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“Forget the letter, Alex. I think you should go and visit this agent in person,” you suggest, “If you have to write back and forth with each question and answer, you’ll die of old age before getting anywhere. Even a telegram would be better than this.”
“Since when did you become such a fan of the telegram?” Elle teases, nudging you with an elbow.
“I didn’t say I LIKED it, just that it’s more convenient,” you complain, “Compared with writing letters, I mean.”
“Believe it or not, there was a time when everyone wrote letters,” Alex remarks with a wan smile, “Somehow, we survived.”
“People survived living in mud huts and shitting in bushes, that doesn’t mean we should go back to those old days,” Ariel jokes, “Well, whatever. I’m going to send a nice modern telegram to Master Teilhard. What do you want me to tell him?”
You think for a moment, then shrug. “Tell him that we’ll come and discuss the situation in person,” you tell her, “Something tells me that he might prefer to keep this conversation off the record.”
Alex watches Ariel leave, a faint note of concern creeping across his features as he takes out a notepad and pen. “I’ll visit the agent in person. His office is in the capital, at this address,” he explains, neatly writing out the details, “I’ll be staying at this hotel. If anything happens, you should be able to contact me here.”
“I know I say this every time,” he adds, “But be careful.”
-
Flanked by a pair of soldiers wearing ceremonial silver breastplates, Davidian Teilhard is waiting to greet you when you arrive at Siegfried House. Giving you a curt nod, he turns and marches inside as you follow after, the doors swinging shut behind you with a firm sound. “Master Teilhard,” you begin, following in his swift pace, “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us on such short notice.”
“This could be a matter of some importance. I’m only too glad to hear what you have to say,” the old soldier replies, raising one hand and giving Ariel a curious gesture. She turns to you, pressing a finger to her lips to suggest silence.
Better not to talk about it in the open.
Master Teilhard leads you into his office, closing the door behind you and dropping the lock. “Reinhard Weiss,” he says simply, taking a paper file out of his desk drawer and setting it down before you, “One of the so-called revolutionaries currently tearing Rhyl apart from the inside. A very dangerous man, with very dangerous ideas. Some kind of radical egalitarian, by all accounts.”
He pronounces those words with a grimace, as if they left a vile taste in the mouth.
“Whatever he believes, I don’t want him to put one foot onto Agorian soil,” Master Teilhard, “But if the Tomoe really intend to smuggle him across the border, it may not be possible to stop them. Better that they never get the chance.”
[1/2]
