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\u201cI can\u2019t believe it,\u201d said Maite as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the road that took them back to Donostia. \u201cShe simply doesn\u2019t care what happens to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think she does care,\u201d replied Kepa. As Maite shot him a menacing look, he quickly added \u201cShe cares that we find the zatiak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBai, the zatiak. That is all she cares about. You know, de Lancre tried to warn me about her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Kepa jerked and the car swerved a bit before Kepa corrected its course. \u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we were in future Bilbo. He tried to tell me that Marina was no different than he was, that she was after the power just like he was. I didn\u2019t want to believe it, but now\u2026?\u201d She paused a moment. \u201cI\u2019m not so sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s nothing like him,\u201d replied Kepa. \u201cHe just wants to take over everything. Marina wants things back to the way they were.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDoes she?\u201d asked Maite, looking earnestly at him as he drove down the wet road. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what she wants, not really? All we know is that she doesn\u2019t want de Lancre to get the zatiak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd that she doesn\u2019t want them just for herself. We absorb the ones we find, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite looked ahead as their headlights reflected off of the rain drops in front of them. Each rain drop seemed like one of their bubbles, a world unto itself, falling blissfully through time until SPLAT it hit the pavement or their windshield and disappeared. How many bubbles were out there, waiting to be popped by them, or Marina, or de Lancre? Were there more than the number of rain drops that hit their windshield between each swipe of the wiper blades? More than would fall in Euskadi during the drive home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She sighed. \u201cI guess I\u2019m just tired,\u201d she finally said. \u201cYou are right, Marina is an infinitely better choice than de Lancre. But, I find it hard to trust her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI agree with you on that,\u201d said Kepa. \u201cShe hasn\u2019t been forthcoming and the way her other selves are fracturing, I\u2019m not sure we should even think about trusting her. But, I am sure we can\u2019t trust de Lancre. After what he did to Blas and the rebels in Bilbo? He\u2019s ruthless and will do whatever he has to to get power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know, you would make a great lawyer. Or maybe politician.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHuh? Why do you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou just have a great way of laying things out so that the only obviously good answer is the one you want me to pick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa sort of frowned. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to swindle you\u2026\u201d he began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEz! That\u2019s not what I meant!\u201d Maite sighed again. \u201cI simply meant that you make the choices very clear. When all I see is a muddled mess of grey, you help me see the black and the white.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI guess that is the scientist in you – nothing is ever fully resolved. There is always more to know. Everything has a caveat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite paused. \u201cMaybe. But, in this case, there is a clear choice. Thanks for reminding me of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa smiled. \u201cNoski.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/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":"Maite slammed the door closed as she got into the car, the rain beginning to cover the windshield. Kepa hesitated a moment, looking at her trepidatiously, before putting the key in the ignition and starting it up. \u201cI can\u2019t believe it,\u201d said Maite as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward 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-6683","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-1JN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6683","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=6683"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6685,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6683\/revisions\/6685"}],"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=6683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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