Lucasi turned his head sharply, as good as a screaming alarm. The young man lifted his hand slightly and quietly got to his feet.
Bren stood up.
Come, Lucasi signaled, and Bren followed him, treading as carefully over gravel, taking care not to scuff the stone or break a weed stern. They kept going for what felt like half an hour or so before Lucasi found another stopping point and offered him a place to sit down.
“What did you hear, nadi?” Bren whispered as faintly as he could.
“Trucks, nandi,” Lucasi said. “Three or so. Coming toward us from the north.”
From the direction of the intersection near Najida, and generally toward Kajiminda. It could be their enemy reacting to that call he’d made from the hunting station. He hadn’t heard a thing. But he didn’t doubt Lucasi had heard it.
They sat in utter silence for about a quarter of an hour.
Then he did hear something, a heavy boom. That also came from the north.
Something bad was happening over in the direction of Najida. And they sat here listening to it as if it were some distant weather report.
“Can you tell where Banichi and the others are?” he whispered.
“One is not supposed to discuss the equipment, nandi.”
The kid was following the rules. Any of his own aishid would have just answered the question.
But the kid, he noted, had one of those locator bracelets—whose, he wasn’t sure; but he didn’t think the boy had had one before. And the answer probably was that they were operating with the locators’ send function switched off, as they had done all along. He could surmise that when things were safe, or if they wanted to lay a trap, they would switch on; and whether there was any special equipment that could pick one up if it was switched off, he hadn’t a clue. One didn’t know if all Guild locators worked the same way or how sophisticated was the information they could pass. It was a complex code, individual to the group. He knew that much about it. And Lucasi not being part of his aishid, it was well possible that Lucasi couldn’t interpret their signals and that the only reason he had that bracelet was to pick up any signal out there.
But something was going on with those booms and thumps and that sound of trucks moving. Somebody was active out there and not being stealthy about it. It could be Edi, even. Or somebody hot on the attack, or desperate in flight.
Banichi and the rest had had time enough to be into trouble by now if they had tripped any alarm.
They’d need to be sure, first off, that it was the Edi in control of Kajiminda.
And then they had to convince a force of Edi hunters and fishermen and farmers that this particular set of black uniforms was on their side.
Meanwhile, if those passing trucks took the north branch of the road, where it intersected, they were going to find the abandoned van and realize somebody was out and about in the landscape.
God, he didn’t like this. He wished now they’d opted to head down to Separti Township and hoped to pick up reinforcements from the Guild Tabini had stationed there . . . but that might be a pipe dream. Anybody Tabini had stationed anywhere might have shifted position under direct Guild orders—not Guild serving as bodyguards but Guild forces that Tabini-aiji might ordinarily use.
So Separti wasn’t a sure thing, either. Nothing was.
Boom.
He didn’t jump. But his heart did.
“Are you supposed to listen to my suggestions, nadi?” he whispered to his young guard. “But not to be led into anything stupid?”
“Yes, nandi, that is the instruction. But your aishid did not at all say stupid.”
“One is gratified. But one instructs you, nadi, that you explain to me what we are doing sitting here and what my aishid is doing. It would be useful in deciding what I would suggest.”
The kid looked confused, caught between general orders, Guild teaching, and specific orders.
“Nandi, one is simply instructed to keep you as far away from the enemy as possible. One has a general route to follow that circles somewhat; and one hopes we are on it, so your bodyguard can find us at need. But we are under no circumstances to go back to the van, and we are not to go across the road into the woods, and we are not to make any noise at all.”
“And what are they doing, meanwhile? Did they explain that, nadi?”
“They are taking Kajiminda, nandi.”
Taking Kajiminda. If it were only that simple. Which meant the kid didn’t know any more than he did.
Boom. Again, toward the north. The train station, maybe; maybe Najida itself.
God, what was going on?
18
It was increasingly noisy up there. And something serious was going on. Mani was cross because she had been trying to take a nap, so had nand’ Geigi, and the booms and thumps, which had been only occasional, now just went on and on.
“The Guild,” Mani complained, “is not usually so inconveniently loud.” She adjusted a shawl, folded her arms, and tried to go back to sleep. Nand’ Geigi did, his chin sinking on his chest.
Cajeiri just sat, aching from want of sleep, and played chess with Jegari and tried to make the time pass faster. His concentration suffered. He was distracted, trying to picture the land out there and locate the booms. The east-west road to Kajiminda and the north-south road to the train station and the airport crossed just east of the house and a little uphill. And there was a huge open field opposite the house that ran on up the hill to where the crossroads were, and uphill after that, on and on, he supposed. He wished he had paid better attention in that direction when they had driven in from the train station.
And for a while the shooting had sounded as though half of it was coming from directly across the road opposite the house, but lately there was a lot more of it and it seemed to be coming from the intersection farther away, or maybe farther east than that. Echoes made it hard to tell.
But nobody up on the roof was shooting right now. Which he supposed meant the fight had moved off.
He would have liked to ask mani or nand’ Geigi, but they were pretending to sleep again.
And he was afraid to talk too loudly. If he annoyed mani, he might have to stop the chess game and just sit and think about what could go wrong. And he did not want to sleep, or have dreams, right now.
So he whispered to Antaro and Jegari: “One wonders what is going on, nadiin-ji. Slip upstairs and find out.”
“I shall,” Antaro said, and left very quietly.
“The fighting is up on the hill by the crossroads, nandi,” Jegari said in a whisper. “One is far from sure, but one might hope some of your father’s force has gotten here from the airport. One cannot believe any of our own people would have left the grounds, even if they were successful in driving the attackers off. There are too few of us.”
“Can Cenedi tell who it is?”
“Easily,” Jegari said, then: “Under some circumstances.” And then he added, “But I am not supposed to tell you that, nandi.”
That was irritating. He wished he could go apprentice with the Guild. He really wished it right now. Right now his father was sitting in Shejidan signing papers and making phone calls and could not personally come to rescue him and mani. His father had sent the people at the airport. And being able to send people had something to recommend it. If people would do what you told them. But it was not the same as getting into a plane and going there.
Antaro came back downstairs in a hurry and entered without knocking.
“There are allies on the hill!” she said. “One is not sure whether they are from the Guild or directed from your father, nandi. But one understands they are not Edi and they are not the renegades.”
“About time,” mani said, arching a brow. “Deliver your news, nadi. What is going on up there?”
“Cenedi-nadi is coming downstairs himself, aiji-ma,” Antaro said with a bow, and in fact there was the sound of someone on the stairs. “But by what I know, aiji-ma—””
It was a good thing t
hat she went on to answer. Cajeiri had held his breath, knowing mani’s mood.
“Our allies, of whatever sort, have gotten out of the airport,” Antaro said, a little out of breath, “and they are attacking the renegades up at the crossroads, and the renegades cannot come closer because there are Edi on the hill across the road from us and our own defenses on the roof.”
She said that much to satisfy mani before a knock at the door announced a presence, and Cenedi himself came into the room, not, however, looking that much happier.
“Aiji-ma. The siege at the airport is broken. Your grandson’s forces are in possession of the airport, and the enemy is attempting to cover their retreat to the south. But we fear they are going toward the paidhi’s position.”
That was terrible news.
“Where is the paidhi at the moment?” mani asked. “What is he doing?”
“He has taken the Esig road out of Taisigi territory toward Kajiminda, but he has not gotten there. Nand’ Geigi, what do you know of that terrain?”
“The Esig road,” Lord Geigi said, “would be a route our enemies could use back into Taisigi territory—if they try to fall back from the intersection.”
“Can they reach it overland?” Cenedi asked. “The maps indicate no track within that section, and rugged land.”
“It is, nadi. It is very rugged land, with hardly even game trails. It would make far better sense for nand’ Bren to go to Kajiminda. Certainly not to attempt to come here.”
“Yet they have not arrived at Kajiminda. Phone lines are cut. We have radioed the Edi to be aware of allied forces in the area. We dare not be more specific.”
And that was where nand’ Bren was supposed to be? Cajeiri wondered. But he was lost somewhere?
If they were stuck somewhere, there was that thick woods that ran down all the way to Kajiminda’s walls. He remembered that very well. One could not see an ambush in that woods.
“But,” Cajeiri said, risking all manner of displeasure, he knew it, but he could stand it no longer. “But can the Edi look for him, nadi?”
“Likeliest,” Cenedi continued without even looking at him, only at mani. “Likeliest the enemy is aware your grandson’s forces have landed at Separti. They have given up holding off his force at the airport, and they are holding the intersection while a number of them make a direct run to intercept nand’ Bren, to take him as a bargaining piece. That would set your grandson’s interests against the Guild leadership’s interests. That is, one fears, their immediate objective. That and controlling access to the Esig road itself.”
“So one assumes they will open a second position at the Esig intersection, near Kajiminda,” mani said. “And they will trickle back from the Najida intersection and fold up into Taisigi territory. As if my grandson’s forces would not cross that border.”
“Just so, aiji-ma. They have become aware of the second force at Separti, and they know Guild forces are in Tanaja. But if they can find nand’ Bren and take him hostage, then they will pressure your grandson to negotiate with the Guild. That is what we fear they will try to do.”
“Get past them,” mani said with a wave of her hand. “Can we not spare a unit? While they are blowing up the grass on the hill, can we not get a unit cross country to reinforce the paidhi’s guard and move him into Kajiminda?”
Please, Cajeiri wanted to say, but mani did not favor that word. He looked at Cenedi, wishing hard.
And Cenedi said: “We shall try it, aiji-ma.”
“Do so!” A sharp wave of mani’s hand. “Let us do something useful! The Guild can stay out of our way until we have recovered the paidhi-aiji. They chose to press things. They might have waited!”
“Send my guard, too, Cenedi-nadi,” Geigi said.
“Nandi,” Cenedi said, to both, apparently, and left without another word.
But there was no guarantee it would work. Mani was angry. Lord Geigi looked worried. Those were his closest associates nand’ Geigi had just sent to get past the enemy; and Great-grandmother was sending men, too. It was dangerous. It was terribly dangerous to try to slip behind the enemy, and the field that ran up to the ridge overland was just tall grass and brush: it did not offer very much cover.
“One most fears,” Lord Geigi said somberly, “that nand’ Bren is stalled, trying to get to Kajiminda.”
“If our Edi allies do not mistake him for the enemy,” mani muttered. “One understands the Guild’s distrust of civilian assistance.”
“But,” Cajeiri began, dangerously getting mani’s sudden full attention.
“Who is nand’ Bren?” mani asked. “And why do you have this angry tone with us? You seem quite distressed, Great-grandson.”
Who was nand’ Bren? That made no sense at all. Nand’ Bren was nand’ Bren. Nand’ Bren was his favorite association.
But he suddenly, and with a sense of panic, understood exactly what mani was asking him.
“Nand’ Bren is mine,” he countered angrily, “and everyone has treated him very badly. No one cares now if I am offended. But they will someday.”
“Threats, do we hear? One would have thought nand’ Bren belonged to your father, young gentleman. But he has been mine. And currently he says he belongs to Lord Machigi. He has a very fickle charm.”
“Well, but he is ours, and you sent him to Lord Machigi, and now he is out there with our enemies, and we are upset, mani! We are upset with this!”
“Never assume, Great-grandson,” mani said, holding up a forefinger, “never assume that your enemy has done what they have strongly forecast doing. One imagines the enemy would be quite satisfied if all sorts of forces went running over to reinforce nand’ Bren. Then they would move in this direction and try to take us as hostages, not to mention nand’ Toby and Barb-daja. That is their purpose here, or they could have stayed in the Marid and tried to fight off the Guild from within their strong places. This is a risk for them. This is a desperate risk, and they will spare nothing and stick at nothing. This is life and death, and finally we have gotten them to commit forces in an exposed position.”
He understood, then. He thought he did. Great-grandmother was happy the enemy was here. She was happy there was fighting going on, because she thought they were doing exactly what she wanted them to do.
He was thinking that when he heard a strange buzzing and roaring sound go right over them, and then go off to the south.
He jumped to his feet. He would never forget that sound. He looked up as if he could see it right through the floor and the roof above.
“That,” he said, excited, but not knowing quite what that plane was doing here, “that was an airplane, mani-ma!”
There was sure as hell something big and noisy going on over to the north, and Bren’s best guess put it somewhere close to Najida, which didn’t help his state of mind in the least.
All he could do was sit on a cold rock under a hot sun and have a sip of water from the canteen Tano had given him, and share it with Lucasi, who looked grimly off to the north.
The two of them were stuck, was what, and Lucasi was the worse off, having a splinted ankle that was swelling against its bandages. Bren had the misery of the vest and the bandages about his ribs, not to mention a wider and wider split in his boot, which picked up the occasional piece of gravel along the side of the sole. But blisters were a worse misery; he didn’t want to take either boot off to find out what couldn’t be helped . . . he feared if he took either boot off for a few minutes, he might not be able to get it back on.
The bruising and the bandages about his ribs that had been misery a day or so ago had begun to diminish. The sore spots he had from nonstop wearing of the damned vest had begun to be an issue, but at least he was breathing with less pain. He climbed. He had done that.
Which didn’t mean he was running any foot races if a problem showed up.
And he kept hoping that Lucasi’s occasional check of the locator bracelet would get a signal from the rest of them.
It hadn’t. And di
dn’t.
And then something caught Lucasi’s attention. He looked northwest, and kept looking.
“Do you hear something, nadi?” Bren asked him.
“A motor, nandi. Several more of them coming down the road.”
The road was a distance off. They couldn’t see it from where they were sitting, which also meant someone down on the road couldn’t see them up here.
“Coming from the north, nadi?”
“Yes, nandi.” Lucasi looked a little doubtful. “Can you not hear it?”
“Human hearing is less keen,” he said. “So is our sight after sunset. You are my ears, day and night, nadi. What do you hear?”
“One would guess several heavy vehicles, nandi,” Lucasi said in a very low voice, and all the while they could hear intermittent booming and thumping from the north. “One would say a force of some strength is moving.”
That was good news and bad.
And after a glance toward the west, and with a second worried look: “Forgive my lack of experience, nandi, but one fears worse trouble than trucks. There may also be a general and much quieter movement overland if they are too many for the transport available and if they have chosen to scout out a retreat. We need to find a place to lie very low.”
“But Banichi and the others must still be able to find us, nadi.”
“One will try to assure that they can do so, nandi.” Lucasi set his hands against the ground, a three-point stance, and hurled himself to his feet, dragging his crutch with him—the benefit of a young body in good shape. Bren made a slower, more pained try, and Lucasi gave him a hand and a gentle pull to help him up. “One will try to work back—”
Lucasi stopped suddenly, looking to the north and aloft.
Bren began to hear, faintly, both the heavy growl of engines to the west and an engine far more high-pitched, faster moving, up above.
“Small plane,” Bren said, and followed Lucasi, still carefully, footprint for footprint, in a quest for a hiding place, a grassy low spot, anything that might conceal them from aerial observation. Lucasi was heading for a clump of berry bushes, thorny, but the only cover there was close; and by now the plane was close and maybe following the road for navigation. Its elevation would lay out the entire dome of rock like a map.