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On the fifth day, the wide gates of the FOB opened and a contingent of twenty men and women led by General Svelvick walked out.
We decided on King Uthar, Vandor, Kendryx, and me to go meet the general and his soldiers, flanked by fifteen warriors made up of a mix of Thyres and Vandalls.
Kendryx wasn't happy for me to be included in this group, but since I knew Svelvick, and for other obvious reasons, he relented with a clenched jaw.
When we were about to meet in the middle, our warriors fell back a step, leaving us four at the head of our group. Svelvick did the same, and I recognized Harald Garcia, the head of the Terran Confederation delegation, as well as Sue Luigi, who was also a member of the Terran Confederation.
Svelvick shot me a nasty look before his shrewd eyes tried to detect which of the three men by my side was in charge. Since Kendryx spoke passable English, it had been agreed that he would speak on behalf of the Thyre-Vandall allies while I would quietly translate to the others.
"You got us trapped on this planet now, so what do you want?" Svelvick asked without preamble and without introductions, as if talking to the mightiest warlords of Thyre and King Uthar was beneath him.
"Since you are now stranded here, I don't see many options for you other than to ask us for you to be integrated into our society," Kendryx responded coolly.
"And become your slaves?" Svelvick shook his head. "No thank you."
Kendryx ignored the rebuff, and I translated to the others quickly while he replied, "What is your suggestion, then?"
"Give us land to settle and live in peace," Svelvick said, undeterred.
"That won't happen. We won't allow you to settle as our enemies, attacking at will, and you are in no position to negotiate."
"You will never penetrate our walls," Svelvick boasted.
"That won't be necessary, we can stay here and wait you out," Kendryx responded just as collectedly.
"As I am sureColonelMcGuire has probably already told you," he pronounced my title like it was something dirty, "we are set to stay inside our base for years to come."
"You might have food and water for years to come," Kendryx pointed out, "but your soldiers will go stir crazy after a few months. I guarantee you that."
"My personnel is well trained, disciplined, and of no concern to you," Svelvick bluffed.
Sue Luigi winced slightly. She was a scientist at heart, and I bet she burned to explore Thyre. I imagined being locked inside the base for any extended period of time would be hardest on her and her crew. The soldiers were, as Svelvick pointed out, well disciplined. But even they would need to go out and stretch their legs at some point.
Harald Garcia, however, looked as haughty as ever, and I had no doubt he was the driving force behind sending my squad and me into a trap. The man was happiest behind his desk and wouldn't have even realized he was locked in his base if somebody hadn't told him.
"I suppose we don't have anything to say to each other then," Kendryx concluded, staring Svelvick down.
"Wait, don't you have any land we can settle on?" Sue spoke up, looking desperate. "An island, something far from you?"
"I'm sorry, kallini, but that is out of the question. The only way you will leave here is in groups who will be settled in different towns on Thyre or Vandall land to ensure you won't attack us." Kendryx looked at her with pity.
"Let's go," Svelvick pulled Sue away by the elbow as she gave me a pleading look. Which I barely managed to return, since I was sure she had been informed on the plan to get rid of me. She hadn't spoken up against getting twelve soldiers killed then, so it was hard for me to empathize with her now.
Surprising everybody, Sue pulled herself away from Svelvick. "Colonel McGuire, please. I'm sorry about what happened. I'm so, so sorry. We are going crazy in there, we—"
"Let's go!" Svelvick shouted, pulling her hard by the elbow this time.
Amazingly, it was Uthar who took a step forward as if he was about to interfere, and I placed a calming hand on his arm to hold him back. Startled, he looked at me but nodded imperceptibly.
"Well that was a waste of time," Vandor complained on the way back.
"We got our terms across," Kendryx contradicted. "That's something."
"They will start attacking us now," I predicted, and the three men turned their attention to me.
"Any ideas on how and when?"
I searched through my recollection of procedures and what I knew about Svelvick before I answered, "He'll send out groups, several of them, all heavily armed. They will come from different angles, but most likely at the same time, either late this evening or early in the morning before the sun rises."
