The Tempest; Prologue 4

Prologue 4

"What manner of person is this?" The one who spoke was a nurse of the East Block who found the young kid on the ground next to the block. The child was feverish when she took him to see the doctors. They treated him and then placed him in the unit. They would not had done it but Mr Miller was there. He told them to take care of the child; he was like five years of age then.

"What is he to you, Mr Miller?" The doctor who was treating the child asked him.

"A life to be saved." Paul replied. "I want him taken care and placed here in his own room. If anyone asked, tell them I am the benefactor."

It was how the child came to be under the care of the Benefactor. The child soon recovered and was a burst of energy in the Block. He was like any kids then, but he also had his fear of the nurses who spank him. Due to his previous condition, he grew up malnourished and never truly recovered to his full self. He was short and had the emancipated looks despite all the medication given. They decided to name him Ariel; the 'lion of God' in Hebrew. He was fearless when confronted by the inmates and ran circles around them.

"We should used him as a test subject." A Doctor Hermann once told the Directors. "He is perfect'; no consent needed, and non-entity in the records."

The Directors agreed but on one condition; Paul Miller must not know. So it was that day Ariel became Subject A. He was subjected to many tests that was deemed non-violent or evasive to the body. It was a broad scope given that all the tests done was the above. But Ariel was started on the basic tests which made him happier to join in. He was given the card test, the memory test and also the game test with the rewards of a pat and sweets. Soon the test became more rigorous and as he grew on, it became more intense.

But Paul Miller found out.

"Who authorized those tests?" Paul asked. The doctors pointed to the Directors.

"It was needed, Mr Miller. With Ariel, we had made some progress in the clinical studies, but we never harmed him." Ariel was produced and he looked fine. He was quiet but he looked fine.

"No more." Paul Miller told them, but he was not there most times. The doctors stopped the tests but not the nurses; they on Ariel like a punching bag. He was subjected to many beatings which he kept quiet. Even Elaine punished him, and that was one thing that Timothy told Paul which triggered the incident on Elaine.

Soon after, Ariel was called to his benefactor.

"From now, when I am here, you are to be my personal servant. You would do my biddings." Paul told him. But it also earned him a lot of attention from the others. They beat him when Paul was not around. But there was some nurses who took kind to the lad. One of them later showed him the hidden corridors.

"Its where we checked on the patients." Ariel was told. He then used the corridors much to avoid the nurses, and found more on his own. He was amazed that the place had so many corridors. He asked the nurse that told him of the secret.

"I don't know, but it was there when they build this place."

Ariel soon became the King of the corridors and he was happy about that, until he met one other who also knew of the corridors. He was another smaller lad but he had a crooked back. The two stared at each other.

"Who are you?" Ariel asked but the other ran away. Ariel gave chase through the corridors and finally trapped the other in a small room near the dungeons. It was a place but it was filled with assorted items. Ariel recognised the items; they are items from the labs or the wards. There was also items of jewellery.

"You been stealing?" Ariel asked.

"No...No....Kabib never steal. It was given to Kabib." The other denied the accusations.

"I would report you to the benefactor." Ariel threatened the other. Kabib in turn rushed at Ariel. For a smaller person, he was strong. They both wrestle but Ariel was stronger and agile. He managed to push the other way and ran for the corridors. Kabib called put to him.

"Please don't go. Please don't tell. I did not steal. I only took what was not needed." Kabib pleaded with the other. Ariel stopped and looked at him. He turned back to approach the other and soon they were friends.

It was an unusual friendship; they hardly talk much even when they meet, but they never tell on the other. 

Samurai in the Time Rift 5.4

5.4

Lord Noriake and Taisa Mori hidden behind the bushes on the small hill top, counted the enemies that had landed on the beach. They came over in boats that resembled the Han junks with its numerous trip to and fro. There was three hundred of the creatures with another fifty of the riders on the four limbed creature with tails.

"Those are not hebi ( snake in Japanese ) but kana-hebi ( lizard in Japanese. )" Taisa Mori commented on the creature named as foul creatures by Captain Rodriquez, but the older Lord corrected him.

"Kana-hebi can be squashed with our sandal, but these are larger. I called them Yomi Kana-hebi, adding in the reference of Hell to the name." Lord Noriake replied. "We may have a show for our viewing. The last war caused them many losses, and a long respite for us. I used that period of time to secured more supplies and added onto their misery."

It was then we saw the arrival of the Nihonzaru; a column of twenty but with their diminutive frame, they looked like a column of children parading to see the Hibagon. But these 'children' are wearing leather armor from neck down to their knees, and having the belts of daggers which they are famed for. They have thick fur with dog like muzzles, jagged teeth in their powerful jaws, equally powerful limbs and close-set eyes, and short tails. They weight about 100lbs with a height of three feet high.

"That's Keo, of the Nihonzaru. Its the leader of the column that cover this area. Its related to the Lord of the Nihonzaru." Lord Noriake pointed to the Taisa. "That one is a smart one. He needs to be watched. We would listen in on their discussion."

"Leader Tut, you have come back, but need you bring back so many of your warriors? Our last meet was more cordial in numbers." Keo of the Nihonzaru greeted the other leader. The last meeting was to cease the war, and there was only four in attendance; Keo and its Lord, with Lord Zethre and Tut. It was the tradition that in declaring a truce only the leaders and their best warrior can attend.

"Bah! The old tales does not interest me anymore." Senior Leader Tut replied with anger. "I am Senior Leader Tut now and you are the still miserable Leader Keo."

"And for that, you come with an invading army of only hundreds." Keo roared out his protest and raised his arms.

"Enough of our talks. Are those the only numbers you can mustered from your empire?" Leader Micten asked. "Then this war is over even before we could start."

"My army could matched yours any say. These are only the ones I need today. The others are in the city." Leader Keo hollered out towards the young Hibagon creature. "My warriors doubled matched your ferocity. You have seen it on the last war."

"Bah! Those are..." Micten the leader fo the riders voiced out his arrogance, but Senior Leader Tut silenced the young creature.

"Leader Tut, I am...." Micten was not giving up, but the older Hibagon held his hand up. That shut up the young Hibagon.

"Enough of talks. Are your army in place?" Leader Tut asked.

"Yes, they are. If all is fine by you we would march there now." Keo told the Hibagon leaders. "But before we do, let me deal with a traitor of mine."

Keo raised his arm to have the traitor brought from the forest out to the bridge. It was another Nihonzaru but this one was half dead after being tortured for sometime. It was thrown on the beach before the leaders.

"Behold my own blood, Kiru who tried to betrayed me to my Lord. He would be punished." Two Nihonzaru carried the injured one and tossed it into the river. "No one betrays me!"

The column of rebels marched out leaving only traces of blood from the injured Nihonzaru in the beach.

Taisa Mori stood up and looked at the departing column. He spoke to Lord Noriake on this thoughts.

"They are planning a coup on their Lord." Taisa Mori spoke up. "Its like in our land, we overthrown Daimyo and Shogun before, but we always preserved the Emperor."

"Yes, they have done what I wanted to do." Lord Noriake replied and then jolted his right elbow on the Taisa. The later turned to look at where Lord Noriake was pointing.

"It survived." Taisa saw the Nihonzaru which was tossed into the river; now lying on the beach. "We must see to it."

Leno of the Nihonzaru survived the river as the crossing of so many of them had scared off the local inhabitants. When Leno hit the water, there were no predators. But there were others besides the two samurai, who had seen him being tossed in. That other was a Nihonzaru who fled off in the forest unseen by the others. Its name was Rini, a member of the guards assigned to protect Leno.

D&C 2.18; Sleuths; Professional and Amateurs

Sleuths; Professional and Amateurs

With the rich century olds of writers giving us wonderful plots, detective writing still remain as thrilling to many readers. Writing a mystery tale is like have an intellectual game in your mind where you have to play the steps sometimes more than twice in your mind, before you write it. And sometimes, come back to retraced your steps again to move it differently. Its a game of chess, but one with words that you write to show the moves, and how the game would end depended on your moves. There are so many variations with the set squares and pieces.

I read the notes on the blog of the dead victim. He was the reason I had to dropped Jenny off on the Sunday morning at Church alone, and went to the crime scene. He was found at the rear of the library with the gunshot wound on the back of his neck. He never had a chance. I got his name and went over to his room nearby; it was a rental room from the elderly lady who moved in a wheel chair. She gave us permission to see his room.

"Steven was a good kid." Melanie Diane told me. She rented out her rooms at the top level to students. Besides Steven, there was two others who occupied the room; a fellow student and another neighboring High School student.

It was a High School student room, and the dead person was the occupant. The correct term was ex-occupant when the person was a victim of a stabbing. His name was Steven Harris, top achiever, board games champion and librarian. In his room, I also saw the stack of books on the walls; the victim was an avid of detective books. He even had a 221B mug in his room, with the pipe that resembled the one used by Sherlock's. I saw his tablet; a new model and was tempted to try it. It was then I read his blog which was on the startup menu.

"I am sorry." The young man blurted out. "I thought Stevie was around."

I looked at the young man; freckled face with emancipated looks and oversize clothes. I invited him to hold a discussion. I found out more; Steven was part of a three person team of amateur sleuths; the young man was one of the trio.

"Charlie Steen was our Data Processor Man; he do have access to his father's PC which have accessed to some databases." The young man paused and the sheepishly looked away. "I hoped I did not give out something inappropriate".

I got his name; it was Harley Morley. He was the Stalker; the one who does all the tailing, he had a bike and was fast on his legs. Steven was the Analyzer. They called themselves the Third Eye. He also told something interesting; Steven was investigating something but we won't tell. He told them it was personal and needed time to work on.

I needed to find out what he was working on.

"Our son was a brilliant kid." Mrs Harris was heartbroken at her son's death. He was working at the Library to cover his expenses. His dad separated from the the mother worked on the oil rigs off Alaska.

"He spend all his time on studies and detective works." She showed me the commendations he got from the local bodies. He was helping a lot of the organization in their audit and also in solving cases of thefts. He got one from our Precinct for doing a citizen arrest on a burglar. I did not recalled as I did not attend those functions. It was the Public Relations Section that does the work there. I met Dan on the next day.

"Poor kid. If I were the parents, I would killed the person who did this." Dan was always acting up when it comes to kids on his table.

"Ok, Vigilante. Tell me what you found."

"A 9mm, went through his neck. Missing casing and still searching for it." Dan showed me the wound entries.

"He may had bitten his attacker. We found some skin samples on the teeth. DNA testing would tell us more, but till then, that's all I got."

Dan looked at me and smiled.

"Victim was six feet two and given the angle of entry, the attacker was about five feet five." I smiled back at Dan. I got something to work on. I went over to Di Angelo.

"Such sucks to be die so young? When something like that happens we get really so lively on life." Di Angelo gets into this mood sometimes, and then it would lead to some religious findings. He did.

"Do you know nobody ever came back from Hell?" I looked at Di Angelo and shook his head. He would had continued on if not for the arrival of Dan.

"We all died. Go to Heaven or Hell, nothing would replace here." Dan sat down while Di Angelo worked out the coffee and dogs. Dan looked to me.

"Tox report came back with nothing." Dan sipped his coffee served by Di Angelo. "Have anyone seen Frank?"

I recalled not seeing Frank since yesterday. I left Di Angelo and went back to the Library. I met the Administrator; Abigail Dane, and she was one violent one with the words.

"Detective, you find out who murdered Steven." Abigail voiced out. "We are librarian. We do not like to get killed. If they want killing, asked them to refer to our books. There's a lot of killing there."

I diverted the topic and asked if Steven was working on any project that involved the Library. Abigail said nothing but did recalled Steven spent a lot of time in the archives. I looked into the records with the help of Forensic. They keep records of the files retrieved and also who accessed it. Steven was looking at the records of a kidnapping that happened fifteen years ago. The victim was a three months old baby belonging to a young couple. He was looking at a lot of news clips and statements.

I went back to the Precinct and asked Forensic on the update of Steven's laptop which I had sent in earlier. He also had a folder on the kidnap case. There was not much to work on.

So I went to school.

A lot of students knew the Third Eye and had sought their help on trivial cases like missing boyfriends or books. I ran background on all the boys. Clean records and so were their parents. They even went to the same bank, social club and one of each spouse was from the same city. I smelled a rat in the records.

It went to a litter of rats. I got a call from the US Marshalls.

"I am Marshall Kabe. We were alerted that you had accessed some old records of ours." Marshall Kabe looked like Wyatt Earp; the stetson and mustache. The only thing missing was the double gauge shotgun and he was shorter than me.

"We could haul you up for questioning but your Commissioner protects you well. We can't even dragged you to the cells behind." Marshall Kabe questioned him. "So tell us why are you accessing our records."

I brief him on the victim and was checking his friends. Marshall Kabe then told me to backed off. He marched off before I could even sneezed. I went over to see the Commissioner.

"Go on with your investigation. I would cover you." I got the approval from my Commissioner. If the US Marshalls are in, then I needed another leverage. I called up a friend of mine at the Federal Bureau Investigations. We do helped each other out. He told me he would checked. I was to continue my works when I got the call from Harley.

"Charlie with his friends help had gather some information that he wanted your help. Or more to help you." Harley was direct. We agreed to meet at the Library.

"Charlie is in there." Harley motioned to the Library. "He's in the basement."

I met Charlie there. He was not a baby faced but a prized catch for the prom, but he wore spectacles. He looked like Clark Kent minus the suit. I meant the blue suit.

"So Charlie, tell me."

"I found out what Steven was researching on. He keeps a personal folder here in the server." Charlie asked me to join him. There was a lot more of the data there. Steven was good, and better at analyzing the information. I saw the information that Steven may had seen.

"I would have that now, Detective Barnes." Marshall Kabe stepped in with Harley in tow. "You boys are good but I am better."

The boys looked frightened and the Marshall was holding a gun. It was intimidating to them and also to me. Not when the person holding it looked Wyatt Earp. The legend was stated to had shot his own deputy once. I pulled Charlie behind me.

"Kabe, let go the kid. He knew nothing. It was Steven who discovered it all. He found out that he was the kidnapped baby. Why was he so important to be reported as kidnapped then?" I asked.

"He was Steven? I thought it was Charlie. He looked like the baby." Kabe replied. "You meant I killed the wrong boy."

"Yes, you did." I told the Marshall. "Steven was the protected one."

Marshall Kabe pushed Charlie in and left me there standing like a fool. I had the two boys under protection while calling on a BOLO on Marshall Kabe. They found him on the freeway driving aimlessly; intoxicated and in state of depression. Later I got more US Marshalls in.

"Kabe was involved in the case, when we planned the kidnap to hide the baby. His parent was state witnesses which required him to be hidden. He was not their baby but someone they picked up. As they were on the runs, they decided to give him up for better adoption. Kabe arranged for his adoption, just like the other two kids. Kabe was good at it." Marshall Blake briefed me.

"Kabe must had discovered the search and went to looked for the source." Blake continued. "Kabe was too involved in the case. At one stage, we stopped him from seeing the kid. He was checking on the kid for six months, and we stopped him. He was transferred and stuck to his word to leave the kid alone. We had two kids placed with adopted parents; ex Marshalls or reputable citizens. We did our works; single mothers with amended records but they may had moved on with new lives. It was coincidence that the three were here. We lost track after ten years; too many cases and limited resources."

"Why did he kill Steven that day?"

"He never knew the kid's name but he kept watch on the kid then. The kid grew and changed since he was a babe. Kabe claimed that the boy tried to run, when he scared him with the gun." Marshall Blake was protecting his men.

"I doubt so. He executed the boy." I laid it out plain. We did not convict Marshall Kabe, but the Marshall had him down for second degree homicide. With their appeal on his good records,Kabe got twenty years. The other two boys were spared the details but there had renewed survelliance on them.

As for me, I found Frank. He was holed up in an apartment over his son's decision to divorced his wife. He was upset at it. He felt the young couple never tried to keep the marriage going. I got Dan and Di Angelo to joined me there with more scotch and whiskey.

"Guess what I added to the list?" Di Angelo showed us his dozen dogs. We saw a movie called the Three Amigo's.

The Tempest; Act 1, Scene 2 Part 2.2

"Forgive me, my child. I had deceived your mother on her soul. But I needed to do this for mine." Paul had gone down to his knees to seek his daughter's forgiveness. Miranda sensed her father's presence was lower than her eyes, so she turned around to reach out with her hands for his touch. Her hands touched his face which was leveled at her waist.

"Oh, dear father. How can you kneel before me?" With that, Miranda went down to her knees to be placed equal to her father.

"Father, I am sorry to had ..." Miranda could not utter the words from her voice. Her tears were flowing at the thought of her father's action. "You made a pledge with me to mother."

"Yes, I did." Paul held out his arms towards his daughter. "A pledge made in sorrow and remorse that she was to die for my sins. But the pain of ten years had dulled was once again revived when I met the old acquaintance. It stirred up the memories of betrayal and greed."

Paul looked hard at his daughter face; so innocent in looks but scarred by the works of the devil he was possessed then. He knew that the years of repentance did not bring joy to him or to her, but the thought of vengeance was his to exert on what was his in the first place. He was usurped by his own closest friend, of his throne on the dockyards.

It was Paul Miller's family that was to ruled the dockyards; not the Nates.

That day, he met Alan at the house who had earlier said he had important things to discuss. Paul received the man he once trusted and favored as his own kin. Alan came with Christopher and three others. He should had seen it then; the other three were kins. There were Brady, Steven and Charlie. Gonzales was there earlier to discuss the options on who to head the Union. He also had his own bodyguards, Simon and Garret. The later were good boys and had served him loyally.

"Darling, take Miranda upstairs." Paul slapped his wife on the buttocks. "I got some men's talk here."

Bernice was never smiling much when she found out that his work was involved in smuggling, bootlegging, extortion and also fixing up the Unions. It was the twelve years of marital bliss that shut her eyes off his personal sins. She went off like a dutiful wife, and left him with the boys. They convened in the library and had some drinks. Paul rounded up fast on the names and then the call for something personal came out. It was Brady who spoke out his mind.

"Paul, we been thinking..." Brady was no thinker but he was the one with the fast mouth. Alan stopped him and took over the statement.

"Paul, three weeks ago, after I got shot, I did some thinking." Alan voiced up in the incident when he took two shots in the chest but he offed the shooter. "I think we are letting the Digby too easily."

"Alan, we settled that. The Digby apologized and gave us the piece of action on the beach front. So let it rest." Paul replied but again Brady spoke up.

"Hey, Paul. It was Alan' life at stake there. He could had died." Brady was getting that sentimental looks. Before he joined Alan, he was a two bit hoodlum with a bad jaw from too many brawls. With Alan, he settled brawls with guns.

"I know, Brady. He is alive here now. So bagged it." Paul got up while Alan spoke to him.

"Paul, we do not think that the Digby should be let off that easily. It won't do well for our reputation." Paul looked to the man he considered as his partner.

"Alan, Digby came up the same time as we did. We used to work the tricks on both end of the piers. So we got lucky and he went inland to be with the bookies. We were once friends. So dropped any idea of vengeance." Paul came back strong with his words. "I had no need of a blood bath with them. I got the Irish and there are the migrants from Wales."

"Paul, I think you are getting soft." Alan placed his words out in the slow tone. "Its time we have a change of leadership."

Paul looked at the three men standing behind their leader. He looked towards Gonzales who stood off to the side. The attorney shook his head. Paul looked back to his partner in crime.

"So Alan, this is it. I stepped down and you take over." Paul gave up a mocking laugh. "The last guy who did this, was Andy Carnell. He ended up dead in the alley."

"No, Paul. I am not asking to be knifed nor you either. I am asking you be nice to stepped aside for me to take the Digby for their insolence."

"Insolence? You are the one who's insolence." Paul signaled his two guards. He turned to looked at Alan. "Backed off and we called it square. Or I would called you awak'd an evil nature."

"You are not only one who read Shakespeare. I did too but I am not the one who is evil nature." Alan replied. "We are all evil inside."

"No way...." Brady drew first. He shot at Paul but missed. Simon and Garret pulled their guns and so did the others. He was shot twice but he managed to jump to behind the desk in the library where he had the .45 strapped below the table top. He took it off and fired at the four men. Gonzales had ducked out through the lawn doors and for good reason, he was not involved. Paul saw Garret fall on being shot but he was past worrying about them. He was more worried on his wife and child. He rushed out through the second lawn doors into the outside. He heard the shots but he was also running. He ran to the kitchen door but it was locked. He broke the lock and went in. He heard the shooting upstairs. He ran up the back stairs and saw Brady. The rest was as said before.

"Father, it was all over for ten years. We had a good ten years of bliss here. Why destroy all this for vengeance?" 

"No, Miranda. It was not about vengeance. Its all about putting the justice before the dead ones. Your mother for one."

Paul stood up and walked to the window.

"Miranda, I needed to find justice for your mother." Paul voice broke down at the last words. "Here would be their prison when I taken their King."

Miranda got up and made her way to her father. She held him once more.

"It was Gonzales who came to me. He had known I was here; he helped me to secure the place with the slush funds I kept aside for my retirement. He secured all the legal rights and moved the inmates out. He was the one who supplied us all the food and drinks all these years." Paul explained one last time to his daughter. "This is my last chess game."

While Miranda was distracted, Paul had slipped the needle into her neck. He had got it from Gonzales to sedate her. Miranda slipped into a deeper sleep, which Paul gently lowered her down to the nearby couch to sleep.

"I am sorry, my child. I cannot go back on my plan. Please rest while I dictate their downfall."

Paul walked to the fire place where the hidden switch was located. He pulled at the switch, and the wall behind the fire place slide open.

The person appearing was an emancipated person which made his frame more mobile in the hidden tunnels. He was bald headed with his protruding ears that appeared like bunny ears. He came out from the fire place in a half crouched move and stayed at that. It was his way of appearing before his so called benefactor. His name was Ariel; an inmate of the place since is early years, never knew any home other than here, diagnosed as mentally retarded, he stayed too long there. He was also the servant of Paul Miller.

"Did you do it?"

"Yes." The ex-inmate replied.

D&C 2.17: Museum and Murders

Museum and Murders; they are the displays

I was watching the rerun of 'Land of the Pharoah'; okay, I wanted see how Joan Collins looked like then. I liked her books; I grew up reading them. So laid out the hexes and curses, I do not believed in those. It was not the same when the phone rang, The only idiots that rang me then were the ones from Precinct. I picked it up and heard the standard words. Next I was on the journey on the city streets with my siren blaring. I did checked my back seats for any misplaced Pharoah who may be seated there to asked me how I liked the movie, but there was only the left shoe of Jenny's.

My destination was the Museum. I met the Uniformed who called me in,

"Sorry Detective, I could not get the others and yours was on the next to call." I heard him and nodded. I knew there was no such list; the uniformed taking it out on me when I feigned sickness on the inter Precinct games for Darts. We lost in the Finals to the rival Precinct. It was better that way than to be humiliated by a younger foe.

"The night guard found the body. We have not touched it yet." I followed the officer into the Museum and walked past three large rooms to arrive at the crime scene. The victim was killed by an ancient spear from the Pharoah Room. I was going to stick to Bonnie and Clyde from then on; the x-rated version. At least I knew there what was impaled. I left the room to wait for Dan.

"Jimmy, do you know that the Pharoah Spear of Destiny was classified as Heavy Weapon." Dan looked over to me. "You don't played Age of Empires, huh? Nevermind."

Dan went back to work.

"Victim was surprised from the back and impaled with that." Dan demonstrated the movement. I seen enough homicides to know how it was done but never once by an ancient weapon like this. It was then the Curator came in; you could tell, bespectacled and wearing tweeds with a loss of hair on the scalp.

"I am the Administrator. I oversee the Museum.'Charles Mart." He looked at the spear and when hysterical. "That's a Middle Kingdom of Egypt's Dynastic period weapon of war. It was used by the charioteers when they ran out of arrows."

In my mind then was the image of Frank when he ran out of bullets, he may throw the dozen over pencils he had on his desk like mini spears. Or darts. I had to stopped the Administrator with his recital of the value of the spear and its significance to the Museum. More so when Dan said he may need to cut it in half the spear in order to remove it. The Administrator went havoc with his used of ancient profanities, while Dan threw on his ME coat to quote medical terms on orifice organs. I separated the two professionals and had the Administrator to his office.

"That man is a recluse and recalcitrant in his opinion." The Administrator slammed the door and then looked at me. "Do you know how valuable was the spear?"

I had enough for the evening. I was deprived of my show and then this boys quarrel got me all riled up. I told the man to sit and answered my questions.

"Do you know the victim?" He shook his head.

"Do you know why would anyone want to come into the Museum at this hour?" That got him to go on with his valuation of the artifacts from the ancient bones to the space faring suit. I shut him off.

"What was valuable to a common thief in the room?" Then he looked at me.

"Nothing. Unless you are an avid collector. There was the ancient King and Queen's gems in the next room." Once he replied, his face lighted up before he sprang into action. I was sure he faster than the rolling 'O' then, or was it mine that came too fast. I followed him there and he was seen moaning. In pain, I meant.

"They took the green emerald. It was reputed to be from Cleopatra." He then leaned over. "Never authenticated but heavily debated."

I send a search to all jewelers and fences for the emerald. Then I went back to my Precinct. It was only fair to come back and do some chat with the night shift before I go back. That way I can claimed in my allowance. I saw Frank there. He was not supposed to be on duty.

Kids holding a party and I was excluded. So here I am till midnight to go back and cleaned the mess." I sympathized with Frank. He then asked me on the murder. I told him the brief parts and then remembered I was to see Dan. I went over and saw him walking around the victim who was laid sideways. He saw me and cursed at me.

"Whose idea was that I cannot removed the spear?" I shook my head. Dan continued on.

"Its like walking around Godzilla with his erection on. I had to made wide circles around the table." I was confused then, as I could not placed Godzilla with a double you know what, unless he was into 'menages a trois'. I learned that from Jenny. She said if I abstain anymore, she was getting into that while I watched. I was disgusted but how can I tell her the truth. I suggested a condom and she yelled at me.

"Do you think we are in High School? I liked them bareback, not juiced by the tupperware." That ended our would be sex session. I was shaken from my sex stupor back to Dan.

"I think he was nor surprised. He could had been fighting the other and got impaled from the rear." Dan demonstrated the move. "So we are looking at three person in the fight." I decided to go home then. Too many threesome actions was on my mind then.

The next day, I met Dan again. He got permission to cut the spear. The Board of the Trustees okay it as that was a duplicate, and not the real one. They were afraid it would be damaged and kept a duplicate for display. It was a show unit after all. Dan showed me the broken shaft. I felt like one then too.

"He was killed from the spear and it was as I thought. They was another stab wound next to his spear exit." Dan reported back. "I would say an eight inch sharp object. Like a long screw driver."

Forensic came back to me that the cameras recording were all blanked out. There were a lot of fingerprints so that made their life difficult. So it was left to the streets to tell me more. I hit it hard with some informants. So did Di Angelo with his network and the replies was nothing.

So was our dead victim ID. He was not on our database at all. He was a ghost.

Then the bad news came. The emerald was sent back to us by a junkie who claimed a 'MIB' gave it to him with a twenty dollars tip. According to Forensic, the gem was a fake.

Another one?

I approached the Administrator. He told me he does not know why and how.

"I administrate the place but I am not responsible for the authenticity's of the artifacts. Its done by Doctor Erich Schmidt. I met up with Doctor Schmidt in his office at the basement.

"Preposterous.... dumme Narr..... alten blinden Gelehrten. ( Translated means Preposterous dumb fool old blind scholar. )" Doctor Schmidt was in rage. "His education degree ought to be thrown out. Everything I had checked and sent upstairs are real and not some fake waved models. The gem was real."

I asked about the Pharoah Spear and its duplicate. And where are the real ones kept.

"I have said all are real. Its the Trustee who made the switches, I guess. All idiots." Doctor Schmidt was very upset. I would be at his advanced age to be questioned on my works. "Ask the Chairman. He would tell you everything."

I did as the doctor said.

"I can assure you, Detective; we do take care of the artifacts. Yes, there are some we swap for fake to display but the real ones are at the safe in the office of another adjacent building." General ( Retired ) Armstrong laid it out for me. He was a huge man and still do his workouts.

"Charles does not know. Only we knew and one other assistant; Patricia Lab knew."

I met Patricia Lab; pretty middle aged lady who was kind to show me the safe. It was a huge one like the banks. It contained a lot of artifacts. Small and bigger ones. There was the green emerald in the small box. I asked about the spear. She showed me the unit. Then she frowned.

"This is the duplicate." I knew then we were in trouble. But nothing was to prepared me for the death of the Administrator. He was strangled with his own tie. No one saw it and he had no secretary. It could be anyone who worked in the Museum as his off\ice was within those working offices. They were eighteen suspects including Patricia Lab. The Board of Trustees called for a full investigation on the artifacts. It took three days and they found five missing artifacts. The ones there were all fakes. I checked the records and found that no one actually called the Administrator that evening. He came on his own, and the networks have not even reported the theft yet. I ran checks on the Administrator and he was cleaned except for a sudden increased in funds in the last six months. We traced the transfer and found it originated from overseas, and more to it, Charles was due to retire in four months.

On my fifth day of empty leads and clues, I got Interpol calling me. They want to see my reports. Then the Commissioner called me in.

"You cooperate with them." That was not a request but a command. I nodded. I sent over everything. They send me a name.

Jacques Mirrand.

I checked that and came up with five aliases with possible linked to a few thefts but no murders. He was the one lying on Dan' metal bed. I went over to see Dan. He was doing the works on Charles. I saw him cut the liver and then threw it on the scale. Then from there to the disposal bag.

"Its going to the K9 section. They needed extra rations." I hate to be on Dan' bad side when I die. Then Dan spoke up.

"Our hero may had died of sexual asphyxiation. I found traces of semens on his pants. He was zipped up but the zip had cut into his flesh. Ouch!" Dan reached down to the man' penis and grabbed it. "I don't think he was doing it solo in the office. Someone did him and then strangled him."

I checked up the staff and found there were eight female staffs, but from experience I never discount the males too. I did more checking and then Di Angelo called up. I went over, and for one coffee with dog, he was yelping away.

"I found out that the Administrator was divorced when his wife found out on his affair. He was fucking on the job." Di Angelo gave me a name. I did more checks and soon got my motive with evidence. Now was to get a confession.

"Patricia, you were working with Charles for over eighteen years. Both of you worked in three different jobs but same companies every time. You been tagging him. I wonder why?"

""It was coincidence. We just happened to be together. The Museum job was on his recommendation." Patricia was very composed. "He's a nice boss and ...."

"Lover." I added in for her. I showed her the pictures taken by Charles ex-wife. "How long, Patricia?"

"Over nine years, after he married Anne. He did not loved her, but she was pregnant. He married her to calmed her down." Patricia looked away. "He told me so and I held him as he cried."

"When did he started stealing?" I asked her.

"Six months." Patricia spoke out. "It was the small stuff that he sold on the internet. Then this man approached him. They worked out a scheme and involved me."

I showed her Jacques photo. She nodded.

That night, he wanted the green emerald.We told him it was not real. He insisted and Charles gave him. Then he reached for the spear. Charles loved the Pharaoh stuff. He asked me to placed back the originals so he could see them daily. It was 'phallic' to him."

"Charles refused to let him steal it. The man argued with him and threaten Charles with the screwdriver. I had held the spear and was to his rear. I stabbed him and pushed it in hard. I was upset. Charles told me to leave. He would take care of the camera. I left by the staff entrance."

So Charles waited out in the office and when the alarm was raised, he waited before coming out. But who killed him.

"There is a camera in his room. He installed it himself. He likes to watched himself. He does sometimes do it there. He's proud of his own."

I got the camera hidden in the book shelf in front of his desk. He was doing it, maybe he thought he beat the system. Then I saw the man walking in on Charles. He hurried with his zipping and shouted out in pain. The man and him argued and then Charles got up from the seat. The man pushed him down turned his swirling office chair around. The man grabbed the tie and pulled hard. Charles could stand a chance.

I got the warrant of arrest for General ( Retired ) Armstrong. It turned out he was into selling artifacts to eager collectors overseas. We checked his bank accounts and sent them to Interpol.

The duplicate spear was placed back on the display while the broken one was displayed as remnants of war.

Samurai in the Time Rift 5.3

5.3

Lord Noriake have his hideout inside the deep forest; the terrain here was different from the across the river with more dense forest like back home at the island. Here the trees grew high and even the base trunk stood man's height with the roots twinged from that height to the ground as it was pulling up to reached the skies. The trunk rose up like a bastion to the strengthen its bid for the sunlight, but that was not all; its upper branches spread out to create a space between the trunks with canopy of leaves acting like the front lines army to push the others off. In that battle, the canopy formed a shield blocking the sunlight from seeping through. Its with this the undergrowth thrive to climbed up the trunks to get their own replenishment. In that works, the undergrowth spread out thick to climbed on more than one trunk, and thus creating a flooring of cover for another group; the ground creeping predators. They lurked beneath the undergrowth but they never seen the more dangerous predator of all times; the human being. The ones that have extincted even those bigger than their size. The reason was simple; the humans do not fight alone, but hunk in packs. More to it, they never fight the same way twice. Or the same numbers. 

Lord Noriake was not alone like the others; he also fight with extra numbers and superior weapons. He removed these threats from his boundary, and held his own retainers; nineteen samurai and fifty four servants with his two 'daughters'. They have been here for over ten winters time, as told by the Lord to the Taisa, clearing the land of its predators, so they can lived comfortably. Humans like to create their own boundaries even if its means removing others. 

"Lord Noriake, we lost you four winters ago. But maybe time line here runs faster." Taisa Mori explained to the Lord.

Lord Noriake continued his tale; they did get lost at sea, there was the mist as described by many and then they found themselves in the forest. Lord Noriake discovered that they are no more on the island or anywhere on Nippon, he organized the people he had with him. He had built a camp then but it was destroyed by their enemy here; the creatures that resembled the baboons back on the island but these ones are as tall as man, and more ferocious. The creature were named Nihonzaru Yomi; the last meaning Hell as these are Hell born baboons. They have overrun and destroyed the last campsites in their tenure here.

"Many have died in this war, Taisa Mori." Lord Noriake sighed in the final statement. "I came with two hundred over warriors and slaves. I was joined at sea with another Lord; Lord Deki who was going my way. All in we had about four hundred of us. But since we arrived here, we are now down to under two hundred. Lord Deki had died in the earlier wars. We have rescued some thirty over slaves but the losses we incurred was higher."

Lord Noriake apologized for his hospitality. He invited his guests to eat their fill on the makeshift hall on the treehouse.

"Taisa, your sacrifice paled to mine. I have lost my family except my daughter, and she is deaf due to these Nihonzaru. They had tortured her for days." Lord Noriake pointed to the one who sat on his right. It was the younger one as Taisa Mori could see.

"Ayu-se was captured while protecting her sister, but Kimi-ko died that day." Young Ayu-se excused herself from the hall and retreated to her corner in the treehouse.

"She may not hear but she can tell we talked about her. She learned the samurai art by motion than by instructions." Lord Noriake shook his head. "I shall see her avenged before I leave for Yomi. Now tell me in details of your trip here."

Taisa Mori spent the whole long night to tell the tale of his adventures. Meanwhile Gunso Mita went around talking to the others and learning about the land. Edo did not get involved but chose to attend to his friend, Iza. It was the young who decided to go wooing, and that was none other than Bento who approached the young deaf lady. Bento made her a flute and taught her to blow it the chords that others could hear. That way they could communicate when they are together.

The next few days, Taisa Mori was soon to learned on the new land he was to spent some time. The inner land on across this river was filled with forest of trees, and lowland bushes with its distinguishable breeds of trees like oaks and cherry, with many flowery plants of the home island. But he was cautioned that the similarity stopped at the appearance. Some of these plants are poisonous compared to their namesake. According to Lord Noriake, the disparity could had been caused by the soil or the plants have evolved with the 'Yomi' nature of the place.

The creatures that roamed here are more then serpents; they are also the larger predators on four limbs with large jaws or long talons. The samurai of Lord Noriake spoke of the fleet footed two man height creature that runs on two lower limbs, while its upper limbs are lined with the three talons on the end of it. They named it; Ryu for dragon.

Besides that there are the eight legged deadly spiders the size of a grown man, with its deadly sting that numbs a man within seconds. They named it Kori-kumo ( Ice Spider ). The serpents or named by them as 'orichi'; the serpent what was killed by Susano', are not far behind in size and length but like the other serpents, they all have tiny legs below their neck.

"Its the Nihonzaru you should fear." The samurai spoke in unison. "They fought in packs, and carried these small daggers in their hands. Once they clasped onto your body, they are relentless in their stabbing and would not stopped until you are dead. They would break open your skull while you are still living to get at your brain."

It was Lord Noriake who reveal the most starling information.

"The Nihonzaru are enemies of the Hibagon across the river. They been battling for over sometime now, and we are to escalate the war." Lord Noriake told the Taisa. "Once we do that, they would annihilate each other, and then this war would be over."

"Lord Noriake, you have few men but they are in the thousands." Taisa spoke out in bewilderment. This man was more crazy than Commander Kito.

"Yes, but I have something they don't have." Lord Noriake invited the samurai to followed him. He led the samurai to the ground and then to a clearing. He pulled at the vine that was hanging over the clearing to reveal a hidden doorway leading inside the ground. There was a staircase that lead down. It led to a small cave that housed some glittering metallic boxes with many more lighted sparks that traveled across the metal surface.

"This was given to me by a stranger like us. One with long hair and speak our language. He claimed he was from the future and was a Lord. The lord of a ship he claimed housed a few sailors was it needed, and it was a warship. He had parts of his ship brought here. He assembled it here and told me about it. He called it a bomb. One that could annihilate all the Hibagon and Nihonzaru. Even the serpents and all." Lord Noriake smiled. "Even us."

Taisa Mori was taken aback. This man threatens the enemy with something that even he may perished by it. What was the logic to that. We are all warriors; death was nothing new but to purposely inviting death was unheard of. Much as he was shock, he also wants to know more.

"Taisa Mori, you looked morbid with that expression." Lord Noriake laughed. "It would an honor to cleanse this land of this foul creatures so that the new breed would be more accommodating and preserved the sanctuary."

"I am surprised at you new samurai; so concerned and protective." Lord Noriake commented back."That would be the ultimate weapon but the one I would had preferred to use would be this."

Lord Noriake unveiled the cloth that covered the item behind it. It was a samurai armor with all the plating but this one was larger, taller and more intimidating. The armor was more complete with no surface uncovered by the plating. It face piece was a resemblance of Hachiman. It was all covered in the silvery metallic plate and there was the extra thick and long yari next to the armor.

"The Lord gave this to me for the fight with the Nihonzaru. He told himself, one of these was a thousand of my samurai. I believed him as I have used it in the last war. It worked and I was the Lord of the land then." Lord Noriake laughed out. "But the armor is only good for one fight and needs many sunrise to rest. That stopped me from using it unless I have to."

“Hai! Lord Noriake, you are a good strategist.” Taisa Mori played to the fiddle on the Lord.

“Yes, I am the strategist, but one like me need more than strategy. I needed power and this stranger gave me that,. He gave me named bomb, and the armor. He also told me a secret.” Lord Noriake paused to stared at the samurai. “A secret that none knew in this land,except myself. The secret of the land. It was his people who created the God that brought us here. He told me he was from the future; to be exact it was the year 2236. He was from our land of Nippon, that he wanted to bring forth our ancestors to his time. It was like having living history for the generation, but he did not know that he opened a gateway to Yomi.”

“This is Yomi. Another world within ours; yet different but we are still in the same place on our land.” Lord Noriake smiled at the stunned samurai. “Do not look stunned, samurai.”

“This Yomi as we named it, was to him; an inter-dimensional level. Something which sounded like the tales of the Hibagon, and yet we see them here." Lord Noriake sighed and then continued on. "The gateway went wrong, it sent the people to the wrong dimension. The stranger cleared the gateway with the warship of his, and ended up here. He was trying to correct the gateway, when he was attacked by the Nihonzaru. Most of his sailors died leaving him alone. He moved the so called bomb here, but by then he met me. We spoke and offered me passage back to the land of my origin. I declined as my family died here and I would die here too. I told him I would activate the bomb but only on ensuring all the Hibagon and Nihonzaru are dealt with. He left me here but I have not carried out his request."

"How do we get home, Lord Noriake?" Taisa asked the Lord.

"The stranger gave me the amulet." Lord Noriake showed him the amulet from inside his armor. "It would opened a new gateway."

The Lord looked at the samurai.

"You feared this land and wished to go back. Are you such a coward for a samurai? We are warriors. We would fight out justice and peace. Death meant nothing to us. Only honor." Lord Noriake placed the amulet into his armor. "Speak no more of the amulet until we done the task."

"As I have said, I would escalate war between the two. I have a plan which they would fight over. I would attack the Nihonzaru and leave evidence of the Hibagon doing it." Lord Noriake laughed out louder. Soon there was the cries for Lord Noriake from above ground. Both the Lord and Taisa left the underground cave and approached the scout who was most agitated.

"Lord Noriake, I have seen the Hibagon cross the river. I counted three hundred or more of these creatures led by the Senior Leader Tut and then there were the riders of their elites, Leader Micten."