第36节

buddy frame. Can you do that - and get into the bag?"

'Sure. No problem."

'Okay, go for it! Gus and I'll get your friend stowed away and I'll be

right with you."

Jodi dodged round the back of Gus's plane, crouched by the propeller

then darted towards the second Skyhawk. Zzzzzzwheeeeee! Another

crossbow bolt flashed past her. Then a couple more, overhead this

time, wider of the mark. Zzzzwheeeezzzzzwheeeee!

The lumps behind the crossbows must have realized those four planes

were now coming down to nail their asses.

A voice came into her mind. Insistent. Demanding.

Reminding her of something she had to do. Yes, of course. It all made

sense. This wasn't an attack. Nobody was meant to be killed. This

was a diversion, to draw away the attention of those who might not

understand while she helped her friends . . .

It might have seemed like a lifetime to Gus and the others who were

pinned down on the ground but the four orbiting Skyhawks were on the

case in under thirty seconds. The delay was due to the fact that Blue

Four, flown by Sheela Cray, had to give Hartmann a rapid sit-rep

before she could obtain clearance to lay down covering fire. But now,

at last, it was open season for Mutes. Cray, who was leading the

attack on the left hand section of the wood, switched on the electric

motor that would spin the six barrels of the Thor needle-gun and placed

her right thumb on the firing button. When she pressed it, Thor would

spit out a deadly hail of razor-sharp flechettes at the rate of twelve

hundred rounds a minute.

In the target area below, the twelve Kojak Mutes were already on the

move, racing back deeper into the wood and converging on the crude

shelter of woven saplings they had built during the night to Cadillac's

instructions whilst he and the other Sky Travellers had been busy

elsewhere.

Steve and Cadillac were still in the danger zone, locked in violent

argument and on the verge of coming to blows. Clearwater, temporarily

forgotten by both men and oblivious to their presence, stood several

yards away, eyes closed, feet apart, hands on thighs, face turned

towards the sky, her mind turned to something beyond it.

'What the hell is going on?" raged Steve. 'I thought you were in

control of these people I' 'Calm down! They know what the score is.

Nobody's been killed. All they did was take a few pot shots!"

'A few pot shots!? Those apes nearly wrecked the whole fuggin'

exercise!"

'Don't you understand!? These guys are warriors, Brickman! That's the

enemy out there. There's a question of pride involved here. The

honour of the clan!

It took a lot of arguing to get them to hold back. I had to agree to

let them make this gesture of defiance."

'Yeah? I suppose it didn't occur to you that the guys up there might

respond with a little gesture of their own!"

'In that case we'd better get going." Cadillac reached out to take

hold of Steve's arm.

Steve brushed his hand aside and turned towards Clearwater.

Cadillac grabbed him firmly. 'Don't interfere, Brickman! She knows

what she's doing!"

Clearwater's body shook as the initial jolt of earth power entered

through the soles of her feet and travelled upwards to meet a similar

charge that came funnelling down from the sky like an invisible

lightning bolt. The muscles in her body hardened, the sinews became

taut, her face turned into an implacable mask and when her eyes snapped

open, they glowed with an intensity as terrifying as the legendary

Medusa of ancient Greece, part-bird, part-beast, part-woman whose gaze

turned men to stone.

Her arms shot forwards and upwards, the index fingers pointing towards

the two oncoming planes and the shrill ululating cry that was the mark

of a summoner burst from her lips. An inhuman, unearthly sound,

impossible to describe. Heart-stopping, gut-shrivelling,

brain-piercing.

A sound that left an indelible scar in the minds of those who heard it,

turning bones to jelly and blood to water.

As she had learned in Ne-Issan, Clearwater could only enter the minds

of others if a door was open, but she had no need to confront those

whose blood lust was roused and whose killer