Ice war, p.8
Ice War, page 8
“How do we do that?” asked Adya. “We have only one ship.”
“One ship with four shuttles,” said Pansar.
“This ship has shuttles?” Senn frowned. “Where do you keep them?”
“Each of the forward cabins can detach and fly independently using the same repulsion systems that allow the whole ship to bounce between pillars. I call them the Crow’s thorns.”
“Very nice,” said Senn. “You planned this ship well.”
“It took much thought,” said Pansar. “But a scout ship should be able to divide its efforts.”
Senn grinned.
“I take it they have limited independent power, however.”
“Correct. Each thorn can fly for roughly twenty hours on a battery charge from the Crow’s core.”
“That range is still quite long,” said Mosam.
“It won’t get you from here to Vilmanorin,” said Senn. “Not even close.”
“Never mind Vilmanorin,” said Pansar. “You wouldn’t reach the corridor to Shaull with maneuvers taken into account.”
“I’m not thinking of running, Agent Pansar,” said Mosam with a grin. “You’re finally going in the right direction.”
Yajain glanced at Mosam, arms folded. He seems so confident again. And if he is planning an escape that is exactly what he would say to disarm us. I may be able to trust him, but the others can’t.
“Mosam,” she said. “If you were Savar, where would hide the gatehouse?”
“I’m not Savar, Yajain. I never know what his real plan is.” Mosam’s grin dissolved like mist in Solna light. “We’ll have to be prepared for a lot of possibilities going forward.”
“Such as?” asked Pansar.
“Such as Savar has already been caught or killed by the tyrants. Such as the reef may not be friendly to the harvest anymore. Such as that Storm Sphere the tyrants have in the dark corridor could be right on our tail.” Mosam took a breath. “Do I need to go on? It’s a big list.”
Pansar glowered at him.
“Are you going to write me a report on each of these?”
“Depends? Will you get them if I just tell you?”
Pansar glowered at Mosam.
Yajain coughed into one fist.
“If the sphere is after us, there are probably a lot of more nimble ships ahead of it. We should get as far from where we are now as possible. That’s what I think.”
“No shame in running.” Senn bared his teeth in a fierce smile. “Staying in this region could be suicidal.”
“No kidding,” said Mosam.
Pansar nodded.
“We’ll move toward the forest where we last knew the Gatehouse was. Now, I need to get some rest. If any of you have further ideas send me messages on the ship’s network.”
He motioned for them all to leave with his cane. They walked out the door past Boskem, who stood guard on the far side. Yajain turned to Senn as they walked down the hall together.
“Thanks for backing me up back there,” she said.
Senn smiled.
“Of course. Out of everyone here, you are the one I trust the most, Yajain.”
“Because I’m half-Ditari?”
He leaned down close to her ear.
“Because you’re honest,” he whispered.
Yajain started and turned toward him. Boskem escorted Mosam and Adya past and toward their respective cabins.
“Lord DiBaram?” Yajain said.
“I admire you greatly, Yajain.” Senn bowed his head. “Please, keep that in mind.”
He left her side and disappeared through his cabin door. Yajain’s brow wrinkled. He really is interested in me. Me. She sighed and walked back toward her cabin. As if I didn’t have enough to confuse me in that area at the moment.
Yajain watched their flight path from the bridge. The lights of Solnas bloomed in blues and yellows ahead of her. Gellen sat at the helm wearing the round helmet Pansar had used during transit, but without the rebreather or the fluid patches. She breathed deeply, her slim frame slumped in the chair, obviously exhausted. Yajain turned from the forward view to the sensor terminal she sat beside.
“You can take a break if you need to.”
“Can you handle the helm of a mistship like this?”
“I’ve flown a little.”
“But not anything this advanced. Besides, we need to keep the sensors monitored. Everyone else is resting or prepping thorns.”
Yajain sighed. I wonder why I’m not one of them. I feel as though I haven’t slept since we left Yugha. The last thought made almost the full truth. She only snatched moments of sleep so far on the journey.
“Remind me what I’m looking for.”
Gellen nodded.
“The radiation of a gatehouse is distinct from that of both Solnas and cores. It should be fairly easy to piece out when we get closer.”
“Thanks.” Yajain reached for the terminal and hit the controls to turn the viewer over to radiation emissions.
Core-powered arc emissions appeared on the map in blue, while Solna’s glimmered white with pure blazes of their own radiation, reminding Yajain of Senn’s searing sol blade during the battle on DiKandar Hall.
Gatebuilder generators would radiate red, but there were none to be seen on the monitor. She kept her eyes moving as the map continued to refresh to a new area every minute or two. Each time the map was mostly the same, but shifted slightly and revealing new pillars and new Solnas.
Senn’s sword burns with the same kind of power as Solnas. I’ve never seen anything else like it. He’s a lord, and he notices me. He’s never lied to me, and he never betrayed me. Why I am I still thinking so much about Mosam?
“Gellen,” said Yajain.
“What is it?”
“Did Ija ever tell you what she knew about me and about Mosam Coe?”
“Never, Doctor.”
“Don’t call me that right now. I don’t feel like a doctor.”
“What do you feel like?”
“Like a confused teenager.”
“Confused?”
“I wonder if you’ll understand. Have you ever been in love?”
“I was never sure. Others in the colony say it’s just a biological reaction.”
Yajain kept watching the terminal’s screen.
“That’s what the Lucid Assembly says.”
Gellen nodded so slightly Yajain barely detected it from the corner of her eye.
“Ija never says it though.”
“Does Ija ever talk about love?”
“Sometimes.” Gellen hit a few keys on the controls. Yajain’s screen refreshed to show the radiation of two nearby blue-hot Solnas blinding the sensors as they passed into a forest of caphodel trees. Those trees glimmered, blue light on green leaves. Some were small, others massive, but all floated with a canopy at both the top and the bottom.
Yajain watched trees pass. Gellen took a breath.
“Ija says she loves each and every one of her subjects.”
“I see.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“Maybe I am. Just a little.”
“What do you think love is?”
“It’s a feeling of belonging. Belonging with. Belonging to…and of having someone belong to you.”
“Belonging?” Gellen eased herself toward the controls in her seat.
“Yes, being in the right place. The right group.”
“So you’ve felt it before?”
“I think so. Years ago.”
“Mosam?”
Yajain hesitated for a moment.
“Yes.”
The Razor Crow banked at Gellen’s tilt of the control sticks.
“But he broke your group.”
“Yes.” Yajain kept her eyes focused on the radiation readouts. No sign of anything red.
“And you still care for him?”
“I suppose I do.”
“You don’t want things this way though, do you?” Gellen guided the ship out of the forest, and past the searing glare of the two blue and shining Solnas.
Yajain shook her head and considered what Senn had said in the hall just hours ago.
“I feel like I shouldn’t,” she said. “I have better directions to go.”
Gellen nodded.
“I suppose a logical action isn’t always the right action.”
“Did Ija tell you that?” Yajain asked.
“I came by it naturally. On my own.”
Yajain smiled.
“It sounds good. Sounds true.” The sensors flared with core radiation as they passed near the edge of a pillar’s arc field. Still, there was no sign of the gatehouse. Yajain kept on scanning.
Kaga Pillar, 8 Cycles Ago
Yajain and Mosam walked along the street leading to the docks. Old, deaf Doctor Savar had tasked Mosam with collecting some supplies from a mist ship that had just arrived. Yajain liked to be around him, especially when Lin was busy working at the armory. She danced out ahead of him and turned around.
“What are we picking up?” she asked.
“Some chemicals,” said Mosam. “I’m not sure exactly what kind.”
“Doctor Savar didn’t tell you?”
Mosam shrugged his shoulders.
“I never asked. Some kind of medical chemical, probably.”
They passed under an arched doorway and out into the chill air beyond the shell of the pillar. Mist hung thick in the air beyond the docks, white and cloying with the absence of a Solna on this side to burn it away. All the other pillars in that direction were obscured except for the faint glow of the orange Solna at Kadarhan Hub. Yajain glanced back at Mosam as he caught up with her.
“Cloudy. Not like the time you first got here,” she said.
Mosam released a slow breath.
“I wish it had been like this back then.”
She looked up at his face, sharp features, and green eyes.
“Why is that?”
“I didn’t want to see the hub burning.” His head turned toward the orange light of the Solna at Kadarhan, a distant look in his eye. “The war didn’t have to come here.”
“You think?” asked Yajain.
“Yeah,” said Mosam. “But that’s not all I think, Yajay.”
They walked down the ramp leading to the docks. Yajain kept her eyes on Mosam’s face. She stumbled as they approached the place where the extension bridge of the dock jutted over the misty abyss.
“Still unsure on your feet?” asked Mosam, catching her hand in his to keep her from falling.
Yajain flushed as she steadied herself on his hand. “Just distracted.” She smiled. “I guess I’m curious. What else were you thinking?”
“I…” He looked down at her face and flashed a smile. “It’s not easy for me to say this, but I guess I don’t know how much you think about me and Lin.”
Yajain’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean?”
“I guess.” They’d stopped walking a short distance onto the bridge. “It’s that she…I don’t know if I can be with her anymore.”
Yajain’s heart leapt into her throat. She gulped and hoped Mosam didn’t notice.
“It could have been you and me, Yajay. I just. I don’t know how I can say it right.”
Yajain’s grip on his hand tightened. “I think you said it. Right. Now.”
Mosam looked down at her, green eyes sparkling, skin starting to glisten with mist. What does he see in me? I’m just the silly little tagalong. I look like a Ditari. “I’m not,” she said. “I don’t feel normal.”
“You think I want normal?” he said. His other hand touched her shoulder and he drew her into an embrace.
She wrapped an arm around him, while the other remained locked in his grip.
“You can’t. We can’t.” She pushed him lightly on the chest.
He drew back from her.
“Lin,” he said. “I know. I’ll tell her. I’ll tell her soon.”
“We have to go. Go get those chemicals.”
“Yeah, I know.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
On the bridge of the Razor Crow, Yajain’s eyes gazed wearily at the terminal’s viewer; she sought the red of gatebuilder generators, as of yet unseen. Her memories of Mosam at the dock caught her in a near doze. She blinked a few times and then refocused on the viewer. Still nothing.
She looked up at Gellen, who still sat at the helm, hands moving every few seconds to correct course. Gellen did not react to Yajain’s movement. Hours had passed since their earlier conversation. They had left the forest of blue-lit caphodels far behind them and now drifted in a misty void far from any pillar. Razor Crow glided almost silently in the absence of storms.
Yajain rose from the terminal and stretched.
“We’re not picking up anything unusual.”
“You think we might have missed it?” Gellen’s voice sounded leaden and tired.
Yajain glanced down at the terminal. It showed only a handful of distant radiation sources, all blue or white. “We’re four hundred kilometers from anywhere. I have a feeling we’re not going to run into any signs of the gatehouse for a while.”
Gellen’s free hand shook.
“Send Joth or Enna in. They’ve been resting for most of the journey so far.”
“Alright,” said Yajain. She yawned and covered her mouth with her hand. “I suppose I’ll need to find them first.”
Gellen nodded, evidently too exhausted to say anymore. Yajain turned and stepped into the hall. Her stiff limbs ached, but her eyelids stopped drooping once she got in motion. She followed the hall to the door of the room the bandojen siblings shared just behind Pansar’s cabin. She knocked.
A bedraggled Joth answered after a few seconds. He wore working vests over his ship suit. “What is it, doctor?” he asked.
“Gellen asked to have you or your sister relieve me on the sensors.”
“Really?” Joth scowled. “Why does she want one of us?”
“I’m too tired to keep watching. You don’t look well-rested yourself, though.”
“Enna and I have been prepping our thorn for the last four hours. Apparently, Finder Boskem plans to go with us and scout possible ambush points. His damned robot has to come along, naturally.” He motioned to the cabin behind him. The smooth domed bulk of Boskem’s soldier robot hunched between two beds.
Yajain raised her eyebrows.
“I understand. I’ll find someone else to work sensors.”
“I appreciate it.”
Yajain stepped back and the door closed. She found Adya standing behind her, yellow hair long and shadowy in the dim lights glinting from the sides of the corridor.
“Sensors, huh?” she said.
“Adya,” said Yajain. “You know how they work?”
“I am a Doctor of the Harvest.” Adya’s lip curled. “I think I can handle it as well as an animal poet can.”
“Animal poet.” Yajain shook her head. “Trust me, bionetics is not a simple discipline.”
Adya scoffed.
“And you understand how to grow weapons from a human body, I take it?”
“I don’t need to grow weapons.” Yajain folded her arms. “I’m not desperate to kill people.”
“We’re not different.” Adya deflated slightly. “Not really.”
“I’ve never even held the kind of weapons you obsess over.”
Adya shook her head.
“Bullets aren’t the only things that interest me.”
“Is it Mosam?”
“What did you do to have him so hung up on you, even after all these years?”
Yajain met Adya’s dark gaze. She took a deep breath and looked toward Mosam’s door at the end of the hall.
“He’s not hung up on me.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you be happy if he were?”
Would I? Yajain glanced at Adya.
The woman’s face darkened and she started as if to push past Yajain.
“I’ll see to the sensors.”
Pansar took the controls again as they continued into Kerida's brightening pathways. Pillars towered in fullness, then sank away into the mist once more as they passed. So far, the place looked uninhabited by people. Three shifts after her conversation with Adya, Yajain spotted a settlement on the ship's sensors.
"Give it a wide berth," said Pansar. "Kerida is tyrant territory. We don't know if they're under control or not, but we can't risk the possibility."
Yajain nodded.
"Affirmative," said Kidann from the other set of sensors.
Pansar connected to the rest of the crew.
"Everyone, we are going into cold flight. All power suppliers will be kept at a minimum until we clear all sensor ranges of this settlement. Minimal light and heat starting now."
The lights on the bridge faded at once. Soon, Yajain shivered as the climate control went dormant. The ship glided through the darkness, with only the controls illuminated by the dim glow of emergency lights.
Pansar guided the vessel past the settlement. The agent pulled his long, black coat tight to himself.
Yajain wished she had something similar, but her cold weather gear was in her cabin. The ship moved through mist, nearly drifting as it descended from the level of the settlement. They sliced past, never really getting a visual of the place they feared might detect them.
For two more hours, the ship stayed dark and cold. Yajain monitored the sensors, her hands pressed tight to each other so she could exhale onto them to keep them warm. When the light and heat finally returned, she turned in her seat and found Omos Thraid, the sorai core shaper in his white and gray overcoat, standing by the entrance of the bridge.
"Is that what we're doing whenever we approach a settlement?" he asked.
"Whenever we risk detection, shaper," said Pansar. "Yes."
"Annoying," said Thraid.
Pansar shrugged to loosen his coat as the heat began to permeate the bridge once more.
"Necessary."
"I agree," said Yajain. "As uncomfortable as that just was for me."
"Doctor Aksari," said Thraid. "I believe your shift is ending. You too, Odyide."
"Is it now?" Kidann smiled. "I for one am grateful. I could have nodded off after all that dark just now."
