The Broken Cage (Solstice 31 Saga Book 2) (30 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

EmNet is Down

“While we were in Exeter, distracted, it happened. We were separated. It flew out of control, fast, and we never knew it was about to go so far sideways. We expected a simple pickup. A night in a soft bed and a breakfast. A cakewalk.”

--
Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Captain James Worthington, senior surviving member of the Ventura's command crew.

<<<>>>

Barcus woke, facedown, on a cold, stone floor. He was dragged back into consciousness by the pain. His hands were shackled behind his back.

He had been stripped down to his drawstring pants. He rolled through the pain and sat up.

“Em, status,” he whispered.

There was no response. The clock was the only thing in his HUD.

0501 hour was what it said.

Dammit
.

He tried to struggle to his feet. Even though someone had crudely bandaged his leg, there was still a puddle of blood there.

Without warning, he convulsed and vomited, creating another puddle beside the blood.

Head injuries. Was the HUD damaged?

He tried to initiate a restart.
Nothing
. Just the clock.

Dammit
.

His hands were numb, now painfully awaking to pins and needles. His fingers got enough feeling back for him to tell there were three links in the chain between his cuffs.

Despite the pain, he worked the shackles under his butt and behind his thighs. With his left leg through, Barcus steeled himself for the right leg.

He almost blacked out from the pain. He rolled over onto his side and applied direct pressure to the worst of the wounds that had opened back up.

He tried to focus on the fat candle that danced and dripped down the wall in the small recess where it burned.

Barcus fought the tunnel vision. His HUD clock mocked his efforts with 0553 hours. He struggled to sit up, again. Nausea returned, but he didn’t vomit, this time. He rested. At least, his hands were in front now.

The pain became a burning ache. He explored his wounds. The lower one was easy to reach and went all the way through, back to front. But, it was the lesser of the two. The higher one did not go all the way through. Whoever pulled out that barbed arrow did more damage on the way out than it did on the way in. He wished, for a moment, that they had just pushed it the rest of the way through.

Neither wound threatened his arteries, or he would have been dead hours ago.

Someone talked at the edge of his hearing. Po would have heard that sooner.

Po.

His vision cleared as his anger and his fear rose. The fog lifted from his mind, as he scanned the room he was in.

It was two meters by three meters and three meters tall. A door was on the short wall. The room was empty, except for an iron ring, set in the back wall. There were two recesses, in opposite walls, with dripped wax; but, only one candle was lit. The door was some kind of black metal with a gap at the bottom wide enough to reach out a hand, and a window with bars.

It was all darkness in the corridor.

With the use of his hands on the floor and the wall, and fueled by anger, he slowly burned his way to his feet. He swooned, and nausea returned.

After resting, he slowly moved to the door. Moving one meter had never seemed so far. Just as he reached the window, he saw candlelight coming down the corridor.

He flattened himself against the wall, not knowing what he should do, could do. He raised his arms over his head, balanced on one bare foot. He hoped the shackles made a heavy enough weapon.

He heard a bolt slide to the side of his door, and it opened.

A small, naked, girl with a bucket opened the door and stepped in. Seeing him, she raised her left arm, in a defensive gesture, but didn’t drop the bucket.

Barcus didn’t strike her. Her raised arm lowered, and she placed two fingers to her lips, hushing Barcus. Her hair had been cut off roughly and unevenly. He didn’t know if it was dark brown or just filthy.

She only had two fingers on that hand.

She was so thin, he knew she was starving. He saw her bones. He was amazed she was strong enough to carry the bucket.

She brought a leaky, wooden mug from the bucket and handed it to Barcus. Half the water it held had sloshed out. But, he drank anyway.

Next, she brought out an oily cloth and unwrapped a large, stale heel of bread, and said, in a whisper, “There are four guards, at the end of this hall, behind locked bars, with crossbows. If you ever go into the hall, they will kill you.”

Barcus offered her the bread. She looked into his eyes, but he didn’t know what she was looking for, or what she saw.

He mimed for her to eat it.

She devoured it right there, in seconds, then brushed her face, making sure she left no signs of crumbs.

She knelt before him, examining his bandages. She removed them gently, and then untied his drawstring and let his pants fall. Barcus watched the girl clean his wounds and rewrapped them with care. She was not self-conscious of her nakedness, or his.

As she rose and retied his pants, he asked, “What’s your name, child?”

She smiled at his question. Barcus noticed her front teeth were broken out. In Common Tongue, she asked, “Why they so afraid of you?”

Barcus had no idea why he said it. “Because I am the Man from Earth.” Anger bled from his words.

Her eyes went wide.

She quickly loaded her bucket. He saw she was trembling now. She paused at the door. Looking around, as if someone might be listening. “Kill them all,” she whispered, in a lisp.

She went out. She closed and locked the door. He listened as she padded, forty-five steps, down the corridor. He heard the gate open and close, and then lock again.

Then, it became so quiet he heard the candle flame.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Wex

“None of us knew who Wex really was, or why she seemed so important to everyone. We didn’t know then that she was at the center of this or even that she was less than human.”

--
Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Captain James Worthington, senior surviving member of the Ventura's command crew.

<<<>>>

“What the hell was that?” Mason asked, as they steadily moved away from the Flask and Anvil.

There was fear in his voice. He had finally caught a glimpse of Rand’s black mirrored helmet face, and it made him more afraid.
These people moved like predators.

Ty, and Mason, walked with Ulric as he marched them to Central Avenue.

“That was FUBAR,” the one named Rand said, in a menacing tone.

“Barcus, come in,” Worthington said, for the fifth time. “Something is wrong. EmNet is down. We do not dare break radio silence with direct HUD to HUD. Dammit.”

Two figures in black habits smoothly joined the group’s formation. It was the other flute players.

“Jude, where is Barcus?” Mason asked, as they turned onto Central.

Ulric turned right and moved away from the intersection. Municipal lanterns were lit along the avenue. He stopped beneath the next set of bright ones, as was the custom for someone who desired to hire a carriage cab.

“They would not follow us. They kept moving, toward the Citadel.” She pointed to her own head. “He had rider. Tell them where go.”

Jimbo had never heard that kind of accent before, but knew what she meant. AI~Em was guiding them.

“I think, it is he. The Man from Earth. Just as told.” She drew out her flute, but gripped it like a weapon.

“I know, Jude. We have finally come to the crossroad.” Cine spoke, quietly, but Rand and Jimbo heard.

Jude replied, after looking at Cine, “It is just as prophecy foretold. There is only one road.”

Mason flagged down a large, handsome carriage as Ty clung to him, afraid saying, “Mason, none of this is right. None of this should be happening.”

Grady and Wex were gone.

***

“
Po, can you hear me?”
The call was in her head, as she ran.

“Em! Thank the makers. Help me. We have to find Barcus. They took him.” Po was frantic, out of breath, and still running.

“Po. Stop. Go this way.”
The vapor trail appeared again, before her eyes. She ran back the way she came. Soon, she was clear of the alleys and on a dark, cobblestone road that rose in one direction, and went downhill steeply in the other. “
Wait right there. I am coming.”

No one saw the huge, dark shape when it exited the shuttle and moved into the darkness.

***

Ulric and Mason were the first ones to enter the carriage, as was the custom in Exeter. Ty followed because she never let her hand leave Mason's.

Outside the carriage, everyone insisted the others get in next. Ulric broke the deadlock by ordering Rand and Jimbo in next, obviously uncomfortable in the large, opulent carriage.

“Where are Wex and Grady?” Jimbo asked.

“Not to worry. Both know Exeter. They will be back before us, I bet,” Ulric said.

Jimbo was the first to notice that the women did not follow them in. When he leaned forward to look out the door, he saw the two women in silent combat with six of the Citadel soldiers. The habits of the women billowed in a haunting, spinning, beauty of fury as their flutes struck, without fail, the heads of the men whose swords found nothing but air. In only an instant, the soldiers were down and their feet found the cobbles again. After a moment, only Cine leaped and landed in the doorway to the carriage.

Cine climbed in, and said to the driver, “Go.”

Words were exchanged at the driver's bench, and they were moving.

“They will guide the driver and keep watch. They know Exeter,” Cine said, as she put a hand on Jimbo’s shoulder to keep him from standing. “Two servants, no one sees,” Cine told him, coolly, “You will stand out like burning luggage.”

She sat next to Ty, across from Ulric. She held her flute, like a weapon. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, she asked Ulric, “Did he really carve this?”

Ulric held out his hand, as Jimbo said under his breath, “Barcus, come in.”

Ulric took the flute.

He looked at it, carefully.

“This is number three of twelve,” he said, with certainty, trying to ease the tension in the carriage, examining the carving.

“Three of eleven,” Cine corrected.

Ulric shifted to the side and, while still holding her flute, tried to see it better in the light.

“Three of twelve,” Ulric said, handing it to Cine.

She audibly gasped.

Ty brought her face up from Mason’s chest long enough to ask, “Would you play. Please.” She still sounded frightened.

She held it to her lips for a moment, before she began to play.

Ulric recognized the tune. The tones of the flute were so deep and impossibly pure everyone was struck dumb.

Rand pulled off her helmet to listen with her own ears.

Ty began to sob, openly. Mason held his hand over his mouth, in awe. Ulric closed his eyes, as if the tune gave him a pain of memory. Rand and Jimbo just stared, wide-eyed.

Ulric shook his head as she finished. “Grady always said he was never worthy to play it.”

Tears spilled out of Cine’s eyes as she played.

“What was that?” Jimbo asked, to break the spell.

“It was a child's lullaby. Written by a man, for his dying daughter, to bring her ease and send her to sleep forever in the arms of the makers,” Cine said, as if she had said it a thousand times before.

“It uses the full range of this type of flute. Both simple and complex. It carries weight, if you know how to shoulder it.” She slid the flute back into a special pouch somewhere built into her clothes.

“Barcus, come in,” Jimbo said again, like a mantra.

“Jimbo, Barcus here.” A voice whispered in Jimbo’s, Ulric’s and Rand’s HUDs, “Shut the hell up, dammit. I’m kinda busy here. Po is with me. I will check back in an hour. Barcus out.”

AI~Em simulated his voice perfectly.

***

“Wex, stop. Please.” Grady whispered. “You knew. And there was nothing you could do. I understand.” He stopped and leaned against the wall. When he coughed his hand came away from his mouth bloody.

“Nothing ends, my love,” Wex said, trying to keep her voice steady.

“You know I believe it.” He smiled, not knowing his teeth were bloody. “At least, you don’t need to watch me get any older and wither away.” His whispers were becoming fainter. “My beautiful, Wex…”

He was slowly sliding down the wall. After he came to rest in a sitting position, he reached back to his pack with practiced ease.

He drew out the flute.

“Here is number twelve. There will never be another like this one,” he whispered. She took it, but her eyes didn’t leave his.

“He is much more than you said he would be. Po is the only one that sees it,” Grady whispered.

“He will bring me to the white light. He will set us
all
free. I understand now, my love,” she said as tears spilled.

“Free Ulric. He has done enough.” Grady was fading.

“I love you.” She sobbed.

“I love you,” Grady said, using his last breath.

She held him for a few long minutes as she wept.

Then she stood, without drying her face or looking back.

She ran. Toward the Citadel.

***

Po heard the pounding footsteps of EM~Par, in the darkness, long before the Emergency Module arrived. It was so unnerving to see it approach in the night's darkness. Black to the point of void.

The belly hatched opened, revealing the dim light within; and then, it filled with the face of Olias, his arm reaching down for her.

Po beamed at him, as she climbed in and took one of the front seats, with Olias in the other.

“What are you doing here!?” Po asked, in Common Tongue, as she buckled in.

She twisted and saw Peace was docked in the back of the bridge. The ridiculous happy face seemed to smile right at her.

“Em thought I should come in case something went wrong.”

Olias was distracted by the view. They were climbing a switchback that led up the side of the mountain.

“Yes, Olias. I’m so glad I did.” AI~Em’s avatar was sitting in the next row of seats. “Something is wrong, here. Systems are flashing in and out. Comms are hitting interference of some kind. We will figure that out when we get Barcus back. I have two remaining BUGs still with him.”

“Where is he?” Po sounded nearly frantic.

“He was taken prisoner by the High Keeper's men. We are going to get him. While the road is still smooth, I need you to gear up.” AI~Em pointed at a case securely strapped down.

Her eyes blazed as she recognized it.

***

They returned to Ronan’s estate, in less than an hour, by carriage.

Cine stood first. Before the carriage even stopped, she opened the door, looked at Ulric, and said, “I am sorry.”

She jumped.

The door slammed shut behind her, and before Ulric could get the door back open, the carriage stopped.

She was gone into the dark.

Ulric climbed out before the step stool could be placed by the liveryman. He yelled at the driver.

“Where are Cine and Jude?” Ulric demanded.

“My Lord?” The driver sat alone in the high seat of the coach.

“The two women. From Central Avenue. That were with us.” Ulric got spun up by the time everyone else was out of the carriage.

“There was one that closed the door and moved away. She never boarded.”

He was about to speak, when Ulric, Jimbo, and Rand raised their hands, at once, for silence.

“Jimbo, I have Po here with me. We need to get off this rock, tonight.” Barcus’s voice was audio only, urgent. “Do not reply. It will give away your position.”

Po injected, “The High Keeper does have the defense grid codes. I think he may use them.”

Barcus interrupted, “I am in the Citadel. I will explain, later. I can break radio silence, call the crew to load up what they can in fifteen minutes, and get that EMP cannon here as fast as they can. If they can burn the Citadel systems, we may be able to stop it.”

“Cook, this is Barcus. Remember contingency plan number seven? Go.” Barcus was on the planetary HUD comms channel.

“Oh, shit,” Cook replied, under his breath, before acting. Then, he yelled, out loud, to the team working in the
Sedna
, “Wheels up in fifteen.”

“Target conveyed on approach. Maintain radio silence.” Barcus’s voice went silent.

Ulric said, “He called that in from the Citadel. Smart. The High Keeper won’t bomb that. It may even scare him shitless.”

Ulric came nose-to-nose with Mason, and said, “What is Wex playing at?”

A ghostly whisper in Ulric’s ear, that only he heard, said, “What makes you think Wex has anything to do with this?”

Ulric froze.

With a roar, they heard a large shuttle launch from the roof of the Citadel.

“Take us directly to the landing pad,” Jimbo ordered the groom.

***

Cook already had almost everything in the
Sedna
before the call. The STU was docked securely in the center of the shuttle bay. Kuss had most of the teams working their tasks inside the
Sedna
, for ease of work.

Hume only took seven minutes to fly both of the Hammerheads into the bay. Tools and materials were collected by just throwing them on the sled, as Kuss screamed at people to rush.

Everyone, including Tan’Vi, were on the ship and they flew out over the lake in eleven minutes, as the ramp still closed.

Trish Elkin said, “Cook, these reactors, using this fuel, are making me hot. Nanite injection hot. They are so sexy. I may have to make sweet, buttery love to one of them.” The engineering room hummed with power. “A hundred and fifteen percent power is at your disposal. Electromagnetic pulse cannon is fully charged, and I think at this level, cannon recharge will take only nine or ten seconds.” Elkin teased Cook with her sultry voice.

“Stop trying to arouse me,” Cook said, distractedly.

Tyrrell and Muir sat in the two consoles in front of Cook.

“Go active sensors. No ship on this damned planet is going to sneak up on us. We are done sneaking around.” Cook was in the zone.

***

Barcus stood for as long as he could, and sat down before he fell down. He couldn’t remember losing consciousness, again, but he was roused by cruel hands. Lots of them.