Water/Retention

Thursday, August 21, 2003, 10:15 p.m. EDT

Pier 31, East River, New York, New York

The investigators left Grimes counting foghorn blasts and made their way to the warehouse. The only windows were about 15 feet off the ground. Empty crates were stacked around the near side of the warehouse. The investigators stacked crates as quietly as they could and MICHAEL climbed on top.

Peering in, MICHAEL made out the shapes of about a dozen people lit by flickering candle light. Something was happening in an open area in the middle of the warehouse, but crates blocked MICHAEL's direct line-of-sight. He could tell that there were doors at either end of the warehouse, and opposite him was a catwalk with a door leading out (presumably to a fire escape). MICHAEL hopped down and told the others.

They decided to sneak around the eastern end of the warehouse, but they spotted someone looking out the door there. The person was male and Asian, a member of the triad. They then tried to sneak around the western end, only to find that someone was looking out of that door, too. MICHAEL volunteered to sneak up to this guard and knock him out.

MICHAEL managed to get to a set of crates a few feet from the door without the guard noticing. MICHAEL made his move, charging the guard. The guard only saw him at the last second. At that moment, MICHAEL's luck left him. He tried to punch the guard but he missed. The guard yelled out an alarm while MICHAEL tried once more to silence him. Another guard, this one with a gun, came running from somewhere inside the warehouse. MORGAN and Kovac ran to help MICHAEL. The guard with the pistol fired at MICHAEL, but missed. MICHAEL kicked the first guard. With a sickening crunch of bone the guard collapsed, no longer breathing.

By this time MORGAN and Kovac were at MICHAEL's side. Kovac looked around for a rock. MORGAN hit the guard with the gun. Kovac picked up a 2 by 4, but too late to do any good as MICHAEL kicked the second guard, knocking him unconscious. Yelling and footfalls told them that more reinforcements were on the way. The investigators ran around to the south end of the warehouse, hoping to get to the fire escape before the triad guards could stop them.

They got to the fire escape. MICHAEL jumped up to grab the retractable ladder but missed. MORGAN and Kovac looked for more crates just as MICHAEL managed to catch the ladder. He scrambled up while Kovac held down the ladder. When MICHAEL was half way, Kovac started up and MORGAN held the ladder. MORGAN started up as MICHAEL reached the top. MICHAEL looked back the way they came for signs of the guards, but there was none. This surprised him but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

They tried the door to the fire escape landing. It was locked. Kovac took out her lockpick kit and tried to pick it. After a few minutes, the lock gave and they were inside on a short catwalk.

The warehouse was packed with crates arranged so that sight lines to the entrance doors were blocked, with a space left open in the middle for some kind of ceremony. The catwalk held the controls to an electric crane. The crane ran back and forth along a track near the roof, allowing it to pick up any crate in the building. Below, in the open space, were the members of the triad. Ten members stood in a C-shaped semi-circle surrounded by candles. The open end faced east. In the middle lay the body of a woman in dirty, tattered clothes. Her throat had been slit and her blood had flowed onto the floor. At the open end of the semi-circle was a dais made of crates. On the dais were four triad members in ceremonial robes. One held a jade statue and faced west. Beside him and also facing west, was a second member holding a scroll. Directly in front of the triad/cultist with the book and facing him was a tall Asian wielding two sickles dripping with blood. It was Yeung. The forth triad member stood beside Yeung, facing the one with the scroll. All four were chanting. Upon seeing how badly they were outnumbered, Kovac whispered, "I don't have that many Band Aids in my purse."

MICHAEL took aim at Yeung while MORGAN aimed at the triad/cultist holding the statue. Kovac went over to the crane controls. They consisted of a four position joystick, a two position lever, a red button, a green button, and a key switch. Kovac picked the key switch on the third try. She was ready to start the crane, but she had only a vague idea how it worked. MICHAEL stopped aiming and went over to help her.

MORGAN noticed slight movement out of the corner of his eye. Squatting in the rafters was another large winged reptile/insect creature, like the one they killed in the alley. [It was another byakhee. - Editor] It sniffed the air, saw MORGAN, and squawked. MORGAN shifted aim and fired at the creature, just as it started to fly at him. MICHAEL swung around when he heard the squawking, assessed the situation, and fired at Yeung. Kovac started the crane. MORGAN's shot bounced off the creature. It flew at him.

Before the creature could reach MORGAN, it was intercepted by another winged thing, this one bat like with oily black skin and no face. MORGAN fired at the first creature, and apparently wounded it. The two flying monsters began fighting each other, the bat-thing scoring hits with its claws and razor-sharp tail. Kovac looked up from the crane controls and saw the creatures.

"Disbelieve this, Scully!" shouted MORGAN.

"Statue, statue!" cried Kovac, focusing her attention away from the creatures and onto something more "comforting".

Meanwhile, MICHAEL shot at Yeung and Kovac started up the crane. Yeung took a bullet to the shoulder. Kovac dropped the crane hook to ground level. Shots rang out, but none appeared to be in their direction. Suddenly six men, caucassians in street clothes, rushed into the warehouse. They fired their pistols at the triad, killing two and wounding one. Yeung took the opportunity to run for cover. The other three triad members in cult robes continued to chant.

The Triad took cover and returned fire. Another two triad members dropped and a third was wounded, but not before one of the interlopers was killed and a second wounded. Most of the bullets from both sides missed or slammed into crates, but those that hit did horrific damage. Meanwhile, the creatures continued to battle each other in the air in front of MORGAN, the black creature doing the majority of the damage.

Kovac worked the controls of the crane, sending the hook into the eastern wall. MICHAEL fired at the cultist holding the statue. The cultist dropped the statue. Kovac tried again and sent it swinging into the cultist shot by MICHAEL. The impaled body swung towards the west wall, scattering cultists in its wake. MORGAN decided not to shoot at the reptilian creature, choosing instead to fire at cultists. A robed cultist, whom Kovac had sent scrambling to safety, ran up to the one holding the scroll. He yelled something, but was interrupted in mid declaration, permanently, with a bullet through the chest, courtesy of MORGAN.

Kovac left the crane's controls and headed for the ladder, yelling to the others that she was going for the statue. MICHAEL leaned through the bars of the catwalk and fired at Yeung, who was now fleeing along the nearest wall. He hit Yeung in the back, and the triad/cult leader fell face first. MORGAN felled the last of the robed cultists, the one with the scroll.

The firefight on the warehouse floor swung in favour of the triad. Two more caucassians were felled at the loss of one triad member. The caucassians turned and ran.

With a swift slice of its tail, the black creature killed the other monster. MORGAN's elation at seeing this was short lived as the creature dove for the statue. MORGAN and MICHAEL fired at it, hitting it to no visible effect. It swooped down on the statue. Still in denial, Kovac yelled, "That parrot is after my statue!" She pushed some crates on top of the creature, slowing it down. MICHAEL and MORGAN fired at it again. Kovac took out her pistol and fired as the creature lifted off the floor. It crumpled in the air and crashed into the middle of the warehouse, the statue falling with it.

The remaining cultists focused their attention on MICHAEL and MORGAN. Shots rang out, missing the Delta Green operatives. Kovac took the opportunity to drop to the floor and crawl to the statue. Grabbing it, she looked around for the scroll and saw it in the dead hands of the cultist. She crawled back towards the dais. The agents returned fire and two cultists fell. The others, two of which were badly wounded, ran for the exit. MORGAN descended the ladder and headed to Kovac's aid.

While Kovac picked up the The Goddess of the Black Fan scroll and was joined by MORGAN, MICHAEL stepped out the door and onto the fire escape, scanning to see if their exit was clear. At the southwest end of the warehouse was a caucassian male, medium height and blonde. He held his hands out to the warehouse, deep in concentration. MICHAEL ordered him to freeze. The man apparently had no intention of moving.

Out of the corner of his eye, MICHAEL saw something approaching the pier. He looked to his left and saw a tugboat heading for the wharf — and the warehouse sitting on it — at top speed. Without a second to lose he ducked into the warehouse and yelled for the others to get out. He clambered down the ladder and out the door behind Kovac and MORGAN. They ran off the pier as the boat slammed into it. Wood splintered behind them, wrecking the pier and the warehouse. They escaped onto dry land just ahead of the wave of wooden debris.

They ran to the street. Kovac's rental car was gone. In its place was a white limousine. The door of the passenger section opened. Inside was an immaculately dressed man of Middle Eastern extraction with a perpetual smile on his face. It was as though he didn't take the world too seriously... or he was perpetually selling something. "Your car has been taken care of," he said to Kovac, and offered the investigators a ride.

They looked at each other, took out their guns, and accepted. They demanded to know his name. "I am Stephen Alzis," he replied.

He told them that the statue they carried is used in calling the Bloated Woman, an avatar of Nyarlathotep. The investigators had little idea what a "Nyarlathotep" was, but they were sure it wasn't good. Alzis went on to explain that the cultists had already summoned the Bloated Woman. It would appear on the streets of New York in the presence of those who owned the statue. That was now the investigators. He looked at his watch. They had about ten minutes. He went on to explain that if they gave him the statue he would "dismiss" the Bloated Woman.

The investigators wanted to know what they got out of it, after all there was risk in handing over the statue to a complete stranger. Alzis said that he was protecting them from the Bloated Woman. They wanted proof, and he suggested that they wait ten minutes... They threatened him, bluffing that they would let the Bloated Woman appear in his limo. Alzis was not swayed, seeming both cocky and curious at the suggestion of the Bloated Woman appearing in his car. His smile never faded. They threatened to shoot him, but he pointed out that it wouldn't stop the Bloated Woman from showing up.

MICHAEL said they would relent if Alzis answered some questions. "Such as?" asked Alzis.

"Who owns Club Apocalypse?" replied MICHAEL.

"Will you give me the statue?" Alzis asked in return?

MICHAEL and the others acquiesced and gave Alzis the statue. "I own Club Apocalypse." He went on to explain that Hubert was the business manager. The person who hired Ng was the same one that killed Wong; his name was John Morsley, and he worked for Alzis. "He has the power to play with the laws of quantum mechanics and probability." Morsley would be "dealt with". Morsley was the blonde man who was gesturing toward the warehouse, and who apparently sent in the people who fired on the triad. Alzis repeated that Morsley would be dealt with.

Alzis's cell phone wrang and he answered it. "We have less than a minute." The car stopped and the investigators piled out, keeping the scroll but leaving the statue with Alzis. He closed the door behind them, then rolled down the window. He told Kovac to contact the rental agency about her car, then he rolled up the window and the car disappeared around a corner. Within a couple of minutes the investigators hailed a taxi. They jumped in.

"I've never been so happy to see a taxi driver in my life," cried Kovac.

They slept in a single hotel room, setting watches throughout the night.

Friday, August 22, 2003, 9:00 a.m. EDT

John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, New York

The next day they went to the car rental agency. The worker at the counter was very apologetic, sorry that Kovac had been the victim of a car jacking. They gave her a discount on a new rental car, this time a sporty Mustang convertible. "Shotgun!" cried MORGAN.

"You'll get a shotgun," threatened MICHAEL, who didn't like the idea of being stuck in the car's rear seat.

They drove to the police impound lot and retrieved Kovac's personal effects. The car jacking story was repeated.

The Delta Green men suggested that Kovac could become a "friendly". They then explained a little about what they do and what goes on.

"Maybe I don't want to know," said Kovac. "I hear jambalaya calling my name."

They shook hands and departed, Kovac flying back to New Orleans, but not before giving the scroll to MORGAN. MORGAN returned to Atlanta and MICHAEL drove back to D.C.

Aftermath

MORGAN's report to the CDC suggested that the "bloating" was the result of a bad case of "tainted clams". MICHAEL told his superiors that he was investigating a terrorist threat which was now an NTSB investigation into the ramming of the pier by a tug boat. MICHAEL contacted the insurance company with the license plate number of the car Kovac hit while chasing Yeung.

MORGAN began studying The Goddess of the Black Fan with the help of a Chinese translation program on his computer. Even still it was slow going. He hardly made a dent in it when he and MICHAEL were asked by ALPHONSE to bring Kovac into the fold. They flew to New Orleans, bearing beer and a proposition. They asked Kovac to join Delta Green. "Do I have a choice?"

"Yes, you do," said MICHAEL, not quite convincingly.

After hearing more about Delta Green, Kovac agreed to join. She entered M-cell as agent MAYA.

A couple of days later, an anonymous letter arrived for MICHAEL. In it was a newspaper clipping about the death of one John Morsley, who apparently jumped from the 31st floor of a New York high rise. Apparently Alzis was true to his word and Morsley had been "dealt with".