ELEVEN of THIRTY-TWO
*NOTE – Hello everybody, it's me, TheManFromMudos, and today I'm bringing you another long-awaited chapter of 'Xavier'. As always, I'm sort I haven't uploaded for a while, but I do have a genuine reason for it this time. You see, I've been very busy recently sorting stuff out for university, for which I will be leaving home in just a few short weeks. I'm hoping it won't affect my upload schedule too much (if you can even call it a 'schedule' at this point), but just in case, I'm going to try and upload as many new chapters as possible before I go. So, here's one for you now. I won't say much more, other than 'read on and enjoy', but of course you already knew that I was going to say that. It's 'Xavier'. THANK YOU!*
It took several moments for me to realise that I'd completely zoned out of my conversation with the elderly woman in front of me. I was still trying to make some sense of what was going on here. People being snatched in the night by lab workers? The police helpless to assist? Who could be behind all of this? Finally, a few more long moments of thinking later, I decided that there was only one way to find out. I'd have to investigate things for myself.
"Excuse me, erm… Anne." I said hastily, already stepping away from the woman as I spoke. "I've got a few… errands to run. Nice talking to you."
"You too, love…" She replied, smiling warmly as I turned to leave. "And let me know if you find anything!" I had turned away from her at this point, but looked back when she said this. It was as if she'd read my mind. Then again, it didn't take a genius to figure out what I meant by 'errands', did it?
"I'm just intrigued, that's all." I said with a grin, although I think she knew as well as I did that it was more than just idle curiosity.
"Just don't go getting yourself into unnecessary danger, eh?" Anne chuckled, although there was an air of sincerity in her voice.
"Wouldn't dream of it." I said jokingly. Then, with a quick wave, I turned on my heels and walked away from her, hastily making my way to the door.
As I stepped out onto the street outside the shop, gently pulling the door behind me shut, questions continued to circulate in my head. Now, though, I wasn't thinking about who could be behind the disappearances. Instead, I was thinking about how I was going to find out who was behind them. It was going to take more than an eyewitness report from Anne's friend's grandson to solve this mystery. And more importantly, I had to tell Xena and Katie. For all we knew, these people could be at our door next. They could take any one of us. Or worse still, they could take all of us, if they found out that one of us just so happened to be a Xenomorph, whose existence I was given to understand was public knowledge at this point. But I wasn't going to let that happen. I was going to find out who was behind all this. And, of course, I was going to put a stop to it. Well, try to put a stop to it. In truth, I was in way above my head before I'd even begun. This was a significant step up from Goddard trying to sneak an unborn Xenomorph back to Earth on the Archimedes, after all. Nevertheless, someone had to do something, because clearly the police, and even the government, didn't seem to be bothered. In an ideal world, some kind of detective, a Sherlock Holmes-type character, would step in and save the day. But I think I could manage it in a pinch.
It took little more than two minutes for me to get back to the house from the shop, traveling at a light jog as opposed to the slow walk I'd taken to get there. I marched straight up the garden path and burst through the front door with considerable urgency. Then, I made my way into the kitchen, and placed the bag of groceries on the worktop, where two empty mugs were waiting beside a freshly boiled kettle. No sooner than I had begun taking things out of the bag, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned around to see Katie. She walked past me drearily, snatching the jar of coffee from my hands without a word and pulling off the lid before spooning the granules unsparingly into the two mugs in front of her.
"Oh, Xena doesn't want one, does she?" She asked with a yawn, putting down the coffee jar and reaching for the sugar as she spoke.
"She doesn't like coffee." I replied, shaking my head. "She's a tea drinker. As, though I'm sure you'll recall, am I." I gestured to one of the mugs, which she picked up with a scowl, tipping its contents back into the jar and replacing them with a fresh tea bag. Much better.
"Anyway," I said quickly, suddenly remembering the important news I had to share. "You'll never guess what I've just heard down at the shops."
"What?" Katie mumbled, pouring boiling water carefully into the mugs. "No, don't tell me. All the cows on the ship have inexplicably died overnight."
"What? No." I replied, shaking my head in confusion at this bizarre remark.
"Oh, well in that case, you've bought some milk, then." She continued sarcastically, stirring the filled mugs with a teaspoon as she spoke.
"Ah! Yeah, it's here." I replied, rolling my eyes at her unsuccessful attempt at humour as I handed her the bottle. "Anyway, I'm being serious, Katie. I've just been talking to a woman in the shop. She was telling me about her friend who lives in the next village. Her son disappeared a few nights ago."
"Disappeared?" Katie repeated, looking at me with a furrowed brow. "And they haven't found him?"
"Well that's rather the problem with people who disappear, isn't it?" I replied bluntly, shooting her an annoyed glance.
"Sorry." She said sarcastically, returning an equally unimpressed expression. "Anyway, carry on. Woman's friend, next village, son disappears."
"Right, so." I continued dramatically. "Listen to this: His son, her grandson, reckons he saw his dad being dragged away by people in hazard suits."
"Hazard suits?" Katie asked in confusion. Lifting her mug of coffee from the kitchen side, she made her way into the living room, as did I.
"That's what he said." I explained, sitting down on the sofa as I spoke. "He got up for a drink of water in the middle of the night, and there's his dad, kicking and screaming as he's dragged away by men in hazard suits. But that's not all. Apparently, it's been happening all over the ship."
"And nobody's doing anything about it?" Katie asked, taking a sip of her coffee as she reached out for the television remote.
"Exactly." I nodded, foolishly attempting to sip at my own scalding drink. "The police can't help, and the government won't even acknowledge the problem."
"Weird…" Katie said distantly, already losing interest in the conversation at hand and instead focusing her attention on whatever was on the telly. I glared at her in annoyance, though of course she didn't take any notice. Honestly, sometimes I didn't know why I even bothered trying to hold a conversation with this woman at all. Luckily, the awkward silence that then ensued as Katie continued to stare silently into the television before her was quickly broken by the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. At last, someone who might actually listen to me for a change.
"Morning, Zee." I called to Xena as she reached the foot of the stairs, ducking to avoid the low overhang, and stepped into the living room drearily.
"Morning, Xena." Katie said distantly, still focused on the telly more than anything else in the room. "Sleep well?" Xena shook her head in response.
"Have some breakfast, you'll be fine." I assured her with a smile. She simply nodded, before ambling over to the kitchen and disappearing into it. With that, I immediately returned my attention to Katie, insistent that she listened to what I had to say.
"Look, Katie," I began, speaking slightly louder to get her attention. "I don't think you understand the severity of the situation. People are being kidnapped by men in hazard suits. Nobody is doing anything about it. Doesn't that seem just a little bit odd to you?"
"Perhaps." She replied, shrugging her shoulders indifferently as she spoke. "But why are you telling me all of this, Matthew?"
"Katie, dozens of people are going missing every night, and it's not even national news." I told her. "Why do you think I'm telling you all of this?" She fell silent for a moment, genuinely puzzled. However, her face soon fell as she realised that there was only one logical explanation.
"Oh, no." She said sternly, shaking her head. "You don't seriously think… Xena, you'd better come in here and talk some sense into your partner!"
"Katie, listen to me." I explained, trying to make her see things the way I did. "This is big. I mean, one of us could be next. Someone has to do something."
"I don't care." She replied sincerely, glaring at me as she spoke. "We've been through hell and high water to get to where we are now, Matthew. We're safe. We're happy. Are you seriously telling me you want to throw all of that away by getting involved in something that doesn't concern you?"
"But it does concern me, Katie!" I insisted, raising my voice slightly. "I need to know who's behind this!" Katie simply continued to shake her head in disapproval. It was at this point that Xena walked back into the room, clutching a tiny bowl of cereal in her enormous hands.
"Oh, thank God you're here, Xena!" Katie exclaimed loudly, glaring at me once again as she did so. "Now, would you kindly tell young Matthew here that he's completely out of his mind?" Xena simply looked at me in confusion, and shrugged her shoulders.
"Allow me to explain." She continued bluntly. "Matthew here wishes to launch a one-man investigation into the wonderful world of organised crime."
"It's not like that, Xena…" I said slowly, but she was already glaring at me in the same condescending fashion as Katie was at this point.
"Then what is it like, Matthew?" Katie asked, smiling slyly as she believed she'd outwitted me.
"Well…" I said hesitantly, quickly discovering that in actual fact, she had. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."
"You see, Xena?" Katie continued, gesturing towards me with a disappointed look on her face. "I'm telling you, he's just going to put us all in danger."
"No, I'm not!" I insisted sternly, although it came out sounding rather childish. "Look, Xena, let me explain. There have been a lot of disappearances aboard the ship recently. Now if what I heard in the shop is true, they're more than just disappearances. They're kidnappings. And when sixty or more people are being kidnapped in a single week, you can't expect me to just sit idly by and let it happen. Do you understand where I'm coming from?" Xena nodded slowly, but still had a concerned look on her face. She agreed with what I was saying, but, like Katie, she was also worried about me.
"Trust me, Xena. And you too, Katie." I assured them both gently. "I'm not going to put us in any danger. I just want to find out what's going on."
"I hope you're right, Matthew." Katie mumbled, taking another sip of her coffee as she returned her attention back to the television once again.
"Let's just forget about it for now, shall we?" I said calmly, sighing heavily as I spoke. "Anyway, put the news on, would you, Katie?" She didn't offer a verbal reply to this, but picked up the remote hesitantly and flicked the channel over. As the news began to start, and the logo of the Angelican Broadcasting Network flashing up on screen, we all fell silent, and Xena came to join us in the living room, slumping onto the sofa beside Katie.
"Hello, and welcome to ABN Morning News." A monotonous voice droned as the newsreader appeared on screen. "Our top stories today: Science - A-Space officials reveal their plans to test the Angelica's light speed capabilities. The company expects a Light-19 attempt to take place this December. Sport – Groundwork has been layed for Angelica's first official sporting tournament, a Martian Tennis championship. Construction of a stadium in Ike is already underway. But fans of the sport say that it won't be the same, without teams from Mars competing."
"Damn right, too." Katie said aloud. Xena and I simply looked at her in confusion. I had no idea she was a fan of Martian Tennis. Personally, I hated it.
"And finally, Law and Order." The newsreader continued. "Police issue an official warning as a rogue KT series synthetic, first reported missing by the FCME several years ago, which was recently sighted on the streets of Sedna, is believed to have made its way aboard the Angelica. Officials say the android may be highly dangerous, and anyone with information regarding the unit's whereabouts should contact the authorities immediately."
"Missing synthetic, eh?" I thought aloud. Now that was an intriguing bit of news. And all the way from Luna? (In case you weren't aware of this already, the FCME was the Freed Colonies of the Moon of Earth, although its citizens preferred the satellite to be referred to as 'Luna'.)
"Don't tell me you're going to go looking for that as well?" Katie remarked sarcastically. I simply shook my head in response. After this, the newsreader continued to drone on about the finer details of each story, although at this point I had lost interest. I simply slouched back in my chair and sighed. The room fell silent then, for several minutes. Katie continued to sip at her coffee every now and then, and Xena slowly crunched away at her breakfast cereal. Soon, though, something broke the still air of the quiet room. It sounded somewhat like a cough. And it came from Xena.
At first, she coughed quietly, two or three times in quick succession. Soon, though, it became much louder, and turned into a hacking cough.
"You alright, Xena?" Katie asked, patting her on the back as she continued to cough violently. She shook her head frantically.
"Hey, the food's not that bad!" I remarked jokingly, although I could see that this was more than a piece of cereal stuck in her throat. She was wheezing between each breath now, almost like a smoker's cough. Katie and I both exchanged worried expressions.
"Come on, cough it up." Katie told Xena, striking her back with considerable force now. Finally, she swallowed, and her coughing stopped, although she continued to breathe heavily. She put the unfinished bowl of cereal down in front of her, and thumped a fist against her throat as she cleared it.
"Are you alright?" I asked, my tone apologetic after my previous sarcastic remark. Xena nodded her head, smiling weakly.
"Do you want the rest of that cereal?" Katie asked, to which Xena shook her head in response. I think she'd been put off her breakfast now. And just like that, the room fell silent once again, leaving me to lose myself in my thoughts. Of course, my thoughts now dwelled on Xena more than anything else. I was suddenly very worried about her. Perhaps it had been nothing more than a tickle in the throat, a piece of cereal that got stuck on the way down. But I wasn't so sure about that. I'd never heard Xena cough before, and it had sounded pretty violent. I could only hope she wasn't falling ill.