my rank to requisition, sir."
Corwin nodded and holstered his pistol. "Why do you think this has anything to do with my mission?"
"The Ashi-Kage have their dirty jendr fingers into everything . If their network is broad enough, and out here on the frontier it surely is, then they have access to the Quislings and the Choxen."
Corwin clenched his jaw as he processed this new information. The Ashi- Kage. Ugh. "You show your dreng for bringing this information to me."
Yanmao bowed his head in acknowledgment.
Corwin thought a moment. "I'll keep you abreast of our findings."
"That would help me sleep at night, sir. Thank you."
Corwin turned to go, but paused at the door. "I will do what I can, but dealing with the Ashi-Kage is not my mission. Depending on what we find, I will forward it and requisition an Inquest from the Oniwabanshu."
"I understand also, sir. Thank you."
Corwin opened the door to find his Void together in huddled argument just outside.
"We need to get in there," Phae said.
"We've heard no gunshots nor sounds of struggle," Chahal said. "We should heed the advice of the First Exiles and be patient."
"Why don't you take your Exilist…"
"Everything is fine," Corwin said. The others turned to face him.
"What was that about?" Phae asked. She didn't keep the snarl from her voice.
"He…" Yanmao had spoken to Corwin, alone, under the protection of a blackout device. That meant that people were listening, that they may even have hacked the Maharathas' encrypted coms.
"It's none of your concern," Corwin said at last. "Let's get to our bunks and get the equipment squared away."
Phae grumbled but kept her mouth shut.
As Corwin fell in behind his Voidmates, he ground his teeth. The Choxen, Quislings, and now the Ashi-Kage. Criminals. They existed in the cracks and spaces created by constant war and destruction, an organization of people that served only themselves. Every society had them, and the Republic wasn't immune. The problem was that they had disseminated themselves so well, infiltrated every aspect of the Republic so thoroughly, that they were almost impossible to find.
Corwin's perception of the city had now changed. He no longer saw people who had tried to escape the confines and ill comfort of the cities; he now saw only vagabonds, brigands that waited, slavering in the darkness until his guard was down. That's why they called themselves the Ashi-Kage, the Shadow Leg. They were an apparition, seen and felt yet untouchable.
Corwin struck upon another thought, too, an unpleasant idea that he knew would rob him of sleep for weeks to come. Yanmao had spoken to Corwin. Alone.
Was the implication, then, that his Voidmates were not to be trusted? These three: Phae, Kai and Chahal, should be the people he trusted most , beyond those even related to him by blood.
The Choxen take you, Yanmao, Corwin cursed. You've alienated me again, pushed me farther away from the few people in the Republic that I might have trusted with my life.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Two hundred and forty-five kilometers northeast from where the Maharatha landed, another base lurked, unknown to anyone in the Republic. It lay deep below the earth and trees, its entrances the same color as the leaf litter, heat sinks and coils of wire dampening the signatures that might expose it to the watchful eyes of Republic and IGA satellites.
In those underground caverns, the base's denizens scrambled. They had a visitor today, the Princip, the architect of the invasion that had wrested land back from the Humans and their alien allies.
The excitement in the hidden base was palpable, the tension leading to more than the usual numbers of subjugation rituals amongst the lower ranked Choxen. The Base Commander, a Choxen named Brixaal, had been caught in the swirl of hormones as well, defending its status as Base Commander several times.
Brixaal had no idea what to expect, nor why the Princip had chosen this base after so many months of attentions
Corwin nodded and holstered his pistol. "Why do you think this has anything to do with my mission?"
"The Ashi-Kage have their dirty jendr fingers into everything . If their network is broad enough, and out here on the frontier it surely is, then they have access to the Quislings and the Choxen."
Corwin clenched his jaw as he processed this new information. The Ashi- Kage. Ugh. "You show your dreng for bringing this information to me."
Yanmao bowed his head in acknowledgment.
Corwin thought a moment. "I'll keep you abreast of our findings."
"That would help me sleep at night, sir. Thank you."
Corwin turned to go, but paused at the door. "I will do what I can, but dealing with the Ashi-Kage is not my mission. Depending on what we find, I will forward it and requisition an Inquest from the Oniwabanshu."
"I understand also, sir. Thank you."
Corwin opened the door to find his Void together in huddled argument just outside.
"We need to get in there," Phae said.
"We've heard no gunshots nor sounds of struggle," Chahal said. "We should heed the advice of the First Exiles and be patient."
"Why don't you take your Exilist…"
"Everything is fine," Corwin said. The others turned to face him.
"What was that about?" Phae asked. She didn't keep the snarl from her voice.
"He…" Yanmao had spoken to Corwin, alone, under the protection of a blackout device. That meant that people were listening, that they may even have hacked the Maharathas' encrypted coms.
"It's none of your concern," Corwin said at last. "Let's get to our bunks and get the equipment squared away."
Phae grumbled but kept her mouth shut.
As Corwin fell in behind his Voidmates, he ground his teeth. The Choxen, Quislings, and now the Ashi-Kage. Criminals. They existed in the cracks and spaces created by constant war and destruction, an organization of people that served only themselves. Every society had them, and the Republic wasn't immune. The problem was that they had disseminated themselves so well, infiltrated every aspect of the Republic so thoroughly, that they were almost impossible to find.
Corwin's perception of the city had now changed. He no longer saw people who had tried to escape the confines and ill comfort of the cities; he now saw only vagabonds, brigands that waited, slavering in the darkness until his guard was down. That's why they called themselves the Ashi-Kage, the Shadow Leg. They were an apparition, seen and felt yet untouchable.
Corwin struck upon another thought, too, an unpleasant idea that he knew would rob him of sleep for weeks to come. Yanmao had spoken to Corwin. Alone.
Was the implication, then, that his Voidmates were not to be trusted? These three: Phae, Kai and Chahal, should be the people he trusted most , beyond those even related to him by blood.
The Choxen take you, Yanmao, Corwin cursed. You've alienated me again, pushed me farther away from the few people in the Republic that I might have trusted with my life.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Two hundred and forty-five kilometers northeast from where the Maharatha landed, another base lurked, unknown to anyone in the Republic. It lay deep below the earth and trees, its entrances the same color as the leaf litter, heat sinks and coils of wire dampening the signatures that might expose it to the watchful eyes of Republic and IGA satellites.
In those underground caverns, the base's denizens scrambled. They had a visitor today, the Princip, the architect of the invasion that had wrested land back from the Humans and their alien allies.
The excitement in the hidden base was palpable, the tension leading to more than the usual numbers of subjugation rituals amongst the lower ranked Choxen. The Base Commander, a Choxen named Brixaal, had been caught in the swirl of hormones as well, defending its status as Base Commander several times.
Brixaal had no idea what to expect, nor why the Princip had chosen this base after so many months of attentions
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