========================================================================= Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 11:30:52 CST Reply-To: "sraghava@st1.clc.cc.il.us" Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "sraghava@st1.clc.cc.il.us" Organization: College of Lake County Subject: Tricks of the Trade Part 1/? X-To: nbarja1@icarus.cc.uic.edu Tricks of the Trade Part 1/? ==> A Highlander fanfic by Vatsan "Kinslayer" Raghavan This is my second set of stories in the Vijay Shankar cycle. The first was _Connections_ This story should be easy to understand whether or not you've read the previous one. All natural disclaimers apply. TotT takes place approximately 6 months after _Connections_ Enjoy. PG. Mild swearing. (Except for the beheading stuff) <> indicates thought. _stuff_ indicates underlining. indicates some kind of sound. CAPS indicate boldfacing -------------------------------* * *------------------------ Virigambhacam, India. Small village outside Madras. He looked up at the house, awed at it's beauty. <>, he thought. <> As he entered the house,he felt _something_, there was no other way to express it. <> A light suddenly appeared in the room. <> A man emerged from the room, a man with a SWORD!! Vijay looked at the boy and sighed. He had met 'young' immortals before, but never one so bold. "I suppose you're here for me boy?" "N..N..N..No sir. I..I..I'm just here to steal some things." Vijay stopped, surprised, then squinted. "Do you have any idea what you are boy? Any idea of your potential?" The boy laughed. "I'm a thief, sir, " he paused, thinking " as for potential, the only potential I have is to die at the hands of the police, or possibly another thief." With that the boy slipped away before Vijay could utter another word. Vijay sighed. The boy was a potential immortal. In a couple of years the boy would 'die' and his immortality would be forced on him. <> Something was still bothering him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. ---------------------------* * *------------------------------- The boy walked about 2 blocks, constantly looking back and wondering, <> Since he wasn't looking at where his feet were taking him, Ganesh didn't notice the man who ran into him. "You should watch where you're going boy. Those feet could get you into serious trouble one of these days. Unfortunately for you, this is that day." Ganesh's eyes widened in fear and he tried to slip back into the shadows. But it was too late, the man quickly pulled a sword out of his trenchcoat and chopped the boy's head off. His head bounced to the ground, his eyes still wide in fear. Of course, since the boy was not yet Immortal, there was no Quickening. "Boy, your body will become my weapon to completely destroy that bastard Shankar. Ha, ha, ha!!!" The man carefully the sword with the boy's blood on it and placed it next to the body, making sure to wipe all possible fingerprints from the handle or blade. The only thing remaining would be the boy's blood. It was Shankar's sword, but he hadn't used it in centuries, but the inept police would not know that. "The decrepit power structure in this corrupt country will damn the fool to jail. And there, weaponless and weak, his head will be min!!!!" -------------------------------* * *----------------------------- Virigambhacam, India. Small town outside of Madras. 11:00 am "Coming, coming." Vijay opened the door and the police charged inside. "Vijay Shankar?" "Yes. What is this all about?" "I am Detective Soundarajan. We have a warrant. You are under arrest for the murder of Ganesh Angalopali. Now, if you would come with us to the precinct office." "But I haven't done anything. I don't know any Ganesh." The officer sighed. "He was a little boy about 15. He broke into your house last night and you beheaded him no more that 2 blocks from here." "What? NO!!!" "Come with us, Mr Shankar. We'll sort this all out at the precinct office." ==> 2 hours later. Vijay is sitting in a shabby, decrepit interrogation room in the local police precinct. <=======================================> _Adjacent room_ "There's something about this man, he's different. He's killed before." "How can you tell?" The other officer laughed. "Kid, when you've been in this business as long as I have, one look at the eyes and you can see innocence or guilt. This guy, he's killed before, but . . . I dunno, I'm not sure that he killed this kid, call it a gut instinct, something, but I dunno." "Gee, thanks boss. Well, come on Sunder, let's pull his strings." <========================================> "Now, Mr. Shankar I am Seargent Arunathan and this as you know is Detective Soundarajan. Could you please tell me what happened between you and the boy last night." "Well, let's see. . . I was in my bedroom reading a book . . ." " . . . 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. AS I WAS saying, I was reading a book in my bedroom when I heard a sound, thinking it might be a burglar I picked up a small knife I keep in the house for protection and entered the living room . . . " "Small knife, Mr. Shankar? That 'small knife' was a Japanese Katana that was priceless. Where did you get that kind of money, Mr. Shankar?" "I don't see where it's any of you business." "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT KIND OF MONEY, MR. SHANKAR???" "Family inheritance." Which, of course, was essentially true. Vijay Shankar had given his money to Ganesh Shankar, who'd given it to Arjuna Shankar, who given it to Krishnamurti Shankar, and so on down the Ages. "And you claim that you've never spoke to the boy, neither of you said a word?" "No officer we did not. He saw me and bolted." Vijay did not even flinch at that blatant and obvious lie. He was still deep in thought about his situation. <> "Officer, this still doesn't make any sense. Why would I behead the boy? For breaking into my house? That would be a bit excessive, don't you think?" "Quite frankly, Mr. Shankar, I don't know what to think. However, the victim was beheaded with a Toledo Salamanca broadsword, and a sword is missing from your rather . . . extensive collection." Vijay's eyes widened in shock and surprise. "What?!?!? My family's had that sword for two hundred years! My great-great-great grandfather won that sword in Paris after winning a bet." Again, that statement was partially truth. In truth, Vijay had won the bet, getting the man's entire fortune in a card game. The man, an immortal, outraged that he'd lost nearly 10 million francs challenged Vijay to a duel to the death, literally. Vijay didn't want the man's head but the man would accept no less. Vijay kept the sword, as he did the sword of every immortal he'd ever killed. He kept them as a reminder of life, death, and the fine line between them. "Of course that's your claim, Mr. Shankdar, and of course we have no word but yours on that." Vijay's eyes burned in rage, that his word would be doubted. "Officer, if you have anything anything against me, charge me with something, or else LET ME GO!" "Hmmm, yes. Excuse me a moment Mr. Shankar." <=====On the other side of the one-way mirror.=====> Seargant Arunathan asked his boss. "Well, what do you say?" "I dunno. No motive, why should he kill the kid. Besides, he had a perfect opportunity to kill the kid in his house, then clean up the mess and we'd be none the wiser. Hell the kid was street thug, nobody'd have noticed that he was missing. So why'd he tail the kid two blocks, behead him, then leave the murder weapon. Which, incidentally, is worth about 1 million US dollars," the Chief of Police replied. "Hmmm . . . could it be a frame up," inquired Detective Soundarajan. Seargant Arunathan replied, "sure, but why?" "I think he did it, but it's still up to you Rajesh, you're the Chief here," Detective Soundarajan pointed out. The Chief of Police paused, thinking. "Book him." Detective Soundarajan reentered the interrogation room." Vijay Shankar, you are under arrest for the murder of Ganesh Angalopali . . ." --------------------------------* * *----------------------------- End Part 1. ==> I said I'd write another story, here it is. Hope you enjoyed it so far. Next part in a couple of days. Thanx. P.S. I know technically Ganesh shouldn't have felt anything, but I'm not so sure about that. (I mean Richie must have felt _something_ from Mac, or else why was he so nosy in "The Gathering." It had to be something more than just the sword.) Vatsan "Kinslayer" Raghavan sraghava@st1.clc.cc.il.us "What can I do to make you believe that I'm mortal?"-Q -"Die."-Worf --"Oh very funny, Worf. Eat any good books lately?"--Q.