Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (best interesting books to read txt) 📕

for others. For Cooper, it dragged. His mind was plagued by concerns and thoughts of what he might have missed. He wondered whether this move was happening too soon; all the while knowing there were Guild people in Serpent Tooth prison for whom each new day held only untold misery. How could his concerns and difficulties compare to that? Still, as Master Worthan taught, “Do not rush toward failure. Plan carefully, but allow for flexibility. Expect that things might not go exactly as planned… in fact, they seldom do.” The minutes passed slowly.

He watched the former prisoners move around the House, gauging how quickly they could move, estimating the time they should depart. Still, it would present even more risk if they should leave early, or the boats arrive late. A group of thirty people standing at the edge of the boardwalk in the Dregs was sure to attract some attention, especially an hour before midnight. And so it went for the next few hours.

He figured it would take him between fifteen and twenty minutes to reach the boardwalk, walking at a leisurely pace with no delays. Anticipating some delays and holding to the shadows usually called for that estimate to be doubled. Moving with a group, expecting some delays but unwilling to halt for any great lengths of time, yet still not wishing to take a chance on arriving early; he settled on leaving forty minutes before the scheduled meeting and boarding. Once they covered most of the distance, he’d send Gaff or Naro ahead to watch for patrols and make sure the boats were there, and were prepared to receive them.

An hour before they were to board the boats, he occupied his time by moving among the small groups, informing them that they’d be leaving soon. No one seemed to be concerned as they calmly went about preparing to leave, gathering up the few items they’d accumulated during their short stay. Mister Ysel carefully rolled up his papers and slid them into a bag of oiled leather. Cooper could see that the seams had been heavily waxed to make the bag waterproof. The man held the bag out to Cooper, “Perhaps this should be entrusted to you?” Cooper waved it away, “It’ll be better protected in your hands. If things go badly, I’ll be in the thick of it. That isn’t the best place for those documents.”

Now, with the announcement made, time passed quickly. He made a final count of people, informed everyone of the intended route, and gave Gaff, Naro and Balat their specific instructions, “I’ll stay at the front of the group. Gaff and Balat, stay near the rear and make sure we stay together. Naro, scout ahead but not more than one street away. Once we get closer, you’ll go ahead to the boardwalk, I’ll take your place as scout and Balat will move to my spot at the front of the group. Miss Camilla and Mister Ysel, please stay near the center of the group.” He paused to scan the faces in the room before asking, “Ready?” The people in the room seemed to take a collective breath and let it out slowly and Cooper opened the door and stepped out into the night air.

He embraced the feeling of excitement and anticipation as he waved Naro forward and then counted each person as they passed the doorway. Once he was certain they had everyone, he quickly moved to his position at the front. Naro was already observing the next cross street along their route. As they approached each crossing, Naro would either cross ahead of them if it was clear, or gesture for them to halt their progress until he was satisfied. On only one occasion did he wave them back to find shadowed spaces before hiding himself as a patrol made their leisurely way down the street. Everyone shared a sigh of relief when Naro resumed his vantage point and waved them forward again. Cooper was thinking how fortunate it was that the patrol continued along that street rather than turning toward them. There would’ve been no way to avoid a confrontation and the inevitable questions.

Once they passed from Miller’s Flats into the Dregs, the nature of the threat changed. The Dregs didn’t get the same attention from the City Watch that other neighborhoods did; something about the stench, no doubt. Or perhaps it was the likelihood of stepping into one of the dozen or so open trenches along each city block. Trenches that served as the drainage system for half the city’s sewers. Even the term “city block” was termed loosely, since there was nothing that suggested an actual arrangement of streets and buildings. In the entire neighborhood, there were fewer than twenty paths that could actually support a wagon, and therefore be called an actual road. City Officials called this neighborhood the South Warrens, and for good reason. Most folks simply called it The Dregs. Both names were well-earned. The trenches were meant to be navigated by a series of bridges, constructed once it became apparent that neighborhood residents had resolved to remain. These bridges had decayed and collapsed into the trenches long ago, only to be replaced now by boards, often rotten lumber, arranged like scaffolding. It was a wonder that more drunkards didn’t die from falling in and drowning, but then again who could know how many actually did?

Even so, the greatest threat wasn’t posed by crossing the trenches, though that was a danger of the most unique and hideous sort; it was the small bands of ruffians that had formed in response to the Guild’s sudden absence. As Naro approached a trench he looked doubtfully at the arrangement of boards that spanned its width. He tentatively placed a foot on the man-made path and applied some weight. The small structure groaned and shifted. Naro quickly withdrew his foot. He turned to look behind him and shook his head. He then pointed