by Samuel Fort
Chapter 58: Gunster Arrives
“Annasa Fiela has been in combat?” barked Disparthian.
“Yes, Lord,” answered the exhausted messenger, kneeling. Her name was Gunster. “She ordered the squadron diverted to Cash, a town to the south, and there we engaged in battle. She is unharmed but we have lost most of our Peth. Captain Bavenmore is dead and has been replaced by Captain Callis. Our radio was destroyed in the melee.”
“Steepleguard is unaware?”
“A separate messenger was sent to the nearest outpost, Lord,” said the kneeling woman. “The weather turned on us almost immediately. I do not know whether he made it to an outpost, or if he did, whether the storm permitted radio communications.”
Disparthian knew radio communications had been impossible for him, which probably meant Steepleguard was unaware of the young queen’s plight. He said, “Who was your opponent? I was in Cash only a short time ago. The town was deserted. Did an enemy force move into the area?”
Gunster licked her lips to buy time. She was not sure what to say. “Lord, it was not a force of men. It was a creature.”
“An animal?”
“No, Lord. It was a…” The messenger grasped for words. “It was a monster. It is indescribable.”
Disparthian thought back to his discussion with Ben and Vedeus the evening Steepleguard has intercepted the Nebraska transmission. Wasn’t that the word that the apparently ill-fated Peth used to describe their opponent? “Creature?”
“You say this one thing wiped out the entire squadron?”
“Most of it, Lord. With ease. Our bullets had no effect. Nor our grenades.”
“Then how was it dispatched?”
“Annasa Fiela killed it,” the woman said, her eyes suddenly aglow. “She killed it with daggers.”
Disparthian dropped to one knee and placed a hand on either side of the woman’s face. The skin was as cold as ice and frozen channels of blood extended from dozens of gashes. “Are you well, Peth? Are you in your right mind?”
Gunster’s eyelids flickered. “I cannot say. The things I have seen should not be. Of that I am sure.”
The lord rose. “Very well.”
Two Peth helped Gunster to her feet and led her away.
Disparthian turned to Demit, who was standing next to him. “We have to go to the queen.”
“How, Lord?”
Disparthian was already moving. “We use what is available to us – what the Great Sage has provided.”
Demit understood but remain perplexed. “How do we get it out? It is in an underground hangar. It is trapped within the earth.”
Quickening his pace, Disparthian said, “I will correct you. It is encased in sand. Sand mixed with ball bearings. I received the report from Bravo squad and hour ago.” Bravo squad had been tasked to explore the ground above the dome. “It took a lot of digging but the results were consistent. There is a thin layer of topsoil. The area may have been sodded as a veneer.”
“Sand and ball bearings?”
“Not just regular sand. Engineered sand. Each grain is a perfect globe. The specifications for its design was found in the files in the hangar.”
“Drainage?”
“No doubt it drains rainwater very well. However, that is not its purpose. The mixture is designed to flow off the dome and into the underground reservoirs we found around the perimeter. It’s a one-time thing. The designers of the facility knew that if it was ever used, there’d be no reason to keep the hangar a secret any longer.”
“How is the sand to be drained?”
“It is held in place by gates. These gates have shear points, designed for small explosives. We detonate small charges, the gates are destroyed, and the sand flows down into the perimeter reservoirs. We are left with a dome within a crater. We open the dome and fly out. Simple.”
Demit didn’t think the process sounded simple at all. “Lord, even if everything proceeds as you say and we get the hangar to open, can we actually fly the thing?”
“We’ll learn that soon enough.”
