Children of the Sky (The Talari Subversion Book 1)

by Houston V. Grant

  We sat down atop a rooftop terrace to take a break and consider what to do next. It occurred to me that the situation was very similar to video games I’d played where the target indicator would suddenly change as soon as you got to the right location. Perhaps the signal was coming from between the walls of the dwelling we stood on. After all the work it had taken to get here, I wasn’t going to give up easily.

  The strongest signal seemed to come from an area just west of what had once been the rich part of town. We headed over, and upon finding a structure that seemed to contain the origin of the signal, we went in. But the signal now seemed to be coming from somewhere to the north.

  Instead of heading north, we climbed up to the second-floor terrace. Looking at our shoeprints—the only ones there—I wondered when was the last time a human had stood where I was standing. The exact spot where the signal seemed to originate was a section in the center of the terrace that was raised above the rest. There were four dinner plate-sized circular holes arranged in a square and I figured they would have been where posts had been installed.

  I looked in the holes for clues, but this was a 7,000 year old city, so nothing that looked like anything to me was left. Not being an archaeologist, I had a hard time discerning what the structure had looked like when it was in use millennia ago. But what remained were pieces of a stone platform, now half buried in sand and worn away from erosion. But when I looked closely, markings like those I’d seen on the portal in Colombia were still visible. The signal was broken, but it definitely came from here. I channeled a little electricity into it, but nothing happened.

  Tati came closer to get a better look and I tried again. Still nothing, so I gave it a little bit more juice and waited to see. Still nothing, but I’d become aware of a faint buzzing sensation coming from an area back inside the walls of the city.

  “Maybe it was connected to some kind of power source,” Tatiana suggested. “You may have just started the generator.”

  That made as much sense to me as anything else we’d thought of, so we climbed back down and followed the buzzing sensation until we found it. This signal wasn’t nearly so difficult to locate. It wasn’t far away and emanated from a flat sunken area lined with watertight stonework that was once a public bathhouse. I brought an energy field up around us and Electrosensed for anything that might be ahead. Nothing was nearby except for a few snakes hiding in crevices.

  We walked across the threshold of the ancient bathhouse and a wave of energy washed over me. It didn’t hurt exactly, but it flickered my energy shield and buckled my knees. It only lasted for a quarter of a second, but the sensation was unmistakable. I looked at Tati. “Did you feel that?” I asked. My head was swimming and I suddenly had to vomit.

  “If there was a generator here, I think you just shorted it out,” she said. “You made the lights flicker.”

  Gingerly, I felt out again. The snakes were all on the move and the hum was gone. “I think you’re right,” I said. “I felt a hum before, like a generator, but now the hum—it’s gone.”

  “I don’t think we should stay here,” Tati said. “I’m not electrosensitive like you are, but that pulse or whatever it was made me feel sick too.”

  We went back to the rooftop where I’d identified the signal, but nothing had changed there.

  “There was definitely something here,” Tati said. “I don’t know if it was a portal or what, but we need to talk to Tashmit and Kelel about it. They didn’t warn us about whatever that energy thing was.”

  I wasn’t getting any worse, but I wasn’t getting any better, either. At least I didn’t have to throw up again. “I agree,” I said. “Unless they tell us more, I’m satisfied that there’s no portal here anymore.”

  We headed back. We were both dog tired when we got to our hotel, so after a quick shower and some skewers of grilled meat and vegetables from one of the street vendors outside, we both fell asleep. Tatiana woke me just before dawn with her hands under my shorts, and we went at it until the sun was up over the horizon.

  Our train back to Karachi wasn’t until late in the evening, so we went back to sleep for a couple hours, then woke up and had another session in bed, before we finally went out to find lunch.

  That evening we settled in for the overnight train back to Karachi. We both slept for most of it, but when we got there early the next morning, I still felt a little groggy.

  We disembarked, intending to drop our belongings off at the hotel and find something to eat. The sky was threatening rain.

  “I really need to rest for a bit,” Tati said. “My batteries are almost totally drained. I’m having a hard time holding the Neuroconceal up.”

  “Even after sleeping on the train?” I asked.

  “I didn’t really sleep,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” I smiled at her. “‘Cuz I heard you snoring.”

  “I don’t snore!” she said, whacking me on the arm. “And so what if I did? It wasn’t good sleep. I have a crick in my neck. And I kept the Neuroconceal up the whole time. Isn’t this what you were saying about having apps running in the background on your phone, draining the battery?” I had to smile at that. She was catching on to modern living very quickly. “I don’t feel like I should be drained so soon, but there it is.”

  “Alright, we can go to the hotel and chill for a while.” I reached out to test my energy levels too. I hadn’t used my abilities all night, but my batteries were weak too. I didn’t feel like I was going to collapse imminently, but I didn’t feel full and bursting with energy like I should have.

  As we left the platform, Tati whispered to me, “Let’s hurry. I lost the Neuroconceal for a moment and I don’t know who saw.” I glanced around and didn’t see anyone paying us any extra attention, but I didn’t want to stick around to be sure.

  We were standing on the street trying to decide which way to go when two police officers came up.

  “Are these yours?” one officer asked in English, pointing at the bags at our feet.

  It took me a moment to register that he was speaking to me.

  “Yes,” I said. “Is there a problem?”

  “Come with me,” he said. “Bring your bags.” He didn’t voice a threat, but the AK slung over his shoulder was very evident.

  “What’s this about?” I asked. I glanced at Tati who had a horrified expression on her face. Had these officers seen through the Neuroconceal? No, if they’d seen through it, they’d be more aggressive than this.

  The officer gave me a little push to steer me in the right direction and I disappointed myself that I started walking. They steered us to a little room to the side of the main ticket office and closed the door. The room was windowless and empty except for a water cooler and a small rectangular table with four chairs.

  The officers sat in the chairs closest to the door and directed us to sit across the table.

  “What’s the issue?” I asked. “We’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “You don’t ask the questions here,” the first officer said. “Where are your papers?”

  “What papers?” I asked as the other officer set cups of water in front of me and Tati. The water was barely lukewarm and I drank it in one gulp.

  “Your identification papers,” he said gruffly. “Do not play stupid with me.”

  “You still haven’t told me why we’re here,” I said, as I fumbled for my fake Pakistani ID.

  “Where are you traveling from?” the second officer asked, ignoring me entirely. “Cooperating will go much more smoothly for you.” He refilled my water and set it in front of me again.

  I gave him our practiced answer, careful not to give too many details without being specifically asked. I struck a careful balance of deference mixed with irritation that I thought worked well, but none of this seemed to matter.

  “Why are you using disguises?” the other officer asked.

  Oh my god. Someone had seen through the Neuroconceal. It took effort not to look at Tati, but I didn’t. �
��What disguises?”

  “We’re here to visit family,” Tati said.

  “You are traffickers,” he said. “Or terrorists. You are wearing disguises to facilitate your crimes. What is your purpose here? Who sent you?”

  Perhaps I was underestimating the seriousness of this, but even though I felt tense, I wasn’t particularly scared. We hadn’t been handcuffed—we hadn’t even been searched. It was clear that we weren’t free to go, but this felt more like a shakedown for a bribe than a real arrest. They’d probably heard our faint accents and decided that we were easy marks.

  We handed over our IDs, which they scrutinized. I expected them to find something wrong at any moment, but they just set them aside. They went through our bags, unfolding clothes and shaking everything out.

  “Show us your disguises,” the officer said. “You were seen using masks to hide your faces. Where are they?”

  Someone had seen us. Tati and I both looked puzzled.

  “If you will not cooperate, you will go to see the inspector who heads anti-terrorism at the main headquarters. And then you will go to jail. You have figured out your mistake and corrected the problem, but you were seen changing your disguises by a reputable citizen who has no reason to lie.”

  I could see now that we’d put the officers in a bad position. I still wasn’t sure if they really thought we were criminals or if it was just a shakedown, but they hadn’t found anything unusual and now they looked bad. This could make it harder for us if we didn’t give them a good way to save face.

  I put on my most contrite voice and said, “I’m very sorry, officers. You’ve seen what’s in our bags. We’re not criminals, but we may have been very careless. I remember that I was wearing a hat and sunglasses in a manner that perhaps is not the custom here and I may have alarmed a citizen. I’m sorry to have wasted your time. I should have demonstrated that to you immediately. I assume there is a fine for wasting official police time. But could we pay our fine here and go on our way, rather than going to the central station to pay it?”

  Both officers seemed to brighten up at this. After they conferred quietly, one of them said, “You have been very careless. You have caused a huge waste of police time. But you can pay the penalty directly here.”

  Just then there was a knock on the door and a man in a dark suit stuck his head in. I saw two others standing outside before he slipped in and closed the door behind him. “Good morning officers,” the newcomer said.

  “Who are you?” one of the first officers asked, clearly irritated at having their scheme interrupted.

  “I’m Inspector Chaudry,” the newcomer said, pulling out a badge and flashing it around. I didn’t know what was going on, but this Inspector Chaudry clearly outranked the other two. “I heard the report over the radio,” he said to them. “I’ll take over from here.”

  I was sure they were disappointed at not getting the bribe they’d worked so hard for, but they backed off immediately and left the office without another word.

  Inspector Chaudry picked up our IDs and looked at them one by one. He held each one up to our faces, looking for any little discrepancy between the photographs and the people sitting in front of him.

  “These are very good,” he finally said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d probably believe them myself. But I do know better. And I don’t believe them.”

  I started to protest, but he raised a hand to cut me off.

  “I know how this goes,” he said. “You are clearly professionals. I could question you about the details on your IDs, but I know that you have it all well memorized.” He smiled at Tati, then looked back to me.

  “She is very beautiful, your wife. You two make a likely-looking couple.” He took a cigarette from the pack in his breast pocket and fished a lighter from his pants. We both declined the cigarettes he offered before he lit his own.

  “I’m sure you two could keep up the ruse for a long time, but let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? Because I know what you are. You’re actors. My question is, who sent you? And why are you here?”

  “We already told you—” Tati started.

  Inspector Chaudry held up one finger and Tati surprisingly got quiet.

  “I. Know. What. You. Are,” Chaudry said very calmly. “The question is why are you here.”

  “We aren’t terrorists,” I said. “Or traffickers. The other officers already looked through our bags—“

  “You are Enlil agents,” the Inspector said quietly.

  For the first time, I actually felt afraid. I reached out to generate a field and realized my batteries were nearly drained. I picked up the cup of water, more because of nerves than because of thirst, and clutched it to my chest.

  “You tripped a ward at Mohenjo-daro,” the Inspector said before he took a short drag from his cigarette. “Did you know that? I don’t know how you did it, but clearly you did. I presume you were looking for holy artifacts, yes?”

  He smiled slightly at the recognition that showed on my face. “All the artifacts there have been removed or destroyed. But the fact that you knew where to look means you know more. And I intend to find out what.” He put out the little stub that remained of his cigarette and ground it down into the ashtray as if he was angry with it. “But if you won’t tell me on your own, I will have to find out another way.”

  He stood and knocked twice on the door and the two agents who’d been standing outside came in, filling the doorway.

  “What’s going to happen here?” I said, getting to my feet. I was bigger than both of the guys coming in, but they moved like fighters, and they were armed.

  “What’s happening is you are coming with us,” Inspector Chaudry said. The first agent came into the room with a pair of cuffs. The other was in the doorway behind him. He reached into his suit jacket. “Put down the cup,” he said. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”

  I weighed my options. I edged over towards the water cooler in the corner, and instead of putting the cup down, I tossed the water at him. It didn’t hit him, but splashed in a thin puddle on the floor. For a second, no one moved—shocked at what had just happened. Then the shock broke.

  “You missed, asshole,” the agent in the doorway said.

  I grabbed the water cooler then and pulled it down onto the floor. The jug didn’t break, but it separated from the body of the cooler and rolled across the floor, spilling its water with a series of glug-glug-glugs. Tatiana, understanding, pulled her feet up to keep them out of the spreading puddle as both agents moved in on me—which is just what I was waiting for. I sent a jolt into the pooled water, and with a crackle, all three agents went flying like hit bowling pins.

  “Let’s roll,” I shouted at Tati and we flew out the door, slamming it behind us.

  Balancing our need for speed with our need to look uninteresting, we walked quickly towards the exit and headed out. I wasn’t sure which direction our hotel was in, but it didn’t really matter at the moment, we just wanted to get away from the station. As we were walking out a group of police were running towards the station. Apparently word had gotten out.

  We passed a group of officers talking into their radios and got to hear the description, given in Urdu. All officers were instructed to find and stop a young Pakistani couple in their late twenties, suspected of trafficking and terrorism—both of average build and height, English-speaking, German natives. That wasn’t particularly worrying—we were in a city full of people who fit that description. We just had to avoid speaking English or German. The radio buzzed again and I recognized the voice of the Inspector.

  “All units check your phones for a picture of the suspects,” he said. “Approach with caution. They have already killed two agents. Take them alive if you can, but kill if necessary.”

  I wasn’t close enough to see the picture, but it had to have come from video cameras in the train station.

  “Can you change our concealments?” I asked Tati.

  “I don’t know,” she sai
d. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold it if I use a surge of energy to switch them. I can’t do it right now anyway—there are too many people around.”

  The street was packed and we moved with the flow of the crowd, keeping our heads down as much as possible. Police were everywhere and they were clearly searching for something. At first, we went the other way whenever we saw them, but that quickly became impractical. I didn’t think our appearance was especially noteworthy unless someone knew very well what we looked like. We went with the crowd towards a more central part of the city—flooded with pedestrians and motor scooters and traffic. I was concerned that a sharp-eyed officer would notice our discomfort with the heavy diesel fumes, as opposed to the locals who barely noticed it.

  The police had set up a checkpoint at the intersection ahead and they were stopping random people who maybe sort of fit our descriptions and current appearance. I tugged Tati’s hand and said quietly, “Let’s go back the other way.”

  The sidewalk we were on was narrow and thronged with people pushing and hurrying along. Trying to get into the stream heading in the other direction was easier said than done, and we had to actively push our way through, enduring a few choice words in the process. Just as we got turned around, I glanced over my shoulder and saw an officer watching us. We caught eyes for the merest of seconds and he pointed towards me and started speaking into his radio.

  “Walk fast,” I said to Tati and we started off. I glanced back again. I didn’t see the officer who’d been pointing, but his buddies were clearly in motion.

  Someone shouted “Hey!” and I turned to look. The officer had run alongside us in the street. “Stop!” he said.

  Tati and I took off running, pushing our way through the crowd with no regard for anyone. I raised an energy shield and we ran behind it. The shield threw people out of our way, like we were running behind the Cowboys’ line.