Hengsha crouched under the desk, eyes flicking back and forth. In an instant when no one was looking, her hand darted out from her hiding place and plucked a handgun from the weapon rack, then slunk away.
Zanele's warriors were hunkered down just before no-man's land, their prone forms swallowed up by the uneven brush. Maya had her eyes fixed on the town ahead, Zanele lay on her stomach with her head resting on her arms, and Nakasi knelt between two thin tree trunks. Picking her way through, Hengsha settled beside Zanele.
Zanele faced her with a mischievous smile. "I wondered if I'd be seeing you here."
Hengsha flashed war-grin. "Tongana doesn't know I'm here. It takes more than that to keep me from a fight worth fighting."
"I really shouldn't let you come with..." Her face contorted with thought. "But since Graham went over to the squad on the other side of town, we could use another fighter. Welcome aboard."
Hengsha pumped her fist. "Yes! I'll kill twice my weight in Mauves, you'll see."
"Don't get keyed up just yet. We've still got an hour to go before we get started."
Hengsha kept grinning. She had waited fifteen years to fight for a worthy war-mother. She could wait an hour longer.
"We're going in three prongs," said Zanele. "Each one's got a tank. Stick close to it. We natives are going in first because we know the terrain, but the rest of the UN won't be far behind."
"We get a tank? I've never seen one in person before!"
"Well, then get ready to scratch one off your bucket list. Our tank is half-buried a little behind us. When it comes up, don't freak out."
Hengsha's goggles, which had been easy enough to 'borrow' from the over-equipped northerners, showed everything in crisp, alien detail. When she looked back, she could see other warriors waiting to charge, identical outlines in their mass-produced armor.
The hour stretched long. Hengsha checked her gun the way she had been taught to, making sure it was locked and loaded with the safety on.
The silence oppressed her. Saber camps were never this quiet, especially not before a raid. For a moment, Hengsha wondered where Handel was, then felt a snap of grief as she remembered his fate. Her fingers crushed her gun. "The Mauves are going to pay," she grumbled. "After what they did to Handel? Sabers are supposed to adopt the enemy's children. But I think I'll slaughter them instead. Blood for blood."
"Handel wouldn't be wanting that," said Nakasi.
"What?" Hengsha looked over at her. "What are you saying?"
"Handel knew what's really wrong with the clans. The girls aren't the problem. It's the women who are making them act like savages. If they don't kill, they don't get fed. Don't ever forget, we saved you. We forgave you. So now you should be doing the same for the Mauves."
Hengsha looked at the ground, unable to decide if she loved the idea or hated it.
"I'm proud of you, Nakasi," said Maya. "I hope you won't be offended, but I never thought I would hear that from you."
"Forgiveness," Nakasi replied. "It's a new thing you taught me."
Cargo choppers, visible only as heat signatures, rumbled over the canopy around Bonde Wakulima. "Those choppers are empty, aren't they?" said Hengsha. "They're just flying so the Mauves think we're attacking someplace else."
Zanele turned to her. "How do you know that?"
"I was listening when they made their plan."
"Nice."
