Project Ouroboros

by Makovetskaya, Kseniya

  Another interrogation. The only member of the colony, who knew the national language, spoken by more than half of the world, was pacing up and down, spit on the floor and pretended to be a very confident person. Every time El'Athar could hardly keep himself from smiling as for the first time his cheek was cut in an angry attempt to extend his smile with a knife. The cheek had not healed and tortured him with dull pain that never ceased.

  El'Athar was sitting on a small plastic chair, which he had once seen on the poor public beaches, he shook his head. Jack, too, of course was not his real name, but a different name he did not know, so he said so immediately.

  Yes, he was thrown there by the government of the British Isles to die — too many secrets that could destroy the entire fragile peace of the Union of Atlantic states.

  — You've tried to escape again.

  — And I'll keep trying until I run away.

  — You have already killed three guards. That will not be forgiven, — Prison Guard circled like a crow around the chair — just because the head of the prison wants to sell you, you are still alive.

  — Not really...

  — Not really — what?..

  — Not really alive... I'm not dead. And I do not understand what you want.

  — Your name, the name of the coordinator! Who is he? Who directs him?

  — You know that I won't say...

  — What kind of idiot are you, damn you!

  No, not an idiot. He just knew that if he said something, then no one else would need him anymore. And instead of another broken finger he would get a bullet in the head.

  Hope.

  El'Athar opened his eyes. Above him there was a shining ceiling, painted in a greenish color. It had been already a month there in the most expensive clinic of Elam, and his life had turned into endless operations and sleep under general anesthesia. At such times he dreamed of faceless suits that circled over him every time he slept. Even in prison. El'Athar was not even sure they were people, but they always said the same thing as memorized mantra that was repeated word by word. Maybe it was really happening?

  The hair fell out, and no one could do anything... just suits stood over his head cutting off the entire strands, and then laughed... Was it also real?

  El'Athar nervously ran his hand through his long hair. All was well.

  Broken fingers were functioning again, nose was breathing and lungs didn't burn like the past six months. And the left eye wasn't blinded. But El'Athar no longer recognized himself in the mirror. Once he had hazel eyes, a rather large nose, and now nothing was left of him, and the blind eye turned red. The doctors said that they would put blue lenses that needed to be changed every year. Now he would be a blue-eyed and noseless type with skin tightening, joints across the left side of the face and a scar near his mouth. Although there, the doctors did their best too — only El'Athar saw the scar, because he knew where it was.

  — Well, — Aine Soph stood like a shadow over his head — they've made you handsome. You're younger, I'm telling you.

  — I do not recognize myself.

  — In any case, your nurses stopped weeping over you, and ask your doctor whether you eat sweets.

  — Yes, they bring me a bunch of chocolate, but I can't eat it yet.

  — You need a barber or you decide not to get a haircut? I remember, before you had short hair.

  — Let them be. As a reminder...

  — You will be discharged within a week. I will send my secretary after you. Her name is Rada, and she will take you home. I am told that you are the best specialist who could ever work for me. I am counting on you.

  El'Athar fell asleep under the gaze of clear, unblinking eyes.

  Chapter 22

  El'Athar woke up. The leg ached and did not give rest for a second. Rescuers had not come... Listening, whether anyone was coming to his room, the agent pulled out his phone. Satellite and radio connection were missing.

  Outside, the storm had almost completely buried the station windows.

  The phone had a function of direct communication with Aine Soph, but the channel did not work either. If the satellite caught the call attempt, it would transfer it to the Director General. But what were the chances?

  There were footsteps.

  El'Athar hid the phone, thinking that someone was coming to see him, but the steps weren't getting louder. It seemed that someone walked behind the wall in circles, but no one could be there. The room next to him was empty.

  Using the chair as a crutch, El'Athar came to the door and opened it. The hallway was quiet. The neighbouring room remained closed.

  There were voices in the living room and he could smell the food. Oh, how hungry he was!

  El'Athar walked down the corridor, moving the chair with shuddering.

  Heth and Aleph rushed to help and dragged him to the nearest empty chair where the agent would be able to sit down.

  — When did I eat last? — Asked El'Athar.

  — The day before yesterday, it seems — Tekhina shrugged — I'll make you a couple of sandwiches. Tea?

  — Coffee.

  El'Athar turned to look in the mirror that hung on the wall and realized why everyone was so wary. Apparently, during the failed landing an artificial eye lens fell out and brought his real iris colour visible — it was red. Ah, damn the lens, soon it would still need changing.

  The phone rang.

  All looked fearfully at El'Athar.

  — Good afternoon, Mr El'Athar — came insinuating, but familiar voice of Mr Netsach.

  — Good afternoon, Mr Netsach — El'Athar's tired face showed noticeable signs of nervousness, it lengthened of bewilderment: he did not understand why someone from "Elohim" would call him.

  — Mr Daath sends his congratulations. We are proud of you and are sorry for your injury. Mr Daath says he will pay for your treatment and you will be able to walk again. I hope you know what to do next.

  — Of course. Mr Netsach, we need to be rescued.

  — We took care of everything, do not worry. Rescuers will come tomorrow when the storm is over. Pass our condolences to Mr Heth. Good day, Mr El'Athar — phone switched off.

  There was silence in the room, even Tekhina stopped buttering the toast.

  — This is a special communication line — said El'Athar — to be honest, I do not really understand how it works. Rescuers will come tomorrow. And yes, I have an artificial eye. Could you please stop staring?

  The agent sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back in his armchair.

  How? How did they know about everything that was going on?

  Someone was scratching at the door like a cat that wanted to be let in.

  The feeling of presence. Some glimpses of the shadows along the corridor, tapping, like with a cane on the cold concrete floor and the claws are heard scratching on the old wooden door.

  In the dream, it seemed that someone was over his head, someone else was looking out the window and said, as if in a void.

  — El'Athar, whom did you bring with you?

  — I don't know.

  — Do they exist?

  — I don't know.

  The knock on the door.

  El'Athar turned on the light and invited Aleph to enter.

  Aleph, wrapped in a blanket, rocking on his heels, stood at the entrance to the room, staring somewhere behind the window. Then he paused and his eyes widened.

  — There's someone there! — He whispered and, without closing the door, went to the curtains. Carefully looked around, he whispered surprised as well. — You've got more of them than I have in my room!

  — Who?

  — Shadows.

  Aleph locked the door, shuttered the window to make it darker, and sat down on a free bed:

  — They are not local. Here, I know everybody. You unleashed something else ... while asleep. What did you dream of?

  — I do not remember...

  Aleph lay down on the spare bed.

  — I came, not to b
e alone with them.

  — I would be surprised if all this time, while I was sedated, you were not sleeping here.

  — She would not let me.

  — Tekhina?

  — Yes.

  — Why do you let her mock you?

  — She has something... that makes me obedient.

  — Wicked nurse?

  Aleph chuckled:

  — Yeah.

  — It's not working for me.

  — That's because you're thick-skinned.

  — Oh, thanks. Have you come here to sleep?

  — Yes.

  — Then go to sleep...

  Someone walked heavily, without lifting his feet, along the corridor. From one end to the other, and again, back and forth. Stopping only for a moment, to turn around and go back. Someone guarded the bedrooms. Persistently, awake, was on duty during the night hours.

  Pitter patter... The cane struck at the concrete floor in unison with steps. The guard cleared his throat and lit a cigarette.

  Aleph, lying in his bed, realized that no one was outside the door. He thought El'Athar really fell asleep so the boy got out of bed. He quietly, on tiptoes, walked to the window and pulled the curtain. Through the falling snow he could not see anything, but there was a feeling that there was someone there. Probably the one whom he had noticed, when he was just gone, left the station.

  The young man turned and looked at the broken, swollen agent's leg. Was Aleph sorry for him? He did not know. El'Athar had earned his mutilations. People who consider themselves too important always end badly. Did Aleph trust El'Athar? There was no choice. Only to El'Athar could he show his wounds and reveal at least part of what he knew and felt. Only for two of them it was important to understand what was happening. But there was a lump in his throat, some unspoken regret, and perhaps something else, that was hard to describe in words. He wanted to touch El'Athar's crippled leg and heal it. If it were possible. Some regret settled in his chest, or was it sadness.

  Aleph tried to shift his attention to something else. He wondered where El'Athar preserved the fragment of the cradle? Taking the clothes off the special agent after his rescue, Aleph could not find anything.

  Who was guarding them? Who was it?

  Pitter patter... the cane knocked on the door of the empty room. The guard grunted and went on. A rustle of leaves like a whisper echoed through the room. El'Athar was dreaming of something again. That thing, that he had dragged with him to the station.

  Aleph sighed, laid back and thought. His face had never been so serious and adult, and the sight suddenly went cold. Now he understood exactly — it nobody can help, and he did not know what to do next.

  — You woke up from centuries of sleep. For what?

  — I don’t know.

  — What do you feel?

  — A kind of a dull ache inside.

  — What do you want?

  — To sleep. I only want to sleep.

  Again, this clean ceiling and the dazzling artificial light. Hello, hospital ward, haven't seen with you the whole year.

  El'Athar was up on his elbows and looked around. It seemed the same as a year ago. Nothing had changed. Neighbouring bed was empty, but it looked as if someone had recently slept there. On the bedside table there were already a few chocolates from the nurses, someone even had brought fruit and sharply smelling bouquet. Lilies, it seemed.

  The leg did not hurt.

  Tangled messy hair tickled his face. El'Athar held them in the palm of his hand and a grey strand was left on his palm. The blood froze in his veins.

  Darkness.

  El'Athar woke up and heard the sound of approaching helicopters.

  Chapter 23

  Tekhina was sitting at her work laptop and rereading the notes taken during the expedition. Dr Ami's eyes were incredibly tired, but it was still very early for the end of the working day. And everything she could think of was her visit to the most expensive ophthalmologist in Anshan the next day. Tekhina had been saving money for that all the months of her work in "Enki" and the University of Elam.

  She was worried about what she had witnessed at the city hospital when visiting El'Athar: he was known and loved by all the staff of the department.

  — With our sweet boy there is always something going on! There isn't a clear spot to be seen on him! — complained a nurse.

  — It's the third time in a year! — Lamented another.

  — When he was brought for the first time it was impossible to look at him without crying! He had more than ten operations! — was gossiping the third.

  — Girls, do not forget that our clinic is the most expensive in the entire Arabian Peninsula. Someone very steep is paying for him — said maliciously the fourth. — What if our golden boy has something to do with Mafia? Or something even more serious?..

  Tekhina realized that she was wasting her time. She stared unblinkingly into the text, but wanted to get rid of those nasty feelings and forget that day in the hospital. Behind her, El'Athar was sitting at the edge of an empty table, as if nothing had happened, finishing his lunch. Agent still moved only with the help of crutches, but he could not sit still for a second. Although then in El'Athar's apartment chaos reigned: in addition to Tharsis and Aleph there were still two eight-year old children, Lamashtu as well. So poor special agent with a broken leg had to spend as little time as possible in his own apartment.

  — You know — El'Athar finally finished eating and now turned his attention to Ami — I was thinking... You said you do not have enough money for your project.

  — Would you like to sponsor it? — Tekhina leaned back and closed her eyes.

  — I understand that neither the university nor "Enki" do not want to allocate sufficient funds to the experiments.

  — Yeah...

  — I know who else might be interested in your research. And I can act as a mediator.

  Tekhina was nervous. This type has never done anything for nothing.

  — Military. They really need access to research of "Enki". And they are more generous than anyone else in this country. — El'Athar watched Tekhina with his terrible coloured eyes straight to her soul, demanding an immediate consent to the offer.

  — "Enki" is a rich organization. I just do not understand why they pay me a high salary, but do not give money for research. — Ami shrugged.

  — As far as I know, now they have to work on some kind of an expensive project, although I can not say for sure. Funding for projects is beyond my access to information — El'Athar drank his tea, which was also a part of Tekhina's dinner. — I like the food from the dining room so much. Probably because I'm not supposed to eat it, like other employees, — the agent has collected the dishes and put it on the edge of the table. — So what? Would you sell the project to the military?

  — Is it illegal?

  — One hundred per cent.

  Tekhina subsided, wondering whether or not to accept. She loved to make important decisions, imagine different scenarios, in order to be exactly sure of her choice.

  — Good. — Finally, Dr Ami pondered the offer and nodded. — If you arrange everything yourself.

  — I will. — El'Athar waved and looked sadly at the empty plates. It seemed the food interested him more than an alliance with the military. — Do you want to order a pizza?

  — Yes. — Despite the bored face of the special agent, Tekhina understood that that cooperation did not only interest her. She thought for a little and asked the latter, the most important question: — What do you want in return?

  — Analysis of a strange contraption, which I discovered in the mine. I think you will be interested, too.

  — I found a few strange microorganisms in the mountains, I had never seen anything like it. I will send them to the lab tomorrow afternoon. So you can bring what you need to have examined in the morning.

  Tekhina did not know what feeling she was experiencing then. Anger? Perhaps resentment or irritation? Or was it weariness and hopelessness
— that so often tormented her in recent weeks. But Ami really needed help, even if El'Athar would not do anything for her without a certain price. Besides Tekhina was angry with herself, because she knew that she behaved like a fool in these respects. But she could not help herself.

  Eyes hurt so much...

  — You've come here for this, right? For the world's best medicine?

  — Yes.

  — What about work? Your project?

  — It is the work of my life.

  — And El'Athar?

  — I do not know how I feel, but I would like him to love me.

  — What do you want?

  — All to be well.

  Tekhina closed her eyes.

  She recalled again and again, how bright and warm it was in the hospital room, there were a lot of flowers and gifts ... And outside the sea was roaring.

  When El'Athar was better Tekhina came to help pack up and take him home.

  — Won't you take any of these gifts?

  El'Athar shook his head.

  Recently, he became even more silent.

  — Don't you want to talk?

  He shook his head again.

  — Well ... Let me help you.

  Tekhina collected the drugs in a separate bag.

  — How long have you been on painkillers?

  El'Athar said nothing again.

  — I'm just worried about you ... I love you and I want to do something to help.

  And then El'Athar finally turned to her. He looked at her with such hatred that Ami paused, took the bag and left the room.

  ... And now he was sitting at her desk and eating her dinner, pretending that all was well. And offered an affair that could cost them their lives.

  ***

  — Mr Aine Soph, we are glad to welcome you — the butler opened the luxury country mansion door for the Director General of "Enki", today the most influential people of Elam gathered there. A closed party had already begun, but Aine Soph did not come there for entertainment. He followed the valet through a long corridor with paintings of previous eras on the walls and knocked on the furthest door.