Tarpals stood just outside the circle of the light and watched the audience settle in. He'd caught most of the tale Peskis had told earlier; obviously the Ankuran was a fine storyteller. Storytellers and Memory Keepers were respected in Gungan society, but tonight, Tarpals decided regretfully, was not the time for him to listen to the old tales.

He turned away and made the round of his sentries. Two of the experienced patrol riders had each brought a militiagung with them for training. Tarpals listened to their reports; recalling Artil's style of command, the captain made a few encouraging remarks to each of them, and continued on. The last sentry turned out to be Kimma Nril.

"Lieutenant Peskis seemed to think it would be all right if I sat a watch," she told him. "Don't look so surprised. I've had more than the average amount of training. Just because I left military service to raise a family doesn't mean I've forgotten everything."

Tarpals settled himself on the fallen log beside her, automatically facing in the opposite direction, his left hip and shoulder a hand span away from her right. It was a common position for two Patrol riders who planned to talk while still watching the area around them; it placed each Gungan's mouth close to the other's ear, allowing them to watch each other's back. "You obviously didn't serve in Otoh Gunga, or any of the Mounted Patrols. You're young enough that I'd remember you. Where were you assigned?"

"I was with the Flying Wings, trained and stationed in Otoh Dinistallis."

Tarpals blinked; the Flying Wings, riders of the aquatic creatures known as aiwhas, were among the most elite of the Gungan military units, even more so than the Mounted Patrols. Otoh Dinistallis, the only Gungan city actually built on and around an ocean cliffside, was the sole training area for the aiwha riders. "A most impressive post. How long ago did you leave?"

"Sixteen seasons," she replied. "We Took Temmis In the following season, and Plirri ten seasons after that." Gungans divided a year into two seasons, a rainy season and a "dry" season, when it only rained every two or three days. "I'd like to Take In another child or two and raise them before returning to service."

"And your essoans?"

"Neither of them went beyond the basic training. Sen Tal farms and hunts, and Hanar makes clothing and other items. They make for a good family."

"You chose well," Tarpals agreed.

Kimma inclined her head slightly in acceptance of the compliment. "Captain, if I might ask a question.... Why are we going to Splitrock? It's a prominent landmark, and much of the area is exposed. Won't we be more noticeable to the maccaneeks?"

Tarpals nodded. "We will. But there's a cache hidden in one of our wayposts there. We'll need the extra food, ammunitions, weapons, and clothing. The bundles we took from the maccaneeks earlier today contain a lot of items for the Naaboo, but very little for our people. We'll have a better chance of making it to the Sacred Place safely with those supplies. At the very least, we need to replenish our supplies of buumas. And we won't be going out of our way by stopping there."

"Ah." Kimma was still scanning the forest over Tarpals's shoulder. "So we would have been heading in the direction of Tendesay anyway. Taking the Naaboo isn't as altruistic gesture as I thought."

"No. It's not. I don't have any particular fondness for the Naaboo. Apparently it was their affairs that brought this maccaneek invasion down on us in the first place. If the Naaboo in the convoy had all been adults, I probably would have left them behind."

"That's not exactly a sound military decision, is it?" Kimma remarked. "After all, the adults can be trained to do complex tasks relatively quickly, and would really be more useful than the children. Naaboo or not, I think your decision was made more from kindness than you realize."

The captain snorted. "I'm a soldier, but I'd like to think I'm not completely heartless." He stared out into the darkness.

"Maybe helping the Naaboo is one more small defeat for the maccaneeks," Kimma suggested. "Thank you for rescuing us, by the way."

"I've been meaning to ask you how you came to be prisoners with the Naaboo."

Kimma sighed. "Our settlement was withdrawing to our Sacred Place when we were attacked by the maccaneeks. They seized Plirri and Hanar and several others before anyone could stop them. We didn't have many other soldiers in our group, and few weapons." She turned her head to look at him. "I couldn't let them take my youngest child, or any other members of my family without me, so Sen Tal and I surrendered too. The maccaneeks took us to one of places they're holding the Naaboo. I think we were included in this particular group because we had children."

Tarpals frowned. "Rep Brand-ess said the Naaboo children belong to families in key government positions and were being separated from their parents to force the adults to agree to this maccaneek invasion."

"I know. That's barbaric! The only reason I can think of for them not splitting my family up is that all of our people look alike to them, and they didn't realize we were the parents." She shook her head. "I don't understand it. But I'm glad you rescued them along with us, Captain."

Tarpals tilted his head in a shrug. "All of us have family. And too many have died already. Speaking of which.... I won't deny that we need all the experienced military members we have, but for now, I'm sending you back to your family. I'll take this watch. If you insist on standing sentry duty, come back and relieve me when the storytelling is finished."

"Yes, sir." Kimma rose, then turned back to face him. "Captain, if I may ask.... what about your family?"

Much of Tarpals's clan family was scattered throughout Gungan territory. At least a few members of each of the eight Gungan clans lived in all of the large cities and settlements, which meant that he had relatives everywhere. "Many of my clan-family members living in Otoh Gunga left with the main evacuation. As for the rest," here he paused, "I don't know. If all went well, everyone made it to one of the Sacred Places safely." His voice trailed off. He'd heard nothing from Tanoh Matawba and the Shrine Keeper there, the family member he cared the most about. "It depends on where the maccaneeks have been searching for us. None of us will know until we've reached the Sacred Place."

"I hope they're all safe," Kimma told him softly.

Tarpals nodded; he knew what Treece would have said, were she present. "It's all in the hands of the gods now."

"Yes, sir." Kimma turned away. "I'll be back later, Captain."

Tarpals took her place on the fallen log and scanned the dark forest, listening, smelling, and remembering.


~*~*~*~


The scouts positioned at the surface of Lake Paonga signaled the city that the maccaneek army had reached the water's edge. The scouts then scattered, duty fulfilled. They would hide among the water plants in the shallows until it was safe to move, then would make their way to the Sacred Place and assist with the evacuees.

Tarpals and the riders of the Third Mounted Patrol sat at attention astride their
kaadu, scanning the surface. Many of Otoh Gunga's families had already been evacuated to safety; a few of the ruling Council, including Governor Rugor Nass, had remained behind, but ships waited to speed them away as well if the defenses failed. Tarpals had been in agreement with General Yoss -- if the maccaneek army they had seen on the surface was any indication of the invaders' fighting equipment and style, it was unlikely that Otoh Gunga's defenses would hold them back for long. The defenses consisted of several energy barriers that ringed the city, as well as large catapults mounted on the underwater walls and bottom of Lake Paonga. The catapults could be detached from their anchorage and moved; several of them were often taken to the surface for practice drills when General Yoss trained her officers.

The barriers and catapults, however, would be of little use against an army of small, maneuverable submarines; the defenses had been designed to protect the city from the huge underwater monsters that occasionally attacked the Gungan cities and settlements. The Gungans had a small fleet of armed ships, which supplemented the anchored defenses, but again, these were meant to be used against a single large target. Yoss herself was overseeing the catapults; she stood at the controls of a
bon-gho, one of the small submarines developed to carry passengers and cargo around the city. The sub would also carry the artillery officers to safety if the city fell.

Rugor Nass was seated astride a
falumpaset, to the right of the patrol. Once a soldier, then later an engineer, the Ankuran Gungan had risen to his present position as Otoh Gunga's Governor. The Governor and the Patrol Captain had had many differences over the years; now they were united in their desire to protect the city. But Nass knew, probably better than anyone else, how inadequate the defenses would be.

The surface above rippled as large, triangular shapes entered the water. For several moments, the shapes cruised back and forth on the surface; the Gungans watched them warily.

Without warning, the floor bucked beneath them; several of the
kaadu staggered, bawling. Their riders reined them in and scanned the bubble dwelling's ceiling, searching for the source of the explosions.

"There!" Ven Artil pointed up at the light surface of the lake above them. As the patrol watched, tiny shapes drifted down into the middle-range waters over the city. One of the shapes suddenly blossomed into a shock of light. A moment later an explosion thundered through the city, and the bubble dwelling heaved and shuddered.
Kaadu and riders tilted sideways and slid across the floor. Behind him, Tarpals could hear the cries and shouts of the foot soldiers.

One after another, the tiny shapes exploded. Other bubble dwellings in the city shuddered under the attack; one of the dwellings, its energy generators and floatation rudders damaged, suddenly winked out and imploded, water rushing into the void left by the released air as it bubbled to the lake's surface. A second, then a third sphere shattered under the forces of the explosions.

Tarpals twisted in the saddle and shouted to his aide. "Rell Iss! Signal the artillery! Give them the enemy's positions and tell them to fire!"

The younger Gungan whirled his signal flares. A few moments later the catapult batteries, mounted on the lake's walls and floor, opened fire. The huge energy
buumas, each massing enough concentrated energy to give the largest of the ocean monsters pause, hurtled upward into the mass of ships concentrated at the lake surface. Blue lightning raced across maccaneek hulls as the buumas struck their targets; some of the ships listed onto their sides and their lights failed. Behind Tarpals, a cheer went up from the assembled Gungans. Tarpals's hand slashed in a signal for silence.

Several of the ships broke formation at the surface sped to take up a position over the artillery units. Bursts of light sped from the ships toward the catapults. The brilliance of the lights forced Tarpals and his command to turn their heads and close their eyes. When they looked again, two craters in the lake wall had replaced two of the catapults. A third catapult fired, and one of the attacking ships flared with light, and then went dark.

More of the smaller, dark shapes, closer now, dropped among the bubble dwellings and exploded. More bubbles imploded and winked out.

Tarpals turned again to Rell Iss. "Sound the evacuation!"

Artil gave him an anguished look, then closed his eyes and bowed his head. The second-in-command had had family in one of the destroyed dwellings.

Several of the other patrol members protested.

"Our defenses are meant to keep the ocean monsters out!" Tarpals snapped. "We have no surface defenses besides the artillery! Nothing has ever attacked us this way before! There's no point to losing our lives in an unwinable battle! Fall back! All but the final line of defenders, escort the Governor to the evacuation ships!" Nass scowled, but wheeled his mount and set out at a trot for the launch bay, bellowing at the few remaining civilians to follow him.

"Rell Iss! Signal General Yoss! Tell her we're evacuating, and need clear escape routes for the fleet!" Tarpals turned to Artil. "Take half the patrol. You're in charge of the escort for the Council's evacuation. Get the Governor and the Rep Council away."

Artil's
kaadu turned so that the rider was facing Tarpals. Ven Artil's left hand reached up to grip Tarpals's right biceps. Tarpals mirrored the gesture; each Gungan's weapon pointed over the other's shoulder.

The gesture was known as "the circle" -- it allowed the two participants to watch one another's backs without taking away their ability to use their weapons. The gesture signified the reliance each participant had on the other, and protection each offered the other. Circles figured prominently in Gungan society; the seasons were represented as a circle, as were the stages of life, the directions, and many other concepts. Tarpals's own clan-family symbol was a pair of
zalaacas, depicted with the head of each at the hip of the other, done in silver, aqua and purple. It was not unusual for two life-partners to exchange circular wrist-, ear-, or armbands; the bonding ceremony itself was performed with the partners in the same positions Tarpals and his second now held.

"The gods keep all of us safe," Artil said, giving the formal parting.

"We will see you at the Sacred Place," Tarpals told him. They both let go, and then each brought the tip of his weapon to the bridge of his nose in a salute.

Artil clapped his heels against his
kaadu's flank and the animal sprang forward. "Evacuation guard, with me!" Half of the Third Mounted Patrol members wheeled their animals and trotted after him. The other half watched Tarpals expectantly.

"Attack group, to our ships!" Tarpals ordered, and the riders surged forward. Rell Iss waved his signal flares to send the last commands, then leaped down from his post and mounted his own
kaadu, cantering at the rear of the attack force on its way to the submarine launch bays.


~*~*~*~


Kimma Nril slipped into place beside her two essoans and children midway through the story. "The fambaa, hesa sedd, 'My will giff dem my strengt', to carry heavy t'ings wit' ease'. An' the blarth, shesa sedd, 'Mesa givin' dem my companionship, so deysa always hev someone to share dersan homes'. Den the buhds said, 'Wesa givin' oursan se'fs an' oursan h'eggs as food.'

"Maatra Guungan, shesa t'ought 'bout all'n the animals' offers for a while. It didn't seem fair to tekk from all'n the animals and not give ennyt'ing back. At last shesa sess, 'O'mas, Creator, diss'n not right. Iss'n not fair for ussan to tekk all'n the time and give nuttin' back. Whenever wesa tekk some-att from the animals, wesa should give some-att in return. Wesa gonna leave food for the animals, an' nebber tekk more dan wesa needin'. An' at the end of oursan lives, wesa given ourse'fs back to dem as well.

"Seein' the wisdom of Maatra Guungan, O'mas agreed, an' blessed the bargain."

Peskis finished his tale and bowed. "Allus a good t'ing to remember a bargain, eh? Wesa gotten time for another short one afore wesa sendin' the sprattlings off to bed, mesa t'inks...."


~*~*~*~

Hela Brandes woke before sunrise. Wincing at her stiff muscles and aching back, she had to make three attempts before she was able to crawl out of the wood and leaf shelter. Camping in the wilderness, she thought wryly, had never been of interest to her, and now she knew why. The children, most of whom had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion, were huddled together behind her. Yané was curled up asleep by herself. Saché, Edvic, and the Eckener twins had chosen to sleep in the shelter to her right, and the Gungan family was presumably asleep in the third, possibly with a few of the patrol riders sharing the space.

Mist shrouded the forest; small pattering sounds heralded the passing of several animals somewhere in the brush. Brandes could barely make out the hunched forms of the other two shelters. Everything looked different from last night, but she thought she could remember the way to the stream where the Gungans had pastured their riding beasts.

A bath, even if it were just a quick sponging-off, would help immensely, she thought. Neither she nor the children had bathed since before being loaded onto the droid transports, two days ago. Probably she should wake one of the teens and have them watch the children. In fact, it might be a good idea to get everyone up and take turns at whatever bathing time they could get.

Brandes found the opening to the second shelter and crouched down to peer inside. "Saché," she whispered. The Handmaiden stirred. "Saché!" The girl's eyes opened and she blinked sleepily at Brandes. "Wake the others. I'm going to see about arranging for us to get baths."

A few minutes later Brandes stood in the middle of the clearing where the storytelling had been held the night before. Facing the shelters, she knew the stream was on her left. She turned and set out, passing through a short section of heavily wooded forest. Ahead she could see a lighter spot in the fog – the edge of the pasture area.

Shapes moved in the misted meadow – the kaadu seemed to be rooting around for food. The larger bulks of the falumpasets stood motionless; the animals were still apparently asleep. Brandes skirted around them at the very edge of the meadow. If she frightened the animals, goodness only knew how they'd respond.

The meadow sloped down a hill and into more woods. Here the stream burbled over stones and fallen branches. Brandes crouched and splashed water on her face and hands, grateful for the warmth of the forest air. Peering through the mist, she could see the stream meandering for several lengths to her right, where it apparently opened out into a small pool.

She climbed part way up the bank and followed the stream, arriving at the edge of the pool. The water here was deeper and slower, and the trees provided enough cover to insure privacy for bathing.

Anticipating her bath, the human woman stepped onto one of the flat stones on the edge of the pool, and froze.

Through the thin tendrils of mist she could make out the form of a Gungan whose grey skin blended almost perfectly into the morning fog. Clouds of mist trailed past him, rising. Tarpals sat with his back to her, a stone's toss away down the shore, apparently unaware of her presence. Through a gap in the mist she could see him sitting, head up, elbows resting on his knees. For several minutes he sat motionless. Then he reached out with his left hand to scoop up a palmful of water. Dipping the fingers of his right hand into the water, he flicked his fingers to his right, then his left, then forward; finally he twisted around to spray the water behind him. If he was surprised to see the human woman standing at the edge of the pool, he gave no sign. At last he dipped his fingers into the water a final time and touched them to the spot between his eyes, his lips, and the center of his chest, and shook his left hand over the water to return what little was left to the pool. Then in a fluid motion he rose, stretched, and turned to look at her.

"I – I'm sorry," she stammered. "I didn't know you were here. I was just hoping to get a bath before we left this morning."

"Thissen a good spot," Tarpals remarked, moving toward her and reaching up into a set of tree branches. Now that he was closer, Brandes got a good look at him – and realized he was completely undressed.
She blushed and looked away.

"Yousa feeling all right?" He sounded genuinely concerned.

"I'm, ah, fine. It's just that, ah, I was surprised by your state of undress." She risked a glance at him; he was standing with what appeared to be his leather trousers in hand, head cocked to one side in puzzlement. She looked away again. "Um, humans have a nudity taboo. Most of the time we keep our clothes on around each other."

"Uhn-huhn. Yousa plannin' on tekkin' a bath with yoursan clothes on?" Now he sounded amused.

"No, of course not. I'll, ah, just come back when you're done." She turned away.

"Mesa done heah." Tarpals had removed the rest of his clothing from the tree branches. Brandes watched him out of the corner of her eyes. "All yoursan. When yousa done, though, gottens some things for yousa to look at."

I'm almost afraid to ask.... she thought wryly.

"Those supplies wesa took out'n the maccaneek wagons -- yousa want to look through them, see iff'n thersa anything yousa needin'." He paused, then added, "Seemin' to be lotta h'extra clothes. 'Spect yousa finden' them useful." With that he slung his own clothes over his shoulder and left her to her bathing.