Protector of Men Ch 12
Okay. So she knew what to do once she got back onto the ship and into the matrix, but what to do now? She was on a hallway, on some level in Zion, and had no idea where to go. Where is Shade? She remembered that he had offered to room her, but where was he? She hadn't thought to find out where his room was first. This proved to be a problem, and a fairly large one.
For now, she would wander. I'm getting fairly good at this, she joked with herself while she entered a rusty elevator. She pressed the button to go down. Perhaps there was a common hall or something where she could find information.
A few seconds later the elevator stopped with a jolt. She stepped out quickly and took in the scenery as the doors creaked closed behind her. There was an open area ahead with chairs and sofas, as well as some people milling about. But she could also see the levels below her – upon looking closer Zandra found that the area in front of her was really only a wide corridor between two sides of the docking bay. She looked down and could see ships, maybe even Purgatory docked far below her. She was impressed by its vastness. A moment later she started walking across the walkway, intending nothing in particular. No one here would be able to help her find Shade; there were very few people out anyway.
Something made her stop. More exactly, someone made her stop. He looked so familiar, like she had seen him before. Was that possible? She stared before she even realized that she was staring, and before long, he had noticed. The girl walking next to him noticed, too.
"Stephen."
The words came out before she even realized who he was. Stephen looked equally perplexed, as if he too were trying to place her. The girl next to him looked quizzically at Zandra, but she was not paying attention to the girl. It was Stephen!
"Alex?"
Ignoring the girl to his right, he walked closer to Zandra. She nodded mechanically.
"Stephen? Is that you?"
He nodded too. The girl caught back up to him, still watching Zandra.
"Zandra, he's Tevy now," The girl said. Zandra was even more shocked that the girl knew her name, and suddenly wondered if she had drifted into a dream again.
"I'm from the Mayflower," The girl replied. It all came together now: Stephen equals Tevy.
"Stephen, Tevy, you're out?" She pulled him into a messy hug, overwhelmed by what was happening.
"Zandra, you weren't supposed to find out this way," The girl said. Emotion began to get the best of Zandra, but she paid no attention. This time, it was warranted.
"After you disappeared, I got curious about everything," he said.
"It was only a few months."
"I know, I began to believe it even before you left."
"Tevy?"
"Hacking alias. Zandra?"
"They said it should be something other than my old name."
He nodded understandingly. The girl motioned for them to sit at one of the sofas near them. Both walked quickly, ready to catch up.
"You were traced?"
"Yeah, they said you were traced before me."
"I hear it's rare."
"Yeah."
They were silent, both unbelievingly grateful that they had a connection, a friend that they could truly trust in this new world. Zandra wanted to ask the question that still ate at her, that made her weep tearlessly during the nights, was everyone okay? Was her family okay? Did they miss her?
But she didn't ask. Zandra knew that nostalgia was dangerous. Not that she wanted to go back, but just that it was still hard to let go. Stephen helped. Tevy.
"Are you staying near here?" he asked curiously. Again Zandra wanted to pull a hand through her hair, but this time remembered not to. She kept her hands in her lap.
"Actually I don't know," she replied. "A friend of mine offered me his room, but I don't know where he is."
Stephen's face fell. "Oh."
"It's not like that," she replied hastily, "I had nowhere else to stay."
"Okay," he said. Zandra felt herself turning red. It wasn't a big deal: Shade offered her a place to stay, so she was staying there. This conversation should have involved only each other, not Shade.
"How have you been?" she asked warmly, smiling with an almost sad face.
Stephen snorted. "Guess,"
"Lots of fun."
"Right."
"You should have seen me Alex," he started, "I wasn't happy when they got me out."
He turned to the girl now sitting next to him. She smiled, and he began to laugh quietly.
"I was not happy."
Zandra took his hand in hers and smiled. She knew what it felt like to be alone, to be uncomfortable in the new, cold, metal place. But now they had each other to fall on. They had their old friends back again. He looked up and smiled back, his eyes glossy.
"Zandra!"
She was jolted by the loud call, and pulled her hand back quickly. She craned her neck and saw Shade running towards her, clearly out of breath.
"Zandra!" he called again, slowing down as he came closer. Stephen turned around too. Shade stopped when he saw Stephen, but quickly regained his composure and sat down in a chair near Zandra.
"Oh," he said, "You found Tevy."
"Yeah," Zandra replied. The two, sitting so close to each other, was almost unnerving for her. They were so opposite, Shade shorter while Stephen was tall, Shade's hazel eyes with Stephen's dark brown, Shade's longer brown hair with Stephen's short red…
"I've been looking around for you forever."
"Me too," Zandra replied, not realizing the dual effect of her words.
"Did you talk to the council?"
"Yeah, and then I talked to some guy Emory."
Shade stared blankly at her. Clearly he didn't know who Emory was.
"Are you going to see the council?" Shade asked, turning to Tevy. He nodded.
"In the morning, it's too late now."
"Right," Shade said. "Speaking of late, we should check in." He got up, and offered Zandra a hand. She smiled fiendishly as she took his offer, but he didn't seem to be reminded of their battle a few days before. Stephen got up too. Zandra gave him another tight hug before they parted their ways for the night, reminding each other that they could always contact the ship if someone had to leave.
"So you met Tevy." Shade sighed as they stepped into another elevator. He punched a button and the elevator started going upwards.
"Yeah. Tevy."
"It wasn't meant to be like that."
"That's what I've heard."
"We wanted to let you know later."
"Well aren't you just Mr. Talkative now…" she retorted, clearly aggravated. It sounded to her like they had planned to keep it a secret.
"Look," he replied, "I wasn't speaking to you because of Tevy."
"Really."
"Really. Cover told me not to say a word. Believe me, I felt bad enough, okay?"
Zandra was quiet. Maybe it wasn't Shade's fault that she had been lied to. Maybe it wasn't even a lie. It probably would have been tough for her to handle Stephen's unplugging. Maybe it had been for the best.
"But now, you know, we can talk again."
"Sorry."
Now Shade was quiet. She took it as an acceptance of her apology. Time to change subject.
"I'm tired."
"Me too. I bet they grilled you."
"Not really, Emory talked the most." The elevator stopped, and Shade led her to the left, down a long open corridor.
"Who is this Emory guy?"
"I'm not sure," Zandra replied frankly, "He just told me to meet some guy in the matrix."
"What?" Shade gave her a look of confusion.
"Look," she pulled out the small disk, "I'm supposed to meet up with someone."
Shade took it and examined it closely. His eyes were wide.
"Cover will want to look at this." He stopped at a door, and pulled out a key from his front pants pocket. He opened it and gestured for Zandra to go in first.
