========================================================================= Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 16:49:06 -0500 Reply-To: "Sean A.Simpson" Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "Sean A.Simpson" Subject: Rules and Consequences 3/3 See part one for disclaimer and copyright notice. Warning: Violence. Rules and Consequences Part Three of The Sands of Time by Sean A. Simpson part three "Where are you getting this drivel? You know damned well I don't want to control the world, or anything like that." "You're Immortal. Not human. How could you possibly understand? Even if you have honorable intentions, how can you keep from being corrupted by the power of the Prize?" "Kenneth, you and I were friends once. You should know me better than that. You know I don't want the Prize. I don't want whatever that might entail. I just want to have my life." Heller looked Angus squarely in the face. "And you might be killed by someone far more evil than the Kurgan or Kern or any of the others we know of. Can you expect humanity to take that risk?" Angus did not even blink. "You are dealing with something far larger and far older than you could possibly imagine. Look at me. I am four thousand years old. Few living now can even comprehend that kind of lifespan. I can count them on the fingers of one hand. And not one of them is mortal. I can tell you one thing: the Game, the legends of the Gathering and the Prize, they predate the oldest Immortals anyone, even Methos, can remember. Don't even attempt to fathom or meddle with things you do not understand. You are opening doors that no mortal should even approach." Heller sighed. "Just like you, MacGregor. Telling us fragile, foolish mortals that we should listen to your flawless wisdom and follow you blindly anywhere you choose to lead us. This is our world, not yours, and you cannot dictate our actions. Especially if you go around advocating the existence of legendary immortals." Angus shook his head. "Have you heard nothing I've said? This is my world as much as it is yours, and I have seen far more of it than you ever will. It took me two hundred years to realize that my elders had wisdom, and that I could learn from them and their mistakes without having to make those same mistakes myself. You may know that intellectually, but few mortals ever truly understand that." "There you are again, MacGregor. Making us sound as if we are inherently inferior simply because we don't live as long. We mortals do develop wisdom too, you know." "Believe me, Kenneth, foolishness is hardly the sole claim of mortals. Living in the fear of death has produced some of the greatest minds this world has ever seen. Nor are all Immortals great repositories of wisdom. As I've explained to many people many times, Immortals are the same as mortals. We just live a lot longer." "Just like mortals? You yourself have said that you don't think in years, even decades anymore. That your standard of time is centuries. How can you possibly understand what it is to be mortal?" "Lest you forget, Kenneth, I was mortal in a time when death was a much closer creature, a far more looming threat, than what you are used to. At thirty, I was a revered elder. No one could remember anyone living past the age of fifty or so. Most of the men of my village died in their late twenties in battle, and women died in childbirth or similar circumstances at the same age. I understand fully well what it means to be mortal, perhaps moreso than you do." Heller's wooden expression cracked for just a moment. "That was thousands of years ago, MacGregor. Somehow I don't think you understand anymore. You've been Immortal for much of the lifespan of Western civilization. I don't believe you even remember what mortality is like." He turned to me. "You. You're a mortal. Why do you trust this... creature with your life?" Ignoring the fact that Heller's words implied a great deal of knowledge about myself as well as Angus, I replied, "Angus saved my life once, and he has proven to be a valuable friend many times. He is honorable, compassionate, and tolerant. And that is more than I can say for what I've seen of you." "It is only an act. If he wins the Prize, he will be corrupted by it and subjugate all humanity. Can you allow that to happen?" I looked him dead in the eye. "The whole reason for the existence for those such as Angus is to prevent that from happening." Angus nodded, and then the two of us left. "It's still not over, is it, Angus?" We were sitting over breakfast the next morning. Angus shook his head in response. "Kenneth was never one to give up easily. Even though I told him that, because he was a Watcher, we could no longer be friends, and that I couldn't be comfortable being friends with someone whose duty it was to record every event of my life for some cold organization that cared little or nothing about the people whose lives they recorded, he still called me from time to time, trying to change my mind. When the theft of my records was discovered, as well as his continued contact with me after I pegged him as a Watcher, he was punished severely for his actions, and didn't receive another field assignment for several years. That was the last I heard from until now. I suppose this is some kind of revenge game." "But didn't you say that Watchers aren't allowed to be friends with Immortals?" "Sometimes, the Watchers put field agents close to their subjects. They've done it more than once to me; however, Kenneth was the only one to ever succeed. He even managed to 'stumble' onto the secret of my Immortality. I never suspected a thing until the day he made the mistake of allowing me to see his tattoo. I demanded that he tell me the truth. He did, albeit reluctantly." Angus shook his head. "He was a good man, if duplicitous. I never thought he would become a murderer." I started to say something, but I was interrupted by the ringing of Angus' cell phone. (Let it never be said that Angus was afraid of technology.) Angus flipped it open and answered it between mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. His eyes narrowed in anger, he flipped his cell phone closed, and then dropped his eating utensils while telling me to get ready to go. "What is it?" I asked, concerned. "It's Kenneth. The Hunters are planning to kill him for failing to subdue me and kill me." We jogged out to the car and drove off to an address Angus had received during the brief phone message. It was an abandoned building, falling apart and doomed to be demolished. Angus entered first, claymore at the ready, and I followed close behind. Suddenly, Angus jumped back and knocked me to the ground, and a barrage of bullets whizzed over our heads from a nearby hallway. Angus pulled some throwing knives out of some concealed pocket and made ready to throw them. He advanced slowly, carefully, holding the claymore with one hand while the other carried the throwing knives. Then his hand flicked out, and I heard the thump of bodies hitting the ground as the knives vanished. He moved farther forward, and then gestured for me to follow. Down the hallway, I saw several men lying on the ground, knives in their throats, guns near at hand. Angus nodded. "A trap. I thought as much." We moved carefully down the hall, and Angus retrieved his knives. Suddenly, the floor collapsed underneath us, and we fell to the floor of the basement, below. Both of us managed to tuck and roll, but Angus' sword and knives fell away from his hands as he hit. I glanced over to where I'd heard them crashing to the ground, only to be greeted by the sight of Heller standing over them, with a pistol and axe in hand. "Well, well. Why am I not surprised to find you right here, chasing after what you believed to be someone reforming to your skewed morality. Those men you killed up there had families. Lives outside of the Hunters. Yet you killed them like so much cattle." Angus did not budge. "Do you think I don't know that they had families and lives? They were there to kill me. I had no choice. Death is the most integral part of Immortal life. You know that; I know that. For four thousand years I have been trained to be a killer, for all that I dislike it. What were you expecting?" "Nothing else at all. You and your kind have no value for human life; you care nothing for anyone but yourselves. You don't care about the mortals you kill, or the Immortals whose heads you take. You all deserve to die." With that, he raised his gun and shot Angus in the left shoulder. He took aim again, but as he was preparing to fire, I saw Angus' right arm blur in motion, and a knife sprouted from Heller's chest. Heller looked down at the knife in surprise. "Damn you... MacGregor..." he gasped as he fell to the floor, blood pouring down his shirt. Angus strode over to Heller's body, threw the gun and axe away, collected his claymore and knives, and then pulled the knife from Heller's chest. By now his shoulder was already mostly healed, although there was a large spot of blood over the spot. As he wiped the blood from the knife, he watched Heller expectantly, as if... Suddenly Heller drew in a sharp breath, his eyes snapped open, and he sat up. Looking at Angus incredulously, he gasped, "I'm... an... Immortal?" Angus nodded. "You are now." "But I thought you had always flatly refused to even harm Pre-Immortals, or even permit them to 'die' before their time. Why... now?" "If you were mortal, you would have died here and now. I would have killed you to prevent you from causing further evil." Suddenly Angus' claymore was in his hands, in a position to sweep Heller's head from his shoulders. "And if I ever learn that you continue down this path, your head will be mine, Kenneth. You know enough to find a teacher. You know the Rules of the Game. Now go, before I change my mind and kill you right here and now." Heller obediently scrambled to his feet and left. "Is it over now, Angus? Do you think he'll be back?" Angus nodded. "Maybe, maybe not. But, if I know him, he'll never fall in with the Hunters again. Not now that he has the chance to see things from an Immortal perspective. He'll go out, find a teacher, and become a great hunter of those he sees as evil. Ultimately, he'll be cut down, as is the fate of every one of us, with the exception of the winner of the Prize." After spending the remainder of the day getting some much-needed rest, I saw to it that my purchases were shipped back to Albany, where Seiichi and Fei were getting settled in their new apartment, and could take care of them until Angus and I returned as well. Angus, on the other hand, took the car and drove out to the woods, saying that he needed some time alone. That was yesterday. Right now, Angus is getting the phone number of the woman who believes him to be a history professor, and I'm finishing up this journal. It's been one hell of a week, and I'll be glad when I get home. Maybe I won't have to follow Angus around and record everything of import that happens, like I did this past week. Here's hoping that I'll get to have my own life for a change. =========================================================================== Comments, suggestions, questions, etc. to stsas02@moravian.edu