by J. M. Preiss
"Definitely a difference from Repose," agreed Jacob. "Hector?"
Hector stood dumbfounded. He didn't even notice that his name had been said.
"He's out of it," said Mason. "Let's go ahead and pack it in the rest of the way to the town. With any luck, there will be a medical facility of some sort that is still open where I can get some more pain medication. It might not take the pain away, but I could certainly use the edge taken off."
"Not a bad idea," Jacob concurred. "Figure we just walk right towards the center. We're bound to run into someone that can help us."
Mason nodded and set off towards the center of town. Jacob grabbed Hector and followed after him.
They continued on down the path. As they got closer, it turned into a stone paved road. Snow still crunched underfoot, but there was solid footing beneath them. Walking by houses, they could see lights on inside. Some had people sitting down to what had to be the evening meal while others appeared vacant from the street.
Nobody was to be seen on the street until they made it to the first set of large buildings. There was a large amount of noise coming from a corner building. It was a red building made out of brick. There were multiple windows that had the shutters closed. Light spilled out through the gaps. The second and third stories looked similar, but there were no lit windows. A sign hung above the door, The Rusted Spigot.
"Charming name," said Mason. "Seem like as good a place as any?"
Snow floated by Jacob's face as he looked to the door. "Works for me. Surely they have a fire or something keeping the place warm."
Hector was leaning on the gas lamppost. "I don't care about warmth. I am warm. I want real food for a change."
Mason chuckled, grimaced, and then glared at Hector.
Jacob shook his head and went for the door. When he opened it, warmth, a cacophony of smells, and a rambunctious roar spilled out onto the street. He blinked a few times, and then motioned for the others to enter. After they entered, he followed them in and shut the door behind himself.
Shaking off the snow and enjoying the warmth, Jacob barely noticed that the noise had completely stopped. He didn't look up until Mason elbowed him.
"Hmm? Oh," he trailed off.
The interior of the building was packed full of people, and all eyes were fixed on them. There were multiple wooden tables with benches and chairs filling up the spaces in between. There was a dark wooden bar with a rail running along just above the floor that took over an entire wall. A mirror finished off the wall with an assortment of bottles and other items standing before it. A fire crackled somewhere off in the room, sight of it blocked by the crush of people.
A big burly man came from behind the bar. He had on a stained gray shirt and dark pants. His booted footfalls were the only noise other than the crackling fire. His thick, black beard was unkempt and wiry. Out from under it rose a scar that went from his left cheek to over his left eyebrow. His hair was close cropped but unruly. He stopped before Mason.
"Long way from home, Cagan," he boomed.
"Well, you're certainly right about that," Mason replied. "I have no idea who this "Cagan" that you speak of is, though."
The man jabbed Mason in the chest. Mason grimaced as his ribs got tweaked. "You know exactly who I speak of. We," he motioned about the room, "all know who you are. Perhaps you should be leaving while you can."
Jacob stepped up. "Excuse me, but I'm afraid you are mistaken," he said as he slid in front of Mason to shield him from further jabs and scrutiny.
The man narrowed his eyes and lowered his chin. "And just who do you think you are? You come into my house and tell me that I am wrong. I'll give you one last chance to leave."
"Now hold on, a minute," Jacob said as he shook his head. "We don't know who this Cagan is that you are referring to, and we certainly aren't looking for any trouble. We're just weary travelers from far away that are in need of some warmth, food, and medical attention."
"You'll be needing more medical attention soon," the man said.
Almost before Jacob knew what was happening, a right fist was screaming towards him. He sidestepped, grab the man's wrist, and twisted as he stepped behind the man. Almost before it began, he had the man on his knees with his hand almost touching the outside of his shoulder from the wrong direction.
"I wouldn't recommend trying to harm us," Jacob said. "Like I said-"
"Six!" shouted Mason.
Jacob released his grasp on the man and spun out of the way. A chair crashed down on the man and shattered into pieces. Jacob turned on the new assailant and delivered a quick kick to his knee. There was a sickening pop, and the man collapsed in agony.
Dazed and slightly confused, the burly man stumbled back onto his feet and turned towards Jacob. "You're going to pay for that, Cagan," he said.
"Mason, Hector, outside!" Jacob shouted.
Hector quickly scrambled out the door, and Mason was on his heels. Jacob slowly backed to the door, keeping the entire room in front of him.
"Look," he said. "We don't want any trouble. Like I said, we are just looking for a place to rest for a while."
The burly man threw another punch, and Jacob jumped backwards through the doorway and out into the street.
"We'll let you rest," said the man. "In a bloody heap."
The man charged Jacob and speared him to the ground before Jacob could dive out of the way. They collapsed hard onto the ground, the air driven from Jacob's lungs. The man pushed up off Jacob's chest with his left hand and reared back to bring his right fist into contact with Jacob's head. Jacob lifted his legs up and caught the man around the neck with his feet. He locked his feet together and rocked forward. The man let out a startled yelp as they traded positions. With Jacob on top, the man swung at him. Jacob caught the left fist in his right hand and began to squeeze. The man grimaced in pain, and he swung at Jacob with his right fist. Releasing the hold on the man's left fist, Jacob grabbed the incoming arm at the wrist. He deflected it and used the momentum to stretch out the man's arm. When it was fully extended, Jacob applied more pressure at the man's elbow. There was another sickening pop, and the man began to scream in agony.
Jacob stood up in time to see someone else rushing out of the room into the street. He sidestepped, tripped the man, and aided his fall to the ground with a strong shove. The man was unable to get his arms up in time, and he unceremoniously impacted the ground face first. Blood stained the snow from his broken nose.
Jacob turned to the door to prepare for another attack, but saw the man that was about to rush out stagger and stop while raising his hands up. Jacob looked to his left and saw Mason standing there with a shouldered rifle.
"Now, slowly turn around and walk back inside," Mason said.
The man gulped, nodded and backed up into the room.
Somebody more brazen rushed around the man. Mason quickly aimed the rifle down and pulled the trigger. There was a sharp crack, and steam and ground exploded in front of the new man. The man skidded to a stop.
"Back up!" shouted Mason.
The man nodded and backed up. Mason looked to Jacob out of the corner of his eye and nodded. Jacob nodded back and knelt beside the man rocking back and forth in pain and cradling his arm.
"Now, like I said," said Jacob. "We're looking for a place to rest for a while. Think you can point us in the right direction?"
The man laughed between his groans. "You're done for, Cagan. The whole of Hedington will be coming down on you now."
Jacob looked over at Mason who tossed his bioscanner to Hector.
"What do you see?" asked Jacob.
Hector fumbled with the device as he caught it then stared at the screen. "There are a bunch of dots all around."
"Not surprising," said Mason. "We're in a town, smart guy. How many dots, and what are they doing?"
"Uh." Hector looked at the screen again and scratched his head. "Looks like about thirty. Most of them are in front of us, maybe eighteen of them. There are another s
ix in the surrounding buildings with another six in a group heading this way."
Mason cursed. "Not liking this trip so far, Lieutenant."
"No, neither am I," replied Jacob as he stood up.
He reached back into his pack, pulled out his rifle, and deployed it. Jacob then looked to his bioscanner hanging off his belt. Sure enough, there was a group of six people moving towards them, but they were a distance off. They had no doubt heard the gunshot and were moving to investigate.
"Time to go, Captain," said Jacob.
"Hector, take point. Preferably pick a direction away from the people coming for us." Mason looked around.
"What point?" Hector asked.
Mason sighed and pointed off in a random direction. "Start going that way!" he shouted.
Hector finally understood and started off at a trot.
"You've got rear guard, Jacob," said Mason as he peeled off after Hector.
Jacob nodded, quickly looked over mess that he had caused, and started after Mason and Hector. As they went away from where the altercation had taken place, he kept looking behind them to make sure that they weren't being followed. He also kept looking at the bioscanner to keep an eye on the group that had been heading towards them. Shortly after they lost sight of the building, the pursuing group disappeared from the range of the bioscanner. Mason called to Hector to slow down, and they all dropped to a quick walk.
"Yup, this vacation totally sucks," said Mason.
"What's a vacation?" asked Hector.
Mason sighed. "Never mind."
"I wonder what that was all about," said Jacob. He deactivated his rifle, but kept it at the ready in his left arm. "First, we get thrown out of that house at the mention of Repose, and now we get attacked just for walking into a room."
"You noticed that, did you?" Mason snorted. "At least they don't know how to fight. That was weird though."
"Did you two do anything before I walked in?" Jacob asked.
"We did nothing," said Hector. "We simply walked in. Somebody looked at us, nudged the person next to him, and that followed throughout the room. It quickly silenced itself."
"If you didn't say anything, then," Jacob trailed off. "Mason, it's the suits."
"What about them?" Mason looked down at his suit.
"Well, you weren't conscious when Hector came across us, but he identified us as "High Ones" just by how we looked," Jacob explained. "I bet you," Jacob scratched his forehead and let his thought hang in the air. "Hector, where did you think we were from?"
Hector screwed up his mouth. "I don't see why that is important."
"Just answer the question," said Mason.
Hector shrugged. "I thought that you were High Ones from Cago."
"Cago, Cago, Cago," said Jacob. He snapped his fingers. "How much do you want to bet that a Cagan is someone from Cago?" he asked Mason.
"I," started Mason. He then cocked his head. "I'm not taking that bet. You're right. Guess the blood is still boiling here even after all this time."
"Excuse me, but why would blood boil?" asked Hector.
"Metaphor," said Jacob. "That's what it is. They still have a hatred for Cago."
"I'm lost," said Hector. "Why do they hate Cago? Cago is a great place. The High Ones are so nice to bring us power."
Mason rolled his eyes. "I thought that we had managed to clear the wool from your eyes. I guess not." Mason took a deep breath and let it out. "Guess I'll explain it all. Look," he said with his left hand, rifle gripped in his right. "This Marland place had a rebellion fifty or so years ago."
Hector opened his mouth to ask another question, but Jacob glared at him. Hector sheepishly closed it.
"Up until that time," Mason continued, "they had been known as the River Tribe. Why they are called that, beats me, but that is what you called them. I guess you know the reason they are called that, but that is not the point." Mason kept walking and talking. "The point is that they used to be ruled by Elders just like the Forest Tribe. It is my guess that these Elders ruled with the blessing of Cago just like those of the Forest Tribe. No doubt, just like the local history of where we came from, when the Elders of the River Tribe got overthrown, Cago undoubtedly sent help. This engendered the people of the newly called Marland to hate the Cagans."
"I don't understand why they would attack us though," said Hector.
"Hector, what do we look like to you?" asked Mason.
"Hi-oh." Hector's face lit up with recognition. "I think I get it now."
Jacob shook his head as he walked. "Fifty years is a long time to hold a grudge."
Mason nodded. "It is, but think back to school. Grudges have been held much longer than that."
"School?" asked Hector.
Mason and Jacob both sighed and kept on walking without answering.
Chapter XX
After fifteen minutes of walking, Hector, Mason, and Jacob found a secluded spot that was free of any life signs to sit down and take a break to decide what their plan of attack was.
"I don't know, Jacob," Mason was saying. "They obviously don't like us here. Maybe we should just keep on going and find another town. We've found a road system. Surely this leads to other towns."
"You have a point, Mason," Jacob conceded. "I just don't like it though. They are too hostile towards us. We need to learn more about what happened with the rebellion that took place. We need to learn more about Cago and the people that live there."
"Going to Cago is not advised. The High Ones do not allow it," said Hector.
Mason rolled his eyes. "I don't care what these so called "High Ones" allow. We are eventually going to end up there."
"But why do you need to go to Cago?" asked Hector.
Mason and Jacob looked at each other. Jacob raised an eyebrow, and Mason nodded reluctantly.
"Guess we should tell you the full story," said Jacob. "First though, we need to find a safe place for the night. Better yet, we need to find different clothes."
Mason looked back towards where they had come from. "I think I saw what might be a clothing shop not too far back. We'll have to be quick though."
Jacob stood up all the way and jogged back towards where they had come. Not too far away, he found the entrance to the clothing shop. There weren't any lights inside the building, and it was a single level. He motioned for Mason and Hector to join him.
"Ok," Jacob said when they got to him. "We need to find some nice clothes but not too nice. Let's stick with the traveler story for now, so we need clothes that will match that."
He pulled his multitool from his belt and held it while he looked at the door. The lock looked simple enough. He turned the tool into a spike and started poking at the lock.
"Do you know what you're even doing?" asked Mason.
"Not really," replied Jacob.
Mason sighed, stepped back, and kicked the door in. There was a loud crack as the latch broke, and the jamb splintered. He hobbled into the storefront while favoring his side.
"Ok," he said in a strained voice. "That wasn't the best idea, but it worked."
Jacob was still standing at the entrance with the tool in his hand as he had been when Mason kicked open the door. He looked at his bioscanner quickly and sighed when it showed no signals.
"Be more careful next time," Jacob stated.
"This is stealing! We will get in big trouble for this," stressed Hector.
"Pipe down, Hector," said Mason. "We get in trouble just for being seen normally. What bad is this going to do?"
Mason was walking through the shop quickly, looking at all the clothes. He stopped in front of a display of what looked like durable shirts and pants and started rifling through the racks to find stuff that fit. Jacob walked over and joined in while Hector stood outside looking around worriedly.
"Hector, get in here," Jacob said in a hushed yet stern tone. "They'll know to look for you as well. You'll have to lose the furs."
"But, I made these!" protested Hector.
"So
? They know that someone with the Cagans was wearing that. You will easily be spotted, especially in Marland where they seem to be more advanced socially."
Hector mumbled and walked into the shop. He took off the pack and started removing his furs. When he was done, he was standing in shorts and a simple screen-printed t-shirt that read "Rock On!" with a picture of a guitar and lightning bolts. Mason looked at Hector sideways.
"You know what," Mason said. "I don't even want to know."
Jacob chuckled and tossed some clothes at Hector. "Try those on," he said.
By the time they had all finished finding clothes that fit, a good fifteen minutes had passed. The bioscanners buzzed.
"Shit," said Mason. "We've got company."
There was a set of six dots that had just come into range.
"Seems like they've come to our part of town," said Jacob. "Ok, let's get going."
They all piled out of the shop and started to jog away from the incoming blips. The bioscanners buzzed again. Jacob looked at his.
"Ok, not good. Got another set of six coming in at a different angle. It would appear there are multiple parties looking for us now," he said.
"Not too surprising," said Mason. "They did seem pretty adamant about their feelings."
Jacob grunted and started going down streets that led away from both groups. The bioscanners buzzed again. Another group.
"Things just got interesting," said Mason as he finished looking at his. "They've almost got us perfectly surrounded."
Jacob cursed under his breath. "Ok, new plan. Hector, down that side street. Mason, follow him. Find a place to set up for a bit. I'm going to create a distraction and hopefully draw their attention elsewhere."
Mason nodded, and he grabbed Hector and dragged him off.