by Jane Higgins
They slammed the door and left me in the dark.
The blood on my palm had dried and crusted. I thought about trying to wash it but I couldn’t see, and anyway I didn’t know how clean the water in the jug was.
Some time in the early hours, the door opened and a light came in. The doctor crouched in front of me. ‘Show me your hand.’ He cleaned it, stitched it, bandaged it, and left without another word. No painkillers this time.
I don’t know how long they left me there. Long enough that Lou showed up in the corner and started talking to me. His face was bloody and so badly burnt I could see his teeth and tongue through his cheek. I knew, he kept saying. I always knew you were Breken. We all did.
Some time, a long time, later, when Lou had gone, the door scraped open. Jeitan tossed me my boots and coat.
‘Out!’ He led me blinking up the stairs to a washroom, then to a tiny kitchen where he gave me a mug of something hot and bitter and a flatbread pocket stuffed with a cold slab of meat sub. Silent the whole way. I tried thanking him for getting the doctor. And I thought about asking if they’d come yet to evict Levkova and Max, but I’d forfeited any right to know.
Finally he took me up some stairs to a wood-panelled room and locked me in. The room was like the staff offices at school, but it was bare, like most of the rooms in HQ. There was a fireplace but no fire, shelves but no books, a table and a few chairs but none of the clutter people usually make when they live somewhere. A window looked down towards the graveyard and, beyond that, to the bridge. I tried to make out the city on the other bank, but the day was low and gray and all I could see were dull shapes in the mist. Dash was over there somewhere, waiting for us to bring Sol home. We’d been gone ten days. It felt like a year. I wondered if those two army guys had done as they’d promised and taken Dash and Jono somewhere safe to shelter and mend.
Talk outside the door pulled me back; I sat down at the table as Commander Vega and Benit came in. I didn’t stand up. That seemed like too much of an invitation to get thumped again. I sat still and said, ‘Where’s Fyffe? Is she okay?’
Vega sat down opposite me. ‘I need to know who you’re spying for and what you were sent to find out. I don’t want to use unpleasant methods to do that.’ I looked at Benit standing by the door and wondered how ‘unpleasant’ things could get.
‘I’m not a spy.’ My voice came out quiet and shaky – real convincing.
‘Indeed. You infiltrate us from the city, you disrupt the balance on Council in favor of Remnant, you get access to secret documents which you appear to decode with ease, you lie…’
‘I told one lie. That I was from Gilgate. And you gave me that.’
‘One lie? What about your name?’
‘That’s not a lie. That is my name. I came here with my friend to find her brother. When we find him, we’re out of here. That’s all.’
‘Yes. The girl. She’s told me where you’re from.’
Oh. So, it was good that she was well enough to talk. Not good that that’s what she was talking about. ‘I know you think Tornmoor is a training ground for ISIS, and they do go there recruiting, but—’
‘You fabricated that memo. What others did you fabricate?’
‘None. That one. Only that one. I wanted to know why you’d bomb a school.’
‘Where did you learn Breken? Is ISIS teaching Breken at Tornmoor?’
‘No, they’re not. I don’t know where I learned it. Maybe from my mother. I don’t remember.’
‘From your mother. How did you get into Tornmoor if your mother was Breken?’
‘How would I know? I was five years old. I did the entrance tests. They let me in.’
We went round and round in circles for quite a while. I tried to ask about Sol, but Vega was asking questions not answering them. Eventually he got sick of it and told Benit to take me back downstairs. I hated that cell already and I’d only been there one night. Benit took my boots again and I waited for him to demand the coat but he said, ‘Keep the damn coat – J. will just whine at me if I take it.’
I sat in the dark and added things up. They didn’t look great: being at Tornmoor, speaking Breken, working my way into one of the factions here, code-breaking, claiming a name they were sure I’d invented. I wouldn’t trust me either.
Voices outside made me sit up. I heard Benit say, ‘Hurry up, then. I’ll be listening.’ The room flooded with light and by the time I could see again Lanya was crouching in front of me. Benit lounged in the doorway.
Lanya was staring at me like I was some rare animal high on the soon-to-be extinct list. I tried, ‘Hello.’
She stood up and walked away. Leaned on the far wall, arms folded. Studied me. ‘You cut your lip,’ she said.
‘Yeah.’
‘How?’
‘Got careless.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘You’re from the city.’
‘Extra careless.’
She shook her head and began walking up and down the room. ‘And I thought you couldn’t play secret police. The things you told me – are any of them true?’
‘It’s all true. Except I’m not from Gilgate.’
‘No. You’re not. I was slow, wasn’t I? You swear like a Citysider, you speak Anglo, you never talk about yourself. But you’re the wrong color for one of them, and you talk like one of us.’ She crouched in front of me. ‘And I liked you.’
I had no answer to that.
She turned away.
‘Wait!’ I said. ‘Is Sina okay?’
She was at the door already. Benit tapped the key on the palm of his hand.
‘Please?’ I said.
‘Fyffe, you mean,’ she said. ‘Yes. She is.’
Then she was gone and the light went out.
Lou came back. He sat at the other end of the cell, talking at me. He’d taken up residence in the corner of my eye. I tried to ignore him and concentrate instead on working out how to convince them I was who I said I was.
The only evidence I had for not being with Remnant or ISIS was the memo about the assassination plot: if I was a spy I would have buried it and left Vega to DeFaux’s bullet.
But what if I was wrong about the memo? What if no attempt was made on Vega’s life? How would they read that except as me trying to sow chaos in their ranks? Then again, suppose I was right and Vega was killed? He was CFM’s senior military figure in Moldam, and with him dead, opposition to Remnant would be crushed. What chance of rescuing Sol then?
I’d find out soon enough. There was one day left before Crossover.
CHAPTER 31
In the morning, Jeitan took me upstairs again. This time he gave me some clean clothes. I couldn’t tell whether this was a good sign or a bad one. He took me back to the wood-panelled room. Levkova was waiting there. She stood by the window watching sleet hammer the glass. She didn’t speak, didn’t need to: a city boy standing there wearing her dead partner’s coat said it all. I had nothing to say that could make it right.
The door opened behind me. Vega came in, followed by the doctor, and Benit with Fyffe. They’d let Fyffe get cleaned up and changed back into squad clothes. ‘Nik!’ She escaped from Benit’s grasp and hugged me.
I looked over her head to the others. They were talking in low voices, except Benit and Jeitan who stood by the door watching us.
‘Tell me about Sol,’ I said. ‘Tell me what you saw.’
‘He was there, Nik. At Goran’s place. But when I turned up, they sent him away.’
‘He’s alive, then. How was he? Was he okay?’
‘I don’t know. Sedated, I think. But he knew me. We have to make them find him.’
‘Do you know why they brought you here?’
She shook her head. ‘Maybe they’re letting us go?’
I didn’t think so.
Something had been decided. Benit came and grabbed Fyffe’s arm. I pushed him away. ‘Don’t touch her!’ But Jeitan dragged me into a corner. Benit sat Fyffe in a chair then stood behind her with his hands round her nec
k. I pushed hard against Jeitan. ‘Don’t touch her! What are you doing?’
The doctor put a case on the table and took out a vial and a syringe. Fyffe stared at it, and then at me.
I pushed harder. ‘What are you doing?‘
The doctor glanced at me. He pushed the syringe into the vial. ‘Something we got from the Marsh. A dose of this and we have people telling us all kinds of useful information.’
We looked at each other, Fyffe and me. I know my face was a mirror of hers, wide-eyed and stricken, and I know her heart was hammering as hard as mine. ‘Use it on me!’ I said. ‘Why not use it on me?’
He shook his head. ‘It’s a little… unpredictable. I think we want you in one piece just now.’
‘NO!’ I struggled to break free, really sick now. ‘Stop! I’ve told you everything. I’ll tell you anything. Anything! Just don’t hurt her. Don’t!’ Fyffe was breathing short and shallow. The doctor pushed the air out of the syringe. I yelled, ‘DON’T!’
Jeitan pushed me back.
I shouted at Levkova, ‘You know what this makes you?’
Jeitan punched me. ‘Shut up!’
I gasped, ‘It makes you… everything your enemies… believe you… to be.’ He punched me again. I doubled over on my knees.
I heard Levkova say, ‘Are you lecturing me?’
I had no breath. ‘Re… minding… you.’ I looked up at her, willing her to remember that night when she’d refused to throw me to the dogs.
She limped across to where I was kneeling, grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled my head back. ‘Tell me your name, city boy. Your real name. Not a placeholder. Not a joke. What’s your name?’
‘Nikolai…’ I gasped,’… Stais.’
She looked at me hard. Then she let me go. ‘Why would they tell him to say that? Once, all right, it’s a taunt. But to persist. It’s suicide. I’d have thought they’d want him back.’ She stuck a hand under my chin and lifted my head. ‘Don’t they want you back?’
‘No one wants me back. I’m not with anyone.’
She turned to Fyffe and said, ‘Enough’ to the doctor and Benit. The doctor stepped away and Benit took his hands from Fyffe’s neck. Fyffe blew out a breath. I blew out a breath. Levkova spoke to Fyffe in Anglo, ‘His parents? Have you met them? Do you know them?’
Fyffe shook her head.
‘Never?’ said Levkova. ‘They never came to Tornmoor?’
Fyffe spoke slow, careful Breken. ‘They’re dead. He used to talk about his mother sometimes. Not much. You had to push him for it. And I never heard him talk about his father. Everyone knew they were dead.’
‘What did he say about his mother?’
‘He remembered her, kind of, from before he came to school.’
‘Did he tell you her name?’
Fyffe looked at me. ‘Eleanor.’
‘Eleanor,’ said Levkova quietly, and walked away to the window. She stood staring at the wild day and at last turned back to Fyffe. ‘Why would he take such a risk for you? Are you lovers?’
Fyffe went red. ‘No. Friends. He’d do that for a friend. Wouldn’t you?’
‘And ISIS? Tell me about him and ISIS.’
‘They didn’t want him. We couldn’t understand why. He’s so smart, we thought they’d be sure to take him. We tried to find out, but no one would say. But then, after the school was bombed, they came looking for him.’
‘Did they find him?’
‘I don’t know.’
Levkova turned to me. ‘Yes, they found me,’ I said. ‘They didn’t like my name either.’
‘Do you know why?’
‘No.’
She leaned on her walking stick and studied me. ‘You really don’t, do you.’ She turned away to talk to Vega and the doctor. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, so I sat on the floor and looked at Fyffe and she looked back at me and we didn’t move; we just sat there looking, as though, if we stayed still and watched each other, we could somehow keep Benit and Jeitan and the whole pack of them at bay.
In the middle of all that the door burst open and a woman charged in. ‘Sir, I’m sorry—’ She looked around at us and stuttered to a halt.
‘Go on,’ said Vega.
‘They got to Goran.’
‘And?’
‘He’s dead. In his cell. We don’t know how.’ The doctor picked up his bag, but she said, ‘They’ve got the body. You won’t get a look at him now.’
‘Faster than we thought,’ said Vega. ‘But it can’t change our plans.’
‘Sim, no,’ said Levkova. ‘You can’t go ahead with this now.’
‘I’ve got to. We call them out with what we’ve got.’
‘What we’ve got is nothing. Except you, standing on that platform, waiting to be shot.’
‘Then be ready.’ He nodded to Benit and Jeitan. ‘Lock these two up again. Then go with the sub-commander and make preparations to get out.’
‘Sir, no!’ said Jeitan. ‘You need someone with you at the ceremony.’
‘No,’ said Vega. ‘This is my call. Go. Now. That’s an order.’
So they marched us away. At the door of my cell I said to Jeitan, ‘I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what’s going on?’
But all he said was, ‘Keep your boots,’ and he shut me back in the dark.
CHAPTER 32
My name is Nikolai Stais. It’s just a name. No big deal. No one cares what school kids are called. But to the ISIS agents who came to Tornmoor it was a problem. Here on Southside, according to Levkova, it was a taunt. And then there was Dr Williams. I thought of Dr Williams as I sat, adding things up, in that underground cell at Breken headquarters in Moldam. I could see him with my file in his hand, standing behind his lamplit desk in the school infirmary, asking me, did I remember my mother, and did I know my father’s name. ‘Nikolai, perhaps?’ he’d said. I thought he was guessing, to make me feel better. But then he broke the rules by giving me the name of the woman who’d enrolled me at Tornmoor – Frieda Kelleran – from a file I wasn’t supposed to see. Now, I realized, he’d given me a lot more than that.
I knew my father’s name.
That was all I knew about him. I thought that if I ever saw Levkova again I would ask her who he was. I was the enemy to her now. But maybe, for the sake of the ten days we worked together, she’d tell me.
The door opened and a torch shone in my eyes. Jeitan’s voice said, ‘Come with me.’
‘Where? Is Fyffe okay?’
‘With your Maker friend. Hurry up. And keep your mouth shut. We get heard, we’re dead.’
I followed his torchlight along a twisting basement tunnel, through a series of doors. He fumbled with a bunch of keys to unlock each one, then locked them carefully after us. We went up some old stone steps to a ladder and a trapdoor, where he stopped. ‘This takes us outside. I’ll have to kill the torch and if you choose to run, I won’t stop you.’ He looked hard at me, the ‘guns and glory’ guise all gone.
‘But?’ I said.
‘Commander Vega could be killed tonight. Levkova has a plan to stop that. She needs us to put it in play.’
‘Us?’
‘You and me. She doesn’t know who Remnant has got to, so she can’t trust anyone in the squads. She thinks she can trust you.’ He shrugged in a God-knows-why sort of way. ‘Up to you.’
That was it: no threats – no ‘help us or we hurt you’ or, worse, ‘help us or we hurt Fyffe,’ just ‘help us.’
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’
We’d come out on the west side of the hill, beyond the compound fence. The moon shone so bright that we cast shadows as we hurried down the slope. Jeitan broke into a jog once we reached the flat and after about twenty minutes we came into an unlit street where the houses all had tiny square patches of grass beside their steps, and broad pavements where bare-branched trees gleamed faintly in the moonlight. He unlocked the door of one of them and nodded me inside. ‘Levkova’s in the kitchen at the end. Go on.’
How do you front up to your enemy – that you’ve lied to and whose trust you’ve betrayed, and who has recently scared the living, breathing daylights out of you – how do you front up and ask them the most important question of your life?
I knocked and Max opened the door on a big old kitchen with a fire burning and a hefty table where Levkova was sitting. He patted my shoulder. ‘Youngster. Here you are. Jeitan’s lost his wager then.’ He cackled to himself as he left. I watched him go. I couldn’t look at Levkova.
‘He’s a good man,’ she said as the door closed. ‘A good man… I think I said that about you once. I was surprised, you see, that a scavenger from Gilgate should behave with such… humanity. And now I’m even more surprised.’
‘I lied to you.’
‘And you would again, if you needed to. And rightly. Perhaps I cannot entirely trust you – no one trusts the city – but I do now believe you came here to find your friend.’ She studied me. ‘I know fear when I see it. It’s a great leveler. We use it when we must. We would do the same again.’
‘I almost told you once, but then Max told me about your family.’
‘Ah.’ She nodded and fell silent. The fire crackled and spat. At last she said, ‘It’s time, isn’t it, that someone told you about your family. Sit.’ I sat across the table from her.
‘Your mother’s name was Elena,’ she said.
‘You knew her?’
‘No. I never met her and – here’s an admission – I didn’t realize she was black. You’re the wrong color, you see, for all my preconceptions. But now that I look at you, you are so like your father. I should never have missed that.’
‘How do you know about her if you never met her?’
‘Your father told us. But they lived in the city and she never came over the river.’
‘You met my father?’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘What happened to them?’
‘Elena was killed in an ISIS raid on what they thought was a Breken cell. Your father was in the Marsh at the time.’
‘Is that where he died?’
She looked at me. ‘Nikolai, child. Your father is not dead.’