Chapter Three - Homecoming

Rain fell across the gothic spires of Ulgotha, home of more than two million souls and as many people, give or take a few thousand. Agnes Helmsman had once enjoyed the rain, but in recent years the smoke from Slag Valley had given the city's precipitation an unpleasant smell. She stood on the covered entryway to Chimaera Estate, while the water syphoned out through a half-dozen gargoyles in the shape of the building's namesake. A coach she recognised as belonging to her husband had pulled in a few moments earlier, though its side had been painted white, completely erasing the Chimaera Laboratory logo.

"I really don't see why I have to be here, mother." said her son, Roger Blithe. Roger was Agnes' child from her first marriage, and hadn't held a job since his mother had married the wealthy Savant. Viggo couldn't stand the man; the feeling was mutual.

"Because he's your father." said Agnes.

"My father is dead." said Roger.

Agnes was about reprimand her son when a pair of figures came out of the coach. Agnes recognised the shorter of the two as her husband and the other as William Rainsford. Viggo wore a large cloak over his usual work coat, an unusual thing indeed.

"Mrs. Helmsman." called Rainsford. "I have some bad news to report."

"The bastard's still alive, how bad can it be." muttered Blithe.

The two men ascended to the covered entryway. Viggo remained silent, not even making eye contact, far from his usual greeting of a warm hug to his third wife and a gruff scowl at his stepson.

"Perhaps we could go inside." said Rainsford.

"Of course." said Agnes. "Viggo?"

Helmsman merely nodded. Agnes could see that he was wearing the red scarf she'd given him over his face.

They retired to the front room of Chimaera Estate, but Viggo didn't remove his cloak, hood, or scarf. Blithe seemed maliciously curious about what had gone on in Geon that had left his stepfather so visibly broken. At threshold to the room, Viggo put out his arm, barring Blithe's way.

"No." said Viggo. "This is not information for you."

Blithe stalked off with a snort and Viggo shut the door behind him, taking a seat next to Rainsford.

"Mrs. Helmsman," Rainsford began. "This is going to be difficult to comprehend. To be sure, it is a very complicated matter.

"It seems that King Rarc had plan for Geon, only some of which we were told. He desired for his capital to be impregnable, and had heard about your husband's defensive engines that had been installed in Ulgotha. He sent the communique to Ulgotha that he solicited the Savant's services, offering a very generous wage for overseeing the installation of the same engines at Geon."

"Yes, I know." said Agnes. "He also said that part of the pay was with the stipulation that Viggo appear personally. That's why the two of you left. Mr. Rainsford, I dont' know if you're aware that he asked me to accompany him, but I stayed here because my arthritis bothers me on long trips like that."

"Be that as it may, his reasons for requesting the Savant's personal presence were never explained, but in the face of such a lucrative contract the stipulation seemed acceptable. Little were we to know what would unfold in Geon. We spent three weeks installing the apparatus. The day they were finished, we learned of King Rarc's true goals.

"When Rarc decided to make his city invincible, he knew that the Savant understood how to wreck the engines he was installing. Rarc's solution to the problem was to have the Savant assassinated. Nine days ago, your husband was shot with a single bolt, straight in the chest."

Agnes was taken aback. "Well, Viggo, it looks like you're recovering quite well."

Viggo's shoulder's slumped, though no sigh could be heard. "That's just it, dear. I only look like I've recovered."

Rainsford hesitated under Agnes' inquisitive gaze, then continued. "You see, Mrs. Helmsman, the shot was fatal. I saw the Savant fall with my own eyes. The bolt went straight through his heart and came halfway out again. He was dead practically before he hit the ground."

"--But he's right here!" cried Agnes.

"--Let me finish, Mrs. Helmsman. With the Savant dead, I was in command of the employees of Chimaera Laboratory. Because he was clearly dead, I had your husband's body mummified in Geon, with the idea of keeping it preserved long enough for a public funeral back here in Ulgotha. To keep the body safe, I had it temporarily interred in a mausoleum and posted watchmen for the night. We had planned to leave the next day."

"That's when I woke up." said Helmsman. "But I wasn't the man I used to be."

With that, he lowered the hood and slowly undid the scarf. His face was the same it as it had been when he left, but pail as, well, death. Only then did Agnes notice that Viggo's chest didn't rise and fall. Though he sat right there, clearly conscious, he took no breath.

"I...I..." stammered Agnes. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I." said Helmsman. "I don't even remember dying. I was just standing in a market square, and the next thing I knew I was lying in a mausoleum vault."

"As it turned out," said Rainsford. "King Rarc found out about the Savant's return fairly quickly. We managed to escape the city without incident, but by the time we reached the borders a few days later they were looking for us. We'd painted over the coaches to hide the Chimaera insignia, but even so we lost four men and a coach to the Bellaraphonian authorities before we were safely back in Sardipan territory. Turash only knows what's become of them."

Rainsford stopped when he noticed Helmsman clenching his fist in anger. " I don't know what's happened here, but I do know one thing--Rarc has to pay. I say we should burn his god-forsaken country to the ground."

"I've already made an appointment with the Imperator for tomorrow." said Rainsford. "His schedule was full, but being a national hero like your husband makes for special allowances."

"So the Imperator knows about this...condition?" asked Agnes.

"No, not yet." said Helmsman. "It will become public knowledge then. I only hope that being chaired by a dead man doesn't drive Chimaera Laboratory under."

Outside, the rain picked up.