Page 10 of Triplets for the Barbarians

3

Jewel

Acouple of days later, the three of us are riding in a single buggy. We’ve got a lead on a possible location for one of the starships, and our Ruby City informant managed to send us a message about it. We had no choice but to follow up on it. I don’t like getting close to Ruby City in the first place, yet it has to be done.

“What does our guy do in that place, anyway?” I ask, sitting in the passenger seat.

Yossul drives the buggy across the red desert wasteland, the scorching midday heat making the air ripple all around us. “He’s a low-level grunt,” he says. “He doesn’t have much… what did you call it again? Security clearance?”

“Yes,” I reply with a cool smile. “He’s not privy to sensitive information. So why are we meeting with him, then? How did he get a lead on the starship in the first place?”

“His message was brief, given that he almost got caught sending it,” Yossul replies. “But he joined his superior officers for drinks one night, and they got chatty over a few casks of peppered wine. He overheard things he wasn’t supposed to and played it cool.”

“We’re meeting him about a mile outside Ruby City,” I say. “Where, exactly?”

“The Three Fingers,” Yossul says. “That cluster of obsidian rocks by the Sun River. It’s remote enough to be safe for a quick conversation before he has to get back to his base.”

“Do we trust him?” I ask.

Fadai scoffs. “We can’t trust anybody, really, but Lemuel has given us credible and verifiable intelligence before. He’s the one who pointed us in the right direction for the last starship we handled.”

“Okay,” I reply, smiling as I remember that entire mission.

It was a roaring success, in my humble opinion. We were well organized, too, with tight ranks and precision timing through each step of the operation. The Yellow Gang outdid themselves with the explosives, as well. It was a team effort, and we are motivated and experienced enough to pull it off again and again until the Sky Tribe is left with zero starships and no choice but to sit down at the negotiating table with us.

What irks me is that they’ve changed their communication methods and style. Jumping across radio frequencies has made it harder for us to pick up the important stuff, and having to rely solely on inside informants doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence, mainly because people are still people.

Devices can’t lie. People can turn against us. They can be followed. They can be killed.

But we don’t have any other choice at this point. We have to take those starships out before they launch them.

Ahead, Ruby City rises with its sparkling red towers and tall defense walls. As I look through my binoculars, I notice that they’ve added several barracks just outside. Those weren’t there before. “Huh, that’s new,” I say, nodding toward the visible new structures made of black limestone and steel. “Look for yourself,” I add, giving the lenses to Fadai so he can see.

“What are they doing with those?” he wonders aloud. “It’s not like we had any intention of invading Ruby City anytime soon.”

Yossul follows my gaze; his Sunnaite sight is much sharper than mine. He’s able to make out some of the barracks with a clear eye, but I still give him a brief description before he can form an opinion. His furrowed brow, casting a shadow over his red eyes, tells me he doesn’t like it any more than I do.

“They’re preparing for something, all right,” he mutters.

“Yeah, but what?” Fadai asks.

“It's not an invasion,” Yossul says. “Maybe it's a deployment. Our base is three hundred miles away, after all.”

The thought makes my insides squirm. “No, it can’t be. We’ve been too careful. They haven’t even had a drone flying anywhere near our base for almost three months.”

“Nothing else makes sense. We already know they’re not keeping any of the starships anywhere near Ruby City,” Yossul replies. “The only other reasonable guess is they’ve simply decided to fortify their defenses.”

“Wishful thinking would be to assume they’re expecting us to blow up those other two starships,” Fadai chuckles lightly. “And that’s when we’ll have enough to actually come knocking on their gates. Perhaps they’re preparing for failure.”

“You are absolutely right, brother,” Yossul shoots back, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “That is wishful thinking.”

Once we reach the Three Fingers, uneasiness takes over, making my stomach tighten as I carefully survey the area. Something feels wrong, but it’s not the first time I’ve been overly cautious. Then again, I’ve been living in a constant state of fight or flight since I was brought to Sunna against my will.

Everything feels off when you’re always expecting things to go tits up one way or another.

The obsidian rocks themselves seem like quiet guardians rising above the riverbank. The steamy stream flows southward, its crystalline water lapping at the shore before it continues its course over the polished black pebbles. Blackwood trees grow along this river, smaller and nimbler than their northern cousins, but their crowns are thick and generous enough to offer shade to any passing traveler.

For now, it’s just us.

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