The howl of the storm’s wind wakes me. The cavern we are in refuge from it. Stretching my shoulder, the soreness still there - I look over to the woman who lies unconscious. Shuffling towards her from my knees, I look upon the wound. The medigel almost fully absorbed by her body, I look to the case, there are eight doses left; each one worth five weeks of rations.
“Mother…” she whispers in a fever dream.
Sighing, I give her one more dose. The fresh medigel expands into the wound creating a new film. From there she will be on her own, she is not my burden. Looking to the black metallic box which she guarded so vehemently, I decide it will be payment for her life. There are strange markings upon it, some I recognize and some I do not. Tracing my calloused hands upon it, I feel a prick of something sharp. My finger is cut, a small drop of my blood falls onto the box rolling inside one of the cracks. Strangely it disappears into it.
After a time of studying it, I find there is no keyhole, no latches. Seemingly no way to open it. Taking my laser cutter out now I place the box down on the sandstone and begin trying to cut. After a few moments seeing nothing has happened I turn the dial to full. Still nothing. Sekat, this must be a composite metal. I will need a special cutter for this, my tribe has one hidden beneath the metal floors. Arrum and me repaired it when we were boys and unable to do the climb. I learned how to do many things as a boy, an Ulima must always be useful.
Storing the small black box in my bag, I look over to the woman again and search her person for anything of value. Without me, she would surely be dead, this much she owes me. Something glints in the light around her temples. Brushing the soot away with my sleeve I see she has something embedded there, shaped like a rhombus. It takes me a moment and I realize what it is.
I have seen this device before, on holo’s. The nobles among the masters wear these, the purpose I do not know. Feeling a pit in my stomach, I back away from her. Regret sweeping over me, I should have left her to die. When the storm ends I will leave her. Her fate will be her own once more.
***
It takes a few more hours and the worst of the storm is gone. Taking one last look at the woman, I place three days ration of food and water next to her. More than she deserves. Departing into the winds, they cloak me from prying eyes as I move towards my domed city of patchwork metal.
It takes the better part of the day to reach it, night on the horizon. I reach the place I must wait, the winds nearly gone now. I am thankful to the storm for once, without it I may not have made the trip. Above me I see ships heading towards where the destruction occurred. It surprised me that I did not see any Kuwathi on the sands, I was sure they would have gone to scavenge the ships. Perhaps the masters do not want them to.
I feel a rope smack my shoulder and look up. It is time. I tie the rope around my waist and tug it three times. It begins to pull me upwards into the darkness of the chute. At the top I see Nekam and three of his brothers. They look disappointed.
“The bags?” Nekam asks me.
I shake my head, about to explain, but he curses and raises a hand.
“We will speak of it later, the city is on lockdown we must move quickly.”
“Before we go, my chief.” I say brandishing the two plasma pistols I have, handing them to him.
“Daki.” Nekam says grabbing my shoulder firmly, the look of disappointment fading. In the old tongue Daki means simply - little demon.
It is not for me to decide if he will take weapons for our tribe. In our city it is illegal to possess them, unless you are part of the ruling tribe. The black box however, is my prize, I am greedy for it, willing to take the risk of not telling him of it.
After a few moments he shoves the weapons into his cloak and nods to his brothers and I.
“We move swiftly, in the shadows.” He says pulling his hood and covering his face.
***
It takes us a few hours to reach our dwelling, hiding from patrols. The last time I saw the city locked down was after the Sage Artemius left to do the walk. It was chaos for a time. This feels different. The guards all have weapons drawn, usually they only carry them by the gate and their lodgings. It worries me, but I push the thoughts from my mind.
The bolts slide open after Nekam knocks, our guard is not posted outside. We move inside and it shuts. I move quickly now towards Arrum. He is sweating profusely, his face pale. Two older women tend to him with Nevari, they are praying over him I realize as I draw near.
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“Without the bags we cannot trade for the medicine, I am sorry.” Nekam says to me with a hand on my shoulder.
From my cloak I pull out the medigel case, grabbing a dose in each hand I inject them into Arrum. Nekam and his brothers gather around now. He picks up the case looking it over. I see the medigel spreading quickly below the skins surface. I can only hope it will be enough. Saying a prayer to my forsaken gods, for the sake of my friend.
“How did you get this?” Nekam asks me holding up the case.
“I am not sure you will believe me, my chief.” I say replaying in my mind what happened over the last days.
Nekam laughs at this, the others of my tribe are gathering around now.
“Little demon, tell us this tale.” He says scratching his beard pensively.
As I begin to tell it everyone comes in close to hear what has happened. Their eyes alive once more. When I speak of the trap one of Nekam’s brothers speaks.
“I knew it was too risky.” He says and the others nod in agreement.
When I tell them of the man named Betran and his views of the Kuwathi, I see several of them spit on the ground, anger in their eyes. I tell them of the battle in orbit and the destruction of ships, their eyes grow wide and I hear murmurs among them.
“We saw the light through the cracks in the dome.” One of the men says.
“That must be why they locked down the city. Don’t want the Kuwathi to get a good prize.” Another says clenching his jaw.
“Continue.” Nekam says.
I tell them of the man who grumbles no more and the pilot, describing in detail everything that transpired. When I get to the part about the woman I pause, weighing my words carefully. I do not want them to know that I helped her, they will surely think less of me if they knew she was a noble among the masters. How could they not, I think less of me for it. Foolish. Nekam eyes me closely as I describe a slightly different tale of what transpired.
“There I was - hands still bound. I picked up the box and threw it to him. Just high enough that his eyes would wander, I closed the gap on him.” I say demonstrating with my knife “Just before he fell to his knees and I cut his carver throat - I whispered something to him.”
I look around the room of people who wait in anticipation.
“Come now - spit it out.” One man says with a grin, everyone cheers in agreement.
“I whispered to him - Woof.” I say unable to conceal my grin.
It takes everyone a moment as the smiles form and then they begin howling with laughter.
“Woof, like a dog.” A man says holding his sides while laughing “I wish I could have seen.”
A few people in the crowd of my tribe begin barking like a dog, causing more to laugh. The only person I do not see laughing is Neeba, he sits quietly in the corner biting his nails. I may have to deal with him soon enough, my gut tells me he is a threat. Nekam has a wide grin on his face, he raises a hand to quiet the room. After they all settle down I finish my tale, telling them how the carvers craft was destroyed. I say nothing of the woman, I know how they will judge.
Nevari waves a hand to draw the attention of the room as Arrum tries to sit up. They give him a sip of water, his mouth too parched to speak. All eyes on him, people kissing the pendant of Hempki our tribes god, saying hushed prayers.
He reaches a hand up to me, I grasp it. A weak smile on his face.
“Kada… my brother.” He says then leaning in closer for all to hear “Woof.”
The room erupts in laughter again.
“You need to rest, save your strength cousin.” Nevari says wiping the sweat from Arrum’s brow.
He coughs and tries to wave her off. Nekam comes to him now.
“Rest, nephew.” He says. I am surprised by it, he rarely refers to Arrum as his blood.
Arrum nods to him and falls back into his pillow, fast asleep within moments.
“Come.” Nekam says to me now pulling me away from the group.
Following him to the upper level of our dwelling, the area his closest family sleeps. We are alone up here and he bids me to sit on a cushion upon the floor across from him.
“I sense there are things you did not tell me.”
He is more perceptive then I gave him credit. I weigh his words to decide if I will continue my lie. Surely he will take the box from me if he finds out.
“You have proved yourself this last week especially. Few have the courage to face certain death for the sake of another. Fewer still for those who do not have their blood.”
He pours me a small cup of water and hands it to me. It is strange, he has never offered me his water before.
“I think there are some things you don’t feel you can tell me. Little demon, you have my confidence. Speak your truth.”
Weighing his words heavily, I want to tell him of Neeba’s betrayal, but he is his first born.
“Your chute didn’t really jam, did it?” He asks me.
“No, my chief. The cords were cut.”
His jaw clenches his eyes flash a glow for a second then he calms taking a sip of the water.
“You did well to not bring it before the group. Even better that you did not slay him for it. As his father, I will punish him.”
Nodding to him I take a sip of my water, a wave of relief washing over me. Neeba will be less likely to come for me if he knows his father is watching for it.
“You spoke of a box in your tale, your words vague.” He says.
My heart begins to pound, my mind racing.
“My chief.” I begin.
“I will not take your prize, not after you have brought to me weapons, medicines and armor.”
“Thank you my chief.” I say with relief.
“May I see it?”
I nod to him pulling it from my cloak. He spends a time moving his hands over it, admiring the details.
“Have you been able to open it?” he asks me, while still looking at it, studying every part of it.
“No, my chief. My cutter was not enough to open it.”
“Interesting.” He says then hands it back to me “There is more to your story you did not tell.”
Swallowing hard I nod to him.
“Tell me, leave out no detail.”
I tell him the full story including the woman.
“Sekat.” He curses “Two doses wasted on one of them.”
“I did not know she was one of them until after I helped her, my chief.” I say looking at the ground filled with regret.
Seeing my shame he says “Do not dwell on the past, what is done is done.”
His words are especially kind, I am not used to this. He has never spoken to me for so long before either. He stands now peering over the ledge motioning for his brothers to join us. When they arrive he says to one of them “Get the big cutter, there is work to be done.”