Kain sat on the sandy desert soil. The sky was dark, save where stars twinkled and the points on the horizon where Khayr-ad Din shone brightly and the caravan compound eeked out a faint glow. He breathed deeply, slowing his heart rate. He tried to feel the earth beneath him and the energy which traveled from the core of the world to the point in his center. He could hear Koldur’s voice clearly in his head:
"Feel the strength from the sands fill you. Become that strength."
As his senses expanded in the martial art-induced meditative state, he was aware of the approach of two men long before he could hear the soft sound of sand shifting under feet. He opened his eyes, un-alarmed as he knew who to expect. Tom dropped down in front of him, a smile barely discernible on his face in the dark. As he sat, from behind the doctor, appeared Ben. Taking a cue from his guide he sat next to Tom facing Kain.
"Thanks for coming out Ben," Kain began, "the Doc and I wanted a bit of privacy to discuss things."
"And here I thought you were going to whack me," came Ben’s soft reply.
"Benjamin, if I killed you, I would be depriving myself of the pleasure of watching you suffer through each day knowing I am right and you are wrong."
"About what Kain?"
"Uh, everything? I thought that would be obvious by now."
"Kain what you consider to be self-evident is the product of your own delusional narcissism, not reason. As such, only you can perceive this constructed world in which you claim to be right." Ben's retort had a hint of pontification in it.
Tom interjected before Kain could reply: "Gentlemen, I am not a sufficient audience for you both to begin yet another ideological demolition derby."
"Very well Doctor, we’ll come to the point. Ben, Tom and I are going away for a short while."
"We’re taking Sam and Gade with us to." Tom threw in. Kain continued.
"Avatanya will be running the day-to-day operations of the caravan while we are gone; you guys are hitting the road again. I need you to look into the names on that list while you are out there."
Ben nodded sagely; there was gravity in Kain’s voice as he mentioned the list.
"Ok, is that it?" said Ben.
Kain just looked at him through the dark before Tom spoke up.
"Yeah, that’s it. You and Avatanya work out the route together. We already told her to defer to you on all questions of navigation and scheduling. You should also know that Bill will be speaking to you to know where the caravan is going."
"When are we moving?" Ben asked.
"Just as soon as we hand over the Sedated Six to the Marshall after tomorrow," said Kain, who paused before adding, "I don’t need to tell you just what-"
"No Kain, if there is someone you don’t have to have to explain anything to, it’s me," Ben cut in quickly.
It was only when Tom felt the mandatory ominous silence between the two old "friends" had made a sufficiently dramatic mark on everyone present, that he finally spoke. "Gentlemen, I think we could all use a drink."
Friday, October 24, 2008
All we ever do is talk: Part 2
Posted by Certain Betrayal at 17:00
Labels: dispatches
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