The young man frowned. “I… ah… Perhaps because…” He let out a long exhalation and shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Looking into Baluka’s mind, Tyen could not help smiling in sympathy. The man was surprised and a little disturbed to realise he’d never questioned the explanation he’d been told, and now was wondering if there was something more to the agreement. “Something else I am risking other than our lives and livelihood?” Baluka was wondering. “If there is, it must be a secret many centuries old…”
“We don’t have time for this,” Hapre said, tapping her foot on the threadbare floor rug. “The messengers are ready to deliver the signal to depart. Are the decoy hiding places ready, Volk?”
The man, as always, considered his reply carefully before speaking. In the dimly lit room the dark-skinned man’s expression was hard to make out, but Tyen could see he was only hesitating to tell them something they wouldn’t like to hear.
“Volk?” he repeated.
The man sighed. “No. I need more time. This can’t be done quickly.”
“How much longer?” Tyen asked.
“A few days would be ideal.” Volk paused. “I suppose it can be done by the end of the night if I reduce the number of sites.”
“Can I help?” Frell offered.
“Hmm. Perhaps.”
Tyen frowned, sure that something had slipped his mind. As he considered Frell’s offer it came to him. “Frell, can the other arrival places for new recruits be safely checked? It’s possible the allies only discovered the one, and some newcomers may be waiting for us to contact them.”
“Perhaps.”
“They may have let a few would-be rebels through in the hopes of catching those who come to meet them,” Hapre warned.
“I’ll be careful,” Frell assured her.
She made a small noise of frustration. “What should I be doing while everyone else is busy?”
“I’m sorry, Hapre. Your role requires you to stay put,” Tyen said. “But… could you explain to Baluka what he needs to know?”
“Of course.” She glanced at Baluka and moved towards the door. “Come with me, Traveller.”
“I will keep watch for the minds of allies arriving in the local area,” Tyen finished.
He waited until they all had left, then peered behind the heavy cloth window covering to the moonlit street beyond. Revellers roamed up and down the pavement. Some carried lamps and staggered, arm in arm and laughing. Some walked with shoulders hunched, silent and hurried. The room was tiny and shabby, but being in the midst of a poorer quarter of a city, plenty of minds, dreaming and awake, provided ample background for the rebels to be lost within. Unfortunately, it also made it difficult for him to spot allies among the thousands. It was possible they, learning from Inekera that he had been in the canal city, were hoping he and other rebels were still here.
Tyen scanned the area for enemy minds, then once satisfied that no allies were nearby, he took a deep breath and slipped a little way out of the world. The noises of the city faded to a muffled clatter.
Vella, he said.
“Tyen.”
Can you see any flaws in our plans?
“Only the risks that you are already aware of.”
Do you know what the Travellers exchanged with the Raen for permission to travel between worlds?
“No. The agreement was made after I was entombed in your world, and I have not touched anyone with that knowledge since you unearthed me.”
I wonder who might know. Aside from the Raen, of course.
“Perhaps one or some of the allies do.”
I can’t leave to chase one of them down and if the rebels defeat another I doubt they’ll let him or her live long enough to be questioned. But perhaps when we’re settled in a new world I could go out and find one.
“That would be dangerous.”
Yes, but I have to do something.
“You want a distraction, so your mind doesn’t keep returning to thoughts of Yira.”
He sighed. I’d have thought I’d be past the grief by now.
“It takes longer than you expect.”
And I suppose I don’t want to be over it. That would be too much like forgetting her.
A faint sound reached him. He returned to the world to hear a tapping from the door. Seeking the mind beyond, he found Hapre hoping to talk to him–and to escape the Travellers’ relentless questions.
“Come in,” he called.
“How is our most recent recruit?” Tyen asked when the door had closed behind her.
She let out a short breath. “I tried to tell him about the attack on Preketai, but he kept interrupting.” But not out of disinterest in her tale, she admitted to herself. He’d asked smart questions about strategy and how much the rebels knew about the Raen. “He wants to know if we know where the Raen lives. Do we?”
“No.”
Hapre clicked her tongue, as she did when mulling over a piece of information. “Are you sure? It’s possible one of us does, but never thought of it while you were around.”
“Possible but unlikely. Something like that would be foremost in their thoughts.”