by Jaleta Clegg
"What of her claims?" One of the men pushed his way forward. "What of the ships coming?"
"Imagination," Lilliasa said dismissively. "There are no ships. There is no Empire."
"Then what of this?" the man asked. He thrust a paper forward. "The outpost on Sivolei has not answered calls since sending this message. There are at least a hundred ships in the system. They are not ours."
Silence fell, thick and accusing and afraid. They watched Lilliasa. She watched me.
"You asked me to bring help," I said to her. "I brought help. Now fulfill your end of our bargain. Let the slaves go."
"And if I don't?" Her eyes narrowed, threatening me.
"Then you'll probably all die," I said, shrugging as if it meant nothing to me. At that moment, it didn't matter.
"Lies and empty threats," Lilliasa said. She stood, her eyes seeking out the faces of the men, commanding and imperious. "She is but a slave. The others are slaves. They will not stand against us long. We will make examples of them."
"Des Ro-Shera," the man with the message said. He kept his eyes down, shuffling his feet. "There have been other messages."
"And?" she snapped when he didn't immediately respond.
"All over the planet, the human slaves have been escaping."
"I know that. They've been running ever since High Festival."
"When you tried to blow up the Electoriate," I said loudly.
She pretended she hadn't heard me. Others did. I heard the whispers of surprise and doubt.
"I did what must be done," she said. Her voice was pitched to carry to the far reaches of the crowd. "That which does not kill us, will only serve to strengthen us. The Triad was close minded, locked into traditions that crippled us. It was their time to go. It was time for a new Code. For a new leader."
"Then be a leader," I said. "Set new traditions. Make peace with the Empire. Stop the tradition of slavery. Learn to be—"
The man behind me smacked me over the head, knocking me sideways onto the ground. I bit my lip when I landed and tasted blood.
"You will remember your place, slave," Lilliasa said. "There is an old punishment, specified in the Code, for slaves who act above their station. Tomorrow, at dawn, we will make an example of you." She turned on her heel and went into her tent.
The men around me stirred, shifting restlessly as if they weren't quite satisfied with Lilliasa's information or leadership.
"Back to your posts," one of them shouted.
I was dragged to my feet. Two men planted a thick pole in a hole in the ground to one side of the wide space. The one holding my arm yanked my hands up and looped the rope they were tied with over a nail in the post. He stepped away.
I was facing out, my back to the pole. If I stood on tiptoe, I could barely ease the pulling of the rope on my wrists. I tipped my head back, studying the nail. It was firm in the pole. The ropes around my wrists were snug, I couldn't slip my hands out. And I couldn't jump or climb high enough to free the rope. I was stuck.
Until dawn. I resigned myself to a very long, very uncomfortable night.
Chapter 42
I dozed, hanging by my hands, too tired to stay awake and too uncomfortable to really sleep.
The night wasn't very quiet. Trythians kept rushing past, carrying messages back and forth, holding conferences both with Lilliasa and without. Some stopped to whisper together in the shadows. It was obvious that her control and power were slipping.
I tried to swallow. My split lip was swollen, my throat so dry it ached. I was starving. I had to go to the bathroom. I shifted foot to foot, trying to ease the worst of the pains.
The moon rose and crawled slowly across the sky. I watched the stars for a while, trying to recognize patterns overhead. Nothing looked even remotely familiar.
A breeze rose after midnight, thin and cold. I shivered and wiped my nose on my sleeve. It was running because of the cold, I told myself. And I wasn't crying. My eyes were too dry. I closed them and leaned on the pole.
I was startled awake by shouting. Something exploded in a ball of angry orange fire. The Trythian camp erupted in activity. Men ran everywhere, shouting and screaming. I watched the fire reflecting through the camp with grim satisfaction.
Lilliasa came out of her tent, her hair hanging in streamers down her back. She rushed towards the fire, giving me a single suspicious glance.
Another explosion rocked the camp, bigger than the first. Flames shot into the sky. The shouting and screaming grew more frenzied.
"I swear you do this just so I have to come rescue you," Tayvis whispered behind me.
The ropes on my wrists parted. My hands fell to my sides. I rubbed my wrists clumsily, wincing at the pain of returning circulation.
"You could learn to move faster," I answered him. "Do you know how long I've been hanging there?"
"Not long enough," he said. I heard the grin in his words. "Move it, Dace. Unless you really like Lilliasa's hospitality."
I followed him, a dark shadow in the night. We ran quickly for the far side, away from the commotion.
"They're escaping!" someone shouted behind us.
"Run faster." Tayvis pushed me ahead of him.
"Only if you do," I answered.
We both ran for the far edge of the camp.
A blast rifle fired, the blue light bright in the night. A tent exploded in flames. The shouting behind us doubled in volume. We raced past the last line of tents and into the night. The sounds of fighting grew loud behind us.
I slowed, breathing hard. I was winded and aching. I'd run as far as I could. I stopped, bent over a stitch in my side.
"You all right?" Tayvis asked. His hand was warm on my back.
I turned and leaned against him. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten me."
He kissed the top of my head. "We got Will out. How did he manage to sprain his ankle?"
"Trying to be heroic."
"We've got to get moving or they'll catch us." He started walking, pulling me with him by my hand.
I only made it four more steps before my collar blasted me with a burst of white hot pain. I gasped and clutched it, sinking to the ground. I couldn't breathe. The collar felt as if it were squeezing my head off.
Tayvis stopped quickly, crouching next to me. He felt the collar around my neck and muttered a curse under his breath. He dug through his pockets, finally pulling out a small black box. He punched a combination of buttons. Nothing changed.
I was starting to black out, unable to breathe. I saw dots of light spin in front of my eyes. Tayvis frantically pushed buttons on the control. He bashed it against the ground, swearing. I grabbed for his hand, trying to focus through the agonizing need to breathe. I tapped the buttons and pulled the controller down to touch the collar.
Sparks flared purple in the night. A surge of pain blew through me, every nerve was on fire. The collar spit another round of sparks and broke in half. I gulped in air.
"That was fun," I croaked.
"What did you do?" he asked, holding the control up in the moonlight.
"Shorted both out," I answered. I rolled onto my back, breathing shallowly. My ribs hurt. Along with just about every part of me. I had to go to the bathroom.
I made myself get up. Tayvis helped pull me to my feet. The sound of fighting was louder. Another explosion lit up the night. The blast wave rocked me on my feet.
"They were supposed to steal them, not blow them up," Tayvis muttered.
A loud roar came from overhead. A long sustained sound that made talking impossible. We both looked up as a huge shape drifted over us. Lights blinked white and blue along it.
"Patrol transport," Tayvis said. "I thought you said tomorrow afternoon."
"So I can't tell time."
The transport circled around. The noise of the camp died down as it flew over the tents. The wind of its passing flattened half of them.
"They're landing out there, on the plain," Tayvis said. He pulled my hand.
&n
bsp; I pulled back. He glanced at me, moonlight catching his face. He looked different, black and silver, a stranger in the night.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"I want a drink of water and a bathroom. And dinner if you have any."
"There are bushes that way," he said, pointing behind me. "And maybe a stream. Can't help with dinner. You want me to wait?"
"You already promised me you would." I turned away reluctantly. I wouldn't have gone at all except I was desperate.
It was dark in the bushes. I heard the shouting rising in pitch as the transport landed. Weapons fire added to the confusion. I finished as fast as I could. I washed my hands in the stream I stepped into on accident. I walked a few steps upstream and drank.
I got turned around trying to find my way out of the bushes. I heard shouting and fighting everywhere. I ducked as something shot past me, ripping leaves from a bush. I scrambled away when I saw how tall the men shooting were. They shot again. Dirt kicked up from where the projectiles hit.
I ran back into the bushes. I rolled under a bush near the stream, tucking myself out of sight. The Trythians chasing me plowed past, crashing through another set of bushes. I slipped out and headed the direction they'd come from.
I ran out of the bushes at the foot of the hills. There were people everywhere, fighting and shooting and running. I was not going to find Tayvis, not in the dark. I ducked back into the cover of the bushes.
I hid and watched the fighting. The Trythians weren't just hunting slaves. I saw several groups run past, chasing and shooting at other Trythians. The humans had mostly gone into hiding like me. I heard several moving through bushes behind me.
Flitters rose from around the transport after the heat shields cooled. The moon was setting. It was dark and cold in the night. The breeze picked up, rustling bushes and moaning in the grasses on the plains. I moved out of my bush, heading deeper in the growth. I was planning on circling around, coming out on the far side of the camp, closer to the transport.
Another huge shape drifted overhead, another Patrol ship. This one was escorted by a squadron of small fighters. The fighters streaked away as the transport landed near the first.
I picked my way through bushes, glad I had boots to wear.
I heard Trythian voices behind me. They were beating bushes, shooting whatever moved. I ducked quickly through a screen of bushes.
I was grabbed, someone jammed a dirty hand over my mouth.
"Quiet," he hissed in my ear.
I pushed the hand away. "They're shooting into all the bushes," I whispered back. "Move left, they already searched that way."
He hesitated a long moment, listening to the sound of the Trythians shooting their weapons. They puffed air quietly, but the effects were deadly. He shifted away from me, signaling others. They quietly crawled through the bushes, away from the Trythians. I followed.
I wasn't quite fast enough. They started shooting up the bushes before I was out. I hissed in pain as a bullet grazed my arm. Stinging fire marked where it hit. I crawled faster.
"In there!" one of the Trythians shouted. A hail of bullets tore up the bush around me. I scrambled up and ran.
I burst through a stand of bushes and crashed right into a Trythian. He staggered back, knocked off balance. I grabbed his weapon, pulling it out of his hands. I kept running, shoving him back. I crashed through more bushes.
I tumbled down a short bank and into the stream. I waded quickly upstream, ducking under a cut in the earth. I crouched in the shallow water and tried to figure out how the gun worked. There was a whole row of buttons along the top, but no obvious trigger. I pointed it away from me and pushed the buttons. Nothing happened no matter what I pushed.
I heard them searching for me in the bushes along the stream, calling to each other as they beat the vegetation. They were going to find me soon. It was still quiet upstream. I moved carefully, placing each foot slowly into the water. I moved to the end of the cut and peered out.
The bank of the stream was high, sunk into the soft sand of the hill. The opposite shore was lower, rising slowly from the shallow water. A Trythian stood there, watching as the others searched the bushes.
I sank back into the shadows, the Trythian gun held tightly. Cold water lapped around my legs. I was starting to shiver from the chill, both in the air and the water.
The Trythian watched the water, peering into the shadows as if he could see in the dark. Maybe he could. No, if he could, he'd be shouting the alarm about me already. I wasn't thinking very straight.
A wave of dizziness threatened to knock me off my feet in the water. I blinked, trying to chase it back away. When I could see again, the Trythian was gone. I rubbed water across my face and looked again. He really was gone. I had no idea where, though. I didn't know which way was safe.
I couldn't stay in the stream any longer. My feet were going numb. I crouched lower, intending to get a drink. I fumbled the gun, dropping it into the stream with a loud splash.
"What was that?" a Trythian voice asked from the bank over my head.
I froze in the shadow, waiting for the shout that meant he had seen me. I very carefully tilted my head back to look up. I saw his outline, dim against the slowly brightening sky. He peered over the edge of the bank, scanning the water.
"It was nothing," another voice answered. "Must have been a rock falling."
The first one wasn't so easily convinced. He leaned out farther. Dirt crumbled from the edge of the bank, dribbling into my hair.
Shouts echoed up the stream. The Trythians took off that direction. I let out the breath I held.
I shook from cold and nerves. I scrambled out of the stream, wading quickly upstream to where the bank dipped lower. I dripped my way into more bushes.
I had to rest for a moment. Dots of light danced in front of my eyes. I sat down, huddled under a bush. My feet squelched in my boots. I couldn't feel my toes. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered in the thin dawn breeze.
The sky overhead was pale gray. A thin layer of clouds obscured what was left of the stars. The wind shifted, blowing down from the mountains. The branches of my bush rustled, startling me out of a doze.
I shook my head. I had to stay awake. I had to keep moving. I had to reach the Patrol. I tried to get up. It took me four tries before I finally reached my feet. I had to hang on to the bush for a long moment until my head quit spinning.
There was more shouting, a thumping chant punctuated by screams and more shouting. I cocked my head, listening. The Trythians were finally organized. They were pushing their way systematically through the bushes up the canyon, driving the humans in front of them.
It took a long minute for my tired brain to realize they were heading my way and would be here soon. I'd be trapped, pushed up the canyon with the rest. I moved without consciously deciding which direction to go. My feet took me the easiest route, down and around a clump of short trees.
I kept stumbling, hearing the Trythians moving closer. They were mostly to my right. I heard their chanting suddenly break off. There were louder shouts and the sound of blaster fire. The Patrol was making its move. I kept stumbling, lost in a daze of pain and fatigue and hunger.
I took the easiest way, swerving around bushes and walking where the ground was least rocky. I splashed through the stream again. I staggered out the far side and kept moving. I couldn't remember why I was walking or where I was headed. I was asleep on my feet.
I stumbled into a clearing. It took a long moment for my brain to register what I was seeing. I slowly stopped, almost tripping over my own feet. I was staring at my reflection in the battle helmets of two of the Patrol's finest.
I snapped awake, suddenly remembering why I was running around in the bushes. I had to find Tayvis. I had to make sure he and the others got to the Patrol transport. A third man crouched over a com pack. All three of them were looking at me.
"Give me your gun," I said to the nearest.
"I don't think that
would be very smart," he answered.
"Give it to me," I insisted. "There are people out there. I have to find them. I have to . . ."
It didn't matter what I wanted. Too many days of little sleep and no food caught up with me. The sky wasn't up anymore. The ground was rising, coming at my face fast. I saw sparkles of light dancing in front of my eyes as I collapsed. One of the Patrol officers caught me before I smashed my face into the dirt. I clung to consciousness, but it was a losing battle.
"Base, this is Jenks," the com officer said. I barely heard it through the buzzing in my ears. "We need a med pickup in sector seven."
I was barely aware of being carried up a slight hill to a clearing at the top. I was packed into a flitter with other wounded. I lost my fight to stay awake as the flitter lifted into the air.
Chapter 43
Tayvis ducked into another bush. He wanted a weapon. He hated being chased, blind and unarmed. And outnumbered. Why hadn't the Patrol made a move? The transports and flitters just sat there as the light slowly grew.
And where had Dace gone? She'd disappeared into thin air. He'd scoured half the hillside looking for her without any luck. He'd found a lot of ex-slaves and Trythians. The humans were starting to band together, to organize and strike back. The Trythians were still running in circles, disorganized and panicked by the sudden turn of events.
He peered out. The hillside was clear, all the way to the base of one of the yellowish cliffs. He ran swiftly to the outcropping rocks at the base. He jumped, swinging himself up and onto the largest boulder. He lay flat on top, scanning the area from his better vantage point.
The action was farther away, towards the stream that meandered out of the narrow canyon. Most of the humans were still up that way, tucked into the better shelter of the canyon. Some of them would be trying to make contact with the transport. Tayvis toyed with the idea of going himself. No, he had to find Dace. Before the Trythians did.
She'd made herself more enemies. He was relieved and surprised they hadn't killed her when they had the chance. He wasn't about to admit to anyone but himself how weak he'd felt when he saw her hanging from the pole. He'd almost lost control when he thought she was dead. He was too vulnerable where she was concerned. He didn't care. He just wanted her safe.
