The midmorning sunlight struggled to reach past the buildings on the cliff, and it lent a gloom to the back streets.
She relaxed a little. The shadows suited her.
She still caught a few glances directed her way, but no one approached her, and she kept her stride quick and purposeful, the hood of her cloak pulled low enough to keep her hair and eyes hidden.
She would have been outed as an alien long ago without the scarf, though. The Tecran's beak-like mouth included nasal openings on the top, and there was no way anyone could mistake her human mouth and nose as anything like theirs.
She kept heading toward the square, even though she didn't know quite what she'd do when she got there. It didn't really matter. Having any goal at all was a relief.
Buildings that clearly housed apartments started to change subtly the closer she got. Little shops appeared at ground level, mostly cafes and grocery stores, and some buildings had what looked like sophisticated vending machines built into them.
The pavements and streets that surrounded the square contained food stands, cafes, and long stone benches. In the open space in front of the statue, the sea sparkled and glittered, blinding Lucy when she looked in that direction.
A raised dais had been erected at the very center of the open space, bordered with large planters full of dark green foliage, and paved with stone edged with bright green moss. Stone steps on one side led up to the top.
Lucy sat on a bench on the right side of the square, facing left, rather than looking out over the sea, and watched people using the vending machines for fifteen minutes before she tried it herself.
She slid in the bank credit and chose a cup of water. When the cup dropped down for her to take, she suppressed a squeak of triumph.
She sat back on her bench and gulped it down, then went back for a cup of grinabo--the hot drink she'd become addicted to at the facility--and a nutrient bar.
When she turned back, her bench had been taken, so she leaned against a wall, sipping her grinabo, and hoped no one would notice her in the shadows.
Most of the Tecran looked like they were on their way to work, but some were wearing uniforms and looked like the Tecran version of the police.
Suddenly nervous, she lifted her scarf a little higher and turned toward a small stall selling something that smelled terrible to her, but which had a snaking queue of patrons. That suited her fine. She joined the end of the line, and shuffled forward as it moved along.
When she looked again, the police were gone.
She could have approached them. Maybe.
So far, the Tecran she'd met outside the facility seemed to know something about her and not want any involvement. Which meant she was a complication, and sometimes, people just wanted complications to go away.
Whatever happened with the police, they would probably hold on to her.
She decided to find out a little more first, before she took a step that would take away her autonomy.
She'd only just gotten it back.
She stepped out of the line and went back to the vending machine for a second cup of grinabo, and found a new bench that was empty.
As soon as she sat down, she noticed the large screen set to one side of the square.
More than one Tecran stood in the central part of the square, looking up at it as they sipped their morning drink and ate whatever they'd bought for breakfast.
Perhaps it was due to the lack of space in the city center, but none of the cafes had places for people to sit and eat.
Lucy noticed more and more people began gathering in front of the screen and wondered if it had to do with the time of day. Maybe public announcements were made at this time every morning?
The screen flickered to life and an image appeared, and she almost spilled her grinabo as she recognized the facility--a fireball against the night sky. Tecran were racing around, dressed in protective suits, and she caught a glimpse of Dr. Farnn being led off to the side.
She was alive!
She couldn't hear clearly what was being said, and so she stood and began to work her way into the crowd until she was close enough.
There was nothing in the report about survivors. The woman doing the voice-over simply said there was an unknown number of deaths and authorities would have to investigate the scene before more was known.
Then the image faded and she saw three Tecran sitting around a small table. They began discussing the imminent arrival of a United Council battleship, and the upcoming takeover by the UC of the Tecran military, and the overseeing of Tecran political structures.
The crowd grew around her, she could no longer see the square, just people on every side. Their attention was on the screen, though, and she didn't think anyone noticed her at all.
The people onscreen began to discuss the implications for Tecran society of having UC interference, and it was clear that none of the three were happy about the outcome.
“We were forced into this, there was no choice about it,” one of the men on the panel insisted.
“Well, the choice was being kicked out of the UC, and potentially going to war, or submit to their demands,” the woman said. “So we did have a choice, but not a feasible one. My understanding is that the military left us so vulnerable by investing in the Class 5s that once we lost them, even the military thought this UC interference was better than a war we couldn't win.”
“At least this way, after five years, we are once again a sovereign nation,” the third man said. “Not the loser in a war with the Grih.”
“Are we though?” the first man asked. “After five years, can we be sure the UC will walk away?”
“What choice do we have but trust that they will?” the woman said. “We have to hope they keep their word, and to be honest, I haven't known them to lie before.”
“They better keep their word,” someone in the crowd close to her muttered, and the Tecran around him nodded in agreement.
“It's a silent coup, is what it is,” someone spoke a little louder, to Lucy's right.
“That's crazy talk,” someone else called back. “Do you think we're innocent in all this? We should be directing our anger at the military for putting us in this situation, not at the UC. All they've done is follow the laws we helped to write. We've been betrayed by our own.”
There were mutters of agreement, and Lucy realized the crowd was not at all a unified group. Everyone had strong opinions.
But what were these rules the Tecran military had broken?
Suddenly, up on the screen, was an image of people standing on a stage lit with tiny lights, and behind them were buildings that looked like exquisite works of art. The part that had Lucy really riveted, though, was that none of the people were Tecran. Some looked so human, at first she thought they were, until she noticed their pointed ears, and others were shorter, more stocky, with dark hair and silver eyes.
Then the view of the people on stage became clearer as the lens zoomed in.
She cried out and dropped her cup of grinabo as three women came into focus.
Human women.
She barely noticed the curses around her as hot grinabo splashed the people closest to her in the crowd.
She stumbled forward, pushing people aside to get a better view of the screen, and the wind chose that moment to blow a little harder, swirling through the square and lifting her hood from her head.
There was a gasp from the woman beside her, her gaze on Lucy's wild curls.