THE ONLY EASY DAY IS YESTERDAY
"The Journey of Jeremy Keller"
by OldScout
Part 33
The meeting place was in an old industrial part of town. Vacant
and nearly vacant factories and warehouses blighted the dismal
landscape. An old warehouse stood alone on a large over-grown
parking lot. A fence that ringed the lot had fallen down in many places.
The walls were topped with industrial style windows that had all been
broken years earlier. Sections of the corrugated metal walls had been
knocked in or pealed loose, and the building's doors all hung from their
tracks and hinges.
The young immortals parked their bikes outside of the building
and wandered in. Richie saw Jeremy put something down the back of
his coat, and assumed it was a sword. Richie grabbed his own broad
sword, out of habit, and because Mac had sounded so concerned on the
phone.
"Better safe then sorry." he thought.
The late evening sun shown dimly through the shattered
windows, revealing piles of rubbish and construction debris cluttering
the floor of the warehouse. People must have been dumping their junk
here for years.
"I don't feel anybody." Richie said quietly. "I don't like it."
"Neither do I." Jeremy responded and pulled the .357 clear of
his belt. He held the weapon out in front of him, keeping it pointed to
the floor.
"What's that for?" Richie asked seeing the pistol.
"Because we don't feel anybody, means there may be a need for
it."
Richie shrugged, he knew Jeremy didn't play the game, but was
still surprised to see him depend on the magnum so much. "Mac said
don't be early." he whispered, "I figured that he meant he would be."
Jeremy motioned Richie to silence, his trained senses told him
someone was approaching on foot. "Someone is coming toward the
back of the building." he whispered to Richie. He pointed to a pile
debris. "Take cover, till we find out what's going on." They crouched
behind a pile of broken cement slabs that hand been dumped in a far
corner of the building.
They both saw the silhouette at the same time. To Richie is was
unmistakable, the tall man with long hair and a trench coat was framed
in one of the holes in the wall. They all felt each other at the same time.
In a smooth, fluid motion the man pulled a curved sword from under
his jacket and held if off to his side.
"Richie?" the man said softly.
"Yea, Mac." Richie replied just as softly.
"Is Keller with you?"
"Yes."
"Good, you guys spread out and stay hidden, we have
company."
Duncan ducked inside, and staked out a place toward the
middle of the building. The Highlander motioned to the two younger
men to spread out, Jeremy crossed to new cover without hesitation, but
Richie hesitated not really knowing what was going on.
They felt the presence of a fourth immortal. Richie looked at
Jeremy and mouthed "Mandy?".
Jeremy shook his head clearly, it wasn't her.
A new figured appeared in the hole Duncan had used. In the
fading light, they could tell he was well dressed, wearing a long trench
coat, a very similar look to MacLeod.
"Looks like I've been expected." he said loudly. The man
opened his coat and removed an expensive straight sword with a thin
double edged blade.
"MacLeod," he continued "I know your not the type to ambush
anyone, especially another immortal. It just isn't part of the game."
Duncan stepped out from behind the pillar he'd been using.
"Your quite right." he said, "But it's always prudent to asses the
situation before committing to it."
Gattlin nodded to Duncan, "As you can see, and feel, I am quite
alone. Now, if I can chat with Lieutenant Keller, I would appreciate it."
Jeremy had worked his way through the debris and was very
close to Gattlin when he stepped out. "I'm Keller." he said. "What do
you want with me?" Jeremy had his .357 pointed at Gattlin.
"Please, Lieutenant, that won't be necessary, I'm not here to hurt
you."
"Someone like you doesn't hunt men not to hurt them." Jeremy
responded and moved closer to Gattlin. "Do I know you? You look
familiar."
"We've never met, Lieutenant, but I feel that I know you."
Gattlin said. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Peter Gattlin,
and I want to offer you a job."
Jeremy smiled. "A job? What kind of job, and how do you
know me."
"It's my job to know about you, I work for a branch of the CIA,
and we occasionally recruit men like you."
The other's eyes went wide. "The government knows about
immortals?" Jeremy asked, dumbfounded.
"Not really," Gattlin replied "just a select few who work with
us."
"Why me?"
"We look for new immortals who don't really want to live for
the game. Mostly from the military. It gives you a chance to continue
to serve your country in a very special way."
A look of disgust crossed Jeremy's face. "I am not interested.
Government bureaucrats were trying to blame me for that helicopter
crash just because I survived. They can all just go rot in hell."
A tone of sympathy came to Gattlin's voice. "The people I work
for are not like that, we know there's nothing you could do about
running out of fuel. You had nothing to do with planning the mission."
Jeremy raised his gun. "How did you know we ran out of fuel?
I never told anybody that."
"Of course you did, during the hearings."
Jeremy looked at MacLeod and Ryan. "I never told anybody we
ran of fuel, just that we crashed from a technical malfunction. Eight
good men died." His face went vacant for a moment as he remembered
the incidents of the mission. He turned back toward Agent Gattlin. "I
have seen you before."
Gattlin shifted uneasily. "That's not possible."
The .357 leveled more directly at Gattlin's head. "We were
testing our night vision equipment the night before the mission. You
were one of the crew working on the helicopter. I must have been too
far away to sense you."
The man smiled. "Your far too important to waste on missions
like that." Gattlin said. "I had to free you up to join us."
A flash of red anger crossed Jeremy's face. "You son of a bitch,
those were good men, and my friends. We were making a difference."
He cocked his gun.
"Stop!" MacLeod yelled. "That is not how we settle things!"
"It's how I settle things." Jeremy hissed, still starring at Gattlin.
"If you insist on playing it that way, I won't help you." Duncan
replied. "I won't help a cheater."
"I don't play the game, and I don't have a sword." Jeremy
replied, "This is my weapon."
"If you want my help getting out the country, you'll fight him as
tradition demands." MacLeod said. He then nodded to Richie, who
threw his broad sword to Jeremy's feet.
"He's packing too." Jeremy said. "As soon as I put my gun
down, a man like him would shoot all three of us and take our heads."
Peter Gattlin removed his trench coat and his suit jacket,
revealing a semi-automatic strapped under his arm. He took the pistol
and made a show of removing the clip and ejecting a bullet from the
chamber. "Lets go, Lieutenant, or are you afraid to fight me man to
man?"
Jeremy dropped the chamber of his revolver open and let the six
shells fall to the ground. Then he removed his field jacket revealing the
shot gun strapped to his back. He pumped three of the its four shells
out, then laid both weapons on the ground. He picked up the sword and
held it out in front of him with one hand.
"Look at him, Mac." Richie whispered. "He has no idea how to
use a sword. This is a death sentence."
"He's had plenty of time to learn." Duncan replied "Now it's
time to start playing the game."
to be continued.............