Stories written by Poker

Mr Double's Palisades

Awakening 2039, part 4
Written by Poker

Chapter 9

Slowly Alex dragged himself up from the depths of the dark pit he was buried in. He didn't know where he was, or how he'd got there, only that his whole body was wracked with pain. As he gathered his thoughts together, Alex concentrated on two things, the cold of the floor to which his face was pressed, and the throbbing ache in his mouth. With an effort Alex pressed his hands on the floor and manoeuvred himself onto his knees. Without thinking he went to activate his uplink and screamed as his tongue pressed into the torn hole in his gums. Alex's eyes snapped open at the sharp pain and, through agonised tears, he saw that he was in a dimly lit cellar of some sort.

Memories started to return and Alex groaned. Where was Katie? What had Nero's thugs done to her? With one more supreme effort, Alex hauled himself to his feet and leaned against the cold, damp wall. Stumbling, Alex made a circuit of the small room, checking the door and finding that it was bolted on the outside. There were no windows in the cellar, and the featureless walls held no hope of escape. Alex sank back down to the floor sitting with his back against the wall. He was cut off from the Net, the reason his tooth had been torn out, and he didn't know what to do. In the short term Alex was content to sit and regain some of his strength.

Alex closed his eyes and rested for a while. His body still ached in the aftermath of the drugs Beanpole had shot him with. His jaw still throbbed from the rough extraction of his uplink tooth. But; slowly, strength flowed back into Alex's muscular body. As he sat in the gloom a familiar voice echoed in Alex's head.
"Alex..... Alex..... Are you awake?"
"Plato! How did you find me? Is Katie all right?"
"One thing at a time. First, what Nero doesn't know, and what you seem to have forgotten, is that the uplink tooth is merely the switch, the pointing device. I have contacted you before without you using your tooth. Second, Katie is alive, but unconscious. I have managed to reach the submicro in her skull, but the drugs mean I haven't been able to converse with her. I'm monitoring her and will talk to her when she is fully awake. They haven't touched her uplink tooth. They probably never even considered that she might have been fitted at her age"
"Do you know where we are?"
"Nero has a mansion in Highgate. I managed to track your attackers car on the traffic control CCTV system. They disappeared in Archway, so I presume you are in Nero's Highgate home."
"I've been here before then. It's massive, and a complete fortress."
"I have been trying to uncover plans of the mansion, but without success so far."

Just the fact that he was able to talk to Plato gave Alex a lift. Already his mind was starting to work its way through possible escape strategies. As they talked, the bolt on the door rattled and a shaft of light pierced the gloom. Standing silhouetted in the doorway was Beanpole, or Thompson as Alex now remembered. "Get up! Nero wants you."
"What's going on? Why did you attack me?"
"Just shut up and come with me."

Following Thompson, Alex found himself back in the airy room where he had first met Alfredo Nero. The gangster looked at Alex and smiled "Ah Mr. Steele. I'm so glad you could come."
"I didn't exactly have a choi..Argh!" Thompson gave him a backhanded cuff across the jaw.
"Let's be civilised about this shall we?" Alex stayed quiet. "You've picked up the AH unit, for which I'm grateful. Now I need some information." Alex nodded his agreement. "Since she has been with you, have you noticed anything unusual about her?"
"Careful" warned Plato, inside Alex's head.
"Unusual?........ Well, she is obviously very intelligent. For a 4 year old she asks a lot of questions.... and good ones too. Like 'If same sex relationships are legal, why is the news full of the election of the new US president and his first man?' I had to work to keep up with her."
Nero looked at Alex speculatively "Anything else?"
Alex looked thoughtful and then replied "No apart from that, she's a normal 4 year old."
"If you're lying and I find out, you know you're dead don't you?"
"Of course, I'm not lying. You pay me and I do as I'm told."
"As long as you do....."
"Mr Nero......"
"Yes Steele?"
"Why did you take my uplink tooth?"
"You may not know, but I'm in a state of war at the moment. So, I control all communications."
"Okay Mr Nero. Anything you say."
Nero turned to Thompson, who was standing at the door looking military. "Thompson. Take Mr Steele to his former room. I don't think the cellar is needed."
"Hmmph" grunted Thompson. "Anything you say Mr Nero.".....(cont)

.......Download the entire Awakening 2039, part 4 ....written by Poker.

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This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

	*"MrDouble's Palisade"™ A MrDouble Production: mrdouble Changes last made on: Monday AM, February 01, 1999*
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