Sunspire (The Reach, Book 4) (11 page)

“This way,” Duran said, moving off.  The others fell in behind him, but Silvestri seemed preoccupied with the next cradle.

“Silvestri, let’s move,” Talia said, and finally he broke away and came after them.  “What’s the problem?” she said when he reached her.

“Look for yourself,” he muttered, inclining his head toward the elevators.  She did as he suggested, and noticed a group of five alighting from the cradle.  Among them were two large men in hoods.

Talia glanced at Silvestri.  “Is that…?”

“Yes.  Th
e two who’ve been on our tail
since Lux.”  Silvestri increased his pace.  “Duran, we have company.”

Duran nodded.  “No surprises there.  C’mon, this way.”

When they reached it, the southern loading dock was closed, and the tide of refugees had washed against it like so much flotsam.  Some of them stood about as if patiently waiting for their turn to leave, while others lay sleeping on the floor.  Over by the massive doors of the dock, a cluster of men seemed to be arguing about something.

“What’s going on?” Silvestri asked a man nearby.

The man gestured helplessly.  “They’re waiting to open the doors.”

“Waiting for what?” Zoe said.

“There was some kind of fight the last time the doors opened.  Thugs from Link, I heard.  They had to close up again, and now they’re waiting for things to clear up out there.”

“Perfect,” Duran muttered, turning away in disgust.

“How long?” Silvestri said.

The man shrugged wearily and offered no answer.

“We should try somewhere else,” Roman said.  “Is there another way out?”

“There is, but we’re likely to run up against the same problem there,” Duran said.

“We should probably wait this out,” Silvestri said.  “Take the opportunity to get some rest.”

Duran glanced around the dock, evaluating, then nodded.  “Yeah.  I guess we can do that.  Follow me.”

He led them up a steel staircase and into an administration office that overlooked the dock.  There were others here, huddled in groups as they waited for their chance to leave, but they paid the newcomers little notice.  Talia found an unoccupied corner over by a row of cluttered shelves, and together they settled in where they could.

“I’ll take first watch,” Duran said.  “I’m not sure if those friends of ours are going to try something here, but they might.  The rest of you should get some sleep.”

No one argued, and Duran moved over to the dusty windows that looked out upon the dock.  Talia settled back, trying to find a comfortable position in which to get some rest, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to relax.  Events kept replaying over and over in her mind: the fight with the Redmen on the roof; the battle through the night to protect the Wire; the horrible revelation that there was a bomb aboard the railcar; the destruction of the habitat.  The images kept repeating over and over, as if they were on an endless loop, and after a time she simply gave up and opened her eyes again.

Silvestri, too, seemed unable to find rest.  He sat cross-legged nearby, assembling small carvings on a black and white board that he’d laid on the floor before him.

“What are you doing?” she murmured, edging over toward him.

He glanced up at her.  “Found a little distraction in the shelf behind me.”

“What is it?”

“A game called chess.”

Talia picked up one of the carvings, a slender piece with a rounded knob on top, and examined it closely.

“Never heard of it.”

“It’s a very old game, and not played much anymore.  Not around here, at least.”

She dropped the piece back on the board, and Silvestri scooped it up, arranging it along with several others at one end.  Glancing around at the other unfortunates who had gathered in the office, she couldn’t help but experience a moment of guilt.

“Have you stopped to think that maybe we’re responsible for all of this?” she said.

Silvestri looked up sharply.  “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, if we… Skybreach, I mean… if we hadn’t taken control of the Wire, the habitat would never have been destroyed.  Jon Hanker would never have been able to get the explosives aboard the railcar.”

“That’s not our fault, Talia.  Not in the least.”

“We can’t just wash our hands of it that easily, Silvestri.  We played a part in this.  A major part.”

“No, we were trying to liberate the Wire.  If everything had gone to plan, these people might have one day been able to escape.  While the Consortium was in control, they never stood a chance.”

“Yeah, but–”

“We didn’t plant the bomb,” Silvestri said adamantly.  “We didn’t destroy the habitat.  We were victims of that crazy bastard from the consulate, just like everyone else.”

Talia watched the refugees around her.  “Were we?” she said bitterly.  “Were we
really
?”

Silvestri was about to respond when Roman stirred beside them.  He sat up, blearily rubbing his eyes, then shifted his weight, wincing.

“I’ve slept on some hard floors over the years, but this one takes the cake.”  He caught sight of the chessboard and shifted forward.  “What’s this?”

Silvestri exchanged a glance with Talia, as if to apologise for not finishing their conversation, then turned back to Roman.

“Chess,” Silvestri told him.  “Fancy a game?”

“Looks boring,” Roman said.

Silvestri smiled.  “I had a commander once, when I was a boy not much older than you, who used to tell us that a fighting man should partake in a game of chess every day, without fail.  Keeps the mind sharp, he used to say.”  He placed the last piece on the board carefully, then sat back to survey it.  “Battle is like chess, in many ways.  It’s a game of planning, of thinking ahead.  If your enemy has mapped out the next five moves, you have to map out six.”

“So what do the pieces do?” Roman said.

Silvestri began to point to each in turn.  “This one on the end is the tower.  It can move in a straight line, as long as there are no obstructions in its path.  Next is the horseman.  He moves two places forward, and one to the side.”

“This is getting confusing already,” Roman said.

“Next, the holy man.  He may move only on the diagonal.”

“Why?”

Silvestri considered that.  “Because the ancients once believed that the path to the heavens was found not by moving forward or to the side, but by moving somewhere in between.”

Roman glanced at Talia, a quizzical expression on his face.  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever–”

“It was a joke,” Silvestri said.  He gave them an awkward smile.

“You have a gift for comedy,” Talia said drily.

“Yeah, hilarious,” Roman agreed.  “Just don’t forget to tell people when to laugh.”

Silvestri feigned indignation.  “Let’s see if you’re still laughing when I grind you into dust on the chessboard.”

Roman settled before the board, implicitly accepting the challenge.  “You’re all talk.”

Silvestri outlined the rules of the game, then suggested some opening moves to help Roman get started.  Several of the pieces were missing, but neither seemed to mind.  The first game went
quickly, with Silvestri emerging as the victor, and then they arranged the pieces into their starting positions and began again.

Nearby, Talia saw Yun and Zoe deep in conversation about something.  Yun still held the string of prayer beads, which he continued to thumb through as he spoke.  Talia realised that their time with Zoe and Duran was almost at an end.  They’d agreed to stick around until they’d made it through the Reach, but from there they would be making their own way.

That was probably for the best, she figured.  Duran and Silvestri seemed to find it difficult to agree on anything, and there would be less conflict after they parted ways.  Even though the extra guns were a plus, there–

She broke off her train of thought at the sight of Duran approaching.  Peripherally, she noticed that white light was beginning to filter through the office windows.

“Heads up,” Duran said.  “The doors are opening.  We’re getting out of here.”

15

Silvestri stepped through the loading dock and out into the weak sunlight, crossing the point where the Reach ended and Link began.  As the other refugees shuffled past him, he turned to look upward one last time at the massive walls that stretched toward the heavens.

It had seemed like a lifetime ago that he had been headed in the opposite direction, drawing together plans to leave Earth behind and start a new life in the outer colonies.  It all seemed so foolish now, to believe that they could have succeeded in their mission.

Don’t look back
, he told himself. 
There’s no point now.

He turned his attention back to the dock before him, where the exodus emptied out into a nondescript back alley, far away from the main entrance of the Reach.  There were a series of secondary gates and defensive structures outside, evidently used to protect the entrance in the past, which were now torn apart and mangled.  Fighting against the torrent were a smattering of individuals who were working their way inward, those who were crazy or desperate enough to still seek passage inside the Reach.

“Don’t go in there,” Zoe warned one of them as she went past, but the man ignored her and continued on his way.

In a matter of minutes, the crowd began to disperse, and Silvestri and the others regrouped under the sagging awning of an old pie shop further along the alley.

“So, where to?” Talia said.

Silvestri glanced up the alley.  “First things first, we need to get to the relay and contact Captain Ngozi.  He should still be orbiting the moon in his cruiser.  He’s the only one who can get us off-world.  None of this works if he isn’t there to meet us at the top of Sunspire when we reach it.”

“Wait a minute,” Roman said.  “Do we even know how we’re going to get to Sunspire yet?”

“I have an idea,”
Talia said.  “I used to work in the dirigible business, putting together ballonets and supplying them to my boss, a guy called Bagley who lives out on the east side.  I’m hoping we can make a deal with him.”

“And what?” Yun said.  “
Fly
there?”

Talia shrugged.  “That’s the plan.”

“Those things are death traps,” Yun said.

“They’re perfectly safe, Yun.  You just need to know how to–”

“Do whatever you want
,” Duran interrupted, “but I think this is where Zoe and I step aside.  We’re not part of this plan of yours.  We never were.”

“So what are you going to do?” Silvestri said.

Duran seemed to consider that.  “I’m going to find my father.  Apart from Zoe, he’s the only one left in this place that I give a damn about.”

“Is he holed up somewhere?” Silvestri said.

“I don’t know,” Duran said, troubled.  He lifted his holophone and began to scroll through a map of the city, stopping on a building on which a red marker had been placed.  “I haven’t been able to contact him, so I’m going to check his home first.  I’ll see what happens after that.”

Zoe took the phone from him and checked the location.  “Maunder Avenue,” she muttered.  “How far is that?”

Talia’s ears pricked up at that, and she edged closer to Zoe.

“That’s east side as well,” she said.  “Only about four blocks past Bagley’s.”

Duran took the holophone back and shoved it in his pocket.  “So what?”

“So we’re heading in the same direction,” Talia said.

Duran laughed derisively and shook his head.  “I get it.  You’re looking for an escort.”

“No, just suggesting that maybe we should stay together while we can,” Talia said.  “Safety in numbers.”

“Talia,” Silvestri began, “this is a bad idea.  We haven’t exactly been getting along–”

“So what would you prefer?” she said hotly.  “That we walk on the opposite sides of the street and pretend we don’t know each other?”  She glanced around at the others.  “We need to play this smart.  Right now, we don’t know what’s waiting for us out there, but I have a feeling it’s not going to be pretty.  So, we can either split up and dilute our strength, or we can stick together and give ourselves the best chance of reaching our respective goals.”