CYTM54

=Chapter 54=
==Can you tell me where can we start over?==
Island 22, Golden Lake
Kowloon, Lyran Alliance
March, 3066
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It's about a kilometer and a half long, and half a kilometer wide, a lump of basalt and grass poking above sea level on the edge of a reef in a 'fresh' water inland sea that steams even in winter thanks to a massive geothermal vent system under the water.  Golden Lake is warm because it sits on top of a spreading fault of active volcanism.
The island itself has an airstrip and a few cheap buildings, linked to a dock with three lighthouses to guide fishermen and lake maritime traffic away from the stone reefs.
Privacy is a guarantee.  The nearest shore is 20 kilometers away across some of Kowloon's roughest and most unpredictable waters, and the perpetual heat makes for perpetual mist in the middle of local winter as cold air from the south slams into the warm, wet air close to ground level.
She waited for them to disembark from the Clan-version Mark VII landing shuttle.  Elizabeth Ngo stood and watched. Leaning on a cane, with her long coat buttoned up against mid-July cold in the southern hemisphere.
"Welcome to Kowloon." she said.
"I expected more of a defense force." Nathan Roshak commented.
"Well, every point on this island is registered for gunnery range." she told him, "You could easily land a force to take the island, but 'mechs don't handle the underwater terrain well, and we have depth charges.  It seemed a little silly to insist on infantry when the Yagon River's guns can scrape the whole island down to bedrock in about fifteen to twenty seconds, don't you think?"
She lit a hand-rolled cigarette, and the stink of it was enough to tell him it wasn't tobacco.  "So...do you want to negotiate on the flight line here, or in the heated building with the hot food?" she asked.
"I think hot food would be welcome." the Galaxy Commander said.
"Fair enough." she turned and started limping for the building.
"You are injured?" he asked.
"Had a seizure this morning." she explained, "It caused me to fall down the front stoop of my own house!" she shook her head.  "Docs fixed the ligaments, but I'm wearing a leg brace until the injury heals."
The inside of the weather station was warmer, and felt...cleaner somehow.  The smell of cooked food hung in the air.
Nathan gestured and his warriors took their seats.  Stewards in white proceeded to serve the guests as Liz took her own seat.
"Hello, Henry." she greeted her brother, who took his seat beside his commander.
"Lizzie...sorry about the conditions." Henry told her.
She shrugged, "They brought you home." she nodded to Roshak, "I couldn't arrange that, so I'm sorry."
"I am surprised you chose this islet, instead of Hue itself." Henry noted.
"You'll get a look. All of you will, before things kick off." Liz stated, "I wanted to get the uncomfortable part done first.  This is a piece of 'old' Kowloon.  It's where Anh Cu'ong trained the freedom fighters before things kicked off in 2768, in a sense we're sitting in the building that birthed the end of the Rim Worlds on Kowloon."
"This is where Tranh Truk Ngo organized?" Henry asked.
She nodded, "Like I said, it doesn't look like much, but here is where the last phase of the Resistance organized before driving the Rimjobs out...it's...historical.  From here, they moved by raft into the Folly, and from the Folly, our ancestors launched the initial strikes to free the lowlands.  the official histories credit Vin Drin Lap with that, but VDL was just the first victory."
Breakfast was a spicy sausage with scrambled eggs and fried vegetables on a bed of golden rice. Nathan noted it was hearty, filling, and reminiscent of some of the dishes Henry occasionally tormented his warriors with.
"Hooo..." the spice was enough to thoroughly ream his sinuses.
"The beer kills the heat." Henry suggested.
"So this is why you drink so much!"
The beer, a thick, germanic dark almost the color of coffee did indeed kill some of the heat.
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