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Resi goes back to his hotel room to get some sleep as they will be leaving
in the morning. Some of the other Fold Leaders are waiting for him at his
door. He unlocks it and lets them in. “I’m sorry this hasn’t turned out how
we wanted it to. I was just about to pick up the tablet they gave me to look
for a new island for us. If we can get ourselves there, even if it’s not
much, I know we can survive. It won’t be Yana, the Bungulans won’t have
helped us. The only issue is the boats. We’ll need to steal fishing boats.”
“We already have a plan to steal a boat,” Selda says. “The one that brought
us to Anchor Island. It’s more than big enough for all members of House
Kutelin.”
“Are you crazy?” Resi speaks quieter, hoping they will too. “Do you have any
idea how advanced these people are? They built an elevator...in the sky.
You’re not gonna capture a ship of theirs. Even if you did, how long before
they just blow you out of the water? Actually, I’m sure they’re more
sophisticated than that. They can probably just turn it off remotely, or
pilot it somewhere else. You have not thought this through.”
“Yes, we have,” Medenn contends. He makes one tap on his handheld device.
There’s a knock at the door. Vantu, who still fancies himself Resi’s
bodyguard, opens it. “It’s Arumay, boss.”
“Let her in, and make sure the door’s closed. How did you get here?” he asks
her.
“I was able to find a backdoor into the Bungulan systems,” Arumay begins. “I
called a minisub to come pick me up. Yeah, I was a little skeptical, but it
obviously worked. I could take control over the whole system from here,
maybe even the island. That would be ridiculous, but I think it’s possible.”
“Arumay, have you ever heard of a honeypot?” Resi asks her.
“You think I don’t know what I’m doing,” Arumay complains. “These people are
all
lovey-dovey, we don’t need money or work to be happy, let’s just fly in a
spaceship and smile.
They don’t have any network security, because they don’t need it. It would
be like your right foot locking the door so your left foot can’t get in.
It’s just unnecessary. When they gave us the tech that we use on Yana, they
locked us out of their network, but they engaged a connection so you could
maintain contact with the rest of our House. That was my way in. Trust me,
I’ve not slept this whole time. I’ve been checking for traps and alarms the
whole time. The only action I took was calling that minisub.”
“I trust you, Arumay, but we can’t get away with this,” Resi insists.
“Boss, you don’t even know what our actual plan is,” Selda claims.
“There are only two things you would want to do with that boat. You either
want to take over Yana, or to take over Anchor Island. Even if we manage to
take initial hold over the latter, the Bungulans will fight back and win.
But they may leave us alone if we only attack our own people. They’ll
just write off that one little boat, and let it go. Am I close? Did I get
it? I’m right, aren’t I? It’s okay, you can admit it.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Medenn admits, “but what you described is an idea, not
a plan.” He gestures to the group to everyone but Resi. “We have a
real plan.”
“I’m not a part of this, sir,” Vantu counters.
“I know you aren’t, Van.”
“Please,” Arumay pleads. “This is bigger than you now, Res. Everyone wants
you to remain our leader, but if you don’t listen to the plan, and sign off
on it, they will cut you out of it. They will move forward. You gotta
meet us halfway.”
Resi looks at her, and then over at the other mini-traitors. “If I refuse?”
Medenn tenses up. One of the ones who hasn’t spoken prepares to hold him
back.
“Oh, I see,” Resi realizes. “You won’t let me go. Will you hurt me?”
“No,” Arumay promises. “I won’t let that happen. But they may...detain you.”
Vantu steps a little in front of Resi. He cracks his knuckles. “Try it. I
was gonna Kidjum into Enaiyo, but leave the House after a few months to join
island security. I’ve been wanting to swing these fists my whole life. Just
give me a reason.”
“No, that won’t happen,” Resi tries to mediate. He breathes deliberately,
hoping it will be contagious. “Selda, when you chose House Kidjum, did you
sign any papers?”
“No. What are you talking about? Was I meant to sign something?”
“Did anybody sign anything?” Resi asks rhetorically. “No? So you
just...said out loud that you were House Kutelin. You could have just as
easily said you were House Caterpillar, or House Ice Cream. There was
nothing official. I asked you where you wanted to go, and you told me. Out
of all of us here, and everyone on Yana...hell, everyone in the universe,
I am the only member of House Kutelin. I am the only one whose Kidjum
told him to join. You’re all only guests. If I kick you out, you’ll be out.”
“We’re still taking the boat,” Medenn assures him.
“That may be, but you won’t be doing it under the Aether banner. You’ll
be...unkidjumed at best.” Resi balks at his own words. That’s it. That’s the
solution. That’s what Speaker Sherman was going on about. In order to stop
the exile, they have to reject the premise in its entirety. He thought he
was distancing him and his sister from the traitors, but he’ll really be
helping them. He looks down and sighs.
“What?” Arumay questions. “You were building to something, but then you
stopped. Even if you kick us all out, we’ll take that boat. We still need a
place to live.”
“You already have it. Whether you like it or not,” Resi determines, “you are
no longer House Kutelin. You never really were. Only I am. I am the
only exile here.”
“You can’t do that,” Selda argues. “You can’t just say that and make it
happen. You gave us something we didn’t know we deserved. Now we’re in it.
Even if we don’t call ourselves Kutelin anymore, we still aren’t assigned
any of the other four Houses.”
“They’ll let you back in,” Resi says, sure of himself. “All they want is
Tamboran cohesion. Kutelin was a deviation. You have to reintegrate. It’s
the only way. Please don’t commandeer a ship. Zenith was telling me a little
bit about themselves. Someone once took a giant spaceship from them, so
they’re pretty sore about it. They may not be prone to violence, but they’ll
go there if they have to.” He starts to leave. “No. Vantu, you stay here.
I’m kicking you out too.”
“Sir. My alliances have not shifted,” Vantu says firmly.
Resi nods. “I can’t tell any of you what to do, but I urge you to Kidjum.
Show that they work. Follow the system. I’ve been fighting for a life of
hardship. That was foolish. I treated the status quo like a dystopia, but
it’s not. It may not be the lovey-dovey paradise the rest of the Core Worlds
have, but it was working. Let it work once more. Again, I don’t need your
permission to do this. I’m going to Zenith and the Speaker, and explaining
my decision.” He turns, and immediately feels a pain in the back of his
head. Then everything turns black.
