Solomon's Private File #391
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in the
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 33 in this story, in the Summer of 2059.
Solomon's Private File #391 "Marcel's Wedding"
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There was a sign on the entrance to the Council hall that prohibited
firearms. I stood inside the main entrance and enforced that. "Sir,
there are no firearms allowed in this event." He said, "But I don't
have one." I pointed to where it was concealed. He said, "Oh. How did
you know?" I said, "Your body knows. It causes you to move differently,
and a little protectively of it. And when I mentioned firearms, your
arm twitched. A reflexive aborted reaching for it, action. And
sometimes it makes you look at people differently, as if they are
possible targets." He said, "Wow! I didn't know all that could be
observed." I said, "Here is a receipt for it. We'll keep it in the
cloak room. You can have it when you leave. I don't blame you for
carrying it, with the unsafe streets as they are." He said, "Thank you.
That was my reason. Truthfully, I sometimes feel safer without that
thing." I said, "I understand completely. I never carry one. Explosives
near my, er, ouch! Anybody who wants to kill me has to get close enough
to me for my thrown knives to be effective. Faster reloading, too." He
said, "Good reasons!"
There was more of that, with no complaints. Then there was a problem.
He said, "I will not give up my pistol!" I said, "Oh, it must be very
valuable. Gold? Gems? I work in that area. I could do some more of that
for you." He said, "Not that. I want to be able to defend myself." I
said, "Good reason. There are other ways, though, that if you had
really wanted to learn to FULLY defend yourself in all situations, you
would have learned to do that without a single shot pistol. For you,
it's only useful for threatening, or assassination, neither of which
will be needed in this wedding. You may have it when you leave, or you
can leave now, and avoid this." One witness said, "That's well
reasoned!" I said to him, "Thank you." The pistol packing problem left,
angry. I said to the others, "That man would make an unpleasant guest
anywhere." Nods of agreement. One said, "If he had decided to argue
physically?" I said with a grin, "Don't you mean you wish he had?" He
was embarrassed, but grinned with the others.
Then I said, "You there! Do you really need to carry three large
knives? You only have two hands. So, unless your tongue is very
way your body moves, and how your clothes fit. Two of your knives are
too big to conceal well. You do some dancing, the woman might think
you're extra interested in her. There are better things for that."
Chuckles. He said, "I see what you mean. Habit. How many do you carry?"
I said, "If you don't know, means I'm doing it well. More than one.
That's all I'll say. But one more thing. With my strength and accuracy,
even thrown coin can kill." He said, "Oh. That's interesting. Will I
have to leave them with you?" I said, "Not required, but if you want to
this one." I said, "And you will be watched more than others." He
nodded, and said, "That's fair. But how will they know?" I said, "We
are being observed. Who here didn't expect me to do something like
this, and more?" He noticed the grins. He said, "I feel much safer!
Thank you."
A few minutes later, one who was handing me his gun, tried to fire it
at me. I said, "Big mistake. I don't allow people to shoot me. Tell me
why." He said, "I didn't!" I squeezed his hand around the gun, and
said, "You WILL tell me. The only real questions, are when, and if you
will still have a usable hand." He made some noises when I squeezed
harder. Then he said, "Kringont hired me!" I said, "To do what,
exactly?" He said, "To kill you or Marcel." I said, "Only at the
wedding?" He said, "I figured it would be easier here." Chuckles from
the onlookers. I said, "Still think so?" He said, "No!" I said, "Other
hand. Remove all your other weapons. The metal fist, too." He did, and
dropped them. I said, "Quite a collection. Now you can run faster to
Kringont to tell him I know where he lives and works. He had his one
chance. He tries it again, your gang will need a new cowardly boss. Got
it?" He said, "What will you do?" I said, "I won't kill him. That ends
suffering. You should know something of that. Your hand is broken.
You'll feel it more when I release you. Mind you don't make a loud
noise so as to cause notice inside, if you want to keep your other hand
undamaged." I opened my hand, and pulled pulled the gun from his hand,
and he screamed quietly, and then ran off.
I said, "So, who's next?" One said, "He could have killed you!" I
said, "No. I didn't allow that, so he couldn't have." He said, "But if
he had fired from a distance?" I said, "I would have seen and heard his
intention. I would have moved away from the path of the bullet. Then,
faster than he could blink, I would be on him. Same result. He wouldn't
have killed me, but he could have killed one of you, unintentionally.
That's what I stopped. Dead people make very boring guests, and they
rarely go home when they should." Chuckles. One said, "And the longer
they stay, the less welcome they become?" I said, "Oh, competition!
Good one. This could be fun, but later. So sad." Chuckles. There were
no more incidents at the door.
People were starting to be seated. I said to my Marcel pledged
observer, "With the others you noticed, these four seem suspicious." He
nodded. I said, "And this woman. One hat pin looks discolored." He
said, "I wouldn't have thought to look for poison! Wow!" I said, "I
suspect she has a male partner. Which one of the obvious targets they
go for, well, we'll just have to see." He said, "I wonder if they will
make a disturbance to attract Marcel." I said, "Good thought!" He said,
"I'll tell him." I said, "Better you than me." He did that. Marcel
didn't look at the targets right away. Good.
The ceremony was a simple one. Then the party started. Staff removed
most of the chairs, and left some around the tables they set up. and
brought food and wine. The musicians started up, and some danced in the
open space. The pledged men all conferred with each other in relay,
sharing observations. I said to one of them, "A pattern is developing.
That man, and that woman with the possibly poisoned pin, are together.
They are the leaders of those four men who have daggers. Those two men
are together, and each team is unaware of each other. Oops!" He
grinned. One of the smaller group tried to slip a dagger into the back
of Marcel. Naturally, Marcel knew it, and moved just enough to avoid
it. He moved away, stepping hard on the man's food, causing him to drop
his weapon. Marcel stopped, and said to him, "Sir, you have dropped
your weapon. You could have injured somebody with that." One of the
staff picked it up, and said, "You may have this returned when you
leave." The assassin said, "No! It's mine, and I want it now!" Marcel
said, "We have established rules for the handling of weapons here. We
will not make exceptions for noisier people."
Some chuckled. Assassin tried to grab the arm of the servant, who was
one of my presences. Marcel stepped to him and said, "You will NOT
mistreat any person in my employ! You will now leave, and without that
weapon, or with it, IN you! Do you understand me?" The man backed away,
and in some surprise, too. He looked around at the angry people staring
at him, and ran out the door. One said to Marcel, "Sir, do you know why
he dropped the dagger?" Marcel said, "Yes. He tried to stab me in the
back with it. I avoided it, and stepped on his foot. That surprised
him." He received some admiration. Emirmis gave him a LOT of that,
which he didn't mind in the least. The Assassin's partner left, too.
I said to two pledged men, "Put some fighting stick pairs on those
two tables, the less obvious the better. Make sure Marcel sees them. I
think they're going to start a problem, now that they know I won't
interfere." He nodded slightly. I said, "When Marcel goes to deal with
it, the four will surround him. He'll be watching for that. At the
right time he'll use the sticks. Hat pin woman must NOT get close to
him." He said, "I'll work that." The other one came back, and they
compared notes. I said, "Emirmis was alright with the single attacker
after the fact. She won't be, with the group attack she can see. Warn
her father to restrain her." One left to do that, and came back. I said
to him, "Do you see Marcel noticing all this?" He said, trying not to
grin, "I do, a little. This is VERY interesting!" I said, "Actually, it
is. I'll take care of the hat pin woman if she makes too much trouble.
She'll be happy to have me as a secondary target. She thinks." He tried
not to laugh. I said, "As much of you who are in position can, keep the
guests from interfering. That would be the most dangerous thing for
Marcel." Nods.
It was starting. The four men were easing onto position. The couple
argued. He slapped her. Marcel strode to the man, and said, "Sir, you
are NOT to assault any person here!" He said, "I do what I want with my
woman!" Marcel said, "Oh, how many do you have? Do you damage them so
much, you need to have a ready assortment of them for replacement? How
long do they take to heal? How difficult is it to find women with such
bad taste to choose you?" Some laughed. The man clearly didn't expect
all that. The woman was backing away, to leave a clear field for the
attack. I ported the poisoned pins to my hand. Nobody saw it. She
backed into me. I held her arm. I said softly to her, "The problem with
poisoned pins is when you remove them from where they were stuck in,
for use, it removes a lot of the poison. If you don't stab a major
blood vessel, it won't kill your target." She whispered back, "How did
you know?" I said, "Patterns. People make them, in spite of themselves.
The six of you made it obvious, your intentions. I didn't have to tell
Marcel. His problem was not letting you know he saw it. He laughs way
too much. And I saw the discoloration on the pins. I make such things,
so I WOULD look at them closely."
She reached for a pin, and discovered it wasn't there. I said, "I
took them. Not wise of you to be so distracted so as to not be aware of
that. Well, I'm a teacher. I have to teach." She almost chuckled. She
said, "You taught him?" I said, "I did. Result is better than I thought
possible." She said, "He's going to win?" I said, "Yes, and in style."
She said, "You planned this?" I said, "You didn't? I planned my
response to it. And your group wasn't the only adversary here. Intent
is so easy to see, for those who look for it. You should have known we
would expect this, and prepare for it. YOU would have. Never think your
enemy is less intelligent and able than you are, if you want to survive
your er, work." She said, "Well expressed." We watched the action.
The men drew their daggers. Marcel backed to a table, and took the
sticks, and kept them behind him. One of the five attackers lunged at
him. In a few seconds, with sticks moving all over in blur, all of the
attackers were on the floor clutching their various body parts with one
hand, the other arm having been broken. Marcel said to the man, "So you
brought your friends with you. Obviously a planned attack. Please tell
me why. I know you have a voice. You've been using it very well for
your groans. You still have one hand available to attend to your er,
needs, in the absence of your abused women. Now. Would you like me to
change that?" He said, "No. I don't like you!" Marcel said, "I'm SO
glad you don't like me! I don't want you to. In fact, I have a strong
desire to make you like me even less. Will you encourage that?"
The man said, "What would you do?" Marcel said, "Solomon is a hard
teacher. One of the things I was made to learn was to ignore pain. In
those lessons, I learned very well by experience, how to inflict such
pain, most people couldn't bear it. Would you like a personal
demonstration?" In great fear, he said, "No I don't! My business
ventures were unsuccessful. And I gambled." Marcel said, "Why did they
fail?" He said, "My employees wouldn't work well, and the best ones
left, to work for YOU!" Marcel said, "Oh, and you were looking for me
to express my gratitude for that. You now have it. Thank you for
treating your workers so poorly that they wanted to leave your employ
and enter nine. I treat my employees with honor and appreciation, and
pay them a fair wage. If you had done that, you wouldn't have had the
problems you did. Killing me would NOT have made them go back to
working for you. Actually, you might not have survived their anger over
that. You've been very foolish."
Marcel said, "There is one thing remaining in your confession. You
needed money. Who paid you to do this? Hmm, you might as well tell me
now, rather than after a lot of unpleasant screaming." The man was
shaking in fear. He said, "Knapgak paid me, and I hired the others!"
Marcel said, "An enemy of Solomon. He was warned. I could ask you not
to warn him about what might happen to him this time, but I think it
would be more interesting if you did. How fast do you think he can run
out of the city?" Most of the people there had to laugh, to relieve the
tension. They looked at me, and I grinned.
Marcel said, "Just for my curiosity, do you think you might try
something like an attack on me and mine, again in the future?" He
looked at his friends, and they signaled him. He said, "No, I won't!" I
said, "You believe that now. I suggest you keep believing it. I very
much dislike leaving bodies lying around. They get in the way. You may
leave." He said, "You aren't having us arrested?" Marcel said, "And
cost the city money it could use for better things? There are enough
witnesses here who can swear out a complaint, and testify against you
if they want to. My advice to you is to mend your ways in another city.
I have some very skilled friends. If they see you here after this day,
well, I think you know what I mean. Oh, and leave your weapons here.
They deserve more skilled owners." They looked at him strangely. They
got up, and limped to the door. My lady captive said to me, "He really
is like you." I said, "A little shorter." She smiled. She left with her
team.
One asked Marcel, "Did you know this would happen?" He said, "No, but
being prepared for all possibilities is a good thing. More, when you
think you might have enemies." One asked me, "You didn't interfere.
Weren't you concerned?" I said, "He's learned well. But that's just
learning, not doing. Now he knows he can do well, not just think he
can. He could see the patterns of the movements of the people here, and
feel their intent. His only real problem was in not letting them see he
knew what they would do." He said, "He LET them attack him?" I said,
"They TRIED to attack him. What else could he do? He couldn't attack
THEM without visible reason." Marcel said, "And if I had made them
leave before the attack, that would have only postponed the problem for
when I might not have the possible assistance I have here. Better I end
it here." One said to him, "The sticks. They weren't there before."
Marcel said, "As Solomon has taught me, I have taught some of my
friends. They could see there was going to be trouble, and put the
sticks there for me, and on this table, too. We chose sticks because
they wouldn't be seen as weapons, and they have a longer reach than
daggers. And they can better cause disabling damage, without making a
bloody mess. SOMEBODY has to pay for the cleaning here." Chuckles.
One asked him, "Are you as proficient in other weapons?" I said,
"After all our work, he'd better be!" Chuckles. Marcel said, "As
Solomon said, knowing, isn't enough. Only in real use, will I truly
know if I am." His brother in law said, "I want to be there when it
happens!" There was a lot of agreement with that. I motioned to the
musicians, and they started playing again. Father and son came to me,
and said, "You did this!" I said, "Could you be a little more
express myself in this." I said, "Yes, I managed this, a little. I told
them to place the sticks for more convenient access, which are actually
parts of the lamps, and I restrained the women who had poison pins in
her hat. And I did door duty. Other than that, I just observed and
discussed that with his friends, for their education. Marcel could see
what was going to happen, and didn't need my help. Yes, he did NOT need
my help. Yes, he truly is that competent. Did you think I would risk
his life, for a whim?"
He said, "I am rethinking this." Son grinned. I said, "You are
discovering that there were many reasons for us doing it as it
happened." He said, "Managed, is so correct, from even the start of
this!" I said, "From when I first met him, when I saw his potential.
No, I haven't told him. If he doesn't already know, I will be very
disappointed." Grins and chuckles. He said, "His status in the city has
risen dramatically. He was your student. Now he is a real master of
himself, and his own property." I said, "And respected for his
abilities, including intelligence and wisdom. It wasn't planned that
would happen, but we knew it had to. He can only be himself, and that's
not all that bad." More grins. I said, "It's alright to be proud of
him." We hugged. Son had an erection. I made it so he was shielded from
embarrassment, and he knew it. I whispered to him, as his father left
to rejoin his wife, "Happens a lot in my hugs. Surprises a lot of
people. Sometimes, we had to do some cleaning." He tried not to laugh.
He said, "But I like girls!" I said, "No matter. My kind of love in my
hugs is for all people. Actually, I have to hold it back, or there
would be a lot of yelling and squirting from everybody." He had to
laugh.
Then he looked surprised, and said, "I think I love you!" I said,
"Thank you. You do love me. My love can easily help to cause that. You
can feel my love for you, more than most can. You know something of
that. In your own way, you know more of me than Marcel does. Yes, you
can say it." He said, "Wow!" He laughed. Then he said, "I can tell you
everything? You'll believe me?" I said, "Just as you do, I can tell
when people lie. Come see me in my office building, and we can share
things you won't believe possible now. Better hope your face doesn't
crack right in half." He had to laugh.
The party lasted a few more hours. There were more admiring glances
at Marcel, than at me. I liked that. I thanked the guests at the door
as they left. Those with escorts, had them waiting for them. I said to
the parents, "May I travel with you?" Father said, "Please!" Mother
said, "I understand. Protection. Thank you." I said, "ADDED protection.
Your husband is VERY capable. I've fought him. I know." They really
didn't hate that. At their house, the father asked to see me alone. He
said, "There is something between you and Raminor." I said, "I wondered
if you had noticed. Would you tell me what you suspect?" He said,
"Sexual?" I said, "That's part of practically everyone's feelings
toward me." He grinned, and said, "So I've noticed." I said, "He likes
girls. I don't know how to tell you this, or even if I should. I
couldn't teach Marcel everything I can teach. He wasn't born with some
rare abilities in a strong enough measure that I could help with." He
stared at me, and said, "Oh! You need say no more. This explains some
strange things I've noticed." I said, "Probably it wasn't intentional.
He needs some help to control that, or there could be some unusual
problems." He laughed, and said, "It's already happened. But only I've
noticed the less obvious. The knowing when people lie, can be explained
away. Objects moving by themselves, is a real problem."
I said, "And with your permission, he's going to tell me about them
tomorrow." He grinned, and said, "More planning!" I said, "In my
family, we call it the Situation Manager ability." He said, "Well
named!" I said, "He's young, but of apprentice age. Has he indicated
what he wants to do with his life?" He said, "He hasn't." I said, "I'll
be teaching medicine in my office building, which is just for that." He
said, "He might have an interest in that." I said, "His abilities would
help greatly in that practice. I hope to make reliable his ability to
see the inside of things." He said, "Oh! Er, how do you know of these
things?" I said, "You suspect." He nodded, and said, "You have these
abilities, and more." I said, "But I don't use them unfairly. And
neither will he. Part of the training." He said, "I did have some fear
of that very thing." I said, "To be able to kill with a thought, no
good man wants to have." He said, "How is that possible?" I said, "See
I said, "If a good person does that, he would lose those abilities, or
even die, himself. One reason for that is another ability he possesses.
Sensing the feeling of others. Who wants to feel their pain, or death?"
He said, "That would be so."
He said, "Is he holy?" I said, "That word is so poorly defined, I
can't answer that in a good way. He may become so." He said, "As you
are." I said, "Not fully as I am, but er, yes." He grinned, and said,
"And modest!" I said, "That isn't helping." He laughed. He said, "Is
anybody your equal in anything?" I said, "Evil people are more so than
me. Actually, I am unable to be evil. Oh, I know. I refuse to embarrass
myself any more for your perverse pleasure." He laughed loudly. I said;
"One last thing. Of this land, your son will know more of who I am,
than any other." He said with moist eyes, "And that is a FAR from bad
thing!" We hugged.
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Grant
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