We couldn’t talk while we drove.

We had to cut to the south in order to get to the vehicle entrance and the sun was just starting to come up as we reached the rock formation where the entrance to the tunnel was hidden.

There were two more Chasers parked in front of the bay doors to the bunker. Five brown skinned people in light tan robes with hoods pulled around their faces and black goggles over their eyes got on their feet to meet us.

“Sipher! That god-forsaken rat has locked us out!” The oldest man of the group walked up to us. “And since when did you start dipping into demis?”

“It seems my last caretaker wasn’t up to the job.” Sipher got off his cycle and walked over to the large doors. “Seems like you brought the whole family.” The bandit laughed as he walked.

“You said you needed to get to the fifties.” The older man motioned at the others. “We’re all Tier Four.”

“Lace, I knew I could count on you!” Siphed frowned. “But we’ve got a benefactor, so it’ll be leaders only.”

“What am I supposed to do? Send them all home?” The man Sipher had called Lace raised his voice.

“I see your point…” Sipher rubbed his chin as he thought. “I’d hate to have you make this show of good faith and have to send it away…” The golden man snapped his fingers. “I bet our benefactor could open the gate to forty-nine if you want to have your people farm there?”

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Lace thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “That would work.”

“Splendid! Now let me deal with this little misunderstanding, then I can call our benefactor.” Sipher touched the console on the right side of the door. I noticed that he wasn’t trying to talk to the people inside, instead he was looking through menus that I hadn’t know existed.

The two bay doors groaned as they slowly slid open. Once they were open enough, Sipher walked through the opening, with Gall not too far behind him. I turned to Nyssa who nodded and the two of us hurried after them. I got my CB ready so that I could pull my sword out if I needed to. But by the time we got in the bunker, Gall was holding the matriarch and it looked like Key had been knocked unconscious.

“You know what Keer?” Sipher had a short sword in his hand. “I DON’T like it when people try to take my things.”

“It was abandoned! There was no one else here!” The matriarch was looking around at the other people’s faces, searching for an ally. “That means it wasn’t yours anymore!”

The golden man slapped her across the face with the flat of his blade. “Just because I’m not home, doesn’t mean it’s not MY home.” He touched the tip of his sword to her throat. “You know, any other day, I’d just take your experience and be done with it…” He pulled his sword away and sheathed in on his hip. “But your daughter did help rescue me, even if it wasn’t needed.” He nodded at Gall, who let the Rhastan go.

Sipher knelt down so he could look Keer in the face. “Get that boy of yours and get out of my home.” He stood up. “We’ll talk later about maybe letting you work with us again.”

The matriarch scrambled to her feet and grabbed Key. She hurried to one of the Chasers, placed the unconscious Rhastan in the back and sped down the tunnel.

Sipher clapped his hands as soon as she was gone. “Who’s ready for something to drink?”