Irisis pushed her arm to the right as far as it would go. It wasn’t far enough.
‘It’s times like this,’ said Irisis, ‘that I wish controllers could be used by more than one person.’
‘I can see the virtue in it,’ said Tiaan dryly.
‘Is the weight easing at all?’
‘A little.’
Irisis put her shoulder under the dead creature and heaved. It moved fractionally. ‘See if you can squeeze out.’
‘Not yet.’
Irisis managed to push Tiaan’s arm across a bit further, then jerked it back sharply. Another building flashed by.
‘Oops!’ Irisis said. ‘Wasn’t looking.’ She pushed it over again, the thapter banked and the lyrinx slid against the right-hand side of the compartment, dragging Tiaan with it. Irisis pushed Tiaan’s arm a fraction more. The weight eased.
Tiaan wriggled free. ‘I feel as though I’ve been crushed flat.’
A blow struck the thapter, forcing it downwards. Clinging to the controller arm, Tiaan pulled it over as far as it would go. They plunged down and to the right. She had to do it now.
‘Hang on,’ she gasped. ‘I’m going to flip.’
The thapter banked even more and the ground appeared, upside down and very near. Irisis shoved and grunted and the dead lyrinx slid out, dragging her with it – a claw had caught in her pants leg. She clung desperately to the straps. The claw tore her trousers down to the knee and came free; the lyrinx fell out of sight.
Tiaan flipped the thapter back to level and was gasping so hard that she had to close her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, thousands of enemy were converging on the thapter.
‘Oh, it hurts,’ whispered Irisis, sliding down onto the floor.
Her leg was drenched in blood. Red blood, not purple. It was typical of Irisis to say nothing about her own injury. ‘What happened?’ said Tiaan.
‘Dying spasms,’ Irisis whispered. ‘Its back claws raked up and down my leg.’
‘Is it bad?’
‘It hurts like hell. I think I’ll have a little rest.’ She pillowed her head on her hands and closed her eyes.
She’s bleeding to death like the lyrinx did, Tiaan thought. And I can’t do anything about it.
As she traced a zigzagging path across the sky between the enemy, Tiaan tapped on the lower hatch with her toe. ‘Nish!’
After a long while the hatch lifted. ‘Yes?’ His voice was as pale as Irisis’s face.
‘See to Irisis’s leg. She’s bleeding badly.’ Pushing the controller forward as hard as it would go, she streaked for the safety of the clouds.
Nish came up and began to tear cloth into strips.
‘Tiaan,’ squelched the farspeaker. ‘Tiaan?’
Flydd again. ‘We’re alive and we got the job done,’ she said. ‘We’re coming home.’
‘We lost the other thapter west of Thurkad,’ said Flydd sombrely.
‘What happened?’
‘A flying lyrinx shot Pilot Mittiloe with an aerial crossbow as they were coming in for the attack; can you believe it? The others got a message off before the thapter crashed. They didn’t get near the air shaft.’
Mittiloe had been Kattiloe’s little sister, one of the fourteen-year-old twins. She’d been so proud of her machine. The other pilots would be devastated, as was Nish. He was weeping in dry spasms.
‘What?’ said Tiaan, realising that Flydd was still speaking. ‘I didn’t catch that.’
‘I said, have you still got the spare barrel of spores?’
Tiaan was tempted to say no. How could he ask more of them? ‘It’s down below.’
‘Good. Go to Thurkad and do the job there.’
‘Can we come home then?’ she said with a hint of sarcasm.
‘Of course not. You’ll have to keep watch, at least a week, and tell us what the effects are. If any.’
‘What do you mean?’ she said.
‘I’m not confident that it’s going to work,’ said Flydd.
‘Oh. How did the other attacks go?’
‘Against the cities in the east? Well enough – they all got their spores in. So if you can do the same …’
‘We’ll do our best,’ she said and thumped the farspeaker to end the conversation. ‘Whatever we do, it’s never good enough. How’s Irisis?’
‘She’ll live,’ said Nish, who looked ghastly. He had two cuts across his forehead, still ebbing blood, one eye had a crusted red ring around it, and more blood was smeared across his cheek and the back of his hand.
‘And how are you?’
‘My head’s still ringing but I’m all right. Is any of that blood yours?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘Ugh! It reeks.’
FIFTY-FOUR
Tiaan flew north at full speed until the lyrinx turned back, then kept going. The mountains curved away to the west,