And All the Stars (19 page)

A different pair were trying to intercept the sprinters,
gouging a channel into the bright green grass with a punch which knocked both
women sideways. The one holding the
light animal – dangling it by its ears – somehow angled her landing so that her
shield bounced her toward the Spire. With a stumble, she ran into starry darkness.

At the end of the muddy gouge her companion lay broken. She had been a short woman, maybe twenty,
with dark braided hair and bronzed skin which set off the blue of the
stain. The fine drizzle dewed her skin,
and glimmered in the light of blooming wings.

The Moth lifted, a slow undulation, and swam through the rain
into the stars.

"There's a leader board," Fisher said, and tilted
the laptop so Madeleine could see a web page where a name had appeared in two
different scripts, with the number 2 beside it. "That's the São Paulo clan." He paused, looking across at Noi, who was grey, lips set, and added:
"You don't have to stay."

"Yes, we do," she said. "They're showing us their limits. Their attacks."

Madeleine stared at the screen, as the image shifted to
another part of the golf course in Manila, to another group of Blues chasing
long-eared balls of light. The second
time a Blue died, the Moth seemed to be fatally wounded as well, emerging only
to slump to the wet grass, colour leaching from its blue pattern. Other Blues were merely injured, and limped
or were carried away, helped by Greens stationed near the cameras.

The chase for the long-eared balls of light was quick, brutal
and efficient. There were many more
teams than balls, and soon the losers were returning to their home Spires, to
face the widely varied reaction of their Cores. Two dozen corpses remained, human and alien, but it wasn't particularly
comforting that most of the Moths had died with their hosts.

"The garage," Madeleine said stiffly, when it
seemed they were done. "Practice? If we use a
look-out?"

They looked at each other, then at the screen at another
crumpled, discarded shell which had been a person, and nodded.

"
You do not understand me, gentlemen
," Pan
said, throwing his head back. "
I
asked to be excused in case I should not be able to discharge my debt to all
three; for Monsieur Athos has the right to kill me first, which must much
diminish the face-value of your bill, Monsieur
Porthos
,
and render yours almost null, Monsieur
Aramis
. And now, gentlemen, I repeat, excuse me, but
on that account only, and—on guard!
"

Min made a by-play of drawing a sword, and wincing as if his
shoulder was injured, but said: "
When you please, monsieur
,"
and then skipped backward as Pan feinted, fist out. Extra layers of clothing bulking their
figures, they circled each other, throwing out finger-punches, and then firmer
blows, not full strength, but enough that they had to set their feet or be
knocked backward by their smoothly responsive shields.

"
The cardinal's Guards!
" Emily called
suddenly, and Min and Pan spun toward Madeleine and punched with dual force,
and though Madeleine's shield automatically reacted to the punches, there was
no way to keep her footing and she struggled to bring up a second shield at the
right strength before she collided with one of the support pillars.

Bouncing forward, she stumbled and dropped to padded knees,
but managed to counter-punch at Min and Pan both, since they'd foolishly
clumped together. Min dived to one side,
leaving only Pan to be slammed into a car door. The glass had been smashed in an earlier bout, but this time metal
crumpled.

"All right, Pan?" Nash asked from the east lookout
post, as Madeleine held her hands out in the 'no attack' signal.

"Yeah." Pan
stepped out of the concave imprint he'd made. "I managed not to bounce! Though I'm not sure if I can claim credit, or if I just hit the right
point between too hard and too soft. You
weren't holding back as much that time,
Maddie
."

"Meant to only step up a notch," Madeleine said,
shakily. "But I think I'm getting a
little better at judging." Hopefully she'd improve before accidentally killing someone.

"Rest and then we'll swap to Emily and Fisher for a
final bout," Noi said from the west lookout, and Madeleine obediently
plopped down near the entry gate. Min
plucked an invisible hat from his head, dipping into an elaborate, hat-twirling
bow, and joined her.

It was the fourth practice session. The garage under the North Building was
suitably isolated, entirely separate from the main apartment, with only one
perforated metal entry gate and a few ventilation shutters offering anyone a
chance of seeing what was happening. And
for that they would need to walk most of the way down the wharf and peer into
the gloom of the garage.

The first day, upset and angry, they'd done little more than
peck at each other, limited by the unforgiving concrete and steel environment,
and recognising an added hurdle: for all its privacy, the garage was cramped by
a half dozen cars – and their alarms. But as dusk came on, they risked moving several out to the visitor
parking between the two buildings, and disconnected the batteries of the
remainder, disabling the alarms.

During the second session Pan had started turning their
attempts to learn into a game, switching through an endless stream of fight
scenes –
Hamlet
,
The Princess Bride
,
The
Empire Strikes Back, Monty Python
– and falling frequently back on an
evolving Blue Musketeer persona. It
wasn't till the third session that Madeleine realised that Pan was as intent on
distracting everyone else as he was trying to make himself feel better. They were all facing the gap between their
current abilities and those displayed during the Manila challenge, and trying
to believe they had some hope.

"We're getting better at blocking physical impacts, at
least," she said, loud enough for the two lookouts to hear. "And not paralysing ourselves when we
try to shield-stun someone else."

"I wish we could practice in a park," Emily
said. "So we didn't have to keep
worrying about bouncing into the ceiling."

"Or through it." Pan grinned up at a circular impact mark. "Too much pixie dust,
Tink
."

"I think I'll nap before the next challenge,"
Madeleine added. "And take the late
night watch."

"I'll take early–" Nash began.

"Down! Move!"

Noi, eyes wide, hurled herself from her lookout position at
the westernmost ventilation shutter. They scrambled to their feet, hurrying for shelter behind pillars and
cars.

Too late, and pointless beside. The glowing thing which leapt against the
entry gate clearly knew exactly where they were. It made a huffing noise which had something
of the whine of a jet engine to it, and the metal bars shuddered

"The Hell is that?" Pan asked, abandoning attempts
to hide.

The thing huffed again, and scrabbled. It stood a little taller than a person, the
head long, tapering and bony, topped with two trailing streamers of light which
suggested ears. At the front it had
streamer-fluffed claws, but its rear was elongated, and curled on itself: a sea
serpent's tail.

"Let it in," Fisher said.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Min asked, backing
rapidly away from the gate. "We
can't let that thing in here!"

"We can't let it go away either."

"He's right," Noi said. "
Maddie
, brace
yourself against the rear wall so it sees you first. Everyone else to either side. Try not to force punch wildly or we'll have
the building down. Nash, close the gate
after it, then stay back."

Nash, nearest the controls, gave Fisher and Noi a sharp look,
then pressed the manual release.

"Oh damn," Pan said, then ducked to one side as the
gate tried to lift, and slowed as it hit the glowing creature outside. "I don't think we're ready for
this."

Madeleine was sure she wasn't, but seeing no other option she
dashed to the rear wall of the garage, and set her back to it. She'd barely turned before the gate had
lifted enough for the thing to duck under. It raced straight at her, a galloping motion made strange by the twining
tail, which undulated above the ground as if it swam through water. She hastily brought up her shield, unwilling
to rely on any automatic response, struggling for control. This was impossibly different to mock
duelling with Blue Musketeers.

As it neared her the thing reared, mouth gaping, then pounced
forward, the impact driving her into the concrete even as the shield bounced it
away. Immediately it surged at her
again, at a slower speed which didn't produce the bounce reaction, and she
gasped at the weight of it, pressing both the shield and her into the wall.

"Try knocking it down with shields while it's occupied
with
Maddie
," Pan said, racing up.

Fitting action to words, he immediately shield-smashed the
glowing creature, but rebounded from the contact. Then the coiling tail lashed toward him, a
crunching slam only avoided by frantic rolling.

"Everyone stand to this side of it," Min said. "Then all low-level punch at once. That might do it without sending it through a
wall."

"Hold fast,
Maddie
," Noi
called, as they scrambled. "If it
gets too much, try to knock it back."

Maintaining the shield for a long period required
concentration, and Madeleine was starting out tired from training, but at least
its interest in her gave everyone a chance to gather together out of
tail-lashing distance.

"Get ready to move if this doesn't work," Fisher
said. "Go."

All the punches together made a
whoomping
noise, and the creature did seem to feel it, twisting sideways. But then, glowing brighter than ever, it
leaped back at Madeleine, its jet engine howl increasing in intensity.

"I think you made it stronger!" Madeleine gasped,
as she was again slammed backward into the wall, not daring to cushion with a
shield in case it bounced her forward. Unable to stand the weight, she pushed out with the front shield, glad
she'd put a lot of practice into not paralysing herself, and took a relieved
breath when she succeeded in jolting the glow-monster a few feet away.

"If shields cause rebound when struck quickly, move in
slow," Fisher said rapidly.

"Surround it and all press in," Noi agreed.

"Nash, come when we have it pinned," Fisher added,
and Madeleine couldn't understand why, but had to focus on keeping her shield
up as the glow-monster came at her again.

It seemed to be trying to knock her to the ground and with
its increased strength Madeleine was not only being pushed into the wall, but
she could feel the glow-monster getting closer, making gradual progress through
her shield.

"Set your feet," Min warned, and then rocked
backward as his attempt to pin the thing's tail was only partially successful.

Nash ran up. Madeleine
still hadn't understood what he was expected to do, since, while he could
shield and punch a little, he was vastly weaker, and tended to collapse almost
immediately. He couldn't use the
precious energy he drew from them to fight.

But that, of course, was the answer, and Nash had thought
through Fisher's reasoning quicker than Madeleine. Squeezing between Noi and Pan, he set both
hands to the thing's heaving side.

The reaction was immediate: frantic thrashing threatening to
hurl them in every direction. Fisher and
Pan, the weakest among them, stumbled, but pressed in again.

"Hold firm," Noi gasped as the thing's howling cry
scaled up to painful intensity, enough to make them want to stop everything in
favour of covering ears.

"Too much." Nash was blazing, his palms and the stars which covered the back of his
neck burning pinpoints.

"Vent," Fisher told him tersely. "Go outside and punch over the
water."

Nash ran, the necessity of re-opening the garage door slowing
him down. But once he was out, he had a
clear shot east.

"Hurry!" Pan called, as the glow-monster heaved
back from Madeleine, trying to escape, to push against the weakest
shields. Emily and Min fell, and the
tail lashed, swiping Fisher, who ricocheted into the nearest car, and Madeleine
gasped aloud, but saw he'd managed to shield himself against the impact.

Noi and Pan dived on the tail, pinning it to the ground
between them, but they weren't usefully braced. They'd been able to keep it in place when it had her against the wall
and they'd surrounded it and pushed in, but now that it was loose there was no
way any of them could hold it without being knocked away.

"Push down on it and use another shield against the
ceiling!" Min was already
attempting to put his words into action, but it was definitely something easier
said than done. With a startled shout,
he ended up bouncing sideways, and water began spraying from the fire
sprinklers.

Not trusting herself with such a difficult manoeuvre,
Madeleine ran for Nash, barely beating the glow-monster's attempt to run right
over him. With no time for explanations,
she simply spun and shield-punched the thing toward the car with the Pan-sized
dint in its side, the impact catapulting her backward.

"Pin it! Pin
it!" Pan ran forward, and the
others joined him, holding the creature against the car so Nash could risk
approaching. Madeleine ran to join them,
keeping it still as it frantically tried to escape Nash's touch.

It collapsed.

The transition was so swift that most of them went down with
it, falling to puffing heaps around a thing which now glowed no more than a
paper lantern. A lantern the size of a
small car.

"Is – is it properly dead?" Emily whispered.

"I think so." Nash, stars bright, pressed his hand against the thing's neck, then started
back when his fingers sank into the glowing surface. "It doesn't have – it's like it's turned
to mud. Less than that. Fog."