“I was about your age,” Redeye began, sparks lighting his face. “My mother was a scavenger but we scraped by. We lived near a city called New Orleans, where the Mariners were regular visitors. Mom traded with them; she liked them, and they liked her. They said, come west. Bring your boy. We have a city where you’ll be safe. So she bought an old desert buggy and a few tanks of chem fuel and we set out.”
He turned the key and the engine fired, nudging the boat forward. Redeye shifted gears, steering between the shattered towers. “We were deep in the desert when the bandits came. They killed my mother, then they took me to this place, a bunker with a steel dish outside. The scientists who lived there gave them food and medicines, and in return they got me.
“At first the scientists just kept me in a cage. They fed me, asked me a lot of questions, it wasn’t so bad. Then after a few months they said they had something special planned. An operation that would make me unique in all the world. When they put me to sleep I was actually excited.”
A building crumbled close by, concrete sliding into the sea, but Redeye barely paused, his knuckles white on the wheel. He wasn’t just telling the story, Joe realised. He was reliving it.
“I woke up with this pain in my head like a hot needle. Something had gone wrong, they told me. The experiment hadn’t worked. The electronic eye was supposed to fuse with my brain stem, allow me to see over distances, track heat signatures, all that stuff. But all it did was hurt constantly.”
“But you got away?” Joe asked.
Redeye shook his head. “They ditched me. All I did was eat and cry so they left me in the desert. But I was tougher than they knew. I survived. I headed west. I met Elroy. I made it out.”
“Did you know…?” Joe started. “Before you set off that bomb today, did you know kids would die? That their mums would die, just like what happened to you?”
Redeye’s head lifted. The gears in his eye socket ground softly, the glow shifting. “It needed to happen, Joe. For a better world to come.”
“I bet that’s what those scientists thought too.”
“Don’t compare me to them,” Redeye snarled. “They tortured me. They—”
“You’re worse,” Joe said softly. “I think you’re worse.”
A new sound was building now, an abyssal groan like the Earth itself was shifting somewhere deep beneath them. Redeye slammed the throttle and the speedboat ploughed forward, the petrol engine growling. The water surged again, driving against the hull.
Maura’s grip tightened suddenly on Joe’s arm. “I don’t believe it,” she said, almost a whisper.
Redeye glanced back, and his mouth dropped. “OK, I may have used a little too much explosive,” he shouted, before his words were drowned out by a howl like a dying planet.
Dust billowed into the air. Through it Joe could see tons of concrete, sliding and subsiding into the churning white water. It was impossible, but it was happening. The Wall was falling.
In the mouth of the Gullet, the crowd screamed with a single voice. Across the park and the distant rooftops Kara could see right through to the Wall. The sight of it made her heart stop.
A massive stretch of concrete had begun to slump, like a great back breaking as the Earth opened beneath it. It toppled forward, crushing the buildings below. Into the gap the ocean roared, ripping and grinding as it thundered through the breach.
The wave drowned everything in its path, tearing the roofs from houses, wrenching trees from their roots. Kara saw the palace go under, the grey tide slamming through the iron fence and swallowing the building whole. And still it kept coming, washing up the green slope and crashing against a wall of towers below the park.
This at least seemed to hinder the wave’s path. It broke at last, spilling forth a torrent of black filth that rolled inexorably towards them. The crowd broke too, shoving towards the tunnel in a wild, desperate mob. Kara clung to Nate’s hand as they were driven onwards, crushed in a fleshy vice.
She saw a skinny boy vaulting on top of the crowd, springing from head to head like stepping stones. She saw an old man standing over a toppled cart, spilling jewellery and paintings, shouting furiously as they were trampled into the dirt. She saw a pregnant woman, her arms wrapped round her belly, gritting her teeth and snarling at anyone who got too close. She saw a MetCo officer weeping, tearing the badge from his chest. As they entered the tunnel she felt soft shapes beneath her feet, and didn’t dare look down.
The cries of the crowd took on a deep, echoing note as they passed into the Gullet. The lights flickered and Kara felt her chest tighten. Please, she thought. If anyone’s listening, God or whoever. Don’t let me die in the dark with all these people.
She heard splashing and felt cold water around her feet. The tide had caught them, washing through the park. The shrieks grew louder, the crowd clambering over the security barriers in grasping floods. Now the water was up to Kara’s ankles, now her shins. She tried to steady herself and keep moving.
Past the barrier, the tunnel sloped upward. They left the water behind, marching on dry concrete, the bulbs in the ceiling casting a cold yellow light. On they went, deeper and deeper, and Kara tried not to listen to the howls behind them as the water rose, tried not to think about what must be happening back there in the City.
Then suddenly the crowd stopped, wedged in the narrowing tunnel, unable to move. Kara felt the water again, creeping up her legs. The lights flickered out and there was a roar of terror.
24
Democracy
The speedboat angled through the water, leaving the Badlands and entering the Southern Cut. Behind them the sun was just starting to sink, though to Joe it felt like days since they’d set out. Redeye eased back and the boat idled, gliding between steep-sided tankers. Men stood at the railings high above, gawping as black smoke rose on the horizon.
“What now?” Joe asked. He still didn’t fully understand what was happening – the Wall was broken and the City was flooded, but there was no sign of the Kraken. Which meant there was more to come; Cortez’s plan was still in motion.
“Now we come to the interesting part,” Redeye said, taking out his macrobinoculars and angling them towards the Pavilion. He passed them over and Joe peered through. The scene was one of utter chaos.
Bedraggled city folk were spilling from the Gullet, filling the concrete square. Some had children on their backs; others were wounded and had to be helped or carried. Joe looked for Kara, but there were too many people – thousands of grim faces in the dying light. She must have made it, he thought. She’s the smartest, toughest person I know. Please, I can’t face it out here on my own.
The Zoo had emptied too, a wall of blue uniforms marching down the steps to form a holding line round the swelling crowd of city refugees. This seemed strange to Joe – shouldn’t MetCo be leading people out into the Shanties, to make room for more? Others clearly thought the same – he saw a suited city man arguing with an officer on the steps. The man gestured angrily towards the Shanties, but the cop drew her pistol and the man stepped back.
“What a mess you’ve made,” Maura told Redeye, taking the binoculars from Joe and squinting through. “And for what?”
“For this,” Redeye said, grinning. “By nightfall Cortez will own your precious Shanties.”
Maura snorted. “My Shore Boys are going to have something to say about that. And so will he.”
A familiar figure came striding from the Zoo, his head raised defiantly. Remick was flanked by riot troops as he stopped at the top of the steps, pulling a transmitter from his pocket.
“Citizens, remain calm,” he said, his voice echoing from the speakers. “MetCo are in control. I promise, very soon we’ll know exactly who was behind this.”
“Does your captain really think he can take on the Shore Boys and MetCo together?” Maura sneered. “It’ll be a slaughter.”
Redeye shook his head. “I can’t believe you still haven’t figured it out. Think. How did three Mariners g
et inside the City carrying a bomb, and who coded my thumbprint into the back door? Who got Elroy into the tunnels for his recon mission, and who’s allowing the Kraken to pass through the security cordon unhindered? There’s only one man who could make all that happen.”
Maura’s face dropped. “H-he couldn’t,” she gasped. “We had an agreement. I’ve been paying him for years.”
“And he’s been planning this for longer,” Redeye said. “Ever since our patrol ships picked him up. I’ve heard the story from Cortez so many times. He was sent to interrogate Remick, but it didn’t take them long to realise how much they had in common. Remick was Shanty-born – he hates the City every bit as much as we do.”
“So he betrayed his own people?” Joe asked. “He’s going to let Cortez invade the Shanties?”
“You don’t understand,” Redeye said. “We’re not here to conquer; we’re here to collaborate. No harm will come to anyone in the Shanties, not unless they start trouble. This will become the Mariners’ new European hub; there’ll be no more poverty, no more hunger. No more gangs either. Your Shore Boys will have to find a new line of work. Luckily there’ll be plenty to go round.”
Maura looked away, disgusted. “And Cortez gets to treat us like his own personal fiefdom.”
“Pot, meet kettle,” Redeye snorted. “You’ve lorded over this place for years, getting rich while others starved. It’s time for someone else to have a turn.”
A sound broke in, so loud it was like a drill driving into Joe’s head. He clamped his hands over his ears as the speakers screeched, feedback echoing from the face of the Wall. All across the Pavilion he saw others doing the same, covering their ears and wincing.
It stopped, and for a long moment there was silence. The Pavilion held its breath.
Then a new voice came through the speakers, loud and clear.
“People of London,” it said. “Welcome to a new world!”
Kara had almost reached the steps when the noise came. She covered her ears, tugging Nate forward, using the distraction to dodge through the MetCo cordon and up towards the Zoo.
They’d fled from the tunnel moments before, shoving through the crowd of refugees hemmed in by MetCo’s riot shields. Why are they keeping them here? Kara wondered. She had a horrible feeling she already knew.
Climbing the steps she could see across the Pavilion to the towers beyond. The people of the Shanties had been driven back but they hadn’t gone far, jostling for space along the sea wall and in the windows of tall buildings. Kara saw Shore Boys in the crowd and wanted to go to them, find Maura and Joe, figure out what was happening. But there was someone she had to speak to first.
Then the voice spoke, and her blood froze.
“People of London!”
Nate shot upright. Kara grabbed his arm.
“Welcome to a new world!”
There was a rushing, rolling sound out in the Cut. The water began to churn, waves crashing against the shoreline towers. All across the Pavilion, heads began to turn.
The Kraken’s conning tower rose from the depths, the steel pillar barbed with black weaponry. Then the body surfaced, water streaming from the vast central cylinder. The crowds drew back as that scrawled and terrifying face was revealed, painted teeth fiercely bared.
The sub drifted forward, coming to rest against the harbour wall. Steel hatches sprang open along the entire length and soldiers spilled out, taking up positions along the flat-topped hull. Then a door flew open on the conning tower and Cortez strode on to the balcony, slender and upright in a coat of black oilskin. He faced the Pavilion, the Mariner symbol gleaming on his chest, his webbed hands grasping the railing. Behind him another figure lurked in the doorway. Dark hair and dark eyes – Cane.
Cortez scanned the crowd, raising a transmitter. “Greetings,” he said, his voice echoing from the Wall and the concrete towers. “We are the Mariners, and we have come to set you free. Some of you, at least.”
The refugees huddled closer, murmuring fearfully. Over in the Shanties Kara saw numberless faces, silently watching.
“First I’d like to address the displaced people from inside the Wall,” Cortez began, “standing out here on this cold Pavilion. I offer apologies for all you’ve been through, whether you’ve lost your loved ones, or your homes, or your jewellery.
“But how long did you think you could get away with it? How long did you think you could take, and take, and never give back? You let sick people die, knowing you could heal them. You let children starve, knowing you could feed them. If someone did that to my daughter –” he gestured to Cane – “I’d have their head. Think about that while I speak to the people I’m really concerned with.”
He tilted his head, looking now at the crowds gathered along the sea wall and among the towers across the Cut. They crowded into every doorway, on to every roof and window ledge.
“Citizens of the Shanties,” he said. “I know you’ve been told a pack of lies about my people. You think we’re terrorists coming to murder you in your beds. They told you those stories.” He pointed to the Pavilion. “The ministers and the media barons. They wanted you to feel powerless, trusting them to keep you safe.
“But the truth is we aren’t so very different from you. We want the same things: peace, freedom, regular meals. But we don’t hurt people to get it. We don’t allow the powerful to exploit the weak.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially, the crowd hanging on every syllable. “There’s a word we Mariners hold dear. Those ministers do too. It’s a powerful word, but it can be twisted out of all recognition. The word is ‘democracy’.
“Britain is a democracy, they’ll tell you. Every citizen has the right to vote. But how many Shanty folk have citizenship? Most of you are unregistered; you’re immigrants or the children of immigrants. They know that. In fact, they depend on it. There are many more of you than there are of them.”
He gripped the railing. “So I’ve come here today to give you back the rights you’ve been denied, starting with the right to vote. But there’s only one issue on the table here. Life. Or death.”
He waved a hand and the Mariners on the Kraken raised their rifles, pointing them out into the Pavilion. Kara heard screams, saw the refugees from the City trying to retreat, but there was nowhere for them to go.
“These people have exploited you since the day you were born,” Cortez shouted over the din. “They’ve stolen your dignity. I believe that for these crimes they deserve to die. But I’m not a madman. I know there are children in this crowd; they should not suffer for the sins of their parents.”
He tilted his head, looking up towards the Zoo. For a moment Kara was sure he’d seen her, but his gaze was fixed on Remick. “My old comrade, I believe the next part is up to you.”
Kara looked at Nate, biting her lip as her worst fears were confirmed. Shouts of betrayal echoed across the Pavilion but Remick ignored them, raising his transmitter. “Execute special order one-zero-one,” he barked. “Take the children. Leave the rest.”
Anarchy erupted. The MetCo line broke as officers stormed into the crowd, their batons raised. Kara saw babies snatched from their mothers’ arms, boys younger than Joe dragged off their feet. Remick’s men worked methodically, passing the children from one to another, hurrying them towards the steps and up into the Zoo.
Not every MetCo officer was part of it, Kara saw – by the docks a group of them stormed at their colleagues, fists and cudgels flying. They were joined by a handful of Shore Boys, trying their best to smash through the MetCo line. But it wouldn’t be enough. She had to act.
Steeling herself, Kara lunged towards Remick. “Traitor!” she shouted, struggling as his men held her back.
Remick turned, smiling cruelly. “The Shanty girl,” he said. “I hoped you’d drowned in one of our cells, but it seems Singh disobeyed my orders after all. Where is he?”
“Gone,” Kara said. “He was trying to defuse Redeye’s bomb.”
“And he failed.” Remick sighed.
“The man was always weak.”
“He was stronger than you’ll ever be,” Kara hissed. “He’d never betray his own people.”
Remick sneered. “Who, them?” He jerked his chin towards the Pavilion. “They’re not my people. They thought they could push me around because they had money and power, but they’re nothing. You are my people, child. The Shanties are my people. And in our new world my people will want for nothing. The Mariners will bring jobs, money, trade. This place will be transformed.”
Kara glanced towards Cortez; he stood on the balcony in discussion with one of his officers, ignoring the pandemonium below. “I don’t believe you’d do all this just to hand everything over to the Mariners,” she said. “What’s in it for you?”
Remick smiled impishly, turning to gaze at the Wall looming over them. “What’s in it for me? Only the greatest city in the world. A little waterlogged, perhaps, but our construction crews will soon fix that. King Remick, it has a nice ring, don’t you think?”
“You’re insane.” Kara jerked forward, breaking free of the hands holding her. She swiped at Remick with one hand, slipping the other into his pocket before he could pull away. Then the guards seized her again, kicking her legs and shoving her down.
Nate knelt at her side. “Be careful. They’ll shoot you if you try that again.”
Kara grinned. “It’s OK. I got what I needed.”
The doors to the Zoo slid shut, the children sealed inside. “It’s done,” Remick announced and Cortez looked up.
“Good. Then we can begin.” He gripped the railing. “Now, it’s perfectly simple. Those who believe these City people deserve a second chance, raise your hands. Those who know they deserve to die, do nothing. We’ll take a—”
“I want to say something.” Kara’s voice leapt from the speakers, startling her. Her hands shook where she clutched the transmitter she’d snatched from Remick’s pocket.
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