Contents
Thirteen
Overview
Zakalwe shaves his head, rejects ceremonial robes, and cancels a planned decapitation strike. As the citadel collapses under assault, he moves through chaos without killing, is wounded, and witnesses a Culture module overhead. He ultimately signals for extraction, choosing restraint over escalation as the regime falls around him.
Summary
At dawn, Zakalwe abandons ceremonial robes, shaves his head, and chooses to wear his original clothes. Uncertain whether he ordered a decapitation strike the previous night, he calls the spaceport to confirm. With explosions shaking the citadel, he decides to stand the strike down despite the technicians’ readiness.
Leaving by a postern, Zakalwe crosses the refugee-filled parade ground as breaches rip open the curtain wall and citadel. Amid spreading panic and dust, he observes new enemy munitions tearing the fortifications and tents apart. Aircraft strafe and firebomb the tent city, and he witnesses burning civilians and mounting casualties.
Confronted by soldiers, Zakalwe disarms one but refuses to use the knife. Another shoots him in the upper chest; he feigns death, then rises and limps on, using a broken tent pole as a crutch. Overhead, he glimpses a Culture module hovering above his ruined apartments before it disappears from sight.
Battered by blasts and small-arms fire, Zakalwe pushes toward the largest breach. He reflects bitterly on Sma’s view of heroism as he crawls over rubble and corpses, increasingly exhausted and wounded. Tanks squeal up through the fallen stone while dust and screams envelop the square.
Reaching the ramparts strewn with bodies, Zakalwe uses the corpses to form a difficult “Z” signal on the wall top. After repeated attempts, the sign is completed, intended for the Culture module to see, marking his choice to seek extraction rather than reignite the battle with the cancelled strike.
Who Appears
- ZakalweShaves his head, cancels a decapitation strike, navigates the collapsing citadel, is wounded, and signals for Culture extraction.
- Chief flight engineerConfirms the spacecraft is ready for a decapitation strike; awaits Zakalwe’s order before being told to stand down.
- Culture moduleHovers over Zakalwe’s ruined apartments; the intended recipient of his corpse-formed “Z” extraction signal.
- Imperial Army soldiersAssault the citadel with tanks and small arms; one shoots Zakalwe during the chaos.
- Refugees in the parade groundCaught in the bombardment; many flee, are strafed, and burned as the citadel falls.
- Sma (recalled)Appears in Zakalwe’s memory, quoted on the nature of heroism amid war.