The Tattooed Tribes Read Free

providing a buffer between the tribes and the new
settlers. Making sure the natural resources are harvested
responsibly and not exploited recklessly.”
    “ As has happened so many times before,”
Machin put in.
    She inclined
her head. “Too many times before,” she agreed. “As for my personal
role- the tribes are matriarchal and I believe as a woman I can
bring more understanding and have more influence than perhaps a man
can.”
    She gave each
of them a clear, direct look and a smile.
    “ I would very much like to have the
opportunity to try.”
    Jon, who had
been glancing through her impressive reports and exam results,
wondered why the hell she should not have it, but something held
him back from making an instant decision.
    “ Thank you, Stacey,” he said. “We’ve still
have candidates to see over the next week or so, but I think I can
say you will be on the short list.”
    The smile this
received was happy and pleasant, but he had the feeling it was not
relieved, as if the owner had never had any doubt of the
outcome.
    “ Before you go,” he said as she stood. “I
presume there will be no problem about the indenture
fees?”
    “ Hardly,” she replied, and he wondered if
there had been a sneer there or if it had been his
imagination.
    The three
Master TLOs relaxed as she left.
    “ Impressive.”
    “ Very,” Machin agreed.
    “ Bitch,” the apprentice remarked in what he
thought was an unheard aside.
    “ Keep your opinions to yourself,” his
master growled, spoiling that illusion. “And show the next one
in.”
    Blushing
furiously, the boy held the door open and shouted, “Next!”
     
     
    If Stacey
Wainwright had impressed the same could not be said of what
followed and continued to follow her through an extremely long and
boring day, and would continue for the next three.
    In the end Jon
was left frustrated and anxious. The hours of interviews had
produced only four possible candidates for him to choose from and
Stacey Wainwright was far and away the front runner.
    He tried to
work out why he was reluctant to commit to her. Was he concerned
that out in the wilderness, alone, he might not be able to keep his
hands off her?
    He considered
this, she was young and attractive and she would be totally
dependent on him to keep her safe while she learnt her trade.
    Was this the
reason he had been unwilling to take a girl apprentice, because he
did not trust himself to behave responsibly?
    After careful
thought he decided it was ridiculous. He was not a slave to his
hormones and anyway, there was something about the girl he found
unappealing.
    On the other
hand, what if she flung herself at him? This made him grin; somehow
he did not see Stacey as the flinging type, unlike Phoebe.
    There he might
have had problems with the master/apprentice divide. Phoebe
certainly had every intention of reinterpreting it to suit
herself.
    He needed to
make his decision soon. The Guild would not wait much longer and if
he did not, they would do it for him.
    However, he
had a temporary reprieve; there were rumours of illegal logging in
the high back country far from The Settlement. Someone was needed
to investigate and put an end to it before the loggers were stopped
by a war club.
    He left
knowing when he returned he had to put aside his concerns and offer
indenture papers to Stacey. The thought made him profoundly
depressed.

Chapter
2
     
     
    The illegal
loggers proved more of a problem than first anticipated. They had a
few gold prospectors along with them and it got very nasty, very
quickly.
    In the end Jon
was forced to ask for tribal help and there had been deaths on both
sides. The loggers were locked up awaiting trial, but the
prospectors would never pan another river on this world or any
other.
    The time away
should have allowed him to consider his choice, but he had been
busy and, if he was honest, he shied away from the task.
    Finding a
terse note from The Guild in his mail box reminding him a decision
was