Beach Invasion: Part Two

We really left Marin in a pickle, didn't we? Let's see what's happened while we've been away...

Escaping was out of the question.

It had happened too fast- before I’d known what was happening the man who’d grabbed me had whipped out a hankie. Then everything had gone black.

When I’d come to, I knew I was in trouble. Deep trouble.

I was tied to a chair in a small room. I was guessing it was a hotel room, but I couldn’t be sure. Trevor and I never stayed in hotels when we time traveled, we always stayed in homes that were just like what people lived in during those time periods. The good news was that I was alone in the tiny, one bedroom place. Bad news- who knew when they were coming back. And what they’d do.

I wish I’d gone with Trevor, I thought miserably.

Oh, of all the times to be a stickler. Why hadn’t I just trusted him for once? He knew where to stand and how to act in situations like this, but I didn’t. He no doubt had a great place to watch from that the spies wouldn’t have seen us. But I’d run off…

If I get out of this, I promise I’ll never doubt Trevor again on matters like this if I can help it, I decided.

“If” being the big question.

The entire last several hours were quite fuzzy, and I had a pretty good idea why. Chloroform. It was a strange odor drug that knocked you out with only a whiff or two. I was pretty sure that was what the guy who’d grabbed me used to knock me out.

It wasn’t my first experience with it, either. About a year before Trevor and I had waltzed our way through Soviet Russia, and we’d been snatched off the streets by KGB agents. They’d drugged us and dragged us off to an interrogation, and Trevor had told me later they’d used chloroform.

Now I wished I’d been semi-conscious so I could at least have a faint idea where I was. How was Trevor going to find me?

And it didn’t help I was tied to a chair. Not a big help when you’re planning your escape.

The door jolted and I stiffened, memories flooding back of three years before at the school I'd escaped from. Calm down, don’t let them see fear. They lived off of fear, they wanted to scare you. I could remember quite clearly how the soldiers had delighted in tormenting me, laughing at my pleas to leave me alone. No, I wouldn’t let them get the satisfaction this time. I wouldn’t cry, I wouldn’t ask for mercy.

At long last, the door opened and in walked a tall, dark haired man. I resisted the temptation to shudder, and I looked away from his piercing blue eyes.

“Oh, you’re awake,” he said in English. He shut the door.

His American accent was near perfect, if anyone was to guess his lineage they’d pick Norwegian. I was impressed- it was hard to fake an accent. I was living proof of that, my Czech accent was still quite noticeable even though I had been with Trevor for three years.

I refused to look at him as he marched across the room towards me. He stood over me, and I tried to count to a hundred in English in my head so I could ignore his steady gaze. Dear God, give me the strength not to show my fear, help me not to be afraid, I prayed.

“Well, I know you can talk,” he stated flatly. “You said as much last night. Remember?”

Yeah, that’s what blew this thing up in the first place.

He moved suddenly- and despite myself I flinched. I’d been waiting for a blow, some violent action. I chanced a peak to see his reaction, and he merely chuckled.

“I’m not going to hit you,” said he, pulling a chair up to sit straight across from me. “Though I can’t say as much for my partner. He was ready to kill you last night. I stopped him.”

I still didn’t look at him, I knew that my eyes would betray my alarm and terror. How do I know you still aren’t going to kill me? I wondered. Their techniques were the same as I remembered- try to enact trust first, then use the hard tactics when that didn’t work.

“How old are you?” he asked.

Silence was all I gave him.

“Look, if you want to save your neck I suggest you talk.” His semi-pleasant tone was gone and he now seemed irritated. “My partner is ready to leave you for dead, and if you don’t start telling me some things I may just let him have at it.”

Hard tactics. That was fast.

I wondered what I should do. Should I say something? Would that help me out? Perhaps they’d spare my life… No, they wouldn’t. It was best not to say a word, to get some satisfaction in knowing that I didn’t let them have anything.

When I still refused to look at him or say a word, he nodded his head. “You’ve been taught well,” he commented. “Your father wouldn’t happen to be an agent for the government, would he? It would seem that you know how to play this game.”

If my father was an agent, it wasn’t for this government. My father had been a staunch Communist, though he was from a long line of freedom-loving Slavs known as kazaks. He’d fully supported the overthrow of Tsarist Russia, even participating in the revolution. Though I hadn’t known him all that well, it was what I remembered the most vividly, his full-blown support of the Communist cause. That and the day he’d left Mother and I…

“Sooner or later you’ll have to say something, child,” the spy said, bringing me out of my thoughts. “I’m not inclined to hold onto you as a hostage if I don’t know if anyone’s coming for you.”

That’s an odd statement, I pondered. If anyone’s coming for me? Did he think no one cared enough to go after me? How could he say such a thing, not even knowing who I was?

As if to confirm my thoughts, he got up and continued, “For all I know your father could be the town’s drunk and has no intention of coming after you.”

I knew it was a trick, a way to get me to defend Trevor’s integrity and my own. I knew it in my head, but something inside my heart snapped. “Trevor will come for me,” I muttered under my breath. “He’d never leave me in the hands of the likes of men like yourself.”

There. I’d said it. I’d broken my iron will to not speak a word. Oh, křen.

This time the man took a hold of my chin and forced me to look at him. I did so grudgingly, trying to hide my true emotions under a facade of defiance.

He studied me, his blue eyes searching mine. Though he may have spoken like an American, his face looked very much like an Aryan. Perhaps the FBI would pick up on his trail sooner that he’d like to think.

“You’re not American,” he said slowly. “You don’t have an American accent.”

“Neither do you,” I countered.

“I can see under your false confidence, child. You’re fearful. You’re afraid of me.” He shrugged. “I would be offended if you weren’t. I am a man to be feared. But I do not have any intention to harm you. I don’t believe in hurting children.” He cocked his head a little. “Now where are you really from?”

I’d already given up my union card by speaking, so there was no reason not to continue. “Around.”

“Ah, so now you’re going to play the tough little girl, hmm?” He sat down once more in the chair and folded his hands. “From the way you pronounce every letter when you speak, I’d say you’re from Czechoslovakia.”

I could’ve sworn I didn’t move a muscle, but he must have seen something in my composition. “Czech, then? I thought so. I’ve never been there myself, but I hear it’s nice.”

Why is he discussing this? He shouldn’t have been. He should have been at my throat, demanding who would come after me when they noticed I was missing.

Before anymore could be said, the door burst opened and in ran the other spy, his hair wild and his eyes wide. He was quite a bit younger than his partner, and didn’t look very German at all. “We’re in trouble,” he panted. American? That was odd. He must have German ancestry. “Someone’s blown our cover.”

“What! Impossible!” my interrogator shouted. “We’ve covered our tracks completely.”

“Could it be the contact?” The younger man suggested.

Silence. Contact? I wondered. It was easier to keep my mind off my present situation if I focused on all my questions. Trevor would know what they were talking about. He’d known they were going to be here way before I had known.

“Did you see anyone? How do you know they’re after us?” The tall agent asked after a moment.

His younger partner shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair nervously. “Look, all I know is some guy with crazy hair chased me down, yelling he knew who I was and that we couldn’t hide forever.”

Some guy with crazy hair- I jerked my head up and stared. I didn’t need an answer to that question. I already knew. Trevor!

Tall guy glanced back at me, and his expression hardened. “It appears our young friend knows who he is,” he commented.

I lowered my head and kicked myself in the leg. Great job, Marin.

“Well then, perhaps we’ve got a bargaining chip with this wild man. It seems we already have what he wants, now we’ll just get from him what we want. Total silence.”

Oh, no. The profitless trade. They were going to pretend to trade me off if Trevor would keep his mouth shut, when in reality they would kill us both. Dear God, please keep Trevor away! I knew without a doubt he’d accept the first trade they gave him without much thought. And he’d do it for me. Why didn’t I trust Trevor? This is all my fault!

Come back next Monday for the final post of Beach Invasion to find out what happens!