With that, he turned to his men Gaby could see at least a dozen of them, all heavily armed, their eyes scanning the nearby peaks and barked a series of commands. Several of the men darted past them to board the dropship.

We have a camp not far from here, said Cuys, nodding towards the nearest of the trucks. He snapped his fingers at two of the remaining soldiers, and jabbed a finger at Gabrielle. Two of the men trotted forward, each taking hold of one of her arms and pulling her along after Tarrant and Cuys, as they made for the truck.

And my friends? asked Tarrant (Gregor Tarrant, it seemed, for Gabrielle had not failed to notice the Freeholder addressing him by that name). Are they here yet?

Cuys shook his head. No, but they should be arriving from orbit shortly. He glanced again at Gabrielle. Can we be certain the Accord wont come looking for her?

The Grand Barge is by now a pile of kindling spread all up and down the Ka River, Tarrant replied. We took care of Thijs and the others first, in case they might have had a chance of getting away before the waves hit. Anyone mounting a rescue operation is going to assume shes dead, along with everyone else on board. When do you intend to begin the main assault?

They came to a stop by the designated truck. Weve had units spread all through the hills bordering the Demarchy for a good while now. And some have already started to push deep into their territory, now the waters are beginning to recede. The rest of us are currently mobilizing, and we should be moving en masse in just another few days. In the meantime weve been picking off a few scattered Demarchy troops and outposts not that theres much fight left in the few who survived.

Well, said Tarrant, sounds to me like you should be able to walk right in there.

Except, Cuys pointed out, we still have the Accord to deal with, which remains my greatest concern.

The important thing to remember, said Tarrant, is that they dont give a damn about the Demarchy. All they care about is that Magi ship and whatever information it may have locked away inside it. Remember to keep your forces at a distance from it dont do anything that might give the Accord reason to think you might cause a problem for it. Then there should be a relatively smooth transition of power.

And yourself? asked Cuys. Are you going to stick around for the fight?

Tarrant laughed and shook his head. No, Im going off-world. I dont think its at all likely Ill be back.

Cuys nodded, something glinting in his eye. Perhaps thats for the best. He glanced again at Gabrielle. And the girl?

She goes with me.