Unrest

The scope of the crowd was dizzying. People from every walk of life gathered together in a spreading mob, some laughing, some chanting, some yelling. Today was day six of an ongoing tour of a campaigning politician who hoped to be re-elected into the Interplanetary Council. Though many planets of the System were sovereign, fewer still had significant populations and all of them were influenced by the Interplanetary Council to some degree. To be a Councilman was a grand title indeed. This particular candidate had his fair share of controversy surrounding him, but this did not stop a large crowd of supporters from showing up to this stop in the tour. Of course, with them came opposers, who marched through the mass of people with homemade signs and rhyming chants that bashed the Councilman.

How odd, Ridahne Torzinei thought to herself as she watched each person mill about like ants on the side of a little dirt mound. From her perch atop a smooth stone sculpture near the perimeter of the crowd, she could see the entire scene playing out quite well. Where she came from, elections did not happen. Debates about who the next ruler would be did not happen. The bold-faced opposition to a potential leader like these people were showing simply did not happen where she came from, at least, not without consequence. At home, there was an oligarchy comprised of what she supposed would be royalty. Successors were chosen well beforehand, and they were chosen by the rulers themselves. The people played no part in it, really. And that, as far as Ridahne was concerned, was just fine.

A loud roar told the woman that the Councilman had appeared; a guarded stage was set up in the large square, behind him lay a massive screen that projected a view of him from a nearby camera. The screen made him look like he loomed over the entire crowd, looking down on them as though he were some kind of demi-god as he grinned and waved.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of Vannec!” He had a nice voice, pleasant to listen to and very clear, not to mention his appearance was tailored and polished. Even so, Ridahne found that, now that she could see him, she did not like him. It wasn’t even that she disagreed with his policies, for even though she had her qualms with a few things here and there, for the most part she figured it did not apply to her, and she did not trouble herself with policy. But she grew up being able to read people. Reading facial expressions and the light in people’s eyes and the way they moved was just...what she did. That’s how things were back home. And yet this man pasted upon his face the most plastic of smiles; opaque, polished, and ultimately fake. Ridahne did not know why, but this bothered her.

Bored by the ensuing speech (with obligatory pauses for shouts and cheers), Ridahne slid off her perch and began making her way around the fringes of the crowd in search of something tasty, for she learned that where there were crowds, there were vendors with excellent wares. But as she moved along, she heard a very familiar sound to her left…

”Ja’uur te istova ae…”
“Ta’es imaeo!”

There was no mistaking it. That was her native language, Azurian. What were other Azurei doing here? They never cared for business beyond their deserts and they did not often travel for the sake of sightseeing. Whatever their business, Ridahne could see they were Taja--an elite force of Azurei soldiers who very closely served the Sota-Sol of their nation. If they saw her, they would surely read the marks on her face and the likelihood of a fight breaking out was high, for she was not favored among her own people. Perhaps it would be best to lay low for a while, she decided as she slipped into the shadows.

The crowd was large and loud. From her vantage point Rylie could see the mass pressing towards the stage. Rylie frowned, a pain growing in her head. It was too much for her, the constant push of emotions from a crowd this large. Her hand went to her temple.

“So anything yet?” The man beside her glanced her way. “Should we start moving through the crowd?”

She shook her head sending the dark brown ponytail swinging. “Not yet, let me breathe a moment. I have to put up some filters or something to streamline it. It is just too much energy.”

Gregory nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. “You take your time, the Councilman isn’t going up for a little bit.” The hand squeezed her reassuringly. He knew better than anyone the toll it took on her to act as a human radar.

They were both part of the elite security team whose job it was to keep the Councilman safe as he toured. There were many who believed in him but there were many more who wanted him gone. There were still others who simply wanted to make a political statement and rallies like this were the perfect chance.

That was where Gregory, Rylie and the others came in. Gregory was Rylie’s handler, the one who monitored her. She was a telepath, an empath to be more specific. She could feel emotions and if she made contact with the person could learn to read their thoughts and the stronger the connection the more she could read. In strong cases she even communicate through her thoughts.

Rylie took a deep breath in and began to concentrate on the crowd. It was like white noise in her brain and as she slowed her breathing she could focus it down, make the signals clearer.

Her blue eyes opened and she moved to Gregory’s side. “Let’s go.”

The pair began to walk through the crowd. There were dressed as anyone else. No one would know that they were not simply there for the rally. Gregory stayed near Rylie but did not touch her. He knew that the contact, their bond would overrule her readings.

Happiness....ignorance... Most of what she picked up were harmless emotions. Many here did not really know why they were attending and confusion seemed to be prevalent.

The crowd let out a sound of excitement and Rylie rocked on her feet. The hazard of being in the crowd was when there was surge of emotion she took the full brunt of it. Breathing heavily she kept walking. She was looking for distrust and anger. She was trying to seek out those who might be here to do something illegal, something to cause fear. She was here to stop them before they had the chance to do anything.

Fear...frustration. Her head whipped right to a pair of men. They were whispering to each other and Rylie pointed to them. Gregory spoke into his com and within seconds the men were escorted out of the crowd for questioning by uniformed officers.

She and Gregory kept up their walk. They moved to skirt the edge of the crowd. Often those planning a great demonstration would keep to the edges. She pointed out a few more as they made their way around the crowd. They had almost completed the circuit when Rylie paused. The scope of the group was taking its toll on her.

“Need a break?” Gregory’s warm voice was in her ear.

She shook her head, “No we are almost done here. Just these last section at the edge, a few of the venders and we should be done.”

There was concern in his eyes as he looked Rylie over. “Don’t look at me like that.” Rylie smiled. “Just means I will sleep really well tonight.”

“And have a massive headache which as you know is my favourite part.” He leaned in to kiss her.

Rylie ducked away. ‘Oh no, not yet. You will mess my sync up. Give me a bit longer and you can try and make the headache go away before it starts.” She smiled at him and kept walking.

“Whatever you say babe.” Gregory chuckled as he followed.

Rylie approached a group from behind. She could see their darkly tanned skin and from the profile of one, the tattoos on his face. It took a moment for her to focus on them and the emotions emanating from them but once she did it was too late to react to what she felt.

From Ridahne's place in a nearby alleyway, shielded by looming shadows cast from the tops of the smooth stone and steel buildings that towered above her, the Azurei woman could make out snippets of her kinsmen's conversation. She could not hear everything, and she was pulling it all out of context, as apparently they'd been talking for a long time, but from what she heard amidst the roar of the crowd and the blare of loudspeakers projecting the Councilman's smooth voice, Ridahne gathered that a Sota--a matriarch of her homeland--had decided to venture out beyond the desert and travel far to come...somewhere. Ridahne did not know where she was precisely, but she got the impression that she was near the city, to some degree. It was not unusual for a Sota, the ruler of a province or district, to tour around her land and check on things, or to the districts of other Sota. Once a year, they all traveled to the capitol to meet with the Sota-Sol--the 'woman king', as Ridahne was best able to translate it. Rarely though, did Sota feel the need or desire to leave home. And even if she did, she would take a few of her best Taja with her, as if on a personal excursion. Ridahne counted five, and she knew without looking that there were more in the area.

Something was definitely up.

Ridahne tried to inch just a little closer to hear them better, though she desperately did not want to be seen. Oh, how she wished for her native red dunes! She and her cat of the hunt--a silky creature that came just above her knee--would find many ways to disguise themselves on a hunt with great expertise. But that was in the sands of home...there, she could use the way heat bent the light to her advantage, she could use the glare of the sun, the sands, the occasional dry shrubs that sprang from the dry ground, the russet stones that lay like ghosts on the horizon. Here...the rectangular nature of the steel and gray stone and glass felt foreign and unwieldy to her. There was so much noise in the city, and she could not hear the whisper of the wind or feel the heat of the sun underneath the stretching shadows. The city was an odd place indeed.

One of the men took out a small mirror and held it at his hip, tilting it back and forth so that it flashed in the sunlight. Ridahne knew the trick--a mirror like that did wonders to signal those from a great distance, or to send a message. Nowadays, most people outside of her homeland used com systems and phones, but the Azurei were known for being a little...old fashioned. The woman could make out the quick code from where she stood.

S'oh.
Now? Who was he signaling, and what was happening 'now'?

There was a rumbling for half a second before a sound like the universe tearing apart ripped through the plaza in a burst of flame and smoke. An invisible wave of pure energy hit Ridahne like a wall and she staggered back onto her rear. Oh, her ears! Everything seemed to ring loudly and yet the screaming of a thousand people felt so muffled, like it came from another room. Ridahne was safe from the fire, but already the smoke was drifting her way as she struggled to her feet. Run. She had to run. For all she knew, the Taja had planted more explosives elsewhere--surely, it was them, she had no doubt--and it would not do to stay where she was. The mass of the crowd dispersed like water running off of a slope; they tripped over themselves and already Ridahne saw bloodied men and women stagger past with the ghosts of their broken limbs. Surely, near the center of the explosion, things must have been far, far worse. Despite her efforts, for several long, ticking seconds, Ridahne's legs did not move.

It did not register yet what exactly had happened. Ridahne did not realize at that moment her people had just committed an act of terror on these innocent people. Ridahne did not realize that a great number of people there were dead, and far more were injured. Ridahne did not realize that she would possibly a suspect due to her nationality. All she knew was that her survival was at stake, and as soon as that clicked in her brain, her feet moved. Slowly at first, she put one in front of the other, heart pounding with adrenaline. And then she broke out in a full sprint, her long slender legs carrying her swiftly and efficiently over the paved plaza as though she were a lithe cat.

Rylie drew closer, trying to focus on them. She was trying to blend but there was something about the air that spoke of urgency. She didn’t know what it was and it took everything in her not to run. Gregory was on alert now as he watched Rylie’s reactions.

She was close, so close to them when the rumble started. The energy blast sent Rylie to the ground. She had been too open and that kind of energy surge overloaded her. Her mind short circuited. Gregory was over her in a flash. She was screaming, holding her head.

Around them was chaos and screaming. Rylie was sobbing under him. “The pain...make it stop.” Gregory yelled into his com, “What is going on? I need help. Malcolm is down, I repeat Malcolm is down! Civilian casualties!”

On the ground Rylie curled into the fetal position and wept. There was so much pain and it came wave after wave.

“Ry, Ry look at me...open your eyes for me babe.” Cool hands were on her face. She struggled to open her eyes. Concern, fear, love... Her eyes opened slowly. Gregory was above her.

“Hey beautiful....”

[i]Concern, relief...[i] She had stopped screaming. Gregory’s connection was overriding the rest. He blocked out the pain.

“Help me up...” Rylie tried to get up.

Gregory held out his hand but he frowned. “I think you should wait, things are not good.”

“I have to catch them, I saw them.”

Around them people were in panic mode. There were screams and crying. Paramedics, soldiers and officers of all kinds moved about trying to sort out the damage. Rylie gasped as she stood. “What did they do?”

She put up a mental shield. She couldn’t risk the flood of emotions.

There were people running, fleeing and as they did many did not pay attention running into others, knocking them and other things down as they went. Rylie and Gregory set off. She knew who she was looking for. She took his hand and sent him a mental picture of the people she saw.

They ran and began scouring the crowd. They wouldn’t be with the injured, Rylie felt sure of that. They were looking for those who were escaping. Gregory stopped and began a critical assessment of the area. He pointed to a figure who was running.

Rylie recognized the figure, same nationality as those she saw in the group. Both she and Gregory took off in a full run after the figure.

They were not going to catch them, Rylie knew it. The distance too great but there was movement to the left and a group of fleeing civilians crashed into the figure, sending the lot of them to the ground. They picked up their pace and were there on the group and able to see the woman.

Gregory grabbed her, pulling her from the others. “You are under arrest. We have reason to believe you were part of a terrorist act.” He began to cuff her.

Normally Rylie would scan the person, ensure they were guilty and see what else she could read but there was too many emotions in the air for her to get an accurate reading, let alone risk being paralyzed once again by the pain. “Let’s take her in. I’ll do it there.”

Gregory nodded and began escorting the woman away. Rylie followed, rubbing her temples.
-----------------------------
They sat her in a chair, still cuffed.

Currently they watched her from another room. Rylie was rubbing her head.

“Take a break, we don’t need to do this now.” Gregory urged gently.

“Yes we do...”

They entered the room.

Gregory stood, Rylie sat across from the fugitive.

“State your name, home, nationality and age.” Gregory’s voice was level and serious as he began to question her.

"Stop that, Ridahne, you'll get yourself into trouble someday."
"Will not. I'm gonna be an Eija someday, Hadian. I'm gonna. And I'll have my own sword!" The young Ridahne swung the dull machete the siblings kept for hunting in a wide circle, her bare toes swirling through the hard-packed dust outside their little home.
"Shut up, Rhi, no you won't. You're a Torzinei. You don't get to be an Eija. No Heartlander gets to be an Eija, or a Taja. We just do work, like we're suppos--Ridahne! Stop it, you're gonna hurt yourself!" Hadian, the eldest of the two, reached out and snatched the rusted blade from his sister, tossing it to the side. "I'm gonna tell Dad when he gets back."
"You won't even remember by the time Dad get's back!"


Ridahne didn't know why, at a time like this, she was remembering that moment. She hadn't seen Hadian in years, and she hadn't seen her father for an even longer time. Maybe it was the classic 'life flashing before her eyes' or whatever it was people talked about happening when faced with a life or death situation. Ridahne wasn't sure she believed in that, and yet there she was, reminiscing about some pointless moment of her childhood.
Focus, Ridahne.

The woman bounded over a pile of abandoned picket signs, landing lightly on the ball of one foot before--BAM! About five people collided with her from the side and she toppled over hard, taking them with her. They all struggled to regain themselves, the majority of them wiped the dust off their hands and bolted away, but Ridahne had thwacked her head against the gray bricks of the plaza and now the world felt slow and syrupy. She had to get up. She had to keep moving. Get up and move. Just get up...

Two sets of hands clenched around her arms and wrenched her to her feet; they pulled her arms back and she felt cold steel curl around her slender wrists. Under...arrest? No, no, they didn't understand, they had it all wrong! Ridahne didn't yet have the wherewithal to fight back, so she found herself shuffling along with them, out of the chaos and into a now empty building. Office buildings were ghostly places when they were abandoned. The moment Ridahne found herself being thrust into a chair and cuffed to it, she began to gather her wits. The woman snarled, pulling hopelessly against her bonds and thrashing around as though it would do any good. If she was more strategic, she would have remained calm so as not to arouse suspicion, but at the moment she couldn't even think about that reality. She was just so angry and she had kicked into survival mode--'calm' was not a viable option.

It made Ridahne even more angry that she was just left there. If these people wanted to arrest her and confront her, at least have the courage to do it! "Te'occa!" ((Get back here!)) she shouted, her shoulder length ebony curls flinging into her tattooed face as she pulled against the metal cuffs. "Te'occa!" Words flew from her lips, and they were very far from english. The woman's accent was especially heavy when she spoke her native tongue, and she spoke very quickly. She just felt so...angry! Angry, and indignant and confused, mostly, but deep down she was a little heartbroken too. Ridahne was no stranger to blood and death, but this was different. These were civilians, innocent lives...and to think, HER people stole them! And now, to top it all off, she was chained to a chair like some disobedient dog? Captive or not, she would not stand for it.

A man and a woman entered from another room; Ridahne's eyes, like two polished chunks of dark amber, followed their every move, scanning them both like a newly caged tiger waiting for a meal. Ridahne did not speak. The woman sat across from her, watching her, and the man stood over her, immediately jumping into the questions. And what a question it was! Such a thing would not be asked where she was from, simply because it was never necessary. Anyone who could read Ojih--the intricate tatoos on her face, and the closest thing the Azurei had to a written language--would know just from the scrimshaw on the thick white earring in her right lobe that she was of the Torzinei clan, from Atakhara (often referred to as the Heartlands), and the fact that she was Azurei was just...obvious. At least, it was at home. It felt odd to explain all this information to someone.

"Ridahne Torzinei vi Atakhara-Ali vi Azurei. A'ae ruo tiu'ne ghetaj," she answered hotly, giving another futile but defiant tug on the cuffs. It didn't even occur to her that she was speaking her native language and thus, the information would be largely useless to him, until she opened her mouth to say something else. She didn't get far, but her tone was reminiscent of a disgruntled customer raging at a sub-par waiter for spilling water on her lap. Ridahne stopped, mid sentence and took a steadying but seething breath. The woman tried again. "My name," she said deliberately, slowly, "Is Ridahne Torzinei of the Atakhara-Ali district of Azurei. I have seen thirty summers. And you fools don't know what you're doing. They're still out there, you don't even know if that was the only bomb!" Ridahne was furious. However, it was not the same kind of deeply rooted, toxic kind of rage that was synonymous with a mass murderer, or even a disgruntled political activist. No, it was much more immediate and situational.

Ridahne spoke her native language again; she was just so riled up that she did not stop to choose her words carefully. Realizing this after a moment, she finally gave up on speaking altogether and, just to get it out of her system, let loose a gritty, throaty scream with barred teeth and curled lips. The woman took a moment to just breathe after that; it felt good to just get that out. Letting her head hang a little, she proceeded to ignore her captors for a minute to allow herself to process everything that had happened. Oh, it was a lot to take in...all the blood mixing in with the black ash and gray stone and broken glass, the screaming, the force of the blast... That little speck of hurt began to show, finally; she didn't thrash around anymore and her breathing had steadied some. She looked up and spoke again, quieter this time.
"You're wasting your time with me, I'm not who you think I am. Azurei is home, but I haven't been there in years. Trust me when I say that this wasn't me. And now the men responsible are gone, I guarantee it. Congrats. You're better off going to find your superiors--You're military, aren't you? You look military--get your objective from them and let me go. I did nothing wrong here."

Rylie sat across the woman and took in her features. Black hair, curly. Tattoos like the others, intricate and beautiful in the artistry on her face. White earring, thick and eye catching in her ear. She seemed angry and the words that came out made no sense but thankfully the fugitive took a breath and started again in English.

Gregory frowned. “Not just one bomb? And where would the others be? You might not have planted this one but you seem to know enough that I believe you were a part of the team. Tell me about the others of your group.”

Rylie inhaled slowly. Gregory’s job was to get them talking, hers was to read their emotions to find the truth behind their words. She stared at the dark haired woman and opened herself up once more.

Anger, hurt.... Rylie frowned slightly. It wasn’t what she expected. She expected hate, injustice and a feeling of righteousness. Sympathy, disgust...

The woman screamed, letting out her frustrations and Gregory simply stood there watching as Rylie tried to puzzle together what was going on.

She stood as the woman finished speaking. “I need to talk to you outside.” Rylie headed to the door, Gregory on her heels. “What’s wrong?”

They stepped into the hall.

“She wasn’t involved.” Rylie stated flatly.

Gregory found, “What do you mean she wasn’t involved you said it was a group, just like her. That isn’t a coincidence.”

Rylie shook her head. “She isn’t giving off what you’d think of a terrorist, not anywhere close to it. She is angry but I think it is about the casualties.”

Gregory ran his hands down her arms. “Are you sure you aren’t just misreading? I mean the day was overwhelming.” His eyes sought her face for answers.

Rylie shook her head, ponytail swinging. “No that isn’t it. It is her. She didn’t do it.”

Gregory sighed. “Let’s go ask her a few more questions. Maybe you can try a contact read?”

Rylie nodded.

They entered the room once more, taking up their previous positions. “My associate would like to do a reading of your emotions. She is a telepath. She senses emotions, feelings and thoughts. She will be able to tell me if you are lying as I ask you a few more questions. It requires her to place her hands on you, nothing invasive, a shoulder, a hand. Would you agree to this?”

If this man thought Ridahne was 'part of the team' then he really had no idea who the Azurei were, and thus, he had no idea what he was up against. Granted, few people knew much about her people--to one side, they had the sea, and the other, a sweeping mountain range that blocked them off from their neighbors. Azurei kept to themselves usually, and when they did interact with outsiders, they kept most of their ways and secrets quiet. But Ridahne encountered a surprising amount of people--mostly military--who knew a few things about Azurei customs.

The woman shook her head, loose curls swaying. "You don't get it, do you? I'm not part of their 'team'." She leaned in as much as the cuffs would allow and said slowly with the utmost clarity, "I'm a wo-man. Tao'oje. By virtue, I cannot be a Taja. Taja answer to two women and two alone: the Sota whom they serve and the Sota-Sol above her. And believe me," She laughed lightly, "I am no Sota. I'll bet none of this makes sense to you, does it? Nobody knows this stuff. The Sota-Sol is...our...woman king? Our leader. Below her are Sota, which are...like...governors? They oversee districts. And each one of them has male bodyguards, Taja. They're an elite force--not anyone can be a Taja, it's an honor. But you didn't hear this from me, you got that? None of this."

Apparently they guessed she was not what they expected her to be, because the woman stood and led the man away into the other room again, much to Ridahne's displeasure. All this secret talk in another room was starting to get on her nerves, and that was doing nothing positive for her already inflamed mood. If the Taja decided to come back to take the place over or to search for stragglers to take hostage, they would find her there and surely kill her. Now, Ridahne had some skill with a blade and under normal circumstances she might be able to defend herself. But she didn't even have her sword on her (she took it off in public, usually--most urban folk didn't find sharp steel very endearing and it was kind of seen as a relic by outsiders, anyway) and even if she tried to improvise, her hands were chained down to the stupid chair. This was a bad place to be, all she wanted to do was get moving as fast as possible, and here she was, a prisoner. The Azurei simply would not have it; she called after the two of them angrily as they left, "HEY! Don't just LEAVE me, you bastards, te'occa! Ai! Te'occa! You chained me here, now stand and face me!"

The two returned shortly after; Ridahne's glare was hot and glowing like molten metal. The man explained that his partner was a telepath and wanted to do a read on her to see if she was telling the truth. Ridahne just stared. A telepath? What if she could read more than thoughts and emotions? What if she could read memories? The woman felt cold. Really, she didn't want her in there. But if it would get her out of here faster...
"If I do this, you'll believe me and let me go?" Ridahne sneered, obviously unnerved by the whole idea. "Fine. But if I find out you're poking around where you don't belong, it'll get ugly. And if you touch my face, I'm not above biting a finger clean off. Try me if you think I'm bluffing." Despite her threats, she leaned back into the chair and allowed the woman to touch her. "Ask away--be as frank as you like. I'm not a part of this."

Gregory glared at the woman as she threatened Rylie.

For her part Rylie remained complete calm. “Not your face, you hand is best. If he uncuffs one hand I will take it but if you move to attack they will stop you and there will be no reprieve.”

Gregory moved around behind the woman. He uncuffed one hand then re-cuffed her bound hand to the chair.

Rylie reached out to take her hand.

“Ridahne is it? My name is Rylie Malcolm. I just need you to hold my hand. I can’t read anything but your emotions unless you show them to me.”

She put out her hand. “Just put your hand in mine and make your mind blank. As you are asked questions all you have to do is answer them. I will get the feeling that comes with the answer. If you think too hard about something you can open yourself up to me and show me things. I will not go looking and we are not connected strongly enough for me to speak in your mind.”

Rylie kept her tone soothing and calm. She needed the woman to calm down if she had any hope of convincing Gregory that the readings were accurate.

“Do you understand what I am asking of you? I promise not to pry and only state what you show me. Be honest. If you have nothing to hide I will know it.”

Gregory took up his place behind Rylie. He didn't like this, didn't like it at all. The woman could grab her, attack her. For all he knew Rylie's readings were off, confused and frazzled from earlier. What if the energy waves had done damage? She refused to be looked at. He had told her the prisoner could wait but she insisted on haste if they were going to catch the others.

He watched to see if the prisoner would take Rylie's hand.

Ridahne caught the glare from the man standing beside the female and returned it with one of her own; life had hardened her such that a sour look from a stranger meant little to her, if anything. She got enough of those as it was. And it wasn't that she didn't think this man would make good on the threatening stare he was giving her, for she had no doubt that if an altercation happened between her and the other woman that he would step in to intervene, and something told her he would have a pretty good idea of how to handle a situation like that. However, Ridahne had thick skin and she doubted he would know exactly what to do to really get to her.

Ridahne meant every word of her threat, though, and no unkind stare from a stranger would deter her. For the most part, Ridahne did not trust outsiders to understand the significance of the Ojih, of the lines of blue, white, and black that blossomed from the right side of her face. She did not trust them to know what it was, or what it meant, or what it would mean for her if it was wrongly altered. Thus, she did not trust an outsider to even touch her face, lest they do something awful to her artwork intentionally or otherwise. Besides, even in Azurei, it was just not something that was done lightly. It felt very...invasive, Ridahne decided.
"Well at least now we're clear," she growled, the very tone of her voice another warning as if to prove just how serious she was.

The woman introduced herself as Rylie. It was obvious she had a goal in mind, which was to hurry up and make sure that Ridahne was telling the truth so effort could be better spent elsewhere. She was open to the possibility that Ridahne was not involved, and that much was encouraging at least. Calmly and diplomatically, Rylie explained the process of a telepathic reading in detail--more than Ridahne expected to receive. To her credit, Ridahne felt like the woman respected her privacy and respected her as a human being, too. Again, this was more than the Azurei woman expected to get.

In silence, Ridahne sat still as the man moved firmly and quickly to uncuff one hand and secure the other back to the loathsome chair. She did not resist; her arms moved loosely under his direction and she rested her free hand on her lap. She was still irate, yes, but not stupid. This process was getting her inches closer to freedom, to booking it the heck outta dodge and trying to figure out what happened from a safe distance. A very far distance. To mess it up by letting her frustration get the best of her would be plain dumb.

"I understand English better than you think," Ridahne snorted. Under different circumstances, she would have spun it more as a joke, for this was definitely the kind of comment she would make to a friend normally. This time, however, it was dripping with sarcasm. Ridahne thrust out her hand unceremoniously and took Rylie's. "Fine. But you do this, you get whatever proof you need that I'm not who you're looking for, and then you'll let me go. Apologize for this mess and I might even help you, but you'd better do this fast before I change my mind, we clear?" Ridahne took several steadying breaths to clear her mind, though this proved to be harder than she thought, as the day's events didn't seem quite ready to leave her be just yet. Despite her best efforts, all she saw in her mind's eye for a while was acrid smoke and the thundering, tearing boom as though the fabric of the universe had been rent in two in one powerful motion. People screaming, people running, staggering, limping, bleeding. Blood swirling into black ash like a terrible mud...

No, focus. Breathe.

Ridahne reeled herself in, focusing very intentionally on something relaxing that would bring her to a more neutral state. Ridahne thought of home. She thought of all the times that she would take her cat on a drive to the coast in the old and dusty Jeep she and Hadian kept. She thought of the waves, blue and wild, and the 'shhh' sounds they made. She thought of the salty breeze, the red sand, of Jurai's huge russet paws batting playfully at her toes. Her breathing had slowed, steadied, and her body relaxed. She was ready.

"Go ahead. What do you want to know?"

Gregory didn’t like this at all. The very idea of that woman touching Rylie and showing her god knows what put him on edge. He was convinced Rylie’s readings were off. She had been too open when the blast hit. He had never seen her in such agony before. The image of her face haunted him and it took all his willpower not to put a hand on her shoulder even now.

Rylie looked down at Ridahne’s hand as it clasped hers. “I never meant to imply you did not understand the language but many do not comprehend the process. I was hoping I explained it well enough that you felt fully informed.”

Gregory ground his teeth when the woman stated she wanted an apology.

Rylie was immediately flooded with images as Ridahne tried to clear her mind. She could tell the woman was struggling to come to terms with what had happened.Screaming...run.....run away...blood... She winced as the images raced past. Fear, sadness...pain.

Suddenly there was calm.

Rylie closed her eyes and focused on the connection.

“State you name, where you come from and your purpose here today.”

Gregory wanted to ask her more but knew better than to flood the fugitive with questions as it might override Rylie.

“Were you with others today?”

"Yeah yeah, I get you. Just hurry this along. If those Taja find me here, there'll be all kinds of trouble." And she didn't mean just for herself, either--given the opportunity, the Taja would take Rylie and her partner out. This was, after all, now a wartime by Azurei standards and thus, wartime rules and laws applied. It followed, then, that Ridahne was in great danger, for these wartime rules turned her sentence of exile into one of two outcomes: either she was to be killed on sight or taken captive and offered an ultimatum in order to buy her way back home. Undoubtedly, if they went that route, they would ask her to kill Rylie and her partner. While Ridahne knew neither of them very well and certainly wasn't enjoying their company now, she didn't want to kill them. Too many people died that day, too much blood was spilled. And by her own people no less...

Once calm, she was asked to state her name again, as well as a few other perfunctory details before they could move on to the big questions. They knew her name already--perhaps this was to achieve some kind of base line, like a lie-detector test. Normally, she would have asked the telepath how her abilities worked exactly, but that was not what she was thinking about now. Ridahne just wanted out before something else happened. She wanted to slip away quietly to process the day's events on her own.

"My name is Ridahne Torzinei. I come from a nation called Azurei, from the Atakhara-Ali district--I think your word for it would be the Heartlands. We're in the Inner Ring of planets. I came here today because where there is a large crowd, there is better food and drink, and people to see. I didn't come to bomb anything, I didn't come to hurt anyone. I didn't even come for the politics--they mean little to me. I came because I was in the area, okay? I travel. A lot. Always," she admitted, though she seemed to shut herself off slightly after that; this was reaching awkward territory for her fast. "I was never with anyone else, like I told you. They're Taja. Taja are men, and I am a woman. There are no Eija here, either, none that I've seen, so I'm not one of those either. I travel alone. Always alone," she said quietly and a little resolutely. "I didn't notice the men until it was too late. I heard them talking, but I could only hear fragments of what they were saying. And then one signaled someone in the distance with a little flashing mirror, and here we are. There. I'm not one of them, I'm not with them, and I had no part in this. Can I just go now? If they find me here, I'm dead. And they might come back you know." Ridahne huffed, obviously irked that she had to explain herself again, or at all really. She didn't like talking about certain parts of home and of her past, though most people wanted to know these things. She did not move, however, nor did she attempt to shut Rylie out of her mind. She simply rolled with it and assured herself that as long as she was calm, the more private parts of her past would be kept secret. Not like she would expect an outsider to understand, anyway, but it wasn't like she wanted to parade them around, either.



(((sorry for the delay, I've been totally exhausted the last few days. Also, if this post is a little wonky, i'm inches from passing out where I sit, so my brain is a little slow.)))

The air in the room went still as Gregory began to question Ridahne.

Rylie stared at the woman as she talked. Truth. Her name and where she was from was all truth. Rylie even got a flash of the woman’s home. She gave no reaction, letting the brief flash pass.

Hunger, happiness, freedom.... Rylie inhaled slowly. Again there was no attempt to hide behind her words. The brunette flinched as the woman shut her out for a moment.

Gregory saw the reaction. He was good at reading Rylie’s very subtle movements, her eyes and her breathing. Something the woman said affected her.

Ridahne talked of finding the men. Truth. Rylie was right, the woman was not involved. Annoyance, sadness... There was more but Rylie didn’t prod.

Gregory paced. “Trouble? Is that a threat? You said they might come back for us, another threat?”

Rylie’s eyes flickered. She sensed some apprehension and even possibly fear from the woman though she hid it well with her calmness.

“You heard them talking? What did you hear? I know you said fragments but you have to tell us what you know, it might lead us to them and then we can stop them. Tell me everything from the from moment you spotted them.”

Gregor pushed more questions on the woman.

"The more you tell us, the better this is for you and if you really have nothing to do with this we can at least protect you should they prove to be a threat to you."

"Trouble? Is that a threat?"

Ridahne stared up at him, incredulous. "Really? Is this--Is he for real?" She asked Rylie, shaking her head in exasperation. She understood tensions were high, but he really didn't have to be that sensitive, did he? Besides, where she was from, threats were not so vague. No, if someone wanted to threaten another person, they would be very descriptive and specific about how they would get back at them. Very specific. And while she understood that it was not so in other cultures on other planets, Ridahne was fairly certain all evidence was pointing to the fact that she was not involved, therefore the Taja coming and causing trouble would have very little to do with her wishes.

The woman flicked her dark waves out of her face, annoyed. "No, that was not a threat," she said with narrowed eyes and a perturbed sneer. "I'm just telling you the facts. If they find me here, there will be trouble for ME. Under wartime laws--and it's a war we're in, now, as far as the Azurei are concerned--they have orders from the Sota-Sol to kill me on sight. No questions asked. You don't want to know the alternative." Ridahne seemed uncomfortable sharing this; obviously, she did not want anyone to probe her further on that subject. Despite assurances that Rylie would not pry, the Azurei woman could not help but feel apprehensive and distrustful of the foreign presence in her mind. How was she to know the woman was keeping her promises?

"You'd better believe they aren't just going to let you go, either. They'll kill us all, given the chance. If they're planning an invasion, they'll be back to claim this spot as theirs. They might just run off to strike somewhere else, I don't know. But I'm just saying, know my people and I know how Taja usually operate."

Ridahne fell silent for a moment, studying Rylie carefully. Her eyes were like burnt sienna flames, sharp, harsh, and attentive. Surely, this lady had to know by now that she was telling the truth. And that she was growing more frustrated by the minute, but that was simply Ridahne's way; she was a fierce creature by nature and innocent or not, she did not take kindly to being cornered or restrained. "Rylie," she said directly, her tone brisk. "I know you know already that I'm telling the truth. Tell your partner I'm not lying," she turned very pointedly back to the man, gaze burning. "So he will stop acting like I'm some sort of criminal and LISTEN TO ME." Ridahne took a moment to steady herself; she was very angry, but even she knew that yelling would do nobody any favors. Still, nothing got under her skin faster than someone calling her a liar. That and being chained down...

"So," she said, more quietly this time, "I am willing to help you with whatever you need. What my people did today was dishonorable and I am ashamed and deeply sorry. I am. I want those in charge to get their due punishment, and I want the people of this planet and the government to understand what they're up against. I'll tell you anything you want, and at some point, you'll need a translator." Ridahne leaned forward, staring Gregory down like a lioness eying her prey. "But I will do nothing for you until you let me go. Uncuff me, and all three of us can get out of here to someplace safer. If you take me to grab my things, I'll be even more cooperative. We are not enemies. Work with me, and I will work with you. Deal?"

Ridahne meant every word. She knew that if she could just get her things and move away from the blast site to somewhere she knew the Azurei would not come, she would feel a lot more at ease and would, for their sake, be easier to work with. But most of all, she was very much done with being cuffed to a chair like some kind of criminal, and she never did get to eat the vendors' wares earlier.

At some point in her speech though, she began ignoring the male altogether and pitched her idea to Rylie, knowing that without the telepathic connection, the man would have no idea that she was being genuine. If Rylie could do what she claimed to, she would see that she meant what she said and didn't have any kind of ulterior motive behind it.

Rylie remained calm and still. Gregory was frowning. “An invasion.” He crossed his arms. This was not good.

Ridahne addressed her and Rylie nodded. The woman was upset, it was clear in her face and tone but also in the waves of emotion that bombarded Rylie.

Only now did Rylie look to Gregory. Ridahne offered to help them and her offer was earnest. “She telling the truth and I think we should take her offer.”

Gregory studied Rylie carefully. His eyes scanned hers, looked for a flicker of doubt, a shift anything that told him her judgement was off. He found none of those things.

He turned his attention back to Ridahne. “You work with us, we will work with you and protect you.”

Rylie looked back at Ridahne, satisfied that Gregory saw no reason to doubt her opinion. This woman really was ashamed of her countrymen, really did want to see justice served. She let the woman’s hand go.

Gregory moved around behind Ridahne and with one last look at Rylie bent down to undo her cuffs. He was tense, alert, waiting for a sign that woman might attack him or Rylie. He took the cuffs in hand, stood and moved once more to stand behind Rylie. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“We will have to talk to our boss and see what we can do about the investigation. They are going to want to send you to another team, to work with them but I will go and talk to them.” Gregory leaned down to look at Rylie. “You will be alright?”

Rylie smiled a little. “Yes, I will be fine. Perhaps Ridahne can begin filling can begin to tell me about her people.”

Gregory nodded once and left the room.

“You have to understand he gets very tense and today I was wide open when the attack hit. It is hard to watch. Are your wrists alright?” Rylie folded her hands on the table.

"Listen, don't quote me on that," Ridahne warned; she didn't want this guy getting too eager and jumping to conclusions just yet. Ridahne was better equipped to interpret the behaviors of these terrorists more than anyone, as she knew very well how Taja operated and, more importantly, how the Sota who ordered them around behaved. Even so, there simply wasn't enough information to be very accurate just yet. "I'm just saying what COULD happen. But even I don't know that, ok? I've been away from home for a long time. I know our ways, but I'm a little out of touch. I don't know the...the...political climate as well anymore."

Ridahne had never been a terribly self-conscious person despite many things that ought to make her so, but the longer she sat in that chair, the more nervous she became, the more she wished she could hide her tricolored tattoos and slink away. The danger of the Azurei men coming back and overtaking the area was very real, and every passing second made it more and more a reality to Ridahne. It went without saying that she did not feel like dying today. Take my offer. C'mon...if you have half a brain... she thought to herself quietly, wondering if Rylie could hear her. She decided she likely could and didn't care much at this point.

Ridahne could feel a change in the energy of the room; the tension was no longer focused wholly on her. Yes, finally. And Rylie suggested to her partner that they take her up on the deal, and the man agreed, uncuffing her at last. Ridahne stood immediately, taking several steps to the other end of the room, putting some distance between her and the two soldiers. She was still bristling and just needed a moment to herself; the woman paced back and forth a few times, her long, slim legs covering an effortless distance. Indeed, she was quite tall and from the way she moved, she might be mistaken for a former dancer, perhaps. The woman wore skin-tight black leggings with a frayed tear at the knee, and a knee-length gray skirt that hung loosely from her slim hips. Her shoes and dark blue jacket, however, were much more rugged and worn-in; it was not hard to guess she didn't have much to live off of. The woman combed her curls back with her fingers and bound them there with a little elastic band. She had multiple piercings in both ears and a silver ring in her nose, but what were most prominent were the engraved silver plates that sat on the inside of each ear at the top where the cartilage flattened into a soft circle. The plates had been riveted in.

Turning back to Gregory and Rylie, Ridahne nodded, appreciative that they would not just ship her off to some other team. She didn't want to have to go through and explain herself again, nor did she want anyone else to look at her with the quiet doubt she saw in the man's eyes today as he questioned her. If their boss insisted she work with someone else, Ridahne might very well refuse. After all, she was no prisoner and would not be treated like one.

The man left; Ridahne found herself alone with Rylie, though her thoughts went momentarily with Gregory. It wasn't safe to be alone out there anymore. It wasn't safe for any of them. The other woman apologized for her partner's mood, though Ridahne understood perfectly how he was feeling. The outrage, the deep mistrust, the thirst for revenge...she'd been there. She knew.

"My wrists are fine. I've had worse." Ridahne shrugged it off. After having her face inked, she had a different perspective on pain. "I hope your friend, partner, whatever his name is, is off to find a car, 'cause we need to get out of here. I don't know if you two understand exactly what Taja are, but they are not to be taken lightly. I come from a rough place--sparring is the national pastime and swordplay is an art. We still do that in the Inner Ring, at least, some of us. Takes more finesse than a gun, they say, but personally I say it's best to have your options open. Anyway, even among us, they're...what's the word, elite? The personal guards of the Sota. Royal guard, practically. And they use stealth to their advantage, usually, so watch out at night. That's when they're at their prime, because they know how to use the darkness. I hope you're taking mental notes over there. Half of winning a war is knowing your enemy, as I'm sure you know." Ridahne paced some more, ill-contented to stand in one place for any length of time. She had, however, calmed significantly since she was released from the handcuffs and there wasn't so much venom in her eyes.

"You've got one thing going for you," she said after a while. "It'll be pretty clear who you can trust and who you can't, because it's near impossible for them to infiltrate your system." She tapped her right cheek, laden with interwoven lines of indigo, black, and white. "It's called an Ojih. Ohh-juh," she repeated slowly, knowing the word would be a foreign one. "And there's not a single soul in Azurei, from the Sota-Sol herself to the dirtiest, poorest little Heartlander-rat, that would cover it up with anything more than their hair. Everybody's is different and everything means something, but to try and teach you all of it would be...absolutely overwhelming to try and explain accurately. I'll teach you how to look for certain things later. Point is, if you know what to look for, it's not hard to tell who's a soldier and who's a civilian." Ridahne paused. "You're getting all this, right?"

Rylie cocked her head as Ridahne stated that she had had worse than the cuffs on her wrists. She didn’t press the woman for information though she was intrigued about the woman’s past. She marked the tattooes, the piercings now that she could focus on the woman and not the connection. She was still open, receiving waves of emotions but no longer as acute as when they had held hands.

“Gregory is both my friend and my partner, here and in my home life.” Rylie frowned slightly. “He will need permission to continue our investigation with you and then he will look into our next move.” Ridahne’s description of the Taja did not do much to settle Rylie’s nerves. “We too are elite and even under darkness I can sense others coming. When I sleep thoughts and emotions reach other to me, the closer the person is the stronger they are. Of course that does not mean there is no threat and I perceive that they put you on edge. It would appear with good reason.”

Rylie smiled sadly, “Yes my ability lets me get a sense of whom I can trust. I will take all the information you give me Ridahne. Everything is useful, no matter how small.”

Rylie rubbed at her temple. “Oh juh. And this helps tell you who is who and what their role is?”

Gregory came back into the room. He looked unamused. “Jackasses...” He muttered before looking at Rylie with concern. “You are in pain.” He crossed to her, kneeling at her side.

“I am fine.” She smiled at him, her hand on his cheek. “Ridahne was telling me about the Oh juh. The markings.”

He turned and looked at Ridahne. “So the deal is we have to move you, take you somewhere that isn’t here, get more information before they will agree to let us work with you. We are moving to a safe house location, just us three. We have to show that we have enough information, that you are a useful resource and that Rylie isn’t wrong about you.”

Gregory looked from Ridahne to Rylie. “We will go now, get some food and you can start filling us in on your people and anything else that might help. Agreed?”

He stood, taking Rylie’s. “Let’s move. I hear that patrols have found evidence of other possible targets. I don’t like this”

Gregory looked at Ridahne. “Stay close, talk to no one.”

He led them out the door and down the hall. Two flights of stairs had them at a car. “Get in. What sort of places do you think they might try and hide out? Do your people...these Taja favour hotels? Hostels? What should we avoid?”

Ridahne nodded; her attitude towards Rylie and Gregory had vastly improved once she was both released and knew that they were on the same side. Though she was fiercely upset when her integrity was called into question and when she was bound to a chair like an unruly dog, the woman held no grudges. After all, in a situation like this, she would have done the same thing if the tables were turned. This was war now, and things were always different in desperate times. "I wondered if you two were a pair. I guessed you were work partners--that much was obvious immediately. But I noticed the way he looks at you. Often, and with concern. I don't know what it would be like to um...receive all those thoughts and emotions from people, I mean, I dont' know what that's like, but I imagine it must have been awful. Just another way the people I call my kin wronged the world today..." she growled, her venom turning away from her former captors and more towards the people responsible. "Where I come from, we are taught more honor than that. Apparently not everyone got the message." Ridahne paced some more, chancing a look out the nearest window. Except for lingering tendrils of black, acrid smoke, all was quiet outside. The silence unnerved her. "It's a good thing you're well trained. That will help you. Are you um...interplanetary? Or are you loyal to a particular faction or nation or something?"

On the subject of Ojih, somehow Ridahne regretted bringing them up at all. She knew she needed to eventually--it was very important to at least know about them and she had no doubt that at some point someone somewhere would ask her about her own. Even so, she seemed to emotionally recoil, just slightly. "Well um...yeah, you could say that. That and more." It was obvious she didn't want to go into great detail about what it was all for as much as she was willing to explain what certain marks meant, for she spoke of the tattoos as though they were as intimate as one's love life. "Between the Ko'u," she flicked the bone earring dangling from her right earlobe. "Which is basically a family crest, and the Ojih, you can uh...tell a lot about a person before ever speaking to them. A lot. Sorry if I'm a little vague, but this is...very odd to explain to a stranger...to a uh...outsider. It's not something we generally give a lot of information about. But...really all you need to know is a couple certain marks, and that you should never EVER damage one. Not even a scratch. It's...well it's...It's just bad. And never ask me to falsify or hide mine. Just in case you were ever thinking about it, the answer is a resounding no." Her tone was resolute; there would be no arguing this.

Gregory returned and explained the situation to her. Figures, Ridahne thought. It was just like military to take an excessive amount of precautions. She wasn't worried though; she was confident that she had enough general information to help the cause, and if a situation ever arose in which they needed to interpret the Azurei language, she knew she would be invaluable. What she wasn't looking forward to were the inevitable looks of quiet disdain, distrust, and the barrage of questions, some of which she likely wouldn't want to answer.

"Great. That sounds like a great time." She sighed resignedly. "Well, if it gets us out of here and somewhere safe, I'm up for it. Buy me a pizza and a beer and I'll tell you anything you want. And," she said, already moving for the stairway, "I'm gonna need to swing by my um...current...residence and get the rest of my stuff." Quietly and sheepishly, she got into the car and told Gregory, "If you could just swing by the 45th st bridge..." Ridahne's living situation wasn't one she liked to talk about much either, but as fate would have it, she didn't seem to have much of a choice if she wanted to get all of her things.

Ridahne kept her head down as they drove. If they passed Taja, they would likely let the car slip by as long as it moved along, unless they caught sight of her. "The Taja know they can't blend in with a crowd, and they've got too much pride to try. So they will hide themselves in the dark, quiet corners of the world. They will go where people don't ask questions, or where things are very quiet. Beware the retirement neighborhoods and red light districts. And countrysides, but doesn't look like you'll have to worry about that here. Stay away from abandoned buildings, old warehouses, subways...dark, quiet places. Keep to tight communities or businesses where people all know each other, they'll avoid them."

"Something else to note," Ridahne said, glancing out the back window of the car. "If you see a woman with tattoos like mine, just turn around and walk away casually. I guarantee it she'll be a Sota. The likelihood of her bringing Eija--regular soldiers--is unlikely, and you don't find many people like me just wandering around the System because they can. So if you see her, don't engage."

In the car Gregory got into the driver’s seat. Rylie slipped into the back with Ridahne. Rylie’s face grew dark as she saw the bag on the passenger’s seat. It was open showing weapons. Gregory’s eyes met hers in the rearview mirror.

Rylie pursed her lips together and Gregory started the car. He drove off. “First stop is the bridge. Second stop is for supplies. Last we find a place to stay. I want to establish now, no one knows where we are going. You are not to order food to the room. We stay together, the three of us. This whole thing just got a lot more tense based on what you are telling me about them. I am taking us someplace where there are lots of people, lots of buildings. I am thinking hotel downtown. The kind where we don’t send those in protection. We hide out in a nice room until we have enough to sway the military that we are good to do this, that Ridahne needs to work with us. Then we make a plan on how to track them down and stop them.” Gregory was tense, overly alert.

Rylie looked out the window. “We will have to utilize my ability to keep a safe distance around us. Alert of of approaching threats.” She needed sleep now. Her head was pounding but she refused to give in. There was too much at stake.

“I will recognize their presence. Though I cannot distinguish them I will know if I have read them before. I will also be able to sense intentions and that will help us a great deal.” She looked at Ridahne. “Both Gregory and I are specialists though we did not start as a team. That happened when they paired us together. We have been partners for a very long time and together for three years now. We work for the military but are typically contracted out to whomever needs us. Our specialty is quite unique. We have been utilized numerous times though mostly at home, here. Currently we were part of the security detail for the campaign. Obviously that has changed.”

Gregory grunted his agreement. “With you helping us Ridahne we might have a chance to stop them before this goes on a world scale.”

The car pulled up under the bridge. Gregory parked and then reached into the bag for a gun. He handed it back to Rylie.

Rylie took her gun, checked its ammo and readied herself for the next move. This wasn’t how they normally worked. They were the initial team. She was good with a gun but it was one of her least favourite parts of the job. No it is the emotions that come at me once I have shot someone that I dislike Part of the skill with her firearm was her ability to know where a target was. Her ability let her sense the person and it made her deadly. The drawback was she was always aware of what they felt when she hit them.

He looked to Ridahne. “I wish to hear more about this woman...the Sota but right now we need to get your things. You said they favour shadows, abandoned areas that means this will likely be one of our riskier stops. Let’s just assume we were followed. Better to be safe than sorry. Can you fire a gun?”

Ridahne ran her fingers along the smooth dark interior of the car. It really was a nice one. Smooth, quality leather, small chrome details, dark matte plastic...They didn't make cars like this in the Heartlands, simply because no one there had the money for such a machine and frankly, it wouldn't survive well out there. The Heartlands, a North-Eastern region of Azurei that bordered the ocean on one side and the jutting, sharp mountain range to the other that separated it from the more urban parts of the desert nation, was a rural and casual sort of place. It was where the sand dunes changed weekly and to try to pave a road was a futile effort. Ridahne and her brother Hadian always had a dusty red Jeep Wrangler that was quite old but well maintained, and she knew many more people with similar vehicles. For hunting trips, however, she knew many people that still kept camels or horses, as they tended to not disturb the wildlife like the sound of a roaring engine did, and skilled hunters learned to interpret the flick and swivel of their horse's ears to find game. On the other side of the mountains, however, there were more paved roads, large cities, and thus, nicer cars. Still, there was nothing like this. Ridahne had seen them drive by before, but had never been in one. Curiously, her slender brown fingers opened every little cubby and compartment and explored the machine stitching in the leather seats.

"No take out, huh? Darn, I was hoping to order lobster tail and champagne," Ridahne joked, a very slight smile creeping onto her tanned face. "That's fine," she said more seriously. "I don't have any grand delusions of taking daily strolls around the town at this point. I'm not exactly um...subtle. It's not hard to tell I don't belong here. I get weird looks enough as it is, but after this mess, I can't imagine people would be real happy about seeing me strutting around town. It won't take long until people start to know who instigated this nightmare and they'll think I'm one of them, just like you did. You think, eventually, your superiors would give me some kind of badge? Paperwork? Something to prove I'm with you, not against you? I'm just thinking ahead here."

The car stopped smoothly near the bridge; Ridahne looked carefully out the window to see that it looked relatively undisturbed. From what she could see, there were no apparent signs that anyone but her had been there. The woman smiled darkly back at Gregory, a mischievous look in her amber eyes. "Can I fire a gun? Hah!" She said, as though that was a stupid question to ask. She took a gun from the bag in the backseat, admired it for a moment and cracked the car door open, pushing it outward very slowly. Ridahne kept her tall, slender body low and did not move for a moment as she listened intently. The casual chirping of a small bird nearby suggested there was no living thing but the three of them and the little feathered creature. Looking once back to Rylie, Ridahne moved slowly and quietly towards the hollow underneath the bridge. All clear.

On the lazy concrete slope underneath the structure lay a neat pile of miscellaneous things; a backpack, a blanket, a pair of slim-fitting jeans hung up on a protruding piece of rebar, and a collapsible silicone bucket with water were scattered in a tight area at the top of the little slope where it flattened out. Ridahne was very quick and adept at packing up her little campsite. She stuffed the jeans back into her dusty blue frame pack, rolled the blanket up tight and buckled it into place, emptied the bucket of water and folded it flat, made sure everything was tucked away securely, and with her pack on one shoulder, she moved very swiftly back to the car, shutting the door behind her.

"That's everything," she said, stuffing the pack in the space on the floor between her and Rylie's feet. It looked like her entire life was in that bag, though she came across as more of a very eccentric hiker than a homeless vagabond, as she kept herself and her things as clean and neat as possible. The most odd item in her wares was one she obviously took very good care of; in the space between the nylon mesh-back and the hard plastic frame of the pack was a long blade about as long as the pack itself. The leather sheath it was nestled in was very well crafted, tooled, dyed, and embellished with patterns of blue and white lines in a background of black. All that was visible of the weapon itself was the polished blackwood handle that had been very carefully and expertly crafted. This was no rusty machete used to hack unruly garden bushes but an elegant, sophisticated piece of metal artwork that was very easily identified as the most valuable thing this woman owned.

Ridahne dug through a pocket in her bag and pulled out a slim leather gun-holster that fit around the lower part of her midsection and was designed to conceal a pistol in the small of her back, so long as she wore a loose-fitting shirt. As soon as the holster was in place, she put Gregory's borrowed weapon back in the bag in the back seat--she preferred her own gun better.

"The Taja haven't been here. If they had, they would have recognized this," she touched the pommel of her short sword reverently, "And they would have taken or destroyed everything. I wonder..." her brow furrowed, wrinkling some of the tattooed lines that reached her forehead. "I wonder if they've moved out. I mean, gone. Cut and Run is definitely in their playbook, but only if they wanted to make a statement and not continue a war, you know?" She rubbed her forehead with a sigh. "I just don't know. I really wish I knew which Sota is responsible, or if there's more than one. That would tell me a lot...I need a whiteboard, or one of those electronic smart-board deals. Something to write and draw on....Rylie, how closely did you look at these men? Would you remember any distinguishing marks? Like uh..." She really wanted to know their Ojih, but she could not expect a foreigner who was not familiar with them to notice particular features from so quick an encounter. "Do you remember what their Ko'u looked like? The earring?" She tugged gently on hers. "Bone? Wood? Some kind of semi-precious stone? And did any of them have a white mark on their Ojih that looked like...uh..." Ridahne fogged up her window with a few puffs of her breath and drew a simple design with two lines. Even on so crude a drawing surface, her lines were elegant and practiced. "It'd go right here, underneath the eye. Anything like that?"

Gregory frowned, “I think if I can prove you are valuable they will ensure you are given something to show you are not a threat. We don’t carry badges and we will not be in uniform for the time being. Too risky, too easy to pick us out.”

He eyed Ridahne as she pulled out a gun with her face alight. “Good.”

When she slipped out of the car both agents slipped out with her. They followed, keeping keen attention on the area and specifically on the shadows.

Rylie opened herself up and received nothing out of the ordinary. There was relief in that. They weren’t lurking near by.

Ridahne came back and the trio returned to the car. Rylie couldn’t help but look over the pack. That is everything? It is like she is a nomad. I wonder why she travels so much... She noticed the hilt of the sword.

Gregory started the car once again as the women settled into their seats. As he drove off he kept an ear open to their discussion.

Rylie nodded. “I am glad they had not tracked down your things. “I am not sure if the act was one of war or a statement. We need to do some more investigating I think.”

She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t know if I saw anything.” Her head pounded. “I will have to meditate a bit, see if I can bring back the memory, the emotions..everything from the moments before. Right now my head is in a bit of discomfort and it makes remembering difficult.” Rylie shut herself off, preserving the last of her energy.

“I remember a great deal when I sleep. Perhaps it will all come back to me.”

Gregory pulled into the parking lot of a large store. “Alright, in and out. We get groceries, supplies, anything we need. Stay together, keep your weapon out of site. We do this systematically, up and down each aisle. Don’t think about cost think about what we need. We need to stay at this place for a bit until we know our next move.”

He slipped his gun into its holster under his shirt and another into his boot. Rylie slipped one into a holster under her shirt as well and then stepped out of car. Gregory looked around. Rylie took a deep breath and opened her mind again.

“Standard noise. Shopping, greed, desire...” She looked at Gregory then to Ridahne. “Let’s go.”