The Banished (Chaos Witches Volume Four)

By Tal Turing

The Witch is dead. Or did you simply not recognize her?
Chaos Witches takes place in a future where Earth is ruled by storms and life is controlled by corporations. But these stories are not about that, rather they are the adventures of extraordinary women, the problems they face, the sisterhood they share and how they fare against society and fate itself. There are no spells or potions here, but witches? If you look, you may find them, even if they would prefer that you not.

The author recommends that you read the first two books in the series before reaching this final installment.

Book Four: The Banished
As the global destructive phenomena which is Maltiempo continues to wipe away what Mankind has worked so hard to establish, the new, domed cities of Las Joyas scramble to adapt to the unique changes and challenges which fate has thrown their way.
A collective intelligence, a hive of human minds, looks to use an unexpected rise in power to bring about the expansion of every human mind, whether they wish it or not. And they want to make Cynnamon a part in those plans. But they aren't the only one pursuing her. A man from her past keeps crossing paths with her. For what purpose?

Miriam may have finally mastered the viral manipulators which live inside her but not without great cost and loss. Now, a new strain has merged in the guise of a popular, performance-enhancing drug. But they aren't her problem, unless she wishes them to be so.

Annabelle finds herself in an entirely novel and unexpected situation – trapped with the Banished inside the lost city of Palenque, without the technology needed to survive.
Things that we start cannot always be stopped, something the Witches of Chaos know well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tal Turing
• Release date: Feb 10, 2017

Book preview

The Banished

Chaos Witches : Book Four

By Tal Turing

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

© Tal Turing 2017

Published at Smashwords

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All rights reserved

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Cover

Dedication

Author's Note

Synopsis

Cast of Characters

Introduction

New Beginnings

Palenque

Techview

Birth of New Phoenix

Plans Revealed

New Phoenix - Growing Pains

Plans Awry

New Phoenix - Revelations

In the Lands of Maltiempo

In the Domes of Las Joyas

On the Chicharra

Rise of New Phoenix

Endings

Epilogue

Ending Notes

Cover Artwork

Cover artwork created by Marin Atanasoski and used with permission.

http://spirit815.deviantart.com/gallery/

Dedication

This work is dedicated to Cynnamon and the dreams from whence she came.

Author's Note

This work is the fourth book in the Chaos Witches series and although the previous three works could be read independently, this one draws heavily on the first two. At minimum, I would recommend that you read Book Two: Ill Wind and I suggest you read Book One: Assets of Techview before that.

Synopsis

As the global destructive phenomena which is Maltiempo continues to wipe away what Mankind had worked so hard to establish, the domed cities of Las Joyas scramble to adapt to the unique challenges which fate has thrown their way.

A collective intelligence, a hive of human minds, looks to leverage their unforeseen rise in power to bring mind expansion to every citizen of Las Joyas, whether they wish it or not.

Miriam may have finally mastered the viral manipulators which live inside her but not without great cost and loss. Now, a new strain has emerged in the guise of a popular, performance-enhancing drug. They are not her problem. Unless they get in her way.

Annabelle finds herself in an entirely novel and unexpected situation – trapped with the Banished inside the lost city of Palenque, without the resources or technology needed to survive.

And Cynnamon returns to her adopted home of Techview to find that her niche, her place in life, has changed. But when she's offered a chance to undertake one last mission, one that can close her debt, she finds competition in the form of a man she once knew.

Things are often not as they seem and a fire, even carefully lit, can burn out of control. As the Witches of Chaos know well.

Las Joyas

The Domed Cities

Techview

Fulton

New Berlyn

New Chicago

Palenque (aka New Phoenix)

The Mega-Corporations (in order of power ranking)

#1 - Daneel Tech (up 3 places)

#2 - SkyTran Corp (down 1 place)

#3 - Urbanic Corp (down 2 places)

#6 Transom Industries (up 3 places)

#20 Humantis (down 4 places)

The Banished of New Phoenix

Donyden Cabb

Annabelle Paige

Kevin Brock (aka Brock)

Grayson Matthews

Janey Matthews

Dora (Janey's niece)

Daneel Collective

Tanya

Techview

Miriam Petyr – Dome Citizen

Cynnamon CC34F, Operations, Transom

Carla K342G, Corporate Hospitality Services, Transom

James D3T12, Operations, Transom

First Sister Gwenyth Curren

Sister Victoria Ford

Mother, Director of Operations, Transom

Tym Matheson, Executive – Strategy, Transom

New Berlyn

Edwyrd Harilla, Deputy of Security Services, Transom

First Sister Lynda Thorgen

Introduction

There was a time, what we call the 'previous' age, when the planet Earth was a bright turquoise marble hanging in the heavens, blue oceans streaked with white clouds. From space, signs of intelligent life were unmistakable; the glow of cities and highways; the infrared signatures of vehicle and factory emissions; from orbit one could discern the outlines of large structures such as dams and The Great Wall.

Maltiempo changed all that. Its storms drove away the people, its winds broke apart the buildings and the flood waters flushed out the debris and carried it away. And then it did it again and again and again, each cycle breaking what remained unbroken and killing what had survived. The lights faded, the order broke and the blue marble turned a whitish gray as angry, turbulent clouds enveloped the small planet.

I have sometimes mused that Maltiempo was sent to protect us from some marauding alien civilization by hiding any signs of intelligent life in the simplest way, by removing it. Perhaps I read too many of the old Science Fiction books, but it would take sensitive equipment indeed to find the survivors, huddled like rats in their underground tombs, waiting out the ends of their lives.

But while you might detect them, I doubt you could find Us, for we are much fewer, intentionally hid and scattered. There were only four cities in Las Joyas at the start of this, my fourth and perhaps final writing. Each location separate from the rest chosen for the protective geology which deflected the winds, each engineered and plumbed to divert and control the flood waters and each complete with underground villages nourished by cultivated root gardens. Each Joya seemed to be another valley ravaged by the storms when viewed from above but was, in reality, a thriving society below.

I suppose we should have been content with that but humans can't easily relinquish the surface life we once had. So we built domes to allow us to live on the surface, not the kind of simple structure you might envision, not bright, transparent glass hemispheres which might show our buildings and our vehicles to the skies. Our domes were like splotches on the earth, slowly rotating shadows which kept signs of existence in and Maltiempo's angry fingers out.

Techview was the first so-called dometropolis and when it came time to build the next, Fulton, it was located far away from the first, as we were not so silly to put all of our eggs in one basket. Now we have four such cities and thus the peoples of Las Joyas are scattered, each location a secret even to those who live within.

And therein lies a problem, a big problem. Humans thrive on communication and interaction. We need to exchange ideas, stories and information. But Maltiempo ruled the skies and the lands in between us and the only method we had to move people and products between were our trains, the Earth Huggers.

So while the villages and citizens of Techview could communicate over the Wire in fractions of a second, it could take almost a full day to send a person, a package or even a simple 'hello' to New Chicago. What we didn't know at the time was that one of the most powerful corporations in Las Joyas had a plan to solve this problem and benefit themselves at the same time.

But I am getting ahead of myself. If you have read my previous works, you know about the storms, about the domes and the trains. And you know about Daneel.

New Beginnings

The Dream

Cynnamon's body tumbled through the blackness of space, disoriented by the blur of the galaxies spinning by her. The fingers of her hands touched something solid, rough and cold, so she grasped it and pulled herself up.

Now she was standing on an irregular piece of rock, her vertigo diminishing as she clung to the asteroid. She looked up and beheld the Universe in motion, stars exploding into dark clouds which coalesced into new stars, galaxies passing by and crashing into each other, rapidly rotating pulsars providing tempo to the music of creation. Finally she located its dark center, the Void, around which everything danced.

She straightened, a sense of confidence filling her. She was at home. In the distance was the lighthouse, an island of rock that emitted beams of light in several directions; as it spun its rays swept out across space, one catching her eye. She stepped toward it, off her platform and onto another and then another, her velocity relative to everything Else increasing as she did so.

Space seemed much denser now, more stars, more galaxies, space itself becoming lighter even as its motions and oscillations quickened. She lost sight of the lighthouse but could feel the pull of the Void now as everything in her local neighborhood changed direction, swung around by something that she could feel but could not see.

Suddenly, another asteroid zipped by, passing her overhead, and she startled, losing her balance and falling to her knees. Now, to her amazement, her asteroid raced after the first, and overtook it!

She smiled, sat down and swung her legs over the edge of her rocky island as it sped on its way, overtaking and being overtaken repeatedly. They were moving much faster than before.

She looked over to the Void. Even if she pushed off with all her might, she would not be able to reach its final grasp. It would just fling her away again as it was now. But next time might be different.

Once again she heard the chimes of the Universe. She closed her eyes, listening, and hoped she would still be here, on her piece of the cosmos, when she opened them again.

Strange Visitor

Deputy Edwyrd Harilla stopped dead in his tracks, his mind pulling out of the virtual world, when he saw something strange along the shady, silent path within Transom Gardens. He found he was coming here more and more, to relax, to remove himself from the hectic twelve hour days and the seemingly endless parade of needy clients.

The item he saw, as he grew closer, was a stuffed animal, an elephant. It appeared unsoiled, freshly lost and he plucked it up with one hand while he looked around for who might have dropped it. He saw a girl down another path, pacing near a bench.

Did you drop this? he called, moving toward her, immediately concerned that she would be here alone. Perhaps she had been taking lunch with her family on the Transom House porch and had wandered into the garden.

But he slowed his approach when the girl turned around. She was not as young as he first had thought, more like fourteen or fifteen. But what had taken him aback was the shiny, reflective plate which hid her face below her large curls and a rose-colored bow.

I did, Deputy, returned a feminine, plural voice, as if a choir were answering him back. Thank you for returning it. Could I speak with you a moment?

Interesting, Ed thought as he shrugged and plopped onto the bench in front of her. Once he would have been spooked by the mask but in the last week alone he had met more members of the Daneel Collective than he had seen his entire life. He knew that many of them could be present at this moment and he wanted to show that he considered a member of the collective the same as any other client. Still, this was the first of their children he had encountered and it brought questions to his mind.

Are you a member of the collective masquerading as a child? Or are you actually... Ed was about to suggest that this might be a 'normal' girl pretending to be...

I am Tanya, a delighted, enthusiastic, voice greeted him. But I am also Daneel. She hopped onto the bench along with him and gently retrieved the toy animal from his hand.

If you thought that Transom Gardens is somehow immune to surveillance, I can tell you that's not true, Ed began.

The level of privacy matches our needs, the girl shrugged.

Now you sound like Daneel, Ed smirked. But, I am still curious. You are really Daneel? You have been converted? I mean....how do I say? You are wearing the mask so...

Most of the peoples of Las Joyas knew that Daneel officers wore shiny face masks onto which they projected faces, sometimes their own face, sometimes others. Many assumed the mask covered a real, human face. But Ed knew different, that there was a reason for the mask, that fully integrated members of the hive had undergone an operation which necessarily removed and modified much of what what had been the front of their skull.

Fine, the girl snapped and with both hands removed the face plate. Beneath it was the unadorned features of a young, human, female, middle-teens, with pale skin and large curls of auburn hair. But her ears were covered by black devices and her eyes sparkled unnaturally. Ed guessed she was wearing some sort of AI lenses in her eyes. But otherwise she looked like a normal school girl, except that somehow she had approached the Deputy of Security Services of a rival corporation.

So you aren't a full member of the collective...yet, he spoke slowly, carefully.

She looked at him plainly, her hands sweeping the smooth skin of her face as if brushing away dust.

"I am a member, a full member. I just haven't undergone the conversion ceremony. And I won't, not for another three years. Then I'll be more integrated with the rest and I'll have a formal position and duties."

And it is certain that you'll have that surgery? he asked softly. It was hard to imagine that someone, especially a female could look forward to having their face replaced with a mask. It had horrified him when he had first learned of it.

Deputy, she scolded, you seem pretty hung up on the whole conversion thing. The fact that we modify is not common knowledge but it's not private either. We accept that even our allies may have some questions and strong views on the choices we make for ourselves. So fine. Before I tell you why I came to see you, is there anything else that you want to ask me first?

Am I asking you or the entire collective?

My mask is off, so visually only I can see you. But I'll update everyone with the full story later. Actually I don't mind a little fresh air.

Will you really have a choice? To have the operation or not?

Do you mean could I say no?

If you wanted...

I could. But I won't.

You sound sure?

"That's like asking me if I'm sure I want to be with my friends and my family. If I want to continue my schooling, if I want to be a useful member of society.

Sure, I could turn it all down but I won't. I'll bet you make lots of decisions, every day, throughout your life which were not really decisions, right? And you don't feel like you were forced..."

Ed nodded.

Yes, I get that. Thanks for explaining it to me. Now, how can I help you, young lady?

She brightened and curled her legs beneath her as she leaned forward on the bench.

I am here to meet you and to discuss a mutual problem. It was like impossible to actually schedule a meeting with you so when one of us noticed that you had started taking daily strolls through the garden, I thought I might be able to 'bump' into you. Sorry to be sneaky.

I'll have to be more careful in the future but you caught me, so what are we talking about? Ed asked, putting his hands behind his head and allowing his eyes to admire the flowering trees even as he took a quick look at his notification queue.

As I said, we, Daneel, have an idea to solve a problem which affects everyone in Las Joyas. Well, we know the solution but we don't know exactly how to solve it. Wait, I'm not saying that right...

Ed saw that his schedule was filling even as they spoke and he was falling further behind. But, like it or no, this strange girl was the most intriguing thing to cross his path in weeks, since the dome fell. It was still hard to believe, that a dome had fallen. So much had happened since then.

Daneel has a plan but has not worked out the details of how to implement the plan. Is that it? he offered.

That's what I mean! she replied. We haven't decided exactly how we are going to do it. And that is the best part because either way it will involve some adventures. I'm here to interest you in a real adventure.

Tanya, I'm not sure the word means the same thing to you as it does to me. When I was young, your age, everything was an adventure.

My mom told me you would say that but please wait. When I say adventure I just mean the chance to do something you have never done before and may never get again. Isn't that exciting?

I suppose but how...

You are the Deputy of all security at Transom Industries, a company practically in the top five. You were also recently appointed to the New Berlyn Borderland Patrol and Protection Council. Sounds like an interesting job, but maybe it's not all that interesting to you any more, right?

Well, we are not in the top five and it's actually the Committee on Borderland Patrol and Protection, there is a Council but I am not on it.

Either way, I'll bet you are ready for something new.

This time Ed did laugh, genuinely amused.

You do? Do I look bored all the time? Now tell me, why are you here?

I want to recruit you. I know something about you and we have a lot in common. For example, my mother is the leader of my aspect and your father is the leader of your company, right?

Hold on, what is an aspect?

Okay, it's a Daneel thing. Think of Us, of Daneel, as a group of companies and my mom is the head of operations for one of them. Just as your dad is Patron of Transom Industries.

It's not an exact analogy... Ed began.

I lost my dad and a brother, she said suddenly, her face pained for a second before she continued. You lost your mom and a brother too.

I'm sorry to hear that, Ed replied, looking down at his feet. His mother had died years ago and his oldest brother, Steve, had passed on, recently. Ed was sure she could not know the details of that or she might not have brought it up. Had she even told her mother or whoever what she had planned today? Where is your mother? Or whoever is responsible for keeping you out of trouble?

My mother is in Urbanic Dome, she said simply, and my nanna is walking on a path about thirty yards away, listening to us speak. Both of them can hear us.

Good. Tanya is quite safe here, Ed said, his voice rising, Still, I have to question that you would let her approach me in this way.

It was her idea and she was very persistent, but we will recall her if you wish. The girl's voice was the same but clearly they were not her words. Tanya's face scowled unhappily.

Could I finish at least? I'm almost done, she asked hopefully.

Sure, Ed had already decided that he would hear this out.

People want you to be like your dad, to learn to do Patron things, she began and Ed's eyebrows raised. Still, it was common knowledge around Transom. And I'm sure that will be boring. When I grow up, I will do the same things my Mom does and I'll do my best but it will get boring after I figure it out. So before that happens, I want to do something exciting, something different, I want to go on an adventure and I can't tell you everything right now, I can tell you that there are two adventures in one and the first is in Techview.

Techview? Why would I want to go there? Ed asked. But the truth was he had always wanted to go and the girl was right, every year that he spent in New Berlyn, every year that he rose in the ranks, made it less and less likely he would ever leave this valley.

Why wouldn't you want to visit the First City? Even if it's half as wonderful as all the Firsties claim. And remember that we wouldn't go just to see things but to learn and train to do something which helps the whole world!

Help them how?

Her face brightened again.

The communication problem, that it takes so long to communicate between Joyas. It takes forever for me to send even a simple note to my friends in Fulton, and they get cross at me for not talking more.

Ed smiled at her response and sighed.

That is an issue and a major inconvenience. I didn't realize that anyone was even thinking of a way to solve it outside of developing faster trains. You are telling me that Daneel has a solution that it can't implement without the help of a clever schoolgirl and an aging security officer?

He saw her eyes flicker, she was listening.

No, I can explain that! she insisted and it was clear she was not talking to him. After a pause she looked up at him. "Daneel has an idea, a possible solution to the problem but we are not able to implement it entirely on our own. We need one or two outside individuals to help and I want to nominate you.

If you accept, then we'll go to Techview and the whole thing will be explained and we'll be tested and then the final team will be chosen."

This is a little hard to believe.

She nodded.

I may not have explained it in the best way but they don't let me tell you everything or I'm sure you would be interested. You are at least curious to hear about it right? We can go to Techview at least for that. I know you're super busy but remember what I said about seeing and doing things you might never...

I get that. And you are right. In another five years I will be lucky if I have time even to stroll the gardens like I am today.

She nodded, happier.

You'll think about it? If you agree, Daneel will pull all the strings and pay all the expenses.

I have another question.

She looked at him, worried.

If I decline, would you still go to Techview?

Oh, well not for this. But some day I will go.

Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint you, but let me think on it a bit.

Thank you, Deputy! the girl picked up her mask and put it on. Immediately a series of disparate faces appeared on her visor, one after the other. It was nice to talk to you. I'm told I already took up too much of your time. I'm sorry!

On the contrary, I enjoyed our talk, Tanya. Now let me walk you back to your grandmother.

Later, Ed Harilla thought about his conversation with Tanya. After all that had happened in the last couple weeks, 'business as usual' seemed insufferably dull. It was true, he had resisted the callings for him to follow in his father's footsteps. He did want to do something different and he had always wanted to go to Techview. It was one of the reasons he had given Cynnamon such a hard time when they were trainees, that they had sent her and not him. It could be years before he had another opportunity or not at all.

Earth Hugger to Techview

The clouds flew over a dark, ravaged valley, the driving winds further assailing the trees that were left standing and pushing the fallen further into the mud. But in a land where everything moved at the urging of the angry gale, a single metallic object seemed strangely unaffected.

The vehicle was long and segmented, like a toy snake, and it moved quickly over the ground, up and down the valley slopes, unyielding to the turbulent air, as if held on invisible tracks. The only thing that it seemed to avoid were the large pools of water at the bottom of the valleys it crossed.

Cynnamon's eyes snapped opened. It was dark but she could feel the gentle rumblings of the Hugger Train as it traveled, taking her back to Techview. She let her eyelids drop again, flirting with continued sleep.

There were times when she thought this would never happen, that she would never be able to leave New Berlyn, ironically the place of her birth. It had been a long couple months, and she was lucky to be alive and reasonably unharmed. But she had survived and she was returning to her adopted and beloved Techview, leaving virtual bedlam in her wake. It served them right.

Still, she knew the ripples of the disturbance that she created would precede her and it was unlikely her life in Techview could be the same. But one could hope and dream.

She opened her eyes once more and looked around the sleeper cabin. Gradually, she became accustomed to the darkness and could make out the sleeping form of James and then that of Carla, both proof that things would not be the same. But good friends made the changes easier.

Able to sleep no longer, she rose in the darkness and slipped her bare feet onto cold ground, her legs easily and silently propelling her into the air and across the floor. Her fingers touched the door.

Where are you going? came Carla's hushed voice out of the darkness amid James' steady breathing.

I can't sleep. And this is one of the newest lines of huggers. I want to look around.

Wait. her friend insisted and was suddenly with her after a brief rustling of clothing. Then they were out into the dimly lighted corridor.

I actually had some flying lessons in New Berlyn, Cyn added. And now I am even more fascinated with these things than ever.

That's why I'm going with you. So when you go poking your nose somewhere you shouldn't be, I can make up some excuse...

Cyn smiled at the red-headed hospie. Even in the dim light and after four hours of sleep, Carla was beautiful. But Carla's looks were dwarfed by her uncanny ability to read people and make them see things her way. Even Cyn.

I almost dropped dead when I realized you two were on board. Why did Mother bring you? Or, more correctly, why did her clone bring you?

Are you sure that was the clone? To answer your question, we did Mother a favor.

The real Mother hates New Berlyn, she wouldn't be caught dead there and I mean that literally. Still, the doppelganger was very convincing. What did you do for Mother?

"That's a story in itself, Sweetie. It will take many evenings of ginger beer for us to catch up. I can't wait to hear what happened in New Berlyn and the scoop on that fallen dome.

Listen...I knew James liked you, but I didn't realize it went both ways. Or are you just working off some stress?"

Both, I suppose Cyn sighed as they walked. "Like you, I've never been interested in relationships with co-workers, we assets can't make even short-term commitments.

But New Berlyn shook me up. I was alone, often threatened and cutoff from my friends and business partners. I started to wish I had been a little less selfish with my affections. Besides, I truly like James. Like you, he's always been loyal and supportive."

I've also had a change of heart on that...

About James?

No silly. I love him like a brother but he's not my type. I'm just sowing some wild oats and as you two were obviously too shy to get things started, I was happy to help out. I would have dropped out if you wanted him all to yourself...

Cyn kissed her friend's cheek.

I want you in my life as much and as often as I can get you...

Cyn was sure she caught a flicker of regret in the hospie's face but there would be time for the two to discuss everything that was going on in each others lives. Now, they had arrived at a strange door.

I wonder what's in there? Carla asked.

Duplicate cockpit. I'm sure I saw a Daneel enter the one at the head of the train so this one might be empty... she explained as she pushed her way in.

She was wrong.

What do you two ladies think you're doing? came a voice.

It was a cockpit but it was not empty. Two command chairs were occupied by Transom security officers, their black uniforms blended with the darkness but the gold globe insignia was evident on their breasts.

Hello, smiled Carla entering the car and looking around. Cyn recognized her friend's behavior. As their team hospie, it was her job and her expertise to work with everyone else, to make explanations, to get information, to play nice and iron out the bumps. But she seldom bothered until she was sure she was needed. Obviously she wasn't concerned. Could she read them so quickly?

I thought this was the inactive cockpit. Didn't I see you guys up front? Cyn prompted.

You saw the navigators, the blank faces, answered one, alluding to Daneel operatives, but we are the ones doing the real flying.

Do we have to leave? Cyn asked innocently. These trains fascinate me, how they fly and all. Can we just ask some questions? Technically, she knew that the trains do not 'fly', hopefully he knew that as well or this would be a short conversation.

Normally not, but you guys are Transom so no harm. Yeah, the navigators plot the course on a larger scale. Hell, even we don't know exactly where on the continent we are or where we are going. But when it comes to getting us through each valley, avoiding pitfalls and looking for signs of raiders, that's all us.

Cyn was aware that Carla had walked to the co-pilot and was engaging him on a separate topic. Cyn easily tracked both conversations.

Why does it take so many hugger beams to keep us aloft? Wouldn't one single beam suffice? she asked pointing to a graphic in virtual space, one both their AI units could see. She referred to a hologram of the ship. There was a wide blue beam directly beneath, a smaller one front and similar back and then a scattering of smaller rays to the sides. She knew some of the answer and would gauge his credibility based on how well his responses overlapped with what she knew to be true.

Sure, one single hugger beam would be strong but it wouldn't be stable. We could push up or pull down but what about turning? And there are other problems.

She paid close attention, encouraged by his initial response. In the meantime, it was clear to her that Carla was feeling the other one out for his direct reports, probably looking for commission opportunities. Carla was the best, if only they could be teamed together once again, they might pay their ways out of Sponsorship in a matter of years!

Her man continued.

"You can see that the support beams are currently four meters under ground, that's hugging close and there is a reason. Did you feel that bit of turbulence back there? Well the ground here must have some bogs or aquifers and that doesn't hold up well, so we moved in a bit closer, now we can spread out the support beams a bit and average out the ground cavities. Then we have some stabilizers which give us better direction and some forward looking scanners to test the path in front of us.

See this valley we are entering now? The whole thing is flooded and so rather than go down and out, we'll spiral around the edge, probably three revolutions, it's slower but we avoid the water..."

But why? If your support beams go so far into the ground, then would they even see the water? Couldn't you go right over?

Yeah, but I don't know how deep that water is and if I lose a couple meters to water then what happens if the remainder is mud? Our direction is to avoid water or we have to stop and survey. I won't take any chances with a couple of beauties like you two on board.

Then you'd throw caution to the wind if I were an elderly man? Cyn thought, keeping her resulting displeasure from showing in her face. He was trying to flatter her but the statement irked instead. Carla would have moved right on with another question but Cyn paused, unsure what to ask next.

Carla seized the opportunity, walking to her, fetching her hand and leading her toward the door.

We have to go. See you men around... Carla called happily.

Cyn was content to leave as well but felt it was a bit abrupt.

"We are just poor