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46. CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION; Interrogation. The Enemy You Know.

I'm awake. Thimiannh has come to the doorway. He doesn't need to wake me, sees me sit up on the side of the bed. He stops there in the hall. I lift one of my rifles from beside the bed, belt on my corn-knife. Pick up my weapons bag and go.

"Any news on our people?" I ask.

"No," he says. "I stepped out in the hall but no one made any attempt to report anything. I think if there was news they'd tell me. We'll go out at first light and see if we can find them."

"Yes," I affirm agreement with his intent.

He goes to get some rest. It gets dark after he goes, me standing, not moving to activate the glow. I wonder how to stay awake. I'm exhausted! I sit on the arm of a couch by the door. That doesn't last long. I stand, walk across to the dining room. I can hear the soldier snoring lightly in the first bedroom. It's dark in the hall back to Eenunh and Tinunh, dark down the hall to the master bedroom where Thin Man went. I come back across the room, sit on the arm of the couch again. Soon I need to be up. I walk back, to the entrance to the kitchen, but don't go in. Back to the door, listen, listen, back to the kitchen. I go in, look out on the darkness of the courtyard. I can see the guard shack at the gate. There is quite a squad of soldiers there, far more than when we came in. I watch them a moment. They seem to be taking defensive positions, security positions behind walls, facing out toward the street, not in emergency mode, just deploying to security positions, facing in, to the courtyard, out to the street. I see soldiers in the crosswalk over the entrance. The gates are closed.

I pull out a chair from the table, sit. It's about as comfortable as the arm of the couch. I alternate, this chair, here, the arm, there, walk across the living room, back. Time passes. I have no idea when the end of my watch should be. I don't want to wake Eenunh anyway. I keep moving, remembering... the night before. It was... necessary evil. We were under assault, ambushed, a deliberate attack, unprovoked. Why do they have such problems with us? We shouldn't merit this kind of attack. It's not us. It's them!

I laugh at the weirdness of that conclusion!

I lay on the edge of the table in the kitchen, thinking it too uncomfortable to let me fall asleep, weapons bag on the the table at arm's length, my corn knife at my hand. I think about washing it. I cut that guy, saw the blood I drew. Wonder, how to clean blood down in the sheath. Images of Eenunh... naked by the stream, cleaning... gloves... sheath. I'm aware... but... not... awake. I... have... an out-of-body... sensation... I float... like a feather, come down, land over by the wall between the living room and kitchen.

I'm awake!

I sit up. I... marvel at that... senation. It... felt very real. Sitting up is fatiguing. I lay back... It... was a vivid experience... very... realistic... dream-like... not a dream. I relax. Feel the handle of my corn knife. Pull my rifle over, hear the butt click on the tabletop. I... relax. I float, like a feather, wafting left, right, left right, down, down, land over by the wall along the next apartment, by the end of my feet. I awaken, sit up.

The night goes on. I'm comfortable with my fatigue. I want sleep, but I can wait. I begin to see the red light out the kitchen window. I think I'll wake Eenunh. I go across the living room, down the hall. I go to her side of the bed, touch her. She wakes. No words. She's up, embraces me, releases, picks up her rifle, her weapons bag. I flip the bedspread up over Tinunh. She doesn't move. I follow Eenunh out, to the left in the hallway to the dining room and living room. I stretch out on the couch, unsheath my corn-knife and lay it by my right hand on the floor. Safety on my rifle. She sits on the arm of the couch. I'm out. I'm dreaming. There's water, a waterfall, Eenunh, naked by the stream. I'm out.

I awaken to screams! Tinunh! Another voice! I'm up! Corn-knife in hand! The door is open! Eenunh's just standing there! Out in the hall... Eevannh! She and Tinunh clap their hands over their mouths! I must look ready to kill! They both come in. Eenunh is grinning at me, a little... apologetic I think. The girls hug me.

"I'm sorry to wake you Hika Andrews!" Eevannh says. Tinunh strokes my arm.

"What... are you doing here?" I ask her.

"We all came," she says. Her mother is there in the hall. Eenunh holds the door more open. She comes in. A man comes behind her. Others... there are others in the hall. The Machinist! His girlfriend and the two children.

"Come in! Come in!" Eenunh is saying. I move to the wall behind Eenunh, watch a lot of people, faces I've... seen. The two Blueboys from the pub! We brush fingertips. The maitre d' from the restaurant. Two of the Bluegirl waitresses from there. Oh! Eenunh's neighbor. She hugs Eenunh, turns and hugs me. And that... that's the neighbor from Costaramannh! Aleashnnh. She's come all this way? I hold my corn-knife away, sheath it as soon as the children are clear. This... two more people... this is the commannh team we interpret for at the prison! They're... very friendly. There are others. I don't know where I know them from, people from... Oh! That's the guy from the restaurant in Costaramannh! Dude! He came all this way?

"Briggs!" I say, shocked. "Captain! What are you..." Angelo is here. There's an Emoilihn woman who stays close to Angelo. In the room she takes his arm... very... affectionately.

"We decided you needed people here, people on your side," Captain Briggs says. "We picked up a few friends and brought them. We're here to be character witnesses."

"I wondered where you were down in Costaramannh," I tell him. "We had a hearing there, an appeal. The Koobs were there. I wondered..."

"They kept me busy," Briggs says. "They apparently didn't want me at the hearing. I could tell they were taking me sight-seeing instead, to no purpose. Your hearing was over before I knew it. They had me take them back to Entemannh Garibe, and left the same day to bring them here. I got more and more of a sense that I wasn't being told what their... plans... their... intent was. So... when they got here and started setting up a sight-seeing tour, I went to Costaramannh, where I heard about your shows, and to Entemannh Garibe and picked up some people. We're going to be at this hearing."

Angelo introduces, "This is... Eesheennh, my... friend." I brush fingertips with her, a lovely, intelligent face. "We... We've been... seeing each other."

I can't help but grin. They make a lovely couple. I wonder...

"We've been keeping a low profile, as low as is possible in a... small town like Entemannh Garibe," Angelo goes on. "We didn't want to complicate things by being... another Oomam/Emoilihn couple. But... it's hard to hide." He laughs, nervously. Eesheennh touches his face with the back of her fingers, grins beautifully.

"I", she says, "don't want... to hide something." She grins at Angelo. "I don't want... everyone... to... to not know."

"Do you understand her?" I ask Angelo.

"Some," he says. "I'm learning Emoilihn. She's learning English."

"Yes," I tell him, and interpret what I think she said for him. He grins. She clings to his arm, grins.

"The more the merrier," I say, grinning. "People should be free to make their own choices."

"Okay!" Thimiannh commands. "Everyone out! We need to go find some people we... got separated from last night. The hearing is tomorrow. Let's all gather here for the evening meal. We'll find a place."

"Mother, can I stay with Tinunh?" Eevannh asks.

"I have to go out to find our people," Tinunh warns. "Perhaps you should go. I'll be back later." Eevannh's mother agrees with Tinunh. Eevannh turns, hugs me, hugs Eenunh, goes. Her parents follow, fingertip brushes, me, Eenunh. The room is empty again, save for us. I look about at our faces. We're filthy! Literally black with carbon from the burned out house! I laugh.

"We look awful!" I say. "Let's freshen up a bit and get out there!" All in agreement we go to the bathrooms. The soldier stays in the living room, on guard. As soon as I'm showered, redressed in the same dirty clothes, I come back, let him go to his room. Thin Man comes out. He's put on a clean uniform. Soda, lovely, same dirty clothes, weapons bag, strapped rifle. Canteen. I go fetch my canteen.

Blueboys come! Food! We all eat, quickly, like soldiers in a hurry!

At the truck the older officer is waiting.

"We've located your ambush," he tells Thimiannh. Your people are there, intact. They found it last night, your truck. Is this the truck you found there?"

"Neh," Thin Man tells them. "Since the ambush took ours we took theirs."

"Let's leave this one, take a new one," the officer says. "We can find out who this one belongs to." He dispatches a soldier to get us new transportation. The man goes into the ramps, up. Soon he is back in a water-truck... just a truck now... with the white wheels. How do you tell one from another? I guess they have a way. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the dash? Something. We load up. I've brought my pack-bag, my weapons bag. I hope my guitar and sleeping bag are still in our truck. I don't want to be separated from any of my stuff any more!

We're rolling. I sit near the back door, looking at the houses, people going about their business. It's... a peaceful city. They don't know what went on. I don't want to disturb them with knowing. But... people need to know. Ignorance is no bliss to follow.

We're there. Our soldier driving has stopped at a distance. Getting out I see the tracks where the ambush truck went in behind the house there, where we came back out when we stole it. Walking... I see... bodies on the road.

"Who shot these?" the officer is asking. I hesitate, then, of necessity,

"I shot the man by the truck, first. They had shot out two tires, shot holes in the side of the truck. So we got out and into that house." I point at the ruin. "Some of us took cover there. Others went to flank them to the right, down that way." I point. He looks. "I went in at that corner," point, "and I came out this side of the house, took cover behind those bushes, under the pine trees. When... this man..." I point at the dead man, now within ten feet of him, green blood on the snow, now brown, came across the street, from over there," I point at the house across the street, "I shot him. He fell. I shot him again." I can see the blood on his left hip, where I aimed. "I think he was already dead the second time."

I see a body by the front of the house. "I think that one came next, to help the first one. I couldn't get a shot at him. This man came next. I shot at him but I don't know if I hit him. Then that one, over by the house, ran and jumped up on the wall. I shot at him. I don't know if it was my rounds or..." I'm reluctant to say the girls may have shot him. "Then, those two, back there on the road. There's one over there in that house." I point across the road. "There's one inside," I point to the ruin, where we ended up.

"All that man's wounds came from low, up into his chin and torso," the officer says of the one lying at the corner of the house. My girls... got him.

"Did you know any of these men?" he asks.

"Know them? No. They... were just attacking us, so... we fought back. There's one inside."

Know them? It seems an odd question.

I hear other soldiers, officers I think, questioning Eenunh the same way. Tinunh adds comments.

Thimiannh, also being... interrogated. I'm a little offended, but decide we have nothing to hide, and want to give them all I know about what the hell happened here.

"Yes, that's what we found here. There are seven more down the street around that house." He points. I don't know which house he means. "A truck pulled out of there and went through the woods behind the house to the next street. Several other trucks left tracks in the snow there."

Thimiannh speaks; "We shot those, in the house down the street, my wife, this soldier, and I. I was here, in this house." He points to the house with the pine trees in the yard. "I fired at some of these. I don't know if it was my rounds or Gary's that took them down. He was on most of them before I had a clear shot, the trees, my position in the house. I only shot one down the street. The others were... taken care of before I got down there."

"The one inside here," the officer gestures, "he is hacked with a blade."

"Yes," I tell. "My rifle jammed. I couldn't think in the moment. I forgot how to... unjam it. I had my knife so..."

"He has four flechettes in him," he says, "in his left side."

"Yes," I say. "It's good to be sure your enemy won't rise up behind you so..." He doesn't ask who fired those shots. "I put extra rounds into most of these, maybe all of these, to be sure. You can't leave a wounded enemy behind you. He'll come back and..." I look into the golden irises, flickering, waiting for me to finish the sentence. I don't. "But you know that," I say. I have a moment of fear that he's trying to find some injustice here on my part.

"Are these your soldiers?" I ask, on the offensive.

"No," he says, calmly. These are not uniforms. By the look of them they're just a gang, but... they're working for someone. That's what I want to know. The man inside, hacked with a blade. You didn't know him?"

"I've never been here before," I tell him. "I don't know anyone here."

"That man is from Entemannh Garibe," he says. "Come and see his face." We go to the corner of the house where I fell in last night. I go in that way again, climb through the corner, through the rubbled room to the hall. The man is lying on his right side, his clothes undone, his wounds visible, punctate wounds, flechettes, and grisly gashes on his left shoulder, a slice down his neck, from my corn-knife. The officer commands a soldier to turn him on his back. I look...

Chesty!

It's... it's Chesty! I know that ugly face! He looks peaceful now, all his animosity gone.

"That's... that's a guy... Yes! Yes, I know him," I sputter. "He's... he's been... obnoxious and... toward me... from the first day I was... invited into Entemannh Garibe. The day of the coming of The Waters! And since. I think he learned to speak some Oomam, English, and told a man there in Corrimannh, an Oomam, that he was going to get me here, in Sagribe."

Sodaensus is here! She inquires about the officer's questions. He tells her,

"I'm just trying to figure out who they are, how they came to organize the attack, and who they were working for."

He turns and they walk away, talking. Eenunh is here. She looks at Chesty's face, looks at me, says, "He got very close."

I wonder about the papers we found on two of them. I hear the officer talking to Soda about papers.

"We found some documents on them that... implicate... some important people. They're all carrying new coins in large denominations, almost all the same total, as if it was some sort of... advance payment, with expectation of a larger payment after the job was done, according to the papers. We've seen this kind of... work before. These weapons, the ones that have weapons, these aren't government issue. They're illegal weapons, stolen from armories."

"I took two rifles off the one inside and one off that one," pointing out at the one by the house, "probably dropped inside. And that one over there." I point across the street.

He turns his attention to Thimiannh. They go on down the street. I stay, stand among... the bodies. Soldiers stand about me, at a distance, weapons at the ready. I feel secure. I go to the truck, open the back doors. My sleeping bag. My guitar case. I get them. There's nothing else in the truck. I come out, reclose the doors. I take my things to the truck we came in, put them in. I leave the back doors open. It's cold. I lie down on the bench, don't open it to a cot. Eenunh unrolls my sleeping bag, covers me with it. Tinunh comes in, closes the doors. I can sleep.

Well, I could have slept. Maybe I did. They're all climbing into the truck. I sit up. Eenunh sits beside me, wraps her arms around my shoulders. I hang my head, close my eyes. They're talking, Soda, Thin Man, Tinunh, the soldier. I feel like I'm getting some rest. The truck is... weaving... left, right, left again. We're stopped again. I raise my head. They're all rising. I reach and open the back doors, step out.

"This is where they separated you," I hear the officer say. "They maneuvered you into this... slalom, around these craters and debris," he points back up the road where pine trees form a 'tunnel' over the road, "where they got a truck in front of yours to slow you down.

Your people are here! This is what they told us."

I see familiar faces among the soldiers all around us. Yes. I count seven.

"They got a truck in front of you, let your escort trucks move ahead, brought in a truck behind them, to make them think it was you, catching up, sent them off here," he points to the left, a track that goes over rough ground, into the forested areas that are usually behind a row of houses. "Then they pulled their trucks over here, blocking that exit, to the left, and sent you on down the street, to the right, to the ambush. They led your people all the way to the Government house before they escaped and your people figured out that you weren't with them. They came back here and... well... you can see they caught some of them still here."

I look around him, see bodies scattered around in the street, in the woods by the road. The escort troops are there, pretty much in a formation, while local soldiers are searching the bodies on the ground. Oh! There's Thimianh's people, by their truck, also seeming to be 'held', guarded by local troops. They're all armed, but standing casually. The commander salutes Thimiannh from a distance. Thimiannh goes to him, speaks quietly. They load up, pull their truck around behind ours, pointing back the way we came. He goes to the escort troop, loads them up, and they pull over in front of the other troop transport. We load up, turn, and head for... home... the Government house, the complex we'll call home for a couple days. Where we are, together, is home. We are family.

"The papers found on some of the dead men implicate a commander in the military, and one in the commannh, and... a Koob," Thimiannh announces. "Our people had already determined that before the locals got there. The money, rolls of coins, loose in their pockets and rolls of them in their packs in vehicles, can be traced to where someone got them out of a bank. There's... a connection... to our main Koob from Entemannh. The Koob and commannh here are both acquainted with him and another Entemannh Koob. We... Soda... already thought there was a connection, through... her sources. And this evidence bears it out. There's some trouble coming to them."

"Thimiannh, did we lose anybody last night?" I ask.

"No!" he tells me. "Our people came back, stopped at a distance, came through the neighborhood, house by house, and took them by surprise, just a few still here. They didn't get to talk to anybody. They followed our tracks, found the ambush site, but the military locals showed up and they couldn't leave. They told them we were safe at the Government complex, and they trusted the locals. I think things are going our way!"

"That's good news, even if it's not assured," I tell him. We're going back. "I'm going to take a shower and sleep until tomorrow!" He laughs. I'm not joking. Eenunh grins, pulls off my toboggan, runs her hand over my hair.

Tinunh murmurs, "Stop it!", grins.