Waves bounced across La Luna Turchese. In Suite 7, Vandeveer watched Anna on the bed. Still bound, she had moved herself into a better position and fallen asleep. Bored, he got up and went to talk to Sreka, who was guarding the corridor outside.

The door clicked and Anna opened one eye.

There was a small room. The walls had been lined with black fabric and the sole source of illumination above the table was a single bright bulb that dropped, suspended from the ceiling by a cord. The smoke hung in rings around the bulb of the lamp, trapped by the shade around the light; it dispersed and hung in the air like a coiling miasma.

There was some serious drinking going on, too. A shot glass was emptied down a gullet and slammed back on the table next to a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels. Peering through the shroud of raw tobacco smoke at the cards, a wide-brimmed hat surveyed the hand and the amount of chips to be won this deal.

The dealer finished passing out another round of cards to be added to the hands already held. 'Remember, gentleman... and lady... twos are wild.'

The hat nodded and took another draft of the cigar it held clenched in its mouth. In the gloom the red fiery ashen end glowed fiercely. There was a murmur of assent from the rest of the group. These were a group of hard-drinking, hard-smoking poker players with their cards close to their chest and no one was about to break concentration.

There were a significant number of chips in play; mentally Mary estimated them to be worth about $3000. She looked again at her hand. She had three jacks already and a black 5. Gingerly, she added the fifth card to her hand. A red 2. Perfect! No movement in either her composure or manner betrayed her delight. 'I raise and bid another $500,' she said, throwing a handful of brightly-coloured chips into the middle of the table.

A gruff Texan who bore an uncomfortable resemblance to the lead singer of Motorhead growled a murmur and, replete with a black Stetson, harrumphed and threw in a handle full of chips. 'Seen and raised a thou'!'

The obese Austrian folded. 'I cannot compete betveen ze two of you.' He threw his hand down in burning indignation.

It was a showdown between Mary and the Texan.

Show us what yer got there, missy.'

'Anytime, my dear,' Mary said, coolly spreading out the cards on the deck. The Texan did the same.

'The lady appears to have won,' said the dealer, clasping his hands together and looking at the Texan commiseratively.

'But I got a full house!' he complained, spreading the cards out further as if to demonstrate the three aces and two kings really did exist.

'Yes, but the lady has three jacks, and as I said, twos are wild.'

'And I nominate another jack,' interrupted the lady unhelpfully.

'... making four of a kind,' the dealer finished. 'Four of a kind beats your full house; the lady takes the hand and the game.' He pushed the pile of chips into Mary's already considerable mound of wealth.

'To hell with this!' shouted the Texan, thumping the table. Standing up abruptly he parted the back curtain, located the door and stepped out into an impossibly bright white oblong. As his pupils re-adjusted, the blazing vision cooled down to reveal a bustling ship deck outside and, by contrast to the dense, smoky atmosphere of the games room, the warm, light salty air of a cruise making good time across the Mediterranean. The fat Austrian, bedecked in many layers of light linen, placed his sun hat on his head and, wiping his brow with a spotted handkerchief, offered a box to the victors and left also.

Mary said, 'I think that went rather well, don't you?'

'It was a bugger getting you that two,' said Von Trapp, removing the dealer's visor and unclipping his shirtsleeves.

'Bless you for trying, Freidrich dear,' said Mary, kissing his Pilchard icon around her neck. 'I'll go cash in these chips. The money will prove useful when we get to Egypt. You go keep an eye on Andrei and Vandeveer with that girl.'

'Andrei?' said Vandeveer, closing the door behind him.

'Ze girl?' Sreka asked.

'She's asleep. If you want to take a break, I can handle this.'

'Maybe I could go get a drink,' said Andrei, stretching his huge ape-like arms and popping several joints in the process. Sreka set off down the corridor.

Vandeveer felt better already. Sreka may owe him his newfound liberty, but Vandeveer felt he was as much under guard as the girl. As a highly successful and professional criminal in his native Switzerland, being subject to whims of the nun and Von Trapp and their blessed 'cult' put Vandeveer on edge. 'He'd show them all,' he seethed.

As he returned to the suite, he saw immediately that her bonds lay loose on the bed and she was nowhere to be seen. Panic swept over him. He'd dismissed Andrei.

Vandeveer peered under the bed. Nothing.

He checked behind the door. Also nothing.

He ran into the bathroom and checked behind the shower curtain and caught a large glass decanter of shampoo in the face for his efforts.

As he lay on the floor clutching his nose and writing in pain, Anna stepped off the edges of the bath, making sure she trod on him for good measure. She hurried out of the bathroom and flung open the door to the corridor. She darted out and ran into von Trapp.

'You!' he cried out. 'Sreka! Vandeveer!'

Anna ran away from him around the corner and looked for the stairs to make good her escape.

Arthur and X pounded down the cobbled street of Gibraltar. The guards weren't far behind and there was an abrupt change of mood. Lights were coming on in buildings ahead of them; doors were opening' as night fell there was an atmosphere developing. Hostile and unfriendly.

'This is like Paris all over again!' huffed X, keeping pace.

'You're right, we need to get out of here — now.' Arthur hung a right at the red Royal Mail pillar-box and hammered down a severe flight of steps towards the quayside.

'Halt!' Arthur skidded to a stop. One of the Gibralterian police was blocking the way. X snuck into some shadows out of sight. 'The Infidels can advance no further,' said the copper in a odd singsong voice. 'The glory of Rasputin is close at hand. He grabbed Arthur and dragged him close to the edge, ready to haul him over. X ran up and elbowed the policeman in the side, bending him double. The policeman took an ugly swing at the agent, who caught the punch and rolled him over in a judo throw. The policemen hit the cobbles hard and let out an unconscious sigh.

X took Arthur's hand and helped him to his feet.

'Thanks,' said Arthur adjusting his tie.

'Don't mention it,' smiled X. They could see the marina just below them and the police launch parked by the jetty.

'Lead on,' said Arthur, unscrewing a strip of silver foil and tossing a strip of gum into his mouth, which he began chewing fiercely.

Fort-William sped toward Morocco. He needed to warn the Grand Master that Agents were in on his plans. They could threaten the Cult's progress. His boat bounced across the waves.

X ran down to steps that led out onto the marina.

Arthur ran off to do something secret.

X ran down the jetty and hopped into the pilot's seat of the jet launch, while Arthur reappeared and began unwinding the mooring rope. He tossed it onto the rear of the craft.

'Keys!' shouted X. Arthur tossed them to him and X caught them with expert precision, snapping them into the ignition. He revved the engine as Arthur clambered aboard.

'There they are!' bellowed one of Smyth's underlings from the walled garden above the harbour.

'Time to go,' said Arthur, strapping himself in. X floored it. The boat's bow reared up in the water as the powerful motor drove the stern down and produced a spray of water as they powered out of the marina, through the harbour and out into open water.

'Won't they follow us?' shouted X through the wind and the spray.

Arthur reached into his jacket pocket and removed the packet of chewing gum sticks, with one stick higher than the rest. He depressed it. There was a rather large explosion in the receding distance as several canisters of fuel erupted into flame.

'Exploding chewing gum,' explained Arthur.

'Call me nervous, but I tend not to like inserting high explosive in my mouth, no matter what the lab boys say,' said X dismissively. The boat hit a wave crest and splashed through it. 'So where are we headed?' said X.

'Casablanca. West coast of North Africa — we can negotiate our way to Egypt from there.'

'Okay,' said X, glancing about in the gloom of the night as the light from Gibraltar and the coast of Spain faded and they entered the pitch darkness of a midnight sea. 'Do we go left or right?'

'You were the one studying the map earlier,' said Arthur tersely.

'Isn't there a compass in this thing?' X moaned.

'It's a continent. You can't miss it!' insisted Arthur.

The h2g2 Storytime III Archive

06.09.07 Front Page

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