It was a brilliant plan, as plans go...the whole idea of flushing out the thieves and the artifact by revealing ourselves as Wanderers. The thing is, history demonstrates vividly how such brilliant plans tend to go awry. As
Tindar sparred with the radio show host, something was gnawing at the very edge of my thoughts.
"My clan and I have been around the Reston area for some time now, dancing and performing. Many of your listeners will probably remember us, our unique camper and the experience we shared with them. We did a particularly vibrant dance in a public park a few days ago."
Well, the cat was out of the bag. Now every crackpot and shard thief in Reston knew exactly who was calling and how to find us. It was scary, but of course necessary. How else would the thieves find us? I wondered if Tindar had a plan to handle the danger he'd just put us in by doing this. As much as this bothered me, it was a necessary part of the plan. But there was something else too, something I just couldn't put my finger on.
The conversation with the radio host had escalated. I heard Tindar saying, "My dear sir, Wanderers are not extinct, but they have apparently been largely forgotten. Has it been so many generations ago you've forgotten the part we played in reducing the Shadow threat? Has everyone forgotten the part Wanderers played to spearhead ecological survival when it seemed we were on the verge of exterminating humans from this planet?"
"At the cost of near economic collapse!" the host objected.
"That degradation was already happening, centuries before. It was not sustainable. It was never sustainable!"
"It did not have to end in the cultural wars!"
"No, it did not! But the people profiting the most from the old ways ensured that it did, by clinging to a dying system to milk every last penny from it."
"You know sir, I thought this was a hoax...some crank calling into my show...but I begin to believe you truly are a Wanderer. You demonstrate the same destructive stubborn streak..."
"If you knew thing-one about Wanderers, you would know how ludicrous that allegation is. No culture has ever been better adapted to change."
"So well adapted that you had to vanish from the face of the planet for a hundred years!"
"Well, that was certainly a change, wasn't it?" Tindar winked at
Syha and me as he beamed a huge smile. It didn't have to be this way. The things Tindar was saying were true, but he didn't have to say them this way. There were so many things left unsaid in that whole confrontation, things that would have smoothed the tensions. The host was a shock jock. He was going to pick a fight no matter what Tindar said. However, Tindar wasn't leaving any wiggle room for the listeners to side with him.
The host went on, "And now you have returned...when things are most dire...when the fruit of your culture's influence is ripe, even to the point of rotting. You come now when our citizens hunger, not only for their former affluence...they have a spiritual hunger as well. They lack not only material wealth, but direction and guidance. And in the midst of all that, you arrive to reclaim your treasure for yourself."
"If they hunger, it is because they let your metaphorical fruit ripen, then rot, without plucking a morsel to feed that hunger." I flinched. I mean, Tindar was right. The world had had its time of plenty. So much had gone to waste. So many had died for the lack of basic needs, while others had more than they could ever use. But to say it like that....he left no room for compassion. His words were meant only to incite.
"The treasure I claim would not feed your masses with affluence. And no one can find guidance outside of themselves."
"So you DO want this treasure for yourself!" The host was tripping over himself to accuse Tindar of this greed. He gave no thought to the underlying message implied...only of the literal interpretation.
"I need only to find the artifact, or to glean some information about it. It will lead me directly where I want to go."
Tindar found himself cut off from the airwaves at that point. His public platform lost, he hung up the phone.
When he flipped the radio back on, the host was saying, "There you are ladies and gentlemen, Wanderers back in our midst. You heard it here first. This host has to say, I was mistaken. No, rather I was mislead. As were all of you! Duped into believing Wanderers had vanished completely."
"Hack," Tindar whispered softly turning off the radio.
"Well, now what?" I wanted to know.
"Now we wait," Tindar replied calmly.
"I was thinking more of how we protect ourselves from not only the thieves, but every kook in Reston you just incited."
"Ah, I see your point."
"You see my point? Ah!" I let out a short grunt of frustration.
"Well, let's set up a watch anyway," Tindar suggested. "We should have lots of advanced warning. I mean Syha is pretty sensitive."
As we both glanced over at Syha, she was pale white. A look of worry clouded her face.
"What is it Syha?" I asked, rubbing her shoulder slightly to snap her out of it.
"I...I don't know. I've never felt anything like it before."
"Can you describe it?" I asked. Tindar was already scrambling for the front of the camper. He came back seconds later reporting no one seemed to be taking any notice of us.
Syha tried to describe the sensation, "A ripple. I don't know. It's like one minute I knew exactly who I was and the next, for a few seconds, I was lost."
We were all silent for a few moments, puzzling over the unnerving sensation. I'm not nearly as sensitive as Syha, but I wondered if that gnawing feeling I'd experienced was like a remedial version of what she'd gone through. I don't get those kind of warning signals very often. Usually for me, it's an idea or a thought I just can't put my finger on at the right time.
"Oh shit!"
"What is it Del'yar?" Syha asked.
"I know what was bugging me earlier."
"And?" Tindar raised a single eyebrow in inquiry.
"You wanted to flush out the thieves so they would come to us with the statue..."
"Right," he said impatiently.
"And we've also been worried because we might flush out kooks and nuts here in town. They will also know how to find us."
"Yes."
"Did it ever occur to you this might also flush out the
Time Warrens?" I asked.
"Oh shit," Tindar lowered his head. Syha shivered at the thought.
"Ok, there is a serious need for a plan here. Now what?"
