First Mutant
By David D. Amaya
Chapter 15
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Lazy Q Dude Ranch, Van Horn, TX 1145 EST. Day 19
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///Ring, ring, ring.\\\
"Thanks for callin' the Lazy Q, 'the place for you,'" Gee I hate sayin' that, the teenager finished to himself.
"Please connect me with your boss." said the man on the line.
Damn Yankees, thought the proud Texan. [There has got to be no lower form of trash in the world.]
"I'll see if the boss is available, Mr.?"
"Tell him it is Mr. Floss Yen, from Beltsville, Maryland."
"Please hold." Damn Northern tenderfoots. he continued as he knocked on the back door.
"Yes Maverick, what is it?" asked the man in the big office.
"Sir? There's this Yankee on the phone fer ya, boss."
"Maverick, how many times have I got to tell you, stop brow beatin' Yankees, they pay your wages," his boss admonished. "Now, did ya get their name boy, or were you born in a barn?"
"I did, and I was, boss," replied the Texan. "Said his name was Yental Floss, or something, from Mary Land."
"KORDEL! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Special Agent Charles Block screamed into the receiver. "HALF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S LOOKING FOR YOU, SON!"
"I did not do it, Charlie."
"Oh shit, stop the presses. Tell me something I didn't all ready know, Lariat."
"I rescued Kilowatt."
"WHAT?!"
"Yes, Charlie, I had a lot of help from some friends, but I have him. He is with me."
"Where are you?"
"Staying with someone willing to risk federal aiding and abetting and harboring fugitive charges. They were going to kill him, Charlie. They said they wanted to make him a martyr. He said a captor was doing it for his country."
"What about Kilowatt? Is he okay?"
"Cyrus is safe, They roughed him up and pumped him full of drugs, but the doctor here was able to purge them from his system.
"Those men in the helicopter were going to see how high I could bounce, until I took them for a swim in the Anacosta. I can not trust anyone else in the agency. You are the only one I can trust with the President's son."
"Okay, Lariat, but about your 'friends?'"
"Call the track in Fort Washington. Ask why they are not running the nags tonight."
"Just saw that a few minuets ago on the news. They already got ballistics in, you shouldn't have used those Cop Killers in your Service piece."
"That is low-grade bullshit, Charlie! We hit the track at 1900 hours last night. There is no way they could have done a check so fast. Whoever is behind this has their claws deep in the highest levels!"
"You just stay under that rock you're hiding behind, Lariat. I'm headed for DC right now. I'll see what I can do by the time I get there."
"Thanks, Charlie, I owe you, BIG."
"This one's on the house, kid, for what you did to Crane. But how am I gonna get a hold of you?"
"Do not worry, Charlie ...
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War Room, X-Mansion 1150 EST.
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"... I will get a hold of you."
Kordel Nichols replaced the receiver with a heavy sigh. "There, the ball is now rolling," he told the assembled X-Men.
"You said yourself that you can't trust the Secret Service," Scott noted. "How do you know that this 'Charlie' isn't involved?"
"Because, he took a .45 for me once without a vest. He is my ex-partner, Scott. He is on his vacation days and close to retirement right now, but he has a lot of friends in DC that still owe him plenty of markers. Right now he is the only one I can trust in knowing that the President's son is safe and sound."
The telephone's ringing cutting him off.
"Xavier Institute, Jean Summers speaking?"
"This is Special Agent Clay Steinwinter with the Secret Service," said the man on the other end of the line. "Is Dr. Charles Xavier available?"
"I'll see if he is available, please hold," she said as she placed the caller on hold. "Kordel, it's an Agent Steinwinter, Secret Service."
"That must be the follow-up from Bulldog," Agent Nichols replied. "Charles, whoever is involved may be placed on your protection detail. Decline protection. Explain that you cannot trust the security I drew up yesterday because of the charges against me."
"This is Charles Xavier, Agent Steinwinter, how may I help you."
"Doctor Xavier, I was calling in regard to your protection during your stay in Washington, for the Senate Hearings, on Thursday."
"Yes Agent Steinwinter, That Agent Nichols was here yesterday to coordinate security on behalf of the Secret Service, but we have seen reports of his involvement in the kidnapping of the President's son."
"Yes, apparently he was paid three quarters of a million in cash and a dozen fake documents to betray his country, but rest assured, he has no connection to any other agents that will be assigned to your security detachment."
"Be that as it may, Agent Steinwinter, my staff and I would feel better if we decline protection from the Secret Service, as I told an Agent Frank, I do have a private security firm to handle my personal safety."
"Very well, I guess I can't blame you for not trusting a traitor. Have a good day Dr. Xavier."
"Thank you, Agent Steinwinter, and good luck in finding the President's son."
"Did he have any charming words about me, Charles?" Kordel asked as soon as the receiver was replaced..
"Yes," he replied. "He called you a traitor, who betrayed his country for three quarters of a million dollars in cash and a dozen fake documents."
"He is involved in the kidnapping! There is no way anyone else would have known what was planted!"
"But didn't you tell Cyrus that's how much they left at your apartment?"
"Yes, but I left it there so the Secret Service could find it."
"Dat a lot of scratch to walk away from, mon ami."
"Do you remember the large bag I took with me, Remy? It has $15 million dollars worth of cash in over a dozen currencies, untraceable repaid credit, service and gift cards, several prepaid cell phones and some spare weapons."
A low whistle escaped the Cajon's lips. "Now dat's wat de Gambit call goin' all in!"
"I knew if I had to go it alone I would need some high level bribe money, but those bills had to be marked or sequential so it was no good to me, but I did take the four envelopes that contained the documents."
"They are excellent quality," he noted. "Whoever did these passports and IDs has got to know what to look for in a phony, probably WitSec or CIA." He then pounded the table with his fist in disgust. "How could I possibly have been so goddamn stupid! I did not just give them the opening to kidnap the President's son, I also gave them the fall guy on a silver platter!"
"What can we do to assist you, Kordel?" Charles asked.
"Obsolultly nothing! You have all risked your lives for the President's son enough," said Nichols. "All this situation needs is for Senator Kelley to have some mutant hysteria to add to this bonfire. Any risk of implication that you had any role in this matter and the Mutant Registration Act becomes a Constitutional Amendment. I can not ask for the X-Men to get any further involved."
"Then don't," Scott suggested.
"We aren't needin' yer permission to help you or Cyrus, lad," added Sean
"Das right, mon ami," added Remy. " 'Sides, we ain't got nothin' else ta do today."
"Ah don't know about ya'll, but it has been a bit too quiet 'round here," Rogue chimed in. "Ah could use the exercise."
"I'm in too," said Bishop.
"Are you all in agreement then?" Agent Nichols asked.
"Yes," Ororo replied for them. "I know I speak for us all when I say we would never allow one to do battle alone, nor shall we start now, my friend."
"There is no turning back," the Federal officer warned. "This WILL only get ugly and messy. If you are willing to assist me then the kid gloves come off."
"That's the only way you can put on the brass knuckles, G-Man," Logan chimed in.
" 'Jacta alea est,'" Beast recited. " 'The die is cast,' - Julius Caesar just as his army crossed the River Rubicon."
"Thank you, thank you all. Okay, here is what I will need..."
End of Chapter fifteen
© David D. Amaya 2007