Post by Lorpius Prime on Mar 5, 2009 4:13:30 GMT -5
Jay saw the other man twitch slightly as he stepped forward and offered his hand. "Uh, I guess I'm pleased to meet you. Colonel," he said.
The "Colonel" looked at Jay's hand for a moment, then turned his eyes up to Jay's and gave him a cold stare. Jay twisted his mouth at this behavior, but didn't step away. After a moment, Colonel Holland took his good hand out of his pocket, and shook Jay's.
"Mr. Blake," he said, then sighed. "We've been trying to find you for some time."
He pumped Jay's hand firmly, once, then let go. Jay let his arms drop to his sides.
"So Margaret told me," he said. Then he gave Martin a hard look of his own, "If you don't mind me asking, though, who exactly are you?"
Martin looked away from him, and nodded, "Well as your sister said, my name is Martin Holland. I'm a Colonel with the Security Service."
Jay felt like somebody had just soaked him in ice water. He took a step backward and away from the man whose hand he had just shaken.
"What's wrong, Jay?" Margaret asked, stepping up beside him.
Jay stopped himself, then shook his head. Martin was still looking off to the side of both of them, hand in his pocket. "Well it's nothing, Margaret; except that I'm pretty sure the last Military Intelligence officer I ran into tried to kill me."
"What?" Margaret blinked. "Jay I'm pretty sure Martin isn't—"
But Martin turned back towards Jay with a frown and interrupted her, "Who?"
Jay showed his teeth a little. "Called himself Major Farragut," he said.
"Wait," Margaret glanced between the two of them, then turned towards Martin. "Didn't… didn't whoever-it-was at the palace mention that name?"
Martin had been looking thoughtfully up into the air, but now he turned his eyes down towards Margaret again, and nodded. He looked at Jay, "Evan Farragut was the Secret Service agent in Augsburg when we heard you were alive, he disappeared right after that." He furrowed his brow, "You met him?"
"He pulled a gun on me and Jack!" Jay said, stepping closer to Margaret. "And then he—" Jay stopped. And then he'd done it again… after he died, Jay thought, recalling the chaos at the opera house.
"What is going on?" Margaret demanded, turning her head between the two men and looking exasperated. "Jay Thomson! Colonel Holland is not here to kill you!" she stamped her foot. "Firstly because if he did then I'd kill him," she gave Martin a dark look over her shoulder. "But mostly because of what we just went through trying to find you!" She stuck out one hand to point at Martin, "This man almost died last night, Jay Thomson. He saved my life." She looked down at her feet for a moment before crossing her arms and turning her head back up to Jay, "Maybe you could thank him instead of making a complete ass of yourself as usual."
Jay opened his mouth briefly, then closed it again. He blinked and looked from Margaret to the man facing him. Jay looked at the sling around his left arm for a moment, then sighed. "Yes, of course," he said, "thank you. I've just had a very… a rather strange couple of weeks." Jay shook his head and turned back to his sister, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you again, Margaret." He hugged his sister again.
Margaret rubbed at her eyes after he let go. "Yes, well," she said, "that's a little better." She stepped back to talk to both Martin and Jay, who were still regarding each other cautiously, "I'm sure there must be somewhere around here that we can talk a little more comfortably. Hopefully someplace we can get some food, too, I'm hungry."
"Well he obviously didn't die, Jay Thomson, not if you saw him again," Margaret scolded him, then bit into another piece of the sausage she had on her fork.
The three of them had slid into a corner booth of a small diner they found in town. Both Margaret and Martin had raised their eyebrows when Jay took out the sword he had under his coat to set it beside him, but thus far neither of them had asked him any questions about it. After all, it was only one of many other strange things he had to talk about. So far the mystery of Major Evan Farragut was absorbing most of their attention.
"I don't know, he was in awfully bad shape. And the Baron said he died." Jay picked at a piece of black bread he had on his own plate.
He was still reeling from finding Margaret here in Germany, and in the company of a Security Service agent. Jay was still a little shocked by the revelation that military intelligence was not, in fact, trying to kill him, but he could already feel himself adjusting to the knowledge. The truth as Jay knew it had been twisted around and entirely inverted so many times lately that he was finding it easier to accept almost anything.
"He's the one I'm interested in," Colonel Holland said. He was sitting beside Margaret, and hadn't ordered anything except a glass of mineral water to drink. "The man to whom you and Mr. Duggan took Major Farragut, I'm interested in him." He took a sip from his glass, while still staring straight at Jay over the top.
"Uh, well he called himself Baron Münchhausen. I've always thought of him as the Baron, although I guess everyone else was just calling him Karl," Jay looked out the window. He had been rather vague about most of the people he'd run into during his adventure, both because he didn't know how much the other two were likely to believe, and he didn't want Colonel Holland to get the wrong idea.
"Anyway," Jay shook his head, "he was a real unpleasant fellow. I got the chills just being near him. Seemed like he changed every time you looked at him, too." Jay drank from the stein of beer he had ordered with his food.
"Changed how?" Margaret asked.
"I don't know…" Jay held up his hands and pointed to his face, "his eyes kept changing color, so did his skin. And I swear he grew a mustache in about twenty minutes once."
His sister and the Security Service agent looked at each other.
"I mean, I've seen a lot of strange things lately," Jay shook his head, "the Baron was just disturbing too."
"When you say his eyes changed color," she waved at her own eyes, "were they red?"
"Rather bloodshot at times, yeah," Jay said. "But he'd walk off for a minute and they'd clear. Why?"
Margaret looked at her companion again, and Colonel Holland said, "The man who told us where you were had peculiar red eyes and a… presence about him."
"Like he sucked all the air out of the room," Margaret added, "and all the light." Martin nodded.
Jay raised an eyebrow, "Well he did seem to like the dark." He paused for a moment then shook his head, "But you couldn't have met the Baron. He's a nutcase, apparently wants to kill all of us Englishmen. The others thought he was behind this whole… rebellion, or whatever it is that's happened to this blasted country." Jay waved a hand at the window and the outside world.
"Yes, I could see that," Martin said simply.
Jay was even more curious now. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, I think he intended to kill us," Martin glanced down at his left arm before looking back at Jay. "Possibly you, too, from the way he mentioned you."
Jay sat back, "You mean…" He blinked, and looked between Martin and Margaret. "What happened?"
The Colonel pressed his lips together, and Margaret answered first. "Martin shot him," she said.
"Really?" Jay gawked. "Jack pointed a gun at him once; he acted like it didn't scare him at all."
"He did seem somewhat overconfident yesterday, as well," Holland said dryly.
"But Martin shot him, and he died," Margaret was looking down at the tabletop, "he and that weird hunchback."
"Hunchback?" Jay started, "the bartender?"
"Huh?" Margaret looked like she hadn't quite heard him.
"There was this bartender that liked to hover around the Baron, creepy little fellow, like he was the man's only friend." Jay frowned, "Name was Garrett or something."
"Gerd," Martin said. "Yes, Mr. Blake, I believe we are talking about the same person."
"I guess so." Jay turned his head between the Colonel, who was facing him calmly, and Margaret, who was looking down again, chewing on her lower lip. He looked at Martin. "And he was going to kill you?" Jay nodded at Margaret.
"Yes," he said.
"But you stopped him."
"Yes."
Margaret smiled without looking up. "Martin was very brave," she said.
"Well," Jay said. The man from the Security Service was still looking straight ahead, scrutinizing Jay but giving nothing away himself. "I suppose I should thank you, then," Jay said finally. He picked up his drink for a moment before setting it back down.
Margaret's smile got bigger, but Martin didn't say anything. After a few moments, Jay asked, "So what do we do now?"
"Hmm," Margaret looked out the window. "Well it's still pretty early, but I'm feeling pretty exhausted." Margaret was right; the sun was still a few hours away from setting. She turned to Jay, "Martin and I didn't get much sleep last night."
For the first time that Jay had seen, the Security Service man flinched. Both he and Jay looked at Margaret.
"Because of the fight," she said quickly. Her ears turned bright red and she looked back out the window again.
There was an awkward moment where no one would meet anyone else's eyes. Jay sighed in an attempt to drown out the silence. "I haven't had many opportunities to sleep very well myself lately."
Margaret turned back around and nodded, looking slightly relieved.
"Um," Jay said, "I don't actually have any money."
"Well I could lend you some," Margaret told him. "My rates are very reasonable, and I think you may even qualify for the family discount. Let's say… fifteen percent?"
Jay turned to Martin. "I thought you were here to rescue me," he said.
But the Colonel ignored him. He'd developed a somewhat far-away look in his eyes. "Actually," he said after a moment, "the government's got a very nice compound on this island. I haven't made a habit of pulling rank, but I find myself feeling rather impulsive. And I don't think I shall have many more opportunities now."
His voice trailed off, and Margaret and Jay exchanged a glance. Martin looked back at both of them, and his lopsided grin would have frightened small children.
"Have either of you ever slept in a palace?" he asked.
The "Colonel" looked at Jay's hand for a moment, then turned his eyes up to Jay's and gave him a cold stare. Jay twisted his mouth at this behavior, but didn't step away. After a moment, Colonel Holland took his good hand out of his pocket, and shook Jay's.
"Mr. Blake," he said, then sighed. "We've been trying to find you for some time."
He pumped Jay's hand firmly, once, then let go. Jay let his arms drop to his sides.
"So Margaret told me," he said. Then he gave Martin a hard look of his own, "If you don't mind me asking, though, who exactly are you?"
Martin looked away from him, and nodded, "Well as your sister said, my name is Martin Holland. I'm a Colonel with the Security Service."
Jay felt like somebody had just soaked him in ice water. He took a step backward and away from the man whose hand he had just shaken.
"What's wrong, Jay?" Margaret asked, stepping up beside him.
Jay stopped himself, then shook his head. Martin was still looking off to the side of both of them, hand in his pocket. "Well it's nothing, Margaret; except that I'm pretty sure the last Military Intelligence officer I ran into tried to kill me."
"What?" Margaret blinked. "Jay I'm pretty sure Martin isn't—"
But Martin turned back towards Jay with a frown and interrupted her, "Who?"
Jay showed his teeth a little. "Called himself Major Farragut," he said.
"Wait," Margaret glanced between the two of them, then turned towards Martin. "Didn't… didn't whoever-it-was at the palace mention that name?"
Martin had been looking thoughtfully up into the air, but now he turned his eyes down towards Margaret again, and nodded. He looked at Jay, "Evan Farragut was the Secret Service agent in Augsburg when we heard you were alive, he disappeared right after that." He furrowed his brow, "You met him?"
"He pulled a gun on me and Jack!" Jay said, stepping closer to Margaret. "And then he—" Jay stopped. And then he'd done it again… after he died, Jay thought, recalling the chaos at the opera house.
"What is going on?" Margaret demanded, turning her head between the two men and looking exasperated. "Jay Thomson! Colonel Holland is not here to kill you!" she stamped her foot. "Firstly because if he did then I'd kill him," she gave Martin a dark look over her shoulder. "But mostly because of what we just went through trying to find you!" She stuck out one hand to point at Martin, "This man almost died last night, Jay Thomson. He saved my life." She looked down at her feet for a moment before crossing her arms and turning her head back up to Jay, "Maybe you could thank him instead of making a complete ass of yourself as usual."
Jay opened his mouth briefly, then closed it again. He blinked and looked from Margaret to the man facing him. Jay looked at the sling around his left arm for a moment, then sighed. "Yes, of course," he said, "thank you. I've just had a very… a rather strange couple of weeks." Jay shook his head and turned back to his sister, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you again, Margaret." He hugged his sister again.
Margaret rubbed at her eyes after he let go. "Yes, well," she said, "that's a little better." She stepped back to talk to both Martin and Jay, who were still regarding each other cautiously, "I'm sure there must be somewhere around here that we can talk a little more comfortably. Hopefully someplace we can get some food, too, I'm hungry."
* * *
"Well he obviously didn't die, Jay Thomson, not if you saw him again," Margaret scolded him, then bit into another piece of the sausage she had on her fork.
The three of them had slid into a corner booth of a small diner they found in town. Both Margaret and Martin had raised their eyebrows when Jay took out the sword he had under his coat to set it beside him, but thus far neither of them had asked him any questions about it. After all, it was only one of many other strange things he had to talk about. So far the mystery of Major Evan Farragut was absorbing most of their attention.
"I don't know, he was in awfully bad shape. And the Baron said he died." Jay picked at a piece of black bread he had on his own plate.
He was still reeling from finding Margaret here in Germany, and in the company of a Security Service agent. Jay was still a little shocked by the revelation that military intelligence was not, in fact, trying to kill him, but he could already feel himself adjusting to the knowledge. The truth as Jay knew it had been twisted around and entirely inverted so many times lately that he was finding it easier to accept almost anything.
"He's the one I'm interested in," Colonel Holland said. He was sitting beside Margaret, and hadn't ordered anything except a glass of mineral water to drink. "The man to whom you and Mr. Duggan took Major Farragut, I'm interested in him." He took a sip from his glass, while still staring straight at Jay over the top.
"Uh, well he called himself Baron Münchhausen. I've always thought of him as the Baron, although I guess everyone else was just calling him Karl," Jay looked out the window. He had been rather vague about most of the people he'd run into during his adventure, both because he didn't know how much the other two were likely to believe, and he didn't want Colonel Holland to get the wrong idea.
"Anyway," Jay shook his head, "he was a real unpleasant fellow. I got the chills just being near him. Seemed like he changed every time you looked at him, too." Jay drank from the stein of beer he had ordered with his food.
"Changed how?" Margaret asked.
"I don't know…" Jay held up his hands and pointed to his face, "his eyes kept changing color, so did his skin. And I swear he grew a mustache in about twenty minutes once."
His sister and the Security Service agent looked at each other.
"I mean, I've seen a lot of strange things lately," Jay shook his head, "the Baron was just disturbing too."
"When you say his eyes changed color," she waved at her own eyes, "were they red?"
"Rather bloodshot at times, yeah," Jay said. "But he'd walk off for a minute and they'd clear. Why?"
Margaret looked at her companion again, and Colonel Holland said, "The man who told us where you were had peculiar red eyes and a… presence about him."
"Like he sucked all the air out of the room," Margaret added, "and all the light." Martin nodded.
Jay raised an eyebrow, "Well he did seem to like the dark." He paused for a moment then shook his head, "But you couldn't have met the Baron. He's a nutcase, apparently wants to kill all of us Englishmen. The others thought he was behind this whole… rebellion, or whatever it is that's happened to this blasted country." Jay waved a hand at the window and the outside world.
"Yes, I could see that," Martin said simply.
Jay was even more curious now. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, I think he intended to kill us," Martin glanced down at his left arm before looking back at Jay. "Possibly you, too, from the way he mentioned you."
Jay sat back, "You mean…" He blinked, and looked between Martin and Margaret. "What happened?"
The Colonel pressed his lips together, and Margaret answered first. "Martin shot him," she said.
"Really?" Jay gawked. "Jack pointed a gun at him once; he acted like it didn't scare him at all."
"He did seem somewhat overconfident yesterday, as well," Holland said dryly.
"But Martin shot him, and he died," Margaret was looking down at the tabletop, "he and that weird hunchback."
"Hunchback?" Jay started, "the bartender?"
"Huh?" Margaret looked like she hadn't quite heard him.
"There was this bartender that liked to hover around the Baron, creepy little fellow, like he was the man's only friend." Jay frowned, "Name was Garrett or something."
"Gerd," Martin said. "Yes, Mr. Blake, I believe we are talking about the same person."
"I guess so." Jay turned his head between the Colonel, who was facing him calmly, and Margaret, who was looking down again, chewing on her lower lip. He looked at Martin. "And he was going to kill you?" Jay nodded at Margaret.
"Yes," he said.
"But you stopped him."
"Yes."
Margaret smiled without looking up. "Martin was very brave," she said.
"Well," Jay said. The man from the Security Service was still looking straight ahead, scrutinizing Jay but giving nothing away himself. "I suppose I should thank you, then," Jay said finally. He picked up his drink for a moment before setting it back down.
Margaret's smile got bigger, but Martin didn't say anything. After a few moments, Jay asked, "So what do we do now?"
"Hmm," Margaret looked out the window. "Well it's still pretty early, but I'm feeling pretty exhausted." Margaret was right; the sun was still a few hours away from setting. She turned to Jay, "Martin and I didn't get much sleep last night."
For the first time that Jay had seen, the Security Service man flinched. Both he and Jay looked at Margaret.
"Because of the fight," she said quickly. Her ears turned bright red and she looked back out the window again.
There was an awkward moment where no one would meet anyone else's eyes. Jay sighed in an attempt to drown out the silence. "I haven't had many opportunities to sleep very well myself lately."
Margaret turned back around and nodded, looking slightly relieved.
"Um," Jay said, "I don't actually have any money."
"Well I could lend you some," Margaret told him. "My rates are very reasonable, and I think you may even qualify for the family discount. Let's say… fifteen percent?"
Jay turned to Martin. "I thought you were here to rescue me," he said.
But the Colonel ignored him. He'd developed a somewhat far-away look in his eyes. "Actually," he said after a moment, "the government's got a very nice compound on this island. I haven't made a habit of pulling rank, but I find myself feeling rather impulsive. And I don't think I shall have many more opportunities now."
His voice trailed off, and Margaret and Jay exchanged a glance. Martin looked back at both of them, and his lopsided grin would have frightened small children.
"Have either of you ever slept in a palace?" he asked.