Kaleb’s eyes cracked open painfully, and slowly focused on the cabin roof. He could see Essan sitting beside him, glasses propped on his nose, reading something. Kaleb sighed. He was in bed, but it felt more like he was trapped in dough, everything felt deadened and gluey. He tried to move and remembered his broken right hand, hissing suddenly as pain shot up through it.

“Oh, you’re awake! Good, good. Yes, try not to move that hand. We’ve bound it, but we thought we should wait until you were awake to put it in a cast. We had the ship’s doctor come and look at it and there are a few breaks. One in your finger, one in your wrist. And a lot of bruising… All over.”

“A…. um…”Kaleb’s voice croaked. He coughed. “What happened?”

“I was rather hoping you might tell me that… though I suppose you’d really like to know what happened after you passed out. Well we’re not sure who it was that stabbed your other assailant, and I arrived a few minutes after whoever it was had already departed, leaving quite the scene! It was… dramatic.”

“Someone died?!” Kaleb hadn’t been sure it had truly happened. His vision was really on the way out by the time that… he shivered… that knife had appeared.

“Yes, yes they did. Not by your hand, we naturally figured that out. Though the captain was anxious to know if there would be any more trouble. I did my best to assure him” at this Essan rubbed his fingers together, “that everything was fine, and would continue to be fine – at least for the duration of the journey… But I must say, well done on putting up a fight. It isn’t really what we aim to teach, or to do, using fields like you did… well, I’m assuming you put the techniques you’ve been learning to a different use?” When Kaleb nodded, Essan continued “but since you have no experience with any other method, I’d say it was quite well done of you to do as much as you did. It’s important to be able to defend yourself,”

“But… Did I do it right? Should I have waited for you?”

“Hmmm… it’s a good question. Unfortunately life is inexorably chaotic, and sometimes even the best laid plans go awry. We’re sure to have let them know, for instance, where we’re headed with this little stunt. But In the end, unless you’re anticipating being attacked, there isn’t much you can do in such a situation except fight like hell and try and get out. I mean, even if you were to wait, you’d have been their hostage by then. Maybe I could have extricated you, but maybe they would have been devious enough to prevent that”

“And the ship? We’re not in trouble are we”

“Those two didn’t have tickets, you see. It seems rather strange, such a minor infraction. But the dead one they turfed over the side, and the other is in holding, awaiting someone to get him out or he might very well follow his friend. The captains of these ships are very customer focused. To our benefit this time! They’re usually owned by larger corporations, but this one is actually a private outfit.”

“That’s good to know. And what about Erid?”

“Oh I wouldn't’ worry about him. We’ll hear from him later. Though that particular diversion will definitely indicate to those underground fellows that it was a group of interest on this ship, and so Erid might find it difficult to get into Veillard without being spotted. So we’ll divert to another city. We’ll have to go through Veillard, but hopefully Erid will figure out what’s happened and try and find us elsewhere.”

“What? Will he be able to find us?”

“Oh yes, we’ve got a number of bolt holes around the place. It might take him a week but he’ll find us easily enough.”

“Oh that’s good.”

“That anxious to get back to your training! Ha Ha, that's the spirit I like to see.”

“Oh no, I was just–”

“But never fear! I shall take over your care for a brief period!”

“Oh, right.”

“Mmmmm. You should try some of the tea they have here. There are perks to being a traveling company, apparently.”

Several moments later, and a hot mug of tea thrust beneath his nose, Kaleb reflected on the battle. The floor had been scrubbed where the man’s blood had poured out over it. Essan had, in a way, he thought, avoided the question about the knife wielder. Kaleb couldn’t help but wonder about seeing the life slip from that man’s eyes. It had happened before him, in a way he wasn’t used to. He was used to monsters, to big inhuman things that wanted to eat, and maybe eat people too. But he was not used to seeing people attack each other. He had wondered, he realized, about why whoever had founded Haethea had left cable city behind, about why that had no spikes, and about why they were not trained, trained to defend themselves, or use their fields. But, he realized now, Haethea was a bastion of peace in comparison the city. However, it could probably be dominated by a single sufficiently outfitted individual. Wasn’t it better to be safe from that possibility? He looked over at Essan. He hoped that he wasn’t making a mistake by sending someone to Haethea. But the more he thought about it, the more he realised that it wasn’t just up to him. Sure, the people on the lonely pillar didn’t know what cable city was like, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t know what they might want. If they wanted to defend themselves… who was he to think of removing that possibility? They should decide it for themselves, as a whole.

Kaleb tenderly moved his body around his broken wrist, which was firmly splinted and held against his chest. After his worries had aired themselves, a different feeling washed up on the shores of his consciousness: a strange exhillirating sense of pride. He had defended himself! For the first time since he’d come to cable city, he’d stood up for himself, and arguably done quite well. He’d still technically lost, but he’d also technically been battling two people with spikes. A warm feeling filled him at this thought. It wasn’t impossible. That overwhelming appearance of power that people with spikes gave: it could be overcome. Even as he was, weak and spikeless, even he had been able to make them think twice. Kaleb promised to redouble his efforts in training. Even if he’d only been learning camouflage, he’d been able to apply it directly to combat. He wasn’t planning to fight, he hastily reprimanded himself… but the possibility fo being engaged in some attack, given his experiences, seemed inevitable.

Kaleb sighed and sipped his tea as the mist ship powered its way to Veillard.