"Come on, Doyle," said Trance from the doorway of the Oasis as she drummed her fingers impatiently on the door frame. "Orlund says the robas are getting restless."

"I'll be there in a minute," answered Doyle. "I want to hear the rest of Virgil's broadcast." She turned her attention back toward the bar's radio to listen to the last of the broadcast.

"…that with the company unable to provide police patrols in the south-side of Seefra City, the company will be closing the north-side gate effective immediately. It would seem our sheriff's altercation with the company police last week has had some unexpected consequences. But, will they be for good or ill? This is Virgil Vox bringing you the news the company doesn't want you to hear, signing off."

With the broadcast concluded, Doyle turned off the radio, took one last look around the bar, checked to make sure her pistol was secure in its holster, and then stepped outside and locked the door to the establishment. Harper had closed the bar for the day to help Rhade make some alterations at Jeri and Elaine's home, ones would make doing household chores easier for the women. By coincidence, Cho Hee had picked that same day to visit her stepfather and make an umwa recruitment pitch to him and some of his neighbors. With the bar closed, Doyle and Trance had volunteered to accompany Cho Hee and Orlund and help with the presentation.

.

Satisfied the bar would be secure until Harper returned, Doyle walked across the hard packed dirt street to the waiting wagon, taking care to avoid getting too close to the pair of robas harnessed to the vehicle. The ox sized draft animals were notoriously bad-tempered and had a bite that could take a man's hand off at the wrist. The beasts had been muzzled, but that didn't give her any feeling of security. She had seen an enraged roba snap its muzzle and take a chunk out of its handler's arm. There was a saying among the residents of Seefra City that you could tell how many years a wrangler had been handling robas by counting the number of fingers they were missing.

Animal drawn transport was the norm for Seefra City. Motorized vehicles were rare in north-side and non-existent in south-side. The company claimed that it was too expensive to import fuel into the city. The residents of south-side had another explanation. Motorized vehicles would make it too easy for people to leave Seefra City. Orlund's wagon was one of the company ore wagons. Doyle decided she wasn't going to ask what Orlund and Cho Hee were doing with company property. Considering that Cho Hee was one of Rhade's deputies, the answer might be embarrassing for all concerned.

Orlund reached down from his position on the driver's side of the wagon to assist Doyle into the vehicle. Doyle clambered into the cargo section of the wagon and settled down beside Trance, who was sitting on several cushions she had taken from the bar's stools. The massive wagons were designed to haul cargo, not people, and the only seat was the driver's bench.

"What did Virgil have to say?" asked Trance when Doyle sat down.

Doyle filled the others in on the last part of Virgil's broadcast.

"It seems that the company is trying to squeeze the merchants in south-side by reducing their number of customers," said Orlund.

"Won't work if that's what they're trying," said Cho Hee. "Most of the north-siders who come this way work in the mines, not over in north-side. They'll just come straight over here from the mines when their shift's done."

She turned to look at Doyle.

"Sounds to me like it'll be a good opportunity for some folks to make some extra script. There's going to be a bunch of workers that'll just decide to spend the night in south-side if they can't cross over from north-side. They're going to need some place to spend the night. Maybe you an' your man should consider renting out space in the bar after last call as sleeping space."

Doyle shrugged her shoulders. "I'll mention it to him," she said. "We could use the extra script, but I'm not too sure how interested he'll be in the extra work it would entail."

"Well, I think Virgil is nothing more than a troublemaker," said Trance. "He's always making innuendos and trying to make things look worse than they really are."

"That's why I listen to him," said Doyle. "To try to determine what sort of trouble he's going to be stirring up next."

"Let's get moving," said Cho Hee from her position beside Orlund. Cho Hee was what Harper called 'riding shotgun.' Most of the dangerous predators such as the pack hunting akumas had been cleared out of the immediate area of Seefra City, but there was always the possibility that some had drifted in from outside. There was also the possibility of bandits. Not all of Seefra City's exiled outlaws had left the area, and prudent travelers traveled with one eye on their surroundings and a hand near their weapons. Which was why Cho Hee was carrying the weapon that Rhade had confiscated from Ford. Cho Hee had claimed the weapon after Rhade had declared him an outlaw, stating that Ford no longer had any use for it and that 'a girl could never have too many rifles.'

Doyle pulled her hat down over her eyes and tried to get comfortable as the wagon lurched forward. Unlike the majority of Seefran women who used shawls as head coverings, Doyle preferred the wide brimmed hats favored by most Seefran men as they did a better job of keeping the sun off her face than a shawl. Harper had once told her that he had designed her to be able to experience every feeling that an organic woman could feel. That everything had included sunburn. She burned as easily as her blonde hair suggested she would, and it hurt just as much as if she were an organic woman. Sun protection aside, there was one other reason she wore the hat. Harper said she looked hot in it.

The wagon hit a rut in the road, and the jolt threw her halfway across the wagon. Muttering imprecations against robas and wagon designers who designed their vehicles without shock absorbers. Doyle attempted to wedge herself into one of the wagon's corners. It was going to be a long ride to Cho Hee's farm.