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A loose end which I did feel a strong need to track down was the part played by my elder brother Nether in this whole sad story. This was to prove to be a frustrating and ultimately unsuccessful quest, for all that it consumed a considerable amount of time and energy. I had just three more encounters with my elder brother, none of which were in the least bit satisfactory. I felt I had an incomplete realisation of what Nether was up to and what his place in the grand scheme of things. But it was clear to me that he was part of a larger shadowy organisation. There are several candidates whose existence, at least, is known to the general public, although I never did determine exactly which group he was affiliated with. A little later, after Trinity was safely buried and on her way to being forgotten by all but a very few, I was waiting in an anteroom in an obscure government office, hoping to meet with some minor government official. I was trying to seek permission to access secret records which might, or might not, throw some light on what had happened. The office building was like so many government buildings everywhere: vast echoing edifices in polished stone and beautifully-executed but somehow bland carvings that supported the high ceilings and tall windows. A monument to power and authority, designed to keep the lower classes in their place, and all paid for with taxpayers' money. I was sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the anteroom when two burly heavies in dark suits suddenly appeared at the outer door. They marched over and grabbed me without any warning, twisting my arms behind my back so that I was immobilised. I struggled ineffectively against the two Goblins, then froze when I saw Nether himself appeared. "I know you're looking for me," he said smugly, "And you're wasting your time. Records about Garrick and his activities - and mine - for the last hundred years are now sealed, forever." "A hundred years?" I shrieked, "So you knew about what Garrick was up to, years ago?" "Not for certain, not for sure," he replied placatingly, "We had to let things run to make sure we could wind in all the tentacles, to make sure that Garrick didn't slip through our fingers again, as he has done so before." I was apoplectic. "And your actions - or inactions - directly led to our own sister being shot dead!" I threw myself against the unyielding bulk of the goon on my left, with little visible effect. "Well, yes, that was very sad," he replied with some semblance of emotion in his voice, "She was, perhaps, a sacrifice necessary to ensure the safely of Goblins everywhere." "You monster!" "Dear brother, it is time for me to disappear, again. Your occasionally clumsy actions and intermittent insight may have netted Garrick - who won't be going anywhere ever again, by the way - but you have certainly thrown a spanner in the works of many decades of careful work. So, goodbye." "No!" With a superhuman effort, I struggled free of the two big Goblins who had grabbed me and I would have grabbed Nether there and then if one of the heavies hadn't deployed a stun glamour. Before I could reach my brother, I fell instantly asleep. There was no sense of falling, no blurring or blackout, just the end of all memory. I awoke confused a few minutes or hours later, slumped in the uncomfortable chair. The government clerk was shacking me politely on the shoulder to tell me that the official would see me now. I don't know why the functionary bothered; he imparted no useful information whatsoever, effectively denying the existence of the records I was here to view. Of course, the records probably didn't exist now.
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Part 99