Kristin didn't sleep for the rest of the night. Instead, she laid next to Lucas keeping him calm. His shaking and quiet sobs slowed when he finally dozed off, but she kept her arms around him to stave off nightmares. Morning finally came, and she sat up. He woke with a start at the movement. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," he muttered, obviously embarrassed.
"I want you to stay in bed as much as you can today." She lowered her voice, "after I get back, we leave."
He nodded, and watched her cross to the bathroom. Kristin groaned when she saw her own face. Dark circles of exhaustion mixed with the bruising to create a terrible effect. She splashed cold water on her face and neck to revive herself.
The expected knock on the door came soon after. Zellar waited patiently as Kristin pulled on a zip up sweater that was brought the day before, she was much happier wearing it and her jeans. She didn't even mind the bare feet as much now that she was warmer.
He scowled at her appearance, however. It took her a moment to realize he was looking her face and not the clothing. "Perhaps you should take the day to rest."
"I want to work." She retorted in annoyance, and pushed past him into the hallway. "This was because of your man, remember."
"You look like you haven't slept in days." He grumbled after locking the door and jogging to keep up with her.
Kristin nodded, "that's accurate."
Zellar reached out, and stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Wait, why haven't you been sleeping?"
"Seriously? Think about what you're asking me." Kristin spat, when his expression was only confusion, she sighed and wrenched away from him.
"Stop!" He thundered, "don't walk away from me. After the... issues of last night we left you with plenty of time to sleep."
Kristin clenched her hands into fists and placed on her hips. She was shaking in fury, "oh, yes, thank you so very much. After I made sure Lucas wasn't going to bleed to death he... he... There were complications." She couldn't bring herself to admit how bad the young man had gotten, and certainly not to Zellar.
"He's the reason you didn't rest?" Zellar asked quietly. "You might be better off in your own room. Or possibly one of mine, it's warmer and more comfortable."
Kristin took a deep breath, "no, I don't want to leave him alone."
"I won't leave him by himself if it's what you wish." Zellar explained, gesturing for her to continue walking.
"What do you mean? Will you let him stay with Nathan?"
He shook his head, "no, I'm afraid that isn't something I'm willing to do. He could however stay with Wendell."
Kristin looked at him angrily, "is that some kind of joke? After what he did? You expect me to accept..."
"My dear," Zellar interrupted her smoothly, with upraised hands. "I only want you to be healthy. Why don't we see how you do today, hm? If you are still able to do a fair amount work, we can leave everyone where they are."
His threat was so subtle, her sleep deprived brain had difficultly grasping it. When it hit her, Kristin inhaled sharply. She attempted to regain control of her rapidly beating heart, and nodded. "I can work, I'll get it done. There is no need to leave Lucas with... anyone but me."
Zellar smiled coldly, "very well, shall we?" He pointed to the door to the lab.
"Thank you, may I request a few more chemicals? I need to try a few reactions to fully predict how the virus will interact with the human body." Kristin entered the room, and took a seat at the counter.
He kissed the back of her head, "make a list and I'll see what I can do, darling."
"Thank you," she whispered, flinching when the door closed behind her.
Knowing she didn't have a lot of chances left, Kristin quickly started writing a list. She was careful to hide the one chemical she actually desired within the others. Zellar believed she was almost broken and wouldn't fight him as long as he held the others. It was only spurring her on to try harder. Her plan was very foolhardy, but she had to take the risks.
It took the crew some time to procure two vehicles for transport big enough to carry them and Probie. The narrow roads proved difficult to navigate, and they were all glad for the laws prohibiting visitors from driving themselves. They reached their hotel, and gladly tumbled out of the large SUV's. Tim quickly spoke to the drivers, and money exchanged hands. He nodded to Ford, "they'll stay close, we just have to call them."
Ben raised an eyebrow, "how?" He glanced around at the ancient architecture. "Smoke signals?"
"No…" Tim took the time to glare at him. "Nepal has an expansive cell network, over eighty percent of the people have phones. Even the monasteries are well connected here."
"Well pardon me for thinking the thousand year old buildings don't have wi-fi." Ben muttered to himself.
Ford cleared his throat, "everyone has the picture of Zellar, show it around. I want to wait on the other three, asking about them may expose us and them. If anyone asks, tell them you heard he was looking for help but don't have his contact information."
"A lot of the population speaks some English, but call me if there are problems," Tim added.
They broke off into pairs, and carefully interrogated random people in the city. Small amounts of money exchanged hands several times, but they only learned that Zellar was seen in the city a week ago.
Tim, who was working with Miguel, held up his hand for a moment. "Did you see that?"
"The kid hiding behind the Buddha statue? He's been following us for an hour. I thought he was just curious about the group of gringos bribing people."
"Then why does he look terrified?" Tim asked from the side of his mouth. He slowly approached the very small child, who was around ten years of age wearing torn clothing. "Namaste," he said softly with his hands pressed together in greeting.
"Namaste," the boy returned, eyeing them in fear.
"Hajur sanchai cha?" Tim kept slowly moving forward, he saw Miguel from the corner of his eye, circling around the statue behind the child.
Unfortunately, he was spotted, and he tried to bolt. Tim shot his hand out and grabbed the filthy shirt. "Wait! Hajur ko naam ke ho?"
"Please," the boy whimpered. He saw Miguel only feet away, and kicked Tim in the shin while twisting his torso. Surprised by the sudden pain, Tim released him.
Miguel was quicker, and caught him by the waist as he ran past. The child yelped and clawed at him. "Malaai eklai chidnus! Ma police bolau chu!"
"That's one word I understand," Miguel retorted nearly dropping him. "Calm down, we aren't going to hurt you. We just want to ask you something."
Tim carefully approached them and repeated, "Hajur sanchai cha?"
The boy sighed, and glared at them angrily, "Kusunda?"
"Kusunda?" Tim blinked in surprise, "oh… I didn't think anyone still… um… kugjangu"
After receiving a hopeful but still suspicious look, Tim paused, sorting through the languages in his head. "Taman daka? rabang?"
He nodded enthusiastically and started speaking rapidly "Mai dhaiya… please."
"You can let him go, he'll come with us." He smiled warmly at the boy, "taba aaga."
Miguel released him, "how do you know?"
"Because we're going to feed him."
"How long do we have to babysit this kid?" Ben asked with irritation, as he watched him devouring a plate of food in the hotel room.
"Have some compassion Ben, he's just a child." Katie growled, although she had misgivings herself, she wasn't about to admit them to her ex.
He scowled, "I have compassion, I just don't want to sit here and watch him eat when we should be out there looking."
Tim stood from his position across the table, and addressed Commander Ford, "Kusunda is a very rare dialect, last I heard only about ten people spoke it."
"And of course you're one of them." Miguel chuckled, leaning against a wall nonchalantly.
After blushing, Tim continued, "well, I don't know it fluently. But from what I can figure out, his name is Bishal." He coughed to cover up a smile, "sorry, Bishal is Nepali word meaning 'giant,' I guess he doesn't quite fit the bill yet."
Covering up the joke only he found amusing, Tim cleared his throat and went on. "His father went with a 'strange white man' several weeks ago for a job. He was coming home every night, but a week ago he stopped. Bishal went looking for him and was thrown out by some thugs. He can show us how to get into the complex."
Ford stared at Bishal sadly, "so he's been alone all the time? Does he have a mother?"
"He didn't say anything about one so I didn't ask." Tim sighed, "if we don't find his father, he might be an orphan now."
Crocker spoke gruffly for the first time since they brought Bishal in, "we'll find a place for him if that's the case. He's a little guy, he needs someone to look after him."
"That's one hell of a souvenir Chief." Ford grinned knowingly.
Author's note: Oh yeah, lets just write a conversation in two languages I've never heard, that won't give me a headache... o_O If anyone has any editing comments about the proper usage, let me know! :)