She nodded. "I'll be here."
"Countin' on it." ***
CHAPTER_13
Part of the good news for the team from Stagsnare Dimension was that they came through on the corner of 60th and 5th Avenue in New York just before five o'clock on a Thursday afternoon. The intersection was crowded at that time of day so no one noticed three men appear out of thin air or, if they did, they didn't flinch. Living or working on Manhattan requires nerves of steel and a mind-your-own-business attitude.
The other part of the good news was that Monq happened to be away from Jefferson Unit on a rare visit to the city to have tea at the Pierre with his niece who was visiting. Archer had calibrated the transport to search for a near-identical dimension with a life signature matching Thelonius M. Monq's.
Since Monq was rarely away from Fort Dixon, the odds were high in favor of the team appearing smack dab in the middle of Jefferson Unit surrounded by Black Swan knights, although they could not have known that when planning and programming the mission.
The bad news for the Stagsnare Team was that only three placeholders were matches for the volunteers who had embarked on a mission to assassinate the royal who'd escaped the clan's justice. The other nine were simply gone. Vanished. With nothing to be done about it.
They stepped next to a building and went into a huddle. They didn't know what it meant that only three of the twelve had arrived. No one had briefed them on that possibility because the only one outside of command was Archer and he had been forbidden to mention it.
Their first thought was that the others were somehow delayed in transport and would arrive any second. That being the case, there was nothing to do for the time being, but wait. Especially since the team leader was not among the three who now stood on a busy street corner looking at each other with uncertainty.
As the crowds began to thin more and more people gave them second looks. In identical quasi-military clothing, with identical backpacks, identical haircuts, and wearing identical expressions of confusion on their faces, they did stand out even in a city known for exceptional occupants. After three hours it was dark and they had to admit it was unlikely others would be joining them.
They decided one of them would go into the hotel and ask where they could exchange gold for currency. The desk clerk at The Pierre blinked at the man with the accent that was hard to place.
"Gold, sir?"
"Yes."
"Are you a guest of the hotel?"
"Not unless you take gold."
"No. We do not. Although we probably should." The clerk hesitated. "Are you saying that you would like to exchange gold for currency and then check into this hotel?"
Rystrome looked around at the lobby and the Rotunda beyond, then back at the clerk. "Yes. That is what I am saying."
The clerk picked up the phone and made a call. "In what form is your gold, sir?"
"Bars."
Again the clerk blinked as if he was having trouble processing that. "Bars."
"Yes. A rectangular prism approximately this size?" He indicated the size of a bar of gold.
The clerk looked away and spoke quietly into the phone. "How much does your gold bar weigh?"
"Standard. Just a little more than two pounds."
The clerk resumed his conversation then put down the phone. "We will not be able to assist you with that exchange tonight. However, if you would like to leave a bar of gold in the safe as a guarantee, we will check you in and facilitate the transaction in the morning."
"Alright. There are three of us."
"Very good, sir. Would you like a two bedroom suite?"
"Yes."
"May I see your I.D.?"
"I.D.?"
"Yes."