The Last City (30 page)

‘I’m on it,’ Eli said.

‘Be careful. He may be under surveillance.’

‘Ev’r and I will manage.’

‘Keets?’ Copernicus’ voice darkened and Ev’r smiled. ‘Watch her, Eli. Don’t turn your back.’

The communicator beeped for the second time.

‘Boss, just one other thing,’ Eli rushed. ‘Your friend Luther appeared to us. He needs help.’

‘Help him if you can, but he can’t be a priority,’ Kane replied, and it sounded as though it affected him to say that. ‘The rest of us will track Jude.’

‘Where will we meet afterwards?’ Eli asked.

‘I think it’s better to stay separate. If something happens to us, you’ll have to carry on.’

‘Now that I have your frequency, I’ll run a hedge and call you back when it’s ready,’ Eli said. ‘Boss, I —’

They heard the third and final warning beep and the communicators automatically disconnected.

Eli’s wings drooped and Ev’r studied him. She held the Morsus Ictus behind her back.

‘Now that you know your friends are alive, you don’t need me to help you,’ she said.

‘Of course I still need you,’ he said. ‘And you still need me. Nothing’s changed.’

Ev’r didn’t reply, but gradually pushed her blade back into its sheath.

‘I think we should try to talk to the survivor now.’ Eli eyed the compound-assessor processing the witch’s cure-all. ‘It’ll be running for a while yet. I can get the results remotely through my communicator.’

He began moving around the room, replenishing the stores of his weapon belt from Kane’s stock. His hand strayed to his neck, feeling for the chain and pendant that he’d lost in the desert.

‘Why do you think the Skreaf reacted like they did to the diamond?’ he asked Ev’r.

‘Skreaf magics are based on symbols,’ she responded.

‘And the diamond means good and they mean evil,’ Eli said.

Ev’r shook her head. ‘Any symbol can be used for good or evil depending on who is using it. It’s not what the symbol
is
– it’s what it can
be
in your hands. They intended harm –
you
intended help and your intention behind that particular symbol was stronger than theirs. It’s a fundamental of magics.’

‘Do you think,’ he asked in a lowered voice, ‘that their intention to destroy us will be stronger than our will to survive?’

‘I don’t know,’ Ev’r said truthfully. She had tried to use her scullion skills to look into the future, but all she had seen was an all-consuming darkness. Their paths were unset, their fate unwritten.

She dragged her backpack onto her shoulders and said, ‘No rest for the wicked.’

C
opernicus laid his weapon belt out on the table and checked his guns one by one. Bringing a gun to a battle of dark magics was like bringing a spoon to a nuclear war, but he checked them anyway. It was a necessary distraction. During the last few days he’d felt as though his secrets were a bunch of joined scarves being extracted with an excruciating gradual unravelling out of a magician’s hat. Now it was known: he had a heart and it had been broken, he had trusted and been betrayed, had thought he knew someone and been wrong, had dreamed of a future with a girl who wasn’t dreaming of him. He wasn’t the first person in history and he wouldn’t be the last, but it still felt so shameful, perhaps because he had spent so long building up his image as a person who couldn’t be hurt, someone not afflicted by the same needs and drives, hopes and fears as everyone else. All the pride and fury of the younger man he’d been, just seventeen year-cycles at the time, had driven him to a revenge he now regretted. In hindsight he saw the girl hadn’t been worth that kind of vengeance, but hindsight was one of those ultimately useless things, like sympathy without any offer of help.

He understood why he had fallen for her. She had been the first person – the only person – to tell him that she loved him. She’d been a good liar, or maybe not; maybe he had just wanted to believe someone could love him, even though his mother had left him as a baby and his father had hated him enough to want him dead.

Regardless, he knew he couldn’t change the past. All he could do was control his actions in the present, and now, with the cover of darkness, extended by the noctus-renium spreading across the city, their objective was to find Jude, alive or dead and, in doing so, hopefully not just recover a member of the team, but advance their knowledge of the enemy. Copernicus hated flying blindly from moment to moment and, as it stood, all they had on the Skreaf was conjecture and prophecy. They needed some solid facts.

He secured his weapon belt around his waist and turned to the others. After their communication with Eli, he’d ordered everyone to shower off their foul sewerage taint. Then they’d searched the facility and found both clothing and several packets of dry provisions. So now they were slightly less ravenous and significantly cleaner, but the mood was still black. Diega paced the room, arming and disarming her electrifier in a compulsive way. Shawe sat on a crate, swivelling his blade in one hand. Raine drifted in and out of the shadows staring into a hand mirror and Silho stood at one of the windows. The vibration of her thoughts was a steady constant pattern as she repeated the enchant he had taught her over and over in her mind. She sensed his eyes and glanced back at him. He held her stare, needing to know if Shawe’s latest tell-all had changed her opinion of him. She met his eyes with the same searching gaze as before. Now he realised he’d been wrong thinking she looked like her mother. Oren Harvey’s eyes had been hard and pitiless. Brabel’s eyes were far softer. They told him she understood what it was like to make mistakes and she could forgive.

He found himself studying the way her hair curled at the ends, the uptilt of her eyes, the shapes and curves of her body. Uncomfortable, he looked away. He’d seen as soon as they’d met that she had a natural allure about her, something quite different from anyone else he’d ever seen, but it had been just a fact. Now it was a feeling – one he didn’t want.

He adjusted his weapon belt. Diega stopped pacing and gave him a dark look. Fens sensed hormonal changes in the opposite sex. Copernicus’ discomfort deepened. He cleared his throat and the others looked up at him.

‘It’s time to move out,’ he said. ‘As you know our target destination is the Castlereagh Holding, which I believe may be where the Skreaf have Jude. We won’t know what security measures we’re facing until we get there. I want to emphasise, at this point, the utmost importance of maintaining focus on our objective. Uncontrolled outbursts and irrational reactions will not only jeopardise the mission and our lives, but the survival of our whole world. This is far bigger than any one of us.’ He directed his words at Diega and Shawe. He seriously doubted either would pay the slightest attention to it, but at least it was said.

‘You know this is probably a trap,’ Shawe said. ‘Why else would they have your man out in the open where they know you can find him?’

‘I’ve considered it and you’re probably right, but we’re out of options and time,’ Copernicus replied. ‘You can stand aside if you want – wait until we have a fixed location on your brother.’

Shawe shook his head. ‘I’m in.’

‘Final checks, then,’ Copernicus said. He took out the rings, bounced them jingling in one hand, then slipped them back inside his jacket. He didn’t like going in with them on him, but he couldn’t leave them behind either. They were too important. As long as they had the rings, they could stall the Skreaf’s plan, which gave them longer to figure out how to destroy them. The others stood watching him.

‘Diega, go lead. Have the transflyer ready,’ he instructed.

The Fen nodded. She jumped up the ladder and pushed out through the hatch.

Copernicus and the others followed her, moving silently through the pipes back up into the church. Once everyone was out, Copernicus replaced the tile and glanced around at the Catadral. The flickering flames from millions of tiny candles lit the great building. It was empty save for one human-breed. She stood at the front, singing before a statue of the Great God. Her voice rose, echoing, haunting. Copernicus saw Silho staring up at the painted ceiling of the church. She was clenching and unclenching her fists and her heat signature flared around her head and hands as she struggled for control. She was stronger than before, but still far from stable. He had grave doubts that the five minutes of training he’d given her would be enough to get her through going back out into the city, but they had little choice now. Silho’s fate and their world’s survival were inescapably intertwined. Copernicus could only hope that the power he’d glimpsed in her would surface and overcome. Silho managed to drag her eyes downward. She shook her head once as though to clear her mind then headed towards the front entrance of the Catadral, where Diega had morphed the stolen transflyer
EnvyMe
back to shape and had it hovering, waiting. Copernicus moved to follow her. Before he reached the entrance, Shawe stepped out in front of him, blocking his path. Copernicus tried to sidestep him, but the gangster grabbed his jacket and held tight.

‘I want a word,’ Shawe said.

‘We don’t have time.’

‘Tough,’ he spat. ‘I need to say . . . We can’t change what happened back then and I don’t see any point in crying and moaning about it now – but I shouldn’t have done what I did with Marley.’

Copernicus felt a knife twist in his back at the mention of her name.

‘I regret it,’ the gangster continued with difficulty, an apology as uncommon and uncomfortable for Shawe as giving birth to a beer keg.

Copernicus swallowed slowly. Because of him, Shawe’s father was dead.

‘Your father —’ Copernicus began.

‘Trutt that old sod,’ Shawe cut him off. ‘He ran out into open fire and got the end he wanted. I couldn’t care less. He didn’t give me a damn thing except bruises. But Stacy . . .’ He cleared his throat. ‘My point is, I can’t make up for what I did, and you can’t change what you did, but I’m asking you now – for the mates we used to be. If I die, find my brother, just . . . find him.’ Shawe’s hands slipped off Copernicus’ jacket and the two stepped apart. Diega revved the engines of the transflyer and they both hurried towards the craft.

Copernicus paused just before he left the church. He drew his blade and studied the worn ebony pearl handle. All his life he’d been denying what he was – what he could do. When his father had found out that Copernicus had true Illusionist skill, he’d tried to kill him in a jealous rage – but now Silvan Kane was dead
and he can’t hurt me anymore
. As soon as the thought entered his mind he felt stupid, having to reassure himself the way he had every night as a child after Shawe had helped him escape. He’d survived the memories by pushing them away, by distracting himself first with his life in the gangs and then with his job, all the while understanding that one day he would have to face up to everything that happened if he ever wanted to really escape. That day was still to come – but not today. Today was just about surviving. If they survived then he would worry about emotional cleansing.

Breathing in deeply, he held his blade to the snake pattern of his arm. The weapon vanished into his skin. They were going into combat blind, and if it was a trap, he wanted to have a few counter-tricks of his own.

Copernicus ran the last few steps to the entrance of the Catadral and climbed into the waiting craft.

‘Take us up,’ he said to Diega.

She lifted the flyer up to roof level beside the Catadral belltower. The commander sent out his senses. He found a concentration of body-heat signatures he recognised as United Regiment soldiers all along the major skyway between their level and Level 420, where the Castlereagh Holding was located.

‘We’ll have to take the backroads,’ he told the Fen.

She veered the craft to the right and took off.

They were forced to take several more detours to avoid subsequent skyblocks and their path took them to the outskirts of the Gangland. A massive cloud of smoke hung over Greenway and fires still glowed inside many buildings. Shawe said nothing. He just stared down at his fallen kingdom, his home, flames reflecting in the green of his eyes.

Beyond the Greenway breakwall, a storm had gathered over the Matadori. Electricity ripped through heavy black-green clouds. A savage wind whipped acid rain towards the city. The closer the team flew to the holding, the more skyblocks appeared. Soon there were no flight options left and they had to land and go on foot.

Copernicus led the team through the backstreet shadows of Castlereagh until they reached the outer perimeter fence of the prison. They crouched beneath a sign that warned trespassers would be shot on sight. A fine spatter of rain began to fall and a steamy scent rose from the concrete.

Copernicus pulled his hood over his head and studied the holding security. Squadrons of state soldiers patrolled the area between the outer perimeter fence and the inner fence that penned in a cluster of square concrete buildings. The soldiers moved in a crisscross formation to minimise unguarded ground and blind spots. Rain hit the inner fence and sparked away from the electrified razor wire. Guard towers stood on either side of the entrance gate, both with spotlights roving over the prison facility. A military surveillance craft made continual droning fly-bys over the Holding buildings. The security was beyond intense, and that was just the measures they could see. Who knew what traps and tricks the witches had laid? The only way in that Copernicus could see was to distract the soldiers and guards long enough for them to break into the building. He hated the messiness of a smash and grab, but his personal preferences were irrelevant.

Diega squeezed his arm and he glanced at her. SevenM, strapped to Diega’s chest, had started to twitch. The robot’s red eyes flickered on and off. It meant Jude was alive and near. Copernicus reached his senses towards the buildings and felt an unusual drag of air, as though he were pushing through a net of magics. He glimpsed Jude’s heat signature inside the largest of the buildings and pulled back immediately. It was possible the witches had already sensed him. They had to make their move. He turned to Diega.

‘Have you ever tried to control a craft without having physical contact with it?’ he asked his soldier.

The Fen shook her head. ‘Not sure it’s possible, but I can try.’

‘Then try,’ Copernicus said. ‘We need that sky patroller brought down into one of the guard towers. And Raine,’ he addressed the spectral-breed standing in the wall beside them. ‘Can you use your magics to call up the water out of the ground and down from the sprinkler system inside all the buildings? We need as much water as possible to cover us.’

The Wraith gave a silent nod.

Copernicus saw the flyer making another pass over the buildings and said, ‘Diega, now.’

The Fen scrunched her eyes shut and gathered her electrosmith strength. Her hair sparked and the lights around the perimeter fence began to blow one after another as the force of her skill intensified. Copernicus and the others watched the military flyer start to struggle. Its tail lagged down and its engines roared to maximum capacity as the pilots fought to keep control. The flyer started to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster. With the strength of her mind, Diega brought the distressed craft down into the right-hand guard tower, crashing the structure to the ground with an explosion of metal and fire. Panic erupted, alarms screamed, lights flashed and squads of soldiers ran towards the crash site. The spotlight of the left tower remained focused on the debris of its twin.

‘Now!’ Copernicus said. He grabbed the metal-cutter blade from his belt and slashed a hole in the perimeter fence. The team dashed across the concrete as the ground ruptured all around them and powerful jets of water exploded into the air, concealing their body-heat.

They reached the inner electrified fence. Copernicus cut the razor wire, his hands protected by his electro-proof gloves. They went through one by one, careful not to touch the sharp, zapping sides. The commander led them along the side of the main building, towards an entry door where two guards, wearing anti-stunning electro-proof armour, held their posts. Diega fired a sleeper dart into the exposed neck of each guard and they fell instantly, silently. She morphed the locks on the side door and they entered the building.

Water gushed from the overhead sprinkler system and the alarm sirens blared. The building lights had failed, leaving only a blue glow from backup generator globes. As soon as they were inside the building, SevenM’s eyes flared. The arachnid robot dragged himself out of the sling and, jumping down, took off. The team followed him, keeping to the sides of the corridor. Soldiers ran past them, distracted, unseeing. SevenM led them through the facility, bringing them to the prison area. Two heavily armed guards stood on either side of the cell block door. They were huge: three-eyed gargantuan special-ops commandos. Shawe charged towards them. One of the soldiers got a shot off, but it didn’t breach the gangster’s skin. He hit them front-on and took both of them down, grappling with them on the ground.