Lalibela ~
Part 1: Blood Stained Rubies
For Manuel Christobel dela Fangio, the once great drug lord, human trafficker, and all around shitty person - it all ended at this place.
A weird little cluster of churches carved out of the red rock that made up the mountains outside of Roha in Northern Ethiopia.
I watched my well-fed target with the fancy name catch the toe of his white, patent leather Burberry wingtip on the second step. I could hear an audible gasping sob escape his plump body as he tripped, tearing a hole in the knee of his tattered, white Dolce & Gabbana suit.
The ostrich skin, attache case he was carrying burst open as it slammed against the solid rock of the doorway. The contents cascaded in a glittering torrent down the steps and into the dust and weeds at the bottom. It looked like a river of glittering blood. A thick sparkling, crimson flood of rubies. Thousands upon thousands just rollin' outta that bag like an obscene jackpot in a some demonic casino.
Manuel glanced back at his fortune gushing down into the rocks and dirt then his eyes got wide as he finally saw me. His Panama hat tumbled off of his head revealing the sparse combover. Then without another word, he left it all behind as he scrambled on all fours into the dark portal.
He left his whole bloody fortune behind. None of it mattered anymore. Fancy hats, expensive suits, bloodstained rubies.
Part 2: Cross of Light
I had to hand it to him. Ol' de la Fangio could really move when he had the right motivation - and I sure as hell could provide plenty of that.
I slid to a stop over the rough floor and scanned the small stone room. I quickly spotted the narrow oval openings in each of the walls.
Shit - slippery fucker - which way?
I quickly switched to thermal and saw a faint heat trail leading through the exit on the wall to the left.
Soooo, that's where you went, Manuel Christobel de la Fangio - my hot headed lil' drug lord.
I had to turn sideways to get through the tight opening. My green, canvas jacket scraped and tore slightly against the rough, red stone of the doorway as I did an internal Google search.
Huh - one account says King Lalibela's people and a bunch of "angels" built this freaky place… 900 years ago. Well, they must have been real little suckers to fit through these damn doors.
I considered how the angels would have really had to tuck their wings in to get through here as I sprinted down the narrow corridor. I had got goin' good and fast too and topped out at 40 miles per hour - then I stopped suddenly, cranked my audio to the max and listened.
Yep - I could hear his royal fatness breathing real heavy… he was dead ahead. From the acoustics, it sounded like there was a little room at the end of the hall I was in. I could see a dim light coming from the chamber.
Natural light - better pick up the pace or he'll get away.
I burst into the room and looked around. The light was coming through a single, thin cross shapped window.
The harsh rays streamed through to make a bright glowing white cross in the center of a heavy stone block in the middle of the room. It kind of looked like an alter… There were no other exits… So where the hell was…
"DIE EL DIABLO!"
It was my good buddy, M. C. de la Fangio. For a big guy, I had to give him some credit - he sure could hide good.
He popped up from behind the rough-hewn altar with a really special surprise for me. The oily bastard was totin' a humongous Smith and Wesson 460XVR revolver. He obviously knew I was coming for him…
I raised my eyebrows as I smiled and pointed at the ridiculously large gun.
"Hey Manuel - is that what I think it - "
BANG!
The bullet that hit me was the size of a baby's fist. It caught me in the shoulder and actually spun me! ME! I couldn't believe it.
"Whoof - hey nice shot M. C., but you really shouldn't both - "
BANG!
The second shot caught me in the center mass and put a huge friggin' dent in my superstructure before ricocheting off, in a shower of gold sparks into the darkness.
I staggered back against the stone wall with a heavy thud and quickly turned off my pain receptors so that the agonizing bullet strikes would only be recorded as a stream of data. That kind of pain I didn't need. I tried to speak and sound confident. I was surprised to hear the thick, slurring sound of my voice.
"Hey asshh-hole you're not gonna get anywh - "
BANG!
Right in the gut! And there was penetration! The data was flyin' in and the reports weren't looking good. I had internal damage, my gyros were working overtime just to keep me standing.
"F-fuggin' sunuva-!"
BANG!
The massive bullet slammed into my hip dangerously close to my crotch. It spun me to my knees. I was reeling.
"Dammit Fangio - b-be careful! Shit you nearly h-hit me right in the di- "
BANG!
A devastating blast to the forehead - I knew exactly where the strike was because after the flash of brilliant light - everything went black.
Only data streamed by my internal cybernetic suite was keepin' me informed. The human part of me that comprised the five senses, were out of commission. I was only aware of what the data was telling me.
The millions of nanobots in my bloodstream were zoomin' and tearin' around rebuilding and fixing all of the biological damage that had been done to me. I could feel myself coming back online. I only needed a few seconds too - and there was one thing that I was really, really super glad about…
CLICK.
That piece of shit gun only has five rounds.
The satisfying sounds of gasping mixed with muted sobs and a trembling, rattling handful of very large bullets came to my recovering audio receptors. I heard a few drop to the stone floor as the cylinder of that ridonculous gun was popped out to receive its next load.
My eyes snapped open and darted around. I was sitting on the ground, legs splayed out into the room - flesh and bits of steel in puddles of blood around me. I stood up and walked over to de la Fangio as he continued to try and load his stupid cartoon like pistol.
"S-stay away!"
As he backed into the corner, his shaking hands kept dropping the bullets. It was just way too hard for him to line them up with the chambers in the cylinder…
plop.
Like it was trying to escape - another big bullet jumped out of his fat fingers. It sounded flat and final as it hit the ground.
plop.
I reached over and bent the barrel up at a ninety degree angle. It pointed straight to the ceiling. Fangio dropped the gun and began to babble.
"Y-you cannot you - Senor - Fury have mercy! Por favor - you must know… W-we are in a place of God! GOD! You must respect th- the… LOOK!"
Fangio was pointing at the light the window was leaving on the stone. It was cross shaped… because… the window was cross shaped.
When I looked back at him there was actually hope in his eyes.
"You… you see the light - the light of God! God sees all - he sees you - he sit in judge… yes - he watch of you… YOU. On what you do next… no? Show mercy Mr. Fury - and I will never agaAAIIIIEEEGGGGEEEESSHHHH - "
I had to wiggle my fist a little to pull it from what used to be my target's face. it made those familiar, wet sucking noises - followed by a sloppy popping sound.
I laid the fearsome Manuel Christobel de la Fangio on the stone slab in the middle of the room. The cross of light coming from the window was in the center of his chest.
Kinda cool looking…
Then I put my employer's black, metallic calling card in his top pocket… to send a little message. I smiled and laughed internally as I thought to myself…
Yeah - you can fuck with other drug lords as much as you like - but don't cut in on Langley's turf - Uncle Sam's got rules about that shit. Well. now I gotta pick up all those damn rubies… shit - that's gonna take hours.
I turned to leave the room and something made me look back.
I saw my target lying there in his fancy white suit with a big hole in his lying - sunuvabitch - face. The blood was running down and pooling. Soaking into the red block - a big glowing cross of white light on his chest.
The light was cross shaped because… the window was shaped like a cross.
What I saw was exactly what was there. I don't know what I expected to see.