My plan to visit the professor to eliminate some of my last remaining Quantum questions had backfired spectacularly.
Now I knew I was currently ageing backwards, but not why; I discovered I had the ability to magically repair my garments; I had a new covert spook to meet; I had to track down an escaped prison gang, one of whom was almost certainly a Quantum with unknown powers – oh, and then there was the other Quantum, the serial killer pyschopath, to deal with.
So I had all that going for me now.
Back in my apartment I dropped onto my replacement couch (the meteor-damaged one having been jettisoned earlier in the week) and rubbed my temples. I didn’t dare turn on the TV or check the internet in case there was some new earth-shattering Quantum announcement, which I really wasn’t up for right then. I scanned the information the prof had given me, and settled on the info for his covert contact:
Alias: Henry Hall
Phone: 202-555-9931
Instructions: Call, let it ring two times, then hang up. H will call back, usually within 30 minutes. Tell him you are the Arbiter and that ‘the Professor’ gave you the number.
Very cloak and dagger, I thought, but I followed the directions exactly.
21 minutes later I got the call, “This is H, how did you get this number?”
“From the professor,” I replied, “I am the Quantum known as the Arbiter. Can we meet?”
“How soon can you get to D.C.?” he asked.
“In minutes.”
“Meet me at the Washington Monument at exactly 2:17 pm, and sit northwest of the monument, facing it, on the nearby bench Come alone, and do not look or act in any way that would draw any attention to yourself.”
I was about to reply, “Will do.” but before I could, the line went dead. Charming fellow.
I had a few hours to kill, so I came up with an excellent way to take advantage of the free time.
I took a nap.
I roused myself at two and put on my gear again (I had taken it off when I got home). I was of two minds about wearing the face mesh, but I decided to wear it with the hood up – i didn’t want to take any chance that my face would be seen or captured, and the mesh shouldn’t be noticeable with my hood up and all the way forward, especially if I kept my head down. If wearing a hood was unusual, well, that couldn’t be helped.
I studied a recent image of the Washington Monument and astralled right to it – of course no one saw, since I was still invisibly in my astral form. I flew around to find the closest location where I could pop back into my body unnoticed – an unoccupied public bathroom close by served nicely.
I followed the rest of “Henry’s” directions, walking to the Monument, finding the correct bench, and seating myself. I waited.
A fellow came and sat on the same bench, facing the other way, but he only stayed few minutes and got up and left. For a short while I wondered if maybe that was the guy, and I had been supposed to follow him, but after a few more minutes someone again sat down a few feet away, facing the other way. He didn’t speak right away.
Not knowing what to do, I waited.
“Do I know you?”, he asked.
“I think we just talked by phone – the professor gave me your number?”
“Are you A?” he asked.
“Are you H?” I replied.
“I’m going to get up in a few minutes. Wait sixty seconds, and then follow me. Don’t follow so closely that it’s obvious, nor so far back that you lose sight of me. Just act like an ordinary sightseer until we are alone.”
“Understood” I replied. This spy stuff was amusing, almost fun.
He did and I did. He led me around the unfamiliar city, and after half an hour of playing follow-the-leader I followed him into a seedy apartment building in an obviously poorer section of town.
Once inside, he led me to the third floor, and ultimately to an apartment door, which he entered. Sixty seconds later, so did I.
I was immediately grabbed in some kind of fighting hold, and shoved against the wall. I reacted near instantly by going astral, flying back fifteen feet, and taking a look. A man who I presume was H was struggling with my now dead weight just inside the door. The apartment was nigh bare, with little in it but a cheap bed, a small round table with three old and rickety wooden chairs around it, and some kind of trunk against the wall. I re-embodied, making the corpse the man was struggling with vanish from his arms. Suddenly seeing me across the room, he pulled out a gun.
“If you shoot me, you will definitely piss me off and not make a good first impression. Now, what the hell gives, dude?”
The short, wiry, and perhaps mid-forties nondescript man looked me over, and then put his weapon back away. “I suppose I don’t need any more proof you are who you say you are than that.”
“I could kill you and then maybe bring you back to life.” I said, still a little put out by being surprise-attacked.
The man held up his hands, palms outward, in the universal sign of non-aggression. “Peace.” He said.
“We’ll see.” I said, but I sat down on the threadbare bed cover.
The man pulled out a chair at the round table and sat. “Okay, you’re obviously the Arbiter. You can call me ‘H’, given the name I am assuming that our mutual friend supplied you with.”
I took the initiative, “I’m here to investigate the sudden disappearance of several possible Quantums, as well as an attempt on my life,” – at this, H smiled his amusement – “and a possible future attempt on Glory. All I know is that the hit on me was carried out by professional contract killers, they were hired for 100K by someone calling himself – or herself – archangel. They also said they had a follow up job in Florida – which I intuited was Glory. I would like to find the person or group – or agency – responsible.”
H nodded. “This is going to take possibly twenty-four hours for me to check my sources, meet me back in this room this time tomorrow and I will tell you what I can find.”
“Don’t you want to charge me for your help, or name a price, or something?” I asked.
“I think if I make myself useful to a man such as you, that I will make it to your benefit to look out for a man such as me.” H replied steadily, observing my reaction.
“Just as long as you aren’t one of those types who don’t care who they hurt.”
“Of course not – who needs extra enemies? – and noted.” he answered. “One more thing, your home is likely being watched by one or more government agencies, so be aware of that. Also, when next we meet, I will have a few questions for you I would like to ask – not about your abilities, but about your character and intentions – if you would permit me to ask them.”
“If you can get me some answers to my questions, I can surely answer yours.” I replied.
“I am going to leave now, wait ten minutes and then you can leave as well.” H directed.
“How about I just teleport directly home?” I asked.
H looked at me for a moment. I could almost see him re-framing his perception of me. “Why don’t you go first?” he offered.
I re-took my body after astralling back into my living room, imagining the expression on H’s face when my body hit the ground, then vanished again.