by Jane Abbott
We could hear the clamour above us: Garrick barking out the orders and, as at the other gates, a steady pounding of metal on wood as the door was barricaded, sealing out any Guards and shutting us in. Alex watched anxiously as, one by one, Watchmen spilled into the tunnel to crowd the space: Piggott first, the rest behind him. Last was Taggart. And Cade. Crying her relief, Alex dropped my hand and leapt up to hug him. I watched her draw him away, across the tunnel to the far wall; watched and let it happen, still not getting it, but not worrying too much about it either. This was her right and whatever he had with her, it wasn’t what I had; whatever she sought from him, it wasn’t what she took from me. There’d be time enough later to deal with the rest.
Looming over me, silent and grey, Taggart gave a rough pat to my shoulder. A done-good acknowledgement, a thank you, maybe relief, I didn’t know.
Garrick burst through the gate, blood-soaked and grinning. ‘Reckon they’re onto us?’ he asked Taggart.
But the old man was counting heads. The Watchmen were blowing hard, a few of them torn. Banging and shouts still echoed from the top of the stairs. ‘Dillon?’ he asked.
‘Gone,’ Garrick replied shortly, before dismissing the rest of the men with orders. There’d be no rest for the wicked. Then, crossing to me, ignoring my protests, he hauled me to my feet and inspected every wound, his fingers not gentle.
‘You’re a fucking mess,’ he pronounced, without apology or explanation. ‘Gunna need to dress those burns. And I’ll be using that needle again.’
Like fuck he would.
‘See you finally listened,’ he said, and his smile was wide. Garrick was always happiest when he was sure of others’ misery. ‘You did all right.’ It was the only thanks I was likely to get.
‘So what now?’ I asked him. ‘How the hell do we get out of here?’
‘Ways and means, Jem,’ he replied, enigmatically.
And right on cue, Cade started with the demands, banging on as loudly as the Watchmen were doing upstairs: what was going on, why was he there, did Garrick realise what he’d done?
Garrick turned slowly, maybe more menacing than he needed to, a stranger to subtlety. ‘Well, would you look at that?’ he said. ‘Must be end o’ times, coz there’re Disses in my compound.’
Cade tightened his hold on Alex, pointlessly protective. ‘What do you intend to do with us?’
‘That depends on how well you cooperate, Commander.’
‘We’ll never cooperate with you,’ Alex retorted. Whether it was having Cade at her side, or because she already had plenty of indignation of her own, her fear had gone and the knife was out. After everything she’d been through, she was preparing to stand up to Garrick and I didn’t know whether to be proud of her, or fear for her.
‘I wasn’t talkin’ to you, so shut up,’ said Garrick. ‘The only reason you’re here is coz of Jem. It’s your husband we want. And I’d hate to think I just lost a man for nothing.’
‘You lost a man?’ she sneered. ‘A Watchman? I just lost my brother!’
‘Cry me a fucking Sea.’ Eyeing her knife, Garrick’s eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘You’d better put a leash on her, Cade. Or I will.’
I was waiting for Taggart to step in and take control but, just as he had back in Garrick’s office, he seemed content to stand back and let it play out. This was trial by fire, Watch-style, and maybe it was a good thing to get it over with. Fewer nasty surprises later on.
‘If you’re seeking our cooperation, this isn’t the best way to go about it,’ said Cade. That superior tone was back, grating on already frayed nerves.
But Garrick just laughed. ‘Oh, I dunno. Seemed to work real well for you when you had Jem up there in the Hills.’ It was a fair point.
‘What we did was nothing compared to what you just made him go through,’ said Alex.
Glancing at me, Garrick shrugged. ‘Jem knew what he was up for. Took his punishment and now it’s done.’
‘Just like that?’ she said, disgusted. ‘God, you make me sick.’
Another huge grin. ‘I wouldn’t worry too much. God makes everyone sick.’
‘That’s enough!’ Cade snapped. He was happy to leave his wife to fend for herself, but leapt in to defend the Almighty.
Amused, Garrick looked at Alex. ‘There is a bright side, though. What Reed did to you? Probably the only way you’ll get old Cade on his knees.’
Ignoring Cade’s shout, she lunged, slashing the blade across; Garrick leapt back, just in time. And still Taggart did nothing.
‘Fuck’s sake, stop!’ I lurched between them, pressed by their fury and terrified Garrick would give way to his instincts and kill her. She had no chance but that wasn’t stopping her, and she shuffled to get around me. For the second time, I grabbed at her arm.
‘Let me go!’
‘No, Alex. Put it away. We need him.’
‘You’re defending him now?’ He voice was high with hurt. ‘He’s a monster. Why should –?’
‘Coz he has that fucking message!’
An almost stunned silence followed, only the noise from the Watchmen above to be heard, before Alex twisted from my grasp, hissing her disappointment; if she lost it completely it’d be a hard call to know which of us she’d stab first.
‘Is that true?’ Cade asked Garrick, who was looking real pleased with himself. ‘So, that’s why we’re here. Why you rescued us. Because you can’t read it.’
‘Funny, ain’t it, the way things work out? Everything goin’ along so well, and then we’re tripped up by a fucking code.’
Cade smiled, the first I’d seen since that night on the road, and it was no warmer than before. ‘It always pays to be careful.’
‘Don’t it just?’ Garrick fingered a shirt pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper.
‘Are you shitting me?’ I said, staring. ‘You had that on you upstairs? What if they’d got you?’
‘Then you’d all be fucked, wouldn’t you? But it ain’t much, so let’s hope old Quinn didn’t dick around.’ He handed it across to Taggart. ‘You deal with this. I gotta check up top. Fuck knows what kinda mess they’re makin’ of wiring those stairs.’
I watched him disappear up the well. His Watch, his compound, and he’d defend it to the last. And I felt a strange relief at that, because I wasn’t capable of defending anything; it took everything I had just to fold myself back to the wall before I toppled onto stone. There was no doubt the atmosphere lightened a bit as soon as Garrick left, but Cade was still ramrod straight and Alex sulked beside him, watching Taggart and thumbing the blade of her knife. I was beginning to wish I’d never given it to her in the first place and I hoped she wasn’t planning to do anything stupid; Taggart only looked old.
‘If I decipher that message, what’s to stop you from killing us both once it’s done?’ Cade asked his first sensible question.
‘If all we wanted was the message, we’d have made your wife do it.’ Taggart replied, and Alex glared. ‘We’ve risked everything for this, brought on a storm of shit. But we’re down to seventeen Watchmen now, plus Garrick and me. We can’t take on the whole Guard, as well as whatever else is out there. So, wherever your Disses are – however many are left – we need ’em. We need you to rally them. That’s why you’re here.’
A startled silence, before Cade spluttered, ‘You spend years hunting us, and now you want our help? Is this a joke?’
‘I ain’t one for jokes,’ Taggart replied calmly. ‘Jem here’s shown you how far we’re prepared to go, and you know what we can do, saw it upstairs. But that was against what, twenty, maybe thirty Guards? We’re fuckin’ good, but we’re no army. We know the Tower, we know the way they think and work. You know the Guard and have the numbers. Put us together and maybe, just maybe, we can stop whatever it is that’s goin’ on.’
Another silence, while everyone stared and glared at each other and I did my best not to keel over. The cooperation was off to a good start. I was expecting more questions, more whys,
maybe a few whens and hows, and a shitload of explanations. But there was none of that. Might’ve been a whole lot different had Ballard been there.
‘So what is going on?’ I asked Taggart, surprised that Cade hadn’t thought to.
‘Not entirely sure, lad. But we need to work it out real fast so we can deal with it.’
Fine words, but finer still was what he hadn’t said; he’d give nothing away until he was sure of Cade, and even then I reckoned there was plenty he’d keep hidden. A lifetime’s habit was a hard thing to lose.
‘This is ridiculous! What you’re proposing is a war,’ said Cade.
‘Isn’t that what you wanted, Commander? Or were we all mistaken?’ Taggart cocked his head, and Cade stiffened.
‘What we wanted was a revolution.’
Taggart took his time replying, maybe as confused by this logic as I’d been by Ballard’s. But if Cade was going to show shades of the greatness Tate had talked about, I reckoned this was the time to do it.
‘All I’m saying is we need to bury our differences. Join forces before the Tower picks us off one at a time. And before word gets out to those we don’t want knowing,’ said Taggart.
Cade stiffened again at that last remark; clearly he understood Taggart’s meaning. But there was a long silence before he asked, ‘Can I see the message?’
‘Don’t you dare help them,’ Alex hissed.
‘This ain’t about you helping us, lass. This is about us helping each other. Like we showed you upstairs,’ said Taggart. Ignoring her growl, braving her knife, he walked across and held out the message to Cade. A sign of trust. Or a push to persuade.
I watched Cade puzzle over the piece of paper, the one the Tower assumed had been sent to him, but hadn’t made it through. Taggart watched too, his eyes fixed on the other man’s face, and I wondered if he was thinking what I was.
‘Well?’ he asked at last, calm enough but not wanting to waste more time than he had to. Cade looked up with a frown, before folding the paper, once, then again, like he was trying to make it vanish.
‘The port’s been sealed off. No access in or out. And something about a black Guard?’
‘What something?’ Taggart asked.
‘That’s all it says. “Black Guard, abort, abort.”’
Somewhere on the stairs, Garrick cursed and a Watchman bellowed. It seemed things were going well. But Taggart frowned.
‘Fenton said they’d been expecting Quinn to take the Port. So why seal it off?’ he asked. ‘And who the hell sends a message to abort by foot?’
The first I could only guess at, but the second I was sure of. ‘It was never intended for Cade.’
‘Of course it was,’ the man himself insisted. ‘All messages come through me.’
Maybe it was time to point out his need to start using the past tense, but I figured he’d learn soon enough.
‘Not this one,’ I said, and saw his sudden scowl; some people just didn’t know when to let go. ‘Taggart’s right. Something urgent like that, Quinn would’ve sent it by camel, or at least used the road. But he didn’t. He sent it across the hills.’
‘To the mine?’ Taggart asked.
‘Maybe. Amon was there. He knew the route I was taking.’
‘So Quinn tries to make contact with Ballard. Only that just leads us to another why.’ He gave a nod and filed it away for later, maybe for Garrick to chew on.
‘There’s something else,’ I said. ‘Reed was going on about people dying of thirst. Protecting the water would be a good reason to close the Port. But it doesn’t explain why they were so pissed Quinn didn’t do what he was supposed to.’
‘No, it doesn’t,’ Taggart agreed.
‘Unless they wanted it to happen,’ I said slowly, trying to remember. ‘Reed said something about the – I dunno, the dread of thirst being worse than dying of it? What if they wanted to make it look like the Disses had succeeded?’
‘What would be the point?’ Taggart said. ‘If the Tower wanted to withhold the water, all they’d have to do is stop running the Catchers.’
‘Yeah, but that wouldn’t make them too popular, would it? What if this whole thing isn’t about the Disses at all? What if it’s all about the water?’
There was a long silence before Taggart muttered, ‘Shit.’
Shit indeed, I thought. Had all Ballard’s efforts, all those wasted lives, Connor and Tate, had it all been for nothing?
But Taggart moved on. ‘What about the other thing? The black Guard?’ he asked.
Cade shook his head, having nothing to offer, and Alex glowered, not wanting to share. So I did it for her.
‘On the way up to the settlement we ran into a big group of Guards,’ I said, and Cade twitched, surprised or maybe just disappointed that he was only now finding out another thing he hadn’t been told. ‘Heading south, southeast. I reckon that’s why Fenton was so interested, why he kept asking what I saw. Ballard told me those Guards never showed at the settlement. So where were they going?’
‘How many?’ Taggart asked.
‘Half a contingent, at a guess. And that’s rough. But there could’ve been more I didn’t see. And you’d need a real big out-of-the-way place to hide that many of them.’
‘A place like the Port?’ Taggart suggested.
‘That’s what I’m thinking.’
Cade blustered by the wall. ‘You Watchmen aren’t the only ones who use those hills. And why would any Guards have to hide? What would be the point?’
Taggart eyed him, his forehead crinkling. ‘I don’t know, Commander. You tell us.’
As Cade fidgeted, I watched Alex, willing her to look at me, but she kept her head lowered. There was a sudden clatter on the stairs, closer, and then a string of curses; I recognised Garrick’s voice.
‘One more thing,’ I said, because it was best to face it head-on and get it over with. ‘Wherever they were headed, whatever they’d been sent to do, I reckon they would’ve taken down the mine after we left. And they would’ve had help from someone inside.’
‘No!’ Alex cried, and I knew she was thinking of her infirmary where she’d worked so hard, all those wounded and all their carers.
‘Think about it, Alex. Ballard wouldn’t have given up Connor. Neither would Tate. But someone did. Someone else who knew. Someone you trusted. They took Connor to use against me, and then they torched the place.’
‘Sorry, lass, but he’s right,’ Taggart said, any attempt at sympathy doused by hard practicality. ‘And you can bet the same thing’s happened to your other bases too.’
‘You don’t know –’
‘Yeah, we do, Alex,’ I cut in. ‘Coz we’d have done the same thing.’ Do Unto Others.
‘We, Jem?’ she asked, her eyes hard and her voice as cold as the air had been upstairs. Any hopes I might’ve had that she’d sit by my bedside and tend to my wounds like she had before were fast disappearing. ‘Are you still one of them? Even now, after everything that’s happened?’
‘Don’t, Alex.’ Please don’t. Not now. Not here. ‘We know some of the Disses got clear. Let’s just find them and then we’ll deal with the rest, okay?’
But I wasn’t holding out a lot of hope on either count; anyone who’d managed to get out would’ve scattered, and any ideas Alex might’ve had about future dealings probably weren’t going to include me.
‘And what about Tate and Connor?’ she asked. ‘Or have you forgotten about them too?’
I stared at her for a minute, unbelieving. ‘Look at me, Alex. What the fuck d’you want me to do?’
She wasn’t given the chance to reply. ‘They’ll be fine,’ said Taggart, and both of us turned, surprised.
‘Where are they? In the Tower?’ I asked, dreading the reply.
‘Not even in the Citadel, Jem.’
‘How d’you know?’
‘How d’you think?’ he countered, and I cursed inwardly. Garrick. ‘He’s had Mack out there since yesterday, keeping an eye on the place.’
‘Reckon we’ve done that already, lass.’ Taggart stared her down. ‘And any rescuing will be done by Jem. He’s earned the right. Once we’re clear there’ll be no coming back here, and I ain’t about to bring in any more bodies. We’re talkin’ a few days, no more. We keep the Tower distracted, and the two of ’em will keep.’
I would’ve gladly waived my rights if I thought it’d do any good; I was as keen as Alex to see Connor safe. ‘A shitload can happen in a few days, Taggart. You’d better not fuck this up.’
‘When have I ever steered you wrong, lad?’
‘You really want that list, old man?’
He just shot me one of his bleak smiles and turned to Cade. ‘What was the plan if things went wrong?’
‘Nothing was supposed to go wrong!’ he snapped, and maybe his embarrassment was justified because after so many years in the planning, having no contingency was just downright fucking stupid. I thought back to the meeting at the mine and all the reports I should’ve read but hadn’t; I couldn’t recall the details. Ballard might’ve been blinded by his own vision, but he hadn’t been a fool. He’d never have gone into this without some kind of backup. Tate would’ve known, but he wasn’t around, and Alex was staring at the ground again, scuffling her feet a little, suspiciously quiet.
‘I think your wife knows,’ I said to Cade, and when Alex lifted her head and glared at me, I saw her dismay; twice betrayed. But Cade just looked confused. ‘If Quinn thought there was any chance of that message getting through he’d have waited around for a reply. So where would he be, Alex?’
At her mutinous silence, Taggart said, ‘You really gunna undo everything your brother worked for? Everything you say you believe in? Don’t go there, lass.’
‘Tell them, Alex,’ Cade chimed in. ‘He’s right. We need a direction. If Quinn and Amon and the others are out there, we can’t just leave them. They need our help.’