EIGHTY-TWO: Disturbance

            “Misamen!?!”

She yanked her hand back. They were close. A disturbance in the Miasma that close, they’d take notice; she was too close, they would realize it was someone they didn’t know. 

            “Did they see me? Why am I talking to myself? Is this what Hopeful does? It’s annoying.”

            The room next door was silent. She turned to look at the bed behind her. It was empty. She heard the door jiggle. She opened the box at the foot of the bed. She took the dot out of the last slot and cupped it to her ear.

            “Taken for Water Therapy at 11:15. Will return at 1:45. Vitals are normal.”

            “Before the changing of the Guard. That’s convenient.”

            Arous stripped the suit and stuffed it under the mattress, jumped in bed and hoped for dirty sheets.

            “There’s no one in this room other than Intern Hopeful-”

            “You mean the patient-”

            “I just saw Hopeful walk in here.”

            “Nevermind,” said the Spartan Guard. “It must have been a disturbance on another plane.”

            “But Hopeful just-”

            “If you paid more attention to what door she walked into instead of her wink and smile maybe you’d known where she was.”

            They left the room and Arous’ mind scrambled. How did they know? The Spartan Guard? How did they know she tried to port?

            “Unless the Spartan Guard are Miasmen . . . that would mean Simon . . . ”

            She was talking to herself again. She stopped herself short and could feel her chest pounding.  It sounded like a large drum played just under the bed and vibrated her chest. If the Spartan Guard were Miasmen, that meant Simon was a Miasman, that might mean . . .

            But, it couldn’t be that all of them were. She was panicking, she had to follow the logic to calm herself down.

            “It can’t be that every Spartan Guard is a Miasman, they can’t all  be. They couldn’t hide, they need to be able to hide to pass off as myth. Think, think, what is the link, what makes them special. Special. Special.  She remembered the Grey Guard she saw at the Temple, she thought about what MiJin said about the eyes of the Grey Guard that escorted her on the hyoc. Outside this door there are only Spartan Guard. Unless there is a Miasman in the room with my mother . . . ”

             That didn’t make her feel much better but she had calmed down.

            Worse, she realized that whatever advantage of surprise she had may already be gone.  But, if Simon knew, why didn’t he come in himself.  If what Jude said was true, he would stop her. If what Jude said was true and Simon wasn’t her friend, then on Ricci’s orders, he may just be waiting to take her out.  If Ricci was the Miasman, Simon would have to follow those orders.

            But, Arous couldn’t go back now. She had to get in that room and see for herself if her mother was there, alive, well. She had to know even if it killed her. The only way to get in that room is to cause a real disturbance. There was a perfect candidate for creating a disturbance and he was already here.

            Jason.