by Dan Haronian
"No," I said.
She smiled embarrassed. "Then I don't understand."
"I w-w-want to push them to do so-so-something that will make them c-c-cross the line."
"Cross the line?!" wondered Gu-Dos. "Whose lines? They control everything."
"No they don't."
Rover-Dos chuckled.
"They do-do-don't control Se-se-seragon."
"Seragon?" said Gu-Dos.
"What do you mean?" asked Nout-Thor surprised. "I hope you haven't done anything crazy."
I stood up and they backed up a bit. "I ha-ha-haven't done anything yet, but if, for example, we co-co-could create so-some conflict be-between Mampas and Seragon," I said thinking out loud. "If we had in-in-information that wo-wo-would make Mampas cross Se-Se-Seragon’s line and pit Seragon against Thesh and his go-go-government. I think this could bring the go-go-government down."
"You want to create a conflict between Mampas and Seragon?" said Nout-Thor her voice flat.
"We are no ma-ma-match for the Mampas army so why not let so-so-someone who is capable do the wo-wo-work for us?"
Nout-Thor shook her head. "You're crazy."
"So is the si-si-situation," I said.
"It won't work," she said decisively.
"Why not?"
"It would be great if it succeeded, but what if it fails?"
"We'll have another enemy," said May-Thor.
"Yes, it is a risk," I said.
"A risk? It's all or nothing," said Nout-Thor.
We fell silent for a few seconds. Nout-Thor looked at me. "Why haven’t you told me about this until now?"
"I didn't have a re-re-reason. These are only my tho-tho-thoughts, I’ve done nothing yet."
Her shoulders sagged in relief. "I was a little worried about you before but now… don’t you dare take action without my permission!"
"Of course not."
She nodded. "I don't know what to think about your ideas," she said contemplating.
Rover-Dos scratched the back of his neck. "This is madness," he said looking at Nout-Thor.
I look at him but he avoided eye contact. "We need a crazy a-a-approach if we want to su-su-succeed. We are weak. This is our only ch-ch-chance."
"This is also the way to completely wipe us out,” he responded promptly, still avoiding my eyes.
"Relax everyone," said Nout-Thor. "It was only an idea. Give yourselves some time. I'm sure that you can come up with something more reasonable after you have gotten to know one another."
"What about the ne-ne-network?" I asked.
"As I said, no surfing for the time being. We need to let things calm down a bit," she said.
"There is no chance of progress wi-wi-without the network and without sc-sc-scrambling," I said decisively. "You see what I c-c-can do from here. That is no-nothing. Think what we could do if you let me be more ag-ab-aggressive. Let me find some in-in-information we can do something with."
"Breaking into the database is not scrambling?" asked Rover-Dos.
"Itgass is no-no-nobody. The database I broke into is more than 18 years old and is sa-sa-saved in an old ar-archive. This is hardly s-s-scrambling."
"I have authorized this operation," said Nout-Thor. "But the order to stop surfing from the desert came from above. The only way is to scramble is from the cities."
"Okay," I said.
She looked at me. "You want to go to Mampas?"
"Yes."
" You will be on your own. We can’t protect you there and if you are exposed we will deny any connection to you."
"I un-un-understand."
She looked at me. She looked like she was sorry she brought up the idea. "I thought you didn’t remember Mampas."
"I don't bu-bu-but I am a quick learner."
A man walked into the room. He stepped towards her and whispered something in her ear. "I need to go," she said looking at us. "Think hard about what you want to do and let's get together again this afternoon."
"I'll go with him," said May-Thor suddenly. Nout-Thor turned back at us and we all looked at May-Thor completely surprised.
"I know Mampas like the back of my hand, I also know places you can surf without any problems," she added.
"Are you crazy?" called Rover-Dos. "It's suicide!"
May-Thor looked at him. "I don't know how long this freeze is going to last - a day, two days, a month. I can't stand to stay here even for one more hour. If the freeze is short you'll join me soon anyhow.
Rover-Dos mumbled something to himself.
"Just a minute," said Nout-Thor. She looked at me. "That would need to be authorized. Are you sure about this?"
I nodded and looked at May-Thor, still surprised by her offer.
"I will ask," she said shook her head. "You're not quite right. You don't even know who you are," she said still shaking her head. "Why don't you think about this a bit more?"
"I am useless here," I said trying hard not to stutter in light of the vote of confidence I just received from May-Thor.
"Okay," said Nout-Thor and left the room.
Sosi had expected a difficult meeting with Daio, but he hadn’t thought it would hurt so much. Daio had said he loved Raban very much, but if that were true why was he refusing to check into the possibility that he was innocent? Sosi thought it would be the first thing to check if you loved someone who’d been accused of such a horrible crime. Why would he need someone from the chosen to take part in this farce of a committee to have this option tested?
His despair grew after Su-Thor returned from a visit to Naan. She’d gone there to convince Daio to reopen the investigation. Daio had shown her the facts that he had collected. He felt they proved that Raban was indeed in the desert and he that had been training the rebels.
She couldn't deny the fact that he’d visited Mampas dozens of times over the last year and that sometimes he even went there for short visits. She also remembered that he’d promised them he would not stay there more than necessary. She knew everything he’d done to avoid excessive exposure to the cultures of Naan and Mampas. She told Daio all of this as well. His only response was that this behavior could also explain the behavior of someone who intended to join the rebels. He also showed her a highly reliable report claiming that Raban had actually visited Base 33.
Su-Thor didn't tell Sosi what she had learned in Naan, but when she came back empty handed, he knew there was no hope of clearing the name of his son. He also knew that the end of the chosen was only a matter of time.
Since curing the Sinners Plague, Sosi had improved his scrambling capabilities tenfold, but never violated any of the network laws. Now he felt he had no choice. The books preached restraint, but the rule was not valid when a sword was against your neck.
The approval arrived a week later. Nout-Thor had no doubt that someone up the chain of command had decided to take an unnecessary risk. She liked Sonny. He was a very special person, and clearly very capable, but she couldn't shake the thought that maybe his ideas were the motivation for the attack on Base 33. She told this to Gu-Dos but the approval arrived anyhow. The timing of the move to Mampas was also perfect for May-Thor. Their sudden disappearance from the gambling center had created a shortage of controllers. When she told them them her mother was feeling better, and that she could return to work, they were extremely pleased. Nout-Thor gave them several briefings covering the operating procedures for the mission. She explained to them that this was an information gathering mission and made sure they knew and would follow the protocols. She also told them they were completely on their own, if they were caught. In a separate meeting with May-Thor she made it clear that despite Sonny’s amazing capabilities she was worried about something being wrong with him. She didn’t completely trust his judgment and thought that something was still not right in his head.
May-Thor told her in a firm and unequivocally tone that she was in control of things, and that she would stop everything as soon as she noticed the slightest problem. Her words and
her bearing left no doubt in Nout-Thor’s mind and calmed her fears.
I was excited the day we left. My words were fragmented and fractured more than ever so I decided to shut my mouth. May-Thor said that my stutter was the best disguise I could have, but I kept up my silence. My stutter completely exhausted me.
We covered ourselves with yellow blankets and rocketed to the surface in one of the lifts. A hovercraft was waiting outside. We skimmed along the ground for a while in silence. May-Thor’s eyes darted around and soon she began to look worried.
"Is e-e-everything okay?" I asked.
"Everything’s fine," she said tensely.
We were flying so low that it made it difficult to identify our surroundings. May-Thor looked alarmed when Mampas suddenly appeared on the horizon.
"What's go-go-going on?" I asked when I looked at her face.
"The hovercraft is taking us to the city," she said.
Nout-Thor had gone over the protocols but I didn't remember if she’d said anything about this.
"I’ve never traveled to the city this way. Usually we are dropped off somewhere along the way and we do the rest. That is the normal protocol."
She leaned forward and spoke with one of the pilots. The hovercraft slowed down and touched down softly on the sand. The light above the door turned on.
"Come on," she said and lurched out the door.
I followed her and we moved away from the hovercraft as fast as possible. A cloud of sand rose in the air and we covered ourselves with the blanket until it dissipated. When we stood up a taxi was already rolling to a stop beside us. May-Thor hesitated but I didn't see any other alternative.
"Come on," I said. I didn't know much about the protocols but we were very close to the belt Road and the taxi was probably there for us.
We climbed into the back seat. "Is everything in order?" asked May-Thor removing her goggles.
"Everything is fine," said the driver and immediately started moving.
She started to shake out her hair slowly, while looking suspiciously at him and at the road. The taxi made a left turn and moved quickly into the city. After a long drive it stopped a few blocks from the gambling center and May-Thor and I got out.
"Your bag is in the back," said the driver. I rushed to the back and pulled it out.
The taxi took off. May-Thor was already walking away. I shouldered the bag and followed her.
"Is it th-th-that bad?" I asked when I reached her.
"Either they’ve found an amazing time window or someone is playing with our lives," she said looking around.
We passed by the hotel and the gambling center. I assumed she was trying to evade whoever was following us. I didn't see anyone, but this was her playground and I didn’t want to interfere. She remained silent so I slowed up a bit and let her range farther ahead while still following her carefully. I began to think about Naan and Gu-Dos. Naan had almost killed me, and Gul-Dos had showed no signs of sympathy. Had he just sent me out to get killed? I was still pondering this when May-Thor walked into a crowded shopping mall. The distance between us grew and I increased my pace. We walked along a wide foyer and I focused on her long, black hair. It was noontime and the mall was crowded. Suddenly she moved to the edge of the foyer, ducked quickly down a path separating the crowds moving in and out of the mall, and disappeared into the departing mass.
I rushed down the path but I feared I wouldn’t be able to catch up. It all seemed so ridiculous. I began to wonder if she was a part of whatever was going on. Was she there to get me killed? The sweat running down my face began to sting a bit. Suddenly I thought of my reddish and peeling skin. It felt like everyone was looking at me. I stopped the chase. I turned down the path and started walking out of the mall. Should I behave as if nothing had happened or should I run? I thought of May-Thor. She’d looked worried in the hovercraft. The taxi had also surprised her. Had her apprehension been real or just an act?
I reached the hotel and walked to the reception desk. The reception clerk was undoubtedly a Desertian. He gave me a quick look and paid very little attention to my scarred and disfigured face.
"Name?"
"O-o-lery Oh-oh-ohave," I said, angry with myself not being able to say the name without stuttering. But the stutter didn't surprise him either and he didn't ask me to repeat it.
After scanning my hand, and transferring the payment, my room was approved. I went up, took a shower and put on some of the new clothes that were in the bag.
I sat on the bed hungry and worried. Dion had started to set and the city lights began blinking on. In the sky, the Rings of Aesder became brighter and with them my discomfort grew. Where was she? We hadn’t even gotten started and everything had already gone wrong. I considered walking out on everything. I could find a new identity and disappear. But then I remembered my parents' story. My mother had explained how they’d followed my father for weeks without him knowing. The faces of the reception desk clerk and the taxi driver came to mind. There were dozens like them all around me. I decided to wait and see what happened.
May-Thor had told me about some of the places from which she thought I could break into the network. One of them was the bank of gambling terminals in the central gambling hall. She said that someone had once told her that some time ago it was possible to access the network from these terminals. Access was blocked after the level of theft and blackmail perpetrated from them reached an unbearable level. There were a few more attempts in recent years, but the network had blocked them all. May-Thor said the man who’d told her about the terminals hadn’t looked drunk to her, but he’d reeked of alcohol. His entire tale could turn out to be the product of an overactive imagination.
Next on the list was the Mampas Mineral Stock Exchange. She’d once worked there as a controller, too. Their network was limited but she knew there were blocked passages leading to the main network. She had no idea how to reach them or how hard it would be to break through them.
I sat thinking of these things because I had no other leads on how to move my mission forward. I didn't know much about her. Information scrambling had suddenly become unrealistic. Without her to guide me it would take me some time before I’d be able to do anything significant. May-Thor was my access to an extensive and branched network of rebels. Without them things were going to be much harder.
When the darkness finally fell, I decided not to wait anymore. I had to eat something. I rose from the bed and walked to the door. When I opened it, May-Thor was standing in front of me. It felt as if she’d been there the whole time.
"May-Thor?" I said. She looked exhausted. Her eyes were wide and fixed as if she was frozen. "Co-co-come in," I said, moving away from the door. She walked in slowly
"Are you o-o-o-okay?" She didn't answer. She walked in and scanned the room. She stepped to the window and looked outside then went to the bed and sat down.
"Were you ou-ou-outside the whole time?" I asked.
She nodded.
I walked to her. "Do you su-su-suspect something?"
She looked at me. "I'm not sure anymore," she said in a tired voice. She shook her head as if trying to clear her mind. "Gu-Dos is very sensitive about the protocols especially those related to entering the city. What happened today had nothing to do with any protocol I know of."
"W-w-what do you th-th-think is going on?"
"I don't know. I promised to put a stop to the mission if I felt something odd. We haven’t even started and already things feel odd to me." She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe I am too sensitive. I wasn't followed. I am sure of that."
"I tried to ke-ke-keep up with you, bu-bu-but I co-co-couldn't," I started to smile but her exhausted look stopped me.
"I'm sorry," she suddenly said.
"Why?"
"I ran away from you."
"Yes, it was un-un-unexpected. I th-th-th-thought that you..."
"That I what?" she asked looking at me.
"That you t-t-trusted me."
I sat down ne
xt to her and she looked back at the window.
"What do yo-yo-you think of me?" I asked.
"I don't know. I don't think Gu-Dos likes you very much. I heard he blames you for what happened at Base 33 and that he thinks you are a traitor." She shook her head and lowered her eyes. "It was only rumors but after what just happened…" she looked at me again.
"Do I lo-lo-look like a traitor?"
"Nout-Thor told me once that I tend to imagine things."
"So you ran away be-be-because you were a-a-afraid you’d get hu-hurt when they killed me."
She nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Maybe you were right. Maybe you should stay away from me," I said.
She tightened her lips.
"Maybe they si-si-simply didn't have the time to eliminate me. Maybe it will ha-ha-happen to-to-tomorrow."
"She shook her head. "If so, why ignore the protocols and rush to bring us over?"
I didn't have an answer to that. The whole thing with the protocols was completely new to me. "What ha-ha-happened in Base 33 didn't happen b-be-because of me," I said. It wasn't the whole truth but what else could I say?
She let out a deep sigh, then stood up and walked to the window. "Do you really not remember who you are?" she asked suddenly, turning to face me.
I shook my head. Another lie.
"How can that be?"
"I do-do-don't know."
"And the things you said. You want to sow discord between Seragon and Mampas. Is that even possible?"
"Ma-ma-maybe, but if it is, I won't be able to do it by myself."
Her gaze became intense, as if something had just struck her, but she didn't say anything.
I stood up. "Take a shower and I'll ge-ge-get us so-so-something to eat."
She nodded. She walked to the shower and when I heard the water running I went outside.
The next day she went to the gambling center to receive her weekly work schedule. The gambling center was next to the hotel. A passage connected the hotel lobby to the lobby of the gambling center. An information center was along this passage and I went inside to scan the news.