Arriving at Midnight Hollow
Krandermore, Survivor’s Refuge
4453.2.11 Interstellar
It was clear Midnight Hollow was a larger settlement than Cofan long before they caught sight of it. That much human activity produced a glow that completely blanked out the stars and darker sky, even this far east. It reminded Janus of the time he and Lira had driven to Crossroads, back on Irkalla, only less colorful.
It was also the first time Janus had seen a four-lane road on Krandermore, and he shuddered at the expense of having to claw that much real estate back from the jungle.
It wasn’t enough. While three of four lanes were dedicated to inbound traffic, it was the last day of registration before the Trials started, and traffic had slowed to a trickle across all three lanes. The other teams had most likely already arrived, but there were officials, spectators, and heavier transports carrying the supplies needed to feed them, trade delegations profiting from the assembly of people, and other less savory types converging on Midnight Hollow to place bets, smuggle cargo, and settle scores. Not all of their vehicles were made or properly maintained for the long journey and, when they broke down, they slowed the pace of traffic even further.
Janus saw people who’d stopped to yell at the broken-down vehicles, have lunch, talk to a neighbor, or even have a barbecue. Some of them had the decency to do it on the shoulder, but not many.
He let out a long, heavy sigh. He missed the long hours of being the only buggy on the trail. Anything but this.
What made it worse was that he was riding with Koni.
“If you don’t have the stomach for this, coldsider, maybe you should reconsider running in the Trials,” she said.
Janus gripped the steering wheel and endured the barbs in silence. They hadn’t told Koni they were from another world. They hadn’t told her their people and their families were at risk. That would have given her even more leverage over them than she already had. That also meant she didn’t know they’d done this before, that they’d won the Trials on their world, and that Nikandros expected them to do it again.
“Do you see this?” she said, waving at the deadlocked traffic. “This is what you get when you allow the other clans and clanless tribes to organize the festival. This would never happen in Veraz.”
“I’m surprised you’re not blaming coldside for it,” Janus answered.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Your people use the eastern roads,” Koni said with a faint sneer. “Is this your first time in Midnight Hollow? Do I need to explain the valley’s layout to you, coldsider?”
“No,” Janus said.
“Your side is probably worse,” Koni said. “You’re too used to driving wherever you like across the barren wasteland you call home. Is that why you do it? Can’t abide law and order? Or were your people just too weak to survive in the jungle? It’s probably the first time most of you have even seen a road.”
Coldside life wasn’t that different from life on Irkalla, and Janus had had enough. “Are you seriously saying that people who manage to survive in the airless dark, six seconds from death if their suits get breached, can’t figure out how to keep the wheels of their vehicles inside a lane of packed dirt?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Koni said, her eyes sparkling at finally getting a rise out of him.
Janus stopped the buggy. “We’re kicking you off the team.”
“What?”
“We don’t want you. You’re too much of a pain in the ass. You make every moment on this miserable planet a Void-damned misery. I wish we were on the coldside so we could suit you up and block your comm, and you could scream your wretched bile at the rocks until the Survivor comes back to tell you how much he cares!”
Fury growled in agreement from the back seat, and the faint odor of smoke filled the cab, which both Janus and Koni pointedly ignored.
Janus glared, and Koni stared back, not intimidated but reassessing him
“Janus? Are you okay?” Lira asked over the comm.
He didn’t answer. The glow of his eyes would have given away his use of the interface, which would have made him lose the staring contest he was in because all Verazlans were Void-sucking children!
“I didn’t think you had it in you,” Koni said, looking away.
“What?”
“A backbone,” Koni said. Her voice sounded different, more like an adult than a whining teenager. “You can’t replace me. You would need someone of close to equal status within Veraz, and I have no equal.”
“We’ll see about that,” Janus said.
Koni smiled at him, although he could see it was partly out of pity. “I can see why the wayfinder thinks you’re some kind of beacon of his faith, but their doctrine is flawed. The struggle doesn’t matter.” She opened the passenger door and got out. “Strength is everything, Janus. For all your knowledge, you lack the force to lead.”
She slammed the door shut before he could answer.
Janus glowered at her over the steering wheel as she walked in front of him to the driver-side window of the buggy in front of them. She knocked on the window and spoke to the driver while Janus fumed. Then she half-hauled the driver out of his seat, speaking to him calmly even as she lifted him by his shirt.
She dropped him back into his car.
“Koni, what the hell…” Janus started to say.
There was no room on the highway, but somehow, the terrified driver found some. He pulled halfway into the lane to his right, forcing the next person over, leaving room for Janus and Lira to pull forward.
Koni did this three more times, and then the packed cars started moving without her having to do anything. They just assumed there was a reason everyone was getting out of the way.
She got back into the buggy, and they were able to roll forward, vehicles parting like water in front of the prow of a ship.
“I don’t agree with what you just did,” Janus said. “It made things easier for us, but it’s going to screw everyone else.”
“Then stop,” Koni said. “Sit in traffic. Be late to registration. I don’t care.”
Slag, Janus thought. They needed to sign up before the deadline. Lira needed time to find a replacement for the troublesome noble.
He used the opening Koni had created to drive all the way into the makeshift city.