Mac pulled a knee up, looking out over the valley below them. While the sunlight rouged the ridgetops, the valley bottoms remained in velvet purple shadow. Mac's blond hair glinted in the ocher light; his face remained thoughtful. "I don't know. I don't think anybody does. I loved her, too, Sink. I just wish… wish I could bring her back."
"Yeah." A vision of Gretta laughing, her blue eyes sparkling with love, filled Sink's memory. The gaping wound to his soul opened, and an ache built under his jaw. He couldn't stop the welling of hot tears. When he got control of himself, he looked over to see Mac wiping his eyes and sniffing, too.
"Hell of a pair, aren't we?" Sinklar asked as he blew his nose.
Mac rubbed his puffy eyes and spat. "Just human, I
guess. Maybe we needed that-needed time to cry, to grieve. "
Sink retrieved his stick from where it had fallen and studied the smooth wood where he'd chipped off the bark. "Sink?" Mac asked uncertainly. "What's going on? I
mean, well, you spent a lot of time with Minister Takka. You haven't been yourself. You're… different. I'm worried. "
"I'll be all right. I'm just tired, I guess. Mourning does strange things to the brain. Maybe I'll ask Anatolia Daviura when we get back to Rega… find out what happens exactly. See if I can find out why it's so hard for me to feel free anymore. "
"We're safe, aren't we? I mean from Rega? The Emperor isn't going to arrest us or anything?"
"No." Sinklar raised his eyebrows. "Ily's going to make sure we're heroes, and then we're going to war against the Sassans." He studied his friend through bleary eyes. "Suddenly we're the salvation of the Regan Empire. First we crush Divine Sassa, then we tackle the Companions. After that, we live out our lives in splendor and bliss, our every want acceded to, our every desire fulfilled by a grateful humanity."
"You never sounded this bitter before."
Sinklar gave his friend a weary smile. "Until now I never had time to think about it in the grander context. We were too busy, remember? Too many people were trying to kill US."
Mac chewed on his thumbnail. "And Minister Takka?" "I'd trust a Cytean cobra before I'd trust Ily." Sink tapped the slim stick on his armored knee. "She needs us right now-maybe even more than we need her. Free Space is about to come apart at the seams. Rega and Sassa are going to war. We're the random factor, the one that changed all the scenarios. But, Mac, be very careful around her. Don't ever speak freely."
"You think I'm an idiot? I didn't like her from the moment I met her." Mac hesitated, shifting uneasily. "Sink? What are you going to do when she tries to seduce you?" "When she what?"
Mac fidgeted. "You heard me. Maybe you're still too close to Gretta's death, but she's laying the groundwork,
friend. She's very good, very discreet, but watch how she postures, the way she meets your eyes, how she hangs on your every word. I might not have noticed
myself, but Mayz did-a woman's eye. Once she mentioned it, I couldn't help but notice.
"I'm not interested in any woman.
"I'll remind you of that periodically." Mac shook his head. "In the meantime, the seismic charges are set. I guess we're ready to take out the Seddi.
Sink nodded. "Then let's do it. "
"You don't have your usual enthusiasm."
Sinklar shrugged, watching the sun creep into the valley below. "I'm just gloomy, Mac. I've got a bad feeling, that's all. I need more time to get over Gretta, to deal with myself. I'd just like to go somewhere, be alone, think. Can you understand?"
Mac gave him a warm smile. "I understand. I think everyone else does, too. Anything else bothering you?"
Sinklar threw the stick, watching it spiral in the morning light. "I never told you the truth about my parents. They were assassins, Mac. Seddi assassins. That's why I was a ward of the state. I never knew them, but I suppose they were the same as Arta Fera. "
"Is that why you're so determined to finish off Makarta?" Sink climbed to his feet, stepping out where he could shade his eyes and stare up at the sun. "Think about what they did here on Targa, about how many people they killed-and for what? They wouldn't even send this Bruen to talk about ending the war. What kind of people could sleep at night after what they made Arta Fera into-and probably my parents? Well, Mac, one thing at a time. If we're going to make a difference, we've got to start here. After that, we'll clean up Rega before we're done."
"That's a tall order, Sink." Mac got to his feet and smacked the dust from his butt.
Sinklar gave him a sober look. "Oh, I don't know. We've sort of become used to filling tall orders, don't you think? I'm going to make a difference, Mac. Let's see what kind of legacy we can leave. The Seddi are only the first disease I'm going to destroy."
Kaylla took off like a frightened antelope, sprinting up the rocky tunnel. The light bar's illumination bounced weirdly before her while Staffa pounded along behind, aware of the tons of rock hanging over his head.
He almost lost his feet as yet a third stunning shock wave shivered the rock. "That's no earthquake! That's bombardment! Those are seismic gravitational charges that we use for underground installations!"
The fourth blast left them stumbling as echoes rolled ominously down the tunnel.
They ran out into a lower corridor, now black from power failure. A man called and came staggering out of the darkness. "Everything's cut off! We've lost power!"
Kaylla whirled on her feet, staring at Staffa.
Staffa pulled his blaster, and leveled it at the narrow entrance they'd just exited-the only entrance to the archives.
"What are you doing?" Kaylla cried as he exploded the
top of the tunnel. She was pulling at his arm as he shook her off, taking two more shots to cave the branch in. "You…. You…. What have you done?" Kaylla's
voice echoed with stricken disbelief.
Staffa slapped a hand on her shoulder, spinning her around and staring into her eyes. "As soon as they can shatter the defenses, the Regans are going to be all over this mine of yours, Master Dawn. You really want them to find all that?"
She looked at him in a daze and shook her head. "We've got to get to Bruen. We're out of time here!" He turned, seeking his way in the blackness.
"Here! This way, Staffa." Kaylla pointed in the beam of the light bar. She left at a run. In the broader tunnel, Staffa had no trouble keeping up. Occasional rocks hit the floor while swirls of dust eddied in the bouncing light as Staffa pushed himself up the slanted floor. Occasionally, frightened men or women ran past with light bars.. Calls and screams became more common. Staffa vaulted over a man who lay facedown in a pool of blood, his scalp laid open by falling rock.
"Go right!" Kaylla ordered. "It's shorter to Bruen's." Staffa made the turn to come face-to-face with a collapsed
tunnel. Cursing, he backtracked to the main hall and ran again, leery of
the debris that littered the floor.
"Another… blast… like that," he gasped, "and the whole place will come tumbling down."
"Bruen!" Kaylla shouted as they rounded a corner. The old man was being carried out of the personnel section, face matted with blood.
The Magister waved at her. "Easy, child. It was only a silly little rock. Scalp wounds always bleed terribly." "How are the surface entrances?" Staffa demanded. "Did
they target them from orbital?"
Wilm looked up from where he dabbed at Bruen's head with plastaheal. "Not yet. We think they just cut the tunnels to Kaspa, Vespa, and Decker. That seems to be what they were after. "
Staffa smacked a fist into his palm. "Then we have a chance. Wilm, Kaylla, take separate squads and gather all the weapons you can. Evacuate all the tunnels. We've got to get out. If they seal us in with a seismic pulse, we die in darkness. Pray they haven't cut off escape."