Blade Dancer
Page 37
move cost me, and I almost slid to the floor before grabbing the edge of the quad.
“Jory, back-to-back.” Os held out his lower limbs, and I dragged my awkward form behind him. His
double joints allowed him to reach back and grab me around the waist, anchoring my back against his.
“Our ClanSister and her avian friends have arrived.”
I looked up to see Galena and a handful of white avatars sailing overhead, countering the attacks of the
silver avians. “She’s going to get herself killed.”
“She is tougher than you think,” Os said, and grinned as our little Birdie drove a silver twice her size into
the dome wall, breaking one of his wings and sending him spiraling down.
We couldn’t watch her. The silvers were bunching around us, kicking aside the bodies of their fallen
comrades in an attempt to get at the three of us.
“There are too many,” I heard Nal mutter. “We must retreat.”
“Go.” I tried to untangle myself from Snake Boy’s backward grip. “You two go, get Birdie, and get out of
here.”
Os turned his head until his cheek touched my hair. “We are HouseClan, you stubborn female. We stand
together, we live together, and we will die together.”
Fayne’s clique nearly overwhelmed us with their sheer numbers, until a strange glow appeared over the
arena, and everyone stopped fighting for a moment.
I saw Danea standing at one end of the arena, her hair standing straight up, her arms open wide, as if she
wanted to give everyone a group hug. Something told me to look at the other side of the arena, and there
was Renor, glittering and silent, absolutely motionless.
They’re combining their fields.
The glow descended like a soft, golden cloud, crackling a little as it enclosed the quad, forming a circle
that drove back everyone—even our white comrades—on the outside of it. The boys and I stood on the
inside of the glow, which didn’t touch us, right beside the quad. Then the barrier began to swirl and move,
like a stream of liquid light, growing brighter, whipping around the quad like a perfectly circular river. I
heard screams and curses as some of the silvers tried to hurl themselves through it and were thrown back
by larger, crackling jolts of energy.
“Remind me to apologize to Sparky later,” I said to Os.
The bioelectric field maintained its protective circle around us, and Danea and Renor showed no signs of
tiring. A couple of silvers tried to attack them, but bounced off an invisible wall whenever they got within
a meter.
I could watch what was happening in the quad now, and when I turned I saw Fayne was visibly tiring.
Kol’s strategy of remaining centered and letting her exhaust herself with her spinning attacks had worked.
The Skogaq must have known she was beaten, for she lunged in and tried to spit in Kol’s face. He turned
his head and slashed at her, knocking one of her blades out of her hand.
Disarm.
Kol’s follow-through left a long, deep diagonal gash across her mouth and shattered her front teeth. Her
pale blood poured down the front of her dimsilk as she grabbed her face and cursed him through her
ruined mouth.
Disable.
The wound compelled her to a final, horrifying attack, during which her limbs whipped and thrashed
around Kol in a frenzy. He countered each thrust, matching her speed, his eyes following her patterns and
catching each blow before it landed. At last she faltered, creating a tiny opening in her guard. Kol must
have been waiting for it, for he thrust my dagger in and stabbed her in the side.
Fayne staggered back, holding her abdomen, her eyes wide with disbelief. Then she sank to her knees,
struggling for breath.
He punctured her lung.
Kol dropped his blades and advanced on her. His claws gleamed dark blue as he planted a foot on her
chest and knocked her flat on her back.
Outside the protective circle, the battling silvers and browns and whites stopped fighting and turned to
watch the quad.
My beloved leaned down. “My people eviscerate their enemies. Slowly.”
“Do it!” she said through her mutilated lips.
“I will not sully my hands with your filth. You are nothing but a pawn, Fayne.” He looked up as Uel
entered the quad. “There are better dancers, and more important kills.”
“I will see to the Skogaq. You have prevailed, Kol Varena.” Uel stepped to one side and gestured for
him to leave the quad.
As Kol moved toward his corner, coming to me at last, Fayne rolled to her side and grabbed one of her
blades.
“Behind you!” I shouted.
“No one laughs at me!” she shrieked, and drew her arm back to throw the blade at Kol’s back. Then she
looked down and choked as Uel’s blade buried itself in her chest. A stream of darker blood dribbled
from her mouth; then she fell over and went still.
Dispatch.
Trainers and inductors broke up the last of the fighting, and the injured were taken to medical. Kol and I
and the rest of the clan spread the word among the trainees about the truth behind the order, and
gathered the survivors in the galley.
No one challenged us. It seemed now that we’d destroyed the facade of the Tåna, everything fell apart.
Also, I doubted any of the staff wanted to try to force the issue. We outnumbered them twenty to one,
and keeping us in the dark had been their only method of control.
“I’m not concerned about the Tåna slavers. The Hsktskt and the League are still out there,” one of the
browns said as he wrenched the band from his arm and tore it in two. “They’re going to try to take us,
whether they pay the Blade Master or not.”
Time for my little announcement.
“Listen up!” I waited until I had some quiet. “I’ve sent two signals, one to the Hsktskt flagship, the other
to the League. I told them we’ve staged a rebellion, and they can forget about the deal with Uel.”
Several voices rose in disbelief, agreement, and anger; then Kol stood up and gestured for silence.
“Our training here at the Tåna has well prepared us for battle. The difference now is, we know why.” He
looked around the room. “For want of a better word, this is our territory. Either we surrender it and
become slaves, or we take back our freedom.”
“Kol Varena.” Bek appeared, and stood unresisting when two whites grabbed him. “I have news you
should hear.”
Kol gestured for the trainees to release him.
“What news could we want from a slaver?” one of the neutrals demanded.
The Chakaran waved a paw. “I am not a slaver. I, too, joined the order for the same reasons the rest of
you did. Uel kept me to serve the Tåna.”
“And you had no problem training the rest of us to be good little slaves.” I shook my head. He might have
saved Kol from being mind-wiped, but I still didn’t trust him. “Pull the other one, Bek.”
“It also helps to have a cardiac implant.” He opened his tunic and showed us the scar over his heart.
“When you graduate from the Tåna, the neuroparalyzer is replaced with real poison. The trigger is sold,
along with you, to your owner. Mine is Uel.” He smiled a little. “I expect my death will be quite soon
now, but until then, I can be of help to you.”
Blade dancers know two fundamental truths. The first is that they will die. The second is to live
each moment as if death awaits them in the next.
I gestured toward Kol. “Why take the chance to save Kol, if you knew Uel would kill you for it?”
“I saw an opportunity to end all enslavement by the Tåna. That was worth my life.” He pointed to the
observation viewer. “Ground forces from both sides have begun landing on the surface. They will invade
the Tåna within the hour, and I am certain neither side intends to let the other have you. Uel and the rest
of the staff have already taken refuge in the bunkers on level one.”
“We are not going to hide or surrender,” I told him. “We’re going to do what we were trained to do, and
fight.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“The path is your only home.”
—Tarek Varena, Clanjoren
Kol decided to trust Bek, but assigned two whites to watch him as they gathered up the remaining
trainees from second and third level. He then created a command post in the computer room and brought
up plans for the entire Tåna facility.
The school itself resembled a beehive, with its stacked levels and network of rooms and corridors. Not
surprisingly, there were only two entrances and exits—one leading into the first level, which Bek assured
us Uel and his people had already sealed, and a passage that began in medical and led out to the surface,
where failed trainees were transported to the separate processing center.
“They can just blast their way in through the dome, can’t they?” one of the former browns asked.
“That would destroy the interior environment and kill all of us,” I reminded him. “They’re pissed, but they
like their slaves alive.”
“According to this, they will enter through the medical facility. We must evacuate all the wounded to a
safer area”—Kol pointed to a remote training room on the second level—“here.”
“Initially, the Hsktskt and League will fight to gain control of the access tunnel,” Bek agreed. “That will
give us time to set up a welcoming committee in the trainee quarters section.”
I frowned at the schematic. “But we can’t hold them off, once they get inside. We don’t have their
firepower. Plus there are four entrances and exits from medical into the facility, and they can blast as
many more holes in the interior walls as they like.”
“True, which is why those positioned in the corridor will only draw their fire to the third-level arena.” The
Chakaran traced a path on the schematic. “Once you have the soldiers in the open, you will have room to
attack.”
“There is not a great deal of cover.” Kol studied the screen. “Yet I believe we can create some
advantage.”
“We can.” My shockball training kicked in, and I outlined a defense plan that would have sent my
offcoach into a frenzy of delight. “It only works if the flanks move in tandem. We’re going to need some
kind of headgear we can use for signaling.”
“I can provide those from the trainer supply room,” Bek said.
“Wait.” I took out my Omorr blade. “We need you, Bek. We need to get that implant out of you.”
“The poison is triggered by removal, as well.” Bek looked thoughtful. “If Uel had wanted me dead, he
would have killed me by now. He must be keeping me alive for some reason.”
“Like what?”
The Chakaran touched his scarred face. “I saved his life once. Perhaps he is returning the favor at last.”
Kol frowned. “We need to provide you—and all of us—with some protective cover. How much dimsilk
is available?”
“There is not a great deal stored here.”
“Get as many people as you can in dimsilk; the rest of us will wear black over insulating wraps—and shut
down the lights,” I said. “The dimsilk and the wraps will keep their thermal gear from detecting us, and
what they can’t see, they can’t shoot.”
Os leaned in. “We can drop the temperature. The cold will make the Hsktskt slower to react.”
“All coldblooded trainees will have to wear thermals, then, or the same will happen to them.” Kol turned
to the avatars. “Galena, if you and the avians hover at the top of the dome, you will be in the best position
to spot weapons fire. We will need you to drop down and disarm as many of the intruders as you can.”
“Ren and I can create another barrier, but I do not think we can sustain it very long,” Danea said. She
looked tired. “A minute or two at best.”
“We will hold you in reserve. Bek.” Kol regarded the trainer. “Are there any weapons other than the
holographite blades available to us?”
“Yes. The armory is on second level.” He grimaced. “Uel and the others have probably made use of it.”
“We will take whatever we can get.” Kol handed out a few more assignments; then the room fell silent as
we heard distant blasts echoing outside the Tåna’s walls. “The fighting has already begun.” He picked me
up in his arms. “Go quickly and assemble your units.”
As he carried me out of the room, I rested my hot face against his chest. “You’re not thinking of sticking
me on second level with the injured, are you?”
“I am not letting you out of my sight for as long as we live.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I closed my eyes for a moment as three more blasts from outside shook the walls.
“Getting close.”
“Yes.” His stride picked up, and he carried me into third level and mounted the platform. “If we had
wings, we could watch from above.”
“If we had wings, I might cluck like a chicken.” His puzzled frown made me grin. “Terran bird.
Ill-tempered, usually ends up fried or baked.”
Bek and a few of the whites came to join us, carrying a huge pallet of real blades. I saw the trainer
watching me as Kol supervised issuing the weapons to the individual unit leaders.
“You knew I’d challenge Fayne, didn’t you?” I asked him.
“I suspected you would.” He sat down beside me. “I have never known you to accept defeat, even when
it seemed inevitable.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Kol was still alive?”
He shook his head. “At the time, I was not certain I could get to him before they removed his memories
and inserted the poison into his implant.”
“Okay, I’ll buy that. But why did Uel bring me here, Bek? Why was it so important for me to become a
blade dancer? He meant to keep me, like you, didn’t he?”
“Yes.” He averted his gaze. “As for why, you would not believe me if I told you.”
So he did know. “Try me.”
“Before he became what he is, he was very much like you. An outcast, driven from the only home he
ever had. Uel sees himself in you.” Bek moved as if to get up, but I grabbed his arm, and he sighed. “The
rest you will understand when he comes for you.”
I raised my brows. “Uel is that crazy?”
Bek gave me a twisted smile. “You have no idea what he’s capable of, Sajora.”
The surface temperature must have slowed down the Hsktskt raiders, for control of the access passage
went to a League strike force. Scouts from our welcoming committee rushed back to third level to report
that nearly three hundred armed ground troops were pouring into the facility.
By then Kol had moved me to a corner and barricaded me in with Danea and Renor. I would monitor
the headgear by signal and call the moves from there, while he fought with the fourth line.
“It seems I must leave you again, my heart.” He ran a hand over my shoulder. “It will not be for long.”
“Go stomp them into the floor.” I eased into a more comfortable position against the wall. “And don’t
worry. Sparky will fry anyone who comes within ten feet of us.”
“If I do not throttle your Chosen first,” Danea muttered, still unhappy that I wouldn’t go with the other
injured. Then her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over them. “Your pardon, I meant no threat to
your mate, warrior.”
“Yes, you did.” I laughed. “Oh, just relax, Sparky. He knows you’re all talk.” I touched Kol’s arm.
“Come back to me alive one more time, okay?”
His five fingers curled around my six. “I will, my heart.”
We all knew we were outnumbered, and outgunned, and the League probably assumed a certain amount
of trainees would voluntarily go to either side. What they hadn’t counted on was the collective fury among