Sunset in Silvana (Da'ark Nocturne Book 1) (21 page)

Sophie’s movements slowed, she holstered her pistol and strolled forward toward the podium.  A squad of four security men stepped between her and her destination.  They obviously disdained guns, and simply stood looking at her.  The tension mounted until one of the men gasped.  The camera focussed on him as blood started to pour from his nose and ears.  He opened his mouth and a crimson flood joined the lesser streams.  He sank to his knees and collapsed.

A ripple went through the crowd, and Tanya could sense the apprehension of the three surviving men as they redoubled their efforts.  She was aware that they would have cut and run if they could, but they were firmly locked into their futile struggle.  Some moments later, a second, then a third of them followed Sophie’s first victim’s example.  The fourth screamed as his heart was wrenched from his chest.  The camera focussed on Sophie as she shrugged her shoulders and continued forward, stepping delicately over the bodies of her dead opponents.

It was clear that that, despite her display of
sang froid
, the silent battle must have taken quite a lot out of Sophie, and Tanya was concerned when her eye was caught by one of the troopers behind the girl.  Slowly, cautiously, he was bending to retrieve his rifle.  Two fingers touched the stock, but before he could grasp hold of it, a streak of fur hit him in the chest.  He collapsed, trying to fight off a cat that was raking at his throat.  :
That’s Fattest,
: Slimmest informed Tanya, as blood spread over the guard’s neck and chest.  :
It takes a lot to get him moving, but he can be
very
effective when he does.
:  A couple of other soldiers who had begun reaching for their weapons suddenly thought better of it.

Sophie addressed the President directly.  “I warned you, but you wouldn’t listen.  This is your last chance – start a war with Telphania and you – will – die.  And just to show you how I feel about your pathetic shields…”  She looked at the Minister of War, took something from her belt and tossed it into the air.  It disappeared, and her target jerked and put her hands on her midriff.  Her look of surprise turned to one of agony as the micro-grenade exploded inside her abdomen, spraying the President and the Interior Minister with its contents.  “If you don’t sue for peace,” Sophie told the President, “next time it’ll be you.”

With this final doom-laden warning, she spun on her heels and disappeared in a blur of speed.  The camera could only just catch a glimpse of her as she ran
over the surface
of the river and disappeared into the woods beyond it.  The blue beam sprang out again, less bright this time, but sustained.  It burnt the words WAR – YOU DIE into the sides of the new forestry tractors.  As the camera panned over the ominous message, there was an explosion.  It swung back to show a cloud of dust and flame from the location of the source of the deadly beam.  The screen went blank, and Tanya became aware of a very smug feline preening herself on her lap.

“Those tractors look pretty high-tech,” Bartes observed as they began to disperse.

“Silvanan design,” said Peter with pride, “and Silvanan construction.  Those Zelynan bastards could never build anything like them.  They’ve stolen the technology, just like that of the Skyport, and the high-speed monorail.”

They set off again as soon as it got dark.  They crossed one railway line, and it was about an hour after midnight when they came upon another, this one a single narrow track.  Tanya turned to Peter and said, “Look, you know this part of Silvana better than the rest of us.  Where do you think this line is headed?”

The boy thought for a moment.  “I think that this must be the forestry railway between Kije and Varlov,” he said.

“What’s a forestry railway?” Bartes asked.

“The logging tractors have two sets of wheels,” the boy explained, “all-terrain ones for harvesting the wood, and a second set that can be lowered onto the forestry railway tracks so the wood can be carried quickly and safely to the processing plant.”

“I think we should follow this line,” Bartes told the others.  “It’s going roughly in the right direction, and the ground will be pretty level along its route.”

“What if someone comes along and spots us?” Anoushka said, anxiously.

“Well…” RD considered for a moment or two.  “I don’t think any tractors will be moving along it at this time of night, but we can’t be too careful.  Let’s drive parallel to the line, but at a distance far enough away that we can hide in the event of something coming.”

They followed his advice, and indeed, the line seemed deserted, but after an hour or so, Joseph said, “I think the sky’s getting lighter ahead of us.”

“Yes,” RD replied, “but it can’t be dawn.  It’s too early – and anyway the light is to the south rather than the east.”

“It should be Varlov,” Peter said.  “It’s the only place around here that would generate that much light.”

“Should we detour round it?” Iain asked.

“No need to as yet,” Bartes replied.  “It’s still a fair way off.  Let’s continue on for the moment.”  The glow was indeed caused by the lights of Varlov, and as they reached its outskirts the line led them through a deserted marshalling yard.

“Everybody disperse and see what you can find,” RD said, “particularly fuel.”  He looked at Tanya and Bartes.  “You two, keep an eye on that boy,” he said.

As Peter, Tanya and Bartes searched the south side of yard, they came upon several large shapes sheathed with tarpaulins.  Lifting the edge of the covers, they discovered three forestry vehicles.  Tanya found RD and told him what they’d found.

“Just what we need,” he muttered as he approached.  “Let’s swap vehicles.  Fair exchange, and all that...”  They pulled the tarpaulin off the middle tractor and Bartes hot-wired its starter.  He drove it forwards, and once it was clear, RD backed their stolen vehicle into its place.  They transferred their gear into their new transport, covered the ATV, and tried to make it look as if nothing had been disturbed.  They reckoned that the exchange would not be detected, at least by a cursory glance.  They found logging coveralls in lockers in their new vehicle and changed into them.

When they had refuelled the tractor, RD gathered them together.  “I think our best course is to follow this railway south for now.”

“You’re right,” Peter said.  “The other side of the city, there’s a line that runs south-east – towards the southern mountains.”

“D’you think it’s safe to go
through
Varlov?” Iain asked

“I don’t see why not,” Bartes said.  “They don’t yet know that we’ve changed vehicles.”

RD raised his hand.  “Quiet a minute,” he hissed.  “Listen.”  In the near silence, they heard the sound of rotors.  “Everyone hide.”

They watched as two helicopters flew nearly overhead and landed not a quarter of a mile ahead of them, close to the track.  The ’copters disgorged a number of security men, who formed a line and began a sweep of the area, but – to their relief – towards the city.

Once they felt it was safe to emerge, RD looked at the rest of them and said, “That settles it: we skirt around Varlov and join the railway on the other side of it.  Iain, you drive – I need a rest.”  They scrambled aboard the tractor, Iain started the engine and they set off to the east, following a trail into the forest, intending to give the city a wide berth.

Some hours later they became aware, in the pearlescent pre-dawn light, that they were approaching a small logging town.  “Look,” Anoushka cried.  “Let’s stop and have some real breakfast.”

RD pondered for a few seconds.  “All right – but I’m staying with the vehicle.  Be careful – and keep an eye on that boy.”

“Don’t be so paranoid,” Tanya replied.  “He’s on our side now.”

“I still don’t trust him – or you for that matter.”  They locked gazes until the tractor drew to a halt in the town square, outside the local tavern.

As they dismounted from the tractor and entered the inn, the scent of frying bacon made them salivate.  They ordered breakfast, but it left them almost out of money.

As they finished their meal, Tanya got to her feet.  “I won’t be long,” she said.  “Don’t leave without me.”

She made her way to the town’s trading post.  Since it was early in the day, although the post was open, there were no customers.  The place was empty – apart from the owner, a middle-aged man with greying hair and a weathered but still handsome face.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” he said.

“I hope so,” she replied.  “Would you be interested in buying these?”  She drew the tusks she’d removed from the dead boar from her pack.

“And how did you come upon those?” he asked.

She laid them on the counter.  “
They
came upon
me
.  I was relieving myself in the bushes up country when this massive boar suddenly went for me.  I must’ve been peeing on one of his favourite spots, ‘cos
he
was pretty peed himself!  I tried to scare the bastard off, but he was having none of it, and he kept coming at me, so I had to kill him, but not before he gored my thigh.  That’s my blood on one of the tusks, by the way – do you want to see the scar?”  She raised an eyebrow.

“Nah.”  He smirked.  “I haveta run the store on my own today.  Some other time, perhaps?”

“Maybe,” Tanya replied with a smile, “if we come through this way again.  We’re just pausing for breakfast today.”

“Ah well...  Pity.  Anyway, as it happens, I may just have a customer for your little trinkets.  One of my contacts down in Duplif has a line in ornamental dagger handles, and they might be just up his street.  How does 200 zellars sound?”

“I’d expect at least ten times that,” Tanya told him, “and I’d prefer terras to Zelynan toilet paper.”

He laughed.  “How about 80 terras?”

“Hmm…” she said.  “That’s more reasonable.  How about 120?”

“A hundred – that’s my best offer.”

She pursed her lips and nodded agreement.

“I haven’t got that much Terran scrip here, I’m afraid.  You’ll have to wait while I go to the bank when it opens – unless you’d care to take something in part exchange.”

“Well… I’d rather not hold my team up.”  She gave a sardonic laugh.  “I’m not convinced they’d wait for me anyway.  Let’s see what you’ve got.”  She looked around, but nothing caught her eye.  Then she had an idea.  She felt she knew where the trader’s sympathy lay, so she took a deep breath and said.  “What I could really do with is something like a rifle.”

His eyes widened.  “Don’t be stupid,” he said.  “If the security forces found me dealing in weapons, they’d arrest me and throw away the key.  It’s been like that since they brought in the ban on ordinary citizens having guns.”

“It is a real pity,” She said with a sigh.  “I used to enjoy hunting.”

“We all did,” he said, “especially hunting security officers – that’s why they banned our weapons.”  He paused and thought for a minute.  “Look,” he said.  “Be honest with me – are you part of the Resistance.”

“In a way,” Tanya said evasively.  “We’re out to cause problems for the invaders, and help free Silvana if we can.”

“I sorta guessed that,” the trader said.  “Wait here a minute.”  He disappeared into the back room, and returned carrying a tapering oiled leather case about 4 feet long.  “I was keeping Winona here in the hopes that one day I’d be able to use her again.  Maybe
you
could find a use for her.”  He held out the case.

Tanya took it reverently and laid it carefully on the counter.  Unzipping the end, she drew out a most beautiful rifle, old-fashioned but well maintained.  “She’s worth far more than those tusks,” she said in a hushed voice.

“Not if I can’t use her – and I’m always a bit nervy that one of these days she’ll be found in some random security sweep and end up in the hands of some Zelynan bastard who’ll mistreat her.”  He paused and gave Tanya a shrewd look.  “Now, I don’t know what you’re involved in – and I don’t really want to know, for both your safety and mine – but I somehow think I’d approve of what you’ll use her for.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Tanya said thoughtfully, “I’ll take her – and if things go well, I’ll get her back to you somehow, someday – and hopefully with permission to use her again.”

He nodded slowly.  “You know, I think I actually believe you.  Here’s some ammunition –”  He put five boxes of bullets on the counter and opened his till.  “– plus 18 terras – it’s all I’ve got – and 150 zellars.  And you’d better take the old canvas bag over there to carry Winona’s case in.  You don’t want anyone to recognise it for what it really is.  Good luck.”

“Thank you,” she said as she opened the door.  “You’re very generous.  I hope I’ll be able to pay you back properly, someday.”

She re-joined the others, who were waiting impatiently in the tractor.  They set off again, and as they left the village behind, Anoushka said, “Well, that’s the last of our money, but at least I got food for a few days.  Where did you get to?”

“I knew we’d need funds, so I sold my boar tusks.  The trader I sold them to was sympathetic.  I got these –”  She showed them the cash.  “And he loaned me this.” She revealed her treasure.

Bartes whistled, and took the rifle from her.  “I thought you didn’t like these things,” he said with a grin as he caressed the gun’s polished body.

“I never said that,” Tanya replied, “I just think you shouldn’t rely on weapons too much.  I can appreciate the elegance of a fine rifle as much as anybody.  Look, I’ve been entrusted with Winona here, but I’ll admit I can’t use her – or look after her – as well as you or Iain can.  Would you take her?”

“I’m tempted, but I’ve already got a laser carbine I’m comfortable with, and I don’t want to be greedy.”

“Iain?”

“She’s exquisite.”  He took the rifle and cradled it lovingly.  “Thank you.  I promise to take really good care of her.”

“You might remember the trader in that village,” Tanya told Peter.  “He’s sympathetic to your cause, and he might prove a useful contact.”  The boy nodded thoughtfully.

They continued their way through the woods around Varlov.  There were quite a few people about, and they exchanged greetings with them.  They seemed cheerful, but somehow a little tense.

“Everybody we meet seems to be on edge,” Tanya remarked to Peter.

“It’s been like this since we were annexed.  You’ve got to be careful what you say – or even think, sometimes – or you might get reported to our new lords and masters.”  He spat through the window into the dust.

They located the rail to the south of Varlov, mounted it and headed in towards Tureskow.  They made good time throughout the day, encountering no one until mid-afternoon, when Joseph spotted a tractor coming in the other direction.

They waited at the next passing point, and waved as the other tractor drew level.  To their surprise, they stopped.  Bartes raised an eyebrow at Peter.  “They probably just want to swap news,” he said, and this indeed proved to be the case.

The other tractor’s foreman, a grizzled veteran who had identified himself as George, asked, “Where have you come from?  I haven’t seen you this way before, and I thought I knew everyone who worked this area of the forest.”

“We’re a new team,” Iain said, “a bit wet behind the ears.  We just wanted to try our hands at some good, honest, open air work, as far away as possible from the restraints of city life –” he lowered his voice “- and State Security.”

George nodded and tapped his nose.  “That I understand.  How are things up Varlov way?”

“More security than you’d expect.  You hear that someone’s threatened to kill the President if we go to war?”

“Rumours, yeah.”

“We saw it on public video.  Some slip of a girl gave him a warning at his shindig in Kije.  What’s more, to emphasize her point she took out several vehicles and troopers, plus the Minister for War,
on her own
.  Best thing I’ve seen on the vid since before the invasion.”

George laughed, and slapped Iain on the back.  “You’ll do well out here, lad – you’ve got the right attitude.”

“How about you?  You got enough stashed away yet to retire?”

“Oh, I like the freedom I get out here.  Maybe one day, if Silvana’s liberated…”

“One day, perhaps.”  Iain gave him a wistful smile.  “Anyway, what’s happening near Tureskow?”

“Nothing much.  Anyway, we must move on.  Good luck to you.”

They left the track a few miles before they reached Tureskow and drove through the trees, heading for the River Vistra.  They had nearly reached the edge of the forest, so they came to a halt by the last copse of crystal woods and, for the first time since they left Lake Kuraken, set up camp openly.

They found some tents in the tractor’s lockers, and RD and Iain pitched them with Joseph’s aid while Peter helped Anoushka and Tanya to cut up the remainder of the boar meat and a selection of the fresh vegetables Anoushka had bought back in the village, in preparation for a substantial stew.

In the meantime, Bartes wandered off in search of wood to burn.  He returned after a while with an armful of branches and proceeded to build a fire.  He soon had a good blaze going, and they set the stew to cook.

“We’ve been travelling for nearly twenty-four hours,” Tanya pointed out when they gathered to eat.  “We need to rest.”

“You’re right about that,” RD admitted.  “We seem to be on the edge of the crystal woods.  The trees ahead look more conventional.  And the land seems pretty cultivated, so we shouldn’t go much nearer the river in such a conspicuous vehicle.  We’re going to have to walk from here, and we’re in no shape for a long trek at the moment.  Let’s get a good night’s sleep, and spend tomorrow resting up too, to regain our strength.  If anything flies over or comes near, we can always pretend to do some logging.”

They were all grateful for the chance to relax, and – apart from exercising with Anoushka – Tanya spent the morning in repose and deep meditation.  She noticed with gratitude that Anoushka spent a fair amount of time with young Peter.  He was looking happier, but RD gave him a resentful glare every time he saw them together.  Slimmest toured the group – apart from RD – enhancing their recuperation with her restful presence and her therapeutic purring.

Once they’d had lunch, Tanya had an idea. 
This is a good opportunity for me to check out my psionic abilities,
she thought.
  I know my telepathy’s OK, but I ought to see what else I can do.
  She walked a distance into the trees, sat down cross-legged, calmed her mind and found her true centre.

Telepresence first.
  She reached out with her mind and found that she could ‘see’ and ‘hear’ forest creatures for some miles around.  She tried something that felt natural: she carefully inserted her psyche into one of the nearby animals, a tree-dwelling rodent.  She rode in its mind for a while, enjoying the sensation of skittering up and down tree-trunks and leaping from branch to branch.  She realised that she could try to take control of her host, but since she wasn’t used to four legs, she might cause it to fall and injure itself.  She returned to her own body with a strange urge to bury some food for the winter.

My telekinesis works, at least on the small scale.  After all, I used it instinctively when Joseph attacked RD.  And my self-awareness, particularly the self-diagnosis and regeneration aspects are – necessarily – working well.  All that remains is to see if I can teleport.

She closed her eyes and concentrated.  There was a feeling of translocation, and she suddenly felt an exposed breeze against her skin.  She looked down in surprise at her naked body.  Gazing to the right, she saw that her garments lay in a crumpled pile where she’d been sitting. 
Dammit,
she thought with chagrin,
I’ve forgotten to bring my clothes.  I’m glad I decide to do this in private.  I hate to think how some the others might have reacted.

She had a sudden vision – or was it a memory?  She was running, naked and embarrassed, down a stone corridor lined with tapestries.  The picture faded and wouldn’t return.  She shook her head and sighed in frustration.