Fist of the Raj
Disclaimer: Same as before…
Rahim was true to his word and after he'd finished his morning gardening he headed across the bridge to the Indian neighborhood to meet with a fakir.
As they wandered through the dusty streets Prue saw a very familiar man call out: "Among the blind the squint rules."
Rahim said, "I will meet you back here."
As soon as the bespectacled servant was out of hearing, the fakir said. "The gods sent you?"
"I guess. One minute I'm flying through a wall, beyond hope of being healed and the next I'm standing in the middle of the jungle at night and your town police are shooting at me." Prue replied.
"You were reincarnated." The fakir replied, "It was karma that sent you here. A dark force has come upon our land."
"The Heartless?" Prue asked.
"Yes." The fakir replied, "The holy men of our world are few in number, but we have always balanced evil."
"That was until the Heartless showed up. Right?" Prue asked.
"Yes." The fakir replied, "The British believe us to be little more than performers on the streets for their entertainment. The likelihood that they would believe anything of note that we have to say is low. Even their more tolerant would be very skeptical of what I would have to say."
"So why am I here?" Prue asked.
"The Heartless are a foe that we fakirs have been aware of for some time, they feed on the hearts of men and the hearts of worlds. We prayed and they sent us an emissary." The fakir replied, "A marvelous being from the heavens that shimmers when he wishes to leave us."
"Nigel?" Prue replied, hoping that it wasn't Belthazor or God forbid the Source.
"He called himself that." The fakir replied. Phew. Good we're on the same side.
"He sent me here, but he never told me why." Prue replied.
"He foretold us of a force of good that will aid our struggle with the force of dark." The fakir replied, "He spoke of someone charmed of a great power."
"I am Bahrat." The fakir replied, "I too am charmed…"
At Prue's skeptical glance, the fakir crossed his legs and sat as though he were suspended in mid air.
"Would this be proof enough?" Bahrat replied.
"So what do the Heartless want with Mayapore?" Prue asked, "If there are as many worlds as you're claiming, why are they interested in this one."
"Some say that a child born of a heinous act will become a power for good like no one we have seen before." Bahrat replied, "It will occur on a full moon…"
"Heinous act?" Prue asked, "You mean…"
"A woman wronged will be its source. The Heartless will attack after the full moon." Bahrat replied, "You must warn they who will listen…"
"Who?" Prue replied, "Who's going to be attacked?"
"That I do not know. But you cannot stop that." Bahrat replied, "But you can give those who protect us that information."
Bahrat left just then, blending with the crowd and Prue walked across the bridge mulling over what she had just learned. As she crossed she saw several British soldiers wrapping wires and bundles around supports on the bridge, with the obvious intent of destroying it. From the Heartless' only likely avenue of advance, when the bridge was destroyed the Indian community would be trapped and at the mercy of the invaders.
Who exactly can I tell? Merrick? No forget it, he'll either not believe me or he'll just say to hell with it and blast the bridge sky high. Hiller? No, he's an honest cop, but Merrick would just steamroll him. Godfrey? No way he'd believe it, but he'll at least listen. Prue thought.
The conference room at the police station was crowded with the officers of the force. The constables and sergeants were on patrol. Captain Merrick sat at the head of the conference table, to his right was 1st Lieutenant Lockwood, the XO, followed by 1st Lieutenant Godfrey, Ordinance and Training officer, 2nd Lieutenants York, Worrel, and O'Dell, three section leaders.
"The Army has just wired the bridge with explosives." Lockwood said, as he wiped sweat from his porcine brow. There was a reason why a majority of the constabulary nicknamed him 'The Pig' behind his back, "The barricade plans are on the map, as are the emergency shelters to place the population."
"Why not simply destroy the bridge?" Lt. Worrel asked, "Evacuate the population on this side to the other?"
"The Heartless attack could come bearing down any day now." Lockwood replied.
"All the more reason to evacuate to the other side, sir." O'Dell, the red haired Irishman replied, "Simply detonate the bridge and wait out the siege."
"Unfortunately, that's out of our hands. Our orders are to hold the town. The bridge will only be destroyed as a last resort." Merrick replied, "What's the state of the defenses, Mr. Lockwood?"
"So far, we have all rifle pits dug; the emergency shelters are being reinforced. I intend to schedule a drill shortly." Lockwood replied.
"What's the status of the armaments?" Merrick replied.
"We have enough rifles to arm the force; however most of them are over 30 years old." Godfrey replied, "Ammunition is in short supply, but I've recently secured a stock from the Horse Artillery. There is the matter of the machineguns…"
"Great War vintage," Lockwood replied, "Surplus old French weapons if I remember correctly."
"It's all we've got." Godfrey replied, "And of the four that we had, two of them are rubbish. The other two I had to fix with parts from the defunct others. As for deployment, I'm putting one machinegun nest at the bridge and setting the other to interdict the market square, where we have three emergency shelters."
"Both weapons are going to be on the Indian side of the river?" Lockwood asked.
"Yes." Godfrey said. "If we hope to contain the Heartless, we'd best fight forward of the bridge."
"No, Mr. Godfrey," Lockwood replied, "I would think that since we've only two machineguns, we put one of the guns over Chaudhuri's club."
That's where most of the influential of Mayapore's citizens are likely to be. Godfrey thought, And you're trying to curry favor with Merrick by shooting down my plan.
"True, but the market square has one main entrance, there are key buildings I can fortify and a warren of alleysI can stage ambushes from." Godfrey replied.
"The ambushes alone can be sufficient." Lockwood replied.
"Not without machinegun support." Godfrey countered.
"If the Heartless take the Indian neighborhoods, and we can't destroy the bridge, the machinegun will be needed on our side of the bridge." Lockwood replied.
"If we can contain them in the Indian neighborhoods, we won't need to destroy the bridge. Our orders are to hold the town at all costs." Godfrey replied.
"Sir?" Lockwood said, glancing towards Merrick.
"I would think the other machinegun position on the other side of the bridge would be most prudent. We've only a force of sixty-two constables to defend Mayapore." Merrick replied.
"What of the Army, sir?" Worrel asked.
"The Army's withdrawn back to Pinkot." Merrick replied, "The hills around Pinkot are a more defensible position."
"Sir…" Godfrey began before Merrick cut him off.
"Not one word, this is not open to debate, Mr. Godfrey. Distribute plans for your team leaders, all of you, I will assign sectors of responsibility." Merrick replied.
"Sir," Lieutenant York spoke up, "I request to defend the forward positions."
"Take it, brave York." Merrick replied.
The officers filed out of the conference room, and Godfrey walked outside into the late afternoon sunshine. Of all the hardheaded, abrasive…
A voice came from behind him,"Godfrey."
"Hello, have you come to embarrass me in front of Captain Merrick again?" Godfrey replied, with just a touch of irritation.
"Not today." Prue replied, "However there's something you need to know."
"And what would that be?" Godfrey replied.
"I have some news you might be interested in." Prue replied.
"I'm listening." Godfrey replied as he fell into step beside her.
"I know when the Heartless are going to attack." Prue replied.
Godfrey was dumbstruck, "How do you know?"
"Godfrey, it doesn't matter how I know, it matters that I do know." Prue replied, "A reliable source told me that the day after the next full moon the Heartless will attack Mayapore."
"Alright, assuming that I believe this insane allegation that you've made, why are the Heartless attacking around this time." Godfrey replied, "I'll need to know why if I'm going to tell Merrick."
"I can't tell you." Prue replied, "You're going to have to trust me on this. You only have two days."
"I'll see what I can do, but I'm not sure if Merrick is going to trust me entirely." Godfrey replied.
"For the sake of this town, I hope he does." Prue replied.
"So do I." Godfrey sighed, "So do I."
Prue had a hunch. It wasn't like one of Phoebe's premonitions, but it was gut instinct. She remembered Bahrat's prophesy, the one that said that under the light of the full moon, which was one day away that something terrible would happen. And the only woman Prue had any knowledge of who would be out late at night would be Daphne.
She headed for the hospital and walked through the front door. She was greeted by a tall, balding fellow in green fatigues. "Excuse me; I was wondering if you might know where Daphne Manners is?" Prue asked.
"She's in the stock room, we need to put together medical kits in a hurry." The doctor replied, "And speak of the devil."
Daphne came out from a back room, a wooden clipboard under her left arm. "Doctor Poole, the inventories you requested."
"Thank you Daphne." Poole replied.
"Prue," Daphne replied, "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to talk to you." Prue replied.
"Can you wait until later?" Poole interjected, "We're short handed as is, the bloody war effort's taken a more than a few of my nurses and the other doctor that used to work here, I need to start making some first aid bags. We're going to need those when the bloody Heartless attack."
Prue waited outside for what felt like the longest half hour of her life. Finally Daphne headed outside.
"Prue? You sounded worried? What is it you want me to hear?" Daphne asked as she headed out there.
"Listen, Daphne, I know that you sneak out at night." Prue began.
Daphne's eyes widened, "I…I…I…Y-you k-know about that?"
"Yes." Prue replied, "And I'm not judging whatever you're doing out there. It's not my business."
"You won't tell Lady Chatterjee will you? She'll tell my aunt because they're such close friends." Daphne replied.
"I came to warn you about something, Daphne." Prue replied, "Tomorrow night, if you sneak out, something bad will happen to you."
"How do you know this?" Daphne asked.
"A fakir in the marketplace told me." Prue replied.
"He deserves an explanation." Daphne said.
"Who?" Prue asked.
"Remember you said that wasn't your business." Daphne replied.
"This has to do with you turning Merrick down, doesn't it?" Prue asked.
Daphne remained silent, holding back tears that were welling in her eyes. "If it's another man, why not see if he'll…" Prue began until Daphne cut her off.
"You ask too many questions, Prue! Why do you want to pry into my affairs?" Daphne demanded, "Stay out of my affairs!"
Daphne stalked off. That ended well. Prue thought.
As Prue walked back to the Macgregor bungalow she could hear the familiar sounds of orbing behind her and to the left. She turned just after having walked through the bungalow's gates and saw Nigel standing there.
"You can't stop destiny my dear." Nigel said.
"Look, even if I can't stop whatever happens to Daphne tomorrow night can't be stopped, I can at least delay it." Prue replied, "Maybe I can give Mayapore's defenders time to prepare."
"With Merrick running things, a week wouldn't help." Nigel said, "I'm told the army's pulled back to the hills around Pankor. The time Mayapore's defenders have must suffice."
"How is something terrible happening to Daphne tomorrow night supposed to be a good thing?" Prue snapped, and then it hit her with the force of a speeding cable car, "A child. The child the fakir told me about. That child…"
"…Will bring balance to this world." Nigel replied, "The moment this child is conceived, the Heartless will comb heaven and earth. Prue, the fakirs are not strong enough to ward off the Heartless that will come here for the child. The Elders needed someone powerful to protect Daphne's child, and after Shax killed you they found someone who could do that."
"I see." Prue replied, "I was the convenient dead girl that they could send to parts unknown."
"I do hope Godfrey's able to convince Merrick that what you told him was true." Nigel replied.
"Me too." Prue replied.
Godfrey sat at the bar in the club with a shot of Imperial whiskey between his hands. Merrick had been ambivalent about the information, he said that he'd put the entire force on standby alert starting tomorrow night and place everyone in their positions the day after. He couldn't help but notice his boss seemed distracted for some reason.
Godfrey drank the Imperial whiskey down. "Barkeep, another."
"Make that two." Poole said, from two stools away. The old doctor sidled up to Godfrey and took a seat beside him.
"Is it true?" Poole replied, "Supposedly you gave a bit of information to Captain Merrick regarding when the Heartless are likely to hit Mayapore."
"How do you know about that, doctor?" Godfrey replied.
"Sanjay couldn't find the chemist so I went and gave him some tablets for his mum." Poole replied, "He was thankful that you let him go earlier for it. He mentioned you were going on about when the Heartless would attack."
"I did, but I'd already told Sanjay to be off." Godfrey said, "That I'd put away that last bit of filing."
"The boy's always interested to hear any bit of info 'round the station." Poole replied.
"To interest." Godfrey said, raising his glass.
"To interest." Poole replied, "I hope you boys know what you're getting into."
"We're fighting against the Heartless. We'll be fighting…" Godfrey replied.
"…In the streets of our town, Godfrey. Have you ever seen death?" Poole replied.
"Yes. I've done a bit of hunting, seen a homicide or two, particularly the Edjali investigation which the force seems hellbent on crucifying me over." Godfrey replied.
"No, that is nothing like what I speak." Poole replied, "I don't know of the existence of Heaven, but I certainly know Hell exists. I've seen it on the battlefield Godfrey. I'd just been out of medical school when I joined the Pankot Rifles. I saw hell on the Western Front, Godfrey, as a youth in 1914. I saw boys come back old men. I saw them come back legless, armless, eyeless, with faces unrecognizable yet remaining alive…Do you understand such horrors face Mayapore now?"
"I understand." Godfrey replied.
"No Godfrey, you can't understand, you've not been to war. But you will learn swiftly. Just promise me you won't fail the boys out there." Poole replied.
"I won't." Godfrey replied.
"That's enough prophesizing from an old man. Chaudhuri, another round, if you please!" Poole called.
The whiskey arrived. "The crucifixion that the force seems to be giving me over the Edjali case is certainly the least of my worries." Godfrey slurred.
"To crucifixion?" Poole replied, raising their third round into the air.
"To crucifixion." Godfrey replied, and felt his head spinning like a top.
Several hours later, after last call, Godfrey half dragged a drunken Dr. Poole out of the club, his arm slung around his shoulders.
"Off to mighty London came an Irishman one day. All the streets were paved with gold and everyone was gay! Singing songs of Piccadilly, Strand, and Leicester Square. Till Paddy got excited then he shouted to them there…" Poole called drunkenly.
Prue waited in a nearby alley, she had to find out exactly what it was Daphne would be up to at night. Maybe Daphne was having an affair or wanting to start an affair with Godfrey. Drunks. Prue mused as she heard a voice singing horribly off key.
"It's a long way to Tipperary. It's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary. To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye Piccadilly, Strand and Leicester Square. It's a long long way to Tipperary, but my heart's right there!" Poole continued.
She saw Godfrey with Poole's right arm slung over his shoulders as the pair staggered down the street. And it was obvious Godfrey saw her too.
"Prue? Could you give me a hand? Poole's on a bender." Godfrey called.
Prue ran over to them and took Poole's other arm. Even ten feet away she could smell whiskey on both of them.
"I think you're on one too, Godfrey." Prue replied.
"Bollocks." Godfrey replied.
They managed to drag the doctor to his bungalow. The butler let them in and said, "I'll take care of the doctor. Thank you."
"And you, mister, aren't in tip top shape either." Prue began, as she saw Godfrey staggering down the short staircase.
"Nonsense, I'm just fine." Godfrey replied.
"Where's your place?" Prue asked.
"Two houses away from the Macgregor Bungalow." Godfrey replied, "I can make it."
"No way." Prue replied, taking Godfrey's right arm, "Let's go."
Prue led Godfrey to the Macgregor Bungalow and when Lily answered the door, she said, "I'll explain later. Godfrey's in no state to get to his home."
"Put him on the couch. I will get some blankets for him." Lady Chatterjee replied.
"Make sure he's on his side." Prue said, and put a waste basket next to the couch.
Lily Chatterjee put a blanket over Godfrey, and neither she nor Prue noticed Daphne sneaking out yet again.
Daphne walked to the bridge and saw Hari Kumar standing there. "I thought you might have done a runner." Daphne apologized.
"I heard Merrick proposed." Hari replied.
"I said no. Hari, I couldn't go through with it." Daphne replied.
"I'm grateful." Hari said, taking Daphne in his arms, "I don't know if we can keep hiding this forever."
"Hari. Society be damned, I love you." Daphne said, angling her head so their noses wouldn't bump, and pulling him into a kiss.
Hari deepened the kiss, holding Daphne even closer. "I'd thought I'd lost you for certain last night when Merrick proposed to you. Things could get hairy for us…"
"I don't care, I'll see you tomorrow night." Daphne replied.
"Merrick?" Hari replied.
"Merrick be damned." Daphne replied, "I'll keep seeing you…"
"I'd best be going." Hari replied, "The night watch will be pouncing on me for breaking curfew."
As they broke the embrace, Hari handed Daphne a small written note which she put into the pocket of her dress.
As the lovers parted, Merrick stepped out of the shadows of a nearby alley. "Hari Kumar, I knew it." Merrick growled and banged his fist against the nearby wall.
(AN: Chemist is British slang for pharmacist. Raj is the term for the Indian government, which in this time period is the British colonial government.)