Colliding Worlds

[Silence]

By the time Illya got home Kalizda was practically smothering him. "I'm..." Every time he tried to say something Illya would break out coughing. Despite his protests Kalizda directed him right back to the bed and had him lay down. He was barely back there for an agonizing 10 minute of nothing and she was arriving with tea. Illya desperately wanted to get up and he felt miserable, and grouchy. Taking the cup from Kalizda he frowned a little. This particular tea was not a favorite and he hated the way it smelled. "Yah get tea too eh?" Last thing he needed was for her to get sick and he knew it wouldn't take long to get over the cough. Still it wasn't fun and she was insisting that he do nothing. There was still so much to do and he needed to start putting together a little more on his map of where this new company was at. Since he hadn't really heard of it before he thought that it would be small. As he finished his tea he was about to grab the oil. Instead Kalizda did it and reached up his shirt. Having her little hands rub all over his chest wasn't something he would protest so he laid back in the bed. "T-that's much better."

After the initial grumpiness Illya decided that he didn't mind the extra attention. She wasn't the best nurse, but he never liked having someone that was a real nurse cause they threw fits over stupid things. "Ok I let yah help." Even though he thought that he might enjoy just laying back and letting her do what she wanted it got boring being by himself and nothing to do.

Kalizda left after a short while and Illya sat up in the bed. He listened for the door to close and then waited for as long as he could bare after that. Throwing the covers back Illya got up and started to head for his study. On the way he stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a little snack for himself. It was just some dried meat and a chunk of bread. Flopping the food on the table he wandered into the room to grab a blanket to wrap himself in.

When Illya finished eating his lunch all bundled up in a blanket he started feeling a little tired. Still he was determined to get at least a few books to take back to the room so that he could read and maybe the pad and his map along with a few markers so that he could continue his study. Illya began pulling out his books and map along with the markers and the one that was still sitting on his seat before he sat down and opened his pad and a few books. He wanted to have a little variation in case one subject got too boring or too hard while he was feeling sick.

During the study Illya started to get drowsy and he laid his head down on the book to read the page opposite. Cin sat in the doorway watching and began to inch closer. He wanted to sit with Illya and he crept close enough to nuzzle the man's legs and after that didn't cause any reactions or disturb the breathing the bear started to scramble to try and get on the desk. It was too high still so the cub pushed the other chair near the desk and crawled onto it so he could get on the desk with Illya. The bear kicked and clawed and threw the books away that happened to make his new nesting spot uncomfortable. Markers rolled across the floor and the first book fell on the chair while the other hit the floor open with a few pages wrinkled.

Despite the soft chortling from the bear and the ruckus that Cin made the Chip slept through it. Finally Cin stuffed his nose in Illya's hair and snuffed deeply. Illya didn't wake up till the early evening and he felt a strangely damp spot on his head. "Ugh..." Even his neck was cramped up and his back felt twisted. Sitting up he rubbed his face and then ran a hand through his hair only to draw it back with a nasty pale string of something.

It didn't take long for Illya to realize it was his bear cub. Cin sat panting on the desk looking sufficiently pleased with himself. Illya grabbed the cub and tucked it under one arm. "No!" Pointing to the desk and the mess he firmly scolded the bear that began to bawl at him in return. Even if it took more work to make the bear help him put stuff back on he desk Illya was determined to show the bear not to dump things all over cause he wanted to be there instead.

The next two days seemed to go slowly, but Illya improved. By the third morning he felt like himself though Kalizda was still a little under the weather. She didn't get it nearly as bad as himself and she seemed to insist that he didn't push it too hard though he felt better. Still there were a lot of things that Illya needed to do. One of those things was to get more food for the house and then he needed to go see Nathan about the rest of the camp and determine what kind of mining they were doing. If it was possible to teach these young Chippequoti the traditions while they were working then it would be worth it. They needed their people united and these young ones would not understand unless they knew where they were from.

*********************************************************************

Nathan looked up from the mine where he stood looking into the open pit. "Illya." Holding his arms out he smiled a little and pulled the other Chip into a hug. "We got it started. Breaking ground today and my engineers tell me that we should have operations under way in a few days. "You think about working for us?"

Looking down into the pit Illya nodded. "I'll do et. Yah right, dey need ta learn." While they were together without anyone else Illya continued. "If t-they don't know language we teach dem together and train dem for war at night." It would make for long days, but there was no telling when war would break out and they needed them to know how to survive and protect themselves if anything happened.

"You're right." Nathan took a deep breath. "I'll shorten the days. Chippequoti work faster and he won't be used to seeing this kind of production in short hours. Never had an all Chippequoti team before." It was going to be risky, but he was pretty sure that he had a way to make this work. "I'll put own the average work day for them and we'll just keep a consistent pace." He thought for a moment longer and held one hand up. "No, we'll do half work a full day and the other half train and they switch off every two weeks. I need to show greater production levels." Kent would suspect something otherwise and he needed to make it look good. "I usually get better production out of my men then the average mine anyway."

Reluctantly Illya agreed with a nod. "Sometime they will all have to train together. Maybe on their days off."

Shaking his head the other sighed. "No, there isn't war yet and I can't pay them for these hours. Kent would expect to see a lot more production for those hours. Offer and see if any of them take you up on it. I'll make note of the most interested students and make more time for them to train with you. I'll give them 3 weeks at a time instead of 2." Nathan figured that would sound reasonable enough.

Illya reached out and shook the man's hand. "Good, t-then I work in yah mines." Turning to leave he stopped short and finally remembered to ask. "When yah agreed moves here yah come to meh house and we share meal eh?"

"I'll be there. Looks like Kent will assign me to be here for a good while." The work was going perfectly and Nathan was determined to see that the plan didn't fail.

When he returned home that night Illya was covered in dirt and sweat. He had a few new scratches that went up his arm from when he helped to move some equipment. "Smells good." Whatever she made didn't smell like snake stew or anything he knew, but it was still good smelling. By now he had gotten fairly used to trying new foods, but he didn't expect to see Ayrn sitting in his kitchen. "Yah get et?" That was the only thing he was interested in at the moment. Ayrn looked a little rougher for the wear, but he didn't find it to be terribly surprising.

 

[aryamajor]

While Illya was out helping Nathan with the mines, Calysta spent most of her day visiting Rose and the other two survivors, then g down to the flight field and where she worked some maintenance on the flyers. If they weren't kept up and perfectly clean, the desert sands would settle into the instruments and cause malfunctions. She used a simple air compressor to clear the sand from each one then went about seeing to the more day to day calibrations for when they were needed. The work was hot and gritty in the Nuen sun and she was starting to grow sore from climbing around the flyers like she normally would. It still felt good to be working at her trade in some capacity though and soon she wouldn't be sore at all doing it.

When she climbed the hill to the house carry the ingredients for spaghetti. She doubted Illya had ever had ever eaten and they had been eating left over snake stew for a few days now. It was her turn to cook something. She was a a bit proud at how her cooking skills had improved and was starting to branch out a little more. Occasionally things went awry and she burned something or it just went horribly wrong. Making bread was still a challenge to her sometimes, but practice made perfect and Illya ate it anyways.

As Calysta came up to the door, she noticed something was wrong. Keysha was sitting outside on the path with her ears laid back and her tail flicking in annoyance and the door was cracked open just a bit, not enough for her to slip back inside. It was strange because she had left the cat inside and made sure to shut the door. Maybe Illya had come home and forgot to shut the door? "Got locked out huh? It's all the more you deserve for getting into that oil."

Calysta pushed the door open the rest of the way, and the cat slinked inside, going immediately for the kitchen to her water bowl. "Illya?" she called out into the house. Instead of Illya's voice, there was a growl and squeal from the kitchen that definitely didn't belong to her Chip. What in the Wilds? Calysta tossed her bag onto the couch and scurried into the kitchen. Ayrn was there, standing on the stool Illya had built for her. He had a piece of fruit in one hand, one of Keysha's claws stuck into his pant leg. "Calysta?! Call it off! Call it off!"

"Keysha down!" The large cat gave a hiss and let the Terran go at Calysta's command, but kept a proud little strut as stalked away to stand beside her. Calysta looked up to the one eyed man in confusion. He was wearing a blood stained button up and filthy slacks with a bandage stuck over the top of his forehead. "Ayrn, what in the Wilds are you doing in my house, and where have you been?!"

Ayrn gave Keysha a hard stare and then jumped down onto floor. "That is a long story that needs to wait for your hubby to get back to tell," he said, "Uh...in the mean time d'you think you could take a look at this?" He pointed to his forehead and Calysta sighed. Why did he always insist on breaking an entering? "Aye, but you're going to wash first."

***
Ayrn was leaning over the bubbling pot of tomato sauce. "Hey, that looks way better than the last time I saw you cook." Calysta shot him a look, but he just started laughing and eventually so did she. When Illya stepped into the kitchen, he straightened up and nodded to a brief case sitting in the corner. "Aye, I got it. And I think a nice massage is in order after the trip." Then his single eye traveled to Calysta with an apologetic look. "Mind if Illya and I step out for a few?"

Calysta's looked at the two of them and sighed. Ayrn had shown up in her kitchen, shot in the head and with a mysterious brief case and refused to tell her anything until he talked to Illya first. It was tempting throttle whatever was going on out of him, but she let it slide. Now they wanted to talk with out her. She hated being left out, but she could always ask Illya about what was going on later. If it turned into a debate, didn't need to happen in front of Ayrn. "Fine, go on."

Ayrn picked up the brief case and shuffled down the hall. The new bandage Calysta had stuck on his forehead was irritating and he felt the urged to take it off. The woman may be a good pilot, but nursing was not her calling. He went into the study and hauled the case up to the desk, pulling open the top. "I had to go all the way out to a port on Ktuole. Yeah, I had to look it up. It's a frontier port. Long story short there was a compound out there and this brief case has the files you want.....there's uh...some stuff in there. Bad stuff. Some things about bone experiments, and a few personal notes talking about flights to a hospital in Fenied and that weird anti-peace faction from earth. And some other things you might find interesting. The kill order is in there for Calysta's co-pilot and..well...you already know the other order in there. Her mom is a real piece of work."

Ayrn fell silent for a moment as he realized that he had no room to talk on the subject. This was going to be the hard part. If the Chip went nuts on him and started pummeling him for being a spy it wasn't likely he would stop this time. Gulping a little, he straightened his eye patch and looked the man in his bright green eyes. He almost didn't want to say it, but the man would find out sooner or later and it was best just to get ahead of it while he could. "And uh...there's one other thing. The guy running that outpost on Ktuole worked for William Yarbrough. The man who owns most of Veyna4 and alot more. He's in on whatever all this is and he's... my dad." Ayrn clamped his eyes shut a little, waiting for the General to start accusing him of being involved in things he wasn't.

 

[Silence]

Illya took the suitcase that lay open on the table and started to pick up the files. He wanted to know exactly what they said and he was lucky to have such a rat working for him. Rat status was slowly changing to a mild form of admiration for a talent which was difficult to come by. Nodding a little he picked one file up and laid it down on his table before grabbing the next one. There was a strange hesitation and Illya paused with one file in hand. Whatever the man was going to say must have been important. Possibly dangerous information. At the revelation of his father Illya took a deep breath. Obviously this file had been procured at a high cost. It was no small thing to steal from kin to help those that were not. Setting the file down he brushed past Aryan and pushed the largest most comfortable chair behind the man. "Sit, yah tell meh da good and bad of dis work."

Ayrn tensed as the large man passed him, ready to get hit, but then melted when the Chip pulled out a comfy chair and offered him a seat. A beating was not in order for him apparently, and he sat down with a grateful sigh. “I started out trying to retrace Kiya’s work, which I found out would take me out to this frontier outpost, and ended up bumping into the guy from the blacksmith shop. You know, the one who was nosing around asking about the two of you. His name is Mr. Hughes. He was on his way there too, and he was under some pretty heavy guard. Guys in black military suits and some sport of patch. A deer I think? Anyways, I ended up following him stowing away on his ship all the way to the frontier. The town itself has a ton of workers and a strange amount of security even for a remote spot. I got the brief case from the Mr. Hughes, and sort of bumped into my father on the way.” His explanation he knew sounded long, but he was avoiding the contents of the file because it creeped him out. Licking his dry lips he took a deep breath and continued. “The bastards on the security team shot me, but I got away. When I opened up the case to take a better look…well…”He reached down and pulled out a few of the files. First the info on Project Ramses showing grisly experiments and two test subjects that were twisted miserable messes. That part made him cringe. Then a kill order for Wynt Carrington whose profile stated his wife worked for the Yarbrough company and was a member of the anti-peace factions on earth. Then he pulled out another showing a kill order for Calysta and her life details. Both were addressed to Kiya. “I think this would be enough to put her away for a long time. Calysta didn’t kill her co-pilot. Her mother was ordered to kill him after he tried to kill himself and couldn’t go through with it, though the file doesn’t say why. I think it was probably because the guy knew too much. Maybe even killed the diplomat himself and they tried to make it look even more like Calysta did it.

Poor Ayrn was terrible at getting the information across. That didn't matter so much. As long as you had good information it would work. Illya took the files from him and stuffed them all back into the case and closed it. Sliding the case under his desk he gazed for a long time at Ayrn before taking a seat. "Yah need a few days to rest and den we talk more about dis." There were a few more things that Illya wanted to have gone over with Ayrn on, but the man needed rest. "I get yah a bed set up in here. Dun yah touch anyting." Pointing to his own head Illya grinned. "I know ef yah even move one ting." Even if it looked like a mess there was a method to the madness and he had it memorized each time before he left. "One ot-ther th-thing. Yah give terrible reports, good ting I don't want et written. Means yah just need ta bring meh stuff like dis when I send yah out."

Ayrn ran his hand through his hair and winced, forgetting about the bullet wound as the man warned him not to touch anything. It was relieving to know he would get a good meal tonight and sleep some place that didn't involve him shimmying into electrical panels. He might even convince Calysta to make him pancakes in the morning if he was lucky. "Aye, I won't touch anything." At the last comment made by the man he gave a snort and a half grin to the Chip. "I never was good at making reports, just ask my father. "

For a moment the Chip just glanced to Ayrn and he felt badly, but only for that split second. There was something wrong with Ayrn's life at home and his parents. Illya was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with all parents in general that were Terran or Kaerelean. Now that they were done with the immediate business Illya went back to the kitchen. "Kalizda, he eat wit us for a few days." Though it sounded a bit like an order he knew that she probably wouldn't mind too much. For now Illya was the one helping her and if she did mind he was sure that he would hear about it.

After dinner Illya helped Kalizda get the table cleared. He had no idea what this food was that she made, but it was great. "I liked da food. Yah cook et maybe again soon?" It wasn't often that he asked her to repeat a meal, but when he did it was usually an indication that it was pretty darn good. Taco's were alright, but this stuff that she made was amazing. In fact it rivaled the snake stew. Perhaps he could ask her to help him make some for when Nathan and his agreed came to visit them. Surely they would appreciate some cooking like this. Then again Illya remembered that they had been away for a long time. More than likely they would like a good snake dinner since he imagined they wouldn't have had one in a while.

Calysta picked up Ayrn's plate he had left nearly licked clean and smiled at Illya's comment. It made a little surge of pride roll over her at the fact she had found a meal she could cook halfway decent and her Chip seemed to like it enough to ask for it again soon. Setting the plate into the sink, she poured their wash water over the plate and chuckled. "Aye, I think I can make it again soon as the vendor in town orders more noodles for me."

"I buy yah as many noodles as yah like." It was a funny sounding name for a food, but Illya didn't care. "Maybe I study a little tonight before bed eh?" There was a lot to do and he wanted to make sure he read over all the information carefully. Whatever was going on with Ayrn's father was delicate and Illya wanted to keep the man as far away from his father as possible. It was too dangerous for Ayrn to be recognized in future work. As for evidence Illya wanted to get a little perspective of what was going on in regards to the war and sentiments about the Chippequoti. Potentially sentiments could be the most dangerous.

Calysta finished washing the plate and set it down on a cloth to dry before looking up to Illya. She had given him a chance to tell her what was going on with Ayrn and that briefcase first without her having to ask, but it didn't appear he had any intention of doing so. "Of course. Though I am curious as to what is going on between you and Ayrn."

Shaking his head a little Illya grabbed the next plate and started to dry it. "Business. All yah need ta know for now." He didn't want to risk her getting involved in something that could potentially put her at more risk than she needed to be. Thankfully she hadn't asked very much about his long work days at the mines. However, that hadn't been but a few days before he came down with the cough.

He sounded like he was brushing her off and it was irritating. Calysta was used to being a captain and knowing the inner workings of her ship, and thought she might enjoy somewhat of the same privilege in her own home. Or that a least he might tell her more about what was going on because he trusted her. "Ayrn showed up at our house out of the blue with a bullet wound on his head, and a mysterious brief case in his hand, and I don't get to know what's going on?"

It was clear by her vicious scrubbing of her dishes that she wasn't happy. Then Kalizda started off with a statement that turned into a sort of question at the end. One that Illya still couldn't answer in its entirety. "Kalizda," he turned toward her slightly. "Yah and meh agreed and we share all life. When yah share life et also means duty. Meh duty is to yah and meh men. I have many men under meh and ta tell yah everyting that happens puts dem at risk. It could put yah at risk too. No matter meh duty I love yah more, but I will not risk yah life or meh men for love when duty is answer."

Calysta understood in part what he meant. It was the same reason she didn't tell her father where she was for weeks, but it still bothered her that there were things he wouldn't tell her. Rising the last dish, she put into Illya's hands and gazed up at him. "And I love you too Illya. That duty you're talking about runs both ways. I can't protect you or anyone else if I don't know what's going on or how to help."

"Yah know dis. I give yah list of friends. Dey come and yah take care of dem till I get home. Ef its not meh and dey not friend den get dah friend out of house and clean up all evidence." Illya stared in her eyes with an intensity that was usually reserved for extreme circumstances. "Kalizda we're very close ta war. I begin preparing and less yah know of meh friends da better for yah and t-them."

Long days out in the desert were starting to make sense now. He was out training somewhere, probably with Nathan and others while also playing spy. Calysta knew it would have to start happening but it was still hard to think about war coming so soon, no matter how many times she heard it, and especially with the way he was looking at her now. He only did that when he was absolutely serious and wouldn't budge on the subject."Make a list so I know. I'll prepare some go-bags just in case," she replied finally, "But don't think, I'm going to be sitting at home. I can help in other ways too. I was thinking of asking permission to modify the flyers to allow gun mounts while I was cleaning them today. "

At least she finally understood and Illya nodded to her. "I begin instructing meh friends what ta do if yah here or gone." Since that had it cleared up he resumed drying the dishes and putting them away.

"Aye." Calysta watched him finish up the dishes, gazing at his hands. Hands that had to be so secretive sometimes. When he was done, she silently picked up his hand and kissed his wrist before leaving the kitchen and toward their bedroom to get ready for bed.

It was times like these that made Illya feel sick to his stomach. She kissed his wrist almost like she was saying that she didn't approve of it. There were many things about being a general that were difficult. This was one of the parts that he never liked, but it was his duty to his family, people, men, and now the alliance as well. Illya clenched his jaw and took his hand back so he could finish the dishes.

Studying took a while that night while Illya put together the files to create an outline. He had dozens of pictures. The work that he knew had been done in the past and her mother had continued it in a more acceptable looking manner. If she truly believed she was helping soldiers he couldn't argue that, but he couldn't shake the feeling that deep down she would know that something was wrong. Perhaps in time he would take this to her. Give it till sometime during the war or after and he would talk to her again.

*************************************************************

Months of work in the mines had strengthened Illya's back again. The Chip walked a little more smoothly though his leg would still cramp up at times. He had started to make some progress with a few of the younger Chippequoti. Most of them actually seemed to be more interested in their work, but the few that were curious truly wanted to learn everything that they could. Those that had gotten involved with the community a little more would spend their days chattering away and practicing their use of Quoti.

Strangely there were a few in the group that didn't seem to be keen on using the language though Illya knew they were old enough to have been raised with it. There wasn't any point in pushing it so he decided to wait. A young student approached the woman and began to ask if the older one knew the language and the answer produced itself quickly and sharply. "Speaking in that language will get you killed anywhere, but here." For the time it seemed to kill the ambition of the students and it only got worse. The older Chip man walked straight over to Illya and pulled him by the shoulder. "What is this about? We hide, but obviously someone knows who we are or we wouldn't all be Chippequoti workers on Nuen." It felt like someone was setting them up to get killed and that wasn't what the man wanted.

Turning toward the other Chip Illya looked him up and down. "Yes, someone knows who yah are. I come ere ta train yah. Dey ask meh to show yah how ta fight. Soon enough war comes and yah fight for Federation or wit us and Alliance."

"I'm not joining no war." The man hissed at Illya. "You're just making trouble."

Keeping calm Illya stared the young man in the eyes. "How old yah?" It was perhaps an oddly phrased sentence, but there were times when that was all the better that he could do and it was still enough that the man would know.

"98." Answering with a soured tone he wrinkled his nose a little. "You think that because I'm young I don't know. I remember the days after the war and living in that miserable desert. Now I'm here with not much more than that."

Perhaps the man didn't know who Illya was, but that was probably for the best. "I remember dah war and days after. All men fight and women too. Chippequoti have ta choose and I train yah so dat yah live in peace, but when war comes to yah home yah know how ta fight. Know our language and yah keep yah movements and secrets from enemy. Yah here because war es brewing." Illya noticed that the man had become a little less defensive in his demeanor, though he looked half frightened. "Yah worry for days ahead?"

"We all worry." The man answered in return and leaned down to work next to Illya. "We worry we're all here to be slaughtered. They send our families after us. I talked with the others and we're all sympathetic to the cause. They say there's a hound in the Federation. One that is Chip and he tracks us down. Kills us because he knows if we can't fight then they can't stop them. Already close to owning the counsel in the Alliance. Your no safer here then you were on Quoti."

Illya nodded. "Yah brought here so I train yah. We reunite Chippequoti and make army ta fight. I have friend in Federation dat knows dis and he help us. Come tonight and we train."

*****************************************************************

It was several weeks into the training and now almost all the recruits were serious. What they needed was more men. Nathan stared over his quickly growing army. He and Illya had built the largest Chippequoti army since the wars. There were 50 men under Illya for exclusive operations and then an additional 150 soldiers for general operation. One way to create a need for more men was to simply engineer an accident. Then he could request more workers for up to a year to repair the damages and take the place of the 'injured.' Calling one of the women over he nodded. "Tomorrow we have an accident on the third pier and a collapse of the wall. 50 workers are injured and they opt to stay here until they recover. Make sure they're all clear. I need the extra work force." It wold allow for them to accomplish far more in a day and he could play with the numbers before sending the report home.

When Nathan finished with his breakfast the next morning he was on his way to the mine when the message reached him that there was accident. By noon they had the reports drawn up and he called in to Mr. Kent. "I have run into a problem."

Kent listened. "An accident and you want 50 more to come. All of them meeting the same qualifications?" It seemed an odd request and they too were to bring their families because Nathan wanted a whole year contract. "Why can't you make it shorter?"

The Chip almost grit his teeth. "Because I want more men to get the production done faster. They're not used to the heat, they're slowing down and the natives haven't received us well. Faster we've done our job and collected intel the better." Nathan held his breath for a few seconds while he waited to see what kind of reaction he would get. It was completely silent for a long time and he half expected to get the dreaded phrase asking him to come back and report.

"Alright...send me your list. This is it though." Kent grumbled a little and began to shuffle through his paperwork for something he could scribble a quick note on. "You only get this cause you're my best."

Nathan almost couldn't contain the relief. He had almost every good Chip to Nuen now with their families. "We'll be out of here shortly after the mining is done and I got a general working with me. Illya." That was a name that he knew Kent would want to hear.

"Good and you've got your men getting to know him as well as they can?" Kent smiled a little as he thought of it. They could have an accident before pulling out. Even crippling the general the rest of the way would be helpful.

"They are. Its slow work, but they are progressing." It seemed that was all Kent needed to know besides the weekly report on production. They couldn't have any official file of the real intention of their work here, which made it beneficial for the work that Nathan was doing. As he finished the call Illya approached him and he smiled. "What happens today?"

"Yah come wit yah agreed to meh house." Illya had warned Kalizda that he would bring them tonight and he figured she was eager to meet Nathan since he had barely set foot in the town and only ever went between the houses near the mine and the port. It was just for now and it was close to the training grounds.

Nathan nodded. "Aye, we'll be glad to come. Been a long time since we got to talk with you and Isla."

Momentarily Illya froze in place. It took him a second to process how to say it and then he started. "Its not Isla anymore. She died from bone rot almost 2 years past. Kalizda woman is meh agreed now."

Catching his breath Nathan nodded. He hadn't even heard and neither had Illya said anything about it. However, it did explain why he spoke so much about the Kalizda woman and why he seemed almost affectionate when he mentioned her. At least he hadn't made the mistake when they arrived at the house. He could forewarn his agreed. Nodding slightly he gave sign of apology and then quickly agreed. "We'll come and I'm sure Haza will be glad to meet Kalizda."

 

[aryamajor]

Month's passed so quickly the days tended to blend together for Calysta. She got permission from the Elders to modify the flyers to include mounts for guns. The work took weeks in the hot sun to complete, but it also helped her adjust to her new bones. Her muscles became stronger, and more defined crawling through the inner workings of the flyers, though she still remained skinny. When she wasn't working on the flyers or teaching other Chippeeqouti how to use them, she was at the house making sure the comings and goings of Ayrn and the other friendlies on Illya's list. The sneaky little Terran would often appear out of thin air with a grin on his face and half the contents of their kitchen in his hands. He would stay a few nights long nights, and request pancakes with sausage on the morning that he left out again to do whatever it was Illya had him doing.

Calysta also found herself spending more time with the little girl Rose. The girl didn't appear to have any family to back to as far as Calysta could research and nobody had come looking for her. She visited the girl every day in the hospital getting to know her and discovering that the girl was in fact quite a pistol when she wanted to be. When she was well enough, Rose was allowed to stay with the other orphaned Chip children in one of the couples homes. The poor girl begged to stay with her instead, but Calysta worried that her house might not be the safest with the coming war. Instead, she promised to visit every day, and had kept her word. She wondered if the girl would adjust well to having only one hand, but it didn't stop her from keeping up with the other children in the slightest. The girl was running in the herd of Chip children, her light brown hair standing out among the bobbing dark heads, when Calysta and Illya walked up to the bath house in the morning. The little Terran girl caught sight of her and then Illya. Her green eyes traveled up the Chips tall frame and she padded over to them with her fly away curls and a curious look.
For a moment, Calysta couldn't tell what her reaction would be. Rose hadn't seen Illya since the night of her crash and Calysta had spoken of him only when she asked, telling the girl his name. Rose stopped just shy of a foot from Illya and peered up at him. Then she launched forward and wrapped her arm around his knee, giving him a hug the only way she could and muttering into his pants leg. The Chip was confused at the Terran words and of course, so Calysta translated it to her much improved Qouti. "Rose says "'Thank you, Mr. Wolf.'"

Calysta also made a point to go see her mother, well armed with her pistol at Illya's request, but little progress was made between them. They did have a somewhat civil conversation on how Calysta had grown up. It was a surprise to hear Kiya take such an interest in her past and she was very careful not to reveal anything particularly important. Then the day came where she was told by Henaiah that they wanted her testimony on record for the investigation of Kiya. Calysta stuffed herself in her black and silver Skycorp dress uniform, and sat in the diplomats villa on a video call for hours on end as the grilled her on the events leading up the the diplomats murder and the murder of Wynt Carrington. On the final question, she struggled. "Did you kill or plan to kill Mr. Carrington to cover the murder of the Cirellant diplomat? And do you truly think Kiya Reynalta is the true culprit in this crime?" She clenched her fists and tried to keep her calm, neutral face on. "No I did not kill or plan to kill anyone. As for Ms. Reynalta, I made a citizens arrest because I believed her to be the one who killed Wynt Carrington. As for guilt beyond that, the evidence can speak for itself, because I cannot."

When she was done with giving her testimony, Calysta wanted nothing more than to escape for awhile. She peeled off her tight uniform then struck out into the flight yard to check out a flyer. She climbed inside and went for a solo flight, just enjoying the sound of the wind that filled her ears, and the afternoon sunlight that was starting to fade. It felt good to be in the air again and she felt great, despite having been questioned for hours. Her body seemed to have much more energy and it amazed her that this is how being healthy was supposed to feel. The stars started poking though the at the edges of the night as she looked out over the open desert, and turned to head back toward the settlement. While she was flying, she chanced a look a the chronometer in on the flyer panel to check the time. The date displayed underneath the numbers made her laugh. It was one year to the day that she had crashed landed on Qouti. One year to the day she had met Illya. After making home,and climbing into bed next to Illya, she turned on her side and hugged him close, before kissing his cheek. "It's been one entire year since that day on Qouti when I crashed. I never thought I'd say this as a pilot, but I'm glad I did fall to the planet surface. I wouldn't have met you."

****
Ayrn enjoyed his travels for the most part. Illya would ask him to report back on how the Alliance seemed to be liking the Chippeqouti and he would visit anywhere the man asked with the money he was given. Sitting in bars with a drink in his hand and a woman, or two, in his lap he would get the others drunk and then start them off into the topics he wanted to know about. "What'ya think about those strange folks? Yeah, the ones on that planet...whats it called...Newton?" "Nah, its Nuen!" "Yeah, strange people. I heard they were tall as Tyrei's and filed their teeth!" "No, they look just like us to they blend...ready to strike...just like that one in New York!"

Ayrn would rile them up and let them talk amongst themselves while he listened, nodding along. He found that most Terran's still had the strongest mixed feelings regarding the Chips. The wake of Illya's jailbreak had left a lot of sour tastes in peoples mouths on the planet and among the higher ups in the Terran government. Some still even called for his arrest over his past war crimes and the New York incident, but there were one or two that stood out against the idea. On one of his last reports to Illya he mentioned the woman, showing a picture of her with short black hair. "This woman seems to be a friendly. Her name is Michelle Rainer, and she speaks out in defense of the Chippeqouti. She says you saved her from getting killed when the police took down the rioters and believes that you and your people should be given a fair chance. However some of the anti-peace ralliers have added Chips into the mix, claiming you guys are dangerous as the Cirellants. I think that's mostly because of the whole jail break incident and someone pushing rumors about how "General Illya" and his violent people will turn on the alliance."

Ayrn also traveled to several spots on Kaereal to take a peek about Chip sentiments. "The Urians seemed to like you well enough. Tikan has made you quite popular with the Reylians. The Yurians didn't dislike you, but thought you were trouble for the Alliance. And the Ori'l's were of mixed opinion. There's a heavy Terran presence there with that being the collaborative SkyCorp and Space Force head quarters, so that might have something to do with it."

When he got ready to leave out on the next assignment, Ayrn got Illya's attention and gave the Chip a somewhat sheepish look. "Hey, next time I'm in town. Maybe I could learn a few of those fancy tricks with the guns, huh? And no...not to just impress the women. Well, maybe a little, but I think I might need to know eventually."

***


Calysta put the freshly baked bread onto the kitchen table and went back to stir the snake stew one more time to make sure it had absolutely no lumps to be found. Just because she had been helping cook it for months, didn't mean she wasn't prone to still messing it up from time to time. When Illya had told her about hosting Nathan and his wife for dinner one night, requesting snake stew, Calysta had agreed to do with a bit of excitement. She hadn't really seen the man unless it was in passing and Illya spoke very little about him, though it seemed they were good friends . It was good she was getting to meet this friend at least, not only to slake her curiosity but also because it was just good to be social in times when only the thought of work could take over. She had changed out of her dusty tunic into her black one, wearing the gold belt in absence of the silver in order to look more presentable for company. As she stirred the stew, Keysha's head perked up and there was the sound of voices from the living room, first Illya, and then others. Putting down the spoon, Calysta dusted off her hands and strode into the living room to greet their guests. Illya was standing there with a tall, pale man and another woman whom she assumed was Nathan and his wife. Without hesitation, she walked over and offered her hand for a proper greeting. "Hi, I'm Calysta," she smiled in her strangely accented Qouti.

Three of them stopped at the bath house and Haza waited outside for the men to finish washing up. Illya was more than excited to finally have Nathan eat at his house again. They were almost to the door and Nathan laughed. "You put a door on the house?" It was a funny thing considering how there was hardly a purpose to having a door in Nuen with all the Chippequoti around. "Uh yes," Illya answered. "Ets for Kalizda. She likes da idea of more privacy. I dun tink et works." Still they all got a good laugh out of it and walked into the living room. Nathan and Haza both took a seat and began to look around at the design. As soon as Kalizda stepped in the three of them turned toward her and Nathan and Haza shook her hand in turn. At first they exchanged glances and then looked at Illya. "Yeah, I call her Kalizda." It was terrible now that he thought about it. Nathan just smiled. "Which do you prefer I call you?"

The two of them looked confused and Calysta had to admit It was strange to have two monikers sometimes. She frequently swapped between the two depending on who she dealt with. Here on Nuen though she was known as the Kalizda woman she would keep to both of her names. "It's Calysta to all but Kalizda to friends," she replied, cheerfully. Looking over the pair, she nodded to them. "I'm glad you were able to come over. I was told you like snake stew too?"

Haza and Nathan both nodded. "Snake stew is a favorite." No doubt she had already discovered that. Quietly the thee of them followed her into the kitchen and Illya helped her get the bowls served up and she took care of the bread. Even after this many years he still mashed bread if he tried to cut it.

They were both so quiet. Like they didn't quite no what to make of her, and if she was honest, she didn't quite no what to make of them. They seemed pleasant though but she didn't know what she could talk about with them that wouldn't get her shut down as being "off limits" between Nathan and Illya. Serving up a bowl, to Nathan and then to Haza, she glanced to Illya feeling awkward before trying at conversation again. "So you and Illya grew up together on Qouti? Or did you become friends through work?"

It was so quiet and in some ways difficult to know even what to say. Illya hadn't heard them mention any children and if they had any they were grown up now. Otherwise they would have brought them with. Kalizda like usual started with a question and the two guests smiled gently and then nodded to Illya. It was only awkward if he was the one telling it and they always found it funny. "I uh..." Illya frowned a little and glanced at Nathan who was grinning broadly while scooping another bite of stew into his mouth. Still it wasn't making it any easier for Illya. "We grew up together for a few years. Met as teens. Dared each other on Quoti to uh....We went window diving." Nathan busted out laughing and he nodded. "You have to tell her what that was all about." A sheepish grin came to Illya's face. "Thought I was gonna surprise Isla and she uh...hit meh with a club. Same ting happened to Ehud."
Calysta noticed the broad, mischievous smile come over Nathan's faces as she took a quick bite and then came the comment about window diving from Illya who was wearing a more sheepish grin. It was funny to imagine her 'modest' Chip jumping through a girls window and she raised a brow at him. "Oh?" she chuckled, "And why exactly were you diving into windows?"

At this point Nathan had to take over. "I'll finish it. He likes to downplay this one." Haza was even chuckling a little as she tried to politely hide it behind a napkin. "We both dared each other to go into a girl's window and try to kiss her. I told Isla he was going to do it and he told Haza. So I dove in first and came out with a black eye. He was laughing his butt off and then dove into Isla's house. She wasn't living with her parents by then so she was a little more risky. He dropped in I heard a yelp and then I saw him scrambling back out the window and she hit him a good couple times more on the ass. I got a kiss after the black eye." Illya chuckled. "I uh...didn't get much. Just a sore butt."

Calysta's smile grew as she listened to Nathan talk about this dare. The two of them were rambunctious and undoubtedly wild as teens. Not that all of that had grown out of them, but it was good to hear. As she started laughing lightly, she braced her chin n her hand. "Serves you for jumping through a lady's window," she replied, playfully, "Isla sounds like she gave you a good run."

Both of the men nodded and Haza smirked. "Oh we gave them what they had coming." She had been only two years younger than Isla and always enjoyed her friend's company. "We did have to make it up to them later on. At least I did." Finally she looked at Kalizda after a long moment. "How did you meet Illya?"

The question caught her off guard a little. Most of the other Chips knew how she and Illya met and the only other person she had ever told the story to was her father and it hadn't been well received. How did she even begin to describe how they met in a setting like this? She took another spoonful of soup to give her time to think about how to answer and gave Illya a quick look before putting her spoon down. "It's a bit of a long story, but suffice it to say it wasn't so much as a meeting as it was...a collision," she replied, with a bit of half grin, "My ship crashed on Qouti."

Nathan's eyebrows rose and he looked at Illya. Naturally Haza looked at Illya too and both of them gave him the look that said he wouldn't get to skip this one. They were being polite because they didn't Kalizda well enough to insist that she tell them. "Well...?" Nathan queried. "I uh drug her out of da ship after she shot meh and I assessed her price." As if some sort of joke had been told Nathan snickered and quickly shoved a bite of food into his mouth. Blinking a few times Haza looked at Illya and then Kalizda. "And yah agreed with him after that?"

When she thought about it, the whole story behind how they met was so contrary as to be funny. Nathan seemed to so too, but his wife seemed surprised to hear what happened. She gave Illya a smile and then looked to Haza, with her grey eyes. "Aye, I did. It was certainly not anything either of us thought would happen. He was stubborn and insisted I teach him to fly and I was nearly as stubborn back."

The woman nodded. "Well then we shall be very good friends. I agreed with a stubborn man to."

Calysta smiled and nodded. To be a friend of Illya's you almost had to be stubborn and Nathan appeared to be a good man and his wife, though she appeared shy, was a good woman too. "Yes, I think so. "

They enjoyed the rest of their dinner together, which mainly consisted of Nathan and Illya telling wild stories on each other that were absolutely true, causing her and Haza to giggle. When the meal was over and a desert of cookies along with sweetened tea was served, all seemed to be at ease. Calysta enjoyed the stories but had to admit it was hard for her to relate on some level. The three of them had known each other for so long, and had shared so much together, she felt a little odd. Whenever they spoke of stories, she had little to come back with in the way of youthful adventures with friends, because hadn't really had any. Being sick and home -schooled coupled with the fact that she was a half-breed had created a more solitary life. Still this was a chance to change that, and she found having friends come over was enjoyable. As the two of them left late in the night, Calysta gave Nathan a pleasant smile and goodnight before turning to Haza. "I was thinking of making a trip to the Oasis tomorrow if you'd like to come? There's plenty of fresh food to harvest and those prickly fruits are in season now."

 

[Silence]

Haza nodded in agreement when she heard the offer for the Oasis. "Oh I'd be more than happy to pick some with you. Anything to change the pace." Mostly her work had been preparing books and small things to help teach the Chippequoti children. She had been a teacher in the outside world for years and she wanted to make sure that they had a way to teach the young children here. All she needed was approval from the Elder's and a few parents that would like for their children to begin learning to read. Most Chippequoti didn't bother to teach the children when they were very young. Many waited till they were in their teens to begin learning. With the possibility of a war coming it was best that the children begin learning the languages now and read a little. They could very well need it.

Even a few hours a day would do well enough. First she would have to start with manners that are acceptable in other planets. Chippequoti children were what many would consider problematic. It wasn't until she was home sitting on the bed that Haza realized Nathan was already under the sheet. They barely needed more than that. They were still having trouble adjusting to the heat, but that was always more difficult for them as they were used to cooler climates since they had been small. "Nathan what did you think of her?" Haza was asking purely out of curiosity. It was strange to see Illya agreed with an outsider. Someone he would have scorned even in his zealous youth. Though he was still considered young, both of them knew that he was almost entirely xenophobic starting at a young age. Some of it was the war and the other part very likely had to do with the fact that he had been raised a little zealot.

Turning over his his bed Nathan looked at Haza. "She's a feisty one. Think she might be enough to put some of his ideas in check."

Both of them had to laugh at the comment of Kalizda being a feisty one. There was no doubt in their minds that she was that sort of person. In general it was probably a good thing. Haza finally returned with her own thoughts. "Well, I was just surprised that she wasn't born Chippequoti. You can tell looking at her that she wasn't. Suppose the war changed that much?" In a way it had changed her, but she hadn't seen it quite the same was as her husband and Illya.

Nathan sighed. "It changed all of us. We both know I'm not the same as I was." He had changed a lot more than he liked to admit. There were still things that bothered him and he knew it was likely the same for Illya. Quietly the two of them talked for a while more about their new life on Nuen. It wasn't going to last for long. By the time Mr. Kent figured it out he was going to be on the run, but in the meantime all the Chippequoti that he could get together would be united and they would have a place to run if there were more.

The woman carefully combed her fingers through Nathan's hair. He was a fine man and she loved him. Haza got up early the next morning to collect the fruits with Kalizda at the Oasis. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the woman was already learning many things about the desert life. Kalizda was practically one of them and she really did deserve all the compliments and praise she had been given. "I think you're very good for him." Haza smiled as she met Kalizda's gaze during their little harvesting adventure. "I don't know you very well, but if he and Nathan get time to talk with one another you're frequently a favorite subject. Nathan comes home and you're the one I hear about to. Made me curious for a long time. Thought maybe you were born Chippequoti, but you're deserving of the adoption." It was feeling odd to talk to her about this, but Haza didn't know her very well otherwise.

"I've been looking at talking with the elders about starting a small school. It will teach children here the customs and some other languages of the planets around us." She knew that if Kalizda was part Kaerelean that she would likely think it was a great idea. "Times have changed and we can't live like we used to. Nathan and I have watched the development of Nuen for a while. We know there is some trading that has been enforced." The school seemed like such a good idea. "Perhaps if we can train the next generation a little more about the world around them they will be received a little better."

******************************************

It seemed that the little girl, Rose frequently smiled and waved at Illya and Kalizda. By now she was yelling 'Mr. Wolf' in Quoti. Occasionally she would bring a pretty rock or pick a flower for them to keep. Sometimes there were little paintings on her rocks. There wasn't any spectacular in her art. Usually just little dots, but Illya had started a small collection of them in the window sill of his study. She waved at them again from her play out on the dune with the other children and Illya looked at Kalizda. "She choose home yet?" So far as he knew she was just left to one of the alternative homes. Parents that were always open to more, but willing to let the child go elsewhere if they wanted.

Calysta smiled and waved back to Rose as the desert wind picked up through her little brown curls. The girl she had come to see every day had grown so much stronger and everytime she saw them she greeted them with simple gifts of her own. The Chippequoti children had even taught her how to catch lizards hiding between the rocks, which had been all her talk this week, showing Calsyta exactly how to catch them because that was important to know. Chuckling at the sight of Rose playing, she shook her head at Illya's question. "She asked to stay with Mr. Wolf and the Bird, some weeks ago...she wanted to stay with us."

At first he just nodded and then abruptly turned back toward Kalizda. "What? Why didn't yah say anyting?" He couldn't believe that he wouldn't remember this sort of conversation if they had had it. Kalizda knew he wanted children and this little girl wanted to come live with them. Rose had asked to stay with them as well and she wasn't. Why she couldn't live with them was beyond Illya. Did Kalizda not want children at all?

Calsyta could hear the disbelief in his voice and she finally peeled her eyed away from the sweet little girl on the hill top to look at Illya. She was sure she sounded cold and cruel but that wasnt her intent. "I didn't say anything because I love Rose and I was worried that if something happened to us she would lose her family again...with the war and it not exactly being safe around the two of us..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes dropped to her feet.

The concerns were certainly valid, but Illya wasn't sure why she still wouldn't have said something to him. "Kalizda, we're agreed. Dese t-things we talk about together." Stopping where he was at he took a deep breath. "Alright, we talk now. Yah worried about safety. Ets same safety wherever she go. We all live on Nuen, and we all Chippequoti."

He was one to talk about being 'agreed and these things we talk about together' considering he kept so many secrets from her. She didn't point that out though because there is no point in rehashing old arguments. He sounded like he was almost scolding her and she sighed. "I know, I just don't want her hurt. And I suppose I was a little nervous myself. Illya, I love kids and I want Rose to come live with us. I've just never had one before." She was sure the comment made no sense to him, but it came tumbling out anyways, as she looked back up to little Rose.

"Of course yah never have one before." Illya did his best to hold back the exasperated tone. "Children are verah easy. I take few days off work extra to go wit my 2 regular days. T-then we have plenty of time together. Four, maybe five days so I show yah how easy children are eh?"

Calysta broke out into a smile. He sounded like he thought she was at a loss as to what to do with a child. She knew what to do, it was her ability to do it well she worried sometimes. Illya didn't need to know that though, he had enough on his plate already besides assuring her that she would not turn out like her mother or be a bad one in general. She would figure it out. "I think some time together would be good," she smiled, "Are you calling Rose over to tell her or shall I?

The discussion was over so fast that Illya was somewhat at a loss for words. Normally little things like this took longer to talk about. She must have really wanted to adopt the girl. "Eh....yah call her over." He hadn't ever had much a chance to talk with the little girl and Kalizda was probably less intimidating looking.

Calysta called out in Terran to Rose and the child paused in her lizard hunting before she smiled and skittered over to them. She knelt in front of the girl and looked into her green eyes, then tucked a stray curl behind her ear that was clinging to her lip. Little Rose was so sweet and confident with her toothy smile. Calysta explained to her carefully what they were asking in Terran so the girl would sure to understand. When she was done, her eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them and she laughed before wrapping her arms around Calsyta's neck forcefully enough to bump her back to her rear. "I think that's a yes," Calysta laughed as she hugged back. Rose let go after a long moment and held out her only hand to Illya. The child knew he didn't speak Terran so she gave him a happy smile. "I go with you Mr. Wolf."

Since Kalizda was the one that was nervous about the child rearing it was important that she get to break the news. Little Rose was nearly a hurdling mass of energy as the news was broke. At least that was what Illya gathered. He couldn't understand anything that they said and he waited by quietly. Truth was he was slightly terrified of having another little girl. She was barely older than his own little Lahna had been when she died. When her little fingers extended toward his Illya gently wrapped his massive hand around her tiny one. His hand extended from the tips of her fingers all the way to her wrist. "I make yah a little den. Place just for yah and it will be close meh and Kalizda's room eh?"

Rose's brow furrowed, a little and she asked Calsyta something in Terran. Calsyta replied with a chuckle and a nod before the child's eyes grew round and she tugged on Illya's hand. " I stay with bear too?!" She asked in broken Qouti excitedly. Rose loved animals and dragged the toy stuffed horse everywhere she went just about.

"The bear is close. Cin stay in meh room, but I teach yah to play and train bear eh?" Illya knew that there was a chance the bear would become protective of the girl and that was a good thing. So long as the cub viewed her as a precious person and not as competition.

Rose smiled and nodded. She was going home with the Kalizda bird and the Blackwolf. It had been scary being alone in the hosptial and with her mum. Kalizda had explained that her mum couldn't come for her and when she cried the Bird and held her and cried too. It was better now and she remembered the man with bright eyes who helped her. Kalizda had told her all about the animals and of her friend with the funny name Illya Blackwolf. "Funny name," she giggled back in Qouti, " I learn from Wolf."

This little girl was snickering about his name. Illya knew it sounded funny to outsiders, but he didn't usually go by his middle name. "Eh, meh name is Illya." Why she liked to call him Wolf he didn't know. Probably Kalizda started that one.

The girl gave him a thoughtful look and shrugged. He'd always be Wolf to her anyways, even if he didnt like it. "Illya Wolf," she grinned. Calsyta pulled her herself off the ground and gave Illya a curious look. For as upset as he was for her not bringing Rose immediately to stay, he had become strangely clammed up now that she was.

Illya nodded a little when the girl called him Illya Wolf. There was no winning this battle and he knew it. So instead he let it be for the time. When they got to the house he took he to his study and started to draw their bedroom with an extra little door. "Yah like yah cave here or maybe yah like et by kitchen?" It was hard to tell where the girl wanted her little room, but he could make one almost anywhere she wanted it.

Rose looked around at the pretty house and when Illya captured her attention she braced her elbows on the desk and rested her chin on her one hand, looking over the drawing with curiosity. Wolf was very quiet but she liked the way he spoke when he did. "Here?" She asked, pointing to to the wall of the study. Calsyta leaned in the doorway and watched Illya lean over the desk with a pencil in his broad hand. She had seen him interact with the Qouti children, but this seemed different. Maybe it was because she reminded him of Lahna.

"Yah want a cave dere?" Grinning a little he gave a growl and started to draw up a little cave. There was only solid rock behind it so her little room really would be a cave. "I t-think dis hard work for Wolf." Pointing to the drawing he let her look at it. "What yah want in yah room?"

Rose gave him a toothy grin and giggled when Illya growled. "Oh! A bed..and a bear...and" Roses eyes lifted to the ceiling as she thought it over some more. "How about a secret place to hide your treasures?" Calsyta suggested, with a chuckle. Rose nodded excitedly and pointed to the spot on drawing. "Right heruh?"

There was a lot of drawing and planning to do. Illya almost had it done and then Kalizda suggested a little treasure spot. "We ave to find treasure eh? Right now we meet dah bear and den yah get to learn how ta talk to bear. He only knows meh language. Like yah speak ta other children eh?" Illya was trying to speak in some Trader's tongue, but it was mixed with Quoti because the girl seemed to understand that better.

Rose nodded, her little curls bouncing. The liked the others even they g iggled at her funny sounding accent. "Aye. They teach how to catch lizards." Her eyes went from illya to Calysta and then to the drawing. "Cave not ready though."

"Not yet." Illya glanced around the room and sighed. "I make a tent for yah in da house?" Maybe that would be appealing? Kids liked adventures and he figured she would like that sort of thing. At least he remembered liking that sort of thing when he was kid.

At this point Calysta was smiling ear to ear watching Illya and the little girl. She couldn't help it for some reason and the smile grew even broader when the little girl replied. "A fort!" In Terran. Calsyta translated the words for Illya and walked over, slipping a hand over his shoulder.

Nodding in response he almost let out a breath of relief. Somehow this was a lot harder than he thought it would be. In his mind he had envisioned this as a sort of exciting thing, which it was. However, because of her age it was also difficult in a way. Illya glanced at Kalizda and smirked. "We build a fort den." That was about all the more he could say for the moment and he started to get blankets out to hang across the living room and drape over the furniture to create a little fort for her.

Calysta helped pull out their many blankets and helped Illya in silence. As nervous as she was about being a mother, the girl obviously had an affect on Illya too for what she imagined were the reasons she had thought of earlier. He would love Rose like his own in time, though she guessed it might not take long. When then fort was built Rose shimmied inside with a laugh and buried herself into the pillows like a little bear cub building a nest. Calsyta didn't feel the need to say anything, she just gave her tall Chip a gentle, knowing look then leaned up to kiss his tanned cheek. For all their thoughts on the matter, good or troubled everything would be alright.

What Illya hadn't anticipated was for Kalizda to lean up and give him a gentle kiss. It was comforting in a way and he glanced back to the wiggling mass of blankets and the giggles. Illya let a half smile come to his face and he watched for a few more minutes before heading into the study begin making a little doorway and a way for her to get into her cave. By evening his back was sore and his leg was aching. The angle was awkward, but he was determined to give her a good little cave. When it was time for dinner Illya wiped his dusty hands off and helped the girl get onto the bench so she could eat with them. "Looks good Kalizda." Leaning over he gave her a quick kiss and served a dish for Kalizda, Rose and himself.

After Rose was settled in her little bed Illya sat up in his study. She reminded him of a few things that he wanted to know. Reaching into the shelf he pulled that Bible out again and searched the back of it for some key words. There were only a few on paradise and he read everything he could on it. Sounded like a much better place and he forgot to ask Thomas last time what the spirits said. He needed to know if they were there or not. Perhaps he would be able to ask quietly. It was likely an odd subject for Kalizda and he didn't want her asking about this. Nobody could know that he had a Bible here or that he even bothered to read it. Hearing foot steps coming back toward the study he shut the book and quickly shoved it back into its place. Scrambling a little he pulled his pad up and tried to look busy reading it. "Oh tea." Setting the tablet aside he took the tea from Kalizda and then headed back with her to the bed.

Illya woke up to a wild yelp and frantic yelling as the girl launched herself onto him and stuck her little bony knees into his back while trying to crawl between him and Kalizda. Immediately following her was Keysha and Cin. Apparently she was carrying a toy that they both wanted and Keysha leaped over his head and almost sat on Kalizda's while playfully batting at the covers. Cin began to bawl loudly and try to climb onto Illya. Normally he would have awakened a bit faster, but he had his tea and it was a day off. He was still trying to determine if his back hurt when Cin gave a mad scramble and perched himself on the small of Illya's back. With a grunt the Chip winced and pushed on the bear awkwardly. "Get off."

Even if Kalizda had attempted to be helpful and tell Rose to get out of the bed the girl just scrambled over his legs and Cin launched himself from Illya's back onto the floor followed by the cat. Groaning a little Illya sat up. "Ugh....that hurt." Slowly getting out of the bed he stretched a little and his back popped several times before the end. Wandering out to the living room he saw the blankets in a heap and the bear along with the cat trying to take the toy from Rose. The girl giggled and then Cin just sat on her as his solution.

Wandering over to the bear he pulled it off of Rose and then stood her up. "Yah dun tease dem. Look how big he is eh?" This time Illya spoke in Quoti. "I show yah how to get him ta do tricks." Since it seemed that was what the girl wanted he took her outside to play with Cin. The bear tried his best to wag his tail though it was more of his entire but shaking as he tried to show his eagerness to play.

**************************************************************

When the next report came in from Ayrn it sounded about the same as it had last time. With the exception that war was perhaps a little more eminent. Ayrn of course was starting to see the use of learning to defend himself and Illya raised one eyebrow slightly before a grin came to his face. "Yah did well. I tink maybe I teach yah how ta shoot and den..." Taking a deep breath he thought for a moment. "Dis time I want yah to find out how close people feel tah starting war."

The first lesson in shooting was always the same. Illya gave Ayrn a gun and had him take it apart, put it back together, clean the gun, take it apart and put it back together until Ayrn could do it without thinking. "Now." He knew the complaining would start soon enough. "Yah learn to be good marksman." Pointing to a target he nodded. "Shoot." At the end it didn't look all that great, but it would come with time. "Terrible. I see worse before." Once more he ordered for Ayrn to shoot and he watched the man's stance. "Yah feet wrong." Walking behind Ayrn he shoved one foot between the man's and moved Ayrn's left foot over a little. "Hold arms like dis." Taking Aryn's arms he shifted them and then instructed for the man to shoot again. "Keep both eyes op...." Glancing at Aryn he growled. The man didn't have two eyes and that made his depth perception a little off.

"Well yah never gonna be expert, shoot again." Illya worked with the man for nearly a week and trained other recruits in the evenings. There wasn't as much time as he would have liked to see Ayrn improve, but it was enough to at least get him away from being completely lost when it came to handling a gun. "Next time yah come back yah train more." He needed to find a way to help Ayrn gauge things that he was shooting at. Perhaps he would give him a scope and smaller targets so that Ayrn would get a feel for distance through the scope of a gun or sites. He would need to be trained on both. "Remember yah leave in morning." Patting the man on the back he then started out to help train the other Chippequoti.

More of them had joined up and it was becoming a larger project. However, Nathan wasn't quite himself. It was like he was on edge. Illya caught him after another long night. "We have all dem training now and even ef dey dun wanna fight dey working ta protect demselves."

Nathan shook his head. "Its not them. Illya he's going to call me back and if I don't answer the war starts. If I do he's gonna kill me. Kent isn't a fool, he knows what I am and he knows what you are. He's gonna find out and when he does that's it." This had been a growing concern and it was drawing close to the end of the year. Illya was free to leave anytime, but he hadn't and it was because of the troops. "We need to start spreading out and moving again. Some will stay here that want, but we can't all be in the same place anymore. Make some secret ports or something."

Both of them knew the time would come and Illya sighed. "We build ports. Yah stay here and war comes anyway. All know dis. Come wit meh and Kalizda. We go to Uria." Whatever the planet was called he was pretty sure that was it.

"Why there?" Nathan queried and then smiled when Illya gave the reason. "No, I'll stay here and help guard Nuen. I can't go into the war like you did. I can hold ground and keep Kent at bay. They need you to do what is necessary with your men abroad." Searching his friend's face he smirked. "We already talked about this and I know you still want me to move. I stay here. Your father goes into Kaerlean territories and you go to Uria and area from there. I stay here and we hold the ground on three corners."

"Three corners of territory like last war eh?" Illya nodded solemnly. "I get word ta men. We build secret ports and begin moving out." Turning to leave he stopped short and then glanced at Nathan. "How does Kent know about us?" It was one question that he hadn't ever needed to ask before because Nathan had never made that mistake until now.

The Chip clenched his jaw. "Illya he's one of us. I escaped the prisons we were transported to. Got into one of the labs by accident as an assistant. He was a dark Chippequoti, but they did something to his bones. He was shriveling up and dying. It was like acid eating at the marrow through drips. I pulled him out and tried to help him recover. Recovery only went so far, but he came up with this plan. If we can't beat them, join them. We got into the Federation and worked our way up trying to free and save as many Chippequoti as we could. Soon he started to get caught up in the mergers. He wanted to see all the alliance torn apart. They hosted the Federation for decades and unwittingly allowed them to build. He's out to see the world burn and you with it if you won't be part of it. Federation men that you killed were sent to retrieve you and offer a job. The face of the Federation is changed. Its not about money, its about power. If you think this alliance can survive the Federation then pull out your research and have Markus take it to Henaiah and get her out."

*********************************************

Illya was returning home the same as usual though he was caught up in thought. The time had come and it was a dire situation. There was a slight lull and they had to take action if they were going to get a headstart on this war and get out of the grasp of Kent. So far Kent thought he had them all in one place and if they used the secret ports to spread out they could get the message to others and rally the Alliance.

A little squeak sounded and he looked up. Rose came barreling out of the house. She had been with them several months now and had her little den packed with everything pink. That smile on her face was impossible to resist. Grinning back he held his arms out and she jumped a little bit so he could catch her. Once her little eyes were level with his he winked. "How's meh little Rose?" Her eyes lit up and she began telling him all about her day of catching spiders and little scorpions for dinner. She had even caught a few lizards, but Kalizda didn't want to mix those with the others. Illya doubted that Kalizda was cooking with the spiders and scorpions, but she might have tried it. "I tink yah too tall for door." Raising her up he got her high enough at the doorway that she was about to bonk her head. Giggling a little she ducked and he raised her higher. "Yah still too tall." "No." Protesting with a grin the girl ducked a little more. Illya raised her a tiny bit more. "Uh, yah giant, too big for meh house. Maybe I leave yah outside."

Rose slapped his head playfully. "Put meh down!" As soon as her little feet touched the ground she pushed the door open and raced into the house. "Kalizda! Wolf is home."

Slowly Illya made his way in after Rose. She loved to make announcements. Kalizda already knew he was home, it wasn't like he was quiet or even had the capability of being sneaky when Rose was around, but she liked to think she knew something they didn't. Crouching a little he growled as she came back around the corner and the girl squealed. Running back to Kalizda she wrapped her arm around Kalizda's waist and clung to her leg with the prosthetic arm. "Safe!" Yelling at Illya she made sure he wouldn't cheat.

"Oh fine." Illya stood up and walked over to Kalizda. Peering at the food in the kettle he smirked. "Looks like fine spider stew. Aaaaand...." Looking down at Rose he grinned. "Scorpions!" With one hand he reached for her and she ducked away screaming in delight. While she was on the run he had a quick moment, "Kalizda we need talk tonight. Verah important."

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta smiled at Haza when she began saying the Illya had been talking about her to Nathan and subsequently his wife. The compliments were much like his gifts, a little secret that made her blush. As they walked through the oasis, plucking the prickly desert fruit, she listened to Haza’s idea for a school. The idea of was almost strange coming from another Chippeqouti. Usually outside knowledge was only learned out of necessity. Illya had been a little different in that mindset, but many of the parents kept their children strictly within the Chip tradition. Despite that detail, Calysta thought it was a wonderful idea to open a school.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Calysta replied earnestly, “You could teach them the basics and traders tongue and I can teach some too if you wanted. It would help train up some of the youngest on how to approach outsiders. Most of them mean well, but a few misunderstandings have happened in the past. One of which got Illya thrown in jail.” Haza gave her a curious look and Calysta laughed. “We were on this planet…”

Calysta and Haza talked through the morning as the filled their baskets and then made plans to speak to the Elders regarding the school.

***

With the Elders approval, Haza and Calysta were allowed to teach the children of the settlement. They only met for a few hours a day but that was quite enough. Chippeqouti children had a reserve of energy like no other and putting a herd of them all in one tent was not an easy feat when they were riled up. Calysta insisted that Rose join the lessons,

“We just adopted her not long ago,” Calysta mused to Haza as she helped pick up the drawing papers,”She is smart and sweet. “


They both chuckled and Calysta knew what she was thinking. “And a little rambunctious. I can't even say she gets it from Illya, but he certainly sets an example. Like the snake incident from last week ."

Calysta could laugh about it now, but at the time it had been terrifying to see Rose come trotting into the house with a proud smile and a snakes head pinched between her fingers. The serpent was spitting everywhere and wriggling but the child didn’t seem to mind a bit. Calysta panicked and told her to drop it onto the floor before stomping it head with the heel of her boot. When she’d asked Rose why she was picking up snakes, the response came in short order. “Wolf does it all the time.”

Later that week, she’d caught Rose crying in her little cave after school. Her little sniffles were barely audible from down the hall but Cin, who was starting to get close to the size of a table, made a sad cry and toddled into the study, prompting Calysta to follow. When she found Rose with pink cheeks and wet green eyes, she ducked down into her room. “Rose, what’s wrong?”

Her bottom lip trembled and she wiped at her eyes. “I miss my mum.”

The words struck Calysta for a moment. She was the Kalizda woman and not Rose’s mother, even if she would be the one raising her now. If anyone understood what that was like, it was her, but it did leave a bit of a sting in her chest. “C’mere, Rose.”

The little girl crawled out of her cave and curled up in Calysta’s lap on the floor. She rocked the child, petting her hair for a long moment while she cried till it was getting close to Illya’s time to be coming home. Illya would be upset to see her like this. With a gentle hand, she sat Rose up and wiped her face, combing back her curls behind her ear. “There we go. Wolf will be home soon. Why don’t you go play outside with Cin and wait for him to come up the path, yeah? Then tomorrow we can go flying.”

“Flying?”

“Mhm. In one of the flyers. I’ll take you way up into the sky.” She took the girls arms along side her own and held them out like wings.

“Is that why they call you Little Bird?”

Calysta laughed and nodded. “Aye. It’s why they call me Little bird. I fly like one and….I get little pecks!” She went to tickling Rose’s belly and the girl squealed in delight as she giggled. “Stop! It tickles!”

Hearing her laugh was what Calysta wanted and she gave Rose another good round of tickles till the girl was breathless and all the tears were gone from her eyes. “Now, I think your bear misses you. Go on and go play.”

Rose nodded, then launched herself forward, wrapping her tiny arms around Calysta’s neck and squeezing before. “I love you, Kalizda.” Just like that, the girl was fine and running of to play with Cin and Keysha and leaving Calysta a little dumbfounded.

As she told the story to Haza, the woman listened patiently and when it was done Calysta sighed. She didn’t want Yvonne to know that she had been taking pills to prevent pregnancy and there was no way she was going to Henaiah on the subject considering her father and the woman were now dating. “I’ve been thinking of…perhaps trying even more to have one on my own. I’m still a little worried about the future or if I’ll make a good mother. I didn’t exactly have the best example. I think I just needed a friend’s opinion on it.”

******

Calysta had sent Rose off to bed and after 20 minutes of her usual sneaking up and around to play with the animals one last time, she finally settled down with her dusty stuffed horse inside her little cave with a pouty look as she fell asleep. Once she was certain to be asleep, Calysta did the dishes and made cups of tea for them both. The fact that Illya wanted to talk to her about something very important made her a little nervous, since he rarely told her anything unless she needed to know or she weedled out of him. Walking into the bedroom, where they were least likely to be over heard, she offered Illya a cup of the sweet, mild tea. "Don't worry, that one isnt for sleep," she assured him, seeing the look he gave her. Sitting down on the bed next to him, Claysta folded her legs and took a sip of her own tea before nodding to him. "What did you want to talk about, Illya?"

Dinner and play time was about the same as usual, except that Illya got thumped in the head with a ball by accident. He was a little preoccupied with some of the thoughts on the current situation. Even after dinner he was too busy thinking about what had to be done instead of paying attention to the immediate circumstance. When it was finally quiet he made his way back to the bedroom. It was the furthest point from Rose and she shouldn't be able to hear them. Taking the tea he peered into the cup to be sure it wouldn't put him to sleep. This was an important conversation that needed to happen. Kalizda assured him it was alright and got settled on the bed. Illya set the tea aside and laid back with his head resting on her knees. "Well...." Tilting his head back he looked at her. "Et's time ta be moving. We go ta Uria." He watched for her reaction before saying anything else. "Verah close ta war and we need ta break up so Federation doesn't take us all in one place. Nathan here, we to Uria and beyond, Markus ta Kaerlean land. We warn Henaiah and yah father. Dey will be targets if dey not moved."

How he could it across from her and simply announce that they would be moving she didnt know. They couldn't just pick up and move to Uria. What would be doing? Taking the entirety of his men to occupy a Urian port? The council was already making plans for a war on both fronts and now it seems Illya was taking matters into his own hands. Her father in danger and Henaiah too? Dozens of questions ran through her head and she stared at him a good long time without so much as blinking. "How do you know they are coming? Have you told Henaiah? The council would have to coordinate moving to Uria with your men. They could send an Air and Space fleet to watch over Nuen."

She seemed so surprised and he didn't know why she would. Illya bent his legs a little and sighed. "We tell Henaiah, but she must be quiet and fast. All must be done fast. Federation moves quickly when they find that the plans fail." Of course she wanted to know how he knew and Illya smirked. "I good at meh job. Have lots of information. People in areas with lots of Federation are demanding war, some demand war wit Cirellant and us. Kent soon find out the army is much larger. We move now."

The smirk made her roll her eyes some. Of course he was good at his job. Sometimes a little too good. She knew vaguely of what he spoke about as far as the plan for the mines. They had been using it as some sort of cover and Nathan had been key to running interference with the Federation. Then there was that name Kent again. The mysterious string puller behind the Federation. The way he spoke of people wanting war against the Cirellants and the Chips made her mind race. It meant that the anti-peace factions on Terra and Kaereal were probably unwittingly helping the Federation. It also mean the Federation was so much closer to home than she hoped. "Tell Henaiah and reach out to Sarai on Uria directly. Get approval before you just show up on someones doorstep with an army."

It was getting uncomfortable to lay perfectly still and Illya started to shift while she was talking. "Eh, I know. We contact dem when we ready ta depart. We bring tents, doctors,medicine, food, and all we need for many months." He knew better than to give them so little notice and then show up with nothing. "Dey only allow us space to stay for a time. We do dis in secret and fast so Federation has no time ta stop us eh?"

"Aye. We'll need to move quickly. More than likely they will put us the in the forests outside the city, its the least likely place to draw attention as a national reserve," Calysta sighed, "Just try to get approval a little before departure. When you do...tell her you are in need of a moon shadow. She'll know what it means and provide what you need. " Calysta sipped the last drops of her tea, and she put the cup on the bedside table. "If Henaiah is in danger and so is my father, then so must the other council members. We need to get them moved. And then theirs my mother. We just leave her here I suppose. The trial is still under way."

It sounded like Kalizda wanted to move the entire council and Illya knew that couldn't happen. "We warn yah dad and Henaiah. Counsel we leave to Henaiah." He had to think a moment about Kiya. They didn't want her with, but neither did he want to leave her here. "We move yah mother too. Can't lose her I guess." Illya started to sit up so he could drink his tea. "I remember Moon Shadow. Now yah know and jes keep quiet about et eh?"

Calysta wasn't entirely sure why he was reluctant to tell the whole council at first, then she realized he must have heard something indicating they were Federation too. It made her a little nauseous to think their allies would turn on them. Laying back, she thought over the last year and a half. So much had changed. It was admittedly exciting to be leaving Nuen, getting out into the sky again, but this wasnt the reason she wanted it to be for. "Now I know. I'll start packing in the morning." After a long moment, she inched over and used her fingers to stroke his forearm for a minute. "Do you think we'll ever come back?"

With all of Kalizda's shifting around it was starting to get uncomfortable for Illya to keep his head on her lap so he moved over to lay his head on one of his pillows instead. "Good idea ta start packing." He wasn't terribly upset by the move yet. It was going to be keeping them mostly safe. She was asking if they were coming back and he glanced at her little hand on his arm. "I dun know ef we come back. I like ta some day. Dis home, ets verah nice." He liked the stone house and he liked the way it was built and the way it looked. Still there was a chance that he might not see it again. "I pack meh warmer clothes eh?" A smirk came to his face as he thought out it. She would enjoy the weather and he would have to get used to it. "Lots of blanket too."

Calysta had known what his answer would be but couldnt help herself from asking. Here he was giving up another home and yet he till managed to crack jokes. It was one of the things he loved about him. Rolling to her side, she turned to look at him and slipped and ankle over his simply because she could. "I'll pack all the warm clothes you need. The forests of Uria arent only 70 degrees most days. Dreadfully cold."

"70 degrees." Illya grimaced. "I'll freeze and meh lips turn blue. Den I'm not so handsome." Sneaking an arm around her shoulders he pulled her in tighter. "Good excuse ta kiss yah before I jes freeze and shrivel up." Even he couldn't help laughing.

"Eh, you'd still be bigger than me," she chuckled, as she kissed him once, "And I'd find you handsome anyways." She gave him another peck and ran her hands through his hair gently, her fingers not even caring for the scars that were hidden there. "I'll keep you warm no matter where we are." With one last kiss she laid back on his shoulder

****
Henaiah rose from her seat as the older Chippeqouti General Markus and his wife Yvonne entered her office. She was much shorter than they were but she still gave the customary bow and then straightened herself before gesturing to her desk. "Please have a seat, and rest from your travel." Why the Elders had suddenly asked for an audience in person with the General rather than Edgar or one of the other Elders was beyond her, but it did set her teeth on edge. Good news was rarely brought when a General was sent to deliver it. Outwardly, she remained her calm, composed self and smiled pleasantly to them both. "I can have water or anything else you'd like brought to you. Michelle, my assist can bring it while we talk."

Awkwardly General Markus started out talking in Quoti though he seemed torn on whether he should talk at Henaiah or his agreed. Yvonne watched him and seemed to point with her various little head nods that he should be speaking to Henaiah so he looked at her and stumbled over his words many times. Finally Yvonne started. "We don't require anything. This visit will be short. We are moving from Nuen and we will take you with. It is imperative for your safety that you pack and be ready this afternoon. The general will accompany you and I will see to it that we move others critical to the Alliance to the rendevzous."

Out of all the things she thought the General might herald, hearing this sudden need to move and more so that there was possible danger on Kaereal was not what she expected at all. Blinking at them in true surprise for a moment she gathered herself. She knew the Chippeqouti were secretive and short worded but this proposal was in need of more explanation. "What has happened on Nuen? Has the Federation or other attacked?" She felt as though their elders would have called the banners if they had, but she never knew with the Chippeqouti sometimes. What worried her further was their request that she leave too. "Why do you believe we are in danger?"

Yvonne waited for her agreed to finish staggering through the orders. He hated to talk and had always struggled with speech impediments, but at least he could make it through without entirely locking up. "We have been working closely with another Chippequoti General and he has brought us news of Federation. We move now before Federation has time to attack us. If we are safe and prepared when they make the first attack then we will know how they work and we can fight them to save this alliance." Almost as soon as they had finished answering the first question they moved to the next. "Our contact has worked closely with Federation for many years and your council is corrupt. If you continue your work and they feel that you hinder them you will be removed from office permanently."

Henaiah sat back in her chair, looking almost visibly ruffled for once. It was a rare moment when she was speechless but this was one of them. She had been conducting internal interviews for months since finding out about this Federation which included every member of the council. Had they been bought off so easily? Surely not all of them would be working with the Federation and that put them in danger as well. She didnt have to be told twice that a permanent removal from office didnt exactly mean impeachment. It was even worse that Chippeqouti had worked to make their new planet safe and now it was no longer a haven. "Where do you intend on going? I can the necessary arrangements. I vetted all of the council myself immediately after finding out about the Federation to ensure our internal workings were clean," she replied, looking solemn, "I was thorough in my work, but some have been bought off I don't know who is not working for the enemy for certain save for a few I am particularly close with. Do you have evidence or anything I can use to determine who is safe?"

It is too dangerous for our contact to return to the Federation to acquire such information." Yvonne waited for Markus to move on before she began to translate again. "Only this afternoon. You gather those you know to be safe and then we move. You will know where we go once we board the ships. Too dangerous for you to make arrangements from here." In a sense the Chippequoti had made a friendly take over, but it was the only way they knew how to outrun the Federation. "Please you must hurry. Leave with Markus immediately and ask him as you may. It will take time for him to answer, but we have only a few hours to find another place."

Henaiah listened carefully. Staying meant walking a fine line between the Federation and death. Leaving meant she was abandoning her position and her people if she couldnt convince her colleagues on the truth of such a claim. She had dealt with the Chippeqouti extensively while others had not and it may take some work to get them to believe as she did. Gazing up at Yvonne and General Markus with her green eyes, she took a moment to let them really see her. "What you ask of me is to split the council. This council has been in place for 500 years or more. I know that sounds like a short time you, but for us is many generations. I have spent a life time serving Kaereal and I will do what I must to continue serving it. Chief Airman Keyl on base at Ori'l and Chief Tikan of Reylia. They will be safe and have the most infrastructure for what we need."

Though she had already named a few of the other locations that they were going to be at they didn't dare reveal it. Yvonne listened to Markus. He was dropping the nice tone and words. It was down to the real question. "The general insists you answer him. Leave with us or stay here at your own risk. We have no more time to speak with you." Both of them rose to their feet and started for the door.

Irritation flared and she tried to keep it down as she rose to her feet and called at their backs. "I believe you misunderstand, General," her tone had an edge to it that it normally did not carry, "It is my intent to go with you, but you cannot expect me to have done so with taking the time to talk. What kind of ally would I be if I did not?"

Markus opened the door for Yvonne as she stepped out. He was going to be on his own. There wasn't much time left to stand around talking. He was here to deliver a message, get the woman packed and leave. That was all and Yvonne needed time to find Thomas. Turning slightly he glanced back at Henaiah though he remained close to the door and his knuckles turned white with how hard he gripped the handle. "Y-yah talk w-w-while w-w-w-we move." It was almost painful to get the words out in Trader's Tongue. Opening the door a little he motioned toward it with his free hand. Hopefully she understood his polite and silent attempt to get moving while they spoke.

Henaiah knew what stepping away from that desk meant. It was likely she would never set foot in the consulate again for what she was about to do. What was right was so rarely easy. Patting her desk with just a light tap, Henaiah picked up her info pad with her manicured fingers and set off toward the door, with her flowing pant legs trailing behind. "There's one person who we need to find. Calsyta's father, Thomas. He'll be at the university right now. Otherwise, once we have him, I will go with you."

He wouldn't have said anything, but Markus knew that this woman would talk and insist on finding Thomas if he didn't say anything else. "Yvonne find T-Thomas."

***

Calysta folded over Illya’s thermal socks and put them in his bag. One pair after the other. That was how she had been packing. One thing at a time and slowly saying goodbye to the house Illya had built for her. While she folded over another pair, Rose poked her head into the room and grinned before taking a running start to pile onto their bed. “Are you finished packing?”

Calysta questioned with a raised brow. “Aye!” She peered suspiciously at the child. It had only been 10 minutes since she sent Rose to go collect her things. The child loved her room but was excited when she found out they would probably be going to a forest too. It was where the bears lived. “And what did you put into the bag I gave you?”

“My tunics, and my horse and my shoes,” the girl replies as she wiggled on the bed.

“Good girl, now bring it to me so we can put it with the rest of the bags?”

Rose made a few good bounces on the bed, toppling over the folded stack of thermal shirts and then took off toward her room. As Calysta went back to packing Illya’s things, she came to his uniform pants and started to fold them up, but paused. Things would be getting tenser to be sure and as they left Nuen behind it would be best to have a reminder of somethings. Just in case. Crossing the room to the dresser, Calysta pulled out her jewelry box where a hand written note had sat for over a year along with a hologram coin. Illya had asked for a list of things the night before their wedding and the week after she had made it, scrolling out the points in her spindly handwriting and tucking it away. He was a good man and a good husband, but maybe he would find the note when he needed it. She stuck the note in his pants pocket along with the hologram coin that contained images of their wedding along with their treks into the desert and their home. Many of the newer images included Rose and his parents along with her father. There was even one of Nathan and Haza with them, though she couldn’t show that one to a soul.

Calysta heard soft grunting coming from down the hall along with the sound of something sliding across the floor. Rose came into view through the bedroom doorway dragging her duffle bag behind her. It was so heavy that the straps were straining as the child tugged it along with every ounce of strength and a firm look of determination. Had she brought all of the toys her father kept sending over?

“Rose…what else is in that bag besides your clothes?”

The child gave her an exasperated look as if it were obvious. “My rocks.”

*****

Illya stood beside her with his and Rose’s bag slid over his shoulders outside the transport ramp. They said their goodbyes to Nathan and Haza first. The pale pair gave Illya a hug and then turned to her, seeming a bit hesitant, but this time Calysta wasn’t. She stood up on her toes and hugged each of them without reserve. They had become her friends and she would miss them. She had wanted to say good bye to Yvonne and Markus, but they had already gone out on a transport to Kaereal to find Henaiah and her father.

As Keysha padded up the ramp, followed by Cin and Rose. Calysta hitched her bag higher onto her shoulder and slipped her hand into Illya’s. Sarai would be waiting for them when they landed on Uria and that would already be a handful, but the woman was a friend and ally. She would take them to the Urian woods where some of the old hidden places created among the trees for a war long passed were waiting. A Moon Shadow complex to hide in and fight from. As she stepped up on the ramp, leading Illya she could see sense the small bit of dread building at seeing Sarai. She would be quiet affectionate toward him, but that was just her way.

Chuckling, Calysta gave her Chip a wink. “Don’t worry. Yah stay very close and it’ll be fine.”

 

[Silence]

When Kalizda finished the story it seemed she was almost upset. Was she upset the little girl still missed her parents? If she waited long enough Haza knew that the real problem would come out. Oddly enough Kalizda seemed to be struggling with being a good parent. "I think we learn in progressions. First we love our husbands." She had learned to use the more common terms and maybe it would make it easier for Kalizda to follow. "We learn to help comfort them, laugh with them, and live life. Life is more difficult sometimes and if we can make it through the boring days of life and still love him then we know that we are ready for children. Children are simply an extension of love. You are able to love one that is not your own and you have lived life with the child, comforted, and laughed with her. Kalizda why would you worry about being a mother? You already live it quite well."

Calysta listened to Haza and nodded when she made a point about children being an extension of love. She did want children with Illya but the idea of being a bad parent had plagued her. Ever since meeting her own mother, it felt like a shadow hanging over her. Like Kiya's shortcomings could become her own simply because they shared genetics. It wasn't logical, but she found her feelings toward her own mother never made much sense. When Haza mentioned her already being a good mother, Calysta froze and turned to the woman. "I didn't look at it that," she admitted shyly, "I was worried about being like my own mother in some ways. But I'm not her. " Then she smiled at her friend. "You think I am doing well?"

Chuckling a little Haza nodded. "Yes I think you do well. You have a husband that practically puffs up with pride when he looks at you or even mentions your name. A child lives with both of you and she almost glows with delight whenever I see her. Rose is eating regularly, and because she feels free to play and cry in front of you tells me that you're a safe person. Children are not happy like Rose if they are not cared and loved for."

When Haza put it that way, it made much of Calysta's anxiety about being a good parent fade. She loved Illya and Rose both without a single doubt. Maybe she was doing a good job after all and could keep learning too. Picking up the last wayward pencil, Calsyta felt a little relieved, if not joyful about being a parent. "Thanks Haza," she replied sincerely, "I hope I can make them both happy and any body else who might come along later. This stays between us, right?"

"Yes it stays between us." Haza smiled. "I think you'll do just fine with any that come after." While she wasn't going to say anything further for the moment she thought that in some ways Kalizda had gotten herself into a more difficult situation to start with. She adopted a child and that was very different from having your own. In addition to all that she had married Illya. Not that he was bad man, but he was not the easiest to live with. There were several other things that she imagined made the relationship a little more difficult. Haza tried not to pry though. She just knew that for so many years of Illya's life he had lived for Isla and she was a very big part of his life. Without her much of that turned to Kalizda. There was still an occasional hint of sadness and that would take a very long time to change. Perhaps Kalizda had already learned to live with the quiet days?

****************************************************************

The next several days were spent getting a small fleet ready to leave. They had a larger army now and they were splitting it. This also increased the population of people that were moving. Illya still had only his 49 men and he acted as the 50th. With the men was all their family as well. It made for a group near 150 to be moving. With a special operations group Illya had to be on the move so that they wouldn't get trapped and it also meant securing certain areas. Best part about the special operations was that they took one Ehaui doctor and two nurses and Illya didn't have to worry about supplies for anyone but the doctor and nurses. All his men provided for themselves and their families.

When Illya got back to the house he saw that Rose was struggling with her little bag. Grabbing it he started laughing. By the look on Kalizda's face he could tell that she had tried to get Rose to leave a few things. "What did you put in here?" Illya opened the bag and the grin on his face only got bigger. His little girl had packed her entire room and all her rocks. "Well..." Illya rubbed his chin and looked at Rose for a moment. She was giving him such an expectant look. "I uh...tink maybe Nathan and Haza would like some of dese." Picking one of them out he let her look at the little red dots on it. "Pretty rock, but dat was from meh study." Rose nodded almost shyly. She knew she wasn't supposed to play in there. Illya set it back into her bag. "Yah keep dat one for meh. I like et." He didn't want her to have a crushed little heart so he worked his way through the rocks and helped her pick out the important ones. "How about yah let Kalizda peck one out dat she likes and yah pick one for her to. Den yah pick two for yahself and one for meh too." That would cut out the majority of the rocks and lessen the chance that they would haul them everywhere. "Alright?" Rose seemed to find that to be an acceptable solution until she saw all the rocks she was leaving.

Noticing the look of concern on the girl's face he sighed. "We put dem in special places in house eh? Then yah pick out two more yah wanna keep." When she had her little pile Illya took his and put them in his bag and then gave Kalizda her rocks and let rose keep hers. Either way Illya knew he was carrying them.

"Why do I have to leave all those." Pointing to her other rocks she sniffled a little and looked up at the Wolf. He was usually the one to cave if she blinked a few times.

Illya had to think fast so he wouldn't lose the progress they made. "Because Yah might find more rocks ta paint when we move." That seemed to be an agreeable solution and Illya could only hope she didn't paint too many new rocks wherever they were going to be at. This time the rocks were at home and they seemed to be in a good safe place. Otherwise leaving behind at another location could be rougher. For the last night at the house the three of them slept in the living room with their bags and blankets. Cin and Keysha would be coming with, but the dog would stay here. Emmit was still mostly wild and he was good to keep rodents and other unwanted things from occupying the house.

The next morning Illya woke up early and cooked a fast breakfast while the ladies slept a little more. Nathan and Haza would be coming to see them off and Illya wanted to make sure he grabbed one other thing. Heading into the office Illya grabbed the files, his own research including the map and then the Bible. None of these were things he could afford to have lost here or found by the wrong people. He barely got to the living room and finished zipping his bag when the door opened. There was Nathan and Haza. They had left their things outside out of respect until Illya moved out with his family. "Come in." Nodding to them he walked with the two into the kitchen. While Kalizda and Rose slept for a few more moments he and the other two sat at the table for a few minutes each of them holding a cup of tea in their hands. "You're switching out with Markus soon right?" Illya knew that his father didn't really want to be on the front lines anymore and he preferred to run things quietly from behind. Usually that was just his way though.

"We'll wait till the first of it blows over here at Nuen." Nathan sighed. "I need to know what the first attack will be so I know how to help plan for the future. Kent isn't like any of the Federation before. I'm not really sure how he'll do this." Nathan could see that Illya was nervous, they all were and this wasn't what they wanted, but war was coming whether they liked it or not. At least this time they had the head start. It could be enough time in advance to put Kent off balance.

When Kalizda came into the room Illya glanced up and smiled at her. "Yah gonna eat wit us in a few?" Nodding to her answer he went into the living room to get Rose up while Kalizda got what she needed for the morning. Rose sat on Illya's lap while he helped her put her arm on. Sometimes it was tough to get the clip to snap in place inside and make sure her arm didn't fall off randomly during the day. Next he had to help her wiggle the sleeve up the hand and then stretch it over the arm. "There yah go." As soon as he had her up on her feet she was running for the kitchen haphazardly.

************************************************************

Illya stood near the window of the ship. They were leaving from the secret port and down below he could see the swirling sands of his home. A little hand slipped into his and he winked at Rose then glanced at Kalizda standing at his other side. "Guess we move for a while eh?" He wasn't so sure what the future would bring, but maybe they would be safe. It was better that they come with. Population of Chippequoti needed to be spread out so that they couldn't all be destroyed at one location.

The first night on the ship was alright and the second felt long. Rose wasn't sleeping well and she'd crawl into their bed with them frequently. "Kalizda...." Groaning a little he pushed her to make room for Rose. "We share bed again eh?" There was no such thing as being comfortable even in the main cabin with three of them stuffed into the bed. Rose kicked in her sleep and she frequently giggled or sobbed. A few times he got kicked in the stomach and turned to put his back to her till she began kicking the scars and that hurt worse so Illya took his pillow and set it over his stomach to act as a guard. The kicks were somewhat softer feeling though it hadn't entirely stopped the feeling. Finally Illya got up and grabbed Rose. Pulling his pillow up to where it should be again he then moved Rose over to his side and set her little head on his pillow.

Like usual he went into the captains cabin and sent out a signal to the other two ships to report in with status. They were all locked for the same destination, but he liked to know that all was well on the ships. Finally he sent a message across to Markus and one to Nathan. It sounded like Markus was well on his way with his men and the dignitaries. Nathan was preparing the desert for battle and then he and his men would abandon when the time came for Markus to take over again. Troops didn't usually last long in the desert unless they were accustomed to the land. That was one bonus to having a desert planet.

Following through to the next part of the routine Illya opened the bunk room door. Several of the men and their families were still sleeping. They were all well quiet. There was almost nothing to do at this time except get a morning tea ready and Illya started that. He was almost done making the tea when a hand tugged on his regular green military fatigues. Looking down at the face he saw a little boy pointing to his mouth. "I dun cook yet." Snatching a little slice of bread that was probably a tiny bit dry from being left out the night before he handed it to the kid. "Shhh...say noting eh? Now go back ta sleep." With a nod the little dark head bobbed and the stubby little legs took him off running back to the regular barracks. His bare feet slapped all down the hall. There was no such thing as stealth with that age group, but Illya wasn't that worried about giving the boy some bread.

***********************************************************

It felt like forever before they finally landed in Uria. Before taking their places in the moon shadow Illya had to meet with Sarai again. He remembered her as the kissing woman and cringed inwardly. His uniform was not the dress uniform, but it was still green. Still they were kind enough to offer a camp that Illya could set up and then he would have to contact Tikan and set up a camp there as well. Having multiple areas to strike from was better. Also these areas being friendly toward the Chippequoti were a great place to start with cleaning out Federation. As for the process it was going to have to be a little more delicate that slaughtering every member of the Federation. There were some that could be turned, some that were eager to get out, others that were innocent and then the real danger underneath all those other layers. It was just up to him to find out which ones they were.

 

[aryamajor]

Ayrn used the side of his fork to dig into the thick stack of pancakes on his plate. The puddle of syrup had made them soft enough to fall apart, as he piled them onto the tines and shoveled them into his mouth. He was starving. The food one the transport was not at all good but these pancakes made the entire trip worth it. They were even better than Calysta's pancakes, which wasn't saying much, but as delicious as they were, hers had a certain quality he liked one he got past the occasional burnt one. The crispy cakes just tasted like home.

He wasn't here to enjoy the food though. Illya had sent him out on another run to see how close people were to war. It didn't take long to find the answer. On Terra just about everybody was calling for war against somebody. The anti-peace faction calls for war on the Cirellants and the Myraxys, the World Congress was a divided hot bed of warhawks and peace seekers against anybody and everybody, including Chips, and the streets were feeling like there were miniature wars going on within themselves. People were so divided over the issues and hated their neighbors for the opposing opinions. Ayrn took a sip of his coffee to wash down the sweet bread and looked up at the hologram mounted on the side of the wall. It was flickering in and out, but he could get enough of a visual to see that some sort of news report was flashing. He was tired of watching the news for now, and all he really wanted to do was find a nice place to rest his head and watch the inside of his eye lid. That planned changed when he saw a familiar face flash on the screen. The pretty Councilwoman Henaiah's picture was flashing up on the screen with other faces he recognized vaguely as important people. All were on the council and all had come up missing.

"It has been reported today that at least 4 council members to the Kaerelean Alliance have gone missing. Investigators have found all of the missing members were last see 3 days ago and since then have ceased all communication. There have been no reports of where these council members might have gone, nor were there any clues as to why. Officials are looking into possible connections between the 4 and leads as to their whereabouts, stating that kidnapping cannot be ruled out. It is known that the 4 members works extensively with the new additions to the alliance over a year ago. If you have any information regarding these officials please contact..."

"Pfft. Kaereleans gon' missin'," scoffed the waitress from behind him, "If you ask me they probably turnt chicken shit an' run. That one in the black suit, was already preachin' peace an' now she's knows wars comin' an'ran away. So much for that alliance. More coffee shugah?"

Ayrn shook his head, keeping his thoughts to himself for once. There was a tense feeling in his gut that he needed to get off Terra and his mind wandered to the gun sitting in his bag. Illya had given it to him and showed him a few things, but he was a terrible shot. The man had made that clear enough during his little training bit. If Ayrn could help it he wouldn't use the thing at all. The longer he stayed on Terra though, the more dangerous it would become and staying went against his gut. However he had been paid to do a job by the General and he would see it through. Just as he stood and tossed a fat little tip on the table for the waitress, another news flash came onto the screen and this time it wasn't Henaiah's face. It was his fathers.

*****

Calysta found being on a ship again to be almost like a home coming. The air was cool and crisp inside, and their quarters aboard the transport were more than sufficient. She went about arranging their bags, and directing other Chippeqouti on where to go to keep the organized. They were leaving their homes again for another new world and with that came with some anxiety. Some of the children were scared, clinging to their mother's skirts, while the women hid their worries behind neutral expressions or the occasional smile. Calysta saw rose playing with Keysha, leading one of her good socks across the floor for the cat to follow. Her lamp like eyes zipped back and forth as her tail bobbed, until she struck out, pouncing on the sock, but not the girl. Rose giggled and started tempting the cat again, but Calysta got her attention. "Rose, why don't you go round up some of the other children and invite them to play?" Her brown little curls flew everywhere as she jumped up from her knees and nodded. "Okeigh!" Then out the door she went to go use her energy to put the other kids at ease.

Illya's men were professional as always. While Illya was dealing with something in the cargo hold, Calysta was in the kitchen trying to pull down a box of oats that had been placed on the highest shelf at Chip height. She stood on her toes and stretched, her fingers just barely grazing the box. Apparently, even with all her practice at home with Illya putting things in high places, some things would still be hard to reach. Stretching up again, she braced against the counter until a tan hand appeared from behind her and pulled down the box placing it on the counter beside her. "Thanks, Ill-" Calysta turned to find the hand didn't belong to Illya but to one of his men. "Sorry, I thought you were Illya," she chuckled in traders-tongue

The tall Chip gave her a half grin and nodded. "Dats okay, Kalizda woman. Jes call meh Ehvan. Anting else yeh need from up dere?"

Calysta shook her head. She loved that no matter where she was, it still felt like home when she was with the Chippeqouti. "No, that should be everything. How do you like your oats, Ehvan?"

Later that night, Calysta heard a vague whimper pull her out of sleep. Rose sometimes cried at night when she got scared over bad dreams and crawled into their bed. Illya started whispering and Calysta let out a sleepy sigh, not even hearing what he said. He had plenty of room to let the little girl slip between them, so she rolled over just a little and cuddled back down into the sheets with Rose to her front. Some of the girl's hair was tangled up in front her nose, so she patted it, smoothing the curls away."It'sokay, Rose. Go't sleep." With that said Calysta fell back into one of the best sleeps she had in awhile in the nice cool room with her Chip and daughter to keep her warm.

****
Sarai greeted the incoming Chippeqouti and their families with a pleasant smile on her red painted lips. It was a shame they had to land in a remote area outside of the city and nearer to the forests. She would have loved to shown them the finest things the Uria had to offer because they were guests and well-deserving ones at that. Not to mention they were stunning to look at with their broad shoulders and tan skin. As it was, discretion was needed to keep them all safe, even if it was slightly disappointing. Stepping through the red tipped grasses, she waited with a small group of men to help unload the families and the cargo hold. The transport hatch opened with a hiss as the ramp extended revealing the darling little woman and the tall General who looked striking as ever. Waving at the men, Sarai ordered them walk around toward the cargo area while 2 of the stayed behind and walked behind her in their black and silver uniforms. "Calysta!" she cooed, as she made it over to the woman, kissing her on each cheek. Then she turned to Illya and stood on her toes to deliver a nice kiss to each of his cheeks two before stepping back to look at them both. "So good to see you both! I wish it were under better circumstances."

As always the woman felt it was her duty to greet them and deliver a kiss. Illya reluctantly bowed slightly so that she could reach his cheeks. When she released him he stood up straight and nodded to her. "We're grateful for yah help." He was going to have to start finding out who was Federation here and who was simply working for them because they had to. "Ef I may I ask for some data?"

"Aye, it's right to work," Sarai sighed, straightening her sleeve. She had worn pants and tank top to escort them personally through the forest. "Of course, I'm sure you'd like more information on where we are going? It was said you sought the moon shadow, so I've come to escort you and your people personally along with...Oh I'm sorry, I've been rude. You remember Syrus, my husband. This is Henryk my second." Both of the uniformed men behind her gave a silent nod before she continued.

If there was one thing that Illya was sure of it was the fact that this woman was going to talk a lot. She was already starting to offer information on the moon shadow and that was wonderful, but Illya was thinking more along the lines of the archives. Immediately she changed the subject to introductions. Illya nodded politely the first and then lost his composure by the second. Coughing a little he looked at the woman."Second?" He couldn't quite imagine how it was that two men could share the same woman. That was something he would never tolerate.

The General sounded as though he was surprised for some reason. Was it so shocking to have more than one spouse? Sarai tilted her head and smiled as if nothing was wrong. It would be bad manners to take offense to an outsiders misunderstanding of their ways. "Aye, Derin and Nicholas will be along after they help with the cargo in the transport. You'd get along well with them too. Both military men you see."

Apparently there was nothing wrong with having more than one husband and Illya tried to regain his composure. Social situations were not his high point and that had obviously shown. Cautiously he started, "Derin and Nichlas are onleh military?" He didn't know if they were husbands as well. If they were it would truly be horrifying.

"Oh yes, since they were old enough to join. That's how I met them both, working in the recruiting office at the time. I'll miss them terribly when they are deployed," Sarai replied, loosing the cheerful lilt to her voice. Her other two husbands didn't seem to notice that she was lamenting the loss of the 3rd and 4th accept for Syrus putting an encouraging hand on Sarai's shoulder. Sarai brightened a little and her smile returned and she looked the tall Chip in front of her. "Less talk of the the future and more talk of the present, hm? The moon shadow is deep in the forest all but invisible from above. It was created in a more violent time in Kaereals history, for military and refugee protection. Several were built but the only one still in any sort of usable shape was the last and it's about ten miles into the forest. I hope you don't mind hiking?"

They apparently weren't only military by the way she talked about them. Illya's eyebrows raised slightly and he chanced looking at Kalizda. He had no idea that the woman had more than one husband. No wonder she thought she could just go groping any Chip that struck her fancy. Unable to contain his relief Illya adjusted the bags he was carrying. "Oh no...I don't the walk. Meh men and I eh....train hard and dis will be relief after travel on t-the ships." Inwardly he was grateful that they were going to be a ways from the port so that they wouldn't be visited by the woman quite so often.

Sarai gave him a nod, looking over his face. "Trained hard, indeed." Calysta caught the look from Illya. She hadn't mentioned the other husbands at the wedding because the woman had mentioned only bringing the one and she hadn't wanted to distract him with extra names he didn't need to know. Sarai's tone was a little too playful though and Calysta thought she might step in before the delegate made Illya run half way to the camp ahead of everyone to get away. Slipping a hand around his elbow, she stepped closer to her Chip, putting herself just in front of him by looking casual. Sarai's eyes flicked from her to Illya and back, assessing the posture then she chuckled. The little woman was a fiesty one and she hadn't needed to even say a word. A good trait in a woman. "Let's go." Sarai said as she turned on her heels and started leading them toward the treeline.

****
The hike wasn't any easy one. About seven miles in, the overgrown path through the dense trees began to turn into a slope. Just picking through the under under brush was a challenge on its own and hauling the rest of their things up hill made the walk even more difficult. Towards mid-day there were some small boulders peaking through the moss and leave covered ground. Rose spent most of her energy zipping in and out of the groups legs with the other children, finding leaves and other treasures to collect. Calysta wiped at her brow and listened to Sarai talk for a bit, but then began to tune her out in favor of just enjoying the forest. The tall trees blocked nearly every patch of blue above them with their canopy, allowing only traces of golden afternoon light to dapple through. There was a small, but cool breeze making the branches dance above them. At their feet were berry vines and prickle bushes ready to latch on.

Finally, the slope began to level out though she could tell they had gone up in elevation. "And here it is!" Sarai announced as they came over the hill. There was a rock face in front of them with a deep alcove as part of the hills. The alcove was deep enough and wide enough to shelter almost entire encampment. The tree canopy was dense enough that it looked later evening over the alcove. It didn't look like much, but the Sarai started pointing to the trees. Among the branches was a network of camouflaged lookout plat forms and sniper spots. "They may need some repair but they are still here after all this time. Good workmanship, I suppose, but that's not all."

Sarai walked forward to as small boulder about the size of a basketball, and rolled it over with her toe and a little help from Syrus, revealing a small box underneath. She opened the electrical box and mashed the button inside with a decisive hit. The world began to shake with a thundering sound as leaves and dirt fell away into a drop down set of stairs hidden in the ground. "Below you'll find some small operational rooms and an open space for people to come should there be an air raid. The area is hidden well underground and can with stand several blasts even at one time."

Sarai looked to Illya with a pleasant smile and gestured to the stairs leading into the darkness below the ground. "You asked for a moon shadow, and now you have one to disappear into, General. "

 

[Silence]

Illya carried the girl's bag and his own. As they started to march up the hill he could hear Kalizda was breathing hard behind him. Her muscles were more than likely burning with the effort of hauling her heavier bones along. Stopping for a moment he offered his hand and helped her to the top of the hill. Nodding to the other's he gave them the signal that they were going to be stopping for a moment. A few of the other women looked somewhat relieved to be stopping as they were not used to walking and making all the physical exertion that the men were. For a moment Illya couldn't help worrying. Kalizda was red in the face and she looked not quite well when she was so red. Perhaps her bag was too much weight with the bones for now. She could build more muscle later, but he didn't want her over working herself just yet. "Give meh yah pack." She wasn't even going to get a choice. As far as Illya was concerned it was time to take over.

She was giving him that look and the General tilted his head the side. Narrowing his eyes slightly he impatiently beckoned for her to give her pack. "Give et up." When she handed it over he took Kalizda's pack and set it on the ground. Illya took Rose's pack off his front and set it next to Kalizda's bag and then grabbed his agreed's heavier bag and slipped it onto his front. With one pack on his back and the other on the front he figured that he could carry the little one in his left hand. Instead when he reached for it he noticed the little pink bag was missing. Turning slightly he saw that Kalizda had snatched it up. She was a determined and stubborn woman. Since there was nothing else he could do for the moment Illya just smiled and shook his head.

Working through the underbrush wasn't so difficult for Illya as it was some of the others. He was large, and dense. Once in a while he would have to duck to avoid scraping his face or head with branch from a large shrub or small tree. Then the majority of the branches were at waist or chest height. Most of the time he didn't bother to push them aside with his hands and simply kept walking. One branch ran across his chest and he kept walking and let it flip out behind himself. A little 'owe' sounded and he whipped around nearly knocking Kalizda over. "Kalizda, I'm sorry." His agreed was short and he had to admit that he hadn't thought about her height and had probably been slapping her with branches for a little while. "I use ta travelling wit meh men." Even while he was explaining to her he couldn't help the smirk that was coming to his face. "I so sorry." A little chuckle started to rise in his chest and he helped her to walk in front of himself. "Yah better set pace and den I won't hit yah wit anymore branches." Though it was terrible to laugh it was just so funny at the same time.

At last they came to a spot that cleared a little though the sun barely touched the forest floor. The light trickled through in little diamonds and sprinkled across the greenery. It almost made the forest look like a prism of color where the light hit. Most of the walking after seemed easy and Illya was watching the land to see if there was anywhere suitable to train with the men out of sight. There seemed to be plenty of space and that was pleasing. At least the forest was large enough that the next round of Chippequoti would be safe. All he really needed was to make sure the Federation was cleared out here in Uria.

It looked to Illya that they were going to be climbing a rock face and then Sarai said they had arrived at the moon shadow. Since it was darker part of the forest with less light he could only imagine that it meant they were nearly impossible to spot from the air. Unless they pitched red tents with giant yellow flags they would be invisible from the air. Carefully he followed where her hands pointed and Illya smiled. This place was perfect. Already he knew what the first week would consist of. They would be working to renew the construction and ensure that the look out points and sniper shelves were sturdy enough for a Chip. It only got better as he followed her and she opened a great cavern for them. Illya couldn't hide the nearly fanatic smile that was spreading across his face. "Oooh this es perfect."

Already his eyes had an excited spark. This was more than he had hoped for and when the lights began to turn on in the cavern below he saw instruments that he knew. The kinds of machinery that he had worked with during the war and it was immeasurably pleasing to him. Glancing back to Sarai he remembered that he should probably thank her and officially say goodbye. "Chippequoti are most grateful. Dis moon shadow we will gladly repair." Hastily and perhaps a little too vigorously Illya pulled the woman close and gave a her quick kiss on each cheek. "Dank yah!" Beckoning for the men to enter the cave he waited outside with Kalizda and Rose as the others got loaded into the cavern.

Before Sarai left them for the night Illya asked for one last thing. "I need access to yah archives. Yah have a pad I can use?" He fully intended on one of his men ensuring that they could not be traced with their searches before he started into the work. In the remote possibility that it was traceable Illya didn't want it tied to himself or the Chippequoti. They needed to keep their presence here as quiet as possible until the Federation loyalists were cleared out. "And...I need yah ta keep et quiet. Can't ave anyone knowing we here yet eh?"

*****************************************************

Illya dropped his and Kalizda's stuff in a place that looked good to set up their tent. Most of them still wanted their tents simply to have a form of privacy. It was certainly better than all laying out in the cavern on the open floor. The first thing was to cook meals and many of the children started to fuss. However, Illya and many of the men left their agreed for the time to meet up. The first thing that needed to be taken care of was the humming in the main generator. "Yah 10 over dere..." Pointing to different directions he sent his men to inspect and do the first round of maintenance. As they were assigned the men would return to their camp spot only long enough to retrieve their tool kit from their bags.

Stopping at his own camp spot for a few moments Illya dug into his pack and pulled out the took kit. "I go to far end ove dere." Pointing to a ledge near the entrance of the cave he nodded to Kalizda. She probably wasn't enjoying the fact that Rose was getting crabby and fussy. It had been a long day and the girl wasn't pleased with anything. "Take care of Cin and Keysha eh?" Illya pointed to the dishes he set out for the animals. Rose could do it or fuss and whine, but it wasn't going to change any of her immediate circumstances.

The general quickly got up from his place and started out for the ledge where he was going to be repairing a few of the lights. They were something that actually had multiple parts and they were easy enough to repair if you knew how to do it. At least this was the kind of stuff that he knew and dealt with frequently. It was better technology because it was easily fixed with minimum craftsmanship required. Now they had a lot of specialized type equipment. Obviously it was considered advanced, but not when you were fighting a war. If it was truly advanced it would be something like this, sturdy and easily fixed when a soldier had appropriate training.

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta ran her hands through her hair, dusting out the remnants of a tree branch that had come whipping across her face and left a nice, stinging stripe. “Ow.” She’d been trying to catch them before they hit her as Illya pressed his way through the forest mile after mile. The last branch she hadn’t caught in time, and it practically exploded into a spray of bark and leaves with it smacked her across the cheek. The man was just bull dozing through! If she wasn’t wearing Roses’ pack and following him, she could slip her way through most of the bramble, even if the uphill climb was a battle. At the sound of her yelp, Illya turned to look at her with a slight apologetic look. “Kalizda, I’m sorry. I use to traveling with meh men.” Calysta plucked a battered yellow leaf out of her long hair and shook her head at the Chip. Maybe he was used to traveling with his men, but he had traveled a lot with her too in the past two years. Wiping her face, she shot the Chip a look as he apologized again with a little chuckled. At his suggestion, that she take point, she hitched Rose’s bag higher and gave him a half smile in return. “I’ll keep up a good pace, don’t worry,”Calysta chuckled as she moved to be in front of him. She knew it was an accident and he probably did truly forget, as he often did. However, she’d been hit a few good times already and had half the forest living in her scalp and down her sleeves now. If he could forget her height, it wouldn’t hurt for her to forget about the bright red kiss marks that had been gracing his cheeks from Sarai’s lipstick until later.

The hike took several hours with so many people in tow. Unlike Calytsa, who came to a halt at the base of the alcove with leaves stuck in her hair, dirt smudged on her face, and sweat dripping down her temple, Sarai looked impeccable. The delegate has hardly broken a sweat, if at all, while her light brown hair remained in a perfectly coiled pony tail and her make up was spotless. How did the woman do it? Sarai leaned down with a graceful little dip to press the hatch button and Calysta shifted her weight from right to left. She hadn’t been bone sore in a while but the hike up the mountain had made her surgery leg start to feel a little achy. As the hatch opened revealing a narrow, stone staircase a gust of cool air flowed from inside. Old bulb lights flickered to life as a generator hummed from below. It was obvious that the place hadn’t been opened in quite some time, and all the equipment inside was ancient. Would this be enough? Stealing a glance up at Illya, she watched his eyes scan over the opening and then he smiled in approval. “Oooh this es perfect.”
He thought it was perfect and Calysta grinned. She was glad she remembered at least a little something from her history class about places like this. If it was exactly what they needed, even outdated, that was all she could have hoped for. “We can always-“

She stopped mid-sentence as Illya had suddenly disappeared. He’d left her side and strode over to Sarai, fumbling out heavily accented thanks. Apparently he really liked the moon shadow. Then Calysta’s mouth fell open. Her Chip took the woman by her shoulders in a flurry of excitement and laid fast, smacking kiss on each of her porcelain cheeks. She’d never seen him so exuberant before. Sarai obviously didn’t expect it either. When Illya came to stand beside her again, keeping his insanely happy grin, she watched Sarai touch both of her cheek bones with a swept away look. Syrus said something to her several times but she seemed to be in a daze as she watched the Chippeqouti file in to the cavern.

With everyone inside, Illya walked ahead with a fast pace, ready to go explore and Calysta shuffled behind him, only to be joined by Sarai. Her cheeks were still pink from Illya’s sudden show of Urian affection and gave Calysta a marveled look. “He’s quite excitable, I’m sure you didn’t even need that little gift from the wedding with his kind of energy.”

Calysta nearly choked on air as her face turned a flaming red. The woman could say some wild things, but that was too much and she sputtered trying to even think about how to respond. “I-I…” Sarai didn’t seem to pick up on her inability to form a sentence, or she was pretending not to, and put a hand on her shoulder with a pleasant smile. “Let’s go in, you must be tired and I’d love to spend more time with you all.”

Illya dropped their packs where he decided he wanted the tent to go and then dashed off to go organize his men, leaving her with a petulant Rose and a sweetly smiling Sarai. Her four husbands had gone to help the other men unload and pitch tents, leaving her full attention on Calysta. The woman seemed interested in helping, so Calysta asked her to start showing the others where the bathrooms and showers were. Some of the Chippeqouti might be surprised at the waste of water but, Sarai would explain there was plenty.

Her first goal was to feed and take care of Rose. She was sitting on top of her pack with a grumpy look and when Illya returned to their vacant little spot to get his tool kit, asking her to feed the animals, the girl whined and tugged at her curls before giving in. Her little stomps echoed through the cavern as she went over to the animals bowls. There wouldn’t be much time for energy for cooking tonight and she wasn’t about to make Rose wait longer for food than she had to, so Calysta pulled out some left overs from the journey, some soft sweet bread, rice and dried meat. She soaked the dried meat in water with the rice, over their little electric burner they used often for camping, making the random bits into a sort of flavored goulash. She served it over sweet bread to Rose and then to Sarai when returned. The woman ate it excitedly, complementing the bread and then flittered off to go find her husbands along with Illya.

Sarai gathered up her men slowly, stopping to talk to several of the other Chippeqouti along the way. She would be leaving for the night and returning in the afternoon with some supplied and modern conveniences for them, but she wanted to bid the General a good evening first. “I’ll be back tomorrow with more of whatever you might need,” she smiled up to the handsome Chip. The man asked for one of her info pads and she could hardly say no to the General. “Of course, my resources are yours and we’ll keep this between us. The archive will be available on my personal pad.” Turning to Henryk, she motioned the cleft-chinned man forward and he walked up wordlessly to them. “Will you give the man my info-pad, please? It’s in the pack.” Henryk gave his loving wife a pleasant smile and then slid the bag off his shoulders to do has he had been bid.

*********

Calysta felt Illya finally join her in their bedroll. There was no telling how late it was since they were inside the moon shadow itself and deep underground and she didn’t want to know as he flopped down beside her. “Mmm, Night Illya,” was she managed to mumble, before scooting closer to get warm. The cavern floor was hard and cold while her Chip was at least warm. After cooking, helping Rose out of her arm to bathe, bathing herself, cleaning up the mess and helping pitch the tent, Calysta was exhausted and could barely keep her eyes open. All she wanted was to tuck under Illya’s arm and go to sleep. No, sooner had she settled in with him, did she hear a sniffle and opened her eyes to see a half sleep Rose standing over them with a stormy look. Sighing, Calysta moved back over and let her girl climb and bump her way into their bed roll. Her little stump of an arm managed to whip over her already sore nose. “Oohf.” Eventually, she would have to start using her own sleeping space, but for now it was alright. They were in a new place and it could be scary for little ones. “Alright, be still now,” she whispered, kissing the top of Rose’s head, “Close your eyes and go to sleep.” She hummed a little of her favorite tune, Flyer in the Light until the girl stopped squirming.

The first rumble in the night woke her and then a second sent a wave of nausea with it. Dinner was making a return and not for the better. Swallowing, Calysta tried to ignore the rising need to vomit, but it wasn’t doing much good as her stomach gave another lurch. She needed up, but Rose had tangled her fingers into Calysta’s hair. Frantically, she unwove the girl’s fingers, ripping a few hairs out, and made her whine in her sleep before stumbling out of the covers with her hand clamped over her mouth. She stepped on something in the dark, tripping over it as the object rolled under her bare foot, and ran to the bathrooms. She made it to the bathroom stalls but not the toilet before dinner started bubbling up and wretched from her mouth. Most of it came up in one long, heave splattering to the stone floor and the next wretch was pure misery as her stomach emptied itself of the remaining food. Maybe it was some bad food? She needed to warn Illya and go check on Rose. The idea of was ended when a third rumble took over and Calysta stumbled over to the ancient toilet, tossing her head past the seat to spit out the rest.

 

[Silence]

Illya was busily working most of the night. He didn't come back to their spot except to help put the tent up and then he went back to his place to work near the ledge. "Which way?" Illya laid underneath the control panel. It was designed to open hatches for daylight during the daytime. At least they would have some idea what time it was. "Left?" Questioning the man one more time Illya started to turn it and the two of them counted the clicks until he stopped. It should open the hatch in a few hours and Illya glanced at the other's watch. "Should be about right."

The only thing left was to check the hydraulics to make sure they had correct pressure and that they weren't leaking. Tying off Illya working his way up the cavern wall the rest of the way and then along the ceiling. At each new ring hanging from the ceiling Illya would clip his rope to it and keep on climbing. Reaching the first hydraulic lift he shoved a monitoring device into the port and waited for the readings. It seemed to fine so he checked the other side and continued onto the next set. By the time he reached the last set Illya could feel the rope straining. More than likely it was the last of his rope and he'd gone a long ways. This moon shadow was pretty large. There was about two of the hatches that he suspected wouldn't be opening in the morning and so Illya tied little flags to the bottoms so he would know which one to get fixed in the morning. Then he oiled all of the pistons and hydraulics before working his way back to the starting point.

By the time Illya reached the tent it was late and he saw a plate of leftover leftovers sitting out. It was probably a little cool from just sitting, but he didn't mind. Shoveling the food in as fast as he could Illya then stripped down to his boxers and started to get into the covers with Kalizda. He would have to remember to pull out the pads from his pack tomorrow so they wouldn't be laying on the floor like this. She mumbled a quick hello and Illya moved in closer. While he hadn't intended to wake her if she was already awake they might as well sleep closer. It was like Rose and a beacon that would go off as soon as they were close and she came over snuffling. Illya was half tempted to tell the girl to go back to sleep in her own bed, but Kalizda made room and he sighed and just let Rose settle in.

Part way through the night Illya pulled the blankets back up. It was cold outside and Kalizda had just thrown them off. Again the blankets came right back down and Rose started to whimper. Reaching out with one hand Illya patted the bed till he found Rose and mumbled to her a few incomprehensible words before dozing off again. Instead of settling down the girl sat up in the bed and started to cry. The sound of her crying jolted Illya awake. "Shhhh..." Resting a hand on the girl's back he ran it down to her waist and pulled her tighter to himself. "Yah fine. Even though he was still groggy he pulled her onto his lap and before he could even ask her what was wrong she started to struggle in his arms and then vomit all over herself, the blankets, and Illya. "Oh....Agh...." Illya started to move a little when the girl started to go projectile again and not knowing what else to do Illya put his hand in front of her and started to gag. Puke was just not something he handled well. "Kalizda..." Gagging again he reached for her side of the bed to discover she was gone.

Cin came trundling over to the blanket and his nose snuffled several times before Illya heard the animal slurping up the puke. ""No.." Hissing at the bear Illya started to get up and tucked the girl under one arm. She was still whimpering and he assumed she was going to start puking again. The cries started to get more urgent and Illya ran right into the bathroom and slipped on a slimy pile...."Huh!" When he hit the floor Rose whimpered again and started to roll off of him puking on her way. "Ugh....." Illya groaned as he stared at the lights in the bathroom laying in a puddle of someone's puke and Rose still lurching while she crawled for a stall.

Calsyta had one arm braced across the toilet seat with her forehead resting on her wrist. Her hands were shaking as a clammy sweat dripped down from her forehead. The sound of someone coming into the bathroom made her lift her head. She couldn't see them because of the stall, but she could try to warn them. "Watch ...out for the...huhg." Another round came up and she dove her head back into the toilet, with a crying wretch. Her whole stomach was cramping and the sickness wouldnt stop. She could hear someone else lurching too. Someone small. "Rose?" She looked up to see the girl crawling toward her tall with another heave coming from her mouth.

Hearing the other voice Illya pushed up on his elbows and winced. If anything was going to make him stiff tomorrow it was going to be this stupid puking fit that the girls were having. Since his pants were already covered in puke Illya wiped his hand off on them and slowly got up to help Rose. She looked even worse now that he could actually see her and the puke crusted to her shirt and little night pants was disgusting. As hard as he tried not to think about it Illya couldn't help himself. The smell if nothing else was a constant reminder. "Rose, no yah need yah own spot." Stepping over behind her he felt her heave again and she puked the whole way to her stall and Illya helped her get a grasp on the toilet. He started to make his way over to where Kalizda was when the door opened and Cin came running in with a worried chortle. The bear bulldozed into Illya and he slammed into one of the other stalls before hitting the floor. "Cin!" The bear chortled a few more times and then began to hastily lap at the floor. There was nothing that Illya could do about that for the moment so he got up again and stopped to check on Kalizda. "Yah alright for a few? I get cleaning buckets in ere and start wiping up den we all get washed eh?"

Calysta lifted her head to see Rose crawling toward her. Her front was soaked in vomit and it was clinging to the ends of her hair as she cried. Seeing the sight of her little girl so sick made her feel even more nauseous, but this time with guilt. Calsyta waved her hand, trying to tell her to go to the next stall over but Illya appeared sweeping her up about the time Cin exploded into the bathroom, sliding on the vomit slick floor. Calysta caught a glimpse of his pink tongue starting to lap under the door and the image made her duck her head back into the toilet bowl. Illya was yelling at the bear then gave up to come check on her. Spitting the foul taste of bile from her mouth, she glanced up and nodded. "I'm..okay..go find buckets...sorry..."

Gingerly making his way out of the bathroom Illya stepped into the tent again a few minutes later and shone the lantern on the mess. He needed to clean up all the blankets too and he would probably have to wash the inside of the tent out. They were going to sleeping in their jackets outside of the tent the rest of the night. Gathering all the dirty things and large wash bin with a potent oil blend Illya set up in a shower stall only a few feet from the toilets. Since he was filthy and covered in Rose's puke he stripped and threw all the dirty blankets, and his clothes in a heap in the stall. Stepping into the next shower stall Illya filled his bucket and quickly washed himself off and got into a new pair of boxers. Once he was back to the stall with the dirty wash bucket he squatted next to it and began to fill it with hot water and oils. By the time he finished washing the floor off and rinsing out the rag he filled the bucket again with new water and then tossed the dirty things in it. By now the girls should be done puking. "Yah drop yah dirty tings wit meh and get cleaned up. We sleep in dah coats outside tent rest of night eh?"

Calysta had managed to stand with wobbly legs and go over to Rose's stall. The poor girl was nearly head over heels into the toilet bowl. Wiping her damp forehead with the back of her hand, she half knelt and half plopped behind Rose and slipped her hand around her little forehead to keep her from falling in. "It's..okay..." She swallowed and held to the girl as she gave a dry heave, then to be done. It must have been the food. How had Illya not gotten sick? A shock of realization hit her when she remember Sarai had eaten the meal too. "Oh no"...she groaned. She not only managed to make her family sick but a diplomat sick with her cooking too. The sound of footsteps returned and Illya appeared stripped down to his boxers with buckets. "We'll..get it cleaned up," she replied as she started pulling Rose's disgusting shirt over her head.

Taking the clothes with the tips of his fingers Illya grimaced and waited for the rest of them. "Yah give me yah clothes too and I wash dem." He already had the blankets hanging over the edge of the stall and his clothes. "Hurreh and we get some sleep."

Calysta peeled off her tank top and shorts, handing them over with an apologetic look. While he took the clothes, she used the side of the stall to haul herself up and then scooped up Rose, ignoring the wet hair sticking to her shoulder. Bringing her over to the cleaning buckets, Calysta picked up a fresh rag and dipped it into the water before grasping Rose's curls with it to clean them. The poor girl was sniffling and let out a miserable whine or two as Calysta washed her down and then herself.

Taking the last of the clothes Illya got them washed and then returned with fresh ones for Kalizda, Rose and himself. By the time they were ready to go back and lay down again he remembered that he needed to scrub out the tent. "Yah two go lay down somewhere and I clean tent now." It was partially his fault that the tent was mess. Just didn't recognize that the girl was sick till it was everywhere.

"I'll take her to the little drawing room near the front," Calsyta sighed. It was easier to let him clean it and her stay with Rose in case another round struck. She pulled Rose's coat a little tighter over the girl's shoulder and then carried her off to the small room. There was an old plastic rolling chair in there and she eased herself down into it with Rose on her hip. The girl clung to her neck and Calysta started humming again. She doubted there would be much sleep tonight and Illya had to deal with it all the mess.

Since Kalizda was busy taking care of the girl Illya finished scrubbing everything down and he emptied the bucket before wandering into the drawing room with his jacket on. It was probably a good thing that he had most of his warm things. The only problem he really had was sleeping on the hard floor. His back was a little sore after flopping out on the bathroom floor and the back of his skull was somewhat tender then to only make it worse when Cin had run into him the bear and knocked him over onto his right leg and it felt like he tweaked it. Illya woke up a few hours later and his stomach didn't feel that great, but neither would he have considered himself sick. Whatever she made unsettled his stomach a little. However, it looked like Kalizda and Rose felt better. They were having a small serving of oats for breakfast and Illya huddled down next to them with a bowl of his own. "Et should all be dry by now. I help yah get tent set up again and den yah rest today eh?" He didn't need them getting sick again or worse yet, staying sick.

Right after breakfast Illya got up and immediately gathered the blankets and the clothes to put back in the tent. The skylights were open, except for the ones he figured last night needed to be fixed. With the little bit of natural daylight and the fresh smelling oils the tent wasn't so bad. Illya nodded a little and threw a small satchel over one shoulder. "I get yah someting fresh ta make eh?"

***********************************************************

Before opening the cavern to get started on training and scouting out the area Illya gave a few of the men directions to get the hydraulics checked and pistons replaced so the other skylights would operate. Then he walked up the ramp. A small group went with and some of them were hunting with Illya while others made a check for repairs on the scout positions and watch towers.

Part way through his walking in the forested area Illya started to sweat and his stomach began to twist a little. Ehvan looked over and grimaced. "Yah alright?" From appearances the general was a little stiff and slightly green. Illya nodded and kept going. "I'm fine." It seemed that the longer he walked along the more intense the stomach pains got. Illya winced and tried to straighten his back a little more. His belt felt too tight and he was getting a little more sweaty. On top of it all he was starting to take in shorter breaths and then it struck. He was sick. Bumping his right shoulder into a tree Illya turned with the motion and made a dash for the bushes.

Ehvan hadn't ever seen Illya do that before and he was a little worried. "Sir?"

"I'm fine!" Illya yelled back and dodged behind the nearest heavy shrub that looked like it might guard him from view. Fumbling with his belt he barely got his pants down and assumed the squat position in time. Another wave of nausea hit and Illya tucked his chin slightly. His guts were cramping up and hurting so bad. He was starting to wonder if he had food poisoning or something like that. Normally little things like that with food didn't bother him. Suddenly without warning he started puking too and some of it ran down the front of his pants, some if inside his pants and the rest came out his nose and ran down his chin.

There was a moment of debate. He didn't really want to try scrapping the puke out of his pants/boxers and neither did he want to wear it the mile or two back. Streaking all the way back wasn't much of an option either. Settling with what he figured was the least of the evil choices Illya pulled his pants up and just about started back when it hit again. Once it was all finished Illya cleaned his face off as best he could.

When it seemed that he was finally done being sick Illya stepped out and Ehvan was still waiting. The man took one look at him and grimaced. "Uh...." Illya nodded. "Yep, I know. Got sick and ets on crotch of meh pants in meh pants too and I guess I'm luckeh I didn't shit meh pants." Despite Ehvan's best attempts he couldn't help laughing a little at the explanation for the current display. Flashing the other a grimace in return Illya turned to head back to the camp. "Yah jes keep on what yah doing. I be back out when I can." He was starving now that his stomach was empty and he wanted to eat something. If nothing else they could break into the rations that he had for back up. Not that they were wonderful, but they were something. By the time Illya reached the cave he swore that every pore in his body smelled like he was sick and he hated that smell.

Unfortunately he had to stop at the tent to get the oils and more of the stuff to clean. It also meant he was going to wear another set of clothes. Probably the ones he washed last night. When Kalizda looked at him he shook his head. "Dat food sure tasted good last night. Nut so good today. I tink yah did something bad to et." Once he had everything he needed Illya took himself to the showers. For once Illya didn't care if he wasted water.

********************************************

Though Sarai promised to be back the next day she hadn't even done so much as show her face and Illya laid on his mat groaning. He'd had an entire ration even though Kalizda warned him to let his stomach rest. He was just so hungry feeling. About 2 hours after he ate the food Illya set the pad aside and got up to go to the bathroom again. When he returned he picked he pad up and mostly read nonsense children stories and fables of Uria. There was no possible way that he was going to read anything serious or get any research done at this rate.

Glancing to Kalizda he felt his stomach begin to growl. "I'm hungry."

 

[aryamajor]

Once Rose went back to sleep in her arms, and Calysta held her part of the night sitting in the plastic chair with her Chip nearby. Whenever her head began to droop, she would jerk back awake, worried that the little girl was going to fall. Sitting on the chair wasn't going to work. Eventually, she stood up slowly with Rose and sat down beside Illya leaning against his shoulder. This wasn't exactly how show planned on sleeping close to him tonight .

She laid the little girl gently next to Illya and then went in search of some breakfast. The thought of food make her stomach churn a little but the other two needed to eat. She found a box of oats and heated up some water to soften them. By the time she was adding just a little honey, the little girl was awake, rubbing her eyes and padding over with the little stuffed horse trapped in the crook of her elbow. “Kalizda…” she grumbled. Calysta put a gentle hand on the girls head and stroked her hair just a minute. She hadn’t meant to make anyone sick, especially not Rose. At least Illya hadn’t gotten ill like they had. How he managed that was beyond her, but then again she had seen Chip bodies to some interesting things. Perhaps they had iron stomachs in addition to hard bones. The oats were ready, but Illya was still snoozing at his spot on the floor, so Calysta let him rest while she fed the groggy little girl who was already wanting her arm. “We’ll get it when Wolf wakes up and eats, hm?”

It wasn’t long before he woke and she offered Illya a small bowl of oatmeal with honey for breakfast, then off to fix up their tent. She could tell the fall last night and the night on the hard stone floor had made him a little sore by the way he was favoring his right just ever so slightly. Anybody who didn’t know, might not notice the small tweak, but she had watched him walk long enough to know when it hurt him. “I’m feeling alright,” she told him, “So you can rest and I can get things set up.” In truth, she was still tired from the day before too, but she didn’t need Illya’s leg or back to flare. The Chip insisted though and as tired as she was, Calysta leaned up and kissed his cheek as a silent thank you.

Once they got their tent set up, it wasn’t home but it wasn’t bad either. Calysta put the padding into their bed rolls, and put the soft blankets over the mats, making the beds neatly. She set up a little cooking station in the corner and their clothes in their bags in the opposite. The pet bowls were put near the door so both Keysha and Cin wouldn’t trample through the ‘house’ for their dinner. Illya’s uniforms hung from one of the cross poles as did her black dress and tunics. It had made her a little sad to leave behind her red dress, but it didn’t fit anymore because of her bones and there was no sense in lugging it around. When all of that was done, Illya threw a bag over his shoulder and promised to bring back some fresh food. Nodding in agreement, she gave her Chip a gentle smile as he turned toward the door.

Rose was in a more mellow mood, probably because she was tired from throwing up part of the night, so Calysta lead the little girl over to her mat to take a nap while she finished her work. “I don’t wanna sleep here,” she mumbled, “I miss my cave.”
The girl was always adamant about how she felt. A trait Calysta admired, but also something that could be exhaustive at times. “We’re in a big cave right now.”

“I miss my cave,” she reiterated, “I don’t have a treasure spot.”

With that attempt failed, Calysta sighed and shook her head. “I’ll make you a cave and find you a treasure spot, hm? Now, lay down and close your eyes.”
“Promise, Kalizda?”


“I promise.”

That answer seemed satisfactory enough and Rose flopped down on her bed roll, pulling the cover over her head. Now, all Calysta had to do was make a cave inside a tent, while also being inside a cave, and find a treasure box. The cave part was easy. She used the red and cream colored blanket and tied the corner of it to one of the support poles then took the other three corners and spread them out over the sleeping girl on her bed mat, weighing them down with some of the decorative rocks from Nuen. One of her pretty painted rocks, one of Illya’s and one of Rose’s. It made an awkward little tee-pee style cave with a triangular entrance, but it worked. It also blocked the view of her and Illya’s bedroll too, hopefully keeping her from being tempted to crawl in with them every night. Smiling at her handy work, Calysta turned to the next task; finding a treasure box. What would work for that? Digging through her bag, she found the little pine box they kept tea in from home and tugged out the strong smelling sachet of herb tea. The tea could sit inside the kettle until they were ready to use it and a smaller secret treasure box might prevent Rose from collecting quite so many rocks. She slid the little box into the entrance of Rose’s cave and then surveyed the tent. It looked much more organized and smelled better too. Whatever strong herbs Illya had used to clean it out, had chased away the damp smell of the moon shadow air and replaced it with something somewhat comforting. How long would they be here? She didn’t know the answer to that question and she doubted Illya did either.

*******

Calysta grimaced when Illya appeared in the doorway with a sodden patch right over the crotch of his pants. Apparently a Chip’s iron stomach could only take so much and he had finally gotten sick too. “I’m so sorry,” she told him again, “Why don’t you get cleaned up and come rest for a while with us?” As she gathered up the oils for her to wash, he seemed to want to remind her that she had done something “bad” to the food. Frowning, she handed him the oils. She felt bad enough as it was for whatever went wrong and didn’t need a reminder. “Aye, I think the food was bad.”

While he was in the shower, Calysta yawned a little and sat down on their bedroll. She should be helping the others set up camp, but she was tired from the last 24 hours and wanted to take just a small nap for once while Rose was snoozing too. She stretched out just as Illya walked through the tent flap with wet curls and fresh clothes. He sat down on the bed roll next to her with Sarai’s pad and started reading. Whatever plans he had made for getting fresh food had been a wash because he had gotten sick. It would be fine to eat rations for the night and then she could go out tomorrow morning if she needed to. Today would just be a slow day and perhaps it was needed. As he read, she laid back and closed her eyes.

Two hours later, Illya was groaning over his stomach again. Calysta had thought he would be over the poisoning as they had once all the food was up, but it seemed like the Chip was in for another round. He climbed out of their bed roll and trotted off to the bathrooms again. When he returned about 20 minutes later, laying he picked up the pad and started reading again without much to say until he glanced over to her and announced. “I’m hungry.”
Calysta winced at the idea of food right now. Being stomach sick always made her lose whatever appetite she had. It had been hard enough took make and swallow down slimy oats that morning. “How can you possibly be hungry?”

“Because meh stomach is empteh.” He was always matter of fact in his replies and sometime she had to be just a pointed back with him. “You’ll just throw it right back up.”

“I know, but I’m hungry.”

It wasn’t anywhere near dinner time and he’d already wolfed down a ration packet which is what caused the second trip to the bathroom. “Drink some water, it will fill you up,” she suggested quietly. It would also keep him from getting dehydrated after being sick. Surely he could see the logic in that.

“No, water will make meh sick. I want food.”

At the last statement, he was giving her an expectant gaze and she met his eyes with a raised brow. Apparently, with marriage came a loss for manners with the expectations. That and a bit of forgetfulness. “There’s a can of soup in the bag. You can grab it and make that until I cook dinner,” she replied evenly. He grumbled at her but gave into his hunger and got up to hunt down the soup can.

******
Sarai came by late in the evening dressed nicely and looking as though the 10 miles hike was nothing. Her husbands were walking behind her like a dutiful line of ducklings from first to last and in their standard military fatigues and carrying bags of supplies. The woman entered their tent with a broad smile still on her painted lips after Calysta said it was safe to come in. “I brought a few things you two might like! And some goodies for Rose too,” she said cheerfully. Had the woman not gotten sick from her dinner? She looked perfectly fine and it was almost annoying. Syrus came in and opened up an aluminum container. As soon as he did, a delicious aroma rolled into the tent. The smell of seasoned cheese met Calysta’s nose and her stomach gurgled, angry for having been left empty. “Rose said she liked this yesterday and I had someone look up the recipe.”

Rose peered into the container and her face lit up like it was Christmas morning as she squealed. “Macaroni and cheese!” Henyrk chuckled at the girl’s delight. She reminded him of his own little girls at the house. Calysta hadn’t thought Sarai would be coming at all so she had made rations up for dinner. With freshly cooked food, it seemed that the rations would be put to the side and Calysta couldn’t blame them a bit. Despite the short notice, it had made Rose happy. Illya was looking at the noodles swimming in creamy cheese sauce with a hungry grin. She hadn’t had macaroni and cheese since she was a kid and it was too tempting over the rations. Calysta smiled at the gesture. Sarai was always trying to do something to make someone else happy when she could and it was good to have people like that in the world. “We’d be happy to have you all for dinner.”

Calysta ladled up some of the noodled for Rose first and the girl sat down exactly where she was to start eating. Sarai stood next to her and smiled down at Rose before looking at Calysta. “I also brought some more food in the other bags for later. That way you wouldn’t have to cook quite so much for the next few days.” She thanked Sarai, but couldn’t help but wonder if the woman gotten sick too. If she had, it didn’t appear she would admit it. Calysta gave her a shy smile and decided she would rather not know any more about her stomach killing food. She had done the best she knew how and if it wasn’t enough, she’d simply do better next time.

Later after dinner, Sarai sidled up to Illya and sat down. Her hand settled on to his arm and she gave him a gentle smile. He was a good man from what she had seen and she wanted to help in anyway she could. Especially if there were organizations out there that could hurt her people. “I hope you liked food. It can be so hard settling into new places and I thought it might help. Have you found anything of interest in the archives? I’m not sure what you wanted them for, but I would gladly help.”

Calysta watched as Sarai talked with Illya with Rose falling asleep in her lap. She had never been the jealous sort. Not even when Illya mentioned Isla did she ever feel jealous or upset. There was no doubt in her mind that her Chip loved her. However, she did feel a slight twinge of inadequacy flare. It used to happen when she went on the occasional date and men expected a graceful woman like Sarai. What they got was her odd, tom-boy ways and awkward moments instead. That was just the way she was though and it wasn’t likely to change.

*****
Aryn watched as his father droned on about the instability of the alliance, mentioning the word betrayal and Kaereleans several times. It was like he was trying to push the people into waging war against the Cirellants and any one who was standing in their way. Including the treacherous Kaereleans who pushed for peace and then broke faith in their alliance by turning tail and running. He didn’t really get why his dad was doing all of this. Then again they had never really gotten along to begin with. The speech ended with a call for the World President to stand up and declare war for Terra with or without the Council.

That was what Ayrn had been waiting for. He dropped his bag into the booth and slid out his info pad to send a quick message to Illya.
“Trouble on Terra. President called out to war by W.Y. Wait for decision?”

 

[Silence]

Illya found the can of soup after only a few minutes of digging through the bag. He knew that eventually he would be able to hold something down. Besides his stomach always felt better when it had something in it. Personally he hated that empty feeling. Not that he couldn't go without a meal, but if food was available he wasn't going to go without. Heating up the little can of soup he sniffed it and frowned a little before adding a few herbs to it. Now it smelled better and he was prepared to eat. Before just eating it straight out of the pan he decided to offer a little bit to Kalizda. "Yah want aneh?" She shook her head and he shrugged. "Ok. I eat et den."

The food was so good and it felt good going down too. Almost humming with each bite he scraped out the bottom of the pan and then went back to his spot. He was almost feeling good enough to go out hunting now that he finished eating. Usually that was how he felt though. While he was feeling half way decent Illya decided to start actually looking up the Federation in Uria. While he was researching them he felt his stomach start to grumble. It was only about three hours later this time. All of that puking and being sick left him half starved feeling. Getting back up Illya picked through the bag and found some crackers and another small ration that he could eat. "I'm so hungry." Kalizda still didn't look like she felt all that great and as tempted as he was to go out hunting, Illya decided that he should probably stay here and make sure she didn't need help.

Crackers and a small ration didn't last long either and Illya started to get hungry again. He caught Kalizda looking at him and he shrugged. "Sorreh, I'm hungry." The Chip got up this time and checked the rice from last night. It seemed to be alright and so he put a serving of that into a dish and sniffed the meat next. There was something not quite right with the meat so he set it aside and then decided to go up and see if he could catch anything fresh. Illya was only gone for a short while and he came back with a small lizard. At least it was a kind that he could cook quickly. By the time he had the food prepared his stomach was grumbling even louder in protest to the emptiness it felt. When Illya felt that his hunger had been curbed for the time he sat back and began reading the pad again. It looked like there were a few mines in Uria for the Federation. The good news was that there was very little influence here as compared to some of the other areas. Perhaps it wasn't quite as easy for the Federation to set roots here? Illya started to wonder if there was any particular reason they were not so prominent here.

While he was busily scrolling through the pages of information he took notes with his other hand and then set the pad aside so he could go get his map. Illya was almost laid out on his map while marking it and writing in several notes from his page directly onto the map. He had done everything could with the map by late afternoon and he resumed playing around with little stories on the pad then. Rose was still feeling tired and grumpy. The girl came to him fussing and complaining about something though he couldn't really tell what. "Jes sit wit meh?" Holding out an arm he waited for her to settle in and then he started to read the stories. When he came across words he didn't know that well Illya improvised and made something up. After nearly an hour of reading stories and having a full stomach Illya started to nod off. Rose was already sleeping and her little curls stuck to his shirt and frizzed out around her face. It was too easy to sleep with a full stomach and recovering from having a little stomach upset. Illya didn't wake up till Kalizda started to shake his shoulder gently. Lifting his hand he rubbed his face, "What?' He still felt lazy and he didn't really want to be woke up without reason.

There was reason enough when he saw that there were visitors that were outside the tent. Sitting up he blinked a few times and got himself feeling mostly awake. Rose and Kalizda gathered near the containers of food and Illya peered over Kalizda's shoulder. A little smirk came to his face. It looked like an interesting dish. Nothing he'd ever tried before. The worst part about it was the fact that it looked goopy. Almost like Spider guts, but it was the wrong color. Smiling he took a bowl from them and noted that Sarai and Kalizda seemed to think he would like a large serving to start with. Considering that his stomach was recovered it was best not to tell her that he didn't want to have such a large amount. Watching the others pile into the tent Illya wrapped up his map and markers. Setting the pad aside he then shoved it all into his pack and sat down with his back against it. Not that he thought they would dig in it, but he was making space and he wanted the research to be kept private for the time. It was not in his interest to have the whole of Uria to know exactly what he was doing here. With this sort of work you only let little bits out here and there. Then whatever became common knowledge wasn't such a loss, but it would indicate a leak.

Carefully the Chip brought the first spoonful up to his mouth and he breathed in. Illya was doing his best not to make it obvious that he had never eaten any such food in his life, but he wanted to know what it smelled like before eating it. It was definitely what he smelled when they opened the tin with all the foods. Taking the first bite he felt it almost immediately mush. The taste was so strange. They had called it mac and cheese, something he'd never heard of. "What es mac and cheese?" None of the descriptions were that helpful. "Den what es mac?" Apparently that was a shortened version of macaroni which was the little noodle. These were not the same noddles he remembered seeing. Perhaps there were many different kinds of noodles. He liked spaghetti and noodles. Those noodles were much better in their sauce. "Dis cheese, what es et?" Of all the meals he'd ever tried this was the most difficult. Noodles were a sub group of diet and cheese was its own kind of food though it came in many varieties. Instead of asking more questions Illya decided he would have to look this 'cheese' up and see if it was from a plant or animal. Of all the possibilities of a possible discussion on the food itself, he didn't want to appear ignorant though it was possible that had already been proven. Instead the Chip silently finished the bowl and took more when it was offered. Though he couldn't quite place the flavor it was unique and he would have to try this cheese a few more times before he knew what to think of it.

*************************************************************************

Illya glanced at Sarai briefly when she rested her hand on his arm. Cautiously he let his arm drop a little and slid it away. The Chip cleared his throat and scooted away from her a little bit. "Food was uh...good." She was asking more about the archives and he leaned back as she leaned forward. "Getting ta know yah country better." That was one way he could safely put it. Scooting away a little further he felt himself bump into something and he saw that he was almost sitting on Syrus. Being trapped wasn't quite his style and he found himself almost having to move closer to Sarai. "I tink next time Kalizda and I cook. Sorreh last food wasn't so good. We get something fresh next eh?" He was trying desperately to change the conversation and include Kalizda in it so that Sarai would hopefully get the idea to stay a little further away.

Syrus shifted to make more room and Sarai gazed up at the handsome General, keeping her pleasant smile. She wasn't exactly sure why he was suddenly so jumpy at her touch. Nothing unnatural about showing a little affection to friends. When he mentioned the food, she waved her hand. "Oh, it wasn't so bad. I would love to come back and eat with you all soon." Then she leaned a little closer. "I bet you are a wonderul cook, hm? Good quality in a man." Calysta was only half paying attention to the conversation and when she looked up at the sound of her name to see Sarai so close and muttering about men she tried not to frown. "Yes you' d be more than welcome to come Sarai. You should bring all of your husbands again too."

It seemed that the woman was completely clueless when it came to other clues from Chippequoti that they didn't want to be touched. With nothing left to say or do he finally put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back to her spot and then sat precariously in the middle of Sarai and Syrus. "Ef yah wanna sit wit yah husband jes say and I'll trade yah places." This was the only other attempt he could think to make without sounding rude.

This time Sarai blinked at him in confusion as he pushed her back. Had she said something wrong? Perhaps he preferred his women smaller. It wasn't often that men preferred women with a some sort of curve or little bonus in the bust. Maybe he was one of those rare few. "Oh no, I'm quite fine here. Thank you, General." Sighing, at the scene Calysta realized that the was only one clue of body language Sarai would know. Illya was probably wasn't going to like it but Urians were just different. She slipped the snoozing Rose off her lap gently stepped over and put hand behind Illya's neck kissing him right on the mouth for all to see for a good long moment then released him. "We'd love to have everyone over any time," she said to Sarai with a smile, "The children too." Behind her she could hear Syrus chuckling lightly.

At last the woman was keeping her distance and Illya felt pleased with himself. All of that and he just had to move her back to her place in the tent. He was just getting settled into his spot a little more comfortably when Kalizda got up and crossed the tent. Frowning with a little confusion he moved his arms up to catch Kalizda's wrist when she started to rub along his neck. Briefly his eyes widened when she about smothered him with a kiss. The sudden attention was not what he expected and Illya blinked a few times. Finally he got his mental gears turning again. Glancing at Kalizda and then Sarai and back to Kalizda he sighed. "Uh huh."

Sarai's eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them before a knowing smile crept back to her face. Some women used displays of dominance too often, but Calysta seemed to know the game. It was fun to pursue, but the woman wouldn't be sharing anytime soon. She'd give it a few years and see how that went, plus there were many more Chips to show interest in the mean time if she found the fancy. "I'll bring all of my children next time. There are 13 of them so, dinner might have to be a bit larger." Calsyta nodded, "Great, it will be good for them all to play." She stayed close to Illya to make her point clear, and judging by the look on his face he was too surprised to say much.

As soon as he heard there were 13 children Illya's eyebrows went up. He had thought that having 3 or 4 children was a lot. "What yah do ta get so many children?" There had to be a secret medicine or something so that a woman could have so many.

"The same as you," Sarai laughed brightly, "Several from each husband save for Syrus with whom I have one. I've been working to change that though." With the last comment she threw a wink in her husbands direction. "You like children, General?" Calysta swallowed as she watched the conversation take an unexpected turn. She moved away from Illya, and went to sit next to Rose again. She already knew what the answer would be.

It seemed that the woman just worked very hard at having children and was so far quite successful. When Kalizda moved away to sit next to Rose Illya smiled at them. There was his and Kalizda's little Rose. Looking back at Sarai when she asked if he liked children he nodded. "Aye, and I have one. We adopt Rose. Someday we have more." Illya was always hopeful for that, but he wasn't going to get into great detail.

She couldn't help but give the General a stare adoration. He loved children as any good man should. "Oh, I'm sure someday you will," Sarai replied, "My brood and and my husbands are the love of my life. And they always keep life interesting." Calysta gave Illya a shy smile. It hadn't been all that long ago that she had stopped taking the protection pills. Nothing had happened yet which may have be because of the left over effect of the medicine or the fact she and Illya had been spending less time together for the move. Either way, she planned to say nothing about the subject at all until something happened.

In a way the conversation had become easier and harder at the same time. So as with any situation where he was unsure Illya stuck with the Chippequoti tradition. "Family es very important to Chippequoti. We have onleh one. I agree onleh when I sure I want no other woman. Kalizda is meh agreed.....yah say wife?" He was still trying to learn some of these things though he was sure that he had the right word. "I tink Chippequoti family smaller, but den I have more time for dem all."

Sarai glanced over to Calysta at the mention of her name and then back to the general. "That's right. Wife is the right. So you only take one your whole life? Your people are very long lived too. I would imagine it would be hard staying with only one.There is divorce, then? " Sarai could see further explanation was needed by the look he gave her. "Urian women claim multiple men to have many children. Its a tradition."

"Eh divorce es not option." Illya looked at her. "Yah choose careful. Man or woman onleh have more den one agreed if a partner dies." Clearing his throat a little he listened to her explanation of Urian women having many partners. "Ef yah want many children I tink et would be easier for one man ta have many women. Man can still work while woman is pregnant and women cannot work to have more when dey full with child."

Sarai smiled. The man was smart no doubt, and what he said was logical but at the time in history when the traditon was formed, simply not practical. "Your logic is sound, except for that it assumes there are enough women for the men to have so many as wives. There were not at the time the tradition came about so long ago. In order to save our population and bloodlines, women were allowed to pick from whom they pleased to marry and make major decision. Coveted almost."

Taking a deep breath he nodded. At least there was an explanation even if he didn't like the tradition so much. "Makes meh glad I born Chippequoti. I do not share meh family well and not meh agreed."

He almost seemed relieved when she told him why they seek so many men. She chuckled and winked at him. "Your wife has displayed that as any good Urian woman would." Calysta watched and listened to the two of them talk, staying quiet as she stoked Rose's hair. She was glad her point had come across and that the woman seemed to accept it. For now.

Illya was a little confused why Sarai thought that his agreed displayed anything like a Urian woman. There was nothing about her so indecent that she would go after multiple men. Though it was intended to be a compliment Illya couldn't see it that way. Kalizda was a Chippequoti now and she shared his life and he shared hers. There was no such thing as displaying such attitudes as a Urian woman. Still he let Sarai say as she would. Her culture was just very backwards and they liked it that way. When the guests were ready to leave Illya cautiously placed a little kiss on each of Sarai's cheeks. Before Syrus and the others left Illya made a quick offer. "Yah come some night and drink. I have good Chippequoti desert drink. Good to make night pass." It would usually get Illya a little tipsy in about 3 drinks, but one could hurt. Besides, they needed a night to drink.

Having that other woman around and being so strange had made Illya uncomfortable in part, but once she was gone and it was quiet Illya settled into his bed with Kalizda. For once it looked like they were going to get to sleep alone and that would be nice. Wrapping an arm around Kalizda he pulled her a little closer and kissed her gently on the lips. "Yah so beautiful." Kissing her again he chuckled a little. "I love yah." Laying back down next to her he held her gently to himself and began whispering sweet nothings in her ear. "Meh Kalizda has eyes like da silver mountains and hair black as da valley." Reaching up he stroked her hair gently. Even if he couldn't see her Illya still liked to play with her hair. "As long as I live I onleh need one woman. Her name es Kalizda, her hands do good wherever she go." This time when he began to search for her hand it took a moment longer till she helped him out and put one on his chest. Taking her little hand he kissed from her fingertips to her wrist. "Yah far too beautiful for meh to describe."

********************************************************************************

Early the next morning Illya decided to check the pad to see if there was any incoming news. Ayrn sounded like he found the sort of trouble that Illya was looking for. It was the precursor that Kent would be taking and it was imperative that the Chippequoti move faster. There wasn't time left to wander about. They were in place, but they needed to start flushing out Federation loyalists where they could. Doing this was going to be difficult. Staring at the message for several more minutes Illya had to weigh whether it was better to keep Ayrn there and in possible danger or bring him back. After a few minutes he typed a response. "Return, you will receive further instruction when you arrive." For now it was best not to send his real location over the message or say where Ayrn was returning to. It was up to the Terran to get back from here. If only there were more Terran's like Ayrn. Illya's widened and he caught himself thinking like that. Ayrn was not someone that you wanted two of by any means. However, there were some qualities that he would like to see in other Terrans.

For the first week he didn't hear anything back, but Illya had his men working hours every day and Illya even worked on making sure that the moon shadow was in top condition. Illya wanted to get the others repaired as well. The more they had the better. However, that part he would keep secret even from their hosts. So long as the hosts thought that only one of them worked it was better.

Even if it was cooler here then it was in the desert Illya was finding himself getting almost too hot. There wasn't enough wind deep in the forest. The trees above would wave and an occasional stirring would come through the glen, but most of it was broken by the tree trunks. No matter how much he sweat he couldn't seem to get cool enough. Finally he stripped his jacket off and hung it from a tree branch while working on the sniper platform. After nearly another 4 hours of tightening it to the base he took his shirt off. It was taking a little longer than he thought only because there were so many if he repaired everything in the forest and he wanted it to remain hidden.

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta was relieved to be seeing Sarai and the others go by the time dinner and tea was done. As she tucked Rose to her chest and knelt down next to the girls little blanket cave to slide her to the bed roll. Her little hand clung to Calysta's tunic and she had to slip her finger under the girl's tight grip to get it to loosen. Ducking under the tee-pee she rested Rose back on the mat and unclipped her prosthetic. She was so asleep her plump cheeks only twitched slightly when she pulled off her arm and set it to the side. Pulling the blanket over her feet, she backed out of the cave to see Illya talking with Syrus, and Deric, while Henryk and Nicholas were helping clean up without having to be asked. While they cleaned, Sarai sashayed over and took her by the shoulders, looking her over with a spark of admiration in her eye as she kissed each of Calysta's cheeks. "And though she be but little, she is fierce," Sarai cooed, "Have a goodnight my dear and I will see you soon."

It was hard to be mad at Sarai for going after Illya such as she was, though it bothered her. In the delegates world it was the utmost compliment to a woman if another female desired a man the other claimed. He was worthy of being sought out and doing something right if the other woman kept him around. Not to mention, Sarai was a good person at heart, even if she did have tentacles for fingers when it came to good looking men she wanted. She just needed to be told her in her own way, Illya was claimed. If she tried it again after such a clear message though, Calysta would be in full right to call her out on misbehavior. Calysta had full intent on doing so if it became necessary. Illya was hers and that's the way it was staying. "Have a good night, Sarai," she replied earnestly, "And thank you for the food."

Syrus listened to the invitation with his same neutral expression and then exchanged glances with Deric, Henryk, and Nicholas before answering. "We enjoy a good drink. Sarai will let us take leave to visit for a night if we ask. Just let us know when you'd like us to come out." With that, each husband shook Illya's hand. Only Henryk came close to matching Illya in height and build, but even he still fell short of the General's stature. Sarai came over and received her kisses with a happy grin and a wink, before looping one arm around Deric and the other on Nicholas so they could escort her out of the door.

Once they were gone, Calysta gratefully stripped down to her shorts and tank top before flipping back the covers and shimmying into her bed roll. It had been a long, somewhat frustrating day. She just couldn't seem to do much right between poisoning all of them with her cooking, not feeling up to doing much after getting sick, making Illya a bit grumpy about his constant need to snack, and Sarai making it painfully obvious that she was lacking in the child department. She'd managed to make him so excited with the moon door and about having so many children, the irritated part of her mind wondered if Illya wished she was a Urian. More like the graceful and impeccable Sarai with her many, many children. The thought was a ridiculous one of course, and she was only thinking that way because she was stressed.

Illya laid down beside her and suddenly his warm arm was reaching across her shoulders, and pulling her close. She didn't really feel like doing much of anything, but let him kiss her anyways. It wasn't an insistent kiss, but a gentle one and he held her even closer while he chuckled. Where was all of this coming from? It was pitch black with the sky lights closed of the night, but she didn't need to see him as he searched her hand and kissed her fingers down to her wrist. Being so close to him, hearing him whisper sweet things in her ear while he stroked her hair, made her relax. He could always do that and she had no idea how he managed it. Calysta laid back in his arms and let him be near, as she curled up to his chest. It was silly to feel the need to hear these things, but it was so relieving to listen to his low voice tell her she was beautiful and she was loved, even if she wasn't like Sarai or any other woman for that matter. "I love you, Illya," she whispered back in Qouti.

***
While Illya was above ground working on repairing the sniper platforms, Calysta was midway through helping Rose wash up in the bathroom when the lights suddenly popped and sent the entire room along with all the Chips inside the stalls into utter blackness. The loss of light made Rose jump and wrap her hands around Calysta's leg with a tight hug and a squeak. "It's alright, it's just a blown bulb, I think." Since Calysta was the only one still dressed and not on a toilet, she picked up Rose who was half dressed and felt her way out of the bathroom. "I'll go open up the door, hang on" She groped her way out of the bathroom, hitting a stall with her shoulder and smacking into the heavy swinging door with Rose's back by accident. "Ow! Kalizda!" She winced as she pushed the door open and flooded the bathroom with the light trickling in from the open hatch above them. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Let me see it." Calysta kissed the top of her head, while her hand checked for any growing bumps. There didn't seem to be a lump on her head and she sighed in relief. "Lets get you dressed and your arm on and then you can go play."

Once she managed to get her wiggly little girl into her favorite pink tunic and her arm clipped into place, the girl dashed off to go play with the other children above ground. "Don't go too far and stay with the other children," Calysta warned her. "Aye!" She gazed at the girl as she skittered away towards the stairs and then glanced down to her cat. "Go on with her."
The cat blinked and shook down her fur before loping off after Rose at an casual pace. With Rose off to play, Calysta returned to the lightless bathroom with a lantern for everyone and tried to determine what the issue was. A blown bulb would normally be an easy fix, but they didn't make bulbs like this anymore and it would be impossible to find a replacement. If there was something wrong with the generator or wiring that would be a bigger issue.
"Yah tink ets jus the bulb?" asked one of the younger women as she pulled on her shirt. Calsyta recongized her but didn't know her name. "Hopefully that's all. Its always best to start with the simplest fixes and then work your way back. I'll go find a bulb to swap so we can try that first." They could swap out bulb from a less used area, bring lanterns, or maybe even install new, updated lighting if Sarai could get them the parts. For now, they just needed light to function by though. The woman nodded to her. "I help yah find one and fix et."

****

Ayrn opened the door slowly and peered inside. It was late and he didn't want to wake Illya or Calysta up...or the cat. Tip- toeing past their bedroom, he walked into the kitchen and found some of that desert prickly fruit in a bowl on the counter. Calysta had grown used to him coming in at all hours and was nice enough to keep food out for him. With a smile, he snatched up one and then took a bite, letting the juice run down his fingers. Sweet and delicious. Snagging up two more, he wandered into the living room and tossed his back into the chair before plopping down onto the couch. In the morning he would report to Illya and then maybe train on the gun more before asking Calysta to make her sad, burnt little pancakes. Right now he was tired though, so finished slurping up his fruit, untied his eye patch and then folded his arms behind his head to sleep. If he was lucky, Illya might even let him sleep in past 6am.

****
Henaiah stepped aboard the transport behind the tall Chippeqouti General and his wife. At her side was Thomas, who followed them silently carrying both their bags, though she could tell he wasn't happy about any of this either. Apparently his daughter hadn't bothered to tell him about this sudden move and he had no idea where she was. She wondered where they were going. The two of them had refused to say which was irksome and she hated leaving Michelle with so many instructions on what to do. How to send messages in code and alert those diplomats she knew wouldn't be bought off by the Federation. Sarai, Keyl, Tikan, and two others. They needed to know what was going on and where to find her when the council split, which it inevitably would. People would use her sudden absence to gain power in Kaereal, but she also knew that she could do very little to make things right again if she were dead. Not to mention, Thomas would be in constant danger if she had decided to stay as well. As she followed Yvonne and Markus into the sitting room, she glanced up at them both, unsure what to say or do. Unfortunately, it was Thomas who broke the silence. "Am I at least allowed to know my daughter, grand-daughter, and son-in-law are safe?"

 

[Silence]

There had been a few problems with the communications lately and Nathan was sure that it had to do with Sedition Software. Kent was know for using it at times and he was likely setting up satellites to supposedly offer support for the mine. It was just part of the process. With that in mind Nathan also knew that in time there would be assassins on his trail. They would have armies following and hopefully the others were moving fast enough to get him off this planet before that happened. Illya was the one that was supposed to deal with most of Nuen after he left. The other general would ensure that the home planet remained too deadly for foreign forces to occupy. When or where he would choose to strike would be anyone's guess.

Nathan was starting to watch the skies more frequently. He just needed the signal to move. All his men were ready, the people prepared, and the last of the Ehaui. For however long it would take to stand and hold this ground he would do it. Stepping into the house he glanced around. It was such a quiet, peaceful home. After a while of living in the desert again Nathan understood the appeal. It was truly quiet here. There wasn't the buzz and constant hum of the city or the fight between races. Taking what no one else wanted or dared to try and survive had its appeal.

Already Haza was serving up two plates of food. She had seemed to sense his unease and smiled. "Ehud, there is nothing you can do to hurry."

"The men I have here are the reluctant. I have a total of 50 fighting men for now to guard the rest. They don't want to fight." Ehud stared at his wife. Until he could be reunited with the others he was running with a minimum force to protect what remained of the civilians that refused to fight. Whoever this contact was he wanted him to hurry. Any day now Kent would launch his attack. The news would start to trickle in that there was a plan coming against him and then he would strike the home planet. His followers would be on high alert and they would try to strike anywhere the Chippequoti stood. Now it would involve those loyal to the Alliance and they could only hope that the ones faithful to the Alliance had listened and were aware of the alerts.

Nodding slowly the woman agreed with him. "I know some are reluctant. They are young and they have families." She wanted to remind him that they did not grow up with the same loyalty to their blood as they had, but it would serve very little purpose. "Sit and eat. We will leave when we get the signal. Illya has always done as was necessary for war and it will be needed this time." Those who fought the Federation knew that very well and since Kent was himself a disillusioned Chippequoti perhaps it would take the necessary measures and more. She could only hope it would not crush what remained of the Alliance to complete this war.

Silently the two of them ate the simple snake dinner. By sunset Haza and Ehud settled into the bed. Oddly enough Ehud had been finding little rocks throughout the house and some of them were painted in bright colors and others were simply a unique shape. Sliding his boots under the edge of the bed he heard a rock grate against the stone floor and chuckled. "Another one."

Part way through the night he heard the door open. They didn't give a greeting or warning as a Chip would do. Carefully sliding the blankets down the man leaned over his wife and whispered in her ear. "I check." She only nodded in her half dazed state and gave a little 'mmhm' before going back to sleep. Snatching his sword from the dresser top Ehud started into the main room of the house. The man's bright blue eyes scanned the room till they landed on the dark puddle laying on the sofa. Carefully drawing his sword he laid it just at the man's neck. "Who are you?"

****************************************************************************

"Move!" Ehud directed the men across the desert. All they needed to do was get across without detection. With him was the signal. Apparently this informant was a Terran and Ehud was impressed to know which Terran it was. He knew of the lad's father and yet his son was someplace drastically different on the political scale. The breeze threw sand into the air and created a sort of shadow of the Chippequoti as they marched to the secret base.

Stopping on the crest of a hill Ehud crouched and took out his binoculars to look at the town. They were out of sight with the sand storm and the first merchant ship would be landing soon. Pulling the scanner into the binocular vision he saw some of the men look around and begin to load up. Others went into the village to see who they may find. Lowering his head Ehud closed his eyes momentarily and then looked back into the lenses. As soon as they discovered that the homes were empty the men were beginning to raid and take what they could sell from the houses. It was as expected and anytime they would likely make a report to Kent. By nightfall or earlier there would be Federation troops covering Nuen.

Ehud slid down the sandy slope and ran to catch up with the others. "We need to hurry. Traders landed." Taking a jogging pace left many of the children running, but they had to. This group moved slower than the Dark Chippequoti as many of the people and children were not accustomed to the heat and the children had not spent their days running in the sands. Taking a child's hand he pulled them along and alternated between hauling the child and the contact. This Ayrn was not well suited to the desert either though he did fare better than some.

Loading the people into the ships at the secret dock as quickly as possible Ehud sent one of the men back to take scans of the village. "Is there anything yet?" The man spoke into his radio, "Nothing on the radars yet. Get ships with civilians in the air first."

*************************************************************

Yvonne sat across from Thomas in the ship. She knew he would be the troublesome one. To some degree her son had been right. Terrans were a special breed of their own. Glancing to Markus she raised a brow and then leaned in to whisper to him. Sitting up again she simply replied. "You are allowed to know. They are safe."

Thomas stared at the two of them. That was all he was going to get? It was relieving to know, but at the same time far too vague to be satisfactory. He sat down and folded his hands across the table. "Good, I'm guessing we'll be meeting up with them then?"

The woman sighed and leaned in to whisper to Markus again. Glancing at Thomas the general got a confused look on his face. He wasn't really sure why this man was so insistent on his knowing about them when all he had asked was if they were safe. Whispering back to Yvonne he waited for her to answer for him. "You will not meet up with them right away. Then you will see Kalizda and Rose for a short time."

He glanced to Henaiah at hearing General Markus' reply. She seemed to be just as lost as he was on why they needed to be kept in the dark on everything. This was his family and he didn't like not knowing "A short time? Will Illya not be with them?" At his questions, Henaiah shot him a tired look, as if she wanted him to just sit back and let the Chips just take over everything. It wasn't like her to be like that and he wanted to know more about what was happening.

This time Yvonne answered on her own. "My son is a general and he goes where the war is. Your daughter cannot be where the war is at all times. She will remain on the back lines." That was all the further she could say. No one knew where Illya went during the war except perhaps his father, and Ehud, but they did not share the information with others and that was to be expected. "Henaiah have you arranged any targets that you know to be troublesome?" Yvonne queried because she knew Markus would ask soon enough otherwise.

Thomas sat back in his chair in defeat. It was obvious the werent going to tell him anything and he was being sidelined in favor to a change in subject. Henaiah took in a deep breath. Ever since they had informed her that her council had been bought off, she had considered the question of who might be involved. "Arranged targets? No. I'm not an assassin and I don't want to sign death warrants," she replied honestly, " I have considered who might be under the Federation's pay though. At least two come immediately to mind. Councilman Julyus of the Ewen continent was very reluctant to talk in my interview with him. Overly offended almost. It could be nothing, but the Ewen continent is home to a few corporations, mostly involved with minerals and water purification. The second is Councilwoman Ailyah of the Aeriktan continent. She was almost too cooperative even though she trades farming subsidies for several companies I deemed suspicious and has been an avid promoter of war. There is no direct evidence that these companies are Federation though, because I researched them extensively looking for it. " Shifting in her chair, she wondered if she should mention the last person on her mind. If she didn't it could turn out badly and it was best to lay out her thoughts, even if the Chippeqouti insisted on secrecy. She had known this person for many years and would like to the think the best of him, "I also have mixed feelngs regarding ....the Terran president. I don't think he is directly involved and may be being manipulated by someone into acting for the Federation."

Quickly translating all that Henaiah said to Markus the Chip woman fell silent after her translation. She was only waiting for a reply if there was going to be any at all. It was quiet for what seemed like an eternity before she leaned closer to Markus so that he could tell her what he wanted to say. "The general says that you will speak with Illya about these people. He will visit them in person. This does not mean that they are to die. Simply that he will do what is necessary."

Henaiah glanced up from the spot her eyes had been boring into on the table, to meet the General's gaze. Illya could be hard to control and doing what was necessary in his mind was very different from what she gathered. It was going to look as though she sent a brute squad to intimidate people into defecting from the council and joining an unofficial war. "But he will kill them if necessary? I would like to address my people as well. This will cause a rift on the council and many people will be asked to pick sides. I want my people safe from the Federation. As many as I can convince not to believe in their corrupt leaders."

Yvonne again translated and then responded. "You give us names of those you want addressed and he will retrieve them or do as is necessary." There was only so many ways to go about this. "Your people live in peace for so long that they forget how war is conducted. This is why Chippequoti have 50 men trained and experienced in war. The rest of our men are trained and ready to defend as they must. We have a safe location that General Illya is preparing. It will be ready when we arrive."

Her request was dodged easily enough by the translator and Henaiah frowned. The people would not simply forget her absence. If anything it would be highlighted that she was gone and the rift would begin. When other council members began to go missing, she would be painted as a murderous traitor or another victim. Or both. They simply didn't understand. She would try again when they landed, wherever that was. There was still the mater of their own men. "Chief Airman Keyl has the entire Kaerelean fleet at his command. You are a sworn ally to Kaereal and his duty lies in that alliance. He will supply air support if called upon. Tikan also has men available for service. The Chippeqouti will not be facing this fight, wherever it may be alone."

Smiling gently Yvonne answered. "We are grateful for your help. Your aid will be honored and respected. All that we ask is that you allow us to conduct war as we see necessary. There is no room for politics with war. Chippequoti have known this for many years. Allow the generals to do as they must to bring stability and then you will rise to take your place."

Henaiah felt she could not return Yvonne smile. It was tempting to just let the Chippeqouti do as they saw fit like all was fine. She was not a general nor had she ever been actively participating in war. It was her job to prevent it and she failed despite everything. What she feared was that what was necessary was unforgivable and she disagreed with the woman's statement, though it was probably meant as a comfort. "I understand that I am not a soldier, nor am I a tactician. Those things I leave to expert hands, like the Generals. However, I disagree that politics should not play a part. It is easy to see any enemy and kill him but harder to give thought to what made him any enemy in the first place. I don't think you want war but my job is to protect and serve, and bring peace eventually. In that there will always be politics in war."

"There is to be no agreement with the Federation." Yvonne and Markus both glared at the woman. "Once we try to make deal with them and they are evil. Politics are to settle after the war. We will do as we must and spare those that we can. Already Illya is working to find only those loyal to Federation. The rest will be allowed to live as they see fit."

Henaiah met them back with a less angry, but no less determined gaze. "I didn't say make an agreement with the Federation. I merely pointed out that there will be fighting and that politics does play a part whether its a pleasant one or not. The more allies you have, the easier it is to win and the less Chippeqouti blood is spilled. Don't push away potential allies or people who wont understand the war because you believe the good will of the people or their politics is a waste I have given my word as an ally of the Chippeqouti and I would not be doing my duty as such not to point this out. " She firmly believed the Chippeqouti were good and they were trying to do what they believed was right. But so was she and her mind wouldn't be changed on the subject.

As a last resort Yvonne spoke for a final time. "Your place will be with the elders. They will help you put the broken pieces back together. We will do as we must unless forbidden by the elders." Gazing straight ahead she indicated that she was done translating on behalf of Markus and he did not bother to make eye contact with the guests as he rose and walked back into another part of the ship to make contact with his men. Turning her head again toward Henaiah, Yvonne quietly spoke. "You're greatly respected among my people. They will listen to you, but you must also show your respect to the generals. Generals are considered guardians and they carry great burdens. When it is time of war they are equal to the elders and when war is done they fade away."

Henaiah looked to Yvonne and rested her palms on the table. "I meant no disrespect to General Markus, or any of the other Chippeqouti Generals. I am just trying to bring some light on how my people will react. They will be scared and confused even if this war stays quiet. Fearful people make stupid mistakes and are uncooperative.I only seek to help the Chippeqouti and my own men in keeping the people as cooperative as possible so the Generals may do their work easier with minimal loss of life. Please extend my apologies to General Markus for having offended him in the effort."

With blank expression she nodded. "I understand. There is unfortunately little room for this. Perhaps speak with my son and general Ehud when he arrives. They will understand better than Markus. My husband is well versed in custom and warfare of Chippequoti. Illya is well versed in custom and warfare of Chippequoti as is Ehud, but they have learned more of the outside world. One last piece of advice." The woman pushed a graying strand of hair out of her face. "Do not assume that they kill because they are blood thirsty, to suggest that they kill without need is insulting. A guardian protects as is necessary. Killing is only a last resort and we made alliance to shield your people as well as our own."

Henaiah frowned. It seems as though the woman felt like she had accused them of such feelings. "I assume nothing against your honor or your duty to protect our peoples. The actions of our hands will speak for us all in time and I am grateful to have you as allies."

The woman shook her head slightly. "You speak like you warn them against killing those that they could save. It is the same as an insult. They conduct war before you were born and they know this. Please...." Widening her eyes slightly she stared at the woman. "When they ask you for these people tell them of what you are certain and your doubts. Explain to them some cultural insights that you find necessary. If you must express concern go to the younger generals. Do not speak to their wives of these matters. It is poor form to put an itch in their ear through the tenderness of their families. I tell you this because I want you help the people understand in the end what was necessary. There will be nowhere safe for them to go even if they succeed, but your people hate them."

Yvonne spoke as if Henaiah had some intent to be unprofessional about the matter and she wasn't entirely sure where the idea had come from. She would never use a man's family against him. What she did understand was the fear that they would be hated. All military men who saw action were hated by someone. Sometimes many people. It was her job to help keep that sentiment as minimal as possible. "I'm not sure where you thought that I might do something as unprofessional as to manipulate a man's family. Some politican's are without lines, but I have them. Still, I take no offense. I will do the best I can to give the Elders insight and to keep your people safe as I can with what knowledge I have. Including your Generals, whom I do respect." Perhaps she cleared up some of the miscommunication and perhaps not, but it was obvious if they thought her to be capable of being unprofessional then they did not fully trust her.

"Forgive my ignorance of outsiders. We have rarely met one honorable in their intentions." Yvonne nodded slightly. "I will consider your words as actions until they are proven." Rising from her seat she nodded slightly. "Now I will explain your intentions to Markus. I'm sure the general will have a greater understanding in the future."

"Thank you," Henaiah replied quietly, returning the nod. As she watched Yvonne leave the sitting room, she couldn't help think the same thing. Words were actions until they could be proven. All she could do was follow her instincts and do what she believed was the right thing, just as the Chippeqouti were trying to do.

**********************************************************************************

Illya had been waiting for word from Tikan, Ayrn, Markus, and Ehud. In a few weeks time he would begin to prepare Tikan's planet for any attempted invasions from the Federation and he would help the man's army cleanse their own planet. There was no need to do it all for himself. Each planet would be given the collected data that he and Ehud put together and then the soldiers in Illya's division would do the flushing and pre-attack. Enough to weaken the forces and give Tikan the sword to render justice as he saw fit for the crimes against his people.

Preparing the last moon shadow had taken all night and Illya was sure that Kalizda was a little worried even if he told her he would be working all night. Turning the generator on he gazed across the open room inside. Everything was working and they were ready for the work here. First he would move all the troops in and spread them out into the different moon shadows, then he would go to Tikan, Elizabeth to help flush her planet and then return here. The Federation would have gathered enough intelligence to know that he was here by then and this was the home base. Illya would send word through a pad that he would be gone for nearly a week more and then camp in the forest during that time on the extra outposts he erected. Ones that were not part of the original plan. Then they would wait for a gathered force to come to them. Instead of only the family of the 50 unit division there would be his division and the 200 other soldiers.

The first blip came in on his pad and Illya checked the wave. So far there wasn't any corruption. Opening the file he nodded to the men. "Meet them at the landing pad." Orders in Quoti were so much easier to handle then trying to speak in the common tongue to the newer recruits. Dividing his men Illya set them for groups of 10 to lead the new arrivals to a moon shadow. Only 20 men would be assigned to do that task, but they would be exempt from night watch in the forest. Illya was going to be leading a small group along with his father to the moon shadow where he was staying. There they would have a small convening of leaders to speak of the progress so far in the war. Depending on the grade of danger would greatly depend on whether Illya shared his additional information right away or simply hold onto it for a while longer.

Marching to the forest rendezvous point G1 Illya watched the shadows begin to shift as the sun rose higher in the sky. Little beads of light trickled through the leaves and rolled across the forest floor. Nearly dozing off in place he was jolted back to the present with the sound of boots in the distance. Checking his pad again he frowned. Ayrn should have reached Nuen by now, but there was still no word from Ehud. So far it was only Markus and his ships of soldiers, and civilians. It was troubling that he had yet to hear anything from Nuen.

A first glint of metal showed and Illya stepped out to meet the travelers. Markus was in the front with Yvonne at his side and one of the men leading them next to her. It was very much like his father to demand to be in the front whether he knew where he was going or not. Image was almost as important as duty. Quietly he waited for the group to arrive and he gave motion to the men to let the rest. There were many older and very young in this group then there had been in his. Walking over to his father Illya saluted him and gave a fast report in Quoti. "We have secured a base of operations, Sir. Ready to lead on when ready." With another sharp salute he lowered his head slightly and then stepped aside to let Markus have a view of the current location.

Markus knelt and poked a finger into the ground. When he pulled his finger out of the ground it was covered in thick black dirt. It was good land and full of water. The man nodded and smiled approvingly at Illya. "It is good ground, very good ground." Looking toward the sky he smirked at the thick coverage. "Much like the place the Black Wolf was born. The forest will be shade and shield for us."

 

[aryamajor]

It hadn’t been but a few minutes that Ayrn closed his eye when started snoozing when something cool slipped across his neck and he smiled vaguely. He loved it when she put her cool hands on him, it felt nice and gave him an excuse to use one of his best lines. He chuckled and then let out a contented sigh. “Oh, cold hands June. I’ll warm them up…then..”

“Who are you?”

Ayrn grimaced at the sound. That was not June’s voice…that was a man. A man. His eye flew up to see a tall shadow standing over him and a glint of metal at his neck. Not the chilly, but soft hands of a pretty woman, but a sharp edge of steel. His first instinct was to skitter away, but that would be a bad idea with a sword held at his neck. Why was Illya holding a sword to his throat and pretending not to know who he was? “Easy! Easy! Point that thing somewhere else!”
As his tired mind started to catch up with his pounding heart, Ayrn peered through the darkness. That was not Illya, but somebody else. Who the hell was this? Why were they in Calysta and Illya’s house? Or had he gone into the wrong house? Sure, he’d a drink or two before stepping of the transport and he was tired from non-stop travel, but he was sure he was in the right house. All the furniture was the same and he remembered the kitchen being the same. The sword hadn’t moved from his neck so he froze and looked up the stranger. “I’m a friend of Illya’s…I work for him…Ayrn…my name is Ayrn…mind telling me who you are and why you’re in his house?”

*******

The wind whipping up the sand was making the world around them a swirling, shadowy scene in the bright sun. Kiya stumbled over dunes as sand blasted against her, making it feel as though insects were stinging at every inch of her exposed skin. She hated running over this barren landscape but there was no choice. No real choice anyways. The settlement had been evacuated for what she could only guess was to prevent some sort of attack. Had they come for her? If the man she had worked for finally found out where she was, they would come. It had only been a matter of time and they would not stop pursuing anyone who crossed them. That had presented Kiya with two options, when the old brute of a man who came to fetch her from the crones hut. Go with them without resistance or get left like a sheep for the men in suits to slaughter. The people keeping her under arrest had yet to kill her, though their glares would have been enough if looks could kill, so she opted to leave out the settlement rather than face a certain end.

As a pale figure slipped down the sand dune in front of them, he ordered them to move faster. Apparently the enemy was close behind them and panic started rising in her throat. If the men were so close they could slaughter all of them easily and she’d die in an already dead land. Where would they go? They couldn’t run forever. The grey haired man escorting Kiya, tugged her along at an even fast pace, sometimes even hauling her forward by the scruff of her neck. It was a relief to walk into the valley out of the stinging wind, but they kept their pace going at a jog, making her muscles burn as sweat dripped down her brow. Sand was plastered to her face, and coated her mouth, which was so dry she couldn’t even muster enough moisture to spit. They followed along the valley floor until jogging around a small bend.

When Kiya laid eyes on the ships waiting for them on the other side, her knees went a little weak from relief. These people may have been rude and backwards, but at least this time they were prepared. Kiya’s escort put a heavy hand on her shoulder, guiding her up the metal ramp and into the transport. When she was aboard, her shaking knees finally collapsed her into one of the bucket seats lining the walls. Wiping at her face, she saw kept her head low to avoid the dirty looks until a child scurried past her. Their eyes locked for a moment and she could see the fear shining in them behind the caked on sand smudging his red cheeks and the mean look set on his mouth. Kiya ripped her eyes away from the child and took a shaking breath. They needed to get the transport of the ground fast. Being fast was the only way she had managed to stay away from them for as long as she had.

*********
Henaiah fought down a hiss of frustration as yet another thorn bush caught on her sleeve. Had she actually known where she was going, she could have invested in clothing that wasn’t her flowing work outfits and shoes that were not her heeled boots. Ripping off the thorny branch, Henaiah trudged forward with sweat dripping down her brow. Occasionally, Yvonne would glance back at her with the same neutral expression and she wished the woman would say something. Laugh at her, roll her eyes at how ridiculous it was for her to be scaling a mountain in office attire. Anything. But they continued through the thick underbrush in silence.

Henaiah was familiar with the moon shadow structures from history books but she never imagined that one day she’d have to crawl through the woods to find one in the middle of nowhere. How far up the bloody mountain were they going to have to climb exactly? Her long brown hair was staring to escape from its prim bun, flopping all over her face and after a few annoyed swiped at the wayward hairs, she gave up and pulled the pin out, letting her grey touched curls spring down her back. The adjustment made her stop again and this time even Markus looked back at her, though he remained quiet.

Sighing, she adjusted her bag over her shoulder and started moving forward. At the first step, she knew something was very wrong. Her boot met something squishy under a pile of leaves and then slid forward. "Eeep!" Her arms splayed out but there was no time to latch on to anything before she tumbled to the ground, rump first into whatever foul smelling thing she’d slipped in.

*********

Calysta had kissed Illya before left. He had at least told her that he would be gone all night, though when she asked why, he wouldn’t tell her. It was better that she not know the details. It made sense not to tell her in case she was ever asked or captured, but being in the dark no less frustrating. She didn’t argue with him though. He looked fine, but there was just a hint of anxiousness in his bright green eyes. The same kind she saw before the wedding when he was expected to perform perfectly or he was anticipating something. Slipping her hand into his as he turned to go, she managed a last quick kiss on his wrist and gave him an encouraging smile. “Whatever’s happening will be fine,” she said, though he may not need the words. “Fair winds, my Illya. Be safe.”

Rose fell asleep fast for once. Her little girl and spent all day playing with the other children on the topside and had brought home several more rocks for her collection. The little tea box she was using as her treasure box was already starting to fill up and Calysta suspected soon she would be batting her eyes at Wolf for a larger one. Ensuring that Rose was sleeping deep enough to be down for the night, she smoothed the girl’s wayward locks down and then crawled out of her ‘cave’.

Calysta dusted off her hands and her eyes fell on the neatly made bed roll. She could try to sleep, but with Illya gone she doubted it would do any good. Settling down into the bed, she kept her own side, even though there was plenty of room without Illya’s large frame beside her. Her info pad still had plenty of things to read on it, so she pulled out the files and flipped to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Sarai had quoted a line from the ancient Terran play to her and it had taken her a minute to remember where she’d hear the words before. Her eyes read the pages, but her mind was elsewhere. What was Illya’s doing? What was happening with Nathan and Haza? Her father and Henaiah? Were they all alright? Kiya’s wellbeing even popped into her mind. Ayrn, she never worried about. He was a friend, but he was slippery like an eel and usually got himself out of trouble as quick as he found himself in it. She hoped he was okay wherever he was though.

She put down the info-pad and laid back onto her pillow. It didn’t feel quite right, and she reach up to fluff it, then tried again. The pillow still didn’t feel good. There was some sort of lump right under the back of her neck. Sitting up with a grumble, Calysta reached into her pillow case and patted around trying to find the source. Her fingers found something hard a rough. What in the Wilds? She grabbed the mystery lump and pulled it out of the case. It was one of the rocks from Nuen that Rose had painted. How had that ended up in there?

Calysta shook her head and then put the red speckled rock to the side before laying down again. The pillow still felt wrong. She sat up and rolled over, then flopped back again. Maybe it was just time she got a new pillow? This one waant so old, but maybe the feathers had just worn too quickly after Rose jumping on then so often. Reaching over she snagged up Illya’s pillow and fluffed it between her palms with an extra shake before laying back. It smelled like the strong herbs he washed his hair with and was soft. Much better.

The next day she was sitting outside in the crisp air reading over a few things on her info pad. She’d risen with the sun along with the children and decided it was pointless to try sleeping again with Illya still gone. Instead, she had gotten up with Rose and taken her outside to play in the woods. Keysha and Cin were enjoying the play time as Rose dodged in and out the trees and the animals followed. Rose’s little fingers grabbed at a huge tree trunk and then she slowly poked her head around its curve until she was nose to wet nose with Cin who was standing on the other side. The bear gave a gurgling chortle and Rose turned to fits of giggles before hiding back behind the tree to do it all over again.

As Calysta read through some findings on the Beta Quadrant, she would look up to track down the girl and then go back to reading. It was early afternoon when she heard a different kind of squeal from Rose and the sound of her quick feet stomping through the leaves. Her eyes flicked up from the pages as the men in the sniper stands shifted from their hidden positions.
“Papa Thomas!”

A jolt went through Calysta and she put the info-pad to the side. Did she say her father’s name? In the trees ahead there were figures coming up to the rock face. One was leaning to the left a little, but bent down anyways to pick up the hurtling ball of energy running at him. “Look at how much you’ve grown!” Rose giggled and then tugged on Thomas’ beard. “Did you bring anything with you, Papa Thomas?”

Her father chuckled and a broad smile came over Calysta’s lips. When had her father gotten here? “Not this time, but I will next time, yeah?”

“Okeigh! Kalizda! KALIZDA! PAPA THOMAS IS HERE!”

Calysta rose from her spot and ran over to him she ran over to her father to wrap him in a hug. He looked tired and he was sweaty from the high up the hill, but she didn’t care. “Hi Dad,” she said, bringing him into the hug tighter. "I've missed you, Caly." Rose began to protest at being trapped between them and squirmed until Calysta gave up the hug and held her father at arm's length to look him over again with a grin. He was safe.

 

[Silence]

The generals waited for several more minutes while the rest of the group caught up. Illya watched Henaiah come straggling in and Thomas not far behind her. He was obviously sore by the way he was limping. Illya sent his last group of men to take Thomas and the others to their moon shadow first. Then he turned toward Henaiah, Markus, and Yvonne. "Rest of us need ta talk." This he spoke in Chippequoti only because his father would not speak in any other language and Yvonne was far better at translating than Illya. "We will go to a small field office and I will show you what I have so far and update yah on the standing wit General Ehud."

There was very little talking after the initial statement was made. Instead Markus asked for the direction of the small field office and Illya gave the man directions. Markus took Yvonne's hand and carefully led her along the way. Since there was only one other person left to escort Illya offered his hand to Henaiah who was at best bedraggled from the short journey. It was probably best that himself and his men intended to have enough food made for all the incoming travelers. While they made their way up to the little outpost Illya slowed his steps. The council woman was clearly not used to this sort of exertion. Glancing up he saw that his father and Yvonne were already a good distance off. He was moving at nearly a snails pace and then he noticed that one of the heels on her boots was beginning to wobble, or maybe the woman had a bad ankle?

Since it was getting to be entirely too much effort not to sigh or drag the woman along Illya decided that he was better off to say what he needed and then take action. "Sorreh." Leaning over he slid an arm behind her knees and hoisted Henaiah off the ground and marched her the rest of the way to the outpost. Once the four of them were inside and Henaiah was seated with a canteen of water Illya began to roll out his maps and show his father the extent of Federation influence on Reylia, Uria, Nuen, and many of the other immediate allies that were still with them for the early days of the war. The rest were uncertain and those that Illya was fairly sure were the most hostile showed a tremendous influence from the Federation. "If yah want to push Federation into smaller space and take on containment theory we have best shot in early days of war to take these planets." In Quoti it was a much faster paced conversation and Yvonne was almost out of breath and gasping for air between the quick spurts of conversation between her son and Markus. Finally she put a hand on Illya's. "Please slow down."

Nodding to her Illya tried to keep a little slower. "If we cut them off here and here they are areas that are showing less influence and maybe more uh....more favorable toward the alliance. It will cut supply lines and create a power distance ratio that will decrease their available supplies if we make strikes. Then if I can take this further territory we limit the space that they have and it will concentrate the forces making them more vulnerable to attack and we will have the advantage of mobility."

Markus looked the plan over and he nodded. "Seeking method of punishment, and agility while including strikes. It is a good plan, but we cannot count entirely on the influence being directly correlated with the volume of Federation mines."

"Aye, but it would have less Federation presence and easier territory to take." Illya took a deep breath. "We have less men and we need to have a faster supply route. If we can create a shorter distance for our supplies to travel then we reinforce our soldiers must faster."

Both of the men nodded this time and a slight grin broke out on Yvonne's face. She wasn't sure why it was so funny that they both had some of the same mannerisms when it came to their work. Still it was good to see. Glancing at Henaiah it almost looked like the woman was lost and she wasn't sure how to explain any of the military talk to her. Instead she waited quietly for the men to continue talking strategy and why they would choose to use the one that Illya had worked out and why his research was what they needed. Nearing the end Markus nodded to her and Yvonne glanced to Henaiah. "If you have any insight the generals would like to hear what you have to say and they will consider it carefully before continuing with their work."

***************************************************************************

When Illya finally returned to the cave with the others he went to the tent long enough to have dinner with Kalizda and Rose. "I have watch tahnight." She probably wouldn't like it much, but that was just how the routine fell. Gone all yesterday and the night and gone most of today only to be gone half of this night. "I be back before morning." Quietly he finished most of the meal. He would have liked to talk, but he was too tired to think of anything to say and he still had the first half of the watch and he needed to be semi clear headed for that. If he ate fast there might be time for a little sleep.

Shoveling the last of the food from his plate into his mouth Illya set the dish down and grabbed a pillow and flopped into the bed. It was only a few inches from where he'd eaten. Rose came over to crawl on his back and he let her for now, not really caring what she did. Rumpling his pillow up he laid his head on it and the whole thing went flat. Even on the second attempt it went flat and then Illya crumpled it into a ball and held his arms around it to help it keep form. "Wake meh up in half hour eh?" Mumbling he peeked over his shoulder and settled back into the pillow before finally crashing. Rose continued to play with his hair. Even if it was shorter now and couldn't quite reach his ears there was still enough of it left to hide little berets in. Catching one curl between her fingers she clipped it and stroked the back of his head while searching for more good curls to clip.

A hand on his shoulder and Kalizda's voice woke Illya with a jolt. Little Rose tumbled off his back and giggled as he sat up and began to pick the clips out of his hair. Once he could run his hands through his hair without snagging them on little hair clips Illya grabbed his beret and put it on. Leaning back a bit he kissed Kalizda on the lips hastily. "I go now. Got watch till 4am." With the possibility that Ehud could be coming in anytime Illya didn't want to leave the watch towers empty at any point. If he was late there had to be something wrong.

Nathan barely had the the last ship loaded and an ominous sounding hum began to sound. He knew the sound all to well. Racing up the ramp he pulled on the cord to help close hatch faster though the hydraulics were only allowing so much. The other two ships were well on their way or they had already been trapped. He tumbled back as the hatch finally closed and the ship took a sharp angle. Grasping for anything within reach he finally caught hold of a cargo belt and held on for life as the ship continued on the hazardous flight path. He could only think of one reason to fly the ship like that and in an instant it shuddered with a hit from a shell. Squeezing his eyes shut he took a deep breath and tried to re-tighten his hands on the straps.

The ship jolted again and he took another deep breath while just holding on for all that he was worth. There was nothing else that he could do until they were clear of the firing. Gradually the ship leveled out enough for Nathan to run to the cock pit. "What's the damage?"

Glancing to him one of the men sighed. "Sir, we took damage to the hyper speed. We'll have to make communication with the other two and tether to them to make it." Losing an entire ship would be too great a loss to their already minimal transport capacity. Ehud nodded. We'll send message and take tripod to be sure that we have all angles if they pursue us beyond the belt.

All three of the ships were nearly over taxed with the effort of the tether. Rumbles began to shake and portions of the engine's energy in the leading ship began to arch. Ehud sent an emergency message through to Illya. "We're coming in hot and we have an engine arch. Be sure to have about 30 men to help with evacuation. Some were injured during take off."

Illya came back to the tent on time. He was too tired to bother even taking his shirt off and only peeled his boots off before crawling into the bed with Kalizda. She turned over briefly and he wrapped an arm around her. "Here." It felt like he'd barely fallen asleep and then his pad started to bleep with an urgent message. Rolling onto his back Illya grumbled under his breath and read the message. Throwing the covers back he slipped into his boots and turned around long enough to tuck the blankets around Kalizda before giving her another hasty kiss. "I be back soon." That was quickly turning into a life motto. Since he'd come here there had been almost nothing, but work and now it was starting to invade even his sleep time. Running from his tent to some of the others he pushed the flaps open. "Need yah up top. Five minutes ta rally point eh?"

By the time he finished getting to all the tents Illya was running to make his own time frame. When he got to the top he saw that a few of his men were ahead of him and others were trotting out behind him. Some of the women had gathered near the entrance to see them off. Chippequoti agreed that knew what a sudden departure meant blew kisses and then went back to their tents to cook and worry. Sudden calls like this were not good news.

Checking the pad again Illya looked at the coordinates given. It wasn't too far from where they had run to now and he looked up. The trees were still all in the same place, but they would be parting soon if the ships were having to let the first one go here and then the other two would fly further on to reach the landing pads. "One has arch in engine. We get in and help injured. Unstable energy and we move fast." The men nodded and strapped the vests on. It wouldn't do them much good if they were caught in an arch, but it would protect them if they got out of the ship in time.

They were waiting far longer than the calculation had suggested and Illya started to shift on his feet impatiently. Where was it? As if in an answer the ship came wobbling over their location and began the rough descent. Trees cracked and the emergency propeller used to control the arch and landing nearly blew them off their feet even when they stood a safe distance away. Another wobble form the ship and it caught on a massive tree. Wood splintered shards shot out as it was crushed beneath the weight of the ship. Illya felt a sharp sting run along his left ear and part of his head. Ignoring the sting for the moment he watched for the hatch to open and then waited for the first wave of people to rush out before he ran in with his men close behind. A mechanic was inside trying to shut the engine off and possibly get the ship repaired instead of losing it to the arch and injuring all those in the path of the potential explosion.

Inside the ship was utter chaos. Organized chaos, but still humming with panic. Snatching a fellow man from a cot Illya caught a look at his side. Looked like they would need the Ehaui to take a look at it. The group raced out with the injured and started to run with the survivors as far as they could from the ship. Only a few minutes later there was a loud pop sound and Illya looked back. The ship was still there. Somehow the mechanic had succeeded and saved the ship. It would still be a few hours till they saw the rest of the Chippequoti from Ehud's group, but at least they were safe.

After so many days of going and going Illya was more than ready to let Markus take control of the situation for a few days and just relax. Markus was supposed to be taking over starting at mid-day and already Illya was planning that night of partying. Something to let go of the tension. When he arrived Illya noticed the blood dripping down his neck and wiped at it till his hand caught on a chunk of wood. Frowning he made his way to the bathrooms and saw a giant piece of wood hand cut into his ear lobe and sliced part of his neck and it was now resting in the collar of his shirt. Taking himself to sit in line for the Ehaui he waited for almost 4 hours before they got him stitched up and ready to go home to Kalizda and Rose in the tent.

When Kalizda asked about the stitches he shrugged. "Accident. Tree broke and I got sliver." That was about the only way he knew how to describe it without worrying her too much.

*****************************************************
Later in the evening after dinner and a short nap Illya pulled out his cask of alcohol from the supply ship. They would need to make a little more after this party. It was just a regular part of the life in the military. Sometimes a little alcohol was the only way to unwind. "Kalizda I send message to Sarai's husbands. Dey come ta drink. Jes a little."

As soon as the men arrived Illya pulled out mugs for them. Many of his men joined up and they sipped at the first round while setting up their drunk challenge. "First round yah walk on rim of water trough, den yah jump through tire, and climb up wall witout rope ta get red flag. If yah make first round yah get another drink and den we make flag harder to get and games go on till everyone fail and den we wrestle." At first her husbands almost seemed to be skeptical of the difficulty. With the first round of drinks all the men retrieved the flags with ease and then Illya moved them further up the wall. With the third round it seemed that the outsiders were nearly delirious with grins and laughter. They had completely lost control and consistently tried to mess the Chippquoti up.

It turned from a serious competition to one side trying to stop the other with swinging hammocks. Splitting off into teams the men would wait for the opposing members to make a dash and then swing the hammock around and catch a drunk then dump him during the the full circle. Illya hit the floor hard a few times and then decided to slide tackle one of them. The slide tackle worked somewhat as he ended up in a heap with the others sitting on top. One of them twisted their leg over top his ear and it tore the earlobe open again. Being drunk it dulled some of the pain and Illya just wiped irritably at the blood dripping from the lobe and half fell through the tire and tipped into the trough of water before getting up the wall and part way across the ceiling before he dropped nearly 20 feet to the stone floor with a grunt. He only tried twice more before he decided he deserved another drink anyway.

Illya took his round at the hammock and alternated between obnoxious laughter and sounds of sympathy as he watched the other team hit the floor. Once they got past the hammock he jeered with the rest of his team and sat in the hammock next to Syrus as they watched Henryk fall off the wall and land on his back like a beetle. Everytime his arms and legs would go out and he would squawk just before he hit. While Illya and Syrus sat in the hammock laughing the rest of the members from their team twisted it and they fell out on the floor together. Syrus was a little more grouchy about the hit, but Illya laughed and pulled himself up before deciding to get another drink.

Eventually they were all too drunk to actually compete much less walk in a straight line and Illya attempted a few more times, but he kept falling on the hammock and flopping back out of it. Somewhere in the middle of all this Henryk had found an extra blanket and took his pants off and wrapped it around his waist. Twisting his hips around he laughed and talked about a toga dance. Unfortunately the toga dance turned into Henryk running around trying to keep the others from stomping on the sheet and making him lose his toga.

******************************************************

It was mid morning and Illya sat up a little groggily after the night of heavy drinking. He was covered in dirt, bits of rock tumbled out of his hair and he winced a little at the light coming through the sky lights in the cavern. "Ugh...." Blinking a few times he rubbed at his legs and then decided to get up. It had been a much needed night after everything else that had happened.

Sarai was picking her way through the cavern, tip toeing around passed out Chips and hopping over various camping equipment that had been strewn across the moon shadow floor, when she heard someone wake. It didn't sound like they were very happy about being awake either and she could see why considering how things looked form the debauchery. Her husbands were supposed to have been back hours ago and now she couldn't find a single one of them. Stepping her way toward the sound, she laid eyes on a familiar face trying to stumble to his feet. "Illya?'

At first the voice was far too loud and he cringed a little bit. "Aye..." If there was one grace it was that those who hadn't been part of the festivities last night had been quiet when they got up. Brushing at his hair Illya winced a little. Even his head was pounding. He hadn't drank like this in quite some time and he was wondering what he missed about it right now. So far the only thing he had was a headache and a horrible craving for more of the sweet grain and rice alcohol.

The man was obviously hungover with circles under his puffy green eyes. Apparently, the invite for a few drinks had turned into an all night drinking affair and she had no doubt the handsome General had been right along side her husbands. They didn't cut loose often, but when they did, there was no telling where they would end up. Nothing wrong with a night out, but it would have been nice to know they intended to stay out or she wouldn't have wasted some of her oils. Sighing, she clacked over to the groggy general. "I came by to find my husbands. They didn't come home last night, and I'm beginning to see why. Looks like you had a big night, hm?"

Illya frowned a little. It sounded like he was going to get to hear it from Sarai about her husbands. It wasn't his fault they didn't know when to stop. All the same they were in the back part of the cave. Most of them had stayed there after the party. Reaching up to rub on his left earlobe Illya grimaced a little. It must have gotten torn up again last night during the drinking. He could feel a little bit of crusted blood begin to crumble off the earlobe and the stitches were itching horrible. "Ehm....Somewhere." Taking an uneven step he started to limp toward the back of the cave were the others should be.

Sarai's eyes roamed over Illya with a look of concern. He looked like he had done more than just drink. It almost looked like he had been in a brawl. Had her husbands been fighting too? It seemed she was supposed to follow him and he would lead her to them, so she crossed her arms against the morning chill and walked gingerly beside him. Her mouth opened and shut several times before she couldn't beat back the curiosity anymore. "Illya, what exactly happened to you?"

The woman was full of curiosity just like Kalizda had been yesterday when he got home. Illya looked at her for a long moment and sighed. "Accident and den I jes managed to mess et all up last night too eh?" Hopefully that was enough of an explanation. As they rounded the corner she could see the rest of the men sprawled and and another section of the cave with more men and between the rooms there had been several hammocks tied to posts and small ropes some with tires hanging from them and bins with water. "Dere in here somewhere."

The room looked like a den of dogs sprawled out with limbs hanging haphazardly from hammocks and flopped over...tires? Her eyes grew round at the sight of the room and all of the men some of whom were snoring lightly in their sleep. How was she supposed to find her husbands in all of this? She hoped they looked in better shape than the General did. Wives knew they weren't going to be up for anything until at least tomorrow. Glancing up at the Chip with a questioning gaze, she sighed. "Mind helping me look?"

Staring blankly at the sprawl of men Illya glanced up once to see that the red flag was still half way across the ceiling. He couldn't get it last night no matter how many times he tried. Looking at the woman Sarai he heard her say something, but it took a moment for it to finally click. "Uh......Yeah, yeah I help yah." Walking over to the first likely looking pile of limbs Illya started to push them around with his boot. He didn't really want to bend over yet. When he got a look at the face under the arm he shrugged and moved on. Wasn't who he was looking for.

Sarai scooted around the piles of passed out men, trying to look at the faces of each so she could find the ones that belonged to her. Reaching down, she picked up someones arm which was flopped over their nose, thinking it looks like Henryk. Their limbs were so heavy! She was shocked when the mans arm was so heavy and it slid out of her grasp right back down on to his nose. "Uhg." The man groaned and rolled over away from her with out waking. If Chips were that weighty, she couldn't imagine how Illya's darling little wife managed to deal with anything at all. Stepping over to the next pile, she saw the tell-tale crimson hair of Deric. "I found Deric!" she called to Illya across the room.

When Illya came to a pile that was not easily dissected by boot he had to squat near the men and begin to push them away from each other so he could tell who was who. At last it looked like he was about to find one of them when the shrill voice rung in the cave. "Augh..." Glancing at her he just nodded and pointed to the wincing figure beside him. "I tink I find Syrus."

"Oh good!" Sarai replied, "Can you wake him up?" As she set Illya to work waking up her fourth husband she leaned over her first. He was piled under someone and out cold with his mouth hanging open. His spiky red hair was frizzed in all directions and it almost as though he had been electrified. "Deric," she hissed, "Deric wake up!" The man 's eyes opened and he groaned in pain as he squinted up into the sun. It took him a moment to realize his wife was standing over him and looking none too pleased. Not good. "Wake up and get up Deric it's time to go home." With that, she clacked away from the pile expecting her first husband to nurse himself awake. Nicholas was easier to find, he'd slumped over next to a water bin with a mug in his hand. He was slow to wake too, but at the sound of his wife's squeaky voice his eyes opened and he clambered to his feet. "Now all that's left is Henryk!" she called back to Illya.

Syrus was not one that Illya wanted to wake up, but he nudged the guy anyway and pulled on the front of his shirt till he was sitting up. "C'mon yah agreed es here." When the man gave him a confused look Illya let go of the shirt and let Syrus fall back onto the floor with a thud. "Sarai." Shaking his head a little he started to make his way through the rest of them when another squeak came from the woman. This time Illya held a finger up to his lips. "Shhh... meh ears work witout yah yelling." It was actually painful when she got loud. There wasn't all that much luck finding Henryk and Illya moved into the next room. Seeing the man half clothed and strew across the floor with blankets all around him the general's eyes widened and he turned around and walked back out. He wasn't going to say he found Henryk like that and he didn't remember the guy doing that either.

Illya came out of the next room as Sarai was making her way to the third and final room. She was starting to grow worried that something had happened to him. How far could have a slobbering drunk got? Giving the general a concerned look she shook her head. "You didn't find him yet?"

Lying was not a good policy and Illya swallowed. "Eh...he's in dere." Pointing to the room he kept right on walking. Illya was not going to hang around long enough to see what Sarai thought of Henryk's party style.

Sarai blinked at Illya's abruptness as he pointed to the door and walked away. He was probably just hung over and wanting to go lay down. "Thank you!" Her voice rang through the cavern and she winced at the sound. "I mean....thank you." Deric had shuffled up behind her as Syrus and Nicholas were leaning on one another following closely behind. "You three start toward the door. You've got a long walk ahead of you." Syrus sighed and they started turning back to the door. None of them could regret the party though, it had been ages since they'd cut loose. Henryk most of all. Sarai stepped into the second room and peered over the sleeping Chips strewn everywhere. In the very center sat her second husbands large frame. He was sprawled out half naked on a pile of blankets around him and out cold. Where were his clothes?! Did he get stolen away by some Chip woman? "Henryk!!" The man didn't so much as twitch and Sarai's nerves were struck. "Partying all night....caught...half dressed..." She marched over to him and picked up a half full cup on the way form somebody's limp hand. "Henyrk! Wake up!" She didn't care how loud she was being now and she nudged his barefoot with her boot. He smiled a little in a drunken stupor and waved a hand at her, shooing her away and rolling over to ignore her. Sarai grit her teeth and upended the cup over his head with a decisive stomp.

The sharp voice of Sarai was difficult to miss, but Illya was determined to get a little more rest. If her husbands were in trouble it was their fault and not his. Illya was going to head back to his tent and sleep where she couldn't bother him now. Pulling the flap open he stumbled into the tent and crawled under the covers with his boots and everything still on and the distinct smell of alcohol on his breath and coming from his pores and dried to the front of his shirt.

 

[aryamajor]

Henaiah sat down across from the two Generals and a canteen was put into her hands. She was sweaty with bits of leaf sticking to her skin and poking out of her brown hair. The smell of whatever goop she slid in was making her nose curl and the bottoms of her feet were burning from walking nearly 10 miles in her office boots. It had been entirely undignified to be picked up by Illya but at least the man had been gentle about it. She wasn't sure she could have taken another step.

As the two men began to speak, she tried to follow along as best she could, but it was difficult on some things. Containment theory she understood well enough. To get a handle on such a deep seeded and widespread enemy presence they would need to confine them to a certain territory. Somewhere the mix of innocents and enemies could be sorted out and also to keep their own forces from spreading too thin. A more unified target made things easier for them and the people to understand as a whole. She also understood the need for shorter supply lines and keeping troops well taken care of.

What she didn't understand were the bits about punishment...agility and...something else Yvonne had spoken too quickly for her to follow. Mostly she was just tired and doubted she could give a fully comprehensive opinion on an entire war, but when asked, she drew herself up and nodded.

"I think that General Markus is correct in pointing out that not all Federation presence will be centered in the mines. I have already investigated several, less industrial, companies as part of my research. These companies may be helping produce or supply enemy soldiers with things like food, weapons, and drinking water. " Her mouth was growing dry again. Normally it was rude to take a drink mid-talk, but this time she couldnt help it.

Taking a swing from the canteen, she licked her lips and continued, keeping her gaze on the oldest General, while occasionally looking to his younger counterpart. “This is where I think more intel is needed. Figuring out which companies work for the Federation that are not mines will allow us to weaken their holdings, their soldiers, and drag them into the light. It will also help anticipate other needs.”

Illya knew what his father said was right and he had all the companies so far targeted that were mines. The data that was readily available on the other side of the production was a little more sketchy and he pointed out the green lines. "These are supply lines. Most of them run from these smaller areas and a few of them are directly linked to the Federation." Markus looked at his son for a long moment. He could tell there was some difficulty finding at least this much. "What about the supply lines that are not directly linked?" Illya sighed. "I have dem marked in yellow. Most of them are yet to be determined as forced, or sister companies."

Henaiah leaned over to look at the map, noting several familiar corporation names emblazoned on yellow. "We should look into these areas on the back end, and if they work for the Federation, root out those loyal to it and turn them to the alliance. It wont be easy to do, but it will give greater support to the men and keep the area's economy from collapsing.

Glancing at the woman Markus nodded. He agreed with her plan and likely so did Illya. "How would you propose to turn them to alliance?" Quietly he waited after asking the question so that Yvonne could translate.

"That would be where gets difficult," she admitted, as her fingers swept across the map, "All of these areas are different. The people will react differently every time to our presence that will factor into the approach we take. And also how deeply the Federation is embedded into the company. A water plant worker may not know who his boss is dealing with behind closed doors for example. We look at leadership first and replace only whom we have to with someone we know is loyal to the alliance for a start."

Momentarily Yvonne stopped translating while the two generals started into a short heated discussion. Finally Illya spoke in trader's tongue to Henaiah. "Then that is why you will go with mehself and meh men on some missions. You will know how to speak to da people and dey will see da alliance still exists."

Something she said sparked some sort of debate between the two men, but Yvonne didn't relay whatever it was they were dicussing. She wondered which had a problem with what she said and she imagined it was Markus who tended to be a little more stiff than his sin.Then their chatter came to an abrupt end.Henaiah blinked at the general as he spoke in a language she knew finally. They wanted her to go out on missions? She didn't even own a gun, or know how to use it properly, just a small tazer for defense if her escorts were not around. Maybe these would be more diplomatic missions? She hated the idea of being dead weight in combat but her role was still crucial. "Aye, I'm no fighter but can talk to the people.".

Illya nodded. "Good, den et is settled." Turning to his father again they spoke for a few minutes more to ensure that the agreement was reasonable for all of them. For the most part Illya was glad that she hadn't argued about the reason for taking her. They needed someone to prove that the alliance was still working even if they were struggling to maintain that image.

*****

“Oh, uh..thank you.” Henryk’s words came out in a mumble of Kaerelean at first. When he realized the mistake he shook his head a little and forced himself to swap to traders-tongue. “Thanks.” Henryk looked down into the mug handed to him by the tall man he knew to be the General and also the man he knew to be his wife’s latest curiosity. It was a creamy looking liquor that smelled herby and strong enough to power a jump-drive. Glancing uncertainly to his counterparts, he saw that they were already starting to sip on their drinks while Illya explained some of the night’s entertainment. He took his first sip and was surprised at how smooth the potent smelling drink went down. It was sweet and flavorful, and he wondered if the man might give him the recipe for it later.

Seeing the challenges the Chippeqouti had offered was exciting. Henryk hadn’t had a night out in so long he could barely remember the last time. That might have also been due to the amount he drank too. Smirking a little at that thought, he tipped up his mug and chugged down a few good gulps. He was a bigger man and it would take a few more rounds to get him feeling right.

As he finished off his first round, he noticed more of the Chippeqouti men starting to pick up their drinks and start laughing. Much to his surprise he was already feeling a bit of warmth prickle its way into his chest and he grinned as he stepped up the water barrel. He was always light on his feet for a man of his size. It’s why his wife always chose him to go dancing if she could. He completed the course with no sweat and then jogged up to the General with his flag in his fist. “Another?” It was going to be a good night.

After Henyrk’s second round the world was swaying a little and he was feeling much better. The course did get more difficult and he fell several times. It was so hard to get up when gravity wouldn’t let you. Or maybe he was too heavy. He gave up trying to run the course and had fun messing up the other wild Chip men in their attempts. The other husbands joined in and together they started tripping up the others while they ran. It was so funny to see the tall men fall only to spring back up or stumble off in a different direction. One even ran into Deric and the two cracked skulls, with a sound like a gunshot, sending his wife’s first husband to the floor out cold. Henyrk laughed and picked up his counterpart by the scruff of his tunic, dragging him over to the door so he wouldn’t get trampled. By the time he caught a whiff of cooler air at the door, he realized how hot it was in the party room. How hot he was. His pants were stifling and the most obvious solution was to get rid of them, he hated to run around naked though.

He stepped out into the larger section of the moon shadow and stumbled through the tents until he came across a blanket tossed over a laundry line. Henyrk’s eyes shifted from his pants to the blanket and back again before he snorted and grabbed the blanket off the line. Shrugging off boots, he unlatched his belt and stepped out his pants before tying himself toga. Togas were nice and breezy even with boxers on and made everything feel much better. Feeling up for another round, he sashayed back into the party room and picked up a mug. He could hear some of the others chuckling at him, but he just grinned. They had great booze but had yet to discover the wonder of the Terran Toga. Henryk caught the curious Chips attention and then held up his mug as he worked his hips in circles. “The’ladies love eh’man in a Toh-gah!” The words came out in a haphazard blend of Kaerelean and traders-tongue but he was too far gone to notice the difference.

******
Calysta's nose twitched as she rolled over toward Illya. She'd felt him peel back the covers and come to bed after being out all night again, this time to let loose and have some fun. She would have like to have gone for a good drink too but this was the men's night to enjoy, so she found other things to do while the men partied. Her nose twinged again, this time picking up on the staunch smell of alcohol and sweat. Was that Illya? No, he was near obsessed with bathing and keeping his body clean with herb oils. This didn't smell like him at all. Scooting closer to Illya's form to chase away the early morning chill, she realized the smell was getting stronger. The stale alcohol smell was so powerful it almost made her choke as her nose cleared. Opening her eyes, she found Illya passed out with his mouth slightly open and still fully clothed, stinking of a wild night. His shirt was stained with Wilds knew what and blood too while she was sure he hadn't even take off his boots. Why hadn't he at least bothered to take off his clothes? Drunk people did that perfectly easy where she was from. Sighing, she reached up and shook his shoulder just enough to wake him. "Illya...get up...go take off your clothes."

Groaning a little Illya opened his eyes and sat up. Laying back down he decided it was just easier to roll out of the blankets. Once he was out of them he took his shoes off and stripped his shirt off and pants before sliding back under the covers. He did what she asked and now he figured that she would let him sleep. By now his pillow was flat again and he bunched it up into a ball and plopped into it face first and then started to feel around to make sure he had the blankets pulled up as high as they would go.
Even though he did what she asked and more or less without complaint, he still smelled terrible. How much had he actually drank to be so staunchly covered in stale alcohol. Calysta tried covering her nose, but she hated putting things over her face and rolling away from him did little to stifle the smell. He'd been in and out without so much as talking with her other than to say 'hi' and 'bye' for the last several days and she knew he was busy. She had been trying to be patient, but the smell was just too much and she couldn't sleep all wrapped up in it. Calysta grumbled and slid out of the covers even though she still had another hour of sleep. She would go to her father's tent for just a bit or maybe find somewhere else to sleep. Rose would still be asleep for another forty five minutes. Before she left out of the door, she put his wash bucket and oils beside his head.

Illya didn't wake up for another 3 hours and then he took the bucket and collected a fresh set of clothes before heading to the washroom.At least his head didn't hurt anymore, but the cut along his earlobe and neck were sore when the oils washed over them. Returning to the tent he gathered his dirty clothes and washed those before coming back to stay.

*******

When Calysta returned to their tent she found Illya still sleeping in the bed roll. The man was still snoring with a bit of gusto this time. Crossing her arms, she thought about Illya over the last few days. She got that he was busy with work and they had little time to talk, but there were somethings that he hadn’t told her that he could have. Instead she had to hear them from her father. He told her that Yvonne and Markus were there and in another area with Henaiah. At first she was confused and couldn’t think of what other area there was to be at. Then she realized that he was talking about another moon shadow. If Markus needed another livable moon shadow, it likely meant his men would be coming here too. Otherwise he would just be staying the one they were at. Did Sarai know about all of this or had they just done it of their own accord?

It was frustrating that Illya kept it all from her. She could have actually helped if she had known. Was repairing one of the moon shadows for his arrival how he hurt his ear? Removing trees? All these days of quick kisses and no words were getting to be a bit maddening. Illya needed to slow down to rest and not work, and she would create a chance for him to do it. If Illya wasn’t going to tell her things at all, Calysta would simply have to discover them for herself.

Crossing over to her bag, she pulled out a small slip of paper and a pen. The sound of the bag rustling woke Rose, and the little girl poked her head out of the tee-pee with her frizzy curls sticking to the blanket. “Watcha doing, Kalizda?” she mumbled as she rubbed at her eyes.

“Shh..writing a note.”

“Why?”

“It’s for Wolf.”

“Why?”

Calysta sighed and glanced at Rose who was staring at her with her green eyes expectantly. Was she like this a as a child? “Because I can.”

“Okeigh.” Rose stood there for a moment with the toy horse stuck under her elbow. “Kalizda?”

“Hmmm?”

“Will you help me?”

She stopped writing again, her concentration shattered, and looked to Rose again. “With what?”

Rose scurried into her tent, her little night gown fluttering around her ankles, and then returned with a plastic package of glow-stars clutched in her hand. “Miss Sarah gave them to me.” She meant to say Sarai, but she must have misheard it some how or just felt like changing the name herself. The small package made Calysta smile. They were something she played with growing up and she knew just what to do with them.

*****
When they were done hiding the stars on the tent roof, Calysta manage to out a nice list of chores, starting with washing the beds sheets as the first priority. Then it was a request to put one of Sarai’s dinners into a pan on their little cook top an hour before dinner and heat it up. The list ended with Take Rose outside to play! I’ll be back later. –Little Bird.

With that finished, she looked at Rose and smiled gently as she handed the folded note to her. “Do you want to help me with something? When Wolf comes back from the washroom after he wakes up, I want you to run right up to him and hand him this note. If you do it, you can spend some time with Papa Thomas tonight and he’s got some chocolate in his bag.”

The child needed no more convincing at the word ‘chocolate’ and nodded. Calysta took Rose to the washroom and got her dressed, combing out her fine brown curls, and then set her inside her cave with breakfast and an info-pad to keep her occupied until Illya woke up. Without much else that needed to be tended to at home, Calysta set out back to her father’s guest tent. He looked so confused and yet reluctant to ask why when she requested he take Rose for a while after dinner. Still, he wouldn’t deny his adoptive granddaughter anything and agreed to watch her. “Thanks dad. If I’m not at the tent when you get there, just tell Illya I arranged it and pick up Rose.”

*******
Calysta had intended on coming out into the woods for time to cool down, and maybe even if she could find this other moon shadow. It would be good to see Markus and Yvonne again, though seeing Henaiah would feel a bit awkward considering her father’s growing relationship with her. Picking her way through the trees, and slinking through the thinnest parts of the thorns became a welcome mental exercise. Her mind worked out the most efficient route to forge ahead and her feet followed. It felt relieving to be out of the moon shadow and in the open air. She came across an omne tree filled to the brim with the blue fruit. Rose and Illya would love some fresh fruit. Sliding her bag off of her shoulder, she grabbed at the low hanging fruits. Most of them were perfectly ripe with just a little give under her thumb when squeezed.

With a bag full of fruit, she marked the area on her map and continued exploring deeper into the woods. It was almost unsettling how quiet they were. The only sounds to be heard were her footsteps crunching through the leaves and the wind rustling the thick canopy overhead. By her map she had walked several miles and would only turn around when the afternoon began to grow to evening.

Another sound broke through the wind as she stumbled her way down a dry gully. It was a murmuring sound, buzzing and indistinct coming from the other side of the gully which was flanked by a tall ridge. Was that the sound of people? Calysta climbed out of the ditch and started at a quick pace up the hill in front of her. She used sideways steps to lessen the toll on her legs and to keep from sliding as she traversed through the thick bushes. Soon, it become too steep to walk up right, so she bent down and dug in with her hands, climbing up with the bag of fruit on her back. Her heart was pounding and her legs burning by the time she flopped down belly first on to the top of the ridge. A steep cliff made the opposite side of the ridge and below that was a little city of people. Tents were popped up as was both people with tan skin and pale skin alike were setting up camp in the belly of an opened moon shadow. These were Chippeqouti! And not just light or dark Chippeqouti but both combined. Were these the people from the settlement? Nathan and Haza would be with them too.

Suddenly, Illya’s urgent need to leave was explained. He must have been needed to help them disembark. Why didn’t he tell her? Instead of at least mentioning that their friends were here and might need help, he’d given her a little kiss and gone on his merry way to drink all night. He could drink all he wanted, but it would have been good to know their friends were safe. Gritting her teeth, she smacked her little fist into the leaves. For the first time in a long time she felt the urge to smack her wild Chip right in the nose.

******

When Calysta stepped through the tent flap Illya was doing the dishes. It was later in the evening then she intended but it was probably a good thing the walk back had taken so long. She needed time to cool down before coming home. Rose had already been picked up by Thomas and the tent was clean as she’d asked. Illya gave her a harsher gaze, but she kept her demeanor calm. This was an approach Calysta had thought long and hard about on the walk back. She slid the bag from her shoulder and dropped it gently in the corner then smoothed down her glossy pony tail, before flicking her grey eyes up to meet his. ”Have a good day?”

 

[Silence]

When Illya finally woke up he groaned and rolled to his left side. There were a lot more bruises then he remembered getting. He faintly recalled falling from the ceiling in his pursuit of a red flag, but the rest of it not so much. Before he could sit up Rose jumped onto his lap with her bright eyes and little curls nearly dancing. "Ugh..." Moving her over Illya took the little note from her hands. "What's dis?" Wasn't any telling with kids what sort of thing would come out of a note. Opening it up he saw a list had been left for him. A deep frown came to his face, it wasn't that he didn't like lists, he didn't like the fact that she had left and just said she would be back later. How much later was later? The closest he could come to deciphering what time was the fact that she left instructions for dinner. So she would be back for dinner at least.

"Rose et looks like I have work ta do and yah need ta get some time outside. I go wit yah in a bit. First I show yah how ta wash eh?" He started to get out of the bed and noticed there was a very distinct smell of sweat and booze. Wasn't a particularly good smell and he wondered for a moment if she left for the smell or another reason. The first job was to get himself cleaned up and Rose was following him. "Nooo no...Yah go in tent and wait. I wash first den we wash sheets." Was he that confusing when he was coming off a hang over? Maybe. Illya didn't think he was that confusing. It was a logical process that he was taking to get washed first and then wash the dirty bedding. The little girl turned back toward the tent and hauled the cat in with her. Illya almost thought the look on Keysha's face was one of dread. The animal was a bit dramatic. Cin loved the girl just fine even though he was quickly outgrowing her and even beginning to get too big to be in the tent anymore.

It took 2 whole scrub downs with the oils to get rid of the nasty alcohol smell and Illya sniffed his armpit several times just to make sure before leaving the bathing room. Next he planned to show little Rose how to wash and he would just have her do the rinsing since it was the easy part. The man almost dropped his jaw when he saw her shoving Keysha into a little pink dress. "Dah dress es for yah not da cat." Pulling it off Keysha he noticed there were several smudges from the dress being drug across the stone floors and he threw it in the pile of bedding and then tossed his own nasty clothing in with it. "Now I wash and yah rinse." The first thing he had was her dress in the water and he helped her wash it by hand first and then he showed her how to rinse her little dress, wring it out and then hang it. Illya took care of his own clothes and then the two of them wrangled about with the bedding and she rinsed it awkwardly with a lot of help. At least this time the water smelled good. A rinse always had lavender oil in it and Illya liked the smell. There wasn't much else to do with the day since all he had to get was lunch and play with Rose.

During lunch Rose picked at her meal and played with the food between bites. Illya didn't mind that. Instead he started to look at little toys for girls. She would need something and this moon shadow was going to be her home for quite a while now. Showing the girl a little page full of girls and boys toys he let her look at it. "Yah pick what yah like and when yah dun helping meh today I order et and have it brought here tomorrow. Yah wages eh?"

Rose stared at the pad with big eyes and tried to decide what she wanted most. She was a very careful and meticulous child in that way. While she was busy looking it seemed that the food to mouth stream was more constant. The little girl would grab a sandwich bite and she would put it to her mouth and chew on it while she looked over the selection of toys. Finally after Illya had everything cleaned up, but her plate she selected something. "I want a tea set with real tea." Handing it over to Illya she watched as Wolf looked it over and nodded. "We work now?" By now she was just as anxious to help pay for her little tea set as Wolf was to get outside and start the work.

Once they were outside Illya had her gathering flowers and picking out several boards that had been cleaned out of the moon shadow. Some of them would need to be cleaned up, but Illya figured he could have that done in a decent amount of time. Illya sanded all the boards down and treated them and then left them out to cure in the sun. It would only take a few hours and then he could hing them all together to make a sort of box and tack a few posts at the top so that he could drape a deep green tent over top of the box. It would function as a bedroom of sorts and provide a little more privacy for her. Then he figured he could hang a little curtain in it and she would have all the privacy and a few more comforts that the tent didn't provide.

While Illya waited for the wood to cure he chased Rose around in the forest playing hide and go seek. She always ran when he found her and he gave a half hearted chase. Mostly it was because she was so short and easy to catch and then he was still a little sore from the party. When she was too tired to run and chase anymore Illya sat down in the grass with her and scrolled through the tea sets till they found a pink one to order. Then he got up and hauled all the material down to the moon shadow cavern and began to assemble it while Rose took a nap.

When it was time to start cooking the dinner Illya wandered with Rose to the top several times and he still didn't see any sign of Kalizda. It was almost dark and he was starting to get worried. Thomas arrived at the tent only a little bit after Illya and Rose had returned to eat and since there was still no Kalizda he served a plate for her and offered for Thomas to eat with them. It was strange that she arranged for her father to take Rose after dinner and she still wasn't here. With nothing else to do he decided to wash the dishes and hope that she came back alright.

**************************************************************

Sliding the last plate into the small drying rack Illya dipped his hands into the bucket to find the last of the silverware that he was washing. About that time Kalizda stepped in and she looked like she had been out exploring. Hadn't even said what time she would be back. Somehow he had thought that she would have returned for dinner. At least he saved a plate for her though it probably wasn't all that warm anymore. Shooting her another glance he shook his head when she asked about his day. "Et was fine, but yah didn't say nuting about when yah be back. I start wondering when daylight leave ef I should look for yah."

She did feel slightly bad about making him worry. In truth she hadn't intended to be out quite so late, but the trek back had taken longer than the walk out did. Even as long as the walk was, she still had a spot of anger flaring. "It wasn't my intent to worry you," she admitted, "I went exploring and you'd be surprised at what you can find hanging around these woods."

At least she recognized that he was concerned about her. It didn't take away the little bit of frustration that she had been exploring and without him. "I would ave gone wit yah. Instead I wake up wit note and a Rose trying ta put a dress on Keysha. Rose needs time outside too eh? We could have taken her wit us."

Calysta's jaw worked as he scolded her and her hands stopped swabbing over the same dish. Putting the plate down, her eyes flashed up to meet his. It was taking so much patience not to yell or look upset as she was about his inability to talk to her. "I would have helped repair that moon shadow all the settlers from Nuen just moved into. I'm guessing Nathan and Haza are here and safe, so that's a relief. Your parents too. I would have helped you. Gone with you. But you don't talk to me so, I go out to discover them on my own." Her voice was steady till the end and then waivered with a hint of anger.

Shooting her a sharp glance he pulled his hands out of the water and wiped them off on the front of his shirt. "Where we leave Rose eh? Ets not for everyone to know I have all dem here. Onleh people here know about Markus, Yvonne, yah father and Henaiah. Dese otter moon shadows are not supposed to be repaired and dah men in dem are not dere. Yah can't go dere anymore."

"Not for everyone to know? I didn't plan on telling the entire world, Illya," she snapped, her hands curling into fists, "You trust me with so little. And even though I understand why you don't tell me some things, it would have been nice to know our friends are safe. Instead, you dash off without me, even Rose, all of the time and leave me to find out on my own."

"None of dah other agreed Chippequoti women know. I do meh work and meh men do dere work." Growling in return he shoved his hands back into the water and furiously scrubbed at the few pieces of silverware left. Some of the water splashed out of the bucket during the near vicious attack of the dishes remaining. "I tell yah when time is right. Instead yah go out hunting trouble." Illya flopped the last few pieces of silverware in the rinsing bucket and then grabbed the wash rag and rinsed it out before draping it over the drying rack. "Why yah upset? Yah upset I dun tell yah what I can't or yah upset about someting else?"

"I didn't go out hunting it," Calsyta defended, "I went out because I needed to. Do you know this is the most you've spoken to me in three days? I dont have to know what you do to know that you're busy and tired. So, I leave alone about it. I tried to give you some time with Rose today, and planned on coming back to spend some with you too. Until I found the moonshadow with all of our friends sitting inside." She paused for a moment and drew a breath, staring at him with a hard gaze. "And no, I didn't go down into it. I wasn't seen."

It was strange hearing that he hadn't said much to her in 3 days. Illya was completely taken back by that and his gaze softened some when she mentioned why she left and her reasoning. Wasn't quite as dangerous in thought as he perceived. At least she had the good sense not to be seen. "Alright." Illya voice held a more gentle tone. "I tink maybe I should party different night. We should have yesterday together when I finish nap eh?" Perhaps that would have fixed what he thought she was complaining about though he couldn't quite tell what she wanted. Was it for him to talk to her or that she didn't like to discover that she didn't know everything even though she wasn't supposed to on purpose and she said she was ok with that, but it didn't seem she was.

Calysta sighed and rubbed at her temple a little. Her pony tail felt impossibly tight in her hair, and it was giving her a headache. Or maybe that was stemming from the man in front of her. He didn't understand but he was trying to fix whatever it was he'd done. "Illya, I didn't mind you going out to party. It was needed and you had fun. I'm not stopping that." Her eyes dropped down to her hands for a moment. "But sometimes its good to slow down and take some time with us. You are making me break my promise to always talk with you and I don't like it."

These were the sort of arguments that Illya hated. Somehow he felt stupid and he didn't quite know how she got to the conclusion that she did or how some promise she made was being broken? By what? Staring at her blankly for several seconds he blinked a few times and then reached up to scratch his stitched up ear. It still sounded like she didn't like the party, but she said it was fine. "I dun know what yah talking about now." A few days of busy work didn't mean that she broke her promise. They were talking right now even if he didn't know what the heck they were talking about.

Calysta shook her head, feeling dumb and almost more frustrated then when she came through the tent flap. She also felt a little hurt though it didnt make sense to be. There was a temptation growing to walk away and say forget it but her will to make things right flared. How did she put it plainly to him? " Illya, all I want is for you to somewhere, somehow, in your days, I know are busy, make room for a little time with Rose. With me." If he didn't get that she didn't know what else to tell him.

After all that she really was upset about the party. That was the only reasonable answer. Illya nodded slowly. "I'm sorreh. Yah right I should make time for yah and Rose first." She was his agreed and it was better that he make her the priority ahead of the other activities. Taking a deep breath he tilted his head slightly so he could look into her eyes. "I here all day tomorrow for yah and Rose." It might have helped if he told her he had a few days off and he was partying one night and then taking the next few with her. "Ehm....actually et might help yah ta know Markus is working some days now and I rest for a few days. 2 maybe 3 more."

Her entire point hadn't been made and she could easily say that he wouldnt have been able to tell her Markus was taking some days for him. Because even as his wife and the generals daughter in-law she wasn't meant to know. She could drive her point home about needing to inform her of things, but she took a deep breath and held back those thoughts. "Yes, it would have been good to know," she replied quietly as her grey eyes met his, "I'm glad they're here and their safe. It will take some pressure off."

Since it all seemed to be resolved Illya felt better. "I save yah food." Pointing to the plate he shrugged. "Ets not warm anymore, but I could make et warm and den yah have someting ta eat. Oh and uh..." Looking over at her he grinned. "I get a few otter t-things done too. Pulling the backside of the tent open he showed her a sort of box and opened the little curtain to reveal a bed inside. "I make yah bedroom."

Calysta's eyes traveled from Illya's grin to the little bedroom and back to him again. How was it that no matter how irritated she got or how frustrating things became, he could always do some thing like this? Make her heart ache with joy when he was sweet and smiling like that? He hadnt even known she was upet when he made this. He did it because he could and wanted to. Walking over to him, Calysta slipped a hand around to his back and rubbed with a gentle hand over his shirt as she chuckled. "This wasn't on the list. How did you manage all of this?"

Whenever he saw that little look on her face it made the work worth it. A coy grin came to his face and he raised an eyebrow. "Dere was nothing else ta do?" That answer he knew would get her and he fully intended for it to.

"Oh, I see," Calsyta replied. He was playing coy and it was fun to see him do it. The expression he was giving her was making turn a little pink, but she was up the challenge. "I'm glad I didnt make that list longer then...though I can think of several more things to do." Her hand slid around to his waist and plucked his shirt up to pull him forward into their room.

"Mmmhmmm." Illya pressed his lips together and tried very hard not to smile though it was creeping back up to the surface again. "I tink I'm up to da challenge." Whatever her excuse of pulling him back toward the little bedroom was Illya was sure wouldn't be too horrible. "Yah need meh to do more work?"

"Oh here and there are a few things that could use a little work." She took slow steps backwards guiding him along and keeping her eyes right on his until her legs bumped into the bed. A smile crept to her lips as she watched his grin fight its way to his face again. "I happened to know you're pretty good at the tasks I have in mind."

Illya chuckled a little and pulled the curtain closed behind them. "Was hoping yah thought I was da man for da job." Wrapping an arm around her shoulders he leaned forward and caught himself and Kalizda just shy of slamming into the bed. Carefully laying her down he leaned in and kissed her gently. "Mmmm where do I start?"

*************************************************

Early the next morning Illya woke up the same as usual. He decided to try and stay in bed with Kalizda. They'd had a good night and he thought he recalled her saying something about wanting him to stay in bed with her in the mornings a little more when he had chance. Since there was very little to do today he decided that it was a good morning to try that out. When she started to stir a little Illya turned onto his side and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I love yah." Kissing her gently on the back of the neck he pushed up on one elbow and leaned over so he could kiss her lips. "Good morning to meh Kalizda. Yah look like most beautiful woman I see." Running his hand from her waist up to her hair he played with the thick black mass of hair. "Yah too much for meh to resist." Smiling a little he kissed her again and then heard Rose knocking on the wood. "Hmmm... I get up first today eh?"

The general made it through breakfast and almost to mid morning before his first idea hit. "Oooh I be back." Jumping up from his place on the grass outside Illya ran all the way back into the cavern and found Markus. "We need translator for Henaiah and mehself on missions. I need translator for many missions." Often the Chippequoti had only fought battles with Federation and the trader's tongue was sufficient, but this was involving a whole new array of problems.

Slowly Markus nodded his head in agreement. The man looked at Illya after a long moment and shrugged. "Who es et yah wan for dah work?" There weren't many that could do it and he knew that Yvonne was getting older.

Yvonne stepped in when she heard it and shook her head. "Illya pick someone else. I am becoming too old for this and I would be a danger to your men especially if you already look after Henaiah. Choose someone younger." She knew that he immediately would think of her for the job and it was because of her experience. "If you choose someone I will be ready to train them in their part it will not take long if you choose a Chippequoti."

After a long moment Illya raised his head. "I will ask meh Kalizda." Both of his parents nodded in agreement and it was settled. She was approved for the position of translator and she knew quite a bit about ships and many different cultures as well. Swallowing he left the room and ran back up to the top. Sliding to his seat next to Kalizda he grabbed her hand. "Kalizda I need ta ask yah someting important. I need yah on meh team as translator and yah know much about machinery. Meh mother offer to train you in way of representing and we train wit yah and yah come wherever I go. Will yah do dis Kalizda?" He was a little worried that she wouldn't want any part of his team, but they needed her and there was none better for the job after he thought about it. His mother was right in her decision to step down and make way for one that would serve the Chippequoti better. "I had to choose from Chippequoti and yah the best choice."

 

[aryamajor]

Henryk shrank a little under the harsh glare of his wife as he sat across from her on the transport and dropped his gaze to the diamond plate floor. He could always tell when his woman was unhappy with him even when she didn’t say it. Of course, the drink over head had said everything that needed to be said and she had continued to remind them about how their night had left her worrying about them. Right now his head was throbbing too hard to pay much attention. Whatever drink they had given them was strong…and fantastic. He’d never tell his wife that though.

“And now you need a new pair of pants and boots…because you can’t find yours!”

Henryk winced at her shrill voice splitting through his already tender head and kept his gaze down on his bare toes. He was wearing a blanket around his hips and missing a sock on one foot too. There were quite a few bumps and bruises to go along with it all. He had one particularly sore one on his back and his feet were covered in dirt.

“Well, I hope you had your wild fun, because now we’ve got some work to do at the textile plant, I had to change out all of my morning meetings...and none of you have anything to say for yourselves?” He could feel her eyes scorch over all of them, waiting to see if anyone had anything to say, but there wasn’t a peep. “Oooh!” Sarai hopped up from her seat and stomped away from them toward the cockpit.

Finally it was safe to look up, and he dared to take a glance at the others. Deric was to his left with an icepack held squarely to the middle of his forehead, Nicholas’ hair was sticking straight up like a candle flame and Syrus was stained from head to toe in black dirt and had booze matted in his curly black hair.

They all sat in silence for a moment, until Henryk leaned forward, grimacing a little from the ache in his back. “Worth it?”

Syrus took a sip of his water bottle before his eyes traveled to the large man at the end of the row. “Aye.”

Deric started to chuckle quietly and Nicholas snorted before Henryk started to let loose his own hearty laugh. Of course it was worth it and given the chance, they’d be back again. Those Chippeqouti could throw one hell of a party.

**********

Calysta woke a warm, rough hand wrapping around her waist and three simple words that she would never get tired of hearing. Shifting closer to him, she smiled as he kissed her neck and then leaned over, to kiss her lips slowly. It had been a good night and something they needed after the stress of moving, and wars, and diplomats…and everything else in between. Even afterward when they just lounged with each other, and chuckled in the dark with the little glow-star lights poking through the ceiling. While he ran his hand through her hair, she turned and gazed up at him. His eyes were bright and his dark curls were tickling around his ears as he gazed back. Reaching up, she brushed them back and cupped his cheek in her palm. “Then don’t resist,” she chuckled, before kissing him again. No matter how irritated he made her or how many things they had to learn, they would work through it. Halfway through a second kiss a little knock sounded at the door. Her father had brought Rose home and it was time to get up and go.

It didn’t take long to make some breakfast. Sarai had sent some flaky pastries with her husbands to deliver the night of their party and some soft cream butter in a container. Normally, Calysta would insist on giving something in return, but Sarai was of a different sort. She gave because she loved to and that was just the way she was. “Lets get out of the tent for awhile and eat outside,” Calysta suggested. Rose jumped at the chance and Illya seemed just as happy about the suggestion. Her father was there and she asked him if he wanted to join, but he declined. “No, I can’t this morning, I already said I would eat with Henaiah. She’ll be expecting me. You three go on and have fun.” Calysta didn’t argue with him. As mixed as her feeling were regarding her father’s relationship with Henaiah, it wasn’t her place to say anything and the woman made him happy. “Alright dad, we’ll see you a little later then.”

Calysta packed up some of the pastries and sliced up a plate of the omne fruit she’d brought from the forest. It was a cooler day, with the winter season on Uria slowly approaching, but the sun that managed to punch through the canopy was golden and warm. Keysha trotted ahead of them, seeking out a nice sunny spot to go lounge and Cin stuck close to Rose. His lumbering steps bumped the little girl along as she kept her one hand clutched in his fur and she told them all about the forest. It seemed after spending the night with Papa Thomas and learning all about Robin Hood she had become enamored with Maid Marian’s story and insisted on telling them repeatedly on the way out of the moon shadow. “Papa Thomas said she wore a pointed hat and braided her hair in a circle. Will you braid my hair in a circle?”

Calysta had no idea what ‘braiding in a circle’ was and could barely braid her own hair. When she did attempt it, the plait came out lopsided and loose looking every time. It was something she needed to learn for Rose though. “Aye, I’ll try but only after you eat some breakfast, yeah?”

That answer seemed satisfactory enough and Calysta slipped her hand into Illya’s, glancing up to him with a smile. She helped him lay out the blanket, taking two corners awhile he took the opposite side. They fluffed it out a few times and then settled it into the grass right in the sun. Rose hopped onto the spot knees first an Calysta put the basket down beside her. “Help me with the food?”

The girl looked up at Calysta with wide eyes. “Do I get wages?”

Calysta raised a brow at Rose and she looked from the girl and then to Illya. She’d never said anything like that and her father certainly wouldn’t have. Apparently she had been talking with Illya. Chuckling, Calysta nodded. “Aye, you’ll get something.”

With Roses help, they set out the food and Calysta helped butter one of the flaky rolls for the girl while Illya made hers. They ate and then they played. Rose went dashing through the woods with Cin, calling for Robin Hood. Calysta knew the story well so she got up and ran with her, zipping in and out of the trees. “The sheriff has come for the maid!” She cried as she caught up Rose in her arms. The girl squealed and tried to wiggle out of her arms. "No! No!" She bucked and managed to escape, but only after Calysta nibbled her neck with kisses causing a fit of giggles.

Leaving Rose to look for the merry band of men, Calysta plopped back down next to Illya and leaned against him, taking in the sun. This was a good day after so many stressful ones and things felt somewhat normal for the first time since leaving Nuen behind. It wasn’t but a few moments when Illya suddenly jumped up, nearly dropping her head to the ground. He couldn't sit still at all during the day. Announcing he had an idea, her Chip went running off without giving her a chance to reply. Where was he going? His ideas could mean genius, trouble or a potent mix of the two and she had no idea what he was scheming.

When Illya came running back, Calysta was looking over hair braiding tutorials. She could only guess that ‘braiding in a circle’ meant creating a halo of sorts with the braid around Roses’ head. How is it she could put together a jump-drive with scraps but fumbled with the simple things like braiding hair? “Where’d you go?” she asked, Illya as he sat down next to her looking excited, “Is something going on?”He took her hand up in his and she sat up a little more. Was something wrong?

"Kalizda I need ta ask yah someting important. I need yah on meh team as translator and yah know much about machinery. Meh mother offer to train you in way of representing and we train wit yah and yah come wherever I go. Will yah do dis Kalizda?"

Calysta looked over his face, trying to comprehend what he was asking at first. This was his idea? He wanted her to come with him as a translator, to be a team and let her help. It meant that she wouldn’t be left to wonder what would happen when he stepped out of the door and that she could do everything possible to keep him safe. She would be using some her skills again as well as traveling.

Her eyes traveled to Rose for a moment. The little girl had her heart too, and it would mean leaving her behind sometimes. That would be hard to do, but what kind of world would she have if Calysta couldn’t help keep some sort of peace? To help protect her the way she knew how? She seemed to love Thomas as her own grandfather, which was comforting if they had to leave for a time and return for missions. He would take care of her as would Yvonne and Markus no doubt. They loved Rose as their own too.

It was a long moment before her grey eyes met Illya’s again and she squeezed his hand. His ideas always kept her on her toes and this one was no different. It was a good one. “Aye,” she smiled, “I would love to do it.”

*************
Calysta took the walk from their moon shadow through the woods enjoying how cool the morning air was on her cheeks. She was excited to be meeting up with Yvonne for her first training session, though she was also a little nervous. Yvonne was graceful, well trained and always poised. They were big shoes to step into and in some ways the idea of it was as intimidating as it was exciting. Still she could do some good work here and serve all of her people this way whether they were Chippeqouti, Kaerelean or Terran. She made her way into the small field office behind Illya and found Yvonne waiting for her. Even if she hadn't been offered the job, it was good to see the woman was safe. "Good morning," she smiled, speaking in Qouti, "I'm glad you and everyone made it here safely. Thank you for bringing my father where it was safe too."

It was almost humorous to Yvonne to find that Kalizda was not asking right away about training and she instead went off on a little tangent. Nodding a little the woman gave a simple reply. "Kalizda, you are Chippequoti. A relative of yours is a relative of ours and we must protect them. He is also important to the Chippequoti for his work and we could not leave him when we would be the reason for his danger." Motioning to the seat across from her at the table she sat down and waited for Kalizda to do the same. "When speaking with other Chippequoti there is no need for formalities. We value pointed conversation. You have come to train and I need not teach you the ways of formalities with others. Kalizda, I am training you to take my place. When these wars are over you will also converse with the Elders. Do you understand the power of your position?"

Calysta sat down across from Yvonne tucked her hair behind her ear before folding her hands into her lap. Her hands suddenly seemed awkward and in the way, so she kept them tucked close to her belt, hoping she didn't look strange. Hearing that she would be taking Yvonne's place to serve the Elders after the war was a surprise and her eyes widened some at the prospect of translating for the Elders. "I didn't know I would be doing that as well, but, I think I do understand. Its a power I would not abuse. I would be honorable to the position.

This time Yvonne didn't stop her own smile from coming to her face. "You have a lot to learn. As a translator with your abilities you will advice both the Elders and Generals in times of peace and war. I must first train you in etiquette of translation." Taking a moment she tried to think of something that a general would say. "Suppose we are on Terran soil and the general is sent to collect payment. They say that they have not the agreed method of payment and your general demands labor in return. How do you address this as a translator?"

The example she posed was an interesting one and also one she had come across before in a more personal matter. Her eyes fell across the table as she thought about what she would do in a translator's role and what she had seen Yvonne do several times in the past in meetings. "As a translator it would be my job to translate the exact words of the General , though I know that a Terran would take offense to the idea of owing labor and a demand," she reasoned, "I would have to stay true to the meaning of what is being said, but perhaps choose a different tone while staying direct."

"No..." Yvonne took a deep breath. "You know that what the general demands will be seen with disfavor and create a bad light of the Chippequoti. It is your job to inform the general of the dangers that his demands will create. If he asks for direction then you may ask what he wants. If he says that he wants goods then ask if you may ask for benefit of reduced prices on trade. Otherwise if the general insists then you must stay true to his meaning and explain the custom." Yvonne met Kalizda's gaze and then nodded. "You must understand that you have power to inform the general of possible consequences. It will be the same with the Elders dealing with outsiders."

She hadn't understood that before the question was posed, but she did now. This was more than just translation in a diplomatic setting, it was also an advisory position much greater in scope than she first thought. Shifting in her chair a little, she nodded to Yvonne. "I didn't know that you did all of that," she admitted, then gave a little smile, "Most of the times Ive seen you work, I didn't know Qouti. "And if the Terran rebuts with a counter offer, beyond the final demand, I assume I would continue translating until asked to stop?"

Briefly she lowered her eyes. "Yes, it is something that I have also failed. We have for so long been introverted and because of this I did not know many things and advised only based on my knowledge of the Chippequoti. You have greater chances to see our people grow healthy again." Carefully she started. "Now, when the general agrees to the offer you suggest how do you present the offer?" Yvonne knew that Kalizda had witnessed before the meetings with the Elders and whether she understood the language well of not she had seen how it was done. There was a time spent to explain custom, but how the Chippequoti understood and respected their culture and so have revised their demands. It was important to share that they were willing to make effort and therefore create a sense of cooperation.

Calysta tried to think of how Yvonne had done it, but it was a little harder looking back at the conversations that had occurred in part traders-tongue and part Qouti. "I would probably tell them the new deal is not what Chippeqouti traditionally take." She knew well enough they traded in good and labor among themselves and never in credits, saving those for outsiders. "But that we are a trying to show a willingness to work with them and their ways as well." That was what she would say, but she had no idea if it was correct. It was almost felt strange saying 'our ways' but she would have to gt used to saying it.

Finally it seemed that Kalizda was starting to understand the way of a diplomat. "Yes, very good. I knew that you would only need some refining." After several more questions and a few hours of the continuing training she made lunch while questioning Kalizda and then sat down at the table. "Now you eat and you may ask me questions as you please. You have done very well and you are a good student." Sliding a plate in front of Kalizda she took a bite from her own and waited to see if the woman had any questions.

Calysta nibbled at her food feeling a spot of pride and also relief to hear Yvonne sat she was doing well and only needed refining. Maybe she wouldn't be see odd for the role after all and could do the work well. It wasn't quite zipping around in a ship plotting systems on maps and surveying land, but it was in some ways more than what she had started out doing. It was a position she wanted to excel at and work to everyone's benefit. "Thank you," she replied with a smile, 'Questions? Hm.." She thought carefully for a moment and took a bite of her sandwich before asking what she wanted to know. "What happens when negotiations or a diplomatic mission fails? I would try my best to keep it from happening, but not every mission will be successful. I know that ."

Of course the woman was intelligent and she wanted to ask questions that would be difficult to answer. "The answer is simple, but it is not easy. You will continue your work as best you can and always remember that you serve the Chippequoti first. Kalizda you are going to be in a situation similar to myself. When I was younger and Markus led the elite forces I was also part of his team. It provides a certain level of trust to serve a general that trusts you with his heart as well. This trust is not just in his head. You must remember not to become angry if you feel that he could have done better and if he becomes angry with you, it will be your job to remind him of the trust that you have in him as a guardian and as your agreed."

Calysta listened well to Yvonne's answer and put down her sandwich to look at the woman in her bright eyes.. Serving the Chippeqouti first was something she expected but she hadn't known that Yvonne traveled with Markus on his missions too. Yvonne understood what it was like, and she would be relying on that experience to learn as much as she could. Given the recent argument with Illya she was starting to see how hard it could be to balance the two sometimes. "I do trust him," she nodded, then she reached out to Yvonne's hand tentatively. "I also trust you. As my teacher. and as a mother." It was hard for her to say that she trusts her like a mother, but Yvonne was the closet thing she had to a mother and she felt so lucky that the woman was family.

It was in some ways a relief to know that Kalizda hadn't rejected her as a mother. Yvonne was never terribly wonderful at showing affection. "I do my best to show that I care." Taking a deep breath she thought for a moment. "Sometimes I had to do difficult things and my family suffered at times as well. Asha raised Illya in part because of my travel. You must know that I will care for your children as if they were my own and I will honor your wishes and send them to Haza's school to learn."

She knew that they might be going into dangerous areas and that she and Illya both could be gone for long periods of time or not come back at all. It was a risk Illya was willing to take and one she would take on without a second thought. She would be helping in the best way she could and with that came certain risks. it was good to know Rose and anything other grand children would n't be left alone if something did happen to her. "Thank you Yvonne. If something happens to me, I would be glad they have you. Though I will do everything I can to keep Illya safe and myself too. Though I know I have alot to learn."

They trained through the afternoon. Most of it was learning protocol, since translating was a common sense job. At the end of the day, Yvonne informed her Illya would be training her too. For a moment, Calysta didn't understand and looked to the woman in confusion. Illya had many talents but diplomacy was not his strength, though he'd gotten much better in the time she'd known him. Yvonne patiently explained that she would need to learn how to work with the Chippeqouti unit she was with to ensure their safety among other things. When she explained that this would be more like Skycorp training, Calysta nodded. "Aye, that makes sense. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then."

As she walked back through the woods to the moon shadow, her thoughts wandered to Yvonne. The first time she'd met the woman, she'd seen her as more of a diplomat and a scholar. Now, she realized there was so much more to her than what she let people see. She felt like for Illya's mother this was not just a position but something personal as well. A chance to help her people again in a different way. As she stepped through the leaves, Calysta vowed not to let her down.

************

Ayrn sidled up to the much taller Nathan, adjusting the medical pad on his arm. The rough landing yesterday had thrown him against the bulkhead though he'd kept a tight grip on the pipe above. There had been so many people jammed on to the ship there hadn't been enough seats with straps to go around. He'd had a seat, but there was one of those pretty, fair-haired Chippeqouti that didn't have a seat. Sure she was about 2 inches taller than he was, much sturdier and could probably handle herself, but as the began their decent he could tell she was a little afraid. As wayward as Ayrn could be, he didn't like it when girls were scared. He debated for a moment then rolled his eye. It was one hell of a time for a chivalry and he didn't want to die, but if they came in hot enough they were all toast anyways. As the ship gave a violent shudder, some of the people on board yelped. The blonde woman closed her eyes and gripped the pipe above her, turning her knuckles white. "Damnit!" Ayrn and unstrapped himself before grabbing her hand without much finesse and pulling her around into seat trading places with her. "Strap in, hold on, and if we live, knowing your name would make me happy we did."

As it was, they had landed and in the chaos of steam and people trying to escape the ship, he'd lost track of the pretty blonde. It had been a day or so, and after giving the camp a good look without much luck he knew he'd have to report to Illya. It would have been nice to know that Illya and Calysta weren't on Nuen and saved him the trouble of such a long transport ride and a harrowing near-death experience through space.


With a sigh, he blinked up to Nathan. This General had been a bit more easy going at least and once he'd managed to get the guy to take his sword far away from his neck, they'd gotten along better."I'm supposed to be reporting to Illya," he said to Nathan, "But he didn't exactly give me directions on how to find him in all this- he wavied his hand toward the trees- "Mind pointing me in the right direction? Oh and..there's this girl. Tall, blonde nice blue eyes..." He trailed off, realizing he'd just described half the camp. "Never mind. Anyways, directions would be good."

*******
William Yarbrough sat at his desk looking over the list of ventures Kent had sent him. There were several items he was interested in investing in and he would sending a memo out in the morning expressing what caught his eye. The address to the public had gone as expected. Paying the news stations a hefty some to air his little clips had been worth every penny and now the president along with most of Terra were beginning to question the Alliance to the point where a decision would have to be made. Councilwoman Henaiah's sudden absence had made it all too easy to split the council right to its keel and now the reports were starting to flow in. The President now had the Cirelleant conflict along with this development and William wondered what the man would do. Either way the mines would do well from the steel production along with his ports and other holdings. War was always good for business, but other opportunities were presenting themselves. Positions of power along with wealth that were appealing.

His secretary bustled in and handed him yet another report. " Thank you Cecilia." She gave him a wordless nod before scurrying out. It appeared that Reyalia and Ori'l have declared to remain faithful to the Alliance and have sent several diplomats to Terra along to other continents of Kaereal in order to ensure order. Uria, Yuria, Ewen and Aerikta had yet to declare one way or the other. He had the pockets of the Ewen and Aeriktan diplomats, so he had no doubt what the would choose but Uria remained a toss up. He needed to solidify a little spot there as well. Councilwoman Sarai Pentyl was a bubbly little woman and while she had rejected his offers in the past, he wondered if that would be the case now that her lovely leader Henaiah had abandoned ship in such an unexpected move. He'd thought the woman had been more stubborn and too honorable to leave her post when her people needed it. A visit by one of his men to the woman's territory would be helpful. He could persuade in less pleasant ways besides bribing if it came down to it.