At sunset, Tarpals convened a council. Herns, Orrin, Peskis, Rell Iss, Sen Tal, Saché, Edvic, and Drind, one of the militiagungs, sat on the bank of the river near the pool in which Sen Tal's family had gone swimming the day before. Hela Brandes and the Naaboo children were learning the sounds of night animals from one of the Patrol riders; the rest of the Gungans were relaxing and chatting amongst themselves about the maccaneek weapons. Everyone else was either on watch or foraging for dinner.

Brandes had cautioned Saché and Edvic before the meeting: "Try not to insult the Gungans' beliefs, especially when you talk about satellites. Remember Peskis's story about the Sky Home? Talk around it if you can."

"Wesa goin' to use Bassic for the meeting so's everyone kenn unnerstand," Tarpals began. He glanced at Drind, who nodded. In Gungan society, only the Patrol members were expected to be fluent in Bassic; the rest of the Gungans were unlikely to ever have contact with a Naaboo, although there was nothing to stop anyone from learning the Naaboos' language if he or she chose.

"Herns, tell ussan what happened yestidday at Splitrock," Tarpals ordered, and Herns described the scouting group's encounter with the maccaneeks, the battle at the edge of the woods, and the Gungans' subsequent escape. When Herns had finished, Tarpals turned to Saché and Edvic. "Yousa know more 'bout maccaneeks then enny of ussan. Explain them, pleece."

The two humans glanced at each other; Edvic turned back to the group. "The maccaneeks are called 'droids' by most of us," he said. "They're machines. They're not normal living things – they're made by intelligent beings to do work for us."

"Yousa can't do thiss'n work you'se'fs?" asked Orrin.

"Some of it, no. At least, not easily. Some droids work in outer space, where humans would need special suits and air supplies. Some droids have enormous memories, and can remember more information than a hundred people combined." The Gungans eyed each other doubtfully. Edvic pushed ahead. "The droids in the Trade Federation army are meant to do pretty limited tasks, I think. They didn't exactly let me stand around and study them," he added. "They don't seem to have much memory capacity, and the only things I've seen them do is shoot, identify an enemy, and operate simple equipment. Most of the time they seem to need directions from the Neimoidians. By themselves, the droids really aren't very smart."

"Gott'n couple liken dat in my fam'ly," Orrin remarked, and several people chuckled.

"How did deysan fin' ussan yestiddy?" Herns asked. "Wass deysan waitin' for ussan at Splitrock?"

"I think the Neimoidians have watcher satellites deployed," Edvic said. Seeing what he took to be blank looks on Gungan faces, he explained, "It's like having your eyes way up in the sky, and being able to see huge areas of the planet at once. If you see certain kinds of movement anywhere, you send droids to check it out."

"Movement liken what?" asked Tarpals.

Saché ticked the answers off on her fingers. "Any kind of mechanical vehicles that don't belong to the Trade Federation. Groups of either humans or Gungans who aren't in camps or being escorted by droids. Any activity in any area that's not controlled by the Trade Federation. They may be looking for specific people, or signs of places being inhabited. Lights. Smoke. That sort of thing."

"So when wesa went out inna open yestiddy, deysa saw ussan?" asked Rell Iss, stunned. "From uppa inna sky?"

"Probably," Edvic answered. "There were four of you, and no droids, and the Neimoidians probably had troops in the area, so they sent a few droids to catch you, or at least see what you were up to."

"These 'sat-ill-ites'," Tarpals said. "Theysa see inna dark?"

"They'll see large lights easily enough," Edvic said. "If you can travel without light, probably not." The Gungans looked at each other and nodded. "I don't know if small, hand-held lights would be seen or not. And fog or heavy cloud cover would give you protection, too."

"Yousa t'ink the maccaneeks iss in'trested in animals?" Herns asked suddenly.

Edvic shook his head. "I doubt it. The Neimoidians are probably more interested in people right now. We're the biggest danger to their occupation."

Tarpals turned a speculative gaze on Herns. "What are yousa thinkin', Corp'ral?"

Herns hesitated. "T'inking 'bout the waystation," he said finally. "Deysa might'n be a way to gettin' ussan dere." He addressed his next question to Edvic. "Dese 'watchers', deysa 'way up inna sky, yiss?"

"Yes."

"So when deysa look down, iff'n deysa see una Guungan ridin' a falumpaset, deysa send maccaneeks to look-see?"

"Yes."

"Iff'n deysa chust seein' falumpasets, deysa leavin' dem 'lone."

"Probably."

Herns made a thoughtful sound. "Mesa work wit' falumpasets all'n the time wit' th'artillary," he explained. "Deysa big, strong. Also herd animals – deysa follow each other. What iff'n wesa tekk dem out inna open wit' ussan ridin' unnerneath, instead of on top?"

"Kenn yousa do dat?" asked Drind.

"Yiss," Sen Tal spoke up, "mesa t'ink yousa can. Wesa would be needin' a way to tie ussan unnerneath, an' steer dem, but mesa s'pect iss possible."

"T'ree of ussan ride to Splitrock wit' falumpasets," Herns suggested. "Iff'n wesa got fog, iss fine. Iff'n not, wesa got dis other idee. Wesa get da supplies, pack as much'n as wesa kenn while wesa unnerground, an' ride bekk."

"Keep one thing in mind," Saché said. "The droids have seen you near Splitrock once already. If they see you again, they're likely to send more troops, and maybe larger weapons after you."

"Liken the big t'ings deysa wass usin' to move yousan an' the sprattlings?" Tarpals asked.

"Yes. Those things are called 'tanks', by the way."

"How many yousa think theysa send?"

Saché thought for a moment. "I'd guess it would depend on how large a group of you there are. If there are just a few, they'll probably just send droids. If it seems like a large group, they might send a tank." She peered at him shrewdly. "Why?"

Tarpals gaze was fixed on the ground by Orrin's feet; then he looked up and gestured at the human male. "Edvic, hesa sess the maccaneeks, theysa look for Naaboo and Guungans iff'n wesa not being h'escorted by maccaneeks. Mesa thinkin' wesa might'n be wantin' to get oursan selfs an h'escort."

Jaws dropped all around the circle. "Yousa wantin' ussan to go an' get tekked by the maccaneeks?" Drind said finally.

Tarpals looked up; even in the fading twilight Saché thought she saw a light in his eyes. "No. Chust wantin' it to look liken that."

"Sir?" said Orrin, sounding puzzled.

Tarpals held up a hand. "Wantin' time to think bout'n this. Needin' time to mekk sure Kimma Nril's ready to travel. Wesa talk more 'bout thiss'n tomorrow."


~*~*~*~


Morning brought mist and some new assignments. Every able-body adult, including Hela Brandes, was to continue target practice. The children were to forage, practice their hiding, and be ready to carry instructions to various people. Rell Iss was to take a group back to the place where the scouts had fought the maccaneeks inside the cover of the forest.

Herns was ordered to inspect the falumpasets after their night's rest to be sure they were ready to travel; he was less pleased to learn that he was expected to teach Melni, Saché and Yané to work with them as well. As a precaution, Tarpals assigned Orrin to perform a similar inspection of the kaadu, insuring a friendly presence in the pasture.

Irritated, Herns began with the basic parts of the falumpaset's body, many of which were the same as the parts of a kaadu's anatomy. Melni quickly picked up on that.

"Diss'n?"

"Withers."

"An' dis?"

"Hock."

"Diss'n?"

"Flank."

Somewhat mollified, Herns showed them the bristle-pods that could be harvested and used as currycombs, and the five of them brushed the falumpaset's coats. "Wild falumpasets, deysa gott'n long-o fur 'round dersan h'ankles," Herns explained. Behind him, Orrin made the hand-sign for 'talk'. Then she repeated it several times, indicating that Herns talked a little too much. Yané bit her lip to keep from laughing. Melni, focused on the lecture, missed the gesture completely.

"Why do your falumpasets have short hair there?" she asked

"Wesa cut dat off," Herns said. "Chust gets tangled. Inna wild, da fur protec's dere legs from brambles an' leetle h'animals called nyorks. Nyorks live'n inna pools, an' deysa nip iff'n deysa startled."

As Saché and Yané continued grooming one animal and Orrin a second, Herns moved around behind the third. "You're not supposed to do that," Melni warned. "He'll kick you!"

"Not iff'n hesa knows mesa here," Herns said, a note of amusement in his voice. The two Handmaidens exchanged startled glances. The idea that Herns might actually have a pleasant side to his personality was a revelation.

"He-ah, look at diss'n," Herns instructed, and Melni cautiously moved to where she could see. The Gungan put his back against the falumpaset's knee, grasped the creature's ankle, and clucked to it. The falumpaset lifted its hoof, and Herns braced it against his leg. The falumpaset stood placidly, tail swishing. "Yousa always wanna check he-ah," Herns said. He indicated the inside of the falumpaset's hoof. "Deysa sometimes pickin' h'up stones, or gett'n dirt packed in dere. Always wanna clean diss'n out. Iff'n the falumpaset's hoofs get damaged, the h'animal can't walk right."

"Gualaras have the same problem," Yané ventured a comment. "You have to clean their hooves every day."

"Yiss. Feet iss berry important to runnin' beasts," Herns agreed.

After the grooming, they turned the animals loose to feed and began learning the parts of the tack, both saddle and bridle. Here Yané and Saché had the advantage; they'd learned similar terms during riding lessons. Orrin moved away to greet a pair of Patrol riders who had wandered into the pasture area to check their own animals.

"Now wesa gonna tack h'up da falumpasets," Herns announced. He approached one of the animals and demonstrated the method of putting on the falumpaset's bridle. "Yousa gonna need to get one'a da others."

Melni looked up at the animal's head, which was well out of her reach. "How?"

"Yousa gonna go out inna the herd an' call una dem."

Melni blanched. "The last time I tried that, the biggest one tried to stomp on me!"

"That seems like rather a lot to ask of her," Yané protested.

Herns shook his head. "Iff'n yousa 'spect to work wit' dem, yousa gotta earn da h'animal's ris-pect," he warned her. "Da falumpaset, hesa gonna test yousa. Hesa gott'n no use for cow-ards. Iff'n hesa see'n yousa 'fraid, hesa won' work for yousa. Unnerstand?"

Melni licked her lips nervously and stared down at the bridle in her hands. Grandpa didn't run away, she told herself. Even when the droids took everyone, and the Queen disappeared. He wouldn't run away now. She squared her shoulders and stared back at the Gungan. "Yes. He's – he's going to run at me again, right?"

"Yiss. Want to mekk sure yousa worth carryin'," Herns told her. "Iff'n yousa stand h'up to hims, hesa ris-pect yousa. Otherwise, hesa t'hinks yousa not worth the h'effort."

Melni nodded. "All right," she said, and Herns stepped back a few paces.

She stood scanning the herd. The largest falumpaset stood grazing off to one side this time. He lifted his head, still chewing, and turned to look at the knot of humans. His gaze seemed to shift to Melni; the girl set her jaw and stared at him, trying to work up a fierce expression. The falumpaset snorted and lowered his head to the grass.

Melni jumped as Herns touched her shoulder. "Diss'n way." They circle the herd at a respectful distance. As they passed, the kaadu glanced up, many of them straightening to watch their progress. By the time Melni and Herns had neared the falumpaset, most of the kaadu, as well as the Gungans, seemed to be watching the human girl.

"Now, yousa jiggle the harness, liken diss," Herns instructed, reaching down to shake the harness in Melni's hands. Parts of the harness clinked, and the falumpaset's ears flicked up in response. "An' call to himsa." Herns made a clucking sound. The falumpaset's head lifted. "G'wan, yousa do it."

Melni shook the harness again and made several tsk noises. If we were home, that would be Mother telling me I was doing something wrong, Melni reflected. The falumpaset's head came up and he turned toward them. Melni clucked again. The falumpaset shook his head in warning.

"Walk toward himsa," Herns told her. Resolute, Melni managed a step forward. The falumpaset snorted and pawed the ground. Melni stepped forward again, and the animal bellowed. The kaadu minced away, leaving the falumpaset in an open space. Melni stopped. She shook the harness and clucked.

The falumpaset bugled and shook its head; Melni hesitated. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Orrin and the other two riders circling the herd to gather behind Herns, cutting off her retreat route. "G'wan," Orrin called. "Don' let himsa scare yousa. Wesa all right'n he-ah."

Melni glanced over her shoulder; the Gungans had positioned themselves behind Herns, waiting. She turned back to the falumpaset – and the animal bellowed again, put its head down, and charged.

Gasping, she clutched the bridle. Don't move, don't move, don't move.... She clenched her teeth, eyes half-closing reflexively as she waited, expecting the animal to trample her.

At the last moment, the falumpaset skidded to a halt, so close she feel his breath. The animal flung his head up and bugled again, rearing onto his hind legs. The front feet slammed into the ground to Melni's right; the falumpaset bucked, then settled, panting. It shook its head again, then lowered its neck to snort and sniff her. Melni's fingers seemed glued to the bridle; she finally managed to unclench one hand and cautiously patted the falumpaset on its broad, ugly nose. The animal lowered its head to nudge her, and then turned away.

Behind her she could hear chuckles and whistles from the riders. When she turned to look at them, three were grinning or smiling at her; Herns gave her a nod, an approving look on his face. "Jiggle that'n 'gain, and wesa put it on himsa, den." Melni turned back and jiggled the harness. This time the falumpaset nuzzled her and stood still, head down. Herns strode forward to show her how to hold the bridle open and slide it over the animal's head, then fasten it in place. He slapped the falumpaset's neck several times. Then he held the reins out to Melni. "He-ah. Less tekk him to camp an show ever'one, yiss?"

Melni grinned. "Yes!"


~*~*~*~


Rell Iss's scouts halted near the edge of the forest. The three riders and their one passenger scanned the surrounding forest with ears and eyes for signs of the maccaneeks, but the only sounds were the calls of various forest creatures, and nothing moved amid the trees and growth of the woodlands. At last Peskis signaled an "all clear", and Rell Iss urged his kaadu forward, peering at the ground for the remains of the maccaneek that they had left behind.

"This is the one Kimma Nril tackled?" Edvic asked, staring at the twisted remains of the droid.

Rell Iss nodded. "Shesa jumped it from uppa dere." He pointed to the sturdy branch above them.

Edvic's eyes traveled from the ground to the branch and back to the pile of shattered metal. "I never, ever want her angry at me," he remarked.

"Mesa neither," Rell Iss assured him solemnly.

The teen slid awkwardly down the crouching kaadu's leg, and all but sprawled on the ground. Rell Iss followed more gracefully, and the other two Gungans dismounted as well. Edvic began searching the ground while Rell Iss scooped up the droid's blaster. "Don' why deysa di'n't come an' pick any of diss'n h'up," he remarked thoughtfully.

Edvic glanced at the droid. "There's not much left. And it's not like the Trade Federation doesn't have a lot more where that came from." He pushed the low-growing plants back and forth with one foot. "It's got to be here.... Ha!" He stooped suddenly and grabbed something with both hands. "Let's see what shape it's in...." He lifted a thin metal contraption – the droid's flying transport.

"Yousa think yousa gettin' dat to work?" Peskis asked.

"I hope so." Edvic propped the transport up against a tree and studied the controls. "If it's not too badly damaged, and I can figure out the controls." He bent down. "Feet go here," he muttered, pressing one of the slanted pedals on the bottom platform. "But they're fixed, so they're not acceleration pedals...." He turned his attention to the handles, thin tubes of metal attached to the laser platform near the top of the transport. "One for each hand...." He clutched the two handles and twisted. Nothing happened. "Needs to be on, probably." His fingers touched the buttons on the control panel. "Let's try this." The machine suddenly coughed and hummed to life, rising as it did so. It hovered just above the ground. Edvic grinned. "Sterling!"

He stepped onto the transport's lower platform. "This thing sure wasn't designed for a human," he remarked. The foot pedals held his feet at an awkward angle, causing his legs to bow backward. "If we can get those to lower, it'd be a lot easier to stand on this thing." He grasped the handles and gently rolled the handgrips forward. The platform accelerated forward – and promptly bumped against the tree trunk.

Edvic blushed. "Oops." He turned the handles to one side, and the transport slid to the right. "Okay! Steers right, and left –" he pushed the handles to the left, and the transport circled the tree "—and forward. Now...." He eased the handgrips back into their original position, and the transport hovered. "Okay. Up?" He pushed the handlebars up, and the transport rose. "And down." The transport bounced off the ground.

"Yousa get it to shoot?" asked Rell Iss.

"I'm working on it, okay?" Edvic looked back at the controls. "Let's try this." He thumbed the small lever on the handles just above the handgrips, and twin bolts of blaster fire ignited the brush in front of him. The kaadu honked and strained at their reins. Rell Iss grabbed his kaadu's bridle and glared at Edvic.

"Yousa wanna watch where yousa pointin' dat!"

"Don't complain. At least it works. Now I wish we'd thought to pick up some of these when your patrol rescued us," Edvic remarked.

"Wesa wass a bit busy," Peskis reminded him. "An' diss'n better den havin' none a'tall."

The riders spent several minutes calming their animals and finally mounted, after strapping the transport to the back of Peskis's saddle. Edvic had wanted to ride the transport back to camp, but had thought the better of it when he looked at the fuel cell gauge. "If we're going to use this later, there's no point in wasting the fuel," he had remarked. After a quick look at the open grasslands, where they saw no sign of droid activity, the party set off for camp.


~*~*~*~


"Captain, do you have a minute?"

Tarpals eyed Brandes, puzzled. He wasn't sure what a minute was, but given the group's lack of supplies, he doubted he had such a thing.

"I wanted to talk to you," she continued. "About going to Tendesay."

"My'm 'specting to start out tomorrow or the next day," Tarpals said. Over her shoulder he could see two of the sprattlings pulling blossoms off stalks in the light-speckled forest clearing. They had already amassed a small pile of them.

"It's just that I'm not sure it's such a good idea any more, given what happened to your scouts," Brandes said. She clasped her hands together in front of her. "Your people were attacked once they left the shelter of the woods. Kimma came back injured, although Temmis said she seems much better this afternoon. Apparently it's a full day's journey, perhaps more, across open fields to Tendesay, and I'm afraid humans don't see well in the dark. We'd have a very difficult time traveling that distance after nightfall."

"Mesa thinkin' wesa try it inna daylight," Tarpals told her.

"That just sounds more dangerous than I'm willing to risk," she responded. "Your people have put themselves in enough danger for us. Would it be possible to ask for sanctuary wherever you planned to go after you dropped us off?"

"Mesa don't think so," Tarpals said. "Yousa remember some'a oursan riders resentin' yousan? Lott'n oursan people feelin' that way, 'specially since diss'n invasion started. Not sure oursan people would 'llow yousan to stay in Sacred Place."

"Surely they wouldn't turn the children away?" Brandes asked. "You agreed to take us in."

Tarpals wasn't about to tell her how close he'd been to leaving them behind. "Mesa can't spake for the rest'n ussan," he told her. "Yousa safer in Tendesay, iff'n wesa can get there." He held up a hand to forestall any more arguments. "Diss'n not chust about getting' yousa to Tendesay. Iss about findin' out 'bout the maccaneeks. Wesa needs'a know how to fight thems, where theysa strong or weak. Wesa learned some from the first attack, an' some from our scouts yestiddy. The more wesa know, the better wesa defend oursan selfs. But mesa gott'n second plan for tomorrow, iff'n wesa fail. My'm leaving a couple of rider with yousan. Iff'n wesa don't come bekk, theysa tekk yousan to the Sacred Place, an' ask the Bosses to 'llow yousan to stay. That's the best my can do for now."