Predatory Ethics Book I - Mad Gods

Chapter 02 - Triumph of Xos -

TIME: JUNE 5TH, 1960, SPARTI, GREECE 

Kosta was being followed. They were Papal assassins, who did whatever their masters ordered. Amongst those milling in the train station, there was a dark blue clad man who didn’t take his eyes off of Kosta, directing two others through furtive head and hand gestures. He should’ve spotted him earlier, and cursed himself for not being more careful. He tried to shake off the cloud he felt on his senses since Kostadinoupoli, and thought it gone, but it kept up to him, wearing a dark blue suit and fedora. All three were similarly dressed and proportioned, square jawed and shouldered. Their coordinator was a doppelganger for Robert Mitchum, in Night of the Hunter. This errant thought assured Kosta that he was regaining his senses; entertainment minutia always calmed him.

He heard a song, playing somewhere in the Spartan station, and was surprised that it wasn’t one of the heart-tugging melodramas about the eleftheria, war of independence, or katohi, German occupation. His mind raced with the task of recognizing the low violins, and trying to form a plan to get rid of the pursuers, who were now triangulating on him, as directed by Mitchum 2.

“Oh the Shark has perfect teeth, dear…” he mumbled under his breath as they closed in. He had to act quickly. He rushed to a nearby periptero, newsstand, and scanned the rack of newspapers. Going by Eleftheria, Hestia and Vema, he read that Eisenhower had met Khrushchev in Paris more than a week ago, and that they were still writing about it. This would soon be overshadowed by the distraction of the Olympics in Rome. Kosta registered this haphazardly, using it to focus his thoughts, feigning interest in the news, and keeping an eye out for Mitchum 2 and his cronies.

He picked up Vema, a few chocolate bars and tourist trinkets, paid for them and continued to deliberately read the front page. More than a week before, Adolf Eichmann had been captured in Argentina and brought to Israel to face justice.

He took the paper, rolled it around a ballpoint pen. This pen concealed a spring-loaded, poisoned blade, which would break upon impact. The sliver-thin shiv would then remain in the wound, minutes later, killing its victim. All he needed was something to distract the other two, who were still watching him. He approached a gang of scruffy boys, alites, urchins looking for easy targets, xenous to grift - to con them out of their money.

To the wiliest looking of them, Kosta handed 100 drachmas, and promised another 100 for each of his friends. In return, all they had to do was attempt to sell the candy and trinkets to the other two men. The boy smiled slyly and demanded all the money upfront, before he returned to his filous, pals. Kosta agreed and, seconds later, the boy gestured excitedly at his friends, conveying his plan.

Mitchum 2 saw that the urchins were distracting his Brothers and went for Kosta, himself. There was no time to waste on intricacies. So much the better, Kosta thought. Away from the door, and in denser crowds, any scuffle would be hidden by the natural distractions and confusion.

Each took six steps and collided, both making it look accidental. Kosta caught his wrist and Mitchum 2 caught the rolled up newspaper. The spring-loaded pen went off with a twist of his wrist. The man dropped the dagger he had been attempting to use, doubling slightly forward. Too late, Kosta saw that the commotion had attracted the attention of the other two men. This wasn’t optimal, but was still better than before. The odds improved, and very quickly, Kosta feigned a glance at his watch and ran out the door, leaving the crumpled Mitchum 2 behind.

Things continued to look up, as he saw the clean Laconian sky and walked into the tree-lined street, named after his imperial ancestors. He went at a brisk trot, chancing a glance backward to see that the other two men were coming out of the door from which he had just exited. They carried their leader, allowing Kosta to widen the distance between them.