Alchymist (7 page)

No
answer. She moved to the intersection. Definitely voices, from the middle
tunnel. She crept up through the gloom, turned a corner into a wider tunnel lit
by a single lantern on a pole, and stopped.

Half
a dozen people had their backs to her, staring at something that she could not
make out. They looked like the human slaves the lynnx had kept here. The
walker's legs clacked and they turned, squinting into the dark. She moved forwards
and, with wild cries, they broke and ran. What was the matter? Tiaan realised,
belatedly, that she must have made a terrifying sight, half human and half
machine, and coated with droppings of tar.

'Wait,'
someone yelled from around the corner. 'That's just Tiaan.'

The
voice was familiar. 'Merryl?'

He
appeared, carrying a lantern. She was so glad to see him. 'The tunnel's on
fire, Merryl. I couldn't get through.'

'This
passage leads to an exit but there's a construct stuck in the tar and we can't
get past it.'

'A
construct?' Tiaan edged forward curiously.

He
caught her arm. 'Careful. The tar's sticky over there. I've sent people to pull
shelves out of a storeroom, to stand on. We may be able to climb over the top.'

'Is
there anyone inside it?'

'I
don't know.'

The
construct, which was just like her own thapter, though only half the size, was
two-thirds buried in sticky tar. The former slaves, four men and two women,
came panting up, carrying long planks, and began to lay them across the tar.
The timber ran out just before the construct; they hurried off for more.

When
planks had been laid all the way, they began to scrape the tar off with shovels
and mattocks so they could climb over. Being unable to help, Tiaan waited where
the tar was firm, working her wasted leg muscles until they hurt.

She
had to be able to walk unaided. The planks were too narrow for her walker and
she was wondering how she would get across when someone hissed, 'What's that?'

The
work stopped. Tap, tap, tap came clearly from inside the construct.

Tiaan
felt a spasm of fear. The Aachim had chased her halfway across Lauralin. If the
ones inside were freed, they would come after her and these unarmed slaves
could not stop them.

'Don't
let —’ Tiaan broke off. She couldn't condemn those inside to suffocation.

'What's
the matter?' called Merryl, who was stripped to the waist and covered in sweat.
It was growing hotter all the time.

'Oh,
nothing.' In her condition, Tiaan was afraid to trust anyone.

She
watched as the tar was scraped off the top of the construct. It took ages, for
it clung to the tools and they had to be cleaned every minute or two. Someone
climbed up, holding the lantern aloft.

"Tunnel's
collapsed further along,' the man announced. 'We'll have to find another way
out.'

'All
the other passages run back in the direction of the fire,' said Merryl.

The
hatch of the construct was forced up, tearing the coating of tar into clinging
strands. A head appeared in the opening. Tiaan edged back into the shadows,
hoping it was some obscure Aachim who had never seen her.

It
was Minis. Her heart began to hammer. She had sworn revenge on him and all the
Aachim kind, but what was the point of that if they were all going to die?

Another
Aachim climbed up beside Minis. Tiaan recognised her too, despite her haggard
look. Tirior had also been in on the betrayal. Minis climbed down onto the
boards and Tirior followed. A third person emerged, a short, stocky young man
with a cap of dark hair that clung to the contours of his skull. Cryl-Nish
Hlar, Nish. Her nemesis. If there was any man in the world she loathed as much
as the Aachim, it was him.

Tiaan
sprang the walker backwards, colliding with the wall. She covered her face,
peering through her fingers at Minis, and tears sprang to her eyes. She had
invested all her foolish, youthful dreams in him, and he had cast her aside.
She had to get away before he saw her. Whirling the walker around in its tracks
she set off the other way, into her personal darkness. Towards the fire.

'Tiaan!'
yelled Merryl.

She
increased her speed, for his cry had given her away.

'Tiaan,'
he yelled, pounding after her.

She
could not move quickly in the gloom and Merryl caught her around the bend.
'Tiaan, what is it?'

'Those
three are my enemies.'

He
took her arm. 'You can't get out that way. Can't you smell the fumes?'

Just
enough light came around the corner, now that her eyes had adjusted, to
illuminate a dark, noxious cloud creeping along the floor. An odd tendril or
two escaped upwards. One caught in the back of her throat and her lungs
contracted.

All
right,' she said hoarsely. 'But don't tell them my back has been repaired.
Please.'

'I'll
say nothing,' said Merryl. 'I know nothing.'

At
the corner she almost ran into a racing Minis. 'Tiaan? Is it truly you?' He
stopped abruptly, staring at the walker. His eyes lifted to her face. 'Tiaan,'
he whispered. 'What happened?'

Her
back was throbbing. She couldn't deal with Minis. All she could do was keep him
at bay with words. 'My back was broken when the construct crashed,1 she said
harshly. After your father attacked me without provocation.'

'I'm
sorry. I tried to stop him . . .'

'Spare
me your lies! I had enough of them in Tirthrax.' She ground the words out, then
went past in silence. Tirior stared at her. Nish gaped. Tiaan did not acknowledge
either of them.

In
the open area, she said to Merryl, 'Is there any other way out?'

He
pointed to the left, where another small tunnel yawned. 'It may be possible
that way. If not, we're trapped and will die here.'

'Is
the way the construct came in completely blocked?'

'It
seems so.'

'Then
we have no choice. Shall we scout this passage out?'

They
had gone only a hundred paces up the small tunnel when they encountered a
rivulet of molten tar oozing along the floor.

'I
was afraid of that,' said Merryl. 'It seems we're doomed to end our lives here,
Tiaan.'

Tiaan
said nothing. They went back to the construct.

Tirior
examined the walker shrewdly. 'An ingenious device. Did you make it?'

'What's
the matter with your machine?' said Tiaan, ignoring the question.

'The
node has gone dead and taken all the fields with it.' Tirior was watching
Tiaan, head tipped to one side, no doubt wondering how the walker could still
move. It would not take her long to work it out.

'Merryl'
Tiaan said quietly. 'Order your people to take the Aachim, before they attack
us.'

Tirior's
hand darted for the pack she wore on her chest. Tiaan hurled the walker
backwards, slamming painfully into the wall.

'Take
them,' roared Merryl, throwing his handless arm across Tirior's throat and twisting
her other arm up behind her back. The freed slaves did the same with Minis.

'Him
as well' Tiaan shouted, pointing to Nish.

'You
misjudge us' Tirior said softly, but under her breath she was muttering in an
Aachim dialect Tiaan did not recognise.

Tiaan
felt power flow from her controller and the walker's legs slowly splayed. Had
Tirior not been exhausted from the mancery that had got her into Snizort, she
might have succeeded.

'Stop
her mouth!' Tiaan cried.

One
of the slaves wound a strip of cloth three times around Tirior's head and
pulled it tight. Tiaan felt the flow ease. Her heart was beating irregularly
and she felt faint. So close.

'You
taught me the value of your word, Tirior.' Tiaan wrenched open the pack, Tirior
had been reaching for a small glass tube, capped in gold, with a scintillating
powder inside. Tiaan tossed it into the tar and pressed it down with one of the
walker's feet. 'Bind them, please. Merryl.'

Cord
was found in a storeroom and the three prisoners' hands bound behind their backs.

'I'm
not your enemy, Tiaan,' said Nish. I was wrong about you before. I'm sorry.'

He
seemed different to the Nish Tiaan had known. He was more sure of himself, less
angry, and made no attempt to fight those who held him. But Tiaan could not
forgive so easily. 'Every time I've met you I've regretted it, Nish,' she said
wearily.

'We
were looking for you, to bring you out of here.'

Tiaan
activated the walker and moved away. 'I have a plan,' she whispered to Merryl.

'I
thought you must.'

'I
think, with my crystal, that I may be able to operate the construct. If you can
direct me to the way out, it will carry us through the fumes. For a while, at
least.'

'I
know every tunnel/ he said.

'Lift
me into the construct and I'll see what I can do. The tar around it will have
to be cleared away.'

'I'll
have it done.'

Taking
the amplimet from the walker, Tiaan put it in her pocket, undid the straps and
lifted herself on her arms. Merryl carried her across. 'I'm not too heavy, am
I?'

He
smiled. 'You're no burden at all.'

He
boosted her up the side and she slid her legs in. As her feet struck the floor
Tiaan's knees buckled. Her muscles might have been made from cloth. Pulling out
the operator's seat she sat down hurriedly.

The
layout was much the same as in her thapter. She pressed the small recessed
button and a hexagonal tube sprang out. Flipping the cap open, she removed the
crystal, which was pale blue and striated down the sides. She had never seen
one like it. Slipping it into her pocket, she put the amplimet in its place. In
her own construct, or thapter as she had called it after learning how to make
it fly, she'd made a special device to reduce power.

Tlaan
hoped that would not he necessary here, since she was drawing from such a
distant node. In any case, she had nothing to build it with.

She
pressed the hexagonal tube in and closed the cap. After a long moment, a faint
whine came from below, and a subtle tremor. It was working!

It
took hours to remove the great gouts of sticky tar, and the work was so
exhausting that the slaves had to rest after every few strokes. The job had
just been completed when Merryl cried, Tiaan, look out!'

She
got the hatch down just in time, as an even bigger clot buried the construct
completely. By the time that had been removed, the air inside was stale. A day
had gone by since her escape from the patterner.

The
black miasma, which had advanced and retreated a number of times, was now
flowing steadily across the floor. It would be up to their knees within
minutes.

'Better
bring the prisoners on board,' she said to Merryl, who was anxiously watching
the fumes. Tiaan popped the amplimet out and pocketed it, just in case. There
was no room for trust; the whole world seemed to be against her.

The
prisoners were brought in and taken below. Minis gazed sorrowfully at her, like
a dog that had been kicked. Nish, who looked as though he hadn't slept in days,
simply lay down, pillowed his head on his arms and went to sleep. Tirior showed
no expression at all. She was the one to watch.

Everyone
came aboard save the two who were mattocking away at the sticky tar on the
right-hand side. When the black fog was at the level of their thighs, Tiaan
called them in. Should a sudden surge overwhelm the construct now, it would be
impossible to get out.

Merryl
set guards on the Aachim and Nish. The remaining slaves went below, leaving
just her and Merryl in the operator's compartment. It would be very cramped
down there, with nine passengers. Tiaan reinserted the amplimet and took hold
of the trumpet-shaped lever. The whine rose in pitch but the construct did not
move.

'It's
still stuck in the tar,' said Merryl. ' I don't think —’

'I'll
try to work it free.'

He
peered anxiously ahead. A billow of black mist was rolling towards them. Tiaan
pulled down the hatch and fastened it. It became dark inside, except for the
subtle glow from the plate in front of her. The front panel thinned to
transparency. The outside was dimly lit by glowing globes that shone
intermittently through the fog.

She
wiggled the lever back and forth, ever so gently. The whine rose and fell. With
a delicate shudder the construct pulled free and rose in the air until its base
was at the level of the black fog. Tiaan edged it forwards.

'Straight
ahead or to the left?' she said, after they'd been travelling a while.

'The
way out into the main pit is straight ahead, but we may not be able to get
through that way . . .' Merryl was looking at her expectantly. 'Is something
the matter?'

She
realised that she was frowning. I originally came here looking for Gilhaelith.
He's a strange, unlikeable fellow, but he was good to me.' Even though he'd
cared more for the amplimet than about her safety, Tiaan had to know that he
was safe.