They sat silently for a moment, then Jake continued. “But if Sapphire thinks it’s going to happen, you should at least be as ready for it as you can. If he’s claiming you’re the challenger, and he gets choice of weapons, what weapons does he want to use?”

Joey described the flintlock pistols as best he could. Jake got out a laptop computer and put it on the desk. There were a few false tries, but sooner than he had expected the picture was in front of him.

He said, “Yes, those are them, or so close I can’t tell the difference! And the name underneath is familiar too.”

Jake read off the words. “Wogdon & Barton Flintlock Target Pistols.”

Then he read in silence for a couple of more minutes and then said, “Apparently replicas of a very famous set of matched dueling pistols. Those are the pistols Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr used to duel with.”

Joey said, “Not the sort of thing I’m likely to have conveniently trained in in the military. I’m not gonna set my hopes on some memories conveniently coming back. They probably don’t give regular lessons on it either.”

Jake was working with his laptop again. He was able to find only one antique weapons dealer in the town of Babylon.

Reading over Jake’s shoulder he said doubtfully, “This End Towards Enemy?”

“Really strange name for a store, huh?”

Suddenly a little bit of Joey’s memory came back, not the most useful bit to be sure. “Supposedly that used to be stamped on the front of claymore mines to make sure nobody got confused.”

Jake looked genuinely impressed by this bit of useless trivia. Then he asked Joey, “You got any money?”

So Jake was going to charge him for this? It hadn’t cost him that much effort. “Not really. I thought you said you had plenty.”

Impatiently Jake replied, “Of course I do. You need some to pay for the pistols, and or the shooting lessons we hope this guy can offer.”

Oh.

Joey went through his pockets, although he already knew there wouldn’t be much there since he had moved it all from his old pants this morning. Besides a few odds and ends, he had sixty seven dollars in cash. Still no ID to tell him his own last name though.

Jake said, “None worth mentioning? That’s what I thought.”

Joey had a comeback all ready, something about how much money was Jake carrying around. Fortunately, before he had a chance to open his mouth, the other man started digging around under his mattress. He came up with a rather nice sized wad of bills. Mesmerized, Joey stared at it.

Jake asked him, “Before we go any further, I want to know something. I’m not sure exactly what Emerald believes, or how much of it he remembers or still believes. I think there are some elders who consider humans to be little more than animals, and unpleasant animals at that. I think they’re more concerned about opening this world to the Eightfold as fast as possible then they are about making sure the world doesn’t turn into one bloody civil war. And they’ve chosen their hosts well. The hosts know they will be greatly rewarded – if it happens while they are still alive, ideally while they are still young. With that in front of them, some will rationalize away doubts as to how much hurry is good for humanity. How about you?”

Joey shrugged. “You know how much I need that money to survive, so you’ll just assume I’ll say whatever I think you want to hear. Fair enough. But I’ve just been through something horrible I can’t remember, right before fighting two armed men and being forced into a fatal duel. I’m not sure how much of me is left, or what will happen when this world is open and Emerald doesn’t need me anymore. I don’t know if I’ll survive.”

“But if it weren’t for that –”

“Then everything would be different. Screw humanity. I just want to make sure I’m going to get my share before selling out.”

“Somehow I think you’re being flippant.”

“Yeah, that’s the trick. I could promise, beg, plead, be indignant, whatever. Too obvious, you know how I need that money to survive. Flippant is my best bet.”

“So what do you think of Emerald?”

“Weird energy creature inside my brain which ate most of my soul? Really gonna cramp my style when I get laid.”

Jake grinned. Possibly he liked this new side of Joey. Just as well if he had money.

Then Jake said, “How about his plans for Humanity?”

Joey ignored the stirring within him. Either Emerald would let him speak or he wouldn’t. There was no point in lying either way.

“I think he’s lost most of his memory too. I doubt he was ever much interested in politics though. More interested in kicking ass and taking names, assuming that what I can see of his memories is what was most important to him. Not the patient type.”

Joey took a deep breath and said, “My turn for a question now, whether you decide to help me or not. These elders – I’m pretty sure there’s an incentive for opening new worlds to the Eightfold, but don’t quite get what it is. Besides their deep love for helping others, I mean.”

Jake nodded. “OK, fair enough. They don’t really talk about it with us, but I’ve picked up something about that over time. Elders subsist on a very special kind of energy, cast off mental energy from the minds of intelligent beings.”

Jake saw the skepticism on his face and accurately derived the meaning. “No, as far as I can tell it really is a cast off, not a piece of an immortal soul or anything. Usually it doesn’t cost non energy beings anything, and elders can live for thousands of years. Among the Eightfold, getting turned into an elder before you die is considered a great honor. Since they live so long, only the most careful societies avoid a large population of them.”

Joey said, “Let me guess. Eventually they get hungry and they start nibbling around the edges of minds that are still living.”

Jake nodded, seemingly genuinely saddened at the thought.

Joey shifted in his chair. The intensity of the conversation had distracted him from his physical discomfort. “So things get better for awhile when a new world is opened up. Then the population increases and the whole thing starts again.”