Aquifer (23 page)

“Customs are different below.” I force a smile. “Listen, Mape, should you make it through the streets, give no thought to me — just stop the drilling. Do whatever you must to make them stop. I’ve felt the tremors from below. You’re drilling will not reach the Aquifer, it will destroy it, and with it vanishes the only hope of two worlds.”

Mape’s jaw sets, and he nods. “I will consider it my last assignment. Now” — he stiffens — “to the amphitheater.”

T
he next thirty minutes vanish in a whir of shouts and the whiz of stones. As the head Amongus in New Pert, Mape is too well known, and rocks strike our shoulders, ricochet about our feet.

Talya urges me forward, and though I should focus on our flight, I take frequent glances back to where Mape pulls up the rear. His footsteps land heavy and uneven as he dodges left and right, plucking well-aimed chunks of concrete out of the air.

“No good,” he says, and my feet lose contact with earth. I’m caught up in the crook of Mape’s arm, while Talya is hoisted in the other. Between us, an Amongus covered with blood.

How many blows he must have absorbed! Yet he churns ahead and doubles our speed. We weave through back roads I’ve never traveled, snaking ever nearer the Swan Inlet.

Rocks no longer fall, and the shouts disappear. Something has happened. The mob no longer pursues. But Mape, he gasps for breath in uneven bursts.

“Duck in there!”

A familiar voice. I know it. I obey it.

Lendi overtakes us, and my mate shoves us into an alley. I want to shout, to embrace my friend, but agony distorts his face and I hold my joy in check.

Mape gently lays Talya and me to the ground and crumples against the wall. Only then do I see the extent of his wounds.

Blood oozes from his face and torso. Crimson shreds are all that remain of his powder-blue scrubs. And an arrow plunges deep into his right thigh.

An arrow?

Talya already attends to the pierce. “What is the shape of the tip? If I pull, will I leave it behind?”

“You must try.” Mape braces himself, grabbing a series of pipes, and gives a tight-lipped nod.

Talya yanks, and both shaft and tip pull free, igniting a fresh weep of blood from the wound. She wipes the tip on her scrub. “It’s out. This barb was not meant to kill.”

“Yes, it was,” Lendi says.

I gaze at my mate, a bow across his back, a quiver strung at his side. His hands red with death.

“Lendi, what have you done?” I reach out and take his hands. He shakes and stares down at his palms.

“I’m not worthy of that name anymore. I don’t know who I am.” He faces Mape. “My four mates and I chased you. It was me who loosed that arrow. I … I didn’t know you were helping Luca. I still don’t understand. How are you together?”

I wave off the question. The story is simply too much to tell and time is too short. “We learned of arrows in school,” I say, “but they were supposed to have disappeared centuries ago. Where do these weapons come from?”

Mape breathes deep. “Oh, Luca. Hidden behind the walls of their homes, families hide tools of rage beyond what you can imagine. This riot did not begin with Massa or you. It has been festering, waiting for an opportunity. Beneath the noses of our dials, freedom has been biding its time.” He closes his eyes. “But now that it’s been loosed, we find it has no master.” He winces and clutches at his leg. “People were not meant to be controlled. Their fear now fuels their anger.” Mape looks from the sky to Lendi. “Who could blame them?”

I peek out at the street. Distant men and distant shouts, but nothing near. “We’re only a block from the tunnel’s entrance. I can hear the crowd. Stay here, Mape. You’ve done your job. I need you to begin that last assignment.”

I turn to Lendi. “I don’t care what your hands have done. Protect this man, as he has protected me. Please, there’s no time to explain —”

“No.” Mape looks at his wound. “I need saltwater. I need to kill the infection or I will not reach the isle to complete the task. We run.”

He bursts free of the alley, and we follow. For a wounded man, he runs with strength and abandon, and soon pulls away, staggering onto the sand and throwing himself face-first into the Swan. Gentle swells of water wash red around him.

I splash in, muscle him onto his back. “We can’t leave you! Help me, Lendi!”

“You must.” Mape’s voice is soft, gentle, and he smiles.
Mape smiles
. “Thank you for the gift.”

“An arrow in the leg.” I wince at the wound. “Not a very thoughtful gift.”

“No, Luca. Today … today, I feel. Never lose that in yourself.”

“Come out, Mape.” Talya glances around. “Please let me tend to your injuries.”

“Good-bye, Luca.”

Mape begins a slow swim toward the deep center of the inlet. His stroke is metered, controlled, at peace. Boats patrolling the Swan fire up engines, surge nearer.

They’ll know him. This is his end
.

“Come, Luca! Lendi!” Talya calls. “He said we would reach the amphitheater. Don’t make his sacrifice in vain. Into the tunnel.”

“Uh, mate.” A darkness shades Lendi’s face. “You don’t want to go in there …”

“You’re right, but it is my choice, with or without your aid.” I place my hand on his shoulder. “Though I’d much rather have you at my side.”

Lendi draws a deep breath. “Yes,” he whispers. “Yes. I can’t undo all I’ve done, but I swear, mate, both you and the girl will reach the amphitheater alive. I’ll cover your flight from the beach. Now go!”

I splash toward the tunnel’s mouth, pause to watch three boats converge on Mape, and run. I cannot witness the rest.

Inside the cool of the tunnel, I stumble into Talya’s arms and together we cry. Every good person we meet ends up undone.

“Talya, have I loved you well? Have I loved anybody well?”

She straightens, and then grasps my shoulders and straightens me. “You are a great man, and you are about to be great again.”

A great man …

The words, mine for Father, hers for me, give strength to my feet. My legs firm, my heart quickens, and my face sets. “We really shouldn’t have made it this far.”

“No.”

And then I hear it. From deep within the tunnel, a chant that sinks my stomach. “Burn. Burn. Burn!”

Lendi races nearer. “The rest of my band is close behind. There is no returning now. Onward. Deeper into the —”

He staggers, slumps to his knees, where I catch him in my arms and feel the shaft protruding from his back.

“No!”

“Luca, I’m so sorry for everything.”

I rock him gently. “No, I lied to you about the books, I lied …”

“Yeah, you did do that.” His voice is faint, and he rests his head on my shoulder.

“You’re my mate. You’ll always be my mate.” Tears fall down my cheeks, burn hot and fierce on my face.

“Promise me,” Lendi whispers. “When it’s over …” He cups one palm, coughs hard, and falls limp. “Wash this blood from my hands.”

“I promise. I promise.”

He inhales short and sharp, and then Lendi breathes no more.

An arrow flies over our heads, piercing the tunnel wall. A quick glance at Talya, and she hauls me to my feet even as Lendi slumps onto the ground. We dash toward the amphitheater, the chant strengthening and my body weakening in equal measure. Lendi is gone, and rage fills me. I want to undo something, someone. Such venom! I’ve never felt it before. What will I do when I emerge in front of an angry mob fifty thousand strong? What words of peace can I speak?

Don’t worry what you’ll say
.

I can no longer endure the Voice.

“Who are you?” I scream, spinning and clasping my head.

Talya gently lays her hand on my shoulder, and I pull free. “No! Did you not just see what happened? How many must lose their lives for me? Lendi is gone!” I cover my ears and yell. “Identify or leave me now!”

I listen, and my thoughts fall quiet.

On my right is the place where it all began, where I was first told Father was undone. I stare ahead into the light. “Sanity is slipping. Words find home in my thoughts, guiding me, directing me, and I don’t know who speaks. I can’t bear it!” I stare wild-eyed at Talya.

“No, you can’t. This is all too much for one,” she whispers, and strokes my hair. “That’s why you have me.”

I thunk my head against the tunnel. “And if I am losing my mind …”

“It’s okay, because you won’t lose me.” She kisses me gently on the cheek.

She can say that, but she doesn’t know. In a world gone mad, one arrow and she, too, will be lost. I take her hand, lift it to my lips, and release my first initiated kiss. I even close my eyes. My body warms, and my heartbeat races. I feel whole. Hopeless, but whole.

Together, we will meet the end.

“Your purpose awaits,” Talya whispers.

We march hand in hand into the light of the amphitheater, and my breath catches in my throat.

My chair is occupied by a man I can’t forget; his face is etched into my memory. He watched as we took his family’s place on the last kopter to leave the museum.

It’s the Amongus.

In front of him, nine men pace the sacred stage, lifting their hands, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

“Burn! Burn! Burn!”

And in front of them, a boy, just a small boy, drowning in my father’s Deliverer garments.

Walery
.

A cameraman notices us first, and soon our faces fill the big screen. The crowd reacts — their chant falls uneven and then quiets. The “council,” sensing the lull, dances all the more, but to no avail. Finally, they turn. To a man, they stumble backward, and soon the amphitheater comes alive with murmurs and whistles and uncertain chatter.

“Luca.”

My name rings from every corner of the theater.

“Let me hear your righteous anger!” Walery screams into the confusion, but my presence has turned the tide, and finally he too spins. His arms flop lifeless at his side.

I don’t know what to say, to do. And then it’s clear.

I stride forward and place my hand on the Amongus’s head. I keep walking toward Walery, and as I reach him I rip my father’s robe off his frame and wrap it around my shoulders. My arms rise across my chest. I offer the sign of peace, the one that once brought cries of joy.

From the left, the chant begins. “Burn. Burn.”

Soon the amphitheater soars with hate. I know what has happened: The man in the chair has been judged. Perhaps I have too.

“Good citizens!” Walery raises his hands and quiets the crowd. “Your wish is my command. For too long, this Watcher and his kind have controlled us. But today is a new day!”

He points to his left at a raging fire, the fuel for which I
do not wish to have explained. Thousands of dials glow red at the base of the blaze, and around it cameras move, fighting for position, broadcasting the carnage to receptor stations throughout the world. Nine pairs of hands grab the Amongus and slowly drag him toward his undoing.

“Innocent!” I yell. “I declare this man innocent! It has always been mine to condemn, mine and Massa’s alone. For the first time a Deliverer will be allowed that right. How can you turn so quickly? How can you become as violent as those who have held you prisoner all these years?”

“Innocent?” Walery appeals to the crowd. “Think of the numbers undone merely for feeling, for speaking. Think of your fathers, your daughters! How can any sane boy declare one of them innocent?”

“Were they not under orders?” I yell. “They questioned what they were told no more than you questioned their authority over you. But their cruelty has ended. They understand! The Amongus are friends.”

“Friends.” Walery circles me. “How many in this theater have known one debriefed or undone?”

The crowd explodes.

“We have all been deceived,” Walery says. “I have seen the PM’s isle. There never was a PM. There is no leader. The Council’s dictated our every feeling, controlled our every thought. So today, and tomorrow, and every day until the water ceases to flow, we will throw off the old form and embrace the new. We will be leaderless no more! The New Council, behind me. The new PM, yours truly. No longer will we live in fear —”

I jump in front of Walery. “Is living in rage a better condition?”

“I’m with you, Luca!”

A lone voice from the crowd reaches the stage, and it throws Walery into a fury.

“Find that man! We will not go back! We move
forward
!”

I run toward my chair and jump upon it.

“Walery does not know the true battle. He has helped the Council destroy you. He has spent time on their isle. He works for them, not you, and he would set himself up as your leader. But only the Aquifer matters, and as we speak the Council has directed all Amongus to take it by force, to take the Rats by force.”

“Death to the mutants!” A new chant takes hold.

Talya runs to my side and cries out, “Then death to me! We are the People of the Rock. I am a Rat, I am your long-lost sister! And I bring peace from your long-lost brothers. Humans, like you. Would you destroy me?”

In the confused pause, I scan the amphitheater, my eyes falling on the fountain. It does not flow.

“The fountain.” I point to the marble image of the Deliverer. “Do you need a reminder of our peace? See that those below mean you no harm. Remind yourself of your kinship. Start the fountain! Watch the water flow. Though we destroy them, though we rage, water is proof of their goodwill toward us all.”

“None is to be wasted.” A member of the New Council steps forward. “Only months remain until the exchange fails. We must skim and store rations from every allotment.”

I grab his shoulders. “But the water will always flow, unless the source is destroyed. And if you do not believe me, believe in the path that Massa knows, that I know. Throw aside this lunacy.” I jump off the chair and run toward the fountain. I lean down to its marble base and flip the switch. “This water” — I rise and spread my arms — “is a permanent gift to you!”

One trickle drips over marble fingers. And then, nothing.

There is no water.

No water
.

Panic seizes me. In an instant, my life span shortens from years to weeks. Something is terribly wrong.

Seward, Father, what’s happened? Is the Aquifer destroyed? Have the Rats been overrun? This fountain should be the first to receive water!

Which means nothing flows to the surface
.

“It’s gone. It’s all gone!” Echoes bounce through the stadium and the crowd stands and storms the stage. “Curse Luca! Burn the Rat!”

Walery tries to calm them, but he’s lost control. Without water, his slippery words fall harmless in the chaotic din.