by Wesley Chu
“Step out so you two can get me alone?” Cole sputtered. “I don’t—.”
“He’s got an exo on, Cole,” Levin said. “Do you really think it matters?”
The Apex leader’s eyes panned back and forth between them until he finally, reluctantly agreed. He followed them out to the top of the stairs, close enough for the Apexes to still keep sight of their leader, but far enough away that they couldn’t hear what they were talking about.
“You got two minutes,” Cole said, keeping as far away from James as possible. As if that would make a difference.
“I’m breaking Levin out of Nereid,” James said.
“And I want you to come with me,” Levin finished.
It took a few seconds for those words to sink in. Cole’s expression morphed from anger to shock to realization and finally to hope. Then he turned back into his angry, suspicious self. “Why? What’s in it for him if I come with you?”
James threw up his arms. “You, too? What is wrong with your entire family?”
“I get nothing for your release, except peace of mind,” Levin said. “I’m making amends to your mother, and to you.”
“I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for you,” Cole spat.
James placed himself between the two men. “I couldn’t care less about your stupid family feud. The offer is there. Are you coming or would you rather rot on Nereid for the rest of your life?”
Levin was strangely silent, pensive, failing to make eye contact with either of them. James could see the pain on his face as he waited for Cole to answer. There was a quiet desperation to him that seemed foreign on that face. James realized then just how painful sending his nephew to prison must have been for Levin.
Cole, on the other hand, looked conflicted. He knew this was probably his only opportunity to leave Nereid. However, it would make him beholden to the man who had put him there. He had held on to his pride and anger for so long that it was difficult for him to give Levin an inch, even if it was freedom being offered.
In the end though, his better judgment won out. “Fine, I’m in. When do we leave?”
Levin and James exchanged glances. “Day after tomorrow when the supply ship comes,” James said. “We’ll need a distraction.”
SEVENTEEN
THE ALL GALAXY
The larger tribe descended upon the smaller, unsuspecting tribe just as it was crossing the fifth level over the triple-wide Allen and Canal Street crossing. A thunderous crash echoed between the buildings as the rear of the smaller tribe was smashed by the larger group. As those on the bridge tried to flee across it, more from the larger tribe appeared on the other end, cutting off their escape.
Many of those trapped were not warriors, and the few who fought back were easily overwhelmed. The ensuing battle couldn’t even be called that as the tribe on the bridge, caught in the crossfire, was cut down indiscriminately, even as many threw their weapons down and raised their hands. Surrender wasn’t much of an option in the Mist Isle. A series of explosions—low-grade incendiaries—erupted at the center of the bridge, sending men, women, and children flying through the air. Many were swept off the bridge and plummeted to their deaths five stories down.
Within seconds, the attack was over. Dozens of bodies littered the bridge as the victors picked through the corpses for spoils. Anything valuable remaining—technology, food, survivors—was distributed among the larger tribe. Arguments and scuffles broke out between the victors fighting over the spoils. Some got into heated arguments over gear and new slaves and had to be forcibly separated. Two men from each side fought over a high-tech rifle. Two women argued over a young man.
“Oldest, we must leave. They are too close.” Eriao pulled Elise back from the window. The massacre that had unfolded below had frozen her in place. She would have thrown up the contents of her stomach if there had been anything in it.
Elise’s heart pounded in her chest as she looked back at the long line of Elfreth huddled close to the floor. This particular attack had hit too close to the main body of the tribe. It was the same tribe that had been stalking them the past few days. The Gazzys, as they called themselves, were nothing more than pillaging marauders who wouldn’t even speak to them. They were vicious cannibals who preyed upon the weak.
These small-scale melees were nonstop down at the lower levels of the Isle. The fighting over spoils and floors was intense, and the hundreds of small tribes fed upon each other as they strived to grow large and strong enough to take over the higher floors, where there was enough light to farm and where there were fewer bridges and passageways connecting the buildings to defend.
Everyone was exhausted, having been on the run for days, not staying in place for more than a few hours at a time. Her decision to avoid conflict with the other tribes had proven costly. They had not been able to find a suitable space and were now transient outcasts. There were few promising floors on the lower levels and the ones that were dry and defensible were already occupied and heavily entrenched. No one was in the mood to share.
Several of the elders openly questioned her decision not to physically take the floors they needed, though none dared defy Franwil and Eriao. For now, those two still supported Elise, but the war chief’s patience was running thin. Elise pulled out an old map of Manhattan and looked at their position. Many of the buildings had changed since the time of the map’s printing in 2233, but it was the best they had. She peered out the window at one of the largest buildings farther down the block, taking note of the dozen sky bridges running from it.
“We go two floors up and cross the street west.” She traced her finger along the map. “Then down four floors heading north until we hit that series of high-rises.”
She handed the map to Eriao, who studied the route she had laid out. “West is a triple-wide, at least a hundred fifty meters. With our numbers, we risk being exposed for too long. You saw what happened to those poor bastards back there. What were they thinking, trying to cross at street level at this time? We should continue north first and then cut across under the cover of night once the street narrows.”
Elise frowned. “I was hoping to hit the business district. The buildings there are tall and thick. We have a better chance of finding quality shelter there.”
Eriao looked doubtful. “Larger buildings are more coveted. We’ll find stronger and better-armed tribes in those spaces. The towers further north are more modest with smaller tribes who might be willing to negotiate, or at least allow us to pass unmolested.” He handed the map back to her. “In either case, it will be better if we force our way through weaker tribes than the stronger ones.”
“Fine, we head north,” she said reluctantly.
The rest of the Elfreth packed up and moved, the guardians taking position at the front and back of the long caravan. She watched as the herd of kowru passed, especially noting the foal that clung to Moma at all times. The poor thing had to be carried up the stairs and had never seen grass before. It saddened her to think that these ruins and this constant struggle were all it knew.
The Elfreth continued north, going up and down several floors until they reached a bridge that crossed over to the next building. They usually had to wade through jungle-like wilderness or encountered other tribes protecting their territories. The majority of those tribes preferred to just let them pass rather than fight, but some would try to extract tolls from the Elfreth.
This was where Elise drew the line. In most cases, she was able to talk them out of this blackmail. In two, she had resorted to intimidating them with the Elfreths’ cache of advanced weapons. One or two blasts of her wrist beam or powered rifle, and insinuating that they had plenty more where that came from, was enough to get their way.
By dusk, they had reached the All Galaxy Tower on Broadway and Nineteenth Street. Elise remembered hearing about this place in 2097. Back in her time, most countries competed with each other either through sports or building exotic buildings. The All Galaxy was the Democratic Union�
�s hat into that arena. She had seen mock-ups and holographs of the proposed tower, but they had just laid the foundation when James had whisked her away to the present.
Now, as she stood at the bridge connecting to it, she had to admit; even abandoned and run-down, the thing looked impressive. This building was huge, massive. It wasn’t so much that the All Galaxy Tower was tall; it wasn’t. It was just really wide, taking up several square city blocks. According to the map, the building’s edges touched Fifth to Park avenues wide and Nineteenth to Twenty-second streets long.
She stared open-mouthed as the skyscraper stretched up and disappeared into the fog. The building wasn’t exactly short either—a hundred floors or so, though definitely not the tallest in Manhattan. Also to her surprise, most of the outer-wall window panels seemed intact, which meant those living inside were not only receiving the sun for crops, but also were sheltered from the elements. Elise felt a jab of envy at the inhabitants of the giant tower. After weeks of slogging through rain and being constantly battered by wind that swept through porous buildings, just the thought of having walls was amazing.
Elise’s eyes lingered on the building until she realized that the Elfreth procession had stopped three-quarters across the long sky bridge connecting to the All Galaxy. She broke into a trot and saw Eriao organizing the guardians in the front. “What’s going on?” she asked when she got to him.
Eriao pointed at the entrance to the tower at what initially looked like a mound of junk blocking their way. On closer inspection, she realized it was a purposely-made barricade spanning the width of the bridge. On top of a makeshift parapet, rows of armed people stood ready to repel them. From what she could tell, most of their defense seemed low-tech, but they were entrenched enough that it could cause a problem, especially since the Elfreth would have to charge the length of the bridge.
Eriao gestured at parts of the barricade. “Oldest, most of the barricade is made from concrete and metal. We will not be able to tear it down easily.”
“It looks like it’s been there awhile,” she added, pointing at a set of rusty metal double doors built directly in its center.
“Should we turn back?”
Elise studied the people standing on top of it waiting for them. They were an assortment of men and women, some young, some elderly. Many were fit and well-armed, others injured and holding spears; all looked determined to not let the Elfreth pass. Perhaps they should just turn back.
She looked back down the bridge toward the building from where they had come. Turning around wouldn’t solve their problems. There was nothing for them back there. This place, this All Galaxy Tower, looked like the best chance for the Elfreth to find a place to settle. Her people were exhausted, some half-dead on their feet. They had to stop running. Elise gritted her teeth. She had gotten them into this situation. She would get them out.
Elise walked toward the barricade, shrugging off Eriao when he tried to hold her back. Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw the dozens of weapons, all pointed at her. “We come in peace. I wish to speak with your leader, your chief,” she said in a loud, slow, clear voice. She inhaled and exhaled with each step, half expecting to hear a bang and something rip through her guts at any moment.
She waited as the people standing on the parapet above her chattered among themselves. Her gaze fell upon a young man who holstered his rifle and locked in on her. She noticed a small red light moving up her chest to her face. These people had some advanced weapons after all. She continued forward, one slow step after another.
“This is Flatirons land,” a woman’s voice called out. “None enters. Go around.”
“Please.” Elise no longer cared about keeping the desperation out of her voice. “We are willing to offer a trade for sanctuary in your building.”
“The Flatirons have fallen for this ruse before,” the voice replied. “We will not again.”
“We can’t go back the way we came. There are those chasing us.”
“Then you bring them to our building if we let you pass.”
“I beg you.” Elise took a step forward.
The ground at her feet kicked up dust, causing her to start. She threw her hands straight up in the air, her sleeves falling down to her shoulders and exposing her arms. They shook as she tried her best to fight back the tears. If this other tribe saw the Elfreth’s leader panic, what would they think about the rest of her people? Some leader she had turned out to be.
“Leave,” the woman’s voice repeated. The dust in front of Elise kicked up again.
Elise took a step back. “Can we at least talk this over?”
“No. My next shot will be through your heart.”
Resigned, Elise turned and walked back toward the tribe. She hadn’t made up her mind yet whether they should attack the barricade or not. It would be bloody. Did they have a choice, though? How long could they keep this up?
“Wait,” a new voice rang from behind the barricade. It was a man’s voice this time. Older, more frail.
Elise realized that the word, while still being translated through her comm band, wasn’t from the common language these wastelander tribes used. It was Solar English. The new speaker had been to the outside world.
She turned around and waited. There was a long pause. Elise kept her hands held up above her head. She forced herself to keep looking straight and not back at the Elfreth twenty meters behind her. If they wanted to kill her right now, there was little her people could do to stop it. After what felt like an eternity, to the point Elise was beginning to get bored, the metal door in the barricade swung open, revealing a darkened room behind it.
“You may enter. Only you.”
Elise took a step forward, and her legs almost buckled. She looked back at the Elfreth. Both Eriao and Rima were shaking their heads furiously, gesturing for her to backtrack toward them. She tried to take another step forward, and found that her leg was refusing to lift off the ground.
A middle-aged woman stepped out from the barricade and walked hesitantly toward Elise. She stopped just in front of her and bowed gracefully, almost in a curtsy. Elise tried to return the gesture but looked awkward trying to imitate that motion.
“I am Harre, the Teacher’s sister,” she said. “I will stand in your place until you return.”
Elise looked at the distance from here to the barricade, and then back at the Elfreth, who seemed so much farther away. It hardly seemed like a fair trade-off. However, this small gesture was more than she had thought she would receive. It gave her a small boost of courage.
“Thank you,” she said.
She forced herself not to look back again as she walked through the double doors into the darkness behind the barricade. Immediately, weapons surrounded her on either side. Several narrow beams of light focused on her. Shadows danced around her, prodding her forward. A path in front of her opened as they herded her a third of the way down the length of the building, through a massive wide-open hall with ceilings three stories tall. This looked like it was once a lobby, or a warehouse. It actually reminded her of those old train terminals from before her time. It was gigantic. Cracked marble ran up and down the walls and torches were spaced evenly down the hallway, giving her a perspective on how expansive this building was.
A woman wielding a rifle stepped into one of the lights and pointed at a door to the side. “Go.”
It was the same woman who had spoken with her earlier at the barricade. Her left arm and shoulder were bandaged tightly with rags, and she had red burn marks all over her body. Elise looked to both sides of the woman and realized that many surrounding her had suffered similar injuries. Pitched battles had been waged here lately. No wonder they were suspicious of strangers.
Elise stepped into the small room and found a roaring fireplace in front of two wingback chairs. On the left, a wrinkled man with long gray hair and a beard to match sat staring up at her. He motioned to the other chair. “Sit. I am Teacher Crowe of the Flatirons. You are standing in my hom
e. Allow me to offer you a seat.”
Elise was thankful that she got to sit. Her legs were Jell-O right now, and it helped calm her shaking. If she really was going to negotiate, it might help to not be quaking in her shoes the entire time.
“Thank you for speaking with me,” she said. “We were on our way north. My people just need a place to rest. Your tower seems spacious and sheltered. I ask that you consider—”
“In a moment, we will speak more of that,” Crowe said, cutting her off. “You wield chronman bands.”
Elise held up her arms. “You know what these are?”
“I do. In fact, I recognized many of the weapons your warriors wield. Why not simply blast your way through us?”
“I meant it when I said we were peaceful,” Elise said.
The old man nodded. “You are not from around here. You speak our language through your bands.” This teacher, it seemed, knew a lot of the outside world.
She nodded. “I’ve joined my tribe recently.”
“Yet you lead them.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Tell me, what other technology do you possess?”
It was an opening, at least. Elise took a deep breath and began negotiations.
* * *
Two hours later, an exhausted and relieved Elise left the center doors of the barricade and approached the Elfreth. By this time, Eriao had lined the Elfreth up only a few meters away from where Harre stood, and had them ready to attack at a moment’s notice. The woman’s face drained of tension when she saw Elise come out.
“That took longer than I thought,” she said.
“Your brother asks a lot of questions.”
“The Teacher is not actually my brother.” Harre shrugged, a wry smile on her face as she retreated back into the barricades.
“What happened?” Franwil demanded.
“It is night, and the jungles are awakening. We need to get off this bridge immediately and find shelter,” Eriao said. “The tribe is ready to go. We might be able to take the north portion of the building southwest of here. I’ll send scouts there to locate a safe place to set up camp.”