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Chapter Text

The Western Border of Ingranronakru Territory - Last Quarter of the Second Moon.

Leksa’s not sure quite what it is about the Plains that unnerves her so. Is it the lack of trees, the howling winds, the seemingly never-ending flatness of the landscape, or just the overall emptiness of the place? Whatever it is, she feels miserable as well as cold, as she lies on the waxed groundsheet and watches, watches, watches, absolutely nothing happen. Gostos is by her side; he, Dax and Dot are dozing, while she, Dakota and Brock kom Ingranronakru, are on watch.

A few hundred cubits to the south of them, Malco, Dakota’s houmon (spouse), Callie, Onya and Tris are invisible against the patches of black ground and white snow, that make up the landscape for as far as the eye can see. Even further south, Quint, Linkon and Oktavia are part of another group of watchers, all of them looking west and waiting for the raiders to make their move. The raiders are out there, as well if not better camouflaged than the watchers. They’re probably waiting for the day to end.

It’s been over a year since Raven started to track the people who live in the Unknown Lands. She’d found a satellite, with working cameras and ‘hacked its’ feed’, whatever that means. According to Raven, most of what used to be known as the Midwest of the USA can be seen from space by this satellite. But that doesn’t make tracking these people easy. Oh no, the people in the Unknown Lands are few and far between and they live so carefully and in tune with their land that they are very difficult to find. Their homes are usually low dirt-coloured tents. In the spring, summer and autumn they move across the land almost constantly and their cooking fires are always small and insignificant.  Most of the time they stay well away from the lands that border with Ingranronakru and Trishanakru, but in the winter things change. Most of them stay put, in more substantial dwellings far in the west, but a few move eastwards; to these borderlands and that’s when the raids happen and the children are stolen.

Last winter the raiders seemed almost to vanish, there were only one or two raids all season. But this year the raids started at the end of autumn and both Ingranronakru and Trishanakru report them with greater frequency than before, so the two krus (clans or peoples) eventually asked for the Commander’s help and here she is.

In the gloaming of dusk, a chickadee calls twice, then three times. Leksa recognises Onya’s signal, they have spotted movement. She taps Gostos on the side, his eyes open and his head nods; Dakota and Brock are already moving up into a crouch, ready to intercept the raiders. They come, almost soundless, just quiet creaks from soft shoes crushing snow.  Then they are there and there’s an explosion of action. Swords and axes swing, Leksa leaps up, the pommel of her sword Viper smashing up and against the chin of a raider, she wants some of them alive to face questioning.

Around her in the gloom she sees Dakota graceful and deadly with her daggers and there’s Dax’, his axe taking out the knee joint of a raider who is trying to reach his Heda (Commander) . Gostos is by her side and as he knocks out a tall woman, Leksa’s ready with cord to tie her hands and make her a captive. As the skirmish continues some of the raiders flee, that’s acceptable to Leksa, as long as the village is safe and she gets her prisoners, they can return to warn their comrades that the villages are now well guarded. It’s almost fully dark by the time the fighting is over and all captives secured. Leksa’s group captured two, Onya’s and Linkon, one each. Ten raiders are dead, all women. They leave a small gonakru (group of warriors) on watch and then walk back to the village, taking their prisoners with them.

Polis

Klark’s group of apprentice healers are practising their stitches, under her close supervision. They each have a plucked chicken leg, a needle and some thread and are focused on their task of producing neat and even stitches in the sliced chicken skin.  “Itton, you need to keep the needle at this angle.” She demonstrates the 90 degrees needed, “or you will cause your wounded gona (warrior) more pain.” Itton changes the angle and Klark nods her approval. When the lesson ends most of the students rush out and down to the street below, dashing through the rain to get home. Only Col and Ruby remain, it’s their turn on tidy-up and as they clean and put things away, she looks out of the large many paned windows and watches a Polis security patrol turn the corner of the street. She recognises Connor, one of the 100, wrapped up warm in his uniform. He’s fitted in well over the last, in her head she counts - twenty months, since the 100 landed on the ground. The patrol moves purposefully down the street and Klark moves away from the window.  Like her students she’s well wrapped up against the cold in a woolly sweater and fingerless gloves, even the big wood stove in the corner blasting out heat, doesn’t manage to get this room warm. Wishing Col and Ruby a good evening, she sets off into the night, Penn and Ryder by her side. She’s going to visit her parents and baby brother.

It’s just a couple of streets away to Abi and Jake’s home, a snug little place they’ve made out of an old book store.  They decided they didn’t want to live in the Tower, too close to power and politics Jake said. But they’re not far away either from the Tower or the hospital and tonight the smells from their kitchen are wonderful.  Jake’s really taken to cooking and Abi working hard, in the hospital and caring for their new son David, is grateful to come home to hot food on the table every night.  

David’s crawling about on the floor when Klark arrives, happily babbling to himself. When he sees Klark he waves his arms at her and starts “kl, kl, kl, kl” and clapping his hands. Jake’s bringing platters to the table and stops to kiss both his children.

“Abi will be along in a few minutes sweetheart. Keep working on that David, or maybe Abi laid an egg and you're really a chicken.”  He turns ready to take a portion of food to Penn and Ryder, they’ll only accept a quick snack, as they cannot be distracted from their duty.

“Dad!” Klark admonishes her father. “You can’t expect the poor boy to be talking properly yet.”

Jake envelopes her in a hug, “you were saying ‘daddy’ at six months Klark, though they do say boys are slower.”

Abi blows in on a gust of rain, complaining about the weather and uncooperative patients.  But the prospect of hot food and a cuddle with David calms her down. “Honey, Indra made it in from Ton DC for her 28-week check-up and everything is okay. Can you tell Callie if she radios in from the wild west!”

“Sure thing. No doubt she’ll be calling, she’s a complete wreck over Indra’s pregnancy.”

Jake serves more potatoes to Abi. “Callie has my sympathy, watching someone else do all the work to bring your child into the world, especially the first time, is a scary experience Klark and you know she’s scared because of Indra’s age.”

“She’s younger than me and has given birth to two children already. I keep telling Callie that it’s safer for Indra to bear their child but she’s a worrier.” Abi mashes potato for David and adds a little of the juice from the stew before blowing it cool for him. “There my little chicken.” David’s back to “kl,kl,kl” and waving at Klark again.

“You two will give that boy a complex about being a chicken and where would that leave me - sister to a chicken!” David seems unaffected by this discussion of his mental state, so Klark returns to the topic of Indra’s child.  “It would also be clearer for the Trikru if their little girl ends up inheriting Indra’s chiefdom, but I can see why Callie’s scared. Indra doesn’t cut herself any slack just because she’s pregnant. I was in Ton DC last week and she was still training and kicking ass at twenty-seven weeks!”

Abi looks up “you wouldn’t expect her to show any weakness would you?” Klark grimaces in response and turns her attention to the delicious stew.

It’s been a lovely evening with her parents and David, just the kind of evening she dreamed of when up in the Ark. But Klark’s missing Leksa, who’s been gone fourteen days now dealing with raiders from the Unknown Lands and although Klark is kept busy at the hospital and helping Gaia with the Ambassadors and planning her and Leksa’s bonding ceremony, which will be at the summer festival this year, she’s lonely for her niron (lover / beloved). She goes back to the Tower, Penn and Ryder following a respectful distance behind her.

Pierre township - Ingranronakru

The two days journey on horseback back to Pierre has been draining for all of them. No one in the party likes to watch people suffer and their prisoners firmly refuse; to speak, eat or drink with them and all five are now noticeably weak in body and mind. The youngest, a girl of about thirteen summers, is clearly delirious and just mumbles what sounds like some kind of chant, as they ride over the wintry grasslands to Ingranronakru’s only substantial settlement.  There they split the prisoners into three groups. The delirious girl is to be kept under watch at the fisa’s (healer’s) house, the only man is kept isolated in a small cell and the remaining three women are put in a cell together. All are kept under close watch as not only do they refuse food and drink but the women actively attempt to kill themselves by beating their heads against the ground or self-strangulation by the bonds that hold them.

The attempts of the women to kill themselves were given a little more context when, the day after the attempted raid, vultures were spotted circling near the site of the skirmish. Onya and Tris take a few gonas and go to investigate. They find a small well camouflaged camp, where ten female raiders lie in the wintry sun, their throats cut, seemingly unresisting of their fate. The tracks of a single individual, walking out of the camp to the west, are followed for a short distance and as he dozes they take the traveller prisoner. He is the only man amongst the raiders and although he violently resists their attempts to capture him he is the only one who has not, as yet, attempted to kill himself.

At last warm, comfortable and fed on something other than trail rations Leksa sits with her party and the Ingranronakru chief, to discuss how to obtain information from the surviving raiders.  First to speak is Callie, who Leksa has asked to summarise her observations. 

Callie, dressed in riding leathers, her hair braided and a tattoo matching Indra’s on the left side of her face, looks every inch the fierce Trikru gona. Leksa knows that she has made great efforts to fit into Trikru life and culture, even though at times it has been difficult. That she is now respected and accepted by Trikru was demonstrated at her and Indra’s bonding ceremony last summer, when she was eagerly welcomed as Indra’s houmon by the hundreds of Trikru present at the ceremony and feast. And although the ‘how’ of Indra now being pregnant with Callie’s child is not understood by all Trikru, they most certainly welcome it. Including giving Callie the ‘benefit’ of the unmerciful teasing all Trikru nontu (fathers) face when their houmon (spouse) carries their first child. 

As always Callie’s reports are to the point. “These raiders are badly; dressed, armed and nourished. The three older women have been injured in the past, I can see poorly healed scars on their arms and legs. As we’ve not been able to sedate them I can’t check for hidden injuries but I suspect they are there.” She pauses to sip from her drink. “Their language is gonaslang (English), with a marked Spanish slant. Raven will probably be able to help us with any unfamiliar words, as she speaks Spanish. With Onya and Tris’ help I’ve been able to listen in on the few conversations the older women have held with each other. What I’m picking up is that they are desperate and terrified. The immediate focus of their fear is the man, who they refer to as Jonas. This is not surprising when the ten dead women at their camp appear to have been killed by him. But they’re not just afraid of him, they fear returning ‘home’ without the stolen goufas (children) and the name that seems to be most feared is Ferdinand.” 

Their talk lasts into the evening, when it’s interrupted by a radio call from Polis.  They are due a break then anyway and so Callie gets the latest update on Indra, she’s fine; and Leksa and Onya can catch up with Klark and Raven. Leksa asks Klark to expect a call from her later after these discussions have finished.

Back to considering the prisoners the focus switches to the young girl, who has now fallen into a silent stupor. The fisa caring for her is unable to find anything wrong, other than malnutrition and severe dehydration, though she does note that the young girl has recently been through childbirth.  

Next morning Callie and Onya, observed carefully by Tris, put together their ‘good cop’, ‘bad cop’ routine. It’s been decided they will try to interrogate Jonas. The women apparently have nothing to lose, they seek death; but he was making his way home, some kind of ‘welcome’ awaits him there and that they can try to exploit. They start by setting up the room, one table and three chairs. Onya to sit on one side of the table, opposite Jonas, Callie to sit slightly behind Onya, so that she can make subtly sympathetic faces to the man, apparently without Onya’s knowledge. Onya will at some point leave the room, on some pretext and Callie will try her luck as ‘good cop’.

The interrogation is partially successful but not for the reasons expected. Onya, as bad cop, starts off by delivering with casual callousness, a mouthful of abuse focused on the raiders need to kidnap children.  It seems to her, she says, the raiders are somehow inadequate; either as men, who clearly can’t get it up and impregnate their women or as women who can’t carry a child to term. This provocation, intended almost as a gentle introduction to some vicious bad cop behaviour, triggers far more than anticipated.

Jonas starts boasting of his virility. If he’s to be believed women fall pregnant of his potent seed almost daily! That bit of hyperbole can be ignored, as the real interest is in what he says about the women and new-borns. This, he says, is where the problem lies.  The women are to blame, their wombs produce monsters or weaklings, who die before or almost as soon as they breath the air. El Rey (The King) is displeased. Jonas starts to rock on his chair, repeating the words “El Rey is displeased, displeased. El Rey is displeased, displeased.” He continues to chant, not responding to Anya as she verbally prods for more information.

Suddenly Jonas, whose arms are securely bound behind him, leaps from his chair and runs, full tilt and head first, into the stone wall of the interrogation room. There is a sickening crack as his skull hits the wall and blood gushes from the wound. He is immediately unconscious, limbs jerking and twitching involuntarily. The two startled interrogators send immediately for a fisa. Even as quickly as the fisa arrives it is too late, as Jonas has succeeded in killing himself.

“Jok!(Fuck) We needed more about who this El Rey is.” Onya runs her hands through her braids and looks to Callie. “I am a branwada (fool), we should have tied him to the chair or at least had something securing his feet.” She shakes her head, disgusted with herself.

Callie shrugs her shoulders. “We talked it through Onya. He was, we thought anyway, low risk for suicide and we wanted to get his confidence!” She looks around the blood-spattered room and the corpse of Jonas, then at Onya.  “The women are afraid of him; can we use his death to get their confidence?”

Onya rubs her chin thoughtfully. “We could try. One of the women, the oldest, has made only one attempt to kill herself and she is more curious about her surroundings than the others, maybe she wants to live and it will be good news for her that he’s dead?”

Polis

As evening falls Gaia, Usk and Klark are looking through reports. The network of scouts the Commander maintains throughout coalition lands is an invaluable source of intelligence about what is actually happening in the clans, as against what the chiefs and ambassadors say is happening.

Currently of greatest concern are the goings on in Podakru territory. Neva the clan chief continues to demand that Heda supply him with explosives to help increase his fishing fleet’s catches. His demands have become more strident as the pressure he faces within his clan about his leadership increases. His past excesses (and there have been many) have been paid for by overfishing the lakes on which his people live. Now his fleet catches fewer fish and he sees dropping explosives in the lakes and scooping up dead and stunned fish as a way to feed his people and his court’s lavish lifestyle with little effort. Heda, needless to say, disagrees and will not sell or give him explosives. But he’s been getting them from somewhere and the scouts’ reports point the finger at Boudalankru’s miners. Usk kom Boudalankru, Gaia’s seken, is realistic about his people’s involvement. “It’s very likely that they are selling a few sticks of the ‘dynamite’ Fleimkepa (Flamekeeper), Klark. There are some very poor mining villages. Things are much better than they were before the Kongeda (Coalition), then people starved almost every year. Now, no one starves but the mines are owned by a few, who take much profit and the work is done by many who earn only enough to live. The temptation to sell the dynamite is great. You could get almost a year’s worth of food for your family for a few sticks.”

Klark, Leksa and Gaia have puzzled over this issue for the last year. Boudalankru need the explosives to increase their productivity without taking great risks with miners’ lives. With care; the mined and quarried metal, stone and chemicals can support them through difficult years. The whole black market in explosives problem originates in Podakru and Neva’s poor use of his people’s resources. 

Klark puts the report down on Leksa’s desk. “We have to keep saying no to Neva, we have good reason, using explosives to fish is not going to work for long and the dynamite is needed elsewhere. Best we also tip off Ben kom Boudalankru and push for better treatment of his miners, so the temptation to sell the stuff is a little less. I can’t see what else we can do, Heda does not interfere with the internal politics of clans. Right?”

Gaia agrees and they move onto the next report. They read through it together. It’s about the surviving Maunon. Those fifteen, five adults and ten preschool children, who have received the bone marrow treatment are now to be integrated into the clans. The problem, in short, is that no clan wants them, well certainly not the adults. Even Indra’s Trikru won’t take the adults and Klark understands why. For the Trikru it is all too close, too personal, they lost too much to the Maunon to be able to face any living Maunon adult and welcome them into their home. Their last hope was Luna and the Floukru, who are happy to take any of the children and the one adult who is a parent to one of the children, but the remaining four adults they won’t take.

Klark likes Luna, well almost, she thinks Leksa would have kicked Luna’s ass in the conclave no matter what Luna says, but Luna’s pacifism, she respects.   “We need Heda to consider how far she is willing to extend her protection. Meanwhile we discuss with Maya if the children and Kelly can go to Floukru. Maybe the real last resort is Azgeda, they need all the help they can get in terms of agriculture and medicine and the adult Maunon could help with both. I’ll suggest to Heda a private meeting with Roan.”

The final topic for discussion is the conclave. Gaia has been working with Usk to put together the argument for changing the conclave, from a fight to the death, to a rigorous process that selects the best candidate but leaves the unsuccessful natblidas (black bloods) alive.  In theory Leksa, as Heda, could just say change it and her word would be law; but without the support of the Order of the Flame that would be almost meaningless; as upon the death of Heda the process of choosing her successor would be directed by the Order of the Flame.  

In a few weeks Madrona kom Delphikru, the senior keeper of the Flame, will come to Polis to discuss the conclave with Heda and they want to be ready.

Chapter Text

Today the Plains look hauntingly beautiful, the cold blue sky is reflected in the many shallow pools of water that dot the landscape and from the white flatness of snow sparkle miniature rainbows. The newly fitted caterpillar tracks make the rover that bit more agile over many types of terrain and it’s biting into the snow with ease as it speeds its way towards Pierre. Bellamy and Raven have spelled the driving for the last day, with Klark navigating; using GPS for direction and binoculars for physical hazards, on what passes for roads in clan lands. It’s been a rough trip and they’ve yet to discover if their patient has survived the two days it’s taken them to get this far from Polis. At yesterday’s radio check the young woman was alive, but still comatose.

As the sun starts to dip into the low flat horizon, Klark directs them away from a small group of buffalo, hitting or being hit by one of those is not a good idea. Almost as soon as they return to driving due west, Klark spots a group of riders heading their way across the snow and she points them out to Raven, who’s currently wrestling with the steering wheel, while Bellamy naps in the back alongside Penn and Ryder. A quick adjustment has the rover heading towards the riders and Klark focuses the binoculars onto the group, she soon recognises Leksa’s horse Loki is leading the group. Raven sees her grin. “Oho, I know who’s in that posse, hot Commander herself is coming to meet us. I wonder why?”

Klark looks through the binoculars again. “Ha! a certain hot general is with her! I think they’re both eager to see Bellamy!”  Both girls’ guffaw and in a few minutes the riders are galloping alongside them, Leksa and Onya blatantly showing off their trick riding skills to their women. Klark mutters “Fuck that’s hot!” Raven slows the rover to a stop and after a bit of milling about, it’s Onya who rides in the rover with Raven, while Klark doubles up with Leksa on Loki.  Penn, who won the toss with Ryder, rides Onya’s warhorse Solar. They have about half a glass’s ride to get to Pierre. Bellamy’s still napping, he drove for a full day yesterday and another half this morning, so he’s earned his rest.

In Pierre they’re greeted by Callie, asking for yet more details on how Indra is, as she guides Klark to see the young captive. Klark answers as best she can, before focusing on her patient. The local fisa Hope has tried to get water and broth into the girl but Klark sees straight away that more is needed. She’s brought the necessary kit and soon has a drip set up for fluid, nutrients and a mild sedative. Dax is posted as the girl’s guard with instructions to call for Klark if the patient tries to remove the cannula or is in any way distressed or violent.

That evening’s meal is a quiet affair. The recent arrivals are exhausted, travelling almost nonstop over hundreds of leagues in a bouncing rover is a tiring and dirty business. After she’s eaten Klark checks on her patient, whose vitals are improving slightly, before a quick wash and then she drops into Leksa’s furs like a sack of grain. Raven is no better, a brief make-out session with her hot general is all she can manage, before she falls into a dead sleep, safely cocooned in a smiling Onya’s arms.

Early next morning the warm dusky sunlight gives hope of Spring arriving soon and for Klark waking up with Leksa is one of the best things in the whole world and morning sex just makes it better. She stretches, warm and satisfied and happy; the world is good today. Leksa’s hand is gently caressing Klark’s belly. Klark looks into her niron’s (lover’s) green eyes. “Have you got pregnancy and babies in mind niron?”

“I am sure you would be a great mother Klark and I’d be honoured if you chose to bear our child, but the life of Heda tends to be short, I fear leaving you alone.”

“But you stroke my belly and dream huh?”

Leksa kisses the softness that is her niron’s belly, “I also fear denying you a goufa (child) you want or need niron. I suppose Abi and Indra have made me think, that much more, about what you may want.”

Klark, as she does so often, wonders at the nature of Leksa kom Trikru. How can a woman, brought up to kill her closest friends in a battle for survival, be so caring and loving of her, the girl who fell from the sky? “At this moment I do not want to bear a goufa. You are not denying me a goufa ai niron (my love), though I may be denying the world your fabulous genes.” Leksa folds herself around Klark, who can feel her lover’s heart beating wild and strong, as her arms bring their bodies together.

Breakfast is hearty and the first real opportunity for Klark and Raven to catch up with what is happening this far west. The capture of the raiders, the killing of the ten raider women and the dramatic interrogation and death of Jonas are all related. As is the questioning of Mari, the oldest of the female captives.

Mari was brought out of the cell she shared with her companions and taken to view Jonas’ body. She is escorted by Callie, because she looks slightly less intimidating than Onya. Callie then leads her to another room for questioning.

“He died of his own hand, we offered him no violence. He said the stealing of our children is because you women cannot bear live children of your own.”  The raider braces her shoulders and turns to her interrogator, she takes a moment to examine Callie. The raider’s eyes are steady and proud; Callie, trained in the nuances of body language and facial expressions, recognises a woman of experience, power and character; who is both angry and frightened.

“I am Mari, once I was Reina (Queen) of our land, but El Rey Ferdinand decided that I had not borne him sufficient living children and so I was sent, with the women who do not bear live young, to find children to dedicate to him and the Temple of the Sun (the Temple). Jonas was Ferdinand’s errand boy and spy. He was sent with us el peregrinaje (on pilgrimage) to ensure that we obtained children or died in the attempt. I suspect that even if our search had been successful, I would not have returned to Hogar (Home) alive, El Rey has a new, much younger, Reina.”

The questioning becomes a long and fruitful conversation, as Callie gains Mari’s confidence and Mari decides that she has perhaps discovered people with whom she can find a place and build a life, something recently denied her in Hogar. Do the two women trust each other and believe all they hear? Probably not, but a start is made.

Mari, as former Reina, has some influence over the other women in the group and with Jonas dead and Mari’s encouragement their unwillingness to eat and drink disappears.

Klark, of course, is fascinated with the medical side of things and wonders why the women of Hogar have such difficulties in bearing live children and whether this is a recent phenomenon. Onya and Leksa concentrate on what it will take to stop the raids. That is Leksa’s main agenda, the protection of Ingranronakru and Trishanakru. The two points of view are clearly closely related, as if Hogar had sufficient healthy children they would not be raiding the Kongeda, or would they? It’s Leksa who speculates that stealing the children could be part of a more general testing of the willingness of the Kongeda to protect its’ own. Callie’s interest, in particular, has been sparked by Mari’s description of the Temple and its’ domination of the people ruled by El Rey. All children, on their first birthday, are dedicated to El Rey and the Temple and when they are five must serve in the Temple precincts for the next ten years. At fifteen the youngsters are divided into two groups. Many will return to their families and are expected to learn the ways of the land and produce food, goods and children for El Ray and the Temple. Others, a small minority of the boys, are retained in the Temple as either warriors or priests. It is the Temple’s warriors and priests who effectively enforce the rule of El Rey and the Temple.

Their talk lasts through the morning. Conclusions are difficult to reach when considering an opponent that kills its own so readily and for such unfathomable reasons. It doesn’t encourage the idea of sending out a small delegation to discuss peaceful relations with Hogar, when cutting their own people’s throats seems to be their way of doing things. Dakota, chief of Ingranronakru, suggests that in the coming spring she can send some gonas (warriors) disguised as traders into the Unknown Lands, to see if El Rey is interested in any form of exchange, other than children. They discuss routes and protection and Raven interjects that she can supply maps showing how El Rey’s people have moved across their land in the past year. Linkon and Oktavia offer to pose as part of the trading party, they can use the radio to keep in touch as they travel into Hogar.  Leksa accepts this idea, but only if Ingranronakru and Trishanakru are prepared to closely monitor the trading party, using the radio and will step in if needed to protect them. Erik kom Trishanakru is due to ride into Pierre tomorrow and so the putative plan can be discussed with him then.

Klark’s patient, now named as Sofi and aged to their surprise at sixteen, improves slightly but her temperature is still rising and Klark worries she has some kind of deep-seated infection. The sedative in the drip is keeping her in a light sleep that Klark wants to end shortly, it’s important to get her actually eating and drinking as soon as possible. With antibiotics in short supply, she discusses with Hope treatments for infection but Hope can offer little beyond willow-bark tea, made from a local shrub. Klark is familiar with the infusion and so they try to get Sofi to sip a little of the sharp-tasting brew.

Ton DC - Three days later.

She can’t sleep these days. Ugh, she’d forgotten how annoying being pregnant is, especially without Callie there to massage her belly, ankles and back. The ‘soccer ball’, as Jake Griffin refers to her bump, feels like it is swelling by the day and although she defeated Oscar at this morning’s training, Indra suspects he held back a little. It’s time to restrict her activities and recognise that she is now forty-two summers old and very pregnant, thirty weeks pregnant, leaving keryon (spirits) permitting, only seven to ten weeks to go.

She rolls onto her side; she hates sleeping on her side because her back always gets cold, but sleeping on her back is almost impossible now and last week Abi was very clear that it’s a bad idea, apparently it increases the chances of a stillbirth. So, she’s got a fur, rolled into a big sausage shaped wedge, pushed into her back and it feels like she’s got a big lumpy and uncomfortable rock in the bed with her.  And she’s cold, the moon’s face, although half in shadow, is bright enough to make the frost on the house eaves sparkle. As she moves the sausage fur again, trying to get comfortable, she hears a dog bark at the far end of the village, then there’s the sound of snow crunching and sliding off a roof? Thunk, then steps and a knocking at the door. Jok (Fuck), what’s the matter now, can’t she even ‘not sleep’ in peace?  Quiet voices; if it’s important enough they’ll come to tell her. She shuts her eyes, determined to sleep but then she hears the door to the room creak open. Ohhh jok!

“Niron are you awake? Shall I sleep downstairs?”

“Nou! (no)”

“My clothes are filthy from the rover.”

“Take them off, I want your skin on mine.” At last, the welcome sound of Callie stripping off her clothes and then she’s there, her warm naked front pressed to Indra’s cold back. An arm slipping under her neck to allow a warmed hand to cover her breast and over her hip slides Callie’s strong right hand, that finds its home cradling the heavy belly. Gentle kisses touch the back of her neck.

“I’ve missed you so, travel is no fun without you.”

Callie nuzzles into her houmon’s strong scarred back and feels it through her whole body as Indra starts to relax. The shoulders slump slightly, the right arm drops forward and as their legs entangle a soft sigh escapes her usually tightly controlled lover.  

“Ai bei (my cherished one)” Callie smiles at the endearment. It is good to be home.

Sleep quickly takes them both, while Bellamy parks the rover under cover and takes up Balla’s offer of hearty soup and a bed of thick furs in-front of the well stoked stove.

Early next morning while she’s in the market, Balla spreads the news that the Skaigona (Skywarrior) is home. Ton DC’s response is an almost palpable and collective sigh of relief. The market for some reason becomes noisier and the training rings, recently used only by the keenest gonas (warriors), quickly fill up with village gonas practising for the spring time games in Polis. Even the newly founded goufa football and soccer teams are out practising their ball drills.  

Late in the morning Indra and Callie make their way to the market. They’ll get some lunch from one of the stalls, while Callie’s boots are re-soled by Bres and Indra’s coat needs yet another adjustment, so they’ll drop it off with Pol, who is a skilled tailor. They are relaxed, walking hand in hand and smiling, as they make their way through the stalls. At Adam the brewer’s Jasper offers them a wide choice of drinks. He’s persuaded Adam to branch out and create more drinks that have a long shelf life, like wines, spirits and cordials, as well as the staples of beer, mead and cider. They buy some delicious elderberry, non-alcoholic, wine and order for ‘the house’ some tasty ales, cider and one of the new whiskies. Jasper will deliver them later and stay over for supper.

They see Bellamy strolling through the market with a girl on his arm; Callie recognises Toni, Balla’s granddaughter, who is gaining a reputation as a skilful weaver of textiles; there is talk of apprenticing her to the senior weaver of Louwoda Kilron. Callie raises an eyebrow at the couple, Bellamy’s reputation with women is not good and she worries he will father yet another child; he’s already supporting one recently born to a girl in Polis. Indra notices Callie’s look. “Do not worry niron, Toni is a clever girl who likes a boy for sex occasionally but she takes precautions and does not want a goufa yet.”

Finally, they arrive at the training ring and watch some sekens (seconds/apprentice warriors) as they spar, Indra’s content to exchange views with their fosses (firsts /trainers) about what needs improving in their form. Overall Indra is content, this group, unlike the terrible group she saw earlier in the week, seem to be taking their training seriously and making good progress.  

Polis

The Tek Room is now the Tek Floor of the Tower and in the Satellite Room Sinclair’s poring over a touch screen as he prepares a map and database summarising how Hogar’s kru used and moved across their land over the year that Raven’s been tracking them. Hannah Green is helping him interpret some of the satellite’s more difficult photos, she’s excellent at spotting even the tiniest patches of cultivated land and many of the small changes to a landscape that originate from human activity, rather than nature. With luck they’ll finish the job in a few days and the data can be sent on to Pierre.

Jake’s in the satellite room with them, headphones on, trawling through alarms raised by their Ark spyware programme; while his hands, almost on autopilot, put together another radio. He wishes they could refine the spyware programme, listening to hours of boring Ark chat just because certain key words like ‘earth’, ‘dropship’ or ‘oxygen’ are used is beyond tedious. But it has to be done, knowledge of what’s happening on the Ark is important. He puts down the completed radio and sketches out on a pad some of the ideas that he wants to run by Raven when she gets back from Pierre. Diana Sydney’s latest announcement on the Ark’s hydroponics crop burbles through his headphones.

Vera Kane wanders in carrying a small water jug. Every windowsill and balcony of the Tek Floor is covered in seed trays; she and Hannah are testing cold weather germination of rye grass for use by Azgeda, Delphikru and even Ingronronakru, if the latter ever dismount from their horses long enough to plant anything.  She wanders over for a brief chat with Hannah and together they decide it’s time to try the Triticale cross, that Hannah gene modified a few weeks back, as their current test crops are not doing as well as they hoped. She leaves the room with a firmer step.

The radio gona on duty, a huge bear of a man called Offa, walks into the room asking for Jake. Jake and Sinclair trained a small kru of gonas in using the radios and making basic repairs. The radio gonas ‘man’ the radio all day every-day in shifts and Offa has just arrived on shift to find Klark radioing in to talk to her dad. Jake walks into the small room, labelled “Radio Shack” in Raven’s spikey writing, to talk to Klark. In fact, she wants to talk to Abi about her young patient Sofi, but Jake will know best where to find her.

“Is it urgent honey? Jake over.” Jake doesn’t want to disturb Abi unless it is needed.

“I’m afraid so dad, I think this girl has a deep-seated post-partum infection. She has just spiked another high fever, has a tender womb, an unpleasant discharge and is generally lethargic. I want to talk to mom about treating it with antibiotics or whether there’s an alternative. I can radio in whenever. Klark over.”

“I should be able to get her here in about half a glass, would that work for you? Jake over.”

“Sure thing. I’ll be waiting. Klark,out.”

Jake leaves the Radio Shack and shrugs into his big winter coat before braving the sleet and making his way to the hospital. There he finds Abi and Nyko taking a class they jointly teach to a group of experienced midwives about hygiene, pregnancy and birth. Jake knows this is Abi’s toughest class, the midwives can be very resistant to change in their practices and he can almost see the relief in her face and Nyko’s despair, when he interrupts. Jake relates Klark’s message to Abi, who decides that she has with her the most experienced people on the ground when it comes to childbirth and so she asks her students and Nyko what they would do for this girl. Ten minutes later Abi and a midwife called Lotti kom Ingranronakru are making their way to the Tower to talk to Klark.

Jake slips away to collect David from their baby-sitter Maya. Maya and the other surviving Maunon live, under light supervision, in the Tower. They are all, at last, able to live outside the Mountain and are waiting to see where their final home or homes will be.  

Pierre

Klark’s waiting for Abi’s call when the radio squawks. Their conversation is pretty intense, Klark takes notes and defers to Hope when Lotti starts to describe certain local plants and infusions.  Half a glass later Hope and Klark are putting together a treatment plan that combines broad spectrum antibiotics with three infusions and a poultice. If this doesn’t work neither medic nor fisa (healer) hold out much hope for poor Sofi.

All of the captives, except Sofi, are now ready to talk of their lives in Hogar. It is a grim tale; all woman who prove incapable or unwilling to bear live children to dedicate to the Temple and El Rey are deemed to be worthless parasites in Hogar. Their allocated food is reduced to almost starvation level unless they go el peregrinaje and return with a child that can be dedicated to the Temple.  

Klark asks the key question. “How long have these peregrinaje been happening? Is it a new idea?”

For Isa and Valle, aged only eighteen and twenty, it seems to have always been the same. For Mari, thirty summers old, there has always been the need to go el peregrinaje, as living children were too few. What has changed is that whereas in her youth those who went el peregrinaje travelled west; now they are told to go to the east, where the people are wealthy, with many horses and fertile, with many children.

Chapter Text

The Ark

Bleep. Bleep. The silenced alarm ‘chirps’, but no one hears. Blink. Blink. The sensor registers movement and sends the electric pulse; but there’s no one to see the amber-light flashing.

Pierre - The third new moon.

The darkness is so complete and thick, it is almost touchable when Raven walks unsteadily out of the low tent. She stands and looks at the sky; stars she can see lots of stars and they are very pretty. She spots the planets Mars and Jupiter and starts tracing the constellations, but it’s weird down here on the ground, all that twinkling seems inappropriate or undignified somehow. A star should just be light; none of this shimmering, shivering, shit. She giggles, at her own alliteration, proliferation, mollification, ho humm.  Her first sweat-lodge experience has left her feeling; high, incredibly clean and thoroughly warm; no wonder Klark and Leksa love them. Her skin is supersensitive, putting on her clean clothes was an almost sensual experience and her sense of smell is heightened too. The buffalo steaks grilling on a nearby cook-fire smell wonderful and the horses, somehow horses almost always smell vaguely mealy and pleasant, must be because they’re herbivores, all that good grass. Hmmm, where’s Onya when a girl needs her lover?  Raven spins around looking for her gorgeous general.

Strong arms envelope her and that Onya smell, of pine, smoke and lavender is there. “Onya!” Raven twists and just about throws herself into Onya’s arms and her hot, beautiful, general pulls her up into a firm kiss. “Hmmm, more. Much, much more…” Onya grins, swings Raven up into her arms and carries her into their tent.

Klark and Leksa step into the coolness of the night as they leave Dakota’s great tent, tired and weary after an evening of tense discussions with Dakota, Linkon, Oktavia and Eric kom Trishanakru. Threshing out the detail of who will do what, when the gonas disguised as traders enter Hogar at the next new moon, has taken all afternoon and most of the evening and Klark and Leksa are feeling envious of Onya and Raven’s relaxed good humour and available energy, as they make their way stiffly into their own tent.  “Ugh” Klark tears off her jacket and almost throws it across the tent in frustration. She whisper-shouts. “What is it about Trishanakru, or is it just Eric, that means we have to go round and round in circles just to get back where we started and then make one-tiny-move forward. I don’t know how you do it niron (my love). I can’t believe you’ve only kicked one ambassador off the Tower.” She collapses in a dramatic heap onto the pile of furs that is their bed.

Leksa flops beside her, similarly exhausted and frustrated. She understands that Eric must focus on Trishanakru’s needs but at times he seemed wilfully obstructive, maybe she needs more scouts in Trishanakru territory. “Niron, have you heard from Mophi and Emori recently?”

“Hmm, yeah. They’re due back in Polis for the next full moon why?” Klark rolls over to look into Leksa’s eyes.

“I think Trishanakru could be a place for them to work in. Trishanakru are always keen to trade their luxuries for food and these days for tek.”

“You think they could scout for you again?  They’re good, but I thought you’d want them in Podakru territory, with Neva jokking (fucking) everything up royally.”

Leksa pulls herself up into a sitting position. “The thing is I know Neva is jokking things up, but I don’t know what Eric’s doing, if anything.”

The following morning Klark spends with Hope and her patient Sofi. There’s some improvement, with a reduction in the swelling to Sofi’s abdomen and her temperature is dropping. They decide to continue the intravenous antibiotic and together they prepare and apply another poultice. Sofi is awake but woozy and isn’t able to focus on what is happening around her. Even if she’s not fully aware of what’s going on, Dakota’s being cautious and so when Klark and Hope leave Sofi’s bedside she is guarded, this time by Brock.

Training Ingranronakru style is very different from anything Klark has done in Trikru or Polis. It’s all about horse care, riding and archery. When she was last in Pierre, accompanying Leksa on the Commander’s Progress, Klark had just watched everyone else train, now there’s an expectation that she will join in. Her previous excuse of ‘there were no horses in the sky’ is just not cutting it over twelve moons later.  Malco is in charge of the training grounds today and Klark is put with a very junior group of sekens who are learning to mount whilst their horse is trotting. Leksa and Onya are, of course, in a very advanced group practising archery from their galloping horses and of course it becomes a competition between the two of them, that each of them must win. Quite how Raven manages to get out of these compulsory training sessions Klark really wants to find out!

Apparently Raven’s too busy to train. She has her satellite link up and running and is looking at the live feed as it covers the borderlands between Hogar and Trishanakru. Eric is with her, doing his best to relate his knowledge of the ground to the high-definition pictures that slowly build up on screen.

“That is close to the Black River, where it is shallow and there are old buildings. Sha (Yes), there. It’s a camp, you can see the edge of the tent and that is a fire ring and maybe some smoke.” Eric’s leaning over Raven’s shoulder, his roughened finger-tip strikes the glass screen. “Moba (Sorry). I must tell Heda and arrange a war party.” He strides out of the tent while Raven makes a note of the grid reference.

The Ark

Bleep. Bleep. The silenced alarm ‘chirps’, but no one hears. Blink. Blink. The sensor registers movement and sends the electric pulse; but there’s no one to see the red-light flash.

Polis

Gaia’s in Heda’s map room training the natblidas (nightbloods) in map reading. The youngest ones are learning what the various symbols and lines mean, while some of the elder ones are working through an exercise testing their knowledge of grid references and their ability to plot the best routes for; traders, gonas (warriors) or scouts. The most senior natblidas, Aden and Eve, are looking at satellite photos, comparing them to some of the older maps and drawing new, more accurate, maps. The mood is one of hard work and concentration. Thumbs are in mouths, pencils clutched in small hands and delicate lines are scribed onto the finest vellum.  

The door opens, all eyes swivel to watch as a guard enters and bows. “Fleimkepa (Flamekeeper) a rider has come with a message for Heda from Podakru and ambassador Peston of Podakru demands an audience with you.” Gaia notes the guard’s slight emphasis upon the word ‘demands’, it sounds as if Peston has tried to throw his weight about.

Gaia turns to Aden and Eve. “Aden, supervise the little ones and Eve demonstrate the answers to the exercise. If I am not back when that is completed take the natblidas to their evening meal. Mochof (thank-you).” The two senior natblidas acknowledge her instructions and Aden, always popular with the young goufas (children) puts down his pen and walks over to where the little ones are sprawled, half lying on the maps they are studying.

Gaia turns to the guard. “Matthias, Wormana Kestra and the messenger from Podakru are to meet me in the audience chamber immediately. You will find Kestra in the main barracks. Also, ready a messenger to send to Wormana Indra in Ton DC. Ambassador Peston is to return to his quarters until sent for. Mochof.”

She gives Colm, the youngest natblida (and her favourite) a comforting hug, before she leaves for the audience chamber and her meeting with Kestra.

Two days later a hundred Leagues south east of Pierre

It’s just before dawn, no birds have yet called into the frigid air and their horses’ padded hooves make almost no sound as they cross the frozen grass. The landscape is not yet the full woodland of Trishankru proper; in these borderlands, it’s more open with scrubby bushes, occasional trees and many small dips and hillocks. According to Raven and Eric the foreigners are camped in a ragged copse of birch trees about a league ahead. All dismount to approach silently on foot.

The camp is well hidden. The two leather tents are the colour of the ground and the stone fire ring is small, well tamped down and almost smokeless. There’s the noise of a horse huffing, Leksa’s eyes follow the sound to the second, larger, tent. A hoof stamps. From the smaller tent a head emerges, wary eyes scan the camp and widen with fear as they see that the camp is surrounded by gonas, weapons at the ready. The head disappears and there is the sound of whispered words. A sword is thrown out of the tent, followed by a dagger, bow and arrows. More weapons emerge, until the ground in-front of the tent is strewn with blades, arrows and slings. The head returns and speaks.

“We mean no harm. We travel to seek asylum and protection from the Commander. May we come out of the tent?”

Onya steps forward weapon drawn. “How many are there of you?”

“Four.”

“Come out, hold your hands above your heads.”

The head disappears and four people walk slowly out of the tent. Two are men. One is old, grey haired and bent by age or illness. The second is younger but is so thin and gaunt that he must have some form of the wasting disease. The two women are young, and in face and form appear identical.

Onya’s face is impassive and hard. “Who are you and why do you seek the protection of the Commander?”

One of the young women steps forward to speak; she bows. “First, may my uncle lower his arms, he is ill and will not be able to hold them that way for long.” She gestures to the wasted man. Onya has Tris search him and the old man for weapons before nodding her consent to both men to drop their hands. “Speak.”

“I am Jame and this is my sister Cami, my uncle Jem and grandfather Seb. Cami and I are twins, a rarity in Hogar and we know that if we do not of our own will become pregnant soon, we will be forced to. For three years our uncle and grandfather have protected us from the Temple and from the unwanted attentions of men who seek a wife to bear them twins, but they will not be able to do so for much longer now that we are eighteen summers old.”

Leksa and Klark move forward to stand by Onya. The three briefly whisper before Onya continues. “Why do you think the Commander can or will protect you?”

It is the second girl who speaks. “We heard that the Commander looks after her people. We are her people. Stolen from these lands as very small children by our ‘mother’ who could not bear a live child. We were given to the Temple at five summers. Our parents died four summers ago but our uncle and grandfather continued to visit us at the Temple and were waiting for us upon our release from the precincts, when we were fifteen.”

Onya’s face remains stern. “How can you prove this convenient story?”

Jame and Cami exchange a look. Cami nods and her hand moves to her neck. When the gonas surrounding them tense, she seeks permission from Onya to continue. “Move your hands slowly.” Is Onya’s reply.

Cami pulls from beneath her shirt a necklet of leather cord, from which hang two, almost identical, short lengths of beadwork. She undoes the cord and passes it slowly to Onya. “These beads were in our small-clothes when we were taken, our grandfather kept them as he has always feared the might and power of the Temple and wanted us to have some knowledge of where we came from.”

Onya looks at the old bent man and he speaks, his voice hoary with great age and pain. “When I was a boy the Temple was respected but not powerful. Since El Rey Ferdinand took the Eagle Throne, the Temple has grown greatly in power, taking our children for their own purposes for years and then not all are returned. I feared for these girls and kept the beads.”

“Wait” in a single word Onya projects a controlled menace that has the four captives exchanging looks of fear.

Onya, Klark and Leksa walk away from the captives to allow discussions in private. With a gesture they are joined by Dakota, Eric and their senior gonas. Onya holds the beadwork for the chiefs to inspect. It is Dakota and her Wormana Saka who recognise the pattern. Dakota speaks and Saka despite his normally stoic expression is noticeably shaken.

“These beads are from a family close to Saka, who lost kin in the Big Blizzard of many years ago.”

Saka visibly pulls himself together. “It was the worst blizzard of our lives, so many died as the storm was sudden and early in the season. My houmon’s (spouse) brother and his whole family vanished. No trace was ever found. They had young twin girls less than four summers old. We thought they had all been lost in the storm, as had so many.”

“Can you be sure, just from the beads?” It’s Leksa seeking Dakota’s confirmation.

“The beads are definitely from that family. The pattern and glass are unique to them. Are they the actual children, I cannot tell, though clearly Saka; you see something of the family in the girls?”

“Yes, they have the bones of that family.”

Klark whispers to Leksa. “We can do a blood and DNA test if needed. But even if they are the lost children does that mean they have no loyalty to Hogar?”

Leksa speaks to the group of listeners. “They will come with us back to Polis when we leave tomorrow. Is your houmon able to travel to Polis with us Saka? She can get to know the girls as we travel and in Polis we can test if they are her family’s blood kin.”

Saka smiles “Lola will be delighted to go to Polis Heda, though our household budget may regret it.”  

The weapons of the four captives are kept by the gonas but they ride their own, very beautiful, horses back towards the Trishanakru village nearby. Their five horses, three mares and two stallions have stood patiently, throughout the interactions, in the second tent. Saka and Onya are tasked with getting to know the four strangers and talking about the horses is a good start. The conversation between the six is soon lively, with Onya being invited to ride any of the five horses to see if she can find a fault in their gait, lines or training.

When they arrive at the village Mari and the other women of Hogar are waiting for them as is a messenger for Heda. Leksa and Klark take him aside and he speaks the coded message. “Blue Plan Two.”  The messenger is sent away to rest.

Klark and Leksa exchange worried glances. They have made plans and prepared messages, protocols and people; so, they are as ready as possible if the Ark comes down. This particular code is not a cheering one. The Ark is coming down and it’s coming down in a hurry and the Ark’s Chancellor has already reacted negatively to the messages from the ground that they have sent, including suggestions about where it would be safe to land. Klark sighs. “We always knew Sydney wasn’t going to be reasonable. At least we have some warning and Gaia will have sent messengers readying the most likely landing sites for evacuation.”

Leksa chews her lip in thought, “Raven is already on her way back to Polis, Bellamy should have collected her yesterday in the rover.  Jake and Sinclair are in place. Marcus should be back from Azgeda in a day or so and Kestra, Callie and Indra are nearby.” She paces, hands clasped behind her back.

Klark, sitting on a convenient stool, folds her arms and looks up at the clearly worried Leksa. “We can do nothing but make our way to Polis and see whether we can persuade them to land safely away from our people.” Leksa smiles, she likes it when Klark says “our people.”

Polis

Cami, Jame, Seb and Jem arrive in Polis and find work in the big stables at the edge of the city. The journey to Polis had allowed Onya to discover that the four are very superior in their horse skills; grooming, riding, training and breeding.  She recommends them to the stables, who are always looking for talent and Klark asks Charlotte, Harper and Monroe to keep an eye on the girls, as they live in the same part of town. Gaia also has her people in the city keeping a light watch on them. The blood tests confirm their relationship to Lola, who is delighted to discover her brother’s children alive and well. She’d like to take them back to Ingranronakru but for their own safety Leksa decides to keep them in Polis, well away from Hogar, until more is known about that kingdom. She’s expecting reports from Linkon and Oktavia about their journey in a moon or so’s time. She is also cautious in case the four are still loyal to Hogar.

Mari, Isa and Valle are skilled in beadwork and stitching and so they join a small collective of Ingranronakru based in the city, selling their sought-after work at the market. Again, Gaia has a team watching them as they move and work in the city.

Onya, Tris and Tristan and a number of Tristan’s scouts are in Podakru; dealing with the aftermath of the overthrow of Neva as chief. As expected it’s a bloody business; Solon one of Neva’s boat generals mustered enough support from his fellows to challenge and kill Neva, but at least two of Neva’s many children are claiming the chiefdom by inheritance, even though Neva never took a houmon, nor formally recognised any of his children as legitimate or his heir. It is a full-scale civil war, with each side using their war boats to raid villages loyal to the other. There have been many deaths and it looks like there will be many more. Onya’s role is to try and negotiate a settlement between the warring factions. It won’t be easy.   

Leksa sits on her throne, the ambassadors, including Peston for Podakru, all want to say something about the people about to fall from the sky and Gaia at a signal from Leksa opens the floor to their understandable concerns. They start with the Azgedan ambassador and work through the clans. As expected there is much talk of war and Leksa wants all that fear and aggression to be expressed. Usk will take notes of exactly who threatens what, so that can be considered in private later. At one point the ambassador for Sangedakru questions Leksa taking as her betrothed a member of skaikru. Leksa shuts that down immediately, she will bond with Klark kom Trikru, who’s loyalty to Trikru has not been questioned.

That reminds Leksa of one of the most difficult conversations she had with Klark about the Ark coming down. The question had to be asked; will any of the former skaikru consider themselves more akin and loyal to the Ark, as against the clans they have formally joined on the ground? For many Klark can answer without hesitation, but not for all and Leksa understands her difficulty.

The meeting with the ambassadors grinds to a halt. All concerns have been heard by Heda and as soon as the Ark lands they will meet again, to consider the Kongeda’s (Coalition’s) response to the arrival of so many people from the sky and their large metal home. They all rise as Heda leaves the chamber. Later she will meet with Gaia and Klark to consider if the meeting revealed any concrete threats to the planned handling of the Ark’s arrival.

In the Satellite Room Marcus, exhausted by the long-drawn-out negotiations, finally is reduced to listening as Jake, Sinclair and Raven run the maths and probabilities again and again. They are trying to work with Wick and Anderson, engineers on the Ark, whose replies are somewhat stilted as Shumway is at their shoulder and Chancellor Sydney is pacing in the background.

Finally, Anderson speaks as if from a prepared script. “The Ark’s Council and the Chancellor have very clear priorities. They do not accept that they must take into account those already on the ground, their territories and rights. The Ark will land where it is best for the Ark, in terms of impact and geomorphology. They will not give any advance warning of a landing site, because that may allow the ‘Grounders’ to ready an army against them.”

Marcus has, throughout these negotiations, attempted to be the voice of reason; the Commander has given him plenty of scope for negotiation and cooperation but it seems that voice is not being heard on the Ark. Hearing Anderson’s speech he comes to a decision and clears his throat. “Wick, Anderson I have a final message from the Commander of the Coalition to the Chancellor and Council of the Ark. Do you want to transfer this call to them?”

“No” comes the response. “They are here and can listen in.”

“OK” says Marcus. “The message is as follows. The Coalition of twelve clans is prepared to engage in peaceful coexistence with the Ark, but if you choose to ignore our advice as to where to land and as a result my people on the ground are killed, that will be an act of war. That is the end of the message. If you change your mind and want to engage in constructive dialogue I and the Commander will hear you on this channel. Over and out.” He looks to Jake who clicks the switch to end the transmission and sighs heavily. The Commander has been more than reasonable but the Ark isn’t listening.

Chapter Text

Borderlands Hogar Fourth New Moon

Oktavia likes her new (borrowed) coat. The bright red wool is cheerful and makes her think of festivals, celebratory bonfires and drinking games with her friends. The New Times have allowed her to enjoy the ground for the last eighteen moons or so; as she’s actually lived in a time of peace and had some fun. She has friends, some of them former skaikru, others Trikru gonas and crafters she’s worked and fought with. Because yes, there’s been work and fighting, even without the threat of the Maunon and peace between clans. The ground is still a hard place to live, food must be grown, herded or hunted; everything worn or used has to be made, or scavenged and some don’t like the hard work, or leave their villages for other reasons and become bandits; taking from those who have the means to live. Heda and the clan chiefs work hard to maintain the peace and keep lawlessness at a minimum but in a society where wearing a sword is the norm, violence follows and Oktavia has done her fair share of patrols along dangerous roads and hunting down thieves or killers.

But this coat is splendid, she does a twirl to see it spread out, a splash of vivid colour against the cool grey of the sky and land. Ingranronakru traders wear very bright colours so they can be seen and recognised as peaceful when they approach a new village or township. But what Oktavia had never realised is that these bright, easy to see, coats and cloaks are all reversible. Then if a trader feels threatened, they can quickly turn their coat and become almost invisible in a matter of moments. Cunning thinks Oktavia, very cunning.

Linkon’s coat is a vivid blue and she admires the handsome figure he cuts as he walks his horse towards where she is standing. “You ready to start niron (beloved)?” She acknowledges him and the others with him; Saka, Tallpot, Ulysses, Ozark, Will and Kans. Tallpot is the genuine trader looking for new markets and he has selected the trade-goods. He’s not risking his own property though, a number of Kongeda (Coalition) clans have contributed to the two covered wagons full of: ceramics, cloth, preserved foods, jewellery, bladed weapons, medicines and seeds. Everyone else in the party is a gona (warrior); Will and Kans are of Ingronronakru, Ulysses and Ozark, Trishanakru.

The wagons are driven by Ulysses and Kans and pulled by pairs of strong draught horses, they head due west into what was called the Unknown Lands, now named Hogar.

Three days later, on a bright spring morning, they sight their first non Kongeda people. It’s a group of about twenty, camping in big leather tents and herding cattle. They clearly hunt buffalo too, as their saddles are made of the soft yet strong leather. Tallpot and Linkon ride ahead to see if they are interested in trading, the wagons slow and Saka and Oktavia pace their horses to that of the wagons’. Will and Ozark position themselves behind the wagons.

A tall lanky man, with two others who could be his brothers, ride out to meet them. Another group of five riders spreads out behind the first three. The first thing Oktavia notices is that the three riding out to greet them are tense, with weapons, spear-throwers and axes, in their hands. That is to be expected, this is the first attempt at such trading and Tallpot and Linkon keep their hands in sight and away from their own weapons. Tallpot, in gonaslang, speaks for the traders and soon faces relax and weapons are lowered as the age-old language of commerce and exchange is easily understood. Deals are done and Tallpot is pleased with how the trading side of things is going. That night the traders are invited to share food with the herders who, as they have just had to slaughter a lame beast, have plenty of food for a while and will want to stay in camp for a few days to preserve the uneaten meat and the hide.

Oktavia, sitting around the herders’ camp-fire, notices many things that she longs to talk through with Linkon and the others but as they arrange themselves around the herders’ fire she can only sit and watch. They will talk later. First of her mental questions is, why are the women and children hiding? She saw them from a distance as the traders approached the camp, but once they arrived in camp they vanished and all commerce was dealt with by men. Secondly the camp-fire they are sitting around would be best described as meagre, it barely cooks the food and wouldn’t scare any animals away or keep anyone warm. Thirdly is it really considered okay in Hogar to approach a woman you have not met before and the first question you ask is “have you birthed a child?”

As the night wears on, strong drink is produced by Tallpot. Part of the plan to loosen the tongues of those he trades with. Oktavia notices the shock in the eyes of the herders when Tallpot offers the drink to the women in his party, Oktavia, Kans and Ozark. Picking up on the herders’ unease Oktavia refuses, but Kans pours a good measure into her and Ozark’s beakers.

“You allow a woman to drink spirits. Won’t it dry her womb?” The herder called Athos asks Tallpot. Tallpot, in jovial mood, denies the connection. But this comment and possibly the drink Athos and his fellow herders have swilled down while the evening progressed, loosens tongues.

Haven - Capital of Podakru

Solon sits solid and comfortable on the fish throne; he is a huge man with a mane of straight black hair that is held back from his face by a leather cord tied around his forehead. At his side stand two of his captains, both armed with cutlasses and vicious looking marlin spikes. Onya’s met Solon before, he’s been one of Neva’s wormana (general) for many years and is a capable and up to this point loyal, man. He’s received them with courtesy and has certainly said the right things to herself and Tristan upon their arrival. His court is organised and well populated with the big fishing families of the lakes that dominate his clan’s lands. It looks as if he has solid support behind him in his bid for power.

In response to his courtesy Onya and Tristan are polite, without making any firm commitment of support from Heda. At the moment they are here to try and fashion a peace between the warring parties in Podakru, not take sides. The feast that is held upon their arrival is appropriately modest in the circumstances, the clan is at war with itself after all and although Onya and Tristan are senior wormana of Heda they are at least in some senses just gonas sent to sort out a problem. They are given comfortable rooms in the Salmon Palace, a large low concrete building that survived the bombs and after the feast has ended she and Tristan take some time to themselves to talk through their next steps.

They walk by the lakeside, their gonas encircle them at a distance to ensure privacy. Tristan also knows Solon but in addition he has also scouted the area, as Heda has had concerns about Neva for some time and so he knows most of Neva’s children. He starts their conversation as they walk. “Solon is a solid general and would rule well but his is a dangerous precedent for a previously firmly family ruled clan. Neva’s mother and grandfather ruled before him and up to now power has moved smoothly within that family.”

Onya looks thoughtful as she considers how difficult it has been in some clans to select or inherit their chiefs. “Neva had plenty of time to select an heir of his body, does anyone know why he didn’t?”

“He feared alienating his last lover, Metasta, by naming one of his elder children his heir. His son Ham and daughter Ottwa are his eldest and twins. They are the two shouting loudest now that Solon has taken the throne.”

They walk by the lake for some time, talking through the problem. Their first concern is to contact the twins and set up a meeting with them. That turns out to be easier than they had envisaged, as the waters of the lake are disturbed by what seems at first to be a large fish, but turns out to be a diver bringing them a message from the twins. They will meet tomorrow by the rapids.

Back in the palace Onya and Tris check their room before resting on their furs. It has been a long day.

Polis

Klark and Leksa have been called into the satellite room by Raven and Sinclair.  The Ark will start it’s fall within the next few minutes, then Sinclair and Raven can do their maths and calculate the likely landing site or sites. That will allow Gaia and Leksa to radio the relevant chief or chiefs and they can make any evacuations needed. The lack of cooperation from the Ark has meant that many villages and townships have been waiting, prepared to flee for days, just in case the Ark, or part of it, lands on them.  Scouts are also ready and waiting, to start surveillance of those who make it to the ground.

Jake, Monty and Jasper are on standby as all watch the screens and listen to the Ark’s radio transmissions. They eavesdrop on Chancellor Sydney’s messages to her people, as they brace to leave orbit, encouraging them to “take their rightful place, on the ground” and “be prepared to fight for your right to rule on the ground”. It all sounds very aggressive and the mood in the crowded room is gloomy. They may not have had peace on the ground for very long, about eighteen moons, but the people of the clans have thrived on it. Greater trade, improved communications and most of all better general health, sometimes with simple things like vitamin tonics for children and pregnant women, are preventing hundreds of deaths and making almost everyone’s lives that bit easier.

Leksa has to stop herself from pacing, Klark looks tired and drawn, Sinclair is entirely focused on his calculations. Raven’s voice is subdued when she starts her commentary.  “They’re off. Alpha station’s thrusters are pulling them away……Mecha is next……..Farm station is moving, so’s Hydra. Oh fuck! Fabrication; something’s gone wrong. Fabrication is tilting away; it’s hit Tesla, oh god both have blown. No-one could survive that.” There’s a choked sound from Jasper, he’s probably lost old friends in Fabrication. Raven continues. “Orchid and Flint are trailing Alpha. That’s it I think. At least for now.”  

There’s the sound of frantic tapping of keys and Sinclair and Raven pass co-ordinates to Gaia and Leksa who walk towards the Radio Shack, but suddenly Raven’s shouting. “They’ve done it, the sick fucks have actually done it! Jake, Monty - they’ve launched a nuke at Polis!”

Hogar Fourth Moon -  First Quarter

One thing the herders talk freely about, when drunk, is why their fires are so meagre and low. This is because in Hogar the plains are home to roaming ‘pauna’ (huge mutated animals) and large fires attract them. Athos shows them the skin of a buffalo pauna, it is huge and multihorned. Large enough on its’ own to make a substantial tent, with enough left over for some decent bed furs! All the ‘traders’ look wide eyed at the monster skin and from that point on promise their fires will be tiny, no matter how cold it is. They thank Athos again, for the warning, before preparing to move on their way the following morning. Athos suggests they go south west to meet more of Hogar’s herdsmen, as those who just hunt buffalo move across the plains to follow the herds and would be more difficult for the traders to find.

Soon the ‘traders’ leave Athos and his group far behind them and they head towards the south west, that is where they had intended to go anyway. Once they are a few leagues away Oktavia ties her horse to the back of the lead wagon and scrambles up and into the covered back, behind Kans. Safely within the covered wagon she assembles the radio, hidden in plain sight amongst the jumbled pieces of tek Tallpot has to sell.  She gets through to the Radio Shack and arranges with Jasper to call him in about a glass, when he has had chance to look at the satellite imagery of the camp they’ve just left.

Back on horseback and next to Linkon she leans over to take his hand. He looks over and sees her face, dark with anger and fear. “Niron” he asks?

“They did it Link, the worst thing they could do. They launched a nuke at Polis. If she survives it, Leksa has no choice, it’s war against the Ark!” Linkon watches his love, his brave girl from the sky, who went through so much in the Old Times, including his own death; try to deal with this latest devastating news. What must she and the other former sky people go through now? He clasps her hand and they ride together into the open sky that is the plains.

The Mountain - Twelve Moons Ago

Monty stands in the Mount Weather control room, Heda and Klark are with him. Heda gives him the code, he taps it in and all the Mountain’s remaining systems come on line. The whole place echoes with emptiness, the massive store rooms that contained so much are just blank concrete spaces. The vehicles, art, technology and domestic fittings are all gone. The medical suites and scientific equipment, has been salvaged as best it can. The Mountain is now only a shell.

“We’re ready Heda.” Monty gestures towards the console and Leksa and Klark move forward.

“Mochof (Thank-you) Monty. It is best you leave now.”

Monty bows, opens the door and enters the elevator, he grins at Klark as the elevator doors close and he is swept away and up. A few minutes later he radios down. “Monty to Heda and Klark. Out.”

It’s Klark who replies. “Hello Monty, Klark here. Over.”

“I’m outside the blast door Klark, Heda. Monty over.”

“We are initiating the self-destruct sequence. Klark, out.”

Leksa moves to call the elevator down and as the doors open she turns back to the control room.  “Together niron. (love)”

Their hands join as they initiate the destruction sequence and then they walk into the elevator. Lights blink and from the few remaining speakers the announcement of Mount Weather Emergency Operations Centre’s destruction is made. The voice making the announcement is that of Dante Wallace, a cold voice from the grave that is Mount Weather. They leave the elevator at level three and walk the remaining floors up the stairs. Outside the massive blast door, a group of people wait and as Heda and Klark kom Trikru walk hand in hand down the mountainside they follow. Twelve Clan Chiefs, twelve ambassadors, Gostos, Dax, Oktavia, Linkon, Jake, Jasper, Faye, Colin, Callie, Marcus and Vera Kane, Raven, Onya, Sinclair, Bellamy, Finn, Hannah and Monty Green, Maya and Vincent Vie and an honour guard of the surviving fayogun gonas.  They reach the treeline at the base of the Mountain and they wait.

First is the noise, a rumble of sound that comes from beneath their feet, turning into a roar of groaning rock and dirt; then the ground bucks and rolls beneath their feet and a blast of superheated air screams above their heads. The unhinged blast door flies into the trees and needles, leaves and branches are tossed down onto the forest floor. Instinctively they duck and Klark’s very glad no one is hurt, as her mom is back in Polis due to give birth in a week or so and although Klark’s worked very hard over the last few months on her medical skills, she’s not Abi! Not yet.

What’s left is a misshapen Mountain, pitted with hollows and chasms and a broken dam, its river pouring free into the valley below. A valley no one has lived in for generations in fear of the Maunon.  

A moon after the destruction of the Mountain and with peace between the clans a reality, Leksa calls all of the former Skaikru to Polis to ask them if the Ark could be a danger to the people on the ground, including them. The survivors; of the original 100 and the adults from the second drop ship, all attend the meeting. At that meeting the existence of the space to ground nuclear missiles is revealed by Jake. The fall of the Ark is a real danger within the next few years. The nuclear missiles are potentially an even greater threat, though much less likely to become reality.

After the meeting; Leksa gives Raven, Jake, Monty and Sinclair the task of neutralising the missiles and she together with Klark, Marcus, Indra, Callie and Gaia will plan for dealing with the fall of the Ark.

The team work on gaining control of the missiles remotely and succeed at a fairly early stage. The Ark has no idea of the level of technological know-how or equipment available on the ground and so there are virtually no defences capable of keeping them, the Ark’s own technicians, from taking control of the missiles. They know the codes, routers and Sinclair wrote a fair amount of the software himself.  Having gained control of the missiles what should they do? They could just blow them where they were, destroying the Ark while it was still in space. Or they could have used that control to send the missiles flying off into the solar system, but that would reveal their abilities to the Ark and secrecy is important. It’s because the Ark doesn’t know that they are listening, that allows them to know what is happening on the Ark. Also, to take control of the missiles would be an overtly hostile act, an act of war. So, they decide, with Leksa’s reluctant consent, to give the Ark the benefit of the doubt and hold back on demonstrating that control until the Ark actually launched an offensive attack on the ground. They really thought they wouldn’t do it, not even Diana Sydney would be that short sighted, evil, stupid! But they were wrong.

Polis - now

Twelve moons later a nuclear missile is launched from the Ark and it is aimed at Polis, a place that cannot be evacuated in time to avoid the blast. Gaia, directed by Leksa, continues to the Radio Shack to alert the chiefs about the landing of the Ark and Leksa turns her eyes of green stone on Jake, Jasper and Monty.

Klark’s in a state of shock, she’s talked this over time and again with Sinclair, Raven, Callie, Marcus, Jake, Abi and Vera; there’s no way Diana Sydney would do this when she intended to land on the ground! All of them were wrong and now Monty and Jake must control that missile or they, along with all in Polis, will die.

Jake’s eyes, usually alight with humour and affability, have become blue chips of blazing light as he works the screen and keyboard in-front of him. Monty shadows his moves and Jasper recites figures as needed. Sinclair and Raven join them and run the figures and code again. “Do it!” Jake’s voice is taut with fear and anger. Jasper hits the key and they all watch the screen hypnotised.  

It is a silent death. Nothing is heard or seen as the missile turns away from the ground and streaks away into the solar system, to explode days later in the cold emptiness of space. The other missiles on the Ark launch and follow their brother away from the earth and die with him.

There’s no exuberance at defeating this enemy, just muted horror that those who once were their own could do this and they didn’t see it coming. They didn’t protect their people as well as they could, because they called it wrong. Callie is in pieces, Jake and Monty are sobbing, Raven just sits on the floor and yearns for Onya to hold her, kick her, scream at her that she was wrong, but be there! Jasper, feels he has aged a decade in a day, but remembers he was to wait for a call from Oktavia and makes his way to the Radio Shack. There he finds Gaia who has just told her nomon (mother) that Ton DC should be evacuated. The Ark is attempting to land near the Mountain and Ton DC may be in their way.

Jasper tells Gaia that Polis is safe and waits to hear from Oktavia in Hogar. When she calls he tells her the latest news and that yes, she and her traders are being followed. Three figures left the herders camp soon after they did, one rode north west, two follow them as they travel south west.

Later that night Klark follows a pensive Leksa into their room. “We were blind, biased and put everyone in danger because we couldn’t see our former friends, colleagues, even our enemies doing this.  I don’t know what to say.”

Leksa turns away from the balcony, her people are safe, for the moment. She faces Klark. “Niron, it was a tiny, carefully calculated risk. Jake and Raven explained the three choices to me. First destroy the missiles while they are on the Ark. That would kill all on the Ark and we on the ground would lose any chance of having the benefit of their knowledge and friendship. It would also kill many good people and how would Jake, Monty, Sinclair, Raven and all of you from the sky feel, if I required them to kill all on the Ark? Secondly we could launch those missiles remotely into space before the Ark came down. But that would reveal to the Ark that we have access to tek. Like Bellamy, our inside man in the Mountain in the Old Times, it was important to keep secret our knowledge and access to Ark communications. Without that access we wouldn’t know when the Ark was coming down and so evacuation plans and calculating where the Ark would fall would not have been possible. Many could have died on landfall and if the Ark knows of our tek capabilities many more could die.  I accepted the third choice, giving the Ark apparent freedom to attack, if they chose to. Looking at the facts as all of us knew them, the Ark actually launching a missile was a tiny chance. It just wasn’t a sensible thing for the Ark to do. Then if they were to be that stupid, Raven, Jake and the team had control of the missiles and so any attempted attack would fail. Niron, Polis is safe and the evacuation of Ton DC is ongoing and now we know what to expect from those who lead the Ark.”

Chapter Text

First Quarter Fourth Moon

Ton Dc

They’d been ready to move for days. Draught animals, goufas (children) and their few household goods have already been moved into the forest’s bunkers and tree houses and when they hear the warning horns blown long and hard, they tamp down their fires, pick up their final possessions and walk or ride east. Indra and Dax, he’s in Ton DC to spend some leave time with his girlfriend, lead them to safety.  With everyone accounted for and in place Indra turns her horse back towards Ton DC. She beckons to Oscar, Alto and Dax to follow her and they gallop to the top of Carter’s Hill, where they can see the arrival of Arkru (Ark people).

There they are, a cluster of shapes, outlined in fire, crossing the sky; Indra counts six of them. She’s surprised that they all look different, some are curved, others square or even in the shape of a cross. One of the square ones drops away and then in a ball of fire and smoke disintegrates before their eyes. Pieces fall into the river, hit the ground or just disappear into smoky nothingness.  Dax gasps, he knows that he’s seeing death, many deaths.

The surviving five continue to fall west towards the Mountain. As the flying metal boxes come closer to Ton DC Indra realises she is gripping her horse’s mane tightly and deliberately calms herself and gentles her horse as the noise increases. There’s a bang and cloth wings open on four of the boxes, dramatically slowing their fall. The fifth box continues to hurtle west at great speed and can be seen to smash into the cliffs that give Ouskejon their kru name. Fire and smoke burst from the site of the impact. Indra winces, there can be no survivors from that.

Gaia had told her on the radio that the people from the sky are trying to land their craft on the Mountain and as the four remaining boxes drift safely over Ton DC she releases the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Those with her give a little cheer of relief and she turns to smile with them.  As they return to watching the spectacle the largest box, a huge curved metal hulk, drifts past the mountain’s peak and disappears into the valley that once was blocked off by the Maunon’s (Mountain men's) dam.   The other three boxes follow a similar path, but one catches on the peak and screeches and tumbles to a sudden halt, half buried on the upper slope of the Mountain, its’ cloth wings drape over it.

Rumbles, bangs and the sound of tearing tree trunks are heard as the final three boxes settle, not gently, into the valley. Indra kicks her horse into movement and followed by the others heads down the hill and into the trees, towards the new arrivals and their battered crafts. Heda’s orders are that the newcomers are to be treated with care, their leaders are known to be aggressive and violent and have much tek; but if some of them are like her own skaigona (skywarrior) and many of the other skaikru (skyclan/people) who have joined Trikru, there are good people amongst those who fall so gracelessly from above.

Haven - Podakru capital

Onya, Tristan and their gonas (warriors) walk out of the Salmon Palace into a misty morning. It’s greasy underfoot and damp around the lakeshore. Solon’s boat is readied for their use, but they thank him politely and refuse, they’ve decided to spend the day talking with the elders of the senior fishing families. Solon can’t deny them access to his most senior supporters and so in the Palace, its’ grounds and by the lake’s shoreline Onya and Tristan conduct meeting after meeting. Slowly they wander away from the Palace and towards the falls that spill out of the lake and when it is time for sanch (lunch) they rest by the rapids ostensibly to speak together in private. In fact, they wait to meet the twins.

The food is tasty, good bread and freshly grilled fish and the ale is light and refreshing. As the morning passed the sun burnt away the mist and damp and now it is pleasantly warm as they sit by the shore, chat and rest. A server approaches with more bread in a shallow woven basket. He bows and presents the basket. “I am Ham, Ottwa is waiting behind that group of trees, if you make your way there in a few moments we can speak.” Ham bows, keeping in role as server and walks back towards the cooking fire. Interesting, thinks Onya, it seems easy for the twins to contact us even though we are surrounded by Solon’s allies and gonas. Perhaps Solon’s grip on the throne and the people of Podakru is not as secure as it seems.

Onya and Tristan wander away from their lunch party and soon find the twins and their bodyguards, two tough looking sailors armed, as they’ve come to expect, with cutlasses and marlin spikes.  “Thank-you for meeting with us. I am Ottwa the eldest of Neva’s children, my brother Ham was born a few minutes after me. Our mother died giving birth to us, twenty springs ago.” Almost as soon as Ottwa finished her introduction there’s the sound of blades clashing behind them and all draw weapons. Onya hesitates not sure who is the enemy, the twins springing a trap, or Solon upon discovering their readiness to meet with Neva’s children?

Her hesitation costs her a slice out of her best coat as a cutlass blade swings at her from behind, she moves a little late and it just catches the leather. Annoyed Onya responds with vicious stab from Venom into her attacker’s groin. Then she recognises him, one of Solon’s bodyguards; now she knows who she’s fighting she lets rip and attackers fall beneath her controlled blade. She never liked cutlasses, now she knows why, if you’re not on a horse or a ship, they are (as Raven would say) fuck all use. They’re too short to give her any real trouble. Venom’s superior length, double edge and stabbing ability give her a substantial advantage and she, Tris ,Tristen and their gonakru soon put an end to the attackers. Looking around her Onya assesses the damage. Ham is dead, his throat slashed, a keening Ottwa cradles his body. Solon can be seen, running out of the Palace gates towards them. His face black with anger. He stops when faced with the Wormana and her party, all alive and defending themselves and Ottwa.  He drops to his knees “Wormana, Ottwa what happened here?”

Onya blinks in surprise.

Ton DC

Callie sets off to Ton DC, with messages from Heda for Indra, Dax and Quint, a few hours after the Ark lands in the Valley. She rode through the moonlit night, with gonas Pella and Lazlo and in under two days arrives at the now repopulated village. Leksa and Klark will follow in a day or two. Raven, Marcus, Bellamy and Jake will travel in the rover as soon as they finish fitting it with some light armour. Kestra volunteers to travel with them, they need the extra experienced gona and Kestra wants to discover what travelling in the rover is like.  

It’s early morning when Callie rides into Ton DC and usually the village would be slowly waking, a few dogs picking through scraps, the cows in milk being led into the dairy shed and maybe a gona going home from guard duty. Instead, there’s a murmur of excited noise and she sees a crowd gathered by the village pits. The pits being Ton DC’s equivalent of jail or bearing in mind their most common use, the drunk tank.  She and her gonas dismount and hand their horses over to goufas not yet old enough to be sekens (seconds / apprentices). They’ll take good care of the tired beasts. 

As she walks towards the pits the crowd parts for her and soon she is standing by Indra’s side. Indra looks well, Callie checks her stance for any indications of pain or discomfort but it seems that there’s nothing to worry about, her love is strong and well, if getting very round. Indra sees her arrive and orders her villagers “Gon we (Go away/ Leave)”, obedience is immediate. The three gonas guarding the pits stand back and Indra gestures for them to move even further away. 

In the two pits are five people, all wearing the black uniform of Ark Guards. Callie recognises them all and steps back to keep out of their lines of sight.

Indra notices the gesture. “You know them?”

“Sha (Yes), all of them.”

“They are dressed alike and had fayoguns, who are they?”

“The gonas of the Ark. The woman who is injured is of high rank amongst their gonas. She is a good gona.”

Indra watches her houmon (spouse). This is going to be difficult for her she knows. “We put her apart from the others because of her wound, Mona says she will recover. Niron (love) we need to question them.”

Callie’s jaw tightens but she replies without hesitation. “Sha.”

“Who will know the most important information?”

“She will.”

Callie walks away from the pits, chills run through her gut as she grabs hold of a rickety ladder and lowers it into Byrne’s pit. “Major, we need to talk.” Byrne looks up as the ladder drops into the pit. She sees a woman in dark leathers, with long black braided hair and a distinctive tattoo on her face. Speaking English in a voice that sounds familiar. “Come out of the pit Grace, we need to talk and to do it now. Don’t try escaping or attacking anyone, there really is no point.” Callie walks to the nearby hut and opens the door; she invites Indra inside.  They chat for a few seconds and then Indra leaves, she has things to do.

Slowly Byrne emerges from the pit and looks around. Two huge men loom at her side. They are armed and wear human skulls as masks, she swallows convulsively and recognises her own primal fear. Since she regained consciousness all she’s seen is the inside of that hole in the ground and some trees and sky. One minute she was strapped in her seat in Orchid Station, being shaken so hard her bones felt they were disconnecting, the next she is in a filthy hole in the ground, her arm broken but splinted and being glared at by the scariest woman she has ever seen. A scary woman who has a tattoo that matches Callie’s? Yes that woman is Callie. Callie Cartwigg, who died in an accident on the Ark nearly two years ago. What the fuck is going on? She walks to the hut and peers inside.

“Callie, it can’t be you?”

“It is me. Take a seat. They probably told you we died in some convenient accident, yeah?” Grace Byrne sits opposite Callie and rests her aching arm on the table in-front of her.

“Yeah, they did, you and a few others were testing a dropship for a potential Exodus scenario and it blew. What’s going on Callie? Why are you here, who are these people? We thought the ground was just an irradiated desert, not some green paradise with scary people in it.”

“It’s not paradise, it’s got real human beings living here Grace, so paradise it ain’t! But it can be good and I’m far from dead.” Callie’s torn, here’s an old colleague, an old lover. Well, that’s an exaggeration but they did have sex once, when very young, drunk and in love with other, unobtainable, people. But Grace Byrne is an honourable woman, a good soldier, who’s wounded and, here’s the kick, who must be treated as an enemy combatant. Diana Sydney did try and nuke Polis after all.

“So, tell me Grace, what the hell’s been happening on the Ark? Why are you here at all?”

In a classic interrogation scenario, once the victim starts talking it’s difficult to stop and Grace Byrne talks, to her old friend and crush, about life on the Ark under Diana Sydney’s Chancellorship. Nothing confidential just gossip with the odd fact thrown in. It’s a grim story. Of technical incompetence, with alarms silenced or not even checked leading to explosions, leaks or structural failures. Then any election for office is always unopposed and senior people who might mount some opposition commit suicide, are sentenced to floating, or have unfortunate accidents. By Byrne’s rough count fifteen hundred people left the Ark for the ground in eight stations. She was in Orchid, along with twenty of the Ark Guard, it seems they crashed, she doesn’t remember what happened, just coming-to in a hole in the ground with a splinted arm and a scary, very pregnant, woman looking down at her.

A tall man walks in and hands Callie a note. It’s a rough list of what was found and removed from the ship, Grace and the other Guards captured with her, came down in. She folds it carefully and places it in a pocket. “Mochof. (Thank-you)” He leaves the hut.

“What’s with the tattoos Callie, you and ‘scary pregnant lady’ have ones that match?”

Callie takes a measured breath. To keep Byrne talking she needs to keep the conversation two-way and give some information back. “Indra kom Trikru is my wife and carrying our child.” She watches as Byrne’s eyes widen and then glisten. One thing they have in common is their mothers. Callie’s, Birgitta and Chyou and Byrne’s Jane and Silene, had fought Ark bureaucracy for years for the right to use genetic technology to allow them to have their single permitted child of their own admixed genes. It was always technically possible, the Ark was very advanced when it came to genetic manipulation, just not socially approved. But they had fought and finally they won. Callie and Grace were the only children of same-sex parents in their generation and as young kids had to put up with what seemed like never-ending teasing about their mothers being; ‘chicks with dicks’ or ‘unnatural’ or ‘queer’, this in a society that was supposed to be sexually diverse and accepting.  Byrne’s head drops, her eyes close and her breathing deepens. She takes a few seconds to allow the news to sink in.

Then she looks up. “Congratulations, Callie. That’s wonderful.” But she can see that Callie’s eyes have hardened and frowns wondering what has upset her old friend.

“Now you might understand how angry and scared I felt when your Chancellor Sydney refused all our efforts to try and guide her to a safe place to land. This village had to be evacuated, because we received no cooperation from the Ark. You came within a few klicks of destroying my home and killing my family. That’s not all. As you left orbit a nuclear missile was launched from the Ark targeted at our capital city Polis. Thousands live and work in Polis.”

Grace Byrne’s jaw drops open in surprise. But she’s not allowed time to think or reply as Callie takes the note out of her pocket and thrusts it at her. “And why were you heading to an irradiated desert in an Ark station full of guns, ammunition, explosives and RPGs? It looks to me as if you were expecting a war Grace, not an uninhabited planet!”

Grace’s expression turns from horrified surprise to anger. She realises, at last, this is an interrogation, not a catch-up between old friends.

The Rover - the road to Ton DC

Raven pulls the rover off the main track and to a halt. Marcus, Kestra, Bellamy and Jake, tumble out to secure the area from potential threats. This is a well patrolled route and trouble is rare but it pays to be careful. Soon tents are pitched and a watch rota agreed. Jake starts to cook their basic trail meal of day-old bread soaked in bacon grease, toasted over the fire and sprinkled with sunflower seeds and herbs. Even in the rover the journey takes over a day and as they’ve travelled it’s been grey and gloomy as squalls of rain are driven in from the east coast. But now the rain has stopped and they have a fire that is good and hot, driving away the damp and any unwanted animals. Tired and still in shock from the Ark launching a nuclear attack on Polis, they slump in silence listening to the snap and pop of the burning wood. Raven lopes over to her tent and pulls a bottle of Monty’s moonshine out from behind her bag and while Kestra starts to take first watch, the former skaikru share the bottle around and ponder on a world that now includes their former home.

Bellamy takes a good pull from the bottle and hands it on to Marcus. “What if I have to shoot an Ark Guard, I used to work with those guys? Or Raven makes a bomb that kills our old friends?”

Marcus can see the conflict in Bellamy’s eyes, the conflict that is present in all of them. Jake takes the bottle and a small sip. “What if that nuke had landed? Sydney had no idea we could do anything to stop it, she planned on killing thousands, including us. We think the Mountain men were bad, Sydney’s in a different league, the sheer number of people she planned to kill.” Jake passes the bottle to Raven who takes a swig before passing it on to Bellamy again.

He holds the bottle for a while, deep in thought. “But it was Sydney who did it. I bet the normal people on the Ark knew nothing about the nuke.”

Raven shrugs her shoulders and zips her jacket shut. The night is starting to feel cold no matter how hot the fire burns. “Sydney couldn’t launch that missile all by herself. She had help. From the Council for a start, there’d have to be a vote to use a nuke. Then to actually launch the thing she’d need a mechanic, an engineer or both.”

Marcus puts another log on the fire and stirs the revived flames. “The charter’s clear. To launch a nuke, you need a unanimous decision of the Council, plus the Chancellor’s vote and Raven’s right both Mecha and Go-Sci will need to be involved in the launch. What do you think Jake?”

Jake shakes himself fully awake to consider the question. “I hate to say it but yeah, there’s no way engineering isn’t involved in the launch of a nuke and to give it a full check before launch you’d need a zero-g mechanic.”    

Raven takes another swig. “I’d put a bomb up Sydney’s ass any-day and up the ass of anyone who tries to stop me. Night all. Jake, will you wake me to take second watch with you?” Jake agrees then stands up and wanders over to where Kestra crouches, he’ll do a double watch and sleep in the rover tomorrow. Bellamy watches him go and turns to Marcus, the older man has been mentoring him of late, helping him think about his options on the ground. His current job driving the rover is fun and he’s pretty well set up a girl to fuck in every village he drives to and two in Polis, but he’s not sure if he won’t get bored. He doesn’t want to be a gona, just killing at Heda’s order and he never did well at school so a technical job won’t come his way. He sighs, “I’m not sure I could kill my old friends Marcus if that’s what I’m ordered to do.”

Marcus looks at this boy in a man’s body. Sometimes Bellamy seems so naïve and younger even than his sister. Octavia takes her responsibilities as a gona and her duty to Heda, so seriously. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that Bell, let’s hope Sydney’s one of those who died trying to get to the ground. That’d save us all a great deal of trouble.”

Ton DC

Their evening meal is somewhat strained, both eat little, they’re uncomfortable and exhausted. Indra’s stomach feels bloated and painful and for the last few nights she’s had little rest; the baby is very active just when she’s trying to get to sleep. On top of that, thinking of Ton DC destroyed by thoughtless skaikru upset her more than she realised and she knows her anger needs some outlet, tomorrow in training, pregnant or not, she will kick someone’s ass. Across the table Callie looks miserable, she’s betrayed her ‘friend’ and Indra saw how Grace Byrne looked at her niron. Callie may not have noticed the hunger in the skaigona’s eyes when she recognised Callie, but Indra did.

“You know the skaigona Byrne well?”

Callie gives up all pretence at eating and pushes her full plate away. “We grew up together, our mothers were friends and allies against the Ark’s ways. We both joined the Guard as a way to get a reasonable life on the Ark. Then I went into politics and joined the Council, we drifted apart.”

As she says the words Indra knows it’s a bad idea, just some pregnancy stupidity taking over her mind. “You should fuck her; she clearly wants you to and it would do you good to be with someone from your own people.”

The horror on Callie’s face almost makes the stupid words worth it, but then she does something unthinkable; Callie almost jack-knife’s out of her chair and storms out of the house, pulling the door behind her with an emphatic click.

Indra’s left in a silent room, with a table full of good food she can’t eat and a heart that aches painfully. Slowly she stands and makes her way to bed, maybe the baby will give her some rest tonight, she needs it.

The Valley below the Mountain - (The Valley)

In the medical tent Jackson finishes bandaging Commander Shumway’s left foot. Quite how the Commander managed to break only one bone in his big toe, when the entire room he was in was wrecked he’ll never know. Some people are just lucky? He moves on to another patient, he reads from his tablet. A culinary technician, stabbed by a flying kitchen knife. It’s a serious wound, that has not bled too much, she’s another lucky one. He stitches carefully and dusts the wound with antibiotic powder. It will hurt like hell when she wakes up so he writes her up for some basic pain meds. He returns to his desk to write up the requisitions from supplies.

The tent flap is swept open and Diana Sydney strides in with two Guards. She scans the room and seeing Shumway makes her way to his pallet. “What happened Commander, are you fit for duty or do I need to find Byrne to sub’ for you?”

Shumway struggles to his feet, wincing as his left foot hits the ground. “I’m fit for duty Chancellor. Your orders?”

“I want the munitions from Orchid found and secured. Get on it.” She sweeps out of the tent and into the floodlit dirt square outside, barking orders at civilians as she goes. “Prepare three vehicles to be ready to go in the morning and the work on the fence needs to be complete ASAP. There are savages out there. Shumway where are you? You'll have transport tomorrow to get to Orchid.”

In the darkness, silent figures watch, noting what is said, where metal buckles, cables run and pipes snake. Echo kom Azgeda and Oscar kom Trikru will have much to report to Heda when she arrives.

Chapter Text

Waxing Gibbous Fourth Moon

Ton DC

“it would do you good to be with someone from your own people.”

As she walks away from Indra’s house and it is Indra’s house, Callie has contributed nothing to it, the stabbing pain in her chest feels like a heart attack. Her wife has just told her to go and fuck another woman and apparently she’s no longer one of Indra’s people, if she ever was.

‘…your own people.’  

Her hands tear into her hair, has it all been some horrible meaningless charade? The last eighteen months of becoming one with Indra, heart and soul she thought.  Of becoming Trikru; belonging to the world of the ground, belonging to their unborn child, belonging to Indra, to each other. Thankfully it’s dark and in Ton DC once you’re away from the candles and cook fires the darkness is a cloak of black; no one can see her tears.

At the training ring, still lit with torches to allow late night practice, she leans on the wooden dummy used for target practice and tries to calm her mind and heart. She should be able to do some breathing exercises…………. that, fails spectacularly, she’s almost panting. Stretches, she can always do them…………. okay that works; but an attempt at a balance just ends up with her falling in a heap on the ground. She lies on her back and thinks her way into the past, a long way back, to her parents Birgitta and Chyou, who had epic rows and arguments almost daily, or so it seemed to the young Callie. Callie’s breathing starts to slow as she remembers her mom Chyou who, when she was really angry with her wife, would switch to speaking Mandarin and shout and hiss the foreign words at her. It drove Birgitta to the edge of madness, she had no idea what Chyou was saying and even when they made up Chyou would never tell her what insults had been flung her way. Bizarrely Birgitta never attempted to learn Mandarin. Callie asked her once why she didn’t learn her wife’s native tongue? Birgitta said it was part of who they were as a couple and that they were so different from each other, was something she treasured. Callie thought it strange at the time, but maybe?

As Callie did learn Mandarin, eventually she realised that what Chyou was screaming or hissing venomously at her wife, was in fact a laundry list. “You are trousers and a jacket! Socks and panties! A shirt with a hole in it!” When Callie challenged her, Chyou told her that screaming completely inoffensive words worked for her, it got the anger out of her system and Birgitta looked so confused and hurt that she soon forgave her for whatever it was she had forgotten, because Birgitta was always forgetting something.

Her breathing has calmed and now she feels ashamed. She’s left Indra alone, run away from some stupid words, when Indra is physically and emotionally weary and under strain. She scrambles to her feet and runs back, back home to her very pregnant wife.

She bursts into the silent house. The uneaten food on the table is a reproach. Balla sweeps into the room and starts to clear the dishes away, glaring at her throughout. Callie’s eyes drop. “Is she asleep?”

Balla’s voice holds nothing but scorn. “Of course not. She can’t sleep, branwada (fool). The goufa plays games at night and you run away.” Callie feels stupid, but what can she do?

“What should I do?”

Balla’s eyes soften slightly. “Get in her bed, love her to sleep, forgive her foolishness. She knows she said something very stupid.”

Later, holding her sleeping wife in her arms, she murmurs “Yun niron (yours my love), yun.”

Ton DC - Full Moon

Leksa and Klark ride into Ton DC three days later. The village is now surrounded and protected by Heda’s growing war camp, much to Indra and Callie’s relief. Parts of the Kongeda (Coalition) army arrive. Boudalan and Ouskejon fayogon krus* join the camp with Heda. Now there are four fayogun krus; the Azgedan (led by Echo) and Trikru (led by Quint) arrived two days ago and they’ve been supporting Trikru scouts in keeping Arkru confined to the Valley. 

So far this has worked. Only once did Arkru seriously attempt to leave the Valley in any numbers. That was when they tried to drive their rovers up to the station that crashed on the Mountain’s peak. They were easily stopped by some carefully felled trees that destroyed two of their vehicles. There hadn’t even been the need to open fire with their fayogons, much to Quint’s disappointment. Since then, only the occasional party of Arkru Guards has tried to leave the Valley. They are sent scurrying back with some carefully placed traps and arrows.

Kestra, back with her scouts, tersely summarises the reports of what the newly landed citizens of the Ark have been doing as, “they just build fences and walls Heda. They haven’t even tried to hunt for food!”

When they arrive Raven, Marcus and Jake set up their tek centre in Ton DC’s longhouse. They seem reluctant to leave their toys and so put their pallets and furs there as well. Almost as soon as they got there, Bellamy drove back to Polis to collect Abi and David, who have moved into the longhouse with Jake and the others. Indra’s been suffering from some strong contractions and as she is approaching her 37^th week of pregnancy Abi decided it was best she came to Ton DC, as there’s no way Indra will leave her village now. Whilst in Polis Bellamy also picked up some heavy bags for Klark. The natblidas (nightbloods) and medical sekens (seconds) at the hospital, have been working on a special project for her.  Bellamy will return to Polis again tomorrow with boxes of tek from the crashed station for Sinclair and some of Adam’s latest brews for Jasper and Monty to taste and sell.

It seems strange to Klark to be back in the big war tent in the woods just outside Ton DC and it’s a real moment of déjà vu when Leksa, together with her captains and generals, starts to examine the detailed maps of the Mountain and Valley. The four fallen stations are already marked. Orchid crashed on the Mountain, Alpha, Mecha and Farm are dotted along the Valley in a rough semi-circle on the western bank of the river.

The first part of their plan is to be carried out that night, each of the three stations in the Valley will be targeted. Three former skaikru, Dax, David and Nathan Miller will be involved. Dressed in their old skaikru clothes, they will be able to get access to parts of the stations that Leksa’s scouts cannot.

The Valley - that night

Gusts of wind stir the sodden leaves and needles that lie beneath the still sparse tree canopy of the Valley and the creaking of tree trunks and branches is all that can be heard as the six of them move closer to the edge of the brightly lit area. Alpha station’s flood lights bathe the dirt square at the centre of the partially fenced camp in bright light, Guards in black uniforms patrol the gaps in the fence, looking with alert and apprehensive eyes out into the darkness.

Echo grips the bolt-cutters as they move away from the unfenced areas and the watching Guards. Around the back, behind a part of the station that is buried in the ground, is a short piece of fence that has already buckled. It’s been repaired with spiked wire and that’s where they’ll get in. Quint, Don and Oscar carry the heavy bags as Echo, Laska and Dax move to the fence. The wind, gathering strength, twangs the metal strands and the patrolling Guards shiver in the chilling blast. They test the fence in case it’s electrified, Raven told them to do that just in case, then the snip of the cutters is muffled by a sheepskin and the wire is carefully pulled and tied to one side by heavily gloved hands. Five more times the cutters’ blades slice through the wire and each time Laska pulls and ties the curling piece to the side. When a good-sized hole is cut the others join them at the fence and the heavy bags are stuffed through, then five of them go in, one stays fayogun at the ready, to keep watch and guard their way out.

The bags are pulled open and the packs of paper untied and distributed between them as they move silently away from the fence and into the dark shadows of the camp.  Dax grips the pack of leaflets to his chest, it’s his job to get inside Alpha station and get as many leaflets as possible into as many public spaces as he can. He feels strange and uncomfortable back in skaikru clothes and with his hair and beard trimmed close but he’s invisible looking like this as he walks through the metal door and into the familiar corridors of the place he once called home.

He strolls through the darkened dining room, media suite, bar, kitchen and main hallways, dropping leaflets as he goes on tables, chairs, and sofas. He opens drawers and cupboards and stuffs leaflets inside. He even swaps out napkins for leaflets in the dining table napkin holders. He throws them into the rest-rooms and hides them under furniture. Jams them behind pictures and slips them inside the ovens, pots and pans in the kitchen.  Then he’s outside again heading for the fence, stuffing his few remaining leaflets into any can, bag or sack that he comes across. He hears a shout to his left and turns to see Echo sprinting back to the fence. There’s a burst of gunfire and Guards run to try and intercept her, they haven’t a chance she’s much too fast. The gaps in the fence are now unguarded and so Dax and he can see Don doing the same, runs through one throwing leaflets into the swirling air as he escapes into the night.  

Guards and citizens pour out of Alpha Station to see what’s happening and find leaflets everywhere. Chancellor Sydney picks one up and reads the carefully hand written paper headed. “A MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF THE ARK”

“People of the Ark, I would like to welcome you to the ground that you have been away from for so long. ……We are at war……A nuclear missile was launched from your Ark aimed at our capital city Polis…. Commander of the Twelve Clans Leksa kom Trikru.

She crumples the paper in her fist. “Shumway! Where’s Shumway? Guards! You people there, start picking up this trash now and burn it!”

At Mecha and Farm Stations David and Nathan Miller, together with their groups of scouts, have distributed leaflets as best they can, before creeping back out into the dark forest.

Kyle Wick snores lightly in his sleep, it’s a deep sleep after a hard day working on setting up yet more solar panels and batteries ready to electrify the fences as soon as they are complete. A light but persistent tapping on his door brings him half-awake. He blinks sleepily, more taps they’re at an almost frantic beat. He puts on a light before stumbling up to the door and opens it a crack, he’s crowded back into his room immediately. “Shhhh” a hand covers his face. “We need to talk.” Still blinking Wick takes in that it’s Anderson who’s barged into his room and that Anderson is scared, very scared. A leaflet is thrust into his hand. “Read this!” He does and a very cold feeling settles in his gut. Fuck, no-one was supposed to know. Wick looks at Anderson who’s breathing like a pump about to burn out. “We need to get out of here now. These” Anderson pulls out a bundle of the leaflets “are everywhere and when Sydney reads them, we’re dead, she can’t afford to let us talk.” Wick nods and starts to dress.

“Where can we go?”

“Wherever these leaflets came from, they can’t be far away.”

“They could kill us.”

“I’ll trade their ‘could’ for Sydney’s ‘will’, let’s go.”

Wick looks round his room, grabs his jacket, tool belt and bag and together he and Anderson walk into Mecha’s living quarters. As they walk they start to feel a little calmer, they are going to get out of here. Lou sees them walking with purpose. “Hi you guys, pretty wild night eh! Where are you off to?”

It’s Anderson who replies. “The fence was breached, we’re off to fix it.” Lou nods and turns back to his tablet. They make their way outside to find Ark Guards milling about picking up leaflets that flutter about in the wind.

Wick gulps before asking the nearest Guard, “where’s the fence break, we’re here to fix it.”

The Guard points them towards a small metal hut about twenty meters away. “Behind there.” 

They head over to behind the hut where a Guard is standing by a hole in the razor wire. Anderson doesn’t hesitate, he asks the Guard to hold back a piece of the curling wire and as soon as she grips it, he hits her with the hammer he grabs from his work belt. Then they’re through the hole and scramble away into the darkness of the woods.

Hogar Fourth Full Moon

It’s their third stop to trade with the herders of Hogar. This group are particularly hospitable, as after the trades are completed, they break out their own booze to entertain the traders and offer to bring another family group to meet and trade with them the day after-next. Tallpot laughs delightedly at the deals and asks Ulysses and Kans to bring out his own strong drink to toast their hosts. The festive atmosphere lasts late into the night and as the meagre fires die down and most have gone to their furs, Tallpot starts a drinking game with those few herders still at the fire. He’s not very good at the game, he doesn’t win many drinks, but soon the remaining hosts are heading to their furs, well liquored up. Tallpot calls Linkon over, “time to sleep my old friend. Help me to my furs, the trading has been good and the drinking better.”

Oktavia watches, snuggly wrapped up in her furs and well hidden under the largest of their two wagons. She knows Tallpot drank very little, this is a ruse of some sort. Saka and Will move quietly towards the two wagons Oktavia and Ozark sleep under. Lightly they tap a code on the wagons’ sides before they move off to where their furs are stashed by their horses. Linkon returns yawning, the fire is just a dull red glow in the hearth and as he collects up the drinking cups and clears up the remnants of the meal, throwing scraps to a hopeful dog, he quietly hums a lullaby. When he passes by her wagon Oktavia is ready, her furs rolled up into a tight bundle, silently she slips into step behind him and Ozark after her; all three walking into the night and away from the smouldering camp fire.

Ulysses and Kans are waiting about half a league out from the camp. At their feet the herders’ guards sleep soundly, their illicit booze was doped. All the traders, furs rolled across their shoulders and weapons drawn, slip silently into the darkness of the cloudy night. As they walk, wagons abandoned behind them, they say nothing as leading their horses they head north east for home.

The next day they keep riding at a smart pace to keep well ahead of any pursuers. Their coats are now dust brown, all colourfulness turned in and as they stop for a brief break for the horses Oktavia asks Tallpot why they left so suddenly.

The old trader looks tired but he spares the time to pass on his knowledge to the young gona. “The deals were too good. They were making trades they would lose on and didn’t seem to mind. Why would they do that? Then they were trying to keep us there longer, it was not to their advantage to bring another group to trade with us. It seemed to me that for some reason they or someone more powerful, wanted us to stay an extra day and it was not for our good. Your friend Jasper, in the speaking box, I wager he will be able to tell us why.”

Oktavia radios Jasper who will check the satellite feeds and she can then call him back about midday.

Ton DC

Grace Byrne is thankful to be out of the pit but even if the cages are cleaner it’s still a prison. She and her fellow Guards are fed the most wonderful food and have basic sanitation facilities but all they can do is sit and wait and watch the people of the ground get on with their lives. In a way it’s interesting to watch. Scary people are not the whole picture. Yes many men and women seem constantly prepared for violence, they wear; swords, daggers, axes and bows as everyday equipment. A few carry guns and clearly know how to use and maintain them. Most people speak a language that is strangely familiar but at times entirely foreign, those who carry many weapons understand and speak English. The children don’t seem to have any formal schooling but are trained in fighting, a craft or trade through experience and a sort of apprenticeship system.   There’s a market, farmers and brewers of ale and every now and then a familiar figure can be seen. Someone who used to be on the Ark.  Jake Griffin passed by one day, he said hello politely when they called him over to talk but it seems that he sees them as the enemy. His parting comment was very clear. “You’re the people who launched a nuke at me and mine. Don’t expect me to forget that in a hurry!” Byrne certainly understands that “but I didn’t know about the nuke”, isn’t really going to cut them any slack.

A few days after her interrogation by Callie there’s a change in the village’s routine. Children are scrubbed and gathered by parents, adults are excited and those easily identified as fighters with swords, guns or both smarten themselves up and put themselves into identifiable bands. As the people wait horses are heard approaching the village and in rides a dignified group, led by a young woman wearing a red scarf and whose face is painted with black streaks. All the villagers and fighters bow as she and her party ride by, the blonde woman riding at her side looks familiar, Grace recognises Klark Griffin. Just as she recognises Klark she sees Abi and Jake Griffin approach the riders. Jake is carrying a well wrapped up baby. Klark confers with the leading rider and then with her apparent consent dismounts and joins her parents. She embraces them and showers kisses on the baby.  The main group of riders dismounts as well and they approach the Griffins. The baby is passed around to be admired as s/he vocalises “Kla, Kla, Klack!” to the general amusement of all.

The riders disperse and the excitement is over. Grace gets one of their guards’ attention. “Oscar who’s arrived? Someone important?”

Oscar looms over to the door of her cage. “Yes Major. Heda LeksA kom Trikru has arrived with her betrothed Klark kom Trikru. They are to be bonded in the summer.”

Chase, who’s standing in the second cage just to Grace’s left snorts. “Fucking dykes, just need a good fuck with a dick!” He turns away to grin and laugh with his colleagues but his laughter is cut short by a knife slicing into his neck.

Oscar leans forward to retrieve his blade. “To mock the Commander is to invite death.” He walks away. Chase’s body is left in his cage.  

Briggs, in the cage to Grace’s right mutters; “harsh! He was an offensive dick, but death.” Grace sees Callie approaching with Oscar at her side. She looks annoyed.

“Okay, listen up prisoners. It seems some things need to be made very clear to all of you.” The four survivors look at her with hard eyes. “In this society to insult the Commander or her betrothed is punishable by death. The Commander or Heda as she is known is the leader of all the clans in this part of the world. Her word is law, her army immense and to cross her or insult her is a very bad idea. At the moment because in the recent past people from the sky, such as myself, the Griffins, Marcus Kane and others, helped Heda Leksa defeat a powerful enemy, she still seeks peace with the Ark despite your unprovoked launch of a nuclear weapon against her people and the arrival of Orchid station packed with munitions and weapons. You are all on very thin ice. Any questions?”

“It seems harsh to kill him for just some stupid words.” This is Briggs again.

Callie turns a look on him that would freeze over hell. “This from the man who floated Malton Dean for accidentally turning a valve anticlockwise instead of clockwise. Dean was dyslexic and had difficulties with directions but you still arrested him knowing he would be floated for wasting resources.”

Briggs looks embarrassed but says; “rules are rules.”

Callie shrugs “you said it Briggs, rules are rules down here too. Watch your mouths.” She turns and leaves. She gestures to some gonas standing nearby and Chase’s body is removed from the cage.

Hogar

They’re still moving at a good pace as the sun reaches the top of the sky. Oktavia swings the radio off her back and balances it on her leg. The signal is weak but Jasper was clearly waiting for her call.  Tallpot was right, Jasper sees a group of about twenty gonas are pursuing them. They’re a good distance back, just about to reach the Herders they left last night but the worrying thing is that they have many spare horses with them and so can ride for a while on one horse then swap to another that has not been ridden. Doing that they will make better time than Linkon and Oktavia’s group who only have one horse each.

Linkon and Oktavia’s group are about four days ride from Ingranronakru. Jasper has warned Dakota and Eric and they have already got gonas on the way to meet them, but it will be a very close-run thing if the pursuers are able to follow their tracks and use their extra horses well.

Finally, just as she’s about to sign off Jasper drops the bombshell.

“I hate to add this to the mix Oktavia but big trouble is coming our way from the west.  I’ve just got off the radio with Klark so she and the Commander know what is happening to you and elsewhere in the west and they’re okay with me telling you what is going on. Someone is sending a massive army towards Ingranronakru. It’s a good way back and moving slowly but it’s coming from the far west and its thousands strong. Jasper over.”

Having dropped that bomb Oktavia wants more detail from Jasper, but there’s little he can add. The satellite takes twelve hours to orbit the earth and so he can only see the relevant parts of the earth in daylight for a few hours a day.  

Oktavia shares the news with Linkon and Saka. First step is to get those who pursue them off their trail. Saka, Kans and Linkon will double back to throw the pursuers off the scent and try some sabotage. Oktavia will stay with Tallpot and the others, she will maintain contact with Jasper and has flares if she needs to warn Linkon of trouble. Oktavia and Linkon have only a brief embrace before he Kans and Saka turn back the way they came. Oktavia watches them go.

Chapter Text

Hogar - Fourth Moon - waning

It’s well past noon and Linkon’s back at his post, stretched out along the top of a big uncomfortable wall.  It’s one of the few walls that’s still standing tall in what looks like an old township that’s gradually slumping, in uneven mounds of wreckage, into the ford of its’ river. Rusty metal bars stick out of the wall, holding together the crumbling fabric and giving Linkon a little bit of cover as he waits for the pursuers to put in an appearance.

They’re late, they must be moving much slower than expected. Linkon had guessed they’d make it here, a good watering spot for their horses, by noon at the latest but there’s no sign of them. That’s good, it gives Oktavia, Tallpot and the others a better chance of making it home or at least of reaching the gonas (warriors) Dakota and Eric have sent to meet them.  But it’s also worrying. Have their pursuers chosen a different route and decided to bypass the ford and cross further north? But if that was the case, Saka or Kans would be back with him making another plan to slow the pursuers. As it is he’s here on his own, waiting.

Saka, Kans and Linkon had decided to split their small group to maximise their chances of success. Linkon’s here waiting in ambush, while Kans and Saka, much more at home in this terrain, shadow their pursuers; ready to take any opportunities to pick off men or horses. Perhaps they’ve succeeded even more than they expected? Mentally Linkon shrugs as, yet again, he scans the approach to the ford. He scrinches his eyes against the surprisingly bright and warm spring sun. Is that smudge on the horizon dust raised by a group of horses?  He’s just back from tending to his own horse, safely stashed at the far end of the ruined town, comfortable and out of sight.  Yes it’s a group of riders, moving at an almost leisurely pace, seems they won’t get to the ford until quite late in the day.

A slight scuffing sound alerts him to Saka’s arrival. Saka’s a ghost in this landscape, Linkon had no clue of his presence until he was only a few cubits away and it’s unnerving. He must remind Heda Leksa to never go to war against Ingranronakru in their own territory. He raises his hand in greeting as Saka sits beside him, apparently quite relaxed.

“I’ve never seen or heard anything like it.” Saka leans back against a chunk of masonry and starts to eat some jerky. He offers Linkon a piece. Linkon accepts, sits up and raises his brows in a question. “When we got to the herders’ camp, where we traded only a day or so ago, it was a horrible sight. All the menfolk were dead. It looked like executions. Their headless corpses were just left for the flies and beasts.” Linkon isn’t feeling hungry anymore and Saka stops chewing before he continues. “Their tents were burnt to nothing and none of the women or children could be found. We read the ground and saw that two groups had left the camp. One group of about thirty or so was heading back west. They had our wagons with them and many horses.  The other was a group of ten riders. They follow our trail but slowly, almost without hurry. We followed the ten and when they camped for the night, the watches set were tired and sloppy; so, we got close to their fires and could see and listen to them.” Saka takes a pull of water from his canteen. “They are not true gonas.  All have weapons; lance, sword, bow and axe but most of them are flabby and poorly muscled. Their leader is dressed in yellow robes and wears a sword that is black with uncleaned blood.” Saka curls his lips in distain at such poor care of a weapon. “It is he who sets the pace and as he seems unused to hard riding they go slowly.” Saka puts his canteen away, giving Linkon a wan look as he continues. “What was most horrible was when they talked of their mission. The herders died because we were not there to be taken.” Linkon winces at the heartless cruelty. “Our fate was to die, they decided that we men were invaders or spies; ‘our’ women were to be taken to the Temple for breeding. They pursue us now for our women because they think, as they are from the east, they will be more fertile than their own.”    

Now Linkon feels sick, he puts the jerky to one side. “They think they will catch us? Even though they move like snails?”

“They don’t know we have help coming to meet us in a couple of days. In this terrain trails are easy to follow and as we have no spare horses they will have a chance if one of our mounts goes lame? Kans is keeping watch over them as they approach this ford and it is likely they will camp here for the night. I wanted to talk with you about whether we kill them all or try to take a captive for questioning.”

Saka’s confidence is probably well placed, three experienced gonas of the Kongeda (Coalition) will likely succeed against ten poorly trained, if well-equipped, foes. They talk through a plan and then, as they have enough time, they return to tend to their horses. Their amble through the ruins is interrupted by hoofbeats, not from the pursuers but from ahead. The two men melt into the landscape and await the arrival of the rider. It’s Oktavia, riding hard. Linkon hails her, so she pulls to a halt and jumps down to greet him and Saka.

“Tallpot’s horse was bitten by a snake and threw him. His leg is broken and we’ve slowed right down to allow him to ride double with Ulysses, I’ve come back to help you delay the pursuers.”

Ton DC

Indra makes no sound as she bears down to birth their child. Callie’s arm is bruised black and blue by her houmon’s (spouse’s) iron grip but her smile is huge when she sees the crown of Candra’s head emerge. A short while later baby and afterbirth are delivered cleanly and Callie holds the tiny baby in her arms. Indra’s a little groggy but can see her daughter is already wriggling and demanding food with healthy cries. Callie brings her to Indra’s breast and they both watch entranced as she takes her first feed.  

“She looks like you! I carry her and do all the work of birthing her and she looks just like you.” Indra’s grumbles are belied by her wide smile and are just for show. When she had talked with Abi about how their child would be made and that there were some choices she could make, she asked only for a healthy child that looked like her meizen skaigona (beautiful sky-warrior).

And Ton DC parties. Callie presents the tiny wrapped bundle to their village the next afternoon, a delighted Heda and Klark by her side, and the presents start arriving almost immediately.  Balla manages it all and soon trestle tables and canopies are set up on the street and Adam’s barrels of ale and wine are tapped and ready. The gonas on watch will be rewarded with food and drink later but now they guard the villagers as that evening they celebrate their Chief’s new child.

In the cages Grace and her fellow prisoners watch the celebrations. Huge fires burn, people eat, drink, sing and dance. Oscar, at Callie’s request, brings them some food and drink from the festivities. The prisoners almost moan in delight as the crispy fat of the roast boar reaches their lips and it doesn’t take much of the liquor to make them try to join in with the singing.  Grace can see Callie and a tired looking Indra receiving the congratulations and gifts from their people.  She smiles at Callie’s obvious protectiveness and pride and Briggs of all people shouts words of encouragement to the new parents, teasing them about sleepless nights and no sex for weeks! Grace tells him to shut up and her worries seem justified when Callie strides over to the cages. Briggs is suddenly sheepish and apologises but he’s caused no offence and Callie stays for a few moments to chat.

“Can we see your baby Callie? Is it allowed?” All four of the prisoners are excited and Grace realises she is feeling joyful that her old friend has life and love on the ground. 

“I’ll bring her over if you guys promise to behave.” All four prisoners nod vigorously and wait as Callie returns to Indra’s side and after a few words the two mothers approach the cages.  

“Oh wow, she’s beautiful! What’s her name?” It’s Briggs speaking, who’d have thought the grumpy guard was a pushover for a baby.

It’s Indra who replies. “She is Candra, the Shining One beloved of the Moon. You are sad?” Her question is to Briggs, who has started to weep.

“I’m sorry ma’am, I’m happy for you and Callie, just remembering my own little girl Lucy. She didn’t make it down to the ground. She was with her mother on Factory Station.”

Indra’s voice is uncharacteristically soft. “I am sorry for your loss skaigona. We are trying to make life better on the ground for all our children.”  As Callie and Indra walk slowly back to the celebrations, Candra safely cuddled in Callie’s arms, it’s Briggs who speaks.

“Major, if that leaflet was right and a nuke was launched at these people Sydney shouldn’t be Chancellor. Jaha was a dick, but at least he was elected and he wouldn’t have launched a live nuke. We need to work with these people not fight them.” Grace sighs and sees Shep and Rogers nod in agreement. Briggs is right but how do they remain loyal Ark Guards when the Chancellor is rogue and has the Commander of the Guard under her thumb. She turns to speak to her men; they need her guidance.

“Heya, Ton DC, prisoner incoming!” Two tall gonas march into the village carrying slumped figures in skaikru (sky-people) clothing over their shoulders. The prisoners watch as Callie, Klark and Abi run forward and the unconscious men are carried into a nearby hut.

The Small Falls - Podakru

Night is falling when they arrive. It’s taken Onya and Tris three days of travelling by boat and horse to get to The Small Falls and Ottwa’s home. The urgently brokered truce between Solon and Ottwa has held and that bodes well for these peace negotiations. Ham’s funeral ceremonies are complete, Onya and Tris saw the smoking remains of his funeral ship when they landed yesterday and that too may help with the peace negotiations.  Onya has news of the capture of Ham’s killer and how he is to be dealt with will be another element of the negotiation. They climb up the steps to the large stone building and the doors open to them.  They are grateful for the shelter; the last three days have been stormy and both of them are soaked through to the bone. A large gona takes their packs and leads them to a fair-sized room where they find clean towels and a large tub of hot water for bathing. There are a few plates of snacks for the hungry travellers.

Onya pulls rank and takes the tub first, welcoming the chance to be clean and warmed. Tris can have her water in a few minutes time. When clean Onya passes the soap to Tris before dressing in fresh clothes from her pack. They’re clean, if slightly damp. She munches on a few crispy snacks while she waits and considers her next steps.

Leaving Tris to soak in the still warm water Onya departs for her meeting with Ottwa. She’s guided through the warrenlike building by the gona who greeted them. After a number of twists, turns and corridors she is led into a spacious room, well-lit by oil lamps and warmed by a fire roaring in a huge open grate. Her host rises to greet her and Onya has to school her features to conceal her surprise. When she and Tristan first met Ottwa she was disguised as part of the kitchen staff at the Salmon Palace, today she is resplendent in clothing and jewellery suitable for the chief of Podakru. Onya reads the many messages Ottwa’s garb communicates.

Podakru display through their formal wear two important statuses. First their wealth and secondly their personal prowess at the kru’s (clan’s) main skill of fishing. Looking at Ottwa Onya sees a very wealthy woman who must be amongst her kru’s most skilled. Her wealth is primarily demonstrated in the many ropes and chokers she wears of beautiful perfectly matched freshwater pearls.  Onya has never seen such a display and she’s worked with Neva, his ambassador Lorca and recently met Solon. None of them had such wealth, Onya can only assume it is Ottwa’s maternal family that is the source, she’s not known to have formally inherited anything from her father Neva.   If Ottwa’s wealth is impressive her fishing prowess must be extraordinary. She wears, with understandable pride, a long leather vest almost entirely covered in sturgeon plates of immense size and around her wrists are multiple bracelets made from the polished stones found in the ears of very large salmon. Such trophies will be personal to her, accredited to her skills at fishing and captaining a boat. Solon had spoken of Ottwa with great respect, now Onya has some understanding of why he did so.

As host Ottwa opens the conversation with enquiries about Onya’s journey and Onya responds with the usual formulaic replies. Then Onya has to make a bold move, one she has considered carefully over the last three days. That Solon challenged and killed Ottwa’s father Neva cannot be disputed, yet Ottwa must not allow that fact to prevent her reaching a settlement with Solon. It is Onya’s job to guide Ottwa to recognise that and so she takes the initiative and takes the conversation immediately to Neva and his questionable conduct towards the end of his reign as Chief.  Ottwa’s obvious rank and skill at fishing gives her an ‘in’. Onya musters her most diplomatic manner (Raven would shriek with laughter if she saw her) and opens negotiations.

“Lady Ottwa from your many trophies I see you are very accomplished at fishing; how did you view your father Neva’s use of explosives to fish?”

That opening has the desired effect. Ottwa is outraged by the practice that indiscriminately kills fish of all species and all sizes within the explosion’s reach. Onya let’s her host fully express her anger at the practice before slipping in the key question.

“I understand your dismay at Neva’s use of explosives. Heda, as I am sure you know, refused to supply them to him but he bought them secretly anyway. How were you planning to get him to stop?”

Silence and a hung head, is the response. Onya sympathises but presses on. “Something had to be done. Yes?”

Ottwa bites her lip and nods her head. “I see your point. I cannot deny my father’s foolishness, wickedness even. He was wasting the resources of our kru, obsessed by that woman Metasta. Showering her with gifts, constantly feasting - even in times of near famine. I understand why Solon did as he did. It was an honourable challenge, not a stab in the back.”

From that point on Onya is able to lead Ottwa, clearly an intelligent woman who cares for her kru, into accepting the idea of a lasting negotiated peace. She can also explain the death of Ottwa’s brother as not being at Solon’s instigation, but at Metasta’s as she sought power for her own children.   

The final step in the negotiation is however a little tricky as when Onya raises the issue of who Ottwa would consider bonding with (many negotiations are supported by bonding between the main parties), she is more than a little surprised to hear that Ottwa considers Heda the most suitable person to be her houmon (spouse). This time Onya cannot conceal her feelings and she releases a low cough of surprise.   Ottwa smiles at that. “You do not think me suitable or worthy of Heda?” 

Raven would definitely have hysterics watching Onya twist on this particular hook! But after a while, Ottwa generously lets her off by suggesting that rather than offering for Heda she considers it her duty to cement the newly negotiated peace by bonding with Solon, that way they would jointly rule the kru. As this was Onya’s goal for the whole negotiation her joy is profound and she heartily agrees with the young woman and the negotiation is rapidly concluded. Greatly relieved that soon she will be able to leave for Ton DC, where Raven will no doubt enjoy her story of Ottwa aspiring to bond with Leksa, Onya makes her way back to her room and a well-deserved night’s rest.

Ton DC

Klark and Abi work on the two men brought in by Dayton and Dot. “I’m losing him, I think it’s an organic poison of some kind, maybe he ate some berries?  Mona’s on her way but his liver is failing and I don’t think there’s anything even she can do.”

“I think mine’s just dehydrated mom. Can you give him a quick check?” Abi moves to look over Klark’s patient. Eyes, chest, pulse, temperature, muscle tone.

“I think you’re right the saline solution should bring him round soon. Do you know him? They both look familiar; I may have seen them with Jake. Dot could you find Jake please, I think he’s with Callie?” Dot disappears to find Jake and on her way out she passes Mona.

One look at the older of the two men has Mona shaking her head. “He will not recover. He has eaten the beautiful bulb and we have no cure.” A few minutes later the older man vomits blood and bile in prodigious amounts and dies, just as Jake walks in and identifies him as Anderson, one of his senior engineers on the Ark. The younger man is Kyle Wick, a junior engineer. Leaving the young man in the care of her parents and guarded by Dot and Dayton, Klark goes to find Leksa to update her on the prisoners.

She finds Leksa with Callie; Indra is sleeping and they have charge of David and Candra. David is trying to climb Leksa like she’s a tree and Leksa is encouraging him with smiles and pats. Callie is gazing at her daughter, as she sleeps in her arms, with a grin that can only be described as goofy on her face. “Look Leksa, she’s blowing bubbles.” Leksa leans over and smiles, while she helps David clamber onto her knee by angling her leg. Klark stands in the doorway just watching as two of the ground’s fiercest gonas gently tend to the needs of small children.

“Hey you two.” Four eyes turn to look at Klark. “Our surviving captive, one of them has died of eating the ‘beautiful bulb’ whatever that is, is an engineer called Kyle Wick. Wick will recover, he’s just dehydrated and should be ready to be questioned in a few hours.” Klark picks up the climbing David who immediately starts with “Klook, Klook, Klook!”

“Hello little brother, time for bed. Nomon (Mom) and nontu (dad) will be looking for you.” She wanders out, tickling David and blowing raspberries on his chubby legs.

Callie looks to Leksa, “are you thinking of goufas (children)?”  

Leksa chews her bottom lip. “Every time I see her with David. But she says she is not yet ready and I fear leaving her alone if my fight ends.”

Callie looks thoughtfully at the young woman who bears so much responsibility for her people. She’s known her for only a short time but realises she is exceptional. “If your fight ends Klark will want something of you to see her through losing you and facing an uncertain future. Don’t let your fear be what denies you both of what you want, eventually.”

The next morning finds Klark curled within Leksa’s embrace.   The Commander’s eyes flicker with emotion as she contemplates the next few weeks. Yet again she and Klark face battle, but this time not together. She’s leaving today for Ingronronakru and will be parted from Klark, fighting an unknown foe in the west; while Klark fights her old kru. She buries her face in Klark’s hair, breathing in her scent, tasting the skin at the back of her neck, she must not think of her death!

“You’re doing it again aren’t you?  Thinking of your death!”

“Nou, I’m not.”

“Really? That’s a first. What are you thinking of?”

“How not to think of my death.”

Klark turns in her arms and kisses her so lovingly that getting up takes a very long time.

Wick blinks, he feels like shit but at least he’s not walking uphill, or falling down a hole, or tripping over a log. He’s lying down, on a sort of bed, inside somewhere dry. He yawns and looks around for Anderson. No sign of him, there’s only a very tall woman, armed to the teeth, staring at him; he gulps and feels immediately thirsty. “Hi, I’m Wick can I speak to er Commander Lexa cum Treecrew? Please.”

The woman bangs on the closed door and a young boy sticks his head in. “The prisoner is awake tell Heda and Skaigona.” The boy disappears.

Wick tries to sit up but his arms don’t respond properly and he lurches to one side and nearly falls out of the bed. “Fuck, can’t even move.” He slumps down again as the door opens and two people walk in.  One he recognises.

“Wick, this is Commander Leksa kom Trikru. What do you have to say for yourself?”

It takes Wick a second to realise that the beautiful young woman standing at the end of his bed, with startling paint across her face and swords on her back is the person he has come to see. He tries to speak but his mouth is dry, Jake hands him a cup of water. “Thanks. Er Commander I left the Ark because Sydney and Shumway will kill me. The people will ask questions about the nuke and Anderson. Where is And..?”

The Commander interrupts him. “Why will your Chancellor kill you?”

“We know about the missile. No one else does, just me and Anderson. She’ll want to be sure we don’t talk about launching the nuke.”  

The chill in the Commander’s voice is unmistakeable. “You launched the nuke at Polis?”

Wick looks to Jake, who is eying him coldly. “I didn’t launch it no. I don’t have the codes.”

Jake whispers something to the Commander, who nods her head giving him permission to speak. “What did you do Wick? Anderson couldn’t do it all on his own.”

Wick gulps again. “I did the targeting, triangulated onto the radio signal. We were to launch the bomb at the radio transmitter.”

“So, you were bombing Kane and anyone with Kane, like me, Raven Reyes and Sinclair. We’d all tried to work with you on finding safe landing sites?”

This time Wick’s answer is at whisper level. “Yeah.”

Lexa gestures to Dot. “Put him in the cages, remind Oscar to listen to what he says to the others. Jake let’s try your idea.” She turns back to Wick. “You will be held for trial.” With that she leaves the hut.

Wick looks to see Jake glaring at him. “I know you were under orders Wick, but this is too much. Have you anything to say that could redeem your actions, anything that could bring Sydney to justice?”

Wick breathes deeply before looking up at his old boss. “It’s all recorded Mr Griffin. Sydney wanted no record but Anderson didn’t trust her and so did record everything but put it under Class 5 encryption and hid it in the maintenance files under Sump Rupture. If you can get into the Alpha station, it’s not accessible remotely, it’s all there.”

Chapter Text

Hogar - Fourth Moon - Last Quarter

The moon sits, a half circle of pitted silver hanging in the dark star sprinkled sky. That’s enough moonlight to make their ambush of the pursuers dangerous and Kans’ ill luck doesn’t help. As she approaches a dozing gona on watch, her foot disturbs an old metal can hidden in the dust. The ‘tink’ as it hits a stone alerts the watchman, who immediately shouts a warning and suddenly everyone is awake and fighting for their lives. Though they may not be the most highly trained of gonas (warriors), the men of Hogar have the strength of desperation and some experience with their weapons, so the fight becomes bloody.   

Kans takes a blade to the gut and Linkon’s sword can’t quite block the heavy axe that’s aimed at his head. He deflects but takes a nasty blow to his left shoulder. As he feels the bone break he continues with his own firm sword-stroke and succeeds in inflicting a deep slash to his attacker’s forearm. Following through he ends the man’s fight with a thrust to the belly. Looking to his left he leaps to avoid the curved blade of a sword that glints in the moonlight as it slices at him. Twisting he brings his own blade up to block the swing as another figure lunges forward.

Saka’s first strike disables the yellow robed leader with a solid blow to the head and now he’s moved on to thrust his dagger deep into the side of Kans’ killer. Oktavia ducks low, spins and twists to allow her blades to slice through the tendons at the back of a big Hogar gona’s calves.  He falls backwards, no longer able to stay on his feet. Her dagger ends his fight with a clean blow to his chest. She sees Linkon stagger under the axe’s blow and rolls under the swinging sword coming at her from the right, she snaps upwards to slip her dagger into the back of the swordsman’s chest, he gurgles as she twists the blade and her sword makes a quick end of him; then she surges onward to Linkon and the two gonas who are closing in on him. Together; he with his height, her low but deadly, they are formidable and the two enemies are soon dispatched. Saka melts into the darkness for a moment before choosing his target and then he thrusts his lance into the gut of a tall man wearing robes similar to those of the unconscious leader. Oktavia is standing to Linkon’s left when Saka’s dagger flies in-front of her eyes to sink into the side of a lanky man who’s trying to scramble onto his horse. Oktavia sprints towards the horses and her sword finds the thigh of another yellow robed gona who is trying to flee; he falls untidily under the hooves of his own mount.

The skirmish is over. Kans is beyond their help, her guts spilled and red blood covering her almost lifeless body. Saka says the words of farewell to his old friend and listens respectfully to her final whispers. Oktavia deals with the two surviving enemies. She binds the hands of the unconscious yellow robed leader and of the man who fell under his own horse. She will return to tend to their wounds after she has helped Linkon. He sits, stoic in his pain and she listens to his instructions, as very gently she cuts away his shirt to reveal the swollen and misshapen flesh of his shoulder.  Following his directions and with Saka’s help, she realigns the broken collarbone and binds Linkon’s arm to his chest to immobilise it. Linkon blacks out during the procedure and she’s secretly glad that she doesn’t have to keep watching him bear the pain. Carefully she and Saka lower him to the ground and cover him with furs so he can sleep. Then they go to tend to their prisoners. The thigh wound is bandaged, he’s lucky she missed the big leg arteries and his bonds are checked and retied. The leader is still unconscious, not surprising really as the lump on his head is huge and will hurt like jok (fuck) when/if he wakes up, he probably has a concussion and maybe a serious brain bleed.  Saka will stay awake to watch them and to guard Kans’ body, while Oktavia sleeps through the few hours of darkness that remain. She takes her furs and lies by Linkon, her hand touches his side, happier now that she is in contact with her niron (lover). Tomorrow they will catch up with their companions and head back to Kongeda (Coalition) lands. They have plenty to tell Dakota, Eric and Leksa.

Ton DC

Wick walks unsteadily into the makeshift prison. His questioning by Jake, who was later joined by Klark, has been exhaustingly thorough and desperate to make amends he’s told them everything he knows about Sydney, Shumway and the Ark. Through the bars of his cage, he recognises Byrne and Briggs, but doesn’t know the two other Guards who are also watching him anxiously. Once the door to his cage shuts, their questioning starts. “Is it true? Did the Council know? Did anyone know?” He responds as he sits slumped and guilty, there’s no point in lying. It’s best if more people know, Sydney can’t kill everyone can she?

Oscar stands silent and vigilant. Later, as ordered by his Heda, he will report to Skaigona Callie and Chief Indra on all that he has heard.

Grace Byrne eventually turns away from Wick disgust writ clearly upon her face. He sees her response as understandable, he should have refused the orders of the Chancellor and the Commander of the Guard, or at least sabotaged them somehow. He’s a coward, who’s failed everyone. He helped launch a nuke for fucks sake!

After he has answered all their questions Grace and her fellow Guards sit, they feel almost poleaxed by despair and disgust. Now they know and have the evidence, first hand evidence, of what Sydney and Shumway did. It’s Briggs who puts it into words. “It wasn’t a case of no help was offered! Kane and Griffin were talking about where to land to avoid problems, how to work with the people on the ground. What does Sydney do? Says fuck off and launches a nuke! She’s insane and what’s Shumway doing about it?”

Grace turns to her men. “Tomorrow we need to talk to Callie and the people here. Think things over tonight and let me know your thoughts and ideas tomorrow. We have a duty to keep our people safe, even if it means safe from their own Chancellor!”

Heda’s Tower - Polis

Gaia had summoned Mari first. As the former Reina, surely she knows something of El Rey Ferdinand’s gonas and why he is bringing a huge army east. But Mari knows next to nothing of gonas and war. Over many years she watched as the gonas of El Rey and the Temple rode, marched and exercised in her homeland and can describe what she has seen but of the tactics of war, training and weapons she knows nothing.  She does know a great deal about the Temple and its yellow robed Priests. All the children of Hogar spend ten years living in the Temple and Mari describes how the children serve the priesthood; girls as Temple Maids, boys as Acolytes, Priests, Warriors or Artisans. As a maid she spent most of her time doing domestic chores inside the huge silver building and she knows that Temple building like the back of her hand, she’s cleaned most of it after all.

Next Gaia talks with the twins Cami and Jame and their grandfather Seb. Their uncle Jem died of the wasting sickness last moon. Their knowledge is a little more useful. Seb was a gona for Ferdinand’s father Rafa. Rafa had no wish to go east, his army enforced the law against bandits and raiders within Hogar and occasionally campaigned to the West, looking for fertile land and children. Bringing the army east is a new idea to him but he knows how Rafa’s army campaigned and was trained. It’s unlikely to have changed very much since Ferdinand took the throne after his father’s death.

Finally, Gaia speaks with Isa, Valle and young Sofi. She doesn’t expect to learn much but to her surprise Valle, who had been bonded to a Hogar general before she was declared barren and sent on el peregrinaje (pilgrimage), has some knowledge of her bonded’s world. He was a bitter man who complained unendingly, when he was at home, about the Temple and its’ interference with; El Rey’s duties, his powers and the army. 

Later, with Usk’s notes of the meetings to hand, she works into the night putting together her report for Heda. The latest count from Jasper is that the slowly approaching army numbers over ten thousand and in a little over a moon’s cycle it will reach the border with Ingranronakru.

She sighs and rubs eyes gritty with tiredness. She needs to get some sleep. Tomorrow Madrona kom Delphikru arrives in Polis. They’ve had to postpone the final talks between Madrona and Heda about the Conclave but as Madrona had already started the journey to Polis she decided to come and visit anyway. She wants to; see Gaia, visit Bekka’s shrine and read Bekka’s journals, before reaching her final view on the future of the Conclave.  Gaia isn’t looking forward to having the Senior Keeper of the Flame staying in the Tower, poking about in the Shrine and watching her as she teaches the Natblidas (Night Bloods) but she doesn’t really have a choice. She turns back to the report, trying to summarise and make coherent the wandering narratives that Usk has recorded.

Albi’s Bar Polis

Monty and Jasper have set up a taster night at Albi’s bar for the new spirits and meads from Adam in Ton DC and they’ve invited Bellamy and Finn along to draw in the girls. It’s almost working, there are more women at the taster than usually frequent Albi’s; the problem is that they are mostly hanging around Bellamy and Finn, with Jasper and Monty having little luck in attracting female company. Everyone is drinking steadily, Finn’s already looking a little glassy eyed. His fos Leo kom Trikru is likely to find him of little use hunting tomorrow.

The atmosphere changes when Harper and Monroe wander into the bar bringing Jame and Cami with them for company. Then it turns into a good night with music and dancing. Cami seems very taken with Monty and they end up sitting huddled together on a rickety bench, sipping brews and talking about the flavours of herbs and berries to be used in the drinks. Jasper’s terrible attempt at chatting up Jame doesn’t work well, but she puts up with him as her twin is clearly taken with Monty and Jasper is an amusing branwada (fool).  

Things start to break up later in the night when a couple of the girls realise that a befuddled Finn has asked both of them to go home with him. Their fight is just with fists but Albi has them and Finn thrown out. Bellamy leaves soon after, he’d been trying to talk to Finn about important stuff before the booze took hold and when the girls started fighting, he gave up on talking and just drank for a while. Now he’s found a girl willing to sleep with him so he follows her out into the night.  Monty and Cami don’t even notice the fight and Jame goes to sit with Harper and Monroe when Jasper slumps forward onto their table, a potent mixture of booze and stress dragging him into sleep. His double life as brewer and tek gona (tech warrior) has involved long, hard and stressful days as he watches the satellite feeds; counting, calculating, guessing even; at the size of Hogar’s army, the type of gonas it is made up of and how long will it take before it reaches Kongeda lands.

Travelling with Heda

Quint’s fayogon-kru marches with Heda as she travels west, gathering the mighty army of the Kongeda as she rides. At times they march in Spring sunshine, enjoying fresh pastures and the beauty of flowers. Then it can be like today, slogging through cold rain, slush and mud; but it is worth it to fight at Heda’s side. He knows this fight will be bloody and hard but it will also bring honour to his name and kru. He looks back to his fayogon-kru, proud of their training, discipline and the honour they will bring to Trikru. He grits his teeth and hunches into his waxed coat, at least he and his fayogun are dry.

Leksa, mounted on Loki, looks out from beneath her hood at the steep, wet and rock-strewn path; Gostus rides ahead of her and Dax behind. Tonight, they will be warm and dry in the mighty caves of Ben kom Boudalan (Rock Line) and if she is lucky she may even be able to get a hot bath. She mulls over the plans she is starting to put together.  As more information comes from Gaia and the tek gonas in Polis she makes, remakes and changes plan after plan. The first difficult decision was how to split her forces between two such different threats. The Ark has tek and many fayoguns but few actual gonas. El Ray Ferdinand is marching with over ten thousand, many on horseback, but it seems he has no tek.

Leksa and Klark held long meetings, by radio and some in person, with Kongeda chiefs and generals and Leksa’s final decision was to leave most of the fayogon-krus in Ton DC under Onya’s command. Along-side Quint’s the only fayogon krus with Heda in the west will be Ingranronakru and Trishanakru. When it comes to gonas who fight with traditional weapons it’s a different story. To meet the massive army from the West the main armies of Azgeda (Ice Nation), Boudalan, Ouskejon (Blue Cliff), Sangedakru (Desert Clan), Trishanakru (Glowing Forest), Ingranronakru (Plains Riders), Delphikru, Trikru, Yujleda (Broadleaf) and Louwoda Kilron (Shallow Valley), will be with Heda. Podakru’s Solon and Ottwa will send their small land forces west next full moon.

In Ton DC will remain eight fayogon-krus plus; all of Trikru’s Scouts who will be led by Kestra, along with; Yujleda’s Rangers and Louwoda Kilron’s Invisibles. All of these gonas are known for their skill in moving through forested landscapes without sound or trace.  

Before she left Ton DC Leksa had a very difficult conversation with Indra. As her senior, and most experienced in battle Wormana (General), Indra expected to be at her Heda’s side when the Kongeda (Coalition) engages in battle with an invading army.  But she is not yet fully fit, is still nursing her new-born child and her own kru’s lands are under ‘attack’ from the Ark.  Leksa is clear Indra must stay in Ton DC. Onya will command the fayogun-krus and Indra will have overall command of the Scouts, Rangers and Invisibles. Both Wormanas will be assisted by Klark, Callie and the tek gonas. Medical back-up will be Abi and her newly arrived Polis apprentices. Nyko and the Floukru healers will travel to Ingranronakru with Heda. Indra doesn’t like it one little bit but will obey her Heda. She stalks back to her home, where she knows Callie and Candra are waiting for her; they have a tense evening ‘at home’ but eventually Callie and Candra nudge her into a better humour, if she still worries. She knows she has a good team here in Ton DC, it is Heda she is afraid for.

Ton DC - Fifth Moon - New Moon

The biggest room in Indra’s house is crowded. Klark, Jake, Indra, Onya, Raven, the Millers, Marcus and Callie are looking through old floor plans of the Ark. At one time, the Arkers knew their way around Alpha station but the crash to earth has destroyed whole sections, most walkways and made finding their way around the damaged structure and its’ new add-ons and makeshift accommodations difficult.

Jake leans forward. “We’ve got two goals; first find Anderson’s ‘Sump Rupture’ recordings and second show those recordings to as many people on the Ark as possible.”  He sips from his mug of tea and looks at the tense faces of his friends as they try to make sense of what the crash to the ground has done to this part of their former home.

It’s Klark who speaks next. “Don’t we need to look even further ahead Dad? Just showing the recording won’t automatically bring Sydney and Shumway to justice, especially if they control the Guards. How do we get power out of Sydney’s hands?”

Callie and Marcus are former Council members and they exchange glances. Callie shifts Candra in her arms and dips her head to Marcus when his eyes ask permission to speak first. “From what Wick said, the launch of the nuke was not authorised by the Council. Now Sydney could argue that coming to the ground was an emergency measures situation, giving her absolute power temporarily, but even when emergency measures are in place I don’t think the Chancellor alone can authorise the launch of a live nuke.”

Callie agrees. “Marcus is right, even if she claims she has or had emergency powers at the time they evacuated the Ark, there’s nothing that permits her to launch a nuke, without Council backing. If the people are shown evidence that she did that, they are likely to call for elections immediately and if over seventy five percent of the adult population call for an election - one must take place within five days.”

“Can we rig up some kind of projector Dad, so we can broadcast Anderson’s recordings and some recording of our own explaining things. We can talk about the ground and try and get the people to call for an election and to negotiate with the Commander. Or at least get someone to reply to our attempts to set up a meeting to negotiate?”

Marcus looks gloomy. “There’s no way Sydney will negotiate or allow negotiations while she’s in power, because she must know that her death will be part of any settlement. You can’t launch a nuke at people and expect them to want anything other than your death. Ditto Shumway. They will be desperate to cling onto power and keep the people from ousting them and if they have the Guard on their side it will be difficult to shift them?”

Indra and Callie exchange looks this time before Callie speaks. “Oscar, who guards our Ark prisoners, tells us that the four Guards we have captured are angry with their Chancellor. They say the launching of the nuke was wrong. They want to overthrow Sydney and no longer recognise Shumway as their ‘commander’.”

This gives them all pause for thought. Klark suggests a meeting with the captured guards would be a start.

Meanwhile Jake’s looking thoughtful, scratching his head whilst sipping his tea. Raven’s nudging him as she makes notes on her tablet. Klark can see they’re getting excited, their minds starting to buzz with tech ideas.

Raven pokes at her tablet, bringing up images. “Thinking of the tech we need. Our first problem is how to project any recordings we want the Arkers to watch without access to the Ark’s screens or monitors. We want everyone to see the recordings.  In the old times they used lasers to project moving images onto clouds. That would work best at night. We’ve got any number of lasers from the Mountain and plenty of darkness and clouds this time of year. But making the projector will be a challenge, we need high quality mirrors, electric motors and some fancy programming. The sound bit’s easy, we could put speakers in the trees.” Jake’s looking at her tablet and clearly in agreement with her. He takes another sip from his tea before speaking.

“I think we need to make the projector and other tech kit in Polis. We’ve got all the components there and Sinclair and Monty on site. It will take about ten days to build, programme and test. What do you think Raven?”

Raven has to agree with him, the meeting continues on this topic for a while before gonas call Indra and Onya away. The Ark Guards are trying to break out of the Valley again. After the two Wormanas leave to deal with that problem, Klark leads the meeting back to finding Anderson’s recordings in Alpha station.

Later Klark, Raven, Onya, Callie and Indra snatch some time over a hot drink to discuss what the latest attempt by the Ark Guards was actually meant to achieve. It was their most determined effort yet to escape the Valley and the Ouskejon fayogun-kru had to lay down heavy fire to get them to retreat. Onya suspects that the Ark is testing their capabilities.

This meeting is informal, they’re sitting on low benches or logs in-front of the warm fire outside Onya’s hut and Raven relaxes back into her lover’s arms. She’s very glad that it was decided that although she and Jake will work with Sinclair and Monty on the design of the projector and that it will be put together in Polis, Raven will stay in Ton DC, as ready as she can be, to counter any tech the Ark tries to use against the Kongeda. Bellamy is bringing Jasper to Ton DC tomorrow, along with Vera Kane. Jasper will help Raven with any tech problems (and work with Adam in his brewery on the side) and Vera has more work to do with her farmer friend Olaf. In a few days Jake can go back to Polis with Bellamy and start to actually build the projector.

Vera together with Hannah Green is becoming well known throughout the Kongeda. Their radiation resistant and short growing season plants have started to increase nearly every kru’s crop yields, most noticeable in the cases of Azgeda and Delphikru.  Over the past year the increased availability of foodstuffs, together with Abi’s vitamin pills and medical cooperation with Nyko, is bringing to everyone’s notice the advantages of Heda’s peace and the usefulness of the former Skaikru.  

“As well as fayoguns, what tek do you think the Ark has that could be used as a weapon and are they like the Maunon, will they use sniper rifles and missiles?” Onya starts off with her most pressing worry.

Callie gently rocks the sleeping Candra as she replies. “The Guard never had anything like sniper rifles on the Ark. It’d be too easy for a stray shot to pierce the hull and that would lose oxygen. Short range pistols or old-world Chinese bull-pup rifles, using soft point ammunition, was the norm.” She sees Onya and Klark relax in relief so feels a little guilty when she continues. “But they never used RPGs, Rocket Propelled Grenades, on the Ark either. They are a kind of small missile.” She explains to Indra and Onya. “And when Orchid station crashed on the Mountain it was found to contain crates of the usual guns and ammunition plus RPGs and boxes of high explosives. We’ve moved all of the weapons out of Orchid and Heda had most of the RPGs and explosives put in secure caches nearer Polis.  The ammunition and fayoguns are here in Ton DC as they could be useful to our own fayogun-krus. What we don’t know is what else they brought with them on Alpha, Farm or Mecha. When we had the leaflets spread about the stations, Dax and the Millers were asked to look out for any obvious weapons dumps inside the stations. It was only in Mecha that David Miller saw crates of fayogun ammunition, Dax and Nathan didn’t see anything in Alpha or Farm.”

She stretches her aching back and an awakened Candra starts to wriggle and whimper. Callie passes the tiny baby to Indra who puts her to her breast. Callie tears her attention back to the group and continues.  “As you know when Wick was questioned by Jake he mentioned drones and a mine field and we’ve told our gonas to stay well away from any possible mine-fields and to be wary of drones, shooting them down if possible, but we need to give them more training about how to deal with them once they are down. Raven and I are putting something together tomorrow, so every gona knows what to expect.”

Their talk continues into the night and eventually it is just Raven and Onya who are left by the fire. Klark was the last to slip away, David and her parents were waiting supper for her.

The cooking pot is sizzling as together they prepare their meal; Onya is cutting up roots ready to add them to the browning meat that she marinaded in a spicy peppered mix. Raven slices her freshly baked bread, readying it for dipping into the savoury juices and she looks across the fire at her lover. Who’d have thought that the fierce sword wielding Wormana liked to cook? Raven hadn’t, but she’s learnt a great deal about Onya over the last eighteen moons or so, as time and again her lover revealed; new skills, new adaptations to the time of peace, new facets of who she is. Onya kom Trikru is a complex, talented, fierce and gentle woman and looking at her high cheek-boned face, bare of war paint and hair held back in a single braid, Raven is probably one of the few people who can see Onya’s distress at this return to the ways of war. This ultimate warrior, like the Heda she trained, hates war and longs for the return of peace and a future without battles and fighting.

Raven also knows that Onya wants very much to raise children in this peaceful future and that she wants to do this with Raven. There’s the rub.  Raven, despite some youthful jokes with Finn about their ‘one’ permitted child, has never seen herself as becoming a mother. Her own mother was; addicted to just about anything going, at times violent and always selfish. She just saw Raven as a source of tradeable ration bars and Raven fears that she, like her own mother, doesn’t have what it takes to rear children and have a long-term meaningful relationship.  When Onya asked her last year, in the bluntest most unromantic way possible. “Hei Raven, we are good for each other, bond with me and we can raise goufas that can fight and know tek!”  Raven was beyond surprised and must have completely lost her reason; as in refusing that offer she ended up saying some of the stupidest things any genius could ever say.

They separated for a short time after that awful conversation, both truly miserable apart and since finding their way back to each other, the whole ‘future together’ topic has never been spoken of. They’ve just always made sure to be together as much as possible and the fact that recently they’ve had to spend so much time apart has made Raven very aware of how lonely she’d been with Onya so far away; with Ingranronakru or Podakru.  And if the fabulous back-home sex, cuddles and food is anything to go by, Onya missed her too.  The thing is Raven knows it’s up to her to do or say something, if she wants their current arrangement (whatever it is) to change. Onya made her offer and Raven said no.

“Niron (beloved) what did that bread do to you?”  

“Huh, er” Raven looks down to see she’s sliced and sliced and sliced the whole loaf into small cubes. “Um…. Croutons! I’m making croutons. That’s French for toasted cubed bread, the er, cutting it, er into cubes increases the surface area of the bread in contact with the juices and the uptake of the juice……it's more efficient!” Raven looks at the cubed bread as if she has never seen it before and gingerly places the little cubes into a large metal bowl by the fire. “You’ll see Croutons are the way to go.”  

Onya looks nonplussed and gives a slight shrug. “If that is what you want niron, we will have crootons with our meal.”

Travelling with Heda

Mara of the Glens bows her head before Heda, she has been chosen by Roan to lead the army of Azgeda in this war. Leksa is delighted to see the mighty gona looking completely recovered from her captivity in the Maunon’s (Mountain men’s) cages. Leksa steps forward and offers her arm in greeting, the grasp is firm and sincere from both women.

Chapter Text

Ton DC - Fifth Moon - First Quarter

Klark stands in the early morning mist, dawn is just breaking and to the east the suspended droplets of water reflect a slight pinkish tinge. She’s shivering a little and is glad of the mug of hot tea cradled in her hand. She’s also relieved that her dad has gone back to Polis with Bellamy and so she’s managed to avoid an epic family row. Jake’s needed to assist Sinclair build the laser projector and give Monty some help with the programming. Monty’s been pulling all-nighters working on the satellite feeds and the fiendishly complex programmes for the projector. He desperately needs a second pair of eyes to look over the thousands of lines of code and Jake can help him and Sinclair, it’s a win-win to have him in Polis.  Meanwhile here in Ton DC they need to find the recording Anderson hid as ‘Sump Rupture’ somewhere in Alpha station’s data base. That’s where Klark comes in and yes there’s danger involved and her mom doesn’t like the plan and Leksa doesn’t like the plan and Jake would have gone ballistic about the plan, if he knew about it. Klark shrugs her shoulders, she’ll do what’s necessary. She takes a final sip from her tea as she watches Kestra giving last minute orders to her Scouts before they all melt into the forest.

The Valley

When the mist dissipates it leaves behind a bright sunny morning and at last the citizens of the Ark seem to have started to do something other than build their fence and lay down mine fields.  People are milling about the three grounded stations and there are visible signs of; activities such as gardening, solar panel arrays and outside Mecha Station three jeeps are being retro-fitted with what looks like armour plating and mounted machine guns.

Within the dark shadows cast by the forest Raven and Onya complete their careful circuit around the encampment, Raven’s bodycam, focused on the fence, is recording all the while. They’ll analyse the footage later. Having completed one circuit, they move to their chosen long--term surveillance site and crouch down, the distraction should be starting soon.

Major Grace Byrne finds she is having an unwanted intimate experience with a tree. She’s pretty sure she has a big twig up her ass, that or she’s just sat down on the bone handle of the dagger Kestra loaned her. She whispers an agonised “Fuck!” to herself as she wriggles along the mossy branch trying to get comfortable, whilst keeping silent and maintaining her view of what’s happening on the track ahead.   Her arm is healing but is not yet at full strength and she envies the other ‘tree huggers’ their fitness and ease of movement through the trees, she feels clumsy and weak. A hand taps her shoulder and passes her a cloth pad, Grace looks up into Kestra’s laughing eyes. The pad is thrust at her again and Grace grabs it, a little careful placement and suddenly things are not so bad after all. She’s straddling, almost comfortably, a sturdy branch of a huge oak tree and she can see Klark as she walks, hands held above her head, towards the big metal gates set into the Arkers’ towering fence.

Today Klark’s wearing Skaikru style clothes, her thin Henley, a blue jacket, belted jeans and worn boots. She’s carrying a white flag, which she waves vigorously, as she comes to a halt a few yards in-front of the gate.  “Hey there Arkers!  I’m Klark Griffin. I’m unarmed and want to set up talks with your Chancellor on behalf of the people who live on the ground. We’ve tried contacting you by radio but no one responds.”

There’s no response now. So Klark repeats herself a couple of times. She knows that her words are having some effect. She can hear whispers, then running feet and through the fence she can see people leaving their tasks and turning to walk towards the gate; but then Guards direct them to go back to their work. More Guards run across the compound towards the gate and their attention and loosely slung guns are turned on her. She keeps shouting, reminding them that she’s from the Ark, is Jake and Abby’s daughter and was sent down to the ground by the Council. It takes a while but eventually a head pops up from behind the metal sheeting of the wall and Grace recognises Commander Shumway. He looks pale and harassed when he starts to shout down to Klark.

“We’re not negotiating with savages who attack us when we try to retrieve our own property or exercise our right to be on the Earth. And the Chancellor is not negotiating with some kid sent down as part of a bunch of criminals. Go back to your savage friends Clarke or we’ll shoot; the Chancellor has nothing to say to you!” As Shumway turns away Grace can hear his order to the Guards on duty. “If she stays there more than thirty seconds shoot her!” He disappears behind the fence and walks towards Alpha station’s open door.

“You heard him Clarke, you need to leave now.” Grace recognises Guardsman Derrik Porter as he shouts the warning down to Klark. She knows he will follow a direct order given by Shumway, but Grace can tell he doesn’t want to shoot the girl. She looks carefully at each Guard she can see, assessing their reactions to; Klark, her message and Shumway’s response.

Klark picks up on Porter’s unwillingness to shoot her and so she tries again. “Look we just want peace, that’s all. Try to get the Chancellor to talk to us at least, please.”

Porter makes great play of loading a round into the chamber of his rifle. “Scram Clarke! I will shoot.” Klark shrugs and turns to leave, she whistles and her horse Magpie canters into the clearing and skids to a halt in-front of her. Klark leaps agilely onto her back and gallops away along the track.  The Arkers’ by the gate, including the Guards, murmur and gasp at her display of horsemanship. She’s caused quite a stir.    

Part one of the plan is complete.

Ton DC

As dusk falls they’re all back in Ton DC, eating at Indra’s big table.

“Well, how did it go Klark?” It’s Indra who, with Klark, is leading the meeting.

“Pretty much as expected. We didn’t think they’d invite me in to talk. But I got plenty of attention from the Guards on duty and others who were out and about. What do you think of their reactions Major?

Grace is used to giving concise reports. She leans forward onto the huge hand-carved table. “It has to be big news that Klark’s been seen at the gate and that she’s clearly in good health, looks clean and well fed. Plus she’s asking for peace talks and is riding a horse. This is all dramatic and gossip-worthy news. By now everyone in that camp will know what happened at the gate and Sydney will be under pressure to start talks. From their stance and body-language the Guards at the gate didn’t see Klark as a threat, it was only when Shumway ordered her to leave or be shot that they even looked hostile. Plus, from what I could hear of their chat after you had left Klark, some are starting to question Sydney’s unwillingness to start some kind of negotiation and are linking that unwillingness to the flyers you spread around the camp claiming she launched a nuke.” Klark gives Grace a reassuring look and even Indra mutters her thanks for the report.

“Raven, Onya did you get what you needed?”

Raven looks up from her plate of food. “Sure did, I’ve mapped a way through the mine field and found a vulnerable section of fence. As I thought, it’s all about shit.”

“Uh?” A number of heads rise and eyes widen.

“Yeah, I know we’re eating but it’s important stuff. The Ark needs to get rid of it. There are over four hundred people in that camp and the big recyclers and sewage tanks didn’t make it down to the ground, so the full treatment of ….. human waste….. is not possible. To deal with it they’ve dug trenches and laid pipes. Upstream they pipe in clean water, downstream they release partially treated sewage. Not untreated thank God or they’d be poisoning the river for villages further downstream. But if you have hundreds of people living together in cramped conditions, the one pipe you don’t want to damage or block is your sewage pipe. So, no mines are placed anywhere near it and to make the inevitable repairs or clearing blockages easy they have a section of fence they’re able to isolate from the power. I can work with that and it’s our way in.”

Klark smiles her pleasure. Trust Raven and Onya to come up with the goods. 

“Kestra what’s the drone count?”  They then talk through the Scouts’, Rangers’ and Invisibles’ reports. It’s clear that the Ark’s Chancellor is getting ready to make substantial sorties into the Valley and maybe beyond. Three armour-plated jeeps have been fitted with caterpillar tracks and machine guns. They look capable of moving through lightly wooded and open terrain. The deep forest would likely be too difficult for them but Grace did see a couple of chainsaws being tested. Drones have been downed and destroyed at a good rate but a few, that fly very high, are beyond bow or even accurate rifle range. Raven suspects that these drones are using LIDAR, a system of lasers that can map terrain through trees.

She pauses in her eating again. “If they are using LIDAR we don’t need to worry about them spotting people, like your Scouts Kestra, but they can map the lumps and bumps in the ground. They could then plot a route for their jeeps through the woodlands to wherever they want to go.”

That sparks talk about where the Arkers would want to go if they do manage to leave the Valley. Soon the talk starts to get a bit circular and frustrating so, with a glance to Klark, Indra takes the discussion on to the next part of the plan.

“Shall we continue as planned and send Marcus tomorrow? He at least can’t be accused of being a goufa (child) and not worth talking to.”

Klark sighs, “Well, we have a bit of a dispute about that. Vera wants to take his place, apparently quite a few of the Guard were members of her Last Tree cult on the Ark and so she thinks that connection, her advanced age and I quote ‘inoffensive little old lady looks’ will get her in to talk peace. She also made the point that Marcus’ position on the Ark’s Council and his responsibility for carrying out ‘Floatings’ made him an unpopular figure. I have to say I think she’s got a point.”  

The Valley - the following day

Kestra swings gracefully onto the sturdy branch. Today’s rain is making tree-walking more hazardous so she’s extra cautious and a little slower as she makes her way to her observation platform. She readies her bow as she scans the neighbouring trees. Five of her own Trikru Scouts and all of the Louwoda Kilron fayogun kru are concealed within nearby branches. All of them focusing their attention on the Guards who watch the Arkers’ fence and gate as Vera Kane and Major Grace Byrne walk up to the camp. Vera is waving the white flag, while Grace walks quietly beside her wearing her Guard uniform with her arm supported by a clean sling. Vera’s voice is strong as she calls to the Guards on the gate. “Guards, oh hi Derrik, I’m Vera Kane and like Klark yesterday I’ve come to ask your Chancellor to start peace negotiations with the people who live on the ground. As a goodwill gesture they have released Major Grace Byrne. She was captured when Orchid station crashed. Her injury was caused by the crash and her arm has been treated by healers. Derrik can you ask the Chancellor or Commander Shumway to come and speak to me or to allow me to enter to speak with them. I am unarmed.”

“Missus Kane I’ve sent a message over to Alpha station ma’am. I’m sorry to keep you waiting but my orders are to allow no one in or out without Commander Shumway’s or the Chancellor’s permission.”

“That’s fine Derrik we understand and are happy to wait. Do you want to sit down Grace? My old bones could do with a rest.” With some groans and murmurs about aching joints Vera carefully lowers herself onto a nearby log. Grace stands for a few moments more before joining her. Vera, her nerves making her talkative, engages Grace’s attention as she chats on about the wonders of horses ………………….

It feels strange and uncomfortable to be back inside the cold metal of Alpha station. Vera’s never liked being surrounded by metal, even when that had been all she’d ever known. Perhaps that was why she felt so drawn to ‘the Last Tree’ and the belief that humanity’s true place was on the ground; being a part of the planet’s system of soil, plants, animals and rocks. She’s been so happy since landing on the ground, despite the war with the Maunon (Mountain men). Plants, crops, farmers, soil, even rocks are to her a delight, as well as a professional challenge. Now in the colourless corridors of the fallen station Vera can’t wait to get outside again. The Guards halt outside the Chancellor’s office and Vera watches as Grace Byrne is led, none to gently, further down the corridor to a ‘debriefing’ with Commander Shumway.  She’s worried for Grace and feels responsible for her; Grace wouldn’t be here if Marcus hadn’t insisted that his mother needed at least one friendly face to be ‘on the inside’ with her. The compromise Marcus had eventually accepted had been for Grace to return to the Ark with Vera as a ‘goodwill gesture’ from the Commander. Vera now knows that returning here is dangerous for them both.  She’d always recognised the danger to herself but hadn’t realised, until she saw how Shumway looked at Grace and Grace’s own look of resignation in response, that the Major’s return could be greeted with anything but joy.

Some hours later Vera is exhausted by her discussions with the Chancellor and is holding in her hand a daunting list of ‘demands’ from Chancellor Sydney. Demands that are to be met before negotiations can even start. Vera summons yet more of her inner calm as she tries again to persuade Diana Sydney that cooperation with the people on the ground is the way forward and gestures of good faith are needed by both sides after such a shaky start.

“Chancellor, I can’t imagine that the Commander will see any advantage in acceding to such a list before negotiations even start. She sees you and your people as untrustworthy hostiles and I can’t fault her for that. If a nuclear missile was launched at my home, after I had tried to help you land safely, I’d see you as hostile. Yet despite your unprovoked attack, she has not destroyed you or your camp; rather she has allowed you to stay on her territory and only if you attempt to leave this Valley has she taken any action against you at all. Her response at the moment is extremely restrained but unless your attitude changes I can see that her patience will soon run out. If that happens you and your people won’t survive for very long. I beg you for the good of your own people rethink this ‘list of demands’.”

The Chancellor leans back in her chair, her cold eyes take in the older woman. “This is my final word on the matter. We in the Ark were chosen to survive a nuclear holocaust because we were the best that humanity had to offer. This is our world and I intend for my people to rule it; we have the technology. You clearly are no longer one of my people so consider yourself lucky that I am allowing you to leave now as my messenger to this Commander. I will talk to the savages when my requirements on that list have been met, not before.” She presses a button on her desk and a Guard enters. “Mrs Kane is leaving, take her to the gate and show her out.”

Vera stands and decides to sneak in a last plea with the Guard as audience. “Chancellor the only way forward is through peace. The Commander has been forgiving of your actions so far, but not for much longer. If you persist in being hostile and unreasonable the Commander’s army will destroy you all.” With that she stalks through the open door and out of the Chancellor’s office, escorted by Guard Linden Chambers. As they walk briskly through the last door and outside into the fresh air, Vera quietly engages the Guard in conversation. “It’s good to see you Linden, did young Sally and Leroy make it to the ground?”

“Sure-thing missus Kane, they can’t wait to run around outside and there’s no way to stop them talking about that horse they saw yesterday.”

“Ah yes, Klark’s horse Magpie was a gift from a clan called the Plains Riders, that’s Ingranronakru in the local language. She’s become a good horsewoman and Magpie can do all sorts of tricks. I hope the Chancellor starts to allow you more contact with the people who live here, they are great teachers and although they are very good at war, they want peace.” As she walks through the gates and towards the woods she takes a last look back, she just hopes Grace is okay and tries to ignore the feeling in her gut that she isn’t.

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands

The commanding voice roars out.

“Again, use your shields branwadas (fools) to create the wall!” There’s a brief pause before the Captain roars again. “Jokkers (Fuckers) each shield must overlap with the next!......  Better…….good. Now switch places with the row behind! ……… Oh Keryon (Spirits) save us, it’s like watching foals stumble.” The Captain, together with her seken (second) dismount and wade into the mass of gonas (warriors) to put her kru (group) back into order.

Nearby Mara kom Azgeda, Ben kom Boudalan, Heda Leksa and her wormanas (generals) watch the gonas practice this ‘shield-wall’ manoeuvre. Practice that is needed because this is not the Kongeda’s usual way of battle and it doesn’t help that Azgeda, Boudalan, Trikru, Yujleda and Ouskejon are much more used to fighting against, rather than in cooperation with, each other. Leksa hands her precious binoculars (a gift from Jake) to Dakota kom Ingranronakru, who has just ridden up to join the group. Dakota’s fascinated by the new technique, even though her gonas, nearly all Ingranronakru gonas are mounted, will not be using it. The shield-wall is meant to give foot gonas and the majority of Kongeda gonas will be on foot, a good defence against a charge, whether those who charge are on foot or horse. It is also effective against archers when the shields of those gona to the rear are raised into a roof-like structure that covers themselves and their comrades in-front.

Over the past many days of practice there has been noticeable improvement in the gonas’ ability to work with the shields and each other; as wormana, captains and gonakru leaders are briefed on the battle plan and the type and size of force that is approaching. Even the most experienced and confident gonas realise that to win the coming battle, against an invading army of such massive numbers, the usual ‘charge in and fight to the death’ will not be enough.

It starts to snow and Leksa turns to one the messengers ready and waiting to take her orders. “Sheldon, get back to the main camp and tell Linkon that I am allowing all gonas a measure of firewater tonight and break-out the preserved fruits.” She turns back to watching the gonas, they continue to practice despite the thick whiteness falling onto their shoulders. They’ll need the extra warmth and their spirits raising tonight as their Captains are brutal in working them to exhaustion and beyond. Their gonas will get it right!

Later after all have returned to their fires and tents the effects of the firewater, a tasty beef stew and the sweet preserved fruits can be heard throughout the army. There’s laughter alongside the hiss of sharpening stones and the thumps of hammers repairing shields and  someone in the Boudalan kru camp is singing, remarkably tunefully, a very bawdy song.

Leksa, finally alone in her war tent, listens to her army as it relaxes. She has just ended her radio check-in with Monty in Polis. The approaching army has, as expected, speeded up as it approaches the border with the Kongeda. It’s about five days march away from the site she has chosen for the battle. It was fortunate that she ordered the rations of spirits distributed tonight as after tomorrow’s practice her huge army must become almost invisible; with damped fires, cold food, whispered conversations and almost silent manoeuvrings into their pre-battle positions. 

She calls Gostos into the tent and gives her orders for tomorrow; yet more practice of the shield-wall and new instructions for Dakota and her general Saka. Up to this point Hogar’s army has sent ahead the usual scouts to survey the territory their army is marching towards and Leksa has let those scouts explore the emptied land and report back. All she has done is have Saka and his kru of Ingranronakru spies keep the scouts under observation. Now their orders are that all the Hogar scouts are to be killed or captured. None must return to report to their leaders. Leksa wants those who lead the approaching invaders to be unnerved by the sudden disappearance of all their scouts and also ignorant of what and who is awaiting them. Gostos bows and leaves the tent. She can hear him instructing Dax to carry her orders to the wormanas. Her smile is only a little grim as she considers how well Dax has responded to Gostos’ training. He has become a most promising gona and has fully accepted the risks and the honour of serving as Heda’s closest guard. 

Gostos’ coded knock on the tent’s door frame announces Linkon and Oktavia. She calls for them to be allowed to enter. As they bow in greeting she’s pleased to see Linkon looking so well. The injury to his shoulder means he’s not fully fit for battle and the argument about his role in the forthcoming fight is one he has already fought and lost. He could not withstand the arguments of his fisa (healer), Heda and niron (beloved) when all believe that he is not fit to fight in the shield-wall as he wanted. Instead, he will fight with Leksa as part of the mounted gonas who will ride around and behind the invaders. It is planned that this mighty mounted ‘Hammer’ of gonas will break the invaders of Hogar on the ‘Anvil’ that is the Kongeda’s shield-wall. Oktavia, being too short to be part of the shield-wall, will also be in the Hammer and in a better position to fulfil her promise to Klark and protect Leksa. Klark had almost begged her friend to stay close to Leksa in the forthcoming battle.

The three of them sit to eat at Heda’s table and discuss the next few days of preparations. As they end their meal, with bowls of sweet preserved berries, Leksa raises an important issue that has troubled her and Klark, for some time.  Does she try to negotiate with the approaching invaders or does she assume that as they have come so far and with such a huge force that any attempt to negotiate will not only be fruitless but also lose her some of the element of surprise.  She and the past Commanders are of the view that the invaders deserve no mercy but as she has listened to her wormanas’ and clan chiefs’ views, she feels that Linkon is entitled to express his ideas as well and that means Oktavia gets to speak too.

Linkon’s response surprises her. “First to my mind is the fact that the army that approaches outnumbers our gonas by up to three thousand. This is in part because our forces are split between here and Ton DC, but even if Podakru had arrived and we had all those from Ton DC with us, we would still be outnumbered. That means surprise is important to us in gaining victory.  Secondly from our meetings with the people of Hogar and from what you have told us Heda, about those who were captured or escaped those lands, they have definite goals in mind. To steal children and fertile women for their Temple and Rey. We” at this point Linkon looks to Oktavia, who nods her agreement, “have talked much about what we learned when we travelled in Hogar and their strange beliefs about women, children and the Kongeda’s healthy population. We think that they will want land as well as people because they think our land is why our people are healthier than theirs. They are here in force, they are here because they want to conquer our lands, we think negotiation would be pointless. No leader could bring such an army so far and with such goals and then just turn around and go home when first meeting any opposition.”  

Oktavia adds her voice in support of Linkon. “As you know Heda Linkon is always seeking the way of peace but we both think that those of Hogar will not leave Kongeda lands unless they are defeated in battle.”

Leksa thanks them for their thoughts and soon they leave, with respectful bows, making their way to their own tent. Left alone to undo her braids and prepare for sleep Leksa wonders if Klark will still be awake if she calls her on their private radio channel. She takes the radio out of its’ snug pack and switches it on. Her fingers deftly tune it to the correct frequency and she raises the microphone to her lips and slips the earpiece in. Soon she is speaking to Klark, first about their plans for the next few days and the fighting that seems inevitable. Then the two lovers take some time for themselves, speaking quietly each to the other, of their yearning to be together. It is Klark, to Leksa’s surprise, who turns their conversation to her wish to bear Leksa’s child. “I know you fear leaving me alone niron because the life of Heda can be short. But if the worst did happen and I lost you to war, disease or accident I would be able to continue to live, for our child.” Leksa is silent for a few seconds before Klark hears quiet snuffles.

“Sha niron and I the same.”

Chapter Text

Alpha Station - Arker Camp. Fifth Moon Waxing Gibbous

It’s late, the last watches are set and in the darkness frightened and rain blinded Guards look out into the absolute blackness that’s a stormy night in the Valley.  Civilian Arkers sleep the sleep of the exhausted and Grace Byrne sits alone in the Alpha Station dining room sipping from a mug of tea. She winces slightly as the hot liquid touches her swollen lip and even a slight sigh makes her bruised ribs twinge. She hears shuffling in the adjacent kitchen and the clatter of a metal pan. Then a dark-skinned stocky woman is walking across the room and comes to sit opposite her. “Not the welcome home you were hoping for?” The woman gestures to Grace’s cheek and freshly bandaged hand.

Grace looks up from her mug and into the face of the Ark’s best known and never prosecuted criminal, Nygel. ‘The woman who knows how to get things.’

Grace gives her a blank look and answers evenly. “It was not unexpected.”

 “Hmm, Shumway was always jealous of you. You made Major first, he never liked that”. Nygel gestures to two large men who have followed her into the dining room. “Make sure we’re not disturbed; I want to talk to the Lieutenant.” The two goons nod and move to guard the doors. “Don’t worry I’m not wanting to make trouble for you. I just need information about the outside and the people out there.”

Her face remains expressionless but inwardly Grace smiles. Trust Nygel to be looking out for herself and her business. Grace takes another sip of her tea. “What do you want to know?” They talk for hours and Grace develops a grudging respect for the intelligence, if not the morals, of the woman who still runs crime on the Ark and who clearly recognises the importance of working with the people who live on the ground. Quite how Nygel knows all the details of Sydney’s outrageous pre-negotiation demands Grace doesn’t know, but Nygel is unimpressed with the Chancellor’s handling of just about everything, including her talk with Vera Kane.

 Some six hours or so later

The three of them come to a halt at a ‘T’ junction and for the first time, in the six hours they’ve spent crawling through ventilation ducts and pipe conduits, they can actually look at each other and recognise the exhaustion written on their faces. They miscalculated badly when they put together this plan assuming that they could move quite quickly about the station. In part it’s the need for silence. Every-time Arkers pass beneath, or above them, they have to stop because to move makes noise. It was different when the Ark was in space, the whole structure made noise all the time. Creaks, groans, hums and scratches were constant as the massive structures were always subject to the stresses and strains involved in moving through space. On the ground, rooted and unmoving, Alpha station is uncannily quiet, just the faintest hum of distant machinery in the background and occasional footsteps. The other problem is that to move any substantial distance at all is exhausting and although both Raven and Klark have over the past few seasons trained to improve their fitness nothing has prepared them for crawling, at times propelled only by the strength of their fingers and toes, for hours. When they realised that they would not hit any of their pre-arranged goals in time, Raven radioed Callie in Ton DC to warn her that everything had to be put on hold.

That brings them to their current problem. They’d anticipated two or three hours in total for getting into the station, travelling to the main Engineering Lab and Raven uploading her virus and downloading the Sump Rupture recordings. It’s been six hours since they entered the ventilation system and they’ve not even got to the Lab yet. At this moment all three of them are desperate to use the bathroom they are looking down into.

It’s a standard Ark facility with five cubicles separated by locking doors and thin partitions from the communal hand-washing area. It’s busy. With women coming in, in twos and threes, gossiping about: their work shifts, their men, the godawful food. Eventually just two are left standing by the wash basins.

A slight woman, sporting an auburn spikey haircut, seems particularly aggrieved about the food. “I don’t think I can stand any more of that purple-coloured shit. Is it supposed to be beetroot? Please god it’s not on tonight.”

Her friend, a statuesque blonde, looks at herself critically in the mirror above the wash basin and adjusts her bra as she answers. “It’s green mush tonight Mandy, something to look forward to.”

Mandy huffs in discontent. “I don’t know why they don’t just throw it down the toilets, cut out the middleman!”  

The blonde now satisfied with the position of her bra strap turns to check the room is empty. “Have you heard what Major, or Lieutenant Byrne now, said about the food outside?”

Mandy also glances around the bathroom before speaking. “They demoted her? Just for being on a station that crashed? Fuckers! No; what did she say?”

“Shumway’s always hated her; he only became commander of the Guard on Diana Sydney’s coat-tails. Anyway, Byrne told Porter, that when she was captured she and the other survivors from Orchid were treated as prisoners, held first in pits and then in cages. They were kept under guard but ate pretty much what the locals did. She said,” the blonde pulls Mandy closer, into a confiding huddle of two. “That when she first tasted their food she actually moaned in pleasure. She couldn’t help herself it tasted so good and when there was a feast to celebrate the birth of Callie Cartwig’s baby, it was even better!”

“What? I’d heard about Callie, the Griffins and a few others being very much alive, contrary to official announcements about their ‘tragic deaths’.” Mandy air-quotes the last two words. “But Callie’s had a baby? And there’s food that’s moan-worthy? Fuck! I need to get out of this dump.”

“Yeah, Callie’s involved up with some important ‘ground’ woman and Abby Griffin did the DNA work so they had a baby. Grace says, their little girl is beautiful. Shhh someone’s coming.” They move apart and stare into their respective mirrors making unnecessary adjustments to their hair.

The door to the bathroom swings open and three Guards walk in. It’s Grace Byrne and two cadets, all three are armed with shock-batons.

“Grace, good to see you back.” The blonde gives a friendly greeting as she makes her way out of the bathroom. Mandy starts to wash her hands; again. Byrne gives brief instructions to the two cadets on the procedure for clearing a bathroom during an emergency evacuation.

From above Klark looks carefully at Byrne, whose left cheek is swollen and left hand heavily bandaged. Her left arm is still in a sling. She’s in worse shape than when she arrived at the Arker’s camp and is not wearing a gun. What’s happened? Her demotion is evidenced by the absence of her Major’s insignia, replaced on her sleeve by the solid bars of a lieutenant.  

Their instruction completed Grace dismisses the cadets. They are to report to Major Graco for firearms training. The cadets salute and leave. Once they have left Mandy turns to look at Grace. “I just heard about your demotion Grace. I’m sorry, it sucks.” Grace shrugs and winces, then she and Mandy jump back in alarm as a ventilation grating falls from the ceiling above their heads and hits the floor with a loud clatter.

“Fuck! Hey don’t worry it’s just us and we’re dying for a pee!” Klark, quickly followed by Raven and Onya descends from the grating. “Hi Mandy, long time no see! Back in a minute.” Klark darts into a cubicle. Grace snatches up the ‘closed for cleaning’ sign and quickly hangs it outside the door, she then leans against the door to prevent the entry of any unwanted visitors.

Mandy seems paralysed as she stares, wide-eyed and with blown pupils, at Onya. Raven and Klark emerge from their cubicles and wash their hands.

Raven notices and then glares at Mandy. “She’s taken bitch, like very taken. Like…we’re going to get married, I’m gonna have her babies and we’ll live happily ever after….TAKEN…… As soon as I can think of the right words to ask her, that is.”

Three pairs of eyes swivel to look at Onya. She smirks and as she turns, to enter the cubicle behind her, dead pans “good to know niron (beloved).”

Mandy blinks her way out of her paralysis. “Clarke, what’s happening? Are we under attack?”

Klark calms her down and gives her old girlfriend; according to Raven nearly everyone is Mandy’s old girlfriend, a quick run-down on the situation. “Trust me Mandy, we are trying to help……”

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands

Exhausted Leksa slumps into the most comfortable chair in her tent; the last two days have been very long. She, together with her senior wormanas (generals), has visited every gonakru (group of warriors) in her army.  The Trikru gonas she already knew well and they welcomed her with raucous joy. But her wormanas and chiefs also introduced her to the gonas making up their clans’ contributions to the Kongeda army. As she made her way through the camp and training areas, time and again she joined in; sparring with Yujleda and Louwoda Kilron, horse training with Sangedakru, Ingranronakru and Trishanakru, standing in the shield wall with Boudalan, Azgeda and Delphikru and together with Mara kom Azgeda demonstrating how the shield wall can work even if two gonas standing side by side are of very different heights. All the time reinforcing the gonas training and their knowledge of her battle strategy. Now she can rest for a short while, because every gona who will fight under her command can now say that their Heda spoke with them of the coming battle, joined in their training and knows of their efforts and honour.

She sighs when Gostos’ coded knock indicates important visitors and she stands when calling for them to enter. In walks Roan kom Azgeda, accompanied by a smiling Mara kom Azgeda.

“Haihefa (King) Roan, Mara!” Leksa strides over and clasps his arm in greeting before gesturing to them both to sit. “Gostos, some wine!”

It seems Roan can’t resist being directly involved in this fight. He is a gona at heart and having heard about all of the training and preparations from Mara he realises how closely fought this battle will be. The cunning, training and strength of the Kongeda’s Heda and her gonas will be hard pressed to defeat the much greater numbers of the invaders.  For a short while he can afford to leave Azgeda in the care of his uncle, Caleb of the Glens, while he brings his fighting skills and presence to support Heda and the Kongeda. The meeting is informal but also productive as all three of them pour over the maps and battle plans. Tomorrow afternoon, likely the eve of the battle, Roan and Leksa, along with her wormanas, chiefs and captains, will walk the battlefield together. A show of solidarity within the Kongeda, as well as an exercise that will give all of them vital knowledge of the terrain upon which so much blood is about to be spilt.

Early next day Leksa is having breakfast with Dakota and Saka kom Ingranronakru and Eric kom Trishanakru, when news arrives that four hundred Podakru gonas, together with their Chief Ottwa, are only a few glasses march away. That is good news, Leksa can put them in the reserves, she needs every gona she can get. Dakota, Saka and Eric are buoyed by the good news and after a few minutes of appreciative chewing they start to give Heda the reports of their gonas’ activities over the last two days and nights.

First Eric is invited to report on last night’s mission. “We met with some success Heda. First in importance is that not many in the enemy camp had a good night’s sleep. We created as much noise and general disturbance as possible. My gonas report that forty of the enemy are dead, they burnt out six wagons of food stuffs and as many as one hundred of their horses were driven from their corrals. We lost five gona, may keryon (the spirits) receive them.”

Leksa’s response is a small smile “good work Eric and the night before was a similar success?”

His smiles widely “the night before was more successful Heda, we had a greater element of surprise as it was our first night raid. One hundred of the enemy died, ten wagons were burned and hundreds of horses driven off. We again lost five gonas to their wounds.” 

Leksa nods her approval before looking to Dakota and Saka. “What of the two daytime raids?”   

Dakota nods to Saka, he is to speak. “As you ordered Heda all involved in the daytime raids were either Ingranronakru, Trishanakru or disguised as those kru. We were, again as you ordered, effective but did our best to appear disorganised and desperate. We used our known tactics of swift attacks by mounted gonas with bows and spear throwers and when possible we drew their defenders away into ambushes we had set up in gulches and valleys. We lost three gonas to their wounds in each of the two raids. It is difficult to be sure of how many of the invaders died but it is about one hundred per raid.”  

Leksa smiles. “Mochof (Thank-you) Saka, Eric; now tell me, what are your gonas telling you about the skills and discipline of the invaders?”

Ton DC

The main street of Ton DC has just dried after last night’s rain, into its usual packed mud, when the sound of the approaching rover is heard. Various idlers scatter to share the news of its arrival and soon a small group has gathered in-front of Indra’s house. Callie and Jasper are joined by Abi who carries David strapped to her chest in a loose sling.

As soon as the rover brakes to a halt Jake is leaping out. “Hey son, did you miss your dad? Hmm I like the new baby carrier, is there room for me in there?” He kisses his wife passionately and drops a kiss onto David’s head; he’s missed his family the few days he’s been away. “Where’s Klark?”

When Jake’s calmed down enough to listen to what anyone has to say about the whereabouts of his daughter, he sits beside Abi and David in Indra’s kitchen. Balla is busy making lunch. “You know we couldn’t have stopped her and neither of us can slide through ventilation shafts. She has Onya and Raven with her she’ll be ok, they just didn’t realise how long it would all take.” Abi is worried, Jake’s gone quiet and that’s usually a bad sign. He’s probably about to do something stupid like walk up to the Ark Camp gates and demand to see Klark.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to worry about something you could do nothing about.”

“She’s my daughter I have a right to worry. What does Leksa think?”

“She wanted Monty to go instead but all of us know that adventure isn’t really his kind of thing. Leksa knows it too and although she doesn’t like the plan, she also knows that there is no other viable plan that does not involve wholesale bloodshed, not with Sydney being so unreasonable.”

Jake’s sigh is deep and Abi takes his hand in hers. “I know you want to keep her safe Jake but here on the ground she’s a capable and experienced leader and she, like Leksa, leads from the front. She wasn’t going to let anyone stop her. We only just managed to persuade her to take Onya, I think Leksa put her foot down about that. Onya makes a surprisingly good Arker in her skai get up.”

Jake has travelled back with Monty, Bellamy and Finn. The younger men sharing the driving. Jasper’s taken Monty off to Adam’s brewery and Bellamy and Finn are unpacking the rover. There are some heavy crates to unload into the longhouse. Smiling a little ruefully Jake rises to follows them. “Jake you won’t try anything foolish like trying to get into the camp yourself will you?”

Abi looks so worried Jake has to kiss her. “No, it would just make her job more difficult if I interfered. I’ll ask Callie and Kestra to keep me in the loop though and give Klark a piece of my mind when she gets back.”

Chapter Text

Alpha Station - Arker Camp. Fifth Moon Full

Grace wakes in her own bed but keeps her eyes closed for a few more seconds. Carefully she reaches for the meds at her bedside and dry swallows the two capsules.  Dr Eric Jackson told her that she’d no new broken bones and her left arm’s break, from Orchid Station’s crash landing, has healed well and cleanly. What she did have was two very recently dislocated fingers, a couple of cracked ribs and some serious bruising to her face, ribs and back. All the new injuries have been tended to, but overnight she’s stiffened up and putting on her uniform and vest hurts like a bitch; but as she told Nygel - it was not unexpected.

Shumway hates her, he always has and Graco’s glee when she was busted to Lieutenant in-front of him was downright unholy. Both of them remember that Grace had busted Graco back to Sergeant a while back, for his use of lethal force in arresting Councillor Fuji. Of course, Shumway didn’t dirty his own hands, he just berated her for ‘allowing’ the contents of Orchid Station to be stolen whilst she was unconscious; but his parting shot hurt. “I only need one Guardsman at rank Major and during your absence without leave I’ve promoted Graco.” He had paused as he opened the door. “Major, debrief the Lieutenant, no serious damage, she’s to be fit to work with the cadets on basic stuff tomorrow.”  With that he shuts the door and leaves her in Graco’s ‘care’.

The ‘no serious damage’ meant no serious fractures but Graco gave her a good working over as his version of a debrief. If it hadn’t hurt so much it would be laughable, Graco didn’t ask her a single question about her experience as a prisoner of the Trikru, he just beat her up until she blacked out. She came round in medical to find Jackson and two orderlies standing toe to toe with Graco. “You’ve no business being here Major. I have the right to treat a patient in confidence and privacy.” Graco had pushed to stay while Grace was treated, for security reasons - as the newly demoted Lieutenant could be dangerous, but Jackson was having none of it and eventually Graco left. Jackson’s examination was thorough and his strapping of her injuries as gentle as possible. After the two orderlies return to their duties on the ward it was Jackson who had turned the conversation to the world outside Ark Camp.

“I heard Vera Kane was with you when you got back. Does that mean others we were told had died, are here on the ground too?”   

Abi had told her that Jackson was not just a good doctor but a good man as well. So, Grace opens up about her experiences on the ground. It’s good to be able to talk about the scary stuff; waking up in a pit, guarded by huge warriors armed to the teeth, Chase’s death for speaking ill of the Commander; but she also tells him about the good things. Like seeing Callie, Abi, Jake, Klark and many others alive and thriving in a world that could be very rewarding as well as very tough. Jackson is cautious, but he opens up too, about how Ark Camp is like a bomb ready to blow.

…………………………………….

Even a day of living under the floor of Mandy’s room in Alpha station gives Klark some appreciation of how horrible Octavia’s life must have been on the Ark. Okay Octavia was younger then, slightly shorter and when she lived under the floor she hadn’t trained for over a year to increase her muscle; but Klark’s finding the constant listening for an approaching Guard and then stuffing herself into a tiny space if anyone approaches the apartment, very draining.   She’s still here in Alpha station because when they talked with Mandy and Grace, in the ‘bathroom conversation’, the two Arkers told them that within Ark Camp there are factions preparing a coup to take Diana Sydney down within the next few days. If that coup could be coordinated with the planned projection of the ‘Sump Rupture’ recordings, Sydney and Shumway would likely be removed from office with less bloodshed and revealed to be the psycho-criminals that they are.

To help coordinate the rebellion with the projection, Klark decided to stay in Alpha station, hidden by Mandy and her mom Lassiter. Lassiter is one of the leaders of the coup. The original mission to find the ‘Sump Rupture’ recordings was completed successfully yesterday and Raven and Onya returned to Ton DC last night with the data drives. Klark kept Raven’s tiny radio and was able to talk to them and her extremely anxious (read furious) dad early this morning.

Hearing footsteps approaching Klark hides herself, yet again, under the floor. She crouches, with scarcely room to breathe as the door opens and people walk in. She hears Mandy invite someone to sit and then light floods into Klark’s hiding place and Mandy’s serious face is looking down at her. Klark’s heartbeat calms, not the Guard this time. Standing behind Mandy is Lassiter and a stocky black woman, that Mandy introduces as Nygel another of the leaders of the rebellion. Nygel’s wide smile of greeting, is to Klark that little bit disturbing, as it doesn’t reach her flinty eyes.

After some tense discussions the decision is made to go ahead today. Jake had said the projector and speakers are ready to go and the skies are cloudy. That matches well with Lassiter’s news that the people in camp are at boiling point because food rations were cut, yet again, at today’s midday meal.

…………………

Even though Guardsman Derrik Porter suspects that something is planned for today he doesn’t notice anything unusual for quite some time. It just looks like the normal afternoon activities in camp, with people looking busy: gardening, working on solar panels or jeeps, carrying heavy sacks or walking purposefully from one station to another.  Maybe there’s a few more people about, but it’s a sudden change when people, hundreds of them, coalesce into rows and stand in front of the camps’ massive gates demanding that the gates be opened to let them out. They chant and shout. “Open the gates. Open the gates. We want our freedom. We want out!  Open the gates. Open the gates. We want our freedom. We want out!” Almost as soon as they started to shout the sky lights up with a dazzling display of what looks like fireworks. Everyone looks up!  The smoke clears to show huge moving images projected onto the clouds. From the trees surrounding the camp there’s the sound of electronic music? After a few bars the sounds change to become someone speaking. Louder and louder the voice is amplified, until his question is heard, booming and clear across the camp.

“But Chancellor, B247 is a nuke, you want me to launch a nuke at the ground?” The images sync up with the voice and Porter makes out that it’s the Ark’s Chief Engineer Anderson who’s asking the question. The brief clip is on repeat and again and again Anderson’s question hangs in the air. The still growing crowd is silent now, their attention held as they wait for the answer.

That comes a few moments later. Diana Sydney is seen to turn towards Anderson as she replies. “Of course, it’s a nuke. I want those on the ground to know we can destroy them. We need to demonstrate our power. Shumway, you know what to do if he questions my orders again.” Her answer is repeated twice, three and then a fourth time. Outraged whispers and murmurs ripple through the standing crowd, eyes turn to Alpha station, where is the Chancellor? What’s she going to do or say?

The projection continues with a third statement, also put on repeat; this time the image and voice belong to the junior engineer Kyle Wick. “But Chancellor they tried to help us and we have people down there; Kane, Griffin, Sinclair and the kids from the Skybox?”

The crowd becomes more agitated, some at the front move closer to the gate. Neither the Chancellor nor the Commander of the Guard emerge to speak to them. A voice starts a chant; “we want elections and we want them now.” Another shouts. “Down with Sydney.” That cry is taken up by many, it’s getting ugly. No one is in control. Porter exchanges looks with his fellow Guards at the gate. What are they supposed to do? Where’s the Commander of the Guard? Where’s the Chancellor?

Porter sees Lieutenant Byrne (and is that Klark Griffin with her?) walk out of Alpha Station flanked by two, very tense, women. Of the two, the elder has flaming red hair and she climbs onto the back of a jeep and using a megaphone calls for order and that people ‘quieten down’. When the noise subsides a little she addresses the crowd.  “People of the Ark, most of you know me. I’m Lassiter Potter a scan technician from Mecha and it’s been said of me that I’m a bit of a ‘Barrack Room Lawyer’. I don’t mind that label because I’ve made it my business to know every provision of the Ark Charter. Under that Charter any citizen can ask a Guardsman to arrest a criminal. I asked Lieutenant Byrne here to arrest Chancellor Sydney and Commander Shumway, you’ve just seen in these recordings why I asked her to do that. It’s against the Charter to use nuclear weapons offensively. Sydney and Shumway are detained but unharmed and if I have my way they will stand trial, but that depends on you and whether we have an election and who is elected. Do you want an election?”

The crowd responds with a huge shout of “Yes!”

Lassiter continues “The Ark Charter states that if seventy five percent of the population call for an election one must be held within five days. If you want to call elections give your name to Guardsman Linden Chambers, he’s standing by the main door to Farm Station. Soon we’ll know if we have enough names. Make an orderly line please.”

Lassiter hands the megaphone to her daughter Mandy and climbs down from the jeep. She starts to walk towards Linden to give him her name, others follow her.  As she strides across to Farm Station the door to Mecha Station bursts open and Major Graco charges out into the open. He skids to a halt and looks at the crowds, some waiting by the gate, others have started to move towards Farm Station. He seems to reach some kind of decision to act and jumps onto the truck-bed of the jeep adjacent to the one Lassiter used as her platform. This second jeep has been fitted with a machine gun and he clambers up behind it, swinging the barrel towards the milling crowds of people; the harsh clatter of him opening the feed tray cover and unlocking the safety bolt is audible above the murmur of the crowd. A man yells “he’s going to fire!”

Grace and Klark are crossing the open space in-front of Farm station, guiding people to form a queue ready to give their names to Linden, when they hear the metallic clack of the machine gun’s feed tray cover snapping back and then they hear the shout.

Turning towards the sound she sees the barrel swing their way and Grace reacts instinctively, pushing Klark to the ground and standing over her. For the briefest of moments Graco’s finger squeezes the trigger and the M240 opens fire, bullets tearing into the chest of the standing figure, knocking her backwards. Then a sudden stillness descends as the red fletched arrow slices into his throat and Graco tumbles to the ground dead, the machine gun silenced.

Klark’s up and tearing open the unconscious woman’s body armour. “Get Eric Jackson now!” A young girl reacts first running into Alpha Station in search of the medic. The crowd stands in silence, stunned by the sudden violence erupting from one of their own, against one of their own and then an arrow?!

Mandy is standing by the jeep, still holding the megaphone her mother handed to her. She realises that she needs to step up and keep things going to plan or the momentum gained will be lost through Graco’s brutal action. She climbs onto the jeep and switches the megaphone on.  “Listen everyone, Graco’s dead and Lieutenant Byrne needs medical treatment, Dr Jackson is here, let him through.” She swallows and looks over the crowd as it parts to allow the doctor through. “We need to stop this kind of violence now. Elections give us a chance to have a Chancellor and Council that will act for us and in our interests now we are on the ground.  The Lieutenant is in Dr Jackson’s care now, so I’m going to ask Klark Griffin, who has been on the ground for over a year, to make herself available to talk to you about what it’s really like on the ground. And even more important I’m going to ask that the gates be opened to allow some people we know to come in to talk to you and they’ll bring in something decent for us to eat.” The crowd perks up at this last news and turns, almost as one, to look towards the gates. Mandy continues “The food is a gift from the local people who are called the Tree Crew, a gesture of their goodwill. No-one will be forced to eat this food. But I’ll be eating it, as will Klark and I hope the Lieutenant will be able to as well. Look I can see some old friends heading this way, Guardsman Porter open the Gates!”

Porter doesn’t hesitate, this feels right and he and Guardsman Scott start to lift the heavy bars holding the gate shut. As he pushes at the gates he’s helped by David and Nathan Miller, it’s good to see his old Sergeant again, looking well and fit.  

Others are now walking out from the tree-line, some Porter recognises straight away. That’s Jake and Abi Griffin, with them are Vera and Marcus Kane; and is that Callie Cartwigg with a tattoo on her face! Others look familiar; that could be Monty Green, walking with Faye, Jasper and Colin Jordon? They and many others are walking towards the gates that he and Scott have just opened.  Behind him he hears shouts of joy and recognition.  

As he leans over the prone figure Jackson gives Klark some reassuring news. The Lieutenant’s body armour and the strapping he bound her ribs with yesterday, stopped the bullets penetrating, but it’s still important to get her to medical because it’s likely she’ll suffer from shock, internal bleeding or both. Abi runs to Jackson’s side to help him, after a brief hug both of them follow the Lieutenant’s stretcher into medical. Klark hugs her dad and then they move to circulate amongst the Arkers, explaining the food, organising tables for the plates and bowls, answering question after question about the people who live on the ground. She hops out of the way as Jasper and Monty roll barrels of ale into the camp. Behind them Bellamy and Finn push carts filled with platters of roasted meats, baked vegetables and tasty bread. Marcus and Vera pull a small hand-cart that’s full of last season’s apples. Raven and Onya carry skins of wine. The prisoners Shep, Rogers and Sergeant Briggs carry between them a long pole from which dangles a whole roast boar.

From high up in the trees Kestra watches the gates open, she lowers her bow and returns the red fletched arrow to the quiver on her back. She snaps an order to her seken, passes her bow and quiver to him and skips agilely through the branches and finally jumping down to the ground. She straightens and walks to the open gates where she addresses David Miller. “Take me to Grace.”

His response is immediate. “Yes Captain follow me.” She follows him through the gates and into the big metal box, shivering slightly at the cold echo as the metal door closes behind them.

Mandy nudges Klark, “who’s that?” she points at Kestra. “Yet another super-hot woman of the ground huh?”

Klark looks up. “That’s Kestra, she’s a senior warrior of the Tree People. Callie says she has a thing for Grace Byrne but I don’t see it.”

Mandy’s response is wry “you never ‘see’ anything Klark, unless it jumps up and hits you in the face. Remember, Lucy Waters pined over you for months and you just thought she had something wrong with her eye.”

Klark huffs. “She was weird. Why would I think her winking was because she liked me?”

For the next few hours Klark answers question after question about life on the ground. It’s only as darkness falls that she manages to get away. She tells Jake that she’s leaving and then slips out of the big gates and whistles for Magpie. Soon she’s back in Ton DC asking Indra for news of Leksa and the big battle in the West.

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands. Fifth Moon Full  

As Klark is not with her and part of Leksa is glad her niron (beloved) is not about to face the many dangers of a full-blown battle, Aden and Eve the eldest of the natblidas (black bloods) help her ready for war. The two youngsters arrived from Polis some days ago to learn all they can about battle tactics and strategy. She looks at them both as they stand ready to assist her, they are pale with excitement and tiredness.

If they had ever imagined learning about battle was going to be easy, Heda Leksa’s teaching methods have disabused them of that idea and left them exhausted and full to the brim with knowledge and experience. She sent them to speak to each of her wormanas (generals) and many of her captains, to ask about their and their gonas (warriors) roles in the coming battle. They have been required to participate in every aspect of preparing for the coming conflict; from walking the battlefield with Heda, to helping herd the many cattle and sheep required for the huge kitchens to keep turning out meal after meal for thousands of gonas. They’ve peeled sack after sack of potatoes, spent more time that they ever wanted to helping to dig latrines and they’ve pumped bellows for smiths, sharpened blades for fisas (healers) and fletched arrows for the archers.

Although they are too young to fight, much to their dismay, they have contributed greatly to the high morale of the gonas and the preparations for battle. Leksa is pleased with them and their progress, so to them goes the honour of helping Heda prepare herself and her horses for battle. When the fighting starts their role is to be observers learning from Heda’s wisdom, skills and inevitable mistakes. To assist them they have been given Gaia’s telescope, thick writing pads and a posting to a good vantage point from which they will be able to watch the battle unfold.

Loki, Leksa’s war horse is armoured and armed. He’s been groomed, brushed and his hooves cleaned and checked for stones. Aden marvels at the gentleness of the huge beast as he is readied for war. He taps Loki’s leg and a hoof is raised that is bigger than a man’s head and shod with a sharp metal shoe. Yet he waits patiently while Aden cleans and brushes him. The massive chest of the war horse is protected by armour of leather and steel and his noble head wears a protective bridle. The war saddle is placed on him by Leksa herself, she never trusts anyone else to cinch and tighten his girth. Loki enjoys his breakfast and a sweet apple and then he is lead quietly to where he will wait for his Heda to ride him into war.

Back in her war tent Leksa pulls on her long heavy coat and fastens the securing buckles; a gorget hangs around her neck and the strongest of her pauldrons is on her shoulder, her red cloak of office falls from the pauldron, the end tucked into her thick belt.  Aden hands her the round metal skull-cap that she promised her niron she would wear. In all previous battles Leksa has fought bare-headed, her hair braided back from her face but Klark was so unhappy at the thought of even a glancing blow from sword or axe striking her niron’s head and rendering her helpless, that she insisted Leksa wear a helmet. Leksa said no, a helmet would restrict her vison and cover the golden cogwheel emblematic of her station. Klark appeared to concede the point, but then some moons later presented Leksa with the cap and Leksa could find no reason to reject it.

The cap is light weight, made of five strips of pale metal of unsurpassed hardness. One strip encircles her head a little above her ears, the other four strips are rivetted to that band in a crosswise pattern that protects her skull. At the front of the cap is a mount for the golden cogwheel, the emblem of Heda. Inside, the cap is padded with leather stained dark red and Leksa has to admit that when she wears it; it does not restrict her vison in any way and sits firmly and comfortably on her braided hair. However, there was one thing that did confuse her, the slight but noticeable thickening to the metal bands just above her ears.    

When she asked Klark about this feature her niron became uncharacteristically shy, blushing a lovely shade of pink and muttering that she would explain later when they were alone. That night as they lay together in their furs, warm and relaxed Leksa remembered to ask about the cap. “Klark niron, you said you would explain the metal cap and its’ shape.” Klark wriggles and buries her face into the warmth of Leksa’s shoulder. Leksa hears a muffled “…meizen (beautiful)…. rrrs.”

“What did you say Klark? I couldn’t hear.” Klark pulls away slightly so she can look at Leksa and then explains that she loves Leksa in so many ways, including the beauty that is to be found in her face, eyes and then Klark lists the many parts of Leksa that she finds beautiful. Leksa is soon the one blushing and they both giggle at her embarrassment.

“But most of all I love your ears.”

“Ears?”  

“Yes your beautiful, tiny, precious ears and the thickening of the metal at that point is to deflect any blade away from your ears.” Klark’s face is now the deepest shade of pink and Leksa can only respond by kissing her and loving her so very, very much.  

She thinks of Klark as she turns the cap in her hands and inserts the cog into its’ mount. She couldn’t speak with Klark on the radio last night as she was still in Ark Camp but Leksa pauses now, just for a moment, to remember all that she fights for. Her people, Klark, peace, Klark, good friends, Klark. The cap smells slightly of Klark’s lavender soap and as she places it on her head Klark is in her heart.  

Eve hands Leksa the armoured gauntlets and gloves and Leksa thanks her before sending her to fetch Skyracer, taking these few moments to speak with Aden alone.  “You have the box Gaia gave you in case my fight ends today?”

She watches him gulp before he replies. “Sha (Yes)Heda.”

“She has told you the words to use?” This time he just nods, having been told never to repeat them aloud whilst Heda lives.

“I do not plan for my fight to end today but if that is to happen this is for Klark.” She hands him a wrapped box. He nods, reverently taking the package. “Now go to the vantage point and learn well. Eve will pass me my weapons.” He takes his leave as Eve enters.

“Eve, my swords.” Eve passes her the twin katanas and they snap into place across her back; Viper and her dagger are already attached to Loki’s saddle. This completes Leksa’s final preparation for battle and together Heda and the young natblida leave the war tent. Gostos and Dax are standing ready.

Skyracer, Leksa’s riding horse is saddled for her. It is Skyracer that Leksa will ride when before the battle starts she engages in what Klark likes to call her drama-queen moment.  Mounted on Skyracer, Leksa directs Eve to join Aden, then she Gostos and Dax ride towards the enemy army of ten thousand men.

Chapter Text

The gold decorations on Pelle’s bridle clink as she walks steadily along the rubbly track. Looking at the cracked paving that her hooves delicately navigate, her rider can see that this is an old ‘highway’, built before the days of Fire. Even now, so many years later, it can easily be followed as it runs, almost as straight as an arrow-flies, through the mountains, plains and hills that lead from his home in the west towards the green fertile lands of the east.   Ferdinand shakes his shoulders releasing the tiredness and tension held there. Last night was another that was disturbed by raiders; picking off stray horses, burning foodstuffs and generally disrupting the camp. Their efforts are pitiful, the huge machine that is his army continues to move steadily east and tomorrow, after they have finished crossing this range of low hills, he will reach the first of the villages of these ‘people of the plains’ and they will know his wrath and the pain that follows angering El Rey Ferdinand.

He looks back at the long columns of his soldiers, horses and wagons as they move forward. His men are alert and ready for a fight; over the last few days raiders have also attacked during the day and although they have little effect and are mere pin pricks in the side of his army of ten thousand, it is best to be cautious; there’s no sense in wasting the lives of men he will need to populate and subdue these lands.

His restless eyes take in a landscape that is new to him. A few soldiers, barren women and the supervisors of el peregrinaje (on pilgrimage) have travelled this far east in their search for children, but to Ferdinand it’s a new world and a cold one. It feels as if Spring arrives so slowly here, last night’s frost still whitens the ground even through the sun is almost at its’ highest and he’s still wearing the heavy clothes of winter. He sighs, back home there would be no sudden frosts or snow to slow them down.

To his right there’s a disturbance, it’s one of his out-riders galloping towards the group of nobles that includes himself, his generals and the senior priests. The young soldier dismounts and bows deeply before speaking to General Timor. The General listens before gesturing that the rider is to wait, Timor then turns and rides towards the centre of the group and addresses El Rey Ferdinand.

“Sire, the land ahead narrows slightly through the hills and the way is barred by a group of mounted warriors. They are of the tribe that’s been attacking us over the last few days. My soldier Diego counted them to number in the many hundreds, they are mounted on sturdy ponies and armed with lance, sword and axe. They say they do not want to parley.”

Ferdinand raises his hand to halt the column and with his generals trots over to where Diego is waiting. Their brief conference results in messengers streaming along the column and an ordered restructuring and readying of the army. He smiles, this is what they expected; that the local tribe would try to stop, or parley with them, before they reached their villages.  The lack of any attempt to parley a truce is surprising though. Ferdinand had imagined that he would be approached by locals, awestruck by the size of his army, begging to ally with him or at least attempting to delay his progress whilst they sought help from neighbours within their Coalition.  Perhaps their connection with the other tribes is not as firm as he had been led to believe. He turns to his Chamberlain, “Juan, bring the Old Traveller to me. I want to question him.” With a bow of obeisance Juan rides away to fulfil his task.

Ferdinand beckons to Timor, “Where shall we await the outcome of this skirmish?” Timor directs his gaze to a low hill to the south east of the gathering soldiers.

“We should see well from there Sire.”

“Good have my field tent set up on that hill.”  Timor sends a messenger to alert El Rey’s servants before he and his fellow generals get the army moving forward at a slow march. This time they spread across the land in their battlefield formation.

VAN (East)

REAR (West)

Ferdinand watches Timor, Pedro and Lascar, his most senior generals, as they pass orders down to their Captains. There’s some reorganising needed as the way through the low hills starts to narrow.

He turns away from the sight when a polite cough pulls his attention to the arrival of his Chamberlain Juan. Juan leads a swaybacked mare and Ferdinand looks into the face of its rider. Inwardly he winces at the signs of violence writ hard and deep upon the skin and features of the old man. The empty eye-sockets, broken teeth and torn ears, show that this man was hard to break.  “Old Traveller we have arrived in the lands you boasted were so rich and fertile. The people do not want to parley with us and I wonder why. Tell me why they would not want to ally with, or appease me?”

His question is met with silence and so Juan pulls on the chain attached to the Old Traveller’s broken fingers, he hisses in pain and then speaks.

“I know not Sire. Who is it that has refused parley?”

Ferdinand calls for Diego to describe the warriors he has seen. The Old Traveller breathes deeply through his pain before speaking again. “The warriors you describe are of the Plains Riders and the Glowing Forest, two clans who border your lands. They may have chosen to fight and die rather than allow you easy access to their villages. They are proud warriors and likely prefer death to dishonour.”

“Hmmm. Juan, keep him with us, I want him to tell me more about our enemies as the skirmish is fought.”

The army moves on, a sluggish wave of men ready to kill for their king.  At the point Diego expected to find warriors blocking their way, there is no one. Instead about half a league ahead, standing in the centre of the narrow plain, those warriors wait, rigid and silent, behind a group of five riders.  Ferdinand and his party trot to the front of the army, pulling up at Diego’s side. “Those are the warriors who barred the way?” 

“Yes Sire. The five riders at the front were not with them before.”

Ferdinand holds out his hand for the long-seeing glass. Diego is right, there are hundreds of mounted warriors waiting behind the five, who presumably are leaders or chiefs. He hands the glass to Diego “Describe the five to the Old Traveller. Who are they old man?”

Diego does his best and the Old Traveller listens intently; but before the description is complete the sound of mighty drums, slowly thumping a regular single beat, rolls across the plain from the hills ahead. A few moments later that beat is joined by strident horns, the drone of pipes, the parp of trumpets, the low mournful blare of a dragon horn and the hopping tap of stone drums.

And the Old Traveller starts to laugh, wheezing but loud and no pulling on the chain attached to his mangled fingers can silence him.

“Why do you laugh old man?”

The old man can barely speak, he laughs so hard, but he manages to spit out the words; “You. Will. All. Die.”

Infuriated at the insult Ferdinand unsheathes his sword and stabs the chortling old fool in the belly. It will be a slow painful death, but Titus kom Trikru welcomes death and for once welcomes being wrong. Heda Leksa is here, ready for war and with the strength of the Kongeda (Coalition) behind her. She doesn’t need him to be a great Heda and to hold the Kongeda together. For he can hear the dragon horns of Trikru and Louwoda Kilron, the mighty drums of Boudalan and Ouskejon, the trumpets of Sangedakru, the droning pipes of Azgeda, the sweet horns of Yujleda and Delphikru and even the sturgeon bone flutes of Podakru. They are all here, with her; described by Diego as “a beautiful woman, with long dark hair and black war paint dripping down her face like tears.”

…………………………………………

The following are extracts from the biography of Heda Leksa kom Trikru (the Heda of Peace) written by Aden kom Trikru (the Heda of Histories). Volume III Battles and Solo Gonplei (Single Combat).

Extract 1

The Great Battle of the West was fought in the low hills at the far west of Ingranronakru lands. Natblida (Black blood) Eve kom Sangedakru and myself had the honour of witnessing this conflict as part of our training. The battle itself cost thousands of lives. Both the mighty and the humble were taken in its great slaughter and the screams of the injured and dying, both men and horses, haunt me still.

………….

I will start my telling of this battle some days before any blood was shed on the battlefield. Following Heda Leksa’s instructions, Eve and I spoke with some of her Wormanas (Generals) and Captains. The first we talked to was Captain Quint kom Trikru, leader of the Trikru fayogonkru (a group of gonas trained and armed with guns) and overall captain of the four fayogonkrus to fight in this battle. 

The great gona (warrior) welcomed us into his tent where he was cleaning his weapons, both tek and bladed. Fascinated by the fayogon (gun) I first asked him how a renowned archer such as himself had become Captain of the Trikru fayogonkru.

“It was Klark kom Trikru who first showed me how a fayogon worked, that it was just a machine, like others I had used such as a pump or a crossbow. This was very gracious of her considering the difficult circumstances we were in at the time, as I had been ordered by the Fleimkepa (Flame-keeper) Titus to arrest some of those who fell from the sky, including Klark’s nontu (father), as natronas and whilst we waited in my tent for Heda to return and decide the matter, Klark showed me her fayogon and explained how it worked. I was very excited by the power of the weapon and Klark and I spoke much while we waited. Later she remembered my interest when the Trikru fayogonkru was recruited and recommended me to Chief Indra.”

I then turned our conversation to the battle about to be fought against the Westerners and how his fayogonkrus would be used in the battle. Captain Quint reassembled his fayogons with practised moves and placed them to one side before answering my question.

“Our numbers are small, eighty now that Podakru have joined the fight. All of us are trained in using fayogons that can fire bullets at high speed and kill a gona at three hundred cubits.  This makes us sound as if we cannot be defeated and I can see youngons (youngsters) that your eyes are wide in wonder. But fayogons are imperfect weapons. Bullets are held ready to fire in special boxes and when you empty the box you must stop firing and reload, then you are vulnerable to attack. Also, fayogons and bullets at times become warped or damaged and this can cause the fayogon itself to stop firing for a short time or sometimes destroy the fayogun completely. So, like all gonas we are trained to work together as a kru, so that together we can complete the tasks Heda has given us. In this battle our main task is to support the five hundred archers (of Louwada Kilron and Delphikru) that are to be positioned on the left flank of our army. It is vital that the enemy does not out-flank us on the left. Heda and the Hammer will protect our right flank but if the enemy takes control of the left, our shield-wall could be attacked from the rear.”

We have a brief discussion of how his fayogonkru drill in groups of four, allowing for reloading, misfires and the need to repair or replace damaged fayogons.  Eve then asked the captain about supplies of bullets and what would happen if in the battle they use all they have. Captain Quint congratulated her for asking such a good question.

“I can hear the wisdom of Heda in your question youngon. To answer, we are fortunate that those who fell recently from the sky brought many bullets with them and now each of my fayogonkru gonas has over two thousand bullets each. If we do run out of bullets we then have our own bladed weapons. All of us are skilled in sword, bow or axe and if our fayogons fail we will fight for Heda any way we can.”

As we take our leave I notice a pale blue ribbon attached to the captain’s sleeve and ask him what it signified. I do not think I was mistaken when I saw the captain blush as he replied.

“Many gonas are, like Heda, separated by this war from their loved ones. We wear the blue ribbon to remind us of those at home who we fight for. We chose this blue, with the permission of both Klark kom Trikru and Heda, as it matches Klark’s beautiful eyes and the sky from which she fell.”

 ………………………

Extract 2

The night before the battle Eve and I were invited to Heda’s tent.

Even Heda’s tent was dark, lit only by a shuttered lantern, as the presence of our army was still to be secret from the enemy.

“Well, youngons you have spoken to many with knowledge and experience in my army, have you any questions left for me to answer?”

I thanked Heda for our opportunity to speak to such senior gonas and gathered my courage to ask a question. “When we were walking the battlefield today you said there were many reasons why you chose this site for the battle and all who walked with us agreed, but what were those reasons Heda?”

Heda smiled. “Think Aden, you know our plans for the battle, you tell me how this site aids us. Eve will help you answer, won’t you Eve?”

As the elder and the questioner, I thought it fell to me to respond first and Heda looked at me expectantly. Eve squeezed my hand reassuringly, she would help. I cleared my throat.

“The land slopes slightly down towards the south and west Heda, our enemies will be fighting uphill.”

“Sha (Yes) Aden, at the start of the battle this small slope will seem like nothing but after a glass or so of battle to keep fighting uphill is tiring and this will give our gonas and horses a slight advantage over the enemy.”

Heda then looked to Eve.

“Heda” said Eve “when we walked the battlefield with you today the narrowness of the land was mentioned by Chief Dakota kom Ingranronakru as good for her mounted gona. Why is that so?”

“The gonas mounted on the fast and agile Ingranronakru and Trishanakru ponies will be greatly outnumbered by enemies similarly mounted. It is the same for our gonas on foot they too will face much greater numbers. But the narrowness of the site does not allow the enemy to use all their gonas at the same time. There just isn’t the room for them all to fight at once and that means it is that much more difficult for them to overwhelm our gonas with their greater numbers.”

“Mochof (thank-you) Heda.” Eve and I looked at each other, what else could we say, I was wracking my brain?

“Heda, the hills surrounding the site allow our army and the Hammer to stay hidden. If we were on the plains proper the enemy would be able to see our strength sooner.” I nod, Eve was making a good point while I was still searching my brain! 

Heda smiled, she liked Eve’s observation and now she was looking at me. I had to say something.

“Heda” I paused, desperately thinking over what was said as we walked over the battlefield, then I remembered almost losing a boot in a squelchy patch. “Ah Heda”

“Sha?”

“The ground is wetter at the lower western end of the site. The enemy will have wet feet!”

Heda laughed “Sha Aden they will have wet feet and both gonas and horses dislike wet feet!” I felt foolish, had I said something ridiculous? “You make a good point Aden, but for not quite the right reason. Horses and men will soon churn that wetter ground into nasty clinging bloody mud and when you are fighting slipping in mud is tiring and can be dangerous. Again, it gives us a slight advantage if our enemies are in the mud!”

 ………………………

Extract 3

As Eve and I stood watching from our high vantage point, the drums, trumpets and horns fall silent and all that can be heard is the marching feet of thousands of gonas of the Kongeda as they flow like a dark wave over and down the hillsides and onto the plain below. Waiting for them is Heda, with Gostos and Dax at her side and the mounted gonas of Ingranronakru and Trishanakru led by their Chiefs Dakota and Eric. I look through the telescope trying to see individual faces as they wait for the enemy. As always Heda is composed and focused, Dax I can see is nervous, his eyes roam the huge army that slowly makes its way towards them from the west. Gostos leans towards him and says a few words that seem to calm him. The face that showed the greatest emotion was that of Eric kom Trishanakru, never until then nor since have I seen a look of such burning hatred as he directed at the western invaders. I was standing almost half a league away and I could feel his anger and rage, I almost pitied any of the enemy that found themselves in range of his axe or lance today. I passed the telescope to Eve and took in the wonderful sight of our gonas marching in good order to take up their positions on the plain. They formed in-front of my eyes the mighty Anvil upon which Heda Leksa planned to Hammer her enemies.

East (Rear)

West (Van)

Part of that anvil was the archers who, upon reaching their positions on the field of battle, quickly raise and fix into the ground the sharpened stakes that were laid there ready for them. Then all waited in their disciplined groups as from the west almost twice their number marched towards them with confident swagger.

End of Extracts

…………………….

For over a glass battle has been joined. It has been brutal for both sides. The longbows and fayogons of the Kongeda, having the greatest range, open fire first. That provokes the westerners’ cavalry to charge, to try and stop the rapid fire of both bullet and arrow. The sharpened stakes, angled to meet such a charge cause carnage. When the first horses strike them their agonised screams are terrible to hear and those screams don’t stop, as their own comrades to their rear continue to force their way forwards, unaware that they crush their own onto unforgiving wood. Arrows continue to rain from the sky and soon the bolts from the westerners’ crossbows start to fly and Death stalks both armies.

From the highest ridge of the northern slopes Leksa, now mounted on Loki, surveys the bloody results of her tactics. The westerners’ right wing, those facing Quint’s fayogonkrus and the longbows of Louwada Kilron and Delphikru, die in their hundreds. The crossbowmen are all dead or have fled and the cavalry mill almost aimlessly; they cannot go forward or to their right as, gunfire, stakes, arrows and the screaming demons of death that are the Trishanakru gonas meet them at every turn. Without a viable goal or room to manoeuvre they create havoc for themselves and their own foot-soldiers who are trying to go forward but cannot, as they meet what seems to be an immovable shield-wall; made up of the strongest gonas that Trikru, Boudalan, Azgeda and Ouskejon can muster. Behind that shield-wall Mara kom Azgeda and Ben kom Boudalan urge the gonas to “ste yuj (stay strong)” and constantly organise the removal of their own dead and wounded to the rear and healers, as replacements staunchly step forward into the wall. The wall stands against whatever the westerners throw at it.

Leksa watches and waits, it is almost time for the Hammer to strike. She unsheathes her two katanas raising one above her head; to her immediate right is Gostos, Oktavia and Linkon, to her left Dax, Roan and Tokala kom Delphikru. Behind her are two thousand gonas mounted on heavy horses.

Now! Her sword drops and she kicks Loki into motion. Gracefully and at first silently two thousand mighty war- horses break into a canter and then a gallop, following her down the shallow slopes to the plain. At full gallop and halfway down the slope Leksa screams her battle cry “Kom War! (To Battle)” and two-thousand tons of speeding hell is unleashed upon the left flank and rear of the westerners’ army.   

Noise and distraction ends for Leksa as Loki propels her into the mass of roaring flesh and blades. She sees nothing but her enemies and their weapons, as she stabs, slashes and parries with a speed that none can match. Loki powers forward, crushing crossbowmen under his massive feet and charging through and over the lighter horses of the westerners. On his broad back Leksa twists, ducks and when one katana breaks she throws it, like a dagger into the chest of an enemy, before drawing Viper and continuing her charge forward to her goal, the rear of the enemy's foot-soldiers. There she and the Hammer deal out death to thousands.

Chapter Text

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands. Fifth Moon Full

Leksa deflects the sword swinging towards her face with the edge of her dagger, then traps the blade against her cross guard.  The owner of the now trapped blade is despatched with a ferocious cut from Viper that removes his arm at the shoulder and sends him juddering into lethal shock. Then there is silence and a brief stillness……. Scanning for immediate threats she finds herself, Gostos and Dax surrounded by enemy dead and further away her own gonas (warriors) control the field. The Hammer’s blow utterly destroyed the westerners already weakened left flank and of that army’s once proud crossbowmen and cavalry, only bodies and a few loose horses remain. Those of the enemy who fight in the centre and on foot, now face a shield-wall that, having fulfilled its’ defensive purpose, becomes a disciplined column of gonas that march inexorably forward, striking out with swords and spears and over-running the now exhausted and demoralised invaders.  She breathes deeply and almost chokes on the stench of blood and spilled guts.

Riding across the battlefield towards her, on a fresh horse, is Dakota kom Ingranronakru, bloodied but unbowed, lips locked into a feral smile that Leksa knows matches the one on her own face. She consciously relaxes the clenched muscles of her jaw and lips, rebuilding her stoic mask and turns her thoughts to the enemy’s leaders. She knows who they are; had seen them as they looked down onto the plain before battle began. Tall dark-haired men, astride horses built for speed and that had fancy gilding decorating the leather of their bridles, brow bands and saddles. Some of the leaders were clearly priests of the Temple, wearing yellow robes of office, others were men of war and one wore a large gold torc around his neck and armour that was strikingly blued and edged with what looked like fire gilding.  She wants their blood, those who sought power and glory through the death and misery of her people!

On her command Loki rears up and from that great height Leksa looks across a landscape of the dead as she seeks those who, in her heart she knows, will have run rather than face the consequences of defeat at her hands. Dakota points to the south-west, Leksa looking as directed sees them, the cowards, riding as fast as they can away from the death and destruction of the battle. She kicks Loki forward and together she, Dakota, Gostos and Dax set off in pursuit of the small group that gallop westward.

As they ride others join them; Quint on a borrowed Trishanakru pony that is dwarfed by his bulk, Oktavia riding a horse she’s stolen from one of the westerners and Roan on his grey war-horse Tibault. Together they ride, hard and fast. The westerners depart, as they arrived, along the old ‘highway’ and they’re about a league ahead of the pursuers. Leksa looks across to Dakota now riding at her side. “Do you know of any way to cut ahead of them?”  

Dakota nods. “Sha, (Yes) I know this land like my own goufa (child). Soon we will reach the edge of the Plains and this old ‘highway’ crosses a river. The bridge is broken and they will have to slow down. I know of a pass that will save us nearly half a glass.”

Leksa nods her agreement and reins back to speak to the others. Dax, Quint and Oktavia will continue to follow the fugitives along the ‘highway’; Leksa, Dakota, Roan and Gostos will head them off at the pass.

A glass later the four drop down, what feels like a precipice, back onto the ‘highway’. Looking east the dust of the fugitives’ horses can be seen in the distance as they gallop towards them. It’ll be a while yet before they arrive, so they wait at the side of the highway and give their horses a well-deserved rest. They chat, drink from canteens, water their horses and feed them a treat. All riders, no matter where they call home, have treats in their saddle bags. Leksa feeds Loki a carrot.  

As those who flee approach, those who wait mount up and walk their horses to the centre of the road, effectively blocking it. As exhausted and foam flecked horses are pulled to a skidding halt, their panicked riders look back east; only to see Dax, Quint and Oktavia less than half a league behind them.

Leksa, her sword drawn, has Loki walk slowly towards the group. She halts a few cubits away from them. “You want to die here, on this road?”

One of the two yellow-robed priest answers, as no one else in the group seems prepared to speak. “We are priests of the Temple of the Sun, to kill us is sacrilege.”

“All of you are priests?” Leksa’s voice has the timbre of dangerous calm.

The speaker gestures to his yellow-robed colleague. “We two are priests.”

“Your names?”

“I am Chosen by the Sun Mateo and my deputy is Chosen by the Sun Santiago.”

“Who are these who travel with you priests?”

As the others remain silent, despite his beseeching looks, Mateo continues and gestures to each man as he identifies them.  “El Rey Ferdinand, General Timor, Chamberlain Juan and a soldier.”

Leksa looks at the soldier. “What is your name soldier?”

“Diego highness.”

“Diego, dismount from your horse and disarm. Do so and you will live. Enough soldiers have died today.” Diego scrambles down from his horse and throws his sword and dagger onto the ground. “Kneel” he does so and Gostos collects his weapons and ties his hands. 

Leksa turns her attention to the tall black-haired man in the fancy armour. “You wish to die here Ferdinand?”

Finally, Ferdinand’s voice is heard. “We wish to parley for peace.”

Behind her Leksa hears snorts of derision and she feels her own lips twist into a sneer. “You enter the lands of the Plains Riders with an army of ten thousand men in search of peace?” She allows some incredulity to bleed into her voice and then turns to Dakota kom Ingranronakru. “Jus drein jus daun (Blood must have blood). His death is yours Dakota as he invaded your lands. Do you wish to kill him here or at the battlefield?”

  “Mochof (Thank-you) Heda, at the battlefield. All who suffered and fought deserve to see his death.”

Leksa’s cold, cold eyes return to the mounted men. “Come with us peacefully and some of you may live.”

Alpha Station - Arker Camp. Fifth Moon Waning Gibbous

Callie has Candra safely tucked into her baby-sling as she wanders through the Arker’s camp heading to the big meeting room. She, Indra and Klark are due to meet the newly elected Council to discuss; the upcoming trials, territory, trade and the clan status of the Arkers. Indra and Klark have detoured via the restrooms and Callie’s enjoying the sunshine and having Candra to herself for a few moments. As she lowers her head to kiss her daughter she smiles hugely when Candra’s tiny fists reach up and punch her very lightly on the nose.

Of the four-hundred and seventy-seven adults who survived the Ark’s fall to earth, four-hundred and forty voted for elections to the Council to be held within five days.  There was then some debate about who wanted or could stand as a candidate and who could vote.  In particular what was the status of the over one hundred former Arkers, some still children, who came to the ground over a year ago and have since sworn themselves to a clan? Could Klark or Abi for example, who are sworn Trikru, stand as candidates for the Council? In the end all the talking was pretty much pointless as, of those sworn to a clan, none put themselves on the ‘ticket’ to stand as a candidate. Callie, Abi, Jake, Vera, Klark, Sinclair and Marcus had been asked to stand, but all responded along similar lines to Jake’s laconic, ‘thanks but no thanks I don’t want to live in a tin box behind a fence’. They want to help the Arkers and work with them, but none want to live there or run the place. Abi in particular is very clear that she never wants to hold any kind of political office ever again. They are happy to be Trikru and live and work, in Ton DC or Polis.   Bellamy Blake strutted about the Arker’s Camp for a few days telling everyone he met how experienced he was at living on the ground, but no-one asked him to stand, so he decided that he couldn’t take on a Councillor’s responsibilities on top of his job as a driver and his very hectic social life. Plus, his new girlfriend Gina is taking up much of his attention.

To almost everyone’s surprise Indra had been very relaxed about any of the former Arkers, now sworn to Trikru, taking part in the elections as candidate or voter. As she said to Callie. “It’s up to the people from the sky to decide who can stand or vote in their elections not me. Soon enough they will have to decide who they are and who they want as their trading partners and allies. When the bandits find them they will need their fence and some friends.”

The elections were held and the Council now comprises of Lassiter Potter (Mecha), Major Grace Byrne (Co-opted on as Commander of the Guard), Zhang Wei (Farm Station), Eric Jackson (Co-opted on as Head of Medical) and Robin Stinnasson (Alpha Station). The Council has not yet chosen a Chancellor and as the last Chancellor is about to be put on trial no-one is pushing for one.

The Trial of Sydney and Shumway and possibly Wick is the first item on the agenda and Klark tries to open the meeting with a few encouraging words before discussions start in earnest. Unfortunately, Indra jumps in ahead of her and in her own inimitable style states baldly that how the trials are to be conducted is up to the Arkers, but launching a nuclear attack on Polis, even an unsuccessful one, merits death as a punishment and if the Arkers are not prepared to sentence those found guilty to death the Kongeda will consider it an act of war. Having dropped that ‘bomb’ Indra sits back seemingly unruffled by the fact that the Council’s affable demeanour has evaporated. Callie and Klark scramble to rescue the situation. Klark loves Indra, she really does, but as a negotiator she is a disaster and it takes hours just to work through this item and keep the negotiations ongoing. Finally, the point is resolved; as launching a nuclear weapon as aggressor and / or without Council backing is punishable by death in the Ark’s own charter (almost everything was punishable by death in the Ark Charter); so, if Sydney and Shumway are found guilty death will be the punishment. Wick’s situation is slightly different and even Indra concedes that the evidence he provides will be important in any trial. 

This has taken the whole day to resolve and when Klark makes it back to Ton DC it is very late and she has missed her scheduled radio check in with Leksa. Exhausted and starving she gratefully accepts a plate of food from Ryder before flopping onto her furs. She doesn’t know how Leksa does it, negotiating for days whilst maintaining her calm and controlled manner. At least three times during today’s negotiations Klark would have happily pushed Indra or Zhang Wei off any handy balcony. 

This pattern of exhausting meetings continues for the next two days, though it is noticeable the Callie takes a greater part in the negotiations than Indra and that is probably why more progress is made. Klark even manages to have brief chats with Leksa before she goes to sleep at night, but she feels horribly guilty that all she is doing is offloading her woes on Leksa who surely, in clearing up after the battle, has enough on her plate and sounds every bit as tired and frustrated as Klark.

It isn’t until the moon, in a beautiful clear night sky, shines powerfully in its’ last quarter that Klark realises that all is not well.  Oktavia radios in to the Arker Camp in the middle of that day’s negotiations on trade and leaves a message that is handed to Klark as she readies herself to mount Magpie and return to Ton DC. “Klark radio me tonight at moonset. Oktavia.”

Klark does so.

Oktavia: “Hey Klark. I need to talk to you about confidential stuff. Are you alone? Over.”

Klark: “I’m with mom and dad what’s the problem? Over”

Oktavia: “I need you to be alone. Call me back when you are. Over and Out.”

Klark, Jake and Abi are bemused. What’s this about? Abi’s not impressed with Oktavia’s timing, this is the first time she’s been able to get Klark away from the negotiations at a reasonable hour and have her eat dinner with her, Jake and David; so, she insists that Klark at least finishes her meal. Klark’s uneasy and although she finishes her main dish, she doesn’t stay for her favourite dessert of apple pie. Abi puts a slice of the pie into a box and insists Klark takes it with her.  Back in her own room Klark radios Oktavia.

Oktavia’s first question is again “Are you alone?” Klark acknowledges that she is.

Oktavia’s voice crackles through the radio’s headphones. “I’m sorry but I need you to be alone because no one must know about this. It’s Heda Leksa, something’s not right with her. Over.”

Klark’s stomach drops, her knees give way and she almost tumbles onto her bed. “What’s the matter? Over.”

Oktavia does her best to explain. Since the battle ended about seven days ago, everyone has been working hard to deal with the aftermath of the victory. As she speaks Oktavia herself sounds shocky and exhausted. “I’ve never seen anything like it Klark and from what Linkon and the other gonas are saying neither have they. This was the biggest battle in Kongeda or clan history and the most overwhelming victory.” She pauses and Klark hears Oktavia’s breathing stutter before she continues.

“Klark, it’s the scale of it that’s extraordinary. The army Ferdinand brought from Hogar was ten thousand gonas strong (plus there were over a thousand hangers on and camp followers) and the army of the Kongeda completely annihilated it.  Near the end, when they could see they had lost, the leaders of Hogar just ran away and so there was no one left alive on the battlefield to tell their men to surrender. Their gonas kept on fighting until the few that were left just threw their weapons down and gave themselves up. Nearly nine thousand gonas died Klark. Just raising the pyres for burning the five hundred Kongeda gonas who died was a huge task. Then there’s over eight thousand dead westerners. There just aren’t enough trees around here to burn them all, so perhaps it’s fortunate that the westerners are ok with burying their dead, but even so it’s taking forever just to clear up the battlefield without poisoning local water courses. The smell coming from the dead bodies awaiting burial is enough to make anyone ill and of course Heda is everywhere, working harder than anyone else. She’s supervising the disposal of bodies, visiting the wounded, making sure everyone is fed, ensuring the captives are not abused but are watched and held securely and she was standing in the place of honour, that is horribly close, when Ferdinand was executed by a method that made even me feel sick. Remind me never to cross Ingranronakru. And this is an amazing victory Klark but Heda…… she just seems to be fading away in-front of our eyes. Gostos says she’s not eating; I don’t think she’s sleeping and she refuses to see Nyko or Luna. She just says she is uninjured; but Klark, she’s not right, she’s not right at all! Oktavia over.”

Klark can hardly speak, she feels paralysed with shock and dread. “I….. I…… I’ll get there as soon as I can. Over and out.” For a few seconds everything stops as she thinks the unthinkable. Leksa’s ill, so ill that even Oktavia notices. Leksa could….no she won’t think that. Pulling herself up she runs to the long-house, she needs to talk with her mom.

They set off early the following morning. Indra and Callie, ignorant of the reasons for them leaving so suddenly are clearly worried and suspicious, but give them plenty of supplies for the journey. Penn and Ryder groan when they realise that they face another long journey cooped up in the rover, but they throw their kit into its’ back seats quickly and efficiently. Abi is torn, she doesn’t want to leave David behind but neither does she want to expose him to the dangers of the journey. Her final decision is that he’ll be safer with Jake in Ton DC and she’ll travel with Klark and share the driving with Klark and Raven.  They’d looked for Bellamy as a fourth driver but he couldn’t be found, so they left without him. Indra, Callie, Jake and David “Kla Kla Kla!”ing,  wave them off.  Raven takes first spell as driver, Klark’s navigating whilst trying to teach Onya and a slightly tearful Abi, how to read the GPS.

If she wasn’t so worried Klark would appreciate the beauties of Trikru in the Spring. Trees are now in leaf, bluebells and wood anemones carpet open areas and the wild garlic is starting to become pungent. Since their break for a quick lunch Klark’s driven at a steady pace, heading due west into the sunset and just as the sun dips below the hills ahead she pulls off the open road and into a small clearing.  It’s time to have an evening meal and swap drivers again. Abi’s sure she can drive for a few hours in the dark while Klark and Raven sleep. Penn slips away to hunt as Onya starts a fire and sets the cooking pot on its tripod. Expertly she and Ryder slice onions, carrots and potatoes and drop them into the already sizzling fat. Soon Penn is back with two field dressed rabbits and Onya slices off thin strips of meat to add to the stew. The food will take a while so Raven and Klark are encouraged to take a nap and Abi sits in the rover talking on the radio to Jake and David.  

Klark and Raven sit huddled into furs by the fire, the nights are chilly even though the hours of daylight are noticeably lengthening. Raven looks across to Klark’s drawn and weary face. She takes Klark’s hand in her own as she whispers, “she’ll be okay, there’s no-one tougher than your girl. My girl trained her after all!” Klark’s eyes flicker as she blinks her tears away but she can’t manage to speak. She just looks back at Raven and in her eyes Raven sees such pain that she does something she’s never done before and she takes Klark into her arms, like she was a child in need of comfort and she rocks and holds her whilst Klark’s tears fall freely. Later when she’s in the rover bundled up in her own furs and trying to sleep Raven thinks back to her mother, a woman who was incapable of caring for anything other than her next fix, smoke or drink. Incapable even…. of giving comfort to her own child.  And Raven realises something that she knows in some ways was always blindingly obvious. That she is capable of so much more than her mother ever was, because she can love and care and comfort another.

Next morning, they stop to have a quick breakfast of porridge before Raven takes over the driving again. Then they are back on the road. The days fall into a pattern of stopping for meals and then back to driving, the only noticeable differences being the nature of the lands they travel through. Deep green forests, low hills, mountains and eventually the open plains of Ingranronakru.

The sun is close to setting on the third day of travel when they see the fires of the Kongeda’s camp in the distance. Ingranronakru riders are on watch and ride out to see who’s arriving in the wheeled box. When they realise who it is, they are happy to escort them to Heda’s tent.

Klark speaks briefly with Gostos, who is on guard. He asks that her mom and the others wait outside for a little while. Heda’s instructions are that she is to be left alone for the night, but that order has never excluded Klark from her room or tent.

The big man smiles shyly. “Heda is alone and has retired for the night. It is good to see you Klark.”  

Klark braces her shoulders, accepts a quick hug from her mom and pushes her way through the tent’s flap. She doesn’t know quite what reaction she expects from Leksa, but a look of recognition followed by one of fear on her lover’s gaunt face is not it. “Leksa?”

  “Klark?”

 “Leksa, are you ill?” Klark walks into the main chamber of the tent and approaches her lover, who steps back.

 “I am not wounded Klark.” Klark forces down her own distress at Leksa’s reaction to her and tries to look at Leksa as a potential patient. Gaunt, slightly stooped, pale skin, yet with large dark shadows under her eyes, that are not war paint.

  “But it hurts somewhere niron (beloved) doesn’t it?”

 “Yu ste hod ai in (You still love me)?” Leksa sounds surprised.

  “Sha, ai hod yu in, Leksa ain niron. Otaim. (Yes, I love you, Leksa my beloved. Always.)

 The choked sound that escapes Leksa’s lips is indecipherable but her joy, as she throws herself into Klark’s arms, is unmistakeable. Klark is mystified but holds her close, buries her face in Leksa’s hair, feels how thin and wasted her lover is.

“I’m here niron, what has happened, where does it hurt? Why are you so thin? Why do you doubt that ai hod yu in?”

Realising she has just bombarded her clearly ill lover with a number of questions Klark falls silent. Leksa’s health must be a priority.

“I’ll start again niron. Ai hod yu in. Otaim.” She looks into Leksa’s eyes and sees pain! “This time just one question. Where does it hurt?”

Chapter Text

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands. Fifth Moon Waning Crescent

“An ulcer, a bleeding ulcer? Are you sure?” Abi looks up and into Klark’s scared eyes.

“As sure as I can be without doing an endoscopy Klark. That’ll have to wait until we’re back in Polis. But if this intravenous antacid works you’ll be able to eat again Leksa and I’ll be pretty certain that’s the problem. The good news is that I don’t think it has perforated, that is burnt through your stomach.”

Leksa looks a little sceptical of the idea that she’s bleeding or has a hole in her stomach. She looks down at her exposed abdomen in overt disbelief. After a number of probing questions Abi had gently palpated the taut flesh and extracted from Leksa the grudging admission that “it hurts.”

But Klark’s not going to allow her to doubt! Full of fierceness she turns on her niron (beloved). “Just because you can’t see blood doesn’t mean you’re not bleeding. How do we know if it is, or isn’t, perforated mom?”

“Mainly it’s the level of pain. If it was perforated Leksa would be lying on the ground in a foetal position, writhing in agony.”

Klark looks at Leksa, her blue eyes penetrating. “I know you can take pain niron, like mom and I can’t imagine. But tell me true, are you in great pain?”   

Leksa’s eyes meet Klark’s, “no niron, my stomach hurts with a burning sharp pain and I feel full and have no appetite, but I am not in such pain as your nomon (mother) describes.”

Klark holds Leksa’s eye for a few moments, just to make sure she’s not underplaying this. Satisfied Leksa speaks true, she nods and takes her hand. Abi rambles on about her patient.

“If you think about it she’s a textbook candidate Klark. Huge responsibilities combined with the need to maintain that stoic Commander front. Just this war with the westerners must have taken her stress levels off the charts and that’s not all she’s had to deal with. In fact, both of you handle huge amounts of stress almost daily and neither of you get enough rest.” Abi’s starting on one of her ‘you need more rest’ rants and Klark has to admit she has a point. Just the most recent stuff is pretty mind-blowing. The raids on Ingranronakru and Trishanakru, Podakru’s civil war, the discovery of an invading force of ten thousand heading east, Sydney launching a nuke at Polis, the Ark coming down with hostile intentions and actions. Then there’s changes to the conclave, finding somewhere for the surviving Maunon and getting married in the summer! No wonder Leksa has an ulcer, Klark feels a little nauseous herself!

“Okay mom. You’re right.” Abi does a quick double take at that statement. “Do we need to do anything else tonight? Because we’re both exhausted and a bath and sleep is what we need. By the way I’ve asked Onya and Raven to take you to Dakota’s personal sweat lodge tonight, it’s a great experience mom you’ll love it.”

Smiling Abi leaves medicines and a bowl of oatmeal on the table and heads out. “I’ll bring Onya and Raven up to speed as we sweat then. Oh! and Onya says she’ll deal with your morning meetings Leksa. You can have a lie in.”

They’re alone again, at last. Leksa’s feeling a little sleepy, Abi’s medications included a sedative and it’s starting to work. As Leksa’s feeling too tired to bathe Klark has the tub to herself and she feels her muscles start to relax in the warm lavender scented water.

But thoughts continue to tumble through her brain. ‘An ulcer: not too serious if caught soon enough and treated. Hmmm …. May be completely curable with antacids and careful eating and rest……. Yes, rest…..  important….. body and mind……. Why was Leksa surprised when I called her niron, did she doubt me?’

Rising out of the tub she towels herself dry. In the sleeping area Leksa’s still awake and when she sees Klark walking in she extinguishes a few of the candles. Klark sighs contentedly as she lies back on the comfy furs and it feels so good when Leksa curls into her side and places her head on Klark’s shoulder. They cuddle for a few moments.

“Leksa, stop that, you’re ill.”

“It’s my stomach that’s ill Klark, my lips and fingers are well.” 

“Leksa, you’re supposed to be asleep, mom’s given you a sedative as well as an antacid.”

  “I am asleep Klark, this is a wonderful dream.”  

“Yeah, well, oh, ooh fuck! ……….. You’re a terrible patient!”  

“Sha! (Yes!)”  

Klark’s exhausted, pleasantly sated and should be sleeping like the dead, but instead she’s restless and awake. She’s still worried about Leksa, who is also restless but as Abi’s sedative has taken effect she is restless while she sleeps.

………………………………………………………………………..

Within her dreams Leksa rides with the Hammer down onto the battlefield, her swords flash death on all enemies within range of her blades and Loki, on her instruction, kicks and bucks at those who try to attack from the ground. A blade clips her skullcap and she is grateful for its’ protection, her thoughts flicking briefly to Klark who insisted she wear it.

Klark who wept for the dead of the Maunon in the Old Times and wept again when so few were saved in the New Times. Klark who is always trying to save lives, as a healer and as a leader.  Klark who in the Old Times hated Leksa for leaving her to kill so many. Klark who loves…..?

Leksa’s still riding, but now she’s on the ‘highway’ riding east, returning with the cowards who led the invasion. As they crest the brow of a low hill just ahead of the battle’s site, they come across a group of gonas gathered at the edge of the track. Dot kom Trikru hails her.

“Heda, Heda!”

Leksa reins Loki to a halt and looks down on the young woman.

“Heda it is the old Fleimkepa Titus, he is here and dying. He cries for you.”

Titus’ body bears the scars of terrible torture, his breathing is laboured and death is close. Leksa kneeling at his side can’t avoid the blood that pools all around him. Gently she lays her hand on his shoulder. “Titus, seda (teacher), I am here.” ………

“He is to be placed on the pyre of Trikru dead, with our people.”

It’s night-time and the battle-field’s dotted with tall well-constructed pyres. “Yu gonplei ste oden (Your fight is over)” is intoned by Leksa as she walks to each of the ten pyres and one after the other, sets them alight. The five hundred and thirty Kongeda dead whose spirits are released that night include three clan chiefs; Eric kom Trishanakru, Tokala kom Delphikru and Cian kom Yujleda; Leksa can only hope that their successors will honour their place in the Kongeda. She needs to contact Gaia to get more scouts in place immediately and to see what information Gaia already has on potential successors.   The smoke rises, fragrant with the sweet woody smell of black birch, but the underlying stench of the unburied westerners hangs like a pall over the whole of the plain.

Eight stinking pits, each containing over a thousand bodies; bodies laid out with dignity in rows and rows and rows. As Leksa watches each pit is blessed by a Temple Priest, his chanting a lilting rhythm, before being infilled with the soft earth of Ingranronakru that falls with a slight shuffle onto so many of the men Ferdinand brought with him to conquer and pillage.

******

Ferdinand screams in agony for almost two days as he is flayed by Ingranronakru’s very skilful executioner Floris.  Leksa, standing far closer than she would ever want to this spectacle, stands stiff and unmoving for the many hours of his final breaths, while her gut screams in pain, possibly in sympathy with Ferdinand.

********

Waiting by the radio: Callie tells her Klark is not available, she’s still in the Ark looking for evidence against Sydney. Waiting by the radio: Klark calls sounding flat and weary; talking about draining negotiations before falling asleep before the open mic. Waiting by the radio. Klark does not call.

……………………………………

As Leksa’s dreams end and her sleep becomes quieter Klark is able to slip into sleep beside her niron. As she drifts away her thoughts reach a conclusion… she will not leave Leksa’s side again. In the New Times the Ark is smaller, more a village than a clan, it’s position on the ground is better than it ever was in the Old Times and now that Sydney faces trial and very likely execution, its leaders are co-operative. If disaster strikes Callie, Vera, Marcus, Jake, Sinclair and even her mom can handle it; Klark’s place is with Leksa, who leads the Kongeda and needs her support to help everyone.

The next morning Leksa is able to eat a small breakfast of yoghurt and oatmeal and take an antacid pill without throwing up. Her stomach still hurts, but the antacid reduces the pain to bearable levels.  They wander out of their tent about midday.

The Kongeda (Coalition) camp continues to reduce in size, as gonakrus (groups of warriors) leave for their homes. It is the time for sowing the late crops and many gonas are keen to get back to their fields and plant the new seeds from Vera and Hannah. It’s not that they are abandoning their old crops entirely, but news spreads fast of crops that grow quickly and give good yields. If the people from the sky had asked for ambassadors to demonstrate their peaceful accomplishments Abi, Vera and Hannah have done the job. From Azgeda to Yujleda experimental radiation resistant seeds have been distributed and yes there were failures; Trishanakru’s attempts with melons was a disaster; but wheat, corn, potatoes, carrots and beets have all performed well and the high nutritional value from easy to grow leafy garden crops like chard and kale have made a noticeable difference to the health of everyone.  Abi’s vitamin pills, manufactured in Polis using Jake’s pill making machines and distributed as a ‘gift from Heda’, have reduced the number of young goufas (children) with soft bones, scaley skin or anaemia. All this in just over a year; a year of peace without the Maunon’s (Mountain men) or Kwin Nia’s corrosive presence.

As Leksa and Klark walk through the camp, Dax and Penn behind them, they’re greeted by cheerful gonas happy to be alive and going home. They’ve fought for their Heda, defeated a mighty enemy and now they will go back home laden with booty; the westerners were rich in gold, horses and good quality weapons.

As they head back to Leksa’s big tent for a light lunch they find Raven sitting by the fire pit talking animatedly with Onya, Mara, Dakota, Quint, Dot, Oktavia and Linkon. She is in fact conducting a lesson in elementary Spanish with particular emphasis on swearwords. “Now everyone, repeat after me. Tu puta madre - ‘mother fucker’, los cojones ‘bullshit’, mierda, ‘shit’ chupamedias, ‘cock-sucker’, cono, ‘cunt’, la hostia ‘holy shit’!”

The class is very enthusiastic and there’s plenty of laughter and jokes. Klark has some knowledge of Spanish and is keen to join in and soon she and Leksa are swearing enthusiastically along with everyone else. It’s all very cathartic and Klark is happy to see Leksa enjoying herself. After they’ve all eaten lunch, Leksa managing to eat porridge with honey this time, Mara and a few others wander off, to check how the prisoners are dealing with their allocated chores. Raven goes to look at the rover, she has some ideas to try out.

Onya takes Klark and Leksa to one side for a quiet chat. Dax and Penn stand nearby. “Tell me about Titus. He wasn’t part of the invasion was he?” Klark’s not happy Onya’s brought this up now, she wants Leksa to relax physically and emotionally for at least a day, but she had heard Leksa mention Titus in her dreams last night so doesn’t object to the question. Leksa takes them to an abandoned camp fire, gesturing to Onya and Klark to sit with her and for Dax and Penn to move a little further away.

“Ferdinand did not refuse to answer our questions. It was as if in talking to other leaders such as myself, Dakota, Roan and Ben he would find sympathy and he clearly hoped to be allowed to return to his people to boast of the ‘peace’ he had won with his soldiers’ lives.  In his eyes his peoples’ difficulty in raising living children justified him wanting to take land, women and children from us. He even boasted of his plan to use his soldiers as spreaders of the westerners’ seed, they were instructed to rape all women they came across.” Leksa pauses to let that atrocity sink in and Klark takes the opportunity to support her.

“Leksa so many have died solely because of that man’s arrogance and stupidity. You had to stop him and it sounds as if the conquest of Ingranronakru and Trishanakru was just the start of his plans.”

Leksa’s smile is sad, but it is a smile. “Sha (Yes), he had decided to invade nearly two years ago. The children, even the babies, stolen from Ingranronakru and Trishanakru had grown well and were healthy and he wanted more of them; but it took some time for him to convince the Temple to support him and to gather his forces and supplies. Titus arrived in Hogar about ten moons ago boasting of his influence in the rich lands of the east. He sought out El Rey Ferdinand to try and set up negotiations between Hogar and the Kongeda, with himself as an important personage, because he knew so much about the east. But all Ferdinand wanted was information about our armies and Titus resisted, he resisted until he broke. Then Ferdinand knew of the Kongeda’s armies and that our gonas were spread across many krus. It allowed him to finally persuade the Temple to give him thousands of soldiers, as he convinced them that if he invaded without warning it would take us so long to summon all our armies that he and the Temple would be established in the west of the Kongeda before we arrived in any force. Without the information from Raven’s satellite and Jasper’s warnings, he would have been right”

Onya purses her lips and huffs lightly. “Would he have invaded without the Temple’s support?”

“He said yes he would with just his own men, seven-thousand of them.”

Klark’s eyes are sad when she says. “So, all Titus’ interference did was bring about more deaths?”

Leksa’s shoulders droop a little. “Sha, so many deaths.”

Onya seems suddenly to realise that the huge death toll is burdensome to Leksa and she almost visibly resets her approach to the conversation. “To send enemy prisoners, as free labour for five years, to those villages that have lost gonas in this battle is a clever move and saves many prisoners’ lives, but it is not without risks.”    

Leksa nods thoughtfully but her shoulders rise as she considers her plan. “If the enemy use their reason, then enough died here for them never to want to come back here as invaders, but I didn’t want to risk sending nearly two thousand, fit and possibly vengeful, enemy gonas home. This plan sends over one thousand prisoners, two for every one of our gonas killed, into Kongeda lands but spread far apart so there is little danger of them uniting to become a hostile force within our territory. The difficulty is in selecting which are sent to our villages, which are sent back to where they came from and which are too dangerous to be offered either option.”

The three of them talk through the problem as they make their way down to the stables to check on Loki and Skyracer. On the way they will walk by the large holding pens where the enemy are kept under guard, when they are not sent out as part of a work party.  The men, and they are all men who fought for Hogar, are sitting in circles around meagre fires. They can be separated into two main groups by their clothing. Leksa explains, “those who wear yellow shirts or jackets are either priests or gonas of the Temple of the Sun. From what our guards are able to overhear of their speech, those of the Temple are assuming command over the ordinary gonas. If there is trouble, it will likely originate with them.”

As they pass the pens the prisoners turn to look at them and their vocalisations alter slightly. Klark realises that some of them have changed to speaking Spanish. Leksa notices her realisation of the switch. “They think we cannot understand them if they change language and admittedly few of us have Raven’s facility with that tongue. I try not to assume that none of them understand Trigedeslang.” She shrugs. “You never know, if I was organising an invasion I’d send scouts to learn the language.”

Suddenly Onya leaps over the pen’s fence and grabs one of the yellow jacketed prisoners by the scruff of the neck and punches him repeatedly in the face. “Fucker, you will speak of the Commander with respect or die!” The prisoner, his face a bloody mess, makes apologetic noises and Onya pushes him to the ground. Then she glares at the other westerners who are standing around looking startled. “All of you remember that!”  She jumps out of the pen and together they walk on to the stables. Leksa gives Onya a speaking look. “It has started then?”

  “Sha!”  

Next day there’s a disturbance in the healers’ tent. One of the westerners’ camp followers, a large dark-skinned woman is about to give birth and she asks that the birth be supervised by a Priest of the Temple. The presence of a Priest is not a problem, Luna and Nyko permit Chosen by the Sun Santiago to be present at the birth and to intone the chants that bless the child, but when he demands that he ‘proves’, that is spits upon, the knife that is to cut the umbilical cord they both say no. Patchouli, the new mother, starts to panic, her child must be blessed and the knife that cuts the cord be ‘proved’ or her child will be cursed and diseased, she doesn’t want to be sent el peregrinage (on pilgrimage) because her child dies or is weak. She won’t listen to reason and a full-blown attack of hysteria seems imminent. At this point, in the very loud proceedings, the usually patient Luna loses her temper and slaps Patchouli across the face. When she has her attention Luna is clear and to the point.

“If the knife that cuts the cord is not clean your child will be diseased. Your El Rey tried to invade our land because our women bear more live, healthy children, don’t you want a live healthy child?” Patchouli nods hesitantly. “Then do as we do, use a clean knife that has been passed through a flame, not one spat on by a Priest!”

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands. Sixth moon Waxing Crescent.

Klark’s been in camp for just over a week when Bellamy arrives. He’s grumpy because he’s travelled on horseback and he’s never really got on well with horses; nor with Kestra and her scouts. It’s just bad luck for him that she and ten scouts are his escort on the seven-day journey. His job is to drive Abi back to Ton DC when he’s had a chance to recover and got to grips with the modifications Raven’s made to the rover. She got bored and started to play with the solar panels and generator and is now claiming much improved efficiency in recharging the traction battery. Kestra and her scouts vanish into the camp almost as soon as they arrive.

Abi is satisfied that Leksa is much improved. She now eats well and her diet is much more varied including; white meat, green vegetables and baked goods. She’s lost that gaunt look and although she’s still on daily antacids Abi suggests that she reduce them to every other day if she continues to feel okay. 

On Abi’s last night she persuades Klark, Leksa, Onya and Raven to share Dakota’s big sweat-lodge with her. She’s almost addicted to the fabulous heat, the meditative chanting and calming herbs. As everyone else loves it too they all pile in, strip down and sit or lie on the birch lath benches. The hot rocks, tobacco and herbs are replenished and for a while all is quiet as the women absorb the heat and scents. After a while Onya stands and pours water onto the shining quartz rich rocks and as she looks back she sees Raven prone on the bench sweat beading on her skin; her breasts, her belly, her upper lip; and she can’t resist, she drops to her knees and kisses her niron deeply.

“First Rule of Sweat-lodge is: no sex in Sweat-lodge!” It’s Klark being annoying and Raven’s middle finger rises in a definitive gesture.

Abi joins in “I almost agree, your first rule of Sweat-lodge applies, but only when more than two people are in the sweat-lodge.”  There’s a choking sound from Klark as she imagines her mom and dad in a sweat-lodge.

Raven’s gleeful “Hey Klark, can’t cope with how you and David were made huh?”

“I’d rather not think about it Raven. Mom!”

Abi stretches and it’s her turn to pour water on the rocks; “oh my god I raised a prude!”

“You did not. Just it’s a no to even thinking….no, no, no.”

“Your dad would love it, the heat the sweat…..”

“Mom stop right there ok and you two just tone it down, my MOTHER is in this sweat-lodge!”

There’s silence for a few minutes.

“Abi” it’s Onya who breaks it. “How soon after giving birth can a woman have sex?”

Klark’s feeling wicked. “Just asking for a friend Onya?”

“Indeed Klark. I am concerned that Indra’s sexual frustration will lead to the destruction of Ark camp.”

“Oh my god, is that why she was such a bitch in the negotiations? Mom how long, it sounds like our friends’ survival depends on this?”

“I told Indra and Callie, as I tell all mothers, including myself.” There’s another choked sound from Klark. “Be quiet Klark. Four to six weeks after delivery.”

It’s Leksa who brings this topic to a close with; “thank the spirits Klark, your friends are saved or already dead!”

At this Abi roars with laughter. “Who’d have thought you had such a wicked sense of humour Leksa. I’ve never seen this side of you, not in the Old or the New Times! Oh hell I’m so sorry I forgot….”

There’s a silence that lasts for a few seconds before Raven says. “Old Times and New Times?”

There’s no choice about it really, Raven has to be told about Becca, Maryam and the return of Leksa, Onya, Linkon, Oktavia, Abi and Klark. So, between them the four returnees stoke the fire and tell their stories of the disastrous Old Times. Raven listens, mainly in silence, though no-one is really surprised by her “Ew Klark!” at one point in the narrative. As the story ends and Raven absorbs the technological and personal implications she says “I really would have liked to talk to Becca!” Before falling asleep in Onya’s arms.  

Chapter Text

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands. Sixth moon Waxing Crescent.

There are hugs and kisses from Klark and a firm arm clasp from Leksa as Abi loads her kit into the rover.  She and Luna are travelling back east together where they’ll pick up Jake and David from Ton DC before heading north to Polis. Abi’s keen to show Luna the hospital she’s set up with Klark and Nyko. Luna’s support for the training, treatments and diagnostic facilities now available in Polis would be a real boost to the hospital getting more students and patients from across the whole Kongeda (Coalition).  Escorting them are a party of gonas (warriors) who are heading home to Trikru territory and carefully strapped onto stretchers hung inside the rover are two seriously injured gonas, one Azgedan and one Sangedakru, who have not recovered consciousness since the battle.  Their only real hope for diagnosis and treatment is either the big scanners in Polis hospital that were salvaged from Mount Weather, or the even more advanced equipment at Ark Camp.  Klark’s been on the radio to Callie to see if negotiations can move on to cover the Arkers trading in medical services or if the Arkers would help as a ‘goodwill gesture’.  

Bellamy revs the rover’s motor before he gently accelerates it away into the morning sunshine, Klark watches until it disappears from view; she’ll miss being close to her mom and dad and seeing David every day. She looks forward to eventually getting back home to Polis Tower.

Earlier that morning Onya’s fussing as she prepares Raven to go undercover as a gona guarding the westerners. As a guard she’ll be able to eavesdrop on them and understand what they say when they switch to speaking Spanish. Onya dresses her ready to go ‘on duty’.

“Niron (beloved) not all gonas are tall but if you are not physically intimidating you have to look as if you are very dangerous. The skull mask will conceal who you are and make you look scary, the heavy leather coat and armour will add bulk, the big boots give you a little more height, the gauntlets conceal your small hands. Hmmm - you look fierce.” She places the mask over Raven’s face. There’s a muffled noise from behind the mask. “Chit (What)?”

With some difficulty Raven removes one of the heavy metal-trimmed gauntlets and pulls off the mask. She shakes her head “it’s not going to work. I can’t see or hear any jokking (fucking) thing when I wear the mask!”

“Jok! If I make your warpaint extra heavy then and just use the bottom half of the mask?”

They have some fun as Onya war-paints her face with a stylised bird and then Raven is ready to take her place as a guard at the holding pens. She marches a little stiffly to her post grasping a vicious looking pole-axe and stands, eyes locked onto the prisoners, looking as dangerous as she can. All the while listening to what she can hear of the westerners’ conversations. They’re groaning about a lack of washing facilities at the moment and the fact that some of them have lice. It’s going to be a long, long morning.

Onya’s further up the hill inside a tent lying on a good thick fur and through Leksa’s binoculars she watches; Raven, the prisoners and guards of that holding-pen and its’ neighbour, that contains the westerners’ camp followers.  “Here look through these, the little wheel sharpens the picture if it is blurry.”

Kestra takes the binoculars and peers through. “Os (good) tek, I can see so clearly. Can the Arkkru make more of these? They could make good trades for tek like this.” 

“I’ll ask Raven, she said she wanted to try to make some herself a while ago. Can you see that Delphikru gona at the far side of the pen? He has a pakstoka (wolf) mask.”

“Sha (Yes). Ah he is, oh that is disgusting. What will he be trading for that?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“Kei (Okay) he’s on my list. Anything else?”

“Chosen by the Sun Santiago and Mateo have been pointed out to you?”

“Sha.”

“We want to know who they talk with as they plan, who are their messengers and who they send messages to.”

“Kei.”

They stay watching the prisoners and guards until shift change just before lunchtime. By then Kestra has two more guards on her list and she and Onya are ready to stretch their aching limbs. They leave two scouts on watch as they start to walk back to the main camp area.

“Wormana (General) may I ask you for advice about Skai-plannes (Sky-women)?” Onya raises an eyebrow as she nods her agreement. “Are they different from us in how they ……  I find them confusing to talk to, but attractive.”

“You should ask Indra; she is bonded to the Skaigona (Sky-warrior) Callie.” Kestra turns and looks at her as if she is mad.

“I want to keep my head!”

“Kei, maybe not Indra. Hmm. They are confusing, especially how they use gonaslang (warrior’s language - English) sometimes. Often Raven uses words strangely. Like she will say ‘Onya you look hot in those leather pants.’ And I will be cold! Hot can mean sexually attractive as well as warm. To skai-plannes many words have two meanings and it is usually about sex.”

“Kei, how do you know when they are using words in that way?

“You don’t. Just be ready to be laughed at when you get it wrong.” Kestra huffs quietly and looks miserable. “They are worth it though, intriguing, funny, brave and adventurous. Who do you find attractive? Do I know her?

“Skai- gona Grace Byrne, she is meizen (beautiful) and yuj (strong).”

“Good choice if she feels the same. Heda knows Grace saved Klark’s life, she will be favoured by Heda and I know her to be a ridiyo (true) gona.”

They’ve arrived back at the main camp and Onya heads off to her tent where she finds Raven stretching her sore muscles after discarding her heavy disguise. “We need to talk to Heda and Klark, there’s something nasty brewing with those bastards who wear yellow.”

Arker Camp - the Valley

It’s a beautiful late Spring morning on the ground. The early morning sun filters through fresh green foliage onto grasses and flowers that cover the rich dark earth of the valley.  Under the trees blue and white dominates with; bluebells, violets and wood-anemones taking advantage of the plentiful light that’s available before the tree canopy thickens and in the clearings and water meadows daisies, lupins and cone flowers add yellows and pinks to the ground’s palette. The horses walk steadily, their coats dappling in the sunlight as Indra, Gaia and five ambassadors of the Kongeda make their way to Ark Camp. Upon arrival they dismount at the gate and hand over their visible weapons to the waiting Guards; their horses will be cared for outside the gates today as space is restricted inside the camp. Greetings are polite and formal when the Councillors come forward to welcome them as Heda’s observers at the trials of; Kyle Wick, Commander Shumway and Diana Sydney. 

Inside the towering fence the greater part of the open space in-front of the three fallen stations has been covered with a large open sided tent-like structure roofed with transparent plastic film. Waiting nearby Callie notes that the ambassadors seem fascinated with the see-through roof, a number of them touching it before they sit down underneath its’ protection.

Rows of seats, benches, cushions, even blankets dot the ground where hundreds of Arkers have made themselves comfortable in the slowly warming sunshine.  Everyone is seated by the time the judges arrive to sit at the head of the large metal table; then the defendants and advocates are escorted to their benches. At the moment the jury is not present as some legal points are to be argued in their absence.

The judges Vera Kane, Peter Jones and Solomon Pulcher ask the advocates to come forward and start the pre-trial arguments. The prosecutor is Callie, the appointed defence advocates are Serena Morgan for Kyle Wick and Bjorn Zedemski for Commander Shumway. Diana Sydney is acting ‘in person’ as she refused all of the legal representatives offered.  The first point is dealt with quickly as Kyle Wick simply wants to lodge his guilty plea to ‘aiding and abetting the launch and targeting of a nuclear weapon from the Ark’. The judges accept his plea and move on to the second point. This is much more controversial. Both Diana Sydney and Shumway argue that evidence from the now convicted Wick should not be admissible against them in their trials as he will be biased against them. Representing Shumway Bjorn Zedemski pulls himself to his full height of 5’ 7” and starts to bellow his submissions into the table microphone. Nearly everyone winces as his voice booms loudly over the loudspeakers and then, volume reduced, he drones on for the next thirty minutes. His concluding sentences summarise his argument. “Your honours, if the evidence of this convicted felon is ruled admissible the fairness of this trial must be considered compromised. Kyle Wick will surely seek to shift all responsibility for this heinous act onto my client and the former Chancellor. Thus, reducing his own blameworthiness and sentence.”

Diana Sydney merely states that she concurs with Zedemski’s arguments. There's a ripple of relief that she’s not going to take another half an hour to say very little.

Inwardly Callie groans, couldn’t they have found a slightly less pompous and wordy lawyer for Shumway.   Her submissions in response are brief. “Your honours Kyle Wick has pleaded guilty and stands convicted. Thus, he is no longer on trial, is not a co-accused of the defendants Shumway and Sydney and his evidence is admissible against them in this trial. Can I refer you please to the Ark Charter Part 12 Section 7 Paragraph 15? If you are still concerned that Wick’s evidence is biased, I submit that you are able to give a warning to the jury of such bias and ask that they weigh Wick’s evidence accordingly. That concludes my submissions on this point.”

The judges take a few moments to confer before deciding in favour of the prosecution, though a warning will be given to the jury about Wick’s evidence and likely bias. The final evidential point concerns the evidence of the dead senior engineer Anderson. Both Bjorn Zedemski and Diana Sydney argue that evidence of what Anderson, saw, heard or said about the launch of the missile must be excluded as he is dead and his evidence can only be presented to the court in the form of hearsay.  As their arguments drone on Callie’s glad that she warned Indra this part of the trial was going to be tedious and out of the corner of her eye she sees her houmon (spouse) happily eating snacks as she and Gaia gently bounce a gurgling Candra between them on their knees. Callie knows from her own experience that any interaction with Candra dispels all boredom and so Indra and Gaia at least will be happy.  

After hearing submissions on the issue of hearsay the judges’ order a break for lunch. When they return their decision on hearsay is announced and that concludes the pre-evidential arguments. The jury of twelve file in to take their seats. The Council drew lots for who was to be called for jury service and then jury selection took the whole of yesterday; as both Commander Shumway and Diana Sydney each used their maximum six objections.

Callie as prosecutor starts the trial with her opening speech.  She stands and when the people are near silent her first words ring out over the crowd. “Jurors, Judges, Citizens of the Ark; I ask that before we become immersed in detailed evidence and argument, that you take a good look at the beautiful living landscape of this valley and then .... throughout this trial remember that if Diana Sydney’s attempt to launch and target the Ark’s 100 Megaton nuclear bomb had been successful everything you can see around you now and the nearby village of Ton DC would be reduced to an empty, dead, irradiated nuclear wasteland. In addition, the bomb’s target the city of Polis would be utterly destroyed and all of the twenty thousand people who live and work there would be dead. It is the prosecution’s case that Diana Sydney, aided by Commander Shumway, sought to use that nuclear bomb’s destructive capabilities to gain power over the people she knew lived on the ground. People who, through their Commander, had tried to aid the Ark find safe landing sites and who had offered help and an alliance to the people who were about to fall from the sky.”

In the absolute silence that follows her words, she calls her first witness Jake Griffin to give evidence of his detection and destruction of the missile.

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands

Aden and Eve leave Heda’s tent to pursue their own mission as Onya, Kestra and Raven enter.  When they get inside they find Leksa seated on her throne with Klark sitting on her left, they are both in semi-formal dress as are the others in the tent; Ben Kom Boudalan, Dakota kom Ingranronakru and wormana (war general) Mara kom Azgeda. Onya and her companions make their formal bows to Heda and request permission to report on the days’ observations. Leksa suggests this is done as they all lunch and everyone moves to sit at the big planning table.

As they eat Raven reports on what she heard as a ‘guard’. “The first important thing I heard is that all the prisoners expect to be killed when their usefulness as labourers clearing the battlefield is over. Whether they are soldiers or camp followers they all anticipate death at our hands.” 

There are a few mutters of surprise in response to this. Death in battle or raids is commonplace on the ground, or had been until Heda Leksa created the Kongeda (Coalition). But cold-blooded executions of gonas who have surrendered or of those who are not gonas is rare. If you were just a villager and not a gona the thing most likely to happen to you if you lost a skirmish was that you would be driven off your land, or left to starve after your winter food supplies were stolen or destroyed. Just to kill survivors of raids was unusual though it did happen, most notably when Nia commanded raids against Trikru villages or Indra retaliated against Azgeda villages, but it was not the norm.

 Leksa and Onya recount Jonas’ killing of ten of the women who had been on el peregrinage (pilgrimage) with him to Ingranronakru. There was no evidence that his victims resisted him, they appeared to accept death. Then there was Jonas’ own death by his own hand and the surviving four women’s numerous attempts to kill themselves.

“For a kru who steal children because their own die in such great numbers, they seem to value their own lives hardly at all. Perhaps it’s a religious belief in a wonderful afterlife? Do we know much about their religion and the Temple of the Sun, other than their very dangerous practice of a priest ‘proving or proofing’, that is spitting on, the blade of the knife that cuts the umbilical cord?”  It’s Klark who’s trying to get some understanding of the strange behaviour of these westerners.

Raven has something to add to that line of thinking. “On the link to religion Klark I think it’s important you all know what the Priests, the men who wear yellow jackets, are planning.  Before they die they want to kill all of their own camp followers, who are mainly women and children, just in case we spare them from death and then try to contaminate them with our ways and ‘seed’!”

“Jokkers!” it’s Ben kom Boudalan jumping up to protest at this idea. “Kill all the Priests I say!”

With thanks to Raven for her help Leksa gives Kestra and Onya more gonas to continue their work of spying on the prisoners and then decides that those of the prisoners known to be of rank; General Timor, Chamberlain Juan and Chosen by the Sun’s Santiago and Mateo will be brought before her this afternoon. Leksa suggests that full battle armour be worn and maximum intimidation be affected. About a glass later all but Raven and Kestra are back in the tent in full armour and war-paint. Leksa sits on her throne playing with her dagger as the first prisoner is brought in and kicked to his knees by Gostos. “General Timor Heda.”

Leksa makes her face a mask of indifference, Onya, Ben, Dakota and Mara have expressions closer to snarls and Klark is standing out of the prisoner’s eye-line because her attempt at a snarl just made everyone laugh. As Mara snorted “yu (you) just look like a puppy with a sore belly Klark!”

“Jok yu (Fuck you) Mara!” is Klark’s spirited reply, but as Leksa had burst out laughing at the joke she forgives Mara immediately; who would have thought that an Azgedan would have a sense of humour and become one of Heda’s closest confidants? When everyone had calmed down and reinstated their fierce expressions Timor was brought in by Gostos.

Leksa stands and the others stand with her. Timor remains on his knees head bowed. Walking towards the semi-prone man Leksa places her hands behind her back. “Look at me Timor.” The terrified man raises his head and looks into a beautiful face of stone, decorated with trailing black war-paint.

“I have decided the future of your people, I have yet to decide your future Timor.”

Leksa can see the fear in the man’s eyes as he struggles to maintain some dignity. “How can I serve you Commander?”

“Not interested in your people’s fate Timor, just your own?”

He’s shaking like a leaf now, Leksa thinks she can hear his teeth chattering. “I will order my people to do as you wish Commander.”

Leksa returns to her throne and gestures to the others to sit. “I have decided that your people will live Timor. Enough have died because your El Rey was greedy for our lands, children and women. But I will keep some of your men; they will pay for attacking my people by giving their service for five years to those of my villages that lost warriors in this battle, they may return home after five years if they wish. The remainder will be returned to Hogar and any of them who are found in Coalition lands again uninvited will die. Do I make myself clear Timor?”

“Oh yes Commander, you are most generous Commander. How may I serve you?” He bows so low his forehead touches the floor.

“Tomorrow you will prepare a list of all your survivors, stating their name, age and rank. If that list is found to be inaccurate or incomplete you will die. Gostos take him to his people, give him the services of a scribe and Dot and Quint kom Trikru will guard him.”

The meeting with the Chamberlain Juan was next. As he knelt Leksa asked him what kind of reception any survivors she sent back to Hogar would receive from Ferdinand’s successor. He breathed deeply. “Commander, the Priests and their soldiers will return to the Temple. The High Priest will give thanks for the survival of those few hundreds. The son of El Rey Ferdinand will formally be crowned El Rey Jose and there will be questions about what went wrong and who betrayed El Rey Ferdinand, as only betrayal could be seen as the cause of such a disaster. It is likely Timor will be tortured and die, me too. The few nobles who survived will receive similar treatment. Common soldiers will return to their family groups.”

Leksa’s face shows no surprise as she learns that other nobles survived. They must have discarded any signs of rank or office when they saw the battle was lost. Another thing for Onya and Kestra to investigate.

Chosen by the Sun Mateo gives an almost identical answer to the Chamberlain’s when asked about what would happen when any survivors return to Hogar.  He clearly expects that Timor and Juan will take all blame for the failed venture and he and his priests will return to the Temple and be above any allegations of betrayal or incompetence. He differs from Juan when asked about how the young king would respond to suggestions that he send a delegation to Polis asking for a peace treaty. Juan had been gloomy, he thought that Jose would not contemplate such an idea, but Mateo thinks that with time El Rey Jose will want a safe border with the east and if a delegation’s safety could be guaranteed he would send one.

It's Chosen by the Sun Santiago that Klark gets to question about the practice of ‘proving’ the knife used to cut an umbilical cord.  “It is written in the Tablets of the Sun that the knife must be ‘proved’ before the cord is cut.” States the Priest in all confidence but then he cannot remember where it is written that such a ‘proving’ or ‘proof’ is to be done by a priest spitting on the blade. All he is able to muster as any kind of authority for the practice is the statement that; “My lady it is known that the body and all bodily essences of a Priest of the Sun are sacred.”

Klark just manages not to say “Ew, gross!” in response to that gnomic utterance.

Chapter Text

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands. Sixth Moon First Quarter

Onya stirs as the sun rises, stretches her long limbs and smiles. Last night was a good night, she and Raven had ‘partied’ into the small hours; loving, fucking, playing and loving all over again. She looks at the beautiful woman in her furs; sprawled and untidy, taking up most of the space and snoring lightly. Sighing with a deep contentment Onya bites her lip, then a slight furrow of hesitation crosses her brow; should she ask Raven to be her bonded again or wait for her to say something? Well at least wait until today is over, it’s going to be a strenuous day, maybe a difficult day, maybe her…..? She slips from under the furs, dresses quietly and carefully before leaving the tent. Raven slumbers on.

Raven’s still sleeping when Onya returns from the food tent with breakfast; porridge for herself and bread, cold meat and fruit for Raven. She eats and then lays a light kiss on her niron’s (beloved’s) head, she’ll talk to her later, now she has to face her day.

Arker Camp The Valley

Grace Byrne scrunches up her eyes to try and relieve the tiredness and scratchiness that seems to be their constant state at the moment. The pad in-front of her lists twelve names, she’s sure about ten, though she’s no concrete evidence to convince a court of their wrongdoings and the other two?, they could just have made some unfortunate choices in their friends. 

She puts her head in her hands and strains to think through all the possible ways things could go wrong. To start with what the fuck is Diana Sydney planning? She’s bound to be planning something! Her trial is drawing to a close, the evidence against her is overwhelming; there had even been shouts of “float her, float her!” from the crowd when Jacopo Sinclair gave evidence of the offers and guidance he gave her (all of which she rejected) about how to prepare and launch the selected Stations for returning to earth and where and how to land them.

Through it all Diana Sydney sits; projecting confidence and self-assurance. She even does some effective cross-examination of witnesses. Grace knows that Callie thinks she’s saving it up for a big closing speech, that somehow Sydney believes she’ll convince the jury she did it all ‘for the people of the Ark’. Grace has darker thoughts, if Sydney has twelve, or even only ten, armed members of the Guard on her side; her closing speech, if she waits that long to strike, could become a massacre. Grace has begged Callie not to have Candra there on the final day and Callie’s agreed. That’s one thing less to worry about. She calls in Briggs, Shep, and Rogers, she can rely on them.

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands

As the time for midday meal approaches they’ve placed themselves strategically around the camp. Leksa and Klark are in the healers’ tent, with Klark helping Nyko now that Luna’s on her way back to Floukru and Leksa’s talking with the wounded about; crops, battle tactics and even their family businesses. Mara and Ben are in the process of discipling some guards who have been taking bribes, by way of sexual favours from the westerners’ camp followers. The sound of the lash slicing into the guilty guards’ backs cuts through the warm late morning air. Dakota is in the training ring with her seken (second), taking him through a set of horse drills. 

Onya’s on her way back from a visit to the stables with Aden and Eve; as she walks past the first of the holding pens, the one that’s filled with the Temple’s priests and soldiers all of them chattering as they stand in line for their food, she takes in their slightly febrile moodiness.  However, she strides on towards the second holding pen, there the common soldiers of El Rey Ferdinand relax after a morning of digging and filling in latrine trenches. A few are watching her as she passes and she can hear some grumbles and whispers in Spanish and gonaslang (English).

He’s of middle height, darkly bearded, stocky and muscular and has, over the few days that have passed since the battle, regained some of his air of confidence and command. He may not wear any insignia of rank, but she can see that his fellow soldiers defer to him and as she bends to remove a stone from her boot-sole one of the messengers used by the senior Priests approaches him and can’t quite stop himself from bowing.  The man she’s watching is Lascar, the greatest of the generals of El Rey Ferdinand and he’s leaning back against the sturdy fence as he listens to the Priest’s messenger. She watches as he dismisses the young priest and turns to his newly promoted captain.

Lascar looks at his new officer. “What are you looking at with such interest?”

“That woman who’s watching us. She’s important, I’ve seen her walking with the barbarians’ leader.” Lascar turns to stare at Onya who has now moved, as she talks to one of the guards, to only a few cubits away. Lascar guffaws and leers in Spanish “concha! (cunt!)”

Onya turns to glare at him. “You insult me soldier, or should I say - you insult me coward? The mighty general who hides as a common soldier.  Hey Lascar, yeah, hey coward!” 

When he’s named, Lascar’s face suffuses with colour as anger brings the blood to his cheeks. “You calling me a coward puta (whore)? Easy to do from outside the fence when you bear a sword and I have no weapon.”

Onya’s reply is calculated to offend. “A mamahueva (cocksucker) like you wouldn’t dare challenge me to a fight on equal terms!”

“I would. I do challenge you, puta.”

Onya folds her arms and looks at him. “I accept. What weapon do you choose coward?”

Lascar smiles widely. “That’s a good blade at your side. I choose that sword!”

Onya has to give it to him. He can spot a good weapon, her father Ulfbert made this sword and named it Venom.  It matches Leksa’s Viper. Onya beckons to Aden “go quickly and ask Heda if I can borrow her sword Viper. I need it to fight this arrogant branwada (fool).” Aden sprints to the nearby healers’ tent and only moments later he returns followed by Leksa, Klark, Mara and Ben. Leksa looks very solemn as she intones in gonaslang. “General Onya kom Trikru why do you want to borrow my sword?”

Onya bows deeply and replies in kind. “Commander I have accepted a challenge and the challenger chose my sword Venom as his weapon. I cannot in honour deny it to him. I ask that you lend me a blade of similar quality, one also made by my father Ulfbert.”

Leksa looks to Lascar. “You challenge my general to combat? I will permit it if you are of suitable rank. Who are you?”

Lascar draws himself to his full height. “I am Lascar, general of El Rey Ferdinand. I stayed with my men after the battle was lost.” The look of contempt Leksa gives to this verbal sophistry could have curdled milk and she doesn’t even deign to reply to him. Instead, she turns to the nearby soldier. “Is this true? Is this man your General Lascar?”

The newly promoted captain gulps as he replies. “Yes highness, he is General Lascar.” Leksa huffs expressively, gracefully draws Viper and presents Onya with her father’s sword. Meanwhile Mara, Ben and the newly arrived Dakota make space for the two to fight. “Everyone, stand well back! Guards mark the boundary.” Soon there is a large open space ready for the combat.

“Well Onya you’ve got what you wanted. All I will say fos (first) is what your own fos Indra would say if she were here. ‘Go for a quick kill - don’t play with your food’.” 

 As Leksa walks out of the arena she nods to Ben kom Boudalan who takes up the role of master of ceremonies. He walks to the centre of the cleared area, now surrounded by a large crowd and calls for quiet. He announces into that silence, first in Trigedeslang and then gonaslang. “Hashta soulou gonplei, bilaik won hedon noumou: du souda wan op deyon! In single combat there is but one rule: someone must die today.”

Ben walks out of the arena and Lascar immediately charges at Onya, who gracefully sidesteps out of his path. Her blood is singing with excitement and joy, her senses heightened and focused on the man she is to kill. At last, she has the chance to fight like the gona she is in this war against the westerners. She’s been frustrated, politicking with Podakru and then stuck in Ton DC with Klark trying hard not to kill any of the branwadas who fell from the sky. Here is a diplomatic situation she can understand, cut the head off the beast and the body will die. Lascar is the head, the true power amongst these captives. The Priests may boast but in reality they do as Lascar wants and Lascar wants the witnesses to his own disgrace eliminated, so far as is possible. Instead, Onya will eliminate him!

Lascar charges, swinging Venom with swift and vicious fervour; while Onya prowls, slinks and tests his; reach, speed, agility and ability to deceive. Their blades clash and spark, their bodies twist and leap. Her assessment is; that he’s a fighter of good form with a sword and he’s strong and fast; a challenge to her skills and stamina. She changes her tactics and now takes control of the arena, moving efficiently out of the way of his charges but always returning to the centre spot. He’s got space to roam and roar out his boasts of prowess, space to build up speed with his long strides; but she stays focused and watches; moving, deflecting, flicking her blade into his path, unruffled and in control. After almost a quarter of a glass neither has drawn blood, but Onya has landed a number of blows to Lascar’s face and lower back with Viper’s heavy pommel.  He’s looking bruised and has started to slow, just a little bit.

First blood is to Lascar though, a glancing blow to her left arm, it’s just a scratch but he is jubilant and screams his joy to the crowd. That loss of concentration costs him a nasty cut to the meat of his right thigh and blood starts to stream from the wound. He retreats and she follows slicing another cut to his right leg, but he gets in a punch to her chest that throws her onto her back. She’s up in a second but he’s got in another cut to her arm, a deeper one this time. They both retreat, blood flowing into the dirt.

A barely awake Raven makes her way down the hill, following the noise of the crowd. Her horror at seeing Onya fighting and taking a cut to her arm drains her limbs of power momentarily and she stands for a second just staring. Then she launches herself towards the arena only to be caught around the waist by Dakota kom Ingranronakru. “No! Raven you cannot interfere you would destroy her concentration and her honour. All is going to plan! She will kill him!” Raven goes suddenly limp with shock and Dakota searching desperately for help sees Klark making her way over.

“Raven! It’s okay Dakota I’ll look after her.” A relieved Dakota, leaves Raven in Klark’s care and moves to the front of the crowd so she has the opportunity to see one of the greatest gonas of Trikru in action. Klark puts her arm around the stricken woman. “Raven I know it looks bad but Leksa tells me Onya will win. This is the way they plan to get rid of Lascar, kill him in solou-gonplei (single combat) in-front of his men.”

As at that moment Lascar lands a nasty blow to Onya’s knee and everyone can hear the joint pop, Klark can truly understand when Raven goes white as a sheet and looks as if she is about to vomit. “What the fuck is going on Klark, what fucking plan?”

Klark looks uncomfortable and whispers “fucking gonas” under her breath. “Erm, you and Kestra got the goods on Lascar yeah? That it was him and not the Priests who pushed for the deaths of the camp-followers. He has to die and the best way to discredit his ideas and leadership is to kill him in single combat. They drew lots for who was to fight him.”

“And Onya lost?”

“Er no, Onya won.”

“She won?”

Arker Camp The Valley - midday

They’ve got seven of them, safely under lock and key and Grace, Briggs and Shep are making their way to the gym to pick up two more. They’ve had to act fast, Wilson one of the two Grace was uncertain about, turned his ‘friends’ in this morning, by informing on the plot to take control of the trial during Callie’s closing speech. That information gives Grace the evidence she needs to make arrests and she’s not hesitated to round up everyone Wilson’s named, plus a couple of others who she can release after the trial is over, if they turn out not to be involved. Callie’s speech is due to start after lunch, in about an hour.

They make their way quietly towards the fitness area, where there’s none of the usual sounds of gym rats using the rowing machines, treadmills or weights.  There’s only one entrance and their faux casual approach as they ‘saunter’ into the big exercise area wouldn’t fool a child thinks Grace and so she’s not surprised when Inspector Grus, as soon as he spots them opening the creaking double doors, reaches immediately for his bullpup rifle and next to him Denby does likewise.  Shep’s on her left and takes Grus’ first bullet, Grace dives to the floor firing a short burst in Grus’s direction and Briggs is rolling away to her right. Bullets scream over her head. Fuck Scott’s here as well and Grace scrambles to get behind a solid looking set of weights whilst returning fire. The doors behind swing open and a Guard Cadet, young John Sholto strides in, then immediately flings himself backwards and away from the battle. His choked cry sounds horribly like he’s been shot. Grus is still firing from behind a big static bike, but Denby is sprawled dead on the exercise matting. Grace strains to see or hear where Scott is. Briggs crawls commando style towards the big multi-gym and opens fire to Grace’s right. The weights in-front of her buck as they are struck by another burst of the hollow-points Grus is still firing, surely he’ll empty his magazine soon and where the fuck is Scott?

The answer comes as a pile of weights topple onto her and Scott launches himself from the left, she rolls away firing as pain sears through her foot, he takes the full burst. Silence.

“Hey Briggs, Shep you okay?”

Briggs’ head appears from round the big machine. “Denby and Grus are dead, so’s Shep.”

“Fuck! Scott’s got a belly full, I don’t think he’ll make it.” Grace struggles to her feet, her left ankle’s not taking her weight well. She checks the dead and makes sure Scott can’t reach a weapon before contacting medical on her radio, they’re on their way.

“Just Taggert to find. Briggs you secure Mecha and get Rogers on Farm, I’ll get back to the trial and watch Alpha. It’s shoot on sight if necessary.” She turns away almost tripping over young Sholto. The poor kid’s taken a round to the upper chest and without the protection of his Kevlar vest, he was on the way to exercise in just shorts and a t-shirt, he’s got a nasty wound. She puts pressure on and waits for medical to arrive, before limping off down the corridor, she knows Sholto’s parents and dreads breaking the news to them that their boy is badly hurt.

Outside the open area is filling up. It’s the last day of the trial and nearly all the Arkers have turned out to see their former Chancellor convicted. No-one can imagine any other verdict, though quite a few are interested in what Sydney will say in her closing speech. She’s known to be a persuasive speaker. Callie’s sitting at the prosecutor’s bench and the advocates and defendants are all in place. Grace scans the area looking for Taggart or any other Guard that’s not exactly where she told them to be. Nothing to see. She stops by Callie’s bench and gives her a quick update before moving to stand by a large chunk of Alpha Station walkway that’s been repurposed as a ramp. She continues to scan for Taggart.

The Ambassadors and Indra arrive just before the judges take their seats and Callie then stands to start her closing submissions. She sprints through the technical legal jargon; no jury really wants to hear that. What she needs to focus on is Shumway’s defence that ‘he was just following the Chancellor’s orders.’ It’s a classic excuse and Bjorn Zedemski’s done a good job of pushing it on Shumway’s behalf. It’s Callie who now needs to pull together some of the things that Shumway’s not managed to push onto Sydney. Like the deaths of Wells Jaha, Councillor Fuji and a number of beatings inflicted on Guards such as Grace Byrne or citizens like Henryk Belton. These independent actions Shumway’s not been able to blame on Sydney, so Callie pushes them hard and links his clear liking for power and violence to the role he admits taking in the launch of the missiles. He, Callie pronounces as she finishes “cannot be considered a victim of Diana Sydney’s ruthless ambitions, because he was a willing participant in a joint enterprise that sought to bring the two of them almost unlimited power both in the sky and on the ground.” The crowd roars their approval of her words and the judges have some difficulty in restoring calm over the shouts of “Float him! Float them! Float ‘em both!”

After Callie has sat down Solomon Pulcher, the leading judge, tells the crowd to quieten down or he will take the proceedings indoors and away from the public. There’s a noticeable reduction in noise in response to this threat and Pulcher then beckons to Bjorn Zedemski, who stands to give his closing speech on behalf of Shumway. He drones on for over a glass and Grace, who’s been awake since before dawn is finding it difficult to maintain alertness, this despite the raw pain from her ankle. The jury and most of the crowd look stupefied and Grace is pretty sure one of the Ambassadors, the one from Ouskejon (Blue Cliff), is asleep. She continues to scan for Taggart and she can see that Callie, now she has completed the presentation of the prosecution’s case, is doing the same. Zedemski finishes and there’s a pause while the judges blink, probably in relief. They quickly call for an adjournment and file out.

As the crowd starts to mill Grace sees him, near the entrance to Alpha station and making his way to where the defendants are surrounded by Guards. Grace starts to move through the crowd, Callie sees her and her eyes question. Grace nods at Taggart, who’s moving through the crowd with speed and purpose. He’s almost at the bench when one of the Guards, name of Lewis, stationed by Sydney sees him and raises a hand to stop him. All Guards have been briefed that no one is to approach the defendants without Grace’s permission and Lewis is drawing his pistol when Taggart opens fire. Chaos breaks out. Grace, Callie and others shout to people to get down, as they both surge towards Taggart. Lewis is dead and Sydney has his pistol, she’s opening fire when a knife thrown with deadly accuracy slices into her throat; she falls as Grace cannons into Taggart straddles him and with a sharp snap breaks his neck.  

Order is soon restored as soon as the gunfire stops. Guards surrounding the defendants secure Shumway and take him back to lock-up. A medic pronounces that Sydney and Taggart are dead. Grace and her Guards have pretty much cleared the area when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns to find Solomon Pulcher at her back.

“Judge Pulcher, are you okay?”

“I’m sorry to do this Byrne but I am placing you under arrest for using excessive force in arresting Taggart. We need to regain some of the laws and order that Chancellor’s, like Jaha, used to impose on our people. You didn’t need to break his neck Byrne. Briggs disarm her.”

Briggs looks stunned. “What. No! Commander Byrne?” He looks around wanting someone to tell him to do something, almost anything, else.

Grace looks around the few people left outside. Callie’s talking animatedly with Indra, Vera Kane is walking into Alpha Station with the defendants. Pulcher is on his own, she and Briggs could take him down no problem but what would that lead to? She sighs and disarms herself. “Just don’t put me in the same cell as Shumway or the others I’ve arrested today okay?”

Pulcher nods. “I have your word not to try and escape if I put you on house arrest?”

“Yeah.”

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands.

Onya slams a fist into the side of her knee and feels the kneecap snap back into place, jok (fuck) that hurt. In kicking her Lascar lost his own balance, his right leg is almost useless now and that gave her a few moments to pop the kneecap back in. She can feel the knee swelling up, but it will hold. She’s still in command of the centre and Lascar, his right leg failing, can no longer charge or rush her. It’s time to bring this to an end.

Flicks of her sword’s blade knock his away to the right, always to the right, his weaker side now. He’s tiring from; blood loss, the many charges he's made at his infuriatingly calm enemy and from pain in his face, back and leg. Their blades clash once again and she’s pushing him back again onto that right leg, the leg that doesn’t really work anymore. Sweat pours down his face, he can still win. He just needs to slip through her guard once!

Her blade dips slightly, she’ll flick it to his right and he lunges to take advantage on the left but she’s ready, baited him into the move; she switches Viper to her left hand and rising with her bodies’ full power behind it slices the blade into his neck. Leksa keeps Viper exquisitely sharp and Ulfbert always boasted that his blades could be used to cut down trees and then be used in battle, without losing their edge. Viper cuts through flesh, sinew and bone with ease and the head of Lascar of Hogar flies from his shoulders in an arc of gushing blood. Onya kom Trikru snatches her own blade Venom from his slackening hand, then she turns to the crowd and as she knows these blades like she knows her own body, throws Viper and Venom high into the air above her head and eyes closed in victory catches them as they fall. The watching crowd roars in support of her victory and skill. She opens her eyes, limps over to where Leksa is standing and drops to her uninjured knee, she offers Viper pommel first to her Heda. Leksa face immobile leans slightly forward as she accepts the return of her blade and grips her friend’s arm as she declaims. “Mochof Wormana!  (thank-you general)” In a whispered aside she adds. “Thank keryon (the spirits) and Becca that I have such a great gona as my wormana. Mochof Onya kom Trikru.  Indra would be proud but tell you less of the fancy juggling!” She embraces her old fos and dearest friend.

 As she stands Onya’s hoisted up onto the shoulders of jubilant gonas; Trikru, Ingranronakru, Sangedakru, Boudalankru, Ouskejon, even Azgeda laud her victory and carry her away to celebrate. The body of Lascar is dragged away to be buried and tomorrow his people will start to be dispersed. Some in service to Kongeda (Coalition) villages for five years, others to face the long journey home and those who wait for them.

………………….

Many hours later as darkness envelops the camp an exhausted Onya sees and feels the world spinning around her. Keryon she feels ill, she takes another gulp of whatever it is she’s been drinking. Ugh it tastes foul.  She must get back to her tent and Raven, beautiful Raven who was sleeping when she left this morning. She wants, no must, speak to her niron! Why isn’t Raven here enjoying her victory? Oh …. she was asleep…. Onya’s eyes sting, her belly cramps with whatever it is she’s drunk and her knee, even supported by the binding Klark put on it earlier, hurts like hell.

Oh, and why was Klark mad at her, she’d just won a great fight? Klark said she was going to “give her a piece of my mind!” but Leksa told her not to be too hard on Onya, she’d just fought soulou gonplei and that did strange things to a person, even an experienced gona like Onya. Then the two love-struck goufas had exchanged soppy looks and Klark whispered “I still remember that nightgown Heda” and they’d both giggled as Klark strapped up Onya’s knee and told her to go home to her tent.  

But she didn’t go home and now she wishes in all sincerity that she had. Oh jok! She stands, a little unsteadily and slurs out a farewell to her current hosts. She’s been feted and carried from kru to kru all around the camp tonight. Cheerful farewells follow her as she staggers away from the fire-pit and up the hill. It’s a bright moonlit night, she can see her way and Leksa’s tent is brightly lit. So many jokking candles, Heda loves her candles. Onya hums tunelessly and waves at Dax who is on watch. Her tent is just to the left of Leksa’s, strange it’s dark, maybe Raven is sleeping again. Raven likes sleeping, she likes sleeping with Onya. Onya sniggers at her own silly joke before her belly rebels and she halts abruptly to empty her stomach onto the ground. For a few moments she feels sweet relief and then, jok that Sangedakru wine, she’s heaving again and again, until her stomach is empty and just nasty yellow bile spews from her lips. Ugh her mouth feels vile. By the time she reaches her tent, she’s almost on her knees, would have been crawling on them if her injured knee didn’t hurt so much.

The tent flap is untied, like she’s expected and Onya smiles in anticipation of Raven’s warmth and welcome. But the tent is not only dark it’s also cold and empty. With clumsy hands Onya strikes a flint and lights a candle, placing it on top of her campaign chest. Looking around the good-sized space she can see immediately that Raven’s not there and as she gulps some water from a canteen she notices the tent is very tidy. Where’s Raven’s ‘stuff’. There’s always Raven’s stuff about the tent, ready to trip Onya up or stub her toe; boxes, wires, metal tools or pieces of tek.

She blinks, then her stomach heaves again and after she’s sicked up yet more bile she’s almost grateful to sink into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands. Sixth Moon Waxing Gibbous

Klark and Leksa don’t see Onya for three days after her victory over Lascar. Tris, who came back yesterday from training out west with Linkon, Oktavia and Saka kom Ingranronakru, only entered Onya’s tent briefly upon her return and she’s refused to say what state she found her fos (first) in. This morning Onya’s seen to take Tris through some tricky horse manoeuvres down in the training ring, but she doesn’t make contact with either of them until that evening when she comes to Leksa’s tent to ask for Heda’s permission to leave camp next morning.

“Where do you plan to go Onya?” 

“Back to Ton DC. I want to check how things are with the sky people. I heard they’ve had some trouble, so Kestra and I want to get back there.”  

“Will you stop anywhere on the way back?”  

“I have no reason to.”  

Leksa sighs Boudalan, which is on the route back to Ton DC, is where Raven’s working with their miners who need explosives to get at the deeper ores. They’re using dynamite scavenged from the Maun (Mountain) at the moment but with Raven’s help they can learn how to make their own charges when those supplies run out. Ben kom Boudalan has been trying to persuade Raven to go to his home for moons and her rather abrupt agreement to go a couple of days back made him very happy. He acceded to her demand that she was to leave immediately; “If I’m going I’m going today, I’m not fucking waiting” and sent his eldest and most presentable son back with her for her protection. He hopes that the good-looking boy can charm her into staying with the kru permanently, as well as protect her from bandits. The woman from the sky who can blow things up would be a great asset and presumably her children would be as clever as her!

To say Leksa and Klark are worried about their closest friends is a massive understatement and although Leksa is sure Klark would know exactly what to say to Onya at this moment, she finds herself almost tongue-tied. Life as a novitiate, gona and Heda gave her no preparation for talks about; emotions or on what to do when you’ve just driven your girlfriend into leaving you. But she tries.

“Onya you know you can talk… Oh Klark niron (beloved) thank keryon (the spirits) you are here, Onya is heading back to Ton DC.” Klark walks into the tent looking exhausted. She’s spent the day trying to educate the priests and women of Hogar about the importance of hygiene during childbirth. She turns to look at the tall wormana (general).

 “Hei Onya, you look like skrish (shit). I’ve heard Sangedakru wine is considered by some krus to be a very effective poison. I feel lucky to see you alive!”  Onya visibly flinches at Klark’s tone and words but doesn’t seem to want to respond verbally.

“But then again you made my best friend, who never cries, cry! So maybe I should be wishing you dead?”

“Klark!” Leksa’s tone is mildly admonitory.

“Oh, I know you gonas (warriors) will stick together, it’s gona-code or some jokking (fucking) skrish? We who are not gonas just get to hang around and watch you; as you get killed, or nearly get killed.”

Klark’s been waiting to have a go at Onya ever since Raven left the camp in tears three days ago and now she just can’t stop the spill of angry words. “You!” Klark’s reverted to gonaslang she’s so angry. “Never even bothered to tell Raven that you were going to fight that, that..…man! You’re so fucking selfish Onya that you couldn’t tell the woman you are supposed to love that you may not live out the day! She woke up to seeing you wounded and fighting for your life. I just can’t believe you’d do that to her! Do you know she’d ordered your bonding rings? Designed them herself, got Rolf to make them. They’re so fucking beautiful! She, was going to ask you the big question, had the whole romantic scene in her head and you just fucked off, tried to get yourself killed and then drank yourself into oblivion! You make me sick, the pair of you!”

Klark storms out of the tent. Leksa’s plaintiff “Klark!” doesn’t stop her. The two gonas are left alone. Onya slumps onto a bench and drily comments “Moba (Sorry), it looks like I landed you in the skrish too!”

“Sha branwada! (Yes fool!)” Leksa looks, really looks, at Onya. She’s unhealthily pale, with dark shadows under her eyes and has an air of fragility she’s never seen before. “Klark is angry because Raven was devastated Onya. She couldn’t bring herself to speak to me at all and barely said anything to Klark before she left for Boudalan with Theo.”

The air of misery is palpable when Onya drops her head into her hands. “Jok!”  

Later that night Klark returns, regretting her angry words.

“Moba Leksa, I’m just so mad at Onya and I lost it. I’m not mad at you. I just can’t see how Onya could do that to Raven, when she loves her so much. They both love each other so much. I …. I just can’t understand the ‘gona’ way of thinking; at times you, Onya and other gonas, just seem to consider yourselves disposable, as if death is going to happen… just like that and you accept it, almost welcome it!.... Moba niron, moba.” Klark slumps against Leksa’s shoulder as they lie under their furs.

“Onya was wrong Klark, she should have told Raven and at least tried to explain why she wanted to fight Lascar but I don’t know if she could do that. I know, as I try now to explain to you how a gona thinks of fighting and death, how difficult it is and I’ve been trying to think of a way to explain it to you for the last couple of glasses.”

Klark turns in Leksa’s arms “please try niron.”

“Kei. Once I said to you that as Heda I tell my gonas to ‘go die for me’ and that they must be prepared to do that without hesitation or question.” Klark nods remembering their conversation from the Old Times. “So many of us on the ground are trained as gonas and an important part of that training, especially in the days before the Kongeda (Coalition), was to know that at any-time you could be sent to fight knowing that it meant you would die. But you would go and fight and when you died it would be with honour and keryon and your fellow gonas would know of your sacrifice.”

Leksa pauses for a moment. “Once Heda Conway sent Onya and fifteen gonas to fight an Azgeda raiding party of over fifty that had crossed the border just north of Polis. I was Onya’s seken (second) and we knew that what we were expected to do was to sell our lives as dearly as we could, so that the Azgedans would be reduced in numbers and held back for a while from attacking the village of Kopax. That gave Heda the chance to gather more gonas to defend Kopax.”

“But you didn’t die. What happened?”

“We killed them all. Fifty-seven Azgeda gonas. Three of us survived and when we returned to Heda Conway, at first he believed us to be cowards who had run from death. But we took him to the grove where all the dead lay, only then did he believe us. We gonas are ‘disposable’ Klark and knowing that does things to us, to our minds and hearts.  I still think Onya was wrong but I hope Raven can forgive her.”

Ark Camp - The Valley. Sixth Moon - Full  

House arrest sucks. For over a week Grace has been confined to quarters while the little news she does hear is pretty bad. She trains as best she can, able to exercise for hours as there’s not much else to do in her small quarters when all electronic media and entertainment facilities are denied her. An unsigned note under her door told her that she’s on camera almost 24-7 and when Briggs or Rogers bring her food, disgusting sky rations, there’s always a note under the plate giving her some idea of the latest fallout from; the trial debacle, her arrest, the Council’s mass resignation and the recent fragility in relations between Arkers and the people on the ground. The only good news is that Shumway’s dead, killed in his cell by God knows who. At least they can’t blame her for that!

She’s sitting on the toilet seat in her tiny bathroom, the only part of her quarters not subject to monitoring, reading the note that came with today’s lunch. Elections are to be held in the coming days, Judge Pulcher and a group of his cronies are standing on a “return to the independent and disciplined days of the Ark” ticket, while Lassiter Potter, Zhang Wei and Robert Stinnasson call themselves the ‘Integrationists’.  

The whole thing stinks and not just because Grace is going to be tried for the murder of Taggart. The recently elected Councillors all resigned when it was announced she was going to be charged. They were disgusted at the Ark’s judicial system being used for political scheming and thought that calling an election would give them the people’s clear support for reforming it. Maybe that idea was a mistake, they certainly hadn’t reckoned with Pulcher being so election savvy.

She thinks about being tried for murder and for a moment is glad that her mothers aren’t here to see it. Fuck! Her court appointed lawyer is Bjorn Zedemski, but she’s refused to speak to him and has asked for Callie to represent her. They’re supposed to be meeting this afternoon. Her door bell chimes so she flushes the toilet, walks out of the bathroom and opens the door. It’s Callie, a friendly face at last! She walks in and they embrace. Callie whispers in her ear “after five minutes the power will go down and I can secure our meeting against eaves-droppers for ten.”

“Thanks for asking me to represent you Grace….” Callie burbles for a few minutes and then there’s a noticeable glitch in the power as the lights dim and background machine noise is silenced. Quickly Callie digs into her bag and takes out a small box that she switches on. It hums to life as Callie taps in a code. “Okay we can talk for ten minutes. We’ve got to get you out of here Grace, I can’t guarantee you’ll get a fair trial, Pulcher’s been too bloody clever. He’s got a whole nostalgia ‘for the good old days of Thelonious Jaha’ vibe going on and people seem to be lapping it up. It all sounds so full of comfortable certainty when he makes his speeches and he’s running one hell of a campaign. Lassiter and the Integrationists, who the hell thought up that stupid name, aren’t looking good for a win and you could be the sacrificial lamb in all this. Everyone knows Heda Leksa values you highly, you did save Klark’s life after all and you managed to work with the Coalition in getting negotiations going. Pulcher may use your trial as part of a demonstration of his; ‘we are and should remain independent of the Coalition’ idea! It’s not safe for you here Grace, are you willing to leave?” There’s no hesitation before Grace nods her agreement. She’s glad to be leaving. These metal walls, after you’ve become used to a life outside of; sky, air, animals and trees, have just closed in on her and she’s suffocating. To think this big metal box was once her whole life!

“It’s a new moon tonight can you be ready to get out of here in a few hours?”

Grace stands and walks to the cupboard unit at the back of the room. She takes out a small pouch and hands it to Callie. “This is the only thing I want to take away from this dump. My great great-grandmother was an Olympian, she won gold medals for fencing.” Callie takes the pouch and puts it into her bag.  She reaches to the humming box ready to switch it off.

“Briggs and Rogers are coming with you and a boy called Sholto, his parents can’t make it tonight but they’re keen to get him away asap. They’ll try to get out another day, along with a few others who don’t like the way things are going. Briggs should be here for you at about 0100 and wear your uniform!” Grace shrugs, she only got her uniform and some exercise kit these days. Callie switches off the box and starts talking, as if she’s been talking of nothing else, about the basis of Grace’s defence to the charge of murder. About fifteen minutes later she leaves, having talked fluently through the process of plea bargaining the charge down to manslaughter. Grace is thankful that she’s not been required to say much by way of response, she never was any good at acting.

As soon as Callie leaves Grace slumps onto her bed fully clothed, an entirely believable reaction she thinks, to the news of her upcoming trial and plea bargain. Anyone watching would see an exhausted and dispirited woman and that’s the truth of it. Grace dozes, she wants to be as fresh as possible when the others come to get her.

The room lights dim onto the Ark’s evening cycle when her clock reads 2000 hours and Grace shuffles into her bathroom. She does her essential ablutions and changes into clean underwear before dressing again in the uniform she’d been wearing. She shuffles dejectedly back into her room and slumps onto the bed. The door chimes, it’s time for her evening meal. “Prisoner stand back” is shouted through her door and a tray is pushed in. She eats sparingly, but drinks the water and after an hour the Guard returns for her tray.

She’s spent the evening reading one of her few hard-copy books and as her clock reads 0001 switches her lights to low. Now she waits. At 0100 the room lights dim slightly, another arranged power outage? Then there’s a light scratching at her door. She’s up and ready when the door opens a crack and Briggs’ voice whispers “Grace?” She whispers back “I’m ready.” Then they’re out in the corridor, Grace is handed an engineer’s white coat that she shrugs into and together with Briggs strides down the corridor. It takes them a few minutes of steady paced walking to get out of Alpha Station and into the night air. Grace takes the white coat off and it’s stashed under a bench, Briggs hands her a bullpup rifle. They are joined by the two others, all of them are now armed and dressed in black Guard uniforms. Briggs guides them to stand, squashed together, behind a small metal shed. “We need to wait awhile.” They watch while units of the Guard prepare to switch shifts. “Now, walk, we’re changing shift with Derrik Porter’s unit, Grace you stay at the back, cap brim low!” Together all four march out to the gate, Briggs at the front. He exchanges a few words with Derrik, who studiously avoids looking at Grace and the change of shift is made. The outgoing group of four marches smartly back into Alpha Station.  The four fugitives wait for a while, ostensibly on guard at the gate, then they slip out through the wicket gate and into the darkness beyond. Callie and a small group of gonas are waiting for them, the familiar face of Oscar is a welcome surprise. Quietly they walk away for about half a league to where horses are tethered. Then there’s the usual comedy of when skai people meet horses, but with help all four manage to mount and ride away from their past.

Polis - Heda’s Tower

Madrona kom Delphikru stalks through the tower’s lowest floor, Gaia at her side. “I still can’t believe it. Titus was learned, he could read without difficulty. They were a learned family, his father was learned in matters of the stars and mathematics, his brother Lepidus is Heda’s Star Gazer. Why did he not read these books when they were found and bring them to my attention or Heda’s? He knew we were still looking for Becca Pramheda’s early writings.”

Gaia increases her stride to keep pace with the agitated chief Fleimkepa. “We don’t know when he found them Madrona. Sheidheda (Dark Heda) most likely hid them and his time as Heda ended over twenty-five summers ago and Titus was Fleimkepa of Polis for fifteen summers, he could have found them anytime within those fifteen years! Even a few days before the fall of the Maunon (Mountain men) he was searching the archives and Polis Tower’s shrine for papers and relics.”

Madrona doesn’t seem convinced and Gaia, now aware of Titus’ love of power, isn’t convinced by her own arguments either. It just seems so wicked to continue Sheidheda’s version of the conclave, where natblidas (black bloods) fought to the death, when finding and reading Becca’s diaries made it very plain that in earlier times defeated natblidas lived and served whoever won the conclave.

Madrona is now determined to change the conclave back to what Becca wanted. The difficulty is that the current form is what the Kongeda is used to. This could be a change too far for the clans or just for their ambassadors. Gaia’s glad that Madrona is going to take the lead on this when Heda returns to Polis in a few days.   

The Caves of Boudalan

Her audience is rapt, ten senior miners focus one hundred percent of their attention on her and her demonstration. The three, finely ground ingredients; sulphur, charcoal and saltpetre are measured out in the coloured beakers she’s made and she’s mixing them together very carefully. A fine fabric mask over her mouth and nose prevents her breathing in the dust and she’s pushing this and all the other safety measures big time. Safe production, safe storage and safe use of the final explosive product is important.

A little later in the day she’s got them; timing fuses as they burn, pouring the black powder into wooden tubes, launching fireworks and then finally each carefully packs a tube into a hole drilled into the mine’s face.  They then all leave the mine and Raven lights the fuses. A few seconds later a distant crump is followed by dust blowing out of the shaft, they’ll wait until tomorrow to see what ore has been loosened. Gonas are posted at the mine’s entrance.

Considering that Boudalan is known for producing gonas of huge stature and muscle, Raven’s a little surprised at the constant need to guard almost everything. Theo explains that it’s the equipment and refined ores that are so valuable and bandits will risk death to steal from the mines and then there are some mine owners who will steal from their neighbours. Ben as chief of the kru has had some success in reducing thefts but the war in the west meant that many gonas left to fight for Heda and the bandits took advantage. Now Ben’s gonas have started to return home the thieving should reduce, but Theo warns Raven to be careful and stay within the caves when he and his gonas are not with her.

Despite the need to stay safe Raven’s been entertained by Theo and his friends the five days she’s been working with the miners.  These big people, Theo’s not unusually tall at 6’ 6”, really know how to party and Raven could go to bed drunk or with a different bed partner or both, every night if she wanted. But that hasn’t happened, she isn’t going to drink herself to oblivion and handle explosives the next morning and her libido, like Elvis, ‘has left the building’. She knows it has a lot to do with the tight, uncomfortable feeling in her chest and the sudden urge she gets, at the most inconvenient of times, to cry. She misses Onya, finds herself looking over her shoulder seeking her own gona’s; comments, smirks, cooking and touch. The touch that could reassure her when she was worried or frightened or arouse her when it was just that little bit softer or rougher than usual. The touch that only Onya can give her.

Next morning the trip down the mine is a fruitful, if scary, one. The blasts damaged some of the roof supports so the way has to be cleared and new timbers put in place, but the explosions fractured and shattered huge parts of the mine’s main face and the miners are jubilant. It will take many days to transport such a bounty of high-quality ore to the surface.  They start making arrangements immediately and Raven, Theo and a couple of his gonas start to make their way back to the kru’s main caves. Raven has another demonstration to prepare for, this time it’s how to make nitro-glycerine. They walk to where their horses are tied, all of them buoyed up by the success of the gunpowder test and chatting about its’ many uses.

Phhhht is the only sound that warns them and Theo staggers back, an arrow protruding from his huge chest. More arrows fly and suddenly Raven is the only one still standing. “Sky woman stay still and you will not be hurt. Move or cry out and you will feel pain!” Raven freezes as six huge men walk out of the nearby brush, three carry bows, arrows ready notched and pointing at her. The other three approach Theo and his two fallen gonas and without hesitation slit their throats. Raven is now alone with the attackers and three dead friends. She swallows convulsively trying to keep some control over her reactions. One of the six approaches her, he's huge, blonde and heavily bearded. As he slips his dagger into its’ sheath he produces a leather thong from a pouch at his waist. Swiftly he uses it to tie her hands behind her back and cutting off a piece of cloth from one of the dead men’s shirts he stuffs it into her mouth and ties the gag in place too. One of the bowmen calls over. “Sling her over a horse’s back. As long as she’s in one piece Felix will be pleased.” She’s lifted, as if she weighs nothing and ungently dropped over the back of Theo’s horse. Her kidnappers lead the horses away and she concentrates hard on trying not be sick into the gag, as the horse is led off the pathway and into the scrubby trees and grass that line the trackway.

Boudalan Borderlands

Kestra’s scouts are in good spirits as they ride for home.  Ingranronakru lands, the work investigating the westerners, the soulou gonplei (single combat); it was all exciting and different and now they go home to see what the sky branwadas have been doing. Kestra however is anxious, the news about the Arkers isn’t good, Grace is imprisoned by her own people and she’s to be tried by them for killing a natrona (traitor)! It wouldn’t happen in the world of Indra’s Trikru, kill a natrona and you’d be congratulated. She looks up into the rising hills, darkness will fall soon and Wormana (General) Onya and her seken are off hunting for supper, so Kestra and her scouts set up camp and get the fire going.

The campfire is burning well and even the trail bread tastes good when dipped into the savoury stew’s juices. Watches are set and the gonas start to go to their furs. Kestra, Tris and Onya sit by the fire, the night is warm and pleasant, though the clouds threaten rain tomorrow. “Shall we shelter in the caves tomorrow? The sky looks bad and Boudalan know how to treat guests.”

Onya’s face remains a mask as she grunts her assent, the sky does look as if a storm will hit them tomorrow. It would be foolish to try to just ride through it and maybe, just maybe, she’ll get a glimpse of Raven. Though what she’ll do or even try to say to her she has no idea. No idea at all.  

Chapter Text

Mammoth Cave System - Boudalan

They make it to the caves before the storm breaks to find the heart of Boudalan kru in chaos. Tall muscular men and women are running in all directions; some carry weapons, others their children, foodstuffs or what look like valuables. Onya’s glad she’s mounted on her war horse Solar, who will stay calm despite noise or disturbance and whose great height keeps her from being trampled by the panicked gonas and citizens of Boudalan. She reins in Solar when across the stone-floored entrance area she sees Will, a Boudalan gona she knows and with care directs Solar to walk towards him. “What’s happening? Who’s in charge?”

Will looks at her relief in his eyes. “Thank keryon (the spirits) you are here Wormana (General), no one is in charge. The Chief’s heir Theo has been killed, his nomon (mother) ruled in the Chief’s absence at the war in the west, but she is now so distraught that she seems to have lost her reason. Her orders are contradictory; pursue the killers, bring Theo’s body to her, search for the sky woman, close down the caves, reinforce the entrance against bandits! No-one knows what to do!”  

Onya’s heart clenches with fear when she hears of Theo’s death and where is Raven if they are searching for her? She turns to Kestra. “Take some scouts and go with Will to where Raven was last seen and follow her trail. I will speak with Elizabeth kom Boudalan to try and find out what needs to be done. Take Tris with you and send her back to find me when you find Raven. I will join you when I can.”

Onya finds Elizabeth in the main cave complex; she’s surrounded by handmaidens and kru elders; her usually beautiful and composed face is haggard with sorrow and red with weeping. Onya strides into the large warm space and politely bows to the crying woman. “Elizabeth kom Boudalan I am sorry for your great loss. I knew Theo as a very promising gona and heir. I do not want to add to your distress but can you or someone at your order tell me what happened and how I can assist you?”

Elizabeth acknowledges Onya and directs a spritely looking elder she introduces as Lancaster to recount the story. Lancaster, to spare Elizabeth distress, takes Onya to one side to give her details of the death of Theo and his two gonas and the disappearance of Raven. “Who is suspected of this crime Lancaster?”

Lancaster shakes his greying head. “Please call me Lancs, everyone does. Only one bandit has the nerve to do this and that is Felix who is called by some the Bis (Beast). He seeks power in Boudalan, still angry that his brother Ben was chosen as chief upon the death of their nontu (father) twelve summers ago. Perhaps he thinks the sky plana (woman) can give him power, with her knowledge of explosives and weapons. The dynamite taken from the Maun (Mountain) has brought some great wealth but not all have agreed with our Chief’s decisions about who can use it. The clan is restless and Felix seeks to take advantage of this.”

Ah yes, Onya remembers Heda Conway dealing with the two brothers. Of the two Ben was by far the greater gona, leader and miner, it was only Felix who was surprised when Ben was chosen to lead. Onya recalls that Heda Conway endorsed Ben’s chiefdom without hesitation. Ben’s rule has been reasonable, though the inequalities in wealth within his kru is known to cause problems.

“Do you know where Felix would take a captive?”

“He favours the woods over our caves, as in the caverns and mines Ben has complete control. He and his followers live in fortified villages to the north, near the borders with Azgeda and Ouskejon but he will also have camps nearer to here.”

Boudalan

Raven wakes when she is shaken hard by a very large hand. “Just five minutes more!” she curls into her nest of smelly furs.

“Up sky woman, we leave and you must eat.” Her blonde captor, who she has learned is called Nev, pulls her to her feet and unties her hands. As his blade hovers close to her back, she drinks water from the proffered canteen and starts to eat the meat passed to her in a disintegrating leaf. She gags, the meat is badly cooked and sprinkled heavily with spices to disguise that it is going off. She drops the food uneaten and drinks more water; she really doesn’t want an upset stomach when she has no control over what she does and when she does it. She tries to persuade Nev to allow her to ride or at least not be tied both hand and foot, but he is cautious or a sadist and she is bound, gagged and put again over a horse’s back; the horse is then led through the heavy woodland by Nev’s big raw-boned bay.

Western Border of Ingranronakru lands. Sixth Moon Waning Gibbous

The war camp is packed up around them. Over the past few days nearly all the clans’ gonas have left for their homes. Klark is in the healers’ tent with Nyko, making sure that the few wounded remaining in the tent have carers with them who know what medications are needed on their journeys home. The last of the captives left earlier this morning, some with Kongeda gonas travelling to the villages where they will work for the next five years; others walk back to Hogar and whatever reception is awaiting them there. Those who travel west are shadowed by Linkon, Oktavia and a small gonakru, they will make sure none of those who are bound for Hogar linger in Kongeda lands.

Leksa is with a raging Ben kom Boudalan in the radio tent, as he hears from Onya the news of his son’s death, his houmon’s (spouse’s) mental collapse and Raven’s kidnap. Immediately she offers him assistance that he gratefully accepts and Leksa selects a small kru to travel fast to Boudalan with her and Klark. Onya will need back-up in dealing with Felix, when she finds him. With Kestra and her scouts searching through woodland, it is just a matter of time before Felix’ hideout is discovered. Leksa radios Ton DC, help from Trikru will meet them at the Mammoth Caves.

Their small party consists of Leksa, Klark, Dax, Gostos, Ryder, Penn, Ben and his three bodyguards, Kylla, Hodg and Campbell.  They set off at a gallop, it will take them a couple of days to reach the big cave complex.

Boudalan

Kestra and her scouts ride in silence through the forest. Cover is good as the trees are in full leaf and the ground is generally soft with last season’s fallen needles and leaves, it’s that cushioning of the trail that allows them to move on horseback with little risk of being discovered. What is slowing them down is that the kidnappers have taken some care to cover their tracks, but with careful searching their trail has been found and followed despite them using; streams, diversions over rocky ground and careful brushing over of prints, to conceal their passage. She can tell from the signs that seven of them ride, with three extra horses, probably those of Theo and his gonas. Kestra guesses that they are little more than one day ahead of her pursuit. She sends Shannon back to the Mammoth Caves to let Onya know which way they are travelling; she’ll send Tris back when they find Raven.   A few glasses later the trail has gone cold again, this time at a sluggish river. Kestra sends scouts up and down stream to see where the fugitives emerge from the concealment of the waters. She looks about her, they’re out of the mountains now and on the edge of mixed woodland and meadows. She rubs the soil between her fingers, it’s rich and probably good for crops. Wild fruit trees dot meadows that are colourful with blossom, flowers and grasses. If this was Trikru land Indra would be talking to her farmers and Vera Kane about what best to grow or graze here. While her forward scouts work looking for the trail, Kestra and her companions give their horses a rest, water them and eat a light lunch of trail bread and cold meat. They talk in low murmurs, while three keep a lookout for hostiles.

It's over a glass before Tusker returns. He’s found the trail leaving the river about a league upstream, heading north. Kestra leaves coded signs for those who follow, then all mount up and follow Tusker.

Mammoth Cave System. Sixth Moon - Last Quarter

When Leksa, Klark and their party arrive after a day and night of hard travel, Onya is waiting for them near the cave’s entrance, along with Indra, Grace Byrne and a Trikru gonakru of twenty. Ben passes his horse to a waiting gona and runs inside to find his houmon and meet with his captains.

“I didn’t expect you here Indra.” Leksa and her group dismount and are grateful to the Boudalan gonas who take their tired horses away for water and rest.  

“Callie will enjoy the time alone with Candra and our wet nurse is good. I wanted to get back into the saddle and see some action.”

Klark manages not to comment on the wisdom of ‘action’ so soon after giving birth. There’s no point in her trying to persuade Indra to stay away from danger if Callie hasn’t managed to keep her houmon at home. Instead, she just asks how everyone is in Ton DC and at the Arkers’ camp. The news of Ton DC is good, but the Arkers continue to agitate about; elections that should be happening in the next day or so and Grace’s escape.

Indra puts it succinctly. “If I have to deal again with those branwadas (fools) who fell from the sky and live in the big metal cans, someone will die!”

It's Grace who explains that it was thought a good idea that she leaves Ton DC for a while, so that Callie can say in all truth that Grace is not staying in the village.  When talk moves on to Raven’s kidnapping Onya tells them the story to date and it seems that their arrival is timely, as Onya and the party from Ton DC are about to leave for the north, following Kestra on the trail of the kidnappers. Shannon will be able to guide them for the start of their journey.

Before they leave Leksa needs to talk with Ben about Felix and she and Klark want to give their condolences to Elizabeth for the death of Theo. It’s agreed that they will all set off in pursuit of Raven’s abductor in about a glass. Leksa and Klark head into the huge cave system guided by an elder called Manch who explains how Elizabeth kom Boudalan seems to have been completely overwhelmed by her only son’s murder. As they are guided through the cavernous spaces, walking on timber planking or crunchy chippings of stone, they hear a commotion of screams and wails. Speeding up, they jog towards the source of the noise. Two massive gona meet them and one cries. “Heda, Klark kom Trikru beja (please) help us. Elizabeth has tried to kill herself. She is mad with grief!” Klark, glad she’s carrying her saddlebag with her, sprints forward.

“Sha (yes), take me to her.”  

Following the gonas they enter what would normally be a beautiful cave, lit by a mix of natural light from a glassed over skylight in the arched ceiling and many candles. But now it is coloured a violent and bloody red as Elizabeth’s body tries to expel its’ own vital fluids in pouring streams. It takes some time for Klark, with Leksa and Ben’s help, to slow the flow of blood from Elizabeth’s cuts. She’s going to need many stitches and likely a blood transfusion. Klark cannot leave her side for some days. After a brief discussion, Leksa reluctantly leaves Klark to care for Elizabeth and she prepares to ride with Onya after Raven. Ben has sent out the order for his gonas to assemble and will follow Leksa as soon as he can.

Northern Boudalan - Sixth Moon Waning Crescent

Three days later, as the sun rises, Leksa, Onya, Kestra and Indra sit high in the branches of a mature oak looking down on the bandits’ scruffy campsite. They keep their voices low as they plan their attack, because even if the Boudalan bandits never look up, sound does travel. First, Kestra gives a quick report of who is in the camp and where they can be found in the dozen or so tents that are placed within a makeshift fence.

“There are over eighty gonas living in this camp. At least ten are always on watch, another ten are usually hunting for game during daylight hours, five are busy making charcoal in that big turf mound at the edge of the tree-line and a group of eight was sent two days ago to gather supplies for Raven to turn into bombs.  Felix keeps Raven close nearly all the time. She even has a private latrine. His tent, like all the others is made of hides and looks old and worn, but it is by far the largest and there are always at least twenty gonas in there with him. He runs the camp like it’s a chief’s court; with his advisors and captains always at his side.  In his tent he sits on a big throne at the head of a table made from the base of one of the big fir trees and much time is spent at that table, ‘planning’ as they eat and drink!”

Indra leans forwards to question. “Do they have the usual Boudalan big axes and long swords?”  

Kestra smiles “Sha (yes), it’s always the same with Boudalan, the bigger, the better!”

Indra smiles evilly. “They never learn. We’ll have the advantage if we can take them inside their tents and use our shorter swords, throwing knives and daggers. We have ropes and the tree height to swing. It’s just deciding when we attack and who is to do what. Heda, Onya it will be just like the Azgeda outside Lodz, sha?” Leksa and Onya nod in agreement. It’s a very similar set up to their attack on a war-camp eight summers ago. Leksa looks across at Onya’s seken Tris, she was her age then and the destruction of the camp was one of her first acts of war against Azgeda. It seems a long time ago now, she had ascended as Heda only the previous summer.   

In the Bandits’ Camp - noon

Felix shakes her ‘til her bones rattle and then throws her to one side like a wet cloak. “Your life depends on this sky woman! I want bombs that will destroy my brother’s caverns and mines. Make them soon or you’ll die at my hand!” Raven picks herself up from the filthy floor, pulls herself together and lets her anger rip.

“Fuckwit! I, keep telling you that I can’t make bombs out of thin air! If you want things to go boom, arsehole, you must give me the materials I need. Charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre. No materials, no boom! You useless mamahueva (cocksucker)!”

Felix seems to swell in anger as her words fill the tent and for a second she thinks he is going to reach for his sword and end her, but then he breathes deeply and turns to his right-hand man. “Nev when are the gonas I sent for the burning-stone and bat-skrish (shit) due to return?”

“Tonight Chief, a runner came this morning saying the wagon should be here before nightfall.”

“Thank keryon, as soon as we learn how to make the bombs we can get rid of her. I don’t care how clever she, or her children, may be - she is unbearable. Her face may be beautiful but I can’t even think it would be fun to jok (fuck) her. She does nothing but spit out insults and complain!”

He strides to where Raven is standing, she is muttering what are clearly yet more insults in some foreign tongue, so he backhands her across the face for good measure. “Be silent woman or I will lose my patience and just kill you to get some peace! Nev bind and gag her I don’t want her insulting me again!”

As Nev approaches her, ties and gag in hand, Raven almost weeps in despair but she grits her teeth and has a good go at kicking and biting him as he uses his greater strength to subdue and tie her. Eventually she is bound, gagged and pushed to the ground and he is sucking his bitten fingers and walking a little carefully as he makes his way across the tent’s spacious communal section. Things then quieten as Felix and his companions move to the big table and start to serve themselves food. There’s a fair number of low grumblings as the meat is part burnt, part raw. Raven, who understands far more Trigedeslang than the bandits imagine, takes perverse pleasure in the fact that the only decent cook they had was killed by a huge wolf pauna yesterday whilst he was collecting herbs and none have the skill to replace him. She rolls over and manages to pull herself up into a sitting position at the edge of the tent. From her place on the floor, she looks around the group of gonas sitting at the big oval table. Each is physically impressive, at least by Ark standards. Even the four women are all close to 6ft in height and the men seem to average out at around 6ft 4”, Felix himself easily tops 6ft 6”. As they make themselves comfortable around the table and start to swill back the plentiful ale, they still have a good brewer in camp, Raven scans the big tent for anything that she can use to cut, or at least weaken, the leather thongs that bind her hands behind her back.

The tent is messy, like the whole campsite really. Rubbish accumulates in corners; bits of rope, dirty clothes, broken pots. Ah, a piece of broken pot may have sharp edges so Raven starts to move, squirming apparently in discomfort, in the direction of the small collection of greasy pottery shards.  

…………..

She’s been sawing at the leather ties for what must be hours, her arms are tired and numb and both wrists are grazed and bleeding. No-one takes any notice of her; she’s not had food or water since just before noon and now it’s dark outside and gloomy inside the big smelly candle-lit tent. The bandits are eating again. This time with some relish as a new cook has been found who’s produced big pots of savoury smelling stew and a dozen loaves of fresh bread. The mood of the whole group lightens, despite the failure of Felix’ gonas to return as promised with the bomb making materials, as they tuck in to the food.

Another pot of stew and more ale is brought in by a couple of servers, almost bent double by the weight of the huge vessels. There’s a shout outside, Raven along with the others looks towards the doorway, then there’s a tearing sound and all hell breaks loose.

Raven’s seen pictures of Kali, a goddess of an old religion with many arms and for a second it looks like the dark goddess of change, death and creation has landed right in the middle of Felix’ big table! Death certainly has arrived, with swords that move so quickly Raven’s eyes can’t follow, the goddess’ blades cut, stab and thrust into those seated at the table. The two servers drop the hot stew and stoups of ale onto the gonas nearest them and straighten up to reveal themselves to be Onya and Indra, who start to fling knives and swing their swords with deadly accuracy at those who are still seated. Blood sprays around the tent. Raven sees Kali, who is in fact Leksa in full war paint, behead three gonas within the blink of an eye and soon she can see nothing at all as a gout of blood lands on her face. She throws herself face down trying to clear her eyes of the thick liquid. She feels her bonds being cut as she is gently rolled onto her side; a hand wipes her face. “Stay still niron (beloved) or you will be hurt.” Onya moves away and back into the fight. Leksa is still on the table, her short wakizashi flashing in the candlelight, Indra’s standing in the doorway with Gostos and Dax protecting her back, throwing knife after knife into bandits like they were just standing targets! From outside there’s the sound of gunfire, what the fuck?! Raven desperately wants to join in, give some payback to these fuckers! But blades and knives are moving so fast and close to her that she knows trying to stand up is a very bad idea. Instead, she crawls along the tent’s side looking for a weapon; a knife protrudes from the back of a gona who’s face down in the dirt. It's Nev who starts to struggle to his knees, his hand grabs at the hilt of his sheathed sword. Raven kicks him down again yanking the knife from his back and he screams in agony. With what little strength and sensation she has in her numbed hands Raven slashes the knife across his throat but she is powerless to stop him falling on top of her as his life blood pours over her face and hands.

………

She’s been given a cloth to wipe herself clean; food and drink have been provided but she can’t bring herself to touch anything. Faces approach her; speaking quietly, speaking urgently, not speaking at all, but she has nothing to say. Her hands play with some bread, making little pellets that she flicks away. Cups of ale, water, wine; she just looks at the liquids idly curious about their differing physical properties. She turns away from the anxious faces, curls up and with eyes wide open, tries to sleep.

“What shall we do? What’s wrong with her?” Onya peers at Raven who is curled into a tight unresponsive ball. She’s never seen her niron like this.  

“I wish Klark were here, she’d know what to do.”

“We can’t wait for Klark she needs to eat and drink now!"

“We can ask Grace, she’s from the sky, maybe it’s a sky thing.” Indra doubts her own advice but can’t think of anything else to suggest.

Raven starts to shiver violently and Onya can’t contain her fear anymore. She lies down next to and around her niron, arranging furs to cover her and speaks quietly so only Raven can hear. “You are safe niron, your own gona is here, your own branwada (fool) of a gona is here. Beja (Please) Raven you need to eat and drink.” Gently her hands stroke Raven’s hair, her long limbs curve around the shaking girl and her strong arms hold her close. Indra and Leksa leave the small tent to go in search of Grace, maybe she has some idea of what is happening to Raven.

Onya reaches for the damp cloth and with infinite care wipes Raven’s face. She rinses the cloth and gently cleans Raven’s hands of Nev’s caked blood. All the while she whispers gently. “Moba (sorry), moba Raven, I was a branwada. Your gona is such a branwada.”

Slowly Raven starts to feel; the warmth of Onya’s body surrounding her, the cloth wiping her face and hands, the arms holding her close.

Finally, the shaking stops and Raven’s eyes close as she snuggles back into Onya’s embrace. “Just my luck, I get stuck with the jokking (fucking) branwada of a gona!”

Chapter Text

Ton DC 7^th Moon New

Most of the party make their way at a brisk pace from Boudalan to Ton DC. The Arkers have held yet more of their elections and Leksa, Klark and Indra are worried about what a new Ark Council’s attitude will be towards their neighbouring Trikru and the Kongeda (Coalition) as a whole. An increase in bandit activity in the area is also a concern. A second smaller group headed by Klark and Onya travel directly to Polis.

Klark when she arrived at the bandits’ camp was immediately taken to see Raven, whose mental and physical state made her very worried for her friend. She wants to get Raven to Polis as soon as possible to allow her mom to scan and if needed treat her. Raven had allowed Klark, and only Klark, to examine her. On examination Klark found Raven to be hungry but unwilling to eat, very sleepy and tired, her skin extremely pale, extensive bruising covered her torso (the result of the bandits strapping Raven over the back of a horse as they fled through Boudalan), plus various other cuts and bruises to her head and arms and mentally Klark finds her friend almost unrecognisable. Her normal confidence has almost vanished and her interactions with everyone but Onya are overlain with a passive lassitude and weariness. She hasn’t threatened to blow anyone up all the time Klark has been there!   Klark can’t rule out that Raven has an internal bleed and she’s clearly suffering from some kind of shock as a result of mental or physical trauma or probably both. Only Abi has the equipment to really find out what internal injuries, if any, Raven has suffered.  This small party, with protection from a gonakru supplied by Indra and Klark’s own guards, Ryder and Penn, travels slowly at cart’s pace, as it is too painful for Raven to ride. Onya never leaves her niron’s (beloved’s) side, even suffering the indignity of riding with her in the cart. Raven sleeps for most of the journey.

In Ton DC Leksa conceals her grumpiness at being parted from Klark for the first time since recovering from her ulcer and in the afternoon joins in the village’s celebrations of her victory over the westerners. Ton DC is known for its’ willingness to supply gonas for Heda’s battles and to win such an overwhelming victory, return with many horses and much booty and yet lose so few gonas to death or injury, delights the villagers and they party hard. A great deal of Adam’s ale is drunk and even Heda tastes some of the new meads Jasper, Monty and Adam have brewed. Now it is late at night, Ton DC’s raucous and good-natured feasting has come to an end and the revellers have made their way to their beds having banked the night fires. Leksa sits with Callie, Indra, Kestra and Byrne in Indra’s big courtyard and nibbles at Balla’s irresistible tasty snacks of; toasted nuts, baked apple slices and Leksa’s favourite, honey roasted corn. Gostos keeps watch in the doorway, Dax has had a day off to spend it at the celebrations with Frida, a young gona that he met within days of landing on the ground and now they are considering starting a family together.

In the courtyard they sit around a brazier that defeats the night’s chill and speak in low tones about whether the disruption in Boudalan will have a wider impact. On the one hand the Kongeda is celebrating a great victory against the invading westerners but in winning that battle three clan chiefs were killed; Eric kom Trishanakru, Tokala kom Delphikru and Cian kom Yujleda. Leksa’s experience is that any change or instability in clan leadership leads to infighting and death. In recent times Roan found that out the hard way when he won the challenge to rule Azgeda and a full-blown civil war broke out when Podakru’s chief Neva was challenged and defeated by his greatest general Solon. Podakru, thanks to Onya’s diplomacy, now seems fairly stable under the joint leadership of the recently bonded Ottwa (Neva’s daughter) and Solon.  But five changes in clan leadership plus a serious bandit problem in Boudalan is a great deal for the Kongeda to cope with, even without people falling from the sky and being; Leksa recalls Klark’s words exactly, ‘a total pain in everyone’s ass!’

It's the Arkers who are the next topic of discussion. Indra, as everyone knows, is heartily sick of these people who Heda has permitted to live in the valley formerly dominated by the Maunon (Mountain men) and their now destroyed dam. In Klark and Leksa’s view that’s the only thing the Ark managed to get right; they ended up on land no one really wants to claim, tainted as it is with association with the defeated Maunon. But as Callie reports things have not been going well in the Arker’s camp or on the land they have been allowed to use.

Callie takes a small sip of her fruit-flavoured spirit before releasing a weary sigh and starting to speak. “Well, they called elections because the entire Council resigned in disgust at the misuse by Judge Pulcher of the Ark’s own legal system, when he arrested Grace Byrne and charged her with murder.  Bad move. They thought they would be re-elected with a clear mandate to; release Byrne from arrest, make real progress in negotiations with the Kongeda and get on with living on the ground. What they didn’t anticipate is that Pulcher and his friends would run one hell of an election campaign. His campaign was directed, very successfully, at the older Arkers. Many of them are terrified of the ground, a good number are agoraphobic – they don’t go outside unless they absolutely have to. His campaign pushed ideas like ‘remember Thelonious Jaha, man of the people’, ‘order and discipline kept us alive in space’, ‘we’ve been self-sufficient for 100 years!” It was all a load of nostalgic bollocks about the good old days in the sky! Grace was his most visible target. If he got in power Grace was likely to end up dead or at least cashiered from the Guards for doing her duty!” Callie pauses and takes another sip. The mood around the brazier is one of palpable concern.

“Pulcher won the Chancellorship and his cronies Bjorn Zedemski (Alpha Station) and Petra Ramirez (Mecha Station) are on the Council with him. Zhang Wei, one of the ground friendly Integrationists won the seat for Farm Station and Jackson is on the Council representing Medical.  That gave Pulcher a three to two advantage and so he appointed as commander of the Guard a Tony Morello.   Grace what can you tell us about him?”

Grace shrugs her shoulders eloquently. “He’d just made Inspector before this promotion to commander, so he’s lacking in experience of combat and leadership. Under previous Chancellors he wouldn’t have been promoted at all. He’s just basic Guardsman rank material really.  Why have they chosen him? He’s not a bad guy but has little to no initiative and is pretty much a ‘yes man’. I think he’s got the job because he will do whatever the Chancellor tells him to. There’s not much else to say about him Callie.”

“Thanks Grace, at least we’ve not got a psycho in charge of the Guard this time.” Taking another sip from her drink Callie continues. “OK, so what does this mean for us and the Kongeda?  Our inside sources tell us that Pulcher wants to pursue an ‘isolation’ type agenda. Along the lines of. ‘We survived by ourselves in space, we can do it here.’ That means no contact or help from or to anyone. No trade, no cooperation on defence or exchange of skills or knowledge. That’s not good but doesn’t sound too bad if the Arkers just become invisible, a blank spot on the map almost. I suppose we could just ignore them and Indra would be almost happy!” She looks to her houmon who gives her a wry smile in response. “But it’s not likely to work out like that and it links in with your concerns about changes within the Kongeda Heda. Do you wish to address this point Heda or for me to continue?”

“Mochof (Thank-you) Callie I will speak on this.” Leksa stretches to place her beaker of ale onto the sturdy table. “The problem is that Roan is doing a good job in Azgeda, assisted by Mara, Caleb and the young gona Echo. He has managed to get many of the Azgedan House Carls on his side as he starts to bring order and prosperity to his lands. He has welcomed Vera Kane and Hannah Green and used their skills to increase crop yields and now fewer of his people are hungry. He welcomes the use of radios, solar energy, ‘green houses’ and any tek advance he can get for his people. Nia’s ‘old guard’ who will not change their ways are being executed or they flee. Here is the issue, displaced and disgruntled Azgedans are fleeing their own land, turning to banditry and where do they look for plunder and booty…..Boudalan, Podakru and their old enemy Trikru! There’s been an increase in banditry in all three of these kru’s lands over the last few moons.”

There are murmurs of agreement and understanding from all of the listeners.  Leksa pauses to take a swallow of her ale and to snaffle a few more of the honey roasted corn kernels. “These are delicious Indra, no one makes them like Balla. Do you think she could give her recipe to Ella my head chef in the Tower?”

This distraction gives them all a few minutes break while they nibble on the snacks and take sips or draughts from their drinks. Finally, it’s Indra with Leksa’s encouragement who takes the discussion forward.

“When we fought the bandits in Boudalan Heda, you’ll recall that we found amongst their dead six from Azgeda. They were not wearing the white war paint of Azgeda gonas but they cannot wash off their facial scars. Bandits who are operating local to here are also said to include outcast Azgeda. My fear is that the Arker’s camp, despite its’ big fence and Guards who use fayoguns, will be an irresistible target for bandits. All that tek, all those fayoguns – what bandit wouldn’t want to get their hands on that booty! We know that the Arker’s camp has been under attack already. From the scouts’ report it sounds as if these bandits are just testing the Arker’s defences and discovering how dangerous that big fence really is. Callie has tried to contact the Arkers over the last moon but they refuse even to reopen negotiations. Their gates are closed to all outsiders and Arkers themselves can only leave under escort to do vital tasks such as hunt or forage. We can’t let the bandits get their hands on all those fayoguns and I know (and am frequently reminded by those close to me)” at this point Indra looks slightly sheepishly at her houmon Callie. “That despite their stupidity the Arkers can still contribute much to us and the Kongeda. We only need to look at what Klark, Jake, Abi, Raven and others have already done.”  

Their talks last deep into the night. There are no easy solutions. Podakru, Boudalan and Trikru all need help to deal with the bandits. Leksa will hold meetings in Polis with the Bandronas (Ambassadors) about all krus contributing gonas to help with patrols and skirmishes. Internally Leksa sighs, peace between the clans has been achieved but Arkers and bandits remain to make all their lives difficult. She swallows the last of her ale and makes her way to her lonely bed, she misses Klark.

Polis Tower 8^th Moon Third Quarter

The blades whisper as they slide across the oiled surfaces of stone and tiny flecks of steel turn the golden fluid cloudy. It’s almost meditative as the gentle caresses polish the angled edges. In the background there’s a murmur of voices as stories are told, questions answered and critical eyes peruse the work.  Aden and Eve are guiding the younger natblidas (nightbloods) as they practise the vital skill of sharpening these cold blades of iron and steel. Today they ‘re working on the daggers stored in the smaller armoury. The two eldest natblidas know their skills of supervision are being tested as much as the younger children’s ability to sharpen a blade. So, they check and double check each finished edge and some require more work; if so young Colm carries the rejects back to the disgruntled natblidas responsible for them and they again whet them on the fine-grained stones.

Almost a glass later Usk kom Boudalan, Gaia’s seken, arrives to begin his inspection. The tension is palpable as Aden and Eve watch him test each blade against his fingernail. After the final blades are presented and tested Usk pronounces his satisfaction with the task. “Good work, tomorrow morning you will be sharpening the single edged swords. Now come, we have a meeting with Heda and the Bandronas in the throne room.”

Obediently they file out of the armoury and start the long walk up many flights of stairs to the throne room. There’s a low murmur of excitement as this is not their usual routine, Usk quells their questions with a few firm words, then in silence they make their way up the tower. As Colm starts to flag, he is only small, Usk hoists him onto his shoulders. Finally, they are at the heavy doors and the two guards, Matthias and Collin, pull them open to reveal Heda on her throne flanked by the Fleimkepas (Flame-keepers) Gaia kom Trikru and Madrona kom Delphikru; below the throne the twelve clan Bandronas sit in their chairs of office. As the curious nablidas enter they are directed to sit on the steps below Heda; and Usk places the exhausted Colm on Aden’s lap. 

The room is silent as Heda, who is dressed formally but without warpaint, calls the meeting to order. She stands and addresses them. “Natblidas your presence is required to hear important news. The Chief Fleimkepa Madrona kom Delphikru will explain.” As Heda returns to her throne Madrona steps forward.

The first thing Aden notices, as he scans the throne room, is that one of the Bandronas, from Louwoda Kilron he thinks, is trying very hard to hide the fact that he is weeping. To see a Bandrona cry is a very strange sight as surely that would demonstrate weakness? Before today he’s never seen a Bandrona show any emotion other than anger or perhaps frustration. Aden drags his attention away from the embarrassing sight and focuses on the words now being spoken by the Chief Fleimkepa. He hears them, spoken in the clear ringing tones of this stately, accomplished and powerful woman, but they don’t make any sense. The Conclave, as he has known for many summers now, is to be his and his fellow nablidas’ fate. To survive and bear the Flame he must kill Eve and many others, maybe even Colm, this is the way a new Heda is chosen. That cannot change just because some words are spoken. He looks up to Heda Leksa, who is watching him and seems to understand his confusion, she nods her head and mouths the words. “Sha (Yes) it is true.”

Madrona wears her long robes of office and these contrast starkly with the pallor of her drawn face. Her expression is one of uncertainty, despite her confident words and at this point in her explanation she acknowledges that she as leader of the Order of Fleimkepas, must bear some responsibility for the failures in how past Conclaves were conducted. She offers her life to Heda to atone for the errors of Fleimkepas who organised Conclaves that led to the wrongful death of so many natblidas. She tells them that Sheidheda (Dark Commander) found and then hid Becca Pramheda’s diaries in a bunker concealed beneath Becca’s shrine in Polis Tower. Thus, the true nature of the Conclave was concealed and perverted. Only through meditation and her strong connection with the past commanders has Heda Leksa received the directions that allowed Fleimkepa Gaia to bring this deception to light. The Conclave in the form of a fight to the death is now revealed to be a corruption of the true process to find the next Commander. Silence greets Madrona’s words; the Bandronas have already had their say about this startling news. Now, the natblidas old enough to realise the importance of the announcement seem too stunned to respond. The Bandronas look, some with compassion, upon the natblidas and the eldest present Raglan kom Trishanakru asks for Heda’s permission to speak to the goufas (children). Heda calls him forward.  He gets slowly to his feet, a whitehaired old man with limbs twisted by the pains of great age and he begins to speak.

“Natblidas I am a very old man who has lived through the rule of many Hedas, including Sheidheda. I was only a young seken when Malachi kom Sangedakru ascended. I remember that he was the only natblida to survive his Conclave and looking back to that time I can see that those killings were but the start of death’s toll under his rule. On the battlefields and in our villages his way was through death. He killed three Fleimkepas Madrona and a fourth ended his fight. It cannot be said that all of your Order willingly concealed the true ways of Becca Pramheda and I know that you would never do so. I humbly ask Heda, my fellow Bandronas and you too young natblidas, to spare Madrona’s life.”

Raglan bows to all and returns to his seat. There follows a lively discussion about the role of Fleimkepas in this corruption and how it was continued after Sheidheda’s death. Leksa says little, glad that Titus’ name is mentioned only briefly.  She is watching the natblidas, the eldest pair Eve and Aden in particular, as they absorb this huge change to their lives. It seems to her that they dare not believe it to be true and as the meeting finally draws to a close she dismisses the Bandronas and Fleimkepas so that she is left alone with ‘her’ goufas. Some have fallen into slumber, the youngest have found the day tiring and three of them sleep quietly in their elder ‘siblings’’ arms. Leksa stands to take off her formal coat and then she steps down from her throne to sit with them on the steps. They gather round her to listen. “Natblidas this is a day of joy. For you, for me and for our people. All of you can live to serve the Kongeda in many ways. I rejoice at this change, as in living all of you can work to help and guide our people.” She finds that she has to stop speaking, surprising herself as words fail her and all she can do is open her arms and smile as they pile into her embrace.

The hunting grounds outside Polis  9^th Moon Waxing Gibbous

The sun is high and hot in the clear sky of a late summer’s day and even beneath the trees’ thick canopy a sullen airless heat beats down onto the hunter’s shoulders. She blinks as the sweat drips into her eyes but no movement gives away her position. Still and steady, an arrow notched and bow pulled taut, she waits for the stag to move one pace forward. His magnificent head rises as he checks for danger then, reassured by the lazy drone of bees, he drops his head to graze and places a careful hoof onto the soft earth. On release the arrow is silent but the bow-string gives a crisp twang that alerts him just as the arrow strikes exactly where it was aimed, in the vulnerable flesh above his shoulder.  At first it looks as if it’s the clean kill she was trying for but after a shocked stumble the stag gathers himself and bolts into the trees. A muttered “jok (fuck)” from the archer and then both hunters are running in pursuit.  The stag is soon lost to sight and they are left following the trail of his bright blood splashed red over the snarling undergrowth of waist-high bracken and bilberry.

Together they keep a steady pace in pursuit. Harper’s breathing is easy as her long legs eat up the ground. “Jok, how did that shot not take him down in one?”

Monroe’s finding the run is pushing her harder and she’s almost panting as she responds to her taller lover. “He’s tough, fit and you never know what the radiation’s done to their bodies?” They run on, pacing themselves carefully and soon they enter a clearing where the tree canopy lightens and the ground opens out into a grassy sward.

“Hmm. Hod up,(stop) he’s just ahead.” Harper gestures for a halt and carefully she and Monroe approach the now stricken animal. Monroe throws a rope to safely secure the wickedly sharp antlers before Harper delivers the killing blow. “Yu gonplei ste oden. Mochof Keryon (Your fight is over. Thank-you Spirits);” both hunters offer their respect and thanks to this animal who will provide good food for many at the feast for Heda’s bonding.  

As they field dress the carcass it’s soon revealed why Harper’s ‘perfect’ shot did not immediately drop the stag. Yes, the arrow pierced his heart, but this stag has two hearts! The second one, positioned lower in his chest, was able to continue to beat and give him the strength to run as far as he did. That this stag which they’ve hunted as a gift to Heda and Klark on their Bonding has two hearts in one body; Keryon what a wonderful omen!  When they return to camp and show the conjoined hearts to their fos (first) and others in the hunting party the sight is greeted with murmurs of awe and excitement. That night they celebrate around their fires knowing that this hunt will become one of legend.  

The next day the whole party heads back to Polis. Their carts are heavy with the meats that will make this festival’s feasting magnificent.  Rumour travels faster than they do and as they pass through the small outer villages of Polis people stop them wanting to see Heda and Hedatu’s magnificent beast; the stag with eighteen points and two hearts.

Polis Tower 9^th Moon Full.

As dawn turns the sky to rose and gold Klark grumps and turns away from the lighted window, but then remembering what this day will bring, she stretches and allows herself to grin. This is the day she is to be wed, to be bonded, to her love Leksa. Her whole-body thrills at the thought and her grin widens.

She’s not supposed to be here, in Leksa’s oh so comfortable bed. Both Jake and Abby have been keen to keep to some Ark traditions, including the bride staying in her parents’ home the night before the ceremony. To keep them happy she’d had dinner with them and David last night and then she’d sneaked out after they’d gone to bed. Ryder and Penn waiting for her as she climbed out of her bedroom window.

She opens her eyes, looking for Leksa, who is not in the bed with her. Leksa’s not far away and if it was possible Klark’s grin would widen as she sees her beautiful and scantily clad lover perform her early morning exercises; a series of stretches and balances. Klark doesn’t normally get to see this beautiful sight, as Leksa usually performs her morning exercises fully clad, Klark hopes, at the training grounds. But there will be no training today and no tedious meetings today; not on Heda’s bonding day!

“I can feel you looking at me niron.”

“Who wouldn’t want to look at you doing that balance thing that makes your arm muscles look so defined and your ass …. ugh…. biteable!”

At that remark Heda Leksa giggles and falls out of her balance into a graceless heap of long legs and flailing arms. But soon she recovers and is leaping onto the bed and pinning down a now giggling Klark. “No-one can bite Heda’s ass Klark! Even the thought is forbidden!” Leksa dips her head and sweetly kisses Klark’s lips.

“If they made a rule to forbid it, someone thought about it Heda! Arrest that lawmaker! Arghh.” Leksa collapses onto Klark and spends some quality time appreciating with her lips the soft, slightly salty, skin of her betrothed.

“No marks Leksa, you know my dress is strapless!”

“Humph” Leksa’s lips attach to a nipple and her teeth nip.

A loud banging on the door has Leksa huffing grumpily this time. Giving Klark a quick kiss she rises from the bed and walks to the locked door, stooping and passing a robe to Klark as she does so. Then in flinging the door open, she manages to almost pull the annoying visitor off her feet.    

“Raven! What are you doing here?” Klark sits up to chastise her friend for her interruption.

“Klark! You’re not supposed to be here. Aren’t you protecting your fictional virginity by spending your last night as a single woman with your parents?”

“Fuck off Rae!” It's so good to see her friend back to her annoying, loud, filter-less self! Behind Raven Onya enters the room carrying two bouquets of flowers. Apparently it’s a Trikru tradition that brides carry bouquets that, at the end of the bonding ceremony, are to be flung with some vigour at their attendants. Whoever catches a bouquet will be bonded within the year.

The following is an extract from the biography of Heda Leksa kom Trikru (the Heda of Peace) written by Aden kom Trikru (the Heda of Histories). Volume II The Making of a Gona (Warrior) of Peace.

Extract

The people of Polis called it the “Year of Victory and Joy”. The crushing defeat of the westerners’ massive army by the much smaller Kongeda force strengthened Heda Leksa’s position as a strong and farsighted leader both in peace and war. This demonstration of strength through unity reinforced the Kongeda’s new purposes (now the Maunon were no more) of; mutual defence, the expansion of trade and improving the lives of the people in this and future generations.

That year’s usual midsummer festival had been lost to the war and even Heda’s own bonding ceremony had been delayed. But that meant that the harvest festival of the 9^th Moon was going to be especially splendid and Polis was making it known that the whole city rejoiced in; Heda Leksa’s victory over the westerners, her continuing peace between the clans and her happiness in bonding with her niron Klark. Huge bonfires were laid ready to be lit, open-air kitchens and feasting areas were sited throughout the city’s streets. Banners and flags celebrating the Kongeda, the twelve clans and Heda Leksa herself, were hung from flag poles, buildings and Heda’s tower. The great hall of Polis was decorated with flowers, wreaths of leaves and gaily coloured cloth. The square at the base of Heda’s tower was thoroughly cleaned and benches placed around the area for; the clan Chiefs, the Bandronas, the Fleimkepas, the wormanas and many specially invited guests. Even we natblidas were invited and had our own seats near the front so we could see everything.

The day of the ceremony was bright and sunny, it was a little humid and I and my fellows felt hot dressed as we were in our best clothes. The benches at the base of the tower were starting to fill up as the important guests arrived. In our lessons we were learning about each clan and as we waited Usk tested us on whether we could point out and name the Chiefs, Bandronas and Fleimkepas of each clan. We were doing well until we stumbled over the new Chiefs of Trishanakru, Delphikru and Yujleda. Usk explained the newcomers to us. Eric kom Trishanakru had told Heda Leksa that he expected to die in that great battle with the westerners and his youngest child Ernst, already a well-respected gona, had been named as his successor almost a moon before. Delphikru and Yujleda were not as well prepared. Delphikru’s way of deciding who was to be chief has always been a mystery to all outside the clan and probably most within it. Whatever process was used led to Karla kom Delphikru, a tiny woman of advanced years, taking the throne and she sat on the benches beside the other chiefs, most of whom towered above her, her legs swinging freely as her feet could not reach the ground.  Sitting near her was the new Chief of Yujleda, a goufa of less than ten summers called Petros, he was Cian kom Yujleda’s nephew; a younger sister’s son. He had won the ‘ironstool throne’ of Yujleda through the throwing of dice.

The ceremony was about to begin and silence fell as the two Fleimkepas Gaia kom Trikru and Madrona kom Delphikru walked with great dignity onto the raised dais at the centre of the square. They were dressed in their ceremonial robes. Gaia’s were made of a richly napped cloth coloured the dark, dark green of Trikru and comprised of a long coat over her same-coloured tunic and leggings.  Her left shoulder was bare to allow her sacred tattoos to be seen. In contrast Madrona wore outer robes of the brightest leaf green, Delphikru are known for their vibrant use of colour and Madrona dazzled in her long-hooded cloak above a striking dress of golden yellow. They waited each holding a scarf and dagger, ready to start the ceremony.

The door to the Tower opens and horns give a warning blast as two figures walk out of the Tower’s darkness and into the light. I hear gasps of surprise and even I take in a sharp breath as the two women walk hand in hand towards the Fleimkepas.

I am an old man now but then I was a boy of only thirteen summers. To me Heda Leksa was like a nomon (mother), I had known no other and it was a shock to me when I suddenly realised that my nomon was a beautiful woman. So, I gasped along with many others as two of the most beautiful women I would ever see walked onto the dais where they would pledge their lives to each other and to their people.

On formal occasions Heda must always wear black, with a scarlet sash and in compliance Heda Leksa wore a beautiful long black gown of pleated linen. Her shoulders were bare, except for her scarlet sash that flowed over her left shoulder; the emblem of the Commander was fixed to her forehead. Her hair, normally braided, was for the first time to my sight, free and flowed down her back in soft waves. She was smiling as she looked to her left at Klark Griffin kom Trikru her betrothed. Klark’s golden hair was also free of ties and braids. She wore a long flowing dress of light blue. Like Heda her shoulders were bare and that allowed us to see the designs for their matching bonding tattoos. After the bonding ceremony the tattoos would be pricked into their skin but at this time they were only drawn on in ink. We could all see that on Heda’s right shoulder and Klark’s left, was drawn an apple tree, bearing red fruit ready to be harvested and falling onto and into the boughs of that tree was a shower of stars.  

Behind the couple walked their families and yet again there were gasps of surprise. As expected Jake and Abi Griffin stood tall and proud behind Klark, their younger child David carried by his father. Perhaps surprising to some was that the family group included three others who fell from the sky; Raven Reyes kom Trikru, Charlotte May kom Trikru and John Murphy kom Trikru. Clearly Klark’s family included those close to her by choice as well as blood and the people of Polis were very accepting of that.  

The greatest surprise however was reserved for the discovery of who Heda Leksa had chosen to be her family. Heda’s blood family it was known were lost to the Maunon, her first lover to Nia kom Azgeda. Her family of choice moved to stand behind her; first to step forward were her fos (first) Onya kom Trikru and her clan Chief Indra kom Trikru. These respected wormanas were known to be close to Heda Leksa and the crowd clearly knew and expected their presence at Heda’s side that day. There were some murmurs of surprise as Dakota kom Ingranronakru stepped forward and then the gasps became ones of shock as Mara kom Azgeda joined the group. Even at age only thirteen I knew I was seeing something utterly new and unusual. Not only was a member of the Azgedan royal family included within Heda’s family of choice but it was Azgeda’s greatest gona standing by Trikru’s greatest gonas. They had fought many battles against each other, lost friends, family and lovers to their blades and yet they stood as family behind Heda Leksa kom Trikru, gave their oaths to support the newly bonded couple and all smiled and laughed as the ceremony concluded in joy and goodwill.

End of extract

“Together?”

“Always!”

Two bouquets are flung into the air. Raven takes the hit square in the face!  Onya feels an object strike her left ear and throws up a hand to grasp......

“Great shot!”

“Likewise, niron!”