1
(Rinday, Kalinari -just before Quinya
830 Terrenden Common Era)
Joton, Kri’enden – Freebooter Apartments
.
Xanthine Dásav excused herself from the training meeting, her unborn baby weighing heavily on her bladder. She waddled uncomfortably into the hall and hurried to the women’s restroom.
On her way back out, she paused a moment to gaze out the window towards the river, busy with waterfowl. Whomever had designed this building could have housed twice as many people if they’d forgone the view in favor of another row of apartments, but the ambiance provided by the large windows and outside patio added a sense of community that Xanthine planned to take full advantage of when the building work was completed. Their residents would become very active members in the casino project whether they understood it or not.
She was about to go back into the meeting when her PCS link buzzed.
“Kri’enden #1,” she answered the familiar, but scrambled code.
“How is your project coming along?” the Curator asked.
“The first set of apartments are ready for residents. We are awaiting the kitchen installation in order to bring ourselves to working order.”
“Sounds good. And the casino itself?”
“We’re still working with officials on that. There has been some opposition to the Freebooter plans. That’s why we got the apartments done first – we want the people to see it as an extension of the Joton Neví Housing Project itself. Then, I think the citizens will see the wisdom in our project and the A’mara will look silly again.”
“Even though they have been providing labor for your organization?” the Curator asked.
“We have already taken over many of the positions they were occupying. I think the only ones left are the staff who handle domestic abuse victims as they arrive,” Xanthine replied.
“I think you need to see about replacing those as well. Women who have been through hell are often very malleable. They have trouble trusting, but could be very willing to trust someone who cares for them – something we are quite good at. They often come with children too – next decade’s recruits. We have to play this game for the long-term results if we are to out-maneuver the A’mara.”
Xanthine nodded her understanding.
“I will see to that personally,” she promised. Then she changed the subject. “I hear that our ship was destroyed.”
“Two A’mara set off the booby-traps. Fortunately, there was nothing left for them to find after #10 and her associates cleaned it up.”
“Are the two A’mara people to worry about?” Xanthine asked.
“Unsure. I will be keeping a close eye on this Marosio Muran and Lucao Linden, that’s for sure!” the Curator replied.
“I will remember those names too, in case they ever turn up in Joton.”
“Lucao was there last summer, you might know. He was involved in stealing your hostage from you.”
Xanthine winced. “I will remember him if he ever returns. The girl still trains with the A’mara.”
“Unsurprising. It is a shame that Sipper didn’t manage to keep control of that situation. Of course, he’s now one of our pawns.”
Xanthine smirked, knowing a little of how Uana had tricked Sipper into a merger-by-child. At least she had wanted to bond with Païsan. The fact he got himself thrown in prison was on him.
She noticed a man come out of the zip-lift. “I have company,” Xanthine said, disconnecting.
“I am one of the recruits,” the man said.
“Then, you’d better go inside for the training session,” she encouraged, indicating the door.
The man obeyed and she followed him, hearing Tasp Yaiver’s voice from the podium. “So, the Joton Neví Housing Project is conducted with the assistance of the government of Kri’enden who enlisted the help of the A’mara in administrating and protecting the Project,” he was explaining to a classroom full of around thirty recruits. “This building is separate. We were going to have this one demolished to make way for the Freebooter Casino, but we realized that we could save a lot of money by renovating it and housing our employees on site. It allows our workers to have no travel time or expense. It also gives us the ability to house more of the disadvantaged of Kri’enden and give them employment at the same time. It really is a win-win for the City of Joton. This is how we got permission to renovate this building – and how we have gained permission for our casino!”
Murmurs of approval went around the room. Xanthine nodded her head in pleasant surprise as she gratefully sat down next to the podium.
The man who came in with her spoke up. “What if we can offer the Neví more talents than simply building and community administration?” the man asked.
“Your name?” Xanthine asked.
“Joneel Mern.”
“What kind of talents are you talking about?”
“I’ll show you after if you need a demonstration,” Joneel replied.
Tasp nodded. “Of course, members of our organization are automatically housed if we have enough space – which we do right now. It reduces your overall pay, of course, but we can care for our employees much more efficiently as a group than everyone separately. In general, it will cost you much less to stay with us than you could even hope to achieve away from here.”
Xanthine looked around the room as the discussion continued. There were a few who looked leya-sensitive enough. She looked through a box and pulled out some paper cards. Some of them would invite them to their morning training sessions. The others would just be invited to their pawn meetings – she handed those cards to Egan Woardly.
“Xanthine and Egan will be handing around some cards to everyone. They will give you your next instruction for being a part of our organization,” Tasp explained. “The cards are unique, the instructions only for you.”
The cards were passed around, Xanthine giving cards to the dozen with strong leya potential. These ones were given a task plus the instruction to return the following morning for training. These were also given a sample booster to try. She noted that Joneel took his before he even left the room.
The sole female recruit had been reserved for last, Xanthine noted with amusement. Knowing that Egan’s partner had been out of town again to visit cousins in the Canyon, it was only natural that he was looking for someone to warm his bed tonight. Egan nodded his farewell as he escorted the woman out of the room. Xanthine shook her head and grinned at Tasp.
“No sign of Sheena?” Tasp asked.
“None. She plays a dangerous game that one. She pretends to be A’mara just as much as she pretends to be one of us.”
Tasp nodded. “It would be good to get another opinion of her loyalty.”
“I will question her when she returns.”
♥♥♥
If you have enjoyed this book, I would be grateful if you could put your thoughts as a review on [Goodreads](coming soon) for me.
Buy at: (coming soon to Books2Read, Scribl, LBRY and Lulu - paperback.)
Other Chapters of this set
Birth of the Neví - Chapter 1 on Whaleshares
Name of the Neví - Chapter 1
Mind of the Neví - Chapter 1
Game of the Neví - Chapter 1
Maps and Guides
- Kri'enden & Joton - 830 TCE
- Character Guide and Image Credits
- Calendar and Glossary - for Name of the Neví but these two parts are true throughout.
Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2019 – all rights reserved.
If you are interested in helping me publish these works, please contact me on Facebook or Discord, viking-ventures#2883.
Asking @popcornexpress to bring popcorn!
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
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