''Well, I got news for you. There's a lot of banks around that still lend money that way. Sure they don't send people out to train wrecks to hunt for folks so down they'll sign anything. They don't have to. But when this mess is over, and the sun comes out, they'll be there for you.''
''You gonna loan us the money, Longknife?'' Brandon spat.
''Brandon, your hearing's gone bad. Didn't I just say I'm Navy?'' Kris pointed at the gold bar on her collar. ''Navy doesn't make loans. We're here to get as many of you out of this mess alive as we can. But Brandon, you aren't thinking very straight, either. You want to get Grearson fever into the water supply and kill everyone on this mud ball. Folks, think this one through with me.'' Kris continued her slow turn.
Eyes were up now. She had their attention.
''You let Grearson into the river, and it's going to poison Port Athens. Folks are sick and hungry down there. They're going to start dying. A lot of them will be people like me, who came here to help. That the thanks you want to give us?''
A few heads shook. Finally, they were reacting.
''Everybody south of Athens is starving. We're shipping them food just as fast as we can. And if the fever is in our water, that means we'll be taking them fever, too. Grearson normally kills half the people who get it. Figure you, your wife get it, one of you dies. Your son, your daughter get it, one of them dies. But folks are starving. They're already sick. Three out of four are going to die. Your family gets it, maybe you'll be the one who lives. Maybe just your daughter, Who's going to take care of a six-year-old orphan kid? There are worse ways to die than the fever.''
Eyes that had stared back at her empty now showed emotions, fear, terror, anger. Yeah, she had their attention.
''But you want to know the really sick part of this whole idea of Brandon's? After Grearson's wiped out just about every living soul on Olympia, there's still going to be empty houses, tractors, barns. There's still going to be farms that dead people worked all their lives to build. They'll be bought up, for a penny on the dollar. And when the corporations send out their hired hands to make money for them, up in orbit.'' Kris waved a thumb at the ceiling, ''before they land, they'll give them a shot like the one my medic wants to give you, and it won't matter that Grearson's in the water supply here. The vaccine will keep them healthy so they can work their life away for that corporation. Ain't that funny,'' Kris sneered.
Nobody laughed.
Taking his cue, the medic pulled his shot gun from his bag, put a vial of vaccine in it, dialed up the amount, checked it against the one lantern burning in the house and looked around. ''Who wants a shot?''
The woman with the baby shed her coat and offered her bare shoulder. The medic placed the gun against her skin; it went off with a small click. She pulled the child's diaper down to offer its rump. There was a second click. Sam had his coat off, Karen, too. A line began to form.
Kris turned to Sam. ''I've got two climbers ready to go up Lover's Leap. How much rope do you have?''
''Plenty.''
Kris looked around the room. ''Who wants to help my people climb that hill?''
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
''So. Kris, who climbs the cliff and who stays down here?'' Tom asked in a tight whisper out of earshot of any rancher. The whisper didn't hide the tremble in his voice.
''You don't have to go if you don't want to,'' Kris said, ready to admit she'd volunteered Tom enough for one day.
''Cut the crap, Longknife,'' he snapped, anger hardening his whisper. ''One of us has to stay here. Somebody's got to give them a kick in the butt if bright boy over there starts something again. You're probably the best for that. A Longknife staying here shows they haven't been abandoned.'' Tom gave a resigned shrug at his own logic. ''I'm going to climb that cliff. If they can't make it, someone's got to let you folks at the bottom know. And if I get to the top, I can probably raise the net and get us some help,'' he finished.
''Sounds logical.'' Kris nodded, keeping her voice even.
''Yeah, so why don't I like it?''
Kris could think of a dozen reasons. ''Beats me,'' was what she said.
''I should have run the first time I saw you. I keep hanging around Longknifes, and I'm gonna end up with a medal. Last words me ma told we was, ‘Don't you go getting any medals. We have all the metal we need hereabouts.' ''
''Why don't you go see if there's any little people under that hill that will help you up it?''
''That's not a hill, that's a cliff. Only thing around them is ogres. Don't you know your fey?''
''Father read me to sleep with cabinet minutes and political analyses. Never read any fairy tales.''
''What do you mean, fairy tales? Woman, they're as real as any political analysis.'' Tommy had his lopsided grin back.
''Can't argue that with you. So, you'll go up the hill, and I'll keep the home fires burning.'' Until the river floods the fireplace, Kris left unsaid. They shared a laugh at nothing in particular. The people around them seemed to take heart at that. Together, Kris and Tom stepped out into the pouring rain.
Sam, Jose, and the two climbers had collected a dozen men and women. A woman brought a thermos of hot tea. As the climbers hefted rope, hammers, and other climbing gear, Sam explained the general plan. ''We've got tackle for two hoists. I brought it up from the main barn. Should have used it days ago, folks, but I just couldn't believe it would get this bad. Sorry,'' he said.
''None of us saw it coming,'' a ranch hand said.
''Anyway, we'll snub down a couple of ropes here; you let out your rope as you climb. Once you're at the top, you can haul up the tackle and get the hoists going. Then we'll send folks up. Worst cases you'll have to haul. Folks that can do something will climb best they can with you hauling some. That ought to do it,'' Sam finished lamely.
''How you know when we're up there?'' a rancher asked.
Kris tapped her wrist. ''Ensign Lien will climb with you. He'll call me when you're ready, as well as put in a call to Port Athens for help.''
''They can't help us,'' Jose pointed out. ''There's three or four deep ravines between here and there. It's a long drive around. That's why we used the river.''
''Tell the Colonel to use the boats as bridges,'' Kris said.
''The boats?'' Tom echoed in disbelief.
''Yes. Ours worked fine the first time, even when I repaired it. Tell Hancock just not to use it a third time.''
''If you say so.'' Tom looked none too sure. Kris was pretty sure Hancock would do just about anything to give them a hand. Well, maybe her. She was one of those Longknifes.
''It's either that or the damn boats don't like Longknifes,'' Kris said, ignoring the question of whether its philanthropic provider wanted a certain Longknife dead. That thought would save for later.
The climbers trudged for Lover's Leap. Kris followed, trying to spot in the rainy dark where the highest ground lay for her last stand. OCS had included an hour of treading water or a mile swim. She'd managed that fine, but she hadn't had a hundred sick and half-starved civilians to keep afloat as well. The ground rose slowly. There were stunted evergreen trees on the rocky ground. The closer she got to the cliff, the more there were of jagged boulders, ragged proof that the rocky face before her was prone to landslides. After all Kris had been through that day, a falling rock looked like just another way to die.
The climbers shared out the rope they were lifting, Nabil and Akuba first, Jose next, the ranchers following. Tommy was last; Kris surprised him with a hug. ''Stay safe, Tom, your ma doesn't want a medal, remember.''
''A little late for you to start thinking about that,'' he grumbled but softened it with a tight smile. Kris had dragged a boy up the river. It looked like she was sending a man up the cliff. ''See you in the morning,'' he said and turned to follow the others. The ends of two thin lines were tied to the biggest stunted trees available. The climbers carried coils of the rope to let out as they went. It should last them to the top.