by Scott Baron
The pair reluctantly climbed out of the pool, their wet clothes sticking to their bodies. Leila looked at Charlie, and for just a moment, he had the briefest of flashbacks to his time in the pool with Rika. She had imbibed the waters as well, but it wasn’t enough to save her from being lobotomized. But knowing what he now did about the water’s properties, Charlie couldn’t help but wonder how much she had healed over the years.
Unfortunately, she’d been sold off and was long gone. Just another victim of the Tslavar slave trade.
“Come on, let’s get back to the surface,” he said, picking up the water containers and beginning the trek up to their friends.
“Please stay back,” Bawb said when he saw the soaked duo climb from the opening.
“Don’t worry, man. I wasn’t gonna hug you or anything,” Charlie joked. “But you, on the other hand,” he said, warmly rubbing Ara’s flank. “I’ve got something for you.”
He took the larger of the containers and poured a slow stream of water across her scales. They seemed almost to absorb it rather than let it run off into the soil, and despite being dry and dull, Charlie could have sworn he saw a little more color to them.
Ara shuddered at the sensation. “It’s been so very long,” she said. “Thank you, Charlie. Even this little bit is a wonder I never thought I’d feel again.”
A light bulb lit up in Charlie’s mind.
“Hey, Leila. Fill up the rest of the containers, will ya?”
“Of course. But what are you going to do?”
“I’m gonna have Ara give me a quick lift back to the ship. There’s a couple of pieces of gear I think she’ll really appreciate.”
With that, Charlie climbed atop the Zomoki and flew back to the crashed Asbrú to gather a small power cell and his other components. If things were still functional and he could make his idea work, his giant, scaly friend was going to love this.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
“What, exactly, is that thing supposed to do?” Ara asked as Charlie unloaded the salvaged equipment and power cell from her harness.
Most of their gear was already unloaded back at the camp, but they’d all decided it would be wise if she kept the harness system on for the time being to more easily carry any needed supplies while in the wastelands. It was also proving most helpful in Charlie’s little experiment.
“It’s a cooling system pump,” he said, unstrapping the unit from her rig and carrying it to the opening in the rock formation.
“It is not that hot out, Charlie. Are you ill?”
“No, not like that,” he chuckled. “We used this as a backup should we need to direct coolant fluid to certain systems should they overheat.”
“And?”
“And those systems were torn out of the ship, but this baby was spared. So now, with the help of this power cell I scraped up, I’m going to fire it up and get you all the water you need.”
“I fail to see how.”
Charlie pulled open the duffel bag he’d hastily filled. Lengths of hosing tumbled to the ground.
“With these,” he replied. “Just need to apply a dab of silicone to the gaskets and connect them together, then we should have a long enough run to reach the cistern.”
Bawb watched with interest––from a few paces back, of course. “This will pull the waters to the surface?”
“Not all of them, but yeah. I’d suggest you stand well upwind when we fire it up. Wouldn’t want you accidentally getting splashed.”
“I will fly him back to our camp while you work. I do not wish to risk any harm to our Wampeh friend,” Ara said. She turned to Bawb. “Are you ready to head out?”
“Of course, Wise One,” he replied, nimbly climbing onto her back.
A moment later, she was airborne while Charlie showed Leila how to connect the hoses. By the time Ara returned, they’d run a line all the way to the cistern and were just connecting the final length of hose to the end of the pump.
“This’ll be a whole lot easier than carrying up bucket after bucket,” Charlie said as he locked the final piece into place. “You ready?”
“Indeed,” the mighty Zomoki replied.
“Okay, then. Here goes.”
Charlie flipped the switch on the unit, sending power to the impellers. The pump hummed and vibrated as a powerful suction ran the length of the hose into the depths of the hidden cavern system. Then the length in his hands became rigid with pressure.
“In three. Two. One––”
He opened the nozzle and unleashed the stream of water. It was no firehose by any means, but the system was quite adequate for their needs. A stream of water arced through the air, a fine mist wafting as it did, creating a beautiful rainbow in the luminescent droplets.
As soon as the stream hit Ara’s massive body, she began steaming under the twin suns. As before, the water seemed to absorb into the dried-out scales rather than running into the soil, though with the quantity being applied, some certainly did.
The Zomoki looked almost like a cat having its sweet spot scratched, her body twitching involuntarily in places.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, blissed out from the healing waters.
“So, this was a good idea, then?”
“You have no idea.”
Charlie laughed to himself. “I think I have an inkling.”
Head to toe he sprayed her down, which, for a beast of her considerable size, took a fair amount of time. He had moved from tail to tip and was just running the water over her head when Baloo slipped his harness and ran into the mist as best his little legs would carry him. The fine droplets swirled around him, creating a sheen on the pup before absorbing through his coat, making him steam a little in the heat.
“No, Baloo. Come back here!” Leila scolded.
Charlie watched, amused, as she scooped him up in her arms and carried him back to the shady spot he’d been tied up in. Turning his attention back to the task at hand, the mist, he noted, seemed to have dissipated. Then he saw why.
Ara had turned unexpectedly and caught the stream in her mouth, drinking deeply while he was watching Leila and Baloo.
“What are you doing?” Charlie shouted, quickly shutting off the stream.
Ara snapped out of her blissful daze. “What? Oh, that. I don’t know. I was just thirsty, and feeling so good.”
“But you said––”
“I know, but I’m much larger than other creatures,” she said, a flash of uncertainty in her eyes. “I should be fine. Now, we should get back to camp. Your device may be ready by now.”
“Right,” Charlie said, nervously eyeing his friend. “We’ve got containers filled, so I’m going to bury the cistern again, just in case. Wouldn’t want anyone else stumbling upon it.”
“No, that we would not, indeed,” she replied.
“Leila, load her up, will ya? I’m going to seal things up and bury the entrance.”
“Of course,” she said, hefting the water containers. “I’ll get them strapped in, then I’ll give you a hand.”
They both worked quickly, then, once everything was buried and hidden, Leila scooped up Baloo and they climbed atop their friend for the relatively short flight back to their camp. Before they did, however, Ara flapped her wings mightily several times, blowing clean any traces of their visiting that particular pile of rocks among the hundreds in the wasteland.
“Ara, what’s wrong?” Leila asked as she touched down unsteadily at camp. Then she noticed the giant Zomoki’s collar was beginning to glow. It was a tiny bit, but something had triggered the device.
“Charlie, you see this?”
“Yeah. Maktan must be getting closer.”
Ara twitched in pain.
“Help me unload these,” Leila said, urgently pulling the water containers from their friend’s harness. They’d removed nearly all of them when Ara lurched backward unexpectedly, crying out in pain.
“What’s happening?” Bawb asked.
Ara seemed not to hear him, her collar
glowing a little more brightly as she fell to the ground, curling herself into a ball, her head tucked under one wing, but the collar still visible, the runes pulsing ever so slightly.
Her scales seemed to harden and dry out, quickly losing the little luster they still retained. Whatever was happening to her, Ara was quite unaware of the goings-on around her. She heaved one last time, then fell silent, her hide as cold and hard as stone.
“Ara? Can you hear me?” he asked, silently.
Nothing.
“What the hell just happened?” Charlie said in shock.
“I-I believe we have lost Ara,” Bawb said quietly. “And with her, our only way out of here.”
The collar glowed clearly now. Something was coming. Someone. And they knew exactly who it would be.
Charlie sank to his knees, his gut twisting in shock. Slowly he rose and gave his friend one last look, then turned to the others, anger and fierce determination in his eye. “We need to set up defenses. They’re going to come for us, but we don’t have to go easily. And we can take as many of those fuckers with us as we can.”
“While we have gathered a fair collection of slaaps and konuses, I am afraid we are at an enormous disadvantage out here. There are no woods to hide in. No town to blend in with the locals. And we are going to be terribly out-powered when they arrive,” Bawb said, stating facts but making no move to flee.
An abandoned crate in the pile caught Charlie’s eye.
“Yeah, but we do have something they won’t expect,” he said, opening the container. The gasket hissed as it touched fresh air for the first time in years.
By some great fortune, the Tslavars had sealed it back up before discarding it as junk when they captured him. Charlie picked up one of the machine guns and cycled it once.
Oiled and ready. Just as they’d left them.
“The Tslavars had no idea what they had in their hands,” he said, offering one to the Geist. “The mechanism is pretty simple. Just point the open end of the tube at the enemy and squeeze that curved bit shaped to accept your finger.”
Charlie then showed him how to swap out magazines and chamber a round.
“I do not like this device. It feels wrong. But in our current circumstance, I shall make use of any weapon at our disposal.”
“Good,” Charlie said. “Here, Leila. Take this. It’s a pistol. Smaller and easier to handle, it’s the same principle but better for closer range. And a word of warning, it is loud. Why don’t you fire off one shot, just to get comfortable with it?”
Leila did, and while the violence of the non-magical device was distressing, she seemed quite in control of it.
“Okay. We don’t have a ton of ammo, but they’ll be expecting magic and will be casting spells to defend against that, not these. The range isn’t great, but we should be able to take some of them by surprise. I doubt any of them have spells to protect against bullets. They may modify defenses for projectiles, but by the time they do, we will have given them something to think about. Maybe buy ourselves a little time.”
Time for what, was the question hanging in the air.
Charlie knew full well that recapture would almost certainly mean death. And if not, it would be a life where that would have been a preferable option.
Bawb geared up in his impressive collection of powered equipment, from his Ootaki undershirt to his gauntlet konuses. He filled every pocket and pouch with slaaps and konuses they had taken from the enemy during their flight. Charlie, likewise, carried all he could, and even Leila was sporting a pair of well-charged konuses on her wrists.
They settled in and scanned the horizon, unsure when, or how, the attack would come.
But come, it surely would.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
The first line of Council ships looked like no more than specks of dust in the wind as they approached. Had it not been for the steadily glowing collar around Ara’s neck, they might not have noticed their arrival until too late.
“Prepare your defenses. They’re here,” Bawb said, squinting at the approaching craft.
Charlie and Leila scoured the horizon until they too saw the distinct movement of the nearing vessels. Bawb looked at Ara’s collar. It remained the same.
“The visla is not among those ships,” he noted. “These are no more than advance scouts, moving in to survey our numbers and defenses. The rest of their fleet is likely just out of range at the far edge of the wasteland.”
“Why wouldn’t they just attack?” Leila asked.
“Because we have a Zomoki, and a very powerful one at that. Surely they have heard of some of our encounters since fleeing the visla’s estate.”
“Shit, so that’s probably how they stayed on our tail.”
“Yes, Charlie, to an extent. However, I believe this has ultimately worked out to our benefit. They are cautious now. Perhaps too cautious. This, we can leverage to our advantage.”
Bawb pulled a pair of exceptionally heavy konuses from his pouch and slid them atop his other devices.
“Shouldn’t you be saving those for the main attack?”
“If they realize our weakness, they will be of little use,” he replied, looking at Ara’s inert form. “We have lost our most powerful weapon. Should they report back, the entirety of their forces will descend upon us. Only their uncertainty buys us time.”
He turned and began casting spells the like of which Charlie had never heard. Strange, powerful spells that nevertheless appeared to be doing nothing. Charlie knew better than to interrupt the assassin with questions while he was concentrating. Finally, after long minutes, the casting stopped. Fine beads of sweat evaporated from the Geist’s brow in the heat.
“That should get their attention,” he said, amused, casting the drained konuses aside into his storage bag.
“You drained them entirely?” Charlie asked, amazed.
“Indeed. And well worth the expenditure. I only hope it stops them before they see we are no longer protected by a Zomoki. If they skree back to their leaders that we are without her, all will be lost.”
Charlie looked at the bulk of the motionless dragon. His friend. He’d lost others, but this one hurt in a different way. But there was no time for mourning. He had to think quickly. There was simply no way to bury her or otherwise hide her from view. No spell he knew of had that kind of ability.
“What about an occulo?” Leila asked. “It might confuse them.”
“We do not have the materials to create the substrate needed, unfortunately. A good idea, though. Very creative and unconventional tactics,” Bawb said appreciatively.
Charlie watched a distant sandstorm off in the distance. Much as they were not fans of the gritty bombardment, they could really use the cover one would provide about now.
Hang on a second. Sand!
Charlie gathered a handful of the red sand and placed it beneath the nozzle of the plasma cutter. There’s a bit of charge, he noted. And there would definitely not be enough time to fully charge the device. What the hell.
He flipped the switch and fired up the plasma cutter, a burst of intense heat instantly turning the sand into a molten mass. He cut the power and used a knife blade to spread the glowing blob into a small disc.
“What are you doing?” Bawb asked. “That device cannot possibly target the approaching vessels.”
“No, it can’t,” he said. “But it can test a theory.”
“How so?”
“With this,” he said, casting a gentle cooling spell combined with a few drops of the iridescent water they had brought back from the cistern.
The drop spread out to a molecule-thin coating, which then spread evenly across the surface as it cooled, bonding to the material. What resulted was a crude mirror. Bawb looked at his reflection and recoiled.
“I am backward! What manner of magic is this?” he said, quickly checking himself, ensuring he was in fact not altered in any way.
“It’s a mirror,” Charlie said. “Something from my galaxy. Li
ke an occulo spell, only naturally occurring.”
“It is in reverse.”
“Yes. Like looking into very still water. And if we make a large enough one––or at least enough big pieces––we can use them to break up Ara’s shape from the air. It will look like a jumble of angles that can’t possibly exist.”
Bawb nodded appreciatively. “This is ingenious.”
“I can’t take credit. Not entirely. It was something I learned about way back in boot camp. An old kind of camouflage used a few centuries ago when men relied on their eyes to find targets. This was well before tracking and targeting systems evolved to where the human eye was obsolete. They called it ‘Dazzle’ originally. It wouldn’t work for a damn to protect against radar scans from my world, but for Council scouts using their eyes, it just might work.”
“Then we should begin immediately. What do you require?”
“If you have a smelting spell of some kind, you need to melt big sheets of sand like I did with the plasma cutter. You can’t touch the waters, but Leila can apply a tiny bit to each, then use a general spreading spell. The water doesn’t evaporate like normal water would, and it seems to bond to the glass of its own accord.”
“Clever. And dangerous. But I shall do as you request,” Bawb said, gathering a lesser konus so as to not drain his main devices while carrying out the task.
They moved quickly, and in less than ten minutes had many improvised mirrors laid out across Ara’s body. They piled sand and debris against her as well, further adding to the camouflage. They couldn’t tell exactly how it would look from the air, but Charlie felt it was good enough. If it wasn’t, they’d find out soon enough.
The Council ships sped their approach as they neared, having apparently assessed the situation enough to realize there was no major defensive position to hinder their flight. Bawb began casting narrowly targeted force spells while the ships were still far out. There were only a half dozen, but an additional several larger ships were following in their wake a few minutes behind.