by nita dee
disclaimer: "the replacements" belong to dan santat and walt disney productions
chapter four: foggy london town
the fleemco private jet, red in color with a big f with a circle around it on the tail, landed at hethrow airport just as the sun was setting and the evening fog was beginning to move in.
it had been an odd journey for todd and riley daring. the other
times they had come to visit their maternal grandparents their mother
had flown the family to england in carter, her spy car of many talents.
this time was sad for both of the kids because they were uncertain if
they were coming to england for a visit or for a funeral.
dick had been on the phone most of the trip. he called and asked his favorite rival stuntman gordo glideright to take over his stunt schedule for the next few weeks. it was becoming state fair season and omaha, nebraska was opening their annual fair with a stunt show. then, dick called gregory and bea (k's parents) and finally had a long conversation with car's modulator.
"look!" riley said to todd as they exited the plane. "there's cooky!"
thomas cooke, aka cooky, had been gregory quimby's right hand man since the 1960's. a former horse racing jockey, the man had been rejected by british intelligence for being too short but the cocky self assured cockney man had worked for the quimby family in every detail from family cook, nanny, chauffer, and general all around man. he was standing next to the family's black bentley and smiled and waved to the children.
"'ello, children!" cooky said. "and where is that big lug of a bloke who married our katherine and made a yank out of 'er?"
"dad's coming..he's getting the luggage together." riley said as she hugged the short man.
"cooky." dick said as he walked up to the car. the two men embraced and cooky whispered something in dick's ear.
"hey cooky..what's for dinner?" todd asked.
"it's not like he didn't eat on the airplane all day." dick said with a slight laugh.
"that's okay, gov. the boy is growin'." cooky said "how does pot roast with baby carrots and potatoes strike you?"
"chocolate cake for dessert?" asked todd and riley smiled.
"you betcha!" cooky said.
-
after dinner, cooky cleaned off the table as gregory quimby arranged
a big screen wall unit television to pick up the video phone conference
that the family was to have with conrad fleem.
"darlings.." bea quimby said to riley and todd.."how would you like it if cooky took you out to a movie this evening?"
"bea, it's okay..the kids know about what is going on and i think they need to be here while we discuss what conrad found out." dick said.
it was strange to see dick daring in a mature, commanding way.
usually he was an even bigger kid that his children were. even k would
sometimes tell people she had "three children".
the family took their seats and cooky rolled in a small metal box laying in an office chair. carter was going to join the family during the conference.
"hello, kids..dick." carter said. it was strange to hear carter's voice without it being attached to a white and blue sports car but the three ran over and embraced the chair the box was sitting in as if he were a living human being.
"sit down..conrad's on the line." gregory said.
the image of conrad fleem came into view. he was not facing the monitor but rather looking at the thirty screen video processor that he used to arrange replacements. the back of his head showed and you could see the tips of his large mustache from behind the chair.
"what did you find out, conrad?" gregory asked.
"sigh. i'm afraid it's not good news at all. raja rameen is one of the most stubborn people i've ever dealt with. i offered him the biggest exchange in the 150 year history of fleemco for k's freedom and he refused it outright saying that the one thing he always wanted would come to pass on friday. money that could have brought his country well into the 21st century was refused for a sick and misguided sense of vengence." conrad said with anger.
"that's great..so what do we do now?" dick asked. he got up from his seat and began to walk around the room.
"i've spoken to some people in the white house..k may not be an american citizen but she lives in the united states. about all they can offer is a letter of condemnation for the actions of b'ajai and they recommended going out and offering what we can to an independent mercenary to see if maybe a rescue of agent k could be arranged." conrad said. "i've been sorting through the replacements and have several that might be willing to mount a rescue."
"maybe we could hire the a-team!" dick said, face lighting up.
"dick, the a-team is a cancelled american television show. you are such a dope." car said. the body may be gone but the attitude of carter the car lives.
"who do you have, mr. fleem?" bea asked.
"well..i thought maybe doyle lonestar..he's connected with the saturday family but the holdup there is that doctor saturday won't let his crew get involved unless it is cryptid related. snake river-canyon has mounted several rescues over the past few years.." conrad said.
"snake river-canyon!! why he's nothing but a show off new school stunt man!" dick said with passion. then, an idea came into his head and a bright smile came across his face.
"dick, don't go there.." carter said, sensing what had come into dick's mind.
"i could rescue katie." dick said triumpantly.
"no you couldn't!!" carter said with anger "you barely carry off the stunts you do. it's only by incredible luck and the grace of god you do that. no, i won't risk agent k's life because you want to be the hero."
"quiet, carter. dick, you may be onto something. many of you don't
know this but i was once in a similar predicament as katherine is in now.
about forty some odd years ago when i was still a field agent, i was
captured behind the iron curtain and while i wasn't facing a death sentence the soviets and the east german leadership were fighting over what to do with me. the soviets wanted to send me to a labor camp in siberia while the east germans wanted to place me in a brothel." bea began, hope returning to her eyes as well.
"what's a brothel?" todd asked.
"oh, dear..it's a cat house. they wanted me to take care of their kitties while they worked." bea said quickly as everyone else chuckled.
"anyway.." bea said, continuing.."gregory was just beginning his
career as a manager with british intelligence and i was being held in
a prison that was next to the berlin wall. gregory asked a trapeze
artist if maybe he could swing over the wall, pick me up when i had my
hour or so of fresh air working in the garden, and then swing me back over to west berlin and freedom. well, after a week of planning, the
artist did just that. he swung in, scoped me up, and swung back over.
and all the east german guards could do was stare with their mouths open."
"ahhh..moe kincaid!! god rest his adventurous soul." gregory said.
"we got engaged after that and married the following june and had our
little girl about a year after that.."
"dick, i believe if anyone has a chance at rescuing katherine, it is you. we don't have much time to plan anything but maybe if you could get into the country on a motorcycle, scope katherine up as they prepare to execute her, and then motor on out to our awaiting airplane, that could work! we've got the necessary connection to intel on locations and we could take tomorrow to make our plan and then fly over friday morning for the rescue. by butterscotch this will work!! i tell you..this will work!" cooky said excitedly.
"it would work if we didn't have an idiot doing it!! and dick is so fond of elephants he'd probably stop and try to make friends with the gastly beast whose job it is to kill k!" carter said with indignation.
"what does an elephant have to do with this?" todd asked with curiosity. "i thought spies always got shot by firing squads."
bea quimby nodded her head and began to cry softly. gregory went over and put his arm around his wife.
"that is what i am having the most trouble with in all of this. i fully understand when you are captured you have few choices in things but you'd at least think they'd be humane about it. a firing squad, poisoning, gas..even a properly performed hanging would be better than this cruel method the raja intends to use." bea stood up and exited the room. gregory and dick followed but not before dick shot a look at todd that said "we'll discuss this later."
"todd, you should learn to shut up!" riley said in anger.
"don't judge me! look, i just was curious to know how an elephant plays into this!" todd shot back.
"dick didn't tell you how they plan to carry out the execution did he?" cooky said softly. "well, it is very violent and gruesome."
"the raja in grand asian tradition will have k placed lying down with her head on a pedestal before a huge elephant and the elephant will place his hoof onto her head and crush her skull, thus ending her life." carter said quietly.
"this has been a method for execution in india for many years."
conrad fleem said from the video phone. "it's not used very often
these days but it is used in some of the less advance countries in
southeast asia."
"gross." todd said quietly wishing now he'd just kept his mouth shut.
"i think i'm going to be sick." riley said, running out of the room to the nearest tolet.
after riley completed her business, she walked into the study where gregory, dick and bea were quietly talking. riley stood quietly and listened in.
"i think i can do this but i'll need cooky and carter's help."
dick said quietly. "but, i wanted to ask you before we go any further.
should something happen and i'm not able to get k out and end up captured
myself i need to know that our children will be taken care of. will the two of you agree to take them?"
"of course." gregory said as bea nodded her head in agreement.
"thanks. now..let me go back in and see if carter and cooky are game for this rescue. heck, if i can jump the grand tetons on a motorcyle this will work as well." dick said with a smile.
riley looked on sadly as her father walked past her not even noticing she was standing there.
"dad just has to rescue mom..he just has to.." riley said quietly.
