Valley of Fires: A Conquered Earth Novel (The Conquered Earth Series) by J. Barton Mitchell

landscape had dramatically shifted overnight. Where before it had been primarily lush, rolling green hills, now there was nothing but dust and cactus and scraggly weed along the few rocky outcrops that rested here and there. The sun beat down hard, and the Landship crew sweated underneath it, but Ravan smiled. She missed the heat, the dried air, she was tired of lush places. It took less to survive there, it didn’t make you any harder.
    The crew stared at her distrustfully as she moved past them. The farther they’d traveled south and away from the rest of the fleet, the darker their moods grew, and well they should. Where they were going, no Wind Trader had ever come back alive. It was a cliché, both in Faust and Currency, that the Wind Traders and the Menagerie were natural enemies. The reality, however, was much more complicated.
    The Wind Traders provided the only real source of trade and commerce in North America, transporting and bartering their goods from one outpost or major city to the next, and they were good at it. The Menagerie, on the other hand, produced some of what they needed to survive, but not enough. The rest they had to steal, which meant they targeted the plumpest, richest targets they could. Invariably, that meant Landships.
    The reality was, neither could exist without the other. The Menagerie depended on the goods and supplies being transported in those ships, and the Wind Traders depended on the infamy and hostility of the Menagerie to make their trade services through dangerous places like the Barren necessary.
    It was a sick relationship, and one reason Ravan could never work up much sympathy for the Wind Traders. They needed the Menagerie as much as the Menagerie needed them. They had all made their choices.
    As she moved, Ravan noticed something peculiar. Near the rear of the ship, the two White Helix were noodling about. What was odd was that the girl, the deceptively small blonde, was fully geared. The rings glowed on her fingers, her Lancet was strapped to her back for traveling, along with a pack of supplies.
    The two talked a moment, the girl winked, and then leapt and disappeared overboard in a flash of cyan. The boy watched after her a moment, then hurried away.
    Ravan had an idea what they were up to. It wasn’t a bad play, something she might have done herself, but, in the end, it wouldn’t make much difference. Whatever was going to happen at Faust would happen regardless of any little schemes they might be running.
    Ravan thought of Avril a moment. Like Holt, she hadn’t come above deck since the escape, but unlike him, she had no real reason for moping. The girl was the adopted daughter of one of the most powerful men in the world. You could say she had a lot to look forward to, but it was clear she didn’t see it that way. In the end, Ravan didn’t really care, as long as she arrived back to her father in one piece. Tiberius had told Ravan to bring his daughter home, not to bring her home happy. What happened after that was his problem.
    Ravan kicked open the door to the lower decks and descended the stairs. The insides of a Landship were tight, only room for one person in the halls at a time, and as she moved every Wind Trader there got out of her way. It made her smile, how easy they scared. When the ship reached Faust, they were in for a rude awakening …
    She stopped in front of one particular door, a faded red one jammed into the frame, staring at it hesitantly.
    What was wrong with her? There wasn’t a tiger behind it, just one heart-crushed fool. What bothered her was the idea of what she would see on the other side. Holt had always been just as strong as her, just as self-reliant, which was no mean feat, and the thought of seeing him fragmented and weak, emotional even, was unsettling.
    Still, she’d given him enough time. The world required you to move on quickly, and she would see that he did.
    Ravan opened the door. The small room had rounded walls made of