Memory Traffic

Chapter 4: The Gate

I moved to the locker and threw on my street clothes, talking as I dressed. "What are we doing about the gate? Is it safe? Will it be shut down, too?" The newest gate would be the first under the Team's control that would allow travel to all the storehouses. In all my career, I'd never seen a gate; I was an agent Earth-side, but Alex and I'd recently put in for a promotion to be an off-world team. I wondered for a split second if Alex's death would affect my chances for advancement before the twang of guilt the thought caused rang through my heart.

The Director shot Katie a look as she exited the room, going to prepare the other patients for evacuation. When the door swung shut, he turned to me. "The gate is safe. It is not at this location. This is fortunate because we're running into issues with the key."

I swallowed my temporary shame and tilted my head. "What do you mean?" I carried my shoes to the bed and sat to put them on.

The Director sighed. "It's not working. Did the Exchangers give you any kind of instructions about it?"

I squeezed the bridge of my nose. "Not that I remember, but the drug isn't out of my system. I did examine the watch at the airport. Maybe something I did programmed it in some way."

His eyebrow shot up. "Report to the gate. I will have Baines take you." His phone rang, and he answered. "Baines, I'm glad it's you. Yes, you need to take Ethan to the gate with you. I will follow after the unit is shut down." He ended the call and shooed me out the door. "Go. Baines is waiting by the elevators in the garage."

~~~~

The gate was located in the basement of an old chalet in the picturesque countryside of Liechtenstein, the small principality between Austria and Switzerland. After about an hour of driving from Zurich, we exchanged cars, changing from the limo to one that Baines drove himself, making us blend in more as tourists. We dove on, and when we arrived, a set of terse agents stopped me just inside the chalet door. One checked my ID while the other searched me.

As the agents did their job, Baines waited, frowning at the cottage around him.

"What's the matter, Baines," a throaty female voice called from the kitchen with a thick French accent, "you look as if you've stepped in horse shit."

His head swiveled around toward the woman coming through the archway carrying a tray. When he saw her and the silver tea service she brought, his face beamed, and he raced to take it from her and place it on the dining room table. "Catherine!" he exclaimed, kissing her first on one cheek and then the other. "How long has it been?"

Two younger women, one in a bright white lab coat with blonde hair and pale skin, the other in more business dress with brown hair and a coppery complexion, brought trays of scones with clotted cream and two jams. They began to set the table for eight, placing bowls of fresh whole strawberries at each setting.

Catherine kissed his cheeks in return. "At least five years, mon ami. You haven't been to Paris since visiting the Louvre." Her disapproving look speared into him. "You promised me dinner at Le Fouquet's. I have been waiting."

He tugged at his vest, smoothing the already perfect fabric. "I do apologize, Catherine. You know, only work could have kept me away." He pulled out the chair to the right of the head of the table for her. She sat elegantly, her mannerisms betraying her upbringing despite her farm-worker attire. He kissed her neck, and she smiled as he moved to the other side of the table to take his seat. "Is Dr. Müller coming to tea?"

"Yes." Catherine turned to the men finishing up with me. "Charles, be a dear and call the lab for tea."

"Yes, Ma'am," the agent answered and picked up an old-fashioned handset on a table in the hall.