Shadows and mysteries. How do they get out ? Wish I knew !
"He said that Tom's under guard tonight and warned me off trying to get to Dan," said Aneisha.
"He's right Aneisha. We're starting to get information through about this Shadow Master organisation and they are not to be messed with. We will try to work something out for Dan tomorrow," promised Frank.
Dan's door was flung open and two guards came in. They lifted the exhausted and shivering Dan from the bed and hauled him between them. Dan hadn't dared fall asleep because of the cold. He wasn't sure he would wake up again. As a result he was completely shattered. He assumed they would take him to the room he had been beaten in the previous night. Instead they took him through a number of corridors into the living area of the building. The corridors were mostly deserted. When they did hear voices ahead, he was pushed into an alcove until the voices passed. Finally he was taken into a heavily decorated room, furnished with plush purple velvet and gold. It made Dan's sore head throb even more just to look at it. This had to be the ugliest room he had ever set foot in.
Dan was pushed into a chair in the middle of the room and his hands tied behind his back. After a few minutes he heard the door open and two men come into the room. One spoke English with a foreign accent. It could be Italian or maybe Spanish. The other man was the one called "Anthony" who had caught him in Tom's room the night before. Boy, that seemed like a lifetime away !
A tanned, dark-haired man stepped past Dan's chair and sat on the gilded sofa opposite. He moved like a panther and sat as if on a throne, staring contemptuously at Dan. "So, this is the agent who attacked the boy last night," he said in heavily accented English. "He is only a boy !" Dan tried to speak, but his voice was a hoarse croak. The man clicked his fingers in a bored fashion. Someone brought a glass of water to Dan's lips and he drank it thirstily.
"I did not attack him !" replied Dan. "You've got no right keeping him here," he said.
"Right ! I do not need rights ! We do as we wish. We are not bound by your ridiculous nation's laws. We are the Shadow Masters ! We are the future," declared the man imperiously. "Our organisation seeks out the extraordinary humans, the future of the human race. How dare you interfere with us. You are nothing ! What do you do ? Climb up walls ? Fight with your fists ? You will never invent something, or discover something or create something !" shouted the man.
"Yeah ? Well I discovered what a bunch of bastards you are !" retorted Dan. A hand appeared out of nowhere and smacked him across the face. "Aargh !"
"You will not speak to your superiors like that !" shouted Anthony. Dan struggled to focus through watering eyes. He really hoped they didn't think he was crying. That would be totally humiliating.
"This boy you have here, does he know this one ?" the foreign man asked Anthony, waving towards Dan.
"He said he recognised him as an MI9 agent," explained Anthony. "He didn't say he knew him."
"Is the boy joining the organisation ?" asked the man.
"Of course," said Anthony. "He hasn't made any complaints about his treatment here. I am sure he will settle in time. How could he turn down what we have to offer ?"
The man settled back in his chair and eyed Dan thoughtfully. "Hm. I want him drugged and disposed of," instructed the man, pointing to Dan. Dan's hands were untied and his jacket pulled off. The guards rolled up his shirt sleeve then twisted his right arm behind his back and pinned his left wrist to the arm of the chair. "Wait ! What is that on his arm ?" asked the man, leaning forward and pointing to the series of still visible cuts and stitches from where the tracking device had been cut out. The two men stood next to Dan's chair to examine the marks on his arm. "This looks like has he had one of our new tracking devices removed !" said the Master suspiciously.
Anthony looked at Dan and grabbed his face. "Are you the boy we caught in the net at the warehouse ?" he asked. Dan didn't reply. Anthony turned to the Master. "Tom described the agent who was trapped as a 'friend'. He only told me that he recognised this boy as an MI9 agent, not as a 'friend'."
"Do you think this boy Tom is concealing something from us ?" asked the Master. "Is he planning to leave ? Nobody leaves the Shadow Masters !" he declared.
"I cannot be sure. The boy and Professor Liebkind asked if they could meet you today. Do you want to meet them ?" asked Anthony.
"Yes, I want to see this boy for myself. If there is going to be trouble we should move him to another country," said the Shadow Master.
"Very well. We will have to investigate this further," said Anthony. "What do you want me to do with this one ?" he asked, grabbing hold of Dan's hair to lift his head. Dan was feeling dizzy and faint from the combination of blows to his head and lack of sleep.
"Secure him. We may need to question him further and me may need him as a bargaining tool. Put him out of the way for now. You can't keep on dragging him through the building. Whatever else we do, we will get rid of him tonight," said the Master. Dan was lifted from his chair and dragged a short distance before being taken into another, empty room. He was tied, gagged and left lying on the floor. Too tired to try to escape, he fell asleep.
Professor Liebkind slowly walked the corridors of the house on his way to breakfast. He took a more roundabout route than usual. He noted the guard standing outside one of the rooms on the ground floor, nodding amiably to the man, before strolling past. There was no sound from the room. The Professor entered the dining room and saw the young agent serving drinks. "Ah, young lady, is Tom down yet ?" he asked.
"Tom ?" Aneisha asked him in a confused way.
The Professor was impressed at Aneisha's self-control, keeping in character. He smiled at her. "So sorry ! I should have said, the young lad who joined us about a week ago," he explained.
Aneisha smiled back at him. "No, sorry, he's not been down yet," she said.
The Professor had just taken a seat at a vacant table when Tom arrived, accompanied by a guard. The Professor waved him over, and Tom gratefully took the offered seat. "I'm sure you can leave us now," said the Professor to the guard. "We're quite safe here aren't we ?" he asked, smiling benignly. The guard hesitated, but then left them alone. "And how are you young Tom ?" asked the Professor.
"I'm fine," said Tom, with slight emphasis on the "I".
They had just ordered their breakfasts when Anthony and another man came into the dining room. By the way the other man stalked into the room, he obviously considered himself someone important. "Ah, I think the big 'I am' has just arrived," murmured the Professor. Tom looked round and had to struggle not to smirk. The guy did clearly love himself.
"Professor ! We were hoping to speak to Tom," said Anthony, sounding a little disappointed to find Tom with the Professor.
"Why I say, is this really the great Shadow Master himself ?" declared Professor Liebkind, leaping to his feet. The other man drew himself up in height as he was slightly shorter than the Professor, but if anything looked even more pleased with himself. The Professor thrust out his hand and said, "My dear Sir, I can't tell you how I have looked forward to this occasion. It is truly wonderful to meet you. Tom ! Look, it's the man himself !" enthused the Professor. The Professor was now pumping the man's hand up and down as if trying to raise water from a particularly deep well.
"Oh yes, and you are ?" asked the man vaguely. Tom thought he sounded a little Italian perhaps.
"Oh, forgive me. I am Professor Liebkind. I joined a few months ago. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed working in your organisation Mr, er ?" said the Professor.
"You may call me Maestro," said the man, pompously.
"Oh, Maestro eh ? Ah well, hm," said the Professor. He sounded to Tom as if he were struggling not to laugh. He decided to try to help out.
"The Professor was telling me how much he wanted to meet you Sir," said Tom politely. "I did wonder who had managed to set all this up myself. It's a great achievement Sir," he added. He hoped he was laying the flattery on thick enough.
The other man swelled up even more. "Please, call me Maestro," he said. "I am glad that you are impressed with our organisation. We only wish to encourage people with special gifts to develop themselves to their full potential. It is how we see the human race progressing and flowering." Anthony and the Maestro sat down in the two spare chairs at the breakfast table. The Maestro clicked his fingers at Aneisha who came over with her notepad. "Coffee, strong coffee !" he ordered.
"Oh, tea for me," said Anthony, sounding distracted.
"Would you like any breakfast sir ?" asked Aneisha. She sounded like her teeth were gritted together. These men were so rude !
"No ! Go now !" ordered the Maestro. The Professor glanced at her apologetically as she walked away. "So, we were wondering about this friend of yours who attacked you in your room," he said.
Tom did his best to disguise the panic he felt. "Who ? Oh, you mean the MI9 agent. Yes I do know him. We've met a few times in MI9. He's not really a friend. He's one of the field team. You know: fighting, spying, that sort of thing. Barely a basic grasp of maths, let alone physics" said Tom derisively. He made a mental apology to Dan. "Some people are impressed by that sort of thing I suppose," he added. "What is your field of expertise ?" he asked the Maestro, hoping to change the subject.
The man looked satisfied by Tom's response, much to his relief. "Oh myself, my interest is genetic engineering," he said expansively. Aneisha arrived with the drinks and placed them carefully on the table. The two men didn't even look at her.
"Thank you," said the Professor. Aneisha flashed him a smile and left.
"Really, that's fascinating," said Tom. "I'm surprised you can find time for it."
The man looked delighted with the praise. "Well, you know. I do have to devote a lot of time to the organisation, but I still find time to conduct my research. It is important I believe to make my contribution to the improvement of the human race," he announced pompously. "I study the DNA of members of the Shadow Masters. I'm interested in the genetic makeup of the gifted and intelligent. Who knows, one day we may be able to improve the human race beyond our current abilities." He finished the last of his coffee. "So ! We must go. I wish to conduct some business with Anthony. We must organise that disposal Anthony !" he said, nodding meaningfully at the other man.
"What ? Oh, yes, yes of course," Anthony agreed.
Tom froze inside. They were going to 'dispose' of Dan. He felt the Professor reach out and grasp his hand hard under the table. "Well, it has been a great pleasure Sir. I am so glad we had this opportunity to meet you. It's only a shame you don't have longer to spend with us, isn't it Tom ?" asked the Professor.
"Oh, yes," said Tom, lamely. He felt helpless.