(Previous)… (Content)… Va urma
A New Evening for an Old Communication
An Old and Strange Friendship
(Romanian)
It hadn’t even been ten minutes, and he was already regretting choosing to share the packages and messages first. He had time in the morning, before solving the household problems and arriving at the Sentinel by noon.
Oh, but anyway, he was required to notify all line partners…
Perception that overwhelmed him, realizing that he felt crushed by fatigue… Or by the weight of the backpack… Or by loneliness?
Hey, but I really must do this… He thought catching “on the fly,” thinking that with each visit, his backpack would be lighter, and he would get over the fatigue more easily.
Or he was unhappy that he was seeing the Quarrelsome again…
Why am I unfair? He scolded himself in his mind.
He always defended us from the rest of the community, who despised us for our status as border guards of those from the Great River. He blew them away with his infallible arguments and made them stay away from any tangent with us frontiersmen.
And it was all due to an old prejudice that we were “Guests” … Although, from generation to generation, such statements no longer made sense…
The old elders, the ones who started this prejudice, were gone for generations. No one has been able to change that…
Not even when we accepted to be considered “Boors”, by their name… But they did not accept the change. Not even when, in the “Great Raid” seven generations ago, all those in the Barrier gave their lives to protect or help them, leaving only their children to hold the border to their peace…
Even then, they did not accept the sacrifice. It was something normal, according to them…
Hey, why am I getting into their energy? He scolded himself, aloud.
He had passed “Mane of the Bells,” bypassing the traps, the route being easy to follow due to the lack of trees. But now he was following the maze of traps with difficulty to Quarrelsome, being forced to identify the marker trees at every step.
But he grew quieter with each step closer to the scout line.
Everything was untouched, ready to receive those who would embrace perdition. If they get this far…
Thinking this, I felt the shivers of fear… If they are real premonitions? He never felt everything so meaningful, so real.
And the course of these thoughts harassed him until he reached Quarrelsome’s shelter.
He was greeted by his wife, Humility… What a predestined name, he thought involuntarily, like every time he visited them…
– What happens? Alert signal is active. And Quarrelsome has just returned from the Moreni side, and there the signal is inactive… She greets him visibly, restless.
– It’s a simple alert… Stoutly reassures her, distracted by the appearance of the Quarrelsome…
– But who knows? Quarrelsome completes motioning for Humility to leave the room, who silently complies, not before placing a plate of baked apple honey cookies on the table.
– Take it too! Quarrelsome urged him and sat down in the next chair. Tell me, what do you know? he asked with his mouth already full of cookies, chewing.
He flinched, remembering the message, and began to answer it as he took the Sentinel’s message out of his backpack…
– It seems that the Predators struck at the community meeting and there are several dead and two captured from the Mist area. At least, that’s what I think. I was supposed to receive some packages from the Moreni, but if they didn’t come, it’s clear that the Moreni didn’t send anyone.
– So, the alert is real, isn’t it? Asked Quarrelsome, barely intelligible, eating with gusto…
– Look! Said Stoutly, handing him the message, quietly watching the Quarrelsome’s reactions. The dead seem to have committed suicide. She said jerkily, interrupted by the Quarrelsome’s silence and lack of reaction. So, they were identified, and once they resorted to a gesture so radical…
There was a time when the Brawler was eating cookie after cookie, reading and rereading Sentinel’s message.
– Yes, our time has come! He said neutrally, looking at Stoutly with a mixture of irony and anger, impossible to interpret. Do you know what you must do?
– I practiced the alert reactions hundreds of times. You are the first and the other border guards will follow.
– Did you go through the message?
– I didn’t have the inspiration, but maybe I wasn’t curious, because the Sentinel didn’t suggest urgency. He’s really waiting for me after lunch. It was only my hunches that drove me to you first.
– What do you know? Without reading the message, did you choose the optimal move? Quarrelsome asked, looking at him inquisitively.
– Attack of the Predators left from the east. I don’t know the line of insertion, but the reaction of lack of emergency movement suggests that they would have penetrated the path of the Jiu and I think they will follow the path of the Banat. I’m sure it’s not going up north once the Sentinel has doubts and activated the state of emergency. From there, the Sentinel withdrew the last drone and left one for observation. Instinctively, I went for the closest point of proximity with a quick, sequential action. But this, instinctively. I only thought about it now so I could give you an answer.
– I already sent the alert message to Sleepy, and he already responded. The scouting and flanking line is already active. If I beat the road from Moreni and completed the preparations, I’m sure Sleepy also succeed. Do you have any packs for Sleepy?
– Not! Stoutly answered, somewhat surprised.
Right during the answer, the camera turned red for a split second.
– See what I told you, this is the confirmation laser beam. Do you have packages for the second line? Quarrelsome said, getting up to press a button, which Stoutly knew to be the trigger for the wake confirmation laser beam.
– Only for Furrier… Answered Stoutly heavily, not yet believing that everything was real, that premonitions of danger could be truer than what the logic of the facts told him.
– All right. Also, on the east side. The dispersion line is initiated. Leaves! You don’t have time, even if you have the shortest route home secured. Take these cookies too! said the oddly comforting Quarrelsome. Don’t forget to ask him to confirm the alert to the Carpenter! You know that I am obliged not to react to alerts but to direct contact.
– Well, the free zone is exposed. What stops you?
– Hey, did you study the manual well? Radio communications prohibited. Even coded spots. Only direct contact activates the second level of communication. Do you think the Sentinel wouldn’t have notified us? You are only allowed to call your line partner. Or direct contact…
Yes, yes! Stoutly confirmed, bowing his head respectfully, after which he put a whole cookie in his mouth. Then he moved towards the door of the shelter, where, before leaving, he said with his mouth full of food:
– Thanks to Humility, they are wonderful!
– I’ll tell him right away. I call her to keep watch until I get some rest. I am exhausted.
And Stoutly went out…
A clear night with a full moon stuns him. But the strong wind woke him, aided by the ice needles that polished his cheek.
Let’s go to Furrier! He cheered himself up, slipping the cookies into a side pocket of his backpack. Hope and the children will enjoy these goodies.
Merticaru Dorin Nicolae
Thanks to the author for reading (and feedback, if applicable)!