Doc raised a smile. “As if I could ever believe that, my dear madam. I merely surmise that this could be the place for which we seek, and the place that I dredged from the recesses of my poor, addled memory, which, I may add, I do know to be not the most reliable of sources. No, my dear madam, I do indeed wonder if this is the shadow capital of which I heard talk, and which seems so well to fit in with the legends of our dear friend here.” With which he indicated Gloria with a sweeping flourish.
J.B. polished his spectacles on the corner of his shirt, focusing his thoughts with each movement of his thumb and forefinger across the surface of the lens.
“If that’s the case,” he said slowly and deliberately, “then we’re gonna have to be right there for the Illuminated Ones, ’cause we know they’re still around.”
Gloria, who had been listening intently, nodded. “That’s why I want us all together. I don’t want to lose outriders just ’cause they’re alone. Safety in numbers, now.”
By this time, all the outriders had responded to the signal and were back with the tribe. Gloria gathered them together and filled them in on what was known and what was surmised. There was a buzz of excitement that passed through the tribe at the thought that they may be the generation to attain that for which they had spent so long searching.
Gloria held up both hands. “Wait,” she cried in a tone of voice that none of the companions had heard her use before. There was a harsh edge to it that seemed almost alien. She continued, almost imperious, “If we are to be the chosen ones who reach the promised places, then we must do it properly. I want none of us to lose our chance to be there because of the slackness of others. We are all together—we are all one. Remember that and remember well.”
There was a silence that hung over the tribe as they considered this.
Gloria broke the silence. “Okay, we’ve got half a mile to the plain. Then we need vigilance. Let’s go— and keep it sweet, my people.”
She turned to Ryan and his companions.
“Let’s do it, babes,” she said simply.
ON TRIPLE RED, the tribe and the companions made their way through the last stages of the jungle growth. As they neared the beginning of the plain, it became apparent that the vast expanse of grassland was basically a disguised passive defense. Although it seemed innocent enough, it was wide enough to make circling it and staying in the cover of the forest growth a tedious and drawn out task. The easiest route forward was to move across the plain, and although it was large enough to make the journey safe because any attack could be seen from some distance, it also made any party moving across that plain equally visible.
“This is not ideal,” Doc commented as they set foot onto the plain.
“No, but it’s the best option, as long as we stay together and stay on red,” Gloria answered. “And I’ll tell you something else, honey—this is no natural plain.”
“How can you tell?” Krysty furrowed her brow. The plain seemed to be natural enough, the scrub stretching out to the trees, far flung on each side.
“Two things,” the Amazon queen replied. “First thing is the way that the grassland ends suddenly at the edges of the plain. Even the most squared of natural plains has little hollows and indents into the trees. This hasn’t.”
Krysty followed the sharp, penetrating blue eyes of the Gate queen as she surveyed the outer edges of the plain. It was true; the plain was sharply defined at all sides, rather than bleeding naturally into the woodland.
“Second thing is this—look at the grass. No way is that natural, babe. This is regularly fired and burned to keep it to stubble. That doesn’t happen by accident… not regularly, right?”
“So we could be being watched, right, Glo?” Margia grimaced sourly. “That’s really good to know.”
“Shut it, Marg,” her sister replied. “Mebbe we can be seen, but we can also see.”