Chapter 4: The Four Corners of the World

The innkeeper's wife brought the trio a full three course meal with dessert and tea afterwards, all the while eyeing the third wheel rather suspiciously. To any one watching them, it seemed that Pascal and Madic got along splendidly, relaying story after story of their childhood adventures and enough inside jokes to make Hubert want to excuse himself and go sulk in a corner somewhere. But he didn't leave for fear of what might happen in his absence, and he quietly chewed his food mechanically and swallowed without tasting it.

"Fourier has always been looking after Pascal as far as I can remember," said Madic rather wistfully. "Especially since their father passed away. Oh-" he stopped himself and checked Pascal's expression. Her cheery demeanor didn't falter a bit and Madic was relieved.

"I don't mind," smiled Pascal. "It's been so long since then, after all."

"Well, I know you don't like to talk about him, especially since your mother had passed shortly before that…oh, um, right. Sorry, Pascal. I just keep saying the wrong things tonight," he chuckled apologetically.

"No worries!" Pascal said, patting him on the back. "No use in cryin' over your lot in life. Won't change a thing, right?"

"That's what I've always admired about Pascal," said Madic looking over to Hubert, not acknowledging the grim expression in the other man's face. "She always smiles, and always looks on the bright side of things. I bet if it wasn't for Pascal, Fourier would have never gotten out of that funk after their parents passed." He turned to smile at her. "You have the spirit of an unsinkable ship."

"Aww, shucks," said Pascal, scratching the back of her head shyly.

"I remember Fourier constantly trying to get you to act more ladylike, bathe more often, and use a proper vocabulary," laughed Madic.

"Thingamabob and whack-a-doodle are useful words," laughed Pascal.

"But in all honesty," Madic said as an aside. "Pascal was always at the top of the class and actually has an extensive vocabulary. She's just too lazy to use it."

"Meh," said Pascal with a shrug.

"Oh, I should get going," said Madic, checking his pocket watch. "I have an early shift tomorrow. If you're going to check out the ruins, you should be careful. The monsters haven't been cleared out of it yet. The Strahtan military usually escorts us there but they haven't done any real housekeeping of the place."

"We're working on it," said Hubert with a tight smile. "The military's objectives right now are securing the trade routes for cryas distribution and developmental research."

"Well, since you're a high ranking Major, I guess you can protect Pascal," said Madic.

"I would do it even if I wasn't and without your prompting," said Hubert, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "However, Pascal is quite a capable woman and her arsenal is well rounded. I'd really just be there for show."

"That's not true, Hu," insisted Pascal. "Your combat skills are really like, wham-bam-whoosh. I'm no good at the up close stuff."

"I'm glad you approve," smiled Hubert. "I'd be happy to escort you but remember it's still military business so no wandering off."

"I could also ask my boss if I could help. That way you two won't get lost. I'm pretty familiar with the ruins by now."

"I don't think that will be necess-" began Hubert.

"Thanks, Madic!" Pascal burst out enthusiastically.

"Well that settles it. I'll make sure I clear it with my boss and you can meet me there."

"Awesome!" said Pascal, grinning ear to ear.

When Madic finally left, it was already quite late and Hubert directed Pascal to the room to sleep, warning her that they'd have an early start to the Uncharted Sand Stretch the next morning. He had already made up his mind to stay at the barracks and come fetch her in the morning and bid her a polite good night.

He felt a twitch in his eye and as his soldiers observed him as he entered the barracks, the irritated look on his face told them to hold off speaking to him until morning.

-000-

True to his word, Madic met them at the entrance of the Amarcian ruins in the Uncharted Sandstretch when they made it around mid-morning. This was one of two cannons the Amarcians had built to guarantee a method of re-entry to Fodra which was the original plan once they solved the Lambda problem and the core problem. When Fodra was given up for good, the Amarcians resolved to settle in Ephinea with the native population, traveling in a ship that eventually was dismantled to create the Enclave. It seemed the Amarcians had traveled the four corners of the world and left behind hints of their technology and culture everywhere in their endless search for a way home.

Hubert harbored his dislike of Pascal's fellow Amarcian with a strained greeting after Pascal had given her friend a bear hug though they had just seen one another the night before. He left the two chatting amongst themselves as he and his personal soldiers went to the entrance. Strahtan guards were standing by the doorway and reported to him as he approached.

"Nothing to report, sir," said one of the guards with the Strahtan military salute.

"Give me the list of people who have come and gone from this location in the past fortnight," ordered Hubert.

"Yes, sir," said the other guard, handing him a clipboard. Hubert flipped through the sheets paper, scanning the lines until he came across the most recent entries. Madic and his research team were the only ones to frequent the ruins during the time the research went missing.

"Curious," said Hubert under his breath.

"What is?" asked Pascal, suddenly by his side. Hubert looked at her with a start, but her ability to appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly were not new to him.

"Nothing," he dismissed, as he handed the clipboard back to the guard and followed Madic inside.

Madic showed the other guards further inside the ruins and Hubert noticed Pascal was lagging a bit behind. He slowed to match her pace and walked beside her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, questioning the thoughtful expression on her face.

"Nothing," she responded cheerfully, but she paused to add, "We kinda keep each other at arm's length, don't we?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"When you're onto to something, you don't like to show your cards to anyone. I guess that keeps you ahead of the game, since you're in the middle of an investigation and such…." She sighed and looked to see that Madic and the others were further ahead of them now. "I guess I can be that way too with what I'm thinkin'. But if it's just you and me here, Hu, if I promise to tell you everything I'm thinkin' about, will you tell me what you're thinkin' too?"

It was his turn to look at her thoughtfully before responding, "Is that what's bothering you?"

"Well, I guess, yeah. I mean, we're friends, aren't we?"

Hubert tried not to grimace at the word 'friends" and sighed as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Would it make you feel better, or would you still be my friend if I told you Madic is among the suspected thieves?"

Pascal blinked at him, then responded, "I would think you and I know each other better than that." She took his hand and squeezed. "Don't hold back on my account. I kinda like the way you say things to me straight and more often than not, blunt. That way I don't have to guess."

"Well I would ask the same of you," Hubert said. "Instead of hiding what you're feeling inside, I want you to know you can talk to me, about anything."

"Oh." Pascal had an inscrutable expression on her face. "I..."

"We've known each other for a while now. I can't say I'm the most approachable but if you have a problem or something you need to talk about, I'd like to be of use to you."

"All right-y then." She let go of his hand and they continued walking to catch up with the others. "I hate to admit it but I suspect Madic as well. There's something about his research that doesn't make sense. He was never one for number crunching and I think there's more to his purpose here than he would let on. Madic is too…." she struggled for the right words to avoid betraying her friend but there was no way to put it politely. "Ambitious…to just be helping someone else's research. I want to keep believing in him, though."

"Always the optimist," he smiled.

"Someone's gotta balance you out," she grinned. Hubert felt his heart skip a beat.

"Hey Pascal!" waved Madic. "I want to show you something. It's a machine that we found but no one can get to work." Pascal's ears perked up and her eyes started to glitter. She looked over to Hubert as if asking for permission and when he gave her a non-committal shrug, she took off in that direction.

Pascal approached a pedestal of sorts with a panel at the center. There were buttons and a small screen at the top of the panel, but the screen was blank. The power source seemed cut off and Pascal found a panel at the base of the pedestal and yanked it open.

"Hmm…it seems it's gotten rusty. Let's see if I adjust this, and then do that…" she mumbled to herself as she rearranged the wiring inside. Then, she pulled a mallet of sorts out of nowhere and started banging on some parts.

"H-Hey," said Madic in shock. "You're gonna break it."

"Nah," said Pascal as she gave it another whack. "Amarcian technology is wa-a-a-y sturdier than that." Before her friend could protest further, the screen turned on and Pascal started pushing some buttons.

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed as she continued to fiddle with it. "This seems like a map of the place. It seems to show where everything is. Here's the main room for the cannon. There's the other exit and portal. This room is where they store the junk. Here's where they store the blue prints. Wow," she exclaimed. "They have a library full of blue prints in this little room here. But it's locked. Bummer."

"You're amazing, Pascal. Can you break the code?" Madic asked tentatively.

"Why?" asked Pascal.

"What do you mean why? There might be stuff in there that's essential to my-" he broke off his sentence. "To our research." She gave a non-committal shrug.

"I guess I could. I broke into the other database at the station in Lhant to access this one. If I'm not mistaken this combination key pass would be the same if not similar to that one." She tapped on the keyboard and tried some combinations until the door of the vault unlocked.

"I knew you couldn't pass up a good puzzle challenge," Madic smiled.

"But why would you need a bunch of blue prints? What are you planning to do with them?" Her friend merely smiled at her, but Pascal felt that something was off. His smile did not reach his eyes and in fact sent a small chill down her spine. Instinctively she stepped away from him.

"What's with the reaction, Pascal? Don't you trust me?"

"Well...no, not really and that smile of yours is creepin' me out."

"You were always the top of our class and you intuitively figure things out. You have a way with machines and you can also read people pretty well. It's really uncanny at how accurate that is. Too bad you don't have what it takes to go any further."

"What do you mean?" she asked calmly though she felt her pulse quicken and wondered what was taking Hubert so long.

"Don't tell me you still believe that nonsense your father was spewing that science is meant to better people's lives?"

Pascal's eyes went stone cold. "How dare you."

"Ah," he chuckled. "There you are. I wondered how long you were going to keep up pretenses with me." He walked over to a pillar and pushed a small button on a panel. Immediately the door to the chamber slammed closed and Pascal knew she was trapped inside, alone with him.

"Science is meant to be sold to the highest bidder. No matter how lofty your goals may be, in the end you will always need a source of funding. Also," he leered, "the less competition the better."

"Madic!" she called out as she drew her shot staff. From the other side of the door she could hear Hubert's voice as he pounded on it.

"No hard feelings, Pascal. This is just payback for all those times you put me in second place."

"We were kids!" she retorted. "Don't tell me you're still holding grudges."

"I don't hate you. I just need a little diversion while I make my escape. My employer needs those blueprints and I only have a few more days to get those to him. I stole my supervisor's research to see if she was any closer to finding the secret door but you found it in an instant. It's really fortunate for me that you came. You were very useful." He pushed another button and the floor fell out from under her feet.

"Thanks," he added with a smile after she vanished into the darkness.

Note: Whoa, just read this over again and I realized I modeled Madic after Hans (Frozen).

-K