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Post by Jordanna on Aug 9, 2006 1:05:02 GMT -5
When the telephone rang, it was nearly dawn, and Nick Tiernan had retired only a short while before to his private suite of rooms beneath the Tiernan Enterprises building.
With a muttered curse, Tiernan slid out from beneath his silk bedsheets and shuffled over to the phone. He scowled at it for a moment and considered letting it ring, then at last sighed and picked it up. "Tiernan."
The voice of one of his higher-ranking agents came on the line, choked with agitation. "Sir, we've--we've lost the Gray Lab."
Tiernan blinked in drowsy confusion. "What do you mean you've lost it?"
The gulp at the other end of the line was audible. "Somebody's torched it, sir. The same kind of arson as the warehouse and the bridge."
Nocturne swore violently, and the room faded into half-light as his eyes darkened. With an effort he mastered himself, and said stiffly, "I'll be in my office in five minutes. Bring me everything you have so far."
"Yes sir," his resigned agent replied.
For a moment, Tiernan stood, considering his options. At last he paged his night receptionist.
"Send for Dawson."
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Post by skybright on Aug 9, 2006 1:12:30 GMT -5
Regina Dawson's sleep-muddled, rumpled demeanor wasn't really an act -- she'd managed to fall pretty deeply asleep between the time she'd arrived home and the time Tiernan's night receptionist had called. But the detective was playing it up just a bit: mostly out of a perverse (and potentially health-endangering) desire to annoy Nick Tiernan as much as was possible.
She didn't bother to do more than merely glance at the receptionist on her way upstairs; her knock at Tiernan's door was answered immediately by a brusque, familiar "Come", and Daws entered the office looking tired and mildly disgruntled.
"I assume you've got another disaster on your hands." She said, removing her fedora.
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 9, 2006 1:19:00 GMT -5
"The worst to date," Tiernan snarled, scowling at the drowsy-looking detective.
"I considered not even telling you of this, detective, because the matter is so highly sensitive--but the fact is that my most secure private laboratory was destroyed overnight. It was the same sort of arson that Van Linden and her gang have used before. Even now, a dozen of my people are still unaccounted for--and there's no measure for the financial loss."
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Post by skybright on Aug 9, 2006 1:29:31 GMT -5
Daws feigned surprise and leaned closer. "No kidding?" She frowned. "Any idea how Van Linden and her pals found the place?"
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 9, 2006 1:40:14 GMT -5
Tiernan clenched his fists. "Miss Dawson, I can't even conceive of a way Van Linden's group could have learned of the Gray Lab. Only a handful of my most dedicated personnel knew it existed. Even George didn't know its location." He shook his head and let out a growl in his throat. "Either someone among them has extraordinary powers indeed... or my organization has been compromised in a way that should have been impossible."
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Post by skybright on Aug 9, 2006 1:46:23 GMT -5
Daws let out a low whistle and shook her head. "And either way has bad implications for you, obviously." She looked thoughtful. "Any chance one of those missing personnel you mentioned might've been the one who turned on you?"
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 9, 2006 1:56:29 GMT -5
"I find the idea very difficult to entertain. All of them have been in my organization for years, and for various reasons, they all took a very personal interest in the work." Tiernan drummed his fingers on his desk. "We'll find out when we locate them--if they weren't killed. Our losses at the Murfeeston Bridge proved that Van Linden's gang isn't above killing their own kind."
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Post by skybright on Aug 9, 2006 2:00:41 GMT -5
Daws made a noncommittal noise in her throat. We weren't the ones who started the killing, pal. "Possible -- but it's odd for Van Linden's people to cart off a dozen mutants -- at least some of whom must've been dangerous -- just to kill them somewhere else, especially when they could've killed them at the warehouse and obscured any evidence."
Daws hesitated. "I'm assuming the research involved was . . . not the sort of thing the cops should know about?"
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 9, 2006 2:12:32 GMT -5
"That's another problem," Tiernan growled. "The police and my own people are still searching the site, but so far it appears Van Linden's gang did a great deal of scavenging before the lab was destroyed. They even raided a sealed vault." Tiernan thumped a fist on his desk. "I'd sooner the research had been burned--and its remains found by the police--than have it in Van Linden's hands."
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Post by skybright on Aug 9, 2006 2:16:36 GMT -5
Daws frowned. "That bad, huh?" She leaned back and ran a hand through her tousled hair. "Okay, Mister Tiernan, what is it you want me to do with all of this?"
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 9, 2006 2:24:58 GMT -5
"Find Van Linden," Tiernan ground out. "These attacks are becoming intolerable, and my people have had no more success than you. I want you to turn your attention back to this problem and try again."
He closed his eyes. "Perhaps I'm going about this the wrong way. Perhaps a few random human deaths would convince Van Linden that I'm not to be trifled with. If she cares more for them than for our own kind, she wouldn't want to endanger them."
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Post by skybright on Aug 9, 2006 2:32:49 GMT -5
Daws bit back on the not-unfamiliar desire to go for Tiernan's throat, and frowned. "Could be. Or it could just push her into hittin' you harder than ever." You can bet on that one, pal.
She shrugged. "Anyway, that's your business, not mine. I'll get back on Van Linden's trail -- if you can call it that." She stood and retrieved her fedora.
"By the way, the cops fished Franz Huber's wallet out of the East River two days ago. They're convinced it's a suicide -- but I've still got my doubts." She paused suddenly, as if a thought had struck her. "Y'know, it's possible that Van Linden thinks you've got somethin' to do with Huber disappearing; she could've caught wind of what you were planning at the Millenium, especially if she's got a close source. Maybe this is her way of tellin' you she's going to retaliate for whatever you do -- eye for an eye, mad scientist for a mad scientist, that sorta thing."
There ya go, pal. She thought maliciously, Have a healthy dose of paranoid conspiracy on top of everything else. Compliments of the resistance.
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 9, 2006 2:41:03 GMT -5
Tiernan gave Daws a withering look. "I already plan to give the entire organization a going-over. If Van Linden has any contacts here, I'm going to find them. Your concern is to find her, and to report her location. Be glad I haven't asked you to involve yourself beyond that--as proof of your own loyalties, perhaps."
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Post by skybright on Aug 9, 2006 2:48:51 GMT -5
Daws arched one eyebrow and replaced her fedora on her head, projecting all the wounded professional pride and maligned dignity she could muster. "Mister Tiernan, if you ever have reason to doubt my loyalty, I'll be very surprised." And probably very dead. "I back my clients, Mister Tiernan -- and that includes you." She turned on her heel and headed for the door, tail lashing in agitation.
"You'll hear from me. Good morning, sir."
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