cy. After that, they roamed through town, checking out warehouse space for about four hours. They found two warehouses that would suit their needs; both were on the outskirts of town, both were fairly large, and both were owned by private companies that weren't directly part of the Trillane merchant empire. The smaller of the two was owned by a Makati mom-and-pop company, and run by a Makati named Thryngis Zul'Krood. Jason knew it was a family company because Thryngis told him so; he was the nephew of the company owner, Groodem. Their company specialized in warehouse space, and owned 34 warehouses in twelve star systems. Thryngis managed five warehouses located through midwest North America, the main concentration of farming effort on the continent. The other warehouse was owned by a Faey commoner couple, privately held and privately operated, who were actually came from a star system controlled by a different noble house. They were Shian and Mari Vemale, and they were from Regulus VI, which was controlled by a minor house called Zendale. Regulus VI was a sun-blasted desert world with two suns, and they'd sold their small business there dealing with water reclamation equipment and come to Earth after the subjugation, seeking a better life on a planet less hellish. They owned just that one warehouse, having been lucky enough to win a lottery to have rights to buy land in the planned New Myrthan, and they were making enough money to pay their mortgage and have a decent life.

These two warehouses each had advantages and disadvantages. The Makati warehouse had a concealed back doorway surrounded by a fence where the cloaked skimmer could land to load a projector, but the Makati had an extensive security system in place, complete with cameras that might catch sight of the stored equipment or the people who would come in the middle of the night to move it out. The warehouse owned by the Faey was truly mom-and-pop. It had no security to speak of outside of the Faey themselves. They lived in the warehouse itself, in an apartment over the office. The warehouse's main door wasn't concealed, but the warehouse was on the edge of New Myrthan. Jason debated these two sites as they sat in a Burger King and had lunch, looking at a very professional brochure given to him by Thryngis and a hand-written page of rates and fees given to him by Mari Vemale.

"Whatcha think, sugah?" Temika asked around a mouthful of french fries.

"I think neither of them is perfect," he answered in French. "But all things considered, going with the _Faey_ couple should be best," he said, resorting to the classic word for their race... there was no exclusive French word for _Faey_. "If they're typical _Faey_, they won't have any loyalty to the ruling house here, they belong to a different house. That means that we can get them to do what we need to do."

"Yah, I noticed the same feel," she answered. "You think we can buy their cooperation?"

He nodded.

"I did kinda like them though," she admitted. "They were nice."

"Let's hope they're like most others of their race."

"How do you mean?"

"Loyal only to themselves," he answered bluntly. "Remember, the commoners hate the system, and those two are commoners. We can use that to our advantage."

"I never really noticed that. Symone doesn't act like that."

"She does," he told her honestly. "Her only interest is herself and Tim. Everything she does, the very reason she's with us, goes no further than that. She's in love, and that's her only motivation. I can guarantee you that if Tim wasn't like you and me, _that way_, they'd still be back in New Orleans. _That_ is why they're out here."

Jason bowed his head a moment, remembering what Miaari had said. Faey had _no faith_, and that was their weakness. Could that be what she meant? Was the average Faey's lack of loyalty to race and government be the lack of faith Miaari told him about? After all, the only thing that held the whole system together was the raw might that the Empress could bring to bear. About the only loyalty that most Faey had dealt with protecting their positions. Jyslin's aunt Lorna was a good example of that. She was an Imperial Marine, a member of the command staff, in direct service to the Imperium, and she displayed a genuine reluctance to go against the edicts of the Empress... because it threatened her own position of power and importance. Noble houses had, in the past, tried to break away from the Imperium, to create their own power, but had failed. And the lack of trust that other races for the telepathic Faey really gave them no reason to fly apart. Fear from other galactic races squeezed them together under a governmental system most of them despised, but could not overturn because of the power of those who were in control.

With luck, Mari and Shian Vemale would be loyal to the money he paid them... and nothing more.

They returned to the Faey-owned warehouse after lunch, and entered the office in the corner of the building. It was a small, orderly affair, nothing but a room with a counter separating the door from the two desks in the back of the room, one of them neat and orderly and with a panel sitting atop it, the other piled with memory sticks, charts, knick-knacks, and a panel sitting on a small stand on the corner of the desk. The walls were covered in wooden paneling, and a large window in the back showed an empty warehouse beyond.

"Well, welcome back, Mister Smith," willowy Mari Vemale said. She was very tall, even for a Faey, a few inches taller than him, with long, gangly limbs and a flatter chest than what was normal for a pattern Faey. She was still quite pretty, with auburn hair not far from Jyslin's red, just darker, and large eyes that were a dark blue. Shian Vemale was _very_ tall, a bit taller than his wife, almost four inches taller than Jason, and unlike any Faey male he had ever seen in either pictures or live, Shian Vemale was _built_. He had muscle rippling in his forearms as he moved them, and he filled out the loose, flowing blue shirt he was wearing. Shian was an anathema among Faey men, who preferred to be sleek and slender and tone, _not_ powerfully built and actively seeking to increase body mass. "Did you decide to rent some warehouse space?"

Jason set his hands on the counter. "I want to rent your warehouse," he told them. "_All_ of it."

Mari's eyes brightened visibly. "Well, I'm sure we can arrange that," she told him enthusiastically, coming to the counter and flipping the folding top up so he and Temika could come through. Jason nodded to Temika and they came through, then sat at the desk behind which Shian was sitting. Mari pulled a chair to the side of the desk and sat down in it backwards, putting her arms against the backrest before her. "Now, we have ten thousand square _shakra_ of warehouse space," she said. "At our current rate of two credits per square _shakra_ per month, that would bring the total up to twenty thousand credits. Er, you _can_ pay for this?" she asked uncertainly. "No offense, but not many humans have that kind of money."

"I'm a businessman, ma'am," he told her. "I can afford it."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a contractor," he answered.

"Ah. So, you need space for some supplies?"

"I need it for some incoming large equipment," he told her. "Once we have a contract, you're going to take delivery of quite a few large crates. They'll be here until they're moved out, which will probably take about a month. You might receive more shipments, and those too will just be held until I need them, and then they'll be moved. I'm going to be a burden on you, I'm afraid, ma'am," he told her calmly. "I'm going to be coming for that equipment at odd hours, and without warning. You might even wake up one morning and find a couple of crates missing, and a note from me on the desk that I was here. I also don't want my competitors to know what I'm doing, so I need a warehouse manager who can be... discreet. If you can agree to make no issue or note of what time I come for my equipment, and you keep my comings and goings to yourself, I'll compensate you for your trouble."

"It sounds to me like these visits to retrieve equipment are going to be at _very_ odd times," Shian noted in a surprisingly deep voice for a Faey. "Like, after curfew maybe?"

"Sometimes, yes, after curfew. I have a curfew exemption," he said smoothly. "I travel long distances and I can't always get to my destination by curfew. I can show you my exemption if you'd like."

"No, no, I'm sure you do," Mari said quickly, putting a hand on Shian's shoulder. "Well, just how much compensation were you looking to offer for our support of your, ah, unique needs?"

"I'll pay you double your going rate for the warehouse space," he offered. "Of course, the doubled payment doesn't _have_ to be in the contract," he suggested lightly.

"Oh dear me no, why would we want to burden the Imperial Bureau of Taxation with extra work?" Mari smiled.

Shian, however, gave Jason a penetrating look. "If you can promise that there's nothing _illegal_ in those crates, you'll have my support," he said.

"Nothing illegal at all," he said honestly. "Just equipment. I'm just a person who doesn't like people rooting around in my business, that's all. I'll pay extra to those that help me keep my business to myself."

Jason had no doubt that Shian, and maybe Mari too, were running their fingers through his surface thoughts, but they wouldn't find anything there that betrayed his story. Mari and Shian looked at each other, no doubt sending their discussion, then they looked at him. "You have a deal," Mari announced.

"Works for me," Jason nodded.

After Shian drew up the contract (rental of the entire warehouse for a period of at least one month, with an open-ended clause to renew every month, but only at a month to month rate for either the entire warehouse or whatever square _shakrabe_ was taken up at renewal day), Jason borrowed their panel to secure their payment. It was perfectly safe to access a bank from their panel, cause he had no doubt that _all_ their clients either brought their own panels or accessed a bank through theirs. He paid them their initial twenty thousand credits for warehouse, then transferred another twenty thousand directly into their private account.

Just after he handed the panel back to Shian, two Faey entered the office. They were dressed in the blue uniforms of the Naval service, and their insignia marked them as members of Trillane's personal navy, not Imperial. There wasn't a word spoken, and Jason didn't dare open himself up enough to listen, but given the dark look on Shian's face, she wasn't very happy about what was going on. They stayed only a moment, then left without a sound.

"Well," Shian said darkly. "I'm afraid this is going to be a short term contract."

"How do you mean?"

"_They_ just enacted Faey military law," she growled, nodding in the direction of the door. "They're commandeering my warehouse space at the end of next month. You're more than welcome to use the warehouse, but I can't extend our contract another month. They're taking it at the end of next month. That gives you a month to arrange other warehouse space."

"What would the Navy need with warehouse space?" Jason asked.

"How did you know they were Naval?" Shian asked.

"In my business, I deal with all kinds, Shian," he said smoothly. "I've made it a point to learn who wears what uniform, and what the insignia mean."

"They said something about an upcoming operation," she told him. "They need extra warehouse space for it. I can't imagine for the life of me what they'd need warehouse space _here_ for, though. There's nothing here but the Frontier."

Jason frowned, realizing quickly that Mari was more than right... there _was_ nothing out here, except for the Frontier. Trillane's navy would have no reason to start organizing storage space _here_, when it wasn't growing season and there was nothing else out here.

Miaari's information clicked seamlessly with this tidbit, and it made Jason's heart skip a beat. Miaari warned him that the Faey were going to sweep the Frontier to collect the hoverbikes... but that wouldn't require warehouse space. No, this was something bigger. Something that was going to involve Trillane's naval forces.

He understood then.

They were coming into the Frontier. They were there to recover the hoverbikes, they were there to sweep the Frontier for Faey technology, and what was most important, they were specifically coming into the Frontier after _him_. And they were coming _in force_.

"I'm sure I can have everything done and moved out before my contract expires," he told the Vemales in a distracted tone, giving Temika a sober glance, one that made her immediately frown. "I'm on a deadline anyway. This is just extra incentive to come in under it." He stood up. "Now if you'll excuse us, we need to get back. We have a lot of work to do."

"Here," Mari said, reaching over her husband and into the desk drawer. She produced a small brass colored key, and offered it to him. "This key opens the warehouse doors on both sides. This way you don't have to wake us up to pick up or deliver."

"Thanks," he said, taking the key. "I'll be back fairly soon. I'll see you then."

"We'll be here, Mister Smith," Shian told him.

Outside, Temika gave him a long look before she said anything. "They comin', right?" she asked in French. "You think they're coming into the forest."

"They are," he said grimly. "In large numbers. They wouldn't need warehouse space unless it was a major operation. And the _military_ wouldn't be invoking Faey confiscation laws unless it was _for_ a military operation. They're coming into the forest after us, Mika. And that means we don't have much time."

"A month and a half."

"No, more like three weeks," he replied. "We have to have everything in place and tested before they begin."

"Three weeks? Jayce, ain't no way we're gonna get everything done in three weeks."

"Woman, we'd better _find_ a way," he told her intensely. "Because if we don't, then they're going to find us, and everyone in our community will either be sent to a farm, or they'll just vanish. We have three weeks to set up the new community, Mika. That's it."

Temika was silent. "I hope you're wrong."

"I wish to God I was," he sighed. "Let's get back to the truck. We have to get back home as fast as possible."

                                        * * *

Jason wasted absolutely no time, in any aspect of what he had to do. He drove home at a hair-racing speed, making Temika keep a vice-like grip on the handle over the passenger's side door and the dashboard the entire time, as the truck bounced and slammed over the pits and crevices in the road that had eroded it away in the three years since it ceased being repaired. During that long trip, Jason went over everything that had to be done, arranging it in his mind for when he told the community about what was coming, and how to most efficiently go about effecting the move, even as he sought to break both axles in the truck before he got them home.

"Jesus, Jayce, y'all can slow down a little!" Temika said in fear after they threaded a needle between a fallen tree and a guardrail just outside of Ironton, as Jason raced to get back before dark... but it wasn't clean. The truck shivered and the loud sound of squealing metal announced that the truck was grinding against the guardrail.

"We have to get back before dark," he told her. "So we have all day tomorrow."

"Ah think we'll make it by now, sugah!" she told him.

"Wasn't that the tree-"

"Hush," she cut him off. Jason looked back in the rearview mirror and realized it _was_ the tree she'd clipped back when he'd first met her, that put her in his care and had probably cemented their friendship.

They were just inside CB range, so he picked up the mike. "Irwin," he called. After a moment of silence, he growled and keyed the mike again. "Irwin, put down the bowl and get your nose out of the TV and pick up," he demanded.

_"Sorry Jayce. Wait, weren't you supposed to be back tomorrow?"_

"Change of plans," he answered. "Listen carefully. Gather the council and have them meet me at my house in a half an hour. It's important."

_"Will do. See you soon."_

"What are we gonna tell 'em exactly?" Temika asked.

"What we know," he answered. "And what we'll have to do."

"Think we can move in time?"

"Yeah, but it's gonna be close," he answered. "I can have the projectors up and running in two weeks no problem, it's the idea of how we're going to move everything from here to Charleston that's gonna be dicey. And then there's the exomech problem."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that thang."

It didn't take long for them to get back, and Jason wasted no time. He went straight from the truck to the house without stopping to greet anyone, and everyone that saw him saw the look on his face and saw that he was very unsettled. He charged straight into his house and into the living room where they were waiting with Tim, Symone, and Kate, and he started taking off his coat as Temika and Irwin came in behind him. "Guys, we have a serious problem," he announced without so much as a hello.

"We figured something important had to be going on for you to come back so fast," Regina said seriously. "You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow morning."

He nodded. "It's not good. Thanks, Irwin," he said as the portly man took his coat, and then Temika's. They sat down on the couch that was open, and Jason went over what he'd overheard in the warehouse office, and what it meant. "There's only one reason that they'd be gearing up for a major operation," he surmised once he was done.

"They're setting up for a major raid into the frontier," Clem said with a shake of his head, a sign of his dismay.

"And that means we _can't_ be here when they start," Jason stated. "Near as I can figure, we have about a month and a half _our time_ to get the community moved. Now, we can do it, but it's going to be close, and we have some serious decisions to make."

"Can you get the projectors ready in that time?" Paul asked.

Jason waved his hand negligently. "That'll take two weeks," he answered. "That's not the real issue. The real issue is, how do we pick up and take everything that's here that we need and move it without being seen?"

"We move at night," Regina said.

"And we do it in small pieces," Leamon added. "A truck here, a truck there."

"No, son, that won't work very well," Clem said. "It may not be easy to see, but it'll make it very hard on the community. It'd work better if we move in stages. Nonessential junk first, then equipment, then food, then people. And we can't keep running back and forth, or we'll attract attention."

"Not quite," Tim said. "Remember what Jayce said, they have cameras that can look down, and they already know we're here. They know we're here, and with this invasion being planned, they're going to be watching us. When we move, it has to be _all at once_," he stressed, "and they can't see us either preparing for it or conducting the move. We literally have to disappear overnight. It's the only way we can be sure."

"If we just vanish, won't it attract just as much attention?" Juli asked. "I mean, they'll see that we're gone, and they might come looking for us early."

Clem looked to Jason. "Well, son? What should we do?"

"We should break up and move out," he said simply. "Let them see us preparing to do it. Let them see us leave the community in small groups over time, scattering in every direction. Then, after dark, _then_ the groups turn and come straight to Charleston," he said. "From the way it'll look to them, the community is breaking apart and splitting up, and going in all directions. Since they _know_ they have trouble finding small cells of squatters, it'll make it rational as to why they can't find any of us. They don't have to know _why_ the community looks to be breaking up, and it won't matter. They'll invent a reason as to why we've broken up that seems to fit in with what they see us doing. The only things that are important are that they see us leave Chesapeake, they don't see us all leaving at once so they don't think we know they're coming, and they see us seem to scatter instead of moving as a group."

"And we assign priorities to the things we're moving and fix it so those go out with the first groups to leave," Clem said with a nod.

"Just so," Jason agreed. "And the first group to leave will be the build team, the techs, and their families, so they'll be there to set up the rest of Charleston for the others. The only major issues we're going to have is getting the livestock to Charleston overnight so they're not seen moved and the heavy equipment. And then there's the exomech," he added grimly. "It presents a rather tricky problem. We can't leave it here, but we can't take it out of its box either with those cameras overhead. They'll take one look at that thing and immediately come after us. Odds are, we're going to have to take it apart and move it in pieces to Charleston, then either put it back together or destroy it when we get it there. But it can't stay here."

Kate sat down on the couch beside him and her hand brushed lightly against his wrist. In that touch was a stern, almost adamant declaration to him, shared through her touch, that under _no_ circumstances could he destroy the exomech, that he needed it if he was going to do what he intended to do.

"Well, that sounds like a pretty solid idea," Paul said. "We'll need to set up a timetable for people leaving, and go through our supplies and draw up a schedule for what moves to Charleston and when."

"Wait, if the blueskins see us leaving, won't they come down and find out what's going on?" Julianne asked.

"If we made a big stink about packing _everything_ and then scattering all at once, probably," Jason told her. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about them seeing just a small group leave, then another a while later, then another, making it just look like people are leaving the community. Now, when it comes time for the rest of the community to leave, _that's_ when we do it secretly," he said. "When we take apart the power grid and pack up the big equipment we depend on, yeah, that's when we just vanish."

"No, that'd look suspicious," Paul said. "What if we gave them a reason for them to see us leave when we get to that point?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, they'll see people here, and lights, and then-" he snapped his fingers-"poof, they vanish. That's going to attract attention. Instead, let's give them a reason as to _why_ everyone vanished. After all, it'd be pretty obvious why everyone's gone if, say, the town burns to the ground."

Jason's eyes lit up. "Paul, that's _devious_!" Jason said in appreciation. "Hell, that'd work! When we're ready to move the rest of the community in the final push, we pack everything up and send them on, then we burn the town. It'll also hide any evidence that we missed to help conceal where we went."

"And our walls and the security perimeter will keep the fire from spreading to the woods," Regina noted.

"I think Paul has a good idea," Clem nodded. "A fire would explain to the blueskins everything they'd need to know to keep them from swarming us, and it's a perfect excuse for them not to find anyone here when they invade the frontier."

They continued to hash things out, even over dinner as Ruth and Mary cooked dinner for everyone and served it to them in the living room. The circle of debaters increased as Luke and Steve were brought in to help go over what would be needed to both install the security measures in Charleston and to move the equipment from Chesapeake, and then about what would have to be done to bring the electric grid down and moved out before the fire that would burn the town down and cover their tracks. Paul's idea was both simple and effective. By setting fire to the town, it did indeed provide the Faey with reasonable justification as to why the residents left, and also helped conceal what they really did. They'd be able to relocate everyone without as much worry that the Faey would find their disappearing to be overly suspicious and come down to investigate prematurely.

After some debate, a plan was reached. The build team and the techs would leave first in small groups during the day, then turn and go to Charleston after dark. There, they would labor to build the projector platforms and the security system. Jason would remain in Chesapeake, helping prepare the town for moving during the day while he ferried equipment from the warehouse at night, in his skimmer. Once the projectors were installed and operational, the rest of the community would then initiate Paul's plan. In the mid-afternoon, a fire would begin in the building that housed the generators for the power grid, and then an explosion would spread that fire through the town quickly. From there, as some presumably sought to fight the fire for the benefit of the cameras overhead, everyone else left would seemingly grab whatever they could and flee as the fire burned out of control and began to spread. Those people fleeing would be fleeing in vehicles that would be pre-packed with all their supplies. The Faey that might look down would see the vehicles scattering in all directions, but once the sun went down, they would _not_ see them all turn and head for Charleston.

Jason looked to Kate briefly, and she touched the back of his hand and imparted to him her agreement that the plan had merit.

"Okay, that's what we're going to do then?" Jason asked. When everyone agreed, he slapped his hands on his knees. "Alright then, we have a lot to do and not much time. I'll have the projectors and the supplies we'll need for it moved to the warehouse tonight, and the techs will start getting ready to move. We have to hold a town meeting tomorrow to warn everyone of what's going on. Clem, I think we all agree that you're best suited for being our quartermaster for this move," he announced. "You know more about what we have in the community, so I think it's best to put you in charge of organizing it and handling moving it." The others agreed. "Luke."

"Yessir?"

"We need everything you can get moving that you can manage in two weeks."

"Yes sir, I've already got a list in mind," he nodded. "I can have quite a few trucks and cars up and going by the time we'll need them. I'll let the other mechanics take care of it, because I think you'll need me in Charleston."

"Good. Mary, how many trips will it take to move all the stored food?"

"I'm not sure, Jason," she answered. "We have quite a bit, what with them dropping that food shipment and all. I'd have to look at the inventory book."

"That's good, just let Clem, Luke, and me know sometime tomorrow, okay?"

"I'll have it by tomorrow morning hon, I promise."

"Just sometime tomorrow should work, Mary. No reason to lose sleep over it."

"Honey, we're all gonna be losing a _lot_ of sleep," she told him."

"True, so get your sleep tonight. All of you," he told them. "Now then, I have some things to arrange, so if you'll excuse me. Clem, you take over. I have to get those projectors shipped and buy the other things we'll need for it."

"Need any help?" Steve asked.

He shook his head. "It's nothing but issuing orders on CivNet."

They broke up and went about their assignments, and Jason retreated to his room and his panel. He spent hours poring through CivNet for the supplies he'd need for the projectors after issuing the order to move the projectors to the warehouse, and paying extra to have them shipped within 4 hours of sending the order. He ordered the materials he'd need for the projector system, the emitter system to defeat sensors, and all the extra materials that would be needed for it. He opted for shortrange hyperthreaded transmitters for the control system rather than hard cabling, finding some effective tightbeam directional units at a major distributor's sale site. They used the same technology as his untraceable panel, a tightbeam link between units that could only be detected if a sensor array literally got between them. He bought some old fashioned camo netting to hide the platforms once they were built, and he also decided to err on the side of caution... with the threat of an attack, it was finally time to bow to necessity and get his hands on some real weapons.

By the time he was done, he only had C238.755 in his account, but he had all the materials he'd need for the projectors, and he also had 10 CM-104 MPAC rifles. The rifles were old models, almost obsolete and ineffective against modern Faey armor... but they wouldn't be used against _modern_ Faey armor if they ever had to be used. Those rifles would still be effective against the obsolete armor that they were using here on Earth. He found them for sale as a bundle from Dewinne Arms, the manufacturer of the rifles for almost a tenth of what they might have sold for were they new, buying them for C250 each. Between those rifles, the three railguns that were operational, and the hunting rifles he'd brought, the community would at least have _some_ means of fighting back should they be attacked.

After ordering the rifles sent to the warehouse, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples, still going over it all in his mind. God, this was going to be ugly. Moving the community wasn't going to be easy, and he had some long, long days ahead of him as he and the build team labored to construct the platforms for the projectors and then get them installed. He figured they could build two platforms and install two projectors a day, if they worked 18 hours a day. But before a single platform could be built, the inverse phase emitter system had to be installed in Charleston to mask the equipment they'd be using from sensors. That would take four hours of work to set up, and they already had a site picked out for it... the tarnished dome of what used to be the West Virginia Capitol building. In fact, that's where most of their community systems were going to be installed, reviving the building in its old role as a center of government and activity. Once that was done, they'd use the replicators to fabricate some titanium platforms-he needed to get someone to draw up some plans for that so they knew what to have the replicator 