The speed of the Swift shocked Lapis. She had not expected it to zip along so fast, but the trees below blurred. She had to look much further afield, so her eyes did not cross. Tearlach sat in the back, face plastered to the window, but she doubted he noticed much more than she.
“There!” Cassa said, pointing ahead.
Lapis saw nothing. The Bit made a wide turn, and she got a good look at a meadow with another metal building. It looked identical to the previous one, even sporting the same communications dish. Another weather research station? Outside stood a terron larger than Vali, with a dark blue head that faded into a dusty blue-grey, five smaller ones scattered around them, while two mercs with weapons on their backs stood next to the boxy vehicles and waved their hands, animated.
One vehicle had the side blown out, sharp bits jutting away from it.
The door of the building lay on the droopy grass, torn from its hinges. Collapsed next to it was a limp khentauree.
The group looked up at the Swift, and the men reached for their tech.
Rodas pressed a button. “We’re from the Mawai Research workstation,” he said. “We just encountered thirty or so of those khentauree, and they’re headed this way.”
“He’s not lying, Badger!” Cassa yelled, as if expecting the thrust of her voice to influence the large terron. His head jerked back, and he took a keener interest in the craft. “A larger contingent than that is heading south, towards the station, and there’s no guarantee that they won’t target the Depths.” She paused. “I can’t read your claws from here!”
“Think they’ll attack if we land?” Rodas asked drily.
A rhetorical question, because he set the Bit down without anyone else’s input. Lapis smiled to herself; she never pictured her uncle as strong, fearless, but a quiet and uncertain academic would never have chanced a potentially deadly encounter like this one. Why did he?
Cassa flung herself from her chair and rubbed at her hands as the ramp deployed. The large terron ambled over, his sharp, bark-brown gaze focused on the scientist. He raised a claw and his fingers flew through the words.
Behind the lizard, the mercs trained their weapons on her.
“Sherge Badger, the Depths needs your help,” Cassa gritted. “Instead you are breaking into Mawai’s research buildings. You’re a respected leader. Why are you doing this?”
The terron stuck his snout into the air and flicked his tongue.
The mercs cautiously approached; two more joined them, all outfitted in black camouflage gear, with thickly padded vests, knives and overstuffed backpacks, canteens tightly strapped to one side. They carried tech weapons large enough, they required both hands to hold them. Lapis slipped from her seat, alert, and took a position on Cassa’s left, waiting for the men to do something asinine enough to warrant a knife in the eye.
“I don’t really care what they’re looking for,” Cassa snarled. “But you need to get out of here. Unless you think you can take on at least thirty khentauree on your own. We found out last night that tech weapons don’t work well on them. I’m betting you just found that out yourself,” and she pointed to the machine. “Your kosee aren’t up to the challenge.”
Two of the lizards growled at that, but she ignored them as he spoke. The mercs glanced at the defeated khentauree, then at the terron; Lapis assumed Badger crushed it, and their weapons did no damage.
“Someone modded them.” Cassa’s voice took on a warning tone. “They aren’t like the machines you knew centuries ago. Those cyan spheres in their chest have—”
“What happened last night?”
Cassa eyed the merc who interrupted her; he had burnt red skin and sun-bleached locks pulled back so tight it made the edges of his face look funny. “Your people fought two khentauree last night, and they lost, Lieutenant Cile. Badly.” She folded her arms. “A group from Jiy staying at those four cabins off the main road offered sanctuary to your men. And they’ll stay there until Gredy sees reason, which may never happen.”
“What happened with Gredy?” Cile said through clenched, smoke-stained teeth. His grip tightened on his weapon.
“Gredy attacked someone from the group who helped your men. No one’s very happy with him right now. He’s threatened to attack the workstation and the Depths.” She glared as Badger rumbled, unaffected, then turned back to the man. The low sound vibrated Lapis’s chest, but she kept her reaction hidden, unlike the mercs, who grimaced. “He’s focused on revenge for an insult. If you get into trouble out here with the khentauree, not only is he going to ignore you, no one else is going to bother because you’re on his side.”
Cile’s eyes narrowed and flicked to the Bit. “You mean killed.”
“Nope.” Lapis half-laughed. “She means attacked. And I depantsed him. And I got to see his pretty blue, skimpy underwear up close but not very personal.”
Her uncle sighed in exasperation as the mercs regarded her in horrified disbelief. The terron cocked his head at her, then his eyes narrowed and his head jerked up.
The same unease that swept through her at the previous building spread from her chest. She pressed her hand against her breastbone and looked to the trees behind the Bit. “I felt this when they showed up at the last place. They’re here.”
Tearlach and her uncle looked through the Swift’s windows as Cassa whirled, to stare as the first machines marched past the treeline.
It should not have surprised her, that the mercs opened fire, uncaring whether the Bit sat between them and their targets. The beams struck the silver sides and bounced away, reflecting in odd directions. Return fire from the khentauree did the same. Lapis cursed and bent down, though that would hardly keep her from getting nailed in the back.
Badger whirled Cassa around and pushed her to the ramp. She stumbled and looked back; he said something and maneuvered to block the shots from striking her as he made a shooing motion.
“We can help!” She paused and mashed her lips together while she watched his claws. “I know what I said. I don’t want to leave—” She trailed off. “You what?” she asked flatly.
Cile levered his weapon at Cassa. “You’re taking us up and out of here,” he commanded.
Lapis did not bother to hide her disgust. Cassa, focused on Badger, did not seem to have heard.
“You did what?” So dark, sinister. The terron dropped his head; if human, Lapis would have assumed him embarrassed and upset.
The other mercs raced up the ramp and pointed their weapons at Rodas and Tearlach. Cile snagged Cassa and dragged her into the craft, shaking with repressed fury. Lapis looked at the large terron; he jerked his head at her, then the Bit.
“You may need to retreat,” she advised. “Your scales protect you, but we don’t know how long, and under what kind of assault.”
He wobbled his head back and forth, then jerked his chin to the craft. She raced up the ramp; Cassa screamed something and fought Cile; what had Badger told her?
“If anything happens to Tovi, Badger, I am coming for you!” Cassa shrieked as the door slid shut, bapping Lapis on the butt. Dread shot through her chest as a cyan beam splattered against the Bit and broke apart.
“Tovi?”
“He said they went and got Tovi,” she said, shaking hard. “And your apprentice. They snatched him when he went to the bathroom, and Rin wouldn’t let Tovi go with them alone. They gave them to another unit that went further into the ruins.”
Lapis fought for her footing as the Bit rose, dropped to her knee, then rammed her head into Cile’s stomach. He made an odd hnnff ; the backs of his knees slammed into the middle bench and he tipped over, her momentum carrying him down. He wailed as the edge dug into his lower back, and he landed on his neck and shoulders. Tearlach planted his foot against the man’s throat and Lapis yanked the weapon from his grasp as the Bit careened to the left, throwing the other mercs off balance. One righted himself, but before he could point his tech, she triggered a blade and cut the tip off. She had no idea if that might inhibit a strike, but he lowered it, aghast.
Cassa grabbed the weapons from the other two, who apparently had no experience with people who fought back. These were the mercs who followed Gredy? Unskilled bullies, who kidnapped teens? Surely a man who spent time in a government prison had access to more credible men.
Or maybe she was furious enough, she did not care what kind of dangerous people she fought. “You kidnapped Rin and Tovi?”
Cile’s eyes watered and he coughed. His back must hurt plenty. Good. “You filthy—”
“Answer the question, or I’ll throw you out of here. You can explain your shit to the treetops when you hit them.”
He stubbornly held his peace. Lapis smiled and Tearlach smiled back.
“Don’t worry. The Minq have a way with the silent, cowardly types.”
Cassa barked at the others. “Sit.”
Maybe their luck has slightly shifted. Lapis held her blades ready and attempted the furious, insane look a couple of street actors wore while they performed the Omerdewrane and Chewraineve myth. And may those non-existent gods help the mercs, if anything happened to Rin and Tovi. She and Cassa would never forgive—and their targets would never see another dawn.
