A Season for Slaughter

Chapter 73 Hallucinations

It was a long night. I passed in and out of consciousness. Sometime around two in the ayem, the body of the airship began creaking and groaning alarmingly, and then it started lurching downward again. When it stopped, the savage tilt of the floor was even more pronounced. Fortunately, most of the patients were in hammocks or hanging beds, and except for a few minor bumps, the worst we got was a good scare. But Dr. Meier took one look at the angle of her medical bay and announced, "The hell with this. This isn't safe."

We were hastily evacuated back down to ground level. A makeshift floor of paneling had been laid out, and large pieces of mylar from the collapsed gasbags were being rigged as shelters. In the distance, I could see lightning, and at one point, I heard rain pattering around us; but wherever they'd stashed me, it was mostly dry: Some kind of tent. I was strapped to a board. I couldn't see who was on the cot next to me. Later, I found out it was Benson. His chest had been crushed by a sliding crate, and he could barely breathe. He was on a maintenance box, and his breath rasped in and out like a dying engine.

Emergency lights had been strung, and from time to time, Dr. Meier or one of her assistants passed through and clucked appreciatively over me and sadly over Benson. There wasn't really a lot they could do for either of us but keep us warm and wait for morning. Nobody would answer my questions about the whereabouts of Lizard or the rescue choppers, and I got the feeling that something terrible had gone Wrong somewhere.

Later, Shaun stopped by to give me a canteen and some P-rations. "What's going on?" I asked him. At first he wouldn't answer, but I grabbed his arm and said, "Goddammit, I'm not a baby! You don't have to keep secrets from me. Where's General Tirelli? Where are the choppers?"

"They're still looking for survivors. The choppers will be here in the morning."

"Who's looking? And what about the choppers from Yuana Moloco? The ones that were delivering all that helium?"

Shaun looked pained. "Everybody's looking. But there's a column of worms heading toward us. They're following the trail we left for them all the way from the mandala. The choppers are laying down smoke and aerogel. If that doesn't work, they're going to use fuel-air explosives."

"How far away?"

"They could be here before morning. We're going to have a fight on our hands."

"Get me a torch and put me on the line-"

"I'll tell Lieutenant Siegel."

"I gotta see him, Shaun."

"I'll tell him. He's awfully busy."

"He's never been up against anything like this. He needs my help-"

"Captain-" Shaun was extraordinarily polite. "Listen to me. You're sensitive to central nervous system depressants, so we've got you on a PKD-series. You're drugged to the gills, you're hallucinating like a video display, and putting a torch in your hands would be one of the stupidest things we could do."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence. I feel fine."

"That's the biggest hallucination."

"Shaun, I gotta find Lizard."

"Captain, why don't you trust somebody else to do their job once in a while? You can't do it all yourself-"

"Because they'll fuck it up! Shaun, I'm the only one who knows-"

He pushed me back down onto the bed. "If you try to get out of that bed, you'll lose your leg. If I have to, I'll strap you down myself. And then, when I have you safely strapped down-" He leered at me salaciously. "Is that enough of a threat to make you behave?"

"Shaun, please!"

"No," he said. He was angry. "You listen to me. Everything is under control-"

"I don't believe you."

"Then fuck you!" he said. "I'm trying to help you, goddammit!"

"This isn't helping me! You really want to help? Get me a crutch, a cane, anything!"

"The hell with you-" He reshouldered his weapon and ducked out of the tent. His weapon? What the-?

Later, I heard alarms and sirens. I heard explosions and the sounds of torches and rocket launchers. I thought I smelled smoke. Somebody went running by the tent, but they ignored my cries. I was alone with my terror, my worst imaginings, and the dreadful rattle of Benson's labored breathing.