is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cHumans are always at conflict,\u201d murmured Garuna in the back of her mind. \u201cThe only solution is forced compliance, for a superior being to guide the flock, to keep it in line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd I assume you are that superior being?\u201d asked Maite, rhetorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not catching the irony, Garuna replied \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI assume the whole reason you wanted to come with me is to reestablish yourself, to find a way to resume power again. Is that not right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garuna was silent for a moment. \u201cYou are too clever,\u201d it eventually replied. \u201cYes, that is my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite nodded to herself. \u201cAnd you think the zatiak are a path to that power?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI do not know what the zatiak are, but I do expect they can help me achieve my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite sighed. \u201cAnd then what? Subjugation of humans? Making us do what you think is best?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIsn\u2019t what I think is best better than what you have all been doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite fell silent. She hated that Garuna might be right, that humans might be better off with an all powerful, but benevolent, dictator. The thought made her stomach churn, but how could she argue that humans had done a good job of things so far? Thinking of Kepa\u2019s body laying in that street, she couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKepa. That\u2019s all that\u2019s important,\u201d she thought to herself. \u201cDamn the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fort stood in front of her. She could feel the pull of the zatia from within. She knelt down and placed her palms on the ground in front of her. Small bolts of electricity snaked from her fingertips and along the damp ground. As they reached the stone fort, they found any bits of metal to aid their journey as they fanned out and spead across the entire structure. They snaked their way better stones, up walls, across the ceiling, until they found the zatia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere,\u201d said Maite, standing up. \u201cIt\u2019s in the center.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She approached the door, two massive wooden structures hanging in front of her, keeping her from bringing Kepa back. She placed her palms on the doors and let out an electric discharge. She squealed as the electricity jumped back at her, almost knocking her over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She shook her head as she wiped her brow. \u201cThe wood is insulating,\u201d she muttered to herself in disappointment. She looked down at her fingers. Blisters were starting to form on her fingertips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHumans are always rash, never thinking ahead, never evaluating the situation,\u201d rumbled Garuna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIsilik!\u201d she barked out loud in a voice full of anger and frustration. \u201cShut up!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maite turned back to the bay. The large ships sat quite, rocking almost peacefully, belying the threat they posed for the city and the inhabitants. Maite shook her head. She was sick of the death and destruction that seemed to follow her at every turn, that seemed to be at the heart of every bubble […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1F4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6390"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6391,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390\/revisions\/6391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maite-and-kepa-v3b.png\")