The Refugee
Chapter 7- Feralae
So we began to plan. We all decided that we'd go in on a Saturday. Jake would arrange for somebody called Erek to pull a doppleganger manuver for the four of them. Then we'd have the whole weekend to go. I grinned, quoting Digimon, "We won't come back until the base is destroyed."
"Aren't you being a little dramatic?" Marco had asked.
"I love this girl!" Rachel exclaimed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders in a bear hug.
They didn't get it. That's okay, it was a private joke. They dispersed, until it was just me Ax and Alloran. Ax settled himself down at the TV. If you don't mind.
I didn't, because I needed to look for something to keep my things in. So I morphed Harris hawk and flew to the abandoned shack that I'd seen and stepped inside.
The shack itself was big and dark, I heard rats scurrying for cover and pigeons or squirrels scuttling away under the roof. The furniture was old, but still in good condition. There were pack saddles and tools and tack and other things, and they looked really old. In one box I found some old bars of gold. I realized that this must have been the house of a prospector or miner back when people still could mine gold out of streams. There were even shelves full of books and journals. I pulled one off the shelf and opened it. It was full of notations, but I only recognized one of them. It said, Three hundred dollars found at eleven above. That was miner's jargon for three hundred dollars worth of ore found eleven stakes above the original site. Then I read the actual journal, tears were stained on the page.
My name is Caroline. My husband and I have worked this mine for so long, but he has gone off to fight and he has died at the battle of Shiloh. There is word of a sickness in the land and I have warned my daughter to keep away from town. If somebody from town whould come and find us dead, the mine was discovered at eleven above.
I put the diary in the empty backpack I had carried with me. The tack was too rusty. With the proper equipment it could be cleaned, but the leather was rotted. Anything that wasn't wood, stone, or ore was going to be ruined. I looked around on the book shelf and found a weathered copy of an old classic. It was labled, Robinson Caruso in gold lettering. I put the tattered old book in my bag.
I stood back, trying to imagine this place when it was full of life. I heard hooves outside. Feralae? Are you in here? Alloran asked, from outside. He had to duck his eye stalks and tail to keep from hitting his head on the door.
"Alloran, this place was a miner's house." I said, turning to face him. "They had to leave it behind. I suppose they died or something. But it was left behind."
What are you doing here? He asked, looking around curiously.
"I was looking for furniture, or furniture materials. Be careful, they had a cellar. I don't think you want to step into it, and the floor might not be sturdy.
I went over to the bed to see if it was alright. I sniffed. "The bedding is moldy. I'd hate to violate this place, but maybe I should move in here."
Why? Alloran asked.
"Well, for a bunch of reasons. I mean, I don't want to be a burden to the hork bajir. I'm sure Toby understands. We'll just rest up the teams tonight and get cleaning tomorrow."
I suppose that makes sense. Alloran said thoughtfully. I found a nice meadow not far from here. We could have peace. I don't think that I'd be welcome with the hork bajir, not after what I did to them.
"What did you do?" I asked.
I let a virus loose among them. Alloran said grimly. One that nearly killed them off. But some survived, and a few had immunity.
"There's a lot of worry about that too, in the news at least." I said, looking around. "People are afraid of other people letting loose biological weapons, poisons, other things. A plague of locusts could hit and they'd blame it on the Middle East." I said. I looked up, a rat scurried above on the rafters, a white rat. That was odd. White rats aren't wild.
It would take a lot of cleaning, but yes, I believe that this could be repaired. The floor is solid oak, and the earth creatures known as termites did not get it. Nor did carpenter bees.
"Oh I'd know if carpenter bees had gotten it. There'd be a flurry of saw dust coming from the walls. I'd hate to be leaching off of another person's space, but the people who lived here are dead and judging from the dust on the floor."
Or they have moved out and abandoned the property. Alloran pointed out. You do not know for certain.
"One thing's for certain. They've got a fortune in." I flicked open the lid of their strong box. The lock had corroded off and it was easy for me to open it. "Gold and silver ore it looks like."
I would suggest that you take that away immediately. If you can find this place and it's treasures that other humans most certainly can. Alloran suggested.
"I think I will." I said. I opened a secondary pouch on my back pack. I emptied the gold and silver into first one side pouch, then the other, and what remained into the small front pouch. I looked around for more period treasures. I found a very old dress, but still in relatively good condition. That was definately from the nineteenth century. I found a broach made of highly polished turqouise and silver. I liked silver better than gold, and I slipped it into the bag as well. Then I focused on the hork bajir morph. "I'd better get back and tell them."
As I left I didn't notice the white rat that watched me from it's hole in the rafters.
I found Tobias and Ax assisting the hork bajir in construction of a watch platform at the entrance that I'd gotten. "Hey you guys." I said, once I'd finished demorphing. "Guess what I found." Alloran and I told them.
Wow! That must have been really old! Tobias exclaimed. What did you bring with you?
"The miner's ores, a broach, the miner's wife's journal, and an old copy of Robinson Caruso." I explained. "But it was too heavy for the Harris Hawk morph to carry, or even my Golden Eagle." I explained.
Tobias shivered. I hate Golden Eagles. They're all psycho.
"Then I won't use it around you, sorry Tobias, but I figured it was the large bore artillery of the bird world."
It is, I'm sorry Feralae, I wasn't trying to discourage you. Tobias ruffled his wings. Besides, the more morphs you have the better off you are right?
"Right." I answered. "I think that it may be a good idea for all of us to acquire the Harris Hawk morph. They're really social, so it would be normal for them to fly in close proximity to each other. And they're incredibly agile. Falconers use them for stunts in movies all the time. They're the easiest hawk to tame."
Well, maybe. And if I wanted to I could probably morph it midair. Tobias said thoughtfully. Look, I'll run your idea by Jake, but you're right. I don't think it's a good idea for Alloran to be hanging with the free hork bajir. I mean, he did try to wipe them out. I think it would be a good idea to find this place. Besides, if the yeerks catch the hork bajir and you don't live with them, then they won't find you. And if the yeerks find you, they won't find the hork bajir. Both groups would have the chance to escape if something bad happens.
But Tobias seemed thoughtful about the whole thing. Why did he look at me like that? Why did he sound so curious, yet resigned. Had I said something wrong? I slithered down the slope on my rear and went back inside the cave. I flopped on the bed and got some much needed sleep.
~Rachel~
I opened my window that night to wait for Tobias to come back from the mountains after helping to build a speaking tree and a guard platform. He would also tell me how well the hork bajir were coping with Alloran. I would pass word along to Cassie and Cassie would tell Jake. Jake would tell Marco and we'd make arrangements to cope with anything that came up.
Sure enough, Tobias sailed into the open window. "Hi." I said with a smile as Tobias settled down on my chest. "What's up?"
Feralae and Alloran found an old cabin in the mountains near the hork bajir valley. They'd like permission to stay. Alloran doesn't feel comfortable around the hork bajir. He feels guilty. Tobias said, preening. Feralae is planning on cleaning the place out and moving in. She'll leave the flocks in the valley. Toby was willing to let them stay, since the hork bajir eat bark instead of grass.
"How old is this cabin?" I asked.
Feralae thinks that it goes back to around the Civil War. Tobias answered. Rachel, I was thinking.
"About David?" I asked.
That too. Tobias chuckled. But I was thinking, why don't we surprise Feralae when she goes to clean the place. Why don't we help her clean it out?
"We could. I'll bet Cassie has the things necessary to clean this cabin out." I suggested.
Great. Want me to pass the word along?
"I suppose. Cassie wouldn't like being woken up like that, but I could wait until morning." I looked over. "It's almost morning now." The time was 3:30. "Why don't you wait for Cassie when she goes out to feed the animals?"
Sounds like a plan. Tobias answered.
"If Jake wants to hold a meeting for this, then come back to get me. I have practice until lunch." I told him.
See you. Tobias answered. He flew off.
This would be fun. And we didn't get much fun these days. It seemed as though we were having a mission a week now. Some of them were minor, such as infiltrating meetings of The Sharing. Some of them were major, such as raiding bases and miniature yeerk pools. But whatever the mission, we rarely did anything for fun anymore.
Yeah, fun was something we rarely had anymore.