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Chapter 8: A Chat with a Killer

Elizabeth turned just in time to see Booker step through the tear and quickly seal it. "Something wrong?"

Booker spun and shoved his finger angrily in Elizabeth's face. "Yes. You are wrong, you two are very, very wrong!" He threw up his hands in disgust. "Un-friggin-believable!" He muttered, storming off along the Eternal Pathway. Silas climbed on Melody's back and rubbed her metal neck. Melody gave short, affectionate squawk and began walking after Booker. Each step she took made the wooden planks shake.

Elizabeth sighed and started to walk after her companions. "Are we getting close?" she asked.

Booker didn't even turn around, but she could hear the frustration in his voice. "Well we were, until you two decided to make a little detour. Now, we're back where we started." He muttered something under his breath that Elizabeth couldn't hear, but she was assuming they were some choice words to describe Booker's frustration. Elizabeth really only had herself to blame for their situation. She resigned herself to walking with her head down besides Melody. Booker resumed leading them down the path. It was at that moment when Elizabeth felt the exhaustion and fear of the last few hours take their tool on her body. She felt her arms almost dangling from their sockets and her legs were more or less dead weight.

They walked for several minutes in awkward silence before Silas finally turned to Elizabeth. "You alright?" Elizabeth yawned in response and nearly tripped over her own feet. Silas gave small smile. "Here," he slipped off of Melody and grabbed Elizabeth under her arms. He hoisted her up despite her feeble protests and placed her gently on Melody's back. "I'll walk for a while, you rest."

Elizabeth tried to glare at him, but her eyes kept closing against her will. "Wake me up…when you need…to rest." She muttered, closing her eyes for the final time and she was rocked to sleep by Melody's gentle gait.

Her dream was in Columbia. She was in the library of her tower, thumbing through volumes, trying to decide what to reread next. As always, the ceiling collapsed and she turned to face her rescuer. However, where Booker generally lay was now the black-clad assassin.

Elizabeth glared. "Who are you? Why do you keep popping up in my dreams?" She felt a tap upon her shoulder and she turned. "Oh, it's you. I thought you were supposed to leave me alone?"

Robert Lutece gave a very nonchalant shrug. His hair was ruffled and his suit dirty and wrinkled. "I only interfere in hopes that you know what to do with the information I give you." There was a loud bang and Elizabeth turned back to the assassin. The woman was now lying on the floor of the library; her Big Daddy crouched by her side. The Daddy appeared to be stroking her head affectionately as the assassin slowly sat up, clearly dazed by the fall. Robert gave Elizabeth a gentle push. "She'll answer your questions, if you ask the right ones. But hurry, if my sister finds me, she'll have my hide."

Elizabeth grunted, expressing both her appreciation and loathing in one sound, and walked down the stairs to face the assassin. "Last time I saw you in my dreams, you killed me. Why?"

The Big Daddy helped the assassin to her feet. The woman groaned and clutched her skull. "You were in pain." She said, her voice trembling slightly, "You asked for death and I delivered it. It hurt me more than it hurt you."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow cynically. "I doubt that. So was that just a dream, or did it really happen?"

"It was another world, another lighthouse, another city."

Elizabeth nodded and folded her arms. "Why did you kill the Ryans?"

The assassin pushed herself off the Big Daddy, much to its apparent distress, and struggled to stand on shaky feet. "I didn't."

Elizabeth stared and narrowed her eyes at the other woman. "Tell the truth. This is my dream, I can kill you with a thought." She turned back to look at Robert for confirmation, but the Lutece twin had vanished. Typical.

"I am telling the truth." Said the assassin, walking slowly and shakily towards Elizabeth, "I was trying to save them. It was him who put a bomb in their shack."

Elizabeth rubbed her temples. "Assuming that you're telling the truth, who would he be?" The assassin hesitated, but brought her hands to the top of her head. She unwound her black cloth until Elizabeth could see the top half of her head, all the way down to her nose.

She had short, black hair and skin as pale as milk, but it was her eyes that caught Elizabeth's attention. They were large and blue, as piercing as a sword and twice as hard. They were oddly familiar, but she just couldn't place them.

"Who do you think?"

Elizabeth clenched her fists. "Comstock." The assassin nodded. "He's following me." The assassin nodded again. "How is he moving between worlds?"

The assassin shrugged. "Hell if I know. The same way we do, I suppose."

Elizabeth stared at the assassin. "Who are you?" she whispered. There was a screech in the distance and the assassin flinched.

"Sorry," she said, turning back to her Big Daddy, which picked her up and gently placed her on its shoulder, "That's the wrong question." The wall above them exploded and the Songbird flew in, its massive wings beating the air to stay up.

On its back was a furious-looking Rosalind Lutece. "You!" she shouted, pointing at Elizabeth, "Get out!" There was a flash of white light and Elizabeth flinched as she felt herself flying backwards. Everything went black and she hit her back on something hard. She groaned and fell to the ground.

"I really have to get this dreaming thing down." She muttered, getting up and rubbing her back. Elizabeth looked around and saw nothing but pure darkness in every direction. She couldn't even see what she had hit her back on.

A hand rested on her shoulder and she spun with a roundhouse kick. Her bare heel slammed into Robert's cheek and the Lutece was sent reeling.

"Quite a kick," he said, rubbing his chin, "That's going to leave a mark."

"Shut up, you deserve it." Said Elizabeth dryly, "If you didn't sneak up on people, then maybe I wouldn't have to do that."

Robert glanced around nervously. "Indeed, but time is of the essence. I'm only a few steps ahead of Rosa. I don't have time!" He stamped his foot in frustration. "Damn. Listen, I know none of this makes sense, but you need to understand it, alright? There is more at stake here than your petty vengeance." With that, he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Behind her, Elizabeth heard a slight whimpering. She slowly turned to see a massive, wooden crucifix rising from the darkness. Hanging from it was a man. There were nails in every part of his body and blood poured from his empty eye sockets. He was naked except for a pair of briefs made of thorns. He gave a pathetic moan and tried to strain against his bonds. The nails dug deep into him and he grit his teeth against the pain. Elizabeth slowly approached him.

The man slowly raised his head. He had no eyes, Elizabeth felt like he hadn't had them in quite some time, but he saw her nonetheless. "Bring us the girl," he whispered. His tongue was covered in sharp barbs that stabbed through his cheek and jaw with every syllable, but he continued, ignoring the agony. "Wipe away the debt. Bring us the girl, wipe away the debt." Elizabeth's eyes widened and her hands shot to her mouth.

"Elizabeth." A gentle voice spoke in her ear. She snapped awake and scrambled in surprise. She tumbled off Melody's back and rolled onto the wooden planks. She quickly found the edge and heaved herself over to it. She hadn't eaten since tea with Jack, but that was apparently enough for her stomach to vomit up.

Silas ran to her and pulled her hair back as she finished. "Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded and Silas handed her a cloth. "Bad dream, really…real." She said, wiping her face.

Silas rubbed her back, making her feel infinitely better. "Well, Booker says that he can't take us any further, so you'll have to find the first world from here." Elizabeth looked up to see Booker leaning against a post, his arms crossed. He was staring into the fog, deep in thought.

Elizabeth stood and walked over to him. "So, it's my turn?"

Booker nodded. "Everything looks the same to me now. Only you can distinguish the first world from the rest. It should be around here somewhere."

Elizabeth looked around. In the distance, a silhouette of a lighthouse stood gently against the fog. "But I don't know what I'm looking for. Is there something that we know about the first world that I should be looking for?"

Booker pointed to the lighthouse. The fog parted a bit and it became more defined. "Each lighthouse is a star." He said, "Each star is a lighthouse. What happens the closer you get to a star?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "It get's hotter?" Booker raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to continue. Elizabeth breathed as she realized the answer. "Brighter, they get brighter."

Booker nodded. "Stars can die, but as they get older, they get bigger and brighter. The lighthouses are forever, but the same rules apply, if a little less so. Look." The lighthouse came clearly into view. It seemed unremarkable, but it had a slight, glowing bronze aura about it, a mystical light that pulsed gently. "The closer you get to the first world," explained Booker, "The older and therefore brighter the lighthouses. To me, they all look the same now; only you can differentiate which ones are brighter than others at this point." Elizabeth nodded. She took one step and her stomach grumbled loudly. She sighed in embarrassment and Silas snickered. Elizabeth glared at him and he quickly stopped.

Booker gave a small smile. "Tell you what," he said, "I know a nice place to eat. Why don't we have picnic?" Elizabeth nodded gratefully and Silas grinned happily. Booker put his hands together and started to open a tear.

"Wait!" cried Elizabeth, "Won't she find us?"

Silas patted Melody, the smile fading from his face. "Let her come."

Booker grinned. "Where we're going? She wouldn't dare follow." With that, he ripped open the tear and stepped through.

Silas shrugged and led Melody through with Elizabeth. "Holy…" he breathed, taking in his surroundings.

Elizabeth had to agree. There were simply now words to describe the wonder around them. They were standing in a green park. In the distance, there was a city made of glass and light. Above everything was a colossal, transparent dome. Beyond the dome was the darkness of space, interrupted by the twinkling stars. The massive shape of the Earth rotated slowly beyond the glass, the Moon itself was passing overhead, projecting gentle moonbeams that lit up the domed city.

"Where are we?" whispered Elizabeth.

Booker fell into a cross-legged seat. "Smelt Park, Cosmopolis, Lunar Orbit. Have a seat." Elizabeth collapsed and nearly fell over. Melody squawked and ruffled her wings anxiously. Booker glared at the Songbird. "Silas! Keep your pet down. The dome is thick, but not that thick." Silas gently patted Melody's neck and talked her quietly into submission, pulling her down to the ground with him. Booker swung his messenger bag onto his lap and started pulling out bagged and canned food.

Elizabeth stared at him. "How much do you keep in there?" she asked.

Booker grinned. "They call it a 'pocket dimension' for a reason." He said. He closed his bag and tucked it behind him. "Hurry up and eat, we've only got a half-hour at most."

Elizabeth picked up a can. "Olives, mmm." She said contentedly, popping it open and tossing a few spicy orbs into her mouth.

Silas used his knife to cut up some well-preserved fruit. "Why do we only have thirty minutes?" he asked, chew his way through a juicy pear.

Booker swallowed a chunk of bread in one gulp. "Well, if this world is anything like the other worlds with Cosmopolis in it, than your grandfather is about to launch a nuclear arsenal at the city."

Silas stopped chewing. "What?" Elizabeth paused, a cracker halfway into her mouth.

Booker smiled. "Cosmopolis was the brainchild of Erasmus Smelt, John F. Kennedy, and Michael Gorbachev. They launched the city into space to escape from Jack Ryan." He grabbed a glass and gulped down some of the brown liquid inside. "Good stuff," he said contentedly, "Yeah, in this world, Jack Ryan took over Rapture. Then he went to the surface with an army of Splicers and stole a nuclear sub. He threatened the world with it, took over the planet by threatening to blow it up if world leaders didn't bow to him." Booker leaned back, relaxing in the soft grass. "Last night, one of the city engineers fell asleep on the job and the city accidentally floated between the Earth and the Moon. Jack Ryan was in Moscow when he looked up and saw the shadow of the city passing over the moon. In a few minutes, he'll storm into the White House and launch every nuclear missile from Maine to California."

Silas dropped his fruit. "How many people are in the city?" he asked quietly.

Booker shrugged. "Oh, usually around 300,000."

Silas leaned back against Melody. Elizabeth rubbed his knee. "How could he?" he whispered.

Elizabeth closed her eyes. "He's a slave." She said, "He obeys, he doesn't choose."

Silas glared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?" He muttered angrily.

Elizabeth winced. "It's…it's something your grandfather told me." Silas looked like he was trying to be angry at her, but he gave up and closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose. For a while, they just sat, drinking in the fact that several hundreds of thousands were going to die.

Finally, Silas stood up. "We're not letting this happen." He said. He scrambled onto Melody's back and she rose with a shake.

Booker sat up with a frown. "Not a good idea."

Silas glared down at the inter-dimensional traveler. "Booker, for the love of God, shut up." He slapped Melody's flank and yelled, "Hyah!" With an ear-splitting scream, the Songbird spread her wings and took off towards the city.

Booker stared, watching his go. "You know," he said, "Between that little detour he led you on and picking up the oversized chicken, I'm starting to think we might be better off just picking up another Ryan to finish the trip."

Elizabeth stared in shock at her father. "What are you saying?"

Booker stood up. "I'm saying that I see no reason why we shouldn't just leave him here and find someone else. We just need a Ryan, not him specifically."

Elizabeth punched him in the face. It was a simple punch, but it was more effective than anything she could have said to express her anger. Booker didn't move, but grunted in pain. "What was that for?" He yelled, clenching his fists.

Elizabeth glared at him, her eyes burning with rage. "The Booker I knew would never abandon an ally." Booker pulled back his hand, fully prepared to slap Elizabeth across the face. Elizabeth jutted out her chin, ready for the strike, but it never came. Booker closed his eyes and dropped his hand with a sigh. Elizabeth smirked in satisfaction and ran after Silas towards the city.

Booker watched her run away. He reached up to his neck and pulled from under his shirt a thin chain necklace. On it were three thin vials covered in leather for protections. In one was a small, sand hourglass, slowly draining away. "Damn," he muttered, "Damn, damn, damn." He looked back up and saw Elizabeth disappear over a hill. He sighed, "When did this all go the hell?" He grimaced and tucked his necklace back under his shirt running after his wayward daughter.

. . .

So I updated chapter 3 to fix some continuity errors.

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