During my time with the sled, Yetic has to bale me out twice. The first time, I lose my footing while scrambling down a large boulder and end up lodging the sled between two trees. The second time, I let the sled glide ten meters down the side of the mountain before Yetic catches it.
I’m grateful it’s just the seven of us. Even Tenoch has been around long enough to know not to draw attention to my weaknesses. Still, it’s embarrassing to lack such a basic skill.
An hour and a half later, Gronk seems surprised we have reached the logging camp with the sled before he and Chechen could catch up. All smiles, he congratulates us on our grand achievement. His show of enthusiasm rings a tad hollow, and I find myself liking him less.
Again they ask us to remain outside the camp. This time they don’t bother creating any busy work to distract us as they conduct whatever business they have with the loggers. Nothing better to do, we break out rations for lunch and watch the two Ometeotl Guardsmen from our perch above the camp.
“What do you think they’re actually doing?” Neca asks with his mouth full of dried fruit and nuts.
Cera, the only one without food currently in her mouth, says, “You don’t think they’re checking on the logger’s well being?”
“All of the workers just came from Worker City this morning after the ID burn, right? What sort of trouble could they have gotten into already?” Neca pops more nuts in his mouth.
“The camp could have been raided over night,” I offer.
“They could have seen something on their hike out here,” Yetic ads.
Olin joins in, “Doesn’t the regime have probes for surveillance? Wouldn’t they know if advance enemy units were crawling about? There’s no reason to put boots on the ground if all you’re doing is gathering flawed intelligence from loggers and miners.”
“There’s always the benefit of the human touch,” Cera says.
“The question is,” Olin continues, “what benefit are they looking for? Because my money is on intimidation.”
“Xoxochueyi.” I chuck a pinion cone at his head and miss. “No more of your conspiracy theories.”
“They’re only theories until they’re proven or disproven,” Neca winks.
I feel as if I might gag on my bean paste.
“Seriously, let’s think this through.” Neca stops eating long enough to pretend he has the ability to be serious. “Your parents were farmers for a while, right? You had to have spent time outside the dome.”
Olin nods. “It was a long time ago. I don’t remember much. It seemed like our parents sent us away to play most of the time. Calli would remember more.”
Everyone looks at me. “I was seven when my parents were assigned garbage duty inside the city. I remember playing and exploring mostly, like Olin said. Certainly no shake downs from menacing ometeotls.” It’s not an outright lie. Honestly, it all happened so long ago, I can’t be sure of my memory. But there had been once when I returned to the fields to get help after Olin sprained an ankle.
A member of the Guard had been arguing with our father. Soon after that, we’d been transferred to garbage. It could have been a dispute over anything. Maybe they hadn’t been meeting their quota of crops, or maybe some equipment had gone missing and our parents had been blamed.
“Well, whatever it is those two are up to, it isn’t gathering intelligence on the movement of enemy forces.” Olin tears a piece of jerky between his teeth.
Everyone else seems content giving him the final word on the matter.
Bottom line, it doesn’t matter. This day is a temporary vacation from our life in the academy. None of us, except possibly Olin, want to ruin it by getting into a tiff with our guides who also happen to be elite telekinetic warriors. However the S&P detail goes about their business isn’t any of my business. Not yet anyway.
Sometime later, I wake to the sound of approaching footsteps and quickly realize I must have fallen asleep after lunch. I jump to my feet in time to confront Gronk’s overly toothy grin. Now that I know it’s there, I can see it clearly through his face shield.
“Taking a little siesta, huh? No worries, but we’ve got two more stops before pitching camp, so up and at ‘em.”
Olin must have gone for a short walk rather than nap with the rest of us. He approaches as we prepare to set out. “Any trouble at the logging camp? Any reports of enemy movement or anything?” His tone is upbeat and slightly mocking. Probably only I recognize the fact.
Gronk starts to respond, but Chechen cuts him off. “All operations nominal. Nothing outstanding to report.” He sounds as if he’s speaking for the mission recorder.
“Right, you heard the man. Nothing to see here.” Gronk punches Olin playfully in the arm. “It might seem a titch boring, but honestly, we like it this way. The alternative can get a bit hairy. But I’m sure you’ll see plenty of action in your day, being a brother and sister team and all.”
Chechen clears his throat loudly and pushes Gronk toward the hover sled. Gronk quickly lifts the sled with his thoughts and waves his arm forward. He raises his voice, “Move out troops. We got another hour or so to hike. We’ll be getting a bit closer to the PNR, so keep your eyes open.”
I fall in beside Yetic. In seconds we’re hiking at a steady clip down a gradual decline. Instead of focusing on the trail or the plant life surrounding us, I’m thinking about what Gronk had said.
This time his propensity to flap his trap has revealed something genuinely interesting. He isn’t the first to mention the significance of Olin and I being siblings. The only question asked in the interview booth had been in regards to Olin being my brother, and the matter had come up in the conversation between Centavo and Citlali in the Shadows.
Yetic leans across to me. “What’s the PNR?”
“Huh?”
“Gronk mentioned we’d be getting closer to the PNR.”
“Oh,” I shake my head. “I guess I don’t know.”
“Point of no return,” Neca offers the answer over his shoulder.
“And how would you know that?” Yetic can’t hide the injury to his pride over the fact Neca knows something he doesn’t.
“Just heard it mentioned in the underground. Twelve hours march from the city. You know, go past that and it’s too far to return within twenty-four hours.”
While the idea of a second perimeter around New Teo referred to as a point of no return is intriguing, I’m much more interested in what Gronk had meant by Olin and me seeing plenty of action. It must be true that the regime prizes sibling pairs. It makes sense that Olin and I wouldn’t be the only ones with the ability to connect with each other.
Our sibling connection could be the reason Toltec has taken interest in us. If that’s true, it means he probably doesn’t know anything about our past or our connections with Centavo. That would be happy news indeed.
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