Travellers

Tanja went around the camp, which consisted of vehicles of various shapes, sizes and colours, all connected to each other. She decided to walk up to one of the bulky vehicles and thumped her fist on the door. A moment later the angry face of a man appeared in the small window in the middle of the door. She held the screen on her arm to the window, showing her warrant card. The man's face didn't get any more welcoming, but he motioned to her to walk two doors further down the camp. Meanwhile, a small moon was already high in the sky.

When Tanja walked there, she found an airlock. She entered the small chamber, closed the door behind it and waited. A green light went on above the door in front of her, then it opened. She stepped through it and was greeted by a large, beardy man who introduced himself as Rahim. Tanja looked around after she put down her helmet, her short pink hair clung to her head. She was in a rather bleak storeroom of some kind. There were a number of protective suits hanging on hooks on the wall. Above them there were helmets hanging on hooks. Everything had different sizes and colours. There were also shelves built into the wall in which various boxes were stored.

'What do you want, detective?' Rahim asked, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

'I am sorry to disturb you and your people, but I am searching for somebody and I thought you could help me,' Tanja replied.

The man sighed and motioned her to follow him.

Rahim led Tanja through the connecting door to the next vehicle, which was very different from the one where she entered. It was furnished like a tiny home, quite cluttered but colourful, with inbuilt cupboards and bunk beds at the back. There was all kinds of knickknack and lots of pictures hanging on the red painted walls. It seemed cosy but cramped. They even passed a small table where a family of three was just eating their dinner. Tanja greeted them, they gave her a slightly suspicious look. She was clearly not particularly welcome here.

They passed through another vehicle, which was similar in a way to the first but had large bold flower wallpaper and lace doilies on every flat surface. A half-finished knitting project was lying on a comfy chair, but the inhabitants were nowhere to be seen.

Again, they entered another vehicle in the circle. This time there was a platform above the door, probably someone's sleeping space. Rahim motioned Tanja to sit down on a bench at a small table and offered her a glass of water, which came in a rainbow-coloured cut glass. This was much better than getting water through the tubes in her suit.

Rahim had sat down opposite Tanja at the table. Then Tanja conjured up a picture of Angela Morgenstern on the pad imbedded into the arm of her suit.

'I am looking for this woman,' she explained. 'Her name is Angela Morgenstern. I believe she is in company with several other people.'

Rahim almost choked on his water. 'Angela? We have been waiting for her for two days now!'

Tanja was flabbergasted, 'you know Angela Morgenstern?'

He nodded. 'We regularly meet her at her house, when she is around. She is friendly. We make good deals.'

'What kind of deals are these?' Tanja asked.

'Oh, she requests things for her research, we bring them. Or we find things she might be interested in and bring them, too, you see?' he explained. 'Is she in danger?'

'Unfortunately I think so. If you have seen anything unusual in the vicinity...'

Rahim thought about this for a moment. 'We have noticed a light down the road to the west, not long ago, when it was getting dark already. It wasn't any of our people. Give me a minute, I'll call my cousin, who's a bit further to the west, travelling south. Maybe she knows something.'

With that he stood up and went to a screen which was mounted on the wall, with a patched up swivel chair in front of it. Rahim sat down and started to press buttons. After a few minutes a woman appeared on the screen.

'Hi Zara', he said, 'listen, I've got a policewoman here with me. She's searching for Angela, she's obviously in trouble. Have you seen anything? We noticed some people earlier, I'll send you the approximate coordinates.'

The woman nodded, 'give me a few minutes, I'll get back to you.'

The screen went black. Rahim offered Tanja a stew while they waited. She accepted, thinking of the rations she had in the storage box on her bike. It took a while until there was a picture on the screen again.

'I have sent out a drone and I think I have found them,' Zara said, 'not too far from here. Six people in a temporary shelter.'

Rahim nodded,' right, we'll meet you there.'

Tanja jumped up from the bench.

'What?' she exclaimed,'nonono, you are going nowhere! You will not interfere with police matters!'

Tavaron

22.05.23 Front Page

Back Issue Page