Tother Hand, Chapter 8, part 4

And she laughed again. As 8999 laughed, she seemed to catch her right side as if she were hurt there.

She composed herself and turned serious. She said: Your father was 2711? Did you know my father?

9001 shook her head in the negative.

8999 said: He was 2713, his twin.

9001 mouthed the words in her head: Ordered heaven with emptiness imbalanced. Out loud, she said: My father was ordered heaven with balanced emptiness.

8999 nodded. She said clearly, slowly, as if giving bad news: Your father died because my father died. This is why twins are separated. They cannot survive together, because when they are close they collapse in on each other. Separated, they can continue to live normal lives. The left-handed twins are shunned because they are sinister, outcasts. They teach each other the dark arts of Healing.

She continued, and here the bad news struck: The right handed children are given masks so that they are never discovered to be the twin. The Masked Ones are given the secrets of identity so that they can avoid death and disorder. _Druj_, as you say. Your father died when you struck my father. I watched the whole thing but was too late to respond. Your training has equipped you with skills that I only find by accident. Your father made two mistakes. The first mistake was taking you with him instead of me. The second was using his skills to track down his twin and destroy him.

9001 wept openly. Her sister stepped close to offer comfort. She said: O sister! Older sister! I address you with respect. You are the one who should be the Masked One. I have always wanted to break free from this mask and get out of the palace. I have long wished to practice the arts of Healing and frozen time. I never knew my place until recently when my father revealed your father’s mistake. I had always assumed I was unfit or that God had not smiled on me.

9001 corrected her: His name is Ahura. Saying “God” is like calling someone without using their name. Like, Hey you! What’s your name?!

8999 bowed her head in contrition. She said: Everyone learns only what they are taught.

9001 said: My father made a mistake? He said the Elders separated us and that you were 9003, the eldest.

8999 shook her head in the negative. She said: No. The Elders had warned my father that your father had sought out the powers in the Perfect Sight. None of us know what that is. However, the Elders warned my father that he would try to come to meet his brother. Your father came to Kabul and he wisely disguised himself with a Mask. Everyone assumed he was my father.

She dropped her voice, but continued: Even our mother. The Elders told me that our fathers never met, but they must have crossed paths without knowing it. Our uncle thought that they were the same person. He never understood why a Masked One wanted to learn the ways of the Healers. The Elders kept it hidden and had your uncle working to keep records on both of them.

She said: When we were born, our mother died and my father was still away, hiding from your father. Your father heard of the children and came back. He stole you while one of the wet nurses was feeding me. He never knew which child was which. He merely stole in, took you and assumed I was the one sacrificed.

9001 grabbed her sister by the shoulders and hugged her close. She wept.

8999 returned the hug and sighed heavily. They separated and stared at each other.

9001 broke the silence. She said: What can we do now?

8999 was silent for a long time. She said, finally: Take me with you, sister. Train me as a Healer. We will go together and wander the earth side by side as we were meant to.

9001 shook her head. She said: I am weary of it. I want to rest in one place. I do not like the life of a nomad. I cannot stand the sight of blood. I am clumsy and bad at the spells. Father trained me my whole life and I am not half of the Healer you seem to be without any training. I am a failure.

8999 said: No! No, older sister! You carry yourself so bravely. You issue orders and speak about strategy and plans. You are a natural leader. You are not a failure, just in the wrong station in life.

9001 said: So we are only slaves to our profession?

8999 said: We are what we become.

9001 said: We become what we are.

8999 seized on it. She said: Yes! Yes! That is it exactly. So what will you do?

9001 drew herself up to her full height. She seemed a bit taller than her sister. She pull out her triangular blade and offered it hilt first to her sister. She unhooked her sister’s headgear and replaced her father’s _lungee_ with it. She covered her face and felt powerful, strong, and important.

She said: I am you. You are me. Leave me here to rule.

Her sister held the blade over her head and put it in her waist cloth. She left.

9001’s father seemed to smile and disappeared. She knew he would not speak to her again.

Tother Hand, Chapter 8, part 3

She made her way deeper into the middle of the oasis, unsure what exactly she should look for. She felt a tingling in her spine and the hairs on her neck stood up. The words were spoken in Avestan, but they slowly transformed as she processed the practiced language in her head.

The words were: Healer. Welcome back.

And: Turn around.

She placed her hand on her father’s blade and turned. An unusually happy old man sat on a rug next to a yurt. He nodded and laughed and laughed silently. He waved: Come here.

He nodded again, grinning ear to ear, and patted the space on the rug next to him.

She walked over hesitantly. She asked in her native tongue: What do you want, grandfather?

The old man smiled and smiled, and laughed. He had perhaps only one tooth in his whole head. His face was impossibly old and wrinkled, but the hills and valleys in his face were completely smooth and shiny. One eye seemed completely covered by eyelids and the colour was off, almost whited out with a milky mist.

He spoke Avestan again and it took a while to make the marks in her head: Don’t be formal.

And: Sit. Sit.

She kneeled down opposite him. This was both a sign of respect and a solid fighting stance. The old man continued to laugh silently and smile crazily. His one good eye moved around eagerly.

A squirrel chirruped and the wind whistled through a canyon. This meant: I know who you are, child. I know what you seek.

A camel belched in response. She replied: Tell me everything.

The ancient man smiled. He smiled more, and his lips spread so wide you could see the gaps at the back of his jaw where his molars used to be. He nodded and nodded and waved her inside the yurt.

She looked over her shoulder and nodded inside. She pointed. It meant: In there?

The old man smiled and laughed and laughed silently. He nodded the whole while.

9001 stood and turned, then lifted the blankets covering the yurt entrance. Her eyes took a long time to adjust to the darkness inside. But she heard a familiar voice and arch lilt in the accent.

The voice said: Hello sister. We meet again. Come in and sit down.

9001 pushed herself forward into the space between the light and dark. Her eyelids were mostly closed, but her senses were tuned and she could sense the layout of the yurt and the objects in it. She moved swiftly in the proper rhythm, leading with the left to pull out her father’s rondel and follow the corners of the imaginary metre-sized squares in front of her. She closed the gap to her opponent quickly and could see everything brightly by the third step.

A cicada hummed and a rook tapped at some tree bark insistently. This meant: Do not fight. We must talk.

Undeterred, 9001 could feel and sense the forearm of her opponent in outside-cross position, that is, her left was crossed with her opponent’s right. She pulled the blade back across the elbow to cut the tendons where the bicep ended, and pushed forward with the right hand to strike at the ribs behind the opponent’s elbow. She must have missed with the blade, but that was a feint anyway, she did connect with something that crackled and squished, though, as she smashed her right hand through the target.

She felt a sharp pain in her left side and collapsed in pain. Her left foot was simultaneously kicked out from under her and she floated to the ground in the frozen time between the light and dark. Her eyes were completely open by now and the light in the yurt was bright. She stared straight up at the ceiling of the yurt. She marvelled at how perfectly in sync she was despite being bested, and wondered at her mastery of the magic spell.

She blacked out before she hit the ground, however, and fell out of the spell as she rolled over in pain. She raised her blade in the left hand defensively, trying to get her legs under her. A foot pushed down on her left shoulder and she collapsed. Her father’s blade went skittering across the floor. Her own blade was still hanging on her right side and she wanted desperately to move her right hand to it.

The foot pressed her upper arm and shoulder, and was dangerously close to her neck. She grasped the ankle with her right hand and tried to twist it off. A masked face leaned close to hers and laughed gaily. She recognised the mask and the eyes from the night when she had fought the woman in Kabul.

The woman said, laughing: O sister! You are very determined! If you will not talk, at least listen. Please listen to what I say. If you are wilful, you’ll just get hurt more.

Another voice said: Stop it.

It was her father’s voice, she realised. Only she would have heard it. She relented and the foot came off her almost immediately.

The woman offered her left hand to help 9001 up. She took it with her right, which seemed more natural and easy. Sure enough, the hands interlocked and the strength of both arms lifted her easily. She felt sharp searing pain in her left ribs and grabbed herself with her left arm to support her ribs and side.

They regarded each other for a while, eye to eye. The woman seemed the mirror image of herself in every way.

9001 asked: Who are you?

The woman asked: Who are you?

9001 said bravely: I am 9001, daughter of 2711.

The woman said: Who was your mother?

9001 held her mouth shut in fear and shame.

The woman said: I will tell you, since you know but won’t answer. Our mother was 2387.

9001 stared in shock. Had the woman actually used the first person plural?

The woman laughed and unhooked her silk veil from one side so that 9001 felt the shock of looking at herself in a shiny reflection. Except that this was no facsimile of a shiny reflection, it was a real person who looked exactly like the way she envisioned herself from her reflection.

The woman said: 9001, I am your sister, 8999.

9001’s mind rebelled. She said numbly: My sister’s name is 9003.

8999 laughed happily. She said: O sister! 9003 has too many threes. We are both indivisible, you and I. The rhythms you have tried to use were mine and yours. But I am the left-handed twin and you are the right. No wonder you are always slightly unbalanced.

And she laughed again. As 8999 laughed, she seemed to catch her right side as if she were hurt there.

Tother Hand, Chapter 8, part 2

They reached another high valley pass where a huge river coursed eastwards. This was the famous Panj, and 9001 nodded approvingly, as if she knew it well. There were more caravans on this stretch of river heading up and down stream. They were of all different sizes, shapes, colours, and types of dress. 9001 had never different languages spoken before; only dialects. She was completely unable to understand the other teams that passed by who called out greetings and salutations.

They followed the river for a few days and passed breath-taking views and mountainous lakes. The valley trek had taken a decidedly uphill slope for the first half of their trip. After they crossed the pass before the river, the ground headed steadily downhill. The trip was easier, and the river kept the valley they travelled in green and fresh. The Panjshir valley, for all its comforts, was dry and dusty where living was difficult. This valley was green and lush by comparison, even though it was at a higher elevation and seemed much colder.

Ice and snow still clung to the tops of the Hindu Kush to the south. To the north, the mountains seemed lower and the caravan seemed to be heading that way. They stayed one night on the shores of a large lake and ate tiny freshwater fishes. 9001 had only seen fish before but never eaten one. They were delicious and crispy outside from the fire but soft and juicy inside. The custom was to eat the whole fish: head, tail and everything.

The next day, they backtracked a two thousand steps and crossed at a narrow but shallow spot to the other side. They continued north in the flats of a large valley that descended from the mountains now directly behind them. They came upon another large, flat river that flowed almost as slowly as the camels walked. The headed north and east, crossing gentle tributaries that lazily flowed out of the hills. At some points in the flat valley, the tributaries merely petered out in fan-like tails that barely made contact with the river.

The men commented that this was Ahura’s way of moving the rocks from the top of the mountain down to the valley. 9001 wondered why Ahura would move rocks around, but couldn’t speak to voice her suspicions.

After several more days of easy trekking, they pushed out onto a much wider plain—almost a plateau—that extended farther than the eye could see in any direction. It reminded 9001 of her visit to Kabul, but the valley at Kabul was clearly enclosed. This valley could not even be considered a valley, because the mountains dropped away and disappeared in all directions. They did not stray far from the river that descended in an alluvial fan, because the valley became dry, dusty, and turned to sand. It was, in fact, the edge of a huge desert, the men said.

They also said that meant Kashgar was near.

The caravan stopped in a small oasis near a pool where several other caravans were camped. As night fell, a communal party and feast started up. The customs were different here, and the caravanners caroused with a foul-selling drink they shared out of a large barrel. This was the perfect opportunity for her to wait until midnight and sneak away to separate from the group.

She walked with her camel through the night, able to pick her way fairly easily in the easy terrain under the fading light of the final quarter moon.

Tother Hand, Chapter 8 part 1

Chapter Eight

The next morning she took the camel with her to carry only essential items: some blankets, a piece of the _khana_ for shelter, and food. While she was unloading all the other non-essential items, she uncovered a swarm of baby spiders running amok inside a small ball of silk about 4 centimetres across. She said a silent blessing for her spider friend’s offspring and placed them in a brush near the yurt.

She walked for two days as quickly and rapidly as she could, from very first light until well into dark. She stayed with the old grandmother on the first night, but the second night proved hard to find a friendly yurt or any lights from fires nearby to sleep next to. Fortunately, it was nearing the full moon, so she was able to gather a few pieces of wood and setup the _khana_ and blankets as a small, one-person yurt.

She started the fire by striking her father’s slag false blade against a stone.

Her father said: So the blade does have iron in it.

9001 started and cried out in fear. Then she collapsed on her haunches in front of the fire.

Her father said: I did not mean to startle you.

She asked: Are you not dead yet? Where is your _fravashi_?

He said: I am closer. As you progress in your new mission, I sense the truth approaching. Ahura is guiding you, which means that I am nearing my battle in the afterlife as well.

She asked: Are you afraid?

He said: No. I was not afraid to die. And I am not afraid to leave. I know that you have great talent. I have chosen you as my daughter, which is a blessing that many parents do not have.

She asked: Who was that woman, the Masked One? She seemed familiar.

He did not answer for a long time, so she made up the fire so that it would last a few hours and faced the opening of her mini-yurt toward the warmth.

Finally, as she was drifting off, he said suddenly: I do not know. I was distracted by some visions I do not understand. The Elders know about us, I am sure of it.

She nodded wearily and fell asleep.

The next morning, she packed up and left early. It was easy to rise in the pre-dawn cold because the quarters were so cramped and heat was scarce from the embers. She was nearly delirious from exhaustion and sleep deprivation. That could account for her father’s appearance, she reasoned, but then put it out of her mind.

After an hour of walking along the Panjshir, she spotted the tail end of a caravan, literally. She was able to catch up and merely followed along. A few of the men seemed to notice her but paid no attention. They thought she was a boy who had gotten separated from a caravan or was even part of this caravan. The colours on her father’s _patu_ and _lungee_ were been generic enough that they did not elicit any response. 9001 covered her mouth to prevent her from talking or accidentally forming feminine mouth shapes. She set her jaw instead and held her head erect.

As the caravan proceeded north, the valley the ground grew moderately steeper and the river ran thinner and faster on their right. On the third day, they passed over the ridge of a small mountain pass as they turned their right, away from the Panjshir River. They descended into a different valley with a small lake and stopped for one day to replenish supplies.

They moved on for a few more through a much steeper set of mountains on either side of the valley, finally ending at a higher lake that was even larger. The lake was so large that 9001 had never seen so much water. It was so wide from where the caravan approached that she could not see the opposite shore, if there was one at all.

Here they turned more easterly to follow a separate valley away from the lake to follow a valley range that did not have any rivers running through it. At the camps, 9001 had heard the men refer to the range on their right as the Hindu Kush. They followed the valley along the mountain range, skirting back north for several days.

Tother Hand, Chapter 7 part 5

She glanced around the yurt at the other family members who sat, struck dumb with awe.

She continued: All of you are blessed and the Creator will continue to grant many blessings.

She retrieved her _ney_ and began to play, and this is what it sounded like: The wind moved through the valley, low and calm. The weight of it was heavy and palpable. The sound of the flute mimicked this wind. If one faced into the wind, the edges of one’s sleeves might move slightly. It would tickle the eyebrows slightly. The music, a tongue of wind, would move around one’s chin and lap at the back of the neck, under the turban or head covering.

Along the wind front, there were subtle smells. Memories of moist earth, pine branches, wet camel fur, and dry dust came to mind. The scents were in no hurry, and they did not rush past each other. Instead, they lingered and left, while the next arrived and tarried just long enough for the next one to appear in line. The music was low and melancholy, like each aroma moving along, wafting past.

A gentle undercurrent of something comforting, like a mother’s breast or the smell of butter tea being prepared, moved through the air. On the surface of this current, like a leaf riding the waves of a river, the main harmony reached longingly for the sky. It jagged up and down, like the ridges of the mountains that lined both sides of the Panjshir valley. As a man might climb along the ridge of the valley, bobbing up and down, sometimes going further down a ridge, then climbing back up, so did the music follow the same irregular stride.

The music lilted up and fluttered. It was the longing flutter of a mother’s heart for her infant. Then it sank and floundered. It was the suffering of a child who has lost their mother and cannot replace that warm embrace. 9001’s heart rent in two as the _ney_ produced these soulful notes. The music flooded out an apology to her father, whom she failed. Salty tears made the _ney_ sputter.

She stopped playing and the spell was broken.

Every eye in the yurt welled over with tears. The man of the house clapped slowly.

He said: It is a curious fact that anyone, even a child of five, may merely walk from here to Kashgar. The Silk Road goes through hills, valley, and even mountain passes. It passes in front of the tallest mountains that Ahura Mazda has created. But you do not even have to climb over a single boulder to go around the entire world. You can go north through the valley and follow the passes with the last caravan that passed through here no more than two days ago. You must confront the Elders and demand justice for your father.

9001 nodded. She wiped the snot and tears from the _ney_ with her sleeve.

She asked sorrowfully: Do you think it will matter? A thousand years from now, will they tell stories of people like us who lived in tiny yurts in unknown valleys? Do you think they will remember me, or my father, whom they barely met?

The man’s eyes glowed hotly. He said: Yes. Yes, they will remember you a thousand years from now. And another thousand later. They will listen to stories about you and they will not rest until they find out how it ends.

Tother Hand, chapter 7 part 4

But no matter! The treachery is too much! You must speak directly to the Elders. They will bring the lies to the light. They will bring the Masked Ones to the truth. Ahura Mazda, Creator of the World!

9001 said: I appreciate your kind words, father.

The man objected: No, no. No! Do not be formal. I do not deserve it. Call me “father’s little brother”.

9001 choked up and her words would not come out at first. Then, she said: Uncle…

She gathered her bravery though the tears and continued: Uncle, I am scared. I am not a good Healer. I have failed my father. He cannot meet his _fravashi_ because of me. I have not trained well. I was bested by a Masked One who has not even been formally trained in our arts. She made a mockery of me and killed my father. I killed my own uncle and made my aunt a widow. I have no one to turn to, and I can help no one. Not even myself. Ahriman may take me now!

As she exclaimed, she drew her triangular blade and turned it toward herself.

Her father said clearly: Daughter, stop! I am your father and I am proud of you. Put down your blade. Ahura does not accept the souls of those who kill themselves. The _fravashi_ cannot defend a spirit that is so helpless. You must learn to live, barely alive and scrambling, or else truly end it all now by driving the point into the scar on your neck… again.

Again? she wondered. And then she pushed forward into the gap between light and dark. She could see herself in the forest near their camp just before they were to set off. She could see herself a little distance behind her father, on the left side. She could see her posture was wrong: slovenly, leaning too far forward, legs too far apart, and heels flat. Her father stood in the correct position with equal distribution front, left, back, and right. His blade pointed outward and back in the left hand.

9001 watched in silent horror as the girl—her—leaned way too far forwards toward the point of the blade. She could see that her eyes were fully closed by this point. Her stance and practice were so horrible she had essentially tripped forwards and fallen onto her father’s blade. Her father turned as he realised the problem, but it was too late, the blade had slipped into her neck and she was sure to die.

Her father moved so quickly that his arms were a blur, even in the frozen time between the light and dark, he moved even faster. His body was still and his face was frozen in a concentrated grimace, but his arms moved like this: his left arm withdrew the blade, rotated and circled inwards, near his shoulder. The blade caught in the long tail of the _lungee_ turban he wore and as he turned his head and pulled the blade along, he tore off a piece of cloth about the length of his forearm. In two or three motions, he had wrapped up her neck with a tight makeshift bandage and then held the front of her neck with his right hand. He applied a great deal of pressure to her neck.

The look on his face was horror and contrition. Before her body had drifted to the ground, he said: I have failed my training in you. I would rather kill myself. May Ahriman take my soul in her stead. I have failed my daughter!

The magic spell ended and 9001 fell to her knees and put away her blade. The man of the house was frightened and held both his hands in front of his face. The man asked: What was that? What happened?

9001 said: I had a vision.

The man said: You stood frozen as if a statue; your eyes rolled up to heaven, and you mumbled. It was fearsome. Please spare me. Ahura save me!

9001 nodded. Power welled up inside her, and flowed out of her words. She said: I bless you, loyal and faithful follower of Ahura and our prophet Zarathrustra. I bless your family, and all your descendants.

Tother Hand, Chapter 7, part 3

She said: I curse you, uncle. You betrayed us. The _druj_ that you spread while you lived continues in death. You gave my father a false blade. You sent a messenger to warn our target that we were coming. You tried to falsify my blade, but didn’t act on it because you thought I was weak. You denied my birthright to become a Healer. You were a hateful and vile man who was self-centred. You… You…

Her voice faltered and tears ran down her cheeks under her face wrap. She pressed the cloth against her face with the crook of her arm. She continued with the curse: You killed my father who is now a lost _mainyu_. You tried to reach between my legs when I was asleep. You attacked me from behind and hurt me. I take no joy in killing you. I mourn your loss like any other person we have helped meet their _fravashi_. I also celebrate your reunion so that you may perform some good in the afterlife battle against Ahriman.

She wiped her face again and sniffled.

Her father said: I did not know what he did to you.

She said: I know.

She withdrew the blade from the back of her uncle’s neck with some difficulty. She cleaned the blade on his _patu_. She tried three times, unsuccessfully, to turn him on his back. She decided he would have to lay where he died, face down. She stood weakly and stumbled outside the hut. The cold air hit her clothes, damp with exertion. She shivered violently. She suddenly stood still as stone when she spotted a female figure standing away from the entrance.

The woman raised a small candle and 9001 realised it was her uncle’s wife. Her eyes were pleading for something, perhaps mercy.

9001 said as reverently as possible: Forgive me mother. Your husband attacked me. He betrayed my father. You gave us hospitality and we have overstayed our welcome. Your husband is going to meet his _fravashi_ and join the fight against Ahriman.

Her aunt-in-law fell to her knees and ululated wildly. She dropped the candle carelessly and it went out.

9001 was torn between comforting the woman and running in terror. She stayed rooted in the spot for several seconds until her father said: Run.

She ran silently in the opposite direction she had come to the compound, completing a full circle to get back to her camel. She did not encounter anyone but could still hear her aunt screaming as the sounds carried downwind.

She walked her camel all through the night, avoiding the main road. This made progress very slow and difficult, but it seemed safer. By dawn, she could make out the mountain range and the valley she needed to head towards. She joined a trail that was well-worn and continued nearly the whole day until she found a safe-looking yurt off the trail. She approached and tied up her camel behind the structure to be hidden. She entered and bowed to the couple inside. As was the custom, a tray of fruits and nuts was set out for any guests.

She sat down at the tray on some cushions. She bowed her head, making sure the _lungee_ covered most of her face. She coughed as deeply as she could and made a cutting motion near her mouth and neck: she could not speak. The young woman of the yurt nodded and motioned to a bundle on her back. The infant was asleep so it was better not to speak anyway. 9001 was relieved and nodded, but kept her eyes and head lowered. She uncovered her mouth only long enough to snack on the treats for guests.

Even though it was still light for a few more hours, she fell asleep on the cushions. She woke up well into the night. She went outside, found the hole that served for reliving bodily functions, and used it. She pulled her father’s _patu_ close and untied the camel, then continued on until late in the afternoon the next day. The terrain had grown hillier and the mountains rose quickly on both sides of the valley plain she was leaving.

She stopped at another yurt when she felt she couldn’t walk another step. She took the same precaution of tying her camel behind the yurt so that it would not be visible from the road. She entered the yurt and recognised the same family she and her father had stayed with on the way into the city. She almost turned on her heal to run away, but her host stopped her.

He said: You! Boy! Come in, we welcome visitors! May Ahura, creator of all, help all of us.

Then he said: You look familiar, but you are the girl I saw earlier! The Healers!

He bowed deeply and made his children and wife also bow deeply.

He said: You are my welcome guests, of course. Your father is still outside with the camels. Let me help him. Sit. Sit. Why are you dressed like a boy? I’ll go see your father, praise Ahura!

He scurried outside and 9001 uncovered her face. She spoke to the man’s wife. She cried: I’m sorry mother. I am alone. My father was killed in the city. I am trying to go home to a safe location.

The father of the house came back in, confounded. He said: But, your father is not out there, and you only have one camel. You are traveling alone… and you are crying, child?

9001 explained the events and drank two whole cups of butter tea telling the story. She left out any references to the arts and Perfect Sight, but most of the story was true and accurate.

The man exclaimed loudly when she was finished: By Ahura! Oh, please forgive me for taking his name. This story is nearly impossible to conceive. The Healers have always been a service to the people. If we did not have experts to take care of our dead and dying, we would be sick and unable to escape _druj_. You helped my father and mother! We celebrated your arrival and helped you on your way. If I had known you were on a mission…

But no matter! The treachery is too much!

Tother Hand, Chapter 7 part 2

She took one camel and some provisions back along the road her father and she had taken to get there. It took several days to travel, and during the time she planned her revenge on her traitorous uncle. At night, she preferred to sleep alone out in the open under a blanket, sleeping against her camel for warmth and shelter. This way, she would not have to meet anyone close up and blow her cover as a farmer boy.

When she came near the metal making compound a few days later, she veered off the road far into the adjoining pomegranate orchard on the side of the road. She walked a long way around the area, hiding between patches of trees and huts. She tied her camel to a tree some distance downwind of the bloomery. She would use the smell of the fires to guide her to the compound after dark.

She waited until the quarter moon had moved overhead, which indicated midnight. She removed the turban and used her female headdress to cover her face and head. There was just enough light to manoeuvre and she tested the air to make sure she was headed in the correct direction. She came up to the back of the bloomery where they had secured their camels previously. She paused for a long time, listening for any movement or people about. It was perfectly still.

Her father said: Do not do this.

She started and looked around. She asked: Why are you still here?

He said: You did not curse my body. My _fravashi_ does not know where I am. I did not get scared away from the worldly arena and now I follow you around.

She said tearfully: Father, I miss you.

And: I’m scared.

She felt him nod. He said: My brother did not mean any harm. I am sure of it. He did not betray us. I believe he meant to warn the Masked Ones and the Elders. He did not mean for them to ambush us and kill me. I think he is innocent.

9001 felt the anger and shame building in her from her encounter with her uncle. She said: He is a bad man, full of _druj_, deceit, and lies. I do not believe he is innocent. He must be guilty of harming you. He did send a messenger ahead of us to set a trap to get us killed. That must have been his intent. He delayed us with the new blade he created, which was false and he gave specific information about how to prepare defences and when we would arrive and who we would target.

9001 suddenly sneezed, twice in succession.

Her father said after a long pause: My brother was right. You are not a Healer. I must have made a grave mistake when I chose you.

She asked: You chose me? You said the Elders chose.

She waited for a response. After a while, sensing his presence was gone, she gripped her triangular bronze blade and drew it out in her right hand. She pulled her headdress wrap more closely around her face and snuck around the wall, peering each way and behind her as she moved noiselessly. As she rounded one corner of the clay walls, she peered into the compound and could see and hear nothing moving inside. The fires were all covered with sand and dirt, but provided enough gentle light to verify the place was empty.

She entered and searched the workbenches for her father’s original iron blade. She wondered where it could have been. She focused her mind and crinkled her forehead in concentration. She unexpectedly entered the space between light and darkness, but something was different about this spell that she had created. As she looked around, she saw the same compound scene before her, except it was too bright. It seemed to be early morning.

She saw her uncle and one of his younger apprentices walking away from one of the clay bloomeries and reach down to a table to pick up a piece of dull grey metal. This was her father’s original rondel, she realised. He placed the blade into the bloomery with wooden tongs while his assistant operated the leather box they used as bellows.

Each movement was slow and watery, as if viewed from a distance, but still perceived close by. There were orange and blue waves of light rippling at the edges of her vision and she could not look away to see other things in the periphery of her vision clearly.

Her uncle turned in the slow methodical motion of the vision and she was shocked to see herself and her father entering the compound. Her uncle waved a casual greeting to her alternate self and her previous father, then he brought them over to another table and showed them something.

The spell ended abruptly and 9001 nearly fell to her knees, breathing heavily.

Her father said softly: You have achieved the Perfect Sight. I misjudged your talents.

She spat out venomous words, saying: Do you see now, father? Your uncle did betray you. When he presented the blade he was working on, he had already destroyed yours. Do you not see?

Her father said: The Perfect Sight allows you to see things as they were, not as you wish them to be. I cannot argue with that.

9001 exited the compound and followed the edge of the road to the house where her uncle lived with his wife. The moon was lower in the sky to the west. It indicated almost two hours had passed. She moved around the house to the front entrance and prepared to enter.

She took two deep breaths and forced herself into the space between light and dark just after she had blinked. She had entered the frozen time almost perfectly. The light from the moon was bright as midday. She moved with perfect timing and rhythm to lift the deer hide curtain across the doorway. Inside, the orange glow of the fire spirits dancing in the wood gave the hut enough light to navigate.

She moved towards the wooden divider behind which her uncle and aunt slept. She planned to kill them both if necessary; it would be very difficult to keep the frozen time long enough to move around the hut and she needed to escape afterwards. She noted a large man sleeping next to a slighter person under several pieces of hide stitched together.

A lonely wind blew across the plain. It meant: Behind.

She struck swiftly and too viciously at the necks of both people. She had lost her concentration and the glowing lights flickered dangerously. Her eyes had begun to close in the space of one full blink. Black bands moved slowly, sped up, slowed down, and then covered everything as she fell out of the spell.

A bright light exploded in front of her and she fell to the ground. Her training kicked in before she realised she had been hit. She vaguely realised her blade had fallen onto the floor somewhere. She rolled over onto her shoulder and drew her knees up. Someone collapsed on top of her, grabbing at her neck. She was grateful for the training her father had taught her because this was exactly the same escape she had practiced several times.

She reached across to her attacker’s far shoulder with the arm closest to the ground. She pulled the shoulder and arm down against her opposite ribs, trapping the elbow and upper arm. Then she used the leverage of her other hand to push against the ground and used her bent knees to push off the ground with her feet. Her attacker lost all contact with the ground and rolled onto his face with her now on top of his back.

She quickly reached under the armpit and reached under his chin to grab his opposite shoulder. This formed a triangle arm choke across the neck. She gripped her wrist with her other free hand and pulled back as far and as hard as she could lean. Her attacker tried to gain leverage with his legs and arm, but lost consciousness too quickly.

She held the choke for far longer than she thought possible, pulling as hard and leaning back as far as she could. Sweat stood out on her forehead and rand down her armpits. The man jerked several times, until he stopped moving completely. Only then did she let go. She quickly scrabbled for her blade and found it in the dark. She plunged it into the back of the neck of the attacker, pointed at his eyes to drive the blade into the brain stem.

She collapsed onto the floor and knocked over the divider. After catching her breath, she stoked the fire in the middle of the hut and examined the area. The two bodies she had struck behind the divider were merely wooden blocks carved to be round and the size of a human head. The man that had attacked her was unusually large and heavyset. His long bushy beard was unmistakable as her uncle.

Her father said: Breathe. Clean the blade. Curse the body.

Tother Hand, Chapter 7 part 1

Chapter Seven

9001 woke up slowly to the sounds of goats bleating and hot breath on her face. She sat up in the hay and startled two goats who bleated and bayed loudly. A farmer boy nearby dropped his wooden rake.

He called out _druxš_, which means demoness.

9001 responded: Not demoness. I am just sleeping here for the night.

The boy asked: you are the one who came by here with your father?

She responded: Yes, son. I have returned sooner than intended and I need to return with one of our camels to fetch some help for my father.

The boy ran back to the hut and the family came out apprehensively. 9001 dusted herself off and presented a story she made up on the spot.

She said: Mother and father, forgive me. My father and I came by the day before today. We left our three camels, do you remember? My father has gotten sickly and I need to get our supplies from a settlement nearby. I ask that you let me get one of my camels to make the walk there. I need to get some medicinal herbs to save him and I will be back this way in a few days.

The farmers were very apprehensive, for a woman must not travel unescorted. They would need to be responsible for their guest and her safety. 9001 argued that she had her father’s _patu_ so that she would only need to borrow a turban to pass as a boy. The farmer finally agreed to lend her his _lungee_ and cap. It was clearly a farmer’s _lungee_ but that would provide excellent cover for her story. The farmers finally agreed to her plan and felt indemnified of any wrong doing.

Tother Hand, Chapter 6, part 4

A wind blew through the trees and leaves rustled. It seemed like the phrase: Follow me.

9001 waited, unsure. The other woman held out her left hand as an offering. 9001 knew that back of the hand from somewhere. Something seemed trustworthy about the woman, so 9001 took the offered hand with her right and they scuttled around a corner and up a dark alley. It was very dark in the narrow street and it was nearly impossible to see with her head covering. However, the stranger never seemed to waver, even with that impossibly impractical veil.

They followed the street for a few tens of metres, then the stranger pulled 9001 left towards a low entrance, down some stairs. They entered the basement of a house or part of a cave entrance. 9001 felt the stranger move away and let go of her hand. Panic started to rise in her core as she stood in the darkness. Once, twice, three times sparks flew through the air and then a small flame sputtered in a niche near the wall. The Masked One lifted her veil to blow on the flame and 9001 came closer to look, but the woman was too fast and dropped her veil.

She took two candles and lit them from the kindling fire, then let it die out. She handed one candle to 9001.

9001 asked: What is this place?

The Masked One said: It is a _kariz_. This is an underground tunnel that brings water to the plains outside the walls. This entrance is an air shaft for this building that cools the house. Hot air spirits rise up to the top of the high ceilings above the sleeping areas and pull in the cooler air and water spirits from the _kariz_. All the houses along the access shafts use the _kariz_ for water and cooling in the summer. In fact, this house stores ice below us, brought down from the mountain in the winter.

As an afterthought, the Masked One offered 9001 her father’s blade. She had stolen it some time when they were in the dark. 9001 took the rondel back sheepishly.

The Masked One said, do not be embarrassed. Your father was very skilled but the blade is false. I saw the attack but I was keeping watch on the other side of the house. We knew you were coming. A Miner sent a messenger two days ago. He told us he would take your blades and switch them with lesser metals. The blade I handed you is merely some slag and muck. It looks and feels like _seric_ but it is not. I have seen real Damascus blades. That blade is just flint for lighting fires. Look, it is broken.

9001 looked closely at the blade and realised it was indeed shorter by several centimetres.

She continued: Your blade seems to be real. My father was killed by two strikes to the groin. We anticipated false blades, so my father wore precious stone jewellery in necklaces, bracelets, and studded on his clothes. We did not anticipate your attacks and blade.

9001 held her father’s blade forward in the bridge seeking position. She said: How can I trust you, then? I should send you to Ahriman now to be healed like your father.

The stranger did not flinch. She said: I could have defeated you already outside. I could have killed you inside the house or before the wall if you did not run so quickly. I could easily kill you with your own weapon and bring you back to the guards. But I have a secret motive. My father was not willing to let me rule. He was a controlling man and I am seeing a beneficial outcome from his death. So I am not angry and I can see something special in you that you cannot see. Please put down your weapon and I will show you how to escape.

2711 said: Go with her.

9001 wheeled around. The strange woman said: What is it?

9001 asked: Did you hear it?

The Masked One cocked her head inquisitively. She said in hushed tones: Perhaps it is the guards. We must move.

The stranger pointed at a carved and steep passage that led further down.

9001 objected: How do I know you will not lead me down and kill me if I go first? Then you will let me float out the tunnel to meet Ahura.

The other woman laughed and her veil danced and flapped. She said: I would not poison my people’s drinking water and block up the _kariz_ with your body. We do not have much time. The shaft to the tunnel is narrow and there is no room to turn around or travel in pairs. You will have to go ahead and I will give you directions at the bottom. Then I must come back up.

9001 relented and entered the steep tunnel. The tunnel was uneven in its steepness and varied in height. In some places, it was so narrow she had to turn sideways. And in others, it was so short that she needed to nearly crawl, which was very difficult with a candle. As she travelled about 20 metres, she could feel the cool breeze of air spirits moving against her up the shaft. She could also hear the dripping and burbling of a stream ahead.

Finally, she felt cool moisture in the ground and stepped into the edge of an underground river that flowed downhill. She turned around to face the Masked One.

The stranger said: Go with the water. It will guide you out to a reservoir at a farm past the wall. It is about 300 metres. You cannot fail or get lost. There is only one passable way to go. You must move quickly though, for it will be light soon.

She abruptly turned and left. 9001 walked along the tunnel, scrabbling along the wall with her free hand. The _kariz_ tunnel was larger than the shafts that led to it at regular intervals. 9001 could count her progress as she passed each shaft. Soon, the tunnel levelled out even more than the gentle slope higher up. She suddenly found herself wading out into a pond. She gasped when she recognised the very farmer hut her father and she had left that morning.

Exhausted, she made her way to the pens where some goats lived. She covered herself in some hay and slept.

Tother Hand, Chapter 6, part 3

She heard footsteps and several people starting to shout. She ran out the door and down the hallway, fleeing out the window and nearly tumbled down the wall. She unknotted the bottom section with her father’s _patu_ and wrapped herself in it as she fled blindly into the city. She found the arch with the square column and the carved horse’s head. She waited there for a while, shivering from fear and cold.

Her father said: Leave. They will find you.

She started at the voice. She looked around.

He said: I am not here. I am _urvan mazda_, a mind spirit. You must go.

She skipped down the thoroughfare in the dark. Skipping was easier, quieter, and more sustainable than running. She tried to skip from shadow to shadow. Occasionally she stopped behind a wall or in an alley to listen and watch for pursuers or guards. She could barely hear anything above the ringing in her ears and the beating of her heart. Fortunately for her, there was nothing to hear.

She was able to reach the gates but they were closed. The guards patrolled the area regularly and several were posted above the wall with torches. They would surely be notified about the attack soon, before the morning light when the gate would be opened. She could not merely wait for the gate to open. It was too large and heavy for her to move alone. The guards would quickly notice and attack in any case. She stood out as well, a young woman unescorted and wearing a man’s _patu_.

A delicate hand settled on her shoulder and she nearly cried out, but caught herself. Instead, she steeled herself and settled into a fight stance called the horse. She pushed herself into the space between light and dark. She was glad that she had frozen time nearly perfectly. The street and wall of the building near her were illuminated brightly in pale moonlight. Her eyes were nearly wide open. As smoothly and calmly as she could, she turned on the balls of her feet, shifting with her hips first. She drew out her father’s rondel in her right hand as she spun.

The person behind her had withdrawn their hand from her shoulder. 9001 slashed in the direction she was sure her attacker stood. Even if she missed, which she did, at least she could clear an area to move into and form a new stance facing her enemy. To her dismay, the person who had patted her shoulder was able to freeze time as well, or at least seemed to move as quickly as she had only seen her father moving.

As she formed her second stance and faced the attacker, 9001 could see that the person wore a woman’s shift like hers, but ornately decorated and made of fabulously expensive silk, ribbons, buttons, and precious stones. The woman was close to her own size and moved her hands and feet in a practiced, methodical manner. The forms were not known to 9001, but they were a close dialect of her own form.

She swung with her knife hand to slash at the closest body part on her attacker, which was the forward shoulder on the attacker’s left. She soon realised she was leading with the right and knew she had made a mistake. The other woman’s bridge hand lead with the left and came up under 9001’s wrist. A quick twist of _huen sao_, circuling hand, flipped the knife out of her palm easily.

9001 confidently struck towards the other woman’s chin, stepping forward to close the distance. The other woman’s _bong sao_, or wing arm, cut her off and effectively moved her fist away harmlessly. Before 9001 even had a chance to react, the other woman had already counter-attacked and nearly clipped 9001’s chin. Her _wu sao_, guarding hand, had been in the correct position by some happy providence. She was able to move the _wu sao_ against the elbow of her attacker so the arm passed in front of her nose.

9001 struck at the attacker’s throat with _biu sao_, darting fingers with a flat hand, palm down. Her elbow was moved aside with _fook sao_, the hook hand. The attacker’s other hand moved over the _fook sao_ and struck 9001’s deltoid, then applied negative pressure upwards on the elbow, hyper-extending it. 9001 rotated slightly, pulled her arm back and then swung it the long way, down and around to escape the _fook sao_. It was a long, slow and exposed escape, but at least she avoided getting locked up, or spraining a joint.

So it went for a few rounds, 9001 would attack and get blocked easily, then she would have to regroup faster than she had ever trained with her father so that she could block the counter-attack. She was winded and the lights began to flash with alternately long and short shadows as the rhythm of her attacks and blocks lagged and rushed the distances between light and dark.

It seemed to 9001 like she had been fighting for ten minutes, but she realised it was only ten blinks. Her mind was distracted by these calculations because her attacker easily darted to her side and kicked her stance out from under her at the knee. She collapsed out of the spell and fell on the ground as the darkness settled over the area. She scrambled for her father’s blade a few feet away from her.

She turned toward her attacker who stood over her triumphantly. She heard nightingales singing and a Euphrates jerboa laughing. It sound like: Ha ha, that was fun.

9001 was confused. She made a sound like the cicada whirring in the heat. It meant: How do you speak the silent language?

The woman laughed out loud this time. She said: Sister, you are so funny.

The familiar address was startling. The accent was strangely stilted but clearly understandable. The woman must be the same age as her. She also wore a silk veil like the Masked Ones. How was it possible that a Masked One was trained as a Healer?

9001 held the blade in front of her, trying to get her feet under her. The woman offered her left hand to help, keeping it safely out of reach of the blade. 9001 transferred the blade to her left hand and then grabbed wrist-to-wrist with the stranger. She was lifted to her feet easily.

9001 put her blade away and panted heavily. She rubbed her shoulder and elbow. 9001 said: Who are you? What do you want?

The woman shushed her. She said in that stilted, perfect but informal accent: Be quiet. The guards are looking for you. I will help you escape.

A wind blew through the trees and leaves rustled. It seemed like the phrase: Follow me.

Tother Hand, Chapter 6, Part 2

They made their way back to a convenient spot where they could observe the front of the capitol building entrance. As the sun began to set, the procession returned along the major street and guards opened the entrance to let them file in. The palanquin entrance on the second palanquin in the procession was slightly open, and a foot was visible up to the ankle. The rest of the leg was not visible inside the palanquin.

A dog barked and some chickens clucked insistently. 9001 conveyed the message: Why don’t we attack with the Healer speed when they are outside?

Her father shook his head in the negative. A rock shifted in the sand and a bird called once, twice. It meant: It is too risky. We cannot escape if we even succeed.

They waited there until long after dark when everyone else retreated inside a shelter. Then they waited even longer until it became bitterly cold. The lamps and lights inside stopped moving around, then eventually went out completely. An owl hooted: Go.

They crept silently toward the building wall on the side where they had spotted a ledge and window opening. 2711 unwound his turban and took off his _patu_, woollen coat. The turban was approximately 6 metres long and an additional perhaps 2 metres for the _patu_. He tied them together and wrapped the cloth at 1 metre lengths with 4 knots. 9001 grabbed one end and her father hoisted her up on his knee. Leaning against the wall with her leg and hand on one side, she lifted her other foot so her father could use both hands to throw her up an extra metre.

It took three tiring tries, but finally, the knot at the top caught on a wooden abutment on the ledge. 9001 hopped down and tested the strength of the cloth and attachment. She lifted herself up and planted both feet on the wall to climb up, using the knots for hand holds. She was able to get to the ledge and ducked inside the window. The window let into a hallway dead-end on the second floor of the building. She whistled faintly and a few seconds later her father appeared, hopping down into the hallway as silently as a cat.

They slowly edged forwards to the first corner intersection and peered both ways along the hallway. Nothing moved or made a sound. They moved toward a door, separated with dark cloth curtains. 2711 parted the curtains and looked inside stealthily. He withdrew and moved to the next doorway, covered in lightly coloured cloth curtains. Her father looked inside again, but this time he strained to see something. His back straightened suddenly and he closed the curtains quickly. He lifted his fingers to his lips: Quiet.

Someone snored inside and shifted. They waited with increased breathing rates until the room went silent again. They moved further down the hall to the other end. A set of wooden doors blocked the next room at the end. 2711 held up his hand to caution his daughter. He pulled out his new blade from inside his shift. She did likewise with her blade, seeing the light-coloured reflective metal almost glowing in the darkness in her father’s hand. She noticed that the blade nearly glowed when viewed from the corners of her eyes. Looking directly at the blade made the glowing effect go away, and it because almost invisible.

Her father used the blade to reach between the door panels and find a wooden latch inside. He lifted it very carefully, then pushed gently at the door. Nothing happened but a creaking noise and a thump came from the left side. They waited, straining to listen for any other noises. Nothing moved. It dawned on him suddenly: he pulled at the door and it moved outward with a few squeaks and scrapes.

They filed inside the entrance and faced another door inside the anteroom. A flickering light inside froze them in their tracks. A candle was still burning inside, visible at the frame edges and between the planks of wood. 9001 began to panic and motioned to leave. 2711 shook his head defiantly. He moved forwards. The interior door opened and a man stepped forward, carrying a candle in his hand. He wore a thin silk mask that hung from a curiously shaped hat brim. The silk part of the mask hung nearly to his chest and waved with every movement and breath.

The eyes were barely visible behind a gap between the brim of the hat and the silk. They glittered in the candlelight, but did not betray any surprise.

A twig snapped: Now.

9001 pushed forward into the frozen time between the light coming from the candle. She had made a miscalculation, however, because she could not see anything at first. She moved forwards swinging her legs as she had been taught from each corner of a set of squares laid out in front of her. As her eyes opened finally, she noticed the room was full of dim but steady light. Her rhythm was perfectly in tune with the motion of the light. The flame on the candle wick did not move or gutter, but stood completely still. There were no shadows or bands of light and darkness in the room.

Continuing on in this way without rushing, more like swimming through water, she pushed forwards onto the right side of her father and swept low with the blade towards targets Six and Seven. Her father seemed to be moving upward towards One from the opposite side. She noticed that the Masked One was nearly as tall as her father with a very similar build. The silk mask in front of face held still in the middle of a wave, frozen solid. A few glints of golden light bounced off of his neck. Something familiar about the jawline and corner where it met the earlobe seemed to remind her of someone.

She ducked her head, though, concentrating on the first target and relished her ability to move so carefully and effortlessly in the space between time and light. She already knew the motion the blade and her arms, legs, and body would take. The whole path was planned out in front of her. She merely needed to follow along the path without forcing any effort.

She struck deeply and horizontally with her left hand in a backward slash at the groin crease. Then she reversed the motion to slash deeply at the same target on the target’s left side. She continued her momentum to the target’s left side and slightly behind him. She noticed with some satisfaction that he appeared to be falling back.

Everything sped forward as the spell broke and she heard the candle land before she heard two loud bangs in quick succession. The man must have fallen to the floor, she reasoned, turning around.

Instead, she saw both the Masked One and her father lying on the ground on their backs, heads rolled to one side. The candle sputtered and rolled around on its side, nearly going out. She turned her gaze further down the length of his legs and her father lay foot-to-foot with the same pose. She turned her attention to the Masked One’s head and spotted a large golden choker around his neck, filled with gems. This must have been some sort of armour protecting targets One and Two, she reasoned. She lifted the silk veil and could barely discern the features. Nevertheless, she sensed a familiar déjà vu seeing the side of the cheek and crow’s feet at the corner of his eyes.

The adrenaline of the exercise caught up to her and she began to hyperventilate from exertion and opened her mouth widely to pant. Spotted lights danced in her vision and darkness closed in at the edges of her sight.

Her father said: Breathe. Clean the blade. Curse the body.

She took to more panicked sobs and fumbled her blade on the cloth of the Masked One. She breathless mouthed the words: I curse you foul Masked One. I despise you and your kind, ruling over common people as tyrants. While others move around in yurts and poor huts, you take people’s wealth and live in fancy buildings. You cover your face in fear and loathing. You hide like the cowards you are. So the Healers strike you down and Ahriman take your body to _druj_. Your _fravashi_ will take you far away from here and you will never be seen again.

She sheathed her blade in his belt and took the blade from the floor next to her father’s left hand. She placed it on the other side of her belt wrap. It was long and uncomfortable against her hip.

Her father said: Go. Someone is coming.

She heard footsteps and several people starting to shout. She ran out the door and down the hallway, fleeing out the window and nearly tumbled down the wall. She unknotted the bottom section with her father’s _patu_ and wrapped herself in it as she fled blindly into the city.

Tother Hand, Chapter 6, part 1

The settled near a pond at the bottom of a hill. Two huts faced each other where an extended family lived. They offered their camels and supplies to the family for a week until they intended to return. They stayed the night and 9001 was able to sleep after the exhaustion of being on guard every day and night.

The next morning, very early, they moved east toward the rising sun towards the city walls. They waited at the gates early with a small group of farmers and foreign merchants. The gate opened and the people straggled in, dispersing in the city paths. Father and daughter walked along the main thoroughfare towards the middle of the city where the capitol building would have to be. Strange smells assaulted their noses. Some were inviting and delicious-smelling. Others were fetid and revolting.

As they wended along one side of town following a large road between buildings, they spotted an even larger crossing boulevard heading into the centre of the city. They turned to follow it. A procession of camels, squat Scythian horses, and many servant men walked towards them down the boulevard.

2711 held his daughter back and pressed up against a building wall, behind a merchant’s stall. As the procession went by, the bearing of the horses and men became more regal and erect. About 100 men seemed to be going by. In the last third of the procession, two large palanquins were hefted by twelve men. The palanquins were decorated with flowers, leaves, and garlands. Though they were both quite large, it was pretty certain that only one person rode in each one.

9001 strained to see inside the palanquins but was unable to make out the interiors. Above the din and bustle of the city, she heard a cock crowing. It meant: It is him, I know it.

They continued on after the procession and finally reached the interior part of the centre after an hour or more. They traded some rabbit furs for a few meals from a local vendor and paused in an open square. Her father surveyed the capitol building and its walls, looking for openings and entrances. They walked a circle around the building, pretending to admire it like tourists. Kabul was a large cosmopolitan city, and there were many people doing the same, which gave them cover.

At one point on the north section of the building, her father made a noise of a duck quacking, then fluttering away. It conveyed the meaning: Look up, there is an open window and a ledge. That is the way in.

They walked on as if nothing else was happening. They settled on the south side of a building, taking in the gentle warmth of the sun.

9001 said: Do you trust uncle?

2711 said: Always. He is my older brother.

9001 asked a question, but was fearful of the answer: What of your other brother? The twin full of _druj_?

Her father was silent for a long time. He said: Everything dies eventually. I will die and you will too.

They sat in silence, then moved several times to gain familiarity with the layout of the city centre and the roads. They mapped out a few ways to enter and leave the area, agreeing in advance to split up and return at a predetermined landmark. The landmark was a statue of horse’s head upon a tall square column. It formed part of a partial arch that led a major thoroughfare towards the city gate to the west.