Читать книгу The Puzzler’s War - Eyal Kless - Страница 13

Anyone watching the two figures from afar would have thought them a farmer and his wife tottering along on a dirt road, though on closer inspection the watcher would have realised something was certainly amiss. Galinak had torn the bottom of his overalls, from the knees down, and tied the material around his feet. The farmer’s wife was a hefty lass, so the corset fit, just barely, across my ribs. I’d tried Galinak’s trick with the hem of the dress but a miscalculation on my part now meant the dress was indecently short. On the bright side, I had enough material left to tie around my bald head to protect my cranium from the unforgiving sun. Actually, come morning, we discovered hair was beginning to grow on both of our bodies. Mine was a shade between white and golden; Galinak’s was ginger brown.

We had resumed our journey after a relatively comfortable night in front of the hearth, which by another stroke of luck featured an old built-in flint, now safely in Galinak’s pocket. He had suggested we simply stay on the farm and “start our own family” but by midday the stream of jokes died to a mere trickle.

We found some berries on the side of the road that tasted awful but were nourishing enough. Water was a concern, but our bodies proved to be incredibly resilient, taking on way more than what I would guess my previous one could have endured.

A little after midday we passed another abandoned farm, but this one was completely ruined. Worse, there were obvious marks of violence, including the bones of several livestock, fire damage, and enough signs to indicate that, in Galinak’s words “something really big blew up this rusting hut.” He was the first to spot the deep imprints on the ground where the garden must have been—two parallel chain lines, twice a man’s height in distance from each other.

“Some kind of a machine.” I pointed out the obvious but Galinak was not in the mood. He tested the ground with his fingers.

“Deep on dry earth. Means this thing was heavy, huge. It takes a lot of energy clips to move such a vehicle.”

We exchanged glances. “A kind of war machine then,” I said. “Nothing else is worth such energy.”

“A war machine?” Gailnak looked around. “We only had light dusters in the Hive, and that was Tarakan Valley we’re talking about.”

Rafik said that the City of Towers was preoccupied with a conflict, but this area is far from the city. Could there be a connection?

“I know these machines existed before the Catastrophe,” I said, the memory flashing through my mind. “They were called Tanks. I heard they found a field with those things far to the west. The machines were smashed and burned, but the metal was so thick they couldn’t even salvage it, so they just stand there in rows now.”

“So, a local gang gets its hands on a working war machine with enough energy clips to operate it and runs around destroying small farms?” Galinak shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“An advancing army, then,” I said quietly.

“Makes more sense with the other farm being abandoned,” Galinak agreed. “They knew about the threat. The first family ran away, these ones chose to stay and protect their land.” He shook his head again. “Poor sods, must have been like kicking a puppy.”

“Yes, but whose army?” I asked.

Galinak shrugged. “We can’t connect the wires on this one.”

“We should have tried to go back to the bunker.” I gestured toward the destruction around us. “This would have surely been part of what Rafik would have briefed us about.”

“Well, if I wasn’t sure before, now I know for a fact it’s you, Twinkle Eyes.” Galinak chuckled. “Ready to die just so you could learn something you didn’t know before. We’ll find out soon enough what’s going on, so let’s look around a little more and move out of here.”

Galinak’s remark might just have been a barbed jest, but he was right. I was already feeling the familiar tingling sensation growing in my mind; curiosity. I might have been coerced into this mission by the Tarkanians, but I also wanted to know—hell, I needed to know—what was going on, and it was worth risking my new life to find out.

There was nothing worth looting except a few pieces of wood we collected for a future bonfire and several rusty nails. I tied the nails with the frills from my dress and decided to find a way to add them to my crude club at the first opportunity. Not the greatest upgrade to my fire power, but every little thing helps.

“We should follow the imprints.” Galinak pointed at the deep grooves leading northeast.

“No, we should go northwest,” I said. “Following a war machine and armed troops with a club and a dress may leave the wrong impression.” That one rewarded me with another chuckle from Galinak. “The farmers who ran must have tried to reach some kind of a safe haven. I think there’s a large village a day or two from here.”

Galinak looked skeptical. “You deduced all of that from a set of imprints?”

“No,” I admitted. “Something has been bothering me for a while now. This area is familiar. I think I’ve passed through it.”

“Not surprising.” Galinak dusted himself off. “You chased Vincha all over the place.”

“No. Vincha never went rural on me,” I said. “I think I passed through here when I was younger, with LoreMaster Harim.” The mention of my mentor’s name brought up a rush of emotions. He was the one who took me from my family home to the upper towers of the City of Towers and made me the flawed man I was now.

“Fine, lad.” Galinak walked to me. “We’ll do it your way.”

We kept on walking, finding a wider road and following it till night fell, but we did not stop. My sight made the night as clear as the day, and although we only ate a handful of berries we picked up on the side of the road, our new bodies did not show any sign of fatigue. Even the soles of our feet hardened enough to make walking more comfortable, and we were able to move faster.

By midday the dirt trail merged into what was once a paved road, now with only patches of dark material remaining as a testimony to its former glory. This was where we found another unmistakable track of the war machine, and this time we had to follow it. Since we were now on lower ground, there were many more trees and tall bushes, and they hid the village until we came upon it. For some childish reason I took pride in spotting it first.

It was certainly a place I had visited before. It used to have a protective wall and the houses within climbed up the steep hill. The hill must have kept the villagers in shape while acting as a natural defence from three sides, but that natural defence and the high walls and guard towers did not stand a chance against a war machine.

We waited for what felt like a long time, hidden among the vegetation, noting the enormous gaps in the reinforced wooden wall, the remains of three guard towers, and the lack of what was once an impressive front gate.

“Well, at least they did not burn the place down,” Galinak whispered next to me. “Any ideas why?”

I shrugged. “I have no clue.”

He shrugged back and spat at the ground. “Let’s find out.”

I stopped him with a touch, scanning for heat signatures. “There are no humans that I can see, but there are some animals roaming around in there.”

“You can see all the way inside?”

I nodded. “Just be ready for a fight.”

Galinak’s smile was full of bad intentions. “I’m always ready for a fight.” He waved his cleaver to emphasise his point, then surprised me by ripping a nail from my dress and ramming it halfway into my club. “Now you’re ready too.”