Chapter Seven.
Moira returned to find The Craterside Supply closed.
She didn't remember closing it, so when she walked in, there was some anxiety. Without her Mentats, the feeling was almost unbearable. Once inside she found no sign of Silver, but there was a note from Lucas Simms explaining that he had locked the door and she should seek him out as soon as possible.
Moira stashed the mini nuke in a safe and went off to find Simms. She found him sitting at a table at The Brass Lantern, the only other bar in Megaton, a town big enough for only one bar.
Simms said nothing and waited for her to sit down. He was drinking some sort of amber fluid from a glass and looked glum as usual. "Moira," he said.
"You wanted to see me?"
He shrugged. "I figured you'd want to see me, so I saved you the trouble. Your little friend took off. From the look of your place, I'd say she tried to get into your cap stash, but she settled for taking what wasn't nailed down and what she could carry. You didn't notice?"
Moira thought hard. She had been so glad to see her shop still standing, she hadn't noticed if the interior was intact or not. She needed her Mentats, she could taste them when she moved her tongue. "I did," she lied. "I don't think she got away with much."
"She couldn't. Not without someone noticing. You live, you learn, or you die," Simms said, taking a drink.
"Do you know where she went?" Moira asked.
"No, and I don't care," Simms said. "If I were you, I'd pray Moriarty only had a beef with her and none of it transferred to you. Pray hard, because that man doesn't forget."
It was getting late in the day, but it suddenly seemed hot inside The Brass Lantern. "You don't have any Mentats, do you?" she asked.
"Hell no," Simms said. "Damned things are addictive as hell. He might not come after you because you're one of the only merchants in town, but then again that might be precisely why he's looking for something on you."
Maybe Leo has some Mentats, Moira thought. He was known to be the person to go to for seriously addictive drugs; maybe he had plain old Mentats.
"Are you listening? Damnit, Moira, these are not people to be fucking with. Don't think I don't know that Burke was in your place the other day. He's in with Alistair Tenpenny, as I'm sure he told you, and there's a man with connections."
She went pale and began eying Simms' drink. He slid the bottle over to her. "On me," he said.
She grabbed the bottle and took a swig. It made the muscles in her face tense up, but she swallowed. Her head suddenly felt warm. "Mr. Burke wants me to rig the bomb at the center of town to explode," she said. Did I say that? She thought.
Simms blinked, also unsure of what she had said. "Say that again."
There weren't many people in the bar, and both had kept their voices low. Moira looked around and was glad to hear Galaxy News Radio was blaring from behind the counter. She leaned over the table and repeated what she had said.
"Looks like Mr. Burke has to go," Simms said, finishing his drink.
"Wait!" Moira said, grabbing his arm before he stood. "I've had a better idea. I can disarm the bomb and make it useless. If you kill Mr. Burke, Tenpenny will just send somebody else."
Simms relaxed in his chair and took the bottle from her to fill his glass. "I suppose killing him can wait until morning," he said. "Alright, let's hear it."
Moira knew Simms wanted to hear why she thought she should be allowed near the bomb. It was an unwritten law in Megaton, that no one fiddled with the bomb anymore than was necessary. People from the Church of the Atom were allowed to pray near it, but that was it. A careful eye was also kept on them, as some felt they all sought its detonation.
"I've got a mini nuke I can tinker with to see how it works. If I can defuse a small nuke, I can take care of a big one."
Simms frowned under his beard and took a drink. "I have a few problems with that, the least of them being where the hell did you find a mini nuke?"
She related to him what happened to her in Grayditch, and why it wasn't likely they would be seeing anyone from there anytime soon.
"Mentats don't have any hallucinogenic properties, do they?" Simms asked.
"No, but they make you remember more," Moira said, missing the point. "My memory was always fine, but I had so much to remember with the shop it got to be too much."
"Whatever," Simms said. "Anyway, you're not tinkering with the mini nuke in Megaton. Go over to Springvale and be careful. Then come back and convince me you're qualified for the big one. I'll give you two days, then I kill Burke. Either way, I'll have to keep an eye on that damned thing from now on, what with assholes like Tenpenny wanting us wiped off the map."
"Why would Mr. Tenpenny want to blow up Megaton?" Moira asked.
Simms shrugged. "He's an asshole. Nobody these days needs more reason than that," Simms said and took a drink.
Moira sighed, thinking about the Wasteland Survival Guide. She wanted it to be comprehensive, but with the recent business involving the bomb, she wondered if she wouldn't have to leave out a few things, such as how to deal with homicidal rich men with shady connections.
To be continued…