Reclamation

by Sarah Zettel

  Feeling strangely bereft, Eric faced Eyes Above and Storm Water. A second passed before he realized something was wrong. They had remained standing in front of him.

  Aria’s family indeed. The thought gave him a smile. He raised both his hands. “The Nameless speak of your deeds. They cannot be denied.”

  Eyes Above inclined her head with a dignity that belonged to a King, not a Notouch. The gesture increased Eric’s discomfort as much as it touched his heart. Now he knew where Aria got it from.

  “Hand on the Seablade!” called Heart. “Will we go before night hits?”

  I preferred the U-Kenai too, Aria. Eric trudged to join his brother-in-law. Even Adu knew when not to interrupt.

  The soldiers’ sledge did have a rain cover, but since it had been built to carry supplies, not passengers, its boxes had no padding on their lids. Eric stowed his pack and sat down at least as gingerly as Jay had.

  Heart gave him a wry glance that Eric did not bother to return. Heart touched up the team and they lurched forward.

  Eric leaned back against the support pole, fixed his gaze on the countryside that jiggled and skidded behind the sledge, and got ready to be bored. The noise and jostle of the sledge didn’t make for a conversational atmosphere, especially with Heart struggling to keep them on dry ground. Supposedly, an ox had a nose for deep water and wouldn’t stray off the dry paths, but Eric had more than once ministered to those who put too much faith in that theory, and so, he suspected, had Heart. It was much better to be silent and let his brother-in-law concentrate on keeping them out of the bogs.

  It wasn’t as if he needed any news of the House. He wasn’t going to be staying in First City any longer than he needed to. He and Heart would deliver their information and then he’d be on his way to meet up with Aria. The politics of the house could go drown themselves.

  I wish I’d had a chance to tell Aria the best part of It. He rubbed his palms thoughtfully together. With Jay here, we don’t have to stay in the Realm. Neither of us.

  Jay would most certainly be calling the Unifiers as soon as he got back to his dome. When the Vitae had been dealt with, a Unifier ship could take Eric and Aria back to May 16. From there they could go anywhere in the Quarter Galaxy. She could bring her children if she wanted to. They’d thrive over the World’s Wall and they’d have what she really wished for. They would not be Notouch. The Little Eye and the younger boys wouldn’t ever even be marked.

  He probably wouldn’t even have to see Lady Fire if he finished his end of this business quickly enough. Heart could stay behind to deal with the House and the Nobles.

  Eric rested his elbows on this thighs. It’ll be a few days of hard looks and long silences, at the worst. He dropped his gaze to the two lines of pulverized reeds stretch out behind the sledge. At the very worst.

  He let his internal reassurances occupy him as the sledge rocked and rattled along. Outside, the ground dried out and the flat expanse of reeds and bamboo was replaced by tufts of grass sprouting between piles of boulders and thick puddles of moss. The Walls closed in overhead.

  Balancing himself carefully and hanging on to the canvas’s support poles, Eric sidestepped to the rear of the sledge and leaned out. Despite his claim that he had lost all his geography, he retained enough to see that they were almost to Midway Breach, a ragged escarpment between the Broken Canyon and the Dead Sea Canyon. He squinted up at the line of the Walls. The Pinnacle was an arrow-shaped protrusion listing toward the Dead Sea. They’d have to follow it all the way down the canyon and skirt the salt flats before they came to the main road to First City.

  The sledge ran over a larger than average bump. The shock sat Eric down hard on the nearest box, jarring his backbone.

  “Sorry,” Heart called back.

  Eric shifted his buttocks and started to say it was all right.

  Heart cut him off. “We’ve been waiting for you to come back, you know.”

  Eric raised his head slowly. Heart had a quarter profile turned toward him so he could see Eric with one eye and the oxen with the other. His elbows pumped and strained in response to the team tugging at the harness.

  “Who has?” asked Eric. Heart’s blank look said he hadn’t heard. “Who has?” Eric called.

  “Friends,” shouted Heart, dragging on the reins to force the oxen around a cluster of thorn trees. “Thinking men, discontented Teachers, our fellow Heretics.”

  Eric felt his forehead furrow. He stood up and moved toward the front of the sledge again.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, clinging to the rails of the driver’s stand.

  “We knew you’d gone over the World’s Wall. We’ve been ten years hoping you’d come back and tell us what’s out there.” Heart was barely watching the oxen now and no amount of noise could disguise the eagerness in his voice. “When we get back to First City, I’ll spread the word that…” The oxen ambled straight for a huge, moss-backed boulder.

  “Look out!” Eric shouted.

  Heart yanked his head back around. “Whoa!” he cried, pulling back on the reins until his elbows almost touched behind his back. The oxen snorted and stopped.

  Eric ran his hand through his hair. “Keep your eyes on where you’re going, Heart,” he said, “and if you want stories, ask a librarian. They’ll be much more entertaining.”

  “Garismit’s Eyes!” Heart slapped the reins against the railing. “Have you had yours put out? Don’t you see that this is our chance? After these Vitae are taken care of, there’s going to be chaos in the cities. If we’re ready for it, if we’re armed with the truth about the World’s Wall and the Words, we can gather support. You can talk to the ones who’ve got one foot in the stirrup. Tell them about the other Skymen and about how much they’d value…”

  Eric stared at him, unable to think of one word to say.

  Heart spread his hands. “We are dying, Hand on the Seablade. The Realm is dying. You know that. Every year more broken babies are born to die at our hands. We need the Skymen’s help if we’re going to survive.”

  I don’t believe what I’m hearing. Eric leaned his forearm against the support pole and stared out over the oxen’s backs. It was impossible to tell whether Heart actually believed what he said or if he was just trying to win Eric’s sympathies.

  Gradually Eric became aware of a new noise under the perpetual rush of the wind. The sound drifted to him, over the stamping and blowing of the oxen, over the rustle of the leaves in the trees. It was familiar, but wrong somehow. It was a long, distant roar, like approaching thunder, but far too smooth.

  Heart heard it too. “What is that n—”

  Before he could finish, Eric jumped out of the sledge, his gaze glued to the sky. Islands of blue showed between the clouds. Eric stumbled forward, heading for a bare patch out from under the shadows of the trees.

  The roar deepened until it echoed off the walls. Eric swiveled his neck toward what he thought was the right direction.

  A vapor trail cut across the blue. The roar became a rush and died away until it couldn’t be told from the wind.

  So low, thought Eric. What could bring them in so low…

  He knew. His heart leapt into his mouth and involuntarily his eyes tracked the direction of the vapor trails. They headed straight for Narroways.

  Nameless Powers preserve me. His eyes stared helplessly at the sky. Aria.

  “Blood, blood, blood,” cursed Jay. “We’re too late.”

  Aria peeked out from behind the shelter of the granite boulder. Her knees still stung from the force with which Jay had forced her behind it. Ahead of them crouched the white dome Aria knew from when Cor had led her up the thread-thin canyon, but about twenty yards closer to them waited a new Skyman contrivance. It was a metallic slab, at least three yards on a side, and obviously firmly pressed into the ground despite the fact that a good foot’s worth of its thickness still showed. Green lights glowed steadily at each corner and she had, before Jay had pulled her behind the boulder, see
n some kind of hole in its center. The far edge was scalloped by the boxes and bumps of monitors and terminals.

  Jay was staring at it with pure poison in his eyes.

  “What is it?” asked Aria.

  “It’s a marker for a Vitae tether.” Jay slumped down behind the sheltering stone. “They’ve found us.”

  A wave of horror washed through Aria. “Then they’ve…”

  “Got your sister?” Jay cocked one eye toward her. “Oh, yes, probably. They probably got Lu as well.”

  Aria glanced angrily through the tattered clouds, as if she could see through the blue and spot the Vitae ship. Her heart beat hard from fear and anger. A dozen images of what the Vitae might be doing to Broken Trail crowded together in the back of her head.

  “If they’re putting down a tether, then they know how important this place is.” Jay scowled at the dome. “I thought we’d have at least a few more days.”

  Think! Aria ordered herself and reflexively, she clutched her pouch of stones. If they have Broken Trail, we’ve got to get her back. To do that you need something to fight with. Nothing’s really changed. You’ve still got to get down there.

  She forced her gaze back to the dome. It waited, silent and unchanged from the first time she’d seen it.

  “If they know how important this place is,” said Aria slowly, “why isn’t it guarded?”

  “Oh, it’s guarded,” Jay pointed at the sky. “I have no doubt there is at least one satellite trained on this place right now, and I’m sure the dome’s been rigged, and there have to be security guards in there.” He eased himself around so that he was on his knees and peered at the silent dome. “But there can’t be very many of them,” he said thoughtfully, “or they’d be out here now to pick us up.” He fingered his torque. “Maybe we’ve still got a chance.”

  “How?” Aria shifted her weight to her toes, ready to move fast if need be.

  “We set an emergency transmitter up in the flood cup.” He pointed up the canyon wall. “Just in case we lost the base for some reason. If the Vitae haven’t found it yet, I might be able to use it to find out just how they’ve got the dome rigged. If we can find a blind spot, we might have a chance.” He touched the holster of his gun the way Aria touched her stones.

  He lifted himself into a half crouch. “Keep down and behind cover as much as you can,” he cautioned her. “They probably know we’re here, but that’s no reason to give them a clear shot.”

  Aria matched Jay’s stance. He nodded once, and they both scuttled out from behind then” boulder, heading for its cousin a few yards away.

  A muffled roar, building faster than a flash flood’s, made Aria jerk her eyes skyward. A silver splinter dived out of the clouds and hurtled across the sky, leaving long white trails behind it.

  “No!” Jay sprang to his feet. “Run!”

  Before Aria could force her frozen legs to move, Jay was already halfway to the dome. She pounded after him, hurdling the larger stones, grateful that she was at home and on steady ground.

  What is going on! Her mind shouted as Jay tore open the dome’s door and darted inside.

  She followed without stopping, though. Whatever the aircraft brought, Jay obviously thought it was worse than meeting the Vitae.

  In the distance she heard a shrill whine. Jay threw open a trapdoor and Aria barely had time to see the dark shaft.

  “Down!” He shoved her forward, hard enough that her body swung out over the edge.

  Aria shrieked as she fell, so startled that she barely remembered to tuck herself. Everyone in the Realm knew how to take a hard fall. The floor slammed against her shoulders and arm, knocking all the breath and almost all the sense out of her. She rolled halfway over just as the Skyman dropped like a stone beside her.

  The world shouted. It rumbled and groaned and growled deep in its throat. Overhead the dome creaked and shuddered. Equipment crashed against the ground and fabric, probably the dome’s side, tore. Aria curled further in on herself, trying to hide behind the darkness and the ringing in her ears.

  Nameless Powers preserve me. What have they DONE?

  Eric saw the flash over the top of the Wall. It turned the clouds sulfurous yellow and bounced back to earth again. Then came the noise, like a roll of thunder that meant to go on forever.

  No! Eric stumbled between the boulders, tripping over stones and brush, trying to follow the vapor trails dissipating into the formless clouds. The rumble kept on, steady, endless. Nameless Powers preserve and forbid…no!

  Now the light on the clouds was burnt orange, sienna, and scarlet. Eric stood panting in his tracks. The thunder still rolled.

  He turned and sprinted back to the sledge.

  “What…” began Heart. Eric snatched the reins and the stick out of his hands.

  “Move!” he screamed to the oxen. “Go!” He smacked their backs until they both gave outraged bellows and lumbered forward.

  “What’s happened!” Heart shook his shoulder.

  “A bomb!” Eric wielded the stick mercilessly. The thunder wouldn’t stop. It wasn’t ever going to stop. He knew it. The oxen lowed from fear and broke into a heavy, jolting ran.

  “What?” shouted Heart. “Talk, Hand!”

  Smoke now. Huge black billows rose up to block out even the light on the clouds. The oxen balked and stamped, but Eric drove them on. Heart still clutched his shoulder, watching the boiling black smoke. His mouth was moving. Reciting the litanies. Begging for preservation and guidance from the Nameless, for something he couldn’t possibly understand.

  Too late, brother-in-law, a voice sniggered in the back of Eric’s mind. Way, way too late.

  The oxen were stampeding now and Eric was barely hanging on to the reins. The sledge bounced and skipped over stones, jerking around like a toy in a high wind.

  Suddenly, Heart let go of Eric’s shoulder and snatched the reins from his hands. He threw his whole body backward, dragging the reins back until the oxen screamed and tossed their heads. They slowed, though, and finally stopped, puffing and shaking.

  “What’re you doing!” Eric shouted. “We have to get to Narroways! We have to…”

  “Then tell me why!” Heart ordered. “What’s happened?”

  “A bomb, you idiot! A…” Heart’s mystified expression stopped him and Eric realized he was using a Skyman word. “The Skymen have just dropped…a ball of fire over Narroways. The city’s probably ashes by now. Aria might be…might be…” He couldn’t make himself say it. The smoke was spreading out, embracing the clouds and covering them over.

  “We have to get to First City!” cried Heart. “Now. They have to know. Our family. Our frie…”

  “There’s no time! We have to find out if Aria is all right. That Unifier base was right outside Narroways!”

  “She’s just a Notouch!”

  Eric grabbed Heart’s tunic collar. “She is not just a Notouch! She was never ‘just’ a Notouch!” Eric slammed him against the support pole and the whole sledge rocked. “She has more guts and loyalty in her hand marks than you have in your whole heart!

  Heart’s eyes searched his face. “Hand, have you taken leave of your senses?”

  “You’d better hope I haven’t,” Eric shoved him away. “You’d better hope I have sense enough to remember that I might need your help to get to her. Because if I forget that, you aren’t going to be able to run fast enough to get away from me!”

  “You forget who you’re talking to!” Heart raised his palms. The gold circles all but glowed, even in the cloud-dimmed light.

  “No, you forget.” Eric stabbed a finger at him. “You forget I know exactly what you can and cannot do, and you forget that I have lived over the World’s Wall for ten years and you don’t know anything about me anymore.”

  The blood drained from Heart’s face, leaving his cheeks as pale as dry dust. “You’re a greater Heretic than even I would have believed.”

  “I suggest you remember that, too.” Eric searched his brother-in
-law’s face for any sign of real rebellion or courage. “Drive us to Narroways, Heart of the Seablade, or stand here and wait for whatever the Skymen decide to try next, I don’t care which.”

  Heart lowered his eyes. Slowly he lifted the reins off the railing. One step at a time, Eric moved to the back of the sledge, out of arm’s reach.

  Heart whistled to the team and, with only minute snorts, they started forward again at a fast walk.

  Eric pressed his fists against his thighs and forced himself to keep still. He watched Heart’s broad back. His shoulders tipped and tilted as he drove the oxen on, but he did not look back, not once.

  Aria didn’t know how long it was before she was able to uncurl herself. The world around her was completely dark. She blinked her eyes a few times, just to make sure they were open. Soft creaks and groans still sounded overhead, and here and there she heard a muffled thump, maybe from a piece of equipment fairing, maybe from a rock landing on the canyon floor. There was no way to tell. She hoisted herself onto her hands and knees. The surface under her palms was smooth and cool. It reminded her sharply of the feel of the stones.

  “Jay?” she whispered into the darkness.

  At her right hand, a man moaned softly. Aria still wore her tool belt from the Amaiar Gardens. She fumbled around to find the clip that held her penlight. She flicked the switch and shone the light around until the narrow beam landed on Jay’s face.

  “Are you all right?” she crawled over to his side.

  He nodded. “Didn’t land quite right, but I think I’m all here.” With a grunt, he sat up. He laid a hand on his hip, right above his holster and winced. “I’m going to be feeling that for more than a few days.”

  A crash sounded overhead. Startled, Aria glanced up. “What happened?”

  Whatever he said, Aria’s disk didn’t pick it up.

  “What…” she began.

  “Listen,” Jay said. “There’s Vitae in here with us and they might have heard us fall.” He unsnapped his holster and drew the weapon. “Stay behind me and keep the light as steady as you can.” He stood up and staggered, but caught his balance quickly.