Gate Deadlock (34 page)

The door opened and the young woman appeared
behind it.

‘Are you ready?’

‘Yes.’ I replied decisively, standing up at the
same time.

‘You must put these on.’

She gave me a pair of black glasses like those
I’d seen in science fiction films. Susan had told me all about
them. Once I put them on they automatically adjusted to my head and
I could not see anything in front of me apart from a pattern of the
room in a screen, like a virtual reality simulator. I knew where
the door and the walls were and I could make out the figure of the
Asian woman so that our journey to the headquarters would be safe
for me and the League could be sure that their world would remain a
secret at the same time.

We walked through long, narrow corridors
and met a few people on the way but nobody spoke to us. Susan had
told me that there was one of Plato’s men in the Squad, working
under false pretences but I wished she had also told me his name. I
was now
aware of how dangerous Denzel could really be.
He was the one who called the shots down here. My life depended
upon his decision. But that would be the worst time to get cold
feet. There was no going back.

We got into a kind of shuttle bus, at least that
was what it felt like. Then we walked again and I felt like we were
raised as if we’d been in a huge elevator. Another automatic door
opened and eventually we stopped in a round room where I could see
the figures of two other persons. I remembered how desperately I’d
wished to come to Christopher’s world once. He wouldn’t even talk
about it, concerned about the effect such a huge change might have
on me. He had said that he’d seen people lose their mind doing so.
Now I wondered how safe my mind was anyway.

‘You can take off your glasses now.’ my
companion told me before she left.

The room was dimly lit and my eyes took a few
seconds to adjust. The man standing in front of me spoke
softly.

‘We meet at last, Miss Ioannou.’

He made no move to approach me. I tried to make
out the expression on his face because his flat voice allowed me no
conclusions as to his intentions. He was a tall, slim man, dressed
in a black uniform. His head was shaved and his small, animal-like
dark eyes were horribly cold, hostile and annoying as if they were
trying to see through me. I had to avoid his eyes so I tried to
concentrate a little higher, at the level of his brows. Susan’s
voice was echoing in my head as I was trying to remember her
instructions, but I was suddenly scared. I heard Tex’s disgusting
chuckle behind me.

‘I guess introductions are needless.’ Denzel
said.

‘Why am I here?’ I asked, doing my best to hide
the tremor in my voice.

‘It seems that you have broken the terms of our
agreement. Instead of applying our law, as we would normally do in
any other case, we’ve brought you here until we find a solution to
this…inconvenience. I apologize for the overzealous effort of my
men. Things got a little out of hand for a couple of hours as I
have been informed, but it’s over now. Your health is not affected
by your transport here, this I can confirm.’

‘What did I do to break the agreement? As far as
I remember, I haven’t made any agreement with you, so how do you
expect me to know the terms?’

He cast a disapproving glance at me.

‘Oh, the terms are simple. You just stay away
from everything that is related to my era. But I’m sure you know
this. You’ve been informed about the risk. It was so precipitate of
you to think that you could expose us so easily. Such a waste of
effort! Anyway, there is no reason to go back to the past. Let
bygones be bygones. I think it’s time to bury the hatchet, don’t
you?’

‘You mean I should forget that you’ve murdered
my father, that you’ve taken away my inheritance and that you’ve
threatened to kill me more than once. Should I just sweep this
under the carpet and pretend it never happened?’

‘Ah, my dear Miss Ioannou. I think those are
issues we’d better evade. There will be much greater benefit for
you if you cooperate with us instead of being our enemy. This is an
offer I don’t often make you know. You should consider yourself
very lucky you’re still alive in the first place.’

‘Why don’t you get to the point? There is no
need to waste our time with gratuitous assumptions and threats you
know you’re not permitted to carry out. What do you want from
me?’

‘A brave woman. You’re exactly as they have
described you to me. Tex thinks we should get rid of you because
you’ve threatened our world enough. But I think his opinion of you
is …overrated. Still, I warn you not to underestimate me. I’ve
disobeyed my orders many times for the sake of our leaders. I can
do it again.’ He walked around me, like Tex had done on the
mountain. I didn’t move an inch.

‘I will try to make it simple for you, miss
Ioannou. After our settlement, there was a small… side effect. You
see, the reason we claimed the piece of land your father left you …
it was important to us for a specific reason which for the time
being is…lost.’

‘Are you talking about Point –X?’

‘Exactly.
It is
not an uncustomary phenomenon in cases like this. But it can be
undone, with your help.’

‘So, if I’ve got it right, you want me to help
you relocate Point –X for you? You’ve got the map and the
excavation plans, don’t you?’

‘They’re useless. They don’t show what we want.
Not anymore.’

‘I don’t understand. How can I find what you
need? If you can’t do it, what makes you think I can?’

‘The cosmic laws are a mystery even to us. You
are the only person who can do it. I have reasons for not revealing
to you the importance of Point-X to my world. But I will tell you
this. The future of both our worlds depends upon a sequence of
events. And this place is part of this long chain, an important,
essential part I should say. Our people have been working hard for
an alternative but they’ve come up with nothing so far. In the
meantime, somewhere between you era and mine, the world is fighting
for survival. Certain people, saviors of mankind I should say, are
entrapped and this place is their only way out. So you do realize
this is bigger than you and me and our animosity. It’s in your
hands. Of course you only have my word, as nobody else has the
authority to confirm or belie what I’ve told you. You have to make
a decision. Soon. The clock is ticking.’

‘Can I think about it?’

‘Of course. I will be expecting your decision
tonight.’

‘I wonder…What will happen to me if I
refuse?’

‘I was hoping it wouldn’t be necessary for
you to find out. You see, I can’t touch you, but accidents happen
all the time to the people we love. That is something we don’t want
to happen, do we?’ He nodded to Tex. ‘Take her to her room and give
her dinner. We don’t want our dear Emma to starve. Otherwise, she
will think we’re not hospitable
enough. I’m afraid you
have to put on the glasses again.’ he said to me with a devious
grin that made my whole body bristle. That he would flaunt his
power by threatening my life was expected. But to threaten the life
of the people I cared about?

My Asian maid took me back to my room where a
huge tray with junk food was expecting me. I had to put my stance
about healthy diet aside because I was too hungry. Later, the young
woman came back to take the empty tray. She gave me a surprised
look. Obviously she wasn’t expecting me to polish off the whole
tray.

‘Wait!’ I stopped her. ’What’s your name?’

‘Lian.’ she said, taken aback. ‘Is that all?’
She seemed anxious to go.

‘Yes, Lian. I just wanted to thank you for the
wonderful dinner.’

She tried to hide a smile of contentment. ‘I’m
glad you liked it. If you will excuse me now. I must leave
you.’

I tried to persuade my watchers that I was
thinking about Denzel’s proposition. Of course, there wasn’t much
to think about. Not because of the danger my family and friends
would be into if I refused to help him. My Commander, Plato, had in
fact carefully planned that proposition. I wondered who that double
agent was, who was working for the Crusaders behind the scenes.
Would he let them know that everything was according to plan and
that I was safe, at least for now? The thought of putting in danger
the people I loved was something I was trying hard not to consider
as a possibility. My mother’s worried face came to my mind and,
with a pang of guilt, I realized I hadn’t thought about her or any
other person who was part of my normal life since I had got to the
League’s time. I didn’t have the time to think of them. I’d been
really pressed. But Denzel’s threat had brought me back to
reality.

The deadline soon drew to an end and it was time
to announce my decision. It wasn’t long before I was called back in
the same dark room.

‘Well? Have you made up your mind Miss Ioannou?’
Denzel asked with his eyes fixed on mine. I had to remember not to
look into his but concentrate an inch above them, otherwise I was
sure I would lose my train of thoughts.

‘I have. I will help you. I cannot guarantee I
will find what you’re looking for but I will do my best. You have
my word for it. You must know, I’ve always adhered to my
decisions.’

‘This is a very wise decision. I’m absolutely
certain you will make it. You are the only one who can find that
Gateway.’

‘Still, I have one condition.’

‘Let’s hear it then.’ For a split of a second, I
got the impression that he’d looked alarmed but that had been so
fleeting that it could have been my imagination. ‘I can give you
whatever you want, as long as it is within reason. How do you call
it in your world? A catch 22 situation.’

‘I need a helper. Someone who knows what to
do.’

‘Of course. I can give you more than one of my
men.’

‘I want a specific helper. I think you know who
I mean.’

He shook his head. ‘So you want Christopher.
That’s quite a fit of daring!’

‘Yes. I’ve waited a long time to revenge on him
for the lies he’s told me. For making me fall for him so he could
achieve his purpose. What? Haven’t you seen an avenging woman
before?’ I had to play all my cards. Susan had warned me that the
chances of letting Christopher come with me were thin.

‘And of course, I want your word of honor that
you will stay away from my family and my friends. Otherwise, you
can’t count on me. And I’m sure your boss would like to know that
you have failed your mission to secure the Gate.’ The rage that was
apparent in his eyes satisfied me instead of frightening me.

‘They don’t know, do they? They don’t even know
I’m here. Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me, as long as you
accept my conditions.’

‘I should know that you’re not an ordinary
woman. The more I get to know you, the more I understand why my
best soldier liked you. I think you too are where you belong Miss
Ioannou. I will enjoy working with you. Under the force of
circumstances and as a token of my goodwill, I cannot but accept
your conditions. I hope you know what you’re doing. You see, some
people persist on hankering after things they can’t have. I’ve
always considered that a pitiful attitude. Have it your way then.
You’re going back tomorrow with Christopher, of course. You know,
he has displayed a great presence of mind by coming back to us.
There is no way to flout the law in our world and get away with it.
He knew what was going to happen to him.’

He was challenging me, hoping I would reveal
more to him about my feelings for Christopher. But I knew better
than that. When he acknowledged my determination to remain silent,
he let me go.

‘I’ll see you both in the morning.’ He nodded to
Tex and I put on my glasses without waiting for him to remind
me.

Back in my room, I recollected everything that
had happened in the cold, circular room. I had done it. The biggest
part of my mission was over. I wondered if I had been convincing
enough. Had I made Denzel believe me? Susan had warned me that he
was a cunning man who could not easily be fooled. What were the
chances that he was playing with me instead?

Susan had trained me well. During those
thirty-minute meetings we had covered every possible deviation to
the plan. For instance, I knew that if they hadn’t put me in that
‘replica room’ or if they hadn’t given me the glasses that made me
look like a cyber-chick, it would mean I was in danger. To put it
simply, it would imply that either Denzel had not been deceived or
that he had inside information from the corps of the Crusaders that
betrayed Plato’s plan. The only weapon I had in this case to defend
myself, would be that double agent and, of course, Christopher.
There was no way Christopher would let them hurt me, I had to
believe that, despite his weird attitude when he helped Tex arrest
me. That had to be an act. This was the only explanation I could
accept. He had to go along with the League’s terms in order to
protect me. The memory of his cold voice made me shiver. This
wasn’t my Christopher, not the one I had loved so deeply. But he
wasn’t the only one who had changed. I also wasn’t the girl he had
loved that summer. I never expected myself to be such a good
actress, for one thing. It was one of my new talents, my new dark
talents that I didn’t know I possessed before this part of my
double life had started. Because I had a double life now. And that
newly discovered part of me, I wasn’t sure I like it. Denzel had
seen this too. That’s where his contentment was coming from after
he had overcome his initial anger when I, indirectly but
effectively, threatened him. What else was left for me to do?
Because I had already tried manipulation, lying, extortion and
hypocrisy. To my old self, all these were unforgivable sins. I had
touched bottom. And the worst of all, I had felt a wild
satisfaction with what I had achieved through them. The only
comforting thought was that the people of my old life had no clue
of my comedown. To them, I was still the naive university student
who lived under the shadow of her father’s vision. Still, the man I
adored would sooner or later find out what I had become. Because I
was changed. A lot. I wasn’t the innocent girl he had fallen in
love with that summer, but a strong, daring and devious woman,
willing to try anything to get what she wanted. I knew I couldn’t
feel safe until I was back in my world with Christopher on my side.
How he would feel about this change I could easily guess. And yet,
it had been the only way. I wondered how he would react when Denzel
told him that he was coming back with me. Back, to my life. One
thing I knew. He had no choice. He would have to follow Denzel’s
orders. And then everything would be as it should. I had to believe
it.