by Jaleta Clegg
"I'll be fine, trust me," he said. His face was too pale. He leaned back, holding his cut arm tightly with his other hand.
I reached for the bottom of his tunic. He raised his eyebrow at me and gave me a grin.
"Don't say it," I said. I sawed at the bottom of the tunic with the knife. It was dull, the tunic was tough.
"Would it help if I took it off?" he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"You'd just sunburn without it. Besides Tayvis would want you to explain what you're doing without a shirt, out here alone with me."
He laughed. And ended with a gasp of pain as he moved.
"What else?" I asked.
"This is a change, isn't it? Last time you were the one getting beat up."
The bottom of his tunic finally split, a tiny cut at one side. I grabbed either side of the tear and pulled. The bottom ripped off, a short strip that I hoped was long enough. I wrapped it around his arm and tied it tightly over the makeshift bandage.
A hail of bullets ripped through the shrub next to me. I ducked, automatically recocking the rifle and rolling onto my belly. I saw the edge of the flyer. I fired once. The flyer backed off.
"We have to get out of here," I said.
"You go on, I'll stay here and cover your retreat."
"I won't leave you here, Will. You're one of the few people I like."
"I'm flattered."
"So what else is busted?"
"I twisted my ankle. I'm not going anywhere for a while."
Another rain of bullets tore up a different shrub. I fired at the tail pipe of the flyer as it zipped past. There was a squeal of tortured metal. The flyer rose abruptly and sped away.
"You want to rip up the rest of my clothes?" Will offered.
"I don't know what to do with a twisted ankle," I answered. "That wasn't covered in the basic med class. We only did things like burns and engine coolant poisoning and blaster hits."
He laughed again. It was strained. There were lines of pain around his eyes.
"I think you did more than twist it," I said, watching him wince as he tried to move his leg.
I looked around the split. It narrowed into nothing not far behind Will. I could see sky above. The rocks looked rough enough to give me some kind of hand and foot holds. There was no way Will was going to make it out, though. Not without a rope and lot of help.
"We can't just sit here," I muttered, thinking.
The Trythians below us shouted something. I crawled back to the cliff to see why. One of the flyers had blasted most of the boulders to rubble. The Trythians were climbing over, streaming up the canyon. I glanced up, straining out into the canyon, looking where the canyon widened out and flattened into the less steep slope where the trees grew. I didn't see anyone there, only the wreckage of one of the flyers and a column of thick black smoke rising from it.
The first Trythians reached the flatter spot. They shouted and charged. Three of them tumbled headlong and lay still on the ground. The others hesitated then backed away, looking for cover. Three more fell. I turned away, unable to watch.
"What?" Will asked.
"They're being shot," I answered. I looked up the cleft. "I'm going to climb out."
"You're leaving me?"
"You're a big boy, you can wait for help." I handed him the rifle. "If they're close enough to see you, it will be very hard for you to miss."
"Thanks, I feel so much better now."
"I meant it about liking you, Will." I walked behind him, where the crack narrowed, and reached up to wedge my hands onto a narrow ledge of stone. "Don't go anywhere."
"Take your time, Dace. I've got all day."
He didn't have that long, not unless I'd managed to stop the bleeding from his arm. The sooner I got him help, the better. I stretched my leg up, wedging my foot onto a rock. I heaved upwards and reached higher for more handholds. I climbed steadily, sweat pouring down my back as I pulled myself up the narrow crack. I only stopped to rest when my foot slipped. My arms were shaking, my legs not much better. I shoved myself up high enough I could wedge my back end on a rock wide enough to barely support me.
"You stopping for lunch?" Will called up.
I looked down at him. I'd climbed halfway. The shouts and screams and shots still echoed into the narrow cleft. I wiped sweat from my face, balancing precariously on one foot, one hand, and half my butt. I pushed up again, reaching over my head for more holds.
I finally made it to the top, crawling onto flatter rocks with a groan. I lay still, panting and sweating, until my heart slowed back down. The remnants of the rain still pooled on the rocks, but they were shrinking rapidly under the sun's harsh glare. I pushed myself to hands and knees, crawling to the nearest puddle. It looked relatively clean. I didn't see anything more than gravel in the water. I scooped up a handful and drank it. It was barely cool.
I drank two more handfuls before I could stand again. I got to my feet and started down the rock, heading for the trees.
A jolt of paralyzing pain caught me before I'd gone more than a dozen steps. I fell to the rock, almost in a puddle of water. I clenched my teeth against the scream I wanted to give. Sparks of pure pain fired from every nerve in my body. I tried to drag myself farther. My muscles locked and refused to move.
Footsteps crunched close. I saw a pair of boots that could only belong to a Trythian. The boot swung back then forward, crunching into my side. I groaned. The Trythian picked me up by the back of my jacket, his hand twisting the fabric. I tried to wiggle my arms free. They barely twitched.
Faces watched from the trees, peering from the bushes. A rock spiraled out of the trees, landing not far away. My captor dragged me back, away from the trees. More rocks pelted around us. The pain faded. I could move again. I sagged limply from my captor's hand, waiting for the right moment.
My foot caught on a bush. I used it to push myself up and away. I used his handhold on my jacket as a pivot. My fist swung up, aimed at his face, with all the force I could muster behind it. I missed his chin. My punch caught him on the shoulder instead. He growled in surprise and tossed me away.
I landed in a bush, knocking the wind from me. More hands grabbed me, hauling me to my feet. My arms were twisted behind me and tied. I was facing the forest, fighting as much as I could. I saw Vance watching me being hauled away.
"Get Will!" I shouted, hoping he'd understand.
One of the Trythians clubbed me over the head. I saw stars and darkness. My legs went rubbery. I was picked up and slung over a shoulder. I tried to kick out. They hit me again. This time I went limp. They walked swiftly away.
Chapter 41
I was dropped unceremoniously on the ground. I spit out a mouthful of grit, trying to get up on my knees. I was clubbed again from behind. I tumbled back to the ground. My hands had gone numb a long time ago. I struggled to get back up.
"You should just quit, Pooki," Lilliasa's cold voice informed me.
I lay on the ground, resting for a minute. She sat under a tree in the shade. We were back down the canyon, in a twisted valley filled with tall trees. They'd dropped me in one of the few patches of sun I could see. Lilliasa sipped from a cup. I licked my lips, suddenly thirsty. I heard a stream burbling not far away.
"You've been a very bad pet, Pooki," Lilliasa said, setting the cup aside. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you."
I watched her coming close to me. Part of my mind, the part Reashay had trained, whimpered and cringed. I ignored it. I got back to my knees and rolled to sit. Lilliasa paused, head tilted to one side as she watched me.
"You've lost," I said.
"But we're winning. Your slaves are running out of food. They have nowhere to go. It's only a matter of time before hunger or the weather drives them down. And then we have them. They will be punished." She leaned close over me. "Just like you," she whispered, her voice pure ice.
"Look to the sky, Lilliasa," I said. "You told me to go. You told me to bring back my ships."
"Your precious Empire," she sneered, turning her back. "Thousands of worlds. Millions of ships. A dreamer's fantasy."
"They're coming, Lilliasa. Over a hundred ships. How many have you got? Fifty?"
She turned back, her lip curled in disdain. I saw the betraying twitch of fear in her eyes, though.
"Or maybe it was five hundred ships. I forget. Most of them are bigger than anything you've got, so it doesn't really matter. You've lost."
"You lie!"
"Call your outposts. Contact your moons. See what your ships out there say. They'll be here tomorrow."
She stood still, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"I dare you." I said enunciating each word. She'd dared me to bring the Patrol. Now it was my turn to fling it into her face.
"Kill her," Lilliasa said, turning her back on me.
Several of the big Trythian men moved in.
"Let me help you, Lilliasa," I said. "Let me call them. Let me talk to them. They will help if you ask it."
She stopped. The men hesitated, watching her.
"You kill me and they will sterilize your planet. They will kill everything, after they rescue what's left of the humans." I knew the Patrol wouldn't ever do that, but the threat sounded good.
She was worried now, though she tried not to show it. "Your Empire is probably one world, a poor one. Your thousand ships are probably no more than a few small ships. Your technology is no match for ours."
"You don't really believe that. Did you ever ask them where they found humans? Did you ever ask them about our ships? Did you ever wonder why there are so few females?"
The men shifted uneasily. I guessed that at least some of them had been on the raids that captured human ships. They knew what I hinted.
"I said kill her," Lilliasa screamed at the men. She whirled on her heel and stomped away, into the trees.
The Trythians loomed over me. I bowed my head. I'd gambled and lost. I waited, wondering how they were going to kill me. One of them grabbed my arms. I caught the flash of a knife out of the corner of my eye. I flinched. The ropes on my arms parted. My hands fell painfully to my side. I lifted them into my lap, wincing at how swollen they were.
They moved quickly. I saw another flash of metal. One of them slipped a collar around my neck. It snapped closed.
"No," I said. I pulled at the collar, pawing at it with hands clumsy and numb. I was starting to panic. I didn't want to be a slave again. I couldn't pretend anymore.
Pain flared from the collar, white hot screaming pain. I tried to fight against it. I tried to stay upright. I lost my balance and fell back to the dirt. The pain burned on and on. I writhed on the ground, whimpering. The pain finally faded. I lay curled up, gasping and sobbing.
"Slaves will be punished," Lilliasa said. "I was too hasty. I should have thought of this earlier. It is so much more satisfying."
"Let me go, Lilliasa," I grated through clenched teeth. I pushed myself up again, my head spinning dizzily from the pain.
I was answered with another blast from her wand. She did something to the power. It was stronger than before. I sprawled on the ground, muscles convulsing. Each breath was a struggle against the gripping pain. When it finally eased, I lay still, my face pressed to the dirt. I watched one finger on my hand continue to twitch.
"Des Ro-Shera," one of the men said, "we must move. Night is coming."
"Are you afraid of a handful of pitiful slaves?" Lilliasa shouted. I risked a glance towards her. Her icy control cracked. Her mouth was pinched, her hair beginning to unravel from the braids. Her dress was streaked with dirt and tree sap.
"Des Ro-Shera, we have stayed here too long. They are coming." The man was afraid, it was obvious in his voice.
The humans must be winning. I wondered if Will had been rescued yet. My mind was wandering, thinking of anything but the collar I wore again. I missed the next few comments.
"The equipment is back at the camp," another man was saying. "What if she is telling the truth? We tracked a ship landing here three days ago, a ship like we've never seen before."
"She could not have flown one of our ships. She's lying." Lilliasa sounded doubtful herself, making her words more forceful as if that would make them more true.
Someone picked me up, his hand twisted in my jacket. I dangled at the end of his arm, barely on tiptoe.
"Where did these clothes come from?" he asked Lilliasa. "Where did their weapons come from?"
"She lies!"
"Then, des Ro-Shera, let us go back to the camp and prove her lies."
"You will stay here, and attack the slaves. They must be taught a lesson. They must be punished."
The Trythian holding me eased his grip. I stood on my feet again.
"What did you do to Mayguena?" I asked Lilliasa. Anything to keep her stirred up. Angry people made mistakes. I figured I was dead anyway. Sooner, rather than later.
"She was a traitor, to our people. She broke the Code." Lilliasa turned her angry gaze on me. The sun caught her as she moved, gilding her hair and making her eyes blaze. I shivered involuntarily. "She believed your lies. About being equal. About slavery being wrong."
"It is wrong to keep another—"
"Shut up," she hissed, slapping me.
I staggered but recovered my balance. I stood as tall as I could. She stepped closer, so close her dress brushed against me. She loomed over me, using her taller height to advantage. She was short for a Trythian, very short, but she was still tall enough that I had to look up to meet her eyes.
"The weak will serve the strong. You are weak. Or you would not be slaves. It is written in the Code." She smiled. "The strong are made to rule. We make ourselves strong. We prove our strength while you crawl pitifully in the mud."
I stared at her. It was at that moment that I fully realized just how alien she was. She looked human, very human, but she was not. She raised the wand. I lunged forward, trying to knock it from her hand. She stepped backwards, laughing as I sprawled at her feet.
The pain washed over me again. I fought it, not giving in to the screaming in my nerves. I reached deep inside myself and found strength I didn't know I had. I pushed myself to my feet. Lilliasa backed away, her smile replaced by a frightened frown.
My collar buzzed. The pain was choking. I gritted my teeth and used that strange strength inside me to push it back. Echoes of memories that weren't mine flashed through my mind. I'd touched that part of Mart's soul that was now part of mine. I felt their fear, I tasted their uncertainty. I drew strength from them. I used it to push the energy of the collar away, to shield myself from the crippling pain.
Lilliasa's hands shook, her anger washed from her face. She was pale, frightened as she stared at me. The controller for the collar dropped from her hand. She backed away, shaking her head. Red hair tumbled loose around her pale face.
"That which does not kill us only makes us stronger," I said. "Reashay taught me that."
"What are you?" Lilliasa shrieked. "Demon!"
"Human," I answered. I bent and picked up the controller. I touched the controls for the collar. It broke loose, dropping to the ground at my feet. "Mostly," I added as an afterthought. I dropped the controller next to the collar.
I was watching Lilliasa, not the others. I thought she was the real threat. One of the male Trythians behind me came at me with a wordless growl. His fist caught the side of my head.
I went sprawling on the ground, stunned.
They stripped off my jacket and emptied all the pockets of my suit. They tied me up securely and then put the collar back on. I tried to resist. They hit me again.
"Tricks," Lilliasa sneered. Her hands were full of the assorted gadgets I'd had in my pockets. She dropped them to the ground and smashed them under her boots. She probably thought they could affect the collar somehow. I hadn't even thought of that. It was too late now. I was too tired to fight back. Whatever I'd done before had drained what energy I had.
"Bring her." Lilliasa turned
her back.
"We should kill her now," one of the men argued.
"We should see if she tells the truth first," another answered.
"I said bring her," Lilliasa snapped.
"We do not take orders from women," the man standing over me shouted.
"I am the heir to the Triad. I am des Ro-Shera. As it is written in the ancient Code and in the Prophecies of Seancum. One shall arise."
"We have heard your prophecies," the man answered. He bowed his head.
His hand fastened on my shoulder. He pulled me to my feet and shoved me. I stumbled and almost fell. Another one caught my arm and dragged me across the scuffed dirt under the trees. They were moving, downhill, away from the canyon. I was shoved along in the middle of their group.
The sun was setting by the time they reached their camp at the base of the mountains. I stumbled, so tired I could barely move. They pushed me, shoving when I faltered. I'd fallen more than once. My jumpsuit was smeared with dirt and I ached with bruises.
Lilliasa seemed to have forgotten me. She walked in front, head high, not even glancing back once. She set the pace. The men kept me to it.
Their camp was what I'd expected. Lots of fancy tents of heavy cloth were set up in concentric circles. The most important, judging by the fancy decorations, was right in the center. Trythians were busy everywhere in the camp. A row of ground transports and two flyers were parked to one side. The flyers showed evidence of damage.
There was a wide space in front of the fanciest tent. Lilliasa sat in a chair hastily pulled from the tent and set in front of the door. I was shoved to the ground in front of her. I lay where I landed.
A crowd gathered around us, standing silently in a circle. Time passed. I used my hands, tied in front of me this time, to shove myself up to sit on the ground. I took three deep breaths, gathering my energy. I got to my feet. A large hand in my back sent me back to my knees. I took the hint and stayed there.
"We sit in judgment," Lilliasa said pompously. "This slave has broken our laws."