A Warrior's Sacrifice (19 page)

Kavin wanted to jump up and lead the awaiting soldiers out to battle that instant, but It didn't. The part of Kavin that had gained and kept the position of Princip for so long needed to wait. Kavin could feel when the pieces had set themselves into place, but at this moment things weren't quite set. They were still too likely to shift, too malleable. Kavin needed more before It would act, some other intel that would let It know when and where and how to strike.

Kavin's final piece of datum arrived in a rush two days later, a message sent and relayed through many trembling hands to Its desk: a new city complex had been built in a matter of hours, the walls and buildings dropped down from space, and several large transport ships with military escorts had descended from orbit not soon afterward.

Kavin opened Its com and dialed. "Brixaal, it's time."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The facilities offered by the Diviner were, by Republic standards, opulent. Each Maharatha, if they so chose, could have had their own room with space to spare for tables and chairs and chests. An attached storage room provided nutrient and power feeds for their suits; a private toilet offered luxury only the Oniban had the privilege of possessing and provided Corwin with much-needed privacy.

He hadn't had the toilets to himself since he'd been brought to the Republic, and now he reveled in the wide-open spaces, the empty stalls, and the quiet. He hummed a tune he hadn't thought of for over a decade, a small thing that his mother used to sing to help him sleep. Starting the water for the shower, Corwin took a cube of soap, pausing his song as the alien scent of flowers and anise drifted up to his nose.

His song died as the restroom door opened. His glower softened as Phae poked her head through the opening. After they left the Diviner's tent, Corwin had made himself available in case Phae wanted to talk about the example the Prehson had used, but she had only shaken her head and stomped away.

Now it seemed as if that mask had come off, shed as she removed her suit. Standing in the doorway eyes downcast, chewing at her lip, shoulders and head slouched, she looked defeated. "May … may I join you?" she asked as steam curled past on its escape through the open door.

"Yes."

She nodded her thanks, eyes still on the floor. Pulling the door closed, she stripped the second skin from her body. Corwin turned away.

Phae joined Corwin at his shower head, close enough that water deflected from her onto him, yet she was still so far, far away. Corwin reached out and pulled her into an embrace. After a moment of resistance, she gave in. She melted into his touch and laid her head back onto his chest, her arms enfolding his, wrapped around her smooth belly.

They stood in silence as the water fell onto their naked bodies. Phae wanted to talk, but not to begin, and Corwin didn't know what to say.

"Uh, are you all right?" he asked.

"I am an agent of Schism."

Corwin stifled a chuckle. "What? No."

"Everything I've known has been divisive. In the crèches I beat my competition, always, and sometimes physically."

"That's how the Republic is. That's why you're the best," Corwin said.

"I've
killed
. Those Quislings. We killed them."

"That's our job, Phae."

"But maybe they didn't all have to die. Maybe we could have spared more of them."

"With the amount of pain they caused, the death and suffering they've sown across this section of Republic territory? They deserved what they got." The words tasted foul in Corwin's mouth.

"The Diviner lies."

Corwin snorted. "How can someone lie about their own religion? They can make up anything they want — that's what religion's about."

"There is no Accession in life, only Schism."

"The fact that we exist is proof of Accession. Boy meets girl, sperm meets egg — you know."

"My mother never knew my father. He was adopted into the family, harvested for sperm, then traded away for a better specimen. I was born after one dispassionate meeting of genetic material in a metal box."

Oh.
Corwin now understood the real meaning of this conversation, and it was
not
the verity of the Diviner's religion or her own doubts about killing. He kept quiet and let her continue.

"After that one moment of Accession, I was cast out of my family, abandoned at the crèche. I exist as a Niwi, only because they want to keep me around to help further the
family's
goals. I, I won't even have a say in my mate; they won't allow me near my children. I'll be a parasite, hanging on until I die."

"Then leave."

Phae hugged tighter. "And create more Schism? No."

"You're leaving does not
cause
more Schism. The actions of your family,
that's
what caused this. They are to blame, not you."

"Do you know what you're suggesting, Corwin?" She spun in his arms until they faced each other. "To leave my family — to become Dreng-less. It's easy for you to suggest. Y
ou
don't know what it's like…"

"Enough. You are Maharatha, and by that very title you have more dreng than your whole family combined. You can be the matriarch of a whole new line — a line of Accession, if you choose."

She stared into Corwin's eyes, her own red despite the steam, and the falling water chased away any tears that might have fallen. Corwin kissed her over and again until she smiled.

"You think so?" she asked with a quiet voice.

"You will not be alone. I guarantee it."

Her hands left their places atop his shoulders, one snaking to the back of his head to twine itself into his hair, the other sliding down his stomach to massage both their groins.

She pulled Corwin in close. "You mean it."

"I do."

"Thank you," she whispered.

Later, after they had finished and Phae had hurried away to gather some food, Corwin finished his second shower of the day, once again humming. He used the cloth provided to wipe the water from his pruning body and stepped across the restroom's threshold into the cool summer night. A gust of wind rustled the trees. He shivered and stomped his feet on the hard-packed earth as he closed the door behind him.

At first they didn't know what happened. They were so secure, so sure that the aliens had everything under control, that the first explosions had stunned the four Human warriors to blank stares and inaction.

When the shouting started, low and guttural, and the crack-snap of hybrid rifles descended on the complex, dawning recognition propelled the Maharatha from their beds with weapons in hand. They were at a disadvantage; total surprise had robbed them of the precious time they needed to do anything so basic as to dress, and they stacked at the edge of the door preparing to exit, naked, into a combat zone.

Kai slid the door open only far enough for a clear view of the area. In the distance the lights of Shota's Mobile unit flared to life, small lightning bugs disturbed from their night's slumber. The fighting had not yet made it this far. For now they were in the clear.

Kai shrugged the door open, rifle snapping up to his shoulder as he scanned his line of sight for enemies. Chahal followed, covering Kai's right side and Phae followed after her, covering the left, Corwin's bare back pressed up against Phae's as he covered the rear. It was not the most effective method of moving — the preferred method to advance-cover-wait-advance more akin to the stretching and contracting of a rubber band — but they needed speed over safety.

Halfway to their destination, a vehicle rounded the far corner. In a second, Corwin identified the target, aimed, and fired a quick burst into and through the driver's side windshield. "Contact! Contact!" he shouted as the Choxen scout vehicle swerved before careening into the complex's outer wall.

Corwin reached for a grenade and cursed as his hand brushed bare skin.

They leapt into a dead run, and well-honed skills kept them aware of each other despite their focus on external threats. Corwin fired again and again at the scout vehicle to keep the enemy pinned down.

They slid into the relative safety of the equipment shed, the formed plasteel walls providing full but limited cover. "Get into your suits!" Corwin said as he and Phae swung around to cover both sides of the open door. Corwin's nerves were steady, though his heart raced.

Sounds of battle marched closer.

Before long Kai and Chahal took the other two Maharathas' places at the door, each still unsteady as their minds and bodies acclimated to their suits.

It struck Corwin as odd, and he smiled as he realized just how ridiculous he and Phae looked right now. They stood naked, clad only in oversized, heavily armored insect-like helmets.

He pushed those thoughts away and after a couple breaths, quieted his mind. The armor opened, and he stuffed himself inside.

Phae was struggling, her suit opening and snapping closed in quick intervals. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and it seemed to calm her enough to slide fully in. Once she was set, Corwin slapped his ammunition to the magnetized strips on his armor.

"DOWN!" Kai screamed through their com.

Chahal slammed the door closed and threw herself to the side as hundreds of chain gun rounds slammed into the outer plasteel wall. Their shelter's walls throbbed under the weight of the assault, and in places the wall splintered.

"We have to move!" Chahal said.

"We can't
go
anywhere, not with that gun on us!" Phae shouted back.

"Stack on the wall beside the door. Kai, get ready to throw a grenade through the opening."

Another chain gun blast forced them down onto their stomachs. As it tracked away and subsided, Corwin shouted "Now!" stood, and kicked the door. In its weakened state, the door came loose and tumbled, clods of dirt spraying up in all directions.

Kai had tracked the location of the Choxen vehicle through his helmet, and he stepped into Corwin's place. A twist of his body sent three grenades flying, and he dove forward and to the side, rolling to land on his stomach, his machine gun splayed out before him.

The Choxen tried to move, the driver punching the accelerator even as the turret gunner fixed Its sights onto Kai. Bullets flew a hair's breadth over Kai's helmet to crash into the plasteel wall behind. The Choxen driver and Its passenger escaped death — barely — as the grenades detonated. The gunner wasn't as lucky. The grenades exploded in a wash of blue-green plasma, and the rear end of the vehicle vaporized, a haggard shadow of what remained cast against the surrounding tree line.

The vehicle's cab tipped backward, grinding and puttering to a stop as twisted metal plowed troughs in the ground. The night lit again as Kai fired and shredded the two Choxen scrambling from the wreck.

"Enemies down," Kai said, climbing back to his feet.

"Up we go then," Corwin said. He led the way, first by leaping onto their room's roof, then again up onto the complex wall.

Fires crept along the tents like burning paper; a few had collapsed, spreading their flame and ash onto the priests huddled inside. The Car-karniss struggled to remove the noncombatants from harm's way, but the enemy surprise was total, and both guards and priests died by the score as Grunts rampaged.

Not everywhere did chaos reign, for in places the Car-karniss had rallied and fought with melee and rifle. The main knot of fighting worked its way towards the tent where Yerama-gar and the
Śeṣanāga stayed.

"Chahal, set yourself up here." Corwin didn't wait for her to respond before he leapt from the battlements. "The rest of you with me." He realized with a small part of his mind that he wasn't shouting; in fact, his voice held little emotion. He didn't have time to ponder his robotic voice before a roaming knot of struggle engulfed him and the other two from his Void.

The Car-karniss had never before had the occasion to fight alongside Humans, and their study of them, with their lack of teeth or claws and their soft, soft skin, had made them seem weak compared to many of the other Intergalactic Alliance member races. They were wrong.

As the Humans closed range, leapfrogging between smoldering vehicles, they fired tight clusters of death at the armored Choxen soldiers. The enemy advance slowed as they hit the wall of Maharatha covering fire. The Choxen momentum ground to a stop as one of them — using her Voidmates' scanners — began to blast fist-sized holes through targets hidden
behind
cover.

Then the Grunts filled the gap, and
still
the Humans didn't die. The big one, "the giant" as they called him later in their retelling, bore the brunt of the Grunts' manic charge as he used his body as a shield and battering ram to protect the smaller two. They fought with two weapons, a pistol in one hand, sword in the other, killing Grunts
and
firing at any Choxen that tried to make a move from cover.

With a kick, Kai sent the last Grunt stumbling, surprise streaking through its minuscule brain, and Phae sliced it in two. The pieces landed quivering among the others. The Car-karniss rallied and took over the counterattack.