On the Job

 

Fallon warily eyed the two Sprints behind them. “I’d feel more comfortable in the center of the group. Where are we going?”

“The rockpile. We carry rocks,” Drindl said. They were tall enough to look over the heads of the other prisoners. “Check it out.”

The mountain of gray rubble rock stood ten warriors high at least. Above the mountain, a dust wafted into the blue sky. Out above the ocean, tall clouds billowed up into the blue sky. “Cool front coming in,” Bebe said. When she was young, she had been taught to read the sky.

Fallon turned to Alithea. “Did you learn to read the sky in school? Maybe they will teach Erthen.”

Alithea shook her head. “I read flesh. Bebe reads sky. Warriors read the enemy in combat.” Maybe it was different here, she thought. Although it was difficult, there was no reason that Erthen could not learn to read sky. “What language will they teach him? He’s at that age.”

“We’ll teach him our language,” Fallon assured her.

“He’ll be tired at the end of the day,” Alithea reminded him.

“So will we,” Fallon nodded to the rubble ahead of them. The guards motioned them to pick up the rocks and take them along the beach. Stretching to his full height, Fallon saw Fae warriors sitting astride four enormous beasts. He turned to Drindl in amazement.

“They call them elephants,” Drindl said. Shading his eyes, he looked toward the sun dazzled water, then pointed to a jetty of rocks.

“Hey, you two,” Alpen growled. Fallon turned to him. “Listen. Some of these People are stooped from carrying rocks. They have been here a while. Maybe you can find out where they took Erthen. Remember, pace yourself.” He gave Bebe’s hand a squeeze then stepped forward and picked up a jagged boulder. Hefting it, he added, “Sharp edges, be careful.”

Bebe stepped forward, picked up a smaller rock and inspected it with curiosity. A guard standing higher up on the rubble, snapped his whip toward her to get her attention. She nodded, then turned to carry the rock toward the waiting elephants. Setting it down, she felt the thick, smooth floor of the travois. Alpen touched her shoulder to urge her on. “It’s a strong material. How did they make it?” she asked.

“Don’t tempt the whip again.” His tone was pleading, not commanding. “I will kill that fool if he strikes you with that.”

//////////////////

When each travois was filled, the elephant pulled it down the beach to the jetty. Some of the prisoners were sent down the beach to unload the rocks. At midday, they rested and were given the same pressed food bars that they ate that morning.

“Bland but not rancid. We have an adequate store of energy,” Alithea remarked as she bit into the bar. “A plant-based product. I don’t taste any fish or Ibik, do you?” she asked Bebe before tipping the container of water to her lips. She handed it to Fallon. “Where does the water come from? It tastes fresh.” She looked to Drindl.

“I’ve only been here a week,” he answered. “I haven’t gotten sick.”

“Where did the jagged rocks come from?” Bebe asked. “There’s no smoothness. Who put the rocks here?”

Drindl shook his head. “It’s been here since I was brought here.” 

They sounded an alarm and the whole group returned to work. Unloading a rock, Alithea stole a moment and carefully felt the broad footprint of the giant beasts in the hard sand. She marveled that so much weight did not press down further into the sand.

Later in the day, someone nearby screamed and fell back onto the sand. The prisoners paused with their burdens as the woman held her arm forward and tried to staunch the blood. Alithea instinctively put her rock down and rushed to the kneeling woman. Alithea grabbed her hand and stretched her arm to the sky. When the woman pulled her arm down, Alithea calmly held it there as she looked at the woman. “Keep it elevated,” she said to the woman. Her matter of fact tone prompted obedience.

Alithea looked about her, then tore a strip from her own garment and swiftly tied the tourniquet around the woman’s arm. She lowered the arm to inspect the wound and was frustrated that her surgery kit was back at the cave where they had been captured.

“Fallon, water please.” The ocean was nearly within reach, but she needed drinking water. She turned towards Fallon and looked up at the figure of a Cawthingi guard. From this position, she could rotate into a kick that would disable him. Instead she passively let herself be brushed away as the guard pushed her shoulder. Looking past the guard, she saw Fallon rushing to the rescue but held up her hand. “I’m fine.”

Fallon extended the container of fresh water to show the guard. Alithea made a washing motion on her own arm and pointed to the injured woman. Fallon stepped forward with the container, but the guard brought his rod down on Fallon’s arm and the container fell to the ground. Steadying it, Alithea kept half of the water in the container. Fallon turned to attack the guard.

Separated

 

Sitting up, Fallon held Erthen to his chest as he scanned the room. He counted fifty or so People, none of them from the Jade tribe, most huddled together in small groups, stirring in the brightening room. A snarling noise at the entrance caused everyone to turn. Straining at the end of ropes, two young wolfbear led two Cawthingi guards, their arm muscles bulging with the effort to restrain the beasts.

Fallon turned to Drindl. “Wolfbear?”

Drindl shushed him. “Dog.” Looking closer, Fallon could see the distinction. Their front paws did not turn in as they walked. Their jaws were slimmer.

As the dogs circled along the outer wall, the People shrank from the threat, moving toward the entrance. Alpen motioned for them to do the same. Erthen, silent and in shock at the strange animals, twisted in Fallon’s arms as he followed their movements. Alithea took Fallon’s arm as they hurried to the entrance, then down the stone steps.

When they got to the corridor, a Cawthingi guard herded them aside with a long spear. Alpen began to put up some resistance, but Fallon cautioned, “Not here.” The guard motioned to Fallon to give him the boy. Fallon pretended like he did not understand. The guard said something and reached for Erthen, but Fallon stepped back and asked Alithea, “What is school? They want to put Erthen in a school place.”

////////////////////

Alithea looked at him with a questioning look, then glanced at the guard and turned again to Fallon. “That’s where Bebe and I went when we were younger. That is where I learned medicine and surgery; Bebe the history of our people.” Looking out of the window opening, she saw a small group of other young People. What was this?

Then two more guards came forward and made threatening gestures. Alithea took some small comfort that they did not beat them. They did not want to hurt Erthen. Perhaps there was a school. She turned to the guard and motioned with her hand to her mouth, then to Erthen. The guard nodded and spoke something.

“He’s saying that Erthen will be well cared for,” Fallon murmured. He did not want ot betray his understanding of their language.

“Will they return Erthen tonight?”

“Tonight?” Fallon asked and gestured with his free hand.

One of the guards answered an impatient yes and signaled that they would bring Erthen back to the corridor tonight. “You work,” he swept his arm to the others, then repeated the word “work.” Fallon repeated the word and nodded.

Alithea spoke in a soft voice to the boy and he fell out of Fallon’s arms to hold onto his mother. She pointed to the other children outside and make an up and down motion with his arm. “Playing,” she said and smiled. She hoped the strain did not show in her face. She kissed the boy, then held him forward. As soon as she released the boy, the guard scooped him into his arms a bit too roughly and Alithea regretted her acquiescence.

When the guard turned away, the two other guards blocked her and Fallon. Alithea looked out the window opening to see the guard set Erthen down on the ground. One of the older children took Erthen by the hand. Alithea gasped when she saw a Fae in a flowing white gown lead the group away. It was the first time that she had seen a Fae without warrior clothing.

First Night

 

A blaring sound pierced the air and Alithea covered Erthen’s ears. Drindl turned to the west. “Sun’s almost down. That’s the evening call.” When Alpen stooped to pick up the playpen with the remaining food, Drindl put his hand on his teacher’s arm. “We have to leave it.”

Alpen looked at the young warrior. “Back to the ship?”

“No, they will put us in the sleeping rooms,” Drindl said.

Alpen pointed to the west, past the marketplace. “Why not escape? We are three warriors.”

Drindl turned to the south and west, pointing beyond the tall stone wall of the great room where they had first met. They turned to see several Sprints coming toward them. “We have no weapons.”

“We could run.” Alpen looked to the others, then back at Drindl. “Why can’t we run?”

Drindl reached out to his teacher and held his arms with both hands as he looked him in the eye. “A little while after sunset, they let the wolfbear loose.” Heads turned. “The Fae, of course.”

“Do the Fae riders watch the carnage?” Alpen snarled. “Has anyone seen a young Fae or are they spawn of the spider monsters they ride?” Reaching into the playpen, he grabbed a few pieces of food and held them out to the others. When no one took the food, he threw it to the ground.

Bebe reached for him. “We must watch and wait for our chance. When we get out, we will return to our home.”

When Alpen’s head fell, Bebe took his head against her shoulder and comforted him. Fallon understood the great warrior’s anger. He had led them away from Sarten’s brutality only to bring them to this place of equal wickedness.

“We have to go,” Drindl said.

They returned to the great room, finding that most of the prisoners had left. Drindl led them through another entrance, to an outside corridor lined with burning torches to light their way. They caught up with the last of the shuffling prisoners, who were ushered down a wide stone stairway. Drindl made a sign to a Cawthingi guard, who motioned him to an adjoining stairway that led up to a dimly lit room.

The air was still and rancid, less so than the hold of the ship earlier in the day, but strong enough that Erthen vomited. Alithea tried to comfort the boy, hoping that his listlessness was not illness. The day’s events had shocked them all.

“We sleep here,” Drindl said, pointing to the rows of wooden benches. Most of the spaces were taken, shadowy figures huddled in the light from one torchlight.

Alithea looked to Drindl, then back to the opening at the top of the stairs. “This is unhealthy. Isn’t there a better place?”

Drindl shook his head. “This is the better place. When they wash this down tomorrow morning, the water drains down to the room below. You’ll get used to it in a few days.”

“How much for the guards?” Fallon asked.

“Don’t worry. We must get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a hard day.”

None of them slept well. Their only comfort was the light of the new morning through several  openings near the top of the walls.

“How is Erthen?” Drindl whispered to Fallon.

The boy lay face down on his dad’s chest but turned to Drindl’s voice. Fallon lifted an eyelid. “I was up half the night listening. They are going to take Erthen?” Drindl nodded, his head disturbing a swirl of tiny dust specks in the sunlight coming into the room. “What do they do with the kids?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping you could find out.”

The Ceremony

 

When Drindl located a digging tool, Fallon leaned close to Alpen. “You’re a good warrior. You are an even better teacher. This kid’s tough and he’s smart.”

“Who do you think warned me about Sarten? Stay alert, stay alive, I told him.” Alpen reached into the playpen, took some fish out and handed it to Bebe. Taking a bite of the fish, he said, “I miss Ibik meat.”

Fallon nodded, but enjoyed the slightly salty taste of the fish. He looked to Alithea and some wordless conversation passed between them. Alithea motioned toward Bebe in deference to her greater loss and her position within the tribe. The sun was low in the sky and they needed to bury the babes before the night sky took their souls on the long journey to Paradise.

Turning to Bebe, Fallon said, “You are the tribe’s historian. You know the stories. Can you say the words to send our babes on their journey?”

She looked relieved and took Alpen’s hand. Fallon tied a bit of cloth around their intertwined hands. It was not the ceremonial cloth, but it would have to do. Alithea reached into the playpen and gathered each tiny body into her palm, then placed them into the joined hands of Bebe and Alpen.

“We give you our babes,” Bebe said to the ancestors of the People. “We wanted to spend more time with them on this earth, but they are coming to live with you. Take care of them, love them and show them the wonders of Paradise. Tell them that we loved them and that we will join you later.”

Alpen gave the response. “The sky below the earth, souls rooted in the sky; the earth below the sun, our souls were meant to fly; our love rise up above our cries; we send you there to Paradise.”

Drindl stepped aside to let Alpen and Bebe kneel and place the young babes in the grave. Bebe stood up, then turned to Drindl and hugged him. She tried to say something, but her throat closed with emotion. Drindl put his arms around Bebe and the others joined in the hug.   

To the Market

 

After Drindl and Fallon left, Alpen started toward the fountain. When Alithea reached for his arm, he turned to her. “We will foul their water,” he scoffed.

“You could get sick,” Alithea reminded him. “Please, Alpen, our babes. They belong in the earth which has birthed all of us. We can’t…”

He looked to Bebe, saw an infinite pool of sadness in her face and reached out his arm to hug her. His shoulders drooped and he sat down together with his partner. “This is a slow battle of courage and wits. I prefer the quick battles of courage and strength.”

Drindl and Fallon followed the slope then turned past a stone wall, to a small open-air marketplace. Again, they were stopped. Drindl said a few sparse words to the guard, then turned to Fallon. “What’s the word for burial?”

Fallon was wary of giving away his talent, so he gave Drindl the word for dig. When Drindl pronounced it, Fallon motioned to the dead babes in the playpen then made a digging motion. The two guards nodded but were puzzled when Drindl spoke the word for eat.

After hearing the guard’s dismissive tone, Fallon turned to Drindl. “They don’t understand what digging and food have to do with each other.”

Drindl was frustrated. He made an eating motion, then a digging motion and placing the babes in the ground. The guards motioned to a spot outside the marketplace where Drindl could bury the dead bodies. Drindl shook his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded white square and showed it to the two guards, then motioned for them to let him pass. One guard reached out and took the square, then they stepped aside.

////////////

“What was that? Money?” Fallon asked.

Drindl shook his head. “Kind of. Let’s get some fish here.” They moved among the tables, taking a little of each and slipping the food into the playpen. Fallon was unfamiliar with some of the goods but trusted Drindl’s choices. Walking past the guards on their way out, Drindl nodded his appreciation to both guards.

Once clear of the guards, Fallon asked, “How long have you been here? We left you a half moon ago, yet you seem familiar with this place.”

“A few days after we were together, they captured me.” They set the playpen down as the rounded the stone wall. “Alpen was a good teacher. Stay alert, he told me. Watch your enemy. He is not so different than you. Understand his wants. Climb inside his head. Look out through his eyes.”

“A good teacher,” Fallon acknowledged. “Should I bring the others here?”

Drindl chewed his lip as he looked around. “We better stay together.” When they passed the fountain, Drindl was relieved that Alpen, Bebe and Alithea were undisturbed. “We need a digging tool for the grave. The guards will not part with their weapons for any amount.”

“What was that you gave the guards?” Fallon asked.

“Energy." Drindl swept his gaze. "That’s what this whole place is about. Digging energy out of the ground.” 

From the Hall

 

Holding the playpen, Drindl turned toward the wide entrance they had entered from the ship. Then he paused and turned back to them. “This way,” he motioned. They followed an aisle between many cowering People toward another narrower entrance. As Alithea moved alongside Bebe, she noticed that they were all People, the one tribe before the civil war. She was surprised to see the Cawthingi guards treat Cawthingi prisoners as harshly as those of the other tribes. How had Drindl won favor with them?

Glancing at Fallon walking just ahead of her and Bebe, she noticed that he had bits of wadded up cloth stuck in his ears. She guessed it was the only relief from the cacophony of languages around them. She elbowed Bebe and pointed to Fallon’s ear, then pointed to her own ear.

Bebe didn’t understand at first, then leaned toward Alithea. “They were all the same language once. Can’t you hear?”

“Even the Fae?”

“No, not them. They are not People.”

Alithea couldn’t hear it. “Does it hurt you to listen to it?”

Bebe shook her head. “The familiarity of the sounds eases my ache somehow. I don’t see any other Jades, but knowing that we are not alone, that all of our People are here makes it less lonely.”

The two women assumed a silent and meek demeanor as the group came to the entrance in the far corner of the large hall. After a pause, the guards let them through to a series of porticos surrounding a garden. The din of voices from the great hall was muted here and Alithea could see a blue hazy sky above them.

Drindl set the playpen down and gestured for the others to sit on the grass. As he searched the area, Alithea realized that he was in warrior mode, calculating a solution to a problem. Whatever alliances Drindl had made in this place, he had to negotiate them carefully.

“I can’t take you all with me. The Fae,” he stopped as though that were explanation enough. He turned to Fallon. “I only speak a few words of Cawthingi, enough to get by. Can you understand them?”

Fallon nodded. “I don’t want to give away my ability.”

Drindl agreed. “Yes, I agree. Keep the dagger hidden. Can we stumble through an exchange with a few Cawthingi so that it is not obvious? Gestures? Maybe you could give me a word to use, something we might have heard?”

Alpen leaned forward and grasped Drindl’s wrist. “You have learned well.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Drindl turned back toward Fallon. “I thought we could tell them that we need fruit for a burial ritual. It is part of our custom. We show them the dead babes.” He turned to Alithea and Bebe. “I’m sorry. This is the only way I could think of.”

“You will bring the babes back?” Bebe asked.

Drindl assured them all that he would. Alithea understood now his demeanor inside the great hall. Drindl had learned to speak and act confidently even when he wasn’t.

Drindl pointed past the fountain in the middle of the garden. “It’s only a short way. Oh, and don’t drink from the fountain. Don’t even use the fountain. They think that our touch fouls the water.”

“They?” Alithea asked. “The Cawthingi guards? The Fae?”

“No, the creatures who run this place.” Drindl swept his arm wide. “All of this.”

The Welcome

 

Drindl sauntered down the aisle between the prisoners huddled along the wall and those who clumped in frightened groups in the middle of the large room. A guard stepped into the aisle to check Drindl's progress but then backed away in deference to the young warrior. There was no sign of drooped shoulders in his carriage. Alithea had interpreted his pose through the filter of her own weariness.

"So glad to see you all!" he said. Erthen turned at the familiar voice, then held up his arms to be picked up. Drindl beamed as he scooped up the boy, then glanced at the haggard appearance of the others. "So sorry. That is a horrid journey in the belly of that beast. Took me a few days to recover."

Reaching with his other hand to Alpen, he nodded respect to his teacher. Seeing the hole that Alpen and Erthen had dug, he laughed, "You won't get out that way."

Alithea spoke up, choking the words. "Drindl, that was a grave for our babes. They all died. The heat in the ship's hold was too much for them."

Drindl shifted Erthen to his other arm, then reached out to Alithea. "Alamea?" He turned to Bebe. "Darden and Bella also?" He looked at the dead bodies in her lap. "This is unforgiveable! Come with me. Let us have a proper burial for the young ones." He turned to Erthen and gave him a gentle poke in the belly. "I'll bet you could use something to eat, young warrior. That is some hole you dug there."

Erthen watched Drindl's mouth move, digesting the words and the timbre of his voice, then laid his head against Drindl's shoulder. "When did you eat last?"

"This morning," Fallon replied. "The Sprints cornered us. We were north of the - what do you call them? Flipper feet, big bodies lying around on the beach."

"Oh, yes. Quite tasty." Drindl disengaged from Erthen and gave the boy to Fallon. Turning to Bebe, he said, "Can we set them in the playpen? I think we should get you some fresh clothes, some food and then we will pay them respects."

Bebe looked at the still bodies of the babes lying on the torn cloth in her lap. Drindl looked around at the others and they nodded. After Bebe set the young babes in the playpen, Drindl asked if he could carry the playpen.

Alithea helped Bebe to her feet, then leaned into her. "Is he different or is it me?"

Bebe looked at Alithea, then to Drindl standing several feet away with the playpen. "He's our savior. What if he is different?"

Reunion

 

Erthen babbled and squirmed in Fallon's lap, anxious to join Alpen's digging in the sand. Hoping that the sounds would not attract the guard's attention, Fallon let the boy duck under his arm to keep him quiet. Alpen's murmur of approval got Fallon's attention and he looked over his shoulder to the ground next to him. Erthen clawed the sand with his foot to loosen it and Alpen scooped the sand away. Erthen let out a muffled laugh at this game. The guard was too preoccupied with the crowd of prisoners. When he did glance toward the corner where they sat, Fallon twisted his body slightly to hide Erthen's activities.

There it was again! "Leave me alone," in the Jade language.

Fallon leaned toward Alithea. "I hear someone from our tribe. Male, I think. It's so hard with all this noise. Can you stand up and look around without looking suspicious?"

Alithea looked at him with surprise, puzzlement and perhaps a bit of disgust. She looked down at Alamea still in her lap, then handed the babe to Bebe and stood up. A few seconds later, she tapped Fallon on the side of his head. "It's Drindl!"

///////////////////

Even from the side and a distance, she recognized the distinctive tuft of blond air on Drindl's left ear. He had the vitality of his age, but the carry of his shoulders drooped. How could she get his attention in this crowd? Fearing the sadism of the nearby guard, she dared not draw attention to herself or the group. She looked down at Erthen clutched to Fallon's chest. The boy's face was turned away from her as he helped Alpen dig the hole that lay between Fallon and Alpen.

She slid down the wall until she was again sitting next to Fallon. "Erthen, it's Drindl!" she said in a quiet voice. Erthen looked to her voice, then twisted to look behind him. He glanced again at his mother then turned back to the task of digging the small hole.

"What are you doing?" Fallon asked her.

"How do we get Drindl's attention without attracting attention?"

"Are you sure it's Drindl?"

"That blond ear tuft. It's him."

Fallon nodded, then looked around. "Anything in the playpen? Something small? We could get his attention."

Alithea's eyes lit up. "The acorns!" she whispered. "To help the babes with their teething." She choked and glanced down at the dead bodies in Bebe's lap. Reaching into the playpen to get one of the acorns, she glanced at Bebe, who still held an unmoving gaze. Had she retreated into some safe space inside her heart and mind?

She turned and showed the acorn to Fallon. He felt the shape of it with his fingers. "It might work but it will curve."

"Can you try?"

Fallon gave her a look. "I'm hiding Erthen." He nodded to the boy under his left arm.

"Drindl is family. We need to be together. Especially after…"

Fallon held out his free hand to her in a gesture of comfort. "Keep an eye on this rascal." He glanced up at the guard busily herding prisoners into small groups. He disengaged from Erthen and edged up the wall from his sitting position. Alithea leaned forward to partially block a view of Erthen's activity and the hole he and Alpen were digging.

Fallon could not stand up to his full seven-foot height, fearing it would attract unwanted attention. When he saw Drindl, his heart leapt, and he crooked his arm. He remembered his teacher's words, "throw the rock with your eye, not with your arm." He didn't understand, not at first, but with hundreds of throws he found the path from his mind to the target.

Again, he felt the surface of the acorn, planning the curve it would take in the air. He focused on a spot just to the right of Drindl's head, then the short half throw and his outstretched finger pointed to the spot in the air. The acorn didn't curve as much as Fallon predicted, but it caught Drindl just below his ear to the rear of his head and he turned toward Fallon.

Unsure if Drindl could see him over the crowd, Fallon stood up to his full height, then quickly withdrew. He smiled when he saw the look of recognition on Drindl's face.

The Holding Pen

 

On either side of them the Fae riders twisted on their Sprint mounts, causing the horrid spider beasts to shift and, when they did, the barbed spiracles on their legs waved back and forth. Behind the group, Alpen heard the cries of other ship passengers who were not careful enough to avoid the waving barbs as they walked the wide aisle of ground between the Sprint phalanxes.

Stealing a glance behind him, Alpen reached back to touch the playpen, to make some connection. This was a battle like nothing he had experienced, beyond his ability to comprehend, a tortured battle of patience and alertness. He was not used to holding himself in obeisance to the enemy. Victor and victim were all he had known.

They were the first of the ship's caravan to pass through the wide stone arch. Alpen looked sideways at Fallon as they entered a large space perhaps ten warriors square with no ceiling and thick stone walls two warriors high. Several Cawthingi guards came forward and pointed them to a shaded corner, where they huddled together.

Erthen appeared to be sleeping or catatonic, so Alpen helped Fallon and the boy sit on the sandy ground against the wall. He glanced furtively at the guards before giving Bebe a hug and looking in on the babes in the playpen. The group's subservience had made them non-threatening and uninteresting to the guards who turned their attention to the other prisoners as they filed into the enclosure.

Bebe touched Alpen's arm as she opened the door to the playpen. He looked up to check on the guards and nodded. She reached into the playpen to gather the babes into her lap. A choking sound came from her and Alpen stole a glance sideways.

Alithea, sitting next to Bebe, emitted an agonized cry at the limp figure of Darden in Bebe's lap. She reached in to touch Alamea, then drew back and looked to Fallon a warrior's distance away. Unable to see into the cage and preoccupied with Erthen, he glanced toward Alithea's cry. She tried to say their child's name but her throat closed and only a choking sound came out.  

/////////////////////

Bebe reached into the playpen and scooped up Bella's limp form, then turned to look at Alithea, who leaned in to Bebe and stroken the fine fur on the small body in Bebe's hand. Alithea's outburst caught the attention of the Cawthingi guard who turned toward them. Waving his prod stick toward Bebe, he held out his other hand.

Alpen began to rise in anger but Fallon laid a hand on his forearm. The guard stared at Alpen, daring him to a challenge, then turned back to Bebe and motioned her to pass him the still body in her hand. Bebe looked to Alithea, then stretched out her arm to the guard.

He gently took Bella and held her close with a look of concern on his face, then opened his mouth as though to eat her. Fallon couldn't stop Alpen, who rose up as though he sat on an invisible spring. The guard tossed the dead Bella to the sand and struck Alpen's face with the prod stick. A spark leapt from the tip of the stick and Alpen's head flew back. Fallon reached up to steady Alpen, then pulled him down to the ground next to him.

The guard said something to Alpen while holding his gaze, then bent down to pick up the dead baby. Alithea stifled a cry in her throat. The guard turned to Bebe and ceremonially handed the baby to her. He looked sideways at Alpen and said something to Bebe, then backed away. Finally, he turned to the horde of prisoners milling into the large space.

 Fist clenched in his lap, Alpen growled, "When I kill him, I will spare his children." He turned to Fallon. "What did that slug say? Can you understand Cawthingi?"

"He called you Ibik feces," Fallon said. "Here let me look at your face." Fallon inspected the burn mark from the prod stick.

Alpen pushed Fallon's hand away. "What did he say to Bebe?"

"He was sorry that the babe had such a defective father as you," Fallon said.

///////////////////

"He was goading us, looking for an excuse to bust one of our heads," Fallon said. He looked left at Alithea sitting next to him and gingerly put a comforting arm around her.

Her face in her hands, she asked, "What kind of mother am I? How could I do this to her?"

"It was the heat in the belly of that darkness," Fallon consoled her. "We couldn't know. We thought we could make a good life here."

Sitting on the other side of Alithea, Bebe listened impassively. She had lost too much. She turned to look at Alpen sitting on the other side of Fallon. "Where will we bury our babes?" She turned to look at the groups of prisoners filling up the space. How had they all fit in that cramped space?

Alpen stole a glance at the guard then leaned across Fallon and held out his hand over the playpen toward Bebe. "We had better bury them here. You saw what that guard did. We have no value to these Cawthingi dogs. They will throw our children out like yesterday's meal."

Bebe looked at the people milling about. "What will we dig with? Are you mad?"

"We can try, damn it!" Alpen said in a fierce whisper. He reached between himself and Fallon as they sat on the ground and started to dig a hole next to the wall with his fingers.

Fallon slid closer to Alithea to give Alpen room. He glanced down. It was hard sand like the sand they ran on earlier that day and Fallon had little hope that they could dig deep enough to put the babes in and cover them up. As more prisoners came into the compound, the sound of different languages hurt his head. His brain kept chasing a phrase here, a word there. Again, he heard what he thought was their language, the familiar cadences of the Jade people. Then it would disappear.