The spirit would say little more, his expression growing troubled when he spoke about it at all. Seeks-the-Moon and Hanna Uljaken had still been playing Go when Kyle had taken his nearly mortal injuries. From that moment, and for what Moon believed were hours afterward, the spirit knew only the terrible pains of freedom and rebirth. He could not, or would not, describe what he passed through. The most he would say was "You wouldn't understand."
Moon said he remembered little from that time except the pain and a few images. He recalled looking to the north of Truman Tower as a black cloud rose skyward from out of the earth and spread across the city. He also remembered hearing, or feeling, the presence of aircraft on or near the Tower. And then there were the bug spirits.
They attacked the building a short time after the departure of the aircraft, taking with it most of the life in the building. He knew there were still people there-he could hear the voices-and perhaps they'd even been speaking to him. But by then he hadn't yet found the strength to respond.
When the insect spirits attacked, Seeks-the-Moon fled. And as he spoke of this, Kyle could almost sense the emotions the spirit was trying to control. When the bug creatures came, Seeks-the-Moon had abandoned the people still in the building because he was helpless, his form and power reduced to little more than pain and turmoil.
He hid himself away somewhere, he didn't know where, and when he regained control of himself, realized truly what had become of him, Seeks-the-Moon returned briefly to the building. It was deserted, but he'd found a message to him and Kyle in the main room of the Truman condoplex. It was from Hanna Uljaken and said that the Truman family had fled in a Knight Errant tilt-wing aircraft. Daniel Truman, his wife, and their daughter Madelaine had flown to apparent safety, but Melissa was missing again. She was gone from the condo, out with Knight Errant guards who couldn't be raised on the radio when the word had come through that the Trumans and key staff were being evacuated.
Hanna had stayed behind by choice, coordinating the Truman organization's feeble attempts to find Melissa. But even before that could be begun, the Truman Tower itself was invaded. The message ended with word that Hanna and the others were leaving via the building's state-of-the-art fire evacuation system to get clear. That was the only sign of her Seeks-the-Moon could find, and that was when the spirit had set out to find Kyle.
All of which had happened a week ago.
“I have to try," Kyle told him.
Seeks-the-Moon merely stared back. "I have some influence," he said. "I might be able to find out what's really going on."
“They'll shoot you."
"No, they won't They're not shooting anybody."
"People on the street have said that the government is shooting people who are trying to get out."
“I don't believe that; people are scared and when that happens all sorts of stories start," Kyle said. "Besides, I need to go north."
"Your wife."
"My ex-wife," Kyle said, "and my daughter."
"Where will you look?" said Seeks-the-Moon. "At her office? At the apartment? Your daughter's school? The odds of them still being at any of those places is very small."
Kyle nodded slowly. "I know, but if Beth had any way of leaving me a message, she would have."
He stood up. "I have to try. And I'd like your help. I have no reason to expect it," he said, "and I certainly won't demand it"
The. spirit frowned, but a moment later he nodded. "I will help you," he said. "Because you asked."
Kyle nodded back. “Thank you."
They gathered what supplies they had, the food the spirit had raided or gathered, and the weapons taken from the ruins of the Knight Errant assault. Kyle could see that a lot of weapons and armor had apparently been looted from the site, but he hoped that having state-of-the-art weapons evened the odds somewhat between the local populace and the marauding bug spirits.
When they were ready, Kyle thought he must look like a refugee from some second-rate post-nuclear holocaust sim-show. He was careful, though; to remove any obvious Knight Errant markings from the gear, especially the body armor. There was no telling what the city's politics had degenerated into. Seeks-the-Moon looked the same, except for the heavy backpack slung over one shoulder. It was all he could really carry since he might need to slip quickly into astral space. He could take nothing "real" with him, and needed to be able to drop any belongings quickly.
They'd discussed the possibility of Kyle summoning up more elementals or watchers, but had rejected the idea. The time and effort needed to create a conjuring circle to summon the elementals was impractical, and Seeks-the-Moon counseled against any summonings at all until they knew more about the hordes of insect spirits. He was concerned, and Kyle reluctantly agreed, that any summoning might be tantamount to turning on a porch light of a hot summer evening. The last thing they wanted was to attract the attention of the bugs.
Despite the heat, Kyle wore a heavy long coat liberated from a thrift shop over his combat gear. While the visible presence of military-grade firearms and armor might persuade some that the price for messing with him and Moon was too high, others probably wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of grabbing up some choice hardware.
With his newfound freedom, Seeks-the-Moon had gained the ability to mask his aura, hiding his spirit-nature and continual presence in astral space from all but the most perceptive astral observer. Kyle's foci were another story. He could mask some of them, subsuming their auras into his own, but he couldn't conceal them all. So instead of being in a constant state of worry about attack from astral space, he decided to travel with the foci temporarily deactivated.
Throughout their preparations Kyle wondered about the continued presence Of Seeks-the-Moon. The spirit was free, liberated, and beyond Kyle's direct control. He had no reason to remain-could, no doubt, easily escape the besieged city. And yet, Seeks-the-Moon wanted to stay. Kyle wanted to know why, but his growing pangs of guilt over having kept the spirit in virtual thrall for years instead of freeing him, stopped his tongue. Seeks-the-Moon seemed to sense Kyle's distress, but he did or said nothing to ease it.
The apartment where Seeks-the-Moon had taken Kyle was a few blocks north of me Randolph and Sangamon intersection. Before setting out across the city they climbed to the roof of a tall nearby building that had once held offices. Abandoned and looted, the building probably housed some squatters, but those residents concealed themselves well and had nothing to gain from antagonizing the pair. Once, during their climb up to the roof, Seeks-the-Moon lamented the irony of the fact that he was now free and newly empowered but virtually impotent for fear of attracting insect spirits.
On the roof, Kyle used the pair of high-power binoculars they'd scavenged from the Knight Errant site. It was morning.
Looking south, they could see the tall, thin spires of the downtown Core. At least three of the buildings were on fire, and uncontrolled. From their position he could also see the gleaming upper half of the Truman Tower. There were no signs of insect spirits, or any other life, but most of the building's windows were broken or cracked. A small trail of smoke drifted up from the roof. A rogue fire, he wondered, or someone's plea for help?
Beyond the building, Kyle suddenly saw movement. Three black and armed attack helicopters arced quickly around the structure. They cut across the Core, dodging buildings as they moved from east to west, their UCAS Army markings easily visible in the morning light. Then they fired, unleashing a powerful barrage of rockets against the upper stories of a copper-colored office building at the southern edge of the Core. Seeks-the-Moon made a noise deep in his throat: even without the binoculars he could see the flash of weapons and the huge fireballs that erupted from the building.
The helicopters continued their lightning volley as dozens of dark shapes bolted from the growing inferno. Most fell quickly, either unable or too injured to fly, but some, a half-dozen forms of what seemed to be wasps, shot toward the helicopters. Three of them suddenly broke off their attack, bouncing in different directions in a glittering blur of wings and sparks of astral energy. Kyle was still unwilling to use his astral senses and expose himself to attack, but he was sure those three had run into other spirits, elementals or watchers, guarding the helicopters. The three remaining insect spirits continued their mad rush at the choppers.
The helicopters jinked, turning away from the bugs and accelerating. The lead helicopter dipped, and caught the first insect spirit in its rotor blades, hurling it away but damaging the blades. The second helicopter avoided its attacker and tired to evade, but Kyle knew the wasp spirits would be much, much faster than the machines. The third wasp caught its prey, and began to attack the cockpit
Kyle wondered, but only for a moment, if the cockpit would hold. Then he saw the armored glass shatter and peel away. The helicopter immediately yawed to the right and began to lose altitude. It would hit the ground in a matter of seconds.
He looked for the second copter, and saw it maneuvering vainly to avoid its attacker. Regardless of how good the pilot, it would not be able to hold out much longer. Kyle took a deep breath and called on his power. Raw astral energy focused through him and the formula he assembled in his mind. He reached out with his astral senses and synchronized the energy of the spell with the insect's, then released it. The energy flashed between them in astral space, a blue-gray spark of power that exploded against the thing like a bolt of lightning. It spun to one side, its wings torn, and began to fall, still writhing in blue energy as it dissipated. The helicopter dropped below the tops of the buildings and fled west, using the streets as cover. Kyle quickly scanned for the first helicopter, but did not see it. A ribbon of smoke rose into the air to tell him where the third had fallen.
Within a minute of their sighting, they were gone. A handful of dark shapes lurked in the area of the office building, whose upper stories were ablaze. Soon the ominous shapes descended toward the streets.
"It would seem your government is actually doing something," said Seeks-the-Moon.
Kyle nodded. "Keep a lookout. Someone or some of the bug spirits may have seen my spell."
"I have been," said Seeks-the-Moon.
"Did that first helicopter get away?" Kyle asked. "I couldn't tell."
"I couldn't either."
Kyle looked back toward the Core. Light gunfire echoed up from the streets near them, but he still saw nothing. Kyle then looked east toward the lake. The sky was virtually cloudless, reflecting cleanly off what he could see of the still waters of the lake.
There were boats out there, arrayed in a north-south line about three kilometers from the shore. He could make out the shapes of what seemed like Coast Guard cutters, and what may have been a regular Navy vessel or two. The rest seemed to be merchant vessels, probably impressed into service. There were a few smaller white pleasure boats out there as well, but those seemed to be keeping clear of the blockade. An orange and white helicopter hovered in the air near one. After a moment, the two parted and the sailboats headed back toward shore.
Kyle turned his attention inland. There was little change visible in the already half-abandoned Noose, and he wondered if the vagrants and squatters living there might not survive this best of all. There was little else to see, with the exception of some smoke northeast and near to the lake.
Looking west of the city, he could see more smoke, a half-dozen thin plumes, and signs of a land blockade around the city. Off some distance, helicopters and what seemed to be at least one light combat vehicle, maybe a scout LAV, patrolled the line of demarcation, which street rumor said was either as far west as Interstate 294, or as close as Harlem Avenue. The binoculars' rangefinder placed them at about fourteen kilometers, which made Harlem far more likely than the interstate some twenty plus kilometers away.
Beyond the helicopters Kyle could see a glint of light from something big and elongated that hung in the air. A lighter-than-air craft, he thought, probably housing high-resolution radar for monitoring the sky over the city. He wondered if it was powerful enough to pick up the insect spirits when they moved about in physical form. He also wondered about the vulnerability of the craft, hanging there in plain sight. He knew that he could easily have struck it with a powerful spell, and assumed that others in the city could do the same. He also knew the military would have thought of that too.
Then, finally, he looked north. Again, there was smoke, a particularly dense cloud billowing upward along the lake. He could barely make out the demarcation line, and wondered how far north it was. They'd been told Belmont Avenue, and he hoped that was true, as it would place Beth's apartment and Natalie's school out of the containment area. But the helicopters seemed farther away than that; the rangefinder on the binoculars was estimating fourteen kilometers, which seemed too far.
Without a map there was no way to tell, so Kyle and Seeks-the-Moon began walking northward.