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Part I - Chapter II

K'lar studied his vast array of maps intently. Some were his, written in a harsh, dark script, and some where made many years before him, written contrarily  in light, flowing script. Either way, the maps depicted mainly the sector in which Q'yta was placed and the others a handful the surrounding sectors. K'lar's trained and keen eyes rested finally and with disdain on the Kesh home world, shown in detail on one particularly new map drawn by one of the most revered astronomers of the Lighted.

He was alone in an extension of the Lighted library, a room with no corners and it's walls curving up, very much like an egg. Here, no one would bother him. Here, he could think things through properly and find a solution quickly. He was charged by the Astronomic community, along with three other like individuals, with finding out why the Kesh seemed to be coming to the planet. Although it was quite obvious to K'lar why they were here, the Lighted council would want proof from the astronomers, not hunches and thinking aloud. To K'lar and the others, the only reason why the Kesh would be here was because they thought it was an opportune time to strike what they thought was an inferior race. Unfortunately, the council was proving them right, as K'lar had told the others some hours before he had locked himself up. The Kesh were coming, and no one was doing anything about it. If they weren't careful, a malevolent, radical group could break off from the people of Q'yta and either stay and lead a revolution or leave their race to the destruction that came with the Kesh. Rebellion wasn't an option in K'lar's book. The only way to survive was to face the Kesh together. Though the prospect of unification never seemed to be encoded in their genes anyway. This somewhat dark thought was followed by another, not-so-shadowy one: even when the peoples of their planet split into smaller pieces, they always found a way to need one another.

K'lar decided at that moment that he would see what logistics would be involved. One of the few, societally higher placed, objective people who knew the numbers of available fighting men and weapons happened to be his brother. Though he lived in a humble community in the suburbs, D'kal was the unknowing backbone to the logistical position of their people. He happened to be on the forefront of a new wave of weaponry-making, vessel-building, and so on.

K'lar opened a communication link from the library to D'kal's house:

" D'kal, the Kesh are coming. I must meet with you immediately. You might not be as close to the government as I am, but you are closer to the people; you know what we are capable of as a whole. I need to know how bad our situation really is," he did not wait to see if the message was sent or not; he immediately put on his outer robe and took up his charts. It would take slightly longer for him to reach the border than D'kal, even if he didn't get the message immediately. He moved as quickly as he could, grabbing everything that he thought he would need.

It was dark evening. The main power had gone out. This meant that only communication links and very simple lights were working. All other power was diverted to government and military buildings. D'kal received his brother’s desperate message only a moment after it was sent. From that moment on, he was frantically running around his small house, gathering blueprints and papers, as well as loading information on his portable information pad. S'ai had never seen someone so used to using the ancient method of writing things down, yet also using a portable information pad for virtual models and other things; S'ai decided that this was wise because carrying models to wherever D'kal was going would be more if a hindrance than a help. Nevertheless, D'kal took his pad and his papers and waved him out the door. Locking the door after them, he proceeded to lead S'ai through the streets to the border. S'ai's Lighted overcoat whipped about his ankles, and despite his efforts, his hood caught the breeze and flew about behind him.

To S'ai, who jogged along behind D'kal, the smith looked like a spirit of the night: his dark cloak made no sound as it lifted in the breeze and, when they came into proximity of a street light, it looked strangely like the black surface of an oil slick. He was so quiet for his semi-heavy build. He wove through the structures like a feline and they turned down so many alleys and strange roads that S'ai had no clue of where they were in relation to the border. Before he could inquire their location of the smith, they had arrived. The streets were quiet. The only light here were the lamps on either side of the border road which ran between the Lighted and the Shrouded. Between the lamps, trees grew. A lone figure stood in the light of the lamps, seeming almost impatient.