The Schedule of Víhaan

John Clark Smith

A Novel in Verse by John Clark Smith

 

 

7 Voyage

Wherein we learn about what happened on the Hydra ship,

the secret love, the fatal kiss, Carina’s troubles,

Mustfarris’s respect for Karna and the Sufis

the differences of Mustfarris and Carina,

Mustfarris’ obsession for Natalie,

and the Doomsday plan.

 

The philosopher lets himself be captured? Selma said,

smirking, looking down on the group sitting in the ship’s brig,

Really? What are you up to now, Hután?

This is the fourth time I’ve met with you

and your trusty companions. Carina

and you are like an old married couple,

and Mustfarris like your good man servant

and that super dog and guardian Wink

—where is he, by the way? Oh don’t tell me.

It’s sad that we may need to tie you up,

cover your mouth and nose, and then, who knows?

Probably throw you all into the sea.

Oh what a waste of brilliance when you

all could join Hydra. But, I know, I know,

of course, not yet, not the great Hután way,

and not before we test The Schedule chip

to be sure you haven’t tricked us, as I

fully expect you have, because I know

you’re all chicaner. So come, Víhaan.

Selma squatted down to speak in Hután’s ear, and whispered,

Have you asked Víhaan to tell you all

about Rita, Hután? Because The Schedule knows

how she died and why it happened that night,

while her men took Víhaan to the computer, slid the card

into the computer, leaving the small group once again

alone, as they had been so many times in so many places,

each usually pressed up beside each other, often

even tied together or hanging beside each other

or in adjoining cells, but able somehow to see

or sense each other, Carina looking now at Hután,

her travel partner on each adventure, and in every

one her admiration for him grew, not only as

a partner, but as a man, she admitted to herself.

Even when Rita his wife was alive, Carina was

in love with him but had never found the moment to show

him—understandable feelings when Rita was alive

but now, now she was forgetting the wise counsel expressed

long ago by Menander, “delays increase a passion

dangerously,”[1] so now, she wondered, ‘Is this the moment,

is this when I tell him, or at least see how he reacts?’

Because she knew he admired her, that was true, but how does

he admire her? As a colleague, as a friend, a lover?

What’s going on in his mind at this moment, a moment

when they both could certainly die—a typical event

for them both—another risky adventure. ‘If only

we could be some place or occasion when we weren’t working,

when we would be relaxing at a bar or dance or on

a cruise or at a resort, on a beach, or anywhere

when he would have to focus just on me and we could talk

as friends and not as associates, even more than friends.’

Certainly not now, a captive, dressed the way she was dressed,

without even combing her hair. She would watch Hután stare

ahead, his eyes occasionally shift to the figure

of Carina. When he did scan her, in her casual

all-in-black bland pants and turtleneck, none of which revealed

her curves or silky skin, would he see her as attractive?

Yet the thought of dressing up to seduce him made her squirm,

since any attractive outfit would more mislead Aaron

and Mustfarris, who constantly stared and often scanned her.

Carina turned the other way to avoid seeing what

they were doing, peeking to see if Hután was looking.

Carina, long tired of their leers and smirks, rebuffed:

What is it with you two? Look somewhere else!

Mustfarris smiled and obliged, but only for a moment.

Carina didn’t press her point, though at times she wanted

truly to hurt him—and she knew how—but his attraction

for her, potent from the start, wouldn’t end with some nasty slaps,

especially since she had mistakenly spent the night

with him when she felt lonely and Hután was with Rita.

Now he was her battle mate and far too important.

In answer to his lascivious stare, Carina gave the finger

and Mustfarris smiled again, standing up, prepared to sit

beside her to tease her but he took one step when Hután,

who admired their lack of concern in the face of danger,

gestured to Mustfarris to sit down, which he slowly did.

Mustfarris’ attention to Carina never hindered

their missions, nor diminished his great appreciation,

but his eyes could not resist such an angel of beauty.

What are you doing with us anyway?

Mustfarris asked Aaron. Analogous thoughts were troubling

Carina—another horny male to eye her body—

as she sat down beside Hután—whom she wished would eye her—

as near to him as someone could be and yet not touching,

but in a position that blocked the possibility

of Mustfarris glaring without Hután seeing and knowing.

Why is he here, Hután? Do we need him?

Mustfarris asked to aggravate Aaron and force Hután.

He’s a liability, to my mind.

He doesn’t have enough experience.

Hután looked over at Carina, wanting her to speak

but the general divide over Aaron continued,

even though Carina recruited and helped train Aaron.

Yet Aaron couldn’t look past her voluptuous surface,

the enticing voice, the way her hips swayed, the soft eyes

that invited desire, and a face so warm and gentle.

Aaron is here for field training and support,

Hután said, ignoring the secret yearning in the room.

She had met her prince, though seemingly unavailable,

and one important fact always brought some hope: no woman,

not Natalie at Mannter, not the many women he met

in his work, no one since he lost Rita, distracted him.

If her only rival was his memory of Rita,

she could believe that a window for his love would open.

Is this what happens? You become captured?

Aaron mocked with a large smirk, unconcerned what would happen.

Carina nodded, recalling the many times Hután

and she, Mustfarris too, were captured and found a way out,

while Aaron viewed the process not just strange—to let your foes

capture you so that you can take the next step of the plan—

but foolhardy. Yet none of them seemed terrified at all

by their predicament and acted as if they all were

getting a ride with friends and could talk about his own plight.

Is this what working with Hután was like? Walking the plank

of danger and even death with no surety of tomorrow?

This didn’t sound like Hután’s way, or resemble Hután

the strategist with the reputation to choose futures.

Aaron now observed Hután and began to look at him

anew, not Hután the robot, but Hután, rogue thinker,

improvisor, risk-taker, man who confronts Death, gambler.

His old opinions formed from meetings, hearsay, and guesses,

his new opinion the result of watching his actions.

He should have guessed. Reason isn’t always the ideal guide.

We may need “a wild steersman when we voyage through chaos.”[2]

Yet Hután wasn’t contemplating what methods he used

or if someone was attractive or with whom he could fall in love.

His thoughts were now on the words of Selma, how The Schedule

knew what happened to Rita on the night her heart had failed.

That mystery tortured him every minute of his life.

To hear that The Schedule had the answer distracted him

from his blueprint for what could happen in the hours ahead,

assuming the first part of his plan worked. Then his ears were

intently listening to the voices a few rooms down

the hall, where Selma said, Is it the chip? Tell us! Víhaan

watched the information come up on the screen. I don’t know,

Víhaan said, on Hután’s instructions, though in fact Víhaan

did know—how could he not?—as all would one day discover.

Your computer is too weak to handle

the speed necessary for this new chip.

The information is so complex that

it requires several chips to function

and collate the information rightly.

to which Selma said in some confusion and frustration,

What is that on the screen? It looks to me

like information. It must mean something,

her tone seeming to rattle his confidence a little,

but not as much as one might think, for Víhaan claimed to have

never experienced any punitive raw moments

before Rohan sold the chip to Dvorak but who now

had weathered so much that he could behave calmly even

in this stressful circumstance, or so the Remnant believed.

But perhaps too calmly—he was clearly trying to hide a smile—

shaking his head, thinking about his plans, and then replied,

Yes, it is, but it’s the technical specs

on this ship, I think. Isn’t that box there, Selma asked,

a way to block entrance? Did you do that? and he said,

Not necessarily for this information, but yes,

I programmed it to find information

because it’s mostly a big data thief,

the entire scenario the kind of strange conundrum

legendary in the story of Hután, a man who

tried to foresee the details in every aspect of his

work long before anything happened to anticipate

options the enemy might one day select—the food they

offer, where they imprisoned their captives, the holding cell

construction, the way they would clamp his hands or legs, the ship’s

structure, the distance from the cells to other areas

of the ship, and other details about the personnel,

the guards, the pilot, the problems with the engine a month

ago, and the behavior now of The Schedule program—

all these details conceived long before the mission in case

the situation might arise, but also how his team

needed to react to the actions of the opponent,

the reason why just Carina and Mustfarris joined him

on so many such hazardous scenarios. Hután

knew them so well he could anticipate both their greater

and their lesser strengths with such exactness that to others

it might seem quite miraculous, but not to Carina,

who was now smiling at him with a soft smile not just

from admiration but also from a meek attempt to flirt

without being too brazen, obvious, or coquettish;

and Hután smiled back, uncertain in such

a precarious context how to interpret her smile,

though his initial interpretation was that she was

simply approving of the plan so far, but much later

he did speculate—and it wasn’t the only instance—

if it meant something more; and that thought too was two-sided,

because his feeling for Carina was complicated

after so many adventures, causing him to awake

and see her in his mind and realize how much he cared

about her, but what then did this ‘care’ mean? He was unsure,

just as he was unsure what her smile meant, but certainly

there was an unusual bond when she could smile or joke

while in the midst of danger and with a laugh say, Really,

Turkish? as they had raced down the tunnel, not Korean

or Romanian, and he would nod, also with a slight

smile, and explain in a rushed tone what she already knew,

Dvorak agent Eric speaks Kurdish,

and Pishuva, Hydra helicopter

Balkens pilot speaks Albanian,

the others don’t speak or know any Turkish;

So I take it we’re on our way to be

captured? Is that what we’re doing, Hután? 

Hután nodded, to which she queried without a pause,

and they could kill us? In fact we might die?

to which Hután hesitated, then nodded once again,

So it’s life or death? Is that not correct?

she asked. He nodded. An odd tradition would then ensue—

for Carina, one delightful part of working in the Remnant with Hután—

a tradition from Rita, who often was anxious when

he left for his Remnant missions and expected he might

never return, and asked them both, whenever they believed

Hután might die if the two of them would share a passionate

kiss of good-bye; and in that kiss Hután would remember

how much Rita loved him. This bizarre request Hután refused

at first, but finally, after Rita’s endless pleadings,

agreed, realizing Rita knew how much Hután loved

her but also because they both respected Carina.

Yet after she died the kiss became something far greater,

a way for Hután to eulogize his blessed Rita,

though now that Rita had passed, Carina had another

view, and when she asked if it was life and death, he added,

Well, I figure we have a little time

before we dock, and if other agents

can execute my first plan with care, we’ll

be fine. If not, our grave, yes, is water,

at which point in the tunnel, when Mustfarris and Aaron

had gone ahead to scout, Carina stopped and Hután stopped

and kissed each other so passionately that Víhaan found

the kiss in such a stressful situation confusing

and looked to Mustfarris for an explanation, but he

shrugged and said—not without, of course, a smidgen of envy—

tradition. While on the Hydra ship, so near to her smell,

Mustfarris neither reacted to the smiles on their faces

nor to the threat, since he rarely spoke and would be

ready regardless of circumstances, though it would be

hard to imagine a situation that would frighten

him based on his appearance and his history, since what

could frighten a man so tall, strong, and imposing, with quick

wit and reflexes, and proven bravery in many

challenging contexts, the model of a man of courage,

a quality which, as one of his heroes believed,[3] had

to be the first quality of a warrior, a man

so well trained for combat that Carina could counsel him

in few ways. Yet he wasn’t without flaws, indeed beyond

his artistic talents, fighting skills, and a brilliant mind,

he had quite a few flaws that his relationships revealed.

His ex-wife called him, according to Mustfarris himself,

suspicious, cynical, sarcastic, lascivious, and sour.

In his missions with Carina, a man of high honor,

a deep sense of self-sacrifice, and no better comrade

in a battle, very shrewd—his massive and powerful frame

contained a brain with a vociferous thirst for knowledge

in certain areas, particularly Prussian, French

and Asian history and literature, and Sufi

philosophy—and when he reflected on his actions

with the Remnant he would often think of Napoleon’s

armies spreading the thinking of the French Revolution

or the epic conflict told in the Mahabharata,

and identify with its main characters, notably

Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, and even more

Karna, whom he revered because Karna needed to prove

he was equal to other so-called well-born warriors,

Karna’s model showing Mustfarris’ fiercely determined

attitude and confidence—despite his obvious faults

he didn’t see himself through his failings but as a man

of great depth drawn to profound studies—and why Carina,

though not impressed by someone because of religion,

ideology, region, or era, could find value

in a man of epic stature. Beyond these differences,

they had some common traits: both were orphans at a young age,

both were fit, adept in Karate and Kung Fu, both blunt,

direct, quick, decisive, self-sacrificing, and people

of honor. Yet none of these qualities could overshadow

how their minds and lives diverged—past his obsessive sexual

hunger for her which she didn’t encourage or desire—

in superficial appearances and education:

Both were strong but he was an image of muscular

fitness and power whereas Carina could be mistaken

for an elegant, lithe, but curvaceous ballet dancer—

not as odd as it might appear, since she in fact had years

of ballet training. He had no formal education—

he was suspended from school for bullying and fighting—

while Carina had a Ph.D. with facilities

in many languages. Carina by nature was to all

a field general while he was a strategic soldier

or more correctly equal to a large squad of soldiers.

His beginnings were in an orphanage and foster homes,

in a poor neighborhood, schooled by jaded egregious folk

who had no care and taught only to gather a pension,

while Carina was also an orphan but attended

pampering private schools sponsored by an anonymous

patron. Mustfarris, an artist, once married and divorced.

though rarely vulgar, did lack the upper-class refinement,

while Carina had never married and pursued only

one man and could mix with any class of society.

At many jobs he labored before joining the Remnant,

while Carina’s only employer was now the Remnant

and Udaki her only trainer. On missions there was

a difference: Carina was always desperate

to work with Hután, but Mustfarris had some bitterness

due to his lust—he would say love—for Natalie Guttmann,

the Manager of Mannter Ltd., the trading company

the Remnant used as a front, though Natalie would brush him

away, as she boldly and unnecessarily showed

several times by claiming she desired Hután—no name

would have discouraged him more—a fact unknown to Hután

since she had never expressed or shown her feelings for fear

the recent loss of Hután’s beloved wife Rita would force

a rejection, a truth Natalie and Carina were

smart enough to realize but ignored by Mustfarris.

Natalie liked to mock in private Rita—such a

perfect little self-sacrificing creature, we should call her

Beth[4]—but when Mustfarris thought about Natalie and looked

at Hután he couldn’t repress knowing that Natalie

preferred Hután over him, which would be a painful truth

for any man but for a hormonally driven man

like him, it erected a burning and unexpressed wall

between them that exceeded jealousy. His raw desire

for her enwrapped Mustfarris in a barbed wire of envy

so tight that he would forget what his Sufi teaching said,

—the devil never leaves until the self is gone[5]—and would

allow the barbs minute by minute to poke into his

flesh when around Hután and force him to bleed resentment,

a feeling he would relate again to the way Karna

in the Mahabharata was demeaned by Arjuna

as someone born from a lower class—Karna was the son

of a charioteer—and by Draupadi, whom Karna loved

but Arjuna won in a competition and then shared

with his four other brothers in probably the most

famous polyandry in literature; and if this

hot mixture churning in his head between him, Natalie,

and Hután was not enough to annoy a man like him,

there were two more now added to the soup of frustration:

Before working at Mannter, Natalie, without knowing

Leonard Frig was a Dvorak agent, was his lover—

one of the reasons Udaki hired Natalie—and when

Natalie mentioned Mustfarris loved her to make Leonard

jealous, Leonard tried to poison him but without success—

which meant, at least in Mustfarris’ mind, that Natalie chose

two men over him. Mustfarris believed and hoped that none

of this romantic drama was known to Hután, who had

worked with Natalie twice, once when she was accompanying

Hután for seven days to Tunisia as a cover,

and another time for a few hours when she went with him

to the International Conference on Climate Change,

in both cases they shared a few meals, sat close together

at the conference and on planes, but there was no more than

friendly contact or conversation, a truth perhaps hard

to believe for besotted Mustfarris but a truth he

should have accepted about Hután, from whose mouth only

one woman’s name with any romantic implication

had so far been spoken—though el beso fatal, Mustfarris

thought, now seemed more than a dying peck. Yet Carina had

never dared to exhibit her love until this moment

on Hydra’s ship, hoping possibly Hután might fathom

her attachment. Not Hután, which perhaps is proof that some

men notice less the actions of the heart when the event,

the occasion, and the mission rise far above desire

for romance or intimacy. While this apt description

might fit Hután, it didn’t fit Mustfarris, whose carnal

mind ached near as much for Carina as for Natalie.

Even now, in this delicate circumstance, his thoughts did stray

to his needs for women, and would fantasize that Carina

had ‘firm but not oversized breasts, small waist, a fit physique,

long legs, thin thighs, almost hairless arms, shiny wavy hair.’

Or he would gripe to himself against Hután—as he watched

Selma bring back Víhaan and lock the holding cell door—'what

does Natalie see in such a man? Yes, Hután was smart,

a brilliant and honorable strategist and someone

with whom I’ve entrusted my life on several awful

occasions, but any woman would agree Hután did

not have the same virile and passionate frame of mind.’

Or against Leonard, ‘What’s to like in that earthworm? How much

more of a man I am!’ he grumbled, as if he was Achilles

railing out against Agamemnon for taking Briseis,[6]

his thoughts slowly filling himself up with the black fluid

of lust and yearning that wouldn’t stop flowing until they

enjoyed a bed together for several days and nights.

For he couldn’t furtively need or desire a woman

in the way Carina lured Hután through seductive smiles.

His need had to be open and clear in every manner

possible, regardless how overwhelming. His passion,

his longing, was the driving force in every need and act,

and why he wouldn’t shirk from bedding Carina again.

Both obsession and desire stirred his being, with a strong

and tenacious will to defeat. That was why Carina

compared him to Achilles, the best combatant partner.

His passion was what Carina was fully expecting

as the ship arrived at Piraeus finally, chosen

perhaps, Hután thought, because Selma believed the Remnant

had fewer agents in Greece or their technological

capabilities were more advanced in Greece. But why Greece

was chosen was now minor. Greece was better for Hután,

since Mustfarris knew Greece well and developed many Greek

contacts—the result of a mission in Greece with Hután.

Mustfarris knew that Hydra had operations near there,

would dock at Piraeus, and the Remnant would be looking

for any vehicles that would carry the equipment

to the docks, because Hután assumed that their strategy

—the only choice he would make—was not to exit the port

but would somehow bring the powerful computers on board.

Yet when Selma also started preparing to leave the ship

as it neared the shore, two other options occurred to him:

using the lower-level disembarking area,

a choice he would never have made unless the other failed

because of the random dangers of public exposure

from Dvorak and Remnant agents and the Greek customs

and security barriers; and another option,

one Selma surprisingly did not, Hután did, expect

—since Hután always considered the worst scenario—

that one of the groups might execute an irrational

plan out of desperation. And the first sign of this mad

or at least most implausible scheme was when Mustfarris

and the Remnant agents noticed the absence of any Greek

Dvorak agents familiar to them around the docks.

The plan in this weird situation he called The Doomsday:

bombing the ship and the docks region to obliterate

not only The Schedule and Víhaan, but Selma, Hután,

Carina, Mustfarris and other members of these groups

that opposed Dvorak, then put the blame on, or let them

think it was executed by, a small terrorist group,

an option Hután reckoned as a possible option

of both Hydra and Dvorak, and had asked Mustfarris

to initiate his plan instantly once the ship neared

Salamis so Dvorak—if The Doomsday choice was there—

would then abandon that possibility. Hután’s plan

seemed to work: a group of Hellenic naval officers

came up on board once the ship neared Salamis, arrested

Hután, Mustfarris, Víhaan, Carina, and soon after,

Selma and the Hydra group, and other ship personnel,

all detained for pirating, a common violation,

because Mustfarris and Hután had learned the Hellenic

navy was working hard in the Mediterranean

to stop pirating. This Hydra ship, called the Olympus,

was suspected in two abduction raids in the islands

—Hydra did abduct people, usually young people,

to use as leverage to force officials to comply—

though because of connections Hydra had with officials

as well as with many Greek Hydra members, Hydra was

never convicted—the most common result for Hydra

in many nations because so many citizens were

members of Hydra. But a glitch happened. These Hellenic

sailors—unknown to Hután and the others too, though once

The Doomsday idea failed, Hután suspected that there

would be another option, Dvorak’s secondary plan—

were four Dvorak undercover agents in the Navy

who boarded the Olympus and escorted all of them

through security and customs to two waiting black SUV cars—

agents of Remnant had placed tracking devices on these

and other cars—Carina, Mustfarris and the agents

leaving in the second car, in the first car were Hután,

Aaron and Víhaan. But before the second car had left,

Mustfarris, hearing the driver’s answer to a question,

became suspicious—one of his rules was to know men

by the truth, not truth by men, a rule from Al-Ghazali—[7]

alerted Carina, the two found a way to escape

and fled the car but not before they watched the first car leave—

Hután, Aaron and Víhaan, abducted by Dvorak—

all of which revealed that rare event where none of Hután’s

options worked due to his assumption either the Navy

or at least Mustfarris would have checked out the officers

and that Dvorak couldn’t have time to initiate

another plan. Hután had underrated how quickly

Dvorak could shift to another plan—for they too changed

their first strategy when they noticed the Greek armed forces

were involved and they couldn’t come near enough with a plane

to release the bomb—and because his plan, in any case,

shouldn’t have concluded in a Dvorak abduction

and Hydra’s loss of Víhaan and The Schedule, and thereby

miss the plan that became the turn of events: Dvorak

now had Hután, Aaron, Víhaan and, as far as they knew,

The Schedule too, an option that could only mean torture

and interrogation under Nicholas Dvorak.

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[1] Menander (ca. 342-290 BCE), “Dyskolos.”

[2] From Hawthorne (1804-1864), The Blithedale Romance (1852), Chapter XVI;

[3] Carl von Clausewitz, On War (1832).

[4] Beth is a quiet, shy, and sweet character in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (1868).

[5] See Attar of Nishapur, The Conference of the Birds (ca. 1177).

[6] In Homer’s The Iliad, Achilles won’t fight when Agamemnon takes Briseis, Achilles’s war prize.

[7] See Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali’s Deliverance from Error (1107).

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Setu, September 2025