Part 17 (1/2)

Lauren made a mental note to examine him in the morning. 'Keep an eye on him, Gary. Make sure he doesn't overwork himself. Everything we do revolves around him.'

'Sure.'

Lauren yawned. 'I'm tired myself. I think I'll hit the sack. Is Bill talking to Houston?'

'Yeah,' Gary mumbled, preoccupied. The United States had spent billions for them to come to this forsaken place, and he spent his time reading fiction.

'I kind of wanted to talk to Jim before I went to bed,' she said, mostly to herself. 'Gary? Did he say what the wind was up to before he lay down?'

'Seventy-nine miles an hour.'

'Is that dangerous?'

'If it gets any higher, yes.'

'What would we do then?'

'Leave,' Gary said.

The word had a nice ring to it. 'I have to admit I kind of miss old Earth already.'

Gary turned a page in his book. 'If we leave here, we just go to where the Russians landed. We just go there.'

'Oh. Yeah. I hadn't forgotten.'

Strong hands gripped her neck, choking off her air. She needed to scream but she couldn't breathe. They were smothering her!

'Don't touch me!' she finally managed to cry, bolting upright in bed. The relief was instantaneous. She had been asleep. Now she was awake. She was safe. Gary was sitting on her bed. Jim stood at his back.

'What is it?' she asked, dazed.

'I didn't mean to wake you so roughly,' Gary said.

Lauren noticed it was still dark. They had not turned on the light. Jessica was no longer in her bed. 'Why are you two up?'

'Listen,' Jim said.

Lauren couldn't believe she hadn't noticed the sound at first. Whatever she had been dreaming about had muddled her whole brain. It sounded as if the Hawk was getting sandblasted in preparation for a new coat of paint.

'How bad is it?' she asked.

'The sand has stripped away our exterior paint,' Jim said. 'Our communications are filled with static. I can't even measure the speed of the wind. We have to get out of here.'

'Can you do it, Gary?' she asked.

Gary stood, and paced uneasily in the cramped quarters. 'Not if it gets any worse. I would prefer to wait until it dies down, but Bill is worried that dust may filter into our engines. I see his point. If that happens, we'll never get out of here.'

'But can we blast off in this wind?' she asked. 'Won't we wobble?'

'Wobble?' Gary said. 'We'll have our guts twisted inside out.' He stepped to the door. 'I've got to start my checks.' He left.

Wearing only her underwear and her oversized Houston Oiler jersey, Lauren got up and followed Jim to the porthole. 'Where's Jessie?' she asked.

'Upstairs with Bill. He's trying to consult with Houston. He's not having much luck.' Jim checked his watch. 'Two hours before sunrise. Are you fully awake, Lauren? Gary had to shake you hard before you opened your eyes.'

'We Wagners are funny sleepers,' Lauren said, thinking of Jennifer. She pointed out the porthole. 'What about our equipment?'

'We have the jeep and Hummingbird aboard. The rest will have to fend for itself.' Jim shook his head. 'It's incredible, this storm. The Rover didn't detect winds one-fifth this magnitude.'

'How will the Tharsis region be?' Lauren asked.

'It's mountainous, it should be fairly well-sheltered. Of course, we won't know how extensive the storm is until we're in s.p.a.ce and looking down.' Jim pressed his face against the porthole. 'It's gone.'

'What?' Lauren asked.

'Our flag. Mars buried it.'

'Maybe the planet's trying to give us a hint to get out of here while the going's good.'

'Maybe,' Jim said softly. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. 'Or maybe it's trying to trick us into going somewhere else.'

BOOK_THREE.

The Fire.

SIXTEEN.

Excerpts from Jennifer Wagner's Story.

The Sastra were losing. Six days they had battled the Asurians on the open desert, and already half their people were dead. Now the enemy was pus.h.i.+ng into the mountains, from where they would be in position to sweep into the Garden and destroy them all. The Sastra were being overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and by a numbing poison the Asurians inflicted through rains of piercing darts. Of the children that still survived, many had been wounded, and carried back to the Garden, where Chaneen tended them with the powers of her mysterious touch. Dread weighed heavily upon her heart. She knew it would not be much longer before Kratine himself came forth and led his army to final victory.

Chaneen knelt by the body of a fallen warrior, her sister Janier standing silently at her back. During the first days of battle, they had cared for the wounded within the palace. But now there were too many. This man had been laid in a nearby meadow. He was unconscious, and his flesh burned with fever. He had a deep gash in his neck, where the Asurians were known to bite. His hastily wrapped bandage was soaked with blood. Worse, Chaneen saw that his right arm was dark and swollen. He had been struck by an Asurian dart. At first the name of the poison had eluded Chaneen. But now she recognized it as nothing more than Asurian water. Water that brought agonizing death to her children. - Chaneen put her right palm on the warrior's forehead and took his numb arm with her other hand. She closed her eyes, sensing the man's life ebbing away. Summoning her powers, she began to 'take on' his pain, and bring him back. But as his strength grew, her own weakness increased. Where he bled, she hurt. Her own right arm turned cold and lifeless. In her thoughts came the horror of the beast that had chewed at the man's neck, and the memory of how the Asurian, in turn, had perished from an arrow through his chest moments after attacking the man. But it was a scene Chaneen had suffered through too many times in the last few days, and she began to feel faint. Janier caught her in strong arms as she slipped to the ground, and removed her hands from the warrior. Chaneen felt momentary relief. Yet she resisted Janier's help.

'Do not stop me, Janier,' she said. 'He is near death. I must hold him, and bring him back to us.'

Her sister gave her no heed and moved her further away. 'You are weary, Chaneen. You must rest. It is too late for this man, anyway. He will surely die.'

Chaneen nodded weakly. 'But I must help him, if only to ease his pains.'

'Rest first, for a few moments.'

Chaneen sighed and looked to the west. The sky was filled with smoke, the mountain tops invisible behind clouds of ash. The sun could hardly be found. She had sent instructions to Tier to set fire to the trees, with the hope of gaining them more time. At first, instinctively, the Asurians had retreated, and the Sastra had been given a day's respite. But seeing that it was only the fire of man, and not the wrath of the Fire Messenger, they had re-attacked in earnest. At night the mountains burned with red flame, and watching from her palace, Chaneen would be reminded of Kratine's eyes. And every morning came news that the Asurians were closer.

'Has word come from Tier today?' Chaneen asked.

'No, and I worry for him, 'Janier said. 'It is said that he always fights at the front of the battle.' She knelt by Chaneen's side. 'Would it not be possible, my Queen, to be by his side?'