Allie's War Episodes 1-4(122)

Frowning in disapproval, Galaith decided to let it pass, gazing down at the long, white cruise ship, which had unmistakably come to a halt on the dark water.
Plumes of fire rose to the low deck of clouds, staining them red and gold.
Galaith watched the flames mix with the early dawn’s light, reflecting against the falling rain. Another blast lit the nearby land mass, illuminating dark, featureless hills, and his eyes studied the scrub evergreens and broken boulders, blinking against the sudden brightness. People the size of ants jumped off the tall sides of the ship as he watched. Even under the steady pulse of the helicopter’s blades, Galaith heard screams, and impact sounds as they hit.
Feeling the other occupants of the helicopter looking at him expectantly, Galaith made the sign of the cross.
Then, fixing his brow and mouth in the proper display of anger and grief, he signaled to the pilot with his hand, pointing towards the shore.
It wouldn’t do to be caught gawking at the scene.
Anyway, for all intents and purposes, his work here was done.
Alyson’s last known location was the starboard end of the stern, where his team set and detonated the first set of explosives. Galaith would have his seers look for her in the aftermath, of course, and retrieve her body if at all possible, but it was over.
That was a decision he’d made before he arrived. Better to send her back to those beyond-the-Barrier shores of which she was so fond. Better that, than to let her go alive to Terian and whatever dark scheme he’d concocted.#p#分页标题#e#
It was a good thing Galaith had that second team in place, watching Terian.
Even so, he’d almost reacted too slowly.
Whatever had been set in motion on the ship a few hours previous, it had been less of a plan by Terian as it was a reaction to an unexpectedly opened window of opportunity. Perhaps Terian had even imagined it would be so. It was the only way he could have moved his team swiftly enough to avoid any ripples of warning through the network Pyramid.
As he watched smoke billow out the bottom decks, Galaith knew any hope of her survival had to be slim. He retained a glimmer of optimism that the temperature of the water might preserve some bio-samples, however.
Ironically, it was she who called him here.
It was a genuine pity he’d arrived too late to reason with her.
As for Terian and whatever he’d been up to...
“I’ll be back for you, old friend,” he muttered under his breath.
He didn’t let himself think too closely about the loss of Dehgoies. That would have to be contemplated on another day.
“Sir?” the pilot shouted.
Galaith met his questioning look, wiping his face with one hand. Luckily, the gesture fit the moment, and played all the more convincingly for its sincerity, whatever its true cause. One of his secretaries, Martha, touched his arm in sympathy, and he clasped her fingers, letting his face show a flicker of gratitude.
He told the pilot, “Take me to the airport, Gene. We’ll coordinate the rescue teams from there.”
“Aye, sir.” The man saluted, grinning with obvious pleasure that Galaith had used his first name. Popping the wad of gum jammed into one corner of his mouth, he let out a half-shout above the rotary blades, “Wow! What a day!” Seeing Galaith’s dark look, his smile faded. “Of course it’s terrible, sir...terrible. All those people. No one deserves to die like that.”
Galaith did not give him a reassuring smile.
Still, he found the man’s comments amusing in their blatant insincerity.
Pity there was no way he could let any of them live.



Above me, rosettes bloomed in a bland sky. Clouds shone red and gold in billowing tongues of reflected flame.
I was still pretty sure I was dead.
Then a wave rolled up, filling my mouth with salt water.
I choked, only to be fully submerged. Physical pain brought my world sharply into focus as my head and mouth once more broke the surface. Salt sank into cuts in my skin. My knee felt like it had been pulverized. I forced my limbs forward through the blue liquid ice. I gazed at the fire and a dense wave of pain hit me again, not all of it physical.
Water filled my mouth and I spit it out.
Then, it hit me. It really hit me. For a moment, I disappeared.
Shouts overhead and nearer screams snapped me out. Another wave submerged my head as I groped around for something to hold on to, something to support me. I grabbed at something as it floated by. It turned out to be a soaked life jacket.
I let it go, paddling like a wounded dog with one leg.
Trying to follow the others, I gasped out steam, glimpsed the burning white hulk behind me as I pumped my arms harder. The ship continued to belch smoke, but it no longer produced a churning wake. Instead it sat lower in the water, like a child squatting in a stream.