I watched longer than I needed to and I couldn’t push away the sadness I felt at seeing it. This was not what they’d been. They’d been a cook and a fisherman, and I had turned them into something else. And I really didn’t like that.
Six weeks in, I stood at the front of the beach and watched them run drills in the early light.
They would never be soldiers. That wasn’t achievable in six weeks, even if it had been the goal, which it wasn’t. What they were was people who knew their home, knew their neighbors, knew what they were protecting. Most importantly, they knewwhy. In my experience, that counted for more than anyone gave credit for.
It didn’t make me less worried, but it made medifferentlyworried. I couldn’t say if that was progress or not.
Silli chittered approvingly from his rock at someone’s perfect shot.
High praise.
Chapter
Twenty
Cold calls rarely work
The western regionof Podnos-9 was a different planet.
Three hours of shuttle flight from the village and the coast, the terrain had shifted from temperate to hostile with no gradual transition. By the time I landed on a narrow rock shelf jutting from the mountainside, close enough to where my scans detected Runam life forms, a wind roared off the peaks. Why anyone lived up here was beyond me.
I suited up in full mercenary armor, just in case these Runams were more than just unfriendly. It fit.Mostly. The chest plates clicked into place and the seals engaged and everything functioned as it should, but there was a tightness across the midsection that hadn’t been there before. I liked to think this was due to cold-weather compression, but it was almost certainly Braija’s cooking.
I adjusted the straps, checked my weapons, and started walking toward the mouth of a cave where the scanner showed life signs.Manyof them, and a path worn smooth by generations of foot traffic told me this place had been inhabitedfor a long time. The scanner count climbed: forty signals, fifty, more beyond that.
I entered the cave mouth and almost immediately, the device went dead.
Not off.Dead. One moment functioning, the next the display was blank and stayed blank regardless of the reset I ran immediately. Something in the rock, or the cold, had killed the signal. It also shut off the light it had been giving off, leaving me with only the dim illumination from the cave entrance.
I was smacking the side of the scanner when two people appeared on either side of me. They were very fast andveryquiet. I hadn’t sensed them, but I should have. Before I’d fully assessed the situation, four more had emerged.
I held up my hands. Attacking them was the opposite of why I was here. “I’m here to talk,” I said. “I mean no harm.”
None of them answered. They were taller than the village Runams by a noticeable amount, and paler, too. That wasn’t surprising considering the generations without much direct sunlight. Well-equipped. They had weapons I didn’t recognize, which meant the Durbok visited trade routes I hadn’t known about.
They walked me into the mountain to their central cavern.
Here it was deeply, genuinely warm, with heat and light coming from large crystals set into the rock walls and ceiling. They pulsed with a slow amber glow, steadier than firelight and bright enough to work by. I filed them immediately alongside several other things I hadn’t expected to find here.
The space was large and organized, divided into clear areas for different purposes: medical, storage, communal eating around a long stone table, sleeping areas beyond a natural rock partition. Many people moved through the cavern and glanced at me with curiosity but no alarm, which meant a stranger being walked in was either not unusual, or they were confidentenough not to find it alarming. Skins adorned the floors and walls. Everyone I could see was healthy and well-fed. There were children. There were elderly. The tech scattered through the space was better than I’d have predicted. Not as advanced as mine, but better than the village’s.
These people had been thriving up here, quietly, for a long time.
A woman sat at the far end of the cavern. She didn’t stand when I was brought in, which told me she didn’t need to. Older than Maive and me, her hair was pure white. She had deep-set eyes and a lined face that told of a life filled with many decisions and their consequences. She looked at me calmly. I suspected few things surprised this leader.
She reminded me of Maive. Not in appearance, but in her quiet confidence.
“Sit,” she said.
She pointed at a seat across from her. I sat.
“I am Anlara,” she said. “What brings you to our mountain home?”
“I’m Gilrox,” I said, inclining my head. “I live near the ocean. I come on behalf of the Runam village there.”
She raised her brows. “And what do they want?”
Direct. Good. I could work with direct.
