The second dark ages box.., p.56
The Second Dark Ages Boxed Set, page 56
part #1 of The Second Dark Ages Series
“Oh, Japanese!” Jan smiled and bowed a bit, “I love meeting those from other countries.” He turned to Sabine, “You are French?”
“Oui,” she replied.
He turned to Michael, “And you, sir?”
“Most recently, America,” Michael replied. “But I’ve been known to travel other countries.”
“If only Gertrude were still here,” Jan whispered, “She would have kept you here, drinking beer to get your stories.”
“Too many stories, young man, too many stories,” Michael told him.
“Ah!” Jan waved a hand, “You would do better to get this one to smile at me to cut my prices, flattering me by calling me young won’t do it.”
Akio smiled, a bit of humor in his eyes.
“I need a special hat,” Michael told him.
“Fabric?” Jan asked.
“Leather, something appropriate to match my coat,” Michael told him as he held out his coat for Jan to feel.
“Going to need something…Different.” Jan reached up and scratched his face. “Design?”
“Roses!” Sabine answered before Michael could say anything. He looked down at her in surprise.
“Roses?” He asked.
“Yes!” Sabine started looking around, “Do you have something I can use to draw?”
Jan turned and made his way to the back, “One second, oh patient lady.” He called out and disappeared behind his leather strips.
Akio whispered. “He obviously does not know this young lady.” He said and laughed when Sabine tried to pop his arm.
He wasn’t there to receive the hit.
“Dammit, you move fast!” She grinned and turned around when she heard Jan coming back. She walked up to his counter and accepted the pen, and paper. “What I’m thinking…”
Michael and Akio glanced at each other with Akio asking, When did she take over designing your hat?
When have you ever known a woman to need permission?
Hai.
The two men turned back to Jan and Sabine.
“… Right here is a skull, dead center. Behind the skull are Angel wings, with roses laying this side and the other side. There should be flames in the eye sockets…No, no. Scratch that.” She marked on the paper, “Now, here we need two pistols crossed, above the skull and between the wings.”
“What do these pistols look like?” Jan asked. Sabine turned around to look at Michael with a raised eyebrow.
Michael walked forward and pulled his coat out of the way. He drew his pistol, confirming the safety was on and the power turned off. He laid it on the counter.
Jan whistled. He looked up to Michael and back to the pistol. “That’s unique, isn’t it?”
“It’s before the time of the world falling,” Michael told the man. “Made for me.”
Jan looked back up, staring at Michael, “You don’t look that old.”
Michael smiled, “From where I stand, your age is that of a baby.”
Jan’s mouth opened in shock. “Oh … oh oh oh!” He turned excitedly to walk to the back, but then turned around, “Don’t go anywhere!” he told Michael and then turned back around and went through the strips again.
Michael read his surface thoughts and shook his head. “Who knew.”
Akio just nodded.
“I really hate it,” Sabine eyed them both, “when you two go all silent and mind-talky between yourselves.”
She was interrupted when Jan came walking back out, holding a large book reverently. “This was Gertrude’s.” He laid it out on the counter after Michael picked up his pistol. Jan waved at the gun, “I’ve got that up here, no problem with my memory.” He opened the book. “This is her secret research.” He told them. “It’s what got us started, we both loved history, finding out the secrets of the past.” He turned the pages, scanning them and occasionally pulling down clippings that were affixed inside.
On the third turn, he found was he was looking for. “These are the stories of the one, the Patriarch,” Jan read, his finger scrolling across the page. “The man who brought honor or swift death to those who would change in the dark of the night. They would follow the strictures, or they would die. He left his children here in Europe, to travel to the colonies, never to come back to Europe again. When he left,” Jan looked up at Michael, his voice solid, but soft, reverent, “He was already ten centuries old.”
Michael pressed his lips together, “That might have been off a few decades.”
A tear was forming on Jan’s face, drifting down his cheek. He never felt Sabine pick up a piece of cloth to wipe it for him. “She was right,” he whispered. “She knew that the Patriarch wouldn’t let us down.” This time, he pulled his glasses and dabbed at his eyes. “You’re here to take out the Duke, aren’t you?” He asked Michael.
“Among other things, yes,” Michael admitted.
“Then may I ask a favor?” Jan closed the book and set it to the side.
“Let me hear it,” he replied.
“I would like to add Vampire teeth to the skull, and tiny red pinpricks of red to the eye sockets.” He said, but Michael stopped him before he continued.
“I need something quick,” Michael answered him, “I’m not sure we have the time…”
Jan shook his head. “If you will just promise to wear it when you yank that sonofabitch’s heart out of his chest, then our daughter will be avenged,” he told Michael. “You come back tomorrow morning, I will have your hat, ArchAngel, you have my word.”
Michael held out his hand, and Jan took it, “I will take some of his blood and consecrate your vengeance so that the hat knows.”
A few moments later the bell rang again, but Jan heard nothing. He was already grabbing the leather he needed to work.
Tokyo, Japan, Chinese Embassy
Chang Feng, forsaken by his emperor, found himself being dragged from his office through the now-deserted corridors of the embassy and into the state office.
Riku held him unceremoniously by the scruff of the neck, his grip so tight that Feng dared not resist for fear of tripping and being strangled with his own collar.
Haruto followed them in, closing the bullet-riddled doors behind them. Plaster from the ceiling had been strewn all over the previously pristine carpets, and a film of dust covered everyone who had been in the room. Consequently, on arrival, Chang Feng looked a little out of place. His uniform was still clean and untouched by the white dust.
Riku released his grip and pushed him roughly over the mess of debris and dead bodies to a chair in front of Eve and Yuko.
Ichika stood menacingly behind the two men who had been in the meeting with Qin Shi, proud that Yuko had indicated for her to keep them quiet and out of the way of the ensuing interrogation.
“We’re here for information,” Yuko said quietly to a petrified Feng. “You tell us what we need to know, you get to live.”
Chang’s eyes darted to his emperor, who nodded his assent to answer the questions.
He glanced back at Yuko. “How do I know that if I tell you what you want you’ll let me go?” he queried uncharacteristically bravely.
Yuko moved toward him, her eyes glowing red again. “Because some of us operate by a code—a code of ethics. If I give you my word, you are lucky indeed,” she told him, her voice still low but definitive, making it even scarier than if she had shouted at him.
He nodded, glancing down to where a wet patch was forming on his pants.
Yuko stepped back a little, averting her eyes. Akari glanced at Ichika and nodded at Feng’s pants. Ichika smiled in delight at the fear her new leader had instilled.
Yuko turned her back for a moment, glaring at Ichika for her childish, uncompassionate reaction. She walked away a few paces before turning back to Feng. “We’re here about the Sacred Clan boxes,” she explained. “They don’t belong to you, and now we have a use for them,” she declared, strategically assuming rightful ownership. “I want to know where they are.”
She paused, holding his fearful stare steady, ready to flash him the red eyes again. As it turned out, there wasn’t any need.
He raised his hands, flinching without her needing to move a muscle. “Ok, ok. I tell you.”
“They buried all over China,” he explained in his imperfect English. “We have no way of finding them though. The intel was stored on a physical server, but during the earthquake of 2045 it was lost.”
Eve’s eyes darted from side to side as she accessed information to confirm or reject his story. She nodded, affirming to Yuko there had indeed been an earthquake in this area at that time.
Yuko had taken a necktie from one of the security personnel who lay dead on the floor and was carefully cleaning off her sword. She sighed and told Feng flippantly, “I’ve just started getting this clean. Don’t make me mess it up again.”
He raised his hands in panic again. “No, no…please. Let me explain,” he panted. “The earthquake destroyed our secret base. It was under the Kurobe Dam. When the quake hit, it not only destroyed the dam but the bunker we had built underneath it. As far as we could tell, it was completely flooded and the servers with all the information on them were lost.”
He added, “It wasn’t just the location of the boxes that was lost, either. Japan suffered a great deal, for reasons that were never released to the people.” His eyes darted over to his emperor, looking somewhat sheepish for having divulged potentially embarrassing information about their tentative allies.
He tried to cover his tracks by returning to the technicalities of the matter of the servers. “Ever since then we have worked to find better ways of protecting our data, blockchain protocols being one of them.”
Mark stepped forward, his eyes lighting up in interest. “You mean spreading sensitive information over multiple client terminals?”
Feng looked momentarily surprised that someone might understand his discourse. “Yes.”
Yuko glanced sideways at Mark, pulling the conversation back on track. “You built a bunker underneath a dam? Surely that was a high-risk location?”
Feng nodded. “Yes,” he agreed, his attention peeled from Mark and his potential geek-out, “but—forgive me—you’re thinking about this the wrong way.”
Yuko frowned, thinking that if Michael were here, Feng would not dare to be so casual with him.
Feng continued, “Why do you think they built the dam in the first place?”
Eve had stepped a little closer, being unable to smell the urine Feng had excreted into his pants. “For hydropower, of course.”
Feng shook his head, looking down. “No. So they could construct secret bunkers.”
Yuko glanced at Eve. “This means they had this in place long before we came here. Long before the WWDE and the need to protect Japan.”
She turned her attention to the sofa where Qin Shi was being guarded. “Why were we never told of this? We had an open relationship with Japan.”
Qin Shi shrugged. “Perhaps not as open as with the back channels of the Chinese at the time, though I cannot comment with any certainty. This was obviously something arranged by one of my many predecessors.”
Yuko relaxed a little and sighed. “Yes. I suppose there is little to be done about it now.” She turned back to Chang. “We need the location of the bunker, then.”
He nodded. “It’s located in the central mountainous national park in the eastern part of Toyama prefecture. If you had a map…”
Eve pulled up a map on a screen that opened out of her arm and Feng showed her the location. “The bunker, I believe, stretched over this kind of area,” he explained, indicating a larger area under the water.
Yuko frowned and glanced at Eve. “Do you think we’ll be able to do a seismic scan with the equipment we have?”
Eve processed the question for a few moments before her activity returned to normal. “I think it is possible. Yes.”
His need to be right seemed to outweigh his desire to stay alive. “The servers were destroyed, though.”
Yuko glanced at him. “Well, we’ll just have to confirm that.”
They tied the officials up and quickly left the building just as sirens approached the area.
Jogging into the night, Jacqueline found herself alongside Ichika as they left the rear of the building to avoid the crowd forming out front.
Jacqueline glanced at her. “Those were pretty nifty moves back there.”
Ichika smiled back at her, carefully avoiding some street furniture as they bounded into a nearby alleyway. “You didn’t do too badly yourself,” she said, bowing her head in respect. “I wish I had that kind of power in my upper body,” she added a little shyly.
The rest of the group arrived and the black container appeared, looming above them.
Mark inserted himself into their conversation. “Ah, that’s nothing,” he told Ichika. “Wait till you see her slip into Pricolici mode,” he said, a hint of pride in his tone.
“Pricolici?” Ichika asked.
Haruto came up behind them. “As in the legendary beast?”
Mark chuckled. “You might want to refrain from using the word ‘beast’ around her, but yeah. Sounds about right.”
The black box reached the ground and the group piled in before it disappeared into the fading twilight.
Chapter Fifteen
Frankfurt, Germany
The three walked down the street, Michael amazed that anyone in this time, so many years since he had last been on Earth, had tracked any of his whereabouts.
These people needed someone to believe in, and apparently, a man from the dark ages was what Jan and his late wife had chosen. Perhaps he had more to give than just ensuring he got back to Bethany Anne.
They made their way across two streets and walked through a park. Sabine was shocked by all the technology she could see, including flying cars in the skies. “It’s like this isn’t even a part of the same world,” she commented aloud.
“It is a factor of where people are and where technology survived, including the knowledge of how to make it,” Akio told her. “Germany had the skills and the technology was given to them by a group Bethany Anne saved in Antarctica.”
“Is it like her technology?” Sabine asked, turning all the way around as she watched a flying car first circle and then land in the park.
“No,” Akio answered. “It doesn’t work the same, and is not nearly as efficient. Her technology would make this,” he waved at the flying cars, “seem medieval by comparison.”
“How?” Sabine turned and spoke directly to Akio. “We have flying cars. Your plane is impressive, but not that much more sophisticated.”
“When we meet up with her,” Akio looked around, “you will understand the difference.”
“Speaking of meeting up with her,” Michael said, “do you know any good Japanese technology workers we can trust?”
“We will have to mind-read them all,” Akio admitted. “My comment from before is true. They are the best people to manufacture the equipment, but also the best to steal it.”
Michael considered Akio’s warning. “We will have to move our manufacturing location off the islands.”
“I will speak with Yuko and Eve about locating the pieces we need.”
The trio had started walking away from the park when Michael stopped and turned into a small store. “I’ll be but a moment.”
Akio looked at the store. It sold chemistry components.
A few minutes later, Michael stepped back out holding a small brown package. “Thank you,” he told the two, and they continued their discussions as they walked down the street.
The little bell rang and Jan pushed himself out of his chair. Although his back hurt, he was ready to deliver the finest hat he had ever made. The skull was so realistic it could almost talk.
It had taken him until five thirty in the morning. He’d had an hour nap and had been drinking caffeinated beverages since then to keep his old body ticking. He might be pushing it, but there was no way he would miss this opportunity to complete his side of the bargain.
His beloved Gertrude and their daughter Holda would be able to rest easier now, knowing that he had set into motion an agreement that pitted the Patriarch against their daughter’s killer.
He tried his best not to think about her death—how they found her, and all the research the two of them had done to figure out who had killed their daughter.
Although they finally solved the murder, they knew they had no options against one so powerful. Jan had turned his sorrow inside, but Gertrude had sent her sorrow into more research. She was the one who had found the truth.
And the truth had walked into his little small shop yesterday. It had been designated by the god of Justice, he knew.
He grabbed the box that held the hat and walked to the front. Michael was waiting for him, his hands behind his back. His two friends were with him. Jan had read Gertrude’s notes and now knew who Akio was. He was probably the one Gertrude had expected to reach out to and ask.
But she had died unexpectedly.
Jan set the box down on the counter and lifted off the lid. He reached in and pulled out a black leather hat. It was a Stetson design, with the carvings of a vampire skull, roses, the pistols, and angel’s wings on it. He handed the black hat to Michael, who took it and turned it, reading the words that Jan had chiseled into the leather of the band.
“Honor or Death” had been inscribed into the little band, and “ArchAngel” on the back.
Michael felt the leather, the indentations that made the skull look like it had been carved of ebony marble. He reached up and placed the hat on his head, then tipped it a little forward. Jan watched him smile. “You are a master of your craft,” Michael told him.
“I’m a man, no more, no less. One who wishes justice be served,” he told Michael, who nodded.
“Justice will be served,” Michael replied, leaving the hat on his head. He reached into his coat.
“No!” Jan waved him off. “I will not take money for the hat. A deal is a deal.”
