She waited until sight returned to her swollen eye, then Katya pulled herself up to the sink and ran cold water. She drank straight from the tap until she started to cough, and then let the basin fill. Rust colored water poured into the sink while she examined her eye in the mirror. It was already on the way to black, the lid swollen and grotesque, but after a soak and a cold compress made from a torn section of the guard’s uniform, Katya figured she could make do.
Katya searched the guard until she found his keyring and access card, and then patiently went through miniaturized keys until she found one that opened her restraints. She set the restraints aside with a grateful sigh, and rubbed her wrists. Turning back to the guard, she removed the small container of mace attached to his belt, and collected the telescoping baton from the bathroom floor.
After a count of five, she ducked her head out, checking the hallway in both directions before she stepped out, and then closing the bathroom door carefully behind her. Katya followed the same path back to her cell, holding her breath as she approached the guard post, and then feeling a tremendous surge of relief when it proved to be unoccupied. She paused there to examine a beige computer installed at the guard post, which functioned as a control module.
The menus were not intuitive. Dripping with sweat and fingers trembling, Katya needed several anxious minutes to open the exterior doors to the cell unit, and in the process accidentally launched many other menus, including one that offered an inventory of unfortunates stored in this detention center. Katya groaned when she saw the third name on the list, just ahead of her own.
She hurried back down the hall to her cell. Katya had to mess about with keycard for several seconds to get the door to open, filled with panic the entire time that the card had already been deactivated. She smiled with relief when the magnetic locks released.
Eerie raised her head warily when she heard the door open, her expression transforming from trepidation to perplexity when she saw Katya.
“Eerie, come on!” Katya pulled the Changeling up from the filthy cell floor where she was huddled. “We need to get moving.”
“Katya? But, how? Did you…?”
“Yes. Killed the guard. We are escaping.”
“…hurt your eye?” Eerie peered at Katya’s swollen eye in obvious concern. “It looks bad.”
“What?” Katya took a step back as Eerie leaned in close. “Yeah, I guess it’s…”
Eerie put a hand on her shoulder, stood up on her tiptoes, and then gave Katya’s bruised eye a very quick lick.
“Hey! What the hell!” Katya pushed Eerie away, touching her injury gingerly. “Why did you…?”
“I’m sorry!” Eerie covered her face with her hands. “I didn’t mean to!”
“What the hell, Eerie?”
“I just…you were hurt, and I…I didn’t mean…”
Katya held her hand up in front of her face and flexed her fingers, looking confused.
“Eerie?”
“Yes?”
“I can see.”
“Okay?”
“Out of the eye that I just got jabbed in with a stick. The one that was swollen shut. It isn’t swollen shut anymore, is it?”
Eerie glanced up hopefully.
“No,” she said, concerning returning to her voice. “It’s puffy and black, though.”
“Whatever. C’mon.”
Katya grabbed Eerie by the hand and pulled her to the cell door, checking to make sure the hallway was clear before they emerged.
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”
“What?” Eerie glanced around. “Oh. Maybe? Where are we going?”
“One thing,” Katya said, checking door numbers, “I gotta check on.”
They rounded a corner, and then passed another series of cells, each sealed by the same blue-painted door. Katya stopped in front of the second to last door and stared at it, licking her lips.
“Katya?” Eerie asked nervously. “Is everything…?”
“I dunno,” Katya said, stepping forward and pressing the keycard to the reader. “I think we’re about to find out.”
The lock clicked open, and Katya pushed open the door, pulling Eerie into the cell after her.
Katya didn’t recognize him at first.
“Oh, fuck,” Katya said softly, looking over the damage. “They really did a number on you, didn’t they?”
“Who…who is that, Katya?”
“It’s Nero. Or…I mean, it was. Fuck.” Katya picked up an arm that was peppered with electrical burns to check for a pulse. “Hey, Nero? You still with us, my friend?”
Nero flexed his fingers, and Katya took his hand, grimacing at the blood and the smell as she crouched beside him.
“Nero…what the hell are you doing here, man? What happened?”
His face was a mess. Katya kept wondering why he didn’t open his eyes, until she realized that he no longer had any.
“Oh, God, Nero…”
The slightest movement of his lips cracked the blackened crust that covered them, revealing bright red flesh beneath that reminded Katya nauseatingly of grilled pork.
“Nero, man, don’t try and talk, okay?” Katya did her best to smile, and failed miserably. “Anastasia’s gonna bail us all out of this any second, and we’ll get you fixed up, you’ll see…”
Nero tried to say something, but produced nothing but sputtering and pink bubbles. In the corner of the room, Eerie wept inconsolably into her hands.
“Just…just try not to move, please?”
Nero opened his mouth again, and managed a low hiss. Katya leaned in very close to his mutilated face to hear.
“Renton,” he gasped, saliva leaking through his cloven lower lip. “Took him downstairs.”
“Wait, what? They have Renton, too? Renton Hall?”
“Two down,” Nero burbled. “Left and left. Tell the Mistress…”
Katya shuddered, and then kissed Nero on an undamaged section of his forehead. She waited a long time, but he did not say another word. She touched the side of his wrist hesitantly, and then stopped and turned away, facing a blank wall. The Changeling hurried over and took her hand.
“Katya, was he a friend?”
Katya nodded, eyes closed, face composed.
“I’m sorry.”
Katya nodded again.
“Do you want to…talk about it?”
Katya shook her head and squeezed Eerie’s hand.
“Okay,” Katya said, taking Eerie by the arm and pulling her out of the cell. “Let’s keep moving.”
“Where are we going now?”
“To find Renton,” Katya said grimly, sliding the keycard against another reader at the end of the hall. “I hope.”
“Renton? You mean the jerk from class, who was mean to me?”
Katya laughed as she pulled the door open.
“Yeah. That’s Renton.”
“He’s here?” Eerie allowed herself to be pulled toward a nearby stairwell. “Why?”
Katya paused, the access card hovering centimeters from the waiting reader, and glanced at Eerie.
“You know, I feel like I keep saying this,” Katya said, with a shrug. “But I have no fucking idea.”
Twenty-Six
“There were three attempts to infiltrate the Academy in the last twenty-four hours,” Rebecca Levy said acidly. “That sort of nonsense ends immediately, unless you would like me to get directly involved in your petty feud.”
“For my part, I apologize,” Lord North said, with a rueful expression. “I assure you, no attempt was made to attack the Academy on my part – merely a foolish attempt from some of my comrades to spirit their own children away from the Academy to safety…”
“There is no safer place,” Rebecca said, lighting a cigarette. “The children currently in our charge will remain as such for the duration of the conflict. Is that understood?”
Lord North was wise enough simply to nod.
“And you, Lord Thule,” Rebecca said
, the corner of her mouth curling as she turned to face the former Director of the Academy across his former desk. “What do you have to say for yourself, in regards to the Advanced Studies class?”
“An excellent program,” Gaul said seriously. “I would recommend it to anyone.”
“Don’t fuck around!” Rebecca snapped, knocking the ashtray to the floor. “What the hell was that, Gaul? Attacking a school? The very school you used to be the Director of? Outside of all the parts of the Agreement you violated, what exactly has gone wrong with your machine-addled head?”
“There was an attack on the Advanced Studies class?” Gaul’s pink eyes were placid and indifferent. “How terrible. I certainly have no knowledge of any such undertaking…”
“Really? Because one of ‘em was Jacob Riley, who works for you, Gaul. Haven’t identified the other yet. Body was burned to badly.” Rebecca ground her cigarette out on the varnished surface of Gaul’s old desk. “So, this is just another case of subordinates gone wild? Is that the story?”
Gaul leaned forward in his chair.
“I will need to confirm Jacob Riley’s involvement…”
“Oh, he was involved. And then roasted alive,” Rebecca snarled. “You used to be an educator, you know? That’s the worst part.”
“…but if he was involved – and that is speculative – I will need to investigate the rationale before I offer a potential motive.” Gaul spread his hands. “While I am the Lord of Thule Cartel, I can hardly police the actions of every man and woman under my command at every moment of the day.”
“Really? Because that is my exact expectation,” Rebecca said. “If you feel the standard for your performance is too high, then I suggest you find yourself another job. Again. In the meantime, here’s your courtesy notice – I am opening an Inquiry, effective immediately, into the actions of the Thule Cartel, in regards to the attack on the Martynova family, as well as this latest outrage. Look forward to that.”
“If you think it necessary,” Gaul said civilly. “I will assist in whatever manner I can.”
“As will I,” Lord North remarked, crossing his legs. “Most eagerly.”
“I’m sure,” the Director said sourly. “You know, you aren’t off the hook yourself, Henry North. What exactly is going on between the two of you?”
The Hegemony Lords managed to look everywhere in the room except at her or each other.
“As little as possible,” Lord North replied airily. “Whatever do you mean?”
Rebecca sighed, put her sneakers up on the desk, and grabbed for her cigarettes.
“Let me sum up the situation as I understand it, and then you correct me if I got anything wrong. Apport and telepathic protocols have gone to shit, for reasons that I don’t care to discuss with either of you. Thanks to Anastasia Martynova’s debut, most of the Black Sun was already in China. Which leaves you Hegemony types alone in Central.” Rebecca glared at them in turn. “You’ve been using the opportunity to consolidate power and settle old scores. I have bodies all over Central, thanks to your spat. Did I miss anything?”
For the first time since they entered the room, the Lords exchanged a brief look.
“You are mistaken,” Lord Thule said calmly. “There is no conflict…”
“You are right, of course, Director,” Lord North said, with the slightest smile. “I had hoped we could settle matters with a duel, but Lord Thule refused any such accommodation.”
“I’ve got a civil war and traumatized children to deal with,” Rebecca said, pointing at Gaul with her cigarette. “So, let’s clear this whole thing up now, before anybody else gets collaterally damaged. You mean to have a war, correct?”
“No,” Gaul objected, gripping the arms of his chair. “This is absurd…”
“I would accept a duel, even still,” Lord North said politely. “For control of the Hegemony, and an end to the conflict.”
“I’m prepared to sanction that duel,” the Director said, turning her attention to her predecessor. “What do you think, Gaul? Wanna man up?”
Gaul closed his pink eyes, sighed, and then shook his head.
Rebecca threw her hands in the air and swore an oath in Hebrew, and then another in Spanish, for good measure.
“Fine. I’m not going to let you idiots run roughshod over Central, though, no matter the circumstances.” Rebecca ground out her second cigarette, creating another burn mark in the beautiful old wood just beside the first. “You’re going to declare war between your two cartels. We’ll do all the paperwork before you leave and sign off on it, make it official.”
“Fascinating,” Lord North said, stroking his chin. “There will be terms?”
“I’m about to dictate them,” Rebecca said firmly. “You’ve got two weeks, no more. Conflict is restricted to areas clear of civilians. Fighting is limited to Operators only – all targeting of families and children ends. The Academy, the Far Shores, and all related facilities, are strictly off-limits, and anyone who flees to any of them will be given refuge. The Auditors will monitor the conflict, with a writ to administer immediate judgement on anyone suspected of violating the terms that I have laid out today, or to prevent any further violations of the Agreement. Understood?”
The Lords exchanged another look, and the Director used empathy to calm her own raging temper, narrowly preventing herself from attempting to bash their heads together.
“Respectfully, I wonder why we would agree to any such terms?” Gaul adjusted his glasses. “Per my intelligence, Director, your Auditors are stranded and scattered.”
“That is true,” Rebecca said, putting her hands behind her head. “Everything sucks right now. I would like to remind you, however, of a certain something. Do you remember, Lord Thule, when I worked for you, as an Auditor?”
Gaul nodded cautiously.
“Auditors suffer from a negative reputation,” Rebecca said. “Something about violence and unchecked authority. I’m sure you’ve your own opinions on the topic.”
Neither man spoke.
“You will perhaps recall, Lord Thule, that when I worked in the field – before I retired, of my own volition – I was regarded as the most frightening of all the Auditors.” Rebecca smiled mirthlessly. “The very worst. Does that ring any bells?”
Gaul nodded again.
“Why do I need to explain how I intend to enforce my decision, then?” Rebecca demanded. “I will enforce it myself.”
“There will be no need for any such coercion, Director Levy, at least on my part,” Lord North said. “The North Cartel and its allies willingly accede to sanctioned conflict and Auditor oversight. Perhaps you can bring a touch of civility to these unfortunate proceedings.”
“You have it all wrong,” Rebecca warned. “If I get involved, Henry, it’ll be the opposite of civil. What about you, Gaul? Ready to put your name on a dotted line?”
“If I must.”
“You must,” the Director said, pushing a button to summon Mrs. Barrett, her admirably efficient secretary, and all the requisite paperwork war entailed. “That’s one thing we all have in common, guys.”
***
Ksenia let him know they had guests incoming half a kilo out, and Matheus had them painted with infrared laser from a deer stand way up an old growth tree, the figure glowing in Simeon’s scope long before he arrived. Brennan Cree, who had somehow managed to survive the purge, and then cross Hegemony occupied Central, attempted a telepathic scan, but found the target extremely well-shielded.
“Like they aren’t even there,” Brennan said, his admiration obvious as they watched the malformed blob of heat make slow progress through the heavily wooded foothills. “If I couldn’t see otherwise, I wouldn’t believe it.”
Simeon stirred uneasily.
“Invisible, you say?”
Brennan nodded, distracted by his ongoing telepathic probe.
“Psychically invisible,” he said, voice flat and distant. “A blank space that blends perfectly into the surrounding environm
ent…”
Simeon sighed and set aside the rifle.
“What is it?” Ksenia asked, the heat of her protocol slowly dissipating.
“I don’t know why there are two people,” Simeon said glumly. “But one of them must be Daniel Gao.”
“What?” Ksenia looked frustrated. “How do you know that?”
“Because that’s what Daniel does,” Simeon snapped. “He must be tired, or we never would have picked up on him at all.”
“He’s tired,” Brennan confirmed. “Probably because he’s carrying that second person on his back, and has been for some time.”
Simeon frowned and waved them off, and then went to wait at the edge of the improvised camp that they had assembled in the woods, just beyond the suburbs of Central. Carefully situated within a huge thicket of blackberry bushes, shaded by sugar pine and scrub oak, the camp was concealed unless the observer was right on top of it. Only someone tuned to an emergency frequency reserved for Black Sun personnel in exactly these sorts of situations would be able to locate it.
There were no guarantees, but Simeon felt a measured amount of confidence that their mission had thus far gone largely unnoticed. The Hegemony would have slaughtered them all on arrival, were they aware of it, and plenty of time had elapsed for their telepaths to notice their presence. Simeon sat on a convenient stone just outside of camp and watched fires blaze across the city, as the Hegemony busied itself with consolidating its hold on Central.
Daniel Gao halted when he saw Simeon waiting in the gloom, and Simeon gave him a wave. There was a girl on his back, limp and unmoving, hair covering her face. Simeon thought it prudent not to mention that.
“Daniel,” Simeon said, standing at his approach. “Good to see you alive.”
“Not for lack of trying,” Daniel said, face smeared with ash. “Those bastards burned down the house, with me inside it!”
“Did they know you were inside?”
The Outer Dark (Central Series Book 4) Page 64