But it was.
Yama materialized beside her, his Wilkinson in his right hand. “I’m surprised to see you here,” he said softly. “You haven’t spoken a word to me all day.”
Farrow tried to speak but couldn’t. Her mouth refused to respond.
“What did I do to upset you?” Yama asked.
“What are yow doing here?” Farrow exclaimed.
“I have the night shift,” Yama responded.
“But Ares is supposed to be here,” Farrow asserted. “Omega Triad has wall duty tonight.”
“I know,” Yama said. “But Ares isn’t feeling too well. The Review Board cleared him, but he’s still upset. He’s been moping around B Block since it happened. I offered to fill in for him tonight.”
“Oh no!” Farrow said.
Yama moved closer. “What’s wrong? Did you want to see Ares?”
“No,” Farrow replied. “I expected him to be here, is all.”
“I don’t understand,” Yama stated. “You didn’t want to see Ares, but you expected him to be here?”
“Yeah,” Farrow said nervously. “I wanted some fresh air, so I climbed up here. I knew Ares was on duty, but I didn’t want to run into him. See?”
“Hmmmm,” was all Yama said.
Now what was she going to do? Farrow knew the demolition team would arrive at any minute. And the first thing they would do after scaling the wall would be to snuff Yama. Yama! He was a lowlife, but she still felt affection for him. The prospect of his death was profoundly upsetting.
“If you’d rather be alone, I’ll leave,” Yama offered.
“No!” Farrow blurted out. She frantically racked her brain for a solution. If she could get him off the wall! “Care to walk along the moat with me?”
“You know I can’t leave my post,” Yama said.
Farrow saw him look from side to side, then stare at her. She squirmed uncomfortably, emotionally distraught.
“Stay here,” Yama directed. He turned and moved to the middle of the rampart.
What was he doing?
“What are you doing?”
Yama didn’t answer. She heard a scratching sound, and a lantern abruptly lit up the central section of the rampart. Yama was next to the lantern, blowing on a match.
Farrow hurried over to the Warrior. “Why’d you do that?”
The lantern was suspended from an iron hook imbedded in the lip of the rampart, just below the strands of barbed wire encircling the entire walled compound. Its flickering light played over his silver hair and mustache as he slowly turned to face her. His blue eyes bored into her. “I wanted to see you clearly,” he said.
“But isn’t it dangerous,” she protested, “having the lantern on this way?
Anyone out there,” and she waved at the surrounding forest, “could see you.”
Yama shrugged. “I doubt anyone is out there. Few people would be abroad in the woods at night. It’s too hazardous.”
Farrow fidgeted, repeatedly glancing at the tree line.
“Is something wrong?” Yama asked.
“I’m fine!” Farrow responded, her tone edgy.
“Come with me,” Yama said. He took her by the left forearm and led her to the left, away from the lantern, to the stairs. He stopped on the upper step, both of them now shrouded in semi-darkness.
“What are you doing?” Farrow inquired.
“We’re going to stand here for a while and enjoy the night sky,” Yama told her.
Farrow tried to pull her arm free. “I’d like to go.”
“I’d imagine you would,” Yama said, his right hand a vise on her arm.
“You’re hurting me!” Farrow objected.
Yama’s right hand clamped tighter. “And how many innocent Family members did you intend to hurt?”
Farrow’s breath caught in her throat. “I… I… don’t know what you… mean,” she stammered.
“I think you do,” Yama stated. He released her arm and gazed at the area illuminated by the lantern. “How will they work it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Farrow cried.
Yama looked at her. “Keep your voice down!” he warned.
Farrow was chilled by the iciness of his tone. She sensed her world was coming apart at the seams, and she was panic-stricken.
“Did you take me for a complete imbecile?” Yama demanded in a hard whisper.
“I never—” she started to say.
“I will admit,” he said in a brittle, incriminating manner, “I was stupid enough to fall for your charade. I actually believed you cared for me! How dumb can I get!”
But I do! Farrow wanted to scream, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak the words. She was overwhelmed by the stunning realization she’d been wrong all along. He did really and truly like her!
“—but I couldn’t understand why you were so tormented,” Yama was telling her. “I tried to reason it out. I concocted a hundred and one excuses to justify your behavior.” He made a contemptuous sound. “I allowed myself to think you were troubled because of your affection for me! You didn’t want to commit yourself, knowing you would be returning to your own people! You already had someone special and didn’t want me to know!”
“I don’t have anyone—” Farrow mumbled, but he ignored her.
“And then today!” Yama said. “I see you at breakfast, and you won’t even look at me, let alone converse! Why? I asked myself again and again.
There was no rhyme or reason to the way you acted. I began to wonder if Plato and Rikki were right. They’ve been suspicious of you from the start, although Rikki gave you the benefit of the doubt. Before he left, Blade told us to keep an eye on you. Not to trust you.” He paused, his voice lowering sadly. “Not to trust you! And I went and developed deep affection for you!”
“But—” she began.
“And now you show up here! This late at night!” Yama cut her off.
“Why? I wondered. You were shocked to find me on duty. You wanted Ares to be here. Why? Because you knew I would suspect something was up.
Ares doesn’t know you as well as I do. He might accept your line about wanting fresh air. But I don’t!”
Farrow fought back an impulse to burst into tears. “Yama…”
“Shhhhh!” he cautioned her.
“Yama…”
Yama glanced at her, his face creased by lines of misery. “Don’t talk!”
“They’ll be using infrared goggles,” Farrow informed him. “They can see in the dark.”
Yama studied her for a second, then took her hand and pulled her down to the third step. He crouched and tugged on her hand. “Get down!”
Farrow squatted beside him. Their heads were now below the rampart and invisible to anyone scaling the west wall. “I’m sorry,” she said in his right ear. “I—
He placed his right hand over her mouth. “Not now. Later.”
Farrow stifled a sob. She felt utterly helpless, a prisoner of her own emotions, unable to intervene, bound by her duty as a Technic soldier on one hand, and her love for Yama on the other. She couldn’t violate her Technic oath, and she wouldn’t betray Yama. There was nothing she could do but ride it out and hope for the best.
Yama looked at her. “Thanks for letting me know about the goggles,” he whispered.
Farrow nodded, biting her lower lip. The demolition team would use a grappling hook and come over the northwest corner, where she was scheduled to meet them. What would Sergeant Darden do when they climbed the wall and discovered she wasn’t there? Abandon the mission?
Not very likely. Darden was dedicated. He would complete his assignment with or without her.
Yama had his left ear pressed to the top step, listening.
Farrow suddenly perceived the reason for the lantern. Yama was brilliant! Anyone coming over the wall would have a dilemma to resolve: what to do about the light? They could shoot out the lantern, but the Warriors would be alerted. They could circumvent the lighted portion of the rampart, but to do so would entail avoiding the stairs. And the stairs were the only means of reaching the inner bank, unless they dropped a line into the moat and swam across, a difficult proposition when carrying a backpack and field gear. No, the wisest recourse would be to leave the lantern alone, and attempt to reach the stairs undetected.