‘The famous Paige Mahoney.’ She sounded winded. ‘Not quite as menacing as you seem on the screens, are you?’
‘I’m on a tight schedule here, Attard,’ I said. ‘I’d appreciate it if we cut the bullshit.’
Most of her face was covered by a mask, but I heard the smirk when she said, ‘And who’s this?’
Eliza’s face was hard. ‘Her second-in-command.’
‘Ooh, fancy.’
She cocked her head, beckoning us into the hideout. The interior told me that this had once been a small retail gallery, presumably built for the overseers and anyone else with more than a few pennies in their pockets. Faded shopfronts promised fine perfumes and jewellery.
And a stranger was waiting, silhouetted against the moonlight that shone in through the roof.
‘Your friends told me you’re interested in Vigile help, so I thought I’d call a friend of my own.’ Catrin laid a hand on his back. ‘This is Major Arcana, my contact in the Night Vigilance Division.’
It was exactly what I’d wanted from her, but I found myself stiffening as he came closer. His mouth and nose, like mine, were hidden in a respirator.
‘Paige Mahoney.’ It distorted his voice. ‘An honour, truly.’
He extended a hand, which I cautiously shook. I could bear the idea of working with Vigiles if it moved us closer to Senshield, but old instincts weren’t easily quelled.
‘Tell me, Major,’ I said, ‘do you still hunt your own kind?’
‘Not any more. Cat persuaded me to desert,’ he said. His creased brow softened when their eyes met, reminding me uncomfortably of the way Cutmouth had looked at Hector. ‘And I had my reasons for joining the NVD. One was Roberta Attard. Under her, the Scuttlers won’t adapt to change. And we all know change is coming now.’
‘I wonder if you’d still be on the other side if machines weren’t coming for your job.’
‘Maybe I would. It gave me a full stomach and somewhere to sleep,’ he said evenly, ignoring Tom’s dark look. ‘Many voyants feel their only option is to remain in the ranks. If I can help you destroy Senshield for the sake of their livelihoods, I will.’
They must have a close bond, these people who had traded honour for borrowed years from Scion. Catrin touched his arm lightly before she paced across the floor.
‘You let me out, Mahoney, so you must want to raise some sort of hell in this citadel,’ she said. ‘The question is . . . what sort of hell?’
‘I told you. I need to get into a factory.’
‘Which one?’
‘SciPLO Establishment B.’
She looked from face to face, as if one of us was going to crack a smile and admit to the joke. ‘Brogue’s got ambition,’ she said. ‘What do you think you’re going to find in that place?’
‘Portable Senshield scanners.’
She snorted, but Major Arcana breathed in, making his respirator whirr.
‘We’re trying to find Senshield’s core,’ Eliza said to him, ‘so we can destroy it. Paige thinks if we see how the scanners are being manufactured, we might be able to pinpoint the location of what powers them. It might even be inside Establishment B, if we’re lucky.’
I doubted that, but we could hope. We were overdue some luck.
‘Portable scanners. We saw this. In the cards.’ Major Arcana was muttering to himself. ‘Ace of Swords. The exposure of truth. You are the one who comes with the blade . . . to cut away the shadows Scion wove around us.’ He stared at me for a long moment before turning away abruptly, as if breaking from a trance. ‘All the years of loyalty we gave them . . .’
I was reminded painfully of the tarot reading Liss had given me before her death in the colony. Catrin placed a hand on Arcana’s waist and drew him towards her.
‘I’m sure the Major would love to help you,’ she said to me, pressing him close, ‘but I have one condition.’
‘There are no conditions, Attard,’ I said. ‘I released you in exchange for your help.’
‘And now I’m negotiating, like any good daughter of Nerio Attard.’ Catrin had a wolfish look on her face. ‘I want to come in with you. That’s my condition. I’d like to help liberate voyant-kind from Senshield.’ Seeing my jaw tighten, she paused. ‘Of course, if you say no, I could just go to Roberta and tell her what you’re doing. I’m sure that will go down well.’
I should have known that our bargain couldn’t be so easy. I couldn’t have Catrin Attard joining us; she would be a liability.
‘Major,’ I said, turning to him, ‘you don’t need Catrin’s permission to help us. If you think the Ace of Swords pointed to me—’
‘I’d do most anything to get rid of Senshield,’ he admitted, ‘but I won’t go against Cat.’
I distinctly saw the corner of her mouth flinch. It had me wondering how these two had met, far less found solace in each other: the conflicted Vigile and the firebrand Attard sister, who now stood together, firmly allied. As much as I disliked the idea of her coming with us, I had no choice but to accept.
‘Fine,’ I said. That smile crept back to her lips. ‘Attard, you follow my orders to the letter in there.’
‘Oh, but of course, Underqueen.’
We planned the raid by moonlight in that derelict arcade.
Major Arcana had a contact who had been stationed at Establishment B for several weeks. At 6 A.M., when the shifts changed, she would let our team through the gate and smuggle us into the factory via the kitchen.
‘The next step will be locating the portable scanners,’ I said. ‘There must be some sort of storage room, if we could find that.’
‘Or the loading bay,’ Tom said. ‘That would be our best bet – find out where they’re kept before being shipped.’
I nodded. ‘Stealth will be crucial. We need to be particularly careful that we don’t run into Emlyn Price.’
‘Paige,’ Maria said suddenly, ‘you dreamwalked inside. Were the workhands wearing respirators?’
‘Not that I saw.’
‘Then you can’t come in with us. A uniform isn’t going to hide your face.’
It was true. My presence would blow the whole operation. It was for selfish reasons that I wanted to go in: so I could feel like I was making a difference. I had led the charge into the warehouse for the same reason, which had given Scion their deadliest advantage in years. A leader worth her salt would learn from her mistakes.
‘Fine,’ I conceded. ‘We’ll compromise. I’ll come into the complex with you, but I won’t go into the factory itself. I’ll stay hidden near the door while you search for the scanners. In case you need support.’
‘I’ll stay with you, Underqueen,’ Tom said.
‘I have to meet my associate,’ Major Arcana cut in. ‘Meet me outside Establishment B at quarter to six.’
‘Let’s hope my sweet sister doesn’t find out about this,’ Catrin said, ‘or she’ll ruin our chances.’
‘Let’s hope you don’t do that, either,’ I said.
‘We might disagree on how to run a citadel, Mahoney, but we agree on one thing.’ She made for the door. ‘Senshield can do one.’
We spent our last, precious minutes making the infiltration team look as much like workhands as possible. Catrin and Maria already had short hair; we briefly debated shaving Eliza’s for authenticity – she blanched at the suggestion, but didn’t complain – eventually deciding against the razor. Plenty of workhands did risk keeping their hair, and it was unlikely to arouse suspicion. Instead, we dirtied it with grease and bound it at the base of her skull.
As we concealed our weapons, I told the team what little I knew about ethereal technology: that it could be identified by a strip of white light; that they might be able to sense it in the æther. Other than finding evidence of the core, their priority was to steal a portable scanner so we could examine it elsewhere.
Just before six, we met Major Arcana outside the massive brick wall that surrounded SciPLO Establishment B. Through the gate at the front – the only wa
y in – I could see that the building was of the same design as others of its sort: black metal, hard angles, a few square windows on the second floor, and a door that had to be ten feet high. It was a bleak design, brutally utilitarian, constructed with no thought for beauty.
‘My contact will be along shortly. She’s persuaded some other Vigiles who are supportive of our movement to leave their posts for a few minutes,’ Arcana said. ‘They won’t come out on our side, but they’ll look the other way. I’ll be waiting in the van for when you need your getaway. Good luck.’
Catrin pulled him in for a rough kiss before he left. His form was swallowed by the smog.
We waited with our backs against the wall, out of sight of anyone inside. I tried to ignore the moil in my stomach. This time, I was certain we had come to the right place. Every whisper in this citadel had pointed me here.
Moments passed. I thought no one would come for us, that the contact had been apprehended – until someone pressed their finger to the scanner on the other side of the gate.
Our abetter was a slight, dark-skinned woman. Silently, she ushered us inside. Unlike street Vigiles, she wore no body armour and carried no firearm, though she did have the standard-issue helmet with a visor. Her only visible weapon was a truncheon. She led us out of sight of the main entrance and past a corrugated-metal door, keeping us close to the factory wall. At any moment, I expected to hear a shout or be blinded by a searchlight, but it was still dark enough to obscure our movements, and no one challenged us.
When we reached the entrance to the kitchen, the Vigile used her fingerprint again, unlocking it.
‘Night shift is just ending,’ she said, speaking for the first time. ‘Join the group that’s leaving the sleeping quarters for the day and blend in. I can give you twenty minutes before I’ll have to let you out again – after that I have to clock in to the sleeping quarters. Anyone who doesn’t get back on time will be trapped inside.’
Twenty minutes. That wasn’t nearly enough time for the team to search the whole place. It was frustrating that I had to stay hidden, but Maria was right. My face was too famous.
‘Do you know where the portable scanners are stored?’ I asked the Vigile.
‘Afraid not. You’re on your own there.’
Eliza stepped into the darkness first, touching a nervous hand to her hair. Catrin followed. As Maria went after them, I grasped her arm.
‘Don’t take your eyes off her,’ I said against her ear, nodding at Catrin.
‘Naturally.’
‘Tom and I will wait for you here. Remember – anything you can find out is a bonus at this stage.’
She patted my arm and disappeared inside. The Vigile closed the door. ‘I have to return to my rounds,’ she said to me and Tom. ‘Stay out of sight. You won’t find every Vigile sympathetic to your cause.’
‘Thank you,’ I said.
She marched away. Tom and I hunkered down to wait behind a nearby industrial waste receptacle. It would be a long twenty minutes.
‘I trust that Catrin about as far as I could throw her,’ Tom muttered.
The wind howled against the cheap fabric of my boiler suit, chilling my ribcage. ‘I trust most people about as far as I can throw them,’ I said, ‘but if we’re going to win this war, we need most people.’
We stayed near to each other for warmth, keeping an eye on his wristwatch. A lifetime seemed to pass between each click of the second hand.
I wasn’t made to stay behind.
After five minutes, two more Vigiles passed, but neither of them checked behind the waste receptacle. Eight minutes. Ten. Fifteen. Sixteen. By eighteen, I was getting nervous.
‘If they don’t come in time—’ Tom murmured.
‘We are not leaving here without one of those scanners.’
I had hardly finished speaking when three chimes rang out from inside the factory, each note climbing higher than the last.
‘SciPLO Establishment B, this is the Minister for Industry. Be aware that an intruder has been detected. Security protocol is now in effect. All doors to the factory floor and loading bay will close in thirty seconds.’ The Ironmaster’s voice resounded through the building. ‘All personnel, remain at your stations and report any unauthorised activity or individuals immediately to a Vigile or overseer. Failure to do so constitutes high treason. Remember, the safety of your assigned machine is paramount.’
We stared at each other. At any other time, Tom would be advocating caution, but not where Maria was concerned. My attention snapped to the æther; I found them almost at once, not far from us. ‘Follow me,’ I said, and we rushed towards our entrance, through the empty kitchen, ending up in a long, wide passageway with an immensely high ceiling. Fluorescent lighting illuminated its concrete floor from one end to the other. Letters on the wall indicated that this was the passage that led to the sleeping quarters.
A low-pitched grinding came to my attention. A massive internal door was closing on our left, sliding downward on its rails – the way to the factory floor, our only way to reach the others. Beyond it was the furnace I had seen when I had dreamwalked in that room; I could feel its heat on my face already, infernal and suffocating. We broke into a dead run, our footfalls drowned by the roar and hammer of machinery. My palms slammed into the door just as it closed.
‘Damn it.’ I stepped back, staring up. ‘There has to be a way to release the doors.’
‘There will be.’ Tom was panting. ‘In the overseers’ office. On the upper floor.’
Footsteps were approaching. Vigiles.
We separated. I turned right, into an offshoot of the central passageway. It was a dead end, but the double doors to a freight lift presented me with a way out. I rattled the button to call it, certain that at any moment a squadron of Vigiles would round the corner and riddle me with bullets. When it arrived, I threw myself inside and groped for the controls. Three floors. I hit UPPER and buckled against the side of the lift.
The lift trundled upward, jolting my stomach. Every heartbeat was a punch, each reminding me that it could be the last. I was in a Scion building, breathing the same air as a high-ranking Archon official, and all the doors were closed. It took all my willpower to keep the panic restrained.
When the lift opened, I sidestepped into a corridor. Off-white walls and a vinyl floor, like you’d find in any office block. A sign reading ADMINISTRATION. Minimal lighting. Pressing myself into a corner, I nudged my focus to the æther. Tom was still, and slightly farther from me than anyone else – he must be hiding in the basement. Maria and Eliza were together, and if their proximity to the other workhands was anything to go by, they remained on the factory floor, presumably undetected.
It was Catrin who had given the game away. I should have known she would be the one to put the assignment in jeopardy.
She was close to me. Very close. On this floor. Three unfamiliar dreamscapes clustered around her. I reached into my boiler suit and closed my hand around the handle of my knife.
Price would be up here.
At the end of another corridor, I was faced with a door marked OVERSEER, which was flanked by wall-length windows. When I looked through one of them, the first person I saw was Catrin Attard, bleeding from a fresh wound to her temple. Her wrists were strapped to the arms of a chair. Two Vigiles stood on either side, each grasping one of her shoulders.
Someone was standing in front of her, hands flat on the table that separated them. Catrin’s gaze darted to me. I made to duck out of sight, but seeing Catrin look, her interrogator turned. I found myself facing a man who could only be in his twenties, not much older than me, wearing the uniform of a Scion official.
Price.
It was too late to hide. The Ironmaster took me in with piercing grey eyes, lighter than mine. His hair was dark, his skin smooth and pale, and he wore gold cufflinks.
‘Paige Mahoney.’ He sounded almost friendly. ‘I never expected someone so . . . exciting.’
14
No S
afer Place
‘Let me in, Price.’
‘Now, why would I possibly do that?’ His bodyguards had their guns trained on my chest. His voice was muffled by the glass, but I could hear him well enough. ‘I appear to be very secure in here. Let’s keep a door between us, shall we?’
Several knives lay on the table in front of him, no doubt taken from Catrin’s boiler suit.
‘I’m a hands-on kind of person,’ I said.
Price laughed. ‘Yes.’ He lowered himself into a padded chair. ‘I know you tried to enter the factory earlier today. I commend you for your bravery, coming here in your own skin.’
Without warning, I possessed the man beside him. Through the glass – and my new eyes – I saw my own body reel before collapsing like a house of cards. The other bodyguard quickly took aim at my host, but I already had the gun against Price’s head. Vance would be livid if they let her Minister for Industry die at such a crucial time for Senshield.
‘Now we can talk – face-to-face, as it were,’ I said, my voice steely. I hadn’t intended to be interrogating anyone tonight, but now that I was, I had to find out all that I could. And if he was going to talk, Price had to believe I was capable of murder. ‘I know you’re manufacturing the portable scanners here. You’re going to tell me where they are.’ I paused. ‘You’re going to tell me how they’re connected to Senshield’s core. And then you’ll tell me how to disable it.’
It was a shot in the dark; I didn’t expect the reaction. Price gave me an incredulous look, then let out a peal of boyish laughter. I stared at him, unnerved.
‘Wait. You don’t think they’re connected here, do you?’ He shook his head. ‘Oh, dear. Somebody really has got her facts muddled. You didn’t honestly believe that by sneaking into this factory, you had Senshield, did you? The . . . portable scanners, as you call them, that we manufacture here – they are deadly, yes, but not yet equipped with ethereal technology.’ Every syllable was savoured. ‘I’m afraid they’re connected to the core . . . elsewhere.’
If he wasn’t telling the truth, then he was very convincing. Still, a little more persuasion couldn’t hurt. I shoved the gun against his head.
The Song Rising Page 21