“And that endeavor is?” Moira asked just as patiently as before.
A warning look from Alice Hamilton failed to still the questioning by the brilliant scientist.
“Alas”—Doshnikov looked from Alice then back to Moira—“I’m afraid my quest is one of avaristic value alone, just as your board of directors before me. Only I won’t be nickel-and-diming, as these Americans like to say. I’ll be making my moves all in one night, and the special thing is, and I mean very special, is the fact that other than the use of this magnificent doorway, it will all be completely aboveboard and legal. You see, I plan to be running this city this time next year and I plan on having the financial backing to do it.” He smiled and stepped closer to the wheelchair-bound Moira. He patted her old hand and then turned over the wrist and saw the tattoo: 674392. “And your miracle of science is going to supply me with that opportunity.”
Moira only smiled as she pulled her arm free of the man’s grip. Then she turned and gestured for the new mother and held out her hands for the baby.
“That is not recommended,” Doshinikov said as he stepped between the mother and the Traveler. “As the child has yet to be burped, and we wouldn’t want that, would we?” he joked, and then saw that the tattooed Ryan wasn’t laughing.
Niles nodded that they should adjourn to the observation room. He waited until it was just him, Virginia, Alice, and a Russian guard before following. He nodded descreetly toward the darkened monitor. Both Virginia and Alice knew then that Xavier Morales was knowledgeable of their situation.
But could the new computer whiz do anything about it?
As the Russian took in the stirring sight of the Wellsian Doorway and the many technicians who were preparing for the return dimensional shift when and if the signal was received, they could not prepare themselves adequately for the size of the operation. Seeing the many angry-looking technicians made Doshnikov momentarily hesitant about the size of his task. But seeing the doorway eased the problems to the back of his limited brain.
“Everyone is just so busy, a stirring sight indeed,” he said as he placed a manicured hand onto the shoulder of one of Virginia’s female operators. The specialist recruited from George Mason University but five weeks before turned her body away from the man’s cold touch.
“We aren’t going to allow this, you know that, right?” Ryan said as he nodded at the director to hurriedly escort the young science tech from the room.
“Oh, I think we can come to an understanding,” Doshnikov said as he nodded toward the baby and the closing door where the female operator had just left.
“We won’t be killing the baby, you will, along with the doorway,” Ryan said as he didn’t want the director speaking directly to this man.
The Russian looked at his watch as he again stepped to the window.
“Oh, we will be killing far more before we even get to the child.” He turned and smiled as the noise was heard from below through the speakers on the observation room wall.
Ryan stepped hurriedly to the glass and saw that the room had filled with many men and all of them were carrying automatic weapons. They had bypassed external security somehow and entered through a portal the Event Group had no idea was even there. The plans for the building didn’t include another exit.
“Oh, these dramatic shifts in circumstances always give me that comic book thrill,” he said, smiling, and with mock excitement as he took in an even angrier Ryan. “Or is that too wordy for you?”
Below on the platform floor, the Event Group technicians were rounded up and forced against the wall and held there.
“Now,” Doshnikov said as he turned and faced the people in the room, “let’s see if we can make this expensive slot machine pay off.” He pushed Ryan toward the stairs. “Shall we?” Jason made eye contact with Niles on his way out. He silently pleaded with the director to not antagonize these men. As he told Will earlier, that was his job to keep the black-hearted men off balance.
Below them the doorway lay dormant. In Nevada Xavier Morales wondered just what he and Europa could do to help because if they could not resolve the situation sooner rather than later, Colonel Collins might not have a way to come home again.
Director Compton said he would face excitement even inside the complex, but thus far in his limited experience with Department 5656, this was just plain ridiculous. Xavier hit the emergency switch located at his desk and the warning chimes sounded throughout the complex. The Event Group was now on alert for a possible hostage rescue in Brooklyn.
With the exception of Niles, Alice, Moira, and two of the larger Russian guards, the group was led down the stairs. The three were left behind because of age or infirmities, along with the outright thought that the three could cause no harm, even if they somehow escaped. But in all reality Doshnikov just didn’t have the time to get them down the stairs and ensconced in the large elevator.
The Russian immediately left the group after stepping from the stairwell. The rest were being brought down by the freight elevator. He wanted to gaze upon the doorway by himself. He saw his fifteen men had secured the technicians safely — after all, they would be the ones to help him achieve his goals this night.
He turned and saw the doorway as it sat silent and still, steaming like a hot iron. The lasers were being cooled through the conduit system that was currently being flushed with liquid nitrogen, which made a loud and ear-piercing noise as it struck the hot system. The Russian didn’t even flinch at the loud noise as he was mesmerized by the sight of the ceramic-covered doorway.
The radiation warning lights were flashing their yellow cry of danger as the system was being rebooted. When Virginia reverse-engineered the doorway she was only guessing at the turnaround time. Moira had explained that at the height of their dimensional jumps they had a twelve-hour turnaround time to reboot their systems and to recharge their antiquated laser platform. That was when she realized how painful Moira’s trips were through the German Doorway before the advent of the advanced lasers of today. It was a wonder the girl child had survived even the four experimental jumps back in Germany.
Doshnikov saw something just beyond the doorway and stepped up to the platform. He cautiously ran a hand through the air to make sure nothing vanished on him. Then a loud scream sounded and the Russian almost screamed. He turned angrily at the intruder to his thoughts. It was the man they called Ryan. He had screamed as soon as the elevator doors had opened wide enough for him to see what he had been doing. He intentionally made the Russian look the fool. Jason was brutally pushed forward as he and Mendenhall laughed at the fright he had put on the mobster.
Doshnikov returned to what had attracted his attention. He grimaced and then stepped through the front portal of the doorway. He took five steps inside and then reached down and felt the cold steel. He then reached over and retrieved something from the deck. He straightened and saw that it was dirt and some form of moss. The entire entryway to the doorway was covered in what looked like ash. He looked down and the trail vanished after only a few feet. He brushed the dirt and ash away and slapped his hands together and then turned to face the others. He moved over to the glass partition where the Event Group technicians sat stoicly, not moving but not frightened either. Most were defiant and just waiting for Commander Ryan to lead the way and tell them what to do. They had come to learn the colonel’s security department was always one step ahead. They all turned when they heard a grunt and saw that Jason Ryan had been clubbed on the head pretty good by one of his captors. The reality of knowing they may not be one step ahead didn’t frighten them as much as anger them. After Overlord, it was pretty damn hard to scare people from Department 5656.