##
They slipped downslope following the stream that curved past the northern corner of the Compound, sheltered from observation by the trees that grew thickly along its banks.
As they reached the edge of the attack zone, chance took the hotspots of the fight to the south, away from them. Ginny nodded his head, signed his thanks to the Lady, and brought both the skips to land. He dismounted and began ripping loose the straps. Without comment, Tsipor joined him and helped him free the bodies.
“You take him, I will take her. You will not place him in the melt, but on the grass that is left.”
“Iss better dead.”
“Perhaps so, but not by your hand or mine.”
They laid Shadith and Rohant facedown in the brittle dead grass at the edge of the trees, retreated to their skips, and started back along the stream.
##
Ginny shifted his arm, read his wristchron. “One hour,” he said aloud, enjoying the sound of the words. “In one hour the EYES will reach the kephalos and trigger the self-destruct. There will not be a microbe left alive.” He entered a code into the pad, got to his feet. “In Mimishay or in that swarm of landers.”
Tsipor was crouched against the back wall of the dome, brooding. Her eyes flickered as she saw him stand. She followed him out, bent to the nearest of the miniskips, straightened it up, and straddled the saddle.
Ginny laughed aloud. “No no, Tsipor, you will not need that. Ah. Yes. Mertoyl is admirably prompt.”
The small spherical lander came arcing down, hovered a hand-width above the ground, the lock irising open.
Unhurried despite the Capture Lander breaking from the melee over the Compound and racing toward them and a second ship, a skimmer, dropping down at them, Ginny stepped into the lock, passed through it into the small compact cabin. Tsipor came diving after him, gasping in her urgency. Before she had time to settle herself, the lander sealed up and darted away, fire from the chasing ship splashing after it-too late, much too late as Ginny’s transport came rushing down in a halo of overheated air, sucked the Lander into itself and went racing off, flaring from the atmosphere, heading for Teegah’s Limit and the Insplit.
Shadith/Rohant
Shadith groaned and sat up, brushing fragments of sodden grass from her nose and mouth, pushing soaked hair from her eyes. “Ro?”
Rohant lay beside her; he was still out, but beginning to twitch. There was an odd little creature rather like a miniature Kikun crouching in his dreadlocks, holding onto the hair with tiny six-fingered hands. It was eeping pitifully, blinking bright black eyes at her, shivering with terror but unwilling or unable to run.
A cutter beam came slicing past them, took the top off the tree behind them:
“Tsoukbaraim!” Shadith threw herself onto hands and knees, grabbed at Rohant’s tunic, and tried to haul him farther into the trees, away from the attack zone.
He was too heavy, she couldn’t budge him.
A missile exploded fifty meters off, sprayed them with earth and half-molten stone. The noise punched at her, the pressure slammed her onto her back, her mouth popping open. Steam from the rain drifted around her, the heat from it reddened her skin, burned her nose and throat.
The Dyslaeror snorted, then groaned, lifted his head and sneezed. “Sar! What…”
Shadith scrambled back to him, pinched his earlobe hard. “Move, we’re in the middle of a war.”
A section of the Compound shuddered then fell in on itself, the debris melting into stone liquefied by the heat seeping through from that seething boiling ring outside the shield.
Rohant got unsteadily to his feet. “My head…”
Shadith caught hold of his arm. “Move it, Ro. Lean on me. Come on.”
A lander turned too late, exploded; the pieces pattered down among the trees, starting small fires that died when sap gushed forth from the injured branches and cup-shaped leaves flipped over, dumping the rain they’d collected.
They staggered through the tree clumps and brush thickets until they reached the stream. The water was hot, steaming, but they got across at the cost of some minor burns and sank onto the relatively cool earth on the far side.
##
Rohant leaned against the trunk of a tree, winced as his weight shook a spatter of drops from the leaves overhead. The rain was almost finished, but there was still a steady drip here under the trees as their leaves released what they’d captured.
The creature in his hair shifted position hastily to avoid being drowned, burrowing deeper into his tangled mane.
“What…” He reached up, touched it. “What happened? Who…”
“I was about to tell you… be careful…”
Rohant sneezed again, held his hand still so the creature could crawl onto it. He grinned as he set it on his knee. “Miji,” he said. “He’s a sakali. Friend of mine. You were about to tell me?”
“Right. About to introduce my rescuer and sometime partner. Ginny Seyirshi.”
“What!”
Miji eeped with fright, went running down Rohant’s leg. He sat on the Dyslaeror’s ankle, tiny hands pressed to his ribs, black eyes shifting from Rohant to Shadith and back again.
“Long story how that came about, tell you later. Looks like he decided to dissolve the relationship.”
Rohant ch’ch’ed at the sakali; without looking at her, he stopped his coaxing a moment, said, “So why are we alive?
“He gave his word, said he wouldn’t kill me for at least a year. It was Omphalos he was after.”
“You trusted him?”
“Didn’t have much choice right then.” She ran her hands through her hair, shivered as a vagrant draft hit her soaked undersuit. “Besides, he keeps his word. You just have to be careful you know what he means by it. Like, he’d be clam-happy if Miralys ashed us both, but he wouldn’t do it himself. Um, not too long from now, this place isn’t going to be very healthy.”
Deflected by the defense shield, a missile hit the ground, blew a hole in it, and sent fragments of stone scything through the trees a short distance downstream.
Rohant coaxed Miji onto his arm, drew his thumbclaw down his mustache, raised a brow at her. “Don’t know why you say that. Consider our gently salubrious surroundings.”
“Hah!” Shadith pulled herself onto her feet. “Discounting little things like…” she waved a hand at the shattered trees and steaming water, “this is going to be ground zero of a humongous meltdown.”
Rohant stood, scowled at her. “Meltdown?”
“Yeah.” Shadith shivered as another explosion shook earth and air. “Ginny’s sent his special EYEs at the kephalos. They’re going to trigger Mimishay’s self-destruct. Good-bye island, good-bye all of us, them included.” She jerked her thumb upward, waved her hand in a circle to include the attacking landers.
“How much time?”
“God knows, not me.”
Rohant scratched absently behind the neckfrill of the sakali. “Shadow, could you reach Miralys?”
“Not Miralys. Kikun maybe and that’s only if his gods have him looking.”
“Well, try it.”
“Not here. Hunh.” She began walking upstream.
Cuddling the sakali, Rohant shook himself all over, spat, and started after her. “This doesn’t work, we can always climb on a rock and dance. Hope they see us and don’t shoot us.”
Autumn Rose/Kikun
Autumn Rose booted the skimmer away from the Cillasheg, started descending in a wide spiral, keeping her distance from the attack zone. Without taking her eyes from the board, she said, “Just where is it you want me to put down?”
Kikun scratched at the skin folds under his chin. “North side, close as you can get.”
“Big place. Mountainside north or seaside?”
He frowned. “Tlee! I don’t know.”
“Then we better go too… Z’ Toyff!”