Watching Yute (39 page)

The bay was empty. She stood near the
door, with the spear standing beside her. She knew it was at least
another ten minutes before they arrived, but she didn’t care. She
was ready. She felt the trembles throughout her body, but this time
it wasn’t grief. Was it just anticipation? The instinctual fight or
flee reaction? Either way, she was going to set it loose when the
door opened.

After a while, Cipriana wandered in,
and stood next to Cassidy, saying nothing. As odd as Cassidy found
this, she welcomed the silence. Still… why did Cipriana want to
come? Was she regretting not taking Armil’s offer first?

Not long after, Storms started
arriving. Keith showed up, and handed an IR/air mask to both
Cipriana and Cassidy. “Sirs, you might want to step back from the
door, to let the Storms go first.”

Cassidy dropped her mask. “I’m taking
point.”

“
Ah, I guess that’s your
prerogative. Lemmie get you a flack jacket though. I mean, it’s
only one guy who may not even be armed, but better s-“

“
Don’t bother.”

Keith took it from Cassidy’s voice that
it wasn’t negotiable. He handed the jacket to Cipriana, who now
stood there holding the mask and the jacket. She wasn’t putting
them on, but she wasn’t dropping them either.

Keith started talking to the Storms as
the airlimb slowed to land, but Cassidy was deaf to it. She widened
her stance, and took the spear in both hands. Cipriana looked
forward at the door, and lowered her head.

“
I am not needed here.”
Cipriana quietly said, moving aside. Cassidy noticed this and
wondered, as everyone else did, but this wasn’t the time for
meandering idle discussions.

As the door opened, Cassidy burst
forward as soon as there was room. The sun was blindingly bright
despite her hat, but she saw enough to hone in on the target hatch.
She used the blade of the spear to flip it open, and jabbed
downward to trigger the trap before darting by.

She rushed down the steps, while the
much more heavily laden Storms were still running to the hatch. She
walked forcefully across the front room and the silent Storms
poured in behind her with their smoke.

If the Storms brought the clouds
inside, Cassidy was the lightning. Lightning gripped her spear with
both hands but her true weapons were wrath and fear.

She entered the office where Horad
waited, while the growing smoke behind her choked more and more of
the light out of the other rooms. He stood quietly, watching
Cassidy approach steadily, with murder in her eyes, and that spear.
He recognized the reaper.

Storms flooded the room, surrounding
Cassidy and Horad, yet they were ignored by both. Horad lifted his
handgun out of his jacket, just enough to let it drop to the
floor.

How easy would it be, Cassidy thought.
One clean swipe of the spear would open his throat, and send
payment for his crime across the wall. She held the spear upright,
and stared at him until his knees pulled him to the
floor.

“
You are the one who killed
two soldiers at the Yute temple?” She asked in a flat tone that
sounded more like a statement.

He lowered his head as the smoke
surrounded him in blackness. “Yes.” It didn’t matter now. There was
no point in arguing with the bearer of that spear.

Cassidy was equally blinded, but
continued to stare down at him. She felt Keith tap her hip with a
mask. “Want this now?” She took it, and put it on. She looked down
at the condemned. He didn’t even bother looking around. She knelt
to his level, and spoke soft, but grimly.

“
What is the name of the
murderer who took them from me?”

He looked towards her voice and
swallowed hard. “Elder Hor… Horad. Just Horad.” He knew who gave
her the spear, and knew he couldn’t call himself an Elder any
longer.

Cassidy touched the side edge of the
spearhead to side of his throat as the Storms watched. “Tell me,
Horad just Horad. Why is it that you are not dead? Why after you
killed a trusted friend, and the love of my life, aren’t I enjoying
sawing through your neck and watching your blood soak into the
floor of this hole in the dirt? Why aren’t I kicking your fucking
head across the room, and across the desert, and laughing as birds
rip it apart?”

Horad leaned his head instinctively
away from the spear.

“
I asked you a fucking
question!!” Cassidy yelled.

Horad mumbled “I don’t
know.”

Cassidy leaned in close, to whisper in
his ear. “It would be too fast.”

Cassidy stood, and watched Horad’s eyes
widen. Now he was looking around, despite still not being able to
see anything. It was all Cassidy could do to resist ripping him
apart. She thought of Cheryl, and her wounds, and re-imagined her
last moments, daring herself to lose control. Daring herself to rip
this bastard apart.

She sighed, and shook her head. She
looked over to Keith. As if she needed to tell the Storms to be
quiet, she held her index finger up in front of the mask in a “shh’
gesture. She pointed at Horad, and then pointed outside.

Keith nodded, and signaled a couple of
Storms. Within seconds, they had searched Horad. They found one
other weapon on him.

A knife.

Keith was kneeling down to examine the
knife, possibly pick it up, but Cassidy stepped on the edge of it
to stop him. He looked up at her. Cassidy shook her head slowly,
and pointed at herself. She gestured to them all to get out. The
Storms began leaving, slowed down by having to escort the sightless
prisoner.

Keith lingered, waiting for other
orders. Cassidy repeated her gesture to get out, and then held up
five fingers. Keith nodded, and left, leaving Cassidy in the room
with the knife, and the quiet.

Cassidy let her spear fall to the
floor, threw off her mask, and crumpled to her knees in front of
the knife. She found it in the darkness, picked it up and held it,
laid across both hands. She was almost disappointed that the blade
wasn’t warm. That she couldn’t feel Cheryl’s pulse in it. The
thought made her all the more aware of her own pulse.

“
Cheryl.” She whispered. The
sound pressed against the silence in the same way that she pressed
the edge of the blade against her palm. “Cry now.” She thought to
herself. “Cry now, stupid.”

The tears refused to come until she
screamed. As loud, and as hard, and as long as she could. She tried
to scream again, but found herself unable to draw
breath.

~~~

Horad was seated in the airlimb bay,
and his cuffs were linked to a chain attached to the floor. There
he sat with four Storms watching him. Where was the spear bearer?
What did she have planned? He found himself nervous. Not a
condition he found himself in often.

“
What now?” he asked the
Storms. They didn’t answer.

“
Is the Grand Elder here?”
he asked with a degree of reverence. One of the Storms scoffed
softly, but no other answer was given. Not long ago, Horad
considered himself a big fish. He was in a position to reconsider
that thought now.

“
Who is the spear bearer?
Her name? What should I call her?” Still, no answer.

After what seemed like a long time,
there was a knock at the bay door. One of the Storms opened it up,
and Cassidy stepped in. She sat across from Horad, but stared at
the floor. The airlimb shortly look off. Cassidy spoke. softly.
“Leave me with him.”

“
Sir?”

She looked at the Storm who questioned
her, then towards the others, then looked towards the door. The
Storms left the room, leaving Cassidy with the chained Horad. She
stared at the floor again. She could hear his breathing. How dare
he? What right did he have to air, and the life he ripped from
others? From her?

She took out his knife, and listened to
the change in his breathing. She let him stew for a bit, and then
spoke as grimly as she had before.

“
Your punishment begins
now.” She paused again, staring at the knife, listening to him
shift, his chain rattling slightly. Dropping the knife onto the
floor between them, she watched it spin on its hilt for a moment
before stopping. She looked up at him, and stared out from under
the brim of her hat. Stared into his eyes. With a dead expression,
she let tears begin to escape.

“
I’m going to tell you about
a girl named Cheryl. I believe you’ve met her.”

~~~

“
Did she give any new
orders?” Colonel Nafim asked Keith when he entered the ops room,
“We’ve been floating around for hours.”

“
No Sir, she’s still in the
bay with the suspect, and some sharp things.”

“
He confessed. I heard it
over the comm. In Aguei law, that’s as good as any conviction.” She
sat back and put her feet up on the nearby terminal, watching the
various air traffic drift around the radar. “Armil’s in a meeting.
I’d just take us to him, but we also have Captain Reichenbach on
board.”

“
Oh, yes. Sir, I was just
talking to her. Cipriana says she’s not due back at the temple base
until 06:00.”

The Colonel raised an eyebrow. “Stanton
converted you to first name basis protocol, huh?”

Keith sighed. “Sorry Sir, I’m
resisting.”

“
The temple’s got a lot of
slack on the surface. I know it pisses off some of the personnel at
Yute central. Doesn’t seem to bother brass though.”

“
No Sir. I suppose not.
Maybe it’s the Armil connection. But honestly, I think their
general behaviour tends to creep out regular army more than first
name basis. But ever since the nanites have been cleaned out of
their heads, they’re a lot less… weird.”

Colonel Nafim nodded. “Yeah.” She
narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head. “‘Cept Reichenbach.
She…”

Keith was quiet for a moment. “Well,
Cipriana lost someone very close too. It’s hard to really put that
in a bottle.”

“
Do you think she’s fit for
duty?”

“
I’d like to say yes. I
mean, it’s not like she’s doing anything weird. And how hard can it
be to work at that temple, doing token guard duty?”

“
Well, that’s just it. She’s
not just a guard anymore, she’s the C.O.”

Cassidy walked in, looking tired as
hell. “Hey folks.”

“
Sir,” Keith said,
reinforcing a little protocol. “Are you alright?”

“
Yeah, yeah.”

“
Is he alright?” The Colonel
asked.

“
Pffft, yeah. Guts still on
the inside and everything. Let’s go see Armil, I guess. Maybe we
should throw Horad into holding at Yute first.” Cassidy was about
to leave, but paused “No, they should meet. Let’s go see
Armil.”

“
I expect he’ll be available
soon enough.” The Colonel turned to the terminal to make a couple
calls. “Captain Reichenbach isn’t too worried about getting back
before the early morning.”

“
Oh, right.” Cassidy sighed.
“Cip. Yeah, that works out for me. Let’s get moving to go see
Armil, then.”

Cassidy tapped on the door to the
visitor’s room. Cipriana’s voice came back, “Come.” Cassidy slid
open the door to find Cipriana, predictably, in a lotus position on
the bed, eyes closed.

“
Hey there, Cippers.” She
sat down on the corner of the bed, and rested her elbows on her
knees. “Time for a real talk.”

Cipriana opened her eyes and looked at
Cassidy, with a mildly inquisitive expression.

Cassidy sighed, and slid her stare
towards the floor. “So… what’s the deal, huh?”

In her usual calm tone, she replied
“What’s what deal, Cassidy?”

“
Why’d you feel the need to
come along for this ride, huh?”

“
I thought I might be
useful, or find something interesting.”

Cassidy scoffed. “More interesting than
the guy that killed Cheryl and Marcus!?”

“
Well… a different kind of
interesting. I was hoping I might hear something about the ghost.”
There it was. Everyone had figured that the attack had something to
do with the nanites, since Horad came equipped with some, which
triggered the destruction of the previously unnoticed nanites in
the area. Most of them. “I hoped that once we got here, we’d notice
some signs of nanite production capability.”

“
But there was
none.”

“
Correct. The killer is a
pawn for someone.”

“
Alright, Cip, I gotta know,
am I talking to you, the real you, or am I talking to the
ghost?”

“
Both of us.”

“
I’m not really content with
that. Cip, are you able to answer without the ghost
interfering?”

“
Yes. It hasn’t forced me to
do anything.”

Sure, if that wasn’t the ghost talking.
“Doesn’t the idea of a pile of microscopic robots fucking with your
head make you a little uneasy?”

Cipriana raised her hand.

Cassidy looked at her, confused and
shrugged. “Uh, yes, the long haired earth-goddess in the front row,
you had a question?”