Hephaestus

Part VII - A Matter Of Balance

For several weeks following Hephaestus beginning work in the new forge area, Melanie never missed Layton's growing unease.

In fact, it irritated her.

She thought they had settle the matter of how to deal with Layton's ever present cautious nature about Hephaestus, but apparently she had been wrong.

"Why can't you just calm down about this?" She asked him one night as they sat on the sofa in the front area of their cabin a few nights later.

They had just had another go-round about Hephaestus and Layton's warnings to her about not trusting the man.

Sitting on the edge of the sofa, Layton gave an uneasy sigh.

"I told you, Melanie, I watched the man for seven years in the Tail...as much as anyone was able to 'watch' him. Call it my ingrained nature from being a detective for so many years, but this isn't Hes' MO. The whole thing has me on edge. At some point he WILL come asking for something. Something big. His 'gift' that you owe him. He's just biding his time so he can make the biggest show of it."

Melanie set a firm gaze on him. She did trust Layton's intuition in this. Maybe he was being a bit over cautious in her opinion, but she wasn't going to dismiss his unease completely. But currently all they were doing was bumping heads over the whole situation.

"What could he ask for?" She stated. "We've given him everything he's asked for so far. He wanted a bigger cabin, I got it for him. He wanted more workers, you made sure he had them. He wanted more materials, he got them. What haven't we given him?"

Layton frowned. "Whatever he's holding back on." He slowly shook his head, then paused for a moment before he spoke again. "When I worked for the precinct, we had a drug dealer who informed for us."

"A drug dealer working for the police? That seems a little counter productive."

"He did it because it benefited him. If someone encroached on his territory, he came to us and would give information that allowed us to make a clean arrest on the person. We got a bad guy off the street, and his problem went away for 10 to 20 years."

"Sounds like a happy working relationship."

Layton gave a slight nod. "It was. Until one day, the other rival dealers got wise to what this guy was up to. He came to us one day and stated he wanted protection because he got wind of a mark placed on him. Our CO told him that wasn't how the deal worked. We acted on his information and he got his profit out of the deal. Things going sour for him now wasn't our problem and we didn't owe him any special protection from a bunch of disgruntled drug dealers."

"So what happened to him?" She asked softly. Layton rarely talked about his days on the force. When he did she found it interesting and sometimes a little frightening for some of the things he had faced during that time.

Layton gave another sigh. "The little weasel decided if we weren't interested in a deal, maybe the other side would be."

"He tried to sell the police out to the other drug dealers?" She said.

Layton only nodded.

"So what happened?"

Layton gave a small, mirthless laugh. "What always happens when someone tries to flip the switch. We lost an informant. One more piece of scum died, and a lot of good people almost didn't make it home that night."

Melanie considered the information before answering. "I'm glad none of your people died this time." She finally said. That wasn't always the outcome of his stories.

Layton turned to her. "The point is, Melanie, Hes and this drug dealer are just alike. They'll give and give and give as long as there is something in it for them. What happens when Hes makes a demand we won't acquiesce to?"

Melanie thought for a moment. "Hopefully, it will never come to that."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"Balance, Layton." She replied in an even tone.

"Balance?"

"Everything on this train runs because of 'balance'. We'll never run out of what Hephaestus wants because we control the supply. Without our raw materials, his forge is useless. In return, Hephaestus gives us what we need. And as long as we maintain that balance, the system works."

"And what happens when something changes that throws that perfect little system out of balance?" He warned her. "One side, for whatever reason, pushes too hard, and the other side refuses to give in. Then what?"

She gave him a small smile. "In such a case, I would like to think we're all just good friends working for the survival of mankind, and neither side would take advantage in such a situation. But I'm not that naive. And I know that you're not either. So, I guess we just have to make sure when Hes comes calling for his chip due, we're ready for him."

"And how do we do that?"

Melanie gave him another small smile. "Balance."

"Balance again."

"It's what runs this train, Layton. In almost every situation. The sooner you start to learn that, the easier leading the train will be for you."

"So where's the balance now?"

"You and me." She offered with a small smile.

Layton gave her his own small smile in return. "That's the one I like best." He replied.

"All right." She answered him. "Then lets talk."