“Anyway, I think all of us pretty much know the rest of the story,” Rune said. “Static comes after Jim in our suite, Jim outs him in front of us, and ultimately Jim takes him down mano a mano.”
“Sounds simple when you put it like that,” I observed. “It was a little more touch-and-go at the time. For instance, I wasn’t sure Endow would back my play when I said I switched the evidence.”
Endow smiled. “Neither did I, but I thought you deserved a chance. How’d you know Static was lying?”
“His emotions,” I replied. “He was practically on the verge of panic. I can’t read the rest of you, but it just struck me that a near-omnipotent being doesn’t have much to panic about. In addition, it all seemed centered on my response — what I was going to say when he kept goading me to confess.”
“For a moment there, I thought you were actually going to break down and admit it,” Rune shared.
“Oddly enough, so did I,” I admitted. “It was like there was a tiny voice in my head saying over and over that I should confess.”
Unexpectedly, Endow and Rune exchanged another knowing glance.
“What?” I asked. “What are you two not saying?”
Rune cleared his throat before speaking. “Ahem. It’s possible — likely, in fact — that when Static and you had your tete-a-tete in your brain, he planted that little compulsion to confess. Basically, if you had confessed, no one would have ever thought to question his analysis of the cog, which he never actually did.”
I looked at him in bewilderment. “But if he wanted me to confess to something I didn’t do, why send Ursula to kill me?”
“I should probably clarify,” uttered Rune. “A compulsion along the lines we’re talking about could actually have been used to make you do anything. In this instance, Static just attempted to utilize it to get a convenient confession. In truth, he could have originally intended to use it at some other time, for some other reason, but changed his mind.”
“As for him trying to kill you,” Endow chimed in, “that was really to make Rune bring out the Kroten Yoso Va.”
“He knew that I’d brought you here and felt responsible for you,” Rune admitted. “If you died, he thought the guilt would break down my resolve.”
“Geez,” I droned. “He really wanted that thing badly, didn’t he?”
“Oh, yes,” Endow concurred with a nod. “According to Ursula, it’s why he started coming to the Cosmos Corridor regularly.”
“Huh?” I muttered, baffled.
“Static had started entering the Cosmos Corridor more often lately,” she explained. “He never stated what he wanted, but now we know: he was looking for some indication of where the Kroten Yoso Va was.”
I dwelt on that for a moment. It would certainly explain why he was present the last time I went there (although I hadn’t really given much thought to what he was doing when I showed up). If I hadn’t been so focused on my own agenda, maybe I would have been more curious about what he was up to, although it probably didn’t matter at this point.
“Getting back to him trying to kill me, did he just not consider that Ursula might fail?” I asked. “He just assumed she’d put me six feet under?’
“Actually, he just thought that she’d be able to catch you with your guard down,” Endow responded. “Not to mention that he had a back-up plan.”
I frowned. “What kind of back-up plan?”
Rune glared at Endow for a moment, then said, “You remember how the killer typically didn’t leave any evidence at his crime scenes? Well–”
“Are you kidding me?!” I interjected as the truth became clear. “He was going to blast our suite to rubble? When were you planning to tell me — after I sat down on a stick of dynamite?”
“First of all, there wasn’t any dynamite,” Rune began. “And second, I found and disarmed the object he was planning to use, so you were never really in danger of getting blown up. So the only chance of something happening to you was if you got sloppy or distracted and let Ursula knife you.”
“Speaking of whom,” Endow muttered before I could respond.
At that moment, the door to the room opened and Ursula stepped in.
“Why didn’t anybody tell me my boyfriend had dropped by?” she asked of no one in particular while giving me a wink.
Chapter 61
“What are you doing up?” Endow admonished, coming to her feet, as did Rune and I. “You should be resting.”
“I’m fine,” Ursula insisted. “Static just messed around in my head, and that’s a bit of a mess anyway.”
Everyone snickered at that, at which point Ursula turned to me.
“You, sir, are a terrible first date,” she declared. “Your response to my actions were over the top. A little knife in the heart never hurt anybody.”
I chuckled heartily, saying, “I admit it’s possible I overreacted.”
“Well, lucky for you I like you,” she droned, “so you’ll get a second bite at the apple. Plus, it’s slim pickings around here.”
“Okay, that’s enough out of you,” Endow stated, marching over to Ursula and taking her by the elbow. “Come on, let’s get you back into bed.”
“Wait,” she uttered, spinning toward me. “You’ll come see me before you go?”
“Oh, uh, of course,” I muttered. Her question had taken me a little by surprise, but with everything resolved, I supposed I would be leaving soon.
“I wouldn’t take off without saying good-bye to you and Endow,” I added.
“Who said anything about Endow?” Ursula demanded saucily. “You’re aiming too high. Rune’s not going to let you within a mile of this one.” As she finished speaking, she hooked a thumb toward Endow.
She then gave me a playful wink as Endow said, “Okay, now I know you need some rest…”
She continued talking as she guided Ursula from the room, but I couldn’t hear any more of what was said.
As Rune and I sat back down,
