The Baba Yaga (31 page)

“Scared, Mama Maria,” he said. “They don’t look friendly.”

Maria looked along the front line, but she couldn’t see a single person to whom she thought she could appeal. The light was fading, and she was terribly aware that their enemies were drawing closer. She almost imagined she could hear their footfall, running unceasingly, getting nearer and nearer... “Please,” she said. “I need to talk to you.”

There was a soft ripple of murmuring through the assembled crowd, and then someone, a few rows back, called out, “Leave. You are not welcome here.”

“I’m here to help!” Maria was aware as she said it how foolish it sounded. What could she do to help?

Someone else from the crowd spoke. “We know who you are. You came with the first ship. They brought discord and strife with them—”

“We mean you no harm!” cried Maria.

“Some of us left and have gone with the others from your party. This is the first time in our history that we have been split in this way. Before we have always agreed, in time.”

“You’ve not faced danger like this before!” Maria said. “There are people behind us—chasing us—very dangerous people. They are armed, and they will kill as many of you as they can. Please, let us in! Let me explain what is happening!”

She took a step or two forwards, and the human and Vetch barrier again seemed to strengthen against her.
Oh, God,
she thought,
I’m never going to persuade them. I don’t know what to say!

Failt squeezed her hand. “Mama Maria!” he cried. “They’re coming! They’re coming! They got weapons! They’re gonna shoot us, Mama! Going to shoot Failt!”

From beyond the fence, Maria thought she could hear voices raised in anger, as if some kind of argument was going on behind the scenes. It was now quite dark, but there were lamps around the fence, casting light over the crowd. This was, she thought later, the reason they presented such an easy target. She heard someone from beyond the fence say, quite distinctly, “I don’t care what you think! Two of them are
children
!” And then there was a burst of noise and a flashing light, and she heard a terrible yelp of pain. She realised that Failt, standing against her, was now on the ground, writhing and whimpering and bleeding. He had been shot.

“Oh, God!” she cried, reaching out to him. “I said they were coming! And you wouldn’t help! Now look what’s happened! Look what you’ve done!”

And this, it seemed, was the key to unlock the barrier ahead. All of a sudden, the rows of people melted, and moved to enfold her and the children. They were carried forwards, almost on a wave, Maria thought, and before she knew it, they were beyond the fence and within the settlement. She heard a gate being slammed, and saw people rushing about, and there was a general hue and cry. She fell to her knees beside Failt, clutching his paw, holding it to her. Jenny was hanging onto her arm, and she was crying. “Mummy? Is he dead? Is he dead like Daddy?”

A big Vetch was leaning over them. Maria, unable to stop herself, pulled away and tried to put herself between it and the children. “Go away! Go away!” she cried, through tears. “Aren’t you satisfied? Haven’t you done enough already?”

Slowly, gently, the Vetch made her pull back. “I’m a medic,” it said. “I can help him. Please, let me help him.”

Maria withdrew. The Vetch medic began to attend to Failt’s injuries and then called for help to take the child away.

“Where are you taking him?” said Maria.

“We have a small hospital. We can help him there. I can help him,” the medic said, “but you must trust me.”

It seemed she would have to. Maria nodded, numbly, and watched as the child was taken away. Some people came to her, and led her and Jenny further into the settlement. “I need to talk to someone,” she kept on saying, over and over. “You have to take me to talk to someone. Someone in authority...” But she didn’t seem to be understood. “Please,” she said, “I won’t go any further. Tell me where you’re taking me. You have to listen to what I have to say—”

She got no further. A great unholy light flared overhead, and then there were explosions. Grenades had been thrown over the fence. She heard screaming, and saw people running about her. Someone pulled her and Jenny away. The crimopaths had begun their siege of the settlement, and they were going to take their time about it, and derive as much enjoyment from it as they possibly could.

C
ONWAY’S PEOPLE CAUGHT
up with Walker and her party mid-morning. It was not long after they had crossed the river and started making their way along the wide pass between two great rocky ranges of hills. According to Feuerstein, they would find the pathway leading to the Weird portal at the end of the pass. They had trekked some distance, when they heard the sound of a motor approaching from behind them. Feuerstein’s people knew their business. They slipped ahead, hunted out defensive positions, and led Walker, Larsen and Heyes up the more northerly slope to safety. Then they set off back down the hill, two of them carrying the weapons that Failt had brought from the
Baba Yaga
.

About half-an-hour after they had departed, Walker and her companions heard weapons’ fire from back down the pass. It went on, intermittently, for some time. Another hour or so passed. Then Feuerstein arrived, with one of her people. They were safe, she said, for a little while. They had brought the bridge down before the vehicle had crossed, and, given the width and speed of the river at this point, it would be some time before they would be able to ford it. “There are four of them,” she said. “Most were in uniform. One wasn’t.”

Larsen, who had been looking back down the pass through Walker’s binoculars, suddenly swore. “Jesus Christ,” she said. “Delia, come here. Tell me if you see what I see.” She handed Walker the binoculars.

Walker took them and looked back down towards the river. After a couple of minutes, she too said, “Jesus Christ.”

“Is this a private prayer meeting or can anyone join?” said Heyes. “What have you seen?”

“There’s a friend of ours down there,” said Walker.

“A friend,” said Heyes. “Shooting at you. Well, that makes sense.”

“You say ‘friend’...” muttered Larsen.

Walker passed back the binoculars. “Colleague, then.” No, damn it, she thought, that wasn’t fair. “He
was
our friend, Kay.”

“Then what’s he doing down there,” said Larsen, “shooting at us, as Hecate rightly points out?”

“How would I know?” said Walker.

“You were fucking him,” said Larsen.

“So were you.”

“Not as recently.”

“Ladies!” Heyes cut through the quarrel. “I hate to spoil this precious moment of friendship, but could one of you explain who this person is?”

“His name is Mark Kinsella,” said Walker, wearily. “We were all very close, once upon a time.”

“Some of us closer than others. Recently,” Larsen muttered, but subsided at a stern look from Heyes.

“He’s the father?” said Heyes.

“Yes,” said Walker, “but that wasn’t what I meant. Mark was one of us. One of our faction at the Bureau.” She smiled mirthlessly at Heyes. “Remember, we were the good guys? Well, Mark was one of the good guys too.”

“But now the father of your child has decided to hunt you down and murder you? You certainly pick them, don’t you, Walker?”

Larsen was shaking her head. “I don’t believe it,” she said. “Not of Mark. He wouldn’t switch sides like this.”

“Perhaps he never switched sides,” said Walker grimly. “Perhaps he played us all for fools for a long time.”

“I can’t believe that,” Larsen said. “I mean, Mark could certainly be a bloody fool, but he was Andrei’s man, through and through. Always was, always will be. I can’t believe he’d side with Grant. Not willingly.”

“There’s one way to find out,” said Walker. “Can I borrow your handheld, Kay?”

“My handheld?” Larsen looked suspicious. “Why?”

“Because I need a handheld, and you might remember that I gave mine to Failt so that he and Maria could try to bring down the government.”

Larsen, with a laugh, passed the handheld over. Walker thumbed through the contacts, until she found the one she wanted. “Hello, Mark,” she said.

His voice came back tinnily. “
Kay, is that you?
”

She didn’t reply. After a moment, he spoke again. He sounded stunned.

“
Delia?
”

“Yes, it’s me. What the hell is going on? Who are these people you’ve brought with you, and why are they trying to kill us? Kay’s here too, you know.” She frowned. “I’m guessing you knew that already.” Her heart almost skipped a beat. Did he know about Braun’s World? Was he
part
of it?

“
Delia, I can’t believe this. Are you mad? Are you trying to get me killed?
”

“Why are you doing this, Mark? You’re supposed to be on our side—”

There was a hiss that might have been interference, and might not. “
You’ve got some nerve. With the deaths on your hands!
”

Deaths? Walker looked at Larsen. There’d been that whore and her pimp back on Shuloma Station, but not anyone else. Fredricks only had himself to blame. “What are you talking about?”

“
What am I talking about? Andrei! I’m talking about Andrei! He loved you, Delia—like a father. Nurtured you. Advanced you. Why did you do it?
”

It was a body blow. In fury, Walker turned to Larsen. “Did you know about this?”

“What? What the hell, Delia! Don’t you think I would have mentioned it?”

Heyes, beside them, said, “Who is Andrei?”

Larsen said, “He was second at the Bureau. Ran the place, really, for decades. Delia, and Mark, and I—we were, well, his protégés, I guess.”

“And now he’s dead,” said Heyes, “and you all think that one of you must be responsible. Dear God.” She shook her head. “What a happy little band you are.”

“
Delia? Shall I take your silence as admission of guilt?
”

“I didn’t know anything about this,” said Walker.

“
You’re a liar.
”

Walker began to regroup. “Oh, for God’s sake, Mark,” she said, impatience creeping into her voice. “I’m sure you’ve been lied to, but not by me. Why the hell would I murder Andrei Gusev? He was my route to power.”
Let’s leave aside the fact that I loved him like a father.

There was a pause, then Kinsella said, “
I don’t know. For his money?
”

“His
money?
” Walker burst out laughing. “There was no money, Mark! Andrei never had a bean! It was all smoke and mirrors, credit and debt. Dear God, if you think I murdered Andrei Gusev for his money, you’re deluded! Besides,” she went on, “if I’d recently become the recipient of his fictional fortunes, why would I be halfway up a hill on this dump of a planet? Everything I’ve said I’ve meant, Mark. I’m here to find a Weird portal. The people of this world are living in peace with the Weird. I want to find out how. Because we cannot beat the Weird, not by force. We cannot destroy them—not as quickly as they can destroy us. And if we don’t find a way to communicate with them, to live with them, then our species will be extinct within fifty years.
That’s
why I’m here, Mark. And that’s why Andrei helped me leave.”

There was silence from the other end. “Mark? Are you still there?”

“
I’m still here
.”

“Good.”

Larsen mouthed:
I think we might be getting to him.
And then Walker said, “Dear God, Mark, Andrei! How could you believe I would do something like that?”

Larsen rolled her eyes. “For fuck’s sake, Delia,” she muttered. “Do you not know when to stop?”

“
There’s a lot you’ve done that I can’t quite believe,
” Kinsella shot back, bitterly. “
You know, I doubt you were ever even pregnant—
”

“You really are a piece of shit,” said Walker.

“I hate to interrupt,” said Heyes, “but listen. We have incoming.”

She was right. Walker could hear them coming up the hillside. She cut the comm and tossed the handheld back to Larsen. “Take cover,” she said.

F
AILT’S INJURIES TURNED
out to be considerably less serious than the blood had suggested. Huddled up in a small but comfortable bed in the little hospital at the heart of the settlement, he sat with one paw on Jenny’s small hand, and Maria fussing beside him. “Sorry if I gave you a fright, Mama Maria. But it hurt!”

Maria stroked his forehead. Strange how you got used to their funny ugly faces, she thought. She didn’t even mind the grown-up Vetch that were here so much, any longer. The medic had been competent, calm, and kind. “Don’t worry about any of that, Failt,” she said. “All you have to worry about is getting better. What will Jenny and I do without you?”

His tentacles curled slightly in what Maria had come to recognise was pleasure, and affection. “Those people,” he said. “The people from the spaceship. They still here?”

“They’ve fallen back for the moment,” said Maria. “Someone had the presence of mind to get into the truck you brought and drive it inside the settlement.”

Failt whiffled with laughter. “Full of all their guns and arms and all,” he said. “Bet they don’t like having that turned back on them!”

They hadn’t, as far as Maria had been able to learn, and, to be honest, she didn’t believe that this would send them away from the settlement for good. She had watched them running towards the town, and seen the fervour in their eyes... They had been given orders—to stop the spread of the secret of Braun’s World—and they would keep on coming until those orders were fulfilled. Who knew what they were planning now? They could be heading back to the ship, getting more weapons, or preparing to fly the ship over and attack the settlement from the air... Whatever they were planning, they would be back eventually. And before that happened, she had to get the message out. If she was going to die here, at the hands of these people, she swore that it would not happen until the whole Expansion knew about the cover-up on Braun’s World. Leaving Failt tucked up in his bed, and Jenny sitting with him, Maria went in search of the kindly Vetch doctor.

“Please,” she said, when she found him. “I have to speak to someone—and I think that you all want to speak to me.”