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  Duel shrugged. “I can only imagine that someone in charge went very wrong along the way.”

  The Dbor clan elder cocked her head. “Once dissatisfaction with one’s physical state begins, it can have devastating effects. It spreads through dorms like a disease.”

  The Norm and Otta clan heads were near each other. They looked toward each other and nodded grimly. The Norm rep said, “We have heard rumours of the cellular alteration, but we had no way of viewing it firsthand. The few reports that the resistance have managed to get out have indicated that genetic alteration is instigated when they are adolescents and encouraged the moment that they are adults.”

  Duel was surprise,d but the Padu clan elder asked, “You knew about this?”

  The Otta clan leader sighed. “We are the keepers of secrets. Of course, we knew. We just have no way of helping the city without being seen. We don’t precisely blend in.”

  Duel grinned. “Yeah, you have that right.”

  She focused on why she was there. “Back to the message?”

  The com officer gave her a grateful look.

  The elders nodded, and everyone focused their attention on the next part of the message.

  “As you are the warriors of your race, it is you that we wish to negotiate with. We want to broker a truce between our people.”

  The elders looked at each other.

  The com officer paused the recording and waited. When no one said anything, she continued.

  “We would like to speak face to face with you in order to discuss the options regarding our personnel and the future of your world.”

  The message ended, and Duel folded her hands in front of her. “The rest of the message is frequencies for communication.”

  The elders turned to speak to each other, but the Aka clan leader turned back to her. “Thank you for your assistance, Duel. Can you stand by for ten minutes or so?”

  “I can.”

  Duel nodded and the elders left the com tower. She glanced out the window where the helmet of Kab was peering into the tower, and she smiled. “I am amazed they were able to concentrate.”

  The com officer sighed. “So am I.”

  Duel smiled and stuck her hand out. “I am Duel Aka.”

  The woman inclined her head and shook the hand, “Rema Otta.”

  “Were you in here during the attack?”

  Rema chuckled. “I was up here during the burn, and then, everything went wild.”

  Duel chuckled. “Tell me about it.”

  Rema paused. “Was it horrible? I mean, we have all been trained for the protocol, but I don’t think anyone has had to do it before.”

  “It isn’t horrible. It feels... like something we were supposed to do. The city was horrible. They were held up to us as an example of evolution and the glory of our colony. They have collapsed into a small segment of the city space and are spending time becoming as unnatural as they can.” Duel pinched her brows. “I don’t think it is all of them. We were only there for an hour.”

  Rema nodded. “Dif has been doing an excellent job of defending us since the bots left. Do you think he could be more effective if his pilot was sent to the city?”

  Duel shuddered. “No. She is doing great. She’s an Otta, so since the person in charge of the city is an Otta, we have no idea if he corrupted the pilot file or not.”

  Rema blinked. “Oh. I guess not.”

  Duel leaned against the wall, and she sighed. “What happened here?”

  “Well, the bots had been gone for less than an hour when we started to see the stars falling. I was manning the station, and the lines were suddenly alive with signals. I jammed the first ones, but it was too much to keep track of. The first ones that landed out of site took a while to get here, but after that, they lined up and kept themselves in visual range. Once they had a sufficient force, they started to march on the valley and only the emergency personnel were allowed out of the bunkers.”

  Duel patted her shoulder. “Weren’t you lucky.”

  “I was, actually. I got to see Dif rise and start firing, and it was an incredible thing. Even buried to the waist, it was amazing to watch, but we knew then that we were outnumbered. That was when your signal came through.”

  Duel smiled slightly. “We were moving as fast as we could.”

  “I know. You did well in your timing, Dif did well in our defense, and the guardians of the entries kept the incoming troops out of our tunnels.”

  “But no casualties?”

  Rema grinned. “None. We may not use the weapons much, but we still make a helluva plasma cannon.”

  Duel sighed. “I think everyone has forgotten what they were dealing with.”

  The Otta clan head returned to the com tower. “It appears that they have. We have a message to send to the Tokkel.”

  Duel perked up. “Yes, elder?”

  “Ask them, How do you dispose of your battlefield dead?”

  Duel blinked. “We already know that.”

  “Yes, but they don’t know we know. They are going to be shocked enough that we are sending them a response in their language. This will keep them off balance. So, send the message and don’t include anything else.”

  Duel nodded, and Rema opened the coms. When the channels were open, Kab asked the question, “How do you dispose of your battlefield dead?”

  She nodded when the message was finished, and Rema closed the outgoing channel.

  She looked to the elder of the Otta, the in-between clan of the valley. “What now?”

  The elder smiled. “Now, we wait for a reply.”

  * * * *

  Nyvett looked around the battlefield, and she and Iff began to check for remains in each and every transport. It was the grim part of war.

  Iff said softly, “You are sad.”

  “We weren’t trained for this. I was trained to run inventories and keep track of the needs of the valley and its population.”

  “War is never a desirable result.”

  “No. No, it isn’t.” Nyvett looked at the battlefield, littered with the remains of men who had simply had the misfortune to attack her people. Her rage was gone now, in its place was pity.

  Len was over to her left, gathering the crushed bots and the empty vehicles and putting them into a large pile. Ai was on watch with Myx, next to Dif. All instruments were on the sky.

  Kab was over next to the com tower, and Cio was carefully gathering the dead for the death keepers to take records of.

  All the bots were busy, and she didn’t know what the others were thinking, but she was wondering what was going to happen next.

  * * * *

  The message that came back surprised Duel, but the Otta elder merely gave a grim nod.

  “We have a burial pit in the center of our town, and we burn the dead at midnight, surrounded by those who grieve them.”

  Otta cleared her throat and said, “Send back, thank you, we will honour your dead as if they were with their own.”

  Kab translated the words, and Duel looked to the elder when the transmission was over. “That is not what we learned from the prisoners.”

  Otta grinned, baring more teeth than Duel was comfortable with. “I know. They want to know where our city is, precisely. I believe that we will offer them an alternate site if they want to come and mourn their dead.”

  Duel nodded. “I will go and help them gather the dead. It is what my clan does.”

  Otta nodded. “You may go and offer your services, but if we call you, we need you back here immediately.”

  Duel swallowed and nodded. “I will be ready and listening.”

  Otta nodded and went to Rema. “You have been on duty since the burning. Your replacement will be on her way soon.”

  Duel waved at Rema and headed back toward Kab. She stepped onto his hand, and he carried her to the remains of the battlefield. There were dead to tend to, and alien or not, they had left the living world w
ithin the valley. They were hers to record.

  Chapter Eight

  It seemed completely natural to be moving among the hundreds of dead with the recorder and a bag to collect the identifying insignia.

  Duel murmured soothing words to each of the maimed and burned dead that she dealt with as she wandered through the fields of dead with others of her clan.

  Piling the Tokkel on transports, they brought them out past their landing sites, behind the ridge and just to the edge of the territory of the crimson bees.

  They piled the bodies neatly, within a large pit with layers between them. It was a grim thing to do on such a sunny day, but with fifty tenders of the dead working, they soon had the deceased recorded and decently buried.

  “Come on, Duel. Sit and have something to eat.” Her cousin Kidian smiled. “They are all below the ground now.”

  Duel took the rations and the damp cloth from Kidian, and she washed her hands and face. It was awkward getting around the headset, but she tried her best. “Thank you.”

  “This is not what I expected when burning day started.” Kidian sighed. “I guess it was the same for you.”

  Duel ate the rations and nodded. “It still is. This isn’t over. Kab and the others can still see the warships in orbit. They haven’t left.”

  Kidian shivered. “Out of all of our histories, this is not one I ever thought we would relive.”

  “I know. It is a bit of a shock to the system.” Duel tapped her headset.

  “Oh, yeah. Does that hurt? I can see the spikes.”

  “It hurt for a moment, but now, it is just a light ache. I think most of that is just dehydration and hunger, so thanks for lunch.”

  “It was my honour, Pilot Duel.” Kidian elbowed her slightly.

  “Hah. Thanks. I am glad that so many were willing to come out and deal with the dead.”

  “Well, we didn’t want them rotting in the sun. You know how fast a body can go off.”

  Duel wrinkled her nose. “I know. Boy, do I know. Ah, there is Iff. I think I see what the elder of Otta is up to now.”

  Duel watched as Iff hauled one of the dropships and set it carefully on top of the fresh mass grave.

  Cio followed and brought fuel canisters, setting it in place with deliberate care.

  Kidian blinked. “What is going on?”

  “The Tokkel in orbit are trying to get us to point to the center of our settlement, so we are making a suitable pyre for the dead out here. It is a fusion of burial practices, ours and theirs.”

  Kidian shivered. “They are going to attack again?”

  “Oh, yes. That is not in doubt. They didn’t get what they wanted, and they are not going home emptyhanded. The Tokkel don’t have much of a home anymore, so they are content to spend decades looking for new worlds.”

  “How do you know so much about them?”

  Duel felt a little wistful that she couldn’t share details, but she said, “I have access to Kab’s archives.”

  “Oh, right. Does he have access to you as well?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Even the time we got some beer and hid in the munitions dump, drinking until we puked?”

  Kab took over her voice. “Duel says it was the design center, way in the back with the unusable inventions.”

  Kidian looked at her with wide eyes. “Kab?”

  “Yes. I have also not forgotten the time you brought a date into my lift and fumbled around in the dark.”

  Kidian blushed. “I am so sorry.”

  Duel cleared her throat. “Don’t be sorry. He is very amused by it and was enjoying your discomfort.”

  She sighed and looked around. Her peaceful homeland was now dotted with blood, fuel, and shattered metal.

  A courier drove up on a cycle, and she said, “I have been ordered to collect all of the badges from the dead.”

  Duel nodded and handed over her bag. Kidian did the same.

  The woman drove away with a stack of packs in the back of her vehicle. She stopped near the pyre and unpacked the bags.

  When she had left them, someone else came, hauling a large box. The other courier packed all the braids and badges into the large box and unhitched it from her cycle.

  Duel began to get the idea when the woman drove away, but she was interrupted in her train of thought by a comment from Kab.

  “They are calling us all in.” Kab reached down, and she stepped up and onto his hand.

  Duel waved to Kidian. “Thanks again for lunch.”

  Her cousin waved back with a stunned expression on her face.

  Duel didn’t blame her for her surprise. The bots had been monoliths that they tended in order to keep them working, but they had never seen them fully active. It was like watching a statue hike across the landscape, and here, Duel was riding on it.

  The other bots came in and gathered on the scarred ground.

  “Pilots, please, exit your bots.” The request came from a new woman in the com center.

  The clan elders were gathered around Dif’s waist, so that is where Duel had Kab set her down.

  She walked up to the elders and inclined her head. “Duel, pilot of Kab, reporting.”

  “Hima, pilot of Len, reporting.” Hima walked up next to her.

  The others filed in, one by one, set down by their bots.

  Kiida was lowered to the ground by the careful hand of Dif. She waved at the others. “Hello.”

  Duel walked up to her and hugged her. “Thanks for keeping them at bay.”

  The others all came to Kiida in turn and hugged her, each giving their thanks.

  She had been in the right place and on duty when the settlement needed her, and Kiida had defended the valley alone with Dif for nearly an hour.

  The elder of Otta clapped her hands. “We are all pleased that Kiida was effective, but now, we have a more urgent matter at hand.”

  Duel looked at her curiously. “The assault won’t come until the evening.”

  The elder nodded. “That is most likely true, but we need you to do something I never thought I would ask for.”

  Xaia stepped forward. “What?”

  The Turo elder stepped forward. “We need you to return to the city with an attack force.”

  Duel was shocked, but it seemed that Xaia wasn’t.

  They began to discuss what was needed, what would be done, and how many non-pilots could fit in one bot. It was one of the weirdest math problems that Duel had ever seen.

  It was announced that Iff would remain and Dif would take his pilgrimage to get his pilot the proper training.

  Nyvett wasn’t impressed, and Kiida looked like she was going to throw up.

  Duel just had one question, “Does he have legs?”

  Kiida lost her nausea, and she started to laugh. The laugh had a tinge of hysteria, but it was genuine.

  * * * *

  Xaia looked to her elder. “Is Lihanna all right?”

  “She is slightly ashamed and very relieved that you took over, Xaia. Are you well?”

  “I am tired and my muscles ache, but I am very well.”

  Elder Mathis smiled. “I am glad. Do you have an idea of what you are going to do?”

  “I do.” Xaia nodded. There was only one reason to go at the city with an infiltration force. It had a little to do with Dif’s pilot and much more to do with the survival of their species.

  “Good. You have been taught all the codes you will need, but it has to be you leading the force. Only your link to Ai will key open the last of the inner gateways.”

  “Yes, Elder.”

  “I know you will do us proud, child. You always have.”

  Xaia drew in close to her elder, and she whispered, “If you get a chance, all the roamers are in working capacity. They would be an excellent addition to Iff when the sun begins to set.”

  “All of them?”

  “Twenty of them. They are all set for a single driver but ri
gged with a smaller version of the bot’s power system. They can help with any ground troops coming in. In case it comes to that.”

  Elder Mathis smiled. “I will have them brought up into a launch situation. If we need them, they will be ready to go.”

  “Do you think the Tokkel will wait until midnight before they attack?”

  Mathis looked at her and was brutally honest. “I think they are going to drop a warship on us.”

  Xaia nodded. “If you get your troops with rations, we will get back on the road. Oh, do we have a bridge generator?”

  Elder Mathis frowned but nodded. “Yes.”

  “Can we have it? The jump across the chasm is brutal.”

  “I will have it brought up immediately. Good luck, Xaia.”

  “Thank you, Elder. I will see you soon.”

  Xaia really hoped it was the truth.

  Chapter Nine

  “Warriors, have a seat and link to the straps that we had installed. This is going to be rough.” Corbyn was brusque with her passengers, but they were in a hurry.

  “The bot we are in is Myx. I know none of you are Leving clan, but he is friendly enough as long as everyone behaves.”

  She heard murmurs of greeting to Myx.

  “Welcome, warriors. Please remain seated and clear of my pilot’s harness. She needs free range of movement at all times, or I fall over and you are all crushed.” Myx kept his voice dry.

  “Quiet, Myx. I do need freedom of movement, and the cradle is now I tell him exactly what I need him to do. There are two exits from the command deck. The chest port that you entered through and the one-man lift that is used for loading on pilots and repair staff. Both of these are at the discretion of the bot, and that is why you are not of his maintenance clan. None of the warriors match the bot they are riding in.”

  She checked on the others, and they were ready to go. Ai was carrying a glowing silver ball and insisted on getting to the chasm first. There was something about a bridge and if he could make a bridge, she was all for it. Jumping a bot over the chasm was easy but unnerving, and not something she wanted to do with a crowd in front of her.