Winter, White and Wicked - Shannon Dittemore Page 0,11
Jymy saw that night.
Mars turns on his heel, but Hyla steps in front of him, blocks his path.
“We can’t leave the Ranger like this,” she says. “He was a keeper of the law. Ignoble, but appointed by a higher authority. He deserves better.”
“We don’t have time for a funeral, Hy,” Kyn says.
“They’ll find him soon enough.” I jam my hands in my pockets, fight to keep my eyes off Jymy. “There were plenty of witnesses.”
Out on the road traffic is already starting to back up, the drivers gawking and craning to see what’s going on in the lot. Hex Landing is a busy thoroughfare, even during the Flux. The south fork leads toward the Stack where raw kol is taken and processed, while the north fork climbs higher into the mountains, leading to a string of twyl farms in constant need of supplies. Past the farms, the highway dead-ends at the Shiv Road. The farther north we go, the fewer rigs we’ll see. But this knot of traffic is going to have to be navigated first.
“I don’t like leaving him out here any more than you do,” I tell Hyla, “but we have to go. Jymy’s squad isn’t going to be happy when they see what’s happened. We need to be long past Hex Landing when they find out.”
“What does it say about us if we show this man no honor? Mars?”
For a long moment, they stare at each other, their eyes speaking a language I’ve not been taught. And then Mars nods, a simple dip of his chin. “It’ll be faster if I do it,” he says.
“Mars, really. We can’t afford—”
“Go, Miss Quine. Take Kyn and the Dragon and get in that line of rigs out there. We’ll meet you at the fork.”
I curse and turn away, and that’s when I get my first look at Mars’s trailer, hitched to the Dragon while I slept. Despite the tangle of emotions twisting my gut, I stand impressed. It has a storm-gray body with studded snow tires and a modern design that won’t look nearly so sleek after it’s trucked the Shiv Road.
And on top—
“Is that a turret gun?” I ask, climbing into the driver’s seat.
“It’s Hyla’s,” Kyn says. “She has access to all sorts of Paradyian gadgetry.”
Of course it’s Paradyian. Hyla hails from the only nation in the Wethyrd Seas that has the ability to fashion such vicious machinery. The Majority tries, but despite the technology they’ve collected in their parasitic quest to conquer the world, they just can’t compete.
“She can’t fire that up here,” I say. “She knows that, right? This isn’t Paradyia. On Layce, that thing’s an avalanche maker.”
“She won’t do anything without Mars’s say-so. Rest easy, yeah?”
We inch out onto the road and I release the latch on my window, dropping it down. The rig driver pinned in next to us has his window down as well. He’s puffing on a cigar, marking the frigid sky with smoke rings.
“Sylver Quine, is it?” His gaze lingers on the Dragon’s tank tread. “You just pull in?”
“This morning.”
I don’t know this rigger, but he’s driving a truck owned by one of the larger firms in these mountains.
“You’ve crap timing then,” he says.
“What’s happened?”
“Rebels blew the road to bits yesterday, took half that mountain with it.” He juts his chin toward the horizon. “Shut down the highway north of Hex Landing.”
My heart shrivels. “Shut down the highway?”
“Avalanche,” he says. “Don’t worry, doll. South fork’s open. It’s just going to take a mighty long time to get to it.”
“So there’s no getting out onto the Shiv Road then?” Kyn asks.
“No one’s stupid enough to truck the Shiv Road this time of year, kid.” He flicks his cigar, sending ash to the road. “But there’s no getting anywhere by that road. Not until after the Flux. Get on in here,” he says, signaling us ahead of him into the line. “I want a closer look at that trailer.”
I wave a thank you and pull the Dragon onto the road, flexing the cold from my fingers and scanning the lot for Mars and Hyla. But they’re gone. Jymy and the wolf too.
“If we can’t take the highway . . .” Kyn says.
“We’ll have to take the pass.” I yank off my stocking cap and rub my forehead. “I thought you guys were with the rebels.”
“I’m just a driver, snowflake. Mars is the one with principles.”
“He just killed a Ranger. That’s not going to go away. At some point we’ll all answer for that.”