AN: This chapter has reminded me of some 'British-isms', I guess you could call them, I use without thought, such as me trying to use the word 'tannoy' and the spell check getting really confused, lol. The Man on the Moon, which turns up this chapter, is the name of a pub near where I live, as I was becoming too obsessed over thinking of a suitable name. Random trivia! Also warnings for some minor graphic imagery. And of course massive thanks for all the reviews I got – I was completely dumbfounded. I try to reply to everyone and answer questions, and I apologise if it seems I don't have much to say (I really do try!). So thank you BlazingMidnightRain, InLuvWithMicky, SageofAges729, Crusnik02, DragonRider-Xankira and Ataokoloinona! Anyway, onward and upward!
Chapter Ten
Esther awoke disorientated. She felt panicked at first, quickly sitting up and looking around.
"Are you all right, Esther?"
Her head snapped to the right where Tres was sitting. She suddenly remembered he'd been sitting there when she'd fallen asleep. Hadn't he moved for all those hours?
"Uh, yes, I'm fine, thank you. Are we there yet?" she asked, sliding out of bed and stretching.
"It is approximately one hour and seven minutes until we are scheduled to land."
"Oh! I better get ready!"
She dashed back to her room, feeling less conscious of herself than last night. A good night's rest had done her a lot of good she decided as she washed and dressed. She pulled on one of her changes of clothes, this time a grey skirt and suit jacket with a navy shirt, and checked the time. They still had another half an hour. She picked up her bag of belongings and went to knock on Tres' door.
"Come in."
She entered to find everything packed. The room looked untouched.
'Did he make the bed?' she observed. He made no sense to her a great deal of the time. Speaking of Tres, he was standing by his bag, unruffled.
"Should we head to the exit, so we're first off the airship?" Esther asked and Tres nodded.
"There is no need to remain here. The quicker we progress with our mission, the quicker we may return to the Vatican."
Esther sighed. The Vatican was not a home for her. It felt cold and somehow empty, even while filled with people. She wasn't entirely sure whether she could perhaps one day make it a home. Only time would really tell, she knew.
"Yes," was all she could think to say. They headed to the main hall, where the exit was located. Many people had the same idea as they did, and were milling about. Esther could feel this was the beginning of something; whether for good or ill. She moved through the crowd, drinking in the anticipation of finally getting onto land again.
Tres did not follow her, instead standing in a corner and watching from afar.
Eventually Esther could feel the airship going down and returned to Tres' side. She supposed it wouldn't' do for an 'assistant' to be doing whatever she pleased, as much as the notion irritated her. She always seemed to end up playing second fiddle to someone else.
"Now disembarking at Londinium Airport," the speakers crackled and Esther looked out of a nearby porthole. It was foggy, so there wasn't much she could see, to her disappointment.
They were allowed off the airship and Tres marched forward, followed by Esther. She tried to pull her jacket closer. It was a bit cold in Albion; colder than Esther had expected. They got out of the airport relatively quickly and Tres began telling Esther that they should get their bearings at the hotel they'd been assigned. Esther simply nodded and followed, feeling that her role really wasn't so far removed from an assistant, to her annoyance.
The hotel turned out to be neither upmarket nor completely shabby. She supposed this was AX's idea of nondescript, or perhaps a place befitting of a businessman and assistant. Tres checked them in with no problems, making sure their rooms were close together, and the ascended a few flights of stairs to their decent sized rooms.
Esther dumped her bag and sat on the bed. Tres soon knocked on her door and entered without her even saying anything.
"So, what's the plan?" she asked. She felt a strange push and pull between wanting to be difficult and help. She only had a cursory knowledge of what they were meant to be doing, while Tres appeared cool and in control, which bothered her. She never felt like she knew what was going on at the best of times.
Tres stood just down from the door, arms stoically folded.
"We must try and establish contact with the group as soon as possible," he told her. Esther decided that being difficult would help no-one and she looked over at Tres, recalling the papers they'd seen before leaving.
"We're looking for a Bruce Kingsley. He's the leader, right?"
Tres nodded.
"That is the most intelligence we currently possess. He has a group, though the number is unknown. It will not be hard to find Kingsley, though; he will be stationed at the factory in which he is listed on the lease. If he is truly being commanded by Rosenkreuz, then he will not stray far."
Esther pulled out a map of Londinium, finding the business district. Their intel had listed the location, which took her a few minutes to find.
"It doesn't look too far," she said, moving her finger along the paper streets to where their hotel was.
"We should leave now. It is customary to stop at this time of day for lunch. They may decide this is an acceptable time to leave," he told her, heading for the door.
Esther put the map away and picked up the briefcase she was meant to carry as Tres' assistant, though it contained nothing of consequence. They left the hotel and Tres put his top hat back on and gave his cane a mechanical twirl; it looked a little too perfect to Esther's eyes.
"And you're absolutely sure you can pull this act off?" she implored one last time. There was just a part of her that needed to ask once more before accepting whatever came after.
"I am already initiating the necessary program," he replied and she nodded. It would have to do.
Esther admired the foreign landscape of Londinium as they walked through the streets. The overall colour seemed to be grey; misty grey streets lined with stony grey walls. The streets themselves were narrow compared to other places she'd passed through, and positively bustling with people, many who appeared to be in a great hurry. She got knocked about a few times by stray elbows, shooting people slight glares as she hurried on.
But eventually they made it and Esther began to tense up. This was it. The business district was clean, though some smoke from the nearby industrial district floated overhead, creating a light smog. Tres purposefully moved forward and Esther trotted after him, trying not to lose him in the crowd.
Tres reached the front of a warehouse that looked pretty much like the others. A small office was tacked on at the front of each of them. Beside the office was the massive main entrance, which was partially open; only one door needed to be open to create a large entrance. Just inside, sitting outside the office door, was a man surrounded by other men, who appeared to be joking around. They immediately silenced the moment the sitting man set his eyes on Tres and Esther.
Tres drew forward, extending a hand and tucking his cane under his arm.
"I am Charles Thorpe, and this is my assistant, Marylyn. I am looking to go into business. The business district have been talking about your new venture with quite some positivity," Tres introduced himself.
The apparent leader of the group gave them a shrewd look, ignoring the hand.
"Thorpe. Of the Thorpe Estates down on Elmsbrook?" he enquired, leaning back in his chair. Esther didn't like how relaxed he was, as if he was playing around with them. Her hand itched to grab her concealed pistol, but she stayed it.
"No," Tres smoothly replied, "There are no such estates owned by me. I am not here to mess about, Mister Kingsley."
Kingsley's eyes widened, then narrowed. He had straightened and looked almost frightened, to Esther's satisfaction. They didn't have time to mess around with a bunch of goons.
"How do you know me?"
Tres leaned forward, holding Kingsley's eyes.
"News spreads quickly when a new business venture with potential comes into town. I like to be well informed before diving in, naturally."
Esther was pretty blown away by Tres' behaviour and phrasing. His face remained impassive, but that played up the cool as a cucumber businessman he appeared to be playing.
Kingsley grunted and stood up.
"You interest me," he decided, finally extending a hand. Tres cordially shook it.
"And your business venture interests me. Would you care to discuss it over lunch?" he asked and Kingsley nodded.
"Your partnership is welcome, but I can't meet today. Tomorrow at noon, at the Man on the Moon?" Kingsley replied and Tres nodded.
"I shall be there. Until then…" he tipped his hat and turned around, "Come on, Marylyn, don't dawdle."
Tres left the warehouse, and Esther gave the men a brief tight smile before quickly trotting after him. She felt strangely exhilarated at their successful first contact. Eyes followed them as they disappeared around the corner and returned to the hotel.
"So, what do you think, Tres?" Esther asked, pacing around the cramped room. They had spent some time at the hotel restaurant, as Esther was starving before eventually heading back to her room. Tres had gone to his spot in the corner and remained motionless.
"I have assessed that group are not particularly troublesome. They will likely inadvertently give us information on the Rosenkreuz Orden, proving a useful source."
Esther sighed, stopping at the window. Everything was grey and dismal outside; a light drizzle flecking the four small window panes.
"Tres… I'm sorry for questioning your ability to act. You were really good; it was so strange to watch you," she confessed, turning to look at him.
"I did only what I was programmed to do. I have pretended to be a businessman several times before. It has become routine."
Esther merely nodded and looked out of the window again. It pained her right then to look at him. He always sounded so brusque and there was a part of her that always got a little upset over it. She was used to naturally forming bonds with people, gaining friendships or enmity. But Tres had said they were friends, yet she couldn't quite believe it by the way he spoke at times.
"We should take a look around the premises and see if there is anything of interest there. Perhaps paperwork, or they may be operating at night," Tres suddenly voiced.
Esther nodded and sat on her bed.
"I better rest, then. I'm really tired," she admitted.
"Very well. I shall awaken you in six hours," he said and left.
Esther found resting more difficult than she thought, the events of the day turning over in her head.
"Esther, it is time for us to depart."
Esther jumped, eyes popping open in shock. She didn't even remember falling asleep.
'I guess I was more tired than I realised.'
Tres was still in his business outfit, but was checking his guns. Esther got up and brushed her suit down, wondering how he got into her room.
'Must be getting careless.'
"Do I have to keep wearing this? It's not easy to move in if something happens," she explained and Tres holstered his guns and looked at her.
"It would be difficult to explain our presence if we are discovered in our AX attire. You are allowed to deface your clothing to enhance your performance in lieu of an attack," he told her and Esther gaped.
"To begin with – why do you even know stuff like that? And secondly, even if I were in some life threatening situation, I could not tear this material to 'enhance' my performance. That just sounds creepy." She had a wavering image of her desperately trying to rip her skirt so she could run faster while formless enemies advanced.
Tres headed to the door.
"We must leave before the optimum time frame for investigating their warehouse is lost."
"Yeah, I thought as much," Esther muttered to herself, making sure she had a pistol on hand before following him.
It was a half an hour walk to the warehouse. It would have been much less, but Tres insisted on keeping out of sight, taking a myriad of back alleys and routes around people loitering in the streets.
When they arrived, sidling in the shadows, Tres halted at the side entrance and began carefully prying the door with his bare hands. Esther knew he was strong, but to see him peel back the metal door so he could unlock it and enter was bizarre to witness. He carefully bent the metal back once they'd gained entrance before stepping inside.
It was dimly lit, the only source of light coming from the small number of dirty windows near the front entrance where the main street was lined with gas lights. Tres moved forward with ease, so Esther scurried behind him, keeping an eye on where her feet stepped. He headed to the office at the front of the warehouse, prying open another door, and began searching through papers.
"Uh, I can't see, Tres."
"Affirmative. We must remain as unobtrusive as possible. If there are individuals here without our knowledge, they should not even realise our presence," he said, quietly for Tres, still methodically glancing through various papers and files strewn about. Esther realised they didn't keep a very tidy office, or hid anything very well.
"You'd think they'd thrown a party in here, the way things are organised," she whispered.
"Negative. I believe any pertinent data has been removed from this location."
Esther's eyes widened.
"It seems they were in a hurry. Do you think they ran off after meeting us?"
Tres straightened.
"I do not know. We must keep searching, in case they concealed information elsewhere."
Esther bit her lip for a moment before leaving the office and carefully edging towards the main body of the warehouse was. It still seemed to be the same as what she'd glimpsed during the day; masses of wooden crates piled us either side of the walls, leaving a large corridor to walk down. It made Esther nervous doing this in the dark. She felt strangely exposed, as if people could be watching from on top of the crates.
Suddenly Tres gripped her arm, making her stop.
"We have been compromised," he said, lightly tugging her backwards. Esther got annoyed and tore her arm out of his grip.
"What are you talking about?" she hissed, stepping forward again. This time, her shoes came into contact with something soft on the floor and she froze.
"I will turn on the lights," was all Tres said and disappeared off to the side.
'Wasn't he just harping on about remaining undetected?' she fretted.
Sparse lighting came on, creating pools of shadows all over the place. But Esther could only fix her eyes on what lay before her.
"What… what happened here?" Esther unsteadily breathed, taking a step backwards.
The entire group had been butchered, incomplete bodies lying in a sickeningly large pool of blood. Esther kept unconsciously moving backwards, her eyes wide with fright. It was only when she heard the sound of footsteps that she stilled, waiting for the perpetrator. She could hear Tres, who now stood just behind her, take his guns out of their holsters.
A man emerged from the shadows, face spattered in blood.
"Oh, hello." A smile curved upon his lips.
Esther couldn't believe it.
"Dietrich…"