Rick’s suit worked enough that it didn’t lock up when he put it on. The smell of the Thrane’s body, a musty, oily residue, had been expunged thanks to the suit’s filtering system, but still, something felt off. He continued to wear his helmet, even though Al’Kara said he wouldn’t need it. “I feel safer with it on,” he’d said. Rick did feel more secure, looking toward the Golgoro Moot with his helmet on. He kept his gauntlets on as well to keep safe as well. Al’Kara had already gotten off the skimmer on the mesa outside of the Moot. They had stopped well outside the boundary of the meeting grounds. Al’Kara said the mesa would give them a good vantage point to give Rick a first look at the Golgoro Moot. She said it was the closest they could get before being detected.

Catching a glimpse of the Moot from where they stood, Rick felt his body tremble at the sight. So many Golgoro in one place. Seeing that many, without his suit at full strength for protection? A part of him felt shamed. His suit was still damaged from the fight with the Thrane, and it felt wrong on him, as if he didn’t deserve it. After a moment, he finally peeled it off and left it in the skimmer.

Rick felt as though he was a weak Space Ranger, unable to do more than wield his Tellic and hide behind the authority of the Rangers. Even the Golgoro were touchy about the Rangers’ authority on Mars. By the time he reached Al’Kara, he was startled at the sheer number of people and tents that carpeted the plains of Tharsis before him. From one side of the wide plain to the other, stretching from horizon to horizon, he saw colourful tents and red-skinned Golgoro, who were walking around the vast Tharsis Plains along with their beasts of burden, carts, or both. They moved around the paths and routes between the varied set-ups of tent “districts,” which was the best word he could think of for what he witnessed.

“Beloved, what is wrong?” Al’Kara asked, touching his arm.

The touch shook him from his thoughts, so he turned toward her. “I had no idea there were this many Golgoro in one spot,” he said, gesturing at the massive tent city. There were thousands upon thousands of tents, large and small. Pack animals of all kinds wandered in and around the massive tent city, paths, and larger routes that looked like thoroughfares between large blocks of tents spread out before them. “What is this place?”

“It is the Moot, beloved.” She moved a little closer to him. “It is held once a lifetime. Is there something wrong with it?” she asked, a look of concern scrunching up her face.

“The Space Rangers will need to know that there are so many tribes of the Golgoro. There are banners here I’ve never seen before,” he said, going to his gauntlet and starting to take notes with a series of keystrokes.

“Why?” Al’Kara asked, pulling her hand away. “Why tell the Rangers?”

“We want to keep tabs on the people of Mars, like every planet. We are peacekeepers, Al’Kara. We need to know it all,” Rick said, waving his hands at the giant tent city. “If we don’t have accurate notes—”

“So you can control us?” Al’kara’s spine went rigid, staring at him. He noticed a vague blue-black aura around her for a heartbeat but ignored it as a trick of the light.

Rick looked at her, confused. “No, so we can keep the peace. That’s what we do.”

“Space Rangers do more than keep the peace,” Al’Kara whispered. “You yourself came close to killing me.”

“You were controlling the Makay. You used them as puppets and toys,” Rick said, shuddering slightly while remembering the horrific ordeal in Lotus.

“Only to get your attention,” Al’Kara said with a smirk.

“What?” His hand dropped to his Tellic, but he snatched his hand away. Not the right response. She made a pact. We’re . . .allies.

“A bad joke,” she said, her eyes not missing where his hand was before he jerked it away. She raised an eyebrow. “I am sorry. I wish I could tell you why I was there. Some kind of force made me do it. I can only tell you that.”

She had said this before, once they were away from Thrane’s fortress. He didn’t know what to believe at the moment. “What stopped you from hurting me in prison? Or controlling me if it controlled you?” Rick asked, unnerved by her confession.

“When I awoke in the cell with you, I felt as though I was whole again. Something had used part of my mind, beloved. I swear to you.” She grabbed his hands and kissed them. “I swear, I am nothing like that woman from Lotus.” She kissed his hands again.

I want to believe her. Rick didn’t know if he could. He had made the pact with her in the cell in the fortress out of a need for an ally. He also knew that she was bound to him by that pact. Are her thoughts on gost and mydel enough to trust her? He swallowed, looking at her. “You can’t read my mind, can you?” He still wasn’t sure if it was a lie.

“No, beloved. I swore a water pact with you. I cannot use my powers on you. You know that.” She cocked her head to the side. “Do you think I would lie after a pact?”

“I don’t know.” Rick pulled away from her, moving along the mesa’s edge. He ran his hands through his hair, frustration and anger boiling inside him. He’d had a simple mission. Come to Mars, do his patrol, and leave. Choosing to go off-mission that moment—that one moment—in Lotus was when everything went wrong. He could only imagine what would happen when he got back to the rocket and his suit automatically uploaded its intel. I’m going to be booted from the Rangers for sure—if I even get back to the rocket. A hand settled on his shoulder. He turned to see Al’Kara smiling up at him.

“Beloved, you have to trust me,” she said, moving closer to him while sliding her hand into his.

“How can I trust you?” he asked. He didn’t resist taking her hand this time.

She pulled back as if slapped and looked at the tent city. “Did the fortress teach you nothing?” Her voice was tight.

Rick felt the stinging rebuke for what it was. He was being a child, a petulant child. Ranger Command might have its own thoughts on what was going on on Mars, but he had seen what was really going on. The Golgoro could teach him something that he could bring back to Command, something that could help them and their mission to protect the system. Also, he did know ways to keep the suit from making a full report during his pre-flight before blasting off to Callisto. When he reached the rocket.

He turned back to Al’Kara. “I’m sorry, I’ve had a long—”

Some of her rigidity diminished. “You’ve had a long few days, beloved. I wish you would stop sleeping away from me. I can help you in ways you can’t even imagine.”

Rick’s cheeks burned a little. “I think we need to cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s go down and join in. You said I would welcomed, is that right?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

Al’Kara gave him a sad smile, then looked toward her people. “Yes, the Golgoro will accept you as long as you come as my guest. Or as my—”

Rick waved her to stop. “I know, Al’Kara. I have regulations to deal with. A guest is adequate for what we need.”

There was a shifting on her face, her smile turning hard. “What do we need, beloved?”

“Time for the suit to fully charge. To talk to some of the heads of the Golgoro and then leave.” He didn’t say, “I leave,” but he wanted to.

“As you say, beloved.” Al’Kara said, pulling away and starting to walk down the steep switchback-laden trail that cut into the mesa toward the main entrance of the tent city. Rick ducked back to the skimmer to put his suit back on and then joined her in the descent. She gave him a disgusted look when she saw him above her in the suit, but she said nothing and kept walking.