by Conner, Jack
She continued chewing for a moment, then glanced up, her mouth and whole lower face coated in dark blood. It dripped down her chin and throat. Gore caked her hands. The air blurred around her, hinting at other-dimensional facets ready to be used.
“Are you ready?” he said.
She was breathing too hard to answer. After she caught her breath, she said, “I can’t ... can’t fight through them all ... not with Davic ...”
“You don’t need to.”
He moved to the opposite archway and stared down at the sea. To the right stretched mountain walls and precipices, but to the left was the vast, roiling expanse of the ocean. The column of rock descended straight to the water, and its surface was rough.
“Is there any way you could climb down, carrying us?”
Dripping, Layanna moved beside him and glanced down. “No. I only fed a little. I’ll only be able to bring over my other-self for a few moments. It would take minutes of climbing even at my fastest to get to the bottom of this tower.”
A strange roar issued from the throne room, almost like the song of a whale, and lights flashed onto the bridge: Davic.
“I have an idea.”
The voice was Janx’s. He stared down from the archway facing the sea, between the one they stood at and the one leading to the walkway. They joined him and followed his finger, stabbing down toward the base of the tower.
“It’s deep here,” he said. “At the others it’s too shallow, we’d be dashed to hell and gone. But here, if you can push us out enough, darlin’ ...”
“Too shallow for what?” Avery said, then realized it. “Oh no. Tell me you’re not thinking—”
Janx grinned. “We’re gonna jump.”
“The impact’d kill us,” Hildra said. “Even I know that much.”
“Might kill us. Mebbe we’ll get lucky.”
Layanna rubbed her forehead. “Actually, there is a way.”
Another roar. Something thundered on the other side of the walkway. An odd reek met Avery’s nose, of salt and ozone and a hint of copper.
“If we’re going to do this, let’s hurry,” he said.
Layanna’s other-self erupted, filling the small chamber with weird lights, thrusting pseudopods, and grasping tendrils. She hefted Janx, Hildra and Avery up with her tentacles and prepared to throw herself into the abyss.
“The lamps!” Avery said, suddenly thinking of something. “Grab the lamps!”
Not bothering to ask why, she grabbed up two alchemical lamps, then coiled her body and shoved herself far out over the drop, far from the temple. Avery turned to see a bulky shape appear, aglow with amber and violet light, then the plummet began.
He threw back his head and screamed. The wind rushed in his ears, and he thought his heart would rip from his chest it beat so hard. He met Janx’s eyes, and the big man was screaming, too. There was exhilaration in his face, though, and Avery realized he felt it also. A deep joy of living ran through him, and adrenaline fired his every nerve and synapse.
It seemed as though they fell forever, but the water rushed up at them all too fast, a thin layer of toxic vapor oozing over it.
The impact will dash us to bits, Hildra’s right.
Layanna drew them inside herself. One second she held them clutched to her proverbial bosom, the next she had drawn the three through her amoebic wall and enveloped them in an empty, air-filled organelle apparently grown just for them. Avery took a deep gulp of air, surprised to be able to breathe, and then they struck the water.
The whole world changed, and Avery saw sparks flicker in his vision. Foam exploded all around them, and bubbles roiled the water in profusion so thick and so deep he never thought they would dissipate. The impact wasn’t as jarring as it should have been, though. Layanna had softened it for them.
As Janx had said, the water was deep here, but their fall had been long, and she bounced off the ocean floor in a blast of sand and cracked stone, her body passing partly through the solid substances. If they had been shallower the impact would have been much worse, and her other-form likely wouldn’t have been able to protect them from such a blow. As it was, Avery felt a smile spread across his face as they rose back up and broke the surface.
Gazing through the drifting organelles and strange substances, he shared a look with Layanna, and she smiled back, her face radiant, and in that moment he knew he loved her. It was an odd feeling, as they’d slept together many times, but this was different. They’d slept together because they’d formed a bond, and it had expressed itself physically. But love? Avery had somehow suspected it, but until now he had never fully realized it, and the realization made him feel as if he’d been asleep for a long time but just now awoken.
Gaining energy and strength from the sea, Layanna swam with eerie grace around bulges of land until finally they saw the lights of Colu. As they climbed ashore, Layanna set down the alchemical lamps, drew in her other-self, and they all threw themselves on the ground and sucked in great, gulping breaths, sweating profusely.
“That was somethin’,” Hildra said.
“Yes,” Avery agreed. “It really was.”
“Will Davic follow us?” Janx said.
“I don’t think so,” Layanna said. “He’s stronger than I am, but I was able to shift the poison from the whips into the part of myself he was eating.” She made a rueful face. “When he ingested me, he ingested the poison, taking it out of me. But there’s no one to take it out of him. Now that I’ve bathed in the Atomic, he won’t want a fight.”
Avery felt fingers intertwine with his and looked down to see her holding his hand. He blinked at her in surprise. Had she felt it, too?
Above, the stars shimmered and twinkled against a black sky adrift with gray clouds, two of the three moons riding high, one crescent and one nearly full.
“We’d better get goin’,” Janx said. “They’ll raise the alarm soon.”
“Where are the Verignuns?” Avery asked, imaging the faces of Captain Greggory and the rest of his crew, as the four made their way toward the town. “Would Segrul have sold them into slavery?”
“Not this quick,” Janx said. “They just arrived. It’ll take a few days to spread the word of what they have, build up interest, then sell ‘em, probably in groups to keep their discipline, their teamwork. They’d be worth even more if they was navy men. Might be sold off as workers or castrated for eunuchs and sold abroad. The whalers, though, they’ll fetch a higher price. Probably be auctioned off as gladiators.” There was a touch of pride in his voice as he said this last.
“So where will Segrul be keeping them?” Avery pressed.
“On the Verignun, most like. Under lock and key.”
“Then all we need to do is reach her.”
But between here and the ship was a town full of cutthroats and murderers. They entered Colu tensely, threading their way through its narrow, twisting mazes with care. Pirates sang and caroused all around, traveling from whorehouse to tavern to gladiator pit, and Avery constantly feared the four would be seen and mobbed, but they passed unnoticed through the bedlam. At one point horns did blare from the mountaintops behind them, and Avery knew the Magon leaders had alerted the rest of the Magon nation ensconced on the island to what had happened, but the pirates, apparently not schooled in the Magons’ signals, only paid the horn calls passing attention. A few in Avery’s hearing made jokes about it. Turtles havin’ a party, one said.
The four reached the docks and passed quickly toward where Segrul’s fleet was moored. The Verignun bobbed in the swell. Layanna brought over her other-self, scaled the sides of the Verignun and disappeared over the gunwale. Almost immediately, screams rang out. The sounds chilled Avery, as did being confronted with what Layanna really was. Seeing her floating serenely in the midst of a glowing amoeba sac was one thing. Hearing the cries of her victims as, very likely, she ate them alive was another. He tried to hold onto the warmth he’d had just minutes ago and was reassured when he found it, but there was no
denying that it was tempered by the screams. Muffled somehow.
“They deserve it, Doc,” Janx said, seeing his expression. “Don’t shed a tear for the likes of Segrul’s crew. They’re a tough lot, even for pirates. I won’t tell you the things I’ve seen Segrul do. ‘course, he won’t be aboard, he’ll be whoring in town or what have you.”
Avery nodded. The truth was that he didn’t feel bad for Segrul’s crew. Perhaps he should have, but he didn’t. No, what saddened him was the truth of what Layanna was, and that it would always separate them.
“I hope Ani’s all right,” he said, his voice choked. His heart ached with the thought.
“She will be,” Hildra promised, but her voice was unusually tight. “She’s a scrapper.”
The screams stopped. The boarding ramp was thrown down and a frayed crew of sailors gestured Avery, Hildra and Janx aboard—the Verignuns. Layanna had freed them.
“Quick,” one said. “Get on while you can.”
The screams of the pirates had been brief, but they had been enough to rouse interest, and even as Avery and the others boarded, shapes from the town rushed along the decks toward them, some gripping blades, some guns.
“Cast off!” someone said; it sounded like Captain Greggory. “For the love of your mothers, cast off!”
Sailors obeyed, and the ship began to move away from the docks. It wouldn’t be fast enough, though. The pirates were almost on them. A rifle cracked. Then another. A sailor pitched backward, blood spurting.
Avery had been carrying the alchemical lamps all this time, having wrapped them in a torn-off section of his pants. He moved to the stern, delicately unwrapping one as he went. A bullet whizzed by his ear. Trying not to panic, he cocked the red-glowing globe over his shoulder—the glass burned his fingers, but he didn’t pause—and threw with all his strength.
The globe struck the docks right at the feet of the pirates, and fire erupted among them. Janx hurled the next globe, and more fires sprang out. Hollering and cursing, the pirates drew back, then fled as the alchemical flames widened, burning through ropes and boards and leaping into ships.
“Good thinking,” Janx said.
“It should keep them busy for a while, anyway,” Avery said. “Do you think it will delay Segrul coming after us?”
“It’ll give us a good head start.”
Avery heard a cry behind him. Whirling, he saw Layanna, human once more. She had brought out a small figure, gripping her by the hand.
Ani, tears coursing down her cheeks, flung herself at Avery, and Avery bent and grabbed her up.
* * *
Ani had been living in the vent system just as Avery had imagined, coming out at night only to steal scraps of food, and once to use the head, then ducking back again. Going to the bathroom without an actual bathroom had been a big problem for her, and with grim delight she told Avery and Layanna how she’d managed it in excruciating detail. She said she’d tried to bring Hildebrand with her at first into the vents, but the monkey proved too rambunctious, and she’d let him go in the cargo holds where the ship’s men and women had been held prisoner. Alternately sobbing and laughing, she told her story in the privacy of their cabin. A pirate had been living in it for several days, and it stank of unwashed fish-man but was otherwise unmarred (thank the gods) save for some dirty sheets. Avery quickly ordered these burnt. Janx and Hildra used the excuse of looking for Hildebrand to give Avery and Layanna some time alone with the girl.
Ani didn’t describe the horrors she must have witnessed during her time in the vents, only briefly alluded to them before moving on to more adventurous elements, but she was shaken and pale, and Avery was troubled: what had she seen and heard? It must have been awful. She’d heard the pirates’ screams when Layanna had come aboard, but she didn’t know until Layanna told her exactly what had happened, and when she found out she threw herself at Layanna and hugged her fiercely. “They deserved it,” the girl whispered, tears in her eyes. “They deserved it.” Avery felt tears in his own eyes.
Janx and Hildra returned with the monkey scampering excitedly up and down Hildra’s arms and with Janx’s large hands loaded with breads and meats; if nothing else, the pirates had restocked the larder. Hildra looked happy to see Hildebrand again, and she stroked him furiously.
“Thought you guys could use some grub,” Janx said.
“Oh boy!” Ani said. “I’m starved.”
Avery was, too, and they all dug into the victuals gratefully, even Layanna, who, it must be said, had already eaten. As they wolfed down the food, they talked. Avery feared revealing everything to Ani at first, but he decided she would find out in time anyway, and thinking about bigger things might take her mind away from more personal troubles.
“Dozens?” she said, face paling. “There are dozens of those starfish things?”
“It’s something Davic said,” Avery said.
“They’ll destroy Urslin and Consur,” Hildra said. “Then the rest of the world. Win the war in the R’loth’s favor. And there’s fuck-all we can do about it.”
Instead of rebuking her for her language, Avery said, “There is. The plan remains the same. We arrive home, get access to a laboratory and use the Starfish samples to devise some sort of poison or other weapon to kill the creatures—all of them.”
“What about Sheridan?” Janx said. “I don’t know what she was doin’ there, but she and Davic were talking.”
“Bitch,” said Hildra. “That’s why she must have done all this. She wanted to meet that bastard. That’s why she summoned Segrul.”
Avery frowned, remembering. “I heard them speaking ...”
Layanna glanced at him. “Yes?”
“I didn’t hear it all, but it sounded like Davic was sending Sheridan to take that box to someone. It had something to do with the Starfish.”
Janx ran a hand across his bald, stubbly pate. “I heard ‘em, too. He mentioned Ghenisa.”
“This changes things,” Avery said. “Our main priority had been analyzing the tissue samples. Now we must also find Sheridan.”
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Hildra said.
Avery arched his eyebrows. “Would I?”
“Enough,” said Layanna. “I agree with Francis. We must assume the box is a threat. If Sheridan has been entrusted with delivering the item to someone in Ghenisa, we must intercept it first.”
“Tall order,” Janx said. “She’s got a dirigible; Davic said so. She’ll get there first by a wide stretch.”
“Whatever was in that box must have been pretty damned important,” Hildra said. Leveling a glare at Avery, she said, “If saving that bitch has cost us the war, bones ...”
Avery stood.
“Where are you going?” Layanna said.
“I need to see the captain about our manner of arrival in Ghenisa. Janx, would you come with me? He seems to listen to you more than he does me.”
They made their way through the halls, sailors hailing them and thanking them as they went. Already the men and women of the ship were removing the signs of the pirates’ presence, wiping off blood stains, pools of vomit, and dragging the dismembered bodies outside or to the furnace. Some consoled crying women, and a few men, finding them clothes, unchaining them, or leading them to the medical bay for attention.
When Captain Greggory appeared marching to a buffer chamber, Janx stopped him. Seeing the big man, the captain, who bore a few new bruises, said, “Good! I wanted to thank you. All of you. You saved my ship. My crew.”
“We wanted to talk about comin’ home,” Janx said.
“Yes, of course. I meant to discuss it with you. I’d planned to deliver you to the authorities when we arrived at Hissig, but you’ve earned better than that from me. I’ll drop you off at the port of your choosing along the way. Just name the place.”
“Tempting,” Janx said.
“Remember,” Avery said. “Dozens. They’ll be coming soon. We have to prepare Ghenisa. The world.”
�
��Dozens?” said Greggory.
“Never mind. Thank you for your offer, Captain, but we’re going home.”
Greggory studied Janx, as if to confirm this, then, receiving a nod, said, “If you do that, I won’t be able to protect you. I’ll be under obligation to deliver you to the authorities. You’re wanted fugitives. Enemies of the state.”
“All we ask is to be turned over to the police, not the Navy,” Avery said. “Sheridan has a great deal of influence in the Navy.”
“It’s the Navy that’s lookin’ for you,” Greggory said, frowning. “But ... sure. You’ve earned at least that much.”
Avery found Layanna later that night on the deck, staring at the stars twinkling like diamonds against the blackness. She wore no environment suit, and her hair streamed in the wind. She looked beautiful.
She turned her head when he approached, her eyes misty. “I wondered when you’d find me.”
“You had children,” he said. “With Davic. You never told me.”
She smiled wistfully. “I’ve never told you many things.”
He wasn’t sure how to take that. “Do you want to talk about it?” When she said nothing, he added, “I lost my own daughter, remember. I can feel at least some of your pain.”
The glimmer in her eyes shone brighter. “I don’t want to talk about it, Francis. Really.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m glad Ani is safe. About what Hildra said earlier ...”
“It’s all right. There’s nothing to say. She’s right. I did save Sheridan, and if that somehow hurts our efforts I will be the one responsible. Just as I am for all this. All those people killed … those women …” He shook his head.
An odd look crossed her face. “Would you ... take it back, if you could?”
“Let Jess die? I don’t know. I’ve … taken oaths … as a doctor.”
She sighed, as if disappointed. Had she been on the verge of forgiving him?
Surprising him, she said, “I learned something, by the way.”
“Oh?”
“The relic in that box Davic gave Sheridan. I felt something from it.”
“You mean, psychically?”