City of 4000 Spies
Episode One-
The Mineral of Information
It was not his first time visiting the City-by-the-Lake. Indeed, he had been coming to Lell ever since be began his career as a professional spy, some many assignments ago.
But, this time, it served his purpose, to appear to be a first-time visitor, a wide-eyed provincial from the distant, rural sectors. He even chose a cover name that aptly expressed his new identity. His identity device now gave his name as Bruzch Jes Bumpkin, a purveyor of exotic materials, traveling from a sector of no military or economic value. A nobody from a nowhere place.
On many previous trips, he had been easily recognizable as Dosko Rarrko, the second son of the Nineteenth Great Nobleman of Sassko. His arrival was always a media event. He wore the latest, very flashy, high-end fashion. He was nearly always accompanied by a bevy of beautiful females. He moved in the nuanced way that spies moved. He was frequently seen at the gaming tables, wagering many hundreds of thousands.
However, this time he was not coming to Lell as probably its most noticeable spy.
No, this time he came to the lovely City by the Lake as a bumpkin, truly named “bumpkin.”
It was a Rarrko joke. A typical Rarrko joke. One that only he could appreciate.
He knew that the old English word “bumpkin” came originally from the Old Dutch language, where the word “bum” meant one’s rear end, so “bum kin” implied someone who was from the very most anal of realms. In its later English derivation, it came to mean one who was a ‘block of wood.’
So, Dosko Rarrko was coming to Lell as a bumpkin, a block of wood, from the very most anal of regions.
A Rarrko joke. One that only he understood.”
