“Welcome, kinsmen!” Goro shouted over the radio. “Now we’ll show these humans how it’s done!”
The enemy ships turned their destructors on the new arrivals, sparing the city a bit, and my flight flanked the enemy, shattering shields and bringing down ships. One of the ships careened toward the city, and Alanik caught it with her light hook, dragging it toward the beach and dropping it on the sand where it wouldn’t destroy the buildings. Nedd did the same with a ship Kimmalyn shot down right over the middle of the city, dragging the fuselage up and dropping it on the cliffs. Some debris was pelting the city, but hopefully damage would be minimal.
“Jerkface,” Alanik said. “The enemy is going to fall back.”
She’d barely finished saying it when the enemy ships turned almost as one and accelerated out over the ocean again, angling up to the carrier ship waiting in the clouds.
“Do we follow them?” Nedd asked.
“Wait,” I said. I didn’t know what their game was, and I didn’t want to leave the city vulnerable to another attack.
The fighters slid into the clouds near the carrier ship, which was half hidden now as the cloud cover moved overhead. They were still up there, beyond the clouds—I could see them on my proximity monitor. The only reason for them to pull back like that was if they thought they had more of an advantage at that fallback position, or—
“Angel,” I said. “You heard a transmission?”
“Yes,” she said. “They were given orders over the hypercomm to retreat and wait. They’ve reported that the kitsen are fighting alongside us, so they want a larger force to beat down the resistance.”
Saints, that was not a good sign. “Amphi,” I said, “I’m giving you temporary command of the flight.”
“Jerkface?” Arturo said. “What are you doing now?”
“I’m going to go for help,” I said. We had a few moments here, so this was the best chance I was going to get. I couldn’t rely on the mindblades for everything. They were an effective tool, but I’d seen some of the monstrous weapons the Superiority had on their side and I wouldn’t be able to stop them all—not even with the rest of the flight watching my back. “They’re waiting for backup, so we need it too. I’ll try to get Stoff to let me take the platform.” I was tempted to tell him, rather than ask him, but I wasn’t sure how much longer that would work. It had only worked the first time because the command staff was reeling from the loss of Cobb and half the assembly, and because no one wanted to argue with me after what had happened to my parents.
I needed to feel out the situation, and I needed to do it quickly. “FM, I want you to come with me. Sentry can team up with Quirk and Nedder for the moment. We’ll land our ships and leave Snuggles in mine so we can return quickly and get back in the air.”
I hoped it would be quick, anyway. I didn’t know how long we’d have before the Superiority forces would arrive. “Alanik can keep me posted. Contact me immediately if you need us. Everyone clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Arturo said.
“Say hi to Stoff for us,” Nedd added.
I landed my ship against the cliff where it would be partially sheltered from view. FM’s came down beside me.
I looked over my shoulder at Juno. “Do you want to stay here?” I asked. “I can’t guarantee you’ll be safe in the ship.”
“I’d like to come with you,” Juno said. “Clearly my presence has been helpful.”
“It has,” I said. “I’m not going to use mindblades on Detritus though.”
“A shadow-walker travels the path at all times,” Juno said. “Not only when violence is required.”
I didn’t really know what that meant, but I also didn’t want to have to explain Juno’s presence to Stoff. “Actually,” I said, “the most helpful thing you could do is stay here and teach that meditation to Alanik.” She might not have a lot of time to learn, but she didn’t know how to use mindblades, and if she could pick up any skill at all…
“I can see the wisdom in that,” Juno said. “I never dreamed I’d work with a single cytonic, let alone have the privilege of directing two.”
“It’s your lucky day then.” I flipped on my radio. “Angel, if you want to come pick up Juno, he can run you through some exercises while I’m gone.”
“If his exercises taught you to do that,” Alanik said, “then I’ll be right there.”