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Episode 136 |
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Chivalry Alex sat the bar-like counter of a small art café. He stirred the coffee in the tiny porcelain
cup and took a sip, biting at the heat.
He sat back, flipping open a copy of Newsweek. He opened up to a page titled ‘Is France
Ready For War?’ He shook his head and
closed the magazine and looked at the mirror on the other side of the
counter. Alan Vick was staring at him. Dressed in a red shirt and black trench coat, his
strong eyes were locked on him. Alex
looked down and stirred his coffee some more.
As he did, Vick moved into the seat next to him. “l’eau mis en
bouteille” he said to the man behind the counter. “Your French is getting better,”
Alex observed absently, tapping the coffee off his spoon. “I hope so,” Alan responded. “I just spent the last little bit in the
southern region, which I had heard has a really weird dialect. I was afraid I was going to end up sounding
like I was from the French equivalent of A bottle of water was delivered and Alan tore it open and moved
in his seat to face Alex. “Don’t do
that,” Alex said quietly. “I’m here,
incognito, just like you. I’ve got people
who are trying to kill me, just like you.”
He glanced at Alan. “And I need
of your help.” “My help?” Alan said. He
looked away as if surprised. “My
help.” “You have the Ivers book,” Alex said. “My team needs it. We’ve got one, you’ve got another. We’re hoping that if we can put the two of
them together, we can use them to cross-reference the data we’re currently
getting and get to the bottom of this.” “Bottom of what?” Alan asked. Alex shrugged. “I can’t
tell you.” “Well,” Alan said. “We
have a problem then.” Alex nodded, facing into the mirror. “Yes, I suppose we do.” The knight glanced around the café subtly, then looked to
Alex. “Your friends are good at
hiding,” he said. “The big German is in the alley and there’s a sniper on the roof
across the street,” Alex said, sipping his coffee. “Neither are here to apprehend you; they’re
here to watch my back.” “From me?” Alan asked. “From the people I mentioned are trying to kill me, us
really. My whole team’s in trouble.” “Why’s that?” Alan asked. “Again,” Alex said with a smile.
“That’s why we need the book.
We don’t know.” Alan nodded, glancing at the door. “So, uh, if I say no…?” “You get up and walk out,” Alex said, moving a mint around on
the counter. “We don’t trail you; we
don’t track you or follow you in anyway.” “Huh,” Alan said. He
glanced at the door again. “And if I
say yes?” he asked without looking back. Lisa slid the clip into the
pistol. She took a breath, then lifted
the gun, aiming it at the yellow target at the far end of the firing
line. She pulled the trigger three
times, three holes appearing in the paper target, all grouped around the
heart. There was a loud buzz and she
lowered the gun. She put on the safety
and dropped the clip into her hand. As
she took off her ear dampeners, Sarah came up behind her, appraising the
work. “You’re getting better,” she
determined. The target approached and
Sarah pulled it down, appraising the shots. “I’m still,” Lisa started, “uneasy
about this whole thing.” “Alex knows what he’s doing,”
Sarah said coldly, putting the target down. “Not that,” Lisa said. She swallowed, glancing around, then
stepped closer to Sarah. “About, about
Jason.” Sarah stiffened a bit,
nodding. “Sarah, Emma was dead. Dead-dead.
She’d been dead for a long time.
And he just, just kisses her and…” Sarah looked down,
struggling. “Magic and psychic are
well beyond my area of expertise,” she said as patiently as she could
manage. “But what I have seen, time
and time again, is that there is a…a bleed-over between the two. Emma could operate the psychic devices on
Atlantis. Jason was able to perform a
magical ritual. This type of stuff
isn’t that unusual.” “Sarah, there is nothing in any of
the Responders’ books about bringing back the dead,” Lisa insisted. “For all the wonderful world we live in,
with all the magic and stuff, dead is still dead. And Emma was dead.” Sarah’s eyes hardened. “Would you prefer her to remain so, or to
be so again?” “Sarah, I’m just…” she tried. “Lisa, a lot of things go on
around here that are well outside our usual range of experiences,” Sarah
said. “I say this in all honesty; get
used to it.” She turned and walked
away, leaving Lisa alone at the firing table. Outside the café, Til waited in
the alley, his hands in his trench coat pockets. He yawned, then touched his earpiece. “Isaiah, anything interesting happening?” “Not a thing,” the sniper said in
a bored tone, staring through the window at Alex and the knight. “What’s your stake in all of
this?” Alex asked as his coffee cup was refilled. “How do you even know who Alan Ivers is?” “There’s a ‘First Name Club’,” the
knight answered, his bottle half-empty.
But he yawned and looked away.
“About a year or so ago, I came across some information that was being
passed around through a small network of people back in the States. It got me into all of this. The more research I did, the more Ivers’
name started coming up. I just kept at
it and, eventually, I stumbled across a man in “What information?” Alex asked. Alan smirked. “Who’s trying to kill you and why?” Alan smiled back, turning
away. “I noticed you’re wearing red
and black,” he said. “You’re a Alan chuckled. “No,” he said bitterly. “European knights really don’t like us
across the pond. I don’t know if it’s
because we’re heathens or something or what.” “I thought that was what you
knights did,” Alex said. “You guys
introduced yourself to the other knights in the territory.” “We normally do,” Alan said. He took a swig of his water. “I chose not to.” “I chose not to,” said the voice
over the speaker. Sitting in the computer room, Jin adjusted the sound as Assif
and Eliot stood behind him. Turning it
down, Jin turned to the other two.
“We’re recording this. If you
want, we can arrest him. He’s already
admitted to stealing the book from “Right,” Eliot said. “And
how exactly do we arrest him? And with what army?” Jin thought in vain for a moment and turned back around. “Alan, I’m going to cut right to
the chase,” Alex said. “We need your
help.” He glanced around the room,
then leaned in towards the night. “I
belong to a secret operative branch of the UN,” he whispered into his
ear. “We’ve stumbled across something
that apparently someone very powerful and very well connected wishes we
hadn’t. We need your book to help us
figure out what’s going on and, if possible, who it is that’s trying to get
at us.” “And stop them, I imagine,” Alan
said. “Well, I think that goes without
saying,” Alex countered. Alan thought for a moment. He sighed and looked at Alex. “Given that Ivers’ books are involved, I’m
guessing that this has to do with some big-serious magic stuff.” Alex shrugged, uncertain. “End of the world, type of stuff.” “It’s possible,” Alex said. Alan faced forward, sighing
again. “Okay,” he said. “Okay?” Alex said, anxious. “Okay,” Alan repeated. “On one condition.” He turned to Alex, a determined glimmer in
his eyes. “I get to come along.” |
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