At The Sign of The Screaming Monkey's Head
Episode 7 - Time to move
If you are new, seek Episode 1
What has gone before
Fred, awakens from a dream, shedding the Fred overlay, leaving a determined man in his place. Sylk knows by some means that the man has awoken and is no longer Fred. With Kindly Bob they go to meet him and determine he is under at least one form of compulsion if not two. They put him back to sleep in hopes the concoction and mental tinkering they have done will finish the job and return the man to his true state. Sylk and Kindly Bob discuss options and the need to move “Fred” from the bar. While discussing options, six men enter the bar looking for “Fred.” Sylk is no where to be found and the men focus on Kindly Bob. They have a form of drawing or representation that Kindly Bob clearly finds out of place. The men decide to get rough but are easily handled with four of them seeming to have taken each other out. Kindly Bob calls the local constabulary, and closes the bar.
Kindly Bob watched Sylk head back to where “Fred” lay. Shaking his head, he went back behind the bar, pressed a switch under the counter and watched a panel slide left revealing a screen. He touched the screen and it came alive. After a few seconds of tapping he was watching a video of the fight with the 6 men. He was deeply curious if the video would show him what he did not see while it was happening.
As he pulled Blondie over the counter the video showed a flicker of darkness, almost a null spot moving on the screen. The four men clearly never saw Sylk. Kindly Bob slowed the replay. Sylk blurred in from the alcove next to the front door, bringing a stool with him. Kindly Bob blinked and stopped the replay and backed it up. He had to watch twice before he knew what was happening. The stool was placed as one man was taking a step such that he stepped in between the seat and a foot rung. As he fell, his attempt to balance was re-directed into a punch to the face of the man next to him. It was like a dance, with an inky willow-the-wisp weaving in and out. Kindly Bob watched in mild shock as all four men tangled up with each other and fell to the ground. How can anyone that big move like that? Kindly Bob had never felt that he might be unequal to another in hand-to-hand combat. He was shaken as he realized that he was no match for this giant enigma.
Sylk came back with “Fred” in his arms like a rag doll. Kindly Bob looked up. “You’re almost invisible even on video.” “I’m not invisible.” For the first time showing mild irritation Kindly Bob said, “You might as well be. What wizardry is this?”
Sylk laid “Fred” on the bar. “It’s a combination of knowing where they are looking and not being there, and what amounts to extremely short term hypnosis.”
Kindly Bob whistled through his teeth and said, “Well, it even works on video. I had to watch twice to follow you.” He looked at the screen again. “In slow motion,” he added.
“I have contacted an associate,” Sylk said. “She will be here shortly, and we will leave immediately upon her arrival.” Kindly Bob nodded. Sylk continued, “I dislike leaving you. But you seem confident in your ability to defend the bar and yourself.”
Kindly Bob nodded. “I doubt anything will happen until long after nightfall. I will be ready.” “And the bar?” asked Sylk. Motioning, Kindly Bob opened a cabinet. Sylk gave a long slow whistle and asked, “Anti-de Sitter drive?”
Kindly Bob closed the cabinet. Sylk regarded him for a long moment. An anti-de Sitter drive! “You’ll be fine then,” was all he said. Turning toward the tavern door, he said, “Steropé draws nigh.” Kindly Bob regarded Sylk for a moment and then walked to the door and opened it. No one was there. He turned back to Sylk with a question on his lips. Sylk shrugged. Turning back he closed the door, and when he turned back to Sylk he was hugging a tall slender black woman wearing black tanned skins of some unknown animal and carrying some kind of staff.
Walking back to the bar he said, “So, same skill set?” Steropé turned and said, “Hardly. I’m a heard of tonkas by comparison. But, I try.” Kindly Bob turned to Sylk to ask a question but the soft look of joy and sadness on Sylk’s face silenced him. “Thank you,” Sylk said to Steropé. “How not?” she replied. Looking over Sylk’s shoulder she asked, “Is that Barney?” “Not yet.”
Turning to Kindly Bob she said, “Pleased to meet you.” As Kindly Bob looked at her his face became bland , idiotic, and impassive. “You did not come in the front door,” he finally said.
Steropé turned to Sylk, “What did you do to him?” “He caught me exercising on video.” “Oh,” she said. Turning back to Kindly Bob, she said, “Sylk left your secret door open for me. I came in that way.” Kindly Bob looked at Sylk his face almost registering an emotion beyond blandness, then he laughed loud and long.
Barney sat up suddenly. “Steropé?” Kindly Bob and Sylk started in surprise. Barney was looking at Steropé. “How do you know me?” she asked.
“It worked. It worked,” said Barney. Turning, “You must be Sylk.” Sylk just stood monolithically still, but had an aura of expectancy. “It worked,” he said again. “He had a recording of your voice,” he said, addressing Steropé. “His fail-safe. He knew Sylk would contact you. Your voice was the key.” Turning to Sylk he said, “We have to go now.” “And where do you want to go?” asked Sylk.
Barney looked from Sylk to Steropé. “Off planet. To find Moa’qi.” A sharp intake of breath from Steropé, and Sylk was at Barney’s side. “Moa’qi is dead.” “Except he’s not,” replied Barney.
A tension that Kindly Bob had not noticed flowed out of Sylk and he turned to Steropé. “Did you know?” She shook her head, eyes bright and liquid. “No,” she finally managed. “How?” Sylk pursed his lips and turned back to Barney. “His story to tell,” said Barney. “We need to go. Now.”
Barney stepped toward Kindly Bob and said, “They will be here soon.” He held out his hand. Kindly Bob reached in his apron and pulled out the parchment. “You know what this is?”
Barney tucked it away without opening it. “Yes.” “Do you know me?” “Only your eyes.”
Kindly Bob turned to Sylk. He was impassive, gazing at the floor. Kindly Bob’s demeanor changed abruptly. “Go, I will prepare.” Without waiting for an answer he strode to the door, and grabbing recessed rings in the floor, pulled. Once it started, the panel moved up and flush into the header with a soft clang followed by clicks. Simultaneously, similar metallic panels rose from the base of each window and clicked into place.
Turning, he said, “Why are you still here? It’s time to go!” They went.
Kindly Bob went behind the bar, opened the cabinet to the anti-de Sitter drive and entered a code on the touchscreen. He was now prepared to invoke AdS space if necessary.
He turned to go to his secret entrance and secure it. When he got there he noticed an object near the door, partially hidden. Picking it up, he realized he had the stone with the carvings on it, the other half of the process they had started with the Fred/Barney duality. Why did Sylk leave this here? He looked around a bit more clearly and saw the caution symbol Sylk had left in the dust. He replayed in his mind everything from the time Barney woke up. Sylk… Sylk was worried. Something was wrong. He secured the door and went back to the main tavern, sealing the false wall behind him. Sitting at the bar he pulled up the view screen with views of all his entrances. Reaching behind him, he pulled without looking the green evanescence, poured a glass and set it down.
It was there as a reward if he survived the next few hours.
Next Episode, Sylk, Steropé, and Barney seek a scram jet, and Kindly Bob defends the Screaming Monkey’s Head.
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