11/02/2026 00:10

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Pertunis's first official act was to dissolve the empire formally. We value these young men, and will not waste them. 27Tiiku-Moks, several hours upstream from Oldu Tez-Boag, was the biggesttown they'd come to, with maybe three or four thousand people. They probably drill disembarking, Varlik decided.

Varlik's eyesshifted to his monitor and he picked them up with his camera. At anyrate it would show footprints conspicuously. The heart of the region was a narrow plateau, hundreds of miles long,dissected lengthwise by long narrow draws into longitudinal ridges. But it's neverseemed very important; it's as if I understand them well enough.