46. When things blow up

 

Daniel tried to assure Warlem that the blood on the rag did not mean it was his sister's.

"But you did find it with her shoe, Daniel. How could it not be hers?"

It was hard to find a reason against that. "Maybe she bit and scratched the person that took her."

"She doesn't do things like that. I think." Warlem's confidence was faltering slightly. The amount of blood was considerable.

"She plays that semi-violent ball-game also," Daniel reminded him.

"True. She does. I tend not to think of that," said Warlem. "So you think there is a good chance that she is still alive?"

"I am positive," Daniel said. "I think someone took her to ask for a ransom. And they are keeping her to scare the family." He put his hand on the shoulder of the man next to him. "If there is any word from someone on Rayko, I want you to let me know. Regardless of the time."

Warlem nodded. "I will let you know, Daniel. Thank you for being there for my mother and me."

"Why just you two? Why not your father?"

A shrug. "He has put things in the hands of the police. He says that they are far better equipped to handle things like that."

Daniel frowned as he thought back to the mountain of paperwork he and Huajo had been filling out earlier that day. Yes, the police would be doing a good job.

"Daniel. I have to leave now." Warlem got up. "Thank you for... well... thank you. I hope you can find her."

"I hope I do, Warlem. I really do."

The two men shook hands, then Warlem walked off without looking back. Daniel did not know that somewhere in a carriage, someone was watching him.

-=-=-

The fork in his hand stabbed at the bits of food that were still on the plate. Daniel had gone back home after the meeting with Warlem, freshened up and gone out to eat. As he was winding down, thoughts and memories were coming to him in streams, from several sides.

His life had been quite simple and good back on the star base. He had been a good soldier. Moved up to Assault Marshall even. Not a bad position for someone his age. And then the Bactine thing had happened. And that had gotten him here. Fighting pirates, almost getting killed again. By something in the water. Sheesh.

Again the thought of finding a simple house near where Cynthia was living crept up and begged for attention. As he considered his situation now, it did not look like a bad thing to consider that more closely. Rhonda was out of reach. Last night Melia had told him she would like to be with him but his job was too dangerous. And with all that had happened, it was quite unlikely he would be sailing on a ship again soon.

Daniel dropped his fork. The food had gone cold, and he did not feel like eating more anyway.

"Are you done, sir?" a waitress asked.

"Yes, thank you. It was excellent," Daniel said, making sure there was no worry about the quality of the food. He was pondering what to do next. He opted for the local brandy, to have a serious muscle relaxant.

He moved to one of the large leather seats near the fireplace where always a fire was burning. The waitress brought him his brandy, put a small tray with sweets next to it and left him alone with his thoughts.

When his glass was empty and the tray of sweets well on the way there, Daniel took care of what he owed the restaurant and headed home.

The evening air was soft. The smell of the ocean was hardly there, he noticed, probably because of the wind coming from the mainland. It made him walk home, to enjoy the air and moving among the people who did not expect anything from him. Slightly weary, he made sure he would not pass the restaurant where he had seen Melia the evening before. It had been a nice evening, but too much had happened because of that. He had a soldier's soul, he kept telling himself, but even a soldier's soul has a limit when being kicked about.

Once home, Daniel fell onto his bed. In the darkness he closed his eyes. He saw Melia. And Rhonda. He saw Warlem, with his parents and his sister at the soirée.

Daniel opened his eyes again for a moment. It was still dark. Time had not progressed dramatically. He rolled himself to the other side of the bed and gave sleep another try. There, Huajo, Clelem and his serving man Gaguran, and most of the crew of the Pricosine were waiting for him. There were people in black cloaks, and men waving blood soaked rags. When even his brother Malcolm and the poodle appeared in his unruly dream, Daniel gave up.

He washed his face, got dressed and left the building using the back stairs. It was late and the elevator made too much noise, so he would rather not use it in the silent hours. As he reached the street, he wondered what he was going to do. Well, it was not too late yet, so he might treat himself to another brandy. That was supposed to be good assistance for get some sleep going.

Daniel was surprised to find so many people still out and about. Only a few short streets from his apartment, he settled down outside a small pub he knew fairly well. As the glass of brandy was on the table in front of him, he suddenly had the feeling that seeing Melia again now would be a good thing. He took a sip, put the glass back on the table and felt the deep rumble before he heard it. A bang, it had to be a loud one, climbed over the roofs of the houses. It came with more rumbling, making everyone around get up. Wonder about what was happening ran round.

The rumble, it was still tangible in the ground, kept on for a while. When it stopped, it was so suddenly that its absence was more uncomfortable than the uncanny feeling. Several hydgers started rattling. People reached inside pockets and purses and were talking in hushed voices. Soon it became apparent that somewhere something had exploded.

"A street," said someone.

"A house," someone else knew.

"It is an apartment building, not far from here," yet another person was certain. "It is one of the commoners buildings in the Street of Barges."

Daniel's gut tied itself in a knot. His apartment was in the Street of Barges. He started walking, but after a few hundred feet he changed tactics and resorted to running.

By the time he reached the street, he could not get into it anymore. The building where he had been only an hour earlier was now a hopeless heap of stones glass shards and pieces of wood. The street lights probably hid the worst of it all, with the limited way they could illuminate the environment.

There were policemen in the street. "Please stand back. We do not know if there will be another explosion. We cannot allow people to go near the building as long as the area is not secured. Please stand back."

"Officer, I live there," Daniel said as he was close to a policeman.

"Not anymore, sir, I'm afraid," said the man.

Daniel stared at the building. How many people had died in that explosion? And how was it possible that he had gone out exactly this evening? "Do you already know what happened, sir?" he tried.

"No, sir," the policeman replied. "The inspection team will come tomorrow, when it is light."

"But there could be people buried alive in there!"

"Rescue searchers will come as soon as the area is secured, sir, and please would you now move out of the street?" The police officer was strict and not in the mood for a chat.

Together with many other people Daniel walked out of the street, wondering what he could do now. He needed a place to stay overnight.

As he slowly walked down the main street that led to the harbour, he turned into the small street that ran parallel to the Street of Barges. Through it, he knew, he could reach the building by walking down to the third crossing street and climbing over a fence there. As he turned into the crossing street, his hopes of seeing the building up close were slammed into the ground: there were already two policemen patrolling by the fence. The local constabulary knew their streets.

Daniel halted under a tree and tried to think of what he could do now. He considered the time. Not many people would be awake at this hour. Of course, there were people who had said he could call them night or day, but actually doing it was something else. Yet he knew he had to do something.

He took his hydger and walked to a street light so the small display was clearer to read. Warlem and his mother... no... The senator? Oh dear, no. Ulaman? He flipped the switch.

"Who the hell- oh, Daniel. What are you up for at this time of night? You should be in bed, man."

"I wish I could, but my bed is damaged, Ulaman. The building I live in exploded."

"Exploded? Are you well, Daniel?" Ulaman was wide awake all of a sudden.

"Yes, I was not in the building when it blew up. I do need a place to stay, for now, and I hoped that you would know of somewhere."

Daniel heard Ulaman explain to Xandree what he had said. Then Ulaman came back to the screen. "Xandree says that you are welcome here, Daniel. We are very limited in space, but we can try to set you up somewhere." The man's face turned again, and there was more muffled speech coming from the hydger. "Oh, yes. You could go to the harbour. Behind the warehouses there are small shacks and such. Some have locks, but they are easy to open. Maybe you can go in one of those for the night."

Daniel managed a smile. "That might be an idea, yes. And that's closer from here than your place. I'll give that a try, Ulaman. Thanks, and good night. And sorry for waking you."

"That is okay, Daniel. Let us know if there is something we can do for you." Then the display went dark.

With a sigh Daniel slipped the hydger back in his pocket. It was good to have friends.