THE PRISONERS IN THE PALACE

Part Sixteen:

Sid sat in his computer chair, using his feet to push it in a slow spin as he pondered

what Terry had just told him. Instead of an argument with the K&R agent, he'd

been informed of a startling development.  Mikol was dead, and not just dead, but

splattered over the rocks at the base of the parapet of his castle in Bohemia. 

Somehow Rachel, alone, had retrieved Cort a second time.  That, however, was

incidental.  What mattered was that Mikol had been removed from the equation. 

Without Mikol there simply was no Grovensky Construction.  The man had no

Terry's nor Bud's running around thinking they could run the place without him. 

He needed to think, to plan what his response to this should be, how he could take

advantage of it.

His eyes passed over the black screen.  Hmmm? What were the Viking and the

General up to? Had they taken the opportunity for cleanliness he'd given them? 

He'd check quickly then get back to the matter at hand.

He flipped a switch and the screen went from black to solid blue then the picture

formed.  He saw the pool, yes, and on the far side of it Maximus lay on a lounge

chair, a large white towel draped over him, one bare leg dangling down to the wet

marble floor.  Sid pressed both hands on the desk, leaning forward.  The towel was

not all that was draped over the General.  Brianna lay stretched atop him, her

face nestled under his chin.  Maximus' hand rubbed slowly up and down her back.

Sid sat back in his chair, resting his chin on his tented fingertips.  So.  He stared at

the screen, Mikol forgotten, odd expressions flitting across his features.  After a

while, he pressed a button, removing a computer chip from its slot.  He sat, turning

the chip over and over in his fingers, staring at it, then at the screen.  Sliding the chip

into an interior breast pocket of his suit coat, he typed some rapid code, then left

the room.

When he entered Maximus' room, Brianna and the General were both there, both

dressed and looking just slightly bewildered at the abrupt termination of their time

in the bath house.  Brianna's eyes widened when she saw Sid walk in, dressed in

Armani rather than his short servant's tunic, but it was the expression on his face

that truly alarmed her.

Sid stopped in the middle of the room, addressing the General, ignoring her. 

"Maximus Decimus Meridius," he said, his voice almost gratingly harsh. 

"Commander of the Felix Legions, General of the Armies of the North, fictional

character created by a Scot and an Aussie."

Maximus' eyes narrowed in puzzlement, but Brianna gasped, realizing what Sid

was doing.  "No," she said pleadingly, "please, Sid, no."

Sid paid no attention to her, his eyes locked on Maximus.  "I suppose you think

you are in Rome, General, back in the one eighty's, eh?"  He reached in his pocket,

pressed a button, and a large section of the far wall slid open revealing a parking

lot.  A cement mixer was passing by, on its way to a new area of construction. A city

bus, its brakes puffing air, pulled to a stop, several men with briefcases getting off. 

Cars came and went, pulling in and out of spaces.  A jet flew low, heading to the

nearby airport.  Sid pushed the button again and the wall slid closed.

"That, my dear General, is the reality of where and when you are.  It is the year

2007 and she," he pointed at Brianna, "has known it all along.  She has, in fact,

been working with me, following my instructions to seduce you, to keep you from

discovering the truth not only of where you are, but of the fact that you were never

even real.  Ask her.  Ask her who she is, what she does for a living. Ask her who I

am."  He turned on his heel and strode from the room.

Back in his computer room, he sat heavily in his chair, kicking a metal waste can

across the room, then staring at his keyboard.  Where? His mind raced.  Where

and when?  Then he smiled and typed quickly.

Maximus had staggered back a few steps, and now sat on the edge of his bed, his

mouth open, his face a mask of utter confusion.  Brianna stood where she was,

looking at him.  What Sid had done, how he had done it, was beyond her worst

nightmare.  "I...," she began, but then the room was gone.

NOW DIRECTLY CONTINUED AS "DESPERATE MEASURES"...

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