"What's he saying?" Ness signed.
"HE IS TOLD TO YIELD," Sebastian said. "IN ANSWER, HE SAYS—"
Toru rushed the ridge-headed Dovon, who appeared to be their leader. The two clashed in a mess of grasping tentacles and snapping claws. One of the leader's compatriots raised a pistol. A member of the Vigil put a tentacle on the gun-wielder's claw, stilling it. The Vigil drew its oblong gun and shot Toru with a spark. He collapsed to the ground, twitching.
The ridged Dovon signed to Inana, Llen, and Sebastian. Inana and Llen exchanged a look. Inana replied in a way that seemed to satisfy their interrogator.
"WE ARE TO GO WITH THEM," Sebastian gestured to Ness.
"Where to?"
"IT IS NOT SAID"
"What if they're taking us off to be shot?"
"IT IS SAID WE ARE SHOT IF WE DON'T GO," Sebastian replied. "SO I SAY WE ENJOY THE TRIP"
Ness passed this along to Sprite. The victorious Dovon marched them up the steps, accompanied by two of the Vigil, who seemed to have adapted to the change in leadership with commendable swiftness. They were led out into the hall. A few drops of bright red human blood stained the light gray floor. The six of them, including the unconscious Toru, were led the same way they'd come to the bridge.
Out loud, Ness said, "Did you see if they got Walt?"
Sprite frowned. "Who?"
"Walt. The son of a bitch who shot Commander Dden."
"Oh, that dude? Yeah, he made it out the doors."
"He what?"
"He made it," Sprite repeated slowly. "Out the doors."
"Then what?"
"Do you want me to run off and ask him? How about you tell me what just went down? Was this Toru's doing?"
"He seemed as shocked as everybody else," Ness said. "When that group ran in and made the Vigil stand down, they sure weren't on our side." He laughed dryly. "Besides, if they were on our team, I don't think we'd be getting marched off at gunpoint."
"But that group that showed up was totally ready for this. They knew it was coming. Somebody was behind the hit on Dden."
Ness opened his mouth to say more, but one of the Dovon nudged him in the side with a stiff tentacle. This gave him a moment to think, though. He'd assumed Walt had been acting on his own—that he'd somehow snuck up to the ship and decided that, rather than doing something that might actually knock the aliens out of business, he might as well assassinate their leader and hope that would be enough to convince them to throw up their tentacles and go home. From what little he knew of Walt, it would be a total Walt move.
But what if he hadn't been running solo? What if he'd been knowingly involved in whatever had just gone on back there?
Then again, did it matter? Walt had killed Dden. If he wasn't dead already—that had been his blood in the hall—he was trapped on the ship. They'd make an example of him soon enough.
Their party was returned to the prison they'd come from. While the Vigil watched from the doorway, motionless, one of the Dovon escorts checked Toru with his pad. Three others made a lengthy search of the room and the boxes it contained, confiscating the few pieces of property Toru had been allowed during his captivity. Once the victors were satisfied that the area had been cleared of anything useful to the prisoners, they reconvened. One of them gestured forcefully to Sebastian, Llen, and Inana. The captors turned as a group and departed. The Vigil followed them out, sealing the door behind them.
Inana and Llen immediately got into a big ol' argument. Ness pulled Sebastian away from them. "You want to tell me what the heck went down in there?"
"DDEN WAS KILLED"
"Yeah, I saw that part. That wasn't us, was it?"
"TORU DENIED ALL. INANA AND LLEN DO SO AS WELL. I DO NOT DOUBT THEM. THEY HAVE MUCH UNHAPPINESS WITH THIS OUTCOME"
"What about the Vigil? Weren't they supposed to let us have our say?"
"THAT WAS BEFORE. WHEN THE KILL CAME, THEY SAID THAT OUR DEAL DIED WITH DDEN. WHEN CHAOS THREATENS THE SHIP, THEIR DUTY IS TO PROTECT THE SHIP ABOVE ALL ELSE"
Ness rubbed his hands down his eyes, hoping that when he opened them, everything would be fixed. But the six of them were still alone in the cavernous room.
"Walt—the human who shot Dden—he was working with the Dovon, wasn't he? So who exactly was he working with? I thought we were the rebels."
"WE WERE," Sebastian signed. "BUT WHILE WE WORKED TO UNDO WHAT WAS DONE, OTHERS WORKED TO TAKE IT FURTHER. DDEN WAS OF THE DEEPFINDERS. BUT THOSE WHO KILLED AND TOOK HIS PLACE—THEY WERE OF THE FARSCHOOL"
A chill ran down Ness' scalp. "Your people. The ones who sent the plague. What do you think they want with the ship?"
"IF DDEN'S PLAN WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR THEM? TO FINISH WHAT THEY STARTED"
* * *
Dust sifted into Raina's hair. She stared blankly at the tank as its turret swept toward her. She willed herself to be the mouse. To stay so still that the owl would mistake her for the land itself. After surveying what it had wrought, the tank's turret shifted onward, aiming at the door through the maze she and Red had exited.
Her thoughts began to clarify. All she needed to do was play dead until it passed her by. From there, she could rejoin her warriors. They could bring down the tank, or retreat, if that was what the night called for. They had already slain far more than expected.
Two Swimmers emerged from a doorway in the wall thirty feet away. They hunched forward, poking at a lump within the rubble. One picked up a severed arm, inspected it, and dropped it back to the ground. They continued west toward Raina, jabbing at the devastation as they went.
She'd been carrying her long sword when the tank hit them, but she'd dropped it in the fall. Keeping her head perfectly still, she glanced across the pulverized concrete and chunks of wall, hunting for the shine of metal. The blade was covered in dust, but her eyes were drawn to it anyway, as if it were calling to her from its position on the blackened slab of fallen wall to her left.
The two Swimmers edged closer. The tank swung around the cargo container and turned west, advancing parallel to the wall at walking speed. Within the maze, voices called back and forth, alerting each other to this new threat.
The aliens moved within twenty feet of her, then ten. She would wait for them to pass and then rejoin her troops. Take them out of this cursed place.
Four feet from her, a severed finger rested on the tarmac. It was pointing straight at the terminals.
Her breath caught. She couldn't leave. Not yet.
The first Swimmer was upon her. Now, she couldn't so much as move her eyes. Couldn't blink no matter how hard it burned. The alien prodded at her hip with a spiked foot. Her clothes had been disheveled by the blast and the point jabbed into bare skin. She tamped down the pain, refusing to let her jaw tighten. It poked her a second time, rocking her.
She let her body settle back to its former resting place. The alien stepped over her. From underneath, it looked like a spider, or perhaps more like the deep sea crabs that wished to be spiders. Its long head gazed forward, searching for living foes.
Raina blinked. When she reopened her eyes, the second alien was standing above her, watching her. Its eyes widened.
She scrambled to her feet, unsheathing her short sword. In the same motion, she cracked the blade through the alien's forelimbs. It scampered back, firing its laser wildly, crippled by pain. Raina ducked and lunged forward to claim one of its legs. It shot again, singeing the upper arm of her free hand. She grabbed for the claw wielding the gun, gripping its wrist. Tentacles battered at her shoulders and head. A claw snipped her in the side.
She slammed her short sword into the front of the alien's chest. She dropped her weight, hanging tight to the sword. The alien leaned toward her, wriggling to escape the pain, yellow blood gushing from the widening wound. She twisted its claw, snapping its wrist, and tore the laser free.
The Swimmer fell, revealing its partner standing behind it. The second alien tightened its claw on the buttons of the gun aimed at her head.
; It jerked; a shot flashed and banged from the hole the tank had blasted through the wall. The warrior fired again. Fluid spewed from the alien's head. It crumpled to its knees, then fell on its face.
Raina whirled. The tank was so close she could stare down its wicked barrel.
Carl, her kali and swordfighting mentor, had taught her many methods besides defanging the snake. They had also played what he called the shadow game. The object was to slip inside the guard of an opponent with a longer reach. There, while she was too close for her foe to bring their sword to bear, her knives, sticks, or bare hands would usher them to their death.
She popped to her feet and sprinted toward the tank. When she was still only halfway to it, its turret began to swing about toward her. It fired with a bone-rattling roar. The shell sailed past, smashing into the runway a hundred feet behind her. The tank's barrel lowered, correcting its aim. As Raina judged it ready to fire again, she vaulted forward. The cannon boomed. Its report was so forceful that, for one mad moment, she thought the shell had hit her.
She hit the ground, tucking into a roll. The tank's engine revved up. It spurred forward, meaning to crush her. She found her feet, sheathed her sword, timed the vehicle's approach, and launched herself toward it.
She landed on its curved hood. Her hands and feet found purchase on the smooth metal, allowing her to clamber up it like a gecko. The turret rotated with a whirr of motors. She ducked beneath the barrel, feeling its heat, then scaled the round turret. She kneeled on it, catching her breath.
She had grabbed hold of the tiger's tail. Now, to figure out how to slit its throat.
* * *
Ness' mouth dropped open. He signed, "How could the Farschool just take the ship? Are some of the Deepfinders backing them? I thought the Deepfinder rebels had already decided to make war on humanity."
"YES BUT DEEPFINDERS WOULD TAKE EARTH FOR THEMSELVES," Sebastian replied. "THE FARSCHOOL MUST THINK IT IS THEIR RIGHT TO DO SO. SO THEY TAKE THE SHIP AND WILL NEXT TAKE THE WORLD"
"How could the Deepfinders let this happen?"
"THEY TOOK MANY FARSCHOOL ONTO THE SHIP. AT FIRST TO QUESTION, THEN TO IMPRISON, THEN TO ADVISE THEM AS TO HOW TO FIGHT THE HUMANS. THE DEEPFINDERS' GREED FOR A FRESH WORLD BLINDED THEIR EYES TO THOSE THEY THOUGHT DEFEATED"
"This is kind of good news, isn't it?"
Sebastian stared at him like he'd just soiled himself. "HOW IS IT GOOD NEWS THAT WE LOSE THE SHIP BEFORE WE HAVE THE CHANCE TO TAKE IT"
"Because now the Deepfinders will all be on our side, right? And now they have even more reason to denounce everything the Farschool stands for. If we can get out of here and rally against the coup, we should have plenty of support."
Sebastian gazed at him a moment longer, then clacked his claws in laughter. "YES NESS PLENTY OF SUPPORT. NOW ALL WE MUST DO IS ESCAPE THAT WHICH CANNOT BE ESCAPED AND KILL THOSE WHO TOOK THE SHIP WHEN WE COULD NOT"
"Well, what else are we going to do? Sit here like a bunch of dumbasses? We got this. No offense, but the Farschool hasn't proven to be much good at fighting humanity."
"YES BUT THE DEEPFINDERS CARRY SOMETHING THE FARSCHOOL DID NOT"
"Like what?"
Sebastian turned, distracted; across the room, Toru struggled to his feet, assisted by Inana and Llen.
"Sebastian!" Ness signed. "We can't give up now. We're still here. So are all the people Toru had ready to back him. No matter how insane it gets, or how tiny our chances, we have to try to retake the ship."
Sebastian shook out his tentacles, a motion equivalent to a dog shaking itself off after a stressful moment. "I SPEAK TO TORU. WE WILL PERSIST. THIS AS ALWAYS IS THE WAY"
He crossed to the other Dovon. Ness found Sprite and filled him in on what little they knew.
"This sucks so hard," Sprite said once Ness was finished. "You realize that if they're going to kill every human down there, they're going to start by killing us, right?"
"That had crossed my mind."
"So what are we going to do about it?"
Ness mashed his lips together. "I don't know! If you got any ideas, now's not the time to be stingy."
"Not really," Sprite said. "Hey! Has anyone tried the doors?"
He walked away in his two-part cadence. Ness knew for a stone-cold fact their captors hadn't left the doors unlocked, yet he couldn't help watching as Sprite gave the large knobs on the doors a hard tug, trying to slide them open. They didn't budge.
Feeling vindicated—which was dumb, because if Sprite had succeeded, it would have saved them a lot of trouble—he joined the Dovon, who were in the middle of an animated conversation. With Sebastian wrapped up in talks with his peers, Ness had nothing to do but stand there, leaving him feeling increasingly awkward.
At last, Sebastian shifted toward him. "TORU AGREES THIS IS A FARSCHOOL TAKEOVER. THEIR TREACHERY MUST BE UNDONE"
"Sweet," Ness signed. "So how do we get out of here?"
"WE ARE TO FORCE THE DOORS IF WE CAN. COME TO PUT YOUR STRENGTH AGAINST THEM"
The four Dovon headed to the doors at the front of the prison chamber. They slapped their tentacles against its surface but didn't yet bear down. Ness joined them, readying his palms against the metal. Toru lifted a limb, then let it fall. They all shoved as hard as they could. Sprite thumped up, found a space beneath the Dovon's spindly legs, and pushed, peg leg squeaking across the smooth floor.
Maybe it was Ness' imagination, or his palms slipping, but it felt like the door moved. Llen stuck a claw in the nearly invisible seam between the two doors, wriggling for purchase. Thirty seconds later, the alien was still trying to find a gap. Ness' arms started to quiver.
Sprite was the first to give out. Inana followed soon after. Ness fell back, gasping for breath. The other three held out a minute longer before staggering back, shaking out their tentacles.
Once they'd had a minute to recover, they gave it another shot. But the doors refused to part.
"This is no good," Ness gestured. "We need tools. Something to pry the doors apart."
Sebastian nodded. "YES WE WILL SEARCH"
They dug through every box and cranny in the room, but there was nothing to find. The Farschool had stripped them of all tools and belongings. With nothing else to do, the six of them gave the doors another try, accomplishing nothing but wearing themselves out.
Afterward, Sebastian stepped back, glaring at the doors. "THIS IS FAILURE"
"We can't just give up. Sooner or later, they're going to come for us."
Sebastian swung his head about to meet Ness' eyes. "WITH THIS, YOU GIVE US THE ANSWER. WE WAIT FOR THEM TO COME FOR US—AND THEN WE COME FOR THEM"
The desperation of their situation was so ridiculous Ness laughed out loud. When Sebastian explained the plan to the Dovon, however, Toru seemed to think it was a good idea—or anyway, the best option they had available. They assembled to either side of the door, prepared to spring the second the enemy came to check up on them. The plan after that was equally simple: put down the enemy, take their weapons, skedaddle to Llen's room a few floors up, and then figure out what the heck was going on and what they could do about it.
Ness kept his ear pressed to the cool door, listening for footsteps. Half an hour later, he was still waiting. His guts twisted, sour and hot. Llen leaned against the wall. Inana sat in a tangle of limbs. After another twenty minutes, Ness switched ears.
Steps chittered down the hall. Growing closer by the second. Ness pulled away from the doors. "They're coming."
Sebastian translated. The Dovon bent their legs, lifted their hammer-pods, and tucked their claws tight to their bodies. The doors slid apart. Two Vigil entered the room, preceded by their spears. Seeing the peacekeepers, Ness relaxed. The pair of guards were followed by eight more. All carried their ceremonial weapons along with their very non-ceremonial guns. Toru stepped forward to greet them, gesturing with relief.
The Vigil's leader was a Dovon with a band of white skin across his eyes. He signed back to Toru. The four alien prisoner
s went as tense as the hafts of the Vigil's spears.
"THEY SAY THEY ARE NOT HERE TO FREE US." Sebastian stood taller, spreading his limbs from his sides. "THEY SAY THEIR ORDERS ARE TO EXECUTE US"
* * *
Walt slumped against the stairwell wall. His head was tingly and warm. It felt as good as a deep hit of nitrous. He knew he should probably be moving or something, but this was the first time he'd felt all right since he and Carrie had gone up in the balloon.
Which reminded him. The reason he felt so good, oddly enough, was due to the deep gash in his ribs. The one dribbling blood all over his jeans. When he'd first looked at it, he'd seen something pale within it. He hoped it had been a bone and not an organ.
Over the course of the ridiculousness that was the last seven-odd years of his life, he'd treated a number of wounds, including plenty of his own. He could even handle stitches. He definitely needed those at the moment. But he needed a drink, too, and since he didn't have any liquor any more than he had a needle, there wasn't much to be done about his problems. He tore the rags of his shirt into thinner strips, knotted them together, and wrapped the makeshift bandage back around his chest as tight as he could.
He waited for the pain to recede, then stood and started down the spiral ramp, carrying the laser in his left hand while his right supported him against the outer wall. The ramp was so steep he was afraid he'd lose his balance and tumble down it. The material was rubbery, almost sticky. Good traction for alien tentacles. Not so good for a two-legged human whose clumsy toes were prone to snag it and send him flying.
He'd no sooner had the thought than his toe caught the ramp. Rather than trying to catch his balance, he allowed himself to fall straight down, landing with a jolt to his ribs that made him gasp. He tried to scoot along on his butt, but this hurt so bad he broke into ragged laughter. He got back to his feet and walked on.
At the first landing he reached, he stopped, got out his clicker, pressed himself tight to the wall, and opened the door. Hearing nothing but the background hum of the ship, he closed the door and continued down.
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