Crake saw Samandra’s face clear as the Imperator’s influence was broken. Her expression changed from fear to amazement. She looked down at the dead thing at her feet, then up at Crake, who was still aiming the revolver, his expression as amazed as hers.
‘Good shot!’ she said.
Suddenly there were thrusters overhead, and a hot downdraft blew around them and whipped about the streets, blasting the last of the dust away. Samandra’s tricorn hat flapped and she had to grab it to keep it from flying off. She reached out and pulled Crake up against the wall, just before the air filled with bullets. But the bullets were not aimed at them; they were aimed at the gate, where the Awakeners had gathered. Crake heard the screams of the Sentinels as a hail of bullets cut through them.
‘It’s the Ketty Jay!’ Malvery bellowed over the noise, and then laughed heartily and pointed to the sky. ‘The Cap’n’s back!’
The Sentinels quailed under the assault from the Ketty Jay’s machine guns. They saw the dead Imperators, saw the Coalition forces stirring back to life, and their dismay turned into a rout. They crowded back through the gate and began to run along the road that led off the crag. Frey let up on his guns, and the Coalition forces pushed the gates closed with a loud boom. A great cheer went up as the mechanical locks crashed back into place.
Crake staggered out into the street, dazed and weakened by his ordeal and the daemon in the amulet. He shielded his eyes from the rain and looked up, but the Ketty Jay was already turning, heading for the palace. Frey didn’t seem to have noticed them down there among the ruin and the carnage.
Malvery slapped him on the back as he ran past, with Ashua chasing after him. ‘Come on!’ he said. ‘Let’s go see what he’s got in mind!’ And he ran off up the road towards the palace, cackling to himself. ‘I knew he wouldn’t let us down!’ he cried, which Crake suspected was a lie.
Samandra appeared next to him, her eyes alight. ‘Might not be such a bad idea at that,’ she said. She tugged his arm and they made off after Malvery.
As the dizziness of the moment subsided, Crake suffered a moment of mild disappointment. The Cap’n’s appearance had meant his own heroics had gone virtually unnoticed. But then, that was a daemonist’s lot, he supposed: most of his triumphs happened in secret. Anyway, he’d never wanted for glory. All that mattered to him was that the woman he loved, the lusty, brash Samandra, was back as if she’d never gone.
Then she gave him a sidelong look and a smile of thanks. An acknowledgement, as from one comrade in battle to another. And that was enough.
‘Cease fire!’ Kedmund Drave was yelling, as Malvery burst into the courtyard. ‘Cease fire!’
The soldiers put up their rifles uncertainly. Their bullets had done little good against the Ketty Jay’s armoured underbelly anyway, although they’d shot out a few of her floods. Now that he was no longer under attack, Frey began to descend. The soldiers watched with wary eyes as an aircraft painted with Awakener decals lowered itself into the heart of the palace grounds. Two aircraft hovered overhead. One was undoubtedly Harkins’ Firecrow, which was incredible enough. The other. .
Could that be Pinn?
Samandra came striding past Malvery and through the soldiers towards Drave. ‘Convinced they’re on our side yet?’ she snapped at him scornfully. Drave just gave her a look and motioned at someone behind him. Morben Kyne appeared at the doorway to the courtyard, with the Archduke and his family. They waited at a safe distance as the Ketty Jay settled on her struts.
‘That’s the Cap’n! He’ll always come back for his own!’ Malvery declared to Ashua, as if it was something he’d said all along. He felt glad enough to forget Ashua’s trespasses for the moment, and favoured her with grin. The grin she gave him in return warmed his heart more than he’d expected.
Suddenly, beyond all expectation, they were all back together again. Even Jez, in a way.
The cargo ramp came down. Forty soldiers and a half dozen Century Knights primed their weapons. It seemed a bit much for the lone figure that came walking out onto the rain-wet flagstones. But Frey walked taller than when he’d left, and there was something in his eye that hadn’t been there before.
The thunder overhead had gone silent. The storm had moved on, and only the driving rain was left. Beyond the courtyard, battles still raged, bombs still dropped and dark frigates ploughed the dreary sky. But here was a hush deep enough that Frey’s boot heels could be heard scraping on the stone as he came to a halt.
Drave took a step forward, glaring imperiously at the newcomer. ‘Captain Frey!’ he said. ‘In the name of the Archduke, I’m commandeering your aircraft. The Archduke and his family must be taken to safety. That’s the highest priori-’
Frey spat on the ground at his feet. It was a blunt enough display of disrespect to render even Drave speechless.
‘This is my aircraft, and she goes where I take her,’ he said. ‘So unless you’ve got a spare couple of hours to torture the ignition codes out of me — and the way this battle’s going, I don’t reckon you do — you’d best shut your mouth and listen up.’
Drave visibly expanded with rage. He sucked in a breath, and seemed like he was about to lunge; but Samandra slapped an open hand against his breastplate.
‘Drave,’ she said. ‘Enough being an arsehole for one day, eh?’
Drave’s eyes bulged. His face reddened. A vein at his temple pulsed. But though she was half a foot shorter than him, she stared him down. And Drave swallowed his fury and stepped back.
Frey gave him a look of disgust, then turned his head away dismissively, addressing the crowd. ‘The Azryx device is on board the Delirium Trigger,’ he said, his voice ringing out over the silent courtyard. ‘That’s where I’m going. If I can storm that frigate and take out the Azryx device, Thesk’s anti-aircraft guns will be operational again. I figure with the entire Awakener convoy sitting over the city as they are, we’ll be able to wipe them out with a surprise attack before they can get away. After that, there’ll just be the troops on the ground to deal with, and I think we can handle them. What I need from you lot is one thing: take back the anti-aircraft emplacements, and be ready when they come back on. We’ll get one shot at this. Don’t screw it up.’ He swept the assembled soldiers with a commanding gaze. ‘Any questions?’
Malvery felt his chest swell with pride, and he wasn’t ashamed to find a tear gathering in his eye. ‘That’s the Cap’n,’ he said again.
The soldiers stirred uneasily, exchanging glances with one another. The silence gathered and became oppressive. Then the crowd parted, and the Archduke walked through to stand next to Drave and Samandra in the rain, his flame-red hair plastered to his skull and his neat beard dripping. He gave Frey a long look. Frey looked back at him.
‘Your Grace,’ said Drave. ‘This could all still be a trick to divide our forces. You and your family need to get to safety. The continuation of the Arken line is paramount.’
But the Archduke laid his hand on Drave’s shoulder, and never took his eyes from Frey. ‘No, old friend,’ he said. ‘If we lose here, we lose everything. I’ll not leave my people to the mercy of daemons.’
He stepped forward, raised his voice, and spoke to Frey. ‘Take what men and golems you need. Some of my Knights will accompany you. We will take care of matters on the ground.’ Then he turned and addressed his troops, his voice becoming louder still. ‘The battle is not yet lost! There is still hope to turn the tide! Will you fight now with us? Will you fight for Thesk, and the Coalition, and your mothers and brothers and friends?’
The cheer that went up at that shook the windows of the palace. Malvery, overwhelmed by the moment, gathered Ashua in his arms and hugged her. She gave a surprised little squeak as she was crushed and dumped breathlessly back to earth.