Thaqib stared into the girl’s eyes, trapped by their golden allure. For a moment there was silence as though time had stopped. A flicker of awareness swept across her face. The girl stood disoriented, stumbling backward into the cabin in fright.

“Whoa! It’s OK,” Thaqib said, holding his hands up, showing he wasn’t a threat. The girl was speechless, looking around as though trying to find her bearings. Thaqib stood up but this seemed to make the girl become defensive. “It’s OK, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He noticed a symbol on the shoulder of her outfit, a coiling serpent. Suddenly things became clear to him. “You’re one of the Order? Were you in that boat the cops were chasing?”

The girl didn’t respond, still looking scared, looking for a way to escape. Unexpectedly, the the girl noticed the disk hovering in the air, and for the first time he heard her speak, “Sol!” she said. Immediately the golden disk flew toward her. She received it in the palm of her hand and whispered to it. Thaqib stared in confusion, wondering what was going on. The girl looked to Thaqib as though the disk were whispering something about him. She seemed to relax.

“You’re telling her what’s happened?” Thaqib asked the disk, then realized it must look stupid that he’s talking to a drone. “Tell her I’m not a threat, I was just trying to help her.”

Suddenly she spoke. For some reason he’d believed that she’d speak in a different language. “I’m sorry,” she said, coming over to him suddenly. “Sol told me what happened. Thank you for helping me.”

“You can talk—” Thaqib said, voicing his thoughts aloud.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” the girl replied.

“I don’t know uh—” he managed to say, rubbing the back of his head. He suddenly felt nervous.

“My name’s Halima,” she said in a voice softer than any he’d ever heard, now accompanied by a warm smile.

“Uh—Thaqib. I mean—My name’s Thaqib,” he said, stumbling over the words, suddenly feeling self-conscious looking into those golden eyes.

“What is that thing?” he asked pointing to the floating disk, “A drone or something?”

“Drone—what’s that?” she asked.

Thaqib was perplexed, she didn’t know what a drone was? “You know—like a flying machine,” he replied.

“He’s no machine!” she said, taking offense.

Thaqib felt panic, thinking he’d offended her in some way. “Uh sorry I—”

Her face warmed again noticing his alarm. “His name’s Sol, he’s not a machine, he’s a living being and he’s my friend. You’ve never seen an elemental before?”

“An ele—what? No—I’ve never seen anything like… Him?” the disk chirped as though it understood everything. Thaqib looked at it curiously, still not understanding what it was. He looked back to Halima, “So, are you? Part of the Order? I mean—were you on that boat? Did you fall overboard?”

“Overboard?” she replied, sitting down on the bench, suddenly overcome with fatigue. “No, I crashed, in the water. It’s all a blur.”

“Damn, I though I saw the boat get away. How about the others? Are they OK?”

“There were no others,” she said, considering. “Unless—” Halima suddenly stood, looking out through the doorway into the night. “Sol, did they follow us?” the disk whirred in the air and chirped. “They did?” Halima said in alarm.

“Who?” Thaqib asked.

She turned to him suddenly, her once warm eyes now tense with concern. “Please, we must get off the water,” she replied.

“It’s pretty rough out there, probably best not to just yet—”

“Please, we must!”

WOOOP

The sound caught them both off guard,

“What was that?” Halima asked, eyes wide.

“Damn, sounds like B.C.P.D!” he said as a sudden realization occurred to him, “That flashing light! They must have seen it—the one uh— Sol gave off. If they find you here we’ll both be in trouble!”

“B.C.P.D?” She asked.

“Yeah the cops—the police? You know?”

She looked at him blankly. “They’re after me?”

“Yeah, they were after your boat. Don’t you remember?” He peeked his head out and saw the lights of a police cruiser flickering through the rain, getting closer. “Look, you gotta hide, understand?”

Halima looked to Sol then back at Thaqib and nodded. “Where?”

“There’s only one place, but it’s not gonna be pleasant. Follow me,” he said leading her back out onto the soaking deck.

He took her to the large hatch to the hold and pulled it open. Inside, it was pitch black. Thaqib looked to Halima, “I’m sorry, the trash hold is the only place to hide.”

Halima looked in, “Then that’s where I’ll go.” She looked at Sol and as though communicating to the golden disk with her mind, it flew inside and illuminated the hold. She climbed in after it.

She looked up at him and smiled.

Thaqib looked down at her, kneeling as he closed the hatch, “Don’t worry I’m no friend to the cops, I won’t let ‘em find you,” he said, nodding in assurance. Halima disappeared into the dark and he closed the hatch firmly as he heard the roar of the cruiser’s engine pulling up against the barge. He quickly made his way over to where it was landing, trying to act as inconspicuously as possible.

He stood, waiting in the rain as agents emerged, tethering the cruiser to the barge.

A stream of agents came aboard the ship, each dressed in black uniforms of the coastguard. The final person to come aboard however, didn’t look like any police officer he’d ever seen. The man was cloaked from head to toe in a long robe, he moved with a swiftness that made him appear to float. What shocked Thaqib the most about this strange man was that his face was partially obscured by a chrome plated cybernetic implant, gripping his face like fingers. Only the Babylonian elite could afford such a modification. The man’s face also seemed paler than the average Babylonian. His eyes were piercing and cold.

“Are you the only one on board?” the man hissed, “Why is the net not running?” The man’s tone gave Thaqib chills.

Thaqib struggled to find the words in the face of the fear he felt. “Y—yeah, it’s just me. I had to stop it ‘cause of the storm—was jamming up the winch-arm.”

“Have you pulled up anything strange?”

“Strange?” Thaqib asked, trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible, “Like what?”

“Like anything,” the man said menacingly, stepping toward him.

“Just trash as far as I know, Sir. Haven’t had a chance to inspect anything with this storm—been keeping indoors mostly,” Thaqib replied.

The man grumbled. One of the agents approached the man, “Master Abbas, would you like us to search the ship?”

“Of course I want you to search it!” Abbas replied, causing the agent to scurry off quickly as though he feared for his wellbeing. Abbas turned his attention back to Thaqib who stood completely still.

The agents quickly spread out upon the barge, some heading into the cabin, others running along the deck and onto the trash mound that was waiting to be sorted.

Abbas peered at him intensely. Thaqib felt uncomfortable as though his mind were being probed. “What is it about you? I sense something strange.”

Thaqib was caught off guard, “About me?”

“Sir, we found something!” said one of the officers emerging from the cabin. Thaqib’s heart jumped, had he left something in there? Some evidence? He felt uneasy, anxiousness crept over him.

“What is it?” Abbas asked as the agent came over, holding something in his hand. He handed it over and Abbas’ eyes widened. He looked back to Thaqib. Thaqib felt panicked—what had they found? Had Halima dropped something?

“What is this?” Abbas said revealing the object. Relief washed over Thaqib when he saw what it was—the figurine of Sophia he’d found earlier. He must have left it in the cabin when he’d gone to pull the winch-arm in.

“Uh just something I found in one of the hauls.”

“You know what it is don’t you?” Abbas asked, studying him.

Thaqib wondered how much he should reveal. “Uh—just a toy or something?” he lied. “Just though it was interesting is all.”

“Is that so? I suppose you’re unaware that this is a deity worshiped by the Order of Zion?”

Thaqib gasped, his alarm real. “No—I didn’t know Sir!”

“You’re not a sympathizer are you? You do know it’s a crime to possess anything related to their religious fanaticism?”

“Uh—no way! I just found it in the trash. I didn’t know what it was,” Thaqib pleaded.

“You know, I was once a member of the Order,” Abbas revealed. Thaqib stared up suddenly in shock. “Hard to believe isn’t it.”

“But you’re—”

“Babylonian?” Abbas said. Thaqib nodded. “Well, all is not quite as it seems. The Order is weak, that’s why I left them, they’re clinging to a redundant way of life that vanished centuries ago, they’re a dying breed,” Abbas said handing the figurine back to Thaqib. He took it with hesitation. Abbas bent down, staring at Thaqib intently. “There’s something about you, that gives me pause, you seem different from the typical urchin we’ve encountered on the bay. I can feel energy coursing through you—weak, but it’s there. I wonder, do you practice cultivation?” Thaqib was shocked, how could he possibly know that, unless—this man was a cultivator too? Thaqib though it best not to reveal anything.

“Sorry—I don’t know what that is.”

“Curious. There’s something about you that intrigues me. Do you know what we’re looking for out here? Why we have the barges hauling through the night? Come now, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors.”

Thaqib scratched the back of his head, “That something came from the Veil last night and fell into the harbour?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Is—is it true?” Thaqib asked, unable to contain his curiosity and chance to get real information.

Abbas smirked. “Is it something you find of interest?”

Thaqib remembered, it was illegal to discuss the Veil and suddenly regretted letting on. Suddenly Abbas’ hand reached out toward him and grabbed him around the throat. Thaqib’s eyes widened in shock as he was lifted off the ground, his hands frantically trying to pry Abbas’ hand loose but finding it clamped hard like cold steel. He began to choke.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to punish you. That you’re interested is obvious. To be honest, it’s refreshing to meet someone that isn’t a cowering wretch. To feed your curiosity, yes—something did come out of the Veil.”

Thaqib’s eyes welled with tears as he struggled to breath. He heard the hatch being opened, in a moment of surprise he looked toward it, betraying his act of innocence.

Abbas noticed. “Something in there?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Thaqib’s throat was being crushed and he couldn’t speak.

“Oh, sorry,” Abbas said smiling and dropped him to the ground.

Thaqib gasped for breath, his face red.

“I asked you a question boy,” Abbas repeated. “Is something in there?”

Thaqib felt rage surging inside him, overtaking the rational part of his mind that told him to keep his cool and not to get himself into more trouble. But as usual the rage took over. “Who do you think you are?” he said, under his breath.

Abbas looked down at him in surprise. A smile spread across his lips revealing his pointed fangs which glistened white under the barge’s floodlights. He waved the agents to investigate the hold. “If you’re hiding anything in there, today will be your last.”

The agent descended into the hold. Thaqib waited in cold anticipation, his heart thundering, hands sweating. After tense moments the agent emerged, shaking his head. “Just trash in here, Sir.”

Abbas turned back to Thaqib, staring at him intently, eyes narrowing, observing him, trying to read Thaqib for any hint that he might be hiding something. Thaqib stared back through eyes burning like hot coals.

Suddenly there was a buzzing noise, Abbas quickly flipped open a comm device attached to his wrist. “What is it?” he asked impatiently.

“Abbas, Sir. We’ve found something!” said an excited voice over the comm.

“What?” Abbas yelled.

“We’re pulling it out now.”

“I’m on my way,” Abbas yelled. “Back to the cruiser! Now!” he yelled out, not giving Thaqib another moment of attention. Before Thaqib knew what was happening, the agents were jumping back aboard the cruiser and speeding off into the distance. It took him a few moments, standing there to realize that somehow they’d made it through the inspection. He snapped to, remembering Halima was still in the hold and probably choking on the toxic fumes in there.

He ran, stumbling over himself in his hurry to open the hatch. He swung the door wide open and quickly popped his head inside.

“Halima, you can come out now.”

Halima popped out from a hiding place and made her way out into the open. “It’s safe?” she asked.

“Yeah, they’re gone. Something pulled them away.

“Yes, I know,” she replied cryptically.

Thaqib wondered what she meant but knew now was not the time for questions. There was no telling if the cops might come back. “We better get out of here before they think of coming back. I swear—they were this close to finding you down there.”

Halima smiled. “I’m good at hiding,” she said. Thaqib helped her back upon the deck as Sol emerged close behind her, buzzing over her shoulder.