Scavenger Blood

by Janet Edwards

  I laughed. “I don’t think we can count on that. Weston, can you please lead the way along the path to the boathouse?”

  Vijay thrust his broom into the concraz building, and then Weston led the way on again as before. “So we’re trying to find subway entrances that we’ve never noticed before,” he said chattily, “and we’re doing it at a time when they’re covered in ankle-deep snow.”

  “You haven’t mentioned the extra detail that it’s the middle of the night,” said Vijay. “Is there just the tiniest possibility that Donnell hasn’t thought this plan through too well?”

  Weston shook his head. “It’s not as bad as when he led us on that sneak attack along a beach, and forgot to check the time of high tide.”

  Vijay gave a shout of laughter. “We weren’t the Earth Resistance. We were the Water Resistance!”

  I joined in the laughter. “Donnell had to send us to explore the tunnels tonight, because we need to learn our way around them before Rogue’s funeral. Wall gave us some notes on where the entrances are, and I chose the one that should be easiest to find. Tad has also drawn a map of the tunnels for us.”

  “Ah, yes.” Weston paused and turned to look at Tad. “Donnell told us that Thaddeus Wallam-Crane the webbed had made us a copy of a subway tunnel map on the Earth data net. Vijay and I are happy to know that Tad can get information off the Earth data net to help us. We’re rather less happy to know that he can use his web to send messages to people.”

  “There’s no need to worry about that,” I said hastily. “Tad’s only been messaging people at America Off-world, and he’s been pretending that he, Phoenix, and Braden are staying with a group of respectable citizens who were too stubborn to leave New York.”

  Vijay made a dubious noise.

  “There is one very worrying problem that I should warn you about though,” I added.

  “Yes?” prompted Weston anxiously.

  I grinned. “Tad is dreadful at drawing maps, so we’re bound to get lost.”

  Tad had been keeping cautiously quiet, but now joined the conversation, speaking in an indignant voice. “I’m doing my best at drawing maps, but I’m an expert in portal technology, not art.”

  Vijay patted him on the shoulder. “I was never any good at drawing maps either, young Thaddeus. The first time I met Weston, we had a glorious argument about the fact I’d drawn a plan of the enemy defences that showed all the guard positions, but I’d forgotten to include a barbed wire fence.”

  “An extremely high barbed wire fence,” said Weston pointedly. “I’ve still got the scar on my leg from climbing over it.”

  We continued along the path until we were near the boathouse. “We have to turn directly away from the river now,” I said, “and head towards a group of six buildings.”

  “My drawing probably wasn’t too clear,” said Tad. “It’s actually a group of eight buildings. We follow a path through the courtyard garden in the middle.”

  I nodded. “We’ll have to use our flashlights now we’re leaving the regularly used paths. There’s a slight risk of Cage seeing the lights, but we’re bound to injure ourselves if we roam around on unknown ground in the dark.”

  “Agreed,” said Weston. “It’s easy to get injured in the dark. Especially when you’re being chased by guard dogs and unexpectedly meet a barbed wire fence. I barely managed to climb over it in time to escape, and I’ve been terrified of dogs ever since.”

  We got out our flashlights, and walked along a path leading between two buildings. I glanced up at their brightly lit windows. We were horribly conspicuous now that we were carrying lights. If Donnell’s logic was wrong, and Cage was in one of those buildings, then he just had to look out of the window and I’d get shot in the head a minute later. Cage was certain to pick me as his preferred target after the way I’d wrecked all his plans.

  As I imagined a bullet hitting me, my forehead started itching madly. I resisted the urge to scratch it, reassuring myself with the thought that Donnell’s logic was never wrong, then the voice of my Armed Agent weapon began speaking in my mind.

  I instantly tensed, and was opening my mouth to scream a warning at the others to run, when my gun completed its warning. “Hostile alien lifeform.”

  My gun’s tracking display appeared, showing the familiar purple dot of a falling star inside one of the buildings. I managed to turn my impending scream into a coughing sound, and felt incredibly foolish. I’d been so obsessed with the danger of Cage that I’d forgotten all about the falling stars. They obviously wouldn’t pose a threat to us now, because they never hunted at night, so I carefully formed a sentence in my mind.

  “Gun command five-hour suspension hostile alien life form warning.”

  “Five-hour suspension hostile alien life form warning acknowledged,” responded my gun.

  Since Weston was leading the way, and Vijay somewhere behind me, neither of them had noticed my moment of panic. They were still joking with each other.

  “At least you never need to worry about meeting dogs in New York, Weston, because there aren’t any,” said Vijay. “They made it illegal to keep dogs and cats in cities back in 2200. I still don’t understand where all the cats in New York came from.”

  “Making something illegal doesn’t automatically prevent people from doing it,” said Weston. “A few hundred years ago, our relationship would have been illegal, but I don’t think that would have kept us apart.”

  “True,” said Vijay.

  Weston stopped and pointed his flashlight at a courtyard filled with densely packed trees and bushes. “I don’t think we can get through this way.”

  “That’s awkward,” said Tad.

  “This is what happens when no one weeds a garden for decades,” said Weston. “Is there a different way for us to get where we’re going?”

  “We might be able to find a route around the outside of the buildings,” said Tad doubtfully.

  We headed back, turned right to go to the corner of the buildings, and then stopped again. There was a wide expanse of ice in front of us.

  “A drainage system blockage must have flooded this area,” said Weston. “Walking across the ice would be dangerous when we don’t know how deep the water is underneath it.”

  I sighed. “Let’s try going back again and around the other side of the buildings.”

  We trudged back through the snow. “This route looks more hopeful,” said Weston.

  “You shouldn’t have said that,” scolded Vijay. “We’re bound to hit an impassable obstacle now.”

  We walked on past the ivy-covered wall of one building, and Weston peered suspiciously up at the next. “That apartment block has started losing its windows. On a windless night like this, we’re unlikely to have a whole window drop on us, but there are likely to be jagged shards of glass under this snow. You can’t find those with a pole, but you can find them by having them stab into your leg.”

  I nodded. “We’ll have to detour through that grove of conifers on our right. At least it doesn’t look like there’s much undergrowth.”

  Progress through the conifers was slow. There weren’t many bushes, because these were mature conifers that blocked all the light, but we had to scramble over roots and fallen branches. We finally made it out the other side.

  “Where now?” asked Weston.

  “We’re looking for a large statue of Thaddeus Wallam-Crane,” I said.

  “We’ve already got one Thaddeus Wallam-Crane,” said Vijay, in a plaintive voice. “Why are we looking for another?”

  “Because Wall’s notes say the subway entrance is beside the statue, hidden under a large, flat piece of wood,” I said.

  We gazed around. “I can’t see any statues,” said Weston.

  “I think we need to take the next turning on the right,” said Tad.

  We walked on a bit further, and turned right. Weston paused when he saw what was ahead of us, and I frowned and bit my lip.

  “What is that blocking our way?” asked T
ad.

  Weston spoke in a voice that was brittle with tension. “You must have heard us mention there were battles between criminal gangs and citizens in the last few years before New York was abandoned. The citizens built barricades to defend their neighbourhoods.”

  “Oh,” said Tad. “We’re looking at one of their barricades. Is that a sword leaning against it?”

  “Probably,” I said. “New York is full of swords. The strict gun control laws made it incredibly hard to get guns, but the citizens could buy as many modern hunting bows and reproduction ancient weapons as they wanted to defend their barricades.”

  “I can see the statue we’re looking for on the other side of the barricade,” said Vijay grimly. “Do we cross the barricade, Blaze, or try to find another route to reach the statue?”

  I hesitated. The buildings here were much taller than those nearer the river. I somehow felt that made it more likely that Cage was hiding in this area.

  “It could take us a long time to find another route to the statue,” I said. “It looks like there’s a gap at one end of the barricade that we can squeeze through.”

  Vijay groaned. “Yes. The gap is just wide enough. Be very careful not to touch anything, Tad.”

  “I don’t know why you’re all so worried about crossing the barricade,” said Tad. “Is it really that dangerous?”

  Weston and Vijay exchanged glances, and left me to answer him.

  “The barricades were built to injure people attempting to cross them, so included lots of glass and jagged metal,” I said. “That means it’s dangerous to touch them, but there’s also an issue of respect. People fought on those barricades. Some of them died. There are people in every division who lost friends and family members that way, and the bodies often weren’t found, so the barricades became their memorials.”

  “I understand,” said Tad.

  I knew he didn’t really understand. He couldn’t because there were things we weren’t saying. The New York power supply had been turned off when the city was officially abandoned, and there had been eighteen years of dark nights until Tad turned the power back on.

  New York was too hazardous for anyone to want to go out at night, but occasionally people misjudged the time or were delayed, so they came back to Parliament House after dark. Sometimes they had stories to tell of hearing screams near one of the old barricades, seeing ghosts fighting on them, or having a shadowy figure follow them down the street, calling them by the name of a long dead man or woman.

  I didn’t necessarily believe those stories. There were plenty of explanations for odd sights or sounds in New York, because a host of old rubbish and loose objects blew about on the wind, and gulls could make disconcerting sounds. I knew that Weston and Vijay had been badly shaken one night three years ago though. They’d returned to Parliament House at a run, arriving panting for breath, and said that they’d seen something weird at a barricade, but uncharacteristically refused to give any details at all.

  The next day, a man in Weston’s hunting party had jeered at him about the incident, before deliberately going up to a barricade, tossing aside some of the pieces, and shouting at the ghosts to come and stop him. That man had been killed in an accident only weeks later, so now everyone was careful to avoid touching barricades.

  Logic told me that man’s death had just been a coincidence, and ghosts didn’t exist, but I was still nervous as we approached the barricade. I couldn’t see anything strange, but I seemed to smell the smoke of ancient fires.

  Weston spoke in a respectful but embarrassed voice. “We ask the dead for their permission to pass by.”

  He waited a moment, as if half-expecting a reply, then checked the barricade with the pole before squeezing through the gap.

  I repeated his words, and went after him, my hands held high in the air to make sure I didn’t accidentally touch anything, then anxiously turned to look at Tad. I was surprised when he spoke in reverent tones.

  “We ask the dead for their permission to pass by.”

  Tad came through the gap, copying me by holding his hands high, and I gave him a relieved smile. “Thank you for respecting our customs.”

  He smiled back at me. “When you visit another world, you should always respect the local memorial customs.”

  We turned to watch Vijay come through the barricade. He let out his breath in a soft sigh as he joined us, and was just starting to say something when an inhuman screeching came from a nearby building.

  Vijay broke off whatever he was saying and looked rapidly around. A sudden gust of wind was followed by more screeching, and what sounded like a door slamming.

  “Let’s move,” said Weston sharply.

  He led the way swiftly on towards the statue, and I hurried after him. The screeching sounds had probably been made by feral cats fighting, while the gust of wind had blown a door shut, but I was still eager to get away from the barricade.

  We’d nearly reached the statue when Weston gasped. He teetered on the edge of falling into something hidden by snow, and I instinctively grabbed his arm to pull him backwards.

  Weston steadied himself, and took another step backwards before speaking. “I think I’ve found the subway entrance.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Weston used his pole to prod the snow in front of him. “Yes, I’ve definitely found the subway entrance.”

  “You were supposed to find it by checking the ground with the pole, rather than rushing along and falling down the hole yourself,” snapped Vijay, in the voice of someone who’d just been badly frightened.

  “It’s not a hole,” said Weston. “It’s a flight of steps heading downwards. I thought you said the subway entrance was beside the statue, Blaze, not in front of it.”

  I grimaced. “The notes must have been wrong. It’s been eighteen years since Wall used the subway tunnels. He said his memories were a bit hazy.”

  Weston shone his flashlight upwards. “And that statue doesn’t look much like Thaddeus Wallam-Crane to me.”

  “That isn’t Thaddeus Alexander Wallam-Crane, the inventor of portal technology,” said Tad. “It’s his grandson, Thaddeus Carmichael Wallam-Crane, the one who was the driving force behind establishing the United Earth Government.”

  “Is it?” Weston frowned at the statue. “Wasn’t Thaddeus Carmichael the one with the long, shaggy hair?”

  “You’re probably thinking of his son, Thaddeus Ignatius,” said Tad.

  “Possibly,” said Weston doubtfully.

  Vijay shrugged. “I’m sure Tad knows his ancestors better than you, Weston. What I’d like to know is what happened to the wood covering that subway entrance. Do you think Cage moved it?”

  Weston put down his lantern, collapsed the expanding pole, slid it into the quiver where he kept his arrows, then dropped to his knees and started shovelling snow aside with his arms. He paused after a minute to hold up a ragged piece of something brown.

  “It looks as if the wood just rotted away over the years.”

  “I’ve got a folding snow shovel in my bag.” I dumped my bag on the floor, took out the shovel, and locked the sections of handle into place.

  Vijay grabbed the shovel from me, and began digging snow out of the way. A few minutes later, we were looking down a flight of steps into darkness. I was unnerved to see lights come on in the depths.

  “Did you turn those lights on, Tad?” I asked nervously.

  “Yes,” said Tad. “I’ve activated the emergency lighting circuit for this section of tunnel. That overrides the manual switch settings, so any working lights should be on now.”

  I packed the shovel in my bag and got out a length of rope. “I’ll go down into the tunnel then.”

  “You should let me or Vijay go first,” said Weston. “We’ve had more experience with this sort of thing.”

  The word experience inevitably reminded me of Major. “The standard rule is for the lightest person to rope up and check potentially unstable ground. I’m the lightest person.�
�

  Vijay made an unhappy whimpering noise. “Donnell will murder us if we let you get hurt.”

  “I’m going first,” I said stubbornly. “If I get into trouble, then the two of you should be able to pull me out very quickly. I’ll leave my lantern here with you, so both my hands are free.”

  Weston groaned. “You’re starting to remind me of your father, Blaze. Just remember what happened to Wasp the other day. Make sure the steps are solid before you put your weight on them.”

  “Make sure the ceiling looks solid too,” added Vijay.

  I put my flashlight in my pocket, tied the rope securely around my waist, and handed the other end to Weston. “If I scream, pull me out fast. Three sharp tugs on the rope mean it’s safe for you to follow me.”

  He nodded.

  I moved downwards, kicking aside some fragments of wood, and testing every step with my foot before I put my full weight on it. The dimly lit steps went on for far longer than I expected, but I eventually reached the bottom, and stood on a soft heap of the accumulated rubbish of decades.

  A corridor ran ahead of me, its walls and floor dark with grime. There were what looked like a row of weirdly small metal doors on the right-hand side, liberally coated with dusty cobwebs. I could see light fittings at regular intervals in the ceiling, though only half of the lights were working.

  I pulled the rope three times, and heard the others coming down the steps. When they arrived at the bottom, I put the rope back in my bag, and Weston handed me my lantern.

  I turned to Tad. “I didn’t expect a subway tunnel to look like this.”

  “This isn’t a subway tunnel, or even a proper entrance to a subway tunnel.” Tad gestured at the metal doors. “I think this is a maintenance entrance, and there are controls behind those doors. Hopefully, this corridor leads to the actual subway tunnel.”

  Vijay led the way along the corridor, and reached a point where there’d once been a door. That had fallen from its hinges, leaving an open doorway into somewhere brightly lit. Vijay looked cautiously through the doorway.

  “Now this looks more like a subway tunnel. Donnell warned us about some lethal third rail thing. Tad, are you really, really sure that you’ve turned on the lights, but not the third rail?”