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"Bergen," she said in greeting.
"Lieutenant Bergen to you," the man replied.
"Lieutenant Bergen." She nodded slightly. "I'm sure you have been told that Corporal Sullivan and me are traitors."
"You, yes. Corporal Sullivan was declared dead," Bergen acknowledged.
"I'm sure you were told I was dead too," Chrissy clarified.
"Until you returned, brainwashed, and destroyed our base, yes." Bergen still glared at her.
"What if I told you that the Terran Confederation led my squad and me into a trap because I voiced doubts about our mission here during a meeting?"
Bergen only glared at her.
"We should return to camp," Thorodoth interrupted. "You can talk to them there."
"Why would they do that?" Bergen's eyes never left Chrissy's.
"Because we didn't come here to free our fellow humans like they told us. We came here to capture them for their DNA and to lay claim to Thyre's resources,” Chrissy replied to him. To Thorodoth she said, “Do not harm them.”
Thorodoth looked amused about taking orders from a kallini, so I stepped forward to make it clear she had my full support.
“We brought a large army. The enemy will know we are here, there's no need to hide in the forest,” Vandor asserted. “We will treat this like any other siege and camp right in front of their base, making our numbers known.”
This had been decided during our meetings on the ships, but Thorodoth didn't know that. Thoughtfully, he rubbed his chin, looking at his father for guidance. He was a Vandall, and even though we were supposed to work together, he would only take orders from his king.
Uthar nodded.
"Alright, I'll send word to my camp and have it relocated to meet up with yours," he agreed.
Night was falling by the time the FOB came into view. Even in the dying light, it was easy to see that the base had taken a hit. Where before it had been well lit, darkness now reigned. I made out shadowy figures in the towers, but that was all the discernable life I saw. The rest was hidden behind tall walls.
Vandor and the other warlords stood still, staring at the base for the first time. We had described it to them, but seeing the massiveness of it was different.
"You said it was large," Vandor shook his head, "but I had no idea how big it really is."
"This is twice the size of Acklymburg," Fygor nodded, impressed.
"We need to send patrols to guard the perimeter, but there's no way we can surround it," Vandor decided.
"How many supplies do they have?" Crygor turned to Chrissy.
"There should be enough to last them for years," Chrissy answered darkly. "The ship that brought us here was packed with MREs—Meals Ready to Eat—because we didn't know what to expect from Thyre, or if we would need to feed the humans we came to free."
"What did the Terran Confederation know about Thyre?" Vandor asked.
"As far as I know, they only knew of the location, nothing else. The ship that originally dropped the settlers off returned to Terra years later, but there wasn't much the crew, or the manifest, had to say about Thyre other than that it was an environmentally friendly planet."
"They must have landed outside the cold season," I grinned.
"That didn't strike you as odd?" Vandor wasn't done questioning Chrissy. I didn't like his tone and gave him a warning glare.
Chrissy shook her head. "We were also told that the settlers had been immediately taken prisoner by the Thyres, which was obviously a lie."
"So the Terran Confederation found out that human settlers were taken prisoner hundreds of years ago, and they just now sent out a rescue mission?" Fygor shook his head. He hadn't been privy to the entirety of the unraveling situation, not like Vandor and me, but his question made me curious as well.
"It's not that simple," Chrissy replied, waving her palms. "At that time, many people who owned a spaceship wanted to make money on humans who were desperate to leave Earth. Most settlers were only able to afford the passage because there were thousands of them chartering those ships. The mission I was part of wasn't the first to leave Terra in search of the lost colonies and to rescue what was left of the original settlers."
