“Then we should find them. I dare say it’s better than trying to cross that killing ground.” He glanced up to see his cypher circling closer. “Caesar, my friend, locate the nearest tunnel entrance.”
The creature cawed and rose quickly.
“We’re not all going to fit through those tunnels,” Malya said.
“We need not,” Jeanne Romee said. She stepped over broken bits of noh armor as she approached. “If we locate a way to the enemy, you must take it. You and Lord Cross and the good captain here. A few of the Paragons may accompany you, but it is you three who have the best chance of success.”
“I agree,” called Isabeau. The Purifier moved with surprising grace considering the obvious wound in her side. Though blood stained her skirt and sword, and her emerald green hair was matted and singed, she had lost none of the quiet calm and confidence she had displayed on the battlecruiser. “A smaller team has a better chance of success, if you’re all Knights. If we occupy their attention here, they won’t be watching for you.”
“Now just a cold minute,” Malya cried. “We’re getting slaughtered out here. They’ll just keep throwing attacks at us until they overrun each landing site. We can’t just—”
“Sit here and wait for that, no,” Isabeau said, nodding. “I’ve already sent orders to consolidate here. There’s several other landing sites holding their own—we seem to have caught the brunt of the attacks. They’re packing back onto their ships or striking off across the crystal fields. Some will be here momentarily, and the rest whenever they can.” She grinned and settled her sword across her shoulders, appearing to enjoy this. “We came all this way so that you could stop the Calamity. You need to get in and do that. We’ll make sure you have something to come back to.”
Malya drew breath to argue, but Jeanne cut her off.
“No, princess. She’s right. We’ll hold this ground and their attention.” A surprising, almost fanatic glint came into the young Paragon’s eyes. “I swear it.”
“And she,” Sebastian Cross said, “is the one who holds against all odds. If Jeanne swears it, it will be so.” He glanced at his subordinates and both nodded to him.
Harker could feel the shift in the air, the resolution now that decisions were made and courses set. It almost felt like the moment that the sails bellied with air, or the main drives engaged, and the ship began to move.
Malya turned to Harker, eyes wide. “We can’t just leave them. We’re barely holding on with two Relic Knights here. If we leave, they’ll be cut apart.”
“If we stay,” Harker said, “then we will fail. All of us will die for nothing.”
Malya choked on her next words. She stared at him for a second, and he saw her tears well. She closed her eyes and let them run silently for a second before nodding. A sound rose in Harker’s mind. On instinct, he cocked his head as he concentrated, and the sound resolved into the voice of his cypher. He saw Mr. Tomn and Cross’s cypher Rook both come to attention, also listening.
“Caesar has found the nearest tunnel entrance. There are a few noh just inside it, but they should be no problem.” He grinned. “Come. Let’s finish this.”
***
Kasaro To watched the ripple of explosions spread across his forward lines and frowned. He would soon run out of hounds. He needed to attack again, but he had not yet moved the remaining berserkers into position. With the asteroid’s strange esper patterns throwing off the rift generators—or so the wayfinders had snivelingly assured him—and his ships still engaging the pirates above them, he had little choice but to use the tunnels for the approach. The reports from his Hatriya of the increased difficulty controlling the madmen even while still drugged concerned him; perhaps whatever the Herald was attempting here really was unbalancing everything. He shrugged and hefted his weapons. He would join the fight and see it ended, no matter the distractions.
One of the priestesses beside him suddenly convulsed and choked. Her eyes rolled back, and her face went slack. Kasaro To turned toward her rigid form and waited. Her lips moved, but it took a moment for sound to come forth. When she did speak, the voice of a male noh warrior drifted from her lips. “Anointed One. We have lost contact with the warriors at the end of the southwestern tunnel. They seem to have been attacked. We also cannot see any evidence of the Knights that formerly defended the plateau.”
Kasaro To frowned. Sebastian Cross’s gigantic relic was difficult to lose track of.
“The southwestern tunnel system is the largest one we have mapped,” the voice continued, “and we fear that the Knights and perhaps a small force are using it to infiltrate our lines.”
“You have done well to inform me,” he said. “Continue as you were. I will deal with the Knights.”
“As you and Nozuki will,” the warrior replied.
The priestess gasped and collapsed.
Kasaro To waved to one of the other priestesses. “Send word to Homumi To to take his berserkers down the southwestern tunnel. Tell him that we suspect our enemies are there and to kill all that he finds.”
The priestess nodded but hesitated before leaving. “Anointed One, that is a small force. If the Knights are indeed coming that way, Homumi To likely cannot stop them.”
“Then he is not worthy to serve with me,” Kasaro To replied, setting his weapons on his relic. He reached for the last pieces of his armor.
“But Anointed One, if the Knights continue up that tunnel, they will reach the caves where the Herald awaits.”
He paused. “Yes, they will.”
“She said she must not be disturbed.” The priestess’s consternation amused him.
“She did say that, yes.”
“But lord, if they disturb her, they may disrupt the ritual.”
“The Herald has made it more than clear that she can take care of herself. I see no reason not to take her at her word. If she cannot, then she also is not worthy.”
“But interrupting a ritual may cause it to fail regardless of the practitioner’s worth. It has nothing to do with strength.”
His amusement faded. “I am Kasaro To, Chosen of Nozuki and Anointed of the Hydra God,” he said a little wearily. He grew tired of repeating his credentials. “I am His messenger among our people, the incarnation of his will. What I do, I do not only with His blessing but as a reflection of His own true desires. Is that understood?”
The priestess nodded. “Of course, lord, but—”
With only a flicker of consternation, Kasaro To struck. His tetsubo connected with the priestess’s chest, collapsing her ribcage and rupturing nearly every organ in her torso. The blow had such force that she cracked the rock wall behind her when she struck it.
He looked at the next priestess in line. “Did you hear my commands?”
The other priestess nodded firmly, her face a carefully blank mask, her eyes fixed on his.
“Then go and see my will done.”
She nearly fled from his presence, and Kasaro To smiled.
Chapter 24
Origin Point, wildspace
Malya frowned at the crystals that threw more shadows than light through the tunnel. The esper crystals grew almost as thickly underground as they did on the surface. Even with Sebastian’s relic battering them down with easy sweeps of its massive mace, they still made agonizingly slow progress. The noh they had killed at the tunnel entrance and the group of Hatriya and berserkers that had come barreling into them a few minutes ago had not helped matters.
She floated just behind the two men, keeping an eye on the path behind, while all their cyphers scouted the route ahead. She drummed her fingers on the side of Sedaris’s saddle. Every moment they spent slogging through this mess meant more lives lost above. She still could not believe the ease and willingness Jeanne and Isabeau had shown in volunteering to stay, fight, and die for nothing more than to buy the Knights time. The whole idea made her sick, but she could not deny the necessity. That was what sickened her the most.
“Sacrifice is the way o
f all life,” said a calm, melodious voice from below her. She glanced down to see Rook. The paladin cypher leapt easily onto her relic and climbed with simple grace to stand on her control yoke. Though he seemed to have no face and, thus, no expression in the shadow of his armored helm, he radiated reassurance, solidity, and wisdom, not unlike his Knight. “All life ends, but a life that ends in service to another is never truly gone. They live on in the lives they have touched. We are the sum of all the lives—simple and complex, humble and great—that have gone before us. Some died only to give us nourishment; others died to give us hope and opportunity. And we,” he glanced at Cross, “die so that others may live safe and free.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” she replied and revved Sedaris’s engine.
Rook looked questioningly at her and she winked back. He jumped clear of her relic as she rose a bit higher and edged next to the paladin.
She tilted slightly to see both of the other Knights. “I’m going to run ahead.”
“We don’t know what’s there,” Cross replied, looking up. “Even Caesar can’t see very far through this gloom.”
“I know, but we don’t have the time for too much caution.” She smiled with more confidence than she felt. “Trust me. Turn around. Harker, get behind him.”
“What are you—?” The pirate stopped when he saw Sedaris’s blades extend while the relic’s limbs tucked in. “Oh.”
Cross clearly got the hint as well, because he twisted his relic mecha around and crouched to shelter his body and Harker’s.
Malya eased backward, building up thrust without releasing it, and aimed just slightly to the left of the paladin. Mr. Tomn bounced into view, leapt from the other relic, and landed on her control yoke. She had not seen her cypher this pleased in a long, long time. She ducked down until she could just barely see over her handlebars, began moving green-blue esper through her relic to repair any damage, and rocketed forward.
Sedaris raced past the other knights and barreled into the crystals along the tunnel floor. She flew through the razor-sharp forest like a cannonball through glass. Her blades lead the way, and she slowed only slightly as she encountered resistance. Crystals shattered, smashed, and a few outright exploded behind her. She shifted her esper away from repairing or healing nicks and cuts to simple, pure speed and began to twist gently on the control yoke. She moved so quickly that the shrapnel and shockwaves vented their fury on the crystals around them rather than her. Mr. Tomn guided her around bends in the tunnel, protrusions in the cave wall, and stalagmites that loomed suddenly from the ground. Neither of them noticed the four strange, shadow-shrouded figures until they had sped well past them.
Malya and Mr. Tomn shared a quick glance, and she pulled Sedaris into a looping wingover, speeding up one of the tunnel walls, across the ceiling, and down the other side in the opposite direction. Crystal shards rained down behind her like a shower of razor blades. She angled to widen the path of shattered crystals, but when she spotted the figures again, she moved to intercept. They had turned toward her, clearly tracking her, and one on her right raised its arms.
Sedaris jerked, as if it had struck deep mud, and Malya nearly flew over the handlebars. She grunted as she slammed forward and aimed a red-green esper bolt at the figure. Closer now, she could see the figures more clearly in the strange, sickly blue light falling from many of the nearby crystals. Her attack struck the target in her chest and burned cleanly through her light armor, black bodysuit, and the porcelain flesh beneath. She died without a sound, falling back into the esper shadows around her. Her body never hit the ground.
The other three women attacked in unison. Black bolts of violet-edged esper crackled into Sedaris, ripping through its armor and savaging its systems. Mr. Tomn shrieked piteously as one of them scorched across his fur. The smell of burnt flesh and hair filled Malya’s nose. She gritted her teeth against the searing heat and raced toward the nearest attacker. She swung sharply left a little too soon, so the woman did not duck away, but the relic’s right arm shot out further than seemed possible. Its blade sliced the pale alien completely in half, though the shadows swallowed her too.
Suddenly, the esper drained away from Malya. She felt heavy, as if the gravity had tripled, and Sedaris turned sluggish. Mr. Tomn wailed softly. She turned to see one of the witches extending a hand toward her, the fingers clutched and squeezing empty air. Malya’s breath caught in her chest and came only slowly. Energy poured out of her like water from a spring—she could almost see it. Sedaris stalled and faltered, stuttering toward the ground.
Motion caught her eye, and Malya turned to see the other alien leaping up. The flowing cloth draped about her reached impossibly forward. The lengths of fabric stiffened as esper infused them. The princess desperately wrenched on her control yoke. Sedaris’s arm barely rose in time. The alien’s hardened robes struck the relic and gouged deeply into its armor. Before Malya had time to recover, the alien’s richly embroidered sleeve shot out like a whip. Malya managed to duck, but the attack sliced across her exposed shoulder. She felt blood welling out and running down her back. The wound burned. She tried to pull Sedaris free, but it had lost too much power. Mr. Tomn, pale as a ghost, fell from behind her as weak green esper rose from him toward her injuries. The witch floated closer, blood dripping from the edges of her robe.
Gunshots rang out, and the alien died. Her eyes rolled up as she collapsed, and the shadows took her body. The last one, still draining the princess’s life, turned at the sound but too late to avoid Sebastian’s attack. His relic’s mace caught her cleanly and sent her broken form flying into the dimness of the cave. They never heard it land.
Harker raced to Malya even as she felt her power and strength returning. She looked desperately around for Mr. Tomn and found the cypher standing up, wobbly, his color returning. Warmth settled over her then, and she saw esper rising to surround her. Cross moved his relic back just a bit, to give her space, and she nodded in thanks. She focused her native power then and felt her wounds closing. “Thanks. What were they?”
“Alliance Security calls them void witches,” Sebastian Cross said. “We’ve only a few recordings of them, all from other galaxies. You’re the only person I know of who has survived a fight with them.”
“I know of a few others who have,” Harker said, “but not many. Soliel is the only other one I’ve ever met. And I’ve never even heard of anyone surviving four of them.”
“It means we’re close,” Cross said, staring down the passage.
They heard a squawk from above, and Harker raised his arm for Caesar to land on. The bird chittered at him for a second.
“Indeed we are, Lord Cross,” the pirate said. “Two turns yet, Caesar says. Are you fit for this?” he asked Malya.
She took a deep breath and nodded.
Harker climbed onto the lowered arm of the paladin’s relic and gripped its superstructure tightly. “Let’s not keep them waiting.”
* * *
Candy locked Kisa’s medical cot into one of the infirmary’s docking bays. She took a second to figure out which of the cot’s hook-ups plugged into which of the bay’s ports. She finally jammed the cords into what looked like the most likely spots and hoped for the best. The cot’s displays all turned green and the wall displays synched up. She figured that was the best she was going to get and turned to hook up Cordelia. That went faster, now that she had the general idea, and she locked the cots in place before heading for the bridge. The Lucky Chance shifted under her feet and Candy stumbled along the hallway, but she took it in stride. A small price to pay for finally getting out of here for somewhere reasonably safe, she decided.
Fiametta didn’t look up as Candy entered the bridge. “The hangar doors are still open.”
“Thank goodness for small favors,” Candy muttered as she slid into the copilot couch. “What do you need me to do?”
“Watch those secondary monitors. That’s the tracking. We’re still cloaked, but we can always
get hit or rammed by accident.”
“We still haven’t talked about where we’re going,” Candy said, trying to sound casual.
“I guess ‘anywhere but here’ isn’t a good answer, is it?” Fiametta sighed as she focused on maneuvering out of the docking bay. “Look, I know your objections, but I would have suggested Catermane for a variety of reasons.”
“We’re not—” Candy stopped as her brain processed the last statement. “Wait, ‘would have’? Why aren’t you suggesting it?”
Fiametta’s face was drawn and looked washed out in the yellow light from the displays. She clearly had to concentrate on flying, and Candy started feeding sensor data to the pilot’s panel to help. But the tightly controlled emotion in Fiametta’s reply did not all come from the tricky maneuvering. “It—It sounds like Catermane is completely overrun.”
Candy blinked; she had no response.
“The report came in while you were in sickbay. Black Diamond—or at least that bastard Leopold Magnus—has mounted a full-scale invasion.”
“An invasion,” Candy said, still trying to process the fact. “Of the Doctrine capital world. That’s idiotic. It’s a violation of the Rakert Treaties, a blatant act of war.”
Fiametta shrugged. “I said he was a bastard. Anyway, that option’s completely off the table.”
Candy paused, considering, and finally laughed with some bitterness. Lights flashed across her panels, and she turned her attention back to them. “Well, I would have suggested taking Cordelia to Ulyxis. Seems like that’s not such a smoking hot idea either.”
Fiametta laughed harshly and flipped the Chance over twice to avoid a disintegrating pirate ship. “This would be easier if we knew more about the Source.”
“I know everything I need to know for now,” Candy replied, focusing on a series of disturbing readings. “The Source is a chee named Cordelia, and that’s what matters. Frankly, she’s been ‘studied’ enough.”
Darkspace Calamity Page 20
