Trident's Forge (12 page)

“And how many ‘style points' did that earn you?” Valmassoi asked innocently.

Benson held up a finger. “I don't care how you make it happen. I get to be the one that kills it.”

Valmassoi held a hand against his chest. “I'm shocked. Is the famous Zero Champion always so vindictive toward his foes?”

“My foes never went well with honey mustard before.”

“Well, you never know until you try.”

Benson actually laughed. “What a tasteless joke, administrator.”

“Careful, we're about to get stuck in a joke loop. I'll be sure you get the honor, Mr Benson. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have some preparations to make.” Valmassoi held the chicken up over his head and made his way through the rapidly parting crowd toward the temple.

The ceremony started not long after. Chief Tuko, being the host, was the first to make an offering. He'd selected his own personal dux'ah mount to really drive home the importance of the occasion. Benson winced as the chief plunged his ceremonial spear into the unsuspecting creature's torso, just ahead of its legs. The immense dux'ah shrieked in surprise and terror at its master's betrayal, a sound Benson wouldn't soon forget. Mercifully, Tuko's aim was true. The beast staggered once, then collapsed.

Benson leaned over to whisper to Korolev standing guard. “Broom-heads don't have hearts. What the hell did he hit with that spear?”

Korolev shook his head gravely. “No idea. Sure would be a handy thing to know, though.”

“I'll make sure to ask him.”

A representative from each village stepped forward to sanctify the sacrifice with a short prayer before throwing a handful of reddish powder into the air. Then they cut out a choice piece of flesh for the coming feast. In short order, Tuko's offering was butchered and distributed among the crowd. In an order determined by a dizzying formula including how long each village had been on the road network, harvest sizes, personal favors among the elders, and who knew what else, the rest of the representatives took their turns at the sacrificial altar.

Not every offering went as smoothly as Tuko's, however. Even fitted with blinders to calm them, the dux'ahs' agitation grew with every dying shriek, until it took a great deal of wrangling to get them into place. And not all of those striking had Tuko's aim and skill with a spear, either. Several of the animals took multiple stabs and many minutes to succumb.

The penultimate sacrifice was muscled into position. It was a bruiser, and made it immediately apparent to everyone that it wanted nothing to do with the proceedings. While not as big as the broom-head Tuko had offered, this one was alert and tense as a coiled spring. It reeked of musk, and its skin flashed waves of rapidly shifting spirals. The pattern changed so fast, Benson had to glance away or risk getting vertigo.

he said into the security detail's private com line.

Atwood agreed.

Korolev added.

Atwood said.

Benson said.

Benson took a very deliberate step backwards. The feral dux'ah strained against its restraints with a determination fueled by desperation. His earlier encounter with the chicken seemed comical in comparison.

The elder stepped up to finish the animal, but his first thrust missed its mark, sending the broom-head even deeper into its frenzy. With a mighty twist of its head, the beast yanked one of its handlers clean off his feet and sent him pinwheeling through the air before he collapsed into a heap on the ground.

The Atlantian's limbs were crumpled at impossible angles from the impact. Benson's first instinct was to run to the downed alien's aid, but to his amazement, the “injured” creature untangled his horribly bent limbs and shot right back to his feet. Benson wasn't the only one to notice.

“Resilient little bastards, aren't they?” Korolev said under his breath.

“No kidding.” Benson watched in fascination as the Atlantian who'd just been thrown like a child's doll scampered back to his rope and helped get the beast under control as if nothing had happened.

A call for help went out and four more warriors from other villages, including one Benson was nearly certain was Kuul, stepped up and drove their spears into the broom-head. It took many strikes before the animal finally fell. After the prayers were said and the flesh was collected, it was the humans' turn to make their sacrifice.

“Showtime,” Valmassoi handed the hooded chicken to Benson. “Make us proud.”

“Thanks.” Benson took the bird under an arm and grabbed the handle of his survival knife.

He squared his shoulders and strode up to the sacrificial altar. A chorus of laughter followed him. With the spectacle of the reentry capsule now a few hours old and the parade of broom-heads that had come before, the bird looked a little undersized for the occasion.

Kuul shouted something from the sidelines. “Do you need us to tie it down for you?”

“I'll manage,” Benson shouted back as soon as his translator fed him the reply. This was met with another round of laughter, but Benson ignored them and set the bird down on the cool black stone. The chicken was calmer now than it had been in the capsule, doubtless due in part to the hood covering its eyes. Benson's previous bloodlust faded as he glanced down at the condemned and pulled the knife from its sheath. He held it up toward the sun, imitating what he'd seen the others do. Sunlight glinted off the polished metal as the crowd's laughter was replaced by a hush of reverence.

He'd never actually taken a life before, not personally. In Benson's days as chief constable, he'd captured people who had later been put to death. He'd even shot a man, once. But he'd been armed with a knife, and had had every intention of leaving it inside Benson's chest cavity.

Now, he held the knife. And even though it was just a chicken, Benson didn't feel any better about it.

“Sorry, buddy,” he said under his breath. “But you were going to be Buffalo wings either way.” With the eyes of the crowd on him, Benson tensed for the strike, but it never fell.

From the edge of the forest, an Atlantian came running down the hill, waving its arms and shouting wildly. Whatever it wanted, Benson's translator couldn't make out the words. An instant later, dozens upon dozens of blackened warriors came streaming out of the forest behind the newcomer. At the same moment, several warriors inside the crowd nearest to the quartet of Atwood's security detail lifted their spears and charged.

Benson shouted into their com line.

Then, the real sacrifice began.

K
exx moved carefully
through the thick bramble of Cuut's Tentacle vines weaving through the trunks and branches of the halo trees. The vines themselves were harmless enough. Dried, beaten, and braided properly, their fibers made stout rope. Their seed pods, on the other hand…

Ze ducked gently under one of the large, purple pods. As long as one of Kexx's arms, it was deadly serious business at such short range, but the color of this one meant it hadn't dried out enough to pose an immediate danger. Behind zer, the startled sounds of sacrifices at the altar permeated the forest. The gathering's opening ceremony was in full swing. Soon, the succulent aroma of roasting dux'ah meat would waft through the village.

Kexx's stomach gurgled in anticipation of the evening's feast, but there was still work to be done. The signaler had reported noises around the tower before the ceremony had begun, so Tuko had sent Kexx to scout the forest for anyone who wasn't supposed to be there. The dangerous vines did an admirable job of keeping out stray uliks and the occasional nomadic tribe turned marauders. But their visitors had come from other villages on the road network, villages almost identical to Kexx's own. The forest wouldn't present much of a barrier to any of them.

Generations of smaller animals had laid down safe paths through the tangle of seed pods, if you knew where to look for the signs and kept your head low enough. Kexx kept mostly to these paths, but also had to keep a sharp eye out for traces of wanderers who didn't know the little tricks of the forest as well as ze did. Despite being just after midday, the canopy above blocked out most of the light from reaching the forest floor, and the intermittent beams and stripes of light that did reach only managed to break up outlines and confuse Kexx's eyes as they constantly tried to shift from day to night viewing.

The shifting light used to give zer a headache, but Kexx had spent enough time in the woods to grow out of it. Zer own skin shifted to match the contrasting patterns. A camouflaging trick zer mentor had ground into zer until it took almost no conscious effort at all. Kexx's tracking skills took over. With the clutter of leaf litter covering the ground, there was nothing as obvious as a footprint in the dirt. Instead, ze searched for tiny disturbances in the leaves, broken twigs, vines moved out of place. Ze started at the base of the signal tower and moved outward in a spiral, ignoring the path the signaler used to focus on the wild woods.

It was tedious, mentally draining work, but Kexx soon fell into a rhythm. There was actually quite a bit to see. The jurki bushes were flowering, soaking the air with their sweet fragrance and bringing out a swarm of hungry flies. They were too busy gathering the energy-dense nectar to bother stinging Kexx, for once. In another two days, it would be time to harvest the slightly wilted flowers to distill them into wine, perfumes, and a half-fullhand of other products unique to Kexx's village. The bushes preferred the salty air near the ocean. Other villages had tried to cultivate their own crops, but the end products always proved inferior, giving zer village valuable leverage in trade.

But for how much longer? The old assumptions and alliances that had built trade between the villages, the road network, and the signal towers were all about to be completely upended by the humans' arrival. Their tools were mindbending. The sort of things the humans took for granted, like their great bird, were simply beyond Kexx's comprehension. What could G'tel, or any of the villages, possibly offer them? And what industry would the humans not immediately come to dominate? Kuul and Tuko were worried about their guns, but Kexx was coming to think the real danger the humans posed was more subtle and wider reaching than something as blunt as a new weapon.

As ze followed the lazy spiral, Kexx's frustration grew. Ze found a nest that had fallen out of the canopy during last night's high winds, a flattened spot in the leaf litter where a stray ulik had bedded down for the night, a pile of fresh excrement from the same. Lap after lap, ze saw life in the forest carrying on as usual, and no signs of intrusion whatsoever.

Ze was wasting zer time in a hunt for what felt more and more like the aural hallucinations of a distracted signaler with each lap, while all of the excitement was happening back at the ceremony. That was where zer eyes could be put to use. Maybe that had been the point of sending zer out here, to make sure the truth-digger wasn't nearby when anything actually important happened.

The thought lodged itself into Kexx's mind and stuck there like a thorn. It dug deeper with each lap until Kexx was so distracted ze walked right past the dried fungus stems strewn across the ground near the base of a tree trunk. It was another three steps before the strangeness of it clicked and ze spun back around. Ze leaned down and picked up one of the shriveled stems. It was grey with dark red dots. Kexx bit off the end experimentally and ground up a small piece between zer teeth. It was bitter and meaty, but ze didn't recognize the variety and spat it back out. Ze'd learned early the dangers of eating unfamiliar fungi.

There weren't any fungi in zer woods that were unknown to Kexx. This was an invader brought into the forest from the outside, and recently. So close to the ocean, the air was humid. Things here didn't desiccate, they rotted. They'd been brought into the woods and eaten, probably within the last day. But by whom
,
that was the question.

Kexx's tongue and gums started to tingle where ze'd chewed on the stem. So, it was a drug fungus. Most likely the remnants of an amorous trio sneaking off into the woods for a private tryst, the fungus playing the part of some kind of aphrodisiac. Probably a mixed group from two or more of the other villages. Gatherings offered one of the few opportunities each year for such intervillage dalliances, and while the practice wasn't openly acknowledged, it did keep the breeding pools fresh.

The only real danger was to the bearer. If it was discovered they carried a brood from another village, the consequences could be severe. No village could afford to have their bearers splitting their loyalties.

A careful reading of the leaves near where ze'd found the stems revealed the subtle depressions where they'd laid down, all but confirming zer theory. Kexx breathed a sigh of relief and rested zer spear across zer shoulders. Another mystery solved, it was time to get back to the ceremony before ze missed all of the action, not to mention the food.

Ze started back toward the center of the village, but something nagged at zer, fighting for attention. Kexx glanced down at zer feet, trying to think through whatever ze could be missing. Suddenly, ze ground to a full stop and stared at the ground around zer feet as the realization dawned.

If ze was right, then where were the tracks leading back to the village? Kexx knelt down, then got on all fours trying to spot any little disturbances in the leaves. The trio would be in the post-mating glow, in a haze of drugs, and in a hurry to get back to the village. Hardly the best frame of mind for the delicate work of concealing your movement. But no matter how hard Kexx looked, ze just couldn't make tracks appear.

Flustered, ze stood back up and pondered the situation. If they hadn't come from the village, there was one direction they
could
have come from. Kexx spun around, and immediately had to throw out zer theory about the amorous trio.

For one thing, there were more than three of them. A lot more. For another, their skin was coated in a thick layer of dried mud mixed with ash and leaves. And if that wasn't enough, the spears pointed at Kexx's throat sealed the deal.

Kexx took a long step back and spun the spear hanging on zer shoulders around, deftly knocking the nearest point away. Zer feet wanted to run, but the moment zer back was turned, the painted intruders would run zer through like a dux'ah tenderloin. Instead, Kexx brought zer spear up to a ready defensive posture and spoke low and slow.

“You obviously took great care to get here undetected. If I see one muscle twitch, I start screaming and bring the village down on you like the Seeds of Cuut.”

Kexx caught a flicker of movement in zer peripheral vison. Ze was being flanked.

“Stop where you are, I'm not bluffing.”

A ripple of light passed between members of the intruders through small, uncamouflaged patches of skin, flowing in the direction of a particular member in the back. Their leader. Whoever they were, they were highly trained and communicating in coded bursts. Kexx's hopes for surviving the encounter sank, but ze'd be damned if ze was going to let them step one foot closer to zer village.

The leader set down zer spear and walked forward with hands held out. Kexx's hands tightened on the spear shaft involuntarily, but allowed zer to approach. Softly, careful not to let zer voice carry, the leader spoke. “Truth-digger?” Kexx nodded. “And a good one. Your village would miss you if we had to kill you.” Zer voice was heavily accented in a way Kexx couldn't place.

“Then turn around and leave,” Kexx demanded, but the leader ignored zer.

“Lay down your spear and allow us to pass. You will not be harmed.”

Kexx shook zer head in the human way, not even aware ze was doing it. “That's not going to happen.”

“Then we will stake your feet and hands to a tree at the edge of the forest and open your belly for the uliks to feast on.”

“How vivid. But I doubt you can do all that before I can scream and bring Kuul's warriors running.”

“Kuul?”

“Your opposite. Most disagreeable, that one, and spoiling for a fight.”

The ashen specter held zer arms out. “And what do you suppose my warriors are spoiling for? I am not fond of needless bloodshed, truth-digger, but I can't say the same for some of the spears pointed at you. Let us pass, or let us speed you to Xis's warm embrace. It's your choice, but make it quickly.”

There was a finality in zer voice that Kexx felt compelled to obey. Then, a not-so-gentle prodding at Kexx's side reminded zer that ze was surrounded. Crestfallen, Kexx threw zer spear into the dirt and surrendered, sure that the killing blow would follow, but determined to put every bit of zer last breath into a warning cry at the first prick of a spearpoint.

But the blow never landed. True to zer word, the leader signaled zer troops onward. Silently, they flowed around Kexx like a slow river trickling around a rock, leaving no trace of their passing. And no warning of their arrival.

Kexx stood there for a long, tense moment, watching them advance on the village. They stretched out in all directions. First fullhands, then hundreds. They had completely infiltrated the forest. Kexx must have walked within arm-spans, hand-spans of some of them without spotting any of them.

Whoever they were, Kuul wouldn't stand a chance so long as they carried the element of surprise. The humans might fare better for a time, but only four of them carried the miraculous guns. Kexx couldn't imagine even their mighty technology saving the humans from being overwhelmed by what was coming.

Kexx looked down at the spear by zer feet, knowing full well that the outcome of the coming battle hinged on what ze did in the next few moments. A decision crystalized in zer mind.

“Fuck it.”

Riding high on Mei's words of irreverence, Kexx got a toe under the spear and kicked it back up into zer grip, then heaved it for all ze was worth at the biggest seed pod in sight, hanging just over the heads of the advancing warriors. Kexx hit the ground and curled up to protect zer head.

The instant the obsidian point touched the husk of the seed pod, filaments inside the skin stretched taut over Varrs finally tore the fragile membranes that held the four sections together. In the blink of an eye, each section of husk coiled back like a spring, revealing fullhands of hard, teardrop-shaped seeds each the size of a clenched fist and flung them in all directions faster than could be thrown by any arm.

Caught out in the open completely unaware, nearby intruders were pummeled, but the first wave was only the beginning. Two of the seeds struck other pods by chance, which then erupted, throwing fullhands more seeds, striking still more pods. A chain reaction quickly spread through the vines and turned the woods into a boiling cauldron of projectiles, falling leaves, broken branches, and the screams of the wounded.

Even curled into a tight ball, Kexx was struck twice on the back, leaving angry welts. The seeds were seldom deadly with anything but a lucky hit to the base of the neck at the right angle, but a victim could suffer deep bruises, have the wind knocked from their air sacks, or even receive a concussion severe enough to lose consciousness.

As soon as the hailstorm of seeds began to ebb, Kexx was back on zer feet, running full out for the safety of the village. Ze hurdled over still prone intruders, many of them writhing in pain and clutching blows to their arms, chests, and heads. Ze bent down just long enough to snatch up a dropped spear. Directly ahead, Kexx spotted the intruder's leader standing back up. With anger and battle lust surging through zer bloodways, Kexx shouted a war cry, leveled the spear in zer hands, and charged right for the leader's face.

At the last moment, Kexx's target turned and saw the attack coming. With practiced reflexes, the leader's own spear came down and deflected Kexx's spearhead away from zer face, causing the deathblow to miss low. But the parry wasn't entirely successful as the black glass tip pierced the leader's upper thigh, shredding muscle and sinew until it erupted out the back of zer leg. Ze fell back to the ground with a crest-shriveling cry. Ze would survive, but was out of the fight.

Without missing a step, Kexx let go of the spear shaft and continued running blindly through the forest even as the other warriors got up and returned to their senses. Spears whistled past Kexx as ze ran, each one threatening to bring zer down to be torn apart by the intruders now bent on revenge.

Most of the seed pods in the immediate area had been triggered by Kexx's trap, but not all. Kexx did zer best to dodge those that remained without giving up the speed which was keeping zer alive. With zer legs burning, Kexx broke through the tree line, momentarily blinded by the bright light of the early afternoon. Ze accelerated down the rim of the bowl even as zer pursuers emerged from the forest.