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Chapter Five

Wrong Signals

The deliberate play of a card for the purpose of giving information to a  partner.

*

"Sir, I think you should listen to this," the agent once known as A said. It was still difficult for him to call Klaus by name, and equally difficult for the Major to break the habit of calling his men by their previous codenames. Time would take care of this. If they all weren't killed first, that is.

Klaus looked up from the computer screen before him. "What is it, A?"

"It's from the bug in the room with...erm, the Earl's men. Something...odd."

Klaus's eyebrows went up. He had hoped to learn something by keeping Eroica separated from the others. He went over, slipped on a pair of headphones, and listened to several minutes of James griping.

*

"Why did they have to lock me up with you?" Bonham moaned.

"Shut up!" James snapped. "You have no idea how serious this is."

"You're joking?"

"They're gonna interrogate the Earl."

Bonham sighed heavily. "That's bloody obvious, James. And us too, most like."

"Don't you realize? I started the deprogramming already. To switch off the impersonation."

"Come again?"

"As soon as the mission was over, I was supposed to start the deprogramming..."

*

Klaus sat back in his seat, his eyes narrowing. Did he just hear correctly? "Play that last bit back."

A nodded and did as instructed. Then he paused the recording and waited as Klaus continued to scowl, mulling over James' bizarre phrasing. Surely, his English wasn't failing him that badly. After a moment, he signaled for the recording to continue.

*

"James, what are you babbling about?" Bonham moaned. "D'you mean all that debriefing prep work?"

"No! Not debriefing, deprogramming."

"Deprogramming of what? The Earl? Eroica?" A pause. "All of it?" Another pause. This time James could be heard making a small affirmative noise. "You were ordered to-- When?"

There was the sound of James shifting around before he replied. "Actually, I sort of wasn't..."

"Sort of wasn't? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Christ! No wonder he doesn't know if he's coming or going. You fucking moron! Why didn't you reverse it after the mission was extended?"

A long pause followed, in which Bonham demanded, "Well?"

James cleared his throat. "I don't know how."

"Oh, bloody marvelous! You're lucky I'm tied up, James, because I could wring your neck right now."

"It was part of the debriefing orders! I started before the order about the accident came through," came the defensive reply.

"I already told you what I think of that bit of bureaucratic stupidity."

"I didn't order it! I've been trying just as hard as you to keep him from quitting the search."

Bonham gave a derisive snort.

"Now we're all gonna get killed."

"Just wait until I get loose, James. I'll see to it that you go first!"

*

Klaus looked up when the recording was switched off at this point.

"Nothing more after that but the stingy bug crying and whining that it isn't his fault and Mr. Bonham threatening to kill him if he talks about eliminating the Earl any more," A informed.

Klaus nodded. This explained some things, but only added to a growing list of other questions he needed answered. He had accused the Earl of being indoctrinated. James referred to it as being programmed. It was all so much semantics.

"Who's working on the CIA research?" Klaus asked finally.

"We are, sir," a voice called from across the room.

Klaus got to his feet, crossing to former Agent P, who was in charge of a small group who had been reassigned from the Major's original task.

"Still nothing on Agent Marshall after the staged funeral in 1975," P informed. "And the Earl of Gloria seems to vanish completely from early 1975 until mid-1976. Shortly after that, thefts credited to Eroica began, the most prominent being simultaneous thefts at three major art museums at midnight, Christmas Day, 1976."

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "Eroica's grand entrance into the international underworld?"

"Seems to be, sir."

Klaus nodded and then scowled down at the papers the man had handed him. "See what you can find about Project: Eroica," he instructed.

P exchanged glances with his team before looking up. "You think it's more than a Black Ops codename, sir?"

"Eroica's men were talking about Project: Eroica as if it pertains directly to Agent Marshall rather than the operation as a whole. I'd like to know exactly what it encompasses."

* * *

Klaus returned to Eroica's room to find him showered, dressed, and sitting at the small table the officer had used when cleaning his gun. The Earl was staring down at a plateful of food. Agent R was outside the room standing guard, while Agent G remained inside.

"I thought you said you were hungry," Klaus remarked, looking at the seemingly untouched meal.

Eroica looked up. The first thing he noticed was the haunted look was no longer in the officer's eyes and found himself wondering if this was a good or bad thing. "I've lost my appetite," he replied, pushing the plate away. He coughed and then cursed. "That damned diesel engine's given me a cough! Between that, those bloody drugs, and that face-full of chloroform, I feel too nauseous to even think about food now."

Klaus turned accusingly to G. "What drugs?" he practically demanded.

G shifted uncomfortably under the intense gaze. "Lord--er, Eroica was seasick, sir. We gave him something for that. Nothing more."

Eroica snorted, getting to his feet. "Nothing more," he spat, waving a hand in the air. "I've been threatened, manhandled, mauled, stripped, searched, poked, prodded, tied up, and drugged! Now I have a splitting headache, I ache from head to foot, and I still can't get warm after being left practically naked in here. You call that nothing?"

"G, get Eroica some aspirin and a blanket," Klaus said acidly, ignoring the angry glare from the Earl. "At least we can do something about your aches, pains, and chills."

"You've done quite enough already, thank you very much."

Klaus gave a derisive snort, folding his arms. "You're a fine one to talk."

Eroica charged over to him. "If I didn't think you'd shoot me, I'd deck you right here and now."

"Go ahead. It'll be the first time you've acted like a man since I met you!"

"Bastard!" Eroica took a swing at Klaus, who took a step back, easily evading the punch. This only succeeded in overbalancing the Earl, who practically fell over.

Klaus caught him automatically. "Feel better?" he taunted.

Before Eroica could decide if he wanted to lash out with a knee, he suddenly felt very dizzy. "No," he replied in bewilderment. He sagged further into the other man's arms, clinging to him to keep from falling. Naturally, this was taken completely the wrong way by Klaus.

"God dammit, don't you start that again!" Klaus was just about to let the Earl drop to the floor when G caught his breath. "Sir, I think he's fainted!"

Klaus blinked and looked down at the now limp form in his arms. If he hadn't fainted, Eroica was certainly making a valiant attempt to do so. He threw one of the Earl's arms over his shoulder and half-carried, half-dragged him to the bed where he carefully set him down.

Eroica's eyes rolled in his head as he struggled to get hold of himself. "Great, now I'm dying..."

Klaus gave a grunt of disgust. "You're not dying, you idiot," he snapped. "You're probably just...dehy..." His voice trailed off as he leaned the man back onto the pillows, his hands coming in contact with very hot skin.

The Earl flinched when Klaus touched a hand to his forehead. "Christ, Major, your hands are freezing."

"No, you're burning up." A worried look creased Klaus's face as he looked over at G. "We need a doctor."

"You'd actually send for one?" Eroica said in surprise.

Klaus turned sharply back, giving him a dark look. "What exactly did they tell you? That I'm gonna start World War III?"

"They told me that you gutted NATO intelligence, stole highly sensitive material, sent a virus into the intelligence community's computer network to cover your tracks, and then vanished without a trace--taking twenty-six highly trained agents with you. What conclusions would you draw, Major?"

Klaus's eyes narrowed dangerously. "So, Iron Klaus has been transformed into a terrorist."

"For all I know, on top of everything else, you've got access to Anthrax and are poised and ready to post it to your former superiors. Your Chief, at the very least."

"Now that is a very tempting idea," Klaus remarked aridly, a hand going to his chin. After a moment, he gave the other man a steady look. "Do you really think I'm capable of actually doing something like that?"

"Up until a few weeks ago, I'd've said no. Now, I don't know. You're the last man on Earth I expected to go rogue. I don't know you anymore." Eroica closed his eyes and sighed, conceding, "I supposed you could say the same about me, though, couldn't you?"

Klaus wanted to say that he wished he had never gotten to know the man at all. Instead, he turned to G, who had been listening nervously across the room.

"How do we go about finding a doctor, sir?" G asked practically.

Klaus straightened, drawing a deep breath. Now that was a very good question. Cut off from NATO resources, finding a doctor that they could trust would take time.

"Where are we?" Eroica asked, receiving a harsh look in reply. "Dammit, Major, I know you don't trust me, but I'm hardly in any condition to go running off and telling the world where you are. And I have considerably more contacts in the underworld than you do. Now...where are we?"

Again, Eroica had a valid point. "Bali," Klaus replied. "On a private estate just outside the city of Ubud."

"Bali," Eroica repeated. He put a hand to his head and struggled to concentrate. "Private estate outside--" He caught his breath, his eyes growing wide. "No. We're not..." He looked around the room as though seeing it for the first time. "Is this the small room in the guest house?"

"Yes."

"Shit!"

A small smile came to the Major's face, confirming what the Earl had only just realized. They were on a large, privately owned estate that Eroica knew well. The owner of record was the Earl of Gloria himself.

"You clever son-of-a-bitch," Eroica muttered admiringly.

"The last place on Earth anyone would even think to look for me," Klaus said with a smirk. "Incidentally, you have a first rate satellite uplink. CIA, I take it?"

"Yes. That's brilliant, you smug bastard." Any activity tracked from the equipment would be thought to be by the Earl or his men searching for the Major, not the other way around.

Klaus inclined his head, silently accepting the compliment.

Eroica closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. "Dammit, I can't think. Bonham will know who to contact."

"Can you trust him?"

Eroica nodded. "He may be with the Company, Major, but he's not a Company man."

Klaus's eyebrows went up. "I'd've thought he was SIS, not CIA."

Eroica gave a small smile. "Unlike myself, he has the dubious honor of having been born in the States, but raised in England. Just...let me talk to him first. He won't let me down."

Klaus gave the Earl a steady look. Someday I may tell you how true that is.

* * *

Bonham wasn't sure what to think when he was taken out of the room in which he and James had been held for who knew how many hours. He was led blindfolded to what he thought was an interrogation room. Instead, he was told that he was being taking to the Earl. Then he learned why. "Strewth!" he gasped when the blindfold was removed and he realized where he was. Across the room, the visibly ill Eroica lay on a bed, covered with a sheet. Klaus was in a chair a few feet away.

"Don't just stand there," Klaus snapped impatiently. "Come in!"

"Major..." Eroica held out a hand. "Could you...give us a minute?"

Klaus got to his feet, looking from one to the other. "I'm not leaving you two alone."

"Fine. Just...back off a bit, then. You make Bonham nervous." Eroica waved at Bonham, beckoning him over.

As if to verify this, Bonham gave the Major a nervous sideways glance as they exchanged positions. He sat in the chair Klaus had vacated and listened to what the Earl had to say. A few minutes later, he crossed to the door.

"I'm at your disposal, Major," Bonham said calmly.

Klaus's eyes flickered, a hint of a smile curling the edges of his mouth. "Just like that?"

"He needs a doctor. I know who to call. It's as simple as that."

Klaus nodded approvingly. "Follow me."

* * *

After what seemed like forever, the doctor came out of Eroica's room, his face grave. G came up behind him, closing the door to the bedroom. Not for the first time, Klaus was struck by how young Dr. Al Rabeeah was. In a brief exchange when he arrived, Klaus learned a great deal. The man's English was nearly flawless, having only the slightest hint of a Middle Eastern accent. He was clearly a Muslim practicing medicine in a predominately Buddhist part of Indonesia. It was obvious that he was extremely fond of the Earl, and Klaus could not shake the feeling that he had met the man before, but could not for the life of him recall where.

Dr. Al Rabeeah went to where Bonham was waiting nervously beside Klaus, the latter stepping back to allow the smaller man to take the lead. This had been agreed on earlier, so as not to arouse the doctor's suspicions.

"You should've called me sooner," the doctor admonished as he took a seat at the dining table.

Bonham threw a quick glance in the Major's direction before taking a seat himself. "We didn't know he was that ill. He didn't say anything until he collapsed."

"Oh, I'm not blaming you. And I've given his lordship a firm talking to about this," the physician said as he sat down.

"What's wrong with him," Klaus injected firmly. Just get to the point!

"He has a very nasty case of the flu."

"That's it?"

"Don't brush it off. Influenza kills thousands of people each year," Dr. Al Rabeeah replied sharply. He turned back to Bonham. "Has Lord Gloria had a flu shot in the past year?"

Bonham shook his head. "He had a bad reaction to one a few years back. Can't have ‘em anymore."

The doctor nodded, sitting back in his seat. "He said he's been traveling quite a bit."

"Yes," Bonham said, adding quickly, "You know how he gets. Has to have something he sees right away."

The doctor gave a small smile. "Yesterday, not tomorrow."

"Exactly."

"Well, he's not going anywhere today, tomorrow, or another week at least." He scribbled out some prescriptions and held them out to Bonham. As he started explaining about them, Klaus stopped him, calling Agent G over, who had been introduced earlier as Eroica's nurse, Greta.

Dr. Al Rabeeah did not even break stride. He simply turned to "Greta" and explained about the medications. When he was finished, he gave a small laugh. "Oh, yes," he added with a chuckle. "He's convinced that he has Malaria, not the flu."

Klaus rolled his eyes at this. Why does the idiot always have to be so melodramatic? At least he didn't say it was Anthrax or Small Pox. Malaria was bad enough.

"That's not possible, is it?" Bonham asked practically.

"Anything's possible, just highly unlikely," the doctor replied. "I've taken some blood, just to be safe. I'll get back to you if he's actually right."

Dr. Al Rabeeah was then escorted out. One of the Alphabets was sent to fill the prescriptions. G returned to the Earl's bedroom, leaving Klaus and Bonham alone together.

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