The Orphaned Worlds (16 page)
not formidable? Have I not survived long ages in the dark for this time to come around? Have I not been forged in the crucible of convergence and tempered by battle and struggle? My Hereditants, resist any further temptation to offer up concern and caution – I shall dispose of these inferior enemies on my arrival. You may, however, inform me of your own strategies; a broad summary will suffice>
>We are reluctant to reveal such data over an unsecure subspace channel, with all due respect and admiration, Illustrious One<
With that he broke off contact, satisfied that he had persuaded them that he was going to attempt some kind of rash, hasty assault. However, he decided that it would be wise to take their warnings at face value, not least because they sounded plausible. He would therefore need some kind of tactic that would get him down onto the planet without arousing suspicion about his true nature, and when he examined an inventory of the Bargalil base one item in particular caught his attention. Next to the packaging vault was the main dock, in which was berthed a short-range container barge whose main hold was easily large enough to accommodate the Legion Knight. Modified in various ways, it could pass as a viable hyperdrive vessel but it could only get close enough to Darien if …
If the Earthsphere ship believed it to be a friendly craft carrying some valuable cargo.
He activated every last drone and mechanical on the base and stepped up the scavenging efforts while diverting some machines to carry out alterations to the barge. Control systems needed rerouting to the hold, the main drive had to be boosted and additional stores installed. But as well as the technical tasks, there was another crucial problem that had to be addressed:
How was he going to fake the human crew of an interstellar vessel?
More than a day after leaving Belskirnir, they reached Doyle’s Landing, a crossing point over the Chyorny River, right where it spilled out from a cliff-sided ravine at the south-east edge of the Forest of Arawn. With a late afternoon sky darkening overhead, they were on a rope-guided log barge and halfway across the river when the Brolturans attacked. Kao Chih had been talking with the Earthsphere agent, Silveira, when they heard the whine of engines and saw three sleek assault flyers come in over the treetops half a klick downstream then turn in their direction.
‘Everybody into the water!’ bellowed Silveira. ‘They’re making an attack run!’
Kao Chih saw fear and panic in every face yet felt oddly unruf-fled. Greg and the Firmanov brothers were already leaping into the river, followed by a couple of bearded trappers, determinedly dragging fur bales with them. Everyone had dived off the upstream side so Kao Chih went the other way, thinking to take advantage of the current. He just caught Silveira shouting something to him … then he was in the water, gasping with the cold. He was coming up for his second breath when a missile hit the barge.
The explosion was deafening and bright, and a wave of heat rolled over him. Moments later he realised why the others had gone off the other side as blazing pieces of the barge came floating downstream. Slowed by wet clothing, he had to duck under the waters when burning logs swept towards him, after which it was a struggle to surface. And still the attack went on, a nonstop cacophony of explosions and automatic fire, screams, shouts and the occasional answering fusillade of shots.
By the time he reached the opposite bank and stumbled wetly up onto the grassy slope, the flyers were gone. Doyle’s Landing, however, was destroyed, its ramshackle tavern and attendant huts and shanties blown apart. The wreckage blazed ferociously. Exhausted and soaked to the skin, Kao Chih staggered on a few steps before slipping on mud to land on his backside where he sat and stared, dazed for a moment. He and Greg had stopped at the tavern on their outward journey and enjoyed a mug of the local grain brew while swapping news with the barkeep …
One of the Firmanov brothers, Alexei, came hurrying up. His garments were likewise sodden, his hands were almost black with dirt and ash, and blood from a wound on his scalp was seeping down one temple.
‘Kao Chih, my friend, are you okay?’ he said. ‘You are not looking so well. Are you injured?’
‘No, I … thank you, I am not wounded.’
‘Good, very good, then Greg needs you to come and put out some fires,
pazhalsta
?’
Kao Chih nodded and was helped to his feet, then stumbled after Alexei towards the burning settlement. For the next hour he carried water buckets, moved the wounded over to a makeshift lean-to by the tree line, and salvaged still-edible provisions from the charred and smoking ruins. Greg and Silveira and the Firmanovs put in the same if not greater effort, which included scavenging logs and any canvas or sheeting to build rough shelters. Night had fallen and campfires were alight by the time Greg called a halt. Everyone’s clothing had dried out in the smoky, smouldering air but now everyone was smeared with ash and sweat, especially the few uninjured menfolk of the settlement who had insisted on seeing to the dead themselves.
The tavern-owner, Megan Doyle, had died in the attack but her son, Tavish, a lean youth with haunted eyes, came over to thank them.
‘I’m greatly obliged to you all,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how we’d have coped if you’d run off like that pair of shabs …’
The two trappers who had also been on the barge had scrambled ashore with their furs and dashed off into the forest without a backward glance.
‘We couldn’t have left you to fend for yourselves,’ Greg said. ‘But I’m afraid that we will be heading off in less than an hour, after we’ve rested and cleaned up a little. And I recommend that you and your people do the same as soon as you’re able, either head to another camp or follow us to Tayowal. Staying here is too risky.’
‘I’ve heard good things about ye, Mr Cameron, and I appreciate yer advice but I’ll no’ be chased out of my family’s home, even as burnt as it is.’
‘Tavish, understand that this was not a warning on their part – they used incendiaries because they meant to wipe you out.’
But the youth was stubborn. ‘Aye, I know but I’ll no’ be chased out.’
Greg nodded and sat back. ‘If it were me, I’d probably feel the same.’
Tavish Doyle was silent for a moment as he stared at the campfire. Kao Chih watched the exchange, remembering some of the eyewitness accounts in the
Retributor
archives that told of how colonists on Pyre, his grandparents’ generation, had felt when they came under attack by the Hegemony monoclan.
‘I can put together some provisions for when you leave,’ Tavish said.
‘Your need is the greater,’ said Greg. ‘Besides, Tayowal is only a few hours away and I mean to be there by midnight.’
‘Well, we have it if you want it.’
Once Doyle had left and was out of earshot, Nikolai, the older Firmanov, turned to Greg.
‘You want to leave this fine town so soon?’
Greg smiled bleakly. ‘Did you see the direction those flyers took after they were done? – they were heading east.’
‘There’s a big lumber camp called Freyja’s Repose twenty miles that way,’ said Alexei.
‘Out in the open?’
‘It has a mill by a fast-running river and cargo zeplins always going back and forth, until recently …’
‘Right, so it’s an easy target,’ Greg said. ‘And I’ll bet there’s other camps on the receiving end tonight. Mr Silveira?’
The Earthsphere agent looked up. ‘Yes, Mr Cameron.’
‘Would ye be so kind as to refresh my memory about the ETA of this factory machine?’
Silveira leaned forward, voice low as he spoke. ‘Various surveillance sources put the Hegemony freighter’s arrival within a forty-eight-hour window ending roughly five a.m. tomorrow, local time.’
‘And would ye say that it makes sense to bring it in by night, after stirring up a wee bit of chaos as a diversion?’
‘Indeed, yes.’
Greg looked around at the rest. ‘The Brolts are monitoring all frequencies so we can’t contact Tayowal to see if they were hit by those bastard raiders. Therefore we have to reach Tayowal tonight, in case they need our help. Okay?’ Heads nodded sombrely. ‘Good. Grab a bite, clean up if you want, and be ready to hit the trail in forty minutes.’
As he went in search of a bucket of water, Kao Chih dwelled on thoughts of his people, the families and crew aboard the
Retributor
, a hollowed-out, modified asteroid fitted with the ancient engines from the colonyship
Tenebrosa
. And he also thought about the rest of the
Tenebrosa
colonists, the ones left behind on Pyre – he had grown up with stories and pictures of Pyre, from the years before the colossal extractor machines came, when it was still called Virtue In The Valley, a lost place of peace which the older generation yearned for. If all the surviving Pyre colonists could settle on Darien the elders might still pine for what was but the youngsters and newborn would see this world as their home and embrace it.
And yet … there had been a moment, or rather several moments, in the last few hazardous days when part of him had fervently wished to be back on board the
Retributor
, back in the familiar comfort of his bed recess, wrapped in all those sounds, smells and rhythms of family life …
He smiled as he sponged the dirt from his face, neck and arms.
This must mean that I am destined to be one of those grumpy elders, forever reminding the disrespectful youngsters about the old, heroic days
…
Tavish Doyle came to see them off, thanking each in turn and giving each of them a small bottle of liquor retrieved from one of the tavern’s undamaged stores. Half an hour later they were climbing a hillside track with Greg and Nikolai leading the way, their torches lighting the path ahead. Kao Chih found himself walking alongside the Earthsphere agent Silveira, quietly discussing the luminous ineka beetles and ulby roots. As they spoke, he remembered to employ the anglophone honorific.
‘Mr Silveira,’ he then said. ‘May I ask you about the reasons for your mission?’
Silveira smiled. ‘Please do.’
‘Thank you. During the duller periods of my journey to Darien, I took the opportunity to scan news headlines for mentions of Earth and Darien and the human race in general. Those concerning Darien were limited in number and tended to recur, but those focused on Earth and Humanity dealt solely with the Yamanon invasion and fell into two main categories, critical pieces with various levels of hostility, and pro-Earthsphere ones. I admit that I only had access to summaries and extracts but I can say that the responses and rebuttals from the Earthsphere government were unwavering and even aggressively asserted, as is their loyalty to the Sendrukan Hegemony. Given these facts, why are you here, helping rebels to resist the plans and tactics of the Brolturans, a close Hegemony ally?’
‘A good question,’ Silveira said. ‘There are several reasons. First, it is the Sendrukans who are really in charge here, in the person of their ambassador, Utavess Kuros; second, they have invested a lot of political capital in maintaining control and a plausible façade, yes? You mention this ancient Forerunner device, this matter transporter, but I am thinking that there’s more to it than that. Something strategic, something worth all this trouble. Last, while agents such as myself have a limited range of options, my superiors have an obligation to gather information on all of Humanity’s far-flung offshoots. Off the record, untraceable sidearms and advice on certain battlefield technology are permissible; advanced weaponry and direct involvement in planning and execution are forbidden.’
‘It sounds discouraging,’ said Kao Chih.
‘There is, however, one advantage to this particular situation – I am here while my superiors are fifteen thousand light years away.’
‘That’s what I like to hear!’ came Greg’s voice from in front.
After three hours of trudging the sparse track led into a narrow defile between two steep, rocky hills and minutes later they descended into the tree-veiled valley of Tayowal. Under the night sky the lights of Tayowal were a welcoming glow amid the dense foliage and bushy surroundings. As they passed through the northern entrance they were met by Rory and a couple of the Diehards. Beyond, a large crowd of newcomers were milling around.
‘Finally,’ said Rory. ‘We were just about ready to send out searchers.’
‘Rory,’ said Greg, indicating the crowd. ‘Are they all … ?’
‘Aye, got bombed out of the camps and villages north and south of the Kentigerns, so where else can they go?’
‘How are the stores looking?’
‘We had a week’s worth before, but now, mebbe three days, an’ that’s pushin’ it.’ Rory glanced at Silveira. ‘A new face, eh? How did yer trip go, then? Good or grim?’
On the other side of the crowd they continued towards a large stone-built entrance in the side of the valley. Kao Chih noticed that many of the new arrivals wore townswear, thinner shirts and trousers, and footwear unsuited to rough ground.
‘A fair bit of both,’ Greg said. ‘I’ll go over it once we get together with the Listeners and find out what’s been happening while we were away. Is Chel about?’
‘He just got back,’ Rory said. ‘Him and Yash have got quite a story for ye.’
‘Good. He has to be part of this too.’ He looked round at Silveira and beckoned him closer. ‘You’ll have to stay out of the public eye just now, but we’ll talk with the Listeners in private later. In the meantime, my good friend Kao Chih will keep you company, perhaps even find you something hot to drink.’
Kao Chih smiled. ‘It will be my pleasure.’
As Greg and Rory disappeared into the temple-house, Kao Chih led the Earthsphere agent over to one of the cooking fires and was handing him a beaker of broth when a familiar squat, long-armed figure approached with a rolling gait.
‘Ah, I see that the China-human has returned, along with another mouth to feed. Why do newcomers never bring food with them?’