SNAP: The World Unfolds

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

An airport is an airport is an airport.  The plane taxied into a hangar and we could have been anywhere in the world.  At the bottom of the steps was a black Mercedes limo with the ubiquitous black-suited driver.  As we reached the bottom and headed for the car, I realized there were two other limos at the door of the hangar and each of these carried two of the black suits.  I was still leery of Jean-Louis but I had to ask.  “What’s going on?  Do we have some kind of escort or are we under arrest?”

“We do have an escort.  The Baron always sends security teams when visitors fly in because we have to file flight plans.  If we’d driven, our arrival wouldn’t be so traceable.”

Who would care if we were traceable?  Although, with such a huge multinational company, it’s possible that the Baron took precautions against corporate espionage.  In fact, it dawned on me that the drivers and security guards looked like clones.   Maybe they were the SNAP guys; the other half of the SNAP girls.

I started to ask Jean-Louis but he gave me a head-shake and told me to just get in the car.  And faster would be better according to his body language. When the driver shut the door, it sounded heavy and solid; European Mercedes’ were different?

Once inside, Jean-Louis slid the dividing window up and turned to me.  “Now you’re beginning to see why the Baron wanted me with you and why I told you about us.  You’ve probably noticed that all the SNAP drivers and security staff look a lot alike.”

“Look alike?  They’re clones!  Don’t tell me that the Baron has perfected some kind of medical procedure?”

“They’re not completely clones.” Jean-Louis wasn’t amused.  “I know they’re all about the same size, wear black suits—that’s actually the uniform—and work out.  What they all are is demons and half demons.  You know Carlos and you’ve seen what he can do. The Baron hires them because of their strength and cunning.  You sure don’t want to get into a squabble with one of them and they just love taking people down dark alleys.  Even our friends are careful about keeping them calm.”

“You said that like there might be enemies.” I tried to erase the snide tone.  “What’s going on?”

“I’ve said enough for now,” he said.  “The Baron is planning to spend some time with you going over all the structure.”

“At least tell me why the car door sounds different here.”

“You’re observant for not getting a full night’s sleep.  This is part of the Baron’s armored car fleet.  He has several.”

“Are the ones at home armored, too?”

“No, just the ones here in Hungary,” he gave me a small grin.  “The Baron does have corporate enemies around the world.  People and companies that would love to hack into our IT system or bribe an employee for information.  We can keep those away fairly easily.  We’ve got a whole IT department to make sure we constantly trace all hacking attempts and, as you know, our pay scales are higher than any one else’s in the industry.  If it looks like someone’s unhappy or wants to join the competition, a visit from one of the demons usually brings them to their senses.”

“You mean when people go to work for SNAP, they’re there for life?  You said you’re not slavers.”

“We’re not.  This is just a regular job.  At least for those employees who aren’t vampires or demons.  Everybody’s free to leave.  Unless we discover that they’re already working for the competition.”

This conversation was unsettling.  Jean-Louis was right about my knowing the pay at SNAP.  When they made me the offer I was stunned and didn’t take more than fifteen seconds before I said yes. It would have been only five seconds if I could have made my mouth work.  I slid over to the side window to get my first look at Hungary and some perspective on the information I’d just been handed.

With a security car ahead of us and another one behind us, we were driving through countryside that looked rural.  In the distance, I could see an occasional house or farm, but the spill of moonlight didn’t reveal much besides flat agricultural land.  We started to climb slightly and the flat grassy fields became vineyards; old vineyards by the look of the gnarled vines.  I craned my neck and saw that the road was rising into mountains.  Ahead were forests and the moonlit glint of a small river pouring over a fall of stones.

“Where are we?  And how long before we get there.   By the way, where’s ‘there’ anyway,” I asked. It was bad enough that I was in the company of a vampire, being driven by a demon, on the way to see the head vampire, or whatever the right title was.  The least Jean-Louis could have done was tell me where we were headed.

“This is the edge of the Carpathian Mountains,” he motioned out the window.  “The Baron’s castle, the one we’re headed for at least, is here.  He has a few holdings in Romania, Slovenia, all the countries that used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  His family goes way back.”  He gave a big chuckle.  “Well, that’s probably an understatement, being he’s a vampire,” he actually laughed out loud.

I couldn’t resist a smile.  This was just another straw in the pile of outrageous stories I’d been hearing for the past few hours. “Okay, I’m glad to see that vampires have some sense of humor.  But how much farther?”

As I asked, the lead car turned left, on to a smaller paved road.  There was a signpost, a wooden one with arrows pointing in all directions and mileages marked, but I couldn’t read Hungarian.  The road looked like we were going deeper into the forests and mountains.

“”It’s about five miles more,” Jean-Louis said.  We were quiet for the next few minutes then the car slowed and I could see lights ahead of us.  Coming through the last stand of trees, suddenly Castle Kandesky loomed up.  It was a castle.  I don’t know what I expected, probably something along the lines of a large English country house, but this was a medium-sized castle.  There were spires.  There was a dome.  There were wings spreading out on either side of a park.  A massive circular fountain centered the park, which was surrounded by a gravel driveway. 

The security cars peeled off and drove behind the main building, but we stopped in front of the arched doorway under the main spire.

“We’re here,” Jean-Louis announced.  He was full of understatements tonight.

The driver helped me out, several servants came to take our luggage and Jean-Louis and I walked up into the entry foyer where our host waited.

And on his arm was Pen