Alchymist (66 page)

'They're
gone past without stopping,' said Muss. 'Curve round towards the second island
and the crystal will tell us which one it is.'

'It'll
be the middle one, of course,' said Irisis.

So it
proved to be. By the time they approached the island, which was at best a third
of a league across, the vessels had dropped anchor outside the reefs and were
launching boats through a gap for the shore. Other sails converged on them,
though Irisis judged they would be too late to play any part in this drama.

'We've
still got the advantage,' said Fyn-Mah, abandoning the scrying bowl. 'We can
search the island from the air before they get to shore.'

'I
doubt if we can do it before they reach us!' Irisis pointed.

A
pair of air-floaters had appeared in the north-east quarter, rising from a
group of islands a few leagues away. Signal mirrors flashed between ships and
air-floaters, which turned in their direction.

Fyn-Mah
snatched her spyglass out of Flangers's hand and began to sweep it back and
forth across the second island. 'I can't see anyone. But Flydd's got to be
there.'

'Perhaps
the crystal is picking up some other kind of signal, or even a node,' Irisis
speculated.

'Don't!'
the perquisitor said savagely.

They
soared over the dishrag hump in the middle of the island, a ragged hill some
hundred spans high. The exposed rock was bare of anything taller than moss,
though the sheltered gullies on the leeward side contained scrub.

'That's
where they'll be,' said Flangers. 'Somewhere in that gully. Look out for
smoke.'

They
went over the top and drifted down the valley. The scrub was grey and
wind-twisted. There was nothing so grand as a tree, the tallest plants being
bushy and only a couple of spans high.

Two
boats have landed,' Muss called. 'The third is coming pound the point. If Flydd
and Nish are here, they'd better show themselves quickly.'

They
could be hiding from us,' Flangers observed, 'thinking that we're part of
Ghorr's force. Irisis, why don't you stand at the front — he'll recognise you.'

She
did so, letting her yellow hair stream out in the wind. They went all the way
down the gully to the shore. Nothing. Irisis had to climb down, for her nose
and cheeks had gone numb. She warmed them with her palms.

"Turn
around,' cried Fyn-Mah. 'Go back up.'

'Have
you seen something?' Irisis called.

'No,'
she said in a strangled voice.

They
returned to the summit, drifting just a few spans above the ground. 'Where else
could they be?' Fyn-Mah had bitten through her lower lip.

'Why
don't you check the bloody crystal!' Irisis snapped.

Fyn-Mah
ran back to the cabin. Irisis followed, but even from the door she could see
that the needle was jerking back and forth. 'Perhaps we're directly above
them.'

The
perquisitor hadn't thought of that. 'I'll see what I can do. Keep a lookout.'

Irisis
gazed down at the pair of boats, which were empty. Soldiers were already
storming up the ridge. A third of the way up, a pair of big men were staggering
under the weight of a javelard. Behind and below the air-floater, the third
boat was riding the surf to shore. The two enemy air-floaters were closing
rapidly and a third now appeared, well back. Signals were exchanged between
them with flags.

Irisis
had the feeling that they were looking in the wrong place. A couple of smaller
gullies ran down from the summit on this side, and others back in the direction
of the ships. 'Check the other gullies,' she rapped to Inouye.

'The
pilot was trembling like a rush in a gale. Irisis pitied Inouye. For herself,
she had been in so many desperate situations that this one had no impact at
all. She just felt empty.

The
third boat had landed on the south-western side of the island and the troops
were unloading another javelard, fitting a spear and winding back the cranks.
Inouye ran the air-floater down the second gully and up the third, but they saw
no sign of any living thing. 'Where can they be?' said Fyn-Mah, dashing from
stern to bow, then back along the other side. Most of the island was bare rock.

'Run
north around the shoreline, a few spans high,' said Flangers. 'There may be a
cave.'

Inouye
turned away from the boat. Its javelard fired but the spear fell short.

'Quick!'
cried Flangers. 'It'll have the range next time.'

They
sped down the coast, which was rocky as far as Irisis could see. There was no
sign of a cave, or even a large crevice beneath the rocks.

They
rounded the northern curve of the island. The two ships were anchored offshore
on the eastern side, half a league away, and the soldiers two-thirds of the way
up the hill. The air-floaters were coming fast, with the advantage of the wind.
Inouye brought the machine up a few spans and turned, giving them a view all
the way around the island. The third boat, having disgorged its troops, was
rowing furiously towards them, parallel to the shore. A soldier stood at the
bow, ready with a crossbow.

'They're
not here,' said Irisis dully.

'They've
got to be. Keep going.' Fyn-Mah had gained control of herself. Her arms were
folded across her chest and she wore her customary impassive expression.

'We've
got to turn away,' wailed Inouye. 'We're practically within range.'

'Flydd's
our only hope, Pilot; said Fyn-Mah. 'If we can't find him, the whole world is
dead.'

Inouye
wiped a tear from her eye, though it might have been the wind in her face.
Gripping the controller hard, she clenched her jaw. The rotor screamed, the
air-floater shud-dered as if it had been struck from behind, then leapt
forwards. The pilot's pale hair streamed out behind her. Irisis hoped she was
not drawing more power than her body could handle.

They
shot down the eastern shoreline, between the off-shore ships and the soldiers
on the ridge. A javelard was fired from the leading ship, the missile arcing
towards their position of just a few moments ago. The other ship readied its
weapons. As they reached the rocky point, where a wave-carved platform extended
a hundred spans offshore, Muss cried, 'I saw something. Go round, Pilot.'

Inouye
threw the steering arm out at right-angles, flinging the machine into such a
tight turn that Irisis's stomach lurched. They hurtled back the other way. To
their left, some way inland, an oval outcrop rose above the surrounding landscape.
Its surface was mottled with red and yellow lichens and patches of green moss.
In the crevices behind it, scrubby bushes stuck up like bristles on a brush.

'Up
there,' yelled Muss. 'I saw something behind that rocky dome. Go lower.'

The
spy certainly had keen eyes. Irisis was clear-sighted compared to most people,
but had seen nothing.

The
machine curved towards the dome. Seized by a sudden panic that Flydd would
think they were the enemy, she climbed onto the railing at the front, hanging
onto the airbag's guy ropes, and roared, 'Flydd! Nish! Where the blazes are
you?

Come
out or we'll leave you behind.'

The
machine was hurled the other way, so hard that Irisis was left hanging by one
hand. She yelped and snatched at the rail. Crash. It sounded as though a
javelard spear had come through the wooden keel up into the cabin. Looking
back, she saw that it had. The point stuck out through the cabin door. Flangers
broke it off and kicked it over the side.

She
threw herself to the deck and almost went over again as the air-floater turned
even more sharply. Another spear whistled through the air, just missing the
airbag. Whatever else Inouye was, she was a brilliant pilot. Then, as she
clutched the lowest rail, Irisis saw, as clear as anything, Nish stand up on
the round rock. Her eyes misted over.

'It's
Nish!' she screamed. 'Go down.'

'I
don't dare,' said Inouye. The soldiers up the hill were within easy range. The
pilot turned; turned again. Her cheeks were blotched, her eyes glassy.

She's
taking too much power, Irisis thought. She's going to burn her mind out.
Without thinking, or even knowing what she was doing, Irisis ran to Inouye's
side and wrapped the chain of her pliance around the controller, putting
crystal to crystal.

Laying
an arm across the pilot's shoulder, she sought for the node. Inouye's whole
body was shuddering with the strain. Irisis took some of the load through herself,
into her pliance and thence into the controller. To her amazement, it seemed to
be working. The colour came back into the pilot's cheeks. The rotor spun more
quickly.

'Flangers!'
Irisis screamed. 'See if you can do something about the soldiers with the
javelard. Quick, they're nearly ready to fire.'

Flangers
was already behind the loaded weapon, tracking the soldiers as the air-floater
ducked and dived. He fired.

'Missed!'
He cursed under his breath and reached down to reload.

Muss
was on the other side, holding a crossbow inexpertly. Come on! Irisis thought,
I could do better than that. He fired, though with no result.

Fyn-Mah
pushed through behind Irisis, shaping the air with her fingers. Tossing them
high, she clapped her hands together with a crack like a dry stick breaking. A
series of puffs crystallised in the air between her and the enemy javelard, one
after another. The last puff burst around the weapon and the soldier behind it.
He went head-first over a smooth rock and came to rest with his legs waving in
the air. The javelard fell over but another soldier wrestled it up onto its
stand and began to aim it.

'Go
down, now!' snapped the perquisitor, pale with the strain.

'He'll
put a spear right through the airbag. He can't miss.'

'The
spear is jammed in the javelard,' said Muss calmly, 'Hurry, before they free
it.' Inouye threw the machine about so sharply that Irisis fell to her knees.
It seemed to skip across the air, bounced and fell. The keel slammed into the
rock. Struts creaked and groaned.

Irisis
looked around frantically. 'Flydd, Nish?'

'Here,'
came Nish's voice from the other side. 'You nearly took my bloody head off.'

Leaving
her pliance wrapped around the controller, she leapt over the rail. Inouye
shrieked but Irisis could not be in two places at once. 'Come on. Get in!
Where's Flydd? Is he . . .? Is he . . .?'

'He's
down there.' Nish pointed to the crevice. 'He's hurt his ankle.'

She
skidded down the steep side of the rock, ploughing red lichen off with her
boot-heels. 'Xervish? Are you all right?'

'Of
course I'm all right,' he said querulously. 'Why wouldn't I be?'

'Well,
you're taking your bloody time. This isn't a picnic.’

He
was leaning on the stone and looked more emaciated than ever, if that was
possible.

'What's
the matter with you?' she snapped.

'I've
been running for the past hour and I've hurt my ankle.'

'You
look like an old bag of bones,' she muttered.

'And
you're as fat as a pig! Hey, what do you think you're doing?'

She
hoisted him over her shoulders and scrabbled up. He was heavier than he looked.

'Come
on!' Fyn-Mah was screaming.

Her
boots slipped on moss. Nish gave her his hand and heaved, which got them up the
steep part. Irisis ran across the top, looking over her shoulder. The soldiers
were struggling to free the jammed spear. The two air-floaters were approaching
rapidly. The third was still hanging back. Must be scrutators in it, Irisis
thought, the gutless swine.

Flangers
fired his javelard, its spear smashing through the cabin of the leading
machine. It kept coming. He slammed another spear in place, winding back the
cranks like a sweat-drenched, red-faced demon.

They
reached the side. Irisis's knees were so wobbly that she dropped the scrutator
onto the deck.

'Bloody
cheek!' he roared.

She
tried to throw her leg over the rope rail but it wouldn't go. She tried again,
then Nish's hand slid under her thigh and heaved her on top of Flydd.

'Go!'
screamed Fyn-Mah, as Nish vaulted the rail. She pulled Irisis off Flydd. 'Are
you all right, surr?' she said tenderly, helping him into the cabin.

She
does care for him, Irisis thought as she got up. That's going to change a few
things.

The
front of the air-floater tilted and the machine shot up at a steep angle. Nish
fell backwards, slid all the way down the deck and slammed his head into the
stern post below the rotor. He sighed and lay still.

'Nish?'
Irisis shrieked, hanging onto the ropes as she went down the canted deck.

He
did not answer. The naked blades of the rotor were whirring just above his
nose, for the wire guard did not run underneath. Stay unconscious, she prayed,
falling to her knees in front of him. If he sat up, the rotor would puree his
head.