The inspection dock was not part of the main docks as Sarah found out. She and Agent Zehn took a ferry to the regular docks. From there, she expected them to get in a car and go to the supposed tea shop. But instead, Agent Zehn started heading down the sidewalk. She noticed that people pretended not to see them whenever they passed. She didn’t blame them.

“It’s not too far of a walk,” he assured her in Aboloanian. “Though in that coat of yours, you might get a bit warm before we get there.”

“Don’t worry about me, agent. I’m fine.” Which was the truth. The temperature was much chillier than she was used to for mid-fall so she was glad to have the overcoat. She wondered if the frost would start soon. The jacket was large enough on her to allow air flow so the heat didn’t stay trapped. Once it started getting colder, she would need to find something to wear under the coat to keep warm.

“And we really are going for tea. It’s not innuendo for anything else.” He further informed her as they walked along. He had his hands in his pocket. It looked too casual for the uniform he was wearing. “I’m sure while you were still in Lum, you encountered Syrealian soldiers inviting you out. And since you’re currently running around with an Aboloanian cargo crew, you said no to them.”

The Agent knew too much for her taste. Sure, most of it could be logical conjecture. She was pretty sure that from the papers, he could see that Mel was a licensed doctor instead of just a medic, that Ash and Heather were married, and so on. But she wasn’t sure she liked the way he made statements as if he knew they were true. Would it do her any good to deny that fact? She could lie but it would probably work worse than it had with that one pirate.

“Yes, but not until I left. I just thought they were flirting with me so I refused.” Well, maybe Lieutenant Ivanov had been flirting with her. It was hard to tell and she was glad she’d refused. “They didn’t press it, so I didn’t think much about it until someone told me what it meant when soldiers did that.”

Agent Zehn chuckled a bit. “They thought you were Espanese, didn’t they? Syrealians aren’t the best at being able to tell where people are from by looking at them or listening to them.”

“You can tell I’m Liban?” That would be a first. She knew that there was a lot of Espanese in her blood along with Aboloanian, and perhaps a little Paradisian. But no one had ever said she looked Liban. As far as she knew, Libans didn’t have a look.

“Not exactly, but I can tell you have Espan features mixed in with Aboloanian. While that could indicate one parent being Espan and one Aboloanian, there wouldn’t be that many people with that ethnic make-up in either country. Then there’s that sprinkle of Paradisian in there. That’s what really does it for me. Though if I didn’t know the person’s accent, I wouldn’t be able to say for sure that they were Liban.”

Him referring to her as a Liban was refreshing from what the Almenians usually called them: Freians. It would be one thing if that was the translation. But no, the Alemanians did it out of spite for a perceived betrayal that happened at least two centuries before. Clearly, Agent Zehn didn’t share that opinion, very unusual for a man in an ASP uniform. She had only met one agent but she assumed that most of them were like Colonel Heinz and something told her that her assumption wasn’t too far off the mark.

“How do you know so much about happenings in Lum? I thought the Syrealians were tight-lipped about things.”

“They are but there Paradisians aren’t. And they have a lot to say about the Syrealians to anyone who will listen.” Zehn stopped in front of a tea house and opened the door for her. “Here we are. And don’t worry about payment.”

The tea shop was fairly busy, but there were a couple of empty tables. Zehn led her to a table. She pulled out a chair and sat down. He put his hat down on the table. Since this was an Alemanian restaurant, they would have to order the tea at the counter instead of waiting for someone to come take their order.

“Do you want anything with your tea? Most Alemanians like it very bitter so you’ll have to sweeten it probably.” He stated. “It won’t cost any extra, so don’t be afraid to ask.”

True, Sarah didn’t like bitter tea, though she didn’t find herself adding anything to Aboloanian tea other than a bit of lemon. And the Paradisian tea was mostly herbal, so she hadn’t needed to add anything with those either. It was nice of Zehn to ask, though she had to wonder why. There was being polite then there was being suspiciously polite. Maybe he did want information from her, just like the Syrealians.

“Some lemon and honey. I won’t know for sure until I taste it though.” She started feeling under the table to see if she touched anything unusual.

“All right. I should be back in a moment. And I don’t think I have to tell you not to leave.”

“No, it wouldn’t be a good idea to leave without my passport.”

Once he said that, he went to the counter. The rest of the patrons didn’t seem to notice her. Sarah resumed her search. She hadn’t felt anything as of yet, but maybe she just wasn’t reaching far enough. So Sarah got out of her chair and looked under the table. She didn’t see any sort of wires or mics, just something sticky and some initials. Apparently, table graffiti was an international pastime. Perhaps it was a very, very small microphone…

She was so absorbed in her search that the sound of cups being set on top of the table startled her. Agent Zehn bent down and looked at her under the table. He also examined the underside of it.

“Nope, they haven’t wired this table since the last time I was here.” He straightened up and sat in the seat. “I suppose you can stay under there if you want, but it’s going to be hard to have a conversation and your tea will get cold, unless it’s Liban custom to sit on the floor and drink it. To be honest, I’m not sure how well they clean the floor here.”

Sarah got up and slid into her chair. She supposed it was a bit ridiculous to think that a public place would be wired. There were too many people here to get proper audio, not to mention that as far as she knew, it was hard to hide wires. But there could be a hidden camera somewhere in the walls. She eyed the place as she took a sip of her tea. Well, they were right by the window so there couldn’t be a camera there. And the tea was very bitter. Sarah added a spoonful of honey then a squeeze of lemon and took another sip. Yes, that was better. Zehn observed her as he drank his tea. He didn’t make any remarks until she was facing him once again.

“Looking for something else we might have set up? Most people would call you paranoid but I don’t blame you, Ms. Hidalgo. I am a member of the Secret Police after all and you are classed as a traitor.” He set his cup down and looked out the window. People passed by. Some were talking with others, some were by themselves, some were in a hurry, and some were just meandering along. It certainly didn’t look like a city that was being controlled by a police state. “Or more accurately, you’re marked as “mostly likely to be a traitor”, which is a downgrade from traitor.”

“Did you want to talk about something in particular, Agent Zehn?” Sarah wasn’t very well versed in the art of idle chit chat, not that it stopped people from engaging in it with her. She usually just found herself nodding and unable to get a word in. “And I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been speaking in Aboloanian when you know I’m fluent in Alemanian.”

He picked up his tea cup once again and took a long drink from it.

Sarah did briefly catch the eye of one of the patrons before they looked away. Again, the agent did have a point, something he was annoyingly good at for a secret policeman.

“You never answered my first question, Agent. Something tells me that small talk is not in your job description.”

Agent Zehn remained silent while he finished his tea. Sarah was halfway through her own cup once he spoke up again.

“I need to ask you a few questions, Ms. Hidalgo, just to clarify a few things.” He rotated the cup in his hands. “The Colonel noticed how quiet and nervous you were in the first meeting so he thought someone who could speak Aboloanian and didn’t scowl at the mere thought of being in the same room as a Liban would help. Now you don’t have to answer these questions but it’s highly recommended. You’ll be able to go back the sooner you do.”

Sarah nodded and the questioning began. The questions started out impersonal enough with him asking where she lived in Liba, what kind of town it was, how she started speaking the languages she did when Libans weren’t known for being the most multilingual people, what her intentions had been in Lum, things of that nature.

Then after all that, he started going deeper, asking about her parents and their personalities along with questions about her siblings and her relationships with them. Sarah kept those answers as short as she could. There was no need for them to know and talking about them in great detail made her miss them more. She wondered how Lance was doing with married life and if Diana was behaving in school. Her younger sister had always been a bit of a wild one. Agent Zehn seemed to sense that she was holding things back and didn’t press.

“Perhaps we should be getting back now that we’re finished with our tea.” He left some change on the table and got up. “If anything, the inspection should be done by now. They might still be working on the paperwork but that’s secondary to everything else. Maybe the delivery has been made by now.”

Sarah supposed this whole experience hadn’t been all that bad considering who he was. She followed Agent Zehn out and noticed that he turned the opposite way they had come from. He paused when he realized she wasn’t following him.

“You want to stay a bit longer?” He asked. “I suppose we could…”

“But aren’t the docks back that way?” She pointed to the way they had come.

“Yes, but we are going a different way. Unless you want to go by yourself and risk being stopped.” He shrugged a bit and started walking. “Be my guest if you want to do that.”

Sarah sighed and started to follow him. As long as he had her papers, he had her on a leash of sorts. Maybe if they were in Aboloan she would risk it, but not here. Any Alemanian official that caught her without papers might not even ask questions before shooting her.

When she caught up with Zehn, he grabbed her shoulder and took a turn down a side street, lifting her shoulder up enough so that she struggled to keep balance on her feet. He nearly threw her against the wall and trapped her body with his own. She could move around, but he blocked off every attempt to escape.

“Now the real fun begins.” His voice was so cold compared to the amiable tone he had before. It sent a chill down her spine. “I always enjoy this part the most.”