Читать книгу Red Smoke Rising - Rick Psy.D. Anthony - Страница 5

Mia paced around the cramped jail cell, trying in vain to keep herself warm. She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was tired, cold and miserable. Her stomach rumbled again. She was starting to lose hope.

Her breath was all she had to warm her hands. They were so cold that pain wracked her knuckles when she flexed her fingers. Her toes were numb. The damp chilled her through to her bones. With no clothing or blanket she worried she might die of exposure.

The Myrmidons couldn’t have known about the wristband, she thought to herself. If they had, they would have left me with the rest of my clothes. It meant that the Myrmidons still didn’t understand what she was or what she could do.

She paced around her cell again. Once again she ran numb fingers along the wall as she walked. Her mind churned for an answer. Could she escape? Was there any hope at all?

Since her arrival she heard a few further whispers through the cell door. From what she heard, there was some debate as to what to do with her. She prompted a modicum of fear in the ranks. The thought made her smile a little. She and her mother spent their lives fearing the Myrmidons and the idea that they were actually afraid of her gave Mia some satisfaction.

She was proud of herself, a little anyway. She had studied for years to master the technique that made her strong enough to defeat a Myrmidon. She was pleased it had worked. Her years of living under Empire rule caused her to lose any compassion for them; Myrmidon cruelty was both widespread and well known.

Even after the drug left her system she felt no shame or guilt. Deep down she knew that given the chance, the ones she had slain would have done the same to her. She had never killed a man before, but she did what she had to do without hesitation. Perhaps she was capable of more than she thought.

The night was silent. The only light came in through a small hole in the door. When the silence broke, Mia jumped. Panic set in. She spun to investigate the noise.

To her surprise the sound hadn’t come from the door but rather the wall of her cell. She turned to see one brick, then two, crumble and dissolve to dust. Bits of bricks rolled to a stop at her feet. Another brick followed, then another. One by one they crumbled and fell to the ground, leaving nothing more than dust, gravel and a knee-high hole into the next cell.

She backed against the far wall; her heart pounded. Was she hallucinating? The young woman took a step forward, bent down and peered into the dark hole. She rubbed her wrist nervously as she looked through to the other side.

Mia jumped when a man’s face peered back at her. He crawled awkwardly into her cell. As he squeezed through the hole and righted himself, Mia’s eyes widened.

“Kale?”

Kale dusted himself off. He looked up at Mia. His face blanched and his jaw dropped. Whatever he expected to find on the other side of the wall it obviously wasn’t Mia in the nude. The two stood for a moment in mutually stunned silence before he spoke.

“I’m glad to see you’re safe.” Kale removed his bloody jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. They shared a brief moment of relief and embraced.

“How did you do this? You smuggled in the drug?” Mia asked.

“We don’t have time; I have to get you out of here.”

Kale turned to the opposite wall, crouched down and put his arms out. His hands were open, palms toward the wall as they slowly moved in circles.

“How many of us are there?” he asked, waving his hands at the base of the wall.

“I don’t know for sure, but Lio is here.”

“Lio?” Kale stopped the motion and turned to look at Mia.

“Yes, and we need his help.”

“You sure?” he asked, unconvinced.

“Yes! So please hurry,” Mia urged.

“We need him?”

“Yes. Grere requested it,” Mia assured him.

Kale shook his head. “All right,” he said, scowling.

Without another word, the Trademaster went back to his task, attempting to change the bricks and punch a hole into Lio’s cell. Many minutes of silence passed as Mia stood behind the toiling man.

“I think that’s it.” He placed a foot on the bricks and kicked at them. After two or three blows, the bricks shattered and gave way. A dark hole opened up between the two cells.

“Lio?” Mia’s voice cut through the darkness.

“Yes?” came the response after a moment.

“Get in here!”

A moment later, Lio crawled through the opening with a look of utter confusion on his face. Kale snorted and went to work again. He waved his hands around the base of the outside wall just as he had done twice before.

“You did this?” Lio didn’t even attempt to veil his shock as he looked back and forth between the holes in the cell walls. “I thought you were some kind of moron. I didn’t think you could do this...”

Kale ignored him, concentrating on the wall. The trio fell silent again as the Trademaster focused on his work. Something was wrong. His hands began to move faster. After a while his movements were less controlled, more erratic. He waved frantically, trying to change the bricks. His frustration was obvious, but there was nothing the other two could do to help. After a while he sat down, folded his hands in his lap and hung his head.

“I can’t get it.” He sounded defeated. “The outside wall is different somehow. I’ve never seen an aura like this. The bricks on the inside walls of the prison have been hardened, as have these, but these ones are just…different. I can barely see the aura. I can’t make anything work.” His hands dropped to his sides.

“You took the drug?” Lio asked.

“Yes,” Kale nodded.

“Maybe it’s wearing off?” Lio suggested.

“No,” Kale assured him. “That’s not it.”

“What about the inside walls?” Lio asked in a hopeful tone. “Over there, the ones that hold the cell doors.”

“So we could break further into the prison?” Mia objected. “That is the exterior wall. The inside wall will take us further in and we won’t stand a chance.”

“I have kuval I could give you,” Kale offered.

“It wouldn’t help. My armband is back at Ipsamesh,” she explained.

“I need help,” Kale raised his voice, his words quickening. “Mia, you’re a Master, aren’t you? What options do we have?”

“I’ve never spent any time studying such things,” Mia tried to reason.

Kale turned immediately to Lio. He was desperate.

“Here.” From his shirt pocket he retrieved the remaining kuval the healer had given him. He held it out to Lio.

Lio’s eyes widened. His craving made him salivate.

“No.” He crossed his arms and backed away, but his tone wasn’t entirely convincing. He licked his lips and stared at the vial, eyes darting between Kale’s face and his outstretched arm. “I don’t know anything about bricks either.”

“Yes, you do!” Kale snarled. “I took a class from you four years ago. Drink it and help us!”

Lio didn’t make a sound. His lip quivered.

“There’s no time to argue with you,” Kale fumed. “You know this stuff inside and out. I assume that’s how you got the job teaching in the first place? Take it! Look at the wall and tell me what they did to it! Teach! Help!”

“I can’t.” Lio bit down hard on his bottom lip. “I get paranoid, don’t think straight. Things go badly,” he stammered.

“Enough!” Kale advanced on him. “Whatever this drug does to you isn’t as bad as what those guards will do if they find us in here. Take it or I’ll force it down your throat! You’re going to help. We’re getting out of here.”

There was no choice. If he was going to die in Ipswal Prison, he might as well be entranced. Lio reached out and took the vial from his former student without a word.

He looked at the vial in his palm and watched the red liquid splash around inside. With a deep sigh he removed the stopper and pipette and raised the glass tube to his mouth. In one smooth motion he ran the pipette down the middle of his tongue and closed his eyes. As he waited he returned the stopper to the vial and handed it back to Kale.

Lio’s face twisted into a grin. He swayed back and forth with his eyes tightly shut.

“Lio!” Mia prompted after a moment. “You all right?”

Lio’s lips cracked a smile. He squinted against the light. “Yes.” His voice was distant.

“Snap out of it!” Mia urged. “You need to concentrate and help us. What has been done to the bricks on the outside wall?”

Lio slowly turned to the wall.

“This might have been a bad idea,” Kale commented, steadying Lio with a hand on his back.

“No,” Lio assured them. “I’ll be fine. It’s just been a while. Seven years…” his voice trailed off. “Hold on.” The professor looked at the wall, concentrating. “The bricks on the outside are augmented differently. They aren’t just strengthened.”

“We know that,” Kale growled through clenched teeth. “We’re running out of time. We need to know how they’ve been changed, remember?”

“I remember...” Lio’s voice trailed off again. His eyes were vacant as he stared at the bricks. Behind him, Kale paced impatiently.

Lio turned back to him. “This is something I’ve never seen before. The bricks have been strengthened like the rest, they’re as strong as steel, but their auras have also been dimmed somehow. It appears the augmentation not only makes them stronger but also prevents them from being changed again. It’s really quite impressive. Whoever did this was skilled. I doubt either of us can undo it.”

“Wait…I have an idea,” Lio spoke up after a minute of discouraged silence. “The mortar that holds the bricks in place! It’s been strengthened like everything else in here, but it hasn’t been dimmed in the same way. Could you change that?”

Kale smiled as he processed Lio’s words. He ran his hands over the wall as he inspected it. “Yes,” he said without hesitation. “I think I can.”

Without the drug in her system Mia couldn’t see the flickering aura swirling around the mortar as Kale changed it. She couldn’t see the dancing, colourful swirl of light ripple and change as he worked his craft. She could, however, see the mortar itself begin to change. It oozed from the spaces between the bricks as though they had just been set into place.

Kale kicked hard at the wall. The mortar came apart as though it had never cured and the bricks slid out into the darkness.

Mia walked over and looked out. “Good, we’re only on the second floor. We can jump from here.”

“I’m not really much for heights,” Lio declared in a worried tone. Mia was at a loss for words. The eccentric old man had some strange quirks.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Kale snapped. He didn’t find the same intrigue with Lio’s personality that Mia did. “Fine, stay then. Mia, I’ll go first. Wait for my signal, then come down.”

“No,” Mia protested, gesturing at Lio. “We need him, he has to come.”

Kale was annoyed. He took a deep breath, nodded and walked over to Lio. “You’re first. Get out.” His voice was even and slow.

Lio looked up at the much larger and stronger man. “I can’t,” the professor responded faintly. “It’s too far down.”

Kale didn’t say a word. He pointed at the hole in the wall.

Lio stared at the floor for a moment then walked toward the hole and lowered himself out feet first. His legs dangled in the darkness. Despite his intentions Lio’s body seized up. He grabbed at the bricks and held on with all his strength.

Mia’s mind was on the guards. “Hurry,” she urged. “If they find us now they’ll kill us for sure!” Every second counted.

Rolling his eyes, Kale put a boot on the terrified man’s shoulder. With a single heave he pushed the professor out the hole into the darkness beyond. Lio didn’t make a sound until he landed hard on the grass with a dull thud.

Within seconds Kale followed him out, rappelled down the face of the prison and landed on the ground below. There were no Myrmidons in sight. He whistled quietly for Mia to follow. Nimbly, she jumped down behind him. Her bare feet didn’t make a sound when she landed.

“Move,” Kale commanded. The three of them scurried along the prison wall to the southwest corner before veering off into the darkness away from the prison.

They didn’t get far before the sound of hoofbeats chased them. Gradually sloping prairie surrounded the prison for miles in all directions, rolling gently upwards to the foothills of the west. There was nowhere for them to take cover and no way to outrun the horses. Mia didn’t know what to do. Her heart felt like it was going to explode.

“Keep running!” Kale commanded, not bothering to be quiet any longer. His eyes darted around the ground for something to use as a weapon.

Mia chased after Lio as they dashed through the knee high grass. She could only see a few feet ahead in the moonlight. The terrain was relatively even, but rocks and cactuses dotted the prairie making their flight difficult. She winced and almost lost her footing as something sharp jabbed into her heel. Blood welled in the wound. She ran even harder.

Her heart beat so loudly in her ears that once again she couldn’t hear the thudding footfalls behind her. She was terrified for herself, but she feared for Kale even more. They’d grown close over the years; she knew he would do anything to protect her. She had always hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. She wasn’t sure what she would do if she lost Kale too.

Mia and Lio ran on, but. Kale stopped, fishing around on the ground and snatching up a large rock.

The hoofbeats approached quickly. After a few seconds the auras of two animals became visible in the distance. The horses had only one rider who rode the first beast and led the second. Stranger still, the Myrmidon astride the horse wasn’t augmented and wasn’t even a man.

A woman? Kale raised an eyebrow. Not a Myrmidon at all? he thought to himself as the rider approached. The pounding hooves grew louder as they closed the distance to the escaped prisoners.

“I’m unarmed!” a woman’s frantic voice rang through the night as her horse slowed. The beast in tow reared in distaste as she pulled it to a stop. Kale recognized the voice of the healer, Jeanea. Relief washed over him.

“Thank you,” he said taking the free horse’s reigns from the woman, dropping his rock as he swung himself over the horse’s back. “We have to hurry.”

“Yes.” She spoke quickly. “I will take you to a safe house to the southwest. We need to find your friends and get you through the Scorpion Pass. The Underground has very few safe places this close to Ipsamesh. We need to cover some ground. Hurry!”

The woman didn’t look Muorikin and since both her craft and her post indicated she couldn’t be, Kale realized she must be an empathetic Nor, loyal to the cause of resistance. There were others besides himself and Vi. Their numbers grew as time passed under Empire rule.

The two rode off, their augmented horses lurched southwest, galloping through the darkness across the plains. Kale whistled for Mia as they rode.

Mia stepped back as the large horse Kale straddled trotted up beside her. Kale wasted no time with introductions. He simply reached down, grabbed Mia’s hand and hoisted her up on the thick animal. Lio clumsily mounted the other horse behind the healer, and without further hesitation they were off once more. Galloping hooves on the prairie turf echoed in the crisp night air.

“A friend?” Mia asked Kale as they rode.

“It appears that way,” Kale confirmed. “You didn’t think they would leave you in there, did you?”