Tagan's Child (22 page)

“Ready to
go?”

“Yep,” I said,
tearing my eyes away from him. I clicked off the television, stood
up and picked up my bag. Ahran slung his over his shoulder and we
headed down to reception. He pressed his fingertip to a pad on the
wall and the inner door clicked to let us out.

“If someone
opened the door couldn’t we just sneak out without paying?” I
mused.

He shook his
head. “No, they have an image of my finger print from our check-in
last night, my account is automatically debited if we don’t
manually check out.

“Oh right and
by the way, I will pay you back,” I promised.

“Don’t worry
about it, the King is paying all our expenses.”

A hover cab was
waiting for us outside, Ahran had obviously called it whilst I was
in the bathroom.

“Where are we
going now?”

“To hire a
car,” he replied.

“Is that the
quickest way for us to travel?” I asked, doubting the rationale
behind his decision. Surely it would take us forever to get to
Morana by road?

“No, but I
received intelligence this morning that Bazeera’s agents are all
over the airports and it’s better that we avoid public transport
for the time being.”

I had a
flashback of hands around my throat and was forced to agree with
him.

After a short
journey we stepped out onto the pavement. It was already warm and
there wasn’t a cloud to mar the brilliant blue of the sky. Under
any other circumstances I would be enjoying the warmer climate, but
I already felt hot in jeans and regretted my decision not to put my
new shorts on. My dress choice had been driven entirely by vanity;
I hadn’t shaved my legs for a week. Maybe I’d be able to borrow
Ahran’s razor without him knowing.

We walked into
the car hire place.

A well-groomed
woman who looked to be in her early forties in Earth years was sat
at the desk and she looked up as we walked in. She gave me a
cursory glance but her gaze rested on Ahran. She smiled and
perceptibly straightened in her chair.

I rolled my
eyes.

He flashed her
a dazzling smile and I watched the movement of her throat as she
swallowed. Ahran spoke to her in Ramian and she gushed her
response, they exchanged a few more words and she checked a
computer screen embedded in her desk. The woman tapped the screen
and spoke to Ahran. He thanked her and she touched her hair
self-consciously. Yet another female falls for the looks and charm
of Mr Elessar.

“We need to go
to their underground car park to collect the car,” Ahran said,
totally oblivious to the woman’s attempts to get him to notice
her.

I swapped my
bag onto my other shoulder and followed him into the lift.

“Here, let me
take your bag,” he offered.

“No, I’m fine
thanks,” I said hitching it further onto my shoulder. I would show
him I could do this.

He smiled.
Another private joke obviously.

The lift doors
opened onto a well-lit underground car park and a young lad
approached us. He greeted us and we followed him to our hire car
which turned out to be sleek and nondescript. The boy gave us a
thorough rundown of how the car worked. Ahran was remarkably
patient with him considering he had probably been familiar with
these cars since before the lad was born. He even asked him a
question or two. The boy walked away with his chest puffed out like
a little bird, satisfied that he had yet another happy
customer.

We put our bags
in the boot and got into the car. Ahran’s fingers flew over the
keypad on the dashboard. Unlike the cabs I had been in so far, this
car had a half steering wheel, the kind you see in sports cars.

“We should be
able to get to Rosrua before nightfall.”

I nodded even
though I had no idea where this was.

“Are you
hungry?”

“Starving,” I
replied. We hadn’t eaten since the meal on the plane.

“We’ll stop and
grab something before we leave Zanzin.”

We travelled
for about ten minutes through the streets of the town. The
impression I’d got of the place last night shifted slightly. It was
just as modern looking but in the light the sense of space and
tranquillity was enhanced by the greenery and the colour of the
planting schemes. There were people going about their business just
as they would in any bustling town back home, but everything seemed
more organised somehow. The town lacked the usual chaos of the
morning rush hour. There were no beeping horns, no delivery lorries
blocking the right of way of the oncoming traffic and there didn’t
appear to be any traffic lights. The traffic flowed smoothly and
silently.

“Are all your
towns like this?” I asked, breaking the silence between us.

“Pretty
much.”

“It seems so
organised and less random than back home.”

“There are very
strict planning regulations which are designed to keep built up
areas as uncongested as possible,” Ahran replied.

“It’s very
quiet, there aren’t the usual sirens or delivery vans blocking the
roads,” I pointed out.

“That’s because
all vehicles are automatically programmed to give way to emergency
vehicles and all shops have underground delivery bays.”

“Everything is
kind of perfect here, isn’t it?” I said, trying not to sound
sarcastic.

“We try to live
as harmoniously as possible. Our technology is more advanced than
on Earth, which means we are able to organise things to allow as
little chaos as possible. But I wouldn’t say everything is perfect.
There is conflict between states, we still have a crime rate and
things do go wrong from time to time.”

It was hard to
imagine anyone disrupting the peace and the natural order of things
here.

“Although we do
have better systems of surveillance and identification, which means
it’s more difficult to get away with committing a crime.”

“It sounds like
‘1984’.”

Ahran looked
puzzled.

“You know,
‘1984’, Big Brother is watching you,” I said with feigned
menace.

He looked blank
and I realised we had our cultural differences. “It’s a famous
novel on Earth depicting a society in which people’s lives are
controlled by the state, their every move watched,” I
explained.

Ahran appeared
unmoved. “Surveillance and traceability are facts of life here. We
don’t give it a second thought.”

I’d forgotten
that everyone here was chipped. I’m not sure how I felt about it.
Was it better for everyone’s safety that people were so easily
identifiable or was it a step too far?

The landscape
was beginning to change and we were moving into what looked more
like suburbia. The order and organisation of the city were echoed
in the residential areas. Like many of the other buildings I’d seen
here, people’s homes were modern and mostly single storey. Ahran
explained that this was because they had less of a visual impact.
Houses and roads were organised in a grid-like pattern but the
landscape was not ugly, in fact far from it, it was very beautiful
in a structured kind of way. There were plenty of trees and the
gardens were all well-cared for.

“People seem to
take a pride in their gardens,” I observed, my thoughts turning to
the odd garden back in Hatherley where the owners had allowed them
to become overgrown and unsightly.

“Gardening is a
national pastime here. It’s part of our culture to take care of the
spaces we live in. The government offers reduced housing rates for
people who take care of their properties, although it isn’t really
necessary because there is a certain amount of social pressure to
look after your plot within the neighbourhood.”

“We could do
with more of that back home,” I reflected. “What was it like where
you were brought up?”

“I grew up in
the city. My father worked long hours and would sometimes stay out
all night so it was important we lived close to where he
worked.”

I detected a
note of bitterness in his voice.

“You didn’t
like living there?”

“No, I didn’t
mind it, what I objected to was having a workaholic for a
father.”

I got the
distinct impression I’d hit a raw nerve. It wasn’t the first time
Ahran had appeared tetchy over the subject of his father. I looked
at his face and his expression was deadpan.

“I’m sorry, I
didn’t mean to pry.”

“You weren’t
prying. My father was a pretty lousy father,” he said with a
frown.

I felt
decidedly uncomfortable.

“Come to think
of it he was also a pretty lousy husband to my mother. She didn’t
have it easy. She worked part-time as a teacher and then spent the
rest of her time trying to make up for my father’s lack of interest
in family life.”

I just nodded.
He was beginning to open up and I didn’t want to say anything that
would prevent him from carrying on.

“He never
seemed to be able to find any time in his busy schedule to spend
time with his children,” he said.

“If it’s any
consolation, I lost my dad when I was six so I never really knew
what it was like to have a dad either,” I said, trying to show my
support.

“At least your
father had a good excuse,” he said with a wry smile.

“Do you get on
with your father now?” I asked.

“We have a...
formal relationship,” he said with a degree of condemnation. “It’s
not as if we can even reminisce together because we don’t have a
history to reminisce about. I don’t enjoy his company. He makes me
feel like I am being interviewed the whole time.” He paused. “To be
honest it was a relief when I left home to go to college, at least
I wasn’t constantly being reminded of his shortcomings.”

I was sure
there were times when Toby had daydreamed about what it would be
like to have a father. From the little I had learnt about Tagan it
sounded like he might have been a better father than Ahran’s had
been. Maybe, when this horrible episode was over and Toby was
safely out of Bazeera’s clutches, Toby would be able to build a
relationship with his father’s cousin, at least then he might not
grow up feeling the bitterness of never having a good male role
model like Ahran obviously did.

“Do you get on
better with your mother?”

“Yes my mother
and I have a good relationship, I am lucky, some people don’t get
on with either of their parents, and of course I have Elaya. She is
not only my sister but I count her as a friend. She has always been
there for me.”

I pictured
Ahran’s striking sister and began to understand how Ahran must have
felt when he had found her beaten and lying in a ditch near Toby’s
school.

“Have you heard
from her?”

“I spoke to her
yesterday, she is feeling much better. Don’t be fooled by Elaya’s
feminine exterior, she is tougher than she looks.”

I was relieved
to hear that she was on the mend. I’d only met her briefly but
having just learnt that she had been there for her brother, who had
clearly suffered as a result of their father’s disinterest in his
children, had made me warm to her more.

“You are very
lucky to have your sister,” I said wistfully.

“Okay, now I
feel awkward,” Ahran replied, looking more than a little
uncomfortable himself. I smiled letting him off the hook.

“It’s been a
year since Katie died and I still fantasize about her walking
through the door as if the accident had been some kind of sick
joke.”

Ahran looked
troubled. “The loss of someone you love is hard to come to terms
with, but it does get easier as time passes,” he said after a
little while.

“Thanks, that’s
good to know.”

I stared out of
the window. We were travelling through more open countryside now.
The landscape was flat and vast and I could see for miles. In the
distance was a mountain range jabbing the cerulean blue sky.
Everywhere was green and lush and there were herds of animals,
sheep and cows dotted over the landscape in whichever direction I
looked. From my level vantage point I could see the odd homestead.
I figured each farm must be very large.

“Is your land
like this?” I asked, changing the subject. I wondered how long it
would be before I started to feel more able to talk about my
sister. It was still so painful.

“My land isn’t
quite as flat, but it is just as green.”

“I’d like to
see it,” I said without thinking. What was I saying? Visiting
Ahran’s home was a bad idea.

“I’d like to
show you it,” he said quietly, something about his tone made me
turn towards him.

My eyes
searched his face. He seemed a little unsettled by what he had just
said himself.

“It’s a very
peaceful place,” he continued quickly. “There is a river that runs
along the southern boundary and it’s teeming with wildlife. At this
time of the year, the fledglings are venturing from their nests,
it’s fascinating to watch.” I was moved by his obvious love of the
countryside and before I could stop myself, I pictured us lying
lazily on the bank of the river, watching the comings and goings of
the riverside birds. I closed my eyes to erase the image.

“Are you
okay?”

“Yes, no, it’s
nothing,” I said wearily. I was weary from worrying about Toby,
weary from the stressful and frightening situation I had found
myself in and weary from fighting my feelings for him. I knew I was
losing the battle.

We stopped to
get some food and then I spent the next few hours trying to busy my
mind with other things. I hadn’t thought about poor Audrey since
Toby had been kidnapped, and I felt guilty for not being there for
her. I wondered whether she had regained consciousness and what the
doctor’s conclusions were about the effects of her stroke. I vowed
to phone the hospital as soon as I could. Maybe, I’d even get to
speak to her. The thought of hearing Audrey’s calm, reassuring
voice lightened my mood. My thoughts turned to Bennie and I
wondered what she had told the police. It can’t have been easy
explaining my sudden disappearance. I was pretty sure I owed her
big time. I would make it up to her somehow, but for now, I was
stuck in this place and as beautiful as it was I wished more than
anything that I was back living my uneventful life with Toby,
contemplating a future with Marcus, never having even heard of
Ramia.