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"I can Females have served in ships and even been weaponsme, and I shall come with you" The ships were on her land If ‘Telca "Or else I’l order ht now"

"You can’t do that"

"I can I’ home now to leave instructions forwith the ships"

Raia turned and left as fast as she could,happened to her, the keep ht fal into chaos She had to leave someone with clear orders Uncle Naxan could have the elder’s authority Ue the farot back Under the Covenant, they’d never had to worry about food supplies Noithout San’Shyuum support and alien labor, they had to fend for theain

And ill

Back at Bekan keep, she packed a bag She couldn’t recal the last time she’d done that She’d never needed to travel, to be away fro Dural watched her fro his practice weapon--a wooden staff--as if he were on sentry duty

"What are you doing, Mother?"

"I’ to children made them weak and confused They had to know that the world was a dangerous place, and preparing theht distress thes, Dural would learn to be decisive and unafraid "He should have come home by now"

"Is he dead?"

It was a perfectly normal question in a society where almost every male as physical y capable expected to be a warrior and where so many had died in battle But this was Jul’s son, not that the youngster realized that, and Raia was farher husband than she’d realized The word dead wounded her She tried to look calm

"Jul’s a survivor," she said "Wherever he is, he’l return to us But I want to knohy he’s been delayed, and by whom Now, be obedient while I’m away Do as Naxan and Umira tel you I’l know if you don’t"

Dural watched her in silence for a little longer It was only when she put on her belt with its unfamiliar holster that he parted his jaws, pleased She was ar, and that his ht It see a pistol felt odd, but Raia was ful y trained to use it welAl children were taught to fight and defend themselves; adult females rarely served on the front line, but they were expected to fight to defend their keep if it caht then Her husband was in danger, she was sure of it, and her duty was to go to his aid So the keep and the family in the hands of others, but she didn’t care

‘Telcam was the one who needed to worry If he’d harmed Jul, she would kil him That, too, was her duty

As she headed for the field where the vessels were laid up, wading through long grass that plucked at her legs, a little nervous voice at the back of her mind asked her if she wasShe slapped it down--yes, she understood, of course she understood When she reached the warship cal ed Unflinching Resolve and gazed up at the massive curve of its hul , she admitted to herself that she was terrified, but that was irrelevant It was farto sit and wait in the keep, weak and dependent

I bore warriors Therefore I can beco She waited with one hand on her holster until it carass with its thrust, and as it slowed to a halt she fixed the pilot with her best do-not-toy-with-ot out of the Revenant and looked at her with his head on one side, eyes on the weapon

"Now you really frighten me," he said "I hope you don’t expect to pilot a ship, too"

"No," she said "Not yet"

TEMPLE OF THE ABIDING TRUTH, ONTOM: TWO HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL EXPLOSION Phil ips held his breath, listening for the noise of energy bolts and trying to work out how long it would take hi stopped

He glanced at ‘Telcath of his stride, Phil ips calculated that the Sangheili would outrun hi after a wil ful toddler He’d never et outside and grab the first Sangheili he saw--anyone at al -- to ask them to make contact with Cadan or the Arbiter’s office Then he could get a e to Osman and be out of here

"Hey, ‘Telcalish and Sangheili in the same sentence now, just as ‘Telcam did "Let’s be clear about this While I appreciate your concern forto take the risk?"

‘Telca over a chart with the others There were about thirty Sangheili in ful armor cra to find space between the crates ofResolve Then he heard the na about his disappearance He had vessels laid up at his keep, and they were going to have to move them in a matter of hours It alarent?" one of them asked "Has heto ask if he’s with us There’s so Phil ips what he knew of Jul si everyone, and ONI were as likely as anyone else to have heard if he’d run into trouble

From the conversations Phil ips could overhear, soious types like ‘Telcae-heads who’d never known anything else but serving as San’Shyuum cannon fodder and hadn’t yet found a civilian role to keep thee The monkish ones used archaic tenses and weird Dickensian phrases--if Dickens had been Sangheili--like ere we presume to know the mind of our betters The ones who’d been soldiers had a much less fril y and more immediate turn of phrase In translation, a couple of them reminded him of Mal

But none of thealaxy where huheili could one day cooperate, once both sides had forgotten they’d been trying to out-genocide each other for thirty years None of this bunch liked or trusted humans He could hear what they cal ed him

"I knohat nishuheili ‘Telcam stil hadn’t answered hi e-heads"