To shake off potential pursuers even though he can't see any, Midnight quickly leaves the road and rides through the forests near Nemi. The Ducati is far from being a dirt bike, but there are paths in the forests, and they are maintained and kept free of fallen trees and the like.
In the middle of the forest, he stops, shuts the engine down, and takes his phone. He dials, and someone answers.
"Rescue Rangers Headquarters, Gadget speaking."
"Hi Gadget, here's the Mouse in Black. Was that your great idea to hire these folks that... you know what they did?"
"You mean the car, the bike, the..."
"Shhh! I don't know if this connection is safe. So whose idea was it?"
"It was Monty's idea. He said he knew these people from long ago, an organization that helped him and Dad, and that he and Dad helped in return."
"Ah. Then tell him something. Things have changed, and they tried to double-cross me."
"Double-cross?"
"Yup. They tried to blast half of the bike. They did blast my room, albeit without me in it. I got away with the equipment and the bike."
"Golly..."
"It's not all bad. I actually allowed the second explosion to happen to have them think I'm dead. But why them and not the RAS?"
"The RAS is underequipped. They can pull off simple rescue and supply missions with their equipment, but to fight a civil war and do undercover work requires a lot more, and these people have it."
"Anyway, can you ask the RAS to get me a room near my destination, maybe also some cover-up such as another ID, and tell the rest of my team I'm on my way?"
"Sure."
"Then hurry up. I wanna be there before they find out there's no corpse in that room."
"Oh, er, where are you right now?"
"I'm halfway to my destination, surrounded by a lot of wood."
"Good. Await further information soon." She hangs up.
A few minutes later, Midnight receives a mail. He opens it and finds a map attached to it. It shows the forest and a nearby cottage. 'Does she want me to go there?'
To be safe, Midnight pulls a wooden box out of his brief-case. He opens it and takes a handgun out of it which he loads with tranq darts. 'Thanks a lot, Nando. This thing might save me.' The gun is stuffed into his jacket.
He proceeds through the forest towards the cottage, pushing the bike to stay quiet. Finally, he reaches the cottage and knocks on the door. A dark gray mouse in all green clothes opens. "Good morning," he greets Midnight, "how can I help you?"
"I was told to come here, Signor..."
"Da Silva. Giacomo da Silva, Rescue Aid Society, Italian branch. Come in, I think I can guess what brought you here."
Midnight enters and is offered a seat in an armchair.
"I hope you folks are aware of the dangerous mission you're on," Giacomo goes on. "Well, the RAS can't do much to help..." He is interrupted by his phone ringing.
He picks up the wireless phone. "Yes?... Yes, he's here in my cottage. ... We'll take care of this, don't worry, Miss Hackwrench. ... Okay, hear you later."
"You did have to say her name, did you?" Midnight criticized. "What if your phone line is tapped?"
"These people are good," Giacomo responds, "but they're not good enough to tap satellite phone lines. Anyway, what I can do is get you to Nemi and offer you my guest room to stay."
"What about a hotel room directly in Nemi?" Midnight suggested. "You might have heard of the explosion in that hotel in Rome..."
"...with which you should be killed, yes, I'm informed about all this. How did you get away, by the way?"
"The bomb was installed in the TV. It was set to explode when I switch the TV on. I simply put a time switch into the power line and turned it into a time bomb. They should think I was killed in that explosion. Whoever they are."
"A Mafia-like organization. With connections to an obscure secret society which almost went down in the mid-90s, and paid by the LSD traffickers. They control the firefighters in that district of Rome, too. Which means they will know by now that you weren't in the room when the bomb exploded, and that you're still alive."
"Did you say, 'paid by the LSD traffickers?' As in when the LSD pushing is shut down, so are they?"
"Probably, but that won't be too easy to do. Not even for you guys."
Midnight unloads the tranq gun and puts it back into the box. "Say, you seem to know a lot about this case. And it's not common for the RAS to use satellite phones."
"Oh, that, yes. I felt that Italy was in a situation that required me to have connections to some additional agencies apart from the RAS. CIA, Interpol, Europol, whatever you need. I'm relaying whatever intell is necessary to the RAS so we can operate safely. That's one of the reasons why I'm hiding in this forest. And if I may give you a good advice, you'd better stay here, too, instead of getting yourself a hotel room."
"But what if I'm being followed on my way back here?"
"Then the followers will be taken care of."
Midnight
_________________ Me and my fursona
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New addresses! See below.
Last edited by Midnight Man on Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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