Year of the Orphan

by Daniel Findlay

  48

  I read wun time that that up there, all them stars together, is called a galaxy an a milky way.

  Like milk like from a camel?

  Yeah, ya can kinda see that it looks like spilled milk all swirled over the sky.

  I reckon you got a real good imagination Orphan.

  I reckon you aint got none then. We’re sittin under the milky way tonight, whether you unnerstand it or not.

  She looked over at him an saw his shoulders shakin as he laughed real quiet.

  Yer a fucken shit Block.

  Yeah, I know. It does kinda look like spilled milk but I reckon them old fellas what named it spent too much time on the clear wine.

  I read too that all them stars is actually places like this, like theres lands out there an other places to live.

  I seen a few things like that meself, Orphan. Never sure whats true or not.

  It were in wun of the old fellas books but it was only half there. All them old pages ripped out or turned to dust so I couldnt figger what happened next, just I reckon they was reachin higher than what we do now.

  Gets ya in a funny mood bein out here dont it. I reckon I never heard ya speak so much as what yev dun in the last few days. Yer sure yer alright? Nun of that poison got to ya?

  Yer a funny wun.

  Im real. You was gone a long time out at the Glows. Stayed longer than what I reckon it shoulda took an ya come back lookin like ya seen trouble. Moren usual.

  She stared up at the stars, just thinkin an lettin his words settle.

  I seen a Ghost or two out there but that aint it. I seen Ghosts before but mayhap never this close.

  So what happened out there? Ya come back with the Open Road an ya come back with a map. A map like I aint never seen before. How deep did ya go an what Glow was ya in, a freshie? Dust, Orphan, ya takin risks out there like I never seen an I been scavvin with ya moren once.

  I seen sum real strange things this time Block. I seen Ghosts workin together in a diffrent way. I seen a fella out there what looked Ghost but maybe wasnt.

  She paused. Afraid he were gunna think she’d lost it. Were shook, or worse, mad.

  I think I seen the Reckoner out there Block, or summin what looked powerful like it.

  49

  Before

  He’d been waitin a long time but Karra was makin his move. The Orphand been out the house now mebbe a year an he knew that whatever else, he were clear of killin the boss. All them council fellas what he’d scared and cajoled was all comin into line an he reckoned the time were right. His boys was out there now in the night, sum boys what liked gold an clear wine moren anythin else and after it were all done he’d bring em in anyway an make sure they knew real good that there was no talkin about any of it. Dead men dint tell no tales anyway he figgered an what was good enough for the boss was good enough for any of them deadbeat cando men he had workin for him. Tonight he was gunna make sure the council was real important an stayed that way a real long time. An on top of that council was gunna be a bloke what had lived through them Ghosts twice over, a healerman what knew his letters an his numbers, never mind it were only half true but round these parts he were a man of lernin an if he healed wun outta two that came his way well that were wun more than woulda lived without him. Yeah, he done set this wun up real good an in the mornin when they found the bodies of them unlucky wuns what hadnt survived them Ghosts in the night there were gunna be a vote, no cipherin, that were for the dark ages an Karra were gunna end up right where he belonged. Had his eye on the tower that sat right off the cross, near the Centre of the rings. Were well past time to be gettin out of the Old Mans place, too many rememberins, too much of his own blud spilled an he couldnt stand lookin at things what he once cleaned gettin all tarnished. He were done with this place. Gunna trade the title for gold once all this were done, dint have no doubt that the work of this night was gunna set him up proper.

  50

  Before

  She woke with a hand over her mouth an she started up, starin into the Blocks eyes, his blade held over her throat. Her guts turned to water but she kicked an bit his hand deep, tastin blud as she made for her long knife but he dint make a sound. Sumthin in his look stilled her an she stopped strugglin, seein the fearwhite in his eyes. He kept his hand over her mouth an shook his head fore flickin his eyes left. She crept her hand to her knife an slipped it wunhanded from the sheath, holdin it out an to the side, point restin hard on his ribs so he knew it were there.

  He shook his head an moved his eyes left again an she heard the heavy sound of sumthin animal not too distant. The Block nodded slow when he saw her hear it an took his hand off her mouth real slow.

  Beast.

  He said silent.

  Ghost mebbe.

  She nodded an dropped the blade away from his body. He took his weight off her silent an they lay under the stowed sail side by side, listenin as the sounds faded, got louder, faded again. She kept her blade handy an they lay that way until the sky started wakin. She fought it but she slept again.

  Cold tack for breakfast an the Block had run bandage around his hand where she’d sunk her teeth in but he dint say nuthin about it.

  They packed the ship quiet an took a walk out into the bluebush. She saw em first, heavy tracks, three or four walkin on two legs, wun on four. She circled the marks, seein em fade onto harder ground, broken stone an bush hops stickin through the cracks like dry blud. They sat a long time an eventually the Block stood up an stretched his arms over his head.

  Good they dint find us. Three we mighta been alright. Five I dont reckon.

  Werent much to say about that. She walked back an started raisin the sail, a breeze pickin up as she did it like she’d called it into being. The Block whistled an cracked a smile.

  Good fortune you are.

  We’ll see.

  Look around Orphan. Yer breathin an were out here. Plenny in the ground for the takin. Much to learn, unnerstand?

  Block smiled again. She shook her head. He were mad. Or proper happy. Which was worse.

  Much to learn.

  She dint answer and he helped her drag the ship through the rutted scrub an back to the bladestraight road runnin south. Much to learn were right. She were gunna teach him. No fires past the Boundaries to call evry murderous thing their way. Cold tack. Sharp blade. Rag mouth, black teeth. Choose yer shipmates careful. She’d spent her time wise, listenin by the camps of them scavs lucky enough to survive a run out.

  Hit the Spirals in a day or two but we aint goin there this time, Orphan. Theres an old camp out here I aint picked clean an you might neverve seen it. Yer after Spirals though aintcha? Wanna go dark dontcha? You got the spark in ya.

  He dint know the half of it an that werent gettin told.

  Yeah dont worry about it, tell me sum other time. We’re gunna help each other, Orphan.

  It were like he were readin her bludy thoughts sumtime. They wheeled the ship to the shoulder of the way an he kicked the brake off, the ship catchin breath straight away an pullin ahead slow. He swung aboard an she followed.

  Hey Orphan, stop talkin so much, can barely hear meself think.

  He flashed a smirk at her an she turned her head back to the road as they started sailin.

  51

  The West roads was if anythin better kept than any she’d ever sailed. Block dint seem to wanna speak on the Reckoner after she brung him up so she left him to his thoughts an kept her eyes on the gullies an ruts that might turn out to be shipbreakers if she dint keep frosty. She figgered the white concrete looked so fresh cos nowun in their right minds ever come out this way an if they did they dint never make the trip back. The scrub picked up a little, gettin higher than it ever seemed to get round the System an now an then she caught shapes out the corner of her eye that she knew wasnt nuthin ever made by the bush itself. No hulks though, she aint seen wun at all an that were a strange thing, special how as they specked the dunes in all kinda repair evry other direction she’d ev
er sailed.

  Block kept his place starbd of her an the breeze was good so they stayed on it, sailin clean through the middle of the day, pushin themselves further an just sharin the odd glance. The rattle of the struts werent so loud they couldntve shouted to each other but she got the feelin he werent in a speakin mood an truth be told she werent neither. Evry bit further West they crept she felt sumthin growin in her chest an she noticed sumthin else as theyd tracked across the land. There werent no spoors, no tracks, no shit, no nuthin that mighta shown life. Still as the Boundaries was, an deep as she’d gone, she aint never felt a quiet like the wun they was in. All her senses tuned to the soil an the road an not a flutter, not a breath come to her. An them things they kept passin, the scrub like a wall twixt them an the past but evrywhere she looked she could see hidden back from the road the leave behinds of sumthin she dint unnerstand. Was Block seein it too? Slabs an blocks of sanded off stone an concrete. Steps an steel frames. Like thered been sum whole other town, a city maybe, an sumwund done a real bad job of wipin it from the earth.

  She crested a rise, the Wide Open Road strainin as it hit the top of the hill an all of a sudden she saw a vast pale slab stretchin into the heat an a chill come over her an she knew they was in the right place, that they was on the right road. She slowed the ship an pulled next to the Taipan.

  See that?

  Block nodded.

  Check it out?

  Course.

  Course. Bluddy Block. Could at least pretend to be shook.

  They rolled down the hill at halfahead, dippin low so whatever it were dropped outta sight, an then they came to a track leadin off to the right that opened up into clear sky through the bush, sum kinda path still visible. They stepped off silent an pulled the ships slow through the long grass an for all Blocks sureness she knew they was both lookin at sumthin strange that neither of emd ever seen before. In front of em were dunes creepin in on the surface an she could see as they got closer it were a kind of rough pale grey road of some sort. Ringed with white concrete an a pale pink sand on the edges but massive, like no slab she’d ever seen, unbelievable big, an she knew there couldn’t have ever been no buildin in the world with a footprint this big an she dint have no idea what she was lookin at.

  They rolled towards it an she saw at the edge of the trees a collapsed shed, roof rusted through an what looked like a path across sum kind a built riverbed. What was left of the buildins walls was a dull green but whatever shelter itd once been it werent no more. She kicked the brake an stopped the ship an the quiet weighed in on her heavy like she were bein squeezed. The Block was stowin his ship an tied it off to a metal pole stickin out the ground at an angle an she did the same an together they walked over the little bridge. Itd fallen in the middle but the dry channel was only shallow an they stuck to its path an then they was across into the vastness of the cleared space. She turned to look back at the trees, markin the distance in case they needed to get into the scrub quick an she saw faded on the buildin sum kinda drawin of a roo. Just the shadow left but she knew it were a red roo in a pale circle. This were real oldtime stuff she knew an she an the Block were likeenough the first fellas to come this way in a real long time. Still werent no speck of life as far as she could feel for days in any direction. Signs the Old Woman had told her. Signs just like this.

  We goin out there?

  Block gestured to the huge open space in front of them.

  Course.

  He smiled an gave her the lead.

  52

  Before

  Karra leaned over his desk, eyes bright lookin at the fat ledger in front of him an the weights of gold marked all neat an proper. Hadnt been but a handfulla years since he’d had blud on his hands an wunderin just how he was gunna keep his head. Now he were on top an instead of holdin a blade themselves peeps was happy to pay sum to Karra an let him sort it out. After all, werent he the bloke whatd survived them devils moren once an come out the other side strongern ever? He were startin to make this place his own too. Gettin readins an paper over from the old place and stackin it up, tellin fellas he were lernin all about the old times an how to keep them Ghosts at bay. Had decided he was gunna turn the Old Mans place into a way station for the auction blocks too, let the traders rest the camels out back. Drink their clear wine an put their boots all over that room what he’d once had to sweep an scrub. An here he sat just waitin on more gold to be delivered that he were gunna stash away. He cracked his fingers an looked around himself. A carpet on the floor. Lamps that was lit all day if he wanted. Glass in them windows an between him an the dark outside. The collectors was gunna be back soon enough an he could get to his ledgers again, strange enough the only thing he used to do that he still enjoyed. Sumthin real right an orderly bout them lines of numbers all addin up to the same thing no matter how many ways you looked at em. Sumthin real nice about that.

  53

  Before

  Four days sail. He said he were gunna come for her if she was gone longern ten. She aint never been so far out an her skin was crawlin with a mix of fear an the feel of the wind. She were dressed in boots, strides an a green canvas coat over a shirt, new glasses in her pocket an the long blade slung at her side on a short lanyard. He’d kitted her from his own store with a satch, scope and a wrap. Told her to pay for it when she come back. Settle up with brass, wax or paper was the word. She dint know why he were so keen on them old bullets, she aint seen but wun rifle her whole life an itd been broken, welded solid with rust an softened with a coupla hundred years of neglect. She reckoned them thingsd vanished with the old world an the art of makin em with it. She werent sure how they worked anyway but from the scraps she’d pieced together out the old fellas histery pages she had an idea that mighta been a good thing. Not Block though, he were dead keen. Wanted all them old things she could find, liked havin em around for sum reason though she couldnt see the point. Long as he valued em high an were ready to pay up though she dint care, happy to bring em in for his war chest. War chest. Even that she dint unnerstand but his eyes glowed when he looked at it. She looked back at where she’d stowed the ship in the lee of a giant red marble. She was still steppin off the deck evry coupla hours an just lookin at the beautiful thing. The Wide Open Road. It were all hers an it worked. She’d taken it an run the loop a few times around the System but now, days from anywun else, camped in the spinifex an burned out bushes, it were like a real animal all its own. It bucked an caught the breeze an the spars creaked an bumped over ruts she aint even seen. First few days she waited for a wheel to come off an send her, neck broke, cartwheelin into the scrub, but the feard died down a little an she’d started to get used to the speed. Helped no end that she followed a flat, broken road through old abandoned farmland. She knew there was worse trails out there, had walked a few already. Now an then she saw rusted sheet metal half dug into the dust an she’d picked up a few pieces, seein it was once painted a dark green but scoured near clean by years of wind. She couldnt right figger what theyd been but they turned up now an then along the road. Not worth the scav on the way out, she was gunna see what she found further out an if she come up dry she might take another look. She knew rough where she were goin anyway. Had spent days hauntin the hooks where the traders an scavs et an drank an she’d picked up enough to know she were headin out Glow ways, maybe even past the Boundaries though where they was seemed to be different dependin on who ya listened to. She breathed in the hot mineral smell of the dust an looked again at her ship. She still had a ways to go she reckoned an the light was droppin fast.

  It were bad timin but there were nuthin she could do about it. She hit the outer arm as the sun disappeared behind a range that were further again than she’d travelled already. She heeled the Wide Open Road takin in what she could from a distance, the deep cut into the land runnin down below ground level in a massive spiral scar. Open maws cut here an there runnin back outta sight into the walls an evrywhere she looked rustin chain fences fallen flat an sheet metal goin
back to the earth. Were a giant nest of sorts she figgered, an like nuthin she’d ever seen. Them smalls she’d crept down when she first come out had seemed so deep an dark back then but now she saw they scarce earned the words. This thing were still as a stripped hulk. She anchored the Open Road a hundred yards back from the edge of the first ramp an crept through the scrub, slow an careful, the last few metres to the crest on her belly. Takin her time, no telltale puffs of dust comin up. The light were almost totally gone now but her eyes was makin up the difference. She laid flat on her chest an pulled up her scope, focussin on the entrance to the Glow hole near a mile distant, dug down into the desert floor. She scanned the rough terrain rememberin the scare tales the travellersd told about the Reckoner an all them things that went on in the dark but as the sun set and the dust turned true rust red it looked nearpeaceful. She felt her shoulders ease up an her breathin slow an the noise of things burrowin in the dirt an faroff bird call seemed soothin rather than fearful to her. Down in the middle of the helix nuthin was lookin like movin an propped on her elbows she soaked it in. She were goin in, she were goin all in an she could feel it risin up an only wun thing gunna settle her. She were goin dark in the dark. She slid her way back from the crest an set about stowin the Open Road proper, dint want nowun comin across it while she was under.

  54

  As they crossed the tarmac she could see it changed colour in places, like white stoned been mixed in with it, an it were rough, made for sum purpose she couldnt ken. The distance stretched and stretched an she could see a stand of trees an what looked like even more open space so she led em towards it, disbelievin as the first space opened up into another that was five, ten times bigger than the first. She walked through the pale gums an it took her breath. Her eyes seemed like they was playin tricks, stretchin a coupla miles distant. To her right was wide open, cleared of all trees, edged with scrub an washed out red dunes. On an on an Block standin next to her lost for words himself. She turned to him an his hand was up, shadin his eyes an starin at the strangeness. She followed his gaze an saw the shadow an shape of sumthin at the end of the surface, maybe two miles away an only visible cos it sat at the top of where the whole slab ramped up an hit bush again.