Maiors

Yuseff XIV

Ya know, I had never seen the command room of a safehouse before. Sure I ran my packages and passed messages along, but I always had to stay at the front. Being led down a long hallway felt otherworldly. It was as if this warehouse would never end. Eventually we came to a set of double doors.

"Wait in here." Rami said, "She'll be right in."

"Thanks man." I said, "Listen, I don't know what's going on, but when I'm done here, I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"It's complicated." I replied, "But it's better if I explain in detail later."

"Alright man." he said, "Let me get back to business. We're having a bit of a crisis here."

I could tell he was deeply worried. Whatever was going on must be devastating. He turned and hurried back to the main area. I stepped inside the room and saw a huge table surrounded by chairs. On it, a map was sprawled from end to end. I walked around, taking the display in. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a map of the entire country, showing each and every island the Orphans operated on. It had been a long time since I ran with them, back when they just worked on a few islands in Canaan. But the map on the table displayed both Serekh and Nekhen, the other two provinces.

They're more widespread than before.

The map had every major island in Kmet assigned a number. The islands in Serekh were numbered 1 through 27; Nekhen 28 through 57; and Canaan was 58 through 110. It looked as though the Orphans operated on islands 17, 46, and 60 through 78. I took a closer look at the map.

"Yuseff Bomani." a voice called. I jumped and saw a woman standing in the doorway. She wore a white cold-shoulder top with jeans and sneakers. She had large gold hoops in her ears and around her wrists. Her head was freshly shaven and her nails were red like blood. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. For a militant person, she looked very laid back and casual.

"Fatima Madu." I replied, "Why'd you call me here?"

"Well hello to you too."

"Fatima."

"Alright." she said, lighting her cigarette, "Straight to the point." She took a seat at the table and gestured for me to do the same. I sat across from her.

"The police report came out." she said.

"And?" I replied, "How bad is it?"

"Guess."

"Must be bad."

"You think?" she retorted, "You brutally attacked six KP officers and maimed another one. They're looking for your immediate capture."

"Capture?" I exhaled, "I figured they'd post a 'Dead or Alive' bounty."

"Don't sound disappointed yet." Fatima said. She pulled out a wanted poster.

"You and your friend are high profile criminals. All of Canaan is on high alert. There's an island-wide active search for you."

"High profile?!" I repeated, "An island-wide manhunt I can understand, but high profile? A province-wide alert?"

"I don't know." she said, "It's usually reserved for violent serial offenders and the top people in the Orphans"

"It makes no sense." I muttered, "Shit... Fuck man! We can't move around if they're gunning for us this bad. They'll have our posters all over Canaan, let alone Khito."

"Trying to sneak you around will be very difficult." she replied, "I don't know if we can do it without alerting someone."

"So we stay here?" I asked.