Reclamation

Eric stared at him, unable to think of one word to say.

Heart spread his hands. "We are dying, Hand on the Seablade. The Realm is dying. You know that. Every year more broken babies are born to die at our hands. We need the Skymen's help if we're going to survive."

I don't believe what I'm hearing. Eric leaned his forearm against the support pole and stared out over the oxen's backs. It was impossible to tell whether Heart actually believed what he said or if he was just trying to win Eric's sympathies.

Gradually Eric became aware of a new noise under the perpetual rush of the wind. The sound drifted to him, over the stamping and blowing of the oxen, over the rustle of the leaves in the trees. It was familiar, but wrong somehow. It was a long, distant roar, like approaching thunder, but far too smooth.

Heart heard it too. "What is that n—"

Before he could finish, Eric jumped out of the sledge, his gaze glued to the sky. Islands of blue showed between the clouds. Eric stumbled forward, heading for a bare patch out from under the shadows of the trees.

The roar deepened until it echoed off the walls. Eric swiveled his neck toward what he thought was the right direction.

A vapor trail cut across the blue. The roar became a rush and died away until it couldn't be told from the wind.

So low, thought Eric. What could bring them in so low…

He knew. His heart leapt into his mouth and involuntarily his eyes tracked the direction of the vapor trails. They headed straight for Narroways.

Nameless Powers preserve me. His eyes stared helplessly at the sky. Aria.

"Blood, blood, blood," cursed Jay. "We're too late."

Aria peeked out from behind the shelter of the granite boulder. Her knees still stung from the force with which Jay had forced her behind it. Ahead of them crouched the white dome Aria knew from when Cor had led her up the thread-thin canyon, but about twenty yards closer to them waited a new Skyman contrivance. It was a metallic slab, at least three yards on a side, and obviously firmly pressed into the ground despite the fact that a good foot's worth of its thickness still showed. Green lights glowed steadily at each corner and she had, before Jay had pulled her behind the boulder, seen some kind of hole in its center. The far edge was scalloped by the boxes and bumps of monitors and terminals.

Jay was staring at it with pure poison in his eyes.

"What is it?" asked Aria.

"It's a marker for a Vitae tether." Jay slumped down behind the sheltering stone. "They've found us."

A wave of horror washed through Aria. "Then they've…"

"Got your sister?" Jay cocked one eye toward her. "Oh, yes, probably. They probably got Lu as well."

Aria glanced angrily through the tattered clouds, as if she could see through the blue and spot the Vitae ship. Her heart beat hard from fear and anger. A dozen images of what the Vitae might be doing to Broken Trail crowded together in the back of her head.

"If they're putting down a tether, then they know how important this place is." Jay scowled at the dome. "I thought we'd have at least a few more days."

Think! Aria ordered herself and reflexively, she clutched her pouch of stones. If they have Broken Trail, we've got to get her back. To do that you need something to fight with. Nothing's really changed. You've still got to get down there.

She forced her gaze back to the dome. It waited, silent and unchanged from the first time she'd seen it.

"If they know how important this place is," said Aria slowly, "why isn't it guarded?"

"Oh, it's guarded," Jay pointed at the sky. "I have no doubt there is at least one satellite trained on this place right now, and I'm sure the dome's been rigged, and there have to be security guards in there." He eased himself around so that he was on his knees and peered at the silent dome. "But there can't be very many of them," he said thoughtfully, "or they'd be out here now to pick us up." He fingered his torque. "Maybe we've still got a chance."

"How?" Aria shifted her weight to her toes, ready to move fast if need be.

"We set an emergency transmitter up in the flood cup." He pointed up the canyon wall. "Just in case we lost the base for some reason. If the Vitae haven't found it yet, I might be able to use it to find out just how they've got the dome rigged. If we can find a blind spot, we might have a chance." He touched the holster of his gun the way Aria touched her stones.

He lifted himself into a half crouch. "Keep down and behind cover as much as you can," he cautioned her. "They probably know we're here, but that's no reason to give them a clear shot."

Aria matched Jay's stance. He nodded once, and they both scuttled out from behind then" boulder, heading for its cousin a few yards away.