Chapter 29
She sank into the bath and made sure to wash her face and hair first. She then lay there, playing with the soap suds. Milly knocked timidly at the door, as Meryl topped up with hot water for the fifth time.
"Miss Meryl, are you all right? Did Mister Vash make you cry? What happened? Why did you fall in a tomas trough?"
Meryl smiled. Yes, he had, but they had been the best tears she had ever cried. She did not know how to explain this to her friend. She sank under the water and blew bubbles. If she just stayed here in the quiet underwater world, things would be so much simpler. She sat up with a sigh, then stood and water cascaded down her body. Luida had known he would be here. She grabbed her towel and vigorously dried herself. Once out of the hot water, the bathroom was icy. Why had Luida not told them that he would be here? Or had she thought Vash needed help, and had sent them along to see if he would accept them? Oh dear, if that were the case, they would have to set up a watch to prevent him from sneaking away from them. He was doubly sure to run now that she'd practically told him she loved him. She pulled on her pyjamas and wrenched the door open with fury. Milly glanced up in alarm.
"Meryl! Is it so bad?"
She blinked at her partner blankly. Oh yes, she still thought she had fallen in the tomas trough.
"It's worse." She muttered. She went across to her suitcase, drew out a clean change of clothing, and retreated to the bathroom to change hastily.
"Miss Meryl, what are you doing?"
"Settling something before the recipient becomes too drunk to know what happened." She growled.
Milly hurried after her, down the stairs.
"What did he do to you?" She asked in alarm. "I'll bring my stun gun."
Meryl laughed, feeling odd, she had not laughed in so long.
"No. He told the truth. He did rescue me." She assured Milly. "I only want to make sure he doesn't run away."
She pushed the doors of the hotel open and hurried down the stairs into the street. Meryl shivered and pulled her cloak tightly around her shoulders. It was even colder outdoors. She scuffed at the dirt road while Milly pulled the hotel door closed behind her.
"Are you sure you don't want me to bring my stun gun?" Milly asked.
"Why would you need a stun gun?"
Meryl spun around, landing cat like, feeling all her hair standing on end.
A tall man pushed himself out of the shadows into the lamp light, his coat familiar and the bullet hole in the brim of his hat distinctive.
"You!" Milly exclaimed in fury. "You evil man!"
"Johnston!" She hissed and drew her derringers as she spoke, firing eight off before she realised how useless it was. He simply manifested weird feathers in front of him, blocking the bullets as if catching flung baseballs.
"You're a bloody nuisance." He slowly drew a familiar silver revolver. "Still on my tail after I shot you once? Didn't you understand?" He breathed with menace. "You were supposed to be a warning to all of those meddlers at Fifth Moon, but they need a stronger message, don't they?"
A shot thundered through the air and Johnston leaped backwards. He grabbed at his hat as it was flung off his head. Meryl was astounded; the bullet had burned directly through his defensive feathers. Johnston gaped at the fresh bullet hole in his hat, directly opposite where the other one was. What had Vash fired? That was no regular bullet.
"What is the matter?" A quiet growl sounded from behind them. Meryl felt her knees go weak. The guttural purr was pure fury and power. "Don't you like it? It evens it out, somehow."
Vash stepped in front of them, a black revolver in his hand.
"Go back inside." He murmured in a voice more like his own. "All the way inside, go on."
Meryl only realised he was speaking to them when Milly tugged at her arm and dragged her back up the steps.
"Where are my friends, Johnston?" Vash asked bleakly.
Meryl wriggled out of Milly's grip as Abe and Calor came running along with others from the bar.
"Johnston?" Calor exclaimed. "That's not Johnston!" She exclaimed. "Vash put your gun down, that's Teres!"
Meryl stared.
It was Teres, now that she looked at him, but he did not have black hair and the bulky coat he wore changed his whole physique.
"Keep your gun on him!" Abe snapped. "He's Teres, that is true, but damn, if he isn't also Johnston."
"Oh come now." Teres smiled. "I got you good, look at the expressions on your faces." He lowered the silver revolver and smiled broadly at Abe. "Aren't you glad to see an old friend?"
"We never had a friendship, you back stabbing traitor!" Abe spat at him. "I held the trust and you twisted it beyond recognition."
Teres tilted his head slightly.
"Angry? What have I done, compared to Ezrah and Mutare?"
Abe did not bother to use words; he flew at him, knife like feathers scything out from his body. There was a sudden brilliant light.
"No!" Vash's horrified voice cut through the night. His cry gave Meryl enough warning to haul her cape over her head as the shock blasted in all the street windows of the boarding house. She scrambled to her feet, crunching over glass, and ran with Milly to see what had happened. Abe was lying on his back on the ground, Vash crouched over him, and Calor was shaking as she withdrew white feathers back into her arms. Johnston was nowhere in sight.
"Are you alright?" Vash called up to them.
"We're fine Mister Vash." Milly murmured, shaken. "Where is Mister Teres?"
Abe pushed himself up.
"The thrice cursed traitor teleported. I was so close to killing him!" He pushed Vash away and got to his feet, reeling slightly. "Woah, my gate is all weird." He clung to Vash's shoulder. "But there is one good thing about all this." He grinned manically. "That traitor must have had to use a quarter of his life's power doing that. Didn't expect to meet us here, did he? Haha!" Abe then slumped and Vash caught him awkwardly. He lowered the man to the ground as strange white flickers of almost feathers, almost flames formed around him.
"Abe!" Calor cried and ran over to him. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Shut the flow down, you fool! Wake up and shut it down! You'll kill yourself." She smacked him through the face.
Abe blearily blinked at her.
"Shut it down pilot, that's an order!" She barked in such a strong Terran accent, Meryl hardly caught the words.
Abe blinked and the feathers vanished.
"Now get off your sorry arse, and go back to the bar. I will deal with you when I have finished cleaning up this indescribable mess you have caused here."
"'s Flight." He mumbled.
"What was that? I didn't hear it!" She snapped at him.
"Yes Flight Commander. At once Flight Commander!" He shakily pushed himself to his feet and staggered down the road.
The crowd of onlookers parted for him as Calor straightened and glared at them.
"Sorry. Get your chief magistrate, banker and the owner of this premises. Tell them Flight Commander Calor wishes to discuss reparations."
They stared at her.
"Are you deaf?" She snapped at them.
Several people left, and two came forward. Both eyed Calor in a strange awe and glanced in recognition at Vash. The man did not seem to be aware of this, as he was smiling slightly at Calor. A hot surge of jealousy engulfed Meryl. Why hadn't she seen it before? Calor was just the type of woman Vash loved to pursue and she was a plant. She turned away and walked up the stairs into the building, ignoring the crunch of glass underfoot.
"Miss Meryl, don't you want to know what is going to happen?"
"They made the mess, they can clean it up." She snapped. "I've got an awful headache. I'm going to bed!"
Meryl realised that Milly had not followed her upstairs and sulkily slammed the door behind her. She kicked off her shoes and threw down her cape and sank back on the bed. She wanted to cry, and laugh and mostly she wanted to, oh, she did not know what she wanted. How was it that Vash with one silly smile at another woman could do that to her? She was toweringly furious, yet, at the same time she couldn't be. He was not hers. He would never be hers. She huffed out a sigh and picked up the cold compress and put it over her aching head. It didn't make her feel any better. She let out a soft breath then. She wasn't angry at Vash. No, she was upset with Teres, and she was taking it out on Vash and his eye for the ladies. She clenched her pillow in her fist. Oh, what she would do when she got her hands on that two faced arsehole. Shooting him would be only a last resort. She had a mind to let every plant that Fifth Moon had helped to come and assist her with kicking him to death. She gave a ragged gasp and sat up; the cold compress fell to the floor with a wet thud. Teres knew everything Fifth Moon did. Every little thing. Aside from Abe, he had been one of their main recruiters. She felt so ill she swayed, then darted from the bed and only made it to the bathroom in time.
She shakily sat on the edge of the bath as the last of the nausea surged through her. What had she done? What in the world had she done? She had condemned everyone they had helped. She breathed rapidly, feeling light headed. No! Meryl, this was no time to faint. She hadn't felt so awful ever. Not even Vash's dreadful memory of July came close. No, this was her own condemnation, her own damnation. She was responsible for what would be a massacre if they didn't move fast.
She darted out of the bathroom and sat on the floor trying to tug her boots on and clip the buttons closed at the same time. Ugh. One thing at a time. More haste less speed. Aaagh, she was going too slowly. She got her boots on, snatched up her cape and flew out of the door. She thundered down the stairs, tying her cape ribbon as she went. She found Milly sweeping up the glass in the front foyer with a few of the Hotel's assistants.
"Milly!" She exclaimed anxiously.
"Miss Meryl, what has happened?" Milly asked.
"Everyone is dead!" She exclaimed and to her intense mortification, burst into tears.
Milly handed her broom to one of the assistants and hugged her.
"Who is dead Miss Meryl?" Milly asked anxiously. "Mister Abe is still alive, I saw him. Miss Calor is in the bar with him, they were drinking with Mister Vash."
Meryl wiped at her tears and sniffed. She dug out her handkerchief and grimaced, she had been crying far too much that night.
"Everyone we helped at Fifth Moon. Teres knows." She breathed.
Horror spread over Milly's face.
"What should, er what can we do?" Milly had to clear her throat and repeat herself as the first words came out silent.
"I don't know! Warn people. Warn everyone!" Meryl said hysterically.
"Come, Miss Meryl." Milly said firmly, then waved at the others helping with the sweeping. "I'll be back when I can."
"Sure, see you Milly!" One of the young men called after them.
Meryl followed her out of the hotel and down to the bar. Calor sat at a table in the far corner of the room with Vash sitting far too close to her, Abe sat opposite them drinking as if he wanted to pass out. Meryl managed to walk half way across the room before her courage failed her. Vash would hear this. She put her head in her hands, she couldn't let him hear. No. Why was she falling apart like this? Why did she even think she had a chance with him when he clearly did not have an interest in her? It would not matter if he heard of this colossal failure. Logic held out, but her heart did not. Milly only noticed she was not following when she reached the table and sat down.
"Are you crying again Miss Meryl?" Milly asked, her voice full of concern.
Meryl glared at her friend if it had not been for the dreadful worry and gentleness in Milly's voice, she would have stormed out. At the mention of crying, Vash glanced up, his eyes full of guilty worry. Oh no! Of course he would think it was about him. Stupid man. Stupid, wonderful man. She wanted to shake him.
She walked over and sank into the chair between Calor and Milly.
"Fifth Moon is in trouble." She said bleakly. "Teres knows everything."
Abe put down his drink, his face suddenly the colour of cold day old porridge. Calor let her head fall into her hands.
The wretched silence was broken by Calor thumping the table with her fist.
"I HATE that man!" She growled. "He worked so hard and did so much for people. How could he do this? HOW!" She shrieked at them.
"Calor..."
"Don't you Calor me, Abe." Calor growled. "Your solution to this was to drink yourself into a stupor."
"I only wanted to drink myself into oblivion because overreaching on a nearly dead gate makes you feel like dogs vomit. Get it?" He snapped back. "We can't go to pieces here. We have a duty to help people."
They glared at each other.
"Um." Milly said softly. "I have an idea."
Meryl breathed out a sigh of relief; this was why she loved Milly so much. The girl could think where she froze. All she had in her mind was how she wanted to pound Teres into tiny little bits, and then grind up those bits.
When no one responded, Vash spoke up.
"What is it?"
Meryl felt even worse, if Vash had to play the adult in any situation, what a mess were they all in? She caught the condescension in her thought and closed her eyes. She was losing, what advantage did mocking Vash give her except to now make her regret her own thoughts. She wished she could go to sleep and give up the responsibility. Ugh, that was it, she couldn't.
"Well, it's just a bit of an idea, really." Milly said modestly. "But I was thinking that it would be best if someone returned to December. We need to contact all the correspondents and plants. Together we could work to convince them to go into hiding, or at least find safe places for them. I was thinking of asking Mister Kail if they would allow us to use the Satellite broadcast station at Seeds for a reduced rate. We don't have enough money now thanks to Mister Teres."
"No." Meryl cut in. "No one can leave yet. We need to hear from Livio and Chronica first. But we can contact everyone from here. We have enough money for that."
Milly and Calor glanced at Meryl.
"We don't." Calor explained and handed over her personal communicator.
Meryl stared at the balance of the company account. They had the grand total of one hundred and twelve double dollars left. What had happened to all their thousands?
"It cost that much to fix a hotel?"
"And to pay the hospital bills of the people hurt by the glass, and to bribe the local lawmen not to lock us up and report us as rogue plants."
Meryl dug into the pocket of her skirt and brought out another fifty and handed it to Calor.
"That's all I have on me. Send out as many messages as you can."
Calor took it, and the thirty that Abe handed her, and the twenty from Milly.
"I'll come with you." Vash shoved back his chair as she got to her feet.
Meryl felt her stomach turn as they walked out together. Ugh, why was he so attentive to Calor now? Why did she care so damn much?
Abe turned his glass around in his hands. He then sighed and with a deep breath, downed it in a succession of gulps. He blinked then sighed.
"I'm sober." He complained. "I feel like I've been kicked repeatedly by a tomas and my head is pounding. My bedroom is full of glass and I now realise I have no money to pay for another night. I need to do something before I, I, I dunno, I claw my own face off with frustration."
"You could always help sweep up at the hotel." Milly suggested.
Abe raised an eyebrow and his mouth fell open as if this was the last thing on his mind.
"Work." He grumbled then grinned broadly, his smile rather manic. "C'mon Milly girl, let's be sweeping!"
He helped her out of her chair and they walked out of the bar. Milly glanced back at Meryl, but Abe was too insistent to let her go to her friend. Meryl glanced up as the waiter hurried over.
"You have forty double dollars on the tab Ma'am."
Oh, bloody brilliant.
"Can we pay it in the morning?"
"Er." The waiter shrugged. "You see, it's not, well..."
Meryl took out one of her derringers and held it out to him. It was unloaded.
"Keep this in lieu of payment, I will pay you tomorrow. I promise. Meryl Stryfe..."
He tucked his hands behind his back in refusal.
"I know who you are Miss Stryfe, and who you are with and what has happened." He glanced at the door. "It's just we know Vash's reputation, and we don't want any trouble here. See my meaning?"
They thought this was Vash's fault? It figured. It was also kind of his fault, now that she thought about it.
"So, what do you want me to do? I have some cash in my pack; you can walk me back to the hotel and get it from me there if you must."
"Ah, right, if you don't mind." The waiter fidgeted and glanced at the barkeep who gave Meryl a very steady stare of discontent.
Oh wonderful, so it was back to that all over again. Lynch mobs formed in moods like this, she would have to warn Vash, but she would first have to get the waiter off her tail.
