Sachiko stood by the side of the road, regretting her decision to try kicking her broken rental car; it hadn't helped, and now all she had was a still broken car and an injured foot. It was in the middle of August by now, and she still wasn't anywhere closer to finding Alexander. But she couldn't even think about her long time failure so far to turn up anything; her far more pressing concerns were what she was going to do right now.
Her car had broken down well over 500 miles away from Ankara, it was nearly and the pouring rain both painful and miserable; but most distressingly of all, the sky was filled with the lights from explosions that seemed dangerously close. Twice already, a number of fighters had passed by overhead, presumably heading to assist in the battle that seemed to be increasing closer.
She should've expected being surrounded by violence; she was in Turkey, after all. That was what had brought her here, even. But it was still a terrifying thought; if one of those bombs went off just a little bit closer....
And so Sachiko stood by her car, in the pounding, cold, painful rain, as the night exploded far too close to where she was. It would've been dry inside her car, but she knew that her best shot at surviving this would be to pray that someone would pass by; and she'd be able to steal a ride. Probably from someone just as happy to get away from the nearby battlefield as she was. So she stood there, shivering and soaked to the bone, clutching the luggage with her belongings in it close to her.
She'd been there for nearly half an hour before a car finally came by. It flew right past her at first; but then it backed up, stopping right in front of her, then landed.
The passenger door opened; Sachiko saw a light-skinned woman with bright red hair sitting inside, looking at her.
"<Little sister!>" the woman called out at her, in Russian-- shouting over the rain and the sound of explosions. "<Are you alright?>"
Sachiko rushed over to the open car, shivering visibly.
"E-English? I'm... I'm... n-not R-R-Russian," she stammered, so cold she was barely able to speak.
"Neither am I," the woman responded, looking concerned. Sachiko realized that not only did she speak English, but had a very noticable Texan accent. "Come on, girl, get in! You're going to get hypothermia!"
Sachiko needed no more encouragement and immediately scrambled inside the car. She sat down, shivering and soaking wet, immediately feeling relieved at how warm it was inside the car.
"God, you look terrible," the woman said, sympathetically. "Car's broken down, I take it?"
"I-it... it won't fuckin' fly! I d-d-don't know what's wrong," Sachiko stammered, her teeth chattering.
"There there," she said softly, putting her hand on Sachiko's soaking wet shoulder. "I don't know what to do about your car... I'd offer to stick around and wait for a tow, but I don't think that's too wise. Ain't safe to stay around here long. I nearly got blown clean off the road by a stray shell, just twenty miles back."
"Th-that's okay," Sachiko said, shivering; far more interested in self-preservation than the safety of her rental car. "C-c-could you j-just give me a ride?"
"Of course, sweetheart," the woman said with a smile. She reached over to the dash, turning up the heat. "I can take you as far as Ankara, anyway."
"...w-where I was headed anyway...," Sachiko murmured. "Th-thank you..."
"No, it's no problem. Is that all your stuff?" she asked. Sachiko nodded. "Well, then, grab the door; let's hurry up and get out of here."
Sachiko shut the door, and with that, they flew off. The car sped off into the night, and both were thankful to discover that the sounds of bombs and gunfire seemed to be getting farther, not closer.
After ten minutes of silence, Sachiko seemed to have warmed up and dried off enough to at least not be constantly shivering.
"So," the woman said, "what's your name, miss...?"
"Sachiko," she answered. "Sachiko Yazawa."
"Ah. I'm Alanna; most everyone just calls me Ally, though," the woman said, putting her hands behind her head. She turned to look Sachiko in the eyes; Sachiko was initially too occupied with avoiding hypothermia to notice, but she realized that Alanna was, in fact, remarkably beautiful. She smiled a bit, and Alanna continued, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Sachiko. 'though it sure could've--" she was interupted by an explosion in the distance "--been under better circumstances. You feeling warmer now?"
Sachiko paused, giving a bit of thought. "Yes. Drier, too. I don't think I'll die of exposure, now, so I can't bring myself to complain." After another moment, she added, "And given that you saved me... I certainly couldn't think of better circumstances."
"Ah, I suppose so," Alanna laughed. "Sorry about your car, though."
"I'm not especially. I should probably call it in, but it was just a rental, and not a very good one. Worst thing is that I'm not going to get my ten thousand euro deposit back," she replied, shrugging. "It could be much worse."
"Now 500 hundred miles to Ankara," the car announced.
"I'll say. This ain't a great place to be having car problems-- hell, right around now, it ain't a great place to be, period. Rebels're tearin' up the countryside all over... as I'm sure you've noticed," Alanna said. "If you don't mind my asking, what brings you here?"
"I'm looking for someone," Sachiko sighed, looking out the window. "Alexander, my older brother. He was supposed to be with the NATO forces here, but... as far as anyone can tell, he just up and disappeared."
"Aw," Alanna frowned. Sachiko felt Alanna put her hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her; it felt warm. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I'm not having much luck so far," Sachiko said quietly.
"I'm so sorry, hon."
"It's okay. I'll find him," she said. "I will," she added after a moment's pause, determined.
They travelled on in silence for another good hundred miles. Sachiko spent most of it staring out the window; staring at the little visible landscape, through the pouring rain, as they sped by. Every few minutes, she saw the sky lit up by another explosion near off, but they seemed to be getting farther and farther away.
"So," Sachiko said at last, breaking the silence. "You sound American-- what are you doing in Turkey?"
"I'm... a journalist," Alanna said, after a bit of hesitation. "I'm in a bit of a weird situation right now. It's the freelance stuff that pays the bills-- for example, you'll be able to read all about that battle we're getting the hell 'way from in tommorow's New York Times-- but I'm also sort of doing my own sort of personal investigation on my own."
"Really," Sachiko said, with sincere interest.
"If you're curious... well, I'm not sure I can even explain. I got an odd lead from a Soviet reporter, about some political shuffle that apparently got hushed up," Alanna tried to explain. "I mean, that ain't surprising, there's hardly a political shuffle in the Soviet Union that ain't hushed up. But supposedly it's something real big-- could influence whether or not they go to war again soon.
"I haven't heard from him since," Alanna added, with a shudder. "The reporter, I mean. I don't know what happened, but... well, given he was in Ukraine, it's not a good sign."
"You think he's...," Sachiko trailed off, mortified.
"Well," Alanna started soberly, crossing her arms and turning her head to look at Sachiko. "I hate to assume the worst, but out in the East, 'hushed up', usually means 'lots of people disappear forever.' It's not encouraging."
"That's horrifying," she said.
"Yep," Alanna agreed. "I don't think it's going to go anywhere, but given the circumstances, I figure I owe it to him to at least try investigating."
"Well, if you're a Times reporter... you'll probably have better luck in your investigation than I will," Sachiko replied, her voice half filled with admiration. The other half was dejection.
Alanna stared at her, feeling bad. After a moment's thought, she said, "Maybe I can help you."
"How?"
"Well, I've been around these parts more'n a few times. If your brother's really deserted, I know where to look around better than most people you'll talk to do," Alanna said.
"Really?" Sachiko asked, surprised by the offer. "You would?"
"Sachiko, hon... while I've been chasing this little mystery, I've discovered that there's just two things I need: good company, and a good story every now and then to pull in enough money to buy juice," she answered. "But... if I can get both of those, plus I can help a cute young lady in search of her lost big brother? I'd love nothin' more."
It took her a second to absorb that, but once she did, Sachiko couldn't help but giggle. "Thank you so much," she said. "You're amazing."
"Like I said," Alanna shook her head. "Pleasure's all mine."
An hour later, they'd driven across nearly the entire country, and had
arrived in the de jure capital, Ankara. Alanna landed her car in a rental
drop-off spot, and led Sachiko to a very expensive looking hotel. The
building itself was a tall, gray cylinder, with hotel signage at the very
top, and windows covering the entirety. Very 20th century architecture. It
didn't stand out in the area so much as every other building did; as far as
Sachiko could see, every building around her looked incredibly different,
with striking clashes of age, and both Eastern and Western designs. No two
buildings seemed to look even similar.
Even at night, it was rather warm; a sharp, but pleasant contrast from the cold, rainy misery she'd just escaped from. Alanna noticed too.
"This is more like how it is normally," she commented idly. "Bad luck you had; that was probably the only rainstorm in the whole of northern Turkey for this season."
"If only it were the only skirmish," Sachiko replied dryly.
"If only," Alanna said. They walked into the hotel lobby, Alanna immediately heading to the bar. "I don't know what your plans for the night are, but first off, I need to get a drink and call in my story," she explained. "In that order."
"Sounds good to me," she responded, and the two walked inside the bar.
It was little after 2 AM, and the bar was packed and noisy; filled mostly with foreigners in business suits, and the chatter filling the air was mostly in English.
"Do me a favour, hon, find us a table? I'll bring you a drink, it's on me," Alanna said.
Sachiko nodded and gave Alanna her request. They split ways and Sachiko spent a good minute scanning the room for a free table before she found one. She took a seat and thought about the American journalist she'd just met and been rescued by; her offer of help was certainly more than she was expecting. She couldn't help but be taken aback.
Alanna returned after a few minutes, and sat down across from her. "Here you go, Sachiko," she said, putting her beer down and sliding Sachiko's orange drink across the table. "Your screwdriver. The bartender commented that it was pretty girly-- I think it's fitting," she said, with a grin and a wink.
"Um," Sachiko murmured, confused by the comment. "Uh, thanks.
After a moment's pause, she added, "For the drink, I mean."
Alanna smiled and took a long sip. "Alrighty, time to call it in," she announced, rooting through her purse before she found her blue cell phone. "Dial Ms. Thompson, New York Times," she said into the phone, and waited a few moments as it wrong. "Hi, Kelly? Yes, it's Alanna Cassner, I'm actually calling from Turkey..."
Sachiko drank slowly, watching Alanna as she talked on the phone. She had no idea who Kelly Thompson was, but she assumed she must be some sort of editor at the Times; all she knew for sure was that Alanna seemed to be dominating the conversation quite effectively, and seemed like she was getting her way. Alanna really must be some sort of big shot reporter after all, she was left to conclude. She stared, both in curiousity and admiration.
"Okay, so I'll get those to you," Alanna said into her phone. "Alrighty. Yeah, you too. I will. You take care." She clicked her phone shut, looked up at watching Sachiko, and smiled. "Sold," she explained.
"Ah," Sachiko said, nodding.
"Now," Alanna started, pulling out both her wallet and the tablet computer from her purse; starting to set up the latter, "I just have to connect to the American internet, mail it in, and then I'm all yours for the night."
"Uh, okay," Sachiko responded quietly.
Alanna started tapping at the screen, digging for her social security card from her wallet and swiping it through the side of the computer. She tapped at the table impatiently, "Come on, hurry up..." She seemed agitated as she waited for the computer to dial; it was the first time that evening since she'd gotten in the car that Sachiko had seen Alanna with anything but a calm grin.
Alanna hit her computer. "Okay, it's sent," she announced, and dumped everything back into her purse. "My attention's solely on you now," she said, pausing. "So what's the plan?"
"I don't know," Sachiko said.
"Well... where were you heading before I picked you up?"
"Here, actually," she answered. "Not this hotel-- Ankara, I mean. But it's just because it's safer here... I don't really have any more leads. I'm completely lost."
"Hm," Alanna said, thoughtfully. "Tell me all about it. I might pick up on something you missed."
"Um, where do I start?" Sachiko asked, confused.
"From the beginning, hon. When did you first suspect he was missing?"
Alanna lit a cigarette and listened, as Sachiko started her story from the top, explaining about the letters she'd received, and how she felt guilty about waiting so long before she realized something was amiss. Alanna led her on, asking questions occasionally, getting Sachiko to explain about how her brother was a Sergeant with the French forces, and how she'd managed to find his last place of deployment, how they were the only two surviving members of their immediate family, and all sorts of other, tangentially relevant things. Two rounds and an hour later, Alanna had heard enough.
"Poland," she said calmly.
"What?" Sachiko looked confused.
"If you're deserting, you only really have two options: defect to the second world, or hide in the third. Judging by the letters, and what you've told me about him... I don't think he'd last too long in Africa, and he's smart, so he probably knows it. So he must have defected," she explained.
"Okay... but why Poland?" Sachiko asked.
"You can't fly out of Turkey, or any other western airport; they check ID for all passengers, he'd get picked up immediately. But most of the railways in western Europe still don't bother, especially the private ones. It'd just be a matter of catching a train that has connective service with the Transeuro East. I think he'd be nervous about trying to defect to the Soviet Union directly; too risky."
"So... what, the safest country to run to would be Poland?"
"Naw," Alanna answered, her accent starting to be more noticable after a few drinks, "the safest's East Germany. But you two grew up in France, so I'm not seeing him being thrilled to go there."
Sachiko smiled and nodded, "No, definitely not. Oh, you should've heard Alex after what happened at the last Olympics...," she reminisced, suddenly seeming sad at the memory.
"We'll find him," Alanna said reassuringly. "It's just a matter of tracking him down."
"Thank you, Alanna...," Sachiko trailed off, staring at her.
Alanna smiled. They sat there, in silence, for a good whole minute.
"So... what now?" Sachiko finally asked.
"The good part is we're not going to get stopped at the airport, unless you're actually somehow on a No-Fly list," Alanna said. "And since you'll be travelling with me, you'll enjoy the perk of not having to defect to the Communists just to get into the bloc. We can fly straight to Poland, no problem."
"Er... so what about tonight?" Sachiko asked, awkwardly.
"I was thinking we'd fly straight to Poland," she replied coyly. "No problem."
"Tonight?" Sachiko was quite surprised.
"Why not?" Alanna said, putting out her cigarette. "Unless you've got something better to do."
"Uh... not at all. I... guess that makes sense. It just seems quick," Sachiko responded. "But... sure. Why not indeed."
Alanna laughed a bit. "Attagirl," she said, starting to stand up. "I have to go and make a call-- it's private-- and you can finish your drink; what do you say to us heading to the airport right after and getting the hell out of here?"
"Okay," Sachiko nodded. "Sounds good to me."
"Alrighty then, hon," Alanna said, and left her alone.
Alanna left the bar and left the hotel lobby, walking around to the end of the block before she took her blue phone out of her purse; she wanted to make sure she was well away from Sachiko. She dialed the phone number manually, punching in all eleven digits.
"Lilian. Yeah, it's me, Alanna," she said into the phone. "Yep. No, it's actually a beautiful night out here, thanks for asking. Yeah. Yeah, I found her... standing in the middle of the pouring rain. She nearly died of hypothermia... oh, no, don't worry, she's fine now. Yeah. I told her I'd go along with her, help her out. Yes, we'll be in Poland by tommorow."
She paused for a second. "What? No, it's-- no, really, it's not late. Shut up! Okay, Lily, I'm hanging up now-- seriously, I'm-- okay, bye. Bye!" she shouted into the phone, clicking it shut on her, noisily.
She dropped the cell phone back into her purse, and walked back to the hotel bar. Sachiko was still sitting right where she'd left her, her drink finished.
"So," Alanna said to her, "Shall we go?"
"Sure," Sachiko nodded, standing up and grabbing the small bag of luggage. They left the bar together, heading to the airport shuttle.
"Hey... Alanna?" Sachiko said to her, as they waited for the shuttle.
"Yes?"
"Thank you. Thank you so much," she said, sincerely.
Alanna looked at her and smiled. "Anything to help out someone in distress," she said. "I meant what I said."