ANGEL PASTA: PART THREE
Angel leaned her chin onto the palm of her hand once more, trying to ignore the cute way her new companion nibbled at the end of her croissant. Patty seemed to be taking a long time to gather her thoughts, but at this point Angel reasoned that there was nothing to be gained by pushing her.“Bon,” Patty said at last. “There is a mysterious organization attempting to recover an artifact.”
Angel lifted an eyebrow. “Oh? Are they using the jellyfish to do it?” she mused, when Patty didn’t volunteer anything else.
“Non, I do not think so,” Patty said after a moment. “I think the jellyfish came about because of the artifact.”
“But you’re not sure? Sounds like all the more reason to investigate,” Angel pointed out.
Patty sighed. “I am. And will continue my efforts. But this organization, who call themselves Epsilon, they do not want you involved as well.”
Angel hmmmed. That certainly felt suspicious. “Why not?”
“I do not know. But when I asked Beam, she said I should get rid of you.”
Angel lifted her other eyebrow. “Oh. And thus you want me to leave town so that you do not have to kill me instead?”
Patty visibly flinched, her face paling. “Hein? Ah, non, non! Beam meant for me to send you away, I did not mean to imply we wished to… dispose of you.” She shuddered. “I do not think I could even attack someone else, let alone kill them.”
[caption id=“attachment_3547” align=“alignleft” width=“198”]
PÂTES[/caption]
“I see.” Angel brought her hand back to the table, tapping her fingers lightly as she tried to get an emotional read on Patty. It was a skill she had been developing over the years.
Patty’s panic over having to assault someone appeared genuine. Thus she was unlikely to be a secret agent or someone with military training. Angel was secretly pleased by that, even as she wondered how Patty would feel upon learning Angel herself had shot at and injured people, albeit non-lethally.
Yet there was something more about this situation… romantic feelings? Towards her? Patty definitely seemed to be into other women, but that did not negate the possibility of a romantic attachment to a man. Perhaps she was even connected to Jules? Angel needed more data.
“You have not been involved with this Epsilon organization long,” Angel probed, after a moment.
“I have not,” Patty admitted.
“Yet you sought them out?”
“Non, she– er, they found me.”
She? Of course. There it was. “Ahh. This Beam, she is pretty, yes?”
Patty’s cheeks coloured. “Yes. And it’s true that I do not meet many other queer women. But I don’t see how that is relevant to– ahh, zut alors, you are playing me like a cheap violin!” Patty dropped her croissant on her plate and turned away, staring towards the ground.
Angel quickly reached her arm across the table, her palm out. “Non. Not cheap. Never cheap. And for the record, you are very attractive, Patty. My flirting is genuine, and I would like be able to concentrate on it. If only I weren’t also concerned with this situation in town, and how it relates to your mysterious organization.”
Patty glanced back up at her, then again to the ground, the fusilli-style ringlets of her hair bouncing merrily on either side of her face. Angel remained still, her hand open in a silent invitation.
It took at least a minute, but Patty finally sighed. “Angel, I have already said too much.”
“And yet, I am not leaving. So. In for a penny, in for a pound? If it makes you feel better, I am an independent contractor,” Angel offered.
Patty again looked sidelong at her, then tentatively smiled, and reached out towards Angel’s outstretched palm. “I am a fool, falling for a pretty face again, but you saying that does make me feel better,” she admitted. “Given how Beam’s main concern was the attentions of some octopus group.”
Angel felt her heart rate increase at that mention, though she endeavoured not to let her alarm show on her face. She had dealt with operatives of the Octopus before, and was less than thrilled at the prospect that they might become involved here as well. Taking in a slow breath, as the other woman’s fingers slid in against her own, she reassuringly squeezed Patty’s hand.
“Of course,” Patty continued, “if you were part of some evil organization, I’m sure you would lie about it. Or perhaps not know that the organization itself was evil. So I’m sure I am being very naive by simply trusting y–”
“Pâtes,” Angel cut in, deliberately using Patty’s given name. “I believe our discussion has reached a point where it should no longer continue out in public.”
Patty’s red lips clamped shut.
Angel squeezed at Patty’s hand. “There is no need for concern. That said, where would you feel more comfortable talking? There is my hotel room, or my van, which like is my mobile home.” She didn’t even suggest the possibility of not talking about it.
And Patty certainly seemed to want to keep talking. “Your hotel,” she said, with barely any hesitation. “In your van, you could tie me up and drive me off to who knows where.”
“Fair enough,” Angel agreed. “Though for the record, I only tie people up if they are being very naughty.” She checked herself, as a particular scenario occurred. “Or perhaps by request.”
Patty stared at her. “You are absolutely une sirène,” she concluded. Alluding to the legendary seductive mermaids of Greek mythology, who lured in all ships that passed by.
Angel simply smiled, accepting the compliment. They two women rapidly finished their breakfast and left the cafe.
Angel’s hotel room was a simple affair, a single bed with a desk and nightstand. On the desk was a lamp and a telephone to reach the front desk, while near the bed was an unused ashtray, and a small clock radio.
Upon their arrival, Angel made a point of re-locking the door, unholstering her gun, and double checking that the safety was on before placing it on the desk. She then took off her lab coat and went to turn on the radio, allowing light classical music to play. That would serve to confound any listening devices that might have been placed in the room.
There was no reason to think she was being bugged, but in her experience, a little paranoia never hurt. She kept the room curtains closed.
Patty spent a short while simply staring at the gun before glancing around the room, perhaps trying to get a sense of Angel’s personality. But Angel had kept most of her belongings in her van.
Then Patty’s cheeks coloured, so Angel followed her gaze. Belatedly, she spotted that she had merely kicked her clothes of the previous day into a corner of the room, rather than putting them back into her suitcase.
She was reminded of the time her suitcase had burst open in a Greek airport, scattering all of her clothing across the floor for anyone to see. And she hadn’t even been there at that time.
Fortunately, Angel was either able to hide her own embarrassment, or Patty didn’t care to acknowledge it. The dark haired woman ended up taking a seat on the edge of the bed, with her back to the clothing pile.
Angel sat down at the desk instead, wanting to give Patty space. She belatedly moved her gun further away, so that it wasn’t immediately within reach.
Patty adjusted the large black bow in her hair. “So. Where were we?”
“It may be better if you start back at the beginning,” Angel suggested. “This Beam woman approached you about her organization, did she?”
Patty nodded. “Yes. Okay. See, I am a close friend of Mimi LaFleche. She’s the daughter of that sea captain you’ve been asking about around town.”
Angel nodded back. “Right. The one who had threatened the job of Jules, the town’s head of tourism.”
“Correct. Don’t think anything of that, by the way. He gets in these moods, threatens people, swears a bunch, but he doesn’t generally follow through. He’s a nice guy deep down. It’s why he docks in our port every so often, to visit his daughter.”
“I see. They did not grow up around here?”
“Non, we all lived up the coast. Mimi got a job in the city here, that’s why she moved. Well, that and the hunk of a guy who runs the seaside restaurant, to use her words. They’re now dating.”
Angel drummed her fingers once across the desk as she regarded Patty. There was some tension there, as the other woman spoke. “So. You love Mimi, but she is very heterosexual.”
Patty flinched anew. “Sacre bleu, how do you DO that?” she said, aghast. “Is it that I have become so sexually frustrated that my love life is an open book to every other queer woman in my vicinity?”
Angel quickly held up both hands, palms open. “Non, non. My apologies. I merely recognized the pain, and felt it could be connected to why this Beam approached you, as opposed to Mimi herself.”
Patty stared at her, then slumped. “Maybe. See, Mimi asked me to look into the jellyfish situation, as she’s concerned about her Dad being implicated. I agreed, of course - I’d do anything for Mimi - and the swarm is kind of keeping me from lounging on the beach while on vacation anyway. I figured my investigation is why Beam found me. But perhaps I was easier to seduce.”
“It was merely a hypothesis,” Angel assured her.
“No, no, it makes sense,” Patty said. “Because Beam said her reward for my helping out Epsilon would be… ahh… that is, Beam said I was very beautiful and worthy of love and so when this was over we might, euh…”
“Speak in tongues?” Angel offered at the hesitation.
“Mmm! Exactly,” Patty said, visibly relieved by the euphemism. “She even claimed to be programmed specifically for that purpose.”
“Understood,” Angel assured. She frowned. “Wait, no. Programmed? What does that even mean?”
“See, that’s the other thing,” Patty said. “Beam isn’t human. She says she’s a hologram. And she proved it. That’s how I know all of this isn’t someone pranking me.”
“Back up. What is a hologram?”
“Well, while she LOOKS like an attractive twenty-something blonde with hair down to her knees, wearing a blue hairband with blue earrings, a blue skirt and cute blue shoes, complimented with a dark blouse and dark stockings wrapped around a set of killer legs… you can’t touch her. A hologram is somehow a technological ghost. My hand passed right though her, and she phased right through solid objects.”
Angel found she could only stare.
“Oh, but she assured me her state could become solid, temporarily,” Patty added. “For my reward.”
“Bon, let’s… set rewards aside for a moment,” Angel said, gesturing sideways as she found her voice. “You’re saying this woman was - is - some sort of technological being? But then, who controls her?”
“She controls herself, supposedly,” Patty said. “She said she was an autonomous hologram.”
“I see,” Angel said, not exactly convinced.
Patty shrugged. “I guess if she was being controlled, she wouldn’t know. Or wouldn’t say?” Angel’s companion pursed her lips. “Damn it. Angel, am I too naive? I tend to take people at face value unless they’ve given me a reason to believe otherwise.”
“You haven’t seen some of the things I’ve seen, that’s all,” Angel said. She realized then how this supposedly holographic woman was becoming a distraction. Perhaps a deliberate effort on the part of that Epsilon group, to divert attention. “Never mind. Explain more about the organization. You mentioned an artifact?”
Patty nodded. “Correct. There’s something in this area that’s not supposed to be here. Epsilon, they came here to retrieve it, all the way from some other world. But they were unable to pinpoint its exact location. That’s why they wanted my help, as they need to get out it of here before that octopus organization can get involved.”
Angel’s fingers tapped on the desk. Patty seemed absolutely sincere in everything she was saying.
As to the Epsilon organization, they had definitely done their homework, in not wanting to attract undue attention to the area. Perhaps that was even why they hadn’t wanted Angel to stick around? As surely some operatives of the Octopus were checking in on her from time to time. And maybe Epsilon knew that.
Still. That didn’t mean this new organization or their mystery technology could be immediately trusted.
Angel realized her next choice was clear.
(Actually, it’s not clear at all, is it? So you get to help decide.)
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UPDATE NOV 10: We’ve had only one vote so far, and I’m dealing with midterm report cards. Thus plan is to have another part out before month’s end, but you have at least another week to increase our vote count.)
