Before stepping up to a challenge, it is wise to know when to advance and when to retreat. Withdrawal is as important a strategy as standing one’s ground.
DAIPUNA: THE ART OF COMBAT
Roshon could not get the image of Sister Myreen’s lifeless eyes staring into nowhere out of his mind. Blood had pooled beneath her head, her hair mixing with it as if it was bleeding its own deep color onto the pavement. He didn’t have the time or lung capacity to vomit at the moment, as he was still running for his life, but as soon as he slowed down, his twisting, rioting stomach was going to revolt.
He had no love for the crazy Sister who’d kidnapped his family, but seeing her cut down in the middle of the street like an animal had been terrible. And it was all because of her own foolishness. He tripped over a loose stone, nearly plowing into a middle-aged woman pulling a hand cart. Only Ani’s firm grip on his arm kept him steady.
The people they passed didn’t seem as shocked to have this motley crew racing by them as he would have expected. Even the woman he’d nearly knocked down had barely given him more than a cursory glance. No, these folk were minding their own business, ignoring anything that didn’t directly affect them. Wasn’t that how he’d always imagined life to be in a city?
Tai was in the lead as they sprinted to the crowded docks. The stone under their feet was pockmarked and heavily worn. The port itself boasted a wide array of vessels: sailing ships, steam-powered behemoths, sleek crafts shaped like bullets with round windows all along the sides, and more. He only got a glimpse before Tai hurtled onto a steep ramp leading to the strangest ship he’d seen yet.
The body sat high off the water on three legs that disappeared beneath the dark-blue ocean. And it was covered in . . . The closest description he could come up with was scales. Yes, plates like gigantic fish scales armored the entire hull. On the top level, the scales were lighter, more reflective, iridescent even.
“Mik!” Tai yelled as Roshon and the others followed him up the metal grate leading to the ship’s deck. “Please tell me we’re ready to go!”
Ani hung back until Papa had his feet on the deck, then began turning a crank that speedily withdrew the ramp. “Welcome to the Hekili,” she said, grinning. “Come on.” She disappeared into a dark passageway. Roshon looked at his brother and father, both staring back at him with wide eyes, and then went after her.
A narrow metal staircase led up to the bridge, a glass-enclosed space with seating for four. Tai stood in front of the instrument panel, furiously turning dials and switches, while the man beside him—taller and wider with a thick, green beard—muttered under his breath in Raunian.
Ani lounged in the seat behind the captain’s chair, swiveling back and forth. The bearded man looked up when Roshon and his family entered, raising a black eyebrow. “Hey Mik, these are our stowaways, Roshon, second Roshon, and their dad.”
“This is Varten,” Papa said, pointing to Roshon’s twin, “and my name is Dansig.”
“And we’re not stowaways,” Roshon added.
“Mik!” Tai yelled. He was seated now and pulling on two handles that, judging by the effort he was putting in, were heavy. Then the ship was in motion, pulling back from the dock with alarming speed.
Mik dropped his bulk into the co-captain’s chair and began adjusting settings on the panel. The ship jerked again, and the abrupt motion sent everyone else sprawling. Papa flew into the back of Mik’s chair while Roshon and Varten dropped to the floor.
Ani peeked over the side of her chair. “Sorry about that. We’re kind of in a hurry.”
Roshon thought it best he stay on the floor, especially as their speed increased and the ship made a sharp turn, making his stomach complain even more.
Tai began barking commands to Mik in their native tongue. Ani righted herself in her seat and faced forward. Roshon was almost afraid to ask but couldn’t help himself. “What’s going on now?”
She looked down at him, a huge grin on her face. “We’re going into burn mode. You’re gonna wanna see this!”
She pulled back a panel next to her seat to reveal a mirror. Roshon sat up as other panels around the room opened on their own, reflecting an image from somewhere else into the first panel. Suddenly, the back of the ship was visible, with the city of Rosira shrinking in the distance. The ship’s wake frothed behind them white and foamy, and then . . .
Roshon wasn’t sure he could believe his eyes. “Is . . . is the water on fire?” Orange flames mixed with the churning ocean in a trail behind them.
“Technically, the salt in the water is on fire.” Ani kept talking, explaining something about shocking systems and hydrogen, but the ship had an even greater burst of speed that made Roshon’s ears pop. His stomach lurched again, and he barely kept its contents down. Varten wasn’t so lucky. He was retching on the floor next to the chair their father had made his way into.
The motion of their acceleration was like nothing Roshon had ever experienced. His eyes watered and teeth chattered. He didn’t want to imagine how fast they were going, but through the thickness that had invaded his ears, he heard Ani cackle with delight.
Then, blessedly, it was over. The ship slowed and Roshon’s ears cleared. When he opened his eyes, Ani was dangling a silver bucket in front of him. He took it gratefully and promptly emptied the contents of his stomach.
“Thank you for your assistance back there,” Papa said, clasping his hands before him. Varten had cleaned up his mess, and now both twins were seated on a bench that folded down from the side wall of the ship’s bridge.
Tai swiveled around to face them. Beyond him, the endless blue of the ocean was visible with no land in sight. Roshon wished Jasminda could see it. None of them had ever been farther from home than the small, nameless town where they bought supplies.
“I’m sorry that you all were caught up in this,” Tai said. “I had no idea it would get that heated. And I thank you all for your help.” He grasped the pouch around his neck. “Our birthstones are precious to us. They link our souls to Myr, our god, and to lose one means a kind of spiritual death. But even more precious to me is my sister’s life and freedom.” He gave his sister a look of tenderness mixed with exasperation. “I fear I am in your debt.”
Papa shook his head. “No need. It was a strange circumstance in which we found ourselves. Is it possible to head to another port? I need to get a message to my daughter as soon as I can. She doesn’t know where we are, and we’re already overdue at home. She’s probably beside herself with fear as we speak.”
A shudder went through Roshon just thinking of it. Jasminda was capable, and bossy as the day was long, but she was all alone back home. What must that be like?
“We should be able to stop in the north at one of the resort ports.” Tai turned and retrieved a thick, leather-bound journal from a compartment below the instrument panel. It looked like an atlas of some kind.
“Tai,” Ani said, warning in her voice. She had donned a strange headset that covered her eyes and had a long tube snaking out of it that attached back to the wall.
Her brother looked up from the book. “What is it?”
“We’ve got company,” she said.
“Let me see.” He grabbed the headset from her outstretched hands and peered into it. Then he let out what sounded like a Raunian curse.
Varten looked at Roshon with wide eyes.
“Two ships,” Tai said, tossing his sister the headset again and turning back to the controls. “They’re coming up fast.”
“Can we do another burn?” Ani asked.
“Not this soon after the last one.”
“We’ll have to evade, before they—” A boom sounded, shaking the ship. Ani nearly fell from her seat.
“—get into firing range,” Tai finished, shaking his head.
Ani leaped to her feet.
“Is this ship armed?” Roshon asked.
“After a fashion,” Tai said. “You all know how to shoot?” The three of them nodded. “Ani, will you handle it?”
“Already on it.” She raced out of the bridge as if her feet were on fire. “Are you coming?” she shouted back from somewhere in the hall.
Roshon, Varten, and their father jumped up and followed her to a storage hatch in the corridor. She pulled out two rifles. Roshon took them from her, and she grabbed out two more from the compartment, which seemed to have an endless supply. They were fully automatic, and she began tossing out loaded, detachable magazines. Varten whistled. This was quite a bit more firepower than the shotgun and pistol they had at home.
“These were from a bad batch of merch,” Ani said as she showed them how to insert the magazine. “The guns work just fine, but the scopes on top are faulty. Some kind of ensorcelled Yalyish foolishness that never seems to work right. Our buyer wouldn’t take them so we decided to keep them. Come on.”
They went down a level to a small space lit only by glowing spots on the floor. She hit a switch on the wall, and two panels slid away to reveal gun ports with ledges for balancing a weapon.
“Looks like there used to be built-in guns there,” Roshon observed, noting how the scratches and drill holes indicated something had been removed.
“Yeah. Used to be. But the big ports in Fremia outlawed them on all but military ships. We had to take them out.” She twisted her face to show how she felt about that decision just as the water before them exploded in a spray of foam, some of which came inside the gun port.
“They’re getting closer. You two set up here.” She motioned to Varten and Papa. “We’re going up higher.” She nudged Roshon and ran back up the staircase, returning them to the bridge level. She spun a hatch in the ceiling and climbed through.
Roshon watched her legs disappearing through the hatch with dismay, then hung the rifle from his shoulder, jumped up, and pulled himself through after her. They were outside now, on the roof of the bridge.
Ani fiddled with a panel of controls she’d uncovered and a clear, glass shield rose from the floor. In front of it, two posts also emerged. Once the shield was in place, Ani leaned over one of the posts, balancing her rifle on it to fit through a small hole in the glass.
“What are you waiting for?” she shouted over the noise and force of the wind as the ship moved at a fast clip.
“Aren’t we exposed out here?” he yelled. He was surprised he was able to balance as well as he could, given their speed.
“Bulletproof.” She pointed to the shield.
He doubted that any sort of glass could be bulletproof, but there was little he could do but get his weapon ready.
Looking beyond the Hekili’s wake with his naked eye, he could barely see the pursuing ships. She’d said the rifles’ scopes were faulty, but he clicked open the iris anyway and took a look through it. Immediately, two massive ships came into view, both with cannons attached to their fronts. He focused the scope on the ship to the right and watched as the cannon was loaded by a large Raunian man. The man stepped back. Several seconds passed before an explosion burst in the water, just a few paces off the back of the Hekili. Water splashed into the shield from the spray.
“Sacred Sovereign!” he cried, the force of the explosion pushing him back. He took his stance again, peered through the scope, and aimed at the man who was beginning to reload the cannon. Roshon took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.
“I got one!” he said, surprised when the man went down, grabbing his thigh. Papa had ensured they were all proficient with the weapons in the house, but Roshon had never shot a human being before. The man wasn’t dead, though he was bleeding profusely. Roshon had aimed for the torso but was secretly glad he’d been off.
“Your scope works?” Ani asked.
“Guess mine’s not faulty.” He shrugged.
Static rippled from a speaker somewhere, and Tai’s voice rang out. “Keep them away from their cannons. We’re almost ready for another salt burn.”
As Roshon peered through the scope, another man went down, a bullet in his shoulder. Ani was firing, apparently not needing a scope to see that far away. Roshon focused his fire on the deck near the feet of their pursuers, keeping them from loading and firing the cannons. He didn’t want to shoot another person if he didn’t absolutely have to.
“All right, inside! Now!” Tai screamed.
Knowing what was coming, Roshon dove for the hatch and scrambled back down.
“Burn mode in three, two, one.”
He was lying on the ground in the dim hallway when the world around him fell apart and his ears popped again. Luckily, there wasn’t anything left in his belly to vomit.