[From here.]The sound and scent of water had grown stronger as they approached the general area where the ruined town was said to be located
( Read more... )
The second broadcast was marred by the same static as the first one; if they were any closer to where Jill was, Indy reflected, it wasn't discernable from the radio. The far spot might have something worth seeing. He didn't know how many of the patients would pick up on the reference, but for the three of them, it was crystal clear. "Convenient," he muttered. Coincidence? Could be, but he was already convinced Landel's goons had some way of tracking them out there, to be able to knock them out and bring them back at the end of the night. Indy'd met a lot of people in his lifetime who didn't believe in coincidences, and--at least here--he was starting to think they had something.
Ryuuzaki was obviously on the same page. If Lunge was right, it sounded like the clues typically led to weapons, but there were no guarantees the prize'd be something they'd like. "Are either of you armed?" Indy asked in a low voice, rather than speculating on what might be worth seeing. It was a question he'd wanted to ask for a while now, particularly of the German. If Ryuuzaki was still carrying what he'd picked up a few nights ago, he probably wouldn't be much more help in a fight now than he had then.
As usual, he saw the battered road a few strides before the town itself started to come into view through the fog. No more noise here than there'd been by the compound or out in the woods. It was hard to tell without a watch, but Indy was pretty sure they'd made good time, better than on either of his previous visits. Even if they weren't the only ones headed out to the site tonight, it looked like they were the first ones here. He quickened the pace again, only barely consciously, heading toward the faint shadow of the broken steeple up ahead.
Nearby, Ryuuzaki made a quiet, pleased noise that Indy had heard--and made--more times than he could count over the course of his career: the almost universal sound people made on a discovery. Indy chuckled despite himself. "See it now?"
Another buzz of static and the sound of a woman's voice filled the air again, with Lunge's fingertips chasing out the syllables in the air barely a second after they were spoken. Jones and L were right- that the first message referred to the church in the ruins was patently obvious, and Lunge supposed the second was describing the courtyard, but what did she expect them to find? Something worth seeing and something hidden among the supplies The latter sounded like a weapon of sort, at the very least an object, but the former could have meant anything at all.
Speaking of ambiguity, Jones' murmur hadn't gone unheard. Lunge glanced sideways, catching his eye in silent agreement. There was, in his own experience, no such thing as fortune, and if there was she paid tribute only in the smallest of measures. That Jill happened to speak out on a hidden 'something' in the ruins the very night that the three of them had chosen to explore them... well. It spoke for itself. Particularly when one bore in mind the fact that whatever was hidden there was likely to have some sort of guardian keeping watch of it. "I have a kitchen knife, which I suppose is better than nothing," he said, gesturing loosely to the waist of his pants. Whether or not it would be enough was another matter entirely.
But as the vague shapes in the mist began to harden into the curves of broken furniture and the hard lines of buildings, there was only silence. No movement between the houses, no twitches in the shadows, nothing lurking within the skeleton of the town emerging from the fog. Yet. Only silence and stillness. That was, aside from the sounds of his partners- one in particular. Knowing that L could see the town was, he realised uncomfortably, a genuine relief, and not only because of what it meant for their efficiency. With the time he'd spent working with L here, being left one man short had left him with the feeling of having half of his notes go missing. Half of his mind. It was disconcerting, knowing that he'd become dependent on to any extent. Very, very disconcerting.
Perfectly deadpan as he watched L take in their surroundings, he said, "If you couldn't I'd have had to dismiss you from the investigation," before matching his pace to Jones' and taking off after him.
He shot Lunge a sidelong look, all wide dark eyes and aggressive sincerity. "Yes," he replied, sounding grave, "I suppose in your place I would have done the same." Then, he added, with a resigned sigh, as if the outcome couldn't be helped: "But you would have found that I'm tenacious." No one could dismiss him from his own investigation. The insinuation that it might be possible didn't affect his mood; it was true that he wouldn't have blamed Lunge, but all the same, it would have been Lunge's loss.
He looked around, at first seeming delighted and almost entranced, a peculiar reaction to a site that had obviously suffered some unimaginable catastrophe. "I see everything now. Yes. How strange."
It was figurative, of course: most of what he saw was mist. Yet... the fact that he had been unable to see anything but open ground through Daniel Laurier's eyes had to mean something. A theory -- not of what was happening, but of how he might proceed in the future -- was coalescing in his mind, and the revelation of all the wreckage and decay was one of its final elements. It convinced him that he had something to go on.
After a few seconds, though, the gratified expression faded, replaced by determination: the pensive countenance that was probably more familiar to his companions. It was both his job and his nature to imagine the unimaginable, to concentrate on unpleasant truths that most people would rather put out of their minds. If the reports were accurate, they would be experiencing more than their share of them tonight.
"We can go to the church first, but now that I've had a moment to consider it... if there is an ambush, it will still be there after we have made a general survey of the area. There are therefore only two reasons to prioritize that location. Because it was the only place that Mr. Lunge and I were able to visit the other night, I would like to compare the differences. Also, someone else may choose to follow Jill's insinuations and join us here. That might be advantageous in that they would occupy the attention of anything unpleasant that might be waiting, but on the other hand, we could lose access to useful or interesting items or information." He paused, unable to make up his mind.
"I also have a kitchen knife," he added, to Jones, in an offhand way. He wondered whether he and Lunge actually had the same knife, down to any small identifying marks on its surface. He suspected they might, although it was also possible that Howell had taken the twin, or that there wasn't one. He'd had the idea of comparing them, but it could wait, or he could make another trip to the upstairs kitchen, with the acquisition of duplicates as his specific goal.
Indy reached up to adjust his hat, which was the closest tactful analogue to the gesture he really wanted to make: smacking his forehead in disgust. Kitchen knives. Jesus. Indy empathized with the relative lack of decent weapons around here, but at least he wasn't staking his life solely on something that was designed to cut tomatoes. Even Marcus would have had more sense.
All right, he was forced to admit that last one might be pushing it. But that didn't negate his point.
"And because we have no idea when the night might end," he pointed out as the third reason to look around the church first. Maybe Ryuuzaki and Lunge hadn't been around long enough to realize how wildly your allotted time could vary in here, but Indy had found himself sitting up in bed before he'd even made it out the front door. "And if there's something waiting in there, we have no guarantee it won't come out and try to find us. Maybe we're better off making the first move."
Except that they were carrying kitchen knives, for crying out loud, which meant that he'd have to do the lion's share of the fighting against any lab rats or anything else that might be lurking inside the church. But Indy was used to working alone, including in a fight. They might actually be doing him a favor if they just stayed out of his way.
He flashed his light down the main street ahead of them; the fog was like a wall. Indy sighed. Like it or not, he wasn't going to put together all the pieces of the puzzle by himself. He still couldn't say he trusted or even necessarily liked these two, but they seemed to be the kind of people who assembled puzzles. Once in a while, that necessitated a compromise of some kind. "I don't mind taking a quick look around if you want to get the lay of the land. But trap or not, I don't think we can afford to risk letting that clue out of our grasp."
"Tenacious, hmm?" Lunge caught the man's expression, raising his eyebrow just a fraction- if doe-eyed innocence had a face, that right there would be it. He didn't doubt that for a second. But if L thought for a second tenacity would be enough to get his own way... His smile was ambiguous and, if one were so inclined to see it, challenging. "We'll see."
Meanwhile, Jones appeared to be doing a startlingly good job of covering a minor breakdown at the thought that his two co-workers had armed themselves with cooking equipment. He brushed it off without a second thought- he'd have been at a physical disadvantage, no matter what he'd been carrying- and nodded. "We might never get another chance to get a look at what's in that church- particularly when, as far as I can see, we are the only team to have made it to the town so far."
Even if they weren't, nothing guaranteed that anyone else who arrived would be willing to share the fruits of their labour in the morning. Notices on found treasures were almost nonexistent- 'weapons' was about as specific an answer as one could find to the question of what the fastest of the treasure hunters had found in the night. And that wasn't even taking into account the censorship.
Logically speaking, there was only one course of action: decisive action for what would hopefully be decisive findings. "You're right, Dr. Jones. We don't have any time to waste." Now. If he remembered correctly, the church would be the first building to their right after the crossroads; with the cold of his knife against his waist, he moved towards their destination.
Ryuuzaki was obviously on the same page. If Lunge was right, it sounded like the clues typically led to weapons, but there were no guarantees the prize'd be something they'd like. "Are either of you armed?" Indy asked in a low voice, rather than speculating on what might be worth seeing. It was a question he'd wanted to ask for a while now, particularly of the German. If Ryuuzaki was still carrying what he'd picked up a few nights ago, he probably wouldn't be much more help in a fight now than he had then.
As usual, he saw the battered road a few strides before the town itself started to come into view through the fog. No more noise here than there'd been by the compound or out in the woods. It was hard to tell without a watch, but Indy was pretty sure they'd made good time, better than on either of his previous visits. Even if they weren't the only ones headed out to the site tonight, it looked like they were the first ones here. He quickened the pace again, only barely consciously, heading toward the faint shadow of the broken steeple up ahead.
Nearby, Ryuuzaki made a quiet, pleased noise that Indy had heard--and made--more times than he could count over the course of his career: the almost universal sound people made on a discovery. Indy chuckled despite himself. "See it now?"
Reply
Speaking of ambiguity, Jones' murmur hadn't gone unheard. Lunge glanced sideways, catching his eye in silent agreement. There was, in his own experience, no such thing as fortune, and if there was she paid tribute only in the smallest of measures. That Jill happened to speak out on a hidden 'something' in the ruins the very night that the three of them had chosen to explore them... well. It spoke for itself. Particularly when one bore in mind the fact that whatever was hidden there was likely to have some sort of guardian keeping watch of it. "I have a kitchen knife, which I suppose is better than nothing," he said, gesturing loosely to the waist of his pants. Whether or not it would be enough was another matter entirely.
But as the vague shapes in the mist began to harden into the curves of broken furniture and the hard lines of buildings, there was only silence. No movement between the houses, no twitches in the shadows, nothing lurking within the skeleton of the town emerging from the fog. Yet. Only silence and stillness. That was, aside from the sounds of his partners- one in particular. Knowing that L could see the town was, he realised uncomfortably, a genuine relief, and not only because of what it meant for their efficiency. With the time he'd spent working with L here, being left one man short had left him with the feeling of having half of his notes go missing. Half of his mind. It was disconcerting, knowing that he'd become dependent on to any extent. Very, very disconcerting.
Perfectly deadpan as he watched L take in their surroundings, he said, "If you couldn't I'd have had to dismiss you from the investigation," before matching his pace to Jones' and taking off after him.
Well. It had to be addressed somehow.
Reply
He looked around, at first seeming delighted and almost entranced, a peculiar reaction to a site that had obviously suffered some unimaginable catastrophe. "I see everything now. Yes. How strange."
It was figurative, of course: most of what he saw was mist. Yet... the fact that he had been unable to see anything but open ground through Daniel Laurier's eyes had to mean something. A theory -- not of what was happening, but of how he might proceed in the future -- was coalescing in his mind, and the revelation of all the wreckage and decay was one of its final elements. It convinced him that he had something to go on.
After a few seconds, though, the gratified expression faded, replaced by determination: the pensive countenance that was probably more familiar to his companions. It was both his job and his nature to imagine the unimaginable, to concentrate on unpleasant truths that most people would rather put out of their minds. If the reports were accurate, they would be experiencing more than their share of them tonight.
"We can go to the church first, but now that I've had a moment to consider it... if there is an ambush, it will still be there after we have made a general survey of the area. There are therefore only two reasons to prioritize that location. Because it was the only place that Mr. Lunge and I were able to visit the other night, I would like to compare the differences. Also, someone else may choose to follow Jill's insinuations and join us here. That might be advantageous in that they would occupy the attention of anything unpleasant that might be waiting, but on the other hand, we could lose access to useful or interesting items or information." He paused, unable to make up his mind.
"I also have a kitchen knife," he added, to Jones, in an offhand way. He wondered whether he and Lunge actually had the same knife, down to any small identifying marks on its surface. He suspected they might, although it was also possible that Howell had taken the twin, or that there wasn't one. He'd had the idea of comparing them, but it could wait, or he could make another trip to the upstairs kitchen, with the acquisition of duplicates as his specific goal.
Reply
All right, he was forced to admit that last one might be pushing it. But that didn't negate his point.
"And because we have no idea when the night might end," he pointed out as the third reason to look around the church first. Maybe Ryuuzaki and Lunge hadn't been around long enough to realize how wildly your allotted time could vary in here, but Indy had found himself sitting up in bed before he'd even made it out the front door. "And if there's something waiting in there, we have no guarantee it won't come out and try to find us. Maybe we're better off making the first move."
Except that they were carrying kitchen knives, for crying out loud, which meant that he'd have to do the lion's share of the fighting against any lab rats or anything else that might be lurking inside the church. But Indy was used to working alone, including in a fight. They might actually be doing him a favor if they just stayed out of his way.
He flashed his light down the main street ahead of them; the fog was like a wall. Indy sighed. Like it or not, he wasn't going to put together all the pieces of the puzzle by himself. He still couldn't say he trusted or even necessarily liked these two, but they seemed to be the kind of people who assembled puzzles. Once in a while, that necessitated a compromise of some kind. "I don't mind taking a quick look around if you want to get the lay of the land. But trap or not, I don't think we can afford to risk letting that clue out of our grasp."
Reply
Meanwhile, Jones appeared to be doing a startlingly good job of covering a minor breakdown at the thought that his two co-workers had armed themselves with cooking equipment. He brushed it off without a second thought- he'd have been at a physical disadvantage, no matter what he'd been carrying- and nodded. "We might never get another chance to get a look at what's in that church- particularly when, as far as I can see, we are the only team to have made it to the town so far."
Even if they weren't, nothing guaranteed that anyone else who arrived would be willing to share the fruits of their labour in the morning. Notices on found treasures were almost nonexistent- 'weapons' was about as specific an answer as one could find to the question of what the fastest of the treasure hunters had found in the night. And that wasn't even taking into account the censorship.
Logically speaking, there was only one course of action: decisive action for what would hopefully be decisive findings. "You're right, Dr. Jones. We don't have any time to waste." Now. If he remembered correctly, the church would be the first building to their right after the crossroads; with the cold of his knife against his waist, he moved towards their destination.
[To here]
Reply
Leave a comment