“Yeah,” I said, but stopped to look closer at something. I chuckled softly and pocketed my find, then caught up with Eva. We went down a couple of floors and re-entered the building, then took the service elevator back down to ground level. We quickly returned to LSA headquarters.
“Sal, we’re back,” Eva called out softly. “We’ve got the power supply and the network card.”
“We’ll done, my friends!” he said.
I handed Eva the power supply and then reached into my pocket and held what I had found out to Sal. “Check these babies out,” I said smugly.
Eva started to laugh while Salvador just stared. Finally he took the two pigeon eggs and said, “Excellent, Manuel! With these I can breed an entire army of winged messengers! Our revolution can spread now across the land, carried on the shimmering wings of justice thanks to you, Agent Calavera!” Salvador pulled himself back to the present and said to Eva, “But first, the computer.”
“Right, Sal,” she said and went to work.
Salvador turned on his projector and placed the eggs near its lamp fan. He then turned to watch Eva, standing still but clenching and relaxing his hands as he waited.
Eva finished quickly enough and turned on the computer. When the boot routine had finished, she said, “OK, Cal, just log on like you normally do.”
After I did, Eva said, “OK, Sal, time for you to do your part.” Sal took over at the computer and Eva commented darkly, “If this doesn’t work, somebody will have a lot to answer for.”
Most of what happened next was done in silence and I didn’t understand any of it. When Sal was finished with whatever he was doing, he moved away from the computer and asked me to log out. I did so and Eva said, “Well, Sal, let’s give it a try.” She logged into the DOD network herself, but the device under the monitor that scans the user’s teeth didn’t flash. After a minute or two of more work she announced, “Looks like we’ve got the run of the joint. Unless they know what they’re looking for, or we do something stupid and tip our hand, we’ll always have a way in.”
“Well done!” Salvador said. Then he turned to me. “You are a true friend of the revolution; and now, let me be of service to you.”
“Unmarked, non-sequential bills will do just fine, Sal,” I said.
He projected a tiny smile. “You must go to the town of Rubacava immediately, Manuel, if you wish to find your lost soul.”
“How do you know where she is?” I asked.
“I don’t,” Salvador admitted, “but everyone who wants to get to the Ninth Underworld must cross the Sea of Lament, and therefore must go to Rubacava to get passage on a ship. As long as you get there before she does, you’ll find her. But it may be quite a wait.”
“I’ll wait as long as it takes,” I said firmly.
Salvador gave me an appraising look. “Manuel, are you… in love with her?”
“Love?” I asked incredulously. “Love is for the living, Sal. I’m only after her for one reason—she’s my ticket out of here!”
“Well,” Eva said, “we’d better get you kitted out.” She moved a couple of steps, but turned back to say, “Sal, someone went into Copal’s office while we were leaving. I don’t know what that means, but I think we should look into it. Don Copal is not a night owl.”
“I agree,” Salvador said, “we must find out who was in Copal’s office at this hour and why. But, please, get Agent Calavera what he needs right away.”
“OK, Sal,” Eva said and left the room.
“You are starting on a perilous journey, my friend,” Salvador said while we waited for Eva to get back, “but more is at stake than your own well being. I believe that Mercedes Colomar will be the key to unraveling this mystery and that our enemy knows this. She must be found at all costs before they can find her… and eliminate her. But remember, my friend: you are an agent of the LSA and will remain so in Rubacava and wherever else you may go. You must remain in contact whenever feasible.”
“Right,” I said, “but before the pigeons are ready…?”
“Ordinary letters will suffice. Fortunately, the mail service is staffed by demons and I have no reason to think they have been corrupted as well. However, please be discreet in your communications.”
Eva returned with fatigues and some survival gear—compass, knife, heavy walking stick, backpack, and other things. “Here,” she said, “change into these.” When I hesitated she said. “Do you think you’ve got any bones I haven’t seen before?” I shrugged and started changing. “Hey, Sal…” she said. Salvador nodded and went to check on the eggs.
“So, sweetheart, I guess this is goodbye,” she said quietly.
“I’ll be in touch,” I said. “You know I have to.”
“Yeah, I know, Cal. But it won’t be the same. I’ll miss our lunch dates and everything.”
“Sure, Eva. Me, too.” I finished changing and shrugged on the pack. I picked up the stick and said, “Well, I guess I’m ready.”
“Excellent, Manuel,” Salvador said, turning back to me. “I will lead you through a secret tunnel outside the city.”
I nodded and followed Salvador, but turned back at the door. “Any messages for me?” I asked Eva.
“Yeah,” she said a little hoarsely. “Take care of yourself.”
The Petrified Forest
(No Bette or Bogie… just Manny)
As Salvador and I walked along the tunnel, I asked, “So tell me, Sal, what do you really think of your chances of raising an army for revolution?”
“Poor, at present,” he admitted, “but I foresee a time when the task will become easier. The activities of this unholy conspiracy that you have witnessed are far more overt than those which first awakened my suspicions. I believe that their past success in keeping their doings secret has emboldened them. If their activities become more open, as I believe they will, they will disgust many souls. When that happens, the LSA will be ready to make use of their outrage and turn it against our enemies.”
“That could take a while,” I said when the disquisition had wound down.
“It has already taken a great while, my friend,” Salvador said, “but now we are able to truly take our first step, thanks to you.”
I laughed a little. “Don’t build me up too much, Sal. I only helped steal some computer gear and two pigeon eggs.”
“Do not be deceived by smallness of your deeds, Manuel, but envision the consequences. As a reaper you must have learned how small actions may have greater consequences. Yes, you committed petty theft, but by that act you opened a door to knowledge. Knowledge is power; power sufficient, I hope, to destroy the corruption at work in the Department of Death. With such an end in view, why then should I not build you up?”
“OK, Sal,” I said, “You’re a bigger thinker than I am.”
Salvador shrugged. “Perhaps,” he said, “but not much of a doer. Eva’s focus will make action possible.”
“Yin and yang, huh?”
“Precisamente,” he said. “Only in this case it is the female which is the active principle.”
“Are you in love with her?” I asked.
Salvador said nothing except, “We are here.” The tunnel came to an end with a ladder running up the wall into the gloom. “At the top you will find yourself at the edge of the Petrified Forest. If you strike out northwest you will find a road to Rubacava. You must send word when you arrive.”
“OK, Sal,” I said. “You’ll hear from me as soon as I get there. And as soon as I find Meche.”
“Good luck, Manuel,” he said, shaking my hand, “and viva la Revolución!” With that he turned and quickly disappeared back down the tunnel.