Planets Falling (43 page)

Our planned attack on Thresh’s camp nears.  We are eating breakfast when Bets appears.  “Wenn’s gone.”

Theo’s sausage drops off his fork.  “Bets, what exactly do you mean by that?”

Bets rolls her eyes and snatches Theo’s meat off his plate.  “Exactly that.  He’s nowhere to be seen.  The best I can tell from talking with people, he’s left the village.”

Minns walks in at the tail end of the conversation.  “It gets worse.  One of our scouts reported seeing him walking toward Thresh’s camp.”

Etch growls.  “Traitorous, horrid human.  How much does he know of our battle plans?”

“Luckily, very little.”  Bets sips some coffee.  “Ricard left him in the dark and actually fed him some misinformation.  I really like that little man.”

“Are you sure that he’s going over to betray us?”  I hope Wenn hasn’t lost every bit of the man he once was.

“Why else would he go Marksman?” Bets shakes her head.  “I mean, look what he did to you.”

“Bets, we’ve completely shut him out.  Maybe this is his way to try to regain some honor, even if it’s suicidal.”  Now, of all times, I’m trying to save the poor man’s honor.

“Nope, don’t buy it,” Minns exclaims.

Chapter 61
: Confrontation

Today, I may get my daughter back.  Or I may die.  Almost every able man and woman in the town will descend upon Thresh’s camp in a full assault.  Our goal is simple – isolate Thresh and kill her.  Supposedly, this will send the monsters and living dead into chaos, allowing me to do whatever it is that Fromer wants me to do.  I’m vexed that Fromer has not yet revealed how I am to stop these things from entering our world.

Etch raises the Fuerst and fires volleys of light at the camp. We see from the distance that the camp is in flame, all the makeshift buildings burning like matchsticks.  I can only hope that Eliza is not in one of them.  Somewhere deep inside, I know that she’s fine.  Unfortunately, I can feel that Thresh also is well.

Our forces connect with Thresh’s menagerie at mid-morning.  At the front is our riflemen picking off living and dead soldiers.  Some of Thresh’s forces are archers, lobbing arrows at us.  We treat the razor-sharp projectiles as annoying flies because they cannot penetrate the hybrid leather-Institute armor we’re wearing.  Grubs and much larger monsters lumber toward us.  Oxen pull the catapults forward.  Brawny men load large, yellow metallic balls containing the magic alloy and fire them at the creatures.  With each impact, even the largest beasts collapse into piles of sludge.  Fromer’s technology is amazing and welcome.

By lunchtime, we are milling through the burning husk of Thresh’s camp.  There’s no sign of the evil woman, her husband, or my daughter.  Wenn’s absent as well.  I run from building to building calling Eliza’s name.  I’m greeted by the groans of the dying or already dead.

Theo finds me in the rubble.  “Amy, where’s the witch?”

I’m distraught.  “I’ve no idea.  I can still feel her.  She’s not far away, but I don’t know where she’s hiding.”

Theo looks at the lake.  “What about in there?”

“But how?”

We spend the afternoon cleaning up the stragglers and the poor conscious corpses.  We’ve done everything but accomplish our goal.

As I consider the setting sun, it occurs to me that the answer may rest in the Raven.  The ship allows me to expand my reach and see deep within the lake and the surrounding mountains.  If Thresh and Jonah are hiding, I may be able to find them.  Etch agrees to join me.

We step into the Raven just as the sun goes dark and the moon rises in full brilliance.  “Hello Amy and Etch, what a nice surprise.”

“Hello my sweet ship.”  I pat the hull and settle in my chair.  “We’ve got some searching to do.”

Etch closes the hatch and straps himself into a passenger seat.  The Raven lifts and glides over the center of the lake.  I look down, searching the swirling portals for any sign of my nemesis and my daughter.  I can see thousands of worlds out there, beckoning to me.  How can I find them in this infinite expanse?  I can feel them, though.  They’re not far away.

We continue searching through the night.  Etch brings me a cup of hot tea and pats my hand.  “Amy Marksman, you will find them.  Be patient.”  I sip the hot liquid and let my mind rest for a moment.  Then I see it.  A large pocket of air is trapped on the bottom of the lake, engulfed by something strange and impermeable.  I shift the image to the screen.  “Etch, look at this.”

“Well I will be.  I have never seen anything like this.  I gather that Thresh, her nefarious friends, and Eliza are sitting there?  There is an old story from earth’s history about a man named Moses.”

I look at him blankly.

“This human, Moses, possessed great abilities.  He was a pilot, like us, I think.  The fable goes that he was able to part a large lake, allowing his followers to escape their persecutors. In this case, I suggest we part the water to extract our enemies.”  He chuckles.

“Tractor field?”  I ask.

He nods.  “The Fuerst and Raven, working together, can easily part the waves.  We send our troops in and extract our adversaries.”

I land the Raven gently by the ruined camp.  Theo and Bets greet us.  Theo hugs me.  “What’ve you found Sprouter?”

“Hope.”

Pillars of fire belch black smoke into the dawn light.  The flames are beautiful, cleansing.  I walk to the shore and see hundreds of tracks – both human and animal - leading into the water.  Thresh has an entire army submerged beneath the choppy surface.

Bets leads our troops to the water’s edge.  Many of the villagers are skeptical.  Ricard, standing next to Theo, addresses the assembled column.  “My brothers and sisters.  This is finally our chance to purge the threat that has terrified us for a generation.  I know some of you doubt that an entire army of death lies beneath these waves.  But how is this any different than the foul breath of demons that is exhaled by this lake every day?  For us to taste victory, we must look into the mouth of evil.  Be brave, be strong.  Follow us to victory.”

The crowd yells in agreement.  Theo nods at me and I send the Raven into the sky.  Within a few moments, the Fuerst joins me.  “Amy, are you ready to unleash hell?”

“Etch, I thought this was hell.  It’s time for us to make it stop.”

We position our beloved ships at either side of the submerged bubble and concentrate our tractor fields.  The yellow water froths and boils as a trough appears, leading up to the troops at the shoreline.  The men and women stand there watching in awe as the sandy lake bottom is exposed.  Bets is perched in front of the column with one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead, a strange smile smeared across her face.  Minns and Theo ride back and forth on horseback, making sure that the awestruck soldiers are ready to fight.

Etch and I continue pulling at the water, the Fuerst and Raven showing no signs of strain or struggle.  The trough is now a deep crevasse.  The edge of the bubble appears as a fibrous, skin-like mass adhered to the sand and cobble on the lake bottom.  The bodies of thousands of fish and worms wriggle in the unearthly mesh.

“Looks like they figured out how to make the fog work in water,” I say to Etch.

“Agreed.  Let us hope that Fromer’s weapons can pierce that material.  I have never seen anything like it in all my days.”

Ricard and Theo order the troops to move the catapults into position.  The first metal ball streaks through the air, only to bounce off the fleshy barrier with no effect.  Ricard shouts more orders and a column of soldiers moves forward into the trough, looking nervously at the walls of water.  They hack at the bubble with their swords and axes, with little impact.  Theo stares at me in the Raven and shrugs.

I close my eyes and relax, trying to penetrate the barrier.  I feel Fromer and he’s grinning.  I tunnel forward and am sitting in the head of an enormous creature with fleshy, muscular tentacles and surprisingly good vision.  This is not a creature of earth, but strangely it is in the lake.  It’s as curious about its plight as I am.  “Where am I?” it asks in a language that I have no business understanding.

I answer.  “A place called earth and I suspect a mutual friend has brought us together.  I need your help if you don’t mind.  We can then find your way back home.”

I travel with it to the bubble and its tentacles grab onto the fleshy wall.  The soldiers run back toward shore.  With great effort, the tentacles tear a seam in the fabric of the barrier.  Air escapes with a terrific hiss and the rip expands to a huge rift.  “Thank you,” I say to the creature.  “I’ll return soon.”

An eerie green glow emanates from the hole.  Ricard yells and our troops advance into the trough, weapons gleaming silver-yellow.  A grub-like creature with enormous hands that look oddly human skitters out of the seam.  A catapult ball arcs overhead and hits the thing on the head. It falls forward and a tentacle pulls it into the surrounding water.  It dissolves instantly.

Our troops yell and whoop as they disappear within the vast space under the lake, with Theo and Bets in the lead.  “Etch, what are we to do now?”

“Patience, my dear girl.  Have some faith that they will be victorious.”

I cannot be patient however.  I search the landscape for a bird or insect to inhabit.  I find a hummingbird that has just returned from its winter home, happily feeding on wildflower nectar.  “Sorry buddy,” I whisper as I direct it into the rift.

The interior of the bubble is filled with shouts and the metallic smell of blood.  Thresh’s goons are struggling against our forces, but holding their own. The few grubs that have survived are taking their toll on our fighters.  Several torn bodies, some who I recognize, litter the sand.

At the far side in the greenish light, Thresh and Jonah are perched on Silius and Phineus.  Eliza holds on tight to Thresh’s waist.  They’re surrounded by dead men with swords.  In the center of the line stands Wenn, his eyes vacant and a portion of his skull missing.  Jonah is terrified and Thresh looks anguished.

The bird flies closer and Thresh swivels, looking straight at it.  I swear she knows it’s me.  I fly the bird behind a large shuffling body.  Thresh throws a dagger at it and the cadaver falls.  I fly the hummer up and out of the rift.

I return fully to the Raven, letting the little bird return to its foraging.  “Send in more troops,” I announce through the ship’s speaker.  Ricard nods and a group of heavily armored men enter the rift carrying maces.

After a long hour, Thresh, Jonah, and about twenty men emerge from the seam, our troops prodding them forward.  Eliza’s in Theo’s arms.  Once the fighters have left the trough, Etch and I release the water and the hellish, swarming bubble and a few living corpses are swallowed by the lake.

I’m relieved to see Phineus and Silius in Theo’s care.  I extend my mind to them and feel joy at the reunion.

“Ready to land?”  Etch brings the Fuerst down.

“In a moment.  I have one thing to do.”  I leave my body.  “Fromer, where are you?  You can’t just leave that tentacled beast alone, away from its home.”

“Of course not.”  His voice is so close that he could be sitting in the Raven with me.  “Bring the Raven above the lake.”

I hover at about 200 meters and Fromer asks, “Can you see it yet?”

I look down, and between the yellow waves I see a blue planet with what looks like a tiny pinprick on its surface.  “Lead your friend here.”

I reach out and experience the creature in its entirety.  It has two grey, wise eyes, pink tentacles, and a giant beak. It whispers, “I’m the Kraken of old.  Count on me, if you need me again.”  It slips into the portal in the bottom of the lake and returns home.

The Raven lands softly on the coast.  The prisoners are shackled, lying face down in the prickly grass.  I rush through the hatch and there she is, still in Theo’s arms. Thresh yells, “Don’t trust her Eliza.  I’m your mommy.”  Bets hits Thresh in the head with her staff and the ragged woman in a tattered red dress falls silent.

My hands shake as I approach the impossibly beautiful but terribly filthy little girl.  “Do you know who I am?”

Eliza tilts her head.  “Where’s Magarat?”

“I don’t know.  I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“Mommy says that you’re all bad people.  I want to go home with her, now.”

Theo pats her.  “We can’t do that, Liza. I’m your Uncle Theo and this is your real mommy.”  Theo begins walking with her to a small cart with a donkey.

Eliza struggles in his arms, bawling.  “Momma, daddy.  Don’t let them take me.”  Theo sets her down in the cart and I join her.  I feel wretched.

“Amy, you know this ain’t gonna be easy.  I’m here to help you.  Always.”  Theo grabs my arm firmly.

As we clop into Yellow Stone, children and old folks gather to greet us.  I stare at them, smiling tepidly.  Eliza’s quiet again, scrunched in the back of the cart.  A woman in a dirty dress stands at the side of the road amongst the villagers.  Her skin’s darker than that of the others – obviously a foreigner.  It takes me a second, but I recognize her as Magarat.  “Theo, stop the cart.”

Magarat obviously does not see Eliza in the bottom of the cart but does see me.  I must be a frightening sight, with my frazzled hair, wild eyes, shaking arms, and pale skin.  She recedes into the crowd and is about to bolt away.  “Wait, Magarat.  Stop, please. I have Eliza with me.  You’ve nothing to fear.”

She pauses, confused and terrified.  Then she squints, tilting her head. “You’re the real mother, aren’t you?”

I nod anxiously.  “She’s over here, in the cart.  We need you.”

Magarat climbs up and Eliza clamps onto her, elated.  “Shh, there, there girl.  We’ve got a lot of explaining to do. Healing too.”  Magarat looks up to me.  “What happened to that woman?  Is she dead?”

“No.”

Magarat panics.  “We’ve got to hide, now.”

“It’s okay.  We have her as prisoner.”

“She’ll escape, conjuring those demons to do her bidding.”

“Not if I have a choice in the matter.”

“We met, didn’t we?”

“Yes, Magarat.  I was able to – occupy - Thresh for a moment.  That’s when I asked you to kill her.  It was a terrible thing to ask you to do.  I’m so sorry I put you in that position.”

“I’d have gladly done it if I knew I could.”

We head to the city center and get some food into Eliza.  Magarat cleans herself up and puts on a fresh dress.  She’s a beautiful woman, even if she’s a little worn.