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Bikie nodded without speaking. Wolanski’s gym was certainly top-notch all right - put

together by professionals, obviously a pricey job. But Bikie didn’t use it; he was as strong as an ox anyway.

The next meeting with agent Serge Morell at the patents office turned out not to be the last. Some kind of typo had slipped in and all the documents had to be signed all over again. The agent assured him that this was definitely the final stage and next time Isaac would receive a certificate for his patent. And so he did, two days later. Isaac couldn’t believe his luck, it still wasn’t money, of course, but he was in the home stretch. The agent congratulated Isaac on officially becoming an inventor and solemnly presented him with the beautiful patent and a bundle of documents.

Smiling, Isaac gathered up the heap of paper. Just in case, the agent reminded Isaac about his offer to work with him, but Isaac didn’t have time for that right now, he was too excited and delighted. He promised to think about it a bit later. Everything had ended well after all, and he

set off back to the villa in a good mood. Bikie took one look at his super-delighted friend and asked:

“Well, how was the meeting with the im-patent agent?”

“Super! The invention’s registered. Bingo! Look!” Isaac triumphantly raised the brand-

new certificate with the big gold seal above his head.

“Ooh-ooh! Well done! Cheers! Today we celebrate.” Bikie gave his friend a tight hug.

“It’s my treat!”

“From Wolanski’s bar? Oh no! Today we’ll go to my McCarthy’s. I’m on a long-term

leave, but I still kinda work there. Itching to pour someone a beer and mix a drink. I haven’t seen any chicks for ages. We live like monks! But I personally have never taken the vow. We’re like a pair of doting parrots, we're perched in this gilded cage.

“OK! Let’s go into town!”

“You can stand at the bar, and I’ll serve you! Live it up, it’s your day!”

Early that evening they set out for the bar. Isaac put on his tattered jeans and a white shirt with skull cufflinks that he kept for special occasions.

“The skulls don’t suit you, Isaac. I’ll make you some cufflinks myself, real heavy ones, will be a unique copy.”

“Why, what’s wrong with these?”

“Nothing’s wrong with them, but nothing’s right with them either.”

“The skull, by the way, is a talisman.”

“I know. It’s just that you somehow manage to look like a coxcomb. But screw that, let’s go!”

Bikie had washed and serviced his Harley for the occasion, and even wiped the dust off

his biker’s jacket.

“Just don’t squeeze your tits against me too hard,” he grinned, gesturing for Isaac to sit on the back.

“You have to offer a girl a drink first before you can expect snuggling like that!” Isaac squeaked flirtatiously in reply.

With the old motor roaring powerfully, they hit the road to the center of Monaco.

At McCarthy’s Bar Isaac felt jealous at first: it was his celebration, but everyone rushed to hug Bikie. They said hello to Isaac too, and Bikie introduced him to everyone. Then he solemnly poured a mug of beer, switched off the music and made a ceremonial announcement.

“Today we’re celebrating the huge success of my friend Isaac, a great inventor who has

conquered rain. He has registered his bizarre design with the patents office! Cheers!”

The entire bar roared thunderously: “Cheers!”

Hearing the sound of clinking glasses on all sides, Isaac felt a sudden rush of happiness.

He’d never been the center of so much attention and absolutely everyone was shaking his hand and wishing him success. Sincere, genuine congratulations from people he didn’t even know.

Everyone smiled at him and a pretty waitress even kissed him on the cheek. The bar was awash with festive cheer.

Bikie proclaimed that the next twenty mugs of beer were on the house, and people surged towards the bar. It wasn’t so much that the guests were desperate for free beer, just that they all wanted to share Isaac’s pride and joy. Since they were caught up in his celebration, they wanted to be involved in it completely.

“We are the champions…” the speakers thundered.

“Of the world!” the entire bar sang, joining in.

“Hoo-ray!” Isaac raised the cry, and everyone supported him with a roar of approval. He was the happiest man in the world, a triumphant conqueror.

After drinking three mugs of beer in half an hour, Isaac felt a sudden urge to go to the bathroom. At the table furthest away, right in the corner, hidden behind the columns, he spotted a solitary figure sitting in the semi-darkness, someone not participating in the general merriment.

Drunk either on happiness or beer, Isaac felt he had to dust off this melancholy customer’s sadness, and he set off confidently towards the mysterious stranger. Oh, so it was a girl!

“Dear God, it’s Michelle!” Isaac thought in delighted surprise.

Michelle was sitting there completely withdrawn and absorbed in her own thoughts.

Standing in front of her was a half-empty glass of a cocktail.

“Michelle, is that you? What are you doing here?”

“Ahh, hi, Isaac. It is Isaac, isn’t it? I’m glad you’re here. Do you think you could bring me some water, please?”

The realization that Michelle remembered his name sent a wave of warmth flooding

through Isaac’s body. He immediately forgave her spiteful look at their previous meeting.

Looking slightly sad and relaxed, she seemed a hundred times more beautiful than before.

“Of course, just a moment, I’ll be straight back.” He realized the girl wasn’t feeling well, and the drunken haze in his head dissipated instantly.

Isaac went in behind the bar, poured a glass of water, added ice and whispered to Bikie:

“Michelle Blanche is sitting in the corner. I went to her before I found Wolanski. I don’t understand what she’s doing here.”

Bikie craned his neck to see who Isaac was talking about.

“I know her. That is, I’ve seen her here before. It’s not the first time she’s come. She doesn’t come often, but she drops in. A strange girl, she always by herself, never talks to anyone.

Probably just taking a break from her jet-setter crowd. Maybe she’s unhappy or maybe she’s just pissed off with them all, and comes here to hide once in a while. Other people’s thoughts are a maze, and women’s thoughts are a maze to the power three. To me they are, for sure.”

“I see. She’s so beautiful!”

“Her face is beautiful. But her figure… I don’t like them that skinny.”

Isaac brought Michelle water and she gulped down half the glass, then got up and asked

him to show her to her car.

Isaac had started dreaming of getting to know her better at last, and he was terribly

disappointed.

“Maybe you could stay for a while? Can I get you anything?”

“No. It’s time I went. I’m tired. Some other time.”

Taking Michelle by the arm, Isaac carefully helped her to come to the exit. The customers were still congratulating him, but Michelle didn’t seem to notice that at all. That was a real bummer. He’d been enjoying a great triumph and she hadn’t seen any of it, and now she was leaving. Isaac’s mood was ruined.

Outside Michelle didn’t look tired. Her driver was waiting at the entrance, holding the door of her luxury car open for her.

“Thanks, Isaac, you’re really sweet! I saw you were celebrating. Congratulations. Enjoy your fling.” Michelle kissed Isaac on both cheeks, like a friend, said goodbye and drove away.

Isaac realized he was in love. Definitely in love with her. What a shame she had to leave.

He could still feel the touch of her lips. He was totally shattered emotionally – how easily and casually Michelle had conquered him, without even trying and surely not just him, but most of the men in her entourage. Isaac stood there in his loneliness for a while; he didn’t want to draw a line under this unexpected encounter. But then he had to go back into the bar.

“Where did you go, Isaac? What’s wrong with your face? What’s got you so down?”

“Just pour me a drink, will you? And not beer, make it a vodka. A double with two shots.

“Oh, your problem is clear enough,” Bikie said with a jolly wink. “We’ve drunk to the

patent, enough of that, now we’re boozing to love.”

Isaac didn’t remember how much longer they spent in the bar and how they got back

home. The next thing he felt was a fierce dryness in his throat and a splitting headache. He didn’t feel like getting out of bed, but the intense pain in his head was so bad that he reluctantly got up and shambled into the kitchen to look for an aspirin.

Chapter 10

After two weeks, Isaac and Bikie, having collected an ocean of information and analyzed it forwards, backwards and sideways, were still stuck right where they had started. They still have not come up with any theory concerning Link’s whereabouts.

They discussed and argued, trying to persuade each other, but in fact did not make any

progress.

Isaac looked at the data they had and summed things up.

“So, our old boy didn’t take many holidays and he loved islands. He was quite fond of

Thailand, Corsica and Sardinia, and he had been to China. He visited America too, but mostly on business, for holidays he usually chose the Mediterranean islands. Sometimes he went just for a weekend, sometimes staying longer and, interestingly, often called a Dutch escort service before setting off. Well yes, sitting in the lab for hours on end does make it pretty hard to find a female companion. The rest is general information: date of birth, education – nothing that gives us any insight.”

“Isaac, why are we trying to find him in the first place? Putting in so much effort? Maybe we ought to try studying the actual technology?”

“Intuition, Bikie. If we find him, maybe we’ll find both our question and answer at the same time. In theory, the man who created it can destroy it too. Lots of people who’ve tried to produce the technology have got nowhere and we want to break it. What if we cause some

disaster? It’s dangerous. Better let Link stop it when we find him.”

“If he can, and if he wants to…”

“We’ll make him. I’m sure he knows a couple of secrets how to persuade people from

downloading.”

“What if he’s a big fan of his eyecandy?”

“Stop cooking Link before catching him. We’ll work it out. By the way, what about the

woman he loves? If he’s alive, she’s probably somewhere close by. Analyze her data. Maybe it’s not so secret, and anyway women don’t worry as much about security, or rather, they’re not as careful as a paranoid scientist. If she’s not from scientific environment, she could easily have left tracks.”

“Well that would be a good idea, except that I haven’t really found any personal

connections for Link.”

“And what about that escort service? Why don’t you think he could have called and dated the same woman all the time?”

This secret side of Link’s life could turn up some leads. Only they had to take into

account that such a service probably didn’t have permanent sites or a permanent telephone number. But they didn’t have anything else, and Bikie started on the analysis.

A few hours later Isaac looked in on his friend, and from Bikie’s excited appearance, he realized they finally had some kind of lead! “I think I know where our pal weaves his nest from time to time.” Bikie was really excited, and Isaac realized he was about to deliver some kind of bombshell. “Every time after he called the agency from this number, there was another call, to a mobile or landline number. The mobile number’s been out of use for a long time, unfortunately, but I wouldn’t have spent much time on it anyway because I came across something more

interesting. The landline number is in Amsterdam, it’s listed to an apartment at an address that came up once at the immigration office. So, according to the report on this address, two girls lived there. A certain Yoshi Kato and a certain Hiro Okamoto. So our man was not only fond of his laboratory flasks, he liked a touch of Japanese flavor.”

“Right…”

“After that I came across Yoshi Kato several times.”

“But Hiro not once, apparently,” Isaac guessed with a smile.

“Bull’s-eye! Well done, kiddo, you catch on quick.”

“And I’d even venture a guess that you’ve already gathered the info on Yoshi.”

“Bull’s-eye again!”

“And you’ve found…”

“So far shit-all,” Bikie replied vulgarly. “Apart from the fact that she has a residence permit in England! But hang on; I haven’t been digging for long.”

“Well now, Amsterdam is not Tokyo, we can make an on-site inspection. Link had a cozy

set-up, a one-hour flight and no prying eyes. I think I’ll take a flight over there,” Isaac summed up.

Thank God prostitution in Holland was legal, so they had a fair chance of finding the

Japanese girl or her friend. Even though Bikie was working away tirelessly and the search for information needed to be continued, it was impossible to stop him from taking a trip to Amsterdam.

“You know that we haven’t got any money to spare, don’t you? I’ll manage on my own,”

Isaac assured him.

“I agree to a hotel with a half of a star, I even agree to sleep with you in the same bed, I will not eat or drink, but I’m definitely going to Amsterdam, that’s non-negotiable… Oh, and I’m taking back my vow not to drink.”

Realizing that resistance was futile, Isaac called Peter and warned him they would be

going to Amsterdam. Peter laughed and asked on what dates they would be away.

From Monaco to Amsterdam is fifteen hundred kilometers. After a small argument with

Bikie, who, having won himself a trip, promptly suggested going on his Harley, the alternative of going by plane won out. Neither a car nor a motorbike was convenient in Amsterdam.

Isaac bought the very cheapest tickets and found a budget apartment with two beds

through a mobile phone app.

Bikie was so excited he wouldn’t let Isaac sleep until three in the morning. Although they didn’t really need to discuss their plan further, they talked it through briefly. They would contact the escort agency – there probably weren’t many good ones, and they could not believe that Link had used a cheap one. They would try to find both the Japanese women there.