I am sorry. The system did not come up fast enough.
I should have expected it. Forgot to expect the unexpected.
“Only those you trust can betray you.”
Shan didn’t sound bitter. Or surprised. He was learning. Ashe felt his body tensing for a possible leap. Perhaps Bana saw it or sensed it. She lifted the weapon a bit.
“Calendria will kill her before you can take me down.”
They are well armed.
Top of the top of the line 5000. The Time Base’s latest and best energy weapon.
Let me guess. You left yours pointed at something big.
If she’d been issued one, yeah. They didn’t hand those out to rookies. Despite the implied lack of confidence from the Time Council, Ashe felt loose, hyper alert, ready to react. Adrenaline and drones coursed in her veins. Didn’t wince or care when she tossed most of the weapons clear. Bana would expect her to keep one or two back. Hopefully she wouldn’t expect how many she kept back. And if they did a pat down? Odds were they’d miss something. Not that she needed weapons to take down two old ladies. A pity they weren’t their only problem. She dropped her camo, just enough to look weapons free. “Hey, Bana. Calendria. How quaint of you to join the party.”
“Lose the rest, Garradian,” Calendria ordered, through gritted teeth, giving her another poke in the back.
That was kind of cold. Here she thought they bonded over the laundry basket. Neither seemed too concerned to be pointing weapons at two, battled trained warriors. Okay, they had the weapons, but they’d have to hit what they pointed at. Of course, Calendria would have to really suck to miss with the barrel against Ashe’s back. The recoil on the 5000 was supposed to be a bitch, though. And the weapon was uber light. She still liked her odds. She felt Shan’s battle readiness as surely as she felt her own.
You can both leap tall buildings and out run locomotives. But not the bugs, which are coming.
After another jab to the back, Ashe produced two more weapons and tossed them on the pile, her gaze slicing between the two women, as if trying to pick whose ass to kick.
Bana waved the 5000, probably sensing Ashe’s weapon envy. “Drop your camo.”
Ashe expected it, but didn’t like. Not that she liked much. Felt the camo go down again, even though technically she couldn’t. Felt a little silly in shiny, silver, with Keltinarian rustic over the top. But was glad for the rustic—if they didn’t do a pat down.
“You know this will pierce your shielding.” Bana moved the 5000 again, just in case Ashe didn’t know what she meant.
Ashe nodded, added a shrug cause it had to hit her to pierce anything. Calendria didn’t try a pat down. That was kind of smart, kind of dumb. Cause Ashe could have taken the 5000 away without breaking a sweat if Calendria took a hand off it for said pat down. But that left Ashe still packing, which they couldn’t prove without a pat down. Two to two was almost a yawner, if she took out the incoming bugs. Which, sadly, she couldn’t. How long?
Five minutes.
Time to find out what the freak they thought they were doing messing with time.
“Are you going to shoot me now, Bana?” Wasn’t as upset about that as she usually would be. Yeah, there was the family mantra about not getting shot, but there ought to be one about not getting eaten by bugs.
“She won’t,” Shan put in, “not before.”
Bana’s attention swung back his direction. “Before what?”
“Before Ashe explains how she knew.”
I knew?
He’s bluffing.
Oh, right. I knew that.
“She doesn’t know anything.”
Calendria’s scorn was a bit forced, like she wanted to convince herself. Didn’t have to have a schnozzle for smells to pick up the defensive in there.
“Then why am I here?” Ashe glanced around. “I love what you did with Keltinar by the way. Was dystopian rustic what you were going for? Cause you so nailed it.”
The waver was slight, quickly controlled. The quick glance around not so hidden. “This is just a way station.”
Not a Time school grad if she thought this was anything like a way station. And that glance away? A big, huge opening. Almost took it, but they didn’t know enough yet. Shan looked remote, a bit indifferent, but inside he was a big hunk of mad male ready to act. Sent a bit of a fizz along her nerve endings.
“Who told you this was a way station? Cause it’s not even a way station’s first cousin.”
“Don’t your recognize our outer wall, Bana?” He pointed toward the posts. “Our logo marked those pillars. This was the boundary of your world. Just over there was the chapel where your daughter was partner chosen.”
“Then it is just a slice of reality.” She sounded smug. Looked it, too. “My daughter exists in the real Keltinar.”
So she knew the big, bad guy. But did she know he was probably dead? “A sliced out reality wouldn’t last this long. They are too unstable. Only useful for a snatch and grab before they collapse.” This place wasn’t stable, but it was a different instability than she’d experienced during her brief pass through an actual sliced out reality. And the fact that she knew that was a bit disturbing.
“This is not a slice of anything. I saw it from the air.” Shan joined the conversation. “See the skyline of Keltinar Prime? You used to be able to see it from your bedroom over there.” He pointed into the rubble. “The farm stratum was that way. I saw where it used to be when we flew in. This is Timrick’s kingdom.”
She paled, down but not out. “A reset will fix it. And your return to your small, little life in the past.” Her aim steadied. Perhaps Shan shifted. Or she was worried he’d do something. “Don’t. We’ll get you both before you can think, let alone move.”
Cause the scientist and the cook would have faster reflexes than theirs. She was the gift that kept on giving.
“Yeah, about that reset.” Ashe shifted just a bit, getting her feet in position for a leap. “Your big, bad buddy is dead. Won’t be able to reset anything. And Time is just cleaning up the debris from his downfall.” Might be bluffing, but might not. Didn’t feel like bluffing.
Bana’s gaze hardened. Maybe she didn’t like being called debris. “Do you think I care about Smith? He was a tool. And a weak one. Our cause is bigger than one man. We do it for all men, for the better good of all women.”
Ashe doubted she could trigger that reset without Smith’s help. A least one puzzle piece fell into place. “You’re a Misogynist.”
The bizarre, all female cult had enjoyed a very brief, very limited flurry of popularity some seasons after the end of the Gadi/Dusan conflict. Adherents advocated a return to the old ways, where women were sequestered, though they called it protected—and men ruled from their positions of “greater wisdom.” No surprise it was more popular with men than women. If Smith and Bana had tried to boost the cult’s profile with time tampering—Smith so he could get his mitts on the Constilinium—that might explain the girl hunts that kept popping up in Shan’s previous realities. As she’d previously noted, devaluing females tended to result in scarcity.
“And I stood in your way.” Shan looked, he felt somber through the link, but he was relaxed and dangerous in a way Bana didn’t seem to notice.
“Yes.” She gave him a look filled with venom. “No matter how many times you are trained in the proper precepts, no matter how many times we shift you into the past, you find a way to break free, to enact reforms once any controls are lifted. It did not seem to matter how far into the past we sent you, you still found paths to take power, to defeat the Way.”
Had the Bana she’d met felt like this? Or had she been another placeholder in time? Or had Smith “mined” alternate realities for the wackiest version of her he could find? That would boost the instability, like tinder on a fire.
“If you want to live in a man centered world, just do it. Why try to make all the other girls play in your sandbox?” She’d never get that. Something caught her
eye and she almost frowned, but she didn’t do giveaways in front of the enemy. Is the horizon bending? Blurring?
It does not look like a time wave. Lurch felt puzzled, a bit worried, and a bit hopeful. It might be a way to escape the bugs. Which are still closing on this position.
“It is scientifically sound,” Calendria said. “We rebuilt our society, pulled it back from the brink of ruin and what was our reward?”
“Um, freedom?” Ashe felt a bit detached from the girl no-power discussion. Felt like she’d climbed onto a merry-go-round—though she’d never ridden one—as the horizon began to spin, like a tornado or vortex, with them dead center—okay, unfortunate choice of words.
There’d been a section on time vortexes in Time school. Lots of long, scientific terms and theories that boiled down to: time vortexes were bad, really bad. Not quite as bad as a paradox, but right below them on the bad scale. Could be Time using one to give Bana a smack down. Normally Ashe would be solidly for the smack down, but not while she was in the smack down zone.
Bugs in sixty seconds.
Usually she didn’t have so many choices. Get shot. Eaten. Or take the vortex ass-kicking. Tough to pick a preferred exit strategy, though getting eaten was last on the list. Kind of crazy to avoid getting shot just because it was a family mantra. Cause “don’t get eaten” should be one, would be one if they survived. Which didn’t seem likely. Would like to kick their asses before eating or vortex ass kicking. Lurch was on board with it. Felt Shan’s emphatic agreement. Was a bit surprised by that. This was the guy who had been conditioned from the womb to protect women.
I am capable of change.
Ashe had to grin then, even if it was a giveaway. Cause it was also a mind game. Bana took a step back, which caused Calendria to take one back—Ashe was able to monitor her through Shan’s eyes, which was very cool. Their mirrored unease would have been funny if not for the bugs. Her gaze flicked to Shan’s ship, the beginnings of a plan sprouting in there.
Not a good one.
Didn’t say it was. You got anything better? Silence. Didn’t think so. Directed a question Shan’s way. Can we get on top of your ship? His assent came without words, though she felt a question in it. We just need to stall long enough for the vortex to reach us. Cause it was still a better option than the bugs. And there was a high probability they’d get shot before they got up there, which was also better than death-by-bugs. He couldn’t argue with that. Time to ramp up the party.
“You know we got bugs incoming, thanks to your creepy rewiring of time.”
“Bugs?” Calendria’s voice quivered a bit. And her aim wavered.
“They lie to distract—” Bana stopped.
As if it was a cue, the bugs hit the line of Zelk making like statues. It slowed them down, though they still didn’t zip along. More persistent than speedy or they’d have already gotten eaten. Something about eating made them louder. Or maybe it was what they were eating. The murmur turned into clacking, shrill clacking. The Zelk didn’t scream or react, which was creepy, but also seemed to indicate they were automatons, which was better for them. Not great for the non-automatons. In a perimeter a few clicks wider than the bug swarm, the vortex ramped up, as if it heard her call to get down and dirty. It took some of the bugs into it, but not nearly enough.
Calendria screamed. For a scientist, she was such a girl.
You screamed.
When it was on my leg trying to eat me. She’s a whole minute or two from getting eaten.
Timrick chose that moment to groan and stir. The double distraction was all the two of them needed against the geek and the cook. Shan dove forward, scooped up two weapons from the discard pile and was on his feet heading toward Ashe before any shot could find him. Not that any shot did. Bana and Calendria froze at the sight of the bugs, the 5000’s pointed at the ground. This gave Ashe and Shan time to take partial cover next to his ship.
Bana seemed to realize she had a weapon and opened fire, began backing away from the swarm, just as Timrick sat up. As before, this boosted the feeding frenzy. Made sense the bugs would like organic food better than metal.
They will overrun our position before the vortex closes in.
Ashe couldn’t argue with his numbers. His math had always been better than hers. Even the high ground wouldn’t help that much, though she still went for it. They ducked around to the rear of the bird, found it bug-free for now. Looked they like were all coming from the Ashe-assigned west. Shan gave her a boost that lifted her above half the hand/foot holds carved into the side. Swarmed up after her onto the shiny, silver, slightly slippery dome.
Up top, they could see the two women back up, stumbling over the rough ground until they bumped into the ship. Both were firing now, though this only seemed to make the bugs mad. Bad for Timrick, who scrambled across the ground, on his tush, hampered in his escape efforts by the lizard suit. It probably slowed his realization he had a bug latched to his leg. Ashe crouched, leveled her hand weapon, though she gave Shan a quick look first. Got a nod. Applied pressure to the trigger pull. Light stabbed into the murk, hit him on the back of his head. A kill shot, unfortunately a bloodless one. The swarm of bugs engulfed him, but too many kept coming. Something in the sound they made changed. It had changed like that when—
“They are about to take flight.” Shan knelt next to her, his hands wrapped around his weapon.
Ashe bit her lip. Could she—Bana shoved Calendria toward the bugs. She stumbled to her knees, her weapon tumbling from her grasp. Ashe pulled her knife, weighed it in her hand—Calendria reached for the weapon, shrieked when a bug latched onto her arm. More started to go around her and the pre-flight shrill ramped up some more. Ashe flicked her wrist, sent the knife flying toward her. It sank into her back, to the hilt. She fell face down. Not a lot of blood, but enough to send the bugs crazy. The ones heading toward the ship turned back, their cry changing tone again as the blood lust engulfed them. Nasty, but a distraction that might buy them enough time.
Her gaze flicked between the vortex and the swarm. Noticed Shan staring at the vortex.
“That’s going to be bad, isn’t it?”
He sounded more curious than alarmed. Had to like that in a guy fighting to the death at your side.
“If Time is cleaning up the mess? Yeah, it’s going to be bad.”
He frowned. “Where is Bana?”
A hand clamped around Ashe’s ankle. She wobbled, could have fallen if Bana had had better purchase before she made the grab. Shan gripped her shoulder, then her arm, pulling her back against him. Though his purchase wasn’t great on the silver, slippery dome.
He leveled his gun at Bana. Ashe felt his hesitation at shooting a relative. Didn’t blame him. She tried for one of her guns cause Bana wasn’t her relative, but stopped when she started to slide.
Shrill bug sounds wrapped into the howl of the building vortex as it closed on their position. The howl sound reminded her of the wolfen on the planet of Pelmere.
She hated Pelmere because of the wolfen almost as much as she hated bugs.
More and more of which swirled into the hungry, spinning maw. Still enough left to have them for lunch.
Some started up the sides of the ship. Shan fought to hold her in place, switched his attention from Bana to bugs.
Bana moved up a notch, got a solid grip on Ashe’s leg, but didn’t seem to know what to do with it. If she pulled too hard, they’d both slide down into bug-ville.
Ashe dropped to her tush. That made Bana waver, drop the 5000 and grab Ashe’s leg with both hands.
The bugs circled behind the ship. Started up the side toward Bana. She screamed, gripped Ashe’s leg and tried to pull herself up onto the dome.
Ashe kicked at her shoulder, then her face. Landed two solid blows but the bitch didn’t let go.
She did slip down a notch. If Shan hadn’t held on, it would have pulled Ashe onto the curved edge. But now she half sprawled on her back, her center of gravity barely on the right si
de of the domed top. Bugs kept coming and vortex spun closer, but still not close enough.
Saw a bug on Bana’s back. Braced her free foot, got her weapon out and up and shot it off.
Bana didn’t say thank you by letting go. If anything she pulled harder. Her screams rose to join the howl of the vortex and the shrill clack of the bugs. Vortex lifted the bugs to eye level as all but the center of the bird flowed into the vortex, stretching and turning semi-transparent. The wind from it tugged at her clothing. Bugs flew past, also semi-transparent, while still managing to be terrifying.
Shan shot at a bug, right at her feet. It splattered, some of it landing on her foot.
More bugs surged forward.
A head soared past, empty sockets where eyes had been…
Shan dragged her up, she turned, despite Bana’s painful grip, pushing her head into his shoulder. His arms clamped around her waist.
And felt the vortex close in, sucking them up like a vacuum machine, then whirled them away into a void.
ELEVEN
The vortex didn’t just spin them. It tried to rip them apart.
“Don’t let go.” He did not know if he heard her with his ears or inside his head. It seemed as if his life swirled past, or all of them, the wrong ones and the right one.
Legs flipped up behind them. Bana’s. She tried to climb up Ashe’s leg, tried to push in between them.
The wild wind had taken his weapons. In the back of my shirt.
He didn’t question, just dived a hand in, closed his fingers around it and pulled it out.
He lined it up along her back, used the dip between her shoulders as his sight.
He took aim. Bana looked up. Saw the barrel. Her face twisted in a snarl of rage. She reached up. To do what he did not know. He pressed the trigger. Saw a flare that seemed to track in slow motion down Ashe’s back. It slammed into Bana.
Her snarl altered to surprise. Perhaps shock.
Kicking Ashe Page 20
