Chapter Twelve
Zhor had not been so fascinated with the antics of the machines that he had not considered the ramifications of their presence.
If Ah-na’s people had sent them—and he saw little reason to doubt that—then her people were either already here or they would be coming very soon and they would search for her.
He knew he could not keep that from her forever. No doubt, she knew they would be coming even if she had no notion of when.
But he wanted more time.
That desire might cost him everything.
Or it might result in her choosing to stay with him.
He knew it was a gamble, but he did not see that he could do anything else and even have a chance of winning her heart.
Of course, it had occurred to him that his desires were selfish. She would have to give up a far better life with her own people to be with him, but he fully intended to do his utmost to keep her safe and to provide all that he could in the way of necessities and comforts.
He had confidence that he could provide what they needed—betterthan just what they needed so that they did not have to live their lives on the edge, expecting momentarily to fall off into the abyss of suffering and death.
It was not ‘things’ that brought true joy, in any case. That was a lesson he had learned in living past all of those he had once loved. He had not known joy of any kind since their passing.
Until Ah-na.
He could not bear to give that up—giveherup—without a fight.
If they stayed where they were it would not be long at all before her people tracked her here.
But would he be taking her into danger if he took her away?
Was he risking losing her forever?
He shook that thought. He would not take her away from a safe place to one that was not safe.
But he had not thought of an alternative until he sat down to eat. It was alternating thoughts of showing her proof that his people had attained a higher civilization, even if it had fallen, and that he could provide at least some of the comforts she was accustomed to that led him to recall arookehe had occupied near the city for some time.
It had been more modern than the cavernrookebut less comfortable because it had been in some disrepair and relied upon technology that was gone for habitability.
He did not even know if it was still standing, though, or unoccupied.
There had been otherrookesnot very far from that one, however.
And it did not necessarily have to be in wonderful condition. There were other structures nearby that could be robbed of materials to improve one of therookesto an acceptable condition.
That was something that would have been better if he had done it already, was able to do it without dragging Ah-na along to be miserably uncomfortable while he worked on it.
Unfortunately, he did not dare leave her alone for the length of time that was likely to take. He could not trust her to stay put, for one thing. Then there was the problem that the longer she was alone the higher the likelihood that she would be discovered by the damnedzorphand taken.
Or a rogue Kerrie.
Or a conkerrie.
After a great deal of thought, he arrived at the conclusion that his gut instincts had been right all along. Therewereno acceptable options. They could either remain where they were and wait for her to discover her people were on the plateau above them or until they showed up looking for her. Or he could take her to another place, find the bestrookehe could and start working immediately on improving it.
It was the green season—a time of mild temperatures and growing things. There could not be a better season to make a move. And he would have two full seasons to lay in supplies and make theirrookenot only habitable but comfortable.
He told Ah-na a partial truth to convince her to go with him. He told her he had noticed a great manyzorphsand thought it safe to assume they were settling nearby and that would be a threat since thezorphand the Kerrie were enemies.
He simply left out the part where he had discovered that her people were also moving into the area and that presented more of a threat to him than to her.
