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Authors: Tobias S. Buckell
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automatically refuse them their request.
“He ain’t a Councilman, but he know all of we. If the Azteca catch him, they go know who we all is.”
They were hiding something. She wanted to reach over, smack the superior look off Emil’s face, and find out what. “How many mongoose?”
“Fifty.”
Fifty mongoose-men for one man? “I’ll think about it.” Dihana crumpled the paper under her hand into a small ball. Now to worm out what it was. “But …”
Her door opened. No knock, but Haidan stood silhouetted in the corridor light and she bit back an annoyed order to be left alone. Haidan kicked the door closed with his bootheel. He grabbed the back of Emil’s chair.
“Hey …,” Emil protested. “This an important talk.”
“Not any longer.” The veins stood out on Haidan’s forearms. “Mafolie Pass been take by Azteca. Some mongoose-men from the Wicked Highs used a courier blimp to fly to Anandale. They say it a whole invasion. Brungstun and Joginstead both cut off the telegraph line. Azteca coming over, Dihana. A whole army.”
“Oh, God,” Emil whispered. “Oh, God.”
Dihana pitied Emil for just a brief second. Azteca in Brungstun might capture this important man the Councilmen worried about. Now they really depended on her protection. Any other day this would have drawn a smile out of her. Right now she put it aside. “Okay. What now?” She felt numb. This was crisis mode, she would show no shock, but silently she kept thinking: Azteca are coming over the mountains. Azteca are moving toward the city. Azteca.
Haidan’s locks fell forward off his shoulders. “I order back all the mongoose into Capitol City. We need recruit more. The Loa, the Councilmen, you, me squad-leader, the head of Tolteca-town, and several other go all need meet. As soon as possible.”
“Meet with the Loa? After that last encounter?” Emil stood up. “We refuse. We ain’t stupid.” He fumbled open the door and slammed it behind him.
Dihana shook her head. She was living in a three-hundred-year-old nightmare. The Azteca loose in Nanagada. Not just spies and scouting parties, but hordes. The thought brought a clenching sourness to her stomach. One hundred thousand people were now vulnerable in the city. How many more in towns along the coastal roads before the Azteca ever got to Capitol City? After Joginstead came Brewer’s Village, and then Anandale, and then …
“I headquartered in the city,” Haidan told her. “A house from back when I had live here. Where should I put the mongoose-men coming in?”
“Let them camp in front of the Ministry while I try and find places,” Dihana murmured. Details, just details against the fact that she would probably see Azteca camped outside the city walls. “How long before the Azteca get here?”
“Don’t know.” Haidan looked tired. Bags under his eyes. “Five or six week. Maybe more, maybe less. Depend on how much food they carrying, if any. How long they stay at each town. And how we try stopping them. But once they reach Harford and get on the Triangle Tracks, it go be quick.”
“We need to know,” Dihana stepped back from the edge of despair. It felt like falling, but inside her head. “There’s a new steamship the Preservationists are finishing. In the harbor. I was planning another expedition north into the ice with, but you could use to scout the coast.” It wasn’t much.
“May be useful,” Haidan said. “We need everything. Councilmen, businessmen, fishermen, ragamuffin, Loa, we all need to plan together. We need to agree on how we release this information. We need calm while getting organize before the word get out.”
Dihana sighed. “You’re right. But, though I hate agreeing with Emil, I don’t want to involve the Loa in any discussion.”
Haidan let go of the chairback. “If you all can’t use the Loa like the Loa use you,” he ground out, “then you might as well just wait for the Azteca to come and rip you heart out on a
“He ain’t a Councilman, but he know all of we. If the Azteca catch him, they go know who we all is.”
They were hiding something. She wanted to reach over, smack the superior look off Emil’s face, and find out what. “How many mongoose?”
“Fifty.”
Fifty mongoose-men for one man? “I’ll think about it.” Dihana crumpled the paper under her hand into a small ball. Now to worm out what it was. “But …”
Her door opened. No knock, but Haidan stood silhouetted in the corridor light and she bit back an annoyed order to be left alone. Haidan kicked the door closed with his bootheel. He grabbed the back of Emil’s chair.
“Hey …,” Emil protested. “This an important talk.”
“Not any longer.” The veins stood out on Haidan’s forearms. “Mafolie Pass been take by Azteca. Some mongoose-men from the Wicked Highs used a courier blimp to fly to Anandale. They say it a whole invasion. Brungstun and Joginstead both cut off the telegraph line. Azteca coming over, Dihana. A whole army.”
“Oh, God,” Emil whispered. “Oh, God.”
Dihana pitied Emil for just a brief second. Azteca in Brungstun might capture this important man the Councilmen worried about. Now they really depended on her protection. Any other day this would have drawn a smile out of her. Right now she put it aside. “Okay. What now?” She felt numb. This was crisis mode, she would show no shock, but silently she kept thinking: Azteca are coming over the mountains. Azteca are moving toward the city. Azteca.
Haidan’s locks fell forward off his shoulders. “I order back all the mongoose into Capitol City. We need recruit more. The Loa, the Councilmen, you, me squad-leader, the head of Tolteca-town, and several other go all need meet. As soon as possible.”
“Meet with the Loa? After that last encounter?” Emil stood up. “We refuse. We ain’t stupid.” He fumbled open the door and slammed it behind him.
Dihana shook her head. She was living in a three-hundred-year-old nightmare. The Azteca loose in Nanagada. Not just spies and scouting parties, but hordes. The thought brought a clenching sourness to her stomach. One hundred thousand people were now vulnerable in the city. How many more in towns along the coastal roads before the Azteca ever got to Capitol City? After Joginstead came Brewer’s Village, and then Anandale, and then …
“I headquartered in the city,” Haidan told her. “A house from back when I had live here. Where should I put the mongoose-men coming in?”
“Let them camp in front of the Ministry while I try and find places,” Dihana murmured. Details, just details against the fact that she would probably see Azteca camped outside the city walls. “How long before the Azteca get here?”
“Don’t know.” Haidan looked tired. Bags under his eyes. “Five or six week. Maybe more, maybe less. Depend on how much food they carrying, if any. How long they stay at each town. And how we try stopping them. But once they reach Harford and get on the Triangle Tracks, it go be quick.”
“We need to know,” Dihana stepped back from the edge of despair. It felt like falling, but inside her head. “There’s a new steamship the Preservationists are finishing. In the harbor. I was planning another expedition north into the ice with, but you could use to scout the coast.” It wasn’t much.
“May be useful,” Haidan said. “We need everything. Councilmen, businessmen, fishermen, ragamuffin, Loa, we all need to plan together. We need to agree on how we release this information. We need calm while getting organize before the word get out.”
Dihana sighed. “You’re right. But, though I hate agreeing with Emil, I don’t want to involve the Loa in any discussion.”
Haidan let go of the chairback. “If you all can’t use the Loa like the Loa use you,” he ground out, “then you might as well just wait for the Azteca to come and rip you heart out on a
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