I woke up from a night’s sleep for the first time in over a year. I was still lying among the roots of this strange Tree that called itself Yggdrasil, clasping the now crumpled leaf with Jennifer’s image on it. I lay there for a minute, gathering my thoughts, realized where I was and what had happened, got up to face the Tree.
The leaves and branches still moved to their own rhythm, I couldn’t discern any audible message from the sounds, so I started walking around the tree. I folded the leaf with Jennifer’s image on it and stuck it a pocket of the jeans I was wearing.
On the far side of the trunk, I noticed that the roots at the base of the trunk parted, revealing a small cave-like openning that descended beneath the bulk of the tree. Some smaller roots seemed to form a stairwell down into the depths. As I approached this curious openning, I could hear the steady drip-drop of water falling into a pool.
Remembering an image from a very popular movie of my youth, Empire Strikes Back, I stopped at the entrance and asked out loud, “What will I find down here.”
Unfortunately, there was no Yoda to spit out cryptic messages to me, or at least my Yoda wasn’t talkative at the moment, so I took a deep breath, hunched over and slowly descended into the darkness below.
The passage didn’t go that far really, as it descended in a curve that seemed to be about the same circumference as the tree trunk above me. The walls of the passageway were rough textured metal, much the same as the trunk above, but with the certain slickness that comes from being slightly wet. The stairwell openned up into a small chamber that was lit only by the soft glowing of what appeared to be a moss of some kind, which provided just enough light to see the small pool the filled the back half of the small, ten foot by ten foot chamber. The steady dripping of water from above the pool kept the surface of the pool from being totally still, as each drop brought a new round of gently expanding ripples that reflected in the dim light.
The only sounds in the place were my own breathing, the water dripping, and a constant gentle whispering sound sort of like a bellows, perhpas the Tree needed to breathe as well?
I approached the pool and took a knee. I reached down to the ground with both hands, bracing myself before bending out over the water, looking into the pool.
What I saw at that moment nearly caused me to jump back from shock, because the face that looked back out of the water was that of my son, Kenny, only he seemed older now than I remembered him being. He looked like a young man, could he be that old already? He was how old now? Shit he had to be nearly nineteen now, Jeezus. This could be his face now.
I had pulled back, but now looked back into the pool to see how he had changed. The image had changed slightly, now instead of showing him as if he looked directly up at me, I could see the back of his head. He was talking to someone else. I couldn’t hear the words that were being spoken, but the conversation looked friendly enough.
I could tell that Kenny was in the living room of the house I had left to my ex-wife with our divorce, and that he was talking to some man, but the way the image was set up, I couldn’t clearly see the face of the person talking to him. I could see that whoever it was, was in a suit of some sort.
I moved to the side, hoping against hope that the pool would shift its view for me as I did so. It didn’t. Kenny and whoever he was talking to seemed to be wrapping up their conversation. The figure leaned forward, envelope extended towards Kenny in one hand that looked vaguely familiar. Just then, the face of his visitor came visible, I called out in horror as I recognized Drake’s cruel image as he smiled bloodlessly at my son!
I saw Kenny take the envelope from Drake and open it. Inside, I could make the images of what appeared to be a plane ticket and a wad of green bills, topped by at least one hundred dollar bill. “NO! Kenny don’t take it!” I called out as I reached into the water, hoping in vain that I could disrupt the scene I was seeing.
I pulled my clasped fist from the water. As the ripples from my futile attempts break up the meeting of Drake and Kenny faded, I could see the final image of Kenny walking Drake to the front door. The two of them shook hands, Drake seemed to be smiling not just at Kenny, but through Kenny and directly at me. That bastard of all bastards!
My hand still wet from the waters of the pool, I got up and tore back up the steps until I was out into the air again.
I called out to the damnable Tree! “Yggdrasil! Was that happening now or in the future?”
Finally, I could make sense of the sounds the tree was making again, as it answered. “It matters little, for you will be unable to change what is about to happen.”
“You mean it hasn’t happened yet? But I can’t stop it from happening?”
“Indeed. You have seen the near future, whether it is a day hence or a slightly more, it matters not.”
“How can you be so sure? How can you know that I can’t stop it from happening?”
“The events that lead to what you have seen have already occurred, what you have seen is a result of the actions that you and others have already taken.”
“I have to try something. I can’t let that bastard get ahold of Kenny.”
“It is your nature to try.”
“What else am I supposed to do? Why did you show me this, if I can’t do anything to stop it?”
“It is my nature to show you. To become fully who you need to be, you must overcome your nature. You must use such information to take action that is not anticipated, you must find Wisdom.”
“He’s my son! I can’t allow him to fall into the hands of that foul creature.”
“Perhaps it is not for you to affect the choices that your children make.”
“What kind of father could I be, if I didn’t at least try to help him?”
“What kind of father have you been up to now?”
“That’s not fair!”
“I agree. You haven’t been fair to them, for many years now. You can’t make up for a lifetime of errors in one moment.”
“I was killed though! I didn’t abandon them or anything!”
“You abandoned your children and your wife many years prior to your death. You sold yourself body and soul, into servitude.”
“I did what I had to in order to provide for my family!”
“There are far more important ways to provide for a family than money. Were you there when your son needed his father for support and approval?”
“My wife was there full time! We had a deal, she would raise the kids, I would bring home the paycheck.”
“So a father’s worth is solely in the paycheck he brings home?”
“No, I didn’t say that! Enough of this shit, I’m going to go save my son!”
“I cannot stop you from trying.”
“Good! I’ll be back when I have saved him, just to prove you wrong.”
“I will be here. You have much to learn yet.”
“Fuck off Tree!”
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Monday, April 25, 2005
Yggdrasil Reborn
After trading in the SUV I commandeered from the Transit Point for my own FBI issued Crown Vic that was waiting at the cheap motel that we had rented for our escape if we needed it. Strange as it may seem, I needed more than anything to escape from the people who had laid everything on the line to help me.
Looking back, I think it was being around people again who accepted me as if I were one of them, a real person. I had become too used to being the monster in the room, the central attaction to the Freak Show. Those folks accepted me without question, well, without too many questions anyway.
I felt an immeasurable relief in seeing that they came through the attacks without much harm, but also a tremendous sadness at knowing that so many innocent people had died just to lay a trap for me. Although I felt these things deep inside my spirit, I had no way of expressing them in a tangible way. I could shed no tears of relief, joy or sadness. Hugging or touching someone was just a mechanical exercise that didn’t bring any soft warmth, that couldn’t convey anything resembling the feelings I wanted so badly to express.
I needed to get away, to just be in the only way that I could. So I picked up the Crown Vic and my computer and other equipment that had been left on the Reservation when we went to go rescue John Red Bear, and had subsequently been driven up by one of his students to this meeting in Vegas.
The only one in that room was one of the Frau’s students, a young lady- Stephanie, she preferred Willow-who was taking care of the two giant familiars, Rowan and Morrigan. She was somewhat surprised to see me so soon, but was helpful in getting my keys and computer bag for me. I tossed her the keys to the SUV parked next to my car and told her that the others would probably be calling her soon.
I settled into the familiar confines of my car and headed for the mountains.
A few hours later found me parking the car at a highway observation point high in mountain range that I never knew the name of. I got out and went walking to the railing that separated the steep drop off down the side of the mountain from the parking area. Ignoring the dire warnings meant for mortals, I climbed over the railing and clambered down about twenty feet until I found a nice ledge wide enough and sturdy enough to support my weight. I sat and stared out into the expanse of high rocky cliffs, scrub land and desert that made this part of the country so breathtakingly beautiful.
The sun was high overhead, but still there were shadows cast over the land that slowly shifted as the earth rotated under the unforgiving sun. Wispy clouds drifted, sometimes gathering briefly before being dispersed by the strong winds. The wind whipped and whispered, elusive secrets carried to the ear only to be blown away before they could be fully comprehended.
I sat back against the rock of the mountain and slipped from my body. I felt free enough here, in this place, and at this time to soar like the eagles who hunted these far reaches. The winds beneath the wings of my Spirit were the energies that ebb and flow everywhere in the world, but most particularly in the high winds of the jet stream. I flew for hours, letting all of my petty, earthbound concerns slip from my Spirit, cleansed by wind and sol.
Just as the sun was beginning to be obscured by other mountains to the west, I looked down and saw my body nestled on that ledge just beneath the small parking lot for that scenic observation point. But now I noticed a small cave openning about forty feet below my body. Without really knowing why, I felt compelled to fly towards that openning.
Like an Eagle swooping in for the kill, I dove towards the cave at a breakneck pace, needlessly flinching as I hit the black openning and dove from one World to the next.
Soon I found myself standing at my normal entry point to the Underworld, the familiar path in front of me that would lead me to the clearing that I had last been to only yesterday evening in real time. Somehow though, things seemed just a little different, the path was the same, but was fainter, almost overgrown with new foliage, like some long period of time had passed in this place while I had been away.
The place felt different too. Where before I had always felt a little strange coming into the Underworld, like it was supposed to be a place of darkness and perhaps a little evil, now it felt almost vibrant, alive.
I followed the path towards the clearing that I had always felt was John Red Bear’s place, but now felt familiar, intimate.
As I rounded the bend and came upon the large boulders that had marked my entrance to the clearing, I noticed that the middle of the former clearing stood the dark, glistening, gnarled trunk of an enormous tree that appeared to be more metal like than wood. I stopped, stunned. The dark surface of the tree seemed to both suck in and reflect light at the same time. The trunk of the tree was easily wide enough for three people to encircle with their arms outstretched and not touch each other’s fingertips. The black tree also seemed to be swaying in tune to its own internal beat that differed from the breezes that affected the surrounding trees. Huge, knotty roots emanated from the trunk in all every direction, as if the giant tree needed to grasp tightly of the earth beneath it. Overhead, the branches of the mighty tree were as black as the trunk itself, and were covered with full, hand-sized leaves that rustled with each movement of those branches. The leaves were obsidian black on the upper sides, but almost white on the under sides. Looking up in awe, I could make out that some of the leaves seemed to have images of some sort on the white under sides.
Perhaps against all reason, I felt an irresistible urge to touch the Tree.
Carefully, I picked my way through the tangle of roots, kicking softly through some leaves that lay fallen on ground between the roots, I reached the trunk and touched it with the flesh of my living hands. The bark felt vaguely familiar, rough textured, metallic, and cool to the touch. But soon, a throbbing warmth flowed up from inside, warming my fingers and giving me the strangest sensation that the Tree was trying to talk to me. At first Ipulled away, not sure what was going on, but I couldn’t resist touching the bark again with my hand and then my ear.
From deep inside, I felt more than heard a breezy, metallic whisper, “Welcome home, Father.”
I pulled back again. “What in the...?”
This time, I could hear the whisper in the movements of the branches and the rustling of the leaves. “It is you who planted me, Father. I have grown tall and strong, waiting for your return.”
“I don’t remember planting anything but a baton here...son of a bitch! Is it possible?”
“All things are possible in this place. You planted a weapon, as warning and beacon to others.
Your fear, your need, your Life all nurtured me. I have grown from your seeds of stregnth and have become strong.”
“Who are you?”
“I am Yggdrasil Reborn”
“Isn’t that the name of the World Tree of Norse Mythology?”
“It is.”
“So are you THE Yggdrasil?”
“I am your Yggdrasil.”
“Oh, I see, it’s all clear now!”
“Your need called to me, so I have come. I shall remain so long as your need remains.”
“What exactly is my need?”
“When you come to know and understand that, my time will be over. For now, you may know that I am here, that you have a place of refuge in times of trouble. Know that you may come and seek answers to questions you may have, or for questions to answers that you may find. Here you will find the power to Dream again, to find Love, Loss and Hope. In my leaves you may find the images of those who have need of you, or who the memories of those whom you have lost and seek to find again. In my roots you may find the Water of Life, and in my branches you may find the Forbidden Fruit of Truth.”
“I see.”
Apparently my introduction was over though, since the rustling of the Tree now no longer seemed to form understandable words. I looked down at one of the leaves at my feet and found myself staring at the likeness of Jennifer, the girl who had died in the suite of that damnable hotel and who’s Spirit I had spoken with. Her image was smiling, peaceful.
I collapsed in a heap, scooping up the leaf and clutching it close to my chest. I lay there weaping amidst the tangle of warped roots for her and the others who died so needlessly.
Looking back, I think it was being around people again who accepted me as if I were one of them, a real person. I had become too used to being the monster in the room, the central attaction to the Freak Show. Those folks accepted me without question, well, without too many questions anyway.
I felt an immeasurable relief in seeing that they came through the attacks without much harm, but also a tremendous sadness at knowing that so many innocent people had died just to lay a trap for me. Although I felt these things deep inside my spirit, I had no way of expressing them in a tangible way. I could shed no tears of relief, joy or sadness. Hugging or touching someone was just a mechanical exercise that didn’t bring any soft warmth, that couldn’t convey anything resembling the feelings I wanted so badly to express.
I needed to get away, to just be in the only way that I could. So I picked up the Crown Vic and my computer and other equipment that had been left on the Reservation when we went to go rescue John Red Bear, and had subsequently been driven up by one of his students to this meeting in Vegas.
The only one in that room was one of the Frau’s students, a young lady- Stephanie, she preferred Willow-who was taking care of the two giant familiars, Rowan and Morrigan. She was somewhat surprised to see me so soon, but was helpful in getting my keys and computer bag for me. I tossed her the keys to the SUV parked next to my car and told her that the others would probably be calling her soon.
I settled into the familiar confines of my car and headed for the mountains.
A few hours later found me parking the car at a highway observation point high in mountain range that I never knew the name of. I got out and went walking to the railing that separated the steep drop off down the side of the mountain from the parking area. Ignoring the dire warnings meant for mortals, I climbed over the railing and clambered down about twenty feet until I found a nice ledge wide enough and sturdy enough to support my weight. I sat and stared out into the expanse of high rocky cliffs, scrub land and desert that made this part of the country so breathtakingly beautiful.
The sun was high overhead, but still there were shadows cast over the land that slowly shifted as the earth rotated under the unforgiving sun. Wispy clouds drifted, sometimes gathering briefly before being dispersed by the strong winds. The wind whipped and whispered, elusive secrets carried to the ear only to be blown away before they could be fully comprehended.
I sat back against the rock of the mountain and slipped from my body. I felt free enough here, in this place, and at this time to soar like the eagles who hunted these far reaches. The winds beneath the wings of my Spirit were the energies that ebb and flow everywhere in the world, but most particularly in the high winds of the jet stream. I flew for hours, letting all of my petty, earthbound concerns slip from my Spirit, cleansed by wind and sol.
Just as the sun was beginning to be obscured by other mountains to the west, I looked down and saw my body nestled on that ledge just beneath the small parking lot for that scenic observation point. But now I noticed a small cave openning about forty feet below my body. Without really knowing why, I felt compelled to fly towards that openning.
Like an Eagle swooping in for the kill, I dove towards the cave at a breakneck pace, needlessly flinching as I hit the black openning and dove from one World to the next.
Soon I found myself standing at my normal entry point to the Underworld, the familiar path in front of me that would lead me to the clearing that I had last been to only yesterday evening in real time. Somehow though, things seemed just a little different, the path was the same, but was fainter, almost overgrown with new foliage, like some long period of time had passed in this place while I had been away.
The place felt different too. Where before I had always felt a little strange coming into the Underworld, like it was supposed to be a place of darkness and perhaps a little evil, now it felt almost vibrant, alive.
I followed the path towards the clearing that I had always felt was John Red Bear’s place, but now felt familiar, intimate.
As I rounded the bend and came upon the large boulders that had marked my entrance to the clearing, I noticed that the middle of the former clearing stood the dark, glistening, gnarled trunk of an enormous tree that appeared to be more metal like than wood. I stopped, stunned. The dark surface of the tree seemed to both suck in and reflect light at the same time. The trunk of the tree was easily wide enough for three people to encircle with their arms outstretched and not touch each other’s fingertips. The black tree also seemed to be swaying in tune to its own internal beat that differed from the breezes that affected the surrounding trees. Huge, knotty roots emanated from the trunk in all every direction, as if the giant tree needed to grasp tightly of the earth beneath it. Overhead, the branches of the mighty tree were as black as the trunk itself, and were covered with full, hand-sized leaves that rustled with each movement of those branches. The leaves were obsidian black on the upper sides, but almost white on the under sides. Looking up in awe, I could make out that some of the leaves seemed to have images of some sort on the white under sides.
Perhaps against all reason, I felt an irresistible urge to touch the Tree.
Carefully, I picked my way through the tangle of roots, kicking softly through some leaves that lay fallen on ground between the roots, I reached the trunk and touched it with the flesh of my living hands. The bark felt vaguely familiar, rough textured, metallic, and cool to the touch. But soon, a throbbing warmth flowed up from inside, warming my fingers and giving me the strangest sensation that the Tree was trying to talk to me. At first Ipulled away, not sure what was going on, but I couldn’t resist touching the bark again with my hand and then my ear.
From deep inside, I felt more than heard a breezy, metallic whisper, “Welcome home, Father.”
I pulled back again. “What in the...?”
This time, I could hear the whisper in the movements of the branches and the rustling of the leaves. “It is you who planted me, Father. I have grown tall and strong, waiting for your return.”
“I don’t remember planting anything but a baton here...son of a bitch! Is it possible?”
“All things are possible in this place. You planted a weapon, as warning and beacon to others.
Your fear, your need, your Life all nurtured me. I have grown from your seeds of stregnth and have become strong.”
“Who are you?”
“I am Yggdrasil Reborn”
“Isn’t that the name of the World Tree of Norse Mythology?”
“It is.”
“So are you THE Yggdrasil?”
“I am your Yggdrasil.”
“Oh, I see, it’s all clear now!”
“Your need called to me, so I have come. I shall remain so long as your need remains.”
“What exactly is my need?”
“When you come to know and understand that, my time will be over. For now, you may know that I am here, that you have a place of refuge in times of trouble. Know that you may come and seek answers to questions you may have, or for questions to answers that you may find. Here you will find the power to Dream again, to find Love, Loss and Hope. In my leaves you may find the images of those who have need of you, or who the memories of those whom you have lost and seek to find again. In my roots you may find the Water of Life, and in my branches you may find the Forbidden Fruit of Truth.”
“I see.”
Apparently my introduction was over though, since the rustling of the Tree now no longer seemed to form understandable words. I looked down at one of the leaves at my feet and found myself staring at the likeness of Jennifer, the girl who had died in the suite of that damnable hotel and who’s Spirit I had spoken with. Her image was smiling, peaceful.
I collapsed in a heap, scooping up the leaf and clutching it close to my chest. I lay there weaping amidst the tangle of warped roots for her and the others who died so needlessly.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
I stood looking at these good, brave people who had been caught up in the strange odyssey that I was travelling. On each of their faces I could see the some part of the human experience that I now lacked.
John Red Bear looked tired, almost exhausted as he stood there, face streaked in sweat that was his own and blood that wasn’t. He seemed to have aged ten years in the three months that I have known him.
Cerrydwen’s dark glare spoke of a deep, unfathomable rage that could only be contained with the strongest of Wills. Her shoulders were hunched with the effort of not lashing out at the rest of us just for being here and witnessing the struggle within her.
Herne and Moira showed the concern for their friends and for their fallen companions back at the hotel, but also reflected back at each other the kind of deep, enduring and complimentary love that only two soul mates can express.
Jim had the hard, determined look of someone who was faced with an almost insurmountable challenge, a challenge that would be faced and overcome regardless of the consequences. He was obviously piecing together a plan of attack based on the information he and Cerrydwen had peeled away from Dr. Geek.
Ravyn had the stricken, mournful look of someone who had just realized that someone they loved and cared for had passed away. Tears filled her eyes as the moment of crisis had finally passed, allowing her to mourn the passing of her two students, Jennifer and Eric.
The Frau had stopped to rest for a moment on her cane, but came up between Cerrydwen and Ravyn. Leaving her cane behind, she placed one hand firmly upon the shoulder of Cerrydwen, lending strength there, while also taking one of Ravyn’s hands gently into her other hand, sharing in the loss that seemed to be swallowing the smaller woman.
In that moment I felt alien, alone, inhuman.
“Look,” I started, “You folks have done so much, risked so much, and now lost so much because of me. I can’t, I won’t ask anything else of you. I can’t thank you enough for the aid, for the inspiration, you have given me.”
Jim looked up in surpise, “What are you talking about? We are in this as deep as you are now...”
I held up my hand, “I know this mess isn’t over with by any stretch. But you all have lives to return to, friends to bury. I think you have enough information to work with now on this group of Drake’s to do some serious damage to him without further endangering your lives. You can use that information and the threat of public exposure about the things that he and his people have been doing to protect yourselves.”
Jim nodded.
“You folks need to regroup, to plan for the future and to protect yourselves and your families. If I stay with any of you, I will be placing you and those you love in too much danger. I can’t bear the thought of anyone else paying that kind price again.”
Herne asked, “What are you going to do then?”
“I probably should find out if I am still actually an agent for the FBI. I don’t know for sure yet though. I have some unfinished business with Drake. I need to find Papa Locks and that monster of his for sure. But I don’t know what I’ll do first.”
Cerrydwen looked up at Papa Locks’ name, “That one is mine.”
John pitched his hat into that ring, “If anyone here has a grudge against the Haitian, it is I. But I agree with Rusty on two points. First it is that we do have lives to return to, and affairs that must be set in order. Second, though, is that that monster they have created must be stopped. As long as the Haitian has that thing for a servant, no one here, or anyone that we love, is safe.”
Ravyn wiped away her tears and spoke up, “Don’t you dare try to take on that thing on your own. We can ill afford to lose you to them, and face the possibility of having them take you out and then use your body the same way. But I agree, we all need time to regroup and prepare for the next conflict. We all know that it will come, and when it does, we need to be ready.”
“I need to spend some time on my own, to figure some things out. I know how to contact each of you, and you know how to reach me, through the blog, by my cell phone. or in the Spirit World. If you are in danger, I will help in any way I can. But I can best help you out by making myself scarce. Jim, I’ll be getting in touch with you soon, maybe I can put some stress on Drake’s organization, bit by bit. I was never good at goodbye’s, so let me just say farewell for now.”
I picked up the keys to one of the SUV’s outside and walked out of the building. Using the remote locks button, I found my truck, got in and backed out. Lookiing up I could see the group watching me from the doorway just as the sun was starting to come up...a new day dawning as I pulled out onto the street that would become the Strip, the true Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
John Red Bear looked tired, almost exhausted as he stood there, face streaked in sweat that was his own and blood that wasn’t. He seemed to have aged ten years in the three months that I have known him.
Cerrydwen’s dark glare spoke of a deep, unfathomable rage that could only be contained with the strongest of Wills. Her shoulders were hunched with the effort of not lashing out at the rest of us just for being here and witnessing the struggle within her.
Herne and Moira showed the concern for their friends and for their fallen companions back at the hotel, but also reflected back at each other the kind of deep, enduring and complimentary love that only two soul mates can express.
Jim had the hard, determined look of someone who was faced with an almost insurmountable challenge, a challenge that would be faced and overcome regardless of the consequences. He was obviously piecing together a plan of attack based on the information he and Cerrydwen had peeled away from Dr. Geek.
Ravyn had the stricken, mournful look of someone who had just realized that someone they loved and cared for had passed away. Tears filled her eyes as the moment of crisis had finally passed, allowing her to mourn the passing of her two students, Jennifer and Eric.
The Frau had stopped to rest for a moment on her cane, but came up between Cerrydwen and Ravyn. Leaving her cane behind, she placed one hand firmly upon the shoulder of Cerrydwen, lending strength there, while also taking one of Ravyn’s hands gently into her other hand, sharing in the loss that seemed to be swallowing the smaller woman.
In that moment I felt alien, alone, inhuman.
“Look,” I started, “You folks have done so much, risked so much, and now lost so much because of me. I can’t, I won’t ask anything else of you. I can’t thank you enough for the aid, for the inspiration, you have given me.”
Jim looked up in surpise, “What are you talking about? We are in this as deep as you are now...”
I held up my hand, “I know this mess isn’t over with by any stretch. But you all have lives to return to, friends to bury. I think you have enough information to work with now on this group of Drake’s to do some serious damage to him without further endangering your lives. You can use that information and the threat of public exposure about the things that he and his people have been doing to protect yourselves.”
Jim nodded.
“You folks need to regroup, to plan for the future and to protect yourselves and your families. If I stay with any of you, I will be placing you and those you love in too much danger. I can’t bear the thought of anyone else paying that kind price again.”
Herne asked, “What are you going to do then?”
“I probably should find out if I am still actually an agent for the FBI. I don’t know for sure yet though. I have some unfinished business with Drake. I need to find Papa Locks and that monster of his for sure. But I don’t know what I’ll do first.”
Cerrydwen looked up at Papa Locks’ name, “That one is mine.”
John pitched his hat into that ring, “If anyone here has a grudge against the Haitian, it is I. But I agree with Rusty on two points. First it is that we do have lives to return to, and affairs that must be set in order. Second, though, is that that monster they have created must be stopped. As long as the Haitian has that thing for a servant, no one here, or anyone that we love, is safe.”
Ravyn wiped away her tears and spoke up, “Don’t you dare try to take on that thing on your own. We can ill afford to lose you to them, and face the possibility of having them take you out and then use your body the same way. But I agree, we all need time to regroup and prepare for the next conflict. We all know that it will come, and when it does, we need to be ready.”
“I need to spend some time on my own, to figure some things out. I know how to contact each of you, and you know how to reach me, through the blog, by my cell phone. or in the Spirit World. If you are in danger, I will help in any way I can. But I can best help you out by making myself scarce. Jim, I’ll be getting in touch with you soon, maybe I can put some stress on Drake’s organization, bit by bit. I was never good at goodbye’s, so let me just say farewell for now.”
I picked up the keys to one of the SUV’s outside and walked out of the building. Using the remote locks button, I found my truck, got in and backed out. Lookiing up I could see the group watching me from the doorway just as the sun was starting to come up...a new day dawning as I pulled out onto the street that would become the Strip, the true Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Seizing the Initiative...Part 3
As I helped to gather the wounded men from outside I was amazed at how many of these men I recognized from my time in the Necro Labs. Many of these guys were just glorified lab assistants, while others were clearly hired muscle of some sort. All of them were wearing the dark suits and accoutrements that were normally the reserve of actual agents, so this was quite the attempt to present the image of being an FBI task force of some sort.
Each of the captives were stripped of weapons, wallets, cell phones, PDA’s and fake credentials. The credentials I threw into a pile to be destroyed, while the weapons were unloaded and stacked up for Herne’s growing collection of confiscated firearms. (Although Moira claimed anything and everything with a sharp point, she had nearly a dozen blades of various sizes.) The cell phones and PDA’s were piled up next to one of the many desktop computers in the room to be reviewed and data-mined by Jim once he had the time.
The wallets were stripped of cash, credit and debit cards, state issued identifications and driver licenses and tossed into a bag that would be sent forward with the wounded.
Dr. Geek was now sitting cuffed to one of the chairs and trying his best not to look Cerrydwen in the face as she questioned him closely on a number of issues. His shattered nose had been patched up the best that we were able to do so, while his two front teeth had been bagged and put in his pocket for future use if the dentist in his soon to be new location could restore them. Jim had Dr. Geek’s laptop computer and PDA booted up on the desk nearby and was busy prompting Cerrydwen with the right questions to make sure he got all of Dr. Geek’s passwords, PIN numbers and encryption codes to his various accounts and programs. Of particular interest were his e-mail accounts and the various Necro Lab files he had stored on the computer. It was a veritable treasure trove of information on Drake’s organization and its members, associates and secret allies. He was clearly trying to resist giving up this valuable information, but he was no match for the Will the Cerrydwen applied to him whenever he lied or tried to refuse to answer. She constantly moderated her voice between calm admonishment to motherly approval and back to stern disappointment as needed to elicit the answers she demanded. I almost felt sorry for his ass, especially since the more she questioned him, even I began to feel like a disobedient child who had deeply disappointed his beloved mother...shit, I don’t know if even Drake could have matched her Will for Will.
John Red Bear, the Frau and John’s two students were busy tending to the various broken limbs and bones among the poor bastards who had been trapped in the building with me, and were doing their best to alleviate the suffering of the wounded. John had found the small case of syringes that one of the lab geeks had used to subdue Ravyn and was using the 8 or 9 remaining needles to put those in the worst shape to sleep. After he injected each one, he carefully tagged them by sticking the needle through some visible article of clothing and bending the needle in such a way as to form a harmless hook. This served the humanitarian purpose of alerting whichever medical personnel who next treated them as to what was used to put them out.
The Frau didn’t seem to need any medical equipment, as she moved among the bleeding, and often unconscious men, she would touch many of them, mumble a few phrases and immediately ease their discomfort. The poor soul who had tried to face down Moira and was cut up pretty badly also benefitted from her ministrations, with most of his wounds closing up without obvious bandages at her touch. The wounds seemed to scab over surprisingly fast when she touched them. Her matronly manner and soothing words calmed the fears of the still conscious.
Ravyn spent her time examining the control panel for the Transit Room. She appeared to have an affiinity for the gems that were placed near each set of symbols. Every few minutes she called out the location of another one of the symbols, excited perhaps by puzzling out the answers, but maybe also because of the surging energies that seemed to flow in and around the panel. She was still upset at me, so I didn’t bug her, leaving her to the new toy she had found.
After twnety minutes or so, there was a few moments of excitement as a surge of power lit up the control panel and then dissipated after a muted flash lit up the sealed Transit Room.
There was a lot of pounding on the door and some muted voices heard screaming profanities, but they obviously couldn’t get through the locked portal.
Ravyn called out shortly after they arrived and disturbed our work, “It looks like whoever they are, they came from Atlanta!”
Jim broke off his work with Cerrydwen and Dr. Geek and came over to the control panel. “Let’s send them somewhere else. Don’t want to make it too easy on them.”
I joined them at the panel and asked, “Which symbol is Atlanta?”
Whehn Ravyn pointed it out, I quickly smashed the crystal that connected to that symbol, extinguishing the mild glow that persisted after their arrival. “That should keep anyoner else from coming from there, now let’s send them packing.”
Ravyn pointed out another symbol and said, “That should be New York. Hope they dressed warm!” With that she placed her hands on that symbol, energy seemed to flow from her hands into the symbol for New York and then up into the crystal that was connected to it. There was a throb of power and a flash of light from behind the shield covering the window into the room, and then silence. “They should be gone.”
I unlatched the window shielding and raised it up, observed that the room was indeed empty, then dropped the shield back down into place. Then I reached down and destroyed the crystal for New York. “There, they won’t be coming back this way from there either.”
Jim looked at Ravyn, “Which of these is the most remote location here?”
Ravyn studied the panel. “Well, this is Chicago, this one is Washington DC, let’s see...ooh here is Vancouver!”
“OK,” I said, “Who’s up for a scouting trip to Vancouver?”
“We’ll go,” said Herne, with Moira nodding excitedly. “But I’ll want to see how that thing works so we can get back easily enough.”
John piped up, “Shane here will go as well.”
With that, we unlocked the door quickly, Herne, Moira, Shane and myself piled into the Transit Room and closed the door behind us. We only had to wait for moment before a spinning sensation caused our vision to go dark, a sudden jerk and we were standing in another room just like the one we left, but with a slight variation on the painting scheme.
The door out was unlocked, in what must have been standard operating procedure when the places were idle, and the control room beyond was dark. A quick bit of exploring revealed this place to be remarkably similar in outlay to the place in Vegas, with computers, security cameras and desks lining the walls of the control room.
While the others checked out the outide perimeter, I went to the control panel and destroyed the crystals linking this place to Miami, Atlanta and New York, just to keep the chances of a nasty surprise reduced. I was careful to leave the Vegas symbol of a pair of dice alone.
The others returned shortly to report that the place did seem to be pretty remote. They confirmed that there were no vehicles in the parking lot.
“OK, let’s get back and report this to be a good place to send our captives. But first let me eliminate the possibility that anyone else will use the roundabout way of getting here.”
I then smashed all of the crystals in the control panel except the Vegas symbol, and then stepped back to let Herne set the panel for transport. He did so quickly as the rest of us got back into the room. He joined us moments later, shutting the door just in the nick of time to join us in our dizzying return trip.
Upon our return, I smashed all of the crystals in our own panel, except the one connected to the Bear symbol that represented Vancouver.
We then began the tedious task of loading 5 or 6 of the wounded at a time into the room and transporting them to Vancouver. I went on each trip, since the vertigo had less of an impact on me, and I could easily move event he largest of the wounded men. I quickly got the hang of activating the device and jumping back into the room just in time to make the return trip.
By the time Dr. Geek was the last of the wounded captives remaining, he looked thoroughly drained and beaten. Cerrydwen put her arm around his shoulder, consoling him as she escorted him away from the grinning Jim, who was in his glory with all of the data he had mined from the beaten scientist.
I went over and slapped the bastard on his back, “Gee Doc, aren’t you glad you didn’t get a chance to load me up with all those weapons you had planned? I don’t think you would have survived the results of that.”
He looked at me blankly, I’m not sure he even recognized me at that moment. I escorted him into the Transit Room and shut the door behind him.
Ravyn sent him to join his men. “There,” she said as she did so, “let him figure out what to do in a foreign country with no ID’s no money, and no way to get out quickly!”
I smashed the last link between this Transit Point and the rest of their network when I crushed the crystal connected to Vancouver’s symbol. “Now what?” I asked, looking at my friends, who all looked visibly relieved to be done with the prisoners.
Each of the captives were stripped of weapons, wallets, cell phones, PDA’s and fake credentials. The credentials I threw into a pile to be destroyed, while the weapons were unloaded and stacked up for Herne’s growing collection of confiscated firearms. (Although Moira claimed anything and everything with a sharp point, she had nearly a dozen blades of various sizes.) The cell phones and PDA’s were piled up next to one of the many desktop computers in the room to be reviewed and data-mined by Jim once he had the time.
The wallets were stripped of cash, credit and debit cards, state issued identifications and driver licenses and tossed into a bag that would be sent forward with the wounded.
Dr. Geek was now sitting cuffed to one of the chairs and trying his best not to look Cerrydwen in the face as she questioned him closely on a number of issues. His shattered nose had been patched up the best that we were able to do so, while his two front teeth had been bagged and put in his pocket for future use if the dentist in his soon to be new location could restore them. Jim had Dr. Geek’s laptop computer and PDA booted up on the desk nearby and was busy prompting Cerrydwen with the right questions to make sure he got all of Dr. Geek’s passwords, PIN numbers and encryption codes to his various accounts and programs. Of particular interest were his e-mail accounts and the various Necro Lab files he had stored on the computer. It was a veritable treasure trove of information on Drake’s organization and its members, associates and secret allies. He was clearly trying to resist giving up this valuable information, but he was no match for the Will the Cerrydwen applied to him whenever he lied or tried to refuse to answer. She constantly moderated her voice between calm admonishment to motherly approval and back to stern disappointment as needed to elicit the answers she demanded. I almost felt sorry for his ass, especially since the more she questioned him, even I began to feel like a disobedient child who had deeply disappointed his beloved mother...shit, I don’t know if even Drake could have matched her Will for Will.
John Red Bear, the Frau and John’s two students were busy tending to the various broken limbs and bones among the poor bastards who had been trapped in the building with me, and were doing their best to alleviate the suffering of the wounded. John had found the small case of syringes that one of the lab geeks had used to subdue Ravyn and was using the 8 or 9 remaining needles to put those in the worst shape to sleep. After he injected each one, he carefully tagged them by sticking the needle through some visible article of clothing and bending the needle in such a way as to form a harmless hook. This served the humanitarian purpose of alerting whichever medical personnel who next treated them as to what was used to put them out.
The Frau didn’t seem to need any medical equipment, as she moved among the bleeding, and often unconscious men, she would touch many of them, mumble a few phrases and immediately ease their discomfort. The poor soul who had tried to face down Moira and was cut up pretty badly also benefitted from her ministrations, with most of his wounds closing up without obvious bandages at her touch. The wounds seemed to scab over surprisingly fast when she touched them. Her matronly manner and soothing words calmed the fears of the still conscious.
Ravyn spent her time examining the control panel for the Transit Room. She appeared to have an affiinity for the gems that were placed near each set of symbols. Every few minutes she called out the location of another one of the symbols, excited perhaps by puzzling out the answers, but maybe also because of the surging energies that seemed to flow in and around the panel. She was still upset at me, so I didn’t bug her, leaving her to the new toy she had found.
After twnety minutes or so, there was a few moments of excitement as a surge of power lit up the control panel and then dissipated after a muted flash lit up the sealed Transit Room.
There was a lot of pounding on the door and some muted voices heard screaming profanities, but they obviously couldn’t get through the locked portal.
Ravyn called out shortly after they arrived and disturbed our work, “It looks like whoever they are, they came from Atlanta!”
Jim broke off his work with Cerrydwen and Dr. Geek and came over to the control panel. “Let’s send them somewhere else. Don’t want to make it too easy on them.”
I joined them at the panel and asked, “Which symbol is Atlanta?”
Whehn Ravyn pointed it out, I quickly smashed the crystal that connected to that symbol, extinguishing the mild glow that persisted after their arrival. “That should keep anyoner else from coming from there, now let’s send them packing.”
Ravyn pointed out another symbol and said, “That should be New York. Hope they dressed warm!” With that she placed her hands on that symbol, energy seemed to flow from her hands into the symbol for New York and then up into the crystal that was connected to it. There was a throb of power and a flash of light from behind the shield covering the window into the room, and then silence. “They should be gone.”
I unlatched the window shielding and raised it up, observed that the room was indeed empty, then dropped the shield back down into place. Then I reached down and destroyed the crystal for New York. “There, they won’t be coming back this way from there either.”
Jim looked at Ravyn, “Which of these is the most remote location here?”
Ravyn studied the panel. “Well, this is Chicago, this one is Washington DC, let’s see...ooh here is Vancouver!”
“OK,” I said, “Who’s up for a scouting trip to Vancouver?”
“We’ll go,” said Herne, with Moira nodding excitedly. “But I’ll want to see how that thing works so we can get back easily enough.”
John piped up, “Shane here will go as well.”
With that, we unlocked the door quickly, Herne, Moira, Shane and myself piled into the Transit Room and closed the door behind us. We only had to wait for moment before a spinning sensation caused our vision to go dark, a sudden jerk and we were standing in another room just like the one we left, but with a slight variation on the painting scheme.
The door out was unlocked, in what must have been standard operating procedure when the places were idle, and the control room beyond was dark. A quick bit of exploring revealed this place to be remarkably similar in outlay to the place in Vegas, with computers, security cameras and desks lining the walls of the control room.
While the others checked out the outide perimeter, I went to the control panel and destroyed the crystals linking this place to Miami, Atlanta and New York, just to keep the chances of a nasty surprise reduced. I was careful to leave the Vegas symbol of a pair of dice alone.
The others returned shortly to report that the place did seem to be pretty remote. They confirmed that there were no vehicles in the parking lot.
“OK, let’s get back and report this to be a good place to send our captives. But first let me eliminate the possibility that anyone else will use the roundabout way of getting here.”
I then smashed all of the crystals in the control panel except the Vegas symbol, and then stepped back to let Herne set the panel for transport. He did so quickly as the rest of us got back into the room. He joined us moments later, shutting the door just in the nick of time to join us in our dizzying return trip.
Upon our return, I smashed all of the crystals in our own panel, except the one connected to the Bear symbol that represented Vancouver.
We then began the tedious task of loading 5 or 6 of the wounded at a time into the room and transporting them to Vancouver. I went on each trip, since the vertigo had less of an impact on me, and I could easily move event he largest of the wounded men. I quickly got the hang of activating the device and jumping back into the room just in time to make the return trip.
By the time Dr. Geek was the last of the wounded captives remaining, he looked thoroughly drained and beaten. Cerrydwen put her arm around his shoulder, consoling him as she escorted him away from the grinning Jim, who was in his glory with all of the data he had mined from the beaten scientist.
I went over and slapped the bastard on his back, “Gee Doc, aren’t you glad you didn’t get a chance to load me up with all those weapons you had planned? I don’t think you would have survived the results of that.”
He looked at me blankly, I’m not sure he even recognized me at that moment. I escorted him into the Transit Room and shut the door behind him.
Ravyn sent him to join his men. “There,” she said as she did so, “let him figure out what to do in a foreign country with no ID’s no money, and no way to get out quickly!”
I smashed the last link between this Transit Point and the rest of their network when I crushed the crystal connected to Vancouver’s symbol. “Now what?” I asked, looking at my friends, who all looked visibly relieved to be done with the prisoners.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Seizing the Initiative...Part 2
In the end, it was a damn good thing that the captors weren’t actually law enforcement officers. No matter how much Dr. Geek’s Lab Rats would like to think that they too have what it takes to be agents, they showed on that night that they lacked the skills, training, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances that all good law enforcement officers possess.
My trap wasn’t particularly well laid or executed, since it was pretty much a spur of the moment decision, but it certainly worked well enough to handle this collection of knuckleheads relatively easily.
When the door openned into a darkened room with broken glass on the floor and chairs pushed around randomly, there was some cursing and grumbling mixed with the questions thrown back towards Dr. Geek about whether to proceed or not. After about thirty seconds of debate, one scared looking man was sent in to find a working light switch.
I remained behind the now open door, waiting motionless in the total darkness, knowing that he wouldn’t find anything very easily in this darkness.
Before long, several others were sent in to stumble around in the dark to try and help their comrade. One guy can perilously close to me, but something seemed to guide him off to the side and away from my little patch of shadow.
Dr. Geek stepped into the doorway called out to the men inside, “Never mind about the lights, someone look to see if the Transit Room is still functional.”
That was my cue. I slammed the door shut with a strength that surprised even me, the satisfying thud and groan before it slammed completely shut told me that Dr. Geek was still in the doorway when I acted. The sudden cutting of even the dim ambient light from outside left the 7 or 8 victims inside stunned. Their moment of stunned silence quickly turned into a mini-inferno of pained screams, bone crushing thuds of my batons on legs, shoulders and arms, and the sobs of the still conscious wounded. The poor bastards never had a chance. This part of the battle was over in less than a minute.
As quick as all that was however, I was worried about my friends outside, so I didn’t take any additional time to make sure that no one was in jeopardy of dying, there was no time for niceties. I yanked open the door, bloody baton in hand, ready to leap into the fray outside as well, only to see that my companions were handling things rather well on their own.
Jim had one scrawny fake agent in a wrestling move over his head and was just in the motion of bringing the poor bastard down into another couple who were fumbling around trying to draw weapons that they were obviously not very proficient with.
Herne was busy pummeling a larger goon into senselessness with his bare fists while his wife, Moira, had somehow come up with a very wicked, very sharp knife that she was using with great skill to back down another goon. That poor soul was bleeding from several small cuts on his face and was busy holding his bleeding limp right hand with his still functional left.
John Red Bear was standing over a couple of fallen men, his bruised and bloody knuckles the only evidence of what was used to subdue them. He was now working on taking the hand cuffs and bags off the heads of his two students.
Cerrydwen was standing calmly among three other fake agents, their weapons dropped down at their feet as two of them were sobbing uncontrollably in the face of her dark glare, while the third just stood there with a slack look on his face that I had seen once before, back in Chicago, when she had subdued that bounty hunter.
The Frau was sitting on top of Dr. Geeks chest, his hands pinned at his side, his face a bloody mess from a clearly shattered nose and maybe now missing some teeth from the impact of the door on his face.
The only person of our group who I didn’t immediately see was Ravyn, I was just about to ask about her though when a concentrated bolt of flame erupted from behind one of the SUV’s and knocked me off of my feet and back into the control room. My one baton went spinning back into the room as well, falling with a clang near one of the downed Lab Rats. Luckily the bolt had been more solid energy than actual flame, so the only damage done was to my pride, but then I guess that was pretty well deserved at this point.
I sat up to see her standing in the doorway, an enormous image of the Fierce Phoenix filling the rest of the doorway behind her. Her fiery red glare held me silent as I sat up, brushed at my chest to make sure everything was still there. I could see the remains of the hand cuffs dripping off her arms in little molten drops, but remarkably, the rest of her clothing was untouched.
“I hope you REALLY enjoyed that look back in Chicago, because that’s the LAST such look you’re getting! Now you better fess up as to what the hell is going on around here or we’re gonna find out just how bad Zombie flesh smells when its fried!”
I raised my hands in a defenseive gesture, but dropped them down immediately when she raised her right hand, flame dancing from her fingers excitedly. “It’s going to take a few minutes to explain. I fell into a trap that Drake laid, and the only way I could see out of it, to protect you and the others was to play along with things until I could find a way to turn things back around.”
Her glare, and her flames, were still fierce and angry. “So when was this trap sprung on you, and why didn’t you tell anyone so that we could face this challenge together?”
“When I realized that the man you knew of as Agron was one of Drake’s agents, I didn’t know excactly who I could trust, so I went looking for him before he could try to alert Drake to everything that we were doing. But look, I wasn’t thinking straight, I was scared for you guys, I was scared for myself, I didn’t know what was going on.”
By now Ravyn had stepped into the room, allowing Jim and Cerrydwen to follow. Jim loomed in the doorway, blocking out the light from beyond with his bulk. “So you just let me lay there asleep, leaving a damn note? Do you know the danger you put us into?”
“Yeah, I found out afterwards. Look, Papa Locks has found a way to animate another officer who was killed after I was. I had helped to release his Spirit, so I was pretty surprised when I saw the face of my friend being used by that host of dark spirits that Papa Locks has animated that body with. He used that monster to kill everyone in the suite, making it look like I had done it. He disappeared right after I showed up. When the police came, I didn’t think it was too wise to resist. But even they had been coopted by Drake and his men. I was hoping that they just wanted me, and that you guys would be left alone if I cooperated.”
Herne came through the doorway, followed by Moira and John. “Fat chance of that, man,” said Herne. “I don’t think this Drake fellow is going to let us get away with the damage we’ve done to his network. It’s a war now and he isn’t going to stop until we are gone, or he is.”
“Yeah, I get that now. And I had already made the decision to try and get you guys out of whatever mess was being made, which is why I broke my deal and refused to leave here when they tried to transport me back to Florida.”
“So that’s why they were bringing us here,” said Cerrydwen. “I remember one of them referring to this place as a Transit Point and how they were going to send us somewhere far away, but I was puzzled when they didn’t take us to the airport.”
“I don’t know exactly how it works, but I can show you what I saw the guy do when he used it, although I am afraid I disabled the link to Florida. Can I get up now?” I asked looking at Ravyn.
The fire in her eyes and on her hands seemed to dim just a little during the course of our conversation. “I suppose, but I am watching you buster. There had better be no more nasty surprises out of you, or I’ll toast your circuits pretty damn quick!”
Cerrydwen put her hand on Ravyn’s shoulder, “It’s OK sis, I can see the truth in his words. I knew he wasn’t involved in the killings of the suite, just like I told you before. You know me, I don’t trust easily.”
Ravyn looked over her shoulder at Cerrydwen, “Yeah, that’s true. You don’t normally vouch for anyone. All right.”
John spoke up now, “We need to gather up all of these prisoners and bring them inside. We can interrogate them and find out how to use this device of theirs to send them somewhere far away were they can get medical attention, but can’t get us into trouble. Then we can discuss with more information what we need to do next.”
With those wise words, everyone pitched in, bringing in the wounded from outside, and the one man I had killed while I was in a hurry inside. I was saddened by his death, but resolved to continue the struggle against Drake and his minions.
My trap wasn’t particularly well laid or executed, since it was pretty much a spur of the moment decision, but it certainly worked well enough to handle this collection of knuckleheads relatively easily.
When the door openned into a darkened room with broken glass on the floor and chairs pushed around randomly, there was some cursing and grumbling mixed with the questions thrown back towards Dr. Geek about whether to proceed or not. After about thirty seconds of debate, one scared looking man was sent in to find a working light switch.
I remained behind the now open door, waiting motionless in the total darkness, knowing that he wouldn’t find anything very easily in this darkness.
Before long, several others were sent in to stumble around in the dark to try and help their comrade. One guy can perilously close to me, but something seemed to guide him off to the side and away from my little patch of shadow.
Dr. Geek stepped into the doorway called out to the men inside, “Never mind about the lights, someone look to see if the Transit Room is still functional.”
That was my cue. I slammed the door shut with a strength that surprised even me, the satisfying thud and groan before it slammed completely shut told me that Dr. Geek was still in the doorway when I acted. The sudden cutting of even the dim ambient light from outside left the 7 or 8 victims inside stunned. Their moment of stunned silence quickly turned into a mini-inferno of pained screams, bone crushing thuds of my batons on legs, shoulders and arms, and the sobs of the still conscious wounded. The poor bastards never had a chance. This part of the battle was over in less than a minute.
As quick as all that was however, I was worried about my friends outside, so I didn’t take any additional time to make sure that no one was in jeopardy of dying, there was no time for niceties. I yanked open the door, bloody baton in hand, ready to leap into the fray outside as well, only to see that my companions were handling things rather well on their own.
Jim had one scrawny fake agent in a wrestling move over his head and was just in the motion of bringing the poor bastard down into another couple who were fumbling around trying to draw weapons that they were obviously not very proficient with.
Herne was busy pummeling a larger goon into senselessness with his bare fists while his wife, Moira, had somehow come up with a very wicked, very sharp knife that she was using with great skill to back down another goon. That poor soul was bleeding from several small cuts on his face and was busy holding his bleeding limp right hand with his still functional left.
John Red Bear was standing over a couple of fallen men, his bruised and bloody knuckles the only evidence of what was used to subdue them. He was now working on taking the hand cuffs and bags off the heads of his two students.
Cerrydwen was standing calmly among three other fake agents, their weapons dropped down at their feet as two of them were sobbing uncontrollably in the face of her dark glare, while the third just stood there with a slack look on his face that I had seen once before, back in Chicago, when she had subdued that bounty hunter.
The Frau was sitting on top of Dr. Geeks chest, his hands pinned at his side, his face a bloody mess from a clearly shattered nose and maybe now missing some teeth from the impact of the door on his face.
The only person of our group who I didn’t immediately see was Ravyn, I was just about to ask about her though when a concentrated bolt of flame erupted from behind one of the SUV’s and knocked me off of my feet and back into the control room. My one baton went spinning back into the room as well, falling with a clang near one of the downed Lab Rats. Luckily the bolt had been more solid energy than actual flame, so the only damage done was to my pride, but then I guess that was pretty well deserved at this point.
I sat up to see her standing in the doorway, an enormous image of the Fierce Phoenix filling the rest of the doorway behind her. Her fiery red glare held me silent as I sat up, brushed at my chest to make sure everything was still there. I could see the remains of the hand cuffs dripping off her arms in little molten drops, but remarkably, the rest of her clothing was untouched.
“I hope you REALLY enjoyed that look back in Chicago, because that’s the LAST such look you’re getting! Now you better fess up as to what the hell is going on around here or we’re gonna find out just how bad Zombie flesh smells when its fried!”
I raised my hands in a defenseive gesture, but dropped them down immediately when she raised her right hand, flame dancing from her fingers excitedly. “It’s going to take a few minutes to explain. I fell into a trap that Drake laid, and the only way I could see out of it, to protect you and the others was to play along with things until I could find a way to turn things back around.”
Her glare, and her flames, were still fierce and angry. “So when was this trap sprung on you, and why didn’t you tell anyone so that we could face this challenge together?”
“When I realized that the man you knew of as Agron was one of Drake’s agents, I didn’t know excactly who I could trust, so I went looking for him before he could try to alert Drake to everything that we were doing. But look, I wasn’t thinking straight, I was scared for you guys, I was scared for myself, I didn’t know what was going on.”
By now Ravyn had stepped into the room, allowing Jim and Cerrydwen to follow. Jim loomed in the doorway, blocking out the light from beyond with his bulk. “So you just let me lay there asleep, leaving a damn note? Do you know the danger you put us into?”
“Yeah, I found out afterwards. Look, Papa Locks has found a way to animate another officer who was killed after I was. I had helped to release his Spirit, so I was pretty surprised when I saw the face of my friend being used by that host of dark spirits that Papa Locks has animated that body with. He used that monster to kill everyone in the suite, making it look like I had done it. He disappeared right after I showed up. When the police came, I didn’t think it was too wise to resist. But even they had been coopted by Drake and his men. I was hoping that they just wanted me, and that you guys would be left alone if I cooperated.”
Herne came through the doorway, followed by Moira and John. “Fat chance of that, man,” said Herne. “I don’t think this Drake fellow is going to let us get away with the damage we’ve done to his network. It’s a war now and he isn’t going to stop until we are gone, or he is.”
“Yeah, I get that now. And I had already made the decision to try and get you guys out of whatever mess was being made, which is why I broke my deal and refused to leave here when they tried to transport me back to Florida.”
“So that’s why they were bringing us here,” said Cerrydwen. “I remember one of them referring to this place as a Transit Point and how they were going to send us somewhere far away, but I was puzzled when they didn’t take us to the airport.”
“I don’t know exactly how it works, but I can show you what I saw the guy do when he used it, although I am afraid I disabled the link to Florida. Can I get up now?” I asked looking at Ravyn.
The fire in her eyes and on her hands seemed to dim just a little during the course of our conversation. “I suppose, but I am watching you buster. There had better be no more nasty surprises out of you, or I’ll toast your circuits pretty damn quick!”
Cerrydwen put her hand on Ravyn’s shoulder, “It’s OK sis, I can see the truth in his words. I knew he wasn’t involved in the killings of the suite, just like I told you before. You know me, I don’t trust easily.”
Ravyn looked over her shoulder at Cerrydwen, “Yeah, that’s true. You don’t normally vouch for anyone. All right.”
John spoke up now, “We need to gather up all of these prisoners and bring them inside. We can interrogate them and find out how to use this device of theirs to send them somewhere far away were they can get medical attention, but can’t get us into trouble. Then we can discuss with more information what we need to do next.”
With those wise words, everyone pitched in, bringing in the wounded from outside, and the one man I had killed while I was in a hurry inside. I was saddened by his death, but resolved to continue the struggle against Drake and his minions.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Seizing the Initiative...Part 1
After verifying that Dumbass was indeed gone, I took some time to examine the control panel for this ‘Transit Point’. It was a web of arcane symbols inlaid in a black panel. The palm tree symbol seemed to have a bit of an afterglow to it, perhaps residue from the trip that he just took. Just above each of the inlaid symbols, there were small colored crystals that were connected to the symbols by a small inlaid line of silvery metal. The green crystal above the palm trees was still pulsing slightly. I reached over to that crystal and placed my thumb on it, applied gradually increasing pressure until I could heard the crystal crack under the pressure. I pushed down sharply at that sound and was very satisfied when the crystal shattered and all residual glowing disappeared immediately.
I didn’t think it was going to take long for them to figure out that I didn’t cooperate in quite the way they were expecting me to.
I left the other crystals eight crystals in place and looked over to the door separating the transit room from the control room where I was standing. There were some very sturdy locks on this side of the door, probably to prevent unexpected or unwanted visitors from using the facility. Well that worked both damn ways now, didn’t it? I went over to the door and slid the large metal locking bolts into place.
Above the window between the control room and the transit room, there was a metal shield that appeared to be able to be brought down and locked as well. I reached up, moved the bolts holding it in the open position and dropped the thick metal shield down into place, effectively cutting off all visual contact between the transit room and the control room. I slid the thick metal bolts into place that locked the shield down into this closed position.
Given the size and strength of that door and the bulletproof glass and now the metal shield, I doubted anyone showing up in that room was going to be able to get out unless they had some explosives, which would pretty much doom themselves as well. I didn’t think I would even be strong enough to get through either the door or the window without some serious tools and a lot of time. That should keep the recipients of my surprise delivery from sending any surprises back my way, for now anyway.
As I was looking around at the various computers and monitors in the room, I could see one security monitor that appeared to be monitoring the gate in the fence at the driveway. I could see the headlights of several vehicles approaching the gate. Interesting. This was getting to be a busy place.
It would take several minutes for them to get to the parking area, so I went to my bag, pulled out the two batons, and decided to start taking out the lights.
I used the batons to knock out each of the long fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling overhead, a shower of sparks and broken glass followed each blow, the room growing darker with each bulb destroyed.
A second security monitor next to the first showed the parking area, so I had plenty of warning as the first of five SUV’s pulled up next to the one that brought me in. I poked out the first screen of the first one, reducing even more the light available in the room as I watched several men in dark suits get out of the first vehicle, with a groggy looking, hand cuffed Jim being dragged out of the back seat. The men were struggling with his strength and bulk, Jim wasn’t looking too pleased, as he seemed to be cussing out the men holding him.
Several of the men wore windbreakers with the letters “Federal Agent” emblazoned on the front and the back in big yellow letters, the kinds of jackets that are often worn on high-profile raids by federal agencies. Of course, even with the shitty security camera in place, I recognized a couple of the goons as some of Dr. Geek’s Lab Rats, not agents at all if my memory served.
The second vehicle pulled up and more men in jackets piled out, this time I could recognize Cerrydwen’s leather jacket, although there was a sack or something like that thrown over her head, and of ocurse her hands were cuffed behind her. She stood calmly and without apparent resistance as another man struggled with a second captive from that vehicle. Ravyn’s slim form was dragged out. She squirmed and kicked, lashing out at her captors, even though her head was covered. One of the men holding her legs doubled over as she kicked him in the gonads, but another man stepped in quickly and seemed to inject her with something, somthing that caused her to go limp almost immediately.
A third vehicle pulled up, as the men from the first two were just getting organized. I didn’ take any more time to watch though, I had some rescuing to do. I smashed the last monitor, which extinguished the last flickering light in the room. I waited for a second to get my bearing in the total darkness and for my nightvision to kick in.
Once I adjusted, I was in motion. I started pushing chairs out into random points in the middle of the room, they would hopefully become useful distractions when the shit hit the fan. Realizing that my time was very limited, I moved into position behind where the door would open into the room. I wanted to give as little warning as possible to these assholes.
So, El Diablito had lied right to my face, big fucking surprse there, eh? Well, now what little niggling conscience I had for breaking my part of the agreement was gone, they were obviously going after my friends as well anyway, using the guise of still being federal agents. I figured my friends hadn’t resisted much when a platoon of what appeared to be federal agents swarmed the casino and used the local police and casino security folks as dupes to help round up the ORCs who had helped me out.
As I stood there waiting for the coming fight, I took a quick second to slip out of my body and walk in Spirit Form through the wall and out into the night. I was taking a bit of a chance, since I didn’t know if there were any Casters among the fake feds, but it would make my surprise even more effective if Cerrydwen and some of the others could be aware of things ahead of time.
The last of the vehicles was still pulling up when I got out there, a total of about 20 of the fake agents were milling about, lining up the prisoners along the outside wall of the building. Ravyn’s unconscious form was the closest to the door. I lucked out, as the goons all appeared either too busy with the prisoners to notice me, or were not sensitive enough to do so. Of course Papa Locks and his pet weren’t there, as it would be hard to pass either of them off as an agent, and El Diablito was likely in Florida cursing at my own little surprise.
Jim, Cerrydwen, the Frau, John Red Bear and two of his young students, Herne and his wife were all being lined up, facing the wall, behind Ravyn’s limp form. I moved up riight next Cerrydwen’s right ear and whispered, “It’s Rusty, I am inside and will be attacking once they get inside. Be ready.”
Her covered head bobbed just once, almost imperceptibly.
I looked down at her cuffed hands and concentrated on something that John Red Bear had once told me I should be able to do in Spirit Form, if I practiced, and felt the locking mechanism of the hand cuffs. At least this was something I had practiced countless times in real life, with all of the practice I had as a local cop, using hand cuffs. I concetrated on forming a semi-solid key out of the energy that I saw swirling everywhere. Once it was lined up properly, I exerted my will on it, and succeeded in turning the lock on the right cuff.
Cerrydwen’s head bobbed one more time, obviously she had felt the trick work.
As the last load of men were getting out of the last vehicle, I could see Dr. Bernstein getting out, appearing to take command of the men.
Hurriedly, I moved over to John Red Bear and Herne in succession, doing for them what I had done for Cerrydwen, unlocking the right cuff of each of them. Both could feel my presence and understood what was going on, even though they each had covered heads. Not knowing if Moira, Herne’s wife was a caster or not, I approached her the same, and found that she was indeed very sensitive. Her head cocked as I gave her the same message as the others and unlocked her right cuff as well.
The group of fake agents was finally done milling about and appeared to be getting ready to move when Dr. Bernstein reached for his cellphone. Worried about my surpise being messed up, I swooped over to the phone and pushed my Spirit Hand through his hand and into the phone itself as he pulled it up to his ear. Using all of the rage I had built up to this point I focused on funnelling that energy into the phone itself.
Dr. Geek gave a very satisfying yelp and dropped the suddenly very hot and sparking phone from his ear onto the ground. The gadget broke into several rather useless pieces.
The men gathered around him looked almost as shaken as he did, I heard him blurt out dismissively, “That was probably the Director telling us to hurry the hell up. Damn phones, I’ll be getting a better model for the next one. All right men, let’s get this show rolling, we’ve got lots to do tonight.”
That was my signal to swoop back through the wall, but on my way I made sure to apply my newfound skill on Jim’s right cuff as well. I couldn’t warn him like the others, but at least he would be able to see what was going on and would have a chance to react with free hands. We’d need his strength.
My final Spirit Walking act before I slipped back into my body was to lean through the wall and touch my head to Ravyn’s unconscious head. I could feel the fierce Phoenix looking back at me with angry, glowing eyes, almost like it blamed me for the mess her mistress was in. I whispered into Ravyn’s subconscious, “You better wake up darling or you’re gonna miss all the fun.”
I could feel just the tiniest bit of stirring deep inside, so as a last straw, I went for the big guns. “You know, you have a very nice tushie. Can’t wait to see you naked again!”
I felt a roaring flare of very conscious indignation in response to this. If she was half as strong as I suspected, whatever they had injected her with would be burned out of her system very soon. I slipped back through the wall and jolted into place just as one of the goons raised his own proximity card to the locking pad next to the door. The small clicking sound I heard signalled that the mechanism worked as designed, and the door openned easily to the dark room where I was now waiting and ready to pounce.
I didn’t think it was going to take long for them to figure out that I didn’t cooperate in quite the way they were expecting me to.
I left the other crystals eight crystals in place and looked over to the door separating the transit room from the control room where I was standing. There were some very sturdy locks on this side of the door, probably to prevent unexpected or unwanted visitors from using the facility. Well that worked both damn ways now, didn’t it? I went over to the door and slid the large metal locking bolts into place.
Above the window between the control room and the transit room, there was a metal shield that appeared to be able to be brought down and locked as well. I reached up, moved the bolts holding it in the open position and dropped the thick metal shield down into place, effectively cutting off all visual contact between the transit room and the control room. I slid the thick metal bolts into place that locked the shield down into this closed position.
Given the size and strength of that door and the bulletproof glass and now the metal shield, I doubted anyone showing up in that room was going to be able to get out unless they had some explosives, which would pretty much doom themselves as well. I didn’t think I would even be strong enough to get through either the door or the window without some serious tools and a lot of time. That should keep the recipients of my surprise delivery from sending any surprises back my way, for now anyway.
As I was looking around at the various computers and monitors in the room, I could see one security monitor that appeared to be monitoring the gate in the fence at the driveway. I could see the headlights of several vehicles approaching the gate. Interesting. This was getting to be a busy place.
It would take several minutes for them to get to the parking area, so I went to my bag, pulled out the two batons, and decided to start taking out the lights.
I used the batons to knock out each of the long fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling overhead, a shower of sparks and broken glass followed each blow, the room growing darker with each bulb destroyed.
A second security monitor next to the first showed the parking area, so I had plenty of warning as the first of five SUV’s pulled up next to the one that brought me in. I poked out the first screen of the first one, reducing even more the light available in the room as I watched several men in dark suits get out of the first vehicle, with a groggy looking, hand cuffed Jim being dragged out of the back seat. The men were struggling with his strength and bulk, Jim wasn’t looking too pleased, as he seemed to be cussing out the men holding him.
Several of the men wore windbreakers with the letters “Federal Agent” emblazoned on the front and the back in big yellow letters, the kinds of jackets that are often worn on high-profile raids by federal agencies. Of course, even with the shitty security camera in place, I recognized a couple of the goons as some of Dr. Geek’s Lab Rats, not agents at all if my memory served.
The second vehicle pulled up and more men in jackets piled out, this time I could recognize Cerrydwen’s leather jacket, although there was a sack or something like that thrown over her head, and of ocurse her hands were cuffed behind her. She stood calmly and without apparent resistance as another man struggled with a second captive from that vehicle. Ravyn’s slim form was dragged out. She squirmed and kicked, lashing out at her captors, even though her head was covered. One of the men holding her legs doubled over as she kicked him in the gonads, but another man stepped in quickly and seemed to inject her with something, somthing that caused her to go limp almost immediately.
A third vehicle pulled up, as the men from the first two were just getting organized. I didn’ take any more time to watch though, I had some rescuing to do. I smashed the last monitor, which extinguished the last flickering light in the room. I waited for a second to get my bearing in the total darkness and for my nightvision to kick in.
Once I adjusted, I was in motion. I started pushing chairs out into random points in the middle of the room, they would hopefully become useful distractions when the shit hit the fan. Realizing that my time was very limited, I moved into position behind where the door would open into the room. I wanted to give as little warning as possible to these assholes.
So, El Diablito had lied right to my face, big fucking surprse there, eh? Well, now what little niggling conscience I had for breaking my part of the agreement was gone, they were obviously going after my friends as well anyway, using the guise of still being federal agents. I figured my friends hadn’t resisted much when a platoon of what appeared to be federal agents swarmed the casino and used the local police and casino security folks as dupes to help round up the ORCs who had helped me out.
As I stood there waiting for the coming fight, I took a quick second to slip out of my body and walk in Spirit Form through the wall and out into the night. I was taking a bit of a chance, since I didn’t know if there were any Casters among the fake feds, but it would make my surprise even more effective if Cerrydwen and some of the others could be aware of things ahead of time.
The last of the vehicles was still pulling up when I got out there, a total of about 20 of the fake agents were milling about, lining up the prisoners along the outside wall of the building. Ravyn’s unconscious form was the closest to the door. I lucked out, as the goons all appeared either too busy with the prisoners to notice me, or were not sensitive enough to do so. Of course Papa Locks and his pet weren’t there, as it would be hard to pass either of them off as an agent, and El Diablito was likely in Florida cursing at my own little surprise.
Jim, Cerrydwen, the Frau, John Red Bear and two of his young students, Herne and his wife were all being lined up, facing the wall, behind Ravyn’s limp form. I moved up riight next Cerrydwen’s right ear and whispered, “It’s Rusty, I am inside and will be attacking once they get inside. Be ready.”
Her covered head bobbed just once, almost imperceptibly.
I looked down at her cuffed hands and concentrated on something that John Red Bear had once told me I should be able to do in Spirit Form, if I practiced, and felt the locking mechanism of the hand cuffs. At least this was something I had practiced countless times in real life, with all of the practice I had as a local cop, using hand cuffs. I concetrated on forming a semi-solid key out of the energy that I saw swirling everywhere. Once it was lined up properly, I exerted my will on it, and succeeded in turning the lock on the right cuff.
Cerrydwen’s head bobbed one more time, obviously she had felt the trick work.
As the last load of men were getting out of the last vehicle, I could see Dr. Bernstein getting out, appearing to take command of the men.
Hurriedly, I moved over to John Red Bear and Herne in succession, doing for them what I had done for Cerrydwen, unlocking the right cuff of each of them. Both could feel my presence and understood what was going on, even though they each had covered heads. Not knowing if Moira, Herne’s wife was a caster or not, I approached her the same, and found that she was indeed very sensitive. Her head cocked as I gave her the same message as the others and unlocked her right cuff as well.
The group of fake agents was finally done milling about and appeared to be getting ready to move when Dr. Bernstein reached for his cellphone. Worried about my surpise being messed up, I swooped over to the phone and pushed my Spirit Hand through his hand and into the phone itself as he pulled it up to his ear. Using all of the rage I had built up to this point I focused on funnelling that energy into the phone itself.
Dr. Geek gave a very satisfying yelp and dropped the suddenly very hot and sparking phone from his ear onto the ground. The gadget broke into several rather useless pieces.
The men gathered around him looked almost as shaken as he did, I heard him blurt out dismissively, “That was probably the Director telling us to hurry the hell up. Damn phones, I’ll be getting a better model for the next one. All right men, let’s get this show rolling, we’ve got lots to do tonight.”
That was my signal to swoop back through the wall, but on my way I made sure to apply my newfound skill on Jim’s right cuff as well. I couldn’t warn him like the others, but at least he would be able to see what was going on and would have a chance to react with free hands. We’d need his strength.
My final Spirit Walking act before I slipped back into my body was to lean through the wall and touch my head to Ravyn’s unconscious head. I could feel the fierce Phoenix looking back at me with angry, glowing eyes, almost like it blamed me for the mess her mistress was in. I whispered into Ravyn’s subconscious, “You better wake up darling or you’re gonna miss all the fun.”
I could feel just the tiniest bit of stirring deep inside, so as a last straw, I went for the big guns. “You know, you have a very nice tushie. Can’t wait to see you naked again!”
I felt a roaring flare of very conscious indignation in response to this. If she was half as strong as I suspected, whatever they had injected her with would be burned out of her system very soon. I slipped back through the wall and jolted into place just as one of the goons raised his own proximity card to the locking pad next to the door. The small clicking sound I heard signalled that the mechanism worked as designed, and the door openned easily to the dark room where I was now waiting and ready to pounce.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
"Angry Rusty"
I followed the Suit out of the interrogation room and into the brightly lit hallways of the Las Vegas City Police Headquarters. He carried himself like an FBI Agent, arrogant and disdainful for the poor lesser mortals who could only qualify for mere ‘local’ law enforcement. He had the schtick down perfectly as he led the way past the Duty Desk and the overworked Sergeant answering two phones, working on several files simultaneously, and watching the rogues gallery of goons shackled to the steel and plastic chairs in what passed for a lobby.
I could feel the dozen sets of eyes following us as we left, half from the aforementioned goons, half from the various officers moving about the room. The Suit flashed his leatherbound credentials at the Sergeant and made a dismissive head nod in my direction indicating that I was going with him and that no questions were going to be asked, or answered for that matter.
The only cracks in this seeming armor of FBI-ness came as soon as we walked into the cool night air and towards the large parking lot where he had apparently parked. His shoulders seemed to droop just a bit, his swaggering walk seemed to soften. He still didn’t look back at me as we walked, he was moving quickly, obviously anxious to make it to his vehicle. I could make out the smallest hint of nervous sweat beading up around the stiff white collar of his shirt...something was not quite right. I knew the temperature was not higher than 60 degrees out here, but he seemed to be sweating now.
Looking around, I could see that the City didn’t bother to put HQ on the ever-so-famous Strip, land prices must be too high for such a non-revenue producing eneterprise. We seemed to be well away from all of the famous landmark casinos, and closer to the seedier part of town of strip clubs, small rent-by-the-week motels, and liquor stores on every corner. Close to where the others had rented a room, as part of that contingency plan we had set up only the day before.
The Suit was leading me to very un-FBI like vehicle, an upscale dark blue or black, but foreign made, SUV. Not the sort of vehicle that the Bureau leases for its agents. As he approached the vehicle, he used the remote control to unlock it, and indicated for me to get into the back seat, saying only, “You’ll find some equipment that you’ll want in the backseat there, as well as a supply of special ‘juice’ that Dr. Bernstein says’ll give you a nice boost of power.”
I looked at him before moving towards the rear door. “You’re not an agent, are you?”
He grinned, looking more weasily than anything else, “No. Please, I’ve got better things to do with my time, and my talents, than to play cops and robbers.”
“I don’t recognize you from my time in the Labs, how do you know Dr. Bernstein?”
He seemed to clam up, perhaps feeling that I was fishing just a little too much, “That’s none of your business Bones. I need to get your ass to the transport point and get back to my other tasks. Get in the car.”
I could see he was trying to bring back that hard veneer he had worn in front of the cops. But I could see it for the facade that it was now. He was nervous about something. I got in the truck and saw that there was indeed a bag of equipment to do a ‘flush and gush’ as well as a couple of unmarked bottles of a purplish liquid and a pair of my collapsible batons, cocky fucking bastards.
“So where you taking me to?” I asked as I moved the bag over and settled in right in the middle of the back seat. “I take it you are not driving me to see Drake?”
He got into the driver’s seat and shifted his rear view mirror so he could use that to keep an eye on me. He sneered at me, “Look, we’re just heading to a research facility on the edge of town that the Organization owns. There’s a Transit Point there that will send you to Florida.”
“Transit Point, what the hell is that?” I asked with more than a little curiosity.
He laughed. “You’re pretty fucking dumb aren’t you? Transit Points are like permanent portals that can take you long distances away, sort of like that shit they do on Star Trek man, except you don’t need a Scotty to operate them.”
“So how do they work? How do you know where it takes you?”
He started the car, put it into gear and backed out of the parking spot. We were soon on the major road heading west out of town. He took a little time before he replied. “There’s probably a reason why they haven’t told you about this shit. Let’s just say that it’s pretty damn complicated magick to make one of these things, but it’s pretty easy to operate one if you’ve been keyed to use it.”
I picked up one of the batons laying loose in the bag, making sure he saw me fondling it in the mirror. “You seem pretty damn comfident that I’m not going to hurt you, or try to escape, how come?”
His eyes grew wide, he stammered a just a little. “I-I-I’ve been told you are willing to come back now. Besides, it’s not like you can really escape. If you hurt me and escape again, they’ll just track you down with the...oh, well, you know you are pretty damn easy to find.”
Something clicked in my memory with his stuttering and the way he tried to avoid saying how exactly I could be tracked so easily...
“Th-th-this ch-ch-chip at the b-b-b-base of his sk-sk-skull will be our way of tra-tracking him.” That was the voice of the Tinker, talking to Drake before I had been ‘activated’.
“Why not bury inside his chest cavity with the Chakra, for extra protection?” That was Drake’s dry voice.
“B-b-be-c-c-cause too m-m-much inter-f-f-ference w-w-with the metal, it-it n-n-needs to be f-f-fairly free of s-s-such pr-protection.”
“I see. So what range will we have on his location?”
“Un-un-unlimited range, it is-s-s G-G-GPS enabled, and w-w-will tr-tr-transmit even if th-th-the unit is d-d-d-deactivated.”
“So even if Rusty is severely damaged and inoperable, this chip will transmit his location to our OpCenter?”
“Y-y-yes sir.”
“And you feel that this is the best location for it?”
“Y-y-yes sir. Th-th-the chip is st-st-st-still protected by his sk-sk-skull, but is a-a- accessible for tr-tr-transmission and r-r-repair if necessary.”
“Very well.”
As these memories of that conversation flooded back to me, I let the baton lay in my lap and clasped my hands behind my neck, appearing to stretch back and relax. Once the driver seemed to be satisfied that my questions were over and had his eyes firmly back on the road, I used my fingertips to feel the base of my skull....There, I felt a lump that I didn’t remember from when I was alive. I had real sensitivity in my fingers, but the shape of it was clear, about the size of a couple of quarters stacked on top of each other, distinctly round and foreign feeling.
That fucking Drake, he was tracking my movements all the damn time. No wonder they always found my ass so quickly. No wonder they weren’t worried about me jumping this schmuck and bolting again. If I did, they surely would see my movements on their fucking computers and send in the goons to take out my friends.
But then again, how did I know these assholes weren’t already moving against the ORCs? I sincerely doubted that Drake and El Diablito and Papa Locks were just going to forget about the how those folks had helped me out. No, these assholes weren’t the forgive and forget types. Something was going on. And I was not about to let it happen without doing something about it.
We were out beyond most of the sprawl that was Las Vegas now and were slowing down, approaching a paved driveway that led to a gate in a fence. The driver leaned out the window, held up some sort of card to a proximity reader, the gate opened. We drove down the long driveway towards a smallish looking building, lit only by a couple of outside lights.
I still had my fingers on that lump, hands clasped behind my head. I dug my fingers into the flesh covering the lump, feeling the old dead skin part easily under my determined pressure, grasped the slick metal disk and twisted ever so slightly. It came off with a little click. I palmed the disk with one hand, brought it down into my lap, with my other hand, I tried to push the flaps of skin back into place, hoping I wasn’t leaking too much.
The truck stopped just outside a steel door. He looked back at me, trying to show some bravado, but clearly a little nervous. “Bring you shit buddy, there ain’t no coming back to the car if you forget something.”
I grabbed the bag with my free hand after shoving the baton back into it. My other hand held the damnable chip. I made sure to let him go first towards the door.
As he used the same proximity card to unlock the door, I pocketed the chip in my front jacket pocket, then I reach out and held the door open for him and nodded for him to go in first.
The dumbass was showing his nerves now, but clearly committed to putting on a brave face. He went inside the building, lights flickered on automatically with his movement into the room.
Inside, the room was a jumble of desks along the walls with numerous computers cluttering the tops. On the far wall there was another steel door with a thick window that looked into a smaller room, which was painted a very strange shade of lime green that was interrupted only by bright red runes in strange patterns. Next to the door was another window that looked into that smaller room, and underneath that some sort of control panel.
Dumbass went up to that panel, clearly anxious for me to get going to wherever in Florida he wanted to send me. I watched over his shoulder as he touched a number of symbols on that panel that seemed to glow at his touch. The last such symbol appeared be a set of palm trees.
“So where in Florida am I heading? Maybe I can catch a tan?” I inched up behind him.
“Nothing much to look at down there, you’ll be stuck in the middle of the Everglades.” He laughed nervously, turned aournd when he sensed me coming closer. “Y-y-you just need to go through that door there, it’s all set to go in 1 minute...”
I belted him across the mouth, careful not to break his jaw, but hard enough to send him sprawling.
“Hey! What are you doing...” He shouted as he fell against the door. “You can’t escape! They’ll find you!”
I reached down with one hand and picked him up, lifting him off his feet and slamming him against the door. He grunted in pain. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the disk, showed it to him.
His eyes went wide with shock and fear.
“I’m no one’s fucking pawn anymore, you pissant. Swallow this!”
“I-I-I can’t it’s too big!”
“You better swallow it , or I’ll fucking stick it down your throat for you with my goddamn fist!”
He took the disk, put it on his tongue, and with a little assistance from my evil glare, swallowed it in obvious pain and more than a little disgust.
I slammed his head against the door once more, knocking him out, then opened the door and threw him into the room, shutting the door quickly. I stepped back as a bright light flashed and then disappeared, leaving the room as empty as it was when we entered the building.
I could feel the dozen sets of eyes following us as we left, half from the aforementioned goons, half from the various officers moving about the room. The Suit flashed his leatherbound credentials at the Sergeant and made a dismissive head nod in my direction indicating that I was going with him and that no questions were going to be asked, or answered for that matter.
The only cracks in this seeming armor of FBI-ness came as soon as we walked into the cool night air and towards the large parking lot where he had apparently parked. His shoulders seemed to droop just a bit, his swaggering walk seemed to soften. He still didn’t look back at me as we walked, he was moving quickly, obviously anxious to make it to his vehicle. I could make out the smallest hint of nervous sweat beading up around the stiff white collar of his shirt...something was not quite right. I knew the temperature was not higher than 60 degrees out here, but he seemed to be sweating now.
Looking around, I could see that the City didn’t bother to put HQ on the ever-so-famous Strip, land prices must be too high for such a non-revenue producing eneterprise. We seemed to be well away from all of the famous landmark casinos, and closer to the seedier part of town of strip clubs, small rent-by-the-week motels, and liquor stores on every corner. Close to where the others had rented a room, as part of that contingency plan we had set up only the day before.
The Suit was leading me to very un-FBI like vehicle, an upscale dark blue or black, but foreign made, SUV. Not the sort of vehicle that the Bureau leases for its agents. As he approached the vehicle, he used the remote control to unlock it, and indicated for me to get into the back seat, saying only, “You’ll find some equipment that you’ll want in the backseat there, as well as a supply of special ‘juice’ that Dr. Bernstein says’ll give you a nice boost of power.”
I looked at him before moving towards the rear door. “You’re not an agent, are you?”
He grinned, looking more weasily than anything else, “No. Please, I’ve got better things to do with my time, and my talents, than to play cops and robbers.”
“I don’t recognize you from my time in the Labs, how do you know Dr. Bernstein?”
He seemed to clam up, perhaps feeling that I was fishing just a little too much, “That’s none of your business Bones. I need to get your ass to the transport point and get back to my other tasks. Get in the car.”
I could see he was trying to bring back that hard veneer he had worn in front of the cops. But I could see it for the facade that it was now. He was nervous about something. I got in the truck and saw that there was indeed a bag of equipment to do a ‘flush and gush’ as well as a couple of unmarked bottles of a purplish liquid and a pair of my collapsible batons, cocky fucking bastards.
“So where you taking me to?” I asked as I moved the bag over and settled in right in the middle of the back seat. “I take it you are not driving me to see Drake?”
He got into the driver’s seat and shifted his rear view mirror so he could use that to keep an eye on me. He sneered at me, “Look, we’re just heading to a research facility on the edge of town that the Organization owns. There’s a Transit Point there that will send you to Florida.”
“Transit Point, what the hell is that?” I asked with more than a little curiosity.
He laughed. “You’re pretty fucking dumb aren’t you? Transit Points are like permanent portals that can take you long distances away, sort of like that shit they do on Star Trek man, except you don’t need a Scotty to operate them.”
“So how do they work? How do you know where it takes you?”
He started the car, put it into gear and backed out of the parking spot. We were soon on the major road heading west out of town. He took a little time before he replied. “There’s probably a reason why they haven’t told you about this shit. Let’s just say that it’s pretty damn complicated magick to make one of these things, but it’s pretty easy to operate one if you’ve been keyed to use it.”
I picked up one of the batons laying loose in the bag, making sure he saw me fondling it in the mirror. “You seem pretty damn comfident that I’m not going to hurt you, or try to escape, how come?”
His eyes grew wide, he stammered a just a little. “I-I-I’ve been told you are willing to come back now. Besides, it’s not like you can really escape. If you hurt me and escape again, they’ll just track you down with the...oh, well, you know you are pretty damn easy to find.”
Something clicked in my memory with his stuttering and the way he tried to avoid saying how exactly I could be tracked so easily...
“Th-th-this ch-ch-chip at the b-b-b-base of his sk-sk-skull will be our way of tra-tracking him.” That was the voice of the Tinker, talking to Drake before I had been ‘activated’.
“Why not bury inside his chest cavity with the Chakra, for extra protection?” That was Drake’s dry voice.
“B-b-be-c-c-cause too m-m-much inter-f-f-ference w-w-with the metal, it-it n-n-needs to be f-f-fairly free of s-s-such pr-protection.”
“I see. So what range will we have on his location?”
“Un-un-unlimited range, it is-s-s G-G-GPS enabled, and w-w-will tr-tr-transmit even if th-th-the unit is d-d-d-deactivated.”
“So even if Rusty is severely damaged and inoperable, this chip will transmit his location to our OpCenter?”
“Y-y-yes sir.”
“And you feel that this is the best location for it?”
“Y-y-yes sir. Th-th-the chip is st-st-st-still protected by his sk-sk-skull, but is a-a- accessible for tr-tr-transmission and r-r-repair if necessary.”
“Very well.”
As these memories of that conversation flooded back to me, I let the baton lay in my lap and clasped my hands behind my neck, appearing to stretch back and relax. Once the driver seemed to be satisfied that my questions were over and had his eyes firmly back on the road, I used my fingertips to feel the base of my skull....There, I felt a lump that I didn’t remember from when I was alive. I had real sensitivity in my fingers, but the shape of it was clear, about the size of a couple of quarters stacked on top of each other, distinctly round and foreign feeling.
That fucking Drake, he was tracking my movements all the damn time. No wonder they always found my ass so quickly. No wonder they weren’t worried about me jumping this schmuck and bolting again. If I did, they surely would see my movements on their fucking computers and send in the goons to take out my friends.
But then again, how did I know these assholes weren’t already moving against the ORCs? I sincerely doubted that Drake and El Diablito and Papa Locks were just going to forget about the how those folks had helped me out. No, these assholes weren’t the forgive and forget types. Something was going on. And I was not about to let it happen without doing something about it.
We were out beyond most of the sprawl that was Las Vegas now and were slowing down, approaching a paved driveway that led to a gate in a fence. The driver leaned out the window, held up some sort of card to a proximity reader, the gate opened. We drove down the long driveway towards a smallish looking building, lit only by a couple of outside lights.
I still had my fingers on that lump, hands clasped behind my head. I dug my fingers into the flesh covering the lump, feeling the old dead skin part easily under my determined pressure, grasped the slick metal disk and twisted ever so slightly. It came off with a little click. I palmed the disk with one hand, brought it down into my lap, with my other hand, I tried to push the flaps of skin back into place, hoping I wasn’t leaking too much.
The truck stopped just outside a steel door. He looked back at me, trying to show some bravado, but clearly a little nervous. “Bring you shit buddy, there ain’t no coming back to the car if you forget something.”
I grabbed the bag with my free hand after shoving the baton back into it. My other hand held the damnable chip. I made sure to let him go first towards the door.
As he used the same proximity card to unlock the door, I pocketed the chip in my front jacket pocket, then I reach out and held the door open for him and nodded for him to go in first.
The dumbass was showing his nerves now, but clearly committed to putting on a brave face. He went inside the building, lights flickered on automatically with his movement into the room.
Inside, the room was a jumble of desks along the walls with numerous computers cluttering the tops. On the far wall there was another steel door with a thick window that looked into a smaller room, which was painted a very strange shade of lime green that was interrupted only by bright red runes in strange patterns. Next to the door was another window that looked into that smaller room, and underneath that some sort of control panel.
Dumbass went up to that panel, clearly anxious for me to get going to wherever in Florida he wanted to send me. I watched over his shoulder as he touched a number of symbols on that panel that seemed to glow at his touch. The last such symbol appeared be a set of palm trees.
“So where in Florida am I heading? Maybe I can catch a tan?” I inched up behind him.
“Nothing much to look at down there, you’ll be stuck in the middle of the Everglades.” He laughed nervously, turned aournd when he sensed me coming closer. “Y-y-you just need to go through that door there, it’s all set to go in 1 minute...”
I belted him across the mouth, careful not to break his jaw, but hard enough to send him sprawling.
“Hey! What are you doing...” He shouted as he fell against the door. “You can’t escape! They’ll find you!”
I reached down with one hand and picked him up, lifting him off his feet and slamming him against the door. He grunted in pain. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the disk, showed it to him.
His eyes went wide with shock and fear.
“I’m no one’s fucking pawn anymore, you pissant. Swallow this!”
“I-I-I can’t it’s too big!”
“You better swallow it , or I’ll fucking stick it down your throat for you with my goddamn fist!”
He took the disk, put it on his tongue, and with a little assistance from my evil glare, swallowed it in obvious pain and more than a little disgust.
I slammed his head against the door once more, knocking him out, then opened the door and threw him into the room, shutting the door quickly. I stepped back as a bright light flashed and then disappeared, leaving the room as empty as it was when we entered the building.
Monday, April 11, 2005
A Fateful Choice
I watched as he left the clearing, wary of any change of heart he or those wolves might have. He almost pranced on the way out, returning to that affected craziness that he normally exhibited. He made a strange clucking sound a couple of times as he slipped into the shadows, which seemed to be a signal to circling wolves. They melted into the deeper shadows beyond the clearing without a sound.
I was left standing there in the clearing I had met John so many times before. This was the place that he had taught me to come to, where I had learned what few lessons I have been able to master of this Spirit Walking.
Why hadn’t John or any of my other friends responded to the Call I had sent out?
Were any of them even still alive at this point?
Why did I have to go seeking answers on my own?
Would the others even believe in my innocence?
How could Drake always know where I was and how I would react, even before I did?
What the Hell was his agenda anyway?
Why does he seem to want me back in his control so badly?
Do I even know if he hasn’t been controlling me in some unknown way up until now?
These questions and dozens of others rattled around inside my mind as I tried to make sense of everything that had happened recently. It all boiled down to some simple choices, and I felt I needed to make the options clear in my head to make the best decision possible. So, either my friends were either already dead, or the were alive but still in grave danger.
If they were still alive and I refused to follow El Diablito’s instructions, I would definitely be placing them in grave danger if I remained in police custody, unable to help them when they did get attacked. If I followed those instructions and went with Drake’s plan, I would have no real way of knowing whether my friends were harmed, and had no real assurances that they would be left alone in any event.
It was pretty damn clear that I lacked any real, actionable intelligence on Drake and his motives, but Drake seemed to have plenty of knowledge about the ORCs, and clearly had the resources, the will and the ability to attack almost at will. The ORCs were too scattered, and individually too weak to hold off an assault by Papa Locks and that monster they had made out of Greg’s body. If El Diablito was involved in the finishing of that thing, then it was pretty certain that it would be immune to just about any magick that Herne, Cerrydwen, or even Ravyn could throw at that thing. Physically, I would be the only one to have any chance of holding my own against it, especially since the ORCs wouldn’t resort to things like RPG’s and explosives, even if they could get them.
If I played along with Drake and his crew for a while, I might be able to gather some much needed intelligence, and perhaps even find a way to disable or destroy that monster before it was unleashed on anyone else. But how much would Drake think to trust me, especially after his little fail safe device failed so miserably?
So my choices looked pretty grim. So many of these folks had gathered together in Vegas to try and help me out, and now at least eight of them were dead. The rest were surely in danger, although the danger was absolutely certain if I continued to resist Drake and his ‘final offer’. Well, they were probably already in almost as much danger right now, even if I did cooperate, but there was at least a chance that they would be left alone if I wasn’t with them.
I am what Drake wants so badly.
Well, you know what they say, sometimes you need to be very damn careful what you wish for, you might just get more than you bargained for. Dammit, it’s time to make that bastard pay, not only for what he had done to me, but to the other officers on the team, especially Greg, and for what he has done to those poor innocents who died in that suite.
It was at that moment, that I decided, I was going to go to Drake, and he was gonna be made to pay the piper. I needed to take that bastard out and find a way to destroy the creature that Papa Locks was dragging around, and ideally to make that Haitian bastard pay for what he did to John Red Bear.
It meant that I was going to have to be prepared to kill. But that wasn’t going to be a problem any more.
I looked to where I had dropped the baton. I went over to it, picked it up and held it, remembering the time I had picked up John’s pouch beside his truck. In this world, charging an item with that kind of spiritual energy should be easier, and the others were far more skilled at the use of their talents than I was then. I focused my thoughts, my emotions, my fears for their safety and channelled everything I could right into that cold, metal weapon that was so much my signature now. Before long, I felt the crackling energy contained in it. I grasped it in both hands, and plunged it into the soft earth of the clearing, until a good several inches of it were embedded in the earth. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I felt a flicker of electrical energy erupt from the end of the baton that was standing upright.
I stood back up and turned and walked back out of the clearing, heading back to the my own entry way back into the realm of the living, feeling even more than ever before a stranger in a strange land.
As my Spirit Body collapsed and I made my way back up into the tunnel that ended in the bright lights of that interrogation room, I could make out the shadowy forms of a couple of others in the room with my body. I slipped up from the drain in the floor and observed for a second the men trying to talk to my unresponsive body.
Like hearing voices shrouded by being underwater, I listened to the garbled words of the unifromed figure who was touching my body on the shoulder, shouting, “Hey buddy, wake up! It’s time for you go!” He then looked to the other figure in the room, a tall, thin man in a dark suit, and said, “I don’t know whats wrong with him, sir, maybe its the drugs.”
The Suit seemed to be unperturbed, and looked right at my drifting spirit without expression, “There’s no rush Sergeant, I am sure he will come to any moment now.”
So the asshole has some knowledge or talent, I thought, as I slid back into my body and made connection with all of the little gizmos that eneabled my to move.
With a start the Sergeant jumped back as I closed my hands into fists, and tilted my head, and said “Boo!” right in his face.
“Son of a fucking bitch...!”
I smiled. “You called?”
He kept his distance, still cursing.
I looked at the Suit “So, are we going somewhere?”
The Suit looked over to the Sergeant without comment towards me, “Unlock his cuffs and his leg shackles. He’ll be going with me.”
The Sergeant looked aghast, “Sir, are you sure you want that thing freed? You should have seen what it did in that suite!”
The Suit looked nonplussed, “Release him. He’s not a threat, he was trying to save those people. He’s a special agent too. Now, Sergeant, I don’t have all fucking night for your games!”
The Sergeant seemed to find his spine at that last bit. He began fumbling with his key chain.
Smiling right at the bumbling cop, I reached my arms out towards him and snapped the chain connecting the cuffs with little effort. I stretched my legs quickly, snapping first the hook embedded in the floor, and then the chain connecting the ankle cuffs together.
His mouth agape, the Sergeant dropped the keys he had been fumbling with, they landed with a loud chink!
I leaned over, scooped up the keys and quickly unlocked first my ankle cuffs and then each of the cuffs dangling from my wrists. Each piece fell to the floor with another loud clink!
The Suit stood there, unimpressed, waiting for the show to end.
I looked up at him, “Alright then, let’s get out of here.” I handed the key chain to the stuttering Sergeant on my way out the door. “Let’s go find the real killer, shall we?”
“Indeed.”
I was left standing there in the clearing I had met John so many times before. This was the place that he had taught me to come to, where I had learned what few lessons I have been able to master of this Spirit Walking.
Why hadn’t John or any of my other friends responded to the Call I had sent out?
Were any of them even still alive at this point?
Why did I have to go seeking answers on my own?
Would the others even believe in my innocence?
How could Drake always know where I was and how I would react, even before I did?
What the Hell was his agenda anyway?
Why does he seem to want me back in his control so badly?
Do I even know if he hasn’t been controlling me in some unknown way up until now?
These questions and dozens of others rattled around inside my mind as I tried to make sense of everything that had happened recently. It all boiled down to some simple choices, and I felt I needed to make the options clear in my head to make the best decision possible. So, either my friends were either already dead, or the were alive but still in grave danger.
If they were still alive and I refused to follow El Diablito’s instructions, I would definitely be placing them in grave danger if I remained in police custody, unable to help them when they did get attacked. If I followed those instructions and went with Drake’s plan, I would have no real way of knowing whether my friends were harmed, and had no real assurances that they would be left alone in any event.
It was pretty damn clear that I lacked any real, actionable intelligence on Drake and his motives, but Drake seemed to have plenty of knowledge about the ORCs, and clearly had the resources, the will and the ability to attack almost at will. The ORCs were too scattered, and individually too weak to hold off an assault by Papa Locks and that monster they had made out of Greg’s body. If El Diablito was involved in the finishing of that thing, then it was pretty certain that it would be immune to just about any magick that Herne, Cerrydwen, or even Ravyn could throw at that thing. Physically, I would be the only one to have any chance of holding my own against it, especially since the ORCs wouldn’t resort to things like RPG’s and explosives, even if they could get them.
If I played along with Drake and his crew for a while, I might be able to gather some much needed intelligence, and perhaps even find a way to disable or destroy that monster before it was unleashed on anyone else. But how much would Drake think to trust me, especially after his little fail safe device failed so miserably?
So my choices looked pretty grim. So many of these folks had gathered together in Vegas to try and help me out, and now at least eight of them were dead. The rest were surely in danger, although the danger was absolutely certain if I continued to resist Drake and his ‘final offer’. Well, they were probably already in almost as much danger right now, even if I did cooperate, but there was at least a chance that they would be left alone if I wasn’t with them.
I am what Drake wants so badly.
Well, you know what they say, sometimes you need to be very damn careful what you wish for, you might just get more than you bargained for. Dammit, it’s time to make that bastard pay, not only for what he had done to me, but to the other officers on the team, especially Greg, and for what he has done to those poor innocents who died in that suite.
It was at that moment, that I decided, I was going to go to Drake, and he was gonna be made to pay the piper. I needed to take that bastard out and find a way to destroy the creature that Papa Locks was dragging around, and ideally to make that Haitian bastard pay for what he did to John Red Bear.
It meant that I was going to have to be prepared to kill. But that wasn’t going to be a problem any more.
I looked to where I had dropped the baton. I went over to it, picked it up and held it, remembering the time I had picked up John’s pouch beside his truck. In this world, charging an item with that kind of spiritual energy should be easier, and the others were far more skilled at the use of their talents than I was then. I focused my thoughts, my emotions, my fears for their safety and channelled everything I could right into that cold, metal weapon that was so much my signature now. Before long, I felt the crackling energy contained in it. I grasped it in both hands, and plunged it into the soft earth of the clearing, until a good several inches of it were embedded in the earth. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I felt a flicker of electrical energy erupt from the end of the baton that was standing upright.
I stood back up and turned and walked back out of the clearing, heading back to the my own entry way back into the realm of the living, feeling even more than ever before a stranger in a strange land.
As my Spirit Body collapsed and I made my way back up into the tunnel that ended in the bright lights of that interrogation room, I could make out the shadowy forms of a couple of others in the room with my body. I slipped up from the drain in the floor and observed for a second the men trying to talk to my unresponsive body.
Like hearing voices shrouded by being underwater, I listened to the garbled words of the unifromed figure who was touching my body on the shoulder, shouting, “Hey buddy, wake up! It’s time for you go!” He then looked to the other figure in the room, a tall, thin man in a dark suit, and said, “I don’t know whats wrong with him, sir, maybe its the drugs.”
The Suit seemed to be unperturbed, and looked right at my drifting spirit without expression, “There’s no rush Sergeant, I am sure he will come to any moment now.”
So the asshole has some knowledge or talent, I thought, as I slid back into my body and made connection with all of the little gizmos that eneabled my to move.
With a start the Sergeant jumped back as I closed my hands into fists, and tilted my head, and said “Boo!” right in his face.
“Son of a fucking bitch...!”
I smiled. “You called?”
He kept his distance, still cursing.
I looked at the Suit “So, are we going somewhere?”
The Suit looked over to the Sergeant without comment towards me, “Unlock his cuffs and his leg shackles. He’ll be going with me.”
The Sergeant looked aghast, “Sir, are you sure you want that thing freed? You should have seen what it did in that suite!”
The Suit looked nonplussed, “Release him. He’s not a threat, he was trying to save those people. He’s a special agent too. Now, Sergeant, I don’t have all fucking night for your games!”
The Sergeant seemed to find his spine at that last bit. He began fumbling with his key chain.
Smiling right at the bumbling cop, I reached my arms out towards him and snapped the chain connecting the cuffs with little effort. I stretched my legs quickly, snapping first the hook embedded in the floor, and then the chain connecting the ankle cuffs together.
His mouth agape, the Sergeant dropped the keys he had been fumbling with, they landed with a loud chink!
I leaned over, scooped up the keys and quickly unlocked first my ankle cuffs and then each of the cuffs dangling from my wrists. Each piece fell to the floor with another loud clink!
The Suit stood there, unimpressed, waiting for the show to end.
I looked up at him, “Alright then, let’s get out of here.” I handed the key chain to the stuttering Sergeant on my way out the door. “Let’s go find the real killer, shall we?”
“Indeed.”
Sunday, April 10, 2005
To (Un)Live and Die in Las Vegas...Part 6
So there I was, sitting in the perp chair, waiting for a detective, or someone with some rank on their shoulders to come and talk to me.
It is simultaneously easier and harder to wait patiently in one place now that it was when I was alive. It is easier because I don’t have any of those pesky biological urges that people get when they are forced to sit in one place. I never have to yawn, sneeze, fart, belch, or even take a leak. It is often harder though because without any of those biological distractions, I am left with the racing thoughts of an otherwise undistracted mind. This can lead to running through a lot of different scenarios in one’s head.
As I sure you are well aware of by now, I was never mistaken for a person who had problems with overthinking situations. That was one reason I was pretty good at most sports that I played in my youth, and probably the best reason for why I was a good fighter, both before and during my police career. When you can just free your body to act and react according to situations as they develop, you can become a pretty good athlete, and a great fighter. Often, when you see a great athlete fail in a crucial moment, it is because he is running through all of the consequences of failure or success in his mind, and his thoughts get in the way of his natural, honed abilities to succeed.
I was never a great athlete, I simply lacked the raw talent to excell in any sport, but I was a great scrapper, or fighter. I often took down guys nearly twice my size when they needed taking down. My fearless tenacity and ability to ignore pain allowed me to win a number of fights that even I would have figured I couldn’t win.
But lately, I have found myself more often distracted by my own racing thoughts. It’s almost funny in a way, now that I truly don’t have to fear death, or even pain anymore, I can’t stop thinking about things.
Sometimes I focus on past events, either in my prior life, or events that have happened more recently. At other times, I try to bring some order and sanity to various possible futures, if I take certain actions.
At this moment, sitting in that interrogation room, I seemed to have two simultaneous thought patterns running through my head. On one thought track, I kept thinking back to that bloody suite and how Papa Locks and that monster were able to hide in what must have been almost plain sight and why exactly Drake would have wanted them to make such a mess of things. The second track of my thoughts, was on my possible actions from this point, do I cooperate with the Police and expect them to believe the truth of my innocence? Can I hope that my friends will believe in my innocence as well and that they will do what they can to free me? Are my friends even still alive? Did Papa Locks get to them as well?
I cannot tell you how long I sat there exploring these various thoughts, they don’t allow clocks in interrogation rooms-you want the perps to be divorced from as much reality as possible in those rooms, but I finally came to the conclusion that I couldn’t wait any longer to find out some information on what was going on at that resort.
I opened myself to the Spirit World and allowed my Spirit to slip from my body, still sitting there defiant and stiff, and to slide down the drain in the floor underneath the table. (These rooms all have tiled floors with a slight dip in the center with a drain at the center of the dip--it is much easier to clean up the blood and such with a hose, you know, in case things get rough.)
That drain openned up into my usual entry into the Underworld. I was in my usual form, which looked an awful lot like how I looked when I was alive. I breathed deep the air in the clearing, enjoying the scent of pine and clean, fresh air. The breeze felt so good on my skin. I could standf there and enjoy the feeling of being alive forever, but Ihad people I needed to call and things I needed to find out, so reluctantly, I took of at a slow jog for the meeting place where I usually met John Red Bear.
Within minutes, I was in our special meeting place. I sat down in the middle of that place, crossed my legs and raised my arms and my voice to the darkened sky. I started softly, but gradually raised my voice in that rhythmic chant that John had taught me what seemed like ages ago, the Spirit Call Chant. I don’t know what the words meant, only how to pronounce them, and in what order to recite them. If John could come, he would. But to be sure of some sort of response, I also pictured the images of Herne, Ravyn, the Frau and Cerrydwen, hoping that one or all of them could come to me.
My first warning that tings weren’t going to as well as I would have liked was when I heard the distant howling of wolves. The sounds grew closer and closer as I finished my chant, and the grew silent when I did as well. I could hear the rustling of branches and could just make out the multiple sets of red colored eyes as the shadow wolves padded about the clearing, but stayed just on the outside.
Realizing this did not bode well, I got back up and prepared for a fight. I could feel my body form shifting into my current form in the real world. It was strange, sort of like putting on a suit of armor. I flicked my wrist, and my familiar baton dropped into place. A second flick and its length was extended. I wasn’t at all sure how effective this thing would be against these kinds of foes, but I was ready for action nonetheless.
What I wasn’t ready for however, was that all too familiar cackling laughter of El Diablito. His bony little form emerged from the darkness of the forest edge and he virtually pranced into the clearing. The wolves paid him no heed as they continued to circle without advancing.
“Hee hee,” he cackled. “Do you like my friends Rusty? That is what you are called now, isn’t it my friend?”
“Yeah. Thanks to the shit you and those other pricks did.”
His eyes danced nearly as much as his feet did, “Woo hoo! Don’t you like your immortality Rusty? So many others would give nearly anything to have eternal life!”
“Some life, you prick. What the fuck are you doing here anyway?”
“Ah, so direct. I am fine, thank you very much. We haven’t seen you in quite some time now, and you are missed my son. Drake wants you to come back to us. He has read your words, he feels your pain. Won’t you come back to us now? Can’t we end this little fight between us?”
“Fuck you. I have seen the shit you would have me do. That monster that Papa Locks was dragging around has your fingerprints all over it, you sick bastard. I can’t believe that you would kill so many innocent people just to get me into trouble. Why?”
“Hee hee! Innocent people indeed. Don’t you know my boy, there is no such thing as innocence? Evil lies within us all. It is who and what we are. Most humans deceive themselves into thinking they are good at heart even though they are as evil as the rest of us when it comes down to it. The Darkness Within is what gives us all strength and desire, what drives us to survive in the face of insurmountable odds. It is that which allows you to continue to survive even after my best spells and charms were destroyed! You have such strength, child. Come with me, join us! I will teach you how to harness that Darkness and to become greater than you could ever imagine!”
“You shit, I’m not falling for any damn Join-the-Dark-Side fucking speech. This ain’t no fucking
George Lucas movie, this is life! There are real damn people dying up there, and for what?”
That tirade stopped his dancing. He stopped, turned towards me, eyes locked into mine and spoke with a clear, dangerous voice. “You are right. This is not a movie, there are real consequences to your choices Rusty. If you continue to fight us, if you insist on joining forces with this group you have cast your lot with, they will have to be eliminated.”
“Wait a minute...”
“No, there is no more waiting. You have seen what we are capable of. We have other tools at our disposal that you have not even imagined. If you value these people, these ORCs,” he practically spat that word out. “Then you will stop this nonsense and come back to us now. Otherwise, we will have to treat them as more than the mere nuisance they have been up to now.
“We have had spies in that group for sometime now. We have not had to move against them until now because they were of no real consequence. They are charlatains and apprentices playing at being sorcerors. But since they had been keeping to themselves and hadn’t overstepped their abilities, there was no need to deal with them previously. If you insist in throwing in your lot with them, they will pay a price that you will have caused them to pay. Can your recently found conscience stand that?
“This is your last to save the lives of those dear, sweet people. There will be no more offers, no more subtle messages.”
“Subtle, my ass. Your monster killed eight fucking people. I don’t even know what you want me for, I won’t kill people like that monster!”
“No, we have never asked you to kill, Rusty. We have only killed because we have needed to, in order to save others. Come back to us and your role will be properly explained to you. But be assured, your role is absolutely vital.”
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “Even if I wanted to join you again, I’m sort of stuck you know. I am presently in an interrogation room at Police Headquarters. I don’t exactly have the option to get up and leave.”
He smiled, the kind of cold, dead smile I that remembered Drake making when he spoke. “If you agree, here and now, to stop this resistance, to come back to us peacefully, all of this will be cleared up quite quickly.”
“How do I know you haven’t already hurt or killed some of my friends?”
“You don’t. But that uncertainty will disappear if you don’t agree. You know all too well how long the process can take with some police departments. By the time you make any headway in that, I can guarantee that none of your friends or their allies will survive until you are freed if you don’t agree.”
“Well, that just leaves me with a real damn choice now, doesn’t it?”
He held out his hands to his sides, palms up in the way that says, ‘So what?’
A moment of silence passed, before I decided to play along, at least for now. I took my baton and tossed it to the side, still within the clearing, but no longer in the middle, where I was. I looked around at the still circling wolves and then back to El Diablito. “Alright, I’ll come back. I promise to behave this time. I’ll do anything you ask, as long as I don’t have to kill anyone.”
He smiled, this time with what seemed like genuine affection, “Very well then. Return to your body and wait there. Someone will come for you soon and release you to the custody of another FBI Agent. Go with that agent, he is an ally of ours. He will take you to a warehouse where you will be given further directions. But be warned, if you resist in any way, or bring any danger or unwarranted attention to our operations, you will be neutralized but only after we destroy the ORCs.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
It is simultaneously easier and harder to wait patiently in one place now that it was when I was alive. It is easier because I don’t have any of those pesky biological urges that people get when they are forced to sit in one place. I never have to yawn, sneeze, fart, belch, or even take a leak. It is often harder though because without any of those biological distractions, I am left with the racing thoughts of an otherwise undistracted mind. This can lead to running through a lot of different scenarios in one’s head.
As I sure you are well aware of by now, I was never mistaken for a person who had problems with overthinking situations. That was one reason I was pretty good at most sports that I played in my youth, and probably the best reason for why I was a good fighter, both before and during my police career. When you can just free your body to act and react according to situations as they develop, you can become a pretty good athlete, and a great fighter. Often, when you see a great athlete fail in a crucial moment, it is because he is running through all of the consequences of failure or success in his mind, and his thoughts get in the way of his natural, honed abilities to succeed.
I was never a great athlete, I simply lacked the raw talent to excell in any sport, but I was a great scrapper, or fighter. I often took down guys nearly twice my size when they needed taking down. My fearless tenacity and ability to ignore pain allowed me to win a number of fights that even I would have figured I couldn’t win.
But lately, I have found myself more often distracted by my own racing thoughts. It’s almost funny in a way, now that I truly don’t have to fear death, or even pain anymore, I can’t stop thinking about things.
Sometimes I focus on past events, either in my prior life, or events that have happened more recently. At other times, I try to bring some order and sanity to various possible futures, if I take certain actions.
At this moment, sitting in that interrogation room, I seemed to have two simultaneous thought patterns running through my head. On one thought track, I kept thinking back to that bloody suite and how Papa Locks and that monster were able to hide in what must have been almost plain sight and why exactly Drake would have wanted them to make such a mess of things. The second track of my thoughts, was on my possible actions from this point, do I cooperate with the Police and expect them to believe the truth of my innocence? Can I hope that my friends will believe in my innocence as well and that they will do what they can to free me? Are my friends even still alive? Did Papa Locks get to them as well?
I cannot tell you how long I sat there exploring these various thoughts, they don’t allow clocks in interrogation rooms-you want the perps to be divorced from as much reality as possible in those rooms, but I finally came to the conclusion that I couldn’t wait any longer to find out some information on what was going on at that resort.
I opened myself to the Spirit World and allowed my Spirit to slip from my body, still sitting there defiant and stiff, and to slide down the drain in the floor underneath the table. (These rooms all have tiled floors with a slight dip in the center with a drain at the center of the dip--it is much easier to clean up the blood and such with a hose, you know, in case things get rough.)
That drain openned up into my usual entry into the Underworld. I was in my usual form, which looked an awful lot like how I looked when I was alive. I breathed deep the air in the clearing, enjoying the scent of pine and clean, fresh air. The breeze felt so good on my skin. I could standf there and enjoy the feeling of being alive forever, but Ihad people I needed to call and things I needed to find out, so reluctantly, I took of at a slow jog for the meeting place where I usually met John Red Bear.
Within minutes, I was in our special meeting place. I sat down in the middle of that place, crossed my legs and raised my arms and my voice to the darkened sky. I started softly, but gradually raised my voice in that rhythmic chant that John had taught me what seemed like ages ago, the Spirit Call Chant. I don’t know what the words meant, only how to pronounce them, and in what order to recite them. If John could come, he would. But to be sure of some sort of response, I also pictured the images of Herne, Ravyn, the Frau and Cerrydwen, hoping that one or all of them could come to me.
My first warning that tings weren’t going to as well as I would have liked was when I heard the distant howling of wolves. The sounds grew closer and closer as I finished my chant, and the grew silent when I did as well. I could hear the rustling of branches and could just make out the multiple sets of red colored eyes as the shadow wolves padded about the clearing, but stayed just on the outside.
Realizing this did not bode well, I got back up and prepared for a fight. I could feel my body form shifting into my current form in the real world. It was strange, sort of like putting on a suit of armor. I flicked my wrist, and my familiar baton dropped into place. A second flick and its length was extended. I wasn’t at all sure how effective this thing would be against these kinds of foes, but I was ready for action nonetheless.
What I wasn’t ready for however, was that all too familiar cackling laughter of El Diablito. His bony little form emerged from the darkness of the forest edge and he virtually pranced into the clearing. The wolves paid him no heed as they continued to circle without advancing.
“Hee hee,” he cackled. “Do you like my friends Rusty? That is what you are called now, isn’t it my friend?”
“Yeah. Thanks to the shit you and those other pricks did.”
His eyes danced nearly as much as his feet did, “Woo hoo! Don’t you like your immortality Rusty? So many others would give nearly anything to have eternal life!”
“Some life, you prick. What the fuck are you doing here anyway?”
“Ah, so direct. I am fine, thank you very much. We haven’t seen you in quite some time now, and you are missed my son. Drake wants you to come back to us. He has read your words, he feels your pain. Won’t you come back to us now? Can’t we end this little fight between us?”
“Fuck you. I have seen the shit you would have me do. That monster that Papa Locks was dragging around has your fingerprints all over it, you sick bastard. I can’t believe that you would kill so many innocent people just to get me into trouble. Why?”
“Hee hee! Innocent people indeed. Don’t you know my boy, there is no such thing as innocence? Evil lies within us all. It is who and what we are. Most humans deceive themselves into thinking they are good at heart even though they are as evil as the rest of us when it comes down to it. The Darkness Within is what gives us all strength and desire, what drives us to survive in the face of insurmountable odds. It is that which allows you to continue to survive even after my best spells and charms were destroyed! You have such strength, child. Come with me, join us! I will teach you how to harness that Darkness and to become greater than you could ever imagine!”
“You shit, I’m not falling for any damn Join-the-Dark-Side fucking speech. This ain’t no fucking
George Lucas movie, this is life! There are real damn people dying up there, and for what?”
That tirade stopped his dancing. He stopped, turned towards me, eyes locked into mine and spoke with a clear, dangerous voice. “You are right. This is not a movie, there are real consequences to your choices Rusty. If you continue to fight us, if you insist on joining forces with this group you have cast your lot with, they will have to be eliminated.”
“Wait a minute...”
“No, there is no more waiting. You have seen what we are capable of. We have other tools at our disposal that you have not even imagined. If you value these people, these ORCs,” he practically spat that word out. “Then you will stop this nonsense and come back to us now. Otherwise, we will have to treat them as more than the mere nuisance they have been up to now.
“We have had spies in that group for sometime now. We have not had to move against them until now because they were of no real consequence. They are charlatains and apprentices playing at being sorcerors. But since they had been keeping to themselves and hadn’t overstepped their abilities, there was no need to deal with them previously. If you insist in throwing in your lot with them, they will pay a price that you will have caused them to pay. Can your recently found conscience stand that?
“This is your last to save the lives of those dear, sweet people. There will be no more offers, no more subtle messages.”
“Subtle, my ass. Your monster killed eight fucking people. I don’t even know what you want me for, I won’t kill people like that monster!”
“No, we have never asked you to kill, Rusty. We have only killed because we have needed to, in order to save others. Come back to us and your role will be properly explained to you. But be assured, your role is absolutely vital.”
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “Even if I wanted to join you again, I’m sort of stuck you know. I am presently in an interrogation room at Police Headquarters. I don’t exactly have the option to get up and leave.”
He smiled, the kind of cold, dead smile I that remembered Drake making when he spoke. “If you agree, here and now, to stop this resistance, to come back to us peacefully, all of this will be cleared up quite quickly.”
“How do I know you haven’t already hurt or killed some of my friends?”
“You don’t. But that uncertainty will disappear if you don’t agree. You know all too well how long the process can take with some police departments. By the time you make any headway in that, I can guarantee that none of your friends or their allies will survive until you are freed if you don’t agree.”
“Well, that just leaves me with a real damn choice now, doesn’t it?”
He held out his hands to his sides, palms up in the way that says, ‘So what?’
A moment of silence passed, before I decided to play along, at least for now. I took my baton and tossed it to the side, still within the clearing, but no longer in the middle, where I was. I looked around at the still circling wolves and then back to El Diablito. “Alright, I’ll come back. I promise to behave this time. I’ll do anything you ask, as long as I don’t have to kill anyone.”
He smiled, this time with what seemed like genuine affection, “Very well then. Return to your body and wait there. Someone will come for you soon and release you to the custody of another FBI Agent. Go with that agent, he is an ally of ours. He will take you to a warehouse where you will be given further directions. But be warned, if you resist in any way, or bring any danger or unwarranted attention to our operations, you will be neutralized but only after we destroy the ORCs.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
To (Un)Live and Die in Las Vegas...Part 5
Once at Police Headquarters, I was hustled out of the van quickly and taken back to be fingerprinted. I was being escorted by two of the burlier officers who clearly had no idea that I could have easily snapped the cuffs on my wrists and the chains that they had placed around my ankles before we got out of the van. I had no intention of resisting though, since I knew how dangerous and often thankless a job it can be to be a police officer in a large metro area. I knew I was innocent and that it would only be a matter of time before they would release me, even if Papa Locks and Drake had done their best to set me up. I was confident that Jennifer's spirit would help to provide the details to my friends of what actually happened.
Imagine the surprise on the fingerprint tech's face and on the faces of the officers who were with me when they uncuffed me and then took my leather gloves off, only to see no flesh from which to obtain fingerprints. He (the fingerprint technician) actually recoiled in shock and horror to see hand comprised only of metal plated bones connected by strange wires that served as both nerves and connective tissues.
I do my best to clean away any decaying flesh as I see it, but the place where the flesh from my arm ends, is pretty gruesome looking, and is probably putrid smelling as well, so I usually make sure to wrap my wrists in clingy plastic wrap and then keep my gloves on almost all of the time, especially when I am out in public.
The officer on my left gasped as he saw (and maybe smelled) bare hands and the raw, ragged edge of the flesh at my wrist. He seemed to turn several shades of green, and shifted his weight ever so slightly away from me.
The other officer was more blunt, "What the fuck..?"
The technician looked up from my skeletal hand, "What are you mister?"
I tried to keep the smile from my face, "It would take more than a little explaining. But as I told the commander back at the scene, I am an FBI Agent. You obviously will not be able to take my fingerprints. I would recommend that you take me to a holding cell or to an interview room and I will be more than happy to explain myself and this whole situation to someone. I would prefer to do so only once."
The officer on my right, a sergeant according to the stripes on his sleave, said, "Uh yeah Charlie, I don't think we'll be needing you to print this guy. We'll take him to room 6, do you think you can call the Captain of the Watch and ask him to call me?"
Charlie nodded, holding out my gloves towards me with the very tips of his fingers, still obviously repulsed. He visibly flinched when my shiny, skeletal hand reached out and grabbed the gloves. He backed away from the processing counter to a smaller desk just behind him, where he busied himself by picking up the phone and dialing some numbers on the keypad.
The sergeant pointed down the hall to our left, so I shuffled off in that direction, still holding the gloves in my left hand. They followed, each to side, just a half step behind me.
We got a lot of strange looks from other officers and from several detainees, one such guy was obviously inebriated and therefore seemed a little less shocked than most of the others, probably saw me as just another alcohol induced vision.
A couple of turns later and through an alarmed, locked door I was led to a short hall where there were a number of interview rooms, each with the required audio-visual equipment for taping confessions and the one-way windows that allowed folks outside of the rooms to observe what was happening inside.
Room six was your standard interview room, pretty barren inside, with only a single large table and four chairs by it. All police departments must order from the same Korean War-era catalogs, since this old, dented furniture could have easily been in my own department back in the day. Once inside the room, I was told where to sit, as the junior officer reached down behind me and snapped my leg iron chain into a solid steel ring that was underneath the chair. Ideally, that would prevent me from being able to escape.
Once I was 'secured', the sergeant and his young partner left, looking back uneasily as they secured the door.
For the first time in my exsistence, I was sitting in the 'suspect' chair.
Imagine the surprise on the fingerprint tech's face and on the faces of the officers who were with me when they uncuffed me and then took my leather gloves off, only to see no flesh from which to obtain fingerprints. He (the fingerprint technician) actually recoiled in shock and horror to see hand comprised only of metal plated bones connected by strange wires that served as both nerves and connective tissues.
I do my best to clean away any decaying flesh as I see it, but the place where the flesh from my arm ends, is pretty gruesome looking, and is probably putrid smelling as well, so I usually make sure to wrap my wrists in clingy plastic wrap and then keep my gloves on almost all of the time, especially when I am out in public.
The officer on my left gasped as he saw (and maybe smelled) bare hands and the raw, ragged edge of the flesh at my wrist. He seemed to turn several shades of green, and shifted his weight ever so slightly away from me.
The other officer was more blunt, "What the fuck..?"
The technician looked up from my skeletal hand, "What are you mister?"
I tried to keep the smile from my face, "It would take more than a little explaining. But as I told the commander back at the scene, I am an FBI Agent. You obviously will not be able to take my fingerprints. I would recommend that you take me to a holding cell or to an interview room and I will be more than happy to explain myself and this whole situation to someone. I would prefer to do so only once."
The officer on my right, a sergeant according to the stripes on his sleave, said, "Uh yeah Charlie, I don't think we'll be needing you to print this guy. We'll take him to room 6, do you think you can call the Captain of the Watch and ask him to call me?"
Charlie nodded, holding out my gloves towards me with the very tips of his fingers, still obviously repulsed. He visibly flinched when my shiny, skeletal hand reached out and grabbed the gloves. He backed away from the processing counter to a smaller desk just behind him, where he busied himself by picking up the phone and dialing some numbers on the keypad.
The sergeant pointed down the hall to our left, so I shuffled off in that direction, still holding the gloves in my left hand. They followed, each to side, just a half step behind me.
We got a lot of strange looks from other officers and from several detainees, one such guy was obviously inebriated and therefore seemed a little less shocked than most of the others, probably saw me as just another alcohol induced vision.
A couple of turns later and through an alarmed, locked door I was led to a short hall where there were a number of interview rooms, each with the required audio-visual equipment for taping confessions and the one-way windows that allowed folks outside of the rooms to observe what was happening inside.
Room six was your standard interview room, pretty barren inside, with only a single large table and four chairs by it. All police departments must order from the same Korean War-era catalogs, since this old, dented furniture could have easily been in my own department back in the day. Once inside the room, I was told where to sit, as the junior officer reached down behind me and snapped my leg iron chain into a solid steel ring that was underneath the chair. Ideally, that would prevent me from being able to escape.
Once I was 'secured', the sergeant and his young partner left, looking back uneasily as they secured the door.
For the first time in my exsistence, I was sitting in the 'suspect' chair.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
To (Un)Live and Die in Las Vegas...Part 4
I have gathered myself and have resolved to continue with the narrative where we last left off...
Looking around the at the carnage in the suite, and being faced by several members of a Las Vegas Police Department tactical squad with weapons drawn, I dropped my baton and raised my hands.
I could see that at least one of the younger officers was about to lose his dinner, so I complied with all the instructions I was given. I didn’t need to add to the chaos by trying to resist these guys. I did indicate that I was an FBI Agent and that my credentials were in my jacket pocket.
They still handcuffed my ass, which is pretty much standard procedure when responding to a scene like this, so I didn’t take any offense. As they began to survey the room for any survivors, I was led from the room into the hallway. Two officers remained with me as another 4 searched the suite. The young man I had bribed on this floor by the elevator was busy talking to another officer further down the hall, clearly indicating that I was the only to come up the elevators in a little while, but I was too far away to hear any of the details.
Instead I listened as the team checking the suite called out that there were a total of 8 bodies inside the suite, and that no one was left alive. Since we were standing still, I used that chance to leave my body briefly to make contact with those spirits of the deceased that might still be lingering.
Jenny’s spirit was the only I could locate immediately, she was looking down at her broken body, still stunned in the way that some victims of sudden, violent deaths can be.
“Jennifer, I am so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I tried to save you.”
She looked back at me, eyes shimmering. “I know Mr. Bones. This whole gathering was a trap. That mean man with the dread locks told me about it just before you came up.”
“What happened, exactly?”
“Mr. Tinker invited us up for a little party to celebrate our first night of Convocation. I thought it would be a fun thing to see what the suites looked like here.”
“Who else was with you?”
She sobbed, “Eric was with me, and a couple of other students from different parts of the country. I don’t remember their names.”
“Then what happened?”
“While we were playing some music and starting to mingle, Mr. Tinker came out from his bedroom after making a phone call. Shortly after that, that evil man showed up with his monster that looked like you in some ways, but was so evil...it just started swinging it’s weapon. I don’t remember too much after that.”
“Did Mr. Tinker get attacked as well?”
“Yes. He was the first one that monster killed. He was screaming about b eing on their side, but it clubbed him down. It was horrible Mr. Bones.”
“Jennifer, can you do me a very big favor?”
She nodded.
“I need you to seek out Cerrydwen or John Redbear, they need to know what happened here, and that they are all in danger. Tell them I will be at the police station, under questioning. Please let them know that I didn’t have anything to do with this massacre. It looks like I have been set up to take the blame for this. Can you do this for me? It is very, very important?”
She nodded again, became even more translucent, and disappeared as she left to go find the others, or so I dearly hoped.
That whole conversation happened in the matter of seconds in real time, so it wasn’t even noticed that I was immobile for a moment by the officers who were watching me. I slid back into my body, felt the connection reform and shifted my weight from one foot to the other.
The one officer was done questioning the young man down the hall and was walking towards me. He was apparently the lead officer on the scene, as he directed the officers guarding me to take me down for transport, and to use the service elevator to avoid the public areas of the resort.
With a grunt, I was lead away and escorted down to a waiting police van. They were very careful to keep me out of sight from the general public. I walked with them calmly. There wasn’t much to say at this point, they hadn’t even read me my miranda rights, but I attributed that to the shock they must be experiencing, and hopefully to the doubts in their minds (however small they might be) that I was not the killer.
It was a quiet, lonely ride to the City of Las Vegas Police Headquaters.
Looking around the at the carnage in the suite, and being faced by several members of a Las Vegas Police Department tactical squad with weapons drawn, I dropped my baton and raised my hands.
I could see that at least one of the younger officers was about to lose his dinner, so I complied with all the instructions I was given. I didn’t need to add to the chaos by trying to resist these guys. I did indicate that I was an FBI Agent and that my credentials were in my jacket pocket.
They still handcuffed my ass, which is pretty much standard procedure when responding to a scene like this, so I didn’t take any offense. As they began to survey the room for any survivors, I was led from the room into the hallway. Two officers remained with me as another 4 searched the suite. The young man I had bribed on this floor by the elevator was busy talking to another officer further down the hall, clearly indicating that I was the only to come up the elevators in a little while, but I was too far away to hear any of the details.
Instead I listened as the team checking the suite called out that there were a total of 8 bodies inside the suite, and that no one was left alive. Since we were standing still, I used that chance to leave my body briefly to make contact with those spirits of the deceased that might still be lingering.
Jenny’s spirit was the only I could locate immediately, she was looking down at her broken body, still stunned in the way that some victims of sudden, violent deaths can be.
“Jennifer, I am so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I tried to save you.”
She looked back at me, eyes shimmering. “I know Mr. Bones. This whole gathering was a trap. That mean man with the dread locks told me about it just before you came up.”
“What happened, exactly?”
“Mr. Tinker invited us up for a little party to celebrate our first night of Convocation. I thought it would be a fun thing to see what the suites looked like here.”
“Who else was with you?”
She sobbed, “Eric was with me, and a couple of other students from different parts of the country. I don’t remember their names.”
“Then what happened?”
“While we were playing some music and starting to mingle, Mr. Tinker came out from his bedroom after making a phone call. Shortly after that, that evil man showed up with his monster that looked like you in some ways, but was so evil...it just started swinging it’s weapon. I don’t remember too much after that.”
“Did Mr. Tinker get attacked as well?”
“Yes. He was the first one that monster killed. He was screaming about b eing on their side, but it clubbed him down. It was horrible Mr. Bones.”
“Jennifer, can you do me a very big favor?”
She nodded.
“I need you to seek out Cerrydwen or John Redbear, they need to know what happened here, and that they are all in danger. Tell them I will be at the police station, under questioning. Please let them know that I didn’t have anything to do with this massacre. It looks like I have been set up to take the blame for this. Can you do this for me? It is very, very important?”
She nodded again, became even more translucent, and disappeared as she left to go find the others, or so I dearly hoped.
That whole conversation happened in the matter of seconds in real time, so it wasn’t even noticed that I was immobile for a moment by the officers who were watching me. I slid back into my body, felt the connection reform and shifted my weight from one foot to the other.
The one officer was done questioning the young man down the hall and was walking towards me. He was apparently the lead officer on the scene, as he directed the officers guarding me to take me down for transport, and to use the service elevator to avoid the public areas of the resort.
With a grunt, I was lead away and escorted down to a waiting police van. They were very careful to keep me out of sight from the general public. I walked with them calmly. There wasn’t much to say at this point, they hadn’t even read me my miranda rights, but I attributed that to the shock they must be experiencing, and hopefully to the doubts in their minds (however small they might be) that I was not the killer.
It was a quiet, lonely ride to the City of Las Vegas Police Headquaters.
Monday, April 04, 2005
My apologies...
It has not been my intention to have a lag of this length at a time in the narrative that leaves you wondering what happens next.
However, events of the moment have overtaken my attempts to tell this story. Even now, it is with a heavy heart, mourning the loss of a dear friend who has all too soon taken that last journey to the Otherworld, that I write these words.
The events that I am speaking of now follow as a direct result of the situation that developed in Las Vegas, so I must continue with that story when my fingers become less clumsy and my heart grows lighter, most likely tomorrow evening.
Until then...call someone you love and tell them so, hold someone dear to you close, and value what time we all have here together, because for some of us, it is too short indeed.
[Editor's Note: The posts in the blog, including this one, relate solely to the fictional world of Agent Rusty Bones.]
However, events of the moment have overtaken my attempts to tell this story. Even now, it is with a heavy heart, mourning the loss of a dear friend who has all too soon taken that last journey to the Otherworld, that I write these words.
The events that I am speaking of now follow as a direct result of the situation that developed in Las Vegas, so I must continue with that story when my fingers become less clumsy and my heart grows lighter, most likely tomorrow evening.
Until then...call someone you love and tell them so, hold someone dear to you close, and value what time we all have here together, because for some of us, it is too short indeed.
[Editor's Note: The posts in the blog, including this one, relate solely to the fictional world of Agent Rusty Bones.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
