Palus’s backside. How do you propose that so small a number will get revenge on a man that controls the twelve planets?”
“You have never had the help of a Phaser before,” she said, smiling at him with her eyes so wide that he could see the tiny, star-like objects in her pupils twinkle beneath the moonlight.
“Oh, don’t be cocky,” Blu said, and walked past her towards the buildings.
“What’s in there?” Marian asked.
“A place to sleep until the morning. We can’t be walking around at night in this place. Plenty of Shoran witches and Bargushes roam the countryside, looking for victims.”
“Bargushes, on this planet?” Marian asked, shocked. She could vividly remember the large, green, apelike creatures chasing her through the woods one day when she and her friends were playing at soldier. She was only thirteen at the time, and had run into one of their caves to hide from her friends.
“The Fels brought them here, brought them for the sole purpose of hunting renegades out in the bush. See, they don’t have to worry about those monsters turning on them. The Fels stay in Veece, or near their ships when they patrol. We rebels, outside of a few that have commandeered a bike or two – well, we’re easy prey out here. The Bargushes make sure of that.”
“And the witches? What is that about?” Marian asked as they found the ruins of an old cantina and slipped inside.
Blu led her to the back. “Aye, witches. Well, if I had to choose between the two, I’d take a Bargush tearing me from limb to limb. I may get lucky and that great big ape would snatch my head off first and end it quickly. With a Shoran witch, you never know what they want with you. They make sacrifices, you see, sacrifices to their blood god, in order to gain power over their enemies,” Blu said.
“How things have changed,” Marian said. “When I was a child, the witches were a legend. I played in the woods quite a bit and the last thing that I was worried about was a witch coming to sacrifice me. Now you’re saying that they are out and about … they practice the Mera Ku arts, do they not?”
“I believe so. The same healing and harming meditation that your husband does,” Blu replied.
“They don’t come out in daylight?” Marian asked.
“No, they have a network of caves, underground. Their eyes are blind to the light, but sharp in the night, like a bako bird. This is why you don’t want to cross their path on a midnight stroll. They will catch you, magic you into some sort of unnatural stasis, and then you would wake up as one of them. I wouldn’t be given the luxury of joining their coven; they would eat me. A Deijen would keep them fed for over a fortnight.”
Marian said no more as Blu dragged a stone slab away from a wall to reveal a crawl space. He motioned for her to follow Nemesis and the android through it. Inside, the hidden room was pitch black. Marian heard the stone being replaced and the android’s eyes glowed like light bulbs, illuminating the tiny room to reveal an array of sleeping mats and bowls.
“Those bowls have food,” he said. “Jerky! It may be bako bird jerky, mind you, but it’s seasoned and very tasty. No use going hungry while we wait out these Fels. So relax, eat, and let’s make the best of this,” he said.
Marian sat, let her hair down, and removed her shoes. The inside of the cantina was freezing but Blu unpacked one of the cubes and brought out a heater that he set down in the middle of the room. She shifted to where her tiny feet could be near it, and after a time, she laid back, relaxed, and stared at the stone ceiling.
“What was this room? Before the fires and bombs destroyed the place, I mean?” Marian asked after a time.
“This was one of our headquarters,” Blu replied with a bit of pride in his voice. “Cally was amazing in that it truly was beneath the blind eye of the Felitian Empire. She was like our very own resistance city. We even had a recruiter that
“You have never had the help of a Phaser before,” she said, smiling at him with her eyes so wide that he could see the tiny, star-like objects in her pupils twinkle beneath the moonlight.
“Oh, don’t be cocky,” Blu said, and walked past her towards the buildings.
“What’s in there?” Marian asked.
“A place to sleep until the morning. We can’t be walking around at night in this place. Plenty of Shoran witches and Bargushes roam the countryside, looking for victims.”
“Bargushes, on this planet?” Marian asked, shocked. She could vividly remember the large, green, apelike creatures chasing her through the woods one day when she and her friends were playing at soldier. She was only thirteen at the time, and had run into one of their caves to hide from her friends.
“The Fels brought them here, brought them for the sole purpose of hunting renegades out in the bush. See, they don’t have to worry about those monsters turning on them. The Fels stay in Veece, or near their ships when they patrol. We rebels, outside of a few that have commandeered a bike or two – well, we’re easy prey out here. The Bargushes make sure of that.”
“And the witches? What is that about?” Marian asked as they found the ruins of an old cantina and slipped inside.
Blu led her to the back. “Aye, witches. Well, if I had to choose between the two, I’d take a Bargush tearing me from limb to limb. I may get lucky and that great big ape would snatch my head off first and end it quickly. With a Shoran witch, you never know what they want with you. They make sacrifices, you see, sacrifices to their blood god, in order to gain power over their enemies,” Blu said.
“How things have changed,” Marian said. “When I was a child, the witches were a legend. I played in the woods quite a bit and the last thing that I was worried about was a witch coming to sacrifice me. Now you’re saying that they are out and about … they practice the Mera Ku arts, do they not?”
“I believe so. The same healing and harming meditation that your husband does,” Blu replied.
“They don’t come out in daylight?” Marian asked.
“No, they have a network of caves, underground. Their eyes are blind to the light, but sharp in the night, like a bako bird. This is why you don’t want to cross their path on a midnight stroll. They will catch you, magic you into some sort of unnatural stasis, and then you would wake up as one of them. I wouldn’t be given the luxury of joining their coven; they would eat me. A Deijen would keep them fed for over a fortnight.”
Marian said no more as Blu dragged a stone slab away from a wall to reveal a crawl space. He motioned for her to follow Nemesis and the android through it. Inside, the hidden room was pitch black. Marian heard the stone being replaced and the android’s eyes glowed like light bulbs, illuminating the tiny room to reveal an array of sleeping mats and bowls.
“Those bowls have food,” he said. “Jerky! It may be bako bird jerky, mind you, but it’s seasoned and very tasty. No use going hungry while we wait out these Fels. So relax, eat, and let’s make the best of this,” he said.
Marian sat, let her hair down, and removed her shoes. The inside of the cantina was freezing but Blu unpacked one of the cubes and brought out a heater that he set down in the middle of the room. She shifted to where her tiny feet could be near it, and after a time, she laid back, relaxed, and stared at the stone ceiling.
“What was this room? Before the fires and bombs destroyed the place, I mean?” Marian asked after a time.
“This was one of our headquarters,” Blu replied with a bit of pride in his voice. “Cally was amazing in that it truly was beneath the blind eye of the Felitian Empire. She was like our very own resistance city. We even had a recruiter that
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