Embers of Destruction

by J. Scott Savage

  The redheaded boy knelt by the far corner of the library. He pulled a screwdriver out of his pants pocket and opened a small panel in the wall. “Everyone inside,” he said.

  Each of them dropped to their hands and knees and crawled into the dark opening. Michael was last, pulling the panel closed behind him and jamming it in place.

  It was pitch-black.

  “Where are we?” Clyde asked.

  “A maintenance shaft,” Alex said. “There’s a ladder to your left that leads all the way to the roof. Everybody up.”

  Kallista was first, and five minutes later, she reached the top of the ladder. Feeling blindly above her, she found a metal lever, twisted it, and opened the door to the roof. Afternoon light flooded through the opening, along with blessedly cool air.

  Clyde popped out behind her. “Let me out. I hate the dark.”

  Trenton looked around the roof. “What now? There isn’t anywhere to go.”

  Alex turned to Hallie. “How much time?”

  Hallie pulled out a pocket watch. “Less than a minute. We’re running late.”

  “Let’s go,” Alex said. He kicked the hatch shut and jogged to the north end of the building. They arrived at the edge at the same time as a steam engine sounded below.

  Kallista peeked over the side. “A train?”

  “We jump when the last car comes by,” Alex said.

  Kallista leaned over to study the tracks. The library wasn’t a tall building, and the train tracks were raised. It was no more than a five-foot drop, but the distance between the building and the tracks was nearly eight feet. She was concerned about Plucky.

  She needn’t have worried. As the last car came by, Plucky backed up, shouted, “Bung your eye,” and leaped over the side.

  The rest of them quickly followed. Clyde was the only one who nearly didn’t make it, but when he hit the edge of the train car, Plucky grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

  From there on out, it was simple. Clearly the Runt Patrol had done their homework. Five minutes later, the train slowed as it approached a long row of warehouses. Alex led the others down a ladder on the back of the train, waiting for the right building before jumping off.

  “This is it,” Alex said, pointing to a warehouse that looked no different from any of the others.

  They approached the building carefully, searching for any sign of a guard. A figure stepped out of the shadows, and Alex pulled them back out of sight.

  “It’s okay,” Kallista said. “It’s just my father.”

  “Your father?” Alex’s mouth drew into a tight line. “What’s he doing here? You said you didn’t tell anyone.” For the first time, color seemed to come into his pale face.

  “He’s not like other adults,” Trenton said, trying to calm him down.

  It didn’t work. Alex withdrew the silver key from his pocket with a shaking hand. “You’ve made a huge mistake.” He threw the key to the ground and ran back toward the train tracks with the other Runt Patrol members.

  “Come back,” Kallista called. “Just talk to him.”

  But it was too late. They were gone.

  Trenton picked up the key. “Don’t worry about it. It will be all right.”

  But Kallista wasn’t so sure.

  The Runt Patrol had taken some huge risks to get them there, and she had betrayed that trust. Even if they got the mechanical dragons, without the Runt Patrol’s knowledge of the city, they’d be right back where they started. Maybe even worse.

  “I need to go after them,” she said. “Apologize.”

  “There’s no time,” Simoni said. “Rest Day will be over soon, and if we’re not back by curfew, the Ninki Nankas will hunt us down. If we’re going, we have to go now.”

  Trenton shrugged. “We’ll find a way to make it up to them.”

  Plucky patted her shoulder. “Can’t rusty blame you for saving your own da, now can they?”

  Kallista could see her father standing in the shadows near the warehouse door. Why did everything feel so terribly wrong?

  When they stepped into the street and her father came running toward her and wrapped her in his arms, she felt some of her dread fade. She wouldn’t say it, but a part of her had been afraid he wouldn’t show up at all or that he’d try to talk them out of leaving. She knew how much he loved to learn new things, and this city was brimming with new technology—not to mention a completely new species of animal.

  He reached out and gently gripped her elbow. “You’re safe. I was afraid something might have happened to you.”

  “We’re fine,” Kallista said, her voice shaky. “But we need to hurry. It’s getting late.”

  “Yes. Of course.” He glanced around. “Didn’t you say there were going to be more than six of you? That we would need to make two trips?”

  The muscles of her jaw twitched. “No. Just the six of us. And you, of course. I think we can use the turbo to carry you on the back of Ladon if Trenton squeezes into the front seat with me. At least long enough to get us out of the city.”

  “Are you sure you’ll be able to carry me?” her father asked. “I could always go later.”

  “I’m not leaving you behind again,” Kallista said. Even though her palms were slick with sweat, she grabbed his hand and closed it in her fingers. She’d lost him two different times. She was not going to lose him again.

  “Right.” Leo turned to the warehouse. “So this is where they’re keeping them.”

  Trenton slid the key into the lock.

  Kallista held her breath as he twisted the key, sure it wouldn’t work. But the lock clicked, and the door swung open smoothly.

  “Inside, quick,” Kallista said. She checked the street in both directions before hurrying inside and pulling the door shut behind her. “Find the light switch,” she said, still holding her father’s hand.

  “I’ve got it,” Clyde said. There was a click, and bright lights flickered on, illuminating the large room.

  Kallista blinked. The building was empty. “Where are the dragons?” Something was wrong.

  “Are we sure this is the right place?” Clyde asked.

  “It has to be,” Simoni said. “The key fit the door.”

  Trenton turned around slowly, as if three, thirty-foot mechanical dragons might be hiding in the rafters. “Maybe they’re in the next warehouse over.”

  That was it. They simply had the wrong building. The key probably fit all the other doors on this row. They’d try each one until they found the right building.

  Her father squeezed her hand, then turned to face her, eyes filled with sorrow. “They aren’t in any of the warehouses. I’m sorry, I couldn’t let you take them.”

  Kallista released her father’s hand. “What are you saying?”

  Leo wiped his palm across his forehead. “I had the dragons moved yesterday. After you told me what you were planning.”

  Icy fingers reached down her throat into her chest and closed around her heart. “Someone else found out? You moved the dragons so we could try the plan again when the time is right.”

  “I’m sorry.” He reached for her, but she backed away. “I can’t let you have them.”

  “No,” she whispered. Then repeated it louder. “No. I don’t believe it. You’re lying.” She stared into her father’s eyes as if they were alone in the room. “Tell me where you took our dragons.”

  “They aren’t here anymore.” He rubbed his hands together. “I wasn’t completely honest with you before, but I am telling the truth now. Will you let me explain?”

  She searched his face for some clue. Some hint that this was another one of his games. He’d done many things she didn’t agree with, and more than once he’d let her think he was dead. He’d deserted her, manipulated her, failed to express his emotions. But she truly believed to the center of her heart that he would
never intentionally hurt her.

  Even when she didn’t agree with his approach, she knew there was always a reason for what he did. If there was one thing she knew about her father, it was that. He did nothing without a good reason.

  She took a deep breath, then another, trying to slow her galloping heart. A reason. There was a reason. “Tell me.”

  Her father met her eyes for a moment, then spread his hands to take in all the others, and she remembered they weren’t alone. “I told you I had left the city of Seattle before it was attacked. That wasn’t true. I had repaired the ship before I left, but I couldn’t get anyone to join my crew. I was in the process of modifying the controls so I could fly it myself when the dragons arrived.”

  Kallista remembered thinking he hadn’t had time to make all the repairs and changes before he left, but she’d assumed he’d continued to work on the ship as he flew south.

  “I was sure they would kill me along with all the others,” he continued. “But they didn’t. None of the other dragons speak English as clearly as the monarch, but they were able to make themselves understood. I was shocked, of course, but I quickly realized the dragons are unlike any creatures the world has known. They assured us that as long as we didn’t fight back they would take us to their home. To San Francisco.”

  “That’s why you didn’t leave a note.”

  He nodded. “I didn’t have the chance.”

  “But if they captured you, how did you get away?” Trenton asked. “How did you hide on the island?”

  “I wasn’t hiding,” Kallista’s father said. “The dragons have known about Alcatraz for years. I was waiting there for you. I was supposed to intercept you before you entered the city. Only I didn’t have a chance. Later, when you returned, the dragons allowed you to land in the field. The night I brought you to the factory everything was arranged. The dragons were waiting.”

  “You set us up?” Angus said, his face turning red. “It was a trap?”

  The reason, the reason, Kallista repeated inside her head to the beating of her heart. “Did they threaten you? Were they going to hurt you? Is that why you cooperated with them?”

  “No,” he said. “That wasn’t it. As soon as I saw the city, I realized how much things have changed. I’d been imagining the dragons were a plague on the world. Something to be fought, like locusts or famine. A pestilence. But once I met them, once I understood who they are and what they’ve done, I realized the dragons aren’t something to fight against. They are the next rung in the evolutionary ladder.”

  “Let me get this right,” Angus said. “You joined the dragons voluntarily. You’re on their side?”

  Kallista’s father laughed. “You don’t understand. There are no sides. There are no battles. The war was fought before any of us were even born, and we lost. We should no more fight against what has happened to the world than a flock of sheep should fight against their shepherd.”

  Kallista paced back and forth, wringing her hands. “No. No. I don’t believe that. You don’t believe that. This is another one of your games. What am I supposed to do? What are you trying to teach me?”

  “There are no more tests. No more games. It isn’t easy, but it’s time to admit that everything has changed. This city, serving the dragons—it’s our future.”

  “Maybe it’s your future,” Trenton said. “But we aren’t giving up. We’re going to fight. Tell us where our dragons are so we can leave.”

  Kallista’s father shook his head. “I can’t do that.”

  “Please,” Kallista said. “Dad. I don’t understand why you want to stay, but it’s your choice. But you have to give us our choice, and we choose to fight the dragons. Don’t do this to my friends. Don’t do this to me. We still have time to go.”

  He wiped tears away from his eyes. “I’ve always tried to protect you. Don’t you see that’s what I’m doing now? If I let you leave here—if I let you try to destroy these creatures who are so much wiser and more powerful than we are—I’d be condemning you to death. The dragons will not allow anyone to stand against them. They will destroy you.”

  “Let them try,” Angus growled. “I’d rather die fighting than live as a coward like you.”

  Simoni, who had remained silent, stepped forward.

  “Mr. Babbage, my mother and father are back in Discovery. Trenton’s are, too. And Angus’s and Clyde’s. We all love them as much as you love your daughter. Maybe we can’t defeat the dragons. But if we don’t try, it’ll only be a matter of time before the dragons find them.”

  Kallista’s father raised his chin. “Maybe that’s for the best. Discovery wasn’t built to last forever. Its resources are limited. But here, everyone will be able to experience the outside world. To live full and useful lives, serving the dragons.”

  Angus charged forward, slamming a fist into Kallista’s father’s stomach, knocking him to the ground, and wrapping his hands around his neck.

  “Stop it!” Kallista screamed, grabbing Angus’s arms. He was too strong. She couldn’t budge him. Her father’s face turned purple as he gasped for breath. His mouth opened and closed like a fish flopping about on land.

  Then Trenton was at her side, bringing his hand under Angus’s arm, and pushing against the back of his neck. Clyde and Simoni grabbed his other arm. Plucky jumped on his back, pulling his head up, and they all tumbled to the ground.

  Kallista’s father rubbed his throat, gasping for air. “No,” he croaked. “When the dragons find Discovery, they’ll let everyone live, let them serve.”

  Kallista sat with her arms around her knees. Tears dripped down her cheeks. What happened to the father who taught her to play patty-cake? Where was the man who read fantasy stories to her even though they were against the law? That man had risked his life more than once to save everyone in Discovery. She didn’t know who this man was.

  “What happens now?” she asked. “Do we wait here for the guards to show up?”

  Her father coughed, swallowing until he could speak. “No one knows you’re here. They think I moved the dragons back because I needed more room. They want to build more of them.” He rubbed his throat again. “I know it’s hard for you to understand right now, but I considered every possibility before making this decision. It is the best for everyone. You’ll be happy here. Get better jobs. Move out of the dormitories. Soon, you’ll have freedom to go anywhere in the city. Just promise me you won’t try to escape.”

  Kallista rubbed her forehead. It felt like a stake had been driven into her brain. “Tell me one thing. Why are you really doing this?”

  He stepped forward and, before she could stop him, took her face in his hands. He leaned toward her until they were almost nose to nose. He’d lost weight, and several days’ worth of ­stubble covered his cheeks and chin. When had all those specks of gray appeared in his hair?

  In his dark eyes she saw pain, but also the expression he wore whenever he was teaching her something new. “The day your mother died, I swore I’d take care of you. Since the day she died, I’ve tried to do what was best for you.”

  She pulled away from his grip. “The monarch said we could leave.”

  Leo sighed. “It doesn’t matter what they say. The dragons will not allow anyone to escape the city. They would view it as an insult to their dominance. If you try to go, they will kill you.”

  The next morning, two men with wide, green, diagonal sashes across their shirts showed up at the dormitory. They pulled Trenton, Clyde, and Angus out of their rooms before breakfast and told them to pack their things. Not that there was a lot to pack; they didn’t have much in the way of personal belongings.

  “You think Mr. Babbage told the guards about last night?” Clyde whispered.

  “He said he wouldn’t,” Trenton whispered back. But if he’d lied about everything else, what were the chances he’d lied about that as well?

  An
gus eyed the two men who followed them out of the building. “If those guys try anything, I think I can take them.”

  There were no guards waiting for them in the street, though. Instead, parked at the curb was a deep silver quad with gold piping. Unlike the utilitarian quads used in the field, or even the upgraded versions used by the guards, this vehicle was obviously built with nothing but luxury in mind. Two doors on either side of the vehicle opened onto leather seats so soft and supple that sitting on them felt like climbing into a feather bed.

  As one of the men slid into the driver’s seat, the other loaded their meager belongings in a small compartment at the back of the vehicle.

  The driver started the quad, and it walked smoothly down the street.

  Trenton leaned forward. “Where are we going?”

  “The Seven Hills,” the man in the passenger’s seat said. He glanced at the three of them with obvious curiosity. “It’s quite an honor. I suppose you three must have unique talents.”

  “I guess,” Trenton said. But he knew this wasn’t about his talents. It was Leo’s way of rewarding them for giving in and agreeing not to try to escape again.

  As the quad began climbing a steep hill, Trenton realized they were heading away from the uniform block houses and toward the nicer homes with lots of windows. Squat buildings were replaced by more dragon towers and individual houses that grew bigger and bigger the higher they went.

  “Fancy,” Angus said as they drove past a tall house with domed towers and a spire.

  “I’ve never seen a house so big in my life. It looks like a castle,” Clyde said, pointing to a massive stone edifice with stained-glass windows, wrought-iron balconies, and a porch that wrapped around the front and sides. Trenton imagined five families could live in such a house without seeing each other for days.

  The driver pulled up in front of another large house and stopped. Trenton glanced at his friends. “Are we picking someone up?” he asked.

  “We’re dropping you off,” the driver said, ushering them out of the quad. “This is where you live now.”