The Traveler

“Away from Los Angeles. That’s all you need to know.”

“Okay. That’s your choice.” Hollis shrugged his shoulders. “Can you give me any information at all?”

Maya sat down at the kitchen table. “It’s a security risk to use checks or make bank account transfers. The Tabula have gotten very skillful at monitoring things like that. In a few days, you’ll get a magazine or a catalog in an envelope with a German postmark. Hundred-dollar bills will be hidden in the pages. It might take two or three deliveries, but we’ll pay you $5,000.”

“That’s too much money,” Hollis said. “It was a thousand dollars a day and I’ve only been helping you for two days.”

Maya wondered if Hollis would have said the same thing without Vicki watching him. If you liked another person, that made you foolish and vulnerable. Hollis wanted to look noble in front of this young woman.

“You helped me find Gabriel. I’m paying you for your services.”

“And that’s it?”

“Yes. The contract is canceled.”

“Come on, Maya. The Tabula aren’t going to give up. They’ll keep looking for you and Gabriel. If you really want to confuse them, you should give out some false information. Make it look like you’re still in Los Angeles.”

“And how would you do that?”

“I’ve got a few ideas.” Hollis glanced at Vicki. Yes, she was watching him. “You Harlequins are paying me $5,000. So I’ll give you three more days of work.”

27

The next morning, Vicki woke early and made coffee and biscuits for everyone. After eating, they went outside and Hollis inspected Maya’s van. He poured a quart of oil into the crankcase and switched the van’s license plates with those of a broken-down car owned by a neighbor. Then he rummaged through his closets and came up with supplies: plastic water bottles and extra clothes for Gabriel, a long cardboard box to hide the shotgun, and a road map that would guide them to southern Arizona.

Maya proposed that they carry the motorcycle in the back of the van-at least until they got out of California-but Gabriel rejected the idea. “You’re overreacting,” he told her. “Right now, there are more than a hundred thousand vehicles traveling on the Los Angeles freeways. I don’t see how the Tabula could find me.”

“A human isn’t doing the searching, Gabriel. The Tabula can access the surveillance cameras that are attached to the freeway signs. Right now, a computer scanning program is processing images, looking for your motorcycle’s license plate.”

After five minutes of arguing, Hollis found some nylon cord in his garage and attached Gabriel’s knapsack to the back of the motorcycle. It appeared to be a casual, improvised way to carry the knapsack, but it also concealed the license plate. Gabriel nodded and kick-started the bike as Maya climbed into the van. She rolled down the side window and nodded to Vicki and Hollis.

By now, Vicki was used to Harlequin manners. Maya found it difficult to say “thank you” or “goodbye.” Perhaps her behavior was just rudeness or pride, but Vicki had decided that there was another reason. Harlequins had accepted a powerful obligation: to defend Travelers with their lives. To acknowledge a friendship with anyone outside their world would be an additional burden. That’s why they preferred mercenaries who could be used and thrown away.

“From now on, you should be very careful,” Maya told Hollis. “The Tabula have developed a tracking system for electronic transactions. They’re also experimenting with splicers-genetically altered animals that can be used to kill people. Your best strategy is to be disciplined but unpredictable. Tabula computers find it difficult to calculate an equation involving randomness.”

“You just send the money,” Hollis said. “Don’t worry about me.”

Hollis pushed open the driveway gate. Gabriel went out first, and Maya followed him. The van and the motorcycle cruised slowly down the street, turned the corner, and then they were gone.

“What do you think?” Vicki asked. “Will they be safe?”

Hollis shrugged his shoulders. “Gabriel has been living a very independent life. I don’t know if he’s going to accept orders from a Harlequin.”

“So what do you think of Maya?”

“On the fighting circuit down in Brazil, you walk out to the middle of the ring at the beginning of a match and the referee makes the introduction and you stare at your opponent’s eyes. Some people think the fight is already over at that point. One man is just pretending to be brave while the winner is looking through the obstacle to the other side.”

“And Maya is like that?”

“She accepts the possibility of death and it doesn’t seem to frighten her. That’s a big advantage for a warrior.”

***

VICKI HELPED HOLLIS wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Hollis asked if she wanted to go with him to his school and take the beginning capoeira class at five o’clock, but Vicki said no, thank you very much. It was time to go home.