Chapter Twenty-Five: Gathering the Cavalry
HENRY!
Jekyll yelped and clapped his hands to his ears as the mental message slammed into him with a nearly physical force. There was more to it- a flurry of images that seared themselves onto his very brain.
"Doctor Jekyll?" Nemo asked. "Are you alright?"
"I- no, I'm fine- it's Daria…"The League members sharing the booth with him- Nemo, Mina, and Jason- stared at him.
"Daria?" Jason said. "What happened?"
The physician whimpered as the images pounded him again, insistent on being viewed, one mental 'slide' at a time, yet all at once. Even Hyde quailed under the assault, ducking back into his part of Jekyll's subconscious for the time being.
"D-Daria," Jekyll gasped. "She's been- oh my God, he has her!"
Mina went paler than usual. "He- no, not Kheti…"
"She was… drugged, yes, the sedative Tom had… he injected her…" Jekyll slumped back, pale blue eyes wide and staring in shock as the onslaught of explanatory images suddenly ceased, leaving mo trace but memories. "She's gone."
"Not… dead?" Nemo said carefully.
Jekyll shook his head. "N-no, I d-don't think so," he stammered, his mind reeling frantically. How could this have happened? How could he have let this happen? He had left Daria all alone in the villa, and now she was gone... He had her…
Skinner, who had been chatting with a tall, gray-eyed Cockney man at another table, came over to see what the fuss was about. "Daria's gone?" he asked.
Jason nodded in reply. "We have to find her- Doctor, we will find her. I promise."
The physician stared ahead in numb shock and horror. "But- how?" he asked weakly. "God, they could be anywhere by now…"
"Then we'll track her."
The four League members and their mage companion turned towards the speaker- a tall man with graying hair, confident stance, and very familiar accent. "That's…" Mina said weakly after a long moment of dead silence, staring at the man in utter shock. "That's not possible."
"I guess the old boy was right," Skinner managed to say as he gaped. "Africa would never allow him to die."
Allan Quatermain smiled wryly. "Apparently not."
Jason looked from one gobsmacked face to another in confusion. "I'm sorry, but I appear to be missing something…"
The hunter chuckled. "Oh, probably, boy," he said, ignoring the mage's frown at being called 'boy'. "I've worked with them before."
"Before you d-died," Jekyll pointed out. This was too much, all in one day- Sawyer being the Goa'uld they sought, Daria's capture, and now this. What next? Would Sherlock Holmes rise from the grave and tell him Hyde had been forgiven for all of his crimes in both London and Paris? Or would the sun just set in the east instead?
"Close your mouths, all of you," Quatermain said, smiling wryly at the startled expression on Jason's face. The other League members continued to stare at Quatermain as if they'd seen a ghost. In essence, they had… "Basil, come here. You might find this interesting."
The tall Cockney man Skinner had been talking to unfolded his lanky frame from his chair and wandered over. "Wot kin I do for ye, guv'nahs? Miss?"
Quatermain nodded for Jekyll to explain. The physician gulped hard and began relating- briefly, trying to keep his stammering to a minumum- what had happened. By the time he was done, Basil was shaking his head. "That's a right crazy tale yer telling' me," he said. "But if ol' Mr. Q 'ere trusts ye, I'll take ye at yer word. Sure, I'll 'elp you find yer missing girlie."
"That's very kind of you, Mr. Basil," Mina said quietly. "Thank you."
Basil shrugged. "She 'elped me out of a nasty scrape once," he explained. "I'd like t' pay 'er back if I can."
"You know 'er?" Skinner asked, looking curiously at the taller man.
He waggled a finger at the thief. "Ah, now that's between me and the gel, isn't it? Rest easy, I'll do whatever I can to get 'er back in one piece for you."
"Thank you," Jekyll told him. There was something vaguely familiar about this man, though he had no idea what it could possibly be. He thought he would have remembered someone like Basil…It's not just you, Hyde told his alter ego. I could swear I've seen him somewhere too…
"Where was she taken, Jekyll?" Quatermain asked.
"The villa where we were staying," the physician replied weakly. This was worse than when Daria had been ordered to stay on Verris. At least then, she was not in immediate risk of mortal danger…Mina looked troubled as the League took Quatermain and Basil to their rented villa. She suddenly felt a little guilty about snapping so harshly at Daria earlier. But who could have guessed that the Tau'ka would be captured?
No one could have, that was the thing. This move was bold, unexpected. They had been aware of the various attempts to kill them, but Kheti had shown no interest in capturing any of them before. Now… now the rules seemed to have changed, and Mina did not like that.
Quatermain had taken charge of Daria's ground-floor room, though, if one watched, one almost got the feeling that it was Basil who was actually calling the shots. The tall man, having already irritably told Skinner and Jekyll off for getting ahead of him, ruining any clues around the front door, and perhaps hindering his ability to figure out where Kheti went, was on hands and knees peering intently at the dusty carpet while Quatermain kept the League members at bay.
"How did you manage to return from death?" Nemo asked the hunter, curiosity evident in his deep voice as he watched Basil work.
The hunter shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "One minute, I'm in Mongolia freezing to death, and the next I'm crawling out of a grave in Kenya. I'm afraid I can't explain it any better than that." He looked at Jason. "And how did they end up with you, boy?" he asked.
Jason's brow furrowed. He still objected to being called that- he would be thirty in a few years, after all- and yet the hunter seemed to insist on calling him 'boy'. "I'm the one who brought them their current case," he said quietly, going on to explain what had transpired to bring him there in more detail then had been used in the pub. Basil looked up sharply at the mention of 'magic' and studied the mage for several long moments before going back to work. A skeptic, Jason decided. But if he was trusted by the League's legendary former leader, then he was clearly safe. He looked back to Quatermain, who was nodding.
"I can't disbelieve your story, Mr. Fisher," the hunter said. "Especially not after what happened to me. I'm just glad you're on our side."
"Even more so, as we have uncovered evidence there is at least one mage working with the cult," Nemo said gravely. Jason turned to him sharply. "When did you find this out?" he asked. If there were Egyptian mages involved… he did not look forward to dealing with local sorcerers on their own turf, especially not in the desert where his own power would be weak…"This afternoon," Mina told him. "We were going to bring it up at the meeting…" She trailed off, looking grim.
Jekyll ran a hand through his limp red hair. "Can this situation get any worse?" he muttered.
"Oy!" Skinner protested. "Never ask 'ow it can get worse! Because it will! You 'ear me, mate?"
"There's still some of the drug left on this," Basil said from the room, carefully picking up the remains of the shattered syringe that had incapacitated Daria.
Drug… That triggered a flash of memory. Jekyll looked up. "She has the antidote!" he exclaimed. "She told us, remember? She said the sedative was common enough that all field agents carried the counter to it!"
Basil smiled. "Good. We'll bring 'er some, just in case. Where would she keep it?"
"Ummm…" Jekyll thought fast. Where would Daria keep something like that?
"She 'as a first aid kit, doesn't she?" Skinner inquired. "Seems reasonable…"
"Most likely, anyway," Basil agreed. He set the pieces of the syringe on the desk and took out a likely-looking pack from beneath the bed. It was indeed the medical kit. He picked up a vial in his long fingers and frowned. "I can't read this… 'eiroglyphics, I think…"
"I can read them," Jason said, pushing forward. Basil handed the mage the kit and returned to his scrutiny of the room. One of the large windows had been left unlocked, and he looked this over carefully, noting the smudge of fingerprints on the latch carefully. And… yes, there was a strand of auburn hair caught in the frame. He nodded in satisfaction, gesturing for Quatermain to take a look. The two men conversed quietly for a moment as they took it in turns to examine the ground outside the window as well.
"We have a direction," Quatermain said at last to the group. Jekyll went limp, slumping against the wall. "Thank God…" he said in relief. They had a chance now to rescue her.
"And I think this is the antidote she mentioned," Jason added. He held a small ampoule filled with a clear blue fluid, as well as a syringe made of some tough, transparent material. Quatermain nodded. "Assemble what you need," he ordered the group. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes."
The League gathered in the main room of the villa at the appointed time, each carrying the weapon that they favored. Nemo looked them over as he settled both his sword and Daria's, frowning. They did not have the numbers that they had when assaulting the Fantom's fortress back in Mongolia. Then, they had had the added support of members of his crew. Here, it was just them- an invisible thief, a pirate, a hunter, a vampiress, a mage, a… whatever Hyde was, and Basil. Just the seven of them against an entire cult with alien support. They had lost Quatermain last time- how many more would they lose now?
Jekyll paced nervously, anxiously turning his vial of elixir over and over in his long fingers as he waited for the others. Skinner was having the time of his life, going over the various explosives he had convinced Nemo to bring from the Nautilus, while Mina simply stood like an alabaster statue, face set in grim determination. Jason came down with Quatermain, the mage decked out in what appeared to be a gun belt slung across his body bandolier-style with glass vials of water in the pouches in lieu of ammunition, the hunter carrying what appeared to be most of Sawyer's arsenal, plus old Matilda. Basil was the last to join them, apparently unarmed.
"Wot are ye planning' on doin' in a fight?" Skinner asked the taller man curiously.
Basil smiled lightly. "I know a bit about a Japanese form of martial arts," he said with a touch of pride. "Baritsu and some boxing. Failin' tha', I 'ave a revolver."
"Sensible," Jason murmured. He checked the stoppers on the vials he carried. If it came to a magical battle, as a Water Master he would be at a disadvantage in the desert. His Elementals needed a wet place in which to manifest, and it was probably too much to hope for a spring or something near wherever they were going. He suppose he could always tap the Nile, but that would be a stretch, using energy that would be better channeled into defense or attack.
Jekyll tucked the vial of his elixir into a pocket. "I'm going in the group looking for Daria," he said firmly, looking at his companions for any sign of refusal. Quatermain nodded in agreement.
"Nemo and Basil will go with you," he said. "Skinner will set the bombs to destroy the temple, and the rest of us will deal with Nebthet and Kheti."
"Sounds good to me," Jason replied. He looked at the others. "Are we ready?"
Wordlessly, Quatermain put his hand out in the center of their circle. One by one, the others stacked their hands on top of his.
"The League is set," the old hunter said.