Captain NorthStar Lightwalker's Arc

Chapter 6 of 14

Dawn broke over the clearing, and NorthStar was already on his feet. The hall stood ready. The grounds did not. Crates lay open near the amphitheater. A toad with thin wings buzzed past his ear. He had two days before the council ships were due. Then he saw it. A low stone platform at the edge of the path, a canvas stretched tight above an open registry book. Someone had set it there in the night. A council inspector had come early, alone, and was already walking his grounds. His engineer found him staring at the registry. "One of them is here," she said. "Walking the perimeter." NorthStar's chest tightened. The old freeze pressed in. He spoke before it could take hold. "Move. One order." He pointed to the half-built smokehouse, its chimney still missing bricks, racks hanging loose. "Cover it. Then meet me at the lodge." He ran to the small stone lodge near the dock, its draped cloth walls still loose at the seams. He tied the curtains himself. He set two cups on the step. He did not hide the unfinished work. He arranged it like he meant it. The inspector came up the path with the registry tucked under one arm. She was older, sharp-eyed, boots already muddy. NorthStar met her at the steps. "You're early," he said. "The grounds aren't done. Come inside anyway. I'll show you what's finished and what isn't." She studied him a long moment. Then she climbed the steps. She stayed an hour. She wrote in her book. She asked about the smokehouse, the tower, the stump in the clearing. NorthStar answered plain. When she left, she closed the registry and tucked it under her arm. "I'll tell the others what I saw," she said. "Including that you didn't pretend." Her ship lifted before noon. The council was still coming. But one of them had already walked his ground and not turned away.