Yeti was seated in the back, at a table for four. Both Vargas and Amber sit across from him. He looks at Vargas, then to his tattered clothes, and cocks an eyebrow.
“What happened to you Cap?”
“One of the Johns, cast some type of spell and before I knew it, an explosion happened around me.”
“Ouch, are you ok?”
“I’ll live, what did you get?”
“Biggs will meet you, but I’m not to be anywhere near the meeting. Per his request. Which suits me fine.”
“I guess he still hasn’t forgiven you then.”
“Nope and I still don’t blame him. He said this makes us even,” Yeti shrugs, “I just hope I never have to come back to this little backwoods Island.”
“I have the same feeling right now, but I still have to stick around to meet Biggs. I need to find some clothes before the meeting. When is it by the way?”
“Here in about fifteen minutes. Which is why I told you to come here. This will be during his lunch break, so it doesn’t look like someone is coming up to one of their chief of securities and asking questions.”
“Right, I guess that would cause him some trouble. Then is there a clothing store around here?”
“Maybe back at the dock, but you won’t have time to get there and back.”
“Well crap. I’ll just have to make due. I can use an overlay but I won’t know if he can see it until he gets here.”
“Better than nothing Cap, you are looking pretty ragged.”
Vargas gives him a dissatisfied glare. “Thanks. I picked this out this morning thinking it would be all the rage, tatters and all.”
Yeti smiles, “Well then it’s just how you wanted it to look.” He gets up from his chair, “I better make myself scarce. Also if you’re going to order something from Gracie, the waitress, take her advice on the biscuits and gravy. It is out of this world.” He walks out the door, making sure to check both ways before making a hasty exit.
Vargas pulls up his listing of overlay clothes – which wasn’t but a few pair he purchased years ago to try out the feature. He had always like physical clothes more, and they cost just about the same. Virtual clothing was a relatively new trend. You would purchase a blank white outfit, so you weren’t naked, and then used the overlay features to display what clothes you wanted. There was the occasional outliner, that went naked, but most people didn’t want to run the chance to have people see them like that.
His outfit that he bought was a t-shirt and blue jeans. The air around him shimmered as he hit accept on the overlay outfit. He could still feel the tattered clothing around his body, which made him feel apprehensive about whether the overlay would work at all. Amber seemed to be nodding in agreeance, eyeing Vargas up and down.
“You look normal, clothes ok.” She says.
“Thanks, but I still feel like this isn’t going to work and he’s going to see right through it.”
“Maybe.”
“Well if that isn’t a vote of confidence, I don’t know what is.”
She stares at him, with a you know that’s not what I mean stare.
“What? I was only being slightly sarcastic.”
She huffs, and looks away.
“Whatever.”
They sat there in silence next to each other, letting the natural conversations and noises of the eatery fill the emptiness. Soft music played in the background, a couple next to them – who clearly lived there, as Vargas noticed the bags under their eyes – talked about how happy they were with living there. That’s when a mountain walked through the door. Everyone that wasn’t a local turned to look at the mass of human that slouched over, then side stepped through the door. His dark skin was in heavy contrast to his white eyes, as they size up the room. He was every bit of seven and half feet tall, and almost as wide, with muscles everywhere.
“Hey Gracie,” his voice boomed over the room’s noise. “Get me a burger and fries. You know the way I like it.”
Gracie’s head pops out from the kitchen doors, with a white and cheerful smile. “Oh, hey Biggs, I can get that for you. Just sit wherever you like hun, I’ll bring it to you when it’s done.”
He nods.
Vargas stares, stunned. No wonder Yeti didn’t want to see him in person, he thinks.
Biggs looks at Vargas, and smiles. He walks over to the table they are seated at, and asks, “May I join you?” His voice still booming, but not carrying the weight it had.
“Sure, I… I was told that you could help me.”
“You’re Vargas then, and who is the young lady beside you?”
“Amber, she’s a subordinate of mine, and can be trusted.”
Biggs says, “Hmph. You say that like it means something to me.”
“I… uh…”
“This doesn’t matter. Me just telling this to you is trouble enough. If this settles things with that bastard Yeti, then it is a small price to pay.”
“You really don’t like him?”
“You know what he did?”
“Just what he told me. Slept with your wife, who had slept with a bunch of other people, and then told you about it all.”
“Is that what he thinks this is all about.” He leans his head back and lets out a thunderous laugh. “That bitch has nothing to do with my anger toward Yeti. The information he got out of my cheating wife on the other hand, was something of value to me, and cost me my career within the Astrum.”
“Then what do you owe him for?”
“The information on my wife was something I kept trying to get, but she had it too damn well hidden from me and my contacts. Him giving me the information allowed me to proceed with the divorce, and break away from her clean. He did so without me asking him for help, or in recompense.”
“I guess I can tell him that.”
“If you choose to, yes, but if not it would be something you can keep in your back pocket for later. If you play the game that is.”
Vargas wasn’t quite sure why, but he liked the big guy. Something about him made him feel good just talking with him.
“I need to know if there is any way that you can tell me how to get to Freedom?” Vargas says laying everything out on the table.
“Oh…, and what is it that you want with that fairytale.”
“As far as I know, it’s real.”
“If you were to ask around about the place, you would hear ghost stories about a glowing man who never dies. A tale about a floating city in the sky that can’t be seen or even dragons talking and living beside humans.”
“Sounds very fantasy like, do you know how to get there?”
Biggs sits back into his chair, crossing his arms, letting out a breath through his nose. “Look here boy, this is a place that is free. Rules are very different there, and someone who does not know them won’t last long.”
“That’s fine, you can tell me the rules.”
“No I can’t. You will have to have someone else to divulge the rules, I will give you the location of the entrance that I have. As per the rules, that is all I can tell you.” He makes a few gestures – clearly going through menus within his overlay – which doesn’t take him long, then swipes over the GPS location for the entrance. He shifts his weight, leaning toward Vargas, and whispers, “Boy, remember my words. Do. Not. Enter. This. Place. Without knowing the rules.”
Gracie walks over to the table with a plate of hot food in one hand and a cold drink in the other. She pauses a few steps away from the table, eyeing Vargas and Amber. “Everything ok here Biggs?”
“Sure is Gracie, these tourist were just asking me about the park. I ran into them there, and they wanted to know how I liked it around here.”
“That’s good, you know how He gets if there’s trouble.”
“I do, and there’s none here. I would have been here earlier, but there was that explosion on the other side of town.”
“I heard all about it, is everyone ok?”
“They are, He wants me to report in
on it.” He turns back to Vargas with a smile. “Never mind that, now let me have that burger, before I drool all over the table.”
She smiles, “Sure Biggs, here,” and lays the food on the table. “Can I get you two something?”
Vargas shakes his head, “No thank you, we have to get back to the ship. Meeting up with some friends to do some activates.”
“Then you have a good day, and thanks for coming by.” She nods, and walks away. Checking in on other customers.
“If you don’t mind,” Biggs says with a mouth full of juicy burger, “I believe that is all you need. So I can be left in piece for the rest of my lunch.”
“You’re right, thanks Biggs.” Vargas says.
Amber nods, “Thank you.”
On the walk back to the ship, Vargas opens the information he received. There was a name attached next to the location, Wayland Völundr. It was on the other side of the lake near Bastion, and as far as he knew, nothing was there. There was also something familiar about the name, Wayland, like he had heard of it before. He pushes it aside, not wanting to waste brain-power on something trivial right now.
He had receive what he wanted, the location to the entrance to Freedom, but now he has a new twist. The Rules. Biggs’ voice plays back through his mind, echoing the warning.
It couldn’t be that dangerous of a place. He thinks.
“Sure it could, a floating castle with a glowing man that doesn’t die. Sounds like it could be a fairytale nightmare.”
“What?” Amber questions.
“Nothing, just talking to myself.”
Her expression shows worry on her face.
“Seriously, not crazy, just working though something out loud is all.”
She slowly looks away, only to give a quick glance back.
“Ok, I might be a little crazy. I am trying to actively find a place that doesn’t exist, while under orders from my commanding officer, that also don’t exist.”
Amber giggles, “Me too.”
21
Vargas woke up next to Amber. This was considerably better than he had woken up the past few days. He started with a quick report about what happened yesterday, finishing what he had typed up the night before, and sent it off to Maldone. Hoping that would prevent Phillips from dragging him off to see him again.
Today they were stopped at Aspiration, and on top of keeping an eye on the Johns, he would still need time to talk to Wedge. Then to add to that, he still didn’t have anything to go on. There was something big that he was missing, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to catch it in time. This might be his first real case, and it was shaping up to be his first failure. He opens the contact of the host he received the other day, realizing he forgot.
“Crap.” He says, rubbing at his face. “I really am an amateur.”
He presses the contact button in the window for Charles. Ring. Ring. Ring.
“Good Morning Mr. Mitchel, how is it that I might be of service?” Answers Charles.
“Hi Charles, we need to meet, and talk in private.”
“Oh? Why is that sir?”
“I have some questions to ask you, and in person is more secure.”
“Is there anything that I can answer for you over the call sir?”
“Maldone has me working on something, so like I said, in person.”
“Do you have any proof of his involvement?”
Vargas pulls up the icon that he was given, and sends it over to him. “This should be good, I think.”
There is silence on the line for a moment. “I am terribly sorry sir about questioning you, I would be more than happy to answer any questions for one who is in the employ of my boss. From the look of the icon you gave me, he has you gathering information?”
“Something like that, where is a good place to meet?”
“I will send you the location of a meeting room. It was setup to handle official business like this.”
“Perfect, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Vargas walked over to the meeting room alone. He told Amber and Yeti where he would be, but wanted this to be a personal meeting. Yeti had given him a hard time about doing this now, saying it was a rookie move, but not to worry about it. Amber wasn’t so hard on him, but did wonder why they didn’t question the crew earlier.
I got distracted, that’s why. He thinks to himself.
“Good job, that might have cost you the solution.” He mumbles.
The meeting room door is already open when he gets there. It had a manual lock on the door, which he had only ever seen a few of in his life. A long brown oval table sits in the middle of the room, with black office chairs all around it. Charles was seated at the back of the room, facing the door.
“Good morning Mr. Mitchel.” He says without getting up, arms across his chest. “How may I assist you?”
“Good to see you too. I have some questions about the crew, and you are the head host correct?”
“That is correct sir.”
“Great, has there been any crew members acting funny, out of place, or not as they normally do?”
“This is a relatively new crew, so we don’t know each other perfectly yet. We are becoming close rather quickly, but it will still take some time.”
“Then what about the maid staff that cleaned up the murder scene in Miku Fidona’s room?”
Charles’ eyes go wide with surprise. “That’s what you’re trying to find out. We were told it was taken care of.”
“I am taking care of it, but I need information. The killer is still on board, and the people he hired are still running around because something was stolen from the vault.”
Charles mouth hangs open.
“So like I said, anyone acting funny, or out of place?”
“Margery and Denice, but that was after they had to clean up Ms. Fidona’s room.” He leans forward and buries his face in his hands. “There isn’t anyone else that has come to me and said anything. I keep a tight watch over the crew. We have to be here twenty four seven, for three months, and there are precautions put in place if someone gets antsy.”
“What about anyone on edge?”
“No Mr. Mitchel, like I said, my crew and I are becoming very close to one another. I am even in contact with all of the security personal as well, and no one from the crew or security would have the capacity to do this.”
Vargas nods. “Alright then, you have my contact information while I’m onboard, tell me if something comes up.”
“I will.”
“Also, keep this conversation between the two of us. Maldone wouldn’t want to know that I just got done talking with you like this I’d wager.”
“He doesn’t know of this meeting? Then how did you get the icon?”
“He gave me the icon, but he never told me to interview some of the crew. I figured he would run a tight operation with that reputation of his I hear. This is just a formality for me is all.”
“Right, well, I have to get back to my duties. I hope you have some luck in catching the parties responsible.”
“Thanks.”
Yeti and Amber sit across from one another in the food court area, as Vargas walks up. They seem to be in conversation.
“Try it out.” Yeti says.
“Ok.” Amber replies.
Vargas sits down next to Amber, “It was a bust, the guy knew nothing.”
“Oh really, well that sucks Cap.”
“We need to plan on what we are going to do.”
“Alright got it all lined up.” Yeti smiles, “Amber here has a great head on her shoulders, we worked it out while you talked to that host guy.”
Yeti goes through the details of the plan. Him and Vargas smooth out a few of the finer points, but it largely stays the same. They give Vargas a few minutes to grab a bite to eat, then head down to the dock exit, where the plan is about to take place.
“This is going to work isn’t?” Vargas asks.
“It should,” Yeti replies, “but I’m
not a hundred percent on this.”
“Is your veil good enough, and how long can you hold it?”
“Don’t worry about my veil, just hurry up with Wedge, and get back to me.”
The elevator doors open as Yeti casts his veil around himself. Vargas and Amber walk out into the line of people waiting to get off the ship, while Yeti sneaks by to follow the Johns around the city. The meeting with Wedge had been set early in the day originally, and Yeti had not been able to change it. This added to the stress of the situation for the group. Vargas wished the whole murder thing had never happened. It would have basically been a vacation, and he and Amber would have gotten closer. Now he has to search for a killer who stole some type of schematic.
They are the second couple off the ship, and make haste to the meeting spot. Exiting the ship there is a grove of trees lining either side of the walkway to the city. Iridescent trunks with star shaped fruit hanging high up overhead almost stop him in his tracks. Magi trees are not something one comes across very often, even though they are native to Eden.
Amber looks up into the trees, “Pretty.”
“They are but we got no time to waste. Let’s move.”
He picks his pace back up. A man and woman in beach attire await them at the entrance to the city. Vargas walks past them, without stopping. The man tries to call out to him, welcoming him to Aspiration, but Vargas doesn’t even turn his head back.
Amber apologizes to the two, taking what they were offering at the gate, and runs toward Vargas in an effort to catch-up. He already had the coordinates to where they were meeting Wedge, and didn’t hesitate to get there. Approaching the spot, he sees a tall cylindrical building of glass. A set of stairs lead up to an entrance, with an information booth next to that, labeling it the Main Operations Building. He signs up for the tour, which would let him get inside without suspicion. Wedge would meet up with them in the middle of the tour, and take over, which was something they did from time to time.
The wait wasn’t too long before their guide showed up. He looked around to see if there was anyone else coming for the first tour of the day, but no one showed. He shrugged, and waived Vargas and Amber to follow him.
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 31
