The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) (128 page)

Chapter 17

As the two cloaked women alighted side by side on the raised walkway, the little shelled creature regarded them with shining eyes of unfathomable black. Its wide mouth undulated from side to side. “Explain The Meaning.” Shann’s face flushed, like a little girl caught by her parents in the act of some misdemeanour. She glanced at Keris and saw that the other woman was looking to her for a response. Try as she might, she could think of no explanation that the Chandara might comprehend. “Keris And Shann. Component Carriers. Each Conflicts With The Other. Explain The Meaning.”

Shann opened her mouth and then closed it again before finally responding, “It’s nothing... It doesn’t matter.” As her embarrassment faded, her mind started to fill with questions. “Wh... what are you doing here? How did you get away?”

“Susan Gilmer Set Us Free.”

Shann frowned. “
Susan Gilmer?
But she gave you up to the humans. We saw her.”

“We only observed events from high up,” Keris reminded her. “We were too far away to make out what individuals were saying. Perhaps we misinterpreted what happened.”

Shann thrust all such speculations aside. “Where are the others?”

“They Are Coming. Alondo Is Hurt. It Is Not Serious But I Could Not Heal. No Time.”

“Then as soon as he arrives, we will have all four component carriers. Together, we can disable the hu-man weapons.”

“Yes, Shann,” Boxx trilled. But Shann was not looking at the Chandara. She was focussed on the tall Kelanni next to her. Worlds passed between them. Finally, the older woman’s face shed its careworn appearance and she nodded once.

“Let’s get going,” Shann said. She led the way as the three of them hurried back along the iron walkway towards the invisible barrier. Just beyond it, Rael waited with an anxious expression. “It’s all right, everything’s fine,” she assured him. Then she asked, “How did you get Boxx through the barrier?”

“It wasn’t my doing,” he replied. “I don’t even know how it managed to pass. When it saw what you and Keris were doing, it grew desperate to reach you. I tried to explain about the barrier but it ignored me and... well, it just rolled up into a ball and forced its way through. It may be that its shell has properties that protect it against the barrier’s energy somehow.”

Or maybe it simply compelled itself to endure the pain.
Shann looked down at the little creature, but its face was as unreadable as ever. She knelt in front of it, removed the emerald link from her arm, and tightened it around the Chandara’s forelimb. She met Keris’s questioning look. “When you are safely through, come back for me.”

She watched as the two of them stepped through, tiny lights buzzing and flashing around them like insects. On the other side, Keris removed the bracelet from Boxx and tossed it towards Shann. The green-gold band struck the invisible barrier, causing it to flash briefly before rebounding and falling to the metal grating.

“Seems it only works when it’s being worn by someone,” Rael observed.

Keris walked forward and picked it up, wrapping it around her wrist.

A clanging. Boots on metal.
“I’ll be back soon,” Keris called. She turned and sprinted off down the walkway. Moments later she returned and strode through the barrier, handing the spare bracelet to Shann. “Come quickly. The others are here.”

~

Susan Gilmer stood on the raised gantry surrounded by three Kelanni and one Chandara, a faint smile playing over her lips.

“To be honest, we thought the same as you to begin with,” Lyall confessed. “When we heard the loud banging on the side of the hopper and the shouts of the hu-mans, and then saw Susan Gilmer standing alongside them, we figured we had been sold out.”

“I’m sorry; it seems there was a quisling among our people,” Susan Gilmer explained. “They must have gotten wind of the plan to infiltrate the facility here and tipped off Wang. When I realised too late what was happening, I had no choice other than to play along in the hopes that I could free you later.”

“And that’s exactly what she did,” Lyall continued. “She knocked out two guards with that lightning weapon of hers and freed us from the hopper where we were being held.”

Shann stood next to her, listening to the story but offering no comment. Until recently, Keris would have expected that Shann would seize the first available opportunity to let Lyall know that the former Keltar had taken it upon herself to detonate the hu-man devices and destroy them all and that it was only Boxx’s intervention that had prevented her from doing so. However, the girl said nothing, and when Lyall asked whether they were all right, she glared at the boy Rael, willing him to silence. Clearly, she considered that the most important thing right now was the unity of the party. The girl had grown in ways that Keris could not help but admire.

The hu-man woman pressed her lips together. “You don’t have a lot of time. It won’t be long before they discover that you’ve escaped, and this is the first place they’ll look. You’ll have to hurry.”

The barrier fizzled and crepitated, and Alondo stepped through as if on cue, supported by Shann. “The first weapon is neutralised,” she announced cheerfully. “We’ve both set our components on the next one, and I retrieved the other two components. It’s your turn now.”

She passed the bracelets and the pure white discs to the tall woman, who took them from her. Keris selected the one engraved with the smiley face and thrust it safely into an inner pocket. Lyall had insisted that the four components of Annata’s device be marked distinctively, so that each component could be readily identified by the bearer to whom it was linked. He had charged Alondo with the task of doing the engraving. Clearly, that had been a mistake. Keris could only conclude that the caricature on hers was intended as some kind of obscure joke.

She cast an appraising eye over the musician. He was standing awkwardly, putting all of his weight on one leg. “While we’re gone, get Boxx to work on that ankle.”

Alondo grimaced. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a sprain.”

“Nevertheless, we need you to be able to move as fast as possible.”

“Keris is right. Let Boxx take a look,” Lyall urged.

“Sure thing, Chief,” Alondo smiled.

Keris felt settled. Calm. As if a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders. For the first time in many days, she dared to hope that her life might actually continue beyond this point; that Annata’s crazy scheme, hatched over three thousand turns ago, might actually work.

“Look.”
All eyes turned to Shann and then followed her pointing finger. A loose collection of hu-mans had entered the building and were striding purposefully across the immense floor.

Keris’s nostrils flared as she drew her staff. “Leave them to me.” As she moved forward, she felt a restraining hand on her shoulder.

She turned her head and saw Lyall. His eyes were like steel. “No. We need you to accompany Rael so that you can both disable the second weapon. We will hold them off. Go, quickly.”

Keris nodded once, flicked her eyes over the disparate collection of individuals that had somehow become her family, then turned on her heel and headed for the barrier.

~

“Here they come.”

The iron grating rang to the sound of running boots as the hu-mans mounted the steps to the upper level and raced towards them. Shann and Lyall stood on the walkway, staffs at the ready, with Boxx peeking out between their legs. Behind them, Susan Gilmer’s features were lined with apprehension, while next to her, Alondo had unslung his instrument and was kneeling on the ground, making adjustments.

“Boxx, get back,” Shann chided. The little creature dropped to all sixes and scuttled back to Alondo’s position, then stood on its hind limbs once more, head bopping up and down for a better view.

Up ahead, the tailless creatures came to a halt and surveyed the ragtag band of Kelanni, hu-man, and Chandara blocking their path. After a brief debate, two of their number headed back to the previous intersection and took the curved walkway that led off to the right, around the central structure.

“They’re trying to outflank us,” Lyall announced. “I’ll intercept them. You stay here and keep the main force occupied.”

Shann opened her mouth to object, but he was already making for the inner cross section next to the barrier, preparing to head them off. Susan Gilmer stepped up to take Lyall’s place by her side. Her hu-man face had grown even paler. “I hope your friend will be all right.”

“Lyall will keep them at bay.” Shann lowered her eyes. “I wanted to say thank you.” The fair-haired woman shot her a sideways glance. “For freeing Lyall, Alondo, and Boxx, I mean.”

Susan Gilmer smiled in a kindly way that reminded her of Oliah. “You’re welcome. I’m... sorry things didn’t turn out as I’d intended.” Silence fell between both women as they stared straight ahead. Finally, the hu-man woman spoke. “Can I ask you something? A favour.”

“Anything.”

“If I... If something happens, would you find Mac... Alexander McCann. Tell him... tell him I’m sorry.”

McCann. The hu-man who had spied on them from the Tower of Akalon, and whom she and Keris had battled before tricking him at the last into taking a one-way trip to the tower in the Cathgorn Mountains, where death lay in wait, either in the form of the vicious creatures that infested its slopes or the intense cold. One thing was clear: No good could be served now by revealing the full truth to this woman. Shann responded in the only way she could. “I promise.”

Susan Gilmer returned her smile. She looked tiny. Vulnerable. How far would she go to defend them against her own people? As if in answer, she extracted a stubby silver tube from her breast pocket and levelled it against the figures milling together a short distance away. “The dark-haired one in the middle,” she began, “that’s the Captain, Wang. He’s dangerous. Be careful.”

Shann peered intently at the squat, red-faced figure as he barked a curt series of commands.
The Unan-Chinneroth. The Prophet. The murderer of my parents and the subjugator of my world. Somehow, I thought you’d be taller.

Two hu-mans clad in all-white coveralls were advancing cautiously towards them, spurred on by Wang, who screamed orders at them from behind. The old Shann would have simply waded in, blinded by a red mist, with no thought of the consequences to herself or others. She would have honed in on the object of her hatred, hacking and slashing at anyone who stood in her way. The new Shann was more cautious—more analytical.

The most effective way to destroy a tyrant is to destroy the source of his power.
The voice sounding in her head was Lyall’s.

She began running towards them. They halted and one of them raised a weapon identical to Susan Gilmer’s. His companion yelled at him and grabbed his wrist. A brief tussle ensued. Shann bent her knees and vaulted upwards, pushing against the lodestone in the massive orbs behind her. An incandescent golden beam sliced the air beneath her and impacted the section of walkway she had occupied a split second before, sending up a shower of sparks.

Shann touched down on the walkway in front of the two figures in white and spun her staff defensively in a figure of eight. They shared an expression of wide-eyed alarm, turned tail, and ran. The chubby-faced man bringing up the rear howled in rage.

Her self-satisfied smirk was short-lived. Across the floor, a large contingent of maybe fifteen hu-mans, most of them in cobalt blue uniforms, were headed her way. They bore larger, bulbous weapons and looked as if they meant business.

Shann retreated to Susan Gilmer’s position. The fair-haired woman’s gaze was still fixed on the creatures up ahead. “Marshmallows.” Shann regarded her curiously. Susan Gilmer smiled. “It’s a sweet food—soft and pulpy, just like those technicians. Now the guys in blue—they’re a different story.”

Shann nodded. “Soldiers.”

“Not exactly. They’re crew. Fiercely loyal to the Captain, and ruthless. Watch your back.”

Shann shot a look over her shoulder at Alondo, who was still down on one knee, tweaking the controls on his instrument. “Haven’t you finished with that thing yet?”

The musician did not look up. “Give me a few more moments, all right?”

“We may not have a few more moments.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m doing my best. Can you keep them busy for a little while?”

Two slight females against fifteen heavily armed crew and their fanatical Captain.
Shann’s mouth was an ironic twist. “Sure, no problem.”