Plague

CHAPTER 18

Robert Greyjoy stepped off the plane in Dubai and immediately wished he hadn’t worn a suit. He was in a rush and that just happened to be what he was wearing at the time when he bought his ticket. Now he wished he’d bought some shorts and a shirt at the duty-free shop. But the terrible flower-print shirts they had were so atrocious he couldn’t bring himself to wear one. Better to suffer a little heat than feel out of sorts with one’s sense of style, he’d thought.

Dubai was one of his favorite cities. They served no alcohol, so he was unable to get one of his beloved Tonight or Nevers, but there were other things to focus his attention on.

Women were certainly not it. Many were covered from head to toe in traditional Muslim attire with chadars covering their hair, leaving only their faces exposed, which in itself was a major advancement for feminine rights in this region of the world. Drugs were difficult to come by as well. The penalties were so severe-the government wanting this to be a place of business rather than a pleasure destination-that most people who could supply the drugs stayed away or were pulled out of their homes in the middle of the night and never heard from again. There was a different view of law in this part of the world; something still medieval, cruel almost. Robert soaked it in and felt refreshed whenever he came here.

He hailed a taxi and the driver was a young man of about twenty. He wore a colorful tank-top, sweats, and stunk of body odor.

“Enlishezia?” Robert said.

“Yes, I speak English. Very good. I go to school.”

“Yes, I can see that. Your accent doesn’t interfere with comprehension.” The man gave him a quizzical look so Robert added, “You speak very good.”

The man smiled. “So where you go?”

“The mall please.”

Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world with just over twelve hundred stores. It includes aquariums, fountains, bars-where only juices and sodas are served-an ice rink, and a theme park.

As the cab pulled to a stop in front of the mall on Doha Street, Robert paid and thanked the man before stepping out. The heat was penetrating; something he hadn’t noticed in the air-conditioned cab. It sank into his skin and head and it seemed to even heat up his feet. He guessed it was over a hundred and ten degrees right now.

Robert walked in and began strolling down the main promenade, stopping at the Aldo store a moment to glance over a few Italian shoes. A man came up behind him and stood quietly until he was done looking at the shoes. Robert turned to him and they began walking together at an easy pace, taking in the sights and smells.

“I assume it’s done,” the man said.

“It is.”

“Was Thailand agreeable to you?”

“It was.”

The man nodded, staring at a group of young girls that were drinking sodas near a fountain. “Thailand is an unusual place. Not entirely civilized, not entirely savage. A place in evolution, though I think it’s unclear which way it will evolve.”

“Savage. The baser instincts usually win out over all else.”

“Not entirely true. Especially when a strong belief in God is present. Do you believe in God, Robert?”

“No.”

“You will. Everybody does. People may protest and talk about how unreasonable it is to have faith in an unknowable deity, but when their back is against the wall and they have nowhere else to turn, they always turn to God. It is simply how our psychology is set up.”

“I guess I’ll have to wait and see when my back is against the wall.”

“How is your partner?”

“She’s fine.”

“I noticed you spent a couple of extra days in Thailand. Sightseeing?”

“Something like that.”

“Do you love her?”

Robert hesitated. “What do you care?”

“I don’t. I was just curious. But I will give you some advice even though you don’t want it: love has no place in what we do. You have to have no connections, nothing you care about. That’s the only way you’ll survive. Love, in our business, will kill you.”

“Too late now. Besides, I don’t have anyone else to talk to. I think I’d go insane without at least one person I can be honest with.”

The man took a deep breath. “Do you ever get sick of this, Robert? Of living on planes, knowing people for days or weeks at a time, no family, no friends…I’m reminded sometimes of the traveling hobos you’d see in comic strips in the fifties. They went from one town to the next on trains, never really knowing where they were going and always forgetting where they’d been as soon as they’d left.”

Robert thought quietly a moment before answering. “Do you know how life works in the ocean? The large fish eat the little fish. That’s it. There are no laws other than that. No remorse or appeals or complaining. Everybody knows their place and accepts it. That’s how it is for us on land too. The ones with power eat the ones without power. We’re just not as honest about it with ourselves as the fish are. I don’t know about you, but I intend to always be the one doing the eating. Because the alternative is much worse.”

“Maybe,” he said absently, not looking in his direction. “Regardless, I’m retiring.”

“When?”

“Today. Right now. This is my last assignment with the agency.”

“Nobody told me.”

“Nobody knows. You’re the first.” The man stopped and sat down on a bench. In front of them was a magnificent fountain that had base lights on the floors and was lighting the water in alternating colors. “When I was going through the application process and I was strapped to the polygraph machine-this was the second day at the end when they ask the twenty questions they actually want answers to rather than just torturing us-they asked if I would kill someone for them. I said yes. Then they asked if I would sleep with another woman other than my wife if they asked me to. I’d done my research on these interrogations and I knew if I answered no they would end the application process and throw me out.

“I couldn’t handle that, Robert. I came from a small mining town in Colorado. The mines were the only employment there. Everybody went from high school straight into the mines. Twelve hours a day underground in the dark. I couldn’t handle that. So I said yes. Yes I would sleep with another woman if you asked me to. I went home and told my wife that. Two days later, I was accepted for training. My wife told me I could go to training or I could have her, but not both.” He exhaled loudly, staring absently at the water as it turned a bright blue. “I’ve regretted that decision for the past fifty years. She remarried and had two kids. They’re in their thirties now. Those were my kids, Robert. That was my life.”

“You’re serving your country in a way that no one-”

“Country, duty, loyalty-they’re all abstractions. Ideas in our minds. They don’t keep you company when you’re lonely, Robert. They just don’t.” He was quiet a long time and then said, “You have one more assignment from me.” He handed him a flash drive. “Honolulu, Hawaii.” He stood up. “Destroy the flash drive when you’re done.”

The man began to walk away when Robert said, “Wait.” The man turned. “We’ve been meeting for nine years and I don’t even know your real name.”

The man smirked in a melancholic way. “Jim. My name is Jim.”

“Jim,” Robert said. “I like that name. That was my father’s first name.”

“Goodbye, Robert.”

“Take care, Jim.”

Robert watched as Jim walked away and disappeared into the crowd. He glanced down to the flash drive in his hand. In a way, Jim had been the only friend he had had these past nine years. He was the only one who knew what he really was, what he really did. Briefly, he considered whether it was time for him to leave as well.

He put the flash drive in his pocket and stood up. Not yet, he thought. But soon.