by Chris Reher
“What about your men? You have ships. You have guns.”
“I have nothing! We were able to reach only one of my battleships before both of my com relays were destroyed. One! That will give me less than two hundred fighters besides what I have down here. We're surrounded and outnumbered. The only way that we are going to get out is by demonstrating my new weapon."
"But there is still time! If we leave at once we only need to worry about the Eagles. Surely you have enough fire power to overcome them. We can run before the battleships arrive!"
"Tharron does not run!" the leader roared. "We will make our stand here over Shaddallam, tomorrow!"
"They would not dare risk the life of this child. I know what you did on Tannaday. They will let us go, knowing that we have the boy."
Tharron's expression shifted. Even Jelani could not suppress a shudder when he looked into the cold eyes within the fleshy folds of the K'lar's face. "This is not Tannaday. This is not about children. They would not hesitate to blow us out of the skies."
"Then let us stay here! We are safe on the ground. This city is filled to bursting with people. As the Union's armies would not oppose the children of Tannaday, so they would not risk the people of Shaddallam. They cannot touch us here!"
"These people will not be here for much longer," Tharron said. "I know what the Tughan needs. I've seen the files you found on Delphi. He will feed, wizard. But not on Rhuwacs. I've brought tastier fare for him."
Jelani only stared, utterly dumfounded.
"Of course," Tharron continued. "We now have a banquet arriving, thanks to your Union friends. They are delivering warriors, engineers, Shantirs, pilots! What a feast for the Tughan Wai!"
"You.. you can't mean this!"
"Make sure the boy is ready. You will destroy the Union fleet and then we will strike Feyd. Or Targon itself."
Jelani coughed to conceal what would have been a whimper. "Targon? Those are high stakes, Lord! I thought you had considered Aram or Myra."
"Delphi, perhaps?"
"Delphi is mine!"
Tharron laughed, a sound like that of a breaking pane of glass. "So it will be. When the Ten Factors are ten dead bodies. We will leave here as soon as you have prepared the boy. He will destroy the Union fleet and then we leave for Targon."
"He is young! I have only now been able to reach his mental block. It could kill him."
The K'lar turned to leave. "I only need to use him once. No one will call my bluff twice. If I can take Targon intact, by threat alone, I will have gained much. When the Union fleet arrives, we will take the boy into orbit and you will let him take those ships out of the sky. See that you are ready."
Jelani stared after Tharron, speechless. Tomorrow! He thought of the Union's ships steadily advancing, preparing for battle. The Tughan would deal with them easily. Child's play! Perhaps he could... yes, it was possible! Jelani hurried into the house, calling for Kiran. There was so much to do!
* * *
Greah blurred past Nova, his outraged cry ringing in her ears. His gun shattered the head of the closest Rhuwac with enough power to leave the decapitated, spurting body standing upright beside his astounded compatriots before it crumpled to the ground.
The surprise was all that was left to them. Nova flung herself into the clearing, firing. Another Rhuwac fell.
The beasts moved in a daze, slow to reach for their own guns. When Tychon felled one of the giants to the left, the remaining two realized that they were surrounded. One lurched toward the two Shaddallam natives and grasped Greah by the neck, lifting him to cover himself.
"Greah!" Nova shouted. The Rhuwac roared in fear and triumph.
He had never met a Shaddallama capable of self defense. Gurgling, Greah twisted his multi jointed arms and aimed his gun. The force of the charge tore through his foe and exploded out of his back. Tychon had to leap out of the way to avoid being crushed beneath the massive body. Greah was flung into the opposite direction.
Nova disposed of the last soldier as he turned to make his escape. "There's one I don't mind shooting in the back!" she shouted gleefully. She looked around. The unscheduled attack had lasted no more than a few seconds. "Everyone all right? Ty?"
"Fine." He took his shirt off and threw it away. "I seem to be splattered with Rhuwac innards, but I don't think they had the time to shoot anything else."
Greah crouched beside the frightened woman and helped her to her feet. She stared round-eyed at Tychon and Nova, then at Greah and finally at her dead mate. She wailed and flung herself over the body, shaking the lifeless arm, sobbing incoherently.
Tychon holstered his gun and dug another shirt from their diminishing stores. "Calm her down, Greah. We'll take her to the city with us. But shut her up."
Greah did his best and soon she tramped along with them, shell-shocked and silent.
It was not long now before their path met the main road. They halted when they saw people moving slowly toward Shad Areen. In the distance a stone bridge spanned the river. A small group of natives were making the cross, leading furred animals. Now that the highway had broadened they were no longer making an effort at concealing themselves.
"We're not far now," Greah said. "We'll keep meeting other people. Cover yourselves up a little. You look much too Human."
"I am not Human," Tychon grumbled. He tied his hair back and threw a blanket over his head as a sort of cowl.
"You're not Shaddallama, either!"
Nova went back to the sandrunner and searched through her parcels. "Give me your water bottle." The others watched in silence as she poured a powder into the leather flask and then shook it carefully.
"What is that?" Tychon asked.
"Ishet gave me this. Turns your skin red. Apparently there are lots of Bellac Tau traders in this area. That right, Greah?"
He nodded. "Miners, slave traders." He giggled when Tychon sniffed the bottle and made a face.
"Drink it fast," Nova advised.
Tychon squeezed his eyes shut when he did so. "That stuff is ugly!" he gasped.
Nova drained the rest of the concoction, nearly retching.
They looked at each other. "So?"
Tychon dropped into the high grass. "I guess we'll wait and see what happens." He beckoned the bird to settle.
They waited in silence. Nova's stomach ceased its protest over the unfamiliar substance. Her skin tingled. She looked at her hands. "I'll be grounded! Look at this!" She turned to Tychon. "Look at you!"
"Not if I look like you."
Their skin had turned an agitated, sickly red. "This had better wear off," she said. "Greah, do you know anything about this stuff?"
"Never heard of it."
"I guess I should have asked Ishet." Nova covered her hair, thankful that the potion had not turned it white.
None of the people that they now met along their trail took particular notice of the two tall Bellacs walking their way with the Shaddallamas and their runner. As in Shad Lengh, the people here seemed to avoid strangers. True to Greah's word, not one of the natives carried so much as a stick for a weapon.
More and more of the paths emerged from the undergrowth until the trails had formed a busy road where everyone seemed to travel in just one direction. Nova felt like a giant walking among the Shaddallamas, most of whom travelled in groups and journeyed with livestock and carts.
At last the dense vegetation parted to reveal the city before them. Surrounded by a sloping stone wall, it resembled a fortress into which their road led without bypass. Armed guards paced atop the wall at even intervals. Small groups of Rhuwacs patrolled the road below, harassing people at random.
Planes came and went, indicating an airfield within. Nova scrutinized each one, seeing mostly the unmarked ships belonging to Tharron's fleet. Only one or two were designed for long distance travel. She wondered if he kept jump-capable ships in other parts of Shaddallam, perhaps cruisers in orbit.
“Not a lot of useful planes,” she said to Tychon, speaki
ng Bellac. Her accent was imperfect and she kept her voice low. “I’m guessing the Eagle is here, since we didn’t find it in Shad Laika. Adachi and his crew should be able to track it here.”
“Yes, except they don’t know we’ve misplaced it,” Tychon said. “For all they know we’re still looking for that tree.”
She sighed. Standard procedure on a rebel-held planet would prevent Vanguard Three and One from communicating with the others unless their objective had been reached. Although it had been days since their arrival on Shaddallam, their silence would not yet be cause for alarm.
“Besides,” Tychon said, peering at the Rhuwacs from beneath his hood. “Pe Khoja surely knows to remove the ship’s squawker. He seemed familiar with the Eagle’s specs. I’m guessing that it’s powered down and dead silent by now.”
The steady pedestrian traffic slowed as each caravan was questioned at the city gate. While awaiting their turn, Tychon peered up to study Shad Areen's outer defenses."I think the guards up there are for show," he said. "Look at those cameras by each buttress."
“What's your business here?" A Centauri guard held his long gun to Tychon's chest. Meta, their new acquaintance, squealed fearfully.
"Eh? What does it say?" Tychon inquired.
"We are not on Bellac, you," the leather-garbed soldier growled. He looked to Greah. "Do you speak Dgabi?"
Tychon gambled. "Tell this foul smelling pig dog to remove its weapon from my person."
Nova tensed but the guard had not understood the insult. "What did he say?"
She smiled prettily. "He begs you to lift your gun, sir."
The rebel studied Nova. He did not look at her face. "Tell me your business here."
"We are only looking for a place to rest for the night," Greah said quickly. "His lungs, you see. They are weak. Another cold night outside would worsen him."
Nova winced at this. Bellacs had only one rather complicated lung; a fact of which she hoped the guard was as ignorant as Greah.
The soldier eyed them suspiciously. At last, after another long look at Nova's legs, he waved them through. "You can find the other Bellacs in the south quarter. See to it that you stay there."
Tychon shambled his way past him, smiling idiotically. "May a makal monkey visit your sister and may the meeting be fruitful."
Nova shoved him through the gate. "Cut it out!" she napped when they had passed.
"Couldn't help myself. At least we know that a lot of the rebels here don't speak Bellac. That's something. If they did, they'd have an interpreter at the gate."
Greah tugged on his arm. "We better find a place to stay."
Tychon agreed. A wound on his leg had begun to throb steadily. "Where is that Bellac quarter?"
Greah shook his head. "We may have squeezed past the Centauri but you won't fool a real Bellac. Meta said we can go to the house of her people. I’ll send for my friends from there."
Greah seemed to find his way through the winding streets without error. Why, thought Nova, did it seem that every beggar and merchant had converged here, in Shad Areen? She caught the impression of carefully manufactured squalor. The houses and shops that lined the road were certainly primitive, as on so many planets of Trans-Targon, but they were large and well kept. Yet beggars huddled in doorways and transients slept in the streets. Overcrowded, noisy, the city was awash with people of a half dozen different points of origin. What were they all doing here?
"Crowds," Tychon mumbled. "So many people."
"That's what I was just–"
He grasped her wrist. "That's it! Tharron is bringing all of these people here from elsewhere on Shaddallam. Think of how this would look on scanners in orbit. This would appear like a vast army."
"Sly," she commented. "Although it wouldn't take long to find out that these are not rebels or Rhuwacs. He's betting that the Union won't want to risk the civilians. Again."
Tharron's men seemed to be everywhere. Nova was torn between ducking and firing whenever one of the rebels crossed their path, weapons drawn. Besides the hated faces of the Rhuwacs, she saw the higher ranking rebels of K'lar, Feyd, Magra and Terran origin wearing Tharron's colors. Not one of them was Delphian.
Greah brought them through a side street and to the recessed door of a low, stone-walled building. He knocked furtively, just once.
It was a long time before the door was opened from within. Nova and Tychon both had to stoop to enter a dim, low-ceilinged room, its corners lost in shadow, windows heavily draped. Nova turned back to see someone outside lead the sandrunner away. Then the door was shut.
"Sit on the floor," Greah whispered. "Don't frighten them."
A group of people no taller than Greah gathered around them. Greah pulled the hood from Tychon's head. The little people gasped in unison. One of them, a wizened female, stepped forward to touch first Nova's, then Tychon's hair. She leaned closer, looking into his eyes. At last, she shook her head and said something.
Some of them giggled.
"What?" Nova looked to Greah for translation.
He grinned. "She said that she doesn't know what it is." He turned to explain the disguise.
His introductions seemed to satisfy the group. Some of them nodded wisely and gathered in a corner to discuss the matter. Greah fell into a long conversation with another group of his kinsmen and the old woman took Meta under her wing. Food and drink was brought to the strangers and they were left alone.
Nova sat comfortably on a rug, watching the Shaddallamas, barely registering the bitter taste of their meal. She felt safe here, shuttered away from the enemy behind thick stone and earth walls, the pleasant smell of smoke and roasted meat mingling with the faint smell of people. The incomprehensible murmur of voices made her drowsy and she sighed contentedly when Tychon pulled her closer to lean against his chest.
Greah returned to them. "They say we can stay as long as we like. But it's best to keep as many of them out of this as possible. You're a risk to them here."
"We'll move after dark," Tychon said. "We need to find a way to get out of here. There must be a way we can steal a plane, if not the Eagle. We should split up and look around."
"Some of my friends have left already. They know this place better'n we do. I think we'll know in a few hours where they have Kira."
"I hope they don't get into trouble for us."
"They know how to be invisible," Greah said, unconcerned.
Nova looked up at Tychon. "What if Kira is locked up in some dungeon? This place is a bloody fortress. It would take an army to get him out."
"They wouldn't put a six-year-old in irons."
"I'm worried about Jelani. What if he's done something already?"
"He'll take his time. Kira's mind is more powerful than his. I wouldn't rush anything if I were Jelani. Once we know where he is, it might be wise for us to regroup. We could probably get some of the Vanguard here pretty fast if we can find a way to communicate. Knowing Carras, he's probably put the rest of the squad on stand-by."
"If your plane is here, we'll know that soon, too," Greah said. "My people are quick."
Chapter Fifteen
Nova's patience was wearing to a fine wire. She barely restrained herself from interrupting the extremely animated conversation taking place among the Shaddallamas. She wanted to pace but, in consideration of the low ceiling, had to dismiss that notion. The thought of pacing on her knees made her laugh nervously.
Four of the natives had gathered around Greah, having returned to their hiding place a few hours after they had left on their errands. There was much gesturing and waving of multi-jointed arms and she could hear their musical laughter - it seemed part of their language with no real connection to humor.
"What do they find to prattle about?" she grumbled.
Tychon half reclined on the floor beside her, carefully testing his wounds. "I think the one in the purple kilt works in Tharron's keep." He flexed a leg. "Looks like he's come up with something."
"How do you know?"
"Nervous, I guess. I wish they wouldn't go into so much detail about everything." How she envied his knack at remaining calm when storms raged all around. The lazy slouch of his body belied the alertness in which he watched their hosts and listened to the sounds of the city outside. She knew him well enough by now to read the deep color of his eyes and the tension in the apparently relaxed pose. But he knew how to channel his resources. While she had waited restlessly for the little people to end their chatter, he had studied and understood their elaborate body language.
Greah finally disengaged himself from the group.
"Well? What is it?" Nova pressed. "Have they found anything?"
He nodded. "Tsegh came just now from Tharron's, ah, home."
"Is Kira there?"
"Indeed! Tsegh faced some danger in gathering his information. At one point he–"
"Can't you spare us the details?"
Greah leaned closer to Tychon. "Perhaps you will listen."
Tychon grinned. "Forgive her. We're not used to your customs. I'm sure Tsegh acted bravely."
"I can't believe you guys!"
Greah settled beside them on the floor. A few Shaddallamas joined them, their eyes on the speaker as if anticipating the words of a storyteller. Nova was certain that none of them understood their language.
"Tharron's still in the house that used to belong to Neb Hani. Neb Hani was a trader who got very wealthy out on Shad Lengh and then settled here, in the lowlands." Greah noticed Nova's idly tapping fingers and continued quickly. "Kira is with Tharron, so are some of the others you spoke of: Pe Khoja, Comori, Jelani. Tsegh overheard their conversations. He said that one of Tharron's big battleships is coming. Then Tharron was shouting at Jelani a lot."
"He's going to move the boy," Tychon said flatly. "On a battleship."
"Then we'll have to start all over again!" Nova said. "Ty, we've got to do something!"