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.