Avery stared.
Wind whispered over the gunwale.
“It’s done,” he breathed, and realized he had whispered the words.
All over the city people would be likewise staring, citizens out on the streets or balconies or grouped around the radio or television, gazing at the Starfish to see if it began to move again.
Gore finished raining, and gradually the dust began to settle, and still it did not move. At last people began to cheer. As Avery brought the dirigible down he could hear their shouts and cries from open windows and gatherings in the streets. Janx and Hildra were embracing, and the soldiers under the colonel’s command did, too.
In a low, dangerous tone of voice, Sheridan, a handcuffed figure reclining against the gunwale, said, “You people don’t know what you’ve done. You will regret this.”
Ignoring her, Janx slapped Avery on the back and hugged him. “You did it, Doc! You fucking did it! Ha! You fucking killed the Starfish! Gods, Doc, I—” Then he saw Avery’s expression. “What, Doc? What is it?”
Avery nodded ahead, to where he was guiding the ship. All that could be seen of the ray now was its tail, sticking straight up out of Starfish’s back. As he watched, the tail lost its rigidity and folded to one side.
“She’ll be fine, Doc,” Janx said.
“Sure she will,” Hildra said. “She’s a god or whatever.”
Avery prayed they were right, but he wondered if even Layanna’s people were built to withstand the impact of two such colossal extradimensional creatures, not to mention the strain of plugging herself into the psychic net that controlled dozens of Starfish and sending out a deadly pulse through it.
With the death of the grand being—and it was dead, he was certain—the lightning crackling on its back had faded, and the only illumination on it were the stars overhead and the nearest buildings that still held power ... and those were far away. When Avery drew near enough, he switched on the dirigible’s searchlights, scanning the great cratered back with that almost obscene-looking tail sticking out of it, arcing overhead, blocking out a whole swath of stars.
He searched and searched, growing cold inside, until at last he saw human-sized movement. Hardly daring to breathe, he set the ship down and ordered the gangplank flung down.
“Is that ... ?” Hildra said, squinting into the dark.
The shape drew closer.
With a shout, Avery rushed down the gangplank onto the bony back of the Starfish. The figure staggered and listed to one side, blood trickling down her leg, completely coated in gore of one animal or another, likely both. Avery embraced her tightly. Layanna started to laugh, then hitched in a pained breath, and he eased off. Tears stung his eyes. Without thinking about it, he leaned forward and kissed her. Half to his surprise, she kissed back. Her lips were warm.
“You did it,” he breathed.
“It was your plan.”
Grinning idiotically, he kissed her again, and Layanna responded. Joy filled him. This was a magical moment. With the crowds cheering in the background, and the Starfish cooling under them, it was almost surreally perfect.
Then, suddenly, she pulled away.
“What?” he said.
“No.”
“Even now?”
She indicated the dirigible, where Sheridan gazed back, expressionless, from over the top of the gunwale. Avery was amazed Layanna had even been able to see her—and dismayed. That was why Layanna had broken the kiss; she’d seen the admiral.
“Why is she here?” Layanna said.
“Because … Haggarty …”
Pain crossed Layanna’s face. “You lied, Francis. You saved her from Ani’s bullet because you wanted her. Otherwise why safeguard her as you obviously have? You come to me now only out of shame. Who you really want is her.” Layanna’s face had grown cold. “Well, you can have her.”
“Layanna—”
“No.”
By this time Janx, Hildra, and several others had come out onto the Starfish and were exclaiming in wonder at its size and general otherness. Dying fish flopped amid shoals of coral all around; some of the coral glowed. So did some of the fish. Small floating squid bobbed all about, picking at the remains, and in pools of water larger animals stirred. From far away in every direction drifted the sounds of music and cheering. The people of the city were celebrating, but the Starfish was so big their sounds had to travel some distance to reach those on the creature’s back.
Quietly, Layanna said, “I did it. I found the brain. I sent out the pulse to the other Starfish. It killed them all.”
“That’s wonderful,” Avery said.
“My people ... have been defeated.”
“Hot damn!” said Hildra. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”
“Fuckin’ aye,” said Janx.
“I’m glad you’re pleased,” Layanna said. “I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that we saved millions of lives today. Or, alternately, stopped the whole coast from converting to the Collossum faith.” She smiled. “I’m pleased, too.” Then, seeming to see Avery frowning and looking away, she said, “What is it?”
He grimaced. “I hate to dampen the mood ...”
“Tell me.”
Sucking in a breath, he said, “In Rigurd’s lair, he had a laboratory. He’d done something with the Atoshan relic Sheridan brought to him from Davic, sent out some sort of broadcast—”
“I don’t ...”
