“I didn’t say there was nothing,” Dawson said. “There are hundreds of religions that say otherwise, and give you a map to heaven, or nirvana, or whatever else you want. We have all the sacred texts in our data banks. I’m happy to share them with you.”

  “What do you believe?” Kairk asked. “Where will you go when you die?”

  “Hopefully a little lake with a boat and fishing pole.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I,” Dawson replied. “Heaven can be anything. I just hope mine includes the water. But what’s more important than what I believe is why I believe I’ll be there. We’re all judged by our actions, pretty much every religion agrees on that. And when the scales tip for me, I hope that whoever that judge is will see that I loved my crew and the people around me, did my best to care for them, and put a thumb on the right side for me.”

  He leaned in, his blue eyes staring into Kairk’s.

  “The question for you,” he said softly. “Is if you don’t do everything you can to help the people you can, will you be judged the same?”

  Kairk stared back silently. The silence stretched, but when he replied, his voice was quiet but heard through the room.

  “And if you’re wrong, I condemn my people.”

  “That is a risk,” Dawson said. “And one I will not minimize. Take your time, but make a decision. You know what we offer. And I hope your soul can live with whatever you decide.”

  “His soul will be in the stars,” Cora said. “Looking down on his people and knowing their souls are safe.”

  Dawson’s lips pressed into a thin line as she spoke. The quiet lingered for several seconds before Dawson spoke again.

  “I had hoped we wouldn’t get to this point,” he said. “I’ve offered the carrot.”

  He looked at Kairk again. His eyes grew hard.

  “Now here’s the stick.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “I told you this would happen,” Cora snapped. She stalked around the mess hall, reminding Kairk of a caged snow dragon.

  “Nothing has happened yet,” Kairk said. “We still have a choice.”

  “Do we?” Jawn said. “Sounds like they’re going to get what they want no matter what. The only question is if we are alive or ascended when they do.”

  “They’ve played you like an idiot,” Cora hissed. “You let her in. Now they know exactly how to destroy us.”

  “I’m the idiot?” Kairk said, his face getting hot. “You seem to forget that they destroyed three warbands with five soldiers.”

  “But they couldn’t kill us because we have dawnstones,” Cora said. “Dawson admitted as much himself.”

  “You think that would have stopped them?” Raab said. “Dawson also said they hadn’t expected to find this many dawnstones, so they weren’t ready. But all it will take is a trip back to earth to get the right kind of weapons, and we’ll be dead.”

  “I shouldn’t be surprised,” Cora said. “After all, what else should I expect from a pathetic warrior who lost his dawnstone.”

  Raab was on his feet instantly. He lunged at Cora, and the two tumbled to the dirt floor in a heap. Kairk and Jawn waded into the scuffle, but not before Cora landed a blow on Raab’s face, and he buried a fist in her stomach.

  When they managed to pull the two combatants apart, blood ran down Raab’s face, and Cora was trying to catch her breath.

  Kairk had both arms wrapped around Cora, but she thrashed and nearly broke his grip.

  “Stop it,” he hissed into her ear. “This does nothing.”

  She slowly calmed down but glared at the Raab.

  “Let me go,” she fumed.

  “You’re not going to take another run at him?”

  He could hear her teeth grinding, but she nodded. He let her go but moved between the two.

  “Whether you want to admit it or not, he’s right,” Kairk said. “If they have the rifles and everything else, they can take the Morning Star if they want it.”

  “We’ll be ready,” Cora said. “This is our home, and we can make it hell for them.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?” Kairk snapped. “By hiding in the bushes and hoping they run into your spear? Xiao found my father in the middle of a blizzard before we had time to even get a proper search going.”

  “There are other ways to fight,” Cora said. “They’ll be gone for a while. We get them to come to us like the Gentori.”

  “And we all end up among the stars,” Raab said.

  “They won’t stop,” Kairk continued. “You heard how valuable this is to them. Even if we kill a few, they don’t have any problem bringing more warriors. Eventually, we’ll all be dead, and they’ll have the Morning Star anyways.”

  “Not if we destroy their ship,” Cora said. “If they can’t get back, they can’t tell anyone we’re here, and no one else will come.”

  “What are you going to do?” Raab said with a laugh. “Throw rocks at them? That thing was made of the same metal as the Chariot, and even Kairk’s hatchet can’t scratch that.”

  “We steal their Morning Star,” Cora said. “Kairk just has to say he’s made a decision, and while he meets with the Captain, the rest of us sneak in and take it. They’ll be stranded here, without the weapons to fight us.”

  Raab started to laugh again but stopped himself.

  Kairk frowned.

  Cora stepped forward; her eyes glued to Kairk.

  “We can do this,” she said. “We’re warriors, survivors.”

  Kairk stared into her blue eyes. They were earnest and pleading. But also confident. She knew she could do it.

  He wasn’t so sure.

  “It could work,” Raab said.

  Kairk looked at his wife a second more, then slowly shook his head.

  “It could,” he said. “But there is too much that could go wrong. If we fail, we condemn the whole crew. Dawson won’t leave us alone.”

  “You don’t know that,” Cora said. “And if we kill Dawson then-“

  “We’re not going to kill anyone,” Kairk said. “We’re going to fight for the best trade we can get, so our people live and prosper. I’m not going to start a war we can’t win.”

  Cora’s face fell, then hardened.

  “You’re not going to even try?”

  “I have to balance the lives of the entire crew against the chance that we pull this off,” he said. “There are too many unknowns. Too much that could go wrong.”

  Cora stepped back.

  “You’re giving up.”

  “I’m making the best of a bad situation,” Kairk said. “We survived the Gentori by the skin of our teeth. This way, we can protect ourselves and help our people without making a new enemy. One we can’t beat.”

  He stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders.

  “This is the best possible outcome,” he said. “We’ll be able to save our tribe.”

  Cora pushed her hands off his shoulders.

  “You’re a coward,” she spat. “You give them the Morning Star, and you find a new bed.”

  “Starlight…”

  “Don’t ‘Starlight’ me,” Cora said. “You do what you have to, but you’re damning our souls. I love you, and I swore I’d never leave your side. But you do this, and you’re not the man I married. You do this, and you’re not a Travani.”

  She spun and pushed out the door before he could say anything else.

  Chapter Twelve

  He woke up feeling more tired than before. Violent dreams had fought through the restful oblivion that usually took him. He woke up several times in a panic, reaching for his wife, but he was always alone.

  The rising sounds of the tribe stirring finally convinced him to give up his quest for sleep and face the day.

  While his arms and legs moved to get dressed, his mind did somersaults trying to think of ways to convince Cora to see reason. He turned every argument over to see it from her perspective, looking for the way to the counter each one.

  Then his hands ran out of things to lace, or wash, or do, and he faced the reality of testing his arguments.

  Squaring his shoulders, he pushed through the door into a sea of bubbling humanity. He nodded to some as he walked to Xiao’s hut. It would be easier to deal with Cora if he had already made the deal. She wouldn’t like it, but she would stand with him in the end.

  Xiao pulled the door open at his knock, with a “Good morning, Captain.”

  “I’ve made a decision,” he said. “I’m willing to offer the Morning Star, but only under the right terms.”

  “I am authorized to give you eight more rifles, two hundred pounds of various medicines, and five hundred pounds of foodstuffs. Plus, room for five passengers aboard the Yukon.”

  “Twelve rifles. My people are more likely to poison themselves with the medicines without training, so we’ll take seven hundred pounds of food and fifty pounds of medicine. And I want 20 Travani to go with me, and five of your people to stay with the rest of the crew.”

  “I can probably do ten rifles. Six hundred pounds of food. Seventy-five medicine and we’ll show you how to use them. And I’ll include the mobile Rothenburg unit for your father. But for the passengers, our ship is not large enough to carry more than 5 additional personnel, and we need all our people. I’m sorry.”

  “It would comfort my people to know you are coming back.”

  Xiao shook her head. “You don’t understand. There are only sixty of us, to begin with. Everyone is needed to fly the ship. If we leave anyone, we may not be able to get home.”

  “And if one of you had been killed when you fought the Gentori?”

  “That wouldn’t have happened. And-“

  “Anything can happen on the battlefield.” Kairk interrupted. “You must be able to fly the ship if you had lost a few men or you are following an idiot, which I do not believe to be true.” His tone softened. “Master Chief, I am offering to give you our connection to our ancestors. You claim that we are of the same origin, but if your people are not willing to be part of our tribe, we cannot give you the Morning Star. I will agree to 7 passengers, with two of yours staying with the tribe.”

  Xiao’s lips were a tight line. “I’ll need to speak with the Captain.”

  “Understood. Until then.”

  Kairk touched his heart and left.

  He started walking back to the center of camp. He didn’t know where Cora would be, but the Morning Star was the object of her irritation, so it was an excellent place to start.

  He turned the corner and almost bowled over Raab.

  “Ho, Captain!” The man took a step back and touched his heart in a salute. “Don’t worry, it's safe.”

  “What?”

  “Cora said you two made up. For what it’s worth, I think you two came up with a good plan.”

  Kairk barely suppressed a groan. “When?”

  “Last night, pretty soon after you turned in.”

  “Do you know where she took it? It is safe now.”

  “Didn’t say where she was going.”

  “We need to find her. There are still Gentori out there.”

  “Wouldn’t be too worried about that,” Raab smiled. “She took the rifles with her, about fifty warriors too. They’ll be able to handle anyone who comes close.”

  “I’m sure they will,” Kairk stifled another groan. “We need to change the plan though. We need to bring her back home. Get a hunting party together.”

  “Sure you do,” Raab grinned and winked at him, then hurried off before Kairk could smack him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Thirty minutes later, there were over a hundred men, armed with spears Kairk hoped they wouldn’t need, in the center of the village.

  Xiao stepped up beside him.

  “Let me guess, Cora didn’t like you making a deal?” Her voice was soft, so that only he could hear her.

  “She was following orders,” he muttered.

  “Because she’s definitely the follow orders type,” Xiao’s lips quirked up in a smile to take the sting out of her words, but then turned serious. “I can help you find her.”

  “And what will that cost me?” Kairk spat.

  “Nothing. We want what you want.”

  “You want the Morning Star. I want my wife.”

  “Right now, that’s the same thing,” Xiao put a hand on his shoulder. “What you said about the Gentori isn’t wrong. We picked up at least three hundred around the base of the mountain. And if one of your people accidentally shoots the Morning Star…”

  She put her hands together in a fist, then mimicked an explosion like the one he’d seen when they’d first appeared.

  “How bad would it be?” Kairk said.

  “Let’s just say that the Yukon is holding orbit a thousand kilometers above the planet.”

  “I’m guessing that’s really far away,” Kairk said. “Let’s just make sure that we find her before anyone starts shooting.”

  “I can tell you where she is,” Xiao pulled another ball from her belt and tossed it to the ground. Kairk knew it was coming, but the explosion of colors still startled him. A map of the area, complete with small figures moving around translucent huts where they now stood. Kairk squinted and bent forward and saw one of the tiny figures do the same.

  “Here,” Xiao said, pointing at a group of figures slowly moving south. Kairk looked over and thought he saw his wife’s golden hair bobbing as she walked. “Less than a thirty-minute ride.”

  Kairk looked down at the terrain displayed by Xiao’s magic and shook his head. “They are already to the Falls of Dorian. It would take several hours, even on flat, clear ground for our grembals to cover that distance.

  Xiao smiled again. “We won’t be riding a grembal.”

  She pressed another button on her wrist.

  For a moment, nothing happened, and Kairk looked at Xiao with one eyebrow arched.

  Then there was a whooshing sound and dust, and dirt flew up into Kairk’s face.

  He blinked and wiped his eyes furiously to clear them.

  When he did, a smaller version of the Yukon sat hovering over the edge of the forest. It was made of the same black metal but was thinner and had a little bubble over the nose instead of the larger glass viewports. It looked vaguely like the Chariot, though on a smaller scale.

  Xiao jogged over, and the thing descended until it was only a few inches above the ground. A hatch at the back lowered, similar to the one on the Yukon, and Xiao disappeared inside. She reappeared in the bubble on top a second later.

  “Got room for three more,” she said, her voice taking on the gravelly tone again. “Hurry up.”

  Kairk nodded to Jawn and Raab, and the three of them raced to the back of the craft.

  The interior was very similar to the Chariot but on a much smaller scale. A web of straps like on the Chariot covered two seats on the right and another to his left. A long black box like the one they’d used to store their weapons aboard the Yukon had replaced a second seat on the left.

  Kairk took the seat closest to the door, and the other two stepped around him to take places farther into the strange bird.

  “Ready?” Xiao yelled from the front. Kairk could see her sitting upon a small shelf above the benches.

  “Does it matter if I say no?” Jawn muttered.

  “Go,” Kairk replied.

  The ship rose from the ground. The back was still open, and more than a few of the assembled Travani gasped as it rose with their captain.

  The black ramp swung back into position as they flew into the air, turning the interior of the box they sat in darkness, like the sun setting on a moonless night.

  Then the world exploded with light.

  The three Travani screamed and yelled as the metal disappeared, and they were suddenly floating above the forest canopy.

  “Sorry!” Xiao shouted. “Hang on.”

  The walls and floor reappeared, but the ramp was still transparent.

  “What was that?” Kairk shouted over the blood, pounding in his ears.

  “Holographic projections,” Xiao said. “The skimmer does it automatically when the ramp closes. Supposed to help soldiers get oriented before they drop in.”

  “I’ve got a spear I’d like to orient through you,” Jawn grumbled.

  Kairk didn’t disagree. He’d forgotten breakfast in his rush to find his wife, and after the “skimmer” had tried to give him a heart attack, he was glad he had.

  They were also without any dawnstones. Kairk felt naked without his necklace, but he would rather die alone than risk Cora or the others being consumed by the explosion if they accidentally shot him.

  The metal box bounced around as Xiao brought them through the treetops to the ground. Kairk’s teeth rattled in his head as he saw the field rise to meet them through the back ramp. As the skimmer’s feet sank into the soft ground of the clearing, the ramp grew cloudy and started to lower.

  Kairk tugged at the web of straps, but they refused to come off. He started to wiggle his hatchet free, but Xiao came down from the shelf and hit the red button in the center of the webbing, and it slithered back over his shoulders. She did the same for the others as he pushed himself up on shaky legs.

  “You didn’t lose your guts. I’m impressed.” Xiao held out a hand.

  “Despite your best efforts,” Jawn said.

  “Where’s Cora?” Kairk said.

  “They’re about five clicks up from here. You sure she’ll come this way?”

  Kairk nodded.

  “There is an old fort that our ancestors built close by. If she makes it inside, we won’t be able to get her out without a fight.”

  “Then let’s make sure she doesn’t,” Xiao said. She held out a small insect with a looping tail that curled around its body.

  Kairk eyed the thing suspiciously.

  “This will let us communicate,” she said. She held it up to her ear, then back to Kairk.

  He took it hesitantly. As he held it to his ear, the tail squirmed over the cartilage and its body pressed against his ear.

  He flinched as the thing situated itself, resisting the urge to grab it and throw it as far away as he could.

 

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