Chapter 11: The Skirmish at Tazhong Valley

The interior bridge of the MMACC was filled with applause as Nari appeared. She was followed up with a set of her armed marines. Behind them was Dean and Iz’tre, that had their cuffs taken off. However, they were still being escorted inside to meet with Kosai.

Kosai respectfully used his non-injured arm to give a salute to Nari as an act of profound respect. The thought was what mattered. Nari halted as she gave a salute to the Kosai in return. Both were smiling at each other.

“Of all the things I didn’t expect, and it was a good one,” Kosai stated. He extended his hand to her.

“I was wondering when something would crawl up the UHN’s ass to come and help us out,” Nari replied. She grasped his hand and shook it with pride.

“Likewise,” he replied. “Took a fucking year before they decided to do it. Of course ... we had some help along the way.”

“I saw,” the officer stated. She turned to look at Iz’tre. “Itreans fighting Itreans. You had to ally with them to stop the others.”

“Hold on one sec,” Kosai turned to look at one of the lead driver of the enormous vehicle. “How long before we reach near the southern tip of the northern wall of Tazhong Canyon?”

“Approximately twenty minutes, sir,” the helmsmen replied.

“Good,” Kosai turned to look at Nari. “We’re on present course to rendezvous with the rest of your forces. Good to have reinforcements when we needed it the most.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Nari explained. “I’m pretty sure you know nothing about what happened after Cipra fell, right?”

“No. According to T’rintar intelligence, everyone on Cipra was most likely dead.”

“They were almost right. Fuck ... where the hell was the UHN a year ago? The entire fleet just got up and ditched us. They left us in the hands of the Aksren forces.”

“I can’t fully defend the UHN in their choices, but I do know the fleet was getting decimated. We almost lost the war, Nari. If the T’rintar clan didn’t ally with us, then the entire UHN fleet would have been wiped out. Cebravis, Mars ... everyone would have been dead. Cipra was beyond hope.”

Nari didn’t seem angry, but her head lowered down. “I see. It pretty much confirms what I read from your pilot’s tablet.” She walked over to an empty seat on the console and sat down. “I lost count in the number of times I should be dead right now.”

“Kosai, to bridge,” a woman called out on the comms. “Corpsman Kendra on the line. Sir, I’m currently trying to get as many of the new personnel vaccinated as possible. I’ll need to get officer Nari and her team vaccinated as well. If she gets the chance, tell her to come to sickbay.”

“I’ll get down there as soon as possible,” Nari replied on the comms. “Focus on my other men, first.”

“Roger, ma’am. Corpsman Kendra, out.” The comm line went out as Nari gave a big nod.

“Rest of the marines, you are dismissed,” the female officer commanded. “Get yourself vaccinated and report to the other vehicles. I want this fleet ready to move out in forty minutes.”

“Aye!” the other soldiers responded. They quickly started to leave the room to head out to the other compartments of the MMACC. One of the men stopped and looked at Dean. He gave a respected nod to him as an appreciation for getting everyone together. Dean took it as a commendable comment and gave him a thumbs up.

Iz’tre remained quiet. Both of them had long had their hands uncuffed, but they were still disarmed. The Itrean woman simply had her hand wrapped around Dean’s. At the moment, it was the only person she felt genuinely safe with. The act, in itself, was enough to help deter anyone from having serious problems with the alien deserter.

Nari looked at Kosai. “I’ll get myself vaccinated as soon as we finish up with this debrief. “This ... virus that the Aksren clan created ... sounds pretty serious.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t drop it on you already,” the male officer replied. “The thing is airborne and can kill a human being in less than an hour.”

“I can’t explain it either, Kosai.”

“What happened out here?” Kosai was genuinely curious.

Nari took a deep breath as she thought about the past. “I remember it all,” she calmly explained. “There was so much confusion when the UHN fleet bailed on us. The President of Cipra was dead from the bombardment. The Vice President ordered the ground forces to keep fighting. I ... I knew it was over the moment the UHN was leaving. There was no way in hell that we could fight the Itreans for good. Hundreds of warships bombed from every angle. Nowhere to go. Civilians were funneling through the Lantau tunnel to reach the Tazhong valley. It was pointless, but ... I just felt that we had to make a run for it.”

“It was certain death,” Kosai commented.

“Oh yeah, man,” Dean remarked in his stoned relaxed state. “Like ... it’s really hot out there.”

The two officers briefly looked at Dean before they focused back on each other. They resumed their talk.

“Yeah ... it was hot,” Nari explained. “Nothing leaves New Hong Kong and is expected to live in this shit. I disobeyed orders, Kosai. I knew I had to protect the refugees. It was better than staying behind and fighting a hopeless battle. Out here ... there was a chance ... even if it were a remote one.” She rested on the chair as if she hadn’t sat down for days. “Marine detachments two and five went with me as we shot through the tunnel. Aksren forces were right behind us. They focused on the city first. We managed to get two hundred thousand through that tunnel before the Aksren clan bombed and blew the entrances and exit points. I don’t know how many starved or were trapped under those tunnels. It wasn’t meant for people to hold out indefinitely.”

“Fuck,” Kosai commented under his breath.

Nari looked at the display window of the bridge. “Everyone went in different directions. Aksren were picking all of us off, one by one. Their aircraft just strafed it all ... shot us down like we were nothing. They had so many targets to shoot that their guns must have run dry. Even their ships from above were firing down upon us. Eventually, though ... they just gave up. Again, maybe it was because they were low on fuel or just ran out of ammo. They must have figured that we would have died in the desert, and ... they were almost correct.”

“How the hell did you manage to do it, though?”

“Well, I can tell you that I did my best in rounding up the survivors. I took up the marines and survivors, and we went to the Tazhong Canyon. Past that point ... there’s nothing, but I figured that there would be caves or something to hide. We searched hard and found a pair of enormous caves. Sandstorm came for a good month to help hide us as the Aksren eventually started to send patrols to... ‘find us.’ I think they just got bored from occupying New Hong Kong. We used the time to set up shop in those caves. We were desperately low on food and water almost the entire time. When the sandstorm struck, I sent a small team to go to Huǒshān kǒu Korea.”

“Huǒshān kǒu Korea is on the other side of the planet,” Kosai commented.

“Yeah ... but we had to find something ... anything. They traveled for over a day and evaded everything. Huǒshān kǒu Korea was already bombed by the orbital fleet. I guess they figured that the place was too small and unworthy of keeping. Thankfully, we managed to slip through and grab anything that we could use. Components, food rations, water vaporators, tunneling equipment. They managed to make the whole trip back, and we got to work. Man, we got to work. The bigger we made those caves, the better everyone would live. I ... had to make some rough choices ... things that no human being should have to go through ... things that sacrificed lives over the wellbeing of the whole group.”

“I couldn’t imagine.”

“Nor should you,” Nari stated. “First month, there were hundreds of thousands. In a week, we had at least 35,000 when we hunkered down and got to work. There’s only 3,227 that are left.”

“Over three thousand of a population of millions ... Allah help us all.” Kosai wasn’t the type to be shaken up, but even he showed signs of remorse from his face and attitude.

“But...,” Nari continued. “We did it. We got those caves established for the people to live in. The patrols could never find us. Eventually, they just gave up and assumed that nothing could survive. I made it my goal that we would survive somehow ... that one day we would fight back and take this world from the Aksren. We hadn’t seen a single Aksren vehicle for six months ... then,” she pointed at Iz’tre. “This little bugger came near our door.”

Dean looked down at Iz’tre and gave her a happy thumbs up. Kosai briefly looked at the Itrean woman before looking back at the female officer. Confusingly, the Itrean woman responded by giving a thumbs up, not knowing what it ultimately meant.

“She was damn lucky she evaded getting shot too,” Nari continued. “Thought that the Aksren clan had found us, and they were going to blow us to high hell. She gave us quite a scare. She sped off on her little hoverbike, and I had to make the hard decision to be ready for an impending assault. The people were so tired of running ... they chose to stay and wait for the inevitable. Needless to say ... it never happened. Turned out that our little Itrean friend here is a deserter. If I had the knowledge that I do now, I might have given her a chance to live with us.”

“What’s your name, Itrean?” Kosai asked her.

“Iz ... Iz’tre,” she answered. “Sorry ... my English ... bad.”

“It’s alright, Izzy,” Dean replied. “Dean’s got your back.”

“And that comes to his story,” Nari commented. “Looks like this deserter saved the life of your pilot ... although, I might have him explain that to you. Both your pilot and her came to my door and surprised us. Then we got the bigger surprise that the UHN had come back. I can’t say how excited I was, but it was a good thing that I came out here and caught you before you drove past us. We were going to miss out on the party.”

“Your timing is beyond good,” Kosai said. He gestured his hand to the center display console. “We’re returning back to rendezvous with your fleet of vehicles. It will boost our numbers a little bit. We have a better chance to retake the capital now than ever.”

The 3d image showed a large green arrow that was heading towards a projected image of the northern edge of the Tazhong canyon. It showed a similar smaller green arrow that came from the tip to meet together.

“I wouldn’t celebrate too much,” Nari commented. “I have fourteen operational vehicles. Nine IFVs, three Kujangs, and I have two armed makeshift vehicles. I took two civilian trucks and had them rigged up with the turrets of some busted-up M30s. Something I took out of the history books of ancient Earth. Partisan vehicles ... nothing like surprising your enemy with rustic-up attack vehicles.”

“We’ll need all the help that we can get,” Kosai told her. “I’m afraid that we don’t have the opportunity to fully vaccinate all of your people. We ... just didn’t know that there were survivors down here, and our supplies are limited to what we brought with us.”

“I know ... we’ll worry about it later.” She pointed at the center console map. “My ground forces are yours. We’ll combine forces and head straight to the capital. The ones that can’t be vaccinated will stay behind and protect the civilians.”

“We should have more than enough vaccines to medicate the vehicle operators and marines. This is what I got planned so far.” He tapped a couple of buttons on the console. The display changed so that a green arrow would transit through a geographical overlay of Cipra. “You pretty much confirmed to me that the Lantau tunnel is shut down.”

“The MMACC would have been too big to go through it anyway,” Nari stated.

“Agreed. That leaves us with two choices. We can go south and go through the Hong Bao passage. It will take us near Cipra’s equator where we will head north into New Hong Kong. I believe that the allied forces had managed to knock out a majority of the Aksren defenses in that region. It would be the safest route.”

“I don’t know,” Nari commented. “Travelling at your speeds...,” she paused as she thought about it. “Without the knowledge of what is going on up there, you would add half a day to our travels. We would have to pause and refuel our vehicles.”

“Plus, we don’t know if we have that amount of time,” Kosai added. “The allied forces are depending on us to reach the capital, win or lose. It’s believed that the Aksren clan will continue to funnel more and more ships into the battle till the T’rintar and UHN will have to abandon the siege. I agree that time isn’t on our side.” He drew an arrow line that wrapped around the northern side of the Lantau canyon. “The other choice that we have is to go north near the north pole and through the Zang passage. It would be the quickest route, but ... there are more defenses that are up there.”

“There is another problem too,” Nari remarked. “Either direction we take, the sandstorm will end. Even past the Tazhong pass, the storm is weaker. Once we reach the northern tip of the Zang passage, we will be out of the cover of the storm. We will be sitting ducks for the orbital fleet to pound us.”

Kosai put his hand to his chin as he was thinking about it. “Either way, time is going to be the deciding factor. North it is.”

“I agree,” Nari remarked. “That leaves me to the last thing that I wanted to discuss before I run down to your corpsman.”

“Name it.”

“If I’m going to be handing my forces to you, then I need to be second in command. If something were to happen to you, then I’ll command the ground forces.”

Kosai seemed relieved to hear her say that. “By all means. I need an XO as it is. You know the layout of the land better than I do. Not to mention, I know that this is personal to you, as it would to me if I were in your situation.”

“Good,” Nari replied. She slapped her hips and tapped her boot to the deck. “Looking forward to sticking it to the enemy. We’ll discuss more of the operation in an hour as we ensure that everything is operational and good to go. We’ll use the next half hour to tap up on fuel and energy. Glad to have a MMACC here to ready our forces. Always wanted to get a chance to ride in one of these things. In the meantime, I’m releasing your pilot and this turncoat to you.” She pointed to Iz’tre. “We have her gun, and I don’t feel safe to give it to her unless you feel that it’s safe to do so. I’ll let you decide on what to do with her.”

With that, Nari took her fist and lightly pounded the console. She proceeded to leave the bridge when she paused next to Dean. She then put her hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you, Dean,” Nari told him. “I’m sorry that I had to keep you detained.”

“Oh, like ... it’s alright, ma’am,” Dean remarked. “I get that sometimes. It’s like ... sometimes people have a hard time trusting me or stuff like that.”

“If it weren’t for you two, I wouldn’t be standing here. Don’t forget that.”

The female officer took her hand off of him and left the room. This left Dean and Iz’tre to Kosai. The officer of the entire operation put his working hand behind his back and approached the pilot. He then looked down at the Itrean woman.

“Petty Officer Dean,” Kosai addressed him. “Thank you for bringing her to me.”

“Oh ... ah ... thanks, sir,” Dean replied.

“I only have about five minutes to talk to the both of you. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to play judge advocate general on you two. I want you to explain to me on what happened.” There was a hint of agitation and anger in his tone.

“Well ... like ... it all started when I woke up this morning,” Dean started to say. His tone had no malice, nor was he trying to joke around.

“As I said, Dean,” Kosai cut him off. “My time is short, and I have a battle to win. I heard about the aerial battle. I want you to briefly tell me how the fuck you managed to get here.”

“Well ... like ... I was flying and shooting down the bad guys ... I mean bad women.” He briefly looked at Iz’tre and apologized before looking at the officer. “I think ... My plane was shot down, and I almost died in the desert, sir. I was getting pretty hot and passed out. Um ... I think ... then Izzy here came and saved my life. She’s a swell pal, sir. She nursed me back to health and drove me to officer Nari’s hideout.”

“Hmmm ... that wasn’t what I entirely heard, Dean. I seem to remember hearing about a pilot that went AWOL. He was supposed to be acting like he was under the influence and disregarded orders. Supposedly managed to take down much of the Aksren patrol squadrons but was ... deranged.”

“Whoa ... so that’s what happened...,” Dean put his hand to his chin.

“Plus ... I can smell the pot from your breath alone,” Kosai gave him a mean look. “There’s no real laws to put you under arrest for your actions, but I do have the ability to look at you as a possible danger to us and this whole operation. You were under the influence when you flew that aircraft and put the lives of others when you did. Granted, you managed to take down a lot of the enemy. I don’t know how but you did, and somehow you come back to us and bring reinforcements that we badly needed.”

“Ah ... it was only one hit, sir. I like ... never get carried away.”

“I can’t imagine if it were more than one. Regardless, I need individuals that can fight. As for you, Iz’tre.” The officer looked at the Itrean and then walked to his console. He pushed a button to open up a comm channel. “Bekra, this is Kosai.”

“Acknowledged,” Bekra’s deep robotic-like voice radiated from the console.

“Bekra, you might be aware that we’ve taken aboard an Aksren clan soldier. She supposedly saved our pilot and has been surrendered to us by officer Nari. Her English is rather limited. I will need you to help provide proper translation for us. She is currently with me now.”

There was a short pause in the comms. “Very well.”

“Iz’tre,” Kosai pointed at the comms. “I need you to talk to us. Explain to us on who you are and your intentions.”

Iz’tre might not have understood the full context of the words, but she let go of Dean’s hand and walked up next to the console. Her hands were pressed together as Bekra’s voice echoed that of what Kosai had just said. The words consisted of shrills, chirps, and spoken words in the deep harmonic tone of Bekra’s robotic voice. Iz’tre focused hard on the console as she seemed to completely understand what was spoken to her in the alien language. She then began to say a series of sentences that further reflected that of the Itrean language. In some points of view, the words almost sounded like that of birds that were talking to each other combined with physical words that humans would typically use.

“According to Iz’tre,” Bekra explained in English. “She comes from the planet of Hot’lar, the neighboring planet of Renlar. She identifies herself as Gersin, a religious group practiced by all Itrean clans. Their sole dedication is to that of child-rearing, as their beliefs focus on. They are caretakers of children and help provide relief for orphans, parents, and...”

“I don’t need a whole lesson on Itrean beliefs,” Kosai interrupted. “Get to the point.”

“According to her,” Bekra continued. “They conscripted several people from Hotlar, trained her in the basics of combat, and gave her a gun. She was assigned to serve in the invasion force to stop the human invasion of Cipra.”

“We were here first,” Kosai stated as he pointed his finger at Iz’tre. “There were no signs that anybody shouldn’t have been here first. Your people came to slaughter us.”

Bekra began to translate the officer’s words. Iz’tre fully understood everything and gave a series of quick nods.

“I ... know,” Iz’tre replied. She began to say several more words in the Itrean language. There was another pause as Iz’tre continued to explain her side of the story in her own communication.

“Iz’tre states that she was an orphan taken from her village and trained to fight. She fought according to the laws of conscription. She killed a human marine by the name of Yuchen and took his computer device. She began to teach herself a little bit of English and learned that humans had children of their own ... including sons. She questioned her people on the harsh tactics used on the people of Cipra. She believes you in what you said. The Aksren clan had no claim on Cipra. She witnessed them executing babies and human children.”

“What?” Kosai commented.

Iz’tre continued speaking. Even though she was talking in her own language, she began to show signs of distress and sadness in her voice. Dean could see that she was distraught. Even her hands would grip together and press to her armor.

“She says that the Aksren clan focuses on what the leaders want,” Bekra said. “They don’t consider the beliefs of those under them. It’s not her belief to exterminate the offspring of others, enemy or not. She believes that she shammed herself and her beliefs by killing a father of a child. According to her, from what Dean says, the Aksren clan did not inform their own people that the humans carried the cure for Zilik’s Disease. She must restore the honor of her religion and help the human race, even if it means attacking her own people. Humanity is the only path for sons to be born again so that she can help raise them to adulthood. She proclaims her loyalty to the T’rintar clan or the human race, whatever she sees fit.”

“I fight ... Iz’tre fights,” Iz’tre tried to say. Her fist banged against her ample chest.

“Hmmm...,” Kosai seemed to think about it. “Is there any credence to her saying?”

“She could be lying,” Bekra stated. “She could be an Aksren spy or a saboteur.”

“I’ve not seen enough evidence to suggest that. She saved a pilot and helped bring him to Nari. Like how do I know that she’s a Gersin as she proclaims?”

“She would have big breasts.”

“I beg your pardon,” Kosai stated.

“She would have large breasts, officer Kosai,” Bekra explained. “The Gersin devote their bodies to rearing babies. Their breasts would contain a large amount of...”

“Alright, alright,” Kosai cut her off. He briefly looked at the Itrean woman’s breasts before shaking his head. “I asked too much. Fine ... I don’t have time to stand here and ask every single question in the fucking books. I can choose to have you confined or ... fuck...”

There was a short pause in the conversation. “We could use another person to help serve as a lookout up here top deck,” Bekra stated. “I can watch her behavior, and she would be under my supervision. I would also be able to further translate anything for her.”

“What?” Zalika’s voice barely came through the comm line. “Now I have to be the fucking babysitter too?”

“Hey, like ... that sounds like a great idea, sir,” Dean commented with a big smile. “I don’t mind being up there. I can keep an eye on my friend too.”

“You mean you want to smoke in peace up there,” Kosai stated.

“Whoa ... like ... that’s a good idea. Man like ... you’re really smart, sir. Did anybody tell you that before?”

Kosai’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the pilot. The silence said it all. “Very well. Bekra, translate what I’m going to say. Dean, you’re responsible for her wellbeing. I want both of you to report to our sickbay. I want her to be checked out and to ensure that she isn’t carrying anything that she shouldn’t that can compromise the safety of this entire operation. Once she’s cleared, you’re getting geared up and reporting topside. Understand this. I’m letting you continue to serve our forces. I need every weapon, every person that can hold a gun, everything to ensure that we win this battle. That includes you. If I hear one thing that is out of line ... one thing that shows me that you can’t serve, I’m having Bekra and Zalika boot you off the top deck of the MMACC into the sandy bottom below.”

“Actually, sir,” Zalika yelled out over the line. “That isn’t the way to treat him. Instead, if he acts up, we toss his weed overboard. That’s what you tell him. Trust me, it’ll work.”

“Oh man ... like ... that would be a total bummer, man.” Dean shook his head upon hearing Zalika. “Like ... I don’t think that would be great at all. I promise to be good.”

“Same goes with you, Iz’tre,” Kosai pointed to her. “If there is some sort of hidden agenda that you have ... anything that shows me that you’re a danger to us...”

Bekra was busily translating all of Kosai’s words into the language that Iz’tre could clearly understand. He looked at her with due diligence.

“Don’t worry, sir,” Dean nodded his head. “I promise to like ... look out for the enemy ... tell you if the enemy is coming ... umm ... protect Iz’tre ... protect the MMACC ... protect Bekra ... protect those marines ... protect you, sir...”

He continued to talk as Kosai looked over to see that Bekra had fully translated everything. Dean was almost oblivious to the fact that Kosai wasn’t even paying attention to him. Iz’tre looked at the officer and did a quick nod. By now, it seemed that Bekra might have been telling Iz’tre something about Dean and his ... quirks. She walked over and put her hand to his arm to almost help guide him away from the officer.

“Protect the vehicles ... protect the crewmember that’s over there ... umm ... protect the crew that’s next to her ... protect officer Nari...” Dean’s eyes weren’t even looking at the officer while he was thinking of everything necessary that he needed to say. He almost didn’t even notice that Iz’tre was trying to help coax him out the door.

“Thank you,” Iz’tre told the officer. There was a smile from her pointed snout.

“You’re dismissed,” Kosai waved his hand to the two. There wasn’t any sort of agitation in his voice by now. He almost seemed relieved that Dean was leaving.

Dean continued to keep talking as he walked out the door to the following compartments. Iz’tre had a firm grip on the pilot’s arm as her tail waved back and forth. When the two left, and the door slid closed, Kosai sighed and facepalmed.

“Allah help me,” Kosai quietly told himself.

“I like him,” Patricia said. There was a big smile on her face while she kept a close eye on her sensor screen.

It had been well over fifty minutes since the ground fleet left the Tazhong pass. They had now reached the Tazhong Canyon. The sandstorm was still in full swing, but there were hints that it was tapering by a small amount by now. The Tazhong Canyon walls was serving as the first line of defense against the desert. Its sheer size was blocking much of the dust from getting through. If anything, the open pass was the only true conveyor of more winds and dust. Even if the fleet of vehicles had moved through the pass, the air was still filled with dust. Visibility remained low in the sand-covered landscape. The star, which was closer to Cipra than Sol was to Earth, still appeared to be small from the constant blockage of dust. The heat remained as firm as it ever was as the sun tried to pierce the hazy sky.

The moving formation of ground vehicles was an ever constant. The MMACC’s heavy weight made the ride perfectly bearable. On top of the moving crawler were Bekra, Zalika, Dean, and Iz’tre. Not far from them was the bomber that was still undergoing repairs. Three repair technicians were engaged in one damaged compartment of the craft. Zalika was keeping a good eye on the landscape. Bekra, in her towering form, stood over Iz’tre. A small emitter lit up and began to scan an open tilon that Iz’tre had. She seemed to be processing information that the deserter had in her hands. Dean was dressed differently than he was almost an hour ago. Unlike his prior pilot jumpsuit, he was now wearing basic combat armor. The fabric and material were sturdy and flexible. It seemed more comfortable and had the same blue and red color as his jumpsuit. While it was nothing as impressive as the power armor that Zalika wore, it was more suited to handle the desert conditions. Even his helmet could properly vent the heat that bore down on him. He carried a carbine in his hands and tried to keep an eye out for anything in the vast landscape.

Bekra had finished her scan. Iz’tre had closed up her tilon and put it away. The winds occasionally pressed against her brown shawl that was on top of her forehead. She remained unarmed.

“I finished processing, Iz’tre’s tilon,” Bekra said in her robotic tone. “Transmitting the data to MMACC CIC.”

“I received the data,” Kosai said in the comms.

Iz’tre spoke several words in her Itrean language to Bekra. Then, Bekra began to translate her words.

“Iz’tre states that she doesn’t know if any of her data will help but promises to help in whatever way that she can.”

“It’s too bad that Iz’tre didn’t leave her people later,” Nari commented in the comms. “Checking the data.”

“Yeah,” Kosai replied. “Most of the information is unclear on Aksren defenses.”

“Try using T’rintar intel reports and cross-reference,” Bekra stated.

“Commencing ... hmm...,”

“Looks like Iz’tre might be able to still help out on this,” Nari stated. “While her information is very dated, it does show the gun and missile platforms that the Aksren were planning to install. It matches with current T’rintar clan reports that verify their locations.”