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CHAPTER FOUR
Roshini sat, with her legs crossed, near the peak of one of the many mountains situated around the caves she used as her temporary home and storage chambers.
Cancri B’s single sun had broken the horizon. Its rays painted the sky red and orange and yellow and lit the orange sand covering the planet’s surface.
The image caught her breath. Fates. Her adopted planet was stunning.
The manufactured mountain to the right of her couldn’t dim its beauty. If a being glanced briefly at that rock-encased structure, they wouldn’t realize it wasn’t naturally part of the landscape. They wouldn’t know it hadn’t existed five solar cycles ago.
There was no indication the Invaders’ base was concealed within it. Or that, inside that fake mountain, those beings were building the most horrific weapon she’d ever heard about, using the most dangerous substances found on the planet to construct it.
The enemy knew the risks of handling the not-yet-shielded monster-maker ore, as the locals called the material. They were aware it caused tumors and pain and reduced remaining lifespans to mere planet rotations.
That was why they forced the Cancris to extract and manipulate the energy-exuding ore. They hid behind their shielded walls until the parts were covered with being-protective layers of a neutralizing coating. And they retreated to those safe spaces when they tested their weapon.
Leaving everyone else to become sick and die.
The Invaders had to be stopped. Roshini and her team would be the ones to do that.
But that wouldn’t happen now. There were other tasks to complete first.
She placed her hands on the sun-warmed stone, preparing to stand.
A lizard skittered past her.
She waited for a moment so as not to scare it. And then she jumped to her booted feet and followed the little creature down the side of the mountain.
The lizard would be headed toward one of the caves. There would be cooler temperatures and a water source there.
In the cave she’d claimed as her temporary home, there would also be vegetation, nourishment bars, and a makeshift sleeping support.
In the nearest caves to that one, the lizard would find weapons, machine parts, and other supplies gathered for the completion of the Plan.
The Cancris would be horrified if they knew where she was sheltering.
They were frightened of the caves. Their ancestors had somehow realized, long before sensors were developed, that those space were dangerous. The Cancris told stories of beings walking into the caves looking like humanoids and exiting as fearsome monsters.
Roshini monitored her caves, and she took her chances. She was already dying. The odds in the short term she had left of being captured by the Invaders while living in a domicile on a flat section of land was greater than that of a crack opening in her cave and flooding her with harmful energy.
She entered her home cave and checked the monitoring device attached to a stone wall. The levels of exposure were normal—the new normal, post-invasion.
It was still too cursedly high, but outside the cave wasn’t any better.
There had also been no large movements detected since she left the space. Her cave hadn’t been found by the enemy.
She was safe. Her shoulders lowered, and she continued with her sunrise routine.
It varied very little from planet rotation to planet rotation.
She checked on her plants.
They were illuminated by solar-powered lights she had installed herself. The water was provided by another system she’d built.
The lizard she’d spotted earlier munched on a leaf.
“You chose the best cave.” She smiled at the creature. “I have plenty of vegetation to share with you.”
She clipped bunches of fragrant herbs and placed them in a container. Delivering them was her excuse to meet with Luam every planet rotation.
