Ophelia led the way through the borderlands between the forest and the savanna. Bugs ate Decker alive but seemed to avoid Ophelia for a reason she chose not to reveal.

After a good twenty minutes of more casual walking Ophelia put her finger to her lips to ask for silence, and began to stalk carefully forward with apparent skill. Decker followed behind her. He had a small amount of stealth training beaten into him by Aranarth so he was able to keep up without making a complete fool of himself.

With Ophelia in the lead the two crawled into a cluster of foliage and peered out through it.

Decker could feel Ophelia's brain implant asking permission to establish a mind link with his. He didn't really want to grant it but he figured she was just looking to talk silently. That was the best way. With the flick of a mental switch he conceded permission.

<See those two people over there?> Ophelia signaled Decker's implant with her own. At the same time she pointed at a camp at the edge of a nearby clearing.

A sticks-and-mud lean to was set up against a convenient cluster of three trees. A few strides from this primitive shelter was a crackling fire over which a fat, succulent looking six-trunked quadruped was roasting on a wooden spit.

Not far from the fire a man and a woman were hard at work building a wooden frame. The frame was large and pretty elaborate looking. It seemed like the two had their work cut out for them but what they had already built looked sturdy. It would make for a very fine shelter when it was finished.

They were both dressed in the same basic outfit as Decker and Ophelia, although theirs were muted brown like Decker's. This included pistols worn on their hips. They both wore deathwards. Thanks to Decker's enhanced vision he could see that the woman's ward was in the shape of a silver wolf's head in profile, or possibly a fox. The man's was in the shape of a teal treble clef.

<We're going to steal their guns and maybe their food too I haven't decided yet,> signaled Ophelia. <I got the idea from you.>

<There's no way in the universe I'm going to help you rob fellow aspirants,> Decker signaled back.

<I'm sorry, did you not moments ago swear on the honor of the Neutronium Dragons that you were going to help me? Doesn't that lodge have a sense of honor?> asked Ophelia.

<Doesn't yours?>

<I'm with the Violet Motley we don't tie our hands with inflexible systems. You're the gravitylubber with the behavioral restrictions. QX?>

<I can't,> signaled Decker.

<Oh but you can Sam-Sam. And you will. We both already know it. So give all the feeble pleading a rest and I'll explain the plan.>

Decker sighed internally.

<You're not worried you're going to be disqualified for stealing from other aspirants?>

<I don't remember being told that rule. How are you so sure this isn't what we're supposed to do? There's as much surface area on this orbital as a decent sized planet. Do you think it's a coincidence that now four aspirants have all been dropped close enough together to run into one another? This is all part of the game. I intend to win.>

<And your winning strategy is robbery?>

<You keep saying rob. I never said we were going to rob them,> signaled Ophelia, <that implies violence which implies we're going to get caught. And we're not going to get caught.>

<Fine, I'll help, but no violence,> signaled Decker.

<You'll do as you're told,> signaled Ophelia. <You're just lucky that my plan doesn't happen to include violence.>

<What's your plan then?> asked Decker.

<They're doing hard labor so they're probably going to take a nap in that lean to at midday. They'd be stupid not to in this heat. We're going to wait here and observe until that happens. Then when we're certain they're asleep we'll move in and take their guns. After that we'll have a quick look around the camp for anything else worth grabbing. If you see a water tight container I want it. Then we disappear like ghosts. And you can go back to getting caught in traps intended for animals with your honor intact.>

<Why does this require two people?> asked Decker.

<Because there's two of them,> replied Ophelia, <I'm not going in outnumbered. What if we get caught?>

<You said we weren't going to get caught,> signaled Decker.

<Oh grow up Sam-Sam of course there's a chance we'll get caught. There are no guarantees in life.>

Decker wouldn't have thought a minute ago he could have liked this idea even less, but here he was.

<Plus with you I can carry twice as much loot,> Ophelia continued.

* * *

The two waited for a little under two hours for for what passed for 'noon' on an orbital ring like Hyperborea.

As on other orbitals day and night on Hyperborea were produced by the angled rotation of the ring relative to the sun. The side of the ring facing the sun would have it's interior section cloaked in darkness, experiencing night. The side of the ring facing away from the sun would have it's interior section exposed to the star, experiencing day. The trick was to getting the angle perfect so that one side didn't cast a shadow on the other, but a great many things needed to be accomplished perfectly to create an elegant technological marvel such as an orbital.

One of the side effects of such an arrangement was that it was never truly noon on the ring. The sun never reached the midpoint in the sky. This didn't prevent the orbital from having an extended period of midday heat, when the relevant section of the orbital was exposed most directly to the sun's rays.

Hyperborea was a good deal closer to its mother star than a typical orbital. It might not have had a proper noon, but it had some of the most oppressive midday heat any of the four aspirants had ever experienced.

Just as Ophelia had predicted once the sun didn't quite manage to reach its zenith in the sky both of the two aspirants went back to the lean to to nap away the worst of the heat.

Decker and Ophelia waited a beat to ensure their quarry was asleep then slipped into the camp as silently as they could. They crept over to either side of the lean to with the silence of the void. Leaning down, almost in unison, they slowly reached out to pull the railpistols from their holsters. Decker was on one side of the lean to dealing with one aspirant, Ophelia was on the other side dealing with the other.

Ophelia moved like a predatory insect, her movements so slow and methodical that there were almost undetectable. Decker was a bit less deft. His hand shook. This was not his area of expertise.

Decker shifted his weight to lean to one side and get a better angle. The increased weight caused a twig beneath him to snap. It was not a loud noise but it was enough.

Before Decker realized what was happening the woman he was attempting to steal from popped up out of the lean to. She was on her feet with the railpistol drawn at pointed straight at Decker. He startled and fell backwards.

Decker instantly felt Ophelia break their mind link. Looking around for her he could see she had already disappeared. Like a ghost. Like a sprelling ghost.

The male aspirant appeared much more casually around the other side of the lean to.

"What's going on?"

"I just caught this sprelling bedswerver trying to knock us over," said the woman, still glaring daggers and Decker while she pointed her gun at him.

"I can't understand half of what you Centuari say," said the man.

"I just caught this person of low moral character attempting to take our property," said the woman, not willing to take her eyes off Decker long enough to roll them.

"He's an aspirant," the man observed.

"Well no sprell Zaire who the sprell else was he going to be?" asked the woman.

"Why is an aspirant trying to steal from us?" asked Zaire.

"I don't know, ask him!" yelled the woman.

Zaire walked over to where Decker was and squatted down.

"Hello there," he said.

"Hi," said Decker, still on his butt. He waved weakly.

"I'm sure you were following our loud conversation. Would you mind explaining why you thought it would be wise to try to steal from us?"

"Sure," said Decker. "Can I stand?"

Zaire looked over at the woman.

"Kel?" he asked.

The dam broke and Kel rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she said, still pointing the gun.

Decker stood up slowly and dusted himself off. Zaire rose as well.

Decker told the two about his encounter with Ophelia, starting with his capture by the snare and ending with his meeting with Zaire and Kel. He realized as he told it how ridiculous it was.

"Do you think he's lying?" Zaire asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't know. It's kind of too stupid to be a lie," said Kel. "Like if you were this guy and wanted to fool us wouldn't you come up with a better story?"

"Yeah it does have the ring of authenticity doesn't it?" agreed Zaire.

"Plus where's his gun?"

"I'm inclined to take him at face value."

"Alright, 'Sam', let's say we believe you," said Kel. "What then?"

"Look," said Decker, putting up his hands in mock surrender, "I'm sorry about the whole situation I really didn't want any of this. I was tricked in a vulnerable position and then it was a matter of lodge honor. I have no quarrel with either of you. If you let me go I won't bother you again."

"Alright Mr. Oathkeeper," said Kel. "This is what you're going to do. You're going to swear an oath to the two of us on the honor of the Neutronium Dragons that you won't swear any further oaths to this Ophelia character. No matter how vulnerable your position."

"Oh I like that," said Zaire.

"I've really learned my lesson about being too frivolous with that, I'd really prefer not to make any promises with respect to lodge honor."

"You should have thought of that already," said Kel. "You're in too deep now. You swear on the honor of your lodge or," she gestured with the railpistol she was still holding on him, "I'll shoot you dead right here. Don't think I don't I see your deathward. You tried to take my gun I'm not even playing around with you."

"Kel..." said Zaire.

"No Zaire," said Kel, turning to look at him but not moving her weapon, "even if I believe this sprellhead, and that's an 'if' right now, he still tried to rob us."

"Technically I tried to steal from you," said Decker. "Robbery implies violence."

Why was he quoting Ophelia?

"You're not helping your case," said Zaire.

"Tick tock," said Kel.

"Fine," said Decker. "This is ridiculous. I swear on the honor of the Neutronium Dragons that I will not swear any oaths on the honor of that or any other lodge to Ophelia... well I don't know her family name but the Violet Motley aspirant Ophelia known to us all."

"Actually we don't know for certain this person even exists," said Zaire.

"Hey that's right," said Kel. "We only caught you."

"Well she exists," said Decker, "and I will never make a promise of any kind to her ever again. You can count on that."

"See that wasn't so hard was it?" asked Zaire. "While I think the lesson you took from this encounter was wise there was no harm in swearing an oath to avoid further oaths. I would say it is in keeping with the spirit of the lesson."

Zaire offered Decker his hand to shake. Decker did so.

Kel cleared her throat.

"You can stay and eat with us if you want," her voice was still terse, but there was a forced quality to it,

"Oh yes!" agreed Zaire happily, "we have more meat than the two of us can possibly eat at once and we'll have to burn any leftovers to avoid attracting predators. I would hate to be wasteful with meat we actually had to kill to get. You are most welcome to join us."

"Don't go overboard," Kel said to Zaire, then to Decker she added, "you're not most welcome you're only basic perfunctory level welcome."

"Got it," said Decker, suppressing a smile.

"If you're going to eat you're going to help us build the shelter until the whatever-you-call-it is finished cooking," said Kel, still quite terse.

"It's a deal," said Decker, "let's get to work."