Way of No Return (Champions of the Crystal Book 8)

Chapter 10.4

"Mr. Burns is getting the hounds ready. He says the timing has to be excellent. Have you seen Mrs. Krabappel?"

"What's with the funny pronunciation?" Kendara asked as they all huddled around Stecklan's datapad at lunch.

"It's a catchphrase. Mr. Burns always says 'excellent' that way. It loses something in Praxatillian," Sabrina explained.

"Why didn't he just send the message in your language?" Ranja asked.

"The Kyan would have identified it as a foreign language. If they could figure out which one, they'd know it was from Earth. That would identify the senders as me and Scotty and probably give them a way to decipher the code," Sabrina explained. "This way, it's just talk between two worried family members who know a lot of folks with weird names. And the Kyan might not know much about Praxatillian names."

"Who is Mrs. Krabappel?" Stecklan asked.

"Bart's teacher. That has to be Treva. But we don't know where she is, either."

"She won't have gone far," Stecklan said. "I would guess she is somewhere in the capital, probably in contact with the militia and laying plans to take the city and palace back."

"Okay, so we think she went to stay with the neighbors?" Sabrina suggested. "Or to be a little less obvious, the Flanders." She rubbed at her forehead. "It's so good to be in touch with him again, even in this weird way with other people's voices. But there are so many questions I can't think of how to ask, and so much he isn't saying!"

"We know he wants us to wait," Stecklan said.

"But what are we supposed to do once we stop waiting? Should we be raising an army up here?" Sabrina wondered.

Reya said, "We also know that Baldaran is alive. That is clear in the message."

"Yes," Sabrina smiled. "And that is important, of course. And we know that he and Scotty are in touch, and that they have a plan." She suddenly stiffened with a gasp.

"What is it? The baby?" Ranja exclaimed, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"I—I thought I heard Ford. Just for a second. Everyone be quiet," Sabrina commanded sharply as they all began to ask questions. She closed her eyes and concentrated. After a minute or two, she slumped toward the table, sighing. "No. I lost him."

"What did he say?" Ranja asked.

Sabrina swallowed hard. "For Bathir and the princess," she whispered, then burst into tears.

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Scotty was taking his turn with the recruits they'd gathered as they crossed the desert province of Zarn, doing basic weapons training, when Baldaran's bodyguard, Captain Cieron, entered the room. "Scotty, the King wants you."

"Sure, of course. Um, can you take over?"

"Yes," Cieron replied. "Run, please."

Scotty sprinted out of the room and down the hall to the area they had designated the King's office. Since he'd been summoned, he didn't bother to knock, but went straight in. "Yes, sir?"

"Sit, please. And close the door."

"Yes, sir." Scotty made sure the door closed behind him and then took a seat, resisting the urge to badger his sovereign with questions. Baldaran looked tired and unhappy, and Scotty suddenly realized he hadn't been brought here to receive good news, or even an assignment. "What happened?"

"Shipyard One has been destroyed. There was an explosion of unidentified origin. The good news is that a dozen or so Reissians and at least two Kyan are now dead. The bad news, of course, is that Ford's ship is gone, and so are any plans he may have had for it."

And what if Ford was both the cause and victim of the explosion? Scotty wondered, but did not have the heart to say it. He could tell Baldaran had the same question. "Let me, uh, sir, let me send another message to my sister. Please."

"Yes. Certainly you must. How do you propose to ask her?"

"I don't know. I might not need to. If—if she has news, she'll find a way to get it to me. I just—I kind of want to—if she's upset, I want to send her a message. Maybe it will be a comfort."

Baldaran nodded, then rested his chin on his fists. After a moment, he said, "Comfort is in short supply. My sister—my brother—" He broke off, rubbing at his face. "I cannot be my grandfather, watching my family die one by one. What would you do, Scotty, in my place?"

Scotty thought about it. "We can't win this war with technology. The Kyan are too advanced for that. The one big advantage we've always had is the Crystal, but it's not much use since they messed up our space. Diplomacy's not an option. So I guess that leaves us with trickery."

"What sort of trickery do you have in mind?"

"Well, what we did on Dansestari worked. We need to set more traps. The Reissians are running all over Bathir looking for the Inheritor. Let's start making it harder. Let's mobilize the troops we've got there. We can do that easy—Sabrina can do it for us. They'll fight to the death for her if she asks them, you know they will."

"And many of them will die," Baldaran said.

"Yeah," Scotty agreed heavily. "But some of them are gonna die regardless. Let's point them in the right direction. The Kyan haven't put as heavy a footprint on the other continents. They aren't interested in colonizing us; they just want Seuréa so they can control the Crystal if they kill Mara."

"We know Mother is coming," Baldaran pointed out. "If we wait, lives may be saved."

"If we wait, lives may be lost. We don't know what's holding Mara up," Scotty said. "Anyway, this problem is bigger than the Guardian. We're going to have to fight no matter what she does. And I think people are getting demoralized just sitting and waiting and hiding. I know I am. It was a good strategy at first, but we're prepared now. We're ready to go. Let's do it."

"Can we rely on Sabrina if—if she is not all right?"

Scotty blew out a breath. "If she just felt Ford die, she's gonna want to start a fight. Turn her loose, Baldaran. Let her take 'em on. Not in person, of course, but let her get her revenge. Let her people get their revenge. You know they want it. At the very least, those bastards ran her out of her home."

Baldaran looked at Scotty, then closed his eyes for a moment. "Very well. Release the hounds."

Scotty grinned. "I guess 'let slip the dogs of war' would be a little obvious. After I've sent the message, can I go too?"

"No. You are space forces; I will need you in space," Baldaran replied. "Get in touch with the Zarn militia. I want you to take a team to the spaceport and see what you can do with it."

"Yes, sir," Scotty said, standing and saluting.