They certainly did. You have several heavy caliber machine guns and a few rocket launchers built into the car.
They did not give you a handgun; they probably assumed you had your own.
They did put your luggage in the trunk for you, except the cat, which is still in the cat carrier on the back seat.
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
I'll continue going and press harder on the gas, to increase my speed.
At this speed, I'll try to recall tips that a friend of mine gave me when he told me a story of when he ran from the cops in his car one time. It's very important to keep full control of the wheel, and not even let it turn a little unless you intend to. Look far ahead, and try not to take your eyes off far-down the road.
How good a driver are you?
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
I've had a license for 3 years now, but I don't drive very often. I still think I'm better than most of the people on the road, but I can't say for sure in a lot of cases.
Shall we go with a low amateur level for driving? While I am a safe driver, I've never driven above 90 mph before.
I should have asked this already: do you have computer skills that go beyond ordinary use? This would include programming in any computer language, repairs or modifications, et cetera.
You push the car, but apparently the girl knows what she's doing. She pulls out alongside you. She's trying to get your attention and trying to say something to you, mouthing something, first one syllable that pushes her lips forward, and then two syllables in which her upper teeth touch her lower lip in the middle as her mouth generally moves from open to closed. She does this several times.
The other car is not gaining at this point.
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
I don't have any knowledge about computers other than typing, pointing, and clicking.
I'm not usually computer savvy, let alone able to program or repair computers.
I sound out what the woman is saying, and come to the conclusion that she's probably saying "move." At that, I'll slow my car a bit, so that I can possibly make out the sound of what she's saying over the blowing winds, which should quiet with the reduction of speed.
It takes a couple times, and you're having a difficult time driving and reading her lips--but you're pretty sure she's mouthing, "Pull Over".
The other car is still following.
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
I think for a moment about the issue at hand. She could either be there to help me or harm me.
I'm most defended in the car.
...but I'm immortal anyways. I pull the car over, but I only roll down the window, instead of getting out of the car to talk to her. Do I recognize this woman when we've stopped?
She pulls over next to you. Her passenger side window is already down.
"You're the new spy, right?" she says. "You've got it wrong--Steranko is the...."
At this point the other car comes up, and the man inside aims a pistol in your direction. He has not slowed down much, and appears to be attempting to shoot someone without stopping. He does look familiar: he looks like Zigesfeld, the bodyguard included among Steranko's associates.
--M. J. Young
The black car which Zigesfeld is driving pulls ahead perhaps fifty yards and does a skid turn, now facing to come back toward you.
The girl's windshield shows a crack from being hit; your car seems to have deflected the bullets, although one deflected off the inside of the passenger side window and sank into the back of the seat next to you.
Before you can open your door, the black car is accelerating back toward you.
The girl has sat up again, and appears unharmed. It is not entirely clear to you whether the Zigesfeld was shooting at her or you; he could have hit either or both.
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
I attempt to grab the woman and hurl her into the passenger seat of my car as quickly as possible.
After that, I'll slam the door with just as much emphasis on speed.
Once I'm in the car, I'll attempt to begin pursuit of Zigesfeld and figure out how to use the machineguns attached to the car.
I am confused about what you think you are doing. Let me attempt to put it in perspective, because one of us doesn't understand what the other has described. Sometimes that turns out to be me.
You were being pursued by two cars, one containing a maybe nineteen year old very attractive girl and another containing a man you recognize as Zigesfeld, one of Steranko's bodyguards. The girl pulled up alongside you and yelled for you to pull over, and you did. She started to say something when Zig shot past and opened fire as he did so. You are sitting in your car, her car is stopped on your driver's side, she is sitting in her car.
Zig continued past you about fifty yards and did a one hundred eighty degree skid turn so that his car is now facing back toward you for another pass.
What you describe to me would involve:
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
Ooooh, okay, I did misunderstand. I thought she was outside her car by my driver's side window for some reason.
Instead, I'll nod at the woman while checking to see if she's alright. At the same time, I'll press on the gas and roll up the window. Then, I'll investigate if I know how to use the machineguns attached to the car.
If I do, then I'll dive toward's Zig and start firing when I get 30 yards away.
The girl puts her car in reverse and backs away from you; you are barely aware of this as you scan panels--geosynchronous location system, database, communications, finally finding weapons systems. You hit that button, and a panel opens on the center console as a pleasant female voice says, "Weapons Systems Active". Scanning this, you see selectors for rear blast shield, fore and aft rockets, oil slick, smoke, finally what must be machine guns, plus a targeting joy stick. You hit the button.
As the voice says "Machine Guns active" the system shoots, and one bullet cracks the windshield of the car that is almost upon you. The driver veers, fires his pistol out the window; the bullet glances off your side window without leaving a mark, and Zig sails past you, now behind you.
A glance in your mirror shows that the girl has put some distance between you, heading back toward the city Zig is slowing, as if trying to see what he might have done.
--M. J. Young
You shoot out of there.
Zig is in pursuit. You've got the faster car, but he's driving extremely well and you are encountering enough traffic that you have to negotiate around it to stay ahead.
You don't see the girl at present.
--M. J. Young
Traffic suddenly starts to bunch up and slow down, and you realize that it's going to come to a near standstill soon--in which Zigesfeld will be able to get within a few car lengths of you probably fairly easily, and you won't be able to maneuver your way out.
This is the road to the casino, although the GPS shows an exit about a mile ahead, which you might reach before Zig reaches you. It's not clear where that would put you, and a downtown area might be worse than this if it's congested and has traffic lights, but it is pretty certain that staying here will mean another confrontation with Zigesfeld.
--M. J. Young
Are you going to find a block to go around, turn around in a parking lot or driveway, do a three-point turn on the local roads or on the highway offramp, or attempt a 180 skid turn somewhere?
--M. J. Young
You've got the head start, and you pull the three-point turn. The only problem is that you're not the only person who decided to avoid traffic by getting off at this ramp--a blue Mercedes is between you and Ziggy, and he's blowing his horn like he thinks you're an idiot.
You hit the selector to arm the machine guns, and the Mercedes driver blanches and swerves to the opposite shoulder of the off-ramp to avoid you.
Ziggy is coming down the ramp behind him.
--M. J. Young
You plow upwards and fire.
The oncoming car veers sideways, blocking the ramp; the driver is on the far side, but his door pops open. A moment later you see the fleeting form of a man leap over the edge of the offramp and out of sight.
I presume you step on the brakes and avoid a collision with the now stationary and empty car.
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
A sudden realization of "what the hell am I doing" comes to mind; however, I step on the break still.
If I read this correctly, the guy in the mercedes is the one who got out of his car and is fleeing, while Ziggy is still approaching; however, the mercedes is currently in the way of me shooting him up, correct?
If that is true, then I'll also put the car in reverse, using memory of going up the ramp as well as looking through the rearview mirror to drive down it. I still have the machine guns on, but not firing.
Sorry, my confusion--let me try again.
Behind you was a blue Mercedes; Ziggy was behind him. When you turned around, the Mercedes blew his horn; when you armed your machine guns (and they popped into view) the Mercedes swerved over to the far shoulder and continued trying to get past you down the ramp.
That put Ziggy in front of you, and you charged toward him and opened fire. He swerved the car so that he would be behind it when he popped out the driver's door; he then leapt over the side of the offramp, leaving the car blocking the ramp, bullet holes in your side. The Mercedes will have gotten past you (or you past it) already, and the ramp is blocked between you and the highway, while Ziggy has presumably leapt to whatever is below the ramp there (possibly the street, possibly the roof of a low building).
You can still back down the ramp (slowly without any problem, quickly is more difficult).
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
I decide that it would be best not to pursue Zig without first taking note of everything that they had to offer me back when I got the car. I pull to the side, turn off the machine guns, and pop the trunk open.
Then, I go around my car careful not to be hit by traffic and see what's inside.
I'm just a little confused as to exactly where you've put the car. You had been coming down an off-ramp from a highway, and you turned around to face up the ramp. The Mercedes got around you on the opposite shoulder, and Ziggy dumped his car and bailed over the rail out of sight. Are you still on the ramp, facing the wrong direction, or are you backing off it first?
The trunk contains a scuba suit with air tanks, a tuxedo with dress shirt, and a pair of sneakers they called Gecko Boots, plus a suitcase full of French money. You also were handed a pair of dark glasses, but they're probably inside the car. I don't specifically recall anything else, but if it was stated earlier that they gave it to you, you have it.
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
There's no confusion-that's exactly what I did.
I'll go over to his car, bringing the sunglasses with me, and I search for clues inside. My first place to look is the glovebox, then the trunk. I take everything that I find and put it in my own car.
If everything goes smoothely, I get back into my car, get turned around correctly on the ramp, and use the GPS to find the nearest hotel.
The vehicle is registered to Augustus Steranko, at an address in Austria. There are some maps of France on the front seat, and papers for a room at a casino hotel on the Riviera, including a key card.
In the trunk you find several guns--one sniper rifle with scope, one shot gun, one nine millimeter pistol. Each is in its own metal suitcase.
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
I grab it all and hurl it into the back seat of my car, next to Harry's cat carrier.
Then I start driving while using the GPS function of the car to find a mid-expensive hotel. On the way to it, I use the car phone to contact the agency that I'm currently working for, the phone they said to use if I needed any more cash.
"Good afternoon, how may I direct your call?"
The operator's female voice gives away nothing concerning whom you may have reached.
--M. J. Young
"Recording activated. Go ahead."
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
"First off, it seems like your leak is high enough up to know who and where I am. I've been contacted by a female who knew that I was the foreign agent who was hired. Also, she claims that Steranko is behind it. Moments later, Zigesfield appears and we have fun playing cat and mouse on the roads for a while. He was armed, and the car was registered as Augustus Steranko. I have a theory that Steranko all along has been killing off major competitors, which is the reason why he's at the top now. Still, something's fishy about this. I'm going to head to some inner-city contacts I have. I'll report back soon."
I then hang up the phone and pull in to the nearest hotel.
When I arrive there, I approach the front desk and ask to speak with a manager before anything. I'll ask him how much it is for a room, and if they allow pets.
"Pets, monsieur? The cat, the lap dog, the caged bird--certainly these, although you will be billed for damages. Large dogs that are not for handicap assistance we must insist stay in the kennel, and other creatures--well, let us say that we try to exercise discretion while accommodating our guests as well as we are able." He smiles. You tell him it's a cat and he offers to provide a litter pan for the bathroom.
He gives you the room rate in Francs and in Euros. He can accept American money but has to bill in European currency and do the conversion when you make your payment. The price is about $40 per night single occupancy, an extra couple bucks for the pet.
Since you recorded your message rather than asking to speak to a specific individual, you get no immediate answer.
The phone fits in a charger cradle in the car but travels as a cell phone. Are you carrying it with you or leaving it in the car?
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
I take the cell phone with me into the room.
Before I go in, I ask the manager what he can tell me about the Riviera.
Once inside the room, I lock the door, pet my cat, and get undressed (into boxers). I keep the gun underneath the pillow, and I'll try to get some shut-eye before the cell phone rings, which I assume it will soon.
"Oh, Monsieur, what can I tell you about the Riviera? It is overpriced, it is, and a good place to lose all of your money at the Casinos. Why not spend your vacation here in Paris?" which he pronounces pah-REE, of course. "We have exquisite museums, le Tower Eiffel, wonderful historic sites. The great artistes, they all painted here and showed their works here. Even our women are better--more sophisticated and less, qu'est c'on dit, snobbish," (with the accent on the second syllable). "This I can tell you about the Riviera. What else is there to know?"
The phone call does indeed come.
"Wright? Bright here. I think there must be a problem with our recording. It sounds like you're saying that Steranko is the killer; we've got it figured that Steranko is the next target. What makes you think otherwise?"
He says it's not impossible that Zigesfeld waited near the compound and watched for your car to emerge--after all, various security organizations do have to integrate their activities, so some of Steranko's people know where the safe holes are. You'll find that your onboard computer has locations of various CIA, Interpol, British Intel, and similar sites. They're not easy to access directly, but if you tell the car to find you a safe haven it will retrieve such things from its database. As to the girl, he thinks maybe you should find out who she is. She might be a threat, and Zigesfeld might have been tailing her and thought you were with her.
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
That'll be all for the conversation with the manager.
To Mr. Bright, "Right, my thoughts exactly. Still, I'm just reporting new developements. Do you have any information on enemy female agents (which fit the description that I give them, inserted here)? Either way, I don't think I'm on Zigesfield's good side now. I'll contact you again with further information, after I've investigated more about the woman. Something's still fishy about this."
I hang up. Things are just too suspicious. One possibility is indeed that Zigesfield and my fight was a coincidence. I had attacked him first; however, what the girl said is still troubling. Perhaps Steranko has been killing off competitors in the global market. Blade was after all caught while observing Steranko's doings.
I head back to the car with Harry, and see where the CIA haven is, then start heading out in that direction.
The car's computer pulls up as the nearest haven the one in downtown Paris where you started. It's listed as MI-5 British.
Others noted are the American and British Embassies and the Paris Interpol offices. The car figures you are in Paris and if you need an emergency location, the British MI-5 location is your best bet.
As mentioned, the system is not set up for you to be able to locate such places by affiliation, but rather by geography--if you say you are headed in a particular direction and need such a place, it will give you the first one in that direction, or if that is a significant distance it will include locations that are closer but not directly on your current course. Asking for a "CIA" location is not a valid inquiry. Asking for the nearest location in the direction of the Riviera (or any other direction), or the nearest one to a specific address (such as the casino hotel on the Riviera at which Steranko was said to be staying) will give you whatever location is there, and tell you who officially runs it.
Or did you have some idea for a means of locating the CIA haven directly?
--M. J. Young
I'm not exactly clear where you meant you were putting the pistol.
You sleep fine.
At seven in the morning your phone rings.
"Pardonez-moi, monsieur, there is a man here asking for you. He says he has an appointment. You left no instructions that I can find, so I thought I should ask you before giving him your room number."
--M. J. Young
Kurt W.
Member
"Go ahead and give him the room number."
I do some simple calculations-him, meaning Male. If the individual were here to kill me, he could've found out the room number a different way, rather than showing his face at the hotel front desk. Still, perhaps he is here for that reason; therefore, I shouldn't hold backa any precautions.
I take the gun that I slept with and put it in the back of my jeans. Then, I wait by the door, taking into account how the door might swing if it were to be kicked open. I want to be out of the way of any flying doors while I wait, just in case.
It takes a few minutes for the visitor to reach your room, but soon there is a knock on the door. Since it is a hotel, the door locks automatically when you close it, and if the visitor does not have a key (or other means of forcing it) you'll have to open it for him.
--M. J. Young
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