Touchstone 1 - Stray

second level monitoring isn’t a big enough reason to abandon First Squad. They matter to me, so much. I can’t go back to being me if I have to spend the rest of my life ashamed of myself.
    So when I wrote down everything the Nuran said, I didn’t leave anything out, and by the time I was done and had re-read it a few times I’d calmed down and accepted that I was choosing to do this, that I wasn’t trapped, hadn’t lost my only chance. Good or bad idea, I mean to see this out.
    Something cold touched the back of my hand at the end of all this decision-making, which nearly had me leaping out my skin, but it was only a glass. Ruuel ignored my expression, and made me take it, saying: “You haven’t eaten since before the rotation.”
    Ever the captain. Drinking did make me realise I was really starving, though, and I was glad to see a tray of food at one of the corner clusters of table and seats. Giving in to the inevitable, I forwarded Ruuel and Maze the transcript in return and went and picked over the food while they, and probably every bluesuit in KOTIS, read it through.
    Ruuel went out of the room, leaving me alone, but he and Maze came back while I was still eating, and joined me sitting around the little table of food.
    “Feeling better?” Maze picked up one of the chewy sticks of bread.
    “Just tired. Are people from Kolar likely turn up and want talk to me as well? Can I pretend not speak language if they do?”
    “They haven’t focused on you, and will not if that can be avoided.”
    “Distracted by our failure to communicate any of these developments to them,” Ruuel added. “Kolar heard that Muina was unlocked from the news services.”
    “Same Nuri, maybe? Think interface bad, but big coincidence if didn’t hear about me through it.”
    Maze shrugged, and the faintest wince crossed his face: his shoulder was still hurting him. “Very likely they’ve cultivated local informants. We vastly underestimated the Nurans, had no idea they had the ability to travel through the Rift without vehicles. No wonder they were so disinterested when Tare announced that we’d located Muina.”
    “Will Tare unlock Muina for Kolar and Nuri?”
    “Kolar, very likely. I’ve no idea how it will be handled. I don’t like the idea of divvying Muina up into territories, but the trade agreements we’ve established are far too important to try and deny access to the Kolarens. I wouldn’t care to guess what’s going to happen with Nuri. They did just try to…rescue you.”
    “Can you estimate how much of what he told you was true?” Ruuel asked.
    “No. Or, he seemed all ‘my honour not permit lies’ but then act pleased when I told him I thought Nurans stupid hypocrites. He didn’t act like he lied, but guess he didn’t necessarily agree with what ordered to do. Think he meant it about Setari.”
    Ruuel gave me a dry look – quite the most reaction I’ve ever had from him – then said: “Did you believe he would be able to return you to your home?”
    “Believe he thought he could.” Remembered anger made me frown. “Semantics, really. He said he here to offer me Nuri’s aid. Was here to remove inconveniently located thing called touchstone from hands of people Nuri not want to have. Would still count as rescue, of sorts, but was for their benefit, not mine. Don’t see that they’d think me any less corrupt and misguided than Tarens. Is Setari some sort historic title?”
    “Not so far as I was aware,” Maze said. “The word wasn’t created for us, and has a long-standing meaning of ‘specialist’ with an overtone of ‘special guard’.”
    “And touchstone?” Dalenset – dalen for touch and set for stone. I think touchstone is a word on Earth, too, but don’t think it refers to people.
    “Not even in the dictionaries. Though I can see how the name might come about for a talent like yours.”
    I sighed. One in ten generations was not something I’d been happy to hear. “Will I more restrictions because this?”
    “I don’t know. We made a mistake, letting the Nuran meet with you. He knows your face now.” Maze wasn’t happy about it.
    “Think he try rescue me again? Risk teleporting?”
    “It comes down to a question of what is more important to them.” Ruuel had reverted to being super-shuttered, but opened his eyes properly as if I was a symbol he was trying to decipher. “Did they want to use you for some purpose we don’t understand? Or simply ensure that we