Protection...
The Mayor had increased security in the Town Hall since the killings began, so there were now two guards outside his office. Security had also been stepped up throughout Pyke, but since everyone suspected a slig, like Spider, no-one bothered to stop the Mudokon with the bright-green skin…
He approached the guards. “I’d like to speak with the Mayor, please.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
The mud frowned. “Well, no, but this is important…”
The guards exchanged glances. “Well, okay, but I’ll have to escort you in…”
“Fine by me. Lead the way!”
One of the guards opened the door ad beckoned the bright green one to follow him, closing the door behind him.
The Mayor was sat at his desk, fingering through some paperwork, when they entered.
“This guy wants to speak with you, sir.”
The Mayor looked up and frowned. “What do you want?”
The Mayor and the guard looked at their guest, who said nothing. Instead, he unhitched his backpack and swung it to the ground. Opening it, he took out lots of thin bits of metal, and assembled them into a small ring, about a foot in diameter. Lifting it to a height of about a metre, he pressed a button on the side. Several larger pieces of circuitry and panelling fell through the hole in the middle, seemingly from nowhere. He then began to piece them together…
When he was finished, he had assembled two large arches, which crossed in the middle, forming a kind of dome, about two metres in diameter. The Mayor and his guard looked concerned, but made no attempt to stop him. Lifting a small microphone, the stranger spoke into it.
“Okay, Teleporter ready now.”
Before either of the other muds could do something, he had pulled one of the levers, and two sligs, fully armed, had appeared under the arch. The guard stepped forward, aiming a blow to the head of one of the sligs’ heads, but the sligs saw him first, and shot a bullet into each leg, causing him to collapse to the floor, screaming.
Another pair of sligs appeared at the back of the Teleporter, and the four sligs formed a square around the teleporter, which began to hum again…
The fifth figure to emerge had rather more limbs than the others. Its skin hung of it in fatty folds, and its three stumpy legs had stitches up to the knees. It nodded to the bright-green mudokon, who picked up the fallen guard’s staff and strode over to the door. Opening it, he swung the staff at the head of the guard outside, and then dragged the unconscious form into the office. Pulling on the guard’s ‘uniform’, he stood outside in his place.
The Vykker strode slowly towards the terrified Mayor’s desk, flanked by the four sligs, and placed two of his hands on the desk’s surface.
“Good Morning, Mr. Mayor…”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Coombes, and I have a problem that I hope you can solve…”
“What do you want?”
Coombes laughed. “Come now, Mayor, there is no need to get defensive… It is my understanding that you also have a bit of a problem, am I right? A Murderer, to be precise?”
The Mayor’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know about that?”
“People tell me things. Travellers pass through your quaint little town at a rate of nearly a hundred a day. News gets around fast…” He pulled a chair up to the desk, and sat on it, awkwardly. “Now, it just so happens that my problem is connected with yours…”
“Go on…”
“Nearly three months back, a dangerously insane criminal escaped from Carthag Mental Institution. He suffers from delusions, and killed eight of our staff during his escape.” Coombes steepled his fingers. “We hired some people to track him down, and they tracked him to here…”
“What do you want me to do about it? We’re trying our hardest to catch this killer as it is…”
Coombes’s smile widened slightly. “Mr. Mayor, you do know that you’re in a very untenable position here, don’t you?”
The Mayor frowned. “In what way?”
“Let me elaborate. Your little village is very precariously placed – to the south, we have the Great Forest, and Odd knows that is full of dangerous creatures… In the East, there are the Wild Lands, from where you may be attacked by Reptillians, warlike Mudokon tribes, or just be barbarians. Pyke is on one of the main trade routes between places, and travellors pass through, as I have already stated, at a rate of nearly hundreds a day. It isn’t unlikely that some of these will be thieves, bounty hunters, or even murderers. Coupled with this, the Logging Companies based in Carthag are continually petitioning to council to allow them to expand into your area, in which case you would all be relocated. Between you and me,” Coombes leaned forward, “If it wasn’t for me and my colleagues blocking their proposals, Pyke would have been destroyed years ago.”
“What are you saying?”
Coombes leaned forward. “You’re in danger. You need all the protection you can get.” There was a long pause, then he continued. “Fortunately, I have at my disposal a platoon of nearly 400 slig troops. So I propose a deal.”
“Go on…”
“We need that murderer back in our custody, and you need protection for your little town. Both these aims would be served if you were to allow us to station our troops here. We would protect you from invaders and criminals, and in return you would allow us to take any wanted criminals who enter Pyke…”
“Where’s the catch?”
“Catch?” Coombes looked vaguely amused. “There is no catch. We just want what is best for you.” He leaned forward. “And trust me, turning us down would not be good for you…”
One of the sligs quietly reloaded his rifle, but the action was not lost on the Mayor…
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Guns don't kill people, People kill people! Using Guns.
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