Gunth stood up and walked stiffly with his family to the head of the room. The ving women would not protect us. This was Gunth’s camp when it came to defense. We would have to defend ourselves, men and women.


    The talk got moreplex and I tried to follow. Someone was discussing the make up of the alien ships, but it was hard to hear. As they stood up, I realized it had been Rue and his Brothers talking.


    “Your talons and spears will not be effective against these ships,” Rue said forcefully as he stood and turned to face the crowd. “We have studied alien races and their technology. If the women think they can best these particr invaders with their old methods, they are foolish!”


    The crowd murmured and Gunth demanded Rue exin himself, politely.


    “These ships will be resistant to your old weapons,” Rue said sounding perturbed at repeating himself. “I know our cousins in other camps must have mentioned this. They alerted us to this danger many day cycles ago. This will not be a simple war against vers. The men in thepounds will die if you leave them there. Your defense is essentially none at all.”


    I saw the horror start to take the room and Gunth took control of the meeting again.


    “What is your solution, young man?” he asked Rue with just a hint of irritation. “I can’t believe you and your Brothers are without a n.”


    Of course they had ideas. Rue and his Brothers were problem solvers, annoying as they were. They’de to this meeting ready to be heroes.


    “The weapons my Brothers and I developed will be effective,” he said proudly. “We created offensive weapons and defensive systems based on the most dangerous things we could find. Most of those things were not on the, yet, but it appears they havee.”This content ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    It was not hard to hear the condescending tone Rue used, but that didn’t detract from what he said. We had weapons and we could protect the. This battle was not lost.


    I sat silently as the n wasid out by Gunth. Men would be sent into the tunnels. Stocks of ore and food would be left where it could be used when and where needed. We would prepare silently for war with the enemy. When it came time, men from the camp would protect our cousins in thepounds, as well as, ourselves. Our weapons would be effective.


    I used that magical connection I had with my family. They heard and saw the meeting as I did. We marveled together at the strangeness of it.


    Tosu smiled stepped back as the nning went on. She moved around the room until she approached me. I rose to greet her, setting my package back in my chair. The big woman moved out of the hall and I followed.


    We stood in a dimly lit corridor and faced one another.


    “They say you are still Ciara,” she said quietly when we were outside.


    “I love my family,” I said simply, but I had a more pressing question. “We can’t protect the entire world.”


    Tosu smiled and I saw her fangs. “Every camp I have contact with has been alerted and they all have the same n. Rue and his Brothers are not alone in their quest for knowledge. Others have told me the same thing, though not as abruptly. I thought the men in the camp would be offended if I didn’t give them the chance to own the salvation they alone can provide. This world will be protected.”


    “How many camps exist?” I asked.


    Tosu sighed and smiled at me. “More than even I know, the rebels outnumber those of the old ways. Many women have been seeing the truth and have been giving their daughters that truth. The resistance has only wished to avoid outright war because of their belief in The Spirit. Most of those that follow The Spirit find the idea of harming another Paterian to be evil.”


    I nodded and looked up at her, shivering lightly. A war was a frightening proposition, but my family and I would be safe in this camp. My heart sped up as I thought how scary an alien attack would be in thepounds. The men would not understand and they didn’t have the weapons we did. They’d be unprepared sitting ducks.


    Terror made me suddenly dizzy and I leaned on the wall. Distantly I heard Tosu speaking to me, but I felt as though I would faint.


    My boy was in apound. Jonathan was in an undefended, dangerouspound that was about to be attacked by warships. No one there could defend him, he’d be as frightened and vulnerable as the rest of them.


    I screamed my son’s name and bolted for the storage area with the transports. I had my sword and a gun on my hip. The only thought in my mind was getting to Jonathan and bringing him back to safety.


    My stride was ungainly as I ran, but I went as quickly as I could. Tosu was calling me, but I didn’t hear her. I just kept repeating Jonathan’s name.


    Men in the transport storage watched me as I jumped on a loaded transport and started it up.


    “Stop!” one of them called waving frantically, “that transport is ted to leave on a mission! You can not take it!”


    I didn’t care. The big machine lurched forward toward the entrance with me at the controls. My actions were frantic and I wasn’t driving well. The transport nearly clipped the side of the mountain as I sped out of the storage area. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tosu push the edge of transport so I wouldn’t have a collision, she’d taken flight and was calling to me.


    “I have to get to him!” I screamed tearing down the mountain toward the tunnels.


    My driving was erratic because tears were blurring my vision. My boy would die and I had to save him. The transport swerved dangerously close to a tree before I righted it. I nearly wrecked when Inded by the closed tunnel at the base of our mountain.