24 Ymiden 721
Immediately following these events.
The balmy Ymiden twilight outside the Dustin house was cool and refreshing after the sweltering hostility Oram had left inside it. Although anxious to get away from that place quickly, Oram resisted the urge to just stride away, pausing long enough to look around, get a feel for his surroundings, and determine that he wasn’t being watched or followed. For some reason, the annoyance and frustration he had felt when he walked through the door gave way within trills to apprehensiveness and even dread once he stood in the darkening, shrub-lined street. Unbidden, the hunter’s eyes went to those bushes, starting with the one he himself had hidden behind not a break before. After awhile, he satisfied himself here was no sign of movement, nor any out-of-place silhouettes, and then he set out briskly back towards the Ranger compound.
Oram wanted to get back while his recollections were still fresh and find Jim and Hop. He thought it best to let them debrief him even before his own conclusions started to seep into his memories and settle in as imagined facts. He had learned much, about EWWW, about Pattis’ role, about- no. He needed to just focus on what he had seen and heard. The conclusions would fall out better once the facts were firmly and clearly on record.
It turned out that he did not have to look far for either Hop or Jim when he got back; they were waiting at his shack for him. He nodded silently to the two men as he unlocked the door. ”Glad you’re here,” he said laconically. ”Let’s do this.”
Oram knew that these debriefings could be protracted and grueling affairs. He couldn’t say how long the three of them spoke, sitting around his desk with the light from his yellow lightstone casting oddly-shaped shadows on the walls behind. He knew that the meeting with EWWW hadn’t gone well, hadn’t come close to achieving his purpose of stemming what might or might not be a growing tide of distrust and discontent against the Rangers in Egilrun. And he knew that his own actions were a major reason, if not the main reason, why things had gone badly.
As the debriefing wore on, Oram felt himself grow defensive at Jim’s probing questions, feeling the need to explain things or put them in context. The other two always cut him off, assuring him that all was well. More than once, the traveler thought he caught a patronizing tone in those assurances, and he shot Hop and Jim resentful glares when then did, though that did not seem to phaze the men at all. At other times, he felt frustrated that the two were not more focused on details he found interesting and significant, and he felt similar flashes of resentment flare up when they would cut short his attempts to stress or elaborate on those details.
When they were done, all three of them sat in silence, Hop’s and Jim’s concerned and thoughtful, Oram’s tired and sullen. At length, Oram grew uncomfortable and said: ”I realize now that I didn’t handle that as well as I could have.”
The other two chuckled humorlessly and shook their heads in agreement. ”It may not matter much, though,” offered Hop after another trill. Jim looked at his colleague questioningly, but didn’t say anything.
Hop continued. ”Oram said that the ladies were already hostile when he walked in. Changing hearts and minds may well not have been in the cards.”
Oram groaned. ”And I don’t think I’d be the one for that job even if it were,” he observed.
Once again, the other two rangers laughed and shook their heads in agreement.
Oram shot them a sour look. ”You didn’t have to agree with me.”
Hops eyes twinkled in the yellow light. ”But we did.”
Oram didn’t even have time to respond before Jim cut in: ”At any rate, this means we will have to keep Ms. Dustin’s house under active surveillance, since we can’t count on being welcomed to any further meetings, nor even told about them for that matter.”
The traveler thought a moment. ”Don’t we have to do that anyway, though? I mean, I assume we can’t just put a tail on Pattis. He’d spot it.”
Jim grinned. The expression looked downright sinister in the sketchy lamplight. ”I see you’re slowly starting to learn some of the craft and the lingo, Oram. Yes, I guess we would have to do that, anyway.”
It was Hop’s turn to scowl. ”But won’t Ms. Dustin or one of the other women tip him off so that he doesn’t come back?”
”Not necessarily,” rejoined Jim. ”It could be that the Egilrun Workshop for Women’s Worries are simply the mistrustful ‘concerned citizens’ they appear and profess to be. If so, their minds probably don’ work like ours. It won’t occur to them to make a point to warn Pattis off, although he’s likely to cut off contact of his own accord once he learns of Oram’s visit.”
Oram thought about this. ”…and that means that *not* seeing Pattis visit them anymore could tell us something, as well.”
Jim nodded. ”Yes, but I’ll need to get the surveillance set up quickly for that to work. As in: I’ll be heading into town before first light.”
Hop’s brow furrowed, the lines exaggerated by the lighting. ”What would it tell us, Oram?” he asked.
”Well, like Jim said, if EWWW is really little more than a gossip circle of mistrustful townsfolk, they probably wouldn’t make a point to warn Pattis. If he no-shows, that means there’s something more going on.” The hunter looked questioningly at Jim, to make sure he was following correctly. He was gratified to get a nod from the man.
”Proactively tipping off Pattis," Jim explained, ”would show that their communication with him is already active in both directions, that they already know where to find him; he would no longer just be a snitch stopping by unbidden to drop juicy gossip in their ears. Tipping him off also suggests a degree of sympathy, complicity, malice, and savvy we weren’t previously counting on.”
Hop looked at Jim. ”Why don’t you let me set up the observation on the Dustin house,” he suggested. ”That’s at least as much my province as yours. And you have other stuff to do, like find out more about the other women who were at the meeting.”
Jim frowned in thought for a moment, then simply said: ”Deal.”
Oram thought a bit longer. It was late and he was weary of all this thinking, yet he knew it had to be done. ”The real problem isn’t EWWW nor even Pattis, though, is it?” he observed. ”It’s whoever’s behind them, especially whoever Pattis is working for. We should probably be making inquiries in Darbyton.”
Jim had already made inquiries about Pattis’ business here in Egilrun, looking as far as he could without confronting the suspicious Ranger directly or tipping him off with too much nosiness. Nobody around the Egilrun Headquarters knew why Pattis was there; he had apparently spent most of his time previously stationed and working at Darbyton. Oram had received no instructions about him. Refed had received no billet notification about him. He hadn’t come with any of the patrols, and usually didn’t go on any. Inquiring at Darbyton made sense.
The other two Rangers gave Oram a look that caused him to regret the suggestion instantly. He groaned. ”’We’ means me, doesn’t it." The hunter shook his head ruefully. "Why did I walk into that one?”
Hop chuckled. ”C’mon Oram, don’t you want to take a break from Egilrun at this point? I’ve got no business in Darbyton, and if Jim goes everybody will know it’s something security-ey. Your responsibilities here are more comprehensive; you could have any number of reasons for talking to Elliott, so you’ve got better cover for a visit than we do.”
Jim nodded, and Oram could only sigh resignedly. They were right, of course, on all counts, including the fact that the hunter wouldn’t actually mind an opportunity to get out of Egilrun for a few trials.
Something occurred to Oram then. ”Maybe I can look into what happened with the Undersecretary while I’m there too. They might be connected. It might not be a coincidence that her name came up at the EWWW meeting.” Jim and Hop both mumbled their assent. They’re tired, too, Oram realized.
”I suppose I should head out before first light, too,” he grumbled, yawning.
”I’m sure you could afford to sleep in a bit if you’re tired, and have yourself a good breakfast before heading out,” Hop reassured him, echoing the yawn. ”But you probably should head out tomorrow.”
Oram nodded wearily and was mute for a few trills. ”One last thing,” he added as an afterthough. ”What about these underground chambers the women asked about? Could there be anything to that?”
Jim shook his head. ”Not likely to be any significant catacombs or bunkers down there. Escape tunnels are a definite possibility, though. We’ll see if we can find those.”
And then, tacitly, all three of them rose to their feet at once to stretch. They had grown sufficiently attuned to one another that no one needed to declare a formal adjournment to their impromptu debriefing. Within a couple bits, they had said goodnight and parted. Oram went to bed, exhausted, yet initially unable to sleep. He would definitely take Hop on his suggestion that he sleep in a bit and have a good breakfast.
to be continued...
