Terminus Part I: The Journey There (Draft)

Chapter 15: Piscology

It was seven p.m, and Escolar was sitting by his fireplace, sorting through his mail. He had a letter from the The Burundi Daily, reading:

Dear E. Scholar,

Although we very much appreciate your contributions to our

newspaper, we have learned that you have not taken your job

as our piscologist as a place separate from your politics. We

do not agree with your message regarding the notorious

criminal 'Barracuda', nor do we condone the actions of

organised crime syndicates. We would appreciate a forthwith

resignation from you, however, if you so choose, we can and

will fire you instead. We understand that sometimes journalists

can be very opinionated people, but bad opinions lead to bad

publicity, and that is why we have come to this decision.

Collect your things, and then never return. Ever.

Sincerely,

A. Moron

There were other letters, but after reading that one, Escolar had forgotten about them, and decided to just sit back in his chair and think about his job loss.

At the Rough-Warehouse, Barracuda had just learned of the outcome of the battle between the two gangs, and while he was visibly irritated, he did not become angry, and instead thought long and hard. Disco and Piranha worried that he might not stop thinking. Then he spoke.

"I have lost. I've been mentally preparing myself for this outcome ever since I learned that Charleston had been killed due to an oversight. I would like you, Piranha and Disco, to round up everyone tomorrow, and escape using the Whale. I will stay here and confront the detective. If I must go down, then I will accept my fate."

"You're being unusually selfless, sir," said Piranha.

"Sometimes, to grow as a person, you have to be selfless. You have to consider that you might not be the best. You may have to concede that you have a problem."

"The boss-man learns humility, diva," sang Disco.

On the SS Psychic, James and crew were speaking with the two people who had been there during the fight: Gumboot and Persimmon.

"So, did you give anyone a good lickin'?" asked Crock.

"Nah, too old for that. Though I gave it my best shot," said Gumboot, through bursts of laughter.

"Ah, so who were you fighting?"

"Some old dude. Didn't even catch his name. Though if I had to guess, it was probably the former leader of the Motorcycle Gang, Hin Wolfmüller."

"Nice, I did my fair share of fighting, too," said Crock.

"Quit being modest Crock, you fought Salvador and won," said Cameron. "Seriously, why are you so strong?"

"Well, I used to be the leader of an army. That kind of person needs to be strong. My past is complicated though, it's easiest to digest in small doses."

"So we learn about you bit-by-bit instead of all at once?" said Patricia, curiously.

"That sounds like a hassle," added Karnilla.

James had begun talking to Gumboot. "See, the thing is, we haven't found him yet. Our investigation has been interrupted by all this other stuff. Feels like some sort of distraction."