I looked back at the four warm, wonderful bodies I’d just left behind. All I wanted was to go sleep in the midst of them. But something told me this mattered.
“Bring them in. I’ll meet with them across the hall in the office.”
“What is it, Will?” Kisarat asked.
“Probably nothing. Just go to sleep. I should be back in a little bit.”
I found a shirt and went over to my office. In a few minutes, the sorai returned with the two girls and another guard. They looked at me, wide-eyed.
“It’s late, and I really want to go to bed. This had better be important.”
The talalong girl, the one with the amethyst hair, spoke up. She wore something like a short black baby-doll dress and black boots, almost like a Goth-girl back on Earth, and narrow black-framed glasses.
“It is. But . . .” She looked at the guards. “You’re probably going to want to hear this alone.”
My senses went on alert. She was talalong, which meant that despite her casual college-girl look, she also had venomous fangs. I’d seen Kisarat kill an angry linyang with a single bite.
“Tsulygoi?” the sorai asked.
I stared at the two girls. But whatever was going on here, I sensed no threat from them.
“Go stand outside the door.”
The two of them reluctantly withdrew. The girls watched until the door shut, and we were alone.
“Okay,” I said. “You’ve got my attention. Use it.”
The talalong took a deep breath.
“It’s about the Black Sky.”
“Go on. What about them?”
“It’s us.”
I sat up.
“What?”
“We’re the Black Sky. The two of us. But it’s not what you think. It’s not what anyone thinks. And it’s gone completely out of control.”
I read them for a moment. I couldn’t read thoughts, but I could tell they weren’t lying. These two were the Black Sky.
What the fuck?
I had dealt with bomb-happy insurgents in Iraq. I had even been on patrols that captured some. These two looked nothing like them.
“You two . . . blew up the Tower of Starlight?”
“No! That wasn’t us. That’s what I mean about it getting out of control.”
I leaned forward and rubbed my forehead for a moment.
“Explain. And maybe start at the beginning.”
“It was just supposed to be a joke,” the dwenda said. “We were bored."
“Blowing up buildings is a joke?”
“We tried very hard never to hurt anyone,” the talalong said. “And we didn’t. It was just an idea we got one night. Nothing fun ever happens in this city anymore.”
I rubbed my head again. I had to take a moment to think about all the crazy, stupid, immature shit I had done in college and the Marines.
“Okay. So, you were bored. And you decided to blow up a building.”
“There are so many here that no one cares about.”
“I suppose that’s fair. How did you manage it? I’m just curious.”
“I’m studying chemistry,” the dwenda said. “It’s not hard to make a bomb, if you know how it works. There’s so much stuff in the labs to use.”
“And you kept doing it because it was fun and exciting and got attention.”
“Pretty much,” the talalong said.
“So why ‘the Black Sky’?”
The talalong laughed mirthlessly.
“That wasn’t even us! They just found it after the first one, and thought we’d done it. But having a name made it more fun, so we kept doing it.”
“Wait. If it wasn’t you, then what was it?”
“We think the Black Sky was a band,” the dwenda said. “The way the first thing was painted, it looked like they were trying to get attention for themselves. But I guess after everyone thought they’d set the bomb, they must have changed their name or broken up.”
I exhaled slowly. I stared at them for a few moments.
“The two of you did not set those four bombs that went off at once. That’s a whole other level of sophistication that I’m not sensing here.”
The talalong shook her head.
“No! And we wouldn’t have done it even if we could. Bombing this residential area, that would be crazy! Forget what the clans would do, they could have killed people. We’ve only been blowing up stuff in old neighborhoods, where we knew no one would care or be around when the bomb went off.”
This made sense. That dichotomy between the first bombings and the recent ones had been nagging at me.
“So, if it’s not you, then who?”
“We don’t know,” the dwenda said. “But it’s obvious that someone took what we’ve been doing and turned into something else. It’s not a joke anymore.”
“No. So why come to me about it?”
They looked at each other.
“Someone needs to know. But if we went to the clans . . .”
I nodded. This twist gave a very different character to the last few bombings. It had to mean they were deliberate efforts, with a specific goal in mind. I’d been wondering if the Black Sky was simply some nihilist group that wanted to put Phan-garad out of its misery.
But excised from the first string of bombings these girls had perpetrated, the aim was suddenly clear. Someone was striking directly at the clan structure.
But why?
“You’ve told no one else about this?”
“No,” the talalong said. “And we got rid of all the bomb stuff we collected.”
“All right. Thank you. You should go back to school. But if you find out anything else, I want you to come back here. I’ll let the guards know to let you in.”
Thanking me profusely for listening, they left with the two sorai.
My wives had fallen asleep. I joined them as gently as I could.
Chapter 15
I awoke in the darkness to the feel of a warm, wet mouth around my erection. I started briefly. There was a dark form between my legs. Realizing who it was, I relaxed.
I let Mereceeree amuse herself for a minute or two before pulling her up, positioning her hips over mine. She backed down, and for a moment I just enjoyed the feel of her exquisite tightness around me as I stretched her out.
“I am about to be your new favorite wife,” she whispered.
“And why is that?”
“Because we have found Lorelat.”
My breath caught.
“Where?”
She bent to kiss me.
“Mating first. Then I will tell you everything.”
I let her have her fill, staying quiet and still so as not to wake the others. Then I took her narrow hips in my hands and thrust at her until I came deep inside with a groan.
She lay on my chest afterwards, cuddling with me.
“We panikang can hear things, so much more than you land-bound know. So, I sent my people flying out across the city, telling them to listen. One heard her name being spoken. We went there to see.”
“Where?”
“A building near the train station. I will show you. Perhaps they may mean to move her out of the city if necessary. But she is there.”
“Are you certain it’s her?”
“Do you imagine there could be another young, beautiful, pregnant cunelo being held captive in this city? In any case, I spoke to her through a window. She was frightened at first, then thrilled when I explained who I was and why I was there.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes. She is locked in a room and has not been allowed out, but they are treating her well.”
“They need her to stay and carry her baby to term. Did you see how many guards are there?”
“She said there are usually about six. I saw no more than that. If you surprise them, it should be little trouble.”
◆◆◆
I’d been a grunt in the Marines. Basic infantry, no more. I’d made it to Corporal, and I’d led a squad fi
ghting house-to-house in Fallujah, which was no picnic, but I was not really qualified to plan a hostage-rescue mission. And that was even if I hadn’t been out for 15 years.
But at the same time, this seemed doable. This wasn’t ISIS we were dealing with. The cunelo would not risk Lorelat. There was no danger of them killing her to prevent us from taking her back, if we had them backed into a corner.
I found Meridrian, the guard captain, and explained what I needed.
“Do we have any of those kiralabar bolts left?”
“Not many. But some.”
“How many?”
“Perhaps twenty.”
“That should be enough. I need this to be non-lethal. No more deaths. We knock them out, but we don’t kill anyone unless we have no choice.”
“Yes. I agree.”
“I’m thinking six linyang with crossbows, six sorai in full armor. That gives us a two-to-one advantage. Mereceeree is confident we can surprise them. Do cunelo have any ranged weapons? I’ve never seen them with anything but those curved swords.”
“No. That is all they use. Like the sorai, they disdain to fight at a distance. To be honest, they often disdain to fight at all. What happened yesterday . . . was very unusual.”
“All right.” I took a deep breath. “If we pull this off, you and I can mate tonight.”
Her eyes widened. Then she nodded.
“Yes, my tsulygoi.”
◆◆◆
Meridrian picked five of her best linyang, then consulted with Merindra on the sorai. Merindra insisted on going with us, but I shut her down.
“You’re pregnant. I’m not risking it.”
She fumed.
“You let Eladra climb a mountain with you.”
She had a point. But I still didn’t like the idea.
“This is a fight that could get one of you seriously injured, maybe killed. No.”
She glared at me briefly, then relented.
“Please be careful, and bring Lorelat back safely.”
◆◆◆
The twelve guards got geared up. I told them to pack their regular weapons, including the crystal-bladed bolts, but they were not to use them unless I told them to.
The one thing we needed was a battering ram to get through the door, and I wasn’t sure what to use. Merindra and Kisarat finally jury-rigged something out of several stone blocks held together by plastic straps. I swung it around a few times before deciding it ought to work.
Wrapped in her black cloak and packing her collection of knives, Mereceeree led us to the house where Lorelat was being held. As before, she followed a circuitous route through the back alleys. On the way, she told me she’d heard from her mother. Narilora was awake and doing well, but still too weak to travel. It would likely be a few more days. Assuming we got Lorelat back, things were looking up.
When we got closer to the house where Lorelat was, Mereceeree told us there was an abandoned building nearby we could use to scout the place first. After following her through another alley, we climbed up to the second floor of what looked like a dead office complex. She led us to a room on the far side, then pointed out a window.
“There.”
On the other side of the street was an unremarkable square two-story building. There was no one outside, but as I watched I thought I could see cunelo moving around the interior.
“She is on the second floor. There are three rooms. She is in the one in the center, on the back side.”
I looked but saw nothing. There were only a few small windows. I watched for a few more minutes. Then I turned to Meridrian.
“I think we keep this simple. Go straight in, bust the door down, shoot anything that moves. Most of them should be on the first floor. I’ll take the door out, then you follow me with the crossbows. Keep your distance. If for some reason we have to fight them hand-to-hand, let the sorai do it. They have the armor. If we’re lucky, we’ll take them all out before they know what’s going on.”
She nodded.
“It is a good plan.”
I looked at the rest of them.
“When you go in, move fast, spread out, keep moving and keep the walls behind you. Don’t stop and block the doorway. First one in goes left, second goes right. When you’re sure the room is clear, you call it. Understood?”
They all nodded.
“Let’s go get her.”
We went back downstairs. I circled around the building until we were right at the front corner.
“Okay, go.”
I ran across the street, hearing them all coming behind me. I went straight to the front door. After the welcome-home session last night, and Mereceeree that morning, I felt like I had enough energy to jump through the front wall. But I just swung the battering ram right at the door handle, and it blasted it nearly off the hinges.
I charged into the house, throwing the battering ram aside. I found three startled cunelo guards sitting around a table in what looked like a sitting/eating area. They started to get up, reaching for their weapons, just as the linyang came in after me. Crossbows twanged, and the kiralabar bolts exploded against their chests.
All three of them staggered, lost their balance, and fell to the floor. I looked around. There was a hallway leading toward the back, where I saw a stairway going up. The linyang were all inside now, and the sorai were coming in after them. I charged up the hallway. Just as I got to the stairs, another cunelo came out of a room in the back. I threw a roundhouse kick at her head, sending her flying backwards.
Then I got to the base of the stairs.
“Lorelat!”
The answer came a moment later.
“Will! Will! I’m up here!”
The linyang circled around me. I heard the sorai moving around the first floor, then regrouping.
“There’s no one else down here,” Meridrian said.
“Is there anyone up there with you?” I called to Lorelat.
“There’s no one in my room. But the bedrooms are up here.”
That meant there were likely two or three cunelo up there. I un-shouldered my crossbow and cocked it, loading a kiralabar bolt.
“Follow me close. Keep your eyes on the open spaces and corners.”
I took the steps slowly. At the top, the stairs turned to the left. As I got about halfway up, I could see there was a short landing that opened into the main second-floor hallway in both directions. I pointed it out silently to Meridrian, who was behind me, then motioned, me right, you left. She nodded.
But rather than spin right around the corner, I went sideways into the hall, crossbow pointed to the left. My intuition had been correct – one of the cunelo guards was waiting right there. She struck at me right as I fired, but my maneuver had thrown off her aim. Her sword struck the armor plate on my shoulder and deflected outward just as the kiralabar bulb exploded on her chest. I had to flinch and hold my breath to avoid the splash. She drew back for another strike, but then began to wobble. She dropped the sword and slid to the floor.
Meridrian and the other linyang went down the other direction. I called out again.
“Lorelat!”
She answered me from behind a door just in front of me.
“Will! I’m here!”
“Get back from the door!”
I backed up, then lunged forward, planting my foot right next to the handle. It burst open. Lorelat was there, face a mass of conflicting emotions.
She threw herself at me, arms and legs going around me, hugging me so tightly a flash of pain shot through my neck. I hugged her back for a moment.
There was a blood-curdling scream from the other end of the hall. It wasn’t a scream of pain or fear – it was someone screaming as loudly as they could for attention. I looked down to see Meridrian and two other linyang firing bolts into the room at the end. The screaming stopped.
I dragged myself out of Lorelat’s grasp.
“You need to go.” I pushed her toward the sorai.
“Get her out of here.”
They ran down the stairs as I ran past them to the other end. Meridrian turned as I approached.
“It was the last one. She was calling for help out the window.”
“Let’s go.”
We ran down after the sorai. They had regrouped in the front room with Lorelat.
“How are you?” I asked her.
“I’m fine.” She hugged me again. “I knew you would come for me.”
“Tsulygoi, I think there are others coming,” one of the sorai said.
“Okay. Regular weapons from here on out. But do nothing until I say.”
The linyang quickly loaded up the crystal-bladed bolts while the sorai slid their short staves over their shoulders and drew their swords.
“Go.”
We ran out into the street. Mereceeree was waiting across the block in a shadowed alcove of the abandoned building. Then I heard shouting.
Back up the street about a block away, at least two dozen cunelo soldiers were streaming out of another building. They saw us and began running in our direction.
“Stop,” I said. “Line up. Weapons out.”
“Tsulygoi?” Meridrian said.
“There’s no point in running halfway back across the city. May as well face them down now.”
The linyang formed a line, crossbows pointed back down the street. The sorai took up positions between and just in front of them. Mereceeree came up behind us.
As the cunelo saw what we were doing, they slowed down and stopped about twenty yards away. One of them, apparently an officer of sorts, came forward.
“Stop!” she shouted. “She is not yours to take!”
“We’re going to have to disagree about that.”
“I’m not going back!” Lorelat shouted.
“That is not up to you!” the leader yelled.
“Regardless, you’re not getting her from us,” I said. “Not without a lot of you dying. I think there’s been enough dying already.”
“Did you kill my soldiers taking her?” the officer yelled.
“They’re sleeping peacefully. No one was hurt. But that can change if you force this.”
The Black Sky Page 14