Page 54 of Triplets for the Barbarians

The limbo finally ends when news comes in from Sapphire City.

As I read the telegraph messages, it seems as if the entire sky had fallen. The Sky Tribe armies have reached the gates. Their war drums beat tirelessly and echo along the rocky shoreline north and south of the citadel itself.

The siege has begun, but we don’t yet know how long it will take or if they can even get through.

All hands are on deck over there. The children, the elderly, and the protected women have been evacuated to remote, secret locations. My blood boils as I think of my friends—Amber, Alicia, and Cynthia are still in there. The laboratory is heavily protected, and they’ve moved all the technical equipment to the underground hallways, worried the Sky Tribe jets might attempt to blow them up.

I had the telegraph wires extended from outside the city to our command center in the military base, and I read through the messages as they pour in.

I listen to the rushing of footsteps outside the door, well aware that our people are scared and agitated, helpless, and relying on these telegraph lines to hear about their friends and families from the coast.

“We’ll have to use that sky scanner as it is,” Fadai says as he comes into the room. “I just got intel from the north… they’re launching the starship tomorrow morning. That’s why they’ve begun the siege of Sapphire City. They aim to obliterate us on every front.”

“It may not do much good,” I tell Fadai, wracked by my own inability to do more about it. “The lenses aren’t sharp enough, and the device’s sensors cannot breach past the five hundred-mile radius. I only managed to fit a few drones with additional sensors, but I’d have to send them all out at once and in every direction.”

“Then we’ll do that. We have to do something,” Fadai insists.

We’re all nervous, understandably so. Yossul joins us in the command room with a grim look on his face. Immediately, I spring to my feet. “What is it?”

“What we feared,” he says. “There’s movement on the northern horizon.”

As if fate weren’t determined enough to mess with my resolve, one more message comes in through the telegraph machine, the words printed in black ink on strips of yellow paper. My lips move as I read the words carefully and feel the weight of the world collapsing onto my shoulders and crushing me.

“They’re going to breach Sapphire City’s eastern gates by midnight,” I say. “The Sky Tribe got its claws on some ships from farther north; they’re guessing Jade City. They brought troops down on the water, not just from inland. They’re counting almost ten thousand men.” I pause and give the brothers a terrified look. “We knew this day would come, but dammit, it’s worse than I imagined.”

“They’ll be okay,” Fadai tries to reassure me, though we all know the truth may echo differently in the end. “They’ve got the bulk of the Fire Tribe force behind them, but we need to shoot that fucking starship down as soon as they launch it.”

“We also need to get ready for an invasion here,” Yossul adds, shaking his head slowly. “And you two need to come with me upstairs to understand precisely what we’re dealing with.”

With a heavy heart and a constantly tightening stomach, Fadai and I follow Yossul outside and up the iron steps leading to the top of our base’s highest observation tower. Here, a hot wind blows ruthlessly from the south, but we do get a full view of the entire surrounding area. At night, we can even see the distant glimmers of Diamond City to the north, like a faint, yellow aurora borealis whispering into the sky. I aim the telescope lens in that direction, and as soon as I see them, I recognize the gravity of our situation.

“They weren’t readying more troops for Sapphire City the other day,” I mumble, stepping aside so Fadai can also see the horror headed our way. “They were readying more troops for us.”

“Our man, whoever the Sky Tribe caught back in Pearl City, told them everything,” Fadai surmises. “Shit.”

“Shaytan kept his mouth shut because he knew we might figure out a way to wiggle out of the execution and out of Pearl City altogether,” I reply. “He kept his mouth shut because he didn’t want to risk us getting too far ahead of it.”

“He probably also feared information leaks that might make it back to Sapphire City,” Yossul mutters, his arms crossed as the wind blows through his black hair. “I’ll give that bastard credit; he played his cards well.”

“We did anticipate this possibility, though,” I say. “At least it’s not a total surprise.”

“No, but what does shock me is the size of the army that’s headed our way,” Fadai replies, eyes glued to the telescope lens. “It’s way more than we can handle.”

And there it is—the hardest truth—the moment we all saw coming yet hoped wouldn’t. Time isn’t on our side, and neither are the technology and manpower we have at our disposal. The dice have fallen, the odds now fixed and indisputable.

“We have to keep them out of Opal City and away from the base at least until morning,” I tell the men. “No matter what. If they launch the starship, we need to be able to at least try and shoot it down. We can’t do that if we’re getting our asses handed to us.”

“Once again, you make it sound so easy and reasonable,” Fadai can’t help but chuckle, yet his laughter is faded and bitter—like the laughter of a man who knows he’s about to die.

Yossul offers a slight nod. “I’ll put a guy up here to watch the northern horizon,” he says. “We’re not sending any drones out. It might alert them to our presence and our awareness, and it might blow back on us later.”

“You’re right. Yes. Eyes up here. The more we know about what’s coming, the better,” I reply. “But I expect at least three thousand men.”

“Yossul and I will look after the city,” Fadai declares, his brow furrowed as he looks down at me. “You’ll cover this base. We need you here, ready to fire the long-range guns in the morning.”

If Opal City falls, the Sky Tribe will come here next. We don’t have enough men to keep them at bay for long. The odds may not be in my favor, but I’ll be damned if I’ll go down without a fight. Murmurs erupt from below. We look down and see one of the younger recruits coming out of the base with a ribbon of yellow paper in his hand, his red eyes glowing with excitement.

“Great news, Jewel! Great news, Commander!” he shouts.

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