True Son (16 page)

He took a moment to choose his words carefully and write them down, then showed them to Mam and Challis.

“The truth is all you can give them,” Challis said. “After that, it’s up to them.”

Studying the words carefully, he drew them in his mind, saw them at once individually and all together. Saw them, felt them, pulled them into himself and held them there. He reached out with psi and let his mind wander across the distance to the city, to the temple. He envisioned the large stones that had tumbled from the temple all those months ago and came to rest on the edge of the gathering place. He knew the very stone that Yens liked to stand on, the tallest one. He saw it clearly in his mind. And he wrote the words there:

For a bit more convincing, Taemon added a Knife symbol at the end of the words. A tiny version of the black shape on the mountainside.
Be it so!

He released his psi and his breath at the same time. “It’s done.”

“Let’s hope it’s enough,” Mam whispered.

Taemon stepped onto the porch. The driver was still waiting just below. “I’ve sent a message. Go back and tell Solovar I’ve done all I can do.”

Skies, he hoped the words on the temple stone were true. He had chosen to believe it, and he did believe it, but he still had no idea how this was going to end.

The invasion of Deliverance was under way. This time, Gevri was ready. Jix was by his side. He knew this was what had to be done. For the Republik. For the general. For the archons. And for himself.

The armies marched through the tunnel two abreast, the marching songs that Gevri had grown up with echoing through the mountain itself. The melody and the rhythm seeped into his heart and made him stronger. This was not only about settling his argument with Taemon; this was about bringing justice to the rebels who had followed Nathan. They had turned their backs on the Republik, not only by deserting it, but also by claiming some of its land for themselves, then sending a famine on their own countrymen.

By the end of the day, all would be made right.

Gevri’s unit had the honor of being the first one behind the general’s detail. Following him were three more archon units, and after that, six squadrons, each with one hundred soldiers. The noise of all those boots stamping in the tunnel was incredible.

In the darkness of the tunnel, all the soldiers had their helmet lights on. The beams from each marching soldier danced on the smooth rock walls, giving it an almost festive feel.

Two more archon units were working on clearing a path across the mountain for the tanks and the war machines to pass. They wouldn’t fit through the tunnel, but they’d find a way through so that Deliverance would be fully prepared for the Nau, whenever they decided to show up.

For now, Gevri needed to check on his archons. Only ten days ago, they were suffering in a Nau prison. They’d gotten excellent attention from the doctors at Kanjai, and they were sturdy little cubs, but Gevri still wanted to make sure they were all right.

“Invert!” He called out the order that told them he was going to change his position from the front of the line to the back. He and Jix stepped aside as the rest of his unit double-timed it past him, then immediately settled back to regular marching pace.

Gevri took his place at the end, behind Cindahad. “How goes it?”

“Great,” Cindahad said. “Though I’ll be glad to see the sun again.”

“You will, soon enough!” He looked at the seven archons marching in front of him, shoulders straight, heads high, feet moving in perfect unity. They looked strong. They looked confident. They looked like they would do whatever Gevri asked of them.

If anything, the time they had spent in the prison had made them stronger, not weaker. There was a oneness among them that had become rock-hard during the tough times in prison. They would follow him into the pits of flame if he asked them to.

That should’ve made him happy, but it felt like a great stone on his back. Any harm that came to them was because of him. He would not fail them again. They had been through enough.

“Invert!” Gevri called again, then jogged ahead. He and Jix took their places at the front of the line once more.

Nearly an hour later, Gevri saw the sun up ahead. A cheer ran through the ranks.

As they came out of the tunnel, Gevri remembered the last time he had come through it and the humiliation that had followed. Taemon had played his tricks well and taken them all for fools.

Not this time.

The army continued its march on the mountain trails, but they had to switch to single file, which slowed them down a little. The rocky terrain didn’t help. Soon they reached the tree line, and the going became a bit easier. Now at least they had soil under their feet instead of scree. They continued down, passing what looked like a deserted mining camp. Up ahead, Gevri caught sight of the walls of the city.

A thrill passed over him. He had never been this far into Deliverance, even when he’d been in Free Will’s camp. This was it. This was what he’d been waiting for.

The general called for a different archon unit to take the lead. Unlike Gevri’s archons, these soldiers had only telekinetic dominion, and they were called upon to make a direct path and smooth the way. The unit leader called out his orders, and trees began to fall, crashing with a magnificent splendor, like heralds announcing their presence. This was, after all, no surprise attack.

The rest of the soldiers cheered with each tree that toppled. Gevri and his archons cheered along with them.

A few of those trees were hauled to the river. In a few minutes, the archons had exercised dominion to split the trees and make a crude but sturdy bridge for the soldiers to cross.

Gevri felt just as he had when he walked out of the Nau prison. The army of the Republik was invincible. Nothing could stop them. Nothing could get in their way.

As Gevri crossed the bridge, he looked to either side of him at the tree-lined river. This really was a beautiful place. This land belonged in the Republik once more. All would be restored as it once was.

Something flickered at the corner of his eye. He turned to look at a huge slice of the mountainside that had been burned with fire. What in the gods’ names was that? Was that supposed to scare them? Were they trying to send some kind of message? He could tell it was some kind of deliberate shape, but what was it? It looked like a leaf with a top hat on it.

Gevri had to move forward, but he craned his head from time to time to look at the black scar on the mountain.

“What is that?” Saunch asked from behind.

“Well, you know they use a lot of symbols around here,” Gevri said. “Probably because most of them aren’t smart enough to read.”

He meant it to be a joke, but Saunch didn’t laugh.

“Anyway, I’m pretty sure I recognize that symbol,” Gevri said. “It means, ‘Welcome to our home.’”

This time Saunch did laugh. “You’re making that up.”

“It could be true; you don’t know. Let’s keep our eyes forward.”

And they did. Forward through the woods and hills and meadows that lay between the mountain and the city. They came at the city walls from the northeast, and the general called the army to a halt.

“Lieutenant Sarin,” the general called, and Gevri ran forward.

He stood as tall as he could and saluted. “Yes, sir!”

“Use your remote viewers and tell me what is on the other side of that wall.”

“Yes, sir!” Gevri called his archons into formation. It wasn’t long before they had an answer for the general.

“Sir, on the other side of the wall you will find many small houses. Some of them huts. None of them are very well constructed. As far as we can tell, they are deserted.”

The general looked thoughtful. “There are no people whatsoever?”

“None that we have detected, sir,” Gevri answered.

“Keep looking. I want to know where the people are.”

Gevri huddled with his archons again, then returned to the general.

“Sir, there is a small gathering of people at the city center, by some sort of ruins,” Gevri reported. “But most of the city appears to be deserted.”

“Bring in the archon units!” boomed the general. “Blast through this wall! We do
not
enter this city through a gate!”

The archon unit blasted a huge opening in the wall, crumbling it to gray-tan dust that moved neatly aside. The soldiers cheered and whooped.

The general was right; bursting through the wall definitely fit the occasion.
There’s a symbol for you
, Gevri thought.

The general gave orders for small groups of soldiers to search the houses, just to be sure. The bulk of the army pressed forward to the temple at the center of the city.

The streets were eerily quiet. Not even any barking dogs to greet them.

“They’ve given up,” Saunch said beside him. “They’re gone.”

Gevri nodded. “But where? Where did they go?” They could be hiding. Did these people know how to hide from remote viewers? Was that even possible? The thought made Gevri uneasy. The Nathanites had been living with psi for a lot longer than the Republik had been exercising dominion. Maybe they had a few more tricks up their sleeves. Wouldn’t that be just like them?

“Stay alert,” Gevri told his archons. “Remote viewers, I want you to check and double-check. These people have to be somewhere.”

“Yes, sir!” came the chorus of replies.

Still, they didn’t meet one single person along the way. The soldiers fanned out, but there was no one to attack.

“The only people I can find are the ones at the ruins,” Berliott said.

“Same here,” Pik said.

Cindahad nodded. “Me, too.”

“All right, then,” Gevri said. “The ruins it is.”

As the army neared the ruins, Gevri heard a humming sound. A rhythmic humming, like some sort of chanting.

And there they were.

About two hundred or so men, women, and children were kneeling in an open space in front of the collapsed building. What had happened here?

The volume of the chanting increased. The people were on their knees with their foreheads pressed to the ground. None of them seemed to take any notice of the soldiers who were surrounding them. Were they in some sort of trance?

The noise seemed to bother Jix, and she paced next to Gevri.

As the soldiers took their positions, Gevri stepped next to his father. “This rubble — did the Nathanites do that?”

The general nodded as he surveyed the scene. “This used to be their temple. Yens — or perhaps Taemon — brought it down on the same day psi was lost.”

“How do you know?”

“We had spies here for years. You’ve met Commander Othaniel?”

Gevri nodded. The man had recently been promoted, skipping ahead several ranks.

“He was one of the priests here,” the general said. “Excellent work.”

When the soldiers were all in place, the general called out, “Archons, choose your targets!”

Targets? Did he mean people? Gevri stepped close to his father. “We’re just going to kill them?” All the excitement he felt in the tunnel had dissipated. It was one thing to kill your enemy in glorious battle. But this wasn’t glorious. It wasn’t even a battle. This was slaughter.

The general gave him a flat look that said,
Must we go through this again?

“I think we should take them as prisoners,” Gevri offered. “Then find the rest of them, wherever they’re hiding, and try to —”

“We’ll hunt them down easily enough,” the general said. “A group that large can’t cover its tracks.”

General Sarin waved to the leader of one of the archon units, who came running over. “Lieutenant Sarin has requested that we take prisoners. But I wish to take only one.” The general pointed to the young man in the scarlet robes kneeling on the tallest stone. “Him.”

“And the others?”

“Destroy them.”

Taemon rode in the cab of the hauler with Drigg. They were inching along so that they didn’t get too far ahead of the people who were walking, which was most everyone else. A few people had carts or wagons pulled by mules, a few more were on horseback, but all in all, the great evacuation of Deliverance moved slowly.