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CHAPTER TWO

KARAN

He felt a cold touch and opened his eyes. A young nurse was wetting his forehead with a compress.

“Look who’s woken up!”

He tried to sit up but his body wouldn’t budge.…

“Don’t move. You’ve got to get more strength first.”

The nurse fed him, spoonful by spoonful, as if he were a baby, almost half the bowl of hot soup. Soon Tarek opened the door and asked in a low voice.

“Excuse me, can I speak to the gentleman?”

“Do you have a pass?”

“Yes, I’ve just talked to Dr. Kilmer,” he answered and handed her the paper.

“OK then. Make sure you don’t tire him out. He’s still very weak. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“No problem.”

Tarek waited for the nurse to leave and came closer to the bed.

“How do you feel, young man?”

“Lousy.… What did you expect?”

“I believe you, young man. You were in a deep coma for a whole week. No one thought you’d ever recover.…”

“You know.… Not long ago I was in Zayon, even if I was twiddling my thumbs in the factory.…”

“I understand you. But what kind of life was that? You wouldn’t have left if you’d enjoyed it, right? Anyway, it’s really so strange what happened to you.… In the middle of the desert, next to a heap of corpses.… People keep talking about Uezen’s murders.…”

“Uezen??”

“What? Haven’t you heard of Uezen?”

“Well, I have but I didn’t think.…”

“There are all sorts of rumors in the outpost.… According to most of them he’s a horrible creature that kills out of sheer pleasure.…”

“In the middle of the desert? Who could live there?”

“I don’t know, I’ve kept wondering myself. But again there might be one of those schemes. Another excuse to get rid of the troublemakers, eh?”

“Sounds pretty bad.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it’s true.… Listen, what do you remember exactly?”

“Well, I left Zayon, crossed the equator line.… About half an hour before getting there I don’t know how I lost control of the topter. I found myself in the desert, with the communication system burnt out. I tried to fix it but I failed.… Eventually I decided to leave the place, I couldn’t wait forever, not with the little water I had.… I kept walking north till…and now comes the hard part.… I really don’t know what happened. Like a strange dream, and now I’ve got to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Besides, my head’s about to explode!”

“Hm…there’s something rotten here.…”

“What do you mean?”

“We got an SOS from your coordinates.… But if you say that.…”

“I didn’t send anything, there was no way I could do it.…”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now.… I’m sure you’ll remember, sooner or later. You know, if you’d cared to spend more darins on a better topter, you wouldn’t be such a mess.…”

“Listen, Tarek, I’ve got this thing on my mind, do you know anyone by the name of Mud?”

“Who? Mud? Haven’t heard. She may be one of the newcomers.… I haven’t had time to meet them all.… Why do you ask?”

“Actually…she’s…an acquaintance.…”

“Come on, I wasn’t born yesterday. Let me guess.… Your new sweetheart?”

“Yeah, and more special than the others.…”

“Well, they’re all special at first.… One thing is clear, though, after a while they shut you up and you lose the taste of adventure.… Right? Tell me, what is she, a Terran, a Pteolean?”

“No, it’s not that.… There was something odd about her.… We met in a.… I wish I knew where.…”

“And did you take any drugs?”

“No, let me just clear my mind a little bit and I’ll tell you.…”

“How is it going, gentlemen?” the nurse asked entering the room.

“Pretty well. Tomorrow I’m gonna introduce him to some of the girls here.…”

“Be patient, Mr. Tarek,” the nurse said laughing.

“Tomorrow he’ll be moved to warden 205. Which doesn’t mean we’ll stop keeping an eye on him… With so many young women around who knows what he may be up to.”

“Ha, ha! I can’t agree with you more. See you then. Have a nice day with Nagur.”

“You too, Tarek.”

* * * *

He was alone in a large room, lying on an iron bedstead. On the left-hand-side wall there was a mirror. Strange. He felt his face and noticed some of the wrinkles had disappeared.… Maybe because of the pills he had swallowed?…

The door opened and in came a man dressed impeccably.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Kruger, I’m Zen Dyva, the chief of this outpost. How do you feel?”

“Much better. And that thanks to Mrs…Lydia.”

“Indeed. She’s taken excellent care of you. I’d like you to tell me if you intend to prolong your stay in Karan.”

“Of course, I don’t give up that easily.”

“Then you’ll have to pay for the first month. The hospital fee will be included in the price.”

Lerman turned instinctively to look for his bag.…

“Don’t worry, your stuff is in the valuables safe. You can recover it as soon as you’re back on your feet.”

“OK, no problem.…”

“Get well soon!”

“Thanks a lot.”

Tarek appeared half an hour later with a steaming bowl. He was walking stiffly lest he would drop it…

“There’s nothing better than hot soup, is there?”

“Lydia’s touch maybe?”

“Well, well, we’re back in shape, aren’t we?”

“Tarek! Come closer! I remember now.…”

The old man drew closer, curious, and pricked up his ears like a Pteolean mule.

“I know where the treasure is.…”

“What?”

Lerman took out a map and explained.

“See, we’re here, the former springs of the Tanor are here, and we’ve got to get here, to this sign.…”

“There’s nothing new under Nagur, I can find this area with my eyes closed. But why there?”

“Well…if I tell you…you won’t believe me. While I was in the desert and I barely knew my name, I met a creature by the name of.… Mud appeared before me.”

“I thought Mud was.…”

“You thought wrong,” Lerman said and then told him what had happened in the desert.

“You must have seen things, young man. A chimera or a nude covered by scales is the same bloody thing.… Besides, that place doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s just a pile of rocks.…”

“Trust me. What, do you have too many darins to burn? I’ll give you two thousand now and two when we get back. Deal?”

“Hmm, I don’t know if it’s worth it,” Tarek said but he was already rolling his eyes thinking of his favorite whore and several crates of beer. “But since I know the sort of man you are, I say yes. When do you want us to set off?”

“In two days’ time, I hope.… That’s when Kilmer told me I’d be out of here.”

“I’d say we set off tomorrow morning. Take some fortifiers. I’ll get them for you if you can’t find them yourself. There’s a lot of commotion in the outpost right now. Fortune has just smiled on a fool and tomorrow they’re throwing the usual party. Food and booze as much as one pleases. Plus women, of course.… Next day they’ll run like crazy to the place where the stone’s been found.…”

“You’re right, no one’ll notice when we’re leaving.”

“At least until we get to the checkpoint. From there we’ll see what we can do.…”

* * * *

The rough ground, full of rocks, made walking extremely difficult. One of the impediments treasure hunters had to deal with was topters not being allowed to fly beyond the checkpoints. Lots of hunters had been attempting to run away without paying the taxes so now there were only military topters flying around the outpost. Of all the stuff they were carrying, the water and the picks were the heaviest. Exhausted, they stopped more and more often. Although Terek was much older, he proved to be more resilient. Four thousand darins was a nice challenge, anyway. On his return he was going to do whatever he pleased. But if he found the treasure.…

Lerman had a strange feeling, as if that were his last journey. Excitement and tiredness made him dizzy. His legs were trembling. Each time he breathed out he felt how his body got emptier and emptier.

Tarek began to describe Karan to him, the dull life he had led there, waiting for a miracle to happen. Not that he had had any other choice. He had worked for the outpost for a long time. Lately he had been a guide. He was able to make both ends meet. Now he made a favor to the newcomers, now he did an errand for Zen Dyva.… He no longer knew how many years he had wasted there. The obsession of the green stones had almost driven him crazy. He had seen several dozens of them in his life, he had even touched them, there was something about them that stirred him up. It wasn’t just their face value. It was an inner call, he felt he was somehow linked to them, for no apparent reason.

“This hollow ground is the Tanor’s bed,” Tarek said wiping his forehead. “There, next to those high rocks are the former springs. Here, see? Exactly as they appear on the map. We could get there tomorrow if we quicken our pace.”

They walked on, rambling on. At sunset they looked for a hollow in the dry bank of the former river. They took out their sleeping bags, exchanged a few more words and before long exhaustion took hold of them.

In the morning they set off with renewed force and confidence. But they weren’t thinking of the same thing: Tarek’s mind was set on the riches that, he hoped, would finally change his fate, while Lerman could think only of meeting Mud and the old man.…

Three hours later they made the first halt. A few mouthfuls of water and Xerun pills invigorated them. Tarek broke the silence.

“Tell me, young man, what are you gonna do with the treasure? What’s you game plan?”

Lerman was somehow taken aback by his companion’s question. He had expected it but never thought of an answer.…

“Well, I’m considering going to Serenia.”

“I see. Well, you’ve got all the time in the world, it’s natural. Frankly, I thought of doing the same but I’ve kind of lost patience with these journeys. What’s the use? I can find whores here, on Zayon, too. Of all sorts.”

“Yes, Tarek, but…think.… A true, genuine Serenean, who hasn’t changed so many beds.…”

“Not me, young man. I’d rather try to find the elixir of life…then, of course, I could.…”

“Nonsense, Tarek. The only elixir you can find is on Serenia. There’s something special about that planet.”

“You can’t deceive time there either, young man. Only your look maybe, only your look…and mind you, those Sereneans don’t appeal to me as much as the crazy Pteoleans. The way they moan they scare you out of your senses. Ha! Ha! Ha!” Tarek said and mimed the sexual movement with an enviable litheness.

Lerman burst into laughter and said between guffaws.

“Hey, hear this. I was married to a Pteolean and that caused only trouble. Having sex is OK but they squander your money worse than they do in a posh whorehouse. What do you think of androids? They’re cheap and do whatever you want.… As long as you’ve got the right dick for it.…”

“I may be older than you, young man, but how could I give up the smell of a real pussy?! Oh, no, no, no!.… And I’d like to try both the young and the plump ones. But only if they’re Pteoleans. Sereneans, androids, they’re all the same. As if they all came from the assembly lines in Raptor or Eldena!”

“Relax, everything’s gonna change pretty soon. You’re gonna have so much money you’ll be able to have as many Pteoleans as you want.… You’ll see, you’ll see.…”

They went on their way more optimistically than before. Lerman smiled to himself. If Tarek had a harem of Pteoleans and plenty of beer, no one would be happier than him. And, of course, if he were about thirty years younger.…

They drew nearer to the mountains. Nagur was there, between two rocky peaks, reminding them who the king of Nede was. The bed of the Tanor had become narrower, it was only a few steps wide now. Soon they reached the former springs. They were in a place surrounded by high rocks that lay in a circle, like an old sanctuary. The two hunters contemplated the landscape.

“What’s the next move?” Tarek asked.