The Slide

Chapter 7: Nikos The Greek

A Favor

When Tem didn’t appear by mid-day in the dining room at the fort, Farha began to worry. She had little time for it because Petra asked her to come to the Magistrate’s office.

“I’m wondering if you’ll do a favor for me?” he asked.

“May I know what it is?” Farha asked politely.

“Oh, I just need some papers delivered to the Captain at Mid-Base. I forgot to include them with the normal package and he will need them as soon as possible. Petra’s guard, Tee, will accompany you for your safety. You will leave forthwith and be back by nightfall.”

“Yes, I accept,” Farha said and thought: I suspect Alexis might be at Mid-Base, or at least I may leave a message for him.

It was uneventful until the rise in the road, a mile outside of Mid-Base. Marauders on horseback stopped the vehicle with mortar fire. Tee, the other guards and the machine-gun turret officer went into action. A young woman slightly older than Farha scooted up next to her for presumed comfort, but Farha sensed something was off.

“I am Sophia,” the woman whispered in Farha’s ear. “I am an herb-healer and I am slipping a small bag of herb that will help you make telepathic contact with your beloved if you so wish.”

And then she moved back some. The guards were returning. It had been a false alarm. The marauders had retreated.

Farha reasoned that the Magistrate’s favor may have been a ruse possibly instigated by General Bayard to gain leverage over her through Uncle Tem. She disregarded Sophia’s message but kept the small herb-bag.

A Brief Interlude

Alexis and Farha had only one meeting — approved by the Magistrate during the nine months following the conclusion of the interrogations, the inquiry and the departure of General Bayard and his troops.

Alexis had three days’ leave. Both he and Farha pooled their resources and rented a small apartment in the town where the train-line terminated. Three days and two nights of love-making, a romantic candlelit dinner and breakfast in bed for two mornings.

Alexis applied for leave three times within a six-month period and was repeatedly denied because of personnel losses (to the Slide).

Months later, she pleaded with Tem to join the military (her plan was to get closer to Alexis).

“The CC or Civilian Corp is best for you. If accepted, you would be less likely to be controlled, discharged from duties, court-martialed, or hung. But let’s say you were accepted by the military. I think that would fail.” Tem laid out numerous reasons, including the military’s fear of conspiracy and their desire for absolute control, especially regarding the Slide.

“Besides, why this sudden change? You’ve hated the military and now you see this as your only way to be with Alexis? I don’t understand this,” Tem said, perplexed.

“If I joined the military, I could use my wiles and magic to be posted near or with Alexis,” Farha suggested to Tem. “I’m worn out. Do you think the Civilian Corp would give me access to Alexis?” Farha asked.

“Yes, I do. But don’t take my word for it. Think on it.”

“Why did they do this to me? To us? It’s illogical and wrong.”

“Since when does the military make sense of its actions? It’s much like the Mag. He rules by favoritism and what makes him look good. It is the dirty code of the military,” Tem said. “But it is the only access to the Slide in these nation-states.”

“Mag” or “M” was Tem’s shorthand reference to the Magistrate, who had gained more power in recent years. Tem played his thoughts, emotions, and opinions closer to the vest.

Farha noticed that when Uncle Tem reported to the Fort, he spent an extra day or two there, of which he had no memory or there was a memory with parts that made little sense. Farha tried to explain it to him, but for naught. She felt sad and frustrated, but she stopped questioning him about it.

When Farha finally was accepted into the Civilian Corp, it was made clear to her and her sponsor, Tem, that both of them were banned from making maps or observing the satellite data forever. However, Tem was allowed to collate data from the map makers for the central computer. Even though he was under strict rules not to examine the data, he occasionally took a peek.

Nikos

The day after graduation into the CC, during a break before duties began, Tem took Farha to a side road that led up that mountain. Even though she knew where they might be going, she kept quiet about it. Half-way up the pass, a huge shell exploded on the opposite ridge. Tem halted the vehicle and stepped out and waved his arms in the air as Farha climbed onto the roof of the desert vehicle and sat in plain view.

A mirror flashed. The code read: the Greek Accepts.

Maria and Nikos prepared a sumptuous meal of pheasant, breads, and vegetables. During the meal, Nikos told them some of what he called “Hidden History”.

“Many people think, if they even dare, long ago humans destroyed the distant past. It is only now known as pre-history. Rumor and conjecture would have it that there was a massive disaster that destroyed almost all life on earth. That may be a myth because there is no known written record of it and it does not follow logically. Around three thousand years ago, the Slide appears to have arrived on earth and separated, the west and east, the two halves. No one knows what’s on the other side except for a few of the elite and maybe someone else.”

“Tea and Bru are served in the library,” Sophia announced. Maria had disappeared into the interior of the house while the others repaired to the library/salon.

“So, you see, they have been suppressing data for many years,” Nikos told them as they sat in chairs adorned with floor reading lamps and soft lighting from sconces anointing the walls. “Don’t forget, Papa, about the satellite,” Sophia reminded. Nikos explained that according to his records that the satellite had been in operation for almost four thousand years and that there was only a few more years left before it descended into the atmosphere.

Both Farha and Tem were agog with shock, wonder, and anger. Farha looked at the photos of the area to the west of The Slide. It was just as her Momo had said it was. The mythical Britain and Wales were no more. The Scottish Highlands were visible, as were Ire-land and the Ire-land volcano. Sand stretched out west of Ire-land to a river that ran north and south.

The slide was blurred in all the photographs. The width of the Slide was 50 miles to 5 miles. It appeared to move fifteen to twenty miles each year of satellite passes in areas to the north and south. The area immediately west of the fort was a stable area to where Britain and Wales once were located (400 miles long). Or it was so rumored.

Sophia pulled Farha aside to look at special composite photos of the Slide over a course of two to three passes. In some areas dots of red were visible — “the spectrometer”, Farha exclaimed in a near whisper. The heat dots appeared to be erect humans within the slide. They returned to the older adults and sat.

“Who are they, these censors?” Tem asked as he finished his tea.

“No one knows or if they do know they are a feared to tell. It’s probably not the Magistrate. Beyond that, I do not know.”

Twenty minutes later, Tem passed out.

Nikos ushered Farha into the kitchen. Sophia was there. Maria was purposefully absent in another part of the stone house.

Nikos and Sophia explained how the Colonel or the hidden military authority had tapped into her Uncle Tem and were using him as a spy unbeknownst to him. It was rumored that the Colonel channeled his authority through the Magistrate.

“We will block his memory of what he has experienced here, for our and his projection,” Nikos concluded.

“Even if you block his memory, won’t they know you did it?” Farha asked.

“No, because we won’t just block his memory, we will implant memories consistent with what we want him to remember and what we want to block.”

“It has always worked before,” Sophia said hurriedly to Farha.

“I hope so,” Farha said.

“Choose now. Use your will to make it work in your mind. Then it will be so,” Nikos said with soft command.

Farha momentarily clenched her fists and set her jaw. A knowing smile slowly appeared on her face.

8.1 Convergence awaits you.