Justin Kemppainen - The Legend of Ivan

“How do you know the man who assaulted the casino was Ivan?” I asked.

“Hah!” The old man scoffed, folding his arms. “One man against my highly-trained security force? When the colony at the Garden was destroyed not long after, I knew it had to be the same person.”

There was still something off about his story. It wasn’t regarding Ivan himself, if indeed it actually was the man, but the actions he took. Ivan’s scattered behavior in not simply hitting the vault but traveling throughout the facility in random fashion appeared unfocused. Perhaps the man relied on brute force and his inhuman strength to manage his tasks rather than strategic planning. However, his systematic dismantling of Voux Hanatar suggested otherwise.

My assumptions told me Ivan was moderately intelligent and clever. The behavior of the attacker appeared angry and sporadic. Even Hanatar spoke of Ivan taking his revenge with relative calm. Perhaps the man who assaulted Luna Colony was not Ivan after all.

“Anything else of importance you can think of?” I asked.

Gregor tilted his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Something was scrawled in the hallway outside the security office. Even with the blood dripping in my eyes, I saw it when the GSA authorities brought me out. The writing said OLGA WAS HERE . I thought it might have been a brave civilian vandal coming through in the wake of destruction, but I never knew what it meant.”

I rubbed my chin and didn’t respond, swinging my thoughts back to the culprit as being Ivan in light of his statement.

“Well there’s that story.” Gregor folded his hands. “Would you like to hear another? My days of dealing with matters in the casino have again fallen away, but I’ve kept myself busy. As I said, I’ve done my own research into Ivan’s little tales of valor.” He grinned, too eager.

I gauged the mere possibility of him knowing something useful against how irritating I found his enthusiasm. I put forth an arbitrary time limit.

“One hour?” Gregor said, eyes wide and a pouting expression on his face. “I could talk for a week about what I’ve discovered!”

I didn’t express how I felt about such an endeavor. Instead, I said, “I have a very busy schedule to attend. I’m sure you understand I can’t take such a large amount of time out.”

“Just hear me out. I’m sure you’ll change your mind. Give me a moment, I must retrieve my files.” He stood, set down his glass and pipe, and shuffled out of the room.

In the few minutes while waiting, I again weighed the odds and considered leaving without a word. Before I could consider much further, he scurried into the room carrying a datapad.

“Here’s my little research project. Bertram must have moved it out from my study.” He grinned, sliding a finger across the pad. “I’ve got quite a collection here, but only summaries. Most of the information I have is stored up here,” he tapped the side of his head, “and of course backed up on my computer system. Why don’t you take a look, and maybe I can tell you about anything catching your eye.”

He passed the datapad over to me, and I silently perused its contents. Gregor on the other hand, without any prompting, launched into explanations of how he managed to come by such important and difficult information.

I could barely keep myself from bursting out with laughter. The information he gathered wasn’t completely worthless, but it might as well have been. Every summary and piece of data was rather sloppy in presentation. There was no organization, no uniformity or cataloguing, and each entry dealt with some manner of adventure, emphasizing action over truth. The entire collection seemed a series of elaborate fabrications.

I saw a few materials on Hanatar and the ever-illusive battles of Caldonis and New Prague, but they hinted at some greater dramatic flair with little grounding in reality. The datapad did contain a few still images, gathered from the security tapes during Ivan’s assault. Though indistinct, they featured a large man with sharp features, corresponding to the principle descriptions I’d gathered prior. Again I wondered if this truly was Ivan. If it was, I further wondered if his actual intention at Luna was nothing more than a robbery.

A couple of the stories caught my eye, and as much humoring him as searching for more details, I allowed Gregor to prattle on. I even let him speak past the allotted time, but I quickly realized no further useful information would be obtained there.

“Mr. Wilhelm, I thank you for your time,” I said, rising. “Your information has been most helpful, and I hope you won’t think me rude to refuse your kind offer of hospitality.”

He stood up and held out his hands. “You can’t be thinking of leaving, good Archivist. We’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of my findings!”

I forced a chuckle. “Even so, I’m afraid I have appointments and will have to return at some later time to hear them.” The offer was an outright lie, but it appeared to boost his spirits.

“Oh, well, I of course understand. I did spend all hours of my youth building this resort, you see. Busy busy busy, all the time.” Gregor laughed. “Youngsters never quite get how to take things easy, do they?”

With a thin smile, I replied, “No, I suppose not.”

He patted me on the back while we walked over to the exit. “Bertram will show you to your vessel. You must make sure to contact me ahead of time for your return. I’ll be wanting to block off a couple of days to talk to you, and I’ll make sure our finest suite is available for your comfort.”

I nodded, and we shook hands. The doors to the lift slid open, and Bertram was standing inside. “Please follow me, sir,” he said.

The servant/manager held the same level of silence as he brought me back to my ship. With a slight bow and a, “Good day, sir,” he walked away when we arrived. A few more minutes and a proper exit procedure later, Minerva slid out of the docking bay.

After a quick and curious flyby to the iridescent pollution of Old Earth, I set my thrusters to full and moved away from the system.

Assignment: Seeking information regarding the truth and whereabouts of Ivan.

Location: Luna Colony

Report: Gathered details regarding Luna Casino assault.

Probability : 66%

Summary: Attack and theft [Luna Casino] possibly attributed to Ivan. Owner [Gregor Wilhelm] hiding details, and attacker’s progress in facility seemed scattered, as though he was seeking something. Suggestion of blatant greed as motivation for attack contradicts other Ivan details [moral code, sense of honor]. Something else may have occurred.

Not every piece of this matter came easily, and this was no more evident than in the informational dry spell which resulted after my meeting with Gregor Wilhelm.

It seemed that Traverian Grey was about as easy to locate as Ivan himself. No leads pointed me in the correct direction, and everywhere I looked, the former mercenary appeared as a long-departed specter. Grey worked for almost everyone: corporations, the government, criminals, and even a handful of private citizens provided the money was decent enough to warrant his skill.

However, no one had the slightest clue as to what happened to him. Most signs pointed to some fabled, legendary battle with unknown individuals, which claimed either life or limb for Grey. This was followed by a retirement or burial somewhere nameless, far away from those with grudging notions. With as long and lucrative a career as Grey had, the number of potential nemeses was not small.

Even so, all leads turned up dry, and the dozens of inquiries I flitted out to sources, contacts, and complete strangers filtered in over the course of a couple of weeks without a hint of helpful information.