With thoughts of family, Wei Li Na watched the children settle for the night. The children with colorful clothes, piled one on top of the other, like puppies. The youngest ones were pushed into the protective middle.
Two camp fires were lit, with each having someone to stay awake to feed the fires. Disciple Ren and Yan huddled together, sharing a thin, short blanket in a crib pushed into the grass. Wei Li Na was not used to sleeping like this, so close that one inhales the air another had just exhaled.
She has been living alone for much too long. The closeness of other people, was overwhelming. So she found her own bed, a few paces further away from the camp. Patting the tall grasses down, and hiding herself from others. She lay down the yellow chang pao on the prickly grass, and tucked Star Born beside her. Wei Li Na curled into a ball, and closed her eyes.
"Young Mistress, the movements of Saint Tami are suspicious," the voice of Dave interrupted her, just as she was ready to get into a light sleep. It was Dave, the artificial intelligence residing in the chip in her brain, who had been quiet for a day and a half.
"Why do you think that?"
"His motives for traveling with a group of children, unrelated to himself, is suspicious."
Wei Li Na thought that this group of children were suspicious as well. But it could be they were a group of orphans, and Saint Tami was escorting them. Why else would they call him "Saint" if not for his benevolence and good deeds. These were all guesses, it was difficult to ask the children as they all spoke a different language she did not understand. They smiled, they waved at her and ate the fruits of her nascent hunting skills, but she could not communicate with them. Besides, they seemed happy, which was less reason to be suspicious.
But this was a problem Wei Li Na did not think it was needed to worry about. There was no immediate danger to herself, and she wanted to mind her own business. The only thing she needed to do is get to a city, and find ways to locate her missing ancestor uncle.
"Young Mistress, It's best if you just kill that Saint Tami."
"What!! There's no reason to. Is that all you think about? Kill, kill, kill? Don't you have a do-not-harm-to-humans protocol?" Dave had made the same suggestion for elimination when she saved that brother handsome at the river. Who knew artificial intelligence beings where so murderous. Was that the reason AI beings were forbidden on Earth and human colonies? Instead they send Dave with her into the deep reaches of space to guard the borders of the galaxy. Kept far away from civilization.
"Yes Mistress, such protocol exists. When I was limited by a mechanical body, the protocol was in full effect. But now, you are the body that houses this artificial intelligence being, and so now the application of the protocol is more flexible. I also have a protocol to protect young mistress."
Dave now lived in a microchip on the surface of her brain, right under her forehead. In a way, he had a human body. But no way did he have control over her body! Is that even possible. Wei Li Na shuddered at the thought. In any case, she still had final say on who to kill and not kill, and her decision for the moment was to wait-and-see.
She didn't have to wait very long, only a few hours after she had closed her eyes to sleep, there were movements in the camp. Still very foggy in the brain, Wei Li Na draped the yellow chang pao over her shoulders, she dragged her body closer to the camp to take a look through the grasses.
There were new arrivals several paces from the camp, a few men with carts and horses. They were talking to Saint Tami at the road. Wei Li Na could see Saint Tami nodding his head, although his expression was unclear under the soft glow of the torch.
One of the men followed Saint Tami back to the camp. Reaching the campfire, the man shoved Saint Tami hard so he kneeled in front of the fire. This abrupt movement woke some children, it also woke Disciple Ren and Yan. The man threw something into the fire that emitted a thick and fragrant smoke. Saint Tami was the first to feel the full effects of that fragrant smoke, he fell forward quickly, and would have burned his face, had the man behind him not held him upright.
Several of the children were now getting up in a panic, some were quick on their feet and started to yell and run, but it was too late. Those that ren, tumbled and fell unconscious only after a few steps. Wei Li Na herself wobbled to her knees, but finding that movement only made the poison worst, she sank back and hid herself better within the grass before seeing complete darkness.
When she came too, it was still night. Only an hour or perhaps two hours had passed. Wei Li Na was bewildered by that attack earlier, that smoke bomb was nothing she had ever encountered before. This ancient time certain has some mysterious weapons. She recalled the scent, still unable to figure it out.
"Dave, get a sample of the air and make an analysis."
"Young Mistress, the traces are presently very low. And my level of detection is only as good as Mistresses five senses." Indeed, as Dave was now trapped in her body, the artificial intelligence being could only explore the outside world through her own limited, human senses.
Wei Li Na closed her eyes, a hand stretched to her forehead seeming to rub out a headache. She took a deep breath and activated her Divine Third Eye. Those strange men, their horses and carts were already beyond her vision. The children were gone. Saint Tami was laid prone, close to the fire, same place as when she saw him fall. Disciple Ren and Yan were unconscious, in a ditch, hidden by tall grass. They had actually managed to run some distance.
She pulled Ren and Yan out, she carried them closer to the fire. Carefully laying them beside Saint Tami. It must be said, although she was only fourteen in chronological age, she was still uncommonly strong. She was short and scrawny, but she was still an evolved human of the space age. Her genes specifically molded for endurance and strength to survive space travel.
Wei Li Na poked the embers for any trace of that strange thing the man burned. But it was already consumed by the flames. There was nothing else to do, so she wrapped herself in the yellow chang pao and got a few hours sleep before the sun came up.
As a full grown man, Saint Tami was the first to regain consciousness. His mouth was very dry as he opened his eyes to the sight of Wei Li Na's upright back. She was already boiling water over the fire and cooking a breakfast of eggs.
"Greetings Saint Tami," her voice was calm and crisp, as if this was any other day, not the day after a mass kidnapping.
Saint Tami's eyes looked all around, but he didn't seem surprised all the children were gone. Wei Li Na passed him a cup of hot water. He slowly drank, wetting his dry throat. In a very soft and rough voice he said, "Those men, who took the children, they are also going to Gaochang City"
Saint Tami had a dry coughing fit before he continued, "They said the Imperial Army has come, and camped out rows and rows of tents, in the number of thousands outside the city walls. My children are going to get sold to the Imperial Army…"
Saint Tami got into another coughing fit, so Wei Li Na poured him another cup of hot water and told him to rest his voice.
And so it is like that, an incidence of human trafficking. Does an army need children? Wei Li Na dug into her foggy memories of history class, and deduced that children would only be useful as human shields in warfare. Then she remembered, brother handsome had a small army not many days ago, he might be at Goachang as well.
"Saint Tami, do not be overly distressed. The children may still return to you yet. I have some silver, this jade belt. Perhaps we can buy them back." The belongings of brother handsome were not trifling things! Wei Li Na patted the substantial money bag under her clothes. The money bag came with the stolen clothes.
Saint Tami's eyes grew wide. Surprised to hear that she had silver!