It wasn't the thunderstorm that woke me; it was Linx.
A human child would have raced in, in tears, seeking protection. Our Linx, by contrast, wanted us awake so that we could see the pretty lights and hear the new noises.
I've spent the last three months trying to figure out how to be a good parent. It would have been hard enough if we were just a pair of human teens left holding a baby, at least then we'd have half a clue what to expect. But no, we are a pair of Wraeththu left holding a harling and that’s a whole new ballgame.
My two ex-Doctors tell me that Linx has stabilized at a rough physical equivalent to a four year old... a fearless four year old who doesn't mind cuts and bruises because they've mostly healed by the time I see them. Usually the evidence of his exploits consists of ripped and blood stained clothes. Sometimes the evidence of his difference is more dramatic; at three weeks old we had tears because he'd used a screwdriver to dismantle his rattle and couldn't put it back together.
The lightning flashed again.
It took a trained ear to hear the faint crump, crump, of artillery, mixed in with the thunder. Someplace to the east, a fragment of US Army was fighting some other tribe. Hopefully the storm wasn't natural, otherwise that fight would be horrifically one sided, and not in a good way.
Why? asked Linx, his question associated with a mental image of flickery lightning skipping between clouds.
"Remember to speak out loud Linx,” I admonished. Being telepathic, Linx had found it easier to get his message across by sending images. At first I'd thought that this was the greatest thing; but Brook had pointed out that if we weren't careful Linx wouldn't bother learning to talk at all, after that it was rule two, use words in front of the harling (Rule One was 'don't eat stuff you find').
"Why is the sky?" Linx gestured at the thunderhead, frustrated by his lack of the words, almost as much as my imposition of stupid rules.
"The hot air and cold air are rubbing together, the energy they create seeks out the ground in a flash of light. A little bit later we hear the sound because sound is slower than light" I replied.
That might sound like too complex an explanation for a 6-year-old, let alone a 3-month-old to take in, but its not, not for Linx anyway.
Linx scrunched up his face thinking about that.
"Ok?" I asked
"Does the sky rub a lot?"
"The light is called lightning and the noise is called thunder, it happens about twice a year"
"Aww! I want more Lignt-nin and Thun-Der! Can you make some for me, Hostling?"
"No Linx, I can't make lightning"
"Huh?" Brook, who'd managed to sleep through Linx's jumping on us, asked.
"I was trying to explain lightning,” I explained "Plus, there was artillery fire"
"It was bound to happen. Should we prepare to move camp?"
"It wasn't close, twenty miles at least" I replied.
Linx looked between us absorbing the new words like a dry sponge.
---
The mountain valley that Thiede's 'horses' had dropped us in had proved to be sufficiently remote that we'd been able to stay there un-molested during Linx's early months. Careful scouting had revealed that we were deep in West Virginian hills, with the nearest habitation, a couple of recently abandoned houses, a few miles east of us.
For Linx, the valley was home, and the world ended at the pine-forested ridgeline. All he knew of the real world were the facts he'd gleaned by interrogating the tribe. Unfortunately humans fascinated him in the same way that dinosaurs had for me as a kid.
"What’s art-tillry?"
"A weapon Humans use"
"Like a knife?"
"No, like a very big gun. But you mustn't worry about it Linx" I replied
Instantly Linx looked worried and I cursed myself for giving him a clue that he should feel afraid.
"Come and sit next to us and we'll watch the sky together" I said, hoping to distract him from my fears.
Fortunately Linx was still young enough that the offer of a parent or two to cuddle with was still a good deal.
Stroking Linx's hair, I waited for sleep to claim him, before resuming my conversation with Brook.
"What you said earlier, about moving, we don't need to go yet, but we should have everyhar get ready to go at a moment's notice"
"More precognitions, love?"
"No. Just old ones that we've not fulfilled." I explained, "When I dispersed the tribe I gave them three safe meeting points. This valley isn't one of the safe points that I foresaw, therefore we'll have to move on at some point."
"At least its nothing imminent, we have time to prepare,” replied Brook, sounding tired.
Glancing across I noticed that he too was heading toward sleep. I lay there just watching the sky, my thoughts looping over and over, not really resolving anything, just thinking in that frustrating near-sleep way, where you are too awake and not awake enough at the same time.
---
The next day, Flamepetal returned early from his hunting expedition; a L.A.V. Gen IV 'Stryker' Assault Car had been positioned at the head of our valley.
A quick sharing of breath revealed the scene to me.
Flamepetal had lain flat in the grass partly covered by a tree that had been cut down but not dragged to the logging mill. It was clear, even at a distance that the light assault vehicle had been in combat. The amour was blackened and slightly melted in several places.
My initial fear had been that we were being encircled ready for extermination, as had happened back in Zanesville; the actions of the tank and its crew soon laid that to rest however.
The soldiers had erected a lean-too canopy using the tank as one wall of the tented structure. Bedrolls had been laid out and a cooking fire started.
A female soldier standing guard in the turret gave proof that they were human and not some more of Ponclast's Varrish troops.
"I checked around, I couldn't see any more of the half-sexed fuckers." added Flamepetal once our sharing had ended
I glanced toward the tents, reassured that I could see Linx there, playing with a stick he'd found.
My Hostling instinct was screaming for me to deal with the threat, go down the valley and do a little pest control with my blade. It would be easy, but also stupid; no army sends out single tanks, the vehicles are too precious to be wasted that way. Whether I had them killed or seduced, their superiors would want to know why they hadn't checked in.
"We'll have to scout further down then. No way are they alone" I replied, frowning thoughtfully
"I agree....say...when we get around to killing them, can I drive that thing?"
I reached out and ruffled Flamepetal's long hair. "Go gather the others, I have a plan and its not going to be popular."
---
Linx watched me walk away. Tears were running down his face and he was clutching one of the skeins of braided hair that I'd had them cut off. Sensibly Brook had a hand firmly on our harling's shoulder preventing him from running after me. I didn't dare look back again or my heart would break.
The breath of air against the back of my neck felt unnatural after nearly a year of wearing my hair long. Losing it was definitely a sacrifice, but a necessary one, long hair was far too much of a Wraeththu trademark.
Do as Brook says Linx, I want to see happy faces on both of you when I come back
Yes Hostling sent Linx obediently
The emotional trauma that he was feeling nearly caused me to drop my plan right there; unfortunately I couldn't think of any other way to deal with our uninvited guests.
For now I had to concentrate on portraying myself as a human boy and remembering the cover story I'd invented for him. Telling myself that I was called James Sextent, and that I lived in one of the abandoned houses beyond the valley. My parents fictional were conveniently dead from the Rat Flu and I'd been surviving as best I could whilst avoiding further human contact.
To round off the disguise I'd scrounged various items of clothing from the tribe. It was a far cry from my usual elegant 'look' and as stereotypically survivalist as I could manage, consisted of jeans, a lumberjack shirt and a padded jacket.
It helped that the clothes were bulky and unflattering; they hid the feather and silk luck charms that I had strapped onto my wrists, ankles and biceps.
After a half hour walk, rehearsing my roll, the Stryker was finally in sight, exactly as Flamepetal had visualized it. The vehicle was a typical expression of human lethality, an eight-wheeled assault transport with a long barreled 155mm gun fitted in a remote controlled turret on its back. In a previous existence I had poured obsessively over the specs for this vehicle, it had the firepower of the old style Abrams Tank combined with a troop transport capability. In theory it could hold 12 combat troops or up to 30 in an emergency.
Now that I was seeing it for real, I could see that the damage was highly unusual. The green camo-pattern and underlying metal had been etched away in lines that radiated like tree roots carved from glittering silver.
Thankfully there didn't seem to be anything like the number of troops it might have carried.
Rather than hide behind a tree and look suspicious, I chose a path that gave me little cover and the soldiers a clear view of me.
"Ahoy the Tank!" I shouted, just as the guard turned her attention in my direction.
From under the awning there was a scramble of activity as the other humans grabbed their weapons.
I waited, not moving, heart thumping loudly in my chest.
They moved toward me slowly, one coming straight on, his buddy hanging back and sweeping the trees looking for an ambush. It reminded me of the way Ponclast's Varrs had acted. A bead of sweat trickled down my bare neck and down past my collar, I was dealing with professionals.
A little closer and they'd start demanding that I put my hands up or lie flat, some shit like that. I decided that I'd better redirect the conversation before it headed that way.
"Is...is the plague over?" I asked putting plenty of fear and a quaver in my voice. "Is it safe?"
"Not been any plague for fucking months, not since before the rebellion started in fact"
I let myself sag a little in what I hope looked like relief.
Interesting. They're talking about a rebellion. It's possible that they still don't know what they're up against
Lets hope not for your sake
Rooning optimist
The closest soldier, a youngish looking guy that looked like prime inception material, reached out and began to tentatively pat me down, searching for weapons.
"Put some effort into it!" snapped the one covering me.
My eyes widened slightly, I hadn't realized that the second one was female; she was flat chested, muscular and had the stubble haircut of a marine. In fact at a distance she could have passed for short Wraeththu.
"Sorry Sergeant."
"Don't be sorry, be thorough, dammit!"
The soldier did as he was told; fortunately he was looking for guns rather than luck charms. I felt one of the charms tingle and watched his hands fail to touch my groin.
"He's clean"
The sergeant shouldered her assault rifle and walked up to us.
"So. What you doing way out here boy?"
I glanced down at the ground trying hard to look cute, or harmless, or something.
"My parents lived a mile or so that ways, when they realized they were getting sick with fucking Rat Flu, they told me to get out before I caught it. I've been making do out here since, didn't dare go back to the house,” I said
"How long?"
"About three months, why?"
"Damn! You are sooo out of the loop, you'd better sit down in the shade, this world ain't the place you remember." said the younger one, earning a glare from his sergeant.
"Uh, thanks. The Rat Flu outbreak wasn't just here then?" I asked
"That was only the start of it"
There followed an awkward silence, the soldier seemed to want to talk about it, but the Sergeant wasn't having it, not until we'd reached the other two in the shadow of the Stryker.
Introductions were made and my impromptu cover-story was taken in hook line and sinker. The female sergeant was Coreau, the chatty one was Leo, the other female was Vivienne and the hairy-fleshed one that had stayed in the shade was 'Smith', Smith 'didn't do' first names apparently.
With only a little prompting they began to tell me how things had been going. Some of it I knew about, like the plague, the mid-west quake, and the tidal wave that had wiped humanity from the east coast.
Other things I hadn't heard, California was gone, that was the first thing. The San Andreas fault had finally let go and the entire western seaboard from the Vermillion Sea to just short of Seattle had become seabed. I could only imagine what the resultant tsunami had done to Hawaii, Japan and Indonesia. The USA-gov's run of bad luck had continued, with the acting President, his proto-government and the replacement Chiefs of Staff being in Los Angeles when it drowned.
Then, just after the military had recovered from that, some Green-ist hacker had somehow gotten into what was left of the Strategic Air Command. The terrorist had told the missiles to launch whilst the silo doors were still shut. I smiled inwardly, careful not to let it show on my face. The truth was still obscured on this one, Ponclast's creature was no hacker, and it had killed the nukes in person.
As if that hadn't been enough that 'gay cult', the Raythoo, had found a way to brainwash boys and turn them almost instantly into fanatical terrorists. They'd risen up and begun taking and burning cities, small ones at first like Carman and Fargo, it was serious, but local reconstruction had priority; then Seattle had fallen and The Raythoo Rebellion was definitely the new top priority.
"Seattle?" I'd said pretending to disbelieve.
"I know; we didn't believe it either, until we engaged the enemy"
"Which tribe?" I asked, fearing that some of mine had gotten hit (and momentarily forgetting that I wasn't supposed to know anything about my species).
"Intel said they were the local ones, The Colorists"
"They were tougher than you were expecting?"
Sgt Coreau got to her feet and pointed to the silver scar that I could now see was a finger width wide and a half inch deep.
"See that?"
"Yes Ma'am"
"That’s what happens when you heat battle steel to by a couple of thousand degrees. They found a way to fucking redirect, fucking lightning. There is no fucking way, statistically, that twenty fucking lightning bolts can hit twenty different vehicles like that."
"No way!" I said aloud whilst simultaneously sending news of this piece of the great victory to the tribe. Even if it was the Colurastes, they were still 'us'.
"Its true enough" said Smith spitting on the floor
"We lost most of the softskins and three of the big boys,” added Leo patting the Armored Car's flank.
"What happened next?"
"They hyped their cultists on some sort of psychotropic-steroids and then had them charge our infantry with nothing more than kitchen knives strapped to broom handles."
I must have looked a bit grey, imagining what machineguns would do to young hara wielding only their blades.
"Yeah, someone's been training those motherfuckers real hard. Our infantry ought to have been able to pick them off at range, except nobody saw them coming in, first we knew of it was poor Duluth's severed head bouncing off the fender."
"Ugh!" I grunted, not sure how I could ask 'who won?' without it sounding like the spy that I was.
"...With the fuel trucks gone and the infantry overrun, General Flint had no option but to order a 'tactical' withdrawal, which is why we're here, we got separated from the main column and had to take the long way around."
"So you're headed back to your base then?" I asked
"Yeah, they'll need every gun they can get judging by the way The Colorists chewed us up."
I nodded wisely and concentrated on the vile tasting processed food that they'd offered me. I now had all the information I needed; they weren't a direct threat and as long as the tribe stayed out of sight they'd soon be on their way. All that remained was to find a way of getting away without causing them to search for me.
---
Of course getting out wasn't anything like easy as getting in. I was expected to sleep in the crew compartment of the Stryker, there was, like, no way to just disappear.
Pretending to sleep allowed me time to fully consult with the tribe. Several wanted to attack and rescue me, but Brook was holding out against anything that might put me at risk.
Next came a really agonizing exchange of sendings with Linx, who missed me terribly and just didn't understand why I should be absent.
Afterwards I had to lie to Leo, claiming that the tears running down my face were because I was remembering my fictitious parents.
---
For the next three days I was stuck aboard the Stryker as it moved slowly and cautiously north west skirting around what I assumed were known Coluraste positions. My tribe followed, catching up easily in the difficult terrain.
Whilst I'd feared discovery the first time I relieved myself; that particular risk never turned into a problem. They seemed not be aware that it was something they should check for and with only a bucket of water available to clean ourselves with, there was no risk of a shower-scene exposure.
Gaining in confidence, it seemed to me that I'd finally perfected the art of pretending to be the boy that I'd been a year ago.
Every night I would meditate, making certain that Brook and Linx could feel the brush of my mind against theirs.
Meanwhile, much to my annoyance, I found that I was growing to like the bunch of humans that I was sharing a vehicle with. My instincts had stopped demanding that I kill the threat to my harling, and I found myself fantasizing about foolproof ways that I could seduce Leo and Smith without the others realizing; pure fantasy.
Even Coreau and Vivienne were ok, and I was determined not to let their genetic inadequacy stop me from liking them just a little.
---
The fourth day out, I found that I'd pretty much run out of time. Our destination, the town of Mannington, West Virginia was just visible in behind a ridgeline, smoke rising from a pair of cooling towers within its defended perimeter.
The reason that the army had chosen to base themselves there was now obvious; they had a coal-fired power station, which still had stockpiles of coal. If their civilization was as rooned as I figured it was, any place with an electricity supply would be like gold dust.
"We camp here until nightfall and do the last three miles under cover of darkness,” ordered Sgt Coreau
It was a good plan from her point of view; unfortunately it wasn't going to happen.
I'd already seen a youngster running away through the trees. For a second I'd feared that it was Linx, slipping away from Brook and coming to see his Hostling. But I'd been wrong, the figure had been slightly too tall and slightly less graceful, it could only be one of the Colurastes pre-teen inceptions, the S'Har.
As unobtrusively as I could, I settled down with my back against one of the ACV's eight wheels and began to meditate, first sending to my tribe an emotion of unease, (they were too far for an intelligible message), and then communing with Daananan asking that his spear be in my hand should I need it.
With my eyes closed, sensing the etheric shift as the Colurastes began their magarically stealthy approach was relatively easy.
Cease! I sent and then shouted "Show yourselves!” causing my four companions to look around in puzzlement, they hadn't yet seen the attack.
"What the?" gasped Leo, as about thirty heavily armed hara and S'Har emerged from behind various trees, aiming a variety of improvised spears and other blades at us.
"Who Sspeakss?" hissed their leader
"I do." I said feeling a lot more nervous than I hoped I sounded.
"Walk away Tiahaar and we will deal with these.... soldiers,” he said quietly in a menacing voice.
"They are under my protection, Tiahaar Coluraste" I replied icily
"And you are?"
"Sixteen har Tuaththua"
The Coluraste Leader glanced at his companions, clearly they were sending privately to one another.
"I am Phylarch Delfin har Coluraste,” replied the leader bowing his head with slow serpentine grace "You should know, Tiahaar Tuaththua, that Massasauga exceeded hisss authority when he attempted a kidnapping. He has shamed us and has been punished; He is no longer Coluraste."
"Glad to hear it"
"I hope that you are not offended by my next question, but may we ask after your son?"
"Linx is fine, no he's not here, and no, he's none of your business"
Delfin looked disappointed but didn't have that sly serpentine deviousness that had so defined the previous Phylarch's personality.
"You're one of them?" squeaked Leo finally catching up with the conversation
To my left I heard the click of the safety being removed. Almost certainly the assault rifle was aimed at me.
"Point that someplace else, Smith." I said quietly "I'm trying to keep you alive. I have no hostage value to these guys."
Turning my attention back to Delfin, I raised an eyebrow. "So, are we finished? Can I keep them?"
"As long as your pets give their word not to interfere with Coluraste business,” he replied gesturing toward the town in the distance.
I turned to Sgt Coreau, who was looking distinctly annoyed.
"Can you live with that?"
"We have a duty to protect civilians, from the likes of these,” she grumbled, but the tone of her voice indicated that this was merely a protest for the sake of protest.
"And you won't do the civilians any good fighting to the death here and now."
Finally, reluctantly, she nodded.
"Very well, as long as he's with us we won't intervene" she replied gesturing at me.
When I glanced toward Delfin I found that he and his crew had already vanished back into the trees, using that sneaky magaric trick of theirs.
"Damn they're good!" said Vivienne "I was looking right at them and they were gone between one blink and the next"
After a few moments scanning fruitlessly for Delfin's hara the four humans rounded on me.
"James Sexten...or should we call you Sixteen hat Toothawa. You have some explaining to do."
"That’s 'har Tuaththua' " I corrected
"Whatever. Start talking rebel"
I shrugged in what I hoped was a disarming way "You had the Stryker parked up within artillery range of my tribe's camp, I had to find out what you were up to and lead you away if possible. As it turned out you were heading away from us anyway. I've been trying to figure out how to slip away without tipping you off for several days now."
"Why?!" Snarled Vivienne, jumping down from the light assault vehicle and grabbing one of the discarded assault riffles "Why did you steal my brother and turn him into a fucking religious zealot?"
Well that was the first that I'd heard of that. The savagery of it took me by surprise, I'd had very little contact with humans in the last six months; I guess I'd forgotten how unbalanced the half-sexed are.
"Which tribe?" I asked calmly.
My demeanor seemed to confuse her; she'd expected emotion, fear or anger, fight or flight.
"They said it was the Sool"
"The Suhl? He's lucky then, they're a good crew, more interested in meditation than violence, I'm sure he will find happiness with them"
Sgt Coreau gently put her hand on the barrel of Vivienne's assault rifle forcing it to aim at the ground.
"You don't seem to act like a typical Raythoo, in fact you're the only one that hasn't been in a berserker frenzy. My guess is you drug up your warriors before going into battle"
"We don't do drugs" I denied, "We aren't berserkers either. We're just very efficient in what we decide to do"
"Like the lightning?"
I laughed; the interrogation was hardly subtle. "Yes like the lightning. And no I don't know how they did that; neat trick though."
"You didn't answer my question. Why are you doing this to us? Is the USA such a bad place?" demanded Vivienne
"Such a bad place?" I echoed bitterly. There was so much I could have said, the murders, the kidnappings, the rooning nuke they'd tried to drop on me. But in the end, none of that mattered; it was just surface dressing that could be used to justify instinctive responses. They deserved a better, more honest answer.
"I won't lie to you, even if your government was run by saints, which it wasn't, we would still be at war. Our societies are too different. I guess we are a bit like a religion, the difference is that we don't have to rely on faith to know we're right; we see evidence in every bird, every flower and most of all within ourselves." I replied pressing my hand over my heart. "The old order is already in ruins, my people intend to pick up the pieces and create something better for the survivors, a place without hatred, fear and murder"
Our conversation seemed to pause then, no one saying anything for a few moments.
I guess I must have sounded like a wild-eyed zealot to them. If only they could have perceived as I now did. If only they could feel the flow of life through the various planes of reality. But then if they had had that ability, there probably wouldn't have been a need for Wraeththu at all.
"Look, the Colurastes are not attacking that town because they want to create blood-soaked mayhem, they're attacking it because every man and boy down there will have a vastly better future as one of us."
"And what about the women and girls? I’ve heard what you fuckers do to us,” snarled Vivienne.
I winced inwardly, having met Ponclast and Velisarius; I could well imagine what their 'final solution to the female problem' might be.
"You have my word, that no one I know would commit such an atrocity"
"And the Colorists? Will they show similar restraint?"
"I cannot speak for them, but I believe not. Their worldview is unusual, but they are not genocidal" I replied guardedly. "If the women aren't fighting, I suspect that they'd be ignored entirely."
"So... if we asked permission to evacuate them, the Colorists would let them walk away?" asked Sgt Coreau
"Almost certainly" I replied, with a sinking feeling that I'd just talked my way into a rooning diplomatic mission. "Recall that I just this minute took parole on you guys, we aren't allowed to interfere with the Colurastes plans down there"
"Seems to me, that you're selling it short." said Smith "The way you guys were talking, that Delfin fella would have given you pretty much anything you asked. I'm thinking either you're more important than you've let on or those Colorist fellas have some sort of huge honor-debt to pay"
Why did the human have to be so damnably accurate? It didn't take precognition to figure that they'd resort to crude threats of physical violence if I didn't do as they said.
"Well, you've got me there." I admitted, "One of their leaders tried to steal a precious black pearl from me. In so doing he brought shame to all the Colurastes. So yeah, they owe me big time.... and yes, I suppose I will have to intercede after all; on the strict condition that none of you four are to raise a weapon against the Colurastes."
"I think we can live with that, if it saves half the population" Acknowledged Sgt Coreau "Ok you grunts, get this kit stowed, we have to find some Colurastes to negotiate with"
I assume you were listening Coluraste? I sent widely
I heard replied a young sounding sending
Show yourself, so that I can pretend to give you a message.
By the nearest tree, a mound of leaves stood up revealing one of the Colurastes.
"If you'll allow, I'll give the message to that Coluraste over there" I said casually
The sergeant frowned, obviously upset with the ease with which the various Colurastes were appearing and disappearing.
"You didn't think they'd leave you un-monitored did you?"
"Point taken" she nodded and waved for me to walk over to the Coluraste.
"Did you get all that?"
"I did Tiahaar. I don't think Tiahaar Delfin will be happy,” replied the Coluraste.
"He should be. At a single stroke I will have reduced the garrison strength and gifted your tribe with a target that's entirely male."
"Point taken, if they go for it" he replied subconsciously echoing the human Sergeant "And will you be wanting a portion of this bounty?"
Now that was something that hadn't occurred to me.
"I will take any that choose Tuaththua in preference to Colurastes." I replied hastily.
"I will relay the message Tiahaar" he nodded, turning away.
So, there I am, saving lives and potentially rescuing some new Tuaththuans, on the face of it, it looked like a brilliant piece of improvisation.
Brook didn't think so.
---
Once the humans had camped for the night, I'd tried sending my emotional reassurance to my Chesnari, only to find that he was a lot nearer than I'd imagined. My sending of emotional unease had spurred my small tribe on, they'd rushed recklessly close discarding most of the supplies; they were now just a few hundred feet away awaiting my signal to come storming in.
It’s insane. Sure the Colurastes will be happy, but what of the humans? Are they going to evacuate just because some low ranking NCO says so? No. That Sergeant will need you to convince the townsfolk for her. And once the Stryker is inside the town, do you seriously think they'll keep their word? Brook sent with blistering emotion What will I tell our son when you are lying dead in that horrid unclean place?
Ouch. Brook and I had hardly ever argued, our time together had been a whirlwind of mutual affection that had made the rest of the universe seem almost irrelevant, we'd almost thought like one entity, not anymore. What made it worse was he had it spot on. Sometime over the last week all my common sense had leaked out. In fact, even my decision to infiltrate the Stryker crew was deeply suspect.
I know, and you're right. I've not thought it through. But I'm stuck with my decisions now I sent back Besides, There’s a slim chance I can save lives, human and Wraeththu both
It sounded really lame even as I thought it. Brook didn't even bother forming words, instead sending his emotions to me unfiltered.
The Chesnari link is like that; secrets are next to impossible. All I could do was send him my own emotions, the desperate loneliness without him and Linx, along with my determination to ensure all our survival.
A mug of coffee was slammed down on the troop deck of the Stryker, breaking my concentration and bringing me back to the polluted human reality.
"You look like you could use a drink" said Smith gruffly "I livened it up a bit with some whisky"
A tear dropped from my cheek onto my chest.
I hadn't realized that I'd been crying.
"Thanks." I mumbled grabbing the metal mug and sipping delicately
"So what makes a murderous fuck like you cry anyway?"
"The same things as anyhar else. I miss the love of my family. It is not our way to hide our emotions"
"And here I was thinking you'd made up that stuff about your parents to get past our guard"
"What? Oh no, not them. I meant my family, not my parents."
"Care to explain?"
"You wouldn't understand" I replied, realizing as I said it, that I was echoing almost the first words Ashmael had said to me all those months ago in the genetics lab.
"Well you got that right, you ain't exactly the sort of Raythoo we're used to dealing with"
"Don't let your judgment get clouded with propaganda and stereotypes. Our culture may be new, but is at least as diverse and complex as yours" I replied, putting the mug down, leaning my head back against the hull and closing my eyes again.
"You mentioned earlier about a black pearl, valuable was it?" he asked, finally getting to the real reason that he'd brought me a drink.
"Oh yes, unique, irreplaceable and regarded as significant to all of Wraeththu." I replied a slight smile brushing my lips; the joke was of course entirely on him, greedy human.
"How large?"
"Enormous"
"I don't suppose I could see it?"
I opened an eye "Only those with Wraeththu blood may see it. Share blood with me and I'll show it to you"
"Think I'll give that a miss" he replied hastily and departed for the Stryker's driving compartment. "The Briefing said you guys are infected with Hyper-AIDS"
I closed my eyes and returned to my meditation. I felt a little like an executive answering email; so many of my hara wanted to share their concern for me. Once they were dealt with and reassured, I spent a few precious minutes sending my love to poor Linx who missed me terribly; and then received a terse sending from Phylarch Delfin, who was almost as unhappy about the plan as Brook had been. The Colurastes would assault the town in 27 hours to coincide with an alignment of Mars and constellation of the serpent; I had until then to 'put the trash out'.
Seven hours later the eight-wheeled light Assault vehicle broke free of the woods and the unstable shale of the ridges, breaking out onto the highway just outside of Mannington.
The closer we got, the more certain I became that the place was completely indefensible. Set between steep wooded hills the settlement snaked along the valley with residential streets branching off a single spinal highway. Even with my complete lack of military experience I could spot numerous ways that the Colurastes could infiltrate even without their excellent camouflage.
Why here?
"It was Major General Flint's idea,” said the Sergeant. I hadn't realized that I'd spoken aloud.
"No disrespect, but that town is indefensible. It’s overlooked on all sides and its strung out in a thin line. When the time comes we'll be inside your perimeter before you know it."
"We know. The damn General picked this town due to some book his great uncle wrote; something about this particular town having all the resources needed to survive without outside aid."
"Why would he write something like that?"
"It was a fucking sci-fi novel called '1632'. Crazy idea, but then they do have electricity, a coal mine and running water, and that’s more than most other cities right now."
"I'll remember to mention it to Delfin once he's liberated the place." I replied earning myself a glare.
As we got nearer I noticed five more of the lethal looking Strykers dug in on either side of the road, an extensive trench system stretching away out of sight, along with a thicket of razorwire. A human wouldn't get through that wire, but I was certain that anyhar could leap it easily, with a good run up.
It looked like General Flint had a significant army based here. Which, thinking about it, I should have realized, considering that only a week ago they'd had felt confident enough to be on the offensive.
Leaning out of the driver's cupola Coreau shouted down to the guard manning the checkpoint "Sgt Coreau reporting, we have a representative of the Wraeththu aboard, he's here under flag of truce"
"Good to see you Sarge. Move on through, The General's up at the Old Court House" shouted the trooper in return.
I slipped my head back through the hatch and sat scrunched up in the space behind the driver's position, covertly re-energizing my luck charms. After what seemed like only a minute or so, the vehicle pulled to a halt and the rear doors slammed open giving me my first sight of Mannington's main street.
Along the main road were a number of small stores, each one either boarded up or looted. One lane of the highway had been sandbagged up to form a low barrier around three Artillery pieces. Unnervingly almost everyone visible was wearing military uniform and marching around like they'd had practice.
Sgt Coreau gestured over my shoulder and I turned to get my first view of the old courthouse. The place lived up to its billing, the place couldn't be less than a Century old, build in red brick with white wooden window frames.
"Jimmy!?"
I glanced to my left, recognizing the voice.
The last time I'd seen my cousin Steve had been right before Citadel had me re-designated as a test-animal. Steve had had plans of rising high within the corporation, joining the Junior Leaders, wearing his Citadel armband with pride. Judging by the black and grey uniform, it looked as if his loyalty to the corrupt corporation had been rewarded with a position in their private militia.
I turned to Sgt Coreau, deliberately ignoring Steve.
"You didn't tell me Citadel were here" I said with a deep hostility creeping into my voice.
"We've got fragments of several corporate militias" she shrugged
"Jim?" Asked Steve sounding confused and hurt by my rejection.
"My name; is Archon Sixteen har Tuaththua. I stopped being 'James' the day Citadel tried to execute me." I replied before striding purposefully toward the entrance to the courthouse.
At the periphery of my hearing I heard someone whisper 'An Archon!' Without knowing who had spoken, I couldn't tell if it was a friend or foe who'd recognized the title.
Keep silent I sent, on the off chance that the speaker was one of us.
Whichever it was, I couldn't afford the distraction. Silently I went through the meditative routine that allowed me to project myself with more authority; a neat trick, one of the very few useful things Massasauga had taught me.
By the time I reached the room where the General was holding court, the troops were stepping out of the way and almost saluting.
As I entered the command centre, conversations halted in mid sentence as the humans looked up from what they were doing. It reminded me of Mere-cats all popping their heads up, on an old wildlife show.
The General himself was a tall thin individual, looking as if he'd once been a bit too fond of the food and was now on a much-reduced diet. I guess all humans are on a reduced diet, what with the disruption to food imports.
I reminded myself that they couldn't digest half the plants that we can (dear Linx has been broadening our knowledge of what Wraeththu can and can't eat by the simple expedient of nibbling everything and not showing any ill effects).
"General Flint, I presume?" I asked
"Yes. And I'm addressing what exactly? Looks like some treasonous teenage scum, from where I'm sat"
Hmm, I guess I don't look as impressive as I thought.
I smiled brightly and brushed a lock of hair from my eyes (it had been growing back rapidly despite the savage cutting I'd had done).
"Nice to meet you too darling. My name is Sixteen har Tuaththua and I'm here to save some lives"
"Tuaththua? Not Colurastes?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.
"You heard correctly, a second Wraeththu tribe, one that you aren't fighting...yet"
"Interesting; my Intel officers assure me that you rebels lack discipline and don't cooperate at all well between groups."
"Each tribe has its own agenda, we cooperate when it seems sensible to do so" I replied gently
"And this offer of a truce includes both units? Both 'Tribes'?
"Its not exactly a truce. The Colurastes still intend to liberate this place." I corrected
"Exactly how do you intend to save lives, if not by a truce?" snapped the General, closing an open file on his desk, presumably so that I couldn't see the contents.
"Basically, we have no great interest in your women and girls. If you ship them out, we won't stop you or interfere with them. If they stay, they're in the way. If they're still here when the Colurastes come, I don't know what they will do with them. That’s all, nothing complex, nothing to negotiate, just a fact for you to consider" I shrugged, shoving my hands in the jacket's warm pockets.
"Your opinion Sergeant?"
"He saved my crew from the other Wraeththu band and has behaved honorably. He definitely has influence..."
She went on to relate the story of the Black Pearl, and a few other snippets that I'd forgot that I'd mentioned.
I noticed that several of the General's staff looked very interested at mention of this fabulous treasure.
Ironic. Their species is fighting for its survival and the thought of treasure still distracts them. It occurred to me that my little joke might be getting out of hand. I wondered, had I inadvertently created a Wraeththu version of El Dorado for them to quest after?
"And what exactly do you think the Colurastes will do to the women if they stay?" Asked General Flint, snapping my wandering thoughts back to reality.
"Honestly, I don't know enough of Coluraste policy to tell for certain. If it were one of the other tribes, say the Varrs or the Uigenna, they'd be executed immediately."
"And what of your tribe? The Tuaththua?"
"We only take volunteers, so provided we aren't attacked we'd be happy enough ignoring them." I replied
"Interesting, so basically you are suggesting that I divide my forces and send a third of my combatants along with a load of children out beyond the perimeter. At which point your friends will either assault the town, or the refugee column, probably the latter, and then use them as hostages against us." replied General Flint "Furthermore, you imply that if we don't move them out you'll commit a massacre.
I opened my mouth to protest that he'd completely misunderstood, but he cut me off before I could say anything.
"No...It won't do. Sergeant, take him away; but don't dispose of him, I may need him later"
"Sir, Yes Sir"
I wish I could have come up with a witty come-back, or some telling reason why he should listen, but really that’s just a result of watching too many movies, I don't know anyhar who is really good at that sort of heroic last word. Besides, thinking back over what I'd said, it really could have sounded like blackmail if you only listened to the words and couldn't sense the honesty behind them.
---
I'd half expected to find myself in a jail cell; fortunately Sgt Coreau knew full well that I'd saved her crew's life, and saw to it that I was assigned a good quality room in a requisitioned hotel, She'd even seen to it that her crew pulled the guard duty.
Of course it’s entirely possible that this was my luck-charms at work; that’s the thing with luck charms, their effect is never really obvious or scientifically provable.
Naturally they made the mistake of placing their guard on the outside of the door rather than having Leo stand in the room with me, silly humans.
As soon as I was certain that I wouldn't be disturbed I made a quick inventory of the room's contents looking for anything that might prove useful.
The first find was two AA batteries in the TV remote control, (as usual, it wouldn't take much to turn them into a pair of grenades). After that promising start, the room proved to be almost devoid of almost anything that might have an arcane significance.
The pillow was a feather one, rather than foam; useful should I need a majhahn that involved an invocation of air or flight. Quite what circumstance that would be useful in, wasn't apparent right then.
Fortunately there was an en-suite, that gave me access to water, useful if I needed to invoke the sea.
I couldn't find anything that would call upon the earth and whilst I had a few flammable objects, I had no way to light them.
Having exhausted the room's possibilities I cleared a space and sat cross-legged, lowered my mental shields, and allowed myself to drift, my senses open for the slightest sending.
What I got was a blast wave of fear and worry from several of my tribe and even some nearby Colurastes.
Sixteen! Finally! came Brook's urgent sending
Easy, I'm here. What's wrong?
Linx...
My heart froze in my chest.
He rooning well went to find you, he's in the town Sixteen
....he's in the Town!
I'll find him, I promise. Just keep those Colurastes from starting anything. I sent, leaping up and heading for the door, Leo wasn't going to prevent me from saving my son even if it meant his life.
As I reached for the handle I heard a familiar voice on the other side.
"I want to go in there!" demanded the high-pitched voice.
"You can't. Look, why don't you go find Mommy, ok?" replied Leo
"Ok...." agreed Linx, clearly pausing to puzzle it out before asking "Who is Mommy?"
"You don't know who your mom is?"
I decided to intervene before Linx figured out what a mom was and told Leo he didn't have one.
"Linx. Get in here right now. You've been very bad,” I ordered, my soume instincts making me sound murderous.
Leo looked startled and then glanced between Linx and me; seeing the family resemblance.
"Linx is my son... And he shouldn't be here." I informed, pulling the harling to my side. "I guess you have to tell Sgt Coreau, but I'd count it a personal favor if she doesn't let Flint know"
Leo hesitated, and then nodded once. Having the crew owing me a life was proving very useful; I just hoped I wasn't using up that favor too quickly.
I closed the door in Leo's face and rounded on my wide-eyed son. He has this expression, all innocent, and indescribably cute. Its almost impossible to be angry with somehar like that, especially when I remember how impossibly young he really is.
"Sit on the bed" I ordered
Fortunately he didn't argue, recognizing the tone I usually used when he'd just eaten some unidentified berry or other.
I took a breath, calming myself.
"How did you find me?"
He looked quizzical I always know where you are Hostling
"Tell me how you got here,” I asked temporarily forgetting the rule about speaking out loud.
I walked through the trees, and climbed over the... the...(image of a white picket fence)...
"Fence"
Over the fence and then I came here
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. With all that was going on, none of the humans had had time to bother with what looked like a determined five year old. Why bother with a kid, who seemed to know where he was going and didn't look frightened. Linx, of course, had been oblivious to the danger, never having experienced anyhar that might mean him harm, his innocence acting more surely than any protective charm.
"You mustn't wander off like that. You made Brook cry, he's very, very, worried about you"
I wanted you he sent reproachfully
"I know, and I missed you too. But you were supposed to stay with Brook. From now on there is to be no more wandering off. You have to stay very close to me for a while. Understood?"
Yes, Hostling
I noticed that he was crossing his toes and hoped that he hadn't come up with his own version of the schoolyard tradition that 'crossed fingers negate a promise'.
"I'm going to send to Brook now and tell him you are here. I want you to sit there and think about how it’s bad to make Brook cry"
Yes Hostling
Brook! Its ok, I have him with me, he's safe
Thank Daananan! ...But how? Its been only seconds
I sent a quick summary of Linx's exploits in reply.
Amazing. Brook replied Listen, I was going to send to you anyway. I wasn't able to stop the Colurastes, when they heard Linx was missing, they decided to bring their assault forward; they're going in at 16:32 today... Be ready
Odd timing, not sunset, not sunrise or even a constellational alignment
Apparently it is....a time significant...to this place
Hmm, can't be helped, doesn't leave me much time though
I...try ag..ain
Sensing the mental effort Brook was putting into the long distance sending I hastily sent my love and told him to save his energies for later.
It wasn't until after I'd finished concentrating on the sending that I made the connection to General Flint's uncle and his book. If I ever had time, I figured I'd have to meditate on the significance of fictional realms and maybe even read it if any copies survived.
I glanced at Linx and found that he'd curled up and gone to sleep, pretty much totally unconcerned by anything that had happened. He'd found me and that was all that mattered to him.
I sighed. If only everything were that simple.
---
Linx was still asleep when the Sergeant and the rest of her crew arrived.
"He's yours?" asked Vivienne softly, despite her earlier hostility, my beloved harling was pulling hard at her mothering instinct.
I brushed a hand through Linx's hair and nodded.
"Obviously protecting him is now my highest priority"
"You think we'd harm a kid?" asked Smith, with contempt "Hey! We're not The Wraeththu!"
Linx stirred, half roused by Smith's protest.
"No. Smith, I don't think you'd harm him. Your General or my Cousin though, they are a different matter."
"That cousin of yours he sure has got a burr under your hide."
"He works for Citadel." I replied cryptically, stalking over to the window, hands held behind my back. Looking out, I could see the cloud beginning to boil up into a large thunderhead. "I use the name Sixteen, because that’s what Citadel called me. I was a human lab rat, Specimen Sixteen. Had the Wraeththu not rescued me, Citadel would have injected me with Rat flu, or some other shit. When we've healed the damage you humans have done there won't be a place for the likes of Citadel."
Fully awake now, Linx hopped off the bed and rushed to my side, trying to get my leg between him and the soldiers. Apparently he'd sensed the tension between us.
"Its Ok, Linx"
"I dreamed"
I hugged him to me and glanced surreptitiously at the tank crew. Had they noticed that I'd called them human? I hoped not. I really didn't want to have to kill them purely because I couldn't keep my mouth shut.
"Rat Flu?" asked Sgt Coreau; thankfully she seemed to have missed my faux pas.
"You didn't know? That stuff had the Citadel logo etched onto it at the cellular level" I lied.
"That’s quite an accusation. Can you back it up?"
I glanced out the window again, my newer senses attracted by things going on within the storm cloud. The trick with a magari is to keep the change in reality as small as possible. Some Coluraste clearly knew his chemistry, and had caused the slight temperature imbalance, which in turn, would cause the cloud to evolve from harmless fluff into a raging thunderhead.
"Citadel can wait. We have something more important to discuss. It’s later than I thought. " I gestured at the clouds "if you want to save any of the women you need to move them out immediately."
"We have our duty, we're not running"
"Re-enacting the defense of the Alamo isn't heroic, Sergeant"
"Perhaps its the other way around, perhaps this is your Bay of Pigs, Sixteen"
Linx's tiny hands squeezed my leg tighter. He didn't understand, and it wounded me that he should be here to witness this at all.
"Bay of Pigs, fine, whatever. I've given you your chance. All that matters to me now is keeping Linx safe. Can I rely on you to keep quiet about him, or must I make other arrangements?"
"You have our word" replied Coreau "...As long as Linx can tell us how he got past the perimeter."
Tell her...outloud
"I climbed over the white fence, Tiahaar Surjen Crow" replied Linx respectfully, pointing out the window and to the far left.
Coreau nodded, seeing the alleyway Linx had pointed at.
"You two; go check that out. Find out why there's no razor-wire on that." she ordered, sending Vivienne and Smith away.
The Sergeant turned to leave and hesitated at the doorway considering something and then glanced back at us. "Citadel pulled out a half hour ago. Someplace out there has enough aviation fuel left to run an Osprey troop-lifter and a pair of V22-E Scalphunters. Whoever it was your cousin was guarding, he was important enough to burn gas for."
"Which way did they go?"
"North East"
"Thanks, wait up" I replied hurriedly slipping one of the feather luck charms from my wrist. "Here, its a luck charm. I have no idea if it will work for a woman, but if a Coluraste sees it, he'll know that you're marked. It might save your life"
She caught it one handed and examined it before sliding it onto her own wrist. "After those lightning bolts, I'll take any luck I can get"
The door closed, this time I heard the audible click of the lock. At the very least we wouldn't be interrupted without warning.
I Lifted Linx up off the ground and gave him a quick twirl around before dropping him back on the bed.
I'd learned the hard way that you just cannot assume that a harling doesn't understand things just because he's impossibly young.
"Tell me what you think"
Linx frowned "They were funny, their sendings were all shitty"
"Shitty isn't a nice word" I corrected almost automatically "think of another one"
"Like a muddy puddle, not clear like raindrops"
"Oh, I see. That’s because they can't send. Those were inner thoughts you were feeling, they don't expect anyhar to hear them."
"Are they hurt?"
"No, why?"
"I thought that they might have had a bump and it made them like that"
"A bump, no, its not so simple. One day Leo and Smith might be able to send, but the other two never will"
"Leo likes you, you should take Aruna with him"
Arunic advice from a three month old? I decided that as soon as Brook and I had the chance, we'd meditate on exactly what was and wasn't appropriate for a harling to know. Certainly the human habit of keeping their young ignorant of biology until they were married was a non-starter. But did I really want my precious Linx losing his innocence so rooning fast?
"Anything else?" I asked hoping to move toward more solid ground
"I....Surjen Crow thinks he will die soon" blurted Linx.
"She, not 'He'. The Sergeant should be called She, as should Vivienne"
"Will Surgen die?" Asked Linx, suddenly wide eyed and beginning to look tearful.
"Nobody knows the future little har"
"You do"
"Ok...sometimes I do, but not at the moment. Besides, its not nice to know that bad things will happen and not be able to change them."
"There are going to bad things, that’s why you didn't want me" concluded Linx
Damn he's fast.
"Well then, if there might be bad things why don't we build a wall that will keep them out" I replied in a jolly lets-make-a-game voice.
"A wall?"
"A wall of feathers. See that pillow, yes, that thing, rip it open and get the feathers out of it, then we'll make them into a circle big enough for you to sit in"
"OK!" replied Linx, eager to help in that way that only kids and harlings are; all dark thoughts washed away as he focused all his energy on his task.
---
Linx sat cross-legged on the floor and delicately placed the last of the tiny feathers in our improvised Nayati circle. Taking the vase that I'd found I carefully poured water dampening the carpet to form a second circle just outside the first, this one composed of water.
"All done, now place one bunch of the flowers, pointing toward the moon..." I instructed.
Linx seemed to know without looking which direction the moon was in and automatically went on to place the other three bunches of flowers at the cardinal points, without being told.
"All done!"
"You did that very well, Linx. Now I want you to curl up in the centre of the circle and have a sleep."
"Aww!" he complained
"I want you to have a nice dream about oceans and seagulls"
"What’s O-shuns and seagulls?"
I sent him an image of waves rolling onto a pure white beach with gulls sweeping overhead.
"Oh, you mean birds!" He replied in a tone of voice that indicated I should have said birds if I'd meant birds.
Without further argument Linx curled up in the middle of the Nayati and closed his eyes, a determined look on his face. The expression clearly indicating he intended to stay awake at any cost.
Quietly I sang to him until finally his face relaxed into the innocence of true sleep. Satisfied, I immediately slipped into the routine for summoning Daananan and his realm, specifically the volcanic beach where he kept that etheric spear I'd used on the human streetscum all those months ago.
To my surprise I found that Daananan and his realm literally glowed with agmara. The sea breeze blew strongly and it seemed as if I could feel the loving caress of everyhar that I knew within it.
Widening my perceptions I realized that every sound and smell in the realm reminded me of one or other of the Tuaththua. A smell, like sun-baked wheat reminded me of Jasem, sunlight glinted off a vein of quartz in the cliff in the same way that it had glinted from Docanton's earring, the sound of the wave hitting the shore seemed to echo Amnil's voice, and the grass at the top of the cliff was the same color as the robe Brook had worn the last time we'd taken aruna together.
The answer was obvious, grissecon.
Knowing that they couldn't physically reach either me or Linx, Brook and the others had engaging in an orgy of passion, sending the rhythmic pulsing power of their love to the one place they knew I could reach, to Daananan and his realm.
A few feet away the sleeping Linx lay surrounded by the protective circle of the Nayati. In normal reality I also stood within that circle, but here in the etheric realm it was symbolic that I was on the outside.
Slowly the sea breeze began to whip up the feathers, causing them to spiral around linx, slowly at first, and then faster. More feathers took flight as the speed increased; soon a tornado of small grey feathers nearly obscured my son from sight.
A droplet of water glinted and I followed it with my eye as it orbited the feather storm. Other droplets followed, sucked from the wet ground droplet by droplet, until it ceased to be a shower of droplets and became an impossibly thin sheet of water growing from the beach like the glass walls of some sea-dehar's fortress.
Without needing to ask I knew that the walls of water and air would protect Linx from the water and air of any thunderstorm that the Colurastes cared to unleash on the humans. In fact the substance of a storm would be absorbed by the walls making them even stronger.
Whilst I had been contemplating this expression of my tribe's arunic might, I hadn't noticed Daananan stepping close. To my surprise the Dehar gently took my head in his hand and drew me into a sharing of breath.
He tasted of them all, but most dominantly of Brook. I felt myself change instinctively, unraveling into pure soume, ready to receive.
It felt as if I were penetrated even though I wasn't, and not by just my beloved Brook, but by each of them and all of them, each unique, lighting my stars in a slightly different way. In the dim recess of my pleasure soaked mind, I realized the danger, if I allowed it, this borrowed ecstasy would consume me utterly, leaving only a burned out shell of a har.
I glanced in Linx's direction. Linx was the key; I had ridden waves of pleasure like this once before, channeling the energy, using it to create our son. Armed with the certainty that I could withstand it, I grasped the energy flow and diverted it. Instead of using my mind as a lens to focus the energy upon the act of creation, I visualized my mind as a refracting prism deflecting the agmara into my limbs instead of my womb.
For an instant I glowed, my flesh a Wraeththu shaped neon light. When the light faded Daananan was gone and I was alone on the etheric beach, with only Linx and the relentless swoosh of the waves.
I reached out for Daananan's spear, only noticing at that instant that my arm was coated in his muscle-hugging silver armor.
The spear of light sprang to my hand; it felt like it belonged there, an extension of my true self.
Something flashed and a few seconds later thunder began to roll. I glanced out over the ocean, and for the first time caught sight of the 'real' storm that the Colurastes were preparing to unleash upon Mannington.
I should have anticipated it. It should have been obvious to me. The storm that was even now drifting over the human outpost was simply the visible 'real' tip of the iceberg. In order to create that much of a tweak to normal reality, they'd had to summon a truly vast version of the storm on the etheric realm.
The wind quickened, the wall of feathers spun faster and the wall of water grew taller.
I grinned savagely, I'd been right; the storm would only serve to increase the defense I'd set around Linx.
In the distance something shattered.
I glanced down and was puzzled to see that the silver armor of my arm was bleeding; a shard of glass had cut into it like a knife through cheese.
I'd been a fool again, allowed myself to become intoxicated with the heady power of the etheric realm. It was all very well to make Linx invulnerable to etheric attack, but it didn't amount to tissue paper if the hotel fell on us.
Holding the spear firmly in both hands, I willed myself to perceive the normal world once more.
---
Golfball sized hailstones hit the shattered window frame sending slushy shards dancing across the carpeted floor. Beyond the window, the sky had darkened so much that the streetlights had flickered into dull red life.
Time had clearly passed differently between the realities. Where the storm had been in the mid distance in Daananan's realm, it was right overhead in the real world.
Reaching down I yanked the glass shard free of my arm, noting as I did that my higher senses insisted that I was still wearing the silver amour.
The cut didn't bother me, it would heal soon enough and fresh blood might have its uses in the coming battle.
I glanced at Linx, still asleep and thankfully just beyond the furthest shard. One or two small feathers drifted through the air, mirroring the etheric walls.
For good measure I checked the ceiling, relieved to find no evidence that the roof was compromised.
The lightning flickered, followed instantly by a bone-jarring crack of thunder. In the street below an artillery piece sagged, its barrel eaten through by the heat of a hundred suns. Further out across the town fires burned, I didn't need to see them to know that each one marked one of General Flint's precious tanks.
There were several more flashes, this time each one was accompanied by a sharper single thump of pure sound. The human artillery had evidently found somehar to shoot at and was pouring shell after shell into that area.
A second later the Coluraste lightning flickered again, this time forking down to hit in three locations simultaneously.
After the thunderclap had rumbled away to nothing, there was silence. As if touched by some Martian heat-ray, the heavy artillery had been brushed away.
"Farewell Thunderchild" I murmured to myself
The silence stretched onward, I'd expected further lightning hits but none occurred, if anything the light levels had increased and the thud of hailstones had reduced by a fraction.
Taking a calming breath I once again contemplated the etheric realm, staggering and almost blown from my feet by the hurricane that raged on Daananan's beach.
The thin sheet of water now formed a six-foot high wall around Linx and the wall of air rotated so fast that the feathers formed an obscuring white blur around my son.
In the sky overhead the vast thunderhead had been disrupted, instead of a giant anvil of gunmetal cloud, the storm was being sucked into spiraling vortex that seemed to be centered out to sea at the point where my visualization of reality became fuzzy and vague.
But why? Without the giant etheric thunderhead to power it, the storm in the real world would soon fade away. I squinted and looked out toward the horizon, if the Colurastes had ceased using their energies to power the storm.... what were they using it for?
The sea began to boil and I smelt something earthy. Whatever it was, it was something that invoked the solidity of rock and the power of living flame; that was bad, the defenses I'd set up around Linx were attuned to air and water, they'd mean nothing to whatever this was.
The boiling water began to churn into a white foam, slowly a Deharic head and torso emerged, melded at the waist to a vast serpentine body.
"Someone watched repeats of 'Snakes on a Plane' waay too many times when they were human." I muttered as the vast serpent began to manifest.
This then, was the Dehar Ophidien, the cold reptilian heart of the Coluraste tribe.
Drawing the sigil of cancellation, I swiftly dispelled the protective walls that I'd placed around Linx, and knelt, trying to wake my son as gently as possible.
Linx yawned and his eyes flickered sleepily.
Satisfied that he was aware, I dragged his mind back to normal reality and picked him up, holding him close.
"Hostling?" he asked sleepily
"I'm here" I reassured, checking the broken window.
As I'd expected, the storm hadn't lasted long once the agmara boosting it had been diverted. Outside, the humans were screaming and running, the soldiers amongst them turning to unload bursts of automatic fire at something just out of sight.
"Bad things" whispered Linx
Something slammed heavily against the locked door; a moment later a row of bullet holes stitched a line across the wall, along with a matching set of holes in the wall opposite.
A second blow shattered the door and Leo staggered in, his body wrapped in the coils of a large python. There was something very odd about that serpent.
Setting Linx down, I summoned the Spear of Light, took aim, and thrust it through the snake's fist sized head.
"You. Are not. Real." I said firmly giving the etheric spear a final twist.
Slowly the pythonic body dissipated, leaving only the pencil thin body of the real snake that the illusion had been built around.
Released, Leo scrambled backwards until he was in a corner, his back safely against two walls.
Carefully I knelt and touched the tiny snake, and glanced back at the terrified human.
"It was only an illusion. They've used a living snake as an anchor so that the mirage looked and acted like the real thing." I explained, "It’s designed to make you believe that you're being restrained by a constricting snake. The more fearful you are the stronger it is. It's quite an elegant solution really, you're no good to anyhar if you're dead after all and this would keep you passive until they come to incept you."
"Ill..illusion?" gasped Leo, still totally incapacitated by fear.
"More!" warned Linx
I whirled around, stabbing the first of two etheric serpents that had poked their heads through the shattered doorframe.
"Well spotted, Linx"
"How?" gasped Leo.
"The bit of reality that science can explain is the tip of the iceberg. Once you've become one of us, 'how' will be as obvious as breathing."
Perhaps finally remembering that he'd had me under guard for a damn good reason, Leo reached for his assault rifle.
I absolutely didn't want him armed, a human in full fight or flight mode wasn't close to rational, and definitely not something I wanted close to Linx; swiftly I kicked the weapon out of his reach, sending it skittering across the floor.
"Look, their methods stink; but they really do have your best interests at heart."
He glanced at the rifle clearly weighing up the odds of reaching it first.
"He thinks we're bad,” concluded Linx solemnly.
I turned my attention to Leo "Is my son right? Do you intend to shoot us?"
Leo flushed red, refusing to meet my gaze.
"I thought not. Look, Leo, to get these illusions in here, the Colurastes must have breached the town's defenses pretty decisively. You've got two choices left, join my tribe now or get captured and be forced to join theirs." "I...." he replied, trying to find the words within himself to reject my offer.
It seemed Linx had seen truly that his heart was already ours. Unfortunately it also looked like it would take at least a few minutes for me to persuade him; time I didn't have.
"We're leaving now, when you've worked up the courage to join the Tuaththua, catch us up" I informed him "The trick with the snake illusion is to be strong willed. If you believe, really believe, in your soul, that the snakes can't hurt you, they won't."
Taking Linx firmly by the hand, I walked out into the corridor, leaving Leo to face his inner demons alone, I felt a precognitive certainty that he'd become Wraeththu; the only mystery was the timing and circumstance.
In the corridor, three more of the Coluraste-modified snakes sensed our presence and began slithering toward us. Contemptuously, I re-summoned the spear and disrupted them, severing the link between the tiny creatures and their etheric versions.
"What about Leo? Can he come too?" asked Linx
"He's thinking. He'll come if he wants"
Cautiously, I peeped over the balcony and down the stairwell. Below several men lay slumped their bodies twisted into odd angles by their belief in the pythonic coils. A fourth slumped figure appeared to be the suffocated body of a woman. I hoped to the Aghama that Linx wouldn't notice.
With no sign of human opposition, I led Linx slowly down toward ground level, careful not to get too close to the victims and eliminating several more of the enchanted snakes as I went.
Taking our time seemed to have been the right choice; by the time we reached the lobby, the screaming and shooting had become distant and more sporadic.
I frowned, contemplating the mechanics of the snake illusion, how many real snakes would Delfin need if he intended to confine the entire population this way? Surely they'd not collected that many serpents.
"Look!" exclaimed Linx
I swiveled around, ready to strike the new threat, except that it wasn't a treat. Linx was holding up his hand showing me a star of agmaric light hovering above his hand.
"That’s very clever, Linx"
"Yes! It is!" he announced proudly
Actually it 'was' pretty clever, sure the huge amount of agmara sloshing around would have helped, but I hadn't expected Linx to be able to focus his mind that well for several more years. Perhaps things we inceptees have trouble with, will be as natural as breathing to our beautiful sons.
Unfortunately now wasn't the time to bask in parental pride in the cleverness of harlings. "Put it away now, Linx, we have to go find Brook."
With a surprisingly determined look on his face, Linx closed his fist on the illusion he'd created. It felt strange to realize it, but in his simple way, Linx was on a quest, a quest to reunite his family, and no mere pretty-thing was going to distract him from getting me back to Brook where I belonged.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of several pairs of running feet heading our way.
"Hide there" I instructed pointing to a point next to the door
"But you'll find me"
"Now, Linx, it’s not hide and seek"
Outside, I could see a young soldier pulling an almost-teenage girl along, followed by four Colurastes. Three appeared to be regular Colurastes, stripped to the waist, painted in snakelike swirls and armed with efficient looking blades. The fourth was dressed in one of those extremely flattering gowns that the Coluraste artisans specialized in, around his feet slithered several un-naturally large serpents.
If the serpents I'd encountered earlier had been woven around tiny grass snakes, then it looked like these might have started out as rattlesnakes; unlike their cousins, these looked venomous.
"Oh roon it, anyway" I muttered. I'd gone this far trying to save lives; I might as well follow through.
"Hold it right there!" I yelled stepping into sight.
The three Colurastes who'd been circling the pair hesitated and glanced at the snake-handler, who was clearly in charge.
"Tiahaar sSixteen! You're alive!"
"Obviously."
"I am Nemxe har Coluraste. Are you aware that your sSon iss in town?"
"I have him with me. Thanks for your concern though."
Assuming that I wasn't intending to interfere the three hara began closing in on the humans again.
"Phylarch Delfin and I had a deal Tiahaar Nemxe. Any hu... Anyone you catch gets a choice of which tribe he'll join." I pointed out.
Naturally the Colurastes looked a bit grumpy about that.
The Anguini nodded his head slightly and made a graceful hand gesture indicating that I might do as I pleased. I'd half expected a hissy-fit and a fight over ownership, and was therefore quite delighted to find that Massasauga had given me an entirely distorted impression of their tribe.
"Soldier...you can either join them or you can join me and mine. Those are your choices" I told him, feeling a strong sense of deja vu; it was almost word for word what I'd said to Leo.
"What about my sister?" asked the human, his voice cracking slightly.
"She'll be under my protection"
Are you inssane? The creature has seen far too much sent Nemxe
I came here to prevent a bloodbath Tiahaar. Obviously we need to win, but the price of winning shouldn't include genocide. If it does, we're no better than they are.
He wavered; clearly he was no more a murderer at heart than I was.
On a more self serving level, until your tribe learn how to procreate you're going to need a breeding population of humans
The Anguini glanced away in distaste at the thought of humans coupling. I guessed then that he was one of those that had become Wraeththu at a young age.
"Ok, the girl is yours Tiahaar."
"I stay with my sister,” added the boy hastily.
"You really are better off forgetting her,” advised the Anguini with unexpected compassion.
"Never!"
"Alright, that’s enough." I interrupted "They won't touch you two now that you've joined my happy crew; but you must speak to them with respect. Now, what are your names?"
"I'm Ian Murphy, this is Linda"
"Do you have any weapons Ian?"
"No. I'm not trained, I was supposed to be a runner, bringing ammo to the barricade" replied Ian, his voice quavering.
Clearly the fall of the city's improvised walls had been as fast and dramatic as I'd expected judging by his grey expression.
"Ok, get over here"
"Yes sir"
I glanced over my shoulder. "Linx, come here now"
The four Colurastes seemed to lose focus on their military mission, all four captivated by their parental instincts. It was like the fiasco at Ponclast's base all over again.
"Why are they looking at me?" asked Linx
"Because they haven't seen anyhar as small as you before."
"But..he's almost as small as me" said Linx, pointing at Linda
"That's a she, like the Sergeant"
"He's not lumpy like a her"
Judging by the angry expression on Linda's face she didn't much like being called 'he' or 'lumpy', but I really didn't have time for all the explanations I'd need to give to sort it out.
"Nemxe, I'm sure you find Linx fascinating, I know I do; but no matter how fast you're taking them down, there are certain to be pockets of resistance. Which way is the safest route back out?"
Nemxe shook his head as if realizing that he'd been practically entranced with his fascination. "Sorry, yes, we'll escort you out of course. Linx's safety is esssential."
With a private sending that I sensed only a whisper of, the Anguini sent his three hara fanning out, scanning the street to the south followed by his two larger pets slithering after them.
I took Linx's hand, and was slightly surprised when he offered his other hand to Linda. Hesitantly the girl took it and we headed after the Colurastes.
---
I had expected the journey out to be a desperate race, dodging bullets and fighting hand to hand, Wraeththu strength matched against human brutality.
I guess that goes to show what happens when most of your expectations are based on watching war films.
In reality, the highway was deserted and un-unnervingly silent. Linx didn't like it much, his tiny hand gripping mine tightly. For myself, I was just relieved that there were no bodies; I guess the defenders must have holed up in the buildings and were still there now, wrapped in imaginary coils.
Finally we turned a corner and we were faced with the remains of the barricade the US Army had hoped would hold us back. It had been built mostly from upturned cars decorated with a tinsel of razorwire and blocked the space between buildings. It didn't take much imagination to see what had happened here; one of the thunderbolts had struck at the northern end of the barrier melting through the upturned SUV.
The Colurastes had followed this up by a volley of arrows tipped with destabilized batteries (one of the arrows had skidded along the road and still had a glowing Duracell taped to the pointy end).
I was heartened to see that the Colurastes felt secure enough that they were setting up a large multicolored tent just beyond the barrier.
At the four corners of the tent flagpoles were also being erected, the first of which already had a serpent pennant flying sinuously in the wind.
"What’s that!" asked Linx, who seemed incredibly impressed.
"That’s the guest house, the unhar sleep there until we're ready for them,” explained Nemxe, aiming his answer at me.
"A sleep charm?" I asked
"Relaxation charm; one that often leads to sleep"
"Ingenious"
"We like it. It is a comfort to the orphans we collect" he replied giving Ian and Linda a meaningful look.
I shook my head slightly rejecting the idea.
Something 'crumped' in the distance; glancing around I could see a fresh mushroom of smoke rising from the far side of the town. It was a reminder that no matter how peaceful this end of Mannington might be, there was still a war going on less than a mile away.
"Any idea where my tribe are?" I asked
"Sorry no" replied Nemxe
Brook? I sent
Busy. Healing came the terse reply
I turned to Nemxe "Presumably your healers are set up near here?"
"They'll be setting up the other side of the guest house"
I nodded. "We'll head there then. Thank you for your assistance, you three also."
"Bye bye Tiahaara" added Linx with a politeness that made me proud.
---
Linx spotted them first, pointing out Ra'alim and Suriv standing in front of a second tent, this one white in color and embroidered with three intertwined snakes in a motif similar to the old healing symbol of the caduceus. Ra'alim, who was currently Flamepetal's favorite, seemed especially distraught.
I looked at Suriv sharply "Casualties?"
"The Colurastes lost about twenty with about the same injured, we have one injured."
"Flamepetal?" I guessed
Ra'alim nodded, the tears flowing with renewed vigor.
"How?"
"It was his penance, he figured he could set things right by getting you or Linx out. He went in with the first wave."
"Roon. Ok, I'd better see what I can do to help. Ian, Linda, these are Suriv and Ra'alim stay with them, you won't be harmed." I ordered.
Make sure they don't wander off I added silently.
I knelt so that I was at Linx's level. "Linx, you remember when you cut yourself with Brook's knife?"
"uh-huh" he replied warily
"There are a lot of hara in there with cuts like that and I have to go help them. I want you to stay here with Suriv. When I come back I promise I'll have Brook with me, ok?"
"Yes Hostling" he replied solemnly.
Making a gesture of self-calming I turned and walked into the pain-laced aura that surrounded the aid station.
The feeling of unease that I'd had since Linx's appearance hadn't eased, even though he was now safe, I couldn't shake the foreboding. Whatever it was, it wasn't over yet.