The Soldiers of Halla (37 page)

The explosions continued. They were incessant. One after the other, each as loud as the last.

Courtney continued, “They're blasting a road through the mountain.”

“Can they do that?” Boon asked. “Are those weapons powerful enough?”

As if in answer, the explosions intensified. The sounds tumbled on top of one another; the rumbling echoed across the valley like the finale of some monstrous fireworks show. Only it wasn't the end. It was the beginning.

“The spotters say they are blasting through the mountain like it was made of bread. The gars are fleeing for their lives. If the klees cut a path wide enough, we won't be able to prevent them from marching through.”

“Won't that take a long time?” I asked, desperate for some little bit of good news.

I saw the first billow of smoke rise up over the mountain. What seemed so far away suddenly was in sight.

“Apparently not” was Courtney's sober answer.

We watched for a few minutes as the billow of black smoke grew larger and mixed with the dust of pulverized rock. I felt as if we were watching the approach of a monster that was eating through the mountain on a quest to find prey…which was exactly what was happening.

“Bobby,” Courtney said, suddenly sounding uncertain. “If they can blast through that mountain so easily, they'll be able to do the same on this side of the valley and create a route directly into Black Water. We were prepared for an attack from the air. If they are able to mount a straight ahead attack of klees, we won't stand a chance.”

As if to underline the point, we heard the loudest explosion yet, followed by an eruption of rock that spewed from the valley side of the far mountain. Even from as far away as we were, I could make out an avalanche of rock and debris tumbling down on the inside of the valley of waterfalls. In only a few short minutes, they had broken through. If things continued, it wouldn't be long before the very mountain ridge we were standing on would be
targeted, and the Ravinian army would be on the threshold of Black Water.

The klee army was only a short distance away from taking on the exiles, and obliterating the last hope for Solara. And Halla.

T
he barrage continued.

Courtney gripped the handrail, staring intently as a wide section of mountain range crumbled. Every so often, through the smoke and dust, I could see light creeping through where there had once been only rock. They were indeed blasting a road through the mountains.

“We had no idea that they had that kind of firepower,” she said through gritted teeth. “This is the surprise I feared.”

“When we flew in, we saw that they had a load of transport trucks,” I offered. “Whatever that weapon is, they must have brought it here in those trucks.”

“We could stop trucks with the radio cannons,” Courtney said, thinking out loud. “Unless they're out of range. Or if the gars are running for their lives, and right now it looks like we're dealing with both.”

Kasha said, “Perhaps it's time to change tactics and prepare for the ground assault.”

Courtney kept her binoculars trained on the mountain. I could see her jaw muscle working. Boon, Kasha, and I exchanged looks. This was not going well. The klees had
obviously played a wild card that the gars hadn't anticipated. There were thousands of klees on the way. If there was an open highway into the valley, and then into Black Water, the gars would be done. A few archers inside of wooden huts wouldn't stop them, which meant the exiles would be done too. Standing up there on that platform, I felt totally helpless. There was nothing I could do. Nothing any of us could do. I wasn't even sure of what to hope for. Would the klees run out of ammunition before breaking through? Would the radio cannons be able to stop the dado klees? Was there any fallback position? What was the surprise defense Courtney mentioned? I couldn't imagine anything that would put a dent in the oncoming army.

“Wait,” Courtney said. Her whole body went tense. She'd seen something. “What is that?”

She handed me the binoculars. I looked out over the valley to the target zone, and saw nothing but smoke and dirt billowing from the point of attack.

“What?” I asked.

“Keep looking,” she commanded. “In the sky through the smoke.”

I wished for the swirling smoke to blow away to give me a look at whatever it was she thought she saw.

“Something is moving in the air,” she said. “Something big.”

That's when I saw it. It was only a brief flash as the smoke parted, but there was no mistake.

“It's a gig,” I announced. “A big one. It's hovering over the destruction.”

“The klees have gigs that large?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Kasha answered. “We saw them in the hangar back in Leeandra.”

“That's it,” she declared, as if realizing something for the first time. “They're firing from gigs.”

“So what?” I asked.

“So watch,” she answered. She grabbed her link cube and shouted at the amber radio. “Gigs are in the air. They're launching those bombs from the sky.” She listened, then added, “Because I can see them from up here. There are definitely gigs up there. Knock 'em down!”

She looked at us and said, “The gigs must have been firing from a distance. Now they're in range.”

“But the gars up front are running away!” Boon exclaimed.

Courtney gave him a sly look. “Who said they were the only ones with cannons?”

Of course. There had to have been radio cannons positioned in the valley of waterfalls. That was how Kasha and Boon and I got knocked out of the sky. But using them would mean the gigs had to be inside the valley, and that much closer to Black Water. It was a dangerous tactic, but as I watched the destruction unfold below, it was clear that the gars had no choice.

The explosions continued. There was nothing we could do but watch and hope. The billowing cloud of smoke and dust grew larger. I wondered how much longer it would be before the klees blasted a wide enough path to send their army through.

“Look!” Boon yelled.

A gig blasted out of the clouds, headed our way. It was definitely one of the big helicopters we'd seen in the tree hangar. This thing was armed for bear. There were missiles strapped to either side and beneath. There was no doubt now, the klees had developed missiles and could launch them from gigs. Or maybe they'd been shipped from the
helicopter factory on Third Earth. Didn't matter. They were here, and the klees knew how to use them. My heart sank. What possible chance did the gars and the exiles stand against such a sophisticated attack from the air?

I was about to find out.

The gig charged forward, high over the valley.

“Why are the gars not firing on it?” Boon asked nervously.

“Hang on,” Courtney said calmly.

A quick look and calculation told me its destination. It was headed for the waterfall that protected the tunnel into Black Water…directly beneath us. This killer chopper's mission was clear. It was about to start the second phase of an assault that would open up a highway for the klee army, giving it access to Black Water. I held on to the railing, bracing for the moment that it would launch its missiles. I feared that the faint tremor we felt during the attack on the far mountain range would be nothing compared to what would happen once the missiles starting hitting the rock below our feet. I stole a quick look at the walkway that snaked over the backbone of the mountain and wondered if it would come crashing down, with us and every gar up there along with it. I felt like this was the beginning of the end.

“Patience,” Courtney whispered to nobody.

I heard a faint whistling sound. Suddenly the oncoming helicopter spun sideways. More whistling followed. The large gig started twisting, as if it were being hit by stiff winds that came from different directions.

“He's done,” Courtney said with total confidence.

Turned out she was a lot less nervous about what was happening than I was. The helicopter spun wildly. It was
out of control and headed down. This chopper was being targeted the same way that Kasha and Boon and I were when we first flew in.

“We've got cannons positioned all over the valley,” Courtney explained. “This is the kind of attack we've been ready for.”

I couldn't tell where the radio cannons were being fired from. The two-person weapons were portable, which meant they could hide anywhere in the trees below. Wherever they were, the shooters knew what they were doing. Their aim was perfect. The helicopter pitched and spun and finally slammed into the ground. This crash was a lot more spectacular than ours was, thanks to the unfired missiles it had on board. As soon as the gig hit the ground,
ka-boom
. Multiple explosions erupted from the point of impact, shooting flames and debris high into the air. As much as the klees were the bad guys here, I hoped that the pilots were dados. Seeing the huge explosion, I realized that there wouldn't be anything left of them to figure it out one way or the other. The gig hit just before it reached the lake in the center of the crater, but the explosion was so huge I could feel the heat from as far away as we were.

“One down,” Courtney said. “Bring 'em on.”

As if following her orders, two more gigs flew out of the cloud of dust and smoke, headed for the Black Water waterfall. Both were loaded with missiles. Both met the same fate. Two more spectacular crashes followed, creating multiple infernos on the valley floor.

“Listen,” Kasha called out. “The explosions have stopped.”

I had been concentrating so intently on the gigs that I didn't realize the distant thunder from the explosions on the far mountain had ended.

“What do you think that means?” Boon asked. “Were the other gigs taken down too?”

Courtney put her finger to her ear to listen to her link radio. She smiled.

“Seven gigs down,” she reported. “Including the three that made it into the valley. The spotters went back and took them down. Unbelievable. You want to talk about bravery? Those guys had to fire on the gigs while all hell was raining down on them.”

“Are there more?” I asked.

Courtney listened, and shook her head. “No. They're done. We got them all. Wait—”

It wasn't time to celebrate. Courtney's dark look told me that much. She listened intently to the report that was coming in over the link radio. As she concentrated, I looked to the far mountain. The smoke was starting to dissipate. It wouldn't be long till we would see how much damage the klees had done before their helicopters were put out of business. Kasha and Boon joined me at the front of the platform. We all gazed across the valley floor, straining for a glimpse of what the gig attack had accomplished.

“Question is,” I said, “did they finish the road?”

The wind picked up, blowing away the rest of the debris in the air. What we saw made my mouth go dry. There was a very clear, wide gap cut through the mountain. In the few short minutes that the klees had been targeting the mountain, they had succeeded in blasting out a wide chasm. I now realized why the second wave of gigs had started across the valley. It wasn't to escape the gars who were firing on them from below. It was because their destruction of the first mountain pass was complete.

“They're coming,” Courtney declared. “The klee army is
on the march. We don't have enough gar shooters over there to stop them. They can't protect such a wide entryway.”

“Is there anything we can do?” I asked lamely.

“Yeah,” Courtney answered. “We can hope that the rest of the klees are dados.”

How twisted was that? The last, best hope to save Black Water would be if the klees had blundered and sent a dado army to attack. The gar radio cannons could stop them. What they couldn't stop were flesh-and-blood klees. As much as the gars had anticipated and prepared for a battle, they never expected that the klees would be able to flood so many warriors at them at once. They were hoping to pick them off one by one as they came through the narrow pass. But the pass wasn't narrow anymore. It was wide enough for thousands of klees at a time to march through.

“What if they're not dados?” Kasha asked.

Courtney shrugged. She looked grim. “We have one last chance after that to keep them in the valley. If that fails and they break through into Black Water, I know the gars will fight until the end, but I don't think they'll stand a chance. Both the gars and the Yanks are dedicated. Confident, even. They believe that they will be able to stop anything that is thrown at us, but I think that's more bravery speaking than common sense. If the klees get into Black Water, it'll be a bloodbath. We've got to stop them right here.”

The wait was killing me. It all came down to this. When the klee army emerged from the newly formed passage into the valley, would they be sending dados or klees? It felt odd to be rooting for dados.

The smoke cleared entirely, giving us an unobstructed view of the valley below. The three gigs burned where they'd crashed. I didn't see a single survivor. I also didn't see any
gars on the valley floor. I assumed they were all in hiding, waiting for the klee army to appear. It was tense as all hell. I couldn't imagine how the gars who were waiting below felt. They had no way of knowing this, but they were not only going to fight to protect Black Water, but this battle would determine the future of all existence. It was just as well they didn't know.

I wondered how many of the defenders below were exiles from Second Earth. The Yanks. It didn't surprise me that they had put in with the gars and were all working together to protect Black Water. These were the people who had stood up to Alexander Naymeer and his Ravinians on Second Earth. They paid for their beliefs by being sucked into a flume and banished from their home. They could have landed on Eelong and given up. Instead, they rallied and created a new and better Black Water. It was no surprise to me, knowing the kind of people they were, that they were willing to put their lives on the line to protect it. Uncle Press explained to us that it was their spirit that was keeping Solara alive. Seeing the work they had done, the sacrifices they had made, and the bravery they'd shown here on Eelong made me understand it fully. These people were special. I truly believed they could be the foundation upon which Halla would be rebuilt.

If they survived.

“They're here,” Courtney said softly.

She held up her binoculars to get a better look at the wound in the mountain. She didn't have to bother. We could all see it plain enough with the naked eye. At first it seemed like a wave of red blood flowing out of the cleft in the mountain. It took only a few seconds to realize what it really was. Moving forward, filling the width of the gap,
was an army of klees carrying red Ravinian flags. There were hundreds of the flags, snapping in the wind, headed into the valley as if in triumph. I was amazed at the bold move. They weren't being defensive. It didn't look as if they even had weapons. Did they seriously think the battle was already won?

The wave continued. Line after line of klees marched forward in lockstep, flags waving as they descended into the crater that was the valley of waterfalls.

“We'll know soon,” Courtney announced. “If they're dados, they're walking into a kill zone. If not—” She gave me a grave look.

The mass of flag-bearing klees ended. They were followed by klees wearing the uniform of Leeandran soldiers. These guys carried the weapons I had seen the foragers use. From far away they looked like they were carrying flagpoles with no flags, but I knew they were the wooden staves that would be used to crack heads. They would also have the three-stone bolas that they threw at gars to tie up their legs. The sick thing is that they weren't coming in to obliterate the gars. This was a roundup. Sure, gars would go down, but I believe their mission was to capture as many as possible. Those trucks we saw weren't carrying weapons. They were here to take the gars back to Leeandra for the klees' barbaric feasts. I wondered what their orders were. How aggressive were they going to be? There was no way that the gars or the exiles would go without a fight.