Patreon or PayPal Me keeps this site and its author alive. Thank you. |
Stories from the Verse
Con Version
Chapter 211: Cooper 67
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Brown 359
Brian had just finished his dinner, which Vashti had prepared. She was putting things in the refrigerator for Derek to heat up later; she would be going to bed shortly, so she could be up early to relieve Derek’s midnight shift.
A voice came over the radio.
“Tee-tee to Bee-bee, over.”
They had agreed to code names, and Tommy’s and Brian’s initials were obvious. Vashti was Amira and Derek was Commander, but it made sense for Tommy to call him first, since Derek was certainly asleep and Vashti ought to be.
“Bee-bee here. What’s up, Tee-tee? Over”
“I’m not sure. Cutter just arrived. He’s in his limousine, and he has two rather large men with him, but one is the driver and both are helping him into his wheelchair. Over.”
Right. The age of vans with chairlifts had not yet arrived. Brian hesitated. Vashti had stopped working and was looking at him.
“All--” he began; “alright then, I think we’d better come out and see what’s happening. Over?”
“Good. I’ll try to observe, and await your arrival. Out.”
“I’ll go wake Derek,” Vashti said, and Brian nodded.
“I’ll see you there,” he replied, and she left the room.
It was about nine o’clock, and he wondered what the best option was. Ducking into the office because it was downstairs and if he wanted to use the phone it was in there, he quickly donned his Mister Justice regalia. Absently resting his hand on the hilt of the sword, he said aloud, “I need to get to Granville’s house.”
Suddenly the room spun and blurred, and as it came back into focus he was standing in the street in a barely familiar suburban neighborhood. Granville’s home was in front of him.
This, he thought, was apparently a power the sword had of which his predecessor had been unaware.
He looked around and spotted Tommy gesturing from some bushes across the street, so he walked over to her. “Where did you come from?” she asked.
“I was in the study at the manse,” he said. “I told the sword I needed to be here, and here I was. What do you know?”
“I’ve been trying to use that sensory presence thing Derek taught me,” she said, “but I’m not terribly good at it. All I’ve seen so far is that Granville invited Cutter inside--he didn’t look terribly happy about it, but asked what he wanted. The two men had to lift the wheelchair and carry it up the front steps to set it in the hall, and I lost the view for a moment then. I caught up with them in the living room. Cutter was, as we predicted, asking Granville about the most current files on the computer project. Granville said as far as he knew they should still be in the office.”
“That would be correct, that is, he wouldn’t know otherwise.”
“So Cutter says he had some people check for them and they weren’t there unless they’re in some special place unknown to him. Granville answers that they must have been destroyed in the fire. Unlikely, Cutter answers, because engineering wasn’t really badly damaged. So he asks whether anyone else might have hidden the files, or taken them for safekeeping, and Granville professes ignorance of that, but hopes that if so they might be returned when the building reopens. And that’s where we are.”
Suddenly Michael Gabriel landed next to them, and downsized to Derek Brown. “Vashti is on her way,” he said. “She’s coming by robot. What’s happening?”
“Thus far,” Brian answered, “it seems to be peaceful. Tommy says Cutter is in there with two large men; they could be goons, or they could just be two strong men able between them to lift Cutter’s wheelchair. He’s been questioning Granville, and he’s not a fool--he believes someone must have hidden the current computer files or removed them from the building, but neither he nor Granville know who.”
Derek looked at Tommy. “You’ve been following this clairsentiently?” She nodded. “O.K., let me see if I can pick them up.” He closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them.
“Cutter’s not convinced,” he said. “He says it’s difficult to imagine that Granville doesn’t know where the files are and isn’t more worried about it. Granville argues that he hadn’t really thought about them; he just assumed they would be there when everyone returned, unless the fire had destroyed them. I think they might be about to get rough.”
“How do you want to handle this?” Tommy asked no one in particular.
Brian answered. “If we show up as superheroes, Cutter is going to wonder why we are here--and particularly if we all show up.”
Derek nodded. “O.K., I think we’ve got this,” he said as the robot pulled up carrying Vashti. “Robot,” he said, “wait here and follow any orders given by Truth or Mister Justice until Commander Vashti and I return. Dear, we have to pay a visit on Mister Granville.”
She hopped down, and the two of them headed toward the front door of the house.
“We’ll reach you telepathically if we need you,” he called back.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
