Chapter 46

Keetha Cata strolled the streets neighboring the safe house.  The night air was heavy.  She had walked and walked with no clear direction.  She walked her course this way partly to avoid suspicion and partly because she didn’t know what else to do with Amnon’s directions to try to locate Evan.

In contrast to the speed of her feet, her mind whirled and tumbled over theories, projections, and ponderings that might possibly give her a notion of where to begin seeking Evan Gold’s whereabouts.  She quickly ruled out the prison because he knew Lillian wasn’t there.  Also quickly dismissed was any thought of Evan seeking a way to escape the city.  No, whatever else drove her crazy about this odd alien, Evan was absolutely loyal to those under his care.  He wouldn’t abandon Katherine, and he wouldn’t abandon Lillian.

Since he’d left Katherine in a secured location, her only thread of thought to follow was leading toward Lillian and the termination center.  The only problem with what she knew was that she doubted Evan knew where the center was, and he would have to cover long stretches of open ground.  But as far as she knew, he hadn’t been picked up on any visualizers, or maybe, just maybe, he’d been able to sneak past them.  Unlikely.

So, (Keetha checked her device to see how long it had been since Katherine said Evan had left the safehouse) it had almost been a full day, if he had made the best time possible, he would just then be approaching the center.  He would have at least some help from the cover of the night.  Keetha calculated that if she hopped in a transport to head in that direction, she would raise suspicions and blow the whole thing.  She kicked a rock in her path.  It seemed so sad to have come so close to achieving the impossible only to have it fall apart.

Keetha’s discouragement transfigured itself into audacity.  She couldn’t go back to the way things had been.  She couldn’t return to her job with Chieftan Dol’s government.  Keetha decided that the Nova side of her must take over her compliant path of least resistance life so far.  If she couldn’t live in a free Merlain, she would shout in that direction.  Perhaps someone would hear the cry and pick up the cause.  Now, her mind started to whirl on different equations.  What would be the best last image to leave in Nova’s name?

She happened by an alleyway, lit up under the dark sky.  In the alley, two children (they couldn’t have been much younger than she was when her father was taken out of her life) were playing sabak.  Keetha watched them hit balls with rods, launching them into rings mounted on tall poles.  After each score, the winner made a mark on the side of a building.  Keetha noted they must have been playing for a while, as there were many groupings of score marks.  The longer she looked at them, the more a certain image took shape in her mind.  An image here would go unnoticed by the government for a while, but it might have the power to grow, especially if the thoughts of freedom could be planted in these young minds.

Then, Keetha realized the playing had stopped.  She looked down the alley to see the children staring at her.  Keetha smiled at them.

“Good game?” she put on her cheeriest voice.  The kids continued to stare.  “It’s been a long time since I played sabak.”  She pointed to the marks on the wall.  “You’ve been playing a long time.”

“Our parents let us,” the boy said.

“You aren’t in trouble,” Keetha said.  How awful, she thought, that children were taught to be scared and defensive of absolutely everything.  It didn’t have to be like this.  “I was just…” she paused, “your scoreboard made me think of a story.”

“A real story?” the little girl asked.

“All stories are real,” Keetha said.  “That’s the point of stories.  To say what is real in a fun way.”  She picked up their piece of marking stone.  “It’s the story of a princess who was locked away in a tall tower.”  Keetha began to make a few marks on the wall near the scores.

“Why was she in the tall tower?” the girl asked.

The boy eyed the girl.  Keetha assumed they were siblings.  She turned her attention to the boy.  “She was held in the tower by an ashwyrm.”  The girl’s eyes opened big.  “You see, this was no ordinary princess.  This princess had dared to fight the ashwyrm and save her people and all the other people in the realm.”

“Princesses, don’t fight ashwyrms,” the boy scoffed.  Keetha smiled.

“This one did.”

“She wasn’t very good,” the boy said.

“Why do you say that?”

“She got captured.”

“Yes, but that isn’t the end of the story.  Something my father told me when I would hear a story and think there is no way it could turn out well, he’d say, ‘Never judge a story by its middle.  Every happy ending was won through hard times.’  Now, how would you think the princess got out of the ashwyrm’s tower?”

The girls spoke up, “She had secret wings and flew through the bars.”

“I like that,” Keetha said.  “How about you?” she asked the boy.

“I think she lured the ashwyrm into her cell and caught it in a trap.”

“That’s a good one, too.

“What really happened?” the girl asked.

“Well, the princess was not the only one fighting the ashwyrm.  She had friends.  Some of the friends distracted the ashwyrm while others climbed the tall tower.  In the end, the princess was free, the ashwyrm was killed, and all of the people in the realm could live in freedom and peace.”

She handed the marking stone back to the boy, and Keetha looked at what she’d drawn.  Not her best work, but given the circumstances, she was happy enough with it.  The sketch was nestled among the groups of score marks, and Keetha had added her own marks but with a winged princess holding a sword and standing behind prison bars.  Below the bars, she’d drawn an ashwyrm with its head cut off and a group of people celebrating its demise.

“You’re a good drawer,” the girl said.

“Thank you,” Keetha winked at her, and rose to her feet.

“Can I help you?” a voice behind Keetha caused her to spin around.  A man now blocked her exit to the alleyway.

“Sorry,” Keetha said, “I was fascinated by their game and…”

“It’s after curfew.”  He looked past Keetha.  “Mara.  Jyn.  You know you’re supposed to be inside.”  Without hesitating, the boy and girl ran past Keetha, past their father, and disappeared around the corner.  “Were they breaking a law?” Keetha saw hard steel behind his eyes.  She shook her head.  “Then what does a corrections officer want with my kids?”

Confused, Keetha looked down and saw that she was still dressed for work.  It was a good camouflage most of the time, but this was not one of those times.  “Sorry.  I meant nothing.  I saw them playing sabak and…” she could tell this was having no effect on the man.  “I’ll just go.  Sorry to disturb you.”

The only way out was past the man.  Keetha started to walk toward him.  She had disturbed his family, and she hoped she could just walk away and not cause a disturbance.  He was right, it was after curfew, and no good could come from government attention.

“What were you telling them?” the man asked as she was just past him.

Keetha turned.  The steel had not left his eyes.  “Just a story I made up.  A princess in need of rescue.  That kind of thing.”

“Like the one you people have locked up in the termination center?”  

Keetha’s eyes locked on his.  “Does she need rescuing?”

A long silence stood between them.  Finally, the man grunted.  “I’ll not be seeing you back around here, isn’t that right?”

Keetha nodded.  “You have good kids,” she said.  “Sorry, again for, for, for, bothering them.”  The man nodded and Keetha was able to make her way from the alley to the next corner and hope she wasn’t followed far.

That was really stupid, Keetha kept chiding herself.  She shouldn’t have stopped to talk to the kids.  She shouldn’t have become memorable.  She was supposed to find Evan and save the collapsing plan.

Keetha shook the unhelpful self-criticism from her mind and refocused on the futile mission at hand.  If she was a single-focused alien in her world who had no idea what she was doing, where would she be at that moment?  The only logical idea was captured by the officers.  But, she figured, she would have been picked up on the way to the termination center.  So, realizing she was now in an unlit ravine that led in the direction of the center, Keetha set to follow the revine, keep her head down, and see what she could see.

Had it been a different night under different circumstances, the stroll would have been quite pleasant.  The air was fresh, the sounds of the night bugs played their notcurnes, and the shifting shapes of the leafless trees against the romantic star-filled sky.  Keetha remembered how her soul refreshed when she found herself outside the city.  Maybe, since the whole plan was in shambles, she could abandon the city and live in the wilderness under a new identity.  Then, she remembered her soft bed at her dwelling and longed to live in both places.  Ah, she was such a fool.  She scolded herself for being too tied to Dol’s world even though he heart longed to live in a different one.

Just then, she head something like a twig break in the ravine.  Something was down there and she hoped it wasn’t hunting her.  Keetha heard more noise, then whispers.  People!  Keetha crouched behind the fattest tree she could find to wait them out.

“Up you go,” she heard a man’s voice whisper nearby.  “Grab on to that.”  Then some grunting and scuffing.  Keetha determined there was at least one man and one woman down in the ravine who were now attempting to climb out.  She held her breath and strained her eyes to make out who would emerge from the depths.

First came the woman.  She wore white, though her clothes had seen better days.  Even from where she hid, Keetha could see that the woman was poised and joyful, like she was ready to take on a new adventure.  Next, came the man.  He was shorter and slouchier.  Brushing off the dirt and leaves from his clothes, the man asked, “You don’t look worse for wear,” and Keetha recognized the voice of Evan Gold.

Her heart lept into her throat and for a moment she couldn’t speak.  He’d done it.  He’d gotten Lillian out of the terminaiton center.  She wanted to hug him and choke him.  Both had its advantages.  Keetha came out of hiding and said, “Evan Gold.  This is Keetha.  I’ve been looking for you.”

In the starlight, Keetha saw Evan smile at her.  “Keetha Cata, may I introduce to you, Princess Lillian.”