The Madness Project (The Madness Method) (42 page)

“Yeah,” Anuk said.  “Damn fine one, too.  D’you ever hear
about the aeroplane crash at the palace about a month back?”

The blood drained from my face.  “Never heard of it,” I
said, cool.  “What happened?”

“Don’t know how he did it, but he got his power inside that
engine somehow.  Heated it up so far, the coils split.  Never did work the way
it was supposed to, though.  Didn’t make it any less impressive for all that.”

“What was supposed to happen?”

“Cause a panic.  Distract the guards.  We were looking for
weaknesses at the palace wall.”

Hayli.  Had she been part of it, after all?  Sent to find
weaknesses that these rebels could exploit?
  A little sick ache gnawed at
my gut, and my throat stung with bile.

“Kantian wanted to ground the fleet, too,” Anuk added.

“Why would he care about the fleet?”

“Don’t you know they’re turning them into weapons?  Silent
weapons that can scout the whole city from a birds-eye?  That doesn’t worry
you?”

“I’m more worried about them scouting the whole of my
island,” I snapped.  Funny how easily defending Istia came to me.

“Right.”

I knotted and unknotted my hands, focusing on controlling my
breath so it wouldn’t give away my rage.  I’d find a way to lure Scorch into a
fight, and then I’d destroy him.

“Is this Rivano’s plan?” I asked after a while.

“Sure,” Anuk said.  “Well, Kantian’s the one as cooked it
up, but everyone knows he’s not the brains of the operation.  Rivano’s behind
it for sure.  Think he’s had enough of the crown’s hatred of your sort, so.  He
prob’ly reckons it’s time to stop hiding and fight back.  Isn’t that something
you’d support?  You’re Istian, after all.”

“I have no use for kings or crowns, if that’s what you’re
asking,” I said, my voice coming rougher than I’d hoped.  “But this isn’t my
fight.”

*  *  *  *

We made it back to the Hole in time for supper.  For all my
worry and anger about Kantian and Scorch and rebellions, all I really felt when
I walked into the mess was disappointment and some strange little sadness,
because Hayli was nowhere to be found.  I knew I ought to be angry with her,
too, but I wasn’t.  Not really.

I noticed Derrin sitting by himself and took a plate of food
to his table.  “Where’s Hayli?” I asked, trying not to sound too curious.

“She’s off practicing her Shifting.”

“Outside?”

“Don’t look so surprised,” he said, laughing.  “It’s not
like letting a caged bird free.  She’ll be back.  I just sent her out to see if
she could observe one thing outside the gates as a crow and then report it back
to me.  Hopefully she’ll be back by dinner.”

“Sounds useful.”

“Look, Kantian had to go out, so he asked me to fill you in
on what he wants done.  He’s managed to track down a few people who look
promising for the insurgency, all right?  These are crew chiefs like Coolie,
who have people under them willing to take action.  Kantian wants you to go to
the meet, since he can’t be there and Rivano’s got me off pulling duty
elsewhere, too.  All you have to do is meet with them, get their names and the
number of people they can bring on board, and get the details for the first
demonstration.  They’ve apparently already taken the initiative and set
something up.  Think you can handle that?”

I studied him a long while, picking at the pile of canned
beans on my plate.  “I think so,” I said.  “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Good.  You met with Vanek Meed of all people.  Didn’t think
you’d have a problem with this lot.”  He got up from the table.  “Oh, almost
forgot.  The meet’s happening in the rail yard tonight, after the ten o’ train
comes in.  Don’t let them intimidate you.  They might badger you a bit, because
you’re new, but you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks,” I said.

I watched him clear out of the mess, then turned back to
stabbing at the beans.  What demonstration was Derrin talking about?  Rebels in
the city, planning some sort of event?  I sucked in a breath and shoveled in
the beans.  Kor had to hear about this.

When I got to the palace, the guard just gave me a sour
glance and used the radio call box inside the guard post to notify Kor that I’d
come.  I sat on the steps in the rain and waited, until I heard Kor’s familiar
determined stride bearing down on me.  He didn’t stop when he reached me, but
snapped his fingers and said,

“Get up and walk with me.”

I scrambled to my feet and sauntered down the steps after
him, following him around to the gardens.  When we stood alone, he stopped and
faced me.

“Don’t make a habit of this, kid.  Careful as you are, your
new friends are going to start noticing if you go missing all the time, and
they might get a notion to follow you.”

“I know,” I said.  “But this is important.”

I told him everything that Derrin had told me, and even the
inflammatory carvings all around the city that suggested unrest—unrest that I
was terrified could turn to violence against my family.  He listened quietly,
and when I’d finished he swore and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Kantian doesn’t trust  you,” he said.  “That’s what Derrin
said, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“The meet is a setup.  Look.  He’s set you up.  He’s trying
to find out if you would do just what you’re doing right now.  If I take the
police and go in armed to the teeth ready to arrest anyone who shows up, the
game’s over.  He’ll know you played stoolie and ratted everyone out.  You’ve
got to go and be prepared to look humiliated when no one comes.”

“There’s no meeting?” I asked, feeling stupid.

“No, there’s no meeting.  Kantian will be there, out of
sight, waiting to see what happens.  You’ve just got to go and stand around for
an hour until he realizes you haven’t alerted the guards.  Because believe me,
Kantian would know if there are police sniffing around the meet.  They can
smell copper a mile away.”

I watched a pair of crows circling above the trees, and a
third picking a careful path through the mown grass, looking for food.  I
wondered what Hayli thought about when she was the crow.  Did she remember who
she was?  When she woke up, did she remember how it felt to fly?  I shivered
and stared at my hands.

“I’ll try to steer clear of the palace for a while,” I
said.  “Is there any other way I can get in touch with you if I need to see
you?”

“You can tell Astel.”  He turned to go, but stopped and
glanced back at me.  “Sorry to hear about Durb,” he said.  “Soon as you get
this setup taken care of, you know what you’ll have to do.  And find out what
this demonstration is.  If they’re planning something violent…”

“I know,” I said.  “I’ll get word to you somehow. 
And…before you go, there’s something else you should know.”  I took a breath,
ignoring the sick ache in my stomach.  “One of the Clan’s mages brought down my
friend’s aeroplane.  It was partly to cripple the fleet, partly to serve as a
distraction.”

“Distraction for what?” Kor asked, studying me thoughtfully.

“A couple of the kids were trying to find a weak spot in the
Wall to get onto the palace grounds.”

“Whatever for, I wonder,” he said, never taking his eyes off
mine.  “Do you know which of the kids were involved?  If you can get them away
from the Hole, I might be able to get them nabbed and brought in for
questioning.  If there are dissidents in the city and some of these kids are
finding ways to infiltrate the palace…that could be seriously dangerous.”

“I’m not sure,” I said, hoping I didn’t hesitate too long,
hoping the lie didn’t twist my voice.  “I could try to find out, though.”

“Tarik.”

I let out my breath in one little puff.  For a moment I just
stood there, staring at the crow, then I lifted my gaze to his and said, “If
you don’t ask, I don’t have to lie.”

He measured me thoughtfully.  I couldn’t read the expression
in his eyes at all.

After a moment he nodded and straightened his hat.  “All
right.  Thanks for letting me know.  I can suggest a boost in the palace guard,
just to be safe.”

“Good,” I said, and watched him walk away, waiting until he
had disappeared back up the palace steps before I let out my breath and loosed
my shaking hands.

You betrayed them.  Again.  You would have betrayed Hayli.

They are all liars as much as I am.

Chapter 19 — Hayli

I sit on the iron rail of a fence, watching the
mechanical birds take to the skies.  The other crows have crowded into the
trees, scolding the men and their machines below, but if I go too close, I am
afraid they will scold me too.  They watch me by degrees, some wary, some
curious.  I am one of them, but not.  I will never be one of them.

Two men climb out of a motorcar by the edge of the
field.  It is not the motorcar I have seen before, not as grand, not as large. 
Something about the men calls my attention.  It’s the pocket watch, twinkling
in the light, swinging from one of the men’s waistcoats.  I leave my perch to
drift closer, hopping a bit as I land on the fence again.

From here I see it is not a pocket watch at all.  It is
too thick, too heavy.  And the hand hovering near it…I have seen that hand
before, but not with these eyes.  With weaker eyes, frightened eyes.  Hayli’s
eyes.  I can still feel the girl’s terror, buried under a mask of bravery, when
she saw that man.

I consider the rust on the railing, piecing together her
memories.  Memories that do not flow the way mine flow.  She has been searching
for answers, but she will not be able to find them.  She has been searching for
this man, but she will not be able to find him.  I have found him.  It is not
safe for her to be here, so when I feel the burn of her spirit, the drive to
walk and feel and see with her own eyes, I push her back and take to the air. 
I climb, higher, higher, till the wind disappears and there is only me and
endless blue.

Then I circle down, slowly, watching the men conversing
by the motorcar.  The other man, the one I do not recognize, has a faint ring
of fear about him—fear and hatred.  He takes off his hat and rubs his bald
head.  I can feel his anger as he listens to the man with the mechanical
device.  They are arguing now.  The bald man could tower over the older man,
the scientist, but he does not.  He backs down.  He is defeated.

The scientist sees me flying overhead, and for one long
moment he stares at me.  Before he can suspect me, I turn and fly to a nearby
tree, far from the other crows and their mistrust.  I must follow him.  I must
learn where he goes, for the girl’s sake.

The men argue only a few moments more, then the old man
with the fine hands climbs into the motorcar.  Clouds of steam puff from the
engine, and I take to the air to follow, tagging through treetops as the car
winds down the avenue.  The car passes the palace gate, but does not go
through.  It turns and heads deeper into the palace grounds, where there are
fewer trees to hide me.

We arrive at a monstrous, sprawling building.  It isn’t
the palace—it is no place I have seen, and no place Hayli can remember seeing. 
Four stories of brick trimmed in white stone, with two separate entry points,
one with a single guard, the other with barriers and guards with guns making a
checkpoint.  A long chain fence divides the two halves of the building.

I land in a beech tree to watch as the motorcar pulls up
to the checkpoint.  Hayli is in my head, begging me to get close, to listen, to
see what happens.  I am afraid they will recognize me, but perhaps they will
only see a crow.

I swoop down and land in the grass near the checkpoint,
making a show of pecking about for food.  I sidle closer to the car, cocking my
head to get a good look at the devil-eyed man.

“Pass?” the guard says, one hand gripping his rifle.

“Shondenhaim,” the man replies, in a language the girl
does not understand.

“Shondenhaim,” repeats the guard.  “You may proceed, Dr.
Kippler.”

The man waves and sets the car in motion, rolling through
to the front of the building.  In a moment he leaves the car and heads inside,
past saluting guards.  And then I cannot see him anymore.

I have seen enough.  Shondenhaim, I tell Hayli, but I do
not think she will remember.  The word is too strange, too foreign; it will not
survive her Shifting.  It means I may let out our secret, but I don’t think I
have a choice.  I fly back to the old factory she calls her home, and there I
find the dark-haired boy—Derrin, I remember—talking to a smaller boy I know I
ought to recognize.  But Hayli’s memories are not mine, and sometimes I cannot
sort them quickly.

As I approach, Derrin stretches out a hand to point
somewhere, and I take my chance and land on his arm.  He stares at me in
surprise.