by D L Frizzell
Daigre nodded. “Yes, I saw this woman’s body.”
“The only reason I survived,” Norio said, “is that the device failed after only a few moments of burning into me."
"Why did it stop working?" Daigre asked.
"That is the fate that of all Man’s technology on Arion,” Norio replied. “Not even The Guile may command differently.”
Chapter Fifty-Five
Daigre pulled the sword away from Alex's chest. After tucking the pistol into his sash, he walked to Norio and put his fist against the scar on the old man’s chest. The hole was the same size as the ones he’d seen on those villagers’ bodies so many years earlier. He pulled his hand back and dropped it to his side. It took a minute, but he finally looked into Norio’s eyes.
"Where did this mining tool come from?" Daigre asked.
"From the Nakajima," Norio replied. "One of The Guile’s historians discovered a vault that had been shielded from the planet's magnetism. The Guile thought he could take those tools and conquer the world with them."
"He used them on…?" Daigre asked, his voice breaking.
The question did not need to be finished. Norio placed his scarred hands on Daigre’s shoulders. “When the device failed, The Guile offered his firstguard one of my own swords as incentive, to take me down to the lower half of the Nakajima, cut off my hands, and leave me there. The firstguard, though he was a pupil of mine, and honorable up to that point, accepted the weapon. When he led took me into the lower half to fulfill his instruction, I took the sword and killed him with it instead."
"You were in the palace of the Guile, and yet you left?" Daigre asked incredulously. "If he had wronged you so, why did you not lay in wait and kill him?"
"I am a man of honor," Norio said. "I have never abandoned my oath to protect The Guile, even from myself, regardless of his great betrayal to me.”
Daigre nodded in understanding. “But you did leave, and you did ally yourself with the Plainsmen.”
"Alex's father gave me a letter before he died on the Crumbles," Norio replied. "I had told him that I would deliver it to his Plainsmen friends if the opportunity arose. I did as I promised for him as well. I expected them to kill me upon its delivery, but they allowed me to live. They even offered me a place to live so that I could honor my commitment to my own nation. You see, it was never their hope to fight a war, but to live in peace with the Jovian Nation.”
"You told them of the mining weapon?" Daigre asked.
"No," Norio replied. "It was no longer a threat, and I did not wish risking another war between our peoples because of it.”
“The Guile knew about it though, didn’t he?” Alex asked. “He sent you to look for more of them on the Celeste.”
“That was not my task,” Daigre said. He began to see the true nature of his mission. "But it would explain what Benac was doing."
“I knew the time would come that the Guile did wish another war," Norio said. "I wrote that scroll for him and hoped someone would take it to him."
"You knew a spy would see it as a threat and return to The Guile with it?" Alex asked.
"Indeed," Norio said. "The Guile would know exactly what it meant. You see, he was just as much my student as Alex here. I told him this same proverb many times."
"Then you are trying to help him?" Daigre asked, seeming confused.
"It is my last chance to help him give up this malignant hatred of his fellow man," Norio replied. "I hope you will take it to him, just as you swore to."
Daigre stared at Norio. He looked at the sword in his hand and raised it to Norio's chest. Norio did not flinch. Instead, he looked Daigre in the eye.
"I do have one more question," Daigre said, turning the sword back on Alex, who was still on the ground. "Why do you smell like sap?"
"You gave me a bath in it today."
"That was you on the bridge, then?" Daigre smiled. "You were not left to die in the fire?"
"The fire was my idea," Alex replied. “And my friends would never leave me to die.”
“You are a brave young man,” Daigre smiled. “It is my honor to have fought you today.” He inserted his sword back into its sheath, making it a walking stick once again. "I will take your message to The Guile, Silent Gardener," he told Norio.
"May you find what you are seeking," Norio said, and then bowed.
Daigre returned the bow. He picked up the scroll where it lay on the ground, tied it up with the ribbon, and placed it back in his pouch. He then pulled the pistol out of his sash and tossed it back to Alex.
"I hope to see you again, garden keeper," Norio said.
"After I speak to The Guile," Daigre said, "I may find the chance to return and tell you about it."
“You know where to find me," Norio said. "Farewell."
"Wait," Alex said, picking up the pistol. "We still have a spy to worry about. Who is it?"
"I do not know," Daigre said. "I only know that the spy is a wanderer. I was given a question to verify their identity. Benac took it upon himself to make the rendezvous himself, however, so I never met this person."
"What was the question?" Alex asked.
"What do I have when I see the stars beneath my feet?"
"Another riddle? Great," Alex deadpanned. "What's the answer?"
Daigre began walking down the hill. "The world in my hands." He said to them, then continued on his way.
"Put the pistol away, Alex," Norio said. "He is not our enemy."
Alex holstered the weapon and brushed himself off. "We'd better get back before Colonel Seneca blows up the Narrow," he said. "Do you know who the spy is?"
"No." As they turned toward the canyon, Norio took the walking stick off his sash and tossed it in the grass.
“Why did you do that?” Alex asked.
“Alex,” Norio smiled, “it is just a piece of wood.”
“Then where’s your sword?”
“I hid it before I left Celestial City,” Norio replied. “I wanted you to have it if I did not return.”
“You’d make a great poker player,” Alex smirked. "How did you beat us here, by the way?"
"Simple," Norio replied. "I rode on the train with you."
Alex stopped in his tracks, speechless.
"I rode in Genedi's cabin below deck," Norio told him.
Chapter Fifty-Six
After a quick look at his pocket watch, Alex lit four flares and gave two to Norio. He told the Jovian that time was short, and hoped he was ready to run. Norio was ready, and so they weaved quickly through the winding gaps in the rock toward the Plainsman Territory.
"Halt," a voice echoed in the dark, followed by the locking of a rifle bolt.
"Spot?" Alex shouted. "It's me. Alex."
"It's a good thing you made it back," Wyler said, emerging from a shadow. "Five more minutes and you'd be looking for another way home." Wyler eyed Norio suspiciously. "Who's this?"
"A friend," Alex said. "He was guarding the tunnel from the other end."
"Anyone else coming?" Wyler asked.
"No, let's head back."
Colonel Seneca and his team were placing the last explosives into a crevice further down the canyon. They paused momentarily when they heard footsteps, then resumed working when they saw who was coming.
"Any time you're ready, Colonel," Alex said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "We've got everything under control on this end."
"Did you kill the Jovian?"
"No," Alex said. "We let him go."
"You let him go?" Seneca asked incredulously, and then noticed Norio standing beside him.
"I don't believe he's a threat anymore," Alex replied.
"Well," Seneca decided not to press the issue. "None of them will be much of a threat after we crush this canyon under a kilometer of rock. You can tell me the story later."
"Where are Leeds and Sturm?" Alex asked.
"I left them to cover our retreat in case any Jugs came back." Seneca said. "We're all set here. Men, grab your packs
and double-time back to the plateau."
"Oh, wonderful," Brady moaned. "We get to cross all those boulders again." Seneca lit the fuse and took the lead.
When the team saw sunlight above them ten minutes later, they knew they were almost back to their home territory. They kept their pace up, knowing an explosive shockwave would bring down the Narrow in only a few minutes.
They were only a few hundred meters from the exit when they saw two forms lying motionless on the canyon floor. It took only a moment to verify it was Sturm and Leeds. Both had been killed by swords.
“Defensive formation,” Seneca hissed, and gave hand signals for specific fields of fire that they were to cover. As the team went around him, Seneca examined the fallen men. One had been stabbed in the stomach. The other's neck was slashed.
Wyler and Gurnig lined up on the sides of the stairway and checked every direction. "No one, sir." Gurnig shouted back to the colonel.
“We don't have much time, sir,” Brady reminded the colonel. "Less than a minute before the charges go off."
"Bring them," Seneca said through clenched teeth. “They’re coming home with us.”
Traore and Brady lifted the two bodies over their shoulders and hustled down the stairs onto the plateau.
"Take cover by the corral," Seneca ordered.
As everybody cleared the Narrow’s opening, the charges went off.
A silent rumble shook the plateau. Dust and gravel fell from the cliff above and bounced around them. The shaking didn't stop with the detonation, though. Its intensity grew until it seemed they were in a magnetic quake. With larger rocks now splintering off the cliff face above, the team ran to the far edge of the plateau for safety. Alex felt a shudder run through the bedrock and saw the bedrock crack beneath them. It separated in the middle and settled at a slight downward angle. The boulders that were left from the battle begin to roll down the new slope. The team avoided those by moving up to the ledge on the south end.
A billowing cloud of dust roared out of the tunnel. Rock chips ricocheted off the stairway as the sound of the explosion finally reached them, amplified from its confined pathway through the Narrow. The plateau shuddered and dropped. No one was able to keep a steady footing under the violent force of the ensuing quake. Boulders clacked against each other in the Crumbles, shifting and loosening with the vibration.
When the quake finally stopped, the entire plateau had shifted. Everyone looked warily at the cliff above to see if any more rocks or boulders were going to fall down. There was nothing left.
"We must have breached an underground cavern," Brady said.
"So much the better," Seneca said. "Let's get off this damn mountain."
Brady and Traore carried Sturm and Leeds over their shoulders towards the Sentinel Bridge.
"Where's Kate?" Seneca asked.
"Kate?" Alex called out, thinking she had simply returned to camp. When the team arrived at the camp and found her dirty outfit, plus evidence she had cleaned herself up by the pool. Her parlo knife and machete lay on the ground nearby, stained with blood. The camp had been ransacked.
Traore picked up the blades and looked them over. "This blood is fresh," he noted.
"Kate!" Alex yelled. He saw the bodies of the Jugs who had fallen from the bridge in the fighting earlier. They were piled in a red-stained heap in the sunlight on nearby boulders. As expected, all were dead. Kate was still nowhere to be seen.
"I think our men were killed with these blades," Brady said, looking at the parlo and machete.
"What?" Seneca grabbed the blades and compared them with his dead men's wounds. After a long silence, he turned to Alex. "They were."
"She couldn't have done it," Alex insisted. "Someone must have taken them from her."
"The handles are still sticky," Brady said. "Could they really take them away from her? You saw how quickly she pinned the colonel." Everyone turned to Alex for an explanation.
"I don't know," he replied. "I don't know anything, except it couldn't have been her." Alex stared at Norio, who only frowned. Seneca's face had become unreadable.
"How many times has she been to the Crumbles?" Traore asked. "She knows her way around better than the Jugs do. She even admitted coming here."
"Don't accuse her of this," Alex warned.
"How many times has she been in custody for breaking the law?" Seneca asked Alex.
Alex looked at Seneca in shock. "I know she doesn't fit in, colonel" he argued. "You all thought she was just sun-baked before. Look, we wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for her!"
The soldiers looked at Seneca for direction. Seneca looked at the bodies of his dead men. "No one gets near her," he ordered. "We find her, and we subdue her."
"If she fights back?" Traore asked.
"Shoot her," Seneca replied.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
"No," Alex stood his ground. "It wasn't her."
"Your judgment is clouded," Seneca replied. "Alex, we've talked about this, about trust. How well do you really know her?"
"Well enough to believe in her," Alex said.
"Would you put your life in her hands?" Seneca asked.
"I already have," Alex said flatly. "So have you. I'm going after her. Alone."
"No, you're not," Brady snarled. "She's ours."
"Let him go," Seneca ordered Brady. He turned to Alex. "Deputy, you have a job to do. Remember your duty."
Alex locked stares with Seneca. There was nothing of the sympathetic man he remembered from the plateau; he was now a cold, heartless commander with two dead soldiers on the ground next to him. "I know my job," Alex said, and checked his weapons. Without another word, he left the pursuit team behind.
Alex looked across the Crumbles and saw scavenger birds circling in the distance. He remembered seeing them when they first arrived at the Sentinel Bridge. They weren't above the bridge any longer, so they were attracted to something else. As the birds generally picked from the carcasses of dead animals, Alex deduced they must be following a foul smell. He knew there was only thing he'd smelled recently that could be mistaken for a dead animal, so he sat off across the boulders at a run. Keeping the birds in sight as he jumped down tier after tier of loosely stacked boulders, he gained on them quickly.
Three figures moved along the unevenly stacked boulders in the distance. Alex carefully worked his way along one of the higher tiers to get a look at them without being seen. Kate was there, dressed in Sarah's white linen outfit, walking next to Marshal Redland. The third figure wasn't readily identifiable. He walked about thirty meters ahead of the other two. Alex got out his binoculars to get a better look. It was a fat man dressed in ill-fitted clothing. He wore a Jovian sword on his belt.
Benac.
Alex studied Redland and Kate closer. They were heading away from him, so he couldn't see their faces. When Redland shared a drink of water with her and put his hands around her shoulder, Alex put the binoculars away. He was tempted to let them continue on their way, to forget what he'd seen, to forget how he'd started to feel about Kate. Maybe trust was something he'd never understand. Maybe The Guile was right; trusting people makes you weak. It was easy to lose trust in Redland; he'd already had his doubts about the marshal. For Kate, it felt like a hole had been burned through his heart, a hole like the kind Daigre described at the old village.
Alex began to follow them again. Colonel Seneca had been right. He was still officially a marshal's deputy, regardless of the fact that the badge came from a liar and a traitor. There was just one more duty he would have to perform before returning home, and he knew somehow that he would feel no remorse when he was finished.
Alex marked a path that would close the distance between them, while still keeping an uphill advantage. He ran as fast as he could, minding the loosened boulders that shifted beneath him. When he was three tiers above their position, he stopped and unsnapped his holster.
"Ho, marshal," Alex called out.
Redland and Benac startled. The
y stopped walking and turned towards Alex. Kate looked up and waved.
"Ho, deputy," Redland answered, putting a big smile on. "Looks like we have the whole posse together now."
"I don't think that's exactly what we have," Alex said.
"Not officially," Redland agreed. "Kate told me you deputized her. It's not strictly protocol, but I agree with your decision. She'll make a fine lawman. Lawperson, excuse me." He gave Kate that disarming smile. She smiled back at him.
"What are you doing, Marshal?" Alex asked. He looked at Benac, who had his arms on his hips, shaking his head in annoyance.
"Transportin' a prisoner," Redland said. "You may remember Benac here from the Celeste?"
"He is the one who gave me these burns?" Benac asked Redland sharply.
"Quiet!" Redland shouted at Benac, throwing him a warning look. "Where's the militia, Alex?"
Alex pointed a thumb back towards the plateau. "Not coming."
"I told them not to blow up the Narrow," Redland said. "Got themselves killed, eh?"
Alex shrugged.
"Come on down, then," Redland offered. "Looks like you need some company, and I can always use more help." As he was talking, he stepped behind Kate and put both hands on her shoulders.
"Why does Benac have a sword if he's your prisoner?" Alex asked.
Redland kept smiling. "That's an interesting question."
Alex paused. The marshal was normally a very direct person. It wasn't like him to play coy. It wasn't like him to hide behind someone else, either.
"Why does he have a sword, marshal?" Kate asked. “He is the very bad man.”
Redland looked down at Kate and squeezed her shoulders until she winced.
"That hurts," she complained.
Alex locked eyes with Redland. If there was one thing he’d always been able to trust, it was his instincts. He put all his trust in them now. "I've got another interesting question for you Marshal," Alex shouted. "What do you have when you see the stars beneath your feet?"