Chapter 37
Fee wasn’t taken straight back into the base.
Instead, movement on the stairs up the side of the amphitheater seemed to catch both Vira and Bart’s eye and they stood, watching people going both up and down.
Something was obviously happening, because there were a lot more people using the stairs than there had been earlier.
She noticed that the people coming down were all carrying boxes.
“When did the runner from Distani come in?” Bart asked.
“They arrived as I finished my debrief,” Vira said. She paused, as if she was considering saying something and then decided against it.
“Was the—?”
“It’ll be the last supply run, if things go well.” Vira cut Bart off, and Fee realized there was definitely something she didn’t want to talk about in front of an audience.
“Right.” Bart shaded his eyes and looked up. “Kyber’s Arm looks pretty far away right now.”
“It should move another thou or so to the south east in the next half a day, and then it’s lift-off time.” Vira turned to study the Class 5’s frame, and Fee did as well.
“How did you come up with the idea to lift it with a battleship?” Fee asked.
“The Tecran used this same method when they built the Class 5s.” Vira shaded her eyes and looked in the direction of Kyber’s Arm.
“Right.” Fee wondered if the Tecran had left out some vital information regarding this whole maneuver, because she still couldn’t see how it would work. “I’ll be very interested to watch. This is once in a lifetime stuff.”
“Yes.” Vira glanced at her, as if to see if she was poking fun, but when she saw Fee was being serious, she gave a nod. “It should work, and it’ll probably happen again with the next one we build.”
“Where are you going to get another thinking system?” Fee asked.
“Maybe we won’t need one,” Vira said.
“Maybe.” Fee shrugged. She had wondered if they’d try to build the ship without a thinking system. It seemed like they were thinking of going down that path with build number two.
What she hadn’t mentioned to Nukolo when they were talking about how Eazi had been contained on his Class 5 was that Eazi had had over a year of freedom since his ship had been destroyed.
He was not the newly-formed consciousness he’d been before.
There would be no containing him. No matter what they did.
Not that they had him, anyway, so it was all moot.
But still . . .
Could they be any more overconfident?
Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a shadow fell across them, and when Fee turned to look behind her and up, she saw a massive battleship hovering above. While it looked very high up, she guessed it was sitting as close to the planet’s surface as nearspace allowed.
“What are they doing here now?” Vira’s face was slack with astonishment.
As she spoke, runners dropped from the ship, and when they got closer, Fee was able to make out cables trailing behind them.
A shout came from the building cabin, and when she turned to look she saw Nukolo running toward them.
He was panting with exertion when he reached them.
“The Grih are looking for the Unhil. Somehow, they know it’s in the vicinity.
The Garmman have let me know they’ve had to move up the timeline, and Kyber’s Arm is fortunately far enough away to make the risk worth it.
They have to do it now, or retreat to Garmman airspace and try another day. ”
“Are they ready?” Vira asked.
“They say yes.” Nukolo looked up, and shook his head. “Incredible. This is going to be amazing.” Then he turned and ran toward the ship’s frame, waving his arms and shouting to the Balcoans working on it.
Fee felt Bunny drop down from his perch on the small of her back, landing behind her, and she just caught a glimpse of him racing toward the ship’s skeleton.
What was he up to?
The runners from the battleship were even closer now, eight of them, one for each of the curved metal girders making up the frame of the Class 5. As they dropped down, the noise they made was deafening.
They all hovered over the amphitheater and released the cables they’d shepherded down.
Nukolo was shouting orders, and while some of the workers grabbed equipment and harnesses and cleared them off the frame, others made their way to the top of each of the circular spaceship’s ribs.
Some had to use small hovers to grab hold of the cable meant for their section, others only needed to use a hook to grab the cable and pull it toward them.
They attached the ends, and Fee could hear the whole ship creak as the wind whipped the cables.
The battleship probably had a way to stay steady, hovering an eye watering height above them, and the shadow it cast seemed to lengthen.
The skeleton rocked as the wind gusted, dislodging a few workers, who screamed as they fell and then let their harnesses take them to the ground.
“It’s getting rough,” Bart said. “And this isn’t the well-planned attempt I was thinking. It’s too rushed.”
“They’ve done four trial runs on the simulator,” Vira said, waving a dismissive hand. “And watched how the Tecran did it, from the visual comms they recorded.” She glanced at Fee then tapped Bart’s arm. “You should take her back to her cell.”
“Please let me watch,” Fee said.
“No. We can’t watch you and help here. Come right back when she’s locked up.” Vira turned away.
“I’m due in the medbay,” Bart said to her back.
She froze, turned back. “That’s not possible. There’s . . . we’re too short-handed and you seem to have recovered. Come talk to me after she’s secured.” She didn’t even look at Bart as she jogged off.
Well, that was weird.
Fee could see Bart thought so, too.
Fee took a last look at the frame, and tried to see if she could spot Bunny, but he’d disappeared.
The runners had been hovering, but when the wind gusted again, they lifted higher and seemed to head back to the battleship, rising up into the hot blue sky.
“I’ll see if I can come get you out when they’re ready to lift it,” Bart told her as he opened the passage door into the foyer. “By then, all anyone can do is watch, and it will be a spectacle.”
“Thanks.” Fee walked beside him down to her cell, aware that he didn’t even have his hand on her anymore.
She had a decision to make. To use the silver rod, or not.
She lifted her hand and curled it around the pendant.
She couldn’t be locked in the cell again.
The sudden flash of a charge against her skin as the crystals on her jacket activated made her gasp.
“Fee.” Eazi’s voice in her ear had her putting a hand against the wall to steady herself.
“What’s wrong?” Bart was looking at her.
“Some kind of static shock,” she said, pushing away from the wall.
“Bunny told me you’re back in the base.” Eazi whispered. “He recorded the code to open the door when someone came to check on you earlier, and I have it. I can get you out when you’re alone.”
She wouldn’t have to hurt or kill Bart, then. It made her feel a little lightheaded with relief.
“I’ll come get you when I can. But no promises.” Bart’s lips twisted as he opened the door and stepped back to let her go in, an acknowledgement of how little power he wielded here.
She went quietly, and Bart gave her a nod before he closed up.
She walked to the sink and got some water, then sat on the bench, waiting for his footsteps to fade into the distance.
“So, what’s up?” She leaned back against the wall, amazed at how much the heat outside had taken out of her.
Not having slept for what was almost a full night and day might also be a contributing factor. As well as no food.
“Quite a lot,” Eazi said. “Good thing you’re still wearing the jacket.
With Kyber’s Arm interfering, my drone keeps losing contact with the way station.
And it took me this long to get the drone out here.
I had to send one that’s small enough not to be noticed.
Not that the Garmman are looking. They’ve got bigger problems.”
“Like?”
“Like being hunted by Hal.” Eazi sounded amused. “And trying to lift the Class 5 framework up into nearspace.”
“Do you think they can do it?” she asked.
“Theoretically it’s possible,” he admitted.
“The Balcoans say the Tecran did it this way with you and the others,” she told him.
“I was too young,” Eazi said. “I wasn’t aware of how they got me up into space, but the Levron class battleships the Tecran used have more power than the Garmman’s ships. Unless they’ve made some changes.”
“I’m betting they’ve made some changes. If they’re flirting with war, they’d have had to, surely?” And she wondered how long they’d been doing just that.
Probably since some of them made a deal to hand over the plans for the Class 5s to the Tecran.
“Admiral Hoke has sent two runners out here to get you,” Eazi told her. “So you only need to get somewhere where they can pick you up.”
Fee straightened. “Oh, that’s very good to hear. I made it all the way down to the entrance to the tunnel earlier, but the grate over it is locked and this time I didn’t have you to give me the code. I ended up having to come back and pretend I never went anywhere.”
“I’ll look for the code,” Eazi said. “Bunny told Paxe something neither of us can understand. That there was a creature just like him down there with you. Do you know what that’s about? Do the Garmman have a small drone that’s self-aware like Bunny?”
Fee frowned, about to shake her head, when she put a hand to her mouth in shock. “The grahudi.”
“The grahudi?” Eazi sounded astonished.
“It’s still here. It was badly hurt when you blew up the base, but it survived.
Barely. We met it down in the tunnel. Bunny wasn’t at all interested in attacking it, and it wasn’t interested in attacking us, either.
I would like the Fitali to come get it, actually. It’s only just holding on down here.”
“The grahudi is not a drone,” Eazi said.
“I know, but it’s more than just an animal. Imogen told me the Fitali hid its existence because the grahudi were already using tools and headed for higher sentience, and they didn’t want to admit it and lose access to the planet it’s from.”
“Bunny saw himself in a biological creature on the verge of higher sentience.” Eazi wasn’t asking a question, he sounded like he was stating a fact that he could scarcely believe.
“It makes sense,” Fee said. “There are many parallels.”
“It’s . . . fascinating,” Eazi admitted.
There was a beat of silence, and she wondered if he was conversing with Paxe.
“I just had a comm from the admiral’s office. Your ride will be there in about two hours.”
Fee stood, got some more water, because it might be the last she would get for some time, and filled the cup to take along with her.
“If Bart comes to get me, he’ll probably freak to find me gone, but if he’s here to take me to see the frame being lifted, then they’ll probably be too busy to do much about it.”
“I’ve got the code to the tunnel door,” Eazi told her. “And Hal is on his way, now he knows the Garmman are here.”
“Okay, let me out of here, then. And tell Hal to be careful not to damage the Class 5,” Fee said as she walked to the door. “Paxe can use it.”
“Oh, he knows.” Eazi said. “He’s almost beside himself with excitement. He wants that frame like he’s never wanted anything before. He’s salivating. This will wipe out all the delays up until now and then some.”
“What’s Bunny doing, by the way? He raced off to the frame as soon as the Garmman arrived.”
“He’s trying to make sure they can’t lift it off the ground,” Eazi said. “Even a drop from a small height might damage it.”
Fee heard the locks disengage and smiled as she pushed the door open. “Heaven forbid.” She was sure Bunny would do his best to stop any kind of lift off, although she was a little bit sorry that she wouldn’t get to watch the frame hoisted into space.
That would have been a sight to see.