The Rift Walker (32 page)

“Schoolteacher, my ass,” Clark said as the Rangers entered the once-hidden cleft in the wall. “The Equatorians sure love their damned secret passages. It must be their leading industry.”

The door rumbled closed and pitched them into darkness. Behind them could be heard the marching feet of a passing patrol. Mamoru's hand fumbled for a switch on the stone wall. A snap and a subsequent hiss accompanied the eerie glow of chemical lights as they slowly illuminated one by one down the empty tunnel. The samurai slipped through the passageway, but Senator Clark had to twist his broad American shoulders to fit, as did some of the Rangers.

There were numerous offshoot tunnels from the main passage, and it wouldn't have taken much effort to lose the men if Mamoru had wanted, a fact that Clark realized as he increased his stride to keep close to the schoolteacher. They passed through a series of ancient tombs piled with mummies so desiccated that withered limbs protruded through crumbling linen. A tunnel soon angled up and the group emerged into the hot sun.
Ranger
was anchored to the nearby palace wall.

The senator checked his watch. It had been barely fifteen minutes since the rescue began. They needed to move; even with Kelvin's inaction, the Equatorians would start to make trouble soon. He didn't particularly want to shoot his way out of Alexandria. The Rangers smoothly covered all angles as they started across the lawn toward drop lines that fell from the frigate.

Clark laughed as they ran. “I'm not sure what to make of you, schoolteacher. I just hope you can find my wife.”

“I can. But my methods are not your methods.”

“As long as they work.”
And
, Clark thought,
As long as I control them.

N
GONGO'S
M
OUNTAINEERS CREPT
toward the top of a rock-strewn ridge. They moved slowly, rustling with heavily scented plants stuffed into their belts and headbands. They were also smeared with gorilla blood again, except for King Msiri, who was daubed with the blood of a leopard as befit his station.

General Ngongo signaled for the men to halt, then pointed back to King Msiri and Adele and motioned them forward. She scrambled up as quickly as she could, with Anhalt in tow, and the king breathing heavily with expectation beside her. Cresting the rise, they peered down the other side. The ground sloped away for fifty yards, then suddenly disappeared into a crevasse of misty nothingness. The edge was connected to a distant plateau by a simple rope bridge, a single foot line and two hand lines.

Adele had expected to find an ancient fortress or walled city. She had assumed the Katangans would have to lay siege to their target. However, Jaga's Grand Boma was just an empty plateau, several hundred yards across, surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs pockmarked with caves and crevices. All of it was empty. No vampires. No humans. The caves stood silent, like blank eyes in a monster's head.

“Where are they?” Msiri looked expectantly at Adele as if she could discern some intelligence from the scene. “They must be here. We must bring this campaign to an end. We are badly undersupplied now. We cannot sustain ourselves in these mountains.”

“I don't know.” Adele wondered what the queen mother had told Msiri about her abilities. Adele's limited geomantic training was not enough to determine their enemy's location. Flicking down her chemical goggles, she scanned the boma. “They could be hiding in the caves. I don't even see any sign of humans. I don't smell fires. The vampires are either hiding or they fled. Surely we haven't taken them by surprise. They certainly knew we were coming.”

Msiri said, “I will have the boma. If Jaga is there, I will kill him. If he is not, I will find him. I will build a permanent base here. Jaga's mountains are mine now.”

Without taking his eyes off the empty plateau, General Ngongo said, “We'll cross to the boma and clear it.” He slid back down toward the gathering army.

Soon, Mountaineers with rifles strapped to their backs began to struggle up the hill carrying heavy coils of rope with grappling hooks and what looked like mortars. They topped the rise and slid down the far side, gathering at the edge of the crevasse. The men fixed ropes to the hooks and then loaded the grapples into the mortars. They fired the hooks in a barrage of booming puffs of smoke and the lines slithered across the chasm, slamming down on the other side. The Mountaineers took up their ends of the ropes and pulled them taut, if they could. Most of the grapples slid over the rocky ground and plummeted into the ravine. Pulled back up, they were fired again while those lines that held fast were fixed to anchors on this side.

Msiri rose to his feet. Adele and Anhalt exchanged glances as the king slid down the hill and went toward the swaying rope bridge.

“Is he crossing first?” Adele breathed, lifting her goggles.

“It appears so,” the colonel said with alarm and respect. “At least in the first wave.”

At the same time, other Mountaineers took up positions on the ridgeline with their murderous heavy, double-barreled rifles. As the troopers raised guns to their shoulders, their sights on the plateau, Msiri stood at the place where the rope bridge was tenuously tied off to a gnarled tree, as well as two rusty spikes driven, perhaps decades ago, into the fractured rock. He waited as soldiers repaired and strengthened the anchor points. General Ngongo pulled on each rope with all his strength and then nodded to his king.

Adele slipped down to the edge of the crevasse next to Msiri. The wind battered everyone, fluttering Msiri's heavy cloak and plume. The gale pushed her with such force she had to lean against the wind as she peered over the side onto cloud tops far below. The king looked calm, even casual, and seemed eager for the adventure. The troops smiled and chatted, obviously proud of their leader. It was an amazing and useful example for Adele, though she still thought it foolhardy.

She said, “Good luck, Your Majesty.”

Msiri laughed. “Oh, I don't need luck. My mother assured me you would guarantee success. With you here, I cannot die.”

“She said that?”

He waved his hand. “More or less. She can be vague.”

The princess said, “Prophecy or not, your bravery is prodigious to walk this bridge first. I can't believe you would take that risk.”

Msiri furrowed his brow. “I'm not taking the risk. You are.”

“What? Me?”

“No!” Leaping in front of Adele, Colonel Anhalt nearly threw her to the ground. “Absolutely not! This is complete nonsense! You have the Mountaineer Brigade. Let them cross.”

“It must be Princess Adele,” the king replied calmly. “It is what my mother dreamed. The princess must set foot on Jaga's boma first to ensure victory.”

“I just remember something about hyenas,” Adele remarked.

Anhalt spun and gazed gravely into Adele's eyes. “You must refuse. This is too much. The vampires are obviously baiting a trap.”

The princess looked down again into the abyss, her voice holding only a slight tremor. “I can't refuse if the king requests it. We owe him.”

Anhalt's dark visage froze in horror. “I beg you, no.”

“It isn't that far across. I reckon twenty, thirty feet.”

“Fifty meters, Highness,” General Ngongo said flatly.

“Oh really? So far?” Adele laughed nervously. She desperately wanted to refuse, but couldn't. The queen mother's mystic visions had convinced Msiri that Adele was required for success. Although they couldn't physically force her to traverse the chasm first, her refusal could lead to conflict with the overwhelmingly superior Katangans, and certainly to the revocation of her asylum. King Msiri wasn't being duplicitous or cowardly; he simply wanted to do the right thing, as he believed it. On the other hand, the queen mother was one of Mamoru's network; that alone gave her vision far more weight than just a seer's prophecy.

She took a deep breath. “Colonel, if I asked you to do it, you would. I have duties as well.”

Anhalt stood tight-lipped, shaking his head at the insanity of it all, while the Mountaineers began to crawl out along their grapple lines into the chasm, pulling themselves hand over hand with their ankles crossed on their ropes. The wind tossed them like laundry, their rifles and swords dangling beneath them.

Adele said, “Your Majesty, I'm ready.”

“Excellent!” The king clapped his hands. “You will find it a simple task. There are many such bridges across Katanga. Small children walk them every day. I will be right behind you on the bridge. And, as you see, my Mountaineers will be crossing on their traverses too. But you must set foot on the other side first.”

Anhalt said, “I will be with you as well.”

“Fine.” Adele tugged on one of the ropes. “Let's keep it to three, shall we? Until we see how sturdy it is.”

“It is as safe as a stroll in my garden.” Msiri kicked off his sandals and patted her back with a powerful hand. “Just don't pull on the guidelines to correct yourself should you begin to tilt. You may well spin yourself out of control.”

Without another word, Adele placed a booted foot on the rope just off the side of the cliff. It stretched several frightening inches before coming taut. She took both of the guide ropes in her hands and stepped off into the sky, pausing to get her balance on the vibrating cables. The wind kicked up and the rope swayed from side to side, carrying her feet wildly with it. She wanted to yank hard on the ropes in her hands, but Msiri had warned her about that. She heard the collective gasps of the troops as she struggled for balance, fighting her fear of being tossed into open sky. Finally, she got her feet under her again and steadied the ropes.

Not bad for a first step.

She started with controlled, measured steps, unable to deny there was something exciting about how the rope beneath her bounced wildly. Sliding her hands along the fibrous guidelines, she watched the far cliff draw closer.

Adele risked a quick glance to her left at the numerous rope lines spun like a spider's strands across the chasm. The Mountaineers maneuvered them expertly, unlike her own halting steps on the thin rope that flexed as if it were alive. But still none of the men, however skilled, passed her. Instead they stood ready on the lines, watching the air, watching the boma—watching her.

The weight of these lives rested with her. They were all operating under Msiri's odd belief. She quickened her pace, wanting to be across. As Adele walked the rope with more confidence, the air grew suddenly misty. Clumps of grey-white clouds rose around her and the world vanished in a cottony haze. She felt the guidelines in her fists, but could barely make them out a few feet from her face. Her boots were lost in the fog, and she could see nothing of the rope beneath her. She was stepping from nothing to nothing.

Suddenly a black shape darted in the mist right below her, like a shark cutting the surface of the ocean. Adele stiffened. At first, she hoped it was just a bird, but then she saw another and then another pass so close she could touch them.

“Vampires!” she shouted.

Screams erupted around her in the fog. Behind her, sniper fire started up, but the riflemen must've been firing nearly blind because of the mist. Now there was as much danger from being struck by a wild bullet as from an attacking vampire. They had to cross quickly and get to solid ground. Adele stepped up her pace. The ropes jerked and shivered beneath her palms as the men behind her repositioned or fought off attackers. The gusts of wind grew stronger.

“Carry on!” Msiri called out.

There were breaks in the fog, and through it Adele saw vampires speeding like bullets, careening into the Katangans, ripping them from their tenuous holds on their cables. Flailing, the men tumbled over and over down into the chasm, in comparison to the vampires, who despite the dangerous air currents, maneuvered with daring grace.

All over, men were shouting and screaming. Msiri's voice boomed his command. “The Equatorian must land first!”

Adele was about to shout that he couldn't keep his men hanging helplessly on their lines, that they needed to cross and form a perimeter. Then a dark shape slammed into her. A strangled scream escaped. One hand came loose and her arm waved wildly, seeking anything to hold onto, as her fingers swept through fog. A rope hit the crook of her elbow, and she quickly clenched her arm around it. She managed to keep her balance as her hand found a line again.

“Highness!” Anhalt's voice sliced the clouds.

She managed to croak, “I'm here.”

The ropes quivered from wind or other footfalls, and her arm was beginning to strain. A vampire erupted out of the fog and grabbed her by the waist. With her right hand, she reached for the Fahrenheit khukri in her belt, relieved it was still there. It flashed a green hue as she yanked it out and curved it downward. The blade sank deep into the flesh of the vampire, who howled and released her. She scrabbled for the other guideline.

The king said, “Quickly now, move forward.”

Adele probed with her right foot. Her toe touched something hard and she lowered the rest of her foot. It fell on a broad and ungiving surface. The ground. The princess pressed harder and heard crunching soil. Through the mist she saw rocks.

“I'm across!” Adele stepped onto solid ground with a rush of triumph and relief. So close to falling, so close to death. She would live to see Gareth again. As she pushed up through a small gap onto the broad surface of the plateau, she noticed that the earth felt warm.

“Go! Go!” Msiri shouted to his men. “She is across!”

The king and Anhalt appeared at her side. The colonel yanked up his goggles to inspect her with worried eyes, and Adele noticed the glow of his Fahrenheit saber in his gloved hand. Msiri was brandishing an intricate Katangan axe and an automatic pistol.

Anhalt lowered his goggles into place once more, prompting Adele to do the same. They both clicked their shroud filters into place to sweep the area for the telltale blue glows of vampires. The Gurkha noted Msiri's red glow and then was startled by Adele's white signature. His first thought was that the fragile chemistry of the goggles was failing, but his own arm was bright red too. The princess was simply brilliant white.

Msiri proclaimed, “Victory is mine.”

“Is that so?” Anhalt answered a trifle brusquely, shooting another vampire as it rushed them. “Because we seem outnumbered.”

“No matter, Colonel. The princess entered Jaga's boma first. The
ndoki
chief is finished.”

The Gurkha grunted in fatalistic acceptance. “Well, every man should have faith in his mother.”

Adele's pistol flamed and fired rhythmically at dozens of blue shapes around her. Anhalt stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her. The air and ground were thick with darting vampires, veering this way and that. She almost missed as two dove toward her. She lifted her gun and fired, sending one tumbling into the other. They both landed at her feet.