Rene nodded thoughtfully as the continued towards the city. The scale of the destruction was impressive not only in the destroyed trees but also in the lack of light coming from the town ahead. It was full dark now but only a few houses had any light at all emanating from them. Here and there were bright pools where emergency lighting had been rigged to generators, or portable power cells, but by and large the town was unnaturally dark. Many windows had been boarded up against the storm's fury but here and there flickering lights from candles or kerosene lamps could be picked out.

“I don’t think there is anything to be gained by pretending,” he said, a little reluctant. Solae’s nobility would be immediately obvious to anyone with eyes, her beauty and coloration unmistakable. Rene might or might not have been recognised on his own, but in Solae’s company his own heritage would also be apparent. 

“Beside Damaris already knows your a princess and im a knight,” he added. Mia didn’t have any reason not to call him that after all and there was no way Damaris, in her enthusiasm, would be convinced not to reveal them. 

“Word might not have reached them yet,” he said judiciously. Without PEAs, interstellar communication depended on vessels carrying news from system to system and transmitting it to planetary nets. Major systems like Capella or Tau Setti were almost always up to date because the flow of merchant and naval traffic was high and because they had dedicated courier systems that ran to the other major systems. More remote systems like Panopontus had to rely on merchant traffic transmitting data from their last ports, a function most communications suites handled automatically. In order for anyone on Panopuntus to be looking for them a ship would need to have come from New Concordia or some other place where Solae’s survival had already been reported.

The climbed over a low rocky bluff, passing a memorial to what Rene assumed must have been a shipwreck or other maritime disaster. Bronze plaques were set into small sconces and a pair of flag poles had been bent by the fury of the wind and flying debris. They were close enough know that Rene could see people working on clearing destroyed houses and other projects. Here and there flashing lights indicated police or gendarmerie or whatever kind of emergency services San Roayo supported, though they seemed to be involved in rescue operations, traffic direction or perhaps only to deter looters. Descending a series of switchbacked stone steps, they came upon what must have been a sea side strand. Restaurants and taverns were dark and silent and broken vegetation half covered what must have been a playground. A series of overhead illuminators lined a concrete pedestrian path, though all were dark for lack of power.

The entire street had been smashed by the storm surge, and Damaris looked around in wide eyed shock at what must have been familiar sites. The path was torn up in places and sand swept up by the sea covered the grassy expanses. Erosion crumpled a few of the buildings and the ruins of pier and jetties left timber planks scattered around like spilled match sticks. There were a few people around, sifting through the wreckage but none seemed to pay much attention to the strangers. Solae pushed her hood up to cover her golden hair and Rene was relieved that there was so little in the way of illumination.

Damaris lead them back from the shore down several streets of plasticized gravel. The city rose towards a rocky hill of a few hundred meters of elevation. A red beacon, a navigation aid for vehicles and perhaps ships, flashed from atop it at a long interval. The houses here were single story affairs, the taller ones seeming to cluster on the higher ground. Bare earth covered what must have at one time been kitchen gardens, the wind having destroyed what the water had not. More than once Solae had to ask Damaris to slow down as they grew closer to their destination, the girls eagerness transforming her walk into something more like a run.

“This is it!” she said as they turned into a darkened street, tugging insistently on Solae’s hand and leading her through a gate of tan bricks and down a narrow path between the ruins of a garden and a vehicle shelter, its corrugated door buckled inward by flying debris. The house itself was a simple construction of cinderblocks, with large windows protected by a latticework of metal. Several of the windows were armored with sheets of compressed fiber board although some of these had been taken down now the fury of the storm had passed. Light emenated from the largest of the clear windows and Damaris lead them without delay to the large metal door and pulled it open. Solae followed her closely and Rene bought up the rear, his vigilant eyes sweeping for threats.

Inside a middle aged woman, gaunt and exhausted, sat at a kitchen table. Dark bags beneath her eyes testified to a lack of sleep and tear stains cut lines in the dirt of several days of indifferent washing. The resemblance to Damaris was faint but unmistakable. Luminators had been tacked to the wall and plugged in to a powercell of black and yellow plastic to provide some light. Several news feeds were scrolling past on a simple, battered looking view screen. Rene realised immediately that they were lists of the dead and the missing. The woman turned at the sound of the opening door and froze with a look of shock on her face.

“Mama!” Damaris called and raced across the patterned tiles of the floor towards the woman. Her hand lifted to her mouth, the shock transfiguring into a look of joy and relief so profound that it made Rene swallow against the emotion. He followed Solae into the kitchen and closed the door behind them, eager to shield them from prying eyes, as unlikely as that seemed right at the moment.