Fire in the Sky

3

The sound shook the building, a great deep note that resonated in Aslan’s bones. She’d been stretched out on the bed, eyes closed to facilitate memory, sub-vocalizing a report to herself, getting down impressions, questions she needed to ask and anything else that occurred to her. She sat up, startled, removed the throatmike and went outside to see what was happening.

The sky was thick with Eolt, swirling in a wide golden vortex, singing as they circled higher and higher to join the streams heading east. The flow seemed endless, more Eolt arriving every moment, coming from all directions.

“Scholar.” Daizil joined her and stood looking up, xe’s mouth set, a sad droop to his eyes.

“Voice. What’s this about?”

“The Eolt have decided. There will be no bargaining. Whatever the cost to them, the Chave must be destroyed.”

“You’d best keep a close watch on him. He’s tried to kill himself, twice.”

The Goлs smiled grimly, his mouth open to show the tearing canines. “I thank you for the warning, Harper. We have some potions that will take his mind off his troubles.” He contemplated her a moment, eyes like chocolate ice, then he smiled again, this time the closed-mouth pleasure smile. “Bringing the Scholar and her team was one of my better ideas,” he murmured. “Will you join me for a glass of cha or something stronger, Shadowsong?”

“Of course, Goлs Koraka. I would like to be kept posted on Aide Ola’s progress, though. He is a man to be valued.” She glanced at the procession leading the spy away, met his eyes and felt a chill lance through her. Even the creepy Ginny Seyirshi had never treated her to so intensely personal a hatred.

The Goлs noted that. “Yes. We’ll make very sure he’s kept chemically restrained, Shadowsong.”

He poured the cha from an elegant white pot into a small drinking bowl. “Will you have citra or glemm? And I believe there is some toz in that pot.”

“Nothing, please. What cha is it?”

“Smoky sill from the highlands of Molot.”

“Ah. A favorite of mine.” She smiled. “I see we share the same smuggler.”

He chuckled. “An odd little man with interesting connections, by name Arel.”

“Mm.” She sipped at the cha, relishing the clean tang of the liquid and the silky texture of the bowl. The she sighed and set the bowl on its saucer with a small decisive click. “Reluctant as I am to disturb the peace of the moment, how far have you got on the repairs to the splitcom?”

“We captured one of the Chave sats, Dulman be blessed that the shuttle was not linked into the system when it went down, and we’re attempting to cobble up something with those parts that we can use to hook into another of the sats and go from there. Chave thought patterns are not all that complex and we’ve managed to work out the codes. With a bit of luck and some hard work we’ll get word out within the next tenday. Which should take some of the…” He looked up, frowning as a phora came in without knocking. “What?”

“Something you have to see, Goлs Koraka. We don’t know what it means.”

The sky was filled with golden bells blowing east on the high airstreams-first a scattering, one, two, half a dozen, the sun shining through their translucent veils, then rank upon rank of Eolt, turning the western sky bright amber with their numbers.

“You don’t think about there being so many of them,” Shadith said. “A world’s a big place and they get lost among the clouds.”

They stood in the middle of the Enclave, looking, caught by the beauty of this strange migration. Shadith heard the scrape of a foot behind her, looked around to see Marrin standing there, his face filled with wonder as he stared up at the Eolt.

The Goлs shook himself free from his astonishment. “What are they doing? This against us? Where are they going?”

“If I had to guess, I’d say they’re going to attack the… what do they call it… the Kushayt.”

“Yes.” Marrin’s voice vibrated with conviction. “And they’re going to die at it. So much glory lost…” He turned to the Goлs. “You’ve got to do something. You’ve got to help them.”

The Goлs contemplated him a moment. “We’ll discuss this inside.” He turned his head. “Thofor, inform me immediately of any alteration in their progress.”

Koraka laced his long fingers together, stared at them a moment, then lifted his head and smiled wearily at Marrin, his threat teeth hidden. “If you mean, Aide, that we should provide weapons to the locals, you should think again.”

“Of course I don’t mean that.” Marrin leaned forward in his chair, his dark eyes intense. “Send guards with them. Send me, if there’s no one else you can spare. A flier and the strongest firepower you have. At least it would be something.”

Koraka’s ears came forward. “You, Aide? Aren’t you forbidden armed assault by University bylaws or something like that?”

“I don’t consider this assault, but self-defense. When the Chave put a price on my head, they gave me that right.”

“Yes, that’s an argument that has a good chance of floating. Now explain to me why a pacific Scholar from University would be a help rather than a hindrance.”

“I was fifth male heir to the Baron Ineca of Picabral and I survived past puberty.”

“Ah. Succinct and convincing. Also rather astonishing, considering your present circumstances. Very well. I don’t see any problem with supplying your needs. A matter of public service, as it were. If the ottodoc certifies you. You came out of there in a very short time. As to guards, I don’t think I’m able to spare any. I’m expecting an attack from the Chave any day now. Rude and crude as they are, we’re considerably outnumbered and outmuscled by that lot. I wouldn’t want to face them outside these walls. Or inside, as the case may be.”

“Pinched nerve and ruptured disk. Few more this and thats. Didn’t take much fixing.”

“I’ll still require a formal analysis, a thorough work-up. I’m sure you understand why.”

Shadith sat looking at her hands. There wasn’t really any point in picking at her deficiencies. If this business had taught her anything it was that if she wanted to be fully alive, to feel passionately about anything, she was going to have to spend a lot of time walking the edge. Might as well get a start at it. “I’ll be going along also,” she said. “You’ll need me, Marrin, I have credibility with the Eolt. They’re strong and dangerous, though I admit I find what I know to be true hard to believe when I look at them.”

“Dangerous?” The Goлs frowned. “How?”

“Stings. Capable of killing a man. Probably other defenses, but no one spoke of those.”

“Interesting.”

“They understand quite well their vulnerability so I doubt you’ll have any problems.” She stood. “I’ll take your offer of a bath and a nap, Goлs Koraka. And you, Marrin, you get to have your body cells assayed. Shall we say leave in three hours?”