Heart of Tartarus

by Lucy Smoke

  Vincent stares at me as Thayer continues. "You’re closer to Kida than anyone on our team. You know her habits, her routines, her job. You can help us—we can make this benefit us. Don’t you want to find your friend?"

  Penelope looks at Vincent and brushes her hand against the bearded shadow on his face. He turns dark eyes that quickly soften to his wife. "Kida will be found," she says with a smile. Vincent nods as she turns and gazes across the space at me. "Besides, the whole idea was to keep people out of the containment rather than continue with imprisonment and exile. You won’t be taken in for any sort of questioning and you won’t be arrested for identity theft. All you have to do is work with the team Vincent has selected to find Kida Washington."

  I shudder at the thought of what will happen to me if I turn this down. Containment for an adult, as I am now of legal age, is just time spent in cells beneath the city, accessed only by the Enforcement Departments. It’s hot and boiling down there near the engines that keep everything afloat. I’ve visited a few criminals within those walls, delivering messages.

  It’s not fun to be locked up, for sure, but it's exile that truly frightens me. For all other cities, Tartarus is the premiere place of exile. Tartarus is unforgiving and rough and terrifying for people who have lived elsewhere for their entire lives. But for the Tartarus born, exile is a death sentence. Only the worst of the worst are thrown from the city and subsequently any other as well. Maybe they make it to Earth's surface and die with the lack of air and food and substance. Maybe they hop from ship to ship, train to train for the rest of their lives, living in nomadic limbo. I wouldn't want either, but of the two, containment is the lesser evil.

  "She hasn't done anything that warrants exile," Vincent says with a sigh, taking his wife's hand from his cheek. I watch, however, as he doesn't release it and instead, keeps it clasped in his. Vincent Diamond's softness towards his wife, who, for all appearances, looks and acts nothing like what a hardened man's wife would, is strangely compelling.

  All the stories I had heard of Vincent Diamond told me he was deadly, wild, and dangerous. Even Kida had said he could be as unpredictable as a violent electrical storm. A mafia boss through and through, with blood soaked into his skin, like his father had been before him. Yet, here, I only see a man. Granted, in his eyes, I can see all manner of acts he will commit to protect what he deems his, and it reminds me so much of Kida that a lump forms in my throat.

  "What do you say then?" he asks me.

  "What do I say to what?" I swallow against the blockage and suck in a breath.

  "You will work with my team to find my goddaughter, yes or no?"

  I turn my head to look at them, taking in their appearance. Aaron watches me with soulless eyes, burning with the possibility of darkness and peril. Haze's face is calm as he stands beside Noaz, whose dark skin meets equally dark eyes that wait with curiosity. I can already tell that the moment I say yes that he will try to segment me into a part of his team he thinks I'll make the least amount of damage in. Too bad for him, I know that no matter what, there's going to be damage.

  I'm going to say yes because I love Kida and I will do anything to get her back, and if I don't agree with Noaz and his team, then damn them. I'm going to find her even if it means risking my life. She would do the same for me.

  Thayer and Levi watch me, too, both hopeful and a bit naive, in my opinion. They don't realize that I will never want to be their friend. They are just tools that I will use to find the person that I really want to save. It makes me feel like a shitty human being for looking at them so closely and knowing that they are just following orders, orders for the betterment of society—or at least Tartarus. I don't care though. My family will always come first.

  "Do we have a deal, Cassandra?" Vincent says.

  "It's Cass," I reply. "And yes. Yes, we do."

  Five

  The Architect

  The very moment we enter one of the team member's domains—the first pod unit from before where Thayer, Haze, and Levi all apparently live—Noaz orders me to compile a list of all of Kida's regular clients.

  "You don't have it already?" I ask in surprise as I take a seat on the couch pressed against the far wall in the attached living room. "How long have you been on this case?"

  Noaz turns his head as he stops in front of the kitchen's metal counter. "How long have you lived on Tartarus?" he asks.

  I know that he knows the answer to that question, but I indulge him nonetheless. "My entire life."

  "Then you should know more than any of us that the people of Tartarus are not forthcoming with information."

  "They are if you have money," I say. Then it hits me. "Wait a minute, what do you mean by 'more than any of us'?" I glance around as Thayer collapses on the couch and Levi does the same in a chair. "Are any of you from Tartarus?"

  Haze quietly ignores my question, striding towards the hallway that leads to the back of the pod. Aaron continues to glare at me with unmistakable anger that I don't understand.

  "I'm not originally from Tartarus, no," Noaz states, pulling the fixings for a sandwich from the cabinet.

  "Where are you from then?"

  "Arawn."

  My mouth gapes and a startled noise of shock escapes my throat. "Y-you're from Arawn?!" The capital city. The Imperator's city. For a second, I can scarcely imagine it. The very first of the sky cities and home of the original governing body. While governors run each city with the help of Enforcement Departments and Lead Enforcers, each of them must answer to the Imperator, the overall ruling head of every sky city and village. "What the hell are you doing here?"

  Noaz slathers a sticky yellowish substance across a doughy flatbread before layering it with sliced vegetables from the kitchen's cooling unit. "I moved to Dendera when I turned eighteen and that didn't work out," he replies coolly.

  "I'll say!" I snap. "Who goes from Arawn to Dendera to freaking Tartarus? If you ask me, you got the shit end of whatever bargain you made."

  "Whatever bargain I made," Noaz says as he enters the living room and sits down in the only remaining chair across from me while Aaron hovers in the entrance to the hallway where Haze disappeared to, propping his shoulder against the wall. "It was with the devil himself."

  Haze reappears with a sheet of synthetic paper, manufactured from thinly reused plastic, and a pen. I can only assume that he doesn’t want any chance of someone finding this list if I were to type it up on an e-pad of some sort. It’s the only excuse I can think of to use such a product. I know that trees and all other plant life are closely monitored in their prospective areas on sky cities and villages. Paper is rare.

  Aaron moves aside to let him by as he strides to the middle of the room and hands me the items with a distinct look on his face that makes me sigh and get up. I move to the table and take stock of my recollections of Kida’s clients. I only write down the ones Kida had seen recently before her disappearance. Though to say her disappearance was unusual would be a fabrication since someone like Kida was prone to disappearing. This time, however, is the longest she had ever been gone without some form of communication. It wasn’t like her to ignore or forget me, of all people.

  “There,” I say as I stand and hand the paper to Noaz as he finishes his snack. Cool, dark eyes assess me before he takes it.

  “This is all?” He looks at me with suspicion.

  “Why would I lie?” I huff. "These are the most likely clients to have some sort of lead. They are the ones she saw the week before she left."

  "Does she often disappear?" Haze asks, drawing my attention. He stands next to Aaron with his arms folded in the same fashion as the giant Sky Rover and it's odd to see two men so different and yet so similar.

  "She has to," I answer slowly, watching them. "It's her job to go to several places throughout the day. Sometimes clients demand that messengers deliver and bring an immediate reply. The recipients of messages often want to haggle prices, though the prices never change." I growl with irritatio
n thinking of Richie and the tavern where I first met Thayer and Haze. "And sometimes," I glare directly at Thayer who somehow manages an innocent look my way, "meddling persons like to interrupt transactions repeatedly causing the messenger to lose important objects."

  "I have no idea what you mean." My glare grows hotter as Thayer blinks innocuously. "Or why you're looking at me like that."

  "Like what, exactly?" I purse my lips daring him to continue.

  "Like you want to flay him alive," Levi offers with a chuckle. "With your teeth," he adds more quietly leaning conspiratorially towards Thayer.

  I roll my eyes.

  "I recognize this name," Noaz says as he reads through my list. "He's a thief that is particular to tech." Noaz looks back to me. "You've been taking on her clients as of late. Do you know where to find him?"

  I nod. "He's usually difficult to catch up to. But I know that on certain days, like tomorrow, he will be in the District.”

  Noaz’s eyes sharpen as he holds his hand out for the pen still clutched in my fist. He takes it and makes a note on the paper. There are only a few reasons someone would go to the District. Even fewer are respectable, such as business. The District is a portion of Tartarus where sex workers roam unrestrained, enticing their customers into tight brothel rooms or alleyways for… business transactions. Drunkards, prostitutes, and the generally degenerate congregate in the District and since my return from the sky village, where I was sentenced as a teen to community service, Kida hasn’t allowed me to go there even for messenger work.

  “Since I assume we’ll be splitting up to follow each lead, do you mind if I not be assigned the District?”

  No one seems shocked by my request and Noaz agrees with a succinct humph as he continues through the list.

  “Aaron and I will see to the tech thief then,” he says. The announcement surprises no one; Aaron, after all, looks like the brooding type of man who would frequent the District with all those tattoos of his. His character and lack of talkativeness lead me to think the opposite is true though.

  “Levi, I’d like for you to pay a visit to the fight coordinator,” Noaz suggests. “The rest of you—Thayer, Haze, and you,” he settles for directing his attention toward me with a look, “will visit the Architect.” He pauses, folding the paper into three quarters before passing it to Aaron. “You do know where this Architect will be? If he goes by any other names?”

  “He goes by a few other names, yes. And I actually do know where he lives. He never leaves his hovel unless his paranoia gets the best of him. He asks a messenger to send a document or an ‘encrypted’ drive to someone else and then there’s at least someone who knows where he lives. I saw him a few months ago, so he likely hasn’t moved yet. What about the rest of the names?” I ask with a frown as Aaron tucks the paper into the inside pocket of his dark colored synthetic leather jacket.

  “We’ve actually already hit a few of those names on the list. The rest will be left to Vincent directly,” Noaz replies. “For now, you’ll stay the night here and leave in the morning with Thayer and Haze.”

  “Why can’t I go back to my pod?” I ask incredulously as Noaz stands and he and Aaron approach the front door as if expecting to leave. I stand as well and step around the furniture in their direction.

  “I suppose you’ll be able to return tomorrow, or in a few days, but I would like for you to stay here for the time being,” Noaz states simply, as if it should not occur to me to protest.

  I groan low in my throat. “You don’t trust me!” I accuse. “You think I’ll run again.”

  Aaron opens the door and turns to look at me as Noaz steps into the hallway. “We will see,” he says quietly before stepping out behind Noaz and shutting the door.

  It takes all of my will to keep from throwing a tantrum wild enough to shame a jipped hooker. Instead, I stand glaring at the door as if my gaze alone will light the damn thing on fire.

  Behind me, someone claps their hands. “Guess this means we’re sharing a bed,” Levi says.

  Lord help me.

  Hovercars—like pinpricks—fly through the streets of Steamer Town, chugging and coughing in broken spurts of inept batteries too far used without proper care. I suppose on cities like Arawn, the hovercars are all well-kept and maintained with polish and never lack for a good mechanic. But that’s not the world of Tartarus with its criminal populace and poverty-stricken citizens.

  The zipcar we’re traveling by is open aired—without any windows. They will only be replaced again if there is the prediction of further storms. The sights and smells of Tartarus aren’t quite so bad today, leading me to believe we might actually have some good luck with our mission. Haze is quietly surveying the other passengers traveling to Steamer Town with us, watching for possible pickpockets and the like. I almost laugh because everyone on Tartarus is, has been, or will be a pickpocket at some point. We know how to spot kindred spirits without even looking. And that is what makes me think Haze isn’t the only one of the group not from Tartarus. So far, though, I know that Noaz is from Arawn, Thayer is from Dendera, Levi is from Basra—but what about Haze and Aaron? What about Penelope Diamond?

  Thayer leans out of one of the side windows, letting the air that flows around the zipcar relieve some of the heat of the day against his face. His dark curls are pulled back today in a tight ponytail at the nape of his neck revealing a masculine jaw line leading up to surprisingly delicate looking ears. They are neither small nor large, just regular ears I suppose. In one lobe, though, I can barely make out a hole where an earring once resided.

  When Thayer opens his eyes and catches me staring, he winks, and I resolve to ask him about it later. "You ready?" he asks.

  I frown, pondering the question. "I don't know what you mean," I finally relent.

  He chuckles. "For adventure," he says. "It's obvious you've been looking for it."

  I don't have a breath to fixate on his sudden re-about face. Though I am curious why he went from playful to stoic back to playful, all of my breath goes into denying his claim. "I have not," I snap. "I spent a good portion of the last few days distinctly trying to run from it,” I point out, “and you."

  "You went looking for your friend and got yourself in a world of trouble," he points out. "It's no wonder Levi's taken to calling you Troublemaker."

  I roll my eyes, but don't bother replying as the zipcar slows to a stop at the top of the tallest building in Steamer Town. When we reach the landing, I can already feel the heat down below rising—like heat tends to do.

  Haze moves forward past us, taking one of my elbows and ushering me out of the way of other passengers as they all rush out towards the elevator lifts and stairs that will take them down to their various destinations. Some remain on the platform atop the building waiting for another zipcar to pass through like they all do, in circular patterns around the city.

  "Where are we heading?" he asks.

  I sigh and shrug off his arm before leading them towards one of the stairwells. Thayer and Haze both glance at the elevator before they sigh and follow. I'm glad they don't try to force the issue. One meltdown in an elevator in front of them was one too many.

  We hit the bottom of the building, which turns out to be yet another pod complex mixed with various offices, and exit through glass doors at the front. A wave of heat assaults us along with a tinge of a smoky scent. People yell across busy intersections, hovercars honk, and shoes scuff against the pathways.

  I once read a book that depicted quiet rides in a place called the "country,” but it wasn't like the kind of country where a bunch of people lived, rather a country area within a country where barely anyone lived. It was so nice to read, but hard to imagine anyone actually staying in such a serene place. It was nothing like Tartarus. Perhaps that was the draw.

  "This Architect lives here?" Haze's voice pulls me out of my musings as I stop in front of a short, squat, little building with windows so covered in grime they don't need any sort of blinds or curtains.
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br />   "Yup." I head towards the side alley before they catch up with me, their booted feet pounding against the pathway.

  "Wait a minute," Thayer calls out. "Let's discuss the plan."

  I pause at the mouth of the alley, turning to the side. "What plan?" I frown. "We're going to go in and talk to him, get some information. Sure, he can be a little elusive, but he's a pretty quiet, skeevy kind of guy. Not exactly capable of fighting you two off." I look up and down at them meaningfully.

  "He could have a weapon," Haze says.

  "We'll take the lead on this," Thayer agrees.

  "You know which room is his?" I ask sardonically, waving my hand toward the side door of the building that leads to the lower basement floors. "Be my guest, I'll just tuck my head down and try not to get hurt while you lead the way."

  Hazel and dark-brown eyes glance once at each other before Thayer sighs. "Please take us to his room and then allow us to go in first," he says.

  "Why? He's not dangerous. I've worked for him before."

  "Just in case?" Thayer pleads.

  I sigh but nod my assent anyway. My shoulders sag and I force back the urge to grumble as I open the side door and follow the familiar path of the basement hallways until I hit a staircase that leads even further down. At the end of the very last floor all the way in the corner, I pause and with a nod from Thayer, rap my knuckles against the door before stepping back. Thayer and Haze wait to the side just out of sight of the peephole.

  There's a scraping against the floor on the other side as Archie Billford, otherwise known as the Architect, presses his face against the peephole of the door, covering the obvious light on the other side briefly before he calls through the doorway.

  "What do you want? I don't need a messenger today, Cass," he calls out without opening the door.

  I roll my eyes. "I have a message for you, Arch," I lie easily.