“I buried them myself, that’s how. I’m a gravedigger here, you see.”
Kumai digested this in silence for some time. The most horrible thing was his first thought: good riddance! And then: my God, whom did I turn into here? He did not understand Pirate’s next words right away:
“In other words, you made the right choice,
“How?” He was totally dumbfounded. “What Motherland?”
“What, do you have several?”
“You’re crazy! Someone really is ready to sacrifice a bunch of people just to get me out of here?”
“We are following orders,” Pirate answered drily, “and it is not our business to decide what is more important to Mordor: a spy network that took years to create or a certain Engineer Second Class.”
“I’m sorry… By the way, somehow I haven’t asked your name yet.”
“You did right – you have no need to know it. Your escape will begin in a few minutes, and no matter what happens, we’ll never meet again.”
“In a few minutes?! Listen, I’m a lot better now, but hardly enough to… how am I supposed to get past the outer guard?” “As a corpse, of course. Remember that I serve on the burial detail. Don’t worry, you’re neither the first nor the last.”
“So all those who were…”
“Alas, that job was for real. That was Elvish work, there was nothing we could do… Anyway: you will now drink from this bottle and ‘die,’ to all appearances, for about twelve hours; after what happened to you yesterday, no one will be the wiser. The rest is technical details that do not concern you.”
“What do you mean, don’t concern me?”
“Very simple. I advise you to supplement your wonderful ‘don’t hustle when under the client’ principle with another one: ‘the less you know, the better you sleep.’ Whatever you need to know you will know when it’s time. Drink, Kumai, time is of the essence.”
The liquid in the bottle worked in seconds; the last thing he saw was Pirate’s swarthy face with a myriad of tiny scars around the lips.
…Kumai never found out what happened later to his ‘corpse’ (six beats per minute pulse, no visible reactions). Nor was there any reason for him to learn how he rode the corpse cart under a pile of dead bodies, or how he lay in the nearby abandoned quarry under a layer of gravel, awaiting transport. He came to in total darkness; everything’s in order – if Pirate was right about the twelve hours, it should be night now. Where am I? A stable, to judge by the smell… The moment he moved, an unfamiliar voice with a hard-to-place accent spoke:
“Congratulations on your safe arrival, Engineer Second Class! You can relax – the road ahead is long, but the biggest danger is past.”
“Thank you, ah…”
“Superintendant. Just Superintendant.”
“Thank you, Superintendant. That man, back in the quarry…”
“He’s all right. You don’t need to know more.”
“Can I send him my regards?”
“I doubt it. But I’ll report your request.”
“Permission to ask a question?”
“Permission granted.”
“Am I expected to create new weaponry?”
“Certainly.” “But my specialty is completely different!”
“Do you intend to teach your superiors, Engineer Second Class?”
“No, sir.” He hesitated. “I’m just not sure…”
“But the HQ is sure.” The Superintendant’s voice thawed a little. “After all, you won’t be working alone. There’s a whole group there. Jageddin is the boss.”
“
“The very same.”
“Not bad…”
Say what you want – but there is a certain charm in not having to think about much and just doing what you’re told…
“So, you just lie there and get better. Were it not for this stupid incident with the overseers, you could’ve gotten started right now, but as it is, we’ll have to wait.”
“You know, I’m well enough to go home, to Mordor, as it is.”
The invisible man chuckled: “Why do you think you’re going to Mordor?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s very simple, really. You’re a wanted man, or at least we’re anticipating such an eventuality; as you’ve seen, the Elves are very thorough. Whereas you must work, rather than hide – two very different tasks.”
“All right; where, then?”
“Think. What’s the best place to stash stolen goods? In a policeman’s attic. What’s the darkest spot? Right under the lamp. Get it?”
“You mean to say…” Kumai said slowly; he felt cold in his gut, because all the pieces of the wonderful puzzle that was his miraculous escape began to fit into a very different picture: a clever ruse. “You mean to say that I’m staying here, in Gondor?”
“No. To be honest, it would be tempting to hide you in Gondor, nor would it be too difficult in any other time. We were working on this option, but had to abandon it. The thing is, right now the King and the Queen are jockeying for position in Minas Tirith; both have their own secret services which spy on each other, so it would be real easy to attract their attention purely by accident. So, unfortunately, no local option for us. But the world is not limited to Gondor and Mordor… By the way, were it the Reunited Kingdom trying to use you, they would most likely have sent you to Mordor: between them, the army and the counter-intelligence service of the victorious nation could have set up an ‘ivory tower’ for you bar none. Do you agree?” Silence fell for a couple of seconds.
“Damn! Is it so obvious on my face?”
“Without a doubt – although I can’t see your face in this dark. In other words, let the experts worry about such things and do the job you know how to do, all right?”
“Please accept my apologies, Superintendant.”
“Don’t worry about it. As long as we’re on the subject: the people you’ll be working with at that ‘university’ got there in a variety of ways; many are your good friends. You can discuss anything your heart desires with them – student parties, news of the Resistance, philosophy – anything but the story of how you got there. Loose talk on the subject can cost a lot of people their lives – both my colleagues, like our mutual friend in Mindolluin, and your colleagues still in the hands of the enemy. I say this with utmost seriousness and responsibility. Do you understand, Engineer Second Class?”
“Yes, Superintendant.”
“Very good. Get well soon and move on.”
