Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Home ❯ 56 ( Chapter 56 )

56

 

Steps have been taken, a silent uproar

Has unleashed the dogs of war

 

As I made my way back to our hotel room, I had the persistent feeling of being watched. I increased my speed, and my caution.

 

Brad met me at the door. “Ah, good. You're right on time.” He paused, looking into my eyes, then nodded. “Exactly on time.”

 

The hotel room looked as neat as if no one had stayed there. The team was packed and ready to move out.

 

Brad took a slip of paper out of his shirt pocket and handed it to me: a list of city names, locations I knew to hold Esset facilities. I looked up at him, puzzled.

 

“Take your camera,” he stated, “and get yourself some binoculars. Go to these places; it doesn't have to be in this order. Take pictures. Take notes. Be noticed. I want them running scared.”

 

Excitement buzzed in my chest. “Tell me,” I whispered, wanting to know more of what he had in mind.

 

A dark smile touched his lips as he adjusted his eyeglasses. “They've been herding us, learning how to make us move where they wanted,” Brad said. “We've been playing their game, and that game was chess. Move, countermove, with a limited and known number of options. We're not playing their game anymore. I'm calling this round, and the game is backgammon.”

 

Excitement turned into confusion: Brad didn't usually resort to metaphors. “Um, I don't follow?”

 

“As I said, with chess it's move, countermove,” Brad explained. “A mathematician could predict the outcome. But with backgammon, there's a random element. Sometimes you get to move twice. Even more, if you're careful. And I intend to be very careful.”

 

“So, what exactly are we doing?” I asked, curious now.

 

Brad watched my face as he answered. “I'm splitting the team.”

 

I glanced at Nagi and Farfarello, and saw from their eyes that they already knew this. I swallowed and asked, “Why?”

 

“To take the second move.” Crawford glanced down at his watch. “And we have to hurry. I'm taking Nagi with me. You and Farfarello are to wait fifteen minutes after we leave, then set about that list. I don't care if you fly, take a boat, whatever you have to do. Just get there, and make them notice you. If you have to `lose' your notes somewhere along the way, so much the better. Make it look natural, and be sure it's something that will unnerve them. I want them to think we're everywhere at once, with connections within their ranks. I want them to think we're about to start something.” That sinister smile came again as he added, “We're throwing rocks at the hornet's nest. I want them too pissed off and too scared to be rational.”

 

“How certain are you that this will work, Brad?” I blurted, not at all comfortable with this plan. “What exactly do we get out of this?”

 

“We get chaos. And, with that, we gain time, and control of the game. It's either that, or wait till they figure out how to snare us, and I for one am not willing to go that easily. Besides, what we learn right now will serve us later. I've Seen as much.”

 

Before I could say anything else, Brad stepped closer and pulled me to him, his grip strong and sure. He stared into my eyes as if searching for something. I found myself thinking about the train, and the understanding I had gained on that journey. Brad slowly nodded as if he had read my thoughts. His eyes closed and he kissed me, hard and passionate and commanding, and not at all afraid.

 

My soul reeled, the differences between his kiss and Yohji's making me dizzy. My arms wrapped about his waist and held him close to me. Again, Brad's kiss was all about claiming, but this time there was a powerful tenderness beneath it all, drawing me into the certainty of his will without a struggle.

 

Brad breathed against my mouth, “You're ready, Schu.” He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes. His glasses were smudged; he didn't seem to notice. “Be careful.”

 

“When are we meeting up again?” I asked, not yet letting go of him.

 

“I don't know.” He put a finger to my lips to ward off my next question and said, “You know how to find me. And I'll know when. Trust me.”

 

I nodded, and allowed him to go clean his glasses.

 

Beside the door, Nagi said nothing.

 

Beside the window, Far said nothing.

 

“Chibi, you be safe,” I said, trying to engage the kid in a friendly goodbye. “Take care of him for me.”

 

Nagi's eyes darkened as though he was about to cry. He looked down and mumbled, “I will. You and Farf, watch out for each other, okay?”

 

“We will, kiddo.”

 

Brad picked up his travel bag. “Fifteen minutes. No more, no less. If you're running late, don't use the front door.”

 

I nodded, unable to speak. I watched as Brad opened the door and followed Nagi into the hall. Neither looked back.

 

As the door clicked shut, Far whispered, “Fourteen fifty-nine. Fourteen fifty-eight…” He was probably more accurate than the clock radio on the nightstand.

 

I resisted the urge to look out the window, see if I could find them on the street. This had been too fast, too sudden. Already I could feel the numbing concern rising in me. It was one thing for me to wander off alone from time to time, but having Nagi removed like this really bothered me. I knew that he was going to be safe enough, as safe as any of us could be under the circumstances, but still. He was our child, and now all I could do was wait to find them again.

 

I knew how, and Brad would know when.

 

Bloody hell.

 

“Fourteen twelve…”

 

I looked at Brad's list. On impulse, I turned it over to see if there was an impression on the paper that might tell me if he had a similar list. No such luck; if he did, he'd torn this page off before writing anything else.

 

Then I really looked at the list.

 

Berlin.

 

Copenhagen.

 

Hamburg.

 

Minsk.

 

Lyon.

 

Stockholm.

 

There were several more, but my eyes blurred. Eastern Corridor, and Nordsee. With a few random European locations thrown in for good measure.

 

The random element…

 

With quick, practiced moves I rearranged the things in my travel bag so the camera was easily accessible. I still had some undeveloped film, and briefly I wondered if Brad or the other two had any idea how to use a darkroom - we sure as hell couldn't drop it off at a SpeedyPhoto kiosk.

 

Brad had said it didn't matter the order we hit the cities in, but the first one held my attention. Berlin, the officer's academy. I had been there, once… The headache flared; I gritted my teeth against it. I was…twelve. I knew what kind of people came out of Berlin, and I didn't want to be like them. I ran away…

 

Later I'd run away from Rosenkreuz itself, and irony had led me back to Berlin. It was there that Brad had found me, and fetched me back. There had been no punishment that time, only a grudging respect for my inventiveness, and a promise to kill me should it ever happen again.

 

They might wonder what I was up to if I surfaced in Berlin. They might even get the wrong idea. I grinned to myself. If I understood Brad's plan, that would be the whole point.

 

We would start there, then: at the heart of Esset's training grounds, the jewel cradled between the Eastern Corridor, the Nordsee Triangle, and Mainland Europe.

 

“It's nearly time,” Farfarello stated simply, his voice flat.

 

“Let's go.”

 

We gathered our things, Far still counting down the seconds.

 

As his lips formed the words “zero thirty”, we shut the door behind us.