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The tap on Dode's shoulder woke him from the trance he was in. When he looked at who did it he found Hesi at his side. The boy was only twelve but had somehow passed the tests to be allowed to climb to the top of the train by the clan elders. Dode put the knife he was palming away. 
 
 `` Clan chief wants you at the front''! He yelled over the sounds of the whistling wind. Then he hooked his harness to the lines that covered the top of the train and inched away back towards the hatch several meters away. 
 
 Dode took one last look around the vast expanse of desert around him and started to take apart his rifle. Each piece went into a special pocket of his harness that kept it safe from the dust and sand that was anethema to its delicate parts and caused havok to clean. 
 
 He started to make his way towards the front of the train rather then going below and walking through the cramped corridors. He found that he liked open space better and signed on for farsighter duty whenever he could. 
 
 He gave pats to the men he passed to make sure they knew he was friendly. He knew the shock of being woken out of the trance by surprise more then anyone and thought it too rude not to. 
 
 He got to the front and knocked on the clan chief's hatch. He waited for the click and pushed it open to get inside. The lone man in the room that unlocked the hatch motioned him towards the steering compartment then resumed his customary vigil of the hatch. 
 
 Dode walked in wondering what was going that would allow him to enter the only section none save the clan leader and his kin were allowed to enter. 
 
 He was surprised to find the elders along with the chief inside the room. They all wore the masks they earned after going through the rites and held their whispers as he walked in. 
 
 `` Welcome farshooter''.The Chief said as he walked up to him and clasped his hand firmly. Dode could not see through the elaborate mask but the voice held warmth in it that he never heard before from a clan leader. 
 
 `` You are the youngest farshooter in years to acheive a three belt rank. Yet we have never met before. Do you still know the creed''? The tone of his voice from the mask was muffled but Dode could still hear notes of mirth in it. 
 
 `` Yes sir. Tribe is your life. Protect it like you would your heart''. He kept his tone level and stood as perfectly still as he could. 
 
 `` Yes you speak it well. But is it not your eyes that you cherish more then your heart''? The tribe chief tilted his head to the side to look at the elders before looking back at Dode. 
 
 `` No. If I lose my eyes I would be abandoned in the waste. It would be better to die in service to the tribe then burden them with my problems''. He said this without noticing one of the elders producing a strange box-like device. 
 
 `` Just like your father in that regard child''. The Chief said before turning away from Dode. The Chief gazed at the wide expanse the windows of the front gave him. 
 
 The priests moved as one to subdue Dode. He did not see what was coming until it was to late. They grabbed him and held him to the floor as one of them moved his arm into a hole on the box. 
 
 He screamed as his arm got cut off below the elbow and blacked out from the burning pain. The elders holding him got up and looked at the Chief. 
 
 `` Throw him into the wastes when the patrols come in from gathering supplies. Leave him his weapons and his bullets. He earned those in his service to the tribe''. The Chief never turned back to look at the man whose life he had just damned. 
 

