Rook Winters - Weight of Ashes

“I knew you worked on advanced technology, but I never imagined it was this kind of thing.” He brushed his fingers over the suit.

Court still had his hand out when he heard a twig snap behind him. He turned to see the woman charging him. He put a hand up to defend himself but she was too fast. She grabbed his wrist and used her momentum to pull him off balance. She swept his leg out from under him and he crashed to the ground. The thin layer of evergreen needles did nothing to soften the blow and it knocked the air out of him. While he gasped to refill his lungs, she planted herself between the men and the suit.

Marsh looked amused but his tone was stern. “Young lady, I am a tolerant man but I will only ask you once to refrain from attacking my people.”

“Don’t touch the suit.” Her voice was intense. Court had expected it to be soft after the way she had sobbed.

“You could’ve just asked,” Court said as he scrambled back to his feet.

“It’s not a request. Don’t touch the suit.”

“She’s right, Court. It’s not our place to handle her property without permission. Why don’t we sit and talk instead?”

Court clenched his teeth. Marsh was head of the council. He didn’t need to be deferential to this girl or woman or whatever she was. Without the telltale signs of a life lived outside, Court couldn’t decide how old she was.

Old enough to take me down , he thought. Once .

Marsh steadied himself with both hands on his walking stick as he sat on the nearest bench. Court didn’t know exactly how old Marsh was either, but he was at least seventy and his advancing age was becoming more apparent. Eventually, the village would lose him and it would be devastating. Court forced the unpleasant thought from his mind and sat.

The woman looked at her suit then gave a wary look to Court before sitting down between it and him.

“Where did you take Dr. Donovan?”

Marsh pointed to a building with the remains of a red cross on weathered white walls. It was the only building not made from interlocking logs. “That’s our modest hospital. Our doctor is cleaning up his body so we can give him a respectable burial.”

“Burial? You bury people? In the ground?”

“I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me. You’re no doubt used to the practices of state facilities. Our customs out here will be a bit foreign to you.”

“How do they bury people in state facilities?” Court asked.

Marsh waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s leave that for later. We haven’t done proper introductions yet. You know Court and Pica already. My name is Marsh. And you are?”

“Dr. Donovan called me Elle.”

“Elle. French for she. That’s a lovely name.”

“It’s not my name. It’s what he called me.”

“That’s what a name is,” Court scoffed. “It’s what people call you.”

Is she dumb or did she just knock her head too hard falling off that motorcycle?

Elle didn’t respond. She didn’t even look at him.

“Is it alright if we call you Elle as well?” Marsh asked.

“That’s fine.”

“I’m not sure if you took this in earlier but I knew Clint—Dr. Donovan—a long, long time ago. We used to work together.”

Court chewed on his lip, trying to be patient. This Elle woman wasn’t quick to volunteer anything and Marsh wasn’t getting to the critical information. It was driving him crazy.

He blurted out, “What were you doing on that old motorcycle way out here?”

Marsh frowned at him. Elle ignored him again, a pattern he was finding frustrating.

“Clint was a friend,” Marsh continued. “I didn’t honestly expect to see him again. I would like to know what he was doing way out here.”

“He said we needed to find the rabbit and the tour guide.”

Marsh’s eyes widened. He drew in a breath to speak but a voice interrupted him. From the steps of the hospital, Vaidehi yelled, “Marsh, you’d better come look at this.”

“Found it scanning for metals before we wrapped him up. Almost missed it. He had metal pins in his ankle and after I removed them, there was still a faint reading. I assumed it was a fragment that we overlooked but it was in the wrong place. Found this embedded in the bone.”

Vaidehi tapped her finger on the display screen where a red circle highlighted an anomaly.

“What is it?” Marsh asked.

“Hoping you can tell me. It’s like nothing I’ve seen in a body before. Not natural and not serving any obvious medical purpose.”

“What did the expert system say?”

“Unidentifiable. Very low probability matches on a couple things. But we haven’t had a database update in over a year. If this is new tech, the expert system won’t know anything about it.”

“What were the low probability matches?”

Vaidehi swiped her finger across the display screen. “Fragment of electronics from a childhood accident that the bone grew around or a tracking chip. Neither seems likely in this case. There’s no signal or radiation coming off him so not a tracking chip unless it’s broken. Looks to me like he had a notch of bone removed and surgically implanted whatever that is. It was undetectable with the pins in the ankle right next to it, like he meant to keep it hidden.”

“How long do you suppose it’s been in there?”

“Hard to be sure. There’s a hint of what could be a rash from tissue growth accelerant where you’d go in to implant something in this spot but there’s no way to be sure.”

“Let’s remove it and take a closer look.”

“That’s the thing. Looks to be fused to the bone. Can’t guarantee that I can get it out without damaging it. We don’t have sophisticated enough gear for that.”

“Let me try talking with Elle. If this is important, she might know something.”

Outside, a couple dozen villagers had gathered to stare at Elle and Court. They stepped back a few paces at the sight of Marsh but didn’t disperse. Marsh kept his voice low as he described the doctor’s discovery.

“He was limping the other day, and he said if anything happened to him, the rabbit needed to look at his ankle. He didn’t say why.”

“That’s got to be connected,” Court said. “Right? He must have implanted something before you left.”

“Jumping to conclusions is a good way to get hurt.” Marsh scratched at his cheek through his beard. “You said that you had to find the rabbit and the tour guide.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I know what the rabbit means at least. Come, it’s time for the emergency council meeting. Follow me.”

Marsh was several strides toward the council’s cabin when he realized Elle wasn’t following. She was glancing between her suit and the cluster of onlookers that had grown by several more people.

“You don’t have to worry about our people. No one wants trouble. But bring the suit with you if you’re concerned about it.”

The council members wore grave expressions when Elle and Court entered. Marsh took the empty spot at the head of the rectangular table that dominated the room. Two council members sat on either side. “Have a seat, please.” He motioned at the guest bench that ran along the wall. The room was small—the bench was close enough for conversation but still far enough away for visitors to know unambiguously that they were not at the table, physically or metaphorically.

Court sat at Marsh’s invitation, but Elle didn’t so he stood back up awkwardly.

“Or stand if you like. Doesn’t matter.” Marsh grinned and Court’s cheeks flushed red.

Colleen, the council member to Marsh’s immediate right, asked, “Ready?”

Marsh nodded, and Colleen tapped on her tablet. The cabin door swung shut of its own volition, causing Elle to jump.