Crossover Earth '98
Vagabond Goes To School Jay Shaffstall
Sherrif Peal drove into Conchos in a borrowed car, past a building which looked as if it had been partly demolished and then left alone. He parked along the side of Main street, next to the sherrif's office. Entering the building, he nodded at the sherrif sitting behind a desk.
"Sherrif Peal," he said, offering his identification. The man looked it over and handed it back.
"Pleased to meet you, Sherrif. You in town on business?"
Peal nodded.
"I'm looking for a drifter," he said, describing the Traveller.
"You're not the only one." The sherrif sat back in his chair. "He came through a couple of months ago, was involved in a fight with some grey-skinned superwoman...left the AgriCo building in ruins, and one man dead."
Sherrif Peal frowned slightly. That could have been either the Traveller or Vagabond, depending on who the grey-skinned woman was.
"You say I'm not the only one looking for him?"
"Yeah, some feds are nosing around. I think they're hunting the grey-skinned gal, but they were asking questions about your boy, too."
Federal agents...Peal would bet they were attached to Quartz somehow. If they were looking for the grey-skinned woman, chances are she's a villain. Which means that it was the Traveller who was involved. Peal need to pick up either the Traveller's or Vagabond's trail from here.
"Sherrif," Peal said, "you had any more reports on that drifter?"
I see a roadside bar up ahead. I've been walking overland for some time, heading slightly north west. There was a town some distance back, but I skirted it. The conviction grows in me that Donald Martin is the key. I have decided to find Donald Martin before continuing to track him.
There are several cars and trucks in the parking lot of the bar. Walking to California will take far too long. I need faster transportation. As I walk through the parking lot, I see a small sports car.
That will do nicely, once I have the keys.
I walk into the bar, disturbing the natural patter of chatter amongst the patrons. It's as if they instinctively realize that they are prey in the presence of a predator. I speak into the silence.
"Who owns the red sports car out front?"
A big man in a flannel shirt and jeans steps away from the bar and approaches me.
"That'd be me," he says. "Is there some trouble with it?"
"Yes," I say. "I need to borrow it. Give me your keys." I hold my hand out and look at him. For a moment, his hand strays to his shirt pocket, then his will reasserts itself.
"Fuck you," he says. The other patrons mutter behind him. I reach forward, very deliberately, and take the keys from his pocket.
He pulls his arm back, cocks his fist, and throws a punch at my face. I catch the punch with my left hand and begin squeezing. Interestingly, the bones crack some seconds before the realization hits his brain.
"Let him go, whoever you are!" Another patron steps from the bar, followed by two others.
I smile.
"I am Vagabond," I say, "and you are nothing."
When I leave the bar, none of the patrons are left standing. Most are still alive...the human body can apparently withstand great stresses before dying.
The keys start the sports car, and I pull onto the road heading west.
Peal leaned against his car and stared westward. The sun was rising, throwing a long shadow westward as if pointing the way. The bartender had been just about the only one left standing in the roadside bar. According to him, the man who tore through the place had been cruelly efficient in beating the shit out of everyone.
Peal knew that attitude. He'd seen it when Vagabond first stepped into the diner back home, looking for the Traveller. The attitude said that all men were insects as far as Vagabond was concerned. Peal didn't know what the relationship was between Vagabond and the Traveller, but he knew they were involved in some sort of dangeous game, and the prime difference between them was their attitudes toward the rest of humanity.
Peal desperately wanted Traveller to win, and determined to help him however he could. To start with, Vagabond had headed west in his stolen car. Peal would follow, and see where the trail led.
The university is somehow familar. The drive to California sparked no new memories, but the grounds of the university is definitely connected to my past. I wander for some time, letting the impressions flow through me. I was given...instructions, training...here.
The importance of Donald Martin was impressed upon me during my time here. His research holds the key...I go to the campus library, intent on learning as much as possible about Dr. Martin before confronting him. Several of Martin's papers are in the library. His research dealt with probing the nature of reality at the quantum level.
Apparently his theories were well developed, but he lacked the necessary technology to conduct the verifying experiments. An image of huge columns of swirling energy pops into my mind. Dr. Martin's experiments would somehow go wrong...yes, that must be it. If successful, the experiment would create a catastrophe of unheard of proportions.
My mission became clear to me. I must find Dr. Martin.
His experiment must be successful.
Peal followed a string of stolen cars and dead bodies to the university at Los Angeles. Following Vagabond's trail had been easy enough...already the police of three states were on alert. They didn't have a good description of Vagabond, and Peal hadn't supplied one. It would be a vicious irony if the Traveller were taken during a manhunt for Vagabond.
The final stolen car was parked outside the university library next to an expired meter; a ticket underneath one windshield wiper fluttered in the wind. Peal walked to a small stand of trees across from the library entrance and leaned against one, waiting.
About an hour later, Vagabond walked out of the library. While his physical appearance was identical to the Traveller, Peal noted a certain contempt in the way Vagabond regarded everything around him. Vagabond seemed to regard the rest of the world as little more than insects.
A young man on rollerblades careened around a corner and slammed into Vagabond. The young man went down on his butt, while Vagabond looked at him. Vagabond reached a hand down, as if to help the young man up, but instead grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air.
Damn, Peal thought as he drew his service revolver from within his jacket and moved closer to Vagabond.
"Drop him!" Peal's voice carried over the ten yards between him and Vagabond. Vagabond looked at Peal and smiled slightly. If there was anything worse than Vagabond's indifferent gaze, if was Vagabond smiling.
"Sherrif," Vagabond said, dropping the young man on rollerblades to the ground. "You must know where he is." Vagabond began walking slowly toward Peal.
"Stay where you are," Peal warned, the sights of his revolver trained on Vagabond's chest.
"You wouldn't shoot an unarmed man, would you?" Vagabond lifted his hands from his sides to show that he wasn't carrying anything, and continued toward Peal.
"Like hell," Peal muttered, firing three quick shots into Vagabond's chest. Vagabond was thrown backward against the wall of the library. He lay still for a moment, then stood and plucked three flattened slugs off the ground in front of him.
"I guess you would." The smile was gone now, and Vagabond flicked one of the flattened bullets with a thumb and forefinger, striking Peal's revolver with enough force to send it flying. The other two each hit Peal in a shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Peal grimaced in pain as Vagabond walked up to him.
"Where is he, Sherrif?"
"I don't know." Peal winced as Vagabond placed his foot on one shoulder and pressed. Both shoulders were already hurt, and it felt like Vagabond was pressing this one out of its socket. "I don't know, dammit!"
Vagabond nodded.
"If you find him, Sherrif, tell him that Dr. Martin is the key." Vagabond stepped harder, pushing Peal into unconsciousness.
I walk out of the university, smiling.
I now know why both he and I are here, and I know where Dr. Martin is. He is probably still wandering the back roads of America, helping the vermin who live there. While I will be helping Dr. Martin to complete his experiment, and then afterwards...
Afterwards was just the beginning.