It was the rock they had been hacking at since they'd arrived on Shadow, but as she got closer she saw thick veins of a dark purple, almost black, ore glinting through each hunk.
It was beautiful, but Taya didn't think they were going to be making jewelry with it.
Something about the placement of the pile, so far from the sky raiders' equipment and the guards themselves, fired a thought in her head, and she picked up a chunk.
A feeling of nausea spiked inside her. It was the same sensation she often had down the mine, but more intense. She breathed through it as she turned and walked back to the guards.
“Do you want us to move the pile closer to the transporters? To make it easier to load?” She was holding the rock, thick with veins of ore, in front of her, and the guard began to raise his weapon, paused, and lowered it again.
“No.” The command was forceful. “Take it back. We will let you know when we're ready to load.”
She nodded and turned, keeping her face blank until her back was to them.
Then she smiled, even though her skin felt too tight for her body, and she had to breathe to keep her breakfast down. It wasn't definitive proof but it was close enough.
They were afraid to get close to the ore. If she were to guess, the shadow ore was what sent the diggers off course, and why the guards couldn't go into the tunnels in their protective robotic suits. It must affect their ability to function.
This is what would bring them down, if she could think of how to use it against them. The very thing the sky raiders wanted so badly would be their undoing.
She wondered how they planned to load it into their transporters if they didn't even want it near where the big ships landed and took off for fear of what it would do to their systems.
“Get to work.”
The hiss of the guard galvanized them all.
The men started for the mine entrance. Taya moved after them with the other women.
She would have to plan their escape later.
Chapter 8
The bolthole Opik had arranged for them was perfect.
Straddling the line between the just-respectable Seventh Wedge and the more salubrious Eighth, the gaming house had a constant stream of traffic through its doors. To the one side of it were neat row houses, marching towards the eastern wall, and on the other, stretching further south toward the Hot Gate, the crowded, crumbling buildings of the Eighth sat sullen and dark.
The room Opik's friend, Haak, had given them above the gaming rooms even came with a large chest to keep his money safe.
Opik rolled his eyes when Garek ignored it, and carefully and quietly levered up a floorboard under his bed, and stuffed his sack into the narrow hole.
Garek didn't trust Haak not to steal from him, but he thought Opik was right to trust him not to squeal to the Guard.
Haak wouldn't want them sniffing around any more than Garek did.
As soon as their things were stored away, Garek left again, leading Opik out through the back.
“Must we do this now?” Opik panted, struggling to keep pace with him as Garek wound his way through the twisting streets toward the palace.
He looked down on the old man. “As opposed to what? Having a shot of Haak's firebrand? Having a rest?” He didn't bother to hide his contempt.
Opik drew in a deep breath. “You're right. I'm older than I thought. Older and not half as tough as I once was.”
He said nothing for a whole block. “I'm doing this for Taya, too, you know. I've got no living family left. But she was good to me. Always was. Doted on that father of yours, but never left me out.”
Garek slowed his pace a little, so the old man could catch his breath.
“That Kas. He tried everything to get her to forget you. Not that I blame him.” Opik gave him a sidelong look. “You're a big, dangerous bastard, Garek. You're trouble on two legs. Can't blame a man for wanting to keep his sister away. Had his work cut out for him, the first year, of course. Bad form for the other lads to try it on with a conscriptee's girl. And she was your girl, clear as day.” He cleared his throat. “But the second year, they didn't know Gara had held onto you. And Kas certainly didn't tell them. They thought you'd forgotten her.”
Garek couldn't answer. Was there an answer to that, anyway? He could no more forget Taya than forget to breathe.
“But it didn't do them a blind bit of good. That little Taya--she may look like a fairy, with that pale blonde hair and those big blue eyes, but soon enough, you work out if she is a fairy, she's the fairy queen. And a very focused, very fierce queen, at that.” Opik chuckled. “I feel sorry for Kas, really. All that effort. Wasted.”
Garek fought to keep his face impassive.
The palace loomed ahead, and he used the sight of it to rein in his thoughts.
“Last I knew, the sky ship was in the courtyard near the western tower.” He pointed to the tower he meant. The western wedges of the roughly round pie that was Garamundo were the affluent ones, and the houses were large, but not as high as the communal buildings of the north and the east. No house would overlook the western tower's courtyard, and he was sure that was why the town master's scholar, Falk, had chosen it.
“How do you want to get in?” Opik leaned against the side of a building while he studied the tower, and Garek realized he'd probably pushed the old man too far for one day. He should have left him back at the gaming house.
“The scientist working for the town master is a man called Falk. He may have worked out how to fly the ship by now. I'll need to speak to him, and I'll get in through him, too.”
Opik had his breath back, and he pushed off the wall. “He a friend of yours, that he'll do all that?”
Garek studied the tower. “No. I've only met him once, when he came to get the craft from where I'd brought it down.”
“Then how--?”
Garek looked back at him and Opik snapped his mouth shut.
He shook his head, but Garek saw a glint of eagerness in his eyes. “Poor, unlucky Falk.”
Taya stumbled as she and Min carried a large chunk of ore between them, the third time she'd tripped over nothing since they'd picked the piece up from the growing pile the men had hacked from the rock face.
“What is it?” Min peered at her in the dim light of the fireless lanterns the sky raiders had given them to fix at intervals through the tunnels.
“I don't know.”
She felt sick. Her skin still felt too tight and she was shivering and hot all at once.
“Could the air be bad?” Min lifted her head and sniffed. “You might be more sensitive to it.” She peered closer at Taya. “You don't look well.”
Taya hefted the rock that was pulling on her shoulders and back. Unlike the first one they'd carried out, the surface of this one was mottled with thick veins of ore. Shadow ore, they were calling it. She ran her thumb over the wide stripe of iridescent purple, and a frisson ran through her.
She dropped her side of it in surprise, and with a startled cry, Min let go her side and jumped back before it landed on her foot.
The rock smashed to the ground and sheered down the middle, and the thick, rich center of it glinted back at them in the weak light.
“At least it split almost evenly. Can you carry your piece?” Min bent and lifted her bit up, and Taya forced herself to do the same. It was easier to carry her own ore than to carry with Min, but cradling the rock in her arms made her feel worse than she had before.
“Let's get you out into the open. I'm scared it's the air.” Min started walking ahead of her, and Taya followed, feeling a strange disconnect with her body.
She didn't notice Min had stopped until she almost ran into the back of her. She lifted her head, and over Min's shoulder she saw the big Kardanx, Ketl, arms crossed in front of him, blocking the way.
“Let us by.” She was frightened, and her voice came out on a croak.
Ketl leaned against the tunnel wall. “You owe me for the trouble you've caused me.�
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“You've caused your own problems.” Min's voice was cool. “My friend isn't well, let us pass so I can get her to the surface.”
There were sounds behind them and ahead, others coming down the passage. They were in the main thoroughfare, and Ketl could not have expected anything else. He cocked his head, listening, and she thought he would stand down. Try again another time.
Instead, he shoved Min against the wall, and as she was flung back, Min threw the rock she carried at him. It hit his side before smashing to pieces on the ground, and he jerked with pain.
No matter who was coming, Taya could tell he would hit her for that.
Fury ripped through her and she could almost hear the sound of tearing as her control slipped.
The world went a little gray.
“Step away.” She hardly recognized her voice.
Ketl must have heard something in it, too, because he looked over his shoulder, one hand clamped over Min's throat, the other in her hair, pulling her head back.
He let both hands drop, and turned to face her. “Witch.” He breathed it out, not accusing, not contemptuous, more surprised. Utterly surprised.
She looked down at the rock in her hands. And let it go. Watched it hit the ground and shards of rock explode outward. A splinter of shadow ore, shaped like a strange battle spike, was freed from its surrounding rock, bounced, and as it flew up, Taya was able to grab hold of it with her thoughts, and hold it in the air in front of her.
She looked up from it and saw Ketl and Min both watching her with wide eyes. She locked gazes with Min, and tipped her head left.
Before Ketl could react, Min dived left, out of harm's way.
Taya noticed the rock Min had thrown at Ketl had also smashed and left pieces of shadow ore free of the rock, and she reached for them, too. They all rose a little way, then dropped back down, so she concentrated on the thick spike in front of her.
“It will be a pleasure to kill you.” Ketl bent and pulled a knife from his boot, and at the sight of it, Taya thought back to the Kardanx women, slaughtered by their own men.
A burst of voices came around the corner, and then stopped on a shout of surprise, but she couldn't look away from the danger in front of her.
Ketl lunged, and fear and rage crackled through her, fast and hot as a lightning strike.
She flung the shadow ore at him as he jumped, and like the spike thrower Garamundo boasted of as one of their best weapons, the sharp vein of metal tore into his shoulder and slammed him back against the wall, driving deep into the rock of the tunnel to pin him there.
“Taya!” Kas's shout came at her as if from a great distance, and she turned to him.
It was a relief to turn away from what she had done. Blood leaked from Ketl's shoulder.
Kas reached her, cupped her cheek, and then looked over her head. “You're lucky she aimed for his shoulder, not his heart.” He wasn't talking to her, but Taya was glad, too. She didn't need Ketl's death on her hands.
Taya looked around to find both sides of the tunnel were packed, and every eye was on her.
She lifted a trembling hand to wipe away the perspiration stinging her eyes, and turned back to Ketl. He had gone white and still, looked down at where the spike was sticking out of the meaty part of his shoulder.
She tried to grab hold of it with her mind again, but only felt nausea and the shivery cold of a fever when she tried.
She leaned forward and grabbed it with her hand, careful not to touch Ketl, and tried to pull it out. It wouldn't budge.
Kas stepped up, gave it a yank, and got it out, threw it down at Ketl's feet. The Kardanx slid down to the floor, eyes flashing with pain and fury.
“Keep the chain on your dog,” Kas spoke to the older Kardanx man in the crowd, the one who'd promised the sky raiders yesterday there'd be no more trouble. “My sister may decide to pin more vital pieces of him, next time.”
Chapter 9
Garek let the night wash over him; the smells and sounds of Garamundo, the cool flow of air as autumn ran its fingers through the last muggy strands of summer. He thought he'd never experience this again, and was surprised by the comfort he took in its familiarity.
Opik sat close by, leaning against a wall, his eyes closed.
They'd had four hours of sleep through the afternoon--Garek knew they couldn't operate without some rest--but now they watched the western tower.
There was someone inside. Lights shone from the narrow windows and Garek could see a figure moving about, but unless he was willing to call the Change, he wouldn't be able to get in without confronting the four guards that stood watch.
He considered the implications of calling a Change.
He would get in to the tower, but the guards would send reinforcements. Yes, he could hold them back, but he would have to convince Falk to talk and learn how to fly the sky raiders' ship at the same time. And both the town master and the guard master would know he was back in Garamundo.
And yet, every second he stood here, Taya was in the sky raiders' hands. He hadn't allowed himself to think about what happened to the people they took. But he thought about it now. And it was ripping him to pieces.
He was about to tell Opik his patience had run out when first one light, then another, was extinguished inside the building.
Garek prodded Opik with his foot, and kept his eyes on the tower door.
A man stepped out, and Garek recognized the tall, lean figure of the town master's scientist. Falk Pallica called good night to the guards and then walked through the gates.
He wore only a thin tunic over his trousers, and, caught unawares by the sudden cool of the evening, he hunched his shoulders and rubbed his arms as he walked.
“Go ahead,” Garek told Opik. “Walk fast and try to overtake him, if you can. I'll trail him from behind.”
Opik stumbled to his feet, but by the time he'd reached the street, he was walking briskly enough, and Garek kept to the shadows as he walked behind both men.
Falk slowed his step as he approached a bakery, and swung in as if giving in to temptation. He came out less than five minutes later with a large paper bag and a small pie in one hand. He ate it in quick, clean bites as he walked.
Up ahead, Opik lurked outside a fruit seller's shop, lifting the fruit in the barrows and sniffing it. Falk slowed again and took out a key, opened up a door in a building just down from where Opik stood.
The scientist disappeared inside, and Garek called a tiny bit of Change to keep the door open with the thinnest of air wedges.
He waited until he could hear Falk on the stairs and then he opened the door and waited for Opik to join him.
They went in together, closing the door silently behind them.
Falk's steps rang above them in the four story building, and Garek began to run, completely silently, up after him.
Opik trailed behind.
The sound of footsteps stopped as Garek reached the third floor, and Garek was just in time to see the dark brown door of Falk's rooms swing shut. Again, he called on the smallest Change, on invisible fingers of air to hold the door open just enough.
He waited for Opik, and when the old man pulled himself up using the handrail, panting, he let him take a moment to catch his breath before he opened the door.
He left Opik to close it, moving fast and silently down the short hall and then left into the kitchen area.
Falk was standing beside a table, a jug in one hand and a glass in the other.
He looked up, startled at Garek's appearance. He lowered the jug, but kept the cup, and took a sip. “What have I done to deserve a visit from the Guard?” He spoke slowly, and far too calmly.
Garek kept his face still, but he sensed something. A tension in Falk that was not the reaction of an innocent man being visited by the Guard in a highly unorthodox way.
That Falk recognized him at all was surprising enough. Garek thought he'd had eyes only for the sky raider craft Garek had brought down when they'd met, ba
rely acknowledging the guard who had managed what no one else had managed before.
He obviously didn't know Garek had left the Guard, and Garek weighed up the pros and cons of telling him, or not.
They both heard the door snick closed, and Garek hid his surprise when Falk seemed to relax, and try to pretend he hadn't heard the sound.
So there was someone else either living here, or who Falk had as an ally. He thought his friend had just arrived.
“That would be my colleague, not yours.”
Shock flashed across Falk's face and Garek smiled.
Falk lowered the cup. “That's disappointing.”
Garek would bet it was. “So who were you hoping would come rushing to your rescue?”
Falk narrowed his eyes. “Something's off here. You aren't representing the town master, are you?”
“Why do you say that?”
“If this was official business, if the town master suspected me of treachery, I'd be halfway to the east tower by now.”
“You're right. He doesn't know you're not loyal to him.” Garek was fishing in the dark, but Falk's lips thinned, and he felt the satisfaction of a true strike.
“So what is this, a blackmail attempt?” Falk splayed his fingers on the table, leaning forward, his eyes searching Garek's face. “What do you actually know?”
Garek watched him back. Cocked his head. “I'll lay it out for you honestly. I don't know anything, and I don't much care. In fact, your . . . lack of loyalty to the town master is most definitely to my benefit. But whether you want to cooperate with me or not, you will.”
Falk sized him up, and Garek had to admit that for a man who spent most of his time in a laboratory or bent over books, Falk had the long, lean build and muscles of a man who exercised regularly. He wouldn't be easy to take in a fight. But Garek was a trained guard, bulkier, every muscle honed, and even taller than Falk. And he could call the Change, which rendered any resistance Falk offered up useless.
Sky Raiders Page 5