by R. E. Graham
One old lady shouted out at him as he nearly knocked her into the road. "You jerk! Watch where you're going."
The Inquisitor spotted a pair of distracted Keepers of Peace agents up ahead and darted down an alley. He continued moving back and forth from alley to sidewalk until he finally found a building that looked vacant.
With gentle care, he lowered Eva to the ground and rushed over to the window built into the side door of the orange colored structure. There was no door panel for him to use from the outside but knew there would be one within.
"Marth, do you detect any security system for this building?" he asked his gauntlet's artificial intelligence.
"Initial scans show no such system in place Inquisitor."
"Can you get it open?" He checked around to see if anyone was watching him.
"Accessing..." Marth said in her synthetic female voice.
"This is taking too long!" the Inquisitor said as he walked over to Eva and carefully removed her jacket. He wrapped it around his elbow. In one swift attack the window was broken. He unraveled his arm and tossed the jacket to the ground.
Just as he freed his arm the door slid into the wall. "Access granted" the AI said.
Varius sighed. "Thanks."
He returned to Eva and picked her back up in his arms. With a mild amount of frustration, he fought to kick the jacket inside before he entered as well.
"Marth, close the door" he said aloud as he headed for the stairs off to his left.
The door slid shut and the Inquisitor went up the stairs. Each step of his boots echoed off the walls of the stairwell as he climbed up to the second floor. He used his shoulder to press the door panel.
As the door slid open he took a moment to examine Eva. Her neck had bruises where Torvan had compressed her airway. She also had another bruise on the top of her head.
He stepped onto the second floor and attempted to stay alert as he moved further inside. The second floor was a massive open room that only had sparse pillars sporadically interrupting the open space. He noticed some furniture off at the other end of the room and headed towards it.
As he got closer it became apparent that it was likely a homeless person's residence as there was a lone green sofa along with some clothes thrown about. As he approached the couch the look on his face was not approving of the dirty sofa. He elected to slump her up against the wall and cover the sofa with a mostly clean sheet he found in the corner of the room.
The Inquisitor returned and moved Eva to the long sofa. As he squatted down beside her, he used his right hand to feel her neck for life.
Strong pulse. Good...
Without thinking, his hand moved from her neck to gently brush her hair from her face.
I never really paid much attention to her looks before. But now...
Just as he pulled his hand back from her face her eyes began to open. She shot right up, and her eyes grew very wide.
"Ah, where are they?"
Varius placed both of his hands on her shoulders and eased her to lie back down. "It's alright, we got out of there safe."
"Oh, thank the Creator. What happened?" she asked as she started to relax.
"Just after you blacked out the Shadow Man showed up."
She couldn't help from launching herself back up at the revelation. "What!? So those two brothers are actually connected to him?"
"Yeah they are. He started to tell me that I am special or something."
The woman's face looked confused. "Special?"
"He told me that there has been a lot of planning in order to get me to come here to Eden. He also said that I have a choice to make."
"But what does that mean? Ooooh..." Eva asked as her head began to hurt. She slowly lowered herself back on the sofa and watched as Varius got up and began to pace.
"I truly don't know. He was about to tell me more when the two keepers showed up and started fighting."
"Wow, what was that like?"
The Inquisitor couldn't help but laugh to himself. "It wasn't nearly as impressive as you would have thought considering they are in power armor and the brothers weren't. What was surprising was that the Shadow Man had some sort of powers and was able to fight Liberty on his own."
"Great." Eva rubbed the top of her head and winced in pain.
"Hey, why did you tell me to run before all the fighting started? Have you seen people with those black eyes before?" Varius asked as he stopped pacing and looked at the woman.
"Possibly."
Varius crossed his arms and gave her a look.
"You probably would think I am crazy if I told you anyway."
"Humor me. What I just saw happen back in the hangar isn't natural."
Eva carefully shook her head. "No, it wasn't. I don't know about the Shadow Man, but those two guys were definitely possessed by a daemon. Well, at least one."
"What does that mean? That someone can be possessed by more than one?"
"Do you have a faith Varius? A religion maybe?" Eva asked as she slowly raised herself on the couch and turned her body towards him.
The Inquisitor brushed away the question and looked away. "I believe in what I can see. Not in some supernatural nonsense."
"Well, regardless of what you believe, what you saw back there were real and actual daemons from the void."
Varius took a step toward Eva and pointed an angry finger at her. "There is no god out there! My baby girl died horribly in my own home. I will never believe in any sort of higher power. Ever."
Eva gave him time to vent and get his feelings off of his chest.
"You are right Inquisitor, there is no true god."
Eva looked up while Varius spun around to see Knowledge and Liberty approaching them. Their orange and purple glow helping to illuminate them in the shadows.
"I have lived for a very long time and have never encountered the Creator, All Father, or anything else that men have believed in. However, I have seen more darkness and cruelty from humans than should even be possible" Knowledge said as he stopped out of arm's reach from the Inquisitor.
"How did you find us?" Varius asked slightly upset that he obviously was tailed so easily.
"It wasn't hard with all of the surveillance in Jancen. Granted, it was much easier in Lucifer but it wasn't an issue for me" the dark blue Keeper said confidently as he placed his arms behind his back.
"If it was so easy to find us then why haven't you been able to find the Shadow Man?" Eva asked as she began to stand up. She felt incredibly soar and decided it was best to sit back down.
Liberty jumped into answer. "After the two of you escaped, he escaped using some kind of teleportation or something."
Knowledge scoffed.
"What else would you call it Kay?" the bronze Keeper asked to her compatriot.
"I am not prepared to refer to it as teleportation. That is preposterous" Knowledge said defiantly.
The female Keeper turned to the other pair. "You don't understand yet, but Kay here has been around for a real long time. He knows way more than we ever would. For him to not have an answer about how they got away is a big deal."
Knowledge threw his armored arms up. "I refuse to admit that it is some kind of technological wonder that I have not seen before. I am up to date on an estimated 98% of all experimental technology in the Republic. What we saw today was something else entirely. It is not possible."
"Would you say that it was supernatural?" Eva asked as she placed her hand on her head to ease the pain.
"Absolutely not."
"Why wouldn't you?" the woman asked calmly.
"Because..." he looked to Liberty and even to Varius for reassurance in the conversation. "Gah! There is no such thing as the supernatural. Everything can be explained with mathematics and logic. What we witnessed was some sort of advancement that hasn't seen wide use yet."
"If you have been able to track us here and throughout Lucifer, then why did it take you so long to get involved in the fight back there?" Varius asked wi
th a scowl on his face.
"We needed to learn as much as we could about the Shadow Man."
"But at first it was just the two of us against the dark eyed brothers."
"Right."
The Inquisitor just stared at the blank face plate of the dark blue Keeper. "We were bait."
"You certainly were."
Varius got right in Knowledge's face. "We could have died there. Eva nearly did."
"It's not like we wanted to not step in" Liberty said reassuringly.
"Look, clearly you are somehow special to the Shadow Man and now that is much more apparent than ever. For whatever reason he has targeted you for some sort of plan and we need to be careful that you don't fall into whatever scheme he has."
"So are you ready to believe us now that we are not connected to the Shadow Man" the Inquisitor asked Knowledge with his own reflection bouncing off the Keeper's helmet.
"It would seem that you have gotten involved in something much bigger than you realize Inquisitor. We have been after this vermin for a long time and I am not about to let him succeed with yet one more of his plans."
Eva raised her hand and the other three stopped and looked over to her. "So, silly question, but you both seem pretty freaked out about what just happened back there. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see a lot since I was unconscious and all. I do want to ask both of you keepers, have you ever seen anything like those guys back there with the black eyes?"
Liberty looked up to Knowledge, but he just kept staring at the woman. He finally looked away and crossed his arms once more. "No."
"Well I have" Eva said with a stern face.
"She says that they are daemons" Varius said with a side glance at Knowledge.
"What? Impossible!" the Keeper waved his arm to wave away the idea from his face.
"Back when I was an inquisitor, I had this case involving this group of young women out near the Outer Rim Colonial Alliance. There were rumors of people going missing and other real strange things." As Eva continued she stared off in the distance as she recalled the darkness of her memories. "I uh...I finally tracked down the group and saw things I never ever want to again. It looked like there was some kind of ritual going on and there were these women that were about to sacrifice a newborn. I of course stepped in and broke it up. As they turned their attention to me I got a good look at a bunch of their faces. They had the same soulless black eyes that those guys did back there in the hangar."
Knowledge shook his head in disbelief. "Young lady, I can't adequately express to you how much information I have stored in my mind. I can assure you that what you are describing could easily be answered away as some sort of psychotropic drug or other substance that was involved."
Varius kept his arms crossed but looked over at the male Keeper. "How would you explain Thyrus taking multiple laser bolts to the chest and still able to fight in spite of all that trauma to his body?"
"I have reason to believe that it was merely some form of hypnosis likely mixed with narcotics that allowed Thyrus to continue to battle me with his extensive injuries."
"Or..." Eva began, "...you don't know as much as you think you do."
Knowledge started to get fired up, but Liberty placed a hand on his chest.
"What we need to deal with right now is the two of you. What are you planning to do next Varius?" the bronze Keeper asked as she looked to the Inquisitor.
"I'm not doing anything right now until I process what I just saw."
"You both need to heed my warning more now than ever. You need to go into hiding and let us finish this investigation" Knowledge said standing up to his full height and puffing his armored chest out.
The Inquisitor shook his head and headed towards the stairs.
Liberty stepped forward and called out to him. "Where do you think you are going?"
Varius spun on his heel and tried to keep himself from getting too upset. "I am going for a walk. I need to get my mind clear. You..." he said pointing at the female Keeper and then to Eva. "...keep an eye on her until I get back."
"You are in no position to start barking orders" Knowledge said with a bit of venom in his voice.
Varius stomped back up to the blue Keeper and glared with fury in his eyes. "Me?! You just used us as bait! I need to clear my head."
"And what are you going to do smart guy if you get captured? There is a plethora of surveillance all watching for you to slip up."
"Well, we have done a good job so far evading the agents looking for us, I'll take my chances."
Chapter 27
Cycle: 412 Month: 7 Rotation: 14
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Eden
Location: Downtown Jancen, Outside of Lucifer
The evening sky was quickly encroaching on the air above as the local sun crept behind the horizon. Varius kept his eyes down as he moved about the busy crowds as they headed home, only glancing every few steps up to peak around seeing if he was being followed.
His mind raced as he tried to process his conversation with the Shadow Man. At this point though all that was happening was his mind clashing together as he thought about the keepers, the brothers, and all his previously held beliefs, all colliding together harshly.
What does the Shadow Man want with me? What does he mean that I am special?
A black wheeled truck drove by and a gust of wind smacked into his face as he continued navigating through the waves of people.
What if he is just trying to get inside my mind? To make me doubt everything? I need to talk to the Director. Yeah, that's what I am going to do next.
Two women dressed in business attire were talking to one another and not paying attention in front of them. Varius tried to sidestep but then the blonde woman did as well.
"Gah, excuse me!" she said as she pushed passed him and continued on her way with her friend.
The Inquisitor scowled at her but kept on his way. He was just about to turn back for Eva when he heard a familiar voice rising above the busy sound of the city.
"Repent people of Jancen. Repent for your judgement is soon!"
Varius' head perked right up as he recognized the voice from back on the planet Assembly. His suspicions were confirmed when he finally saw the tall strange gangly man. A small gathering of people stopped to listen to him as he spoke passionately. Just like on Assembly, the Stranger stood well over a head taller than most. Same dingy clothes too.
How could he be here on Eden? This must be an incredible coincidence. Wait, he knew my name back then. Is he connected to the Shadow Man too?
Stopping at the edge of the gathering Varius listened intently to the Stranger's message.
"For generations Eden was a prosperous world, but now it has turned from its path and has become a den of vipers and thieves. Evil has corrupted this world's leaders and soon judgement will flow across the land. "
A man further up on Varius' right shook his fist at the strange man. "Why are you here if we are so evil?"
"Because, I am one of the many that have been sent to proclaim that you need to change your ways before it is too late. Judgement is already falling on worlds across the 'verse, repent now before it visits Eden too!"
More of the gathering of men and women became very bitter and angry as the Stranger continued to preach. Someone from deep within the group threw a drinking bottle at him but entirely missed the tall man in the middle.
Before he realized what he was doing, Varius had pushed his way through the crowd and up into the circular opening that surrounded the Stranger from everyone else.
What am I doing? Someone is going to recognize me!
"Ah Damien, you have finally arrived" the Stranger said as he turned his attention to the Inquisitor.
He nervously checked around him to see if anyone was about to point out his face but thankfully they everyone’s attention seemed to be on the man in the middle.
"How do you know me?" he asked boldly but very interested in the answer.
The Stranger took a couple of steps backward and smiled softly at the Inquisitor. "I have a message I was sent to deliver to you."
"Who are you?" Varius asked as he took a step forward after the tall man as he fell back into the gathering of observers around him.
The crowd looked very confused as to what was happening. A woman off to the side tried to push the Stranger as hard as she could but couldn’t seem to move him. It was if he weighed much more than he appeared to. She threw her shoulder into him but bounced off and fell to the ground.
The other onlookers began to back up creating a way for the Stranger.
"Who are you?" the Inquisitor asked again as his temper rose.
Without another word the Stranger turned around and headed away from the crowd and down the sidewalk and turned a corner. Varius followed after him but was shocked to see yet again he had vanished.
"What the...?" he said.
Varius looked all around him and kept walking until he found a door of a home off the sidewalk opened. He peered inside and saw the pant leg of the Stranger disappear around a corner within the home.
Not this time!
With determined focus he entered the home and followed around the corner after him. He found himself in a foyer of sorts with several rooms to either side and a spiral staircase before him. For a second he held his breath and didn't move as he tried to hear around him. Besides the hollow sound of the busyness outside he could hear the steady thump thump thump of steps coming from the second floor.
He skipped every other step in his stride as he flew up the flight of stairs.
Wish I had my gun with me!
A long beautiful hallway was at the top of the stairs. The sound of the steps stopped but a lone door was left open at the end of the hall. With great care and as much stealth as he could manage, Varius crept up to the doorway and noticed the Stranger sitting on a leather chair at the back of the room.
He extended his hand and motioned for another chair beside him. "Please, take a seat."
Varius shook his head. "I'm good. I need some answers and quickly. You were on Assembly in Alachua before things turned bad. What are you doing here? Do you work for the Shadow Man?"