The Die by Jude Berman

Author:Jude Berman [Berman, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

As they sat on the front porch of their ashrama, Draupadi could not hold back any longer. She cried to Yudhishthira, “My body burns day and night with grief and humiliation! How can you be so calm?”

AT THE FARM: Darah

After we cross the border, Beers brews up a batch of mulled cider. At least for now, we’ve pulled off our escape. Outsmarted our enemies. It feels like a victory, and the cider, spiked with brandy, is a treat. We’ve been living on snacks, as if driving rest stop to rest stop for real. To be honest, I’m not even hungry.

Jedd locates a campground in a regional park north of Vancouver city limits. He says he’ll register the chariot and pay for a campsite. We’ll set up camp, sit around a campfire, sleep till dawn, then take off to catch the ferry to Nanaimo.

June argues that’s too risky. He’ll have to register the number of campers. The rangers will notice that six campers didn’t show up.

“I’m sure they have no-shows all the time,” Beers says.

“Especially this time of year,” Jedd adds.

June says that reinforces her point: we might have the campground to ourselves. Our physical absence will be glaring. We’ll be on record for not showing up. Defeats our whole purpose.

“Hey!” the kid calls over from his usual spot on the hearth. Even when you think he isn’t listening, he is. Now he’s chuckling. “Did you bring a tent?”

Beers turns and gapes at him. As do the others. Tracking all the details to avoid continuity errors is harder than we imagined. It takes seven alert brains.

Jedd is the first to recover. “We’ll buy one on the island,” he says, as if that’s what he planned all along. “A big one, since it won’t have to fit in the chariot.”

So we drive to a remote corner of the park, where we can pull off on a dirt road, without attracting attention, and be snug in our sleeping bags in the chariot. Anyone desiring more space can sleep under the stars. Either way, we should be good since no rain—or snow—is forecast. This isn’t the Bay Area, Jedd reminds us.

As I sip my cider, I keep checking the screen, reconfirming we’re still there. The whole situation feels precarious. Suddenly I have an alarming thought. “What if the chariot gets hacked? What if the Russians hijack us?”

“Don’t worry, Darah,” Jedd says. “They won’t.”

June points out he doesn’t know that.

“Not with absolute certainty,” he says. “However, I’ve taken every precaution to ensure our location is visible but not hackable. I also set up notifications to alert me if anyone tries to mess with my program. Even in the middle of the night. Especially then.”

He sounds calm, not a bundle of nerves like I am. Still, I find it hard not to keep checking the pulsating blue dot. By now the sun has gone down and the temperature has dropped to thirty-six degrees. We’re in for a cold night.

“How long will all this take?” I ask. “I mean, before we can go home?”

“A couple months?” Beers says.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.