Songs: Hillstomp - Henry, O My Henry; Leslie West, Mountain - Nantucket Sleighride
It wasn't that easy to hide the Vault Key once we got back. We wrapped it up in some of the fur we had gotten from the Mirka. There was no point in just letting it rot out there. The danger was gone, so we figured we could bring something back to prove we had killed it and the villagers could go and see if they could gather up the bones and identify their dead. It seemed like the most logical thing to do.
The village was crowded with people by the time we got back. To be fair, it had us taken quite a while to get back, since Mordecai and I had fallen out of a considerably tall tree and we didn't really have much supplies in terms of First Aid and medicine with us. We had to take a lot of breaks on the way.
A lot of the people that were around were in military uniforms. Once we had noticed that we had called Anouk over the ECHO so she would come over and pick us up. I was pretty sure that the military would ask questions when they saw us running around with a big piece of some alien stuff. And they wouldn't be the fun kind of questions, either. So better safe than sorry.
Anouk made her way over to us, as soon as she could. Her eyes widened when she approached us and saw how Brick was carrying something really big, wrapped in some bloody white fur. It must have been a pretty peculiar sight. In addition to that, I was covered in a mixture of gunpowder residue and weird, purple blood that had started smelling really bad once it dried.
"What the hell is that?" she asked as she walked up to us.
"Vault Key." Brick answered, before we were able to shush him successfully. Anouk gave us another surprised look.
"Hold on, are you for real? You actually found it? You killed the Mirka? And you just walk through the town when it's swarming with military?" she asked. I shrugged and nodded. What else were we supposed to tell her? Clearly that was what happened. No point denying it.
"Well, that's why we called you, once we realized." Mordecai remarked.
"Yeah. What's your plan for us getting back without people noticing?" I asked Anouk. She sighed and massaged her temples.
"Well, people have already noticed. A lot of people. But it seems we're all lucky. I just got some communication from the chairman of the party that they will tolerate your looking for the Vault and let you keep whatever you find in it - after it has been taxed of course - as a reward for helping out with the loyalist threat. Which means, as long as you guys continue snuffing out loyalists and as long as you behave halfway decently, you can look for the Vault without fears of repercussion." she explained.
"Huh. That is pretty lucky for us, huh?" Brick mumbled and grinned.
"So... we're allowed to openly talk about it? Without getting into trouble?" I asked her. It seemed a little odd, to say the least.
"Yeah. It still wouldn't be smart to let the general public know of that, since word doesn't travel very fast on this planet. Once we get to Vavozh you'll get special permits that you can show to any military personnel if they cause any trouble for you. So you basically got a free pass, as long as you work with Vladof politically."
"I can live with that." Mordecai answered and shrugged.
"Yeah, that sounds like great news. Why do you look so worried about it?" I wanted to know from Anouk. She shook her head.
"Nah, it's not about that. It is great news. I'm just really, really damn tired and... God, Nova, I don't know what happened to you, but that purple stuff smells weird as fuck. You need a shower."
"That's Mirka blood. We killed it, but I got a good bit dropped on me. It only started smelling that bad when it dried, I swear." I mumbled.
"You actually saw it and killed it?" Anouk breathed and looked at us in absolute awe. As if we were some sort of legend.
"Yeah. It was a massive white thing. Kind of like a bullymong, but bigger and with less arms. The teeth and claws were terrifying, honestly. We've got the Vault Key piece wrapped in some of the fur." I told her.
"Is... is it still there in the forest?" she wanted to know.
"Yeah. There was no way we could have taken the whole corpse back to the village." Mordecai said.
"If you wanna go and eat it or something... I'm sure it's still fresh, I mean it's been lying in the snow..." Brick mentioned.
"We also figured, some people from the village might wanna go and gather up bones around the area. There were a lot of them and they might help identify who was killed by the Mirka. Just so the people have some certainty of what happened to their relatives." I explained. Anouk nodded.
"Sounds good. I'll see if I can get the message through to some people. You might wanna head back to the guest house with me and hide that thing as quickly as possible, so the villagers don't get suspicious." Anouk suggested.
"Yeah, let's do that. I would kill for a shower right now." I agreed.
"I can imagine. Are you guys badly hurt?"
"Well, Nova and I fell out of a tree, more or less, but we are somewhat stable with healing hypos. Some more medicine and some rest should help, I suppose." Mordecai answered quickly.
"Alright, let's get you guys back quickly, so you can rest for a while. We can take the train to Vavozh tomorrow early in the morning then. Which means you'll get another few days of rest while we travel. And Vavozh is a big city, there probably won't be loads of fights." Anouk explained and walked ahead of us.
She greeted a few people as she made her way through the streets of Sindor, most of them military. I wondered if she knew them all or if she had just met them when they arrived. We had been gone for a long time, but Anouk was also a bit of a social butterfly when it came to making friends.
"So how are we going to get a Vault Key piece in Vavozh? Are we like... trading for it? Stealin' it?" Brick wanted to know.
"Good question, Brick. Once we get to Vavozh, things might get a little tricky."
"Aw, man, things have been tricky since we got here. At least they felt tricky. Please don't tell us we have to get it through talking someone into giving it to us?" I asked. I really didn't feel like I could pull of diplomacy.
"Well... maybe. Although I doubt it. It'll be more of a case of getting information. We need to find out who actually owns the Vault Key piece, although I have a few people in mind and one of them is hosting a big event in a few days, so we'll be back just in time." Anouk replied, her eyes lighting up when she mentioned the party.
"Okay, cool, and what's the plan after that?" Mordecai wanted to know. Anouk only shrugged with a smile.
"It really depends on who owns it. But if it's the guy I think has it, then we'll probably have to devise a good plan for a break-in. And we should try not to get caught. Or, if we get caught, we should also find some dirt on him, so we can justify it in hindsight. Anything else just won't do."
"So, a burglary, huh? Not like we don't have any experience with those..." I said and looked at Brick.
"I'm afraid I get the feeling that burglaries on Pandora are very different from burglaries on Aeres." he sighed.
"I'm afraid that's true." Anouk agreed and grimaced. Ah well. So we had to go to a party, try and make a good impression, solicit some sensitive information from complete strangers, plan a break in and try not to get caught? And we probably had to look elegant doing all that as well?
We were fucked. There was no way we would be able to pull this off. Which meant we definitely had to find dirt on whoever owned the Vault Key. And we didn't even know what dirt meant on Aeres.
"And you think we'd be good candidates for that?" Mordecai asked with a raised eyebrow. Anouk grinned.
"Well, it's not like we have much of a choice. You're here now and we can try and make the best of this whole situation." Anouk answered.
"You actually think we can do it?" I asked again. This woman had more faith in us than most people would have. Including ourselves. The last time I had been at an official party was on Artemis.
"You'll be fine. I'm going to put my full trust in you guys. And after all, I'll be there to help you out as well." she said with a confident smile. She was actually serious about that. I couldn't believe my ears.
"I wish I had your confidence." I commented, shaking my head.
"Well, it is what it is. I'm sure we can somehow make the best of it. You already found the first piece, the rest shouldn't be much more difficult. You always pull through somehow." she told us.
"Well, I guess we better start packing and rest a little, before we travel tomorrow morning." Mordecai just said. He seemed to have given up on the prospect of finding a way around going to this event Anouk had mentioned. I wasn't too bothered about it. What made me nervous was the idea of having to find out information without being suspicious. I used to be good at that, but I knew I'd have a clumsy start.
"I suppose we should really get cleaned up well, then. Can't go out partying with bruised bones and covered in blood. Especially not when it smells as bad as this blood." I agreed. I was becoming more and more aware of just how bad it was.
"I'm always ready for a mothahumpin' tea party, count me in, girl!" Tina announced - rather weakly - from Brick's back before she fell asleep again. She had been the most exhausted from all this.