Chapter 45 — The Last Seed Keeper

The artificial light in the Stone Dome didn't change with the hour, but Khe Mien could still feel the approach of morning through the more crowded footsteps echoing from the main hallway, the steady sound of hammers on metal from the blacksmith's workshop, and a simple meal being brought to the door by a young soldier who didn't say a word except to set down the tray and stand back to guard.

"We need a reason to leave this room without arousing suspicion," Bach Lam said, sitting down next to the food tray but not touching it, his mind clearly busy with other calculations. "The two soldiers out there won't let us roam around freely, but maybe they'll let one or two out under supervision, if the reason is good enough."

"You could ask permission to check the climbing gear you just exchanged yesterday," Diem Quynh suggested, "saying you found a technical error that needs to be confirmed at the supply warehouse before leaving. That will take you past the area near the water system."

That plan, although fragile, was all they had, and when Diem Quynh presented her request to the soldier on guard, her voice trembled slightly but convincingly enough, the soldier hesitated for a moment before agreeing to take her away, on the condition that another soldier accompanied her to supervise the entire way.

While waiting, Khe Mien sat next to Bach Lam, both kept silent, listening to every sound echoing from the corridor outside as if trying to read their destiny through the rhythm of the mountain.

"If this doesn't work," she said at last, her voice low, "if we can't find a way out, and the Mining Council decides we're guilty..."

"It won't come to that," Bach Lam interrupted, but his eyes, when looking at her, couldn't hide the worry he was trying to cover up with the finality in his voice. "I promised to never let you face anything alone. I will keep that promise, no matter the cost."

Near noon, Duong Thi Yen appeared at the door of the room, carrying an official reason - to check the list of exchanged supplies to complete the dossier - but as soon as the guard turned his back to chat with his comrades at the end of the hallway, she quickly thrust a small folded piece of paper into Khe Mien's hand.

"Don't open it here," she whispered, almost soundlessly, before turning around with a calm expression as if nothing had happened.

Only when Duong Thi Yen left and the soldier returned to his guard post did Khe Mien secretly open the piece of paper under the blanket and read the words hastily written in charcoal: *The west water outlet, near the third cultivation compartment, had no guards after the shift change at midnight. I can't help more. Sorry for what's happening to you — not everyone here agrees with the way Han Dinh Sang acted, but very few of us had the courage to say so.*

Khe Mien folded the piece of paper, feeling an unexpected warmth amid the overwhelming fear — small but certain proof that even in the most stressful place they had ever been to, there were still people willing to risk some of their safety for the sake of righteousness.

Diem Quynh returned soon after, her face trying to remain calm in front of the supervising soldier, but her eyes, when she glanced quickly at Khe Mien, carried a light of confirmation. “I saw the floodgate,” she whispered as soon as the door closed. "Just as the message said — a sunken chamber near the growing area, the water flows through an iron grate that can be removed with enough time and the right tools."

The afternoon passed in a tense wait, each person in the small group pretending to rest while in fact silently preparing — Ngan The Binh rechecked every item they had kept after the search, rearranging it so everything could be carried as quickly as possible; Bach Lam mentally reviewed the diagram Diem Quynh described, calculating distance and time; Kien, even though he tried to act brave, couldn't hide his trembling hands every time he thought about what might happen if the plan failed.

In the middle of the afternoon, a loud noise rang out from the hallway outside, startling the group — the sound of rapid footsteps, the sound of leather armor clashing against each other, and the familiar, cold voice of Han Dinh Sang echoing through the thick wooden door.

"Open the door. Check again."

Khe Mien exchanged a panicked look with Bach Lam before he quickly motioned for the group to sit down, appearing as calm as possible, while he himself walked to open the door with a calmness carefully practiced over many years of facing danger.

Han Dinh Sang walked in, followed by two other soldiers, his eyes scanned the small room with such meticulous scrutiny that it made Khe Mien feel like he was being stripped of every thought in his mind. He didn't say anything for a long time, just walked around, checking the neatly arranged luggage bags, sometimes stopping to pick up an item and then putting it down without explaining why.

"Are you guys going somewhere?" he asked finally, his eyes falling on Ngan The Binh's bag, packed more neatly than was necessary for a normal afternoon of rest.

"We are travelers, Captain," Ngan The Binh replied, his voice never wavering even though his heart must have been as tense as a string. "Arranging luggage neatly is a habit we keep every day, whether we go or not, so as not to waste time when we need to move urgently."

Han Dinh Sang looked at him for a long moment, and in that moment, Khe Mien felt the entire room holding its breath, waiting to see if that simple explanation was enough to ease the suspicion smoldering behind the captain's cold eyes.

"I'll double the number of guards from tonight," he said finally, turning and walking out the door. "Until the Mining Council meets. This is not a punishment, just a necessary precaution."

When the door closed behind him, the group sat in silence for a long moment, no one daring to say out loud what they were all thinking — that their window of opportunity, already slim, had now become even narrower.

"Twice as guards," Diem Quynh whispered, her voice trembling with worry. "Is our plan still feasible?"

"It's still possible," Bach Lam replied, though his voice carried a new tension. "But we'll need to move faster, and with more luck. Shift change time is still the best time — even with the number of soldiers increased, their attention during the few minutes of handover of responsibility will still be more lax than at any other time of the day."

Ngan The Binh nodded in agreement, but his seasoned face carried a new wrinkle of worry that Khe Mien rarely saw in this man who always maintained absolute composure. "We will have to accept greater risks than initially expected," he said. "But staying and waiting for justice from a council that is being dominated by someone like Han Dinh Sang is much riskier."

As the hallway lights began to dim in an artificial cycle that signaled nightfall — a Stone Dome convention used to maintain the residents' circadian rhythms despite the absence of a real sun — Bach Lam gathered the group together, his voice dropping to a serious whisper.

"We'll wait until shift change," he said. "At that time, go quickly, quietly, following the exact route Diem Quynh remembered. No one can be separated from the group, not even for a moment. If anything happens, remember the rendezvous point we agreed on — the rocky hillside about two miles south of the main gate, where there is a large arrow-shaped rock we passed when we got here."

Khe Mien nodded, remembering every detail, feeling her heart beat faster as the moment of action approached. She looked around the small room one last time, where they had spent the longest day since leaving the Sand Dome, and silently prayed that when night fell completely in the heart of this mountain, they would all step out together into the light of freedom on the other side, no one left behind.

"I'm scared," Kien confessed softly, breaking the silence that had enveloped the room as the artificial night continued to fade. "I'm not afraid of Dong Ash anymore, I'm not afraid of sandstorms or ruins. But I'm afraid of those who have the power to decide the fate of others with just a piece of paper and a piece of metal."

"That's a fear worth keeping," Khe Mien said, sitting down next to him, her voice as gentle as when she had comforted him during the first sandstorm on Dong Tro. "It reminds me that unchecked power is always more dangerous than any storm, even though it has the face of a man trying to protect his comrades."

"So what should we do when we become the decision-makers, in the future?" he asked, his eyes searching for an answer in her with the absolute trust of someone learning to be someone better in a world full of bad examples.

"We remember this feeling," Khe Mien replied, "the feeling of being judged before being heard, and we choose never to do that to others."

Kien nodded, a naive but sincere determination sparkling in his eyes, and the group fell into a waiting silence, each in his own way preparing himself for the hours to come, when the line between safety and danger would depend only on speed, silence, and a little luck that they all hoped was still on their side.