Chapter 55
Meryl only partly understood Calor's explanation about how dangerous it was to mess with the weather systems of a world. She stopped listening after Calor called Vash a fool. However, that evening as they drove towards Lost July, she watched in amazement as thick clouds built and towered over the dry barren landscape. The wind drove gusts of sand and dust with it.
They drove into the city, and for a moment, the clouds were forgotten. The Terran's had rebuilt the city, but someone had clearly given them old photographs. They had tried to keep the mood of the old city, reconstructing the old facades of the buildings along the main roads. Meryl could not look at them. All she could see were her family. She could taste her mother's cooking and hear her brother's voice as he called to his friends, and smell her father pipe tobacco. They were all gone now. Like him. She stared numbly at the gun partially wrapped up in her cape. Why did everyone she loved so much, leave?
They stopped at the hospital. Meryl had her hands and arms taped up for burns. They patched up her ear and bandaged the gash on her leg then checked her bruises for worse damage below. She had bruises everywhere. It was not fair that Milly did not have a single injury, although Abe more than made up for that. After they had seen the two plants settled, Calor took them across to Panse who had an office near the west gate, in a five story building that looked out over the desert. None of the No Man's Landers were doing any work in the office. They were all glued to the window to watch the clouds.
She sat beside Milly in the room as the storm winds outside began to howl. Calor, Livio, Abe and the twins were busy explaining to Panse what had happened. Meryl followed the chaotic tale right up until the first fat rain drops began to fall. Then she and Milly joined those at the window, watching the rain. It was as if the skies themselves were crying. Meryl did not notice the tears on her cheeks. Neither did she have the energy to join the impromptu party. She stepped out onto the balcony, and wove her way among the revellers and stood where she could catch the full force of the rain. It was the smell that enchanted her. The scent of water evaporating off the hot building stones. The city steamed, then even the steam dampened down under the deluge.
The water slicked her hair to her face, ran in rivulets down her back and legs, to pool inside her boots. She raised her face and drank the droplets. It was only as she began to shiver that she realised that the first sun had set and she was getting cold. She turned to find the balcony empty and Calor stood moodily watching her. The party had moved inside. She then realised she had been hugging Vash's gun to herself. The bloody thing was loaded, what was she thinking? Clearly nothing of any sense. It was now also soaking wet and she had no idea how to strip it down, what strange alterations had he had Marlon do to it? Ah, well, a good excuse to visit the gunsmith again. She removed the bullets, three left.
"So you have decided not to kill yourself." Calor murmured as Meryl crossed over to the overhang that sheltered the windows that looked out over the balcony.
"What? I wasn't going to jump!" Meryl exclaimed, then noticed Calor staring at the gun. "And I certainly wasn't going to shoot myself with his gun!"
Calor nodded briefly.
"How are you feeling?" She said in a low voice. "Abe said not to invite you along, but Milly is coming, and I know she would want you along."
"Along to what?"
"Agone and Knives have yet to settle their differences. I thought we'd go show some support for No Man's Land."
"We're cheering Knives?" Meryl asked incredulously.
"Don't be so quick to dismiss him." Calor murmured. "He holds the balance of power that is very necessary for the survival of this planet."
"He tried to kill us."
"No, he tried to scare you, that's all." Calor smiled.
Meryl wondered how far gone she had to be in despair to believe Knives capable of mercy. Hadn't she seen how Abe had had to defend them? Calor did not notice her disagreement and continued.
"He is, however, going to try to kill Agone, and I want to be around to watch."
Agone ordered them to land the shuttle. They were far enough away now to watch the launch in its glory without the danger of being harmed. He stood on the crest of the dune waiting. There was a flash of light and a faint thunderous roar, as the ship rose, too small and too swiftly. Agone stared aghast as panic rose in his heart. Somehow, the launch had disconnected most of the power plants from the main ship. What had Teres done? He could no longer sense the plant. He watched the ship as it faltered in its main trajectory and was merely boosted up into upper orbit around the planet. At least his engineers knew enough to do that. But it wouldn't help now, as it was they were running on borrowed time. He clenched his fist, mourning his sister. Even with all the resources of this world, they had not been enough to return Domina to Earth.
It was then that he realised he was not alone in the desert. He turned, admiring the stateliness and eerie silence in which those enormous desert worms could move if they so wished. Knives stood not more than ten yarz away, watching him with cold blue eyes. The sorrow Agone felt congealed into a exhausted hatred.
"What have you done?" Knives voice was harsh, but not as depthless in wrath as his eyes.
"I seek only to save us." Agone replied tiredly. It would be a blessing were things to end now, it would end the heartache. However, he would never give one as insolent as Knives that particular pleasure.
"Your actions condemn this world and give you nothing but bitter hope." Knives eyed the steadily rising ship with a pitying derision.
Agone smiled emptily.
"There is no hope for us and you know it."
"Ah." Knives relaxed then, his smile became easy and his eyes calm, "so you do understand what you have done."
Agone stared, feeling a shudder of horror run down his back as he recalculated. Knives was insane. He had been warned that only madmen could have done the things he and his brother had accomplished, but it had been such exquisite precision, he had not been able to believe it. Now he saw it, and knew that anything he said could potentially push Knives over the edge.
He had enough to worry about with trying launch the power section of the ship. If Teres had not betrayed him, he would be able to face Millions Knives, with all the strange power of the sandworms without distractions. He stared at the plant, recognising his expression - he had nothing left to lose. Agone gaped at him. He had not believed it until now, that Vash, the foolish brother, was the one who kept him in check. Goodness, he had seen the man's antics on the television it was embarrassing to watch. Nevertheless, Knives was watching him like a lion who had cornered a buck and was tensing for the kill. He had not realised how mesmerizing a stare the man had when he smiled. Why was Knives here? How was this now all his fault? Had Vash tried to stop Teres? Oh crud. What had happened to Vash?
He heard the gun fire once, a muted shot. He recognised the noise knowing he was dead even as he threw himself down. Knives dodged to the side and went sprawling back over the dune as the angel shot tore into him. The worm with a strange dexterity of its lips lifted him and was almost half an ile gone before the next shot fired. Agone waited, but felt nothing.
"Sir, are you okay?"
He pushed himself out of the sand, surprised to find two of his men beside him. He was safe, for the moment.
"I got the bastard, but he's not dead." The sniper complained.
"What happened to Vash the Stampede?" Agone asked, not hearing him, watching the dust trail the sand worm left.
"Huh?"
"Find out, and fast or everyone on this planet is dead." He watched the humans scurry around and try convince him to return to the safety of the ship they had arrived in. He wondered why they bothered. As insane as Knives was, he carried out his threats. It would be an interesting diversion to put a spanner in the works. Agone smiled emptily. But first he had to check on the launch site and see if there was anything to salvage.
Meryl huddled damply beside Milly in the car as Calor drove through the streets. She was in a fine mood and Abe got the worst of it.
"You'd think they would include windscreen wipers, I mean, don't they have to clean the dust off now and again?"
"No, that would only make mud." Abe said, unwisely, as Calor scowled.
"And what is with this flooding? Don't they have any drainage? This city is going to be four feet under water if this deluge continues!"
"It never rains here." Abe pointed out. "And that was our people's fault for letting No Man's Land engineers do the city planning."
"Never?" Calor grouched at the pouring skies.
Driving out of the city was not much of a problem, though the water slowed them. But once they hit the desert road they managed an ile before they encountered thick sticky mud. Calor climbed out of the car and screamed at the skies in frustration. Meryl clambered out, and stood in the rain, the sticky brown mud sucking at her boots. Calor complained bitterly, but Meryl smiled. As sad and as empty as she felt, she could not get over how much she loved the rain. She had only ever been in rain once before, and that had been as a very small girl, and all she could remember was her father holding her as she reached for the skies.
"Miss Meryl?" Milly held her coat over her head as she squelched through the thick mud. She pointed excitedly.
"Look!"
From the direction of the canyon to which they had been heading came a flying ship. Meryl gaped at it as she recognised it.
"It's Seeds!"
She waved at them as they approached July. To her profound astonishment, the ship sank down to hover several yarz down the road. Brad leaped down from the ramp that opened underneath it. He hauled his foot out of the mud with a squelch and an expression of disgust.
"Is he with you?" Brad called.
Meryl felt as if everything had gone still. She stared at him, as somewhere around her pain clawed at her senses, explaining in raw anguish what had happened to him.
"No." She heard herself say with a treacherous catch to her voice.
Brad gave her a horrified stare, then took in their predicament with the car.
"Get on board." He said tersely. "Where's that Livio guy who was with him?"
"Back in July." Calor said.
"Ah. He's got radio. We'll have him meet us on the roof." Brad said turning away.
"Where are you going?" Calor said.
Brad glanced back at her as he stepped out of the mud onto the ramp.
"We're hunting Vash."
"He's dead." Milly said with a tremor in her voice.
Brad gazed at her with a disgruntled expression.
"Not that guy. I'll only believe that if I see his bones."
In the room beside the open balcony, they stood wrapped in blankets over their wet clothes. Luida listened to their story as Brad went to find Livio with Panse who assured them that he and the twins were in the kitchen.
"Hmm. From what I've seen, he is very hard to kill." Luida murmured. "Though Brad will err on the side of optimism, and I admit, so must I. Nevertheless, if you believe he's dead, then Knives quite likely believes it too. No wonder the Sand worms are massing in around the cities."
"We've got to find Knives?" Livio said, traipsing into the room with the twins trailing after him. Panse closed the door after them, politely leaving them to their conference. The twins wore Terran style clothes and aside from plasters on their gaunt faces, looked well. They favoured their mother in looks, pale eyes and blond hair. Though Doug had his father's strong jaw and mischievous smile. Meryl marvelled, had she not seen them only months before, she would never have believed they were just over two years old. They looked like they were fourteen or fifteen years old.
"No." Luida answered Livio. "We have to find Vash, or there will be no negotiating with Knives."
"Those brothers." Calor grouched. "They will be the end of me!"
Luida gave her a cool stare.
"No, but perhaps they will be the end of your political shenanigans you have played over this planet, you and your people."
Calor frowned.
"What do you know?"
"That despite the tragedy of Domina's loss, it was to our benefit. It exposed you."
Calor glared and Abe put an arm out in front of her.
"She does not understand." He said abruptly to Calor who looked as though she wanted to punch someone. "We came here to help you." Abe said quietly to Luida. "Yes, we came here with our own agendas, and they have played out as they have. But we honestly wanted to help. Only, now living here as we have done, we realise you don't need the help we thought you did."
"I heard that you came here to loot the world." Brad interjected. "Take the sandworms, the plants, minerals and medical expertise we had."
"I heard you came to settle a score with the plants." Doug said.
Meryl had to look to see who spoke as his voice had broken, he sounded like a young man now. "We heard the talk of the other plants. They weren't only draining people for their power. They wanted revenge on all those plants that kept independent plants subjected. The plants said the one called Calor was the one the assassins were really after. Also among the Terrans you're wanted because it was your decision to go ahead and fire Tall Hammer that stranded everyone here."
"Yes it was, along with the captains of the other ships. Had I not," Calor snapped at him, "Millions Knives would have plundered this planet and killed…"
"Let me clarify." Abe said slightly louder, to interrupt Calor, and nodded at Doug. "We came here to help a people who sent an SOS to Earth. We arrived and found the world on a war footing. This changed things. Had it been a mere rescue and assist operation, our plans would have played out and none would have been any the wiser. We would have rescued people, or set up power stations as required."
He glanced at Doug who was scowling.
"We did not expect to encounter independents here. Neither did we expect to encounter a fused entity with the wit and ability to challenge plant operated warships. In our assessment, we discovered that this world, despite its dependence on plants has enough to allow it to join the Earth government. However, we underestimated the sophistication of its defenders. It is by the deeds of Millions Knives and Vash the Stampede that this planet rises or falls. Yet even as powerful as they are, neither operates alone. Am I right in saying all here stand with Vash the Stampede?"
"I heard the Terran's wanted him to take him back to the Emperor 'cause he's a heaven's gate." Jasmine interrupted. "Why should we work for any Terran's?"
"The last ship that could launch off this world just left." Abe pointed out. "How do you think we're going to get him to Earth if that were our intention?"
"What about the other ships coming from Earth." Jasmine asked with a smirk that would have done Chronica proud.
"There are no other ships." Calor snapped. "If you were watching you'd have seen that ship did not leave the upper atmosphere. Something went wrong, and we have Vash to thank for that. No one is leaving." She finished bitterly.
"Ah." Milly said with such a bright voice that everyone turned to look. "That means nothing has changed." She said with a smile. "We carry on as normal. We keep working and don't give up. That's what he does."
There was a brief silence as people processed her optimism.
"Terran matters aside, are you willing to work with us?" Abe asked eyeing Brad, Luida and the twins in turn.
"I think the question is, Abe," Meryl interrupted, "are you willing to work with Vash the Stampede?"
Abe rolled his eyes.
"Meryl, isn't that what we formed Fifth Moon for?"
"You're Fifth Moon?" Doug exclaimed, his expression incredulous.
Both twins turned to their father. Livio winced and rubbed his head.
"Ow! Talk out loud!" He scolded.
"But Fifth Moon is this super secret organisation that rescues plants and helps people…" Jasmine trailed off, staring. "Which is what you did. Gosh." She nudged her brother. "Doug! Fifth Moon!"
"It's not secret." Meryl exclaimed.
"Sure is since December was bombed." Doug said. "Johnston wanted to find you guys really badly. The only way most of the plants escaped was 'cause of what Fifth Moon did."
Meryl glanced across at Abe who had far too innocent an expression not to be up to something. What had he done in their name?
"What information do you have?" Meryl asked, gazing at Abe.
"Nothing as yet, but we'll have to ask the experts on Vash the Stampede as to where his bolt holes are so we can find him."
"Okay." Meryl said, humouring him. She would grab him later and rattle all the things he hadn't told her out of him. "Do so."
She tried to think of all the people he had as friends who could help. The man made friends by just smiling at people, who would she count as an expert? She was aware of a silence and found Abe, Milly and Calor watching her.
"What?"
Abe smiled.
"Meryl, that's Fifth Moon and our correspondents, Seeds and their field workers, and his close friends. All of whom are here."
She scowled at him, feeling foolish.
"Alright, so what do we know?" She asked, brushing it off.
"He won't be far." Brad said. "Even if he's in top condition he could not have covered more than ten miles."
"He teleported." Calor said. "Either that, or he's dead." She added when Brad opened his mouth to protest.
"Aw crap." Livio exclaimed. "He could be anywhere."
"No, he was hurt. Hurt people go to ground." Calor reasoned. "Where are his bolt holes?"
"That depends on how badly he's hurt." Milly said. "He just goes on if it's manageable, but he lets strangers pick him up if it's bad."
Calor stared at Milly and mouthed "strangers?"
Milly nodded.
"He took all those plants with him." Abe murmured. "Where would he go that could sustain hundreds of plants?"
"The dome at Octovern." Luida concluded and waved one of her aides over to redirect the ship.
"That is the heart of the Fed's territory. They put out the bounty notices for Vash and Knives." Livio protested then grimaced. "He would do that, wouldn't he? Walk into enemy territory for the sake of others."
"In that case we need to get there before any incidents can happen." Luida said.
Livio, Panse, Calor, Brad and Luida sat arguing over a map. Meryl stood at the window, watching the rain. She wanted to be out in it, not trapped over some pointless argument of how much ground a wounded plant could cover in a day. She glanced at Milly who stood behind Luida to peer at the map on the table. She caught her eye and left them to their argument as Meryl slipped out of the room. She stood in the hall with one of the maps the Terrans had provided; it was an annotated aerial photograph of the City of Lost July.
"Miss Meryl!" Milly called as she closed the door behind her. "We can help them! They will find Mister Vash, even if he's…" Milly shut her mouth hastily.
Meryl nodded with a bright smile.
"I'm going for a walk." She headed for the stairs.
"But it's raining!" Milly called as Meryl jogged down them.
"Yes. It's his rain!"
"Milly!" Livio called from the room. "Where's Meryl? Brad wanted to ask her about Vash."
Meryl ran. She was not going to stand and cry in front of a committee.
