by Annie Percik
Before Mateo had a chance to answer, Alessandra spoke up.
‘But there’s no mains mana supply here and we don’t have easy access to any storage units. Won’t the brain-es run down? And how will we be able to charge our artefacts?’
Terry and Julia exchanged a glance and Alessandra saw Terry give a tiny nod.
‘We think we have a solution to that problem as well,’ Terry said. ‘We will need time to set it up but it should not take long. Then we will be able to provide as much raw mana as you want. And do not worry. We will not run down in the meantime.’
Alessandra stared at him. ‘How?’
Terry regarded her inscrutably. ‘Our new mental capacity has allowed us to make some discoveries that will help you in your cause. We will share the relevant aspects of what we know and we will provide you with what you need to function here. Let us know if we have permission to stay and we will start work on the shielding immediately.’
Alessandra wondered just how much new knowledge Terry had and was glad the brain-es were on their side.
Mateo had been looking back and forth between Abelard, Terry, and Alessandra throughout this whole exchange. He took advantage of the stunned silence that followed Terry’s pronouncement to leap in.
‘So am I asking Gerald if we can stay?’
Everyone looked at Abelard, even Alessandra, who wanted him to step up and be responsible for what he had started.
‘Yes,’ he said more decisively than Alessandra guessed he felt. ‘Please do.’
Mateo got up from the table. ‘Okay I’ll go and see if I can find him right now.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Jen said, rising as well and collecting the empty plates. She looked pointedly at Terry and Julia. ‘You two should come too so you can explain what it is you intend to do to protect the compound.’
Once Alessandra and Abelard were alone at the table she slid her hand further up his thigh.
‘Wow – okay!’ he yelped, glancing around at the people scattered at other tables around the room. ‘Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the physical contact but is this really the time and place?’
Alessandra dug her fingernails into his leg, determined not to give in to her nervousness. ‘If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last few days, it’s that you never know when life is going to turn itself completely upside down, leaving you without anything to tether you to what you knew before.’ She fixed him with an intense stare, a mixture of desire, uncertainty and suppressed fear coursing through her. ‘So I’ve decided I shouldn’t wait for the right time to come along. I should just grab what I want at the first opportunity. And right now what I want is you.’
For a split second she thought Abelard might be about to turn her down. After everything that had happened, she wasn’t sure she could handle that. Then he cleared his throat.
‘Well, I don’t think anyone is going to want us for anything for a while. Shall we take this upstairs?’
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Gerald was in the library when Jen and the others finally tracked him down. He looked up from a load of papers spread across one of the tables as they came in. For a second, he didn’t look pleased to see them but then his expression cleared and he threw his arms wide in a gesture of welcome.
‘Mateo, dear boy! How is the world looking today after yesterday’s triumph?’
‘Hey, Gerald,’ Mateo said. ‘That’s kind of what we wanted to talk to you about. We know having the brain-e-facts here is pretty much against your whole ethos and all that, but we really don’t have anywhere else to go and we’d rather pool our resources and work together to figure out what to do since we’re stronger together and the artisans still run everything and we need to come up with a plan to bring down the conspiracy …’
Jen grabbed Mateo’s hand and squeezed it gently. He stopped speaking abruptly.
Gerald had been nodding along with Mateo’s words but now put on an expression of extreme reluctance and shook his head.
‘I would love to offer you all sanctuary, Mateo, but the artisans will be looking for you and the presence of your brain-e-fact friends will make it much easier for them to locate you. I have people here who need my protection and I can’t risk exposing them to danger. I’m sorry but I can’t let you stay unless you divest yourselves of all artefacts, including the brain-es.’
Terry stepped in. ‘We understand your concerns, and we share them. We do not wish the artisans to be able to find us either, but we have a way to prevent that. We have been dampening our emissions since we arrived here, but there is more we can do. We can shield this entire compound from their detection and make you safer from discovery than you have ever been.’
Gerald looked at Terry and Jen thought she detected calculation in his narrowed eyes.
‘You mentioned shielding yesterday,’ he said, as if mulling the idea over for merit. ‘But do you really think you can shield the whole compound from the artisans entirely and for a long period of time?’
Terry nodded. ‘Yes.’
A slow smile spread across Gerald’s broad features until he was positively beaming. He threw an arm around Terry’s shoulders and gestured at Julia as well.
‘Come with me. I think there is much for us to discuss.’
‘So we can stay?’ Mateo asked.
‘If these fine artefacts can really do what they say then absolutely!’ Gerald turned and walked out of the library with the brain-e-facts in tow.
Mateo clapped his hands together. ‘That was easy!’
Jen noted his enthusiasm with some unease. ‘Yes,’ she muttered. ‘Almost too easy.’
* * *
‘The way I see it,’ Alessandra said, ‘is that the most important thing for us to do is still to reveal the conspiracy to the general public.’ They were all gathered in the library, discussing their next steps. ‘The artisans have shown that they really don’t want us to do that so they must realise how damaging it will be to their position. Plus once it’s all public knowledge there’s a lot less incentive for them to come after us. Our biggest weapon against them will already have been loosed and we’ll be in the public eye. So anything bad that happens to us after that will reflect negatively on them as it will only reinforce that what we say is true.’
Abelard was staring at Alessandra, trying to focus on what she was saying but he kept being distracted by little things. The brush of her fingers against the skin of her neck when she flicked a stray piece of hair over her shoulder. The movement of the muscles across her abdomen as she shifted in her chair. The slight rustle of the fabric of her trousers as she crossed her legs. It was suddenly very hot in the library and he cleared his throat uncomfortably. Alessandra’s sharp blue gaze snapped to him.
‘Did you have something to add, Abelard?’ Her tone was neutral and her expression bland.
Was it possible he had dreamed their post-breakfast encounter? The feel of her body against his was branded into his memory but from her attitude now he could be a total stranger. She was maddening and intoxicating and inexplicable and he wanted to touch her again just to make sure she was real. Abelard realised that everyone was now staring at him, waiting for him to say something profound or useful.
‘Um, no.’ The words came out hoarse and strangled so he had to clear his throat again. ‘Just that what you said makes a lot of sense.’ Or at least he hoped it had.
Abelard was relieved when Terry nodded. If the brain-e-fact agreed with Alessandra then it was a good bet whatever she had said was reasonable.
‘Yes,’ Terry said. ‘I have shielded the compound from the artisans’ sensors to the best of my ability but I agree that your best defence from them is exposure of the information you possess. The question is how to make that happen.’
‘Well,’ Alessandra said, ‘I know my friend Becks will broadcast something for us if we can record it and get it to her.’
‘Assuming the artisans haven’t carted her off somewhere for helping us,’ Abelard said.
Alessandra blanched but shook her head. ‘No, no. They wouldn’t dare do anything to Becks. She’s a public figure. And besides, she can talk her way out of anything.’
‘But will she still want to help us after what happened at the viz-e station the other day?’ Jen asked.
Alessandra grinned wickedly. ‘If I know Becks that won’t put her off, it’ll just make her more determined. She knows we’ve got something important and she’ll want to know what it is.’
Gerald had been listening, looking from one speaker to the next with rapt attention. Now he took the opportunity to speak up, drawing all eyes to him.
‘Now that we’re all working together on this, it’s probably time to re-introduce mana to this site. If we plan to go up against the artisans we’ll need to be at least as well equipped as they are or we might as well give up now.’
‘What are you saying?’ The question was thrown out in an agonised voice and Abelard twisted to see Lynn standing in the doorway to the library. Her face was ashen and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. ‘There are artefacts …’ She spat the word as if it was poison ‘… wandering all over the compound and now you’re talking about reconnecting with the mains! You promised us a place free of mana and you’re going to throw away everything we’ve built. For these people …’
Gerald scrambled from his chair, putting his hands out in a placatory gesture. ‘Now Lynn, I was going to come and talk to you about all this. There’s more at stake here than you realise. It’s important that I’m a part of this fight but you’re right that I owe the rest of you an explanation.’
‘Why should we trust anything you say?’ Lynn’s eyes shone with unshed tears. ‘We thought you believed in a simpler way of life like the rest of us. But you’re going to destroy it all.’
She spun on her heel and fled.
‘Please excuse me,’ Gerald said to the others. ‘I need to go and deal with this.’
He strode after Lynn, closing the library door firmly behind him.
Abelard stared around at his friends. Jen was watching Mateo, who looked troubled.
‘There’s obviously more going on here than we’re aware of,’ Jen said.
Mateo nodded. ‘Maybe you’re right. But I don’t know that we have a better option than staying here, at least for the time being.’
‘I agree,’ Jen said. ‘But let’s all stay alert, okay?’
‘Whichever way you look at it,’ Alessandra put in, ‘we’re in murky waters here and we need to be careful. We also need equipment, like Gerald said, and I know just where to go for that.’
* * *
Not long afterwards, Abelard found himself back in the float-e-fact with Terry at the controls and Mateo, Alessandra and Julia in the rear compartment. He had severe misgivings about what they were about to do, but he had been overruled. Things were moving far too quickly in his view but Alessandra kept pointing out that the artisans would already be looking for them, not hanging around waiting for them to make the first move.
Her plan was to raid a Gadg-E-Tech warehouse for equipment to supply their new base of operations. Gerald hadn’t been around to approve this plan, which was something else Abelard felt uncomfortable about.
Alessandra said the warehouse they were heading for was full of out-dated artefacts, discontinued lines and failed prototypes so it wasn’t heavily guarded.
‘Hardly anyone even knows it exists. It’s a dumping ground. I don’t even know why the stuff isn’t just destroyed or recycled but I’m not complaining.’
It was getting dark as Alessandra produced her Gadg-E-Tech ID badge and swiped it over the mana lock to the right of the warehouse entrance. The door started rolling upwards.
She sighed with relief. ‘I don’t expect this would work at Gadg-E-Tech headquarters any more but I was betting they wouldn’t think to cancel my access to every other facility. Though they may have a watch on my badge, so let’s be quick.’
She flashed her ID smoothly at the guard who stepped out of the opened door, not giving him enough time to look at it properly.
‘Just here to pick up some spare parts,’ she said, airily.
‘I’ll need to see the paperwork’, said the guard.
As Alessandra continued to move past him, he reached out to grab her arm and then everything happened very quickly. As the guard’s other hand drifted towards the stun-e-fact at his hip, Abelard saw Mateo gather a ball of mana from his chron-e-fact and fling it towards the guard. It hit the man squarely in the chest. He flew backwards with a cry and landed heavily on his back, the smell of burning heavy in the air.
‘What the hell did you do?’ shouted Abelard.
Mateo was staring at the fallen guard in horror. ‘I-I don’t know. I just … I don’t know …’
Alessandra sprang into action. ‘There’s no time to worry about it now. Julia, can you take care of the guard? Let’s the rest of us just grab whatever we can and get out of here.’
As she ran further into the warehouse, Abelard hesitated a moment, looking from Mateo to the prone guard and back again. Then he followed Alessandra inside, selecting boxes at random and shuttling them back to the float-e-fact as quickly as he could. Terry followed suit, and eventually even Mateo made a couple of trips with some equipment as Julia knelt over the guard.
‘I think that’ll have to do for now,’ said Alessandra after a few minutes. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Did I kill him?’ Mateo asked suddenly, as they lifted smoothly into the air. He was staring at his hands as if they didn’t belong to him.
‘No,’ Julia said. ‘He was still breathing when we left.’
‘And I have made an anonymous call to emergency services,’ Terry reported from the pilot’s seat. ‘Do not worry. Help is on the way to him now.’
Mateo didn’t look reassured.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jen was waiting for the expedition when the float-e-fact returned. Abelard, Mateo and Alessandra filed out and walked towards her, expressions despondent. Terry and Julia started unloading boxes from the float-e-fact behind them so everyone who had headed out was present and apparently unharmed. Jen stepped forward to meet them.
‘What happened?’
Abelard looked at her ruefully. ‘Mateo foomed some random guard with his phenomenal artisan powers.’
Jen could tell he was trying to hide his real concern underneath the casual surface of the words. She turned to Mateo. ‘You did what?’
He glared at her. ‘Yes, I attacked him. But he was going for his stun-e! And I didn’t see any of the rest of you doing anything to help!’
He pushed past Jen, dodging away from the hand she put out to stop him and strode away towards the main compound building. Jen turned back to the others.
‘He … he didn’t kill the guard, did he?’
‘No,’ Alessandra said and Jen felt her jaw unclench. ‘I think we’re all a bit shaken though. We’ll need to plan better for that kind of situation next time.’
Alessandra turned back to help direct the unloading of the supplies they’d brought back.
‘At least you got some equipment,’ Jen said.
Abelard shook his head. ‘We have no idea what we’ve got. The whole thing was a disaster. We were completely unprepared to face resistance and we were completely disorganised about taking stuff from the warehouse. Everything in those boxes could be totally useless for all we know.’
‘I’m sure the brain-es will be able to make use of it,’ Jen said.
‘Maybe. But if we’re going to start a war with the artisans, we need to come up with a better strategy than just wandering in and hoping everything works out in our favour. I don’t think we’ll get away with that again.’
Jen was shocked by his choice of words. ‘A war? Is that really what you think is going to happen?’
‘Don’t you?’ Abelard’s tone was bleak. ‘We’re challenging their authority and threatening to destabilise the whole hierarchy of society. Don’t you
think they’re going to try and stop us however they can?’
Jen stared at him and he attempted a smile.
‘One step at a time, I guess, and at least now we have some stuff to work with.’ He gestured at the growing pile of boxes behind him. ‘In the meantime, I might have been a bit rough with Mateo about the warehouse incident. Do you think we should go and check if he’s alright?’
She nodded. They tracked Mateo to his room, the same one he had been assigned the first night they stayed in the compound. There was no answer when they knocked on the door but Jen opened it and went in anyway. Mateo was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall on the far side of the bed. His knees were drawn up and his face was hidden by his arms. Without a word Jen crossed the room and slid down next to him, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder. Mateo didn’t react to her presence and they just sat there in silence for several long moments. Jen looked up to see Abelard standing awkwardly in the doorway. She gave a vague wave and he interpreted the gesture correctly, stepping backwards out of the room and shutting the door quietly behind him.
Eventually, Mateo let out a long sigh and dropped his head to the side until it touched Jen’s.
‘I guess that’s why Alessandra is so hot on mana manipulation training.’ The slight tremor in his voice belied the lightness of the words.