travel anywhere with them. I mean, not before priming. Obviously we must travel with them to our targets afterwards, but by then we've always been primed, I think. What's going on?" Rori sighed and cracked one eye open. Across the aisle, André seemed to be sleeping. His exhausted face was slack, head lolling against the cushioned side supports of his backrest, one hand tucked under his cheek. When his head turned a little, Rori could see the pink imprint of a cuff on fair skin. Like a little boy. He looked so incredibly young. Rori's ears buzzed, he knew he was falling asleep and tried hard not to try so hard to give in to it. He wanted so badly to sleep that whenever he was on the verge of dozing off, he woke up again for the sheer anticipation of sleep. Crazy, oh yes. This was all crazy. He sank into a slumber. André had a long discussion with his fellow clone. His face reflected it all: joy, consternation, worry, persuasion, caution. The other one listened, and he believed André. He was shocked but knew that what André said was the truth. He was also upset, furious, hurt. He trusted his guardian. The man would never do anything to hurt him. No, he was going to have a good talk with the man. They would work it out. Rori woke up with a start as the vehicle made a swift turn. He looked around in alarm, then relaxed again. No reason to worry, they'd just turned at a junction and were now on another road, the one leading from the highway to the ring road from which they could later branch off to the spaceport. Still a good way to go. No problem. His breathing deepened. André's eyes opened and he gasped, turned into stone in Rori's arms. "What? What! Oh god..." "What? What's happened?" "He he's dead." "Who? 027?" Rori took in the blank expression, the trembling lips, numb face. "No... he's killed his guardian." And then all hell broke loose. Rori stretched his legs a bit more and felt joints popping. God, he was exhausted. Drained. Done for. Every big and small muscle in his body ached. He shifted a little and heard André mumble in his sleep, barely audible. He couldn't find the energy to try and figure out the words. The engine was humming steadily. Like a big river somewhere far away. Like the ocean. Like wind around Mount Robillard. Like the forest in a heavy rain. Don't panic. Search his belongings. Passport, ID, everything ready for the mission. Money, good. Get rid of the body. Pack some things. Act normal, cool, composed, like you belong right here, right now. Don't panic. Go to the spaceport. Buy a ticket to Jainah. Act calm. Don't panic. Board the ship. Try to rest, try to relax, try not to think of anything. Keep to yourself. Stay calm. Do not panic. Corinn was driving on, broad back straight. Big brown hands steady on the steering handle. He oozed confidence and reliability. He was a good driver, keeping good speed but not exaggerating it. The vehicle was like a powerful but pliant animal in his hands. Peaceful. Nobody talked. Arria, scratching together a plan at a moment's notice, furiously searching and checking and double-checking information, barking orders. André, ready to drop, listening to instructions and relaying them to 027, whipping his fatigued brain to work flawlessly for yet another moment, keeping the link between them up and running. When 027 had to concentrate on other things, such as interacting with somebody else in his real-life environment, he'd slump into a shuddering heap, leaning heavily against Rori. "I can't..." he whimpered. "I'm so tired, Rori..." "I'm here," Rori said quietly and gently pushed his fingers through the thick blond hair to rub throbbing temples. As if his being there would be of any good. As if he could do anything to help. André snuggled closer, too drained to even lift his arms around the man, and yet finding strength in the closeness. Arria's lean profile against the darkened glass was motionless but alert. He was deep in thought, staring into the distance, unblinking. His smooth blond hair reflected the soft, slanted light of the sun and gave him a dim halo, as Rori peered at him through his lashes. He felt oddly secure with Arria sitting there, on the other side of the aisle, the back of his seat only slightly inclined for comfort. "Rori and André obviously have to be there, even though André mustn't go anywhere where anyone can see him. And I think Corinn's an equally obvious choice for the driver. But they'll still need someone as backup, just in case. The driver will stay in the van all the time, ready to go." Arria crossed his arms on his chest and bit his lip. Corinn nodded in ready agreement. "I'd offer to go, but I can't show my hulk anywhere near security cameras." Vanya sounded genuinely contrite. "I bet they have all my data on their systems." "I'd be a similar liability," Osip said mournfully. "Besides, I'm far too noticeable. Even if there wasn't a warrant for me, you don't want to draw attention. And Fonzo's out for the same reason. Nobody could fail to notice him." "The flyboys... quite a few of them have at some point been trained by the Union," Corinn mused. "I think it's our safest bet to count them out as well. They just might be listed as deserters and potential rebels." They looked at each other across the low table. Lancer, hovering with Scott just behind Corinn's shoulder, was about to speak up when Arria raised his hand. "I'll go." "What!" Osip thundered but was silenced by a stern glance from his lover. "Shut up, Osip. I used to work at spaceports, and I've even spent a little while on this one, though I doubt there'd be anyone who would recognize me. I dare say I'm more familiar with their security systems than anyone else around." Osip stared at Arria for a while, brows drawn together. Then he sighed. "I hate it that you're always right," he growled. "But you are. Now, we don't have too much time to polish our plans." Despite the interesting topic of discussion, Rori had nearly dozed off when he felt the familiar buzz of his comm. André had woken up, once again far too soon. He pushed himself on his feet and trudged towards the brightly colored room, ignoring the whistling and spinning inside his head. Rori started awake when the sound of the engine changed again. He blinked his eyes open, looked around, disbelieving. He really must've slept a good while, because he could already see the sleek outline of Trelissac Spaceport. It was sharp and clear against the half-clouded sky, and it was very near. The car weaved its way between other vehicles, Corinn expertly scanning the parking area for a place as close to the front doors as possible. He refused to even consider the lower levels, the elevators and gangways leading to and from them. They wanted a short route, quick access, good visibility. Corinn grunted in satisfaction as he noticed a shapely sports car pull out of a slot not thirty meters from the main entrance, and within seconds their much more bulky vehicle squeezed into the vacated space. He stopped the engine and turned around. "We're here," he said. "How much time?" "Not much," Arria replied checking his watch. "We're spot on time. Good driving, Corinn." "My pleasure, sir!" Corinn grinned and touched an imaginary cap with two fingers. "Now what's the exact plan?" "Are we here already?" André sounded adorably sleepy, his hair was tousled and eyes a little swollen. "Have I slept all this time? Is everything all right?" "Take it easy!" Rori reached out to touch his arm in reaction to the rapidly rising panic in his voice. "You needed it, and don't you think he's exhausted, too? I don't think he has slept any more than you have." André rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was so so cute, there was just no other word to describe him right then, Rori thought. "Besides, I'm sure you'd have woken up if he'd called you," he pointed out. André nodded. "I'd so much like to come there with you," he said. "That's out of the question," Arria said firmly. "You are bound to attract attention, and you're officially a missing person. You stay here as agreed." "Of course," André muttered moodily but curled up in his seat. Rori couldn't resist the temptation to touch his shoulder in passing, and was surprised when he quickly rubbed his head and neck against the brushing hand like a cat. Arria caught the doctor's eyes and nodded to him. "Let's go." André craned his neck to watch as the two men walked across the space between their van and the main entrance of the spaceport with unhurried steps. Arria said something, Rori nodded and went to the door. The blond man stayed outside, sauntered to an open corner and leaned his elbows on a railing. He looked calm and relaxed, a man waiting for someone who wasn't due for a while still. His loose coat hid the small but powerful gun hidden on him. He didn't go anywhere near the security systems at the doors; those wouldn't fail to detect that he was armed. Now he was just an ordinary-looking blond man in an inky blue knee-length coat that flapped lazily against his legs, a man standing outside the spaceport, with some time to kill. Corinn smirked to himself at the thought, his mantra for the day playing over and over again inside his head: Just go there, pick him up, return, nothing can go wrong. André looked intent, then his eyes fell out of focus and closed slowly. He tensed in his seat. "He's here. They've landed." "Remember: easy does it." Corinn spoke softly. "He must look like he belongs there. Rori's there to meet him." "Are you sure this will work?" "Of course I'm not!" Arria looked frustrated. "But it's the only chance we've got the only one he's got." "All right." Rori looked dubious but determined. "I'll play my part. I just hope André stays enough in his senses to keep up the link. He's ready to drop." Rori walked to the waiting lounge, eyes on the wall that listed the arrivals and departures. One of the lines was blinking, signaling that the liner from Jehan had landed, its passengers disembarking at the very moment. He headed towards the arrivals gate, heart beating so madly that for a moment he wondered how the security systems didn't pick up the heavy thump-thump-thump that nearly deafened him. Then he stopped, knowing he couldn't go any further, staying in a place where he could see, and be seen from, the entrance door. He stole a surreptitious glance at a glass wall that mirrored his image, and was surprised at the calm demeanor of his reflection. The first passengers filed out of the door, some looking searchingly around before cracking into a smile at the sight of familiar faces, other walking straight ahead, uninterested in their surroundings. For them this was just another spaceport in a row, a place to get away from. Rori's eyes caught a glint of golden at the door and he straightened himself. A young man, so heartbreakingly like André and yet different, slightly more muscular, hair clipped short to show the nape of his neck and the shell of his ears, some fashionably ragged bangs hanging nearly to the bridge of his nose. He took a few steps, hesitated, head turning, and then his eyes met Rori's. For a while he seemed to catch his breath and Rori knew he was checking from André if the man he saw was the one he was supposed to see. Then he flashed a smile that could blind the double suns, and walked towards Rori who tried to stop his legs from shaking for excitement and relief and went to meet him halfway. "Adrien Wennedeck?" "Yes, and you must be Rori." "I am. Welcome! I'm so glad to see you at last, everybody will be enthusiastic back home!" They embraced, and Rori could feel the taut body trembling slightly. "Relax, everything's going to be all right now. Our van is just outside the door." His whisper, not more than a breath against the clone's ear, elicited a slight nod, and they walked side by side towards the outer lobby. "My luggage will come there, we'll have to wait a moment. There's not much, I'm traveling light." Rori couldn't help admiring the way the young man kept his voice steady, although every little line in his face told the same story: he was at least as exhausted as André, possibly even more. "Haven't slept much on the way?" "Not really... I guess I was too excited by my first interplanetary journey." His sky-blue eyes were slightly bloodshot. He could sleep in the van. Probably would, just like André. Outside the door, Arria watched the pair through the tall glass wall. So close, so damn close, and still they had to wait for a while. After what felt like an eternity he saw the luggage emerging, Adrien going to claim his, the two walking towards the front door. He nearly smiled. Then he froze. He wasn't the only one watching Rori and Adrien. Another man inside the lobby was practically burning holes into the duo's backs, eyes never turning from them as he slowly, inconspicuously skirted around the crowd inside to follow them. A tall man in a Union officer's uniform, someone easy enough to notice under normal circumstances, but this was a busy spaceport full of people going up and down and around. Arria moved slowly towards the door, carefully outside the range of security scanners, keeping behind a protruding structure on the wall. The doors slid open, Rori and Adrien walked past him, not registering him in any way. Come out, Arria prayed, come out, you can't see where they're going if you don't. His prayer was answered, the dark stalker stepped out of the door and stood so close to him by that same bulge on the wall, eyes narrowed, looking at the retreating backs of the mentalist and the T-clone, hand grasping something from his breast pocket. A comm. Arria closed his eyes. "Dahomey!" The tall man spun around at the delighted cry, and then he was already embraced by a joyously babbling blond who practically bashed into him and threw his arms around the muscular torso, quite accidentally jolting the comm out of the officer's fingers. It fell to the ground and over the edge, disappeared into the pit designed to give some natural light even into the lower levels of the parking house underneath, but the surprise hugger didn't seem to notice. His face was shining with eagerness. "If it isn't my gorgeous Dahomey himself, oh man, it's years since I've seen you and just look at yourself! I mean, how long ago was it again? And you only look better and better, jeez, its absolutely unfair! I mean, here I am, just hanging around the spaceport and waiting for some half-baked half-acquaintance to show up, a guy I've no interest in meeting in the first place, you know, and wow just look who I run into! This calls for celebration, I tell you..." "Sorry, sir, but there must be a mistake!" The officer cursed to himself and looked around, desperately trying to see where his elusive prey had gone. Arria allowed himself a brief glance over his shoulder and could have hooted for joy. He thought he'd seen their heads whipping around at the name, and it looked like the officer hadn't managed to spy where they'd disappeared. He slapped the man on the shoulder and went wholeheartedly on with the operetta. "No mistake, I assure you, gorgeous... You can't mean you'd just push me away like this, not now that we meet again! I tell you what, the guy can get around by himself, I don't give a fuck about him anyway, but you, now that's a totally different matter!" He dragged the tall man towards their van, fervently hoping that Corinn had observed the surroundings as diligently as he was supposed to, keeping himself practically draped around the somewhat familiar-feeling body. Only Osip had firmer abdominals... "You're coming with me now, surely you Union officers can't be that busy, I told you this is something to celebrate! And maybe later we could go back to my place, for old times sake, what do you say?" "Now look!" At last the man snapped, but they were already just about next to the van and its closed door. Even better, the van was now between them and the main entrance of the spaceport. His eyes blazed. "I told you you're mistaken! You're obviously mistaking me for my brother Osip, right?" "Wrong." Arria smirked, and it was the officer's turn to freeze at the sight of the gun. "I know exactly who you are. One step backwards, if you please, Captain." "You won't get away with this," the younger Dahomey snarled but did as he was told, eyes never turning from the gun pointed at his midsection. A door sighed open behind him, and he had just enough time to half-turn to face whatever would emerge from there, before his whole body jerked and then collapsed into a heap with a muffled groan. Corinn grunted as he received the entire weight on his arms but didn't waste time in pulling the unconscious man inside. Arria dove in and the door closed once more with a hiss. "What happened?" Rori asked, looking wide-eyed at the officer whom Corinn was arranging into a seat. "Stunner pad," Corinn said drily, raising his hand to show the small but wicked gadget on his palm. "I saw what was going on, and this was the only thing available right now. Quick thinking, Commander." "We sure were lucky," Arria slumped into his seat and took a couple of deep breaths, tugging his gun back into its holster with unsteady hands. "Unlucky because he happened to be there, and lucky because it happened to be him of all people. Gave me the advantage of knowing his name, so I was able to surprise him." "Is he dead?" Arria turned to look at the two clones who were huddled together on the back seat, André's arms and, it seemed, even the heavy tendrils of his hair protectively wrapped around his short-haired twin. Two pairs of frightened blue eyes bored into Arria's, who suddenly felt a little dizzy. As if he were seeing things double. The sight was disconcerting; not even Baris and Merez had faces quite that identical. He shook his head. "No, he's just out cold. Don't you worry." "What the hell are we going to do now?" Rori looked suspiciously at the inert form. At the moment the restraints with which Corinn was deftly attaching him to the seat looked ridiculously exaggerated, but the medic knew for sure that none of them wanted to be in the same vehicle with an unbound Union officer who might come round at any moment. Corinn secured the last lock and straightened his back, eyeing his handiwork in obvious satisfaction. "Now we get the hell out of here," he growled and heaved his body back on the driver's seat that groaned in response. "What'll we do with him?" "Take him along, obviously," Arria said grimly. "We can't kick him out, alive or dead. He must disappear without a trace, and the only way to make sure of that is that we won't let him out of our sight." Corinn nodded in silence and the vehicle hummed into life. They crawled out of the parking lot, caught up with the rest of the traffic after the junction, and accelerated once more on the highway. Rori sat quietly gnawing on his lower lip, looking ready to collapse, glancing every now and then at the T-clones. Both had fallen asleep, Adrien's head resting on André's shoulder, his mouth a little open. André's arms had fallen to the other one's waist and thigh, long lashes casting a shadow on pale cheek. Arria smiled a little and went to sit beside Corinn in the front. The man glanced at him and then turned his face again forward. "Let's hope we won't be intercepted on the way," he said "Did you check him properly?" "Don't you worry, I scanned him all right. He's clean. No tracers or thingies on him." Corinn chuckled under his breath. "But you're gonna be the one to call the Base once we get close enough, Commander! I wonder what Osip's going to say to this?" Arria rolled his eyes and sank deeper into the seat. "I can't wait to hear, Corinn. I truly can't."
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