The Siege of New Terra (Star Sojourner Book 7)

by Jean Kilczer

I jumped inside and helped Trumbril get Sophia into the deck, then grabbed Evrill's outstretched hand.

  Zik shoved her aside. She fell and he scrambled inside.

  Grothe screamed in pain and clung to the open hatch.

  “He's been hit!” I cried.

  Trumbril picked up Evrill and I lifted her into the deck, then I helped him pull Grothe inside.

  The high whine of the speeding jeep drowned out Big Mack's booming words, but I caught the tail end as he shouted“–drawn and quartered by four jeeps!”

  Trumbril leaped inside.

  “Don't damage the ship!” Mack called to his men through speakers as I slammed the hatch shut and locked it.

  “Who knows how to fly this confounded thing?” Zik asked from the cabin door.

  I pushed him aside and slid into the pilot's seat.

  “Watch out!” he said.

  I started the engine. “Trumbril,” I called, “is Sophia all right?”

  “She ish right in all,” he answered, “but Grothe ish na so swell.”

  “There's a first-aid kit in the upper compartment,” I told him and lifted the hovair into the sky.

  Through the forward viewport I watched Mack and a handful of his men spring the main hatch of the Sword of Terror, and pile inside.

  Huff! I thought. I had to pick up Huff. He would wait faithfully for me to return, no matter how long I took to get to him.

  I watched the Sword lift off its pad. Starships are powerful, but ponderous on-planet. This was the proverbial cat and mouse game as I skimmed treetops and ducked between canyon walls while Sword was restricted to higher air spaces. I thought I lost her and banked east to the road where Huff hid as he waited for me. “Sophia,” I called back, “are you OK, babe?”

  She came into the cabin holding onto rear seats and kissed my head. “My hero. A half hour ago I thought my life was over.”

  “No way. Not while I'm alive. How's Grothe?”

  She shook her head. “He was hurt pretty badly. The burn entered his lower back and exited through his side, but –”

  “Let me guess. Evrill worked on him and he's doing better.”

  “You know about her healing powers?”

  I nodded. And her destructive powers, I thought but didn't say.

  “Do you think Big Mack will kill the two Denebrians who surrendered?”

  “Wygrum and Furro,” I told her. Quartered between four jeeps, Mack had said. “Naw, they're worth too much as slaves on the virtual block.”

  “There are still colonies that use slaves?”

  Sophia's homeworld, New Lithnia, now had illegal arms plants that must still need strong backs for the heavy work. “I've heard there are.” Dammit! In the open terrain around the road, the Sword had located us and was closing.

  Sophia stared out the forward viewscreen. “They're coming after us.”

  “Oh, yeah. But that doesn't mean they'll catch us.” I banked the craft west and lifted her into the afternoon sky, away from Sword. “Come into the cabin,” I called to the group, "and strap in. It's going to be a roller coaster ride. Soph, take the co-pilot's seat. Huff's hiding somewhere along that road. He's expecting us back in a jeep. It will take a Terran to handle the controls of this baby if Sword manages to…?

  “Don't say it! Just don't say it.”

  “OK, I won't.”

  Zik, Evrill, and Trumbril holding up Grothe, took the rear seats. I heard grumbles as the four aliens tried to adjust harnesses designed for Terrans.

  I headed down between the sheer walls of a narrow canyon with Sword close behind. It took all my concentration to hold the craft away from the walls. Too narrow, I thought, for the cautious Sword to follow. Perhaps a touch too narrow for us.

  “Merciful Mother of Our Sweet Asses,” I heard Zik exclaim. “If Mack doesn't kill us, you will!”

  “At least with me you've got a chance,” I told him, “now be quiet.” I ventured a quick glance at Sophia. She sat stiffly, her hands clasped to the armrests, her eyes wide as she stared at the viewscreen. “It's OK, babe,” I said. “Believe it or not, I know what I'm doing.”

  “I choose to believe,” she gasped.

  “Dammit!” They were waiting for us when we reached the end of the canyon and it closed up.

  I lifted the hovair in a vertical ascent along the flank of a high white peak. As we climbed the air into those reckless heights, the sky turned midnight blue. Clouds swarmed over peaks below us. Herds of white unicorns and wild draks parted like a stream that forks at an island. They were running from us, but we were running from a real danger.

  I lifted the craft in an upward surge that tore holes in the sky and vibrated the hull. The pressure tanks kicked in to afford us a more reasonable PSI.

  Sword banked away. I could only pray that she had given up the chase and returned to their base camp to prepare for the voyage to New Lithnia tomorrow.

  Below, trees thinned and disappeared. Here there were ragged places where the hovair could hide.

  I brought her down to a ledge under a broad overhang of ice with crystal sheets that clung to the rim like folds of lace, affording us added protection from view, and cut the engines.

  I smiled at Sophia. “We're not out of the meat grinder yet. If they find us, we'll have to take flight again.”

  She smiled back. “I know.”

  We sat quietly, waiting. Even Zik had no comments on our situation.

  I prayed that Huff hadn't decided to return to the Orghe camp, now turned village, and lead the mercs there. If my instruments picked up the Sword heading toward the village, I'd have to engage the starship in a game of chase to lead them away.

  I thought of mother birds back on Earth, feigning broken wings so that predators would follow them away from their chicks. I had over two hundred chicks, and my team, to protect.

  I shook my head as I thought of Wygrum and Furro, and pictured their lanky bodies torn apart like the four mercs in the bunk tent, more like shredded straw men. Is that what we'd find after Mack and his mercs left the planet and we inspected their base camp? I didn't think I could bear to see that sort of carnage again.

  I rubbed my forehead. I wished I were home on Earth, kicking back in Joe's den with a roaring fire in the fireplace, my daughter Lisa, and Sophia, by my side, drinking a cup of hot earthbrew against the winter that had invaded my soul.

  How old was I? I suddenly wondered. Twenty-seven? Twenty-eight? Being an abandoned orphan, I wasn't sure. When would I be too old for these dangerous missions and could give age as an excuse?

  “Are you OK, Jules?” Sophia asked.

  I nodded. Just great! But I wished I could stop my knee from shaking. “You?” I reached out and touched her cheek. It was wet.

  She took my hand and kissed it. “I'm all right,” she said softly.

  “How's Grothe?” I asked.

  “Much bretter,” Trumbril answered.

  “That's great,” I turned to look at Grothe. He sat limply in the seat, his long legs sprawled out, his slitted silver eyes bloodshot around the pupils, a bandage wrapped around his ribs. Evrill sat beside him like a diminutive doll. “You look better, Grothe,” I lied.

  He smiled, folding the skin of his cheeks, and put a shaky hand on Evrill's arm, covering it with broad fingers. “She ish my angrel.” He patted her shoulder.

  “You had us worried,” I told him.

  "I had mysrelf also worried too, Captrain Julesh.

  “I guess so.” I unstrapped, told the others to do the same, and went into the main deck.

  Now, if the Sword was off our tail for good, things might be looking bretter…I mean better.

  * * *

  The “mouse” stayed in hiding under the overhang all that long afternoon. Trumbril was on watch in the cabin, Zik squeezed into the tail and observed from a porthole. Grothe was asleep on a cot. His ivory, ridged skin looked even paler than usual. His breathing was heavy. His thick charcoal hair had streaks of dried blood where he'd pulled on it in his ag
ony. At over seven feet, he was too tall for the cot. His legs were folded to one side.

  The hovair had a sous chef, but it was designed only for humans. Sophia and I made two steaks, mashed potatoes, and her favorite veggie, broccoli. I hate the stuff. We sat at the small table and ate, while Evrill, also at the table, just watched.

  “Sorry,” I told her, “even with a digestall, you couldn't eat this food.”

  “No bother or guilt feelings,” she said. “I require no nourishment for ten more New Terra days.”

  I glanced at Sophia. “Bet that cuts down on the food bill.” The smell of broccoli was getting to me. “You know, Soph, the wedding might be off if I have to spend the rest of my life breathing in that smelly stuff.”

  She laughed and speared another floret. “I'm worth it, dear.”

  “So, Evrill,” I sipped earthbrew, “if we get out of this mess with our skins still attached, do you want a ticket back to Equus?”

  She clasped her hands on the table and her thin lips quivered.

  I glanced at Sophia.

  “Evrill,” Sophia said softly, “we know you were banished. That's not a secret.” She put her hand over Evrill's folded hands. "If you need someone to vouch for your good deeds…? She looked at me.

  I nodded.

  “Jules and I will both put in a good word for you.”

  “It will take more than a good word,” Evrill said.

  “What will it take?” Sophia asked.

  “For both of you to come to Equus and plead my case.”

  “What are you accused of?” Sophia leaned forward. “If it's all right to ask.”

  Evrill slipped her hands out from under Sophia's. “A mortal crime.”

  Sophia glanced at me. We waited.

  “When I was of breeding age,” Evrill said, “and with a quicker temper than I have now, one of my mates…we formed a child together, a beautiful child with golden eyes and perfect features.”

  “A girl?” Sophia asked.

  “We hadn't decided on the sex yet. The child was only seven Equus years old when it happened.” She closed an eye and wiped at it.

  “Oh,” Sophia murmured. “Can you tell us what happened?”

  “I can. One tri-day, the father took my beloved child for a ride in his air-slider.” She shifted her weight and grimaced, as though uneasy within her own skin. “I told the father the craft was in need of repairs. The fusion assembly…it doesn't matter.”

  “Did he see to the repairs?” Sophia asked.

  “He was always absent-minded!”

  I felt a twinge of fear. Evrill's great disc eyes seemed blurred, and I realized it was tears shimmering and running down her cheeks.

  “They were sliding far above the tree line when the engine faltered.”

  “Did they crash?” I asked, my throat tightening.

  She shrugged her narrow shoulders. Her mouth worked, but she was silent.

  “Was the child killed?” I asked.

  Evrill swallowed. “My beloved child lay dead, while the father sustained only a broken shoulder.”

  “Why were you banished and not the father?” Sophia asked in a hushed tone.

  “He could not be banished, for I killed him.”

  I felt my hands tremble and I stood up. “I'm going outside for a while. I need…it's getting stuffy in here.”

  “Jules!” Sophia followed me as I put on my jacket. “You can't go out there. It's too cold. The air is too thin!”

  I took a breath. “I can't breathe in here.”

  Sophia opened an upper compartment and dug out two woolen hats, scarves, and gloves. “Then put these on.” I saw fear in her expression. “I'll come with you.”

  I shook my head and hugged her. “I'll be all right. I just need–”

  “Then here!” She shoved a red woolen hat into my hands. "Take this one. At least we'll be able to see you through the swirling snow.

  I put on the hat and gloves. Sophia tied the scarf snugly around my neck. “I need to–” I started.

  “You don't have to explain anything,” she said.

  “Thanks.” I sprang the hatch. Cold air with swirls of crystals washed into the room.

  I went out. Wind slammed the hatch shut. The air cut like shards of ice. The sun blazed down, and I had to squint. Cold ate away at my clothes and I began to shiver as I trudged to the edge of a sheer precipice and stared down.

  “Ginny,” I whispered. Her face formed again in my mind, her eyes frantic, her mouth twisted in terror, her fingers clawing marks in the smooth boulder as she slipped away. “Oh, Ginny, I'm so sorry.” Tears fell to my cheeks and froze. I closed my eyes. A few more steps and I could end this pain forever. I swayed there. Just a few steps.

  Jules! a voice said inside my head.

  Evrill?

  No! Spirit. What do you think you're doing?

  I can't go on, Spirit.

  Oh yes you can! Have you learned nothing from my lessons? Great Mind does not condone the suicide of his children. How many times must I tell you that?

  There's just too much pain. I can't–You mean too much guilt. I have told you of the planet where your sister has morphed, and that she is content. Why do you never hear my words?

  I'm tired, Spirit. Beyond tired.

  Jules. A different voice, more lilting.

  Sylvia? I sent.

  My child, if you destroy this body, what will become of Sophia, whose life is so entwined with your own, and your faithful Huff? And what of Joe, your father, and Bat, your confidant, and Chancey, too, who only teases you because he knows no other way to show his affection?

  But Ginny! I sent, I should have died. Not her.

  That was not your decision, Sylvia replied. Leave it where it belongs, my child, in the hands of Great Mind.

  Jules, Spirit sent, you may yet get your wish, but not before you do all in your power to save your friends.

  What? I looked around.

  The Sword of Terror was rising, huge and ponderous, along the mountain's flank.

  “Oh, shit!” I plowed back toward the hovair.

  Too late!

  Like a great whale breaching, Sword rose above the snowy ledge. Too late. If I ran to the hovair, they would see me and know where we were hiding. I thought of the mother bird feigning a broken wing. I pulled off the red cap and stuffed it into my jacket pocket as I ran to a shallow crevasse and slid into it. I turned quickly to watch the Sword. Had they seen me? I drew in frozen breaths that stung my nose and made my teeth chatter. I buried my face in the scarf and watched Sword bank and circle the ledge like a predator who knew its prey was close. Probing lights blinked along the hull.

  Then, of a sudden, it turned to face the overhang and taxied toward it.

  “Oh no! Sophia. Get the ship out of there,” I whispered to myself.

  As though she'd heard, the hovair smashed through sheets of overhanging ice, lifted, and sped across Sword's starboard side, where it had no weapons. I held my breath as it dropped below the ledge before the lumbering starship could rise, turn, and follow. The Sword never got off a shot.

  “Good flying, Soph,” I said to no one. “Good flying, my love.”

  The mouse had won this round.

  The crevasse made a good shelter, as good as most up here, so close to the stars. I rammed the red hat over my ears, stood up and took deep, cold breaths through the scarf as I surveyed the ledge. This high up, the mountain was as desolate as an underwater landscape in winter.

  Without climbing gear, and with the air so thin, I could walk downhill for about a mile, and then I'd face sheer cliffs. If I could find rocks buried beneath the snow, I could warm them with my stingler. But nature did not provide a foothold for life this high up.

  I climbed out of the shallow crevasse and went to the overhang. There, I found what I'd hoped for. The hovair's engines had burned through ice. Melting snow still poured out of the sloping ledge in small waterfalls and rivulets. The remaining sheets of hanging ice provided a barrier f
rom the wind. But even bretter, as Trumbril would say, the melting ice had exposed rocks. They were covered with a film of ice, but that was no problem with my trusty stingler. I torched the rocks. Water puddled and ran down the slope. I fired the rocks until they steamed, then sat down near the ledge wall, out of the wind and melting ice, and had my camp for the coming night.

  Sophia and I had both salted the mashed potatoes. Too many cooks. Now I was thirsty. I pulled off a glove and scooped up handfuls of cold water. Ice on the rocks, not my favorite drink.

  I settled down for the cold night. Even with the heated rocks warming the ledge, the air would turn frigid when the sun dropped. I turned on the stingler's charge button and laid the weapon out in the sunlight. This was no time for depleted batteries.

  Short hours later, night rose from the east. I heated the rocks again and huddled as close as I dared. This would not be an easy night, but my friends knew where I was, and for me, it was a waiting game.

  A howling wind came up and battered the overhanging sheets. A slab broke off, allowing the wind a doorway into my camp.

  I shivered and torched the rocks again. I could only hope that the wait wouldn't be too long.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  “I did not presrume you could fry like that, Sophria,” Trumbil said from beside me in the co-pilot's seat.

  “Neither did I, but I still can't fly the way Jules does.”

  “Ah, Julesh fries like the zroomflit bug, without caution. What you Terrans call…by the sreat of your asshes.”

  “The seat of…? Oh, the seat of our pants.” I sighed. “He does everything that way, Trumbril. He drives me crazy.”

  “That is his way, Sophria.”

  I thought of Jules, out there on the mountain, alone, in frigid weather. “We have to go back for him soon!” I checked the view screens and turned the ship toward the road where Huff was hiding. “I think we lost Sword for good, but we'd better pick up Huff before the mercs find him. They know we were searching for someone on that road.”

  I tapped the power gauge. The indicator was in the red. That wasn't possible. We should have a full charge, it had to be a malfunctioning gauge.

  “But Hruff ish in hiding,” Trumbril said.

  “A starship has infras, Trumbril. Hiding does no good.”