PART SEVEN
Tropic arrived at Crimson’s office
just before seven. The sky had almost lost all its light and Crimson
sat behind the desk, using it, it seemed, almost as a barrier, his
face lit only by the small lamp near it’s corner. Tropic stood expectantly
waiting for the spy to speak. Slowly he placed the package he was
carrying on one of the empty chairs. The silence itself was a near
physical presence in the large room.
"What’s in the package?", Crimson
said at last.
Tropic stared at the spy for a moment. "My clever disguise."
Crimson nodded and reached beneath his desk to place a silver steel
briefcase in front of him. He snapped the locks back and pulled out
a small box. The spy held it for a moment then slid it across the
desktop to the hero.
Tropic glanced at the box warily and then at
Crimson. The spy simply nodded and Tropic opened it. Inside were two
cylinders that looked like cigar tubes. He raised his eyebrows in
question.
"The antidote.", Crimson said softly.
Tropic examined the
tubes carefully. Each had a screw top and he twisted one of them open.
His nostrils were met with a strong, pungent odor. He replaced the
cap and asked, "Are you sure?"
Crimson nodded. "Yes, it was derived
from the original compound."
"The original compound?", Tropic frowned.
"Yes.", Crimson sighed. "About a year or so ago, this same Crey scientist
that the Malta is using shopped it around to various government agencies.
We were all very interested. The military applications alone were
astounding but…it was not very effective on men and let’s face it,
most of your front line troops and board room commanders are men.
So we passed."
"But you kept the compound."
"We’re not stupid."
Tropic
snorted. "Um Hum. So how do I…"
"Just get the women to take a good
whiff. The results should be immediate."
Tropic nodded and, putting
the tubes back in their box placed it with his package on the chair.
He glanced at the spy again and saw that he was staring into the open
case. Then Crimson reached in and pulled out a small velvet sack.
The spy tossed the black bag lightly on the desk. Tropic scooped it
up and looked at Crimson. The red-suited man sat back in his chair
rubbing his forehead. Tropic looked at the bag in his hand and gently
opened it. Even in the low light, the revealed stones glittered, sparkling
with their wealth. He gently stuck his finger into the bag and moved
some of the gems around staring intently at the diamonds, rubies and
sapphires.
Tropic nodded and said softly as he closed the bag, "You
came through."
Crimson laughed ruefully. "I was motivated." The spy
watched as Tropic gathered his belongings and moved towards the door.
"Hey, try to get those diamonds back to me, all right?"
"Well, I’m
not going to let the Malta keep them.", he said with his back to the
man. Tropic turned to the spy. "I’m bringing the women back here when
I get them out. Be ready."
Crimson nodded in agreement. "I’ll have
Med-Techs here to check them out, make sure they’re OK." He watched
as the hero continued to move towards the door.
"Tropic!", Crimson
called out again when the hero reached the door. Tropic turned and
looked at the red-suited man through narrowed eyes. Crimson folded
his hands in front of him and stared at them as he spoke, not daring
to meet the hero’s eyes. "If I hadn’t got you what you needed, would
you really have killed me?" Finally Crimson looked directly at man
across the room.
Tropic stood for a moment, his hand resting on the
doorknob. Then, at last, he said coolly, "Oh, yeah.", opened the door
and left.
Crimson sighed and shook his head. Then he spun in his chair
and stared out into the night sky. "Good luck.", he whispered to the
empty room.
Tropic dropped down onto the roof of the six story building
across the parking lot from the Ambassador Hotel. He looked over at
the resort as he walked behind the large air and heating unit and
placed his package on the waist high duct that attached to it. He
opened the package, carefully emptied its contents and began to don
his disguise, slipping it over his costume.
Checking himself in a
mirror that he had brought with him, he nodded in approval. Where
once stood a costumed crime fighter now stood a corporate businessman.
Tropic wore a charcoal suit with a black silk shirt and a sapphire
tie. Gold cufflinks with onyx inserts adorned his sleeves and his
feet were shod with black alligator shoes. He looked at the gold Rolex
on his left wrist and saw it was about 7:45. Still plenty of time.
Now, however, the most difficult part of his costume. Tropic’s skin
was a natural red color, much like sunburn, due to the intense heat
his body generated. It had been that way since the day of his creation.
And his blonde hair normally stood straight up from his scalp, high
and pointed. The hero sighed and looked at himself in the mirror once
more. Then, placing the mirror next to the wrapping paper of his now
empty package, he closed his eyes and gathered his energy into himself.
Slowly, with arms outstretched, he released his great power, sending
waves of heat from his body. As the tremendous heat dispersed, his
skin became paler and paler until, finally, it was a normal Caucasian
coloring, albeit, a Caucasian with no tan whatsoever.
As for his hair,
Tropic had washed it earlier that day and had applied a relaxant to
it causing it to lay long, falling just below his shoulders. It was
the blondness of it that might serve to give him away. Again Tropic
concentrated and, gripping his hands into fists, he closed his eyes
and shook with effort. More heat generated throughout his system and
slowly his hair was leeched of its color turning a silver white. Tropic
blew the remaining breath from his lungs and looked at himself in
his mirror. "Skin: white; hair and goatee: white.", he thought to
himself. "That’s it then."
Tropic patted the pockets of his suit jacket,
lightly touching the invitation, the vials of antidote and the bag
of gems. Smiling grimly, he leapt from the roof and floated gracefully
to the earth. Then, with purpose, crossed to the Ambassador.
The hotel
was awash with light. With two five star restaurants, bar and meeting
rooms the Ambassador was always in a constant state of controlled
chaos. Expensive cars and limousines continuously pulled into the
resort’s drive and the rich and powerful continuously emerged from
them.
A long black limo stopped in front of the hotel’s doors and
three beautiful women exited. Tropic, in his expensive suit, fell
in directly behind them appearing, to anyone who was watching, that
he had got out of the limo with them. With an expression of bored
arrogance on his face, Tropic appeared as though he had been there
all along. He quickly climbed the few steps to the front doors and
entered the luxury resort.
Inside, he paused to survey his surroundings.
The lobby of the place was huge. Straight ahead, the old oak wood
of the front desk sat solidly against the back wall. Hotel staff checked
in guests and gave directions to their powerful patrons. To the right,
entrances to the restaurants and bar rested behind a baby grand piano
being played by a young man in a tuxedo. Circular sofas dotted the
center section of the hall and to the left, up two steps, was the
hallway leading to the meeting rooms.
And people were everywhere.
Men were either dressed in tuxedos or wildly expensive suits. Women
were adorned with evening gowns or some of the wildest haute couture
this side of Paris. Tropic, in his disguise, fit right in, blending
with the rich and not so rich, his look of sophistication melding
perfectly with the bustle of the extravagant hotel.
Tropic looked
towards the meeting room area. He knew that the Malta would have several
of their agents stationed inside the Ambassador. He also knew they
would all be wearing clothing to hide their true nature, like him.
Finally he saw what he was looking for. Standing to the right at the
top of the second step, was a man in a black suit. He didn’t look
out of the ordinary but he looked like he didn’t belong. His hair
was cut short and his nose was crooked, bent from fighting. And the
hero saw the earplug and wire in the man’s left ear.
That was his
man.
Tropic crossed the lobby and walked purposefully to the Malta
operative. The hero stopped on the step below the man and said in
a heavy German accent, "Good Evening. I believe I haf an invitation
to deese event."
The man smiled and answered politely. "Of course,
sir. May I see your invitation?"
Tropic handed the guard the invitation
that Asam had given him. He looked about casually as the solider examined
it. He didn’t think the accountant had set him up but he was still
concerned. And he would hate to ruin the old hotel’s lobby.
At last
the guard returned the invitation to him. "Thank you, Mr…?"
"Von Feuer,"
Tropic answered. "Kurt von Feuer"
"Mr. von Feuer.", The guard smiled
politely at him. "If you would please continue down this hallway.
To the right you will see a desk with our people behind it and they
will complete your…registration."
Tropic nodded his head once and
moved past the Malta soldier. At last he expelled the breath he hadn’t
realized he was holding. Behind him he heard the guard on his mic
alerting the next station of his arrival. Tropic straightened himself
and murmured, "Here we go."
Tropic walked casually down the wide corridor
passing two meeting rooms on either side of him, their heavy oak double
doors bearing placards naming them "The Atlas Room" and "The Titan
Room". He continued on until, rounding a slight corner, he saw three
men ahead of him. Two sat behind a folding table covered with a black
tablecloth. One was skinny and balding, gray hair ringing his scalp.
He was certainly not a field operative, appearing to the hero like
a loan officer at the local bank. The other was dark haired, fat and
had glasses so thick his eyes were magnified to saucers. If there
were a picture in the dictionary of a bookworm, this would be it.
The third stood behind and to the right of them guarding the door,
dressed in Malta fatigues and carrying a Sapper weapon. Tropic approached
and smiled at all three.
"Ah, Herr von Feuer," bald, skinny man said,
"thank you so much for coming. I will need to see your invitation
again." Tropic handed the man his invitation and disinterestedly tugged
his sleeves. The Malta man examined the invitation closely and then,
from below the table, pulled out a purple scan light and ran it over
the invitation. Turning the paper over he did the same to the underside
of it as well.
Tropic looked at the Sapper, smiled slightly and then
at the skinny man again. "You are being finished, yes?", he asked
in a bored tone and checked his watch again.
Finally, the man smiled
and placed the invitation to the side. "Yes, sir, everything appears
to be in order." He glanced at his bookish partner and then at Tropic.
"There is one more item we need. If you would be so kind…" He held
out his hand expectantly.
Tropic raised his eyebrow at the fellow
and looked as though the man had just offered him a bug. Tropic sighed.
"Of course," and then pulled the small bag of gems from his pocket,
passing it to the outstretched hand of the enemy.
The skinny man handed
the package immediately to the bookworm. The fat man opened the bag
and poured some of the jewels onto the black clothed table. He then
picked a diamond up and, inserting a jewelers glass in his eye, began
to examine the stone. He repeated the process three more times with
different gems. At last the fellow nodded to his thin partner, gathered
the spilled stones into their bag and placed them in a black metal
briefcase of the type Crimson had used earlier.
The skinny Malta agent
smiled broadly at Tropic and said, "Thank you, Herr von Feuer.
Please…enter.
The event will take place at nine p.m. sharp. Good luck to you, sir."
Tropic bowed slightly to the men and strode past the Sapper guarding
the doors. He noted that the sale was taking place in "The Hero Room"
and shook his head. Well, no one said the Malta didn’t have a sense
of humor. He pushed through the oak door and stopped, stunned, just
inside it