"Well, we have to try," he concluded. He finished changing and looked at the suitcases. It seemed like so much to bring out just to have him bring it back.

"I should be back at the city. I need to get in touch with my government and get them up to date on what's going on. I expect I'll spend much of my time back and forth now."

"So are these Rich'ti going to be involved as well?"

"They are involved, whether they or anyone else wants them to be," he answered, wishing they could just be one people. "The Brey-hahd won't make any distinction between one group of Rich'ti and another. What their place is likely to be we probably won't know until tomorrow."

There wasn't anything new to add to the two suitcases, so he closed them and grabbed them up. "Shall we?" he said, inclining his head towards the doorway. She nodded and he led them back to the aircar. He had her wait there so he could find Eesh'ket before leaving.

"I have to go report to my government," he explained. "Thank you for your hospitality. Everyone has been very kind to me. I'll be back before long. I plan to give you and your people an even share of my time. I'm sorry I won't be here tonight for the next meeting. Please share my apologies with the rest. I will try to arrange communications equipment for you."

"Your time among us has been very interesting. We will be here when you return, and you will always be welcome among us," Eesh'ket said.

"I know that. Thank you."

Kevan walked back to the aircar. Urish'tal sat in the driver's seat, and Kevan moved to sit next to her. They didn't speak as the jungle went by beneath them on the way back to the city.

Kevan recognized the first building he'd stopped at when he'd initially arrived on the planet. The silvery towers gleamed in the sunlight, making them almost difficult to look at. They didn't go down to land on one of the paved areas next to the towers, as they did before. Instead, Urish'tal announced herself to someone on the radio, presumably inside the building. Afterwards a panel of flooring slid out of the area at the bottom of the peak where the towers joined. She neatly landed on it and Kevan watched as fencing folded around from beneath the panel to form walls. As he stepped out of the aircar with his suitcases, he had a brief moment of feeling as if he had just been caged.

As they went inside a female Rich'ti ran out to the aircar and started it up again. When Kevan inquired, Urish'tal explained that it would be moved elsewhere and brought up when she needed it again.

"Being Takor invokes certain priveledges," she told him. "As Agronet has chosen me to be his personal physician for the duration of his term, I also have certain priveledges. I don't have to take the time to park at the bottom and come up on the elevator, for example. I could if I wanted to, but when one reaches certain levels of authority it is important to remind those around you that you have not forgotten your rank over them. Small things like that help them know that I am aware of my status and therefore indicates my intent to keep it."

"Agronet has made arrangements for you to stay here," she said, indicating a doorway she stopped at. "There has not been time to make any modifications as were made at the previous room you had, but he prefers to have you remain where we can better ensure your safety. Since you were able to manage on the ship, he felt you could probably make yourself comfortable here. However, some changes can be made over the next week, to better accomodate your needs. Let us know what you need. We've contacted some of the people who helped modify the last room so that they already have an idea of what to do. I can arrange for you to meet them before they begin any work."

"I don't need that much. The waste equipment was right enough before, and the shower for washing in was nice, although being able to control the water temperature would be appreciated. For right now, a big bowl of water and a sponge would be a good start. I haven't had much washing since I disappeared out there."

"I understand," she said with a roll of the head. "There are others of your things that we'll have brought here. Your computer, for one, was something we didn't see any need to bring to you out there, or the charger for your portable data device. We'll get you that water and I can show you how to get it for yourself for next time."

She led him down the hall a bit to a room that had the wash tubs and sponges and a spigot to fill them with. She explained it would probably be a couple of days before modifications to his room were complete. She offered she could also arrange for an office for him to use. He explained that he might have use for that later especially.

She helped him carry the tub of water back to his room. On the way she explained that he'd have his computer and be able to send reports back to his government within an hour. Once back in his room she apologized for being busy, but that she was needed elsewhere.

Once he was alone in the room he stripped off his clothing and bathed. He pulled out a fresh pair of pants and shirt and sorted the items from the two suitcases out onto the bedding. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully at the sight of the razor, but decided against trying to shave or even trim the beard that was starting until he had his compact mirror back. He remembered asking Sarsh'ta about getting a mirror, and put that on the mental list of things to see if he could get.

He moved around the room, which wasn't too incredibly different from the last one he had had. The view from the balcony was better, as he was higher up and facing outward instead of into the courtyard below. He could tell he was in the heart of the city. Buildings stretched out for miles away in every direction. He noticed, however, that they were spaced apart, allowing for a lot of open grass and trees in between. He wondered briefly if they had planned it that way from the onset or if it had evolved as they demolished old buildings and built new ones. With most societies it was the latter, after long periods of having buildings jam-packed to house as many as possible. It was usually only after they expanded out into space that civilizations began to space themselves out again, once overcrowding was less of an issue.

He opened all the drawers and cabinets in the room, stashing the items from the two suitcases and scoping out the best location for the computer when it arrived. He located their version of a toilet and was relieved to see that it resembled the one on the ship closely enough that he was unlikely to have any real difficulty while waiting for the modifications to be completed.

It didn't seem long before the door chimed and he found Kreckan standing there with the rest of Kevan's luggage on a cart. He let the technician in and pulled the remainder of his suitcases off while Kreckan unloaded the computer at the shelf Kevan indicated.

"I kept working on this in your absence," Kreckan told him after it was operational. "I've made a few enhancements to the speed it works at and your communications equipment in it now knows how to access our communications equipment in space. It will take a few minutes to make the connection, but then your messages should arrive at their destination anywhere between a half hour to an hour, depending on where in Human space you are sending it to. Our receivers are now actively watching for messages transmitting to you as well, so you should get replies much quicker too. It will still take longer though, as the Human equipment sending it is not quite as highly powered. I suspect that's why you need so many of them scattered all over your space."

Kevan raised an eyebrow at the male, once again amazed at how many things the technician inadvertantly seemed to reveal about the Rich'ti's level of spying on other races. He invited the technician to show him any changes he'd made to the programming, hoping more tidbits would drop.

"There's really not much different in there that you'd notice unless you knew how to program it," Kreckan said. "I had the time to work on it still as I was supposed to be making a report for Logur on the device. I submitted a couple of reports on the design of it, but I'm more interested in making things work rather than writing reports about it. It doesn't matter much now anyway. Although you ought to know, you've got six messages waiting in the queue for you to read." Kreckan gave him the Rich'ti equivallent of a grin, and Kevan decided he liked the technician after all.

Kreckan excused himself and took the cart with him when he went. Kevan sat down to start checking on the messages he had waiting when the door chimed again. This time he was surprised to find Trorkash, the ship's security officer, standing in his doorway.

Trorkash had seemed tolerant enough on the ship, but Kevan wasn't sure what to expect now. He wondered how many of the crew from the little courier ship Agronet had used here staying around Agronet now. He wondered if maybe most of the crew on the ship had been arranged ahead of time.

"Agronet wishes to see you in his chambers, now that you have returned," Trorkash said.

"Certainly," Kevan replied. "Where are they?"

"I will show you."

Trorkash took him to an elevator and they rode it to the top level of the building. On the way up Kevan commented that he had expected Trorkash to be up on the ship.

"Every Takor needs an Aide," Trorkash said a little curtly.

"Of course," Kevan said, not sure how to interpret the Rich'ti's tone.

At the top the elevator stopped and they stepped out into a gardened foyer area. It appeared that much of this level was topped in a glass dome. Trorkash led him past an area ringed with torches that looked like a gathering space. There were smaller areas as well among the gardens with mats set out for seating of smaller groupings.

There were also some walled-off areas. Trorkash took him to one that seemed like a building butting up against the dome edge, with the dome surface serving as the fourth wall.

Trorkash stopped in front of the door panel and put his hand on a scanner. He then instructed Kevan to do the same. Once he was finished, Trorkash entered a code onto the pad and the door slid open.

Inside, Agronet was sitting on a mat with what appeared to be a rather complex datapad on a stand in front of him. He barely looked up at it as he frowned over something on the display panel. He had his back to the glass of the dome and the spectacular view of the city. He issued a grunting noise and a nod of his head that seemed to be a dismissal of Trorkash, who nodded and left the room.

Once the door had slid shut, Agronet looked up at Kevan and sighed heavily, pushing the stand to the side for the moment.

"Please, sit," he indicated one of the other soft fur mats placed at intervals around the floor.

"Agronet, I..." Kevan trailed off, not knowing how to put what he wanted to say into something concise. "I'm sorry," he finished, wishing he had more to offer just then.

"We saw no other alternatives. We can deal with it more when it gets worse. Right now I have more pressing concerns." He gestured again at the mats and Kevan chose one and took a seat on it.

"It seems Logur was busy in his short time as Takor," Agronet pointed at the datapad. "He sent orders to various members of the fleet, bypassing my command and moving them out of defensive positions to send them in directly against the Brey-hahd mothership. He had them running silent after receiving their orders. As a result, we've lost about a third of our spaceborne ships already. He did not even send them as a collective unit, but in small groups. I've recalled the few that hadn't made it there yet to help defend the planet here. I am also pulling most of the ships we have here as well. I am leaving a few in strategic positions nearby where they can reach other areas if the Brey-hahd suddenly change direction, but can also come here quickly if the fight happens in the home system." He sighed again, shaking his head.

"He commissioned new ships to be hastily thrown together. I'm told that a couple might even be ready in time, although they will be only barely equipped to fight. They won't be any different from the ones we already have though. Half the reason they will be done in time is because the Rich'ti building it know where everything goes based on the usual design. I have ship technicians working on coming up with no less than ten new ship designs however, in the event we survive this to build new ships. I've told them to build the hulls of the ones that won't be ready and then re-design the interior to focus on a specific strength, so we can still use some of what's already been started. I've thrown the entire ship-building industry into an uproar, along with most of the fleet training schools. Most of them just don't comprehend why we need to change the design. I'm hoping the ships from your fleet will do well here and show them the benefits through example." He looked hopefully to Kevan, as if looking for confirmation that it would be so.

"My understanding is that our ships have been faring better, but I think we're also fighting a smaller Brey-hahd force than you are. Our ships will at least change things and force the Brey-hahd to use different tactics. It may be that our ships can help prevent them from using whatever weakness they've found. Have you had any luck figuring out what that might be?"

"No," Agronet said heavily with a very human shake of his head.

"It will take my people some time to get here yet. If you'll agree to send over schematics for your ships, my people can have their experts go over them and see if they can find it."

Agronet started to say something, and Keven could tell immediately it was going to be a protest. He headed it off before the Rich'ti leader had a chance. "We both know the current design is going to change. Giving us the schematics for an admittedly out-of-date ship design can't be a huge security risk. I'm sure we'll be sharing some of our ship designs as well. I think the potential benefit outweighs any potential risk."

"I see again, I think, why they chose you for this," Agronet said. "You are right, of course, although many Rich'ti wouldn't be so quick to agree."

"Understand that it will take a day or so before they are ready to send," Agronet added. "Some parts of the schematics will not be included, such as the detailed information on our weapons systems. I will have the engineers make recommendations on what to send but then it will ultimately be the fleet commander's decision on what gets included."

Kevan nodded, wondering just how much the new fleet commander would choose to strip out of the schematics. He hoped there would still be enough left to give the Human engineers a chance to find the design flaw that the Brey-hahd were currently exploiting.

"On the matter of sending information to my people," Kevan said, moving on. "Have you given thought to the matter of the poison?"

"Far more thought that I have time for right now," Agronet said, looking momentarily sad. The expression passed quickly, but Kevan could see that Agronet was having a hard time pushing the matter aside to attend to his new duties. "You may send medical information on the Rich'ti people and information on this poison to you scientists. If they can find an antidote it will negate the danger of that poison for future victims as well. Urish'tal can provide you with the necessary data to send. I will have her send my own recent data as well, since this is the only known case where the poison has been slowed to delay death."

"I will send them as soon as I have them," Kevan said solemnly.

"There is also the matter of the... the other Rich'ti," Agronet said, seeming to change the subject. "How will negotiations be dealt with in regards to them? I have made some brief mention of the idea of trade and relations with their government, although so far it has met with much shock and resistance from my advisors. I have mentioned communications so far, and not that I have actually met with these other Rich'ti. Such ideas are very nearly as bad as treason the way they are reacted to. I must handle this as slowly and cautiously as possible. Unfortunately, my time to do that is now very limited."

"Like with many things," Kevan suggested, "it might work best if you can put it in terms of positives. Show a benefit from working with them. Maybe the first step is to start revealing how many there are. Or, take one thing at a time and focus on the war first."

"Later, when alliance details are being worked out, you can suggest that we--the humans--are already negotiating trade with the others, and you can suggest not wanting to be excluded from that. From there you can start a discussion on how you'd like relations to be with the rest of the Rich'ti. Maybe that will give you a groundwork to start from."

"Something along those lines might work," Agronet said, sounding reluctant and far from confident. "In the mean time, I'll have the medical information sent to your computer. You will be able to forward it to your government for your scientists."

"Perfect," Kevan replied. Agronet didn't say anything for a moment, so Kevan asked if there was more for just then. There wasn't, so he left and headed back to the elevator. On the ride down he was already putting together parts of his report in his head.

Once he had returned to his room, he started in on the six messages that had been sent to his computer. Two of them were inquiries on why he hadn't reported on schedule. He skimmed quickly past those. One was a response to his initial report, which basically was a written "good job" that read like a form letter and mentioned that his report would be forwarded to the appropriate individuals. He rolled his eyes, knowing who some of those "individuals" were. He was not suprised that one of the other messages was from one of them, and contained a long list of questions about the Rich'ti for him to try and answer. The man writing it was Allen Garston, the "temporary" Interspecies Advisor for the UWPM while Kevan was away. Kevan had little regard for the man, who's background was more firmly based in biology and military strategies against hostile aliens than peacemaking measures. Half the questions seemed as if he was assessing the Rich'ti as a potential threat instead of a potential ally. Kevan left that message to respond to later, moving instead to check the remaining two first.

One of them was a concerned message from a long-time friend and colleague, Marcus Nixell. Marcus had his own studies in alien cultures and tried to help make them more understandable to the general human population by making comparisons to both human cultures and animal behaviors. The examples had often been instrumental in helping bridge the gap between humans and some of the more recent species they had met, and Kevan had worked with him directly on several occasions. Marcus had sent back an initial assessment on some of the Rich'ti behaviors that Kevan had included in his report, and he was relieved to see that he had come to some of the same conclusions on his own. Marcus was one person he wished he had with him for this first contact between Human and Rich'ti. His input was always invaluable, and he had good instincts. Marcus had included a list of questions as well, which were vastly different from the ones Allen had sent. Kevan decided to answer those first, right after he checked the last message.

The final message in the box was the most recent. It spoke of the contact with Agronet and the arrangement that had been made so far. Agronet had not mentioned it to Kevan, but the Rich'ti had stalled them on Kevan's whereabouts. He had told them that Kevan was unavailable and would report as soon as he was able. There was also some mention of compatibility issues with the human communication gear. In the message sent to Kevan, it was stated that they were sending in a small fleet. They were suspicious, however, and were coming to either help the Rich'ti if they were telling the truth, or to conduct a search for Kevan if they had not heard from him by that point. His urgent reply was requested.

That was the message he replied to first. He took some time to word it carefully. He had been given word combinations to include in his reports to indicate whether he was being unduly influenced or not. He made sure that the inclusions of the safe status message would be completely inconspicuous.

He tried to stress in his report both the kinds of help and the urgency that was needed. He warned them that Agronet had been poisoned and that more information would be coming. For the moment he left out that the government had changed, stressing instead the need for the government to remain stable as it was. He knew he'd be yelled at for that exclusion later. He also touched on the second nation-state, mentioning that a more in-depth report would be coming later.

Before sending the message he set delivery to copy a number of government officials. He wanted it directly in the hands of those it would only need to be forwarded to anyway.

The reply to Marcus took almost as long to compose. There were many questions, and he tried to answer them in the detail his old friend would want. He was nearly finished when a window popped up on his screen informing him of a message and file arriving from Urish'tal. He finished up his message and sent it off.

He was surprised to find the message from Urish'tal was already in English, as was the accompanying file of medical charts. Only the scans had Rich'ti symbols instead of English letters, and there was a long report included explaining each of them. He was impressed on how quickly she had managed to get it all together, and wondered how she had managed to translate it into English too. He skimmed over the message itself, and then attached it to one of his own before forwarding it to several different people that he knew should be the ones looking at it. He hoped that Allen Garston would look at it from the angle of curing Agronet instead of just finding any weaknesses in the Rich'ti biology. He then sent back a reply to Urish'tal letting her know that he'd forwarded it to the appropriate people and dropping in a casual inquiry on how she'd managed to translate it into English for him already. After that, he began work on Allen's questions, bearing in mind the answers he'd already included in the other messages already.

A couple of hours passed before he was interrupted by another message incoming. The reply basically told him that they were pleased to hear that he was alright and that they refused to send more ships until the commander in charge of the ships already in route to Rich'ti space had made a threat assessment. They suggested that he keep them appraised of the situation in the meantime. He slammed his fist down in frustration on the side of the shelf panel that the computer sat on. At about the same time, the door chime sounded. With a sigh, Kevan went over and opened it.

"Well, hello again!" Pergute said in English as the door panel slid aside. "It is good to see you alive!"

"Ahhh, hello," Kevan replied, also in English, suddenly realizing who'd been translating for Urish'tal. "Please come in." He gestured to the mats in the room and Pergute came in and settled comfortably down into one. Pergute had brought a couple of large bowls of food with him as well and one of these he handed to Kevan.

"I thought you might be in need of some food by now," Pergute told him. "I most certainly was anyway."

"Thank you," Kevan said, taking the bowl. He hadn't realized how long it had been since breakfast until he smelled the aroma of the cooked meat. He settled down on a mat, eating some of it right away.

"Well, it seems you're no worse off for your adventure," Pergute commented.

"Indeed," Kevan said, hoping it carried the right cryptic note. "So is this a social call, a professional visit, or something...I should be concerned about?"

"A little bit social, a little bit professional. It occurs to me, you see, that with you here representing your people, it makes sense for one of us to go to your people to represent us there, does it not?"

"That's usually how ambassadors generally work." Pergute looked confused for a moment, and Kevan checked his palmpad, finding that the Rich'ti have a direct translation for ambassador. "That's usually how representatives generally work," he tried. Pergute nodded at that, so he continued. "I'm here to speak for my government more than I'm here to speak to my government on your behalf. At least, that's the theory. It isn't entirely working that way so far. But in the long run, yes, you are correct."

"And how does that selection process happen among humans?"

"What do you mean?"

"How will they decide which of us would go?" Pergute asked, leaning forward.

"Ah, you see, there's one example where things are a little different than you think. The way it's usually done, your government decides who to send to speak for you, not us."

"Then it will likely come down to a challenge," Pergute said, sounding unhappy. "It would be much simpler if your goverment just chose someone as we did. Surely your kind know better what type of individual you'd be most comfortable dealing with?"

"Yes, but if we chose then the Rich'ti might be able to change their mind about the level of negotiating power that individual holds. If the Rich'ti choose their own representative, they are choosing who they feel will best represent their needs and desires out of the agreements that will be made between our two races. If we choose someone then we might be accused of selecting someone who will bend to our will and not uphold the standards the Rich'ti expect. My government will also not want to be put in the position where such accusations could be made."

"I see, I see," Pergute said nodding. "And yet you came here, knowing we chose you?"

"My government would not have allowed me to come if they did not have the faith in me that was required," Kevan said simply, remembering some of the long briefings he'd been through on things he was and was not allowed to negotiate with the Rich'ti. "And they made some things clear to me before I left so that I would better represent my kind while I was here. Also, we'd been led to understand that this was an initial contact that might lead to further negotiations. It was not expected that I would be negotiating such things as fleet assistance in a war. I have helped negotiate things for my government in the past, however, so they already know that I will represent them to the best of my abilities."

"I see," Pergute said somberly, as if thinking hard about what Kevan had said.

"So..." Pergute started with obvious hesitation, "how is Sarsh'ta?"

"So far? I'm not sure she's adjusting well. I think she's waiting, expecting Agronet to be able to bring her back. Although I suspect right now Agronet has other things he has to focus on first."

"True enough. What was your experience among the outcast like?"

"What can I say? They're Rich'ti no less than the ones here are. There were some differences. I'm somewhat more concerned about the circumstances that led to my...visit with them."

"Yes, very unfortunate, that."

"Is it something I should worry about happening again?" Kevan asked pointedly.

"It is ...less likely now. For one, with Agronet as Takor if he sends someone to you it is more likely to be someone you know." Something in the tone of voice made Kevan uncomfortable. He was glad the conversation was happening in English, so that he had the translation advantage for once.

"Any idea who was behind it?" he asked, watching the Rich'ti's eyes closely.

"Agronet is surprisingly adept at his new position, don't you think?" Pergute said abruptly, not answering the question. "Instead of removing those that might be opposed to him by casting them out, as most Takor do, he had given them each tasks that place them in easily watched positions. An interesting move. One very much like we would expect to see from a fleet commander who has to deal with problems in space where you cannot simply cast someone off the ship until the next time you arrive in port."

"So you're saying the ones I should be worried about are being watched?" Kevan asked, again trying to get to the heart of the matter.

"I am saying nothing, Kevan," Pergute said, narrowing his eyes. "Merely stating my observation of how things are developing. I leave the game to those who best know how to play it."

"Somehow I find that highly unlikely," Kevan muttered, only half to himself. He realized that Pergute and whomever he was working with had their own agenda entirely. He only wished he knew what it was. "I just don't want to see anyone positioning themselves in such a way that might endanger the Rich'ti people in a time of war," he added in his regular voice, giving Pergute a hard look.

"I am sure that even they wish for the Rich'ti's continued survival, Kevan," Pergute said, standing up. "I do not doubt that at all. But I have taken up too much of your time as it is. Perhaps we can continue this conversation at another time?" He stood, waiting for a response. Kevan found that surprising as every other Rich'ti had seemed to end conversations by suddenly leaving the room. He stood up himself, and Pergute reached forward, gesturing that he'd take the empty bowl in Kevan's hands.

Something suddenly felt extremely suspicious to Kevan, but he couldn't figure out what. He handed his bowl over, wondering if something had been added to his. Pergute had eaten as well, but it would not have been hard to keep the two bowls separate. He tried to keep the suspicion off his face and said nothing.

"I'm sure we'll talk frequently," he said. Pergute nodded and said, "Of course," before opening the door and leaving without another word.

He waited a moment once the door closed. He didn't feel anything, but he couldn't put the suspicion out of his mind. He considered dismissing it as just being paranoid but ended up hitting the intercom button next to the door and requesting Urish'tal.

"Hey, do you have a moment?" he asked when she responded.

"Certainly, what can I do for you?"

"I was exposed to a number of new things outside the city. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like a quick check of my health to see how I'm handling it."

She gave him directions to the medical facility in the building and offered to meet him there right away.

"I will be there shortly," he agreed. He only stopped long enough to finish the last sentence on the reply to Allen and send it before heading out of his room to the medical area. It seemed to take up most of the uppers two levels of one of the main buildings just before they met at the peak. She had given him relatively clear directions from his room and to the right elevator. He took it down the number of levels she had told him to and found himself at one end of a larger medical area than he'd seen so far. Urish'tal was waiting as he stepped out onto the floor.

"Is there something in particular you are concerned about?" she asked as she led him over to one of the tables. As they stepped inside she tapped some keys on her datapad and the privacy shield rose around them.

"I don't know," he answered. "We have a saying amongst my race, however - better to be safe than sorry. I would appreciate it if you checked my scans and blood against the information you took from me before."

"Then I will do so," she answered, giving him a strange look. She didn't say more on the subject, but got to work instead, telling him to remove his clothing and get up on the table. She took his blood first and left for a few moments before coming back and starting the scans. He laid there, very still, watching the screens above him. He wished he knew slightly more about his own biology and what the scans should look like.

"Interesting," Urish'tal said at one point.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It appears you suffered quite a bit of injury recently, but were given a rapid healing agent. A large dose from the look of it. Dangerous stuff, Rekshal. We're not sure of the long term affects of administering it directly into the system. We only use it in small doses within a topical solution that helps keep it stable."

"They warned me it could be dangerous, but I couldn't afford to just lie about for weeks recovering," he told her. "I was given the choice and told them to give it to me."

"First you go jumping into enemy ships, then you go taking strange healing drugs. Are you always this reckless?" she asked, giving him an amused look.

"Not as a general rule, no," he replied. "But sometimes I don't have time to wait for everything to fall neatly into place by itself."

"Hold on a moment," she told him, squinting at her datapad. He saw the screen on the scan above him change as the device backed up and seemed to magnify an area that he thought might be his stomach. He wasn't sure what to make of the speck on the screen until it magnified quite a bit. Then it appeared to be a small mechanical object.

"Oh, now that's considerably more interesting," she commented, zooming it in closer. "What have you been eating, Kevan? I'm going to have to have one of the technical people identify this little item. It's not a medical monitor."

"It's small," she continued, "too small to have much in it, I think. But it's definitely constructed." There was some kind of haze on the image around it, and he asked what that was.

"I think it's a coating to help it go down easier. The coating will presumably dissolve so that the device can lodge itself in you further into your digestive system. That part, at least, has been done before. It hasn't been in you long, most of the coating is still intact."

"How long do you think the coating is supposed to last?" he asked, wondering how much time he had before it tangled itself up in him with barbs and became harder to remove.

"I don't know. I'd have to watch it for a while and monitor the progress before I could estimate that. On the other hand, I can remove it fairly easily at this point."

"The people that put it in me didn't intend me to know about it, I'd kind of like to know what it is to see if removing it would alert them somehow. If it's some kind of listening device then they know we know. If it's a tracking device--"

"Oh I think it's too small for a listening device. Also, it's in a noisy area for a listening device. Let me get a technician down here to see if he can determine if it's a tracking device."

"Make sure it's someone you trust very, very well," Kevan warned. "I don't want word of this getting out."

She left the privacy bubble around the examination table for a minute or two and Kevan continued to squint up at the display above him, as if it could help him figure out the little intruder in his body. He somehow kept expecting it to start blinking or moving, but it only seemed to shift slightly with the movement of his own internal organs. He found that he was holding his breath and remaining rigid, as if to keep it from moving deeper in, and he forced himself to breathe normally.

Urish'tal returned, scanning her datapad as she entered the privacy area again.

"It will take her a short while to arrive, as she has to fly in from another area of the city," she told him. "In the meantime, your blood seems fine, except for some expected elevated levels from the remaining traces of Rekshal in your system. I understand your desire to heal more quickly, but I would never have advised such a large dose, especially in a non-Rich'ti." She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what would make them take such risks."

"They are living in a far more hostile environment than you are," Kevan tried to explain. "Every person is needed to keep their community working, so most cannot afford to be unable to work for long periods of time. Some of the same people who hunt their food also have duties guarding the community from the animals as well. I saw that many people had dual responsibilities."

"Even so," she replied unabated, "there will be some there who know the results of some testing that was done years back. It drove some Rich'ti to madness. It killed others. There seemed to be a maximum dosage before it could potentially do either and that dosage was reasonably low to begin with. We found another chemical that could help stabalize it better in a topical form and keep its effects localized to that area, so we primarily use that instead. We rarely give it in ingested form as it sends the entire body into a healing overload state, even at the safer dosage. There have been some instances where the patient has not stopped that healing state and began "healing" areas of the body that didn't need it once the hurts were fixed. I have seen images of the victims. It was as if they were mutating, giving the body areas to try and heal. I doubt you were told all of this when they offered you the drug. And they had no right giving it to a human. They had no way of knowing how it would react to your system. You are very lucky that you seem to be responding to it without complications, although I will be happier when it is entirely finished leaving your system."

"Yes, well, it's not as though I haven't been drugged more than once without my consent. But I'm moving past that." He started to explain that risking drug complications didn't seem any worse than what the Brey-hahd might be bringing, but he realized she might not know what was coming. He didn't know how much anyone here had been told, and it wasn't his place to do so. "It seemed a necessary risk at the time. If I hadn't, I'd still be lying there recovering."

Eventually the technician did arrive. She scanned with some other equipment before declaring it a tracking device. The confidential nature of it was made clear, which the technician said she understood.

"Can you remove it without damaging it?" Kevan asked.

"Yes, why?"

"The Rich'ti that put it in me think I don't know about it. If it suddenly stops, they'll know I know. If it's still working then I can use it against them."

Removing it meant putting an instrument down his throat, which was less than pleasant, but tolerable. Once she had it out she put it in a small vial of fluid for him. It was smaller than a grain of rice.

"They'll be able to know you were here, if they're monitoring already," Urish'tal warned him.

"True. But then they'll track me leaving and going about my normal business. The obvious conclusion then will be that you didn't find it."

"When are we going to discuss how it got there?" Urish'tal asked.

"That's something I'll take up with Agronet later. I want to know more about who they are before I act."

"I understand," she said.

Kevan left the medical bay after he had put his clothes back on, not wanting to give Urish'tal time to ask him more questions. He headed back to his room and pulled up the Rich'ti computer that was installed in a panel of one wall. He started by using it to access the news of the last few weeks, backing up to see what the news had reported about the attempt on his life. The initial coverage had been extensive and he watched interviews with most of the people he had met by that point. He was amused to see that someone had even interviewed the female cook he'd worked with on the ship, but somewhat more interested in watching the interview with Pergute. He already knew he probably shouldn't just access files on the Rich'ti Professor directly, but he did follow a couple of casual links that gave him slightly more information, but nothing that really helped him.

He followed similar links on a few of the other interviews too, so that it looked less conspicuous. He followed through on the bigger headlines, noting the news when the moon fell to Rich'ti hands and then coming to Gertat's death. He was surprised to find that the footage on the challenge was easily available, and he pulled it up and watched it. He followed that by skipping ahead briefly to watch the footage of the challenge between Logur and Agronet. In neither one was he able to determine when Logur poisoned his opponent, but he could tell that Logur was not the better fighter in either instance. From what Kevan saw, it seemed as if Gertat had had an early opportunity to finish the fight and had hesitated. Gertat had repeatedly offered verbal chances for Logur to back out of the fight.

He wondered if Gertat's attempts at peace would have been seen by Rich'ti as weakness. He made a mental note to ask about that. There wasn't any commentary about the fights in the public news information. He found that interesting. There wasn't any media discussion of it at all. He jokingly wondered to himself whether it would be a sports or political commentator that would analyze the fights if they were adopted as a human custom.

He idly skimmed through other news, following some side stories, while he wondered how large the group Pergute was in was, and what their agenda was. He didn't know how to investigate them or expose them.

After a while he decided to stretch out and take a nap. He set an alarm on the panel by the door, setting it to give him an hour.

When the chiming started he reached over out of instinct, before groaning that there wasn't a snooze button in reach. He stood up and stumbled over to the panel to hit the button, rubbing his eyes as he walked. Things were starting to catch up with him, he warned himself. The last few long nights without enough sleep were hard on him.

He hit the button, but the chiming didn't stop. He stopped and stared blankly at the panel for a moment before realizing it was the door chime and not his alarm at all. He cursed quietly before hitting the button that would show him who was outside.

Trorkash's face popped up as he squinted into the now-glowing monitor. The male looked grumpy, but then Kevan was starting to doubt that Trorkash had any other expression. Kevan poked at the screen, to allow conversation.

"Yes?" he asked, trying to keep the sleep out of his voice. It was all he could do to stifle a yawn immediately after.

"Agronet wishes your presence, human," Trorkash replied flatly.

"I'll be out in just a moment," Kevan told him in a very human tone. As he moved the comb out his hair and splashed some water on his face to help wake him, he wondered if the look of indignation on Trorkash's face was from having to wait outside the room or having to fetch "the human" in the first place. Kevan sat down and pulled his shoes on, feeling only a tiny guilt about making the Rich'ti wait longer.

Before leaving the room, he checked the panel on the wall briefly, noting that he'd only gotten about 40 minutes of sleep. He had lost track of when the next Rich'ti sleeping stretch was, but he imagined he was going to sleep roughly as long as they did this time.

Trorkash headed down the hallway before the door to Kevan's room had even finished closing. Kevan said nothing, but followed the Rich'ti down the hall and to the elevator. They headed up into the domed area again, but this time went to a large section of it that he saw was blocked off with a privacy haze, similar to what Kevan had seen in the medical bay. He followed Trorkash through it, where he saw Agronet and several other Rich'ti sitting on mats in a circle around a holographic projector. An image of a planet was currently being shown, spinning slightly. Kevan thought it might be the planet's moon.

"Kevan, I thought you should hear this," Agronet said as Kevan followed Trorkash down to the small assembly. "These are the scientists who have been trying to determine what effect the rapid mining will have on the moon. It seems we are in for some problems prior to the Brey-hahd attack."

"This," he added to the scientists themselves, "is the human you've all heard so much about. His name is Kevan." They had been staring at him already since his arrival. Some nodded, while others looked at him with suspicion. He counted eight of them. To his suprise, Trorkash pulled a mat up and indicated Kevan should sit on it. He was relieved that he was seated right next to Agronet, which he hoped would be perceived as a "trusted" position by the others.

"Please explain to him what you have been telling me," Agronet said, nodding his head at a particular Rich'ti in the group.

"Typically, moons the size of this one have either a solid or a liquid core, or a combination of both. In our case, this one has a core made of two large solid bodies that are in effect floating together along with a number of smaller bodies. The different bodies are made up of different rock and metal types, so they never became one mass."

"While it means that there is a very high metals count on the moon, it is also unstable. Mining on the scale the Brey-hahd are doing will destroy the balance of forces that are holding the moon together. When the moon is between our planet and both the sun and other moon is when the stress on the moon is greatest."

"This is next going to happen in three weeks. It is possible that they have already done enough damage that the moon will fall apart at that point. If they continue at their current rate, it is certain that it will happen."

"And what happens then?" Kevan asked, knowing it was the obvious and expected question, but playing along anyway.

"At the minimum all life on the moon will be lost. It is extremely likely that at least one of the core fragments will collide with our planet. The destruction would be extremely devastating."

Agronet turned to Kevan, "Your ships will not arrive in time to stop this."

"Then your ships will have to do it," Kevan suggested. "What will it take to make them stop? What will it take to drive them off the moon or destroy their capacity for mining?"

Another technician answered first, "They are using both machinery and Rich'ti labor. Rich'ti labor is the key component to the rate of progress they are making. Their equipment is not actually very sophisticated."

"It doesn't need to be--not the way they treat local populations," another technician said.

"And they are also using Rich'ti machinery," a sixth added. "They did not destroy much of the mining machinery in their attack. Most of what they hit was defense systems and some of the living areas."

"So we need to know how to destroy those machines, and the ones the Brey-hahd have added," Kevan said. "Are there main power sources that these machines draw off of?"

"Yes, but they also power the life support systems," the second technician replied. "Even if we could get past their defenses to destroy them, it would kill our people right along with it."

"How badly damaged is that Brey-hahd ship that was shot down?" Kevan asked, turning to Agronet. "We may be able to use it in an attack."

"The team working on it hasn't gotten far enough to figure out how it flies," the Takor replied, shaking his head. "There is damage to the hull that could be repaired to presumably make it spaceworthy again, but they've been focusing on finding weaknesses and learning how it works. There was also a self-destruct on the ship's systems that we did not know about until it was too late. The database was completely destroyed and I understand that several key systems were damaged beyond repair."

"Can you replace those systems with ones from the unfinished ships being built?" Kevan asked.

"We can barely make sense of much of it. Interfacing our technology with theirs is much to big a project for the kind of time we have," one of the technicians protested."

"Well obviously doing nothing isn't going to help you any," Kevan said flatly. "So how many other options do you have? If you can get their ship flying you might at least have an element of surprise. If you can get ships here fast enough maybe you can try an attack, but you've had little success with that so far, so that just sounds like wasting ships. About the only other option that comes to mind is destroying your own colony."

Most of the Rich'ti looked at him as if he'd struck them. He felt fairly sure that if any of them had been drinking anything they would have spewed it out. It was precisely the reaction he expected.

"I'm not saying it's the best or right course of action," he threw in to head off the protests, "but that's one other idea you hadn't thought of, right?"

A couple of them nodded reluctantly. "So what else haven't you thought of?" he asked them. "If the moon breaks apart, then everyone on the moon dies, possibly everyone here as well. If you were to attack your own colony--if killing a third of them, for example, would stop the Brey-hahd, then it would potentially save the other two-thirds, along with those here. It might also show the Brey-hahd that you mean business, and might make them hesitate a little. Now, maybe one third is a high number. How much would it take to make the mining stop, or to delay it enough? What about attacking the mine sites themselves?"

"You're suggesting we deliberately attack other Rich'ti!" one of the technicians exclaimed. "What kind of rech'tat are you humans?"

Kevan didn't bother looking up the word in his palmpad, expecting he'd gotten the gist of what it meant purely from the manner in which the Rich'ti technician spat the word out, with a liberal amount of phlem in his throat. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. Agronet was putting his hands up.

"Enough!" Agronet said loudly. "We must consider all angles of approach, including the ones we hope we would never have to use. Given the circumstances, I would like to see as many technicians pulled off their current projects as possible to assist in getting that Brey-hahd ship in the air with working weaponry. Unless a better plan shows itself, we will have an expert pilot fly it in and take out as much machinery as possible. But we will still look at more drastic measures as backup plans for if that fails. Is that understood?"

Heads bobbed all around the room. Some still seemed angry, but no one else spoke up just then.

"I will have to list of potential pilots drawn up immediately and then they can be working with the ship as well. Perhaps a pilot will have more instinct in pointing out key systems in a ship and can be of some assistance. It will also give whomever ends up flying the thing more time becoming familiar with it."

"In the meantime," he continued, "I want exact numbers on how many Rich'ti lives it might cost to stop mining on the moon if our current plan fails or cannot act soon enough to make a difference. We have some higher yeild weaponry that would be capable of delivering massive blows to specific areas, or we could look at trying to take out major power sources. I want to know how many people could be killed with the least amount of firepower. This could also help defend those people if we can manage to get in there and take it back. The Brey-hahd may be looking at those scenarios already. It would be good to know what our enemy is potentially planning too."

"It might also be worth noting," Kevan added, "that if you were to do something so drastic as to attack your own people to stop them, it'll show the Brey-hahd that you won't just sit back and accept what they want. It might make them hesitate some."

"The very suggestion--"

"I'm not telling you what you should do," Kevan interrupted, "just pointing out other options you have. If doing something unpleasant would save billions of lives, and you don't do it because it's unpleasant, are you really doing the right thing?"

None of them answered him, but he saw a lot of thoughtful expressions. He'd only meant it as a rhetorical question, and their reaction to the suggestion told him a lot about their morality. It confirmed their emphasis on individual honor. It didn't, however, reassure him that they'd have the tenacity and strength to do whatever it took to win. Or perhaps, he thought, they still don't realize that their fighting for their very survival.

There was further discussion about transforming the husk of the Brey-hahd ship into a hollow hull filled with Rich'ti ship components. Kevan again offered up the help of human scientists, and they seemed to see less security risk with giving out information now. They offered up no protest on sharing what they'd learned about the Brey-hahd ship so far, and seemed at least willing to listen to suggestions on how to repair it.

It was another hour yet before the meeting adjourned, with the technicians going over details with each other and noting which progress reports they would be sending to Agronet. Agronet periodically reminded them of urgent nature of the task, and asked them to send the reports to Kevan as well. Kevan was pleased to finally be working with someone who thought to include him without him having to convince them of the necessity first. After the technicians had finished up and were heading out, Agronet asked Kevan to stay. He noticed that Agronet dismissed Trorkash as well, and he briefly wondered just what all the aide knew about and didn't.

Once the room was empty, there was a moment of silence. The holographic image of the moon still spun slowly in front of them, and Kevan found himself watching it without meaning to until Agronet pressed a few keys on a panel next to him and it dissipated out of view, leaving the room bathed in a soft light around the edges of the walls.

"There are over four hundred million Rich'ti on that moon Kevan," Agronet said softly once the image had gone. "At least that was the most recent estimate before the Brey-hahd invaded. As Takor of the Rich'ti worlds, those lives are my responsibility, as much as they were Uurnat's. You may not know that he died after trying to take a shuttle home to his people. The Brey-hahd shot his shuttle down. He may not have even gotten a message off to them before he died. The Rich'ti on Et'arach'nur now have no Takor to lead them other than myself, and I cannot just sacrifice them without trying all other alternatives first. I understand that it may come to that, probably better than those technicians do. I have seen ship battles during my career, where it took the sacrifice of one ship to save the rest. But measures like that have always been a last resort. I hope you can understand my position."

"Absolutely. If anyone had heard the suggestion and immediately said, 'Oh, that's a good idea, let's go with that," I would have been horrified. Drastic measures like that are just that, drastic measures. The responses, yours included, told me a lot about your people."

"Oh, so now your testing us?" Kevan felt pretty sure the Takor was teasing when he said it.

"On the other hand, doing nothing is as good as letting them all die. There are times when what must be considered most is just how many can you save. If destroying a quarter of the colony saves the rest, then it's still saving maybe three hundred million. The loss of any is mournable and regrettable. But the last thing I want to see is the end of the Rich'ti race."

"Because you'd die with us?"

"Yes, that and it makes my job of building an alliance a lot harder." Kevan teased back.

"By the way," Kevan said, "I wanted to thank you for having me brought to that meeting. You let me stay for more of it than you maybe had to, and I wanted you to know I appreciate that."

"I've asked your government for help. You are their representative here. I want to keep you up-to-date on what your government is helping us with."

"How is communication going with your government going?" Agronet asked him. "Have they agreed to send more ships?"

"I am still working on that," Kevan told him. "I will let you know once I have something more solid to tell you. Sometimes my goverment can be just as stubborn and stuck on protocol as yours. They shall need to be convinced that the situation is dire enough to need more resources. I assure you, I will do all that I can. If I can send them footage of what has happened to the worlds that have been destroyed, and any information you have on the Brey-hahd ships in this system as well as those on the way here, it would help give them a better understanding."

"As long as it does not, instead, make them decide to pull out and leave us to die," Agronet said somberly. "You may send them whatever you need to. We need their assistance. While there are some technologies we will be more hesitant to share, most of what we have right now will be of little value to anyone if we are dead. Send whatever information you need to, Kevan. And let them know that I am willing to discuss trade for their help. I already understand that some of our ship propulsion technologies, for example, would be of great value to them. I have sent some things already in good faith. If they can show that they are truely willing to help us, in a way that I can show my people, then many more such things will become available to them in exchange."

"They will see reason, I'm sure. If we do not help you with the Brey-hahd now, they will probably be coming for us next," Kevan considered aloud. "Compared to what they have done to you, they have been only testing our defenses in their attacks on us. Once my government realizes that, they will take the threat more seriously." Kevan hoped desperately that what he was saying was true. He knew of situations where his government had pulled back from offering assistance to another race in order to not provoke a third race into becoming their enemy as well. In this instance, however, the Brey-hahd were already considered an enemy and were making attacks on the fringes of Human space. Kevan could only hope that once they saw the footage of what the Brey-hahd would do to Human worlds, they would move into action. Kevan had been hoping his reports would be enough, but sometimes the old adage "seeing is believing" was still important to tip the scales in one's favor in Human politics. He kept all of that to himself, however, not wanting to worry the Takor more than he already was. Kevan realized the burden he'd asked Agronet to take on was something the Rich'ti was taking very seriously. He was greatful that Agronet had finally agreed to take on the task, and desperately hoped it wouldn't really cost him his life.

"I must get some sleep now," Agronet said. "I have more meetings and work to do soon. It seems that a Takor does not get quite as much sleep as everyone else." He nodded at Kevan with a hint of amusement, lightening the tone again. Kevan watched, however, as Agronet stood up, and saw the Rich'ti wince in pain for a moment before straightening up and striding out of the room. Again, Kevan wondered how much Trorkash knew. The aide could be a lot of help in masking Agronet's condition from the others if he knew about it. He only hoped that Agronet had come to the same conclusion.

The privacy bubble turned off shortly after Agronet left. Kevan stood up, alone in the office. He walked over to the transparent wall and looked outside for a while. He found himself watching the aircar traffic buzzing about the various towers. There was much less of it than at human cities. The traffic seemed to move more slowly, but it was more even and smooth and calm looking.

As far as he could tell, there was less need for commuting here. Rich'ti lived close to where they worked. Each community had its own production centers, rather than the sprawling human industrial centers separated away from the residential districts. He supposed neither was better than the other, per se, but this was perhaps a little prettier to look at.

Eventually he wandered back to his room. He checked his messages and was at first caught off guard that there were several hundred. It turned out that someone back home had thought to route him a number of newsfeeds, and there were a bunch of newsfeed messages that he hadn't read since leaving home. There was also one actual message from a technician back home who'd directed the feeds for him.

For the moment he set up a filter to label them and separate them from actual communications. He started to look through a few of them and found himself yawning. He decided they could wait until morning, since he'd wake up before the majority of the Rich'ti population anyway. He yawned again as he pushed himself back from the computer.

He found the tracking device in his pocket as he undressed, and he set it on one end of the sleeping furs. He frowned at it, wondering what they'd try next, and how he might be able to find out more about them. He tried to push that out of his mind as he washed up some before easing himself down onto the sleeping furs.

Chapter 12

"There is a situation. You are to come with me," The aide said bluntly.

"Just a minute," Kevan said, somewhat grumpily. He flipped off the display and quickly threw on some fresh clothes and grabbed his datapad, wondering what was going on this time. He headed out the door, ignoring Trorkash's impatient scowl.

"Where to this time?" he asked, wishing desperately for some coffee just then.

"An aircar is waiting for us. Agronet has gone on ahead. This way." Trorkash turned and started heading down the hall.

Kevan followed, wondering what was going on. Trorkash led him to an elevator and then to an extended landing strip off one side of the peak, where an aircar stood empty and waiting. Trorkash hopped inside and started powering it up while Kevan settled into one of the other two seats.

After they had moved off the landing strip and were headed on their path, Trorkash turned for a moment and looked at Kevan.

"Let's make a few things clear, Human, while we both have a moment to do so. I don't like what is happening and you seem to be at the center, if not the cause of a good portion of it. I understand the reasons Agronet puts up with you. We won't win this war without help from your race. But Agronet is my friend. And now, because of you, he is not only dying but also having to take on responsibilities he never wanted. He had plans of his own, you know. Things he wanted to do with his life. You've destroyed all of that. And while I don't disagree that he is the kind of Rich'ti that can make an excellent Takor and do what needs to be done. I do, however, disagree with the idea that my friend is pushing himself harder than he has ever needed to before and at the same time knows his life is draining away. You are the cause of that. So, unless your people can find a cure, don't expect me to care what happens to you. I'll do what Agronet asks me to, but beyond that... If I have to watch my best friend die, then I hope I get the opportunity to watch you die as well."

Kevan held back, not wanting to rant back. "Yeah, whatever," he replied instead, turning away and looking out the window and watching the city go by. Part of him did wonder a little what Trorkash's expression was, but he didn't turn to see it. He didn't want to have that conversation yet again. Easier at this point just to accept that as the standard treatment around here.

They flew towards the edge of the city. There was a large open square that could have been a market not far inside the city limits. It looked like a full-scale riot was going on. The aircar settled off to the side in a secured area.

Soldiers held back a mass of Rich'ti. There were a number of brands visible in the crowd. Murder labels were not infrequent among them.

"We won't be ignored, we won't burn!" the crowd chanted repeatedly.

Trorkash got out of the aircar. Kevan followed.

"Obviously you told them about the Brey-hahd. With this going on, everyone will know. If something is done quick, we're going to have this going on globally!" Trorkash said angrily. "You're going to fix this."

"Yes, I told them," Kevan said as matter-of-factly as he could. "It affected them, and at the time I was living among them. If they were ignored and burned off the planet by the Brey-hahd it was going to happen to me, too. Before you try to blame anything on me, remember why I was out there in the first place. Because there was a conspiracy to murder me, which very nearly succeeded."

"As to this," he continued, "this is an internal matter. My government can't have an official stance on how you deal with maintaining peace on your planet. If I am asked, I can go out there and talk to their leaders and see if I can help negotiate a peaceful resolution. It's rather unlikely though, because what they want you won't accept."

"And what is it they want?" Trorkash asked, glaring.

"Maybe you should ask them that. I haven't been given authority to represent them."

"I should just challenge you here and now and kill you," Trorkash said loudly.

"I won't fight you," Kevan said calmly and in a normal tone. "Murder me if you want to. I'm sure that will help." Kevan stood a little straighter, not sure how the Rich'ti would react.

"Enough." Agronet's voice stalled Trorkash from whatever he'd been about to say. "We don't have time for this. Trorkash, take this datapad to Urish'tal. It has classified instructions for her. Allow no one else access to it but her." He handed over a small datapad which had a cover on it. It looked to Kevan as if the cover had a thumbprint scanner at the center of it.

"Kevan, I'd like to speak with you," Agronet said, gesturing towards another aircar nearby. Kevan nodded and followed the Takor to it. Agronet did not speak again until the doors had closed, sealing some of the sound out.

"Before you ask, Agronet, I can't specifically get involved any more than I already have. This is technically an internal matter amongst your race. As I explained to Trorkash, I might be able to mediate some and negotiate a peaceful resolution, but I represent the Human government here, not one side or another of the Rich'ti people."

"I understand that," Agronet nodded. "And I will have to speak to Trorkash again later. He is full of suspicion and anger right now. As for the matter at hand, I was hoping for advice above everything else. I might take you up on that offer to mediate, however. The problem is that I am now suddenly dealing with two groups of outcasts instead of one. They, themselves, cannot seem to agree. I have received an urgent message from the one named Eesh'ket, to let me know that they are also trying to stop this from their end. He suggested that this was a more violent segment of their communities that does not feel a peaceful negotiation will work."

"You have gotten communications equipment out to them then?" Kevan asked.

"Not yet. I was still working on a way to get it to them discreetly for the moment," Agronet replied.

"Then how did Eesh'ket get the message to you?" Kevan asked, remembering how long it had taken to get a message in the last time.

"Strangely enough, it came through Pergute," the Takor answered. "He seems to have a contact to them now from when you tried to reach me before. I have discarded discretion for the moment and sent someone to drop off some equipment for them. Depending on how well they know how to work the equipment, we may have communication up and running with them in less than an hour."

A pit formed in Kevan's stomach as he remembered the tracking device still laying in it's vial on the sleeping furs in his room. He grit his teeth when he realized that there were media cameras all over the place. There would be no way he'd be able to deny being here, and yet the tracking signal suggested he was still asleep in his room. He set that worry aside for later, to focus on the situation in front of him.

"However, if this gets much worse, we will have to fire on them," Agronet continued. "As far as we know, no one has been killed yet, but there have already been several civilian injuries. Some of them have been lobbing rocks into the crowd. Others have gone into one of the community buildings here. We have no information on what's happening inside. Several Rich'ti were injured trying to stop them from going further before we could get an armed force here to discourage them. This is quickly getting out of control."

"What you do here sets the precedent for your leadership, and for how future negotiations are to be conducted. You can act decisively to show that such behavior will not be tolerated, or you can try to prove them wrong and show them that peaceful negotiations can work. Of course, you'll have to convince them to be peaceful first. You might try making it clear that if they stop what they're doing now they can be treated without judgement, but if they continue being violent they can only be judged on the current violence."

"Also," Kevan added reluctantly, "be wary of Pergute. ...I don't trust him."

"What are you saying?"

"Now might not be the best time. You have quite a bit to worry about. But he is part of a secret organization of some kind. I don't know what their agenda is, or what they're capable of, or just what they might have already been involved in. For now just keep an eye on him and we'll figure it out later. For the moment you have your hands full."

"You've learned a lot in a short time here," Agronet said."

"It's been an eventful short time, hasn't it?" Kevan replied with a head roll grin.

"Indeed it has," Agronet said, pushing the door open. "Indeed it has."

As Agronet stepped out of the aircar, one of the male military personnel stepped forward. Kevan thought he must be an officer, based on the emblems that seemed to be stamped in gold into the belt the Rich'ti wore. He stood rigidly after making some sort of gesture with his arm and head.

Some things are universal, aren't they? Kevan thought, with a moment of amusement. It always amazed him to see how many cultures he encountered seemed to like their military units in neat, tidy lines with crisp, uniform appearances in how they moved and held themselves. The Rich'ti seemed no different on that level.

"Any word on communicating with a leader for this madness?" Agronet asked the officer.

"No sir," the Rich'ti replied. "There seems to be some confusion on who the leader actually is, even amongst them. We've managed to capture a few, however, without injury. We've been making some slow progress with stun weapons along the fringes. A couple of the captives are awake, sir, but they seem to harbor much anger. We already had to sedate one after he nearly hurt himself struggling against his restraints. The other captives are still unconscious, but we've been attempting to question the two who are awake to find out who we need to communicate with. They seem to disagree on the matter."

"Take us there," Agronet ordered, following it with a small sigh and a shake of his head. Kevan fell in behind the Takor as the officer led them into one of the shorter nearby buildings. As they entered it, he could not be sure what the building was normally used for. It seemed to be currently commandeered by the military, however. It was a large open space that was surprisingly empty, and what looked like a line of offices along two of the walls at one corner. Several military Rich'ti were about, carrying their rifles, and Kevan could see other Rich'ti lying on the ground on their sides with their hands and feet bound behind them and connected by a metal bar. From what he could tell, those were the unconscious ones. He continued following Agronet and the officer, who made their way to one of the offices.

The two awake ones were in one of the offices. They were lying on the floor, their bounds just preventing them from sitting up without help. One was struggling some, the other just glared at them as they walked in.

"Let us go, Pechute," the glaring one said with a little bit of teeth showing.

One of the soldiers accompanying them stepped closer to the captive, holding out some kind of baton weapon with a glowing tip. Kevan squatted down, bringing himself closer to eye level. Agronet followed the example, and gestured for the soldier to move back.

"Tell me what it is you want," Agronet said.

"This can't be the most comfortable way to negotiate," Kevan suggested to Agronet. He turned back to the captive, wondering if they had the concept of Good Cop/Bad Cop here. "What's your name? I haven't had a chance to meet with all the tribes yet."

"I am Ak'hret of the Shur'ai."

"Agronet," Kevan asked, "can the bar connecting his hands and feet be removed so he can at least sit comfortably?"

Agronet didn't answer immediately, and looked to be sizing up Ak'hret. Eventually he nodded and a soldier came forward and undid some of Ak'hret's bindings. Ak'hret repositioned himself to be sitting upright. It didn't look entirely comfortable to Kevan, but it certainly looked more dignified. Kevan hoped that the exchange would show Ak'hret that Agronet was the one in authority, the one that might need to be convinced that the Shur'ai were even capable of peaceful negotiations.

"Who speaks for the Shur'ai, Ak'hret?" Agronet asked quietly.

"Tell him nothing," the other Rich'ti said, snarling. "They will give you nothing in return for your help." He stopped struggling against his bonds long enough to make a low growl in his throat and spit towards Agronet.

"Violence will solve nothing here," Kevan said. "This rioting is hurting the chances for a peaceful resolution that could benefit all Rich'ti - "

"Save your speeches, human," the stuggling Rich'ti interrupted. "We all know how you have manipulated the others to wait quietly for the Brey-hahd to come and kill us all. We will do what we must to survive!"

Ak'hret remained quiet, glaring between Agronet, Kevan and the guards. Agronet rocked back and forth gently on his toes in his crouched position.

"What are your demands?" Agronet asked. "None of you have let us know what it is you expect us to do."

The room grew quiet for a moment, and the one Rich'ti even stopped struggling, seeming to be thinking for a moment. Kevan wondered if the two were even from the same tribe, as he'd been told that each tribe had a community that was made up of those branded for murder and their descendants. He seemed to recall that he'd been told the Shur'ai tribe resided in the desert lands. There was nothing physical that could tell him whether the other one was from the same community or not.