Nigel and his companions spoke little over the course of the next day or so. He had lost track of time. He estimated that he had been sequestered for two days, but it might as well have been a week. The bald man visited him several times a day. At first he brought buckets of water, scraps of hard bread, and some milky soup that tasted like someone made it with dishwater and bone. Nigel couldn’t believe that Aiko would treat him in such a manner. They had fought Doc Chop’s minions together. The creak of the door caught Nigel’s attention. It was the bald man.

“Good morning, Nigel. I brought you all some fresh baked bread. Gwen made some extra after the traders brought flour. I didn’t think there was any left in the city.”

“Thanks, Bud,” Nigel said.

The man gave him a puzzled look.

“My name is Erik. I thought I told you.”

Nigel shook his head. “No, I made up a name for you when you kept ignoring me.”

“I’m sorry about how you’ve been treated. But Ms. Takahashi hasn’t been herself since her uncle passed.”

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Aiko keeps her own counsel, but she’s a fierce warrior. Did you know that her uncle taught her everything she knows?”

“How long are we going to be here?” Eva demanded.

“We can help you,” Blanka said.

Erik looked conflicted. He had mainly listened to the old man prattle on while Nigel and his companions were fed all manner of disgusting meals. When he tried to ask a question or say something, the old man wouldn’t respond. He didn’t know why Aiko would treat him this way, but learning of her loss, he decided not to press the issue any more than necessary.

“I think Aiko—I mean Ms. Takahashi—will pay you a visit today,” Erik said.

A wave of hope welled inside Nigel. “That’s great. I will tell her everything.”

“You know, she isn’t a bad person. She’s been through several traumatic events.”

“I know. I helped rescue Hiroto, her uncle.”

Erik’s expression took on a stony quality. “That was before. I was her uncle’s manservant. I was there when they were attacked.”

A wave of fury welled up inside Nigel. He was sensitive and didn’t like it when his friends got hurt.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“What happened?” Nigel asked in a low voice.

“A Professor Paladin came to visit master Hiroto. They talked for a long time; what about, I don’t know. But it ended in bloodshed. Aiko was… attacked—and they made me watch as her virtue was stolen.”

Nigel recoiled. He felt like he’d been punched.

“Ms. Takahashi has no one now. She lost her parents at an early age.”

“How did they die?” Nigel asked, immediately regretting the question.

“Murdered.”

“You’re relieved, Erik,” Aiko said in a stern voice.

The older man gave her a bewildered look.

She’s as silent as the night! She’s truly a ninja, He thought.

“Thanks for the food, Erik,” Nigel said.

The older man nodded, looked at Aiko, then hurried out of the room.

Nigel decided to play it cool and make an effort not to upset Aiko any more than he had already. He suspected that Professor Paladin had another motive for bringing him back to the city.

Nigel thought quickly. He couldn’t tell Aiko the truth about Paladin and his mission. He needed to buy himself some time until he could come up with a plan.

“We were sent here on a mission,” Nigel said, hoping that it sounded convincing enough.

“What kind of mission?” Aiko said.

“A Professor Paladin sent us here to get the information on that flash drive.”

“What do you know about the professor?” Aiko asked.

Nigel decided to tell her everything since their perilous journey with Mr. Henry. Aiko listened, but he couldn’t get a read on her.

“We’ve run into some issues decrypting that drive, and I’m here to see if you can help us,” Aiko said, unlocking the door.

“Are we free to go?” Eva asked.

“Just Nigel,” Aiko said as she gave him a push.

She locked the door and escorted him to her tent. Nigel hoped he was clear-headed enough to hack into the flash drive.

“If this one leaves without me, shoot him,” Aiko said, pointing to Nigel.

A short bald man with a goatee that Nigel had not seen before smiled. Several teeth were missing.

“We are all friends here, right?” Nigel said.

Aiko gave him a measured look. She opened the tent and invited him in. As Nigel entered, his eyes scanned the room. The contents took on a new meaning for him now that he knew the truth about Aiko’s circumstances. He felt sorry for her, losing her parents at such an early age. The tent was neatly organized. A simple bedroom sat in the corner, a small table in the center, and some pictures of Aiko and Hiroto on a nearby desk. Nigel’s eyes settled on a picture of a much younger Aiko with an Asian couple and Hiroto. His heart got stuck in his throat.

That must be her… parents!

Aiko’s trauma and tragedies weighed on Nigel’s soul. He considered her a friend and wanted to help in any way he could. Perhaps doing so would unlock the secrets of the professor and the Strahinja Vraza group. Who were they really, and why hadn’t he heard of them before?

“It’s ready, Nigel,” Aiko said, pointing to a laptop.

The flash drive was sitting next to the computer, mocking him.

Here goes nothing, Nigel. Time to analyze that data.

He took a moment to air-gap the laptop. The last thing he needed was to connect to any errant Wi-Fi signals. It may be the end of the world, but using the proper security practices had saved him on more than one occasion. Nigel noticed that Aiko was watching him intently, as though he was the lone performer in the last show on earth.

“You’d better get comfortable. This is going to take a while,” Nigel said.

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a pair of headphones and an ancient MP3 player. This was going to be a marathon session, and he needed his beats to guide him through the night.