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His eyes followed the rifle barrel up to the eyes glaring down at him over the weapon’s sights and the furry fox ears sitting a few inches above them. Ramirez slowly raised his hands over his head and took a deep breath.
“Naisho...” He paused. “... Dammit,” he muttered, unable to remember the words.
“Ramirez! What’s going on in there?!” Ben’s voice came again. Ramirez’s eyes went instinctively up to the tunnel and the source of the sound.
The owner of the rifle saw the subtle move. <If you answer, I will kill you,> a soft feminine voice promised him.
Ramirez didn’t know what she said, but the rifle in his face was a pretty good translator.
* * *
“Okay, as long as you’re having fun,” Burgers said.
They could hear the faint sounds of grumbling as Ramirez continued down the tunnel. Hearing the sounds of moving rock and dirt, Ben turned and found Alacea and Patricia climbing the hill toward them.
“She insisted,” Patricia huffed in her defense, gesturing to the fox woman.
Alacea knelt next to the tunnel entrance and peered inside. <Have you found anyone?> she asked.
“She wants to know if you found them,” Patricia said.
“Nothing yet,” Ben told her.
Alacea’s tail drooped as Patricia translated the answer for her. Ben gave it another minute and then called back down the tunnel.
“Everything okay down there?” he called.
“Yes, Sir,” he heard from further down the tunnel. “Just... WHOA!”
Ben jumped as he heard the sound of sliding dirt and rock, and he poked his head into the tunnel. “Ramirez! Ramirez! You okay?!”
“I’m good,” Ramirez’s voice was faint. Ben breathed a sigh of relief. He waited for Ramirez to elaborate on his situation, but a minute passed without any further sign from the Ranger.
“Ramirez! What’s going on in there, dammit?!” Ben called.
Nothing.
“Dammit!” he cursed. He rose to his feet and unslung his rifle, handing it to Mulroney, and started stripping off his gear. Knowing what he intended to do, Burgers held out his flashlight. Ben grabbed it with one hand and pulled his M-17 with the other, crouching down and crawling into the tunnel.
It was a tight fit, but he could just barely make it through. He wiggled like a worm down the tunnel.
Suddenly, he heard a voice cry out from behind him.
* * *
“Okay,” he said quietly. “So... I’m Ramirez...”
<Be silent!> the voice growled. The tip of the rifle’s barrel poked him in the forehead to serve as the exclamation point.
The Va’Shen rifleman’s ears turned from side to side, checking her surroundings. <How many are with you?> she demanded.
The Ranger tried to stay calm. “No comprende,” he told her slowly. “My name is Ramirez. I’m here to rescue you.” He carefully enunciated each word, hoping maybe the Va’Shen had heard English somewhere before.
The fox person’s ears twitched, and she looked up at the tunnel entrance. Ramirez’s human ears couldn’t make anything out, but this Va’Shen’s ears had been honed by years of stalking prey. She could hear the scratching of something coming through the tunnel. She took three steps back and raised the rifle, ready to shoot whatever came out.
Ramirez took a deep breath and prepared to cry out a warning, but before he could, another voice came from the tunnel.
<PLEASE DON’T SHOOT!>
The Va’Shen’s ears shot straight up, and she gasped. <Alacea Na’Sha!?> she called. <Alacea Na’Sha!? Is that you?!>
<Yes! Is that Bao Sen?!>
The Va’Shen, Bao Sen, turned her attention back to Ramirez and pointed her rifle at him. <What have you done to the Na’Sha?!> she demanded.
Ramirez kept his hands up and tried to look as unthreatening as possible. “Okay, I don’t understand anything you’re saying, but you’re obviously very upset by it,” he replied.
Bao Sen replied by jabbing the muzzle of her rifle into his nose.
The Ranger covered his nose with his hands and gave a cry of pain. “Oh, shit, my snout!”
<Bao Sen! Another Dark One is coming through the tunnel!> Alacea’s voice came. <Please do not shoot him! We’ve made an... accommodation.>
Bao Sen’s ears fluttered at the bizarre statement. She looked up as another alien soldier’s head appeared in the tunnel, struggling to squeeze his way out. He saw her and raised his pistol.
“Don’t shoot!” Ramirez cried still holding his nose. “I think we’re good!”
The fox girl’s rifle was pointed at Ben, and Ben’s pistol was pointed at her.
<Bao Sen! If you kill him the others will attack! Don’t hurt him!>
A low growl filled the dark chamber, and Bao Sen’s rifle came down. Cautiously, Ben moved his pistol so it wasn’t quite pointed in the fox woman’s direction.
“Ramirez,” Ben said. “You good?”
The NCO moved the muscles in his face around. His nose didn’t seem broken, so that was good. “Yes, Sir! I’m good!”
Bao Sen backed up against the far wall so she could keep both humans in her sight. Ramirez climbed to his feet, and Ben whistled to him. Looking up, Ramirez caught the M-17 his captain threw down to him. He held it with the muzzle pointed down, not wanting to spook the armed Va’Shen woman, but kept his eyes on her shadowy form just in case. He heard Ben grunt as he pulled himself out of the tunnel and slide down the pile of rocks and dirt until he was standing next to him.
“Is everyone okay in there?!” Patricia called through the tunnel.
Ben gave Bao Sen a once over. The fox woman was eyeing him suspiciously, but her rifle remained pointed downward.
“I think we’re okay,” he called back. “Send Alacea and then come through yourself. It’s tight, but you two should be okay.”
He turned his attention to the armed alien nearby. Her gaze bored into him through the light of his flashlight. Her bright red hair stood out in the dark and flashed behind her as her tail swished back and forth in anxiety. She was shorter than Alacea by a few inches, making her a full head shorter than Ben. Unlike Alacea’s plain clothing, however, Bao Sen wore furred trousers scattered with purple, grey and brown splotches. The color scheme was so out of the ordinary that it took Ben a second to realize the Va’Shen woman was wearing camouflage. The weapon she carried was no different from the countless hardlight rifles he had seen in the hands of other Va’Shen soldiers on four worlds now.
His examination of the fox woman ended as he heard the sound of someone climbing from the tunnel above him. He turned and reached up to help Alacea climb down. Bao Sen watched suspiciously, unwilling to provoke an attack from the humans by moving or speaking out of turn.
When Alacea saw her, however, the priestess rushed to her. <Bao Sen!> She embraced the shorter vixen, who hugged her back. <I’m so glad you’re safe! What happened here?!>
<Alacea Na’Sha,> Bao Sen whispered in confusion. <What are you doing with them? Did you lead them here?>
Alacea was saved from the pointed question by the sound of Patricia crawling from the tunnel. Ben reached up and helped her down, and the interpreter dusted herself off with a nod of thanks. Like the rest of them, she had removed her harness and helmet, but still had her pistol strapped to her hip.
She saw Bao Sen and bowed. <Good hello,> she said in greeting.
<’Good hello,’ to you too,> Bao Sen replied coldly. She turned her attention back to the Mikorin. <Alacea...>
<They have promised no one will be harmed,> Alacea told her in a hushed whisper. <The big one is their leader, the new overlord.>
Bao Sen gripped her rifle a little harder, her teeth clenched. <And you believe them?>
Alacea took a breath. It was too late for half-measures now. <I do.> She looked at Ben for a moment before turning back to her. <We have reached an agreement... that benefits the community.>
“Alacea,” Ben broke in. “Can you ask your friend to tell us what happened here?”
Patricia stepped forward. <Friend you comprehend things to here occur?>
Bao Sen grunted at the gibberish, and Alacea found she had to translate for the translator. <They want to know about the cave-in,> she said.
<The rains caused a slide,> Bao Sen told her. <It concealed the entrance, so we left it as is.>
Behind them, Patricia translated this for Ben, who nodded, turning back to assess the damage.
“Is there another way out?” he asked.
<A second place to leave to is exist?> Patricia asked.
<She speaks worse than a child,> Bao Sen spat in contempt, her eyes trying to light the human woman on fire.
Patricia coughed and reddened in embarrassment. Alacea’s tail thumped the stone floor in pique. <She is learning,> she said, defending the woman who had treated her kindly. As true as Bao Sen’s words were, it was rude to so brazenly point it out. <And she has shown me great courtesy. I would appreciate it if you did the same for her.>
Chastened, Bao Sen bowed her head. <I am sorry, Na’Sha.> She straightened and answered Patricia’s question directly. <There is another entrance, but it is a vertical tunnel that is difficult to use. Our huntresses are the only ones using it now.>
“There’s another tunnel,” Patricia told Ben. “But it might be worse than this one.”
“Okay,” Ben grunted. He turned and climbed up to the tunnel entrance. “Baird!” he called.
“Yes, Sir!” he heard come back from the tunnel. “Everything copacetic in there?”
“Everything is peachy,” Ben called back. “Tell Mulroney to get his guys over here and start digging us out. Set up an observation post on some high ground and give us three-sixty security. Try to get Saber on the radio and let them know we found the Va’Shen and to sit tight. The rest help the SeaBees dig.”
“Copy that, Sir!”
“We’ll check back in an hour,” Ben finished. “And every hour after that.”
After getting another acknowledgement from Burgers, Ben hopped down to the ground and faced the group.
“Okay,” he said to Bao Sen. He gestured to a larger tunnel that led further back into the cave. “Take me to your leader.”
* * *
<Did they torture you?> Bao Sen whispered to Alacea as the two Va’Shen led the group of humans through the cave. <Did they torture the others? Are the elders safe?>
<No, no and yes,> Alacea replied as they walked. Jars of water filled with glowing rocks hung on the smooth tunnel wall at regular intervals, providing more than enough light to see by. <No one has been harmed. The village still stands.>
<What are they waiting for?> Bao Sen asked irritably. <Are our corpses really so desirable to them? Our brothers were not enough?>
Alacea almost missed a step as she considered how to answer. <I... I do not think that is their goal,> she said. <Their leader claims to want to protect us. To let us live our lives as we have before.>
The huntress’s tail slapped the floor in anger. <Na’Sha, with all the respect and deference I can give, I think you are too...>
<Naïve?> Alacea finished for her. <Believe me, Bao Sen, I gave the options great thought. If they wished to kill us, they have the machines and weapons to do so no matter where we run. And their leader is crafty. My only option was to agree to his terms and hope to exercise influence through my cooperation.>
Bao Sen’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at the other vixen. <What has happened?> she whispered. <You are being very careful to not say something.>
<I am not ready to reveal that,> Alacea told her. <I am not yet ready to understand it myself.>
The huntress turned her head and looked at the humans following behind them. <They are not what I expected,> she admitted.
<No,> Alacea agreed. <They are certainly not.>
Trailing not far behind, Ben, Patricia and Ramirez were forced to walk slightly bent over as the tunnel’s ceiling was just high enough for the average Va’Shen vixen but just a bit too low for the humans. Only Ramirez was spared this and the ceiling still brushed the top of his head from time to time.
Reaching out, Patricia ran her fingers against the tunnel wall and frowned. “Sir, have you noticed how smooth this tunnel is?”
“And level?” Ben returned. “And straight? Yeah, like it’s been tunneled out professionally.”
“But it’s old too,” Patricia noted, pointing out the discoloration and the small imperfections made by constant water erosion. “It’s got to be a few hundred years old, at least.”
Ben grunted in response, and Patricia gave the whole thing more thought. “The villagers couldn’t have made it. There’s nothing like that kind of equipment in Pelle, that we saw at least.”
“This is a fall-out shelter,” Ben concluded. “But they didn’t make it with us in mind.”
“Kinda like us, maybe?” Ramirez piped up from behind them. “Maybe they spent a couple of centuries bombing each other before they got around to us?”
“But if so, how come we never saw any of it used against us?” Ben asked. “The Va’Shen fought the whole war without air support, just guerilla and hit-and-run attacks.”
“Yeah,” Ramirez grumbled. “With laser guns and spaceships...”
“And that’s weird too,” Patricia broke in. “Doesn’t it seem weird how they have interstellar flight but most of the planet is agricultural?”
“Yeah,” Ben told her, bending to avoid a low point in the ceiling. “And the tech they do have almost seems out of place.”
“What do you mean?” Ramirez asked.
“You hunt, right?” the captain asked.
“Um... Yes, Sir,” Ramirez replied, unsure where his commander was going with this.
“Would you hunt with your service weapon?”
The NCO shrugged. “If I had to, I could, but I wouldn’t if I had my choice. The bullet is too small, and I’d rather have something with a better scope.”
“Right,” Ben agreed. “Right tool for the right job. And if a better rifle came along for hunting, you might upgrade, right?”
“Right,” Ramirez agreed slowly in puzzlement. “So... what’s all that leading to?”
Ben paused and turned to him. “I’ve never seen the Va’Shen use any other kind of rifle except the ones their soldiers have used.” He nodded in Bao Sen’s direction. “Even her rifle. It’s the exact same model as every other we’ve seen. Almost like it’s the only one they got and they can’t make anymore. All the tech I’ve seen them use, it’s the same. One model. No precursors, no modified upgrades. The U.S. fielded three new infantry weapons in the first year of the war alone. The Va’Shen, nothing. Same from start to finish.”
Patricia whistled at the implications and realized there were others to go with it. “During intel training, they showed us reconnaissance photos of Va’Sh they were using to plan the invasion. The problem was there weren’t many strategic targets to hit. There were berths for their spaceships, but no shipyards, no maintenance facilities.”
Ben nodded and continued walking, quickening his pace to catch up with Alacea and Bao Sen. “We assumed they were off-world somewhere. In orbit around a colony or something. Never found them. I’m starting to think they just don’t exist.”
The conversation broke up as they heard noise coming from ahead of them. Looking up, they saw light coming from the end of the tunnel and watched Bao Sen and Alacea step through it.
<Alacea Na’Sha?! It’s the Na’Sha! She’s back!> they heard someone up ahead yell happily.
The three humans emerged from the tunnel to see a wide open space about the size of a blimp hangar going back a few hundred yards. Several odd-looking lamps and lanterns lit the area, but not enough to make out the ceiling high above them save for a small crack of light that likely served as a chimney. Multicolored tents were scattered throughout the open area, obviously lived in but clean and well kept. In front of them, a group of about thirty Va’Shen vixens, their hair and clothing a colorful mix, were swarming Alacea happily.
Until one saw them.
One of the vixens locked eyes with the humans in surprise. Her forest-green tail poofed out behind her in shock, and her ears went straight up.
<DARK ONES!> she cried, pointing at them.
“Oh, crap,” Ramirez breathed as his hand dropped to his empty holster on instinct.
The rest of the vixens saw them and cried out in terror, their tails puffing out as if struck by lightning. It would have been funny under other circumstances. They all turned to run as Alacea stepped forward, holding her hands up.
<STOP! STOP! IT IS ALL RIGHT! IT’S SAFE!>
Some stopped at Alacea’s assurance, confused by the situation, but the rest continued to run, crashing through tents and knocking over tools.
<We hurt no intent for you!> Patricia tried vainly.
The vixens continued to run and only came up short when a tall Va’Shen woman stepped into their path. As one, the group skidded to a stop before her, some of them falling onto their behinds. The tall vixen, decoratively arrayed in a black and green silk robe with an overwhelming resemblance to a Japanese kimono, looked out at the group with an air of serene indifference. Her dark blue hair, almost black, was pinned up on top of her head, concealing all but the tips of her ears. She hid her mouth behind a bright red fan.
<Is there some problem?> the vixen asked them in an amused tone.
<Dark Ones!> one gasped at her, pointing behind them. <Dark Ones!>
<Don’t be ridiculous,> the elegant woman replied, her long dark tail sweeping the ground behind her in a flamboyant flourish of movement. <If it were the Dark Ones, we would already be dead, no?>
The other Va’Shen didn’t know what to say to that.
<And if they were Dark Ones,> the vixen went on evenly, her eyes narrowing over the edge of the fan, <Then they must be here peacefully. Otherwise, the Na’Sha would not have brought them here... or we would still already be dead.>
She looked over the crowd and lowered her fan, revealing the face of an elegant woman. <Isn’t that right, Na’Sha?>
The crowd turned and found that Alacea had caught up with them. She saw the woman and her ears twitched a smile. <That is right, Yasuren. They mean us no harm.>
<Wonderful,> the woman, Yasuren, concluded. <So, why don’t you all clean up what was disturbed while I greet our guests?>
The Va’Shen weren’t sure what to say for a moment, but, now chastened, their tails had returned to normal. They gave an uncertain look at the humans but in the end started toward the tents they had knocked over.
Alacea sighed in relief. She looked up at Yasuren, her ears twitching happily. <Yasuren, it’s good to see you.>
<I am so glad you’re safe!> Yasuren told her, closing the distance between them in short steps and putting her hands on Alacea’s arms. <I thought I would never see you again. Are you all right?>
<I’m well,> the fox priestess assured her. <But there is much to say.> She broke off and turned to the humans, who were watching the exchange with interest. <This is the new military overlord of Pelle, Ben Gibson,> she said. Patricia was translating into Ben’s ear as she spoke. <Te... Overlord,> she corrected herself, <This is Yasuren, Kasshas’s...>
<Most trusted advisor!> Yasuren interrupted, her tail once again acting as an exclamatory flourish to her words.
<Right,> Alacea confirmed. <She is responsible for the Va’shen here.>
Ben waited for the translation before bowing to Yasuren from the waist. “It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said, keeping it simple.
Yasuren bowed as much as the tightly fastened robes would let her. <It would be best if we spoke privately,> she suggested. <We can use the room where we hold the Aderen.> She turned and began to walk to the wall on the human’s right, making her way down a row of tents.
The humans followed.
“’Aderen?’” Ben asked Patricia as they walked. Patricia had used the term itself rather than the translation.
“It’s like a shura,” Patricia told him. “Think of it as a city council and you wouldn’t be far off.”
Ben nodded in understanding. Knowledge of shuras in the Army went back to the early wars of the 21st century. It was nearly impossible to get anything done in Afghanistan without their approval.
<Yasuren Alacea friendship?> Patricia asked the Mikorin.
Alacea’s ears dipped in an affirmative. <I have always admired her.>
<Our Na’Sha is generous with her praise,> Yasuren spoke up from ahead of them. <I am merely a servant of our community as she is.>
<Yasuren Mikorin as too?> Patricia asked.
<Oh no,> Yasuren told her. <I do not have the dedication to pursue such a calling.>
They continued to walk, the wall finally coming closer. At the tail end of the group followed Ramirez and Bao Sen, each eyeing the other warily as they both assumed the role of their leaders’ bodyguards.
“Do any of their people need medical attention?” Ben asked.
<Va’Shen sick hurt this place?> Patricia asked.
<An interesting first question,> Yasuren replied, pausing a moment to face them. <What would you do if there were?>
<Help sick hurt,> Patricia said. <Before sick hurt more badder.>
Yasuren turned her attention back to the path before them, thinking for several moments before she answered. <There are some who have nose sicknesses,> she said. <The air is cool and damp here. One of our people fell from a ledge and broke his arm.>
“Some of them have colds from being down here,” Patricia told Ben. “One of them has a broken arm.”
“Would she like the Doc to look at them?” Ben asked.
<Our healer look arm bad?>
Yasuren waved the thought aside. <It is unnecessary.>
“That’s a ‘no,’” Patricia told Ben.
They came to a break in the wall that looked too perfectly like an arched doorway to be a natural formation. Yasuren stepped though, and the others followed to find a smaller room about the size of an average conference room. Several thick blankets of many different colors were arranged on the floor in the shape of a neat oval with more decorative blankets on either end.
The Va’Shen woman turned to Bao Sen.
<Bao Sen, will you see to it that we are not disturbed?>
The huntress’s ears twitched. <Of course, Yasuren. I’ll be outside.>
“She’s going to watch the door,” Patricia supplied to Ben.
“Ramirez, stand out there with her and keep things real,” Ben ordered.
Ramirez gave his captain a quick nod and followed the Va’Shen outside.
Once the two guards had left, Yasuren turned to them and motioned for them to sit. Yasuren and Alacea smoothed the legs of their kimono and monpei and dropped to their knees, resting on their feet. Ben sat across from them, legs crossed while Patricia imitated the Va’Shen.
Finally given a free moment, Ben gave Yasuren another once over. Slightly taller than Alacea, she appeared older than the fox priestess, though the vixen’s beauty and elegance made it impossible to determine by how much. She appraised him with her own violet eyes as her tail wrapped around her and rested on her knees, the very tip of the dark blue appendage snow-capped with a spray of white. She knelt tall and straight, a woman very much conscious of her social status and its expectations.
<Welcome,> she told Ben, bowing to him. <I hope our relationship can be a friendly and productive one.>
“She hopes we can all be friends,” Patricia supplied.
Ben bowed back. “Pleased to meet you.”
Patricia translated, and with the formalities out of the way, Yasuren jumped right into business.
<I modestly ask the Overlord’s intention here,> she stated.
“What do you want?” Patricia translated. “But nicer.”
“We’ve come to bring the people of Pelle home,” Ben said.
<Pelle people return to Pelle place,> Patricia told Yasuren.
Yasuren paused to digest the demand, and Alacea spoke up. <They claim to want to live in peace with us,> she said.
<And what would this peace look like?> Yasuren asked not Alacea, but Ben and Patricia.
<I comprehend poorly question,> Patricia told her in return.
<Are we to return as slaves?> Yasuren pressed. <Are we to be moved away from our valley to work elsewhere?>
“They want to know if we intend to enslave them,” Patricia told Ben.
“We want them to return to Pelle and do what they’ve always done... just... without the shooting humans part... You know what I want. Make it pretty.”
Patricia nodded and cleared her throat. <No slaves,> she said. <Stay Pelle. Do Pelle things. No hurt us. Just do Pelle things.>
The visible tips of Yasuren’s ears twitched. <You claim no spoils? Am I to believe that?>
“She’s skeptical.”
“No kidding,” Ben replied darkly. “Tell her our mission in Pelle is to fuel vehicles moving between the capital and other cities and to help them recover from the war. As long as they don’t interfere with that and don’t threaten our people, they can live their lives however they want.”
Patricia took a minute to consider how to phrase it and nodded. <Leader of fighters say unto you... fighters feed moving things... fighters help to Pelle be strong again... Pelle people no make hurt to fighters, Pelle people be Pelle people. Do Pelle things.>
Yasuren’s eyebrows arched at the messy translation, and she turned to Alacea. <Can you provide context, Na’Sha? They want to feed our livestock?>
<No, Yasuren,> Alacea said. <I think they are saying that we are free to live our lives so long as we do not threaten them or attempt to interfere with their mission here.>
Yasuren’s ears twitched again in frustration. <Na’Sha, I have a very hard time believing that the Dark Ones would occupy our village just to leave us alone. Surely they mean to take advantage of our people in some way.>
Alacea’s ears drooped. It was a fear she harbored as well. It sounded too good to be true and so it probably was.
Patricia caught enough of the byplay to try to comment further. <War gone,> she said. <Emperor say war gone. Leader of America say war gone. War gone.> She put her hands together. <Va’Sh peace. America peace.>
“What’s the issue?” Ben asked her.
“They can’t believe we don’t want anything,” Patricia told him.
“I wonder what they expected us to demand,” Ben told her.
Patricia took the remark as an order and turned to the two vixens. <What you fear leader of fighters make to you do?> she asked.
The two vixens looked at one another. Yasuren definitely didn’t want to give the soldiers any ideas. <Ill treatment,> she said simply. <In its many forms.>
“She’s afraid you’re going to treat them badly,” Patricia said.
“What can I say that will convince them I won’t?” he asked.
<Leader of fighters say unto you what leader of fighters do make Pelle people know no harm?>
Yasuren didn’t answer immediately, and Alacea cleared her throat. <Yasuren... the Overlord did accept my subjugation.>
The statement confused the older vixen further. <If he truly had you would not be alive,> she whispered.
Alacea’s tail swished from side to side in agitation. <I will explain in private later, but the point is... he has already done what was necessary to assure our trust.>
<From another Va’Shen,> Yasuren pointed out. <He is a Dark One.>
<Then there is no answer we can give to his question!> Alacea retorted. <One side must budge!>
<Then let it be them!> Yasuren snapped at her.
<We do not have the strength to hold firm,> Alacea told her seriously.
Yasuren turned back to Patricia. <What will you do if we do not come home?> she asked straightly.
“What if they don’t want to come home?” Patricia translated.
Ben gave the question serious thought. Forcing the Va’Shen to come with him would require the threat of force, and if he did that now he’d have to do it forever. On the other hand, he couldn’t leave a potentially hostile force up here left to their own devices with laser weapons and God knew what else at their disposal. If they refused to leave, he’d have to cut the baby in half.
“If they don’t come with us, we will stay up here with them,” he said.
“Um... what?” Patricia asked.
“If they love their cave so much,” Ben told her with some frustration, “Then they can stay in their cave, but we will station troops in here with them or camp them outside the cave entrance. But we’re not leaving them here all alone.”
“Okay,” Patricia breathed. She took a breath and turned to the Va’Shen. <You stay cave. We stay cave. You stay Pelle. We stay Pelle.>
Both vixens’ tails stopped moving and dropped to the floor in shock.
<What?> Yasuren breathed.
Alacea reached out and gripped her arm in warning. <Be careful, Yasuren,> she whispered urgently. <This one is crafty. It is at a time like this, when you believe you have him backed against the river, that he proposes something ludicrous... and you find no other option but to accept.>
Yasuren turned back to Ben and swallowed the response she almost gave, which would have been a gracious welcome for his troops in their new home, but Alacea’s warning forced her to give the Dark One’s proposal more careful consideration, and under the wilting force of that consideration, she suddenly found the Ranger captain had already won.
The Va’Shen plan from the beginning hinged on the fact that the Dark Ones didn’t know where they were hiding or that they were even hiding at all. Upon finding a sparsely populated town whose people had supposedly killed themselves in shame, they expected the Dark Ones to rage against the village and the remaining elders, her own Tesho among them, left behind to accept that punishment. Then, after the, albeit small, massacre was over and the village was in ruins, the Dark Ones, with their blood lust sated, would move on to more lively game. The villagers would then return home and rebuild.
But with the Dark One leader sitting across from her in the very heart of their hiding place, that plan was already a complete failure. He could station troops here and supply them from their military stores while the food her people brought with them slowly depleted. In the meantime, their crops went untended and their animals left behind wandered aimlessly, prey for the predators that would soon realize the herds’ Va’Shen protectors were gone and attack. Their community would get weaker every day, while the Dark Ones remained strong until they would eventually have no choice.
The Overlord would have their subjugation. It was only a question of how long it would take.
And Pelle would likely never recover.
Yasuren’s ears flattened, her tail went limp at this realization. The Overseer would get what he wanted, and he didn’t even have to threaten them.
<I will take it to the Aderen,> Yasuren told him in defeat. <A decision like this cannot be made myself alone.>
“She said she has to ask the Aderen,” Patricia told him.
“It’ll take a while for Baird and Mulroney to dig out the entrance anyway,” he told her with a nod. “Tell her that’s fine.”
Patricia bowed to Yasuren graciously. <Leader of fighters say unto you Aderen is good.>
