IMMOLATION: CHAPTER 32

The room was dark and Judge Dervin sat quietly, staring out the window of his hotel room. The streetlamps cast periodic pools of light and he could see a handful of vagrants rummaging through dumpsters and garbage cans along the street. Like cockroaches, they scattered before a pair of headlights. The car raced by and soon the people of the night were back.

Judge Dervin took a sip from the bottle he'd been trying to ignore and let the cool liquid swish around in his mouth before swallowing it. The burning at the back of his throat felt good but he knew he couldn't let himself slip down this path again. It was hard enough after his wife died, he couldn't afford to relive those days, but the numbness it brought was such a welcomed relief when compared to the pain...He took another sip and then set the bottle down on the floor where it would be less of a temptation.

As he straightened back up in his chair the glow from his cell phone caught his eye. The first call that day was what prompted him to go out and buy the bottle. He'd been sitting in the chair ever since the second call.

“What is to be done?” He moaned and cradled his head in his hands.

In a couple hours the taxi would arrive to take him to the airport so he could be ready for Joan's hearing, assuming they could find her. That was the first call he received.

He wouldn't be coming back here any time soon. The investigators had found enough evidence in his daughter's apartment to incriminate her in the now two nuclear disasters with a further three supposedly to come. Regardless, there was nothing left for Judge Dervin here. That was the second call.

“My two girls,” Judge Dervin muttered, his throat dry already and he reached again for the bottle. He knew Joan wasn't his daughter but in many ways he'd come to see her as a surrogate in place of Samantha. He'd worked so hard for her freedom, though Joan didn't know it. And now all of that was pointless.

The bottle was to his lips before he realized what he was doing and it shocked him how quickly he was falling into auto pilot with drinking. He threw the bottle as hard as he could and watched it soar through the open window to crash down on the street below. The homeless around the garbage cans scattered once more at the sound of the shattering bottle and didn't return quite as fast as when the car lights had scared them off before.

Judge Dervin forced himself to rise and he turned to face the room. Most of his belongings were already packed but there were still a few odds and ends to be gathered up and he began to work his way through the apartment. As he cleaned, he came across the old slip of paper where he'd written down Dr. Muto's number. For whatever reason, his thoughts kept going back to Dr. Muto and Matt. Something about the two of them made his uneasy and on more than one occasion he'd been on the verge of calling Dr. Muto.

“Ridiculous,” He said to himself and threw the slip of paper into his suitcase.

The taxi arrived just as the sun began to rise and the ride to the airport was nothing more than a blur. He was sobering up by the time the airplane lifted off and he let himself fall sleep at last. His dreams were fragmented, pieces of memories from years past. Samantha's fifteenth birthday...his wedding...Joan's first hearing...talking on the phone with Dr. Muto...

“Sir?”

A pleasant female voice pulled him back to consciousness and judge Dervin looked up into the face of one of the stewardess’s.

“We've landed,” She said and then offered him a tissue. “Are you alright?”

Judge Dervin accepted the tissue though he wasn't sure why she was handing it to him. His face must have shown his confusion because the stewardess motioned to his face.

“You're crying,” She said, almost as a question.

Judge Dervin wiped his eyes and, sure enough, he had tears running down his face.

“Thank you,” He said and got up, pulling his bag out of the overhead storage bin and made his way out of the plane as quickly as he could with the stewardess watching on.

Judge Dervin hailed a taxi at the terminal and loaded his luggage into the back without waiting for the driver to help him.

“Where to?” The driver asked as soon as Judge Dervin settled himself in.

Judge Dervin opened his mouth to give directions to his home but something made him stop. There, hanging from the rear view mirror, was a dream catcher with several feathers hanging from it.

“Bird Feather,” He murmured.

“What?” the driver asked.

“Take me to the university,” Judge Dervin said.

The driver nodded and pulled out of the line of waiting vehicles. Judge Dervin sat back, thinking over what he was going to do. He had no proof, he wasn't even sure if he was remembering things properly or if his mind was inventing memories. Either way, he was on his way and at the very least he could check in on Matt and ask if he knew where Joan might be hiding.

“You a professor?” The driver asked after a few minutes.

“No.”

The driver waited for more of an explanation but judge Dervin offered none.

“Got a kid going there, do you?” The driver prompted for conversation once more.

Judge Dervin's throat tightened and he waved an annoyed hand at the driver. “No, I'm sorry but just, please drive.”

The driver looked a bit taken aback but didn't argue the point and the rest of their drive was in silence. When they reached the university, Judge Dervin paid the driver, gathered up his suitcases, and began making his way through campus towards the science building.

The building was bright and the reflective white walls were painful on his slightly hungover eyes. The elevator rumbled and then lurched to a stop and Judge Dervin walked, still towing his suitcases, to Dr. Muto's office.

“...and that will help with any excess burn through we might otherwise experience,” Matt's voice carried through the ajar door.

Judge Dervin pushed it the rest of the way open and Dr. Muto got to his feet. Matt had his back to the door as he worked on diagrams and equations on a portable whiteboard.

“Yes, may I help you?” Dr. Muto asked at once.

Judge Dervin entered the office and shut the door behind him.

“Judge Dervin?” Matt asked when he turned and saw who it was that had interrupted their meeting.

Judge Dervin still wasn't sure what he was going to say, and so he satisfied himself for the time being with looking around the office. Everything was immaculate, like the last time he'd visited Dr. Muto. The only thing that seemed to have any sense of organic disarray was the tea pot with the spoons, cups, and saucers scattered around it with sugar packets and tea leaves accenting it all.

Dr. Muto followed Judge Dervin's gaze nervously. “Green Tea?” he offered, moving toward the tea pot.

Judge Dervin followed and pinched a few tea leave between his fingers. “Tea Leaves?” He asked and Dr. Muto nodded cautiously.

Matt set down his marker and moved to stand on judge Dervin's other side.

“Sir,” Matt said and laid a hand on his shoulder, “Are you okay?”

“Leaves Early,” judge Dervin said and Dr. Muto made an involuntary step backwards. Judge Dervin turned to face him. “Who is Early Bird?”

Dr. Muto frowned but said nothing. Matt looked from Judge Dervin to Dr. Muto and back again.

“He was your other appointment,” Judge Dervin said, his voice calm and even, “That time I called you to set up our first meeting.”

“Judge Dervin,” Dr. Muto said, “I have no idea what you're talking about. Dr. Wellis and I are working and if you-

Judge Dervin lunged at Dr. Muto, grabbing him by the collar and throwing him up against the wall.

“She was my daughter!” Judge Dervin shouted.

“Matt, please,” Dr. Muto cried out, his small frame no match for that of Judge Dervin.

All of the anger, the rage, the disappointment, and perhaps the alcohol, fueled Judge Dervin and drove him on as he continued to press Dr. Muto harder and harder into the wall.

“He's never agreed with the Heat Machine,” Dr. Muto said between gasps for breath, “He's afraid, like I was afraid.”

Dr. Muto's face was growing pale as Judge Dervin continued to crush him.

“He'll kill us both to stop your work,” Dr. Muto barely managed to squeak out.

Judge Dervin knew he should stop, knew he was going too far but his hands weren't listening to him anymore and Dr. Muto's eyes were beginning to roll back into his head.

A sharp pain flashed in his head and his knees buckled. Dr. Muto fell to the floor beside him, choking and gasping for breath. Another flash of pain and Judge Dervin knew no more.