CHAPTER 14 - ZANE'S STORY
Apparently, noone in Owando had ever heard of Carter or Mason. Noone had seen two American kids enter the city and get kidnapped or whatever.
"Maybe noone here's an origional," Zane suggested.
I supposed he was right. I mean, it made sense right? They were Dopplegangers, invisible to the human eye, unless the human was an origional.
So, we started asking around about Cilas. Nobody knew who Cilas was.
So, we started asking for a cookey old guy. A scientist. And suddenly, everybody knew who we were talking about.They called him Verlosser, which meant "Savior" in Afrikaans.
Apparently, Cilas lived just outside of town, but was often traveling. As it just so happened, he was traveling right then. He was in Edou, helping the children. He often went from town to town, helping the children. (Okay, so either this is a brilliant cover, or this guy is really just a nice old man, helping Congian children.)
As it turned out, Edou was only fifty miles away.
The man who gave us the information spoke broken English, but it was still English. His name was Gadth. He offered to lend us his car. Cilas walked everywhere he went, so it took him about a week to get to Edou, but if we borrowed the car and promised to send it back with Cilas, it would only take us about two hours. Zane and I agreed.
Gadth gave us a small map. He had showed us where Owando and Edou were, and from there, we were on our own.
"Dankie," I told him as we got in the car.
"Thanks," Zane said, starting the engine.
Gadth leaned on the window. "Between here and Edou is city called Ibeke. They have gas." He handed us a small bundle. "Money for gas. Tell Verlosser, bring car back. It is family car. Very precious. One of three in Owando. May your road be straight." He tapped the roof of the car, and we were off, once again, in search of Mason and Carter. And Cilas.
We rode in silence for almost half an hour. I could tell Zane was thinking about his encounter with his Father. It seemed strange though, that Mason and Carter were last seen in the same place that Brian Taylor lived. It was just to strange.
"So," Zane finally said.
That appeared to be all he was going to say. I didn't want to press him, but I wanted to know.
"Back at DQA," I began, "O'Bryan said that you would get the answers you seek."
"Yeah?"
I continued, "And then we find your Father."
"Yeah?"
"Well, isn't that a little suspicious? I mean, what are the odds?"
Zane concentrated on the road. "We should be in Ibeke in about ten minutes."
"Zane," I continued, "I know you don't want to talk about it. But isn't all this a little strange? I mean... Zane, something's not right. O'Bryan wanted us to go there. He wanted us to meet your Father. But, why?"
Zane sighed. "Payson, I think you're reading way to much into this. It was just bad luck that we met my Dad. Nothing suspicious. Alright?"
"Fine."
Ibeke was a small town, not much to see really. But it did have a gas station. We stayed in Ibeke a grand total of twenty minutes before hitting the road again. And thank goodness too. It didn't strike me as a town full of upstanding citizens. Upon arriving, Zane pulled up to the gas station, got out, and hobbled over to the pump, telling me to "Stay in the car," in a very stern voice.
