Reckless Rescue (35 page)

Tyris swung his tray absently as he walked towards the point where his path would intersect with Nerris’s. Now he had some idea of what was going on, the feeling that he might have the upper hand made him almost cheerful.

He waved the tray at Nerris as he neared, and the man nodded acknowledgment. When they were close enough to talk in a normal voice, he said, “I’m sorry for pushing you about borrowing the parts from the Tenacity, Nerris.”

Nerris’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “That’s okay. I can understand you’re itching to get off this planet.”

“Still, I acted childishly at your response, and I’m sorry. It’s a big weight on your shoulders, being responsible for the wellbeing of so many people.”

“It is at that,” Nerris nodded. The stiff set of his shoulders relaxed. His guard was down. This was Tyris’s moment.

“I’m sure the governor felt it was a big responsibility to make the right decision too, when he found out about the meteor heading for Semala.”

Nerris’s head snapped around. His eyes flashed. Still, his voice was calm when he said, “I’m sure it was. They made their decisions, and I must make mine.”

“Of course,” Tyris agreed. “I imagine that you hold quite a grudge, given what they did.”

They’d arrived back at the greenhouse, and Nerris put his tray on the pile of empty ones and picked up a new one. “And what would that be?” he asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“Beren told me that they were taking only some people with them, leaving their families behind,” he said softly. “That they tried to take you. I can only imagine how hard that must have been and what a big decision it must have been for you to stay behind to rescue your family and the other people here. It’s understandable that you would blame the governor and the Colonies for what happened.”

Nerris stared at him, his brow furrowed, his eyes hard. “And you think I’m holding a grudge, and that’s why I won’t let you have the parts?”

Wasn’t it? Suddenly, things weren’t quite going according to plan. What had gone wrong? “What else can I think? Since the day I arrived, you have been blocking the repairs to the Hylista. Repairs that might get everyone off the planet. You obviously don’t want to leave. What other reason could you have other than blaming the Colonies for leaving you here?”

Nerris leaned in close. “You can assume what you want, but you have
no
idea what is happening here, or what happened then. What I said stands. If you can find a way to fix the Hylista that doesn’t destroy the Tenacity, then I will help, but otherwise,
leave things alone
!” He didn’t shout, didn’t even raise his voice, but Tyris had a hard time not backing away from the force of his anger.

Nerris put his tray back on the shelf and stalked out of the room. Tyris took a few moments to regain his composure before he followed.

What had he missed? He’d been so sure he knew what caused the council’s reluctance, but somehow he’d missed the mark. There was something else going on, and he had no idea what. He was back to square one.

But when he searched the group planting outside, Nerris and the rest of the council were absent.

So he’d touched a nerve. Just not the right one.

“W
HERE DO WE FIND THE ANYSOGEN
?” Tyris asked early the next morning as Marlee kneaded dough for bread.

Her hands faltered in their rhythm. “I thought the council wouldn’t let you have the parts?”

“They won’t, but I’m not going to let that stop me.” Trying to work out the council’s problem had achieved nothing. He was over it. He needed to move on.

“You’re not… not going to steal the parts are you?” Marlee’s voice wavered.

Tyris sighed. “No.”

Not that he hadn’t considered it. But no matter how stupid he thought their reasons were, it wasn’t his ship. He had no right to take parts.

Besides, he hadn’t been able to figure out how he could remove a large rocket booster and get it across the fields to the Hylista without someone noticing.

“There are other things I can try though, if I have the anysogen.” No one had told him he couldn’t have the gas, and he’d specifically avoided asking. “They don’t have as high a probability of success, but it’s worth a try.”

Marlee’s hands resumed their rhythmic motion on the dough. “It’s in the rocky valley beyond the village, to the right of the woods where your ship is. It’s in a cave I think. I’ve never been there myself.”

“How long will it take to get there?” Tyris asked. “And then how long to the Hylista?”

“Oh, a few hours there, and another few to the Hylista probably.”

So it would take up most of a day. That would make it hard to keep his plans quiet. “Is there any way I can get there and not be missed?”

Marlee frowned. “You won’t be able to find it on your own.”

He hesitated. He’d given this a lot of thought. “The council isn’t going to be impressed, Marlee. They don’t want to leave this planet, and I don
’
t know how far they
’
d be prepared to go to stop me repairing my ship. I don’t want you caught up in this.”

Her chin stuck out, and her eyebrows pulled down. “You’re not leaving me behind.”

He tried not to be swayed by how adorable she looked. “I can’t guarantee that anything I try will work, Marlee. The chance that I’ll actually make it into orbit isn’t large, and if I fail, I may not be able to land the Hylista safely. It’s too dangerous.”

She put floury hands on her hips. “If it’s too dangerous, why are you doing it? Or is it only too dangerous for me? Forget it, I’m coming with you. You promised.”

How had he known she was going to bring that up? “I did,” he agreed. “But that was before I knew how dangerous it would be. And… before I realised how much I cared for you. I don’t want to risk anything happening to you, Marlee.”

Her bottom lip trembled, and he wanted to kiss her worries away. But while a kiss might distract her from them, it couldn’t remove them.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you either! We go together or not at all.” She nodded her head firmly.

Oh how he wanted to take her with him. “We may not be going anywhere anyway,” he admitted. “And if I do manage to get into orbit, I can’t risk landing again. I’ll be going straight for Urslat. There won’t be a chance to say goodbye to anyone,” he warned.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. Her eyes sparkled. “There is no one here I want to say goodbye to.”

Once she set her mind to something, there was no dissuading her. “So how are we going to manage it without interference?” If he couldn’t convince her to stay behind, he might as well take advantage of her help.

Marlee thought for a minute, lips pursed. “There will be a rest day in two days. Everyone takes the day off, and while lots of people will hang out at the hall, no one will be too surprised if we don’t turn up, especially if we drop a few hints about how we’re looking forward to a day to ourselves. By the time they realise that we haven’t turned up to work the next day, we’ll be gone.”

Two days. How was he ever going to wait that long?

*****

T
HEY SET OFF JUST BEFORE
sunup, hoping to be far enough from the village before it was light enough for them to be noticed. When they arrived at the canyon, it was still bathed in the early morning light.

Each carried a bag slung over their shoulders. Marlee had packed for their trip, and she had been so happy to be able to do something useful that Tyris hadn’t had the heart to tell her he had more than enough blankets and food on board the Hylista. Having something familiar to eat and her own quilt to sleep under would comfort her on the long journey to Urslat.

If they made it that far.

Tyris stared down at the fissure in the ground. It wasn’t deep or particularly narrow. It wasn’t even dark and gloomy. But his hair stood on end as he gazed at it.

This was where they had mined for anysogen. There was probably more of it in the air here than anywhere else on Zerris.

Karla said it would take time to affect him. And it was already too late for Marlee. And anyway, it only affected fertility, there was no other danger. Even so, he felt like he struggled to breathe.

Marlee continued down the overgrown path into the valley without pause. When she realised he wasn’t behind her, she turned. “Are you coming?”

He pushed back his fears and followed her. 

The rough cliffs towered above them. The air was cooler down here. The rising sun didn’t reach them. Tyris shivered. He couldn’t wait to get the anysogen and get out of this place.

Many caves were worn into the sides of the walls. Tyris shone his torch in briefly, but most were shallow and contained nothing. Finally they came to a larger cave, its passage into the cliffs obviously shaped by human tools not natural forces. Tyris’s torchlight shone on rusty old machinery. Marlee gasped softly beside him.

They stepped inside, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Marlee ran her hands over the machinery in awe, but Tyris focused on the pressurised canisters lined up along one wall. There were around twenty of them. How could he know which were full and which weren’t? What if none of them were full? He ran his hands over them. They were cooler than the surrounding air, giving him hope. Several had purple tags attached to the release valve, and he decided those were the most likely. Picking the cleanest canister, he tried to turn the valve to open it.

He pulled and pulled, but it wouldn’t move. Tyris seethed in frustration. To have come all this way and be stopped by a rusty valve! He tried the next, but it was the same. He could probably get them undone with the tools on the Hylista, but that was a long way to drag bottles he wasn’t sure were full.

How were they going to get the heavy bottles—he’d need at least two—that distance anyway?

He stared around the cave, hoping to find something, anything, that might give him an idea.

“This is amazing,” Marlee said, still exploring the cave. “I had no idea all this machinery was here.”

Tyris walked past Marlee, searching. But of course, anything of use, any tools that might have helped him, had been scrounged long ago.

“I need something to get the valve open, to see if there is anysogen in the canisters,” he said. A few moments later, with both of them searching, they met back at the line of canisters with everything they’d been able to find.

It wasn’t much. The villagers never wasted anything, and the mine had been stripped thoroughly. Tyris stared at the pile. A few rags, scraps of paper, an empty aerosol bottle, and a broken screwdriver.

Marlee systematically tried to undo each of the valves. Tyris didn’t even bother to watch or hope. He glanced over at the valve and back to the pile. Picking up the broken screwdriver and the rags, he slipped the long shaft through the open tap that closed the valve, and gripped each end with a handful of rags.

The extra leverage was just enough. He felt the valve slip. Applying as much force as he could, he felt the valve slowly turn. They were rewarded with a hiss of releasing gas. Tyris closed the bottle again quickly.

Marlee clapped her hands together in excitement, but Tyris refused to get his hopes up. They still had a long way to go across uneven ground. He hefted one experimentally. It wasn’t outrageously heavy, but it would be awkward to carry. He could only carry one, and Marlee would struggle to lift the other.

Between them they could probably carry one with relative ease, but making two trips would eat into the window of time they had before being discovered. There had to be an easier way. Dragging or rolling them risked damaging the bottles, and could be lethal if a hole was punctured in the compressed canisters.

“What’s wrong?” Marlee asked.

“Can you lift this?” Tyris asked, pointing to the canister.

The expression on Marlee’s face was doubtful. She stood next to him, wrapped her arms around the awkwardly shaped bottle, and managed to lift it off the ground. But he could see the effort it took.

“It’s going to take all day to get these to the ship,” he said, running his hand through his hair.

Marlee pursed her lips then smiled. “No it won’t.”

Tyris frowned.

She walked over to her bags, and rifled through them for a moment, returning with one of the blankets she’d brought with her. As she laid it out on the ground in front of the bottles, he worked it out and helped her tip the two bottles over onto the strong woollen blanket.

He hesitated for a moment. The thick woollen blanket would protect the bottles from small rocks and sticks, but… “It’s going to damage the blanket,” he warned.

“That’s okay,” Marlee said. “I’m sure I can buy another one on Urslat.”

His heart warmed at the thought, and for the first time, he felt a little bit of excitement. If this worked, he was going home! “I’ll buy you two,” he promised.

Tyris tied knots in the corners to form a slight pocket to keep the bottles from sliding out. Then he and Marlee each grabbed a corner, and dragged.

It was slow going. Despite Tyris’s impatience, he stopped frequently so Marlee could rest. By the time they reached the Hylista, the sun was high in the sky.