The Silver Plated Earphones

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sheath'sBane was known for its beer. It's name was derived from the tragic beer poisoning of the seventh Mayor of the town that had once been named CherryBarn. The Mayor's name was Kevin Sheath and after approximately three months, two weeks and a day of his reign, at midnight his servant had found him unconscious on the floor of his wine and beer storeroom, only to be recognised later for being beer poisoned. For long, curious weeks it passed as a mystery until one smart man found that other citizens were dying for no known reason as well, and that the common denominator of these deaths was beer. The brand of the beer was traced back to the manufacturers in a neighbouring city built around a vineyard and barley field named Dagger'sField, which had, unfortunately for no legitimate reason, always been named the same. The company was owned by eight shaggy haired, mischievous siblings originally from the city ShieldGrounds, and they'd added a certain bacterium to ferment the beer thicker and faster, which turned out to stimulate allergic reactions in certain people and kill them with no cure.

The city was named for this; the death of that kind and generous Mayor, Sheath, and his bane, the beer. Sheath'sBane.

Somewhere along the way its story was turned and ever since then it's been notorious for its beer, even earning reputations for the taste of it. Many people around the world travelled to taste it. Most of them did not know the truth.

Presently, Astra looked down at her hands, rough and crossed with lines, not particularly pretty at all. They were big and shapeless and not dainty and gentle like she'd always wanted them to be.

The fate of this city lay in them.

But Astra was a practical person, and she loved mysteries; so yanking on a smile that she thought looked clown-like horrifying, she crossed her legs over the other and drew a rough map of the three named cities, Sheath'sBane, Dagger'sField and ShieldGrounds on the backside of the wrapper. Considering what the man had told her they were to be blown up in a chain reaction but as long as Astra kept the earphones, their primary means of communication away from these guys, the cities would be completely safe, wouldn't it? Gavin would hopefully drink his life out and forget he ever had a mission, which meant cutting off the terrorists until...

And then there was Cal. Who was Cal? Cal could carry on the mission if he could. But Gavin, hopefully, was the guy they'd entrusted everything in. Her plan of holding them off wouldn't work for long, she knew, but she could still try and figure out enough intel to turn them in at the perfect moment.

It was too late in the night anyway, and Astra did not want to consult the police... But, she figured, if they were communicating through something as small as earphones, there had got to be some sort of chip, or micro-device that was transmitting all of it. She'd find it tomorrow and be the hero of everything.

She didn't need to be told to know how stupid a theory that was

***

The next morning began with a thoughtless breakfast carried up to her room, a miniature screw driver, a safety pin, and some tape just in case things went south.

Astra shut the door behind her and locked it, telling her Nanny there was a course she was taking and that being interrupted was nowhere in her interests. She set the plate carrying a bagel, cream cheese, tomato sauce and mustard on the farther corner of her table where it remained untouched for the next hour or so, and settled herself on the office chair at her desk. She snapped the window blinds shut, ensuring absolutely no light entered, and turned on the white desk lamp she had at her table as the only source of illumination, pulling it closer over the earphones.