Captives of the Flame

le of hours, two peo

inn at the Devil's Pot. "I'm a perfectly

the window. Blue seeped like liquid across the glass. "Why

und the stiff, trembling shoulders. "What are you talking about?" sh

lung his hand across the table

rince K

eclare

ryn's shoulders bec

ck," sa

stoo

ed. "Sit down. You're n

d to Rara. "Did I start a war? I tried to stop it. T

o talk to somebody, talk to me. I can ans

aggered forward, slammed his hand

chair, "will you sit down and relax! You're not well! You're not well

shooting high in his neck and quivering. Rara jumped forward and tried to bring his h

ght again. "A war," he sai

hing," Rara said. "And y

. "No. You can't be sure

relax," Rara repeated,

the wall of muscle quivering across his stomach loosened, the back bent; and that frail fist of strength that had jarred life thr

that he was dead, she was trying to get him back into

n with a metal shadow. "Good lord," s

the table, and fled through th

Fire-blades poised, they walked to the crumpled body, lifted it between them, and carrie

g him. He ducked into a side alley and skittered down a flig

glassy water and the top of a normally submerged cave and seen wet, orange starfish dripping from the ceiling and their reflections quive

to the roof. He walked across the tar-paper surface to the edge, leaned over, and peered into the alley. Two men, who may have been the people following

with surprise. He opened his mouth and breathed hard, hold

strong, too. It jerked at his feet and he fell forward. It was not until it lifted him from the roof that h

awe at Clea's discovery and proceeded to locate the generator. The next-in-charge general, working on a strategy Tomar did not quite understand, decided th

s goggles and sighed. Active combat. What the hell would they be combating? The disorder, the disorganizatio

him and the six other planes in the formation pulled up behind him. A moment l

ed at as a boy when his sunup to sundown work day had ended. Between hunger and hunger there had been s

othing to do but wait for land to

tron units sat around the room. By one ornate window a bank of forty-nine scarlet knobbed switches pointed to off. Two men stood on the metal catwa

he elders of Telphar sat stiff an

ut to be herded from their deck chairs and game tables under the glass roof back to their wa

denly the crowd of bathrobed patients broke from in front of her. She touched

The men that marched across had the insignia of the royal guards. She clamped her jaws together and moved behind the nurse. The men marche

ey were comin

e span of metal flooring to the stairwell. She ducked her head, broke from the crowd of patients and ran, w

The guard tried to lift her, and with her good arm she struck at his face. Th

ck. At first she closed her eyes. Then she had to open them. Night was moving above her through the dome of the solarium. T

cour

he rim of land slipped back under them. The moon bleached the e

out, Major?" came the voi

funny, that's most of what you do in this army: wait. You wait to go out and f

hat it'll

, then we'll have had active com

rough the speaker. "Sup

ike they've done before, we'l

k at the hangar, Major. I wish it was l

bitc

, Ma

ha

ted a new k

wou

ng corner. It works out that no matter how you do it, if all the coins in the square are touching, two coins will fly off of the far edge. Each of those has a number and the two numbers that fly off are like the two numbers

than a centiunit for the one you fire into the missing corner, say a deciunit, the

all

n, and she was telling me all about probability a fe

ow what

ha

he best officer i

ation before the fir

Arkor. We'd better get going. If the Duchess doesn't get here with Geryn soon.... Well, let's not think about it." He scribbled a note, se

n as she gets here. And she better not miss it." They went dow

and Arkor climbed into one, pushed the ignition button, and the car shot forward along the e

he horizon glowed purple and above that, deep yellow clouds dr

b of Telphar, a sudden white streak speared from the ho

wisted wildly through the sky, and

r! What happ

m. Pull over. Pul

t it. Where'd

. Break formation. Br

e we can see where that came from in t

what I sai

B-6. We've been-" (U

a slow whistle thr

I said. Damn it,

the railing that edged the road. Another white streak left the horizon, and for a

nt later, as broken rocks leapt into visibilit

d roadways of Telphar looped the city like strands o

s caught once more and careened above their heads so close that they ducked and disappeared among the city towers: an explosion, then falling flame droole

out of the car. The red light flar

near it," Jon said.

ast and hospital robe, follow

d, "you brough

s dead. I asked what to do, but I didn't get any answer. So

ailing Ark

funny,"

xploded. "I had hoped this wouldn't happen. This

d they ducked behind the cars. "Gee," breathed

r cried,

to?" as

Arkor repeate

about

ehind," Arkor told t

ow what's going

get going." They sprinted out along the road, then ducked u

e going?" Te

his shoulder, "That's

needles stopped, he saw that it hadn't been any of the first three. Suddenly the green detector light flashed in the half darkness of the

ld behind him. There was a hell of a lot of noise

ouse set in the wrecked earth. There were three whirl

he stick forward, and the plane, what was left of it, turned over and he was stari

r black hair had asked him what he had wanted, and he had said, 'Nothing ... nothing....' and realized he h

eath quickly and staggered back. "He's in there," A

ockhouse now with its whirling antennae on the roof. Before the plane hit, a darkness ope

kor. "That's him, face hi

you...?"

igures had fallen now, but the middle one was running toward them. The torch