Truth And Consequences
Truth And Consequences
By Aecas
The hubbub of the boarding area intensified as a fresh influx of passengers poured into the terminals, the hive of activity growing in both motion and noise as staff worked as fast as their hands could move to process passenger after passenger. A call went up over the tannoy; the calm prim voice announcing the next boat to the mainland was scheduled to leave in just over five minutes. A portly middle aged Bear folded up his paper and stood up from the table of the café that he had been sitting in, he adjusted his thick spectacles that were riding down his nose. He placed his payment and a tip on the table before picking up a traveling bag and walking out of the café, lifting his eyes to study the electronic boards above before moving towards his chosen terminal not seeing the quiet figure who was watching him, leaned up casually against the wall next to the cafe.
"Leaving." The Otter muttered quietly, his eyes peering over the top of a spread newspaper as he whispered into a throat microphone nestled in his fur, tracking the Bear through the steadily thickening crowd and noting the terminal he was headed for.
"Acknowledged. Follow him and get on that boat."
"Understood." The Otter said, closing the paper and tossing it idly into a bin before picking up a sturdy briefcase hat sat on the floor next to him and setting off into the crowd, politely but firmly pushing his way through the mass of bodies. He was about average height standing 6 feet tall, his body lithely muscled and athletic, his tail held close to his body as he navigated the press of bodies. He had no head hair to speak of, just the smooth deep brown fur that covered his body, a pair of intelligent blue eyes looked out from his otherwise plain face, a face that could blend in easily with a crowd which made his line of work all the easier.
He arrived at the terminal several passengers after the Bear, watching as the Ursine passed through the ticket check without incident and walked quietly off towards the waiting ship. The Otter waited impatiently as the three passengers in front of him were checked through, pulling a slightly rumpled ticket out of an equally battered pair of jeans and holding it out to the Leopardess on duty. Her eyes flicked over the necessary information with the ease of long practice and she then handed the ticket back to him with a room key and a smile and wished him a safe journey. The Otter returned the smile and nodded absently as he tucked the ticket and its accompanying key back into his jeans and strode slowly down the corridor after his target, he could just see the top of the Bears head and stepped up his pace, shoes slapping against the floor as he moved.
He arrived at the boarding ramp a minute later, keeping himself two people behind the Bear who remained unaware that he was being watched, much less followed and the two joined the queue that snaked its way up the ramp and into the ship, a pristine, white pleasure yacht of a craft. The Otter continued to quietly trail the Bear, all the while wondering why he was getting on the boat himself, the higher ups hadn't mentioned anything about travel but had urged him to purchase a ticket just in case. He pursed his lips slightly as he stared at the back of the Bear's head, looking at the salt and pepper hair that crowned it, his fingers tightening slightly around the handle of the briefcase. It had been given to him mere moments before he had set out to begin trailing his target and he had not had the time or privacy to examine the contents.
As they passed through the corridors to the ships rooms, the Bear suddenly stopped, fishing his key from his pocket and opening up a door on the left, the Otter continued walking, not even breaking step as he innocently passed the Ursine, his eyes taking in the doors number of 124 before he disappeared up the corridor. He paused at the stairs and fished the ticket from his pocket once more, absently glancing at the room number before beginning to descend the stairs to find room 167. It didn't take him long to find and he opened the door, closing and locking it behind him and taking in the spartan yet well furnished quarters, placing the briefcase on the double bed and moving to gaze out of the window at the bustling docks before he pressed a finger to the microphone at his throat.
"I'm on board." He said, moving over to the bed and sitting down, eyeing the briefcase for a moment but leaving it where it sat.
"Good. And the target?"
"Also on board, room 124."
"I imagine you're wondering why you're on board as well." It was a statement not a question and the Otter nodded absently.
2Yeah, I'm surveillance and tracking but I thought my task would end once he got on board."
"There is more to this than you think Joseph. We have been running constant background and personality checks on the target for the last three hours."
"So? What's this got to do with me?"
"Open your suitcase Joseph if you haven't already."
Joseph obediently reached out, dialing the combination that had been hastily passed on to him and unsnapping the top, opening up the case and looking at the interior, seeing a single set of folded clothes and a small brown manila folder on top of them. He took the folder and opened it up, a large black and white photograph of the Bear greeted him, and underneath the picture was the name of the man he had been following.
"Doctor Bernard Meuller." He muttered, almost forgetting about the microphone until the voice came through his earpiece once more.
"Yes. The good doctor is the man you have been trailing for the last week, and the bugs you managed to secrete in his rooms and on his phones have told us a lot. Unfortunately none of it is good."
"It says here that he's a senior director in the research area of Biochemistry for the German government."
"Indeed he is, but Dr. Meuller's allegiance is not to his country, he works for a Terrorist organization that call themselves 'Glory.' They are the group who claimed responsibility for the bombing in Hamburg two months ago."
Joseph frowned lightly as he scanned through Dr. Meuller's personnel file, reading of a sterling reputation and a dedication to his work that was all but fanatical. "I remember, 80 people died in that station and the total rose to 130 afterwards but I don't believe it was ever revealed why."
"That bomb contained a small canister of the nerve agent Sarin, when it exploded it spread the gas throughout the crowd, injured and alive alike. What the bomb started the gas finished, and the German government kept it quiet because if the news of a chemical attack on their doorstep ever got out there would be widespread panic."
Joseph could see where this was going. "And the Sarin was doctor Meuller's doing?"
"No. There are multiple sources were anyone can learn how to make substances like Sarin, the Internet being the most obvious. Meuller has been helping to prepare them for bigger things, his research in biotechnology was not just limited to medicine but also too combating the effects and onsets of viruses and toxins."
"And the German government knew nothing of this?" Joseph asked in skeptical disbelief.
"They had their suspicions but until now no hard evidence, Meuller left a complicated paper trail behind his actions and it was only recently that they got their first lead. What they uncovered is worrying, Meuller has been orchestrating the transport of the basic ingredients and machinery needed to mass produce Sarin and a number of other nerve agents."
"Go on..." Joseph said quietly, looking down at the file in his lap and studying the Bear's kindly face, did that kind face hide such a monster beneath it?
"The German government seized several of the shipments through a series of tip offs but several more got through and subsequently vanished without trace. The GSG9 is chomping at the bit to be let loose against Glory but their intelligence is still limited and they even suspect high level corruption. Several of their intelligence operatives were found dead, all of them killed in hits sanction by Glory, the only way they could have known about the operatives existence is if someone high up told them. The Germans are in disarray and their intelligence network is heavily compromised, that's why they however reluctantly asked for our help."
"But why us?"
"They felt that the American's would prefer to use a machete where a scalpel would suffice. Their words not mine. The Germans want the eradication of Glory to be a surgical operation and not a war of attrition, they know they have to work quickly as it can only be a matter of time before the mole on the inside learns of our involvement. Dr. Meuller is rumored to be heading to a meeting with one of Glory's higher ups, he cannot, MUST not be allowed to reach that meeting. He left his workplace with barely a word last Monday, which is why you were put on his trail, we couldn't pull him in because we risked alerting Glory. Now we have already been given a chance at nipping them in the bud before they get more ambitious. We have reason to believe that he may have information concerning the whereabouts of one of Glory's primary cells, located in Frankfurt."
"And why am I here?" Joseph asked, a slow cold coil of fear and apprehension knotting his gut, as he half knew and dreaded what would be coming next.
"Look in the bottom of your briefcase." The voice said calmly.
Joseph slowly pulled out the clothes and looked at the blank bottom of the briefcase. "There's nothing there."
"It has a false bottom. Open it up."
Joseph carefully grasped the bottom of the briefcase and gave it a slight pull, feeling it give and then come away in his hands and what he saw in the true bottom of the case shocked him and confirmed his worst fears. In the bottom of the case was a lining of black foam, nestled within the foam were three hypodermic syringes, three small glass bottles filled with clear liquid and a pair of thick latex gloves in a plastic zip bag. Joseph sat back heavily against the headboard of the bed, his eyes locked on the contents of the briefcase as he felt his guts tighten up once more.
"You bastards." He whispered into the microphone. "You had all this planned from the beginning."
"No Joseph, we didn't. Those items were put there at the last minute when it became clear just how much of a threat Dr. Meuller is, not just to the Germans but to the rest of the world as well. Glory want to over throw the German government, we don't know why but Terrorists rarely give their reasons openly. Glory won't be satisfied with just Germany, they already have plans to send fledgling cells into France, Italy and even Switzerland."
"I don't believe you..." Joseph said weakly, still unable to take his eyes off of the grim contents of his case, struggling to keep himself calm and resist the urge to rip the microphone and earpiece from his head.
"I'm being honest with you Joseph, I've never been more deadly serious about anything else in my life, you know me. You trusted me, and I've never betrayed that trust."
"Until now." Joseph said accusingly, finally managing to close his eyes as he swallowed hard. "Why me? Why the hell am I even here? We've got men and women who train solely for this sort of thing, why is this being forced on me?"
"Because you're the only one in position to do this, we don't have anyone else-"
"You don't have anyone else to commit murder for you!? Is that it!?" Joseph spat into the microphone.
"Joseph I..."
"Shut up! Just don't talk to me!" Joseph snarled, rubbing at his eyes, his thoughts reeling and his stomach twisting again as the nightmare situation continued unfolded in front of him. He slammed the case shut with a snap, not wanting to look at its contents a moment longer, shoving the briefcase across the bed and away from him.
"How could you do this to me Johnathan. After all these years of us working together, I trusted you. I thought you knew where I stood." He said bitterly, lurching off the bed and beginning to pace the room anxiously, the boat shuddered and sounded its horn as it moved off from the quay but Joseph hardly noticed, clenching his fists tightly to stop the trembling that had developed in his hands.
"I do Joseph..."
"No you don't!" The Otter shouted. "How the hell can you know what you're asking me to do!? You want me to kill someone in cold blood! How the hell can you even ASK that of me?!"
The voice sighed deeply. "Joseph just please listen to me..."
"No Johnathan, YOU listen. I'm disconnecting now. It's a two day journey to the mainland and I MIGHT be in touch with you again." Joseph spat, ending the communication before Johnathan could reply.
The Otter cupped his face in his hands and took a deep shuddering breath before he moved to the door and opened it, startling a steward who had been about to knock on the door.
"Are you alright sir?" The Gazelle asked concernedly.
"I'm fine." Joseph said, a fixed smile worming its way onto his face as he closed the door behind him and locked it before carefully pushing past the steward as he headed up towards the deck. He needed to get out in the open air, to get away from the claustrophobic closeness of the decks below. It had been dusk while he had been waiting at the terminal and it had slowly slid into night and he climbed up to the deck underneath a blanket of stars, like a scattering of diamonds on black velvet. He took in a deep breath of cool air, shivering slightly as the cold air stroked his T-shirt clad chest, but he welcomed its touch, trying to calm down, as he moved to the rail and placed his hands on the cold metal.
He couldn't believe what he had just been asked to do, he had worked with Johnathan for seven years, and Johnathan had been in this clandestine business for more than thirty and was now seated behind a desk while he was expected to carry out the dirty work. At that moment he hated Johnathan, hated him for forcing him into this situation, hated him for breaking the bond of trust that existed between them, hated him because he was expected to commit murder for him.
What's one death over the lives of many?
The thought startled him, he had no idea where it had come from and he dropped his eyes to the inky blackness of the sea as the ship cut through the water at a leisurely pace. If all of Johnathan's words had been true wouldn't he be doing the world a favour by getting rid of one of its bad apples? He shook his head slowly, one death was too many, it was one thing if you killed while trying to defend yourself or your family, but killing someone merely because you are told to wasn't even in the same ballpark of thought. Joseph slowly removed his wallet from his pocket, slipping a small photograph from the leather and gazing at it quietly. His wife and their four year old daughter looked back at him, smiling brightly on a lovely summers day and he stroked over their smiling faces with his thumb slowly.
Could he ever hug his wife or hold his baby girl again if he did this? Could he hold them close knowing that his hands were stained red with guilty blood? He sighed deeply, depression and hopelessness at his situation clawing at him at equal intervals as he looked back up at the tars twinkling innocently above.
"Beautiful are they not?"
Joseph jumped and looked to his right as the voice surprised him, locking eyes with Dr. Meuller freezing for a brief moment before he looked back up at the sky speculatively a nodded slightly. "Indeed they are."
"It makes you wonder when you consider that it's taken millions of years for the light of those stars to reach us. It makes you think just how many lives have come and gone in the time it took them to reach the Earth."
The Bear held a pipe in one hand, the embers in the bowl glowing as he took in a deep puff of smoke as he gazed speculatively at the stars above, Joseph followed the gaze for a few moments before his eyes settled back on Meuller, studying the Ursine more closely now that he had the opportunity, his left hand clenching the guard rail so tight that his knuckles whitened beneath his fur.
"Are they your family?" Meuller asked, as he finally took his eyes from the sky and looked down at the small photograph.
Joseph looked down, he had all but forgotten he had been holding it and simply nodded his head. "Yes."
"May I see?" Meuller said, placing his pipe in his mouth and sucking another puff of smoke through the stem.
"Of course..." Joseph said uncertainly, extending his hand towards the bear and offering him the picture, a cold sweat threatening to break out over his body. Did Meuller know he had been tailing him? Had he somehow made a mistake?
Meuller took the photograph and held it up to catch the deck lights, a small smile forming around the stem of the pipe as he studied Joseph's wife and daughter for a few moments before handing the picture back to the Otter, who took it and placed it carefully back in his wallet.
"They are very beautiful, you are lucky to have such beauty waiting for you back home."
Joseph smiled slightly despite himself at the comment. "I...thank you. Do you have any family?"
Meuller shifted slightly and sighed as he sucked on his pipe and blew out a small ring of smoke. "I did once, but they were taken from me in a tragic accident...an accident that could have easily been avoided. If only the government had done the work they had promised to do on the old failing train lines then perhaps they would still be here today."
The Bear closed his eyes for a moment as if he was trying to swallow the bitterness he must surely have felt, and Joseph could swear he saw moisture when they opened once more before Meuller stepped away from him.
"No parent should ever have to bury his children sir. I dearly hope that you shall not have to do the same."
Meuller gave Joseph a curt nod and still managed a slight smile. "Goodnight sir." He said quietly and turned on his heel, walking down the deck, his pipe in his mouth and both hands clasped at the small of his back.
Joseph watched Meuller until the bear disappeared from his sight before he looked back at the dark sea beneath him, gripping the rail with both hands before he leaned forwards and rested his forehead on the cold metal. That short meeting with Meuller had made the internal conflict raging inside him, from his words Meuller himself was...had been a family man until they had been ripped away from him due to his governments neglect.
How do you know he wasn't just making it up in order to gain sympathy from you?
What if he was telling the truth? Doesn't that show his incentive for wanting to strike back against an uncaring government?
Would you be doing him a favour as well by ending his suffering?
Remember what Johnathan said, you're the only one who can do this. YOU are the one who can help stop this threat with one simple action.
Murder is NOT a simple action to anyone save the most callous and cold of individuals.
Joseph shook his head violently as one thought after another surfaced in his mind, each offering a different take on the situation, he pulled his head away from the railing and slowly headed back downstairs, chilled to the bone from his prolonged stay above decks. He made his way quietly and quickly back to his room, feeling the warmth of the ships interior slowly seeping back into his bones as he returned to his cabin, locking the door behind him and slowly moving to sit down on the bed once more.
The briefcase sat where he had left it, somehow conveying a quiet menace, as if it knew what it carried deep inside its belly. Joseph grabbed the case and placed it on the floor, not wanting to look at it any more than he had to, the clothes he placed on a nearby chair before he pulled off his T-shirt and shucked out of his jeans and sneakers. Clad only in a pair of black boxer shorts he pulled back the bedcovers and climbed in, sitting with his back against the headboard for a moment before he trailed his fingers through his fur and slowly uncovered the miniature microphone secured to his neck, peeling it and the earpiece away from him, wincing as a few small strands of fur were pulled away with it.
For a moment he felt the urge to crush the delicate equipment in his fist, but the moment passed, and he carefully laid out the microphone and its small receiver and battery before he flicked off the lights and slowly slid down into the embrace of the covers. Meuller would most likely be in his quarters in an hour or two as the ship entered its night cycle, even the staff only kept the bar and restaurant open for so long. Could he do it? He didn't know. But he would have to make a decision before it was too late.
* * * * *
The corridors were quiet as Joseph walked silently down their brightly lit paths until he finally came to a halt in front of room 124, he slowly looked left and right checking that nobody else was in the corridor, listening intently but hearing nothing. Unlike some boats, this ship still utilized a traditional lock and key system instead of the cards favoured by others, Joseph plucked a pair of lock picks from his back pocket and carefully inserted the probes into the lock, slowly feeling his way through the tumblers, wincing as every soft click sounded as loud as a bell tolling before with a quiet *snick* the lock gave in. Joseph slowly withdrew the lock picks from the doors lock and quietly opened the door, slipping inside the room and closing the door behind him.
He squinted, his eyes slowly adjusting from the bright lights of the corridor to the gloom of Meuller's quarters, a beam of pale moonlight cutting through the window and sliding over the bed and the sleeping form within. Joseph's mouth was dry and his heart was hammering in his chest as he slowly put his lock picks back in his pocket and took out the heavy duty latex gloves and slowly wormed them onto his hands. The Otter slowly knelt down, rolling up his left trouser leg and slowly peeling away the syringe he had tied to his leg, it was already filled nod ready to go, and he removed the plastic safety cap that covered the needle. Holding the syringe with a trembling hand he silently stepped closer to the bed his eyes traveling over the figure that slumbered, hidden beneath the sheets.
Joseph slowly reached out and took hold of the top of the sheet, carefully peeling it back, and his heart almost stopped as the parting sheet revealed revealed not Meuller, but himself laying on the bed.
* * * * *
Joseph sat straight up in the bed, cutting off a cry of horror even as he snapped back into full consciousness, his heart thundering in his chest like a brass band, his body and the sheets beneath him soaked with cold sweat as he gasped for breath. He buried his head in his hands, fighting the urge to cry as he shuddered on the bed, throwing off the damp covers and pushing himself up, making a beeline for the shower and jumping straight in, pausing only to divest himself of his boxer shorts. He twisted the taps on the shower, gasping as freezing cold water blasted his body, but he stayed with it fighting the urge to jump back out as the water slowly changed from cold to hot, the spray blasting away the moisture of his night sweat as he kept his eyes closed loosing himself in the torrent of water, for a little while at least able to think of something else as he was pummeled by the hot water.
His heart slowed, his breathing began to return to normal and for a while at least his mind was quiet, letting him soap and shampoo his fur in peace for long minutes on end, he lost track of how long he spent in the shower until finally he turned off the water. The sudden absence of the pummeling shower made him gasp, the Otter standing in the cubicle as he let the water run smoothly off of his fur, before he grabbed a towel and helped the drying process along slowly, before finally stepping into the full size fur dryer next to the shower to finish the task.
He walked back into the bedroom area and grabbed the clean clothes he had placed on the seat; slipping them onto his now dry fur and pulling on his jeans and shoes slowly, as he leant down to tie up his shoes he caught sight of the briefcase and the doubts returned once more. He grimaced, concentrating on tying his shoelaces, trying to give himself some time to not think about his situation anymore than he had too, but eventually he knew he was going to have to make the call. He slowly picked up the miniature microphone and its attached paraphernalia and moved to stand in front of the full length mirror that was installed in the room, carefully fastening the device down beneath the thick fur of his throat and slipping the small ear piece back into his left ear. A few adjustments later and there was no trace of the equipment save if one looked very closely at the inside of Joseph's ear, he took a deep breath and turned it back on once more with a light press of a finger.
"This is Joseph...are you receiving me Johnathan?"
"Joseph! Thank God, you had me worried sick!"
"Worried that your would be assassin wasn't going to play his part?" Joseph said sourly.
"Joseph I know this is hard for you to accept but-"
"You DON'T know Johnathan." The Otter said sharply. "You aren't here, you haven't met the man you're supposed to kill!"
Johnathan sighed deeply and took a deep breath before he spoke again. "I do know Joseph. I know exactly what its like because I was in your exact same shoes seventeen years ago...I was the only one in effective proximity to do the job and it fell to me to kill a man that I met, a man that I even liked despite what I had been told about him."
Joseph sat down suddenly on the bed, part of him wanting to believe Johnathan, another part of him still skeptical. "How do I know you're not just making this up?"
"I don't make things up Joseph!" Johnathan said sharply, indignation clear in his voice. "Nor do I tell meaningless stories, I'm telling you nothing but the truth in this instance. I had to do it, I made the choice and it took all my courage and conviction to do see it through. When the job was done and I got back home it hit me all of t a sudden just as it will hit you. You'll feel sick to your stomach, your legs will go out from underneath you, you'll vomit, you'll cry as you fully comprehend what you have done. It is no light task to accept Joseph but it is one that sometimes HAS to be done."
"I don't think I'm strong enough...I could never look at my wife again if I do this....."
"That's exactly what I thought when I was crying on the floor. But Joseph, when it was all said and done I told myself that if I could look myself in the eyes. If I could raise my head up and look into my own eyes, if I could just do that then I would be alright. And that is exactly what I did, and I am still here today."
"And how do you feel about it now?"
"I still see his face from time to time, I regret what I had to do but it no longer tries to consume me, to eat me up. I may not have wanted to do it, but seeing the good results that came from my actions I am also glad that in the end I had the courage to do it. That I had the courage to make such a difficult choice and make the right decision. Does that help?"
Joseph sat still for a long time, digesting what he had just heard before he finally licked his dry lips. "Yes..." He whispered, slowly leaning down and picking up the briefcase and opening the lid once more to gaze at its deadly contents. Doubt still tugged at him but he pushed it away, forcing himself to look at the contents of the case in front of him. "H...How should I do this?"
"First of all put on the gloves while you are still in your cabin, fill the syringe and make sure there are no air bubbles inside it and make sure the safety cap is on, do all this before you leave the cabin. How you get to Dr. Meuller is your decision, but once you are in there find the veins at the back of the ankle, press down gently until you feel his pulse and then inject the entire syringe into the ankle and leave the room. He won't feel any pain, he won't even realise that he's dying, his brain will simply switch itself off and he will be at peace."
Joseph nodded slowly, looking at his watch and seeing that it was slowly approaching one o'clock giving him only a vague indication of how long he had spent asleep and then summarily in the shower. "I'll have to wait until tonight..."
"You have to make your choice Joseph, either tonight you will do this task, or you will sit back and let Meuller walk off the boat. No-one is going to blame you if you don't want to go through with this, I hate to put this pressure on you Joseph, I truly do. But I have no choice in this matter, the choice is yours and yours alone." Johnathan sighed once more and spoke again as Joseph was about to reply. "I have to leave for now Joseph, but you will be able to contact me again tonight."
Joseph didn't say anything and the line went dead, the Otter reached up slowly and turned off the microphone, letting his hand drop back into his lap as he slowly closed the briefcase once more, sat back on the bed and began to read Dr. Meuller's file in detail.
* * * * *
The afternoon passed to evening in a blur as he read every page in Dr. Meuller's file through and through, reading them time and time again as doubt continued to tear at him. The choice he had to make rested like a heavy cloak on his shoulders, at this moment he alone had the life of another man in his hands, one direction could snuff it out, and the other could let it go free. Two choices that were simple in context but too terribly complicated in practice. The file indicated at just how deep Meuller's ties ran with Glory, and if they had gone as far as using Sarin before then they could use whatever the doctor would be able to provide them with. Glory had already demonstrated a total lack of care for the lives of the innocents that were caught up in their machinations and the doctor was one of them, the same guilt rested on his Ursine shoulders.
_Or does it? Who are YOU to decide the life and death of another man?
We've already seen what Glory is prepared to do. If Meuller gets to them who knows what they could unleash next? He's a biochemist; with the right equipment he could synthesize as much Sarin as they wanted. And what next? Anthrax?
All we have to go on is rumors and hearsay. How can we even be sure that Johnathan has been telling us the truth? How do you know? How can you make a choice like this? What gives you the right? Who are you to decide who should live and who should die? Who are-_
Joseph shook his head violently and dropped the file onto the bed. "That's enough!" He said out loud, his eyes opening slowly as he looked down at Meuller's picture for a long moment before he slowly closed the file. He could not risk letting Meuller go, he his doubts continued to tear at his mind and he hated himself for having to make this decision. The doctor would not leave the boat alive. He COULD not be allowed to. There was too much that Joseph didn't know about the man but he knew even less about the consequences that might follow if he let Meuller go. If events continued as Johnathan had hinted at, and Glory went on to commit more atrocities with Meuller's help he knew he'd never be able to forgive himself.
"One for the many..." He whispered to himself, the words tasting like bitter poison as he spoke them, knowing that even such a declaration was a poor lie when you had to murder the one yourself. His hands clenched into fists as they began to shake once more and he rose from the bed, opening the cabin door and stepping out to search for Dr. Meuller.
* * * * *
Meuller lurched down the corridor smiling happily as he was half supported by Joseph, the Bear was hopelessly drunk and leaned heavily on the Otter, Joseph needed all his strength to keep Meuller on his feet and moving. It hadn't been hard to find the Bear, his file mentioned his lifelong love of smoking and drinking and sure enough he had been seated at the bar, already well stewed by the time Joseph walked up to his table with a drink in each hand. Minutes had slowly blurred into hours as the pair sat at the table, Meuller got more loose tongued by the minute, the drink slowly opening him up as he regaled Joseph with stories of his wife and two sons. They laughed, they joked, they shared memories both happy and sad, and Meuller got drunker and drunker, while Joseph himself drank sparingly, the Bear hardly noticing as he lit up his pipe for what must have been the tenth time since Joseph had sat down.
Maintaining his friendly façade had been difficult as Meuller told him about his family, now long dead and Joseph's throat had tightened when Meuller began to cry quietly, mourning his lost children as the alcohol made him melancholy. Joseph had finally take him by the arm and suggested that he should get some rest, Meuller had resisted at first but a few soothing words had slowly calmed him down and by the time they were out of the bar, his alcohol fuddled brain was in a positive mood once more. Joseph looked straight ahead as he helped Meuller down the corridor, the Bear muttering and giggling to himself as they passed door after door, finally coming to Meuller's cabin.
The Bear looked up blearily at the door number before fumbling in a pocket and withdrawing his pipe, poking it ineffectually at the lock. "Looksh like thisss ish mah stop. Butsh the keys doesn't work..." he slurred, looking down in consternation as he tried again to fit the pipe into the lock. Joseph smiled weakly and pulled the pipe away from the lock encouraging Meuller to look a little deeper into his pockets, after another two false starts, the key was produced, but the Bear fumbled it against the lock and it fell to the floor. The Otter smoothly scooped it up and unlocked the door, ushering Meuller inside and pretending to put the key down on the sideboard as the Bear looked back at him, one hand on the door.
"Goodnights then Joseph. Thish was a night to remember ya?"
Joseph smiled and nodded to Meuller as he felt something wither inside of him. "I'll never forget it.....Goodnight doctor."
"Night..." Meuller slurred absently, closing the door with a loud slam.
Joseph stood in the corridor for a moment, looking up at the door and then down at the key that shined bright in his hand and closed his fingers around it as he slowly walked back to his own cabin. He left all the lights off but one, pacing the room in the near gloom as he began to question himself once more, could he really go through with this?
A quick glance at the illuminated face of his watch showed him that it was almost 3 AM four hours until the boat would arrive at its destination, he would have to make a move soon or do nothing. He wanted to call Johnathan but he didn't know what he could say to his friend and mentor. Finally as his watch hit 3 Am he made his choice, he slowly opened the briefcase, pushing away the false bottom and taking the latex gloves from within, slowly pulling them onto his hands, making sure they were tightly secured and conformed to his fingers. He picked up one of the high cc syringes and selected the middle bottle of the clear poison that he had been issued with, he pushed the plunger all the way down, expelling the air in the hypodermic before the needles tip pierced the film lid of the bottle.
He held the bottle carefully in one hand as the other slowly drew back the plunger, the syringe sucking in the poison slowly, the level in the bottle dropping and dropping until there was barely a quarter left. He carefully removed the bottle from the needle and held the syringe up to the faint light pushing the plunger ever so slightly. Small beads of liquid pushed from the tip of the needle and ran down its silvered length as the Otter carefully placed the safety cap over it. It was then that Joseph noticed his hands had stopped shaking, he swallowed with a dry throat as he slowly pulled the left leg of his jeans up to the knee, removing the shoelace from his left shoe and using it to tie the syringe securely to his calf.
He felt a wash of Déjà Vu as he straightened back up and tugged his trouser leg carefully down over his deadly cargo and slipped his foot back into his now loose shoe. Joseph stood up slowly and took a deep breath, walking to the door and opening it, stepping smoothly into the corridor beyond and closing it behind him. He walked along the corridors and up the stairs with his gloved hands loosely in his pockets but saw no-one as his walk finally ended in front of room 124, it almost felt like the syringe was heating up against his leg as he slowly withdrew Meuller's key from his pocket. He checked the empty corridor once again before he slide the key into the lock and twisted it, opening the door a crack and peering inside.
Nothing came from the inside of the room except the sound of soft snoring and he opened the door further, slipping silently inside and closing the door behind him with a soft click, revealing the room as it had been in his dram, with the moonlight drifting across the bed and he suppressed a shiver as he remember seeing himself in the bed. He walked across the short space between the door and the bed, his shoes sinking soundlessly into the soft carpet as he knelt down at the foot of the double bed, Meuller snoring on oblivious before him. Joseph slowly reached out and lifted up the bedcover, exposing Meuller's left foot still clad in its sock, as the Bear had fallen into bed half clothed in his drunken stupor.
The material of the sock was thin and Joseph carefully pressed two fingers against the ankle, feeling gently for the vein until he felt a faint throbbing begin to pulse through his fingertips, he licked his lips as his heart began to pound, reaching down and sliding the left leg of his jeans up, loosening the syringe slowly. He bit down on the protective cover and pulled the deadly sliver free of its confinement, the needle slowly lowering until it hovered barely a half inch above Meuller's ankle. The Bear twitched slightly in his slip and Joseph froze where he was almost biting through the plastic locked between his teeth, but Meuller was still sound asleep and the movement had been subconscious.
The Otter closed his eyes for a long moment, his heart continuing to rattle inside his ribcage as he took a deep breath.
He held it in and opened his eyes.
He focused on the small spot between his gloved fingers.
He slowly lowered the needle until it pricked the skin and sank into the vein.
He pushed the plunger down slowly, watching as the colourless liquid was slowly pumped into the sleeping bears bloodstream.
He carefully removed it when it was done, the dark sock and the doctors own fur soaking up the small amount of blood that leaked from the puncture as the flesh puckered up around it, the body still trying to protect itself as the deadly invader flowed through it.
Joseph stood up quietly, watching Meuller as he shifted sluggishly in the bed before after about 30 seconds his chest simply stopped rising and falling as the brain ceased sending its signals and with a loud deep sigh, the last of the air was expelled from his system. Joseph leaned over the bed; he pressed two fingers gently against the carotid artery, holding them there and feeling the doctor's pulse beat weak and erratically before it finally stopped altogether.
The Otter stood up, he felt utterly numb as he tried to comprehend what he had just done. He held the syringe loosely in one hand, the other absently grabbing the doctors traveling bag as he moved towards the door, his movements becoming more urgent as his hands began to shake again, just wanting to get out of there and off of the ship as soon as possible. Almost without knowing it, he found himself back in his room, his body had been on automatic as his mind whirled and with this new revelation came fresh worry. Had he been seen? Had he left any evidence behind?...
His heart froze for a moment as he couldn't find the syringe and he only breathed a sigh of relief after a desperate search revealed it to be inside Meuller's bag. He dumped the syringe and the file back into the briefcase and slammed the false bottom down upon it all, piling his clothes on top, not wanting to look at any of it any more.
He sat on the bed, the bag and briefcase next to one another behind him as he flicked on the microphone once more; a warning chime in his earpiece warned him that he'd have to charge it soon.
"Johnathan?"
"I'm here Joseph." Came his mentor's voice, sounding as tired and weary as he felt himself, the weight of his choice pressing down heavily upon him.
"I...its done....I did it. Meuller's dead...he...."
"It's alright Joseph, I understand. Do you have his bag?"
"Yes...its behind me."
"Good. You'll be in the port in less than four hours. Take the bags with you and when you get through the terminals head to the Golden Dawn hotel, there's a room already booked for you there. An operative will be along to collect the bags at noon and two others are waiting at the port to handle the fallout about Meuller's body. And don't worry, I'm already organizing a flight to bring you home."
"Johnathan I..."
"Don't talk now Joseph. Just listen." Johnathan said kindly. "We'll talk soon enough. Get to the hotel and do what you have to do and the next time we talk it will be face to face, alright?"
"Alright."
"I'll talk to you soon Joseph. God speed."
* * * * *
Joseph sat listlessly in a comfortable armchair in the middle of his room at the Golden Dawn, the operative had been and gone, collecting the bag and the briefcase and dropping off another filled with spare clothes and toiletries with barely a word. They had exchanged pass phrases and that was the most he had spoken to anyone since he reached the hotel, and he sat alone once more. Alone with his thoughts as they slowly drifted back to the events that transpired on the boat mere hours earlier.
He felt a tightness in his stomach and a rising nausea and quickly rose from his chair, moving towards the bathroom as he felt bile rising up in his throat, he barely made it to the toilet bowl before he vomited, his body bent double before his legs sagged, suddenly feeling as soft as jelly. His knees cracked painfully against the tiles of the bathroom as he wrapped his arms around his stomach, vomiting once more into the bowl, his inside clenching as he vomited for a third time. After his stomach was emptied, he spat into the bowl trying to take the acid taste away from his mouth, slumping down next to the side of the toilet as he tried to get up on legs that refused to support him.
He began to cry, slowly at first before his chest began to heave, the Otter clutched his knees against his chest hugging them against his body, his face pressed against the hard bone as his body was wracked with the force of his sobbing. His tears soaked the knees of his trousers, his eyes cried until they were red and sore, his chest tight as he hyperventilated, toppling to his side on the cold tile floor as he was ravaged by remorse for his deed. He lost track of time as he lay there, the cold seeping into his side through the tiles beneath until finally he had no more tears to shed, nothing left in his stomach to upheave.
He reached a hand up and grabbed the sink, slowly forcing his legs underneath him, using the ceramic to pull himself upwards, his legs weak but finally supporting him once more as he turned on the cold tap, cupping both hands beneath the stream of water and splashing it against his face, washing away the dried tears that clung to his cheeks and the vomit that still stained his lips. He took a deep mouthful of the freezing cold water, swirling it around until his teeth throbbed, washing out his mouth and finally spitting it back into the sink with a gasp. He splashed more water over his face before he finally tuned the tap off; there was silence save his high breathing and the dripping of water as it slid from the fur of his face into the sink beneath.
He gripped the sink tightly, his fingers pressing against the cool white ceramic of its surface as he struggled to get his breathing under control, his head raised slightly and he looked at the very bottom of the bathroom mirror, suspended above the sink. He remembered what Johnathan had told him and tried to raise his head up but couldn't, it was as if a vice had his head trapped in this bowed position. He fought against his doubts, against the personal demons that continued to torment him gleefully; he pushed them away slowly but surely, building a mental war against the nagging doubts as he slowly raised his head.
And looked himself in the eyes.