We met the Council inside a large meeting room located within the town hall. The walls here were festooned with orange and black signs that had cryptic arrows and Ancient words written on them. There was a long table where five men sat. The center seat was occupied by a thin man with long black hair that was peppered with gray. On either side of him sat his companions who looked at me with little interest. That is, except for the member on the far left, who watched me carefully as though expecting the worst. He had a pudgy face, white hair, and a fat stomach that bulged against the table. The man sitting in the middle motioned us forward.
"I am Ibam, elected Leader of the Council," he said. His voice was flat and without emotion. A closer examination of the man showed a lined face caused by too much worry, a long nose, and cold gray eyes.
I gave a little bow. "My name is Mikel. This is my companion Suvan. We came here after a long and perilous journey."
He held up a piece of paper that I recognized as the note that I had brought so far. "This message is from the scout Tai? Tell me, what happened to him?"
I cleared my throat. "I was just a simple hotel owner until Tai came to my place to stay. He left during the night for some mission that this Council gave him. He was grievously wounded during this time. He somehow came back to my place where he wrote me that note. I'm afraid he died soon afterward."
"But the Mujadeen, do they know you are here?"
I shook my head and said, "I do not think so." I did not mention the stranger in black following me since I did not know how he could have tracked us here. "When the sub-Vizier Rasid found that Tai was dead, he assumed I was involved. My maid was assaulted and killed. My hotel was burned to the ground. I was left for dead and only lived because of the actions of your man Kalam. It was Kalam who sent me on this errand, telling me that I would find sanctuary here."
He raised an eyebrow. "We shall speak of that later. Tell me, can you read what is on this note?"
I shook my head. "I cannot read the script of the Ancients. I have seen their words throughout the ruins in the valley, but they are still meaningless to me." For now, I thought it best not to mention Suvan's knowledge of the language.
"Please, Ibam," the council member on the left said, "get to the point. Of course he does not know the words of the Ancients. Only the most learned of men do."
Ibam smiled at his fellow council member for only a moment. "I will, Lydon.” He returned his attention back to me. “Thanks to Kalam, we already know of you, Mikel. His reports has mentioned your hotel several times. But we must be careful that you are not a spy." He raised in hand before I could protest. "I admit that we are merely a thorn in the side of the Mujadeen. They have tried to send spies before, but we are a little difficult to find unless you know the way. You are lucky that Vinc here found you. He is our most able soldier. Now tell us what happened to you in city of the Wasteland."
I gave them an outline of our adventure, leaving nothing out but the private moments that I enjoyed with Suvan.
When I had finally finished telling my story, Ibam leaned back into his chair and nodded. “It is too bad that Kalam sent you through the valley. When he last journeyed through there, it was still mostly free of the accursed Mutans. But things have changed since then. Do you believe that this Tahn, the so-called father of the Mutans, will be trouble in the future?”
All I could do was shrug my shoulders. “I do not know. He seems to control them, but I do not know his intentions.”
Ibam said, “I see. The Mutans used to scrape an existence out in the ruins, but now they are actively harassing traders and even making raids into nearby lands. Even we have felt their presence since we have to traverse the Wasteland to get the food necessary to keep us alive. They are a danger, but we do not yet have the resources to combat them.”
“Yet?” Suvan asked, finally speaking for the first time.
Ibam smiled graciously at her. “It is by your action that this note managed to reach us. I thank you. But our plan from the start has been to slowly take over the countryside, eventually getting the populace on our side. Only when we have an army large enough can we battle the Mujadeen and the Mutans.”
Suvan replied coolly, “I’ve traveled to many places with my father. I don’t recall seeing a single place controlled by you.”
This started the other members of the Council to murmur in protest.
The man called Lydon nodded. "At the rate we are going, we will never have an army large enough to battle either."
With another smile that I found condescending, Ibam said, “We are few while the Mujadeen are many. But we are here, far from their lands across the Wasteland. We only have a few agents in place, but the march of time is on our side. The Mujadeen grow weaker with each passing year. They will crumble. When that happens, we will step in and make our move.”
Lydon jumped to his feet and said, "We have discussed this many times, Ibam. Why should we continue to wait year after year, when we can stop this senseless battle with the Mujadeen now? We continue to live like rats, cowering in the mountains, waiting for a day that may never come. If we make peace with the Mujadeen, then we could trade with them, or even affect the political process. I'm sure the Warlord is a reasonable man. The Mutans are the real danger here. We should deal with them first!"
"Don't be a fool," Ibam responded angrily. "Would you have us give away everything our ancestors worked for? They barely survived, struggling to survive here in the mountains. It is only through their hard work and intelligence that we are here today. I want a future for my children, not slavery under a tyrant that doesn't even have the will of the people.”
Before he could go on, I interrupted this speech and asked, “Will you please tell us what the message from Tai says?”
Ibam let out a breath, staring hard at Lydon. After a moment of hesitation, he finally said, “Of course, Mikel, that is your right as the messenger. Tai was sent to investigate certain recent reports that we had heard concerning the Mujadeen. It had been rumored that they are digging deep into the sand, looking for weapons of the Ancients. So far their searches have been fruitless. That is until now. The Mujadeen have found an old missile silo. According to the note here, this silo is intact with an unfired missile.”
I felt confused by these words. “What does that mean?”
This time Vinc spoke; his words were harsh. “You traveled through the Wasteland. You saw the damage done by the Ancients so long ago. If we are to believe this note from Tai, the Mujadeen have found such a weapon. There is no reason that they could not use it on us.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “But surely such a weapon could not last all these years. I have seen with my own eyes the damage done by time to the city and the remnants within. There’s nothing there but the rust and dust.”
Vinc said, “That is true, but the Ancients were able to protect their most important weapons from harm. Missiles such as this were buried deep into the ground, where they went to great lengths to keep them free from the elements. It is entirely possible that this weapon can still be launched against us.”
"They would never dare," Lydon added without being asked.
Ibam made himself known again. He said, “What Vinc said is true which is why we need to send someone to investigate this further and if need be, put a stop to it.” He stared at me as he said these last words.
“Surely you don’t mean me?” I asked in surprise. “I barely made it here alive and now you want to send me out into the Wasteland again?”
Ibam replied, “You have seen how few there are of us. We need someone who is familiar with the area around Ewark. I’m afraid Kalam is getting too old for such activity. Anyway, if you want a place in our community, then you must help us.”
“This is blackmail,” Suvan angrily interjected.
“You can call it what you want, but you cannot afford to leave us now. But don’t worry, Mikel, shall have Vinc h
ere to go along with you. He will bring a dozen of his men. They will make sure that you are protected.”
Lydon strode out of the room without saying a word.
Chapter 26