Chapter Eleven
‘The Guest Suite’
Two armed guards, who had no desire to engage in small talk, escorted me to the Guest Suite.
I was perplexed by Zeal’s presence in The Hub. Minister Drake had been vague with his explanation, and I was keen to hear the reason for her being there.
The term ‘Guest Suite’ paints a picture of glamour and indulgence. I expected decadent decoration; layers of pillows and throws, the walls adorned with beautiful pictures set in extravagant frames; or even a modern, slick room that reflected the wondrous design of this marvellous complex. The Guest Suite in The Hub failed to live up to either depiction. It was far from the lap of luxury that its title implied.
It was a grey, windowless box that offered little comfort. A bunk bed was pushed up against a wall; two metal chairs, and a small table were situated in the middle of the room; on the wall hung a mirror that had a crack running down its centre. The suite was cold with a tinge of damp in the air. It bore a closer resemblance to a prison cell rather than a place for guests to relax. When they were building The Hub it appeared little attention was given to the guest accommodation.
On entering the room, I could instantly feel Zeal’s discontent radiating from every pore of her body. She sat on one of the metal chairs; her uncomfortable surroundings doing little to help her already declining disposition. Her arms were folded, her face set in a deep scowl. She glared across the room at me remaining silent; waiting for the guards to leave. Zeal was many things but reserved was not one of them. She was clearly riled and eager to express her opinions. The guards turned to leave the room, part of me wanted the armed escort to remain, to protect me from the crazed girl sitting a few paces away. The door gently closed, the lock clicking in place. I noticed you couldn’t open the door from the inside. There was no escape.
“Isn’t this a surprise,” she snarled.
“Hello Zeal.” I cautiously said.
Her eyes bore down on me. “Hello Zeal? That’s all you have to say? Hello Zeal?” She was wound so tight she was ready to snap.
“Erm... How are you?” It was a stupid question, but I wasn’t sure what else to say.
“How am I?” I wished she would have stopped repeating everything I said. “Why don’t I tell you?”
And so it began. I stood, immobile while she ranted about:-
Her treatment - “It was shocking!”
The appalling food - “Revolting!”
Her quarters - “Filthy and repugnant!”
Their host’s manners - “Horrendous!”
Zeal was skilled at articulating her misgivings, whether they were welcome or not.
She paced the room, arms waving in the air for dramatic effect. During her entire outburst, she didn’t once offer an explanation as to why she had been brought here, and I wasn’t allowed a beat to ask.
I listened but remained unresponsive. I may have been in the room, but my mind drifted away. This stance did not go down well with the already enraged Zeal. Stopping mid-sentence, she once again glared at me. Her silence brought me crashing back into the room. If looks could kill, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.
“Hello? Creyson Parthy, are you listening to me?”
“Yes... yes of course.”
“Then say something,” she demanded.
Finally, I had a chance to ask the only question that was on my mind. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” screeched Zeal. She was still repeating me. Her voice had moved higher in pitch, becoming increasingly painful to the ear. “What are you doing here?”
I didn’t want to be drawn into an argument.
“I asked first?”
“Don’t be clever, Creyson Parthy,” she spat. I reminded myself that not too long ago I was the one ranting, consumed by an anger that overruled my senses. She had just as much right to be enraged as I did.
“Please, just tell me.” I pleaded.
Her face softened. She marched to the bunk and slumped onto the bed like a pouting child.
“Why don’t you ask your friends?”
She was referring to the people who brought me here. The assumption that those people were my friends annoyed me.
“They’re not my friends!” I barked back. I instantly regretted my defensive tone.
She stood. “Don’t you dare get angry with me Creyson Parthy!” Zeal was itching for a fight, and I don’t think she cared who with.
“Look, I’m sorry.” I took a breath. “I just want to know, need to know, why you’re here.”
She ignored my question and slumped back on the bed.
“I know you’re upset. Maybe if you talked about what happened, it might help.”
“Upset doesn’t even come close. You have no idea what kind of day I’ve had.” Her voice cracked, and I was certain I saw a tear in her eye. This was the second time I’d seen her in a vulnerable state. I was learning that Zeal used her bravado as a means to hide her true emotions. This may have been an act to gain my sympathy, but still I felt melancholic. I moved to the bed and took a seat next to her.
“Then why don’t you tell me,” I said as soothingly as possible.
Zeal sniffled and looked up at me with her big, sad eyes. She really was beautiful.
“It’s alright.” I placed an arm around her, offering Zeal an affection I didn’t believe I possessed. Perhaps Tork was right; perhaps I did like her more than I wanted to admit.
She began to sob on my chest. I found this sincere display of emotion incredibly... disturbing. Zeal was proud of her strength, determination and unflagging willpower. I had always considered these traits to be failings on her part, but I was learning they were something to be commended not ostracized. She would normally be embarrassed to show any weakness, but she cared enough for me to lower her defences. That notion touched me.
This close contact was new, awkward and uncomfortable. I sat in silence while I allowed her time to compose herself.
After a few minutes, I spoke. “Zeal, I don’t want to fight with you. Just tell me what happened?”
“Well,” she said, fighting the tears back, “After you went to work I was deciding what I would have for breakfast since you didn’t make me anything before you left. Did you know you have absolutely no food in your cupboards?” The touching moment was passing, and the old Zeal was swiftly returning. I could have pointed out the reason I had no food was because she’d eaten it all, but this didn’t seem like the time. She carried on with her account “I’d just decided to go out for food, when all of a sudden everything went dark.”
“My unit lost power?”
“Not just our unit,” she said, emphasising the ‘our’ “Outside as well. It was just like Danton. Then without so much as a knock on the door, two brutish soldiers came bursting in. I was horrified, and demanded to know what they were doing. They told me the military had taken control of the area and that I had to evacuate.”
“What did you do?”
Zeal stood to re-enact the event. “I told them, I wasn’t going anywhere, and if they tried to remove me by force then they’d live to regret it. I stood my ground and refused to budge.”
Zeal had been known to exaggerate or at the very least embellish her accounts, so I was heedful to bear that in mind. I would have to sift through her tale of bravery to get to the facts.
“You should have seen me, Creyson Parthy. I was like a warrior ready to battle the oppressive military. I ordered them to leave my unit immediately.”
“You ordered the soldiers, really?”
“Are you questioning me Creyson Parthy?”
“No, no, not at all. Carry on.”
She continued. “They said I didn’t have a choice, and that the order to evacuate had come directly from the High Darlon Council. They said if I had any grievances I should take it up with them.”
“A lot of areas have been evacuated, including Trans Central.”
“The
capital’s been evacuated?”
“Earlier today. So what did you do after the soldiers said you didn’t have a choice?”
“I played the only card I had left.”
“Which was?”
“I told them about you.”
I didn’t like where this was going. “What exactly did you tell them?”
“I told them that you were my life partner and that you worked for the High Darlon Council.”
“Zeal!” I yelled.
“I told them if they didn’t leave then you would deal with them directly.” She was apparently pleased with herself.
She was driving me crazy. “Firstly; I’m not your life partner, and secondly; I’m only an aid, a runner. What did you think I could do to the soldiers? Give them one lump of sugar in their coffee instead of two?!”
“You asked me what happened, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but... I...” If I weren’t careful Zeal would shut down altogether and plunge into one of her sulks. “You’re right. I’m sorry. What happened next?”
“They said they knew exactly who you were, and that their commanding officer was on his way to Lucor Station to collect you.”
“Tork.”
“Ah, our Junior Commander.”
“He’s the one who brought me here.”
“What’s really weird is they said there was no record of our bonding...”
“Because we haven’t been bonded!” My head was staring to hurt.
“Don’t raise your voice to me. You’re the one who lied in the first place.”
“I was trying to save you from being arrested.”
“I didn’t need saving. Anyway, you didn’t let me finish. It wasn’t just the bonding they were talking about; the unit was listed as vacant.
“What?”
“Empty. Uninhabited. Unoccupied.
“I know what vacant means. It must have still been listed in my grandfather’s name.”
“I said it was ridiculous and there must have been some sort of mistake. But then they said there was also no record of you ever living in Danton or working for the High Darlon Council. According to the soldiers, Creyson Parthy doesn’t exist, at least not on paper.”
“That’s rubbish!”
“Stop yelling at me.”
She was causing my heart to beat frantically. I took a breath. “Sorry. What did they do then?”
“They began to search the unit. They went through drawers, cupboards, books, everything.”
I remembered the open door when Zeal and I returned from Danton. I assumed I’d forgotten to lock it but maybe there had been an intruder, and maybe the intruder was after the same thing the military were. But what was it?
“Did they say what they were looking for?”
“Not to me. The next thing I know I’m being bundled into the back of a military vehicle. I didn’t make it easy for them, let me tell you. Those soldiers didn’t know what’d hit them. I struggled and kicked and landed a few good punches.”
I was certain parts of Zeal’s story were true, but the far-fetched nature of her tale suggested that she was once again embellishing it to enhance her bravery in adversity. More than likely she had objected, struggled slightly, but ultimately went with little resistance. Zeal was a skilled hunter and a reasonable fighter, but even she couldn’t take on two highly trained members of the armed forces. I needed to pick the fact from fiction.
“We drove for hours.” An hour at the most, “And I wasn’t the only one. There must have been at least twenty of us crammed in that little space.” I knew the vehicle could sit six, so I doubted they were crammed. “We stopped at Lucor where everybody else got off, but I was told to stay onboard.”
“Did they say why?”
“You tell me?” I had no answer. “We eventually arrived here, at Dorow. Then this huge hole opened up in the ground. I’ve never seen anything like it. It must have been a million paces wide!” Forty at the most.
“It scared me too.”
“I didn’t say I was scared.”
I humoured her. “Of course you weren’t.”
“And another thing; did you know all the missing Trojans are here?”
“I saw them.”
“I started to ask questions, but they didn’t like it one bit. They marched me into this cell…”
“Guest Suite.” I corrected her.
“Does it look like a Guest Suite to you?” I had to agree with her there. “They marched me into this cell and locked the door behind me.”
Zeal was noticeably insulted by her treatment, and with good reason. I was loath to agree with her, but being forced from your home, shoved into a military vehicle, and sealed in a cell without a word of explanation was unacceptable.
“Did they say anything else to you?”
“About ten minutes later a crazy scientist bursts into the room. Flob or something.”
“Flon.” Zeal didn’t like being corrected.
“Another one of your friends?”
“They’re not...” I stopped myself. “Carry on.”
“Anyway, he looked ridiculous whoever he was. He began asking me about a code.”
“A code for what?”
“That’s what I said. Also he wanted to know if you’d told me anything about the Trojans. Then he got a call saying that Minister Drake had arrived, and he left. Twenty minutes later, you walk through the door.”
I couldn’t help but feel responsible for this chain of events that I’d instigated by implying she was my life partner. Zeal had now been unwittingly drawn into a state of affairs that neither of us understood. Standing in the Guest Suite, I made a promise to never to lie again.
“You’re here because of me,” I apologetically said.
“Oh, get over yourself. It’s not all about you, Creyson Parthy.”
I tried not to bite, but failed. “You have a better explanation?”
There came a knock on the chamber door.
“If that’s them,” said Zeal “Tell them, I want to speak to whoever’s in charge.” Any frailty in her voice had vanished.
“Just stay calm, okay?” I rose from the bed, and moved to the door. With no handle to open it, I called out, “Hello?”
The door swung open and Doctor Flon stood before me, more fanatical and dishevelled than earlier; if that’s possible.
“Ah, Creyson! Do you mind if I call you Creyson?” Flon’s voice was full of anticipation.
“Feel free.”
“Marvellous. Are you finished?”
“Erm...” I looked back at Zeal.
“Excellent! I need you to come with me.”
Zeal immediately stomped over, pushing me out of the way to confront the eccentric doctor.
“Listen Flob.”
“Flon.” I pointed out.
“Shut up.” I did. “He’s not going anywhere without me, do you understand?” Her hostility appeared to shock the doctor.
“Well, yes I understand, but I’m afraid that’s not possible. You must remain here.”
“Why?” she questioned.
“Because you simply have nothing we need.” His voice was perky; not the reaction Zeal had hoped for.
She’d reached boiling point. “If you don’t let me out of here I’ll take those glasses off your head and shove them right up your...”
I stepped in. “It’s okay, Zeal. Look, you stay here and I’ll find out what’s going on.” This only fuelled her rage.
“Ah! Taking his side are you?”
“I’m not taking sides, I’m...”
"No! It’s fine! Go! Leave me all alone. Go on!”
“Zeal,” I pleaded.
She stamped back to the bed and slumped onto the hard mattress; arms folded, lips pouting.
I kept my temper in check. “I’ll speak to the Minister about letting you out.”
She kept her eyes fixed on the floor. “Oh, are you still here? I thought you’d abandoned me.” She was in full sulking mode
.
“Time’s ticking, Creyson,” prattled Flon in an inappropriately excitable tone.
It was pointless trying to reconcile with Zeal. The best course of action was to leave her alone to calm down. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Okay?”
She huffed and turned her face away. I walked out of the ‘Guest Suite’ giving Zeal one last compassionate glance then closed the door behind me.
As the door began to swing shut, unknown to me at the time, Zeal leaped from the bed and prevented the latch from catching.
The hunter was loose.