Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Muscle, and I don't claim to.
SLASH WARNING ADDED! SLASH IMMINENT! If you don't like it, look away!
Chapter Five: The bowels of Topkapi.
Jaeger's first sight of the Topkapi palace came as they emerged from the narrow backstreets of the city and out onto the edge of a vast rolling park, edged by the crumbling remains of the Roman Walls.
They walked around a block of museums, all silent and locked, their staff holed up in their homes elsewhere in the city. Jaeger gazed around. Before, when they had been here to co-ordinate the start of build-up for the next Chojin Crown, they had been whisked around from location to location in a blacked-out coach, and had never gotten chance to admire the scenery of the city. Now, he could admire the numerous landmarks, particularly the looming grace of the Hagia Sophia.
They finally reached the front gate of the Palace, to be faced by six heavily armed guards, who parted to let Andy pass, but moved to stop Jaeger.
"Sergeant, let him pass," warned Andy. Reluctantly, the guards parted and Jaeger passed through, out into one of the four courtyards of the palace, a vast expanse of bursting flowerbeds and babbling marble fountains. Andy sidestepped a shell-hole in the middle of the pavement, and made for one of the elegant verandas around the edge of the courtyard. He strode over the slick marble edge, and up to a side door of the palace – a richly carved teak creation, embossed with extravagant hinges. The gold-plated handle twisted silently beneath Andy's hand, and the door swung effortlessly open.
Jaeger stepped inside, and was awe struck. The inside of the palace was covered in richly coloured geometric tiles, all glowing in the flood of morning sunlight seeping into the building from numerous elegant windows. A tall, tuxedo-clad servant skimmed over the floor, and drew himself up next to Andy.
"May I offer you a drink sire?" he enquired in clean-cut and immaculate Greek.
"I'm fine, Edwin." The servant cast a shady glare over at Jaeger.
"And what do you want?" he asked dryly.
"Edwin, that's Jaeger. Brocken Jnr's son, remember?" Edwin nodded deeply.
"I apologise Jaeger. I assume he is here for…" Andy gave him a guarded look. Edwin said nothing more, he just steered Jaeger towards one of the doors leading off the hall.
Jaeger was shuffled past more doors, down elaborate corridors and through richly embossed arches by Edwin, who never uttered a word. It was all to much of a rush for Jaeger, who gave up trying to communicate with Edwin after a minute and just let himself be guided to his destination.
The destination was an immaculate marble bathroom, embellished with golden taps and fittings, with elegant patterns carved into the glass wall around the shower cubicle. Edwin laid out a pair of towels, some soap and shampoo, a flannel and a nailbrush before vanishing back out of the door. Jaeger, still dripping water onto the marbled floor, looked around for a moment, soaking in his environment with widened eyes. The glimmer of the marble was heightened by the glitter of the golden fittings and the glow of the sunlight pouring in through the frosted glass mounted in its dark teak frames.
Jaeger slowly peeled his sopping wet clothes off, and left them in a pile near the door. Gathering up the soap and flannel, he swung open the glass door for the shower cubicle, and stepped in.
The taxi had been driving all night, winding its brisk way along the deserted highway E180, drawing nearer and nearer by the hour to its destination. Just as the sun began to peek over the horizon, Mars had gotten the driver to pull over, on the pretence of answering a call of nature.
Five minutes later, Mars returned to the taxi. He opened the driver door, clambered into the seat and fired up the engine.
A moment later he shot off down the highway, leaving behind four crumpled corpses of the soldiers and the driver – the latter still with tears soaking into his face. Mars had better things to do than listen to him whinge and cringe about his family.
Mars drove as recklessly as he dared, keeping the taxi running at 105 mph all the rest of the way to Istanbul. As the afternoon drew in, he found the road completely deserted. Then, just five miles west of Iznit, he came up to a Turkish army checkpoint, manned by two large tanks, with their gun barrels trained at the road.
The dead guards did not flinch as the taxi slid through the gap between the two tanks, and Mars whistled softly to a tune in his head as he rumbled ever closer to the city.
To be continued…