CHAPTER 10

Meryl and the Peace Force

Early the next morning, Meryl woke up and, her head instantly full of the fight with Knives the night before, was unable to fall back asleep.

After a time, she quietly got up and got dressed, and left a note for Milly. Perhaps getting up and doing something, especially something that had to do with coffee, would help her feel better.

She got her coffee and a bowl of oatmeal at a small cafe, and sat in a booth by the window. The first sun was just coming up, by the looks of the light outside, and the rare early riser was walking past on the street. Meryl wished she could find it peaceful, but her mind kept wandering away from her to think of things she wished she had said and done in the argument.

"Excuse me."

Meryl gave a small start. She looked up to see a tall, blonde young woman. She was wearing a uniform, and she smiled down at Meryl as she said, "Are you Meryl Stryfe?"

"Oh! Uh, yes. I am." Being recognized from television happened from time to time. It always gave Meryl a bit of a self esteem boost when it did, and she was grateful for the distraction.

The woman held her coffee cup with one hand and offered to shake with the other. "It's good to meet you. I heard you were safe again. That's a relief."

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," she said, smiling. "I'm taking some time off right now, but I'll be back to work again soon."

"Good, you should take some time off. You should pamper yourself for a while. Do you mind if I join you?"

"Of course not! Go right ahead!"

She slid into the other side of the booth. Then she said, "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Chronica, with the Earth Federation Peace Force."

"It's good to meet you." Meryl gave a rueful smile and added, "It must be tough for someone from the Peace Force to be hanging around town right now. I hope no Native fanatics have given you any trouble."

"Oh, I'm fine," she waved it off. After taking a drink from her coffee, she added, "I'm not stationed in town. I'm just here on business. Any Native sympathizers won't bother me. I've got my own work I'm doing that's got nothing to do with this whole secession mess."

"Oh? What's that?" It seemed that, for months, the whole world had been nothing but protests and secession. It was strange to meet someone who seemed so unconcerned.

"I'm heading a unit that's been tasked with finding Millions Knives."

Meryl had taken a sip of her coffee and choked slightly. She coughed a moment and, in a rasping voice, said, "What?"

"Are you alright? Don't worry, we haven't heard that he's in the area, so there's nothing for you to worry about."

Meryl took another drink of coffee, trying to clear her throat. Then she said, "I heard the Peace Force had some kind of special plan for capturing him. Is that what you're doing?"

"Yes. In fact, I'm the special plan. I was recruited into the Peace Force just to find Knives."

Meryl gave her a questioning look.

"I'm a plant, like him," Chronica said. She suddenly looked grim. "If anyone can find and detain him, I can. I can telepathically sense another plant, so he won't be able to hide in a crowd, and I can match his power."

Meryl stared at her a moment, paling slightly. "And why... why did you say you were in town?"

"We're heading for Native territory. Knives is likely to take advantage of the chaos and a disorganized new government to hide himself."

Meryl stared out the window, her heart pounding. Knives could walk down the street at any moment. Would Chronica know? Might they cross paths while they were both in town?

And if they did... would that be a bad thing?

Meryl remembered the fight the previous night. She remembered when they had met and she had held a gun to Knives's chest and had wanted to pull the trigger, but couldn't. If she couldn't... Chronica could.

But at the same time... Vash had died helping Knives escape Octovern. Would Knives's arrest and consequent execution disrespect his death? The thought of hurting Vash in any way was painful to her.

"Is something wrong?" Chronica asked.

"No," Meryl said quickly. Too quickly.

Gently, Chronica asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Meryl looked back to her oatmeal and half-heartedly stirred it.

"Miss Stryfe, if you know anything, you can tell me."

"No, I don't know anything," she said, glancing up at Chronica and then instantly looking to her food again. "It's just... you know... talking about Knives. It brings back bad memories."

"I see," Chronica said, and Meryl wondered what exactly that meant.

Inwardly, Meryl began swearing. She was a bad liar. She knew it. If it was a part of her job, whether at Bernardelli's or at NLBC, she could be as friendly as she needed to be, even to someone she disliked. But forcing friendliness was different from flat out lying.

A silence fell between them. Meryl stopped pretending to be interested in her food, and sat staring at nothing. Her hand shook ever so slightly as she held her spoon.

After a moment, Chronica said quietly, "If you're afraid of him, we can give you protection. We can keep you safe until he's caught... You would be doing a lot of good, even if you could only tell me the smallest bit of information."

Meryl was finding it difficult to breath. Another long moment passed.

Finally, in a voice only just above a whisper, Meryl said, "You're right. He's heading for the Native Republic."

"Thank you, Miss Stryfe," Chronica said, her voice equally low. "How do you know this?"

"We crossed paths. It's a long story. If I were you... I'd keep an eye on any kind of military base in Native territory."

Chronica frowned at that. "What would Knives want at a military base? Is he after some kind of weapons or equipment?"

"It's not quite like that... I need to go." Meryl rose suddenly and headed for the door.

"Miss Stryfe!" Chronica called.

Meryl stopped with her hand on the door, but didn't look in Chronica's direction.

"Do you need protection?" Chronica asked.

"No," Meryl said quickly. "I need to get my stuff and go home. Knives won't come after me. He's got other things on his mind." She went out the door.

When Meryl got back to the hotel room, Milly was awake and dressed.

"Good morning, Meryl! Did you- Oh! What's wrong!"

She stood just within the doorway, her hands clenched into fists and her head bowed low.

"Nothing," Meryl said. "I had a bad morning, that's all." Then she was suddenly moving again, grabbing her suitcase and throwing it open. "We're leaving, Milly. I can't be with Knives anymore. We're leaving."

For a moment, Milly didn't move, but watched her friend with concern. Finally she said quietly, "Right. You're right. Let's go."

A little later that morning, the two women knocked on Livio's door. Meryl wanted to leave as soon as possible, but she knew Livio deserved a real good bye. When he answered the door, he was dressed and packing up his few possessions that were with him, and invited them into his room.

"So, uh, are you guys okay?" Livio asked. "I didn't sleep too well after what happened last night."

"We're fine," Meryl said quickly. "But Livio... We're leaving. And not because Knives wants us to. This was our choice. I just..." Meryl frowned and looked away. She continued in a low voice, "I can't handle being around that guy anymore."

"It's okay," Livio said gently. "I understand. I don't blame you."

"Livio," Meryl hesitated, wondering how to say what was on her mind. "I think you should leave, too."

He looked uncomfortable at that. "Thanks, Meryl, but... I think I need to stay." He forced a smile and added, "It's like you said, somebody has to keep an eye on him, right? Don't worry about me. I think I can handle it."

For a moment, Meryl didn't answer. "Okay, but... if things start going badly, just bail, okay? I don't want you in trouble because of him. Just bail, okay?" Bail right now, idiot! I don't want to see you arrest as some kind of accomplice!

"Yeah, I will, don't worry," Livio said. "I've been through a lot, and I can handle some trouble. Don't worry about me. Really."

"Fine," Meryl said, very, very quietly.

There was a pause in which no one was entirely sure what to say.

Livio had a sudden thought and reached for the notepad by the phone. "Oh! Here! This is my phone number. When all this is over, I'll give the news station a call and let you both know I'm okay. And if you're ever in December for any reason, you give me a call, alright? We'll go grab some lunch or something."

That brightened the faces of both of them and they thanked him.

"Now, Mister Livio, you take care of yourself!" Milly told him.

"I will, I will."

Milly gave him a goodbye hug. Livio seemed caught off guard, and Meryl thought she saw him blush a little, but he hugged her back nonetheless. Meryl opted for a handshake instead.

Having said their goodbyes, the two left.