A Fire Upon the Deep (58 page)

Pham was bounced around his perch as Blueshell turned the boat back to the target. They weren't moving fast; the airstream couldn't have been more than thirty meters per second. But every second was full of the damnedest jerks and tumbles. At one point Pham's grip on the gun mount was all that kept him indoors.
Forty some hours from now the deadliest thing in the universe is going to arrive, and I'm taking potshots at dogs.

How to take out the hillside? Steel's whiny voice still echoed in his ears. And Ravna wasn't sure what
OOB
was seeing beneath all the smoke.
We might do better without automation than with this bastard mix.
At least his beamer had a manual control. Pham embraced the barrel with one arm while he reached with the other. At wide dispersion the beam was useless against armor, but could burst eyes and set skin and hair afire -- and the beam width would be dozens of meters across at ground level.

"Fifteen seconds, Sir Pham," Blueshell's voice came in his ear.

They were low this time. Gaps in the smoke flickered past like stop-action art. Most of the ground was burned-over black, but there were precipices of naked rock and even sooty patches of snow trapped in crannies and shadowed pits.... Here and there was a pile of doggy bodies, an occasional gun tube.

"There's a crowd of them ahead, Sir Pham. Running near the castle."

Pham leaned down and looked forward. The mob was about four hundred meters ahead. They were running parallel to the castle walls, through a field that was a spinehide of arrowshafts. He pressed the firing stud, swept the beam out from below the boat. There was plenty of water under that dried cover; it exploded in steam as the beam passed over it.... But further out, the wide dispersion wasn't doing much. It would be another few seconds before he'd have a good shot at the hapless packs.

Time for the little suspicions. So how come the enemy had muzzle-loading cannon?
Those
they must have made themselves -- in a world with no evidence of firearms. Steel was the classic medieval manipulator; Pham had spotted the type from a thousand light-years out. They were doing the critter's dirty work, that was obvious.
Shut up. Deal with Steel later.

Slanting in on the packs, Pham fired again, sweeping through living flesh this time. He fired ahead of them and on the castle side; maybe they wouldn't all die. He stuck his head further into the slipstream, trying for a better view. Ahead of the packs was a hundred meters of open field, a single pack of four and --
a human figure, black-haired and slim, jumping and waving.

Pham smashed the barrel up against the hull, safing it at the same time. The back flash was a surge of heat that crisped his eyebrows. "Blueshell! Get us down! Get us down!"

.Delete this paragraph to shift page flush

-=*=-

"A bad understanding. She was lied to."

Ravna tried to read something behind the voice. Steel's Samnorsk was as creaky as ever, the tones childish and whiny. He sounded no different than before. But his story was stretched very thin by what had just happened. He was either a galaxy master of impudence -- or his story was actually true.

"The human must have been hurt, then lied to by Woodcarver. This explains a lot, Ravna. Without her, Woodcarver could not attack. Without her, all may be safe."

Pham's voice came to Ravna on a private channel. "The girl
was
unconscious during part of the ambush, Rav. But she practically scratched my eyes out when I suggested she might be wrong about Steel and Woodcarver. And the pack with her is a lot more convincing than Steel."

Ravna looked questioningly across the deck at Greenstalk. Pham didn't know she was here.
Tough.
Greenstalk was an island of sanity amidst the madness -- and she knew the
OOB
infinitely better than Ravna.

Steel spoke into her hesitation: "See now, nothing has changed, except for the better. One more human lives. How can you doubt us? Speak to Jefri; he understands. We have done the best for the children in ..." a gobbling noise, and (another?) voice said, "coldsleep."

"Certainly, we must speak to him again, Steel. He's our best proof of your good intentions."

"Okay. In a few minutes, Ravna. But see, he is also my good protection against treachery from you. I know how powerful you Visitors are. I ... fear you. We need to --" gobbling consultation "-- accommodate each other in our fears."

"Um. We'll work something out. Just let us speak to Jefri now."

"Yes."

Ravna switched channels. "What do you think, Pham?"

"There's no question in my mind. This Johanna is not a naive kid like Jefri. We've always known Steel was a tough critter. We just had some other facts wrong. The landing site is in the middle of his territory. He's the killer." Pham's voice became quieter, almost a whisper. "Hell of it is, this may not change anything. Steel does have the ship. I've got to get in there."

"It will be another ambush."

"... I know. But does it matter? If we can get me time with the Countermeasure, it could be -- it will be -- worth it." What matter a suicide mission within a suicide mission?

"I'm not sure, Pham. If we give him everything, he'll kill us before we ever get near the ship."

"He'll try. Look, just keep him talking. Maybe we can get a directional on his radio, blow the bastard away." He did not sound optimistic.

Tyrathect didn't take them back to the ship, or to their rooms. They descended stairs within the outer walls, part of Amdi first, then Jefri with the rest of Amdi, then the singleton from Tyrathect.

Amdi was still complaining. "I don't understand, I don't understand. We can help."

Jefri: "I didn't see any enemy cannons."

The singleton was full of explanations, though it sounded even more preoccupied than usual. "I saw them from one of my other members, out in the valley. We're pulling in all our soldiers. We must make a stand, or none of us will be alive to be rescued. For now, this is the best place for you to be."

"How do you know?" said Jefri. "Can you talk to Steel right now?"

"Yes, one of me is still up there with him."

"Well, tell him we have to help. We can talk better Samnorsk even than you."

"I'll tell him right now," was the Cloak's quick reply.

There were no more window slots cut in the walls. The only light came from wick torches set every ten meters along the tunnel. The air was cool and musty; wetness glistened on unquilted stone. The tiny doors were not of polished wood. Instead there were bars, and darkness beyond.
Where are we going?
Jefri was suddenly reminded of the dungeons in stories, the treachery that befell the Greater Two and the Countess of the Lake. Amdi didn't seem to feel it. For all his mischievous nature, Puppies was basically trusting; he had always depended on Mr. Steel. But Jefri's parents had never acted quite like this, even during the escape from High Lab. Mr. Steel suddenly seemed so different, as if he couldn't be bothered pretending to be nice anymore. And Jefri had never really trusted the sullen Tyrathect; now that one was acting downright sneaky.

There had been no new threat on the hillside.

Fear and stubbornness and suspicion all came together: Jefri spun around, confronting the Cloak. "We're not going any farther. This isn't where we're supposed to go. We want to talk to Ravna and Mr. Steel." A sudden, liberating realization: "And you're not big enough to stop us!"

The singleton backed up abruptly, then sat down. It lowered its head, blinked. "So you don't trust me? You are right not to. There is no one here but yourselves that you can trust." Its gaze drifted from Jefri to the ranks of Amdi, and then down the hall. "Steel doesn't know I've brought you here."

The confession was so quick, so easily made. Jefri swallowed hard. "You brought us down here to k-kill us." All of Amdi was staring at him and Tyrathect, every eye wide with shock.

The singleton bobbed its head in part of a smile. "You think I am traitor? After all this time, some healthy suspicion. I am proud of you." Mr. Tyrathect continued smoothly, "You are surrounded by traitors, Amdijefri. But I am not one of them. I am here to help you."

"I know that." Amdi reached forward to touch a muzzle to the singleton's. "You're no traitor. You're the only person besides Jefri that I can touch. We've always wanted to like you, but --"

"Ah, but you should be suspicious. You will all die if you aren't." Tyrathect looked over the puppies, at the frowning Jefri. "Your sister is alive, Jefri. She's out there now, and Steel has known all along. He killed your parents; he did almost everything he said Woodcarver did." Amdi backed away, shaking himself in frightened negations. "You don't believe me? That's funny. Once upon a time I was such a good liar; I could talk the fish right into my mouths. But now, when only the truth will work, I can't convince you.... Listen:"

Suddenly it was Steel's human-speaking voice that came from the singleton, Steel talking with Ravna about Johanna being alive, excusing the attack he had just ordered on her.

Johanna.
Jefri rushed forward, fell on his knees before the Cloak. Almost without thought, he grabbed the singleton by the throat, shaking it. Teeth snapped at his hands as the other tried to shake free. Amdi rushed forward and pulled hard on his sleeves. After a moment Jefri let go. Centimeters away from his face, the singleton peered back at him, the torchlight glinting in its dark eyes. Amdi was saying: "Human voices are easy to fake --"

The fragment was disdainful. "Of course. And I'm not claiming that was a direct relay. What you heard is several minutes old. Here's what Steel and I are planning this very second." His Samnorsk abruptly stopped, and the hallway was filled with the gobbling chords of Pack talk. Even after a year, Jefri could only extract vague sense from the conversation. It did sound like two packs. One of them wanted the other to do something, bring Amdijefri -- that chord was clear -- up.

Amdiranifani went suddenly still, every member straining at the relayed sounds. "Stop it!" he shrilled. And the hallway was as quiet as a tomb. "Mr. Steel, oh Mr. Steel." All of Amdi huddled against Jefri. "He's talking about hurting you if Ravna doesn't obey. He wants to kill the Visitors when they land." The wide eyes were ringed with tears. "I don't understand."

Jefri jabbed a hand at the Cloak. "Maybe he's faking that, too."

"I don't know. I could never fake two packs that well." The tiny bodies shuddered against Jefri, and there was the sound of human weeping, the eerily familiar sound of a small child desolated.... "What are we going to do, Jefri?"

But Jefri was silent, remembering and finally understanding, the first few minutes after Steel's troops had rescued -- captured? -- him. Memories suppressed by later kindness crept out from the corners of his mind.
Mom, Dad, Johanna. But Johanna still lived, just beyond these walls....

"Jefri?"

"I don't know either. H-hide maybe?"

For a moment they just stared at each other. Finally the fragment spoke. "You can do better than hide. You already know about the passages through these walls. If you know the entrance points -- and I do -- you can get to almost anywhere you want. You can even get outside."

Johanna.

Amdi's crying stopped. Three of him watched Tyrathect front, aft, and sideways. The rest still clung to Jefri. "We still don't trust
you
, Tyrathect," said Jefri.

"Good, good. I am a pack of various parts. Perhaps not entirely trustable."

"Show us all the holes." Let us decide.

"There won't be time --"

"Okay, but start showing us. And while you do, keep relaying what Mr. Steel is saying."

The singleton bobbed its head, and the multiple streams of Pack talk resumed. The Cloak got painfully to its feet and led the two children down a side tunnel, one where the wick torches were mostly burned out. The loudest sound down here was the soft dripping of water. The place was less than a year old, yet -- except for the jagged edges of the cut stone -- it seemed ancient.

Puppies was crying again. Jefri stroked the back of the one that clung to his shoulder, "Please Amdi, translate for me."

After a moment Amdi's voice came hesitantly in his ear. "M-Mr. Steel is asking again where we are. Tyrathect says we're trapped by a ceiling fall in the inner wing." In fact, they had heard the masonry shift a few minutes before, but it sounded far away. "Mr. Steel just sent the rest of Tyrathect to get Mr. Shreck and dig us out. Mr. Steel sounds so ... different."

"Maybe it's not really him," Jefri whispered back.

Long silence. "No. It's him. He just seems so angry, and he's using strange words."

"Big words?"

"No. Scary ones. About cutting and killing ... Ravna and you and me. He ... he doesn't like us, Jefri."

The singleton stopped. They were beyond the last wall torch, and it was too dark to see anything but shadowy forms. He pointed to a spot on the wall. Amdi reached forward and pushed at the rock. All the while Mr. Tyrathect continued talking, reporting from the outside.

"Okay," said Amdi, "that opens. And it's big enough for you, Jefri. I think --"

Tyrathect's human voice said, "The Spacers are back. I can see their little boat.... I got away just in time. Steel is getting suspicious. A few more seconds and he will be searching everywhere."

Amdi looked into the dark hole. "I say we go," he said softly, sadly.

"Yeah." Jefri reached down to touch one of Amdi's shoulders. The member led him to a hole cut in sharp-edged stone. If he scrunched his shoulders there would be enough room to crawl in. One of Amdi entered just ahead of him. The rest would follow. "I hope it doesn't get any narrower than this."

Tyrathect: "It shouldn't. All these passages are designed for packs in light armor. The important thing: keep to upward curving passages. Keep moving and you'll eventually get outside. Pham's flying craft is less than, uh, five hundred meters from the walls.

Jefri couldn't even look over his shoulder to talk to the Cloak. "What if Mr. Steel chases us into the walls?"

There was a brief silence. "He probably won't do that, if he doesn't know where you entered. It would take too long to find you. But," the voice was suddenly gentler, "but there are openings on the top of the walls. In case enemy soldiers tried to sneak in from the outside, there has to be some way to kill them in the tunnels. He could pour oil down the tunnels."

The possibility did not frighten Jefri. At the moment it just sounded bizarre. "We've got to hurry then."

Jefri scrabbled forward as the rest of Amdi crawled in behind him. He was already several meters deep in stone when he heard Amdi's voice back at the entrance, the last one to enter: "Will you be okay, Mr. Tyrathect?"

Or is this all another lie?
thought Jefri.

The other's voice had its usual, cynical tone. "I expect to land on my feet. Please do remember that I helped you."

And then the hatch was shut and they scrambled forward, into the dark.