The young officer, who introduced himself as Lieutenant Rudov, was apparently Captain Barinov’s adjutant. Never having served in the military, I was not sure exactly what an adjutant did. I assumed that it was an apprenticeship for higher command, but today his assignment was clearly to escort a bunch of ragtag misfits through Kollavik without losing any of them.
Kollavik itself was huge. I guess people weren’t lying when they talked about the population density near the inner sea. I could have easily fit five or six Westfields within the city with room to spare. We walked through neighborhood after neighborhood. Some were nicely appointed residential areas for the richer members of the population, while others looked more middle or working class. The architecture here was almost universally stone, which I guess made sense since I could see the foothills of some mountains a few miles distance on the other side of the city. There were no slums like there were outside the walls. We also walked through a few industrial areas and many more commercial ones. Business seemed to be booming here, and I saw every humanoid race that I had names for on the streets and several that I couldn’t name. The streets themselves were paved with well maintained cobblestones and there were several areas that obviously led to some sort of sewer system. Some areas, especially the industrial ones, flat out stunk while others were filled with the tantalizing smells of dozens of cuisines wafting through the air. There was obviously a street food culture here. We passed dozens of stands selling many different products.
I was getting hungry. We had been on short rations for a couple of days and the little snack we had by the wall really hadn’t done much to cut through my pekishness. Based upon the longing looks I caught some of the others tossing out any time we passed somewhere selling food, I could tell I was not the only one. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned to Rudov and spoke.
“Lieutenant, we have been short on food for the last several days and my people and I are all very hungry. Can we stop somewhere and I can buy as all lunch?”
“I don’t see why not,” Rudov replied. “Although some of the more upscale establishments won’t allow you in looking like you do.”
“We aren’t really upscale sorts of people,” I said with a laugh. “I certainly don’t know which utensils to use with which course. A modest inn or restaurant, or even a good quantity of street food will be fine with us.”
“I know just the place,” he said, changing course at a right angle and leading us ever deeper into the city.
We followed him for another twenty minutes or so until we reached a more working class neighborhood. In the middle of the neighborhood was a small public square surrounded by the mundane sorts of business that the neighborhood would support. In the middle of the square there were a large number of food stalls, at least eight or nine of them. The place almost reminded me of a food court at a mall or an airport because the individual stalls were permanently constructed. In the middle was a common seating area.
“How much does food cost here?” I asked Rudov.
“You should be able to get everyone a filling and hearty meal for about half a gold per person,” he answered.
I dug into my pouch and handed everyone, including Rudov, a gold piece. “Go wild,” I said. “And if you run out of money, come see me for more.” Then, being the self sacrificing sort, I claimed one of the larger empty tables in the center of the plaza.
And go wild people did. Several came creeping over to the table barely balancing stacked plates of food they had acquired from the stalls. Rudov was obviously a hearty eater as well, wandering over with a plate in each hand. Once some of my people had filtered back, I went and got my own food. I settled on a couple of bowls of pungent curry of some sort. After dropping them off, I noticed that one of the adjoining businesses was a bakery. I walked over to the bakery and bought a large plate of some sort of cookie looking pastries. Then, I dedicated myself to the important business of eating. I sat near Rudov so he would have someone to talk to, but then realized that he was conversing with several of my group in Orcish. A man of hidden depths, that one was. I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me given he was in the spy service.
The food was wonderful. It had all sorts of flavor. There was sweetness but also a touch of sourness. And it was spicy as hell. I knew that I would pay for the spice level later but right then I was so hungry that I soldiered through, my nose running and an obvious sheen of sweat breaking out on my forehead. Once everyone was finished and dessert was devoured, I spoke.
“Did everyone get enough to get full?” I asked.
“I’m alright for now but will need to eat again later,” Xeng replied. I guess that made sense because he had a lot of body to feed. Everyone else responded with little groans.
“I am so full,” Keti said.
“Well, I hope you all are able to walk because I think we still have quite a ways to go,” I said.
That statement was met with a lot of inventive cursing. I was happy to hear it though. It meant that everyone’s mood had come up a couple of notches.
Then, we retraced our steps to our original path and started forging our way through the city once again. At one point we made our way through a really posh neighborhood. I assume that our group would have been out of the area by the guards manning the gates at several of the miniature estates there, but the sight of a nicely dressed soldier accompanying us likely saved us from that fate. No matter what world you lived in, it seemed that classism was alive and well.
It felt like we walked for hours. It felt that way because we did walk for hours. The shadows cast by the buildings around us continued to lengthen until we finally made our way to a walled compound in an area of Kollavik dedicated to governmental functions. There were unfriendly looking guards at the gate to the compound, a whole squad of them. Rudov didn’t even stop to address them. He just walked in like he owned the place and we followed him. Nobody hassled us.
Once we were within the walls I realized that the compound was much larger inside than it appeared to be from its modest exterior. It wasn’t very wide but it was very, very long. I realized that we had approached the river again due to an obvious scent in the air. Rudov led us down a row of buildings, finally selecting one and heading inside. We found ourselves in a larger, open bay barracks. The floor was cluttered with dozens of cots. Our group was small enough that we would occupy at most a fifth of the available beds.
“I’m sorry,” Rudov said. “We weren’t certain when you would arrive. We will see to more suitable living quarters for you tomorrow, but this is the best we can offer for tonight. You will be the only people in this building tonight so you will be undisturbed.”
Briefly, I considered taking everyone back out of the gates to an inn. Then, I realized that spending a couple of nights here wouldn’t be a bad thing. We could get cleaned up look much more presentable. I assumed there was a mess hall somewhere they would feed us and we could get acclimated a little bit to life here. I also thought they probably wouldn’t charge us anything for room and board, and although I was not a profligate spender, we had what we had as far as wealth was concerned. I didn’t know of any easy way to acquire more of it.
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“This is just fine,” I told Rudov. “It gives us plenty of room to spread out.”
“I will give you some time to get cleaned up and relax, then I will return and take you up to see Captain Barinov,” he said.
“The Captain is back from the island already?” I asked him.
“He is recently returned,” he said.
Honestly, I was filled with more than a little trepidation. Now, we were under the Captain’s thumb and I didn’t know how much our relationship would change.
“Are there bathing facilities attached to this building?” I asked.
“Through those doors,” he said, pointing at the other end of the room.
“Thanks,” I told him. “You have been very helpful.”
“You are most welcome,” he replied. “Let me report to the Captain and I will be back around sunset to lead you to Captain Barinov.” He then turned and took his leave through the doors that we had entered.
“Claim wherever you want to sleep,” I told the others. “We have plenty of room.”
Everyone scurried off to claim their beds. I caught Patrick’s eye and he walked over to me.
“I am trusting, but only to a point,” I said. “We will keep a watch schedule tonight.”
“I’ll organize it,” he said. Wow, I guess Patrick was my adjutant.
After everyone had claimed a bed, we all rushed to the bathing facilities. Like everything else in this barracks, they were communal. I didn’t think everyone would be very comfortable showing off their naked bodies to each other, so I decided that the women could bathe first. That gave me some time to sort through my gear and find the set of clothes that I owned that were the most presentable. There weren’t many choices since we had traveled fairly light, but I was able to piece together an outfit, wrinkled as it was.
Soon, the women had finished bathing and it was time for the rest of us to get clean. That’s when I discovered that there was no hot water in the place. We had to pump water from underground and it was fairly cold when it left the pumps. Even though there was even more cursing, I soon got used to the temperature and was able to get clean. I had to admire Patrick’s British curse word vocabulary. He spat out a long diatribe and didn’t repeat himself one time. What’s a cockwomble?
After bathing, we had time to relax for a little bit. I’ll admit it. I was still very nervous, wearing down the stone floor with my pacing. Finally, Aleyda walked over to me.
“Whatever happens, happens,” she said. “But remember, you have brought us all to a place where we can be free. From here, we use our wits, our money and our strengths to chart our own destiny. If you do not get along with Captain Barinov, we can always head out into the city and make our own way. Yes, I know if we are forced to do that, then things will be hard, but we will get through it like we always have.”
“I love you,” I replied.
“I know,” she said with a smirk. “I am very lovable. But then again, so are you.”
“That’s nice to hear,” I said. “I take it you won’t be headed off to better pastures at the first opportunity?”
“I will not, unless as Patrick frequently says, you are an asshole.”
“Patrick calls me an asshole?” I asked.
“Not more than once or twice,” she replied. “And that was before we got to know the real you.”
“Once or twice isn’t too bad,” I sheepishly admitted.
“You were fairly pompous when we first met,” she said.
“I had to be,” I said, reaching out and hugging her.
We walked over and scooted a couple of cots next to each other. The frames would still be an impediment but at least we would be able to touch. I was already missing the nice mattresses we had back in Greynard. These cots were a little on the firm side. I assumed once everything got sorted out, we would have a nice place to sleep again.
I started walking around trying to gauge the mood of our group. Surprisingly, everyone else seemed upbeat and happy. It seemed like I was the only one who was a bundle of nerves. Davit and Keti looked around like they had won the lottery. They weren’t living on the streets anymore. They had a roof over their heads and they clearly expected that they always would. Aleyda’s words from back on the island echoed in my head. I did think too much. I did worry too much. Instead of always focusing on what was going to go wrong, I needed to look at what had gone right. It was so hard when I was responsible for the wellbeing of so many others, but right now they looked happy and that was enough.
“Make sure you work on language lessons while I am gone, at least for a little while,” I told Davit.
“We don’t get the night off?” he said. “This place is wonderful.”
“You don’t have to do too much,” I said. “Just make sure people are retaining what you have already taught them.”
About that time, I noticed that Rudov had returned. With him was another soldier, a smaller dark skinned man who looked around the room with obvious disapproval since we had moved some of the furniture around.
“This is Sergeant Sopko,” Rudov introduced the man. “He will make certain that your people get fed, although the food won’t be quite as marvelous as our lunch was.”
“Alright,” I called out. “Everyone behave and mind what the Sergeant tells you.”
“James, if you will come with me we will go have dinner with Captain Barinov,” Rudov continued.
“Can I bring a guest?” I asked.
“Certainly,” he said.
“Aleyda, let’s follow Lieutenant Rudov,” I said.
“I should have dated you,” Bowen called out. “Then, I would be the one getting better food.”
“You’re not my type,” I shot back.
“You’re not mine either,” Bowen said, “but better food is still better.”
Aleyda and I followed Rudov out of the building and out into the common area. This place reminded me of an old college campus. I half expected to see some poor fraternity brother running down the path buck naked, streaking as an initiation ritual. He led us deeper into the complex to a larger building that looked like it was dedicated to administration. We passed both soldiers and civilian personnel on the way. There were some greetings from the civilians and a lot of saluting from the soldiers. Salutes here were a little strange, some fist to chest motion.
We entered the administration building, which I might add was much more nicely appointed than any other place I had seen in the compound. After winding up a couple of flights of steps, we were led into a small conference room that had been repurposed for dining. Inside, there were a pair of men. One was Captain Barinov but I didn’t recognize the other one, who looked more civilian than soldier. He was a portly dark haired man wearing civilian clothes, so I had a firm grasp on the obvious.
Captain Barinov stood and approached me with a wide smile, reaching out to clasp my wrist, which was this world’s version of shaking hands.
“James Smith,” he said. “It is good to see you. I am glad that you decided to take me up on my offer. I heard you had some travel difficulties.”
“More than a few,” I replied.