“What did Phylicia want?” Kimberly asked softly while gently rubbing Declan’s chest.
“Council stuff,” Declan said as he selected a blade of grass to stick in his mouth before reclining once more in Kimberly’s lap. “Nothing that should concern you,” he said around the blade of grass. He had eaten his fill of the fish and was actually enjoying Kimberly’s ministrations.
“If it concerns you, it concerns me, Declan,” Kimberly said softly. She had unbuttoned a couple of buttons on his shirt and was gently using her fingernails on his bare chest. “Besides, she was talking to you for so long! I was starting to think you preferred her company to mine.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Declan said with eyes closed and a smirk on his face. “Phylicia isn’t my type. All my dealings with her are strictly of a business nature!” He was starting to really relax under Kimberly’s skilled hands.
“You seemed to be upset, the other day,” Kimberly said after a long pause in the conversation. She could feel Declan relaxing more all the time. “You know, when you had the chat with Murdock? What was it all about?”
“Just personal stuff.”
“Did you know him before coming here?”
“No, never met him before in my life.”
“Then how personal could it be, if you never knew him before coming here?”
“You seem to be inordinately interested in my business,” Declan said without opening his eyes.
“You act like you are hiding something. I’m trying to let you know that you can tell me.” Kimberly’s ministrations had lowered to Declan’s stomach and she had managed to get his shirt completely unbuttoned.
“Can I? I thought you spied for Phylicia?” Declan asked point blank.
“That’s what she thinks,” Kimberley defended. “I hear lots of things that I don’t tell Phylicia.”
“Really? Tell me three things that you haven’t told Phylicia.”
Kimberly’s hands had not stopped at all during their conversation and hadn’t stopped even though she was trying to think.
“That’s what I thought,” Declan chuckled after a couple of minutes had come and gone and Kimberly hadn’t offered anything to back up her statement. “Now, you know why I keep my own counsel.”
“Phylicia thinks I am wasting my time with you. If you give me something that I can give her, maybe she’ll let me stay with you. Otherwise, she’ll assign me to someone else.”
“If she’s bought you, then so be it. If you can’t be your own person, then you can’t be with me.” He moved away from Kimberly a little and saw that she had gotten to her feet and left. Declan had been enjoying her company and it bothered him a little to see her leave. “Oh, well. Better luck next time!” he said aloud to himself. “I’m in trouble, now. I’ve taken to talking to myself out loud.” He chuckled as he shook his head.
#
Murdock had decided to forgo searching for a site for Annie’s cabin for the peace and quiet of home and family. He had managed to get home just after dark after his talk with Declan. The kids greeted him with hugs and Mei Lee gave him a big hug after he was sitting at the table.
“Did you find a site?” Mei Lee asked as she set some meat in front of her husband.
“Didn’t look,” Murdock responded around a bite of meat. “I’ll find one after I figure out a few things.”
“Like what?” Mei Lee asked as she sat gingerly beside him at the table.
“I’m thinking it should be close to the transport pod, but I have some, shall we say unique, building techniques that I don’t want the others on the pod to know about. I’ve been thinking of building it in one location and then moving it where I decide to put it, but that in itself would cause even more questions.”
“Sounds like a real conundrum.”
“I thought about building it close to the river, but I think Annie would want to be closer to the pod.”
“Why don’t you wait and ask Annie what she’d like?”
“I wanted to get it done so we can start laying up venison and fish for winter.”
“You have plenty of time for that. You always seem to finish early and we always have plenty.”
“It will be enough time, unless we end up with some unwanted guests.”
Mei Lee nodded, indicating that she understood what he meant. “There is that possibility.”
They spent the rest of the waking hours in silence; both adults had been thinking of the coming winter and the all too probable problems with the newcomers.
#
Over the twenty-one days since Annie’s return, the meeting hall project had progressed minorly. The first floor walls were two or three courses short of where they needed to be and there were issues with splitting the logs length-wise for flooring, but they were getting worked out. Declan was having problems with the contractor wanting to get the logs from a closer source. The contractor would spend two days getting the logs to the site and the next day building. The manpower needed was insufficient to the task as everyone on the project had to first cut and limb the trees needed, then spend the better part of a day rolling the logs to the building site.
The contractor spent a lot of time arguing with Declan over crossing the boundaries. He complained that he had to go further downstream to find trees in sufficient quantities and size to continue the project. The further away from the building site, the longer it would take to get the materials, which, in turn, pushed out the completion date.
Declan, being pressured by Phylicia and Palmer, was starting to consider the idea. He could feel his resolve being weakened with every day that passed. In addition to the contractor’s complaints, he also heard all the complaints from the people about the food and the lack of facilities. He tried directing them to the other members of the council. But, since he was the only one that would listen and try to resolve the issues, they constantly returned to him for redress. This felt, to him, like he was being pressured to provide for the others. Most days, he felt as if he were being nibbled to death by ducks.
Feeling the need to get away, Declan had decided to join the contractor. Both men were across the stream looking up at the cliff above. They had just engaged in another of their innumerable arguments about the warning that Murdock had given. The contractor didn’t believe anyone had the right to stop him from doing anything and had sent one of the workmen assigned to him and his project, up the cliff face. Declan was holding his breath while the man climbed to the top and looked over the edge at them. The workman sat on the ground, anchoring one end, and had tossed a length of rope down to the rest who proceeded to climb to the top of the cliff. Declan had been the last one to climb the rope.
The contractor had been surveying the new ground from where he stood, while everyone else climbed up. Once everyone was on top the cliff, the contractor took the lead as they headed away from the transport pod. Declan, who had decided to stay close to the edge, was watching the workmen. The men had gone about fifty yards when they all dropped. He had called out to them, but no one moved. He couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead. It was then that panic began to set in. He knew they all should have heeded Murdock’s warnings and now all the men were dead, he was sure, and he was stuck on the cliff with no way to get down.
#
Five hours later, Declan was still stuck on the edge of the cliff and, from his vantage point, had seen no signs of life from any of the workmen or the contractor. It was starting to get late in the day and he had no water or food. He was sitting on the ground at the edge of the cliff looking down, trying to get up the nerve to slide down.
“Didn’t you believe me?” Murdock said close behind him.
The sound scared Declan into starting to slide over the edge, but Murdock had grabbed him to prevent it.
“I told them to heed your warning,” he said in his own defense, with a hint of both panic and relief in his voice. He looked surreptitiously over to the others, afraid to ask their condition.
“It
looks to me that all of you ignored me,” Murdock said sternly. He had been standing and glaring, accusingly, at Declan with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I tried to tell them not to defy you, but they wouldn’t listen,” Declan pleaded. He saw Murdock look over the edge of the cliff and then back to him.
“It certainly looks like it,” Murdock said sarcastically. “If you tried and failed, then what are you doing up here?”
“Honestly, I couldn’t tell you,” Declan stated flatly, quietly. “I knew it was wrong, but I was curious as to what the others would find. And I didn’t want the razzing for being the only one that wouldn’t climb up.”
Murdock looked at Declan for a few seconds before turning and walking toward the fallen men.
“Don’t go there! They just dropped,” Declan yelled, panic edging his voice.
Murdock ignored Declan’s warning. He walked up to the first two men he came to, picked them up by their belts, and carried them like they were luggage. He set down the first two ten feet from the edge of the cliff. “You going to help?” he asked Declan with some impatience.
Declan watched as Murdock walked over to the others again and picked up two more and carried them back to be placed with the first two. He then started walking gingerly to the others and tried to pick up two as Murdock had. Try as he might, he couldn’t. He did manage to drag them one at a time to the ones that Murdock had carried. “Are they dead?” he finally asked Murdock.
“No, just unconscious,” Murdock responded. “They may have been better off dead, though.”
“How long will they be unconscious?” Declan asked with a puzzled look on his face. “What did you mean by they might be better off dead?”
“Look at them,” Murdock snapped. “They’re dreaming and it doesn’t look like its anything pleasant. I have no idea how long they will be out. The longer they are unconscious, the worse off they’re going to be.”
Declan looked down at the men. They were all twitching and whimpering and Declan felt pity for them. The workmen were just following the contractor and now they all had to pay for it.
“So, who’s the Einstein that came up with the idea to defy my order?” Murdock asked while he sat by the edge and had some water.
“The contractor needed to get materials for the meeting hall and this was closer than walking to the river,” Declan explained while eying Murdock’s water skin. “The rest were just following along.”
“Do you pity them?” Murdock asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” Declan said flatly with a shrug. “They were just following someone that had authority over them.”
“Did you tell them not to come up here?” Murdock asked with a sideways glance.
“The contractor and I have been arguing about it for quite some time, days,” Declan told Murdock in a matter-of-fact way.
“So, by your own admission, they all knew they shouldn’t be up here,” Murdock stated. “What should their punishment be?” he asked after a short pause.
“What?” Declan asked in disbelief.
“Should I toss them over the cliff?” Murdock asked. “Should I slit their throats and leave them here? Either? Both? Something else?”
Declan looked at Murdock in shock. “Surely, you’re not serious!”
“Life and death decisions have to be made every day,” Murdock said heatedly, “so, I’d get used to it, if I were you. The decisions have to be made by someone. If you won’t, then someone else will. And you will regret the result.” Murdock started walking toward the men and started to pull his twelve-inch machete.
“What are you going to do?” Declan shouted.
Murdock stopped and looked back at Declan. “Are you saying that you want to make the decision?” he asked offering Declan the machete.
Declan looked down at his feet. “I can’t make a decision like that. That would be cold-blooded murder.”
Murdock, holding the machete by the handle started tapping the side of his head with the flat of the blade. “You know, I never really understood that. Murder is something done in the heat of the moment, with passion, so how can it be cold-blooded? Wouldn’t hot-blooded murder be more accurate?”
Murdock’s question seemed sincere, to Declan, so he was unsure if it was rhetorical or if Murdock actually expected an answer.
“And then there’s the question of what to do with you,” Murdock stated gravely.
Declan blanched at the thought of what his punishment should be. That aspect had slipped his mind, initially. Now, he was more than a little concerned for his own situation. As he watched, he saw Murdock advancing on the unconscious men again. “If you must punish someone, punish me,” Declan blurted out. “Let them live.” He had surprised himself with the statement.
Murdock stopped and turned to look at Declan squarely. “You would sacrifice yourself for the likes of these?” he asked indicating the unconscious men.
“Yes,” Declan responded quietly and thoughtfully, “if I must. I was responsible to see the project finished.”
“Accepted,” Murdock said quietly. “What’s to stop me from taking out the punishment of their defiance on you and then doing the same to the rest after you’re gone?”
“I don’t think you would do that,” Declan responded quietly.
“What makes you think that?” Murdock asked suspiciously.
“Whatever else you are, Murdock, you do seem to be honorable. Retaliating against the others once you have dispatched me would be dishonorable.”
Murdock looked at Declan skeptically. “I have a job for you. I want you to go down and get outfitted for traveling.”
“But what about them?” Declan asked indicating the others who were still unconscious.
“I’ll deal with them. You don’t need to worry about it. You do need to worry about following my instructions to the letter,” Murdock said sternly. “You’ll need a water skin and a knife, preferably one like this,” Murdock continued indicating his twelve-inch machete. He looked at Declan, who nodded in acknowledgment of the instructions so far. “Then I want you to collect Annie Cooper, outfit her, and escort her to the river. Go that way,” Murdock indicated a direction that was toward the river and a little downstream at an angle.
“But it’s going to be dark soon,” Declan protested. “How are we to find our way in the dark? Besides, Phylicia won’t allow it.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Murdock said roughly. “What Phylicia allows is of no concern to me. You’ll do it or these men are forfeit.”
Declan chuckled nervously. “Just that simple?”
“Just that simple!”
“And how shall I get down? I had a rope to climb up, but that isn’t possible now,” Declan asked.
Murdock had collected the rope and tied one end to the feet of three of the unconscious men. He then threw the rest of the rope over the cliff. “I’ll meet you by the river. Since it is getting dark, you should have no trouble finding my camp.” Murdock said as Declan started down the rope.
6
“When he is out of sight, I’ll levitate the others down to the ground. You can do what you need to wake them after I leave to go to the river,” Murdock flashed to Beron. Beron sent a very pleasing sensation to his mind. I don’t know what they’re going through and I’m not sure I want to know, he thought. Murdock’s mind was suddenly flooded with a scene of being hung from a cliff in a lightning storm and slowly slipping. Another scene was of hanging over a pit of wolves and being lowered slowly. Another was of facing a pack of angry bears with lots of growling, snorting, teeth, and claws. Another was of being on a very narrow cliff with high winds blowing every direction and having no way down and nothing to hang on to. All the scenes made him shiver. “That is what they’re experiencing?” he asked after the scenes faded. He got an affirmative feeling from his huge friend. “Glad I’m your friend.”
#
It didn’t take Declan long to descend the rope and get to the underside of the transport pod. He imm
ediately started searching for Annie Cooper. As he looked, he procured a water skin and a twelve-inch machete from the stockpile of tools and supplies. No one questioned him as he was on the council. Finally, he spotted Annie Cooper heading to the upstream side of the position where most of the people used to get drinking water. He knelt down and filled his water skin close to her.
“We need to go somewhere,” he said quietly as he didn’t want anyone else to hear.
“Why would I go anywhere with you?” Annie responded angrily and louder than Declan found comfortable.
“Keep it down,” he said through clenched teeth. “Someone has requested our presence.”
“Who would that be?” she asked quieter but still too loud.
“Murdock has requested that we meet him,” Declan said after an exasperated exhale.
“Who is he that he thinks he can request anything from me?” Annie asked curtly.
Declan stood after his water skin was filled and capped. “Look, people’s lives are at stake. You don’t believe me, then that is your decision, but I’m going!”
“Where did you say you were going?” Phylicia asked from behind Declan, causing him to jump perceptibly.
“Murdock has requested me and Annie to meet him,” Declan said as he turned to face Phylicia.
“Oh, okay. If there truly are lives at stake, by all means, you should go,” Phylicia responded in all seriousness and indicating that she had overheard most of what Declan had said to Annie. “There are lives at stake!”
Declan stood there looking at her in shock.
“Okay, Declan, where are we going?” Annie asked after being outfitted as Declan was instructed.
“Just follow me,” Declan said as he started off in the direction Murdock had indicated.
As Declan and Annie started toward the river, Phylicia directed a couple of her security people to surreptitiously follow Declan and Annie. Their instructions were to follow and report back. They hadn’t gone far from the transport pod when it became quite dark. More than once, during their walk, Declan would stop and look around. He felt like he was being followed, but he saw nothing. Declan and Annie both stumbled a few times in the darkness, but neither lost their feet. Two hours after setting out, Declan called for a brief rest. He took a swallow of water from his water skin and Annie did the same.
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