by Ryk Brown
“A little?” Loki turned and looked at the major. “Maybe we should look for another place to cross.”
“It would take too long. We’re running out of light.”
“What are you talking about? It’s not even noon yet.”
“In two hours, the sun will be at our backs,” Major Waddell explained. “That means the canyon wall we have to climb will be in direct sunlight instead of shadow.”
“So we’ll be hot.”
“And we’ll be highly visible to people in the valley over there,” the major said, pointing to their right, “including the Jung.”
“I didn’t think of that,” Loki admitted, looking at the river again. “This side isn’t so bad. It’s fast, but it only looks to be waist deep. It’s the other side that I’m worried about. All that green water. It looks really deep over there.”
“I have an idea,” Major Waddell told him. “See that big rock just up river, the one in the middle?” Major Waddell pointed at the massive rock. “If we can get to that rock, I can swim across the deep side with a line and pull you across after me.”
“Uh, the water looks to be deep on both sides of that rock, Major,” Loki said, “and fast, too.”
“It’s shallow enough here that we can walk out halfway, then work our way upstream to that rock. You see the tan area of water just downstream of the rock? That’s got to be a sandbar of some sort, probably created by the flow of water around the rock.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“No,” the major said, “but I’m willing to go first.”
Loki sighed. “Okay. It can’t be any worse than jumping out of a perfectly good shuttle at the edge of space.”
Major Waddell pulled a bundle of thin cord from his pack and handed one end to Loki. “Tie this around your chest, up under your armpits.”
“This little thing? Are you sure it’s strong enough?”
“This little cord could hold ten of us,” the major assured him. “This way, if you lose your footing and get swept away by the current, I can haul you to me on that rock.”
“If you say so,” Loki said. “You know, I haven’t dried out yet from the last river we crossed.”
“Be thankful we’re not in the high mountains,” Major Waddell told him.
“Why?”
“The water would be melted snow. Very cold.” Major Waddell unbundled the cord as he walked out into the river, letting the cord drift downstream. He tied the opposite end of the cord around his own chest and then continued out across the river.
Loki watched from the shore as the major waded out into the waist-deep water. As he had suspected, the river was moving faster than it looked. The water was bubbling up higher on the upstream side of Major Waddell, while there was a trough forming on his downstream side. The major was leaning into the current to steady himself, and more than once he looked as if he were about to lose his footing. The major was both taller and heavier, and Loki worried that the current might be more than he could handle.
In only a few minutes, the major had made it to the middle of the river and had worked his way upstream along the underwater sandbar that led to the downstream side of the rock. He removed his pack and tossed it onto the flatter, upper side of the rock. He then climbed up. He looked neither fatigued nor concerned, only wet from his mid-torso down.
The major looked all around the rock, sizing up the area as if deciding whether or not his plan would work. He motioned for Loki to join him. Loki groaned as he began to wade out into the river.
A minute later, Loki was himself waist deep in the rushing current, leaning hard upstream to steady himself. The water continued to move deeper with the upstream side splashing at his left armpit. For reasons he did not understand, he couldn’t help but hold his hands up high above the water as if he were afraid to get them wet.
His breathing was quick and his pulse raced as he took one careful step after the other, constantly struggling to stay upright against the pull of the water. Every instinct in him screamed for him to turn around and head back to shore. As he plodded along step by step, one thought kept racing through his mind. Why is it that humans love the water so much? The stuff seemed way too dangerous to him at the moment.
Soon, the moment had passed, and he found himself on the sandbar heading upstream with the water level down to his waist once more. Once he arrived at the downstream side of the rock, he removed his pack and tossed it up, then took the major’s hand and scrambled up the side of the rock to join him.
“Okay,” Loki sputtered, feeling out of breath. “That was scary.”
“I’m afraid that was the easy part,” Major Waddell warned him. The major pointed to the other side of the river. The water near the rock was deep green, indicating deep water. The current also appeared to be quite powerful. The green portion extended for a good twenty meters before it looked to be more shallow and moving more slowly. “That’s the scary part.”
Loki stared at the water as it rushed past them. He felt his pulse racing again. He looked at the major, who was pulling something out of his pack. “What are you doing?”
“Testing the currents,” Major Waddell answered. He pulled a meal bar out of his pack and tossed it a few meters out into the deep water. The current immediately grabbed it and swept it downstream.
“With a meal bar? We’re supposed to eat those, you know.”
Major Waddell didn’t answer, just kept his eyes on the meal bar as it continued riding the river’s currents downstream. After about twenty-five meters, the bar began to move toward the far shore until, finally, its downstream motion stopped all together. It bounced gently in a swirling pocket of water for a minute or two, then drifted into shallow water along the far side of the river, only thirty or so meters downstream of them.
“Did you see that?” the major asked. “The current took it straight in to shore.”
“So?”
“So, we use our packs as floats, jump out as far as we can, kick a bit, and let the current take us the rest of the way. A piece of pie.”
“I believe the expression they use is ‘a piece of cake’,” Loki said, “but it was a good attempt. And for the record, I don’t think it is a piece of cake.”
“I’ll go first, of course,” the major explained as he picked up his pack. “That way I can haul you in if the current tries to carry you farther downstream.”
“Maybe we should rest a bit first,” Loki suggested, trying to buy time.
“The sun, remember?” Major Waddell said, pointing at the sky. He put his pack on backward with the pack on his chest instead of his back. “Fasten the strap‘s buckle for me,” he instructed.
Loki fastened the buckle on the major’s back, connecting the two straps together so they would not slip off of the major’s shoulders. “Are you sure these things will float?”
“The fabric has thousands of tiny, air-filled cells,” the major explained. “It’s supposed to protect the contents, but it also makes the packs buoyant.”
“Enough to hold us up?”
“No, but enough to keep your head above water, since you can’t swim.”
“Then why are you using it?” Loki asked. “You know how to swim.”
“To make sure it actually works before you try it,” the major said with a grin. “Now put yours on.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” Loki said as he picked up his pack.
Major Waddell buckled Loki’s straps together behind him in the same fashion, then patted him on the back. “We’re all set.” He tossed the bundle of cord that connected them out into the currents. “Remember, if something happens to me, and I end up being swept downstream, you have to haul me in, so be ready. If that happens, try to haul me in to the sandbar so I can stand and walk my way back up here.”
�
��Got it,” Loki answered.
“Good luck, kid,” the major said. Without hesitation, the major moved to the far side of the rock and turned around to face the river. After taking three deep breaths, he ran toward the edge of the rock and leapt out over the river with his hands holding onto either side of his pack and his elbows out. The major’s feet pierced the water first, and the rest of his body followed with little splash. He rocked back and forth slightly as his hands let go of his pack and jutted out to the sides to steady him. The current quickly grabbed the major and took him downstream, just as expected.
The major kicked with his feet and paddled with his arms in an attempt to get across the deep part of the river as quickly as possible, but he seemed to make little headway. Loki began to worry that the current was not going to have as much effect on the major as it had on his meal bar.
The major started kicking and paddling more vigorously, and Loki became more concerned. Major Waddell had already traveled at least twenty meters downriver, and the current did not appear to be moving him toward the opposite shore as he had predicted.
Loki began quickly pulling in the loose slack in the cord that connected the two of them in preparation to haul the major back toward the center of the river and out of danger. Then, just as he was about to pull the cord taut, the major stood up in water that was only chest deep and barely moving.
“Ha-ha!” Loki laughed in both excitement and surprise. “You did it!”
Major Waddell gestured for Loki to keep his voice down.
After Major Waddell made it close to the far shore and was only standing in knee deep water, he motioned for Loki to jump in. The major demonstrated the proper positioning for Loki’s hands, the same position he had used. Loki nodded his understanding, grabbing his pack in similar fashion with his elbows out. He took several steps back, took three deep breaths just as the major had done, ran across the rock in three bounding strides, and jumped off into the water.
Loki had never jumped into any water before, not even a swimming pool. His entry was far less graceful than Major Waddell’s had been. Loki’s entire body hit the water at once, causing a tremendous splash. He was surprised to find that the seemingly soft water felt like a wall, slamming the pack into his chest and stinging his face. He immediately felt unstable as the initial force of his impact caused his body to go under the water. His arms shot out unevenly and he rolled over onto his back before breaking the surface. Now his pack was floating on the water, with Loki dangling under the pack just beneath the surface.
Loki thrashed about with his hands and feet, struggling to upright himself. He tried not to panic, but he could not get upright. He twisted and turned as he tried to roll back over, and for a moment, he thought his head was above water. He gasped for air. A whole new wave of panic swept over him as some of the water found its way into his lungs. His reaction was to cough, which forced the last of the air from his body. He fought the urge to take another breath, well aware that his head was still underwater, as he continued to thrash about in his attempt to right himself.
The cord tied around his chest suddenly yanked at him with incredible force, spinning Loki around. He instantly felt the wind on his cheeks, and he sputtered and gasped as he drew precious air into his lungs.
He heard the major yelling out from the shoreline, “Arms out!” He followed the major’s advice, spreading both his arms and his feet out as far as he could to steady himself, floating with his pack under his chest and riding with his head above the water.
Loki could feel the cord digging into his back and his armpits as Major Waddell pulled him toward the shore. He coughed and sputtered as water tried to work its way up out of his lungs. He could hear the sound of the major splashing in the shallow water as he ran out to grab Loki. When the major’s hands finally did grab Loki by his shirt and pull him toward the shore, it was almost euphoric.
With his feet finally under him, Loki stumbled through the shallows to the shore, the major helping him along.
“Damn, kid!” the major said as Loki collapsed on the shoreline, his legs still in the water. “I thought you were going to drown out there!”
Loki coughed and coughed, then finally held up one hand, a single finger in the air. “Not so loud,” he warned in between coughs. “The locals.”
Major Waddell smiled at Loki, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to his feet. “Right,” he answered, laughing.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jessica followed Synda from one street vendor to the next, occasionally stepping in to pay for something the young woman wanted to purchase for her eventual trip north. She pretended to look at various items herself, feigning more interest in some things than in others while really having no interest in them at all.
The open-air market place at the heart of the downtown shopping district was nothing more than a small cluster of streets that had been permanently blocked off to form the market. According to Synda, many of these had been formed in the earlier days immediately after the invasion. With many of the buildings damaged or destroyed by the attack, people had taken to setting up in the streets, often in front of their own half-destroyed shops or residences, in order to trade what they still had for what they needed. The Jung had moved quickly to replace the impromptu barter system with their own credit chips in order to better control the markets and the finances of the city, but with so many buildings still under repair, the open street markets had become the new standard. The Jung had simply moved them to officially designated locations in order to keep traffic flowing smoothly through the city.
The downtown marketplace was the largest in Winnipeg. While some markets specialized in certain types of merchandise, the downtown market carried everything. Thus, it was the one that attracted the largest crowds as well as the best prices.
As Jessica pretended to shop, she eyeballed members of the crowd. Most appeared to be going about their day, but a few seemed out of place: a man who seemed to scan the crowd out of the corner of his eye more so than Jessica, a woman who moved from vendor to vendor not really looking at anything, and a third man who followed the woman around and kept looking back at the first man to see what he was doing.
There was something else suspicious as well. She had seen at least a half dozen men, all with fair skin and clean-cut hair. They were all wearing civilian clothing, but they carried themselves differently, as if this environment felt unfamiliar to them.
The most suspicious thing of all was that she had not seen a single Jung soldier since they had arrived at the marketplace. They had spotted several patrols along the way and had managed to avoid them, but here, in the busiest marketplace in the city, there were none.
Jessica moved closer to Synda, who was completely absorbed in the only shopping she had been able to do since the invasion over two months ago. Jessica pulled at her arm, getting her to casually move away from the ears of other customers. “You said this place had been attacked several times in the last few weeks, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why aren’t there any Jung guards around?”
“I don’t know. They move around a lot, never staying in one spot for very long except at the regular checkpoints. Maybe you just didn’t notice them.”
“When did you say the last attack here was?”
“Sunday, I believe.”
“And before that?”
“Friday. I remember because it was a holiday, and there were a lot of people killed.”
“What about the one before that?”
“Wednesday. They called it the hump day attack.”
“Let me guess. The one before the hump day attack was on a Monday, right?”
“Yeah, I think it was.” Synda looked at Jessica. “You don’t think…”
“Nah,” Jessica assured her. “Nobody’s that stupid.” She pushed Synda back toward the ve
ndor. “Keep shopping.”
“I thought you wanted to find someone.”
“I’m working on it.”
Synda shrugged her off and returned to her shopping. Jessica moved to the next vendor and examined their wares as she stole glances at the crowd. She spotted another man doing more looking than shopping. Two clean-cut, fair-skinned men stood against a building talking.
A bus pulled down a side street as Jessica moved around the corner vendor’s stand. She saw the bus pull to the side of the road and stop, but no one got out. As she pretended to study the items on display, she stole several more glances at the bus down the street. There were shadowy figures moving about inside the bus. Then the doors on the bus opened, and a man in an officer’s uniform stepped out and looked around—only it was a uniform Jessica had never seen before. The officer, once satisfied that no one was looking, signaled to someone inside the bus. A moment later, more than a dozen men dressed in full battle armor and carrying energy weapons emerged from the bus and quickly moved into the nearby building.
Jessica’s eyes snapped back to the merchandise she was pretending to shop for as the bus pulled away moving toward her. It passed slowly behind her and across the main street, being careful to avoid shoppers. It moved at least two blocks down before stopping again and unloading more armed men, who also disappeared into a building.
Jessica looked back to her right, spotting Synda still at the same vendor stand arguing with a woman about the price of something. Jessica looked beyond her, noticing another bus stopping more than a block away. It stopped on the corner, and all manner of people exited the bus and made their way into the market—women, children, and at least five nervous-looking men of mixed races, each with one thing in common… unusually bulky jackets for this time of year.
Jessica moved purposefully toward Synda, maintaining a casual pace so as not to draw attention. Her eyes darted about. Left and right, up and down, through the windows, and along the tops of buildings. There was movement in one of the shop windows, and for a moment, she could swear she saw the silhouette of a soldier.