is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cBai,\u201d she responded. \u201cWe call it the baserri because of its simplicity. It doesn\u2019t have any of the fancy equipment, to minimize our chances of detection. It\u2019s a waystation, if you will, a place for us to regroup after events like earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou mean, that happens often, when they find you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latxe shrugged. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say often, but certainly more often than we would like. Fortunately, they haven\u2019t found this place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYet.\u201d A large black man sat behind the desk. The left side of his face was heavily scarred and Kepa noticed that his left arm seemed different somehow. The coloring wasn\u2019t quite the same as his right arm. He wore a simple white shirt and what looked to Kepa like blue jeans. \u201cBut they will,\u201d continued the man, \u201csomeday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to see you too, Jorge!\u201d Latxe went around the desk and gave the man a hug. \u201cIt\u2019s been a while, but I see you are still your same grumpy self.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomeone has to be,\u201d said Jorge roughly, though a hint of a smile peaked through as he spoke. \u201cYou fools are too reckless out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latxe shrugged. \u201cWe aren\u2019t going to change things hiding all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jorge grunted. \u201cJust wish I could be out there with you all, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know we need you here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, yeah\u2026\u201d began Jorge before cutting himself off. He looked over at Kepa. \u201cAnd who is this? I don\u2019t recognize you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is Kepa,\u201d said Latxe. \u201cOlatz recruited him and his friend, Maite. Maite was captured in the raid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry to hear that,\u201d said Jorge, genuine concern in his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMari\u2026 I mean Olatz said we\u2019ll get her back,\u201d said Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ll try,\u201d said Jorge in a way that left Kepa unsettled. But before he could question what Jorge meant, Jorge had pulled two spheres out of the desk. \u201cRooms 103 and 156 are available,\u201d he said as he tossed a sphere to each of them. \u201cOlatz isn\u2019t here yet, but she always likes to take the long way. She should be here soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMil esker, Jorge,\u201d said Latxe as she led Kepa back into the common area. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long day,\u201d she said. \u201cGo get some rest. When Olatz gets here, we\u2019ll figure out what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa nodded absently as he looked at his sphere. 156. He found the door to his room, about halfway around the circle from the desk to the now-missing door they had come through. As he approached his room, the door automatically opened and he stepped inside. The door silently closed behind him. It wasn\u2019t a big room, but it was clean, almost sterile. There was a cot and a strange pod next to it, large enough for him to step inside. He ignored the pod and collapsed on the small cot. Within moments, he was fast asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kepa walked through the door. The inside of the large room was nondescript. It was a large circle, with a row of doors that ran its circumference. Inside the circle were various tables and chairs.It reminded Kepa of a cafeteria as much as anything. Everything was white: the walls, the tables, the chairs, even the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1rq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5545,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5544\/revisions\/5545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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