Midnight City (24 page)

“I think I brought them,” Zoey said. Holt and Mira looked at her, heard the shakiness in her voice. “I think they found me when I … did what I did.” She looked up at them both with genuine fear.

“Well. Okay,” Holt said, peering over the edge of the barge. They watched one of the boats fire a cannonful of rusted scrap metal at the nearest walker. The projectile bounced off the red Spider’s armor without making a dent. “I’d say that’s an important realization, wouldn’t you? Kind of a ‘note to self’ type thing. Right?”

“Right.” Zoey nodded.

Another blast, a plume of fire shot into the sky. More bellowing from the walkers.

“We’ll figure it out later,” Mira said, taking Zoey’s hand. “Right now, we need to make ourselves scarce.”

Holt got to his feet and surveyed what was left of the trading post.

More and more boats were detaching, gunning their engines, and retreating downstream as fast as they could. Good for them, not so good for Mira and Holt. The remainder of the post was starting to spin, no longer connected to the riverbanks, and the current was carrying it away. If they didn’t get off quick, they’d have to swim for it.

A rapid-fire hissing as one of the walkers launched a volley of missiles. They whizzed through the air, homing in on two of the retreating boats, and slammed home. More concussions as the vessels ignited, careened out of control, and crashed into each other.

They didn’t waste any more time.

Mira pulled Zoey after them, and they all leapt from boat to boat as fast as they could, trying to make it to dry land. But they had a long way to go. More plasma fire ripped the air; trader kids ran everywhere in a panic, hurriedly undoing the ropes and clasps that kept their individual boats tethered to one another.

But it was too late.

The huge walkers reached what remained of the trading post at the same time. One of them raised its front two legs, emitted a deafening, angry sound that rent the air and stabbed downward. The powerful legs impaled straight through the old tugboat like it was made of paper. A pillar of flame shot upward; the hull of the metal ship split in half, spraying metal and bolts everywhere. Mira watched its crew leap off it as it burned, barely making it into the river before a secondary explosion consumed what was left of the ship.

The other boats were beginning to break off from the rest now, including the modified fishing boat they were on.

“Hurry!” Holt yelled, double-timing it for the edge of the last craft. He leapt off onto the solid ground, and the others followed, one at a time, hurriedly trying to—

One of the red Spiders bellowed in distorted fury. Holt and Mira spun around, looked back to where the walkers were, and saw one of them was staring with its huge three-optic eye right at them. Or, more specifically …
right at Zoey.

“Oh no…,” Mira whispered to herself.

The giant walker moved for them, its legs spraying plumes of river water into the air as it walked. The second Spider turned, followed the gaze of its comrade, and moaned powerfully in response as its eye found Zoey, too. It marched after the first.

A hatch opened underneath the walker’s body. Mira could see something spinning there, growing, moving downward. A metallic claw.

“No!” she shouted, pulling Zoey to her protectively.

And then the red Spider walker shuddered as it was hit by a stream of plasma fire.

Five blue and white Raptors roared over, cannon firing at the red walkers. The second Spider wailed angrily and unleashed a massive spray of plasma cannon fire at the Raptors.

One of them took a hit, sparked, twisted, burst in flames, and crashed into the trees on the other side of the river.

More engine sounds reverberated in the near distance. Mira looked up in time to see three blue and white Osprey dropships bank hard and slow to a hover over the river. Dangling underneath them were more walkers.

They detached from the Ospreys, dropped to the ground, and powered up immediately, flashing colors and humming as their systems came online.

Eight Mantis walkers and a Spider.

The Ospreys’ engines roared loudly as they dusted off, powering straight up into the sky.

The new blue and white walkers turned their attention on the two red Spiders … and opened fire. Yellow plasma bolts screamed outward in a giant volley, slapping and sparking into the red walkers.

They bellowed in anger, the sound echoing up and down the valley as they turned to face the new threat.

Missiles flared from each of their batteries, roaring through the air like huge, angry bees. Blasts rocked the ground all around the blue and white walkers, already separating into smaller groups.

Plasma fire flew from both sides, screaming everywhere through the air, hissing and burning.

The flight of blue and white raptors roared by above … and they were now being chased by an equal number of red gunships that had appeared from nowhere, their cannons firing at the blue and whites.

Mira stared at Holt as she covered Zoey on the ground. He stared back, just as dumbstruck.

What was left of the trading post boats were speeding away downstream. Most of them were burning or damaged, but they were escaping. The red Spiders had forgotten all about them: they had bigger problems now.

Mira and Holt quickly studied the landscape. Everything was open country beyond the river; they would easily be picked off once the two sides finished blowing each other to pieces behind them. They needed another option, they needed something that—

Mira saw the huge Landship from before, still docked nearby. She saw the crew frantically scrambling over the top deck, but even so, it wasn’t moving. Its sails hung limp in their masts, in spite of the breeze blowing around them.

Mira couldn’t figure why they would wait so long, but she’d never been one to second-guess good luck.

“Holt!” Mira yelled as she pulled Zoey up after her and dashed forward. Holt saw where they were headed, and he didn’t look too thrilled about it. The explosions that rocked the ground nearby got him and Max following regardless.

The battle raged behind them. Raptors fought in the sky, disintegrating into flames and showers of sparks. The huge Spiders fired nonstop, spraying plasma, launching missiles. And the blue and whites kept up the offensive, trying to surround the reds.

As Mira ran toward the Landship, she could make out more detail of the huge vessel. It was beautiful. In any other situation, she would have gazed up at the craft in awe. But the gunships flashing by above kind of killed the impulse.

“Hey!” Mira yelled up to the decks.
“Hey!”

A few heads peeked over the edge and peered down at her, but then just as quickly vanished. The crew was much more concerned with escaping than they were with listening. Mira didn’t blame them. More blasts flared along the river.

“This isn’t going to happen,” Holt said, looking around them at the battle nervously. “Let’s just go. If we get enough of a head start—”

Mira ignored him and yelled back up at the ship. “Something wrong with your Chinook? Maybe I can help!” It was a long shot, but it was possible the reason the Landship hadn’t set full sail out of this place yet was because something was wrong with its main artifact.

Wind power alone just wasn’t enough to move the ridiculously huge craft. Something more powerful was needed, which was why Landship crews used Strange Lands artifacts called Chinooks to enhance the power of normal wind, increasing it enough to move them. Mira had made a few Chinooks in her time—they were difficult to assemble correctly, but they always sold for a large profit.

More heads peeked over, then quickly scattered as another presence pushed to the front: a boy, probably somewhere around eighteen or nineteen, with an assuredness beyond his years and an obvious, cocky smile. Dark hair was layered back in textured waves on his head, and even from this distance, Mira could tell he was ruggedly handsome. He wore a black shirt tucked into black cargo pants, and a gun belt around his waist. As he gazed down at them, he placed a silver-tipped boot on top of the railing that circled the deck, and leaned casually on his knee.

“Say you’re right,” the boy said. “Say our Chinook is out. Say one of my lame-brained artifact handlers traded for a faulty component, and now we’re stuck while the Assembly blows themselves to bits a couple yards away. How do
you
propose to help? Beautiful women are the world’s greatest commodity, but right now, I really need someone with artifact experience.”

Mira blushed in spite of the battle raging around them, and she saw Holt glare up at the Captain. “Oh, please…,” he said under his breath.

“I’m a Freebooter!” Mira shouted up at the captain. “I have artifacts with me, probably the right ones to fill your sails again. How’s that sound?”

The captain studied her in a different way now. “Well. Beautiful
and
industrious. This could turn into a profit, after all.”

More explosions, more screaming missiles. Everyone—the crew on the ship and Mira, Holt, and Zoey—instinctively turned to watch the battle rage behind them.

The trees on either side of the river were burning. Raptors roared overhead, firing at one another, crashing in flames. Glowing fields of crystal-shaped energy rose into the air over burning walkers.

What was left of the blue and whites was concentrating their fire on one of the red Spiders. It bellowed horribly, shuddering with each plasma bolt and missile hit.

Finally, it collapsed, moaning a distorted cry as it fell into the water and blew apart in flames.

But no glowing field of energy rose from it. The black rust formed on its surface, spreading impossibly fast, engulfing the giant contorting machine like a metallic cancer. And then it went still.

The remaining red walker wailed angrily and launched the last of its missiles. But it wasn’t alone for long.

Behind it, two huge red Osprey drop ships suddenly burst into view, each carrying new Spider walkers.

Their engines roared as they hovered over the river, released their cargo, and quickly dusted off. When the two red Spider walkers hit the water, they came to life, whirring and flashing and rising to their full, enormous heights.

They opened fire immediately, sending plasma bolts toward the line of blue and whites, reinforcing the first Spider. The skirmish was quickly becoming a full-scale battle.

The Captain looked down at Mira, not a glint of panic in his eyes. He certainly was cool and collected. “Are we bargaining?” he asked.

Landship crews represented a subculture focused on trade and commerce. To them, everything was done as part of a bargain, and the only honorable trade was one where both sides profited. If Mira had nothing to offer the handsome Captain above, she likely wouldn’t be getting on board. Fortunately for her, she did, and she had had enough dealings with Landship traders to know how the process worked.

“We’re bargaining,” Mira replied. “Simple trade, no conditions. I use my own artifacts to get your Chinook running. In return, you give us safe passage the hell out of here.”

An errant blast of plasma bolts burned through the air right above them. The ship’s crew flinched. The Captain did not; he just stared down at Mira, thinking. “It’s a binding merchandise trade,” he announced. “Any artifacts you use for our Chinook, you don’t get them back.”

“Fine!” Mira shouted, “just let us up!”

The Captain smiled. “My name’s Dresden. Welcome aboard the
Wind Shear.
”

Dresden disappeared and started yelling orders. On the side of the ship, a giant gangplank arched downward from the top deck and slammed onto the ground.

Mira turned to Holt, smiling with relief. But then she saw the frustrated look in his eye. “What?” she asked, even though she knew she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“My guns,” he said in frustration, turning around and heading back toward the chaos and the fire engulfing everything along the river. “I can’t leave them.”

“You have to be joking!” Mira exclaimed. “You can get more guns!”

“Not like these!” he yelled back. “Get Zoey on board. And hold that ship!”

Mira watched as Holt and Max tore back the way they’d come, toward the missiles and the flying plasma bolts. She could see his guns, lying in a heap near the line of trees that flanked the river, where he’d left them earlier. It was about a hundred yards away—he was going to have to be fast.

Mira shook her head, grabbed Zoey, and ran up the gangplank. Dresden met her, and together they rushed toward the ship’s central platform, where its huge wheel sat. “Can’t hold the ship for your friend, darling,” he told Mira. “Either he’s back on when we leave, or he gets left.”

“He’ll be back,” Zoey said. “Holt always comes back.”

Mira hoped she was right.

“Everyone to your posts!” the captain ordered as they moved. “You know what to do. Seal the ship—when our guest here gets the Chinook running, I want full sail in minimum time, hop to it.”

There was a flurry of movement as the crew, more than two dozen, leapt to action, running everywhere around the deck. Ropes were untied, and giant metal plates slammed down over the Landship’s windows and openings, sealing the weak spots.

The kids rushed to their stations on the deck, below deck, climbing the masts and sails toward the various crow’s nests a hundred feet above the deck.

Mira and Dresden stopped in front of the wheel, where two boys were frantically sorting through a pile of all kinds of nails, screws, pins, bolts, looking for something specific. One of them was hurriedly touching the end of an artifact combination to each one, one Mira recognized: a small Recognizer, a combination that detected other artifacts. If one of these pieces on the deck were a genuinely active Strange Lands artifact, it would react to them. So far, it wasn’t doing anything.

“Try the sheet metal screws!” the kid without the Recognizer shouted.

“I did already!” the other one yelled back. “They’re dead, they’re common. Those Rats sold us a bag of normal pieces of junk!”

“What do you need?” Mira asked them as more explosions flared up over the side of the ship.