“Here, give it to me. I have a shot,” another voice declared.
It took three people and eleven shots before the crossed bars gave way.
We exploded out of the pipe like a load of buckshot, scattering and slowing in the underwater ravine Shari and I had seen earlier, some distance beyond Ballan.
This is where our brilliant escape plan imploded. We were outside Grambala, but Korr’s people had to know where all the sewer pipes exited. Plus, if guards followed down our pipe they could signal their location when they arrived. Within minutes, there would be ships and soldiers swarming all over this area. We had to make tracks in a hurry.
We swam for a rocky area, with boulders and niches we might be able to hide among. But that was a stopgap measure. All the searchers had to do was blanket the area with soldiers and they’d find us eventually. Not to mention that Korr was bound to wake up at any minute and call out to them.
Face it; we were screwed.
We worked our way along one side of the canyon, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Now beyond the range of the nullifiers, I expanded my consciousness and looked for the sparks that would indicate pursuers. It took far less time than I’d hoped for. We got less than a mile between us and the pipe exit when the first ship appeared overhead, followed by another.
Remembering the underwater chase on Earth, I knew they could track us by our mental emanations. There was no way we could outswim them, and they had much more powerful weapons than we did. They could pick us off at their leisure.
I reached out with my sledgehammer to slap them silly. No go. Although I could just make out the ships visually, they were invisible to my “big picture” vision. Shit. That meant they had nullifiers aboard and I was powerless to stop the ships. But it also meant that their ability to sense the world outside their ships was severely limited as well. It’s hard to hit what you can’t see. Still, if you fire enough shots, you’re bound to hit something eventually.
The first one opened fire, blasting the cliff face forty yards ahead of us. We stopped swimming. The next blast was only thirty yards ahead. Some of our group started to turn and swim back the way we’d just come.
I called out to the others. “No! Stop! They’re trying to corral us, chase us back. There’s probably a group of soldiers coming up behind us. We have to keep going forward.”
Korr groaned, awakening from his second sledgehammer slap. Of course! The soldiers wouldn’t dare shoot into our group knowing that we had their leader.
“Everyone crowd around Korr and keep going. They won’t shoot us.”
I broadcast a message to all unshielded Azarti around us. “We have Korr. Shoot and he dies.” I had to hope they believed me.
We continued our slow but steady progress along the canyon wall. I didn’t know where we could go. I had no idea how to get out of this mess. But I knew we couldn’t surrender. If we did, we were all dead.
* * * *
Pursued and pursuers swam in formation for the next twenty minutes. The two ships shadowed us, and presumably the soldiers followed behind us, just out of sight. The use of nullifiers probably explained why they hadn’t sent dozens of ships after us—they didn’t have enough nullifiers to protect any more than those two. Apparently the nullifiers worked only in teams.
At least the dampening field meant that Korr couldn’t communicate with the ships.
“Don, Korr is keeping up a running conversation with someone. I can hear them talking, but it’s in some sort of code so I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Shit. He couldn’t talk to the ships directly, but that didn’t stop him from talking to someone else, probably back at Grambala. I looked at Korr, in the grip of two armed escorts. “I suggest you tell your people that if they attack us, you’ll die. I guarantee it.”
Korr sneered. “You cannot kill me. If I die, I have given orders that the rest of you be killed instantly.”
Although, this was nothing I hadn’t expected, his words still chilled my blood.
“Free me. Now!”
“Not a chance. You’re our insurance policy. They won’t open fire while we have you. If we let you go, we’re dead.”
“Free me and I will spare your lives. You have my word.”
I snorted. “Yeah, right. And my grandmother’s the reigning Olympic weightlifting champion.”
Korr positively radiated indignation. “You question my word?”
“Every single damn one.”
“How dare—?”
“Shut up before I have to shut you up. You know I can do it.”
That bought me several blissful moments of peace, which gave me a chance to think. Just how the hell were we going to get out of this?
We rounded a curve in the canyon wall and a large shape loomed ahead in the murky water, heading straight toward us.
We were surrounded.
Chapter Twenty-Four
There was an army coming up behind us, a wall on our right, two ships shadowing us to the left and now one directly ahead, making directly for us. Our only remaining options were up or down, and neither offered any obvious safe havens.
“This is your last chance, Sunrise. Free me now and I will spare your planet.”
Say what? “What are you talking about, Korr? What’s that about Earth?”
“Surely you did not think I was simply interested in trading for your trinkets. While we were ‘conducting trade discussions’ I learned everything I needed to know about your planet—both from you and from ships I sent on reconnaissance missions to Earth.”
I started to get a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“I learned that you humans are only just beginning to explore your own solar system. You have no interstellar assault capability. You have no space-based weapons platforms, or even any surface-to-space weapons. That means we can bombard your cities from orbit with impunity.”
Bombard? I swallowed with a suddenly dry throat.
“I learned that you have barely begun to reap the bounties of your ocean depths. Your seas are, on average, deeper and colder than what we prefer. However, your temperate zones have warm shallow seas that would be ideal for the Azarti. Earth will make an excellent colony for us, once humans have been eradicated.”
He paused for effect. “My generals estimate that we should be able to eliminate at least ninety percent of humans in the initial assault.”
I was going to be sick. He’d played me like a violin. What a complete idiot I’d been! Not only had I turned my back on a good friend, I’d set up my entire species to be wiped out.
“We-we have nukes. We won’t just let you take the planet without a fight.”
Korr chuckled. “What will you do with them? You cannot reach us in orbit with your missiles, and we do not have to enter the atmosphere to destroy all of your cities. Then individual ships can go after the survivors. What can your missiles do against thousands of our ships? If we lose a few, no matter. We have plenty more. It may take a few years to finish off the survivors, but we will get them eventually. Your race will be no more.”
Oh, God. What had I done?
“We could nuke the oceans—keep you from having them.”
“True. That might force us to look elsewhere for our next colony. Of course, it would doom your species to extinction anyway, would it not, to irradiate your oceans to the point where we could not use them?”
He was right. It was a lose-lose situation for humanity, and it was all my fault. Earth had no idea the Azarti even existed. They’d be completely blindsided when the armada arrived.
Korr continued, “I have given orders to my senior generals that if I am not returned immediately, or if I am harmed in any way, to plan and initiate a full-scale attack on Earth.”
He paused for the weight of his words to sink in. “However, if you free me and surrender peacefully, I will promise to leave Earth alone in perpetuity. You can keep your dirty little ball of mud.”
I felt the first glimmer
ings of hope.
“Karsh…” I began, looking back at the rebel leader. I had to save my species, even if it meant freeing this monster, even if I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t lying to me yet again, even if it meant turning against my friends and allies. “I—”
“Do not listen to him, Sunrise. He is lying, stalling for time,” Karsh replied.
Was that all it was, or could he be seriously considering the genocide of more than eight billion humans? I didn’t doubt for an instant that he was capable of it, and I couldn't afford to assume otherwise.
Karsh sent me a tightly focused thought that Korr couldn’t overhear. “According to my sources, Korr has only hundreds of warships at his disposal, not thousands as he claims.”
I responded in kind. “Maybe so, but couldn’t he still conquer Earth with hundreds of ships?”
“Perhaps, however it would undoubtedly take many years to do so. I do not think he could afford to tie up his fleet for that long. It is needed elsewhere.”
Given years to respond, I was confident that the human race was resourceful enough to find a solution to Korr’s aerial bombardment, but not until after the deaths of billions. That was much too high a price to pay. As much as I supported Karsh’s fight for freedom, I had to think of the human race first. The rebellion could still succeed without us. I was willing to risk my own life for the cause, but I couldn’t knowingly sacrifice billions.
I started to tell Karsh my decision when a blast from one of the ships shadowing us struck the wall ahead. Chunks of rock showered down the rock face. The flash of light revealed that the shape before us was a ship, but smaller than the ones that shadowed us. A second and then a third blast shook the wall, closer to the other ship. Several other shots missed as well, both above and below.
What the hell? The firing was almost random, as if they were guessing where it was. Korr had to be directing the fire from here somehow, but why couldn’t they get a lock on the ship? And why were Korr’s people firing at it in the first place? Wasn’t it their ship?
I had a sudden idea. Maybe things weren’t as bleak as I’d thought. “Korr! Tell your people to stop firing, now!” I grabbed his right arm and squeezed. “Tell them, or I’ll rip your goddamn arm right out of its socket! You know how big I am and I’m stronger than I look. I can do it.”
“And risk the fate of your planet? I think not.”
Actually, I doubted I could anyway, given my lack of leverage in the water. Despite his bold words, apparently Korr wasn’t all that certain I couldn’t and wouldn’t. The firing ceased.
“Sunrise,” Karsh called out. “We must hurry. He cannot maintain the dampening field for much longer.”
“He? He who?”
“One of my people. Poton. He is aboard Galla with Allara.”
Aha. Thought so.
“Galla? That’s Galla ahead of us?” Shari called from behind me.
“Correct. Because of the dampening field, Galla is invisible to our pursuers beyond visual range. But the other ships will close quickly on her position. Korr must be communicating her position back to his people in Grambala and they are somehow getting the information to the ships. We must go.”
We all swam toward Galla during the ceasefire. There was no telling how long it would last. Karsh called Allara and had her bring the living ship closer.
“Allara? But how?” I asked Karsh.
“When we emerged from the sewer tube, I called her and told her to bring Poton with her. His talent is not as well developed as those whom Korr employs, and there is only one of him, rather than a linked quartet, so he is limited in his scope and duration. That is why we must hurry. He cannot keep Galla invisible indefinitely.”
We swam as fast as we could to reach her. In less than ten minutes, all were aboard. So far, so good.
Karsh, Shari, Korr, and I traveled to the control center. Allara was there in an H-formation with the four interlinked Azarti who controlled the ship’s functions. She and Karsh greeted one another with that weird intertwined hug I experienced back on Earth.
“Allara,” Karsh ordered, “you are in control while we figure out where to go from here. For now, follow the center of the canyon and make the best maintainable speed.”
I let out a deep breath. “We’re safe for the time being. They won’t fire on us while we have Korr aboard.”
“What is the point of all this, Sunrise?” Korr asked. “This little ship cannot possibly outrun mine. They are bred to be the fastest ships on the planet and they are equipped with formidable weaponry.”
“He is correct,” Karsh acknowledged.
“Not to mention that Galla is with child.” Allara contributed. “She cannot travel at her normal speed.”
“Pregnant?” My eyebrows shot up. “How did that happen?”
I sensed amusement from Allara. “In the usual manner.”
I rolled my eyes. “I meant when did she find the time? Oh, never mind. If it’s not bad enough that we’re risking your life, we’re putting an unborn— What’s a baby palashi called?”
“A palla,” Allara replied.
“So we’re putting an unborn palla in danger, too. Terrific. Risking children and baby animals. This just gets better and better.”
“I am not a child! I reached the age of majority more than a week ago!”
“Oh. That makes me feel a lot better. Happy birthday. Let’s see if we can keep you alive long enough to celebrate another one.”
Karsh took charge at that point. “Enough idle chatter. If we are to survive, we must formulate a plan for escape. Any ideas?”
“I have already told you,” Korr butted in, “escape is impossible. Surrender now and I promise to spare your child, Karsh.”
I snorted. “My, you’re willing to promise anything to anyone just to save your ass, aren’t you?
“I have a suggestion,” Shari offered. “Hide.”
“Hide?” Karsh echoed.
“That’s right. With Poton aboard, no one can see us once we leave visual range, right?”
“Correct,” Karsh confirmed.
“And the dampening field keeps Korr from telling anyone where we are, right?”
My eyebrows shot up. “Say, that’s right!”
“So, if we can just lose our escort for a few minutes, maybe we can get away.”
“Lola, that is an excellent suggestion,” Karsh beamed. “Now we must find somewhere to evade those ships.”
“Are there any caverns around here, or anywhere else to hide?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Karsh replied.
I frowned. “Look, Galla is quite a bit smaller than the other ships. There must be somewhere we can go where they can’t follow.”
By this time, we had exited the far end of the canyon and risen to emerge over a grassy plain. Karsh’s ships flanked us, sixty feet or so on either side of Galla. How could we lose them in all this open water?
“What geological formations are ahead of us?”
“None,” Karsh said. “There is nothing but sand and low rismal reefs for several miles.”
“Interesting. Is there anywhere around here that has two more-or-less parallel reefs fairly close together?”
“There are several such places. What do you have in mind?”
“It’s just an idea. Tell me what you think….”
* * * *
Galla gradually rose to a depth of seventy-five feet above the sea floor and slowed to half speed. We cruised like that for several minutes, still flanked by Korr’s ships. When we got within visual range of the chosen reefs, Karsh gave the order.
“Now!”
Galla dove for the bottom at maximum speed. Because of the dampening fields surrounding Galla and the other ships, it took them a few seconds to notice our maneuver. By the time they gave chase, we had reached the channel between the reefs. Galla might have been slower than the other ships, but she didn’t need speed. Her biggest asset right then was her diminutive size.
She slid b
etween the reefs, diving close enough to the bottom to stir up billowing clouds of sand and organic matter. We continued forward at half-speed. On my command, Poton shut off the dampening field for only a second. I expanded my consciousness to take a mental snapshot of the immediate area. There were dozens of ships forming a perimeter nearly a mile in diameter, presumably keeping an eye on us. All but the two shadow ships were unshielded. I sledgehammered the others. We couldn’t afford any witnesses for what was to come next.
As expected, the shadowing ships couldn’t see us in the expanding cloud of muck. Yet, they couldn’t drop their dampening field for fear that I’d sledgehammer them, and they were too big to follow closely behind down the narrow channel. So their only course of action was to stay out of the cloud. Because of the narrow channel between the reefs, they couldn’t flank us without being on the far sides of the reefs, out of visual contact. One raced ahead of the cloud and kept pace with us, while the other rose high above the cloud and followed it from that vantage point.
Just as we had anticipated.
At the designated spot, Galla hit the brakes and made a hard turn through a small gap in the right-hand reef, rising just enough to avoid disturbing most of the sandy bottom. On the far side of the reef, we made another hard right, and fled at top speed nearly back the way we had just come.
The other ships continued to follow the cloud, still advancing on momentum, for another minute, until its momentum slowed. By then, we were nearly a mile away, heading at a tangent for a field of dense undersea growth, much like terrestrial kelp. It grew high enough and thick enough that Galla could settle on the sea bottom, hidden from view.
She slowed enough that she didn’t disturb the bottom, and then after coasting for several minutes, we hunkered down to wait.
After several long minutes the silence began to get to me. I needed to hear someone speak, even it if was only me.
“Uh, Karsh?”
“Yes, Sunrise?”
“I, um, owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
“For, uh, saying that you deserved to be executed and wanting to see you die. That was just a ploy to throw Korr off the scent. So he wouldn’t think we were on your side.”
Sunrise Destiny Page 28
