Chapter 22
Natasha tried to glimpse the prison again the cell just down the corridor from her. Something about him felt familiar but she just couldn't put her finger on it.
"Get me some wine you sack of swine." He shouted angrily at the goon further down from her again for the tenth time. He kicked the door and walked away in a huff when the man didn't move an inch.
"Do you know who I am idiot?" He hissed through the bars on the wooden door again after a few minutes.
"I don't care who ya are idiot." The goon mocked him." Iz told yer a liar and thief, and ya a con man who tried to steal from Count Egobossler. Dats all I need ter know."
"Freak I'm the real Count Egobossler, do you really think they'd let a blue freak like that imposter rule my castle and my people." His tone became more regal as he spoke- Like a young man schooled to look down upon people who didn't measure up to him.
"Damn it! I'm Kaseru Count of Egobossler its mine by right of legitimate inheritance, that bastard stole it from me." He shouted more in frustration this time. "He stole it from me…" Kaseru began to sob banging his fists on the wall. "Let me out of this place, I don't want to die staring at these drab grey stone walls."
Natasha moved away from the bars and looked over at her son taking his afternoon nap on a pile of fresh straw in the corner of their more spacious cell. The noise didn't even cause him to stir.
Could what this young man be saying is true? She thought. She heard him talking down on people who brought him food. Could the current Count Egobossler be an imposter? She didn't really like the arrogant desperate man down the hall from her. Something in the way he spoke to people grated on her. But he could be useful, she figured in getting her and Dyami out of this prison.
She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. How could she be thinking like that? She thought. Walking over to Dyami and laying a tender hand on his cheek. She'd been a pre-school teacher not a strategist that used people to meet her own needs. But this was a desperate situation- she had to get them out of this dangerous prison.
"I'm sorry you had to hear all of that." A familiar voice made her jump. She looked up to see the cell door opening and Kempler walked through it.
"Just the ranting of madman from what the guards say around here." She said trying not to sound alarmed from the tone of Kempeler's voice.
Dyami began to stir. "Mumee…" He said still half asleep.
"I'm here sweetheart." Gently she picked him up in her arms to cuddle him while sleep began to fall away from him and his sharp blue eyes began take in his surroundings again.
"Come with me." Kempler indicated, Quickly she picked up a banana from her small food supply for Dyami knowing he'd be hungry as soon as he was fully awake.
A short while later they were outside of the walled grey stone prison again staring out at sea.
Natasha lost count of how long they were there- she let Dyami run on the rocky sandy beach keeping a close eye on his movements. The whole time Kempeler watched them with a haunted expression on his beared staunch face.
"This is how it should be." He eventually said walking over to her.
"What should be?" She asked trying to sound casual. She always kept het guard up around anyone from Galactor.
"A man should be able to watch his wife…and child…be together, and not worry about her loyalty." His voice cracked with emotion, for a moment Kempeler appeared vulnerable before her eyes.
Dare she ask? She thought while helping her son build a sand castle, licking her lips she took the plunge. "Did you…have a wife?"
"Once… in another lifetime. She died, I changed into what I am now." His eyes became more distant.
How did she die? Played on Natasha's mind. Without her asking he answered her unspoken question.
"I killed her when she betrayed me… I loved her, beyond anything you could imagine and yet she betrayed me. We planned only a month before to begin a family…she told she was pregnant and when I saw her in his arms I knew the child wasn't mine. How could it be mine when I'd been away from her for weeks before on a business trip. So I killed them both in cold blood…I watched he die and something of me died with her that day."
Natasha paled, she knew him to be dangerous but she couldn't figure out why he was telling his past, especially something as personal as this.
"Mumee, shells." Dyami said picking some up in wonder and throwing them on top of the Castle.
"Yes darling, they look great." She said with a fake cheerfulness, as she tried to hide her fear of the man telling her his deepest secrets.
"She had strawberry blond hair just like yours…" He continued. "What I have become, a cold blooded killer… nothing more than an assassin for my lord and a tool for Galactor. I could have been so much more, I told her I give her anything she wanted…she said she wanted me…but she lied oh she lied…."
"Then why stay his assassin? You could leave Galactor and find a new life-" The flick of his hand haltered her little speech.
"I can't just leave- Egobossler would still be in charge, and he'd never let me go… nothing in the world would change…I…would still have to live the life of a murderer." He stopped and his face hardened, she could see he was fighting with something inside of himself.
"Then overthrow him. You could do it I know you could." She blurted out. In shock she went back to the sand castles she was forming. What made her say something so stupid. She scolded herself, watching Dyami trying to dig his way to China with his bare hands.
"How?" Kempeler asked sounding interested in the proposal.
Her mind went into overdrive. How? Was a good question.
She felt his large hand touch her hair, freezing she felt him run his fingers through it.
"Take-your-hands-off-me," Natasha said through clenched teeth. "I have a husband, and I'm very loyal to him."
"I can see that…but women can be fickle." He whispered into her ear. "Women have needs just like men and I believe for you it has been a long time….for me it has, I've had no other woman since my wife died."
"I'm not like that, so leave me alone." She pushed away from him and picked up Dyami and ran a short distance away from him.
The clicking sound of gun halted her and she skidded in the sand.
"I wouldn't go any further if I was you Mrs Butler." His tone sent a chill down her spine.
"He's scary." Dyami whimpered and buried his face into her shoulder.
Slowly she turned to face Kempeler, the man had unpredictability about him. Yet he held that haunted look in his eyes once more when she finally faced him.
"I…can't…do…it…" He said the gun began to shake in his hand. "I can kill you again my love I can't."
Slowly Natasha walked back toward him. Gently she forced him to lower the gun while still holding onto a frightened Dyami.
"Then why keep going down this path…" She said softly. "Why keep punishing yourself and hurting others because of your own pain."
A saying she heard somewhere flicked into her memory. Hurting people…hurt people. And Kempeler's pain ran so deep he could inflict the worst kind of pain upon humanity. From what she could see its likely he already had.
"Then what do you suggest I do…" Kempeler's face began to soften- his rugged features began to take on a defeated look.
"Do something other than kill people." It was the only thing she could think of.
He looked back towards the prison. And she knew she had his solution.
"That man…. Kaseru, if he's the real Count Egobossler maybe he could give you some weight in turning his men against him when the truth gets out." She could feel the plot forming and she began to smile. Matt would be proud of her, she thought. He was always the one who was good at this kind of thing.
"You could use him to gain control of enough loyal men to take over Galactor." Natasha contained some of her excitement. If Kempeler did what she suggested them Galactor would be thrown into chaos. This would allow the science ninja team a chance to gain more ground on them and Matt a chance to find her and Dyami. After all why would they worry about one engineer when Galactor was in a leadership crisis. And Dyami would be safe from whatever secret Egobossler had about him.
Kempeler didn't answer but she saw the plan ticking over in his mind. He cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "If you we're so loyal to you husband…I'd have you for myself my dear."
She didn't know to be glad he said it or afraid, so instead she looked into her son's face to find him glaring with defiance at Kempeler.
"Gutsy kid even at his age, then what else could I expect from him." Kempeler began to laugh loudly.
"I'll have you taken back to your cell…" He said turning away from her he walked ahead of them. Cautiously she followed hoping he wouldn't be inclined to renew his advances. If he tried to force she didn't know if she fight him off. The mere thought sickened her to her core.
"I'll get word to you're husband. His project will launch soon and if it fails I'm not sure what Egobossler will do to you, but it won't be pleasant I assure you." He said before disappearing down a corridor.
Matt please don't fail us. She prayed letting Dyami hold her hand as he talked no stop in gibberish and real words pointing at everything as went past it. She could only hope now Kempeler liked the plan enough to act on it. At least it gave her some hope of escape.
* * * *
"Gerald, come in." Count Egobossler smiled warmly at the older scientist and engineer he had assigned to assist his newest engineer in creating a mecha that would soon defeat the Science Ninja Team.
"My Lord." He addressed him formally.
Egobossler waited for him to continue, knowing he had to return to the project as soon as he had finished giving his report on his side project. Gerald detected this and departed with the usual niceties.
Gerald produced a small silver disk about the size of his thumb nail and placed it gently onto the desk in front of it.
"It's amazing!" He said in awe." The most amazing device I have ever seen. was truly a genius."
Egobossler raised a curious brow and indicated for him to continue.
"It's an implant from what I can tell. There are tiny connectors that when it's placed against soft tissue automatically take hold. From my tests it sends out signals and smaller devices into the blood stream. They are designed to locate specific muscle tissue. It then enhances everything about the human body and mind like a cybernetic effect to the tissue. To what degree it will go to I have no idea." His excitement grew by the minute. "It has something alien about it don't you think, something you'd find in a science fiction movie…" Gerald rambled on about it for a few more seconds before Egobossler interrupted him.
"So the translations you did from his work hold some truth about it, this is the device they referred too?" Egobossler needed confirmation. The folder of information, they found along with the small box of the devices was written in Danish. Gerald spoke it and read it fluently.
"Yes, but he never used it on a human being or an animal. It appears that he was looking for a subject around the time of his death. Preferably a very young child for some reason." Gerald became thoughtful on this, and it looked to Egobossler like he had been pondering on it since he began to translate the information and study the devices.
"Do you think these devices will be of use to us?" Count Egobossler watched his face, he wanted to know if he had something valuable left behind a burnt out lab from a Doctor who created the most intelligent cyborgs ever seen. And he knew the Condor had been one of his finest creations ever. An army of cyborgs like him and he'd win this war in no time.
"So, you want to test out this device? But you need a suitable subject." A slow crooked smirk snaked its way across Count Egobossler's pale lips.
"That would be the best way to find out how he really meant to it work." Gerald's face broke into an instant radiant smile.
"Why a child I wonder?" Egobossler mused picking up a picture that had recently come into his possession.
"I figure it was because a younger mind is more open with learning and growing, and so is a younger body…it would be ideal when you think about it. I figure he just hadn't found the right child to experiment with. So say had a reputation for being a grave robber…" Gerald said picking up the small sophisticated implant.
"You won't need to that to test out your device." Count Egobossler felt his day becoming even better. He had the perfect subject for the experiment. A piece of information came into hands earlier that morning, making him wonder what else his closest friend and spy Kempeler was keeping from him. He should have known about this, instead he had to find out from finding it stashed in a secret draw in Kempeler's desk.
"I'll send you a young boy in the few days to our base in Almeron along with a surgeon to perform the operation. I'm sure the results will be interesting." He smirked.
Gerald was given his leave and Egobossler sat down at his desk starring at the picture of the young boy before him and he read the letters once more.
"The son of the Swan and the Eagle, and how much he looks like you Gatchaman. Well, I'm taking my revenge on him, if the boy dies it will no consequence to me…but to you I know it will hurt…I'll leave his body in place that I know you'll find it when I'm done experimenting on him that is." Egobossler threw the picture down on the desk. They'll have three bodies to find once he was through. When Matt Butler finishes the project he would no longer need him if they won. He laughed at the irony, the man raising Gatchaman's as his own builds the mecha that spells his death. It couldn't be more perfect if had planned it right from the beginning.
Count Egobossler figure it was time to keep a closer watch on Kempeler, he'd learned to be a cautious man from the time he discovered the truth of his heritage. He needed to find out why he kept that piece of information from him.
"What are you up to?" He snarled aloud in deep thought while stroking his chin unconsciously. "Don't betray me Kempeler, if you do, I'll kill you myself."
* * * *
Natasha woke to sound of someone opening the door. Quickly she looked up at the small bared window high above them, moonlight streaming in told her it was late and still night time outside. Before any words could escape her lips the four men walked into the room and roughly pulled Dyami out of his deep sleep. The small boy began to protest loudly.
"Who are you? Why ado you think-"Her own protests cut short from a sharp slap across her face.
"Followin orders that's what we're doing." A gruff male voice responded.
"No, leave him alone." Instinctively she leaped on top of the man throwing a screaming Dyami over his shoulder and cried. "He's my son and I won't let you take him."
"Lady, you're only going to make this harder on yourself." One of the men said without any compassion for them.
A hard fist knocked her off the man's back throwing her onto the hard stone floor. Then men roughly pushed past her.
Natasha couldn't give so easily, no matter how much her body hurt she pulled herself to her feet and grabbed Dyami's arm. "You can't take him without me." She cried." I won't let you."
"Mumeeee…..daddeeee" Dyami cried clutching her arm with all of his strength.
"Damn bitch," The man scolded. Natasha felt something sharp pick her side. In a foggy haze she knew it must have been a needle. Her world began to spin rapidly- the last thing she saw before she blacked out was Dyami's terrified wide blue eyes as the goon walked away with him into the darkness of the corridor.