Solar Heat

by Susan Kearney

  Then Azsla was grabbing his hand and tugging him toward cover. Together they raced into the forest, ducked behind dense foliage, and kept running. On Rama the hovercrafts had heat sensors that wouldn’t have let them hide. But here she’d seen two Raman hovercrafts, the damaged one with the hole in its side and Tomar’s, and the equipment was bare bones due to the huge expense of transporting equipment from one planet to another.

  As they forced their way through the underbrush, branches whipping their faces and tearing at their clothes, they heard confusion behind them. The hovercraft engine died. Men shouted. An enraged voice that sounded like Tomar’s ordered his flunkies to find and execute them.

  “I thought you’d killed him.” Derrek frowned, realizing that when Tomar had dropped to the ground, he must only have been unconscious. Not dead as he’d assumed.

  “You were too close, so I had to stun him. Couldn’t risk you being hit by blaster fire.”

  The blaster wouldn’t hurt a First as much as it had Derrek. Firsts were stronger and recovered more quickly. But doubts about Azsla again began to haunt him. Why hadn’t she killed Tomar after he’d taken the keys? Had she been so eager to get away that she’d forgotten she’d only stunned Tomar? Or was her plan more devious? Her explanation made sense, but he still wondered if she was telling the truth.

  She’d saved him from certain death, he reminded himself. Or had she?

  When she’d joined him over the unconscious First’s body, she’d had ample opportunity to finish off Tomar. And he already knew she wasn’t squeamish about killing. If she’d known Tomar wasn’t dead, why hadn’t she taken the kill shot? Or suggest Derrek do it?

  Of course, they had been in a hurry to escape the hovercraft. But still . . . had Azsla and Tomar set up an elaborate ruse so that Derrek would now implicitly trust her?

  They sped through the forest without speaking, saving their breath for running. Twice they stopped for water and for him to check their course. But neither time was good for an in-depth analysis of what had just occurred or why.

  An hour later, when they’d finally made it back to the hovercraft, Derrek had just about tapped out his physical limits. Even so, he cautiously looked around the clearing where they’d found the hovercraft to ensure it wasn’t a First trap before nearing the abandoned vehicle.

  Worn out from the stunner blast and the long run, he didn’t hesitate to hand Azsla the keys. He was in no shape to fly. Sweating had left him salt depleted, and he also needed food and rest to recover from his ordeal.

  While they seemed to have put enough distance between Tomar’s men and themselves to escape, he suddenly heard canines barking.

  Praying Tish was still hidden and okay, he used his last remaining strength to pull himself into the hovercraft’s passenger seat. Azsla scooted next to him and popped the key into the ignition. She turned it.

  But the motor didn’t roar to life.

  “Frip,” Azsla swore.

  If he’d had any adrenaline left, his pulse might have sped. Wearily, he raised his head to the gauges. “We out of fuel?”

  “We’ve got half a tank.” Savagely, she twisted the key again, but nothing happened, except she uttered another curse. “I’ll check the battery leads.”

  She slid out and poked under the hood while he hoisted his blaster toward the barking dogs. He couldn’t see them yet, but from the intensity of their deep growls and yapping barks, their masters couldn’t be far away.

  “Battery’s fine.” Azsla picked up a branch. Hefting it over her shoulder, she strode to the rear.

  He frowned as she stopped beside the engine. “What are you doing?”

  “Giving the fripping engine block some encouragement.”

  Before he could say a word to stop her, she swung the branch at the engine. At the loud clang the dogs barked louder, and he winced.

  “Try the key,” she gasped, looking over her shoulder at the dogs bolting through the clearing. They had mere micronbits until the dogs—and the Firsts—reached them.

  He stunned the lead dog, then twisted the key. “Nothing.”

  The frenzied dogs kept advancing, their jaws flecked with foam, their teeth glistening. A First broke out of the forest.

  Derrek ordered his muscles to prepare to leap clear and make a run for it. But despite his mind willing him to move, his muscles didn’t obey. He was like a runner who’d pushed way past his endurance level, his stamina totally gone, his body shut down.

  Azsla swung the branch again. He flipped the key and held his breath.

  This time the engine turned, caught. He revved the motor, careful not to flood it with too much fuel. With a grin, Azsla leaped back into the craft just ahead of the jaw-snapping dogs. She gunned the engine and swerved away from the furious animals.

  Firsts shot at them. Most went wide. But one or two blasts pinged off the hull, and he prayed to Vigo they’d struck nothing vital.

  “Get us the hell out of here,” he ordered and then felt foolish for shouting as she gave it full throttle. The acceleration felt wonderful, and even as the speed pressed him into the seat, a weight lifted from his chest. He wasn’t dead. He might yet reach his daughter and get her out of this mess.

  Hang on, Tish. I’m almost there.

  Air gusted behind them and blew back the dogs. As the hovercraft picked up speed and rose into the air, Derrek peppered the edge of the clearing with blaster fire to ensure the Firsts dived for cover instead of taking more easy shots at them.

  Finally airborne, they were safe. At least for the moment.

  “Taylo wouldn’t let you within a parsec of his engines if he saw how you’d started this one,” Derrek teased.

  Azsla chuckled. “These old rust buckets need the occasional kick in the ass.” She punched coordinates into the nav system. “We’re heading back for Tish?”

  He nodded. “I’d rather maintain com silence until we’re almost right on top of her—just in case anyone’s trying to listen.”

  But he was worried. They were a full day later than he’d expected when he’d set off. And if the dogs had almost caught up with them, it meant the Firsts had gone past the cave where he’d left his daughter.

  Was Tish okay? Had she remained hidden, or had the Firsts found her? He needed all his discipline not to break radio silence. When Azsla finally set them down in a clearing within a short walk of the cave, she turned to switch off the engine, but he placed his hand over hers.

  “Keep her hot.”

  She shook her head. “Someone could steal her if I leave it running with the key in the ignition.”

  “Please stay here and guard the hovercraft. I’ll go get them and be back within micronbits.”

  “All right.” Azsla removed her hand from the key and drew her weapon. “But hurry.”

  Like she needed to tell him that.

  Then she grabbed his shirt, made a fist, and drew him close. He thought she meant to tell him something. But her eyes dilated slightly, and her nostrils flared. She kissed his mouth, surprising him, intriguing him. “For luck.”

  “Thanks.” He hopped down and loped toward the cave. Although he didn’t dwell on that kiss or her reason for giving it, she’d lifted his spirits and energized him as he strode toward the cave.

  “Tish,” he called out. If she’d stayed here, she’d have heard the hovercraft, but she’d believe more Firsts had driven it and were still searching for her. She’d be hiding. “It’s Derrek. Your father.”

  He couldn’t hear an answer. Saw no movement in the cave.

  “Tish!” His heart hammered as he prayed to Vigo and sprinted into the cave.

  Dreading he might find bodies, hoping Tish would round the bend and race into his arms, he sped deeper into the darkness. Flipping on his com light to see the dark rocks and the uneven dirt floor, he searched for
any sign of Tish.

  But it was empty.

  Tish, Poli, and Mavinor were gone.

  21

  AZSLA FELT LIKE a duck, squatting in a puddle, with a hunting party about to shoot her from all sides. The bright moonlight left her no place to hide. With the engine running, she couldn’t even hear if anyone was sneaking up through the forest trees. Beyond her open clearing, she couldn’t see past the thick underbrush.

  Worse, since stopping, she’d spied a fuel leak spurting to the ground. Apparently one or more of the shots fired at them had struck the tank. The fuel gauge showed they just might have enough juice to fly to the spaceport if they left soon.

  Derrek hadn’t been gone long, but it seemed like forever. Her burned arm hurt, and she tried to ignore the pain. Keeping her blaster ready and her eyes on the dark forest’s edges, she glanced only occasionally at the cave where Derrek had disappeared. So it took a moment for her to spot the movement above the cave—a tree branch shaking as if in a strong wind. Someone was up there, but in the darkness she couldn’t guess if it was a bird or a Raman First.

  Azsla hailed Derrek over the con. “Danger, above you. Outside the cave.” She clicked off quickly, praying he’d heed her warning and hoping no one had had time to home in on the signal.

  He clicked a “got it.”

  Now Azsla had three things to watch: the cave from which Derrek was slowly emerging, sticking close to a rock wall for cover, the person hidden above him, and the clearing’s perimeter.

  She found herself holding her breath, her fingers tightening on the trigger. Suddenly Derrek stepped away from the wall and held out his arms to the tree. Someone, Tish, dropped from the branch and into his embrace.

  He led her toward the hovercraft, their steps increasing in pace to a full run. Azsla readied the vehicle for immediate takeoff, kicking it into gear and then holding steady.

  Derrek and Tish dived in, and Azsla had the craft airborne in seconds. She didn’t ask what had happened to Poli and Mavinor, but concentrated on getting her night bearings as she listened to Derrek trying to calm his daughter.

  “Didn’t you hear me call your name?” Derrek asked.

  “I must have fallen asleep,” Tish admitted.

  “It’s fine. You were smart to hide in the tree,” Derrek told her.

  “We have to find Mom and Mavinor,” Tish half-demanded, half-whined.

  “How did you become separated?” Derrek asked, using the binoculars to scan the forest below.

  “A search party came by. They didn’t find us in the cave, but Mom was sure they’d eventually return, search the cave, and find us. She insisted on leaving, and I couldn’t stop her.”

  “Of course you couldn’t.” Derrek’s voice was calm and reassuring, but his expression told another story. Azsla didn’t think he liked the role reversal between his daughter and his ex-wife. It seemed like Tish had to take care of her mother.

  At least Derrek was good with his daughter. He treated her as if she were intelligent and an adult, supporting her judgment.

  “I knew you’d come back, and we could go after Mom and Mavinor. If I left, you wouldn’t know what had happened.”

  “Let’s sweep the area.”

  Azsla checked her gauges. “Bad news, boss man. We don’t have time for detours. Our fuel tank took a hit and is leaking. Even if we fly straight to the spaceport, we’re going to be flying in on fumes.”

  He nodded but didn’t put down the binoculars. “Tish’s safety comes first. Head for the spaceport, and we’ll keep looking.”

  “Dad. We can’t leave them,” Tish said, sniffling and trying to hold back tears.

  Derrek placed a comforting arm over her shoulders. “Honey, if we crash, we can’t do them or ourselves any good.”

  Those tears finally escaped, but Tish brushed them away, clearly determined to be brave. Azsla shook her head at Poli’s foolishness and wished the woman good fortune . . . for Tish’s sake.

  Meanwhile she tried to conserve every drop of fuel, gaining altitude to pick up a tail wind. But the fuel gauge seemed to be dropping faster than she’d calculated.

  Azsla raised her voice to be heard over the engine’s roar. “If we can’t make the spaceport, do you have a backup landing site in mind?”

  “My house?”

  She shook her head and angled up the nose. “We’ll run out of fuel before we get there, too.”

  “There’s a park a few miles from the spaceport. I’ll punch in the coordinates.” Derrek took a moment to study the lit instruments, then figured out the system, pressing the buttons and bringing up a city map on the grid. He hadn’t bragged when he’d said he was a fast learner.

  “Dad.” Tish tugged his sleeve and pointed. “There’re people signaling us.”

  Azsla looked down to see that Tish had not exaggerated. A huge crowd milled around a blazing bonfire in the town square below. Some shook their fists, one shot a flare gun at them, and she swerved their craft to avoid taking a hit. Those people saw a Raman hovercraft and mistakenly believed they were all Firsts.

  But they also seemed out of control. Below, several fights broke out. Fistfights. A riot.

  Derrek frowned. “They aren’t hiding from the Ramans. Word of the asteroid must be common now.”

  “Mom might be down there,” Tish said.

  Derrek motioned Azsla to keep flying, not that she had any intention of landing, but it was good to know they agreed. Landing to save another one or two people might get them all killed, especially if the crowd swarmed. Even Tish seemed to realize the danger because she said nothing more about her mother.

  There wasn’t much to say, not as the sight of the burning capital city rose on the horizon. Although the buildings made out of granitite didn’t burn, those of wood and plaster sent out black plumes of smoke that settled over the landscape like a shroud. Even with the fire miles away, the reek of smoke reached them. Landing anywhere was going to be dangerous. Power lines were down. People were fleeing by any means possible and might attack anyone with a vehicle.

  With their fuel leak, Azsla couldn’t fly anywhere near those fires. By tipping up the hovercraft’s nose a bit more, she found the leak slowed, which meant the fuel was coming from the front of the tank. Thank Vigo. They might actually buy some time. Trying not to look at the fuel gauge every two seconds, she focused on eking out every air mile possible.

  “Maybe you could call Sauren for a pick-up?” she suggested as the engine coughed. “We’ve got maybe another five miles before I’ll have to ditch.”

  Derrek opened his link. “Sauren?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We need to hitch a ride.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Derrek clicked off. “Sauren has us on the scope. He’ll send someone to get us. No need to push us to the max. Set us down wherever you see a good spot.”

  “Keep your eyes peeled,” she requested. The grid was no good to them since it was based on pre-invasion streets that were now blocked with debris, smoking vehicles, and sometimes mob scenes. Other streets were totally empty and darkly ominous with sinister shadows.

  Her people had brought Zor to its knees. All this destruction and loss of life sickened her. When she’d arrived, the buildings had impressed and tweaked her imagination. Now the city burned, and what these people had worked so hard to achieve was gone.

  “There.” She thought Derrek was pointing to a landing site, but instead he was showing her a hovercraft flying their way. From the signal lights, she recognized the craft was of Zoran design. Probably Derrek’s company’s design. With its sleek body and folded wings it looked like a bird of prey on the hunt.

  It was their ticket out of here. All they had to do was land. Hop in and go to the spaceport. It should have been as easy as the light night breeze that swirled the smoke into tin
y spinning vortexes.

  Except the engine coughed once more. A piece of the fuel tank blew off, right into the fan motors. Not even the muffled explosion could cover the sound of Tish’s, “Oh sweet Vigo, save us.”

  Azsla preferred not to rely on godly help. Her instruments went dead. She killed the engine and wrestled with the glide controls, trying to avoid crashing into the side of a building. They were coming down too fast. Too hard. But then with a curse, she caught an uplift and used it to slow their descent.

  “Hang on,” Derrek said to Tish. “Keep your head down.”

  Gripping the fly stick, Azsla eased the craft down. Kept the nose up. Aimed for a clear spot on a street corner.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed crowds about a block away, but she had no choice. Even if they might be mobbed, they were going down.

  Wind rushed in her ears. Time seemed to slow, allowing her to make critical, split-second decisions with no hurry at all. She’d heard of great warriors who’d told of time slowing during battle, but she’d thought the tales far-fetched and preferred scientific explanation to legend. Perhaps the adrenaline surge caused her mind to work faster, sharpened the neural connections, ramping up her reflexes and making her last-micronbit adjustments possible.

  She set them down with one hard thud followed by a skidding that knocked them right up the side of a building. Azsla tensed for the impact, but felt no pain. And when the building’s wall didn’t topple onto them, she again dared to breathe.

  “Get out. Now,” she ordered, worried about the yelling crowd, but more concerned over the reek of spilled and flammable fuel.

  Derrek was already moving as she shut down the engines. He lifted Tish over the side and dropped her to the ground. Azsla jumped, and he followed, noting that as the three of them sprinted from the hovercraft, the angry crowd poured down the street toward them. In the back of her mind, Azsla understood these Zorans thought that all three of them were Firsts. After all, they’d just crashed a Raman hovercraft into their burning city streets. While Derrek and Tish were natives, the crowd might not stop to ascertain their allegiance before tearing them limb from limb—not with the burning city in ruins around them.