Drowned by Fire (Tales of a Dying Star Book 4)

by David Kristoph

  Then why is my stomach tied in knots?

  The cables tied to the laser tightened as the Riverhawk rose. Effortlessly, the laser lifted off the ground. It rocked slowly back and forth between the three lines.

  Katy gave a start; Spider still sat on top of the laser, straddling the barrel. She waved at him frantically but he only smiled and waved back.

  There was no time to worry about him, as the rope tied to her hand quickly rose. She mimicked the others, stepping forward until they were directly underneath the now floating laser. Their ropes were of differing lengths: Milana left the ground first, followed by Onero and Jarl. Katy held her breath as her arm pulled tight and her feet dangled.

  She kicked her legs involuntarily, toes brushing against the ground one last time before she was too high. Her rope swung as the ship accelerated forward. Katy forced herself to breathe, quick gasps that betrayed her fear. None of the others noticed, thank the Mother. They were too enamored with the sudden expansive view directly below them.

  Katy stared straight ahead, focusing at things at the same height. Spider still rode the laser, eyes closed, savoring the wind. Milana laughing, showing shiny white teeth, eyes wide with excitement. Behind her other Riverhawks hauled lasers into the air, a line that trailed back to the base of the Wall.

  The Wall. She could see more than just the top platform now; she saw its entire grey length, descending to the ground. Oh Mother, she prayed, hastily returning her eyes to the sky. They were already so high! She could feel the huge emptiness beneath her, somehow, like an air current sucking her down. She focused on Saria, her God, visible beyond the underside of the Riverhawk whenever her rope swung out far enough.

  Slowly her panic subsided. When she felt brave enough she chanced a glance at the rooftops below. They weren't too far away, maybe two hundred feet below them. The Riverhawk wasn't flying that high. But that only replaced her fear with unease. They were awfully vulnerable here, hovering out into the city ahead of the ground army. The rooftop gardens, low-hanging trees and wide ferns sticking out like spiky hair, could be concealing steadfasts with weapons. Even small calibre weapons would be dangerous from this distance. The aircraft wouldn't be able to make evasive maneuvers if they were suddenly attacked. Or maybe it would, saving itself at the expense of us. Katy tried not to think about how wildly they would swing if the ship tried to dart away.

  Katy scanned the ground below, the rooftop gardens at the tops of the tall, luxurious apartments. Nobody attacked them. The ship calmly glided east, passing three buildings before descending to the fourth. This roof had only one tree in the corner, with ferns and rows of bushes around the outside with grass all throughout the middle. Katy let go of the rope when they were still ten feet away, eager to put her feet on solid ground and to prove to the others she was unafraid. She landed softly on the grass. The others waited until their boots touched the ground before letting go of the rope, Katy noticed with satisfaction.

  They scrambled out of the way as the laser touched the ground. Spider quickly unclipped the three cables from the ship before jumping to the grass. Katy didn't know how the pilot knew--by weight, perhaps?--but the Riverhawk immediately wheeled away from them. Within moments it was out of sight.

  With the ship gone they set to work. Onero, Milana, and Jarl began wheeling the laser to the east edge. Spider and Katy spread out in the other direction, searching the roof. The center of the roof was open grass with two lounging chairs in the middle, but along the outside were heavy bushes and thick foliage, plenty of places for an enemy to hide.

  Spider darted to the north end of the roof, so she took the south, striding to a row of bushes. She walked slowly, crouched down. Shoot anything that moves. The greenery was so thick it was easy to imagine she was in a jungle, not in the middle of the capital city atop a building fifty levels high. She raised her rifle, pushing aside a fern standing ten feet tall. The color is so bright! They had no such vibrancy in the outer city.

  Each fern she brushed aside made her flinch with worry, as if any one would reveal an enemy lying in wait. No steadfasts ambushed her. She met Spider on the opposite end of the roof where a doorway led into a stairwell. Spider aimed his rifle and yanked open the door, but it too was empty. They shut the door and barred the handle with wire to ensure nobody wandered into the garden. They were to hold the rooftops; the ground troops would search each building.

  Besides the door, there were two skylights made of domed glass, designed to allow natural light into the top-floor apartments. No danger there either.

  They returned to the laser, helping the others shoulder it the rest of the way to the edge, following a walking path that created a gap in the bushes. Jarl pressed a button and metal rods exploded out of the laser's base, cracking the walkway stone, clamping the laser into place. He hopped into the seat behind the laser's barrel and pressed more buttons, and the laser hummed to life.

  Katy squeezed between the laser and the bushes until she reached the waist-high brick barrier that marked the edge of the building. She threw herself against it, quickly leaning over to aim her rifle. The street below, which ran between two buildings like a wide alley, was empty. To their left, two blocks north of their location, the west rail line hung suspended above the city. Below it was one of the inner city's widest boulevards for vehicle and human traffic. Nothing moved there, either.

  Eerie, she thought, still aiming her rifle. Was this how the city felt during the lockdowns? No vibrance, no life. She'd always found herself in the outer city in times of emergency--which was a good thing, from what she'd heard of the Peacekeeper attitudes--and in the one exception she had been contained to a hospital bed until the lockdown ended.

  "Ease up," Onero said from behind her. "There's no need to look so intense, Katy."

  She scanned the city a moment longer before pulling back. Everyone seemed relaxed; Jarl maintained his focus behind the battery, but Onero and Milana sat in the grass, enjoying the sunlight. She didn't see Spider.

  Katy sat down, resting against the brick.

  "They hide from us," Onero mused. "Indoors, where our Mother's light cannot reach. They know what's coming. They fear the truth they know we will reveal."

  "I thought there would be more fighting," Katy said.

  "The closer we get to the palace compound, maybe. But out here... deep down they know their Emperor is a false god. If they believed, truly believed, they would fight and die for him eagerly. But they do not. Their impiety is obvious. The foundation for their conversion is there, just beneath the surface. All we need do is reveal the heir's falsehood to reach it." Onero closed his eyes and tilted back his head, letting the sunlight warm his face. "She shines extra bright today, I think. An omen for our victory."

  Katy emulated him. She still felt uneasy, as if they might be attacked at any moment, but it was pleasant up there. As a maintenance worker she spent most of her time in dark basements and equipment closets, repairing or replacing electronics. She'd never been permitted onto one of the rooftop gardens in the inner city. There was no place like this in the outer. Soil was too precious to waste there, and the smell of waste and refuse was always on your nose. She took a deep breath. Here she could only smell clean.

  How can they live so well? she thought, feeling her anger rise. So many civilians in the outer city had nothing. Soil was a source of food there, an invaluable resource. Here it was an extravagance, wasted on greenery and grass.

  Katy opened her eyes in time to see something fall on her.

  She squeaked, rolling sideways instinctively and bringing the rifle to shoulder. Spider crouched where he landed, holding an armful of some bulbous red fruit he'd taken from the tree. Over in the grass Milana laughed.

  Spider tossed fruit to Onero and Milana, and walked over to hand one to Jarl. He bit into the last himself, grinning widely at Katy, bits of juicy flesh showing between his teeth.

  Katy pushed herself to her elbows, embarrassed. I don't want your fruit anyways, she thought,
stubbornly turning around to resume scanning the streets below. The lack of targets there only frustrated her more.

  Onero knelt next to her, holding out a half-eaten piece of fruit. "You can have the rest of mine. Or I can make Spider crawl back up that tree and get more, but he'd probably just find a shriveled one. Or one with a worm inside."

  "I'm fine," she said.

  He shrugged and walked away, as if he'd tried his best.

  The laser buzzed as it moved. "Movement in the building across the street," Jarl called, "fourth level from the roof."

  Milana and Spider appeared at the wall, rifles aimed. Katy had to search before she spotted it. Translucent curtains obscured much of the view inside, but two heads peered out the window, looking at the street below.

  "Should I scare 'em away from the windows?" Jarl asked. The laser clicked on its pedestal as he adjusted his aim.

  Onero considered it for a long moment. "No," he finally said, resigned. "Let the ground troops do their job."

  "It's awfully boring doin' nothin'," he complained.

  "We want to convert as many of the poorer steadfasts as we can," Onero said, though he didn't sound convinced himself. "You can have more fun when we get to the richer part of the city."

  They waited there, scanning the ground and sky for what seemed like ages, until another line of laser batteries leapfrogged forward. Katy watched one pass close by, the Children dangling just twenty feet above the rooftop trees, the exhaust from the ship's engines thrashing the branches and sending fruit scattering across the grass. One rolled to a stop next to Katy's foot. She ignored it, feeling Spider's eyes on her back. I won't give him the satisfaction. I'm not that hungry anyways. It was difficult--she couldn't remember the last time she'd tasted fresh fruit, not the artificially-flavored stuff that made its way into the old city. Her stomach growled. She'd missed her chance to eat atop the Wall when she'd lain with Onero.

  Onero stood on the other side of the laser, leaning out over the edge to watch the street below. Milana stood next to him, talking quietly. Onero chuckled at something she said. She laughs too much, Katy observed, too easily, as if everything's a joke. Nobody doubted her resolve, or accused her of being afraid. She'd been one of the first ones to charge the top of the Wall. Katy knew she was acting jealous, but Onero had spent an awful lot of time with the woman lately. Onero had been too busy with the attack to show much appreciation or love for Katy.

  Charlie loved you. It was a child's love, of infatuation and obsession, but it was love all the same. He'd been willing to give his life not for their cause, but for Katy. He would have done anything I'd asked of him, she thought. Even betray his family. She pushed it aside, deciding she had no time for such foolish thoughts.

  Eventually Onero received the signal on his wrist-computer. They unclipped the laser and rolled it back to the grass clearing just as the Riverhawk appeared. Spider reattached the cables, they all grabbed onto dangling ropes, and once again they swooped into the air.

  This time her nerve held better, the fluttering in her stomach more muted. The height still scared her--it's just a tiny rope keeping me from falling!--but now she could scan the ground without overwhelming panic. Clusters of Children jogged in the streets, moving east, disappearing into buildings. Soon they flew above a rooftop bearing another heavy laser placement, the one that leap-frogged them earlier. Other Riverhawks carrying batteries flew to the north. Katy smiled, savoring the wind in her hair. The skyward advance into battle was exhilarating, every bit as much as charging at the Wall.

  Their pilot chose a rooftop nearly identical to the first, with a grassy clearing in the center and thicker shrubs around the edges. The Riverhawk descended, and again Katy made sure she was the first to let go of the rope, dropping gently onto the soft grass.

  Katy and Spider ran along the hedges, rifles aimed, searching for anything hostile on the roof before barring the single door leading inside. The laser fired a few lazy beams at a lone peacekeeper fleeing deeper into the city, but aside from that there was little activity.

  The next roof was the same. When are we going to get some action? Katy wondered. The Children down below, rushing through the streets and searching every building, were having all the fun. Onero wore a permanent scowl, and soon they all mirrored his mood while they waited.

  The fourth rooftop was different.

  They landed on the grass just as a boom echoed off the buildings. Fire flared from a Riverhawk to the north. It spun wildly in the air as more lasers struck it from a nearby roof. The shapes hanging from its ropes let go and plunged into the city. The Riverhawk and its cargo soon followed.

  Onero stared at the sky where the Riverhawk had been. "Get to work," he ordered, tense.

  They spread out. This garden held more exotic plants: long, curved ferns that blocked their path and made it difficult to see. If the roof hid any enemies they would have shot us while we were in the air, dangling and vulnerable. She kept picturing the Riverhawk in her mind, spinning and reeling in the air with the helpless Children underneath. Katy moved plants aside with one hand while holding her gun in the other, wary but no longer alert.

  And so the little girl shocked her.

  She was hiding, crouched behind one of the thin trunks from which the ferns grew, and with her eyes squinting ahead to see through the foliage Katy nearly stumbled over her. She squeaked and aimed the rifle, finger pulling the trigger a hair's length before stopping herself. The girl was about four years old, hair hanging down her back in loose curls. She stared up at Katy and smiled, for some reason unafraid.

  Onero's orders were clear, shoot anything that moves, but Katy's finger froze on the trigger. This girl can't hurt anything.

  Katy looked over her shoulder. Onero, Milana, and Jarl still laboured to push the laser into position. She couldn't see Spider, but he was somewhere on the other end, searching.

  I'll take her to the others. Onero will see she's not a threat. They could tie her up while they did their work and leave her when they moved to the next roof.

  But when she turned around the girl was gone.

  Shit.

  Katy moved immediately, following through the greenery where she thought the girl had gone, careless of what might be waiting for her. Ferns scraped across her face as she ran, panicked the girl might get away, scared Spider might find her first.

  Abruptly the brush cleared, revealing the blocky protrusion of the stairwell. The girl stood in front of it, holding up her palm to the computer scanner. The door clicked. She pulled the door open and disappeared inside.

  Beams whizzed through the air, striking the door where the girl had just been. Spider emerged from the bushes on the other side of the stairwell, rifle smoking. Katy rushed forward but he beat her to the door, stopping it from closing shut. He swung it wide and darted inside.

  Katy followed into darkness.

  The stairwell was only ten feet wide, stairs running down the left side before stopping and turning around to descend down the right. A railing blocked the gap on the right. Spider leaned over the rail, pointing his rifle. He didn't shoot though, and Katy saw that the girl was out of sight when she stepped up to the rail. The sound of feet echoing far below drifted up to them. "I'm sorry," she said, "the girl came out of nowhere. I tried to--"

  Spider grabbed her rifle, pulling it close. He tapped the energy indicator, never taking his eyes from her, white and angry. Then he pushed her aside and strode back out into the garden.

  Katy followed, stopping only to tie the door with wire as they'd done with the others. When she reached the other end of the rooftop Spider was giving hand signals to Onero next to the mounted laser. Milana sat at the edge of the roof a few feet away, staring at Katy.

  Onero watched Katy approach, face blank. For a fraction of a second his eyes flicked toward the rifle she held across her chest.

  "What happened?" he asked, voice dangerously soft.

  "There was a girl. She escaped down--"

  "That's n
ot what I meant," he snapped. "I know someone escaped, someone who knows we are up here. What happened with you? Spider said you had a clear shot but didn't try to stop her."

  "She was just a little girl."

  "A steadfast."

  Katy swallowed. "Yes, but..."

  "My orders were clear."

  He didn't yell. He didn't need to. Katy had seen Onero rage against his subordinates, screaming and throwing equipment when someone failed. His quiet anger was far more unsettling. She struggled to find the words to defend herself.

  Without warning, the heavy laser battery fired. It began spitting at the ground, a steady chunk chunk chunk that shook the roof. Katy ran to the wall with the others, peering over with rifles ready. Six peacekeepers sprinted north across the street toward cover. Thick beams punched into the ground around them, knocking one onto his back. Smaller fire from up the street hit him as he tried to rise. The other peacekeepers made it across to safety, where they began shooting up the street at the oncoming Children.

  "Another group over to the right," Jarl said in between shots. "They're trying to wrap around behind." His beams still harassed the first group, shattering the windows and the corner bricks from the building they hid behind.

  Onero spoke into his wrist computer, relaying orders to the other groups.

  The Children in the street were a disorderly cluster, but their overwhelming numbers could not be withstood, especially with covering fire from the rooftops. They advanced easily, moving up the street swiftly, hiding in doorways along the way. By the time they reached the intersection the other peacekeepers had already retreated deeper into the city.

  "Reposition the laser to the right side!" Onero suddenly yelled.

  Jarl disengaged the clamps before hopping down, and they all rolled the gun across the grass. With five shoulders pushing it moved easily. As they reached the edge beams sizzled through the air, fired from below. Onero called for them to pull back.

  "Katy, Spider, suppressing fire," he commanded.

  They fell against the waist-high wall, looked at one-another, and spun in unison.