“There’s no time to be wasted.”
“I said I’m sure.”
“Are they going to take us to jail?” Ani asked, and for the first time Avery heard a quaver in her voice.
“Only briefly,” he assured her.
“Jail ain’t nothin’,” Hildra told the girl, and Hildebrand chattered encouragingly on her arm. “You’ll do fine. I’ve been behind more bars than a horned slug in a zoo, and look at me.”
Ani looked, and Hildra made a face. Ani giggled.
It wasn’t long before Captain Greggory reached a point where he could duck away for a few minutes. He rounded up a dozen men and women and led Avery’s group off the ship, down the wide and busy docks and through the parking lot toward the street where the police vehicles waited to receive them. The group had shed their environment suits, and the air clung warm and heavy to Avery’s skin. Summer had come. Sweat thrust up through his pores, sticking his shirt to the small of his back, and he told himself it was because of the heat. In his right hand he held the briefcase containing the Starfish samples, in his left, Ani’s hand. In one pocket rested the god-killing knife.
“It will be okay,” he said, trying to be cheerful for Ani’s sake, just as figures burst from concealment, all in Navy uniforms and body armor, pointing shotguns and submachine guns at the group from the Verignun. The Navy storm troopers had been hidden behind cars and inside vans parked along the street, scores of them. Now they swarmed about, shouting and gesturing with their guns, riot armor glinting.
“Down! On the ground NOW! All of you! ON THE GROUND! NOW!”
Janx grabbed Hildra and shoved her to the ground while Avery did the same for Ani. Pale-faced, Captain Greggory raised his hands over his head and sank to his knees, then lowered himself all the way. His people followed suit.
Alone, Layanna remained standing.
The circle of Navy troops closed in. Their guns seemed huge.
“Submit!” called a voice from among the Navy personnel, and their ranks parted to reveal a severe-looking officer. “Do not resist.”
In answer, the air shimmered around Layanna, and strange colors began to dance along street and cars.
“Now!” the officer shouted.
Figures emerged wearing a different sort of armor and carrying long, faintly translucent whips that dripped moisture and stank of otherworldly poison. A full dozen men and women bore the whips, and they completely encircled Layanna, closing in fast. This was why they’d arranged the deception, Avery realized: so they could block her off from the sea and employ the whips, which Sheridan must have ordered for them. They knew the sea was the source of Layanna’s strength and that if they had revealed themselves too soon she would not have allowed herself to move away from it. But how had they known she was here?
Tires squealed and a solid line of vehicles rushed up the street. Guns fired overhead. The thunder of a tank boomed.
Army vehicles, Avery saw, over twenty of them, transports and jeeps, and several tanks, too. They barreled onto the scene, smoke boiling from their exhaust pipes and guns, soldiers firing into the air from running boards and exposed seats. They were only warning shots, but that could change in a heartbeat.
“Fall back!” the Navy officer shouted.
The Navy troops, including the ones with the blurwhips, backed off, and the Army vehicles screeched to a halt. Soldiers erupted from the transports and arrayed against the outnumbered Navy storm troopers.
“Come with us,” a woman said through a bullhorn, standing up from the passenger seat in the lead jeep and addressing Layanna. “We mean you no harm. Hurry!”
The Navy officer barked into a radio, demanding backup. It would only take minutes to arrive, Avery knew, with Fort Brunt being so near. Just the same, Layanna returned the Army woman’s gaze coldly, mistrustfully. For a moment it appeared she would refuse the woman’s request, but then she closed her eyes and seemed to make herself relax. The air around her stilled. Everyone in the area gasped and shook their heads, as if reorienting themselves. Even the air changed texture.
Avery picked himself off the ground, then Ani. Janx stood, casting suspicious glances at the Navy troops. They didn’t lower their weapons, but they made no move to advance. Hildra bent and beckoned to Hildebrand, who had scurried away at the onset of violence. The monkey ran up her arm, eye wide.
“Quickly!” repeated the woman in the jeep, gesturing to the empty seats behind her.
Taking Ani’s hand, Avery led the way over and climbed into the seat behind the Army woman, putting Ani on his knee. That broke the indecision. Janx, Hildra and Layanna approached and squeezed in. It was a tight fit.
Captain Greggory, who’d risen off the ground, was glaring from the Army soldiers to the Navy, but said nothing.
“Roll out!” the Army woman called, and half the military vehicles, including the jeep, lurched forward. The half-convoy turned down a side street and moved from the marina while the other half remained to prevent the Navy troops from giving pursuit. It was only when the procession turned again, and the stand-off was lost from sight, that Avery realized he’d been holding his breath.
“I’m General Tav Hastur,” said the Army woman, turning in her seat. Now that she was closer, Avery could see she was not much older than himself, perhaps forty-four or –five, but physically his opposite, tall and spare, even gaunt, with visible bones in her face, her eyes glinting from deep sockets. Her voice was flat and brusque, used to giving orders and having them obeyed. She reminded Avery of a rifle, lean and cocked and lethal.
“Pleased to meet you,” he said when none of the others spoke. “I’m Dr. Francis Avery, and this is my daughter Ani.”
“Hi,” Ani squeaked.
“And these are Janx Corlul Maigard, famous whaler and notorious prizefighter, Hildra—ah, Hildra—and Layanna of the House of Uul.”
“Pleased to meet you all,” the general said, not batting an eye at the last appellation. Janx, Hildra and Layanna watched her stonily. “I’m sorry about your reception back there,” Hastur said. “A little misunderstanding between us and the Navy.”
“Fucking misunderstanding I’ll—” Hildra started.
“I think I understand that much,” Avery interjected. “The Navy’s loyal to Admiral Haggarty. It seems the Army is loyal to the Prime Minister. The struggle between the two continues unabated, then.”
The general nodded guardedly. “That’s about the size of it. But how it got to be this way—well.”
She was just a soldier following orders, Avery realized. Loyal to the government and confused why a fellow leader of the military, albeit a separate wing, would not be. Avery could have enlightened her, but he doubted the answer would have reassured her even if she had believed it.
“Where are we bound?”
“The Parliament Building. Prime Minister Denaris is waiting for you.”
“The P.M. her own self?” Janx said, sounding intrigued.
“She’s quite looking forward to it.”
