Different Senses (72 page)

Dad didn’t call, but I couldn’t
expect him to. I hoped Mum might, but she’d have her hands full
with Dad and her duties as the governor’s partner. I could only
wait, watch, and fret. I became very good at fretting.

The week stretched into two. It
had taken too long. Sanjeev couldn’t have fallen for the bait. What
had we done wrong? And would we get a second chance?

I was probably half a day from
breaking Captain Largosen’s order not to contact him except under a
life-threatening emergency—and somehow, I didn’t think he’d counted
‘about to go mad from stress and anxiety’ as
‘life-threatening’—when Shardul called. “We need to meet, and
soon.”

I bit back the sarcastic
“Hello, Shardul, how lovely to hear from you,” and said, “I need
permission.”

“Already obtained. Captain
Largosen ordered it, in fact. Ordered you, not me. I merely
agreed.”

“What’s happened?”

“Things are moving. The captain
will have you brought to the meeting this evening, at eleven.”

“Sanjeev took the bait?”

“Someone did, at least.”

“Great. How are you? I saw you
on the news reports the other night.”

“Things are difficult. Don’t
concern yourself.”

“Of course I concern myself.
You’re my friend.”

A shadow of pain passed over
his face. “I don’t know how you can still say that. I’ll see you
this evening.”

“Shar—”

But he’d closed the call.
Seconds later, Captain Largosen’s name flashed up on my phone.
“Sergeant, you’ll be collected tonight just before eleven. We’ll
meet and then you’ll spend the night at Sri Shardul’s home.
There’ll be an early departure—no need to pack, I’ve got that
arranged.”

“Yes, sir. Won’t it seem
suspicious if I’m seen leaving his place when I haven’t done so
before?”

“It would, but I’ve taken care
of it. Be ready.”

“Sir,” I said and he
disconnected.

“Taken care of it”? How...but
then I realised. Kawildin. They’d been using Kawildin to set up a
cover, while I’d been stewing in this bloody apartment and going
slowly mad. Why, for sanity’s sake? Why not use me? I had literally
nothing better to do.

Shardul must have insisted. I
fingered my jaw where every word I uttered was recorded and
transmitted to Captain Largosen’s monitors. Maybe once the device
was removed, Shardul would feel less inhibited. On the other hand,
it might make no damn difference at all.

Sounded like the ‘undercover’
part of this mission was about to start. I wished I could talk to
my family. Captain Largosen would keep Mum and Dad informed, I
hope, but hearing their voices would be reassuring.

The three hours until my ride
turned up dragged like three days, though I tried to kill time by
rereading the briefing reports. I had the names of suspected
players, the connections, and the possible methods of attack burned
into my memory now. But there was nothing solid, nothing to say
“this is the one who is behind it, that’s the one who will carry
out the next attempt on a judge’s life”. There was too much
information, too few specifics. I’d never hand something like this
over to a client.

Finally my phone beeped and I
went down to the basement where another anonymous auto waited to
take me to the meeting with Captain Largosen and Shardul. Other
than his somewhat irritating insistence on referring to me by my
rank, Largosen’s way of doing things was decidedly non-military—and
non-force either. But maybe that was the secret of his
success—weaving through rigid protocols to get exactly where he
wanted to be. Why he didn’t piss people off while he did it, was a
mystery.

The building was new to me, and
shrouded in darkness. Inside, the lighting was just as subdued, and
the small office where Shardul and Captain Largosen waited for me
had all its shades drawn.

“Sir.” I snapped off a salute,
then nodded at Shardul, who nodded back, his expression blank, his
emotions dark and tangled, jumping a little with shock and disgust
as he registered my features. That didn’t last long, but he clearly
didn’t want to be here, or doing this, whatever ‘this’ was.

“Take a seat, sergeant. Things
are on the move, as undoubtedly Sri Shardul indicated. Sri Sanjeev
has arranged a meeting with individuals I believe may be at the
heart of this insurgency. Your instructions are to gain their
trust, and offer to make yourself useful. The recordings of your
conversations will be crucial evidence, and if we can identify
these people, that will give us our chance to crack the ‘Justice
for Nihan’ group.”

“Yes, sir. Will I be able to
communicate with you?”

Shardul coughed. “Sanjeev
specifically said we were to leave readers and phones behind. All
weapons too, of course.”

“Yes, and without the signal
booster you’ll be out of range to transmit the recording. We’ll
track your position, sergeant, but essentially you’ll be on your
own, so tread lightly.”

I frowned at him. “Sir, I’m not
happy about putting a civilian in danger.”

“Neither am I,” he replied
coolly, not even looking at Shardul, “but the meeting can’t happen
without Sri Shardul. He’s agreed.”

“Without pressure?” I turned to
him. “This could explode in our faces, and I won’t be able to
protect you.”

“I know. But if you can face
the risk, so can I.”

“Shardul, I’m a cop!
You’re—”

“
Sergeant, be
quiet
.” I
faced my boss with a glare. His hawkish expression promised a world
of pain if I did not shut up
now
. “Sri Shardul understands the
situation as well as or better than you do. We don’t have time for
this. This meeting is precisely what we’ve been working towards,
and it’s a little late to scruple about his safety.”

“Sir,” I bit off, angry as
fuck.

“Then read the briefing notes,
and I’ll answer questions. Sri Shardul, can I offer you chai? Or
something else?”

“No, thank you, captain. I
think...I’d like to wait elsewhere while Javen reads, if you don’t
mind. Is there another office?”

The captain pulled out a
keycard. “Next door. Let me know if you need anything.”

Shardul nodded and left the
room, while I sat slightly amazed at the almost warm exchange.
Neither man particularly liked the other, but the manners had
improved a lot.

Captain Largosen waited for the
door to close, then growled. “What the hell are you doing,
sergeant?”

“My job, sir. Protecting
civilians, and in this case, a friend.”

“
My
job, sergeant. Your job is to follow orders. Are
you going to do that, or shall I pull the plug on this whole
mission?”

“Sir...if Shardul is hurt or
even killed, the effect on the current tensions would be
catastrophic. He’s not just any Nihan.”

“I’m painfully aware of that,
Sergeant Ythen. Any more bloody obvious things you want to
say?”

His eyes bored into me, and his
contempt made my head throb. “No, sir.”

“Then read. I’m going to find
chai.”

I restrained myself from
cursing, aware I would be heard, but I swore silently anyway. If
either of us slipped up at this meeting....

If
I
slipped up. Because
Shardul was good. I’d seen him in action. But this kind of faking
was foreign to me, a huge leap beyond the playacting I used on the
job to win the trust of targets. This was a 25/8 act I had to carry
out, and the very opposite of what I was in reality. Shardul only
had to draw on his darker instincts and emotions to portray someone
ready to collude in terrorism. I had to go against years of
training, and my whole background.

But I could do it. At least I
hoped I could.

Captain Largosen returned
shortly after I’d read the sadly brief briefing file from cover to
cover and committed the important facts to memory. He set cups of
chai down for both of us. “Questions?”

“Tools, weapons, escape plan,
sir.”

He bent down behind his desk
and pulled up a small blue case, which he opened. “In the boots in
that pack over there by the wall, you’ll find spaces in the heels.
Use them to store these.” He set out a compact multitool and showed
me the knife, scissors and wire saw it contained. “And this is a
basic medical kit, with painkillers, waterproof dressing and skin
seal. It’ll let you move on a broken leg or stop you bleeding to
death, but that’s about it.”

Not a hell of a lot to work
with. “Backup?”

“We’ll get as close to your
location as we dare, but if a firefight breaks out, we won’t get
there in time to help. Your best protection is not to let that
happen. It is, of course, the most desirable outcome in any event.
Talk, sergeant. Talk, get intel. That’s all you have to do. Sanjeev
hasn’t indicated that these men will want anything more than
information passed on a timely and regular basis. You will
naturally agree to that.”

“And if they want proof of bona
fides?”

“Sri Shardul and Gafur Kawildin
have been passing information for the last two weeks. By this
stage, your ability to act as a mole won’t be questioned.”

“In that case, do you know why
they want to meet? Are they planning something big?”

“That would be my guess, but we
really don’t know. That information could be critical.”

“So, a weekend visit—that’s
all?”

“One night, that’s what Sanjeev
said. I trust you can handle that without getting into an argument
with Sri Shardul? Because we need him, sergeant.”

“I don’t have a problem with
him, sir.” I let the stiffness of my tone tell him how annoyed his
question made me. “We have matters to sort out, and the...implant
makes that difficult.”

“Then you’ll have to wait until
this is over. Until then, stop aggravating the man. That’s an
order.”

“Sir.”

The chai in the cup in front of
me probably dropped ten degrees from the frost in my voice, but the
captain ignored it. “Fine. Tomorrow you’ll travel to Darwil and
meet Sanjeev. He’ll take you both to the meeting point. We don’t
have any information on where that is, or indeed how he plans to
get you there, so be ready for anything.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Check your pack, then you’re
done.”

While I did that, he fetched
Shardul from the other office. Shardul was calmer than before, but
still subdued. I looked up from the pack to his blank stare.
“Okay?”

“Of course. Are we
leaving?”

Captain Largosen dismissed us
with a curt “Good luck”, and we headed down to collect Shardul’s
auto. “Sorry you have to be imposed on,” I said lightly as we rode
in the elevator.

“Kawildin’s been staying at my
place every couple of nights,” Shardul said, not looking at me. “To
be frank, I’d have preferred you.”

I stared at the back of his
head, and decided asking more about it would constitute
‘aggravating’. “Me too,” I said. “Been a boring couple of
weeks.”

“I imagine.”

And he said nothing more as he
went to his auto, let us in, and drove us back to the Nihani
neighbourhood. No one was around. The indigenous curfew was still
in force. “How come you can come and go?” I asked as he parked
behind his office.

“Permit. Kawildin doesn’t need
one,” he added with a touch of bitterness.

“Don’t like him?”

“He’s Kelon.”

“Ah. So am I.”

He turned and gave me a brief,
humourless smile. “Not as Kelon as he is, trust me.”

Going up the narrow stairs
brought back unwelcome memories, and from what I sensed from him,
it wasn’t just me. “Are you really okay with this?” I
whispered.

“
Really too late to ask
that,
Gafur
.” I jerked as he said my cover name, but he pointed to the
wall. “Neighbours,” he mouthed, and I nodded.

The apartment was unchanged
from my memory of it. I wondered if Shardul cleaned it each time
Kawildin left, but it wasn’t like being Kelon was catching.

“Through there,” he pointed.
“My library.”

“Ouch. Sorry.”

He raised his eyebrows
and showed the first sign of humour I’d seen all evening. “Do you
really think I wouldn’t come in if I needed a book, Javen? You’re
not
that
repulsive.”

I laughed, relieved. “Thanks, I
think. But sorry, anyway. I’ll behave.”

“I doubt it,” he said dryly.
“We’re leaving at five, so be up at four if you want breakfast or
miss out.”

“Want me to share the
driving?”

“No. I’ve managed on less
sleep, but if you’ll excuse me, I must go to bed now. There are
spare toiletries in the bathroom.” He pointed in the direction.
“I’ll use it first if you don’t mind. Good night.”

“
Geurili
.”

He jerked. “Your accent’s
improved.”

“Practice and boredom.”

“
Ah. You might want to
roughen it. Kawildin sounds like a calving
kolija
when he speaks
Nihani.”

He left while I was still
grinning over that. Okay, childish of me to be jealous of Kawildin
but I couldn’t help being pleased that I had no competition in that
direction, even if the contest had been declared a bust months
ago.

Knock it
off
, I told myself. Shardul had allowed
me into his sanctum for the second time, and I didn’t want it to
end up anything like the first had. So I had to put my feelings on
ice, and concentrate on the damn job.

And get some sleep. Looked like
being a long day tomorrow.

Chapter 7

Not even Shardul could be perky
or clever at four in the morning, and communication was a series of
grunts until we’d had a cup of chai apiece. But even then we said
little to each other, nerves and lack of sleep killing the mood.
The only conversation we had was as we left the building and I
realised it was raining. He glanced at me as I exclaimed in
surprise. “The wet season started last week.”