Clarion

by William Greenleaf

CLARION

  161

  That didn't get through; the feeling of confusion came back, tickling Paul's mind.

  "The youth you speak of," Dorland said patiently. "The children—who are they?"

  *(Youth) kra'ith (Group/touch) Eh-hli (confusion)*

  Paul shook his head. "We aren't getting anywhere."

  "We have to keep trying," Dorland said. "The key is here. The young are special to the Tal Tahir. She keeps coming back to that."

  "We already knew the young were important. Even the arkies had learned that much. But how can we use that against Lord Tern and High Elder Brill?"

  "I don't know," Dorland admitted.

  *Eh-hli (query) why (Dorland/Paul) not feel kra'ith (group) home*

  Dorland/Paul. That was another concept Elli had started using, and it was the strangest for Paul. The feeling came through as a brief mental image that clearly encompassed both men. Paul wasn't sure if she was confused about their individuality or if she somehow grouped them together as she became more familiar with them. He was reminded uncomfortably of the way he and Dorland had been joined in the temple.

  "We got trouble."

  Paul turned around to find Jacque standing in the doorway.

  [ "Something's happening over by the temple," he

  | said. "Looks like they've brought somebody to the wall."

  Paul followed him out the door and up the

  narrow stairway. Selmer and Karyn crouched at the edge of the crumbling roof. Karyn stared through the binoculars, her mouth set in a hard line. She handed the binoculars to Paul.

  "They've got Sabastian," she said tersely. 162

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  "They're putting him on the wall. Looks like they're getting ready for a public execution." Paul could see people streaming along the roadways toward the temple. He focused the binoculars on the raised section of wall behind the temple. The bodies from the day before had been removed. Two white-robed deacons held a man up against the wall while another bound his wrists to protruding pegs.

  "Are you sure it's Sabastian?"

  "Yes. We'll have to go after him." She had already begun cinching up her pouch.

  "That's exactly what High Elder Brill wants us to do."

  "Then we'll give him what he wants," Karyn said savagely.

  Ten minutes later they were moving at a fast jog through the tubeway. Jacque and Karyn were in the lead, and Paul and Selmer struggled to keep up. Paul had convinced Dorland to stay in the building at the river and continue his efforts to get useful information from Elli.

  Karyn was adamant that they reach Sabastian as quickly as possible, and they hadn't taken the time to work out a plan. According to her, the execution would probably take place at sunset, barely an hour away. They would have to assess the situation and figure out what to do after they reached the temple. Karyn called a halt at one of the tubeway intersections.

  "This is as close as we can get to the temple," she said. "Once we're on the ground, we'll follow what's left of Tube Three till it runs into one of the roads from Fairhope. I have an idea of how to work it." She tilted her head toward Jacque. "You and I will mingle with the crowd and get as close as we can to Sabastian." She turned to Selmer. "You and Paul stay back by one of the gates so you can get out fast. When we're in position, create a diversion. Jacque and I will cut Sabastian down and take him over the wall behind the temple."

  "What kind of diversion?"

  She waved a hand. "Think of something. We'll only need a few minutes."

  "Will that be enough?" Paul asked. "The deacons will be waiting for us to try something like that."

  "Of course they will. So you'll have to create a very good diversion." Her eyes went back to Selmer.

  "There's a big crowd out there and only a few deacons and Sons. The rest must be in a prayer meeting or something. Try to keep your eyes on them, and put as much distance as you can between yourself and them when you make your move.

  Leave yourself enough time to get away. When it's over, head back to the river. Don't try to find us, just get back whatever way seems best." Selmer nodded, but Karyn was already on her way up the rope ladder to the platform.

  They descended from the spiral tube into an area of rubble and heavy vegetation. Off to the right Paul could see the curved spire of the temple. Within a few minutes they had worked their way through the vegetation under the tube until they reached a roadway that was crowded with people. They crouched in the brush, then, one by one, merged into the crowd.

  Paul was the last to leave the cover of vegetation, and as he stepped up onto the roadway he suddenly became aware of a weight in his pocket. He checked with his hand and felt a round disk. A Godstone?

  He remembered the disk he had taken from Selmer when they'd first found them in the building by the river. At some point he must have unconsciously dropped it into his pocket.

  If they catch me and find that disk. . .

  He refused to let that thought go any farther. Trying to keep his jangling nerves under control, he 164

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  followed Selmer when Jacque and Karyn angled off toward the God Wall.

  Paul and Selmer worked their way along the

  perimeter of the courtyard. The people from Fairhope were strangely quiet—Paul could hear only a few low murmurs among the sounds of

  shuffling feet. None of them looked particularly happy to be here. Paul caught a glimpse of a young boy in a gold-and-scarlet uniform a few meters away. He averted his face and hurried past. He realized Selmer was edging over toward an open gate. Past the gate Paul could see a narrow roadway and crumbled ruins. With luck, he and Selmer should be able to carry out their task, then lose themselves in the ruins long enough to reach the access port to David's Tube.

  He stopped beside a low stone bench and turned to look toward the wall. After a moment he spotted Jacque and Karyn in the crowd near the place where Sabastian hung in the straps.

  Paul felt something touch his arm and jerked around.

  "Easy," Selmer said softly. "Do you have an idea for a diversion?"

  Paul stared at him. "Don't you?"

  The blank look on Selmer's face was answer

  enough.

  Paul looked again at the God Wall. They had rushed into this, and now his worst fears were realized. They had to do something, but they didn't have a plan. He knew they didn't have much time; a row of deacons was already beginning to form in front of the temple.

  As he turned back to Selmer, he bumped into a woman in a gray shawl. He murmured an apology. She gave him a wary look, then another. She was tall and thin, with a beaked nose punctuating a suspicious-looking face.

  Then Paul suddenly realized how he could create a diversion. A very good diversion, Karyn had said. He touched Selmer's elbow and whispered,

  "Back me up."

  Selmer nodded. Paul thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out the round disk. The woman in the gray shawl stood only a short distance away, still eyeing him warily. He opened his hand to show her the disk.

  The reaction was immediate. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. The blood drained from her face. She took a stumbling step backward, her lips working soundlessly. Then she got her breath and released a piercing scream.

  A surprised murmur broke out around them.

  "It's the GodstoneF a man yelled. It took Paul a moment to realize the voice belonged to Selmer Ogram. He thrust the silver disk high up for others to see. A space widened around him. Another man shouted. Paul glanced back at the God Wall and saw that Karyn and Jacque had moved into position in front of Sabastian. Several boys in gold and scarlet were close to them, craning their necks toward the commotion at the gate.

  But Paul could see that he would have to buy Karyn and Jacque more time. The low stone bench beside the path gave him what he needed. While the woman in the gray shawl was still trying to collect her breath, Paul stepped up on the be
nch and held up the disk.

  "People of Clarion!" He had to shout to be heard above the increasing murmurs of the crowd.

  "There's a new way coming. A new way" He consciously tried to put power and authority into his voice, speaking the first words that came to his mind. More heads turned. Several of the uniformed boys near the wall began pushing their way through the crowd. Just a few more minutes. "Lord Tern 166

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  came to me last night! He gave me the holy

  Godstone, and a message to pass along to his children!" He turned the disk back and forth so the silver face would catch and reflect the sun. The murmurs died away as the people around him

  stared at the disk. The uniformed boys were closer. He knew he couldn't let them get within dart-gun range.

  "The message means freedom from tyranny and fear! The freedom is for you!" He cast another frantic glance toward the wall. Jacque and Karyn were working at the straps that held Sabastian's ankles. The deacons in front of the temple remained where they were, but their eyes were on Paul. He thrust the disk out toward them.

  "Lord Tern told me the old ways are gone He wants a new era to begin! An era of peaceF The ankle straps were free now. Jacque supported Sabastian while Karyn cut at the wrist straps.

  "Lord Tern wants all his children to know that High Elder Brill has twisted the sacred revelations to his own advantage—" A dart sang past his right ear. Selmer yanked on his arm and he half fell from the bench.

  "The gate"' Selmer hissed.

  Paul risked a final glance toward the God Wall. Sabastian was on the ground now, his arm around Jacque's shoulders. The three of them were pushing their way toward the back wall.

  Then Paul became aware of a new commotion

  surfacing above the general confusion. Shouts, screams—and above those human sounds he heard the roar of a powerful engine. Selmer was beside him, pulling desperately at his arm.

  "It's a floater!"

  A large vehicle swept around the corner of the temple, carried on a cushion of air with its fans roaring. Paul stared at it for a moment before he realized it was an ancient Guard combat car. The crowd scattered as the car bore down on Karyn and Jacque. Paul realized in a flash that this was what High Elder Brill had planned all along. Brill knew they would try to free Sabastian, so he'd purposely kept his deacons and Sons out of the way long enough for them to get into the courtyard. He had kept the car concealed until he knew they were trapped. This would be his triumph. He could get rid of the heretics with such a show of power that the people ofFairhope would see the futility of ever going against him.

  As the car neared the wall, it began firing streams of pellets from guns just above the skirts. Even from this distance Paul could see a spray of blood as several men and women screamed and went

  down. The car careened wildly as people scattered. Karyn and Jacque huddled against the wall with Sabastian between them. Paul watched helplessly. Then another sound broke through the screams and the roar of the car's fans. Paul's head jerked up as the high-pitched whine intensified, and a sleek black craft swept over the temple. Paul caught a glimpse of fore and aft drive webs. A streamship

  Before he had time to absorb the significance of that, another flash followed from the distant mountain peaks. It resolved quickly into another streamer that was silver, and smaller than the first. It looped back to follow the black craft with green lightning snapping from its nose. Across its fuselage was a crosshatch design in bold blue—the emblem of the Fringe Alliance.

  The combat car ground to a stop, and activity on the ground ceased as the two streamers flitted about in the air like lethal butterflies. They screamed upward in a vertical climb with the gun still blazing from the nose of the Alliance streamship. The black craft had been dodging the energy bolts with uncanny precision. Now it suddenly flipped wing-forwing and dropped toward the ground. The Alliance 168 William Greenleaf CLARION 169

  craft shot past it with stasis jets screaming in protest. The pilot must have realized his mistake instantly. He began a desperate loop to the left, but by that time the black craft was directly behind him. A single bolt of energy snapped from its nose cannon, and the silver craft exploded in a white flash. Debris began to settle down into the far side of the city.

  It had all happened in the space of a minute. The people around Paul stared upward, stunned into silence.

  The black craft looped back and dropped toward the temple. It hovered erratically, its stasis engines stuttering. Then Paul saw something that gave him another jolt: the five-circle UNSA logo was emblazoned behind its stubby wings.

  "It must have taken a hit," Selmer said. Suddenly the combat car churned back into

  motion and roared down the side of the temple building. The big gun on the top lifted. Something streaked toward the black streamship. Part of a stubby wing sheared free, and the craft's stasis engines roared. A narrow beam lanced down into the cockpit of the combat car. The front of the car lifted momentarily; then it crashed to the ground and the engine roar died.

  The streamship slid sideways and dropped another few meters. Someone in the crowd yelled, and a new panic set in as people pushed back to clear a place for the craft. It came down on its struts with a hard thump, bringing up a pall of dust. The canopy swung open and a man in black fatigues jumped to the ground, followed by a faint wisp of smoke. He barely had time to regain his balance before one of the deacons near the wall fired a dart that narrowly missed him. The man stopped and stared at the white-robed deacon, then had to duck as two more darts flew toward him. He dived for cover behind one of bis craft's landing struts.

  Paul craned his neck to look over the crowd and saw Jacque and Karyn still huddled against the back wall with Sabastian.

  "Let's get out of here!" Selmer hissed in his ear, tugging at his arm.

  "Wait." Paul looked toward the grounded streamship. The deacons and several uniformed boys were converging on the man behind the landing strut.

  "C'mon," Paul said, and began pushing his way through the crowd.

  "•Wait!" Selmer caught up with him. "What are you doing?"

  "He saved our lives. We can't leave him there." He and Selmer had nearly passed the grounded combat car when one of the deacons saw them. He yelled, and several of them began running toward Paul and Selmer. Paul pulled Selmer around behind the combat car. The idling engine rumbled faintly.

  "Now what?" Selmer yelled. "Lord, we've had it—"

  With the deacons' attention on Paul and Selmer, the man behind the landing strut broke from cover and zigzagged across the courtyard toward them. The deacons and Sons were having trouble pushing their way through the panicky crowd, and Paul knew they would reach the car a few paces behind the man in the black fatigues.

  The man was yelling something as he approached, and when he got closer, Paul recognized him. Erich Frakes.

  "Get in!" Frakes yelled, already pulling himself up over the car's fan skirts. Paul followed and fell into the cockpit beside Frakes. The driver was a husk of carbon. Frakes grasped the charred body and threw it over the side, then slid into the driver's seat. Paul managed to pull himself into the seat beside him, gagging at the stink of blood and hot William Greenleaf

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  metal. Selmer crowded onto the narrow rear bench, cursing loudly.

  Frakes worked the hand controls and the fans roared. The car vibrated, then lifted with a jerk. A comer touched down with a shrill grinding and rocks flew out from under the skirts. Frakes gunned the engine and the fans roared again. The car shuddered, then slammed unexpectedly sideways into the temple, ripping off a corner of the building.

  "Back there!" Paul yelled, pointing. "The three people at the wall—"

  The car's vidscreens were out. Frakes half lifted himself to see through the hatchway. Fighting the controls, he brought the car around and headed it toward the back wall. He slammed through the corner of a dormitory, then grounded the car beside
the wall. Jacque climbed up over the skirts, half carrying Sabastian. Paul stood and reached out to take Sabastian's arms and helped him into the back. Jacque climbed inside, and Karyn fell into the seat beside him, breathing hard, eyes flaring.

  "Get us out of here!" she rasped. The fans screamed again as the car lifted and swung around. It plowed into the wall and wallowed briefly as Frakes fed more power to the forward fans, lifting the front of the car up over the debris. Then the car was careening wildly across the wide expanse of lawn behind the temple.

  Chapter Sixteen

  "WATCH OUT!" PAUL YELLED.

  Frakes jammed a foot on the fan control pedals. The car snapped off a tree as thick as a man's waist, then rammed sideways into a half-fallen domed structure. Pink debris rained through the open hatchway as the car tore through, fans screaming.

  "I can't see!" Frakes roared. "Get the damned screens on!"

  "I'm trying!" Paul yelled back, punching frantically at the console's vidscreen controls. Frakes couldn't control the car at the same time he was trying to see through the hatchway. Besides the vidscreens, the only other view to the outside was through a single narrow slit that was positioned in front of Paul's seat. It was obviously meant to give a view around the skirts for the antipersonnel gunner, but was of no use when it came to steering the massive vehicle.

  "To the left!" Paul yelled. Frakes stomped on the pedal and the car veered ponderously, skidding sideways through a pile of brownish-red rubble.

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  The fans shrieked as they chewed through stone, and Paul was nearly thrown from his seat. He had spotted a roadway over there. If they could reach thatThen he hit upon the right combination of keys, and the central screen flickered into life.

  "Ah," Frakes said with relief.

  "Over there." Paul pointed to the starboard screen. "I saw—"

  "I got it spotted," Frakes said. They crashed through heavy vegetation, then shot across the roadway and plowed into a grove of slender trees. Frakes muttered under his breath, then got the fans swiveled around and the car turned back to the road. He brought the car to a stop and hovered, staring at the vidscreens. "Which way?"