"We are in agreement then." Alec's mind begged her to step away, but he also felt intoxicated by the smell of fresh flowers that accompanied her. "The Teretha will save themselves, and perhaps they will welcome the strangers that stood alongside them." Alec pointed to the Baronhood citizens again and raised a questioning eyebrow.

  Her glow flared for a brief moment, and he could see anger in her eyes. They softened with thought much faster than her brothers had. She stepped back and considered the people who had bled beside hers. "They hurt as we hurt. If they continue to contribute, they will earn their place. And they may prove it as we speak. The rail yard Quartermaster is amongst them. I hear the false man is speaking for them in counsel". She must have meant Preacher by the reference. He wondered if Doc was amongst them.

  "Who sits in counsel now?" Alec looked at her questioningly.

  Her giggle was soft and mischievous, "Why, no one, off-worlder. The camp yet sleeps." Her tone implied Alec was crazy for asking as she gestured to the quieted camp.

  "Not all, it would seem, the two touched by Aamaranth yet remain." Alec hoped she would speak more of what she was feeling, but appreciated how new it was for her.

  She stepped forward and to the side, reaching out her hand to touch the vial in Alec's arm and examine his veins. "It looks like it hurts. I noticed you were different, but not from this." She tapped the vial. "Or these." She ran a finger near the wires that ran down behind his ear and along his neck. "It was because of what's in here." She tapped his head at the temple and his heart simultaneously. "The baron had me on display and all, but you were content to stare at my form while I tried to scream. You held my eyes in respect, and when my life was in peril? You clothed me to save me. I never expected to run again and… well… look…"

  She began skipping and running around like a child at play in front of him. It was pure joy incarnate, and Alec knew somewhere in some dimension or otherworldly afterlife, Tusong was smiling on. "It's all he wanted." Alec's words stopped her play, and she walked forward with a small tear on her cheek. It was purple stardust that left a mark like warriors paint on her.

  "He saw me walk to him before leaving us. Thanks to you, Alec. And our people yet live because of your quick thinking. You discovered the bomb."

  "Not out of smarts but greed, or rather a selfish desire." This time, he tapped the vial. "I thought she had more in there."

  "Regardless of the drive, your actions saved us. As you helped us, if I can, I will help you."

  Alec nodded in agreement and extended his elbow out as Maywil had in the past. T'sala laughed with a singing tone. "I'm no dirty, lowly soldier. I am a princess of the Teretha."

  Alec coughed and stopped partway through the gesture. "I'm sorry, uh, your... highness?"

  She laughed again, this time extending her elbow in kind. "You are much too serious, off-worlder. If you are to bridge our peoples, as the dream singer says, you must learn our humour and culture. Either would have given you a hint." Her eyes gleamed with the idea of schooling Alec. "The Teretha are equals, we have no royalty, and for you to think I would despise Maywil and her band…" She feigned a mock hurt and pouted. Her humour was flat and dry, and it caused Alec to let out a small guffaw.

  She looked up as if a dog had barked and then began to laugh as she saw the humour in his eyes. They looked at each other as they finished the warriors' greeting and tapped elbows. She began to dance a heavy-stepping dance, throwing her arms to the sides and gesturing at the elbow. She grabbed his hand and pulled him in, and Alec allowed the moment to take him. He stepped with the sound of spurs, and after a few more turns, they had spun hard enough to drop both of them on their bottoms to the ground.

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  They breathed hard and stared at each other, smiling. The Aamaranth woman and the forever man were locked in a moment of calm before the storm would come. Alec came to the realization before her, grew serious, and stood. He extended a hand to her, and she ignored it and hopped up herself. She dusted herself off and rocked on her feet as if admiring the fact that she could move.

  Alec heard a crunch of rocky ground before she did. He turned to see the Dream Singer and Maywil walking towards them. Doc Death accompanied them, as did the Grounder boy; it was good to see he had survived. He wore a fresh cut on his cheek and plasma burns on his clothes; he had clearly been in the height of battle.

  "We couldn't sleep either. We had a fire back there, then we heard some laughing." Doc's voice almost sounded agitated, as if he had heard happiness in a time of war. Seeing the culprits seemed to intensify his anger. "We thought it to be misbehaving children. No mind. We were all just discussing how our very survival depends on you two." He finished his sentence, looking from Alec to T'sala as if second-guessing himself.

  "We have seen how he does battle. We know our survival is with the lost warrior. The immortal and his beast are key. T'sala holds the hopes of the people. We will tie her to our purpose." The dream speaker focused his attention on T'sala; clearly, he assumed Alec would do his part, but he was imploring her.

  "You know how I feel. We do not need a saviour. But these old men are right, we need to unite the people and finish this. This boy knows the station and has been drawing it in the dust board by the fire." Maywil had joined the conversation in her matter-of-fact way.

  Finally, the Grounder stepped forward. "When I was under your rig, sir. Uh, sorry, sir. But when I was under there, I saw a train. I was gonna hop it till I saw how guarded it was. We think that may be our way in."

  Alec looked to T'sala, who had already had this idea without any of the strategic know-how. The information she must have gathered within the baron's inner sanctum was priceless. "I think you're right, and what's more, T'sala knew it before you all. She ain't no figurehead to unite her people, they may love her, but she's not their idol. We need her more in the war room, and her people will follow because of how she is, not just who she is." Alec knew what it was like to be paraded around as a banner to a cause. If he could, he would save T'sala from that.

  "I can be both," T'sala stated matter-of-factly as she looked to the group. "While the people yet sleep and our slumber is disturbed by thought, let us put it to use. Grab the sandboard and bring it to the warrior's beast. We shall convene a council of war."

  Alec followed her with admiration. She took the world in stride and had a confidence that seemed to defy what trauma she faced at the baron's hands. He wondered if it would crack, and if it did, whether it would lead to an explosion, like magma from a cracked earth? If it did, this was the most dangerous person for it to happen to. By the way her skin glowed when it came to intense emotions, preserving a gentle mood meant preserving the planet.

  The group walked towards Quip as the Grounder and Maywil went to fetch the sandboard for strategizing and visualizing the way. Once they had a plan, they could present it to the people and hope for the best. A shadow stepped out from behind one of Quip's tires, and green glowing eyes lit up. "Bless my soul, it looks like a gaggle of humans. That's what they call y'all right when you be grouping' like this." Preachers sing song mockery startled the group at first but they all relaxed as they made themselves known. "I've just been having the most wonderful conversation with my friend here." He patted Quip. "It tells me wonderful stories of dancing in a cave and laughter in times of war. A foundation for poetry if I don't say so myself."

  Alec grumped by Preacher and pressed the button to open Quip's side. Damn, it's sensors dropping in on that. He motioned to them all to enter, and they filed in. Grounder and Maywil finished off the group, and Alec closed the door. He looked around. What an odd collection to make up a war council, but one Alec had come to trust implicitly in such a short time.