Kyle took a minute to process Garth’s words. Ultimately, he decided to listen to his companion. With a nod to the Corthian Mining team, Kyle spoke.
“I trust your judgment.”
Turning to DeRosa, he continued.
“I don’t trust yours. I sincerely hope you prove me wrong.”
If his words bothered Victor, it didn’t show. In a voice that might as well have been talking about swallow migratory patterns, he spoke.
“I assume one of you will be assuming control of the Central Authority, who will it be? We, of course, have had plans for succession, so the transition should be relatively seamless.”
Reynolds shifted uncomfortably as DeRosa spoke, clearly not liking the developments. He seemed about to say something, but stopped. Kyle frowned as he picked up this interaction out of the corner of his eye, and focusing on his Auric Perception he picked up a faint tendril of mana reaching out from DeRosa to the armored man. It faded almost as quickly as it appeared, though it still put Kyle on edge. It was a level of mana control well beyond what Kyle had seen before, even eclipsing his own by a decent margin. It served as a reminder that he was dealing with a dangerous element, and he took a steadying breath before continuing.
“Garth will be stepping into your role and overseeing the preparations. Will the two of you be able to work with that?”
This time, Kyle paid close attention to see if any more tendrils of energy were being cast out by the man. None were, as both men responded almost at once.
“Yes.”
DeRosa then turned to Chester.
“I assume you’re the person in charge of the logistics of the evacuation. If you and Mr. Boltsbury would be so kind to accompany me to my office, we can discuss the logistics and organize next steps. Oh, and if you’d be so kind as to start clearing the rubble of our wall, we’ll need to get that repaired.”
Chester nodded.
“I’ll handle the wall on my way out.”
Without waiting for a reply from Garth, DeRosa turned and began walking back down the street. The brown-robed man didn’t hesitate as he followed, though Kyle could feel the mana in the air condensing towards him. Garth fell into step beside him as they walked, and Kyle felt confident that even if DeRosa did try to do something stupid that Chester would easily put him in his place.
“I guess our part is done then. Let’s head back to the shuttle.”
Skippy and Duroc nodded as they moved, but just as Kyle was following, he was stopped by an all-too familiar voice.
“Is that you Uncle Kyle?” He froze as he saw the now much-larger Amalia stepping out from the small crowd of unawakened who had gathered. Frank wasn’t far behind, catching up and grabbing the girl. “Please, sir, pay her no mind –“ the man was clearly nervous, worried that his granddaughter had approached these dangerous strangers out of nowhere. Fortunately, C.H.A.D.D. was ready to come to the rescue.
[AMALIA, DR. MAYHEW ISN’T YOUR UNCLE. FAMILY HISTORIES ARE INCOMPLETE, THOUGH IT IS SAFE TO SAY BASED ON EXISTING RECORDS AND ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE THAT THE CHANCES ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN ONE PERCENT.]
Frank’s nervous expression was replaced momentarily by confusion, then finally recognition.
“It really is you. We heard you’d been killed, what a blessing.”
The crowd was beginning to murmur, and Kyle was beginning to grow uncomfortable.
“Yeah Frank, it’s me. I don’t want to cause a fuss. It was good to see you both.”
“Really, Kyle?”
The old man raised an eyebrow as he looked at the massive hole in the wall.
“It’s a little late for that. Please join us for dinner. Arianna was wrapping up some coursework in the city, she’ll be back soon.”
Kyle wanted to find an excuse to leave, but at this point Duroc and Skippy were both well outside the ruined wall, and he saw a number of familiar faces in the crowd wanting to get a closer look. With a sigh, he relented.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Several hours and multiple bowls of spicy stew later, Kyle finally admitted to himself that he was glad he chose to stay. Frank and his granddaughters, like the majority of the unawakened refugees, were housed in districts closest to the walls. This meant that the vast majority of the people living out here had been either directly or indirectly rescued by Kyle. He was shocked to hear the rumors that had spread about him, everything from a bona fide folk hero to being a bogeyman lurking in the dark. For its part, C.H.A.D.D. would correct inaccuracies and ensured the group knew exactly how often Kyle messed up.
This was met with riotous laughter by the large group that gathered around the fire, and Kyle felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the flames or the incredibly spicy stew. Seeing the laughing, smiling faces made the struggles he’d been through mean something. One thing was nagging at the back of his head, though, and he posed the question to the group around him.
“What has it been like since you all got here? Have you been treated well?”
A chuckle broke the silence, then Frank spoke.
“Kyle, we have shelter. We have food. The children have places to play and opportunities to learn. It might not be exactly like it was before, but it’s a paradise compared to what was waiting for us outside the walls. We have you to thank for getting us here.”
Kyle saw nods of confirmation and smiles on the faces of the other survivors in the group, and the warm feeling returned. Before he had a chance to say much else, he spotted Garth and Chester approaching. Garth waved him over, and Kyle excused himself from the group.
“How’d everything go with DeRosa?”
Garth looked worried.
“Almost too good. The man has another angle here, but at least it feels like he’s taking the threat seriously.”
Chester nodded his agreement.
“There’s certainly more to discuss, though I’d prefer to wait until we’re back on the shuttle. Will you be joining us, or staying here?”
Kyle looked at the group of survivors. While part of him really wanted to stay, he also understood that there were still important logistics to get ironed out.
“I’ll join you. Give me a minute to say my goodbyes.”
“Not a problem at all. I’ll get to work fixing this wall.”
Kyle walked back over to where the survivors still stood around the fire in the fading light.
“I’m going to take off, I’m glad you’re all doing so well. There’s a lot of change likely going to happen, I’d ask that as you can, please support Garth through it.”
He hooked a thumb of his shoulder as he said the last part, gesturing to the grizzled soldier watching Chester with interest. Kyle had been about to say more, when the earth started trembling. Out of the ground, a thick wall of stone began to rise. Rubble from the old wall was pushed away as Chester continued his work, sweat beading his brow with the effort.
The new wall began to expand until its edges touched each side where the old one had been. With swift movements of his hands, a tunnel opened to the outside and stone steps began to jut out from the wall into Nierburg, allowing access to the top. Everybody stood in silence for a moment at the display of power. While DeRosa’s cyclone of mana earlier was impressive, this was an entirely different level of both raw might and finesse. Satisfied with his work, Chester turned to Kyle and Garth.
“Shall we?”
The men left the city and made their way back to the shuttle, chatting idly as they walked. Once on board, Chester’s tone got more serious as he handed Garth a small pendant.
“Mr. Boltsbury, I hope you recognize the risk you’re taking here. We will know if you get seriously injured or killed, but this is simply a deterrent, not a protection. That man is dangerous.”
Garth nodded.
“I understood that going in. I can’t exactly back out now though, can I? I don’t think DeRosa will try to have me killed, at least outright. The position of Councilman doesn’t mean anything after the world ends, and I’m honestly more worried about what will happen after our evacuation.”
“I can appreciate that. Mr. Mayhew, Mr. Boltsbury has brought up an important topic, and there is a component I’d like to discuss with you. Would you care to walk with me for a moment?”
Kyle nodded, not entirely sure what the man was going to say. Garth was speaking with a member of the triage team as they got to work attuning the pendant, while Kyle and Chester walked towards the exit of the shuttle. As they stepped out into the cool night air, Chester spoke.
“I mentioned to you before that finding a variety of natural treasures and other resources is the secondary objective of our expedition. That’s what will offset the costs and make it worth our investment. What I’m not sure you understand is the scope of the project ahead of us.”
He paused for a moment.
“Being blunt, far more people survived than we anticipated. Specifically, a particularly high number of unawakened. While it won’t change our commitment, I think you should know that your people won’t all be given luxurious accommodations. As a whole, your people simply won’t be able to contribute enough to rise above the baseline costs of evacuation.”
Kyle stopped, beginning to grow cold. “What are you saying, Chester?”
“I’m saying that unless something happens to dramatically change this current reality, many of the luxuries your people enjoy, even now, will be a thing of the past. After seeing a small display of your abilities twice now, however, I think you may be able to have a hand in changing that. There are several areas we’ve identified that appear to contain high-rarity treasures. I deemed these to be too risky for the bulk of the expedition. However, if you were able to join a small squad in those areas, I think the calculus would shift. You have unique talents that would be a real asset in the field. As compensation, Corthian Mining would be willing to allocate a portion of the funds from any of these rarer treasures toward securing a better foundation for your people. With a much smaller portion going directly to you as a commission, of course.”
The night air was silent as Kyle processed everything he’d been told. He wanted to ask questions, to protest the unfairness. He also knew that would be futile. This was the way of the world, and Chester had just offered him a way to do more. What’s more, it was a chance for him to explore a planet – his planet – that he’d seen so little of. He thought about the faces of the people he’d shared a meal with, and came to a decision.
“When do we leave?”