Reclamation (58 page)

A vapor trail cut across the blue. The roar became a rush and died away until it couldn’t be told from the wind.

So low,
thought Eric.
What could bring them in so low …

He knew. His heart leapt into his mouth and involuntarily his eyes tracked the direction of the vapor trails. They headed straight for Narroways.

Nameless Powers preserve me.
His eyes stared helplessly at the sky.
Arla.

“Blood, blood, blood,” cursed Jay. “We’re too late.”

Arla peeked out from behind the shelter of the granite boulder. Her knees still stung from the force with which Jay had forced her behind it. Ahead of them crouched the white dome Arla knew from when Cor had led her up the thread-thin canyon, but about twenty yards closer to them waited a new Skyman contrivance. It was a metallic slab, at least three yards on a side, and obviously firmly pressed into the ground despite the fact that a good foot’s worth of its thickness still showed. Green lights glowed steadily at each corner and she had, before Jay had pulled her behind the boulder, seen some kind of hole in its center. The far edge was scalloped by the boxes and bumps of monitors and terminals.

Jay was staring at it with pure poison in his eyes.

“What is it?” asked Arla.

“It’s a marker for a Vitae tether.” Jay slumped down behind the sheltering stone. “They’ve found us.”

A wave of horror washed through Arla. “Then they’ve …”

“Got your sister?” Jay cocked one eye toward her. “Oh, yes, probably. They probably got Lu as well.”

Arla glanced angrily through the tattered clouds, as if she could see through the blue and spot the Vitae ship. Her heart beat hard from fear and anger. A dozen images of what the Vitae might be doing to Broken Trail crowded together in the back of her head.

“If they’re putting down a tether, then they know how important this place is.” Jay scowled at the dome. “I thought we’d have at least a few more days.”

Think!
Arla ordered herself and reflexively, she clutched her pouch of stones.
If they have Broken Trail, we’ve got to get her back. To do that you need something to fight with. Nothing’s really changed. You’ve still got to get down there.
She forced her gaze back to the dome. It waited, silent and unchanged from the first time she’d seen it.

“If they know how important this place is,” said Arla slowly, “why isn’t it guarded?”

“Oh, it’s guarded,” Jay pointed at the sky. “I have no doubt there is at least one satellite trained on this place right now, and I’m sure the dome’s been rigged, and there have to be security guards in there.” He eased himself around so that he was on his knees and peered at the silent dome. “But there can’t be very many of them,” he said thoughtfully, “or they’d be out here now to pick us up.” He fingered his torque. “Maybe we’ve still got a chance.”

“How?” Arla shifted her weight to her toes, ready to move fast if need be.

“We set an emergency transmitter up in the flood cup.” He pointed up the canyon wall. “Just in case we lost the base for some reason. If the Vitae haven’t found it yet, I might be able to use it to find out just how they’ve got the dome rigged. If we can find a blind spot, we might have a chance.” He touched the holster of his gun the way Arla touched her stones.

He lifted himself into a half crouch. “Keep down and behind cover as much as you can,” he cautioned her. “They probably know we’re here, but that’s no reason to give them a clear shot.”

Arla matched Jay’s stance. He nodded once, and they both scuttled out from behind their boulder, heading for its cousin a few yards away.

A muffled roar, building faster than a flash flood’s, made Arla jerk her eyes skyward. A silver splinter dived out of the clouds and hurtled across the sky, leaving long white trails behind it

“No!” Jay sprang to his feet “Run!”

Before Arla could force her frozen legs to move, Jay was already halfway to the dome. She pounded after him, hurdling the larger stones, grateful that she was at home and on steady ground.

What is going on!
Her mind shouted as Jay tore open the dome’s door and darted inside.

She followed without stopping, though. Whatever the aircraft brought, Jay obviously thought it was worse than meeting the Vitae.

In the distance she heard a shrill whine. Jay threw open a trapdoor and Arla barely had time to see the dark shaft.

“Down!” He shoved her forward, hard enough that her body swung out over the edge.

Arla shrieked as she fell, so startled that she barely remembered to tuck herself. Everyone in the Realm knew how to take a hard fall. The floor slammed against her shoulders and arm, knocking all the breath and almost all the sense out of her. She rolled halfway over just as the Skyman dropped like a stone beside her.

The world shouted. It rumbled and groaned and growled deep in its throat. Overhead the dome creaked and shuddered. Equipment crashed against the ground and fabric, probably the dome’s side, tore. Arla curled further in on herself, trying to hide behind the darkness and the ringing in her ears.

Nameless Powers preserve me. What have they DONE?

Eric saw the flash over the top of the Wall. It turned the clouds sulfurous yellow and bounced back to earth again. Then came the noise, like a roll of thunder that meant to go on forever.

No!
Eric stumbled between the boulders, tripping over stones and brush, trying to follow the vapor trails dissipating into the formless clouds. The rumble kept on, steady, endless.
Nameless Powers preserve and forbid … no!

Now the light on the clouds was burnt orange, sienna, and scarlet. Eric stood panting in his tracks. The thunder still rolled.

He turned and sprinted back to the sledge.

“What …” began Heart. Eric snatched the reins and the stick out of his hands.

“Move!” he screamed to the oxen. “Go!” He smacked their backs until they both gave outraged bellows and lumbered forward.

“What’s happened!” Heart shook his shoulder.

“A bomb!” Eric wielded the stick mercilessly. The thunder wouldn’t stop. It wasn’t ever going to stop. He knew it. The oxen lowed from fear and broke into a heavy, jolting run.

“What?” shouted Heart. “Talk, Hand!”

Smoke now. Huge black billows rose up to block out even the light on the clouds. The oxen balked and stamped, but Eric drove them on. Heart still clutched his shoulder, watching the boiling black smoke. His mouth was moving. Reciting the litanies. Begging for preservation and guidance from the Nameless, for something he couldn’t possibly understand.

Too late, brother-in-law,
a voice sniggered in the back of Eric’s mind.
Way, way too late.

The oxen were stampeding now and Eric was barely hanging on to the reins. The sledge bounced and skipped over stones, jerking around like a toy in a high wind.

Suddenly, Heart let go of Eric’s shoulder and snatched the reins from his hands. He threw his whole body backward, dragging the reins back until the oxen screamed and tossed their heads. They slowed, though, and finally stopped, puffing and shaking.

“What’re you doing!” Eric shouted. “We have to get to Narroways! We have to …”

“Then tell me why!” Heart ordered. “What’s happened?”

“A bomb, you idiot! A …” Heart’s mystified expression stopped him and Eric realized he was using a Skyman word. “The Skymen have just dropped … a ball of fire over Narroways. The city’s probably ashes by now. Arla might be … might be …” He couldn’t make himself say it. The smoke was spreading out, embracing the clouds and covering them over.

“We have to get to First City!” cried Heart. “Now. They have to know. Our family. Our frie …”

“There’s no time! We have to find out if Arla is all right. That Unifier base was right outside Narroways!”

“She’s just a Notouch!”

Eric grabbed Heart’s tunic collar. “She is not just a Notouch! She was never ‘just’ a Notouch!” Eric slammed him against the support pole and the whole sledge rocked. “She has more guts and loyalty in her hand marks than you have in your whole heart!

Heart’s eyes searched his face. “Hand, have you taken leave of your senses?”

“You’d better hope I haven’t,” Eric shoved him away. “You’d better hope I have sense enough to remember that I might need your help to get to her. Because if I forget that, you aren’t going to be able to run fast enough to get away from me!”

“You forget who you’re talking to!” Heart raised his palms. The gold circles all but glowed, even in the cloud-dimmed light.

“No, you forget.” Eric stabbed a finger at him. “You forget I know exactly what you can and cannot do, and you forget that I have lived over the World’s Wall for ten years and you don’t know anything about me anymore.”

The blood drained from Heart’s face, leaving his cheeks as pale as dry dust. “You’re a greater Heretic than even I would have believed.”

“I suggest you remember that, too.” Eric searched his brother-in-law’s face for any sign of real rebellion or courage. “Drive us to Narroways, Heart of the Seablade, or stand here and wait for whatever the Skymen decide to try next, I don’t care which.”

Heart lowered his eyes. Slowly he lifted the reins off the railing. One step at a time, Eric moved to the back of the sledge, out of arm’s reach.

Heart whistled to the team and, with only minute snorts, they started forward again at a fast walk.

Eric pressed his fists against his thighs and forced himself to keep still. He watched Heart’s broad back. His shoulders tipped and tilted as he drove the oxen on, but he did not look back, not once.

Arla didn’t know how long it was before she was able to uncurl herself. The world around her was completely dark. She blinked her eyes a few times, just to make sure they were open. Soft creaks and groans still sounded overhead, and here and there she heard a muffled thump, maybe from a piece of equipment falling, maybe from a rock landing on the canyon floor. There was no way to tell. She hoisted herself onto her hands and knees. The surface under her palms was smooth and cool. It reminded her sharply of the feel of the stones.

“Jay?” she whispered into the darkness.

At her right hand, a man moaned softly. Arla still wore her tool belt from the Amaiar Gardens. She fumbled around to find the clip that held her penlight. She flicked the switch and shone the light around until the narrow beam landed on Jay’s face.

“Are you all right?” she crawled over to his side.

He nodded. “Didn’t land quite right, but I think I’m all here.” With a grunt, he sat up. He laid a hand on his hip, right above his holster and winced. “I’m going to be feeling that for more than a few days.”

A crash sounded overhead. Startled, Arla glanced up. “What happened?”

Whatever he said, Arla’s disk didn’t pick it up.

“What …” she began.

“Listen,” Jay said. “There’s Vitae in here with us and they might have heard us fall.” He unsnapped his holster and drew the weapon. “Stay behind me and keep the light as steady as you can.” He stood up and staggered, but caught his balance quickly.

“Wait.” Arla put the light down and unlooped her sling from around her belt. She unsnapped one of the belt pockets and brought out a handful of stones she’d kept from the fray with the Narroways soldiers. “There’s not much room in here.” She loaded the sling and hefted it to test the weight. “But it’ll be better than nothing.”

Jay scowled at her weapon. “Just make sure you miss me.”

“This despised one will do her best, my Lord Skyman,” Arla answered blandly. Jay gave no sign of having caught her sarcasm. He just hefted his gun and slipped carefully down the corridor.

Arla, suppressing a sigh, picked up the light in her free hand and followed.

Because he didn’t dare take his eyes off Heart, Eric didn’t see when they finally crossed the Narroways road. He didn’t need to. He could hear the fading thunder of the attack. It bounced off the walls, a bizarre staccato noise, not like real thunder at all.

Heart was chanting again. From the slow rise and fall in the cadence, Eric guessed it was the entire prayer for safety.

A moment later a strangely dry, hot wind blew the first faint scent of smoke through the sledge.

“I’m taking us to the overlook,” said Heart through clenched teeth. “Unless you want me to drive us straight into a fire.”

“All right.” Eric felt like kicking himself for forgetting the overlook. It was one of the many escarpments in Broken Canyon’s chaotic breadth. From its ledge, you could look down the length of the canyon and see the city itself. Narroways usually kept a watch there.

Eric genuinely doubted there’d be one there now. He tightened his fists until his knuckles turned white. The dry wind scraped gently against them. A small black flake settled between the knuckles of his index and middle fingers. Eric stared at it. Another came to rest beside it.

Ash.

The sledge jolted and skidded to a halt. Heart stood still between the driver’s rails for a moment. Then he climbed off, one jerky step at a time, holding his head rigidly still above his shoulders.

Eric set his jaw and tried to prepare himself for what he’d see. He knew it was impossible, but he had to try anyway. Eric climbed out after his brother-in-law.

The wind was always strong in the Midway Breach, and even more so on the overlook. It hit him with a blast of heat that tried to drag his skin off his face. Eric screwed up his eyes and looked into the wind. Ash stung his cheeks and nostrils and he coughed, inhaling more ash.

Heart of the Seablade sank to his knees. Ash wafted over him, tracing long black trails around his shoulders. Eric waded through wind to stand beside him. He saw the stone house that had been built to hold the watch. Its shutters and door were flung wide-open, but no one stirred inside. He saw the eddies and whorls of the granite under his feet, washed by wind and water until there was nothing left but pink-and- black stone with an unevenly sculpted lip. Ash skittered across the stone.

Eric made himself look up.

He had only stood on the Narroways overlook once in his life. The Kings of Narroways did not welcome First City Nobility up here. He had never forgotten the long panorama of greens and browns, all of it framed by Broken Canyon’s splendor.