I walked out with the Khan, and we headed toward Valdes and the man whod shot the Khan. The Khan led the way, holding the mans gun, and an apple. The Khan gestured to Valdes, and two other guards. Two guards brought out a table, and Valdes brought out the prisoner, who was sat in front of the table across from the Khan. He was trembling terribly and didnt seem able to look him in the eye.
The Khan laid the apple on the table, then knocked it twice with his knuckles.
Shank. Look at , he said, his one remaining eye drilling into the mans skull.
Shank slowly looked up at the Khan. Youyou know my na my Khan?
The Khan nodded. I do. I know the nas of all who ride with into battle.
I I am honored.
This the Khan unwrapped the bandages over his now empty eye socket and pointed. Was caused by your bullet.
Shank looked at it for a mont, then looked away.
Look at it.
Shank managed to bring himself to look at the Khans wound without turning away, though he was trembling.
Now. You were obeying orders to fire in my direction after changing formation. You did not shoot at with the intent to kill, in fact, based on the state of this, the Khan placed the gun onto the table, the pathetic rusted and pitted thing that had seen hard service and no servicing, you were likely not even aiming for at all.
I am sor-
The injury I suffered was not intentional, and so the punishnt will be one in which I can only unintentionally hurt you. He tapped on the rifle. You have one hour. Clean and repair your gun in that ti. When the hour is up, I will load it and shoot this apple off of your head. I will fire for as many attempts as it takes.
Shank looked pale as he checked the state of his own weapon, seeming to pay full attention to it for the first ti.
If your gun is in order, I am less likely to miss.
Shank nodded furiously, reaching for the gun to get started.
Of course with one of my eyes missing my aim is likely not what it once was either way.
Shank blinked and looked back up at the Khan, still trembling.
I will see you in an hour. With those last words, the Khan left him there to disassemble and clean his gun with shaky hands and terror in his eyes.
I thought that the punishnt was more than fair. Id seen what type of punishnts the Khan could dole out when his fury was raised. Still, it seed to have the right impression on Shank. From what I could tell, the man was very loyal, and devastated by what hed done. Judging by the fury with which he now serviced his weapon however, I got the impression that he didnt feel so badly that he wanted to die over it.
I took a deep breath, and followed my nose to find Bill, sitting at a table with a number of small tools laid out in front of him, and one of the small speakers disassembled.
Figure anything out? I asked.
Its a speaker. Loud. Received a long range signal.
I nodded, that was about what wed already guessed. Would there be any way to detect them?
Bills nephew ca into view then, holding a small device that looked like a radio had been butchered and its innards connected to that of several other devices I didnt recognize.
Thanks Jeb. Bill took the device looked at it, fussed with a dial, held it over one of the speakers, and it squealed then went quiet. You can use this.
I moved to grab it and he put his hand on top of it. Credit, trade, or points? he asked.
I sighed and looked around, seeing Valdes in the distance. I called him over. Pay the man. I said, leaving him behind as collateral as I took the device.
I started walking through the city, starting in the garages where I uncovered only two more devices, our earlier search had apparently been thorough enough to find the rest. After that I began going through everything else, walking the entire length of dina as I searched for any more devices. I found only three more, all of them on the battlents where Atlan had been holding back the forces of the Remnants when they broke through the wall. I thought back to the siege, rembering the order to hold and ignore the Remnants that had used Jump Packs to make it deeper into the city.
I took a deep breath, and began following what I believed to be the scent of either Atlan or Leroy, their slls had so intermingled at this point that I could no longer tell them apart. I moved back toward the buildings the Khan had made his dwelling, and walked through the front door. Atlan and Leroy were together, performing their own weapon maintenance. Leroy sharpening the claymore hed adopted as his primary weapon, and Atlan making adjustnts to her prosthetic leg. The picture of dostic bliss as far as the wastes were concerned. I activated my lie detector ability.
I went to approach them more closely and Atlans guards, a short woman with a scar across her face, and a large serious faced man stepped in front of . I recognized them from my first encounter with Atlan, but I hadnt seen them in quite so ti, I noticed a few new scars and so fresh armant, but otherwise they seed much the sa as they had the first ti Id t them, which is to say in my way, and inconvenient.
Move, I said simply.
I saw a flicker of hesitation, but they complied, sliding out of my way. I rembered the big one, Baal I think his na was, trying to block my path at one point and simply lifting him and moving him to the side. It seed theyd learned their lesson since then.
Atlan.
She looked up at . Donovan. she gestured to her prosthetic, youll forgive if I dont stand.
I took the speaker Id gathered at the battlents and placed it in front of her. Do you recall in the defense of the city, when five of the Remnants in power armor leapt over your defenses.
She shook her head. No. I was focused on the ground at the ti. I didnt hear about it until the fight was over.
TRUTH.
Did you hear soone give the order to ignore them?
She nodded. Yes. I have been trying to find whatever bastard did that she looked at the speaker device. No one did.
TRUTH
I nodded. Exactly. I found this speaker near where youd stationed your defense. The order didnt co from anyone in the Horde, just like the order given in the heat of battle that led to the Khans injury was also falsified.
She gripped the speaker, and I heard it crack. Cowardly pieces of shit. Nearly killed my father, TWICE! she dropped the shattered speaker on the table.
While you were preparing for the siege, even before that, would it have been possible for soone to slip into the city to place those? I asked.
She looked thoughtful for a mont.
Before the siege began, it wouldve been possible, but once we were sealed in? No. We had human eyes on the no-mans land during the day, and deadman eyes watching it at night.
Leroy put his sword down. Your battlents, where Donovan found the devices, were they erected before the city was sealed? he asked.
Atlan shook her head. No, after.
I saw where Leroy was headed with that line of thinking. Whoever placed the speakers on the battlents wouldve had to have been here when the siege began that ans that whoever placed them was almost certainly not an outsider.
That thought hung in the air for a few monts when the door opened and Valdes appeared.
Marshal Donovan, the Khan has requested that you witness his judgnt of Shank.
I nodded, and began to walk out of the room. Id narrowed down the potential suspect pool, but this type of espionage was harder to investigate than a simple murder. I needed so way to flush out the suspect. I could certainly keep interviewing people, using the lie detector, and gaining more information, but everyone in dina wouldnt be static forever, and the longer it took , the less possible it beca to solve. I noticed a notification in the corner of my vision.
Congratulations Citizen! You have earned a rank in Investigation! Here in the US we have the right to question everything, except freedom!
Well, that made sense. I just needed to keep putting that skill to use.
I arrived at dinas square, lost in thought until everything ca into view. There were dozens of people there waiting to see what happened, none of them standing anywhere near the victim, who stood still in the center of the square, not tied down, expected to stand tall and still on his own while the Khan fired in his direction.
The Khan called over, and I obliged. I eyeballed the gun the Khan had given him, it was spotless, so clean I could see my skull like visage in the reflection of the barrel. He was slowly loading the magazine when he spoke to .
Would you balance the apple on his head for ? he asked as if discussing the weather.
I nodded, grabbing the ugly fruit and taking it over to shank. He was shaking so severely that I wasnt certain I could balance the apple. I froze him, and gently placed it on his head.
Youre welco, I said quietly to him as I walked back to the Khan.
I stood next to the Khan while he took aim, noticing an incredibly slight adjustnt in his stance before he squeezed the trigger. The gun fired, and winged Shank across the shoulder.
The Khan rolled his neck and aid again. Still adjusting to the missing eye. he muttered, though I was certain hed clipped him on purpose.
The next several shots were similar, all clipping Shank without actually hitting him head on with any bullets in an incredible show of marksmanship.
Hmm, last round, he said, making a final last millisecond adjustnt. He squeezed the trigger again and the apple exploded off of Shanks head.
I stopped renewing the Freeze on him, and Shank fell to the ground.
The Khan approached him with his gun. Good job cleaning it. he handed the gun back to him. From now on, whenever you are within the sa settlent as I, you are to bring your gun and we are to repeat this. Do you understand?
The man brought himself back up to one knee, blood seeping from wounds on each of his limbs. Yes, my Khan.
The Khan nodded, and looked around at the people that were gathered. Leave, he said simply, and the crowd dispersed. The Khan lifted a piece of apple from the ground as he walked back to where I stood, and bit off a piece of it. How goes your investigation? he asked.
Bill created a device to let detect those speakers. Ive determined that whoever placed them is not likely an outsider.
The Khan looked thoughtful for a mont, eating the rest of his apple. It is a sha this man could not simply create a device that could detect the culprit.
I nodded slowly, that wasnt a bad idea.
While considering my next move, I took a walk through the dina, seeing a number of people drinking and cavorting in exactly the manner I would expect after a heard fought victory. I was surprised to see rcy and Nix at a table sharing a drink.
Donovan! called Nix, drawing more attention to than Id prefer.
I approached the table nodding at her and rcy. Nix, rcy.
Sit, have a drink.
I inhaled slling the incredibly mild alcohol content. I may as well drink water.
rcy smiled. You can sit and drink water with us if youd like.
I frowned, but relented and took a seat, letting Nix pass what I guessed was so type of Horde swill. I took a sip to clear my throat.
So, did you hear that Mama won the nomination? asked Nix.
I shook my head. No, but thats good news. Hows Potts taking it?
No one is too upset about it, though there was so tension for those first few days after. Solomon himself started telling people to fall in line though, and has beco one of Mamas most ardent supporters.
I frowned.
He wants whats best for Potts, sa as the rest of us.
I shrugged, conceding that was probably true in spite of whatever my personal opinion on the man was.
rcy reached into her pack, and slid a book toward . I glanced at it, recognizing it as the one Id loaned to her. In the center of it was a bullet hold that cleaved through all, but the very last few pages and the back cover.
Sorry to return it to you in this condition. It was in my jacket pocket during the siege and took a bullet for .
Hrm better the book than you Did you finish it?
She nodded. Yes, I enjoyed it a lot.
Why? I asked, starting a conversation that kept my forebrain occupied just long enough for my hindbrain to co up with a plan that would hopefully complete my investigation.
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