Empyrion II: The Siege of Dome (28 page)

Tvrdy
did not like yielding to Bogney in the matter of planning the raid, but knew that the Dhog leader was his only hope of getting in and out of Hyrgo Hage undetected. Bogney had taken Tvrdy's decision with great good humor, roaring at the invitation to lead the sortee. “Tanais needs the Dhogs. Giloon not being useless, seh?”

“No one ever said you were useless,” replied Tvrdy. “We all have our expertise. Moving through Hage unnoticed is your expertise. We must all learn from each other.”

Bogney roared still louder. “You watching then and learn, Tanais. Giloon be teaching you good.”

The plan had been discussed from all angles and the route, including two alternate escape routes, approved by all. Then, as soon as darkness had come to the Old Section, they set off, moving into the complex labyrinth of long abandoned corridors and tunnels known as the Isedon Zone.

The Dhogs knew this mazework intimately, knew every turn and every blind avenue, knew each tunnel junction and intersection. Many of the streets they passed through were choked with rubble but for a narrow footpath winding around the debris. Most of the tunnels had collapsed completely, or had been filled in—whether by the Dhogs or by Hagemen, Tvrdy couldn't say. Bogney led the party expertly, keeping a good pace, even through the worst of the ruin.

Tvrdy marveled at the speed with which the Dhogs could move—never hesitating, never making a wrong turn—covering the same distance in minutes that had taken him hours to navigate that first day. But then this was, after all, the Dhogs' domain, and much of their protection lay in their ability to move quickly and quietly. As they went along, Tvrdy began to feel he'd been right to include Bogney when he had.

The raiding party, thirty-five men in all, made its way along the Isedon Zone toward the border between Chryse and Hage Jamuna. There, the Kyan swung out nearest the Zone, and they could pick their way carefully to the river and along the Riverwalk to the boat Rumon had left for them. By boat they would follow the river through Jamuna and into Hyrgo Hage.

The trip was accomplished without incident, although they had to skirt a checkpoint on the Chryse border which they had not known about. Once in Hyrgo, Piipo took charge, saying, “Now I'll show you Hyrgo efficiency.”

To Tvrdy's surprise, Bogney merely shrugged and fell back to wait at the head of his Dhog troops. Tvrdy had expected a confrontation, and was glad he did not have to intervene. He began to feel that the raid would succeed without incident.

Piipo ordered the boat into a small cove just west of the granary wharf, and the party disembarked. With movements just as certain and decisive as the Dhogs had shown in the Zone, Piipo led them directly to the great ribbed mounds of the Hyrgo granaries, avoiding open areas and the Nilokerus checkpoints.

“There is a door on the third level,” Piipo explained as they gathered outside the granary nearest the river. “The climb is not difficult, and the door will be open. Wait here until you hear the signal. I'll need help opening the doors.”

“You're not to go,” protested Tvrdy. “That isn't in our plan.”

“No one is going to plunder this storehouse but me.”

“Piipo, think what you're doing.”

“Wait. I will return in a moment.”

Tvrdy didn't like this development, but allowed Piipo to go without further comment. In a few minutes the party, huddled outside the huge granary doors, heard a distinct clank, a pause, and then three solid knocks on the fibersteel doors. Grabbing the rings, the Dhogs hauled the doors open and then stood staring at the wealth of food stacked within.

“Move, Dhogs!” whispered Bogney urgently. “Drool later.” He pushed by them and ran inside to where Piipo's Subdirector, Gorov, had arranged the granary stock to make it easier for the raiders to load into the waiting warehouse wagons.

Piipo smiled broadly when he saw that and said, “See? The Tanais and Rumon are not the only ones who know how to plan.”

The Dhogs leaped to the bulging grain sacks, a dozen to a stack, and began heaving them onto the first wagon. When it was full, they began hauling it out of the warehouse. Ordinarily tractor ems were used to pull the wagons, but these were too noisy. So the wagons had to be disengaged from their tracks and pushed to the boat.

The first wagonload arrived at the boat and was stowed on board within minutes. The plan was working perfectly. But Giloon Bogney commented, “This being too slow. Wharf being near for fast big loading.”

“We follow the plan.” Tvrdy's tone left no room for discussion.

On the second trip to the boat, two teams of Dhogs disappeared and Bogney as well. Tvrdy, arriving at the boat with the third load, discovered the second wagon waiting at the cove, still loaded. “Where are they?” he demanded of the Tanais he'd left to guard the boat.

“I tried to stop them, Director,” said the man, none too happy himself. “They brought the wagons and then left. I thought to signal you, but I did not want to jeopardize the operation.”

Tvrdy smashed his hand against a grain sack. Whap! When he could speak again he said, “Did they say where they were going?”

“No, but they went that way,” replied the Tanais, pointing toward the wharf.

“I'm going after them.” He turned to those behind him. “Start unloading the wagons. When the next wagon gets here, empty it and then get the wagons on board. Tell Piipo if I do not return by the time the wagons are aboard, he is to leave without me. Understand?”

The Tanais mumbled and began unloading the wagons. Tvrdy turned and followed the Riverwalk to the wharf. The walk was dark most of the way, and he covered the distance quickly, arriving at the waterfront just in time to hear a startled cry.

Tvrdy ducked down beside the Riverwalk wall and crept forward in a crouch, keeping out of sight of the Nilokerus checkpoint. There, directly ahead in the center of the waterfront where the wharf and the Riverwalk met, he saw three Nilokerus struggling, their weapons flashing dully in the ring of lights around a checkpoint booth swarming with Dhogs.

They were deep in
Saecaraz, somewhere in the confusion of galleries and passages below Threl High Chambers. They rounded a corner; Treet felt cool fresh air on his face, and a moment later they were standing at a rimwall overlooking the great barren expanse of Threl Square on their flight to the river. Pressing a hand to his side, and wheezing like a leaky bellows, he gasped, “I—ha-ave to ... rest ...”

Ernina halted and pulled her mask off and Treet's as well. “Is the pain bad?”

“N-no ... I can make it,” Treet gulped, head down. “Just need ... rest a minute.”

“Over here is better,” she said, leading Treet to a clump of flat, fan-shaped trees growing at the edge of the rimwall. “Take shallow breaths. Relax. The pain will go.” She looked behind them and saw the globe-lit rimwall bending away out of sight into the darkness. “We must hurry on soon.”

In a moment Treet was indeed breathing easier. “Thanks for coming back for me. What were they—cyanide pellets?”

Ernina's sober face wrinkled in a smile. “No, just an anesthetic—and fear. The Invisibles are so used to such cruelty, they easily imagine the worst. Their own fear paralyzed them.”

“You had me fooled,” replied Treet. “Where did you get those things?”

“I have been making these,” she dug into a bag at her side and held up a pellet the size of a marble, “since Hladik took my first Fieri. I foresaw the day when I might need an escape.”

“It worked, and I'm glad. But you had me going for a while.”

“I'm not proud of that. I hope you weren't distressed.”

“When I calmed down, I figured that it was just an act. Hollering about your reward—that was good.” Treet straightened; the pain in his ribs had eased. “Where do we go from here?”

“We must get to the river. There is an entrance to the Old Section between Jamuna and Chryse.” She appraised Treet with a practiced eye. “Can you make it?”

“I'm not staying here. You know where this entrance is?”

Ernina looked grave. “I don't. But some of Hladik's prisoners I have treated over the years have told me about it. I'm no guide, but perhaps we can find it.”

“Will the Dhogs take us in?”

“A physician is always welcome. And you, a Fieri, will be worshiped.”

“Is that so?” Treet had to give her credit. She was made of stern stuff. Standing up to Mrukk like that, outwitting him, cutting him down to size with bluff and nerves alone—that took plenty of cool courage, and a good knowledge of the human psyche, as well as just plain old backwoods cunning. “Well, I'm ready. Let's get moving. I think we've worn out our welcome.”

They hurried off again and were soon making their way across the dark expanse of Threl Square, two small figures scuttling over the stone flagging toward the line of spire-shaped trees marking Kyan in the distance. They had just reached the far side of the square when the shouts began. Treet threw a glance over his shoulder to see the black shapes of Mors Ultima boiling out into the square behind them.

Tvrdy
could not believe his eyes. Unarmed Dhogs had attacked the Nilokerus checkpoint. Apparently their uncanny stealth had allowed them to get within striking distance, for the Nilokerus had not had time to draw their weapons. Perhaps the guards had been asleep. At any rate, the struggle was decidedly one-sided. The Dhogs, due to superior numbers, had the Nilokerus subdued in short order, and Tvrdy stepped out from hiding.

“Ah, Tanais!” cried Bogney when Tvrdy came up. “Now we loading faster, seh?”

Tvrdy did not strike the Dhog leader, but came very close. He fought down the impulse to lay into the grubby Bogney—causing the Dhog leader to lose face in front of his men would be a grave tactical error, especially at the moment of their first success. They
had
taken a checkpoint; that, for the Dhogs at least, was a real triumph.

“Take some men back to the boat. When you have finished loading what is there, tell my man to bring the boat around. We will have the other wagons ready to load from the wharf.” He cocked an eye skyward to the enormous vault of the dome, still showing the faint glimmer of stars in the firmament beyond its transparent panes. “We've got to hurry if we're going to make it back to the Zone before sunrise.”

Bogney chose a few of his men, and the Dhogs raced silently away. Tvrdy looked at the Nilokerus unconscious at his feet and wondered what to do with them. He had not planned on taking any prisoners and hated the thought of killing them outright. But if they regained consciousness before the operation was finished, he'd have no choice. He stooped and retrieved the three Nilokerus weapons. “You stay here with them,” he ordered the remaining Dhogs. “Do not let them get away, and do not let them signal for help.”

Tvrdy made his way back to the granary, where two more wagons were ready to go. “Take them to the wharf,” he told the men. “The boat will be there soon.”

The wagons rolled out on their tracks and down the slight incline toward the wharf. “Come on, get moving!” Tvrdy yelled. “There are still two wagons left.”

Piipo came up puffing. “What happened down there? I heard a shout.”

“The Dhogs changed the plan. They attacked the checkpoint on the wharf.”

“Anybody killed?”

“No. The Nilokerus must have been asleep. They didn't even get their weapons out. It was clean.”

Piipo let out a sigh of relief. “Two more wagons and we're free. When the priests find this tomorrow, there will be Trabant to pay, of course. But Gorov will thunder and shout and demand an inventory. That should keep them busy. There's a chance Jamrog may not even hear about this.”

“You're forgetting the Nilokerus down there. They'll talk.”

“What do we do?”

“I don't know. Nothing, I guess. Jamrog will find out. We can't help that now.”

“Then let's take the Nilokerus with us.”

Tvrdy's eyebrows arched up. Piipo explained, “Of course, if we leave them they will talk; but if we take them, no one will know precisely what happened. They may even think the Nilokerus had something to do with it. Also, if we take them back with us, we can force them to tell us the arrangement of the checkpoints and how they are manned.”

“Piipo, I underestimate you. Who knows, after they have told us what they know, they may even wish to join us—considering the alternatives.”

A group of men came dashing up from the wharf just then, sweating from their night's exertion. “Just two more loads,” Tvrdy told them, “and then we start back.”

The men fell to, hefting up grain sacks and heaving them onto the wagons. They were joined by others up from the wharf, and the wagons were loaded in minutes and pushed out on the tracks down to the waiting boat, pausing at the checkpoint booth to pick up the groggy Nilokerus, who were tossed atop the load. Tvrdy and Piipo walked behind the last wagon to make certain nothing went wrong.

“We're going to make it,” said Piipo as the last wagon, its wheels emitting a gritty squeal on the track, was pushed up to the side of the boat.'

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than a bright, jagged tongue of flame streaked out of the night and the nearest grain sack exploded in a shower of bright orange sparks, flinging grain like tiny shrapnel in all directions. The next blast strafed the front of the boat, melting the fibersteel where it touched.

“Get aboard!” cried Tvrdy. “Leave the rest!” Piipo scrambled aboard, and Tvrdy climbed into the boat behind him. “Cast off! Let's go, you men! Get aboard or we'll leave you,” he shouted to the Dhogs still heaving grain sacks over the rail.

He signaled to the pilot, and the engines growled. The boat slid backwards in the water. Still the Dhogs did not give up. They continued piling the grain sacks into the moving boat as the fire flashed around them, striking the dock, the boat, sending up steaming showers of water where a blast impacted on the surface of the river. Tvrdy shouted, “Leave the grain! Get aboard!”

He grabbed one of the Nilokerus weapons he'd confiscated and, jumping on top of the sizable pyramid of grain sacks, began returning fire. He was joined by two of his lieutenants, and the Nilokerus swarming down to the wharf from the granaries were momentarily shocked to find themselves exposed and under fire.