Free Old Green World by Walter Basho Page A

allow Nikola to stand.”
    Richard walked Nikola away. Everyone turned to Albert and stared.
    Albert turned to Aengus. “The boat’s all right?”
    Aengus and the soldier next to him nodded dumbly in unison.
    “Right,” Albert said. “So, I guess we need to make a perimeter.”
    + + +
    The next morning, he received a note from Brother Richard, calling him into the Adepts’ camp for a first briefing. The Adepts camped several yards away from the troops, on clearer and more even ground. The tents gleamed in Albert’s view as he approached. They were a clean white, formed of the same oiled canvas used for sails, sturdy and waterproof. They were laid out at right angles, with good spacing in between. Albert and Aengus slept in a tent made of animal skins and shellacked wool, with plenty of leaks, and they had one of the best in the militia.
    Albert approached the center tent. Richard emerged just as he came to the entry. Albert reared back and yelped.
    “Nothing to fear here, Albert,” Richard said.
    “Thank you. I’m still not used to, um.” Albert stopped himself.
    Richard gave back a smile, wry but open. “It’s fine. Please come in.”
    Sunlight cast a warm beige glow through the canvas. Beds and animal skins covered the ground, and a long but very low wooden table sat in the far corner. The table held a desperately organized set of books and papers: military history, maps with arrows, but also some diagrams that Albert recognized from Thomas’s physics. One map was marked up extensively with pins and with lines and dots in many colors of ink.
    “I’ll make some tea, Albert,” Richard said.
    “Thank you, please, or, that is, you don’t have to, I can make tea . . .”
    “That’s kind of you to offer, dear. I’m fine. Please sit.”
    He did. The stool was like a baby’s stool, but he managed to squat on it. He looked over the papers on the table. He tried to scoot closer to the table but banged his knees on the edge of it. “These are the plans for the incursion?”
    Richard nodded. “This is Terra Baixa. You know from your lessons at school, yes? This,” he pointed, “is us. This, here, is our destination. The march will take a few weeks. First, we will wait here for all our troops to assemble, and then we will take the front to the Baixans.”
    “Will we have surprise on our side?”
    “I doubt it. We’re very visible, even now. We have a significant advantage in numbers, though. Were I a Baixan, I would feel a sense of inevitability about it.”
    “Won’t they send some Administrators to negotiate with us or something, then?”
    Richard smiled and patted his hand. “They don’t have Administrators, Albert.” He looked directly at Albert in that Adept way, eye contact that didn’t break, no matter how uncomfortable it got.
    “They aren’t organized in the sense that we are. That’s much of the point. We assume many things about how people work, how groups work: those things are not true here. There is no central Administration to negotiate with. There’s only us, against the chaos that is Terra Baixa.”
    “But they attacked us and want to invade us. Right? How can they do that if they don’t have an Administration?”
    “ Invade is a strong word.” Richard paused. “There’s no doubt that they are aggressive. They were lashing out at us, and we had to respond.”
    He took a longer pause, lost in thought. “I could hear some skepticism in your voice just then, yes? Please trust that we are doing the right thing here. We will tame the chaos here and bring our civilization to Terra Baixa. I know you can see the benefit in that. Your parents made their way across this land. They told you stories about this place, didn’t they?”
    Albert nodded.
    “When we finish, Terra Baixa will be a happier place, like the White Island. That alone will make this all worth it.”
    Albert shrugged.
    “How are your troops?” Richard asked.
    “I think they’re glad to have someone human in