The Curse of the Winged Scorpion
Escape!

Rasharitook several hasty steps back from Remus’ corpse. He grimaced, shoving thepouch with the stone into his coat pocket before walking stiff-legged over towhere the automaton still lay on the ground. He scooped the unmoving automatoninto the crook of his right arm and slowly turned to face Fantel. His skin wasashen and his dark eyes were blown wide with encroaching shock. “Let’s get thebloody hell out of here.”

Fantelstared at him for long moment, until a sudden crash from inside the mansionstartled them all into motion. There was a door set into the outer wall of thecourtyard, miraculously left unlocked. Fantel dove through the door andimmediately fell down the steep and rocky embankment on the other side. Shelanded heavily on her hands and knees at the bottom of the ditch and barelymanaged to get out of the way before she was crushed under an avalanche offalling humans.

“Oof,”Tamaki sprawled in the dry red dust at her feet, grazing her chin as shelanded. Rashari swore vociferously as his own, less than graceful skid downinto the ditch jarred his wounded shoulder. Above them they heard shouting,voices raised in anger and panic and the unmistakable rapport of gunfire.

“Chop,chop ladies, this way.” Rashari jumped up, still clutching the automaton underone arm. He loped off along the dry ditch toward the skeletal mesh of anelaborate scaffold perhaps sixty feet ahead. A half dozen sky ships had beentethered to the top of the scaffolding, which Fantel realised was a makeshiftdocking platform some thirty feet high. Beyond the dock the sky fell like acurtain. The horizon was so low the ground must give way completely just beyondthe scaffolding. Behind her back the sounds of shouting and gunfire grewlouder. Fantel stretched her legs and raced to the front, matching Rashari’sstride, as the other women scrambled behind.

“There!Don’t let them get away.” Someone bellowed behind them, the wind bringing thesound of pursuit to them. Fantel risked a glimpse over her shoulder and saw averitable horde of Dha-hali tumbling down the ditch. She ran a little faster,out pacing Rashari, who seemed to be slowing down, hindered by his injury andthe melon sized metal sphere clasped under his arm.

Amedium sized private air cruiser was held in docking clamps attached to the topof the nearest scaffold. The ship was an old S-Class Imperial model; the wingsarched like those of a swallow, back facing thrusters poking out under eachwing. The nose tip was narrow and tapered into a blunt point so that thecockpit was lower than the body of the craft. The underside of the aft sectionwas dominated by the huge circular Phantasma engine and double thrusters fannedout the tail, enhancing the avian appearance of the ship. The outer hull waspainted cobalt blue enlivened with lavender shaded arabesques and curlicues,giving the craft a peculiarly whimsical look. Fantel slowed down as they cameto the bottom of the scaffold. Rashari stopped at the bottom of a metal rungladder, waving the rest of the escaping slaves toward him.

“Up,up, up. Come on ladies. We don’t have all day.” Rashari herded the captives upthe metal ladder in swift succession, snapping out quick instructions on whereto place their hands so they did not stumble climbing up. Tamaki was the firstup the ladder. Fantel waited at the bottom as the others climbed and watchedthe approaching horde. It wasn’t just Dha-hali descending on them. It seemedthat the remainder of Einar’s raider guests were also intent on making theirescape. Skirmishes broke out between the fleeing raiders and the Dha-hali.Fantel could see flashes of darkling light as ghost bullets flew, and clearlyheard the cries of the wounded.

Rashariswore and grabbed her arm pulling her toward the ladder. “You next Madame,” Helooked anxiously over his shoulder as Fantel began climbing the ladder asquickly as she could.

Themetal ladder was perfectly vertical, each rung only about three inches thick.The small gap between the rungs made climbing awkward for Fantel -her legs weretoo long and she kept striking her knees every time she hitched her leg up tothe next rung. The clamour beneath her – full of profanity and the occasionalstaccato burst of gunfire – did not help matters one whit. Her shoulderstwitched, skin quivering; she held her breath waiting for a lucky bullet toreplace a home in her unprotected spine. Thankfully the Raider proclivity toattack any other Raider within arms reach meant that the Dha-hali and theirguests were too busy slaughtering each other to take shots at them.

“Soddingthing – I’m not carrying you all the way, you lazy bugger.”

Afew rungs beneath her Rashari was not replaceing the climb any easier; hampered ashe was by the automaton awkwardly tucked under one arm. Fantel thought that hemight replace the climb a little easier if he’d only keep his mouth shut. Thestream of muttered profanity was a waste of oxygen. “This is not on, Smith. Onelittle deader-shot and you give up the ghost? Who do you think you are?”

Belowthem the feuding raiders had finally broken apart, various factions now runningtowards the other docking platforms and the cruisers moored there. Fantel’shead crested the top of the ladder. Small hands grabbed for her as she hauledherself up over the top.

“Quick,quick – lady – hurry,” Tamaki looked around her wildly, wringing her hands. Shewas almost hopping from foot to foot. Fantel stood. Tamaki grabbed her arm andstarted to tow her toward the sky ship. She could see the anxious faces of theother women clustered in front of the door.

“Ugh,”Rashari shoved the immobile Smith up onto the platform and dragged himself upafterward. He tried to brace himself with his left arm and gasped. His armbuckled. Fantel hauled him up. She could see the bullet hole in his coat. Thelining was exposed and she saw the broken edge of thin wire mesh. The coat wasarmoured. It hadn’t stopped the bullet from breaking skin, but it had stoppedit from punching a hole right through him. Rashari knelt awkwardly and scoopedup Smith, the automaton offering up a dilatory “Bloop” in response, the dimlight of its eye beam flickering in pitiful fashion.

Rasharistaggered, a little ungainly, toward the ship and slammed his left palm into aconcealed sensor pad next to the hull door. A sigil shimmered to life under hispalm, curling patterns of flashing dark purple energy stretched out across thehull before the boarding door opened with a soft murmur of hydraulics. Therounded door pushed out from the hull and swung outward, a set of three metalsteps extended down to the platform automatically. Rashari bounced up andinside the ship. Fantel cast one last look behind her, taking in the blue skyand the sounds of shouting below before hurrying aboard.