‘How do you mean?’
‘Remember the first time we came here, when we ran into the scavengers? I took away a complete controller and used it to design all my flight assemblies. I’m sure I brought the controller with me, so at least we can bring one thapter home. Kimli can fly it.’
‘One lousy thapter,’ said Nish in melancholy tones.
‘Oh, come on. It’s twice what we have now.’
After his glorious daydreams about bringing back fleets of fliers, it took an effort for Nish to see that even one thapter was infinitely better than none. None meant that the past months had been wasted. With none, the war could not be won. With one, added to the one they already had, it was still possible to hope.
They worked all night fitting the controller into the least damaged of the machines close by. It took a team of artificers and artisans, for whoever had smashed the controller had done other damage and they had to take parts from a second construct to fix it. The work was not yet completed when the sun came up. As it lifted above the horizon they heard an approaching, unmistakable whine.
‘It’s a thapter!’ Nish cried. ‘The Aachim have come back. Are you nearly finished?’
‘Not nearly enough,’ came Irisis’s muffled voice from inside.
‘Get your weapons!’ Nish raced for the air-floater, where he’d left his gear. A short sword banged against his hip but he’d be at a disadvantage against a tall Aachim. He reached over the side for his crossbow and pouch of bolts.
The thapter shot out of the north, flying low, banked and circled around them. The soldiers raised their crossbows. ‘Do we shoot?’ called their sergeant.
‘No!’ hissed Klarm. ‘Find out if they’re hostile, first.’
‘Not until I say so,’ Nish yelled.
The thapter banked again. ‘Don’t shoot!’ roared Irisis from on top of her construct. ‘That’s Tiaan.’
Nish shaded his eyes and squinted. ‘How can you tell?’
‘It’s all scratched and battered about the base.’ Irisis waved furiously, pointing to the ground.
The thapter jagged sideways, dropped sharply and came sweeping in to settle on the ground just a few spans away, the blast from underneath whirling dust and crunchy fragments of snow up in their faces.
‘How can Tiaan fly, here? We’ve got the only power storage devices.’
‘With the amplimet she can draw on a distant field,’ Irisis reminded him.
Of course. That’s how she had got them out of the burning underground labyrinth. ‘What are you doing here?’ Nish called.
Tiaan climbed out, followed by Merryl, a hobbling Flangers and another soldier. ‘We had to do a little job nearby,’ said Tiaan. ‘So we thought we’d see how you were going.’
‘Terribly,’ said Nish, rubbing red eyes. He explained.
‘Have you had breakfast?’ Tiaan said abruptly.
‘We haven’t had time,’ he snapped.
‘Neither have I, but I’d appreciate something hot if you can manage it.’
She turned away to the campfire, where a large pot of chard was simmering. Pilot Kattiloe, who had been eyeing Tiaan’s machine enviously since its arrival, offered her a mug of the red brew. Tiaan wrapped her hands around it and stood with her back to the fire, looking down at the dirt. Taking what looked to be half a dried quince from her pocket, she nibbled at one edge. Pilot Chissmoul appeared silently from behind a mound. She kept apart from everyone, but pressed her cheek against the side of the thapter and closed her eyes. Flangers limped over and stood leaning against the thapter. He said something to her. Chissmoul didn’t answer, but she didn’t go away either.
‘Let’s get something to eat,’ said Irisis. ‘I’m sure we’ll feel better for it.’
Nish suppressed his irritation and shortly, warming his hands on a bowl of stew, did feel as though he could cope with the world after all.
‘There’s no possibility of repairing any of the smashed controllers, I suppose?’ Tiaan said.
‘Not with what we have here.’
‘What about assembling new ones from the undamaged parts?’
‘The Aachim did a pretty thorough job of breaking them …’ Irisis said; a spot of colour appeared high on each cheek. She seemed to be going through some internal struggle. ‘But maybe we could check them again, if you’ve got the time. Together.’ It came out in a rush.
Tiaan seemed to be having trouble breathing. ‘We could.’ She put out her hand.
Irisis clasped it, then looked up at the sky. ‘Shall we get started?’
A crushed skull protruded from the frozen mud where the construct had lain. The size and shape told them that it was Aachim – one of the few bodies not recovered and buried before Vithis left Snizort. The eye-sockets stared mournfully at them.
‘I don’t like this place,’ Irisis said.
Tiaan shivered. ‘Neither do I.’
Though Tiaan and Nish were friends now, Tiaan still felt uncomfortable with Irisis. They had disliked each other since they’d been small children and it would take a lot to come to terms with their history.
‘None of these controllers can be repaired,’ said Irisis that afternoon, as they finished surveying the last of the constructs in the third area. The short day was nearly over, the sun declining swiftly.
‘Where to next?’ Tiaan looked around.
‘The last area is a good league further west.’
‘We’d better take the thapter.’
Irisis had been making a map as she went along and marking the location of each construct so she wouldn’t miss any. ‘That last one was 429.’
‘How many more are there?’ said Tiaan.
‘Thirty-six. It’ll be after dark by the time we finish.’
They whined slowly along, hovering, not flying. Ahead, in a depression, three or four clankers lay in a tangled mess. They’d hit so hard that they were welded together by the impact.
‘I wonder how that happened?’ said Tiaan.
‘When the node exploded,’ said Irisis, ‘it sent out wild surges of power that tore the legs off a good many clankers. They were the lucky ones; the ones that weren’t so well built. The ones that didn’t break were uncontrollable, and a lot of constructs were wrecked the same way. We landed in the middle of the battlefield just after it happened, Flydd and I. And Ullii. It was horrible. You haven’t known real fear until you’ve stood in the middle of a battlefield with uncontrollable clankers and constructs rampaging at you.’
‘I’ve known fear,’ said Tiaan with an involuntary look over her shoulder.
She curved around to get a better look. ‘No one could have survived that impact. Hey! What’s that underneath? It looks like –’
‘A construct.’
Tiaan set the machine down and they scrambled out. From this angle, though no other, one curved flank was visible beneath the mess. ‘It is a construct, badly damaged. I wonder if I can squeeze through that gap?’
‘Might be better to drag the clankers off first,’ said Irisis.
‘That could do more damage. I’ll risk it.’
Tiaan squeezed in then stuck her head out. ‘Could you grab a lantern from the thapter, please?’
Irisis came back with it and pushed in after the smaller woman. ‘If the Aachim have missed something, I want to see it too.’
The top of the construct was badly damaged but the hatch had been sheared right off, leaving an opening framed by jagged metal. Tiaan wriggled inside. Bones were visible down below, though there was no smell. Scavenging beasts had done their job. Irisis pushed in beside her.
‘The controller’s still here. What do you think?’ said Tiaan.
‘It looks intact.’ Irisis couldn’t keep the elation out of her voice.
‘Let’s get it out.’
By the time they’d finished it was dark. Outside, Tiaan spread the mechanism on her coat while they inspected it with the lantern. ‘I think it’s good,’ said Tiaan.
‘So do I.’ Irisis threw her arms about the smaller woman, and after the briefest hesitation Tiaan hugged her back. She felt as though she might have made another friend.