D. MacHale - The Soldiers of Halla

Kasha smiled. “Thank you, Boon. We understand the risks.”

“Then when do we leave?” he asked.

“How about yesterday?” was my obnoxious answer.

The three of us made our way quickly across the sky bridges, headed for the tree that housed the hangar where the gigs were stored. Kasha and I had flown one of the small, two-seater helicopters to Black Water once before, and ended up in a dogfight over the jungle with other, more-experienced gig pilots. We won. I hoped that she was just as sharp with her flying skills as she’d been back then. No, what I really hoped for was that she wouldn’t have to use those skills again. An uneventful flight would be just fine. But first we had to get a gig.

The trip back was easy. I kept the tarp over my head and couldn’t see much. Kasha and Boon more or less led me along. I’m sure we got plenty of strange glances, but nobody stopped us. The gig hangar was in the same spot as I remembered, but as with the rest of Leeandra, it had changed. My memory of the place was that it was a massive space hollowed out from one of the monster trees, high in the air. One whole side of the tree was open, under which a launch platform was built out over the city. Launching a gig meant wheeling it out from inside the tree and onto the platform, and taking off from there. All of that was the same… but there was more. The first change I noticed was that when we reached the doorway that led into the back of the hangar, there were no guards.

“What happened to the increased security?” I asked.

Boon shrugged. “I don’t know, Pendragon. I clean sewers. They don’t discuss those details with me.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.”

“Perhaps they don’t need security anymore,” Kasha said soberly. “The gigs may all be gone to support the army.”

“Let’s find out,” I said, and dropped the tarp for the last time. I hoped.

I boldly went for the wooden door that led into the hangar. Opening it cautiously, I was met with darkness.

“I don’t get it,” I said softly, for fear there were Ravinians inside. “Are we in the right place?”

“Yes,” Boon answered. “There is no other hangar.”

“Then why is it dark? The opening where they launch the gigs is huge.”

Kasha didn’t wait for the answer that Boon didn’t have. She pushed past me and into the hangar.

It was definitely the same hangar, but with one big difference. The opening through which the gigs were launched now had massive doors that looked to be made from bamboo. They were closed. I waited for my eyes to adjust, which was something Kasha and Boon didn’t have to worry about. After all, they were cats.

“The gigs are here,” Kasha whispered.

My eyes hadn’t adjusted enough to make out any detail, but I could sense that the room was full. That was a relief. At least the klees weren’t planning another aerial attack on Black Water. The gigs were there for the taking. But it wouldn’t be easy. Not only were the giant doors shut, the helicopters were powered by crystals fueled by light from the sunbelt. Good news was that it was daytime, without a cloud in the sky. Bad news was that it wouldn’t matter how much light there was outside if we couldn’t open those doors to get at it.

“Look,” Kasha said, pointing high above.

I saw a room two stories up, built out from the hangar wall. It looked like a control room with an open balcony surrounding it. My guess was that it was a flight tower where they coordinated the gig launches. A light was on inside the room. I clearly saw a klee sitting inside.

Kasha continued, “I would guess the hangar doors are controlled from up there.”

My eyes had adjusted enough to see that there was a set of open stairs built against the wall that led up to the control room. The way to go seemed obvious.

“Find a gig,” I said to Kasha. “Boon and I will go up there and open the doors. As soon as the light comes in, power up.”

“You cannot fight a klee,” Kasha warned.

I grabbed Kasha’s forager weapon that she always had strapped to her back. It was a long wooden stick much like the ones Loor and the Batu warriors used.

“I can fight one klee,” I said.

“And I’ll be with him,” Boon added.

“Even so, we can’t fight a bunch of klees,” I cautioned. “Once things start getting nasty, we’ve got to get out of here fast.”

Kasha nodded. There wasn’t any more to be discussed. I tapped Boon on the back and motioned for him to head for the stairs. We wound our way through the gigs, trying to hide from the eyes of the klee up above in the control room. If there was one thing we needed, it was surprise. If that klee thought he was being attacked, I’d bet anything that there was an alarm he could sound and bring others running. We had to be quiet and fast and out of there before he knew what hit him, which hopefully would be the end of Kasha’s stick.

At the bottom of the stairs I stopped Boon to strategize.

“Get him to come outside onto the balcony,” I instructed.

“Are you sure?” Boon asked, uncertain. “I know you’re brave, Pendragon, but you’re not a warrior.”

I almost laughed. I probably would have if I hadn’t been afraid of alerting the klee.

“Boon,” I whispered. “A lot has changed since we were together. Just get him outside.”

I think he sensed my confidence and didn’t question me again. The klee pounced up the stairs on all fours. Though he moved quietly, the stairs rattled under his weight. The klee in the control room would know pretty quickly that somebody was coming up. Hopefully, when he saw another klee, he wouldn’t think anything bad was about to happen to him… because something bad was about to happen to him. The stairs twisted and turned as we climbed. I kept one section of stairs between us, thinking that if the klee came out to see who was coming up, he’d see Boon and not me.

When Boon was almost to the top, he gave me a quick look. I waved as if to say, “Go for it.” He continued on up to the balcony, where a closed door led into the room. He didn’t open it. Instead, he walked around on the balcony to the front of the room, where there were two large windows that looked out from the control room onto the hangar floor. I could lean out, look up, and see Boon as he rapped on the glass. I couldn’t see the klee inside, but I saw Boon gesture for him to come outside.

This was it. I crouched low on the stairs. Directly above me was the door into the room. As soon as the klee came out and turned to round toward Boon, I’d have my chance to spring from behind and knock him into next week.

The door opened. The klee came storming out, looking angry. I guess he didn’t like having surprise visitors knocking on his window. I was close enough to see that he wore a red Ravinian guard uniform. I stayed low, hoping he wouldn’t see me on the stairs. He walked around the balcony to the front, where Boon waited for him.

“Who are you?” the klee demanded to know. “This is a restricted area. You are not authorized to be-”

Before he could finish the sentence, I jumped up onto the balcony and clocked him on the side of the head. Hard. My plan had worked. Everything went perfectly, except that the klee barely reacted, other than to stop talking. Uh-oh. The klee slowly turned around to see what had hit him, so I hit him again. Whack. Right on the side of his cat head. The klee’s head snapped to the side, but he wasn’t hurt. My first thought was that it was impossible. I had nailed the guy with two blows that should have crushed him. The truth hit back a second later.

“Dado,” I gasped.

The cat jumped at me, paws up, claws out. I was so stunned that I barely moved. By all rights the thing should have torn me apart, but Boon jumped at the klee and tackled him from behind. The dado klee hit the floor of the balcony with Boon on top of him.