Georgianna’s conversation with Jacob and Lacie remained in her head for two days. In some ways, getting Nyah out seemed more possible than it had before, as the story that cinystalq collars were placed on every drysta at the moment of purchase had been proved a myth. However, knowing that a drysta would be more heavily controlled while they became accustomed to their new situation made the idea of breaking her out any time soon look virtually impossible.
Still, even though it had been days since her argument with Taye, Georgianna had yet to approach him about helping out. She knew that the longer she left it, the more likely it was that Taye would do something reckless, but Georgianna also didn’t want to go to him with a half-baked idea that would wash away at the lightest touch. She needed something positive, something they could work with, like who it was who had bought Nyah in the first place.
She had meant to go to the compound the next day, feigning that she had her days mixed up, but as things usually went, she’d been caught up with other responsibilities, one of which included looking after Braedon while her father went down to the Oprust district and Halden worked. Her nephew had been more than happy to spend the morning with her, especially as it meant going to various sections of the camps to make small trades. Georgianna had been a little worried about taking her nephew with her, but Braedon had been fascinated with the different places and people. He was thrilled when his aunt, someone who was usually seen as someone to entertain him, had been asked to stitch up a rather ugly-looking wound on an equally ugly-looking man, something Georgianna was grateful Braedon had not commented on.
Having left the family home early that morning to get back into the centre of the city before sun up, Georgianna made her way through the tunnels towards the east of the city, taking the familiar lines until she could come up out of the entrance a few hundred metres from the entrance to the compound.
Getting through the gates was a rather regular affair, though with Edtroka not standing guard, it had been up to Georgianna to ask whether he was on duty.
“Dreta,” the guard had grumbled at her, handing back her bag, now checked for contraband, for Georgianna to take inside.
Georgianna gave a small, polite nod and instead of taking the first door into the compound, walked down a bricked path that led along the side of the high walls.
Between the wall and the fenced cage surrounding the compound, the thin path felt more like a tunnel than anything else. Georgianna could only guess at the reason they’d made it so narrow, but as she saw the crowd of people gathered in the yard at the end, she wondered whether it was to prevent a quick getaway should anything happen. Only so many people could get through the fenced corridor at a time, not to mention that at the other end they would face guards with heavy copaq weapons. Her father had once told her that, should you wish to fight off a large number with only a few men, leaving them no entrance or retreat but a small corridor meant only so many could attack at any one time. Looking at the swarm of Adveni and the number of Veniche lined up to be sold, she decided that was a useful thing to keep in mind here.
It took a while to locate Edtroka. She’d first made her way respectfully through the crowd to the other end of the yard, letting Adveni bump and push her around and apologising to them each time they did. When she could not see Edtroka standing guard near the dreta waiting to be sold, she instead stood near the high wall of the compound, looking out through the sea of people. She finally spotted Edtroka. He was talking to a man with a pompous, self-important expression on his face. Edtroka was nodding politely, but even through the stiff, polite smile, Georgianna could see that he was not enjoying the conversation.
Georgianna slipped through the crowd, once again apologising to anyone who barged into her, until she reached Edtroka’s side. She held her distance a few yards away, giving the two men the space to continue their conversation. It only took a minute or two before Edtroka held the side of his fist to the middle of his chest in the Adveni mark of respect, and the other man turned to walk swiftly away.
YOU ARE READING
Dead and Buryd
Science Fiction"You are an inmate, not a medic. You should get used to that." On the planet Os-Veruh, the native Veniche have endured a decade under the oppressive rule of a race of invaders, the Adveni. When Georgianna Lennox, a Veniche medic, discovers her child...
