Chapter 44

Life in the East

The next day I had time to collect the items from the temple and bring them back. I went solo, leaving Bandera at headquarters to listen in on Jack and Gerome. I was starting to get anxious about finding out what they’re really doing here. The girl in the bar gave me a vague hint, but it wasn’t until a few weeks later that we were really following what they were up to.

Clyde had made us all devices that would nullify the frequency of the Nightmare. He said that he had enough records of the Nightmare’s controlling waves to make something that would be 98.865 percent effective. So each of us had one, and in Clyde’s words, “As I might predict the future, you all may need one.”

We found out quite a bit in the next few weeks. We learned that Gerome was serious about killing Caine, mainly by getting help along the way. He had befriended Crimson and the Director, gang leaders working at the house on Division street. Gerome was trying to help them so their large clan of gangsters would be of use in finding and killing Caine. Jack, on the other hand was helping Freddy at the brothel, getting customers to pay their tabs. With this, Jack thought to be owed a favor by the influential and powerful owner of the bar and the Jungle, Freddy. All to take revenge on Caine.

Their backstory leading up to this included their lives in Black Ridge, a town on the planet Myriad D’fellan. Their lives as gangsters abruptly came to a standstill when a cohort of Canines came in and wiped out their gang and their gang leader, leaving, by mistake, Jack and Gerome. The two of them had decided to take revenge on the Canines and hit them where they figured it hurt the most, Caine, which they soon found out was the King of the Canines, as they came to Xenobia.

And now, after a few weeks on Xenobia, Gerome has finally made some headway in the game of life and found out that the best way to get things done is to just do it yourself, especially if you’re working with Crimson and the Director.

Which is where I was now, listening in on Gerome tell Jack about the heist later that day.

Bandera and I watched as Gerome went around, gathering up a few people and coordinating the Heist. Once that was done it all came off quickly and smoothly. I took the time they were away to go talk to Crimson and the Director.

I knocked on the front door of the House on Division as I’ve seen Gerome do once or twice. Barley, the monstrous bouncer opened the door, he eyed me. There wasn’t much of an angle to size me up, “Wat’chu want?”He said.

“I’m looking to make a deal with Crimson and the Director.”

“Is money involved?” He asked.

“Sure.”

He grunted and closed the door. I found out from the bugs we planted that the dialogue went like this: Barley,“There’s a Feline dressed like a spy asking to make a deal with you. Says there’s money.”

Crimson sighs as the Director says, “Alright let her in.”

A moment later Barley was back at the door and let me in. I walked up the stair and met them. The room was a mess. The two of them sat at a pair of desks cluttered with papers and a broken computer. They looked up at me as if they were busy with something.

“What is it.” The Director asked.

“You have a Gerome here?”

“Yes.” The Director said as Crimson was about to shout out the window for him.

“That’s fine.” I said, raising a hand to stop him. “He’s just gone to do this bank job with a couple of your guys.”

“That son of a bitch!” Crimson yelled. “When I get my hands on him—”

“Alright, alright. I’ll take him off of your hands for you. But listen, is he going to give you the money when he’s back?”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Of course.” The Director said.

Crimson nearly flipped his desk. “If he doesn’t, I’ll string him up and—”

“Okay, listen. I’ll take him off of your hands if you give me a share of what you get.”

“I’ll give you anything. That little brat—”

The Director held up his hand this time, “We’ll give you a share. Not anything and definitely not all of the funds received.”

“Good. So we have a deal.” I said, trying not to make it a long conversation. “I’ll be waiting outside.”

I left, jumped down the stairs and got in the Eclipse and took off before Barley could make it to the door. I wondered what they would’ve done to me if he did catch me.

I listened to the dialogue afterwards as soon as I got in.

“That good-cop-bad-cop trick works every time.” Crimson said. “We can give her Gerome and hardly any of that money.”

“We don’t have to give her a dime.” Crimson said.

“What do you mean?”

“We didn’t sign anything.”

Crimson let of a high pitch squealing laugh. “We really got her didn’t we!”

“Just wait till he’s back. Barley can deal with him and she can have whatever’s left.”

Crimson squealed again and I cut off the audio.

“Wow,” I told Bandera, “I didn’t think they were that stupid. I guess they don’t know I have a ship with five different ways to kill them.”

“We could fly by their window and give them a warning.” Bandera said.

“Hmm, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

We waited a moment for Gerome to come back, listening in on his progress by the dual bugs we had put in their cars, one in Jack’s car and one in Gerome’s yellow flying antique. It barely took an hour.

Gerome went in with two bags loaded with bank documents. We listened to the audio. It wasn’t going well, they had set Barley on him immediately, an unfair fight, sounded like Gerome was going to loose. We didn’t wait very long. His friend was still standing on the sidewalk, we swooped down and I yelled out of the cockpit, “Get in there, Gerome’s about to die!”

He fumbled with his cigarette and bag of money, threw the cigarette down and charged in.

We kept listening. There was a laser-gun shot and people scrambling around. Then Gerome ran out the front and his friend quickly joined up with him in the flying yellow antique and they took off. We stayed and listened to what they said as they recounted it on the way to Gerome’s apartment.

The two of them, Gerome and his friend Griff, had mentioned finding some sort of assassin, someone who will kill on command. That was easy enough when your a Feline. But Gerome was trying to find someone to do the job for him.

We switched the audio back to Crimson and the Director, but the voices we heard weren’t them. It took us a second but we recognized Jack’s voice and someone else named Friction. They were trying to decide, they way men usually decide, who was now in charge. It sounded like Jack was nearly being choked to death when Friction let up and they continued to hash it out, Jack not really wanting to be the leader, Friction took command of the house on Division.

We went to take a look at the damage.

There wasn’t much change we could find from the outside.

I had Bandera get out and try to get some information. I told her, “I’ll have your back just in case.”

She looked at me funny.

“There’s nearly fifty armed men in the backyard!”

She shrugged and stepped out onto the street and went to take a look inside.

I watched through her goggles, setting her screen in my left eye’s lens, and my right lens I watched through the window of the Eclipse. It was bit bit disorienting at first but I managed it, at least I wasn’t walking around.

Bandera went to the front door and knocked. Nobody answered, so she went around to the back, she was just in time to see two bodies wrapped in plastic trash bags being hauled over to the garage. She asked an innocent looking teenager, “Who got killed?”

“Crimson and the Director,” he said, a slight smile creeping up on his face.

“You killed them?”

“No.” He laughed a bit. “I thought about it once or twice. But the credits go to the foreigner with the black hair. Think his name’s Jack.”

“Thanks,” she said and nearly turned to walk away, but stopped to ask another question. “What do you do here all day long?”

“Nothing. Play cards, talk. Sometimes there’s a job I’m let in on and go help with a hit, sometimes it a threat and they need a few faces to scowl out the side of a car. Pay’s shit, but my ma still feeds me.”

I saw through her goggles that she nodded thoughtfully and then walked back to the Eclipse.

“You saw that?”

“Yep.” I said, turning off her side of my goggles. Things are changing here. Maybe for the better. Who knows.

We spent another hour watching as Jack wrapped up here. He had a long drive, apparently dropping off some people on his way to the bar. Before he could get out, a mangy Aves dropped down in front him and started talking. We heard that the Aves was named Fer. They discussed getting some food for them and Jack got back into his car and went to the house on Division.

What we saw was a bit disturbing. Jack had opened the garage as Fer and a whole lot of other Aves came in and devoured the bodies of Crimson and the Director. I could see on Jacks face that he shares our disgust. He left and we followed him back to the bar, this time he made it in.

By the sound of it, Jack had really scored some points from Freddy and was now be gifted the night off. His gift was in the form of the best gift an owner of a night club and brothel could give. That meant Jack was staying in one place for the next twelve hours. Same with Gerome, he took an early night.

The two of us also called it a night and went back to headquarters to get some sleep.