High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,93
now. She wanted to do some physical damage to these people, and she took a step back and turned away, hands still on her hips, to try and breathe through it.
She heard Iver and Donaldson speaking behind her, Iver letting the captain know about the two factions fighting over the shield engine, the uncertainty they had over who was in charge at the camp at the moment, or how many people either side had.
And then she heard something else.
She turned slowly on her heel, looking toward the heart of the Spikes.
“They're coming back.” She said it softly, almost to herself, and no one heard her. “They are coming back!”
She ran the few steps to Iver, grabbed his arm, and pulled him away from the Sig. “The Dynastra is coming back.”
Iver didn't hesitate to move with her, and to their credit, the Special Forces team seemed to realize what that meant, because even though they might not have been able to hear the Dynastra yet, they reacted as well, moving away.
And when they could hear the approach of the runner's engine, they really started to move.
The unmistakable sound of an SD3 launching had one of the Special Forces soldiers swearing, and she realized she still wasn't over them shooting her down because she didn't feel sorry for him in the least.
The Sig ignited behind them, and then something scooped her up and threw her down the path, where she landed face down in the short pale green ground cover and felt the heat of the explosion ripple over her back.
She turned her head, found Iver lying a little way behind her, groaning as he lifted up on his elbows.
“Hana?” The panic in his voice was her incentive to push upright herself.
“I'm fine.”
She looked up, saw the Dynastra was circling the camp, shooting laz fire at the ruin.
“Bret's still in charge there, then. At least of the ruin. They're trying to kill as many as they can so Craven's people can go in and take the few who are left.” She rolled slowly to her feet.
“I don't think they'll risk blowing up the ruin, in case they damage the shield engine, but they don't seem to mind damaging it.” Iver pulled himself up, too, and staggered over to her.
“Sugotti.” It was Donaldson. “What do I need to know?”
“Your people all right?” Iver asked, his arm hardening around Hana's waist when she would have wriggled free.
“A few minor injuries, but your pilot's warning saved them.” Donaldson's gaze rested for a moment on Iver's hand on her thigh and then seemed to shrug it off. “Who is shooting at who?”
“We think some of the escapees from Garmen--former Cores Company shareholders--are the ones directing the Dynastra. They're trying to kill the other group, who are probably all holed up in the ruin, so they can go in and grab the shield engine.”
“And the ones in the ruin? They aren't friendly, either, you say?”
“No. They're former Faldine rebels, looking to use the shield for their own purposes as well.”
“Quite the mess.” Donaldson didn't seem to mind, though. She said it with relish.
While she'd been speaking to them, her people gathered around, waiting for instructions, and the soldier Hana had torn a strip off ended up next to her.
“So, where'd you get the antique?”
She looked over at him with dislike.
“Hey, don't be like that. I'm sorry we shot you down, but you said you were flying an antique, and I've never seen anything like that before. It looks pretty new to me.”
“Well, it's not.” Argh. She wanted to stay mad with them all, but her sense of outrage was seeping away. She gave him what she considered a cordial nod, and tried to catch up on what she'd missed of Iver and Donaldson's conversation.
“Spread out, take down everyone you come in contact with around the camp, without injury if possible. None of them are friendlies.” Donaldson left it at that, and the thirty strong team melted off in various directions.
“Are you able to contact the VSC for another Sig?” Hana asked Donaldson, who seemed to have decided to stick with her and Iver.
“The Sig is set up to send a distress signal if it's destroyed,” Donaldson said.
“Even in a high magfield, like here?”
Donaldson paused, gave a slow nod. “I think so. It would have been propelled upward to two thou above the ground and then begun transmission. We were told it should work on Faldine in all but the worst areas, or the deadzones, obviously.”
Hana nodded, relaxing