Chapter Eleven

Misdeal

Any departure from the laws of correct procedure in dealing.

*

A few hours after speaking with the Major, Agent A was called to the Earl's room by a very worried Agent G. Despite their best efforts, Eroica's condition was deteriorating steadily.

"Name, John Robert Marshall. Born, September thirteenth, nineteen...nineteen..." Eroica's voice trailed to a mumble as he tossed in bed. "Only son of...of...Edward and Anne Marshall. Father killed in Vietnam, 1971. Educated...um...educated... Accepted at Julliard in New York City in...in... When was that?" A pause. "Contacted by the CIA in...in... Oh, bugger, I don't remember. I used to be so good at this."

G scowled as he put a cool cloth on the restless man's forehead. "Please, you must rest."

"The rest?" Eroica said weakly. "I can't remember the rest. Ask me about Dorian. I think I can do him. No, Eroica. I know I can do Eroica."

As the Earl started to rattle off the particulars of Eroica, the worried G turned to A, who was now standing at the foot of the bed. "He's been babbling like this for the past half hour. Names, dates, places."

"Like preparing for a mission," A observed quietly.

"He doesn't answer to any of his names any more," G said worriedly. "Somehow he's...lost himself."

This only brought back to A's mind the comments James had made about starting the deprogramming. Is this what the little bug meant about turning off the impersonation? "I'll have Dr. Al Rabeeah alerted that we're taking Lord Gloria to hospital." He drew a deep breath. "Then we'll get ready to evacuate if need be."

G's eye grew wide. "Evacuate?"

"I know Eroica said he wouldn't say anything. But look at him. He doesn't even know his own name, let alone who we are."

G turned back to Eroica, who continued to babble on. Unfortunately, A was right. The man was burning with fever and desperately needed proper medical attention. Then a sudden thought struck him and G looked up. "I think we should record what he's saying. It could be more important than we think. Perhaps he'll be more willing to tell us once he's coherent again."

"I'll have someone get a tape recorder--" A broke off as the Earl spoke a name that he had just heard from the Major. Tomlinson. The man named as being in charge of Project: Eroica before and after it was officially halted. Agent A threw a startled look in G's direction before moving to the bedside to address Eroica. "Who did you say you didn't want to disappoint, Agent Marshall? Mr. Thompson?"

Eroica struggled to focus on the face of the man standing over him. "No, not Thompson. Tomlinson. Gregory Once-Again Tomlinson," he said as forcefully as he could manage. "Tell him I know the Eroica bio cold." He paused to cough before going on. "I can pick any lock and open any safe you throw at me. I'm ready. Truly, I am."

"We believe you," G said soothingly. "You need to rest now. The doctor said--"

"Oh, bugger, Dr. Andy," Eroica said, waving a hand in the air. "The man's a fucking rabbit. Doesn't know what he's talking about, the quack. Just another session, just another session. I'm bloody sick to death of sessions."

A's eyebrows went up. Dr. Andy? Was that a first name, last name or nickname? "Dr. Andy? Which Dr. Andy?"

"Which Dr. Andy? There can't be another one with a name like that!" Eroica snorted. He scowled a moment, struggling to recall the name. "What was that bugger's name? His initials were ASS, I remember that. Rather appropriate, in my opinion." He hissed out a few names before blurting out, "Schreckengost! Andrew Steven Schreckengost! Oh, what a mouthful." Eroica closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Gosh, that's worn me out."

G shushed him, patting him gently on the shoulder. This time, he was more successful in settling the restless man down.

Agent A turned on his heel and made straight for the door where he called for a tape recorder and lots of blank cassettes. If the Earl was going to willingly babble on about Project: Eroica, he was going to get as much of it on tape as possible before the Major called again.

"I'll see what I can do about getting him ready to be moved," G said, crossing to the clothes closet.

A frowned as he realized something and he turned back. "We can't check him into a hospital as Lord Gloria. Not with the Major..."

G gave an amused smile. "Dr. Al Rabeeah's already taken care of that. When I spoke with him this morning, he told me that Lord Gloria's ‘name of record' is D. Robert Greenwood."

"Name of record? He has a readymade alias?"

"Apparently, it's so the Earl's monograms match."

A rolled his eyes. "Is he an honorary member of Eroica's gang, do you think?"

"No idea." G gave a small smile. "Perhaps I'll ask when I see him again."

* * *

Because of space limitations, Klaus had grudgingly accepted the fact that he would have to use the Earl's ridiculously luxurious cabin aboard the Aqua Zep. His own things were deposited within and left for his attention. It was painfully obvious that everyone was making an effort to keep out of his way, and equally obvious that this was going to be next to impossible in the cramped space available.

Klaus had James' databases reassembled and networked together in a small conference type room that was near his cabin. It was large enough to accommodate his agents, and John Paul if need be, yet small enough for it not to be a waste of precious space.

Bonham selected two men who were the best at field work to accompany Agent M on the recce in Virginia. The three were to fly ahead of the group and see what they could dig up in the week's time the Major calculated it would take for the sub to cross the Atlantic. The sub would submerge until it reached international waters and then continue on the surface. Without the drag of the water, it would be able to cruise at a much faster speed. This would also enable them to utilize the satellite uplink to contact the team in the U.S. or the Alphabet in Bali with any updates they might find, or vice versa.

Klaus had not liked the idea of sending only one of his agents along with the thieves. He did not completely trust the Eroica gang, but, unfortunately, his resources were thin enough already. And equally unfortunate was the fact that he was the last person who could afford to be seen publicly. Most of his men were unknown to the CIA and could go unnoticed, being able to pass as tourists.

He calculated it would take a minimum of five days to make the crossing to North America, and then another day to head south to Virginia. This was if they traveled at top speed, made no stops, and if all went well.

Klaus had no illusions that all would probably not go well.

* * *

Eroica gave a soft moan as he turned in his hospital bed. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around in some bewilderment. His eyes finally came to rest on Z, who was sitting in a chair near the foot of the bed and watching him with an intensity he had never seen before.

"Z...?" he said weakly. "What...? Where...?"

"You're in a hospital," Z said evenly as he put the book he had been reading aside and got to his feet.

"Hospital?"

Eroica struggled to get his thoughts together. Had he been injured? No, there didn't seem to be any bandages, although he did feel like he'd been run over by a sizeable lorry. There was a tube from an IV in one arm and another on his face supplying oxygen. Oxygen? This was when he realized that breathing was rather difficult. Oh, hell! What did I inhale? A shift of position brought the realization that he had another tube in an area that he did not even want to think about. Bugger, I hate catheters.

"What happened?" he asked, trying not to sound panicked. "Was it a mission? Oh God, did I screw up your mission?" Eroica closed his eyes, putting a hand to his head. He couldn't make sense of all the images flying through his brain. He must've been dreaming. Unless... His eyes snapped open and he gave Z a horrified look. "The Major!" he gasped. "Is he alright? He's not here, too, is he?"

"No, the Major's fine." Z was now standing at the bedside. "You weren't injured, you have the flu," he said calmly. "Your fever spiked and you became...disoriented. The Major ordered you brought here."

Eroica heaved a relieved sigh that turned into a cough. "That explains why I'm so muddled," he said quietly. "How long have I been here?"

"Since around two a.m. yesterday morning."

The look on the agent's face made Eroica smile. "Oh, poor Z. I'm sorry you had to be the one put on babysitting duty. This must be so boring for you."

"Orders are orders," Z said simply.

"Now you sound just like the Major." Eroica put a hand to his head to keep it from floating away. "What do they have me on? I've had the most...bizarre dreams. You wouldn't believe..."

A scowl creased Z's brow. The Earl seemed unaware of all that had been going on, including everything surrounding his having broken his CIA cover. Did he believe it all to have been a dream? Why else would he pretend to be concerned about the Major's health? Unless...

Z blinked as an extraordinary thought struck him. Could it be Eroica actually had genuine feelings for the Major after all? That he'd had them all along and masked them behind the charade that was the Earl of Gloria?

"I'm so tired," Eroica sighed, breaking into Z's thoughts. He coughed again and moaned, leaning back onto his pillows, a hand going to his chest. "Oh, that hurts. Do I have pneumonia, too?"

"No, sir. You have a respiratory infection," Z informed cautiously.

Eroica caught his breath, which only caused him to cough again. "Bugger, that hurts," he said at last.

"You should try to rest."

"Yes..." The Earl shifted in bed, trying to find a comfortable position, which was difficult with all the tubes in him. "Tell me. How did you check me in?"

"Check you in?"

"I'm not listed as Lord Gloria, am I?"

This brought an amused smile to the agent's face. "No. Your doctor had you checked in as D. Robert Greenwood."

"My doctor?"

"Dr. Al Rabeeah."

"What? But he's in..." Eroica put a hand to his head again as realization dawned. He looked out the window at the obviously tropical location and then back at Z. "This is Bali." A statement rather than a question.

"Yes."

There was a long pause as Eroica got his thoughts together. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" he said seriously. "You really did pick me up at gunpoint."

"Yes."

 "And all the rest of it?"

"Yes, Agent Marshall," Z said, his words driving home the full extent of the truth.

Eroica felt his heart jump and closed his eyes. "I didn't say anything that would...compromise any of you, did I?"

"No."

Good. Eroica opened his eyes, giving the agent a steady look. "Is that why you're here? To make certain I don't?"

Z studied the other man a moment, his expression unreadable. "Yes, Agent Marshall."

Eroica nodded. He knew the rules of the game as well as Z.

"The hospital staff believes you're an actor who wore himself out studying for a demanding role," Z was saying.

The Earl gave an amused grunt upon hearing this. Demanding indeed. "My cover story?"

"Yes."

Eroica drew as deep a breath as his lungs would allow. "Mr. Z, please be good enough to tell me exactly what you lot expect of me."

* * *

"Our research seems to be running along parallel lines," Klaus remarked after listening to a report from Agent A.

He had waited a full day after putting out to sea before chancing contact. He had been dismayed when informed that Eroica had been hospitalized, and relieved that the man had not been so ill as to endanger his men or their operation. The recordings that G had made intrigued the Major even more. He asked that they be uploaded using the prearranged encryption coding so he could listen to them at length.

"I've sent M ahead with two of the Earl's men," Klaus said. "Now that we have a name for them, they can do a proper search. There can't be many people with a name like that in Virginia."

"We've made a bit of progress there, too, sir," A said with a grin. "P managed to learn that Dr. Schreckengost, who goes by Dr. Andy according to Lord Gloria, retired early last year to Arlington, Virginia."

Amusement twitched at the edges of Klaus's mouth. "If you have a street address and telephone number to go with that, I might actually admit to being impressed."

A bright smile lit up A's face. "Actually..."

* * *