Cheilin Saga ~ 34

Cheilin Saga ~ 34  Suspicions  of Sloans
 

By Len Morgan 

‘It’s over sprout, it may be time for you to move on.   The Tylywoch are wondering why you do not age.   While Sloan now suspects you are an enemy of Cheilin.’

Aldor heard the voice in his head but could not believe what he was hearing.

‘That is not a valid reason to abandon my work here,’ Aldor replied. ‘I have plans to age gradually; I’ll start to implement them now.’

‘The wheel has turned, they now concentrate their efforts on Freeport, this is no longer the battleground.  You are needed in the Meyam States!’

 

‘But only a short time past you were advocating that I should remain here for decades yet…’

 

‘Ah but that was then.   Now is different.   Now they are infiltrating the Mayam States and planning to attack through the mountains.   If they attack on two fronts the Empire is done for.   You cannot allow that to happen,’ said Orden.

 

‘I will think on it,’ said Aldor.

‘Think fast, there is little time to lose; I am needed elsewhere,’ said Orden, and was gone.

‘Aldor, you need to come to the Portal now, but be cautious, there are visitors at the front door.’

.-…-. 

“How long has he been here?” Aldor asked.

“About half an hour, he jumped me as I opened the Portal and fell unconscious as you see the moment we arrived,” said Brother Ignatius.

 

‘He is stirring,’ said Aldor, ‘are you certain he will not awaken?’

‘We have only ever had two intrusions by standards, both incidentally connected to you.   ‘We have underestimated the resilience of humans on both occasions’ said the Portal.

 

‘You are saying he could awaken’ asked Brother Ignatius.

‘He might just as well be awake, his dreams are an uncanny mirror of reality, it is most strange.   He is constructing reality out of his imaginings.   Already he suspects that he is dreaming; how could he possibly know…’ said the Portal.

Aldor made tentative contact with the periphery of Sloan’s mind and was immediately struck by the familiarity of the Dream Portal…

‘Do you wish for your senses to be awakened,’ the Portal repeated.

‘I do not know,’ said Sloan.

‘You must realise we cannot allow you to leave here with the knowledge you now possess.’

‘What do you intend to do then,’ Sloan asked.

‘You will be returned to the outside without your memories of this place.   If, in the future, you have a change of mind your palm will work the touchpad on the outside wall.’ 

‘Ah!   But if I cannot remember, how could I know to try it,’ Sloan asked. 

‘If you have a genuine change of demeanour you will know’ the voice in his head replied.

  “We need to get him out of here,” said Aldor.   “There is a guard on the main entrance; I had to enter through the ‘Sacred Grove’ beyond the west gate.   Take his arm” said Aldor and they walked, supporting him between them, along the blue line to the exit. 

.-…-. 

  Sloan awoke with a vicious hangover, at an inn on the west side.    His mind harboured remnants of a half-forgotten dreams, of freaks, mind reading devices, and an overlying sense of disquiet, as though something important was hidden just below the surface of his consciousness.

 He recalled a few drinks, as a last farewell to his lost friend, then waking up in his present unfamiliar surroundings.   He suspected he had been drugged; his purse was empty.   He sent word, to the nearest guard post, requesting means of identification and sufficient funds to settle his lodging. 

  Even as he waited, Aldor was making his final visit to their mutual friend Dan.   Just about the time, he was settling the recconing; Aldor and Dan were discussing Lomax as his successor and their new contact.   The sergeant on the East gate smiled knowingly, and nodded sympathetically to Sloan, thinking his own thoughts; just as Aldor left the city, through the West Gate, heading for the 'Sacred Grove' along the Central Highway.  

The beggars Sloan questioned, at the East Gate, were wealthier than he remembered but, they had seen and heard nothing.  A puzzle indeed but, he was a patient man, eventually he would get to the bottom of it; he always did.  

(Not the End) 

                                                                                                            Copyright Len Morgan                                                                                

 THE KOSTENIUK’S DOUBLE BLUFF – Part 2 & Last

By Bob French

After forty minutes of wandering in different directions, White Beard moved to one of the benches and removed her straw hat indicating that she thought that she was safe. In the meantime, Marco had hired a two-seater dune buggy and was meandering across the dunes.  He checked his watch then slowly made his way over to the blind side of a small dune where White Beard was waiting. It was the perfect cover; they were mobile, could talk freely and would be ignored by everyone as they roamed the dunes. 

Marco approached the subject with care, allowing White Beard to open up and explain what has caused her to possibly compromise herself and all the good work she had done over the past few years.  

The next morning Marco explained to Bazyli that White Beard was frustrated about being past-over for promotion as the next head of the cypher and crypto team. 

“I told her that whilst we had no influence in her workplace, we were prepared to increase her money.” 

“Did she buy it?” 

“Yes, and wanted $600 a month, transferred to her numerous Swiss bank accounts.” 

Bazyli thought for a minute, weighing up the value of the intelligence she had been secretly passing to them over the years, and nodded.” 

The following Tuesday, Bazyli had arranged to meet Freddy Baxter for their usual monthly update meeting, in the lounge of the Castelli Hotel on Ouzounian street in the centre of Nicosia. He had just finished his second coke when Freddy quietly sat down opposite him. Bazyli was about to greet him when a woman eased herself in next to Freddy and sat down. 

“Greeting my dear Bazyli, may I introduce Hillary Milcovitch. She has replaced Bill Worthing who has been recalled.” 

Bazyli quickly gave the young brunet the once up and down and thought that she was too attractive to be a CIA agent, then nodded his approval. 

After some polite chit-chat, Hillary tilted her head back and looked at Bazyli from the bottom of her rimless glasses. 

“Not sure what Freddy here has told you about me, but I sure as hell don’t feel that your team is pulling its weight out here, so if you are thinking that just because I’m the new guy on the block you can change my opinion about sharing intel with you, then you are very much mistaken.  Do we understand each other?” 

Bazyli felt as though he was being lectured at by his old headmaster, but smiled.  He understood the American mentality and quickly shrugged it off.  Then, ignoring her completely, turned to Freddy. 

“I was going to inform you that we have picked up some traffic from Dubai that there is to be an incident here on the Island to coincide with the arrival of a United States warship in October.” 

Before Freddy could respond, Hillary Milcovitch blurted out “And where the hell did you get that from?" 

Bazyli stared at her, then looked at Freddy.  “Sorry Freddy, if we are to hold these meetings in a quiet and calm environment, then I suggest we do it without the young and inexperienced CIA apprentice here.”  He then turned and smiled at the white face of Milcovitch, who was seething with anger at being put down. 

“I will keep you briefed once I glean more intel on the operation.”  With that, he stood, nodded to them both, then left.  Smiling to himself that he had scored an important point on the way to getting access to the intel he so badly needed. 

Aware of the shortage of time, Toni had hired a camera crew from one of the many small companies on the Island, explaining that he wanted to put together a short film about the culture and history of the Island.  He called a meeting a few days later where he had sat down with the camera crew and Nancy and gone over the programme.  He expected her to dress up in various costumes of Cypriot and Turkish village people, tourists from many European countries and the young set. The backdrop was to be the historical buildings, temples, market places, including touristy places of interest.   Bazyli made sure that money was not a problem for Toni and his part of the operation. 

A week later, Marco reported that White Beard had been summons to the Head of Personnel to talk about the incident in Kyrenia. White Beard explained that she told the Personnel Officers that she was depressed; wanted to do something different with her spare time rather than sit in the station bar and drink. The Personnel Officer said that he would get back to her, but in the meantime, she was to take a few days off. 

It was the morning of the first of October when Benni strolled into Bazyli’s office.   “Got a minute Boss?”

          “Sure, what’s on your mind?”

          “I don’t know, I get the feeling that I’m being ignored.  I know there is something big coming down, but I am out of the loop.  Anything I can do to get involved?”

          Bazyli thought for a moment, then nodded his head. “Yes.  Now, this is important and highly classified. Toni is making a tourist film for a British company.  He’s using a well-known actress as his leading lady.  Your job is to chaperone her. Toni and the camera crew will be unaware of your part in the operation, so you must hide in the shadows, but be on hand to protect her at all times.  The most important thing is that no one must know you exist.  Do you understand?  Your performance will decide the outcome of the operation.”

          With a huge smile on his face, Benni left the building.  His first task was to get some form of disguise ready for his covert operation, then track down where Toni and his crew were operating.

          For the next five days, Benni did exactly as he was briefed and Toni or Nancy went about their work without knowing that Benni was close by.

          White Beard had made contact with Marco and informed him that as part of her rehab programme organised by the Personnel Officer, she had been assigned to the British and American Ship Visiting Programme where Expats meet and greet Allied ships and their sailors visiting the Island.

It was Monday the seventh of October when Toni sat down with Nany and the crew and explained that tomorrow, they were going to recce the last day's shoot to the famous Thursday Market in Famagusta. As it was a dry run for the final day’s shoot, Nancy was to be made up and dressed as an Arab woman, complete with hijab and headscarf and was to catch the bus into town.  To avoid the possibility of compromise, the crew were to conduct a recce at mid-day and later, Lucy would make her way into the centre of the market, to arrive at the centre by five o’clock. 

The camera crew’s task was to choose the best spots to cover her as she wandered through the market.  That evening the camera crew would point out to her on the map of the market area where she had to wander. 

          It was near four in the afternoon of Tuesday the eighth, when Bazyli met with Freddy in a Hookah Bar in downtown Nicosia.  He was secretly pleased that Miss CIA was not present.       

          “Sorry it is at short notice, but I can now give you hard intel about the young woman who is planning on blowing up the centre of the Thursday Market in Famagusta.  It will be at five o’clock in the evening on the tenth of this month.”

Freddy Baxter quickly worked out that the American ship would dock at three and by five, the docks and the marketplace would be packed. 

Bazyli then slid across a photograph of Nancy dressed in her Arab costume.  “I should point out that she’ll have a minder close by.”

          Freddy took the picture and studied it for a minute, then nodded. “I shall have our boys pick her up before she gets to the centre of the market, and thank you.”

          White Beard had caught the mini-bus down to Famagusta docks early on Thursday morning, along with several of the British and American staff of the Troodos Signal Station.  They were all eager and excited at a couple of days off entertaining the sailors and to do a little shopping.  As White Beard stepped off the bus, her Personnel Officer called her over.

          “Can you help on the drinks stall at four for a couple of hours?”

          “Of course, anything to help and thank you for allowing me to come, I really do appreciate it.”

          On the outskirts of Famagusta, Toni and his team were going over the last details of the day’s shoot.

          “Now listen.  The marketplace is going to be heaving today.  We have an American frigate just docked so we can expect a lot of partying which I hope will not interfere with the shoot.  Lucy, I want you to catch the bus, just as you did on your dry-run on Tuesday, and wander into the market.  You’ve heard where the crew want you to be and remember, they will be invisible so just do your own thing and remember you need to pace yourself so that you reach the centre of the market at five.”  He paused… “Any questions?”       

          Benni had followed Lucy when she had undertaken her dry-run a few days earlier to Famagusta market and noticed that she paid particular attention in arriving at the centre of the market at five, a few hours after the American ship had docked, so he decided to wait at the market place for her rather than tail her from outside town.  After an hour of waiting in the hot afternoon sun, he decided he needed a drink, but the pub across the courtyard was packed with sailors.  He then caught sight of a make-shift bar set up by some welcoming committee for this ship’s visit and moved towards it.

“Hello, do you fancy a drink?” 

 

“Yeh, thanks.  It’s certainly hot today.  I’ll have a beer if you got one.” 

As he eased himself onto the barstool, he studied the British woman with the short blond hair as she handed him an ice-cold beer.  Benni seemed to have lost track of time because when he glanced at his watch again it was ten to five.       

          Lucy had taken her time wandering through the hundreds of stalls at the market, glancing every now and then at her watch. She was a little early as she approached the centre of the market when of a sudden, she felt a tug on her gown. A small local boy with huge brown eyes stared up at her.  He called to her.

          “Do not waste your time looking at these clothes, come across to my father’s stall, he will give you a very good discount, come, come”

          As she allowed herself to be guided across the courtyard, there was a huge explosion.  She felt the heat of the blast as it threw her and the little boy to the ground.  People began screaming and suddenly there was chaos all around her.  She dragged herself to her hands and knees, shaking her head to try and clear it and wondering where the little boy was.   When she got to her feet she staggered, then stumbled away from the smoke and the screaming.  As she straightened up, she saw Toni rush towards her.  She couldn’t understand what he was yelling at her as everything seem to be muffled.  Then he grabbed her shoulders and ushered her roughly away from the chaos. Within five minutes they were climbing into the mini-bus and heading for the outskirts of town. 

          At a hurried meeting an hour later, Toni paid off the film crew and handed Lucy an airline ticket for Athens, along with a letter of introduction to the Libris Academy of Dance and Performing Arts which Bazyli had organised as part of the extraction plan.  By eight that night he had taken Lucy to the airport, put her on the plane for Athens, then spent the rest of the evening ensuring that everything regarding the operation was deleted or destroyed. 

          It was near nine in the evening when Bazyli received a phone call from Freddy suggesting that they meet at the old Crusader fort on the Paphos seafront in an hour’s time. 

          Freddy was sitting at one of the benches facing the sea, with a tall glass of iced lemon.

          “So glad you could make it. I wanted to thank you for the tip off about the young woman bomber who…..”

          Bazyli interrupted him.  “Sorry but I don’t understand.  I spoke to the port and the local Police.  They both claim that the bomber got clean away, so who was responsible for the explosion in the market?  They say that two people were killed.”

          “Ah. Yes.  Sorry about that.  You see I had to make a judgement call. I could do as you asked and attempt to arrest your bomber and run the risk that her minder would detonate her bomb remotely, killing possibly hundreds of people, or use the situation to solve one of my own problems. You see my security bods had discovered that we had a leak at the Troodos Signal Station.  Apparently, a woman had been supplying valuable intelligence to an unknown power for nearly two years.  Once I had identified the leak, I had to remove her so to speak.  That’s when I came up with the idea of detonating my own bomb just before five o’clock so that the local police and the CIA would think it was your bomber.”        

          Bazyli sat and stared at Freddy in semi shock.

“As it worked out, my judgement call was correct.  My bomb scared off your bomber, thus saving many lives and at the same time removing a spy within my classified area. 

“Who was the other person killed?”

          “Some local chap.  I think his name was Skassoss, Benni Skassoss, a bit of a bar fly by all accounts.  It would seem that he arrived at the market around four and propped up the bar organised by the welcoming committee. A case of wrong place – wrong time. I want to thank you Bazyli for your intelligence work on this.  I can assure you that both Her Majesty’s Government and the CIA are in your debt.  If you’d like to pop over to the Embassy for tea on Monday around four, I feel sure there are a couple of files that you may find interesting.

The End

 Copyright Bob French

 

 THE KOSTENIUK DOUBLE BLUFF – Part 1 of 2

By Bob French

The small windowless room was hot and stuffy. A tall elegant woman sat cradling an ice-cold bottle of water.  She said nothing for a few minutes as she stared at the short muscular man with Grecian features, who stood against the air-conditioning unit that hung on the wall, its best days long past.

“So let me get this right Bazyli, the British were not interested in hearing your side of the story regarding your last two performances, and as such were not prepared to share the intel from them or the CIA?”

Bazyli Demetriou, Head of Station for the KYP; the Greek Central Intelligence Service for Cyprus, shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head, but said nothing.

The woman quickly glanced down at her notes.

“The explosion aboard the Italian millionaire’s yacht…. caused by the incompetence of Benni, who accidentally set fire to the galley and the death of the Egyptian tourist, who you were certain was part of a Hamas hit team sent onto the island.”

Still, Bazyli said nothing. She was right.  If only Benni had followed orders. He thought.

The woman slowly stood and moved around the desk to stand directly in front of Bazyli. As he looked into her eyes, he caught the smell of her flowery perfume.

“Who is your contact with the British?”

“Freddy Baxter, Chargè d’affaires at the British Embassy. He’s been out here for years and knows everyone.”

“Then I suggest you start to impress him with how brilliant you and your team are so that he and the American’s think that the KYP out here is capable of not only being a useful ally in the fight against terrorism but is worthy of being a partner to the sharing of intel that goes on. Do I make myself clear?”

“You ask a lot, especially if I have to baby-sit that arrogant little shit, Benni Skassoss.  Is there any way you can replace him?”

The woman smiled at him and he noticed that it never reached her eyes.

“No.  You know that it was part of the deal made with the Director.  His son gets to play at James Bond; we get our funding.  So, fix it Bazyli or you will end up as a stationery clerk in Kazakhstan.”  With that, she left.

That evening as Bazyli sat on the roof garden of his apartment contemplating the day, Uri, his Comms Officers called to see if he was going for a run.

“No thanks, but I could do with having a chat tonight if that’s possible?”

Within minutes Uri, a very fit young woman who wouldn’t look out of place in an Olympic athletics team quietly closed the door to the roof garden and headed for the fridge, took a beer, then came and sat down opposite her boss.

“So Bazyli, how did your chat with Adda Galanos, our illustrious deputy director of EYP go?”

“It would appear that our leaders at National Intelligence Service Headquarters think we are incompetent.”

“Don’t tell me. It’s because of Benni’s screw-ups.”

He nodded and took another swig of his beer.  “I have a plan that will impress not only the Brits but the Americans as well, but only a few of us will need to be in on it.”

“As long as it does not include Benni, I’m listening.”

“What if we tipped off the Brits that there was going to be a suicide bomber in the heart of Dhekelia?”

Uri stared at her boss.  “Did Marco give you this?  Did he get it from White Beard?” There was concern in her voice.

“No.  I just started to think about the plan tonight. There is no way Marco would ever expose his agent White Beard, He’s been running her out of the RAF Signals Station at Troodos for a couple of years now.  No, we groom a young person, pretend that we are from Hamas and then plan the event, but at the last moment, we tip off the Brits about the bomber’s time and place.  They will be on hand to intercept and arrest the bomber and give us the credit for saving many lives.

Uri finished off his sentence. “And we are given access to the intel from the Brits and the CIA, clever Boss, very clever.”

The following morning, Benni was sent off to the docks in Famagusta to meet a shipment of supplies.  After he had left, Bazyli summoned those who were going to be part of his plan.  A man in his twenties called Toni who had infiltrated the young and rich scene on the island, Uri who would run covert comms throughout the operation, and Marco, who was an expert at running agents and be on hand with advice and support.

After the briefing, the room emptied leaving Marco and Bazyli alone.

“What do you think, will it work?”

Marco glanced back at the open door, then spoke quietly. “It would be good if you could move the site to Famagusta instead Dhekelia to coincide with the arrival of an American frigate.  That way you kill two birds with one stone as the saying goes.”

“When is it due?”

“According to White Beard, the tenth of October.”

“Umm, that doesn’t give us much time, but I take your point.  It is best to involve both parties rather than just the Brits.  OK let’s do it.”

“There is a problem though. White Beard is getting restless and is talking about retiring and going back to England. And to compound this bit of a bombshell, she has started to drink.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was staying up at Kyrenia last weekend when I heard a rumpus in the bar opposite my hotel.  When I looked down into the street, I saw the owner of the pub forcibly ejecting her from the place.  Before I could get down there, the owner had sent her on her way, and yes, White Beard was drunk.”

“Has she done this before?”

“Not to my knowledge, but I don’t watch or get close to her as you know. We only meet up when we have something of importance.”

“When are you meeting her next?

“I have put a request in her dead letterbox for a meet next Sunday.  I will get to the bottom of what’s bugging her and report back.”

It was Friday night and the seafront down at Paphos was crowded with the young set.  The beer and wine was flowing and the loud music was dragging everyone out onto the streets to dance.  Toni had recalled Bazyli’s briefing.  He was given a free hand to set up things for his part of the operation. 

As he sat outside the Blue Dolphin Bar supping his beer, he went over his plan again and worked out how to get the person needed for Bazyli’s plan, but persuading them was going to be another matter. After about an hour he approached a group of youngsters from the University of Nicosia who he knew well.  Using his Southern American drawl, he joined them by sitting down between two of the bikini-clad beauties on the beach.

“Yo, How youal’ doing?”

His arrival brought a cheer of ‘Hay Toni.’ In response. After his usual quick-fire round of jokes, he notices that the conversation was a little subdued.

“Nothin’ happenin’ then huh?  Come on guys, it’s Friday night, there must be a party goin’ on somewhere?”

Nancy, a young local girl studying Performing Arts at the University stood up.  Toni looked up at her with admiration; her rich black hair and eyes to die for always made his heart miss a beat.

“Yeh, Over at The Boat Yard.  Andreas is launching his latest boat.  Come on, guys, let’s move it.”

Within twenty minutes they had gate-crashed the party which was heading for an all-nighter.

It was around two in the morning when Toni and Nancy found themselves on the bow of the new yacht.

“You still doin’ your acting course Hun?”

“Yes, but the chances of me getting on screen here on the Island are virtually zero.”

Toni leant against her, smelling the cocoa perfume in her hair. “What if I told you that my boss wants me to make a short tourist film for a Brit company. Think you cun do it?” 

Nancy slowly stared up into his eyes. “What’s it going to cost me?” 

Toni lent down and kissed her gently. “Nothin at all Hun.  If yo’are good as you say yo’are, you got yerself a job and maybe a ticket off the Island.” 

“When do I get started?” 

“All in good time Hun, all in good time.” 

Sunday was an overcast day and Marco had stood at the bus stop waiting for the bus. Hopefully, White Beard would be on it and they could start their clandestine meeting. 

It arrived ten minutes late. ‘not bad for a Sunday’ he thought as he climbed onto the busy bus and came and sat behind a woman with short blond hair, in her forties wearing dark glasses. He did not speak to her as the bus trundled through the countryside. 

The bus stopped opposite the seaside attractions at Paphos Beach, and they both stood to get off the bus.  White Beard stepped into the aisle in front of Marco and touched her left ear.  This was the warning that she thought that she was being followed. Macro knew that they would now have to meet at the second meeting point forty minutes later.  All of a sudden their innocent meeting was starting to look dangerous.

 

Copyright Bob French

 Payback Time  

By Len Morgan

  Buquan spent his evening in the one place in Erriton guaranteed to attract him like a magnet; the Bragaddo gaming house.  He had lost steadily all evening then in the final pot, he drew three ladies an unbeatable hand or so he thought.  The pot went past his bankroll.  He put in a marker to cover the shortfall.  Then his opponent revealed three kings.  He looked at his markers, ten thousand credits, he was taken to the cleaners and would be working a long time for nothing…  The house covered his markers so he was taken to the owner’s office to arrange a payment plan.  He would not have had a problem in the Alliance States, He had always honoured his markers, but here in Erriton they were not so trusting. Heddi looked into his pale unremitting eyes.  She had won the Bragaddo gaming house from one such as he, hard and fearless, ”You owe me, and I intend to have what is mine,” she said.

“I have nothing,” he said pulling out the linings of his pockets to show they were empty. 

“Who are you and where are you from, I don see you around much,” Heddi said.

“My name is Buquan, I am from the Allied States…”

“You are D’lore man, you allow vermin who kill our countrymen go free!” she spat in contempt. 

He glowered but remained silent.

“You are no good risk!  I want settlement now!” she yelled with a sneer.

“I am good for the sum, in the morning I will contact a lender and establish a line of credit, and get you your money…”

“Not good enough,. You are a transient, I want reparation now!  Tonight!  I believe you not live past morning.  Nobody lends to a dead man.” 

“Many have tried and found death themselves, I am still here,” he said in a husky whisper that sents shivers down spines. ”I have no wish to add to the sorrow that abounds in your land.  Please prevail upon hotheads to stay their hands and live on.  I am a man of peace, I uphold the law.  If you do not respect me, you should respect the office I hold.”

“You have three option!  Pay me what you owe – NOW!  Go to prison until the sum is paid, or gamble once more…” She gazed into his eyes.”

“With What?” He answered.

Her face hardened, “with your life!”

He would have resigned himself to Jail for one night, knowing his office would have extended him credit in the morning.  But, that fatal character flaw in his makeup overrode the little sense that remained in his bone head.  He smiled, “I’ll gamble.”

“You don ever know the game,” She said with evident surprise.

“You guarantee a straight game?”

“Of course,” intrigue played across her features, “most pay, some go to prison, nobody is fool enough to choose the bottles…” 

“Nobody?”

“Almost nobody.”

“Tell me about the bottles.”

.-…-. 

A steward entered the gloomy smoke filled room and placed a tray on the table before them.  The room went quiet, tension mounted, as the gamblers gathered closer to witness the spectacle. 

“Here we have five identical bottles,” the steward began.  “Their contents are colourless, odourless, and tasteless.  Two contain poison, two are harmless, and one contains the antidote for just one of the poisons, taken alone it is harmless.  The second poison has no antidote and will kill you.  You are free to choose whenever you wish; if you choose a poison you will feel a prickling sensation in your throat within 30 seconds.  If you then select the antidote the symptoms will abate within 30 seconds.  If not they will continue to increase.  You will have two minutes to drink the antidote if it is not already in your system.”

“Not so sure now are we?” Heddi smirked. “dew wanna change you mind?”

He picked up the bottles and examined them, they were all identical. 

He licked his lips nervously, then slowly and deliberately stretched out his hand.  A low buzz went around the building.  His fingers clasped the bottle farthest from him.  He broke the seal, lifted the bottle to his lips, and drank the contents in one smooth movement. 

Slowly his expression changed a small trickle of sweat drizzled down his forehead. “Shit!” He exclaimed, and reached for a second bottle, broke its seal, and drank the contents. 

Thirty seconds elapsed as he reviewed the three remaining bottles.  He made a selection and downed the draft.

Collectively, the assembly held its breath, waiting the 30 seconds.

Time ceased to have meaning…  Two bottles remained.  Unhurriedly he reached out and selected a fourth, then hesitated as his hand moved to the fifth bottle, it hovered a moment then returned to the fourth.  He broke the seal and drank.  The atmosphere solidified, time was measured by the dripping of a beer tap.  The assembly remained silently spellbound.

Outside two feline antagonists broke into audible combat.  Nervous laughter was sharply quelled by a collective voice “SHH…”

Just one bottle remained unopened.  His big hammer-like fist dashed it to the floor…

“Yes!” came the collective triumphant voice.  A broad grin covered his face, and his arms were raised in victory.

When the applause subsided, Heddi pulled his hair until he faced her, “Preddy damned impressive.  You don really care do you!”

“You’ve done it too haven’t you?” he said.

“Dat's how I won displace,” she smiled.

.-…-. 

“Too much talk; follow…” it wasn’t a request, neither did he want to say no, not tonight.  She took his beefy hand and led him, unnoticed, away from the reverie, through a hidden side door, up a creaking flight of stairs to a deceptively roomy second-floor apartment above the gaming rooms.  They passed through a glass-paneled door which she locked behind them.  It was a large circular room walled with mirrors.  A raised circular bed covered with furs and silk sheets was positioned centrally.  “It was built by my predecessor.”

“Did you…”  He was silenced by her shaking head and a finger held to her lips, for silence.  She slowly disrobed him then herself; leading him into a smaller, tiled adjoining room.  She closed the door and jerked a lever and a torrent of cold water rained down upon them.  Slowly it warmed as she began to lather him all over, rubbing more slowly around his erogenous regions, then she handed the soap to him to return the compliment.  The temperature rose from warm to hot.  Their bodies closed in for intimate contact, they caressed and stroked, kissing and kneading intimately, admiringly.  She was a nubile sultry woman, black eyes and long dark tresses, full inviting, pouting lips.  He held her firm lean body and she responded by digging her talons into his musculature.  His body was older with more than a few scars.  Scars she traced slowly with a pointed fingernail, teasing, and pinching his nipples alternately with strong white teeth.

His hands encircled her waist, and he hoisted her to his shoulder heading for the bed leaving damp patches on her expensive floor covering.

.-…-. 

Buqan left Erriton and Heddi sleeping soundly, an hour before sunup.  A dangerous lady, he thought smiling, Better leaving early than explaining why I can’t stay longer. 

Heddi’s eyes opened to the empty space where he’d slept in her embrace. She smiled; his debt had been paid with interest.

 

Copyright Len Morgan

 

 

 A DISH SERVED COLD                                                            

by Richard Banks 

I want one thing clearly understood from the off – I am a cat. This is not one of those stories that beguiles the reader into thinking that the protagonist is a human being only to reveal in the final paragraph that he or she is nothing of the kind of literary device known, I believe, as a twist in the tail. No way! My tail is not for twisting, especially as it no longer exists. Like the rest of me, it is as dead as dead can be which, of course, accounts for my ability to articulate my thoughts beyond the restraints of my feline creation. Yes, the afterlife is a wonderful place, an equal place, where animals of every kind, can communicate their thoughts as well, if not better, than their human masters. We have long been silent and therefore have much to say.

         From now on the ‘you’ I will be addressing is a single you by the name of Jason who is the central character in the story I am about to tell. You, Jase, are asleep. You think you are dreaming, that my thoughts are really your thoughts, an amusing little entertainment you have devised to occupy the nighttime hours. Think again, this dream is a developing nightmare that will continue into your waking world, it is in the way of a haunting.

         So, having filled your dreams with discordant thoughts, how shall I continue? Subtly, I think, a gradual escalation starting with the trivial quirks of peripheral vision, those half seen, half sensed movements that may or may not have happened. Tired eyes you think, a trick of the light, but when it occurs for the sixth or seventh time a cold shudder tells you that something odd and inexplicable is happening and is showing no sign of stopping. Nonetheless, in search of rational explanation, you go to the optician who is unable to provide one. Your sight is unchanged from your last check-up, there is nothing he can do. Perhaps, he says, a few early nights might help, less time in front of the computer. You follow his advice but to no avail, the only change is that now you expect to see what you previously were at pains to deny. One day that little blur of motion will come sharply into focus, then what will you see, nothing pleasant you are thinking.

         You, Jase, have a secret that the world has yet to learn. You have been clever as well as evil, you have laid false trails and left no clues but now all that cleverness is about to unravel. Strange things are happening and you are no longer pulling the strings. The visual distortions increase to the point that they are ever present. You try to avoid them by staring straight ahead but sideway glances are a part of the human condition, a lifetime habit impossible to break. And then you see it. For the first time, the blur takes shape and you glimpse not what you are expecting to see but the face of the almost forgotten Tibbs. Yes, you are looking at me. Your face registers horror, confusion but you manage to stay silent. Your brain is whirring, attempting to make sense of what you have seen. Is this really the same cat who saw what you did and tested your patience once too often. You search for logical explanations but there are none. You go back to looking straight ahead. While you do so the world is normal, but you are not, and never will be again.

         For now, you are able to escape me by being out. You hurry off to the town centre buy a few groceries and take a coffee at Costa’s. There you feel better, reassured. It is just imagination you tell yourself, get a grip when you return home everything will back to how it used to be, how it should be. Nevertheless, you delay your return for another hour.

         I hear the rattle of a key in the door and observe you coming in through the front door. You are whistling, affecting a nonchalance unconvincing even to yourself. Even so I will allow you a short respite, a few more hours of hope. You hang up your coat and proceed briskly into the kitchen where you prepare your evening meal. Having consumed two large mugs of coffee and a doughnut you have little need for food but the cooking of it will take your mind of the things you don’t want to think about, the things you try and banish from your mind like they never happened. Then the telephone rings and the pupils in your eyes involuntarily flicker across to the hall where your landline is located. Your vision is clear, taking in only the reassuring things that should be there. You answer the phone and talk animatedly to a friend who asks about Annette. No further news, you say, since she used her debit card in Calais. From there she could be anywhere, a new life, a new identity, who knows what she’s up to. Having promised to meet the caller when next in London you replace the receiver and return to the kitchen. You are more confident now, things are looking up, what happened before was just nerves but now you’re back on track. To test the waters you deliberately look both left and right as far as you can go. Everything’s normal and normal has never seemed so good. This, of course, is a false dawn, my purpose now is to build you up, that way you have further to fall. The landing when it comes will be a painful one, no torture could be worse. The landing I postpone until the following evening.

                                           *****

         Twenty-four hours have passed without a single sighting of what you don’t want to see. You, Jase, are in a good mood, almost euphoric. You feel like celebrating. Your microwave dinner is almost eaten and you are washing it down with a large glass of wine. There’s football on TV and your team is winning. They score again but as you leap up off the couch you realise you are not alone. The realisation is shattering, the blur is back and what’s more, it’s beginning to clear. You fall back onto the couch, wine and glass falling from your hand. The red stain on the carpet is the least of your concerns.

         It’s time to tighten the screw, I add sound to the mix. Above the roar of the football crowd, I meow. You think I am behind the couch on which you are sitting, my much used hiding place from you. It enters your head that you must catch me but can you catch what should not exist?  Nevertheless, you pull the couch away from the wall. You see a movement, a translucent swirl that moves away, tantalisingly out of reach. I meow again to signal that I am now on the wall unit where your wedding photographs used to be. This is more than a generous hint as to where I am but your senses are scrambled, overwhelmed by confusion and fear. I prepare to meow again but there is no need, another voice is heard. It calls out a single word, your name, in a voice that fills you with dread and me with joy.

         Annette’s back. No gradual escalation for her. Having made herself heard she now sits down on her chair and materialises. I drop down onto the floor and scamper towards her. As I jump up onto her lap I also become visible. We look lovingly at each other and then unlovingly at ourselves. Once we were in fear of you but now there is no need. This is payback time. You sink to your knees. Logical thought is beyond you now; you stare in terror at us and then at yourself, at the hands that made us what we are. For a while you are incapable of movement then you crawl across the floor to the drinks cabinet and begin to down a bottle of Scotch. You drink straight from the bottle and having finished one you begin another. You pass out. You have achieved a reprieve through oblivion but, no matter, in the morning you will have come to.

         Until then Annette and I will share our thoughts in a way impossible before. She says she always knew I was a clever, knowing cat but even she didn’t know how right she was.  As her decease predates mine by almost three weeks I bring her up to date with Strictly and Corie, plus what she didn’t know, but I did, about the plumber and Mrs Brown two doors along. It’s the best girls-in ever and we talk away the night until a light through the curtains informs us that it’s morning and time for breakfast. We may no longer be flesh and blood but that doesn’t mean we’re off our food; it’s just that now we smell it rather than eat. So, off we go to the Bentley’s who are cooking pancakes to be followed by croissants and freshly ground coffee. Perfect, heaven can wait!

                                              *****

         We return home for the serious business of the day. There we find you, all woke up and attempting to walk in a straight line. It’s like Bambi on ice and when we materialise again the shock’s too much and you come crashing down onto the coffee table. Annette giggles, but somehow you manage to rise to your feet and stagger towards us. You have murder on your mind, but even in the grip of the worse mind-numbing hangover, you have ever had you know that not even serial killers murder their victims twice. To increase your confusion we turn off the visuals and you stare stupidly at the empty space where we were. It’s all a dream you mutter but when did that dream begin? - you have no idea. Maybe Annette is still alive, maybe you didn’t bury her at the top of the garden. There’s only one way to find out and having fetched a shovel from the shed you begin digging until Annette’s mouldering body comes into view. You groan like you are in pain and Mr Phillips from next door peeps over the fence to see what’s going on. Only when you are back in the house does it occur to you that disinterring Annette in broad daylight was not a good idea. By then the police are on their way and when you do not respond to the ringing of the doorbell they break down the door and come in anyway.

                                            *****

         Needless to say, everything has turned out rather well. You, Jase, are in the asylum, and Annette and myself free to flitter from house to house sampling the varied cuisines on offer and watching the TV screens tuned in to our favourite shows. For all of this and much more, we thank you. Yes, of course, you were a heartless, murdering bastard. For what you did you deserve to rot in hell for the rest of all time, but the inescapable truth is that now you have freed us from your odious self we have never been happier. But don’t count on our forgiveness, that’s never going to happen and when your wretched, detestable life comes to an end your one certainty will be that Annette and myself will be ready and waiting to make the asylum feel like heaven on Earth. The worse is yet to come, we can hardly wait.                                                                                                                                     

Copyright Richard Banks