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“HE’S WHAT?” DUN SAID.
“He’s not folk,” Padg said.
“I knew there was something,” Tali said. “No smell; he didn’t want us to touch him.”
“No fur,” Padg said. “Funny hands.”
“What is he then?” Dun said.
“He’s ... awake.” Dun’s pained voice was heard through his gritted teeth.
“Oh, sorry,” Dun said reflexively.
“Now that... is funn...y,” Myrch said, panting.
“What is? Dun said.
“You... app... pol... gising... to... me.” He snorted, nearly a laugh, then coughed impressively.
Dun could smell metal on Myrch’s breath: blood?
“I don’t understand,” Dun said.
“I... sold you out.”
“What?”
“... to... the Over-folk...”
“You motherless river turd!” Padg said.
“Why?” Tali said.
“There’s not time... to explain. If it matters... I’m sorry I had ... to do it...” More coughing.
“Let’s just leave the scumbag here,” Padg said, incensed.
“No,” Tali said, “he can’t move.”
“I’m not going... any... where.”
“Why should we listen to you now?” Padg said.
“He’s right,” Dun said.
“Because... there are... things... you... need... to... know...”
“Wait, we’ve moved on from the you setting us up already? What in the hells was going on there? What was supposed to happen?”
“The Over-folk... a faction of them. They have my wife... my mate.”
“And we should care?” Padg said.
“They are going to kill her.”
“Why?” Tali said.
“I don’t really know why. There... is... there are factions... a war...”
“But what have I...?” Dun said.
“I sold you... to them...”
“In exchange,” Tali said.
“For her,” Myrch said.
His breath was coming in wheezes now. Tali let out a slight groan. “No,” she said.
“Too late... for that now...” Myrch said.
“Why me?” Dun said.
“Don’t... know,” Myrch said.
“Where’s your mate?” Tali said.
“Don’t... know... that,” Myrch said, strained.
“I mean the exchange?” she said.
“They... weren’t... They broke... She wasn’t... It was wrong, it was wrong.”
“They didn’t come?” Tali said.
“They bloody did,” Padg said.
“No,” Myrch said. “Not them... wrong.”
“Faction?” Dun said.
“Yessss...”
“Gods,’ Dun said.
There was silence, save for the sound of whistly breathing.
“Dun,” Myrch said, quietly.
Dun moved closer to Myrch’s alien mouth. Felt the smell of who knew what life-giving fluids leaching away from him.
“I’m here,” Dun said.
“I owe you,” Myrch said.
“No, you...”
“Shh...” More coughing. “There’s not long. They are coming... the Over-folk... the war, their war... it’s coming.”
“What can we do?” Padg said.
“Nothing!” Myrch said. Then more gently, he continued, “Run... hide?”
“What about fighting?” Padg said.
“You can’t... fight them,” Myrch said.
“We fought the Stone-folk, the River-folk...”
“Not the same,” Myrch said. “They’re different. Have ...”
“What?” Dun said.
Myrch exhaled. “Sss... aaa... hh”
“Can you do anything?” Dun said.
“Nothing to do,” Tali said, slowly. “He’s gone.”
***
THEY CARRIED MYRCH’S body between them, taking turns, two carrying, two resting. It took them the rest of the cycle to struggle back to the entrance to the Machine-folk that they’d used before. They rested in the first anteroom they could find.
“What do we do with him?” Tali said.
“Leave him outside?” Padg said.
“We can’t,” Dun said.
“Can’t we?” Padg said. “He’d have left us.”
“I don’t think he would,” Dun said, “in the end.”
Padg huffed.
“Give me a hand, Tali,” Dun said.
Gently, carefully, they brought his body in and laid it down along one wall. Dun crossed the lifeless hands over the silent chest.
“We’ll bury him tomorrow,” Dun said.
***
DUN WOKE TO THE SOUND of someone scuffling about. He heard Tali over by where Myrch’s body lay against the wall. He rose and went over, he laid a hand on her shoulder. She was knelt down with a hand out touching the skin of their late guide.
“He was a bit wrinkly,” Tali said. “Around the eyes and mouth. Feel?”
“Yeah,” Dun said softly. “Old?”
“Maybe. I wonder what he really was?”
“I think he told us the truth, in the end, a spy and a guide, I guess.”
“No, not that. I mean, what kind of creature was he?”
“Oh, I don’t know.”
“What do you suppose his mate was like? Did he have cubs somewhere?”
Padg stirred on the far side of the room. Dun made a noncommittal hum noise to Tali.
“Come on, Padg; you’re last awake.”
He dispatched Padg to search for food while he and Tali broke camp. They had fashioned a kind of bier, out of some found plastic pipes and sheeting to make it easier to carry Myrch. They had little time to appreciate their handiwork as the door crashed open.
“Dun, something’s wrong,” Padg said, panting. “Wronger,”
“What?”
“The marketplace; it’s been wrecked. There was some food still there, but there’s not a stall still standing, and there’s piles of stuff everywhere. I nearly broke my neck tripping over on the way back.”
“Oh gods,” Tali said. “The Over-folk?”
“I think so,” Padg said. “And...”
“What about the Sentinel?” Dun said.
“I don’t know,” Padg said.
“We need to find out,” Dun said.
They picked their way carefully between the piled debris; it was like a whirlwind had swept up and back through the market hall. Staleness, salt and congealing food. Garbled half chitters and squeaks from the automated voices that remained. Snatches of music repeated endlessly in a brain-damaged symphony.
“Bu... bu... bububub...”
“Shally, shally b...”
“Ratty... ratty... ratatata...”
“Bibbidi-bibbidi-bibbidt...”
“Bu... bbbbbbbb... bbb...”
“Let’s go!” Dun shouted over the chaotic noise. “This way!”
They hurried down corridors once familiar, now strange again. Smells of sweat and fear, salt and blood. Blood and tears. They reached the strange room of controllers but didn’t stop. Sounds of fizzing came out to meet them as they walked past. They entered into the strange throne room of the Sentinel. Dun knew in his heart what he’d find. All was still in the chamber, but Dun could sense the large shape of the Sentinel in the chair. But no sound. And the smell of blood, one cycle, maybe two old.
“No,” Dun said and hurried up the steps to the Sentinel. Tali and Padg flanked him. He reached out a hand and felt the lifeless fur, pitted with scores of fine metal needles, and the cold skin underneath, torn in places. Tali touched him on the other side.
“Be careful,” she said. “The needles. They might be poisoned.”
“Why?” Padg said. “What had he done?”
“I don’t know,” Dun said. “But we should find a way to lay them both to rest. Here somewhere.”
They decided to make the globe room the final resting place of both Myrch and the Sentinel. They slowly roped down the bodies and laid one gently on each side of the great sphere. They searched the market for things to cover them with and when they had finished, there were two long cairns, built of bags and boxes, poles and wires, and batteries and springs.
Tali sprinkled some sweet-smelling oil over each of the piles.
Dun said a prayer. “To the egg again, we go once more. Inside the shell to wait until the next hatching; into a time of peace.”
They climbed slowly back up the ropes and trundled back to the small anteroom by the river pipe. They huddled around what supplies they could find and the opening of a warm vent.
“You know, I’ve got to go back?” Dun said.
‘What?’ Padg said.
“Back through that door to the Over-folk. I promised Myrch.”
“Seriously? Why? You don’t owe him anything!”
“Hmm, maybe not, but that’s not the only reason. We’ve still not found out what’s going on in there, and why the stream’s drying up. My father is still in there somewhere and these dreams have been leading me there. I’ve got to go.”
“Then we’re coming with you,” Padg said.
“Not this time,” Dun said. “You need to go back to the Bridge and tell everyone what Myrch told us.”
“But he said there’s nothing we can do about it,” Padg said.
“Yes, but that’s no reason not to give them a chance to prepare,” Tali said. “Dun’s right.”
Dun spent two more cycles with them, helping them fashion a cart out of what bits they could find.
“That should sort you out for going home,” Dun said. “Take the hiding-machine with you. You’re going to need it when you get back, I think. Take Myrch’s weapon too; there’s still some metal box things in his pack. I think that’s what he loaded it with. You’ll have to work it out.”
“So this is goodbye then,” Tali said.
“Yes,” Dun said.
“Smell ya,” Padg said.
“Soon,” Tali said, although none of them believed it.
“Be careful,” Padg said.
“Always,” Dun said, “you too.”
They embraced each other, and then Dun left the pipe. Padg strained to listen until his splishing footsteps had long gone around the corner and out of even keen folk hearing.
“Well?” Tali said.
“What?”
“Shall we get going?”
“Home?”
“I wasn’t thinking of home just yet,” she said. “We’ve got some unfinished business to attend to.”
“Oh?” Padg said.
“Amber, we’re going to get Amber.”
“It amazes me how quickly conflict builds up in a given population. I’ve seen it so many times but it always shakes me. Perhaps it’s part of the human condition. Maybe even if you’re not human.”
Excerpts from <Distress Beacon SN-1853001>. Found by E.S.V. Vixen Terradate: 26102225.
