Watching Yute (27 page)

He could see the ruins ahead. How close
should he get before using the first chant idol? He could see the
temple, but couldn’t see the guards yet. When he could see them,
they might see him. That would be the time. Samuel had assured him
that the chant’s magic would last quite a while, but there was no
need to trigger it any sooner than necessary.

~~~

“
Wake up!” Marcus said
towards the statue, from his post at the temple’s north
doorway.

“
What?” Cheryl hadn’t been
able to get any useful information out of Marcus, giving up after
the fifth folksy rambling from him.

Marcus turned back towards Cheryl.
“He’s kind of talking to himself. Rambling. I think maybe he’s
talkin’ in his sleep. Nothing that makes any sense.”

Ironic. “Is it good or bad?”

Marcus shrugged. “Can’t tell. Doesn’t
make any sense. It’s not English. Doesn’t sound like Aguei either.
Sounds like…”

“
Like?”

“
Doesn’t make any sense.”
Marcus furrowed his brow. “Think it’s possible for him to get
sick?”

“
You’re asking
me?”

~~~

“
Sand’s picking up.” Cassidy
said, pulling the brim of her hat down a bit to shield her eyes
more. Being at one of the front doorways meant you were much more
exposed to the weather, but this was different.

“
There’s not really much
wind though.” Jim said, after spitting out a bit of sand. “Of all
the days for me to leave my sunglasses at the base. I guess we were
overdue for a good sandstorm.”

“
We had a hum-dinger the
other night. I slept through it.”

“
I heard, but the shift that
was at the temple that night said it wasn't too bad.”

“
It was bad enough at my
little camp. I wouldn’t have wanted to be at this post during
that.” The flying sand was steadily becoming stronger. There was
noticeable wind now, but it was more like the sand was driving the
air, not the other way around.

“
A few years ago, we had
sandstorms on shift at least once a month.” Jim had to raise his
voice. Visibility was bad now, they couldn’t even see over to the
other front door. “We had these emergency tarps to get under, but
got rid of them since we stopped needing them.”

“
Well that was dumb!”
Cassidy shouted, arm raised over her face. The sand got louder and
more forceful, causing them to stagger now and then.

“
This is nuts!” Jim yelled
back, “Curl up low against the wall! That should be good enough.
Not comfy, but…”

Cassidy struggled to walk over by Jim.
They could shield each other a little. They both got on their
knees, and curled low, side by side facing the wall just inside the
doorway. “Maybe we should just go inside by the statue?” She didn’t
have to shout since she was right by Jim.

“
Maybe!”

Cassidy tried to stand to go inside,
but the sand knocked her down. Crawling didn’t do much better, so
she got over to the wall again. “Maybe not.” They huddled by the
wall, wondering how long the storm would go on.

The sound of it became an immense white
noise, enforcing a kind of silence with its overpowering volume.
Cassidy tried to speak, but could not even hear herself
shout.

Then there was a presence.

She turned to look, bracing her face
against the flying sand long enough to catch a glimpse of a dark
figure walking steadily through the storm, unhampered but also not
rushed.

Cassidy yelled at the figure, and
reached out to it. The wind pushed against her arm, but she got a
brief feel of the stranger’s calf. The dark material was hard, like
a shell, with a slightly rough texture. Almost instantly, a gust
overpowered her arm, nearly rolling Cassidy over despite being
hunched down.

She couldn’t make out any specific
details aside from a dark figure, and the feel of the outfit's
plating. The stranger disappeared into the furious sands, heading
into the temple, not slowed by the storm.

The storm was somewhat less fierce at
the north door. Marcus and Cheryl had to guard their faces most of
the time, but remained standing. The dark figure climbed the stairs
towards them.

“
Him? What?” Marcus called
out towards the statue.

Cheryl looked back and forth between
the statue and the stranger. “What about him?”

“
I don’t know! Our big
friend still isn’t making much sense!”

The stranger, Horad, continued climbing
up the stairs methodically. He pulled down the goggles that had
been shielding his eyes, and assessed Marcus and Cheryl as his hand
slid down to his upper thigh.

“
State your business,
buddy!” Marcus stood proudly in the middle of the doorway, one hand
on his hip, the other holding his spear. His confidence and sense
of purpose gave him the strength to defy what wind that made it in
this far.

Horad broke into a run up the last few
steps, yelling something in Aguei. Marcus brought his spear into
both hands, but before he could use it, Horad’s left hand reached
out to grab the shaft of the spear. In the same instance, Horad’s
right hand pulled a hunting knife from his thigh sheath, and thrust
it into Marcus’ abdomen.

Cheryl screamed out and brought her
spear down, but she was too close. The shaft merely hit Horad’s
shoulder. Horad ripped his knife out of Marcus' side, and into
Cheryl.

Marcus slumped to the ground while
Cheryl looked into Horad’s eyes with shock, confusion, and then the
mind-breaking wave of pain that came right after.

They were in the way. It was their
fault. Horad closed his eyes, and pulled his knife out, hand
shaking. It was their fault. They were part of the problem. It was
their fault. He put the knife away in the sheath, still dripping
blood.

The storm he had summoned with the
first chant idol continued to rage behind him, outside. He walked
reverently towards the statue with the second idol in his hand. He
stared. Like most people, he’d heard of it, heard it described, but
until recently, never expected to see it personally. It stared at
him. Yes. This must indeed be the spirit of the Aguei.

He held the little wooden idol in both
hands. “Be free!” He snapped the idol, only a strand of splinters
on one edge keeping it from being split right in two. He dropped it
as if it were an offering, spreading his arms wide. It was done.
The spirit of the Aguei would no longer be oppressed by the
government that had decided this land was theirs.

Horad wished he had more time to bask
in the statue’s gaze, but even if the storm lasted forever, he
would not be safe here for long. He headed back to the doorway, and
tried not to notice the smear of blood that the girl had made on
the floor with her hand.

While starting down the steps, Horad
saw two guards struggling through the storm’s wind to approach him.
The easiest way to give them the slip was directly forward, into
the ‘trench’ between the two front doorways.

~~~

Cassidy jumped down after the stranger,
trying to catch up. She didn’t consider yelling out to him. Even if
she could be heard, she doubted he’d listen. Jim was following
close behind, but having a harder time with the wind. Down in the
trench, Cassidy found the wind to be much less, and was able to
make a bit of a dash for the stranger, knocking him down from
behind with the shaft of her spear and a tackle. He gave a solid
kick to her face and broke free, getting to his feet and running
again.

Jim caught up to Cassidy as she got up
again. They chased the stranger along the trench for a handful of
metres before exiting to the open again. Here, the wind was able to
strike with full force once more, even harder than at their post.
Cassidy was blown against the corner of the temple’s stone, and Jim
made only a step or so more before being thrown down by the
wind.

The stranger, seemingly immune to the
storm, kept running, fading into the flying sand as a vague dark
figure once again, and then gone.

::: Core Nanite Colony Log
:::

::: [Marcus](?)

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
1

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
2

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
3

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
4

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
5

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
6

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
7

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
8

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
9

::: Host synapses not responding, retry
10

………
..

::: Host synapse failure.

::: [Marcus](?)

::: [Marcus](?)

::: [Marcus](?)

::: [Marcus](?)

::: [Marcus](?)

::: Host deceased.

::: Awaiting synapse activity or new
host.

::: Standby.

::: Standby.

::: Standby.

::: Standby.

::: Standby.

With no choices left, Cassidy waited in
the trench with Jim. “Who the fuck was that?” She was getting a
little hoarse from yelling over the wind.

“
Did it look like we knew
each other or something? Damn, I hope this storm breaks
soon.”

Cassidy walked over to the middle of
the trench, and called up the opening. “Cheryl?!”

Jim went closer to Cassidy so he could
speak to her without screaming. “You think she can hear you over
the storm?”

“
I don’t know. I heard a
scream earlier, I think. That’s why I was headed that way when that
guy appeared again. Frig, I should have gone after him when he
first passed by.”

“
When?”

“
I saw him for a second
while we were huddled at our post. I should have done something
about him, but the sand and wind...” Even as she said it, it felt
like a shallow excuse. She managed to fight through it after she
heard the scream. “CHERYL?! MARCUS?!”

~~~

It was done. It was done. After all the
preparation, the waiting, and anxiety, this great mission was
complete. The Aguei spirit was free. Despite arrangements to get
away, Horad hadn’t really imagined this phase of the plan very
vividly. He was going through the motions, creeping along the sand
again, but his mind wasn’t on it.

This suit was hot. It might hide his
heat, but it wasn’t cool. Horad couldn’t remember ever sweating
this much in the desert before. He needed only to imagine aircraft
searching for his body heat, and his urge to slide out of the
damned suit was pushed down again.

That old man. His eyes. If he’d been
born Aguei, he’d have made a fine Elder. Horad could not help but
respect the spirit in his defiance. It is good to respect your
enemy, yes? Why would that need to lead to regret?

Then there was that girl. She looked
right into his eyes as he twisted the knife. Why couldn’t she look
at the knife, or the old man? Why did she need to aim those eyes at
her killer’s eyes? Why did he have to look back?

Horad reminded himself. It was their
fault. They were part of the problem. They were part of the
problem. The problem. But he faced the problem, he
overcame.

He was a hero today. Push the doubts
aside.

~~~~~

:::C /29

~~~~~

In the cooling chaos of the storm,
Cipriana led a small group heading to check in at the temple. Only
a third of the way there, Jim came running up.

“
Cip….!”

“
What is it?” Cip was
worried that the storm had been a little rough on a couple of
people, but Jim was pale and trembling.

“
Cip, two of our people...
Marcus. Marcus and Cheryl. I have to call... call someone to come.”
Cipriana had brought a first aid kit, but it didn’t impress Jim.
“It’s bad. I have to call… it’s bad.”

“
Alright go. Take Maxine
with you.” Not that Maxine was any more qualified than anyone else
to run the radio, but Jim wasn’t really in a good frame of mind.
“I’m going to the temple.”

“
Okay. It’s bad.” Maxine
grabbed Jim’s hand and got him focused again on getting back to the
base.

Cipriana adjusted the shoulder strap of
the first aid kit, and broke into a run. The other three followers
still with her kept pace. She tried not to think the worst, but Jim
was very shaken. Don’t think, just run.

As they got closer to the temple, she
saw there was no-one at their posts at the front doorways. Cipriana
pushed herself to run faster. She ran up the steps, to the
front-right doorway, and stopped, seeing one of the guards sitting
down near the bottom of the upper stairs, with his spear across his
lap.

“
Are you alright?!” Cipriana
shouted, her usual aura of peace shattered.

The guard looked up at her as if he
hadn’t noticed her arrival, and was startled when she spoke. His
eyes spoke volumes. Cip was here. If anyone can make it better, Cip
would know how. Everything was better around Cip. But logic
overtook this sliver of hope. The den mother can’t solve
everything. “I’m fine. But…” he pointed up towards the north door,
and went back to staring into nowhere.