Chapter 31
The Scandal
Protter went home after a meeting with the newspaper reviewer, Mr. Collins. The yellow leaves were piled up on the pavement, some carried by a cold wind. He strolled slowly into his garage. The bicycles passed by him. Protter was on the phone with the Mr. Collins, disputing about the recent hot topic in Cassandra.
“Yes, yes, hold on a moment, yes,” muttered Protter, entering the house while on the phone. He threw the key on the shelves and walked in. Mary, his wife, was sipping coffee. There were chocolates on the dish.
“End of this month yes, of course. Alright, thank you very much sir,” said Protter; he put down his phone on the table. Mary was looking at him rather curiously.
“Hello dear,” said Protter.
“Who is it?” smiled Mary.
“It’s Mr. Collins,” said Protter, sitting down on the chair. He reached for the coffee Mary was drinking and gulped it like water. “They are going to publicly humiliate Nina.”
“That is stupid,” muttered Mary, picking up the chocolate and melting it in her mouth.
“If they make a hero out of Nina, they think it would encourage the action of coup. They are trying to protect the current government in Cassandra.” said Protter.
“Can’t they say Nina was struggling under the dictatorship?” said Mary.
“Most of them believe that is the case, but still they are going to treat her as a rebel. It is easier that way, treating her as some fool who caused nothing but troubles,” said Protter.
“Uh huh, I got it now; it’s about those creatures that got out. They want to say that Nina was behind this aren’t they? If anyone inside this nation was earning some profit from Veron, it is the ideal way to remove the connections. Blame the girl, who is crazy enough to destroy the whole country for her petty freedom.” said Mary, sarcastically.
“Yes, yes, that is the case. So please, let’s keep our hands off this matter,” muttered Protter, sipping coffee, and shuddered a little at the taste. “Bit dark and bitter today.”
“Well, you can’t just sit around here and let this happen do you?” said Mary, angrily.
“There is not much I can do about it,” mumbled Protter. “Please keep it quiet on this matter; I’ve heard all the associates with Alice’s Experiment are dead.”
“Dead?” said Mary, frowning.
“One shot in the forehead, four shots on the chest,” said Protter.
“Oh you think if we talk, they are going to kill us too?” said Mary.
“I didn’t say that, and they are not going to kill us,” said Protter.
“Then why?” murmured Mary.
“Because if we blabber about it, they are going to show the evidence that shows Nina’s involvement,” said Protter.
“Involvement?” asked Mary, blinking her eyes, rapidly. “What involvement?”
“Press thinks some mad scientist named Gerald Danver created these creatures. But actually it was made from Simard Polchinski, Nina’s grandfather,” muttered Protter. “There is some link between Alice and Simard that indicates more than mere teacher-student relationship.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Mary frowned.
“Well, that’s that. The thing is that the man who put Alice’s method into a practice was Simard Polchinski. Danver merely helped alongside him,” said Protter.
“…”
“So when if the press talks about how Gerald Danver stole Simard’s work, then the situation becomes very bad for Nina Polchinski. People will probably accuse her for creating the creatures” said Protter.
“But Veron Komer killed Simard Polchinski,” said Mary.
“It’s not clear the raid at the time was executed by Veron. The only witness is Nina Polchinski herself,” said Protter.
“…”
“I’m afraid our friends are quite clever,” muttered Protter, realized that coffee was gone. “More coffee please?”
“… Do you think we should inform Nina Polchinski about this?” said Mary, grabbing the empty mug.
“I don’t know how, and that too won’t be good,” said Protter.
“But she’s quite clever too! She destroyed Veron’s regime at the age of twenty four!” shouted Mary.
“Yes, she’s a military genius, highly unstable, does the schizophrenic reasoning. But she is dumbest-you-can-be in the political arena, she might even try to kill us,” said Protter.
“… That poor kid,” murmured Mary, fumbling the mug. Protter nodded.
“Oh yes I almost forgot, your assistant called today,” said Mary. “I was distracted in the morning because someone gave a huge scratch on our car.”
“Well, probably that someone was pretty mad at us, because we threw the pie and the alarm clock on his car,” muttered Protter, flatly.
“Such a child,” grunted Mary, shaking her head.
“Well, by the way, what did Dorothy say?” asked Protter.
“From Damiew, about the immediate evac,” said Mary.
“I can’t do immediate evac…” said Protter. “Too many eyes… I can only provide a runaway vessel.”
“A vessel?” inquired Mary.
“I contacted the pirates around the region. They said they would take the job,” said Protter. “Why did he ask for the evac? He should be focusing on his task.”
“Ask your assistant; I’ve got no clue,” said Mary and smirked at Protter. “But, WOO, pirates, I didn’t know my husband is an outlaw.”
“They took our retirement money…” smiled Protter.