Beyond the Sky: Chapter 10
Subversive Attack
Completely underwater, the submarine was forced to run on ranks of lead-acid batteries behind Master Rennik’s periscope station. It was eerily quiet, nothing but the hum of an electric motor punctuated by the hull’s occasional pop or creak. Each time, Velli half-expected it to be a bomb, a depth charge dropped by Takji’s army of guards, an old mine forgotten on the seafloor, or the punition of the Deep Ones. She took another breath from the air flask.
The War Against the Sea predated Velli’s birth, and Jepsei had never been a shipbuilding nation anyways. Little had changed when the Deep Ones made their pronouncement, that no longer could the people of the surface sail out of sight of land. Mespreth and the Amalgamation had fought back, of course, but the Long War held priority. Then came airplanes and hydroskimmers, and it seemed a moot point. Still, she wondered about the submarine—was descending beneath the waves not a grievous offense against those who ruled them?
It appeared not, for they continued on about an hour. Then Rennik stopped the vessel and held a cushioned speaker up to his round fuzzy ear. “She’s here. Periscope depth!”
His crew went to work, opening valves and minding trim levers, the submarine rose until Velli thought she heard waves.
“Prepare yourselves!” Udan ordered.
Velli checked her rifle, then got a holdout knife from her pocket. A small blade tucked away in a padded safety case, it fit through her mouth and into her left-hand cheek pouch. She saw Teliv doing likewise, removing cellophane-wrapped candies and a small fruit first.
“I forgot.” He noticed Velli’s quizzical glance towards the fruit, as it rolled from the bench.
Rennik barked: “Load torpedo!”
Princess Takji was coming in on a hydroskimmer, that much she knew. This island was the Governor’s guest estate, frequented by all manner of Occupation cronies and their Mespreth masters. As her intended overnight residence, and not a crowded meeting or speech, the JNF hoped it presented a less difficult target.
Commander Parzak’s squad were, hopefully, in position and ready for their attack.
“There she is,” Rennik whispered, eyes pressed to the periscope. “Right three degrees.”
The helmsman turned a wheel. At the nose, three others wrangled a pair of torpedoes into the tubes, slamming the hatches shut.
“Tubes One and Two loaded, flooded!” one shouted back.
Rennik grinned. Somewhere in the distance, Velli thought she heard explosions and gunshots. “Fire One!”
Udan slapped a yellow button. With a fwoosh of compressed air, the submarine lurched.
Velli wished dearly she could’ve seen it: a torpedo streaking in, towards the fat, posh ‘skimmer of a Mespreth royal, striking home, and—
BOOM!
The sea shook.
“Ahead flank!” Rennik ordered. “Surface!”
“Well?” Udan shouted over the engine as it roared to life.
“Direct hit!”
Udan opened the hatch, went abovedeck. Teliv followed, and immediately began firing. Velli went last.
The island was rather small, mostly a mansion surrounded by trees. The mansion now burned in places, hit by the rockets from Parzak’s fishing boat lying some distance away. Guards rushed to the nearest shore, dropping to their knees and returning fire.
“There she is!” Velli pointed.
Princess Takji was on the dock with two Nevi servants and the governor, she’d just gotten out of the ‘skimmer when the torpedo hit. Several guards covered them, advancing towards the mansion. Velli took a rocket launcher from below, and fired at the mansion’s grand wooden door. The blast set fires, brought down part of the façade. The way to safety was now blocked.
“That’s it!” Udan grinned. “Box them in!” He fired on the guards.
Most were too close to the Princess. Velli fired wide, contenting herself with trying to hit the Governor instead. He made almost as good a target, and was perhaps more directly responsible for the Homeland’s current suffering. She ducked behind the conning tower as bullets pinged off.
The submarine drew near a disused dock, the three of them leapt ashore. Glancing back, she saw the hatch get closed and the machine turn back out to sea, preparing to submerge.
She gave one-quarter odds they’d make it out alive.
The guards on the beach got strafed by Udan and Teliv, several went down. Parzak had sent ashore several swimmers, Velli thought she saw one across the sand, taking position to keep them pinned down.
Those around the Princess fought like war-spirits. She wanted to shout to them, is this not the person whose father enslaves your countrymen? But these were the hardest of hearts, fully in and of the Slave Power.
Things were deteriorating, some of the beach guards escaped the trap and forced the three rebels behind cover. One man in a Royal Gendarmes uniform stood halfway to the burning door, firing towards the stone wall Velli hid behind. Without warning, a piece of firewood big as a Nevi spun out and struck him on the back. Another guard turned to fire back at the source and the man behind him got caught reloading, giving Teliv enough time to lean out and gun him down.
More firewood, then an iron rod which skewered the Governor in the shoulder. He went down screaming. The guards fell back now, herding Takji and her servants towards something. A speedboat, by the main dock!
“They’re going to run!” she shouted.
Udan was on the radio with Parzak’s men. “Who’s over there?” He turned his muzzle from where firewood and cast-iron cooking pans now flew.
“No one, I thought,” Velli answered.
“Go!” he ordered.
Without second thought Velli stood and charged towards a large statue base, firing at the guards. Teliv followed, then Udan—
A bullet caught him in the shoulder.
“Commander!” she screamed. Velli was no stranger to death this past year, but Udan was her guide-star, an immovable force at the center of his cell.
Teliv reached him, and dragged him to cover. He drew his pistol with his good arm.
“Leave me,” he said. “Get the Princess! You can still do it!”
The words almost didn’t register as Velli pressed gauze onto his wound.
He pointed the pistol. “Now!”
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