A/N: HEY ALL! Just a quick note before you get to reading... Please do NOT mistake this chapter as an early update! This is simply me switching my update days from Tuesdays to Saturdays because not only is it more convieniant for me, but for my readers who are in school as well.
That is all. Oh, wait- next chapter will be posted on the 3rd of March! Enjoy! :D
Happy reading, happy writing!
~Konfessionist out!~
Chapter Nine: The Dead Still Speak
Day Three
Bryan leaned into the railing by the stairs that led to the second floor walkway in the marketplace. His hands were clasped together in front of him, sweaty and slick, as he watched Janny stand with Harkness in front of Seagrave's old marketplace stall. They both had serious looks on their faces, and neither spoke- they were just staring at the empty space.
Suddenly, Janny piped up, but Bryan couldn't hear what she was saying…
Janny glanced to Harkness. "Vera said that Seagrave had a case of "red-lung," what on Earth is that?"
"He got it from all the repairs he did below deck. He inhaled a lot of the rust damage, and the chemicals began eating away at the insides of his lungs, causing them to weaken and become inflamed. That's why it's called red-lung." He stared back at her, folding his arms over his chest. "And I know what you're going to ask next."
"Oh yeah?" She snorted, but she didn't smile, her eyes fixated on the empty place where Seagrave used to sit, and she remembered how they had so many pleasant conversations. She missed his company terribly.
"You're going to ask if that's how he died, aren't you?"
"You know me better than I know myself," She smiled a little now, and looked back at him. "It's rather unnerving..."
"Well, there was a time where you knew me better than I knew myself," He smiled shrewdly. "Anyways, you're right. Seagrave did have red-lung, but it didn't kill him." She gave him a peculiar raise of her brows, but he continued. "When Doctor Preston zipped up the body bag and called it a day, he said it was a serious case, but it hadn't reached the point where it was lethal."
"Then what had killed him?"
"Preston wrote it off as stress, lack of sleep, and his red-lung taking a toll on his body."
"So he essentially died sick and tired?"
"You make it sound ironic..."
She looked back to the empty stall, hands placed gently on her hips, looking for change of subject.
"I was just as surprised as you were when I found that letter under his bed, you know- regarding the slavers... But I spoke to him, and he claimed that he was a changed man."
"And you were naïve enough to believe it," He rolled his eyes.
"Hey," She warned tensely, glaring at him from the corner of her eyes. "I know he was a changed man. There's a difference between knowing and believing. He was as clean as a whistle- he left the slaving business to become a new man. A good man... Which he truly was, indeed..." She looked back to Seagrave's cold perch as she added the last part on quietly. "Besides, if I hadn't been so fixated on clearing his name, I wouldn't have helped you capture the real slaver and saved Mei Wong, am I right?"
Harkness sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah- you did. What the hell kinda slaver has the name Sister, anyways?"
"Sister did," She snorted with a smirk. "But returning to the topic of Seagrave. What was he doing at the time? The time he died, I mean..." It sounded like she was still coming to gripping terms with the poor man's death with how her voice took on a certain strained tightness when she mentioned his time of death.
"He was sitting in his room- we assumed working at his terminal. Vera was first on the scene, screaming bloody murder for someone to come and help. One of the guards came to investigate, at which point he saw the body and grabbed Lana since she was off duty at the time- I was out front working the bridge- and she oversaw the entire thing, up until they cremated his body a few days later out of respect after the autopsy… I was told that Vera knocked on the door to find it open, and when she walked in he was lying on the floor, not breathing." He answered, rubbing his chin in deep thought. "Vera was there because Seagrave hadn't been feeling well and decided to order in for dinner."
"He was on the floor?" Janny looked up at him. "Then what makes you believe he was working on his terminal?"
"There was an opened document, something about the lower decks and how all the rust was getting to him." He replied. "Then just a bunch of rambling nonsense… Something to do with directions."
"Did Dr. Preston do an autopsy?"
"Yeah, it was made mandatory that anyone who dies on the ship is to be put through autopsy for the sake of the other citizens- this was Seagrave's case. The worry was that he may have had something deadly that everyone could contract, so the autopsy was performed. All Dr. Preston found was the already known illness of red-lung, but it's not contagious. Preston says he didn't find anything that was unusual or unexpected." Harkness looked back at her. "That was all before he left Rivet City to become a doctor at Tenpenny Tower. He had another doctor friend, Banfield something-or-other, there who died, and he was given a "special" invitation to become their new physician. He couldn't say no, and he booked it outta here the moment he could."
"So who's the new doctor around here?"
"Doctor Mayfield, she's excellent at what she does. She's better than Preston was, I can tell you that."
"What is this that I'm hearing? Harkness- giving praise?"
"Shut it." He replied without missing a beat, but he was smiling at her.
Janny smiled as well. "You're probably just saying that because you think she's cute,"
"Cute? No offense to her, she's an intelligent woman, but I'm sure she was around when the bombs dropped." Harkness' brows furrowed together as he glanced up to where Bryan was standing on the second floor walkway, watching them. It looked like he hadn't noticed the young man until now.
"She's a ghoul?" She asked curiously, walking into the stall to graze the empty shelves with soft fingertips, looking at her finger pads to see that they've collected dust. She was surprised no one took the stall after the fact of Seagrave's death. "I don't find a problem with ghouls as some of them I've had more of my interesting conversations with- but I cannot speak for some of my cohorts... Does that sit well with Rivet City?"
"No, she's not a ghoul, she's just really damn old- but she claims not old enough to kick the bucket anytime soon. When Angela's kid- Monica her name is, she's almost ten- is old enough she's going to become Mayfield's apprentice." He replied as he walked into the stall after her. "Wilks is watching us."
"When did you finally notice?" She asked, looking up at him with a knowing glint in her eyes.
"Wait, you knew? And you didn't say anything?"
"I thought you were well aware that he was watching us. He can't hear anything, I assure you, and even if he did he wouldn't tell a soul. Bryan's a good kid, and I'm surprised you have not seen that with how good your sense of character is." Janny stopped in front of a trunk that was in the back of the stall, and tilted her head to the side. "That's strange… Weren't all of Seagrave's belongings removed when he died?"
"Yup, but no one could get that damn trunk to budge." He replied with irritation. "Full of too much damn stuff- he was a scrap dealer, after all. No one could get it open, either." He stared at her as she got to her knees in front of the trunk, studying the lock closely. "Hey, I know how good you are with lock-picking and stuff- if you want, you could give it a try. I can authorize it."
Janny laughed warmly. "Oh, I'm so very lucky that I have friends in such high places, hmm?" She looked at him over her shoulder before looking back, fingering the detailing on the lock before a click resounded in the empty market place. He tried looking over her shoulder, but he couldn't see anything because she was blocking his view. "But it's no use, Harkness. Do you know what this is?"
"A stubborn trunk." Harkness replied in irritation once again.
"Well, yes, it's a stubborn trunk-" Her words halted when she pulled back to show him that int he intricate detailing on the top of the trunk, a latch had sprung open. Explained the clicking noise... "But it seems to be a stubborn trunk with three locks."
"Three?" He exclaimed in astonishment, peering over her shoulder to get a better look. "But I only see one on the front!"
Janny was right. When the latch flipped up, it revealed three locks side by side. Each had a keyhole a different shape.
"That's a false lock, meant to trick whoever tries to break into it. Whatever is contained in here, he wanted to make sure no one got to it."
Harkness whistled in shock, crouching down at her side. "You sound like you know what you're talking about... How the hell do you know?"
"I read a lot. I found a book on pioneers, hundreds of years before the war between us and the Chinese. When they were exporting valuable goods, they used trunks such as this to conceal these goods- made with a false lock on the front for anyone who tried to break in, with the true lock hidden somewhere on the lid in all the detailing. I'm actually just as surprised as you are that there are three, and not just one. It's amazing, considering the trunks with only one lock were considered tamper-proof in themselves! This could keep out even the best of them!"
"Wait, so if this trunk is from hundreds of years before the war, how did Seagrave come into contact with it?"
"The trunk isn't that old, so I think it's a very long shot that Seagrave would find a trunk from way back when in such great condition. It's a lot closer to our time than you think," Janny got to her feet, and Harkness rose with her. "The book I told you about, on pioneers and such? I bought that book from Seagrave when I came to Rivet City with Bryan. He was obviously an educated man, and if he read the section on the trick trunks?..." Her voice trailed off, allowing Harkness some time to calculate.
"He could have easily tried to find a way to replicate it…" He finished.
"Exactly," She nodded. "He was very skilled with repair and creation, he was the creator of the Dart Gun, after all. If the pioneers could create such intricate locks, well, why couldn't Seagrave?"
"Then how the hell are we going to get it open when there are three different locks? You can't pick any of them, Jan?" He whined, looking down at her.
"I could try, but I think my attempts would be in vain." She crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "Our best bet would be to find the keys and try to crack this thing open."
"A frag grenade would come in handy right about now…" Harkness mused.
"If you want to risk destroying whatever lay in the trunk, feel free to waltz over to Flak N' Shrapnel's and pick one up." She replied tauntingly with a smile. "All I'm finding interest in is why Seagrave would go through the trouble of such heavy duty security. He wasn't paranoid, by any means…"
"So you think whatever's in there was worth going through all the trouble?"
"I certainly believe so." Janny looked up at him.
"Jan, I don't have a good feeling about this…" Harkness muttered, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one else was watching them, other then Bryan, who he learned to ignore. "I just- this doesn't sit right with me…"
"I've got a bad feeling as well, Harkness. In fact, the pit in my stomach from yesterday has grown only bigger." She brushed her hair back with long fingers. "First things first, we need to make our agenda for the day."
"We? You mean you, I go on duty in an hour." He stated, hooking a thumb over his shoulder to the exit at the top of the staircase.
"I'm going to speak with Dr. Mayfield and see if Dr. Preston possibly left behind any documentation on Seagrave's autopsy-"
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look…" Harkness interrupted.
"And I want to know where his terminal is. It would be a great place to start looking into this. I should also talk to Vera, he was renting a room from her, correct?" He nodded. "What did she do with all his belongings when he died?"
"Well, when someone in Rivet City dies, we hold an auction. The money we get from the auction goes towards whatever needs fixing- new lights, pipes needing patches, railings needing to be replaced, that sort of thing- but with our repairman dead…" His voice trailed off.
"Where are his belongings and where did the money go to?" She picked up.
"The money went to the church, and his belongings were auctioned off to the people of Rivet City, so I'd suggest you ask around- but be discreet Jan. If anyone knows about what we've discovered today, they might try to get into this trunk. Maybe even go farther than we could imagine in order to get it. And if you happen to ask the wrong person-?"
"I get it, but I hope you know that I am perfectly capable of protecting myself!" Janny exclaimed with a proud smirk.
"Oh really?" Harkness challenged, stepping up to her so their chests almost touched, and he grinned down at her.
"Yes, really." Janny answered evenly with a smile that seemed to accept his challenge wordlessly as she stepped up even closer to him.
"Prove it."
"Only if security won't kick me out of Rivet City for making their commander cry," She teased.
"Bring it." He ignored her jab.
"Okay," She sighed with a roll of her eyes, narrowly evading a right hook Harkness sent her way by ducking into a crouch. She reacted with her leg sweeping across the floor, knocking him off his feet so he landed on his back with a sore groan.
"Is that the best you got?" He grunted with slight irritation, shooting daggers at her.
"No," She smiled, still crouched on the floor at his feet. "I'm just getting started, actually."
Janny tucked and rolled past him, unlatching his combat knife from his thigh as she did. Scurrying to evade the attack, he rolled onto his side and swiped at her, barely grazing her arm as she rolled away towards Cindy's shop, A Quick Fix. She halted her roll, coming onto her feet stealthily with her glassy eyes following Harkness' every move as if she were a sly cat and he were a timid mouse, tail twitching back and forth as she contemplated her next move.
With a smirk, she lashed the combat knife at him with an outward flick of her wrist. It went sailing over his shoulder, by slim chance missing his cheek, and connected with the counter of the empty stall, lodging itself into the counter top. He glanced back at it, looking back at her, still crouched on the floor, with a dumbstruck look in his eyes.
"I haven't been gone for ten years to hide in my home- I haven't gotten rusty, if that was what you were hoping for." Janny spoke in a slightly arrogant tone, looking up to see Bryan running towards them with his face contorted into fear and worry.
"Janny, what are you doing?" He cried, stopping at her side. "Why are you trying to kill Harkness?"
She laughed, clapping her hand down on his shoulder. "Harkness and I weren't fighting. Well- we were…" She cleared her throat. "He just wanted to see some of my combat skills, and I accepted the challenge."
Harkness grumbled to himself, arms folded over his chest as he pouted like a sore loser and pried his knife out from the counter as Janny continued to laugh.
"Well, at least you aren't crying." She teased, and he shot her a scalding glare. "Rivet City's made you soft!"
"Has not!" He exclaimed childishly as he mentally stroked his poor ego back to inflation.
"Anyways, I'm glad that you're here Bryan." She commented, looking back at him with her hands on her hips determinedly.
"You- You are?" He stammered quietly, wide eyes blinking as his cheeks flushed scarlet.
"Of course. I wanted to ask if you or Vera come into possession of any of Seagrave's belongings when he passed away."
"Seagrave's stuff?..." He took a moment to think. "Oh, yeah! She bought a toolbox that has all his old tools in it- said it was a nice reminder of him or something."
"Was there anything… Peculiar, in the toolbox?" She asked apprehensively. "Like a letter, or a key? Anything that shouldn't be in a toolbox?"
"Well, now that you mention it- yeah, Aunt Vera found a key at the bottom. She couldn't find what it was for, though." Bryan scratched his head, ruffling his choppy hair that hung a little past his shoulders. "It didn't open anything that belonged to him, so she thought that it may have been something that he found while he was in the lower levels fixing pipes or something and thought it was interesting."
Janny and Harkness looked at each other, as if they knew what the other was thinking. His eyes suddenly darted away, and with a quick, discreet motion he gestured for her to come to him.
"What is it?" She asked when she was at his side.
"Rogue is coming this way. He's fucking paranoid about the smallest things, if he see's you hanging around Seagrave's stall he might get suspicious and arrest you for conspiracy or something. I'll distract him, take Wilks and make yourself scarce."
"Huh?" Janny looked towards the marketplace entry staircase to see a very tall and muscular man standing at the top of the stairs, making his way down. Bannon walked behind him. "That's Rogue?"
He nodded. "Big fella, ain't he?"
"If I didn't know better, I could have mistaken him for a Super Mutant!" She exclaimed with wide eyes. "I thought you called him a petty criminal? It looks like he could rip a Deathclaw in half and put Behemoths to shame!"
"Then pray that he feels like ripping Deathclaws apart today and not you or Wilks if he sees you! Get outta here!" Harkness warned sternly, shooing her towards Bryan.
"Bryan, we have to go." She spoke frantically as she latched a firm hand onto his arm.
"Go? What for?" He looked up and saw Rogue making his way over, but taking a moment to stop at Bannon's clothing stall to speak with him. "Oh… Rogue scares me."
"Believe it or not, he scares me too." She replied as she stepped to Harkness for a moment, whispering into his ear. "Don't worry- I haven't forgotten about your problem with Zimmer inspite of the mystery behind Seagrave's trunk. I'll go down to the bow later on today to see if Horace is still around."
"Thanks Jan," He murmured, never removing his eyes from Rogue and Bannon. "Ask Wilks if he- if he saw any type of life down there in the bow before you go."
She nodded. "By "any type of life", do you mean life other than angry Mirelurks?" She smiled.
"I mean life as in human life. Wilks might have seen something that's linked to Pinkerton. Now go!" He whispered tensely with a hoarse strain.
And as Rogue turned around to stare at Harkness, that was exactly what Janny and Bryan did. They ran like fiends to the door that led to the flight deck, leaving the councilman none the wiser as he strode towards the commander, questioning his presence around the abandoned kiosk as if he were being trialed for conspiracy.