“Ahhhh, Caramissa, you joke on Guillermo…” Greg managed. Her smile was that of a predator.

“No joke Handsome, let’s see what you’re made of,” Natalia licked her lips invitingly and dragged Greg into the Hilton and up to her room.

An hour and a half later, Greg feigned exhaustion and pretended to fall asleep. He kept his ears open and remained ready for anything. Natalia had been ready for another round, but Greg was far too disgusted by everything this woman was to even consider that. He heard her muttering under her breath about lack of stamina and how easily she had bagged this one. Natalia picked up the phone and placed a long distance call to New York City. He tightened his hearing to get both ends of the conversation.

“Hi Daddy, scramble please,” she said into the phone. There was a squeal and the sound took on a distinctly hollow quality.

“Hello Natalia darling, how are things proceeding in Germany?” answered the male voice at the other end.

“Well Daddy, Doctor Howard wasn’t in when DeLongiles went there today. Though I should be able to make contact with dear Doctor Howard later this evening,” she purred.

“Excellent, Young Lady, you are everything a father could hope for in a child. I hope you can make better progress with Howard than we are with Saber. His scheme for free power threatens us in ways we simply cannot calculate. That vehicle of his slipped by before we even knew he was a problem,” the man growled.

“I’ll take care of Howard, Daddy, but why is the old man so difficult?” she asked.

“He somehow manages to put himself into some sort of trance whenever we interrogate him. All we get is nonsense from him, even when we use drugs,” there was a hint of stress in the voice.

“Wouldn’t it just be simpler to eliminate him?” Natalia was honestly puzzled.

“No Darling, we have to find out his connection to The SIX and what he knows of their weaknesses,” he explained as if to a child. “The old fool wiped his computers before we could access them and destroyed his entire base. I don’t understand how he could have accomplished so much on his own. If it were not for Herr Gertz in Switzerland, we never have would even have known the base existed. The man is a devil,” he spat angrily.

“Well, I wish you the best of luck Daddy,” Natalia said breezily, “and don’t worry about the Doctor, he’s well in hand.”

“Thank you Daughter,” the man sighed. “Oh, by the way, your doctor has purchased a piece of land near Biel, Switzerland. We don’t know what for, but we don’t want another working alternative energy lab in existence. Find out what you can and report to the Geneva office. I love you Natalia,” the man ended dismissively.

“Love you too Daddy, bye,” she replied. There was a click and the buzz of an open circuit when Natalia hung up the phone. She walked to the hotel bathroom and started the shower.

Trish replied with urgency.

Greg responded.

The bathroom door opened and Natalia walked out. She dressed and quickly left them there alone.

Trish thought. They got up and quickly dressed. Greg sent Guillermo back to storage in a new file, in case they needed the stud again. Trish quickly exchanged with him.

Greg asked.

Trish advised him.

They went to the building’s rooftop and Trish changed the ACM to flight mode. Glancing quickly around, she shot from the roof to a ceiling of 1500 metres and headed for Geneva.

An hour and a half later she landed in a quiet park by the lake and shifted her appearance to that of Natalia Ravensclaw. She walked to a phone booth and looked up the address of Herr Gerhardt Gertz.

Greg whined.

Trish smiled.

She hailed a taxi and gave the driver the address of the offices of Gerhardt Gertz, attorney of laws and letters. The cabbie pulled up to the plaza of an impressive glass office tower and Trish paid the 8 Euro fare, exiting without tipping. That cabbie would certainly remember darling Natalia. They entered and walked confidently to the elevators. She rode to the 17th floor and exited directly into the reception of Gertz and Associates. The receptionist looked up and then did a double take.

“Oh, Ms. Ravensclaw, what an honour, we weren’t expecting you,” she squeaked.

“Never mind the formalities, is Gerhardt in? We need to talk,” Trish commanded.

“I’ll let him know that you’re here. Would you like some coffee, wine?” the receptionist fawned.

“Coffee is fine, thank you,” Trish responded frostily. Just then, a middle-aged man in a very expensive suit strode into the reception area.

“Ms. Ravensclaw, it’s always a pleasure. I wasn’t aware that you were back on the continent. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Gerhardt Gertz was babbling.

“Business, Gerhardt darling. May we speak in your office?” It was more of a command than a request. Gertz glanced at his receptionist who was serving the coffee and nodded. He led Trish down a corridor to a large corner office with an excellent view of the bank towers of the city.

“Now, how can I help you?” Gertz inquired.

“I want all of your files on Professor Julian Saber. All the paper and all the data you have in the computers, all of it,” Trish commanded imperiously. She rested her hand lightly on his computer monitor and subtly absorbed all that it contained. Gertz’ smile weakened a fraction.

“And may I ask why?” he spoke tentatively.

“The New York office has decided it could be… damaging to you and to us if a connection to Saber was ever found here,” Trish smiled icily. “You wouldn’t want to be cast loose to the wolves, now would you? Don’t worry, your precious papers will be… safe,” she assured the businessman.

“Oh, I understand, thank you Ms. Ravensclaw,” Gertz said obsequiously. “I’ll just have the information packaged up for you.” Gertz left the room and Trish touched the phone, making sure a certain New York number was routed to her. Sure enough, there was a ring tone in her ear and she answered in Ravensclaw Senior’s voice.

“Yes.”

“Yes Sir, it’s Gertz in Geneva. Your daughter is here requesting the Saber files and data,” he said nervously.

“I know… I sent her. Why are you calling me?” Trish growled.

“I just thought it was strange that you never mentioned her visit when we talked earlier,” Gertz said with a hint of fear in his voice. Trish put steel into her imitation.

“Look Gertz, don’t you ever question my daughter or me again,” she shouted. “I may regret even considering you at all,” she threatened, abruptly disconnecting the call with a smile. The man would be nearly wetting himself by now. Gertz re-entered the room then, mopping his brow with his handkerchief. He was pale and trembling slightly.

“Ah… Ms. Ravensclaw…” he stammered. “The files are nearly ready, will there be anything else?”

“Yes, you are to destroy all copies you may have and erase all the pertinent data from your computers. No records except the ones I am taking with me should exist. And if you have a luggage dolly for the boxes, that would be appreciated,” she instructed while tapping the telephone for emphasis and smiling sweetly. Now Gertz looked like he was about to pass a brick.

“At once Madam Ravensclaw,” Gertz practically clicked his heels.

“And Gerhardt,” Trish paused for effect, “please don’t make me send in a clean up team.” The man practically bolted from the room. Trish sipped the coffee and waited. She didn’t have to wait long, she heard Gertz giving orders to his staff in the hallway.

“… all of it, I said! All the data on Saber and all the file copies, in fact, forget you ever heard the name Saber,” he shouted. The door opened and a slightly red-faced but more composed Gertz entered.

“Everything you require is waiting in the reception area Ms. Ravensclaw, if you’ll follow me?” he smarmed. He led her back to the waiting area and bowed over her hand.

“Again, always a pleasure, Ms. Ravensclaw, however, I must leave you now. I have a client waiting in the conference room, farewell.” He practically ran from the reception area and was gaining speed as he approached the corner. Trish simply smiled a cold smile for the receptionist who shuddered violently. She took the dolly and entered the elevator and as the doors were closing, she heard the receptionist muttering under her breath.

Greg applauded.

she sighed.

Greg responded.

she thought, trying to make light of the nasty situation.

he snorted,

Trish said,

Greg encouraged.

They took another taxi to the park, found a secluded spot and changed back to Trisha’s form. They were on their way to the former Saber Base in moments, carrying the document boxes easily. They were met at the emergency entrance by a servomech, who took the boxes and trundled off through a service entrance in the wall. By 7:00pm local time, they were back in Bonn and in a restaurant having dinner by 8:00.

Greg thought.

Trish subtly fixed her face behind the menu while Natalia breezed by.

Trish opined.

he smiled wickedly.

He sighed before answering.

he explained. They dined quietly while keeping an eye on Ms. Ravensclaw. Natalia grew increasingly agitated over the hour and a half they spent there, making several calls on her cell phone and having several drinks. She finally left at 10:30pm and Trish followed her. They trailed her back to the Domicil and watched her from the elevators as she harangued the desk clerk. Finally Natalia stormed out and Trish ducked into the stairwell. Greg exited and doubled round the lobby to the front desk.

“Good evening, I’m Doctor Howard from room 1218, I was expecting some information from the alternative energy conference, has it arrived?” he inquired calmly. The desk clerk regained his composure.

“Yes Sir, as well as an envelope and several messages. Here you are,” he said handing over a packet and a small bundle of notes.

“Thank you very much,” Greg smiled. “Please hold any outside calls fo me until after 9:00am. I’d like a wake up call at 8:00 and a breakfast tray at 8:30. Thank you, and have a good night.” He took the envelopes and the phone messages and went to the elevator. Shortly thereafter he was in his suite and he started by opening the larger envelope. It had his conference ID and the agenda as well as sign up forms for the various workshops on offer. He put it all aside and opened the envelope that DeLongiles had left that morning. Inside he found a note from Natalia as expected, with a dinner invitation, also as expected. All the various phone messages, save one, were from Natalia too. The other was from a realtor in Biel who needed some signatures for the land transfer to be completed. Greg made a note to follow up on that one tomorrow and discarded the rest. They were asleep by midnight.

The 8:00am wake up call came precisely on schedule and the breakfast tray arrived promptly at 8:30. Greg was dressed and ready to face his stalker by 9:30 and, sure enough, there was Natalia waiting to pounce on him as he exited the elevator.

“Why Gregory Howard,” she pouted, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were avoiding me.”

“Heaven forefend Natalia, I received your messages last night around 11:30pm,” Greg said ingeniously. “I’m sorry I can’t be more available, but this is a business trip. You know, I have to save the world,” he answered light-heartedly.

he thought. She made a mock frown.

“Oh please, your silly conference doesn’t start until tomorrow, I checked,” she griped.

“I’m sorry Natalia but I have to catch the train to Biel to sign some paperwork on a piece of land I’m purchasing for AERI. No rest for the wicked, I guess,” he grinned wolfishly. He was sure she got little rest last night. She pouted at him again.

“Well… you call me as soon as you get back to Bonn Darling. I insist we have dinner tonight and no excuses. I don’t want to have to call in the army to pin you down,” she arched an eyebrow coyly.

“Alright, if you insist, but it may just have to be a late supper and unfortunately not a late night. The conference begins tomorrow morning,” he reminded her. Natalia grabbed him by the face and planted a long and sensuous kiss on his lips.

“That is just to make sure that you don’t forget about our date tonight. Farewell Dear Doctor, “ she murmured breathily. She turned and sashayed away leaving him quite speechless by the elevator doors. The lobby broke into applause as Natalia sauntered out the main doors. Trish made a sour sound.

she mimicked. Blech! Trish made a gagging noise.

Greg said incredulously.

Trish pointed out. Greg chuckled under his breath and walked out of the lobby, wiping Natalia’s lip-gloss off his mouth as he went. Since there was no real hurry today, they took the train to Bern and rented a car to drive to Biel. They arrived just after 1:00pm and parked at the realtor’s office. The 20-something woman inside introduced herself as Frauline Becker and shook his hand warmly.

“Good afternoon Herr Doktor. It is a pleasure to meet you finally, your intermediaries are nice enough on the telephone, but I do prefer to do business face-to- face,” she said pleasantly.

“As do I Frauline. I believe you have some papers for me to sign?” he inquired.

“Indeed Sir, your bank draft arrived yesterday and was in perfect order. All you have to do now is sign the deed and ownership transfer,” the young woman replied. Greg signed all of the required documents and she witnessed them.

“Wonderful now that the business is out of the way, I have a couple of questions. How do I arrange for a rail transfer of containers from the spur? I have made a rather large scientific purchase and have to ship several cargo boxes to the nearest port,” Greg began.

“Ah, there is a rail office in town that can arrange for the shipments you require. Will you be doing this very soon?” the young woman responded.

“Not for at least a week, Frauline. I understand that the land is far enough from the town proper that I shouldn’t cause too much of a disturbance.”

“True Herr Doktor, it is quite wooded, but still accessible by road and rail. I will make arrangements for the railway to clean up the spur and switch. It hasn’t been maintained since the mill closed six years ago,” she explained.

“I’d appreciate that Frauline Becker. Now, I think I’ll have a look at the property myself. May I ask you to accompany me? I need a local contact to put me in touch with demolitions contractors, construction companies, and the like. Perhaps I can buy you lunch afterwards?” Greg invited warmly. She returned his smile sunnily.

“I would be honoured Herr Doktor.”

They drove his rented BMW to the site of the former sawmill and Greg was pleased to see it had a high fence and secure locks on the gates from both the road and rail entrances.

“Pardon me Frauline but why was the mill closed?” Greg asked.

“There is a large environmental movement in Switzerland and the logging and mill were both endangering the old growth forests,” she explained, “I was part of the movement that helped close this place down. I’m rather proud of that fact even though Biel suffered a bit of a recession when the corporation moved on. I am even prouder that Biel will be home to the second AERI. There are many other people who will be happy about that fact as well,” she expounded.

“Uh-oh,” Greg joked, “so I’ve been spotted have I?”

“Herr Doktor Howard, I have followed your career for many years in Mother Jones magazine. It wasn’t hard to figure out,” she chided him.

“Please Frauline, call me Greg. I’m getting tired of all this honorific nonsense.” She smiled again, all sunshine.

“Only if you promise to call me Betina,” she bargained happily with him.

“Agreed then Betina,” he offered her his arm “Now let’s take a look at AERIE, the new home of the Alternative Energy Research Institute, Europe,” Greg urged.

To Be Continued