Page 86 of Skinwalker's Bane
He scanned the people waving the cards and chanting. There were a lot more of them than he had thought there might be. He spotted Dhaval Bull among them. The man’s bald head stood out.
Sauber, of course, was nowhere near them. Adam didn’t know where he was. He had worked to keep his association with the Cavers secret so he would not take a place among them now.
Adam didn’t know who struck first. He didn’t see it. At the edge of the big screen, though, he saw the line of Cavers fold in on itself as a handful of them staggered backward, their placards dropping.
Someone screamed.
Everyone surged toward the spot, Cavers and citizens both.
“Oh, shit,” Adam breathed, his gut clamping. He spun to look at the real people out there, instead of the screen, which was fixed and couldn’t take in everything at once. The crowd was surging toward the spot where the fighting had begun.
The fighting, though, spread everywhere, all at once. It was as if the need to swing their fists had affected everyone, right at the same moment. Adam could see ordinary people pushing toward the Cavers, shoving others out of the way to get at them.
Finally, the citizens of theEndurancewere speaking up. They were using their fists to do it. They didn’t like the Cavers ruining their day.
The Cavers, though, were fighting back. Adam narrowed his eyes, watching as one of them used the pole that now held the scrap of a ruined sign on it, bringing the pole down on a man’s back. There were not nearly as many Cavers as there were people who resented them, yet they were holding their own, fighting with a hot passion.
Magorian was shouting, giving orders and directions, while the Captain stood patiently on the stage, waiting for an order that even Adam could see was not going to be restored. Not now. The violence was rippling across the field.
A stream of people pushed through the crowd, trying to reach the rioting. They all wore civilian clothing. They were Bridge Guards, for they were carrying the shortened batons they used to quell people in fights at the tankball arena. They used the ends of the batons to deaden nerve centers and numb limbs.
The arrival of the Bridge Guards, though, incensed the Cavers. Dhaval Bull was shouting. Giving orders. Directions.
This was no ordinary riot, Adam realized. The chill in his gut spread, sending cold fingers up his spine and make the hair on the back of his head try to stand up with prickling intensity.
The Cavers were pushing their way through the crowd. They were a vee-shaped wedge, driving forward.
“What the hell?” Gelin murmured. “Where are they trying to go?”
Adam glanced at Haydn. He had pushed Noa behind him and was watching the fighting with narrowed eyes. He didn’t seem to know, either.
Adam looked back out. The Cavers were making headway, pushing deeper and deeper into the crowd. They were shoving and fighting with hot determination, the passion of their convictions driving them on despite the opposition of the entire ship.
“They’re heading for here,” Adam said. “The stage.”
Haydn took a step forward and leaned over to shout at Magorian. “They’re coming for the Captain!”
Adam watched the driving wedge moved closer. His heart stopped.
Devin was out there.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Her pillow and blanket were somewhere, lost to her. Devin was too busy just trying to stay upright to care that they had been trampled under a hundred or more feet. She kept her arm up protectively, shielding herself from the press of bodies around her as people fell back, or tried to move toward the fighting. The man in front of her had his back to her. He was watching the fighting, as everyone was. He was heavier and taller and the pressure on her arm was intense. Yet there was no room to step back out of the way, either.
She pushed against the man, giving herself room. She wasn’t strong enough to stop him. It gave her the space she needed to stay on her feet, though. Gut instinct said that it was important she stay upright. Anyone who fell among this thick cluster of people would not be able to get up again. There was no room and no one was paying attention to anyone but themselves and the fighting.
Ahead, she could hear the shouting, the screaming and the grunt of effort as people shoved and punched and kicked. It was coming closer.
She was forced to take another step backward, then four or five more as the pressure on her arm shoved her. There were people behind her. She tripped and fought to keep her balance.
The wall of people in front of her broke apart. They were yelling around her. She saw a man burst through the thick cluster of people, then swing his fist at the nearest person. The man was red in the face and the look in his eyes was feral. He didn’t look like a Caver, yet he was hitting out at anyone near him.
The man who had been in front of Devon twisted and rammed his knee into the other man’s crotch.
Suddenly, everyone around her was fighting.
A foot stepped on her toes, making Devin cry out. She shoved, trying to get the weight off her foot and nearly went down when a shoulder drove into the small of her back.
