“This was what I had available to wear on Shadow,” Taya told him, her voice even and quiet. “And I fought the sky raiders, along with everyone else, when we escaped. I've fought them since I got back, too. I've faced more sky raiders in combat than you.”
“Enough.” Garek gaze snapped to Vent. “Accept Taya will be coming, or again, we can take someone else other than you. As for Dartan, I'm happy to tell him I'm dropping Taya at home in Pan Nuk before we set out, if you think that will make him less suspicious.”
Vent threw his hands into the air. “Fine. Put us back on the ground, and I'll get my two guards. And prepare to deal with Dartan at his most irritating.”
As Garek lowered the sky craft, Taya guessed that Dartan in a snit would be no more pleasant than Vent.
She glanced at Garek, and saw the unhappiness had given way to worry.
She felt the same.
The Aidan she knew would be up here, in the thick of things. Curious to have all the information she and Garek brought with them first hand.
Maybe he was tied up with his father. Or maybe he was in trouble.
THIRTY-FOUR
It was a relief to leave.
Garek streaked away from Juli with a deepening sense that all was not well with Aidan.
There was little he could do about it, though. So he'd have to trust that the princeling could take care of himself for a while.
Dartan had huffed and puffed, but he couldn't find a good reason for them not to investigate the lie Garek told him about the Fabre incursion, and he was unwilling to push too hard against it, afraid, Garek was sure, that he would be ignored, which would leave him stripped of authority.
Garek recognized the two guards Vent had picked as being from the Day Command, Nostra's team, who'd run all the way back from Pan Nuk to report on Taya's abduction.
They were introduced as Lena and Fen, and when they'd learned their true destination was Shadow, not Kadmine, they had been thrilled. With Nostra in Garamundo, Garek guessed they had the option of joining her there, or vying to replace her as Day Commander.
This trip would give them an opportunity to shine.
They both watched Taya with interest, and Garek wondered if they'd spent enough time in Pan Nuk to have heard about the Change she could call. If they had, they hadn't told Vent, but it was possible they didn't realize their guard master didn't know.
Keeping it from him had been part of the overall strategy of keeping it secret from everyone, exacerbated by his dismissive attitude toward Taya. But they would have to tell him when they made their plan of attack.
Garek's lips lifted a little at the corners.
The thought of Vent having to swallow his words when it came to Taya made him want to smile.
DOM FLEW to give Garek a rest, and Taya walked over to keep him company while Garek slept.
“You seemed to be closer to the Kardanx men who were leaving Juli than you were before.” She hadn't expected such a personal response from him when he'd ridden out of the city to help.
His lips twisted in a sardonic smile. “Some of them.”
He leaned back in the pilot's chair. “My father left straight away, he didn't wait for anyone. He tried one last time to get my mother to return to him, and when she refused, he disappeared. But I reached a peace of sorts with the others.”
“They decided to stay?”
He nodded. “Aidan offered us a permanent place in Juli if we wanted, or to put us up for a few weeks to get back our strength, and make preparations for the long journey home. My mother and the other women all decided to stay in Juli.” He paused. “Aidan offered me a position as Kardanx Liaison to West Lathor.” He gave a humorless smile. “My plan is to write the whole of our story in a missive, send it to the haidai council and let them know all communications between Kardai and West Lathor must now come through me.”
He sat in silence for a moment, and Taya could see he was enjoying thinking about the consternation that would cause.
“Most of the men chose to return home, more because it is what is familiar. They made peace with those of us who wanted to stay, they knew why. What happened--killing all the women--and then seeing the living proof of how it could have been if they hadn't done it by looking at your and Luci's people . . . it has shaken them all. Fayda keeps to himself these days, he isn't a leader of the group any more. I think he feels the weight of the blame.”
“Was he one of the ones who was retaken?” Taya couldn't remember seeing the Kardanx elder among the men lying in the road after the sky raiders had left.
Dom nodded. “He wasn't on the road, so he must have been.”
Jerilia and Lynal had come closer while Dom spoke, listening to his story, but the two guards and Vent sat against a wall, dozing. Pilar sat by the window, looking out at Shadow, getting closer and closer.
Maybe too close.
She walked through to the back, crouched down beside the pallet where Garek was sleeping, and hesitated, her hand hovering just above his shoulder.
His eyes opened, completely aware and awake. “What is it?”
“Shadow's getting close.” She let her hand drop down, smoothed it over his shoulder, and he caught it, bent his head and kissed her palm.
She stepped back, hand still in his, and pulled him up. For a moment they stood, tight in each other's arms, and then Garek pulled back reluctantly.
“I better go see.”
They walked into the pilot's chamber, and as they entered, Vent rose up, as alert and awake as Garek, although Taya would have sworn he was almost asleep before.
“What is the plan?” As Vent spoke, his two guards, Lena and Fen, rose up as well, seemingly ready for anything.
Garek looked out at Shadow, and gave a nod. “We hit the mine first, like we did last time. If we time our arrival to just before shift end, they may simply assume we're a little early.”
“And when the real transporter arrives?” Vent asked.
“If we can take it, we will. Dom can fly it back.”
Dom shook his head. “I was serious when I said I never wanted to fly one again. It's different when you're helping me, and the journey between the planets is all right, but half the time when we fled Shadow, I know I wasn't in control of the craft. I thought I was going to kill everyone in a terrible crash from the moment we got to Barit, and I never want to go through that again.”
Garek nodded. “Then we destroy it.”
Vent's lips thinned. “We should take it back.”
“Then you can fly it, if you like,” Dom told him. “I won't.”
Vent grunted, not in defeat, Taya had the feeling he planned to work on Dom, wear him down, but could see a confrontation now would only make the Kardanx dig his heels in deeper.
“How do you know when shift end is? Where the mine is?” Lena asked.
“We worked shifts in the mine for four months,” Pilar said, still sitting unmoving beside the window. “We know.”
There was silence at his words.
“So, you pretend to be there to pick up the miners,” Vent said, to prompt Garek to continue.
“We come down the ramp like we're the shift change,” Garek said, “and as soon as Taya is far enough away from the craft, she takes her knife out of the water pouch, and she sends it straight to the guards on watch.”
“Why her? Either Lena or Fen would be more accurate.”
“No,” Garek said, and there was a hint of laughter in his voice which had her looking across at him. “There were two guards last time, if there still are, then we'll need Taya, because once she hits the first guard, she can send the knife to the second one immediately, without having to fetch it back.”
“How can she do that?” Vent's tone was incredulous.
“She calls the Change with shadow ore.”
Vent stared at Garek, then swung his gaze to Taya. “You call the Change with shadow ore?” His voice was locked down, completely calm. “What does that mean?”
“It means I can manipulate it.
Direct it through the air.”
He said nothing more, but she shivered, feeling the anger radiating off him.
“You were so sure you knew everything about her,” Garek told him, and the humor was gone from his voice. “We never said anything about her abilities publicly, because Aidan and I were afraid she would be in danger because of it. And we were right, it's why Habred had her abducted. You feel foolish because you've tried to ridicule her, and now you discover she has a rare power. If you'd been less confrontational from the beginning, more curious and less derogatory, we may have chosen to trust you. As it was, you gave us no reason to do that.”
Vent's face flushed, Taya couldn't tell whether from embarrassment or fury, but eventually he gave a curt nod.
Garek nodded back, and then continued as if their little aside had never taken place.
“As soon as Taya throws the knife, we need to split into three groups. One to grab more shadow ore from the stockpile to use against any sky raiders at the mine site and to later load into the boxes we've brought. Another group needs to get into the mine, round everyone up and get them to the entrance, and the last group needs to make sure the guards die and don't have time to call for help.”
He looked up. “Dom, you and Pilar go into the mine. Get everyone out.”
Taya saw Pilar relax at the order. He'd want to see if Noor was working in the mine. No one would be more motivated to get the workers out.
“Jerilia, you take Lena, Fen and Lynal to the stockpile. Vent, you come with me, and we'll take down the sky raiders as soon as Taya destroys their helmets' air function.” Garek looked around at everyone. “All clear?”
There were nods of agreement, but Taya noticed the two who knew Vent best, Lena and Fen, edged away from him.
He was still angry.
He'd have to channel it at the sky raiders.
THIRTY-FIVE
Garek came down from on high, dropping like a stone toward the mine.
Taya told him the sky raiders had always done that when she was on Shadow, spending as much time as they could off the planet as a way to prevent contact with the air, which caused a rapid breakdown and rusting of their sky craft.
But as he came down, he knew something was wrong by the way both Taya and Jerilia suddenly stiffened as they stood by the window.
“What is it?”
“They've moved the camp to the mine.” Taya turned to him, eyes wide. “They don't need a sky craft for shift change, because everyone is living right next to the mine.”
They were almost at the landing area, and Garek ran through his options. They had lost the element of surprise. And given that, they would have no better chance to pull off a rescue than right now.
Just before he set down he saw the tattered, sad camp cobbled together from pieces of the old camp, and saw, too, that the sky raiders were ready for them.
Either they'd made plans for the possibility of attack, or they were just very quick on their feet, but there were four of them, ranged around the landing area in the big, mechanical suits they used on Shadow, already firing white lighting at the sky craft.
The white lightning didn't affect the craft itself, but it would be impossible for anyone to climb out.
Garek made as if he was going to set down in the landing area, but at the last moment he called his Change and slid the sky craft to the right, knocking one of the sky raiders over.
There was a grating sound of metal on metal.
The other three hastily moved back and spread out a little wider, two in the front, one disappearing around the back.
They started shooting again as Garek lowered the craft to the ground.
“They have us pinned.” Vent stood at the window, nudging Jerilia aside as he took in the stark, arid landscape.
“What do we do?” Pilar was staring out, face pinched and pale.
“We have to break the standoff.” Garek was only too aware of what Pilar must be feeling with Noor out there somewhere. “We're not going to get another chance to rescue them. It has to be now.”
“If you lower the back a little bit, I could squeeze out the side. Especially if the others made a noise on one side, and I slipped out the other.” Taya studied the sky raiders with cool eyes.
“They looked well trained.” Vent was studying them, too.
“Maybe you think we should go home?” Pilar was looking at Vent with narrowed eyes.
“No, but I don't think an untrained village girl is going to best them.”
“I don't see you offering to go out there.” Garek felt the hot, corrosive burn of anger in his gut. Vent was turning into a problem.
“We have to get out onto the ground.” Taya ignored Vent completely, her eyes solemn as she looked at Garek. “I'm the best bet. I'm small enough that they might not realize the door is open wide enough for anyone to get out, and I can quickly take one of those suits out of the fight from a distance.”
He hesitated. Then nodded. She was right. This was their only option other than going home.
Which they would not do.
“I need you to make it work,” he told her--more a plea than an order.
She locked her arms around his waist, and he kissed her hard and fast, his hands twined deep in her hair.
“The worst that can happen is I get hit with white lightning again,” she whispered in his ear as she pulled back.
“Dodge,” he told her, squeezing her one last time before he let go, and she forced a smile for him.
Pilar, Jerilia and Lynal went with her as she headed for the back of the craft, and Dom took up position just inside the door to the back.
Vent stayed where he was, looking out the window, and Lena and Fen, after a moment's hesitation, stood with him.
“Now,” Dom called, and Garek gently lowered the door, sliding the tip of his finger along the dial on the arm of his pilot's chair.
He heard noise from the back, the sound of something being banged against the wall as Jerilia, Pilar and Lynal set up their distraction.
“Stop!” Dom's shout had him lifting his finger up, and the noise at the back intensified.
“She's out.” Dom's whole attention was on the back, his body quivering, and Garek rose up, tried to angle his body to see if he could catch a glimpse into the back area and through the thin crack of the opened door.
And hoped he hadn't just sent Taya out to die.
TAYA FELL BADLY.
Pain shot up her left shoulder and arm as she hit the hard-packed earth and she had to blink back tears and breathe through it as she rolled away from the sky craft.
She hadn't realized how big a drop there was to the ground, and sliding out sideways had meant she couldn't break her fall.
She scrabbled to a crouch when she thought she was far enough away and glanced back, wishing she could have rolled under the craft, with its deep cover, instead of away from it, but she couldn't work with the shadow ore knife anywhere near it.
She needed to protect their only way home.
Just ahead of her was the sky raider Garek had knocked over when they landed.
The mechanical suit lay in a crumpled heap, emitting an insistent, annoying sound.
She ran toward it, crouching down when she reached it to use whatever cover it could give her.
The other sky raider covering the back of the craft had been drawn to the side where Jerilia, Pilar and Lynal were making a noise, and she carefully rotated her shoulder as she worked out her best angle of attack.
The noise from the mechanical suit she was hiding behind made her jumpy and grated on her nerves, and she pulled the knife out of the water pouch she'd attached to her belt, and pressed it to the top of the darkened glass of the suit's bulbous head.
She held it there and counted out the seconds.
When she got to two, the suit made one last buzzing noise and then died.
The silence was noticed.
She could see the legs of the sky raider investigating the noise on the other side,
and they went still when the beeping stopped.
Then the sky raider started moving around the back towards her.
No time to get up her courage. She had to move.
She stood and ran to meet him, the knife already airborne by the time the sky raider rounded the back corner.
She threw herself forward and rolled as he shot, the white lightning hitting the ground behind her.
She discovered she needed a lot more practice with shadow ore, because the distraction of diving out of the way lost her her connection to the knife, and it missed the suit and dropped to the ground.
She came up in a crouch and called her Change in panic as the sky raider readjusted his aim, slamming the knife against him with no thought to placement, so long as it was making contact.
She dived again, committing at the last moment and only just missing being hit, her gaze still fixed on the knife.
There was no third shot, and she winced as she forgot about her shoulder and put weight on her arm to push herself up. Favoring her hurt side, she rose slowly, never taking her focus off the enemy.
The sky raider remained still.
She looked at it more closely, and saw the mechanical shell was badly corroded, a result of being exposed to the air of Shadow for too long.
She wondered if that was because she and Garek had destroyed so many of the suits when they'd escaped, they'd forced the sky raiders to overuse whatever they had left.
She waited one more beat, just to make sure the suit was truly dead, and then left her knife beside it before she ran back to the gap in the door. She could see a slice of Jerilia's face, pressed up against it, trying to see out.
“I did it.”
Jerilia turned and gave a shout, and the door started to lower, the edge catching the sky raider's mechanical shell and knocking it over.
The camp lay to the left of her, and someone tall darted out from the shacks, arm raised and back, and then threw what looked like a stone.
Eli!
She scooped up her knife and ran toward him, saw the rock he'd pitched at the sky raider at the front of the craft hit the torso area of its mechanical body.
Calling the Change (Sky Raiders Book 2) Page 24