The Code War (5 page)

For the few moments while he
ransacked her mind, looking for any hidden subterfuge, Bezejel felt
complete fear. The doors she had thought locked, he opened. He
walked every corridor of her head, emptying the smallest cupboards
of put-away ideas and throwing them behind him in disarray. He
scanned every shelf of her dreams before ridiculing them with his
sneers. All of her thoughts were hauled out, held up, inspected.
Her high rank was not sufficient to spare her for an instant if she
was found to harbour any ill will to the Leader.

Eventually, he pulled his eyes back and
released her. The experience had lasted moments but its intensity
was shattering. Bezejel breathed out and sank to her knees
exhausted, her mind violated and bruised. While she recovered, the
Leader strode the Oven in his fire-stud boots, turning every
echoing step into a threat.

'You know that you have been chosen for
a very special project, Bezejel.' Bezejel winced. Even ordinary
words were like arrows when uttered by him.

'Yes, my Leader.'

'And you have accepted the project.'

'Yes, my Leader.' She had had no
choice.

My commanders and I have selected you
because of your affinity with the subject. She is a young woman and
she is of great interest to us.'

'Yes, my Leader.'

'Left to herself she would do
little harm. In fact she has some dangerous, though mild,
charitable instincts. But she is ordinary. Uninteresting. Innocuous
to the point of banal from the outside. Most observers would
dismiss her as inconsequential. A dismal slider on the greasy pole
of worldly success.'

Yes, my Leader.'

'But I have not seen her only from the
outside, have I?'

'No, my Leader.'

'No my Leader,' he echoed. 'My
intelligence agents, such as Colonel Hideki, have alerted me to her
unusual make-up.'

'Hideki? The demon officer with the
ceremonial sword?'

'Yes. Hideki's sword fetish may be
foolish. But his mind is strong. That is why I tolerate him.' The
Leader's eyes bore into Bezejel and she knew it was to warn her off
questioning his judgement.

'Thank you for your insight,' she
said quickly, bowing her head a little. 'I will remember that
Colonel Hideki is known to be competent.' She had to change the
subject. 'You were instructing me about the woman Nancy, my
Leader?'

'Yes. The woman Nancy.' The Leader
summoned with his thought a black and chrome Earth globe from a
nearby alcove. It flew through the air into his hand and rested
there, revolving on its axis as an Earth globe should. He caressed
it as though it were a baby. His baby. Then he continued. 'I have
looked at Nancy for myself and confirmed the truth of Hideki's
suspicions. She is…interesting.'

'Yes my Leader. How may I help my
Leader?'

'Stand up Bezejel. I can't talk to
you down there.'

Bezejel pushed herself upright,
her legs still shaking. The eyes looked inside her mind again,
raking over her recent sexual encounters and their violent
aftermath, forcing her to watch them again with him.

'I see you still like the slap as
much as the tickle,' he concluded as her memory gave up an image of
a handsome satyr lying naked and unconscious on her bed-chamber
floor. 'Never been one for mercy, myself. I'm glad you seem to
agree.'

'Yes, my Leader.'

He released her again and her shoulders
sagged.

'How may you help, you ask. Well,
since you ask so politely here's how you may help, Bezejel. I want
you to command a team. Your mission will be to monitor and
encourage this young woman on her journey. She has latent powers
for evil that she knows nothing about. She is on a path to discover
these powers and put them to great use.' The Leader was passing
behind Bezejel now and he stopped still for a moment, sending her
fear levels soaring again.

'She could be one of the greats,'
he went on, looking again at the globe spinning in his hand. 'She
could lead Earth's nations into corruption and infighting to last a
thousand years. The bounty of souls she can bring to Inferno is
incalculable. But she needs careful management and she needs to be
protected from the other side. They know we are interested in her
and they will try to stop us, understand?'

'Yes, my Leader.'

'I am giving you Captain Kodrob
and his squad. Kodrob is smart and his team are competent. You may
need to involve others as you go, such as Hideki, but I will leave
that to you. You are the team Commander.'

'Yes, my Leader.'

'Now go and research the woman and your
mission in detail.'

'Yes, my Leader.'

'Do not fail, Bezejel, or you will find
out the hard way that Hell hath no fury like mine.' The eyes
stabbed her again. A pain like the burn of a lightning bolt ran
from the base of her spine up into her head and stunned her with a
bright red flash in her eyes.

Bezejel bowed again and ran for the door
on jelly legs.

Ealing Travel,
London

‘
Nance, I’ve got a
chap called Martin on the phone for ya,' announced Mel loudly,
looking around the office at the other agents. Then she pressed her
hand down on the receiver as she whispered, ‘Is that the three
blokes who came in yesterday? The cute ones?’

'Oh, were they cute? I didn't really
notice,' replied Nancy innocently.

'Yeeeah,' said Mel with a
mischievous grin. She started to hand over the phone and then
suddenly pulled it back. ‘So, which one did you like
best?’

‘
They were just boys,
not men. Not my type at all.’ answered Nancy with a shrug of her
shoulders. She pointed to the phone.

‘
Just
handing you over,’ called Mel gaily into the
receiver as she passed over the phone and handset across the
aisle.

Nancy took the
receiver.

‘
Hello, Nancy here,
how can I help?’

‘
Nancy it’s Martin
from yesterday. I came in with Pete and Andy. About the Israel
trip?’

‘
Yes Martin, I
recognise your voice.' Brawny. 'Do you want to go ahead and confirm
the Israel booking?’

‘
Nancy, I can’t. I’m
afraid we’re going to have to call the whole trip off. Andy's
cousin Dan was going to come with us to make up the numbers. He's
not an archaeologist, you see. But he's renewed his contract with
his employer and won't be available. Without him the three of us
can’t afford to go ahead with the trip. And we can’t find anyone
else to fill the gap at such short notice. I’m really sorry to have
wasted your time.’

Nancy looked down at the booking
form where she had listed flights, hotels, taxis, buses and all
arrival and departure times. She cradled the phone in her neck and
began to slowly screw up the form.

‘
Don’t worry Martin,
it can’t be helped. Best laid plans of mice and men,
eh?’

‘
Yeah, too right,’
said Martin who sounded genuinely depressed.

Nancy put down the phone and turned to
Mel who had been listening.

‘
Well, we won’t be
seeing them again Mel. But I’ll give you their phone numbers if you
want to get in touch,’ she laughed. 'You can put some toast on the
grill and start counting down to New Year.' They both
giggled.

Nancy turned back to the papers on
her desk. ‘Just not fair,’ she said to herself in an undertone.
'Not fair.'

Her own phone rang. She looked at
it as it rang
a second time. It rang a
third time. 'Answer it, Nance,' called Mel, looking at her
quizzically.

As it rang for the fourth time,
Nancy picked up the receiver. 'Ealing Holidays. How can I help
you?'

'Hello Nancy.'
Tinge of an Irish brogue. Female.

'Oh.' Nancy looked round the
office, seeing who was watching. 'Aunt Mary.' She turned towards
the wall and bent her neck down low. 'I'm a bit busy right now,
Auntie. Can you call me back in my lunch hour…'

'It won't take long, Nancy,' came the
husky, phlegm-laden voice.

'Auntie, have you been smoking again?
You know the doctor said…'

'I need to talk to you Nancy. It's
important.' There was a pause.

'Okay,'
said Nancy in a whisper. 'Go on. I've got a few
minutes.'

'I had a phone call yesterday.
From someone in the family. Your family, that is, Nancy. Your side
of the family.'

'Oh, you mean…'

'Yes. That side. But someone I'd
barely heard of before. I don't even know how he got my number. But
there. It's strange how people pop out of cupboards when you least
expect them.'

'So…who was it?'

'His name is Shai. I suppose he'd
be your Great U
ncle. Yes, that's right.
Your mother's uncle. After they died, that is. After your mum and
dad died, I rather lost contact with everyone.'

'Except me
, Aunt Mary. I was there. With you.'

'Yes, of course you were. Well,
you had to be. There was no-one else to look after you.' There was
another pause and Nancy heard her aunt try to smother a long
phlegmy cough.

'Anyway, darling. How are you by the
way? Are you all right?'

'Yes, Aunt Mary. I'm fine. Look
can we catch up later, I'm rather…'

'Sorry, Nancy. Let me get back to
the point. We can do pleasantries another time. You're right.
Anyway, I had this call. And it seemed quite urgent. It was your
Great Uncle Shai.'

'Who you didn't know about before?'

'No,
darling. Lots of mystery in your family. Clear as a glass
of stout they were. To outsiders. Like me, who only married one of
them. Are, I should say. Not all boxed up yet. And this call only
compounded it.'

Nancy looked surreptitiously around the
office again.

'Go on, Aunt Mary. I'm sure you'll
get to the point any day now.'

'Enough of that sarcasm, young
lady. I always told you to mind your manners. Seems I failed there
too.'

Nancy looked up at the ceiling and
gripped the phone tighter.

'Anyway, your great-uncle
Shai
, who hasn't bothered with us all his
life, is suddenly very keen to meet you. Desperate in fact. He said
it was very urgent. I think he's worried he might die first. He
rambled a bit I have to say. But he has something very important to
tell you.'

'What is it? What does he want to tell
me?'

'I've no idea. He wouldn't say.'

'So what shall we do? Ignore him?
Or shall I speak to him? There's a phone in the hall where I live.
I'm allowed to take calls in the evenings between 9.00 and
10.00.'

'He insisted that he meets you. In
person.'

'Okay. Well, I can meet him in a
pub.'

'That won't be possible.'

'Why?'

'He's very sick. Can't walk far.
He wants you to go to his home.'

'And where's that.'

'In Israel. In a kibbutz.
Just near Jerusalem. He wants to meet you
there.'

Nancy walked down the Broadway,
past the Peking Duck restaurant and Levin's jewellery shop. Outside
the bakery a beggar sat with his legs crossed and a plastic bowl in
his lap. A mongrel with a piece of string around its neck sat
beside him. Nancy skirted around the beggar and entered the shop.
The queue was short today and she placed her order within a couple
of minutes. She watched while the woman sliced the ham and placed
it on the bread like a mosaic.

As she
left the bakery she approached the beggar. He was wishing a
good day to everyone who walked past.

'Excuse me, could you help me?'
asked Nancy quietly.

The beggar looked up, squinting.
'Yes, miss. Would you like me to take you to dinner?'

Nancy smiled. 'I've bought a
sandwich for my colleague. Only it's got mustard on it and she
doesn't like mustard. Would you like it? Only it would save me
having to take it back.'

The beggar smiled appreciatively.
'It's lucky I was here. Isn't it? Otherwise you'd be in a spot of
pickle.' Slight accent.

He took the brown bag she handed him.
'Thank you,' he winked, knowingly. 'Have a great day now,
miss.'

Nancy hovered. The beggar was
grey-haired, but neat. Respectable, almost.

'How did it happen?' she asked.

'You mean how I come here? On the
street?'

'Yes.'

The beggar sighed as if experiencing
pain.

'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I'll
go.' But before Nancy could walk away the beggar stopped her.

'No. No matter. I tell you.' He
pushed himself to his feet, holding the sandwich bag in his left
hand, too polite to open it while talking.

'Tadeusz,' he introduced himself,
bowing slightly. 'Tadeusz Jacek. Third Carpathian Division.
Conquerors of Monte Cassino. Only we Poles were stupid enough to
keep going. We lost so many. We won. But we lost. Then after the
war, we came here. I had a job. But then I lost heart. I
became…

'Depressed?'

'Yes. That is it. Depression, they
say it. And I had no-one. No-one to care for me. And I cannot go
home. To my village. All contact lost. No way back for me now. I
miss Poland. My family. Now my home is here. The street. Many
English people very kind.'