The smells of lunch cooking wafted through and caused Mac's stomach to once again remind him of its presence. Maybe I'll grab a bite after I download these pictures.

          Huang was there, seated at a table with Arden and Oz. Mark had returned and Mac waved at the Chorister. The elegant man beamed and returned the wave.

          Calen entered the room from the back, an attractive young woman at his side. My, my…is that…could it be…joy, I see on the kid's face? Mac smirked as the two strode down the isle. I need to stop seeing him as an errant little brother. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate that.

          Derrick stepped out ahead of the trio as Huang motioned them over.

          Calen held up an index finger and opened his mouth, looking for all the world as if he were about to tell the Akashic something…

          Until Derrick hauled back and punched the VE dead in the face. Calen fell backward into one of the long, rectangular tables. The table stopped his fall. But nothing stopped the blood from flowing from his nose in a steady stream. This reminded Mac of his own nosebleed some days ago and he put a hand to his head as he remained at the door.

          Mark yelled out as Huang stood. Arden was on her feet as well, her eyes flashing and her hands balled into fists. Oz stood a bit slower, a look of resignation on his face.

          "Where is it?" Derrick demanded, both fists held at the ready.

          Calenood and spat blood at the Akashic. "What?"

          Derrick hit him again, landing the punch almost in the same place. "The box, you mavrick. What do you think?'

          Calen's entire being changed abruptly. Mac narrowed his eyes, unable to see anything on his optics. Something changed – but what? The VE crouched and his expression shifted.

          What Mac saw in that brief instance as the VE reached for his gun wasn't Calen.

          What the fuck?

          Derrick held his stance but seemed oblivous to the change in his chosen opponent. "Looks like some young man needs a lesson in team work. There is no I in teamwork."

          Arden spoke up, "But there is in the box."

          Mac looked at Arden. What?

          When he looked back at Calen, whatever he thought he'd seen before had disappeared.

          The VE swayed a bit, but managed to stand up straight. Blood still poured from his face to his tee-shirt. "I need a lesson in teamwork, huh?"

          Derrick nodded. "You running off on your little errand, without informing us or asking us for help, did not improve our situation. You missed some very key, important things. Where is the box?"

          "The box? Fine. I'll get the fucking box," Calen staggered out of the room. Everyone stood silent for a time. Mac spotted Huang's laptop in front of her. With a shake of his head, he went over and sat down beside her.

          She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

          "My head," he pointed to her laptop. "I need to download…"

          "Oh, please do," she pushed the computer to him. Mac checked its IR port. No passwords were set and he recognized this as the same laptop she'd had on the plane writing Haiku. With great relief he began to download into a folder on her desktop. Unfortunately he was limited in speed to her computer's processor.

          The VE returned with the box, his nose still bleeding. He tossed it at Derrick who then passed it to Mark. Calen turned to Huang. "You see why I tried to leave. There is no working with these people. I tender my resignation as of now."

          "Sit down," Huang said and stood.

          "I refuse."

          "Sit down!" Huang thundered.

          Calen staggered a moment, and Mac noticed the kid's expression shifting again to that something that was…wrong. It lasted only an instant, and again Mac wondered if it was just his stuffy head or something real.

          Huang seemed not to have noticed the shift anymore than Derrick had. "I will not accept a resignation, Calen."

          "I've been assigned to a team that is completely against me. I'm not needed."

          "That's not true..."

          "I think you'd have a better chance doing this without me."

          Mac couldn't help but watch Calen's expression. He was in a sense, looking for the shift again. Yet what he noticed was Calen's tone; it nearly pleaded with anyone to listen to him. The man sincerely believed we'd do better without him.

          "I can do nothing but cause a disturbance. "

          Derrick stepped forward. "I think if you believed going last night would have been better, you should have spoke up. We would have gone with you."

          "He wasn't the only one who went," Arden said.

          "So who did you deem more worthy to accompany you than us?" Derrick looked at Kyle.

          Mac was surprised by the Akashic's reastion. Oz has said as much that it was Johnny that accompanied Calen. Unless Derrick hadn't heard him say this while in the attic.

          "One of your Technocratic friends again?"

          Calen looked at Derrick. "I have no friends."

          "You're widdling down the friends you have here."

          "I didn't think I had any." He turned to Huang. "I can't work here. I'm leaving."

          "Nicholas, where would you go?" she asked.

          "I'll find someplace."

          "Where?"

          "I'll find some place, and it's better that no one here knows where," he turned a bloodied face at Mac, then turned away.

          "The fact is Nicholas, you have no where to go." Huang's expression darkened. "Neither do I. You've lost so much in so few days. I too have given up things for this greater good."

          "I don't care."

          Huang sighed. "What do you care about?"

          Nicholas crossed his arms over his chest. "At this point, very damn little."

          "Then that's a sad man indeed." Mark said wistfully.

          Calen whirled around. "Actually, getting through a single fucking day without getting sucker punched would be a nice start."

          Derrick abruptly bowed. "That was dishonorable of me. I apologize."

          "Nice timing."

          The Akashic only smiled. "How can I make you understand that if you wanted to go last night, you should have said something. If we're going to be a team, we need to act like one. Why didn't you say so?"

          "No one seemed interested at the time in my opinion."

          Mac said, "You didn't voice one."

          "I tried," Calen glared back at the Adept.

          Huang sighed. "Then I suggest we need to find a better way to communicate."

          "Without me in the room would be best." Calen turned, but didn't step away.

          Mac noticed the VE was standing at an odd angle.

          Huang shook her head. "No...we've invested too much time in you for you to be set aside. "

          Derrick opened his arms wide. "If you drank I'd buy you a beer."

          "I'd roshambo you both." Arden pipped up.

          "What??" several people said in unison and looked at her.

          She smiled sweetly back at them. "Ask me in private."

          Calen made a disgusted noise. "Fine - then I'll obey my orders and keep my fucking opinions to myself."

          Huang sighed. "As you wish."

          Mark said, "I think you have to understand, not any one of us is in charge, but you have to operate all on the same level. "

          Nicholas glared at Mark. "And here I was believing I was being smacked down for disobeying orders.

          "No, you're getting smacked down because you didn't convey what you were doing. You didn't tell anybody and you and Johnny went off. The rest of us acted on things that we didn't know you were doing. You wasted our time.."

          "We damned near walked in on the police because you didn't tell us," Kyle said.

          "That was because you left earlier - by an hour." Calen said.

          "No..." Derrick began.

          The VE took a step nearer. "Yes, we came down to brief you and you had taken off."

          "Oh..." Derrick looked confused.

          Mac opened a secondary task and looked for last night's log, "Originally we were supposed to have breakfast, and leave around 10," his download finished and he blinked several times. Mac shook his head. He was still stuffed up. How did he delete it off his central Navigtor? Oh hell…

          Derrick sighed."Then if that is so, why didn't you call? Mac's wired for commuincation over there - Oz had no problem calling us.'

          "I'm sorry...I just didn't seem interested at the time."

          "Come on, come on - what's done is done you guys!" Arden said. "We've got a mission to do and carrying on is not going to get us anywhere. Let's clear the testosterone, pleease!"

          Calen snapped to attention. "Carry on then."

          Mark spoke up. "I just wanted you to know though, not to think your opinion doesn't matter - you really need to voice it."

          "Carry on then," Nicholas said.

          There was a pause.

          Derrick asked, "Do we have everything we need?"

          Mac, through the stuffiness in his head, listened as Huang recounted Johnny and Nicholas' experiences. It was then that the Adept relalized the singer was not in the room.

          Apparently the two miscreants snuck in to Casada's home, disabled the alarm system, and broke in via a window in the attic. Once up there, the two found the filing cabinet and removed the Rose box that Mark now had. On his scanner, Calen spotted someone in dark clothing outside the house. The two snuck back out and went downstairs to the front door where they went inside and began to snoop there.

          Calen picked up Casada's return, so the two hid in a closet in the hallway. Unfortuantely the robed figure was still there and attacked Casda as the man tried to enter his home. The ensuing scuffle brought a large bookcase down on top of the door of the closet, trapping the two inside. Via his scanner, Calen was able to see the intruder shoot Casada in the leg, but the gentleman made it to a room in the back where he hit a switch, thus activating his 'panic room'. The intruder shot Casda again and left. As he left he knocked the book case against the closet door and it fell away and the two stowaways were freed. Unfortuantely Casda was dead.

          Calen managed to get a tracker onto the intruder's car. Kyle provided the informaton of the Black Robe, Red Cross on a white background. Calen's scanner showed the same. Within the box the two found a five wheel cylinder. They were able to solve the puzzle and inside they found part of a piece of parchment with the single letter 'I' written on it.

          "I believe this," he held up that piece of parchment, "is a small piece of something much larger."

          Oz and Arden and Mark then went after the Templar, as they began calling him, though whether this man possessed any real ties to the Knights Templar was anyone's guess.

          "He wouldn't talk till I kicked him in the nuts," Arden said and smiled.

          The Templar claimed he had killed Lovenstein, and did the same thing that he did to Casada. He also said that his people had all the information and were heading to the Rose Window at St. Michelle. "

          Mark said, 'But there is a major problem here - Lovenstein and Casada gave the Templar's people the same information. They didn't give the different pieces they were suppose too."

          "That makes us believe they tried to throw the Templar people off the trail." Huang looked at each of them. "We believe that with our various gifts, we should be able to find out what information it was that Lovenstein had. We know that he is in Vienna."

          Mark set the piece of parchment on the table. "We believe he might have the other piece to this in his home."

          Huang began, "I think that Vienna is the place to go."

          "What about the this?" Kyle brought out the cylinder, the one Derrick had found in the envelope. "All I can tell about it is that it was made in Geneva and part of a larger whole."

          Derrick raised an eyebrow. "Why not pull out the other item you took?"

          Kyle blinked.

          "The tapestry."

          Kyle took it out and handed it to Mark. "This is the Lancastrian Rose," the Choriester began. He frowned. "There's also something else here...threads that run through the very weave." Mark reached out and touched Mac's shoulder. "Could you give me a hand here? I need your Correspondence and Matter to follow this."

          Mac nodded. "You just tell me what to do."

          Huang shifted in her chair, obviously unfortable at the impending use of magic.

          Mark pursed his lips. "You're left handed, correct?"

          Mac nodded.

          "Then I need you to use that hand, your power hand, and channel the Correspondence in a manner that I can use - very simply. Then with Matter, do the same with your right hand, yet less so. I'll only need that in case I have to manipulate the tapestry itself."

          Sounded simple enough. Mac had shared or combined his magic with others in his group on several occasions. No, correction...former group. With a sniff, he did as Mark needed, easing the Sphere of Correspondence, turning it into a sparkling pool that Mark had only to dip into when needed. The magic flowed from his left hand with ease, and for the first time since the Inhibitor and Tracker had been found, Mac realized there was no headache when he used magic. Nothing.

          "Are you getting anything?" Arden asked.

          "Odd," Mark frowned and Mac felt him pull more on the Correspondence pool. "There's a single threat...a path that leads away..."

          "To where?" asked Huang.

          The Chorister pursed his lips and shrugged. "Prague?"

          "Prague?" Derrick scratched his head. "What would this tapestry have to do with Prague?"

          Huang asked Calen to upload the information he'd uploaded from Casada's database. "Perhaps there is something in there about Prague?"

          Calen shook his head after a few minutes. "Nothing relating to Prague."

          "Upload it all to Mac. Maybe he can find something we can't."

          Mac received the upload from Calen and did a brief scan of the information. As far as he could tell, it was simply a buyer/seller list. Which, when considering Casada's livelyhood was as a dealer in antiquties, made sense. But there was no mention of Prague in any of the entries. He shook his head at Huang.

          She nodded. "Keep looking." She tapped a few keys on her palm. "There's no mention of Issac Lovenstein in Casada's records either and I'm not seeing anything on police records about this Lovenstein - so if he was killed, then they may not have found him..."

          "Or he's not dead..." Mac said.

          She pulled up a file. "Lavinsteirn.. part time collector of art, keeper of manuscripts...' much like Casada. "Then it's off to Vienna. I suggest you all get packed, quickly."

          Mark clapped. "I never unpacked." Mark touched the computer beside Mac. "May I? I'd like to look at these pictures."

          "Please," Haung turned it to face the Chorister. Mac automatically launced a jpeg reading program and brought the pictures up for him to see. Mark smiled at Mac. "Thankyou."

          Huang turned to look at Calen. "Nicholas, please report to Master Ichibon for Medical Attention."

          When the stubborn VE would not move, Huang said, "Very well, you are dismissed."

          Calen nodded, turned and collapsed onto the floor.

          Members of the Brotherhood took Calen to his room as Derrick went to find Master Ichibon. Mark volunteered to go with them to begin the healing process.

          He's going to hate that when he wakes up. Good old deviant magic is going to save his life once again.

          Before getting up to pack, the Adept closed his eyes and went inward to his Library. There he looked up deletion and was happy to find a small paragraph on a system manual.

          Throw files into trash.

          Oh duh.

          He tossed the hi rez images into the trash. The stuffines in his head vanished. Oh for crying out loud…

          Mac passed by Johnny's door on the way to his own room. The singer's door was closed. Thinking perhaps the entertainer would rather be left alone, Mac continued on to his room. But before he could pull his bag from the floor, his audio sensors picked up a knock at Johnny's door.

          There was no answer.

          "Johnny?" It was Derrick.

          Still no answer.

          Derrick rapped a bit harder. "Johnny open up. I know you're in there."

          Mac heared shuffling in his audio, then the door opened up.

          "God, you look like a wreck."

          There was a pause. "Yeah," the singer replied. "What is it?"

          "We're packing up and getting ready to go."

          Mac moved quietly to his door and peered down the hall to his right. He could see Derrick standing in the hallway, but he couldn't see Johnny.

          A hand on his arm startled him, and he turned to see Arden standing to his left. She nodded toward Derrick and Johnny, then made a spinning motion with her index finger near her head.

          Mac shrugged. Was he crazy? Which one? Johnny or Derrick? From the unprovoked punch he'd watched the Akashic throw, and the insane magic he'd seen Johnny weave.... "It's debatable," was all he said before turning his attention back to the two.

          The door closed.

          Derrick rapped again.

          Arden moved back to her own room.

          The door opened again, only this time the Akashic muscled his way in. Mac heard the man's backpack hit the floor. "Johnny, what's going on?"

          "Nothing man..." the singer's voice was hollow, dead. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

          "Look, I know I got upset about what you and the VE did - and I over reacted. From him I expect it - but from you, I guess I expected better."

          There was no answer from Johnny.

          "Look, I'm sure it won't happen again. And when ever you need to talk, I'm here."

          Mac watched the Akashic emerge from the room, his backpack in hand. He glanced at Mac, nodded, and turned down the hall.

          Something's really eating at Johnny. Mac turned to concentate on his own packing. There wasn't much to do, since most of his clothes had been pressed and folded, almost as if whomever had done it had known they would be making another hasty retreat.

          He'd nearly gotten everything into the bag, his Powerbook last, when someone knocked softly on his door. The Adept turned to see a petite brunette, dressed in a light blue gee. She held in her hands the sneakers he'd arrived in. I hadn't even missed them.

          With a slight bow, he motioned for her to come inside. She smiled sweetly and set the sneakers on the bed. "I hope I've gotten them clean," her voice was soft, and he detected a slight British Londoner. "There was blood, on the tops..."

          Something in the way she cast him furtive glances without really looking at him caused Mac to feel a bit uncomfortable. He frowned. "Miss..."

          "Patten," she said softly. "Belle Patten."

          He nodded. "Patten..." with a glance at his Navigator's clock, Mac smiled. "You seem uncomfortable. Have I done something to offend you?"

          "No, oh, no...not at all. I'm happy to see you rested. I was assigned to your room when you arrived...."

          Recognition dawned on him at that moment. This was the young lady that had escorted him to his room yesterday. He relaxed a bit and smiled. "Oh, forgive me. I'm afraid I wasn't in a good frame of mind when I arrived...."

          She nodded quickly. "I know..." her eyes narrowed. "I have a small amount of mind sphere, Mr. Mcgyver, and I knew from your surface thoughts you were in need of rest. You had to be made comfortable. We believe total comfort of the body relaxes the mind. I just wanted to make sure that you..." she nearly blushed as she looked away.

          Mac kept his gaze focused on Belle. "You're the one that undressed me."

          She nodded. "I hope I didn't offend. But your muscles - your entire being was so tense..."

          Uh-oh. Mac narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes, I was dead tired, but I wasn't injured or anything, unlike the VE..." he sighed and shook his head, regretting having nearly forgotten his on and off again friend. "Nicholas Calen...do you know how he's doing?"

          "He will recover," she paused. "I was with him when the Chorister came to him and touched him. He sings most beautifully, this Mr. Davins. I've not met many like him."

          Mac smiled as he thought of the tall, elegant man. "And I doubt you will. Mark's one of a kind." He bent to pick up the sneakers from the bed.

          Belle touched his cheek.

          The contact was electrifying, and he immediately sensed her attempting to read his surface thoughts. And for the fist time in years, he didn't mind. He detected only concern from her, and a need to be helpful. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the contact.

          He thought of Maouri, and Belle removed her hand.

          "I am so sorry," she said and Mac opened his eyes. "She was taken so horribly…I wasn't aware you mourned still."

          "I don't...." he shrugged. "Not really. I try not too. It's just that...caring about people, always seems to push them away. Whether they leave by death," again he thought of his beautiful wife, "or they leave on their own," his thoughts moved to Trent, to Maggie and Jeff and Cerino007. He gave a long sigh. "Thankyou, for making me comfortable."

          "And thank you for trusting me." She gave him a broad smile. "I sense you don't trust easy."

          "On the contrary," Mac put the shoes in the bag. "I trust too much. And too recklessly," Thoughts of Calen returned and he sighed. "But you're welcome."

          She put a hand on his chest. "I wish you didn't have to leave so soon. I think I would like to have gotten to know you better. I have never met a Virtual Adept before." She stepped back. "Well, at least one so human."

          Human? He had to laugh at that one. Not with the junque in my head. Before he could give her a response, the Akashic moved to him, kissed his cheek and left the room.

          My life just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

          He zipped his bag and slung it on his shoulders. A quick glance at the room and Mac moved into the hallway just as Derrick and Johnny emerged from Johnny's door.

          When did Derrick go back in there? Geezz...Belle completely broke my concentration.

          "Johnny..." Mac hurried his steps.

          The singer's shoulders slumped as he turned to Mac. "Yeah?"

          Oh he really is upset about something. "Look, I'm not gonna ask you about what's wrong, or needle you about what you guys did. Bravo. You went somewhere with Calen and didn't get killed - not that I think that would've happend to you, but still," he gave Johnny a smile. "You've done a lot for me, and I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you."

          The singer shook his head and started to turn.

          Mac pursed his lips as Johnny paused. The singer glanced both ways down the hall and stepped close to Mac. "I really...really..need to talk to Zydeco. Huang and Oz forbid it - they don't want me getting her involved right now. Things are getting dangerous."

          The Adept thought for a second. "I think I can arrange it. Just," he put his index finger up, "don't tell anyone. Capice?"

          Just then Arden breezed by them. She stopped a few feet down the hall, turned and pointed to her rolex. "Come on people!" She turned and moved on.

          Johnny gave a half smile and nodded. He then turned and the two of them walked into the main room.

          They boarded a train to Vienna, Austria with no trouble. The trip was relatively easy. Most of their group slept or talked. Mac watched Oz help Calen on to the train – the VE looked worse for the wear. He had a deadly palor and his ionic suit was now a gray jumpsuit. Mac found himself in a car with Mark and Arden. Arden continued to lay cards down at various opportunities. Sometimes she would look up at Mac and give a wink or arch of her dark eyebrow.

          Once she even said, "Don't you think you should be getting you some sleep, shugah?"

          He paid her little attention as he sifted through his Navigator's library. He'd actually found a manual left by Mannis, though it'd been covered in discarded spam.

          Spam…scurge of the universe.

          Syd returned his query, and assured Mac he'd get Zydeco over there - in some fashion. Mac didn't bother to worry about what Syd's mother would think about having a grown woman in his room. For he and Syd had both decided that VR was the best place to set up a meeting. They would channel the connection via Mac, but he would set up the environment on his Powerbook. That way they could keep their meeting secure and away from any Technocratic spying.

          Once they disembarked, Huang and Oz guided the group into a waiting van where the two briefed the team on their destination. Calen was better, having slept most of the train ride. He moved slowly, but was back in his black tee and fatigue pants. He had his scanner out and ready. A gun was tucked into a brown, leather holster at his hip.

          They were able to find Lovenstein's address. The address turned out to be a very nice apartment in Vienna. The outside of the building was ornately decorated with flowered trellis and arched windows. The group got out and looked about the front as Oz worked on getting them inside to the apartment.

          Lovenstein's home was on the third floor. They traveled through a quaint, stuccoed interior painted in a deep, rich salmon. Oz paused at the door and motioned for everyone to be quiet.

          Mac opened up his audio, and tried to detect any motion inside. As quiet as a tomb.

          Even before the door is opened, Lovenstein's fate is more than horribly evident. The stench of a rotting body seeped through the cracks of the door and Mac stepped back beside Arden. He watched the Verbena reach into her purse and pull out two berries. To his surprise, the woman shoved them up her nose.

          What the fuck?

          Oz shook his head. "This is not gonna be pretty."

          Huang opened up her own little bag of goodies and pulled out a small container. She dipped her index finger into a colorless goo, then rubbed it on her upper lip. She handed it to Oz who did the same. "Okay, everyone, unless you have your own remedy for the odor, I suggest you put this under your nose."

          Mac took the container in turn and stared at the contents. With a shrug, he did as the others did and was surprised that there was no odor at all. It's numbed my olfactory senses. Pretty ingenious.

          "Can't you just turn off our sniffers?" Derrick asked Arden.

          She shrugged. "I could try - but I'm afraid I'd cause you to stop breathing..."

          "Right then," Oz said. "Anyone good at picking locks?"

          Kyle stepped forward along with Arden. Within seconds, the two had the door opened, and the group took a step back. Whatever it was that had been in that container wasn't as effective as Mac hoped. The stench was unbearable and he put his hand over his nose.

          "If you have gloves, then please put them on. If you don,'t" Huang paused. "Don't touch anything."

          Mark and Arden held up their hands. Mac's optics picked up a faint glow about the Chorister's fingertips. Arden pulled a small knife from her purse and systematically sliced each pad of her fingers. Mac swallowed but was amazed that the cuts never dripped blood to the floor. She smiled. They had erased their own prints.

          Huang visibly shuddered at the display of magic.

          A small steady beep began behind the group. Everyone turned to Calen, who stood with his scanner open, the light illuminating his face. Mac recognized the beep, having been a direct cause for its sounding before.

          DEVIANT ACTIVITY DETECTED.

          Calen muted it. The left side of his mouth twitched.

          The group moved as a whole into the apartment. Fourteen foot ceilings gave an impressive awning over floor to ceiling shelving. Mac believed the shelves once held rare antiquities – but what might have sat upon those shelves at one time, now lay broken and scattered about the livingroom floor.

          Inside the parlor was the body of Issac Lovenstein.

          Huang moved to Lovenstein's dead body. Calen approched, his scanner out, his gun drawn.

          Arden stepped up to Calen. "Don't shoot the dead body. It'll squirt."

          Mac tried not to laugh at the Verbena's attempt to lighten the mood. Even if it was a dark humor.

          The VE looked seriously at the Verbena. "Oh, the dead body is last on my list to shoot."

          Mark moved forward. "Well I'd better not be on that list. I just helped the Akashics to heal you."

          "Oh, there are those of you who rank higher than others." He tossed a glance in Mac's direction.

          "Please..." Huang looked at them. "Look around for anything that might help us."

          Mac shook his head. "After everything we've been through, you still want to shoot me?" He gave the VE a smile.

          What he didn't expect was the answer. "Oh, in the worst way."

          Arden came up beside Mac. "Don't worry, shugah. He sees you as a threat. You are his opposite."

          Upon the Akashic's approach, the VE moved away. "You are what he fears of being," Derrick said.

          Mac gave both of them a weak smile. His Opposite? What he fears? Oh...and I thought it was just because he hated me. I feel so much better now.

          "Lovenstein's been shot," Kyle said as he knelt beside the body. "But not in the same manner Casada was."

          Mac moved away from the body to examine the rest of the livingroom. It was obvious someone was searching for something. The question was - had they found it?

          "Here, look here," Kyle said.

          Mac moved back to the body to see Kyle reach into the dead man's collar and pull a chain out. A small vial fell out and Kyle held it in his hand.

          From where Mac stood, it looked like a glass tube filled with pebbles. The Hollow One removed it from the man's neck and stood. He squinted as he held it closer to his face. "It looks like there's writing on the pebbles."

          "Right..." Huang said. She looked Mac. "You could see what it says."

          The Adept nodded. Kyle handed him the vial and he held it up to the light. Immediately his optics shifted and rotated until in essence, he became an Electron Microscope. He could see the writing as if it were large, fifteen point type.

          "Mac?" Derrick prompted.

          "Well, there's writing - but it's scattered. Like...each pebble has a paragraph of type written on it. And it's in German. I'd almost say there were..." He blinked to refocus his eyes and looked at Derrick. "I'd say they were connected somehow. My suggestion would be to lay them out and piece them together, like a puzzle."

          "Can you do that?"

          "Not right now," Arden said.

          Calen move abruptly, turning from the room and back to the door. He pushed the door closed quietly then motioned with a finger to his lips for everyone to be quiet. The sounds of voices outside the door reached them and Mac heard their footsteps.

          Everyone appeared to hold their breath as the neighboors paused just outside the door. Mac heard them speaking but couldn't understand - and realized he didn't know German. In seconds he had a German program loaded and ready.

          They've noticed the smell. He pursed his lips. Who could miss it?

          Once the neighbors moved away down the stairs Mac pulled the kit Mannis gave him from his suit jacket pocket and slipped the vial inside. He nodded to Huang. "It's safe."

          "Can we leave now?" Johnny asked from the farthest corner of the room.

          Mac looked at the singer and smiled. Johnny was looking a bit green.

          Huang nodded. "Unless anyone else can detect anything out of he ordinary here, I suggest we leave before someone reports the smell."

          Carefully the group filed out of the apartment. Oz eased the door back as Mac followed Mark and Derrick down the stairs.

          Everyone took deep breaths once outside. Mac hadn't realized how saturated the place had been with the stench until he breathed fresh air. He coughed once and took in a deep breath.

          After everyone was loaded back into the van, Huang pulled out her palm and began tapping. "Let's see...we've still got some money to burn. Let's spend some Syndicate cash." She punched a few buttons. "We're due to check in at the Hotel Sacher. It is across the street from the Opera House."

          Huang checked them into three Presidential Suites inside the Hotel. The team split with Mac, Derrick and Johnny taking one suite; Huang, Mark and Arden the second, and Oz, Calen and Kyle in the third.

          Until Kyle refused to room with Calen and booked his own suite.

          Huang suggested everyone just rest and relax and to meet back in the girl's suite to discuss the pebbles.

          Mac nodded. "I'll see what I can come up with on these." He took his bag and picked out a room in the suite with Johnny and Derrick.

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