Alan Foster - Sagramanda, a Novel of Near-Future India

Interesting , she mused as she bounced along in the wake of her quarry, immediately finding herself in deep, damp forest. This was a place she had never visited before. Night birds called querulously to one another from high in the trees while the occasional rattle of shadowy branches hinted at the presence of other, larger creatures. As she drove on, forced in the absence of the trike's lights to concentrate exclusively on the route ahead, she made note of her fascinating new surroundings, or as much of them as she could make out in the dark. Fervently committed but not single-minded, she was always interested in improving herself and adding to her store of knowledge about her adopted country.

Giving no sign that its occupants were in any way aware that they were being followed, the nearly silent 4x4 pushed deeper into forest and night. Before too long it turned onto a left-hand spur that was narrower than the main track. Nearly an hour of additional driving ensued, during which time Jena stoically ignored the increasing ache in her backside and legs. Pain and discomfort were mere intangibles that her ongoing studies had long ago taught her how to tolerate.

Eventually, the 4x4 slowed and turned right, heading toward a small but intense cluster of bright lights that resembled a constellation fallen to Earth. They were the only indication of a human presence in the vast darkness. From the vicinity of the lights, voices and a few slightly louder welcoming shouts could be heard. Clearly this was a substantial encampment, hardworking and well populated.

With no one around to see her sitting in the darkness on the idling trike, Jena dug her fingers tight into the handgrips and made no attempt to hide her disappointment. Her long journey down from the central part of the city, her singling out of the student pair as likely candidates for redemption, her subsequent shadowing of them on the train and now to this point: all had been for naught. She was fearless, but she was not foolish. There were too many people around for her

to proceed with her intentions. Furthermore, a camp in a place like this would be actively alert to any unauthorized intrusions, especially late at night. The odds were bad, and she did not see how she could improve them. There was nothing she could do. The scriptures taught one how to absorb disappointment. Working the trike's controls, she brought it around and headed away from the camp, back the way she had come.

Still, having primed and prepared herself to do a night's work on the Mother's behalf, she was reluctant to simply return home. Around her the woods were alternately still and enticing. The huntress is never quick to flee. If she was patient, and waited, and looked around for a while, perhaps she might encounter others. A student or two camped by themselves for the night while carrying out observations of the forest's nocturnal life. A professor with a wide-eyed doctoral candidate in tow. Even locals who serviced the camp. In her present state of mind, she would settle for providing salvation even to one as simple as an itinerant laundry-wallah.

So instead of turning down the road that had brought her to this point and heading back toward the transport station, she urged the trike forward and continued along the north-south road. Once past the well-lit camp, it narrowed perceptibly. Cut barely wide enough through the forest to accommodate the specially equipped 4x4, it pro vided plenty of driving room for the smaller trike.

She did not wonder at the need for such a thoroughfare in so isolated and unpopulated a place. Besides leading to a camp such as the one she had left behind, it paralleled the lofty security fence, providing service access. As she sped northward, she could hear periodic crackles as the occasional insect or unlucky night bird flew into its multiple strands and was instantly electrocuted.

Some time later, at the sight of motion up ahead, she slowed, wondering if these larger animals would meet the same fate or would simply be shocked into retreating. Then she saw that they were not animals.

She smiled.

Bringing the trike to an abrupt stop, she pushed the deactivated transport into a copse of thick, concealing bushes. Removing her long carry bag from the trike's luggage compartment, she slung it over her left shoulder and began to move silently forward, keeping low and under cover. There was plenty of time and she would take all that she needed.

As always, she was intensely curious about those whom she was about to redeem.

It was not difficult to decode the seal and open the access gate. The dozens of such gates strung out along the fence line were designed to hold back animals, not bank robbers or terrorists. The trick was to realize the entry while preventing the gate from sending notification back to its central monitor that it had been opened without authorization.

Sanjay watched admiringly as Taneer swiftly and efficiently com promised the gate's sensors. It was a trick he knew could be done, but he certainly could not have done it himself. As soon as the three of them had stepped through, the scientist reactivated the gate behind them to maintain the fiction of a continuous, uninterrupted connection. The two men they were supposed to meet should already be waiting for them, having accessed the location by another route. The utilization of two different entry points and two separate approaches to the meeting place had been agreed on as much to assuage the buyer's fears as to enhance security for the forthcoming exchange.

"I don't like it here, Taneer." A fount of bravado in the city, Depahli retained the same atavistic fear of the jungle that was common to the majority of country folk. "Why couldn't we have done this somewhere in the city center? The main transport terminus, maybe, or one of the airport lounges."

"You know why, Depa." Cold beam in hand, the scientist illumi nated the narrow but well-maintained service trail that was leading them deeper into the woods. "Too many potential witnesses, too many curious onlookers. If only one person witnessed the exchange, that would be one person who could identify all of us later. The buyer's representative feels the same way. He doesn't want this done in public any more than I do." He glanced over at the third member of their little group. "Sanjay, are you all right? For someone who's supposed to be pretending to be a ruthless bodyguard, you're looking a little pale."

In truth, the farther they walked and the more distance they put between themselves and the fence line, the less comfortable the shop keeper felt.

"Permit me to point out that you have no experience of places like this, Mr. Buthlahee, sir. I grew up in surroundings that were similar but still not half so impenetrable. There are things in the forest that go bump in the night that you do not want to bump into."

"Relax," Taneer chided him. "We're still close to the fence line and the cluster of inurb buildings just on the other side." He waggled his beam across the trail. "There are three of us, and each of us has a light." A hand gestured at the dark woods. "Anything out there is much more likely to run from us than we are from it. It's true I may not have your firsthand experiences, but I've read a great deal about our native animals and their habits. It's not as if we are walking to Bangladesh."

Sanjay was not reassured. "Tell that to the first cobra we see waiting in ambush on the side of the trail."

Depahli shuddered and tried to crowd a little closer to her lover.

But Taneer was right. As they continued to advance and the dense, undisturbed vegetation drew even closer around them, even the nocturnal birds seemed to shun their lights. As for snakes, the only one they saw was a king snake, not a king cobra, too small to frighten even Depahli.