Abendau's Heir (The Inheritance Trilogy Book 1) (41 page)

“It doesn’t matter if they are or not, Sam.”

“You know none of what you’re doing is possible? You shouldn’t even be having this conversation; you were practically catatonic.”

“It’s a bit late to bring it up,” Kare said.

“I asked what would happen if you got your powers back, and only Sonly believed you could do something. I went for it because I didn’t see any other option.”

“I know it seems impossible, but so is seeing the future, and taking peoples’ minds– but Ealyn could, and Averrine does. Who knows why or how it works? They think it’s to do with the processing centre of the brain– that it’s enhanced. All I know is its real, and it does. It’s sir, by the way, Lieutenant.”

“Do you get tired? I mean, does there come a point where you need to charge up again? Sir.”

“Do you get tired if you read too much?” Sam nodded. “It’s the same. Mostly, I know what I want to do, and my mind does it. To be fair, it took years of practice but now it’s easy. But if I push it, I drain myself.”

The transport doors opened and Kare let himself be forced out.
Head down.
Passive.
He felt for the port security, sensing where they were.

The prisoner behind, dressed as a guard, pushed him forward, not gently. Port security gathered in the bay, ready to see him reduced and beaten. Kare smiled inwardly; let them look, it made his job easier.

“Where’s Beck?” asked one of the port guards, and Kare held his breath, hoping the Banned corporal remembered his role.

“He has the shits,” the corporal said. “He’s following with the med staff.”

He pushed Kare again and Kare deliberately stumbled, snicking his cuffs not off, but free, as he did. He allowed himself to be spun into the access corridor opposite. Silom was led to the edge of the port, ready to move out of the bay, and Lichio hung back. Kare brought his head up and nodded, first to Lichio, then Silom. He straightened fully, the bulk of the guards trapped between the three Banned squads. As he brought his hands forward, free, he took the weapon Sam proffered, and turned with his men.

“Now,” Kare ordered, and Lichio’s squad opened fire, the port guards trapped and cut down easily and quickly. Kare waited, the cold floor beneath him, and almost smiled; he’d never reckoned on leading an uprising shirtless and barefoot.

Silom’s squad moved out of the main hangar, and Kare led his into the access corridor which ran to the main control room. Behind him the firing stopped as Lichio’s team secured the hangar.

“Like the quarry,” Kare said to the soldiers around him. “We’ll storm it. I’ll place the grenade. Two, three and four position in the room; follow room clearance drill. Give me a grenade.”

He held out his hand and someone handed him a grenade. Opening the door, he rolled it in. He shut the door, heard shouts on the other side and felt frantic attempts to open either door. He held firm until there was a muffled bang and some screams. Waves of pain and fear coming from the room hit his mind and he turned his head away, reminding himself there was no choice. It had been almost a decade since he’d done something similar on Dignad– it hadn’t got any easier.

“Take it,” Kare told his squad. He waited during the short skirmish and then went in, Sam following, looking a bit green. He glanced round at the array of computers and security equipment.

“No access codes, sir, plus there’s some damage,” said his second. “And we’re coming under some heavy fire from the palace walkway.”

Kare walked over to one of the computers and then grinned. Finally, something he was confident he could do.

“You’ve no access, why are you smiling, sir?” challenged Sam.

Kare, seated already at the computer desk, brought up a screen. “The other thing I’m really, really good at?”

“Computers, sir?” Sam said, a resigned look on his face. “As well as the psyche?”

“I’ve always been a high achiever. It’s best to have more than one skill, don’t you think? I could do with Lichio here, though.”

He started to work with the system, quickly moving through its security. He nodded to his second. “Sergeant, go and relieve Captain le Payne; I need him here.” He brought the screen up to view the walkway and the soldiers on it. He scrolled through his options, selected one and was rewarded by the pulse of a laser. A line of soldiers went down. He started to bring up the other screens, and saw the defence troops were launching a concerted counter-attack. Armoured vehicles moved out from the palace to the port, their blast cannons pounding the cargo doors. The port shook with each hit. Just like the attack on the base, thought Kare, and he worked through the system quicker.

He got to the second from last connection and realised the damage from his attack had caused it to fail. He climbed under the desk to look at the connections and see what he could do.

“Wow, like a toy shop, sir,” a familiar voice said.

Kare rolled his eyes. “It’s good you’re pleased, but I need you to work the defences, not rub your hands in delight.”

“You’re feeling more like yourself, I see,” said Lichio.

Kare ignored him. “There should be a shield for the port if I get through the last security level. Once that’s up, they’ll not be able to take it.” He saw where the damaged connection was and reconnected it. When he emerged, Lichio, for all his talk, was working the system, firing at the Empress’ troops.

“Are the spies in?” Kare asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll have to hunt out Simone later and thank her. Assuming we survive long enough,” Kare said, and grinned at Lichio’s look of concern. Kare zoned the sounds of the attack out, calmly working his way through the last few screens. “You have laser cannons mounted on each entranceway, Lich; use those, too. If I open the bombard cannons it’ll slow the shield.”

“Okay, but we need that shield up,” Lichio said. “Bay three’s cargo door is nearly compromised.”

“A couple of minutes.”

There was another assault on the door, the armoured vehicles unaffected by the port’s lasers. Their mounted cannons continued to send out targeted blasts, one after another. Kare cleared the last security level and waited for the system to confirm. On the screen, the cargo door buckled further. Silom’s squad had gathered inside.

“Colonel,” warned Lichio. “We need it now.”

“Listen,” Kare said. The noise from the explosions became muffled.

“It’s up?”

“It’s up, and they’ll know it. They’ll pull back. Have a good look at the defences when you get the chance. This place is pretty close to impenetrable.”

“They’ve pulled away from the back door, sir.”

“Good. I think we can say we’ve secured the port, then.”

He opened the comms link and typed in a familiar configuration, one he had never expected to use again. “Banned fleet,” he said, “this is Colonel Varnon. The port is ours. I say again; the port is ours. Bring your ships in.”

He spun his seat to face Lichio. “Any happier?”

Lichio looked at him, and Kare could see the respect back in his eyes.

“Yes. How do you plan to run it, sir?”

“As soon as the Banned forces are in, start an aerial assault. Keep Abendau locked down. They’ll try to use whatever fighters they have at the port in Bendau. Make sure we have coverage over the desert, take down anything that comes across. Use any Controllers Sonly brings for that– that’s where they’ll use theirs. Hold the ground forces back; we have to reduce their defences first.”

“If I may, sir?” Kare nodded his assent. “I think we would be better assaulting tonight, before they can get the defences in place. If we wait, they could fortify the palace more, bring in troops from the city.”

Kare hesitated while he considered Lichio’s words, then shook his head. “No, we do it my way. If we hit them hard enough we should be in position for a ground assault tomorrow, or the next day, and have a better chance to win.”

Lichio looked like he wanted to argue further, but after a moment he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Thank you, Lichio. You take it for now; I want to meet the ships as they come in, see what we have.”

“I’ll liaise with them. With all this to play with, I could stay here all day.”

“That’s good,” Kare said. “I have a shortage of techies, so you probably will.” He turned to go.

“Kare,” Lichio said softly, and Kare turned back at the use of his first name. “Take the collar off, and put on a shirt. You don’t want to frighten her.”

Kare paused. “What the hell am I going to say to her, Lich?”

Lichio looked at him with sympathy. “I’m planning to start with hello. Do you want me to tell her? You know, about the– ”

“No, I will,” Kare interrupted, his voice harsh. “Sometime. Somehow. But, thank you.”

He snapped the collar off, and held it in his hands for a moment before he set it down. He took a jacket from the back of one of the seats and started to walk to the port, buttoning it up as he did. Sonly was here and he could hardly remember what she looked like. His hands dampened and he wiped them on his jacket, and realised he was as scared now as he had been when he’d faced Beck. He belonged to her, as she did him, and he wanted back to that. But he was afraid he might still be Beck’s, and wasn’
t sure he could be both. He paused for a moment, trying to tell himself it was Sonly, not a stranger. He started walking again, still worried that too much had happened to go back.

The ship swooped over the great city of Abendau, diving when the palace guns fired on it. Below, armoured vehicles were in defensive lines at each of the access points to the city and palace. There were no enemy ships in the air.

“No aerial defences at all?” Sonly checked.

“No. It looks like the colonel has the port defences operational, too.”

She moved to the exit hatch before the ship landed, clenching and unclenching her hands. She was actually going to see him. Her stomach churned, part excitement, part fear. Margueritte Tortdeniel’s words came back, her description of a Kare who had capitulated. The details of the reports received from Sam’s partner. However Kare was, he’d be changed.

As soon as the hatch opened she stepped out and looked round the port, but Kare wasn't in sight. She climbed down, planning to find the control room, and stopped at the sound of his voice. Her heart started to beat faster, and as she walked down the gangway, the floor swam in front of her.

She got to the bottom and looked around. Someone was watching her from about fifteen feet away, and at first she wondered if it was the doctor she’d heard about. Then she looked past the white hair and lined face to the unmistakable green eyes, and stood for a moment, shock running through her, so sharp it was a physical pain. This couldn’
t be him: Kare was in his twenties, not this old man. Her breath was coming too quickly, making her dizzy and sick; what had they done to change him so much?

His eyes were fixed on her and she knew he could tell what she was thinking– even without his powers, he would have known. She told herself it didn’t matter, that nothing mattered except he was back. That got her moving. She ran past a cargo truck and through a squad of soldiers, until she got to about three feet from him. She stopped– he hadn’t moved. He swallowed, as if he was nervous, and she noticed for the first time the scar on his neck, the one Michael had warned her about. It was red and vivid against his pale skin.

“Kare?” she asked. He nodded but didn’t seem to know what to say. The silence stretched, and she thought he mightn’t find any words, that she’d have to speak again.

“Hello, Sonly,” he said at last, his voice choked and husky. “I made it back to you. Well, most of me did.”

Sonly closed the final few feet and threw her arms around him. He was thinner than she’d ever known, and tense, so tense it felt like he could break. He stood, not embracing her back, and she didn’t know if she should hold him closer or give him space. Her throat closed at a rush of tears. She’d always known what to do for him. She’d held him through nightmare after nightmare, reaching for him in the darkness of their room, and he’d taken her comfort, had used it to find strength, as she’d used his. Now he was stiff and still, a stranger, and she’d never felt so useless and lost.

“I missed you,” she said, into his chest, and felt him nod. She looked up and saw his eyes were filled with tears, but when he blinked, they cleared, as if she’d imagined it. He pushed her away, not roughly, but firmly.

“Kare….” She had to say something. The missing months, what had happened to him, hung heavy between them. “What can I do? What will help?”

“I– I….” He looked away, and then glanced back, not quite meeting her eyes. He was shaking. “Please– don’t push. I can’t take it.” He swallowed, his adam’s apple prominent in his thin throat. “I’m just about coping as it is.”

He turned to leave and she caught his arm to stop him, the bones of his wrists hard. “It will be okay.” He didn’t move, didn’t show any life in him or any sign of hope. “Won’t it, Kare?”

His eyes held hers for just a moment too long. “I don’t know.” He pulled his hand away. “I don’t know anything. Not anymore.”

He’d always had the answers; he was smart, he knew what he wanted. He wasn’t this shadow, this shaking person whose eyes shifted around the room, watching, whose arms had crossed in front of him, as if holding the world at a distance.

“I can help,” she said, but didn’t know if she could. She could barely find the words to say to him, or know how to comfort him– how was she ever going to help him through this? She wanted to wrap him in her arms and never let go, keep him where no one could hurt him again. She took a step forward, but he leaned back, rejecting her, and the words she should say– that she loved him, that they’d find a way past this– died.

“You will,” he said. His voice was soft. “But there’s too much going on right now. I need to finish the attack, take Abendau. Make us safe. Then I can think about things. Not before.” His eyes were pleading. “Please. Give me that time.”

He was right. With the chance of his mother returning he needed safety, not a bare port in a war zone.

“What can I do?” she asked. “I didn’t come to watch.”