A Flight of Broken Wings: Aeriel Trilogy #1

Chapter 63

Casia Washi looked down at her buzzing cell phone and frowned. Lifting five fingers in an unspoken signal to her crew, she slid out of the studio and walked briskly towards the east balcony; it was usually deserted this time of day. She recognised the number immediately, of course. She was the one who had bought the Zainian that SIM card soon after they had first met; he didn't seem to have had much of an idea about the rules of international telecommunication. She supposed life in one of the noble houses of Zaini wasn't conducive to much by way of practical education. What she didn't know, however, was why he was calling her now, over two months after they had last seen each other. She couldn't deny her curiosity, though, and slipping into the empty balcony, she clicked on the receive button. "Hello?"

"Miss Casia!" Ashwin's voice came through the line, exuberant, and she could almost imagine him standing right in front of her, dark eyes sparkling with zest over whatever new thing had caught his fancy. "You have to meet me."

"I do?" Casia said archly. "And why would that be?"

"Because there was an attack on SifCo about a week ago, and we need to talk about it."

Casia frowned. "What's there to talk about? Everyone knows about the SifCo attack already. We've been doing segments on it for days. I've exhausted all my sources in the matter."

"Yes yes," Ashwin said impatiently. "But you haven't done a segment on this. I was there, Miss Casia. I know exactly what happened. I could tell you all about it."

"You were there during the attack?" Casia asked, surprised.

"Uh-huh. From start to finish. And there's a video that'll be aired tonight by Viman Rai over at CXN that'll prove it too."

"What? How do you know all this?"

"My superiors in Zaini told me that a surveillance video from SifCo was leaked to the media. Apparently somebody had hacked into their systems or something like that. I don't know." And Casia believed that he didn't, in fact, know. He sounded so confused she almost took pity on him.

"Alright Ashwin, I believe you. But what exactly do you have to tell me about it?"

"I want people to know exactly what happened at SifCo. There's a lot of misconceptions floating around. And like you said, Miss Casia, if there's anybody that deserves to know about the threats facing this country, it is the people of this country. I just want to make sure that the people aren't kept in the dark any longer," he sounded so painfully sincere, Casia had the irrational urge to tell him that everything was going to be alright. She tamped down on it hard.

"You say all that now, but how do I know you won't bail on me again like you did on Emancipation Day?" she asked instead.

"Oh come on, Miss Casia," Ashwin began, and he sounded genuinely contrite, though still defensive. "The Senior Secretary of Defence ordered me to stop talking to the media. I am but a foreign emissary in this country, a rather insignificant one at that. What would you have had me do?"

Casia sighed. She knew this, of course, and she knew it was irrational to hold the Zainian responsible for what had happened. Still, it had stung at the time, and Casia had never had an easy time letting things go. Now wasn't the time for indecision, though. Forcing herself to look at the situation objectively, she said: "What do you have to offer me, my lord, that we don't already know about this incident?"

"Please don't call me that," Ashwin sounded plaintive. Casia sighed, waiting for him to continue. It was hard to hold a grudge against someone so willing to roll over. "And as for what you don't already know, Miss Casia," he said, some of the verve returning to his voice. "It wasn't just any old Aeriel that attacked SifCo. It was Tauheen."

Casia spluttered. "What? Th-that can't be. Those are just rumours. Baseless rumours."

"They are not. It's been kept out of the media so as not to alarm the public. Though personally, I don't think that's a very good idea, to keep the people in the dark. As I said, it's all there in the video. You'll see it yourself tonight."

"I won't have to wait that long," said Casia, steel in her voice. "I have friends at CXN, favours I can call in. I'll know what's on that video before it is aired. And Ashwin? Come over to the studio at around seven this evening. Viman's show airs at eight. I'll fit you in in the eight-thirty slot. People will have seen the video by then, so we can have an exclusive interview plus an in-depth analysis of the footage. It'll be quite the competition!" She was talking more to herself than to Ashwin now, the plan unfolding like a fully laid out chessboard in her mind. She pulled herself back from her musings and tried to focus on the conversation at hand. "Don't be late Ashwin, and you can say your piece to the nation."

Disconnectingthe call, she strode back towards the studio. She needed to have a word withJiniya.