Through the Dust - Section 11

Before the sun had risen over the horizon, Loika was brimming with life and business continued as it always did, paying no mind to the happenings of the previous afternoon.  Newspapers littered the streets, ripped to shreds where the word University was mentioned, yet forgotten soon after to the general bystander.

However, the merchant stands buzzed with the news of the University brawl, the salesmen asking their customers of their opinions, and sharing their own with each other.  Loika, the only University-independent large city, was angered by the emergence of the government-figure in their town, and the people behind the city’s success were demanding justice for one of their kind.

Alex was well-known among the merchants and had a very good reputation for business among them all.  Loikans didn’t take well to their own being beaten, especially in their own home, and despite Alex not originating from the Australian city, it could easily be considered her home, as well as her crew’s.

When the mercenary set to the streets, her cheek bearing a purple, black and blue bruise the size of a grapefruit and her eye greatly darkened, those who knew of her assaulted her with questions.  She knew to keep quiet on her way to visit her old merchant friend, giving the occasional smile and nod in response, but mostly remaining neutral in her expression.  Still, her appearance sent about a good deal of chatter to those involved in the politics of the city, though left the majority confused and staring at her face as she drew small crowds.

“Ah, so ya did decide to come by an’ see me!” Meron greeted her with a big smile as always, and beckoned her behind his counter.  He was busy setting up for the day, and couldn’t stop what he was doing, so Alex made herself comfortable on a wooden crate set back from the front.

“I wouldn’t come here and not visit, I just got a bit tied up yesterday.  I assume everything went fine?”  She knew that he was working really hard not to ask her about the bruise, and knew that he had read the article.

Meron turned to her, throwing a dusting rag over his shoulder and crossing his big arms, “Of course everythin’ went fine, though I wouldn’ say the same about you.  I know you didn’ come here jus’ to check how yer crew did – I know ya trust Zinny.  Whaddaya need?”

Shifting a bit and finding the crate a bit uncomfortable, Alex tried to delay her answer by standing and taking her jacket off and making herself something resembling a cushion.  “I was wondering what you knew about the University guys that’ve been hanging around here.  I’m sure you know I had a run in with them yesterday, and you seem to always have the information.”  After she was satisfied with her make-shift seat, she returned to lounging against the front wall of the alley-shack.

“I think yer givin’ me too much credit, an’ this time I’ve got nothin’ that can help ya…”  Before he had even finished this sentence he was in her face, inspecting the bruise.  “They really did a number on ya, didn’ they?”

“They were the size of a regular Loikan, but working for the wrong side…  The two of ‘em were beasts!”  The sun was starting to come up now, and it was getting progressively busier.  Meron was listening to her, but could only respond when he didn’t have a customer.

“Two, huh?  What about the third then?”

“He was on our side, I think…”

“I’m not quite sure what ya mean by that,” he replied, though quite awhile after she had said it.

Handing him a bottle of whatever the customer had asked for, Alex watched the other man leave before responding.  “I’m not quite sure either, honestly.  We first met after my first time in Torenz – he basically chased us out of the city.  Had a bit of a brawl that ended up in a bit of an embarrassment for the University….  But regardless, he lost with a certain air of class that I couldn’t quite understand.”  Another customer had stepped up and taken their privacy and Meron’s attention.  It was a good deal of time before he had free time again, though she was quite the conversation starter.

“Lost, did he?”  He waved away a beggar before turning back to Alex.  “So, that’s where you were yesterday…  Cavortin’ with an old male acquaintance an’ gettin’ into bar fights.  Very classy.”

“Oh, you know me.  I love a good bar fight and a good afternoon drink with a man, if you catch what I mean.”  Instead of following this with a wink, she scowled at him.  “I hadn’t planned on that happening, but if you don’t have any information, I guess you can’t help me out.”  She stood to leave, shrugging her coat back on.  “Looks like I have to go to the underbelly for this one.”

“Don’ get too far into that’un, then!  Those University types are trouble!” he called after, though not really believing that he’d be able to stop her.

People continued to stare as she walked through the streets, and she greeted those who she knew.  A few asked her what had happened, but those who knew her knew not to ask, and they moved on with their day.  It was only when the buildings got closer together and the sun seemed to disappear that the crowds silenced and she fell back into anonymity.  She and Zinfandel had a pact that they never accepted jobs from this part of town, regardless of how tempting the pay was.  While they often took less-than-respectable jobs, they had good names in Loika, and knew that that reputation would be tarnished by beginning to work for the sewer rats.

There was one person down here that they trusted, however, since she hadn’t started as a sewer rat, and stayed down here by choice.  Amsyl had been part of the crew before, and had helped the pair of teenagers get out of New York City when disease and hunger were still spreading rapidly.  She had also been around at the beginning of their mercenary business, handling the paperwork and organizing jobs and money.  However, she had been nearly sixty when the Quake happened, and was near the end of her lifespan, so she resided in the underbelly of Loika, collecting information and ultimately being the major information trafficker in the city.  This connection made it easy for them to find out any information they pleased, but their acquaintance had to remain a secret for reputation’s sake – on both of their parts.

It seemed to Alex that the shadows crawled with the eyes of the sewer rats – it was obvious that she didn’t belong here, and they wanted to know more about this intruder, including where she was going.  Upon reaching Amsyl’s hideout, she was greeted by an intricate metal representation of the Green Man and a pair of guards wielding elaborately decorated spears.  They moved to a protective stance, one of them speaking from under their broad-rimmed guard’s hats.  “What brings one like you down here?”

Alex fingered the gun hidden at her side beneath her coat, but felt the surrounding air close in on her and decided that for now, she’d be civil.  “I have business with Amsyl.  She knows I’m coming.”  The pair shared a few whispered words, then one ducked back through the door, leaving only the single guard – and what Alex assumed to be at least a dozen in hiding – to guard the entry.  She waited patiently, wondering if it had been a bad decision not to pack her heavy artillery on this excursion, when the guard emerged and nodded her past.

When she saw Alex enter her great room, Amsyl dismissed all of the guards, including those hiding in the shadows.  “I didn’t expect you to show up,” she finally said in a raspy tone that carried effortlessly across the musty, heavy air of the room.

“I didn’t expect you to still be running the show down here – though your guard is starting to get a bit lax about who they admit.  You don’t check for weaponry anymore?”  She sat down on an old-world overstuffed couch, making herself comfortable in the company of the ancient woman.

“If someone is intent on killing me now, I don’t see much use in trying to stop them.  They’d be doing me a favor.”  Amsyl had had cancer prior to the Quake, but it had gone into remission.  The doctors thought she was cured, but recently it had resurfaced and had significantly shortened her already limited lifespan.  Those who knew were surprised that she had survived this long.  “I assume you haven’t just come for a visit.  What can I do for you?”

Despite Alex’s trust in Amsyl’s dismissal of her guards, she lowered her voice.  “I was wondering what information you had on the University folks who have been undercover in town.  Specifically the two who are responsible for this.”  She briefly gestured to her cheek.

“The University’s presence in Loika isn’t anything new.  My crew has had to go through extensive screening since we became aware of their interference – found two low-level guards trying to feed information from me to them.  The two who I assume gave you a bit of trouble are part of a force that recently showed up here.”  She paused a moment, taking a drink of what Alex assumed was old-world tea, and gathered her thoughts before continuing.

“Recently, the University came in and rounded up a small crew of Loikans who were less-than-pleased with their current living situations.  It was all done during the cover of night, so no one knows who exactly was recruited.  However, they created their own branch of the University in the back alleys of the city and have been causing a bit of trouble ever since.  My people have tried to track them down, but they’re good at keeping their cover.”

Silence fell between them as Alex absorbed this and tried to make sense of events in her mind.  In this pause, Amsyl lit a candle and placed it on the table between them, revealing to Alex just how sick she looked.  It also gave enough light to illuminate the various religious figures and carvings that adorned the small room, and she realized there was a looming figure of the Goddess staring down at her from behind her friend’s seat.  “Ok, if that’s all true, then what about the fourth member of my little party?”

A small smile crept to the woman’s face, lifting the sagging folds of skin on her cheeks, “I was fortunate to have a couple of men at the pub yesterday – they got a good description of him for me, and I gathered a little information on him…  Though I’m sure most of it is old to you.”  Alex scowled at the suggestion of that comment, but she continued.  “He recently left the University, but without telling them.  He simply stopped showing up.  They checked for him at his home within the complex, but he was gone – didn’t take anything with him that they know of.  No one is entirely sure why he left, but he made contact with some sewer rats not long ago…  Unfortunately, their meetings are outside my circle, so I’m not entirely sure what transpired, but he’s made a few visits since then as well.”

“Do you know of anything that might happen here soon?”

“Many of the Loikan men are gathering arms and are meeting in small groups to organize a defense plan should the University decide they want Loika as their own.  There hasn’t been anything concrete established, however, so there’s little information to gather on that front.”

Alex let all of this information settle, trying to understand how he was involved in any of this based on what he had said to her.  She felt that something was missing still, and she would need to see him again to acquire that final piece.  “Do you know where they took him?”

Amsyl slowly shook her head, “Unfortunately, no one will say that they saw where they went – if anyone did at all.  I’m afraid that it’s a dead end searching for his location.”

Obviously satisfied with the information she had received, Alex stood to leave, “Thanks for all of your help.”

“If you plan on getting involved in all this, I would advise against it.  Any dealing with the University is a bad one.”

Flashing a smile, Alex responded easily, “I’ll stay out of trouble as always, Amsyl.  Take care of yourself – I want you to be around the next time we come through.”  Amsyl nodded with a small smile in response, and Alex showed her way out of the great room and past all the guards, shooting a few of them glares when they seemed to get a little too close.