by Patty Jansen
They crossed the bridge and the dark churning water underneath. Groups of youths lurked in the darkness of the unlit pavement, speaking in soft voices that followed them as they went.
Mikandra walked as close to Jocassa as she dared.
"Don' act scared. Jus' pretend youz come here all th' time," Jocassa said. "Youz can't see them, but they can see youz. They can see everything in th' dark."
Not acting scared was easier said than done. She felt so big, so helpless, so obviously not a local. It would be easy for a group of people to overwhelm both of them and steal everything she and Jocassa had. But they made it across the bridge in safety, and back into the glow of street lights and reflections in puddles.
There was a lot more activity on the streets in this part of the city. Small Pengali sat and talked on the street oblivious to the rain. Brightly-lit passages led into the hollow hills. Occasionally, a soft breeze would bring a waft of food and the muddy scent of Pengali bodies.
Jocassa turned off the main street into a dark back alley that led between solid, multi-hued walls that surrounded courtyards of crowded houses. There was no space for trees here, only for pots and garden beds full of trailing and climbing plants. Voices rose from over the walls. People talking, yelling, singing. The scent of cooking was everywhere.
The little alleys were a veritable maze of passages, with stairs going up or down. The walls on either side made it very hard to see where they were. Mikandra used the moonlight to try to orient herself, but realised that if Jocassa left her here, she would possibly never find her way back to the guesthouse. She was in his hands, and he had placed his trust in her, that she wasn't a council spy. He must never find out who her aunt was.
He stopped to knock on a solid wooded door. Three knocks, a pause and then another three.
There were footsteps in the yard beyond, a bolt was shoved back and the door opened. Jocassa spoke to the man who opened the door in keihu. Mikandra caught no more than a few words about the weather.
She couldn't see the man's face, but his size and smell gave him away as Pengali. He wore dark clothing including a hood that covered his head and hid his face in shadow.
He opened the door further to let her and Jocassa into the courtyard. Huge eyes glittered in the darkness of his hood.
The yard was dark and areas under the cover of a roof cluttered with stuff: old furniture, boxes, piles of wood and many other items without any sign of order.
The man shut and bolted the door and preceded her and Jocassa into a door from where low light emanated. Inside the house, the light was barely strong enough the reach the floor, let alone in the narrow passages between boxes and furniture that was stacked up against both walls. Mikandra felt her way forward.
Inside a plain room, there was a low table with pillows around it. An oil lamp produced a fitful light that left the edges of the room shrouded in darkness.
Jocassa bade her to sit down, so she did.
The Pengali man lowered his hood. He was a lot older than she had expected an arms dealer to be, resembling a wizened grandfather with his white hair and wrinkled skin. When she looked at him, she saw herself reflected in his eyes. His shirt hung open, showing his striped skin and a variety of beaded necklaces. Curiosity was evident in his face.
Another man came from a dark entrance at the back of the room carrying a box. He set it on the table and took out a number of ridiculously modern devices. Metallic, flat, smooth, with a small display and a few buttons. Mikandra had no idea what they were for.
Jocassa went in to discussion with the man, picking up each device in turn and studying it in great detail. He put two of them on the table, and the others back in the box.
Mikandra met his eyes.
"They's signal disrupters like we need to disable th' security. Th' Hedron-made ones ar th' best you can get." He turned over the devices so that the screens faced Mikandra. "What d' youz think." His expression said act knowledgeable.
Mikandra picked up one of the devices and turned it over in her hands while taking care not to press any of the unfamiliar buttons. It was much heavier than it looked. She picked up the other device and weighed both in her hands, while the awkward silence lingered. Hedron-made, huh?
Jocassa said in a low voice, "I'm going for th' cheaper one, but don' tell anyone yet."
She couldn't see how, not speaking keihu or Pengali, she could.
Next, the old man set another box on the table. He opened the lid. Inside lay a gleaming charge gun of the type that Traders were allowed to wear and usually did so under their cloaks. It had a Coldi-style arm bracket.
Jocassa was again talking to the man.
Mikandra reached inside the box and lifted the weapon out. The metal felt cool and heavy in her hands. This was serious gear. This was what she wanted.
But while she admired the weapon, Jocassa and the dealer spoke in raised voices. With her limited understanding of keihu, she had no idea what they were talking about. The dealer seemed annoyed so she put the gun down.
As soon as she did so, Jocassa pushed the box away and shut the lid.
"But I want this," she said.
"It's no good," Jocassa said. "It's a charge gun. Th' people youz are after are not harmed by charge guns. Worse, they's collect th' charge and fire it back. No. We don' want charge guns."
"Then what are we going to do to defend ourselves? You said we needed weapons."
"Hope we don' need t' defend ousselves. If something comes up, we's use knives 'n' crossbows."
"What's the good of a knife against an elite Coldi guard?"
"Nothing. But jus' so that youz don' have any illusions: if any of th' council's Coldi women guards get involved, we's dead. They's all ex-Hedron guards."
Mikandra felt weak. What had she started?
"Sure youz want t' go through with this? Youz can still back out."
"No, I want to do it."
In the end, they got a disrupter, a handful of tools for levering windows out of their frames—Barresh glass-stone did not break and you couldn't cut it with hand tools—and protective jackets. While the Pengali man packed it all up, she wondered who was going to pay for all this stuff, but he seemed happy enough to let her and Jocassa depart with the equipment.
"You didn't pay for any of this," she said as they made their way back through the maze of alleys.
"Nope."
"You said all this stuff is very expensive."
"It is. I's getting it on credit."
"Why, Jocassa? Why stick your neck out for me? I said I could pay. You don't even know what I'm doing."
"I's curious." He let a silence pass and added. "Besides, th' Pengali scum owes me money. I jus' wanted t' see his face 'n' make him scared. Now, because youz were there, he thinks I got friends in high places. He might pay me. If he doesn't, I's keep th' stuff."
"I don't want you to get into trouble over this."
"Youz kidding? He's had it coming fer a while. We's all in it, 'n' I hope t' hell that whatever youz are doing is going t' pay off. Fer both of us."
It was true and he was right. If she'd wanted to play nice, she would have stayed at home with her parents. She could always go back to being doomed a spinster for life and working in the hospital. It was this, or nothing.
They walked in silence until they had crossed the bridge back to the main island. There, finally, Mikandra dared ask the question that had been on her mind since the negotiation.
"What did you mean back there about people who are not harmed by charge guns? I've heard of people surviving being shot, but thought that was a fluke or a low setting."
"No, these people actively take the charge 'n fling it back at the gun that's shot it. Usually not much good for the shooter."
"You mean—they do this on purpose?" She saw light flashing across the face of a Pengali woman.
"On purpose and then some. Th' good ones can even kill you with it. The Chief Councillor 'n' his wife are th' best. Th' bet is we won' run into them
. They'll be at home with her being pregnant n' all that. But they's likely t' have some people on guard that's not too bad at it either. It's th' avya that th' Pengali talk about. Hedron guards are jus' a piddle compared t' these people."
This was starting to look like a more and more crazy venture with every step she took.
"Youz look doubtful. Youz want t' continue with it?"
"I do. Someone I admire told me never to give up and to have courage."
"Yeah, but words like that are fer noble fools who don' want t' live, 'n' think survival is some kind of code of honour."
Chapter 27
Jocassa's words made Mikandra so angry that she barely spoke to him on the way back. All right, so she was a noble fool who didn't want to live. Survival was a noble word. She almost told him who she was and what this was really about and that he and his mates got his retention payments from the Mirani army because of the levies paid to the Mirani council by Traders.
When they arrived in the courtyard, he went to join his friends and invited her to come.
"No. I'm going to bed."
"What's up with you? Youz been cranky all th' way back here. What'd I say?"
"Some people do things because they feel it's the right thing to do. Not everyone does things only if they only benefit themselves. Not everyone is that selfish."
He frowned at her. "I's helping you, right?"
Not without a benefit to himself. If this went wrong, he would suffer less than she would. "I'm talking about honour being for fools."
"Youz are not doing any of this fer yousself?"
That mock-innocent look of his made her even more angry. It went against everything she had been taught all her life, about Foundation, about responsibility. And these people, these selfish creatures, were the ones she had sworn to protect and feed and give jobs?
"What? What'd I say wrong?"
"I cannot expect you to understand."
She ran up the stairs into the dorm, but it was so late that Melvi and Ariani had already gone to sleep. She undressed and lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling.
Sleep, of course, remained elusive.
The party in the courtyard got going and the sound of laughter drifted up from the courtyard. All of a sudden, she was sick of this place without morals, this place where everyone did as they pleased and no one cared about the future, about their home towns, about education.
Jocassa was right in a way, she did do this for herself, but she did it for the Andrahar Traders, so that they could employ people and pay their council dues so that the council could provide for the workers and the soldiers. She could not expect them to understand the weight of that responsibility. That was the difference between Endri and Nikala, and she would never bridge that gap, no matter how long she spent in this stinking cesspool.
* * *
In a way, Mikandra was glad that she couldn't talk to Rehan the next morning. Times at Kedras and Ceren didn't overlap in a convenient way at the moment and he would be asleep. That was just as well, because she didn't want to tell him, or even make him suspect, what she was going to do.
That day in the library might well be the last day in her job ever. She couldn't tell anyone, and she hoped Bakimay wouldn't pick up anything.
What she was about to do would certainly destroy Bakimay's respect for her, and Mikandra felt some pride for the way she had turned around Bakimay's low opinion of her—only to destroy it again.
After work, she went to the guesthouse and bathed. She bundled up the protective jacket because it would raise too many eyebrows if she walked the streets wearing it. Also, the thing was quite heavy and hot. She re-dyed her hair, put on her dark clothes and strapped on the belt with the knife. It seemed such a ridiculously old-fashioned weapon that offered her no protection at all.
Jocassa, Dalit and Thasep were nowhere to be seen, and she hoped that they would be true to their word and turn up at the agreed meeting point.
By the time she arrived at the spot under the trees, Mikandra was so nervous that she could barely move.
Jocassa and Dalit sat on the ground under the tree, Dalit with his back leaning against the wall that surrounded the complex. They shared food from a paper bag between them.
Jocassa gestured. "Sit down." He looked way too relaxed. Exactly how often did he do this kind of stuff?
Both men were similarly in dark colours, Jocassa with a shawl to cover his hair. Dalit wore black like the Barresh city guards but couldn't look less like them. He was far too small and thin for that. Next to him on the ground lay a leather bag which would contain the disruptor and knives.
She glanced at the part of the building visible over the top of the wall at Dalit's back. The tree they would climb later was a bit further down the street. Its spreading branches cast a deep shadow in the gathering darkness. A couple of Pengali girls stood talking at its base.
"Don' be nervous. There won' be any action fer a while."
"Why?" Her heart thudded. Had anything gone wrong?
Jocassa jerked his head behind him. "We need t' wait until th' building shift finishes."
Mikandra looked at the building again. A light was on in the yard, and there was the sound of voices on the other side of the wall. "They's jus' packing away th' gear."
Fair enough.
"Besides, Thasep's not here yet."
Her heart jumped again. "Is that a problem?"
"Na. He's thick. Can't tell th' time. We got all night t' do this, right? We's not in a hurry."
She nodded. Right. Calm down, silly girl.
But if it was all the same to them, she'd like to have this over and done with as soon as possible.
She sat down and took an offering of fried worms from Jocassa's bag. But she was so nervous that they tasted like nothing and when she'd had a couple, her stomach seized up into a hard ball and she couldn't eat any more. She was afraid that she was going to be sick.
Dalit didn't eat much either. Every now and then, he would look up in Mikandra's direction, his expression distant.
Jocassa didn't seem to be similarly inflicted. He was well underway to polishing off the portion of fried worms, jamming one handful after the other into his mouth. "Hmm, that woman could make millions if she found a way t' sell this stuff in places where there's people with money, like Damarq."
He crunched loudly through another handful of worms.
"All present," came a voice from behind and there was Thasep, also dressed in dark colours. He carried the rope, with the anchors and the other climbing gear in the bag over his shoulder. He also wore a belt with a hammer and a knife and was probably the only one of them who looked convincingly like a builder.
Jocassa patted the ground next to him. Thasep grunted while lowering his huge frame to the ground. He dumped his bag and peeked in the paper wrapper.
"What? Worms again? When are youz getting' real food fer a change?"
Jocassa rolled his eyes. "Maybe when someone in this place sells fish bread that isn't dry as dust I'd think about it."
Thasep snorted and took a handful of worms anyway.
Meanwhile, Jocassa went over the plan they had discussed in the morning and repeated what everyone would do. "We change one thing: Dalit's coming into th' tree, keeping an eye on the street 'n' th' outside of th' building. 's too busy in th' street otherwise. He's t' create a fuss if we need a distraction."
Did he realise that Dalit hardly saw anything?
Eventually the Pengali girls moved away from the tree, the shoppers went home, and the street became quiet. Jocassa scrunched up the paper wrapping from the worms and tossed the ball over the wall into the yard. Mikandra heard it bounce on the pavement twice before coming to a rest. No one on the other side complained about people throwing rubbish.
Jocassa got to his feet. "Let's go."
They went to the tree, where Thasep took up position with his back to the trunk.
"Got th' light?" Jocassa asked.
Mikandra nodded.
&n
bsp; "Th' knife?"
She nodded again and patted the pocket of the jacket she had put on. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. She had wanted that gun, badly.
"Thasep will lift youz up first, then me 'n' Dalit. Go."
Thasep interlaced his fingers and Mikandra stepped onto them, wobbling awkwardly. It was rather embarrassing being so close to this thug. He smelled of bad teeth and unwashed clothes.
Up into the tree. The branch was a lot more smooth than she had expected and covered in moss and other slippery stuff. She could only walk slowly, holding onto adjacent branches. Jocassa climbed up directly behind her, while Dalit sat near the trunk and Thasep was climbing in. For his size, he was surprisingly quiet and agile.
Mikandra crossed the point where the branch went over the wall. Jocassa lashed the rope with the knots onto the branch and looked around before he let it dangle down. He quickly slid down the knots and into the yard. He jumped down the last distance, and disappeared into the dark. He came back, whispering, "Can any of youz see th' ladder?"
Mikandra's heart was thudding. They'd counted on the builders' ladder that had been in the yard this morning.
Jocassa went the other way and fortunately came running back with the ladder. He put it against the balcony and climbed up. Now Thasep lowered himself down the knotted rope into the yard and helped Mikandra down. He was to stay in the yard to ward off trouble in the same way Dalit was to stay in the tree. Dalit had already pulled the rope back up. She couldn't see him anymore in the darkness between the tree's branches.
Jocassa had reached the box balcony. He gestured. Mikandra followed up the ladder, but she wasn't half as strong or agile as he.
"Hurry, there's people coming," Thasep said.
Mikandra clambered up as fast as she could and more or less flung herself over the railing. Thasep took the ladder away and disappeared with it into the shadows.
Jocassa was already at the window, peering inside without touching the glass. A line of lights blinked in the darkness of the room. The feeble glow showed the outlines of shelves of the library.