Dark Humanity

by Gwynn White

  Shuli turned to send the runners. Then he came back in. "Charlie and Wànzi went with them."

  "Good. Did the guy with the ray cannon get here yet?"

  "Yeah. A Spadros. I showed him where to set up."

  "Great." Crispin got up, went to the door. The night was clear, with no moon. "Looks like a perfect night for a party."

  Chapter Twenty

  March 1st

  At the first calling of midnight, Xavier and Malize turned, strode to the beat of the chimes, and went through the first set of doors, the next set of men falling in behind them. Soon men met up from all corners of the palace, passing the darkened courtyard and moving in formation to the Armory, where the rest of the men stood waiting silently, their eyes on him.

  Xavier moved the group to a spot he had selected weeks earlier, where no rifleman could shoot those on the ground from a building. Xavier's assistant, Peter Moysian, handed armbands to him and the men behind him, then returned. "All present, sir, with the exception of team King."

  Who were not expected until 0200. He took out his pocketwatch: 0035. "Very good. Mr. Moysian, you officially have the next two weeks off. You're ordered to go home, get your wife and children, and make for the Rim."

  "Sir?"

  "Use the main road. The Hotel Attitude on Rim Road, on the left, just before the train station is excellent — put the bill on my tab."

  Moysian seemed shocked. "But sir —"

  Xavier smiled. "You've been a fine assistant. I want you to survive this. Now go."

  "Yes, sir." The man turned and hurried off.

  "That was kind of you, sir," Ocho Malize said.

  I need to get the innocents out of harm's way. His assistant had worked double shifts for weeks unknowing of what he worked on, and Xavier refused to let the man be hurt if he had any say in the matter.

  Xavier raised his hands and signalled — One: Go.

  The Armory infiltration group, 100 men led by Malize, moved to cover the front and back of the massive building, then begin the long process of destroying all the Kerr men inside. Once the Armory was secured, Malize carried the red firework, which would be shot from the roof.

  Two, Three, Four, Five: Go.

  These men, fifty to a group, would cover the bridges, keep anyone from entering or leaving the island, sending a man back when they were in position. These groups had the farthest to travel.

  Six: Go.

  50 men to form a perimeter around the palace itself, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the building.

  The clock tower struck one. Faint "pop" noises of gunfire could be heard from inside the Armory. His men had encountered resistance.

  If they or any of the other groups needed help, they had runners to send word, and the 45 men positioned around Xavier could be deployed to cover them.

  "Now we wait," Xavier said.

  They sat watching as the bonfire died down, collapsed, as the wine vanished, as one by one, people said good night. Finally Papa came over to their table. "Can't sleep on a night like this, even if I could leave the two of you out here alone." He let out a short laugh. "You want me here, or over there?"

  Acevedo felt a great fondness for his old Papa. "Sit with us," he said. "This is your night, if it's anyone's. Without you, none of this would be happening."

  Papa laughed. "Trapasso Spadros, Kingmaker. I doubt it'll be remembered that way."

  Acevedo shrugged. "I just study history, Papa, I don't write it."

  "You're writing it now, son. Everything we do is part of history. We just don't know it most times." He took out a cigar and lit it, the glow matching the dying fire off to Acevedo's right. "Tonight'll be in a book someday, I can feel it."

  The breeze blew warm for fall. The stars shone brightly over the darkened city, just a few lights visible here and there.

  "Why are you doing this, Mr. Spadros?" Katherine said. "Why are you helping us? Why are you getting rid of this King?"

  Suddenly, Acevedo had an answer. He put his hand on hers. "I think this is what I was meant to do."

  A streak of red light lifted into the sky, a burst of showers falling from its tip.

  Helena sat on the roof with the other women and watched the red firework rise over the city. That is the signal of our doom. "Let's go downstairs and meet our fate."

  The other women followed, hand in hand, some weeping, some stoic, some angry. Helena understood; she had felt all those ways over the past hours.

  I can help them bear this. "Let us make the Dealer's Oath one last time."

  They came round the altar, placing their hands on it. It felt cool and smooth. "We swear to defend you, Bridges," Helena said, "to the end of our lives."

  "So be it."

  "We swear to pass the sacred knowledge to our daughters, and our daughters alone."

  "So be it."

  "We swear to never reveal the secret of this place until the land is restored."

  "So be it."

  "We swear to never reveal the secret of this place without grave need."

  "So be it."

  "Only if the question is asked, the woman provided, the room cleansed, should the sacred Heart of Bridges ever be exposed."

  "So we swear, and may we suffer the Fire for our betrayal."

  Helena let out a breath. "I don't know how long we have. Hours, days perhaps, certainly not more than a week. What shall we do?"

  The youngest among them said, "Let us cast the Cards, and chart the future of our City, for as long as we can."

  Xavier's pocket watch said 0145. "Move in." The group moved past the entry guards into the front lobby, his men taking up positions at each window. He turned to the men standing guard at the first entry. "Get everyone but the ones covering the roof down here now."

  Malize gave the order then watched as the men assembled. "Now what?"

  "Follow me." Xavier and the men from upstairs went outside. His "top" men were there early. "Very good." He handed them each an armband. "Your assignment is to infiltrate the palace and secure the King."

  "I'll be right back," Malize said.

  "We're to go into the royal bed-chambers?"

  "Yes," Xavier said. "Bring the King here, alive, before 0300. Kill anyone who tries to stop you." He turned to the group from upstairs. "You're their support. Secure the palace, cover them if they need help."

  The group of five pursed their lips, squinted at him. "This is no exercise," one said. "The reward of our choice?"

  Xavier said, "Did you write it down?" He reached out his hand, and the men dug in their pockets, handing over scraps of paper.

  One man's said, "Those women the King has."

  Another's said, "Enough money to do what I want the rest of my life."

  The third said, "I wanna live in the palace."

  The fourth said, "My own private servants and villa out in the country."

  The last one was blank.

  Xavier was puzzled. "What do you want?"

  The man said, "Didn't know until now. But I wanna kill the King. Whenever you do him in."

  Xavier nodded. "Done."

  "You didn't trust us," one said.

  "No," Xavier said, "I didn't, but I do now. These men are yours to deploy as you will. I'd use them for securing the palace and fighting armed resistance; they haven't been trained the same as you have. You bring the King here alive before 0300, and you'll get everything you asked for."

  Satisfied, the five men padded off without another word. After a moment's hesitation, the rest followed.

  Xavier looked over the city. The night was dark, without a moon. The men should be able to make it there undiscovered. They had the perimeter and the bridges secured. There was no way for Polansky Kerr to escape.

  The blue firework was in his pack. Should he light it now? No, I need to be sure we have him. I need to do this right. Xavier wanted the King put on trial for his crimes, proof presented and legal testimony, so everyone knew why they did this. And he needed to make sure this wasn't goi
ng to come back on his men. If the King somehow escaped, they would need help hunting Kerr and his men down, or none of them would ever be safe again.

  Ocho Malize, now standing behind him, said, "You really gonna do all that?"

  Xavier shrugged, shoving the papers into his pocket. "I'm not entirely sure they'll make it back with the King alive. But if they do, I'm a man of my word."

  After a moment, Malize raised his voice. "Here he is. You said you'd let me see her."

  Ten men came round the corner, crouched low against the wall, so the men at the windows couldn't fire on them. They were Kerr's men! They dragged a bound, frightened, pregnant woman along with them. "Sure did," their leader said. "Now you finish the job."

  Malize betrayed me.

  They had his wife?

  "I'm sorry, sir," Malize whispered, "there wasn't any other way."

  Hot metal stabbed into Xavier's back, and he couldn't breathe. He felt himself fall.

  Ocho Malize stood over him, waving a bloody knife. "He's dead." He turned to the windows. "Stand down."

  Kerr's men leapt up, came towards him, leaving the woman by the wall.

  Malize yelled, "Fire!"

  The air filled with noise as men spun and fell around him. Malize was one of them, and his head lay on Xavier's chest. "Forgive me," he said, and closed his eyes.

  Malize betrayed me.

  I can't breathe.

  A woman screamed. Men began shouting, but he didn't understand what they said.

  "Tell my kids I love them," he tried to say, but he heard nothing come out.

  He looked up. The night was very dark.

  He pictured his children. I love you.

  The sound of the bridges detonating was the last thing Xavier remembered.

  "That's the signal!" Crispin yelled.

  "I know," the man at the ray cannon said, turning it to the right. "Keep your people back."

  "Get back, get back!" Crispin waved them back as a Charlie-sized bolt of red flew diagonally to the fence, paused briefly, then flew past, everything burning in its wake. "Good gods!" Crispin said, terrified of the thing's power.

  "Nice," the man said.

  "Now the other side! Back! Back, you idiots!" Crispin was screaming at the people on the left, who had moved forward to see the massive red-rimmed hole in the wrought-iron fence.

  The man turned the cannon, and the people rushed back, now screaming in terror themselves. He fired, and another hole appeared in the fence, the hedges, and everything down along the line.

  Fires had begun in the city along the first line as the red rim around the hole faded to black. Crispin warned them the metal would still be hot, but some were moving to the fence on that side already. "Do the middle hole and let's get this over with."

  "Sure thing, boss," the man said.

  This was too much weapon. Crispin felt afraid of the thing. "Get it out of here."

  "My pleasure." The man turned it off.

  People started grabbing sacks, weapons, anything they thought would help, and running for the holes.

  "Move out, but carefully!" Crispin said. Smoke was rising for a half-mile off, and in the distance, all over the city. What the hell had they done?

  In the city, the blast shook the buildings all around Blocker and his men. "They didn't catch the King," Blocker said. "Damn."

  "We're in trouble," his brother Fish said. People began turning on the lights, pouring out of their homes, asking what happened.

  Blocker took a deep breath, let it out. "Yeah. Deep trouble." His throat was so sore he could barely talk. "Get these people back in their homes. And get everyone to turn off those lights. We gotta survive our pals coming to visit. We'll worry about the King later, assuming we survive."

  * * *

  Nothing happened for several hours. Blocker climbed to the tallest building, but all he could see was what looked like smoke off towards the fence. A lot of smoke.

  Fish had followed him up there. "Looks like they set things on fire."

  Ray cannon. Blocker didn't know what that was, but if it could pierce iron bars thicker than his thumb, it could probably do a lot more.

  Crispin sighed tiredly. Charlie had made thirty carts, but they still weren't enough. The camps to the east were full of people who'd been abandoned and wanted to go with them. They'd decided long ago to let as many as wanted join them. It seemed like a good situation all round.

  "If you can walk, get out and let those that can't in," Crispin said. "Hurry! We gotta get through the Northeast Quadrant before dawn." This caravan would be a target in daylight.

  At first there was grumbling, until women eight months pregnant climbed out, then that humbled a few lazybones. "Now push!" Crispin didn't know where the horses Charlie promised were, but they couldn't wait any longer. Shuli and a bunch more of the big guys were pulling with all their might. "We have to get out of here now!"

  Finally, the carts began moving, but the sky was beginning to lighten. What was it like in the other quadrant? Would there be opposition? Did they have enough weapons?

  It was almost dawn when Charlie galloped up. "What happened to the horses?"

  "I don't know, Charlie, they never got here."

  "I told them to come straight here. Those fuckers. They went looting." Charlie got off his horse.

  "No, Charlie, go get some horses for the carts. One's not going to do it. We need one for each cart. Thirty at least."

  Charlie stopped. "You're right. I'll come back."

  The bridge was in sight, and the men holding it came running towards them, grabbing the carts, hauling them one by one to the bridge, and over. Shuli moved like a man in a daze. "You all right, buddy?"

  "I'm beat, Crisp," he said. "I don't think we're gonna make it."

  "We'll make it," Crispin said. "Question is, what are we gonna do about them?"

  Shuli looked ready to drop. "We gotta leave them. Maybe we can hide them somewhere, come back for them later."

  Crispin didn't want to do that, but he didn't have much of a choice. A stand of trees lay just ahead and off the road. "Pull the carts over behind there," he said.

  Pops was helping push the cart next to them and had heard everything. "You're gonna leave us?"

  We're all exhausted. Crispin sat on a big rock. He felt as bad as Shuli looked. "Eventually. Right now, let's get us somewhere safe, start a fire, get some rest."

  Blocker woke up when the shooting started.

  "They're here," Fish said. He'd decided they should stay up high, cut down guys as they approached. Except Fish wasn't all that good a shot.

  "Save your ammo until they start shooting at us," Blocker said. The groups skulking about down there looked tired. "If they came from the fence they probably never walked this far in their life."

  Fish laughed.

  "Hey, Blocker, Fish." A guy stood in the doorway. "There's someone here to see you."

  * * *

  The guy outside their barricade looked ordinary enough, but he was on a horse. "You should all join us."

  Blocker still had a sore throat, still felt tired, and it made him irritable. "Who the hell are you?"

  "I'm from the Hartmanns. We're taking everything and leaving the city. Everyone's invited at the racetrack." He raised his voice. "Anyone want to get out of here, we'll get you a horse." He turned to Blocker. "We always invite people to join us before we loot them."

  Blocker said, "We've been up all night. Can you give us some time to think about it?"

  "Sure," he said. "Have breakfast even. We'll be back later for your answer." He galloped off.

  "What an ass," Fish said. "I ain't going. The racetrack's out in the middle of nowhere."

  Blocker felt the same way. "I'm going back to bed. Wake me up if he comes back."

  * * *

  It was late afternoon when Blocker woke up, and still the man hadn't come back. He and Fish stood out in the middle of the street watching a big fire about three miles off which looked to be going the other
way. There had been some fighting in neighboring areas. A few groups of ten or twelve men had arrived but kept going when they saw the barricades.

  "They'll be back," Blocker said.

  People began coming out. "What will we do if the horse guy comes back?" a woman asked.

  "Go if you want, but I'm not," said Fish. "This is my land. We got food, homes. I'd rather die than let some thug push me off my land."

  A chorus of "Yeah" surrounded them.

  "Guess we got our answer," the Hartmann guy yelled. "Charge!"

  Fifty horsemen came round the corner, leaped the barricade, and galloped towards them. The people on the ground scattered to their houses. The horses wheeled around, the leader saying something to the other men. They split up. "Where the hell are they going?" Blocker said.

  "I dunno," Fish said.

  It was then the men came. Hundreds of men.

  Dear gods, Blocker thought. We're all going to die.

  After six hours sleep, some food, and bathing in the nearby river, Crispin almost felt human again. "You all stay here as long as you can. Don't bother with the bridge anymore; if anyone comes, just let them pass by. Stay hidden; we'll go get the horses. You got food, a fire, and water." It was still pretty cold at night, but they had plenty to wear. Pops and Nana would take care of them.

  Pops stopped them. He had a huge blister on his foot, but he hobbled over. "It's a long way to the racetrack. You sure you wouldn't rather stay here?"

  "I gotta find Charlie," Crispin said. "It's not like him to be gone this long. He might be hurt or something."

  "I was thinking that too. You boys be careful."

  * * *

  Crispin, Shuli, and all the other men who could walk — about sixty of them — took the weapons and started off in a cloudless late afternoon. The day was warm for March. The road here wasn't much more than dirt, but it was level. Where the hell were the horses? Where was Charlie?

  "I have a bad feeling," Shuli said, "Charlie'd never leave us stuck out here."