Captain Taylor Turn 9

You dress for dinner. The only thing the room really lacks, you decide, is "en suite". Having the bathroom down the hall is just slightly annoying. Before you leave, you lock your hand gun in your case; even in the Deep South, going to dinner with a pistol might be considered crude…

The mansion is a fine example of colonial architecture. Out of your window you can see that the compound is quite extensive with a number of outbuildings. Attached to the back of the house is a newer extension, with dark windows. The style is commensurate with the rest of the building, but you'd say that it was less than ten years old. Out over the fence surrounding the compound the terrain quickly degenerates down into bayou swamp.

You descend the stairs and cross the hall to a drawing room, where several people are already grazing at a table of canapés. As you look around, a tall man in his fifties turns and greets you. "Captain Taylor! Glad you could make it. I'm Felix Jaeger, your host for this seminar. Here, let me get you a glass of wine." Small talk ensues. Jaeger has just a hint of European to his accent, but you can't quite place it. You have your suspicions, of course.

Jaeger introduces you to the other members of the seminar, now all assembled. They are:

• Alexander Michaels, a rather drab little man with little to say. Overweight and balding, he is hardly a picture of Aryan health. He seems to be some sort of accountant for a big city firm, though his description of what he does leaves you rather sleepy.
• Frank Voller is in his forties and describes himself as an "independent security specialist". He seems more interested in football, and you end up discussing why the Bears were so horrible last season, and what the prospects are for the next season.
• Sandra Alleyne is mid thirties. Dark haired, quite tall, she chain smokes her way through the evening. When you think about it, you have actually heard of her in your capacity as Review Secretary - she's an independent journalist, specialising in "outing" liberal excess.
• Martin Schweitzer is a government scientist, working at Los Alamos. "It's not as glamorous as you think" he remarks. "I work on materials research. You know. Making harder metals, tougher plastics, that sort of thing."
• Jordan Scheffel is the delegate that most catches your eye. She's young, certainly not over thirty, with a glorious shock of red hair and an excellent taste in black evening dresses. As far as you can make out, she's some sort of rich kid; her parents were German, fleeing from the country in the late 1940s.
• Walter Samms works for the Texas Governor's office. Slim, well presented, in his mid sixties.

After a smattering of small talk, you are all ushered into dinner, where you end up between Voller and Alleyne. Ms Alleyne is very complimentary when she finds out that you are the secretary of the Review, congratulating you on turning round the fortunes of an organisation that was fading slightly. You begin to wonder whether you have done too good a job… Dinner is good, and the wine cellar is excellently stocked. You have a feeling that the brandy was also good, but that part of the evening is a little hazy…

You head for bed with the knowledge that breakfast is at eight, and the seminars start at nine…

You wake with a start. Something woke you, though, it could have been your bladder. You get to your feet, wondering why the room is slightly wobbly and head for the door. As you step onto the landing, you can see, down in the hall below, a figure dressed in black is fiddling with some sort of keypad on the wall. You hadn't spotted the keypad before, but it probably leads into the newer part of the house. At the other end of the hall, through one of the glass panelled doors, you can see a waving torch beam coming closer…