Egress Point

Chapter 17

They decided to do a drive-by of the building first, and then eat after. Arebecca called down to reception and asked for the car to be brought round for them.

"It's funny," Em said in the elevator. "In my head you are a spoilt French princess. So listening to German-you doesn't quite make sense. I'm pleased you didn't have to get angry this time."

Arebecca laughed and skipped out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened. "I'm still a French princess you know. In fact, I don't really think about it at all. Once someone starts speaking to me, I just match them. No brain-power needed. I think you're the same."

"Me? No way. It takes every ounce of concentration for me to take my English phrase, switch it into French word-order and then translate."

"Not with French, with computers. My eyes can't keep up with your typing, let alone my fingers. And you talk to me while you're working. Your mouth has a conversation while your brain and hands keep tapping away."

"If you'd typed something a thousand times, you'd do it without thinking too. I guess, like your languages, it's just practise."

At the door, Arebecca sidled over to a tall, good-looking young doorman and rattled off a string of German. At first he didn't say much, then Arebecca whispered something in his ear. He looked around at the other doorman and then leaned in close and spoke quickly. She smiled and thanked him.

"What was that about?" Em asked from the passenger seat after they had climbed into the Peugeot. Arebecca was behind the wheel and they pulled out of the hotel forecourt.

"Oh, I wondered where we should eat, besides the hotel restaurant. He said there was a recommended list of approved restaurants for guests at reception. So I asked him where he'd take me on his night off."

"I can only imagine what he said!" Em laughed.

"Oh, no!" Arebecca feigned embarrassment. "He said there's a fun German beer hall a couple of blocks over! Totally innocent. Really!"

Em started to giggle, and Arebecca joined in and started to laugh. They were laughing so hard that Arebecca nearly missed a turn and had to brake hard to make it. A couple of men crossing the road jumped in surprise and shouted angrily. Arebecca shouted back in German and held the car's horn down for a good few seconds, and Em just shrank into her seat and looked the other way.

"Perhaps we should try to keep a lower profile?" Em suggested as they drove away. "Only we're here illegally and the police will probably frown on our fake and stolen passports and associated terrorist charges."

Arebecca said nothing, but eased their speed down to calm for the rest of the drive.

[that scene really needed to end with them laughing again.]

The address of the building from the network diagram was only ten minutes from the hotel on the east side of the city. Their surroundings transitioned from modern, glass and steel high rise and corporate to old, battered, concrete and dirty. Arebecca had imagined it would be an office --like the one in Paris. Turned out to be an abandoned warehouse with a rubble car park, surrounded by a high chain-link fence. They drove round the block, and Em checked the address on her iPhone. It was the right place.

The only way into the site was through a gate locked with a padlock. There weren't many people around, but enough cars passed to keep them from stopping to take a closer look. They agreed that they could go back later when it was less busy. Arebecca drove them back toward the hotel, and parked outside a large restaurant that looked very popular.

Inside it was hot and loud and the smell of alcohol and cooked meat filled in the air. The tables were large benches, mostly full. A waitress in a traditional German dress sat them on the end of a bench next to a group of young men drinking beer from huge glasses. Arebecca was delighted, while Em looked less than impressed.