Adrian Tchaikovsky - Blood of the Mantis

Parops shrugged. ‘If I were in her position, I would do the same. It is a tool she needs to defend her city-state, to counter her enemies.’

‘And after the war it will become a tool with which to attack her enemies in the Lowlands – or that is what they’re all thinking,’ Stenwold said. ‘Everyone thinks that you can just stop history…’ He looked at his hands miserably. ‘The fact is that, win or lose, the cursed thing is here . He built it, and it’s here, and the world is different for it. Worse for it, too, I’ll freely admit, but once a few have gone astray, once the Wasps lose a battle or if a thief makes off with one, then it won’t be long before everyone has engineered their own.’

‘Everyone Apt,’ Arianna pointed out. ‘Some of us wouldn’t know where to start.’

‘I thought your kin employed… people to do that sort of thing for you?’ Parops said.

‘But the Moth-kinden? And the Mantids? They’ve been trying to hold back time for five hundred years,’ she said. ‘You can imagine what they think of this.’

‘Is that what they’re saying out in the Foreigners’ Quarter?’ Stenwold asked her.

‘They’re saying all manner of things, Stenwold, but it’s a pattern I recognize. They’re saying that the Vekken are going to attack here simultaneously when the Wasps do, and that Sarn should finish Vek off for good. They’re saying that the Assembly of Collegium will fold if the Empire comes against it, and will then make a deal to betray Sarn. They’re saying that the Ancient League will try to bring back the bad old days, and then make everyone slaves of the Moths.’

‘Nothing unexpected then.’

‘It’s exactly the sort of thing we were spreading, back when…’

She did not finish the sentence, but he understood. Perhaps Parops did not know that she had been Rekef originally, but he was the only one in the room that did not.

‘So you think the Wasps are active here.’

‘It would be surprising if they weren’t,’ she said. ‘They’re no fools, after all. They’ll want to use our age-old enmities to break up this alliance, and they’ve got a lot of raw material to use. Half of the ambassadors are only here to keep eyes on their old enemies.’

‘I won’t believe that,’ Stenwold said, with more force than hope. ‘I can’t believe that. This must work. We have no other option. Everyone is thinking about what might happen after the war is won, but without an alliance we won’t win the war! How can they not see that?’

‘Because they’re Lowlanders,’ said Arianna. She went to stand behind Stenwold, putting her hands on his shoulders and kneading the tension there. ‘I hate to say it, Sten, but you Lowlanders all look out on the world with one eye closed. Even you, Sten. You look a little further, but it’s still mostly inwards. In the Spiderlands we look in all directions, see all possibilities. Our brand of politics teaches us that. Even the Empire looks outwards: it’s young, aggressive, pushing at the borders all the time. That’s why it’s here.’

‘So what are we going to do?’ he asked quietly. ‘What do I say, when the Queen of Sarn demands this wretched invention? Who do I betray?’

‘So long as it’s not me, and it’s not yourself,’ Arianna told him, ‘I trust you to make the right decision.’

A Sarnesh servant arrived then, almost on cue.

‘Master Maker,’ he announced, ‘the Queen is ready for your private audience.’

Stenwold glanced at his fellows and took up the prototype snapbow. Who do I betray? There was no answer, and yet he was running out of time to avoid that question.

‘Lead on, Master…?’ he said, because he had no idea which of the Sarnesh this servant was.

‘My name is Lyrus, Master Maker,’ the servant said cordially. ‘If you would please come with me.’

Taki had used her second chute to rewind her engines, and Che was beginning to wonder how much longer her own machine would keep running. They were currently out over the middle of the Exalsee, a broad and island-studded expanse of sun-dappled water. That was when Taki suddenly pulled back, and Che could see her gesturing wildly, shouting something that could not be heard over rush of wind and the Stormcry ’s low growl.

What? I’m clear of the water , was Che’s first thought. Taki was still gesturing, though, swinging closer and then further away to try and convey some urgent message. Che almost thought she could hear her Fly companion’s high voice over the engine’s throb.

Despite herself, she looked down, and felt a chill as she noticed a shape in the water, a great dark ellipse. It was not some fish or water monster, though, but simply a huge shadow.

She looked up to see an airship drifting high above them, shimmering blue and silver and reflecting all the colours of the sky. The words of the Creev came back to her: How are they getting in? But, of course, an airship the same colour as the sky might go many places and not be seen.

At first she thought its pontoons bore four engines, but then she saw them fall away from the main craft, accelerating towards her. Orthopters: four of them.

A moment later she saw a finger-sized hole punched through the fabric of the Stormcry ’s wing and realized they were shooting at her.

Taki threw the Esca Volenti round in a tight turn, wings beating furiously. Without thinking, her hands were releasing the catches that engaged the cogs of the rotary piercer mounted in front of her. With a low whine the weapon began to spin.

The sky arced round before her as, in her mind, Taki began working out how long she had left before her engine began to run down.

She could see Che making swift headway in the Stormcry , but two of the Wasp orthopters were stooping on her fast. Even in that moment of crisis, Taki had to admire the steepness of their approach. It looked as though the Empire could muster a few decent aviators, and that would make this contest more interesting. If Che had not been caught in the middle of it she would be enjoying herself already, but Che was no fighting pilot, not one ready to perform the dance of the dragonflies over the waters of the Exalsee. Even now she was dropping lower and lower, casting the Stormcry towards the nearest island in the hope of some kind of cover, but Taki was well aware that she would not be able to win out that way. This was not like land-fighting, and cover was good only for moments at a time during a dragon-fight.

She saw a minute glitter as the lead Wasp orthopter loosed its weapons, and she prepared to dive in on him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she put two and two together and came up with four. Four imperial orthopters had dropped from the airship’s mountings, which meant that the other two were…

She flung the Esca sideways in the air, virtually spinning on a wingtip. One orthopter rushed past her and a bolt of energy flashed from its pilot’s hand, scorching a smouldering line across the wood and canvas of the Esca ’s wing. Then the long darts of ballista bolts were slanting past her, and she danced her craft back and forth, ducking the other orthopter’s shots. In her mind a clock was running, calculating just how long Che could hope to last without Taki’s intervention.

The orthopter stayed right behind her, its missiles going wide. The flier had twin repeating ballistae bulking out its bow, alternate-strung so that the release of the one fed into the loading of the other. She got a good look at this arrangement as she backed the Esca ’s wings without warning, hanging and then falling out of the air so that the Wasp flier surged above her, and then throwing her wings into a blur to catch up with him. Repeating ballistae: the idea of it amused her. It was heavier and less efficient than her own weapon, but it was getting there. These Wasps were obviously worth watching.