Shadows, стр. 31
Ahead, he heard the growl of an engine starting. Although the light was bright enough to read by, at a distance of three hundred yards he could barely make out Subitorni and his men piling into a large vehicle and then heading into the tunnel to the north. During his arrival, Yukannak hadn’t noted how far he had traveled down the tunnel before reaching his quarters. It hadn’t been relevant then. Now, tired and on foot, it was very relevant. It was a long, long way.
A stitch in his side grew with each breath. How far could the passage possibly go? The original passage might have been carved by natural forces, but widening and squaring such an immense space must have taken thousands of people and many years. Here and there, narrow side tunnels branched off, and he reckoned they all led to the network of tunnels rumored to run throughout the region, perhaps even to the rumored escape passage. None was large enough for a vehicle, though. Yukannak had a growing suspicion that Subitorni not only knew where and what the archive was, but, with the F’ahdn dead, he was planning to take it for himself and escape through the secret entrance. That realization leant new speed to Yukannak’s steps.
Eventually, the tunnel turned sharply to the left. About two hundred yards ahead, he saw the glow from the large room he remembered, the one with the vehicles in it, and he slowed. Subitorni might turn out to be an ally, or he might simply kill the silci on sight. The worst case was if the Kulsians had discovered his crime and sent out a capture order. There was just no way to know, so it was better for him to hide, listen, and wait.
* * *
Tanavuna, Ammaii, Unaa, and Kuun lay on the cool stone floor, watching from under one of the powered vehicles Captain Cutter called a “truck” as a similar one rumbled past and stopped near a pair of large double doors set into the western wall. Nine men climbed out of the truck’s bed, and it surprised Tanavuna to see they wore not the red, blue, green, or purple paint of the four major militias who served the F’ahdn, but instead had the white paint of the J’Stull guards. He was further surprised when Kuun elbowed him and pointed to Subitorni, the local J’Stull commander. That changed everything.
Why was the J’Stull commander down here when the city was under attack? He should have been leading the defense against Major Moorefield’s assault teams. Was the F’ahdn down there, receiving treatment…perhaps from Kesteluni? No answer made sense except that they were protecting the city’s leader.
Subitorni’s presence made Tanavuna’s decision to investigate the entrance look like a shrewd tactical move instead of disregarding orders. Other than the F’ahdn himself or the Kulsian rumored to be in the city, the J’Stull commander was the very definition of a high value target. And for him personally, the raid on Nuthhurfipiko had all the marks of a J’Stull operation, including the use of trucks. That meant Subitorni had not only approved it, he likely also planned it, participated in it, and was directly responsible for the murder of his father and all the others. For that, Subitorni deserved death. Instant, terrible death. But he couldn’t, though; in addition to his mission objective, if anybody knew where Kesteluni was being held, it would be Subitorni.
Once the last of the J’Stull passed through the open doors, Tanavuna and his men advanced until they were twenty feet from the two men talking in the truck’s bed. Based on their lack of face paint and the smears of dirt and lubricants on their skin and clothing, they rarely went to the surface. He made out snatches of their conversation but became alert when one spoke about the beautiful black-haired healer; that could only be his wife. With rifles shouldered and aimed at the two mechanics, he, Kuun, and Ammaii walked forward in a skirmish line, ready to shoot.
* * *
Across the room on the western wall, Subitorni’s vehicle was backed up to a wide doorway with the engine off. The J’Stull commander was surrounded by his men, giving them orders Yukannak couldn’t hear. He’d even pulled the mechanics over, making it clear he needed their muscle to load something. Two men climbed into the vehicle’s open bed while the rest disappeared through the doorway.
With their backs to him, Yukannak intended to slip past the ramp and hide behind the vehicles parked against the wall on his left, most of which were in various stages of repair. Crouching in the shadows, he rose to run for cover but detected movement to his right. He stopped and crouched.
Four men dressed like tribal militia flitted between the carts and vehicles on the far side of the ramp, moving toward the door through which Subitorni had disappeared. They surprised the two men in the vehicle bed, motioned them to a corner, and tied and gagged them. After checking the mechanic’s bonds, the militiamen followed Subitorni into the darkness.
Yukannak ran for the far side of the now-empty cavern. High above, at the head of the ramp, a slit of sunlight showed how the invaders had gotten in, probably after finding the trap door from the wheel tracks. One thing the Kulsians and J’Stull knew about the Offworlders was that they were professionals, not amateurs like the forces allied with the satrap. Hiding a secret entrance was a brilliant idea, but showing its exact location by leaving wheel tracks was utter stupidity.
He reached a vehicle near the darkened rectangle of the doorway. Leaning with his back to the front tire, Yukannak tried to slow his breathing so