Excelsior (20 page)

“I understand. But I am from... out of town, and I would like an opportunity to speak with the good doctor while I am here.” Zorribis took a step closer to the woman. “I am Zorribis. And you are?”

The woman was now gazing up at him. “Zorribis,” she breathed. “Is that Greek?”

“Greek?” Zorribis replied.

In his earpiece, he heard Grannik: “
Greece
: a country along the
Mediterranean Sea
. It has a sunny, moderate climate and was an early hub of civilization and intellectual thought. Say yes.”

“Yes, Greek. I’m from Greek.”

“
Greece
!” Grannik hissed.

“
Greece
.”

“Well, hello Zorribis, I’m
Elizabeth
but feel free to call me Betty. Only my closest friends call me Betty.” She was now almost pressed up against Zorribis. “Greek men are SO handsome,” she breathed. Zorribis could hear Grannik chuckling in his ear.

The tour guide turned back to the older ladies with the red T-shirts. “Does anyone have any questions?” Most of the group had become totally engrossed in Jason, who had one arm around
Selma
and another around a taller woman with dark hair.

“Where are you beautiful ladies from?” he asked. As the women around him started to give their particulars, a voice cut through the crowd.

“What a load of crap!” a short gray-haired woman yelled, her voice echoing and attracting the attention of the guards for several seconds. “We’re a bunch of old broads. Beautiful ladies. Huh! What are you playing at, kid?”

Jason took his arms off
Selma
and Marian and lifted the gray haired woman’s hand to his lips. “Why would I play? You are beautiful.” He glanced quickly at the balcony. Zorribis was in place but he was trying to get rid of a woman up there.

“Ah, the fair
Elizabeth
. No, you are no mere Betty,” Zorribis said.

“Me? No, I’m not… not really special. I’m just an assistant to the curator of the paintings collection.”

“An important responsibility,” Zorribis assured her. He took both of her hands and pressed them to his chest. Betty turned beet red. “What a treasure to meet a woman like you. I will surely commend you to this Doctor Hesselback when you bring him out to meet me.”

“Oh yes, Dr. Hesselback will want to meet you.” She tilted her head upward, lips parted, eyes closed.

Zorribis reached into his pocket and fingered the flip device.

Suddenly he heard the voice of Grannik in his ear. “Will you get on with it already? Don’t make me tell Niterra.”

Zorribis leaned forward and brushed her lips with his. Betty shivered and dropped her file. She was still frozen in place when he bent down and scooped up the contents. He gently pressed the file into her hands.

“That kiss…” she was flushed and could barely speak.

“You have the most delicious lips, fair
Elizabeth
,” he said.

“Oh, please, moon lover, get on with it!” groused Grannik.

“We are moving on.” Zorribis pointed with his index finger on his right hand behind Betty’s toward Jason.

“What?” asked Betty dreamily.

“Lovely
Elizabeth
, I will wait here while you fetch Dr. Hesselback.” He glanced down at Jason, then gently turned Betty and gave her a little push toward the door.

“I will be waiting here,” he repeated.

Betty nodded and wandered down the hall as if in a trance. Halfway down, she stopped and looked back at him. Zorribis waved and she continued through the door.

Jason nodded. His heart started beating faster. He had to do something now.

He swept up the gray-haired woman. She startled at first then seemed to melt into his arms. Despite her girth, she felt like a feather. He started crooning.

“Younger than springtime are you…” His voice echoed through the hall. “Younger than springtime, are we. Gayer than laughter brighter than sunshine are the lovely lips you’ve brought me.” The Rodgers and Hammerstein number played loudly in his head and suddenly he saw himself back in high school, in the chorus of “South Pacific.” He dipped the woman while supporting her firmly with his other hand and kissed her. He could taste her lipstick as he set her back on her feet. She looked dazed.

“And when your youth and joy invade my heart…” he danced between the now delighted women and pulled Leora close for a peck on the lips. “As now they do!” He ran and jumped on a bench, the women and the tour guide followed him. He filled his lungs with air and belted. “Younger than springtime are we, gayer than laughter…”

The women were pulling him down off the bench, covering him with kisses.

“Now! This is your chance!” howled Grannik in his ear. Zorribis watched Betty walk through the door then checked the position of the guards. One had gone to Jason’s aid and the other was intently watching and trying not to laugh. He leapt onto the balcony rail and sent the flip sailing toward the sword.

Downstairs, Jason, the guard and the tour guide were begging, “Ladies, ladies!”

“Now!” Zorribis hissed.

Grannik pressed the button on his device, there was a crackle of static electricity and for a second the infrared sensors were visible around the “Ritgen Sword.”

“Frank!” yelled the guard next to the sword to his partner. Frank waded away from the women and Jason and returned to his partner.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I just heard something. We’d better radio upstairs and have someone check the alarms. There might be some sort of short.” He pulled the mouthpiece from his shoulder and spoke into it. Suddenly there were guards heading in their direction.

A door opened on the balcony. Zorribis looked down and spotted the back of a display of a knight mannequin on a horse in the adjacent Crusader exhibit.

Zorribis grabbed the edge of the balcony and pushed himself off, leaping into the air and flipping right before he landed with catlike precision behind the armor.

Upstairs, Betty stood in the corridor looking dazed. A large, balding man with glasses stood next to her. “I don’t understand it. He was right here. If he’d left we would have seen him.”

“Well obviously he’s not here, Betty. I’m sure if he’s just off enjoying the exhibits. If he comes back, bring him to HR before you bother me again.”

Downstairs, the older women were pushing at the security guards as the guards tried to extricate Jason.
Selma
had her arms around Jason’s waist and the gray-haired woman was trying to reach his lips. A third woman had her nose buried in his shirt and was inhaling happily. Others wrestled with the guards.

Zorribis pretended to be fascinated by the display of early horse armor as he watched.

“Ladies, LADIES! Don’t make me call NYPD,” shouted the chief security guard as he waded into the melee. The women reluctantly withdrew. The gray-haired woman pressed something into Jason’s hand.

“Call me!” she mouthed as her friends drew her away.

“You’ve had enough fun for one day, young man. Leave now and I won’t have you arrested for disturbing the peace.”

“But I didn’t finish my number!” Jason insisted.

From across the vast hall the ladies nodded eagerly. “Victorio! Victorio!” they chanted.

“What is he doing?” Grannik spoke in Zorribis’ ear. “We have the sword. Get out of there.”

Zorribis spotted a small button on the floor. He scooped it up and, with a flick of his fingers, tossed it at the back of Jason’s head.

“Ow!” Jason plucked the thing out of the air then quickly dropped his arms. “I’m going, I’m going. Thank you for a lovely afternoon, ladies.” Jason bowed in their direction. He headed for the entrance, Zorribis strolling nonchalantly behind him.

“Victorio!” called the women.

“My public,” he told the guards who were following closely behind him to make sure he left. “Please go easy on them, officers. They couldn’t help themselves.”

Zorribis coughed loudly.

Jason gave a final bow. “Good day all!”

On the steps, Zorribis took a threatening step toward Jason, who was whistling. Jason scurried down the steps.

“The love god and I are on our way,” he spoke out loud.

“Good. I'll let Radifen know.”

He turned toward Jason. “Seems like you’ve inherited ‘the Denarian Factor.’” A smile played across his features. “That was a unique and creative solution and no one was harmed. In fact, I believe those mothers are happier than they’ve been in a long while. Good work, very Denarian.” He clapped Jason on the back. Jason nodded quietly.

*   *   *

Radifen stepped into his fighting stance once again as Matthew pushed himself off the floor. The first round of fighting had not gone to his liking; despite the armor, the Denarian gave him such a hard kick that if he weren't wearing his helmet, his lip would have split open. As he struggled to his feet and felt his equilibrium returning, a leg sweep knocked him to the floor. “You can’t take that much time to get back on your feet,” said Radifen towering over him. Matthew nodded and spit out blood. How strong was this old man? He forced himself to stand up.

Karini ran a warm light over his lip, closing it and reducing the swelling. He stepped back. “Slowly, Radifen. He’s had no training of any kind. Not even the indigenous martial arts.”

“You worry too much. Let’s try that again,” Radifen said and whirled at him, a dervish of flying hands and feet. Matthew began to parry and block the blows. He could feel something begin to guide his body. Within two more rounds, Matthew began to block everything that his instructor was throwing at him.

“Very good.” Radifen broke a sweat despite no signs of being winded. “Now, it’s time to strike back as I showed you.”

Matthew lunged forward with a right hand to the head, followed by a roundhouse kick to the stomach. Radifen blocked the punch and evaded the kick.

“MORE!” he bellowed, dancing around Matthew.

Matthew threw combinations. Sidekick, backhand, elbow jab. Radifen evaded him. The slow, awkward feeling had begun leaving his body. Center punch, grab the back of the head, knee strike.

There was a grunt as Matthew made contact with Radifen’s rockhard midsection. “Not bad,” Radifen admitted as he doubled over. “Just wait until the mission team returns. Grannik just relayed that Jason and Zorribis are leaving the museum.” Radifen stepped back into his fighting stance and beckoned Matthew to come closer. “Again.” They continued sparring.

“They have the sword? How did they do that without being detected?”

Radifen smiled. “I don’t think I have to tell you now how advanced our technology is. Don’t worry. The people at the museum don’t even know it’s gone. They still have a perfectly suitable sword from a distant planet in their possession, but the one they have is just a sword.”

“And we have the lifeforce of Excelsior,” Matthew concluded. As they continued to jab and parry it dawned on Matthew to pull his punches. He could feel power and muscular memory racing into his limbs, and suddenly realized a well-placed blow could irreparably harm his mentor.

“And the jewel that houses it,” Radifen said.

Matthew dropped his arms. Radifen used the opening to hit his diaphragm with a roundhouse kick, reverse center punch combination. To both their surprise, Matthew brushed it off. “I don’t understand. Does the jewel do more than look pretty and hold Excelsior’s lifeforce?”

“Whenever you’ve had a vision or an idea about Nocterar, did you ever see him using a jewel to harness destructive energy to use against you or someone else?” Matthew nodded, thinking back to the very vivid dream he had of Nocterar holding him down and holding his hand up against his chest. “From what we understand, after Nocterar fell to Excelsior, Danaak stepped in as the commander of the Krunation Empire and literally ripped the jewel from Nocterar’s hand. Danaak was using that jewel when he and Excelsior traveled through the Leap of Faith and came here to this planet. So if there is a chance that Danaak is to be revived, then there is an even better chance that the jewel that was in his possession is still with him.”

“So all we have to do after I get the sword is hunt down Danaak and make sure that he doesn’t have access to that jewel?”

Radifen came at him with a jumping, spinning back kick with surprising height, forcing Matthew to retreat. He spoke as he landed. “That’s the first part of the plan, to make sure that nobody from this planet could ever be harmed by that jewel. After that, we can focus on how we’re going to get back home.”

Matthew ducked a roundhouse kick and, with a speed that surprised both of them, caught Radifen’s leg. There was a moment when even the dust motes seemed to stop floating through the room then Matthew used the leg like a lever to flip Radifen onto his back, hard. Then he pulled all of his power into a killing blow that came smashing downward and stopped at the last second a millimeter from Radifen’s bloody nose.

“Whoa!” Matthew screamed as he pulled his power back.

Radifen blinked up at his student then gingerly felt his nose. “Consider me impressed.”