"Very," Watchman assured him, stepping to a desk at one side of the landing and picking up a knife-blade-shaped data card. "All it takes is the key."
"Go," Twister told him, turning the muzzle of his BlasTech toward the door they'd entered through. "We'll watch for trouble here."
With the key in hand, the release did indeed go quickly. But as the imprisoned Eickaries began to emerge, blinking, into the brighter light of the cavern, Twister could sense that something was wrong. Many of them, not surprisingly, cringed back at the sight of Watchman's armor as he opened their doors, staring with the same fascinated suspicion at the other three stormtroopers grouped together on the landing. More baffling was the fact that they seemed to be avoiding not only their fellow prisoners but Su-mil and his soldiers as well.
It was Shadow who caught on first. "They're all from different tribes," he murmured.
"And they were captured before the United Tribes Agreements were put together," Twister said, a sour taste in his mouth as he understood. "Which means they're still fighting their petty little tribal disputes."
He thought he'd been speaking quietly. Apparently, not quietly enough. "Our disputes are not petty," Ha-ran insisted, glowering up at the stormtroopers from his position at the foot of the stairs.
Twister frowned down at him. After his loud complaints in the tailor shop, the older Eickarie hadn't said a word during the trip through the tunnel. As Twister thought about it, though, he realized that, silent or not, Ha-ran had always been close at hand, hovering at Su-mil's elbow.
He was just wondering what that might mean when Ha-ran started up the steps, his gait suddenly stiff. "Move away," he ordered the stormtroopers, gesturing them back. "Su-mil?"
Su-mil was instantly at his side, taking his arm and assisting him up the steps. "Was he hit?" Shadow asked quietly.
"I didn't think so," Twister said, looking Ha-ran up and down. There certainly weren't any bloodstains or scorch marks on his clothing.
"He is merely old," Su-mil said, gesturing the stormtroopers back as he and Ha-ran reached the landing. "Older than you realize. Move back, please. Prince Ha-ran wishes to address the prisoners."
Twister felt his jaw drop. "Prince Ha-ran?"
Ha-ran ignored him, turning instead to face the mass of Eickaries below. "Ha-ran mish-ra hee-sae sha-kae drof-si-shae-ral," he called, holding a hand out over the crowd.
Twister frowned in concentration. Aurek Company had gotten a two-day crash course in the main Eickarie trade language on the trip here, which had so far served him fairly well in his limited contacts with the natives. Unfortunately, Ha-ran was going way too fast for him to keep up.
Apparently, the others weren't doing any better. "Where's a protocol droid when you need one?" Cloud muttered as Ha-ran continued speaking.
"He said, ‘I am Ha-ran of the Family Mish-ra, Clan Sha-kae, prince of the Tribe Si-shae-ral,' " Su-mil said softly from beside them. " ‘I am here to speak of the present and of the future.' "
Cloud stirred. "Twister, we don't have time for speeches."
"Quiet," Twister ordered, gazing at Ha-ran with new eyes. Eickarie princes rarely went into combat, and never without fifty thousand soldiers along for the ride. This was definitely one for the record lists. "Go on, Su-mil."
" ‘The present is that we are in our final battle against our oppressors,' " Su-mil continued, translating, as Ha-ran's proud voice echoed from the dingy stone. " ‘But unless you embrace the new future that we the United Tribes of Kariek have forged, we will be no better off than we were before they came.' "
"I don't get it," Shadow murmured. "Why do we even care what a bunch of shaggy prisoners think? Shouldn't they be grateful enough at being sprung that they'll do what they're told?"
"You do not understand," Su-mil said, his orange patches going a dark yellow. "These are not ordinary criminals or even ordinary opponents to the Warlord's tyranny. Many of these Eickaries are nobles and elders, taken as hostages to ensure the good behavior of their tribes."
"It didn't work very well, did it?" Watchman put in. "Hostages or not, pretty much the whole planet signed on to the United Tribes Agreements."
"The Warlord might still choose to execute them, or use them as living shields to ensure his own escape," Su-mil pointed out. "That was the reason we feared your unexpected attack, and why I insisted they be freed before the Warlord was routed from his inner sanctum."
"I understand," Twister said. "You couldn't just let them be slaughtered; but you also couldn't afford to let them come out and try to pick up their lives where they left off. If they did, you might slip right back into the old cycle of endless tribal warfare."
Su-mil looked closely at him. "That is indeed the danger," he confirmed. "You are more perceptive than I had realized."
"And you in turn are rather deeper than I realized," Twister returned. "Let me guess: none of these prisoners is from your own tribe?"
"That is correct," Su-mil said. "The most important are from Ha-ran's tribe and its allies, which is why he volunteered to come with us tonight. Of all those who might have spoken to them of peace, he has the greatest chance of convincing them."
"How's it working?" Shadow asked.
Su-mil gazed down at the crowd. "Not well, I fear," he conceded. "Those of the Tribe Si-shae-ral are listening closely, but many of the others seem impatient and closed-minded. They may believe it to be a deception."
"In the meantime we have a job of our own to do," Cloud said grimly. "And I don't think we can afford to hang around here any longer."
Twister nodded reluctant agreement. From the running dialogue of orders and reports streaming through his headset, it sounded like the rest of Aurek Company was in an uphill battle back in the two main tunnels. "He's right, Su-mil," he said. "We'll have to leave you to sort things out on your own."
He was starting to turn away when a sudden thought struck him. "Unless," he went on, "you'd like to invite them to come along and see what can be accomplished by people who don't fight among themselves."
Su-mil's highlights went to a shade of green only slightly lighter than the rest of his face, the Eickarie version of a frown. "You refer to the soldiers of your Empire of the Hand?"
"Of course," Watchman said, catching on. "We'll show them how we work together to defeat the Lakra who subjugated them."
"And maybe even capture the Warlord along with it," Shadow added.
Su-mil's highlights warmed from green to pink in a tight smile. "They might indeed find that instructive," he agreed. "Perhaps Ha-ran should invite his tribesmen to assist, as well."
"Why not?" Twister agreed casually. "I'm sure they'd enjoy watching history in the making as the Hu-shi-crive and Si-shae-ral tribes overthrow the Warlord."
"I will suggest it." His highlights fading back to orange, Su-mil turned and began speaking quietly to Ha-ran.
Twister gestured to Watchman and Shadow. "There has to be an armory around here somewhere for the guards," he said. "Go find it."
The others nodded acknowledgment and left. "This had better not take long," Cloud warned, his hands fingering his BlasTech restlessly.
"Understood," Twister said, gazing out on the crowd and trying to gauge their reaction to Ha-ran's new suggestion. "But if this works, I think it'll be worth the wait."
It worked, all right, and faster than Twister had expected. Faced with the possibility that some other tribes would grab more than their share of the glory, the newly freed prisoners barely let Ha-ran finish his comments before they were clamoring to be allowed to assist. At Twister's suggestion, the prince split the new fighting force into three groups, with each group lining up along traditional tribal alliances as much as possible. By the time the squads were ready, Watchman and Shadow had the guards' armory open.