Compartmentalization (Part 8)

Part 8: The Armory

    I got so tired that I was entering that sort of giddiness that only comes from lack of sleep. I needed a nap. In the meantime, I found myself walking with Ken and Kate to the one trailer I haven’t been yet, which I assume is ‘the armory.’

    Wanting to break the silence, I asked the obvious question, “So, what is up with Maxwell and his brother? Are they really mad each other because of the whole ‘boyfriend’ thing?”

    “Nah, I don’t think so,” Ken answers, “I think Maxwell is just mad at his brother because Max hasn’t done a single thing here since he started his music hobby. All he does now is fiddle around on his guitar. It’s a shame too; Max was great to work with.”

    “So does that mean that Max and Maxwell are…”

    “Gay? Sure! Bisexual? Maybe. Honestly couldn’t care less, but it does make for good gossip.”

    “Hold on, you don’t know that,” Kate interrupts, “People think me and Gwen are dating all the time. Just because they are close doesn’t mean they are doing it.”

    “Oh, did you guys break up?” Ken retorts.

    “F--- you, someone as asexual as you shouldn’t be making assumptions on other people’s sexuality.”

    “I’ll have you know that I, like Maxwell, I keep my private life private.”

    “Does that mean you are…?”

    “An amazing ladies’ man? Yes, yes it does,” Ken gives Kate a smile.

    “Wait,” I say, “So their names are ‘Max’ and ‘Maxwell?’”

    “No, Maxwell are their last names, Maxwell’s first name is Alexander,” Kate says.

    “So Max Maxwell and Alexander Maxwell? Why does everyone call him Maxwell?”

    “That’s just how Maxwell wants it I suppose,” Ken says while shrugging his shoulders, “Anyway, we are here.”

    We get to the sickly green trailer, and Ken enters a code on the keypad on the door that looks rather similar to the door on the second floor of Maxwell’s trailer. It seems the code is much shorter than on Maxwell’s door, which is surprising, for as we open the door, tons of weapons, explosives, various machines seem to be hanging all over the place.

    “Don’t worry! Nothing is dangerous in this room, in fact, most of this stuff is broken,” Ken reassures me, though I don’t find it that comforting.

    “All I need are tranqs,” Kate says and grabs what look to be huge needles.

    The room was dirty, and it was probably white before all the dirt and grime of various unused things made it grey. The place was cramped and messy, but it still has a small brown table in the middle with various things carved on the surface. I read ‘SMOKERS BE SMOKED’ and various dirty words which made me wonder who in the world carved all these things.

    “Alright, so the mission is pretty simple,” Ken says while spreading out papers on the table, “a UWG messenger is going to appear not too far from here in the town of Los Sumiwake. He is going to make a speech, and sources say the assassin is going to be stationed here,” Ken points to one of the papers spread on the desk that has a map, “It is an empty warehouse, with a perfect view of the entire stage.”

    “Wait, is there anywhere else he could be?” Kate asks.

    “No,” Ken confirms by looking through all the places, “Only one place makes any sense.”

    “Huh, I guess this guy is pretty much a grunt then. No way they would send a high grade assassin, alone, to a place with only one potential sniping point. That doesn’t even make sense.”

    “We are thinking it is just a ‘cash grab’”

    “Cash grab?” I ask.

    “Yes, ‘cash grab.’ Low ranking Smoker assassins sometimes take advantage of the anti-assassin priority to deal with things with money instead of violence by holding UWG officials ‘hostage.’ They threaten, we come pay them off, they leave,” Ken explained.

    “How, how does that work?”

    “Its all incredibly corrupt, but the UWG pays for it, so it doesn’t cost us anything. Ken’s job is mostly going through security, and giving people money,” Kate says while Ken looks at her with the sheen from the single light in the room making it impossible to see his eyes.

    I then remembered that Ken won’t be able to ‘negotiate’ anything from the assassin we are about to encounter. The guy has an automatic turret that betrays any sort of ‘grunt’ status. I wonder if I should warn them, try to change the future, but I am just too tired, and too afraid that if I change anything, somebody is going to end up dead. But Kate is right, it doesn’t make any sense. Why in the world would they send one guy with smart firepower, to the middle of nowhere, with no escape, to assassinate some random UWG messenger? Not only that, but the way he was so unperturbed by my going through the turret and stopping him, something didn’t add up.

    “I am guessing the only reason we are sending three people is to show Josh here,” Ken points to me, “the ropes. I could easily handle this on my own, but I suppose I’ll do my job and Kate will explain what is happening.”

    “Are you serious!? You think I am just some sort of tour guide!?” Kate says while looking rather perturbed.

    “Why else would you be here?” Ken says in a deadpan.

    “To protect your butts! I am going to take care of the assassin, YOU can be the chatty Kathy. You are the one who just loves to talk anyway!” Kate says.

    “Kate, Kate, oh Kate. How wonderfully naïve you are. Maxwell assigning me to this mission just to talk with Josh? That would be a waste of my time.”

    “Oh, so I was assigned because I am the super articulate one!?

    “No, Maxwell assigned you because…” but before Ken could finish, Gwen entered the already cramped room.

    “Is there any perfume left in here? I think there was one bottle left.” Gwen said in all seriousness. I didn’t answer, for I had no idea why in the world perfume would be stored here, and by the looks of it, neither did Ken and Kate. Gwen entered the room, forcing Ken and Kate to move their chairs in. They looked rather uncomfortable as Gwen carefully looked through all the junk.

    “Here it is.” Gwen says while looking in between what looked like a rocket, and what looked like some sort of blunt axe.

    “What’s up Gwen? Going somewhere?” said Kate.

    “Yeah, I have an information gathering mission at a Smoker fundraising ball tonight. Supposedly, the leader is going to be there, so I am going to try and find some intel on where he is going to be next,” Gwen said with an air of boredom.

    “WHAT!?” Ken said, and looked like he was about to stand up but didn’t have enough space, “but that’s my job! Why is Maxwell sending you!?”

    “I guess he thought you were too busy with whatever the mission you are on. Good luck, by the way,” Gwen said as she left the trailer with the perfume.

    “Bye Gwen.” Kate responded.

    “’Too busy’? Bullshit! That is incredibly important information, and he would only send the most qualified to go! Ahhhhg, where did I go wrong! I went from being the man with the highest record, to someone he can’t even take missions solo anymore!” Ken says while grabbing clumps of his hair.

    “Yeah, if you’re not careful, you could be out of here by the end of the week!” Kate said.

    “Kate, I keep on telling you, no one gets fired around here! Max is still here and all he does is rehearse with Ben all day!”

    I have heard this argument before, and I instead look at all the papers on the desk. I start to get bored and think that I should take this opportunity to finally read that packet on ‘the catastrophe’ I got from Maxwell, but the first page in just a list of statistics and I am still too tired to really get into it. I lay my head on the table, and close my eyes and try to drown out the bickering voices around me. I can’t really sleep sitting, and suddenly I open my eyes and see a picture of a very familiar man on one of the sheets of paper on the table. I pick up the picture and ask, “Who is this?”

    Ken and Kate look surprised that I interrupted whatever they were talking about. Ken takes the paper from me and then takes another piece of paper and begins to look like he is comparing the two.

    “Well,” Ken responds, “My summary says here that the picture is somebody named…McNabb, Terran McNabb.”

    Something clicked into place in my head. I know that name. It is tied into why I am here in the first place. I realize that once I can get some shut eye, then I can begin to unravel what is really going on here.

    “Alright! So we will enter the warehouse in the back, Dan will be our driver and will prepare our cleanup crew,” Ken explained and then remarked while looking at Kate, “if we need it. I’ll explain more specifics when we get there, but it is pretty much go in, take care of business, and get out of there. Not too complex. I figure this is the perfect mission to introduce Josh to the business! So, if no one has any other questions, we can break, change, and meet up in 20 minutes!”

    I raise my index finger, spying a box that says ‘chaff grenades,’ to try and ease my conflicted brain that says I need to test whether this is really the present or not, but instead Ken responds, “Oh yes, we have plenty of extra clothes. I keep them stored at my place, and I have a shower there too so just follow me!” and Ken walks out of the trailer before I can make a single objection.

    Kate takes one look at me and says, “It may be a little scary at first but don’t worry about it, I got your back,” she holds out her fist, and it takes me a second to figure out she wants a fist bump. I reluctantly do it, instead of asking about the grenades. She leaves, and before I leave, I peer into the box. I should’ve figured, the box is not only empty but dusty. I also forgot that I was the ‘newbie’ around here, so I doubt that anyone would have taken my warnings about the turret seriously anyways. I resign to my fate with the hope that once I finally get a nap, things will finally begin to make sense