Novels2Search

Chapter 38: The Old Lady

A group of 400 streamers were gathered in the press conference room at Saffron Police headquarters. The police press agent ran late because it was customary to run twenty minutes late at press conferences to allow streamers to network and set up their webcams. The situation at the admiralty had been over for four hours by this point. There were rumors and fear was ripe throughout the city. Saffron was on lockdown due to terrorism.

The police press agent walked into the room. Everyone became quiet as she walked in. She said into the mic.

“The situation has been resolved. It appears to have been a lone madman who was disgruntled at the Navy. Simmie’s father has been notified. Mr. Tigs is already with his son and has taken a week off of work from managing his company. Brinus is recovering in the hospital. It appears that was a lone attack as well. Some social media posts were made along the lines of fuck Brinus he needs to die. We haven’t been able to trace the angry stalker but we have found the account the threats were made from. They made it from the account FuckBrinus001. It was registered under the disposable email Kissmyassyousuck002 confirmed with an anonymous number. It looks like it was a syndicate hit. The Orin syndicate is working with us to find out who did it. Also, the situation with the Lapori Tangent is being investigated. We don’t know who fired the Antimatter disperser but we do know where it came from. It was from the outer rim of an old pirate faction left over from the third pirate wars. It appears they got ahold of some old weapons in an abandoned cache. A manifesto was released hours before the terrorist attack by the group Cambies for Life which is an extremist organization with anti-government views. This too was a separate and unrelated incident as well. Thank you, that is all.”

The room was stunned into silence at the level of lies the government was putting out. No one believed her at this point.

The press agent left the podium, and two random streamers in the front row leaned next to each other. “I think they are covering something up.” One said.

“I bet that suicide earlier wasn’t a suicide. Maybe Marci escaped prison, and all of these attacks are her trying to get out of the city.” The other replied.

“Well, I will be digging for sure.”

“Wanna swap notes and do a podcast next week about it?”

“Sure, what time?” One asked.

“About 0800 hours?”

“What about 1200 hours? I do my podcasts after brunch.”

“If we do 1200 hours, it will have to be Friday.”

“Okay, I can do 1200 hours on Friday.”

----------------------------------------

Brinus was in his uniform as he walked out of the hospital. The main entrance was on a hill with a four-tier marble staircase. It was lined with trees and purple flowers. He threw away the bottle of 6mg nicotine vape juice in a trash can outside of the main entrance of the ER. He filled the cartridge with nicotine-free juice from the hospital Pharmacy. He also relied on a cane and was physically weak.

Immediately, 60 streamers surrounded Brinus at the third tear of the staircase. They all shouted at once. Brinus got onto the stairs and whistled with his hands as loud as he could using his mouth.

“One person at a time! You! Buckingham!” Brinus started with Buckingham because he liked her morning news show; The Bucking Truth. It was the straightforwardness of her show.

She stepped forward and said, “Why did the federation try to poison you, and where is your mother?”

Brinus cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Several press members laughed. Buckingham laughed and then crossed her arms, “Come on, Brinus, we know you aren’t that dumb.”

Brinus began twirling his vape between his fingers and smiled. “If I was poisoned by the federation, and if my mother escaped from jail, surely she would be trying to flee the city by now.”

Four hospital cops came up to Brinus to form a perimeter to protect him.

“So if we are discussing hypotheticals, where could she be? Hypothetically, of course.” Buckingham pressed.

Brinus put his nicotine-free vape between his lips and said with a smile as the smoke escaped his mouth. “If I were her, and since we are discussing hypotheticals, I would be disguised as an elderly woman and possibly using nanites to hide my DNA at the spaceport.”

Everyone was silent. Suddenly someone pushed through the crowd. Before the cops could stop him, a large black man punched Brinus across the face, making him see stars.

“You should have protected my son, you bastard!”

All four cops drew their shock sticks and jammed them into Simmie’s Dad’s chest and stomach, causing him to fall. They then cuffed him and put him in the back of a police car.

Simmie yelled, holding Brinus from retaliating, “Dad, I’m okay! It wasn’t his fault!”

Simmie came up to Brinus and kissed him passionately.

Everyone cheered and clapped.

Those two moments would become a meme for the rest of time on the net.

A cop came up to Brinus. “Do you wish to press charges?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

Brinus nodded.

Brinus Pushed through the crowd as Simmie’s father was released from the police car. Simmie had his arm around his shoulder, and they both smiled as they walked to Simmie’s dad’s limo.

They got into the back, and Brinus put some ice on his lip. “You’ve got one hell of a right hook. What’s your name?”

“Tigs. You can call me Dad. Simmie texts me about you every day.” Despite the punch, he was being nice. It was a testament to how fatherly he was. He was admirable as such.

Brinus ruffled Simmie’s and then kissed his neck. “He says I am his teddy bear.”

Tigs laughed and said, “I am glad you make my son happy and keep him safe. I wouldn’t choose you as a mate for him, but he joined the navy to make his own path.”

Brinus and Simmie held hands and cuddled all the way to the great house.

----------------------------------------

An hour later Brinus was in his drawing room with Tigs. Now that Brinus had a good look at his father-in-law he was in a custom-tailored business suit, custom-made dress shoes, had salt and pepper gray hair, and brown skin, and he had a dad bod. He looked like he was thirty but Brinus knew he was in his 50s. He looked too vital and youthful to have smoked.

Brinus chewed his nails and shook his leg.

Tigs came up from his seat and poured himself some brandy on the end table by the fireplace. “If you need to smoke, this is your house. I won’t judge.”

“I hate myself when I smoke. I’ve tried to quit multiple times but can’t.”

Tigs smiled and leaned against the baroque paneling on the walls. “Did you know less than three percent of smokers successfully quit if they smoked for more than five years? AA nicotine is a bitch, isn’t it?”

Brinus pulled out his vape and filled it with his regular nicotine formula as his hands shook. He then took a long puff. “Why?”

“Money.”

Brinus laughed sadistically and then said with a sneer, “Were quarterly projections worth killing Simmie’s mother, or giving your son lung cancer and permanent lung damage, or making me an addict for life?”

“No, they weren’t. You’re looking at one of the few Tarken Tea CEOs with a conscience.”

Brinus took a draw and blew smoke into Tigs’s face. “What do you plan to do about it?”

Tigs coughed and then said, “I know someone who can help you quit for good. There are drugs right now in initial testing, and they show promise. I can sign you up for the first human trials if you want me to.”

Brinus twirled the device between his fingers. ’I have tried the patch, quitting cold turkey, quitting with medical assistance, the shot, and the vaporizer. What the fuck? Why not?’ He thought.

Brinsu smiled. “Sure. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I will put you down for next week’s rounds when the drug is approved for human trials.”

Brinus crossed his legs, taking off his shoes and socks. “That’s a start. But why are you helping me?”

Tigs sighed and poured another shot of brandy. “Tigs sighed and poured another shot of brandy. “Investing in you is investing in my son. After his mother died, I wanted a stronger relationship with him. I should have forced him to stop smoking when he was started at 14.”

Brinus cocked an eyebrow and then crossed his legs. “Can you pour me a glass? No water and two rocks.”

----------------------------------------

The Immigration office had rows of computer terminals and navy troopers working the desks. The registration room had red and black granite floors and marble paneled walls with mirrors inside the eight-block paneling, like an eighteenth-century palace.

There was a chandelier with crystal beads that emitted light over the painted mural ceiling. The room was quiet with about eight people at various desks. The sound of typing on mechanical keyboards could be heard. The room smelled sterile, almost like an air freshener and cleaning fluid had recently been applied.

Marci was in the immigration office at the spaceport. She held her purse in her hands and was disguised as an elderly woman. The navy trooper asked in a bored monotone voice, “What is your favorite color?”

Marci sighed, and shouted at the man, “What the fuck does that have to do with boarding my ship.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Answer the question or I will call the police and have you arrested for disrupting the peace and refusal to comply with a lawful order.”

Marci rolled her eyes and snarled, “Bright red.”

After being stuck in the lobby for four hours and then being asked code word questions like ‘what her favorite color was’, they knew she was here. She waited for the detectives to do the routine cheek swab and give them the all-clear signal.

She pulled out a breath freshener and sprayed her mouth.

“Again, ma’am, how do you spell that?”

Marci said through gritted teeth, “B-r-i-g-h-t red.”

“How do you spell red?”

“R-E-D!”

The navy trooper sighed, “Ma’am, this is your final warning. Now, who is your favorite teacher?”

Marci knew the detectives were on their way. That last question was a signal to the other Navy Troopers that the police were arriving. She took a deep breath and said, “Aldeon.”

Aldeon was the name of an obscure temple spirit in Saffron at a shrine near the Magi Headquarters.

“Aldeon who?”

Just then five detectives came into the immigration room.

The detective sergeant shouted, “Good afternoon everyone, we are here to do routine cheek swabs as part of new security measures brought by the war.”

Everyone tensed up. Immediately several people began asking questions in rapid succession.

“Is the terrorist Marci in here?”

“Why do you want to do cheek swabs? Are we guilty of something?”

“Will the spaceport be attacked by the federation?”

“Is my life in danger? What about my wife and kids?”

The detectives realized the public knew what was going on, and keeping up the lie by this point would cause more panic.

The sergeant made a judgment call and said in a low, gravelly police voice. “Okay, we suspect Marci is in this building. The terrorist attacks at the admiralty and the poisoning of Brinus Helios are part of a plan to help her escape. They were a misdirection attempt. We don’t know exactly where she is in the spaceport. Smokestack has made a full recovery and will be able to resume his Navy Duties next Monday. However, he will have to cancel his next fight. Please! Cooperate and we can end the lockdown for everyone sooner!”

Everyone was scared into compliance. The cheek swabs took five minutes and no one said a word or resisted. The detectives came up to Marci, but her cheek swab was negative. She had put nanites in her mouth with the breath freshener just before the cops arrived.

The detective came over the radio. “The terrorist is not in the immigration building. We have swabbed everyone.”

A voice came over the radio, “Damn. The AI said there was 82.46% she was in that building. We will have to tear apart the spaceport. Keep everyone detained.”

“Yes, sir.”

The five detectives left the room. Marci knew at some point, due to political pressure, they would reopen the port, so all she had to do was wait.

----------------------------------------

It had been a couple of days, and as Tigs had promised, he deemed Brinus the first person to trial his new drug. Brinus sat in a medical examination room that had hardly seen the faces of people in a while in one of Tigs’s local unused clinics. He noticed the thin lining of dust and the seldom flicker of the overhead light. Tigs came in wearing a lab coat and had a tray of medical tools.

Brinus thought this was all an unnecessary step in the process. “Y’know, if you wanted me to take the drug, we could’ve done this outside at the park.”

“Nah, we need a sterile environment where I can examine your vitals and take a baseline.” Tigs started with the more difficult tests first. “You’re not afraid of needles are you?”

“Needles should be afraid of me.” Brinus cocked back and extended his arm. Tigs took a stretchy strap and tied it around his bicep, tapped for a vein, and jabbed him. The syringe filled with no reaction from Brinus.

Tigs moved on. “Very good. Now, let’s take your blood pressure.” He did so, putting a cuff and letting a machine inflate and squeeze his arm. Tigs continued. “Ok, now for your temperature.” Simply enough, Brinus’s forehead was read with an infrared thermometer, resulting in a second. “All is normal here. Ok, some unconventional stuff.” Tigs opened a case and it hissed with cold air and frosty vapor. He took out a little metal rod. “Let me know if this is cold or feels painful.” He put the rod to his wrist.

“Cold,” Brinus said, and he put the rod to his knee. “Cold,” He said again. Then on his neck just under his chin. “Cold.”

“You’re not just being tough, are you? Simmie told me you can be stubborn.”

Brinus scoffed. “Nah man, I’m being honest, really.”

Tigs nodded. “Sure you are. I’m sure our second patient will be the same.” He took out another rod from another case. He sat it upright in some kind of holster, and in a moment, he took it and held it by its handle on one end. “Ok, this one is hot. Same as before, let me know what you feel.”

“Your results may be tainted,” Brinus said. “I’m fireproof.”

“I know, but we have to go through the motions and record it for documentation. There may be others that are different kinds of element proof such as yourself. So, we gotta try.”

“I hear ya.” Brinus agreed and lifted his wrist. Tigs applied the warmed rod and Brinus reacted. He jerked his hand away, held it, and recoiled in pain. “Fuck that’s HOT!” He yelled out.

“I thought you were fireproof?”

“Me fucking too! What is that?” Brinus rubbed his wrist and Tigs looked at the warm rod with confusion.

“This isn’t even that hot.” He touched it with his fingers a few times to show that it didn’t burn at all.

“Oh, I think I know what going on.” He sighed and took a labored breath with realization. “I’m in a weakened state from being poisoned. I think the magic that gives me that ability isn’t working.” Brinus had to be sure and tried one of the simplest of his spells. He snapped his fingers to create a flame he often did to light cigarettes back in the days he smoked them. Nothing. Not even sparks. He kept trying while Tigs packed up his medical equipment. Snap.

“Ok, well-” Snap. “-aside from one anomaly-” Snap. “We’re done-” Snap. “here-” Snap. “I have the drug right-” Snap. “-here. Do you-” Snap. “need water?” Snap. “Please stop.” Snap. “It’s obviously not-” Snap. “-working, just stop.” Finally, Brinus looked at Tigs and snapped one last time to stick it to him like it was rude to even ask. He was angry and disappointed. “Brinus, I’m confident your powers will return when you’re fully recovered. Right now, you’re considered a normal person and we couldn’t have better conditions to test the drug.” Tigs offered the little orange pill on a paper towel and presented a small cup of water. “Ok, time to take the pill. Let’s hope it works; for both of us.” Brinus took the pill and swallowed it without the need for water.

“Thanks for the birth control, you have my word that I won’t get your son pregnant.”

----------------------------------------

Marci had grown impatient waiting in the holding room. It was a simple room with a chair and a table meant for searching through luggage that may have been suspected of dangerous devices or weapons. There was no such bag, only Marci sat in the waiting room with her own mind tested by her detainment. The door was unlocked, and she could easily escape, it would be easy, very easy, but she had to wait and look as inconspicuous as possible. She needed to get off-world as soon as she could.

It had been a whole extra day, and she realized how much she was a wanted terrorist if they were going through this much trouble to capture her. She was tired, worn out, and to much dismay, almost out of mouth spray to conceal her DNA. The officers probably had enough DNA to clone her multiple times.

At last, at fucking last, an officer came into the room. “Miss? You’re free to go. The AI has deemed the likelihood that the terrorist has escaped or left the spaceport. The chances are only 17.11% now.”

Marci let out a deep sigh. “Are you sure? Terrorism is serious business.”

The officer shook his head. “We need to start canvasing the area and basically go door to door. Also, all the ships that have left are being checked, but the effort is growing thin. We need warrants to search further.”

Marci was beyond relieved. That meant the ship she would be boarding wouldn’t be searched for her. “Well, I hope you find the terrorist.” She had to be careful not to say ‘her’ or give any detail unknowingly. The officer gestured with an arm and hand for her to leave. Finally free.

Marci took her leave, got on a ship going to a neutral planet, and was beyond excited and looking forward to taking off her disguise.

----------------------------------------

It was only a few hours after Brinus had taken the medication. Tigs had taken his vitals once again at the two-hour mark, but the day was growing dim and the sun had set. Night came, and he skipped dinner, his stomach was a knot, sour, and his lack of appetite was a fortress standing against all food. Looking at any snacks, even his favorites, turned his nose upward and he physically recoiled. He went to sleep without food in his stomach and he soon learned that was a benefit.

The night was hot to him, he didn’t know how to deal with hot affecting him. His covers were kicked off, and he did his best not to disturb Simmie. He sweated profusely, and his skin stuck to the sheets. He sat up and breathed heavily with a shortness of breath. He rubbed his eyes and when they were closed, he could sense the outward reach like someone had tried to grasp at him. He jerked and focused his blurred vision, and looked around the room. He could’ve sworn that someone was in the room, and reached for the lamp. It turned on but flickered out, and in the new darkness, a figure had appeared. It was an old woman, and she was standing at the foot of the bed.

“Who the fuck are you!?” He yelled and stood up. “I’m going to fuck you up for being here.” He turned to turn the lamp back on but found that there was no lamp. There was a hand placed on his shoulder, and he whipped around with an elbow looking to connect it with the unfortunate person’s face. All he encountered was air, and again, nobody was there. He crawled over Simmie and turned his lamp on, and it illuminated the room. “Simmie,” He jostled him and he groaned. “Simmie, someone is in the room, you need to get somewhere safe!” Simmie rolled over, and his face was that of an old lady. She screamed like a banshee and he jumped back and out of bed. Simmie’s lamp went out and he was in darkness again. He reached for his lamp again 0it turned on this time. In the light, Simmie was gone. “Simmie!?” He cried out and rushed from the room into the dark hallway. At the end of the hall was the woman, standing still. He could feel her grin and felt enraged. “Where’s Simmie!?” He yelled at her, and she didn’t move. Instead of running from the pure creepiness of this strange woman, he toward her. The hall felt endless but he only ran faster, and in a speeding rush, he caught up with her, tackled her, and sat on top of her so she couldn’t escape. She screamed again and the lights flickered. In the strobing hallway lights, Brinus got a good look at her, saw her face, and she laughed at him. She disappeared underneath him and Brinus fell flat onto the floor.

Brinus was now face-down in the bed again and went to turn the stupid lamp on, and it did. He saw Simmie was quietly sleeping and he disturbed him.

“What?” He groaned out of his slumber. “What’s going on?”

“Simmie, did you see the old woman? I’ve been chasing her and she’s here.”

“No, there isn’t an old woman. If there were, the biological detection alarms would go off. Go back to sleep.” He said, rolling back over.

“What was I running around chasing then?”

“You haven’t left the bed, you didn’t even thrash. Just go back to sleep, it’s just a dream.”

Everything made sense at that moment. It was a fever dream. He couldn’t go back to sleep after the ordeal, and his heat was too much to handle. He threw on a pair of shorts and stayed shirtless, he had a fever and was starving.

----------------------------------------

Brinus was exhausted but made the kitchen a victim of his hunger. Hovering over a full plate of food, he had a breakfast spread of pancakes, sausage and bacon, hashbrowns, eggs, orange juice, and a side of toast. Most of it had been eaten and there were no signs that he would slow down.

Simmie came to the kitchen to say good morning. “Hey, are you ok? You were really out of it last night.”

“Yeah, I’m fine now. I think the drug fucked with my head.” He admitted.

“Are you going to stop taking it?” Simmie asked, wondering genuinely.

“I’m no pussy. I feel perfectly fine now, just hungry.”

“That’s good. How about the cravings.” Simmie asked.

Brinus stuffed a wad of pancake into his mouth and talked around it. “I tried vaping, and it was the grossest, most foul thing I have ever encountered. I see how the drug works now. It takes all the pleasure and habit and reverses it. The opposite of Pavlov’s earth-dog.”

“The dumb ones?”

“Yeah, the dumb ones. I don’t want to vape or smoke at all.”

Simme nodded and was glad. “Medical help is perfectly acceptable. We sometimes need a little help, and there is no shame in that.”

Brinus downed some orange juice and cleared his mouth of food, ready for more. “I still feel like shit.” He attacked the salty and savory bacon. “Speaking of shit, what do you make of this?” He flipped over a paper that had been on the paper. On it was a woman. “I worked with an AI to compile a photo of the old lady I saw last night. Does it look like anyone you know?”

“Actually yeah,” Simmie said and held the photo up to show Brinus what he was talking about. “She definitely looks like an old version of your mother. It’s here in the eyes and ears.” Simmie pointed out, and Brinus had the realization.

“Fuck!” He cursed. “I need to call law enforcement! NOW!”

----------------------------------------

The police assembled to look over the photograph that was forwarded to them by Brinus. Everyone took their turn looking at it on their TriQuarters, and even the big screen in the room to see the finer details up close.

Many of them hadn’t seen her, and they were checking the video footage and AI security to find out where this woman was. They looked across the spaceport and anywhere within a 10-mile radius. They came up with nothing.

“Fuck we need to find this bitch! She’s a dangerous terrorist!” The police chief yelled.

One of the officers was late coming into the bullpen. He had obviously stopped and bought donuts and coffee for everyone. The late officer saw the face on the big screen. “Oh, I’ve seen that woman.” He said. The whole room stopped and looked at him. “What?” He asked.

“Where did you see her?” The chief yelled in his face, making him recoil.

“At the spaceport, I held her for almost 30 hours before the AI said the chances the terrorist was there was down to an unlikely 17%” He explained.

The chief slapped his palm into his face. “Where is she now? What ship did she get on?”

“Flight 1594.” He said. The chief tapped away at his TriQuarter to check the flight records. That specific flight had already made its way to the neutral planet and had unloaded its passengers.

Marci, the terrorist, succeeded in her escape.