Silence
Anonymous Me
“Illya,” the voice called from outside the door in Quoti loudly. “Kalizda yah in dere?” The man outside started to open the flap to the door. Illya started to usher Kalizda off though she was already well on her way scampering back to the room. “Yeah I’m ere.” Answering the man on the other side Illya blocked the way that led to the room. It was Edgar and Illya could only assume that he came with a report of how things turned out with the party. “Eh sit oveh here.” The two of them spoke in Quoti quietly while Illya tried to get some tea ready. He felt a little bit nervous especially since the military display had felt entirely risky. Not all of the delegates seemed to be at ease with the show.
The elder carefully took a seat and he nodded in thanks when he was offered the cup of tea. “Yah have fine house.”
As badly as Illya wanted to have the conversation done with and just know what had been the final determination he was determined to be patient and just wait. There was no rushing an elder and at times they liked to test their fellow Chippequoti. “I plan carefully for meh Kalizda.”
“Yah do vereh well wit da wedding.” Edgar added with a short nod. He sipped at the tea and smiled. “I tink yah make good impression. Chippequoti vereh proud.” No matter the impression that everyone else got it seemed to be positive enough to be the overwhelming vote. All the work paid off and the pressure on Illya had produced the same results as usual. The general always seemed to pull through no matter how much pressure they put on him. It was something that they had come to value. If there was a job to be done they could give the load to their younger general and he would pull through. “Illya da Chippequoti stand behind yah always.” Drinking the last of the tea he stood up and started for the door again.
Once Edgar left the general sighed and lowered his head. He was releieved that it had all gone through. At times it seemed that they put more on him then what was necessary. There had always been pressure to perform more and he was the scapegoat on a few things. Still he had created some of his own problems and he knew that.
Kalizda came out only a few moments after Edgar had left and the general nodded to her. “Aye, we go out exploring.” He gave her a little grin. “Yah keeping yah word eh.” Illya carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We go soon.” All he needed to do was finish frying the snake and then he could strip it up and throw some in a bag for their little flight. “We have food out dere instead of coming home for lunch.” More than likely she didn’t have the energy to stay out all night, but Illya was going to propose that they go out for a few nights shortlly after this. Perhaps they could make a journy on foot rather than taking a flyer. “Maybe I ask elders if we can make a longer exploration some day soon.”
******************************************************
Marching through the doorway the man stopped short of the desk of set a stack of papers on it. “Sir we made a thorough examination of Quoti. They’re all gone now and Ehaui too.”
Taking up the stack of papers the man sighed. “You took surviellance photographs too I see.” Flipping through the pages he saw that many of the little stone huts looked the same, but the miniature herb gardens were gone or shriveled up and dead. “They moved here.” Following the map he pointed to Nuen. “I’ve heard a little about the planet. We don’t have to use their only port if we choose to make our own across the planet from them. Place life sustaining ships midway through the desert and then cover them in sand. They’ve gotten used to seeing attacks from the sky, but we can take them from below.”
“Excuse me sir? The sand is unstable.” Blinking a few times the attendent stared at the boss sitting behind the desk.
“Exactly and that is why they don’t expect it. We drive the life sustaining ships near dunes and let them get buried. Deploy our ships from those ports.” Shuffling through a few other papers he pulled up one. “And it seems that we still have some of the same enemies. I see the older general, the younger one, and a few of the elders.” Beckoning the man to come closer he pointed to the pictures that he had printed out and then opened a computer file to show the other pictures. “They’re all the same, just older. We know who we’re dealing with, but they don’t know any of us now.”
Pushing away from his desk the tall brown haired man yawned. “I need to get a little rest before we look at this more in depth. Tomorrow I’ll review the files and my informant will have a little more information. Seems that our oversized problem just grew.’” He was going to be spending quite a bit of time working around the alliance that had recently formed. However, he knew that there was a chance they would burn through the new alliance. The Chippequoti had a history of assuming that the whole world revolved around their traditions and they were a little on the prickly side to deal with. If he made a few simple attacks they would try to keep it all in house and he could be sure that his workers were injured, but not killed. Kaereleans were not tolerant of killing and that ensured that his men would live to propogate the rumor of violence. He was going to issue a warrant searching for his missing employees that went for a vacation to the newly inhabited planet and then they would be found brutally murdered or injured.
Stepping into a private elevator he typed in a code and the elevator zipped down and then shot to the side. The separate suite attached to the code opened and he walked through the door. “Honey, I’m home.” Smiling gently the woman walked over to wrap her arms around his neck. “Hey…” Kissing him on the cheek she wrapped her fingers around his. “Come see what I got for your dinner.”
***********************************
Like usual Illya had trouble getting out of the flyer. His knees were pressed tight against the back of her seat. “I’m fine.” Grimacing a little he forced himself up and then watched the ridiculous little helmet tumble down to the ground. The first few steps were a little uneven as he tried to work the blood back into his legs. "Ugh...Maybe I learn to fly and yah ride in the back next time."
Kalizda seemed to be somewhat excited at the prospect of exploring the cave and he grinned. "Ah, yah we go." Wandering back to the little flyer he dug underneath the back seat and pulled out a small rope. "We need a way out eh?" There was nothing worse than getting lost and going underground could disorient anyone. As they entered the cave Illya tied the rope off to a stone and then held onto one end. "We stop exploring when dis runs out." Illya placed his hand on one of the formations. It felt slimy because of the minerals and water running over them. A constant drip sounded as the water would fall to the floor of the cave. Instinctively Illya shivered against the cool damp atmosphere of the cave.
The wind outside the cave roared though it seemed to get closer at times. Occasionally Illya tugged on the cord to be sure that they were still attached. "We're about uh..." Tugging again Illya frowned. "Kalizda someting is wr..." Before he could finish the sentence a large scorpion type creature came clacking behind him. The stinger thrust past his shoulder as he ducked and the Chip pulled Kalizda down with him. Rolling on the ground he jumped back up and pushed Kalizda away from himself. "Follow da rope and get far enough away ta shoot et." If she could get far enough away she could get a decent shot. Illya reached for his dagger and shook his head as he withdrew the tiny little knife from Tikan. Of course it was smaller than his own dagger had been. This was barely more than a table knife. "I hope yah right about dis being worth et."
Dodging the second strike from the scorpion Illya jumped over a stalagmite. One idea popped into his head and he didn't have time to second guess himself. Reaching up Illya took hold of a smaller stalactite and tore it off the ceiling of the cave. Backing up he nearly tripped on the formations behind himself, but it looked like he had enough room to make a move. Holding onto the wider end of the stalactite Illya threw the pointed edge toward the eye of the scorpion. In the event that the makeshift javelin didn't work Illya was already grabbing for another. "Kalizda yah have clear shot?"
The elder carefully took a seat and he nodded in thanks when he was offered the cup of tea. “Yah have fine house.”
As badly as Illya wanted to have the conversation done with and just know what had been the final determination he was determined to be patient and just wait. There was no rushing an elder and at times they liked to test their fellow Chippequoti. “I plan carefully for meh Kalizda.”
“Yah do vereh well wit da wedding.” Edgar added with a short nod. He sipped at the tea and smiled. “I tink yah make good impression. Chippequoti vereh proud.” No matter the impression that everyone else got it seemed to be positive enough to be the overwhelming vote. All the work paid off and the pressure on Illya had produced the same results as usual. The general always seemed to pull through no matter how much pressure they put on him. It was something that they had come to value. If there was a job to be done they could give the load to their younger general and he would pull through. “Illya da Chippequoti stand behind yah always.” Drinking the last of the tea he stood up and started for the door again.
Once Edgar left the general sighed and lowered his head. He was releieved that it had all gone through. At times it seemed that they put more on him then what was necessary. There had always been pressure to perform more and he was the scapegoat on a few things. Still he had created some of his own problems and he knew that.
Kalizda came out only a few moments after Edgar had left and the general nodded to her. “Aye, we go out exploring.” He gave her a little grin. “Yah keeping yah word eh.” Illya carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We go soon.” All he needed to do was finish frying the snake and then he could strip it up and throw some in a bag for their little flight. “We have food out dere instead of coming home for lunch.” More than likely she didn’t have the energy to stay out all night, but Illya was going to propose that they go out for a few nights shortlly after this. Perhaps they could make a journy on foot rather than taking a flyer. “Maybe I ask elders if we can make a longer exploration some day soon.”
******************************************************
Marching through the doorway the man stopped short of the desk of set a stack of papers on it. “Sir we made a thorough examination of Quoti. They’re all gone now and Ehaui too.”
Taking up the stack of papers the man sighed. “You took surviellance photographs too I see.” Flipping through the pages he saw that many of the little stone huts looked the same, but the miniature herb gardens were gone or shriveled up and dead. “They moved here.” Following the map he pointed to Nuen. “I’ve heard a little about the planet. We don’t have to use their only port if we choose to make our own across the planet from them. Place life sustaining ships midway through the desert and then cover them in sand. They’ve gotten used to seeing attacks from the sky, but we can take them from below.”
“Excuse me sir? The sand is unstable.” Blinking a few times the attendent stared at the boss sitting behind the desk.
“Exactly and that is why they don’t expect it. We drive the life sustaining ships near dunes and let them get buried. Deploy our ships from those ports.” Shuffling through a few other papers he pulled up one. “And it seems that we still have some of the same enemies. I see the older general, the younger one, and a few of the elders.” Beckoning the man to come closer he pointed to the pictures that he had printed out and then opened a computer file to show the other pictures. “They’re all the same, just older. We know who we’re dealing with, but they don’t know any of us now.”
Pushing away from his desk the tall brown haired man yawned. “I need to get a little rest before we look at this more in depth. Tomorrow I’ll review the files and my informant will have a little more information. Seems that our oversized problem just grew.’” He was going to be spending quite a bit of time working around the alliance that had recently formed. However, he knew that there was a chance they would burn through the new alliance. The Chippequoti had a history of assuming that the whole world revolved around their traditions and they were a little on the prickly side to deal with. If he made a few simple attacks they would try to keep it all in house and he could be sure that his workers were injured, but not killed. Kaereleans were not tolerant of killing and that ensured that his men would live to propogate the rumor of violence. He was going to issue a warrant searching for his missing employees that went for a vacation to the newly inhabited planet and then they would be found brutally murdered or injured.
Stepping into a private elevator he typed in a code and the elevator zipped down and then shot to the side. The separate suite attached to the code opened and he walked through the door. “Honey, I’m home.” Smiling gently the woman walked over to wrap her arms around his neck. “Hey…” Kissing him on the cheek she wrapped her fingers around his. “Come see what I got for your dinner.”
***********************************
Like usual Illya had trouble getting out of the flyer. His knees were pressed tight against the back of her seat. “I’m fine.” Grimacing a little he forced himself up and then watched the ridiculous little helmet tumble down to the ground. The first few steps were a little uneven as he tried to work the blood back into his legs. "Ugh...Maybe I learn to fly and yah ride in the back next time."
Kalizda seemed to be somewhat excited at the prospect of exploring the cave and he grinned. "Ah, yah we go." Wandering back to the little flyer he dug underneath the back seat and pulled out a small rope. "We need a way out eh?" There was nothing worse than getting lost and going underground could disorient anyone. As they entered the cave Illya tied the rope off to a stone and then held onto one end. "We stop exploring when dis runs out." Illya placed his hand on one of the formations. It felt slimy because of the minerals and water running over them. A constant drip sounded as the water would fall to the floor of the cave. Instinctively Illya shivered against the cool damp atmosphere of the cave.
The wind outside the cave roared though it seemed to get closer at times. Occasionally Illya tugged on the cord to be sure that they were still attached. "We're about uh..." Tugging again Illya frowned. "Kalizda someting is wr..." Before he could finish the sentence a large scorpion type creature came clacking behind him. The stinger thrust past his shoulder as he ducked and the Chip pulled Kalizda down with him. Rolling on the ground he jumped back up and pushed Kalizda away from himself. "Follow da rope and get far enough away ta shoot et." If she could get far enough away she could get a decent shot. Illya reached for his dagger and shook his head as he withdrew the tiny little knife from Tikan. Of course it was smaller than his own dagger had been. This was barely more than a table knife. "I hope yah right about dis being worth et."
Dodging the second strike from the scorpion Illya jumped over a stalagmite. One idea popped into his head and he didn't have time to second guess himself. Reaching up Illya took hold of a smaller stalactite and tore it off the ceiling of the cave. Backing up he nearly tripped on the formations behind himself, but it looked like he had enough room to make a move. Holding onto the wider end of the stalactite Illya threw the pointed edge toward the eye of the scorpion. In the event that the makeshift javelin didn't work Illya was already grabbing for another. "Kalizda yah have clear shot?"