Certainly does, Reza said. That kroclion was probably the mate of the one we killed.
Yes. But tell me of the starships. Can they take us off this terrible planet? We saw an almighty battle in orbit before the red cloud swelled over the sky.
We dont know much about the events in orbit. But that was a fight between some of our starships and a Confederation Navy squadron.
Your starships? Why did they fight the navy?
Some of them. The possessed got into orbit on the spaceplanes which brought us down, they hijacked the starships and took over the crew.
Merciful Lord. Horst crossed himself. Are there any starships left now?
No. Not in orbit.
Horsts shoulders sagged. He sipped listlessly at the carton of hot coffee they had given him. This was the cruellest blow of all, he thought wretchedly, to be shown salvation shining so close and then to have it snatched away as my fingers close around it. The children cannot be made to suffer any more, merciful Lord hear me this once, they cannot.
Russ was sitting in Kellys lap. He seemed shy of the combat-boosted mercenaries, but was content to let her spray a salve on his saddle sores. She smoothed down the damp hair on his forehead, and grinned as she offered him one of her chocolate bars. You must have been through a lot, she said to Horst.
We have. He eyed Shaun Wallace, who had kept to the back of the hall since he had arrived. The Devil has cursed this planet to its very core. I have seen such evil, foul, foul deeds. Such courage too. Im humbled, the human spirit is capable of quite astonishing acts of munificence when confronted by fundamental tests of virtue. I have come to believe in people again.
Id like to hear about it some time, she said.
Kells a reporter, Sewell said mockingly. Someone else who makes you sign contracts in blood.
She glared at the big mercenary. Being a reporter isnt a crime. Unlike some peoples occupation.
I shall be happy to tell you, Horst said. But later.
Thank you.
Youll be safe enough now youre hooked up with us, Father, Reza said. Were planning to head south, away from the cloud. And the good news is that were expecting a starship to come back for us in a couple of days. Theres plenty of room for you and Russ on our hovercraft. Your ordeals over.
Horst let out an incredulous snort, then put the coffee carton down ruing his slowness. Oh, my Lord, I havent told you yet, have I? Im sorry, that ride must have addled my brain. And Ive had so little sleep these last days.
Told us what? Reza asked edgily.
I gathered what children I could after the possession began. We are all living together in one of the savannah homesteads. They must be terrified. I never intended to be away all night.
There was complete silence for a second, even the red clouds hollow thunder was hushed.
How many children? Reza asked.
Counting young Russ here, twenty-nine.
Fucking hell.
Horst frowned and glanced pointedly at Russ who was staring at the mercenary leader with apprehensive eyes over his half-eaten chocolate. Kelly held him a fraction tighter.
Now what? Sal Yong asked bluntly.
Horst looked at him in some puzzlement. We must go back to them in your hovercraft, he said simply. I fear my poor old horse can travel no further. Why? Have you some other mission?
The combat-adept mercenary kept still. No.
Where exactly is this homestead? Reza asked.
Five or six kilometres south of the jungle, Horst replied. And forty minutes walk east from the river.
Reza datavised his guidance block for a map, and ran a search through LDC habitation records, trying to correlate. In other words, under the red cloud.
Yes, that abomination spread at a fearsome rate yesterday.
Reza, Jalal said. The hovercraft cant possibly carry that many people. Not if were going to keep ahead of the cloud.
Horst looked at the hulking combat adept in growing amazement. What is this you are saying? Cant? Cant? They are children! The eldest is eleven years old! She is alone under that Devils spew in the sky. Alone and frightened, holding the others to her as the sky turns to brimstone and the howling demon horde closes in. Their parents have been raped by unclean spirits. They have nothing left but a single thread of hope. He stood abruptly, clamping down on a groan as his ride-stiffened muscles rebelled against the sharp movement, face reddening in fury. And you, with your guns and your mechanoid strength, you sit here thinking only of saving your own skin. You should run to embrace the possessed, they would welcome you as their own. Come along, Russ, were going home.
The boy started sobbing. He struggled in Kellys grip.
She climbed to her feet, keeping her arms protectively around his thin frame. Quickly, before she lost all courage, she said: Russ can have my place on the hovercraft. Ill come with you, Father. Retinas switched to high resolution, she looked at Reza. Recording.
I knew youd be trouble, he datavised.
Tough, she said out loud.
For a reporter you have very little understanding of people if you think Id desert his children after all weve seen.
Kelly pouted her lips sourly and switched her visual focus to Jalal. That exchange would have to be edited out.
Nobody is going to leave the children behind, Father, Reza said. Believe me, we have seen what happens to children driven away by the possessed. But we are not going to help them by rushing in blindly. And he stood, rising a good thirty centimetres higher than the priest. Understand me, Father?
A muscle twitched on Horsts jaw. Yes.
Good. Now they obviously cant stay at the savannah homestead. We have to take them south with us. The question is how. Are there any more horses at the homestead?
No. We have a few cows, thats all.
Pity. Ariadne, can the hovercraft carry fifteen children apiece?
Possibly, if we ran alongside. But it would put a hell of a strain on the skirt impellers. And it would definitely drain the electron matrices inside of six or seven hours.
Running like that would drain us too, Pat said.
I cant even recharge the matrices, not under this cloud, Ariadne said. The solar-cell panels dont receive anything like enough photonic input.
We might be able to build some kind of cart, Theo suggested. Hitch it up to the cows. It would be better than walking.
It would take time, Sal Yong said. And theres no guarantee it would work.
Tow them, Sewell said. Slap together a couple of rafts, and tow them back up the river. All you need is planks, we can get them from the homestead itself if need be.
Ariadne nodded her rounded head. Might just work. The hovercraft could handle that. We could certainly get back here by the middle of the afternoon.
Then what? Jalal said. Look, Im not being a downer. But just getting them back here isnt the solution. We have to keep going. Wallace says the cloud is going to cover the whole planet, we have to find a way to outrun it, or this will all be for nothing.
Reza turned to look at the possessed man who had kept silent and unobtrusive up until now. Mr Wallace, will your kind know if we return to the homestead?
Aye, Mr. Malin, he said sorrowfully. That they will. The cloud and the land are becoming one with us. We can feel you moving inside us. When you pass back under the cloud the sensation will be like treading on a nail.