by Saxon Andrew
Andy sat down and the gathering stood and began socializing. Tyler looked over at Olivia and saw she was leaving with her sister. Zeck remained but Ophelia and Olivia were exiting the cave. He watched her until she disappeared and was then distracted by Maxius and Mark, “Tyler, tell me how you managed to land in that tree.” Tyler nodded and began telling them.
• • •
The Commandant looked at his new Commander and said, “Have you discovered anything?”
“No Sire. Please forgive me for asking, but why are you so concerned about the disappearance of two slaves?”
The Commandant’s eyes lowered and the Commander hoped he hadn’t stepped out of bounds. The Commandant stared at his new Commander and felt a brief surge of anger but decided he should know why he was concerned. “How long have we been keeping slaves, Commander?”
“Hundreds of years.”
“And how many slaves ever successfully escape from our city?”
The Commander thought for a long moment and then said, “I can’t remember one ever successfully escaping.”
“There have been many that have run to the wall and managed to climb over before we could shoot them, but none of them survived the carnivores in the forest.”
“Yes Sire.”
“How many have ever escaped from their night quarters?”
The Commander stared at the Commandant and the Commandant smiled; he didn’t take long to see it, “I’ve never heard of any slave ever getting out of their undamaged night quarters.”
“And the word undamaged is the key to this particular conundrum. Slaves have managed to break out of their quarters to attempt an escape. Of course none of them were successful. However, the living quarters of those two slaves were locked and undamaged. How did they get out and where are they now?”
The Commander thought for a moment and said, “Someone had to unlock their quarters and allow them to get out.”
“I agree.”
“It could have been another slave?”
“No other slave is missing and all are accounted for that night.”
The Commander’s eyes narrowed and he began shaking his head lightly up and down. The Commandant had noticed that when his new Commander was deeply focused, he had that nervous habit. “You’re concerned that they might have been released by this new enemy.”
The Commander tried not to smile but couldn’t stop himself; the Commander was brighter than he thought, “And if that is the case?”
“Then the enemy has seen our defenses and is planning a way around them.”
“What do you think about that possibility?”
“I’m not quite willing to attach those two possibilities…yet.”
The Commandant’s eyes narrowed, “Oh! Why not?”
“I can think of other ways it could have been done and I, for the life of me, can’t conceive why those particular two slaves would be of special interest to our enemy.”
The Commandant was also struggling with that as well. “What other way could it have happened?”
The Commander looked at the Commandant, “I understand the female slave was quite beautiful.”
The Commandant nodded, “Yes, go on.”
“One of our warriors may have found himself attracted to her and decided to release her to enjoy himself. We have hundreds of warriors assigned to that part of the city and it’s my understanding that she would work out in the open in her master’s field behind his house.”
“That doesn’t account for the missing male slave.”
The Commander thought for a moment and said, “The slaves’ master tells me that the female would never leave her quarters if the male slave was present.”
“Why not?”
“The guard that interviewed the other two slaves say that he had threatened her with immense pain if he ever got his hands on her. It appears the slave was beaten for attempting to assault the female.”
“I read that in the report.”
“I suspect that if one of our warriors was going to take the female out for his pleasure, that male slave might have raised a racket if he were not released as well. The Warrior would have taken him out and moved him away from the quarters and threatened to kill him if he made any noise.”
“Go on.”
“He would relock the slave’s door and then go and take the female who would be silent at his orders. All slaves know to follow the orders of any warrior. He would have locked her door as well and taken her to another place further from the master’s house. The arrival of the Spinosaurus would have disrupted the warrior’s plans. He could never get them back in their quarters without being seen. I suspect he made the slaves climb the wall where he shot them before the Spinosaurus arrived at his location.”
“But we had hundreds of warriors on the walls.”
“And none of them would question another warrior dragging a slave and throwing them off the wall.”
The Commandant thought about the idea and said, “He didn’t have time to kill one and then go after the other.”
“No, he didn’t.”
The Commandant smiled, “That means he killed the male slave and went back and moved the female elsewhere.”
The Commander nodded, “He might have taken her to his quarters and bound and gagged her.”
“Order a search.”
“I will…”
“But?”
“I suspect that he’s had some time to eliminate her by now and remove the evidence.”
“I still want a search done. If he was really attracted to her, she might still be alive.” The Commandant paused, “Which of these two stories sounds more plausible to you?”
“Both of them are a reach. However, I still can’t see why an enemy would run the risk to go after two slaves and reveal themselves to us. That is a much larger reach than one of our warriors doing it.”
“So you don’t think we’ve been scouted?”
“I do.”
“Even if they can, as you believe, fly and remain invisible?”
“That makes the escaped slaves have nothing to do with them. Why would they land and go after two slaves when they could just fly over and leave without detection. Our picket ships have not seen anything and none of our night watch have reported anything out of the ordinary, other than the escape and that huge dinosaur.”
The Commandant nodded and looked at his Commander, “Do the search and I want the new guns on the back wall as soon as possible.”
The Commander bowed, “Yes Sire,” and he backed out of the chamber. The Commandant thought about what his Commander suggested and his mind latched on the warrior releasing the slaves. He didn’t want to believe this new enemy could come in unseen and escape. He didn’t want to believe it but, he just couldn’t completely let it go.
Chapter Seven
A Community Gathering was called for the next night and Olivia sat on top of the tall southern wall with a young priest. Harvey had approached her during the day and stopped her as she and Ophelia were walking toward the pier. “Olivia.”
Olivia bowed, “Yes.”
Harvey smiled, “We’re going to have a Community Gathering tonight and I thought you might want to have a good view of it.”
“Good view?”
“Yes. The Community will gather outside the Northern Roman Wall and Andy will address them from a platform located between the wall and the cliff. The way the two stonewalls come together will amplify his voice where everyone can hear him. If you want, I’ll have an associate of mine meet you,” Harvey pointed toward the steps leading up to the top of the wall, “at the bottom of those steps and he’ll take you to the top of the wall where you can observe the meeting.”
Olivia smiled, “That would be wonderful. Thank you for your consideration, Sire.”
Harvey smiled, “You don’t need to bow to me or call me Sire. We don’t do that here.”
“Then how does one demonstrate their respect for you?”
Harvey was surpri
sed by the question and Ophelia said, “If you were a Warrior, you would just salute. Since you’re a civilian, I do think a bow would be acceptable. Don’t you, Harvey?”
Harvey smiled and nodded. Olivia looked at Harvey, “Just how does one go about becoming a warrior?”
Harvey saw Olivia was serious. He smiled and said, “I’ll discuss it with Andy and see what he says. I think for the short term you should take some time to learn how our community operates and familiarize yourself with our customs and history.”
Ophelia smiled, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, Harvey. She’s been asking a millions questions of anyone that will take the time to talk with her.”
Harvey nodded and said, “Tell you what. Tonight, I’ll have my associate bring you a history book about our community to read. Please return it when you’re finished.”
“Thank you so much.” Olivia bowed and Harvey smiled and returned it.
Olivia was in Zeck’s home and suddenly heard a loud rhythmic beat. She looked at Zeck who said, “That’s the drums calling the Community together. You should go to the steps inside the wall.” Olivia nodded and ran out the front door. Zeck watched her go and put his arm over Ophelia’s shoulders, “Your sister is quite extraordinary. She really handled herself well in the meeting.”
“She has the outlook of the young. She doesn’t come with bias or prejudices that prevent her from seeing things clearly.”
“She does appear to have some deep seated opinions about the Destroyers.”
“Are they clear and honest opinions?”
Zeck looked into Ophelia’s eyes and tilted his head, “Yes, they are.”
“She’s stronger than I was, Zeck.”
“That I would have to disagree with you on, love. You and she are very much alike in that regard.”
Ophelia hugged him, “I love you, Zeck.” He leaned down and kissed her and said, “We need to be going.” Ophelia nodded and they stepped out of the front door and closed it.
• • •
Olivia arrived at the steps and saw the area inside the interior walls was empty except for a young man standing at the steps. Olivia jogged up to him and he smiled, “You must be Olivia. My name is Inapay and if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the best location to view this gathering.” Olivia nodded and followed the young priest up the steps. She was impressed with the young man; he was quite handsome. After a few moments she determined that he was also very intelligent. He was able to answer all her questions.
She sat on top of the wall in an area that was dark. She looked down from the wall and saw thousands of people walking out on the sandy beach outside the tall wall. It looked like total mayhem but she began to notice a pattern. “The Warriors are the ones closest to the platform.”
Inapay nodded, “Very good.”
“It appears there are four distinct groups.” Olivia looked at the young priest, “How are they organized?”
Inapay pointed to the Warriors to the left of the platform, “They are the warriors that are Master Archers and ride the Cursors.”
“Cursors are the large dinosaurs you use to go out and scout.”
“Yes. The Warriors in the Center are Master Archers and Fliers. Some of them also ride Cursors but they have mastered using our gliders.”
“And the ones to the right?”
“They are the warriors that crew the ships we captured from the Destroyers. They are our Naval Warriors.”
Olivia looked directly down at the Platform and saw the fourth group of warriors, “And who are those closest to the platform?”
“Those warriors are Master Warriors.”
“What’s the difference between a Master Archer and a Master Warrior?”
“Being a Master Archer means you have mastered all the weapons used by our military.”
“How many weapons are there?”
“The bow, the cutters, and the red hand guns. Please notice that the fifth group of warriors forming behind the front groups also fight for the community but haven’t passed the tests to qualify for one of the front groups yet.”
“What about the Master Warriors?”
“They are the Warriors that have mastered every aspect of being a warrior. They ride the cursors, fly the gliders, and can use every weapon we have in our inventory.”
“There aren’t very many of them.”
“No, there’s less than a thousand. The tests to qualify for Master Warrior status are incredibly difficult.”
Olivia nodded and saw Tyler was sitting beside a gorgeous young woman among those gathered in front of the platform. She stared at him and asked, “Is there an age restriction to be a Master Warrior?”
“Not really. However, most don’t pass the tests before they’re in their mid-twenties.”
“Who is the youngest to ever qualify?”
“Andy is the youngest to ever qualify. Tyler and Mindy are the second youngest. I understand that Tyler is the one that rescued you.”
“Yes, he is.”
“He is blessed with natural abilities that most people don’t possess. He was flying at the age of four. He’s very unpretentious and is liked by most of our warriors. They don’t resent his passing the tests early.”
“What about the girl beside him? She looks like she’s my age.” Inapay remained silent and Olivia looked at him. “What about, what’s her name, Mindy?”
Inapay shook his head, “I’m reluctant to say anything negative about any of our warriors.”
“The truth is not negative. It’s neither good nor bad, it’s simply the truth.”
“Now you sound like Harvey.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Inapay looked down at Mindy and said, “She’s quite proud of her accomplishment of achieving Master Warrior status so young.”
Olivia looked down at the beautiful girl and saw her ignore a warrior who walked by and said something to her. She said, “She wears it like a crown.”
Inapay laughed, “You’re exactly right. That’s the best way to describe it. However, she should be proud of her accomplishment.”
Olivia nodded, “Yes, she should. However, not to the point where she forgets respect.”
Inapay saw Olivia staring at Mindy and was impressed. He decided that he wanted to spend more time with this young, strong, woman.
Andy finally began speaking and Olivia was surprised at how this many people could be absolutely silent. There were thousands sitting on the beach and Andy’s voice carried clearly. The two walls were a natural amplifier of his voice. He told the Community about what was facing them if they chose to attack the Destroyers and he also told them that if they attacked, they would be going to eradicate all of them right down to the last man, woman, and child. Olivia saw the Community didn’t like the idea of killing children but Andy had former Destroyer slaves come up and describe how vicious the children were trained to be in that society. At the end, the Community appeared to understand the issue.
Olivia tried to keep her eyes on Andy but hey kept wandering to Tyler and then to the woman beside him. She wanted to think of her as a girl but that would be a mistake. She was more than a girl. She was aware of her beauty and she liked seeing men admiring her. Olivia saw Tyler whisper something to her and she nodded. Then she looked away, but not at Andy. Olivia saw she was looking to see who was looking at her. Tyler only had eyes for her and he didn’t see where her attention was placed. Whenever he turned to her, she immediately looked at him. When he looked away, she went back to looking for her admirers.
By the end of the meeting, Olivia knew; she was not in love with Tyler. She shook her head. Tyler was in for a broken heart and he was too blind to see it. She saw that the priest was interested in her. He was a fine person and, ordinarily, she might be interested as well. But she knew where her heart was and no matter how long it was going to take, she would wait. He deserved it. Until the time came, she would keep her distance out of respect for Tyler. She sighed and looked at Andy.
Tyler had looked around the gathering and saw Zeck and Ophelia arrive and sit down with the naval forces. Olivia wasn’t with them. Where was she? He wasn’t able to locate her before the meeting began and he turned his attention to Andy. He spoke with Mindy several times but she seemed to be distracted. Just before the meeting ended, something caused him to look up at the top of the wall close to the where it intersected the cliff. It was dark but he had the eyes of a Master Flyer. He saw Olivia sitting on top of the wall with a very handsome young priest. She was so beautiful and he knew she didn’t know just how pretty she was. He felt a twang of jealousy over the young priest but forced himself to ignore it. He looked at Mindy and saw her jerk her attention to him. She had not been looking at Andy. He casually glanced in the direction she had been looking and saw Gordon jerk his head back toward Andy. Gordon was also a flyer and he saw Gordon quickly glance toward him. He looked back at Mindy, “What about you and I getting in some archery practice in the morning.”
“Sure, what time?”
“How about eight?”
“Make it eleven and you have a deal.”
“What are you doing after the meeting?”
“I have some things to do at home. What do you have in mind?”
Tyler looked up and saw Gordon staring at them. “Nothing, I’ll just see you in the morning.”
Mindy smiled and said, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Tyler lifted his sleeve and used a small silver disk his mother had given him to watch Mindy’s reflection. He appeared be wiping his eyes but he saw her nod. He looked up again like he was looking at the moon and saw Gordon turn his head back to Andy.
Gordon was twenty years old and already commanded a wing of Fliers. He had advanced quickly and was a rising star in the military. He took a deep breath and looked up at Olivia. The young priest had said something to her but she answered without looking at him. She was staring at him and she didn’t see him watching her. She appeared to be sad about something. He wondered if it had anything to do with him.
• • •
