Chapter #16A Mysterious Reappearance by: imaj   Home.
You haven’t been to, or even though about Saratoga falls in the longest of times. Not since you passed through the town briefly on your way to Cuthbert three years ago, in fact. Your family – birth family would be a better term, since the Stellae is your family now – must still be there. In a way, you are still there. Joe left a golem to take your place with your family when you jetted out to meet Kali Valentine for the first time.
Thinking about returning leaves you feeling oddly homesick. Though you left that life behind a long time ago, you can’t help be curious. How are your Mom and Dad? What about your brother? He must be at college by now. You wonder if your old friends Caleb and Keith still live in the town or have they moved on.
“I’ll do it,” your reply.
“Good man,” says Hal. “Uh… woman…” Bobby frowns at Hal. “Let me show you more then: Fane is operating out of a company based in the Keyserling College Research Park – Proteus Industries. Or to give it its full title, ‘Proteus Industries, Part of The Fane Family’,” grins Hal as he air quotes round the company name.
“We were running out of the army base in the town for a while, but they moved everything off site after we brought back that pipe organ from the redneck town up in the mountains,” explains Bobby.
The hairs on the back of your neck rise again. “Odd coincidence,” you say. “We’ve been trying to find out what happened to the device from Cuthbert for thee years, and it turns up tied to the attack on Rosalie’s wedding.”
“I don’t know what the labcoats were up to,” shrugs Bobby. “I do know they were annoyed as hell at the state it was in once we got it back to base.”
“Joe broke it in Cuthbert,” explains Hal. You raise an eyebrow, surprised that he knows this. “I read the report! What am I the only one that reads reports around here?” You sigh patiently. “I’d guess – and I’ll say this is a guess because I’ve found absolutely nothing about the inside of the Fane labs in Saratoga Falls – that it took them years to repair it.”
“Don’t know,” says Bobby. “Like I said, they kept us away from all that freaky shit. They did come looking for volunteers a couple of times. We all knew better than that though.”
“Do you have any idea,” you ask.
“Some kind of super-soldier program,” replies Bobby. “That’s what the scuttlebutt was. Army’s always interested in that kind of thing.” You shudder. The monsters unleashed on Rosalie’s wedding were hardly super soldiers, just ravening beasts.
“Yeah,” interrupts Hal. “If I can get you back on track. There’s a lot we don’t know. Yet. But there’s also a lot that we do know, so let’s just focus on that just now.” He closes of the video on the laptop and brings up a slide showing a dozen or so people. “Full dossiers of key Protean personal,” he explains tapping at the screen.
You start looking at each of the faces on the screen, ignoring Hal as he waffles on. Hal has managed to catch each of them unawares, snapping a good picture of them at some point in their daily routine. Some are getting out of cars, others seem to be shopping. One picture seems to have been taken whilst the individual in question was brushing their teeth in the bathroom. You have no idea how he managed that.
“…and of course, this is where you’ll come in Siobhan,” drones Hal. “Plenty of faces to choose from.”
Normally you’d pick Hal up on saying this in front of an outsider, but one of the pictures has caught your attention – a blurry photograph of a man stepping out of a very expensive car. “This one here,” you ask. “Can you make it better?”
Hal looks hurt for a moment. “Please,” he mutters contemptuously and turns the laptop back round so he can work on it. He taps furiously at the computer for a few minutes, his attention totally fixed on the screen.
“Can only do so much with a picture,” explains Bobby. “Can sharpen it a little with the right tech, but you’re stuck with the resolution he took it at.”
Hal only grins at that comment. A few seconds later he turns the laptop back round. The picture still isn’t perfect, but it’s much clearer than it was before.
“Impossible,” you and Bobby say in unison.
“Not impossible,” smirks Hal. “I’m just very good.”
“Not the picture,” you reply irritably. “Well, yes the picture, but I mean who the picture is of.”
“Jon Straussler,” replies Hal. “The Protean Industries boss on site. Tied tight with Fane of course, but that’s the problem with these moneyed types: They think they can get away with anything.”
“Can the agitprop Hal,” you sigh wearily. “It’s impossible because Jonathan Straussler is dead.”
“Looks pretty alive to me,” counters Hal.
“Frank could confirm it,” you explain. “Straussler got hit by one of the nastier, and irreversible, spells from the Libra Personae over five years ago. A warlock called Aubrey Blackwell ended up disguised as Straussler, but he disappeared too. Ended up dead in Cuthbert.”
“So what are you saying,” asks Hal. “He’s an impostor? My investigations turned up that he went missing for a couple of years, that’s all.”
“We know Fane have access to shapeshifting magic,” you reply. “Just when did he reappear,” you ask, a thought occurring to you.
“A couple of years ago,” answers Hal after checking his computer for a moment. “Actually, roughly about when Fane bought into Protean Industries.”
“Blackwell could have taken the mask with him to Cuthbert,” you muse. “I guess Fane found it when they took over the town.”
Bobby shrugs. “If they did, it wasn’t me or my team,” he explains. “They wouldn’t have told us about it anyway.”
“It’s a place to start,” says Hal cheerily. “You could just swoop in there and find out everything from him, then smash the system from the inside, huh.”
You look at him levelly. “I’d prefer a bit more caution,” you reply. “Leave the dossiers with me and I’ll make a selection. It’s going to take a few days to arrange someone to look after the girls anyway.”
“Of course,” grins Hal. He pulls a flash drive out from an inside pocket and hands it over. You take it carefully and place it gently on the table, as if it were dangerous. Knowing Hal, there’s a very real possibility it is.
Bobby drains the last of his beer and stands up slowly. “It was good to see you again Siobhan,” he says in an oddly sad sort of way.
You get up from your chair as well and smile back at him, trying to reflect the same worn out demeanour that he has. A gentle touch of Eldibria flows over him, making him more agreeable. “It was,” you reply. You share the briefest chaste kiss on the lips and your hands linger in his for a moment. “What are you going to do now?”
“Go somewhere warm,” he explains with a rueful little smile. “I hear Italy is nice.”
“Maybe I’ll come visit some day,” you tell him.
“You do that,” he answers. “Bring your little girl with you.”
*****
You stare at the two pictures on your laptop screen. It’s been a few days since Hal showed up on your doorstep and you’ve used the time to whittle down the possibilities for your infiltration. You’ve narrowed the field down to handful of candidates, with these two the most promising of them. Still, you don’t need to make a decision yet. If you wait till you get to Saratoga Falls, you’ll get a better idea of the situation. You power down the laptop just as the doorbell rings.
“Someone at the door,” shouts Bea from upstairs.
“I heard it Bea,” you shout back up at her. “I’ll get it. Come downstairs and bring your sister with you.”
This time you are expecting visitors. That doesn’t stop you from approaching the door cautiously and spying who is outside first, but once you see your guest you swing open the door.
Hilda Gunnarson is on the other side, leaning heavily on a metal cane with four little pronged feet. You note the loose flowing skirt she wears to hide the heavy bandaging round the leg wound she suffered at Rosalie’s wedding. It only half works, because it is clear that she favours one side. It will be a while before she is ready for field work again, but Hilda can still look after Bea and Imogen while you are away.
A taxi drive sets Hilda’s suitcase down beside her. “Awlright luv,” he asks.
“Yes, thank you,” she tells him.
You pick up Hilda’s suitcase. “I’ve set up the spare bedroom for you,” you explain, gesturing up the hall,
“Thank you,” replies Hilda, hobbling in behind you.
You put the case down when you reach the bottom of the stairs. “Imogen,” you call out. “Bea, come down. Hilda’s here.” You lean round the banister to look at where Hilda is shuffling along the hall. “It’s the next door on the right.”
“Oh, sorry,” she mumbles, turning back round from the door she was about to enter.
Bea is the first to come down, bouncing down the stairs quickly. “Hiya Hilda,” she shouts.”
“Take Hilda’s case to the spare room,” you tell Bea, picking up your own suitcase and jacket. You give the little girl a hug as Imogen slouches down the stairs. “I’m going to have to go to the airport now, but you be good for Hilda while I’m gone.”
“Yes Siobhan,” nods Bea obediently.
“I’m looking forward to it,” says Hilda with a wan smile.  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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