Flame Wind

by Tim Niederriter

Elder Patla. Once a little girl in some sorai border town. The name, Csi, was the giveaway there. Sorai from the border preferred simple names. That region saw the bulk of the fighting the early war years. Csi Patla watched her home pillar burn.

  Yajain shook her head.

  “I can’t. I can’t do this again.”

  “Ah yes. You uncovered his deception before.” Patla’s voice lost some of its reediness and grew firm, forceful. “You only looked into the past though. I want you to tell Doctor Coe what future you see if my people join this new war.”

  Images began to arise unbidden the more smoke Yajain inhaled. Images of ships clashing with beams. Burning caphodel trees plummeted into the abyss. Terraces crumbled. The dark side of Haxos Mirror burned as bright as the side facing Edrid. Sorai who never wanted to see war again died with weapons in hand.

  “I see you understand,” said Patla. “War would be a terrible thing for my people.”

  “You cannot avoid it,” said Mosam. “The tyrants will enslave your people.”

  “They will not find it so easy to reach us.”

  “Would you hide and damn the human race?” Mosam was at Yajain’s side. “We must unite.”

  “Spoken like a true Doctor of the Harvest. Tell, me Coe. What will the lives of my people buy for Dilinia?”

  “Not Dilinia.” Mosam reached for Yajain’s free hand. “Humanity.”

  The images in Yajain’s mind flickered, rolling into the future as she speculated on the outcome for the sorai. Here on the frontier, the battles would claim many lives, but in the central clusters and the opposite side of the known universe where sorai still retained majority populations under Dilinian occupation little would change once the tyrants retreated. Dilinia would have a pretext for protecting their alliances and occupied territories. They would lock down tighter on their subjects. Yajain came back to the present with Mosam putting pressure on her palm.

  “We have to stand together or humankind will fall,” his voice was soft, plaintive.

  “You haven’t seen through them, have you?” Patla shook her head. “I’ve meditated on your captive tyrant’s words since I was told them. But he lied to you. Their species is not one nation, not any more than ours.”

  Yajain’s mouth opened to reply, but she inhaled double the smoke instead. She coughed. Mosam’s fingers pressed on her palm. She looked down the path of Rowuz’s words.

  Lies? Lies? Could they be?

  Tyrants might have only one religious leader but they still fought wars. Domination of others seemed to be their entire existence.

  They stung each other when other creatures presented themselves. They fought wars with each other. They strove to rule.

  In Rowuz’s mind, there could be no mistake. If Morrott ruled, then Rowuz could not rule, and in the mind of a tyrant, rulership carried its own virtue.

  Darkness cloyed at the corners of Yajain’s vision. Her breath felt rough in her throat. Eyes watered. She staggered away from Patla and the rising smoke.

  “I can’t breathe.”

  “You poisoned her!” Mosam’s hands gripped her shoulders tight, but she couldn’t see him.

  The visions of tyrants striking with tails and building war machines filled her vision. Immense ships darted between pillars surrounding a dark orb shifting with tiny beads of light. Clouds billowed everywhere, cloying, pressing her from every time and place. Yajain’s hand found Mosam’s wrist.

  “There are too many,” she said. “Forever they’ve been doing this. Sting. Command. Sting. Command.”

  “You have seen what I have seen, child. It is not my place to stand with Dilinia.”

  Mosam’s arms kept dizzy Yajain from falling as the visions faded. His face swam into view. His eyes met hers.

  “Yajain.”

  “I’m alright.”

  She put an arm over his shoulder and hugged him tight, warm heart pressed to warm heart. She stared at Patla as Mosam stroked her hair. As her senses returned, she pushed him away as gently as she could manage with muscles that felt stiff and jerky. Despite herself, she pushed with reluctance.

  Yajain took a step toward Patla.

  “Elder.” She fell to one knee and felt the hard tile through her temperature suit. The scent of intermingled chaos and order smoke wafted to her from the floating chair. “Elder Patla, I have one request.”

  “Speak to me, child.”

  “I think you could help us without going to war with us.”

  “I will shelter your fleet a while.”

  “That wasn’t what I meant.” Yajain bowed her head. “We have on our explorer ship an elder called Vomont. He wished to offer you the remains of the vosna scanner for study. But we cannot do that. Please, send a representative of yours with us. That way we can share the truth with you when the time is right.”

  Patla sniffed, inhaling another draft of fluid smoke. The feelers extended from above her eyes and she sighed. She looked down at Yajain.

  “That future shows promise. I should invite you to a real party sometime soon, Doctor Aksari.”

  She bowed her head.

  “I’m not special, Elder.”

  Patla exhaled wisps of smoke.

  “Far from it, child.”

  The scanner twisted, small feelers flickering through the air like hairs around its huge bullet-shaped head. Behind a pane of transparent steel, Yajain watched the great creature float along the pillar’s side. Black segments of shell covered in sensor bristles undulated as the scanner moved.

  Mosam sat beside her on a bench while they waited for the shuttle from Castenlock. Firio won’t be happy about what I did. And Mosam didn’t have anything to do with what I said this time. The scanner went on climbing through the arc field outside, but Yajain barely saw it.

  Mosam hunched forward, hands folded in his lap.

  “At the party, Yajain. I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry?” Her voice sounded distant to herself. “You’re sorry about a lot of things, Mosam.”

  “I’ve got plenty to apologize for, especially to you.”

  She sighed.

  “Keep trying.”

  The scanner continued to climb, up and up, impossibly long from this limited viewpoint, and wide as a ranger. Edrid’s hive light burned on the scanner’s black shell.

  Mosam stared at the creature.

  “Have you ever flown like one of those?”

  She glanced at him.

  “With a scanner? I’ve never seen one this close before.”

  “They’re beautiful, in their own way.”

  She smiled at the scanner.

  “I’d rather fly with solna. But that’ll never happen.”

  “Too hot.” Mosam glanced at her.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Nobody gets that close without burning.”

  Mosam sat back against the wall behind the bench.

  “That’s too bad. But this one here isn’t burning at all.”

  Yajain raised her eyebrows.

  “I suppose. You know, if I wasn’t wearing this dress I could go out there right now.”

  “Hey, don’t let that stop you.”

  “It’ll be hot out there.”

  “Hey, no problem. They gave us these temperature suits for a reason right?”

  Yajain felt a smile creep across her lips. She turned her head to make sure Mosam couldn’t see it.

  “Probably shouldn’t go without a partner.”

  “I can go with you. No problem.”

  “I meant a partner I trust.” She made sure to keep looking away from him.

  “I’d never hurt you, Yajain.”

  “But you did. Lots of times.” She remembered Lin kissing Mosam, Mosam holding Lin’s hand, Lin with her legs burnt and destroyed. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Don’t look at me, Mosam. I know you are. Don’t.”

  “I know you can’t forgive me. But that doesn’t mean you can’t trust me.”

  She turned
her head, half smiling, half crying.

  “Alright. But we can’t take the outer layers. It’s hard to fly in a dress.”

  “Makes sense.” Mosam smiled at her gently. “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “Nothing.”

  Yajain wiped her tears away with one hand. She looked up at the scanner still flying past.

  “Tell me. I can’t trust you if you don’t tell me.”

  Mosam took a deep breath.

  “Thanks for letting me go with you.”

  Yajain met his eyes and shook her head.

  “Don’t think about it too much.”

  They rose and headed for the landing terrace.

  Yajain darted upward, keeping her back to the light of Edrid. She sailed by a muscular joint in the scanner’s segmented shell. Mosam circled around from the dark side of the scanner’s serpentine body. He blinked at the light of the hive in his eyes and joined Yajain in their continued ascent.

  The languid scanner ascended far slower than the two of them. They swam up the length of the creature’s body close to each other. Yajain listened to the hum of the creature’s arc organs, reverberating through the air as the scanner processed the energy from the pillar’s core to propel itself and fuel its actions.

  Her gaze caught on a glint of metallic silver high up on the scanner’s back. What is that? She kicked with both legs and shot upward past Mosam. He matched her pace with smooth arm strokes and kicks of his own. His white temperature suit shimmered with heat as he passed in front of her, lean muscled and a broad smile.

  “What’s the hurry?” he asked.

  “I saw something a few segments up.” Yajain treaded air with both arms as she prepared for another big kick. “I don’t know what it was, but it stuck to this animal.”

  “Let’s go find out.”

  “Exactly.” Yajain kicked to push herself higher. Just a segment away, the silver gleamed.

  Mosam caught up with her, thrashing the arc with both legs. He didn’t use them for optimum speed, and he lost a lot of time with the spiraling motion the movement created. Even so, he kept pace with Yajain for a while. Beads of sweat ran from his eyebrows. They raced upward until they’d made it parallel to the bit of reflective silver.

  Yajain darted to the scanner’s back, careful of long, sharp bristles extended in places from the shell. She clung to the scanner’s back and looked at the silver blade stuck through the scanner’s carapace.

  “It’s a weapon,” she said.

  “Someone picked a fight with this guy?” Mosam asked.

  “Evidently.” She touched the hilt of the sword. Only a bit of the blade extended from the shell, but it was enough for Yajain to make out a few Ditari letters along the blade. “Looks like a hunter went after him.”

  “Strange. The Ditari usually know better than to mess with scanners.”

  “This one didn’t.” Yajain glanced back at Mosam who kept climbing with the scanner behind her. One hand rested on the hilt of her sword. Lin, I could take revenge for you with one swing. But he trusts me. “It’s probably causing a lot of pain.”

  “It’s tiny.”

  “Like an insect bite,” Yajain said. “But it may still hurt terribly.” She wrapped her hand around the hilt. “I’m going to try to pull it out.”

  “You sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Mosam, I’m not going to leave it stuck here.”

  He flew close to her side.

  “Just be careful.”

  Lin, he hurt you, but hurting him won’t bring your legs back. Yajain tugged on the sword’s hilt. The scanner thrashed to one side and bellowed a deafening roar. The blade came out halfway, then stuck on something under the scanner’s shell.

  Yajain wrapped both hands around the hilt and curled her legs to the scanner’s shell. She arched backward, looking into the clouds further up the pillar. Somewhere far above, a solna circled the Haxos Pillar, shedding red light.

  Yajain pushed off with both legs. The sword ripped free. She flipped over and fell, legs working to try to correct her movement. The scanner rushed past before her, bristles shining with the light of Edrid Hive. Yajain’s hair whipped around her face, blinding her. She tumbled, the sword in her hand.

  Mosam shouted something. Yajain released her grip on the sword with one hand and started waving her arms to slow her descent. She passed the shuttle port she and Mosam had left through, lucky to have missed the small terrace that might have killed her on impact. The platform receded above her, but now she had free hands.

  She evened out and brought her descent to a halt. She started to swim upward, one hand still clamped on the new-found sword. She swam through the hot arc field with a victorious smile on her face and strands of brown hair in her eyes.

  She met Mosam. He sighed with relief.

  “Yajain, tell me next time you plan to go all out like that.”

  “I’ll try if I remember.” Yajain released a breath. “We’d better get back to the shuttle port.”

  He brushed a strand of hair from her face as they maintained altitude parallel to each other. His fingertips touched her forehead.

  “I’m glad we did this.”

  She smiled.

  “Me too.”

  They swam for the port together.

  The port of Haxos clanged with the sounds of moving crews loading Castenlock’s supply shuttles. Yajain frowned as she and Mosam descended to the set of terraces on the shadow side of the pillar from the blazing light in the cloudless distance. She supposed despite Csi Patla’s decision not to offer military assistance to the fleet, she must have allowed her people to sell them supplies.

  She and Mosam landed near the loading docks, off to one side to avoid getting in the way of operations. Ratings and a few security people from the fleet scurried this way that or drove movers laden with crates from the market stores to the waiting shuttles. Yajain spotted Jalee Avencia standing amid the hubbub, surprising, but not as surprising as the men on either side of her. Firio in his black mist coat and a sleek mesh cap stood on her right. On her left, Ank Vomont hunched. He wore a long gray coat, only a shade darker than his beard. Evidently, though he couldn’t go to meet Patla, he had felt the need to come from the ship.

  The sorai elder spotted her and Mosam. He waved, motioning them closer. Mosam glanced at Yajain.

  “We don’t have to.”

  “Right. We don’t. But I want to find out what’s happening.”

  “Sure,” said Mosam.

  They approached the three, weaving through the bustling crew members and dock workers. Firio raised his eyebrows as they approached.

  “Yajain,” he said. “Any news?”

  “None good. Elder Patla won’t send her fleet to help us. I don’t really blame her, to be honest.”

  “Is that so?” Firio sucked his teeth.

  “A terrible decision on her part,” said Vomont. “Bad feelings from the last war or not, her ships would be in little danger when combined with the DiKandar Redocate and Dilinia’s forces. As it is, we will be most definitely outnumbered if we fly to Kerida.”

  “What makes you say that?” Firio arched an eyebrow. “Do you know something I don’t, Elder Vomont?”

  “It’s a hunch. Kerida Cluster is heavily settled in many places. And the so-called tyrants, abyss damn them, have been there the longest, I would bet.”

  “I won’t bet on your hunch. However, Yajain, if there’s any chance we can gain an ally here we need to keep trying.”

  “I agree.” Yajain sighed. “Any idea how we can convince her the tyrants are a real enough threat?”

  Mosam folded his hands.

  “I’m worried that’s not the issue, Yajay.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Go on.”

  “She doesn’t want to help Dilinia, even if it means helping her people. She thinks the tyrants and the empire are equivalent. If it weren’t for what I
’ve seen already, I might even agree with her.”

  “You’re lucky Pansar and his agents aren’t around to hear you say that,” said Yajain.

  “I know.”

  Vomont stroked his carefully trimmed beard.

  “Regardless, the settlements in Kerida shouldn’t have too many warships. To my knowledge, Patla’s deal with Dilinia upon exile allowed her to retain some forces in this cluster.”

  “What kind of forces?” asked Yajain.

  Firio motioned for Vomont to continue.

  The elder nodded.

  “The twin relic ships, Crimson Sorrow and Scarlet Glory were both seen as too vital to the culture of Escaria to scuttle. Unless something has happened to them, which I very much doubt, they should be in Yugha somewhere.”

  Firio’s brow darkened.

  “And she likely has some support ships to accompany them. A fleet of her own.”

  “Indeed,” said Vomont. “I doubt anything in Kerida could match either relic ship one on one.”

  “I’ve heard of Sorrow and Glory,” said Mosam. “They’re both legend among the traveling fleets.”

  “Promising,” said Yajain. “Unfortunately, Elder Patla seemed adamant.”

  “If we can leverage something against her, perhaps then?” Vomont said.

  “No.” Firio folded his arms. “I will not risk making our situation worse. Yajain, it would seem Patla has given you and Doctor Coe an open invitation to her masquerades while we are in-cluster. Do what you can to convince her.”

  “Captain, permission to speak?” said Jalee.

  “Granted.”

  “Sir, aren’t we losing sight of something?”

  “What is that?”

  “Elder Patla, or any of her advisers, could already be under tyrant control.”

  Firio frowned.

  “True,” said Mosam.

  “Damn,” said Vomont. “I fear the girl could be right.”

  Yajain looked at Firio. She felt her heartbeat accelerate, her breathing quicken. Tension building, Firio met her eyes.

  “I can’t ask you to attend any more parties if there could be danger.”

  “It’ll be more dangerous not to attend. If we don’t hunt down any potential threats in the settlement we risk being attacked any time we let our guard down.”