Текст книги "Betrayer"

Автор книги: C. J. Cherryh

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

They needed to move fast.

Because if trouble turned away from the airport and headed for them overland, he’d really like to be close to some sort of shelter.

***

It was nand’ Bren who had just called, and he was not in Tanaja, he was most of the way home. Cenedi had brought that news downstairs. Nobody could mistake his voice, Cenedi said. And when mani heard it, mani actually laughed, though shortly. “Clever fellow,” was what mani said about it. “Are we surprised? We are not.”

But, Cajeiri thought, but what can we do to help him? There were enemies all over, and nand’

Bren was going to try to get through? They should help him.

“So what will we do, mani? Shall we go after him?”

“One is quite certain the paidhi will have good advice with him, young gentleman,” Cenedi said. “When he gets near enough, we may; but in the meanwhile we can only attract attention toward him and open yet another action. That would not help.”

It was not the answer he wanted. But at least Cenedi had stopped to listen to him.

And nand’ Bren was smart. And he had Banichi and Jago with him, and Tano and Algini, who were no one to ignore, either. They would not let him do anything risky.

It was a scary situation. There was a lot of hammering going on upstairs, and some staff had made a dangerous run out to the garage to get boards, which now were going up to reinforce the front doors and the broken window. They were not going to be open to the breeze for much longer. Baiji was locked up in his room again. Cajeiri had no idea where they had taken the three intruders or whether the one man was dead. And nand’ Siegi had transfused a lot of blood into Veijico, who was down the hall along with two of mani’s guards who had been shot and one of the household staff, a girl who had been near the front door. She had been hit by a piece of shrapnel. She was only fifteen, and everybody had been very upset about that.

Veijico was doing all right, Antaro said. But Cajeiri would feel better only when he saw her for himself—and mani had told him firmly to stay out of the physician’s way while he was working; and then when Antaro said nand’ Siegi was through, mani had said he should stay out of the halls and not be running about until they had repaired the doors.

So he was trapped in mani’s room, under mani’s direct supervision, and he had to do what he was told.

He was at least where he could protect Jegari and Antaro as well as himself and mani. That situation he agreed with. He had complained they should have a gun, but Nawari had stationed two of mani’s young men in the hall, and they had guns enough, mani said.

Mani had actually said he had done the right thing. She very rarely paid compliments, so he was very proud of her saying so. Lord Geigi said the same. And except for a very few casualties, they had come through the attack fairly well, except nand’ Bren’s beautiful stained-glass window: Cenedi said that was gone.

It should have been exciting. But with people hurt and nand’ Bren out there trying to get home, it was just scary.

Staff had brought them breakfast, because he had scattered the last breakfast all over the upstairs hall.

But his stomach was too upset to enjoy it.

Nand’ Bren could not possibly make it here in the way he indicated he was going to do. But, he thought, with a tasteless bite of toast, nand’ Bren could be very clever, and maybe what he had told them he was going to do was not at all what he was going to do.

He dared not ask, however. Credit with mani went only so far. He just sat and ate tasteless toast, so tired his eyes were trying to shut.

But every time they did, he saw the man pushing his way into mani’s room, and he saw the man turning to look at him and aiming the rifle. Over and over and over.

He was not going to sleep, no matter he had been up all the night and was shivering he was so exhausted.

Not on thatkind of dream.

***

The sky lightened under a spatter of rain, and the van’s right-hand windshield wiper wasn’t working but halfway. The road passed near a small forest as the rim of the sun came up under the cloud. Morning light cast long shadows, picking out every clump of grass and lump of dirt, while rain fell down as a fine mist.

Banichi slowed the van to a stop, said something to Jago, and got out.

Break for necessities in a relatively secure place, Bren thought. Tano got up and opened the door, and Algini got out, and then Lucasi followed, and Bren did.

It was more than that, however. Banichi and Algini talked for a moment, Tano added himself to the conversation, and then Jago did, a close conference in which Lucasi hung back, sensing himself not included, perhaps, until Banichi said, “Guildsman.”

Lucasi limped forward with some speed and quietly joined the conference.

That left Bren, the civilian, leaning against a young tree, resting, and with the distinct impression there was some discussion going on that Banichi didn’t think he would necessarily approve of.

Like leaving him behind again. He saw that coming. But it made a certain sense. If it contributed to their safety, he would hide in whatever hole he had to and just wait.

None of them had had any significant sleep except Lucasi. Banichi had been driving nonstop, refusing Jago’s offer to take the wheel, and by now he had to be exhausted.

And now they proposed to go do something desperate and didn’t think he needed to be part of the planning—as if he could penetrate the code or get more than a handful of the signs they were using even if he were standing over there in the middle of it. There were things they needed to say in Guild context, with meanings an outsider wasn’t going to grasp without a half hour of explanation, and even so—probably wouldn’t like. He was increasingly sure he was not going to like the outcome.

There were nods. “Yes,” Jago said, and Tano, and then Lucasi nodded, too, so Lucasi was in on it.

Bren waited, glumly. And it was Banichi who came to him.

“Beyond this point,” Banichi said, “there will be difficulty, Bren-ji. The van is far too noisy, far too obvious a target to bring straight down the Kajiminda road. We would do better to leave it, get a rescue party organized from Kajiminda—not taking for granted it is still in allied hands—and you cannot keep our pace, either getting there or getting out, if need be.”

“You want me to stay here,” he said.

“You will have Lucasi,” Banichi said, “and he will be armed and equipped with a locator. He is young. He will, however, suffice for a simple mission. We expect the Edi will have camped around Kajiminda, that this is a force the renegades have not wanted to take on, adding one more enemy to their difficulties– and that they have remained unengaged. But equipped.

The difficulty is that they will be looking for Guild and not expecting us to be on their doorstep. We are going to have to get through and make a careful approach. If we can, we can get back here, bring you to Kajiminda, and then make a little noise.”

“To draw the renegade attack away from Najida. To bring the renegades under Edi fire.”

Banichi nodded. “Your own excellent notion, Bren-ji, somewhat reworked. Considering your recent negotiations with Machigi, you directly threaten them, perhaps more, to their perception, than the aiji-dowager. Be patient and stay hidden. The van would be more comfortable a place for you to wait, but we advise you put as much distance between yourself and the road as you can. The trees in the other direction are an obvious line of retreat and an obvious ambush for anyone who sees the van as bait. We intend that they be cautious and slow in their investigation should they come here. Lucasi has instructions. You may listen to his advisements—up to a point.”

“Yes,” he said. “Just—” One could argue that it might be safest of all for them allto retreat into the wild and stay there until the Guild finished its business in this district. But that didn’t help their allies. He’d offered an idea, sleep-deprived and exhausted; and they, likewise on no sleep, had taken it. Which worried him. “Be careful, Nichi-ji. I want you back. I want you all back. One is quite adamant on that point.”

Banichi said: “We always are careful, Bren-ji. Rely on us.”

And then Banichi left him, headed into the trees. Jago, departing, gave him one backward glance. Algini didn’t—just picked up their gear. Only Tano, at the last moment, came back and gave him his canteen, then went off to catch up with Algini, the lot of them making, one suspected, a cautiously obvious trail.

Banichi had parked the van, however, on a small dome of sandstone, and it was clearly up to them to get out of here without laying down obvious tracks in the other direction.

Bren looked in Lucasi’s direction. “We should go, nadi.”

“One will try not to leave marks,” Lucasi said. “But kindly walk atop my track, nandi.”

Lucasi settled his makeshift crutch and limped off around the van, passing over an area where there was a muddle of footsteps in a patch of dirt that overlapped the sheet of buried rock atop which the van was parked.

He understood the game clearly enough. Walk on the rock, leave no track, while Banichi and the rest laid down just enough trail to be followed—and believed—by experts.

The one they laid down had to be far, far harder to find; he understood that. Lucasi was walking without his stick, hobbling along, probably in considerable pain, on what rapidly became a climb toward the rocky heights, the rugged upthrust of the plateau, on the edge of the coastal lands. On that steep climb, Lucasi stopped now and again and plotted his path; he finally found a place where the occasional rock became a lower, flatter spot and where a straggle of brush grew from the underside of low, body-sized shelves of rock.

Lucasi sat down, immediately bent over and struggling with pain. Bren sat down. They had climbed well out of view of the road—either road, since the Kajiminda to Separti road crossed that same patch of woods to the south.

He wished they had the strength to keep going just a little higher.

But they had to stay findable, didn’t they, by their own side? Lucasi’s face was running with sweat. He didn’t speak, he didn’t complain.

Hadn’t he sworn never to interfere with his bodyguard or get in their way? This whole stratagem had started with his idea. Granted, four very astute bodyguards had accepted the notion, but it still had his fingerprints on it, and he’d sworn, while being picked up off the floor at Targai, never, ever to interfere with his bodyguard again.

Thatvow hadn’t lasted long, had it?

He sat. He had a tiny sip of water and offered some to Lucasi, who silently accepted it and nodded thanks, handing the canteen back.

This wasn’t the brash young man who’d repeatedly caused them trouble. Lucasi was quiet and very sober, his eyes, once he’d caught his breath, scanning the area constantly, his ears doubtless on the alert. Which of his aishid had personally gotten to the young man he wasn’t sure, but someone had—maybe Banichi, possibly Algini. But it had evidently made an impression.

And now the kid had an assignment from them, the biggest assignment they could possibly hand the boy—namely him—and he didn’t plan to make it harder for the young man. He sat still and silent, not to distract him, trusting atevi hearing to pick up anything moving out there, any sound of a motor, or any gunfire.

All he personally heard was the wind, whispering in the brush. The gray, scattered clouds intermittently shed a little rain, spots that grew thick on the stone, then slowly evaporated.

Lucasi turned his head sharply, as good as a screaming alarm. The young man lifted his hand slightly and quietly got to his feet.

Bren stood up.

Come, Lucasi signaled, and Bren followed him, treading as carefully over gravel, taking care not to scuff the stone or break a weed stem. They kept going for what felt like half an hour or so before Lucasi found another stopping point and offered him a place to sit down.

“What did you hear, nadi?” Bren whispered as faintly as he could.

“Trucks, nandi,” Lucasi said. “Three or so. Coming toward us from the north.”

From the direction of the intersection near Najida, and generally toward Kajiminda. It could be their enemy reacting to that call he’d made from the hunting station. He hadn’t heard a thing. But he didn’t doubt Lucasi had heard it.

They sat in utter silence for about a quarter of an hour.

Then he did hear something, a heavy boom. That also came from the north.

Something bad was happening over in the direction of Najida. And they sat here listening to it as if it were some distant weather report.

“Can you tell where Banichi and the others are?” he whispered.

“One is not supposed to discuss the equipment, nandi.”

The kid was following the rules. Any of his own aishid would have just answered the question.

But the kid, he noted, had one of those locator bracelets– whose, he wasn’t sure; but he didn’t think the boy had had one before. And the answer probably was that they were operating with the locators’ send function switched off, as they had done all along. He could surmise that when things were safe, or if they wanted to lay a trap, they would switch on; and whether there was any special equipment that could pick one up if it was switched off, he hadn’t a clue. One didn’t know if all Guild locators worked the same way or how sophisticated was the information they could pass. It was a complex code, individual to the group. He knew that much about it. And Lucasi not being part of his aishid, it was well possible that Lucasi couldn’t interpret their signals and that the only reason he had that bracelet was to pick up any signal out there.

But something was going on with those booms and thumps and that sound of trucks moving.

Somebody was active out there and not being stealthy about it. It could be Edi, even. Or somebody hot on the attack, or desperate in flight.

Banichi and the rest had had time enough to be into trouble by now if they had tripped any alarm.

They’d need to be sure, first off, that it wasthe Edi in control of Kajiminda.

And then they had to convince a force of Edi hunters and fishermen and farmers that this particular set of black uniforms was on theirside.

Meanwhile, if those passing trucks took the north branch of the road, where it intersected, they were going to find the abandoned van and realize somebody was out and about in the landscape.

God, he didn’t like this. He wished now they’d opted to head down to Separti Township and hoped to pick up reinforcements from the Guild Tabini had stationed therec but that might be a pipe dream. Anybody Tabini had stationed anywhere might have shifted position under direct Guild orders—not Guild serving as bodyguards but Guild forces that Tabini-aiji might ordinarily use.

So Separti wasn’t a sure thing, either. Nothing was.

Boom.

He didn’t jump. But his heart did.

“Are you supposed to listen to my suggestions, nadi?” he whispered to his young guard. “But not to be led into anything stupid?”

“Yes, nandi, that is the instruction. But your aishid did not at all say stupid.”

“One is gratified. But one instructs you, nadi, that you explain to me what we are doing sitting here and what my aishid is doing. It would be useful in deciding what I would suggest.”

The kid looked confused, caught between general orders, Guild teaching, and specific orders.

“Nandi, one is simply instructed to keep you as far away from the enemy as possible. One has a general route to follow that circles somewhat; and one hopes we are on it, so your bodyguard can find us at need. But we are under no circumstances to go back to the van, and we are not to go across the road into the woods, and we are not to make any noise at all.”

“And what are theydoing, meanwhile? Did they explain that, nadi?”

“They are taking Kajiminda, nandi.”

Taking Kajiminda. If it were only that simple. Which meant the kid didn’t know any more than he did.

Boom. Again, toward the north. The train station, maybe; maybe Najida itself.

God, what was going on?

18

« ^ »

It was increasingly noisy up there. And something serious was going on. Mani was cross because she had been trying to take a nap, so had nand’ Geigi, and the booms and thumps, which had been only occasional, now just went on and on.

“The Guild,” Mani complained, “is not usually so inconveniently loud.” She adjusted a shawl, folded her arms, and tried to go back to sleep. Nand’ Geigi did, his chin sinking on his chest.

Cajeiri just sat, aching from want of sleep, and played chess with Jegari and tried to make the time pass faster. His concentration suffered. He was distracted, trying to picture the land out there and locate the booms. The east-west road to Kajiminda and the north-south road to the train station and the airport crossed just east of the house and a little uphill. And there was a huge open field opposite the house that ran on up the hill to where the crossroads were, and uphill after that, on and on, he supposed. He wished he had paid better attention in that direction when they had driven in from the train station.

And for a while the shooting had sounded as though half of it was coming from directly across the road opposite the house, but lately there was a lot more of it and it seemed to be coming from the intersection farther away, or maybe farther east than that. Echoes made it hard to tell.

But nobody up on the roof was shooting right now. Which he supposed meant the fight had moved off.

He would have liked to ask mani or nand’ Geigi, but they were pretending to sleep again.

And he was afraid to talk too loudly. If he annoyed mani, he might have to stop the chess game and just sit and think about what could go wrong. And he did not want to sleep, or have dreams, right now.

So he whispered to Antaro and Jegari: “One wonders what is going on, nadiin-ji. Slip upstairs and find out.”

“I shall,” Antaro said, and left very quietly.

“The fighting is up on the hill by the crossroads, nandi,” Jegari said in a whisper. “One is far from sure, but one might hope some of your father’s force has gotten here from the airport.

One cannot believe any of our own people would have left the grounds, even if they were successful in driving the attackers off. There are too few of us.”

“Can Cenedi tell who it is?”

“Easily,” Jegari said, then: “Under some circumstances.” And then he added, “But I am not supposed to tell you that, nandi.”

That was irritating. He wished hecould go apprentice with the Guild. He really wished it right now. Right now his father was sitting in Shejidan signing papers and making phone calls and could not personally come to rescue him and mani. His father had sent the people at the airport. And being able to send people had something to recommend it. If people would do what you told them. But it was not the same as getting into a plane and going there.

Antaro came back downstairs in a hurry and entered without knocking.

“There are allies on the hill!” she said. “One is not sure whether they are from the Guild or directed from your father, nandi. But one understands they are not Edi and they are not the renegades.”

“About time,” mani said, arching a brow. “Deliver your news, nadi. What is going on up there?”

“Cenedi-nadi is coming downstairs himself, aiji-ma,” Antaro said with a bow, and in fact there was the sound of someone on the stairs. “But by what I know, aiji-ma—”

It was a good thing that she went on to answer. Cajeiri had held his breath, knowing mani’s mood.

“Our allies, of whatever sort, have gotten out of the airport,” Antaro said, a little out of breath, “and they are attacking the renegades up at the crossroads, and the renegades cannot come closer because there are Edi on the hill across the road from us and our own defenses on the roof.”

She said that much to satisfy mani before a knock at the door announced a presence, and Cenedi himself came into the room, not, however, looking that much happier.

“Aiji-ma. The siege at the airport is broken. Your grandson’s forces are in possession of the airport, and the enemy is attempting to cover their retreat to the south. But we fear they are going toward the paidhi’s position.”

That was terrible news.

“Where is the paidhi at the moment?” mani asked. “What is he doing?”

“He has taken the Esig road out of Taisigi territory toward Kajiminda, but he has not gotten there. Nand’ Geigi, what do youknow of that terrain?”

“The Esig road,” Lord Geigi said, “would be a route our enemies could use back into Taisigi territory—if they try to fall back from the intersection.”

“Can they reach it overland?” Cenedi asked. “The maps indicate no track within that section, and rugged land.”

“It is, nadi. It is very rugged land, with hardly even game trails. It would make far better sense for nand’ Bren to go to Kajiminda. Certainly not to attempt to come here.”

“Yet they have not arrived at Kajiminda. Phone lines are cut. We have radioed the Edi to be aware of allied forces in the area. We dare not be more specific.”

And that was where nand’ Bren was supposed to be? Cajeiri wondered. But he was lost somewhere?

If they were stuck somewhere, there was that thick woods that ran down all the way to Kajiminda’s walls. He remembered that very well. One could not see an ambush in that woods.

“But,” Cajeiri said, risking all manner of displeasure, he knew it, but he could stand it no longer. “But can the Edi look for him, nadi?”

“Likeliest,” Cenedi continued without even looking at him, only at mani. “Likeliest the enemy is aware your grandson’s forces have landed at Separti. They have given up holding off his force at the airport, and they are holding the intersection while a number of them make a direct run to intercept nand’ Bren, to take him as a bargaining piece. That would set your grandson’s interests against the Guild leadership’s interests. That is, one fears, their immediate objective. That and controlling access to the Esig road itself.”

“So one assumes they will open a second position at the Esig intersection, near Kajiminda,”

mani said. “And they will trickle back from the Najida intersection and fold up into Taisigi territory. As if my grandson’s forces would not cross that border.”

“Just so, aiji-ma. They have become aware of the second force at Separti, and they know Guild forces are in Tanaja. But if they can find nand’ Bren and take him hostage, then they will pressure your grandson to negotiate with the Guild. That is what we fear they will try to do.”

“Get past them,” mani said with a wave of her hand. “Can we not spare a unit? While they are blowing up the grass on the hill, can we not get a unit cross country to reinforce the paidhi’s guard and move him into Kajiminda?”

Please, Cajeiri wanted to say, but mani did not favor that word. He looked at Cenedi, wishing hard.

And Cenedi said: “We shall try it, aiji-ma.”

“Do so!” A sharp wave of mani’s hand. “Let us do something useful! The Guild can stay out of our way until we have recovered the paidhi-aiji. They chose to press things. They might have waited!”

“Send my guard, too, Cenedi-nadi,” Geigi said.

“Nandi,” Cenedi said, to both, apparently, and left without another word.

But there was no guarantee it would work. Mani was angry. Lord Geigi looked worried.

Those were his closest associates nand’ Geigi had just sent to get past the enemy; and Great-grandmother was sending men, too. It was dangerous. It was terribly dangerous to try to slip behind the enemy, and the field that ran up to the ridge overland was just tall grass and brush: it did not offer very much cover.

“One most fears,” Lord Geigi said somberly, “that nand’ Bren is stalled, trying to get to Kajiminda.”

“If our Edi allies do not mistake him for the enemy,” mani muttered. “One understands the Guild’s distrust of civilian assistance.”

“But,” Cajeiri began, dangerously getting mani’s sudden full attention.

“Who isnand’ Bren?” mani asked. “And why do you have this angry tone with us? You seem quite distressed, Great-grandson.”

Who was nand’ Bren? That made no sense at all. Nand’ Bren was nand’ Bren. Nand’ Bren was his favorite association.

But he suddenly, and with a sense of panic, understood exactly what mani was asking him.

“Nand’ Bren is mine,” he countered angrily, “and everyone has treated him very badly. No one cares now if I am offended. But they willsomeday.”

“Threats, do we hear? One would have thought nand’ Bren belonged to your father, young gentleman. But he has been mine. And currently he says he belongs to Lord Machigi. He has a very fickle charm.”

“Well, but he is ours, and yousent him to Lord Machigi, and now he is out there with our enemies, and we are upset, mani! We are upset with this!”

“Never assume, Great-grandson,” mani said, holding up a forefinger, “never assume that your enemy has done what they have strongly forecast doing. One imagines the enemy would be quite satisfied if all sorts of forces went running over to reinforce nand’ Bren. Then they would move in this direction and try to take us as hostages, not to mention nand’ Toby and Barb-daja. That is their purpose here, or they could have stayed in the Marid and tried to fight off the Guild from within their strong places. This is a risk for them. This is a desperate risk, and they will spare nothing and stick at nothing. This is life and death, and finallywe have gotten them to commit forces in an exposed position.”

He understood, then. He thought he did. Great-grandmother was happythe enemy was here.

She was happy there was fighting going on, because she thought they were doing exactly what she wanted them to do.

He was thinking that when he heard a strange buzzing and roaring sound go right over them, and then go off to the south.

He jumped to his feet. He would never forget that sound. He looked up as if he could see it right through the floor and the roof above.

“ That,” he said, excited, but not knowing quite what thatplane was doing here, “ thatwas an airplane, mani-ma!”

***

There was sure as hell something big and noisy going on over to the north, and Bren’s best guess put it somewhere close to Najida, which didn’t help his state of mind in the least.

All he could do was sit on a cold rock under a hot sun and have a sip of water from the canteen Tano had given him, and share it with Lucasi, who looked grimly off to the north.

The two of them were stuck, was what, and Lucasi was the worse off, having a splinted ankle that was swelling against its bandages. Bren had the misery of the vest and the bandages about his ribs, not to mention a wider and wider split in his boot, which picked up the occasional piece of gravel along the side of the sole. But blisters were a worse misery; he didn’t want to take either boot off to find out what couldn’t be helpedc he feared if he took either boot off for a few minutes, he might not be able to get it back on.

The bruising and the bandages about his ribs that had been misery a day or so ago had begun to diminish. The sore spots he had from nonstop wearing of the damned vest had begun to be an issue, but at least he was breathing with less pain. He climbed. He had done that.

Which didn’t mean he was running any foot races if a problem showed up.

And he kept hoping that Lucasi’s occasional check of the locator bracelet would get a signal from the rest of them.

It hadn’t. And didn’t.

And then something caught Lucasi’s attention. He looked northwest, and kept looking.

“Do you hear something, nadi?” Bren asked him.

“A motor, nandi. Several more of them coming down the road.”

The road was a distance off. They couldn’t see it from where they were sitting, which also meant someone down on the road couldn’t see them up here.

“Coming from the north, nadi?”

“Yes, nandi.” Lucasi looked a little doubtful. “Can you not hear it?”

“Human hearing is less keen,” he said. “So is our sight after sunset. You are my ears, day and night, nadi. What do you hear?”

“One would guess several heavy vehicles, nandi,” Lucasi said in a very low voice, and all the while they could hear intermittent booming and thumping from the north. “One would say a force of some strength is moving.”

That was good news and bad.

And after a glance toward the west, and with a second worried look: “Forgive my lack of experience, nandi, but one fears worse trouble than trucks. There may also be a general and much quieter movement overland if they are too many for the transport available and if they have chosen to scout out a retreat. We need to find a place to lie very low.”

“But Banichi and the others must still be able to find us, nadi.”

“One will try to assure that they can do so, nandi.” Lucasi set his hands against the ground, a three-point stance, and hurled himself to his feet, dragging his crutch with him—the benefit of a young body in good shape. Bren made a slower, more pained try, and Lucasi gave him a hand and a gentle pull to help him up. “One will try to work back—”

Lucasi stopped suddenly, looking to the north and aloft.

Bren began to hear, faintly, both the heavy growl of engines to the west and an engine far more high-pitched, faster moving, up above.

“Small plane,” Bren said, and followed Lucasi, still carefully, footprint for footprint, in a quest for a hiding place, a grassy low spot, anything that might conceal them from aerial observation. Lucasi was heading for a clump of berry bushes, thorny, but the only cover there was close; and by now the plane was close and maybe following the road for navigation. Its elevation would lay out the entire dome of rock like a map.

All of a sudden the pitch of the sound shifted. It was coming at them. Bren looked up and saw it.

“Nandi!” Lucasi urged him, and came back for him.

It was yellow, bright yellow, that little plane. And Bren knew that plane, that noisy little engine, and the pilot, right down to the white sun-blaze on the nose. He raised a hand and waved as the plane roared by.

“Nandi!”

“That is Dur, nadi!” he said, his spirits soaring, as that plane flew on a departing diagonal toward Kajiminda, waggling its wings and swooping low as if to taunt the convoy on the road. But it was not for the convoy, that signal, that wild risk of ground fire. “He has seen us!