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Stories from the Verse
A Dozen Verses
Chapter 92: Kondor 286
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Slade 281
Checking his pockets, Kondor found the cell phone Gear had issued him. He hadn’t owned a cell phone back home--some of his army friends had them, but it seemed an unnecessary luxury to him. Still, how hard could it be? He flipped it open, feeling like this was something out of science fiction, and looked at the keypad. He remembered being shown how to open the phone number directory; he had not thought it important at the time, but now realized that was short-sighted--he was a secret agent, and high-tech gadgets went with the territory, even if it was a high-tech gadget that was gaining in popularity with the public at large.
He pushed a button and got a screen that said recent calls dialed, and was otherwise blanked. Another button gave him recent calls received, also blank. Finally he got a directory containing a few telephone numbers. The first was labeled “AAA”, which back home would have been the automobile emergency service number but here was simply chosen so it would always be at the top of the list. He dialed it. Someone answered with a simple hello.
“Joseph Kondor here. I have a person of interest in custody and need transport to take him to safety; there have been attempts on his life within the past hour.”
In response to questions, he gave his location as on the side of the Queen’s Tower away from the Queen’s Lawn in Kensington. He was promised rapid response, and hung up.
Merlin said, “I thought your name was Smith.”
“I have several names,” he replied.
“What, are you, like, MI-6 or something?”
“Something.”
“O.K., what? I mean, don’t I have a right to know who is taking me into custody?”
Kondor looked directly in his face and said, “As far as I know, the agency for which I work doesn’t have a name. It doesn’t need one; it’s that secret.”
He thought perhaps Merlin blanched. Ah, well, always tell as much of the truth as your audience can handle.
“So, what do you want with me?”
“Don’t know at this point.”
“So, why are you detaining me?”
“Mostly because someone is trying to kill you, and their action seems to be related to our current case, so you apparently matter in some way. I’m not sure why or how, but I expect our people will figure it out.”
A limousine arrived. The window lowered and the driver said, “Kondor?” In the steady traffic, a red double-decker bus passed.
“Right first guess,” he replied, and funneled Merlin into the back, following him.
“Safe house?” the driver asked. “Unless you’ve somewhere else in mind.”
“No, that will work.” He sat back in the comfortable seat to enjoy the ride.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with eleven other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #531: Versers Roam. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
