[tbontob]

Well, here is the next 'partial' installment of the story. Hope this works.
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The Zax Society
THE LOCATION: Go More Ah, a provincial capital.

Eston and Loy Al tew deBone were wending their way down the narrow crooked street of the poorest section of the city. The buildings were crowded together. Most were two or three stories with the second or third story extending over into the street. On occasion they blocked out the sunlight and pitched the ground into shadows and darkness.

Eston thought the buildings were charming. It was drizzling and the overhanging buildings protected them from getting soaked.

But, he didn’t like the stench! A yellow stream flowed in the gutter along the curb of the street. Feces, rotted food and other material he couldn’t identify bobbed along as the miniature river ran downhill towards the river.

“You tell me he is willing to do it for 20 Zaxxonites, so why does he need to see me?”, Eston asked Loy Al tew deBone.

“He is an eccentric. And he didn’t exactly agree to it. It is a small fortune and since he knows I do not have the money, he deduced I was asking for it on behalf of someone else.”

Eston observed that Loy Al tew de Bone was unusually vigilant. Often the guard’s gait would slow as he scanned the shadows of the buildings they were to pass. Eston was starting to get nervous and tension was building in his shoulders. In exasperation, he said shouted, “So?”

Loy Al tew de Bone responded with “Ssssshhhhh…” stopped, looked about carefully and continued with “It is his policy not to do any work unless he meets the person who wants it.”

“But why does he …” Eston gasped with shock and pain as he was suddenly slammed into a building wall by Loy Al tew deBone’s shoulder. The watery contents of a bucket of feces fell at the spot where they had been standing just seconds before.

Eston exclaimed loudly, “What the…” but was cut off in mid-sentence by the hand of Loy Al tew deBone covering his mouth. Scant inches from his face, he could see the guard’s eyes frantically scanning the street to see if they had drawn anybody’s attention.

“Quiet!” he hissed. Seconds passed and then he slowly removed his hand with “Come, there is a basement pub over there where we can talk.”

Eston looked about and could not see a pub or even anything that looked remotely like a pub. The guard took him across the street to a stairway which was so narrow that two people could not pass by each other. At the bottom was a heavy oaken door. The guard’s fist pounded on the door, and a slot in the door flew back and a voice demanded, “Yeh?”

“We want a beer.”

“Sez who?”

“Blackheart, of the Sick Illian clan.

“He’s dead! So fuc…”

“If you don’t let us in, I will personally cut your heart out and eat it for lunch!”

A long pause and then the door opened. The doorman stood respectfully back as they entered.

“Come, let’s take that corner table!” As they seated themselves, Eston noticed that Loy Al tew deBone took particular care to ensure his back was to the corner of the room.

“Wad ya want?” asked the barmaid.

“Two Ke Ne Edians and make sure the government seals are intact!”

When the barmaid left, Eston whispered, “What the hell is going on? Who are you? How do you know of this place? Who is Blackheart? Why doesn’t your service record show your connection to Go More Ah? What is…”

Loy Al tew deBone sighed. “I was hoping to avoid this.”

“I am the eldest son of the drug lord of the Sick Illian clan. Until a few years ago, I was the consigliore of the clan which effectively put me second in command.”

“Our clan is engaged in all types of businesses including prostitution, numbers and drugs.” If it was illegal, we did it. My name was Blackheart and I was very good at my job. Our clan grew in strength from eighteenth place to second.”

“Another clan grew envious of us and kidnapped my wife. They forced her to take a drug which is so addictive, so damaging, so life-threatening that…”

“No!” injected Eston. “You don’t mean….”

“Yes, the most addictive drug we know of.”

“But it has been Banned on pain of death. Having any connection with it at all is a certain death sentence.”

“Yes. But those who are addicted to it will pay any price to get it. The profits are enormous and our clan peddled the drug without conscience. And it is easy to administer, either by a needle or by drinking it.”

“So, they kidnapped my wife and forced her to drink Kokka Kolla. I was too late to save her. As you know, drug rehabilitation is 99% ineffective. Worse it is a poison and after 100 or so fixes, the victim dies.”

“I did everything to find a cure or an anti-dote. I tried to buy the formula of the product from the humans. But no one knows the formula except a few humans in a place called USSA and they wouldn’t sell. My efforts to kidnap them were unsuccessful. Our attempts to analyse it also met with failure.”

“So, my wife died. I went crazy. I kidnapped the drug lords who were responsible. And their families including wives and children. Then I forced the drug lords to watch Kokka Kolla being administered to their wives and children. A few drug lords went crazy and tried to stop it. When one of them tried to interfere, we just hacked off a limb and cauterized it. As you know cauterizing a limb prevents it from regrowing which is an eventual death sentence in our clans as it is an obvious sign of weakness”

“But even I grew sick of the suffering. Especially the little children. But it was too late to stop it.”

“After that, my heart was not in my job and I left the clan and entered government service.”

“But there is nothing of this in your record.” Eston stated.

Loy Al tew deBone responded, “Yes, it is amazing what money and connections can buy. I am telling you this so that you know the danger we are in. No one, and I mean no one walks alone here. To do so is a sure sign of weakness and invites an attack.”

“Walking with a non-resident is tantamount to walking alone as non-residents are viewed as weak and slow-witted. That also invites an attack. So, it is important not to do or say anything which shows you do not belong here.”

The guard continued with “Which brings us to the topic of the forger. No one knows who he is, where he came from or even what he really wants. So we just call him ‘The Forger’. “

“I said he was eccentric. He is much more than that; he is absolutely paranoid. But he is a genius. It is virtually impossible to distinguish his work from the real thing.”

”All the crime lords use him to forge things. However, every few months, he would become paranoid that he was being ratted on to the police, so he would just disappear for 6 months or a year. This was bad business for us, because the work of other forgers was much inferior, which meant the cops, soon discovered and destroyed our businesses. With the arrests, expenses skyrocketed and it became unprofitable to do business.”

“So, the crime lords met to see if something could be done to limit his paranoia. A fund was created with all the crime families contributing equally. The sole purpose of the fund was to track down all the members of a family who ratted on the ‘The Forger’. Since the families have been contributing to it every year, there is enough money now to track down and kill any aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle of any member of the family ten times over.

“Did it work?”, asked Eston.

“Yes, it does reassure him. On occasion, he will leave abruptly, but the frequency and duration is much less than it used to be. Now, it may be for only a week or so.”

“Which is why I urge you to say as little as possible. The less said, the less likely he is to become paranoid.”

“But we should leave now. If we are late, it can set off his paranoia.”

The information had overwhelmed Eston. He needed time to digest it. Even though he wanted to ask dozens of questions, he quietly rose with Loy Al tew deBone.

The double and triple storied buildings no longer appeared charming to Eston. He now felt they were crowding in on him with hidden menace.