Herald of the Flame (The Rising Flame Book 2) by Sylvia Engdahl

Author:Sylvia Engdahl [Engdahl, Sylvia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ad Stellae Books
Published: 2014-10-14T18:30:00+00:00

~ 37 ~

“You believe the Estel legend?" Terry asked, not knowing whether to feel jubilant or dismayed. He wanted people to believe in the idea it symbolized, not in a man with supernatural powers.

“Zach does. He thinks it’s literally true, that otherwise there wouldn’t be a bounty on the man. He said he told you about that, thought you might be in a position to warn him.”

With a sinking feeling Terry inquired, “Has he sent you a message about the bounty, something more to add to the warning?”

“Not exactly.” Walt looked him in the eye. “You haven’t given me your name.”

“It’s best if I don’t, Walt. It could get you in trouble.” Although he trusted the Fenways not to expose him, they could very well be sought by bounty hunters themselves if any connection to him was suspected, and outlaws of that kind would not hesitate to use unpleasant methods of forcing them to tell what they knew.

Terry escorted Becka and Josh over from the shuttle and made sure that no evidence had been left of their presence. The van was waved through the gate without inspection, as Walt had expected. Once inside the dome they were, temporarily at least, safe.

Jenna welcomed them with warmth, seeming more confused than amazed. “I don’t understand,” she said. “How can you already have picked up refugees? I got the impression that you hadn’t been in touch with Zach lately.”

Terry, equally confused, repeated what he had told Walt. “What has Zach got to do with it?” he asked. “He didn’t mention knowing anyone on Eden.”

Walt and Jenna exchanged glances, but said nothing until the kids had been settled in the kitchen for an early breakfast and the adults had withdrawn to the restaurant’s office.

“I think under the circumstances it’s time you were let in on our secret,” Walt said. “We’ve been sheltering people who’ve been victimized by the Ku Klux Klan on Earth. Zach sends them to us—he has contacts among captains, some of them Fleet captains, who will bring them this far when they’re coming in for maintenance anyway. We have a family with us now, a couple with two little girls. But of course they can’t stay here; this colony doesn’t accept unskilled immigrants, even documented ones. So we can help only a few, depending on who we can find to take them to a world that does. That’s why he told us to watch for your ship.”

Stunned, Terry said, “Why didn’t Zach say anything about this when I was with him?”

“He’s only been doing it for a few weeks. The situation on Earth keeps getting worse, and after he learned one captain had broken the rules, he began looking for others. He didn’t have a way to reach you, but he thought you might be willing.”

“And what’s more,” Jenna added, “he thought you might reach the Captain of Estel. A man like that who knows how to stay out of sight would be able to take refugees to many worlds—maybe all the way from Earth itself.

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