[code]How fortunate. There was at least a minimum of one other Kiel with some sense. Approval flashed across her expression as he tried to set the squabbling masses right. Walking closely alongside him as she was, her ears perked up at his shout. She had no doubt he’d spent years as a grunt, but the tone of his voice surprised her. Anyone could have imitated it, but he did better than she would have anticipated from someone who’d only been on the receiving end. Even if they were almost certainly from different factions, it would be a relief to have another proper officer. Someone who’d lived long enough to have seen more than combat training and a few deployments. Someone who’d seen, really seen, things from on foot and up above. Then again, even a middle-aged Kiellar soldier or petty staff officer could have more experience in war under their belt than even the longest-serving Dhasath or human generals ever could. Even if she was wrong, and he was a mere grunt, perhaps there’d be another reasonable mind among the naive and primitive.

Then the wetware abomination got more restless still, and then took off at her compatriot’s order. It was fast, especially for something with a wetware build, messy as those generally were. And it, followed promptly by one of the Dhasath, called her fellow Kiel by a term of address that didn’t seem to translate for her. Perhaps it existed to her compatriot, as he demonstrated no apparent confusion at it, but either way, his response prompted a little huff of amusement from her nose.

Things were headed in the right direction, if nothing else. The biggest outstanding problem with the developing plan was the fact that they were on a majority-Dhasath planet, which meant the Dhasath got the best shot at getting handouts—and would therefore have the most leverage. Dhasath always seemed to get lucky, and once again, the Dhasath had gotten luckiest. It sometimes made Ruvulla wonder, really, if they had some kind of real luck hard-coded into their genetics. But either way, Dhasath tended to share luck only with other Dhasath. And those Earthling cousins of theirs. Which begged the question, would they actually return? Getting out ahead of it, Ruvulla issued a stern declaration.


“Remember that there’s a Ragon waking up. If you do not come through with equipment or shelter by sunset, I, for one, will sooner requisition what I need than take my chances with a hungry Ragon at night and unarmed. I’ll be seeing you in the advance party by sunset, one way or another.”[/code]