My goal was to get to the aquaneer station at the stern of the barge, below decks. That was where the defense of Grallion would be plotted. I would have bet anything that Spader was there. My route was guided by memory. I soon found a hatch that led below, climbed down the stairs, ran along narrow catwalks, and finally found myself in the large, four-story bay in the stern where the aquaneers docked their skimmers and speeders. The stern of the giant habitat opened out to the sea. Several levels below me I saw dozens of skimmers tied up, bobbing on the water. Looking out onto the ocean, I saw the shadows of the gunboats. They floated like ominous predators, silently waiting to spring on their prey. Two levels up from the water, and one level below me, a ring of aquaneers had gathered. They all wore the black, formfitting swimskins that were the uniforms of the sailors who piloted and protected the habitats. Spader was nowhere in sight, but I was relieved to see someone else I recognized.
Wu Yenza, the chief aquaneer, was in the center of the action. Yenza looked pretty much the same as I remembered her. Her dark hair was cut very short and practical. Her eyes were focused and intense. She wasn’t that tall, but she was still a physical force. She was the boss. Maybe best of all, she was Spader’s acolyte. She knew about Halla and Saint Dane. She understood the larger context of this battle.
Unfortunately for her, she was in the middle of an attack, and it wasn’t coming from the Ravinian gunboats out on the sea.
“Give them up!” a tall, angry aquaneer shouted at Yenza. “You can’t sacrifice the safety of Grallion to protect strangers.”
“It doesn’t matter if they’re strangers, they aren’t traitors. They’re victims,” Yenza countered.
“So what?” a woman aquaneer shouted. “Our job is to protect Grallion. How can you justify risking the lives of so many to protect so few?”
“It’s not just about those few,” Yenza lectured. “It’s about what Ravinia has done to Cloral. Do you think we’re better off now that they dictate our every move? Who’s to say if these people are guilty of anything other than being an enemy of Ravinia?”
“What if they’re killers?” the woman aquaneer asked.
Yenza countered, “And what if their only crime is to have opinions that differ from the Conclave of Ravinia? Do you want to be the judge? If we give them up to the raiders, you’ll also be their executioner. Is that what we’ve come to?”
Raiders. I remembered those guys. They were pirates that attacked random ships. They definitely didn’t have the kind of firepower or organization that those gunships displayed. Was it possible that the raiders had become the muscle of Ravinia on Cloral?
Yenza continued, “We are at a turning point here. I know you people. I know what values you have. You don’t agree with what Ravinia is turning us into any more than I do. If we give up those poor people now, who knows where it will end?”
“Who are they anyway?” another aquaneer asked. “Where did they come from? I spoke with them, and they couldn’t answer the simplest questions about their own habitats. They’re hiding something.”
The hair went up on the back of my neck. Things were coming clear. I had a feeling I knew who they were, and why they didn’t know much about Cloral. And why the Ravinians wanted them so badly.
“Does it matter where they come from?” Yenza asked. “I believe they are victims, and if we give them up, we’re giving in to Ravinia. Who knows where that will lead us?”
I knew. I’d seen it on other territories.
The aquaneers were uncertain. Sure, Yenza was convincing. Her words rang true. I wanted to back her up and tell them all about how Ravinia destroyed Earth. But I didn’t think that would have been cool.
“So then what do we do?” the tall aquaneer asked, softening. “We’re a farming habitat. We don’t have the muscle to repel an armada of raiders.”
The woman added, “They’ve already knocked out many of our defenses, and people are scrambling to put out fires all over the habitat.”
The man added, “Do you feel so strongly that you’re willing to let Grallion die to make a statement against Ravinia?”
Tough question. I really wanted to hear Yenza’s answer. Her response was odd. She looked at her watch. The other aquaneers were just as confused as I was.
“Soon it won’t matter,” she replied.
The aquaneers looked at one another, not sure of what she meant.
Yenza continued, “Before the raiders began their attack, I loaded the fugitives into a hauler submarine and sent them off the habitat. By now they should have cleared the blockade. They’re gone.”
The aquaneers erupted in anger. “How could you do that?” “It wasn’t your decision alone.” “You have sentenced us all to death.”
The woman aquaneer didn’t argue. She ran to the edge of the platform and looked down to the level below. “Go!” she commanded.
Instantly a skimmer came to life. An aquaneer was aboard, powering up.
Yenza ran to the woman aquaneer. “Who is that? What’s happening?”
“You have just saved Grallion,” the woman replied, smug.
“What do you mean?” Yenza demanded to know.
“All they want is the fugitives,” the woman explained. “They have no issue with Grallion, unless of course, the Conclave of Ravinia decides to punish us for harboring them. Once the raiders find out about the hauler, they’ll leave Grallion alone and hunt the fugitives down.”
Yenza stared the woman down. “You’re a Ravinian.”
The woman lifted up her right sleeve. Tattooed on her arm was a green star. The mark of Ravinia. “There are more of us here than you know.”
Yenza wound up and slugged the woman square in the jaw. It was awesome. The woman fell backward, both feet up in the air. It was almost comical. Almost. The aquaneer on the skimmer pulled away from the dock, headed out to sea. Headed for the raiders to tell them where to find the fugitives.
The exiles.
I had no doubt that they were some of the exiles we were charged to find and protect. The aquaneer had to be stopped, which meant I had to come out from hiding. I slid down the ladder, too fast for safety. My goal was to get a skimmer and chase the guy down before he got to the raiders. Yenza had the same idea. She left the other aquaneers, some of whom were probably Ravinians, and climbed down toward the dock level. We hit the bottom level at the same time. She heard my feet hit the deck and turned in surprise. When she saw me, her eyes went wide.
“Pendragon?” she gasped, stunned.
“We gotta stop him!” I yelled to her. No time for reunion talk.
Yenza took off toward the edge of the dock and the line of skimmers. I was right after her. As she ran she yelled, “By the time we power up a skimmer and take off it may be too late!”
The loud hum of a fully powered skimmer suddenly echoed through the dock area. Yenza and I both looked to see a skimmer flying in at full throttle. I thought for sure that it was going to crash into the dock.
I shouldn’t have been worried. The driver spun the water-craft, making an impossibly tight turn that threw up a wave of water. The craft side-slipped forward until it kissed the edge of the dock with a safe, gentle thump. At the controls was a smiling Vo Spader.
“Good to be back on the water, mates,” he called to us.
I had to smile. “You’ve got your wish, Spader.”
“What wish is that?”
“You’re back in the game.”
He gave me a huge smile and said, “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to hear those words, Pendragon.”