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Despite being only one among many humans in the Mimir district, Luanna Thoren felt oddly conspicuous. True, her flexsuit marked her as an alien to these realms. The distinction she noticed, however -- almost subliminally -- flowed from a source more subtle than that overt sign.
Unlike most of the capital city closer to the port, this poorer outlier area evinced a shabbiness, a roughness about the edges. Bits and pieces of trash accumulated in corners sheltered from the vagrant breezes. Paint on the various shops peeled in flakes or sheets, faded by the summer rays of the Neklar sun. Cracked windows went unrepaired. Lighted signs sputtered or lay dark, sometimes announcing a business no longer present. In other cases, the establishment might as well have closed its doors. While customers did frequent the streets and regularly entered and exited various stores, they carefully avoided other enterprises.
Though beads of perspiration dotted her forehead, Luanna shivered. The poverty per se did not bother her. She did not peer down her nose at people -- whether human or alien -- merely because they lacked certain material goods. Fine gowns and expensive dwellings hardly indicated someone's true worth. Many of her best friends had been without significant resources at one period or another in their lives. Events happened not under their control. Fortunes could be lost through accident or innocent misjudgment. Her current partner, friend, and captain of the Astor had staggered into the Freezone devoid of assets other than her ship and her fierce determination to be free.
What set her skin crawling in the Mimir district were the individuals she noticed strolling down the sidewalk.
On more than one world, she had unearthed some incredibly lucrative trading opportunities in the very realms the more traditional, regulated concerns ignored as being beneath their attention. Yet those under-served customers harbored pent-up demand waiting to be met. Her rivals often offered goods and services to the "underclasses" which the business leaders believed the common folk should want or buy. She much preferred to discover exactly what cravings people nursed and then to sell them the means to satisfy those desires.
For all those righteous trend-setters on worlds mirroring Neklar and proclaiming their inordinate love and devotion to equality, few could match a Ratter's commitment to accepting customers as they were. A crewman on a Research and Trade ship did not focus on irrelevancies.
The Neklar citizens surrounding Luanna tested that resolve to the utmost. She knew some of those who cast furtive glances at her might wish her harm. She did not, however, experience any particular physical fear. Her apprehension had its source in the sour expressions devoid of joy; in the sullen men and women lounging listlessly on benches, their idleness testifying to their lack of purpose, the hollowness of their existences; in the utter disregard for personal advancement and pride they demonstrated in their slovenly appearances, their hostility towards a stranger who brought them a chance for change.
Even the most destitute Ratter made the best of whatever he had. No downturn short of death or disablement kept her friends and acquaintances from striving to better their conditions. Such entrepreneurs of the spirit viewed setbacks and misfortune as temporary occurrences; exceptions to the nature of life, not its essence.
To elevate despair and misery and submission to a way of life baffled her to no end.
In the distance, Luanna spotted a crowd gathering in a city square. Intrigued, she hurried her pace, glad to put aside her dilemma for the moment.
Nearly a hundred individuals clustered around a thin figure standing atop the cracked concrete of a dried-up fountain. That decorative detail had obviously not functioned for quite some time. Bedraggled brown grass poked fitfully through the cracks, barely clinging to an anemic life.
The woman at the center of attention spoke in a lilting, ethereal voice. Despite her diminutive stature, her words carried over the general murmur of the men, women, and children drifting towards the speaker like planets spiraling towards a primary. Though her rumpled blouse and slacks, her dirty face and disheveled hair, her sandal-shod feet did not inspire confidence, nevertheless, her audience fixated raptly on her message.
Hanging on the periphery, Luanna concentrated on the odd accent.
"...join us in celebrating the teachings of Mandal," the woman said. Spreading her arms, she said, "I see so much unhappiness upon your faces. Day by day, you plod along. Why? Because you want to? Assuredly not. Because you must? No. You endure your listless lives because that is what you have been convinced is your fate. That you deserve no better. That it is your duty. I am here to tell you that you set your own limitations."
Luanna could hardly disagree with that assessment. The characterizations of the Mandallians she had heard hardly matched the innocuous image projected by this young woman. The Ratter suspected, however, that what followed the prologue would diverge sharply from this initially reasonable beginning.
"I say to you, break those invisible shackles foisted upon you by our so-called leaders. With the guidance and nurturing of Mandal, you, too, can achieve the Insight that has liberated so many of us on Neklar and other worlds. Happiness of an intensity and duration unimaginable to your constricted consciousness is yours for the asking. All you must do is join us in the Ritual of Purification. Purge your soul of false conceits. Purge your thoughts of obsession with the needs of your temporary shells. Purge your body of the poisons you accumulate with each morsel you consume, each breath you inhale, each drink you imbibe. If you truly want to be free, you must --"
A rough hand clasped Luanna by the wrist. "You must leave. Now!"
Quelling her first impulse to strike out at a stranger with the temerity to grab her, the Ratter shifted her attention to her uninvited companion.
The flat, noseless face turned up to her flashed a myriad of swirling colors. Luanna did not know precisely what emotion those complex patterns represented. She could tell by the stressed, tinny voice of the shorter Chtiklo, however, that his agitation grew by the second. "You have to leave. Quickly!"
Gently but firmly extricating her arm from the rough-skinned, bony fingers of the reptilian alien, Luanna stepped backward. "What are you talking about? I just got here."
The Chtiklo's pointed teeth clacked against each other. "Foolish Ratter!" With difficulty, he twisted his nearly neckless head about as though seeking something. "The Enforcers are coming. You must not be found at a Mandallian rally."
Slipping automatically into alert mode, Luanna cast about the square for sign of the Neklar police force.
"How do you know this?"
The Chtiklo tugged at the blue sleeve of her flexsuit. "Awareness of enemies is not a luxury on Neklar. Hurry." Rushing towards the nearest open doorway, he beckoned the Ratter to follow. "They will be here any second."
Annoyed, concerned, and curious, Luanna glanced towards the still-preaching acolyte. The woman continued to expound on the mind-body dichotomy. Earnestly, she attempted to persuade her audience to ignore the importance of the latter aspect and to recognize the fundamental character of the former.
Scuttling into the darkened archway of a dusty bakery, Luanna sheltered behind the door and peered into the courtyard. The beatifically smiling proselytizer held out both hands. The brilliant sun glinted from the tiny shards resting on her open, inviting palms.
Lupaar crystals?
A rumbling roar echoing down a side street announced the arrival of the Enforcer van. No doubt some good citizen of Neklar had notified the authorities of the illegal travesty being foisted upon the innocent inhabitants of the Mimir district.
Moments after the van slid to a stop, a dozen helmeted Enforcers spewed from the twin side doors. Their reflective face shields hid their expressions while providing Luanna with a curved, distorted view of the screaming crowd members dispersing as best they could.
Some of the Enforcers carried cracklers. Others lugged large canisters connected to long hoses. A few brandished variable stunner rifles.
Tangler coils rocketed from the hoses. Hardening in the air, the sticky ropes wrapped like pale snakes around legs and arms and torsos. Those caught in the amorphous webs crashed headlong into the street. The concrete scraped and tore at the skin of their faces and hands as momentum burned away. Trussed for easy capture, they lay resignedly on the ground while the Enforcers scurried past for fresher prey.
More distant violators felt the invisible waves of the stunner beams. Convulsing and twitching, their induced epilepsy rendered them compliant and helpless. Drool dribbled from the corners of their lips.
Sickened and horrified, Luanna covered her mouth with a hand. The chaos of the initial attack died as the Enforcers collected the malefactors and tossed them, unresisting, into the back of the van.
Through it all, the original cause for turning so many unsuspecting passers-by into criminals observed the attacks with a neutral expression on her plain face. The Mandallian made no effort to run. No terror for her future flitted through her.
The Enforcers took her lack of defiance, her acceptance of their presence, as the norm. Undoubtedly they had dealt with such situations before. They knew what to expect and did not turn their attention to the nexus of agitation until the other miscreants had disappeared into custody.
Ten of the Enforcers encircled the woman. At a steady clip, they marched across the square. The dysfunctional fountain and the nonchalantly waiting woman formed the center of their maneuver.
Gazing at the cloudless sky, the luminous blue seeming to beckon her, the woman raised a hand to her mouth. Serenely, she swallowed some of the lupaar crystals. Within seconds, her arms dropped listlessly to her sides. The remaining crystals fell to the fountain, flashing and bouncing willy-nilly into hidden cracks and crevices.
Relentlessly, inexorably, unyieldingly, the Enforcers closed on their target. Hiding their prisoner from Luanna's view, they picked her frozen body from its perch and carried it to their van. Minutes later, they sped towards their destination.
Luanna sagged against the bakery wall. Reaction set in, setting her limbs quivering.
Mentally tapping into the nanocomputer whose components swam throughout her body, she slumped to the floor. ** Eduardo... **
** You rang? **
** Physical check. **
** Blood pressure up. Adrenaline skyrocketing. Galvanic skin response elevated. Same for respiration and pulse. Looks like you're ready to fight or flee. I suggest you do neither. **
** Damn it! I'm OK, right? **
** Physically, you're fine. A bit overwrought, but... fine. **
** Thanks. **
Shaking, Luanna gazed at the Chtiklo. Bright yellow bands swept across his face.
"I guess I owe you thanks." She wiped at her brow. "I don't even know your name."
"Kltowi. Kltowi Nxe."
"Nice to meet you Kltowi. I'm --"
"Luanna Thoren. Yes, I know. Of the Ratship Astor."
Luanna's suspicions flooded back. Bracing against the wall, she refused the Chtiklo's outstretched hand and levered herself erect.
"What's going on?" Her words emerged low but menacing. She did not carry a discernible weapon. That did not mean she wandered defenseless.
Kltowi motioned towards the proprietor of the bakery. The woman's chubby face revealed no friendliness.
"I suggest we discuss this elsewhere," he whispered in his oddly accented voice.
Noting the aloof stare the Neklar woman directed at them, Luanna agreed.
The strange pair steadily placed distance between themselves and the site of the altercation. After fifteen minutes, the Ratter planted her feet. "That's enough," she said sternly. "We're not going another foot until you tell me what's going on. Who are you? How do you know me? What do you want? I know I owe you for saving me from the Enforcers, but that gratitude will stretch only so far."
Purple and green circles intertwined and settled around the Chtiklo's clear-lidded eyes. The grinding of his teeth went on for a number of seconds. After checking out the other pedestrians, Kltowi pulled the woman into a shadowed alley. Heaps of crumbling boxes crowded the space, leaving only a narrow passageway between them.
Clutching his own wrists, the alien blinked a rapid tattoo then launched into his story.
"I've been waiting for a Ratship to arrive on Neklar for months." His thin-lipped mouth worked in a wavering line. "What took you so long?"
"Well, I..." Luanna paused. "Hey! I'm not on trial here. Don't try to put me on the defensive." She crossed her arms. "But to answer your question... There are a lot of worlds out there, in the Freezone and not. Ratters are still a minority in terms of planet-count. Some less-profitable ports may be visited only once every year or two. Sometimes the luck of the draw means an even longer period." She pointed skyward. "There are Ratter operations on Neklar's moon, the asteroid belts, and on Twenze here in this system. There are even a few struggling concerns on Neklar. The Chtiklo colonies on that other planet in this system, uh..."
"Zlnop."
"Uh, right. Your own colonies aren't developed enough yet to warrant much effort on our part. Too high a risk for most Ratters." Angrily, she shook her head. "Quit distracting me. What...is...going...on?"
"I arrived from Chtiklo after a brief stint on Zlnop. A fact-finding mission. To see if we should continue supporting the colony. It's a massive drain on our home economy."
Luanna's grin came out more a snarl. "You can always join the Freezone..."
Kltowi waved that aside. For him, the gesture came out a vertical wiping motion from his broad chest to his eternally staring eyes. "From what I have seen in my various travels, believe me, I could almost support such a radical change."
"There are already individual Chtiklo Ratters. We don't discriminate on the basis of non-essentials."
"Please. Now you distract me." Yellow-tinged blue dots bounced from ear to ear. "Shortly after my journey to Neklar, I lost my transport."
"Let me guess. Forfeiture on suspicion of lupaar crystal smuggling."
"I am well aware of that particular ploy," Kltowi said. "However, in my case, I fear my loss resulted from my own stupidity."
At his hesitation, Luanna prompted him. "Yes...?"
Jagged green peaks swirled about Kltowi's round head. "I... I met a Chtiklo female. She... she pretended to...care...for me." His teeth tapped sorrowfully. "I don't know what she used to drug me. When I awoke, I discovered I had signed over possession of my ship."
"Didn't you go to court?'
"Even if such an admission of abject failure had been permissible, any protest would have availed me nothing. Both the female and my craft vanished from Neklar." The pebbled skin around his mouth wrinkled. "Someday I shall track her down and exact my revenge for her temerity." Abruptly, his broad shoulders sagged. "Until then, however, I must seek other alternatives."
"Surely you could borrow money, contact your people, work for --"
"I fear you do not fully appreciate the Chtiklo character. To do as you suggest would result in the highest humiliation. I could not permit myself to live should I succumb to such weakness."
Luanna furrowed her brows. "Are you asking me for help?"
"Yes."
"But..."
"You are a Ratter. The only one presently in Parum City, the first in too long. Dealing with you -- a human -- does not matter."
A strangled comment died in Luanna's throat. "So you, what? Want to purchase a share? Book passage to your colony or home? Work your way there? Hitch a free ride?"
"I would prefer none of those. Circumstances, however, do not permit me such a luxury. The least objectionable option is a ticket to Chtiklo or, barring that, the nearest colony capable of regular interstellar jumps."
Luanna rubbed at her slim jaw. "How can you book passage? I thought you were minus funds. And too proud to work."
"No, no. Had I not stained my good name, I could have sought employment with a Chtiklo in Parum City or elsewhere. A position with a Neklar..." His pointed tongue darted swiftly in and out of his wide mouth. "Marginally acceptable. Humans, you know. But Neklars are only a bit more congenial to Chtiklos citizens than they are to Ratters."
"Hmm."
"As I said, my task is to gather information. My skills in that area are renowned. So...I skirted the issue. I could not legally work on Neklar without the proper permissions and fees. Those, I could neither obtain nor afford. But..."
"There's always the shadow realm."
"Shadow realm?"
"The black market. Illegally conducted business."
"Yes. Of course. The shadow realm." He indicated the garbage piled high beside them. "Some in the...shadow realm...conduct their affairs in the comfort of privilege. Most of those engaging in such transactions, however, must slink furtively on the edges of respectability. Hence..." He waved inclusively. "The people in Mimir, shall we say, care less for legal niceties. Even if dealing with a Chtiklo."
"So you've got credits. Sufficient to meet our expenses and profit margin?"
"Yes."
"Then, no problem. We'll be on Neklar awhile. Saskia's working with the Traders' League to set up a --"
"I fear other considerations must yet be faced."
"Don't tell me..."
"While I have cultivated many contacts, those same conduits of information are themselves sometimes known by the authorities. My name has likewise come to the attention of certain officials..."
"So now you're not only disgraced among your own people -- if they discover your mistake -- you're a fugitive from Neklar justice."
"If you care to dignify their courts with so noble a name." Checked bands of red and orange expanded across Kltowi's expression.
"Forget it! Smuggling you out could cost us the Astor."
"But --"
"No! Look. I'm grateful for your warning. I'm not mad you checked up on us, on me. But the risk you're asking us to run hardly matches the value of your service. Sorry." Luanna turned towards the alley entrance.
"But I've learned something."
"That's good." Walking away, she raised a hand in farewell.
"They mean to attack the Ratters!"
As though a force field had sprouted before her, Luanna stopped and faced the alien. "Don't feed me a line or so help me I'll --"
"A line? I...?"
"A lie!" she shouted. "A crock! A scam."
"This is no lie." Reckless of the consequences, he seized the Ratter by the sleeve. "The rumors are too convincing, too frequent. I've known about them for months. It has to be true. It is true."
"They're going to wage war against the Ratters? Give me a break!"
"Break what?"
"What evidence do you have to support this lunacy?"
"I've seen print-outs of their plans. They intend first to eliminate you from this system. Take over your ships and seize your wealth. Then confiscate that of the Twenzens and the Chtiklos. Use those resources to build more interstellar craft, to expand their military. Strike into the Freezone itself."
"They can't possibly succeed." Luanna did not know whether to laugh at the idiocy and hyperbole of the claim...or to fear that a potential trading partner could actually and willfully destroy so many lives and the precious property upon which they depended for their existence. "They'll lose."
Kltowi stood very still and very straight. "Such considerations do not matter to them. At least not to the leaders. Don't you understand, Ratter? They hate us, yes. But they especially hate you. They hate you and all you represent. This is not about economics. It has everything to do with how the Neklar people view themselves and their culture."
Numbly, Luanna stared at her miniature savior. Though she did not want to believe him, she realized she did not have to consult Eduardo to confirm the cold knot of dread Kltowi's disclosure engendered. She had studied enough history, both ancient and modern, to recognize that warfare leads to the health of the state.
And to the demise of the individual.
Luanna stared at the dilapidated structure across the street. She and Kltowi hovered in the darkness of an alley, well away from the isolated pools of bluish light drooping from the street lamps. An occasional personal or cargo transport hummed or sputtered down the cracked concrete separating the apartment houses. Like jaundiced eyes, shaded windows glowed in yellow announcement of those citizens hunkered in their modest homes. No doubt locked onto their web entertainment, Luanna thought.
"This is the headquarters for the protesters?" Luanna whispered.
"I still say this is a bad idea," Kltowi squeaked. "We should contact your ship, warn them, return to your Freezone to organize your resistance. Venturing here accomplishes nothing." The Chtiklo's bulging eyes darted about the shadowed landscape. "We are not safe in such a neighborhood."
Luanna scowled and knelt to face the alien. "Look! You contacted me, remember? You sounded the alarm, insisted we do something. I need more than your word, however, before destroying any hope we have of earning a profit on Neklar."
"But your captain..."
"Captain Nii will be just fine, thank you. I haven't been gone even a day yet. Besides, I sent an encoded message to the Astor over the local web outlining the situation. That should ease their worries. When I know more, I'll call her directly over the public comm links. The crew can begin any preparations from their end they see appropriate. Now..." She jabbed a finger towards the dwelling Kltowi had insisted held his Neklar contact. "Do we just waltz in there and announce ourselves? Contact them over the web? What?"
Kltowi's splayed feet shifted uneasily from one boot to another. If not for Luanna's dominating presence, he gave every indication he would bolt in an instant.
"Why cannot you simply believe me?" he pleaded. "I showed you the documents I had at home."
"For the last time, I need more. I would prefer information from the primary source. Third-hand accounts through you build no ships, in my book."
In the dim illumination, Luanna could see the slow pattern on the Chtiklo's skin but not its color. No matter, she thought. The experience necessary to interpret all those emotional cues would take time to build.
"There are no security systems in homes such as these," he said, waving inclusively. "What would be the point, even could the inhabitants afford them? They have little worth stealing."
Luanna grunted. "It's been my experience that crooks will seize anything they can. It's just such people as live around here who tend to suffer the most."
"If you are determined to do this, let us make an end of it as quickly as possible. Then we can go to your ship?"
"Sure, sure." Luanna stood.
Only the faint scrape of shoe on pavement warned her of the intruder in the alley behind them.
Spinning, her arm shot up as she retreated two steps.
"What are you do--" Kltowi began.
The hulking figure emerging from the blackness loomed over the unsuspecting Chtiklo. Contrast between the obscured creature and Kltowi accentuated the stranger's height and bulk. Heavy breathing finally penetrated the awareness of Luanna's new-found acquaintance.
With a clacking cry, Kltowi leaped forward. Stumbling, he crashed to the sidewalk and scrambled away on hands and knees.
The slim needler that had almost magically appeared in the Ratter's hand held steady aim on the massive chest.
"Stop!" Luanna ordered. "I'll shoot."
As though bleeding off momentum, the enormous being managed another two shuffling steps before halting.
"Hands in the air!" Behind her, Kltowi crouched, clutching to her as his unyielding shield.
Slowly, deliberately, as though the movement required inordinate effort and concentration, the long arms lifted towards the cloudless night sky.
When the being stayed frozen like a poorly chiseled statue, Luanna marginally relaxed the tension gripping her body.
"Let go of me!" she said to Kltowi, kicking at his clinging hands.
Ignoring her guide, she directed her attention to the oddly rigid shape.
"Who are you?" she snapped. "What do you want?"
A rumbling voice mumbled a reply.
"What?" Luanna asked.
"Where. Am. I?"
** Drunk? **
** Difficult to tell. Ask him? **
** Brilliant...** Luanna thought dryly. ** Why didn't I think of that? **
"Do you know you're on Neklar? Parum City?"
"Neklar?" The fellow pondered that for a moment. "Yes... Neklar. Parum City." The substantial skull rocked from side to side.
A Twenzen? Those furry natives of Neklar's twin world shook their head to signal assent. That would explain the size.
"Into the light. Forward."
The Twenzen male lumbered ahead like an animated tree. Dark red fur covered most of his pointed face and camouflaged his large ears. Tufts of the bristly stuff poked timidly through rents in his loosely fitting gray shirt and his baggy black trousers. Long narrow leather boots covered his extra-large feet.
Even in the faint light emanating from the street lights, he squinted.
** Photosensitive ** Eduardo offered.
Luanna felt no need to respond to the obvious.
"What are you doing in this alley?" she asked forcefully. If the Twenzen decided to object to her commands, she would be compelled to stitch him with her needler. She hoped an aggressive demeanor, however, would establish her dominance and forestall any attack. With hands almost as broad as her chest, he could do considerable damage if the opportunity arose.
"Don't. Know. Who. Are you?"
Kltowi tapped her elbow. "I've seen this kind of behavior. I think... I think he's a Mandallian coming off lupaar crystals. The addicts tend to be very disoriented the first few days."
Easing onto her heels, Luanna chewed on her lower lip. "Are they dangerous in this state?"
The Chtiklo clacked his teeth in his version of a chuckle. "Not to humans. I suppose if this one fell on you..."
Luanna lowered her weapon. Almost reluctantly, she shoved the needler back into its carry strap on her forearm. "Do you need help?" she asked, glancing towards the apartment building behind them. With overt danger apparently past, she wanted to push on towards their goal.
"I...think so. I need to...return to...the Twenzen enclave."
"Kltowi?"
"On the other side of Parum City, I'm afraid. Not too far from the port." Boldly, Kltowi stepped up beside the Ratter. "He's not going to find any public transports in this neighborhood after dark. I'm not certain even private carriers would come if we summoned them."
Forgetting Luanna's directive, the Twenzen wrapped his arms about himself in a hug that would likely have crushed a human.
"He's lost much weight," Kltowi said judiciously. "The famous 'Mandallian diet.'"
Though lupaar crystals slowed bodily metabolism dramatically and induced an essentially catatonic mental state, a month without nourishment could not help but melt away bodily reserves.
Such minor details had never ruffled the placid facade of the sect's founder.
From his home on Cheleen, Mandal had preached the glories of ascetism. Following the lead of many religions and cults that had come before, he decried the demands and depravities of the body and exalted the pleasures and serenity of the mind. Why one should opt for the mental over the physical, he never explained with any clarity. He assumed his premise and expanded from there, weaving the most fantastic of implications from the barest of threads. The fact that the mind ceased to exist when the body died never disturbed the certainty he and his followers projected. Rather than engaging with the messy details of life, Mandal encouraged anyone who listened to withdraw from the struggle, to abandon such necessities as food and water, to abjure such bodily reactions as sex and sensory inputs.
To live within one's mind formed the pinnacle of ecstasy for a Mandallian. Though perhaps "ecstasy" was a misnomer. Thirsting for such a goal violated the essence of Mandal's teachings. Despite the usage of similar terms in describing what they sought, true Mandallians did not strive for enjoyment even on a purely intellectual level. What they aimed for was total oblivion, a disconnection from awareness even of themselves.
The impossibility of achieving a state of nihilistic separation while alive had severely limited Mandal's appeal. The discovery of lupaar crystals and the effects they had humanoids who consumed them altered the dynamics of his teachings. Suddenly, with no more effort than swallowing, any person could sink into the blank abyss of inactivity, a state frequently referred to as being "frozen."
Given the near cessation of bodily functions -- heartbeat, respiration, digestion -- a Mandallian could easily attain that pinnacle Mandal believed represented the best possible state for sentient beings. No long periods of study, no conscious deprivations of food and other bodily requirements, no strength of will. Merely slip a crystal into your mouth and -- voilà! -- you obtained surcease from the agonies of life.
Luanna could not make the empathic leap to understand fully their motivations. Yes, she had suffered for decades in one fashion or another while growing to adulthood. Yes, she had sometimes longed for escape from her misery, both physically and emotionally. Yes, she still disliked plodding through the down cycles of life.
Regardless of such negatives, however, she nevertheless relished the interplay between the rhythms of her body and her soul. One could not exist without the other. The fact that a piece of matter born in the burning heart of a star could obtain awareness of itself fascinated her. Despite the intimate dependency of mind on its physical substrate, she did not accept a reductionist view of her awareness. Her self did not exist as a direct extension of colliding atoms and shifting molecules. Her mind emerged from that sea of matter, different in kind, not just in degree. Why anyone would want to obliterate their soul or denounce the conditions making that soul a reality baffled her.
As though Kltowi's comment had triggered some dim mental awareness, the Twenzen abruptly asked, "Do you have food?" The flat affect indicated he had yet to achieve full somatic control.
"We shouldn't just leave him here..." Despite the impulse urging her onward, Luanna knew intellectually that a few minutes would not materially jeopardize their self-imposed assignment.
"He is in no peril," Kltowi said, edging closer to the Ratter. "You said you did not wish to delay."
Disregarding that remark, Luanna said, "I'm Luanna. This is Kltowi. You are...?"
Seconds ticked by while that question filtered through to the Twenzen. "I am..." His shaggy forehead seemed to ripple. "Rezolect." He gave a violent shake of his head as though clearing the fog clinging to his thoughts.
The Ratter foraged in a pocket and found a charged Neklar credit disc. She slipped it into Rezolect's impressive palm and closed his cylindrical fingers around the small circle of plastic. "Should be sufficient credit left on this," she said slowly, "to get you home."
Rezolect shook his head from side to side. "My gratitude." His purple eyes met hers. "Do you have food?"
Luanna patted the Twenzen's impressive fist. "Go home, Rezolect. And stay away from lupaar crystals."
Yanking Kltowi along, the Ratter hastened across the street. Behind them, Rezolect watched his benefactors leave, his closed hand still held at his waist.
"I hope he'll be all right," Luanna said as they entered the lobby of the building. "I'd never have suspected a Twenzen would ingest lupaar crystals. I thought they had more sense than that."
"A puzzle to me, also. He is the first Twenzen follower of Mandal of my awareness." Kltowi pointed to an open stairway. As they headed for the third floor, he said, almost as an afterthought, "The crystals have little effect on us Chtiklos."
At the fifth door on the left, the pair stopped.
"He lives here alone," Kltowi whispered. "Once he had a wife and three children. They disappeared four years ago into an Enforcer jail. He has not seen them since."
"Then he has reason to hate the authorities," Luanna murmured. "Why was his family picked up?"
"He does not know," Kltowi said simply. "Though he witnessed their detention as he walked home, the Enforcers deny any knowledge of his family's existence or whereabouts."
The Chtiklo placed his hand on the Ident plate. Nothing happened.
"Maybe he's not home." Luanna suggested.
"His lights are on. Still..." He rapped on the metal door. "Perhaps his reader is in need of repairs."
A speaker under the reader snapped to life. "Kltowi. I did not expect you. And you have a friend along." Barely suppressed reproach underlay that comment.
"She seeks enlightenment, Delwin. As the truth was made clear to me."
"Others are here tonight," the unseen Neklar said warily.
"So much the better for her to gain wisdom."
More minutes dragged past. Luanna despaired of discussing Kltowi's charges with this over-cautious Neklar when the lock mechanism disengaged. The thick door rolled into the wall.
Standing there, Delwin did not inspire great confidence in his ability as a revolutionary. A protruding middle, pudgy face, and balding head hardly matched the romantic image of a rebel.
Gamely, Luanna set aside her prejudices. "Kltowi has informed me of facts of vital interest to me and my people," she said swiftly. "Before I take irrevocable steps to deal with this alleged situation, I require independent confirmation."
A half-smile touched Delwin's lips as he glanced at Kltowi. "So. You found yourself a Ratter, after all. I told you she wouldn't just take your word for it."
"You're graciousness is much appreciated, Delwin," the Chtiklo said with what had to be sarcasm. "Now. May we enter?"
"In, in."
The lock cycled closed as the door popped into its slot.
The apartment did not boast any frills. A living room and a combined kitchen/dining area on the left greeted them. A short hallway to the right revealed three closed doors. Bedrooms, no doubt.
Seated on cushions, chairs, and loungers, a dozen men and women eyed the newcomers with skeptical interest. Scattered papers lay face-down. Portacomps showed blank screens. Luanna did not bother to ask the purpose of this gathering. If they cared to elaborate, they would.
Not offering the two visitors either a seat or refreshments, Delwin crossed his arms and cast an evaluative gaze at Luanna. "You do well to take this matter seriously, Ratter. You do not have a great deal of time to prepare. A couple of years, at most. Perhaps much less."
Luanna reserved judgment on that. "What kind of evidence for this invasion do you have? And how did you obtain it?"
"I work for the national Procurement Administration. A low level desk job, I'm afraid. All I am permitted these days."
Luanna heard the bitter hatred layered in his voice. She imagined an intense story lay behind his statements. Unfortunately, that would have to await another occasion.
"The less overt authority you possess, the more details your superiors shove on you. They doubt your ability to understand the connections." He smiled grimly. "They severely underestimate our intelligence." He motioned for them to follow. "For every maneuver, every weapon, every transport, forms are demanded. The pattern we've observed the past few years leads us to a single conclusion: the Council is no longer satisfied ruling just this world."
"Makes no economic sense," Luanna said. "You'd be far richer if you concentrated on trade, not war."
"No doubt. But then the Council would find its power diminished." Delwin stopped next to a hot safe. Unauthorized entry would result in its contents being vaporized in a flash of searing heat. "We've also noted the radical increase in web attacks against Twenzen and Chtiklos influence in our culture. As do most tyrants, our Council requires a convenient devil to blame for the problems created by its own policies. They reserve their most savage and fervent assaults, however, for you Ratters. The web messages grow bolder in proclaiming you evil incarnate."
Luanna frowned. "Stupid bastards. We face that kind of ignorance wherever we travel. Doesn't matter how much we help our customers improve their lives, we're constantly maligned. Leaders constantly tell everyone who'll listen that we Ratters will only be able to justify our existence by actions other than peaceful exchange."
Delwin nodded. "The Council's official message would be bad enough if it had its source merely in convenience. In this case, however, the people who mold and influence opinion truly and deeply believe the lies they spread. On one level, anyway. They hate Ratters and the Freezone with a passion beyond reason. You're the antithesis of their values, of all they hold dear -- at least their publicly stated values; I know of too many bureaucrats living in opulence at other people's expense. They tolerate you and the Twenzens and the Chtiklos up to a point, as long as they feel they can use you to further their own ends. Once they reach what they imagine to be the necessary degree of preparation, you aliens become superfluous. Given the Council's push to depress imports, we judge that break point will soon arrive."
"Why don't you accept the image concocted for general consumption?" Luanna asked. She waved at the others in Delwin's home.
"Our motivations are our own," he said coolly. "Suffice it to say, we act first for ourselves. In order to do so, we have to help you, as well." He turned to the hot safe. "This has a mechanical lock. I don't want anyone attempting an electronic override."
Three old-fashioned dials and two separate keypads were aligned along one edge of the safe. "Please turn around," Delwin said.
Doing as instructed, Luanna and Kltowi waited. Two distinct thunks sounded. Delwin set to work on the third dial. Without warning, a vocal roar of titanic proportions thundered from the outside hallway.
All the inhabitants of the room sat or stood immobilized for long seconds.
Running towards the entry vidscreen, Delwin scanned the murky scene. The sparse lights in the hallway had died. Indistinct forms intermingled wildly in the twilight. Even Luanna, however, could discern the helmeted and visored heads of the intruders.
"Enforcers!" Delwin hissed.
Barely suppressed panic thawed the rebels' paralysis. Papers and portacomps disappeared into bags and pouches.
"The back bedroom!" Delwin yelled as Luanna and Kltowi looked uncertainly at the frantic yet orchestrated activity.
Before they had taken a half-dozen steps, a violent explosion sent the door hurtling inward like a talah leaf in the grip of a summer monsoon. Quick on the heels of that heavy missile, a squad of wickedly armed Enforcers boiled into the room.
Reflexively, Luanna closed her eyes and averted her face at the flash-bang of the explosion. Between the deafening blast and the stinging gray smoke, a second fled by before she oriented herself.
Her Chtiklo companion did not share in her delay. Kltowi raced at a speed Luanna would never have suspected down the hallway. The small alien passed the Neklar protester, Delwin, as he dashed towards a closed doorway. The lights in the apartment died as Delwin slapped at a wall switch.
Placing her emotions on hold, Luanna knelt beside the hot safe. The needler in her palm tracked the lead Enforcer. A short burst of the explosive-tipped needles stitched the man's face shield.
The sharp flashes of light pitted that barrier but did not penetrate it. Still, the Ratter's attack succeeded in bringing the precipitous charge of the Enforcers to a skidding halt. Neklar citizens were not permitted to possess any effective means to defend themselves. The Enforcers had long ago grown accustomed to unquestioned obediance.
Luanna, however, rarely behaved as she was told.
Leaning out, she fired another burst towards the intruders.
"Move it, move it!" she shouted to the protesters still crouching for cover in the living area. She had only a few clips for her needler. Once the Enforcers realized they faced a single armed opponent, they would gather their courage and renew their onslaught. The confusion engendered by the unexpected resistance could not delay them forever.
Crouching low or squirming along the floor, the dissidents scurried past Luanna's position. Gratitude mingled with terror in their expressions.
With an inarticulate shout, Luanna sprayed the darkened room until the needler sputtered out.
She snatched at another clip and shoved it home. The small rectangle clicked in place, but Luanna did not fire. Instead, she spun on the ball of one foot and started down the hallway.
If her focus had not wavered for a second, she would never have witnessed what happened next.
A backlit, towering silhouette blocked the shattered outer doorway. An intimidating bellow of rage burst from that formidable presence. A limp, armored body dangled from one impressive hand. In the other prodigious fist, the new player gripped a sleek disrupter rifle.
As though tossing away a sack of garbage, the Twenzen, Rezolect, pitched the dead Enforcer at his Neklar comrades. The flailing corpse struck one of the invaders in the midst of aiming his weapon. Simultaneously, the disrupter Rezolect held rose and hummed. Its deadly beam sliced into three of the Enforcers.
To one side of the Twenzen, two Enforcers huddled in the open. The shock of another unsuspected assailant left them momentarily paralyzed and demoralized. As Rezolect swung ponderously in their direction, however, they roused themselves and sprinted past the immense arms of the alien.
Luanna cursed as the pair vanished into the hallway. Once away from the immediate threats to their safety, the Enforcers would screw up their spirits, convince themselves that a superior force had ambushed them, and call in reinforcements. Before that happened, Delwin and his supporters needed to be long gone.
"Rezolect!" she yelled.
The burly Twenzen advanced at the sound of her voice. "Luanna?" His bass tones came out in a more normal rhythm than when she had left him in the alley.
Rushing forward, she seized two disrupters by their straps. "Come on. We've got to get out of here." The questions tumbling through her thoughts would have to wait until later.
"I'll follow." As he lumbered past Luanna, Rezolect swung a vicious kick into the side of one of the downed Enforcers. The uniformed shell lifted into the air as the Twenzen's gargantuan foot burrowed into inert flesh.
Glad to have the large male on her side -- for whatever reasons -- Luanna hurried towards the rear bedroom where the rest of the company had disappeared. The neatly shelved toys and colorful decorations declared the room had once been occupied by children. Delwin's, no doubt, the Ratter thought sadly.
A rumpled, oval rug had unceremoniously been tossed to one side. The protruding lid of a hinged, hidden door revealed where the men and women had gone. Peering into the shadows, Luanna saw only a lighter darkness. She detected no stairs to climb down. What awaited her below, she did not know.
With their margin of safety ticking inexorably away, she could not dilly dally. Bending low, she swept an arm blindly through the opening. When her fingers brushed a rope, she snagged it in one hand. Before she could haul it up, the pale features of Delwin appeared below her.
Her estimate of the rebel ratcheted up a notch when she realized he had not deserted her.
"Climb down the rope," he said in a loud whisper. "This apartment's unoccupied. There's a back stairway to the street."
Luanna nodded then said, "Be down in a moment."
Slipping the disrupters over a shoulder by their slings, she stowed the needler and held the thick rope in her fingers. She made a quick calculation and guessed it would hold the Twenzen long enough for him to drop to the next room.
"Pull the door closed after you when you come," she told Rezolect.
"Right."
Sliding on her rear, Luanna dropped off the ledge. For a few moments, she swung wildly in the air like a drunken pendulum. Delwin's steadying hands damped the motion.
Once on the bare floor, she stepped to one side and beckoned to Rezolect. "Your turn."
The rope creaked when the Twenzen's full weight came to bear. Given his height, however, he had only a few feet to drop.
A toothy grin greeted Luanna when he stood beside her.
"We got them."
Patting her rescuer's arm, she said, "Don't celebrate prematurely. This neighborhood will be swarming with Enforcers in the not too distant future."
At Delwin's urging, the trio exited the empty apartment. The rest of their party had retreated to an alley.
"Go home," Delwin told them. "The Enforcers don't know who was in my apartment. By the time they get around to checking on all my friends and acquaintances, you'll be able to compose your alibis and destroy any evidence linking us."
"What are you going to do?" The middle-aged woman who spoke displayed a face that had known much sorrow. "We can't just leave you in the lurch."
Delwin hesitated. "I..."
Luanna could tell: this maverick had no clue where to go.
Without invitation, Rezolect wrapped a long arm protectively around Delwin's shoulders. "He'll go with us. To the Twenzen enclave. We'll hide him."
"But I --"
Luanna forestalled his objection. "No time for false heroics." In the distance, multiple sirens warbled their alarms. "We'll thrash out the details later."
Each of Delwin's fellow conspirators made a brief yet sincere farewell. When only the two humans, the Chtiklo, and the Twenzen stood in the night, Rezolect said, "We'll go towards the port. Circle the perimeter. Reach my people."
"In the open?" Luanna asked. "Sounds pretty risky. Perhaps we should head for the storm sewers.
Kltowi's teeth beat a swift cadence. "There are no storm sewers in this section of Parum City, I'm afraid. Not enough rain to bother. They let it run down the streets into central collectors."
The Ratter frowned. "Then I guess we'd better get a move on."
For the next twenty minutes, the odd quartet dashed through the depressed neighborhoods of Parum City. Hugging the shadows and the alleys as much as possible, they wended their way nearer the port.
By the time the wail of the sirens had faded below the background city noises, Delwin waved a hand. "I need to...rest. For a minute. Please."
Kltowi pointed towards a shuddered warehouse. A set of tall windows gaped toothlessly near the welded entrance. The incongruity of the impenetrable door and the empty windows brought a smile to Luanna's lips.
** Growing delirious, are we? ** Eduardo offered.
** Crazy enough to keep you as my interface. **
** I love you, too, dear. **
** Too bad you're not hooked in to the local web. **
** The Neklars don't believe in open access for all, I'm afraid. Too much freedom, you see. Too little control if you can snatch a connection from the ether. **
** I need to contact Saskia and Denton. Find out what they want to do, what they want me to do. They should have had time by time to make some preliminary judgments. **
** Let's hope so. This spooking expedition of yours is developing some rather awkward side-effects. **
Luanna regarded her fellow travelers. ** We do seem to be digging ourselves in deeper and deeper. **
** You remain the mistress of understatement. **
** Maybe I should simply peel off when we reach the port and contact Saskia in person. **
** Praise the Trader! She reaches the obvious conclusion, at last. What took you so long? **
** I was distracted by an annoying nanocomp. **
** Ouch! That hurt. **
** I'm sure you'll survive. **
** Very well. I leave you while I go to lick my wounds. **
One thing about interacting with Eduardo, Luanna had to admit. He excelled at distracting her from her woes. Though she kept it buried most of the time, a thin yet bright streak of melancholy had the nasty habit of sneaking past her defenses and coloring her mood at the least opportune times. Perhaps perceiving a similar personality trait in Saskia had led her to accept a partnership with a newbie...and helped explain why each used similar nanocomp interfaces.
With a bit of effort, the four fugitives entered the trash-strewn building. Leaning or sitting beside a wall, they took their rest.
The reddish hue suffusing Delwin's face began to fade to a more normal pink.
Luanna turned to the Twenzen. "What's going on? Why did you follow us into that apartment? I gave you credits for food."
Rezolect's dark, slitted eyes held a hint of mischief. "I still suffered the after-effects of the lupaar crystals. Once I latched on to the notion of gaining food, nothing else could break through. No shops were on that street. I suppose I thought if I followed you home, you'd have something for me to eat."
"Okay. But when you saw that crowd of Enforcers, you could have done an about-face. What reason did you have to interfere?"
The Twenzen scrutinized each of his companions in turn. "I guess it's all right to tell you. We seem to be in the same escape pod." Adjusting the disrupter, he leaned against the cool stone of the wall. "From the snatches of conversation I heard from you and the Enforcers, I gather Delwin and you are opposed to the Neklar Council and its plans for conquest."
"Close enough," Luanna said.
"We on Twenze are a peaceful people. Despite our size, we are uninterested in forcing ourselves on others. Strength must come from within, we believe. Seeking it by controlling unwilling others succeeds only in making you dependent on them for your sense of self-worth. Despite any physical power you wield, you are, in essence, a slave to the opinions and judgments of others. Your self-image is subordinate to the whims of outside forces. To be a master, you must have slaves to acknowledge your position. We cannot fathom how or why you humans resort to such nonsense."
"Not so fast there," Luanna said, a touch of fire illuminating her voice. "Don't catch Ratters in that net you're casting. We accept only voluntary interactions among people. We're traders, remember? Whether it's material goods or personal values, we resort to violence only when provoked. Not that we're reluctant to use it in retaliation. We'd be fools if we didn't. A Ratter won't willingly stand and allow others to steal the field out from under us."
"I apologize."
Smoothing her ruffled feelings, Luanna said. "Accepted. So why did you wade into those Enforcers? Unarmed, no less."
Flexing his tree limb-like arms, Rezolect smiled. "You might wonder what I was doing wandering around Parum City after a lupaar crystal episode."
"The thought had crossed our minds," Kltowi said.
"As I said, we Twenzens do not want to control other people." Rezolect gestured to Luanna. "As do the Ratters, neither do we want to be controlled. The Council believes the secret of its Soldier program is safe. We, however --"
Delwin leaned forward. Eagerness -- or alarm? -- danced in his voice. "Soldier program? That's connected with their invasion plans?"
"I see the Council has managed to maintain the veil of ignorance over the eyes of some who oppose it." Rezolect's fingers tightened on the disrupter barrel. "The Soldier program has been an ongoing project for decades. Though they imported much of the technology... Ironic, yes, given their current policy on off-world goods? The genetically engineered Soldiers, raised from birth out of the incubators to focus solely on fighting. They are driven to combat. They relish it, in fact. Precisely how that effect is achieved is unclear. We have glimpsed that world, but there is much we have yet to learn."
"So you're fighting them, too?" Delwin asked hopefully.
"Of course. In our own ways. Like the Neklar leaders, however, we do not want to reveal our bellies too soon. Our preparations are nowhere yet near completion. We have a rudimentary defense. I suspect we will need much more than that to escape the Council's claws."
"The lupaar crystals?" Luanna asked.
"I was tracking down leads to discover the location of their training bases, where the Soldiers are kept. An Enforcer agent's nose caught the scent. If they questioned me, I did not know how long I could resist their interrogation. So..."
Kltowi's face revealed a light green patch bordered with silver. Delight, perhaps? "You took the crystals to avoid questioning!"
Rezolect shook his head from side to side. "Yes. For a month, they would be unable to break through that barrier. Better yet that they thought me nothing more than a Mandallian acolyte searching for a crystal supplier."
"So they left you alone?" Luanna asked.
"I don't know." The Twenzen examined his shabby clothes. "Normally, a Mandallian seeking Insight will remain rooted to one spot. When I unfroze, I found myself in that alley where I discovered you, far from where I ingested the crystals. Perhaps the Enforcers tried to interrogate me. Perhaps they dropped me in that neighborhood. If someone killed me, they could blame my death on criminals."
"Why not kill you themselves?" Delwin asked. "They're not usually reluctant to eliminate their opposition."
"They had no proof of my spying. Only a suspicion. If I disappeared without explanation, the Twenzen enclave would launch an investigation. That might have led to queries the Enforcers did not care to answer. Better I vanish on the streets...for awhile, at least."
"The attack on the Enforcers?"
"An almost instinctual reaction. When I came searching for food and found them outside that doorway instead, I went a bit berserk. Memories boiled up. All that barely concealed hatred flooded out, inundating my rational side. That ancient animal part overflowed. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to shred those symbols of Neklar aggression."
"Whatever the explanation, I -- we -- owe you our thanks," Delwin said, extending a hand. "If you hadn't yelled out as you did, we'd have had no warning at all. The Enforcers might have had time to take us."
"The lead Enforcer had already set the explosives when I came upon them. The bulk of the men continued their raid while a couple attempted to subdue me. I'm afraid they underestimated my resolve."
"The effects of the crystals have worn off?" Kltowi asked.
"Yes. Except for the fact that I'm still damnably hungry."
"We'll see what we can find for you." Luanna looked to the Neklar. "Feel up to leaving?"
Delwin nodded his assent. "Sure." He winced. "Guess I'm getting too old for such antics."
Luanna chewed on a lip. "Perhaps there's a quicker source of sanctuary than the Twenzen enclave," she said. "My ship, the Astor, is at the port. We might be better off heading there."
"No." The Twenzen sounded adamant.
Luanna felt herself bristling. "What do you mean, 'no'? The Astor is much closer than your enclave."
"Think a moment, Luanna. Look at the four of us. A Twenzen, a Chtiklo, a Ratter, and a Neklar. The Enforcers will have their eyes and ears out for us."
"They don't know how many of us there are," Luanna protested.
"But they know of me and you. They saw Kltowi when they first entered. Adding in Delwin requires no great insight. We stand out like a nova in a galactic arm." The Twenzen glanced at the sky. "We have sufficient night to reach the enclave. Darkness will not be present at the port. The perimeter is patrolled. The field is guarded. The comm links are monitored. Entering the main concourse unseen is virtually impossible."
Aggravation dug at Luanna. Bad enough they had been forced to retreat from Delwin's apartment. Worse to scamper through the backways of Parum City like vermin avoiding the glare of day. To abandon their nearest source of assistance... The prospect grated on her.
"If the public comm's not secure, I'll use an encoder," she offered.
"You carry such equipment with you?" Delwin asked in amazement.
** Watch what you say! ** Eduardo advised.
** I'm not stupid. And no comments. **
"Let's just say I know how to do it," Luanna said.
Rezolect's head bobbed up and down. "An encoded message will do you no good."
"What do you mean! I can assure you these Neklar clowns will never be able to decode what I --"
"They block all encoded messages, web or public comm. Even if they cannot read or hear what they intercept, your intended recipient will never see it. And if the Neklars can determine the target of a secret signal, well... The results are not pleasant."
Damn! That meant Saskia and the others never got her original message. They had no idea what she was up to.
"Only if you and your captain have a prearranged substitution code, where you bury your true message within an open, innocuous one, would the comm be safe."
Luanna glanced from Rezolect at the obscured faces of the other two outlaws. Their expectant, almost pleading expressions, elicited a scowl from her.
"Oh, all right," she said, exasperated. "Maybe your people can help me contact my captain in the morning."
"If it can be done safely... Of course."
** I think I liked him better when he could barely talk... **
** Serves you right for being so helpful. ** Eduardo said. ** No good deed goes unpunished. **
** !! **
"We'd better be going," Rezolect said.
At the burst of annoyance she felt at that suggestion, Luanna wondered just what was causing her sour reaction to the Twenzen's words.
** Perhaps you don't enjoy someone usurping your leadership role? **
** Thank you, Doctor Eduardo. If that explained it, I would never have agreed to serving under Saskia. **
** But Rezolect is not a Ratter... **
Luanna pondered that point but could not decide how to respond.
Surely, whatever nagged at her had less to do with Rezolect's abruptly competent demeanor and more with the quandary in which she found herself. She had an obligation to Saskia and her fellow crew members. Did this detour erode her ability to meet her commitments...or enhance it?
As the four wayfarers ventured once more onto the streets of Parum City, Luanna had a sneaking suspicion that her dilemma would get much worse before it got better.
Tears welled in her eyes when Treyna Bilji paused at the doorway of her modest home. Resolutely, she blinked them away. She had weeped for too long. The time had arrived for action, no matter how small or ineffectual her efforts might be.
Still, she could not quite pull her gaze from the living room where she and her husband, Bertarr, had spent so many happy evenings. Midday sunlight flowed through the dust-covered windows. In happier times, such sloppiness would have merited her immediate attention. Now...? Who cared if the glass hazed with dirt and grime?
Well-used yet stylish furniture glowed in the bluish light. On that rug, their only son, Seltin, had taken his first step. The sagging couch had supported her and Bertarr on many a late night as they made spontaneous love while Seltin slept in his upstairs bedroom. Tri-dees covered the walls, each picture capturing a special memory, the normal events, anniversaries, and birthdays that made life the wondrous flow it was.
Compressing her lips, Treyna eased the door closed. She did not lock it. When her sisters came to remove her belongings and place their house -- no longer their home -- on the market, she did not want them to pay for a locksmith. If someone slipped in before then and robbed the place... What did that matter? Soon, she would be beyond such worries.
The door clicked shut as she gave it an extra pull. They had been meaning to shave a layer from the edge to fix that. Perhaps the new owners would see to it.
Smoothing the lines of her simple, sleeveless blouse and the calf-length dress she wore only on rare occasions, the housewife and mother headed down the sidewalk.
Sounds of commerce and travel swirled in the air around her. Though a distracted portion of her mind recognized that background noise, her thoughts focused elsewhere. Managing to steer clear of danger, she nevertheless walked through the pedestrian traffic with no sense of who or what she passed. Perhaps some greeted her. She doubted that, however.
Since Bertarr and Seltin had disappeared, none of her former so-called friends had visited. What condolences had come her way had shriveled and blown away when those she knew learned what had happened. Guilt by association? Or fear of drawing attention to themselves?
Neither sufficed to excuse their avoidance. Explain, yes, but not excuse.
Absently, Treyna pushed back a fallen lock of graying hair from her wrinkled forehead.
Of course, perhaps she would have reacted the same had the positions been reversed. Dealing with new situations did not appeal to her much. Bertarr had been so much better at handling the novel and the strange. She had improved over the years, her husband's steadiness acting as an unobtrusive example she had learned to follow, almost through a process of osmosis.
Seltin had evidenced a blending of their personalities. His joyous take on life infected all who knew him.
A faint smile curved her weathered lips.
His energy often led him into trouble, but nothing too serious. Nothing he could not either talk his way out of or make aright easily enough. He understood people. More importantly, he understood himself. An unusual quality in most people. Rarer still in someone so young, barely a full-grown man.
As she neared the plaza, Treyna's steady pace faltered briefly. Only a moment, however, did she hesitate. Surely she could be forgiven a stutter in her soul as her fate drew closer. A fate chosen, in a sense, but also a destiny forced upon her by the Neklar Council.
They would not know her from an asteroid in the sky, but they made many decisions, set many chains of causes stretching into effects. They could hardly be expected to be aware of all the consequences arising from their choices. No, the repercussions of their behavior usually fell on others to endure.
Lifting her chin ever so slightly, Treyna proceeded across Suppa Street. Halfway to the opposite side, she jumped at the blare of a thundering transport. Momentarily flustered by the impatient electronic howl, she paused then leaped forward to safety inches from a crushing death.
The driver who had nearly killed her did not slow nor even wave a hand. The blue-gray trailer filled with foodstuffs hugged the curve towards its unknown destination. Perhaps the open market. Perhaps a restaurant. Perhaps a hospital.
Staring after the transport, Treyna inhaled a deep breath. Whatever its goal, that cargo would not be one she would consume. Food would be the least of her worries.
Four scraggly trees marked the corners of the squalid park occupying the center of the rundown plaza. Their rope-like limbs drooped under the heavy weight of spiral leaves shriveling from the heat and dryness. Once, the central fountain -- like many scattered throughout Parum City -- had sent streams of refreshing liquid to the trees' bases. That "wasteful extravagance" had been terminated by the Council years before.
Stiffly, Treyna climbed the five steps to the sunken bowl of the extinct fountain. Her bones ached with incipient age. She had born Seltin later in life. While they could have sought medical assistance from the government hospitals, they had preferred to accomplish their tiny miracle on their own. So little in their world truly belonged to them. At least the new life she had nurtured in her womb after so many years of diligently trying came from the union of her and her husband. Seltin had been theirs. She had even chosen to deliver at home rather than subject them all to the tender mercies and prying eyes of the Neklar care system.
She had held the squalling newborn on her still-swollen belly. Wet and dripping though he was, he had driven the pain from her mind. Her total awareness focused on that red and wrinkled bundle. In that timeless span, no one and nothing else had mattered. Even Bertarr's laughter of joy and her sister's happy tears had been merely background to her own complete connection to her first-born son. The bond she had formed in those first ticks of his independent existence had chained him forever to her heart.
In a very real sense, they had become two halves of one entity: mother and child. Her child.
Now the Council had stolen even that small wonder from her life. Her son and her husband -- her partner over the meager years of their youth and the creeping comfort of middle-age -- both gone on a random draw, like so many meat-animals selected from a herd.
Treyna's eyes narrowed as she beat back the fear and the anger and the tears threatening to erode her hard-won composure. She would not grant the Council the satisfaction of knowing the agony it had engendered in her. Her hurt, at least, remained her own. The Neklar authorities had not yet unearthed a way to steal that from her, as well.
Once she reached the broad center of the fountain, she straightened and gazed out across the plaza.
Few people had noticed her just yet. Most had affairs of their own to consider. The troubles visited upon strangers hardly mattered in the mundane scale of concerns.
She waited.
One man's gaze swept across her spare figure, stuttered and zoomed back, then darted away. His pace accelerated. In seconds, he disappeared around a corner, the odd sight of that lone woman buried from his consciousness.
Out of sight, out of mind.
That could be the mantra for her fellow citizens, Treyna thought. Ignore the reality staring you in the face and perhaps it will cease to exist. Evade, deny, avoid. If you don't acknowledge the problems disturbing you, then they will trouble you no more. An attitude she no doubt shared to a certain degree. That willful blindness had exacted its terrible price from her. She could do little now to shutter the vision that had expanded, at last, within her soul.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the dryness there blocked her words. Swallowing, she cleared her throat and tried again. What she would say, she did not know for certain.
"I want to speak today," she said, "for myself and for my husband and son who are no longer able to do so."
No one turned, no one listened. Her quavering voice vanished among the rumbles and hums and clangs of traffic and people.
Thinning her lips, she repeated her announcement. This time she increased the volume until the shouted sound broke through the barrier of indifference engulfing her.
A small girl and boy looked up at the strange woman perched high above them. When their parents returned, annoyed, to retrieve them, the young man and woman found themselves curious, as well, to discover what ailed this odd woman disturbing the tranquility of their square.
"All my life," Treyna said, "I maintained my energies upon my own concerns. My education, my husband, my child, my job. Day by day, week by week, year by year, I plodded or dashed or staggered along as circumstances or my own feelings dictated. Neighbors, I paid attention to, yes. Family and friends, too, of course. The rest..." She shrugged.
"I never realized how much I hurt myself and those I loved the most." Her words shook slightly then firmed as her resolve strengthened. "I thought that if I kept my head down, no hammer would ever seek me out. I thought that if I obeyed the rules and did as I was told, I could snuggle into my own small corner of the world and be left alone. I thought that if I deflected my attention from the destruction happening around us, to the people I knew or knew of, then I and mine would be spared."
Her voice strained to a higher volume. "I was wrong!"
Person by person, couple by couple, spectators accreted to the gathering crowd. Some sported expressions of amusement or derision. Others carefully held their eyes rigidly forward, never exchanging visual cues with their companions. A few braver or perhaps simply confused listeners glanced uncertainly at one another as Treyna's words sketched in a portrait of the trap that had ensnared her in its tangling threads.
"A month ago," Treyna said more calmly, "an Enforcer came to the door of our home. One," she said, lifting an index finger into the air. "Not a squad, not a group, not an army. One. Alone. He did not even bother pulling his weapon. He knocked on our door, confidently, forcefully."
The words flattened into sameness as she relived the minutes when all her security, all her dreams, all her happiness had evaporated in an instant.
"My husband answered the door. He always did when he was home. His responsibility, he said. Mine was to raise our son to be a man. Even more importantly, to be a decent human being." A ragged breath filled her lungs. "The Enforcer told my husband to fetch our son. Bertarr did as instructed. I don't believe even then he truly suspected what was happening. Such occurrences intersected others' lives. Not ours.
"Seltin emerged from his room, his mind still toiling on a problem from his studies." An indulgent smile warmed her expression. "He wanted to be a scientist. Always, he asked 'why.' Sometimes I could even explain 'why.' That day, however, I would ask that same question a million times. No answer ever came. Not until later, anyway."
Traffic clogged the nearer lane of the street. While waiting for their turn to continue, drivers listened to the strange woman's testimony and grew reluctant to miss the ending of her story.
The loud crunch of two vehicles colliding heightened the chaos.
Treyna ignored the yelling and recalled that encounter with Neklar authority. "'What do you want with our son?' my husband asked. 'I've come for both of you,' the Enforcer said. 'You've been Conscripted.'"
Treyna's mouth thinned. "The Enforcer might as well have been announcing the time of day for all the impact it had on him. For me, however, time congealed into a thick syrup, slowing everything and promising to smother me beneath its weight.
"Seltin tried to protest, to complain, but Bertarr glanced fearfully in my direction and silenced our son. The Enforcer told them to come with him. He did not even permit them to say good-by."
Twin trails of tears flowed along the curves of Treyna's cheeks. "I wanted to stop them, to say something, to denounce the Enforcer and what he had come to do. But I remained silent. I did not challenge him, I did not object, I did not assert myself in the defense of my family. I was terrified that if I complained in the least, I would lose them both." Bitterness seeped into her trembling voice. "Well, I lost them both anyway. They are gone. Vanished as though they never existed. I lost what I most valued in life, and I never raised a finger to help them or to denounce their captors."
No longer did Treyna hold back her tears. The culmination of her tale would arrive soon...along with the squad of Enforcers she saw marching briskly into the plaza. To restore order, no doubt. Order and security. What she had thought she desired all her life. The goal that had stripped her of her will to continue even as it had stolen what she had supposed it protected.
"It is time to resist Conscription," the woman said, crying. The emotional tremor in her words did not suggest weakness, however. "Time to stand up for our humanity. Time to tell the Council and their Enforcers that we are not their slaves, to be disposed of as their whims dictate. If you labor under the false notion that Conscription will never reach out for your loved ones, you are mistaken. If you fool yourself with the idea that silence will protect you, you face the greatest danger."
The Enforcer squad plowed through the assembled people, leaving the on-lookers sprawled on the pavement or stumbling away.
Two Enforcers clambered onto the dry fountain. One held the shouting woman's forearms while the other placed stasis-cuffs on her wrists. None too gently the pair dragged her down. A moment later, her words stopped as though sliced in mid-syllable.
Quickly, the crowd dispersed. Soon, no evidence remained that a woman named Treyna had ever spoken there...or even existed.
Never before had Luanna felt so small. The Twenzens gazing at the tri-dee map soared above her. Though she hadn't noticed it near Rezolect, the aliens also projected a mildly pungent odor. Perhaps all that fur... She could not quite decide whether that aroma offended her nose or merely offered a novel smell she had yet to classify.
Holding a laser pointer, Rezolect circled a broad area north and west of Parum City. "As close as we can tell, the Soldier project is headquartered somewhere here along the edge of the Burellin Desert. As you can see, no cities, no flight paths, not even any roads are evident in that region. Whatever they are up to enjoys anonymity at the moment."
Delwin stepped closer to the map. He swept a hand through the image of the rough terrain. "If we could gain access to satellite information, we could pinpoint the base or bases." He looked at his Twenzen hosts. "We'd learned already that the Neklar invasion force had to be located in this general vicinity. We always assumed, however, that the troops they trained were normal people. Conscription has increased considerably over the past few years."
Luanna curled a lip. "Conscription... Won't that nonsense ever disappear from civilization?"
Kltowi clacked his teeth. "Even we on Chtiklo abandoned that barbaric practice."
The Twenzen Enclave leader Zentaric said, "Perhaps a criterion for qualification as 'civilized' is the acknowledgement that a person's life belongs to him."
Luanna looked askance at Kltowi and then Rezolect. "No offense, but taken to its logical conclusion, only the Freezone makes the cut. I don't know any other planets except ours that don't regulate, prohibit, or tax a large fraction of peaceful, voluntary conduct."
Zentaric grunted. "We'll pass over that for the moment. Whatever the finer points of political theory, the Neklar threat is no borderline case."
"I don't see what you plan to do," Luanna said, letting the issue slide. "You don't have the force either on Twenze and most especially not here to stop the Neklars. Especially if they really do have these genetically engineered Soldiers."
Rezolect nodded knowingly. "Oh, they do."
Luanna shrugged. "I'm not sure how they would constitute a better fighting force than normal humans, but..." She crossed her arms and pulled at her chin. "If you can't fight them, I'd normally suggest broadcasting their intentions as far and wide as possible."
"That, however, would alert the Council. Most likely it would lead to our expulsion."
"If not your elimination," Kltowi murmured.
"That is a distinct possibility," Zentaric said. His white fur ruffled slightly. "The Enforcers grow bolder with each passing day. Every week the Council announces a new tightening of the noose they have around our necks. I would be unsurprised if soon they expelled all off-worlders."
Delwin shook his head. "They won't be that rash. Not for awhile, anyway. Before they can institute any drastic and draconian measures, they'll have to be assured of their supply situation. The Council can be excessively cautious when it comes to maintaining their power."
"If you can't fight them and you can't tell everyone," Luanna said, "then I'm at a loss what you intend to do besides playing spy. All this lurking about accomplishes nothing beyond making detection more likely. That, you apparently believe, would be disastrous."
"We need incontrovertible proof," Delwin said. "If we proclaim what we suspect without hard evidence, who will believe us? The Council can easily obscure and obfuscate long enough to disguise what they are up to. The work I and my friends have done convinces us...but then we already have reason to suspect the Council. Outsiders might not be so readily persuaded."
** You're not seriously going to suggest... **
** Quiet, Eduardo. This represents a real threat to the Freezone. I've an obligation to deal with it head-on. **
"Then I suggest we go there and obtain that proof positive," Luanna said quietly.
Stunned silence gripped those gathered about the map.
Luanna captured Delwin's gaze. "Well," she said. "You've lost your family to these monsters. You've risked your life by meeting with your friends. When you ran from those Enforcers, you all but admitted your guilt. Are you ready to take the next logical step?"
Light glistened in Delwin's eyes. Slowly, he nodded. "If that's what's required then... Yes. Of course I'll go."
"You're signing your own death warrants," Zentaric said.
Luanna turned to Rezolect and Kltowi. "We two can't do this alone."
Streams of scarlet raced across the Chtiklo's face. "We'll be killed. Surely you'd be safer alone. We're too conspicuous. We'll be caught for certain."
Rezolect shook his head. "I agree with Kltowi that what you propose is dangerous." He nodded. "I don't think we have any choice, however. I cannot bury my face in my fur and pretend not to know what I know. If we dither and wait, soon it will be too late. We may die now. We will surely die later if we fail to act."
Luanna looked at Kltowi. "You're the one who involved me in this mess. Surely, you won't desert me now?"
Kltowi's face shimmered in competing colors and patterns. "I sought only a ride off this forsaken planet. I wanted to go home! To rehabilitate myself."
Luanna spread her palms. "What better way to ingratiate yourself back into high society than to save your colony and your people from invasion and conquest?"
"I... I..."
"Good!" Luanna said. "Then it's settled." She rubbed her hands. "Now," she said straining up to see the faces of the Twenzen leaders. "How do we get up there and what do we do when we arrive?"
The unrelenting eye of the setting sun drilled into the arid landscape. Though the temperature still scorched the dry air, soon it would begin dropping precipitously. The combination of higher elevation and lack of cloud cover accelerated the trend. Before long, it would be cool enough to resume their journey.
Sparingly, Luanna sipped at her canteen. She had long ago abandoned any pretense of cleanliness. Sand, dirt, sweat, and wind ground grit into every pore of her tanned skin. She had abandoned her flexsuit for more traditional Neklar garb. Though she would not pass muster on a close inspection, she did not care to make her opponents' task any easier.
Kltowi hunkered within their small tent, refusing to expose himself to more of the elements than necessary. His spirit seemed to have turned into a dehydrated caricature of its normally excitable self. He had begun their trek complaining he had nothing to contribute to this expedition; that he would merely slow them down; that he cared only about returning home to Chtiklo.
Luanna was beginning to take him at his word.
With a motion that had become almost habitual, she wiped a dark blue bandana across her forehead. Sometimes she believed this quest to be a fool's errand. Gaining solid evidence to prove the existence of the enhanced Soldiers -- not to mention the invasion plans -- would not be easy. First, they had to find the base or bases. Then they had to document what they discovered. Last, they had to return unscathed and spirit the information off-world and convince the Ratters of the danger.
Rezolect lay stretched on a blanket near the tent, enjoying the modest shade of a geon bush. Given his thick fur, he had to be suffering. Yet he rarely vocalized his discomfort. Doggedly, he pushed ahead each night, steering them as best he could according to the guidance of the scanty Twenzen clues.
Shielding her eyes with a hand, Luanna gazed at the melting orb of the sun as it flowed below a range of low hills stretching wearily across the western horizon. Time to break camp.
"Rezolect..."
Rolling his head slowly in the Ratter's direction, the Twenzen said, "Time to leave. Yes. You're right. Perhaps today we will encounter a more positive sign of our targets."
Luanna nodded then pushed herself to her feet. Her scuffed boots sank into the loose sand when she crouched near the tent. Reaching in, she shook Kltowi's leg.
"Come on. Wake up. I want to make at least twenty miles tonight."
The Chtiklo groaned and squirmed away from Luanna's hand. "Are all Ratters as sadistic as you?"
Despite her aching muscles and chiseled nerves, Luanna smiled. "I qualify only as a novice in that direction, I'm afraid. I'll try harder in the future."
With an abrupt motion, Kltowi shot up. His mouth twisted in an odd counterpoint to the orange dots dancing across his face. "I want out of here! This is absurd. How can we four hope to accomplish such unrealistic objectives?"
On the other side of the Chtiklo, Delwin Iconir propped himself on an elbow. "The only absurdity is your negativity," he said, casting an amused look in Luanna's direction. "We've only been at this for three days."
In a flurry of activity, Kltowi knelt and gathered his gear together. Shoving it into his pack, he clambered into the last slanting rays of the dying sun.
Luanna exchanged glances with Delwin. "I'm not convinced he's wrong..."
Delwin shrugged. "What other option do we have? If we sit and do nothing, the Council wins. If we try to sound an alarm, we may at least buy their opponents sufficient time to mount a defense."
"For evil to succeed, it is sufficient for good men to do nothing."
"That sounds familiar." Delwin exited the tent and rose stiffly.
"A paraphrase of someone from earth. Don't remember who it was." Deftly, Luanna collapsed the tent and stuffed it into its carrying case.
After a quick meal of self-heating food packs, the quartet continued the journey they had suspended at last daybreak.
The Twenzen ground transport had brought them as close as it dared to the suspected area. Zentaric did not want to risk alerting the Neklars to their presence. Nearly a hundred miles lay between their drop-off point and the edge of the most likely locale for Soldier activity.
Luanna hoped the crew of the Astor was progressing fine without her. Rather than risk a personal appearance or a possible blocked or intercepted message via the web or public comm, she had physically written a message. A paid courier should have delivered the information by now. Explaining the general situation and what she hoped to accomplish, the note would have to suffice until she returned. While that answer to her dilemma appeared obvious in retrospect, Ratter's relied so heavily on electronic messaging that a paper note fell below the radar of habit.
In any event, she trusted in Saskia and Denton to watch out for her monetary interests. Especially on a first-time trading mission, they would not undertake any hazardous investments.
Falling into step beside Delwin, she said, "We may be able to smuggle you off Neklar when we return to Parum City. I can't imagine your life will be worth much if the Enforcers track you now."
"You're correct on that," Delwin said ruefully. "I appreciate the kind offer."
"But..." Luanna sensed the refusal in his voice.
"My wife and children are still missing. I can't abandon them."
"You don't think they're..."
"I can't permit myself to believe that. Not without definite evidence. If I accepted that as established, I don't know how I could continue...or why I'd want to."
"Hmm. Well. I've never had a husband or children. Most of my family are dead."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Adjusting a strap on her pack, Luanna said, "A long time ago. They died on a new colony world. Post ice age. The survey crew failed to discover that a semi-sentient creature already claimed the top ecological niche. It didn't take kindly to intruders. A pack of them swarmed in unexpectedly during the night. Most of the colony died in their sleep. The few who managed to escape warned that any further attempts at colonization demanded heavier defenses...and deadlier weapons."
"Surely they would not exterminate these animals?"
"Depends."
"On...?"
"On whether they were intelligent or not. Were capable of rational thought. If you can't reason with an opponent, what other options do you have? Either abandon the field to them or kill them if they try to harm you."
"And Ratters would not simply leave?"
"Not without good reason."
"Surely the planet belongs to the natives. Colonists are, by their very nature, interlopers, intruders. The native beings must take precedence."
"Why? Because they were there first?"
"Of course."
"So you're saying those animals own the entire planet?"
"I'm not sure I'd go so far as to..."
Luanna's eyes narrowed. "Even if they were sentient, they can't claim possession of everything merely by existing somewhere. If they could, what would stop them from claiming their entire solar system? Hell, why not stake ownership to the entire galaxy?"
"Umm..."
Aware of her accelerating pulse, Luanna forced her breathing to slow. Noting the trembling in her limbs, she frowned. She had thought she had progressed beyond such a reaction when discussing the fate of her parents and siblings. "Sorry," she said tersely. "Amazing how an event from so far in the past can strike you with such force in the present." She gazed at Rezolect's wide back as he trudged in the lead. "The company that established the colony came in for a lot of criticism after the slaughter. Lawsuits flew everywhere. Reputations suffered, tarnished by events no one could have anticipated."
"If they truly did not -- and could not -- have suspected what might happen, then they cannot be held responsible."
"You're correct, technically. Eventually, they were exonerated of any criminal action or civil negligence. The company had self-insured, however, to save costs. Paying out the life insurance for the dead colonists weakened it so much, it liquidated its meager holdings. The stockholders lost a bundle, as well."
"And you were involved how?"
Luanna glanced at Delwin. "That obvious, huh?" She stared into the purpling sky. "I was one of those stockholders," she said quietly. "I know it doesn't make rational sense, but somehow I feel partially to blame for what happened. My head knows better, but my heart hasn't quite caught up to it yet."
"Even after so many years."
"Right. I'm sure you face similar demons."
Delwin flinched. "Yes. Perhaps even more so. If I had not voiced opposition to some of the Council's policies..."
"Punishment for mere words is so foreign to Ratters. Oh, we know of it well enough from our studies. If you fail to learn from the mistakes of history... Hell, we've observed the practical results on many of the regulated worlds. Still, we can't wrap our emotions around how and why people are so afraid that they ban disagreement. Such attitudes are too foreign to our makeup."
"I dreamed on occasion of escaping with my family to the Freezone. At first, we might even have managed it. Yet our jobs kept us in comfort and relative security. Those are difficult to abandon, especially when you have children. By the time I realized what the Enforcers intended, we couldn't leave. Though I curtailed my complaints, those in control apparently assumed I needed more convincing. Not only was I demoted, my family was taken from me. One day when I returned home, they had vanished. No note, no explanation. Of course, the Enforcers denied all knowledge of their disappearance."
"It couldn't have been a criminal action? Or -- forgive me -- your wife simply deciding to leave?"
"No," Delwin said sharply. "The Enforcers would not even investigate such possibilities. That reluctance clinched it for me. I've been attempting to fight back ever since." He spread his hands. "That's why I'm out here in the Burellin Desert now. What do I have to go back to? Even my apartment will have been taken from me by now."
Rather than comment, Luanna chewed on the horror of uncertainty her companion endured.
She craned her neck to the rear. "Hurry up, Kltowi. You're falling behind."
The Chtiklo did not reply. His eyes transfixed the trail laid out by the others.
"Down!" Rezolect said with quiet urgency.
Instantly, Luanna and the others hugged the ground. A gradual rise dipped just ahead of them. On the rim there, the Twenzen lay sprawled, peering over the edge. His binoculars drifted in an arc as he scanned the landscape.
When Luanna crawled up to his side, Rezolect handed her his gear. Adjusting the focus of the night mode lenses, she tried to make sense of the colorless images displayed before her.
"Halfway towards that gully," Rezolect said. "Those craters. See the twisted bars inside them? Those are not natural."
With her friend's words as guides, Luanna picked out the spots he indicated. Ragged scars revealed gouges in the earth of recent origin. Along the rims, something reflected the quarter-moon and sparkled in the night.
"That's fused sand, glass, rimming some of those craters," Luanna whispered.
"Someone's been blowing things up out here."
Luanna lowered the binoculars and caught Rezolect's gaze. "Target practice?"
"Maybe. Those deformed metal rods served as fire points."
Checking the range finder, Luanna estimated sizes. "Those were as big as transports."
"Took a lot of power to create these types of effects."
"Fighters?"
"We have reports of Soldiers flying near-space capable craft."
"Can Twenze defend against this kind of attack?"
"Not effectively. We have limited armaments. Our efforts have concentrated on economic endeavors, not martial arts. We can spread out what we have, but the Neklars can easily destroy sites where are forces are not."
Luanna handed the binoculars to Delwin. He surveyed the scene but offered no advice. Kltowi refused to look. Rest rose higher on his scale of priorities than reconnaissance.
"Does this mean the base is nearby?" Delwin asked.
"Not necessarily. Fighters have worldwide range. The base could be anywhere within the Burellin Desert."
"Let us hope it lies near," Kltowi offered. "I do not know how much more of this I can handle."
"Consider this hike the price of your flight off Neklar," Luanna said.
"How shall we proceed?" Delwin asked.
"There," Rezolect said, pointing. The binoculars swung to the right. "I see a faint trace. Not deep enough to be a road. A trail maybe."
"They had to haul these targets in from somewhere," Luanna suggested.
"It'll be difficult to follow at night, but at least we finally have a solid line on where the Soldier force is located."
"Let's go," Delwin said, rising.
Luanna reached for him, but Rezolect said, "There's no sign of activity."
As they crossed the target zone, Luanna got a sense of just how extensive the Soldier operation must be. Hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of mangled and twisted bits of metal littered the desert. The ground itself had been churned up to such a degree that their pace slowed even more. By the time they reached the vague transport route, an hour had passed.
From that point on, however, they made up for the prior bad terrain. The transports had compressed the sand and dirt sufficiently to provide a relatively firm footing.
After three hours of slogging along, they came to a fork in the trail. One branch curved to the right. The other wound down towards a line of cliffs barely visible on the left.
"Which way?" Delwin asked.
"Let's rest here before we decide," Luanna said. "Given us a few minutes to chew on our options."
Grateful for the respite, the four travelers found rocks to sit upon. Without a word, each prepared himself a simple meal.
Methodically, Luanna chewed on the meat she selected. The bottoms of her feet ached. Her boots fit well -- she had so far escaped the agony of blisters -- but the constant pounding set her flesh to vibrating and her bones to creaking. Her thighs hurt. Hell, she thought, everything below her waist pained her...and her back accented the combo.
She washed down the hunk of cooked flesh with a long swig from her canteen. If she hadn't been facing in precisely the right direction, she would have missed it.
"I think I saw a light..." Crouching down, she strained into the night.
Scrambling together, the other three joined the Ratter.
"Where?" Rezolect asked, uncasing his binoculars.
Luanna pointed. "Near the base of that cliff. Directly under the moon."
"I don't... What did it look like?"
Annoyed at the recalcitrant light and the hint of skepticism in the Twenzen's voice, she snapped a reply. "I dunno! A light. White. It flashed briefly."
"Could it have been a meteor?" Chtiklo asked hopefully.
Forcing patience into her voice, Luanna said, "No. It wasn't a meteor. It was near the base of that cliff. Somebody else is out here."
"As good a direction as any," Delwin said. "We've a fifty-fifty chance of picking the wrong branch. If Luanna thought she saw a light, we might as well let that tip the scales."
Luanna did not tell him that there was no "thought she saw" at all. She did see a spark of illumination flare then die. Her problem lay in being unable to prove that fact.
"It's about ten miles away. It'll take us a few hours to reach it."
Kltowi clacked his opinion of this exchange. "Must have been quite a light to be visible from such a distance."
"Maybe you should remain here," Luanna said, only partially joking.
"I... Oh! Very well. What difference does it make?"
So that's what sulking looks like... Luanna thought as she watched the dull blue color steal across the alien's skin.
"With luck, we'll reach whatever it is before sunrise," Rezolect said. "If we don't, I plan to keep marching. There's little in the way of shelter between here and there."
As they plodded along, a warring mixture of excited anticipation and curiosity fought with a heavy dose of cautious concern and reluctance. The Twenzen transport would swing by their rendezvous point in eight days. If they missed that connection, they had a long hoof back to Parum City. Whatever evidence nestled at this new destination would have to suffice or they would run out of time to seek further.
The horizon to their right began to bleed into a lighter shade of blue. The line of cliffs appeared close at hand, though judging distances in the desert could be a tricky affair, Luanna had learned. By the time she had to crane her neck to see the top of the rocky elevation, the sky cupped a knot of yellow within the broader bands of orange and red.
When the trail drifted to the left towards a deep cleft in the wall of rock, the four self-appointed spies veered to the right. A sloping ridge of sand allowed them to parallel what had become almost a road. The last thing they wanted was to blunder into a base.
They need not have worried about that. The four armed men who stepped from behind rocks seemed well aware of their presence.
Uneasily, Luanna regarded the two uniformed figures blocking the path ahead and the pair who had slipped in behind them preventing retreat. To the right, a broken wall of rock caught the first rays of the waking sun. To the left, the ridge fell off sharply to the floor of this canyon.
As much angry and frustrated as frightened, she raised her empty hands shoulder-high. The cracklers and needlers aimed at them did not invite discussion.
Bertarr Bilji had thought himself immune to surprise. After the Enforcers had taken him and his son, Seltin, from their home to join the ranks of officially-nonexistent Conscripts, he had faced one impossible situation after another. On seemingly random schedules, their remotely activated weapons hummed to life. The dreaded "training missions" practiced by the Soldiers in their armored suits commenced with capricious irregularity following that impersonal signal. Sometimes immediately, sometimes hours later, the transports dropped off their deadly cargo.
Seeking goals known only to themselves, the helmeted Soldiers swarmed through the rugged territory occupied by the Conscripts. They killed with dispassionate abandon, obliterating most Conscripts who dared oppose them. But a Conscript could not avoid such forced conflict. Any who attempted to cower in their barracks or who sought sanctuary among the stones of the surrounding hillsides either died immediately, struck down from afar by unseen monitors...or worse, still, disappeared after the battle in the custody of silent Guardians.
The tiny trackers inserted into the Conscripts during their induction insured that they could never hide from their wardens. Nor could the draftees slip away into the wildness of the Burellin Desert during combat lulls. Both the harsh natural conditions and the remote, inward facing automatic defenses that zeroed in on their tracker signals made escape essentially impossible.
So they fought, ferociously and as best they could. Always, a small percentage of them survived the assault. An even slimmer number of them were declared free by virtue of their "bravery" and whisked away. Most of the Conscripts clung to that shred of succor as a drowning man did to a piece of rotted driftwood.
Bertarr said nothing to discourage those wisps of hope. Neither did he believe for an instant such false promises of liberation.
Fresh replacement Conscripts quickly filled the slots of those destroyed in the training exercises. Food and water sufficient to keep them alive -- barely -- continued to be delivered. Boredom seeped into their souls until the next dollop of chaotic terror arrived to slash their numbers to the bone.
And miracle of miracles, both Bertarr and his teenage son, Seltin, managed to endure the erratic cycles of life and death.
So far.
Bertarr refused to grant admittance to the numbness threatening to permeate his soul. While harboring no false illusions of deliverance, still he clung to the tattered vestiges of his humanity. Day to day, he struggled to survive and to keep his son alive and by his side.
Still, the sight of a young woman, a Twenzen, and a Chtiklo joining the man tossed from the Guardian transport triggered his embattled sense of wonder.
Turning from the dusty barracks window, he beckoned to Seltin. "We've got visitors."
Seltin nodded, unquestioning, and slung his battered crackler over one shoulder. Useless though it was at the moment, the weapon might be activated at any time. Bertarr had learned early on never to wander far from his rifle. Though hours might pass before the Soldiers stormed the compound, there could just as easily be only seconds before death rained down on the Conscripts.
Gravel crunched beneath Bertarr's worn boots as he and other curious Conscripts drifted over to join the blinking and bewildered quartet of newcomers. The older man's eyes narrowed a second as he surveyed those who had joined their ranks. He could not quite pinpoint what subliminal cues conveyed the truth, but he did not doubt the accuracy of his judgment as to which of these four he should approach.
Extending a weather-roughened hand to the grim-faced woman, he said, "Welcome. I hope you live long enough for us to become friends.
Luanna pored over the crude map Bertarr had extracted from its hiding place in the wall. Thoughtfully, she traced the path she and her companions had taken then tapped the location of the Conscripts' training site.
"You don't know where the Soldiers' base is then?" she asked, glancing over at her new Neklar friend.
Bertarr shook his graying head. "Not precisely enough to place on a map." He swept a hand across the northwest quadrant of the map. "We suspect, however, that it lies somewhere up here. Based on what we know of Neklar geography, a compound at the foot of these mountains would stand the best chance of going undetected by outsiders." He looked for affirmation from the six other Conscripts he had invited to this meeting. "Alien ships are vectored in closer to the equator. None are allowed to establish free orbits. And, of course, Neklar air traffic is rigidly controlled."
Exchanging a silent look with Delwin, Luanna expelled a long breath. "How long since the last training exercise?"
"About forty days," Seltin volunteered. "They've never gone longer than sixty..."
An uneasy murmur rose from the Conscripts.
Luanna frowned. "Well, I'm a Conscript now, too." Absently, she gripped the butt of her needler rifle. "I -- we'll -- fight when we have to."
"For all the good these primitive weapons will do against armored Soldiers," Kltowi said grimly.
Rezolect cuffed the Chtiklo lightly against the head. Still, the blow staggered the smaller alien. "We will do what we must."
A swirling rainbow of hues dashed across Kltowi's face as he glared up at the Twenzen. He did not, however, offer to contradict his larger companion.
"Focus, people," Luanna said firmly. "Save the energy for the Soldiers."
** Have you learned how to disable the tracker yet? **
Eduardo's response came a fraction of a second later. ** Yes. I
