The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) (71 page)

Keris adjusted her course away from the field. The ground was beginning to rise ahead of her. Keris slowed as she approached the crest of a rise.
That same humming sound again, much closer this time.
It was coming from directly ahead. Another silver shape suddenly appeared over the ridge–exactly the same as the one that had attacked them out on the moor. It was hovering right in front of her. Instinctively, Keris threw herself face first down into the snow. The wet snow chilled her cheek and the droning filled her ears. Then, without warning, the hum became a whine. She risked a glance upward. She could see the flat underbelly of the machine as it passed directly over her. Then its nose dipped slightly and it began to accelerate away in the direction of the previous craft.

Keris waited until the sound had died, then stood up and brushed off the loose snow. There was no reason to suppose that it had been the machine that attacked them. If it was, then either it had not spotted her, or its pilot was preoccupied with a different mission. Whatever the case, Keris was content to leave it as a mystery and accept her good fortune. Skirting the ridge, she resumed her solitary journey toward the Meurig Divide and the Great Forest of Atarah that lay beyond.

~

A score of avionics sat motionless, silver flanks glinting in the first light of dawn. At the edge of the field, a tall, awkward looking youth in brown furs scanned the surroundings. Behind him stood a slight female form, clad in an ebon cloak. Behind her was a small round creature, black eyes peeking out from beneath its shell. The cloaked figure was tugging at the youth’s shoulder.

“Don’t just stand out in the open, you idiot,” Shann hissed. “Take cover.”

Rael turned his head toward her. His expression was one of exaggerated patience. “The machines aren’t guarded, Shann. No-one ever steals them. Well, not until now, at any rate.”

“I don’t want to steal one,” she protested. “I just want to borrow it, that’s all.” She saw that he still looked unhappy. “You said it yourself. There’s no other way of getting across those mountains.”

He began threading his way between the silent machines. “It…it’s just that I’m not comfortable with all of this sneaking around. I should have told Hannath what I was doing. Hannath took me on as his apprentice and gave me a position of responsibility. I…I feel as if I’m betraying that trust.”

Shann gestured for Boxx to follow and trotted after Rael, trying to keep up with his longer stride. “From what I’ve seen, he just shouts at you and makes you do all the hard work.”

“He’s one of our greatest scientists,” Rael pointed out.

“Maybe he is,” Shann said. “
But he doesn’t listen.
”

“We Will Fly Now,” Boxx interrupted.

“That’s right,” Shann replied. “We are going up in one of those metal things.”

“Like At Kharthrun,” it squeaked.

Rael turned to look behind him. “Kharthrun?”

Shann smiled. “It’s a long story.” She turned back to the Chandara. “You can ride with me up front, all right?”

“All Right, Shann…We Go To See My People.”

“Yes. I hope they will be able to tell us the location of the instrument we need.”

“There Is Not Much Time.”

“I know,” she said. “Sakara has already fallen. We have to find it before he completes the weapon.”

“No,” the Chandara replied in its shrill, piping voice. “It Is I…I Do Not Have Much Time.”

“Time for what?” she asked.

“We Change. We Eat. We Remember.”

“What’s it talking about?” Rael inquired

“I don’t know,” she said. “It said the same thing shortly after we got here. I thought it was talking about some sort of spiritual belief. ”

“Maybe it’s referring to its death,” Rael suggested.

Shann ran ahead of him.
“What?”

“I don’t know,” Rael continued. “It’s very, very old. Even you told me, it doesn’t seem to know how old it is. Maybe it senses that its end is near and it wants to die among its own people.”

Shann felt a flush of anger. These people, with their clever machines and superior ways, thought they knew everything. She rounded on him.
“You don’t know any of that. You’re just guessing.”

Rael seemed unfazed by her outburst. “You’re right, I don’t. But nothing lives forever, Shann.”

He had led them unerringly to a machine close to the far side of the field. This aerial craft seemed to her to be exactly like the others. He climbed up to the cockpit and activated a control that moved the cover back. Shann picked up Boxx and lifted it. Rael took the Chandara from her and placed it in the front seat. Then he reached down one of his long arms to haul her up.

There was a cry from behind her. Rael froze. She turned to see an athletic figure in blue coveralls jogging towards them. Ravid. He came to a halt next to her. “Rael, what are you doing?”

“I…I need to take the avionic up. F-field tests,” he said.

“Field tests?” Ravid frowned. “I wasn’t told anything about it.”

“S-sorry,” Rael stammered. “Must’ve b-been a failure in c-communication.”

The avionics engineer ran a hand through his thinning white hair. “Well, you can’t take this machine up today. It’s already been booked by one of the Directors. He’s being taken on a tour of the launch facility.” He paused, as if suddenly remembering something. “Hannath already knows this. I don’t understand why he would–”

Rael kicked out with one of his long legs and caught Ravid squarely in the chest. The older man’s eyes bulged and he exhaled sharply as he was propelled backwards and fell sprawling on the snow. Rael grabbed Shann’s wrist and hauled her up. She clambered into the front seat, squeezing Boxx over to one side as the transparent canopy closed over her. Ravid had scrambled to his feet, and was yelling at them. His muffled voice was quickly drowned out by the rising hum of the engines. A moment later, she felt a slight downward pressure as the machine lifted into the air. As it banked away, she had a view of Ravid, arms waving frantically as he grew smaller and smaller. Eventually he was lost amidst the snowbound landscape.

<><><><><>

Chapter 15

Alondo stood back, taking in the view of the oddly shaped house on the snowy hill just outside the town of Kieroth. “This has to be it,” he declared. “The dome-shaped structure looks like nothing I’ve seen elsewhere. It’s just as Keris described it.”

“Right, then. Let’s see if we can speak to someone.” Lyall walked up and hammered on the door.

“Hold it.” Alondo came up and stood alongside Lyall. “Better let me do the talking.”

Lyall looked sideways at his friend. “And why is that?”

“Well, to be perfectly honest…you’re not very good.”

Lyall frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“Do you remember the conversation you had with Soppora at the house this morning?”

“Certainly,” Lyall said. “I asked if she wanted help with breakfast.”

“No.” Alondo pointed out. “You didn’t.”

“I didn’t?”

“No.” They stood before the door a few moments in silence. “Although, on the plus side, I think she was seriously considering your offer,” Alondo added.

The door opened, saving Lyall from further embarrassment. A chubby woman in pale green work dress and apron greeted them. “Is this ‘observatory’?” Alondo asked in the local dialect.

“Yes,” she bustled. “Can I help you?”

Alondo smiled. “We are here to see Hannath the Scientist. Is he here?”

“Are you from the Directorate?” she asked.

Alondo looked at Lyall, then back at the woman. “No, we’re here to see Hannath on…a private matter.”

The woman opened the door wide. “Please come in.” They entered the panelled hallway. “I must ask you to wait. I am not sure the Master will see you, I’m afraid. There has been an incident this morning. Whom shall I say is calling?”

“Alondo and Lyall, the Scientists,” he said.

The woman looked at him strangely, turned and disappeared through a door at the end of the hall.

Lyall rounded on Alondo and hissed. “What did you tell her that for?”

Alondo was unrepentant. “You want to get in to see him don’t you? Besides, I have no idea what a scientist is, so we could both be scientists for all I know.”

Lyall was about to counter when the door opened and the woman buzzed in. “This way,” she said. “The Master cannot see you for long. He is in the middle of a crisis.”

They followed her through another door to a large reception room lined with clicking mechanisms of bronze and glass. Lyall dug his friend in the ribs. Alondo tore his eyes away from the machines and fixed on the elderly figure in the centre of the room.

With his bent-over figure, beady eyes and hooked nose, the old man looked like a bird ready to pounce. “You. You’re not from the Directorate. I don’t know you. Who are you?”

“You are Hannath?” Alondo began. “You come highly recommended, sir. We need help with a machine.”

“What? A machine, you say? Why are you bothering me with this? I’m not a repairer.” The oldster waved a bony claw dismissively. “Go visit the machine shops in the town and stop wasting my time.”

Alondo adjusted his tone to one of sympathy. “Your…housekeeper…said something happened this morning,”

“Something happened?” the old man replied angrily. “I’ll say. It’s an outrage, that’s what. My ungrateful assistant has run off with that stupid girl and taken the Candachra with him.”

Lyall’s ears pricked up. “You mean Chandara?”

“That’s their name in Old Kelanni…” The old man put a hand to his scalp. “Hang on a dahn. Where are you from?”

Alondo replied without hesitation. “We came through the Great Barrier by ship, across the Aronak Sea.” Lyall shot his friend a look of annoyance. They had agreed that they should withhold that kind of information until they knew who could be trusted.
Too late now.

“You…you’re the accomplices of that wretched girl.” Hannath’s tone grew higher and more querulous. “This is all your fault. My goodness, it’s an invasion. How many of you are there?”

Lyall’s heart leapt. Alondo ignored the old man’s question. “Shann. You’re talking about Shann. And Boxx.
They’re alive.
” He turned to face Lyall. “See, I told you. I told you I saw her in that carriage-thing.”

“I’m sorry, my friend,” Lyall said. “I should have listened to you.” He addressed Hannath. “Her name is Shann? Short hair, short in height, short temper?”

The old man harrumphed.

“Where are they now?” Lyall inquired.

Hannath threw up his arms. “How should I know? They stole an avionic. They could be anywhere in Skell by now. He left the pressure calculations half done. How am I supposed to keep the launch on schedule now? The Directorate will hold me responsible. Not to mention that it’s one of their machines he stole. How could he do this to me? And all over some girl.”

“You’re saying that Shann…ran off with this boy?” Lyall asked in disbelief.

Hannath flapped his arms, enhancing the bird impression. “Yes, yes. Haven’t you been paying attention?”

Lyall turned to Alondo once again. “That doesn’t sound like our Shann.”

“That just proves how well you know her,” Alondo countered.

Lyall raised his eyebrows. “And I thought we’d been busy these past few days.”

“Lyall, we have to find her.”

Lyall put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We will, my friend. We will.”

“Forget about her,” Hannath blustered. “Just bring that boy back here. He has work to do.”

~

“So…what will happen when we get back?” In the cramped conditions of the cockpit, Shann could not turn around to look at Rael. For the same reason, he could not see her face. For now, that was something she was grateful for. She did not want him to see the guilt that she knew was etched on her features.

“How do you mean?” she heard him say over the whir of the engines.