"The BOO from UNCLE" Chapter 14- part 1 of the conclusion of the Halloween Round Robin

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The BOO from UNCLE chapter 14- part 1 of the CONCLUSION of the Halloween Round-Robin



THWUP-THWUP-THWUP-THWUP-THWUP-THWUP...

The helicopter blades slowly cut the air as they moved in autorotation.

Kuryakin was at the controls, warming up the Bell helicopter as he waited for his partner, Dancer and Slate to arrive. He knew the layout of the immediate structures on the block that housed the UNCLE complex and he could picture it in his mind’s eye, but after that it was going to be tricky.

It had been quite some time since he’d piloted a chopper from the roof of headquarters. It was different when you were at the controls as opposed to being a passenger, and for that reason Illya reminded himself to pay greater attention to his surroundings in the future, especially above New York city.

After ascending he would have to use the spotlights and a compass, as well as carefully monitoring the altimeter to maintain a safe height. The buildings he’d have to be wary of were the Empire State, the Chrysler, 70 Pine St. and several of the structures on Wall Street, to name just a few. He had no idea where the homing signal would take them and hopefully he wouldn’t have to fly anywhere near those structures. So far the signal from Waverly’s homing device remained steady. The only way to zero in on it however, was to fly in circles until the signal increased in its intensity and speed.

After stowing the bags with enough explosives to take out the entire east coast, the others boarded the chopper. Once they were seated with their headphones in place, it rose into the darkness.

“Cor, I always hate that feeling,” Mark said,” it’s like I left my stomach somewhere on the ground.”

“It’ll pass,”April said.”I used to hate it too, but now I don’t even think of it.” She looked out the window thinking it so strange to see almost complete darkness in the city. The only light sources now were the headlights of cars caught in traffic jams on the streets below, as well as the flashing red and blue of police cars and fire engines.

Little did they all know that besides trying to direct traffic, and the thousands of people attempting to make their way home, the police were now dealing with looters who were taking advantage of the blackout.

Off in the distance, though she had no idea where it was happening, was a fire blazing into the night. She said a silent prayer that those involved would be safe and sound...she suddenly shuddered, hoping that it wasn’t where Mr. Waverly was being held.

“Stop the chatter,” Illya ordered.”I need no distraction while I fly. This is not easy. Napoleon, please monitor the signal.”

“Yes sir,” Solo tried not to smile as he saluted. His partner’s terse military as well as Soviet training would rear itself sometimes during tense moments. He’d snap fingers, order people about with a cold determined voice. None of that mattered to Napoleon as he knew Illya meant nothing by it; the man was just being his efficient self.

As they flew across the dark skies, circling again and again, Napoleon finally spoke up.

“Signal’s changing. It’s on the move...veer to the right.”

“Chyort!” The Russian cursed through clenched teeth.

“That will make it all the more harder to track him if he is being moved. Napoleon I just have no idea where we are.”

****

Once Alexander Waverly had finished binding Egret and her lackey, the only thing to do was to get out of wherever he was.

The guard’s uniform was too small to fit him, though his shoes weren’t, and the old man helped himself to those.

He slowly opened the door, peeking around it into the hallway bathed red light and what could only be emergency lighting. The place was surprisingly decrepit, filled with cobwebs and peeling wallpaper. From the looks of it he was in some sort of tenement building.

Waverly heard footsteps, slow and steady not what would indicate if the person was running. That meant Egret and her guard hadn’t been discovered yet.

He backed into an alcove and as the person passed, Alexander reached out and swiftly karate chopped the man’s neck, sending him into unconsciousness.

For a split second he felt rather pleased with himself. “Still haven’t lost your touch old boy. Oh bother,” he changed his congratulatory tone.” This one’s uniform is too small as well.”

The body was dragged into an unoccupied room and bound with cords from the window blinds before Waverly continued on with his escape attempt. There seemed to be no one else here, much to his relief and he slowly descended the stairs until he was outside on the streets below. The building had a false front on it, made up to look like a castle of all things. Perhaps it was once used as a Halloween fun house? It looked rather ominious in the darkness.

Everything was pitch black, and people were walking along the sidewalks carrying lighters, flashlights and a few oil lanterns.

“Excuse me young man, might you tell me what’s happened?” He finally stopped someone.

The fellow shined his flashlight on Waverly, looking him up and down. “You slept through the biggest thing to hit the east coast Pops. What you couldn’t get dressed in the dark?” He snickered.

“Apparently not, now as to what happened?:

“There’s been a huge power failure all the way up and down the east coast, even in Canada. At first people thought we were being attacked by the Commies, but now they’re saying it was some sort of substation thing.”

“Thank you young man, now might you tell me where we are? I seemed to have gotten myself all turned around in the dark.”

“Not hard to do Pops. You’re in the Bronx, just be careful walking around and make sure you don’t go near Fort Apache if you want to live to see your next birthday. Why don’t you go home and put on some clothes, being dressed in your pajamas does make you stand out a bit."

“Thank you. I will take it upon advisement.”

The Bronx...not exactly a safe place to be in the middle of a black out. Waverly knew he needed to get to a phone, and immediately.  He rounded the corner heading down the next block where he found exactly what he needed; it was located in front of an empty lot, if you could call the space being filled with trash and other human detritus empty?

Obviously he had no money on him, though that was unnecessary as he opened the folding door to the phone booth. Since there was no power the overhead light was out, making it necessary to use the rotary dial by feeling it, counting the holes as he dialed the ‘O’ for operator.

It rang again and again, until it was answered.

“Sorry for the delay sir,"a nasally woman's voice spoke. "The blackout is wreaking havoc here. Now number please ?”

“Yes Miss, a collect call from Alexander Waverly to 555-1111.”  That was the special emergency telephone number to headquarters.He heard the phone click several times.

“I’m sorry sir there’s no answer.”

“What the devil? Young lady there has to be an answer as this number is manned twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

“I’ll try again sir...click, click, click.” Sorry sir, still no answer. Perhaps try again later, there’s been difficulty with the circuits because of the…”

“Yes I know, the blackout. Thank you.” He hung up. What to do now? He could keep walking but not having the lay of the land could prove dangerous, especially after having been warned to avoid the area of Fort Apache.

Waverly knew of it, and even if that fellow hadn’t warned him of it; he knew it was a place to be avoided as it was a crime-ridden precinct where many of the tenements were crumbling into ruins. It was more like a war zone in the South Bronx.

Since he knew he wasn’t quite near it, he guessed the best thing to do was to stay put, but to keep out of sight. In the near pitch black that wasn’t hard to manage, though being dressed in his pyjamas did leave him rather suspicious looking.

As luck would have it there was a clothesline full of dried laundry dangling between two fire escapes above his head.

Waverly slowly climbed one ladder until he reached the line, and pulling it in he retrieved a sweatshirt and a pair of trousers that would thankfully fit him. Though he felt a tad guilty stealing them, at the moment it was a necessary evil. Once this whole mishegoss was at an end, he’d have to make amends for taking the clothing...but that was putting the horse before the cart.

Remaining out of sight, he slipped into his new attire. He hid back away from the sidewalk, hoping that Egret and her ilk had not freed themselves and were prowling the streets looking for him; better not to take the chance.

Above him he heard the sounds of  helicopter blades whipping the air and seconds later he was bathed in a the beam of a spotlight.

“Dammit!” He cursed aloud, holding up his hand to block the near blinding light.” THRUSH had found him!”


Continue to part two