by D L Frizzell
"Go ahead," Seneca nodded.
"The town leaders are sending a rider to Celestial City with a request for an unscheduled caravan. I had a few ideas about items to add to the shopping list."
Seneca took the paper and scanned it. "Looks good, captain." He handed the list back to her. "Put yourself down as the logistical authority, and I'll sign the order before I leave."
She put it on the clipboard, snapped to attention, and gave a crisp salute. "Yes, sir." Seneca responded with an equally perfect salute. She turned around and marched out, her expression a mask of self-control despite her face being flushed red.
"She's a good leader," Seneca said to Alex after she was gone. "She'll have my job someday." He began cutting a bite-sized piece of steak with his knife.
"How do you know you can trust her?" Alex asked.
Seneca stopped cutting. "What do you mean?"
"About people in general," Alex clarified. "How do you know if they're good or bad?"
"Ah," Seneca realized why Alex was asking. "This is why you're here."
"You just said Captain Hathan-Fen would have your job eventually," Alex continued. "How can you predict what someone will do?"
Seneca considered his answer. "Past experience, mostly," he said. "I've known the captain long enough to know how she thinks. She has exceeded my expectations in every task I've given her. Because of that, I have confidence in her, and trust her to handle things that would normally be above her experience level. In other words, she has established a good pattern of behavior."
"That makes sense," Alex acknowledged. "But what about people you don't know anything about? How do you judge them?"
"Unless you can read minds," Seneca chuckled, "it's pretty hard to do."
"I can't read minds," Alex said.
"No," Seneca replied with a sigh, and went back to cutting his steak, "neither can I. All you can do is work with what you've got, Alex. I don't necessarily judge people. What I do is choose how much trust I’m willing to give them. When you don't have past experience to gauge someone against, the best you can do is figure out what motivates them."
"I haven’t had much practice doing that," Alex admitted.
"I know," Seneca replied. "Listen, this isn't really the time to go into depth on the intricacies of human behavior. What I will say is this - if you want to understand people, you've got to connect with them. You had some harsh experiences growing up, Alex, and you tend to be distant because of that. I appreciate what you've gone through, but interacting with others is the only way you'll ever understand them."
"Okay." Alex stood to leave. "Thanks." As he walked out, a thought occurred to him. "Colonel, when you gave the order to let me run the wall at Celestial City, were you forcing me to interact with others?"
Seneca skewered a bite of steak with his fork and placed it in his mouth. As he chewed, he smiled. "We all have to start somewhere, don't we?"
Alex left, not quite satisfied. His concerns had only been partly addressed. Admittedly, he didn't ask the one question that was forefront in his mind - What aren't you telling me, colonel?
Chapter Forty-One
Once the wagon was loaded, Seneca found Alex and Niko at the ranger station prepping their gear. "Can we take a look at your regional map, Niko? I’m concerned this Jovian might try other things to throw us off his trail."
"Sure." Niko pulled a map from his cabinet and unrolled it on the table. "I don't know how helpful it will be, the problem being that the Crumbles are always changing,” Niko said.
“Anything you've got could be helpful," Seneca replied.
“I haven't been up the boulders personally,” Niko pointed out, “but I get caravans and hunters that tell stories. Sometimes Marshal Redland does some patrols out there, too. He tells me a little.”
“Weren't we just talking about how dangerous the Crumbles are?” Alex asked. “It sounds like people cross them a lot more than they should.”
“It's risky for sure, but people have their reasons for going," Niko acknowledged. “Now the Jugs, they make their young men go on their first solo hunting trip on the Crumbles as an initiation rite. They believe demons live under the boulders, so it's a test of bravery. Most of the other people cross the boulders for less-than-noble reasons. I imagine we even send our own share of spies through the Narrow."
"None that I know of," Seneca replied. "Historically, sending our people up there has been a losing proposition." He glanced at Alex, who was looking at the map.
Niko found a pencil and began pointing out landmarks on the map. “The Crumbles aren't just a pile of giant marbles piled against the ridge," Niko explained. "There are land formations and irregularities in the underlying plateaus along the way. The boulders tend to shift a lot, so many of the land formations we know about could be covered by boulders. Others we don't know might have been revealed." He marked out an area on the southern part of the Crumbles. “There’s some underground volcanic activity here. It fuels geysers under the boulders, so there’s a constant fog cover there. That might be one way they could go.”
“Low visibility would give them concealment, but it would slow them down,” Seneca said. "They're looking for the fastest way home."
“I've also heard of something called the Sentinel Bridge,” Niko said as he sketched a rectangle on the center of the Crumbles. "We don't know where it is, though."
“Sentinel Bridge?” Alex asked.
“One theory says it was part of the Plutonic Ridge once,” Niko explained. “It broke off and landed on the boulders below, making some kind of road that could be traveled without danger of starting a boulderlanche. That’s the rumor, anyway."
"Are you saying it cleared all the boulders away from the Narrow?" Seneca asked.
"I’m saying I don't know," Niko replied.
"Any idea if this bridge is close to the Narrow?"
"I don't know," Niko said again.
"Does anybody know?" Seneca asked, getting flustered.
"Well..." Niko hesitated. "Maybe."
"Who?"
Niko pointed at the closed jail cell door.
"Miss Runaway?" Seneca stared at Niko. "Does anybody else know?"
“Marshal Redland once told me the Crumbles are the worst place for a tracker,” Niko said. “The boulders all look the same. There are no trails because people don't leave footprints on rock. If we don't know which way the Jugs are going, there's no way we're going to stop them.”
"That’s exactly what we need to know," Seneca said. "Our primary goal, though, is getting to the Narrow before they do. Accomplishing one will ensure the other. Either way, we're going to the Narrow."
Sarah emerged from the jail with the basket in her hands. Towels and Kate’s muddy clothes were stacked within. Sarah came over and gave Niko a quick peck on the cheek before setting the basket down by the door. “You boys talk very loudly," she remarked. "That young lady in there has some unique insights into your situation. Maybe you should ask her about it.”
“She’s not exactly a reliable witness," Seneca noted. "Probably not a willing one, either."
“She has a connection to all this,” Sarah replied. “She doesn’t have a lot of social skills, so you just need to be patient with her.” She looked at Niko, who nodded with understanding. "She wants to help." Sarah opened the jailroom door and waited for them to get the hint.
“Better leave the talking to me,” Niko said as he stood.
“She’s all yours,” Seneca said.
The three men went to the jail cell expecting to see Kate dressed in full desert garb with her hood up and goggles on. Instead of a dirty vagabond, they found Kate sitting quietly on the bed dressed in a clean linen outfit, her hands unshackled and her tangle-free brown hair cascading out the front of a shawl she was wearing. She lowered her head slightly as they entered, holding the ends of the shawl together over her neck. She chewed on the edge of the fabric nervously, looking at the floor.
Alex had no idea why she insisted on
hiding under so many clothes all the time. She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.
“You look nice, Kate,” Niko said.
“It’s Sarah’s outfit,” Kate replied.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’ll be happy to let you keep it.” He got a nod from Sarah in confirmation.
“You look nice, Kate,” Alex echoed Niko’s words, sounding more than a little captivated. Kate flushed slightly and looked down again. When Niko and Seneca both raised their eyebrows at his comment, he fumbled for something else to say. “How are your hands?”
Kate moved her fingers but kept her grasp on the shawl. “Clean,” she answered.
“Kate,” Niko said. “Sarah told us you might be able to help us with some of the things that are going on around here. I’d like to hear anything you have to say.”
“I know where the bad men came from,” Kate said.
“We know they're heading back to the Crumbles as fast as they can,” Niko said. “Colonel Seneca here needs your help finding out exactly where they will be.”
“I need somebody I can trust,” Seneca added.
Kate glanced once at Sarah, and after getting an approving nod, stood up. She pulled the edges of her shawl apart. "They did this to me." Around her neck were the unmistakable marks of rope burns.
As the three men stared, she brought the edges of the shawl over her neck again and tied them together. Next, she reached down and raised her pant legs. There were matching wounds around her ankles. She gave them a few more seconds to absorb what they were looking at, then lowered her pant legs and pulled up on her shirt. There was a fresh patch of gauze taped to the left side of her abdomen with a small bloodstain in the center. She pulled the tape loose and revealed what was underneath. “The really bad man did this to me,” she whispered.
All three men looked at the wound. It was a vertical cut several centimeters long. She turned to show another patch of gauze in the same location on her back.
Alex had seen the same wound on Cale aboard the Celeste, and later on the victims at Maglev Station. It was not a life-threatening injury, but certainly agonizing. He was amazed that she had endured the pain without mentioning it to anyone. They stared at it until Kate pressed the gauze back down.
“Sarah says it’s mostly healed. She still made me wear the bandage.”
“Kate, I’m sorry,” Niko said.
“I think we’ve established who the bad people are,” Seneca said. “Thank you, Kate.”
She straightened her outfit, sat back down, and dutifully put her hands in her lap. "They talk to birds."
"Did this happen at the Crumbles?" Seneca asked.
Kate nodded.
Seneca started pacing around the room. “Kate,” he finally said, “I believe you may actually have something helpful to offer. Can you show us where they did this to you?”
"Yes," she answered. "I know where the Sentinel Bridge is, too."
"You've been there?"
"Yes."
Seneca studied her. He wrestled with his thoughts for a minute. "Ranger Zand, would you be willing to release Miss Runaway from your cell so she can assist us in our pursuit?"
"The charges against her should be dropped if she provides anything helpful," Sarah insisted.
"I think that's fair," Seneca replied.
“I don't have a problem with it," Niko shrugged. "I can release her from the jail.” He gestured to Alex, “but she’s still technically Deputy Vonn's prisoner. He is the one who’s responsible for her.”
“Indeed,” Seneca replied. "Alex? I thought you were looking for a chance to go home."
Alex felt all eyes in the room looking at him. He reached into his pocket and pulled the star out. It felt light in his hand but heavy on his conscience. Looking at each of them in the room, and finally at Kate, he put the badge back on. “I'll do the best I can, colonel. Kate can go with you as long as she stays with me. In my custody, I mean. I'll decide about going home later."
Seneca bristled at the irony that got Alex out of his hair once, but now gave the young deputy the right to be part of his pursuit team. "Very well."
Niko chuckled until Sarah nudged him from behind.
Chapter Forty-Two
Half an hour later, the pursuit team was saddled up and ready to ride. Niko sat on the buckboard of a horse-drawn wagon filled with gear. Alex rode with Kate in tow on another horse, her hands in shackles once again. She was dressed in her regular desert clothes - hood up with large goggles obscuring the top half of her face. The outfit Sarah had given her rode on the back of her saddle with some traveling supplies and a small pack with all her worldly possessions contained inside.
The soldiers on the team wore desert-style field dusters over their regular uniforms. Alex watched them prepare for the ride, having both checked their gear and double-checked their fellow soldiers' gear.
Colonel Seneca rode his horse over to check the team, the only difference between him and his men being the gold braid on the brim of his hat and the brass filigree on the hilt of his sword. He angled his horse to face the team and address them. "Deputy Vonn will be joining us on this ride," Seneca told his men. "He is bringing Miss Kate Runaway along. She is currently in his custody as a prisoner. Despite some recent charges against her, she seems to have some relevant knowledge about current events. She will be the deputy's responsibility. I know you haven't had much of a chance to become acquainted with either of them, but we will be working as a team from this point on. Starting with Sergeant Brady, each of you give your name and specialty so that he can become familiar with your role on this mission."
"Sergeant Brady, explosives and melee expert," the first soldier in line said.
Alex remembered his training during the train ride.
"Corporal Gurnig," the next soldier in line said. "I shoot stuff," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "I won twenty slims from Sergeant Traore when I bet him you could shoot better than he could."
"Yeah," Sergeant Traore said, sitting on the next horse. "I'm Sergeant Traore, and we can have a rematch when we get back to CC" He gave Gurnig a dirty look, then smiled at Alex. "Double or nothing."
"Corporal Wyler," the next soldier announced. He was the shortest and thinnest of the team, but with the same look of confidence. "Scouting is what I do. Everyone calls me Spot."
“Private Leeds,” the next one said. He was a stocky soldier who wore a non-regulation bandoleer under his duster. “Pistols and rifles, mostly."
"Private Sturm," said the man next to him. "Uh, I'm a support engineer. I've got tools to make pretty much anything you need in the field. I can also patch up folks who get themselves hurt."
"It’s a pleasure to meet you all," Alex told them.
"Deputy Vonn is familiar with the man we are chasing," Colonel Seneca told everyone. "Likewise, Miss Runaway has experience in the Crumbles. They'll be an integral part of the team, so work with them as much as possible."
"I'll stay with you all as far as the Crumbles," Niko said from his perch on the wagon. "I'll bring your horses back to Edgewood and keep regular patrols on the lookout for your return."
"I appreciate your help, Niko," Seneca said. Then, turning back to Alex and Kate, he said, "If you two would take the lead, we need to get under way."
Kate seized her horse's reins and set off at a gallop without waiting for the others. Alex joined her a moment later, with the rest of the squad following suit. Niko pulled up the rear after getting his two-horse team up to speed.
Once they passed the Edgewood town limit, Kate angled across the plains to the northwest, keeping her horse on a route across the tall desert grass where it had good footing. The rest followed her in a line.
A few hours later, the pursuit team approached a scattered collection of Mokri trees and slowed to a walk.
"These trees don't look like part of a grove," Alex said.
"This is their natural climate, so you'll see them sprouting up on their own in different places," Niko told
him. "These trees are too few and too small to justify any serious harvesting. They look like they've been cleaned recently, though."
A wagon sat near the trees, its wheels sunk into the sand from the recent rain. The squad changed direction and trotted over to it.
"There's no sap residue in the wagon," Niko observed. "The rain might have washed it all away."
"There's no glazing in the sand," Wyler said. "I can see which direction the runoff went, and it’s clean. I'd bet this wagon has been sitting here for a long time."
"The soil around the trees looks just as dry," Alex added. "Is there a grover in the area we should talk to?"
"There are ranchers who graze their cattle out here," Niko said. "They use these trees to get fuel for cooking, but that's about it. They don’t produce enough for anything else."
“We should check with the local township to see if anyone’s reported anything strange,” Sergeant Brady said as he pulled alongside Colonel Seneca.
“Let’s look around first,” Seneca said. He held up his hand for the group to stop. Kate wasn't paying attention and continued toward a distant group of trees. Seneca cleared his throat at Alex. Alex nodded and chased after her.
“Hang on, Kate,” Alex said. She stopped her horse and waited for him. “I think the colonel wants to make sure there isn’t any danger before we go too far.”
"I thought of a name for your horse," she said.
"Huh?" Alex had to think to recall their discussion on the road to Maglev Station.
“Your horse is very quiet,” she noted. “He never makes a sound. You should call him Althayr.”
“That sounds like a nice name,” Alex replied, hoping to deflect the tangent in conversation by agreeing with her. "Maybe we can talk about that later."
“It’s a very old word,” Kate continued. “It means whisper-ghost.”
Alex could not read her eyes behind her reflective goggles but did see a slight upward bend in the corners of her mouth.
Was she smiling? He suddenly felt distracted in exactly the way he was trying to avoid. “Althayr,” he said out loud. “I think I like it.” He patted his horse on the neck. Whether it was because it was a good name or because she suggested it, he didn't know. He smiled at her. “Althayr it is.”
