It hadn't happened in thirty years, according to Maren, who would know — the kind of flood that came from a winter with too much snow followed by a spring that warmed too fast, the water finding more ground than the riverbed could hold.
Aldis felt it first, the way she felt most changes in the territory before anyone announced them. She'd been doing her morning walk along the eastern boundary when she noticed the water table had shifted, the ground softer than it should be this far from the bank, and by the time she reported it to Cole the river had already crept another six inches up the slope it usually left alone.
By noon it was a genuine concern. By evening, an operation.
"The lower storage buildings," Cole said, at the hastily assembled briefing. "And the training ring's southern e
