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Liada held up two fingers.
“You have two mothers?”
Liada held up one finger, then two. Pointing at the second finger, she said, “Yzebel.”
“Yzebel is your second mother. And were you a baby when Yzebel bought Tin Tin from Sulobo?”
“No.” Liada held out her hand at chest height.
“You were a young girl when Yzebel bought Tin Tin?”
“Yes. And we…” Liada hugged Tin Tin close, tilting her head to her.
“You were like sisters?”
Karina held up two fingers, wrapping one around the other. They both nodded.
“Sulobo branded Tin Tin when he owned her?” Karina asked.
“Yes,” Liada said. “And I think for me to be like my sister, Tin Tin Ban Sunia, so I do this.” Her hands told the story quite clearly.
Karina sniffed and wiped her cheek. “I-I-can’t…”
“Imagine?” Joaquin said.
“I can’t imagine…”
“A bond so strong, one would have herself branded because her sister was branded as a slave?” Joaquin said.
Karina agreed.
Silence reigned for a few minutes.
“Something so powerful,” Kawalski said, “makes the simple routines of our lives seem trivial.”
“Cateri,” Liada said, “is Sulobo slave.”
“What?” Alexander asked.
“Yes,” Tin Tin said.
“Cateri,” Alexander said, “you are Sulobo’s slave?”
Cateri said something to Liada, who spoke to her in their language. Cateri then loosened the drawstring at the collar of her tunic, and Liada pulled the back of the tunic down far enough for them to see the slave brand on her right shoulder blade.
“Damn,” Kawalski said, “how could someone do that?”
Karina touched the scar. “So cruel, but her brand is different.”
“Yes,” Joaquin said. “Liada and Tin Tin have an arrow across the shaft of the pitchfork. Cateri’s brand has the pitchfork with the snake winding around the shaft, but not the arrow.”
“Why is that?” Karina asked.
“It’s a running brand,” Kawalski said. “In the old west, when a cow was sold, or stolen, they had to change the original brand to something different. They used a running brand to alter the old brand. That arrow on Tin Tin and Liada’s brand is a running brand, added to show they didn’t belong to the original owner.”
“These women are treated like cattle,” Karina said. “Bought and sold as if they were animals.”
“Sulobo,” Alexander said, “that son-of-a-bitch.”
Cateri adjusted her collar and tightened the drawstring. She then turned to leave them.
“Wait.” Alexander took her arm to stop her. “Don’t go.”
She faced him.
“You don’t have to be a slave. Slavery was outlawed two hundred years ago.”
Cateri glanced at Liada, then Liada looked to Autumn for help in explaining what Alexander had said.
“Hmm,” Autumn said, “how can I say ‘freedom’ in sign—”
Lojab interrupted her. “I’ll buy her from Sulobo.”
“Yeah, Low Job,” Kady said, “you’d like that, owning a woman. You idiot butthead.”
“I don’t think the Seventh Cavalry is going to own any slaves,” Karina said.
“You stupid women,” Lojab said, “you’re all pissed because nobody would pay money for you.”
“Eat shit and die, Low Job,” Katy said.
“Knock it off, Lojab,” Alexander said. “That’s uncalled for,” he said as he watched Cateri walk away.
Chapter Eleven
As the morning sun rose over the treetops, Sparks pulled a large camo suitcase from the weapons container and popped the latches. Inside, nestled in foam, was the Dragonfly Surveillance Drone.
The other soldiers came to watch as he carefully lifted the tiny aircraft from its resting place and placed it on the grass. He also laid out a joystick controller, iPad, and several coin-sized lithium batteries.
“It really does look like a dragonfly,” Kady said.
“Yeah,” Kawalski said, “a dragonfly the size of your hand.”
Sparks placed one battery in a slot in the belly of the Dragonfly and checked the wings to make sure they moved freely. Next, he placed a second battery inside a small compartment on the controller. He flipped the switches on the controller and iPad, then lifted the aircraft to inspect the tiny camera mounted beneath the belly. As he adjusted the camera, an image appeared on the iPad screen.
Kady waved, and her image on the iPad waved also. “Yep, that’s us.”
“What a mean looking bunch,” Kawalski said.
“Yeah,” Autumn said, “and some of them smell mean, too.”
“If you would move upwind from Paxton,” Lojab said, “you might find some fresh air.”
“All right, boys and girls,” Sparks said. “Weird science takes over.” He stood and backed away. “Give her some space. We’re ready for takeoff.”
A soft whirling sound came from the wings as Sparks worked the controller. The sound increased as the Dragonfly lifted off the grass.
“Karina,” Sparks said, “pick up the iPad and hold it over here so I can see it.”
The aircraft rose above their heads. “We’ve got a good picture, Sparks,” Karina said. “Can you see it?”
Sparks looked at the iPad, then back at the aircraft as it lifted higher. “Yeah, it’s good.”
Soon, the Dragonfly was at treetop level, and Karina saw the whole platoon looking up, except for her, as she watched the display.
“Now we’ll see where we are,” Sergeant Alexander said.
“We’re probably going to see the Wizard behind his green curtain,” Kawalski said.
“Or a giant movie set,” Kady said.
The Dragonfly rose higher and higher, showing more forest in every direction.
Everyone watched the video display on the iPad.
“Wow,” Lorelei said, “look at that.” She pointed to the long trail behind the army. It stretched away for many miles to the southeast.
“And they’re still coming into the camp,” Kady said.
“Where’s the river?” Lorelei asked.
Sparks worked the controls, and the Dragonfly rotated toward the north.
“There,” Kawalski said.
“Can you go higher, Sparks?” Sarge asked.
“Check the altitude, Karina,” Sparks said.
“How?”
“Touch the bottom of the screen,” Sparks said.
“Ah, there it is,” Karina said. “You’re at fifteen hundred feet.”
“Okay, up we go.”
“Two thousand feet,” Karina said.
“Pan around,” Sarge said.
The video image on the iPad rotated.
“Wow,” Karina said, “I’ve never seen the air so clean and clear.”
“No highways, no cities, no cell towers,” Kawalski said, “no manmade structures anywhere.”
“Hold it,” Sarge said. “Back up. There, ten miles to the north. What’s that?”
Sparks zoomed in.
“It must be a town,” Paxton said.
“A village,” Kady said.
“Yeah,” Karina said, “a big one.”
“Go up higher and zoom in more.”
“Three thousand feet,” Karina said.
“How high can she go?” Kawalski asked.
“About five thousand,” Sparks said.
“I see people,” Paxton said.
Sparks zoomed in more.
“Hey, those are buffalo dogs.”
“Vocontii,” Autumn said.
“Yes, they are,” Sarge said. “And there’s hundreds of ’em.” He looked up at the Dragonfly but couldn’t see her. “Take her up to five thousand.”
Everyone watched the iPad as Sparks reduced the zoom back to normal and the aircraft lifted higher and higher.
“There’s the river,” Autumn said.
“It’s huge,” Katy said.
“Pan around the horizon, Sparks,” Sarge said.
“Look, an ocean,” Kawalski said.
“How far away?” Autumn asked.
“Probably around twenty miles,” Sparks said.
