Chrono Inquisitor (Gods Be Damned)

by Rien Reigns

  24: Crazy Confrontations

  When I reached the door to Cook’s room it opened automatically, having already been programmed to allow me access.

  As soon as I entered, something rushed at me from the side. I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye, and dodged the blow just in time. Off guard, I stumbled and hit a candleholder hanging on the wall. It sent a jolt of pain through my shoulder.

  I ducked just before a fist punched the wall where my head had been.

  I was finally in a position to see my assailant. I recognized the man. Not from meeting him in person, but from various photos.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I asked, throwing my hands up to protect my face.

  “Taking out a traitor,” Inquisitor Dewhurst said, throwing a kick towards my midsection.

  I grabbed his leg and threw him into the wall. I removed my kamas and got in the forward fighting stance, ready for another attack.

  “Put your weapons down,” another voice said, one which I knew from personal experience. The man stepped out from behind the corner.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I asked, weapons still at the ready.

  “Forgive Inquisitor Dewhurst” Inquisitor Noble said. “He’s become rather paranoid as of late.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  “Wynn, here, thinks you’re working with E3.”

  I looked to Dewhurst and then back at Noble. “Okay?”

  “We’ve seen you, working with those traitors,” Dewhurst said. He practically spat the words while looking like he wanted to strike.

  “What the hell are you talking about? Who do you think I’m working with, because I’m not even sure anymore.”

  Dewhurst answered, “We know you just came from the resort security office, and before that you had a lengthy private conversation with Ms. Matsuzaki.”

  “Do your homework. She’s my ex-wife. What’s your point?”

  Noble came closer, put his hand on Dewhurst’s shoulder, and whispered something in his ear. A second later, after I witnessed some sort of internal struggle show on the man’s face, Dewhurst lowered his fists. I realized then he held knock blockers. I was beyond happy the asshole hadn’t fully connected with one of his punches.

  “When was the last time you spoke to Frank?” Noble asked, stepping in between Dewhurst and myself.

  I kept my guard up, and my kamas at the ready, just in case. “It’s been awhile. The Horsemen are redirecting his calls. Why?”

  Noble looked at me like he wasn’t sure he believed I was telling the truth. “Have they told you what’s going on?”

  “Well, I guess that depends. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on, and then I’ll tell you how that compares to their account.”

  “Did they tell you about Graff, Deizel, Gordon, and O’Neal?”

  “I didn’t get all the names, but yeah, I heard what happened.”

  “You don’t think it’s suspicious that out of the initial five assigned to the case, you’re the only one who managed to get here alive?”

  Pissed about what the man was insinuating, I stepped forward, flipping my left kama into the reverse position, preparing myself for a hook and slash attack if need be. “You wanna just come out and say what you want to say?”

  “You’re a traitor. E3 filth,” Dewhurst spat.

  I laughed, looked to the ceiling while shaking my head, and in doing so lowered my weapons. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I bet your ex is as well. You spent an awful lot of time alone with her.”

  “As you said, she is my ex. We have a lot of, unresolved issues.”

  Dewhurst couldn’t contain his lip any longer. “Forget that bitch, it’s that Ranger that’s the problem.”

  “Which one?” I said with a smile. “Ranger Stick-up-my-ass, or Ranger Fine-ass? Because I’ve been working with both.” I turned and looked to Noble. “You’re right, he is fucking paranoid. Come on, you know me. We’ve worked together. You can’t seriously think I’m E3. I’m the one who’s been trying to eliminate them.”

  “It’s a great cover, pretending to be so against them while at the same time being one of them.” Noble said.

  “When was the last time you two had a psy-val, because I’m thinking it’s been a while.”

  “Put your weapons down. Turn yourself over to me, and I’ll ask the Horsemen to be lenient with you,” Noble said.

  “I’d love to prove you wrong, but this is a waste of time. There’s a murderer on the loose. Unless I’m looking at him.”

  “Enough games,” Dewhurst said. “You’re the murderer.”

  He turned and headed into what should have been the kitchen, which didn’t put me anymore at ease.

  “Now that he’s gone,” I said. “How about we stop playing games? What’s really going on? Why are you two here? Why are you in Cook’s suite?”

  “I’ll ask the questions,” Noble said.

  I took a few steps back so I could have a better chance of escaping in case Dewhurst came back with a surprise.

  “How about we meet in the middle. I’ll answer one of yours, you answer one of mine.”

  “Fine, I’m first, what are you doing here?”

  What am I doing here?

  “I got an assignment to investigate Beit. Satisfied?” I asked.

  “Not yet. What did you do to Beit?”

  “Hey. It’s my turn to ask a question.”

  “You already asked one.”

  Fucker.

  Fine.

  “I didn’t do anything to him,” I said. I dropped the kamas to my side and stepped forward till I was face to face with Noble. I was slightly taller than him so I looked down into the man’s accusing eyes. “I didn’t fucking touch the man. But now I’m starting to wonder what your deal is, maybe you killed Beit.”

  Noble squinted his eyes. “What are you doing working with the Rangers?”

  “You didn’t answer my question?” I said.

  “You didn’t ask one. And you’re avoiding mine.”

  “Jealous?”

  “About what?”

  “The way I heard it, you were working with the Rangers before me. Something about you being the Prez’s cuz. And now I’m thinking you’re jealous, because I got this assignment instead of you.”

  He laughed. “It seems you aren’t Frank’s golden boy anymore, because he’s keeping you outta the loop. I’m on a bigger assignment. The real assignment. The task force dedicated to taking out E3, it’s already been formed. And you’re not on it.”

  He was lying. Except he wasn’t. I just wanted him to be. The task force had been created, and he was right. I wasn’t on it.

  “Did Frank tell you the names Cassius spilled before he got washed?” Noble asked.

  “Yeah, Julius, and someone named Annabel.”

  “Just those two?”

  “You saying there was more?”

  “I am,” Noble said with a smile which made me feel uneasy. “One more. You.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Now I know you’re crazy. The Horsemen are here, arrived just over an hour ago. If what you’re saying is true, and they thought I was a traitor, do you think they’d let me still be walking around? How about we give them a call. Set you straight.”

  Is that why Death and Alvarez had detained me? They let me go though, so they must think I’m innocent. Right?

  Noble spread his arms. “Be my guest.”

  ‹“Kali, tickle Frank, I’m sick of this shit. People thinking I’m a fucking traitor.”› Hopefully the Horsemen still have his link rerouted to them, I thought.

  ‹I am unable to do so at the moment. There is no connection to the aether. I suspect a jammer is being used.›

  Just my luck.

  “I heard you were losing your edge,” Noble continued. “I just didn’t think you’d be so stupid as to switch to the other side.”

  “Fuck you. I did nothing of the sort. And good job making it seem like you were actuall
y going to allow me to contact Frank.”

  “What are you talking about?” Noble asked.

  “You’re jamming the aether,” I said, annoyed, bordering on wanting to act out my aggression.

  Dewhurst returned just then armed to the teeth. “Security’s regained control of the feeds and they’ve put an umbrella over the building,” he said, and raised a maelstrom at me. “I say we just kill the traitor now and get it over with.”

  Noble, in a move that puzzled me, stepped in between the gun and myself. “Are you insane?” he said to Dewhurst. “Shooting that thing in here would likely kill us all.”

  I hadn’t thought of that, but I was glad Noble had.

  “Forget stealing the feed,” Noble said. “Can you at least get us a clone?”

  I didn’t know what the fuck was going on anymore. “You two have been jacking the security system this whole time?”

  A flurry of thoughts and speculations sped through my mind.

  Noble and Dewhurst thought I was working with E3, yet they were the ones behind the security breaches. Were they the ones who killed Beit? Were they the ones who’d been trying to kill me? Had they messed with the elevator? Had they made the robots try to kill me and Ranger-son? Maybe they’re the ones working with E3 and they’re trying to pin it on me. Or maybe just one of them is and they’re framing me.

  Either way, I wasn’t going to let them get the chance.

  While Noble was distracting Dewhurst, I took the opportunity to get the hell of the death trap. I put my kamas back in their home, reached into compartment 17, made sure I knew exactly where the door was, and then activated the two haze grenades. The room turned into a chimney with the flue closed.

  I dropped to the floor, the safest place to be in case bloodlust Dewhurst decided to open fire, and crawled to the door. I heard the two men shout in surprise, followed by a series of crashes and bangs, like they suddenly became a pair of blind rhino’s rampaging through a wedding reception.

  “Where the hell is he?” Dewhurst said. “I’m going to kill the bastard.”

  “The Horsemen want him alive. We need to bring the whole organization down.”

  They have to be crazy. Either that, or Frank is setting them up for something. Or, someone really is trying to frame me.

  I reached the door and it opened.

  They must have heard the door open, because Noble said, “He’s getting away.”

  “Fuck alive,” Dewhurst said.

  Noble wanted me alive, which I took as a sign he was being duped. Dewhurst on the other hand wanted me dead, which I took as a sign he was the one who was guilty and wanted to shut me up before I could contradict him.

  Gunshots sounded. In such close quarters each bullet fired was like a bomb going off. Even though I was already on the ground, I couldn’t help but cringe with each shot. It took every effort to quickly crawl out the door.

  Out in the hallway the smoke hadn’t billowed up enough to inhibit sight. I jumped to my feet and was going to start running when I saw Lillian coming down the hall towards me.

  That’s all I needed, one more person who wanted me dead.

  “What the hell is going on?” she yelled. She unholstered her gun and started running towards me.

  My ears were ringing from all the gunshots so I hadn’t initially understand what she’d said. I didn’t care though. The last place I wanted to be was between Dewhurst, Noble, and Lillian.

  I promptly turned the opposite direction, dropped and rolled across the entryway of the door, so I’d hopefully avoid being hit by wandering bullets, leapt back to my feet and started running at full speed. Even though I wasn’t religious in any way, I offered up the closest thing to a prayer.

  Source of intuition, don’t shoot me in the back.

  Behind me I could hear Noble and Dewhurst enter the hallway. A shot fired. I dodged to my right while still running, hoping whatever was behind intuition was in my corner.

  A male voice yelled in agony. I thought it came from Noble, but I wasn’t sure until I heard Noble yell to Dewhurst, “Get Travis, this bitch is mine.”

  Had Lillian just helped me?

  Weirder and weirder.

  Taking any advantage I could get, I reached into compartment 09 and pulled out a small box the size of a deck of playing cards. I wished the floor was tile, rather than carpet, but it would have to do. If I could reach the stairs I’d gain the advantage.

  I opened the box and then dumped its contents out behind me. Hundreds of little BBs spread out across the floor. Each one was coated with a special oil. When stepped on they’d get lodged in the traction grooves of a shoe and stay there. It wasn’t very effective on carpeted surfaces or anything that had good traction, but on surfaces such as smooth concrete or tile, the person wouldn’t be able to walk, let alone stay standing.

  Another shot sounded and a small portion of the wall in front of, and to the side of me, exploded. I cocked my head behind me for a quick glance. I saw Dewhurst in hot pursuit with a pistol raised. Behind him I saw Lillian and Noble in hand to hand combat. I’d sparred with Noble a couple of times in the past. The man was good, but I’d also sparred with Lillian, who regularly sparred with Sam. Noble didn’t stand a chance.

  I turned my attention back to Dewhurst, and did so just in time to catch his movement which indicated he intended to shoot again. I ducked to the left as he fired. I didn’t see the bullet, it was going too fast, but I heard it whistle as it sped by.

  The door to the stairwell was just a few feet away. I slammed through the door. I could have raced down the stairs and easily lost Dewhurst, but I was sick of running. Sick of reacting to everything. It was time for me to really take the lead.

  I moved to the side of the entry and ducked, just enough out of the way so that when the door exploded open, it wouldn’t hit me, yet I was still close enough to quickly pounce on Dewhurst.

  Seconds later, the door was forced open and Dewhurst came bursting through. I jumped at him, but he’d burst through the door at break neck speed. He lost his footing due to the oil beads, just as I’d hoped.

  Dewhurst went slipping across the floor, wobbling every which way, arms flailing, trying to keep his balance. For the most part he stayed on a straight trajectory, which wasn’t to his benefit. He hit the center railing and flipped over it, there being a wide of enough gap between the two stairwells for a man to fit through.

  Realizing what was happening, I stretched my arm out to grab him. I was too late. I got there in time to see Dewhurst bang back and forth as he plummeted to his death. He had literally come through the door at a break neck speed.

  Damn, that was…disheartening. I hadn’t meant for him to die. I’d been hoping to subdue him until I could get the Horsemen to straighten things out.

  I stood there, stunned, for several seconds. Then I realized that several floors down there was movement. Someone was coming up. Actually, several someones were ascending. It was the Horsemen, sans Death.

  “Inquisitor Yan,” Victory yelled up at me. “Where is Death and Ranger Alvarez?”

  “I don’t fucking know,” I yelled back.

  “Stay where you are,” he said.

  “Noble and Dewhurst are behind this,” I yelled. “They were trying to frame me.”

  “Stay where you are,” he repeated.

  ‹Run,›Kali said.‹They don’t believe you. Something has happened to Death and Ranger Alvarez. They believe you are responsible.›

  ‹“How-”›

  ‹I’ll explain later. Run. Now.›

  The Horsemen were quickly gaining steps, taking several at a time as they went. I didn’t stand a chance at outrunning them, but I wasn’t about to let myself get taken in on some false charge. But how did Kali know?

  I wasn’t about to stick around and find out.

  I ran back to the hallway.

  On the other side of the door, I paused and inspected its frame. As I’d hoped, not having paid attention before, they were both steel.

>   I extracted two small canisters, one from compartment 04, the other, compartment 15. I opened the door a crack and sprayed the contents of the two cans along the entire edge of the door. When it was completely covered, I shut the door, sprayed what was left in the cans along the crack between the door and the jam, tossed them aside, removed another can from compartment 26, and sprayed its contents all over the crack. As soon as the chemical in the third can made contact with the contents of the other two, a white hot glow came to life. In seconds the door became fused to the wall.

  I wasn’t sure how well it’d hold against three fully armed and augmented men, but I hoped it was long enough to make up for the time I lost in creating the delay.

  If Dewhurst and Noble weren’t actually crazy, still a big if, and Cassius had turned over three names, mine among them, the only hope I had at proving my innocence, was to prove that the other two accused were innocent as well. Now the two big questions were, how in the universe was I going to accomplish it, and were they innocent as well? If they weren’t, I was completely and utterly damned.

  Why did Noble and Dewhurst kill Beit? Frank said Noble was gunning for the top spot. Would he have gone so far as to frame me in order to get it? Was Noble a Conspirator trying to take out the threat against him? Frank said he didn’t think all of Noble’s convictions were legit.

  Things were starting to make a lot more sense. I needed to confront Noble and get the truth before the Horsemen got to me.

  With the door welded to its frame I turned back to the hallway looking for Lillian and Noble. I’d been so caught up in sealing the door, I hadn’t bothered to make sure that either of them were still around.

  The area in front of Shepard’s suite was in shambles. It looked like a bomb had gone off, but there was no sign of either Lillian or Noble. I couldn’t even hear any sounds which indicated the fight might have moved into the suite or around a corner further down the hallway. It had to only have been a few minutes since I’d seen them. Where had they gone so quickly?

  A bang at the door made me jump. The horsemen were knocking at the door. At least Death wasn’t among them.

  I ran to Shep’s door to hopefully get an idea of where Lillian and Noble had gone. I saw what could only be blood on the wall, the carpet, the ceiling, basically all over. Not a lot. Not pools of it. Most likely a hand had gotten cut, whoever it was had sent drops and spurts all over the area while fighting and deflecting blows. It reminded me of another painting by Swarez, Hemoglobin Hits the Fan, which was actually my favorite of his.