Richard stood in the dim little log chapel in Hidden Springs village where they had laid Martha out, seeing her in a swimming reddish haze even though Amerie had tried to reassure him that his right eye was virtually undamaged.
He wasn’t angry. Disappointed, that was all, because Marty had promised to wait. Hadn’t they planned it all together? Hadn’t they loved each other? It wasn’t like her to let him down after all they’d been through together.
Well, he would work something out.
Wincing a little from the bandaged burns, he gathered her into his arms. So light, so white. All gowned in white. He almost fell as he pushed the door open. No depth perception with only one eye. “Doesn’t matter,” he told her. “I can wear a patch like a real pirate. Just you hang on.”
He went lurching toward the place where the flyer stood, covered by camouflage netting, one landing strut broken and one wing partly crushed by his prang-in. But a gravo-mag ship didn’t need wings to fly. It was still in good enough shape to take both of them where they wanted to go.
Amerie spotted him just as he was lifting Martha inside. She came running, her nun’s veil and robes billowing. “Richard! Stop!”
Oh, no you don’t, he thought. I did what I promised. Now it’s you guys who owe me.
With the flyer tilted, it was tricky to maneuver Martha. He made her comfortable and tossed the Spear out, powerpack and all. Maybe some wisehead would figure out how to recharge it some day. Then Madame Guderian could get another flyer and go zap all the rest of the Tanu cities and make Pliocene Earth safe for good old humanity.
“Just don’t call me to drive the bus,” he muttered. “I’ve got other plans.”
“Richard!” the nun shouted again.
He waved to her from the flight deck port and sat down in the charred seat close hatch. Light up. Juice to the external web. Camouflage netting burning away. Oh-oh, Environmental system in the amber. Shorted by the lightning, maybe. Well… it would last long enough.
The soothing hum filled his brain as he brought the ship up level. He glanced back at Marty to be sure that she was still safe. Her form wavered, seemed to go red. But in a moment it was all right, and he told her, “I’ll take us up nice and slow. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
Amerie watched the broken-winged bird rise vertically into the golden morning sky, following the first component of the sign she traced. The mist was gone now and it was going to be a beautiful day. Over in the east the smoke cloud was thickening but upper-level winds carried it in the opposite direction.
The aircraft ascended until it was a mere speck. Amerie blinked, and the speck became invisible against the bright vault of the heavens.