Watching Yute (25 page)

~~~~~

It was time for Kirison to stop being
Kirison the paranoid nervous wreck, and become Samuel the
confident, Aguei sympathetic advisor. Confidence wasn’t such an
easy thing to have around Horad. Simply put, Horad was kind of
scary.

Kirison approached the door in the
ground to Horad’s little hidey-hole. One of Horad’s men was sitting
beside it, and recognized Kirison. “Go on in,” he said, pointing
his thumb over his shoulder at the door. “He’s inside. There’s no
trap on the door right now.”

Kirison opened the door, and went in.
It was much as it looked the last time he was here. The mattresses,
the cheap office furniture, but now the empty gun rack was
noticeably better stocked, a new lamp sitting on the floor, and a
few bundles of general supplies were on hand.

The light cast stark, unsettling
shadows. The table’s shape cast upon the wall and ceiling, the less
geometric shadow of one of Horad’s men.

The most disquieting shadows belonged
to Horad himself. Not the shadow he cast, but the shadows that the
low light drew on his grim weathered face. It bordered on
terrifying. A very significant part of Kirison wanted to leave,
now. Samuel’s confidence was quite diminished.

“
Samuel.” Horad’s voice was
hard to read. Was this just a greeting, or was it carrying a tone
of accusation? Well, it shouldn’t. Kirison didn’t tell Horad to
disappear and launch a half-cocked attack. Yes, yes. That was true.
The failure was in essence, Horad’s fault. Kirison felt Samuel’s
confidence return.

“
I wish you had talked to me
before the attack. This could all be over right now, and your men
would still be free.”

“
All of what would be over?
We have succeeded in sending a message. Even if the grenades failed
to work.” Horad sounded impatient, but potentially
malleable.

“
Of course they failed. The
spirit wouldn’t allow it. Or guns. But don’t you see? You are an
Elder. This isn’t just about politics. The strength of the Aguei
will remain imprisoned until freed by the chant!” Yes, don’t over
explain all at once. Let Horad feel that ‘Samuel’ has faith that
any real Elder would know all about it.

“
What chant?” Of course he
didn’t know. Kirison had made up the chant, and the odds of Horad
being anything resembling a real Elder was slim to none. Horad
sounded a little flustered. Kirison had thrown a little too much at
him at once.

Kirison walked over to the table,
digging into his pocket. He produced his two little, thumb-sized
wooden idols, which were thinner in the middle than the ends, and
placed them respectfully on the table. One had a V-like shape
carved into one end, and the other had a circle. “These
chants.”

“
What are these?” Ha. Horad
was puzzled. Kirison felt a little more in control. It was a nice
feeling.

“
These chant idols carry
prayers from a High Elder. I cannot say who he is. As you know,
High Elders have their political status to protect, and being
connected to the A.R.A. would not be productive for him nor us at
this time. Not yet. Do you understand?”

Horad narrowed his eyes, and nodded,
‘knowingly’. “So what do I do with them?” This was great. Kirison
was tempted to tell him he needed to shove them up his ass and
sing, just to see if he’d do it. Unfortunately, the situation
wouldn’t bear that kind of entertainment.

“
As you approach the temple,
break the 'V' one in half. The magic of the prayer the High Elder
chanted into the idol will be released. This will call to the
statue’s spirit, and help you get inside the temple. When you stand
before the statue, break the circle one. This prayer will speak to
the spirit, and free the Aguei’s power. If you’re reasonably quick,
the first totem should still give you time to escape without
trouble.”

“
You speak easily of such
magics.” Horad said, staring at the idols.

Kirison felt doubt from Horad. Play
careful. He drew upon his most somber, wise sounding voice.
Hopefully this would not sound like pure crap from a white faced
norther. Hopefully the lighting made him look half as grim as it
did Horad.

“
Do you not feel it? Do you
not feel the weight, holding you back? The control being pressed
onto you? Do you not see your brethren struggle to make their way
though life, while those favoured by the government
thrive?”

Horad took and deep slow breath, and
sighed. “I do.”

Bingo. Maybe. Close enough. “Horad, you
must know that violence and bomb threats will not solve things.
Look what that has gotten. We have to hide in places like this,
just to speak our minds. It makes them all the more glad that you
are where you are.”

Horad scooped up the idols in his hand
and held them to his chest, and nodded. “I must make plans.” Bingo
confirmed.

“
I have one other thing to
help. A suit I liberated from my old work for your use. It’s in my
car.”

~~~~~

:::C /26

~~~~~

Cassidy and Cheryl sat together in the
back of a transport chopper. Bumming a free ride was easy enough.
Yute central was sensitive to the fact that the Yute temple base
was essentially marooned, and diverting an occasional flight to do
a favour here and there was no huge ordeal. The only downside was
that you couldn’t always get a flight at the time you
wanted.

At any rate, the two of them were on
their way to visit Cheryl’s parents out west. Unfortunately,
bumming free rides would mean several transfers, and potentially
long layovers.

“
Scared?” Cheryl smiled,
cuddling up to Cassidy’s arm.

“
Of meeting your folks face
to face? Not really.” The truth was, Cassidy was starting to feel a
little apprehensive. A little edgy. “How about you?”

“
I’m sure they’ll love you,
Cassie.”

The flight continued, and Cassidy’s
uneasiness only grew. Conversation was all but gone. Her breath was
a little laboured, and she was feeling jumpy. She didn’t realize
until her nails made her palms sore, that she had been clenching
her fists. She looked over at Cheryl. Cheryl wore a strange
expression, and stared intently at nothingness. She was grabbing
the seat tightly, white knuckled.

“
Cheryl. How are you
feeling?”

“
Huh?” She sounded almost
startled. “What? I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“
I’m not fine. You’re not
fine.” This felt a bit like the last time she had gone to Yute
central, but worse. The world was closing in. Everything felt
wrong.

“
I’m not? No, I’m not. I
think. What the hell? Do you love me?” Cheryl shot a look at
Cassidy that bordered on terrified.

“
Of course. Why wouldn’t
I?”

“
I don’t know. I don’t.
What’s going on? Did we eat something rotten?” Cheryl continued to
grasp the seat, and looked around like a deer that heard an
unwanted sound.

“
I don’t think so. Do you
think this will pass?” Maybe it was a spot of hypochondria that
made her stomach suddenly turn. Cassidy turned and held Cheryl
tighter, as if she would fall off the world if she didn’t. Cheryl
barely seemed to notice.

“
We have to get out of here!
Where’s the door?

“
Cheryl, we’re in the air,
we’re flying.”

“
Oh my god! Who’s flying
this thing!? I’m not, are you supposed to?” Cheryl stood up, almost
falling.

“
No! No! There’s a pilot
guy. I’m pretty sure there’s two of them.” She grabbed Cheryl’s
arm, and guided her back down. “Just relax, we’ll be at central
soon.”

“
I don’t want to be at
central, I want to be at our camp!” She looked around. “Which way’s
our camp?!”

“
I don’t know, I
think-“

Cheryl interrupted, her breathing
shallow and ragged. “Right. We’re in the air, we can’t walk there.
Why are we in the air?”

“
We’re going to see
someone.” Cassidy said. “Someone. I don’t know who. Who are we
going to see?”

“
Maybe it’s Cipriana or
Marcus. If we go to see them, then we can walk to camp.”

The chopper landed at central, and the
two of them emerged, after being told repeatedly by the co-pilot
that they had arrived. After getting more than a few strange looks,
they stepped off the helipad, grasping each other’s hand tightly.
Wordless, they gravitated towards a large metal tool case that
doubled as the deck chief’s counter, only because it looked like a
destination. The chief put down his clip board, and paid full
attention to the unusual two.

Now visibly trembling, and sweating, it
was Cassidy who managed to summon words for the chief. “We have to
go back.”

“
Are you two all right?
Maybe you should check out the infirmary.”

“
We... we have to get back.
Now.”

“
But you just got
here!”

Cheryl, who had been silent for a
while, spoke up, jaw clenched. “She said….!”

“
Alright!” The chief
interrupted. He grabbed a headset out of his large pockets, and
talked into the mic. The words were mostly lost on Cassidy and
Cheryl, but some words sounded favourable to what they wanted. “Are
you going to be okay?” got through to Cassidy, so she replied with
as much stability as she could gather.

“
Yes. Yes, we just have to
get back.”

An indeterminate amount of time passed,
and they found themselves herded onto a chopper. They sat in a seat
very much like the first ride, holding each other, almost afraid to
talk. It felt like forever, and it felt like an instant.

They felt the chopper land, and Cheryl
pulled herself from Cassidy so she could lunge at the door, almost
screaming with effort to open it as fast as she could. Cassidy was
afraid that they imagined feeling a landing, but thankfully as
Cheryl jumped out, she landed on solid ground. Cassidy followed and
stumbled, landing on the gritty helipad on all fours as the
customary small sand storm washed over them.

“
What the fuck was that?”
Cassidy yelled.

The pilot walked back from the cockpit
to the back of the chopper. “I still think you two should have…” He
stopped to watch Cheryl help Cassidy stand, now moving much more
naturally. “Are you two….?”

Cheryl looked into Cassidy’s now-sane
eyes, and took a deep breath. “We’re fine. I think we’re
fine.”

The pilot looked at them both for a
bit, mulling it all over. “Well. Alright, I guess. You’re
sure?”

Cassidy confirmed with a nod. “Yeah,
everything’s fine now.”

The pilot paused. “Okay then. Get
clear, I’m out of here.”

Cassidy threw the pilot a casual salute
before she and Cheryl jogged clear of the pad. They glanced back as
the engines sped up, and the chopper lifted off. They silently
strolled along the path until the chopper was far enough that they
didn’t need to raise their voices to be heard.

“
Seriously,” Cassidy
repeated, “what the fuck was that?”

Cheryl glanced around, still shaken by
the experience. “I don’t know. I feel fine now though. I don’t get
it. Oh! My parents!”

“
I guess we should ring them
up, and tell them what? Are we not going now?”

Cheryl glanced back at the helipad.
“No. I don’t think I can risk that again. We’ll just tell them we
got sick. It’s the truth, kind of.”

“
I guess. Let’s go check in
at the base.”

They wandered towards the base, not
talking, and went into the barracks. Cipriana watched them enter
from her bunk, but said nothing to them, mildly surprised that they
weren’t talkative. Wanda was near her bunk folding her laundry, and
took notice as well. The two of them just went over to their bunks,
and sat with their feet on the floor, facing each other but looking
at the floor.

Cipriana asked “Ladies? Didn’t you
leave?”

“
Yeah.” Cassidy replied,
looking over to Cipriana with a hollow gaze.

Cipriana leaned forward to them. “Are
you alright?”

“
Yeah.” Cheryl said, “No. We
weren’t, but now we are. But we’re not sure what
happened.”

Before Cipriana could ask further,
Cassidy posed her own question. “Cip, the last time you left the
base, did you feel alright?”

Cipriana furrowed her brow a little.
“Yeah, I was on shift just last-“

“
No, no.” Cassidy
interrupted, “I mean left the whole ruins area. Went to central or
something.”

Cipriana glanced away, searching her
memory. “It’s been a bit over a year, but I don’t remember being
ill or anything.”

“
What?” Cheryl asked, “You
haven’t left in over a year? I thought Cassie and I had been here
for a long stretch at half a year.”

Wanda spoke up. “It’s probably been
about a year for me, too.”

“
What the frig?” Cassidy
blurted, “What, is everyone saving their vacation time to take the
next decade off, or what? I know who’s been offsite
recently.”

Cassidy grabbed her little terminal,
and marched over to the men’s barracks as Cheryl followed along.
Cassidy stood at the doorway, and glanced around at the handful of
guys there. “Hey, anyone seen Marcus?”