Abject in the Dust

Chapter 9 - Outsmarted

"I did not expect to see you quite so soon, old friend." Kristofor did not rise as Nikola slammed the door to the office shut.

"That bitch has betrayed us!" Nikola pulled back a chair with too much strength, as it toppled to the floor; it only served to increase his anger as he leant down to right his wrong.

"Sit down and tell me what took place." Kristofor motioned to Nikola to sit. "Take a drink. You look like you have not taken liquid for too long." Kristofor poured a large goblet of blood red wine for his friend.

Nikola finished the goblet eagerly. "She is armed." Nikola said as he finished his last gulp.

"Armed?"

"The weapon we let her take. It must have been working."

Kristofor waved his hand dismissively. "We expected as much, or else why would she covet the rifle the way she did?"

"Maybe, but I didn't expect it to be used against me."

"Explain to me what happened." Kristofor took a seat behind his ornate desk as he encouraged his friend to speak.

"She killed seven. One more is badly wounded. He won't survive long."

"Impressive."

"That is not the word I would use."

"A point well made." Kristofor placed his feet on the over-sized desk. "But she did make clear that she would kill some of the party which followed as part of her subterfuge."

"This was no subterfuge. She deliberately led us on a false trail so that we would be exposed and then took us out one by one."

Kristofor shrugged his shoulders. "I am struggling to understand how this is different from what she said she would do?"

"She said that she would make a show of taking some of our number. I thought that meant some attack at close quarters where we would lose two or three and be supposedly frightened into retreat."

"Come, Nikola. You didn't really think that she would make it that easy, did you?"

"She shot at me. At me! More than once. I had to take cover behind some rocks."

"And how many fell before she started shooting at you?"

"Five, six. I'm not sure."

"Well, there you go then. If she had truly wanted you dead, she would have ensured you were one of the first to fall. It was all just for effect."

"Then why did she kill so many that it was impossible for us to continue to track? I have had no other option but to come back and get more to follow her."

"You would have had to come back anyway. I am only surprised that it all happened quite so quickly."

"You were not there, Kristofor." Nikola spoke more angrily. "What happened was beyond what we agreed. She has betrayed us, tricked us into giving her freedom."

Kristofor rose to his feet quickly and leaned forward, spreading his hands wide on his desk. "And if she has, what difference does it make?"

"I do not understand?"

"If she has betrayed us, what will she do now?"

"I don't know."

"Will she come back?"

"No, of course not."

"Of course not. So, what other options does she have?"

"I don't know." Nikola replied more angrily.