“You can’t rescue someone from her. You’ll all die,” one of the men argued.
“Dex, he didn’t ask your opinion,” Kraven muttered, waving his people down the stairs, but never taking his eye off Tray.
“You’re not thinking of helping him!” Dex huffed, crossing his arms.
“Ten minutes ago, you wanted to take this ship to the plateau and plunder the city!” Kraven said.
“Extracting a person is a whole different—”
“Dex!” Kraven interrupted. “We have all lost family to the destroyer. His desire to save his friend is natural.”
Kraven smirked, glancing up at the woman still on middeck with Sky and Amanda. A second rustling above changed his expression. Saskia herded the final five Nelka scavengers into the bay. Tray counted the twelve several times to reassure himself.
“Lay down your weapons or someone dies,” Saskia warned, pushing one of the Nelka against the railing of the upper catwalk.
“Or if you wish, take your people and go,” Tray said quickly, hoping to keep the peace. “We appreciate your warning.”
Kraven looked between Tray and Saskia, and opted to lay his weapon down. The others followed suit, and Saskia pushed her hostages down into the bay. She stayed up high to cover them all with her stunner, which had no charge, but her stone-cold face carried the bluff with ease. Danny emerged from the lower deck hatch, pulse rifle in hand.
“Nolwazi, restore air circulation,” Danny ordered. A fan kicked on, but served only to circulate the hot, humid air.
“Is there more you can tell us about Liza? Has she ever taken prisoners before?” Tray asked, pushing Danny’s weapon down. The Nelka had already laid down arms. There was no need to threaten.
“They said the city houses a weapon that makes the ground shake,” Danny added.
Kraven cackled. “She is the weapon that makes the ground shake. That’s why the boy keeps her in the city. Not to protect her, but to protect us. She is unstable.”
“She’s more than a mind-reader, then?” Danny checked.
“That was her first use as a weapon,” Kraven explained. “They never could control the weapon.”
“Maybe they shouldn’t have made her watch while they murdered her parents,” Tray muttered, feeling a rush in his chest and a need to protect Liza from slander.
“The girl doesn’t have parents. She was created in a lab,” Kraven scoffed. “She was created to be a weapon. They both were. The parents they saw die were Xentu thieves who stole them, but not to save them—to use them as weapons against their own creators. The Praet had just gotten them back when the Dome died. The girl killed everyone.”
“How could you know that?” Sky asked, scooting down the stairs. “There are no survivors.”
“The city’s database had nothing about hybrids. Kerris learned conflicting histories. He wasn’t even sure which side was telling him the truth,” Danny added.
“My father survived,” Kraven said. “He and a team of five military engineers were outside the Dome, cutting back the overgrowth in preparation for an underground invasion pathway. They witnessed the destruction.”
“I’m sorry,” Tray said.
“Is he still alive?” Sky asked, tearing up. “Are any of them?”
“No,” Kraven said. “They joined the Gavameti. And Liza destroyed them.”
“What do you mean, destroyed?” Tray asked.
“She turned them to dust. All of Boone is dust, and all that is left of the Gavameti is the same, lifeless dust.” There was a murmur among the Nelka, and Honor put a hand on Kraven’s elbow. “A string of dead tribes along these hills is all the proof that I need that she is the weapon of destruction. Kerris doesn’t know how to kill her, so he keeps her there, in that city, where there’s nothing left to kill,” Kraven growled, concentrating his glare on Tray. “If your friend isn’t dead, then he will be soon. And so, too, will you if you return for him. I imagine Kerris pushed your ship out of the city to save you. He is the one who warned us about her.”
Confused and concerned, Tray looked to his brother for guidance.
“I have to go back for Hawk,” Sky said, coming down the stairs. “Kraven, if there’s a chance I can save him, I have to try.”
“I’m not stopping you,” Kraven said, stepping back, letting his people surround and comfort him.
“We can’t fly this ship back to Boone. Can you help us?” Sky asked.
Kraven’s chin dropped.
“That’s not his choice,” Dex spoke up, taking the foxtail sash from Kraven and stepping in front of the others.
“We take it to the council,” Honor agreed. “All voices will be heard before a decision is made.”
“What can they offer us? No weapons? No way to destroy the city?” Dex challenged.
“Skipper here is a major business owner in Quin—the Domes south of here where the rockets launch. If you want a city that size to trade with you, he’s the only connection you need.”
“Let’s part ways peacefully while both sides decide what we want and what we’re willing to offer,” Tray said quickly, before Sky could promise them too much. “If we don’t hear from you within the hour, we’ll assume you’ve decided not to help.”
“We’ll return tomorrow at sunrise,” Sky said, motioning the Nelka to collect their weapons and opening the back door. “We came a long way on foot. I’ll return by ‘sled in the morning.”
Tray nodded, and clasped his hands behind his back, resisting the urge to dive for cover as the Nelka reclaimed their weapons. Danny followed them to the door and locked it behind them.
“I cannot believe you just waltzed in here expecting them not to shoot you!” Danny griped.
“They didn’t tie me up,” Tray retorted. “I think my technique is improving.”
29
Sky’s mind whirred as she followed the Nelka back to their camp. Being in the back of the group, she didn’t have to worry as much about spider webs, but every now and then a branch whipped across the path and slapped her skin.
“Sunrise?” Honor smirked, coming next to Sky as soon as the path widened, making sure her hot breath hit the exposed skin on Sky’s neck. “Is that time for us to say goodbye or time for you to escape?”
“Hmm?” Sky asked, linking arms with her new friend. “Just time.”
They were less than an hour’s walk from Oriana, but Sky could tell by looking at the crew that they needed time to rest and regroup.
“Are you really going back, or do you need to run from them?” Honor asked. “We can help.”
Sky smiled, leaning in and letting the other woman embrace her. “I need to go back.”
They crossed into the Nelka camp—quite literally a circle of wagons around a central cooking area. They kept everything mobile, and had at least two power sources per vehicle so that they could use whatever suited their needs and resources at the time. One of their wagons even had a water wheel on the back so they could use hydropower and go fishing whenever they were near a river.
“I noticed not one of them called you by name. Did you not give them one?” Honor asked.
“They’ve heard a few of my names. They’ve also seen what happens when the wrong person hears the wrong one. Skipper started calling me ‘Meryl.’ But I think just to annoy me.”
Honor made a face, but Sky was too torn to laugh off the confession. She was ready to start over and it pained her that her connection to Hawk forced her to go back.
“Why don’t you make a run for the hills and I’ll go back to Boone to save your friend,” Honor suggested.
Sky sighed appreciatively and looped her arms around Honor’s neck, giving her a kiss. “You would raid a city and rescue a stranger for me?”
They kissed again and Sky threaded her fingers through the ribbons that comprised Honor’s clothes, teasing against the dark, firm skin beneath.
“There is time for this later,” Dex crowed, bursting between them, taking Sky by the arm. “We must t
alk strategy. We must talk weapons.”
“Dex, you are not in charge,” Honor whined, wrestling him off Sky. “Let Kraven get his thoughts together. Half the council is out on a hunt and won’t return until evening.”
“Those people are reckless. Do you really believe they’ll wait? We must find a way to destroy the city before those children destroy us!” Dex insisted.
Sky felt Honor’s hands snaking around her waist, but she stepped out of the embrace to address Dex.
“You can’t destroy the city,” Sky said. “A blast took out everything on that whole plateau and didn’t make a dent in those drones.”
“The blast destroyed everything organic,” Kraven spoke up, his eyes distant with emotion. “Only organic. Cloth, skin, plants. We are destroying metal and stone this time.”
“I thought you wanted to kill the girl,” Sky said. Her arguments felt weak. She wanted to save Hawk, but felt defeated already, both because of the power they faced and the freedom she sacrificed to save him.
“Do you know how to kill endemics?” Kraven asked.
“No.”
“Because there is no way,” Dex huffed. “So we take away everything that keeps the destroyer attached to this realm. We show her what it is like to lose everything. We drive her to the other realm and let the spirits deal with her.”
Sky’s skin chilled and she stepped closer to Honor, grasping for the woman’s hand. “Just so long as I get Hawk out of there first. You have to give me time to get him out.”
Hawk sat in the window, letting the sun shine on his face. It had been days since he’d seen sunlight, and they would have taken his glider up today, if Oriana hadn’t been attacked by droids. Hawk still wasn’t clear on what happened to them, only that they were gone and he was trapped in this Dome with two people who scared the wits out of him. He checked the projection on his Virp. The battery still showed half. It bothered him that the percentage never went down, even as the hours passed. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the number, channeling his magic to see if it went up. He peeked again.
“Did it work?” Liza asked, chomping on a skewer of meat.
“Kerf!” Hawk cried, falling out of the window and hitting the hard-packed dirt. Liza laughed at him, and Hawk grumbled as he stood and brushed himself off. “Did what work?”
“The battery?” Liza asked, taking another bite. Hawk cringed. He was getting used to telepathic communication, and the translation from his Virp felt jarring, but he kept it running on principle.
“Liza, stay out of his head,” Kerris droned, shuffling past with a meat skewer of his own. Hawk looked over his shoulder, thinking of running away, but knowing the only food for him was here. At least, they’d given him his own room for the night.
“It’s not on purpose, Kerris!” Liza argued, heading back to the kitchen. “There are six people in my head. Do you have any idea how much Tray eats? I spent the last half hour prepping a bird for him. With him. I don’t even know the right words for this!”
“You can talk to Tray?” Hawk asked. “Can I talk to him?
“I don’t know. Can you?” Liza asked, her tone inviting.
“How do I?” he asked.
“If you let me into your head, I’ll take you to him,” Liza offered. “Although, he’s thinking of Saskia right now. I don’t actually have to take over Saskia’s body to feel the way he holds her.”
“Liza!” Kerris admonished.
“I can’t stop feeling the sun on my face just because it upsets you,” she griped, rolling her eyes. “Let’s give it a shot before they crawl into bed, because that is going to feel weird.”
“Bed,” Hawk said, feeling himself transported to that tiny room on the lowest level of the ship where they forced to sleep shoulder to shoulder. “Geneculture.”
“No, no!” Liza shouted, her blue ghost intercepting the memory and pulling Hawk into the present. “Aren’t you glad I saved you from any more nights in that room?”
Hawk shuddered. He resented being here, but he was grateful Liza could save him from the spiral of nasty memories.
“We haven’t saved him from anything yet,” Kerris commented.
“I’m winging it, Kerris,” Liza said. “If I had my way, we’d all hide in the Spirit Realm until they went away. Or we’d just move there forever. We may be war machines, but we are not military commanders.”
“We are not war machines,” Kerris said, a ripple of emotion emanating through the room. Hawk felt it like a twinge in his gut, saw a ripple of silver with his spirit eyes, and then it became a physical quake. That was how he’d been predicting it before; he just hadn’t realized Kerris was the source.
“And they are not our enemy,” Hawk added quietly.
“How can you say that after what they put you through?” Liza cried.
“Liza, he’s entitled to his thoughts,” Kerris said, sounding like a disinterested parent chastising a repetitive child. “It’s been a day. They haven’t returned with armadas. They’re probably planning their next move. Which is what we should do.”
“I told you my plan,” Liza muttered.
“The drones tracked you in spirit form. Ghosting is not a plan,” Kerris said.
“They didn’t track me until I was in a person,” Liza said. “We’re not calling it ghosting, are we? I want a better word.”
“Hawk, let’s take a walk,” Kerris said.
“Give him something to eat first. He’s hungry again,” Liza said, sitting on the windowsill, letting the sun hit her face. They were past the worst of the heat wave, but it was still hot in here.
“We can bring a cooling unit here,” Hawk suggested.
“We could, but all the ones that had fuel were taken to Oriana.” Kerris said, tossing a bag at Hawk and heading out the door. The burlap sac was and filled with steamed vegetables. A skewer, like the ones they used on the meat, was all Hawk had to eat with. It was kind of them to share with him.
Hesitantly, Hawk stepped outside the house, following Kerris past the stone houses, into the zone where the buildings were only half high.
“I could take you to the refinery, but I don’t know how to extract fuel,” Kerris rambled. “Liza and I always relied on other tribes coming through, and we’ve stolen what they extract.”
Hawk stabbed one of the yellow vegetables and ate, finding it difficult to walk and chew. Kerris and Liza still had salt in their kitchen, and the vegetables had a caramel glaze. “Do you think I can figure it out, or will I need to use magic?”
“We’ll see, I guess,” Kerris grinned, clapping Hawk on the back. “The oil refinery is just a few more blocks this way. We’re getting a following.”
Hawk looked behind, his throat tightening at the sight of the two greeter bots following them down the street. If they wouldn’t go into the quarry, they probably wouldn’t go into a refinery.
Like every other building on the block, the windowpanes and doors of the oil refinery were missing. The building had a solid foundation, upright walls, and a smoothly worn walkway with dips of wheel tracks. There was a softly glowing light on the door frame, where a chime would be, and when Hawk pressed it, lights came on inside. Kerris chuckled, and Hawk jerked back, cradling his hand, wondering if the light came from magic.
“Those lights always come on,” Kerris said. “Nomads have been using the oil reserve since shortly after the death of Boone. That’s how we were first adopted. By the Ennox.”
“I am adopted, too,” Hawk said, stepping into the building. He felt better, knowing it was maintained by humans. The inside of the building looked clean, but cluttered, the lighting crudely rigged and barely sufficient to illuminate the room. Chambers extended in all directions, and three pipes ran the gamut, each about a foot in diameter. The labels on the pipes were illegible.
“Liza doesn’t like this place,” Kerris said. “Which makes it perfect for us.”
“We’re still not alone,” Hawk said. “Isn’t she a mind reader?”
“
Memory reader. It’s a subtle difference. If we’re here, laying short term memories of this place, she’s more likely to exit the memory before we say anything damning,” Kerris smiled, watching Hawk with keen interest. Hawk didn’t know what to ask or say, so he went back to studying the room. The first pipe veered into a room immediately right of the door, then connected to a walking beam rig that drew oil from the ground.
“This turns,” Hawk said, running his fingers along the joint of the pumpjack. “The pump here sends the flow through that way. Where does it go?”
“Figure it out,” Kerris said, tracing the pipe back through the center chamber. Suddenly, Kerris’ phantom arm shot around Hawk’s chest and Hawk went flying across the room. The pump he’d been studying groaned and turned, the squeal of metal on metal telling him the mechanism needed lubricant.
“Are you okay?” Kerris asked.
“I did it!” he exclaimed, rolling to his knees, his eyes lighting. “My magic. It’s real. It’s working!”
“That’s great, but you can’t just start these things up without warning. You could grind your hand clean off!” Kerris admonished. “That’s the kind of physical injury Liza can’t undo!”
“But it works,” Hawk pouted, reaching around Kerris and turning off the machine. It was weird seeing with two sets of eyes.
“Hawk, there’s more I have to tell you,” Kerris whispered. “It’s about Liza. She doesn’t just read memories, she changes them.”
“That makes sense,” Hawk nodded. “The memories of all the people of Rocan are tied to the illusion of the conjurers. The conjurers even hide the truth from themselves. Only a few people can see the truth through the illusion.”
Kerris blinked rapidly, his mouth agape. “People like you?”
“No,” Hawk said, taking a deep breath. “Amanda did. And I think, Sky briefly.”
“But you saw the flask wasn’t real,” Kerris said.
“What flask?” Hawk asked.
Hybrid: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 4) Page 26