A Seeker Betrayed

23. Morning After

Sur'ten Ken woke early the next morning and studied Gamman's sleeping form. What a pain, he thought.

When he was originally assigned to Gamman, which was while they were both in their teens, he was proud of himself. He had worked hard - harder than anyone else there, to put himself into the specialized training. Learning the technical skills had been easy - it was everything else about his life that made it difficult.

So, he didn't mind hard work. Having things he had to do helped him get up in the mornings. And being with Gamman was fun. The others looked up to him and, especially when they still lived in the hives he was like the center of a whirlwind. There were always groups of boys that would hang out around them. Gamman never did anything special, he was just himself. He was a good listener but could throw out an unexpected barb that would knock everyone sideways, and of course, he had an endless supply of osana and alcohol at his fingertips.

These days, though... work was piling up. Gamman was responsible enough to do his own work, but anything that he didn't define as work got left to his kens. And as his best friend...

Right now, Gamman was spread out on his back, completely wasted. He had returned last night with a grim expression and gone straight for the hard liquor without saying anything.

It couldn't have been family issues - Sur'ten had checked on Sia Geldan and on Shamahan several times and they were both underground. Since Gamman was sleeping in, he needed to check again, and he knew the plan had been to check up on Shamahan in person, so he needed to get down there early.

There was no question his sia needed to rest and so he made arrangements for him to sleep in. Without disturbing him, he left a message in the obomae that was to be delivered upon waking, then he went about his business getting ready to leave. He was intending to have Gamman take the morning off, but right as he stepped off the cart at the MET, Lord Andyne tapped at him through the obomae.

Where is Gamman?

He is tired and I am having him rest for the morning.

Is he sick?

The peremptory question caught him off guard, and he gave an honest answer. I'm not sure. He has been working more than usual and when he got back last night he didn't seem right.

I need to talk to him. Him or Sia Geldan - and Aya told me to use Gamman. You need to get him up.

That would mean going all the way back. He wasn't going to try to wake him this time using the obomae - Gamman was going to need some help. Geldan's people would get him through the morning okay, but still, it would be better if he could check up on the situation in person. He was annoyed now, but if Lord Andyne needed something from them he couldn't just ignore it.

He signaled his assent but didn't turn back yet. Sai Sector 1 was nearby; he'd go make sure Shamahan was on track.

It took another ten minutes to make it to the right corridor and the Tharig led him straight to Shamahan's door. The brother let him in with no questions asked and was standing in the anteroom with wet hair, grinning and tugging his pale yellow tunic down into place.

"Where's Gamma?" he asked.

"I can't believe how in-demand that brat is today," Sur'ten replied. "I'm glad to see you're up at least."

"Yep, me and A'Gah both."

Sur'ten, who was well aware of the ongoing rivalry that Shamahan felt with his brother, knew immediately what he was getting at, and he called loudly, "A'Gah, you're here?"

Silence.

Shamahan leaned towards Sur'ten and winked. "He's just being shy."

A'Gahtay appeared almost immediately, a determined look on his face. "That's not it. I just don't want to rub it in Gamman's face, that's all."