by Pam Uphoff
She pulled a short metal rod out of her pocket, split it in two, reached into nothing and pulled out a sandwich. “Lunch, Boss?”
After thirteen hours of teeth rattling, dust choked travel with way too few breaks, and not much napping, they stopped at a river. At least a kilometer of sand and gravel bars and narrow stream channels gleamed in the light of a fat moon sinking toward the western horizon.
Fean hopped down from the flat, warping light. The faint distortion bolted for the bushes. Ahja warped light and stepped around to see what the Governor was up to.
The drivers were getting out and unloading some long, narrow, metal trusses . . .
Fean bumped into him. “Oops, sorry, what are they doing?”
“Setting up temporary bridges. Must be, umm six trusses, three bridges?”
Fean’s voice from nowhere, “Unless they stop and move them. How far do you think we’ve come?”
“We can’t possibly have averaged above 60 klicks. But that puts us, oh, maybe half of the way to that blanked out spot. If they don’t stop for the rest of the night, we should find out what they’re hiding very early tomorrow.”
“And save your poor ass from having to ride a horse for days on end?”
“Don’t be silly. It’s to save those over-size over-fed beasts you conned out of Eldon from having to tote me all over.” Ajha nudged her away as men approached . . . and hopped up on the back of the last truck.
:: Hey! ::
:: They must need to pick them up and move them. If we can get to the next truck . . . :: Ajha’s mental speech dribbled off as the trucks rolled out.
“Poor horses.” He waited a moment for the dust to settle. “Let’s get across the river before you get them out.”
“Maybe they’ll camp for the night and we can catch up to them.” Fean trotted down the rough track to the riverbed, an ankle wrenching half mile of loose, rounded, fist-sized pebbles.
They waded waist deep through the first channel, but the convoy had left the trusses across all the rest.
“They must be planning on coming back soon.” Ajha climbed the far bank and grinned. “Looks like they’re taking a dinner break. Let’s get down there.”
They needn’t have rushed. The drivers were taking a long break, eating, and a few of them stretching out on the ground for a nap.
Three hours later, they were back on the road again, in the faintest wash of predawn.
With Ajha and Fean on the last truck.
Fean laid down and put her head in Ajha’s lap and napped despite the potholes.
Ajha leaned back against the hard crates under the tarp and tried to stay awake.
Hit the ground hard, rolled over and remembered to warp light as the truck bounced out of the worst pothole yet and drove away.
“Boss? You here?”
Ajha groaned. “Yes. Damn. What time is it? Oh, it was about time to bail anyway. Ouch.”
“Yeah, what do you figure? Another fifty kay?” Fean appeared as the convoy vanished around a bend. “Time to ride.”
She pulled something that looked like a folding ruler out of her pocket and started unfolding it.
“How many of those do you have?”
“Six.” She pulled this one open and a big glossy horse trotted out, followed by another. Saddled, bridled, ready to go.
Ajha stared at the huge black animals. And decided to not ask what else she had on hand.
“One of them is Sparkle and the other’s Shine.”
“Spark . . .” The first horse nodded and whiffed at the hands Ajha had automatically stuck out, then turned as if to offer the stirrup for mounting.
Ajha heaved himself aboard and turned the big black horse south. “Let's see if Eldon's oversized beasts have any endurance."
Spark snorted and broke into a rolling gallop. His brother Shine was right behind, and decided to make a race of it.
By sundown, Ajha felt like he'd been beaten with a bat. A grove of trees on a stream bank beckoned. He slid limply off the oversized creature and staggered over to a nice soft looking patch of grass and laid down flat on his stomach.
Fean laughed. "So, been slacking off? Haven't ridden much lately?"
He ignored her. Didn't even bother feeling guilty as he heard her pull off the horses' saddles, the jingle of bits. After a long moment of non-movement he pulled up a generalized healing spell and cast it on himself. Groaned to his feet and grabbed a brush so he could at least brush his own mount.
"Spark, I apologize for thinking that you were too heavy, and fat, and soft to be optimal for this trip."
"Thought you needed some Arabians, Boss?"
"Exactly. I suppose these guys are Comet Fall bred?"
"Yep. Eldon said they were twins and their sire is Phantom, the Dark Lady's mount. And when I asked, well, apparently they're recently descended from at least two of the original experimental horses from the Earth Labs."
The horse turned his head and met Ajha's gaze with what he'd swear was an equine smirk.
"I see."
In the morning he had to apply pain killing and healing spells before he made it out of his bedroll.
By mid-morning, a dozen miles down the road, he was eyeing an approaching dust cloud and looking for cover. From behind a scraggly copse of overgrown brush he watched the Governor’s car pass, a single empty truck following.
"So the team is staying. But Arry's business is concluded. What the hell is he up to?" Ajha stretched and groaned. "Maybe I should walk for a while."
Fean pulled a bottle of wine out of her saddle bags. Surely not . . . But he thought about getting back up on the horse and didn't hesitate when Fean offered him a scant half a glass of wine.
Halfway down his throat, the wine exploded like lightning and, and, glowed through his body, and removed every ache and pain and Fean looked twice as gorgeous as usual and . . . and he got a grip on himself, took a deep breath. Another.
"Damn, that stuff is . . . is . . . "
Fean snickered. "Just be glad I don't want any more children just now, Boss. Because you are definitely on my list to father the next one." She looked down at her own glass. "Damn, drunk and talkative."
Ajha paused . . . took another swallow. Another burst of energy, but no increase in, umm . . . damn, riding may be a bit uncomfortable in an entirely different way, for a bit.
Spark looked wistfully at the glass, so he poured the last ounce into his hand and let the horse lick it up.
"Oooo, not a good idea, boss."
"He'd working harder than I am." Ajha handed back the glass, fighting an impulse to make as much physical contact with Fean as possible.
They mounted, walked and trotted, a brief gallop, walked until the horses were cool, then took a long break through the heat of the summer day. The horses grazed. The people napped . . . Ajha was blushing about the dreams when he woke and resaddled Spark.
By sundown, they were flat on their bellies surveying an armed compound.
"Well, well. Now isn't that interesting. Action Teams with a whole lot of Earth equipment. Some of them with the logo of that merc company that provides protection for the Earth farmers. All tucked away in something that would take a fair amount of work to take down." Ajha eased back and thought about it. "I wondered if the locals might fight to stay, even to the point of seceding."
Fean grinned. "Looks like the Earthers had the same idea, and they've made a common cause of it."
"Yep." Ajha squinted suddenly, mentally augmenting the light from the twilight sky. "And that group of women and children they're herding across aren't being treated like volunteers. I guess some of the raids were real."
Fean growled. "And not the Nomads. What do you want to bet the Mercs and the Teamers are raiding each other's towns?"
"Could be. Or their own. So, let's get some dinner, let the camp settle down for the night, then we'll slide down there and see what sort of mayhem we can commit."
They sat close to eat yet another fresh sandwich fetched fr
om the saddlebags. Exchanging uncertain glances as the twilight faded.
"Bring the bubble you had the horses in. If those women are captives, we can use it to smuggle them out." Ajha warped light around himself, knowing Fean would be doing the same. They'd both managed enough coaching on Comet Fall magic to be able to do things the Teamers wouldn't be expecting. The warps would even conceal their body heat, and the little slit for vision had a secondary spell to shift frequencies for night vision. They marched confidently down the hill and slipped through the guarded gate as the guard shifts changed.
He started with the buildings opposite where the women had been herded. :: Armory. Warehouse. Offices. Officer's quarters. ::
He eyed the low building.
:: Better not, Boss. There's too many of them. ::
:: I wasn't going to start a fight! I could just tap a few brains . . . ::
:: And one of them would wake up, and then we'd be fighting our way out of here. C'mon. Finish the survey. ::
:: Mess hall and kitchen. And yes, by the leaking emotions, captives. And the lock on the outside, of course. ::
:: The last building is barracks, between the lock up and the gate. We need to be sneaky, else we'll find a hundred soldiers between us and escape. ::
:: Not really. The place was built to keep an army out, not sneaky people in. :: Ajha slipped up to the door of the building that was leaking a stew of emotions from frightened to resigned. Even a bit of excitement, mixed with youthful naivety. Some of the kids are making it into an adventure. Good. Less trauma.
The sound of footsteps, from around the corner. Guards?
He bit his lip, then put a soft mental shield between this building and the barracks.
Stepped quietly up to and around the corner. Two men in Directorate khaki. He hit the first with a stun spell, and the second he reached out mentally and grabbed control.
Fean jumped to catch the stunned man’s fall and lowered him quietly to the ground.
"Are the Earthers and these renegades working together?" Fean looked at the man Ajha was controlling.
“Answer the lady.”
The man twisted against the control . . . spoke. "Yes. Arry and the Earther bitch and that mercenary captain. You're in trouble, you're not going to be allowed to escape."
"Do they actually think they can fight two armies?" Ajha scowled.
"They won't need to. They're going to close the Gates to Earth and One. They figure we can hold the Gate to Embassy, because Disco won't let either side take armies through."
Ajha shook his head. "You know Disco isn't going to let you keep this world. It belongs to the Nomads."
"There are people who were born here, and so were their parents. How long does it take to make someone a 'native' of a world?"
"About as long as it takes for a Native living on the One World to be considered a Multitude instead of a Native. I can't, just off hand, think of a single occurrence."
Ajha leaned on him mentally. “When are they planning to close the gates?”
Serious resistance, for that. “T . . . Two . . . Dada . . .” The man’s legs wobbled, as his eyes rolled up.
"I guess I won't need anything else from him." Ajha manhandled him around the back of the building and let him collapse in some tall weeds.
Fean was pulling the stunned guard by his feet, Ajha grabbed his shoulders and applied a touch of levitation and they parked him more-or-less out of sight.
“Let's load up these women and get to town. If the Militia's stupid enough to hold it after these women give public witness, I think they're going to find out how little they awe the Farmers."
***
Ajha touched the lock with a telekinetic spell that fitted itself to the wards and turned. They slipped quietly inside and dropped the light warps.
Barracks, rows of beds, huddled forms leaping up in alarm . . .
Ajha lowered his shield a bit, and spoke up. "Hi. We're the good guys. Anyone here in need of rescue?"
The sheer stupidity stopped the panicked women.
The nearest one frowned at him. "Who the One Hell are you?"
"Umm, well, Ajha Clostuone. I'm with the Directorate, trying to find out what the rogue Action Teams are up to. Kidnapping, I take it?"
"And murder and rape." Another woman stalked up and glared at him, frowned at Fean. "And yeah, we'd like to be rescued. Or give us some guns and we see about a bit of revenge and then rescue ourselves."
"Unfortunately Governor Arry isn't here right now. So let's get back to town and start by taking him down."
That got a groundswell of deep growls from half the women. Two young women held back, looking panicked and uncertain. Mostly Oners or Halfers, and . . . Earthers? Or maybe Natives the Earth brought in to mine and do the stoop labor?
Fean stepped forward. "This is a bag of the Prophets. Let me show you how it works."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
25 July 3623 ce
Fort Arry, Granite Peak
Jack climbed out of the truck with a curse, stretching his back. A Oner stomped out of the officers’ quarters. Iqne, the worst of their action team leaders. Arrogant son of a bitch, they think they'll be the leaders, because of their damned magic. Sooner or later we'll find out if Arrow is stronger than they are, or not.
Floodlights came on as the Oner walked over.
"Driving the truck yourself?" the Oner sneered at Jack, leered at Arrow as she got down.
But kept his hands to himself. She’d only had to stun two more, over the last two months.
Iqne looked back at Jack. "I never thought I'd see you without your armored gyp."
"Long day’s work over there, two flats on each vehicle." Jack shrugged, trying for indifference. "And only one spare on the gyp. Someone borrowed the other. I left the lads to deal with it."
"Ha!" The Oner turned and eyed the very few people around. "Ubso, get the forklift. Two pallets of canned and dried goods, one pallet of ammo. We'll be ready." He eyed Arrow. "If you can close the gates."
She smiled smugly. "I can. I’ll close the gate from Serene to Earth and the gate to Embassy. Then I'll come to Cough Town and close the gate to One World. Then we'll just see if I also need to close that gate to Embassy, or if we can negotiate our independence."
Iqne curled a lip. "Disco is owned heart and soul by Comet Fall." He shifted away to give the forklift space to get to the end pallet. "Everyone else there is just an employee. You really think that wizard lets Hackathorne make policy decisions?"
Arrow laughed. "Finally, someone who sees the truth. But if they play by their own rules we may have a chance. After all, we're sticking it to both Earth and Empire. We can pull this off."
The fork lift returned for the second pallet of food.
Arrow pulled four stones out of her pocket. “And I have a better way to get from Jack’s HQ to yours. In case your governor isn’t available to open the one I already gave him.” She stepped over to a bench, and set the stones down. Switched them around until she had them in the right shape. “This is one end of a corridor. As you can see, the other end is a mile away from the Earthers’ two gates.”
Indeed, the “picture” showing through the rectangle of the rocks was of the roads up the hill to the two arches of the gates. Well separated. One dark in the daylight, one bright with arid desert tan.
“Take these with you. When it’s time, open them, stick them up on any outside wall and we’ll drive through . . . although it might be better if we walked through, inside.” She shrugged. “Your choice. We’ll look before we drive through. So I can close your gates within minutes of closing Jack's.”
The fork lift snagged the last pallet and trundled off to the other warehouse.
A couple of figures climbed into the truck cab and shifted it forward, out of the way . . . kept going . . . Jack turned and frowned. "Hey! Don’t put it in the motor pool, we’ll need it in . . .”
The truck cruised past the solidly parked area, and took aim at the front gate
. . .
“What are they doing with my truck?" Jack raised his voice. "Hey, close the gate, don't let them . . . Shit! Iqne, check the prisoners, I think a couple are escaping."
Iqne squinted across at the “women’s barracks.”
“Shit! They’re all gone!” His glare shifted to the men’s barracks, as he pulled out a satellite comm.
The Action Teamers burst out of the barracks, half undressed, fumbling into clothes with weapons slung over their backs. They headed for the Oner vehicles.
Iqne snapped back into the present. Grinned. "Looks like the revolution is on, boys and girls. I'll call Arry and let him know, call the guard posts and tell the boys to head for Cough. You get your witch to Cough Town and close the gates." His grin widened as he snatched up Arrow’s corridor pebbles. "We'll clean up this little escape and be right on your heels.
Jack scowled. “If we don’t catch them by the river, I’ll take Arrow back to Serene and into position to take down those two gates. When you get to Cough Town, open the corridor. We’ll close our gates then come close yours.”
He bolted across to an armored transport. Half the vehicles here were company property and would start for his implanted ID.
Why the hell did I leave the truck running? If that's just some idiots taking a joy ride, they're going to regret it. Because prisoners escaping right now would be bad PR. Fatal, in fact.
***
Ajha didn't slow down until the horses ran out in front of the truck. He hit the brakes . . . "One dammit, we left them saddled, bridled and tied up in case we needed a fast get away. I hate to abandon them but . . . " He broke off as the big black beasts dodged around the slow moving truck and leaped from the side.
Steel shod hooves skidded on the steel bed. They scrambled and turned forward.
Fean snickered. "Comet Fall! Get going, Boss."
He got. The horses leaned on the cab, heads up, manes streaming in the wind . . . He shook his head and watched the lights far behind them in the night.
They'll catch us by dawn, so we'll need to hide . . . somewhere, before they can see us, before our tracks are obvious. Late enough that they'll think we turned off the headlights in the early dawn and not stop to look for us. This is going to require me to stay ahead of them for at least five hours on crappy dirt roads. Well, it's not my truck . . .