Chapter 305: The Empty Bank

Riptide was still guarding the first site, though nothing remained there to collect.

Ren looked toward the second. Six tokens lay in its cache, with a loading bank beside the deep crossing. Beyond the ridge, Shuli’s carriers were bringing more down from the outer sites. Riptide could help move those loads if he brought it across.

He pressed the plate.

"Release the first site. Tarin takes the crossing below the second. Use Riptide and Pell for the small loads, with Ward covering their way out. Collect from the outer sites when there’s an opening."

Tarin was still beside Ward at the landing. Vesper spoke to it, pointing toward the second bank, then waited while it moved into view of the first tributary. She extended both arms and lowered them.

Tarin repeated the signal where Riptide could see. The serpent left its position and came out into the main channel as Ward turned upstream.

— • —

Ward reached the crossing below the second site and settled beside the loading bank. Its flank narrowed the deep passage where the tributary met the main channel; the shallows at either end remained open to smaller bodies.

Tarin came onto the adjoining bank, its Lawfire in the water below. Pell was still at the crossing, where Ren had placed it during the previous run.

One of Shuli’s loaded carriers was already approaching.

It had entered the tributary before Ward arrived. At the mouth, it slowed, then tried the shallow shelf past the whale’s tail. Tarin moved down to meet it with its spear across the way.

The carrier pulled its container closer and shifted toward the bank. Tarin followed. When it turned back toward Ward, the footing dropped away beneath the water, leaving too little shelf to get the load past.

Tarin caught a handle. The carrier held on briefly, then released the container and withdrew up the bank before Tarin could close on it.

Two tokens remained inside. Tarin brought them to the loading bank and set the container beside the cache.

— • —

The next loaded carrier stopped above the ridge.

Ren watched it turn away from the crossing and take the bank path toward the outermost tributary. That route ran along the delta’s edge before reaching Shuli’s receiving area. It was clear, but considerably longer.

Her other carriers continued along their existing routes. One delivery brought her count to seventeen while the diverted load was still travelling.

Ren followed its progress, then checked the path leading out of her staging area. Empty carriers were coming back along the far bank. Their return route joined the crossing below the second site before turning up toward the outer caches.

Without containers, they could use the narrow footing that had stopped the loaded carrier. One passed through the shallows beyond Ward’s tail while Tarin stood beside the recovered load.

Tarin let it go. Pursuing it would take time without gaining a token.

Instead, Tarin moved along the bank until it could see beyond the ridge. It watched another loaded carrier take the outer route, then returned to a position overlooking both the tributary mouth and the returning traffic.

Keep’s reports could only describe positions already observed. Ren could not hear what the squad had received, but he could see Tarin checking the changed route before choosing where to stand.

Two tokens remained at the nearest outer cache. Another pair lay at the next site along the tributary. Ren marked both on his map while their returning carriers were still below the ridge.

— • —

Riptide reached the loading bank, and Tarin turned to the six tokens in the second cache.

It secured the first pair in Riptide’s fitted container, checked the fastening, and sent the serpent downstream on the pad side of Ward. At the landing, Vesper drew the container within reach, released it from the straps, and brought it onto the receiving area.

Ren’s count rose to fourteen.

A few voices carried from the seats. Sol leaned forward as Riptide turned away from the landing with its empty container secured again.

Pell took the next pair from the second site. Tarin fitted the container so its load remained supported in the water, then watched Pell enter the narrow route along the near bank. It led toward the receiving area without crossing the path Shuli’s empty carriers were using.

At the bend, the container struck the bank.

One corner caught as Pell turned. The load tilted, its lid shifted, and a token slipped into the shallows.

Pell stopped and circled back. The token was visible on the bottom just beyond the bend, where the water had carried it past the caught corner. Pell worked back to it, recovered it beside the bank, and brought it up to the container.

Ren watched the lid settle again before Pell resumed the run. By then, Riptide was already partway upstream on its return.

Vesper received Pell at the landing and opened the container. She placed both tokens inside the receiving area, then checked the lid fastening before sending the empty container back.

Ren’s count reached sixteen.

The recovery had put Pell behind its expected return. Its next pair would have to wait at the loading bank until it came back for them.

— • —

Ward remained beside the bank while the water smoothed around its flank. Riptide and Pell had passed with their loads on the pad side; above them, Keep’s cradle stayed upright over the empty cargo pack.

Shuli’s count reached nineteen.

The two outer caches still held the pairs Ren had marked. Their last loaded carriers had gone, and the returning group had yet to reach them. Tarin took Ward’s empty container up the tributary while the whale remained at the crossing.

At the first bank, Tarin lifted the two tokens into the container and brought them back to Ward. They went into the pack beside the last two from the second site, filling its four-token space. Tarin took the emptied container upstream again, continuing through the connected shallows to the next cache for the other pair.

Ren followed that second collection. Shuli’s loaded carriers were still taking the outer route; the ones below the ridge were heading uphill empty. Tarin reached the cache ahead of them, collected its two tokens, and turned back toward Ward.

Riptide reached the loading bank first. It waited along the edge while Tarin returned and began arranging the final loads.

The pack already held four tokens ahead of Keep’s cradle. Tarin fitted the intercepted container beside it and checked that its handle cleared the strap underneath.

Six aboard Ward.

The other two collected tokens remained in the container on the bank, ready for Pell. Riptide stayed close to the transfer point while Tarin tightened Ward’s cargo fastening.

Another delivery registered for Shuli.

Ren 16 — Shuli 20.

Twelve tokens remained unscored. Six were secured on Ward, two waited for Pell, and four were still with Shuli’s carriers or at the remaining sites.

If Ward and Pell delivered everything, Ren would reach twenty-four. Shuli could still equal that count by bringing in all four of hers. He checked the remaining time, then looked back to the water.

— • —

Tarin finished with Ward’s fastening while Pell approached along the near-bank channel. Its pair was ready; it needed only to reach the bank and take the container.

Ren traced Ward’s departure on the map. The whale had to turn away from the loading bank and clear the tributary mouth before following the main channel home. With its body held beside the bank, the turn would carry its tail across the shallow shelf Shuli’s returning carriers were using.

Two were already there. Behind them, another group was coming along the far bank from her staging area.

Ward could contest that space. Nothing in the rules gave the empty carriers priority, but forcing them back would take time while its six-token load waited above the water. Tarin was still at the bank, and Pell had yet to collect the final pair.

One of the returning carriers stepped onto the shelf. The next followed before the first had cleared it.

Shuli’s empty carriers were entering the crossing Ward needed to leave.