TOO QUICK TO DIE

PART THREE: 

Once it became established that Deidre Montgomery, erstwhile archaeologist, would be staying on with NanoCorp for a while,

she found  herself  looking to  make her residence a bit more

concrete.  She had quit the company-paid apartments, eschewed

the more modern high-rises in the city, and began to look for

more comfortable quarters in the residential areas sprawling out

at the edges of the city.  She found an older neighborhood with

houses that smacked of avant-garde design but was too dated for

any but the most bizarre and offbeat personality.  The rent was reasonable, and the house sat at the end of a street that wasn’t

entirely reassuring to Terry when he saw it, some abandoned

buildings bearing the marks of anarchist gangs; but Deidre was

too in love with the design of the house to be persuaded to look elsewhere.  It was unremitting in its 70s architecture, with the

roof line slanting this way and that and the entire house looking

as though a child had pushed various blocks together to form

something resembling a house.  But she was most enthralled

with the various nooks, cubby-holes, bookshelves, skylights,

lofts, and crannies packed into the interior.  This appealed to

the packrat in her, as a packrat like her was always looking for opportunities to exhibit the equally bizarre pieces she had picked

up on her travels.

Despite his teasing when she first moved in, Terry seemed to find

the place irresistible.  She hoped it was mostly because he wanted

to be with her, but she also got a kick out of the fact that she often caught him wandering about, examining the place as though he’d

never seen it before.

“You gave them the gift basket?”  He asked her, as he turned the

nose of his roadster out onto the drive away from Emerald City.

“Yes…left it in the living room  where they  were sure to see it. 

Also stocked the refrigerator some as well…drinks, beer for Cort, sandwich meat, bread, cold salads, things like that.  They ought

to at least  survive  until the morning,  Terry,” Deidre said,

wondering what direction he was heading.

A glint flashed in his eyes as a tiny smile flickered across his

features.

“They don’t really want to see us until tomorrow, do you think?”

Cort and Rachel were back in the little blue house in the pines, a

house, Terry said, that the company decided to keep as it was

when NanoCorp purchased the wide expanse of acreage next to

the complex, once owned by a family that had been there for

several generations.  The elderly couple had no heirs that would

take the land, and the city was slowly creeping out that way. Their

one fear was that the multiplexes and urban sprawl would eat up

the miniature forest of pines, trees that the old man claimed had

been planted by his grandfather so long ago.  NanoCorp signed

on to with terms to keep the miniature forest and used the house

as VIP guest-quarters for visiting clients or booked it out as a

retreat for employees.  It had seemed the perfect place to put

Cort when he arrived, since the history behind it reached back

to his era.  Deidre had been excited and was eager to see their

friends, as now that they had returned, it felt as if the last puzzle

piece to their little team had been put back into place.

“Well, I would imagine they’re tired,” Deidre acquiesced. 

“So let them rest,” Terry said, his smile broadening.

Deidre could not help but respond with a smile of her own.

“Open the bottle for me, darlin’,” she said to him not much later,

and handed him a bottle of pinot grigio wine.  Terry had sped

through traffic and banked the car in the driveway as the sun

pulled its last vestige of light from the sky and they had both

quickened their step to get inside.  She now flitted about the

kitchen to collect some edibles for themselves, and after giving

him a long kiss, sauntered out of the room, flicking her hair back

to cast him one last look before disappearing upstairs.  “I didn’t

forget you,” she promised him.

He took the wine glasses and open bottle to the living room, began

to fill the goblets and sat back, catching the strains of music as

Deidre prepared whatever it was she was preparing…at least, he

hoped she was preparing something.  He was in something of a celebratory mood himself this evening.

A long low-back couch sat facing a brick fireplace, a herringbone pattern laid in a long column reaching to the high ceiling.  Deidre

was still playing around with decorating ideas, but one of her

favorite pieces, a large bowl-like mask from the BaLuba tribe in

the deep Congo forest hung over the mantelpiece, its contrasting concentric rings radiating from an sunshiny expression in the

eyes, nose, and mouth, like a happy moon caught in a splashed

puddle.

Terry looked down at his empty wine glass.  Had he drunk that

much?  He turned his head to look up at the balcony that hovered

above the living room.   He wished Deidre would hurry up.

He picked up the finger piano that lay on the coffee table.  For

someone who had done most of her work in the Mediterranean

and the Middle East, she certainly had a proliferation of African

art.  He remembered her talking about working in a museum

one time…

A soft white object landed on his arm as he reached out to put

the finger piano back, a strange garment with a couple of loops. 

And  distinctive  cups.  Terry  held it up, feeling a  tingle go

throughout his body.

The music upstairs grew a bit louder in a playful rhythm that

pulsed along with his quickened heartbeat.

Deidre appeared at the rail, swathed in a bright turquoise silk

scarf, silver coins sewn to its edge flashing in the light.

“Are you coming or not?” she asked, provocatively.

He carefully put down the glass and stood up.  Oh, he definitely

was.

..............................................................................................................................................

Rachel found herself standing, unable to bear sitting still so long.

“I’ve got to make a phone call,” she announced.

"You will not mention my presence?" Maximus asked worriedly.

"Rachel, we've got to be very cautious now," Cort added. "If Sid

should somehow learn...."

“No, really, Terry should know about this,” Rachel said, stepping

to the phone.  “Everyone’s been worried.”

“On second thought,” she began, returning the receiver to its hook. 

A thought, a fleeting paranoia, had flashed through her mind,

made her clasp her hands beneath her chin.  Terry and Dee’s

story about Mulder and Scully, something called the X Files, and

the strange beings that had infiltrated the company had spooked

her deeply; what was more, Terry’s assurances that Sid was taken

care of rang a bit…false.  She winced.  She hated thinking that

about her boss and friend – Terry rarely, if ever, proved her false

in her trust - but Sid was never to be disregarded, ever.  And

despite the fact  that Rachel knew  what Terry was doing to

dismantle the warp room,  it felt like a band-aid over a wide

open wound.  Which made  her wonder  about  every bit of

technology around her.  She stepped away from the phone now, thinking about how advantageous it was to be off the grid. 

“Maybe  we  should  wait  until the morning,”  she  explained,

looking at Cort, hoping he would get her drift.

"I would prefer no one else be told that I am here," Maximus continued.  "Perhaps the fewer who know, the less likely Sid is

to find out."

"You are worried about...Terry?" Cort said, looking at Rachel.

"I thought you trusted him, sweetheart.  Hasn't he always been

upfront with us? “

“No, no, that’s not it!”  Rachel protested, returning to the couch. 

“And yes, he has!   Terry’s very trustworthy.  He, of all people,

will fight tooth and nail to protect you, Maximus.  He led the team

into your movie.  Its just…” she glanced back over at the phone

sitting on the little side table next to the kitchen counter.  “Communication is a bit more complicated these days.  It would probably be better to wait until we go in tomorrow,” she finished.

“I...well, you know I don't know my way around in there all that

well.  It seems it would be good for us to have someone like Terry

or Bud helping us." Cort said.

“We’ll find a way to let them know,” Rachel said, looking back

at Maximus to check if this was all right.

"I have seen their movies," Maximus supplied.  "Both Terry's and Bud's. They seem like excellent men but I do not know what life

has been like for them since they were taken out, what the set of

their minds may currently be. I need to know that first. I fear great caution will be necessary in any dealings I may have involving Sid."

"That's like as not the best way to go," Cort agreed.  "Rachel and

I both have medical appointments at NanoCorp in the morning. Perhaps we can put out some feelers then. Neither of us has seen

Terry or Bud since our return. I understand while we were gone

there were many, well, problems that came up, things that changed. And, too, Sid was gone for a while himself.  I feel entirely out of the

loop of what's going on now."

Maximus gripped Cort's eyes with his own for a long time. Then

quietly he said. "You have been through much, my brother. I see

it. Your eyes bear more experience than they did in Rome. They

have known much pain, much loss, but I also see great joy."  He

looked at Rachel. "This is due to you, I would think?"  His own

strong hand came to rest on Caroline's thigh.

“Well, I…I,” stammered Rachel, feeling a blush crawl into her

cheeks.  “I’d go to the ends of the earth for him.”  She grabbed

up his hand, the one he had snagged on the barbed wire, careful

to give pressure away from the bandage.  “We found out who

took him, and where, so Terry arranged for me to go to the Czech Republic – that’s in Germania,” she added for Maximus’ benefit, “Terry and Deidre were going to follow after, but things came up

here at NanoCorp that prevented them from doing so…and by the

time they could get away, I had found a way to get in to the castle

where Cort was being held.  See, Mikol was a rival, of sorts.  Sid

seemed to know the most about him, seemed to think Mikol was

not worthy of concern.”  Sid’s mockery still rang in her ears, but

she shook her head to clear it from her thoughts. 

“Mikol  used a  similar  kind of warp,  except more  primitive –

we’ve no idea how he came up with the technology, but,” here

she drew in a deep breath, looking at Cort again.  She didn’t like

being reminded of what could have happened.  “It nearly killed

Cort when Mikol took him through.  Fortunately, Henri, the

doctor – I’m sure you’ll meet him – took real good care of him. 

And…and…eventually, we overthrew Mikol and escaped.  But

it wasn’t just me.  It was…so much more.”  She placed her ring

over Cort’s.  A star shone upon the hour of our meeting.

"She came...all alone...she came," Cort added to what Rachel had

said, "to find me thousands of miles from home. She was very

brave, risked everything for me."

"We risk much," Maximus said, his voice low, very deep, "when

there is much worth the risking."  He was silent a moment. "I am

glad my brother has found a woman such as you, Lady Rachel."

She didn’t quite know what to say to that, so instead she stood

once more.

“You know, I’ve been very rude,” she told Maximus and Caroline. 

“I should offer you both something to eat or drink.  Would y’all

like something?”

As Rachel beetled into the kitchen to arrange the requested items, Maximus’ eyes found Cort again. "Your hand. At the end of your movie, your hand was crushed, yet I see but a small bandage on it."

Cort lifted his hand. "Oh, this.  This is new.  I lost my balance and

fell on a roll of barbed wire.  Was stringing fence in Montana." 

He rubbed the back of his hand with the fingers of his left. "But,

yes, this hand was broken up pretty bad by Ratsy's gun butt. Rachel came, at the last moment of the movie she came and took care of

me, nursed me, but the hand was just too bad. Then," he licked his

lips, "Sid was there and, like you, he took me in his warp.  I don't remember anything about that first time.  Rachel, she does."

“Sid knocked him out too,” Rachel chimed in from the kitchen.  “Which was fortunate, because I wasn’t handling that all that

well, either.”  She returned with a tray of sandwiches and drinks. 

“How do I explain this?  Medicine’s come a long, long way from

what you know, Maximus.  We’re able to inject a fresh supply of

blood into a  person that’s  lost a lot  of it,  and NanoCorp has

specialized in a particular kind of blood. A kind of robotic blood, microscopic…machines, shall we say?...that we’ve learned to

program to perform certain tasks in the bloodstream.  It was

what our doctors gave Cort when he first arrived, when they

operated on his hand.  The blow from the gun-butt had crushed

several of his bones, and had we allowed it to heal in normal circumstances, he’d have limited use of it. As it was, the nanoblood, along with the surgery, shortened the healing time considerably, reconstructed the bones and made them whole again.  It's why

we’ve returned from Montana.  We’re going to do the same thing

for his arm tomorrow when we go in.”

Cort moved his right hand, running it without touching down the length of his left. "Got pretty messed up from the bear. Grizzly's,

they have extra-long claws."

"I saw a picture of a grizzly in a book Caroline and I were looking

at. There were white bears, too. What were they called?"

"Polar bears," Caroline supplied.

Maximus chuckled. "There is much for me to learn of this new

world."

"I know what you mean," Cort laughed. "And it's more different

for you. You seem to be doing pretty good, though."

"Indeed, I owe it all to Caroline. She has even taught me to drive."

Cort laughed.  "Me, too!  Rachel, I mean.   When  we  were in

Montana." He grinned at the General.  "No stopping us now, eh!"

Maximus' face suddenly went completely serious.  "I do not mean

to let anything stop me, Cort."

"Sid," Cort breathed.

"Sid," Maximus repeated. "He has much to account for."

"I don't think anyone at NanoCorp really knows where he's been,

what he's been up to with you. You said at one point Brianna was

dying on the island.  Do you know what happened with that?"

"He took her, that is all I know. And he came back. She was... restored...when they came back.  When last I saw her she was

with him and she was fine, was...happy."

Cort looked at Rachel.  "I don't really see, then, that if he's left

that island altogether, why he wouldn't bring her back with him. Maybe she's been in that secret area of his with him all this while?"

"She is no longer my concern," Maximus said.  "My business lies

with Sid, not with his woman."

Rachel looked down at her lap, wondering what that could mean. 

A wall had come down with those words.

"Maximus?"  Cort began, looking from the General to Caroline. "Where do you two intend to spend the night?"

"I have a  stationwagon  parked,  um, somewhere?"  Caroline

explained. "I expect we should go try to find it and get ourselves

a place to stay, eh?"

"Would you consider staying here, with Rachel and me?  There

is a small bedroom with a bath upstairs.  No one will know you

are here.  If you leave, there is always the possibility of your being spotted."  Rachel nodded her head enthusiastically in agreement,

to encourage them.

Maximus looked at Caroline, who nodded.  "This is a great deal

for you to offer, my brother."

"That's just it...brother," Cort smiled.  "That is why.  You have

no idea how often I have thought of you since we both left Rome,

how hard it was not knowing where you were, what had happened

to you.  It would mean a great deal to me to know you were under

my roof.  Please stay."

Maximus smiled broadly, a sight Cort was not used to. "Then

it is settled."

Bud had seen that Rachel's car was parked at the blue house and

she and Cort drove to  the spot  where Caroline  figured her

stationwagon was parked to fetch the two bags of clothing. Then

Cort tucked the stationwagon away in an alley.  He thought it

would be better for Maximus not to take a chance on being seen

since they were on the outskirts of NanoCorp property.

As Maximus and Caroline lay together in the upstairs bed later

that evening, his fingers lightly curling through her hair, she said,

"I like him a lot, Maximus.  He's very like I pictured he'd be from

his movie. And you can really see how much he and Rachel love

each other. I'm glad. I think it's the best thing possible for you

guys who've gotten removed from everything."

He rolled onto his right side, facing her, moonlight puddled on

the planes of his bare chest. "As I have found you," he smiled.

"Or, more truthfully, as you found me."

"Yes, like that," she smiled back. "I'm so glad to be here with

you. There's nothing more I want than to face this with you."

"We have no real idea, Caroline, what it is that we are facing.

You know that, do you not?"

"Well, we know it's Sid. We know that much."

"He is completely devious,  Caroline.  Never forget that for a

moment. Never trust a single thing he might say. Ever. He thinks

only of what he wants, of his own ends. Nothing else. Nothing

more."

"Like Megatron?"

He chuckled softly. "No, Megatron was rather straight-forward

in his evil intentions. Sid comes around, strikes from the side and

takes you off guard."

"I was thinking today of 'Transformers' again...obviously," she

smiled. "It was the first what they call 'popcorn' movie I've seen

in years. But there were parts of it, you know, that brought you

to mind."

He cocked an eyebrow.

"Optimus," she continued. "Not just his name, either, which is

rather obvious, but his manner, how he was willing to give his life

so that evil could be destroyed. He had a great dignity about him."

Maximus traced the line of her cheek fondly. "I am not so unique,

after all. Many men would do what I did, what I tried to do."

"Not so many I think." She pulled him down over her. "You are

more unique than you know.  And you are here...with me...and I

am still amazed that this is true."

He kissed her then, supporting his weight with his hands on either

side of  her head.  She folded her arms around his neck, pulling

him still closer.  "You wish no space between you and me?" he

smiled.

"I wish no space," she murmured. "None."

Cort leaned on his right elbow looking at Rachel, liking the way

her long dark hair spread out around her head on the pillow.

"I...I know it's only our first night here," he said, his voice slightly apologetic, "but I hope it's ok I asked them to stay. I can't begin to explain what it means to me that he, he of all people, is here...right here.  As fond as I am of Terry and Bud, there is just...something ...about him that draws me to him.  I want to get to know him,

Rachel, know the person he is outside of Gladiator.  And I want

to help him however I can." 

He lifted  one  of her  long curls, lightly running  it along her

cheekbone.  "What he wants from Sid, it's what I'd like to know,

too. Sid has toyed with all our lives, has always gotten away with

it, gotten what he wills when he wills.  I think that's what Terry

and Bud want, too, don't you? To stop Sid, to make sure he

doesn't get away with any more of his games."

While he played with her hair, she let her fingers trace patterns

on his bare chest.  “I’m glad you asked them, my love,” she told

him, privately thinking it was a good thing that Terry and Bud

didn’t show up, even if Maximus had not revealed himself.  If

it had been anyone but Maximus, she would have lost patience. 

“I remember how important contacting him was…is to you.  I

think I’m still stunned that he showed up on our front doorstep! 

My God, Cort, what has he gone through?”

"I had the feeling there was much he did not say, especially about Brianna. And the cave. He is used to great hardship, but I think

there were things that...hurt...him."

“I used to think it was a good thing that Sid disappeared, but now

I’m starting to get real nervous.  It's not like him to do that, not

without a reason.  I’m just trying to think of a way to let Terry

know without tripping the grid.”

"Sid always has a reason for everything. I have a hard time getting

my head around the fact that Maximus has gotten to know him,

has been with him. It just seems so...strange.  I understand his

caution, but I think Terry and Bud both would only want to help.

And, God knows, we need help."

She stretched her hand up to twine her fingers in his own hair. 

“I think Maximus was looking for you specifically, and I’m glad. 

He knows a good man when he sees one.”

"And I, I know a good woman," he smiled, kissing each of her

eyes in turn. "Which is why, my love, I want you, especially you,

to take great care with all this.  I couldn't bear it if anything

happened to you. Promise me you'll stay away from Sid?"  His

green eyes looked at her with a mixture of love and anxiety.

“As long as he stays away from you,” Rachel promised, pulling

him down so he could wrap his arm around her.  “If he tries to

take you away from me, he’ll wish he were Mikol.  I’ll make sure

of it.”

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