“Let’s go!” she whispered, starting to run out across the last open space to the building where the shuttle was stored.
Safely inside, she switched on the lights, almost blinding them both after the darkness outside.
“Won’t they see the lights?” he asked, blinking and rubbing his eyes.
“No,” she said, pushing her hood back and taking off her mitts. “It’s the middle of the night, and the building has no windows.”
Satisfied, he did the same as he walked over to where two squat grey vehicles took up most of the hangar space.
“You’ve got two shuttles?”
“We had three but we lost one in the first year.”
Jumping up on the running board at the nose of the nearer one, he thumbed the opening mechanism. The door slid back, allowing him a good view of the cramped bridge.
“These are ancient,” he said. “They should have been scrapped fifty years ago.”
“The Company isn’t exactly known for its altruism toward its settlers,” she said drily. “We’re grateful to have even these. This one is fueled and ready to go. Can you fly it?”
“In my sleep, darling,” he said, turning back to grin at her. “In my sleep.” For the first time since the crash, he felt confident of his ability to handle the situation.
Time seemed to slow as he watched her mouth drop open and her eyes widen in fear. Then something cold and hard was pressed against the back of his neck.
“You ain’t goin’ nowhere, Jensen. I’m taking this shuttle. You just step back down onto the ground and back away.”
“Weis! They said you were dead.”
“Well, they were wrong. Move it!” Weis snarled. A hefty shove in the middle of his back sent Jensen stumbling off the running board, down to the concrete floor.
“Weis, what the hell are you doing?” he demanded.
“Same as you, but for different reasons. There’s aliens out there on the mountain, that’s what you saw and heard, and they’re controlling the settlers, twisting their memories till they believe what they want! I got me some of Landing’s explosives, and I aim to stop it, not warn them we’ve found out the truth!”
“Will you listen to yourself, Weis? Aliens? Mind control? That’s wild talk. We’ve thirteen colonies now, and not one world has had any life more intelligent than a mouse on it!”
“They made you forget, Jensen, but they couldn’t wipe my memories.” Weis gave a short, bitter laugh and reached up to touch the scar that ran from one temple, across his forehead and out of sight into his cropped hair. “See, I got lucky. A rock hit me on the head, made it impossible for them to mess with my mind. As for that woman, I wouldn’t get too cozy with her; the rest of the village is afraid of her, she’s important to them.”
“Don’t be a fool, Weis. Even if what you say is true, you can’t possibly kill all of them! At worst you’ll start a war…”
Avana pushed past him. “Weis, you’re wrong,” she said, taking a few slow steps toward the shuttle. “It’s not what you think. There’s no mind control, no danger to us.”
“Come any closer and I’ll shoot you,” said Weis, pointing the gun at her.
“You don’t know the whole truth,” she began, taking another step.
“Avana, no!” said Jensen, lurching forward for her as Weis let off a warning shot.
It hit the concrete just in front of her as he grasped her around the waist and swung her out of the line of fire. He felt her stiffen in shock, then relax back against him.
“Enough talk! I’m outta here!” snarled Weis, stepping back and closing the shuttle door.
“You OK?” Jensen demanded as he put her down, then dragged her with him to the back of the hanger, well clear of the shuttle’s exhausts.
“Yes.”
“He’s lost it,” he muttered, pushing her down behind some packing crates. “That blow to the head did some serious damage.”
The shuttle’s engines roared into life, drowning out anything else he was going to say.
He leaned over her, putting his mouth to her ear. “Now what? This is going to wake the whole damned village.”
The shuttle rose into the air, the whine of the engines getting louder and louder until suddenly it shot forward.
Jensen flung himself of top of Avana as they heard it crashing its way through the closed doors. Splinters of wood rained down around them.
“Can you get off me now?”
Hearing the pain in her voice, hurriedly he rolled off her. “You sure you’re all right?” he asked, helping her up.
“I’m fine, just landed awkwardly,” she said, but there was a drawn look about her face he didn’t like.
“We need to stop him,” she said. “The villagers will help us now; they wouldn’t have before.”
“You don’t seriously believe there are aliens out there, do you?”
She motioned him to silence, stepping out from behind the crates as the first of the villagers rushed in, half-dressed and brandishing a shotgun. Jensen joined her, determined that whatever happened, she’d not face it alone. He recognized Nolan, the leader of the small colony, instantly.
“Is this your doing, Avana?” Nolan demanded, coming to an abrupt stop when he saw them. “What’s he doing here?”
“It was Weis, Nolan. He was hiding in the shuttle. He’s taken explosives… gone looking for… them.” Her voice trailed off as the hangar began to fill with more of the angry colonists.
“You had to tell him, didn’t you?” demanded the woman next to Nolan. “Just had to meddle again!”
“I told him nothing except his leg was healed.”
“Be quiet, Kate,” said Nolan, lowering his gun. “You’re missing what’s important here. Weis has gone hunting them with explosives.”
“We have to warn them. Jensen is taking me,” Avana said.
“You were going there anyway,” accused Kate. “That’s why you let him out!”
“She’s been Called again, hasn’t she?” said another woman from the rear of the small group. “I told you not to stop her going last time, Nolan, but you had to listen to Kate!”
“No one wanted to take her, Mary, you know that,” muttered one of the men.
“I’m not going near them again, and you can’t blame me seeing as no one else volunteered,” said his neighbor.
Jensen was growing angrier by the minute as he listened to them degenerate into squabbles.
“It wasn’t my decision,” said Nolan, stung by the accusation. “You all voted for it at the town meeting!”
“I warned you there’d be trouble,” said Mary, pulling her fur jacket tighter around her and pushing to the front. “Not only did you break the agreement, but you stopped Avana from going to them. You, Llew, have no backbone!” she said, turning on the youth. “They’ve never done us harm, only helped us. Now this Weis is going to try and destroy them. Just what do you think they’ll do about that?”
“I have to go now,” said Avana, trying to pitch her voice to carry over those of the villagers. “I need to warn them.”
“Just a goddam minute!” said Jensen, raising his voice so it did drown them all out. “I want to know what the hell’s going on here! Who’s this them you keep talking about, for starters?”
Silence fell abruptly as they turned to face him, suddenly remembering his presence.
“Well?” he demanded again when no one answered.
“The yukitenshi,” said someone quietly from the rear of the group.
“That’s Company talk,” another said derisively.
“Snow Angels, the Sidhe, Children of Danu, call them what you will,” said Mary. “They live up in the mountains and mostly keep to themselves, thanks to Avana. They don’t scare me! I’m not forgetting to keep the old ways!” She glowered around at the dozen people gathered in the hangar.
“Snow angels? The Sidhe?” said Jensen, more confused than before.
“Llew, Conner, get the shuttle fueled up and ready to go,” said Nolan abruptly. “You’re right, Mary, we should never have stopped Avana from going the last time they Called her. Fetch food for them, three days’ worth.”