The War of Pages

2; A Deafening Silence

Hours later after they'd arrived at the police station, Techno sat across from Officer Cohen in rebellious silence. Cohen moved his mouth as though he were speaking, but Techno didn't hear the actual words. As the officer questioned him relentlessly, he stared right through him hard enough to burn a hole through his perfectly-pressed uniform.

He looked around at the room, wondering if Nevik himself had sat there across from his own version of Officer Cohen, a goody-goody who never really amounted to much in life—other than trying to destroy as many people as he could. In his mind, the clock rolled back over a hundred years, and he tried to imagine Nevik Tru in the heat of the moment. He wouldn't take anybody's crap. I know that much.

Cohen grabbed his head and banged it against the table between them, jolting Techno from his fantasy. "You're going to sit here with me in this room until you start talking. I don't care if you starve to death."

"Don't I get a lawyer?"

"You think I gave a damn about your rights? Hell no! Screw your lawyer. You and your entire family are traitors. So, start talking, or I'll burn this book right in front of you." He slammed the book down in front of Techno and waited for a response. And waited. And waited.

"There is no way in hell you're about to burn that book. You need it all in one piece, just like I do. Try something else. That isn't going to work on me. Or anyone in my crooked family." Techno laughed and tried to grab the book, but Cohen pulled it away before he could touch it.

"I wonder what Bandit would have to say about what I found." Cohen put the journal in his jacket pocket and walked toward the door.

"You're bluffing."

"Am I really?" He opened the door and walked out of the room without looking back, storming off into some unknown area of the precinct.

He looked around the room for an easy opportunity to slip out unnoticed. If he could have simply walked out the door without any resistance, he would have still had to hunt down Cohen to get his hands on the journal. Then it would all be over. He'd still be in jail, and he'd probably be in even deeper water than he already was. Best not to tempt the Gods of censorship, he thought.

While he concentrated on staring a hole through the desk, a flickering hologram buzzed in and out of the room. He looked around to see if anyone else saw what happened, but the people outside the room were much too busy to notice. "Who is it? Who's there?"

A female voice trailed in and out of the room, but she was much too faint to understand. After a few minutes of watching the flickering figure and listening to the fading voice, the activity stopped entirely when Cohen walked back into the room. "Who were you talking to just now?"

"What? I wasn't talking to anybody. You're just making stuff up now, dude." Techno leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. No escape routes there, either.

"This room is bugged. Even a two-year-old could guess that, dude." He sat back down across from Techno and continued his interrogation.

"What's interesting to me is that we combed over that entire estate and came up with absolutely nothing until I found you in Bandit's office with the journal."

"That's not all that interesting, considering owning books has been illegal since before I was born. Even a two-year-old could guess that." He stared into Cohen's dark eyes and laughed.

"Give me a break! Everyone knows what your family does. What your dad does. What you and your accomplice do." Cohen didn't back down from the staring contest.

"And who might that be?"

"So, you're not denying the rumors are true?" A wide smile crept across his face as the realization hit him. "I knew it! You're distributing books!"

"I never said that," Techno said as he broke the stare.

"You didn't have to."

I will get Nevik's journal back if it kills me. Hell, even if I have to kill Cohen in front of all his other loser friends here at the station. I will not leave without it. If I do, I might as well be dead myself.

Another officer burst into the room and said, "They lost Faulkner and can't seem to find any other traces of where he went. We need your help!"

Techno looked up as Cohen's face fell into a look of complete disappointment and defeat. That was when he suddenly realized all they had against him were guesses and bluffs they didn't have the balls to follow through with. He laughed and shook his head. "And you won't even find him, either. Best if you idiots just give up before you look like complete fools."

Cohen ignored him and approached the officer. "Not here, man," he whispered. They both left the interrogation room, slamming the door behind them.