Martin now thought he knew where Sloan was headed and how he planned to get there. He also felt that Raoul knew more than he had told him, so he decided to contact him again. However, before leaving the Library complex, he went to see Sloan’s boss, Dr. Alexander. The older man was hidden behind a pile of layered folders. He had been very cooperative, for an Anglo, Martin thought. He realized that Kurt wasn’t in his office area, but many times “Kurt would be in another part of the system for a day or so without reporting in to me”, is how he put it. Martin explained to him that he was fairly certain his employee had left the area and did he know where he had gone. Dr. Alexander was visibly upset at what Martin said and vehemently discounted it. Then Martin had asked if he could contact him while Martin was there, so he did. Apparently he got a message that he would be in the field for a few days and would contact Dr. Alexander later. This seemed to genuinely surprise the old man. He had rubbed his face and looked out of his office window and then said to Martin that he was sure Kurt would be back as he said he would. Martin asked if he had any idea where he would go, if he would have left Pittsburgh. He had no clue, but that if he got more information, he would be glad to pass that on to Martin. When Martin left, he felt for sure that Sloan had even fooled his boss. Several times the old man had said he couldn’t believe Sloan would have left him without an explanation. Martin could tell he was devastated and said if Martin found him, that he, Dr. Alexander, wanted to be the first to know because he wanted to bring charges against him. “Sloan’s work was important and no one could just pick up and leave”, he had said as Martin was leaving. He thanked Martin for alerting him. He was impressed with the old man and he had picked up another clue about Sloan’s destination when the old man had said what Martin already knew, that Sloan had talked about Scotland many times.
The information at the Library and from Dr. Alexander was extremely helpful. It verified Martin’s suspicions, but something was troubling him about the meeting he had with Raoul. It was early afternoon when he left the Library and he knew that Raoul was probably at work, so he decided to see if his sister was there. When he was asked to look into Sloan by Security he had been given a listing of his friends and associates. One piece of information Martin found important and that was that Raoul had a sister, Carla, who was engaged to a man in Security. Martin thought maybe she might be willing to tell him something that her brother would not. He had to try anyway.
It was early afternoon at the house he had been to the night before. When the door opened, he saw a small, dark haired woman looking at him. She asked if she could help him and Martin explained he was looking for Raoul.
“He’s at work. I’m Carla, his sister, may I help you?” she offered in a soft voice.
“Well, maybe you can. You see, I’m a friend of Kurt Sloan and I am trying to locate him. Do you know him and where he might be?” Martin asked still standing in the doorway as the woman kept the door half way open.
She paused and said, “I do know Kurt Sloan. Come in, por favor,” she said.
They sat down in the same front room that Martin had been with her brother. She offered him coffee which he accepted. The coffee was the dark, syrupy coffee favored by the Puerto Ricans. It was just what he needed as the morning session at the Library, although productive, was time consuming and he hadn’t had time for any lunch. He sipped slowly on the hot, creamy coffee, as Carla sat down across from him. She was a sullen, but attractive woman about his age. She had a lighter complexion than her brother. She sipped quietly and smiled at Martin with a hint of shyness. He decided to get right to the point.
He asked her bluntly, “Have you seen Kurt Sloan recently.”
She sipped again, but without hesitation said, “He was here last night, talking to Raoul. It was late. I think he left after ten.”
“I must have just missed him. Did you know I was here last night, Carla?”
“Yes, Raoul told me.”
“When Sloan was here, did you hear what they talked about, Carla.”
“Not really, I was upstairs.” Then she added quickly, “Kurt is a nice man, but a very private person, but for some reason I have never trusted his loyalty to our country.”
Martin asked her quickly, “What do you mean, ‘not really’”.
“When he was leaving, I heard him say something about going to Scotland. When he visited here before he talked many times to Raoul about visiting Scotland someday, but this time it sounded like he was leaving for there.”
“That’s important information,” Martin answered.
“Well I thought so too, so first thing this morning I called my fiancée, Angel Torres, who is a Security Analyst.
He said he was going to immediately make a report. Angel told me that there were many pressing security problems and the possible defection of an Anglo historian might not be classified as high priority, but he would send in the report and Kurt’s description to Security Headquarters. He told me that the data would then be automatically entered into the surveillance network which meant his profile would be displayed at
transportation and public meeting places all over the country. It would also be in the news and monitoring networks. I didn’t even tell Raoul, but I felt I did the right thing. Raoul will be very angry at me.”
Martin said, “You are a patriot, no doubt. You did absolutamente’ the right thing.”
Carla then went on to tell Martin that Kurt had been a great help to Raoul when he had first come to Alleghenia.
He had encouraged him when Raoul was going to school at the University. She also mentioned the relationship between Kurt and her younger sister Maria, who was now in France. Carla said that Maria saw something special in Kurt Sloan, but that relationship was over. Martin was interested in this information about Maria. He remembered the young, attractive Latina woman, whom he had seen at the house. At the time he had been angry that a Latino woman would take up with an Anglo. ‘So that was Maria,’ he thought.
As he left, Martin thanked her and said she would get an accommodation when he filed his report to Security.
She asked that if he talked with Raoul, he not tell him what she had done. Martin promised he would not tell anyone, except that her help would be in his report. He then thanked her and left the small home confident that he was really on to something.
As he walked back to the tram station, Martin thought about what he was getting involved in. Curiously he felt energized and he felt a sense of pride that he was doing something to help his country. He knew he didn’t like Sloan from the first time he met him, but was uncertain why. Now he had a better understanding of him and it seemed like his intuition was correct. Well now Sloan’s name and ID would be over all the Security scans in the country.
Martin realized that he needed more information to convince Security that his suspicions were valid. Since Security had been alerted to his disappearance, Martin decided to go to their Headquarters before it closed and see if he could get updated data and maps on the Great Allegheny Passage. He needed evidence to back up his story.
He hurried along Shady Avenue under the tramline, listening for the next tram. He climbed the metal stairs to the platform and sat down to wait. As he rested his back against the railing he thought of the rumors floating around about infiltrators trying to gather information about the water and coal resources of Alleghenia. The President of Atlantica was in Pittsburgh last week and he spoke about the Aquifer System, which he announced would be at full capacity in January, 2051. He also reported there was significant pressure from the outside world for Atlantica to allocate the water resources to surrounding countries without, what the President said, was “adequate security or compensation”. Martin was impressed with the President, who was adamant that this was “our” resource and no one else would decide how and who would benefit from it. Martin and everyone knew he was referring to the UN. The President added that Security had picked up increased chatter and knowledge about “outsiders”, as he put it, attempting to obtain data about the Aquifer’s capabilities, which, he added, “were State secrets”. It was the last thing he said that Martin remembered the most. The President announced rewards for citizens who uncovered traitors in Atlantica who would “undermine the security of our nation”. If information was proven correct, rewards would be given to the citizens, including paid scholarships for students to their next level. This announcement peeked Martin’s interest ever since his suspicions about Sloan had been aroused. He would be graduating at the end of this year and he already had his Paris scholarship.
If he could obtain these additional educational credits, he could continue in Paris to achieve his ultimate goal, his Doctorate. By age twenty-eight, he would have achieved the highest educational level possible. This would enable him to be accepted as a World Scholar and would open up many doors for him, especially getting a position with the Atlantica government in Nuevo York. Sloan may end up giving him his life’s dream and it all started as a request from Security to keep an eye on him. It was both a very serious security event and a phenomenal opportunity for him personally. Martin could feel the raw excitement of exposing Sloan and also the rewards that awaited him for his work.
It was turning cold and Martin looked up at the afternoon sky with dark clouds rolling in from the west. Sloan had a head start on him and he would like to begin a search in the morning, but he needed more backup information to convince Security of the need to find Sloan. He looked at the overhead clock. It was at 4:30PM.
Martin pulled out his palm phone and punched information for Security. He was connected and a woman told him they closed at six, but for data retrieval he needed an appointment. Martin asked if he could still get an appointment because he needed some maps. She asked for his name and said that the last time slot was open at 5:45PM, which he accepted. As he closed his phone, he heard the rumbling of the tram cars coming to the stop.
Going to Security would give him a chance to check on Carla’s story and see if in fact her fiancé had alerted Security to Sloan’s disappearance, plus he hoped to get maps of the walking trail. The tram pulled in to the stop and Martin boarded.
After a quick ride through what the locals called the Hill District, formerly a ghetto section of Anglo Pittsburgh, they reached the station at the base of The Bluff. As he got off he looked up the steep hill above him where the Security Offices were located. Martin was famished and he had time to get to Security for his appointment. He walked down to the Plaza Cafeteria next to the courthouse. He looked at the rounded sandstone of the strange, old building with the little bridge over the street that many of his fellow university students talked about as being such an architectural masterpiece. All he saw was a dark building, now filled with offices of the Administration. He remembered one student saying that the guy who designed that courthouse was considered an American genius, but Martin laughed as he paused and looked at its heavy, ugly walls, before entering the Plaza Cafeteria.
The Plaza was alive with Latino music and people were eating even at this afternoon hour. He walked up to the line and waited as people in front of him picked up items from the counter and slid their trays toward the register. He made his selection and walked over to an empty booth that looked out of the window. He began devouring his lunch. Martin was alone for only a minute, as a young white girl, about his age sat down, smiled, took out a newspaper, and began to read. They looked at each but neither spoke. Martin went back to his plate, looking occasionally out the large front window at the Courthouse.
He was lost in his thoughts when another person sat down across from him. Martin looked over and it was a young man, white, with a pencil thin black mustache, who slid a tray over to the girl. He looked over at Martin, smiled, and immediately dug into a sub sandwich with ham coming out from between the dark bread.
The booth was quiet for a second. Martin did not look at them. The coffee was hot, but good and he knew he would need it as his day was going to be a long one. He began to think and plan about the next day. His goal would be to gain permission to get a search underway as soon as possible and that Security would allow him to go along. His eyes strayed outside as he drank his coffee, stopping at the courthouse down the street. It reminded him of what this country used to be about. ‘How things have changed,’ he thought.