[Black Fleet Crisis(85)

“I’d prefer not to give any name at all, ” said Luke. “I’d rather anyone we meet not quite be able to recall my face, or remember my name, as though they were too distracted by you to pay attention. “

“I’d like that, too, ” she said with a smile.

There had been a few structures near the airfield that might have been houses, but East District Trail had quickly turned into a road through a brown and hilly nowhere. “Is anything familiar yet? Do you know this part of the district? “

“It’s all familiar, after a fashion. I knew Crown Pass Road better-that was the short way to Jisasu and Big Hill. But I hardly recognized the airfield, it’s so built up now. “

Luke shot her a surprised look. “Built up? “

“Oh, yes. When I left here, the airfield was nothing more than a flat spot everyone had agreed not to farm or fence, and a few marks on the ground to guide the pilots in. There weren’t any hangars, because there weren’t any flyers kept there. “

“Or perhaps the other way around, ” said Luke. “I’m glad we didn’t need a docking bay on this stop-we would’ve had to put down five hundred kilometers from here. “

“Yes, at The Towers. It’s a long trip. But then, I remember this being a long trip-and look, there’s the river ahead, you can mark it by the trees. See beyond, where it gets more hilly? That’s Hastings Watershed. The haze is from cookfires-there are villages all through the Hastings, anywhere there’s a permanent supply of water. “

“Any impressions of our welcoming committee? “

“Cold, ” said Akanah. “No one ever carried or asked for an identity card back then. People didn’t automatically look at you with suspicion. “

“They were bureaucrats, ” Luke reminded her.

“There weren’t any officials in charge of suspicion back then. “

“Well-this was occupied territory. Strike even a friendly animal often enough-Whoops, hang on. “

The cart pitched sharply down and jerked to a stop as the front wheel dropped into a deep rut. Both Luke and Akanah were thrown forward, nearly catapulted from their seats. Akanah grabbed for the side board and seat back, while Luke clutched the steering arm in one hand and braced himself with a foot against the splashboards.

For a long moment the constant-speed motors driving the rear wheels whined in complaint, until the front wheel popped free of the rut and the cart lurched forward.

“Oh, something else, ” said Akanah. “The roads are a lot smoother now. “

“You’re kidding. “

“No. We used to have to hang on with both hands the whole way to Jisasu. ” She smiled to herself at the memory. “The kids made a game of it, standing up in the cargo box, holding on to the back of the seats-or not-trying to keep from falling down or falling out. I did both. ” Just then a rock under the left wheel sent a hard jolt up both Luke’s and Akanah’s spines. “But that was a long time ago. I suppose a little levitation is out of the question-“

“Are you asking, or offering? “

“Either. Both. “

Another cart appeared over the rise ahead of them, coming toward them.

“I think we’d better keep the wheels on the ground, ” Luke said. “It’s a little late to start disguising us as a whirldust. “

Akanah nodded, raising her cupped hands in greeting to the wiry old farmer and clean-faced young woman in the approaching cart.

“And I still think concealing ourselves would be a mistake, ” she said. “We may still have to talk to the neighbors to find out what we need to. ” She paused as the other cart passed by at close range, neither occupant answering her greeting or offering more than a quick stony-eyed sidewise glance. “If anyone will talk to us, that is. “

They missed the turnoff for Ialtra, because it no longer existed. That section of Crown Pass Road and Ialtra Trail was gone, its location marked only by the stump of its centerpost.

And there was no longer a road to the village of the Fallanassi, not even by the modest standards of Lucazec-which, Luke had decided, required only a three-rut path from which the largest rocks had been removed. The old ruts could still be seen, but it seemed as though the trail had been deliberately strewn with large rocks, especially where it had once joined the main road.

“Are you sure this is the right place? “

“Yes, ” Akanah said. “Completely sure. “

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, ” Luke said, shaking his head.

“So do I, Luke, ” she said timorously, reaching for his hand. “So do I.”