Chapter 6: Scouring the Back Alleys Part 1

Stone’s vehicle had returned back to L’Kibera. The few pedestrians would make eye contact with the police vehicle like it was a common occurrence. It was just past the early morning hours allowing the marine to drive slowly through the streets. The droplets of rainwater would drip across the pavement but not serve as a hindrance to anyone.

Inside the car, Stone was keeping his eye out, looking for his intended target while the windshield wipers would occasionally swath the water off the windshield. He knew that remaining in one spot would cause the person not to show up, knowing who he already was. At the same time, the marine was able to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

It was raining today but not heavily. The weather report showed that the “Great White,” the powerful cyclone that circled the bottom hemisphere, had just passed southward by the continental island. The storms that resided in the central equator had been pushed upward as a result throwing its downpour upon everyone.

Stone would be occasionally and annoyingly distracted by the Itrean woman that sat in the passenger seat. Her reptilian eyes were attuned to her tilon showing the different hand gestures and terms of Unified Sign Language. She would be taking her hands and create other notions and movements mimicking the words that nobody would hear yet see. There was a particular confident smile that seemed to partake when she did this. It was like she had been given the keys that would allow her to enter any building. The gift of sign language still resided even if it was barely utilized. For Ioren, it simply didn’t matter. To her, it was genuine hope, an alternative to the tilon that she had become so accustomed to.

The marine would not show any sign of happiness on her part and only be reminded of last night in her attempt to learn sign language. He remembered being awoken by the lights emitted in the darkness from her projection screen while she rested comfortably on the couch, studying USL to its hilt. How long she spent time learning it was a mystery as he tried to get some sleep. For the most part, she had been quiet as she always was, but the slight movements and her elbows scraping against the fabric of the couch proved to create a mild noise in waking him up. The lights and mere presence further served to make his night a hard one. Instead, he would have to bite his tongue and be patient.

“I hope you are looking for a place to stay and not just studying USL,” Stone told her while he kept his attention mainly on the road.

He turned his head momentarily to see that she lowered her tilon and raised her pinky finger to her chest. Then she placed the tips of her clawed fingers to herself to gesture the comment “I have” as an acknowledgment of what he just said.

“Hmph...” he scowled. “Just make sure that you don’t make the same mistakes that I did when I learned the language. USL is the combination of Chinese, British, and American Sign Language into one system. The original word for ‘secret’ is very similar to ‘father.’” He said this while he made a very slight sweeping motion with his thumb near his chin and lower lip. “When they adopted USL, they had to change out ‘secret’ to another gesture to prevent confusion.”

Ioren nodded her head quickly to understand his few but very relevant teachings, even if the knowledge of prior human history was not exactly a strong suit to comprehend. Although, for Stone, he seemed to acknowledge the concepts of how sign language functioned relatively well, that she was further and further surprised by it. How this marine that was seemingly mean to her at times had been such a vault of knowledge on something that proved so interesting was a mystery that she wanted to resolve. He knew it seemingly well but only briefly mentioned as to why he knew it.

“Another thing that you will have to keep in mind is the fact that you have four fingers instead of five,” Stone added. “They didn’t exactly anticipate Itreans learning this language, so don’t complain if they didn’t accommodate your needs.”

This was something that Ioren already knew but didn’t bother to respond to. It didn’t seem that much of a setback, however. She had thumbs, a pointer finger, a pinky, and the middle finger to utilize. Most sign language words didn’t really need the ring finger that the humans had, but anything that did would have to be substituted or adjusted accordingly. It seemed that the concept of sign language was designed more as compensation between two individuals that knew each other well. The fact that he already acknowledged this observation was more of a benefit for her to hear.

They continued their drive together as Stone was keeping his eye on the alleyways of each building on the block. The man had to be here. It was his favorite spot. Each building would move across the right side of Ioren continuously. The Itrean woman was not even focused on the road but herself and learning to the best of her abilities.

Finally, Stone saw him. He practically slammed on the brakes causing the car to come to a sudden halt. Even Ioren felt her body jolt forward, losing her focus. She gave a stern look at the marine momentarily.

“There is that son of a bitch,” Stone said as he tapped a button on the steering wheel. The vehicle’s omnidirectional tires activated, immediately pushing the car sideways towards the side away from the main road. He powered down the police vehicle and activated the door.

Ioren had little time to say anything as she watched the doors opened up on both sides. She closed up her tilon as she watched Stone get out of the car. She undid the seatbelts and got out.

A stern and defiant look on the marine’s face as he found who he was looking for. It was apparent that this man hadn’t seen him yet. Ioren was looking at this particular back alley. Stone was not going to let this person walk away or escape.

The alleyway was nothing spectacular to look at but something that Stone only paid so much attention to. It connected to the rear entry of another store in the endless amounts of city blocks. The graffiti on the walls was painted with a spear and oval shield. It was yellow and orange with iconography representing current or past prior gangs. A man and woman were looking at each other with looks of sexual desire and want towards each other. Ioren at first thought this man was part of this couple, but the marine’s walk and gesture indicated that he was going to pass the two.

Ioren hurried up in her walk. The couple almost paid no attention to the two as they slipped past them. Stone was moving at a hurried pace. Even the way he walked indicated that his anger was steaming up. In some cases, she was happy not to be in the front line of his walk. His hands were clenched into fists.

This man that Stone was closing in on had long, straight-out hair. The hair was set up in a particularly buzz-cut way and dyed in yellow. He had a long black beard and wore a solid yellow long shirt covering his blue denim shorts. The man was that of a young adult that was looking and laughing at something he saw on his small tablet-like device.

The marine moved with haste, but it was a matter of time before this man spotted him. A look of fear filled his eyes. He almost dropped his tablet then and there and started to turn in preparation for running. Was this Tarone’s cousin that Ioren had heard about?

“Don’t you fucking run!” Stone yelled at him. The alleyway’s potential peacefulness had ended then there once he commanded the other to halt.

“Ah shit!” the man said.

The suspect in question was fleeing, moving as fast as his legs could push him. Ioren could see that this person was important as she darted forward. Her digitigrade legs propelled her to faster and faster speeds. She could see that Stone was running hard, but she was faster. He didn’t unholster his gun as of yet, but she kept her attention towards hers just in case she needed to use it.

Stone could see Ioren run past him and towards the suspect. Within less than ten seconds, she was already on the suspect. Her speed was incredible as she quickly grappled the man’s leg, tripping him to the ground.

“Hey! Hey ... omph!” the man yelled out as he smacked the pavement hard, causing his tablet to be knocked loose from his hand. The man was in a state of alarm as he flipped over onto his back.

“Good...” Stone said as he caught up to the downed man.

“Hey ... what the fuck ... ah...” the man commented as he held his hands up. Ioren walked around him, almost smacking her tail against his face. She looked at him with his eyes darting up at her and then to the incoming marine. The rain picked up slightly as the water dripped across his face.

“Jahmar, why am I looking at that ugly face of yours!?” Stone angrily remarked as he stood over him.

“He ... hey, hey, Stone ... ah ... ah,” he stammered nervously. “Looks like you have ... ah ... a ... a ... friend there.”

“Is that how you are going to greet me?” Stone, with his rage, went and kneeled over and grabbed the person. It was here that Stone’s pure strength came into play that even surprised Ioren.

The marine’s strength was evident when he used both hands to grab his chest, sides, and shirt to lift him off the ground before planting him onto the wall. The towering size of Stone was domineering. Ioren could simply watch as this Jahmar was shoveled into the hard side of the building with a preverbal thump. Even the couple that was there saw the scene and hurriedly scoured away.

“Why ... why, why, are you holding me up here?” Jahmar asked him. “I didn’t do nothing.”

“Nothing, huh? Really?” Stone cringed his teeth at him. “You get done serving six months aiding and abetting criminals in the area, and you think that I don’t forget?”

“Yeah ... yeah, I served my time. What about it?”

“Then why did I just get done fighting a bunch of armed robbers at the bank yesterday!?”

“Bank robbery?” he started to laugh nervously. “What bank robbery?”

Stone pulled him away from the wall and slammed his back right back into it hard, momentarily dazing Jahmar.

“Oh ... oh yeah, that bank robbery,” Jahmar replied. “Rimbastar ... heh, heh. How could I forget? Come on, Stone. Why hurt a poor man like me?”

“Because I apprehended you twice for the same shit every single time. Why do I know that you were involved in the one yesterday?”

“Rimbastar Jewelry? I ... I wasn’t involved in that at all! I...”

Stone went and quickly grabbed the man’s throat. The immense strength of Stone was enough to squeeze it more and more. Ioren watched that he was careful in keeping him propped to the wall, but at the same time preventing him from suffering permanent damage. Regardless, Jahmar began to choke in light panic, even swatting his arms to no avail. Finally, he lessened his grip just enough to let him talk.

“Are you so sure of that?” Stone asked him.

“Ack ... um ... ah ... wait ... did I say that? I meant that I heard something ... but...”

“Jahmar, I’m only going to tell you this once. Your cousin isn’t too happy having to bail you out every time you get involved in every little scheme around this part of the city. He wanted to make sure that I promised him not to break every bone in your body.”

“Heh ... good ol cous ... he always good man...”

He squeezed a little harder. “I disagree with his idea, though.”

“Stone, what are you...” he coughed. “What are you talking about? I never got anywhere involved...”

“Ioren, go and show the pictures from your tilon to him,” Stone ordered her. “Show him the evidence we got yesterday. Maybe it will help jog his memory...”

“Heh ... heh ... I ... I, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Ioren went and pulled the two strips of her tilon to bring up the projection screen. She accessed her menu and went to the gallery section of the recently acquired pictures from yesterday’s heist. She found a picture of the military carbine and showed it to him. His eyes peered down to look at that.

“What is that?” Stone gestured his head to the picture.

“Beats me,” Jahmar tried to say but felt his body get jolted hard to the wall again.

“I’m going to start doing that if you don’t talk!”

“Oh ... that ... yeah ... that is a PDW-20 ... ha, ha ... my memory is not so good.”

“Talk!”

“It’s just a UHN gun ... what’s the big deal about it?”

“It was used to gun down a police officer during the heist. Apparently, the criminals had access to something that they shouldn’t have around here. Ioren, show the next picture.”

She switched over to the blurred-out rather gruesome picture of Neredi’s remains after she had gotten shot. The purposely blurred picture still hinted enough of the blood and mess that was made after she had gotten killed.

“See that?” Stone maintained his grip. “She was another officer killed by a Berson Anti-Material rifle. Another example of something that criminals shouldn’t have. Yet ... I think you know more about it.”

“I ... I only know so much,” Jahmar struggled to speak. “I swear, I swear, I...” he coughed again. “I swear it on my momma’s bed.”

“I’m listening ... my patience is wearing out.”

“Ok! Ok...” he coughed some more. Stone lessened his grip even more. “I ... I was getting oriented with the Boer Numbers Gang again ... you remember them, right? Good group and all. Heh ... heh well ... the second in command ... Johnny ... eh ... yeah, that’s his name! He started mentioning something about some new group ... a gang ... a syndicate ... I, I think. They said that this group had access to high-grade material. The ... best guns out there. I thought they were joking. You know? People like to sell cheap knockoffs of everything these days. Heh ... before you know it, Johnny entertains the idea. He agrees to have a small shipment to verify it.”

Stone lowered his grip but made sure that he wouldn’t start running. He kept a careful restraint on him. Ioren was keeping detailed notes while pressing a couple of buttons on her tilon. Despite all of this, Jahmar was looking around the alleyways feeling the sense of nervousness of being watched.

“Ioren, pull out the card from my right pocket,” Stone ordered her. “Keep going, Jahmar. My patience hasn’t been fulfilled.”

The reptilian woman walked around and reached into the pocket of his jeans. She found the strip of cardboard cards and took them out. She kept them clutched to her hand.

“Yeah ... yeah, yeah,” Jahmar said. “At first, we saw the crate arrive ... then we opened them up, and we were like ‘WOW’ it’s real! We had like two military rifles and four pistols to go along with everything. Before we knew it, we totally believed this group that sold us the goods. So Johnny placed a BIG order for more.”

“How much more?”

“Beats me.”

Freeing himself one hand, Stone lifted up his arm and produced a sizeable fist. He seemed ready to deliver a powerful punch into his face, but Jahmar freaked out and closed his eyes.

“No! No! I really don’t know,” Jahmar replied. “I swear it ... gods ... I swear it on my momma’s bed.”

“Show the card to him, Ioren,” Stone ordered.

Ioren did as she was told. She presented and showed the card for his eyes to look at. Jahmar looked at the image.

“Do you know this card? No fucking lies either!”

Jahmar nodded his head. “That’s them! That’s the people that sold us the goods.”

“What are they?”

“They only call themselves the syndicate ... I ... I think. Supposedly they don’t even work on this continent at all.”

“Faces? Descriptions? I want it all.”

“We never saw their faces. Hired intermediaries delivered them to us ... at least I think. They like secrecy for some reason ... heh ... just sell us the good shit, I suppose.”

“That’s it?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, Stone ... I don’t know! Please, please. I only worked with them so long.”

“I want to talk to Johnny. How about I go give him a visit.”

“Ah ... no, no.”

“Location of the hideout?”

“They’ll kill me if I squeal! Besides ... heh ... they change locations frequently.”

“Ioren, go break one of his fingers,” Stone ordered. Ioren looked at one of the man’s fingers and very briefly considered it, but it was hastily interrupted.

“WAIT! Wait!” Jahmar confessed. “It is five blocks. Abandoned apartment building right next to Nell’s Repair Shop.” A tear started to run down his face. “You ... can’t miss it.”

Stone released his grip on his throat and held the man’s shoulder. Even if Jahmar struggled, he still couldn’t get away. Instead, the marine went and pointed his finger at Jahmar.

“Now, I’m going to offer you some word of advice,” Stone told him. He lightly tapped the man’s chin. “Think you can listen like you always do?”

“Yes ... yes ... Stone,” Jahmar replied. There was a slight hint that he was calming down.

“I think that you should get the fuck out of this town,” the marine lowered his voice. “Go and work for your cousin, Tarone. I think he cares a lot about his family. I put in a good word for you. You get yourself employed and work for him. You get a nice place far away from this area. Get yourself situated. Think you can do that?”

“Heh ... heh ... yeah, I might be able to do that.”

“Might or never!?” Stone yelled. The intensity of his voice bore into Jahmar.

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

“Good...” the marine continued resuming his tone down. “Because when I confront Johnny, I might tell him all about the fact that you betrayed the location of his hideout. Might motivate you to get out of this spot and stop getting arrested. And ... if I hear any bad reports from your cousin. If I hear that you are stealing, let alone stealing his guns and selling them on the street corner, I will come searching for you. If the police don’t find you first, then I will find you. When I do, I’ll make sure to start breaking every finger on your hand. Then...”

“Alright! ... Alright, I get it ... I ... I understand.”

With that, the marine let go of Jahmar. For a short moment, the figure put his hand to his throat to feel for any pain that still resided in himself. He made a brief nod and then trotted away. Ioren had a look of intrigue as to everything that happened. She handed the card to Stone which he promptly put away. Then, she started typing on her tilon as it translated for her.

“What did he do to get himself arrested?”

“Selling information and abetting criminal activity,” Stone said as he started to walk towards his car. “Come ... He served his time ... what little it would do to dissuade him.”

The water splashed against his boots while he moved. The rain was starting to pick up more and more as the streets were getting soaked. The Itrean woman shook her head a little bit to knock some of the water that splashed against her feathers.

“Do you think that he will comply with you?” she typed.

“That’s his choice...” he coldly responded.

They walked to the car as the doors opened up. By the time that rain became a deluge, they had gotten back inside. They sat down in their respected seats while Stone seemed to be thinking of his next move. For a short moment, Ioren was seeing the rainwater and how it affected her feathers. There was a look of disgust on her face causing her to sigh from her nostrils. Even the marine noticed it.

“Hmph...” he remarked. He put his hand to his chin, resuming his thoughts. Ioren resumed her typing on her tilon.

“Did you really want me to break his fingers?”

“Whatever it takes,” he answered. He said nothing else of comment, and she wasn’t going to proceed any further in that regard.

The sounds of rainwater hitting the roof of the car began to pick up more and more. Ioren could see that pedestrians were starting to empty the streets and seek shelter. She turned her eyes and could see that Stone was pressing a couple of buttons, turning the car’s radio on. There were two settings where a video feed could be shown or just audio-only. The marine preferred the old-fashioned approach with just the audio queued in. She listened quietly while she considered studying sign language more.

The radio channel called “Oshun-12 News” was queued in filling the sounds of some anchorwoman that spoke in the car. She had a very fluent voice that was nothing like the typical Oshun accent. Perhaps she was just hiding it, or she was born somewhere else. Nobody knew. All they did know was that the anchorwoman was already discussing a topic on the news.

“ ... According to Fleet Admiral Baxton, he does promise to continue pledging his support in future campaigns for the UHN. Prime Minister Chanvatey has also assured to maintain his support to UWA. Despite this, critics such as Ambassador Kane and Ambassador Ifra have raised concerns over the continuing widespread reforms in the Batrice government that can threaten the potential alliance made with the T’rintar clan.”

“Hmph...” Stone remarked, saying nothing else further on the matter.

“In local news,” the anchorwoman continued. “The current mayoral elections between former candidate Chipo Halen and newcomer Arjana Lesenda are in full swing. Early voter turnout is higher than expected, and both candidates are neck and neck in the polls, with Halen in the 50.5% lead and Lesenda in the 49.5%. Halen has condemned the current voting system as fraudulent despite two full investigations from the UWA elections committee and OFC that has proven his claims as false. Lesenda assures the public that the elections system will not be hindered and will continue as set forth. Supporters of Halen claim that Lesenda is trying to rig the election. At the same time, Lesenda’s supporters have countered, claiming that Halen’s accusations are just a smokescreen to hide the current rise of crime throughout the continent. We encourage everyone to get out and vote. We will have more updates on that in the next hour.”

“You were right,” Ioren typed down on her tilon.

“Hmm...” Stone replied.

“In other news, the Rimbastar Jewelry Store located in 64^th Condis Street was robbed yesterday. Local authorities responded to the scene and apprehended the suspects. The police chief assures that the store owner is fine and that all the jewelry and wares have been properly secured. We will be back with other news as the current day continues with a word from our sponsors...”

Before the music started to kick in of some impending advertisement, Stone hit the mute button of the radio. He shook his head as Ioren gave a look of surprise. For a news feed, it was incredibly short and vague.

“That’s it?” Ioren typed.

“Yes,” Stone answered. He seemed to give a grumbled sigh.

She seemed flustered as she took her right hand and formed a fist. Then, she went and produced her pointer finger before tapping her left shoulder with it. This was the USL symbol of “Why?” that Stone understood.

“Why does anything make sense on Oshun?” the marine commented. “Of course, they don’t want to go into detail about the other police officers that were killed. Of course, they would fail to tell about the suspects or what really happened. Each criminal event here gets a brief passage, and that’s it. Most don’t even get reported at all...”

“What about the elections?” she typed. “Wouldn’t reporting it help Lesenda’s campaign?”

“How should I know?” he shrugged. “Probably go to her UWAN websites and supporters, and I’m sure that they would provide more detail on that, but any news station except outside worlds has to be non-partisan affiliated. Besides ... you know how much crime reports can hurt the terrorist industry anyways.”