Chapter 2
She woke up in her field surrounded by her star maps. Her long, dark hair was wet from the morning dew. Her body was slightly stiff from the chill in the air. She smiled. It wasn't the worst place she'd ever woken, but it also wasn't her bed.
She quickly gathered her things and ran back to the house. She quickly bathed to get the field dirt off her and dressed. She was heading into the kitchen to get some bread and fruit to break her fast when Lex came tearing in the back door.
"Thetos!" she screamed.
She turned around and saw her blond daughter staring at her in wonder. She looked out of breath and she immediately dropped to her knees to hug her daughter. Lex pulled back and stared into her deep chocolate eyes.
"What is it, my daughter?"
"Hrathgar said that Imber was back from the wall," Lex told her.
Lex had no sooner finished the sentence when Ferre and Sprite came in the door. She looked up at Ferre for confirmation. Ferre nodded her head.
"When?" she asked Ferre.
"This morning. Not too long ago. Hrathgar sent us to get you," Ferre said.
"Should I call the Council?"
"I don't think so. Not yet. Talk with Imber. You are the Palla. You decide," Ferre told her.
She nodded as she reached for her belt. It was a through back, but she felt naked without it. As an agro, she always had a tool on her for the field. She buckled her belt and made sure that her kamas were secure before reaching for the heather and iron gray pullover.
"Go. I'll watch the girls. If it is something major, I'll fix your hair for you. Go, Sor, before they come looking for you," Ferre told her.
"I'll be back soon," she answered as she tore out of the house and towards the square in the village.
Halfway there, she realized that she should have taken her caballo, but it didn't matter. She needed to make sure that the Phara weren't coming over the wall before winter. The people and their safety were more important than her feet at the moment.
Hrathgar stopped her before she entered the tavern. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her around back. She fought him until she saw Imber there waiting. Straightening herself up, she stood up and eyed her Ranger commander. Imber danced from foot to foot for a moment like he was afraid to tell her anything.
"My Palla..." he started.
"Imber, speak true," she demanded.
"Phara is backing from the wall. They move towards their capital. Only a few fires every night and they are getting fewer each night. They are digging in for the coming Winter, Palla. There is no fight coming," Imber told her.
"Good. Keep up the patrols. I want to make sure that no one is coming to raid us after the rains. Do we need to add any more strengthening to the wall now?" she asked him.
"No, Palla, not yet. We'll be okay for now. We're repairing slowly during the day."
"Good, make any and all necessary repairs to the wall. Build it up. I want make sure that they cannot cross it."
"Palla...the wall is strong."
"Make it stronger. And, get the carpenters to start building towers on the four corners of the village for defense and fire spotting. I want every advantage to be sure that Phara and the weather doesn't turn against us," she told them both.
"But, Palla, we are at peace and Phara retreats..."
"Phara retreats to plan to attack. That is all peace is, Imber. Peace is a time to plan for the next attack. It is when you regroup and reweaponize. Peace is a time to build. It is the great in between, Imber. I know that you don't understand this like I do, but I farm to prepare for the next battle. I learned to survive in their world and I fought for us. I became a monster in order to keep us alive. The things that I do now keep that peace and keep us alive. They may seem militaristic and that I am trying to make us a warrior nation. I am not. I just want us to live," she told them. "Now, go. Make the preparations and we'll survive. We don't stop living. We don't stop our work. We move forward like we always have. I just want us be ready."
"As you wish, Palla," Imber stated.
"I want weekly reports on the wall. Hrathgar, summon the guilds. We need to reinforce the silos, granaries, smoke houses and such. I want to make sure that they are protected and will be able to withstand an attack," she told him.
He nodded. He knew the things that Palla saw over the wall in the war were hard. She didn't talk about it. He didn't ask. He was just there for her when she needed him to be. He couldn't help it. Ferre was his partner, but she was Tamma's twin. And, that bound him to Palla. He followed her blindly because he knew that Palla would never lead them wrong. She fought for vengence. She fought to survive. She fought to protect her people. She did what others would not. She made the decisions that others could not. She killed when others would not. She lead her people to a peace that they could live with and not surrender everything. She gave them the best chance that they could have with what they were dealing with and they knew it.
"As Palla commands," Hrathgar answered.
"I'm going to stay out tonight and map the stars," Palla said.
"You'll walk the line. I understand, my Palla," Hrathgar answered. "I will make sure that Ferre takes care of the girls."
Imber left them, realizing that this was not something that he needed to see or hear. Hrathgar waited for him to be gone before he continued his thoughts. He knew that the Palla would not want to seem weak. She thought with her head, but she fought with her heart. In the end, during the war, Ferre was the only one that could reach her. She was the only one that brought her back from the darkness inside. That was until Lex came.
"Speak with Tamma, Palla. See your stars. We'll protect your daughter," he told her.
She nodded as she headed to the Schule. She wanted to study the timelines, the stories of their people, again. She needed to know. She needed to make sure that what she was seeing was real and not something she was imagining. She needed to make sure that if what she saw the night before was real, that they would be ready to meet the new comers accordingly. She knew that no one had really kept up with the lore and the truth until more came. She couldn't be sure. She needed to know. She needed to be prepared to deal with it when the time came.
Opening the doors to the school, she made her way to the back. She pulled the books she was looking for. Balt watched her. He was the Keeper of the books. It was an important tradition in their people. There were only three keepers of the books. The master, Balt, who was the teacher. The apprentice, who had yet to be named, and the teacher, who hadn't been replaced since Balt ascended to the master position. He offered the teacher position the Palla, but she refused it. He would look for another to take his place among the students. He'd been looking at Lex, but he doubted that Palla would allow her such things. But, still he watched her as she looked through books trying to find something.
"Palla?"
"Yes, Balt?"
"What do you search for?" he asked her.
She looked up from her books and into his questioning green eyes. Balt like so many others of the Helios bore the light eyes of the Primas. His hair was light brown and his build was slight. He was smart and good with the kinder. But, now the look in his eyes made her wonder what he might know that hadn't been taught.
"Where will the ships come when they get here?" she questioned.
"It depends on if they have the same knowledge as the Primas. You know the stories, Palla. Families for the Peace were chosen to come here. Contact was lost early on and no reports could be given for colonization. The Primas built our village to survive and wait. One day the Descents will come and the Twelve will be one again," Balt told her.
"It has been two hundred years, Balt. Do you still believe that someone is coming? Or, do they believe we are dead?"
"If I knew that, I would no longer be the Master Keeper."
She nodded. She understood what he was saying. They didn't know any better than the twelve tribes of the Primas did. It was always going to be a waiting game for them on Terre Nova. Neither side knew if the other was still alive. Hope was the only thing that they had that they would all meet again. The Primas understood that when they were sent. That is why it was entire families, units, not individuals that were sent to colonize. The chosen figured that they would get along better and no one would vie for dominance of the planet. They were wrong.
"And then the Praha tried to dictate who lived or died to protect their resources..." Palla added.
"Yes, Palla. The Praha started attacking the small villages for their resources, saying that only they should survive because they were tested. We don't know what test they speak of. We think that it was an illness that ravaged them, but out of the twelve, eight villages banded to form Helios."
"The Land of the Sun..."
"Right and in the light of those two suns, we have lived and thrived. We wait still from word for the stars, but we have no tech to communicate with them. The tech that we brought was to grow food and have clean water. When the power to the ships died, the wires corroded, we could no longer try to maintain them. We took what we could and used it to survive."
"I know, Balt...it's just that it all seems like a fairy tale sometimes."
"Maybe it is, Palla. I don't know. I wasn't on the ships. I was born here, like you. But, maybe, my Palla, would read this," Balt told her as he handed her a very worn leather journal.
She held the journal up to the light. It bore the markings of the old ruins: Eligius. She didn't know what that meant wxcept it was the name of the ship of the Primas. She looked up at Balt.
"The words of the Primas?"
"Yes, my Palla."
She nodded and took the journal. looking at the table, she took some star maps, too. He nodded and let her go. They both knew she'd be back in the morning to consult more.
"Walk the line, Palla," he said to her back. "Peace is only ours if we fight for it. Protect us now Eligius of the Stars. May you grant us the resolve to carry on."
She sat out by the lines, weapons near, lantern on the star maps, and Tamma's monument to her left. She looked skyward. The moving star was still there. She wasn't sure if she should smile or not.
"Tamma?" she asked the stars. "Have you found Eligius in the afterlife? Does he implore you to help me?"
The moving star blinked. She could have wept. Twelve years and Tamma was sending her spirit back. She never believed the stories of the reborn, but Tamma kept sending her signs from the stars. And, the stars were moving for her.
"Praise Eligius."
She laid back and watched the moving star. It was closer than last night. Were they looking for a plce to land? She wasn't sure, but she wanted to make contact if possible, before the Praha did. She couldn't let them take the Star. They would have to defend it. Eligius saw fit for her to see it.
"Show them the way Tamma. I will protect them. Show me what to do. Show me the way," she stated and the Star blinked again.
Seconds later, her eyes landed on the journal. She reached over and picked it up. Turning to the first page, she read.
"October 25, 2055. Captain Jacob Griffin started the cryo protocol today. The familes are bunking down and getting ready to sleep their way to the planet. Dr. Becca Prama's blood enhancements have finally taken effect and we will survive the increased solar radiation...
"We've lost contact with Earth, but continue the mission as planned. We knew that eventually we would essentially be on our own out here. We must find the planet and start drilling for oil and set up the Eligius Colony. We cannot fail Erde needs us...
"The Twelve Factions of the mission have all been supplied from various corporations, families, and government agencies. Now we sleep and wait...
"May Saint Eligius grant safe passage and a quick journey thru the stars... First Officer Damien Merkel, European Space Agency and Eligius Corp..."
She closed the journal. Laying on the earth and staring at the stars, she could only wonder about what it all meant. But, she knew that there was only one survivor of the Eligius crew and that was Fio Merkel. He was the first leader of Helios Colony...that became the Village.
"Fio Merkle? The first Keeper? He came with the Primas? But, Fio wasn't a Prima Familia. He took the blood oath to save the people...He was Eligius..."