Excerpt: Differel Derivative-2

Copyright (C) 2010 by Kevin L. O'Brien

Within moments of getting off the phone with the Girls, Sir Differel Van Helsing was on the move. She punched the house-wide button on the intercom in the phone set and shouted. "Aelfraed; my bedroom, now!" Then she went up to her suite on the third floor through the library.

She headed into her dressing room, but didn't bother to pack. Except for the clothes she wore and her glasses, all she wanted was her passport and a couple of weapons. She took off her jacket and opened a bureau drawer, then removed a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife and slipped it behind her into her belt. Next she put on a shoulder holster and selected a compact pistol. She inserted a clip and rammed it into place with the heel of her hand, cocking it and slipping it into the holster before putting the jacket back on.

She heard a knock on the door as she collected a half-dozen magazines from another drawer. "You rang, My Lady?" Aelfraed said.

She glanced up at him as she stuffed the clips into her outer jacket pockets, then did a double take when she saw the amused half-smile on his face. "What's the joke?"

"It was the way you worded your request. It could be misconstrued as a double entendre."

Differel scowled. "I am not amused, butler!"

"Of course not, Madam. How long will you be in Denver?"

She flashed him a displeased expression. "Were you eavesdropping?" she asked, walking up to him.

He stepped out the doorway to let her to enter the boudoir. "No, Madam, but it wasn't hard to figure out. You receive an urgent call from the young ladies, and immediately afterwards you summon me and I find you packing. QED."

"Hmph. Bloody showoff," she said as she retrieved her passport from her rolltop desk and slipped it into her inside jacket pocket.

"Yes, Madam, I couldn't agree more."

She grabbed a tin of cigarillos and stuffed it into her outer jacket pocket. "Vlad snatched my son from school and took him to the Girls' place. He's injured, I don't know how badly." She picked up a box of matches and inserted them into a front pants pocket.

For the first time in her entire life, Differel saw him boldly display an emotion, in this case consternated shock. "Master Henry hurt?!"

"No, thank God! The Girls told me he's fine. It's Vlad who's injured. But I have to get out there right away." She checked her wallet to make sure she had cash, her credit cards, and her driving license.

Aelfraed's face returned to its normal expressionless mask, but it looked more grim than dignified. "I will make all the arrangements, Your Ladyship."

"Thank you." And she turned to leave.

"And don't worry, if Master Henry is with Team Girl, he is in very good hands."

Differel hesitated at the door. "I hope so," she said over her shoulder, "though I would be more reassured if Mayv was with him."

She proceeded to the ground floor, went out the delivery entrance and across the parking lot to the garage, and took one of the Jaguar XFR sedans, roaring off without a word of explanation. She tore through the main gatehouse with barely a pause, just long enough for the automated systems to register the tracking chip in the car's computer, and proceeded on around the park circuit road to the military road, then out through the gate in the perimeter security wall. The guards had the gate open and waved her through, thanks to Aelfraed, which was a good thing considering that she had no intention of stopping.

Her cold rage and burning apprehension had barely subsided by the time she reached the Caerleon airbase outside of Norwich. A courier jet was fueled and waiting for her on the runway, so it was with some impatience that she changed into the anti-G and flight suits, and stuffed her clothes and other items into a carryon bag. Courier jets were capable of sustained Mach 3 flight, and carried enough fuel to get them anywhere in the world. They were used to ferry passengers and information when more conventional lines of communications were inoperative or compromised, or commercial travel was too slow. And they had vertical takeoff and landing capability, so they could set down on any convenient level spot big enough to accommodate them.

The pilot helped her strap in and connected the hoses to her suit. He then settled into his own seat, and in minutes she was in the air, heading out over the country for the Atlantic. Unfortunately, even at maximum speed, it would still take some 2 hours to reach Denver, and during that time she had nothing else to do except torture herself with speculation about what she would find, or what could happen in the interim. At least she didn't have to worry about special clearances to enter the US. Since her recent rapprochement with the leader of Unit 666, Lt. Gen. Morgan Leia Ross, she had standing permission to enter US jurisdiction anytime she needed to as long as she alerted her, and she trusted Aelfraed to do that.

When she finally arrived at a Caerleon Order-owned ranch in the plains of eastern Colorado, she was surprised to find Medb there to meet her instead of the girls. She took a moment to remove the anti-G suit, then jogged out to the waiting car.

"Any further word?" she asked the massive woman as she tossed the carryon bag in the back and got into the passenger-side seat.

"No," she replied in a curt manner, "feel free to use the telephone."

Differel looked down beside her and saw a car phone set into the center console. She frowned as she picked up the handset. Something was off with Medb, she seemed distracted, as if she was having trouble staying focused.

As Medb pulled away from the landing area and up the ranch rode, she looked over the number pad. There were, in addition to the twelve numbered keys, twelve buttons, one of which was labeled 'Mabuse'. She pressed it and held the receiver up to her ear. She heard a dial tone, then a rapid series of beeps in different tones, and finally a ringing signal.

Sunny picked up on the third ring. "Mabuse's Mad Scientist Imporium!" she said. "What's your pleasure; monsters, bioweapons, or alien sex?"

"Give me the phone, ya ditz!" she heard Eile yell; then: "Hello?"

"Eile? It's Differel. I've just arrived. I'm east of Denver; ETA . . ."

"Forty-five minutes," Medb said.

"Forty-five. What's your status?"

"Mabuse is still examining Dracula, but she should have a report by the time you arrive."

"How's . . ." She almost couldn't get the words out. "How's Henry?"

"He's just fine. We've got him here with us."

"Why weren't you here to meet me?"

"Mabuse wouldn't let us leave; she's got some kinda new security protocol. I hope ya brought a change of underwear, 'cause yer gonna be stuck here for awhile."

"No, unfortunately, I didn't."

"Heh, that's okay, after you arrive we can have Giovanna pick up some things for us."

"Very well, I'll see you soon. Differel out." And he replaced the handset.

She looked at Medb. "Have you found out anything?"

"I only learned of this a short while; I haven't had time to investigate." And she lapsed into silence. Differel knew better than to try to engage her in idle conversation when she was being reticent, so she hunkered down in the seat and tried to force herself to relax.

Mabuse's lab was located on the grounds of what used to be Stapleton International Airport, in the middle of a park. Medb parked and led Differel up a walkway to a small hut. She opened the door using an electronic key and they went inside. It looked like a storage shed, but as soon as the former queen closed the door, the floor began to descend into the earth, while the rest of the hut stayed at ground level.

It took longer than she imagined it would to reach the lab. She couldn't estimate the rate of descent, though it did seem somewhat slow. Nonetheless, the lab must have been fairly deep regardless. Eventually, however, a door appeared to rise out of the floor in one wall, and the elevator finally came to a stop, but the door didn't open.

"Hiya, Mayv, Differel!" Sunny's voice squealed over an intercom. "Welcome to Mabuse's Secret Lair!"

"Put a sock in it, ya butthead!" Eile replied over the same intercom. "Stand by, guys, We're gonna scan ya to make sure yer alone. You might wanna cover yer eyes."

Differel heard a hum above her, and looking up saw a series of horizontal blue-green lasers close off the elevator shaft, arranged in a parallel pattern like the bars of a cage.

"That's ta keep anything from getting away," Eile explained. Then a series of horizontal red-violet lasers forming a grid pattern appeared below them.

"Those'll detect anything invisible," Eile continued. "They're low powered, so they won't burn, but they're intense; they could blind ya, so cover yer eyes." And the grid started to descend toward her.

Differel took off her glasses and held them by an arm in her teeth as she placed her free hand over her face. She felt warm spots of light play over her exposed skin as the lasers ran down her body, and after a couple of minutes she heard Sunny say, "Clear! No extra passengers."

"Okay," Eile said, "you can look now."

Differel lowered her hand and put her glasses back on. The red-violet lasers were gone, but the blue-green ones were still in place. The door opened, revealing what looked like a foyer of some sort. In front of the exit was a booth, with glass doors front and back, but solid walls on the sides. She could see Eile in the room through the glass doors.

The nearest glass door opened. "You first, Mayv," Eile said.

The massive woman walked into the booth and the door closed. Above her head, twin lights, one attached to each wall, turned on, then started to descend on runners. They looked like the lights of flatbed scanner.

"This is ta make sure yer Human," Eile explained. The lights ran down all the way to the floor, then shut off.

"She's clean!" Sunny announced.

The far glass door opened and Medb walked out. It closed, and the nearest door opened again.

"Yer next, Differel."

She walked inside, not without some misgivings, and turned to watch the door close behind her.

"Does yer bag contain anything that's sensitive ta X-rays?"

She turned to face Eile. "No."

On her right, a hatch cover slide open, revealing a small compartment behind it.

"Put yer bag in there. We'll scan it and give it back to ya once yer cleared."

Differel stuffed the bag inside and the hatch closed.

"Okay, stand by."

The lights came on and ran up the walls, scanning her body. Differel remained still, hoping this would be the last obstacle.

When the lights reached the top, they shut off, and after a few seconds Sunny said, "She's clean, too!"

The glass door in front of her opened and Differel stepped out of the booth. The first thing she noticed was that the foyer was actually a control room. Sunny stood off to the left behind a console, and monitors covered the walls showing different parts of the lab. The second was the robots. There were three of them. One looked like a posable artist's mannequin, but with fully articulated hands. The other two resembled animated suits of armor, with bullet-shaped heads attached directly to the body and short "capes" of thick metal draped over the shoulders, pectorals, and upper back with high collars surrounding two-thirds of the head. Both appeared to be constructed from some kind of smooth, flat, gun-metal gray material, with no seams, rivets, or welds. Both had a trio of camera eyes set in the upper halves of their "faces", and a double series of tiny holes below them that Differel took to be nostrils, but the mannequin had two clamshell ears the armored suits did not, while they had round speakers in the lower halves of their faces that the mannequin did not. The mannequin held a weapon that Differel recognized as an advanced-design assault rifle with a gun and grenade launcher barrel, while the suits had chain guns attached to one shoulder and grenade cannons attached to the other.

She heard the booth door shut behind her, and when she looked over her shoulder she saw the elevator door slide shut.

"Welcome to the Secret Mabuse Laboratory for Mad Science," Eile said as she approached her with a lopsided grin.

"Hey!" Sunny objected as she came out from behind the console, "that's my line!"

The mannequin walked over to a large box attached to the right side of the booth. "That's one of Mabuse's robots," Eile explained as Differel watched it. "She calls it a 'Model 375 — Generation I', but we just call it a Type 1. The other two are Model 375 — Generation II's, and we call them Type 2's."

The Type 1 removed Differel's bag from the box and brought it over to her. Differel was amazed at how smooth and fluid its movements were, and how silent it was! She couldn't hear any clinking, whirring, or clanking noises, not even a hum.

"Oh!" Sunny squeaked as Differel accepted it, "I forgot to tell you! The bag's clean, no infestations, but she brought a gun. The computer identified it as an L117A2 9mm semi-automatic pistol, which is based on the SIG Sauer P229."

Eile gave her an irritated look. "Stop showing off, ya butthead!" Sunny smiled and giggled.

Differel gave them a lopsided smile with a raised eyebrow. "Since when did you two become so knowledgeable about guns?"

"Since we started working for Gen. Ross," Eile replied. "Though with you around, it's still not a bad idea."

"Hmph; bloody cheek. Will Mabuse mind, my being armed?"

"Probably. She'd say you didn't need it with all her robots around, but," and she shrugged, "we don't care. We know how naked you feel without it."

Differel wasn't sure whether to feel grateful or insulted. Instead she said, "I'd like to see Henry."

"Don'cha wanna change and clean up first?" Sunny asked.

"Yeah, Mabuse has got a room ready for you."

Differel looked down at her front and pulled on the fabric of her flight suit. "That sounds like a good idea," she agreed.

"Great!" Sunny cheered. "Then follow us! You, too, Mayv, there's a room for you also."

Surprised, Differel realized she had forgotten Medb was even with her. She looked around and found the massive woman behind the console, examining it. She found it odd that she hadn't said a word that entire time.

Medb looked up and nodded. Eile opened the door as she joined them.

Differel noted that the hall curved away from them both to the left and right. "This place has only one level," Eile explained to her, as she led them off to the right, "but it's designed as three concentric rings around a central core. We're in the outer ring, which has administrative offices, conference rooms, guest rooms, a lounge, and the cafeteria. The inner ring has experimental labs, supported by the central core, while the middle ring has the research labs. This whole place is powered by something she calls a 'direct energy conversion reactor' buried beneath us. I don't understand how it works, but it's supposed to generate electricity directly from nuclear fission products."

They stopped at a non-descript door, which had a code painted on it: O-g-3. Differel noticed that the controls were very simple: an electronic press-plate to open and close the door, an indicator light showing green, and an alpha-numerical pad. Eile pressed the plate switch to open the door, and Differel figured the pad was only for locking it.

"This is yer room, Mayv. Mabuse has called a meeting for an hour from now, so that should give both of you a chance ta rest and freshen up."

Medb didn't say a word, she just nodded and went inside.

"What's up with her?" Sunny asked as Eile closed the door.

"I don't know," Differel replied as they resumed walking. "She seemed rather short with me at the airstrip, and she's barely said a dozen words since."

"She's probably just got a lot on her mind," Eile said. "With Dracula outta commission, she's the only one who can figure out who's behind all this."

"Vlad is not a machine!" Differel snapped, feeling testy.

"I'm sorry, Differel," Eile said as she stopped at another door, "I didn't mean it like that."

Now she felt guilty for getting angry. This wasn't her fault. "No, no," she said, waving her free hand, "I'm the one who should apologize. I shouldn't have bitten your head off. I'm just worried about him and Henry."

"Hey, don't worry," Sunny said, putting her hand on her shoulder, "it's okay. We'd probably do the same thing in your place."

Eile opened the door; this one was designated O-g-5. "This is yer room. You can check out a diagram of the lab's layout on yer computer. There's an icon on the desktop. If you need anything, just press 'Call' on the intercom and say it, and a robot'll get it to you in a few minutes. You can call us by punching 'O-g-7'; that's our room."

"Where's Henry?"

"Right next door," Sunny said, "in O-g-8, but we put him to bed a coupla hours ago. He's not used to local time, and with all the excitement and everything, he was getting kinda owly, so we gave him something to eat and tucked him in for a nap." Then she giggled. "He'll probably be up at midnight after we're sound asleep!"

"We could wake him if ya like," Eile volunteered.

"No, let him sleep for now. As long as he's all right, I want to hear what Mabuse has to say about Vlad."

"Okay, sure. You can smoke in here," Eile continued, "and the lounge, but Mabuse would prefer you don't do it anywhere else."

"I understand," Differel said as she walked into the room.

"Remember," Sunny said, "meeting in one hour! Just come to the Main Conference Room."

"I'll remember, and thank you."

The Girls smiled as Eile closed the door. Differel looked and saw the same controls, minus the keypad but with a large, garish yellow and red-striped pull handle beneath them, on her side. The indicator showed green, so she knew she wasn't locked in. She didn't like being paranoid, but after so many years it had become something of a habit, and under these circumstances she figured it wasn't bad policy.

She tossed the bag onto the bed and looked around the room. It was small, but not as Spartan as she expected. In fact, there were a number of homey touches that made it more comfortable. In addition to the bed, there was a desk and computer with a padded office chair, an entertainment system, and a kitchen nook with a refrigerator. Curious, she went over and opened it; it was stocked with food and drink. At the sight of it, her mouth watered. She figured she should have a snack before the meeting. It had been shortly before four when the Girls called. It must be going on, . . . what? She glanced at a wall clock; it was after 1:15 local time. That would make it 8:15 in Britain, she calculated; well past her supper time, and she had missed tea and had had a very light lunch. No wonder she was hungry.

A door in one wall revealed a closet with a bureau, while another led to a bathroom with a shower stall. She did feel a bit grimy, probably from the flight. She decided to take a shower first. She unpacked her bag and laid out her clothes and things, then unzipped and stripped off the flight suit, followed by her underwear. She took a towel from a rack and wrapped it around her hair, turned on the water and let it heat up, then stepped in and closed the stall. She turned her back to the showerhead and let the hot water soothe and loosen her muscles. For several moments she relaxed, but then the situation intruded back into her mind. Some persons had tried to harm her son, had harmed Vlad Drakulya. Her fists clenched at the thought. They would pay, every one of them, if she had to hunt them down all by herself.