All the latest news, coming your way right now.
The HELIOS One solar power plant remains dormant despite NCR efforts to reactivate the facility. Also, traders from California are being turned away at Mojave Outpost, where the NCR is concerned about dangers along Nipton Highway and I-15.
Those are our stories this hour. This is Mr. New Vegas signing off. Just kidding. I'm not going anywhere. My love for you is too strong.
The radio played in the background as Myina swallowed the warm steak with gusto, savoring every little bit. She smiled at Alice and closed her eyes. "Thank you so much! I can't tell you how long it's been since I've had a meal this good! But you really didn't have to go to all the trouble. I didn't mean to put you out of your dinner."
Alice McBride grinned appreciatively back at her. "Oh, don't you worry about it a bit!" She said sincerely. "We don't get a chance to entertain very often, and it's always nice to meet new people."
"Everyone treatin' you alright?" Dusty, Alice's 'beau', as she'd called him, packed his pipe with tobacco and leaned back in his chair.
"Yes sir." Myina smiled at him. "Everyone here seems real nice. Although . . ." Myina paused, "I did have a run in with an older gentlemen, uhmm-"
Alice laughed gently. "Oh, you must mean No-bark Noonan." Myina nodded."Don't worry dear. He's harmless. Poor man got stuck a few times by some radscorpions some years back. Did a number to that skull of his. Doctors patched him up best they could, but I guess the venom got in all the same."
"Ah," Myina speared a potato piece with her fork and chewed thoughtfully at it. "He seemed to have some interesting ideas. One thing he mentioned in particular was the disappearance the wife of one of the snipers? It sounded a little . . .upsetting. That's not a usual thing around here is it?"
Alice and Dusty both nodded in mutual sympathy. Alice spoke softly, "Boone. That's that sniper fella, works in the dinosaur. I only met them but once or twice. They seemed real happy together. I really oughtta have gotten to know them better. They seemed like nice folk."
"She's been missing 'bout three years now." Dusty added. "Isolated incident though. Nothing you need be worried about. We don't have much of a raider problem here. Those snipers make sure of that."
Myina nodded. "That's good to know. I'm sorry to hear about her, though. Did they ever find out what happened?"
"No one really knows. She kind of just, vanished, one night. That poor boy was on duty when it happened. Near went out of his mind tearing apart the town looking for her. He was so angry. I think he blames himself for it, you know?" Alice shook her head in sorrow. Dusty squeezed her hand. "He went off for a few weeks after that. Went to track her down, I think. But when he came back alone . . . well, he never talked about it and none of us ever asked."
My wife's dead. I just know, alright?
Sonofabitch. He went out looking for her; he must've found her body. That's a hell of a way to say goodbye.
Myina looked down at her plate, her appetite having mostly gone away in the wake of the realization that the man probably had to dig his own wife's grave out there in the wastes.
She cleared throat. "Anyway, I, um, I also heard you guys have been having a bit of a problem with the brahmin?"
Those are our stories this hour. This is Mr. New Vegas signing off. Just kidding. I'm not going anywhere. My love for you is too strong.
Boone methodically assembled his side arm, having finished cleaning and lubricating it, just as he did almost every day. Good days that is.
Good days, he would quietly disassemble and clean his rifle, sidearm, and sharpen and polish his hunting knife. Bad days . . . well, bad days were bottles of whisky and staring at the trigger of the aforementioned sidearm.
But today was a good day, and so he set about his task. It kept his mind just occupied enough. Kept his hands busy. The radio helped too, Mr. New Vegas his only companion in the wreckage of his life. He was one step closer to finding Carla's betrayer. One step nearer to closure. . . he hoped.
The image of the disheveled and injured woman that was his confidant in this came back to mind. If she pulled through for him on this, he would owe her big. He would, at the very least, have to learn her name.
Boone looked down at the pistol. Memories came back to him from his days on tour with the NCR. He thought about the day he and Manny had almost been killed by deathclaw.
It was their first time out after being partnered together out of training and they were assigned to patrol a road somewhere outside of Shady Sands. The damn beast had lept down from a cliff and thrown Vargas to the ground. Too close for the rifle, Boone had reached for his sidearm but only got off two shots when he suddenly found himself pinned to the ground, the deathclaw raising an arm to slash down on him. Out of nowhere, Manny had jumped on top of the thing's back and driven his knife into its eye. The deathclaw had gone reeling back in agony and had retreated back into the canyons. Manny picked up Boone's pistol and handed it back to him, "You alright there partner?"
Boone frowned at the memory. Vargas had been by his side for years. They had shared so much together and shed blood and sweat together. But when it came to the tears part? Well, the bastard failed at that.
He could still remember that day. The sun had risen and Boone had returned to the room he shared with his wife. When he opened the door and saw that she wasn't in their bed, he knew right away something was wrong. And then he saw the blood. A smear of it across the carpet. Boone shouted her name and tore through the room quickly. With no sign of her, he dashed up to the sniper's nest.
"She's gone! Manny, she's gone. You gotta help!"
Manny looked shocked for a brief moment, but then something else had come over his face. "What do you mean, she's gone? Who?"
"Carla!" Boone practically screamed. "Someone's taken her!"
"Oh, man, okay, just calm down a minute and think about this. Are you sure someone took her?" Manny looked at him skeptically.
"What?! Are you fucking kidding me?" Boone ground his teeth, trying to keep from punching Manny in the face. "Of course I'm sure-"
"I'm just saying, she's been talking about going back to the city forever now. Are you sure she didn't just get sick of waiting and decide to leave on her own?"
And that's when Boone did punch him. Manny stumbled backward holding his mouth as blood began to pour from his split lip.
"Fuck you, Vargas." And then he left. He never said another word to Manny after that. Not that Manny wouldn't try. He'd knock on Boone's door, but he'd never answer. Manny would wait for Boone to come in for his shift, but he'd usually just silently leer at him until he left.
Manny had never liked Carla and it caused more than a little friction in Boone's life. The two were constantly at each other's throats and he'd always try to defend the one to the other. Carla was always saying that Manny was a bad influence. That he was always dragging Boone down and that he just wanted to keep Boone to himself. And Manny had no tolerance for Carla's pretentiousness or complaining.
Neither one of them ever tried to get along with each other, and in the end, it just made Boone miserable.
The truth was, Boone understood both of them. Manny had come from a rough background and he still had his tendencies toward recklessness or childishness. He'd gotten Boone in trouble on several occasions by roping him into whatever prank he decided he wanted to pull on the officers or fellow troops. And after they'd left the service, it wasn't unlikely that Boone would find himself in the middle of some con or another Manny was pulling on a mark in one of the casinos on the strip.
That's how he'd met Carla, actually. She was one of Vargas' targets and when Boone told Manny to knock it off, Carla had rewarded him with a drink from the bar. They'd ended up talking all night. It was the first time since Bitter Springs that Boone hadn't felt like everyone was looking at him like the murderer he was.
But she had her own flaws, just as everyone did. She was a city girl, born and raised. Carla had been extremely hesitant about moving out to a tiny little town miles from her home, but Boone had managed to convince her that New Vegas was no place to raise a family. She'd relented, but ultimately hated it. She couldn't help but compare it everything to her life in the city and it never seemed to measure up. Boone tried desperately to make her happy, but she was too set in her ways and missed the fast-paced, richer living that was New Vegas. And she never seemed to have any qualms about letting everyone she came in contact with know it.
Boone frowned remembering the arguments they would have over the way she treated people. They usually ended with her sobbing about how much she missed New Vegas and how she was trying to be happy. He'd always comfort her and say tomorrow would be better. But it never was. He was so close to accepting that they'd have to leave Novac and return to the city, when she told him she was pregnant.
It had been a happy day for him. But that day too, ended in an argument. He tried again and again to tell her that New Vegas wasn't a good place for a child to be, but she didn't want to hear it. He was furious when he found her talking with Jeannie May about sending off a telegram to New Vegas in order to secure a place to live there. They'd had it out right there in the motel lobby and in the end, she'd screamed at him that she wasn't going to raise her child in this "dump of a town", slapped him, and stormed off.
A week later, she was taken. Boone would never forgive himself for that. If he had just taken her out of the town like she'd wanted, maybe he'd be reading a bedtime story to his child right now, instead of cleaning his weapons in a musty, empty apartment.
Boone looked at his pistol longingly for a minute, then stood to gear up for the night. Maybe today was going to be a bad day after all.
Myina emerged from the McBride's house, waving them goodnight and promising to look into the problem they were having with their cattle. As she stepped up the road, she caught sight of Jeannie May walking in her direction. She must have just closed up for the night and was on her way to her own house. Myina decided this was the perfect time to see if she could pull any info out of the old woman. As the town greeter, she must have a pretty good idea of the goings on of the settlement.
"Hi Ms. Crawford!" Myina sang sweetly.
"Well, hey there!" She crooned back. "Isn't it a little late for you to be out and about?"
"Oh I was just meeting with the McBrides." Myina smiled. "Figured if I'm going to stick around for a bit I'd like to get to know my neighbors."
"Well isn't that just sweet of you." Jeannie May patted Myina's arm lightly. "I think you'll fit in just fine around here. It's good to have someone who actually cares about the people of this town."
"Yeah, just about everyone seems like really nice people. Except . . " Myina let herself trail off, hoping to grab Jeannie May's attention. She succeeded.
"Except who, dear?" The woman stepped in closer, taking on an almost defensive air.
"Well, I happened to run into the nighttime sniper earlier," Myina fished. Jeannie May nodded understandingly. "So, what's wrong with, what's his name, Boone?"
"Oh, nothing that wouldn't be wrong with any man who loses a wife, I suppose. Poor dear." Something in the woman's tone seemed different than before. Myina couldn't quite place it, but she let out a gasp and lifted her hand to her mouth to play off like she didn't know what Jeannie May was talking about. The woman nodded and continued, leaning in to gossip. "I know he thinks she was kidnapped, but I'm not so sure she didn't just run off on her own. You could tell she was thinking about it ever since they arrived."
"Oh, my." Myina mirrored her gossipy stance, while trying to maintain the sympathetic stranger appearance.
Playing the people around her was something Myina had learned to do long ago and over many years. They always wanted someone to relate to, but also someone they could be the 'teacher' or 'mentor' to. If you made someone feel like they knew more or better than you, and that you wanted to learn from them, it was easy to get them talking. In this case, getting Jeannie May to feel like the town matriarch seemed to be the best approach.
"Wow, that is very upsetting." Jeannie May nodded her agreement and Myina prodded a little more. "What was Boone's wife like?"
"Oh, how should I put it?" Jeannie May looked out at the sky and pushed her large glasses up her nose. "I guess you could say she was kinda like a cactus flower. Real pretty to look at, but there was just no getting close to her. She never did take to living here. She liked the big lights and fast living of New Vegas. I got the feeling she was trying to get Boone to leave with her, but I guess she got tired of waiting."
The woman shook her head in the 'isn't it such a shame' kind of way, and Myina mirrored her in agreement. "Well, dear, I should get to bed. These old bones need their rest." Jeannie May smiled and squeezed Myina's arm before sweeping off in the direction of her house.
"Goodnight Ms. Crawford." Myina chirped back. She watched her get almost to her house before moving in the direction of her room.
If it hadn't been for Boone seeming so sure that Carla was dead, Myina would be beginning to look into this angle that the woman had just left town. Maybe Boone was just assuming his wife was dead? He could be in denial that she'd have left him.
A sudden thought struck the courier and she stopped dead in her tracks, a fear coming over her. Maybe Carla had left her husband to return to the city. And Boone was sure she was dead because he'd killed her himself out of anger.
But surely he wouldn't have hired her to find this nonexistent kidnapper, then? On the other hand . . . Myina's fingers trailed the fabric of the beret he'd given her to be their signal, currently tucked safely away in her jacket pocket. He obviously had no problem killing someone he trusted a random stranger to make a decision about. Was he really the best person to trust?
The whole truth.
Myina sighed. Maybe it was time to check out her current employer. He would be at his post now anyhow. She crept silently to the edge of the courtyard and looked around for any lighted windows or shadowed figures. When she detected nothing out of place she slid over to the room she was sure was the sniper's, two doors down from Manny's. The fencing in front of the door provided her some cover as she crouched low, slipping a bobby pin from her bra; a good tool to keep handy.
Lockpicking wasn't her strongest suit but she wasn't bad at it either. It took only moments to hear the tell-tale click of the lock, and she slowly swung the door open and slid inside. She turned the light on her Pip-boy on and let her eyes scan the room. There was little by way of furnishings. A bed, a table with a phone, another table with a cracked television, and on the far wall a simple set of shelves next to a fridge.
The very first thing that caught her attention was a stain on the carpet at the end of the bed. Her stomach lurched as she studied it. Blood, long ago dried. She could tell that someone had attempted to scrub it clean, but the fibers were too far stained to ever be free of it.
At the end of the bed was a foot locker and she steered toward it. Inside, carefully folded and placed, were women's clothes. Carla's things. Myina swallowed. Not looking good for the theory that she ran off on her own.
At the bottom of the locker was an old photo; a couple standing hand-in-hand with a small boy between them. Neither the man or the woman looked familiar and Myina wondered if it might be Boone as a kid and his parents. She carefully replaced the photo and closed the footlocker, turning her attention to the wall opposite the bed.
The table with the television had a few empty bottles of beer and there were many more in the trashcan next to it. On the table near to the window sat a dusty phone and small pouch which Myina recognized as a rifle's cleaning kit. She looked under each table and under the bed to see there was anything out of sight.
A duffle bag sat under the bed and she carefully pulled it out and opened it. There were several sets of clothes, a pouch of caps, a pistol and knife, some canned foods and bottled water. A go bag. Myina knew well enough what one of those looked like. She'd had one near to her since the day she turned fourteen.
She zipped the bag back up and slid it under the bed, then tucked her hands under the mattress on all sides. Nothing. The shelves and the fridge contained a few food items and household goods. She carefully checked each to see if they were false containers. Nope. A sweep of the bathroom . . .zilch.
Myina turned off her Pip-boy's light and stepped quietly back out of the room making sure it locked behind her. As she walked back the her room, she took stock of the info she'd gleaned. He was obviously a heavy drinker, which could mean guilt or depression. He had mind enough to keep his weapons clean, so he probably wasn't insane enough to have killed his wife and then kept up a charade about her being kidnapped, though. He kept her things, despite being sure she was dead. That practically yelled mourning.
No. If she had to make a decision right now, she'd say Boone was being sincere about believing someone had kidnapped her. But everyone she had talked to made it seem like the most likely scenario had been that Carla was unhappy here, that she wasn't very keen on the idea of being a resident in this little town and had just-
Myina's hand paused on the doorknob of her room. Who in the town seemed so committed to making this place seem like a perfect little town? Like a place that anyone should be grateful to be a part of? No...it can't be. Myina looked back on her interactions with Jeannie May and recalled how each time had left her feeling like there was something to the woman that she couldn't pin down. Was it possible it was something sinister?
The memory of the contempt she'd seen the night before written over Jeannie May's face flashed in her mind. Myina chewed on the inside of her cheek, and decided suddenly where her next stop was. Time to pick another lock.
The lobby of the Dino dee-lite Motel was cast in an eerie glow by the Sunset Sarsaparilla vending machine on the far wall. Keeping low to the floor, Myina moved around behind the counter and looked across the shelves there. Mostly, it was just sodas and Dinky dolls. A guest log, which yielded little info. There, at the end, imbedded in the floor, however, was a safe.
She rubbed her hands together and leaned close to the lock. It took her almost ten minutes to crack, but she eventually got the heavy metal door open. Inside was a bunch of caps and a bound filecase. Myina reached for the case and began looking through the files.
Holy shit. There were tens of papers in there and at least half of them were stamped with the seal of none other than the damn Legion. She read through each and every one of them; most of them were correspondences between Jeannie May and some Legion asshat named Crassus. But one paper in particular caught her attention.
"We, the representatives of the Consul Officiorum, have this day bargained and purchased from Jeannie May Crawford of the township of Novac the exclusive rights to ownership and sale of the slave Carla Boone for the sum of one thousand bottle caps, and those of her unborn child for the sum of five hundred bottle caps, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. We warrant the slave and her young to be sound, healthy, and slaves for life. We covenant with the said, Jeannie May Crawford, that we have full power to bargain and sell said slave and her offspring. Payment of an additional five hundred bottle caps will be due pending successful maturation of the fetus, the claim to which shall be guaranteed by possession of this document."
Bile rose in her throat. It was the single most disgusting thing she'd ever seen put into print. She stared at the document for several long minutes, emotions flooding her as they hadn't in a long time. Myina had seen some pretty fucked up shit in her life, personally and in her profession as a bounty hunter. But this. This just about took the cake.
A steely hard resolve set in then. Her face hardened, and she rose slowly, not bothering to close the safe. Myina tucked the filecase into the waist of her jeans against her back, covering it with her jacket, and moved swiftly out of the lobby, running up the hill to Jeannie May's house.
Myina pounded on the door, working her breath up. Jeannie May Crawford answered the door, hastily tying her bathrobe. "My god, what-what is it?" Her voice cracked for a minute, and Myina could hear her swiftly apply the 'sweet old lady' tone. You fucking bitch.
"Please, you need to come with me! There's something wrong." Myina tugged at Jeannie May's arm and began pulling her in the direction of the dinosaur. Once she was sure the woman was following her, she dashed up the road, stopping just at the bottom of the hill Boone had indicated.
"What is it?" She asked breathlessly as she caught up to Myina.
"Up here." Myina walked up the hill slowly and looked out over the moon-washed wasteland. She didn't need to look back to know Boone was there in the sniper's nest, scoping her.
Jeannie May walked up next to her and looked out. "What? What is it? I don't see anything."
"I do." Myina dropped her panicked facade and continued to stare out over the wasteland.
"Where?" The irritation in Jeannie May's voice began to rise. "What are you playing at?"
Myina pulled the file-folder out of her jeans and held it up. She looked over at Jeannie May and watched an expression of pure rage twist the woman's features as she recognized the binding. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The sweet old woman was no more. In her place, stood a snarling hag.
"This, you filthy bitch." Myina pulled Boone's beret from her jacket and fitted it onto her head in one motion. Jeannie May was about to lunge for her, but her head suddenly exploded in a plume of pink mist. Her body fell to the ground and rolled down the hill. Myina stood for a moment, unblinking, then turned slowly and walked up to the dinosaur, taking the steps to the sniper's nest slowly. Myina sucked in a deep breath before pushing the door open.
Boone stood at the opening of Dinky's mouth, looking out over the landscape, his back to her. He didn't move or speak as Myina entered the nest. After a moment, she stepped up next to him.
"That's it then. How did you know?" His voice was deep and low.
"I found this," she held the filecase out, the bill of sale on top. He took it from her and read it over. Myina saw the change in his expression, ever so slight, making his stony features even blanker.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he said, lowering the papers. "It'd be just like them to keep paperwork."
"Are you an outlaw now?" She asked quietly, keeping her eyes on the horizon.
"No," he shrugged and motioned out to desert. "People die out there. Often enough that no one worries about blame. They're too anxious to forget it happened in the first place, I guess." Myina nodded in response, knowing the truth of his statement. "Besides, I was on break when it happened."
There was humor in his response, so slight that it was almost missed. A dark humor, but still there.
Neither of them spoke for a minute, but then Boone reached into his pocket and produced a small leather satchel, tossing it to Myina.
"Here. This is all I can give. I think our dealings are done here." He turned, shouldering his rifle, and began to head for the door. Myina was shocked for a moment, and called after him.
"What will you do? After all this . . . what now?"
"I don't know," Boone paused at the door, his voice seeming more genuine now. "I won't be staying, I know that. Don't see much point in anything right now, except hunting legionaires." He shrugged again. "Maybe I'll wander, like you."
She took a step toward him. "Come with me. Let's go after the Legion."
Boone looked away. "You don't want to do that."
Myina shrugged. "I thought snipers worked in teams."
Boone looked up at her and she could see a little surprise there. He tilted his head curiously. "Hnh. Yeah. Working on your own, you're a lot less effective." Boone's eyes drifted to the horizon again. "I've been there, and paid for it. . . This isn't going to end well, but fine. Let's get out of here."
She nodded. "I have business to take care of before I head out of town. I'll take care of it then pack my bag." She glanced at him, trying to see his eyes under his dark sunglasses. "Why don't you come with me, and we can knock it out together."
"Knock what out?" He asked flatly. Myina grinned.
"Dunno yet. That's the surprise."