The Traveler

27

The next morning, Vicki woke early and made coffee and biscuits for everyone. After eating, they went outside and Hollis inspected Maya’s van. He poured a quart of oil into the crankcase and switched the van’s license plates with those of a broken-down car owned by a neighbor. Then he rummaged through his closets and came up with supplies: plastic water bottles and extra clothes for Gabriel, a long cardboard box to hide the shotgun, and a road map that would guide them to southern Arizona.

Maya proposed that they carry the motorcycle in the back of the van-at least until they got out of California-but Gabriel rejected the idea. “You’re overreacting,” he told her. “Right now, there are more than a hundred thousand vehicles traveling on the Los Angeles freeways. I don’t see how the Tabula could find me.”

“A human isn’t doing the searching, Gabriel. The Tabula can access the surveillance cameras that are attached to the freeway signs. Right now, a computer scanning program is processing images, looking for your motorcycle’s license plate.”

After five minutes of arguing, Hollis found some nylon cord in his garage and attached Gabriel’s knapsack to the back of the motorcycle. It appeared to be a casual, improvised way to carry the knapsack, but it also concealed the license plate. Gabriel nodded and kick-started the bike as Maya climbed into the van. She rolled down the side window and nodded to Vicki and Hollis.

By now, Vicki was used to Harlequin manners. Maya found it difficult to say “thank you” or “goodbye.” Perhaps her behavior was just rudeness or pride, but Vicki had decided that there was another reason. Harlequins had accepted a powerful obligation: to defend Travelers with their lives. To acknowledge a friendship with anyone outside their world would be an additional burden. That’s why they preferred mercenaries who could be used and thrown away.

“From now on, you should be very careful,” Maya told Hollis. “The Tabula have developed a tracking system for electronic transactions. They’re also experimenting with splicers-genetically altered animals that can be used to kill people. Your best strategy is to be disciplined but unpredictable. Tabula computers find it difficult to calculate an equation involving randomness.”

“You just send the money,” Hollis said. “Don’t worry about me.”

Hollis pushed open the driveway gate. Gabriel went out first, and Maya followed him. The van and the motorcycle cruised slowly down the street, turned the corner, and then they were gone.

“What do you think?” Vicki asked. “Will they be safe?”

Hollis shrugged his shoulders. “Gabriel has been living a very independent life. I don’t know if he’s going to accept orders from a Harlequin.”

“So what do you think of Maya?”

“On the fighting circuit down in Brazil, you walk out to the middle of the ring at the beginning of a match and the referee makes the introduction and you stare at your opponent’s eyes. Some people think the fight is already over at that point. One man is just pretending to be brave while the winner is looking through the obstacle to the other side.”

“And Maya is like that?”

“She accepts the possibility of death and it doesn’t seem to frighten her. That’s a big advantage for a warrior.”

VICKI HELPED HOLLIS wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Hollis asked if she wanted to go with him to his school and take the beginning capoeira class at five o’clock, but Vicki said no, thank you very much. It was time to go home.

They didn’t talk in the car. Hollis kept glancing at her, but she didn’t look back. When Vicki had taken a shower that morning, she had given in to her curiosity and searched the bathroom like a detective. In the bottom drawer of the sink cabinet, she found a clean nightgown, a can of hair spray, sanitary napkins, and five new toothbrushes. She didn’t expect Hollis to be celibate, but the five toothbrushes, each in a plastic case, suggested an endless series of women pulling off their clothes and lying down on his bed. In the morning Hollis would make coffee, drive the woman home, throw away the used toothbrush, and start again.

When they reached her street in Baldwin Hills, Vicki told Hollis to park at the corner. She didn’t want her mother to see them in the car and come running out of the house. Josetta would assume the worst about Hollis-that her daughter’s rebellion had been caused by a secret relationship with this man.

She turned to Hollis. “How are you going to convince the Tabula that Gabriel is still in Los Angeles?”

“I don’t have an exact plan, but I’ll come up with something. Before Gabriel left, I recorded his voice with my tape recorder. If they hear him talking on a local phone call, they’ll assume he’s still in the city.”

“And when that’s over, what will you do next?”

“Take the money and fix up my school. We need an air-conditioning system and the landlord won’t buy one.”

She must have shown her disappointment because Hollis looked annoyed. “Come on, Vicki. Don’t act like a church girl. For the last twenty-four hours you haven’t been that way at all.”

“And what way is that?”

“Always making judgments. Quoting Isaac Jones every chance you get.”

“Yes. I forgot. You don’t believe in anything.”

“I believe in seeing things clearly. And it seems obvious to me that the Tabula have all the money and the power. There’s a good chance they’re going to find Gabriel and Maya. She’s a Harlequin so she won’t surrender…” Hollis shook his head. “I predict she’ll be dead in a couple of weeks.”

“And you’re not going to do anything about it?”

“I’m not an idealist. I left the church a long time ago. Like I said, I’ll finish this job. But I’m not going to fight for a lost cause.”

Vicki took her hand off the door handle and faced him. “What is your training for, Hollis? To make money? Is that all? Shouldn’t you be fighting for something that helps others? The Tabula want to capture and control anyone who could be a Traveler. They want the rest of us to act like little robots, obeying the faces we see on television, hating and fearing people we’ve never met.”

Hollis shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not saying you’re wrong. But that doesn’t change anything.”

“And if a great battle takes place, which side will you be on?”

She grabbed the door handle again, getting ready to go, but Hollis reached out and touched her left hand. With just a little tug, he pulled her toward him, then leaned over and kissed her on the lips. It felt as if light was flowing through both of them, only to be united for a moment. Vicki pulled away and opened the door.

“Do you like me?” he asked. “Admit that you like me.”

“Debt Not Paid, Hollis. Debt Not Paid.”

Vicki hurried down the sidewalk and cut across a neighbor’s lawn to her front door. Don’t stop, she told herself. Don’t look back.