Playing God(121)

“Too close, too close,” he muttered through clenched teeth. “God and Hell, can't they see this is a civvie boat?”

Another boom resonated through the decks. The boat bucked and kicked.

“You got a speaker station aboard?”

Both Arron and Cabal jumped. Lynn, blanket pinned around her shoulders with a pair of small clamps, stood in the cabin's threshold.

“Yeah,” said Cabal, trying to look at her and out the front window at the same time.

“Put a call out to the t'Therian ships.” Lynn gripped the railing that had been mounted at a Dedelphi's waist height. “Ask for Praeis Shin t'Theria.”

“Lynn,” said Arron gently, “we don't know she's here.”

“She's here,” said Lynn bitterly. “The Getesaph took her sister and her daughter; of course she's here. She's probably dropping the goddamned bombs with her own hands.” She tightened her hold on the railing and stared out the window. “She is most definitely here.”


Praeis stood in the map room with Neys and Silv. The chart of the Hundred Isles’ waters lay on the table. Small red magnets marked the known positions of the Getesaph ships and fortifications. Black magnets marked the t'Therian positions. Theia sat on a stool next to them, her hands poised over the duplicator's keys, ready to pound out orders or notes. Over the past few days, Theia had moved firmly into the position of junior assistant. There was a little grumbling at first, but as the story of Praeis's family spread through the ranks, urged on by Neys and Silv, Praeis suspected, the grumbling ceased.

Praeis leaned closer to the map and tried to marshal her thoughts. The skin on her back quivered from being clenched so tightly. It had been too long since she'd been to war. She'd lost the knack of staying calm.

The door burst open and a runner, a fourth-sister, teetered into the room, caught off-balance by a sudden swell. Water streamed off her armor. Must be raining again.

“Excuse me, Mothers,” she gasped. “But there's a boat calling for help. There's Humans aboard and they say …” She paused, unable to get the words out around her anxious panting.

“They say what, Sister?” demanded Neys.

“They are calling for the Task-Mother. They say they have a friend of hers aboard. A … Lynn Nussba …”

Lynn? Praeis bolted from the room. She ran onto the deck, barely aware that Theia followed on her heels. Warm rain pelted her face and shoulders. Her first lid closed against it automatically, and her nose and ears pinched down, but she didn't slow her pace.

“Where!” she shouted over the crash of waves, guns, and rain to a second-sister whose name she couldn't remember.

“Aft quarter, Mother!” bawled the second.

Theia caught Praeis's arm. Leaning on each other to keep balance against the pitch of the ship and the rain-drenched deck, they dashed toward the stern. A cluster of arms-sisters stood staring out at something, pointing and talking. Praeis followed their gaze out to the grey, choppy waves. Out there, a middle-sized fishing boat bobbed up and down on the rough sea. She could see white figures with guns, shooting into the water at the heads and ears of Getesaph soldiers protruding here and there from the waves.

One arms-sister clutched a pair of binoculars. Praeis lifted them out of her hand and focused them on the boat and the white figures. Three Humans, she saw as the lenses brought them closer. Two men and one woman. The woman was Lynn Nussbaumer.

“Covering fire!” Praeis barked. “Now! Get a team and a rescue boat in the water! Get me the PA speaker!”

An arms-sister appeared with the PA speaker box in her hand and an incredible length of cable trailing behind her. Praeis took the PA and looked out to the boat in time to see a contingent of six arms-sisters in light armor dive headfirst into the water. A Getesaph who'd ducked her head up saw them, too. She made it back under the waves. The bullet meant for her hit nothing but foam.

So much for surprise.

“Lynn! Lynn!” called Praeis. The PA bellowed her words out to the world. “It's Praeis! We're sending help,” she said in English. “Hang on! We'll get to you!”

One of the small white figures waved its arm. A geyser shot up beside the little boat. The craft dropped into a trough in the waves and listed sharply to port. Two of the Humans disappeared, leaving one on deck shooting into the ocean at things Praeis couldn't see.

It didn't take much guessing to work out what had just happened. A bomb had gone off close enough to hull the boat, and they were sinking into the water full of Getesaph soldiers.

The roar of a motor cut the sound of waves and bullets. A narrow troop carrier shot out from the side of the ship. Praeis brought up the binocs again. Neys sat in the bow with six arms-sisters behind her, all armed, ready to board or to dive. She trained the binocs on the Human boat.