AMP The Core by Stephen Arseneault Page A

yourself."
    I chuckled. "I can deal with that, Grakus. And thank you again for your kindness."

Chapter 5

    The grub house smelled exactly as it had sounded. Piles of gellat dung were distributed over a large pit, and felius larvae would be introduced as the weather outside warmed in the spring. The grubs would provide bait for fishing in the lake that sat on the edge of the Meggak village.
    The snowstorm came in hard that evening and dumped two meters of snow on the ground before the light of the day began to show. Had I stayed out in the cold, I would have easily survived, but my progress forward would have been halted. The dried fish and berries that Grakus had provided had filled my belly; however, I would be in need of food every day should I want to survive the journey from Vireque to my Defiant fleet.
    At his earliest opportunity, Grakus entered the grub house in the morning. "Don Grange, I see that you fared well during the storm. I am glad."
    I replied, "Grakus, I have a long journey before me. I will be in need of food. Would you be able to tell me how to hunt or to fish for my daily needs? I journey to far lands, and I am unfamiliar with my surroundings."
    Grakus looked intently at my helmet. "I have not seen headgear that was so smooth and polished. And the glass surface that you gaze through—how is it so clear?"
    I smiled. "My people have the tools that allow us to build these suits. It is also what allowed me to lift those rocks yesterday when I cleared that pass. We have many such powerful things."
    Grakus sat back on a bench as he continued to gaze. "We have seen another, similar to you, far to the west. My people call her the protector. She watches for those who fall from the sky."
    I began to nod my head. "Wait! What? She? Are you saying you have seen a craft that came from the sky? And that it is to the west?"
    Grakus replied, "I have not been, nor have I seen. I have only heard the stories of the protector of our world. If you wish to know more of her, our village elders would relay to you the same stories that I can tell."
    I sat forward. "If there are no others in your village with knowledge of the protector, are there other villages that might know?"
    Grakus nodded. "There is a larger village through the mountain pass and down in the valley, and then another beyond before the arid plains of Sarah are reached. The protector resides beyond the plains in the mountains of Sarah."
    I held up my hand as if to ask a question. "Sarah? The protector’s name wouldn’t happen to be Sarah, would it?"
    Grakus again nodded. "That would be the name of the protector."
    I leaned back on the stack of flat stones that I had assembled to make a chair. "Huh, Sarah sounds very Human to me, and I am looking for a Human."
    Grakus stood. "You! You are of the protector’s race! Are you the new protector?"
    I again held up my hand. "No, I am not the protector. I seek answers, and I am now hoping that the protector can provide them."
    Grakus again sat, this time with an anguished look on his face. "I have long wished to journey to see the protector. I would travel with you there, but the protector does not let anyone who is not Meggak near. Others have come before you. Each has been consumed in a death of fire."
    Grakus continued, "The plains of Sarah are covered with debris from those who have fallen from the sky. Our own village was nearly burned to the ground by a large piece of such debris that fell some three hundred years ago. The remains of it now make up much of our tribal center where the elders meet."
    I spoke. "Wait! You have alien debris here? Can I see it?"
    Grakus shook his head. "The elders would not permit it. Others have tried to make use of the debris to bring harm to our people. It is forbidden to remove an artifact from where it first fell."
    I stood and brushed the grub dung from my battle suit. "Are you still interested in taking that journey to the mountains of Sarah?"
    Grakus again shook his head. "I