“Well,” Free turned toward the mayor. “What do you have to eat while we wait?”
Since the Exiled were accustomed to drills that prepared them to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, it was less than an hour before the five additions to Free’s entourage filed into the room. While Exiled were rounding up everyone in City Hall and securing the exits, Free motioned to Rosie to rise and follow him to the other end of the room.
“These are the people who could help me convince Exiled to go along with your plan. If convincing can be done, that is.” Rosie looked back at the group. She knew Serene was there because of her role in education and also because it didn’t take brilliance to figure out that she’d been both mate and advisor to Free. Rosie had seen as much while living in their household. As to the four others, they were peers of Free’s whom she knew from the Commons. When Carnal had talked about his father’s confidantes, she surmised that these were the people he’d meant.
Clash entered, crossed the room to Carnal and said something to him. Carnal acknowledged it and walked toward them. He stopped a few feet away, but Free motioned for him to come closer and speak.
“The building and its occupants are secure, Extant.”
The new arrivals were barely able to contain their curiosity as to why they’d been brought to Farsuitwail and, moreover, why a coup appeared to be underway without their foreknowledge.
Free spoke to them. “In summary, our guest’s,” he looked toward Rosie in clarification, “suppositions that the humans might have plans against the hybrids that occupy this world, including us, have been proven to be true.” Free’s inner circle exchanged looks as scowls and frowns formed on their faces. “They’ve been secretly seeking to recreate the technology that powered their industry and lifestyles before destruction by the Rautt. Their ultimate goal is to eliminate everyone in this world who is not human.”
Ten pairs of eyes turned to look at the mayor, who was appearing to grow queasy again.
“I’ve brought you here because our first step is to construct an overview of their plan, the education process, the facilities, what they’re doing, where, why, and how. What I require from you today is to help me with information gathering. At the end of the day, we will take what we’ve learned back to Newland and meet to confer on how best to proceed.”
Lines had formed between Serene’s brow that Rosie had never seen before. Free’s inner circle apparently shared his initial disbelief that the very people they’d sacrificed so much to protect were conspiring to exterminate them like pests. That disbelief was quickly replaced by anger that threatened to strip them of control, a trait they prized above all others.
Free looked at Comstock. “Is everything we need to see within walking distance of this building?”
“The library, education outlets, and labs are within a couple of miles. The foundry and munitions plant are at a distance and will require transportation.”
“Let’s begin with what can be seen on foot,” Free said.
As they filed out of the conference room, Rosie saw that Exiled had herded all the City Hall staff and the visitors who were unfortunate enough to be in the building at the time of the takeover, into the foyer. They were sitting together on the floor in the center looking distressed and uncertain. She waited for a couple of others to pass so that she could get Free’s attention. He leaned over so that she could speak quietly.
“Those people don’t know what’s going on. They’re scared and their imaginations are trying to fill in the blanks. It’s not a good way to begin the possibility of a future alliance.”
Free nodded at Rosie before calling out to Carnal. “Keep the mayor here. We’re going to have a word with these people.”
While Carnal had heard his father’s directive perfectly, the mayor had heard nothing. Carnal’s large hand enclosed the man’s bicep, pulled him out of line, and told him to go stand by Free.
Free looked over the group of about sixty individuals.
One of the men spoke up, clearly wanting to distance himself from whatever was going on. “I’m only here for a permit.”
Free ignored him and spoke to the group. “Your mayor is taking us for a tour of your schools. Because our visit is top secret, we can’t afford to allow word of this to get out before we’re ready to make a joint announcement.” Free looked at Comstock, who nodded a confirmation on cue. “If you simply wait out this inconvenience, no harm will come of this. You’ll be detained for a short while and then will go about your business. If you need to use facilities, one of us will accompany you.”
If Free’s entourage had asked all the questions that came to mind and waited for answers, the tour would have taken days, not hours. The mayor had resigned himself to cooperation long before they’d left City Hall. He took them first to some of the underground facilities where students with exceptional interest had been mentored and undertaken advanced studies. Naturally, personnel were surprised to look up and see a sizable group of hybrids entering a facility that was planned and designed to be kept secret from hybrids.
The mayor assured them that it was in the best interest of everyone concerned to be open and forthcoming with Free and his people. Once the initial shock wore off, Free found that most of the humans had pride in their accomplishments and were pleased to share. Free asked every single teacher, one by one, if they would have a problem with teaching Exiled. There were a few who replied honestly that it would be a rather abrupt shift of gears and that it might take time to get used to the idea. Others seemed open to sharing their knowledge across a broader, more diverse range of students. The only thing they were interested in was whether or not prospective students wanted to learn.
The mayor showed them the library where all the science and technology books that had been spared were gathered for safekeeping and hidden so that they’d be unlikely to be found by the Rautt. They were then shown the underground facilities of another building where the labs were housed.
“We spread the facilities out according to purpose, thinking that if one thing was discovered, others might remain hidden,” Comstock said.
There were inherent problems with underground facilities in a society without electricity, namely it was cold and dark, which meant working by oil lamps. That in itself, was dangerous in the labs where they were working with various forms of explosives.
After the head chemist got over the surprise of having hybrids tour his facilities, he seemed almost eager for the opportunity to show off their progress and accomplishments.
“First, we had to figure out how to make black powder. We had the recipe. You use sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. That’s saltpeter.” He shrugged. “It works without the sulfur, but it’s hard to detonate.”
Free looked at Serene, at Carnal, at Rosie, then shook his head. The chemist walked on and they followed. “After that we tried to find a way to make red brass without electricity. That’s gunmetal. That was a success, but one of my people came up with a modified version using mostly copper with about ten percent tin and traces of lead and zinc. Eventually that led us to steel and we decided the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
“The Rautt destroyed our power sources, but left all the scrap metal just lying around waiting to be repurposed. Steel is plentiful and there’s no need for smelting with iron and coal. All we had to do was construct an oxygen furnace for a foundry and disguise it as a trash dump.” He smiled. “It’s on the southern outskirts. We burn rubber because the smell is so awful we knew it would be a deterrent to Rautt investigation.”
He ended that sentence with a humorless laugh.
“We make the parts of firearms and assemble guns by hand in another facility, also on the outskirts, but far enough away from the foundry to deter suspicion.”
“I want to see this place,” Free said to the mayor.
Comstock hesitated. “Like I said, it’s too far to walk.”
“You will ride with Joy and point out where to go.”
&n
bsp; They walked back to City Hall, mounted the bikes, and turned toward the sea of farmland beyond Farsuitwail to the south. The city stood like a crumbling citadel on the edge of plowed fields, orchards, vineyards, and lands used for grazing livestock. The land to the north of Farsuitwail was a vast wasteland with the Rautt stronghold beyond that. No one had ever gotten close enough to see where the Rautt lived, but there were stories, rumors about grisly spectacles of public torture of those who had been unfortunate enough to be captured alive.
Since their arrival, the Exiled had lived in their settlement in the foothills west of Farsuitwail, which gave them a lookout vantage point over both the city and wasteland. Between the superiority of hybrid distance vision and the fact that it was impossible to cross the wasteland without raising a cloud of dust that was as good as an alarm system, sneak attacks by Rautt were impossible. Exiled didn’t always survive battles unscathed, but at least they had enough warning to prepare.
Fifteen minutes after speeding away from City Hall, they were dismounting the bikes in front of an innocuous-looking building that gave the appearance of being a small stucco-covered house with a flat roof.
The house sat on a block by itself in a neighborhood that had been in development at the time of the Disruption, which was what the humans called the destruction of their way of life. The windows were boarded up. The front yard was covered with weeds many years old, some making tangled vines that climbed up the sides of the house. The front door was off its hinge and slightly ajar, creating a final touch for the perfect picture of abandonment. And worthlessness.
Joy gently urged the mayor forward with a fist in the small of his back.
If Rautt had come looking, they would have noticed that the floor inside was relatively clean, but underground access was so expertly disguised by the perfect matching of wood flooring, that even the mayor had to search and fumble to find the spring. While Carnal stood at the opening, Easy lifted the door, revealing steps. With a glance at Carnal he began to descend, leading the way down. As the exploratory party followed, Joy and Clash stayed behind. Without needing to be told, they posted themselves as lookouts at the front of the house.
The space below ground was enormous, a big open room that served as both factory and warehouse. Weapons were being assembled on long tables in the middle of the room then stored on shelving that lined the walls. The mass of weapons and ammunition spoke volumes about how long the humans had been planning and working toward what they viewed as their liberation from hybrids. There were about a hundred people working. At least they had been working before they stopped to stare with open-mouthed curiosity. On rising that day, none of them had thought their day would include a visit by high-ranking Exiled.
As was true of the other secret facilities, much of the heat and warmth was being provided by oil lamps, but unlike the other facilities, the munitions plant had dozens of shafts of sunlight dotting the vast expanse, like little spotlights. They had installed six-inch pipes that ran upward to the surface, and disguised them above ground with weeds. The pipes were covered with filter grids to keep out both debris and varmints. When it rained they collected the water in buckets.
“How do people come and go without being seen?” Rosie asked the mayor.
“The people who work here also live here and don’t leave often.” He waved toward a hallway. “We bring supplies the usual way, horse-drawn wagon, but there’s no one left out here to witness activity. Everybody moved into the city after the Disruption. Except for the farmers, but the closest is too far to take note of comings and goings.”
Comstock directed the facility supervisor to tell the Exiled everything about the operation. The man was clearly reticent. Rosie watched a series of emotions pass over his face before he settled on compliance. As they walked down the aisles of assembly lines, it was clear to Rosie that the Exiled were stunned, imagining the impending demise of their race along with the Rautt.
The supervisor became more and more animated as the tour progressed. It was clear that he was proud of the work they had done with firearms, but not nearly as proud as he was of the pipe cannons.
He held one lovingly in his hands as he explained, “They can deliver an explosion of blasting powder up to a mile away.”
Rosie watched the look of shock pass over the faces of the Exiled as each comprehended that their entire settlement could have been wiped out during the night as they slept.
On arrival back at City Hall, Free said, “Mr. Mayor, we’ve got a lot of talking to do and some decisions to make. While we are considering all that we’ve learned today, we need some assurance that your plans for annihilation of our species won’t be sped up.”
“I assure you…” Comstock began, but Free held up his hand.
“Given what we’ve learned today, I’m going to need more than assurances. We’re going to gather up the people we’ve met today, the students, workers, everyone at the facilities, and bring them here to be detained while we sort this out.”
Rosie put her hand on Free’s arm. “May I ask him a question before I go?” When Free indicated his assent, she turned to the mayor. “What was your go date?”
All the Exiled within hearing distance went still. Clearly the question piqued the interest of every hybrid present. As they waited for his answer with rapt attention, Comstock’s mouth pressed into a straight line as he glared at Rosie. She guessed he’d been hoping to get off without ever having to reveal that information.
“Well?” The fact that Free was quickly losing patience was reflected in his body language and tone.
Without taking his eyes away from Rosie, Comstock said, “Six weeks.”
Free’s jaw clenched visibly before he turned to Carnal and said, “Take your mother, the elders, and Rosie to Newland and come back with enough peacekeepers to round up key personnel and manage the hostages.” To Comstock, he said, “Who should we see about providing food, drink, and bedding?”
“I, ah, have an aide who could manage that, but not if she’s being held here.”
“Two of our people will accompany her on that errand.” He looked at Carnal. “The people you bring back will need to bring enough food and drink for sustenance. No Exiled will be accepting anything from humans.” Carnal gave the mayor a look of pure malice before nodding at his father.
To the elders, Free said, “Convene at my house and wait for me. Serene will feed you and make you comfortable until I arrive. We have a lot to talk about.” He looked at Rosie. “You, too.”
Two hours later Free walked into his house, having been satisfied that the situation was contained in Farsuitwail for the time being.
Serene handed him a bowl of stew and an individual loaf of warm bread. “Here.” Her look said that, whatever was going on with humans, her priority was her mate.
He smiled at that, pulled her into his body, then nuzzled her neck and ear until she laughed softly and leaned into him.
Free sat down at the head of the kitchen table, with three people seated on each side. All six were looking at him with expectations he wasn’t sure he could deliver. He pulled a bite of bread away from the loaf and put it in his mouth.
“We’ve got a lot to talk over.”
Thorn spoke up. “We do, but not in front of this human.” He looked at Rosie with a distaste that hadn’t been present before the afternoon’s revelations. “Why is she here?”
Free calmly blew on a hot spoonful of stew before putting it in his mouth. He smiled at Serene. “How did you manage to be in Farsuitwail most of the day and still manage this?”
Serene looked embarrassed by the public praise. “I left it simmering on the stove, told Charming to watch out for it in case I was gone too long.”
Free smiled. “Marvelous.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Through that exchange it wasn’t lost on anyone present that Thorn didn’t appreciate being ignored for a cheerful domestic dialog that seemed to belie the gravity of their situation.
Wh
en he was finished appreciating his mate’s cooking, Free looked at Thorn, but continued to eat. “If it wasn’t for Rosie, we would be happily going about in complete ignorance of the dangers, like lambs to the slaughter. Did you alert us to the potential of what we discovered today, Thorn?”
Thorn glanced at Rosie, squirmed in his chair a little, and said, “No,” in his exceedingly gruff voice.
“I would think that, instead of trying to make Rosie feel like an outsider, or an enemy, we should be thanking providence that Kellareal asked us to give her a place to stay for a while.”
Breaker looked at Thorn. “That’s true, brother. Hybrids are not all like Rautt. Humans are not all the same either.”
“Maybe not, but we found out today that the humans we’ve spent a quarter century protecting planned to massacre us. Wipe us out of existence without another thought,” Thorn replied.
“That’s what we’re here to talk about,” Free said. “Rosie has the building blocks of a plan that may change our futures for the better, but the key word is change and I understand it’s never easy. I’m going to propose some things that may go against the grain, but I’m going to count on you to support me and help persuade our people anyway.” Free looked at Thorn. “I’m going to need your pledge that you’ll keep an open mind?”
Thorn stared at Free for a few beats. Thorn had been kept in a cage across from Free when they were young captives. That sort of history made for a strong bond, the kind that was capable of overcoming almost any obstacle. “I will,” said Thorn.
Free’s gaze made a circle around the table. “Good. Let’s begin.” He looked at Rosie. “Elora Rose Storm, you were right. Humans are wily. They smile at us in the marketplace and share their bodies with our unmated males. All the while, at least some of them have been plotting our destruction.”
CARNAL (EXILED Book 1) Page 16