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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 5657000" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 54 "The Spy” (Episode Two, Chapter Fourteen - Friday, September 8, 1882, 9:30 A.M.Abby was now alone with Cal and Sabah.  She asks, "Tell me about these elixirs, Cal. How are they going to help us sneak into, then back out of, the Frenchman's camp?" He heads over to a backpack sitting against the side wall and unties the sleeping bag/bedroll fastened on the bottom. He unrolls the bag, revealing a metal box in the center, six-by-ten-inches and two inches thick. He then removes a keychain from a belt pouch and unlocks three separate locks on the box. Opening it, inside are ten metal vials with different colored rubber stoppers. Three are red, two blue, two yellow, one green, one brown and one purple. "These will do the trick," he replies.Abby says, "Cal, this is a treasure... no wonder you have it under lock and key. Several locks and keys. But what are they?"  He replies, "Magical Elixirs. I have a colleague who is an alchemist, specializing in elixirs of a transformational nature. I am sorry that they were hidden in our base came and not with me when the French attacked, otherwise we all could have escaped. Retrieving them was not easy, as the French Foreign Legion soldiers were ransacking our camp when I got them. I barely escaped.The yellow pair is the most obvious ones to free two of my five colleagues, they are Elixirs of Insubstantiation. Essentially, they temporarily transform the human body into a gaseous state. That will free them from the prison, but will unfortunately also leave them at the mercy of the winds, another reason for my wanting the camels in order to keep up with their clouds until they reform.The green is an Elixir of Animal Transformation. It allows the person consuming it to change into the form of any animal. Using that one is tricky, as the person adopts not only the form but the instincts and part of the animal's thought processes. For that reason I was planning to tell my colleague to transform into some from of monkey, to get through the prison bars but still be a humanoid mammal. The blue pair is Elixirs of Human Transformation. After drinking that a person can assume the physical form of another person. Those would not get any of them out of prison bars themselves but they might be able to change and blend in with the Egyptian workers who were also taken captive. That would at least save them from execution in the short term.The brown one is an Elixir of Arachnid Movement. It allows the person who consumes it climb like a spider. It would not get anyone through the prison bars, but I am guessing the execution site might be a walled enclosure that could be climbed away from. That would however also require a simultaneous distraction; otherwise the firing squad would simply shoot him or her down from the wall.The purple is an Elixir of Flight, which would enable the person drinking it to glide like a bird across the skies. A full vial would allow up to three hours of flight, but this one is currently half empty, as that is what I used to get here quickly from Tanis.Lastly are the red trio, which I quite frankly don't see how would be of any immediate use in a rescue. They are Elixirs of Breath Substitution. Drinking it allows the person to go for hours without needing air. I brought those on this journey thinking I might need them while investigating Egyptian crypts. They also quite useful in countering poison gasses."Abby replies, "So getting your friends out shouldn't be too big a problem with these, as long as we can get in. That's going to be the challenge. One of the people I'm with could sneak into the camp easily, I suspect. We're going to have to find out where they are in the camp, get in, and get out without getting caught ourselves. That's going to be the trick."  He replies, "I left an observer back there to keep an eye on the situation, a young Scottish boy who was working at our camp as an intern. He's rather clever and should be able to avoid capture until I return. He may have some ideas on getting in and out.""In other words, we're not really going to be able to do much planning from here and we might as well discuss something else?" Abby asked with a smile.  A surprised look comes over his face.  "Well, as I seem to have stunned you into silence," Abby said and turned to Sabah. "Cousins of yours were mentioned? How many do you think there would be to help us?" She replies, "Three or four I will go ask them." He hands her a belt pouch that from the sound contains several coins. She gathers up her traveling cloak and departs.One they are finally alone Callum pulls Abby over towards him for another embrace and passionate kiss.  When Cal finally pulled back, Abby smiled and said, "From your hello, I guess you haven't forgotten me." He replies, "How could I forget. Your presence was the only tolerable aspect of that internship at the Pitt Rivers estate. The regimental aspects of the way Pitt Rivers made us examine everything in painstaking detail was enough to drive me crazy. And his notion of sifting every ounce of dirt, well, I have no patience for that sort of thing. But as long as you were there I had a ray of sunlight to what would have otherwise been a prison sentence for me."She says, "You know we're always going to disagree about Pitt Rivers methods. If you want to know about the lives of everyday people then that is what you have to do. No one tried to preserve anything from the "unimportant" people, so you have to look much harder.”  He replies, "Yes, I know. You're a dedicated archaeologist. I am far more concerned about the everyday lives of people today than those who lived thousands of years ago."“Anyway, I'm sure I was glad to be of service," she said with a sour note in her voice. He laughs, "Please don't take that tone, maybe I phrased that wrong. What I meant to say was that I cherished every moment that we were together and that all of my memories of the Pitt Rivers estate pale in comparison to my memories of you.""That phrasing was much better," she smiled. "I suppose I'm a little sensitive. Considering what we suspected about why you were reassigned... We never made any plans together, so I suppose I thought you really might have forgotten some of... well," she stammered to a stop. "There hasn't been anyone else? We thought we may not meet again, after all."He laughs and says, "Well, my father did arrange a number of social functions for me to attend, with a variety of female escorts who met with his approval, but none held any interest for me. And for the last year I have been way too busy for romantic entanglements. I have been here in Egypt for the last half-year and the only woman archaeologist on our team is engaged to the curator of the Tanis dig site.  There’s also a middle-aged spinster who is tutoring the young Scottish intern, but she has not caught my eye either."Abby says, "After I finished my degree I went home for a while and saw my mother. Since Dad passed she gets lonely sometimes, I think. I had a lot of fun, but I didn't meet anyone I took seriously. Anyway, I was just getting ready to leave when Dr. Crane contacted me to come work with Mrs. Parker and her people. I had thought he might be interested... but I think he needed to work up his courage. He's gone now, though."  Callum laughs "Ah yes, my distinguished Caribbean rival. I think it is safe to say that he was always interested. Poor guy, tall, well-educated but painfully shy. I guess his loss is my gain.""I was a bit blinded to other possibilities at the time," Abby laughed.  "Your gain, hmm? Does that mean I'm going to see you again past, say, tomorrow when we get your colleagues out?"  Callum replies, "I do not see any reason why not. My planned career seems to now be at an end so my future is an open book. There is no reason why you can't be a significant part of it."  "I have three questions for you then.  First, will it give your family fits? Second, do you care?" she said with a laugh, "And finally, why do you think your career has ended? These accusations of being spies wouldn't do that. Is there something else I don't know about?"He replies, "I don't care what my family thinks." He pauses and hesitates before continuing. "Abby, the answer to the other two questions are interrelated. About the accusations, I'm afraid they will hold up because they are true. British military intelligence did have an espionage agent posing as an archaeologist. They....the French have evidence of this and the spy's identity....Callum Stuart.""Cal! What... I...," she stopped and took a deep breath. "Why? How long?"   He says, "I was recruited by a British intelligence agent named Bond...Campion Bond. He heads up his own branch of the British intelligence service. He recognizes wizard magic as being useful tools rather than things to shunned and banished and seeks out those who feel the same. He found out that I had wizarding experience and convinced me to help him "For the Gods and the Country". Bond did express doubts as to my suitability for the profession of international spy. He said I was too flamboyant and far too preoccupied with the opposite gender, that no Bond would ever act that way.   He had me learning Archaeology from Pitt Rivers and then from Petrie as a cover story, to give me access to various places in the world. But that is over now, my cover is blown. And the other five REAL archaeologists will be executed because of my involvement unless I rescue them."She says, "So the whole time we were together you were a spy? And the reason you left, it wasn't your family? It was... your job? Gods, I don't... You were too distracted by women, or me?"  He says, "No, the whole time we were together I was learning about Archeology. I had been recruited for the intelligence service but needed to learn other skills before I could be sent into the field. And it was my Father who got me reassigned, because of my involvement with you. I recall his exact words 'How could you sully yourself with a Colonist?' The arrogance of that man! And you were also the woman Bond was referencing who had distracted me.""I'm sorry, I'm just... beyond shocked." Abby stepped back to him and took his hands, as well as a couple deep breaths. "And I'm frightened for you."  Abby paused, then chuckled half-heartedly. "I guess I'm alright with being a distracting colonist, even though I am half-English. I guess now we get those archeologists out and get you away from those Frenchmen.  Oh Cal, how did you get yourself in such a mess?" she asked finally, then kissed him tenderly. "You never did quite fit on the digs, I just always thought it was a bit of that upper-class upbringing coming out."He says, "I apparently got into this current mess by being careless. I don't know how the French managed to penetrate my cover, but I'm sure it was something I did wrong. Bond's right, I'm probably not cautious enough for the international spy business. But that is all now over with regardless. My main concern now is rescuing those other five."She says, "And we're going to help you with that. Don't worry, we're going to do everything we can to get them out safely. We may have to tell Mrs. Parker about this though. The other should know that French are looking for you, specifically. This group of Frenchmen happens to be an elite group of wizards, one the Mrs. Parker has come up against before. There's little doubt they used magic to discover you in some way. Likely they were looking into anyone British in the area."He replies, "Yes, the 'Weekly Wizards' group. I was briefed about them. There appear to be at least two-dozen of them operating in Egypt right now. That is highly unusual, they normally stick close to Paris and seldom leave France other than in groups of no more four. Abby says, "That's one of the reasons we're here, to find out what they're up to. Mrs. Parker's granddaughter and her fiancé are working on that right now." Abby slid closer to Cal and pulled his arm around her. "Sabah will be back soon, and then we'll have to get ready for our trip. We should take advantage of what time we have."  Not needing to be told twice, he locks his arms around her waist and their mouths touch.  "We were always good at this," she managed to breathe after a few minutes. "There have been days when I really hated your father."   He says, "Every day of my life fits that category, but right now I'd rather focus on you than him. And I estimate that Sabah will be gone for at least a half-hour, possibly longer.""Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" she asked even as his hands answered the question. "We don't have a whole lot of privacy here."  "Life is all about risks," he replies.  A wide grin split Abby's face. "I did say I was willing to put myself at risk didn't I?" she teased, then proceeded to do just that.Meanwhile, Fish and Lawrence keep the room staked out for about 90-minutes until they see a hotel worker arriving. He is pushing a cart that has on it's tablecloth a tea-service, tea pot, plate of pastries and three folded-up newspapers. Before rolling the tea service into the alchemist's suite, Fish advises Cantrell, "Let's pour from opposite sides of the cart; that should give us a view of the entire room. We can make a visual inventory of everything we see, without actually looking as though we're casing the joint (which we are!). Take note if anything might be hidden beneath a cloth or behind a curtain." The two men swallow another dose of the 'potion of comprehension' and step into the outer room of the suite. "Use your sense of smell too!" whispers Fish, tapping his nose. "This guy likes his 'cocktails'!"They make their way into the room with the cart. Fish and Lawrence notice the newspapers, one is today's Cairo paper and is in Arabic, the other two are the prior day's papers, the Paris Express and the London Times. "Who is it" a voice yells out from one of the side rooms, which they saw the previous day was the laboratory.Fish approaches the room from which they heard the call, but remains outside. He peers inside, taking a quick but deliberate look at what he can see there. He then lowers his gaze and responds, "Hot tea, sahib. And baklava."  Fish sees the man is actively working on two different concoctions, both boiling away. One a deep green and the other a thick creamy-yellow mixture." The alchemist comments in French to himself (and clearly assumes they do not understand him), "A watched pot never boils, ah well, hot tea would certainly help to keep me awake. Seven is far too early to get up in the morning."Lawrence says, "We'll pour the tea for you, yes? And we have the latest papers here, sahib." He ruffles them to draw the alchemist's attention as he and Fish scan the rooms. "You are working on an important project, yes?"  "Oui, yes, very important. I am trying to help save your city from destruction by the British." He picks up a plate of pastries and his cup of tea, and says, "Leave the cart, I may want more later." He then returns to the laboratory and shutting the door behind him, essentially leaving Fish and Lawrence with access to the remainder of the suite.  A few minutes pass and they realize the Frenchman is not immediately returning."Lawrence!" Fish whispers, "roll the cart in front of the lab door. We need to search this place. We need to do it quickly and we need to do it quietly." He glances about, scoping out whatever looks like the two most promising places for them to begin. He nods toward the spot nearest the lab door, and then scrambles toward the other.A locked chest is found and opened, finding that is it filled with wine and cognac of vintages 20 to 60 years in age. In another room a dagger is found that is very lightweight and appears to give off a slight golden glow.  Fish is sorely tempted to...yoink!...but as he knows that he might need to reconnoiter the suite again under guise as a hotel servant, he decides against the theft. Surely they'd miss that pretty pointy-pointy!Back in the room with the map of Egypt they see that some of the piles of cards have been moved since the day before, the group of six that was on Alexandria now being approximately 200 miles further south in Memphis. Two other piles of cards, one east of Zakazik and another west of Zakazik have each moved approximately 25 miles closer to the city since yesterday. Next to each of these two piles is a piece of paper with markings of the same six cards followed by words written in French.  Fish jots down the pips & suits of each card, noting where on the map they've been placed. He intends to pass this intel to Lady Wilamina.Fish whispers to Lawrence to join him at the map. The older man drops what he's doing and slips over. He looks over the notes and slowly translates in his head. "OK. I have it. Let's give the rest of the place a once-over and we can go."  One list reads:General WoolsleyK-Spades: Guizot - Diplomatic Leader9-Diamonds: Dumas - Chronicler7-Hearts: Cezanne - Cartographer6-Hearts: Manet - Diplomat3-Clubs: Chamberlain - Physician3-Spades: Lupin - SurveillanceThe other reads:General OrabiA-Spades: Gouraud - Diplomatic LeaderK-Hearts: Meissonier - Surveillance9-Clubs: Pasteur - Physician7-Diamonds: Taine - Diplomat4-Spades: Savorgnan de Brazza - Cartographer2-Diamonds: Verne - Chronicler</blockquote>

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