Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 423
kill us."
"We have to try." Calandria stamped the dirt near the fire
in an attempt to warm her feet. "Every day we wait he’ll get
stronger, and nearer his goal."
"But without the Desert Voice..."
"He’s not invincible, Axel. None of them are."
"But we can’t guarantee his destruction. You’ve said
yourself every molecule of that body has to be vaporized."
Calandria patted the large case they’d taken from the Pan
Hellenia. "This should be enough to incapacitate him. Then
we get him offworld, and take care of him once and for all
there."
Marya watched them bicker wearily. This had been
going on for hours now. She was beginning to wonder whether
it wouldn’t have been better to throw herself on the mercy of
the farmers. At least she had studied them. These two were
galactic citizens, like her, but they were also foreign
mercenaries with completely alien priorities.
They had made camp in a hollow beneath a windswept
hill. It was very cold again tonight; Marya could see her
breath. She had never been so cold, for so long, in her life.
Privately she was amazed and proud that she was still alive,
much less mobile. Every day she battled bone-numbing cold,
agoraphobia from being on the unprotected surface of a planet,
and the onslaught of so many minor physical inconveniences
that she was sure they were going to drive her insane.
To make matters worse, Axel had told her he thought it
would rain tonight. Would it hurt? she wondered. The very
thought of countless tiny water-missiles plummeting down at
her from ten thousand meters made her shudder. But he
seemed quite unconcerned. Show-off.
She scratched at the heavy, binding cloth garments