Tinker's War (The Tinkerer's Daughter Book 2) (16 page)

I turned my attention to the greater wound, near the front of Robie’s abdomen. I willed his body to absorb the blood and digestive juices back into his gut. I tried to help this process, but I could do little more than guide the body, helping speed Robie’s own natural healing abilities. I managed to pull the separated layers into place and bind them weakly together, but I doubted this healing would be enough to save him. I lacked the strength to do any more.

I released myself from the
sight
and fell back onto the ground. My head spun with dizziness and the stars overhead seemed to roll across the sky. I panted, all of my being focused on holding onto consciousness. I felt a twisting, falling sensation, as if I were sinking into the ground, right through the bottom of the world. Gradually, my breathing steadied and my pulse slowed to a steady rhythm. The twisting, nauseating feeling subsided. I lifted myself up to a sitting position, and found Tam on the ground next to me. He looked exactly like I felt.

“Are you well?” I said.

He nodded slightly. “I’ll survive. I’m not sure about your friend, though.”

I looked at Robie. He was unconscious. He looked as peaceful as a sleeping babe. Some of his color had returned, but his breathing was shallow and labored. “I don’t have the strength to do any more,” I said. “Help me get him to the gyro.”

Tam pushed himself up and threw his gaze around the area, and then looked at me. “What about them?”

“You can lead these people back to the camp,” I said. “They’ll be safe if they get into the mountains quickly. I’ll fly ahead of you. Watch out for Vangar patrols.”

“I think the Vangars had better look out for this group,” Tam said, nodding at a nearby Vangar’s corpse. I glanced at it and quickly looked away. I’ve known the horrors of war all of my life, yet I’ve never come to accept the brutality of it. I never believed that we were meant to dwell in an eternal state of conflict, yet I find that we perpetually gravitate in that direction. It seems that war is never far removed from mankind’s thoughts.

I crawled to my feet, scanning those around me. I saw a few injuries and unfortunately, a few dead. The captives had won back their freedom, but at a cost. I wondered for a moment if I had done the right thing by stopping that ship. If not for me, all of those people would still be alive. Granted, they’d still be prisoners, but was it worth it? I wasn’t sure what my answer was, and I certainly couldn’t answer for them.

Tam gathered a few of the refugees together and explained our plan. They helped us lift Robie onto a makeshift cot, which we then attached to the gyroplane just behind the seat. Robie moaned weakly as we moved him, his eyes occasionally fluttering open and then rolling back in his head. When we had him secured, I settled into the seat and grabbed the flight controls.

“Move quickly,” I reminded Tam, “and make sure no one follows you. If even one Vangar follows you into the mountains, we’ll be ruined.”

“You can trust me,” he said. He bent forward and kissed me. I heard a muted noise and glanced over to see Robie looking up at us. He sighed, and his eyes slid shut. I reached up and slapped Tam across the face. Then I gunned the throttle and took off, eager to put him and everything else behind me, if only for a few hours.

I reached the encampment well before sunrise. I landed in the field to the east of the tents, waking the refugees to the terrifying sight of a Vangar aircraft landing in their midst. A group of men came racing at me, armed with guns and swords. When they realized who it was, suffice it to say they were quite shocked.

Analyn was there and she immediately ordered Robie taken to a warm tent, where a physician could tend to him. I was anxious to follow Robie and see to him, but Analyn insisted that I explain everything that had happened, and especially how I had acquired the gyro.

I related the story as quickly as I could, skipping most of the details. I told Analyn to have her mechanics study the machine as soon as the sun came up, and to have everyone else prepare for the soon-to-come influx of refugees. Then she took pity on me and sent me to get some rest.

I found Robie’s tent and I settled down on the ground next to his cot. I made one more attempt to heal him, but I had only enough energy to make sure he wasn’t bleeding internally. After that, I fell asleep on the ground next to him with the warm fire at my back and a thousand images fleeting through my mind, each more terrifying than the last. The worst, the deepest unspoken fear at the back my mind was the one where the Vangars found our camp. That was the thought that brought me nightmares all through the night, and well into the next afternoon.

The refugees arrived sometime in the morning, but I wasn’t awake to greet them. It was early afternoon when Analyn came into the tent to wake me. As my eyes fluttered open, I realized that someone had moved me. I was no longer in the tent with Robie. I was in Analyn’s tent.

“How is he?” were the first words out of my mouth.

Analyn gave me a motherly smile. “He’ll live, with a few weeks’ rest and plenty of soup. How about you?”

I sat up, grimacing from the pain that seemed to rack my entire body. “I’m all right,” I said. “Though I feel like I’ve been run over by a steamwagon.”

“Something bigger than that, judging from the stories I’ve heard,” Analyn said.

“Stories? Then the others made it here safely?”

“Yes, of course.”

“And they weren’t followed?”

“I don’t believe so. Tam was very careful about that. He had other Tal’mar with him. They’re quite good at that sort of thing.”

“Of course.” I closed my eyes, remembering the scene. “How many refugees?” I said.

“Nearly three hundred, about half of them Tal’mar. You’ve doubled the size of our camp in one night. I don’t think the Tal’mar will be staying long, though. They seem eager to return north and find their queen.”

“I’m not surprised. What about the others?”

“Well, they’re saying you’re a hero again, but they say that often don’t they?”

I laughed quietly. The truth was that it had been a long time since humans –or anyone- had paid much attention to me. I was important to them in the early days, after the end of the war when they saw me as the catalyst of great changes. Eventually though, when they got used to the changes and life became a matter of living one day to the next, they forgot about me. For the most part, I was happy to be forgotten. I hadn’t wanted to become part of the politics and intrigue of government, or any other important things. I just wanted to fly.

“But will the refugees stay?” I said. “Will they help us fight the Vangars?”

“Where else would they go?” Analyn said, sighing. She settled onto her cot across from me. “Don’t misunderstand me, these people are not fighters. The good fighters were the first to die when the Vangars attacked. What we have left are farmers and merchants. Some of them are angry enough to fight, but they’re not trained for it. They simply have nothing else. They can’t go back to their farms, and they can’t survive without some larger system to hold them together. The Tal’mar might be able to disappear into the wilderness and survive, but these people can’t.”

“I’ve made a mess of things,” I said. “Tinker told me not to let the Vangars know about us, but that’s just what I’ve done. When that ship doesn’t return on time…”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’m sure the Vangars had already assumed that some of us escaped. Seeing what happened to their ship may anger them, but I still doubt they’ll take us very seriously.”

“Why not?”

“Because they know that we are outmanned and outgunned. Even if there were a thousand of us, or two or three thousand, we still wouldn’t have a chance. My guess is that the Vangars will ignore us for now. Unless we force them to pay attention.”

“Why would we do that?” I said.

Analyn frowned. “I’d rather not speak of such things yet. Please, before we go on, tell me of your conversation with Tinker last night. You said he has no plans as of yet?”

“He’s planning something. He has joined together with the sheriff of Riverfork and the mayor, and some others. He wouldn’t tell me any more about it though, except that he was learning about the Vangars and finding their weaknesses. He told me to come back during the new moon.”

Analyn pursed her lips. “That’s two weeks away,” she said. “I suppose in the meanwhile, we’ll have our hands full just keeping this group fed and sheltered.”

“He also said to make weapons,” I added. “Guns, swords, even bombs. Whatever we can manage.”

Analyn considered that. “Indeed, I can see the reason behind that. Perhaps it would be wise to send scouts into the abandoned farms and villages looking for supplies. I doubt the Vangars have managed to destroy everything worthwhile. I suppose we should form a team as soon as possible.”

I cracked a smile, considering the idea. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of crossing paths with any more Vangars, but I certainly didn’t feel like spending the next two weeks sitting around the camp either. This might be just the job I needed.

“I could form a team quite quickly,” I said, purposefully injecting myself into the situation. “Four or five of us would be about right. A small group with horses or better yet, a steamwagon.”

“Why a steamwagon?”

“For cargo,” I said. “We can’t carry an anvil or lathe on horseback. If we’re really going to do this, we’ll need tools and blacksmithing equipment.”

“I see. And if you’re traveling by steamwagon, you won’t be moving very fast. You’ll need men who can fight off a Vangar patrol. You will run across them eventually, I suspect.”

“No doubt,” I said. “I need a group large enough to fight, but not so many that we can’t move quickly. Five at the most, I would say.”

Analyn smiled. “And do you have five in mind?”

My thoughts immediately went to Robie. I knew he’d want to be part of what I was doing, but he would be recovering from his injuries for some time. Most likely, we’d have the hard work done by the time he was up and around. Naturally, my thoughts went to Tam next, not so much because I wanted him around, but because I knew we could use him. He was a good fighter, an excellent archer, and he knew very well how to remain stealthy. That was one thing I could always expect from a Tal’mar, and almost never expect from a human. Humans are for the most part noisy, clumsy creatures. The problem was that I didn’t know how long Tam would be willing to stay, especially now that he had a flood of refugees to deal with. They already wanted to leave.

“I don’t know,” I said at last. “I don’t have anyone in mind, but I’m sure I could find the right people.”

“I’ll leave it to you, then,” Analyn said, rising from her cot. “Take a look around. When you’ve got the right men picked out, bring them to me.”

She slipped out and left me sitting there, my head still cloudy from sleep. I searched my memory for anyone other than Tam or Robie that might fit my needs, but I could think of no one.

After breakfast, I checked on Robie. He was sleeping, so I took a moment to check his wounds and then left him in peace. He was healing nicely, but as I expected, it would be a long while before he was back to normal. I probably could have encouraged that process along, but I wasn’t in a hurry to have him back on his feet and I knew it would be best to let the healing progress naturally, if possible. Not only that, but I also wanted to give him time to think about what a stupid fool he’d been, taking off and getting caught like that. Things may have turned out, but they could have been much worse.

I followed Analyn’s advice and wandered the camp for a while, talking to the refugees and watching them work. I saw a good number of healthy young men and women, and I saw a number of older, more experienced fighters, but nothing in the middle. It seemed I’d have to choose between youth and vigor or age and experience. Each had its drawbacks. Obviously, the younger generation was more suited to the kind of work we’d be doing, but they were completely untested in battle. Most of them had never raised a sword made of anything but wood. The older, more experienced fighters would have been useful in combat but not in the heavy work of moving anvils and barrels.

When I finally returned to Analyn, she was at the center of the camp, overseeing the daily operations. The one advantage of being the rightful heir to the throne was that when Analyn told someone to do something, they did it. That made for a very efficient, well-managed camp. No one dared argue with the woman who might someday be queen.

“There you are!” she said as I approached. “Tell me, what have you decided?”

I explained my situation with a great deal of sighing and rolling my eyes. Analyn understood perfectly. “I think I may have a solution for you,” she said with a wide grin.

I raised my eyebrows. “I’d love to hear it.”

“We’ll have a competition. I’ll order a few targets and sparring circles installed, and we’ll test our warriors’ abilities.”

“All right,” I said skeptically. “But I need more than just good fighters. I need strength and stamina.”

“We’ll see to that as well,” Analyn said. “We have plenty of heavy lifting to do around here. We have stumps and trees to move, and a good deal more.”

My eyes lit up as I considered the idea. As unusual as it sounded, it really wasn’t. The humans and the Tal’mar had held such contests annually during their harvest festivals for centuries. The competitions allowed strapping young males to display their prowess and strength, while raising the spirits of the spectators who stood by cheering them on. Many young marriages began with the festival competitions.

There was one aspect that still concerned me though. “Do we have time for this?” I said. “How long will it take to prepare?”

“Not that long,” Analyn said. “I’ll set everyone to work on it. We’ll have the contest tomorrow afternoon. By tomorrow night, you’ll have your team.”

I grinned. “This might actually work.”

“Of course it will,” Analyn said. “I didn’t get this old by being a fool.”

I didn’t bother to point out that being a fool had stopped very few people I’d known from attaining old age. Instead, I responded with an old Tal’mar proverb: “Wisdom is not an inheritance, but a reward,” I said.