32

 

Cerrin hauled herself toward the light. Though she was shocked to hear the shouts of the people beyond the wall, the noise from the compound was even louder. There had been two more blasts, each one sending earth down onto her. Twice she had laid there alone, hands over her head, fully expecting to meet the same fate as Sadi. But this section of tunnel was not directly below the compound and had remained intact.

The brightness of the morning was equally shocking. Kannalin took her arm and helped her out. She looked first to the right: if they came, the Vitaari would exit the gate and approach from that direction. She saw only the broad figure of Trantis standing behind a tree, watching for them.

Kannalin shook his head as he gestured down the slope. “We never even thought of it—a lot of the Palanians can’t swim.”

At least two dozen people were in the water, most using smaller lilies as floats to get them across. Three children were lying on the plants, being pushed across by adults.

From what Cerrin could see, roughly half had crossed to the other side, a quarter were on their way, and another quarter were still on this side of the river. Those on the far bank were barely visible amongst the dense scorra bushes.

“Too slow,” she said between gritted teeth.

“Where’s Sadi?”

Cerrin told him. Then she spied a prone figure lying in the grass about twenty feet away. Kneeling close by it was young Yarni.

Cerrin ran to them. Serras was on her side, gray hair across her face. She could hardly keep her eyes open.

“It’s my heart, girl. You young ones best leave me here.”

“No.” Yarni grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her up.

Cerrin put out a hand to stop her. “Can you swim?”

Yarni nodded.

“Down to the river. I’ll see you on the other side.”

The girl was still holding Serras’s arm. Cerrin pried her hand away. “I’ll bring Serras with me. Go now.”

Yarni ran away down the slope.

Cerrin was relieved to see Esteann and her group helping the weaker members across. Torrin was hauling a child up onto the far bank.

Serras put her hand to Cerrin’s face. “You are a strong one, girl. I always knew you would...”

Serras said no more. Her hand fell across her chest and her eyes became still.

“Cerrin!”

Kannalin pointed along the wall. A lone Vitaari had appeared and was watching them. At that distance, it was difficult to see if it was a guard or an administrator. The figure retreated and disappeared.

Cerrin pulled her spear off her back. “Kannalin, bring those.”

He followed her down the slope with a bundle of spears.

Once at the river, she was horrified to find several Palanians—four women and one man—still hesitant about entering the water. She grabbed the man and spun him around. “Unless you wish to die by having your arms and legs torn from your body, you will get yourself in that water.”

She pushed him off the bank. As he stumbled into the river, the women followed. About fifteen men had stayed on the near side.

“They’ll be here soon,” she told them. “We have to make sure they fire at us”—she gestured at the river—“not them.” Then she pointed at a small copse of trees halfway between the water and the wall. “We’ll use that for cover. Take a spear. If you think you can do some damage, throw it. If not, wait until you’re in close.”

Without waiting to see who would follow, she raced across the slope toward the trees.

 

 

It seemed to take an age to discern the metallic walls of Mine Three from the sprawl of the Great Forest beyond. The apparently endless swath of green gave Sonus great hope: surely anyone who sought refuge there had a chance of escape.

He checked the display again. The shell had been drawing fuel from the reserve tank for a while. From what he could work out, he had less than five minutes’ flying time. Forcing himself to ignore the ever-growing pain in his back, he brought up the tactical display. First, he checked—as he had at regular intervals—that nothing was approaching from the rear. Then he focused the scanners on Mine Three and magnified the images.

With the tower and much of the compound ablaze, the scene was not unlike what he had left behind at Fourteen—with one obvious exception. The armory door was open, and several shells were marching out. As he closed to within a kilometer, Sonus turned his attention to the assault cannons, which still had more than three quarters of their ammunition left.

primary weapon>select target

 

 

Cerrin snatched a glance over her shoulder as they approached the trees. Though grateful for the help, she could not believe how slowly some of the men were moving.

“There!” Trantis was the only one ahead of her.

A squad of six Vitaari guards ran out from behind the wall, every one armed. The rattle of their weapons was not as loud as the impacts. Shards of wood flew past Cerrin as she made for the nearest tree. Trantis was slow to seek cover. The Palanian’s big frame saved Cerrin’s life.

As bullets tore through him, she rolled under his collapsing body and came to rest behind the tree. Half-expecting the deadly hail of metal to come straight through, she found the trunk was thick enough to protect her.

A cry from her right. She turned in time to see Trantis hit a second time. The bullet blew half his head away and knocked him onto his back. She turned and saw two of the men running back toward the river. The Vitaari cut them down.

She looked left. Those who remained were cowering behind the trees like her: there seemed to be no realistic alternative.

Kannalin got to his feet, darted forward a few steps, and launched his spear at the cluster of Vitaari. By some miracle, he scrambled back into cover unharmed as bullets tore up the grass behind him.

Cerrin peered out and saw one of the Vitaari had picked up the spear. Another, bigger guard snatched it away and broke it across his knee.

Unlike the others, Stripe did not have a helmet on. He threw the two ends of the spear away, then retreated several steps and gestured for the others to lower their weapons. His fingers flicked across the controls, then he raised his rifle and aimed at the copse.

As Cerrin ducked down, a whole section of turf was torn away and the air burned hot. The next thing she knew, she was lying on her side, staring at the ruined stump of the tree. The remains of the trunk landed, showering the ground with twigs and berries. That was when she realized she couldn’t hear anything.

Her face felt warm. She touched it: it felt tender, like she had strayed too close to a fire.

A hand gripped her arm.

Kannalin helped her to her feet and dragged her behind the fallen tree. Two Palanian men quickly joined them. Kannalin’s mouth was moving, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. She looked back. The others were lying on the ground, clothes and skin singed and torn. Only one of them was moving.

Kannalin grabbed her again and pointed in the air above the compound. She was astonished to see he was grinning. Then she saw why.

A combat shell was hovering above the compound, cannons aimed downward. Once the blooms of fire ended, it turned toward the river.

Cerrin had almost forgotten about the mysterious Palanian who planned to steal a shell and turn the Vitaari’s weapon against them.

Thank the gods and ancients.       

As their faceless ally came over the top of the wall, the cannons bloomed again; these shots Cerrin could hear. Fire tore up the ground and the Vitaari fled. All except Stripe.

One of his compatriots had been hit: the guard dropped his weapon and flailed around like a man in the dark. As the combat shell kept firing, Stripe darted behind the injured Vitaari and pulled him down on top of him.

Cerrin’s hearing was returning. As she, Kannalin, and others got to their feet, she heard the whimpering of a man lying a few yards behind her. His throat was a ragged mess of flesh from which blood was bubbling.

She heard cries from the Vitaari as the shell continued firing. Two more fell, then another.

Kannalin cursed. Cerrin realized he and the other two men were watching the shell. The machine was shuddering as impacts struck its underside and rear. Then she saw Stripe, kneeling beside his dead compatriot, firing at a range of no more than twenty yards.

“Move, man!” yelled Kannalin.

Sparks flew from the shell, then a piece of it fell to the ground. The vehicle swayed one way, then the other, then tipped forward.

The two Palanian men charged, leaping the branches of the fallen tree. They ran across the slope toward Stripe, each holding a spear.

Stripe saw them late, but in time. The first man was blown clean off his feet by a shot to the chest. A puff of blood flew up as the second Palanian was hit in the head. He careened to the ground and slid to a halt only a yard or two from Stripe.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the Vitaari turned the gun on the shell once again. More fragments of metal were blown off the vehicle as it veered away, just catching the high branches of the trees on the island. It lurched down again—hovered for a moment while the jets blew into the water—then dropped straight into the river.

Stripe gave a jubilant roar and held his weapon in the air.

Before Cerrin could stop him, Kannalin was already off and running. “No!” Her voice sounded distant and weak.

Stripe turned his weapon on his new target. He fired a brief burst but Kannalin threw himself to one side, then into a neat roll. The Echobe warrior sprang instantly to his feet and kept going. Stripe re-adjusted but did not fire again. He looked down at his gun, then pressed something.

It’s empty.

Though she was unarmed, Cerrin ran.

So did Kannalin, bolting straight at the Vitaari. Stripe plucked another magazine from his belt.

Cerrin made sure she ran past the two dead Palanians. She bent down and took a spear from one and a knife from the other. She pulled the blade out and kept running.

Kannalin drew back his spear and charged.

Realizing he was out of time, Stripe dropped the magazine and awaited his foe. Kannalin drove the spear at the Vitaari’s neck.

It almost seemed Stripe would not react, but at the last moment he moved with lightning speed. Using the weapon like a club, he swatted Kannalin away, striking him on the shoulder and knocking him into the air. He hit the grass ten feet away.

Cerrin saw the familiar smile.

“Ah, Longlegs. I’m going to enjoy this!”

Cerrin had the knife in her left hand, the spear in the right. At ten feet, she threw.

Stripe used the rifle again and timed his swing to perfection, batting the projectile away.

Cerrin was almost on top of him.

She leaped, moving both hands to the hilt of the knife. Stripe’s arms were still across his body from the swing. His smirk faded as he realized he couldn’t get them back in time to defend himself.

With her loudest battle cry, Cerrin buried the blade between the Vitaari’s eyes. The knife stuck there and she held on, one scrabbling foot lodging itself in Stripe’s belt. The black eyes both seemed to turn toward her, then the great frame toppled backwards. As the Vitaari hit the ground, Cerrin rolled away.

Lying on her back, chest heaving up and down, she looked at the hilt sticking up out of the silvery flesh and the black blood rolling down the tattooed cheek.

“Not as much as I will.”

She heard a groan behind her. Kannalin was coughing and seemed unable to move.

“Need a hand?” Cerrin looked up and saw Esteann standing over her, together with three of her Palanian friends. Torrin was with them, too. All five were soaked.

“Reckoned we couldn’t just leave you,” said Esteann. “Not after you got us all out.”

Cerrin stood. “Help him.”

As Torrin and the others hurried over to Kannalin, Esteann pointed down at the river. Only the top and the two hands of the shell could still be seen above the water.

“It’s sinking. Looks like he’s alive but he can’t get out.”

Cerrin wrenched the knife out of Stripe’s head and wiped it on the grass. Beyond Kannalin, she could see a robed administrator at the gate, watching them. In the compound, at least five separate fires were still alight. The tower had disappeared.

“Collect all the weapons and ammunition you can carry. I’ll see you on the other side.”

She ran down the slope.

 

 

Sonus had never liked water. And having achieved more than he’d ever dared hoped for on this day, he thought he deserved a little more than to drown in here alone.

The shell seemed to be dead. There wasn’t a single display on or even a light. And if there was a manual override on the cockpit door, he couldn’t find it. Outside, water was now lapping at the window. Inside, it was up to his chest.

He had managed to detach the belts holding him in place, but nothing else really mattered unless he could get the door open. He might have ripped away a piece of metal and tried to pry the lock, but he simply didn’t have the strength. The second crash landing had been less unpleasant than the first, but the base of his spine was now nothing more than a ball of pain.

When the water reached his neck, he realized he was actually swimming. He at least had an opportunity to clean the vomit off his overalls, which he did to keep himself occupied if nothing else. Some plant was stuck to the window, which was now fully submerged. Beyond he could see only the sky. It was going to be a nice day.

I don’t want to die like this.

A shape landed on the shell with a thud. When he spied arms and legs, he realized the shape was a woman. A dark Echobe woman with long black hair wearing a filthy pair of overalls. Upon her cheek was a thin red scar. Clamped in her teeth was a large knife.

Hands planted on the window, she peered down at him.

Sonus didn’t know what to do.

The woman took the knife from her mouth and jabbed it into the side of the door with the lock. Though Sonus appreciated her help, there didn’t seem to be a great deal of thought behind her efforts. He heard the blade sliding and stabbing and scraping at the metal, but to no avail.

Sonus suddenly heard a hissing sound and saw one end of a thin hose fly up, liquid shooting from it. The woman slid off the door. Sonus tried to push it up. There was some give in it now, despite the weight of the water. It began to move. He saw the woman’s fingers on the edge, and their combined efforts finally did the job: as water poured in, the door sprang open.

Now the shell sank quickly. Sonus let the water take him. He floated up to the surface to find the woman bobbing next to him.

“Can you swim?”

He nodded.

“This way,” said the woman, powering away toward the bank, cutting a path through the largest water lilies Sonus had ever seen.

He followed at about a third of her speed and was surprised to find his back actually felt better in the cold water. By the time he reached the far bank, another group had joined the woman, most carrying Vitaari weapons. They were a mix of Echobe and Palanian and had clearly just left the water themselves. One man—a large, muscular fellow—looked rather dazed.

The woman exchanged a look with another, who took the lead and pushed her way through the dense bushes. The others followed.

Sonus glanced back across the river. Several trails of smoke were reaching high into the sky.

When he looked back, the woman had gone. He struggled on through the bushes, catching only glimpses of the others ahead until he finally caught up with them. He straightened and winced as the pain in his back returned.

The woman who’d rescued him tucked her knife into her belt. Only now did he notice how tall she was.

“Thank you,” he said.

She scraped her wet hair back over her head and looked him up and down. “What’s your name?”

“Sonus.”

“You need to move faster, Sonus.”