The Crossover (8 page)

Lodrán looked down. “Annie, in… where I come from, if a woman invites a man into her chambers at night, it’s not to drink tea.” He looked at her and smiled. “But I’ve enjoyed our time together, and I wouldn’t mind extending it a few more hours.”

“It’s not all that different here,” she said. “I usually don’t do this, but you’ve been nice and… well, I don’t get out a lot. Maybe it’ll be more than a fling. I hope so.”

“I can’t promise much beyond this night, Annie. But not because I have anyone to go home to.”

“Hell, at least you’re honest.” Annie laughed. “Maybe we can have room service bring us breakfast in the morning.”

Chapter 4 – Bomb Threat

Lodrán woke to a warbling noise. “Mmmf?” Annie rolled over and draped an arm over him, stroking his chest and lower down. “You gonna answer that?”

“Answer what?” At first, Lodrán thought she was talking about what she was doing… and how he was responding. Then the warbling noise came again. “Oh. That thing.” He leaned over the edge of the bed and fumbled through his clothes, remembering something Chuck had said yesterday:
These gadgets are pretty cool, yeah. But you don’t own them so much as they own you
. He pulled it open, not getting it upside-down only by luck. “Unh?”

“Hey.” Chuck’s tinny voice felt like a sword through Lodrán’s skull. “Where are you?”

“Uh… the hotel. Am I needed?”

“Yeah. It’s almost ten, time for you and Freddy to make that phone call.”

“Oh. That late?”

Annie looked at the clock on the nightstand. “Yuck. Ten till ten. So much for room service.”

“Yeah,” said Chuck. You might wanna shake your silent tail and get on down here.”

“Okay. Give me a few minutes.” He closed the phone and sighed. “Duty calls.”

“I gathered that.” Annie climbed out of bed, keeping Lodrán’s full and undivided attention. “Let’s get some coffee started. It’s no fun to start work with a hangover and no coffee.” A moment later, the device began its chuffing noise and she slipped back into bed with a big smile. “I know what we can do while we’re waiting.”

After a few minutes of contentment to end their time together, Annie nudged him out of bed and pulled some clean clothes from a dresser. “You want my number?” She sounded hopeful.

“I do. But—I hope you don’t think less of me for this—I don’t know how to put it in my phone. I’ve never had one until the day before yesterday.”

“No problem.” Annie grinned and picked up Lodrán’s phone, poking at it for a minute. “Done. Just hit the address book, find my name, and hit the call button.” She showed him what to do, and the phone on her side of the bed began playing music. “All set. I’ll save your number, too.”

“Good. Annie, I really hope we can meet again. But promise me something.”

“Sure.”

“If there was anything you wanted to do away from this place while you’re here, do it today. This afternoon. If you don’t have any plans, make some. For my sake?”

“Why?”

“I can’t talk about it. If we’re successful, there won’t be any problems. But I don’t want to… to take that chance. With you.”

“What’s gonna happen?”

“I hope nothing. But trust me. Please.”

With Annie’s promise, Lodrán breathed easier as he jogged through the portal between the hotel and auditorium.

Freddy was waiting for him near the exhibit hall entrance. “You dog,” he said with a grin. Seeing Lodrán’s puzzled look, he continued, “That’s just something we say when a guy gets lucky.”

“What?”

“You no speak-a de English? Gettin’ lucky is… you know. Gettin’ the girl. Hope you let her know how it is.” Freddy cocked an eyebrow.

“Um, yeah. She let me know how it is too. I think she’s leaving already.”

“Huh. I guess you told her everything then.”

“Not everything.” Lodrán marveled at how well Freddy fell into role-playing. He could be born to the Silent Art as much as Chuck was born with the talent for magic. Or more.
What this world has thrown aside
, he thought, as they talked about his supposed conquest. Two companions, making the wind, who seemed to not realize they were straying away from the venue itself and into the office area. As for the subject matter, Lodrán thought he himself might have been the conquest.

They continued to chat until others were out of sight and hearing, then turned a corner. “James Isaacson,” Freddy read the nameplate next to the door. “That’s your name for a few minutes.” He tried the door. “Locked. But not for long, right?”

Lodrán did not bother to respond, and got to work on the lock while Freddy stood in front of him and played with his phone. “Got it,” said Lodrán, turning the knob. No alarm sounded, and they slipped inside and closed the door behind them.

“What the hell?” Freddy punched a button on the phone. “Maybe nine to get out? Nothing.”

“What?”

“The phone’s dead. I’m not even getting a dialtone. They wouldn’t make it that hard to call out.”

“What’s—never mind. Let’s try the next office.”

Lodrán opened three offices, and all the phones were dead. “Could the people who left the bomb have done this?” he asked Freddy.

“Yeah. It ain’t that hard to cut a phone line. They put the bomb in the PBX room, and that’s where all the lines go. And it’s the weekend, so when this place comes down, nobody will know they did it.”

“We need to tell Chelinn.”

“We were talkin’ about what if they had someone inside 911 that could keep the call from going through, while you were bringin’ your girlfriend over,” said Freddy. “They said something about the fire alarms.”

“A secondary plan. That sort of thing is second nature to Chelinn.”

“Yeah. We call that a ‘Plan B.’ Let’s go.”

The basement was empty, and Chelinn and Lodrán moved quickly through the hallways. “Here,” said Chelinn, pointing at the sign next to one door. “Records. I thought they would be here.”

“Why?” Lodrán started on the lock.

“It’s much like Ak’koyr, in a way. The records may be needed, but not often enough to justify having them near the workers. So the records room is out of the way. But nearby, in a place with stone walls, since paper burns readily…”

Lodrán opened the door. “Then burn it!”

“I can’t, at the moment.” Chelinn looked at Lodrán. “What would make me angry today?”

“Hundreds of people dying needlessly, when you could have—”

Chelinn’s faced flushed, and fire leaped from his hands. Nozzles in the ceiling began spraying water that turned to steam in the heat of Chelinn’s magical fire. After a long minute, the magical fire died and natural fire took over, burning stacks of paper on the shelves where the water could not reach.

“Here’s the fire alarm,” said Chelinn, noting a red block on the wall outside the records room.

“Pull… to… sound… alarm.” Lodrán puzzled out the words. He pulled down the small lever, then covered his ears. The buzzing noise pierced his aching head regardless.

“Quickly now!” Chelinn hissed, taking Lodrán’s arm. “I’ve made us hard to see, just hold on to me!” They clattered up the stairs.

• • •

“Where have you two been?” Chuck feigned annoyance at Chelinn and Lodrán. “They’re giving us five minutes to clear out.” He gestured at the hand truck, with two boxes already stacked on it. “Load it up. Freddy, you push the cart. The rest of us will each take a box. Two, if we can carry them.”

Minutes later, they reached the parking lot and loaded boxes in Chuck’s car. Chuck gave the building a wistful look. “This was shaping up to be the best sales year I’ve had at the con,” he sighed. In the distance, they could hear sirens. “Let’s hope things get back to normal, quick.” He saw Chelinn’s look and nodded, then lowered his voice. “I wish we could make sure they find the bomb.”

“If we could call from someone else’s phone, I’d call it in now,” said Freddy. “I wouldn’t even use our go-phones for that, though. I had a drunk friend call 911 from her cell and hung up, and the call didn’t disconnect. They used her cell to figure out where she was and found her. It was a big mess.”

“They have phones in the hotel rooms,” said Lodrán.

“Hell, they have public phones in the restaurant!” Freddy threw his hands in the air. “Should we make the call, or what?”

Lodrán nodded. “Let’s go.” They sprinted across the parking lot, behind the auditorium to the hotel beyond.

“I think there’s a bomb in the auditorium basement,” Lodrán said into the phone. “James Isaacson… I was in the basement Friday night and saw one of our maintenance employees, Sam Gross, down there with three caterers. That was strange, because we don’t have any concessions in the basement. They went into the PBX Room, I checked it this morning. The lines in the offices aren’t working, so I’m calling from the hotel. Now the fire alarms are going off.” He covered the mouthpiece and whispered to Freddy, “That’s all they need, right?”

Freddy nodded. “Yeah, that should do it. The bomb squad’ll be storming the place pretty quick.” He looked at his phone. “Just past eleven. Cutting it awful close.”

“Look, I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to,” Lodrán told the phone. “I’m going to hang up and leave now.” He hung up. “Let’s get something to eat,” he said to Freddy, nodding at the restaurant. “It promises to be a long day.”

“Whoa.” Freddy paused. “How about that salad place, just down the road? They have some kind of Sunday special.”

“That might be good. Any other suggestions?” Lodrán cocked an eyebrow at Freddy and got a small nod in return. Some wind had blown Freddy’s way.

“There’s the seafood buffet, but it’ll be pretty crowded if we don’t get there before twelve-thirty or so.”

“Salad should be good.” They walked to a place out of earshot. “What was it?”

“The guys from the bar,” said Freddy. “They’re in the restaurant.”

Lodrán’s eyebrows shot up. “Did they see you?”

“No.”

“They wanted front-row seats for the show,” said Chuck, looking grim. He watched the fire trucks near the back entrance. “Good thing it’s not the show they’re expecting.”

“I presume the authorities can find this Sam and the others, without any further help from us?” Chelinn looked at Freddy.

“Maybe,” said Freddy. “Their families might hide ‘em. I don’t know if they would for a charge like terrorism, but they might have a place to go. Could be a long time before they get caught.” Two black vans rolled into the parking lot, sirens wailing. “That’s the bomb squad.”

Lodrán shrugged. “If we have to intervene again—”

A voice blared from horns mounted on top of the vans: “
This area is hazardous. All non-emergency personnel must proceed to the nearest barricade. This is a mandatory evacuation order.
” The voice began repeating itself; around them, people looked puzzled but began moving.

“Chuck, Freddy, perhaps you should follow the crowd,” said Chelinn. “Lodrán and I will see if there is anything further we can do here.”

“I’ve got to see if I can get in to grab another load,” said Chuck. He took the handcart and walked away.

“I’m stayin’ with you,” Freddy told Chelinn. “You need me to ID those assholes.”

Chelinn glared a Freddy for a moment. “Fate is, at best, a capricious bitch. She may have put you in our path to help us. Or the inverse. Or—not all events are arranged by powers high or low. In any case, you will share a great risk with little hope of reward.”

“Whatever. Like I said, I’m tired of pissin’ my life away with stupid shit.”

“That tree.” Lodrán pointed to a large oak just beyond the edge of the pavement. “We can see from there without drawing attention.”

“Speakin’ of ID,” Freddy hissed, “there they are.” He laid a finger on his chest, pointing sideways. The four of them were walking across the parking lot, watching the commotion near the entrances.

“Call to them,” said Chelinn. “I’ll be interested in their reaction.” He and Lodrán crouched behind a car.

Freddy nodded and turned. “Sam! BJ! Terry! Hey, guys!” He gave them a big grin and a wild wave.

The four men stopped and turned toward Freddy, looking uncertain. Several police beyond turned as well. Freddy walked toward them.

“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” he asked. “Me, I got an excuse. Uncle Johnny don’t pay near enough, and one of the vendors needed some help—”

“Who is this?” Hunter asked his companions.

“He works at the bar we went to,” said BJ. “You saw him there. He ain’t nothin’ to worry about.”

Chelinn’s voice came to Freddy, although he could not see him:
If I were you, I would keep a car, perhaps two, between them and yourself. I sense some hostile intent
.

Freddy slipped a hand behind his back long enough to display a thumbs-up. “I saw you guys and just thought I’d say hey,” he said. “I gotta pack this crap up, some assclowns started a fire in the basement and phoned in a bomb threat, so they ran us all out.”

“Would you like some help?” Hunter asked him, then started walking toward Freddy without waiting for an answer. “I don’t guess you want to be anywhere near here if there’s a bomb threat.”

Freddy waved and turned, hoping it looked natural. “Nah, I only have two more boxes to load. Besides, we’re all hopin’ it’s a hoax, and we’ll be able to get back to it in a couple hours.”

“No problem at all.” The four followed Freddy, who saw the pistol in Hunter’s hand. “BJ can help you finish up, then we’re going to take a little walk.”

Freddy felt the adrenaline rush at the sight of the gun, but remembered one of Lodrán’s late-night lessons:
You cannot outwit an adversary if you panic
. “Sure,” he fought down the shake in his voice. “But just to let you know, there’s two of our security goons around here. I’ve seen ‘em in action. If something happens to me, they’ll open up a fifty-five gallon drum of whoop-ass on you.”

“Sure, kid,” said Hunter.

“Hey, Hunter,” said Sam. “We don’t need to drag him into this.”

“Just shut up and get moving. Those cops are gonna be on us if we don’t leave now.” Hunter glared at Freddy. “If anyone comes around, you wave that badge at ‘em if you know what’s good for you. Let’s go. We’re parked at one of the offices down there.”