“We’ll be paying a visit to SifCo today,” Ruban said, buttoning his uniform shirt as he walked out of the shower. It was around eight in the morning but it had been raining on and off for a few hours now, clouds obscuring the sun and plunging the world into semi-darkness, illuminated only by the occasional burst of lightning. “Get ready quickly. We have an appointment in a couple of hours, and we don’t want to be late.”
Shwaan tossed the last few pieces of toast onto a plate containing scrambled eggs and passed them to his host, wiping his hands on the dishtowel. He had been staying at Ruban’s flat for the past week, occupying his couch for lack of a proper guest-room, as the man refused to let him out of his sight after office hours. So he figured he might as well make himself useful, and a few carefully watched episodes of ‘Secret Recipe’ and ‘Gourmet Central’ had solved the mysteries of modern kitchen appliances, although he still found the juicer mildly confounding. He took up his own plate and walked over to the table to join Ruban. He didn’t need to eat, of course. But he supposed the Hunter would eventually notice if his houseguest skipped all his meals.
Besides, food could be rather fun when one experimented with the recipes, and Shwaan was a firm believer in experimentation in all its forms, much to his host’s frequent annoyance. He made a mental note to make Safaa try the cheese balls sautéed in red pepper sauce, once this current mess was over. He would have done it before, but he didn’t want to risk his sister changing her mind and going over to their mother’s side at such a critical juncture, deciding that humanity needed to be annihilated after all.
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“Simani won’t be coming with us?” he asked, swallowing a mouthful of eggs.
Ruban shook his head, biting into a piece of toast before following it with a spoonful of eggs. “Doc’s advised her complete bed-rest for two weeks at least. Besides, this is just recon, so there shouldn’t be any trouble. I’ve told Hema to be on hand just in case we need backup, but it won’t be necessary.”
Shwaan nodded, looking dolefully out of the window. “It’s been raining cats and dogs for two days in a row now,” he sighed. “I hate this weather. It’s like night-time twenty-four hours a day.”
Ruban grinned, following Shwaan’s gaze to the cloudy sky outside. “Oh I love it. It’s the best time of the year.”
“It is?” Shwaan raised an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah. Keeps those bastards nice and weak.” Then, noticing his companion’s uncomprehending stare, he continued: “Aeriels. They feed off of sunlight, didn’t you know? Monsoon is the time of the year they’re at their weakest. There’s practically no sun to be had, is there? There’s a reason the Rebellion happened during the monsoon.”