The farspeaker blurted. ‘Tiaan? Where are you?’
She thumped it with her fist, screaming, ‘Not now!’
The running pair of lyrinx checked and one turned its head towards her, its mouth wide open as if in pain. The other threw its hands over its ears. The ones that had fallen thrashed their wings. Tiaan slid the nose of the thapter in between them and Irisis, tilting it as far as she could to the left. Irisis took Nish under the arms and boosted him up the side, where he clung to the ladder as if he could go no further.
The four lyrinx were recovering. Letting go of the controller, Tiaan pulled herself up onto the hatch, caught Nish’s hand and he managed to drag himself the rest of the way. He fell over the lip and lay on the floor, making a low noise in his throat. She sprang down and caught the controller.
Irisis came scrambling in and dropped to the floor beside him. ‘You can go now,’ she said unnecessarily.
‘I’m going!’ said Tiaan.
One of the lyrinx sprang but she jerked the machine backwards and the creature landed short, on the smoothly tapering front of the thapter. Its claws scratched furiously but there was nothing to grip and with a shriek of claw against metal it slid off.
Which way now? One of the fallen lyrinx was back in the air, another limping across the floor, favouring one leg. Where was the fourth?’
‘Hurry!’ screamed Irisis, ‘before they have the pavilion surrounded. They’re coming from everywhere.’
Lyrinx were dropping from the sky all along two sides – three. Tiaan turned for the fourth but it was already blocked. There was one small gap on the fifth side. She headed for it.
Something thumped at the rear and the thapter lurched sideways. ‘What’s that?’ Tiaan cried, though she knew full well.
‘The fourth lyrinx,’ said Irisis. ‘It’s on the shooter’s platform. See if you can throw it off.’
‘Shut the hatch!’
‘I can’t. It’s got one foot on the far rim.’
Tiaan hurled the thapter from side to side so rapidly that Nish slid down through the lower hatch. He cried out, just once. ‘Any good?’ said Tiaan.
‘No.’ Irisis was loading the crossbow again.
Tiaan pushed the controller forward and streaked towards the remaining exit. The back of the thapter kept wobbling as if the heavy creature was throwing its weight from side to side. It was going to spring through the top hatch, right onto them.
‘Shoot it, Irisis,’ Tiaan screamed. She couldn’t help herself.
Outside, lyrinx were falling from the sky in their hundreds. Tiaan raced for that small remaining gap, holding her breath. A lyrinx crashed into the side of the thapter, shaking it, but could not get a grip, and suddenly they were out into the open.
The crossbow sang but Irisis cursed. ‘Got it in the shoulder, not the throat. Where the hell are my extra bolts?’ Not finding them, she cast the bow on the floor and went for her sword. ‘Nish, get up here!’
Nish, blood running down his forehead and into one eye, began to pull himself up the ladder, crossbow in hand. He tried to aim it but the bow was wavering all over the place.
‘Careful!’ said Irisis. ‘You’ll shoot one of us.’
Nish gritted his teeth, let go of the ladder and tried to aim the bow two-handed. He closed the eye that was wet with blood.
‘Look out! It’s –’
The rear of the machine jerked as the lyrinx sprang. Nish’s crossbow went off at the same time. Tiaan jerked the controller sideways, knowing she’d moved too late. She tried to get out of the way but there was nowhere to go. The lyrinx came crashing through the hatch, smashing the binnacle and the screen in front of it, and knocking the farspeaker to the floor. One huge arm and shoulder slammed Tiaan against the side wall and she lost hold of the controller arm.
A thud signalled that Nish had fallen down again. The creature’s great legs thrashed, slamming Irisis against the rear of the compartment. She cried out.
Something hot and wet spurted against Tiaan’s back and the creature’s weight pinned her against the smashed binnacle and the mass of knobs and wheels. It gave a feeble roar. Reflected in the broken glass, its mouth was open, the grey teeth menacing, but its eyes were staring. Purple blood flooded from the bolt wound in its neck, drenching her.
‘Tiaan,’ cried Irisis. ‘Take the controller.’
Tiaan couldn’t turn her head far enough to see out. They could have been heading for the sky or towards the ground. She couldn’t budge. All she could see was the floor and part of the side wall.
‘We’re heading straight for a building!’ Irisis screamed.
Tiaan tried to reach the controller but her arm was pinned. The lyrinx was ten times her weight. She tried to push it off but it didn’t move an ell.
‘I can’t move,’ she gasped.
‘Nish!’ Irisis yelled.
No answer, apart from groaning. Irisis forced herself along the side, put her shoulder under the creature and shoved. ‘Any better?’
‘No,’ said Tiaan, panicking.
‘Reach out. The controller’s just here.’
‘I can’t turn my head that far.’
‘But you know where it is, Tiaan.’
Irisis heaved the lyrinx and pulled Tiaan’s hand. It slipped free and Irisis slammed it onto the knob of the controller. ‘There.’
‘Where am I supposed to go?’ Tiaan gasped. ‘I can’t see out.’
‘Left and up.’
Tiaan tried to move her hand but could not. Irisis put her hand on top, jerking Tiaan’s the required way. The thapter banked right and the weight on Tiaan eased enough for her to lift her head. Stone columns flashed by.
‘Ten more seconds and we would have piled straight into that,’ said Irisis, directing Tiaan’s hand in uneven motions. Something rolled across the floor and down the hatch.
‘How are we going to get the lyrinx out?’ Tiaan whispered. She felt as if the life had been crushed out of her. ‘I can hardly breathe.’
‘I don’t know. Nish?’ A weak groan from below. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Bloody farspeaker landed on my head.’
‘Just when we needed you, too,’ said Irisis unsympathetically. ‘Grab hold of something and hang on.’
The lower hatch clanged – Irisis must have kicked it shut. She began fumbling around below Tiaan.
‘What are you doing?’ said Tiaan.
‘Strapping you in. You’ll have to turn the thapter upside down.’
‘I don’t think I’ve ever done that.’
‘Then learn fast. Look out – there’s bloody enemy everywhere and we can’t stop to hurl this fellow out. Wiggle the controller.’
A crashing thump at the rear made the whole thapter shudder.
‘What was that?’ said Tiaan weakly. She didn’t think she could take much more.
‘They’re dropping rocks. You’ll have to bank to the right until the thapter’s on its side. That should drop the weight off you. Then take the controller and turn us upside down. I’ll make sure the corpse doesn’t catch on anything. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?’
If Irisis meant to be reassuring, she wasn’t. Tiaan had no idea what would happen if she turned the thapter upside down. Would the controls work the other way?
Something smashed into the front, knocking the craft sideways. ‘That was close,’ Tiaan said to herself.
‘Ready, Tiaan?’
‘Yes,’ she gasped.
Irisis pushed her arm to the right as far as it would go. It wasn’t far enough.
‘It’s times like this,’ said Irisis, ‘that I wish controllers could be used by more than one person.’
‘I can see the virtue in it,’ said Tiaan dryly.
‘Is the weight easing at all?’
‘A little.’
Irisis put her shoulder under the dead creature and heaved. It moved fractionally. ‘See if you can squeeze out.’
‘Not yet.’
Irisis managed to push Tiaan’s arm across a bit further, then jerked it back sharply. Another building flashed by.