When We Have Wings

by Claire Corbett

  ‘So, do you have any idea?’

  ‘I’m not absolutely certain but I have good reason to believe it was Brilliant, the Seraphim MP, and his wife.’

  ‘Oh great,’ said Henryk. ‘They’ll be worse than the Chesshyres to crack. I’ll have to move quickly. The commissioner hasn’t told me to back off yet but it’s probably just a matter of time.’

  ‘Something else,’ I said. ‘I’ve got information on Brilliant you might want to look at. I’ve been going over some of the church’s dealings and there’s one project with a lot of money changing hands but it’s completely obscure. Can’t make out what the money’s for or who’s receiving it at all.’

  ‘Hmm,’ said Henryk. ‘Have to be careful how we’d investigate that. The project’s air of mystery doesn’t prove it’s shady though you and I both know there probably is something going on. Still, I’d need some sort of excuse to go after him.’

  ‘Luisa,’ I said. ‘Send a flier—guess it’d have to be Mick—to interview Brilliant about Luisa. Innocently. She’s missing, why haven’t they reported it and so on. It might pressure him into doing something stupid; from what I’ve seen of him, he’s not that cool a customer. I’ll give you the information I’ve put together from Brilliant’s office; between that and whatever you pick up from Mick’s visit, you may have enough to follow up on Luisa and maybe even the Hermes project.’

  ‘Hermes, eh? How very classical of them. The messenger god.’

  I fanned myself with a paper from Henryk’s desk as I described the break-in and told him about my talk with Chesshyre and with Mira.

  ‘This is some serious shit,’ said Henryk.

  ‘I know it. I don’t dare have Thomas to stay overnight till this business is finished and I can be sure no more rogue Raptors are going to trash my flat and kill members of my household.’

  ‘The problem is,’ said Henryk, ‘the parents still haven’t reported their baby missing. They could just tell me the nanny’s taken baby on holiday if they don’t want us nosing around. If I persist, Chesshyre could easily make trouble.’

  ‘The point about what Mira said, though, is that Peri’s not just the nanny anymore and they’re not just the parents. We need to have a serious conversation, mate. This is getting into deep waters.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Henryk. ‘But I can’t do it till Thursday night. As if this shit with the department and Perros isn’t enough, we’re a bit bloody busy right now with a raid on a facility up north. You know how it is with RaRA-land cops—no resources at all. We’ve been ordered to help them. Never rains but it fucking pours. So, come for dinner with me and Vivienne on Thursday night. Should’ve got somewhere with Brilliant by then.’

  ‘That would be great,’ I said. ‘What do you mean raid? What facility?’

  ‘Belongs to a company called Diomedea—’ Henryk broke off, seeing the expression on my face. ‘Heard of them, have you? Oh, of course you have, your talk with Kahdr. Anyway, they’ve been broken into and they are going seriously batshit about it, so we have to look interested, you know? They haven’t got any Raptors in RaRA-land of course, so Durack’s off up there. I’ll have to send him round to Brilliant’s before he leaves. And luckily for you, he’ll be in about the right part of RaRA-land to keep an eye out for Almond and the baby. I’ve briefed him on your case, he’ll do what he can while he’s up there.’

  On Tuesday afternoon I took my desk slick out to a nearby cafe and worked there for several hours. I turned my personal slick off because Chesshyre kept trying to contact me every hour or so. The flat remained in chaos; I still couldn’t face straightening it out and felt apprehensive there on my own. Of course I’d been carrying my weapon ever since the break-in but was still considering what extra security precautions I might take.

  After the cafe I moved on to the Malacca, a cheap restaurant where I knew PapaZie’s friends and family hung out. PapaZie’s brother, Emem, was there and, on the pretext of asking after Kossiwa—who, I was relieved to hear, was now in hospital—I sat with him until his natural politeness forced him to ask me to have dinner with him and his cousin. It was late and I’d drunk a fair bit of palm wine before I made my way home.

  On Wednesday morning, after another bad night made much worse by the palm wine, as I passed my car in the access lane on my way to buy breakfast I heard a whoof, a sort of sneeze. I peered underneath. Frisk lay battered and bloody in the shelter of the car. Must have dragged himself there painfully during the night. Who knew where he’d hidden or how far he’d had to haul himself to get back to his territory?

  Tangled in Frisk’s mane was a red feather, one of the great primaries. Loss of that primary would have cost the Raptor when he took to the air. I went down on one knee and gently disengaged the feather from the lion’s mane. Thanks for that, Frisk. It might come in handy. He whimpered as I touched him, sneezed again, half opened his eyes.

  I took him to a vet. She looked up at me from dressing his wounds and bandaging an ear. ‘Nasty injuries,’ she said. ‘Walk him every day; that’s his rehabilitation.’

  Outside the vet’s a message came from Henryk: Mick 2 Brill. Tense little xchange, can u imagine? LP did work 4 him. M let B know we knew she had 2 kids 4 him. Didn’t know 4 sure but fell 4 oldest trck in bk, didn’t dare deny it. Did what u’d expect; claim L left, argument over wages, didn’t report L missing said assume working 4 someone else. M sceptical—B faked concern over L but nervous as hell. Big ears in place.

  Mostly I felt relief that I hadn’t wasted Henryk’s time on Brilliant. Finally, finally, as slowly as an ocean liner starting from a standstill, the case was moving ahead. Dead slow. But ahead.

  That afternoon began well enough. I’d explained to Lily that I couldn’t have Tom to stay overnight but she must have felt generous since I’d consented to the treatments and we had the afternoon together instead. My delight at having Frisk back, even in so sorry a state, and my anticipation at seeing Thomas, finally gave me the impetus to clean the flat. By the time I’d finished, poor Frisk dozing on the couch as I worked, the place looked and smelled as crisp as a new bedsheet. I left Frisk asleep and picked Thomas up from Lily’s townhouse at Silver Palms.

  Tom burbled so excitedly as I buckled him into his car seat that I could barely understand a word he was saying. ‘Look, Daddy,’ he finally managed to squeak. ‘It’s ’portant, Daddy. Look!’ He brandished a drawing for me, a drawing of himself flying over the City with wings as bright as a butterfly’s.

  ‘Wow, Tom,’ I said enthusiastically, trying to hide the sinking feeling the drawing inspired in me. ‘It’s so beautiful.’

  ‘Oh yes indeed,’ said Tom, nodding at me with the solemn certainty of the near four-year-old. Oh yes indeed was a new phrase for him, something I could imagine Richard uttering pompously numerous times a day, and I could tell Tom was proud of it.

  I studied the drawing for a moment before starting the car and tried to suppress my anxiety as Thomas described meeting his specialist, Ruokonen. ‘That’s great, sweetie,’ I said, folding his drawing carefully and stowing it in a side pocket. ‘I’ll really enjoy having this to look at.’

  I took Tom to the movies. As I endured the only film Tom wanted to see, The Persimmon Thieves, about four flier kids and their many adventures, I marvelled at how quickly becoming a flier was already cemented into his identity. At the gelateria I took him to after the movie, as Thomas chattered away about all the things he’d be able to do, something clenched in me relaxed. Parents were frightened of the future because they always feared that moment when they could no longer protect their child. That moment was arriving sooner than I wished but how many parents could give their child entry into such an exhilarating world?

  Thomas pointed at the pigeons flocking up above the light-rail line running past the gelateria. ‘I’ll fly right up to the sky, Dad. I’ll fly through rainbows and into the clouds!’ He bounced on his chai
r as he spoke.

  My slick. I assumed it was Chesshyre again but checked anyway. Lily, letting me know I had to make sure that Thomas, who’d already started preparatory drug therapy, took his afternoon doses.

  Later, while I was driving Thomas back to Lily’s, he fell asleep in the car. As I stopped the car outside Lily’s house I turned round to look at him, at my son, who I still thought of as a baby, who was now entering a realm where I could not follow. He seemed more deeply asleep than was usual for him when he took a nap in the car.

  I got out, opened his door, leaned in. Tom’s skin was pale and waxy, his breathing low. I shook him. He was floppy, his head lolling forward.

  My legs turned to rubber. I rang Lily while still trying to rouse Thomas. She rushed out of the house, followed by Richard, who was already ringing an ambulance.

  ‘What the hell is this?’ I yelled at Lily. ‘A reaction to the drugs?’

  ‘I don’t fucking know!’ Lily shrieked.

  The ambulance arrived ten minutes later, a miracle possible only because of the relatively good repair of the streets around Silver Palms. In most parts of the City you’d be better off taking a rickshaw or the light rail.

  I followed in the wake of the ambulance as best I could but lost it long before it reached the hospital.

  Peri was woken while it was still dark by a solid-muscled young woman with short fair hair. ‘I’m Leto,’ she said. ‘Come with me.’

  Peri picked up Hugo and almost ran to keep up with Leto, whose grey-blue clad body and blue wings were always on the instant of fading into the deep dark morning in among the trees ahead of her. She’d seen Leto the night before, her face lit up by the firelight and by her look of rapt concentration during Jay’s lecture.

  Peri followed Leto into the main clearing. Jay, Finch and Rafael were squatting on the sand, peering at a slick in Niko’s hands. Their faces loomed out of the darkness, illuminated from below by the screen.

  Niko nodded at Peri as she sat down but otherwise she was included in the group without comment and it struck Peri this was an unfamiliar but agreeable sensation. Hugo began to suckle as Peri listened apprehensively to Niko. What was going on? All of the others, except for Niko, were chewing on energy strips as they listened.

  ‘Now,’ Niko was saying, ‘you’ll each have one of these slicks. You’ll fly most of the day and then you’ll stop and rest. You won’t move on L1 until after one-thirty am. No-one’s hit L1 yet. It’s guarded but mostly against non-fliers. I’ve got the codes we need on the slicks I’ll give you. Don’t ask how I got them. Obviously you won’t risk drawing attention to yourselves by flying in a group, so each slick has the route loaded so that you can navigate separately.’

  Jay stared in turn at each flier in the circle, his handsome features stern, as if to assure himself that they all understood. Peri dropped her gaze to Hugo. Seemingly satisfied, Jay turned back to Niko.

  ‘I’ll program our plan of attack onto the slicks in real time,’ Niko continued. ‘You know, the usual routine. That way we can keep in touch and respond to anything unforeseen as the mission unfolds; it’s also insurance in case any one of you is . . . ah . . . unexpectedly detained.’ He stood up and gave a slick to each of them. ‘Rest a bit and eat up. You’ll get underway just before civil dawn.’

  Jay stood up and as he came towards her Peri saw he was carrying four small bags and a lightstick. He was wearing the same blue-grey camouflage skims as Leto and Peri and Finch.

  ‘You’re not taking me with you on this?’ Peri whispered to Finch.

  Finch nodded, reaching up to take one of the bags from Jay.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Audax doesn’t carry passengers. You’re part of the group. You do what we do.’

  ‘No, no, no, Finch, please, I have to take Hugo back safely. I have to go. If I keep my word I just might be able to work something out.’

  Jay shook his head. ‘I saw what came after you. You have no chance of working anything out with whoever sent that after you. You are part of this operation and you’ll do as you’re told. This is your only chance to move forward with us.’

  The grey bracelet on Peri’s wrist felt tighter, heavier. Tears started to her eyes; she blinked them back. Tears would not change Jay’s mind; if anything, crying might make him decide she was too much of a risk to this mission. The idea of taking part in whatever Audax were going to do terrified her but she could see Jay’s point; they might trust her if she performed well. It was the only chance they would give her. Sighing, she put Hugo over her shoulder and heaved herself to her feet.

  Jay handed one bag each to Leto and Rafael and kept one for himself.

  ‘What’s that?’ said Peri.

  ‘Weapons,’ said Leto, drawing out a sleek object from her bag. As she checked its parts, Peri could see it was a small crossbow.

  ‘Aren’t you going to give me one?’

  Jay shook his head. ‘Not this time, sister.’

  A shock thrilled through Peri at his words. Sister. She’d heard him say that to other Audax members. Could he feel anything for her? He’d saved her life; that must have forged a bond between them.

  ‘I know how to use one,’ said Peri. The old longbows she’d practised with in Pandanus were hardly in the class of this weapon but she knew she was a good shot, though that had more to do with the exercise of her skill and strength in aiming stones, tins, glass or any other rubbish to hand at the mongrels of the Venice.

  ‘All the more reason,’ laughed Jay. ‘I will give you these, though.’ He handed her a pair of thin soft shoes. Peri turned them over in one hand, her other arm still around Hugo as he goggled over her shoulder into the lightening grey between the trees.

  ‘Landing slips,’ said Jay. ‘To protect your feet, especially if your landing is uncontrolled or at speed.’

  Peri nodded. So, she was supposed to be part of Audax. She was trusted enough to take part in a dangerous mission but not trusted enough to carry a weapon. And they’re making sure that I suffer the same fate as they do if they’re caught.

  Jay beckoned Peri closer. She sucked in her breath as he unwrapped the bandages from her hands and feet and ears. No pain but the new skin was more sensitive; she shrank a little from the cold morning air. Jay held the lightstick up and checked her skin.

  ‘Good.’

  Jay inspected Hugo, tore open a package, peeled a brown square from its backing. He smoothed the patch onto the skin of Peri’s upper arm and though he did it skilfully, his roughened fingers left marks. Warm, all down her arm where he touched her, warm like lying in the sun. The rest of her was cold; if he put his arms, his wings, around her, she’d be so warm, all over, finally she’d thaw from the storm, heal from the frost.

  ‘What’s that?’ said Peri.

  ‘Transdermal nutrition patch.’

  ‘Activated by body heat. Jay knows all the right supplies to steal,’ said Finch, looking up from where she had been checking her own weapon, finally securing it in her backpack. She mustn’t be expecting trouble on the flight itself then, Peri surmised, or she would have strapped the crossbow to her body.

  ‘Especially the more up-to-date military goodies,’ Finch added. She was wearing a patch too. ‘Saves us time on long flights where speed is critical. We won’t stop so often to eat. Flying burns energy at such a ferocious rate that we need a continuous source of kilojoules for so long a flight, over and above the energy strips we’ll consume.’

  Peri’s skin still tingled where Jay had touched her. She could almost hear Luisa’s voice. That’s not love, Peri. That’s frostbite.

  Finch stood up, brushing sand off her skims, and moved next to Peri as she put the slips on her feet. ‘You’re coming with me,’ she said, handing Peri an empty backpack. Peri peered at her in the morning gloom as she adjusted the pack’s straps over her shoulders and
settled the pack between her wings. What was she going to put in it? Energy strips, water, slick; everything she needed for the flight out was in her waistband. There was so much she wanted to know. ‘Who will look after Hugo?’

  ‘Phoebe,’ said Finch. Seeing the look on Peri’s face, she said, ‘He’ll be fine, Peri. He’s done without you for a day already.’ Finch pointed to where Phoebe had materialised from the trees surrounding the clearing and Peri was surprised to see a bandage on her ankle. So, Phoebe was carrying an injury. Peri hoped she wouldn’t resent being left behind. God, I wish it was me staying behind. No point thinking like that. Just get through today. Do this thing. Surprisingly gently, considering her usually brusque manner, Phoebe took Hugo into her arms.

  ‘Goodbye, little man,’ said Peri.

  Finch ruffled the baby’s hair, then turned to Peri. ‘We need to get a head start. Civil dawn is almost upon us.’

  Peri hurried after Finch. ‘What’s that?’ Did Finch mean that she, Peri, was slower than the others, thus the head start?

  ‘Eh?’ said Finch. ‘Oh, civil dawn? That’s when the sun has risen to six degrees below the horizon. There’s just enough light for objects to be distinguishable.’

  ‘Oh. Finch, what if something happens to us?’ Peri said as Finch headed towards the cliff edge. ‘I have to come back to Hugo; I can’t just disappear on him.’

  ‘Niko understands that,’ said Finch. ‘Believe me, this mission is the quickest way to ensure your future with us. Now, watch me. I’ll be wind dummy.’

  ‘What?’

  Finch tightened her waistband and groomed her primary feathers as she said, ‘Whenever there’s more than one flier, it pays for the most experienced flier to be the wind dummy at the beginning of each flight. So, I take off first. You watch me and gauge wind speed and strength and other flight conditions by studying how I’m flying. Now, have you peed?’ Peri nodded. ‘Good,’ said Finch. ‘Take small sips of water frequently; that way less of it ends up in your bladder. If you smash into the ground or a mountain or a tree, your bladder’s much less likely to burst if it’s empty.’