Ch. 10 - When In Venezia...

"Seven?" Lioness couldn't quite believe her ears. She was beginning to intensely dislike Venice. "Is there any way to know which they actually left through?"
Osprey did a half-nod as she focused on the portals only visible to her at that point.
"It will take time. And... if they are clever..." she shrugged. "I can't even say for sure all of them were activated by the same portalist right now."
That was not what either of them wanted to hear.
"It might be best if I just..." Osprey spoke again, evidently about to suggest something she expected a fight about. But she was cut off, as one of the portal mouths started glowing visibly enough for even Lioness to notice. The empath waved her colleagues to the sides, positioning herself just off center, as non-threatening as she could be. In her peripherals, she could see the two pulling out weapons. Not a moment later a single person came through, back first, pulling a rather large sturdy utility cart made of polished metal behind them. It was loaded with covered trays and chafing dishes, and the smells wafting from it were positively divine.
There was no threat.
Lioness cleared her throat, as she gestured for the two other agents to stand down.
"Oh, hello there!" the caterer's hackles rose instantly upon noticing her. "I wasn't expecting anyone here at this hour."
"We seem to be somewhat lost," the agent smiled her best, most genuine confused tourist smile, nodding towards Osprey. Tiger slunk further into shadow, providing cover for the two of them.
Osprey was looking at the stranger with equal measure curiosity and suspicion. Portals were definitely not your usual way to travel for general public. It was obvious she was itching to question the person, who just used one as the equivalent of a dumb waiter.
"Whoever was in charge of locking up before the vernissage today should be fired," the white-clad figure mumbled under their breath.
Something in their emotions made Lioness' ears perk up.
"We're not the first to be misled by that graphic concoction of an advertisement?" she tried gently. "The poster was certainly eye-catching, but it didn't have any opening time on it... unless it was in some elaborate colour cipher."
The caterer shook their head.
"No, you're not the first. Although the ones earlier seemed to be more local than tourists. They marched right into Chef Aiello's kitchen through our... service entrance."
There was a glance towards the place where the portal was a moment ago, at the last words. Lioness could feel Osprey's excitement and indignation.
"Locals? A whole group?" the agent probed, side-stepping the obvious question: why would art enthusiasts just randomly wander into a kitchen.
“No, not a group,” the caterer frowned. “Just two of them, like you. But… they had this… vibe, about them.”
Lioness took a moment, interpreting the emotions underlying the last statement.
Fear. Or reverence? No, definitely more fear. And a hint of disgust.
“La Familia, you think?” she tried. In Italy, this assumption would make a lot of sense. The Agency did not cross path with the mafia too often, but they always kept tabs on them.
The face the other person pulled confirmed her suspicions.
“One would not think *they* would trespass on Medici territory. But I suppose everything is possible these days.” A shrug, and then they remembered their mission.
“Look, I’m sorry but you can’t be here. And I need to get a move on with the setup before the Chef turns me into an amuse-bouche. He’s on his last nerve as is, what with the very unpleasant intrusion and…”
the young person clamped their mouth on yet another piece of wayward information.
Lioness could feel her colleagues practically rolling their eyes. She smiled and lifted her palms in a gesture of surrender.
“Ah, I’m sorry for my slight subterfuge before,” she said, her cheeks colouring pink on cue. “I couldn’t say it outright, you understand, but we actually were tasked to track the interlopers and make sure the Capo knows not to mess with Venezia. However, this place has us a bit… stumped. Do you use the… service door?... you said? often? Do you know of any others here?”
The caterer tilted their head to one side, then to another, as if weighing the truthfulness of her words.
“Maybe. But something tells me, *you* know more yourselves.”
Lioness looked to Osprey with her eyebrow cocked, her hand leisurely hanging at her side, indicating number four. She hoped to avoid exposing Tiger for a moment longer. The other agent took the hint.
“I have a bit of experience with these things,” she admitted humbly. “I see four… magic door…” she almost cringed at that term “around this space.”
She pointed to the invisible openings. The caterer seemed to relax at the admission, their attention turning to the indicated spots.
“Service door to the kitchen. That one is an administrative corridor of some sort, I’ve seen the gallery owners use it before. This one… San Francesco. We use it as a shortcut, when we deliver there. And that one is really interesting!” she enthused. “It goes to Louvre, in Paris. At least I’ve heard. We’re not allowed to use it. It messes up the food. And there have been some injuries…”
They then glanced around the room, and pointed out two more of the portals. They didn’t seem to notice the third agent, pushed up against a wall.
“Those are other local jumps. One to the College of Arts. The other might actually be bad news when the water rises. It goes to one of the crypts. Not terribly useful. Unless there is another one from there to somewhere interesting.”
They didn’t point out the seventh. Their emotions didn’t twitch with a secret kept, nor a lie or known omission. Lioness nodded.
“And you say only two people came into your kitchen. Partners?”
“That’s what it looked like. One was brandishing a weapon. Another was scouring for another magic door.”
“That is certainly interesting. Do you know where they went next? We don’t want to further disturb your Chef on a big night, you understand.”
“It was another of our service doors. Scuola di San Giorgio Degli Schiavoni.”
“Thank you, that’s most helpful. We’ll be sure to leave a glowing review for you after tonight,” Lioness winked at the caterer, who blushed.
“Now, we must find out if any mafiosi were seen in any of the other places. Where are you setting up the banquet?”
There was an eyeroll.
“Downstairs, of course. Fortunately there is a service lift.”
They moved the cart in the direction of an inconspicuous modern addition to the historic space, and there was a ding as the cabin door opened. The caterer hesitated before getting in. Afraid they might get in trouble, if these strangers chose to go into the kitchen despite their word. Or perhaps the anxiety was for something else.
“I think we should make sure the College of Arts is safe,” Osprey caught on to the game, and made a show of ‘looking for the portal opening’, eventhough she could plainly see where it was from the actual door.
“No one will know we were here,” Lioness promised. “At least, not before the big night begins officially.”
“I’ve never seen you in my life, if anyone asks,” the caterer returned, just as the elevator door slid closed.
Osprey stopped ‘looking’ and started focusing on things only she could see, Tiger stepped into the measly light, and Lioness listened and felt for their kind stranger downstairs. When she was satisfied, she nodded.
“Obviously they split up here. They were trying to confuse whoever would follow them. Or… they were looking for something. Or both.”
She shrugged and focused on another side of the room. The portal to Paris.
“No. No way they would make that jump with Swan. Not without it getting much louder. And there’s no traps.”
“Are there traps on any of them?” Tiger perked up.
“No,” Osprey frowned. “But. Wait. They -” She used some choice language. “-they have more than one portalist.”
She looked at the openings again.
“I’m almost sure of it.”
Bad news. Very bad
“What about that seventh portal,” Lioness asked. “The one the caterer didn’t mention?”
“It’s… long. The others are more or less natural, well established. This one… is disguised to look as one of them, going to the docks. But it is new. Deliberate. And… it only passes through the local focus point, and continues on.”
Osprey focused some more.
“I… think I know where it leads.”
More bad news.
“Kosovo.”
Tiger’s emotions flared. Memories of a war. Memories of fragile peace. Of so much hurt. So much desolation.
Lioness shuddered and refocused.
“I don’t see any traps. From this side. I don’t think there is much of a chance of finding a natural portal that would get us close to where this one goes, I cannot pinpoint it well enough.”
“Would it help if we went to the docks? Is there a portal mouth there, or…?”
“It’s hard to say. And something tells me we would have a hard time getting back in here if it didn’t work.”
“Then there is only one option,” Tiger said, his voice decisive. “Open it. And if that works, I’ll go through first.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Tiger gave her a stern, commanding look.
“At least, you can pull me back out, if anything goes wrong.”
His voice didn’t brook any argument, and finally their portalist nodded.
“Stand back. Or… I don’t know, find cover. This might be dangerous.”
Tiger and Lioness looked at each other, and then scampered behind two different partitioning walls, bearing some weird postmodern art.
At least the metal might act as a blast protection, Lioness thought wryly.
Or it will throw nice shrapnel your way. she finished the thought somewhat morbidly, as she looked at particularly rusty saw blade fashioned into a flower.
Fortunately for her, no blast came, as Osprey called out for them to come back out. There was a rectangle of orange hue in front of her.
“There is still a possibility of a trip wire or something on the other end I cannot detect with magic,” she warned as Tiger stepped towards the portal.
“Noted.”
“There seems to be no hostility on the other side. But there is someone close by,” Lioness informed and the Security Chief nodded, pulling his gun out once again.
“Go right,” the empath added, and he stepped through. Osprey motioned for Lioness to go next, sweat pearling on her forehead. Apparently this portal was not an easy feat to hold. Fortunately an emotional all clear came through from Tiger and they both stepped through in quick succession, the portal closing almost on Osprey’s heels.