Spill your guts

Yesterday, Bonnie and Rei had the would-be assassin, David Troutman, cornered. He made a break for it, trying to escape out the back door, but he ran right into MINIMCOM who knocked him out with a single blow. All our heroes had to do now was wait for him to wake up:

     It took a while but eventually, Troutman came to. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, the would-be assassin looked around to assess the situation. He was seated at his own table but with very tight white restraints binding his hands to the arms of the chair and his legs to the legs of the chair. Standing immediately to his right was MINIMCOM’s imposing bulk. Bonnie and Rei were sitting across from him and Rome sat to his left.
     “I’m not telling you nothing,” he sneered. “You can arrest me. You can deport me. But that’s it.”
     Rome reached out and stroked his hand back and forth but never letting go completely. “We want to find Steele,” she said, pointing to the picture lying on the table with her free hand.
     “Like I said, I’m not talking,” Troutman insisted. Rome said nothing but continued to tap the picture. The images flying through Troutman’s mind were distinct.
     “He is in the forest to the west,” she said, finally.
     “Huh?” Troutman said. “No, he isn’t.”
     “He comes into Ur when he needs supplies. He usually sends Troutman on his behalf and only rarely enters the town.”
     “What are you talking about? How are you doing this?” Troutman asked, slightly unnerved.
     “Who is the Vuduri woman who is helping him?” Rei asked.
     Troutman looked up at Rei, completely rattled. “How do you know all of this?”
     “Look, David,” Bonnie said, reaching her hands out, palms up, across the table. “I was mostly telling the truth. The world of Helome is spectacular and the Vuduri there really do let us roam freely. We aren’t prisoners. They are really committed to building a world with us as partners. Even Keller has given up the fight. He’s made his home there. He’s even taken on a wife.”
     “No way!” Troutman said. “Keller would never do that.”
     “Yes, he did,” Rome said, squeezing his hand gently. “His wife is named Virga and she is already pregnant with his second child. Captain Keller specifically sanctioned this mission, to capture you and Steele because he no longer believes violence is the answer.”
     Troutman looked at each of their faces. MINIMCOM placed his hand on Troutman’s shoulder with just enough pressure to be painful. Troutman squirmed in place trying to wriggle free but was unsuccessful.
     “Look,” he said finally. “If Steele finds out that I’ve told you anything, he won’t just kill you. He’ll kill me, too.”

Troutman caved too quickly. He would never have been the driving force behind the assassination attempt. Clearly it was Steele who was the true danger. It was time to track him down.