Sunset in Silvana (Da'ark Nocturne Book 1)
Page 27
“I’m not so sure,” RD said. “They’re here to help stop an invasion from the other direction, and they look to be automatic. If we can avoid activating them, we might get through. Anyway, we’ve no option but to try.”
They moved forward as quickly as they could whilst checking for tripwires or anything else that might bring Armageddon down on them. The hairs on the back of Tanya’s neck were standing rigidly to attention at the thought of being in the cross-hairs of such massive weapons – or of the search party that would undoubtedly be on their trail by now.
They were just past the artillery when Slimmest caught up to them and jumped up onto Tanya’s shoulders. :Call a halt,: she sent in a peremptory tone, :I can feel something strange just ahead of us.:
“Slimmest thinks we’re approaching something that smells fishy,” she announced.
“Well, she’s the expert on fish,” Bartes said. He examined the valley immediately in front of them with his purloined binoculars, and then with night glasses. “She’s right,” he said, “There’s a laser detection web across the valley. I can see it in the infra-red. It probably triggers the heavy artillery.”
“Could we thread our way through using the night glasses to help us avoid the lasers?” Tanya asked.
“We could try, but the holes in the web are pretty small, and if we made any mistakes, it could prove disastrous.”
“I think that our best chance is to climb up the left hand wall of the canyon – that looks the easier side – and over the top of the web,” RD said.
:Do we have the time?: Tanya asked Slimmest.
:Oh, yes,: came the reply. :I’ve spent the last couple of hours leading the search party on a merry chase, and I’ve left them a little present by the dead soldiers – courtesy of my mistress.:
“I’ll go first,” RD said, “then Anoushka. The boy can go next, then the Doctor and Bartes. We’ll have to leave Iain behind.”
“Not a chance.” Tanya was vehement.
“I agree,” Bartes said. “Tanya and I can help him over.”
“I don’t – need any help,” Iain mumbled. “I can manage – by myself”
Bartes laughed. “It’s not the time to revert to being Ivan, you idiot. I’ve got some rope – let’s tie ourselves together.”
That’s a good idea,” said Anoushka. “Let’s all tie ourselves together.”
RD shrugged, took the rope and cut it into two pieces. “OK, but in two batches – Anoushka and me, and the rest of you together.”
That’s symbolic, thought Tanya as she wound the rope around her waist and tied it firmly.
“I’ll see you the other side – if you make it,” RD said as he started clambering up the cliff-face. He moved slowly, testing each foothold and ensuring that Anoushka put her feet in the same places. A couple of times those watching held their breath as tentative footholds gave way and cascades of small pebbles fell, but soon the pioneers had reached the far side of the laser net. RD hurried Anoushka away.
“Where are you going?” Bartes called. “We could do with your help.”
RD shrugged again and continued walking. “I don’t want to be hit by the firestorm if you trigger it,” he said over his shoulder.
Tanya led the second party, using the footholds RD had found, with Slimmest in front of her acting as guide. Peter came second – his light weight and easy athleticism made climbing easy. Bartes, who took up the rear, was less nimble, but had a reassuring solidity. It was Iain who was the problem. He was still rather dazed, and he couldn’t use his right arm to hold on, or to balance.
This made climbing a ticklish business. It didn’t help that the scree was unstable, and often moved beneath their feet. Their pace was incredibly slow, and they had to pause frequently to steady themselves.
They were slowly inching along a narrow ledge just over the top of the web when there was a terrible screaming noise behind them and their silhouettes were thrown onto the rocks ahead by a flash of searing blue light.
:It appears your pursuers have found my little booby-trap,: Slimmest told her smugly. :I don’t think they’ll be in any shape to follow us – any that survived.:
:Thank you,: Tanya replied, :but a little warning would have been nice.:
They had dislodged several stones that rained down through and between the laser beams. They waited tensely to see if anything would be triggered, but there was no reaction from the artillery behind them.
Bartes gave a long exhalation. “I reckon they don’t want their toys triggered by animals – or minor rock falls,” he said. “Luckily for us.”
They reached the point at which it was safe to descend. Step by step they inched downwards, each guiding their neighbour’s feet into cracks and crevices that could take their weight. Several times hand- or footholds crumbled but the closest they came to disaster was when Peter’s boot caught Tanya’s forehead.
“Careful,” she called.
“Sorry.”
Eventually Tanya reached the valley floor. She breathed a sigh of relief, looked up, and said, “We’ve made…” when Iain’s left foot slipped. His left hand grasped at the air as he lurched sideways. As he fell, he managed to grab hold of Bartes’ ankle. Bartes held on grimly for several seconds, then his hands were inexorably pulled from the cliff face, and both men plummeted past Peter.
Tanya muttered a most unladylike expletive, and knelt down beside Bartes, who was groaning in pain. He’d landed on his right ankle, which was now bent at a very unnatural angle. :How’s Iain?: she asked Slimmest, who was checking the other man’s injuries.
:He’s fractured his left wrist,: the cat told her, :but that’s all.:
That’s both arms out of action, Tanya thought, but at least he’ll be able to walk – and carry a pack. No such luck for Bartes... She gave Bartes a strong shot of local anaesthetic just above his injury and waited for it to take effect. Once his moans had stopped and his face relaxed, she telekinetically straightened his shattered bones, which luckily hadn’t pierced the skin. She held the pieces in place while she immobilised the joint with an insta-splint.
While Tanya was dealing with Bartes, Anoushka arrived, dragging a reluctant RD with her. ”I can help,” she said. “Give me the anaesthetic spray and a bandage.” She numbed Iain’s arm and wrapped it carefully, then helped Tanya mould the quick-drying plaster around his wrist.
“Can we move on?” RD asked once they’d finished.
“We’re going to have to,” Tanya said with a sigh, “but these injuries need proper treatment, and rest, and I’m running out of medication. We’ve got to reach Telphania soon, or I can’t answer for the consequences. Slimmest & I can help psionically when we have time – and I’m not exhausted – but for now we’ve got to keep moving.”
“Let’s lighten our loads as much as we can,” suggested Bartes.
They emptied their packs of everything non-essential: extra clothes, most of their equipment – even some of their extra weapons. The little they retained was shared between Iain, Anoushka, Peter and Tanya, so that RD could help Bartes.
Their progress was achingly slow, but having RD occupied meant that Tanya could talk to Anoushka privately for the first time since they left the ruined tower. She came straight to the point and asked, “What’s going on between you and RD, Anoushka?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Anoushka replied, but there was a little colour in her cheeks and she seemed to be deliberately looking the other way.
“I thought you had a thing for John D’Arcy.”
“Can’t a girl like more than one man?” She sounded rather resentful of Tanya’s interest.
“I’m sorry, ‘Noushka – I didn’t mean to offend you.”
They walked in silence for a while. Finally, Anoushka said, “No, I’m sorry, Tanya – I shouldn’t have reacted like that. It’s just that I’m not really sure of my own mind. John’s never shown any real interest in me, but on the other hand, RD really cares.”
“But do you care for him?”
This took Tanya aback. Officious, yes; obnoxious, often; competent, yes, very; but vulnerable? She looked over to where RD was supporting Bartes’ weight on his shoulder. Perhaps she should re-evaluate him.
The valley began to open out, and they could see the tops of trees ahead. Anoushka ran to a ridge a little ahead of them. “We’ve made it,” she cried.
As Tanya caught up with her, the vista below unfolded: the sun was setting behind them, but ahead of them, in the shadow of the mountains, was a long wooded slope that led to a range of foothills. Several rivulets trickled down the sides of the valley to form a mountain stream that flowed down the hillside and onto a cultivated plateau.
RD helped Bartes to a flat rock and, having settled his burden, strolled forward to survey the land ahead through his binoculars. “I think you’re right,” he announced after a few minutes. “I can see a barbed-wire fence beyond the foothills that must mark the border, and I can make out a small town some miles beyond it. Perhaps the night after next we’ll sleep in a Telphanian hotel, and – you never know – there might even be a restaurant... with candles…” He smiled, and raised an eyebrow in Anoushka’s direction.
She giggled, then frowned. “But could we afford it?” she asked.
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” There was an uncharacteristic playfulness in his voice. “I’m certain our good doctor has enough left from her illicit trading for a few drinks. And after we’ve spent her profits, we can contact Mercy, and find out how senior a field agent we’ve been nurturing in our collective bosom. I’m sure she has access to enough credit to put us all in the lap of luxury, eh, Tanya?”
He rarely used Tanya’s first name before, and she was trying to work out how to respond to his olive branch when the rocks behind him started to shift, as if the stone was turning to mud, and something emerged from the cliff face. It was as large as a man, but black and chitinous, and it moved with inhuman speed.
“Oh God,” breathed Tanya, pulled back into the past...
...“Tell me another story, Mama – please.”
“Just one more, darling. (Stop wiggling if you want to stay sitting on my knee.) You remember that I told you about Lyra?”
“Yes – Lyra the Brave. She was my great-great-great-great...”
“Well, let’s just say she was your ancestor. And you remember that the Ancients made our people slaves for a long, long time? And how we fought for our freedom?”
“And there was a bear, wasn’t there?”
“Well, Lyra’s husband was called Beran, but I don’t think he was a bear! But he was a great fighter, and led the resistance in our province. Well, one day, while he was away fighting, the Ancients sent a Ripper to attack his family.”
“What’s a Ripper, Mama?”
“The Rippers were made by the Ancients to kill our people. They were partly like us, and partly like giant insects. They were covered in sharp bits, and had big knives for hands. They had one purpose: to chop people into little pieces. And once they came after you, they didn’t stop until you – or they – were dead.”
“But - but Lyra killed this one, didn’t she?”
“She did. She defended her children with the great sword Dragonfang, and the Ripper couldn’t get to them. But the Ripper sliced her apart as they fought, and when Beran got home, she and the Ripper were lying in a pool of blood in front of the nursery door.”
“Oh!” Tanya recalled how she buried her face in her mother’s hair and sobbed. “But it’s just a story, isn’t it?” she wept. “It didn’t really happen, did it?”
“Sweetheart, it’s a story – but not ‘just’ a story. It really happened. Our freedom was hard-won, and cost many lives. Why do you think we’ve sung of it every dawn since?”
That night, she dreamed of running down endless corridors, followed by the click of claws on stone and the grating sound of scales rubbing together. It had triggered her first – involuntary – use of teleportation. She had woken with a scream, naked and shivering, in her parents’ bed.
Her mother’s description of the Ripper was etched in her brain, but it was just a pale reflection of the horror that stood before her now. It had a face, but more like an insect than a man, with mandibles like a cockroach but the size of a scimitar, and compound eyes like an enormous fly. Its body was almost human in shape, though no human would have an extra pair of limbs extending from the lower torso. It was covered in black armour-like scales with spikes protruding from every joint. What caught her eyes, though, were the curved blades that took the place of forearms and hands. They were well over a foot long and razor-sharp, and the way they swept back and forth was mesmerising.
Anoushka screamed and hurled herself towards RD in a desperate attempt to save him. Suddenly, it seemed to Tanya as if everything had slowed down and her companions were dancers in some weird low gravity ballet. Everything? No, the monster was still moving quickly, though not in the blur of movement she had just seen. It occurred to her that she was cursed to witness RD’s death in terrible slow motion.
She stood there, paralysed like a rabbit in front of a snake, until Slimmest raced past her. Almost without volition, her hand clawed at her pistol. She levelled her gun and started firing as soon as its barrel cleared the holster. It was a lightning draw, but still far, far too slow.
Anoushka thrust her hands against RD’s shoulders, knocking him to one side. She was still airborne when the creature reached her, and one of its scythes caught her just about the level of her left breast. The impact spun her round, and they saw her face contort with a scream that she suddenly had no breath to make as the razor-sharp talon sliced right through her torso, leaving the two pieces of her body to fall to the ground.
Through desperate tears, and screaming imprecations, Tanya emptied her gun into the hideous thing’s face, firing as fast as her pistol would cycle, watching the bullets emerge from the barrel like a train’s carriages emerging from a tunnel. She threw the now-empty gun at the demon and, wanting to reach her dying friend, found herself on her knees by Anoushka with no memory of having crossed the intervening ground.
There was nothing she could do to save her friend – all she could do was to take her hand and squeeze it. Slimmest was standing with her forehead pressed to Anoushka’s. She was purring, and the terrible surprise and agony cleared from the dying girl’s face. She looked up into Tanya’s tear-filled eyes and gave a slight smile. Suddenly, for a mere moment, an expression of hope and joy filled her eyes before the life in them vanished.
Tanya closed those still, blue eyes and whispered a prayer. Slimmest reared up on her hind legs and gently patted Tanya’s face before leaving her to her grief. Without warning, there was a brief pain in Tanya’s thigh, and she found herself standing up.
Chapter 31
When the attack came, Bartes had been relaxing, grateful for the opportunity to rest. Anoushka’s scream had roused him from his reverie, and his training had taken over: he’d swung his ACR up and been firing almost before the stock was resting in his left hand. His ankle might have been injured, but there was nothing wrong with his aim, and he’d pumped continuous fire into the monstrosity, with Iain and Tanya matching him on either side.
He’d watched as many of the bullets had glanced off the fiend’s armour, but had noticed that enough got through to slow its inhuman speed. It had begun to leak a greenish ichor in multiple places, had faltered then sunk to – no, into – the ground. When he inspected the area later, even the demon’s vital fluids – if that’s what they were – had disappeared.
He’d looked on helplessly as Tanya fell to her knees by her closest friend’s riven corpse. Now he saw a shiver go through her body.
Tanya rose to her feet. “We must move on,” she said tonelessly.
“What do you mean, you bitch?�
� RD cried. “Anoushka’s dead. Don’t you even care?” Tanya ignored him, and started to remove Anoushka’s blood-soaked pack from her remains. “Stop right there or I’ll shoot you down.”
She turned. Her face showed no emotion, nor did her voice. “Oh, I care – but we have to escape. The mission comes first.”
“Tanya?” Bartes said.
“Of a sort. As a senior Mercy operative, I have a pharmacopoeia implanted in my femur. It has a very special drug in it, designed to help save my life – and those of my team – in extreme situations. It triggers if and when I can’t cope with my feelings, and temporarily cauterises my centres of emotion. It brings a more – efficient – personality to the surface so that I can function.”
RD did not seem to be listening. “You snake! You should have died instead of her.”
“If you want a shouting match, I can’t help you there,” the woman said. “Believe me, you can’t blame me any more than I blame myself. Part of me desperately wants you to stop waving that gun around and put me out of my misery, but I’d have to advise you that such an act would be detrimental to the mission. You’re only trying to assuage your grief – and your own feelings of guilt – by taking them out on me, anyway.”
RD stopped dead, and sank to his knees by Anoushka’s body, angrily brushing away the moisture which filled his eyes. “You’re right, damn you,” he said. “If she hadn’t pushed me aside…”
Iain shook his head. “She clearly cared enough for you to sacrifice her life in your place. There was nothing you – or any of us – could have done.”
“I know,” RD said miserably. “But what shall we do about her body? We can’t just leave her like this.”
“There’s nowhere here to bury her,” the woman that was Tanya said. “We should cremate her remains. I’ll appreciate that – when I’m myself again.”