I told her everything. The Rivonok Alliance, thejunversyrup, the acquisition list, the timeline, the methodology. She listened, never breaking eye contact with me. It was a little disconcerting, to be honest. I felt like she had a built-in lie detector device hidden in her eyes. When I finished, she was quiet for a moment.
“That is unfortunate for the village,” she said. “I’m sorry to hear it.”
“But?” I said.
“That doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“I want to send some people to you,” I said. “When the Rivonok arrive. Children, the elderly, anyone who can’t fight. A few weeks, until it’s over.”
Anlara looked at me. “No.”
“I can?—”
“No.” Same tone, same finality. “We have had no contact with the village for over five hundred years. Now they need something, and they send an emissary.”
“What happened between your two groups?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Those who left made a promise,” she said. “They would establish themselves in the habitable zone and send supplies back.” A pause. “They didn’t. We never heard from them again.”
“The villagers have no memory of that agreement,” I said.
“We do.”
“They believe your people chose isolation. That you’re hostile to them.”
She waved a hand. “A convenient story.”
“Or perhaps the agreement was made and lost to time. Or there were some who were returning, but met a bad fate. I can’t know, and neither can you. The people who were actually there are long dead.”
Anlara said nothing to that.
“You and your village kin are of the same blood,” I said. “You worked the same mines under the same oppression. The village Runams built lives on the ocean because they had nowhere else to go. So did the Runams in this mountain. That is the same story told in two different directions.”
“It is not our story anymore,” she said. “They made their choices. We made ours. We have managed without them for generations and I see no reason to take on their problems now.”
“They’re children,” I said, hoping to get through. “And elderly people.”
“Who belong to a community that we would not recognize.”
She wasn’t going to budge, and I could see it. I changed tactics.
“The Durbok,” I said. “He supplies you in this mountain?”
A faint shift. “Yes.”
“He’s leaving the system. Permanently.” I kept my voice even. “The Rivonok’s interest in this planet made him uncomfortable, and he has other markets. It may be some time before another merchant finds this location. Decades, possibly. Or longer.” I paused. “I hope your stores are sufficient.”
Anlara looked at me for a moment. Then she smiled. It wasn’t awarmsmile, and it told me she held an advantage that the villagers knew nothing about.
“We will be fine,” she said. “We have a vessel, if need be.”
I looked at her, surprised. “You have a ship in here somewhere?”
“A small one,” she added, mildly. “Functional, though. We can manage our own supply lines if we have to.”
Huh. The leverage I’d thought I had evaporated. “I see.”
“I suspect you do.” She stood, which was clearly the signal, because two warriors moved toward me immediately. “I am sorry for what’s coming to the village, Gilrox. Genuinely. But it is not our problem.”
