Thanks bunches for reviewing, Tikatu and Whirl Girl! Your opinion matters. =) Will slow down now, though, promise.
8
On tall, steaming Mt. Erebus, at the mouth of a swiftly-dug tunnel-
Kayo sat on the rocky ground beside a low grav-stretcher, knees drawn up to her chest, lovely face streaked with tears. She was mostly out of the wind, more for Nikorr's sake, than her own. Beside her, on the floating cart, her handsome cousin battled death. He'd been terribly wounded; had expended tremendous power attempting to save those around him from being crushed to death beneath hundreds of tons of shattered rock.
As fast as she'd been able to flog her unwitting, enslaved family, Kayo had come to his aid… maybe too late. At the moment, her power was the only thing keeping Niko alive. That, and Gordon's hasty ministrations. Every once in awhile, she touched him; checking with mind and body, both, for warmth and a pulse. For fading life.
Down below, things had gone horribly wrong. Tanusha could sense it, for her brothers' minds, and Grandma's, and Dad's, were very close, and deeply familiar. She felt Alan's shock and pain, then his terrified plunge into blackness. Knew that the Mechanic had gained the upper hand, somehow, and was threatening them all with destruction… and yet, she could not move.
To leave Nikorr's side would doom him. Already, she'd lost John, perhaps forever. She could not afford to lose her vexing cousin, as well. Not like this. Really and truly, the girl did not know what to do.
Outside, that weirdly directionless light glittered off snow banks, icefields and steam clouds. Out there, a freezing wind moaned and buffeted. Inside, Kayo's heart broke, and she made up her mind.
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Not far away, in the hive ship-
The bridge was a busy place, with a population of two kids, one computer, and many scurrying bug-mechs. A long, curving viewscreen dominated the forward bulkhead. At the moment, the screen was split in half, displaying both the scene below, and power-use/ security data. Further along, Kane's cybernetic harness cables dangled unoccupied, just above his control platform. Off to its right was the gun-mount, linked now to Sentinel.
Ilya had been left in charge of the laser and Ship, while Kane dropped below to handle the Tracys. There were enemy cyborgs there, too; the same kind that had attacked them back in Tierra del Fuego. That had been a close one, but Kane had made upgrades to his armour and systems. His hero was proof against the worst that those losers could throw at him, Ilya was certain. Wished he was down there to help, though. And Sissy… Katrin… too. Even if she was just a part-robot baby, just learning to talk, and hard to pin down. Formerly crippled, she'd turned into a right ball of fire, almost never still for more than a couple of minutes.
Now she was back, sitting beside him on a very patient green beetle-mech. Katrin could steer the drone wherever she wanted, by kicking her legs and pushing or pulling its stubby antennae, and she shrieked with laughter when it took flight 'round the noisy bridge. Eesh, he thought, sisters.
Back in their old place, in the stairwell of a derelict shopping mall, he hadn't known she was powerful. Just a good, happy baby, who loved him, and never made any trouble. Ilya had been her whole world, after their mother went away and never came back. They'd roughed it for awhile; Ilya scrounging and hustling for food the best way he knew how, Sissy remaining hidden, for she'd had only one leg, and it didn't work, at all.
Then, the Mechanic arrived, taking hostages and killing everyone else; all the ones who'd robbed the boy, laughed at or molested him. They were all dead now, and could never hurt him, or find Sissy, ever.
The Mechanic had changed everything. He'd given the boy a job and a weapon. He'd given Sissy a cyborg leg, and circuits that made her small, twisted body all strong. She could stand up, now. Walk and run, even, in short spurts. And she had a new name. Katrin.
And… maybe he was making a big mistake… maybe Kane would be mad at him… but Ilya had a very strong, sudden feeling that they ought to be down there with him, right now. Uncertainly, he glanced over at his little sister, who was looking right at him, her blue eyes gone real serious.
"Think we should go help, Sis?" he asked, forgetting to use her new name, or the lower, more manly voice he'd been practicing.
Without smiling, or anything, Katrin pointed at the battle below and said, very demanding and loud,
"Katy go! Bubby go! Now!"
"Okay, you betcha!"
Ilya exulted, leaping up from his seat at the gun-mount. To Ship, he said,
"Keep firing, but don't get any closer to the target, until you hear from me, or Kane. Just… look extra mean. Wave it around like you're mad, or something. We'll be back, soon, with prisoners, maybe… so probably make some new cells. Strong ones, 'cause Tracys and cyborgs are tricky. They'll try to get away and kill us all. Okay, Ship? Got that?"
The bridge lights dimmed and then brightened, again, and a deep, bell-tone sounded, sort of like the one that soldier-drones used to summon all their buddies for a fight. Ship got it, and would do what he'd said. Smiling, Ilya patted the nearest control surface. How had he ever lived anywhere else? How had he put up with 'vermin'?
Less than five minutes later, he and his little sister were on their way out through the big mech-port, surrounded by a humming cloud of fierce, zipping hornet-drones. Ilya was strapped into one of Kane's jetpacks, and holding the girl, who clung tight, her eyes narrowed against a shocking-cold wind. Already, she'd begun reaching out with her mind.
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Down below-
The Hood was injured and feverish, although Brains and 'Grandma', fooled by illusion, had bound up and splinted that broken leg. Hate, rage and pain had amplified his own natural power till it nearly burnt out his mind and peripheral nervous system. On the one hand, he felt like a flaring, dark god. On the other, he was losing intellect and sanity by the moment. Would take them all down with him into hell, though, every shrieking step of the way.