I tripped over something and landed on my knees. I got to my feet quickly, dripping thick fluid, but still clutching my light. My hand tingled as I felt around in the warm ooze. My fingers closed on something soft and heavy. I pulled it up, shined my light and fell back with a cry. I had a human corpse by the shoulder of his uniform. The officer! Blackened skin and seared leather showed over the hole where his heart had been as he floated on his back and stared at nothing. I let the bulky man sink beneath the surface. His death gave the ravager perhaps the weight of twenty more precious crystals to pack into his manta, and no witnesses.
I peered ahead into darkness. Spirit? Are you still with me?
The ravager is ahead of you. Hurry, Terran. He is wounding me to my very core. Only my compassion for the living prevents me from destroying him and your race with him on my world. But I cannot wait…time…much longer.
OK. I'm coming, Spirit. Can I use my weapon in here?
Only if you must.
What if it hits a wall?
I can recover from a wound. But not from the loss of what you call the life force.
I shined my narrow beam and sloshed ahead. It was like a bad dream where you try to run but can't. The murky air didn't hold much oxygen. It left me pulling in long breaths as I pushed hard against the flow of liquid. The stream turned red and thickened to sludge. Ahead, a left curve. The walls grew darker. A broken vein above me pumped out crimson fluid. Spirit was bleeding his life into the outgoing flow of his being.
He's coming, Spirit sent.
What? In the manta?
He knows you're here.
Shit! I got down on one knee, shut off my light and aimed the stingler with both hands. I heard my own fast breathing in the silence.
How does he know, goddammit?
My crystals.
Oh. Great! Now he has tel powers!
He is ripping me apart… Oh, a thousand cuts. Hurry! I am gathering my powers, Terran. Others would come for my blood, until…until…the end of continuance.
Hang on, Spirit. I extended the stingler. As soon as he rounds that curve, he's a dead Terran.
The whine of a manta ahead. My hands shook. Don't think about Lisa, I thought. Don't think about Laurel. Just don't fail!
I watched headlights bounce light off the wall to my right. The manta came around the curve like a giant black bat, wobbling and scraping into the delicate wall tissues, ripping into the web of veins with its wings. Shreds of dripping skin clung to its tail.
Spirit screamed inside my head. It shook me. The stingler wavered as I fired. The shot went wild and ripped a hole in the wall. I blocked out Spirit's agony as best I could as the manta pushed a bow wave and bored toward me. Forward Missile launchers leveled to my height.
Uh oh.
I took a deep breath and threw myself into the liquid, hoping there was enough clearance on the manta's underside. I heard the rockets whoosh by overhead. They must have gone harmlessly out the entrance because Spirit didn't react.
The manta drove above me as I clung to something hard, probably an embedded crystal, and flattened on the bottom. I waited for the manta to pass, but the slimeshit stopped above me. I raised myself until I hit metal.
Spirit! He'll drown me!
A bubble of air burst around me. I clung to the bottom and gasped in breaths that were misted with blood. I choked on it and coughed, but I knew I'd swallowed some of it.
The czar must've thought I was dead by then. His headlights probably didn't pick up the air bubbles in the churning liquid he'd created. I heard the engine deepen and then the sound faded and died.
I got unsteadily to my feet. The entrance was dark. A distant whine told me the crotefucker was airborne.
The shuttle, Spirit sent wearily. He heads for the vehicle you rode…you rode to the surface with the child. The shuttle from The Merchant Prince! I cannot allow –
I know, Spirit. You can't allow him off-planet with the blood crystals. I know!
The liquid slithered off me like mercury worms as I sloshed out of the tunnel and ran toward my hidden manta. I was dry! I'm going after him, Spirit.
Yes. I commend you for your efforts, though they may well prove futile for your people.
Just give me time. Terran time! I'll do the rest. I heard mantas approach from the southeast. A diamond formation of four RECOIL war planes appeared low above treetops. Oh no. Dammit! Rache.
The help I'd wanted from RECOIL to stop the czar at the illegal launching pad was a hindrance here, at Spirit's secret core artery.
I shouldered through the spiky branches of the grove, got into my craft, started it and taxied out of the trees, ripping branches as I went. Sorry about the branches, I sent.
You are sorry about a few branches while more Terrans approach my being, the very essence of Tres Cruash!
OK. Don't get sulky.
I used all available cover, from giant trees to hills to escarpments, to hide from the mantas as I flew near ground level. The ground effect increased my speed and lift and I realized I was in plain sight as I passed a hillock.
The command ship, flying RECOIL's gold and purple flag, fired a shot across my bow. The message was loud and clear: Land!
I did. And kept taxiing to put the mantas and Spirit as far apart as possible. Another shot across my bow implied: You can stop now.
I shut off the engine, opened the window, and sighed as I leaned back. The dry brush surrounding my craft had a bitter smell. They were bare, with fresh leaves on the ground. Had they died because of Spirit's trauma? ChristLotus, was the planet itself already dying? I had to admire Spirit's patience with us Terrans.
Yes. But not for much longer!
I know.
The four mantas landed around me in swirls of red dust. Indigo birds with transparent wings screeched as they flapped into the air. From somewhere in a rocky crevice a disturbed predator growled at the intrusion of his territory.
The taste of blood was still in my mouth and nostrils. It made me queasy.
I watched Rache disembark and walked toward my craft, flanked by two gorilla-sized guards, and felt even queasier. The other RECOIL soldiers, nine of them, I think, followed their commander until they were gathered around my craft. I stared toward the southern sky, where the czar had a clear path to Bjorn's shuttle and The Merchant Prince, if that were his destination.
RECOIL knows I'm a tel, I sent to Spirit. If Rache orders his people to leave, they'll figure the order came through my tel-link. Why not let Rache and his soldiers help me find the czar? If it's not already too late.
The blood crystals of Tres Cruash will not fall into any Terran's hands. Including yours.
Believe me, Spirit, I don't want them!
Rache still wore his hat, his scarf, and his dark glasses. I wondered if he slept in them. “Disembark the craft,” one of the gorilla guards ordered as they approached.
I opened the door and disembarked.
“Why did you run from us?” Rache asked with his fists clenched and came up close to stare me in the face. Or stare me down.
“I wasn't running. I was chasing the czar. You're letting him get away, Commander.” I glanced toward the south.
Rache followed my gaze. “You know his destination.”
“He's heading offworld from an illegal launching pad in the back country. I have to stop him, Commander. Will you listen to me? There's no time to waste. I have to go after him alone and stop him!” It sounded lame, even to me.
“Get into my manta” Rache said. “You'll direct us to the czar.”
“I can't do that.”
A guard gripped my arm. “Oh yes you can.”
You are wasting Terran time, Spirit sent. What are you waiting for? Use your power!
I lowered my head and gathered a coil of tel. It blazed up suddenly, almost out of my control. I was becoming more powerful, I realized. I tacked on a message: Return to your ship and go back to your family in Laurel. Your family needs you. You must return to your family.
Now!
The guard's hand slipped off my arm.
Rache knitted his brows behind the glasses. “You must believe we're all fools!” he snarled at me. “Kofi!” He shoved the guard's shoulder. “You fool! Can't you discern your own thoughts from tel implants?”
“I thought I could, Commander.” Kofi took my arm again. “But my wife and mother need me.”
You must return to Laurel now! I sent in a scattergun pattern to the surrounding group. Your wives and mothers and children all need you.
The soldiers shuffled their feet. Some looked back longingly at their mantas.
Rache suddenly slapped me.
It broke my concentration. I drew a breath and put a hand on my stinging cheek.
“I could have Kofi snap your arm like a twig, traitor,” Rache said, “and then you would lead me to the czar anyway.” He shoved me toward his manta. “Now climb aboard!”
Spirit? I sent as I turned toward the craft.
You have no choice but to stop them, no matter the consequences to your body.
Somehow, I didn't think I did.
“You're going to regret this, Commander,” I said as I walked toward his craft. “We all are.” I shrugged. “But if that's how you want it.”
I gathered a powerful coil as I walked, deepened its spin to blood red, and threw it at Rache. Leave Rammis here! He has important work to do for RECOIL. Go home to your family. Now. They need you.
My head began to beat from the intensity of the send as I attempted to overwhelm Rache's will.
“I…I have to go home to my family.” But it was Kofi's will I had overcome. He released my arm. “They need me.”
Rache shoved me into him. “Snap his arm!” he ordered.
“No. Wait!” I screamed.
But Kofi shrugged me aside and trotted to Rache's command manta. “After I go home and see to my family!” he threw back. “I'll come back and break his arm.”
“Come back here now!” Rache called to him. “You idiot!
“Me. too.” The other gorilla guard followed Kofi.
Rache stared after them. “How stupid can those two be?” he said to no one.
With Rache distracted, I threw a message with all the power I could muster. Commander, your soldiers need you at headquarters. They are children who await your orders. They are all idiots who cannot function without your guidance.
Rache took off his hat and scratched his bald head. “My soldiers are a bunch of children.”
I nodded. “They need you to guide them.”
“Yes.” He rammed his hat back on and strode to his manta. “Children!” I heard him say. “Wait for me!” he called to his manta's pilot.
I turned to the soldiers. They milled about, unsure what to do. Go home to your family, I sent. Your family needs you right now. Your house is burning down. Hurry! Save your children!
That did it. A few of them hesitated. I increased the hot spin, imaged a miniature tornado plowing behind my eyes, drew them a picture of burning houses, and threw the power and the image directly at the group. My God! Hurry! Save the children!
The stragglers glanced around, then raced to their mantas.
I pressed my palms to my temples. The headache was sharp. When will it pass? I asked Spirit.
The influence of your messages?
That too.
Until Tres Cruash turns beyond the light of its star.
Night. And this headache?
That too will pass, if you still occupy your current body. It will also pass if no longer do. I commend you on your choice of phrases and images, Terran. I have known many tels of different races. Those who possessed no imagination never climbed to your lofty heights of lies.
Do I detect a snide chuckle somewhere in that backhanded compliment? Spare me! I've already been slapped once today.
I heard the whine of engines. I have to wait for them to leave before I go after the czar. Are you OK?
I have recovered.
You heal fast. I rubbed my right arm. I wonder which arm Kofi would have broken?
Does it matter, Terran?
I'm partial to my right hand.
Then you would have instructed him to break your left arm.
Right! I mean, yeah, the left arm. Whatever!
I got back into my manta as Rache's squadron lifted, resumed their diamond formation and headed southeast at full throttle.
Home are the hunters.
Laurel would not be pleased with me when these fighting men and women realized how I'd strung them along like puppets. They might be, though, if I managed to stop the czar and appease Spirit. I prayed that I would be in time as I headed for the czar's illegal launch pad west of the blackroot woods.
No matter my casual conservation with Spirit, I knew he was determined to see the czar dead, or all of Laurel.
Chapter Fourteen
Cabrón! I read. Why do you follow me? What business of yours if I am off-world?
The sky ahead was empty as I bored, full throttle, toward Bjorn and the czar's launching module. Spirit, I sent, are the blood crystals giving him such far-reaching tel power?
My crystals and his mega-dream unit. Do you have a plan, Terran?
Only to stop him any way I can. Czar! I sent, leave the stolen crystals behind where I can find them and I'll give up the chase. Terran, Spirit sent. The crystals are not enough. I want him in geth state where he will have no memory of crystals or Halcyon
I will see you both in hell first! the czar sent. For the crystals, and for the trouble you have caused me, Diablo.
I had a feeling that last part referred to me. Then we might meet in hell, I told him.
Along with your daughter and her friend.
What does that mean?
It means that I am willing to take a detour to the granja. You can look for your daughter's small bones in the blackroot beside the module.
The ranch! He had enough of a lead. I went cold. For once in your worthless existence, I sent, act like the man you're not and face me, mano a mano!
And this will benefit me in what way?
You'll have a chance to kill me. Wouldn't that be pleasant?
Not as pleasant as leaving this dirt ball of a planet behind.
I unhooked the craft's link and punched in Willa's code.
“Hi, Daddy!” Lisa answered. “Are you – “
“Lisa, is Willa there?”
“She's in the barn with Puny. He – “
“Listen to me! Run to the barn and tell her to get on her link. Hurry up, Lis'! Tell her it's important.”
“OK, Daddy. Don't get mad.”
“I'm not mad. Just go!” Spirit, can't you do something to divert that crotefucker?
The ravager? You ask me to use the power of my tel to influence a being? You know the consequences.
The ravager has this to say, the czar sent. Let them run. I will follow your daughter's mind like a bloodhound follows the trail of blood. And that is what they will leave for you if you do not cut off this reckless chase.
You'll never leave the planet alive. Spirit will send us all to hell. Your only hope is to throw the crystals overboard and be satisfied with your power and creds in Lost Vegas. And don't think to keep any crystals. Spirit will know it.
“Jules? It's Willa. What's wrong?”
“Willa! The czar is after you and Lisa. He's in a manta heading for your ranch. He's reading Lisa's thoughts like a beacon. Get out of there!”
“Oh my God!” she cried.
“Get out right now! You know where the old silver mine is, northwest of your ranch?”
“Lisa, come here,” she said. “Take my hand. Yes, Jules, I know where it is.”
“Get there as fast as you can. I'm on my way to it. Keep the connection open.” I waited with my stomach twisted into knots.
“We're getting into the hovar,” Willa finally said. “No, Lisa! You can't go back for your stuffed horse. Get in now!”
I held my breath as I heard the small ground-
skimming craft rumble to life.
“We're lifting,” she said.
“OK. Good.” Though there was nothing good about this desperate situation. I set the coordinates for the silver mine. “The tunnel's narrow, Willa. The bastard can't follow you in there with his manta.” And his onboard missiles, I thought. “Drive in as far back as you can. If you have to, you and Lisa continue on foot. It leads to the old Kubraen village. It's probably deserted now, but I'm on my way.”
Let them run, the czar sent. I will follow, unless you break off this futile chase. Go back to Laurel, Cabrón, where you belong, with all the other fools.
I'll see you at the mine, you piece of slimeshit, and I'll send you to hell, where you belong. I was hit with a sudden hot burn of tel. Was that you, Spirit?
The ravager is flexing his newly stolen tel power. You may expect more of it.
I rubbed my forehead. Beneath shreds of clouds, I watched a forest whiz by. Hills wrinkled the high plains. Blue lakes stared up like cyclop eyes. A pristine world. You know, Spirit, for a being who developed a whole damn planet, there isn't a lot you can do to help us. All I hear from you is Terran destruction!
And my people's continuance. Terrans came uninvited to Tres Cruash.
And we might leave in boxes, I thought.
The Terrans of Laurel are welcome to stay, if you complete your mission and my blood remains a secret.
I sighed. OK. Thanks for that crumb. There was no use appealing to the czar's nonexistent code of ethics. What was the death of Laurel to him if he could make it to Earth with his treasure and then make a grab for Interstel itself? I imaged the red ball burning behind my eyes and forced it to swell with power. I pictured the czar's black eyes and threw it the way a pitcher throws a ball at the bat. This bat had a beard. My head throbbed with the effort. I sat back and groaned. But I felt the czar jerk, and I smiled as his body shuddered.
A hit!
The ground rushed up. My body bounced forward as the manta made a hard landing.
Halcyon Nights (Star Sojourner Book 2) Page 22
