Different Senses (79 page)

Over breakfast, Doc Nihar
lectured me about definitely not exerting myself for a week or so,
and generally fussed. When we finished eating, he had fun dressing
me up like the victim of some horrendous bomb blast, covering the
most bruised eye and side of my face, and all my hair with
bandages, wrapping my left hand and putting it in a sling. “How
does he look?” he asked Shardul.

“Pitiable.”

I stuck my tongue out at him,
and the doc laughed. “Exactly what I was after. You better cover up
too, Shardul. Nikhil should be here soon.”

We wore the most
non-descript clothes the doc had on hand, and with his hair covered
and clothes deliberately dishevelled, Shardul looked almost
ordinary.
Almost
. Nothing could hide the
intelligence in his eyes, at least not from me. The doc was
satisfied. “It’s raining so you’ll have a perfect excuse to keep
under cover.”

“You’re sure Sri Nikhil won’t
mention us to the police here, or other people?” Shardul asked.

“He’s no love for the police or
the new constable, and he stays clear of most folk. Thought he
might change when he married again, but his wife’s from out of the
area, and they keep to themselves.”

“He married again? Good for
him. Children?”

“One on the way, end of the
year. We talk most weeks. Still grieves for the lass he lost. He
took a long time to get past it.”

“He would,” I said. I hoped his
new relationship went sweeter than the first.

Twenty minutes later, Nikhil
came into the house, clearly a regular enough visitor he didn’t
need to knock. He acknowledged the doc with a nod, looked in sharp
assessment at the two of us, but passed over my features without a
glimmer of recognition. “You two ready?”

“Yes, Sri Nikhil,” Shardul said
politely, hoisting the sack of food and water the doc had given us.
“Thank you for this.”

“No problem. You going to be
okay in a boat?” He peered at me.

I nodded, and Shardul answered
for me, assuring Nikhil I’d be fine. He grunted and indicated we
should follow, tipping his cap at the doc.

It was pelting down, so
we huddled under the canvas shelter at the front of the boat, while
Nikhil, in oilskins, managed the little boat’s engine, unconcerned
by the pelting rain. It gave us the perfect reason not to talk, but
I doubted he wanted to. Shardul was obviously Nihani and assumed to
be
udawatha
, and so no friend to Nikhil or his new family. I wondered
that he’d not moved away as he’d thought to do, but maybe he
couldn’t bear to leave the area where his beloved first wife was
buried. Or maybe he’d not been able to afford it, simple as
that.

It took an hour or so to reach
the jetty on the river near Nikhil’s cousin’s house. He left us in
a wooden shelter while he walked to his cousin’s place, and the two
of them returned in an elderly truck that barely looked capable of
driving a kilometre, let alone eighty to the maglev port. “Talib’ll
sort you out now,” Nikhil said.

“Thank you for the ride.
Blessings on you and your family,” Shardul said.

“Keep your damn blessings,” he
snapped. “Go on, I haven’t got all day.”

“Good luck,” I said as I passed
him. “With everything.”

He scowled at me. Never mind.
I’d send Doc Nihar a gift for the new baby when I could reoccupy my
old identity, and give him permission to tell Nikhil who we were.
Right now, anonymity was worth a small show of bad temper.

Talib was chattier than his
cousin, but fortunately he didn’t expect much in the way of reply
except the odd “uh huh” and “yes”, which Shardul supplied. I kept
quiet in the back, and tried to doze, though the old vehicle’s
suspension and the lousy roads made that damn difficult.

An hour and a half later we
bought our tickets at the maglev port, and ate the doc’s chapatis
while we waited for the next departure. Shardul made me take
another pill, and forbade me to move an unnecessary step.

“
I’m not
dying
.”

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.
Besides, someone so seriously injured should look helpless, don’t
you think?”

“Point.”

He smirked, and I refrained
from punching him. He was in too good a mood considering the mess
we were in. But then, so was I.

Once on the maglev we could
really relax. The carriage was half empty, and no one sat close
enough to us to overhear our conversation. No one would start any
shit here, not with the security and cameras on board. Maybe Dandak
wasn’t looking for us, but that wasn’t likely. More likely was that
he had no idea where the hell we’d gone and, with the boat we’d
pinched now in police custody, no clues. He could have no way of
knowing I had local connections.... “Crap.”

“What?” Shardul sat up.
“Problem?”

“What if Dandak finds out who
helped me?”

“How would he? Unless Nikhil or
his cousin gossips.”

“The cousin might. I can’t
think of a damn thing I can do to protect the doc or them.”

“I can’t see any benefit to him
in reprisal. He might discover how we got away, but by then it will
be moot.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“The doctor understood the
risks, Javen. He’s far from being a fool. Calm down. What’s our
next step? The captain will be looking for you too.”

“Yeah, and I’m more worried
about him, until I can work out just how corrupt he is.”

“You assume it’s him. It could
be the commander, or anyone under his command.”

“Reoda’s an old friend of Dad’s
and even more conservative. Can’t see him supporting an indigenous
uprising. You met him.”

“I did,” he said and gave a
delicate shudder. “But our people are barely represented in the
military and none at high level.”

“A real-life ‘Gafur’?”

“Hmmm. I doubt it. At least, I
doubt I would not have heard rumours.”

“Good point. I’m pissed as hell
about this, Shardul.”

“I assure you, so am I. We
should go to your father, I think.”

I’d considered it. “Thing is,
he’ll have to toss it back to the security forces to investigate,
and we have no idea how far this goes. What if I was the target?
What if Dad is? I’d like to check a few things out before we do
that.”

“As you see fit. I trust your
judgement.”

Did he have any idea how much I
loved hearing him saying that? Beloved reason, I had such a crush
on him, it was sickening.

“What’s so amusing?” he
asked.

“Almost everything, and
nothing. We need a hideout. Any ideas?”

The maglev journey took two
hours. We tossed ideas back and forth about where we could hide,
but the main difficulty was not being able to use our phone and
media accounts without that pinpointing our enquiries and location.
“There’s no reason you have to stay in hiding,” I said. “You can
just say I was lost in the flood. Then you can get back to work.
They have no reason to arrest you.”

“And that would stop them, I’m
sure. But I could at least communicate with your father and Sri
Nel...Kirin...openly.”

“You’d have a perfect excuse to
be chasing Dandak and that kind of thing too.”

He grew thoughtful. I let him
mull it over. He’d be exposing himself, but he’d also be protected
through that exposure. The more people who knew he was around, the
more difficult it would be to whisk him off to some hidden prison.
Especially if Dad knew he was back—and what the true situation
was.

He lifted his head finally. “I
think there is merit in this idea. But what will you do?”

“Remain missing until I can
show my face again. You lost me in the flood, was washed up on Doc
Nihar’s doorstep and he helped you get away. All we need is for him
and Nikhil, and Nikhil’s cousin, to report one man, not two.”

“If we involve him, they can
trace us to the maglev port, and the cameras will show us
there.”

“Okay, so you floated down
river, cadged a lift to the port, and used the paycard to buy a
ticket. They can’t trace that easily.”

“Fortunately, no.” By pure
luck, Dandak hadn’t taken our wallets or ID. Luck...or because he
already had all the information he wanted about us. We’d made sure
there was nothing incriminating in them.

“Kirin will help you get your
auto back too.”

“My auto is the least of my
concerns. I’m worried about you.”

“Stop, you’re making me all
weepy.”

“If anything happens to the
governor’s son, after all, it would be most uncomfortable for
me.”

“Sure it would.” We grinned at
each other.

At our destination, I
recognised Kirin’s distinctive auto in the short-term parking lot,
and quickly picked him out among the other people waiting on the
platform. He waved to Shardul, ignoring me completely as he strode
over. “Cursed insanity, Shardul, what’s happened to you?”

“Tell you on the way, Kirin.
This is my friend, Gafur Kawildin.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said,
still oblivious. “Will you be okay in an auto, Gafur? You look
pretty banged up.”

“I’m fine, thank you for
asking.”

“Right. Well. Shardul, where am
I taking you?”

“Your place, and discreetly.
I’ll explain on the way.”

Shardul considerately waited
until Kirin had engaged cruise control before he started. “Kirin,
you know how you were told that Javen had gone to Kelon? He
didn’t.”

“No? Wow. Where is he?”

“Right here. This is
Javen.”

Poor Kirin nearly drove off the
road. Shardul had to grab the power stick to stop us crashing. “For
pity’s sake, man, be careful.”

Kirin stared slack-jawed at me
in the rear-view mirror. “Javen? It can’t be. You look nothing like
him.”

“Kirin, don’t force me to spell
out any intimate stuff in front of Shardul. Yes, it’s me, your
former lover. Dad can back that up. The important thing is that no
one can know where I am.”

Shardul told him the rest of
it. I felt sorry for my ex. I sensed his utter bewilderment tinged
with suspicion, and I couldn’t really prove any of it. Only
Shardul’s impeccable reputation—and the fact he spoke nothing but
the bare truth—could have convinced Kirin, and it still took almost
all the three-hour journey to do so. By then, I was lying flat on
the floor in the back of the auto, covered with a rug. Kirin’s
dubiousness grew the closer we got to Hegal. He’d never been mixed
up in anything remotely illegal or subversive before, and had a
pathological horror of being suspected of the smallest crime. And
here I was, dragging him into something which could land him in
prison without trial, possibly for the rest of his life, though I
truly hoped it wouldn’t. I didn’t have any other option.

We drove to his house and into
the garage without anyone spotting us—at least, we thought so—and
now I could sit up properly and shed the bandages, which had
started to drive me nuts. Kirin stared at me. “I would never, ever
recognise you.”

“That’s the point. Kirin, I’m
dying for a piss and a cup of chai.”

“Of course. The bathroom—”

“
Is right where it always
was. I used to
live
here, remember?”

Kirin
wiped his face. “Of course. I’m sorry, it’s a lot to get
used to.”

“I know. I’m very grateful
you’ve agreed to help.”

How paranoid did I have to be?
Could Kirin’s house be bugged? Yes. But there was a limit to how
many precautions I could take. If Captain Largosen had gone to
those lengths, there was no escaping him. I had to go with my gut
and assume he hadn’t.

While we drank chai and
stretched our legs, Kirin heated up some leftover
kari
.
Fortunately he was again living alone, so we didn’t have to explain
any of this to a confused lover. He served up the meal, and then
sat down to stare at me. “You have to go to your father. This is
bigger than any of us can handle. More dangerous than we can
manage.”

“I will, but quietly. First, I
need somewhere to hide. Somewhere I can be contacted and search for
information, without using my own account. Any ideas?”

He sighed. “Javen, you know I
love you, but do you have any idea what you’re asking?”

“Yes, I do. Can you help?

“
You
could
stay here,
because it’s totally private, and use my account. So far as
anyone’s concerned, it would be me logged on. But then I’m up to my
neck in this, and sanity, I don’t want to tangle with these
people.”

“Don’t worry, Sri Nel,” Shardul
said coolly. “I will make sure Javen is safely accommodated, if you
abandon him.”

I held my breath. Kirin gave
Shardul a shocked look. “I’d never—”

“You did before. Javen, I think
it would be best not to rely on him, truthfully.”

“Shardul, it’s not—”

“Are you implying I’d betray
Javen?”

“Did I imply? I thought I’d
been quite clear.”

The two of them glared daggers
at each other. I clapped my hands. “Knock it off. Kirin, it’s your
choice. I have alternatives, but what you suggested sounded
perfect. Shardul, you can’t force someone into this.”

“Why should the security of
your people be on your head alone, Javen? Sri Nel has a comfortable
life he hasn’t had to risk a thing for.”

I wished I was close enough to
whack him. “Stop it, you’re not being fair.”

“Yes, he is.” Kirin lowered his
eyes. “He’s absolutely right. I did let you down badly, and now’s
my chance to make amends.”

“You don’t have to,” I snapped.
“This isn’t about our relationship.”

“Yes, it is. What kind of
friend would I be to let you go through this on your own?”

“I’m not. I have Shardul.”

The silence that followed my
words was almost visible, a cold, solid presence between the three
of us. Kirin broke it first. “Maybe so. But you also have me. You
always have, you always will, even if we’re no longer lovers.
You’re staying here. Shardul?”