Something Interrogated

Ed was up by sunrise as he couldn't sleep any longer, he had twisted and turned all night for no apparent reason, other than the fact that the humidity was unbearable, having gotten so used to South African weather as one might expect from living there for most of your life.

            He had passed most of the time by going through doing some research and random web surfing that Safu had been sure to have ready for his use even before they had landed. By six, he had decided on preparing breakfast, though it was nowhere as fancy as the meals they had received while in Elizabeth's care.

            "Morning," Elizabeth said as she pulled the robe off that she had probably just put on, forgetting that the humidity would strike her as soon as she got up and left the ventilated bedroom.

            "Morning! Sit down," Ed said as he turned away slightly from the stove so he could see her.

            "You made breakfast?" she asked slightly surprised and sat down. The light pink robe that she wore had been slung over the wooden chair that she had just sat on.

            "May not be as fancy as the breakfast those cooks of yours could come up with, but I assure you that it's the best bacon, eggs and toast that you have ever eaten... Unless, you're a vegan or something." Ed hesitated to put her plate down as he said the last bit, but did so anyway, after she giggled slightly and picked up the fork and knife he had already set out for her. "Slept any good?"

            "Yes, but I know you didn't. Light sleeper," she explained after she saw Ed's inquisitive face.

Later that day, Safu had gone with Ed to the market, where they would meet with another runner for the Agency -- a contact of the Swahili Agent long before The Fall. Elizabeth had stayed at the inn so she could sort through her things.

            "He says that he used to protect the machine people," Safu said as they made their way through the bustling market. Ed had to squeeze through crowds and even had to resort to kindly pushing a few of the vendors away as they tried to sell their various goods. "I do not believe him to be trust worthy."

            "Yet we are going to see him?"

            "He is weak," Safu said as he looked at Ed who only vaguely understood what he had said. "They say a man who has a lot to say, never has any history to prove it... Here we are."

            "A fruit shop?"

            "Fruit is good!" Safu laughed out loud as they entered the back of the stall. The woman who was manning the stall looked at the two of them as if they were thieves attempting to rip the whole stall away from where she stood. She had no love for foreigners, it seemed, though as soon as they lost eye contact, she smiled broadly over to the American tourists who was checking out her assortment of fruits.

            Ed could see why Safu had called their contact weak as they turned a corner behind the fruit stall and entered a shanty little room that existed mostly out of flowing garments and one wall at the end opposite the where they entered. A makeshift desk stood in the centre of what could hardly been called a room, and behind it stood their contact. Gold chains had been slung around his neck, and tribal tattoos ringed his exposed arms, which looked like twigs more than anything else.

            Ed also recognised the man as an ex Others Agent, explaining why he had never heard of him, even though Safu had explained that he used to be from the Agency. The man looked up and readied his hand on the hilt of a dagger that hung by his side, though Safu merely walked over and pushed the man down effortlessly. Any harder and Ed thought the man's pelvis would shatter. Safu then looked at Ed and smiled.

            "What do you want?" the man asked, his voice clearly not belonging to himself, as if he had either smoked one too many cigars, or possibly even had shattered his vocal chords and had a transplant.

            "You say you protect the machine people."

            "Devils! All of them!" the man spat, "I would not go near the village again, even for a billion Egyptians Pounds!"

            "Why is that?" Ed asked and leaned carefully on the makeshift desk, so he wouldn't press it too hard so it would fall under his weight.

            "Why do I have to talk to you, you American or Australian or whatever the hell you are! Who do you think you are barging in here anyway!" the man went on, then started braking at Safu in a language Ed first thought was Arabic, but sounded too crass for it. Safu merely responded by walking over to the man, touching him on his bald head, which already shut him up, but then Safu carried on by drawing the contact's dagger and putting it down on the table, between him and Ed.

            Ed smiled and picked the dagger up after seeing that the contact wouldn't budge, then tested the dagger's sharpness while pacing back and forth in front of him. "I'm sure you have enemies, eh?" Ed asked and stood still, still fiddling with the blade, "your men outside clearly don't care about what is going in here, so why should anyone else? One scream," Ed shrugged, "two," he shrugged again, "maybe they'll come running when the shouting stops."

            "Or maybe they're already dead," Safu said, finishing Ed's interrogation speech. Their contact sat in complete silence, though his scrawny hands had been trembling. His eyes stayed locked on his dagger, moving only as Ed played with it. Ed paced around for a few more seconds, then spun and threw the dagger through the air, past the contact's face, pinning it in the little wall.

            The man leaned forward and said a prayer before he stood up from the chair, walked over to his dagger and pulled it out of the wall. "The devil came and killed them all without my men even knowing that he was there. The devil took them in shadows and sucked their minds dry!" He then switched over to Arabic again, but fortunately Safu could understand. The man went on for a good minute before Safu pressed him down onto the chair again.

            "Pray the Devil do not come for you," Safu said as he beckoned Ed to leave with him.

Back at the Inn, Elizabeth had prepared freshly squeezed orange juice for the three of them, where she had spent the day making the rented room a bit more "liveable" in her eyes, another thing Safu found extremely amusing as she didn't really have any way of telling how long they would stay.

            "This Devil is the one who steals people's knowledge?" she asked as she finally joined Ed and Safu in the small living area, where they had been looking at maps.

            "That's the Shadow, yeah."

            "And it works with a man who used to be your mentor?"

            Ed nodded.

            "It sounds so confusing..."

            Safu laughed then got Ed's attention again. "According to the instructions, the machine village should be located in this area."

            "We move out in the morning, then?"

            "Should be about 4 hours on camel," Safu said as he got up and hugged Elizabeth.

When Safu had gone, Ed was still inspecting the map, watching for alternate routes, though having to go out on the dunes would mean that they would be very exposed, most of the 4 hours. He had to think of a way to conceal their reason for heading that way.

            "I have never ridden a camel," Elizabeth said thoughtfully as she handed Ed a cup of coffee, which both of them loved to drink, even in that heat.

            "Yeah, me neither."

            "Heard anything from Ian or Devon?"

            "'sent me a text a few minutes ago. I'll have to find a way to inform him of our progress..."