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The more control, the more that requires control This is the road to chaos

- PanSpechi aphoris of the battle for Chu, Tria was in a vile hu about one-eighth of the total Warren territory,Broey&039;s corridor to the Rim She did not like the idea that Jedrik&039;s people held an unobstructed vien onto most of the death fanatics&039; territory And most of those leaders who&039;d thrown in their lot with Tria were beginning to have second thoughts, especially since they&039;d come to realize that this enclave had insufficient food production facilities to maintain itself The population density she&039;d been forced to accept was frightening: almost triple the Warren norainst her Tria had finally been brought to the inescapable conclusion that she and Gar were precisely where Jedrik wanted them They&039;d been cut out of Broey&039;s control as neatly and cleanly as though by a knife There was no going back Broey would never accept Human help under present circumstance That, too, spoke of the exquisite care hich Jedrik had executed her plan

Tria hadwhich faced the canyon walls to the north Only the river, with a single gate under it, separated her from the Rim She&039;d slept badly, herher worries was the fact that none of the contact parties she&039;d sent out to the Rim had returned There&039;d been no fires on the Riht No word from any of her people out there

Why?

Once e, any advantage One of her lines was anchored on Broey&039;s corridor to the Riate, and the rest of her perierous salients from the fifth wall to the river

She could hear sounds of battle along the far side of Broey&039;s corridor Jedrik&039;s people used weapons which reat deal of noise Occasionally, an explosive projectile landed in Tria&039;s enclave These were rare, but she&039;d taken casualties and the effect on morale was destructive That was a major problem with fanatics: they demanded to be used, to be wasted

Tria stared down at the river, aware of the bodies drifting on its poison currents - both Human and Gowachin bodies, but more Gowachin than Human Presently, she turned away from the scene, padded into the next room, and roused Gar

"We must contact Jedrik," she said

He rubbed sleep from his eyes

"No! We must wait until we make contact with our people on the Rim Then we can"

"Faaaaa!"

She&039;d seldo to make contact with our people on the Rim Jedrik and Broey have seen to that It wouldn&039;t surpriseto isolate us"

"But we&039;ve"

"Shut up, Father!" She held up her hands, stared at theh to be one of Broey&039;s chief advisors I always suspected that I always pressed too hard Last night, I reviewed as many of my decisions as I could Jedrik deliberately ood She did it oh so beautifully!"

"But our forces on the Rim"

"May not be ours! They may be Jedrik&039;s"

"Even the Gowachin?"

"Even the Gowachin"

Gar could hear a ringing in his ears Contact Jedrik? Throay all of their power?