They had only gotten twenty miles before the attackers managed to sabotage the Lagoon. They had not been detected, and who could know how long they had been aboard. They were sneaky, and their attack had cost three of them their lives, and the fourth was now scurrying as gunshots landed around it. The enemy, was a rat. An Asian house rat.
Ethan's M9 spat a series of bullets at the animal as it ran around the front of the cabin, "Fuck it, Revy he is on your side."
"I see him," she said as she fired, the slippery foe dodging every round.
"God damnit. I have hunted men that were shooting back, and didn't have this much trouble. Fuck this rat," Ethan was pissed beyond belief.
The rat ran into an open hatch, and a roar sounded, accompanied by a small red spray, "The rat has been fucked," Dutch said as he stepped out and racked his shotgun.
"Well, now let's see if I can do anything about getting power back," Ethan said as he walked back to where he had found the animal.
Ethan could not believe how unprepared he was for everything happening. It was like some kind of challenge from God. The last bit of luck that seemed to be on the boat was those two Mark 10 torpedoes. Because the rats had chewed through a power main, and that was a worse situation than the slimy diesel. He had no clue how he was going to bridge the gap, halfway safely so he didn't burn them to the waterline.
"Fucking rats. Note to self, kidnap a stray cat the next chance you get. Fuckers fucked us well and good on this one. What the hell can I use to fix this. What do we even have that can carry that kind of current. Fuck, I may have to cannibalize some of Benny's shit to get us going," Ethan was trying to think of something.
They weren't in any real shipping lanes, and they really didn't want to be. The last thing they wanted was to see a Thai Navy patrol craft coming over the horizon and seeing an armed PT boat. That could lead to a very awkward situation that they probably wouldn't come out of intact. One class mounted a 57mm gun, and the other a 76mm gun. Not to mention they also carried anti-shipping missiles.
"Hey, Benny. You are about to hate me," Ethan said as he stepped into the computer room.
Benny barely raised his head, "Why? Ethan, I really don't like those words. What are you planning, that I won't like?"
"I am going to have to mangle some of your setup. You have the only nonessential cabling that is on the boat. Either I do it, or we stay out here risking getting arrested by the Thai Government, or starving to death when we get to the point we can't eat fish anymore. I am really sorry," he knew how much Benny loved his computers.
Benny sat completely up, he couldn't see Ethan real well as the only light was coming from what was bouncing off the bulkheads, "Ethan, please tell me you are joking. Do you know how much this all fucking cost? Tear it the fuck down, what can I do with it if we all die. I want go fuck Jane again, not become some weird dude's prison bitch."
Ethan stared at the computer nerd with more than a little surprise, "You are being surprisingly practical about all this. I thought you were going to have a whole, meltdown. Are you really sure about this, you don't want to yell and throw things at me?"
"Ethan, I know you haven't seen my asshole, and you probably don't want, and I really don't want you to. I am rather fond of it though, and it's current size. I am not a really good fighter, I actually would most likely hurt myself more than anyone I tried to throw a punch at. If I go to prison, I already know that I will have a train going on my pretty, lily white ass within an hour. I will help you take this shit apart. Where do you want to start," Benny was already turning on an electric lantern.
Rock sat looking out over the harbor. He wasn't really all that concerned that the Lagoon was a little overdue. It was like a gift from God with Roberta having been a temporary resident of their building. Thankfully she had secured long term lodging at the Sankan Palace. That gave a buffer for any chance that Ethan and Roberta were headed for some kind of showdown. It was annoying that he was having to wait to work on getting Ethan to work security for the meeting.
That wasn't what was on his mind though. It was what he had seen in the mirror that morning. The same, but different. He still saw his face, with the hollow eyes, and the fanged mouth. It had changed though, and it was hard to explain why he saw this. His face was painted up, almost like a Kabuki player, though he thought it looked more like old paintings of samurai. No, he would say it seemed more like the images of shinobi lords. Men who hid and controlled the shadows and the darkness.
"What am I becoming? Hero or villain? Or does it even matter? Has it really only been three years since I ended up here? I don't know anymore. I feel like it has been a lifetime now. I've come so close to death how many times, and survived. I have been a fool to think that I wouldn't change, who wouldn't change under these situations," he lay back so that he was looking up at the sky, "So, have I become like Ethan in a way? Should I accept that Okajima Rokuro has died, and just become Rock completely? Who is Rock then? How will he fit into Roanapur?"
The thoughts were becoming clearer now. Plans started to form. He didn't know if he would be able to, but he wanted to. He did his best to try to save just one or two people in the past, and he ignored everyone else. What if he actually tried to change the face of Roanapur himself, what if he started to play the people that kept playing him like a pawn in their games.
He raised his hand to the sun. He clinched his hand, like he could grab the light that he felt was fading from him. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was the twilight that should control the underworld, a revenge against all the darkness that wanted to control him. To do that though, he couldn't remain as he was, a pacifist, an idealist. No matter what ideology you looked at, all came about with blood.
"You are acting weird, even more than lately. Have you had a breakdown or something," the note that blocked his vision woke him from his thoughts.
He smiled, "In a way I have. Heidi, what do you actually think of Roanapur? How it works, how its people live?"
The girl looked down at him with a puzzled look on her face, "Ethan doesn't want me saying those words. He says that regardless of whether they are written or signed, they aren't flattering to a young lady. Therefore, this place is so fucking horrible that God himself should come down, drop his pants, and piss the whole place into the harbor. That said, I don't think God could even find the place, and Satan is too scared to come here," she wrote.
"I agree. Look at what it did to you. It made you an orphan, and nearly had you selling your body for a roof over your head. What would you do, if one day it burned," he asked.
The girl sat down beside him, and tilted her head side to side as she thought, "I would strip naked and dance like a witch. What are you getting at? I kind of want to be afraid, but I actually like the ideas that you are bringing to mind."
"I have some ideas, ideas that I am not quite ready to reveal. I don't want anyone else to know about them either. Do people notice you when you are out and away from the office?"
"Nobody nice. Though, any that get ideas, don't get to keep having ideas. For the most part, I keep to myself and only deal with those I have to. I don't make that much noise when I walk, Ethan taught me so that I wouldn't be bothered that much. If people can't hear you walk, they often think you don't really exist is what he said," she wrote.
"That explains it. I have wondered a little bit. Wait, they don't get to keep having ideas? In what way," Rock asked as he suddenly realized what she meant.
"I typically lead them somewhere hidden, and shoot them in the face. It works, and they are never expecting it. If there are enough that I can't handle them, then I look for someone in the Triads, or Miss Balalaika's people. They, tend to be more brutal regarding them," was the note's content.
Rock hadn't paid that much attention to her, not like Ethan or Revy. She was simply there, but she had possibilities for his ideas. She apparently, did not have the same reservations about killing. Maybe it was time for him to stop being the bullet to Revy's gun, and become the finger on the trigger of Heidi's.
"Heidi, what would say, if you could become the catalyst to a change?"
"Boss Chang, can I ask you something," Biu asked the man who was kicked back on the chaise.
"Go ahead. I don't have anything going on at the moment," was the reply.
"You have intimated that you have plans regarding the Japanese man from the Lagoon Company. I don't understand exactly what you can see in him that he would factor in your plans," was the question.
"Biu, did you know that I am having to dye my hair at the temples," Chang said to the younger man.
"I, was not aware. You are doing a very good job. I was not aware you were really of an age that you would need to do so."
Chang turned his head to the man, "I am only forty one. I shouldn't have to yet. I also have trouble sleeping, I am often exhausted in ways that I am just managing to hide from the city at large. I am turning into a bit of a wreck."
"I don't understand," Biu was surprised that the man was admitting this to anyone.
Chang sat up, and his demeanor became more serious, "The Triads, I, got saddled with the unfortunate role of having to maintain the stability of the city. I have to make sure that the government doesn't take notice of the things that go on. While Fry Face does her part, the burden is mine. The stress, is starting to pile up on me. I am getting tired of the manipulations, tired of the murder, tired of every one looking to me for the next move of keeping things from collapsing."
"I understand that the role is, daunting, and how you have held it. You are inspiring in your abilities. You still haven't answered the question I originally asked though. None of this seems relevant to it."
Chang chuckled as he stood and moved to the window looking over the city, "It wouldn't seem like it at first. But it is all relevant. Rock, will never allow himself to fall like we have. He just doesn't have it in him. He is, stuck in what many of us refer to as the Twilight of Roanapur, he has started to understand, but he doesn't want to fall. Do you remember the story I told him? It was completely made up. I didn't pass out, there was no slavery ring, well there was but I wasn't on that case. The first person I killed was some crazy old woman that wanted to beat me to death with a wok for, who knows what the reason was. I didn't pass out, but I did find I wasn't particularly fond of killing. It didn't bother me as much as it did him, but I was trained to deal with the possibility. Rock though, I think he is strong enough to take my place in managing the city."
"Managing?"
"I think that his unique place, would well suit him to changing Roanapur. He won't suddenly change it to be a beacon of law and order by any means, he has accepted that he is criminal. But having someone that is trusted by so many, and is outside the control of any one organization, would be better suited to establishing and maintaining a status quo that would allow this to continue for a long time."
"So you want to make him, almost an overlord of the city?"
"I would rather turn him into a shadow. Only those most needing to know, would know who he is. Someone who might be able to maintain the peace, through manipulation, and the threat of the unknown. Rock, he is easy to play, if you know the game. Like I said though, you never know when you may have to take your pawn, and make it a queen, well that would be weird in his case, him being a guy and everything, but you get my meaning."
Biu looked at his boss and answered truthfully, "Boss Chang, I honestly do not understand what you are thinking. Hopefully though, it can't backfire."