“I want to carry out Maria and Don’s wishes.”
Jaiden and Chelsa looked up from the electro-slate, both listening to Kristi.
“I don’t know what else to do.” She dropped onto the rickety bed beside Chelsa.
“You could always stay here, as Chelsa has offered,” Jaiden said.
“I think following the directives may clear some of the confusion that happened over the past two days.”
“Very well, I will do whatever I can to assist you.” Jaiden looked neither pleased nor upset by her choice.
“So will I,” Chelsa added, catching Kristi off guard. “Oh, don’t look so surprised at my offer. You’re my first friend in a long time. You didn’t think that I was going to allow you to slip away so easily, did you?”
Kristi gave them both a hug. “Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.”
Chelsa made a face. “Don’t get all mushy on me.” All the same, she returned Kristi’s hug, then said, “I’ll go see if I can find some sleeping bags for you two.” She brushed cracker crumbs off her sweatshirt. “And don’t you even think about leaving—it’s too risky for you to show your face in public.”
“There’s no way Maria and Don could’ve known about Chelsa,” Jaiden said. He twirled the pen masterfully through his fingers. In. Out. In. Out.
“Who knows what they knew?” Kristi glanced at the clock; Chelsa had been gone for over an hour.
“So you think the others are other Accidents?” He grimaced at the word.
“I don’t know anything. Others could be other Accidents, it could be other spies, and it could be a secret family of dwarves, for all I know.” Not for the first time, Kristi wished her parents’ message could’ve been a little less vague.
“We’re getting nowhere,” Jaiden stated the obvious.
“Go shower. You smell.” Kristi pushed her brother in the direction of the bathroom.
Then she wandered around the room, picking up different objects and examining them. There was a map tacked up on the wall. On the desk was a cup holding a bunch of pens and pencils. She picked up an album off the desk. Ghost looked up from cleaning his whiskers and growled softly.
She ignored him and flipped open the book. The first page showed a younger Chelsa standing in front of a man and a woman. Her parents. Chelsa had her mother’s hair and nose; from her father, she inherited his high cheekbones and green eyes.
She flipped on to the next page. Chelsa was much older now, perhaps twelve or thirteen years old. Beside her was a boy a few years older. The boy had light, curly hair and impish eyes. They were playing with Ghost beside a lake.
Kristi turned the page. The picture showed an even older Chelsa (fifteen, or sixteen years old?) being hugged by the same boy in the previous picture. Over the picture, someone had scribbled “Chelsa + Alex” in permanent marker. Kristi wondered how things stood between them now.
Ghost growled softly once more and Kristi realized with a start she was snooping through Chelsa’s private stuff without her permission. What a great friend I am, she thought, replacing the album as she had found it.
Ghost stared at her, as if to say, “You should’ve known better than to do that.”
The doorknob jingled and the door was flung open. Chelsa returned with her purchased goods. At the same time, Jaiden stepped out of the bathroom, toweling off his wet, dark hair.
“I got you new clothes,” Chelsa said, tossing Jaiden a stuffed bag.
He caught it one-handed. “Thanks. I’ll go change into them now.”
“I got you some, too,” Chelsa said and passed another bag to Kristi.
“Is there any way I can repay you?” Kristi didn’t want to become a burden to Chelsa.
“How about making breakfast tomorrow?”
“Deal.”
She helped Chelsa take out the rest of the purchases from the bags. All the food was stored in a plastic bin and the sleeping bags were kept underneath the bed until needed.
“Did you find any news about Maria and Don?” Kristi dumped a container of water-purifying tablets into a bin.
“They’re being held in a high security prison until their trial takes place. As for the spy group Maria and Don work for, all I know is that they work for the South Union, but I can probably find more information given some time. Here, you can check the news on my electro-slate for more information.” Chelsa removed the slate from her shoulder bag and pitched it onto the cot.
Kristi pulled up the NRN website on the electro-slate and browsed the headlines until she found one that read: Officials Uncover More Information About Shea Spies. The article read:
After breaking into the electro-slates of the two convicted spies, Shelly Smiths and Kyle Rogers (cover names: Maria and Don Shea), government officials have concluded they were working for a South Union spy network known as the Revealers. Further evidence suggests that their primary purpose of being stationed in the United Regions was to smuggle top-secret information to the coordinator of the Revealers. When questioned, both spies refuse to cooperate and all they would say is “follow the truth hunter”, which the officials theorize to be the Revealers’ motto.
“Follow the truth hunter.” That phrase stirred something deep inside Kristi, but she just couldn’t put her finger on why.
“How do I look?” Jaiden asked. He stashed his old clothes in a biodegradable plastic bag and indicated to his new clothes.
“Very nice,” said Chelsa. She sounded like she meant it. Even by a Perfect’s standards, Jaiden was very good looking.
“Jaiden, does the phrase ‘follow the truth hunter’ sound familiar?” Kristi asked.
“Isn’t that the name of the poem Maria used to read to you when you were little?”
She sat upright. “Yes, I remember it now.” She closed her eyes and recited the poem:
“One who defies
the lies and deception
sees through the mask
hunting out
the truth.”
“It’s the Revealers,” Chelsa said. “The ‘truth hunter’ is the Revealers.”
“The Revealers?” asked Jaiden.
Kristi briefly gave Jaiden an update about Maria and Don’s case.
“I feel like I don’t know my parents—Maria and Don—anymore. They were freaking spies for the Revealers and I never knew it,” Jaiden said. “And now they want you to contact the Revealers. Does this only sound crazy to me?”
“Makes sense to me,” said Chelsa. “Yeah, maybe a little crazy, but overall, everything makes sense.”
“Chelsa, do you think you can snoop around town for any other information involving Don and Maria? I’ll do more research on your electro-slate,” Kristi said.
“I know just the place to go. But it doesn’t open for another two or three hours.”
“Where exactly is the place you’re talking about?” Jaiden asked.
“Troll’s Tavern. You can get almost any information there at the right price.”
“You’re not planning on going there alone, are you?” He cast Chelsa a questioning look.
“No, Ghost will be with me. I’ll be fine.”
“Ghost is a cat.”
Ghost shot Jaiden an evil look.
“I’ve been to plenty of pubs before. This one will be no different,” said Chelsa.
“Except for the fact you’re looking for undisclosed information this time. At least let either me or Kristi come with you.”
“Have you already forgotten? You two are wanted people.” Chelsa spoke the last part slowly, making sure Jaiden didn’t miss her point.
“I refuse to let you go by yourself to a shady sounding saloon.”
“Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do,” Chelsa said. She drummed her fingers against the desk. “I’ve been living on my own for long enough to know what I am capable of.”
“You just saved Kristi’s life. Do you really think I’m going to allow you to risk your life for some stupid task Maria and Don
left behind?”
“Fine. Kristi, will you come with me?” Chelsa asked.
“Okay,” Kristi said. “Jaiden, will you stop shooting daggers at Chelsa?”
Jaiden dropped his gaze. Kristi handed Chelsa’s electro-slate back to her, but she refused to take it. “Use it to do some more research.”
They had pathetically little information to show for the three hours of hard-core research. Sadly, all of their notes about the Revealers combined barely filled half a page.
Established for 15 years
Declared that they are an independent spy network that only has their headquarter located somewhere in the South Union—not part of South Union
There has only been two public case in which the Revealers were directly involved:
The United Region government accuse the Revealers to be a spy group for the South Union in disguise as a do-good organization
“The tavern should be busy now,” said Chelsa once they finished reviewing the notes. “Here, wear this and keep your head down.” Chelsa dug through some clothes and offered Kristi an oversized hoodie.
Kristi pulled it on and drew the hood over her head. “Can you see my face?”
“Only if you tilt your head,” said Jaiden. “Just keep your eyes on the ground and you should be fine.” He spoke to Chelsa, “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“Yes.” Chelsa made an impatient sound in the back of her throat. “You’ve just broken out of jail; the local law enforcers are going to be on the lookout for you.”
Jaiden crossed his arms but didn’t try to convince Chelsa otherwise. Ghost stood up and nudged open the door connecting the TV room to the main room. The two girls silently crept outside. The cobblestone roads were slick with water, as it was drizzling.
“It’s about a twenty minute walk to the tavern,” Chelsa said out of the corner of her mouth.
“Do you think the weather’s going to worsen?”
“I don’t think so.”
Chelsa trudged on ahead with Kristi following her like a lost puppy. They met almost no other people out on the streets; the citizens either opted to stay indoors or travel by car. In a short span of time, Kristi’s sweatshirt was downright waterlogged. The heavy fabric hung awkwardly on her and the hood started to slip off her face.
“Hold on a second,” Kristi said and readjusted her covering.
“Hang in there,” said Chelsa. “We’re almost there.”
“How far is ‘almost there’?”
“Close.”
It turned out “almost there” meant ten minutes later. They finally arrived at the Troll’s Tavern. The tavern itself was located underground and only its sign and stairway leading down to its entrance was located at street level.
“Don’t forget, your name is Kelly and mine is Taylor,” Chelsa reminded Kristi of their cover names before entering the tavern.
“Got it. Let’s go inside.”
People were crammed into the Troll’s Tavern. Some customers were travelers; others were workers having a drink to celebrate a day off from work. Many were merchants, thieves and sailors. The sole bar girl was kept busy mixing drinks behind the counter. Kristi wondered if Wilson’s gang was around
The moose head mounted above the pub’s entrance swung its head from left to right. Several fireplaces roared merrily, casting strange shadows on the walls covered with knife marks. Rickety wooden chairs, tables and stools were scattered throughout the room without any apparent organization. Card games were being played everywhere and gambling for spending points seemed to be the main activity happening. The government had banned gambling three years ago; they deemed it to be “uncivilized.”
Chelsa nudged Kristi out of her daze. “Keep your eyes and ears open for any useful information. Tongues tend to start wagging after a few drinks.”
They stationed themselves in the corner and listened to the conversations around them.
“North Lane was blocked,” said a traveler to another. “Bandit activity was going on, I heard.”
“Wonder when the government’s going to stop the bandits for once and for all. I lost my droid-dog to an ambush,” the other traveler replied.
Both travelers looked weather-beaten and tired. A merchant wandered over to the two travelers. He had an odd-looking scar on his left cheek that resembled a fish. His eyes were coal-black, so dark Kristi couldn’t distinguish his pupil from his iris.
The merchant joined the talk. “I heard the number of bandits is growing. A lot of people want easy work and end up joining the bandits. I lost five hundred points worth of goods passing through Bald Head Rock trail.”
“Traveling isn’t safe anymore,” said the first traveler.
“Rumor is that the bandits are targeting the South Lanes as winter approaches. The South Lanes are always jam-packed with travelers heading to South Region to spend the winter. It’s going to be chaos along the roads if the bandits are indeed ambushing people along the South Lanes,” said the second traveler.
“All this worrying is making my head hurt,” muttered the first traveler.
“I know how to fix that problem,” the merchant said. Then he yelled, “Three beers!”
A harried looking girl brought over three bottles and turned to Kristi and Chelsa. “Would you like anything?”
“We’ll take two mugs of cider,” said Chelsa.
The merchant overheard Chelsa ordering the drinks. “What’s a fine girl like you doing in an underground tavern?” he asked.
“That is none of your business,” said Chelsa.
“Are you looking for something?”
“You wouldn’t have what I need.”
“At the right price, I can give you what you want.”
Kristi tugged on Chelsa’s sleeve and said into her ear, “I don’t trust him.”
“Me neither,” Chelsa replied in a low voice.
The merchant’s eyes lit upon Kristi for the first time. “What is this? Two underage girls in a pub?”
Ghost appeared besides Chelsa’s feet and bared his fangs. The merchant tried to kick the cat away, but Ghost evaded his foot and scratched his leg. Glaring at the protective droid, the merchant mumbled some curses under his breath and turned his attention back to the two travelers.
“Here are your drinks.” The serving girl reappeared. She frowned at Ghost, then looked at Chelsa and said, “I’m sorry, but we don’t allow droid-pets in here.”
“What droid-pet?” asked Chelsa. Ghost had vanished without a trace.
The girl blinked then shook her head. “Never mind. It’s been a long night and I think I’m starting to imagine things; I could’ve sworn there was a cat by your side just a second ago.”
Chelsa made a show of looking around. “Nope, I’m pretty sure you imagined it. I don’t see any droid-pets. How much for the ciders?”
“Four points.”
“Want to move to a different place?” Chelsa asked after paying. “There’s a free spot by the bar counter and another by the table beneath the moose head.”
Kristi nodded and got up. “I’ll take the spot by the counter.”
“Alright. Don’t get in trouble or else Jaiden might end up killing me.” Chelsa slipped through the crowded room; soon Kristi lost sight of her among the mass of people.
She left her empty mug on the chipped table then slowly shuffled to the unoccupied bar stool. After establishing some personal space from a leering sailor, she tuned into a soft discussion being held by two men dressed in dark clothing. Both had their faces covered and nobody seemed to be paying them any attention aside from her. She strained her ears to make out their words.
“They were caught. I still can’t believe it, that our best two members got caught.”
“I know. We need to find new recruits. Our numbers are dropping. Kelvin was badly injured three days ago. He barely escaped the bandits that attacked him. He’s still in the hospital recovering from three broken ribs, a concussion and a bad knife
wound.”
The other man replied, “How many active members do we have left in the East Regions?”
“Fifty members, more or less. We need to ask the headquarters for replacements. Either that or we need to start recruiting more members, like I said before. The loss of Kyle and Shelly really hit us hard. They were so close on making a breakthrough on their case.”
Kristi perked up at the mention of Don and Maria’s real names. She debated whether she should make herself known to the two men, but decided against it. It was too risky to do so. She listened to their conversation with renewed interest.
“Who’s going to be taking up Shelly and Kyle’s case now?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I assume Tiffany will. She worked closely with Kyle and Shelly.”
Someone stumbled into Kristi, almost knocking her off the stool. She leapt off the chair as the person struck it with enough force to break bones. Kristi calmed her heartbeat and resituated herself, then refocused her attention back to the conversation. But her slight movements were noticed by one of the men.
“Hush up. We’re being observed.”
“Let’s go,” said his partner. They both stood up and exited the tavern.
Kristi silently cursed for not being more discreet. Nevertheless, she had gathered enough information to make the trek through the rain worth the trip to Troll’s Tavern.
Two off-duty law enforcers took the seats left by the men in dark clothes. Kristi beat a swift retreat; the last thing she needed was to be caught.
Time wore on; the tavern progressively grew rowdier and rowdier. More people filed in, seeking retreat from a stressful day. Kristi searched through the crowds for Chelsa, but was soon swallowed up by the mob.
“Where are you?” she mumbled to herself. She checked the spot beneath the moose head, but Chelsa had already left the area.
“You looking for me?”
Kristi held back a small shriek. It was the merchant with the fish-shaped scar. “No—no, I’m not.”
“You’re looking for information, aren’t you?”
Kristi’s face betrayed her answer. The merchant grinned, knowing he had guessed right. “I have many connections. Perhaps we can work out a deal…”
“Kelly, let’s go,” said a voice behind her.
Kelly? Who’s Kelly? Then Kristi remembered it was her cover name.
Chelsa tapped her on the shoulders. “We’ve been here for over an hour.”
“Until next time,” said the merchant, winking at Kristi. He disappeared into the pulsing horde of people.
They climbed up the stairs and onto the street. Kristi took one last look at Troll’s Tavern and saw a richly dressed person lead two fairly drunken fellows away.
“What did you learn? Did you see any spies? Who are involved? Were you guys recognized?” Chelsa and Kristi had barely walked through the doors when Jaiden started to fire them with questions.
“Let us eat first, then we’ll answer.” Kristi’s stomach grumbled, agreeing with her words.
“Cruel,” said Jaiden. “You are a cruel person. Withholding such information from a poor guy left behind while others get—”
“Oh, stop griping,” Kristi said.
“Does instant rice sound good?” Chelsa asked.
“Anything edible sounds good to me.”
“Spill. Tell me what you learned,” said Jaiden.
Chelsa ripped open three packages of instant fried rice while Kristi boiled some water on the bio-fuel stove. Jaiden vigorously bounced his knees up and down with impatience. Chelsa shot him a sideways look and said, “I’ll tell you what I found out, if that makes you happy.”
The water came to a full boil and Chelsa dumped the rice into the pot.
“So?” Jaiden prompted.
“The government suspects there are actually two headquarters of the Revealers. One is located, as we already know, in South Union. However, their second headquarters are located in the West Region of the United Regions.”
“The West Region,” Kristi mumbled. “It seems like a good place to start looking for other spies. There’s bound to be spies there if that’s where the headquarters are located. Ow!”
Jaiden jerked up. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I just scalded my tongue.” She bashfully held up her bowl of steaming rice.
“Geez, Kristi. You really scared me for a second.”
“I’m sorry.” She exaggerated blowing on her spoonful of rice before swallowing it.
“You can apologize by telling me what you learned at Troll’s Tavern,” said Jaiden.
“Okay, okay. No need to be pushy. I found out that the Revealers are searching for new recruits. They have roughly fifty members stationed in the North Region. A bandit attacked one of their members named Kelvin. Last but not least, we need to find and contact a woman named Tiffany.”
“Who is she?” said Chelsa.
“She’s part of the Revealers and worked closely with Don and Maria—I mean Kyle and Shelly. Apparently she is now finishing whatever work they left behind.”
“Here’s what I think we should do,” Chelsa said. “We should travel to the West Region, searching for Tiffany at the same time. If we haven’t found Tiffany by the time we have reached the West Region, perhaps someone there who is part of the Revealers can help us find her.”
“Works for me,” said Jaiden. “When do you want to leave for the West Region? A week from today?”
Chelsa swallowed a spoonful of rice. “I was thinking of tomorrow.”
By the time everyone had finished packing for tomorrow’s trip, it was well past midnight. The sleeping bags would be rolled up nicely on top of the weatherproof backpacks in the morning. Food, medical supplies and other knick-knacks required for living in the wilderness were distributed among the three bags.
After a few minutes of debate, they settled on traveling by day rather than night; the risk of running into bandits outweighed the risk of Jaiden and Kristi being recognized on the roads. They would just have to do their best to stay beneath the radar. Chelsa was the ideal travel partner, as she was excellent at staying unnoticed.
“I can’t sleep,” Kristi said.
“Try to,” said Chelsa. “You’ll need all the energy you can get once we hit the roads.”
“Chelsa?” Kristi asked her new friend.
Chelsa answered with a yawn and slurred, “What?”
“Never mind.” She lay on her back and stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep.
chapter eleven
[ Troop ]