Hehewuti raised her hand with a sigh of impatience. “I must return soon, but I want you to continue your work with Synn El’Asim. He is an important player in the times to come.”
Aiyanna looked away, her lips tight with the emotion conflicting in her chest. She wanted to obey her priestess’ commands as she always had, but it felt as though she were being asked to manipulate Synn, and that felt wrong.
“You love him.”
It wasn’t a question. Aiyanna licked her lips and returned her gaze to her priestess and mentor. “Yes. I do.”
The high priestess’ hard face softened, and a breath of a chuckle escaped. “That is good. I am pleased.”
“But you ask me to play him as though he were a stringed instrument.”
Hehewuti tipped her head to the side, reminding Aiyanna of a wise tree more than a wizened woman. “We each of us guide those around us, and are guided by those we surround ourselves by. You are doing no harm. You are ensuring his safety, the protection of those he claims, and are guiding him onto the path of a man instead that of a tyrant.”
Sometimes, it didn’t feel that way, especially now with the information about the nanites and the programmer.
“I know.” Hehewuti bowed her head. “But rest assured, you are doing a great service. Keep him open to the programmer. There is much information he can share with you that you will need.”
“High Priestess.” Aiyanna clamped her lips shut to the question she dared not voice.
“Yes?”
Aiyanna took in a breath to voice her question, but her mind fled from it, refusing to give it shape in the form of words.
“Your Mark,” Hehewuti guessed.
“The programmer said the nanites were connected to it. Am I—” She shook her head, confused and frustrated. “Are we being controlled by this programmer? The other one? Is Tarot anything more than a manifestation of their programming?”
Hehewuti tipped her head to the side and thought about her words before speaking. “We cannot know for sure, Yanna. Not really. I choose to believe that Tarot is real, or, at the very least, our own intuition giving us insights into the world around us.”
“But my Mark, Priestess.”
“It is unique, yes? Like Synn El’Asim’s. Like Anixandra Shankara’s?” a
It felt foreign to hear Nix’s full name spoken out loud. She’d been Nix for so long. “What does that mean?”
“It means, Yanna, that you are part of the key the programmer gave us to save our world.”
“But doesn’t this all sound…” Aiyanna struggled for the word.
“Preposterous?” The high priestess smiled and cupped Aiyanna’s cheek. “Not when you’ve lived with this knowledge for as long as I have.”
And how long was that, exactly? Hehewuti had been high priestess for as long as Aiyanna could remember. The woman had to be ancient, yet she didn’t look any older than forty? Maybe?
The high priestess dropped her hands. “We are nearing the end. If we are very, very careful, we will survive. If you lose Synn, if we lose Nix, if we fail to listen to the programmer, we will all die.”
Aiyanna flinched.
Hehewuti nodded. “Yes. Nix must live. She is key.” She released a deep breath. “You need to be on the Layal when she leaves. There is a plane on the docks. If you leave for it right now, you will make it.”
“What?”
“Synn will need you, but so will Nix.” The high priestess pushed her toward the elevator platform. “Keep her close, Aiyanna. She has her own part to play in all of this.”
Aiyanna clamped down on the words she wanted to say.
“We need her!”
Oh, how Aiyanna wished they didn’t.
I WALKED WITH HAJI AND the rest of his team to the middle of the meadow, carrying as much of the broken equipment that we could. The Layal towered high above us and was attempting to make it toward the ground without crashing into it. The Khayals, like the Sammas, were never designed to touch the earth.
The Layal dwarfed the massive trees and the large meadow. I’d known she was a large ship. She was the largest ship I’d ever seen, had ever heard of. But to see her beside the mountain and to feel the mountain shrink beside her took my breath away.
The storm was a far and distant memory. The air was heavy with moisture, but the winds still blew making it bearable. Lash had had to retract the wings due to a lack of space. The motor units were pointed to the ground, kicking wet leaves, mud, and other debris into the air. The bay doors opened.
With a nod, I grabbed the handles of the sling we’d rigged to carry Mesi’s body and led the way onto my ship. I leaned into the press of air from the motors. It was difficult to breathe. Once past the bay door, the way went a great deal easier. I walked further into the galley and gently set my end of the sling on the ground.
Mesi’s head lolled as if she were merely sleeping.
I ducked my head, breathing past the lump in my throat. The rest of Haji’s unit filtered in, some dragging their gear behind them. How many more people were we going to lose?
As many as it took.
The Skyborne were threatening to destroy our world. If we didn’t stop them, we would all die.
Haji’s lips were open, his eyes rimmed with red as he stared at Mesi’s still form.
My heart hurt for him. Haji might be my best friend, but I was Mesi had been his. I clasped his shoulder as I walked by, and re-entered the meadow. I stopped Briac. “Do you have everything?”
The burly man twisted around to peer into the meadow behind him, his plow squealing with the movement. “Yeah,” he said, twisting back and moving toward the ship, each step vibrating the ground around him. “I think we got it all.”
I took in a deep breath and raised my eyes to the sky. My ships. Well, a few of them. The Basilah and the Najmah were in sight, just off the western coast. The Maizah would be much higher in the sky, barely more than a pinprick of shadow from this elevation.
Someone ran across the meadow at a full run.
I narrowed my eyes, recognizing that form. Neira. I’d never seen her run. Must be urgent. I walked to meet her part way.
She skidded to a halt, her breath sharp. “Kiwidinok.”
“What?”
She gulped a breath and tried it again. “The Han. He’s really at Kiwidinok.”
I grimaced. Of course. Why hadn’t I seen it? We had won. The Han’s forces had retreated. I grabbed her elbow and guided her to the Layal. “We’ll take my ship. It’s faster. Gather your people. We leave as soon as they are ready.”
“Keeley!”
She raised her head, but didn’t do much more than barely scan the growing crowd. She pressed a wad of bandages to the stomach wound of the woman before her. “I need you to hold this in place.”
“Will she make it?” the man with her asked.
If that woman was the only one needing medical assistance, the answer would probably have been yes. However, she was far from it. While her wounds were severe, even if she had Doctor Carson operate right now, she might not make it. Keeley gave the man a bare smile. “We’ll try our best.”
His look fell. He knew exactly what she’d really just said.
Keeley’s heart twinged, but she didn’t have time to think much past it. She grabbed one of the assistants and pointed to the woman. “Put her with the other critically injured.”
The boy nodded, set down the bandages in his arms and set to moving the wounded woman.
Strong fingers dug into Keeley’s arm. “Keeley!”
With a sigh of frustration, she stared daggers up at Carson. “What?”
He pushed her in front of him, weaving them through the press of wounded and those trying to help. “Synn’s movin’ out with the entire fleet and leavin’ Enhnapi behind.”
“What?” Keeley twisted, trying to look up at Carson.
However, in doing that, she bumped into a man hobbling on one foot, his other wrapped in blood soaked bandages.
Carson didn’t give her any time to assist the man.
“The Han is attacking Kiwidinok. Lady Neira doesn’t have bloody time to waste waitin’ on Enhnapi to reach it, not with his ships so much faster.”
“Surely the storm—”
“If Synn thinks he can make it there in this storm, then trust him. He’s not going to do anythin’ to endanger his people.”
“Other than go to war.”
“To protect a land being invaded.” Carson stopped and faced Keeley directly, pressing closer than was proper. “Look,” he said, bowing his head, his forehead nearing hers. “I have to stay here. I can’t leave with the fleet.”
“But if they’re going to war, they’ll have casualties.”
“I have those here.” He raised his head and took a half step back. “I need ya to go with him.”
She shook her head, her mouth open.
“Stop it. You have to face him sometime. He’s a good man, Keeley. He wouldn’t hurt you, not intentionally.”
She closed her mouth tightly, staring at Carson’s blue shirt under his blood smeared apron.
“We will follow as quickly as we can. Set up a trauma center on the Layal. The Umira Nuru’s men don’t take up as much space as the other units do. Plus, knowing Synn, he’ll be closer to the thick of it, meaning people will have an easier time bringing their wounded to you.”
“Meaning I could get shot.”
“Possibly. Trust Synn. He’ll have a plan.” He twisted her around and pushed. “Take a few assistants with you. Take some of these people who aren’t wounded and are only helping.”
She staggered through the press of people.
He kept shouting orders at her. “Take what supplies you think you’ll need.”
As if she had any idea what she would even need.
“And, Keeley!”
She stopped, trying to find him in the crowd. Everyone seemed taller than she was.
“You can do this.”
Not bloody likely.
Aiyanna searched the galley for Synn, but couldn’t find him. Haji’s team moved about with purpose, but with slumped shoulders and quiet expressions. Normally, they bantered constantly between each other.
Sighing away the twinge of sadness in frustration, she hurried down the stairs. She was about the call out for Haji, but stopped, seeing the body on the make-shift stretcher.
Mesi.
Aiyanna closed her eyes and stopped, sending a prayer to Tarot to take care of her on the other side of life.
Then stopped herself. Was Tarot even real? Hehewuti seemed to think so. No. She’d hoped so.
What did that even mean for Aiyanna’s faith? Her prayers. Were they simply going to the programmer, whoever he was? Or she was?
It didn’t matter. The Umira Nuru had lost a very valuable member of his team. No wonder they were quiet. She’d been a friend of all, a confidant to most.
Aiyanna shook her shoulders back and kept going.
Haji looked up, his eyebrows raised over tired eyes. “He is in his rooms.”
“Thank you.” She turned to head back up the stairs to the living quarters, but paused. “I’m sorry about Mesi. I know she meant a lot to you.”
Haji shook his head with a shrug of his wiry shoulders, working on his skitter unit. “When this is all done, I will be surprised if any of us remain among the living.”
She agreed, but kept her words to herself. She took the stairs as quickly as possible and ducked down the long, compressed hallway. Doors that all looked alike lined each side, coppery-brown, rounded at top and bottom, a wheel to open and seal it with. She reached Synn’s, which had no identification. The other doors had a mark, a symbol, something to denote who’s room it belonged to. His did not.
Without knocking, Aiyanna spun the wheel and entered.
He turned at the bed, his hands on his belt. “Aiyanna.” He frowned at her, then sighed and returned to what he was doing. “I thought you would have stayed on Enhnapi.”
Where it was safe? She released a shaky breath. “I meant it when I said I would stay by you.”
He cleared his throat and rubbed his forehead before grabbing for his static array pistol and his bullet gun. “Why are you here?”
Aiyanna’s gut tugged, letting her know the Layal had taken off. She bent her knees a little, but didn’t stagger. She was getting better. “I need to discuss something with you.”
He grabbed a fresh shirt, thought better of it and draped it back on the bed, remaining shirtless. “Now is not a good time.”
He looked so fierce and intimidating. She wondered if he even realized it. The Mark along his neck rose, hissing at the heavily humid air before sinking back into a black tattoo along his skin.
He finished belting the leg holster for his bullet gun onto his thigh. “You’re still here.”
Right. She shook herself. “It’s about Nix.”
He straightened and turned away, the look on his angular, chiseled face harsh and stark. “We’re heading into battle and you want to discuss Nix.”
The engines on the floor above them took on a different tone.
Aiyanna cleared her throat. “I need you to keep her close.”
“No.”
“Synn, please just listen.”
He spun on her, the vein at his temple popping into place, his face tantalizingly close to her own. “I said,” he said softly, “no. I’m about to go into a battle that will make this one look like child’s play.”
She watched him stalk away, his muscles flexing in the dim lethara light.
“We’ve already lost too many today. With her close, we’re likely to lose more.”
Perhaps now really wasn’t the best time for this. “It’s only—” She cleared her throat again. Why was she even fighting this fight? Did she believe any of the words she spoke? Really? Hehewuti did, but was that enough anymore? “Synn, the nanites—”
He interrupted her with a forceful breath and turned on her. “The nanites. The programmer. This person who we don’t even know. And because he says she and I are different, that we somehow work better together, then it is so?”
She swallowed.
“The only thing I somewhat believe is that someone is trying to destroy our world. The plays for power make too much sense. The fight over pleron, a material we have no use for? Yes. I do believe these Skyborne are trying to kill us.”
Aiyanna rubbed her forehead.
“But I do not believe I need to keep that woman close to me.”
She had no idea how she was going to win this argument.
He tucked a sheathed blade into his red sash and turned. He stopped in front of her and leaned down, his nose touching hers. “I understand why you believe,” he whispered against her lips.
Really? Her heart beat, heat coursing through her body. Did he have any idea what he did to her? Knowing that man, probably not. However, believe? She couldn’t understand why she would believe in anything anymore. “Tell me she’s at least on this ship.”
He raised his head, narrowing his blue eyes for a moment. He quirked his lips. “She is.”
She raised her hands, palm out, and bowed her head. “I will continue with my arguments later.”
He inhaled a breath and lowered his head, his expression grumpy, and opened the door. “Yes. I know you will.”
She stared at the open door, digging her nails into the palms of her hands as she balled them into fists. She had to do better next time. If they failed…
He had a point. Maybe she couldn’t believe in Tarot anymore. Maybe the intuition of Tarot was nothing more than a programmer twisting her mind through the nanites running in her system.
But the Skyborne would destroy them if they failed.
No. She had to do better next time.
Rose stood at her bench and working on her bay door. Her landing hadn’t been excellent and she’d dented it on the hinge side.
Bettie brushed past her, a full load of cartridges on her rolling cart.<
br />
“Someone’s helping to load the bombs, right?” Rose called to her.
“You betcha!” Bettie didn’t slow her step. “I ain’t takin’ that on my own.”
With the bay doors closed, it was easier to hear people. Without the roar of the engines, she could even hear herself think.
She wished she couldn’t. There should have been thirteen planes on these landing pads. Instead, two were empty. Sigmund’s and Walter’s.
She pushed her own cart up to the Wise Girl and starting loading her cartridges. At least they’d died in battle instead of because of her design.
No bodies, though. With her people, there was never a body to send home. Most were lost at sea or burned. She’d hold a memorial later, when they were done with next battle.
If she had anyone to hold a memorial with.
She paused and stared around the bay, watching all of her remaining people work to reload their planes, fixing anything that had jiggled loose or had broken.
Who was she going to lose next? Reuben? Bettie? Agnes?
Jake?
She bit her lip and finished loading her ammunition, longer than her hands were long. She had to stop thinking like that. They were going to battle. They would win.
And those who were cunning and lucky enough would come back to her.
And one day, if she were really lucky, the fighting would stop and she could stop worrying about which of her friends would never make it back.
One day. She hoped that day came soon.
Khayal Layal: Keeley
KEELEY’S LEGS SHOOK AS SHE stumbled off the wing of the plane. She stood on the flight deck of the Layal, clutching the one bag she’d brought with medical supplies.
The pilot, Ethel was her name, leapt onto the pad and took off her flight cap, tossing around her brown curls with a laugh. “Now, that was a fairly frightful flight.”
No kidding. Keeley swallowed the bile that seemed permanently lodged in her throat.
“Well, orders are for you to go to the port bay.”
Keeley didn’t know where that was. She’d left before Synn had progressed this far in his designs. She turned, staring into the high ceiling of the landing area, refusing to look down. Metal grating walkways lined both side, allowing, if she chose to look, a view all the way to the bottom.
Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3) Page 23