Глава 16

Can I, listen to, what you're listening to?

I want to know, about the other, mines...

Are we, the only ones, who left? Were there, others...?

What they say on the radio isn't true, Vetochki.

I-I know!

Just wanted to know, if they're safe. Can we?

It's true that radio broadcasts from the mines could be a source of information. Thank you, Vetochki.

Lieutenant Gorchekova, please mark on the map any nomadic cities in the path of the Armies' heading.

Wait... the signal has been changed...

Military channel. That one just now was on civilian channels. Now they're sharing internal communications with other units.

'Central Mining District purged.'

'Acknowledged.'

What...?

'Purged?'

They're purging...

What?

Don't listen, Vetochki!

Raidian tries to cover her ears, but the girl shakes her head.

The next message comes through after a brief silence.

'Satellite City's Mining District purged.'

'Acknowledged.'

'Olonets Mining District purged.'

'Acknowledged.'

'Volgrad Mining District purged.'

'Acknowledged.'

Names of places mixed with static are sent back one after another from the terminal. Some are familiar, some are not. No one dares imagine what is happening on the other side.

A name. Just a name.

That's enough. Turn it off.

We're not getting any more information... turn it off.

No... no...

I want to know... I want, to know.

They're... our friends.

'Ural Mining District purged.'

'Acknowledged.'

'Kras Mining District purged.'

'Acknowledged.'

'Onega Mining District purged.'

'Acknowledged.'

The terminal's playback is like a bland, looping song.

The aurora sways in the night sky, a beautiful curtain that shuts out the screaming happening elsewhere on this tundra.

It is a long night.

...I understand, Your Imperial Majesty. I always have.

I understand your kindness. But no one has ever been respected for kindness...

What will happen to a nation, when it loses the energy that is its lifeblood?

Either it becomes livestock whose survival depends on the whims of others, or it must plunder the others first.

This is not the desire of the Armies... it is the desire of Ursus.

Ursus must not be weak. If she becomes weak, we must cut away what is weak, or the others will fall upon her in an instant.

All of this to say...

Silence can be such a difficult thing.

Grand Duchess Elisabeth tosses the letter with the State Council's seal into the fireplace.

The flames rise with a soft hiss, then all is quiet again.

Vetochki... calm down and listen to me.

Don't be afraid... don't give up. We can make it. We'll take everyone out of this place.

I want to leave...

But, 'massacre'... killing people? They're trying to... shut everyone up?

They used to do it, with butter, and coffee. Then, with whips, and death.

Papa and Mama, didn't keep quiet, so they're... dead.

Vetochki...

But what if, we're dead, even if, we keep quiet?

The mining districts, what we heard... they're all dead? But we're, the only ones, who know.

Shouldn't more people know, before we're, silenced too?

They can't, kill everyone.

Can they?

You're right. But sending a message would reveal our position to the nearby Army...

We...

Eloysius swallows her words. She wanted to be the voice of cold reason, but she cannot say the words.

Vetochki is right.

We can't let them bury everything that happened here.

You've just been through a hard fight, Mantra.

There's no need to worry. It's my duty.

But I can't NOT worry...

You didn't want to come to the north, or reveal your Arts. There must be reasons for that, whether it's a past you didn't want to expose, or...

Rhodes Island won't place undue burdens on our operators. I don't know what you went through here, but I know it takes great courage to overcome it.

Thank you for your understanding, Amiya. But I no longer need to avoid it, for I've left it behind.

We'll reveal the tragedy that happened here, and expose their plot to all.

A-Alright!

And we have a witness.

Let's begin.

Calibration complete... how are you feeling?

Good.

We'll expand the area, then. Raidian?

One moment. Maybe I can make use of the magnetic storms. The electrical signals carried in the noise...

How are you feeling now, Mantra?

I can hear more now.

'More' is a vague answer. She not only hears more, she hears further, hears more details—

She hears the battleship's tracks rumbling across the tundra, the screams that not even Originium engines and guns can drown.

She hears parents speaking southern Ursine dialects, kissing their children goodnight; couples whispering words of love on the balcony before going inside, the curtains left open.

She hears a radio program in the Northern Tundra, interrupted from time to time by the magnetic storms; an old man falling asleep stroking a cloudbeast in his arms in a nursing home...

She feels as though she can hear everything, and she knows she has to interrupt.

'Comrades—'

Mantra suddenly realizes that she should not be the one saying the words.

At least, not the only one.

Vetochki.

Y-Yes?

These are your words.

Say them with me.

But I, don't speak, clearly—

You can do it.

I, I—

'Comrades in the mines and cities.'