13'Sao-La
13'Sao-La cancelled sprint for the others, then himself, and slowed to a lope. They had run to
meet the Governor in this plowed field as planned, but he had departed without them. His aircraft
screamed away without heed. More important matters must have taken Governor Pi. Maybe he had
flown to aid Governor Nu, busy with her ghost-troops poised within the fey-banyan.
As Rollkeeper, 13'Sao-La would have to seek another way for his team of spies and saboteurs to
rejoin the Power Combine. Rejoin before the ghost-troops broke open Ganj Dareh. Rejoin to help
wield the sledge of the New Order. Quickly, he cannied no means other than more running. No
trains led there. No roads. He angled toward the fey-banyan that skirted the field as it skirted
all of Ganj Dareh. Ghost-troops filled that forest, ready to squeeze. Their sentries would
intercept and bring 13'Sao-La and his team home.
"Heed!" 10'Buitre called and pointed.
Anshin patrolcraft squatted at the far end of the field. Two sat overcome by stillness, as though
dead beside the alert of the other, its lights beating like a pulse.
13'Sao-La recce'd for the crews, always nearby. There, one 'stick, by uniform, scurried. Another,
not a 'stick, not even an anshin, crouched over a body, partly naked, maybe anshin, maybe uniform.
In between, still another body, no uniform, thus no anshin. All vulnerable by previous harm, by
current distraction. A boon to his team, a final coup to take before fading into a tsunami of
victory. 13'Sao-La angled again. The others followed, spreading at his signal to envelop, six to
a side.
Distance sullied surprise. The 'stick soon cannied their approach. Quickly, he gestured plans and
broke for intercept, all very tersely. Bulge had been cut down, their advantage maybe lost
altogether, for this 'stick would be calling for help, and with the Em-Deh crystal around them,
other anshin, fresh from their victories at the Ready Rooms, would soon re-inforce this lone
spoiler.
Vex left over from the day stoked 13'Sao-La again, its taut torquing his jaws like hot wires.
Returning to the Governor had hidden that load. Missing a ride with the Governor had not stirred
it again. Planning their escape by foot had stuffed it even further away. Finding targets of
opportunity had almost cured it. But losing this coup juiced it once more.
This morning, the boon of his can-feel with the Governor and his command to prickle Ganj Dareh with
unrest. Just now, regroup from flying to running at another command from the Governor. In
between? High vex from between. A long day that failed to canny. At first, the Voiceless had
risen to virtual and physical news of mutants. The ollomani, lacing through the direvnya like
disease vectors, roused posse after posse, sending them toward Skeinswift as the nest for these
monsters. Yet each mob crumbled in the face of counter-posses, like cliffs dispelling
dust-devils. How could these Voiceless work to keep their slavery? How could they stoic to the
threat among them?
Finally, 13'Sao-La had taken their attack into Skeinswift itself, seeking the mutants, seeking to
lay ripped and bloody bodies before the virtual eyes of Ganj Dareh and let that proof stir what
words had failed. But they had found no mutants after all. He did not imagine them! In fact, the
Voiceless there had roused against the ollomani with strange intensity, very like the family in the
park this morning.
Scampering ahead of Voiceless who could not whelm them, retreating lest pounce anshin who would
defeat them, the ollomani had targeted the can-feel with the Governor and a future full of their
own whelm. Now they should withdraw yet again. The Kata-for-Retreat told him it was better to run
away and fight another day.
13'Sao-La yielded to this reasoning reluctantly. He raised a hand to send them all pelting into
the fey-banyan, yet ... that 'stick came at them in a familiar manner, a manner that promised him
the greatest boon of all. They held course, and the promise crystalled. He recognized that Harlan
heeded their threat and came to fight them.
Singing out his tale, 13'Sao-La claimed the fight. You take the rest, he told the others. They
stretched their line to obey.
Harlan! This time, no rules would prevent. No Authorities would sully. This time, he, 13'Sao-La,
would honor Harlan with death in combat as he had honored 8'Issaw. Today was a good day for
Harlan to die. And tomorrow would be a good day for all the Voiceless in Ganj Dareh.
Another mother rule had emerged: rigid earned rewards. Tomorrow as well as today.
They swept toward each other, both running easily. 13'Sao-La gandered only Harlan and saw when the
'stick cannied their joined fate. 13'Sao-La sped up toward the engagement.
Harlan did not. Instead, he suddenly wove a complex sprint that feinted the other ollomani, drew
them in with shouted challenges, then shied away. Harlan crossed their spread twice, turning them
from 13'Sao-La's orders, bunching them once more.
Vex sparked again from its smolder. 13'Sao-La commanded again. The other ollomani reset their aim
for the others Harlan protected, now gathering at the live aircraft. Harlan swung wide left in
response, taunting that outrider with shouts heaved from fatigued lungs, feinted away, then bore
down, a barreling, thundering attack with dreamstick-as-baton. 19'Yaguarete stammered in surprise,
faltered in his Kata-for-Surrounding-Attack, and fell beneath the blow.
13'Sao-La roared disbelief, shouted his protest. "To me, Harlan, to me! We fight today as we
promised. To me!"
Instead, Harlan ignored the challenge, roared up the line of ollomani, swinging hard to down them
one at a time. 13'Sao-La raced to intercept, past two ollomani while Harlan dropped another. Past
another who stuttered to a halt while 14'Gullahjumba, the last olloman now between them, wheeled
into a parry kick. Harlan ducked beneath, swatted the wandering leg high and away, and dug the
baton into the woman's gut.
13'Sao-La sprang to close at that same moment, while Harlan and his weapon were compromised.
13'Sao-La swung his pachcab at the exposed neck. Harlan flinched a shoulder to intervene, but not
completely. He staggered a step, then lost his baton to 14'Gullahjumba's clutch as she fell.
Now they confronted, as 13'Sao-La had schemed all these days, as he had pretended while killing
other anshin, as he had hoped for nothing else since running away from his father and leaving his
mother to bear his abuse alone. Only Harlan — and the Governors — had given him respect, and
Harlan — not the Governors — would die for that.
Lungs laboring, Harlan slipped sideways, circling from 13'Sao-La's threat. He had actioned harder
here, prepared less before, lived longer zhuhndí, and back-pedaled now to regain some of what he
had expended.
13'Sao-La closed to apply Shock before bulge slipped away as it had all day. Harlan turned to meet
it, then dodged, just in time. His slap stung 13'Sao-La's cheek, fed his vex. He spun to follow.
Harlan stretched the gap, slowed to rest. 13'Sao-La charged.
"Hey, I thought you wanted to take me alone!" Harlan vexed.
13'Sao-La stretched a step to canny these words, match them to his team's deploy. No ollomani
stalked, though three fell back from an escaping aircraft. A loss there, a ruse here. Harlan's
grin revealed as he dumped another ollomani, fist crushing throat, and faced 13'Sao-La over a
shoulder.
Vex wrung 13'Sao-La's neck, but he did not charge once more. He yielded Shock to Control for a
later, but more certain Destroy. He signalled for a more focused Kata-for-Surrounding-Attack. He
dashed to cut off Harlan's only retreat.
Instead, Harlan plunged into the surround. Three near-side ollomani shifted angles,
bunched as they reworked the kata, fell as Harlan blocked down, body as Shock, punches as Control,
kicks for Disable, no time for true Destroy, leaving a gap in the surround.
Harlan, too, had heeded the aircraft. completely airborne, his stall complete. Now he fled.
Now 13'Sao-La chased, howling demand at his team, effecting their dashes, affecting their surround,
more canny this time.
Instead, Harlan halted at a random spot in the lumpy field. He reared back for better breathing.
He pivoted for recce and heeded each Enemy for skill and attitude. He added a glare to his recce
of 13'Sao-La and tossed his head to renew challenge, but before he could choose the weakest,
13'Sao-La called for contain. The other ollomani halted and braced to cover an arc of the
surround. Moving, they gapped. Settled, they locked to sully escape, six containing one.
Harlan threw up his hands, not in surrender, but challenge. "OK, OK, you wanted a fight. Now
you've got one. Just you and me, mano a mano. You think you can take me by yourself, come on
then. Come on!"
Instead, 13'Sao-La signalled converge. He had discovered another mother rule: take victory any
way you can.
