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Episode
048
“Ain’t nothing working,
“From what Alan said,” Armand said to Ledger and Roland, as the
three knights stood in the mall alleyway. “Morgan always comes into this
mall from that entrance.”
“I think your World Alliance buddy’s fruity.” Roland said,
his hands in his jacket pocket as he looked around the long, narrow
alleyway between stores.
The hallway was made of bland concrete bricks, rough to the touch
and not terribly appealing to the eye. The poured cement floor was equally
as bland, with only the rusted rafter roof to break the monotony of gray.
The hallway was between the original section of the giant mall and
the newest wing. Joining up with several other corridors, as well as
meeting several stairwells along the way, it converged and came out at one
door. And it was that area that the three knights were appraising.
“I think all of this is a bit sketchy.” Ledger said, looking at
the metal fire door that marked the entrance to the bright mall. “He
always uses this one entrance. Right. Why the hell wouldn’t he use a
regular entrance?”
“I don’t know.” Armand said. “But apparently, whenever
Alan’s band and Morgan get together, they either meet at his house, or
they meet at the restaurant right around the corner, on the third floor of
the mall. And Alan said Morgan always comes in this way.”
“So, you just want to lay in wait for him?” Roland asked.
“Armand, have you even thought this thing through?”
“Yes, I have.” Armand exclaimed, glaring at Roland. “I’ll
wait in here. You and Ledger wait outside, at that sitting area.”
“With the old people?” Roland asked with annoyance.
“Yes, with the old people.” Armand yelled back, his voice
echoing through the hallway. “I’ll intercept Morgan here and if I do
end up needing help, I’ll get you guys and we can all take him out
together.”
“I don’t know.” Ledger said, looking at the alleyway.
“There’s not a lot of room in here.” He glanced over at Armand.
“I’ve seen the way you fight, man. You need space. I might be okay.”
Ledger looked at Roland. “It’s anyone’s guess with you.”
“Thanks for the confidence.” Roland said back.
“The point is, three of us, one of him.” Armand said. “He
simply doesn’t stand a chance.”
“Check.” Ruwani said, moving her bishop into the far corner of
the board. She looked up at Malcolm, but the Latin-American student was
obviously checking his way out. He moved his king to the right, into the
protection of his rook and knight.
“Falling back onto your knight, I see.” Ruwani said,
considering the filled board. Few pieces had been removed from play.
“How do you like Brian?” Malcolm asked after a moment, sitting
back from the board, looking around the nearly empty university dinning
hall.
“He seems okay.” Ruwani said, shrugging, half-toying with a
pawn that she was considering for her next move.
“I was afraid he might seem too much like your last boyfriend.”
Malcolm started.
“He’s fine.” Ruwani said, without looking up from her pieces.
“If I do have a problem, I’ll handle it.” She started to move a
rook.
“Ru,” Malcolm started to say.
“Check-mate.” She said clearly, finishing her move.
“Well played.” Orson said, sitting up from the chessboard. He
looked at Ian, but just laughed. “You’re getting better.”
“I should sure as hell hope so.” Ian defended. “You guys have
been kicking my ass for months now.”
“You’re just mad because we gave up on monopoly.” Uriel said,
from the corner of the office, reading a newspaper.
“Guys!” Aaron shouted to the room. Sitting at the desk, he
waiting on the phone. He didn’t wait long. “Yes.” He said cordially.
“This is Aaron, of the Investigator’s Clan. I need to make an
appointment to see Phillip Assanti, of the
. . .” There was a bit of noise over the line. “Well, when is
he available?” Aaron asked, his demeanor fading a bit.
“Here it comes.” Errol said humorlessly, watching Aaron talk.
“What do you mean he’s not available?” Aaron said, standing
up with the phone in his hand. “I am the Head of the Investigator’s
Clan. Tell him to make himself available real soon or he’s going to find
himself . . .” Aaron’s eyes went wide. “Hello?” He said to the
phone. “Hello?!”
“Kill it, man.” Errol said, gently taking the phone from
Aaron’s hand. “Leave it be. He isn’t going to respond to threats.”
“Not from us, anyway.” Uriel said, setting up the chessboard
between him and Orson. “He controls two-thirds of the Brotherhood
now.”
“How are things?” Mint asked, as she and Ken walked amongst the
tractors of the construction site. Under the hot afternoon sun, they
seemed unbothered. “I saw the ‘coronation’ on the brotherhood’s
station.” She said with a touch of disgust. “I saw Phil suddenly get
to be a lot more powerful than he really should be.”
“I know.” Ken said, looking worse for the wear. “Now that he
controls the Miracle Worker’s AND the Hand, there’s no way that I can
unseat him now. No way.”
“How did the Triumvirate come to this conclusion?” Mint asked
with a hint of desperation as she looked at Ken. “How in the world did
they think it was a good idea to put Phil in charge of two branches of the
Brotherhood? To put anyone in charge of two branches?”
“I don’t know.” Ken said, shaking his head. He was silent for
a moment more. The two kept walking, ignoring the red mud at their feet or
the arid heat that surrounded them.
“I heard Phil started taking the steroids the Hand’s been
using.” Ken said slowly, after the silent moment. “I heard . . .”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Mint said, shaking her head. “I
don’t want to hear it and I don’t want to know what that idiot’s
planning.”
“What are you up to?” Victor asked, coming up behind Marilyn.
The girl looked over her shoulder at him as he read the contents of her
computer screen. “Drugs?” He asked after a moment of reading.
“I thought that after that whole charade with the club owner and
the brothels and the slavery ring,” Marilyn said. “I thought we should
turn the World Alliance’s attention to another outlet of crime.
Something just as, if not more, dangerous and wide-spread.”
“You want to go on the offensive with the war on drugs?” Victor
said, almost laughing as he sat down on Marilyn’s bed.
“Yeah.” Marilyn said, seemingly a bit miffed by his laughing.
“Why? What’s so wrong with that?”
“Nothing.” Victor said, shrugging. “I suppose. If that’s
what you want to do, I guess.”
“You don’t sound too enthused.” Marilyn said, tilting her
head.
“It’s just, well, do you really think there are that many drugs
sold in this city?” Victor asked, his hands held out pleadingly.
“Oh yeah.” Marilyn said knowingly, almost laughing. “This
campus alone probably has more than most cities.”
“That’s a university campus.” Victor said, waving his hand
dismissively. “That doesn’t count. And most of that’s marijuana,
anyway.”
“And marijuana isn’t a drug?” Marilyn asked expectantly.
“Not a real one, no.” Victor said, still on the verge of
laughing.
“Fine.” Marilyn said, turning from Victor. “This is the
direction the World Alliance’s taking. If you want to be a part of it,
great. If not, well,” She looked over her shoulder at him. “Too
bad.”
“It’s just,” Victor said. “After that whole
brotherhood/knight-thing.” Victor said, shaking his head. “I just
don’t think the group’s ready for this.”
“Yeah,” Marilyn said. “I thought you had sworn to hunt down
the guy who fought us.” Marilyn said. “I’ve got his address whenever
you’re ready.”
“Huh?” Victor said, his face going slightly pale.
“Alan knows him pretty well.” Marilyn said, looking back at her
computer, scrolling along the text. She glanced back at Victor. “So,
just in case you want to make good on your promise.” She turned back to
the computer screen.
Victor left without another word. |