Laapis

This almost feels like we got detained by the Fleet, she muses, miffed.

The Desertwalkers, as the cultists call themselves, have put Laapis and the others into shackles connected by a long metal chain. The whole contraption has a very old-timely feel to it. It also doesn’t help that they’ve to walk behind the leader of the cult, who introduced himself as Talliomere and still rides on his Nailwalker. The procession is slow, since the Cult seem not too keen on torturing them by forcing them to run after the Nailwalkers.

„Why don’t you give me the chain, so you can ride ahead,“ suggests one of his closest companions, called Geniva. „Me and Welden can take care of them on our own, but you need to welcome the Pale God.“

„But what if they’re here to infiltrate us?“, he asks, his voice discontent.

„The Pale God can deal better with them than you, Welden or me,“ she insists. „Go and welcome her.“

„You’re right,“ he says after a few thoughtful moments.

Without any hesitation, he undoes the hook connecting the chain to his saddle and hands it to Geniva. Not a second later, he kicks the flanks of his Nailwalker, darting away from the group at top speed.

„What will you do with us?“, asks Topasa, who walks in front of Laapis, into the blue.

„We need to make sure you told the truth about being involved with the Starblazer incident,“ the one called Weldenwall answers and rides a little closer to her. „Fleetlings tell a lot of lies.“

„The one you call the Pale God will identify us,“ she replies confident.

„You sound too certain to not lie,“ he says with a smug grin.

„I’m just an honest and very confident person,“ Topasa says, returning the grin in equal measure.

„Says every liar.“

„Stop this needless banter already,“ hisses Nethra behind Laapis.

„Listen to your friend,“ Weldenwall agrees cheerful. „You might talk your head off.“

„I highly doubt that,“ Topasa replies amused.

„How long do we need to walk?“, asks Nethra, insistent.

„About fifteen minutes, I would say,“ Geniva answers. „We’ve already passed the halfway point.“

„We could’ve used the transporter,“ calls Serfin from the back.

„Fleetboy, there are transponders in those things,“ Weldenwall shouts back. „Your lot ought to know that, or do you think us to be dense?“

The banter continues, while Laapis uses the time to think up a plan. If she wants to reenter her service to the Empress, she needs something valuable. The location of the Cult is surly worth a lot, but certainly not enough to prove anything. What Laapis needs is the Cult leader or either Geniva or Weldenwall. Both of them should know enough to keep a few Interviewers occupied. It would be even better if I present the Queen Mother they supposedly have to the Empress, she thinks while using a special method of thinking, only taught to Stewards to avoid mindreaders. Maurus might prove to be a hindrance. He seems too content to be with the deserters to still be on my side. Yet… Nethra seems more inclined to get out of this charade than he does. Maybe I can forge an alliance with her. I doubt she’s against a promotion either…

But before she can ask Nethra, she needs to make sure no one will listen in on them. Certainly, a difficult task considering the circumstance, but Laapis isn’t in much of a haste. She can afford to wait a bit. After all, the Cult offers some protection against Fleet surveillance, so there’ll be enough time to not only ask Nethra for help but also to gather some insider information. If all goes well, Laapis will be able to reclaim her position in no time. I just need to convince the First Steward that all of this was a planned mission, she thinks, barely able to hide her thoughts as well as the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

—

Vajira

The docking area consists of various tents, two huge wooden watchtowers as well as a huge wooden ramp, both it and the watchtowers get dismantled and reassemble every time the Desertwalkers move to another campsite. As usual, there are many of the dockworkers around, since they always erect their tents around the designated docking area.

As Vajira approaches the place, she can already see one of the other four Flares the Desertwalkers were able to steal from the Fleet. The large ship hovers, held up by strong electromagnets, close to the ramp. As it’s currently maintained and cleaned, there are already plenty of dockworkers moving around that ship. Yet, there are also many workers preparing for the arrival of the Cometgracer. They check the integrity of the ramp, prepare the strong metal cables used to secure the ship against the construction, as well as pull the Flare towards its electromagnetic main dock.

Vajira slows down as she approaches the ramp. While it’s true that she has seen plenty of docking processes, as Talliomere, Geniva and Weldenwall had always taken her with them, but being there on her gives her a very different kind of feeling. It’s almost as if the ramp grew twice its size and the dockworkers seem more like utter strangers, than the people she’s charing food and drink with for as long as she can remember.

„Vajira?“, someone calls out to her.

Too surprised to reply, she just turns around and looks at the terrestrial Drone with short knobby horns approaching her. They aren’t as tall as most terrestrial Drones and look like they had a few too many run-ins with wild animals, as their face is crisscrossed with various scars, reaching into the hairline of the very short pinkish hair.

„It’s you, alright,“ they say and smile. „Has Talliomere send you?“

„N-no,“ she answers truthfully. „But I’ve news from the Cometgracer. They’re about to return in a few moments.“

Before the Drone can reply, a horn starts to wail some point above them.

„Talking of the Void, there they come!“, the Drone shouts over the bleating horn. „Come with me! You surely want to be the first to see them!“

Without another choice, Vajira nods and follows them to the ramp. As they arrive at the top, Vajira can see the wast expanse of the Valonian Desert. Rust red sand and dust broken up by rock formations of the same colour. Amidst the vista, she can make out the Cometgracer as a fast-moving spot, reflecting the blue moonlight every so often.

Looking behind herself, Vajira sees the ocean of tents, which gets blurry the farther away the tents are. The blurriness caused by camouflage field emitted by four emitters, which are placed at the outskirts of the encampment, forming a square. They allow the Desertwalkers to hide their encampment not only from prying eyes on Cetus, but also from those watching from orbit. The emitters as well as the majority of all technology the Desertwalkers own had been taken from the Fleet by deserters and during some raids on Fleet-structures.

Longing for Tuonis to return, Vajira turns her head back towards the desert. The Cometgracer has made good progress and slows visibly down with a great dust cloud trailing after it. Yet, it’s still some minutes away, making Vajira impatient, while the dockworkers slowly gather around her, preparing medical gurneys as well as food and water for the freed slaves onboard the ship.

„Do you know how many there will be?“, asks the dockworker, who has taken Vajira to the top of the ramp.

„How many?“, she asks, confused.

„Freed Menkar,“ they clarify. „I’ve prepared food and drink for at least two thousand.“

„Sorry, I don’t know,“ she replies embarrassed, since she hadn‘t thought about asking Elgevin.

„No problem,“ the worker says with a board smile, revealing a missing front tooth. „Two thousand is an overestimate I was never wrong with.“

„Oh… Umm… I don’t want to be rude, but… What’s your name?“, Vajira asks reluctant.

„Remise,“ they reply. „And you aren‘t rude, asking me. I don’t expect you or even Talliomere to remember everyone’s names. We Desertalkers are after all a small moving city, aren‘t we? And now we get some more settlers.“

Remise starts to laugh, which Vajira returns just half-heartily. She doesn’t feel very confident anymore about her plan, but what’s set into motion, will move on. Knowing this, she takes a deep breath and fixes her eyes on the Cometgracer. To her surprise, she can already hear the howl of the engines.

„Here, take those,“ says Remise and hands her a pair of ear protectors. „Best you put those on until the engines turn off. Flares are loud roaring beasts and I prefer not to be the one, who caused you to get deaf. Talliomere would kill me.“

Although spoken in jest, Vajira remembers clearly her caregiver's outburst earlier. While this has been the first outburst of his she has seen, it has left a lasting mark on her. If something were to happen to me, I don’t doubt he would kill the one who caused me harm, she thinks while putting on the protectors. Why do I have the feeling I don’t know the true Talliomere?

Suddenly, there’s an uproar below the ramp. The sound of hooves on dry ground mixed with the surprised and somewhat angry shouts of some dockworkers.

„What‘s going on?“, asks Remise into the walks-talky they have on a long chasing the pocket of their pants.

Before someone can answer, a large Nailwalker jumps on the ramp and gallops towards them. On it sits Talliomere with an expression of utter relieve as he spots Vajira.

„What are you doing here?“, he asks her, exhausted and disappointed. „You were supposed to wait in the tent!“

„I… I thought I take care of the arrivals of the Cometgracer,“ she tells him, hiding behind her braids. „I’ve seen you, Niva and Welden do it so often, I thought I could do it on my own, since you and the others are busy elsewhere.“

„Oh, Asari— Vajira, you gave me almost a heart attack,“ he replies as he dismounts the foam-sweating Nailwalker. „But don’t worry. I’m not angry.“

„Take these,“ says Remise, and hands him as well a pair of ear protectors.

A moment later, everyone puts on the protectors as the roar of the Cometgracer‘s engine becomes almost unbearable loud. As the giant Flare arrives at the ramp, the dockworkers shot the cables towards their electromagnetic anchors on the hull of the oblong ship. Heavy-duty winds then pull the Cometgracer slow and steady towards the ramp. Once the ship’s in position, the howling engines are turned off, causing the Flare to lower itself gently onto the electromagnets, keeping it hovering above the ground.

Vajira marvels at the Cometgracer. She can barely believe how such a massive ship can be manoeuvred so easily into such narrow spaces.

„Are the supplies ready?“, asks Talliomere and pulls his ear protectors off his head.

„Food, water and clothing, as well as further medical aid, are provided,“ Remise answers and pulls their protectors off as well, causing Vajira to follow suite.

That moment the horn, which has announced the Cometgracer‘s arrival, is turned off and a metal ramp extends from the Flare towards the wooden one. Once they’re connected, a huge gate until then fully hidden on the Cometgracer’s hull opens. Simultaneously at least forty dockworkers, aids, and medics flood the ramp from the ground, while the first freed Menkar leave the Flare guided by Tuonis, Elgevin and a bunch of other crew members.

Although Vajira has seen plenty of freed slaves in her life, she is always shocked how innocent and fragile they all look. Not all of them have mutations, but there are still more than enough deformities to make it apparent that the current Empress has long since outstayed her welcome.

Plenty of them have just minor, relatively harmless anomalies like strange patters on their skin, unusual hair and eye colours or missing or misshapen horns. None of which too dilapidating. But there are also those with misshapen heads, missing ears and eyes, too many or not enough limps and various others. But the worst thing to Vajira is their age, as most of the Menkar leaving the Cometgracer are much younger than her. Most of which only barely past their Morphlinghood.

Despite it all, they’re welcomed warmly by the Desertwalkers. Food and water get shared without second thoughts. Tents and beds are offered without expecting anything in return. Tears and laughter intermingle as a flood of happiness and release washes over the whole area, mostly emitted and amplified by the empaths among the freed Menkar as well as the Desertwalkers.

Vajira can’t help herself but smile at the scene, despite her worries still overshadowing her thoughts. Still, these thoughts prove still too strong and cause her to feel a slight pang of dread as Tuonis approaches her and Talliomere, while shaking hands and accepting the thanks of a lot of the older freed Menkar. Still, the moment he manages to get to them, he immediately walks to her, cups her face with both his hands and presses his forehead against her, so their horns touch. Vajira feels the usual slight tingle of their psychics intermingling, which causes her to laugh.

„It’s so good to see you,“ he tells her after he pulled back. „I missed you.“

„I missed you too,“ she replies happy.

„I’m sorry to interrupt you two, but what about the Pale God?“, asks Talliomere, more insistent than he usually is.

„She’s still onboard,“ Tuonis answers, his voice hiding doubt only Vajira notices. „I told her to wait in there until the majority of the freed Menkar have left. If you want, you can talk to her.“

„Yes, take me to her,“ says Talliomere impatient.

„Then go ahead. I’ll meet you at the gate,“ Tuonis tells him.

Talliomere nods and almost runs ahead. But as Vajira‘s about to follow him, Tuonis holds her back.

„I want you to go with Elgevin to the Medical Bay,“ he tells her on a whisper.

„Where’s Yagari?“, she asks, feeling as if something evil is lurking inside the Cometgracer. „Has something happened?“

„You don’t need to worry. Yagari’s fine.“

„And why do you want to go to the Medical Bay?“

„Amaris is there. You should talk with her.“

„I don’t understand what’s going on.“

„It pains me to say this, but I can’t tell you right now,“ he tells her, visibly worried. „Elgevin!“

„Yes, Sir?“, she shouts and runs up to him.

„Take Vajira to the Medical Bay,“ he orders her while cleaning his glasses, which tells Vajira how nervous he is. „And keep watch.“

„Yes, Sir,“ Elgevin replies and salutes him.

„What’s going on?“, Vajira asks, confused.

„I’ll tell you in due time,“ Tuonis tells her. „I’m incredibly sorry, I’ve to keep you in the dark for now, but… Just talk with Amaris, okay?“

„I will,“ she does not reply, as confident as she feels.

Tuonis leans is forehead one more time against hers, but the spark between their psychics is this time not as strong. A moment later, he hurries after Talliomere, who waits impatiently at the main gate. Once they’ve entered, Vajira and Elgevin head towards the Cometgracer.