'What do you want her for?' Frey asked, then remembered to add, 'Besides, she's dead.'
'I think we both know that she ain't as dead as she seems, Cap'n Frey,' said Grist. 'Don't we?'
How does he know that? Frey thought. But he never got the chance to ask. There was a short shriek of incoming artillery, and then a terrific blast, big enough to light up the night and make Frey stumble with the concussion.
'The Delirium Trigger!' someone shouted. 'She's back!'
Grist swore loudly. 'That mad bloody whore! Don't she know when she's beaten?'
The crew of the Storm Dog fled back towards their craft as the Delirium Trigger sank through the clouds, her remaining guns firing at the grounded Storm Dog. Geysers of soil rained down on the scattering Awakeners. The earth shivered with the force of the detonations.
'Your navvie!' Grist said, snarling. He was no longer quite so jovial as he thrust his pistol at Silo. 'Give her over. Now!'
Silo just stared at him and made no attempt to move.
'You got what you came for,' Frey said. Grist took a step towards her, but Frey put his hand on his chest to stop him. Grist stared at the hand, and then at Frey, in amazement.
'Dead or alive, she's one of my crew, Grist. You're not having her.'
Grist was almost quivering with fury. 'Cap'n!' said his bosun. 'There's no time!'
Grist looked over at Bess, then back at Frey. There was raw hatred in his gaze. 'You thank your stars for that tin guardian of yours,' he growled, and then he turned and ran for his craft. Crattle backed off a few steps, keeping them covered with his gun, and then he ran too.
Frey briefly thought about chasing after them, or at least shooting Grist in the back, but it was foolish. There were two dozen of the Storm Dog's men running towards their craft. No way his crew could get through a firefight like that without one of them dying, not even with Bess on their side.
'Back to the Ketty Jay!' he said. They sprinted through the long grass towards their aircraft. Rain lashed at their faces. Pounding concussions came from all around them. The Storm Dog was returning fire on the Delirium Trigger, but it was an easy target until it got into the air. A hole was blasted in its keel as the Delirium Trigger scored a direct hit.
Frey dug his silver earcuff out of his pocket and clipped it to his ear.
'—oody Equalisers coming from everywhere!' Pinn was yelling. 'Sons of bitches doubled back and the Storm Dog's outflyers are all docked up inside her!'
'Harkins! Pinn!'
'Cap'n!' said Harkins, perilously close to hysteria. 'We've been . . . that is ... I mean . . . Where've you been? Is Jez okay?'
'Listen up!'Frey snapped. 'Hightail it, both of you. You won't last two minutes against that many Equalisers.'
'You sure?' asked Pinn.
'Yes! Get to the rendezvous! We'll be right behind you.'
'See you later, then.'
By the time they reached the Ketty Jay, the Storm Dog was rising from the ground, thrusters already lit to push her forward. The Delirium Trigger was coming in fast, guns blazing. All the artillery was focused on the Storm Dog. The Ketty Jay was either unnoticed or considered unimportant. Either was fine with Frey.
He raced up the cargo ramp and headed for the cockpit. Malvery came panting along behind him while the rest of them bundled into the hold. The craft rocked with the force of nearby explosions as he flung himself into the pilot's seat, punched in the ignition code and boosted the aerium engines to maximum. She rose on her struts with the usual chorus of groans and squeaks, and lifted herself off the ground.
Malvery hurried into the cockpit, red-faced and sweating. 'Anything I can do?'
'Just hold on tight!' Frey said. Malvery clung to the doorframe and squeezed his eyes shut as Frey shoved the thrusters to maximum.
Nothing happened. Frey tried again. Still nothing. The Ketty Jay was gliding upward into the storm, but she had no way to push herself forward. The thrusters wouldn't light. The engines had finally broken down on him.
Malvery opened one eye. 'Did we escape?' he asked.
'Silo!' Frey yelled. 'Get up here!'
But it was too late. The cockpit flooded with blinding whiteness. Three Equalisers hove into view, their machine guns trained on him, lights shining.
'I think they've got us covered, Cap'n,' said Malvery.
'I think so too,' said Frey. He vented aerium until the Ketty Jay was heavier than air again. She stopped rising and began to sink gently to the ground.
In the distance he could see the Storm Dog lumbering away towards the rumbling clouds. The Delirium Trigger was harrying her the whole way, but it wasn't enough to stop her. He watched the Storm Dog disappear into the storm. With her went the sphere he'd worked so hard to obtain. Stolen from him. Again.
'Bugger,' said Malvery.
'Bugger,' Frey agreed, and they came down to earth with a bump.
Twenty-Two
'Darian, Darian, Darian,' said Trinica Dracken, as if to a wayward child. 'What am I going to do with you?'
She was wearing a slight, contemplative smile. Lightning flickered outside: sharp shadows lunged across her ghost-white face.
Frey leaned back in his chair and took an idle survey of her cabin. Brass and dark wood. Electric lights, set low. A bookcase with novels and manuals and maps. Foreign tides were mixed in among them. Trinica had been schooled in Samarlan and Thacian from a young age. The advantages of a privileged upbringing, Frey supposed.
'You could start by giving me back all the money you stole from me outside Retribution Falls,' he suggested. Then he grinned. 'On second thoughts, keep it. It'll just about cover the damage to your aircraft.'
Trinica sat behind her desk, next to a cracked window of reinforced windglass. The cabin had been tidied and cleaned before his arrival -Trinica liked to be neat - but she couldn't disguise all the evidence of the pounding the Delirium Trigger had taken. Outside in the corridor there were the sounds of running feet, and the air smelled of burnt oil.
'You shouldn't have robbed me,' said Frey. 'I let you off the first time, on account of our previous good feeling towards each other. But twice? Not a chance.'
She gave a derisive snort. 'Yes, Darian. Grist has run off with your treasure and your crew is languishing in my brig. You've certainly come out on top this time.'
'You didn't do so well yourself.'
'I'll survive.'
'So will I.'
'Ah, but that's my decision now, isn't it?' she said. Her black eyes hardened. 'You've inconvenienced me greatly.'
Frey made a do-I-look-like-I-care face. 'I didn't ask you to get involved. Actually, I seem to recall I had the sphere first.'
'You've cost me men and fighter craft. Good men, some of them.'
'Oh, piss off with your threats, Trinica,' Frey snapped. He was suddenly irritated at her. Just the sight of her
