by Patty Jansen
The men had stopped climbing the wall, she thought.
A roaring noise made the ground shake. A gust of wind blew through the alley.
Someone in the dark yelled, "What th' blazes is that?"
Another rough voice replied, "Oh man, let's get th' fuck out of here."
Two men ran past the open door.
There was another roar somewhere up in the mist. That sounded very much like an engine, like downward jets, to be precise.
"Th . . . there." It was Rehan's voice. His hand pointed, weakly, into the sky.
Beams of lights came on, piercing through the mist and smoke.
A huge black shape was coming down. An aircraft. Downward jets threw up a cloud of snow. Next, floodlights went on.
Mikandra stared up into the light. Wind tore at her hair.
"That's my aircraft," Braedon shouted, also looking up. His mouth hung open.
Slowly, and with the jets at full blast, the craft came down into the street. The door was open and someone stood in the entrance, someone chubby, hanging onto the side while reaching a hand out. "Come in, quickly!"
Taerzo cursed. "What the fuck—Gillay!" Then he laughed. "Come, get in. Calliandra, get the boys in!" He had to shout over the roaring of the jets. Powdery snow blew through the alley in great clouds.
While Calliandra and Gillay heaved the boys inside, Braedon and Taerzo lifted Rehan. Mikandra supported his head. He was shivering. His eyes were closed.
Liseyo climbed in, and Mother. Taerzo jumped in and together, they heaved Rehan onto the floor. Taerzo grabbed Mikandra's arm and pulled her up.
He shouted, "We're all in. Go!"
The engines roared before the door was shut, and snow whirled into the opening.
Mikandra dropped into the seat closest to the door. The engines roared, pressing her into the seat. Whoever was flying this thing wasn't very experienced.
Taerzo flung the door shut. "The fuck, Gillay."
"Young man, I still do not approve of that kind of language." This was another female voice, belonging to the pilot, someone in Mirani Trader uniform. Mikandra thought it was Aunt Amandra, but Taerzo said, "Mother?"
The pilot turned her head and indeed Taerzo was right.
"I didn’t know you could fly."
"Your father believed that all the family should learn. At the time, I never thought I would need it."
"You’ve saved us all."
"We're not safe yet. The Exchange doesn't agree with us being here."
"Did you get a take-off permit?"
"No time. They're protesting about that." She flicked on the radio-com. An emotionless voice said, "Unauthorised take-off. Repeat, you do not have the permission to leave."
A beam of light cut across the snow-filled view of mist out the front window.
"They're already getting a fix on us," Taerzo said.
She turned the noise off. "We better be quick then."
"They'll shoot."
"Not as long as we're over the city."
Because the craft was using the downward jets, Isandra had to give the engines a lot of power, but the turbulence from them distorted the downward viewscreen. Down there, people probably scrambled to put other craft into the air in an attempt to force them down. Those craft would need to be defrosted first. For once, winter was in their favour. Mikandra also realised that this was why Isandra and Gillay had not been in bed: they'd been preparing the craft.
Isandra said, "Help me. Tell me which way to go."
A row of lights on the control panel flashed.
"That's a weapon's probe." Braedon slipped in the seat next to her. "I'll take the controls, if you want. It's going to get rough. Do you have permission to leave from the Exchange?"
"No." Isandra shifted aside. She seemed glad that he took over.
Braedon turned off the jets, and the craft became more quiet and more stable. However, turning off the jets meant that he had to speed up and tighten the circling pattern. The craft banked sharply. It was uncomfortable and disorienting.
"Where can we go if we have no Exchange slot?" Taerzo asked. "They'll follow us wherever in the country we go. As soon as we leave the airspace above the city, they'll shoot us down. We're trapped."
Mikandra said, "If you point the receiver to the west, do you think you can pick up Barresh?"
Braedon gave Mikandra a strange look.
She continued, "They've had a new core, and their signal is very strong."
"Most of it would be directed out of the atmosphere to the beginning of the anpar line. I can try." He fiddled with the settings. Listened, pressing the earpiece to his ear. "The signal is very weak, but I can pick it up here."
"It would be stronger at height, no? Away from the curve of the planet."
He frowned again. "Yes, it would. Definitely."
"So, instead of west, we go up, where no one dares shoot at us for fear that we'll crash into the city. We pick up Barresh and ask for a simple one-way transfer. It's not off-world, so there are no permits required."
Taerzo laughed. "Rehan, do you hear that? That girl of yours is a fucking genius."
"Mind your language," Isandra said.
"Rehan doesn't think it's serious unless it contains swear words."
"You're . . . a clown," Rehan said.
Calliandra and Mother had heaved him onto the bed. His eyes were half-open and unfocused and his skin was clammy.
Mikandra managed to get up from her seat and clamber past the twins and Liseyo over the sloping floor. She sat next to him on the bed. "Let me have a look at you."
He didn't protest. Calliandra passed her a med-kit.
She pulled the cloak away—it had a large burnt patch at the back and smelled of burnt hair. She undid the buttons and peeled Rehan’s tunic open. The skin underneath was red, but not blistered. The blisters were all on his shoulder where the skin was angry and red and weeping clear fluid. She sprayed disinfectant on the skin she had caressed only last night. "That looks painful."
"It is," he said.
Taerzo said, "You took a direct hit. By rights, you should have been dead, brother."
"That proves my suspicions," Isandra said. "That is exactly why in the old days they used to behead those who were mad, never shoot them; the fire doesn’t kill them."
Mikandra bandaged up Rehan's wound as best as she could with the emergency kit. Calliandra found a blanket and Mikandra mixed up some painkiller in flask of stale water.
Braedon said from the pilot's seat, "Make sure he's strapped in. We're not clear. We've got someone on our tail." He was watching the rear viewscreens.
"Want any help?" Taerzo said. He took the co-pilot seat anyway.
The engines roared. The craft bumped and still circled higher and higher.
Taerzo put on the earpiece and fiddled with the comms panel.
"What are you doing?" Braedon asked.
"It's illegal to ignore communication, so I'm going to amuse them." He pressed some buttons.
"Helloo, who is that?" He put on a small voice.
He listened.
"No."
He listened again. "No. Just my brother and me."
Then he pressed another button and the voice of the Exchange operator came through the loudspeakers. "You mean, are there no adults on board at all? Who is flying the craft?"
"My brother. I told you."
The twins sat strapped in their seats, looking at each other with wide eyes.
"Your brother can fly?" the operator said.
"Yes."
"Aren't you a bit young for that?"
"Daddy taught us. He said it was a secret and not to tell anyone."
Miruhan started giggling and Iztho said, "Shhh, you don't want them to hear us!" So his brother covered his mouth with his hand but continued giggling.
The operator went on. "You are still climbing. Do you know how to land the craft?"
"Oh yeah, Daddy showed us. You got to press the blue button first and turn the leve
r up—"
Braedon was biting his lip. His shoulders shook with laughter.
"You do not touch the blue button, do you hear me?"
"But Daddy said—"
"No, take it from me, do not touch the blue button."
Another voice blasted into the cabin, in Coldi. "Unidentified craft, receiving. Please supply ID and destination."
Braedon balled his fist and pumped the air.
"Barresh?" Mikandra asked.
He nodded. "The problem is how to contact them without the Miran Exchange finding out what we're trying to do."
"Send them the coded ID," Isandra said. "It's old-fashioned, but still works."
Braedon did, without speaking.
The Mirani operator said, "I hear a voice in the cabin. Can you give me to the adult there?"
Taerzo said, "That was a man on the radio. I don't know what he said. I couldn't understand it."
A small silence. The Exchange would now be looking for another craft that may be in the area.
"Did this other voice ask you to say who you were?"
"Maybe. I couldn't hear. Do you think I should tell him?"
"Please, if your brother knows how to bring the aircraft down, tell him to do it now."
"But we're not there yet. We're going to see Jolan Izthunar. Because Daddy won't take us there."
"You can't. You'll have to use the Exchange."
"I know. We got the permit."
A long silence. Braedon was almost dying of laughter. His face was red and he fought to keep his mouth shut.
Then something scrolled over the screen in front of him.
His face turned serous. "Uh-oh. I think they've sent an interception craft to pick us up."
"Time to stop clowning. Did you get a reply about the ID?"
Braedon shook his head. "They're probably scrambling over themselves to locate the ancient decoder."
"No time to wait. Get them direct."
Braedon switched the channel and gave Barresh their calling number. He spoke Coldi very well.
The voice replied, "You request transfer to Barresh?"
"Yes."
"I'm afraid I don't understand. You are in Barresh."
"No, we're not. We're picking you up from Miran and we need urgent transfer. We'll explain when we get there—"
Something started beeping in the cabin and a male Mirani voice blasted through the cabin.
". . . Order to return to the airport immediately—"
The Coldi voice replied to Braedon, but Mikandra couldn't hear it well enough to understand.
The Mirani operator went on, ". . . return immediately, or you will be subject of military action."
"Anyone in range?" Taerzo asked.
Braedon turned on the radar screen and Taerzo studied it.
The operator repeated, "I request that you return to the airport immediately. Please file your intentions now, or be subject to military action."
Braedon spoke in Coldi, and then drummed his fingers on the panel. "Hurry up, hurry up."
The screen lit up.
Braedon punched. The white light started flashing.
Taerzo said, pointing at the radar, "There they are! Evade, brother."
"I can't. Barresh are trying to get a fix on us."
The red light flashed.
Three . . . two . . . one . . .
A white flash engulfed the craft.
Chapter 37
It was the fastest trip anyone had ever taken from Miran to Barresh. No one used the Exchange for this distance, ever. The transfer probably broke a couple of proximity rules as well. For example, it was highly likely that the city of Mirani shook in its foundations with the thunderclap of that transfer. Anpar transfers should be done outside the atmosphere for a reason.
They came down to Barresh just before sunset, in glorious sunshine reflected on large thunder clouds building over the escarpment.
Humidity hung like a mist over the surface of the marsh, softening the outlines of the two islands in the silver mass of water.
The megon trees had come out in full bloom while Mikandra had been away, coating the dark green stands in a layer of flaming orange.
"It's pretty," Calliandra said.
Braedon pushed his earpiece aside where he had been speaking to the Exchange. "There will be a reception party to deal with our formal asylum request. They're already patched me through to the council. It's pretty incredible. We haven't even set foot on the ground and they're already talking about an office for a Guild chapter headquarters."
"There are a lot of vacant buildings in town," Mikandra said.
When the craft landed, the sunlight cast long shadows over the cracked pavement that seemed so familiar to Mikandra.
"Not a lot of activity here," Braedon said.
Taerzo huffed. "There are no maintenance sheds?"
"They will be built," Mikandra said.
"No Traders?"
"There are three Traders here. That's a lot."
Braedon said, "I don't see—wait. You're talking about us, right?"
Mikandra grinned.
"Hey," Taerzo said. "Who in this dump owns a Gazion?"
"You'll probably meet him shortly," Mikandra said.
"Is this the legendary Daya Ezmi? I once spent an entire trip to Hedron chasing after him."
"He is the one inviting us. This is his town. We belong to the same people."
Mikandra went to wake Rehan, who seemed groggy, complained about a sore shoulder and a headache, but seemed otherwise fine.
Braedon opened the door. The air was warm and gentle, even though the twins said it was hot.
Taerzo and his family left the craft first.
Mikandra helped Rehan down the ramp.
Braedon stood at the door, enabling the craft's security at the panel next to the door. He looked up. "Looks like we have company."
As Mikandra had expected, both Daya and Anmi had come. What surprised her was that they were alone, with the little boy holding Anmi's hand. No black-guards, no council people. They walked slowly, because the boy's legs were only short and lifting his feet over the cracks in the pavement seemed to be an effort.
Mikandra said to Rehan, "You know Foundation, when the Endri and Nikala came together and signed the treaty to build the city of Miran together, a treaty that probably everyone in town thought was rubbish and would not survive the test of time? This is like that. People hundreds of years in the future will write this moment in the history books and teach their children that the course of the city of Barresh changed when the Andrahar Traders came to town."
Taerzo gave her a sideways look. "You know you frighten me, sometimes?"
"That's what we're for," Isandra said, behind Mikandra. "Women see the bigger picture, where the men only see the immediate future."
Daya and Anmi stopped a short distance from the craft with the low sun on their faces. A breeze ruffled Daya's curls. Looking at the two of them from a distance, it struck Mikandra how their build was similar to the Endri. Anmi picked up the boy and held him on her arm, from where he stared at the strange party with curious eyes.
For a while, no one said anything. Anmi's gaze went from Taerzo to Braedon to Rehan. "You're all so much like your brother."
"Is that my grandson?" Isandra asked.
Anmi held out her arm and spoke softly to the boy. He turned around and hid his face in his mother's shirt, balling his little fists against her chest.
"Now don't be shy." Isandra touched her grandson's cheek.
He turned his head and looked at her from the corner of his eyes.
"See? I'm not scary." Her face had a tender look which Mikandra hadn't seen from her before. "Does he understand Mirani?"
"He's still a bit young to understand anything much, but I'm happy if you want to teach him."
Daya said, "Let's first stick to the important things. You'll be tired and want to change. I have secured a house for you. It is owned by one of our local merchants and is
the best I can do at such short notice. My cook is there preparing a meal for you. The council's Account keeper is ready to see you to give you access to your accounts. If any of you are in need of any medical attention, we can look after that."
* * *
The house was in the street that ran from the markets along the edge of the marshland. The front of it faced the quiet, tree-lined street and the back looked west. It was also the most luxurious house Mikandra had seen in Barresh, not that this was saying much. It had a huge hall with a coloured glass dome and a sparkling pond directly underneath. The twins had their shoes off in no time and were splashing in the water, declaring this the best place ever.
The paint and floors were a bit tired, the furniture was very basic, but adequate, and there was room for temporary offices. The back of the house had a huge living room, also with bath pool, which was empty, but Taerzo already declared that he'd fix the tiles and fill it up. The back of the house was right on the edge of the city, overlooking the marshlands.
Bedrooms were all upstairs and some of them, including the room Rehan chose, overlooked that marshland as well.
Rehan slid open the sliding door to a balcony that ran the length of the back of the house. He hadn't said much, and still looked unsteady on his feet. Mikandra went to stand next to him. A warm wind smelled of rain and thunder rumbled in the distance. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm ashamed that I never knew all this existed and lived so close to it. Have you seen how many building projects we passed on the way here?"
"Heh, I lived here for a while, remember?"
"You did right in getting us to come here. This place is a dump, but a dump with a lot of opportunities. Look at this house. It probably hasn't been used for years. It needs a lot of maintenance, but just look at this view. And think of it: I would say that if we cut that shrubbery, we could even extend the yard and keep our aircraft here, right in our back yard. Where else can you do that?"