Ntshona (4 page)

They had to stay clear of all forms of law enforcement, especially now that there was a chance that someone may have noticed the fault in the NGT system which made the two look like they had dodged paying for their ride. It was not an easy task though, as the holiday season always warranted an increased presence of law enforcement.

Lon and Eve had to take a longer route, an all the more frustrating issue for the pair as, for them, time was of the essence, or so they were hoping. They quickly rejoined the flow of people so as not to stand out in view of the two policemen, and at the same time they were carefully observant of other law enforcement personnel in the area.

“This is so annoying!” proclaimed an uncomfortable and frustrated Eve, “These wet clothes are starting to chafe”.

Lon agreed, “Yeah, I know, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Let’s just keep going forwards”.

The plaza area was massive, so walking from one end to the other was not a speedy task.

Between every few or so buildings was a street, some of them fairly dark at this time due to a lack of artificial light, but ideal for a hasty escape on foot, and difficult to be spotted by surveillance, should they be confronted on their way. Thankfully though, it seemed unlikely.

“So,” started Eve, “you haven’t told me why we’re going to your brother’s workshop”.

Lon mainly kept his eyes forwards, only looking from side to side, and sometimes briefly over his shoulder, to make sure they were not being followed. He restrained his volume to avoid people around him listening in, “Well, for one thing I think it would be safer than going to either of our homes. Another reason is because he’s good at figuring things out. Also, he should have the tools I need to fix our palm screens”.

This of course was logical, so Eve simply replied “That’s good”.

They continued onwards with minimal speech for approximately ten minutes. They could not cross the plaza square at any point due to where several policemen had positioned themselves, therefore they walked with the crowd till the end, but instead of continuing down the adjoined street, they broke off and went on to their left.

Lon’s brother’s workshop was in a building past the halfway point on this side on the piazza.

After several more minutes, and luckily no interruptions or confrontations, the two reached the entrance of a metallic blue coloured office building.

Lon was the first to proceed into the construction, followed by Eve at the heel. They walked through the lobby past the security and check-in desk.

“The good thing about workshops,” quietly whispered Lon, “is that they’re classed as ‘commercial establishments open to public trade’”.

“What does that mean?” asked a slightly confused Eve.

“It means,” said Lon, “that we don’t need to check in”.

“Thank god for that!” Eve exclaimed catching the attention of one of the security staff at the reception desk.

Lon quickly offered him a wide grin, to which the guard instructed “Keep your voices down,” then reverted back to the screen he was staring at.

“We’re lucky,” stated Lon as they continued walking, “he was probably too bothered about watching his soapies”.

There were pairs of lifts at the sides and the far end of the lobby. Lon directed Eve to the pair on the right, where he pressed the call button and waited for the doors to open.

Several seconds elapsed before the doors parted and the two slid inside, then turned to face outwards as the doors joined back together.

“Please take turns to state which floors you would like to go to,” came a voice from above them.

“Eighty-fifth floor,” confirmed Lon.

A moment of silence followed while the computer waited for more input. “Only one destination has been selected: the eighty-fifth floor. Is this correct?” asked the voice, to which Lon simply replied “Yes”.

Both Lon and Eve felt their bodies compress slightly as the lift rapidly rose.

Eve felt her ears pop shortly after.

The blue digits on the display above the lift entrance flashed every split second, indicating each floor they sped past. Around the eightieth floor the lift quickly began to slow, and came to a complete halt when the number “
85
” displayed above the lift exit.

“Eighty-fifth floor. Please beware of any gaps when exiting the elevator”.

The doors of the lift opened once again, and the two stepped out into another reception area.

A sign above them read “Silvertech”, and sitting behind the reception counter was a young woman in her mid-twenties, tapping away at her workstation.

She finished the sentence she was writing and began to look up. “Welcome to Silvertech Computer Services. How may I-” she realised who had come for a visit, “oh, Lon! Nice to see you”.

It was not unusual for many people in the city to work so late at this time of year.

“Mandy, is Chris still here?” inquired Lon.

The receptionist got to her feet, “Yes, let me get him for you”.

“It’s okay,” interrupted Lon, “we’ll just go through”.

“Of course,” said Mandy returning to her seat.

The two proceeded through a door behind the reception desk, on the other side of which was a long, somewhat rectangular room outlined by workbenches with electronic parts and pieces scattered upon them.

Spread across the work surfaces were numerous computer terminals to determine the centre of each individual workstation.

To the extreme left of the room was a semi-open, kitchen area half-hidden behind a wall, with the far side edged with full-length windows from where a few lights and the side of the neighbouring building were observable.

To the opposite side on the far right was a locked door with “
Server Room
” emblazoned upon it.

There were other doors and rooms within the rectangular area; meeting rooms, restrooms, and other rooms Lon was not certain as to the contents thereof.

It was not the tidiest of work spaces, but the nature of a workshop was to be worked in, and for a computer technician it was often counter-productive to tidy.

Furthermore, working with miniscule pieces and intricate circuit boards, as well as coding immensely large computer programmes was a regular task, thus comfort in the workplace was a must, hence the excessively loud Scandinavian Power Metal music blazing from speakers hidden within the walls around the room, which greeted Lon and Eve like a strong blast of wind.

“Shit, that’s loud!” yelled Lon.

Eve quickly clasped her ears to protect her eardrums from perforation.

The pair of them noticed that, as well as Lon’s brother Chris who was hidden behind a large, almost semi-circular, semi-transparent screen several metres opposite them, there was one of Chris’ employees working silently at one of the workstations on the left side of the room close to entrance to the kitchen area.

Neither of them noticed Lon and Eve’s presence.

“Chris!” yelled Lon, afraid to go any farther into the room in fear of internal bleeding brought on by the intense atmospheric pressure caused by the music. “Chris!” he again bellowed, this time much more loudly.

The other worker in the room glanced over his left shoulder to look at the pair, then acknowledged their existence.

Lon recognised the man as Tan, a long-time friend and employee of his brother. The clothes he wore gave him a very casual appearance, and, coupled with his longish, shaggy hair and thick, styled goatee, he always gave Lon the impression he had never worked in a non-technical role before that required regular human interaction; a true techie.

Tan swivelled his chair around to face the room’s two new presences and held up his hand as a gesture of salutation. Upon realising no verbal communication was possible due to the intense music, he gestured again, this time holding up one finger, and mouthing the words “Just a moment”. He swivelled back round to face his desk and began searching through the pieces of hardware in his workspace for something not too big that he could throw. After a few seconds he gathered up several parts that, from a distance, looked as though they could have been transistors or something of the like.

Tan launched the first object over his head at Chris, trying to capture his attention, but missed. He threw another, this time hitting the surface of the desk close to Chris, however still eliciting no response. The third he winged directly at Chris’ head, and somehow hit his target.

Although the force was not great, Tan managed this time to get noticed.

Chris pushed himself sidewards away from his monitor so as to inquire why the transistor-like object had been thrown.

Tan pointed towards the room’s entrance where his younger brother along with his companion stood.

“Oh!” it looked like he exclaimed, before quickly sliding his chair back towards his workstation to mute the music.

The air in the workshop immediately felt more breathable.

“You’ve really got to be careful listening to that music so loud!” shouted Lon at his brother.

“But we find it relaxing,” responded Tan in Chris’ defence.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter,” Lon went on, “if the police or someone find out you’ve been listening to it, you know you’ll get into trouble”.

Chris got out of his chair, “But only aggressive music is illegal,” he said in his own defence.

“That music’s pretty aggressive,” added Eve, “especially when it’s so loud!”

Chris shrugged. “Nobody’s gonna find out. Anyway, it’s not usual for you to pay me a visit this late these days. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Tan nodded in agreement and added “He’s right, you don’t come by often any more”. He focussed his attention on Eve, “I see you’ve brought a lady friend too. I’m Tanner, but you can call me Tan”.

Eve obliged him with a response, “I’m Eve”. She noticed he had a slight American accent.

“Nice to meet you Eve. Please don’t mind the mess, it’s how we work,” he returned his attention to Lon, “why don’t you introduce Eve to your brother?” he asked.

Eve quickly cut in, “No, it’s ok, we’ve met before a couple of times”.

Chris nodded in agreement.

Lon was getting impatient. “Chris, we really need your help with something,” he said.

“Well,” said Chris, “it depends what it is”.

“Can we talk in private?” asked Lon, before turning to Tan and adding “No offence,” to which Tan replied “None taken. I’ll just continue with my work”.

He swivelled on his chair one more time to return to his working position. “Oh, Chris, before you go into the other room, can you please put track six on?”

Chris accommodated the request and returned the music to half its previous volume before beckoning Lon and Eve through the door behind his desk.

“Wow!” exclaimed eve upon entering the new room. “This is a pleasant surprise!”

The three of them had just entered a dimly lit living room, complete with all the furniture and appliances necessary for living comfortably, along with a kitchen area. Furthermore, there was a series of full-length windows covering the wall space in front of them, through which a large portion of the eastern area of the city could be seen.

“Do you live here?” Eve inquired.

“No,” replied Chris, “but I sometimes stay here if I have to work late or come early in the morning”.

“There’s a bathroom and two bedrooms as well,” added Lon.

Eve was temporarily engrossed in the magnificent night-time vista outside the window, comprising the city’s eastern skyline, perhaps millions of lights, and a few of the brightest stars fixed upon the otherwise clear sky. She had to tear herself away so as to examine her more immediate surroundings, which, in the living room area, consisted of furniture, a tidy workstation, and a ceiling height television built into the wall, among other things Eve did not care to notice. “Wow, if this place is only where you stay when you work late, then what’s your proper flat like?” she asked.

“Forget that,” said Lon, “we need to sort this thing out”.

“So, what is it? What’s the problem?” asked Chris without the slightest clue as to what the issue could be.

“Well,” said Lon, “I’m honestly not sure where to begin, but basically, our friends Alta, Marcus and Andres were taken”.

Chris was puzzled. “Taken?” he repeated. “What do you mean?” He sat down on one of the couches positioned up against the windows.

“Well, we all went to that new
Mediterranean shopping centre that opened recently, and at one point when Eve and Alta were looking at clothes, the three of us guys were waiting outside where Marcus accidentally bumped into some guy who started a fight, and punched him in the nose and then… well, he called us all scumbags or something, so I kicked him in the head”.

At this Chris sniggered.

Lon went on, “Basically he got up off the floor and tried to attack Alta who was standing the closest to him, then… then there was a flash of light, then we could hear gunshots and people screaming. We couldn’t see much because of some thick smoke that had been set off, but I managed to see some…” he shrugged, “some riot police, or something. It seemed like they were just shooting anyone, so I grabbed Eve and jumped into the nearby canal and hid under an upturned boat”.