Page 58 of Triplets for the Barbarians

They have buggies galore loaded with laser cannons and explosive devices. Aircraft fly overhead and survey the area as they try to breach the black cloud. They can’t. I don’t know how long it will hold them back—it’s a noxious gas with plenty of pigment, but it isn’t impossible to disrupt.

They will figure it out sooner or later. With enough rounds around the city, more violent engine thrusts, and perhaps a favorable gust of wind, and they might be able to dissipate at least some of the cloud long enough for their jets to swing down right over us. For now, they just fly and observe.

They can’t see us over here on the west side just yet. The cloud and the city’s old towers keep us hidden. But I can see them well enough to understand how screwed we are if we don’t maintain our defenses until the crack of dawn.

“Commander, the drones are ready,” Ivo says as he enters the command center, the doors sliding shut behind him. But you’ll have to be careful. Their jets will eventually reach our sector.”

“As long as that mist is up and thick enough, we’ll be fine. I just need to catch an engine heat signature,” I tell him with a slight nod. “How are we doing? Ready?”

“As we’ll ever be,” the boy replies, damn near quaking in his boots. “The positions are set, and the weapons are all loaded.”

“And the mines?”

“Armed and ready,” Ivo says.

I exhale sharply. “How are our men? Are they holding up alright?”

Ivo glances back over his shoulder, doubt dancing in deep shadows across his red face. “Commander, they are terrified; I won’t lie to you. But their daughters and their wives and their mothers are hiding in the Kaos Mountain catacombs. They have every reason to fight for their freedom,” he says. “You have our full support.”

“We’ll do everything we can,” I tell him. “But I need to make sure I find that starship before it breaches the atmosphere. I’ll let you handle the screens for a while. Alert me to any new changes, all right?”

“What changes are we expecting?”

I get up from my seat and point to the northern gate screens. “They’ll reach the labyrinth within the hour, tops. From there, we need eyes on each and every one of them. The guards know to shoot them on sight, but they will make it through. Maybe not all three thousand of them, but enough to make our lives harder. And when they do reach the gate, they’ll send a man out to negotiate our surrender.”

“I presume we’ll shoot him dead.”

“Of course. And then, all hell will break loose,” I reply bluntly. “I’ve got the long-range guns ready; one for the mountain ridge, in case they’ve got troops coming through there as well, and the other prepared for the starship.”

My hands are shaking, so I shove them in my pockets as I leave Ivo in charge of the screens and make my way up to the rooftop terrace. I pass some of our soldiers, and I catch glimpses of their fearful glances. I can almost smell the fear oozing through their pores.

The Kreek boys know what to expect. They’ve been through these fires before. But the royal guard, the new recruits—they’re wide-eyed and have been sheltered for most of their lives. The worst they ever dealt with was a rogue teenager trying to get out of the city. The worst they’ve ever had to do was execute those few rebels who dared go against Solomon’s laws.

Upstairs, I find my drones set up and ready to take off. Above me, the evening falls in shades of deep purple, a spattering of stars twinkle in silence. But the silence is cut short by the distant thuds of war drums.

“And so it begins,” I mutter, remembering movie scenes of other heroes awaiting their demise at the sound of the enemy at their gates.

One by one, I activate the drones and go back to the tablet device, pulling each of their video feeds up so I know they’re all working within their parameters. I only hope the sensors will be able to scan across greater distances. All I need is a blip on the map, a single blip of nuclear energy to confirm there’s a starship there.

Once I’ve got that, I’ll know where to point the long-range laser and do what I swore I would do, even if it costs me my life. The Sky Tribe must never be allowed anywhere near Earth again.

A solitary boom echoes across the city. I freeze, every muscle in my body tensing as I listen for what comes next: the crumbling of stone, the wailing of metal, and a multitude of laser weapons being fired both ways as the war begins to unravel at the northern gates.

“They made it through the labyrinth,” I tell myself, and I can hear my own voice trembling with horror. It’s happening faster than I had anticipated, and it doesn’t bode well for the rest of us. God, I hope Fadai and Yossul can hold them back.

Without hesitation, I take command of my drones on the tablet screen, and they take off, rising vertically first before they’re deployed in a wider radius.

“Come on, help me, winds, please…” I mutter as I guide my little sentinels across the war zone.

I catch brief glimpses of troops on the ground. They’re pouring through the labyrinth with greater ease than I had hoped. It means that whichever Yellow Gang prisoner Shaytan had in his grip sang like a canary for his unbearable misery to end.

The enemy troops seem to know where the traps are. They’re breaching it too fast, and it’s making my heart pump faster, but I cannot linger there, not even for a second.

Fadai and Yossul know what they have to do.

My drones fly farther out, leaving the conflict behind. A couple of jets dart past us, but we’re too small for them to worry about. They’re still trying to get through the black mist, so I’ve got the space I need to push forward.

Within minutes, I’m out of the five hundred-mile radius and going wider. I set these drones on autopilot as well, then carry the tablet downstairs with me.

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