Брайан Макклеллан - Sins of Empire

Staggering forward, Vlora put both hands on the wall and then cast her senses outward until she found the powder magazine in the depths of the warship’s hold. Hundreds of barrels of powder, all crowded together in one place. It took only a single thought to ignite it all, but she knew she’d feel a kickback strong enough to drop an elephant.

She touched off the powder and immediately felt like a wagon had run over her. She groaned, her head spinning, watching the ship blow apart through blurry vision, trying to breathe through a suddenly tight chest. It took her several moments to recover enough to have the presence of mind to duck as infantry in the Dynize longboats opened fire on the walls.

Within moments she was surrounded by her own riflemen, and the comforting cracks of Hrusch rifles returning fire.

Michel watched, amazed, as the crews under Professor Cressel’s direction managed to extricate the monolith from its sunken pit in the ground in less than two hours. Using a combination of ramps, cranes, and brute force, the stone column was pulled up and out onto a prepared soil shelf. The cranes were cleared away and the land-barge backed up beside the stage while laborers with shovels and pickaxes adjusted the contours of the land so that there was a gap of mere inches between the monolith and the land-barge.

It was a fascinating bit of engineering and, to Michel’s eyes, went incredibly smoothly. A laborer’s leg was caught in the spoke of the land-barge and had to be removed, but the man was carried off within minutes and the work continued, undistracted.

While Cressel prepared to move the monolith onto the land-barge, Michel caught sight of Ka-poel up on top of the horizontal monolith. She squatted, fingers tracing shapes on the monolith’s exterior like a child playing in the sand.

“What’s she doing up there? You up there, get down!” Professor Cressel waved his arms at her, but she ignored him. “Major Cole!” he shouted.

Major Cole lifted his head from a discussion with his troop, pointing Cressel toward Michel, who glanced at Taniel as the professor stormed toward them. “What is she doing?” Michel asked.

“Don’t ask me,” Taniel said. “We’ve been together almost eleven years, and I still don’t understand her half the time.”

“She knows that people have gone mad from being too close to that thing, right?”

“She knows,” Taniel confirmed.

Professor Cressel approached, pointing over his shoulder. “Gold Rose, would you be so kind as to remove your companion from the specimen?”

“Why?” Michel asked. “Is she bothering anything?”

“It’s quite unsafe! I’ve dismissed all the researchers from the site aside from myself. The move is very dangerous. The fact we haven’t lost anyone yet today is a miracle!”

Michel leaned over to Taniel. “Does she need to be up there?”

“Pole!” Taniel said, cupping his hand around his mouth. “Pole!”

She waved her hand dismissively, and Taniel gave Michel an unapologetic shrug. “She’s working. Nothing but force is going to get her down. You’re welcome to try, but I’m not going to.”

“Does she know that the entire monolith could shift or slide?” Professor Cressel demanded, tugging at the last wisps of gray hair on his head. “It could take an arm, or a leg, or crush her completely!”

“She’s aware of the danger,” Michel assured him. “Your men can work around her.”

Cressel retreated to his dig, fuming silently, and Michel chewed on the inside of his cheek. Every so often he glanced toward Landfall. The smoke from Greenfire Depths had gotten worse, and he hoped that his mother had managed to escape the city by now. His primary concern, however, had shifted to the eastern side of the plateau, where fire and powder smoke rose in alarming amounts from over the bay. The sound of bombardment was near constant, and he could see the pinprick lights of shells bursting high over the ocean. It seemed so distant and unimportant, but it wouldn’t be for long.

“Major Cole,” Taniel said loudly, “any word from your men on the approaching Dynize?”

Cole finished speaking to his officers and then crossed to them, a grim look on his face. “There’s four regiments just finished landing about six miles from here. At best we have a few hours until they get here. I’ve sent runners back to Landfall with requests for reinforcements. No idea if we’re going to get them or not. One of my boys from the city just arrived, and he said the fighting there is bad.”

Michel exchanged an alarmed glance with Taniel. None of that was good news. If the Dynize reached them, they wouldn’t stand a chance. But the news that Cole was actively sending messages to Landfall meant that Michel’s trickery might be discovered.

“Can this be hurried along?” Michel asked.

“Cressel assures me he’s hurrying the best he can without risking damage to the obelisk.”

“Good, good,” Michel said. He started to pace, counting out ten paces, then walking back to Taniel before repeating the route several times. Major Cole watched him do it once, then returned to his officers, barking out orders. Michel stopped his pacing to watch the chain of command as officers passed orders to enlisted men, and the soldiers began to slowly shift to the southeast of the dig site, forming themselves into a protective cordon around the excavation.

A loud creaking brought Michel’s attention back to the monolith, and he turned just in time to see Ka-poel ride the immense stone off the dirt shelf upon which it rested to slide down thick, flattened timbers and crunch onto the land-barge. The monolith came to a stop, the land-barge and its load settling almost a foot closer to the ground. Michel let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in, and Taniel shook his head.

Ka-poel flashed them both a grin, then returned to studying the side of the monolith.

Michel approached Professor Cressel, clapping his hands. “Well done, Cressel, well done. Are we ready to move?” He could hear the desperation in his tone and tried to suppress it.

The professor adjusted his glasses, squinting at an open folder in his hands. “The engineers are checking the axles and securing the load. We should be ready to move out in half an hour.”

Michel grimaced. “Make it fifteen minutes.”

“Sir!” Cressel protested.

Michel waved his finger under Cressel’s nose with a confidence he didn’t feel. “Fifteen minutes, unless you want your eyeballs to wind up as Dynize trophies.”

“Dynize don’t take eyeballs as trophies.” Cressel snorted.

“Whatever. Make it quick, Professor, time is running out.”

A tap on his shoulder brought Michel around to find Taniel standing beside him. Taniel’s attention was no longer on the monolith or the soldiers, and he took an indiscreet snort of powder and pointed north. “You see that?”

Michel squinted. “I don’t see anything.”

“Riders coming in. Cole should spot them in a few minutes.”

“Is it relief from Landfall?”

“Maybe,” Taniel said. “Maybe not.” He peered into the distance like a big cat warily protecting its kill, then said, “They’re Blackhats.”

“Shit. We’ve got to go,” Michel said, already heading toward the corral where Cole had stashed their horses. He turned to find Taniel not following him, then ran back and snatched him by a sleeve. “It’s not worth the risk,” he said. “If the Blackhats know that I attacked Fidelis Jes they’ll snatch me the moment they see me, and you and Ka-poel a few seconds after. We’ve got to get out of here while we still can.”