Luke wanted to pace, and if his leg could’ve taken it, he would have.

It had been two days – Titan days, that is – since word had come down that Seeks the Tribe was on the Maris farm.

He didn’t know why she was there, and she didn’t appreciate the skepticism that he was greeted with. Even Quendra, who did believe him (he felt sure she did, anyhow), had pushed him on whether he’d ever seen her, heard of her, even once.

He wished he had. He wished he could say, “Oh, sure, that’s Zerbath, she’s harmless.” But he couldn’t. Indeed, it would be better if he could say, “Oh, God, that’s Zentradi, we’d better run.” At least he could be helpful.

What made it more maddening was that this woman didn’t appear to be making any moves toward the Tribe at all. She appeared to be helping out around the farm, from what the scouts had seen. She’d been spotted walking more than once, by herself, not far from the forest, and each time they had braced for the inevitable. But even that one time, when she had looked out at the forest a hard minute, she had turned and headed back to the farmhouse.

It bothered Luke, and not just because he worried about his friends.

No, it bothered him because if she was hanging out with Aisell, surely she had told her of the possibility of the Tribe’s existence. He was rather amazed, between that and the sign he’d left her by the rock, that she hadn’t come out to try to find him yet.

He had it worked out in his mind. She’d come, and call for him, and he would go to her – go to her and tell her that yes, there were people here, but they wanted privacy. Surely she’d understand that. And he’d tell her he had made friends here, and that he had been going to tell her when he’d been injured – but it was okay, he really was fine. And then….

Well, and then there were always two directions he could go. And that was why, despite the fact that he missed his friend, he was glad she had not yet sought him out.

Still, it was hard not to feel insulted. Hard not to feel that Aisell had moved on, that she didn’t really care for him. He supposed he’d been angry enough that it might be easy for her, but Lezah – surely she would care, wouldn’t she?

Maybe not. Maybe they were happy to be rid of the burden. Or maybe they really didn’t know – maybe the mystery woman hadn’t told them. Which meant she was playing her own game. But what could it be?

“She has her human with her,” Lun said. “Perhaps we should rescue him, as we did Luke.”

“There are even more Guardians there now,” Quendra said. “Not just Seeks the Tribe, but Tall as Tree and the other – Tiny Mountain. Rescuing Luke wasn’t easy. Rescuing him….”

“Rescuing him would be a terrible idea,” Luke said. “Really, really awful. I don’t know why Seeks the Tribe hasn’t come looking for us yet, but the last thing we want to do is give her a reason to. She at least suspects we might be here – she has to – so if her friend disappeared, she’d head straight here. It would be like leaving directions on their doorstep.”

“But he could tell us what she wanted,” Mant the Elder Defender said. “He could tell her why she hasn’t come yet.”

“Perhaps,” Drugar said, “he has convinced her not to.”

The room was quiet for a moment, until Oronia the Wise said, “Drugar, do you really think she would listen to one of us? A captive?”

“Perhaps,” Drugar said. “Luke of Earth has said the Guardians are not our enemies. I cannot risk our safety on that hope, but if he is right, then their friends and allies would likely also not be our enemies. If so, perhaps she is willing to listen to her human. Perhaps he has convinced her to leave us be. If so, capturing him would be the worst thing we could do.”

“And if not?” Mant asked.

“If not, it’s still a very bad idea. As Luke said, if she suspects we are here she may leave us alone if we leave her alone – but if we take something she thinks is hers…we are better letting her be.”

“I don’t understand why she hasn’t told the other guardians. You would think they would come for Luke,” Oronia said.

“I don’t know,” Luke said. “Maybe she’s keeping me a secret. Or maybe they don’t think of me the way I thought they did,” he said. “Whichever it is, the Tribe is safer if they do not come looking for us.”

“And if they do?” Mant said.

“Then I will go to them,” Luke said. “And try to convince them to leave the Tribe alone. Because if they decide to look hard enough, they will find us.”

“We are camouflaged well,” Mant said.

“We are,” Luke agreed. “But with all of them looking? We are not invisible.”

“We will continue to observe. And we will continue to hope that Seeks the Tribe is a poor name for this Guardian,” Drugar said. “Now, go about your tasks; we will meet again after the next sunset.”

The people at the table got up, save for Luke; he would in a moment, but the rest felt good. Besides, he just felt weary of late, like the weight of Archavia was upon him.

“I still don’t like the idea of you going out alone,” Quendra said. “If they try to take you, there’s no way we could defend you.”

“If they take me, nothing we could do would stop them,” Luke said. “At least that leaves them only taking me, and leaving the Tribe alone.”

“But you would admit we exist?” Drugar said.

Luke sighed. They’d been over this. “I think it best, Leader, if I tell the truth. I understand your skepticism, but….”

“You ask all of us to gamble that they are as honorable as you think,” Drugar said. “Luke, I like and trust you, but as you said, if they decide to take us, there is nothing we can do to stop them.”

Luke nodded. “That’s why I don’t want to lie,” he said. “I can’t guarantee they won’t try to take the tribe. But if they think there’s something I’m hiding…they’ll keep pushing. And if they think you held me prisoner, against my will…I want them to know that you exist, and that you are good. And that all the Tribe wants is its freedom. I can’t guarantee that will be enough, but I believe that Aisell and Lezah, at least, will understand that.”

“Well, let’s hope it does not come to that,” Drugar said.

“Right,” Luke said, getting unsteadily to his feet, and grabbing the crutches.

“How long does Wolan say it will be until you are healed?” Drugar asked.

“Hoping for a cane in another ten sunsets. Bad news is that now that the swelling’s gone down, he thinks I broke the large bone in my leg, too – so that would mean about forty sunsets before I’m right.”

Quendra sighed. Luke looked over at her and grinned. “You’ve already apologized today, three times, Quennie. Not gonna listen to a fourth. It’ll heal up fine. Promise.”

The Elder Huntress grabbed some books Luke was attempting to handle himself. “I can carry those just fine, you know,” he said.

“I know,” Quendra replied. “But I’ve got time before the night hunt, and your reading class is starting soon. Now, come on,” she added, with a smile.

Luke followed after her, smiling and shaking his head. There were times that he wondered what he would do if Aisell held him in her hand, smiling down at him from the skies above. When he wondered if he would feel the tug of attraction to her once more. But then, there were times when he wondered not at all, when his future appeared clear and simple and wonderful, for as long as it would run.

* * *

“See, this is what I mean,” Yamma said to nobody in particular, as he scrolled through his pad.

“What is what you mean?” Aezhay said, as she wandered through the living room. She’d grown to like Yamanu – she saw what Gae saw in him, though she still didn’t know about dating a human. Though she had to admit, she was questioning it less and less lately. She was starting to think that she hadn’t just run into a particularly bright human or two, but that they all were like Yamanu, or Luke, or….

“A thousand gorram years ago, you folks were wondering if we might not be smarter than pets. I mean, I know you guys move slow, but could you maybe try to aim for figuring it out by 3000? We’d appreciate it.”

Aezhay sighed, and said, “What do you mean, we were wondering it a thousand years ago?”

“I’m reading an old text from pre-Conservation Act days, by Forsetti D’Talma – you ever hear of him?”

“Acutally, yes,” Aezhay said. “He came up in a comparative xenosociology course I took my freshman year. He and his wife studied humans, right?” She sighed as Yamanu rolled his eyes. “Hey, I know it’s obvious now that you give me that look, okay?”

Yamanu laughed. “Sorry. Anyhow, Forsetti wrote back in the 1070s, ‘Humans showeth a remarkable capacity f’r problem-solving. Though they art s’rely lacking in technology, they will findeth a way to useth what dram they hast to create great things. Temple Abzu, in A’riduk, is built of mud and straw, and yet spans six-tenths of a unit; while that may seem unimpressive to Titans, ’tis an amazing accomplishment f’r these people. One wond’rs what they might maketh in a few thousand years; aft’r all, we knoweth our ancest’rs once built houses of mud as well.’”

“You’re reminding me why I don’t read stuff written in High Panarchavian.”

“Yeah, makes my head hurt too. But still…I mean, yeah, Forsetti was pretty clear that he didn’t think humans were as smart as Titans, but he was certainly willing to believe we were more than pets. And that was a long damn time ago. Why didn’t anyone study this further?”

“They made up their mind. Probably most people saw what they wanted to see. Like phrenology.”

“Oh, hey, Eyrn,” Aezhay said. “What the hell is frenologie?”

“Made-up science. They thought they could look at your head and figure out what you were like based on the bumps on it. Of course, it always seemed to show that the ‘good’ kind of humans had the ‘good’ kind of skulls, and the ‘good’ humans just happened to be the ones studying it. If they decided you were pets, they saw you that way – even when you were showing them how much more you could be.”

Yamanu shook his head ruefully. “Makes sense. And like I told you – we know how to play it to survive. If that means being playing the dutiful pet….”

He paused. “Eyrn, you’ve said a couple times there were ‘good’ and ‘bad’ humans. I know, not really, but still…what did they do to the bad ones?”

Eyrn sighed, and sat down. “I want you to know, first,” she said, “that we’ve fixed a lot of this – I mean, you’ve fixed a lot of this. Not all of this, and not everywhere, but the humans are better than they used to be.”

“The Titans starved Dunnermac to death,” Yamma said.

“The Europeans killed most of the Indians living in America when they got there,” Eyrn said. “Took a while, but millions died off, and those who lived got kicked off their land, told to stop doing things they way they’d been doing them. Then the Europeans brought in people from Africa, and made them work for nothing, held them in slavery. They could be bought and sold, just like the Titans buy and sell you. And that’s just in my little corner of Earth; what they did in Europe when I was…well, probably 15 Titan years or so….”

Yamma looked at the tablet for a moment. “Not any better than you are,” he sighed. “I know I said it, but….”

“…Yeah, it would be nice if it wasn’t true.”

Yamma sighed. “How did they fix it?” He asked. “How did they make it change?”

“They did it by demanding equality. By standing up and saying they were the same as anyone else.”

“And that did it?”

“Not by a long shot,” Eyrn sighed. “Naw, they got the hell beat out of them. I remember one time they got dogs sicced on ‘em just because they tried to cross a bridge. But they kept walking. Not fighting, not picking up guns and shooting someone – just showing up where they were told they weren’t supposed to go, and saying they had as much right to be there as anyone else.”

“How long did it take?” Yamma said.

“Wasn’t done when I left,” Eyrn said. “Not everywhere. In America, there were still problems with people who thought Black people were dumber than White people, men were smarter than women….”

“What?” Aezhay said, sitting forward.

“Yeah, right? But thing is, they’re pushing it forward. They’re making it better, day by day. And it’ll take a long while, but they’ll get there, because they’re right.”

Yamanu turned off his pad. “That’s a lot less satisfying than ‘they picked up weapons and a few years later, it was fine.’”

“I know,” Eyrn said. “But you’re trying to change society, you gotta make them see your value. You can’t make them change overnight. You’ve gotta do it person by person.”

Yamma folded his arms, and looked thoughtful. “I suppose if you are threatening…that makes you look like a problem. You have to be better than your masters.”

He looked up at the two Titans – they were imposing, he supposed, though he was used to it. “Problem is, even if we are better…who’s gonna notice?”

“Well, you don’t have to do it alone,” Eyrn said. “I told you, my dad fought for equality. So did my uncle. Oh, it wasn’t just about that, but that’s why they joined up. My grandpa was a Lutheran preacher and an abolitionist. They were taught slavery was bad from the cradle. And my mom – Hell, my mom and her folks ran a station on the Underground Railroad, ‘til they were discovered. My grandpa Devereaux gave himself up so my mom and grandma could get the hell out of Biloxi while the gettin’ was good.”

Yamanu nodded. “So there were people – White people?”

“People my color,” Eyrn said. “It’s a stupid term. But they were the people who ran things, and a lot of them got together and helped. And Yamma, I don’t know how I’m gonna do it, exactly, but…when you want to step forward and tell people you’re a person, too, I’ll be there with you, and I’ll say it too. I know Gae will, obviously, and Aisell.”

“And me,” Aezhay said, quietly. “It’s…I will be. And Lezah too, I’ll bet.”

Eyrn raised an eyebrow, but turned back to Yamma. “You don’t have to do it alone, is what I’m saying. You do have friends. And we’ll do what we can to make other Titans see. I promise.”

Yamanu put the pad down, and yawned. “I just wish I knew it would work. I wish I knew it was worth it.”

Eyrn looked back at him. “I can’t promise it’ll work. But I know this much – the President of the United States, the leader of the country I lived in? The guy who had that job when I was picked up by the Titans was a Black man. That was less than ten years after the Civil Rights Movement started. Probably faster than the Titans will move, but….”

“But it’s been done by humans before,” Yamanu said.

“More than once,” Eyrn said.

Yamma yawned. He had been up, he realized, for about 20 hours. He had every right to be tired. And yet he felt strangely energized.

“You realize I have no idea how to start this,” Yamanu said.

“None of us do,” Eyrn said. She smiled. “There’s a saying in China, a country in Asia – always wanted to visit there, but no way I could catch a plane – anyhow, they have a saying: ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.’”

Yamanu tilted his head slightly, and nodded. “All right,” he said. “Well, I’m gonna dare to take a step. I’ve been thinking about writing – I know, one human blogging won’t do much….”

“Dr. Freeman’s blog got notice long before he became a professor,” Aezhay said.

“That’s the human professor, right?” Eyrn asked.

“That’s true,” Yamanu said. “And of course, they’d probably say the same things they said about him – it was a ruse, it was really his girlfriend….”

“They’ll say worse, I bet,” Eyrn said. “Much worse.”

Oddly, that made Yamma smile. “They probably will,” he said. “They probably will.”