The Lady and her Shadow

They are left alone. Tom examines the rooms closely and can discover no hidden microphones or cameras. If the devices were embedded in the walls, he would never find them. He concludes that they are truly alone. When they awaken in the morning, their remains of dinner are gone and breakfast is ready. When Lewis comes to clear the dishes. Tom asks "If we want anything how do we get it?"

Lewis half smiles and points to the telephone in the corner. "Call and anything you want will be provided. When she wants you, she will send someone, probably me. I suggest that you do not disappoint her."

Tom looks at him carefully. There was something different about him. No one else would notice but he did. It was in his bearing or stance. Something had made a vast change in Lewis. He saw Tom staring at him and raised an eyebrow at him. He acknowledges the change. If Lewis wants him to know he will tell him.

While they were here, he had ensconced Sloan in the bedroom. It probably wasn’t necessary but it made a statement. She was his and he would not risk her.

They waited and let the time pass. They talked and became closer. Tom knew this was part of her plan, the other option was to push Sloan away and he didn’t want to do that.

There is nothing for them to do except to be together. They talk of the future. The fact that now was the most important thing, their tomorrow was non-existent. He had lived like that for years, now he was returning to it and taking her with him. He told her over and over he was sorry for doing this to her. He knew she didn’t blame him but he still felt as if he should have done something different.

The third morning he was sent for.

A worn and tired looking Lewis comes to see him even before breakfast. "She wants to see you, now." Tom dresses and is ready to go in minutes. He lets her know he is going. They have discussed the possibilities and both are worried.

He follows Lewis to the room she was in previously, her interview room he supposed. Lewis is visibly weary, extremely unusual. Tom forbears asking any questions this time and merely follows. After they enter and the door has been shut, she tells him. "My Shadow, go and rest. I don’t think I need any help with this. I doubt I’m in danger at this time." Tom sees the circles under her eyes and fatigue in her demeanor. They have been busy for a very long time.

Lewis shakes his head. "No, I sleep when you do." He resumes his place.

"Stubborn, you always were stubborn." She allows him to defy her.

Tom asks. "Why?" He knows they knew what the question meant.

"It is not necessary. You have too much to lose and nothing to gain. I assume you have been discussing your situation. Have you come to a conclusion?"

He nods at her. "Conceivably we could be imprisoned here forever. Certainly a gilded cage, but a cage non-the-less. What would it take for us to be free? Is it possible to be free?"

"You taught him well, my Shadow. He wants not only his life but his freedom as well; lesser men would be satisfied not to die. Yes, it is possible. But it depends upon many variables. Of which you are only one. Your freedom may be bought at a price, but it is a limited freedom. I must keep you on a chain. On call to me, else someone may take it upon himself to eliminate you. That would be, to say the least, unpleasant for all concerned. The passing of our recent guest would be mild in comparison."

Her recent guest. That explains the preoccupation they had. She disposed of her guest in only two days? She was in a hurry. He had heard tales of people taking months to die in her care. That was what he feared.

She rises to speak to him. "I have set some things in motion. We may have to move faster than I had anticipated. I wish you to train with my Shadow; your skills must be at their peak. There is an enormous amount of data you must absorb. I need your…young lady to inform her friends to stop their efforts to find either of you. I wish you both to be listed as missing and presumed dead for now. If they stir things up too much, my plan may not work as well as I would like. It must look like you’ve been abandoned.

Tom nods. It’s starting out like any other mission. "She wants to talk to her friends. Her friend, Dr. Ed Tate, was drugged. He was in the hospital when she was taken. Dr. Walter Attwood and Ray Peterson are missing. If I’m going to be in training, what will she do?"

She puts out her hand and Lewis puts a sheaf of papers in them. "Here’s some information. The lab has been reopened." She leafs through the papers. "Dr. Tate is still in the hospital. My reports say he is being observed but should be released soon. Shadow are these stripped records?" Lewis nods at her. "Take these. They will give you some of the things you need to know."

Tom glances at the papers in his hands. Stripped surveillance reports, her organization overlooked nothing. All the information, but no way of knowing how they came about it. "And Sloan? She can’t stay idle for days perhaps weeks."

"I’ll think on that. This afternoon you both will be video taped to show her friends that you are well."

"How will we know that they receive the tape?"

"How about an e-mail address? There must be something that could be said in an e-mail to confirm that they got it."

Tom nods at her. Something could be arranged. He knows she means what she says when she says that the search for them must stop. Whatever plan she has, concerns about it must be addressed. She has given him hope that they can leave but it will be only on her terms. If that means that they must be dead for a while than they must be dead.

"I’ll talk to Sloan about it. When do I start training? How much data must I absorb? And who is my target?’

"You will start tomorrow. As for data, there is much, you can start with the blueprints and data concerning the guards. I hope you have no need of this information but if you do, it may be the most valuable to you. It would be better if your young lady did not know the details of what you must learn. But you will doubtlessly be doing some of the studying in your quarters. Make sure she understands this."

"The less she knows the safer she is. That is something I will not forget." She did not answer his last question. His target must be so dangerous that he will not be told who it is until the last minute. Who is she protecting? Him or herself?

"Very well. The first packet of information will be delivered in a few hours. Make good use of your time."

She waves them out the door. Short and sweet, he may never again be free. Why she is doing this he doesn’t know, he only knows that by cooperating he may yet save them. He clings to the fact that he has never known her to lie. He ignores that she may lie to the dead.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lewis shuts the door and Tom leans back against it, the sheaf of papers still in his hand. He looks them over again. Things had changed. The lab was open. Sloan told him that it was closed and emptied that night. It’s only been a few days. He rubs his eyes. Has it been? It feels like weeks at least. He doesn’t know what the next few weeks will bring, but he hopes he will gain freedom, at least for her. If he stays, then he stays. She will be better off without him anyway. The thought tears at him. He had been foolish to think that she could care for him, but she did. He knew that. He wonders if he should drive her away. To do that would hurt her so much, he has no answers. He doesn’t even know if it’s something he could do.

She’s there looking at him, waiting for him. He does the only thing he can think of. He goes to her and wraps his arms around her. He has no words to tell her.

"Here’s some reports about Walter and Ray. Ed is getting better. He should be released in a day or two. The lab has been opened up again." He passes the papers he holds to her. They sit together on the couch as she looks over them.

"Will I be able to make a phone call to Ed and Walter? I know that they’re worried about me and you."

"She wants us to make a video tape to give to Walter. They are supposed to have us listed as missing, presumed dead. She doesn’t want any interference." He holds her close. Better to tell her now. Later it will be worse. "I’ve got to go into training with Lewis. I don’t think she’ll use drugs. She hasn’t mentioned them. But I’ve got to study information about my target. Sloan, you must not know what the information is. The less you know, the safer you are. I am a chameleon, a spy and, at times, a killer, but I don’t want you in danger. This is not the life I want for you. Now our lives are inextricably intertwined. If I could, I would send you away so you would be safe, but I can’t. I wish, I don’t know what I wish. I have no answers, for either of us."

"I know. Remember when we were on the run?" He nods at her. He thought that would be the low point in their relationship but this was worse, far worse. "I learned what your life was like. I don’t want you to have to return to it. Can she be trusted? Will we be better off by cooperating or will she just use us, one against the other."

There is a sharp rap at the door and breakfast is delivered, silently. When the men leave, they eat, still discussing their options. "She has promised us freedom, but it depends upon the outcome of this mission. I think that, perhaps, it depends upon other things as well. But it will not be an unlimited freedom, at least not yet. She says if she does that, someone may take it into their head to eliminate me, or you. That would be unpleasant. And when she says unpleasant she means she must take action."

"What does she do? That she must take action. What is her place?"

"She is The Lady. There is no other name for her. To invoke her name was to invite death. And now I belong to her, as do you. Don’t mistake how gently we have been treated for what it could be like. My fear is that we will no longer have worth to her. If that happens it may take us a very long time to die, if she so desires."

"She wants a video tape to be sent to Walter. So we know that they got it they are to send us an e-mail. We need to give them something to tell us so that we know they got the tape. For some reason she wants us to feel comfortable."

They sit and eat and Sloan thinks. "Tom, have you thought that perhaps she wants you to concentrate on whatever your mission is?"

"That could be. I need to concentrate on it then, if it’s that important to her.