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Part II - Chapter I

S'ai walked down the First Path in the Underground. It had been a few short years since he had learned from D'kal that the Kesh were coming. At that point his life seemed to turn around. He hadn't seen the Above in all that time, he had been so busy. D'kal, from early morning to late evening taught him metal-craft, in which, he had been told, he was excelling. When he wasn't learning from D'kal, he was learning from T'sek; the history of the Underground, life at war, knowledge he probably never would have acquired in the Above. He learned the art of swordplay from the elder as well. Even though his age defied it, T'sek held a sword perfectly, and fought with deadly accuracy. As if he wasn't learning enough already, the two men put him in the charge of L'taea, a young woman around his age that had been born in the Underground. L'taea wasn't much of a swordswoman, but when it came to space combat she was the best. She knew a space-vessel inside and out. She also was trying to teach him how to cook his own meals, but the subject of baking and nutrition failed him in one way or another. This meant that L'taea cooked his meals, which, surprisingly, she didn't seem to mind. In return, S'ai begged D'kal to teach him  how to make kitchenware and fighter sheeting. This resulted in a new skillet or armor plate on her fighter every so often, in return for her meals. The space-fighters, he discovered, were also in the Underground, in a subterranean hangar below a field. The fighters themselves were in varying states of disrepair and some couldn't be saved. Those were taken apart and the good parts were reused, which meant that D'kal and S'ai had quite a bit of work waiting for them, reshaping parts and replacing armor. This resulted in a growing friendship with Q'renn, the youngest and arguably best engineer in the Underground. His father had been an Underground engineer, but lived on the Above. He had the foresight to give Q'renn an Above education, so when they returned to the Underground they were of better use.

All of these people kept S'ai constantly busy, going this way and that. Living in the Underground meant a lot of work, but it also meant a soft bed at night and a hot, delicious meal with a close-knit family of friends. Unlike the Above, where one eats alone or with family, the Underground's residents ate their respective meals in large groups all together in the same place. This meant that S'ai was able to discuss the day's work with those he worked with, instead of eating idly by himself. No food went to waste. No knowledge or skill went to waste.

S'ai rounded a small corner and came to the place where all of the other Paths intersected with the First. Here, everyone gathered to have their morning meal. He sat in the usual spot, near T'sek's hut where the elder took his meals. Since they were the only ones of equal age, Q'renn, S'ai and L'taea sat together during their meals. D'kal usually joined them along with others wishing to listen to T'sek discuss different subjects with the youngsters. The Underground rose earlier than the world Above, which S'ai got used to rapidly. After a very early breakfast everyone cheerily went to the tasks they all had to do, only to meet again during their daily travels and at the end of their day at the evening meal. L'taea graciously made S’ai’s and her own morning meal and brought it along with her. Unfortunately for S'ai, the food grown in the Underground was different, meaning that S'ai knew what he was eating only half the time. What was more unfortunate was the fact that Q'renn found it amusing to tell him what was in a particular dish (even if the contents did not include that certain ingredient). S'ai ate it anyway. Working so hard meant that his body needed the nutrients, even if there was the possibility of a gut-wrenching ingredient.  L'taea set down a large pot of steaming mash. After joking about the ingredients that could have been involved in its making, Q'renn took a large spoonful and sloshed it rather clumsily into his bowl. This warranted a glare from L'taea; she hated seeing food go to waste, even if it was a few drops on the ground. S'ai carefully spooned his portion into the bowl. L'taea flashed a smile of appreciation, making sure that it was noted by the engineer. They ate for a few moments in silence and listened to the hum of the others conversing around them.

Q'renn broke the silence: "Will you be making more space-ready plating today?"

"I wasn't planning on it," S'ai answered, "Will you be in need of some this morning?"

"This afternoon, actually, and just one plate." Q'renn nudged L'taea with his elbow, "We'll be testing that new engine I told you about."

"Do you think it'll work?" L'taea paused eating to ask.

"I think so. We got the right fuel ratio this time."

Last time, the delicate fuel ratios had been wrong, due to a fault in another engineer's calculations. The result was no less than disastrous. This time, though, everything was double checked. Still, each of the handful of engineers winced whenever the catastrophe was mentioned. Q'renn wanted to now put that behind them.

L'taea pulled back and tied a great volume of her long brown hair. She had wanted to cut it some time ago for the sake of convenience, but both of her friends gently urged her not to do so. Their reasoning was quite simple: L'taea was easily the most beautiful young woman in the Underground and one of the many physical attributes that made her so was her hair. Her face was also had an attractive quality to it. Her eyes were large, slightly almond-shaped, and brown-gold. Her complexion was fair, slightly pale due to little sunlight, but her pallor didn't subtract from her beauty in S'ai's opinion. Her cheekbones were high and well-defined, and her facial symmetry was near-perfect. Underground life meant less food than Above, but she wasn't sickly. Underground life meant intense physical labour for all, but she didn't look over-worked; she had lean, toned muscles. Underground life meant long days and short nights, but she had energy even when her friends didn't, it seemed. Although it was the faintest whisper of an idea in S'ai's mind compared to the shouting, roaring world, he did consider her to be the perfect mate. If he had had more time to himself and more leisurely activities, he would have considered it seriously, but at this point, he rarely had time to think for himself. Too much work to be done, so little time. The thought of meeting the Kesh in battle was looming over his head like the clouds over the Shrouded. The Underground was slightly colder today; winter time was coming on fast and that meant cold, extremely wet weather. The Above became darker. The Underground became mucky and cold, not to mention plagued. S'ai had been told by many of the older inhabitants that the winter season brought many sicknesses with it, most likely due to the cold, wet conditions. What was worse was the fact that the Kesh were due to arrive at their world in the middle of winter, putting them at a further disadvantage and giving the Kesh the upper hand. The first and following winters so far that S'ai had spent in the Underground had been warmer and shorter; he hadn't felt the effects of a full, harsh winter. The three youngsters had been talking about it at breakfast for some time; T'sek even thought there would be snow, which happened rarely.

Food became somewhat less as the winter months came on and the fields went to harvest. This gave K'lar the awful task of rationing food, as he organized the food and supplies and D'kal organized weapons and wartime needs. T'rell looked after the needs of the young, M'nen looked after the needs of the old. Perishables had to be stored properly in the right structures so their shelf-life was not cut short. Clothing and armour were in high demand. Every day, every hour was filled with the same decision: ready the Underground for battle or ready them for winter?

Not only were these thoughts constantly on his mind, but the responsibilities of being on the Above's science council weighed heavily upon him. In the last few months, as the reality of the Kesh dawned upon the scientific (specifically the astronomic) community, many members had joined K'lar in the belief that the main members of he high government were mistaken in thinking that the Kesh were going to take a long time to reach their planet, or weren't coming at all. Some had given up completely and joined the Underground's inhabitants, but some like K'lar maintained both lives. These individuals struggled along in the politics of the Above. There was almost no hope now for turning the high government in their thinking.