Sangriala

Chapter 9: The Haven

We were expected. The PIS officers at the Main Intelligence Branch had elegant black uniforms with silver markings. Captain Rüdiger's three men were quickly taken from us, probably for interrogations since I saw from the captain's face that he was worried for them. I made a mental note to myself that Rüdiger might not be an evil man. He seemed the type who took his duties very seriously, but there was no direct hostility at us. Not the kind of thinly veiled aggression I had seen in the late Captain Kush. We were just subject to an investigation for him. Privy Counsellor Saurel had mentioned Rüdiger was his best man.

Rüdiger and the six of us were seated in a small meeting room. Clinical, official. No windows. Rüdiger seemed nervous. All of us were that too. One silver-marked guard stayed in the room with us, at least two others right outside the door. An attempt to overwhelm the armed guard and Rüdiger would not get us far.

"What should we expect?" Max suddenly broke the silence, addressing his words at Rüdiger. "Are they going to torture us? Throw us in prison? For what?"

"I'm not in charge", answered the captain. "My orders were just to escort you here and wait."

"Then we wait, I guess", said Max. Rüdiger cast a nervous glance at the PIS guard.

Soon after, the door was opened, and two men and a woman came in. All uniformed, obviously PIS. They had unsmiling faces – professional, concentrated in doing their job.

"You first", they pointed at me. I saw the female officer cast a strange glance at Roland, but she said nothing.

I followed them and was taken to another room, with a long desk. There they ordered me to empty all my pockets, hand over whatever I had with me, and finally – when the woman had left the room – to undress. Reluctantly, and feeling very uncomfortable, I removed my cloak, my shirt, my captain's cap. My shoes, my trousers, even my underwear. They removed the pendant, which André Shato had given in Anay. Naked, I felt humiliated, cold, threatened. The PIS officers, however, didn't seem to be interested in my feelings, or about my naked body. All their attention was on my clothes and belongings. They were technical experts.

I understood now why Saurel had got the orders not to let us change our clothes at his station. The PIS wanted to investigate everything thoroughly. That meant they would find incriminating evidence that would put us in difficult position. Or at least force us to explain. They were professionals – they would interrogate us one by one. They would find out, sooner or later, who we were. I saw one of the men look at the envelope I had, take out the letter where the Hierophant in all his holiness ordered the release of the nine girls. With Master Toth's signet added.

I was given a set of plain, grey, clothes to wear. In those clothes, I felt more than a prisoner – an inmate, institutionalized, my personality wiped away. I guess it was the very purpose of such clothes. They snapped the handcuffs back behind my back, and then one of the men and the woman walked me through the corridor and back to the meeting room. Mary looked at me, scared. I felt sorry for her, and wanted to lift her mind, at least a bit. So, I smiled, trying to look confident, and said in light tone: "Got new clothes."

They took Max next. He tried a flirty smirk with the female officer, but she remained unimpressed. I tried not to look at the boys or think about the object I knew one of them carried. Would the Palatines find it? Could it be that the boys had hidden it so well that it would outsmart even these professionals? I wanted to believe so, but doubt crept in my mind.

Was that what everyone wanted? Did Mir's memory card contain the creator code Babin had mentioned before Killie shot him?

Soon we were all back in the meeting room, all wearing the plain grey clothes. Mary sat her back straight, proud. I hoped the female officer had not humiliated her while she had been naked in front of them. How brave my girl was, I thought, trying to take my mind off the ominous feel of despair. We would somehow get through this. We would do our best. We would stick together, whatever happened. I knew it. By now, I trusted every one of the members of what remained of our group. Zoria was angry, I could see it, but she bit her lip and didn't say a word – which was probably good. Max and Roland felt uneasy in their new clothes. Deeply dissatisfied. But not perhaps as scared as I thought they would be. As scared as I was. Perhaps they just didn't show it. Did they still think they were invincible?