Reede pushed up onto his knees, staring in speechless gratitude. He slung the belt around his neck as Ananke passed it to him, and moved to help him lift Dawntreader’s body.
“We’ve got to hurry, boss—”
“Kullervo!”
Ananke straightened, looking back; screamed, falling, as the blinding beam of an energy weapon licked him.
Reede grabbed him, pulled him close with furious desperation. “Move!” he shouted, willing sense back into Ananke’s shock-glazed eyes, willing Ananke’s brain to ignite with the urge for survival. “Run, crawl, get to the LB, goddammit!” He pushed Ananke forward, propelling him as he dragged Dawntreader’s body along behind.
They made it to the far end of the catwalk, sheltered by the hulls of the big transports. He saw the LB lying like a toy in their shadow, heard more explosions echo through the bay, and more screams.
Ariele was waiting, her voice lost in the cacophony, her face frantic. She ran forward to help him get the two men to the ship and drag them inside. Niburu was in the pilot’s seat, his face shining with an intensity of relief that should have been laughable. “Go!” Reede shouted, dumping Dawntreader into an acceleration couch, as Ariele pushed Ananke into a seat behind him.
“Ananke, get up here!” Niburu called.
Reede fell into the copilot’s seat, as Ariele dropped into the couch beside her father’s. “Ananke’s hit. He’s out of it.”
Niburu turned, looking over his shoulder. “How bad?”
“Don’t know.” Reede shook his head. “Won’t matter, if you don’t get us the hell out of here. Go. Go!” Niburu took them up before he had finished the words, the LB shooting down the length of the bay and out into the open sky like a beam of light.
Beams of light slashed the air all around them, licking the crippled citadel from every direction including the top of the sky; taking it down millimeter by millimeter. The LB shuddered as raw energy glanced off its shields; Niburu swore. “Gods, shit, I can’t handle this alone. We’ll never make it through this crossfire—”
He broke off, as the view ahead of them suddenly cleared of lightning; the images on the LB’s screens showed them a column of inviolate air, their trajectory rising out of the atmosphere, toward the Prajna’s orbit. Their way lay open, and as they arced toward the sky, behind them the citadel’s shattered spire immolated like a star gone nova.
They flew on in utter silence, as if even a spoken word might break the spell and destroy them; their arc steepened, acceleration pressed Reede into his seat with a heavy hand. There was no pursuit, and no more random energy pulses struck their shields. Reede watched the sky, me only thing he could do; watched its serene blue slowly deepening toward black, watched the sun rise, a vast scintillating jewel, radiant against the starry night as they left Ondinee’s atmosphere behind. Reede wiped blood out of his eye again, and sighed.
“Clear.” Niburu cut their acceleration. The LB’s momentum ceased, and Reede felt himself begin to drift up from his seat, weightless, beyond the reach even of the planet’s gravity. He caught the seat’s restraining straps, laughing out loud as he pulled himself down again, and locked himself into place.
“Copy. Free and clear,” a voice said, suddenly and unexpectedly from the comm speaker on the panel. “Congratulations, survivors. Good luck.” And then silence.
“That was Sandhi!” Niburu looked at him, stupefied. “What just happened?” he said.
Reede felt a weary smile pull up the corners of his mouth. “I think we met some strangers far from home.”
Niburu shook his head, looking out at the empty sky, at the curve of Ondinee’s surface far below, its atmosphere limned by sunlight. He murmured commands to the LB’s computer as his hands touched the instruments almost absently. Reede felt himself settle back into his seat, regaining substantiality as the LB’s drive kicked in again. “We’ll intersect the Prajna’s orbit in about six hours,” Niburu said. “The medical supplies are down there.” He pointed.
Reede nodded, already rising from his seat, moving cautiously as he got a feel for what kind of gravity they were functioning in now. He pulled the supply box from its stash.
Ariele was on her feet beside Dawntreader, mopping blood from his ashen face with the sleeve of her robe. “Da …” she murmured. “Da—?”
Reede edged her aside, gently, as Niburu pushed past them to see to Ananke. “Let me look.” He used his own shirtsleeve to wipe away more blood, seeing the deep gash in the side of Dawntreader’s head. Scalp wounds bled like hell, his own blood was still getting in his eyes. The blood didn’t mean anything; he only had to get it stopped. But a blow that hard probably meant a fractured skull, could mean something worse; he had no way of telling. He pushed back Dawntreader’s eyelids; one pupil was wide open, the other narrowed reflexively as the light hit it. “Shit …”he breathed.
Ariele passed him coagulant and a compression bandage from the medical supplies as he asked for them; he got the bleeding stopped and the wound bandaged. Dawntreader did not stir or make a sound all the while; his breathing was shallow and not quite regular. But as Reede finished working on him, he moaned, and his eyes opened, staring glassily. He mumbled something; Reede couldn’t make out the slurring words.
“What—?” Reede leaned closer as Dawntreader repeated them, with painful effort, reaching up to catch the front of Reede’s shirt in a spasmodic grip.
“… Promise me,” he whispered. “Promise it.”
“Yeah. All right,” Reede said softly. “I will. I promise it.”
Dawntreader released him; his hand fell away, lay motionless across his chest. His eyes closed.
“Is he going to be all right?” Ariele asked anxiously, as Reede straightened away from Dawntreader’s limp body.
“Can’t tell,” he muttered, blocking her view. He touched the activator on the arm of Dawntreader’s seat, and the translucent gray shield suspended above it began to lower. “This will suspend his body functions until we can reach Tiamat, and get real medical treatment,” he said quickly, seeing her face begin to fall apart. “His condition won’t change. It’s the best we can do.” He took hold of her arms, drawing her away as they watched the stasis unit seal. He checked the readouts. “Okay,” he said softly. “That’s as safe as anyone gets.” He turned, looking into her eyes. “You’re next. And then me. We’ll all sleep, suspended, until Niburu gets us to Tiamat.”
Her mouth trembled; she pressed it together. “A magic nap,” she whispered. “Da used to say, when I was little, ‘It’s such a long way, Ari … why don’t you take a magic nap? When you wake up, you’ll be home… .’” Her voice disappeared.
“Yeah,” he murmured, holding her, “we’ll be home.” He kissed her hair, looked up again as Niburu came forward to get something from the medical kit
“How is he?” Reede jerked his head toward the seat where Ananke lay, half-hidden from his view.
“He’s—” Niburu broke off, with a strange expression on his face. “He’ll be all right. A bad burn, but it’s superficial. I can treat it with what’s here.”
Reede nodded, relieved, wiping the blood from his own face with a leftover strip of bandage. He tied the bandage around his head and stuck on a painkiller patch, feeling his wounds as he finally had time to think about them. Dawntreader’s belt and pouch were still slung around his neck. He pulled them down, opened the pouch and looked at the vial of the water of death. He sealed it shut again, and fastened the belt around his waist. He glanced at Ananke, able to see nothing but his face, eyes shut, mouth slack, and part of his shoulder.