'Ughhhrr!' He managed, instead of a "hello". He tried opening his eyes again. The vision was blurred at first but it cleared up once he got used to the bright light. He even succeeded in lifting his head a few millimeters before it fell down helplessly again.

*Ouch!* He thought.

'Get up!' The voice nagged again. 'We don't have much time!'

Kurt had a vague feeling of familiarity but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't place that voice. He wanted to say something but couldn't really access his vocal chords. He tried swallowing but his mouth was completely dry.

*Must have drunk too much,* he thought. *No, that's an understatement,* he corrected himself instantly. *To be feeling like this I'd have to have drunk all they had in store…*

As his thoughts began clearing up, he realized he didn't remember what had happened to him.

'Uuuugh…' he finally managed. 'Wwwhere am I?'

'Where you're not supposed to be!' The reply came in the same, female voice. Only now it was really angry. 'We must get going!'

Kurt made the greatest effort he could afford and looked at the owner of that voice. A young woman with shortly cropped, red hair was leaning over him with an impatient expression on her pretty face. She had piercing, blue eyes and a strong chin.

*Uh, huh!* Was all Kurt could think at the moment.

'What happened to me?' He asked.

The woman helped him to sit up and supported, not so gently, when he was about to fall down on the floor again.

'Oh, all right,' he said, still struggling for balance. 'I'll be OK, thanks. Would… would you care to tell me why I am feeling like this? If it's a hangover, it's as big as Chomolungma and much tougher…'

The woman clearly wasn't amused. She made sure he could sit on his own and handed him a mug. Water! He drained it dry without hesitation and reached out for more.

'We don't have time for this!' The red head tried to pull him up. He complied, feeling much better now. After a few seconds, he even managed to stand on his own, despite the dizziness.

He looked around. They were inside some sort of a shallow well. The incredibly hot sun was shining down on them. It was too bright. No wonder it felt so uncomfortable – he had been lying on a bare stone.

'Where are we?' He repeated.

The woman had already started packing up her gear and now she turned briefly to him, handing him a bag. He moaned, feeling its weight bend him over to the floor.

'In Cormion,' she answered hastily. 'Don't you remember?'

'Not a thing,' Kurt lifted the bag obediently and was now looking around to find some more water. He found none.

'We were attacked. You were hit hard on the head, I dragged you here,' she explained, still busy packing. 'They're coming for us, we'd better hurry!'

'Who… who is coming for us?'

The woman dropped her trunks on the floor and looked at him carefully.

'Oh, my!' She finally uttered. 'You really don't remember anything, do you?'

2)

'Okay, let's start with what you remember,' the red head began a couple of hours and a dozen kilometers later. Kurt felt every meter of that trip in his muscles with amazing precision. They finally settled for a meal in some cave. The woman pulled out a few pieces of… something from her rucksack and handed one out for Kurt. He'd rather have a bucket of cold water first but decided it was not a good time to complain. He took the food and began chewing it.

'I don't remember much,' he said between the bites. 'I was… running somewhere. It was dark and…'

'No!' The woman waved her hand dismissively. 'From the beginning! You are…?'

Kurt wanted to shrug but… it dawned on him that, in fact, he… didn't know that.

'My name is Kurt…' he began slowly and stopped. The woman gestured for him to continue but he couldn't.

'I… I don't know!' He said with utmost disbelief.

The woman looked at him with resignation.

'That's just great!' She said.

'Can you help me?' Kurt was absolutely positive that he had never felt so helpless in his entire life. Whatever that life was. The woman sighed.

'As if I wasn't helping you for the last couple of weeks! Okay, let's see,' she began, settling down more comfortably. If, of course, one could get comfortable under the circumstances.

'Your name is Kurt Bovis. You are a rebel.'

'A rebel? Against what?'

The woman glanced at him with deep disgust.

'I won't tell you anything if you keep on interrupting!'

Kurt put his hand to his mouth in a gesture of silence and waited. She began again:

'The Council decided to get rid of you about a month ago.'

Kurt opened his mouth again to ask what Council she was talking about but one look at her face prevented him from doing so. The woman continued:

'Apparently, your recently expressed views on the future of the State weren't to everybody's liking. They couldn't remove you in any legitimate way so they hired a band of Tarrans to silence you more discretely.'

Kurt lost it: 'What State are you talking about? What views? And who are these Tarrans?'

The woman hid her head in her arms. 'Oh my Dei,' she sighed. 'It's worse than I expected. She looked up and watched him carefully for a while. This time she seemed genuinely worried.

'They must have used the mind-dartler on you!'

'What's…' Kurt wanted to ask but the name sounded pretty self-explanatory. 'You mean my memory was damaged somehow?'

'Damaged? Oh boy, it was completely wiped out! It's a good thing you still know how to walk and talk. In fact,' she paused. 'That's what puzzled me. I thought you were just hit with a regular blast because you sounded quite coherent almost from the beginning…'

'What am I supposed to do now? Is there some way I can get my… life back?'

The woman shook her head sadly. She didn't answer immediately but, frankly, she didn't have to. Kurt knew the answer before she opened her mouth.

'We don't have the means to bring back your memory. The scientists have been working on it with no success for the past two years.' She finished eating and opened the rucksack again to pull out a small flask. She handed it over to Kurt.

'Don't drink too much,' she warned. 'It will have to last us another couple of days before we reach the Lake.'

Kurt nodded and, with great power of will, managed to only swallow a few drops of the liquid. It was so delightfully cold and moist.

'Will you… tell me about my life?' He asked, passing her the flask.

'I see no other choice,' she smiled reassuringly. 'Don't worry, Kurt. We've been through worse together.'

'I have to take your word for it,' he smiled back. It wasn't a happy smile.