— 12 —
Nelson rose early the next morning and rode at a faster pace than usual. No use getting caught one more time, he thought.
Besides, it was cold. Despite the added warmth of the Demon Star as it swung nearer the planet, the Tran winter was unpleasant. The sky above was growing thick with clouds; first signs of a snowstorm in the making. Nelson doubted that the cold and the snow would be as bad this far south of Drantos and the Five Kingdoms, but he wasn't anxious to spend another night in the open to find out.
He lodged himself for pay that night, staying with a peasant family in a small village. The village was ultimately ruled by one of the City States, but rule was lax in the winter. No one wants to send out valuable troops in bad weather just to protect a few huts and fields.
As he stared at the fire in the small hut, Nelson decided to settle down for the rest of the winter. Gengrich and his crew wouldn't be in Kleistinos until spring. Nelson had probably put enough distance between himself and them for now. Parsons would still be involved in his bloody guerilla war in Drantos. Nelson decided he had nothing to fear.
It wasn't difficult to trade some hard labor every day, plus a bit of gold, for room and board for the rest of the winter. The villagers were naturally curious about the stranger, but they avoided direct questions and Nelson avoided direct answers. Once he felt comfortable with the family boarding him, he carefully hid his star weapons in a hole hollowed out of the wall of an outbuilding and relaxed.
Working in the cold outdoors is good for me, he thought one day. Helps put everything in perspective. Simple tasks, a quiet life, enough food, and a work-hardened body. Guess that's the appeal of peasant life for you. At least you don't have to kill anybody.
And he didn't have to kill very often. The hard winter and the dried-up trade traffic were destroying the bandit groups that roamed the City States' territory. Finally one group worked up enough courage to try raiding the peasant village where Nelson lived.
Nelson wasn't able to get his star weapons in time, but he did manage to grab a sickle and, wielding it as a clumsy knife, dispatch three of the raiders who had burned one home and driven off some livestock. For the villagers, this was the big event of the winter.
The ten-days passed. The snows began to melt and the spring rains came, turning the hills and plains into quagmires of thick, clayish mud. Despite the mud, traffic between villages and cities increased. Trade began to flow, albeit sluggishly in the muddy ruts that passed for roads. News made the rounds from village to village.
There was news that Drantos was at peace again and that many of the star lords had joined the Eqeta of Chelm, the Star Lord Rick. Other star lords were on the march throughout Tran; Kleistinos had hired some to protect a great trade caravan going south to the Sunlands.
Nelson heard the news and decided it was time to leave.
Go to section 38.