Chapter 20: Neal's Hideaway

There was dead silence in the lab for a moment. All eyes were fixed on the heavy spear that hung quivering in the splintered panel of the lab door. Its butt end, chopped off by the abrupt closing of the portal, slowly sank until it came to rest on the polished floor. It touched the smooth vinyl with a 'thunk' that seemed astonishingly loud in the silence, followed by a softer thud as Tony crumpled to the floor.

"This man's been hurt!" His professional training taking over, Doctor Worth knelt beside Tony, turning him onto his back and ripping the already tattered tunic away from his wounded shoulder. He took the bag Jewel handed him, and busied himself tending to Tony's injuries. "How about the rest of you? Are you all right?"

"We're fine," Neal answered, then turned to Bart. "What's the situation? Is the IRS still on my case?"

"More than ever," his lawyer answered. "And not just the IRS, either." He ticked the names off on his fingers as he spoke. "FBI, DEA, you name them, they're there. We've had some rather pointed inquiries about this young man, too, but mostly they've just been putting on pressure every way they can think of. I've expected to be handed a summons with your name on it for the last week, wanting to get you in for a hearing. There've been some rumors going around, nothing official so far, but the word is that you're suspected of laundering some pretty heavy amounts of drug money."

"You're kidding!" Neal's lips twisted in a sardonic parody of a grin behind his beard. "No, I don't suppose you are at that. All right, you're the lawyer. What should I do about it?"

"Well, they haven't tied up your bank accounts so far, but I don't think that it's too far off. We've let them believe that you were out of town on a camping trip, and didn't leave any address where you could be contacted. As soon as they realize that you're back from your 'trip' they're going to insist on talking to you. I just don't see how you're going to be able to keep from telling them what you've got here."

"No way!" Neal's expression changed to the determined set that Jewel had grown familiar with over the last couple of months. "I'll destroy my portal before I let them have it. I've had a lot of time to think things over, and there's one thing I'm sure of. Once they get their hands on my portal, all Hell's going to break loose. Unless we're ungodly lucky, the conflicts over this could spell the end of our whole civilization, if not all life on this planet!"

"So, what are you going to do?" Bart's expression showed that he didn't expect to like whatever idea Neal came up with.

"Maybe I should just drop out of sight, just never come back from my vacation. Eventually they'll get tired of looking for me, and I can start over some place else."

"Yeah, that might work, but do you have any idea how hard it is to disappear these days? And what would you do with yourself while you're waiting?"

"I've already got that all figured out. There's a nice little planet I know of, just a couple of dozen universes over, where I've been setting up what could be a refuge for just this sort of situation. It was supposed to be for vacations at first, but I've never had the time to make use of it. It's got a decent climate, a lot like Oregon, and not too many dangerous animals to bother me. There's a oneroom cabin, with its own power and water, and everything I need to keep on experimenting with my portals. If we can hold the government off for a just few more days, I'll finish stocking it with supplies. When they do swoop down, all they'll find here is an empty lab and no incriminating records."

"Yes, that could work." Bart Manning, small and dapper, was nodding his head in agreement when Amy interrupted.

"And what about Jewel and me? What are you going to do about us?"

Neal had the grace to look uncomfortable, but he plowed on ahead with his plans. "We can set you up in Khamus with enough wealth so that you won't have any trouble there, or else Bart can supply you with faked papers so that you can stay here with Jewel..."

"The Hell with that!" Jewel's temper flared. "You aren't leaving me here alone to take the heat. Where you go, I go, and so does Amy!"

"That's right!" Amy moved to her side, and they faced Neal together. "I won't go back to Khamus. You can't make me. And you can't abandon me here, either."

"Hold it!" Neal overrode their protests with his deeper voice. "Stop and think a minute! I'm going to an unexplored world, one where anything can happen. You'll be safe here on Earth, with Mark and Bart to look after you. I'm not taking you along, and that's final!"

"It is not! If it's dangerous, you need us along to protect you," Jewel argued. "We told you that we weren't going to let you go off on your own to a lot of strange worlds, and we meant just that!"

"And if it isn't dangerous," Amy chimed in, "there's no reason not to take us along. You need us, and we need you. We're going with you."

Bart opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, smiling to himself. Catching Mark's eye, he nodded toward Tony, and then at the door to the lab. Between them, the two men carried Tony out into the hall and, Jewel guessed, to the infirmary.