Chapter 13: Spatial Rift Part 8 – Moving On
The success of their last attack against the mine leads to unintended consequences for Pidge, Coran, and the Leaftown Rebels.

January 5th, 2333

Katie knew something was wrong the moment she entered the briefing room. Golron, Ssisp, and five of his other lieutenants were sitting around the table, looking grim. "What happened?" she asked without preamble, taking her usual seat, with only a moment to adjust the wrap she wore that held Kale across her front. For the moment, her nearly one-month-old son was asleep.

"They're coming for us," Golron replied.

Katie didn't have to ask who 'they' were. The Yoan. In the weeks since they had freed every worker there and destroyed the mine, Golron's men had spied and kept careful watch on the site. Without the taps to monitor communications—or anything to tap—Katie had been left out of those patrol shifts. Now she wondered if they should have had her monitoring with the drone after all. "Do they know our exact location?"

"Not yet, but it's only a matter of time," Ssisp answered. "Tissko's morning report is that over five-thousand troops, with vehicles and ordinance, arrived at the mine location in the night. They have aircraft, lumber machines, and what little he overheard implies they are willing to torch the entire forest to find us. At this point though know a lot of places we are not. It's time to move on."

"How much time do we have?" Given they would be striking out on foot, the more of a head start they had the better.

"We're leaving tonight," Golron answered grimly. "Pack only the necessities and what you can carry. I am dividing everyone in Leaftown into groups, and we will all set out in different directions. It will allow the best chance for the most of us to avoid capture, or death."

Tonight. That left very little time to grab things, though Katie was fairly certain she could fit everything she could realistically need in her pack. Coran would probably insist on carrying anything she couldn't manage while also carrying Kale. "Where are we going?"

"Half of the groups will meet up with the resistance cell near the Natokwan Lakes, a hundred miles west of here. Another quarter will make their way to the cell near another mining operation another hundred miles beyond the lakes, deeper in the mountains. The rest will be moving directly North towards Taklisi City."

"The capital?" Katie looked startled. "Why?"

"I have been speaking with Coran. There is only one communications transmitter on the planet with the power to send a message your Galactic Coalition as quickly as you say messages can be carried. Or at least, the only one likely to be. The few responses we got to our call to the rest of the resistance says that we are not in good straits. We need your allies, which means that we need to get you and Coran, and your knowledge, to that transmitter.

"How far is Taklisi City?"

"Nearly a thousand miles."

Katie swallowed. "That's a bit of a walk."

Computer, drone, medical scanner, regular scanner with translator, backpack, data chips and small spare parts, tools, her own clothes, Kale's clothes, diapers, basic toiletries, and the wrap. Katie looked at everything, stuffed as neatly as she could manage into the pack, and the small pouches she had on her belt. Somehow it seemed like very little to be taking on a very long hike, thousands of miles, through forests and mountains, on foot, carrying a one-month-old, through the cold and rainy season.

Golron was leading the group going North himself, so Katie supposed she should not have been surprised that she and Coran—and impressively all of Vidorans—would remain together in that group, along with Ssisp, Assta, and their brood, Iffina and Missa, and about twenty others with specific and useful skills to that eventual mission. They were starting in two different groups to throw off any scent and avoid leaving too much of a trail, but eventually they would be meeting up at old hidey-holes the resistance had used for generations, to make their way North.

Golron's other lieutenants were split between the remaining groups which were mostly between the size of thirty-to-fifty people.

Goodbye solar panels. Goodbye flush toilets. Goodbye showers. Goodbye bed. As much as could be brought was, but they were really going to be roughing it for a while now. All of her personal electronics had built in solar charging capability in their batteries—something she had put in them all years ago as a safety backup—and she was glad for it. Wherever they ended up, they were going to need to rebuild a lot from scratch.

Still, it said a lot that she didn't really feel like she was abandoning home. This place had been a good safe haven, but it wasn't home.

Katie rolled two of the warmest blankets up as tight as they would go, and strapped them onto the top of the pack, wrapped in their own bag of waterproof canvas to keep out weather.

Coran had been given a pack for his own things, which consisted only of his clothes, toiletries, and some of the tools and such he had acquired over the past few months.

Everyone had been given their own packets of food to carry for the first leg of the trip, split between the entire group. Much of Katie's was in Coran's bag, since it held more. Though he had thrown in not only his blankets, but another extra for her. Pillows and mattresses, such as they were, would have to be made at the next site. They had been instructed to empty the ones they had of their leaves, and had done so, rolling them up into tight bundles of fabric. Those had also been stuffed into Coran's bag. They could refill them whenever they found a new place to use as a headquarters.

"That's everything," she said, feeling satisfied that nothing of importance had been forgotten.

Coran nodded. "It's strange to be leaving so quickly. It seems like such a waste to leave it all behind. But it's just things, really. The people are what matter."

"It lets us continue both their mission, and ours." They had a common goal now. Getting a faster message out to the Galactic Coalition would mean help for the resistance against the Yoan, and a return home for Katie and Coran. All they had to do was remain alive long enough to accomplish it.

Katie pulled on her waterproof rain cape, pulling it around the front so that it covered Kale, who was slung around her front in his wearable wrap, also bundled into an extra blanket. He had room to breathe, but he would be kept warm and dry. He was freshly fed, burped, and changed. With her, and Assta and her twenty-seven babies, with the group, Katie knew they would not be moving the fastest. They were hoping the scattering of groups in other directions—leaving slightly more obvious, though false, trails—would give them the start they needed to get out of the area and not be followed. "All right. Let's go meet everyone."

Coran pulled on his cape, and they each put on their packs.

It was, thankfully, not raining or sleeting tonight. It was partly cloudy, with just enough moon to see by, even though it was much darker under the canopy.

Golron and the others were waiting by the lifts. He nodded approvingly. "All right. We are the fourth group to leave. As we are moving directly away from the mines, we should not encounter any Yoan. The scouts have said they are still gathered at the mines, though they have started sending out patrols. They are looking for our lights. Which now, they will not find. We will descend. The last group down, will send the platform back up. Hopefully, they will not find Leaftown, in case it is ever needed again as a safe haven. When we leave, stay within visual distance of the one ahead of you. I will lead. Ssisp will be rear guard. Those with young, and healers, will remain in the middle. If you have weapons, have them near at hand, just to be on the safe side."

Katie was grateful her bayard was in one of the larger pouches on her belt. While under the cape, it was still easily within reach of her hands when she had them tucked in as well. She knew Coran had packed a knife, and one of the smaller guns she had converted to laser.

"Our goal by morning is a series of caves about fifteen miles out. They are in rocky terrain where we will leave minimal signs of passage, and not near any major roads or settlements. But there is fresh water, and edible wild plants to supplement our rations. We will be dry, and reasonably warm. Are there any questions?"

A series of shaking heads was all that greeted his pronouncement. It was time to go.

"All right. We head out."

It was a long, tense night. Coran served as rear-guard with Ssisp, moving along just ahead of the Thaal, his keen hearing brought sharper by the lack of visibility. Though his eyesight was still awfully good for his age, thank you very much. They moved through the darkness at a quick enough pace, that he found himself keeping a close, concerned watch on Katie and Kale, and also on Assta, who—along with Missa—were carrying literal sacks of Thaal hatchlings. The babies, which thankfully did not grow too quickly, were each now about a foot and a half long, but weighed very little. The sacks were designed so that each baby had its own warm pouch out of which it could choose to stick its head at any time. None were in danger of suffocating, and they were strapped on across the front more like baby-snake bandeliers. Not that he would have ever referred to Assta's babies as snakes. Not to her face, anyway. It would also have been inaccurate since they did have limbs.

Despite the brisk pace, Katie offered not one word of complaint. The group marched along in relative silence, for vargas on end. Only the rustle of fabric, or the soft footfalls on wet leaves that had started to fall from the trees marked their passing.

Three vargas in was the first time Golron called for a break. There was a cleft in the rocks off to their right, and they huddled in, sitting and drinking water from the canteens everyone had been given. Katie fed and changed Kale, and Assta got help from Ssisp, Iffina, and Missa in feeding all twenty-seven of their young a few of the giant mealworms that were their primary food source. They had progressed from eating one-to-two per meal at hatching, to five or six each. Fortunately, they were fairly fast eaters since Thaal did not chew most of their food. Like snakes and lizards, they could swallow most things they ate whole.

Then they continued on, pushing into the night. It passed the midnight varga. By Coran's estimate of the distance they had travelled, they still had another three or four to go.

There was only one more stop, this time by a fresh stream that Katie's scanner noted as safe drinking water. All the canteens were refilled. Infants were fed again. They moved on quickly.

It was still pre-dawn when Golron motioned for them to follow him off the trail only he seemed to be able to see, and led them up a rise of rock to a cave entrance. It was the first time he used a light—shining it inside to be sure nothing else had taken up residence. He went in, then came back out. "It's safe," he said in a normal voice. "Everyone inside."

Katie's feet were killing her, and her back ached. Her hips—so recently stretched—hurt too. But she wasn't about to complain. It had been months since she had done any sustained physical activity more demanding than making the walks up and down the various stairs of Leaftown. While it had kept her in passable condition, it had not prepared her for a sustained march, with gear, and a baby. Her body was reminding her very clearly that she had only given birth a month ago.

It was a huge relief when Golron finally indicated they had reached their destination. Even if it was a large, single, sandstone based, cave. At least it was dry, and blocked the wind. With all of them inside, it was just shy of being crowded.

Choosing a little spot for herself, Katie slid down onto the ground with a soft groan. Her throbbing legs did not thank her, though she hoped they would later.

"You alright?" Coran asked softly as he joined her.

"I hurt," Katie admitted then. "But nothing's damaged. I might have blisters, and I'm starving. As soon as I get something and feed Kale, I'm going to sleep like a cat."

"I thought the human expression was sleep like a rock."

"Rocks don't sleep," Katie pointed out. "Cats however, sleep deep and long, and bite anyone who interrupts them."

"Warning noted. While you take care of Kale, I'll pull some food out for us."

Golron stepped into the middle of the group, and the other chatter around them silenced. "We will remain here for seven hours. Sleep while you can. In the mid-morning we will head for our next safe space. If we move by day and night for the first few days, we will quickly outpace the Yoan, who will move mostly by day but will travel faster and longer. Hopefully, they will give up on us for other prey, but in case they do not, we must be ready."

Only seven hours. Katie closed her eyes for a moment. Only the lure of Coran holding dried fruit and meat in front of her nose got her to open them. She devoured both, drank from her canteen, and then undid the buttons of her tunic. Kale latched on and tucked in with his own great enthusiasm, which was also to her relief. If their breaks got longer, she was going to be in a world of hurt… in the chest area. By three hours they were always full and ready. At least you're easy to feed, kiddo. He had been a very good boy, staying quiet and not fussy almost the entire night. Even when he fussed, he hadn't screamed. He liked the walking, she suspected. He was being basically rocked to sleep with every step she took. As long as he was small enough to carry this way, travel would be relatively uncomplicated.

She just had to hope they made it to Taklisi City before he was a toddler. A reasonable goal, she thought. The distance they were walking could be crossed in a few months, as long as there were no major delays.

"What kind of hide out is the next one?" she asked Assta curiously, wondering if she might know.

Assta, who had chosen a spot right near her to nest with her young, looked up. "Most of them are caves, like this one, or larger. Some are several connected tunnels. Leaftown was rare, in that it was above ground. Most are not in the trees."

Great. Well, she supposed she would just have to get used to living in caves.