by D L Frizzell
A man from the fire crew went to the end of the line and slapped the mud with his shovel. It bounced off with a clang. “It’s already hard,” the man exclaimed
“That’s a good thing!” Alex shouted. “Let’s get some more!” He jumped back onto the handcar and they raced back toward the barn. Alex looked over his shoulder once and saw the crew cheer before moving in to manage the rail that was still exposed.
They reached the switching station at full speed on their way back to the barn. Niko switched them over to the second rail to avoid a collision with the handcar that was coming the other way. Niko looked at him expectantly as he passed, and Alex gave him a thumbs up. Niko smiled and returned the gesture. Seneca stood there with Redland at his side, not noticing because they were deep in conversation.
“I need three more squads for mud duty!” Niko shouted at the top of his voice.
Seneca took notice. Picking up a blob of mud that fell on the ground by the switching station, he saw that it had hardened into a protective shell. “Captain Hathan-Fen!” he shouted. When the captain ran up, he ordered her to provide the squads on the double.
Fifteen minutes later, carts full of mud were rolling back and forth from the corral in regular intervals. No fires broke out along the covered areas, so fewer crews were needed to monitor them. Those who were freed up from rail duty moved to the corral to assist the loading efforts. They formed a mud-shoveling line around the corral that soon outpaced the carts running back and forth.
“Hoo-ah, kid!” Sergeant Brady yelled to Alex from another handcar as they passed each other. “It’s working!”
“Hoo-ah!” Alex shouted in return, wondering what the word meant.
Seneca, Redland, and Zand soon joined the crews moving the carts, letting some of the more exhausted workers rest. They took Alex off the handcar and gave him full control of the switching station. He coordinated all the traffic from that point on.
After another hour, the teams finished mudding the tracks up to the junction. The firewall was finished, and not a minute too soon. The fire had nearly reached the choke point at the switching station when the last of the tracks were covered. Niko redirected some of the workers to the neighboring grove sections to watch for sparks that might fly over the railway.
Colonel Seneca called the retreat for his soldiers. Every one of them grateful for a rest, they sat down to see if the firewall would hold. A final rail car arrived with Strapp and a few others on board. They had a water barrel with them that they found inside the barn. As the men rested and treated each other for burns, Alex and Strapp distributed water for them to drink.
Alex brought a flask of water to Seneca and Niko. They accepted it and took long drinks.
“That’s all the mud we could get from the corral,” Strapp told Alex. “I hope it will be enough.”
“We’ll know shortly,” Alex said.
The heat from the fire grew more intense as it approached the firewall. One after the other, the Mokri trees ignited and glowed brightly through the dark canopy of smoke. The sky grew black in all directions, and soon the only visible light came from the inferno itself. Everyone watched the fire and waited.
They were soon forced to move back further from the fire, its heat too intense to stay where they were. Seneca and Zand sat on the last railcar with Alex and watched in silence to see if the firewall would hold. Redland joined them a few minutes later.
His eyes stinging from the glare of the flames, Alex looked down at his hands. He took his gloves of and saw freshly popped blisters around his palms.
“I’ll shake your hand when you get some bandages on,” Niko said to him. “Whether this stops the fire or not, that was a damn good idea.”
“Thanks,” Alex replied. “Do you think the firewall will hold?”
“Honestly,” Niko said, pausing to take a drink from the flask. “I don't know. Once the sand turns to molten glass in the fire, the rails may ignite no matter how good a job we did.”
“So, we'll still fail?” Alex’s voice hinted of despair.
“We’ll know soon, I think,” Niko said. “We’ve lost a quarter of our trees already. If the rest goes up, well,” he shrugged, “we did everything we could.”
Alex stared at Niko. The town's livelihood was burning before their eyes and he sat there, calm as anybody he’d ever met. He couldn’t understand how Niko could be that way, knowing all his efforts could all have been for nothing.
As if reading Alex’s thoughts, Niko put his hand on his shoulder. “Losing a battle doesn’t mean we stop fighting the war, Alex. We take what we can and move on, maybe learn a thing or two from the failure.”
“It is what it is, right?” Alex replied bitterly, remembering one of the clichés that Norio often used.
“It is what it is for now,” Niko corrected him. “There are many things beyond our control, Alex, just like this fire.” He gestured at the flames before them. “but we learn from it, learn how to anticipate it, learn how to beat it next time.” He reached behind him and picked up a dried slab of mud from the railcar. “Alex, I always thought this mud was the most worthless stuff I ever saw. It’s too porous and brittle, so it’s not strong enough to make concrete. It isn’t even useful for growing grass in. I know,” he chuckled, “I’ve tried. But I damn sure never thought it would be useful for fighting fires. Today you showed me different. I can use that, build on it.” He tossed the brick of mud away. “I’m going to think of other ways to use it, too.” He grinned at Alex, who offered a thin smile in return.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Seneca said.
Niko and Alex turned to see Seneca staring at his hands. “Look!” he said. Right in the middle of Seneca’s glove were two wet spots dissipating into the leather. A third drop hit his glove, followed by a fourth, and then two more.
Alex heard something hit the rim of his hat, and then his arm. He held up his own hands and saw more drops appear there.
All three of them stood up and looked into the black smoke overhead. If there were clouds up there, nobody could see them. The drops increased to a drizzle. Tiny plumes of steam puffed up from the ground around the fire, sparsely at first, and then more frequently. In minutes, they were standing in a full-fledged downpour.
Soldiers who were exhausted minutes earlier began to jump up and shout with excitement. The temperature in the area dropped noticeably and the smoke began to clear. In the northeast sector of the grove, the fire still raged. Only now it appeared to be on the defensive. Soon, patches of fire were replaced by puddles of water. The blaze began to shrink.
Alex joined Niko at the northeast corner of the switching station, noticing that there weren’t only raindrops on his face but tears as well. Together, they stood at the first tree, which was burned black, but still standing. Niko stomped out the remnants of a flame on a fallen branch.
"That felt good," he admitted to Alex.
"I bet," Alex replied.
An hour later, with the rain finally letting up, the temperature was low enough that workers could go in and put out the remaining fires with portable extinguishers. Patches of sky appeared between the clouds, and Kithara shone once again upon Edgewood.
“I’ll never know why the biggest rainstorms come from the desert,” Niko laughed. “But they sure are a welcome sight.”
Seneca stood on a handcar and waved them in “Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Time to come in out of the rain.”
Niko saw Alex throw a disdainful look at Seneca. “Listen,” Niko leaned in close and took the deputy by the shoulder. “Don’t let him get to you. I know what he’s dealing with, and it ain’t just the fire.”
“What is it, then?” Alex asked.
“He told me all about you, Alex,” Niko said.
“Don't listen to him,” Alex said. “He doesn’t even know me.”
“I think you’d be surprised how well he does know you,” Niko countered. “In fact, he thinks very highly of you.”
“No, he doesn't.”
/> “He told me so,” Niko insisted. "He thinks you have the potential for greatness.”
“If he thinks that,” Alex said, “why does he keep sending me away?”
“Ask him,” Niko replied.
“Maybe later.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
The rain had lightened to a drizzle by the time Alex and Niko reached the ranger station. When they entered, they saw Seneca drinking a cup of coffee in the adjoining jailroom. He noticed them come in and raised his cup for them to see.
“Coffee’s on the stove, gentlemen,” he announced.
“Thanks, colonel,” Niko replied. He crossed his office, poured himself a cup, and offered some to Alex. Alex declined, choosing instead to get a glass of water. As Alex sat down and took his hat off, Niko looked in to see what Seneca was up to.
"What are you doing, colonel?" Niko asked. The jailroom door was half shut, obscuring their view of the cell.
“I have a conundrum here,” Seneca said.
“A what?” Niko asked, joining him by the cell.
“A mystery,” Seneca replied. “Do you remember Miss Runaway having any injuries when she and Alex left for the train station?”
Kate was sitting quietly on the bunk in the locked cell. She had pulled her hood down over her goggles, nearly obscuring her face. She pulled her hands up into her sleeves, but not before Niko saw her bandages. Seneca turned his attention from Kate to Alex.
Alex blinked, remaining silent.
“And you seem to be injured yourself,” Seneca added. “I noticed that bruise on your face when you arrived.”
Alex met Seneca’s gaze, not knowing what to say. He instinctively reached up to feel the abrasion on his cheek. He then felt the back of his head and realized he had a pretty good lump where Kate hit him with the rock.
“Anything we should know about?” Seneca asked.
Alex remembered something Norio told him once. Truth crosses the mountains to reveal itself. Guilt hides behind a paper wall and will not come out on its own. “The prisoner got away from me,” he admitted. “She wasn’t trying to escape. Her mule was injured. She was trying to help it.”
Seneca rubbed his eyes wearily. “She got away from you,” he said. Rather than say what he was thinking, he turned to look out the window.
Niko looked sadly at Alex. “That’s the kind of thing that can get you killed,” he said.
Seneca nodded in agreement, still focused on the street outside. “I think you need to head back to Celestial City, Alex. Don’t worry about the prisoner. We’ll see she gets taken care of.”
“I won't argue,” Alex replied, “but I couldn’t go back if I wanted to. Marshal Redland saw to that."
“Marshal Redland saw to what?” a booming voice sounded from the doorway. Redland stood in the doorway, sans hat and duster, dressed in plain clothes. He kicked his boots against the door jamb to get the mud off and walked in.
Alex reflexively spun on his heels and pulled his pistol on the marshal. "Don't move, marshal."
Redland's eyes opened wide in surprise. He slowly put his hands up.
Everybody in the office took a step back from Alex.
“What’s wrong, son?” Redland asked.
“You know what’s wrong,” Alex snarled.
“I really don’t.”
"I think we’d better sit down and talk,” Seneca said.
“I’ll stand,” Alex said.
“You’ll sit,” Seneca ordered.
"After the marshal takes off his gun belt," Alex countered.
“Not going to happen," Seneca said in a low voice.
"I dunno, colonel," Redland said. "Seein' as we need to defuse the situation here..." He reached down with his left hand and unbuckled his belt. As it fell to the floor, he stepped away from it and put his hand back in the air.
"Relax, Alex," Niko cautioned.
"I am relaxed," Alex replied.
"Why don't we all relax at the table," Seneca suggested. "In a sitting position."
“I think that's a pretty good idea,” Redland said, tight-lipped but agreeable at the moment. After pausing to notice Kate standing in the jail cell, he settled into a chair.
Alex sat across from Redland, while Seneca eased himself into another chair. Niko started to get a bottle of sap from the cabinet, then thought better of it and sat down facing Seneca. There was a moment's quiet as Alex and Redland stared at each other.
"I almost didn't recognize you, marshal," Alex sneered. "Coat and hat get burned, did they?"
"As a matter of fact," Redland said, "they did. My pants got burned, too, so I got a new pair at the outfitters down the street."
“Alex,” Seneca started, choosing to use a more diplomatic tone. “It seems like you have something to say.”
“They were taken by surprise, colonel,” Alex said. “They’re all dead.”
"Who?" Seneca asked.
"Everybody at Maglev Station," Alex said.
“They were attacked?” Niko asked.
"They were slaughtered," Alex said, keeping his eyes locked on Redland. Redland peered back, frowning.
"Could it have been the Jugs?" Seneca asked.
“Maybe, but...Marshal Redland was there, too,” Alex said. “Everyone there was murdered, and the station was burned. Even the train is destroyed.”
"Marshal? It sounds like a charge is being levied here," Seneca said. He noticed Niko had not pulled his chair up to the table. Instead, he leaned forward with his fingers steepled against his chin - a good stance to tackle Alex if anything happened. Niko met Seneca's eyes and gave a slight nod.
Redland didn’t answer right away. Instead, he studied Alex. Seeing the fury in the young man's stare, he lowered his gaze to the floor.
“He’s right, Colonel,” Redland said.
"You destroyed the maglev?" Seneca was astonished.
“No," Redland answered. "I didn’t. That Jovian named Benac did. He was my prisoner until he got free at the station.”
“If he survived his electrocution,” Alex countered, “why didn’t you finish him off?”
“I thought he'd be useful,” Redland shrugged. “I found him when I went back to the Celeste. The Jugs and the other Jovian left him for dead when you rescued your friend. Benac offered to show me their return route in exchange for asylum.”
“Where is Benac now?” Seneca asked.
“He broke free at the station,” Redland explained. “He got his hands on his sword and ran into the station to attack everyone. He started the fire to cover his escape, and it overtook the station before I could do anything about it.”
“Alex,” Seneca asked, “does this fit what you saw? Think carefully now.”
“It does,” Alex acknowledged, “except for the fact that Genedi didn’t die from a sword wound. He was shot in the stomach. I’ve always heard that Jovians don’t believe in carrying guns.”
“I shot him,” Redland admitted, letting out a long sigh, “but it wasn’t deliberate. He was fleeing the station and got in the way when I was trying to shoot the Jovian.”
“Funny, he didn’t describe it quite that way before he died.” Alex said flatly.
“Where is Benac now?” Seneca asked.
“Somewhere out there on the plains, I expect,” Redland answered. “I was trackin’ him back to the west when I saw the fire. I abandoned the chase to come here and help.”
"So, Alex," Niko said, "is it possible you're not the only lawman whose prisoner got the better of him recently?"
It was Alex's turn to be surprised. He broke his stare with Redland and looked at Niko. Niko returned the look with friendly concern.
“How do you explain another fire breaking out when you arrived at Edgewood?” Alex turned back to Redland.
“I didn’t start it, son,” Redland said, “but I know who did.”
“Who?” Seneca asked.
“I've got the real culprits in a wagon outside,” the marshal replied, "if you'll let me show you."
&
nbsp; "I’m sure we would all appreciate that, marshal," Seneca replied, keeping his eye on Alex. When he saw doubt creep onto Alex's face, he stood and waved them all toward the door. Seneca picked Redland’s belt up from the floor and followed them out.
There was indeed a wagon outside. A grove worker sat on the buckboard to keep the horse team under control. "Marshal," he smiled when he saw Redland, and tipped his hat.
"Thanks for waitin', Matt," Redland said. "Mind givin' me and my friends some privacy? I'll drive the wagon back to the stable when we're done with it."
"Sure thing," the worker said. "Thanks for all you did out there today."
"Not a problem," the marshal smiled. "Glad to help, Matt." Redland walked around the back of the wagon, where a blanket covered two large objects. He tossed the blanket back to reveal a pair of burnt skeletons. "Your arsonists," Redland announced.
"Who are they?" Seneca asked.
"These, my friends, are the T'Neth who started the fire." Redland replied.
"How do you know?" Niko asked.
"Seen 'em before," Redland said. "Ran into one just a few weeks ago as a matter of fact."
"They don't travel alone," Seneca said. "They always move in pairs."
Redland gestured to the two corpses. "That's the conventional wisdom, and it's true in this case."
"Why would they start the fire?" Alex asked, still not trusting Redland.
"They're mercenaries," Redland explained. "It seems to me they were the advance team to make a distraction for the Jugs. I’d say the Jugs got their money’s worth."
"They could have burned Edgewood to the ground and provided a clear path to the Crumbles," Seneca thought aloud.
