Needless to say, the Abh princess was far too prideful to put on such an act. All Jinto could see of her was her back, but he could only imagine her eyes screamed You’re not fit to spit on .
Jinto and his group briskly slipped off to the side, cloaked in the act that they were simply loath to get wrapped up in this altercation.
“Just take it off! Or do you refuse?” One of the soldiers tried to lift it off her head by pushing against the brim with the gun’s muzzle.
Marca and Daswani moved in tandem to either side. Jinto, too, wasted no time turning right around and thrusting a paralyzer gun at the nape of a soldier’s neck. His injured left shoulder throbbed with pain from the sudden exertion, but he endured it and pulled the trigger.
Lafier and the other three with her quickly hit the ground, causing her hat to dance in the air.
“Gwah!” the soldier groaned, emptying rounds fruitlessly into the sky. The other soldier collapsed without a single peep or shot. The band of seven ignored the weapons the soldiers had been wielding, since they would only make them stand out, and made haste to leave the scene.
“Remember that guy who jumped into a bed of thorns?” said Undertaker, upon reentering the underground from the plaza.
“You told us that story,” said Marca impatiently.
“Well, there’s more to it.” Undertaker’s voice grew vacant. “About a month after he left the hospital, he went and did it again. Obviously, he got hospitalized again. Then I went to see him again, and I asked him the same question. Then he said he couldn’t remember much, but he couldn’t think of it as having been a good idea.”
“Uh-huh,” she replied curtly. “We’re almost to the place.”
“We just have to hope no one is there,” said Min, needlessly.
“They’ve found her,” said Kyte, after reading the blinking signals with eyes entranced. “They’ve found the Abh.”
“They capture her?” Entryua thought about the time he had left. It was a short life. I never got to punch my daughter’s marriage partner’s lights out.
“Not yet. It appears the report came from a pair of wounded soldiers, that have now been admitted. They found a girl who looked like an Abh. One testified that they saw her spatio-sensory organ. I can’t imagine they’re mistaken.” Kyte’s smile was twisted like a revenant ghoul. “I’ll be the one to capture her...”
He instructed the ship’s pilot to do something. Then, the fire ship turned right around, heading for the northwest area of the city.
The group of spires appeared beyond the range of city-trees. “What are those?” said Kyte, puzzled.
Entryua immediately grasped the true identity of the spires, as well as what the Abh and the crowd working with her were up to.
“Beats me. I told you I’m not well acquainted with the geography of Guzonh,” he lied.
“I’ll find out easily enough just by looking it up.”
“Then that’s what you oughtta do. Don’t lean on me for everything.”
IN LIGHT OF A CONFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES, THE GUZONH MUNICIPAL FUNERAL MORTUARY WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.
Undertaker unlocked the lock with practiced hands; it opened without incident.
“When the occupiers touched down, the folks in the government got scared and closed the place off,” said Undertaker, guiding the rest from in front. “So the army probably doesn’t much care about it. They might not even know about it to begin with.”
“But why close it?” asked Jinto.
“They feared they might be mistaken for anti-orbital weaponry,” Min explained. “And if they got bombed, Guzonh wouldn’t come off unscathed.”
“Weaponry?” Jinto was more confused than ever.
When they exited the small building, the landscape opened up. Richly colored spires were lined up on a vast site. He remembered seeing them before, since he’d come to Guzonh while gazing askance at them.
“I’ve been wondering what they were ever since then,” said Jinto, viewing them once again as he quickly paced along the long corridor. “So they were giant graves, huh?”
“Don’t mistake a funeral home for a cemetery,” said Undertaker bitterly. “It’s an inexcusable mistake.”
“Sorry. But then, what are those?”
“They’re caskets.”
“They’re what now?”
“And the cemetery’s over there,” he continued, pointing up at the sky.
“WHAT!?”
“I swear, kids like you are so ignorant of tradition it’s scary.”
“Well I understand,” said Lafier, who gave Jinto a reproachful glare. “You lack in common sense. It’s a matter of course for the remains of the deceased to be set adrift into the vacuum of space .”
“What she said. Though the Abh must do it directly from their spaceships, while we’re forced to shoot them off because we’re at the bottom of a gravity well.”
“On my home planet, we either burn or bury our dead,” said Jinto feebly.
“When we touched down onto this planet, I thought it was rather riddled with dirt and dust, and surmised it was due to the war, but those are caskets, you say,” said Lafier, satisfied she understood.
“But if you wanna shoot someone into space , wouldn’t it be easier to do it from the orbital tower ?” asked Jinto.
“Have you no shred of emotion, young master?” Bill gestured dramatically. “A funeral’s a sacred rite! You’ve gotta be flashy about it!”
“I’d thought of funerals as more quiet, dignified affairs...”
“That is what we call a preconceived notion,” said Min. “The custom probably takes after Abh culture, but we settled this planet from space, too. We wouldn’t be that off base.”
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I look down on the idea of setting dead bodies into space .” Then Jinto came to a hair-raising realization. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna ‘send us back into space’ in these things !?”
“What the hell’re you saying!? You’re backing down now !?” said Undertaker and Bill at the same time.
“But nobody told me anything!” Jinto objected.
“I misjudged you, Jinto.” Lafier glowered at him scornfully. “I’d been under the impression that you had better discernment than that. As a fellow Abh, I am embarrassed.”
“Sorry...” Jinto had been battered into submission.
“There’s a problem, though,” said Lafier. Then she addressed Undertaker: “I’m not used to piloting this model of ship. Will I be able to steer it properly?”
Undertaker stared as though she couldn’t be serious. “Not for nothing, Your Highness, but it’s not for steering. There’s no need; it just goes up and away. The end.”
The blood drew away from Lafier’s lovely countenance.
“I misjudged you, Lafier,” said Jinto, seizing on this chance. “I’d been under the impression that you had better...”
“Be quiet!”
Don’t even know why I thought she’d do me the favor of letting me finish my sarcastic jab. While Jinto questioned his own sanity, Lafier hit Undertaker with a follow-up question of her own.
“It is airtight, I hope?”
“‘Course it is. I don’t know what you believe, but rest assured us Landers do know a thing or two about what kind of beast the vacuum of space is. It’s even got emergency oxygen in case somebody who’s actually still alive is mistakenly placed inside. Twelve hours’ worth.”
A door lay at the end of the corridor, and a little past it, a staircase leading down into the basement, a small room furnished with several screens.
“Commence funeral preparations.” Undertaker ran up to one of the screens.
“As per the orders of the municipal government, this mortuary is currently closed,” responded the machine voice.
“Haven’t you heard? The closure directive’s been rescinded.”
“Cannot confirm that statement’s veracity.”
“Never like it when machines get an
tagonistic.” Undertaker looked behind him. “Daswani, if you could.”
Daswani nodded, took out a saigéth (keyboard), and connected it to the console . His fat fingers pounded away at the small, compact keys at blinding speeds.
“I’m always telling him, it’s faster by voice input, but Daswani’s a man of few words,” said Undertaker.
“This way, much faster,” said Daswani.
“Holy moly,” said Bill, astonished. “Have any of you ever heard him string together a sentence that long?”
“He must be feeling charged up,” Min remarked.
“By the way, what’s its propulsion source? The ship’s, I mean?” Jinto was cautious to avoid the word “casket.”
“Hydrogen,” said Undertaker.
“Hydrogen? As in nuclear fusion?”
“No,” said Undertaker, his tone of voice strangely soft. “It’s a chemical reaction. When hydrogen and oxygen are made to bond, heat and water are born. That’s what it uses for propulsion. Put it simply, it burns hydrogen to fly.”
“Jinto,” Lafier groaned. “Could you hold me up? I think I’m going to collapse.”
“‘Fraid I won’t be much help,” said Jinto, dumbfounded. “I’m just as likely to faint.”
“Don’t fret,” said Undertaker. “We haven’t had any incidents in a while.”
“In a while?” That was hardly much consolation.
“Sorry, that came out wrong. What I meant is that there hasn’t been a single casualty since the establishment of civilization on the planet. There have been caskets that flew away, though.”
“That’s... awesome.”
“By the way, there’re two types, ones with self-destruct devices and ones without. Which would you prefer?”
“Self-destruct devices!?”
“Yeah, they come back down two hours after shooting them up. That’s when we make them blow up in the air. It’s for funerals where the mourners arrange to reminisce about the deceased yet again while watching them light up the sky as fireworks.”
Jinto paused.
“Give us one that can’t self-destruct, please.”
“Got it. Shame, though. The self-destruct device-equipped ones are the nicer ones.”
“We appreciate the sentiment.”
“Undertaker!” said Marca. “Quit teasing them already, would you?”
“I’ve got a right to settle a score, same as anybody,” said Undertaker, clearly pleased with himself.
Daswani looked up from his keyboard .
“Commence funeral preparations,” Undertaker ordered anew.
“Affirmative. Please input the name of the responsible funeral director.” Undertaker slid his wallet into the console ’s groove. “Please confirm your identity.” He peered into the console ’s small window for the retinal scan.
“Qualification to perform funeral service recognized. Please begin the necessary procedures. First, input the name of the defrayer of expenditures...”
“The funeral director will pay in their stead.”
“Affirmative.”
Undertaker gave Lafier a grin. “Be sure to pay me back, all right?”
“Okay,” nodded Lafier.
“Next, please provide your interment authorization code.” He inserted a string of numbers using a mobile terminal.
“From now on, you guys are one ‘Bigg Tempill.’ No doubt they’re gonna throw a fit at the real Bigg’s funeral, poor old man.”
“Interment authorization code recognized. Next, please input the desired trajectory...”
“Marca, leave this to me, and take these two to the launcher for me. It’s #3. You know where it is, right?”
“Sure do.” Marca half-nodded to the two. “Let’s go, Fïac Lartnér , Lonh-Ïarlucec Dreur .”
Inspector Entryua’s cold eyes watched as Kyte fumbled with the unfamiliar Imperial-make computer terminal in his attempts to extract information. Entryua’s unwillingness to help aside, the man could have asked the nearby firefighter to teach him how to use it, but it appeared Kyte could no longer trust any and all Clasbulians.
When at last Kyte had translated the information he wanted using his own device, he looked stunned. “Why didn’t you tell me about Clasbule-style funeral rites!?”
“You didn’t ask.” Entryua tensed and braced for impact.
Yet Kyte stopped at clenching his fist. Then, he burst into a howling fit of laughter. “As though she could escape that way! The Abh has nowhere to run.”
He slapped the shoulder of a soldier aboard the ship and issued instructions. That soldier proceeded to flash a signal using the blinking light method.
A red light above the entombment door of Launcher #3 was on. “Fueling and servicing in progress. Please wait.”
In front of the door lay an exquisite, brand-new coffin on a dolly tray. The launcher cylinder was below ground.
“It’s to protect the city from the blast impact,” explained Marca.
Bill, who’d come with them, had this to say: “When I was a kid I watched a bunch launch from above ground. But then the city expanded, and they moved them underground. Weird spiel, but hey, Undertaker was the first to share a weird spiel.”
“I just thought of something,” said Jinto, who’d stumbled across yet another seed of worry. “Is there a chance the Star Forces will mistake it for a weapon of attack?”
“A ship that moves burning hydrogen as fuel?” Lafier crinkled the gainly curve at the upper base of the bridge of her nose. “You may just make me die of laughter.”
“Guess you’ve got a point...”
“You needn’t guess. Besides, my compuwatch will be emitting a friend-or-foe identifier signal. And there can’t be any EM bugs above the stratosphere.”
“Sounds good, then.”
“You’re such a worrywort, Jinto.”
“Careful, Lafier. You yourself were looking blue in the face earlier.”
“I have now steeled myself. I trust these individuals.”
“We’re honored,” Marca smiled.
“Hey, it’s not like I don’t trust them...”
“Marca!” Min shouted through the loudspeaker.
“They’re here. But no need to worry. It’s just the fire ship from before. We can prepare to launch within a minute’s time.”
“What’re you guys gonna do after launching us? They might come for you.”
“We’ve some leeway on that end,” grinned Marca.
“So we’ll be just fine. We were born and raised in Guzonh; we’ll never fall into the hands of a bunch of bonehead interlopers. What you should be worrying about is the danger you’ll face after you lift off. The thing isn’t armored, after all. Be careful.”
“Thank you. But how exactly are we supposed to be careful, when it can’t be steered?”
“I’ve heard the Abh are areligious. Are you?” asked Marca.
“No.” The abrupt question took Jinto aback, but he answered honestly. “My family’s been Presbyterian Christians for generations. Not that I’m that devout.”
“Then there is something you can do.” Marca put a hand on Jinto’s shoulder in encouragement. “Pray.”
“Is backup still not here!?” Kyte snarled. By Entryua’s count, this was the fifth time he’d asked.
“They’re here,” reported the soldier, relieved.
Five airships had reached the mortuary, swapping blinking light signals in a bustle of activity. “Only five?” Kyte seemed displeased. “But the area is so vast! And they’re unarmed transport ships, are they not!?”
“They’re asking where they should touch ground, sir,” said the soldier.
“I don’t know, either! We have no other option but to search for one that’s readying for liftoff. Destroy it on sight!”
But since Guzonh Mortuary made use of underground launchers, the spires were essentially nothing more than casket-rockets: the bullets to be fired, as opposed to the shooters. Of course, Entryua knew this, but he chose to remain silent.
If he was going to be killed no matter what, he wanted to at least witness the occupiers get outwitted and outmaneuvered before he bit the dust.
The indicator light switched from red to blue. “Interment preparations complete.”
“Hurry! Liftoff in thirty seconds!” Min announced through the loudspeaker.
“Don’t forget about our interstellar ships ,” said Marca, pointing to the coffin.
“I won’t. I promise I will ask.” And so Lafier laid herself into it.
“You too, young master,” urged Bill.
“Right. Thanks for everything...”
“You’d better return the favor.”
Jinto lay sprawled beside her.
The coffin got sucked into the door, and each of its three layers of hatches closed one after the other. The interior was pitch dark.
“The indignity,” Lafier muttered. “To be forced to ride a ship with neither outboard frocragh nor a control glove .”
“It’s not even a ship ,” said Jinto, as a reality check. “It’s a casket. A caaaskeeet.”
A pause.
“You’ve taken a sudden turn for the repellent. Get back from me!”
“Don’t be like that, it’s so cramped in this thing. Ow! Hey, I’m wounded here!”
“It’s just a scratch,” she intoned ruthlessly.
“I lied. Don’t you know that I do that sometimes? OWW! Stop!”
VHRRRRRR ... The coffin began vibrating.
“THERE!” Kyte’s eyes reeled wide, staring at the spire rising gradually from below ground. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you shooting!? Don’t you see it!?”
The five air-mobile military personnel transport vessels dispersed, alighted on the spire’s threshold, and deployed their troops.
“A flash signal!”
The soldier in the assistant steerer’s seat leaned over the console and began making the landing lights blink. But the casket-rocket’s majestic climb continued unabated even as they maneuvered.
Finally, the empennage reached above ground. The blast winds sliced across the surface. Several soldiers could be witnessed hurtling through the air.
The Return to Strange Skies (JNC Edition) Page 14