Throughout the journey into the night, Alec divided his attention between meticulously tracking the direction and distance he was being taken from Quip and gathering information. He could understand the Teretha language, but he regretted not uploading the dialect to the vocal modulator. He heard one of the younger Teretha rebels admire the weapon they had taken from his hip. An older, wiser voice advised the boy to lay down the ancient weapon. To hear any talk of weaponry amongst the Teretha showed how truly dire it was. When these gentle people picked up a gun, the world was truly shaken.

  Alec could smell the Aamaranth growing stronger as the elevation rose and the night took on a crisp coolness. He was glad for the jacket he wore; lying still did not give much chance to warm him up. He felt the atmosphere close around him. The sound of the hover-cart echoed quickly and loudly; they had entered a tunnel.

  With his eyes closed, Alec's brain tried to fill in the gaps with the noises he could hear. The crackle of a fire, singing far off an old folk song, the rattle of weapons on every person's hip. And then, were those children playing? The laughing, joyful voices were amplified by the sing-song dialect of the Teretha people. The cart came to a stop, and Alec slowed his breathing to focus on his immediate surroundings.

  A brash voice called out in greeting; the words were all in Teretha. "It was quick, but you were wrong. It wasn't a transport; there were only two inside."

  Another voice answered in calm but commanding tones. Alec assumed this was the voice of the Tusong he was here for. "Then why not burn it all and leave them as a warning?"

  "Ask him." The first voice called back again. Hearing the man speak to the rebel leader as an equal made Alec think back to the first Teretha man he had met. He had called the Teretha the "free people". The reference was to a time long past when the Teretha walked their worlds in perfect peace. Tusong's tone changed to a reverent, respectful cadence when he addressed the "him" to which the first voice referred.

  "Tell me, Dream Singer, why would you bring something of the baronhood here? You risk our exposure when we could have just taken what was needed and burned the rest as a warning. These men are a curse and deserve no kindness."

  "These are not of the baron, well, at least not this one." The voice cracked and rasped with age, but the deep, confident tones underneath carried understanding. At the mention of the title, Alec understood that Dream Singers were the wisdom speakers of the Teretha. Despite being the leader of this ragtag group of rebels, Tusong would take the advice of a dream singer. They had been blessed with age, and so the stars gave them knowledge beyond a young warrior's understanding.

  Alec could hear the two men's footsteps getting closer and felt eyes studying him. The Dream Singer spoke again, "I know this man only by a description passed down to me from my grandfather and his father. I do not know his name, but as the wind is my witness, the fates have smiled on you. This man is a weapon of epic proportions."

  "A weapon?" Alec could hear the hungry admiration in Tusong's voice. It bordered on the hysteria he had seen in many of his contracts. This man was out for revenge, and he had been delivered a weapon. "How do we use it?"

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Not an it, he is a man with a will and mind of his own. If I'm honest, I didn't believe the stories, or at the very least, I thought he had died within the baronhood centuries ago. Seeing him here in the flesh…" He stumbled on this part as they could both clearly see Alec's augmentations. "Seeing him here is like standing before the ageless legend stones. He has just as many years of experience and knowledge. The question, Tusong, is whether he's here to harm or help."

  Alec could almost hear the man thinking, but his own mind was racing as well. How was Alec a part of the Dream Singers of the Teretha people's stories? The Legend stones the aged one spoke of were sacred Teretha relics that described their peaceful way of life and were from a time before barons. Alec knew, however, that the stones themselves were housed in a museum on Earth that no one visited. Plundered from a people to break their ties with ancient ancestry.

  Alec felt hands grasp the bindings that held his hands and feet. "Do you think that's wise?" It was the dream singer's voice again.

  Tusong replied in even, calm tones. "You have never advised my father or me wrong; to ignore your wisdom would be to dishonour my father's memory. If this man is also a weapon, then these bonds mean nothing. We are in our last stores, and our numbers yet grow. The time is now, and I am trusting that, as you say, the fates brought this man to us. I will hear him out, but move the children to the far side of the cave, hide them behind the rocks. Tell the people to ready weapons, if he is here to bring our end, we will fight as we always have."

  "I agree with your leadership." The Dream Singers, shuffling their steps, walked away to make the orders happen. Alec could hear the message passing through a large cave. There were far more than a couple of dozen Teretha in this space. Alec was fighting all he could to keep his eyes closed and observe. Was Tusong standing before him, weapon ready? He seemed open to wisdom and patient. This was not the man the baron had portrayed.

  Sounds faded, and soon the camp lay silent. The entire time Tusong stayed silently by Alec's side. He felt hands fumble against his arms, shoulders, lifting his head. "How do you turn this thing back on?" He voiced his frustration aloud, and Alec figured there was no better time."

  "Just ask, and I'm a him remember?" He opened his eyes; there was not much light, and the augmented sensors in his eyes adjusted immediately. He was in a hollowed-out cave, perhaps an abandoned Aamaranth pocket mine. Small canvas shelters were scattered like small homes; they had some decorations and a semblance of order, suggesting they had been here for a while. Alec looked up, and his eyes met those of Tusong.

  The Teretha leader himself was caught off guard and stumbled back, fumbling a bit for words. Alec realized he answered Teretha with the baronhood trade language; that advantage was blown now. Tusong composed himself. When he stood tall, he was taller than Alec by a hand. He had the broad warrior's shoulders common to his people, and he had added a few more scars to his face. His eyes were a deep hazel that showed a torment Alec knew all too well.

  Alec raised his hands in the air in a gesture to imply he meant no harm to anyone and glanced over his shoulder. Surrounding him on both sides were more Teretha people holding the weapons of the baronhood levelled towards Alec.

  "Tusong, I presume? I'm Alec."

  Tusong seemed to search for the Trade language words and then spoke clearly. His accent was slightly broken, but his grasp of the language was well-versed. "I am Tusong, chosen leader of the free peoples."

  There was that word again, the same one the Teretha soldier had used with Alec all those years ago. At that moment, this group's Dream Singer walked out towards him and Tusong. It was like seeing a ghost, and Alec marvelled at the twist of the fates that found him here in this moment. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the third generation of the very man Alec had called a friend all those years ago.

  Alec felt a return of purpose like a gift from the stars.