The Tornado Sojourns (5) – Chapter 3 – An Old Comrade

 

Zerrad Skeet brought the Runabout to a halt parallel to the Tram Stop and his brother Lyris leant out of the window and shouted

“Captain Musak! Is that you? My God it is! As I live and breathe”

The sound of the shouting brought Coll back from his self-pitying reflections and he looked up to see a Runabout parked in front of him with the passenger window down and a familiar face looking down at him from the window.

The door opened, and the man got out, so Coll got to his feet and walked stiffly to the meet him.

“Lyris Skeet you haven’t changed a bit” he said and then the two men embraced heartily, and when he relinquished his hold on Lyris he realised they had been joined by his brother

“And Zerrad too” he said and embraced the other Skeet. 

“Can we give you a lift Coll?” Lyris said

“Thanks” he replied “As long as it’s not out of your way”

“Well we don’t know if it is or it isn’t but it’s not a problem either way” Zerrad said “Come on and get in”

Coll nodded and opened the back door and then he glanced back to the bench

“Could we drop this lady on the way?” Coll asked “She only lives a block away from me”

“Of course,” Zerrad said so Coll opened the door and he and the lady got in.

“Thank you, this damp weather gets right in your bones” she said rubbing her knees.

“No problem” Lyris said “so what brought you outside in this awful weather?”

“Just visiting a friend” lady said

“Me too” Coll lied not wanting to be pitied. “What about you two?”

“We were making a delivery” Zerrad said “That’s what we do”

 

Five minutes later the Skeets dropped a very grateful Gouveian lady on her block, and as they drove away, Lyris said

“We’re done for the day, how about a drink? If it’s not too early for you”

“Ok” Coll agreed “Take the next left and there’s a bar a hundred yards up on the right”

“Is that your local?” Zerrad asked

“No, no, my local is a bit of a dive” Coll replied

 

Once they were seated at a table with drinks in their hands

Lyris said

“A toast, Shaxon”

“Shaxson” they echoed

“So, Coll how come you were catching a tram?” Zerrad asked

“Don’t you drive anymore?

“I do, it’s just that I can’t afford to use my Runabout anymore”

Coll replied.

“I only have my pension now”

The rest of the conversation consisted of small talk about the war and catching up with the years since, until they’d had a good few drinks and it was time to complete the journey to Coll’s house, and they were very soon pulling up adjacent to the tiny house where he lived.

“Thanks for the lift boys it’s really appreciated” He said as he opened the car door “And the drinks”

“We’ll have to do it again, soon” Lyris said

“Ok, thanks boys” He replied a little uncomfortably and then he got out the car after some undignified effort.

“I don’t move as well as I did, even when I haven’t had a drink” he said with a laugh, just before he closed the car door.

He said goodbye, then made his way unsteadily a short way up the alley to his door.

It was an unremarkable little house build in the days when Ditton thrived and looked as if it had stood the test of time better than Coll.

He fumbled for his door key and slipped it into the lock and having unlocked the door he went inside turning briefly to wave to the Skeets before closing the door behind him.

 

Lyris and Zerrad sat in the car and watched Coll walk up the Alley and returned his wave and carried on watching him until the door closed.

They had always liked Coll, even before he saved their lives, and it was good to see him again, and while they were laughing and drinking and sharing war stories there was no hint that he had murder in mind, but there was something he had not shared with them.

 

Safely in his house Coll turned on the heating but kept his coat on when he sat down while he waited for the room to warm up.

It had been nice to see his old comrades in arms again, he had always liked the Skeets, but as much as he liked them and appreciated seeing them, the talk of the old days had left him feeling ashamed.

 

The reason for his great shame was that he had lied to the Prefects in regard to the brutal murder of his friend and neighbour

Sonda Grarb, an elderly Orsinian lady, who lived in the house across the alley from his own.

 

On the evening of the murder he had been in his bedroom, sitting by the window reading, as it was a warm night he had the windows open wide to let in some air, but because of the uncomfortable heat he found his mind kept wandering from the text and he spent more than a little time, idly looking out through the window, he had an unhindered view of the alley and the houses across the other side due to the fact that the windows were open wide.

Just as he was about to return his wandering mind to his book he saw Sonda Grarb’s front door open, which surprised him because she didn’t get many visitors, especially after dark and she certainly wasn’t one for going out of an evening, so he was curious to see who it was.

The outside lights were off, and in the shadows, he could only just make out a slight figure, but as they moved down the path to the gate they were illuminated by the bright moon light and Coll’s jaw dropped to see it was Knarf Dann.

Knarf was an Adnarian, small wiry, almost human in appearance, but had scales instead of hair, and breathed through gills in his neck.

He was also a vicious thug, a ruthless criminal who made his living from preying on the weak.

But then to Coll’s horror, Knark looked directly at him and smiled a very unattractive smile, and then his blood ran cold as he made a sweeping gesture across his throat.

Coll was frozen to the spot, powerless to move under his evil gaze, then he turned and walked casually down the alley.

Coll was in turmoil, he knew something bad had happened, and that Sonda could be laying in her house injured, but the implication from Knarf was clear, if he said anything he was dead, so he didn’t know what to do, he wanted to call the Prefects, but if he reported it to them he would have to say what he saw.

So instead he rushed out the back door to where his Runabout was parked and then he drove a couple of blocks to a bar, from where he called the Prefecture, and by the time he got back to his house the Prefects had already gained entry to Sonda’s house and he could tell by their body language and the lack of urgency that she was dead.

The prefects knocked on his door the next morning and that was when the lying began.

 

Knarf Dann however had not been satisfied with his implied threat to Coll on the night of the murder so he made a point of reminding him whenever he got the chance during the months following the murder, and whenever he got to hear that Coll had been seen talking to a Prefect, a window would be smashed, a tire on his Runabout would be slashed, the last occasion his wipers were ripped off, he replaced them but after that he kept his Runabout in a lockup, as he couldn’t afford to keep making the repairs.

But the worst thing of all was when he just stood in the Alley and stared at his house, taunting him, shaming him.

Every act perpetrated against him underlined the contempt he had for himself for succumbing to Knarf’s intimidation, but now the worm was turning, he was dying and that he could do nothing about, but he didn’t want to die a coward and that he could rectify.

It was too late to tell the Prefects what he saw that night, the brain tumour would see him in the ground long before the case got before a Justice, it was too late for the law to deal with him, but he had something better in mind.