The Temporal Void (ARC)

by Peter F. Hamilton

  Edeard was praying to the Lady that this raid would make him feel like a full part of the team again; and he had one last trick to make that a reality. 'No movement. The ge-eagles have been watching the street all night. Trukal and Harawold are still inside. Lian is with his girlfriend in Sampalok.'

  'What about Ivarl?'

  'Where he always is,' Edeard said. He was actually surprised by how little Ivarl ventured out of the House of Blue Petals; but then anyone he wanted to see responded quickly to his summons. There were Grand Council Masters who didn't command that much respect. On the plus side, that made it a lot easier for Edeard to keep watch on his opponent; by now he knew the House of Blue Petals better than any building in Makkathran except Jeavons station.

  For the last two weeks he'd eavesdropped on the plans for their robbery in Vaji district. It was audacious and impressive, breaking in to the Chemistry Guild yard during New Year's Eve, and stealing their stockpile of platinum ingots. The planning was meticulous, using over twenty gang members and four gondoliers. They'd gathered guard rosters, bribed a couple of Guild members to leave certain doors open, used girls to make sure other strategic people were away from their posts. They even staged a fight in a tavern to occupy constables from Vaji station - what could be more natural than a drunken brawl on New Year's Eve?

  Once he'd learned all that, the real manoeuvring game began. Edeard told the squads under his command that he'd got a source in Ivarl's gang, and there was a robbery being arranged. That took less than a day to get back to the gang master, and the resulting friction and suspicion it unleashed among otherwise trusted lieutenants was a joy to behold. Then Edeard convinced Ronark to allow the robbery to go ahead, promising his 'source' had revealed the hideaway where the ingots were to be stashed. That was where the constables' raid should take place, he insisted, after they'd let the gang think they'd got away with it, and hopefully luring out senior gang members to the hideaway as they began to fence the platinum to unscrupulous merchants and loose-moraled jewellers.

  After that, Ivarl called in Trukal and Lian to announce a slight change of plan that only the three of them would know about. Edeard almost laughed out loud as they quietly plotted their reverse deception. After all the deceit and counter-trickery was starting to muddle his head, but this wasn't about the robbery anymore. This was him and Ivarl going head on. Watching Ivarl from within his concealment, he could see his adversary knew that, too.

  Kanseen and Macsen arrived outside Edeard's maisonette. They looked eager.

  'No hangover?' Edeard enquired lightly.

  'Not from last night,' Macsen said. 'I have an example to set to the rest of your squads. I was in bed by nine o'clock with a cup of hot chocolate.' He winked at Boyd. 'Alisool knows how to make really good chocolate.'

  Kanseen wrinkled up her nose. 'Lady preserve us from your ego.'

  'Let's go,' Edeard told them.

  * * * *

  When they got to the Jeavons station, the two other squads that were under Edeard's command were already waiting for them in the small hall. Everybody was sharing the same anticipatory glow. Droal and Urarl, the squad leaders, both saluted, which Edeard returned scrupulously. He was doing his best not to direct any attention towards Vilby.

  'Everything all right?' Urarl asked. He was a couple of years older than Edeard, a third son from a smithy in the Cobara district. Strictly speaking he'd been due promotion, though he never showed any resentment towards Edeard for making corporal first.

  'They haven't moved,' Edeard assured everyone in the hall. 'Chae's team has been observing them all night. The ingots are there waiting for us, and we've identified seventeen gang members involved. The courts are going to be very busy this afternoon.'

  Captain Ronark led another three squads into the small hall. 'Ready to go?' he asked.

  'Yes, sir,' Edeard said.

  'Here's your weapons certificate,' the station commander said, handing over a small parchment with his official seal. 'I've just longtalked with the commanders of Neph and Bellis stations; they're reserving some squads to assist with the arrests. Good move, that. Don't want to put their noses out of joint.'

  'Thank you, sir.' Edeard looked up as Probationary Constable Felax hurried into the room. The lad was only seventeen; he'd joined up just after Birmingham Pool, along with twenty others. Chae claimed his life was now a nightmare trying to train so many worthless screw-ups. Privately, of course, he was loving it.

  'All the warrants signed, sir,' Felax said. 'Judge Salby says good luck.'

  Edeard put the warrants into his pocket without looking at them. 'You can stay with us for today, we'll need runners.'

  'Thank you sir,' Felax said worshipfully.

  'Okay, your attention please,' Edeard said, stepping up on a bench. 'The ingots taken from the Chemistry Guild are sitting underneath a house in Whitemire Street in Sampalok. They're being guarded by five or six armed gang members, however we expect more gang members to arrive this morning to begin distributing them to dodgy merchants across the city. Keeping the ingots in one place is risky for them. So we need to move in after those carriers arrive and before they leave. That will give us the maximum amount of people to arrest. Once we have recovered the ingots, we'll also be arresting everyone involved in the crime; but I have to stress we need the ingots as evidence. The first time I was in court with Arminel taught me that.'

  A ripple of laughter went round the room.

  'We have three ge-eagles and ten ge-hounds from this station as back up; and in addition we'll have a number of other squads from Bellis and Neph. We know some of the gang members are armed, which is why we're being issued with pistols; but please only use them as a last resort. I don't want any casualties. This is a big operation, and it's going to send a very loud New Year message from us constables to the gangs that this is going to be their last year in Makkathran.'

  Macsen and Dinlay led the applause and whistles.

  * * * *

  'It's going to be total chaos,' Macsen said as they made their way down the Grand Major Canal on a gondola, another four gondolas were following them carrying the rest of the squads.

  'Why?' Dinlay demanded irately. 'Edeard has done a great job organizing this.'

  'Oh yeah? Who has responsibility when we arrive? The squads from Bellis and Neph are going to want to grab the credit, and they'll be led by sergeants. No disrespect, Edeard, but there are too many constables involved. The squads aren't used to working as a big team.'

  'I know,' Edeard said. He sat back happily in the gondola, and smiled up at the sky. It had stopped snowing, with the clouds starting to clear. Strong fingers of winter sunlight were stabbing down to glare on the snow-clad buildings of the city. With people starting to return to work after the New Year holiday, Makkathran had an air of clean expectation. He liked that.

  'What are you up to?' Kanseen asked suspiciously.

  'Actually, it's a lot worse than Macsen says,' Edeard said cheerfully. He glanced back at the gondolier who was trying not to show too much obvious interest, and leaned forward to whisper to his friends. 'The gang knows we're coming.'

  'How?' Boyd asked.

  'My source told me.' In fact the link was a simple one. Three nights each week Vilby paid a visit to a private room in the Black Horse tavern where Nanitte was waiting for him.

  'Who in the Lady's name is this source?' Macsen demanded. 'Everything we've done these last weeks is governed by what they've told us - you!'

  'Can't tell you.' Edeard hadn't quite summoned up the courage to tell Macsen - of course, Macsen probably wouldn't even remember Nanitte.

  Macsen growled and slumped back.

  'So what do we do?' Dinlay asked.

  'Use their arrogance against them.'

  The squads from Bellis and Neph were waiting on the bridge by Mid Pool. Edeard's gondola pulled in to a mooring platform, and he got off to consult with the two sergeants in charge. Macsen had been right, their eagerness was palpable; Edeard knew they wouldn't
follow his polite requests to coordinate with him. It would end up in a rush to make the arrests. He took out a map and showed them where the suspect house was in Whitemire Street, and they agreed to a pincer movement with their squads going through Pholas Park while Edeard took his across Myco, so they could converge on the hideaway from opposite sides. If the gang members did sense them coming, they'd still be trapped.

  Edeard's gondola carried on down Great Major Canal, with Bellis on one side and Sampalok on the other. The difference was pronounced. Along the canal, the cylindrical buildings of Bellis were roofed by long twisting spires, cup-like juliet balconies bulged out of the walls as if they'd sagged open.

  Sampalok was made up from big tenements not dissimilar to the one Edeard lived in, except these were three or four times the size, and the maisonettes were smaller. Families here were packed in tight. The broad streets circling the tenements were cluttered with rubbish; the district's ge-monkey sanitation teams seemed unable to cope. It was worse than Ashwell had been. Ami that would be a good starting point, Edeard thought, improve basic living conditions, give people higher expectations. So why doesn't the District Master do something?

  As if reflecting their surroundings, the residents close to the canal stared sullenly at the gondoliers carrying the constables. They spat into the water and made obscene gestures. A few third hands nudged at the little craft. Gangs of kids jeered when they saw the uniforms.

  'Little buggers,' Boyd grunted.

  'They need to be shown a different way,' Edeard said. 'That's all.'

  'Too late,' Macsen said. 'This is what they know, it's the way life is lived here. You can't change it.'

  Edeard stared at the skyline of sturdy uninspiring buildings, thinking how he could improve them, the new forms and functions he could shape. 'Don't be too sure,' he whispered.

  Kanseen gave him a curious look, but said nothing.

  They all disembarked at First Pool and made their way into Myco. It was strange for Edeard seeing it in daylight for once. Nothing like as shabby as its neighbour, the small district was occupied predominately by the families of fishermen and shipbuilders, with a large Guild presence. They had a much stronger sense of community; pride Macsen called it.

  'News for you,' Chae's directed longtalk informed Edeard as I hey walked down Maley Street, not far from the House of Blue Petals.

  'What?'

  'You're not going to believe who's just turned up to examine the ingots.'

  'Who?'

  'The good Captain Ivarl, himself.'

  The squad members close to Edeard started grinning, hungry with anticipation.

  'That makes sense,' Edeard replied.

  'Lady, we've got him,' Boyd told the others, giving them a broad two thumbs up.

  'What do you mean?' Chae asked.

  'He's come to gloat,' Edeard told him. His own farsight showed him the squads from Bellis and Neph hurrying through Pholas Park. As expected, they already crossed into Sampalok via the bridge over Trade Route Canal, which put them a lot closer to the hideaway than Edeard. They'd arrive a good ten minutes early.

  'What are you thinking?' Kanseen asked shrewdly.

  Edeard halted the squads, and beckoned Felax forward. He handed an envelope over to the young probationary constable. 'I want you to go directly to the house in Whitemire Street and deliver this to the sergeants from the other squads.'

  The lad saluted. 'Yes, sir, Waterwalker.'

  'Quick as you can now,' Edeard said. He instructed one of the ge-eagles to keep watch on the lad as he started running.

  'What's happening?' Macsen demanded.

  'Slight change of plan,' Edeard announced. 'Follow me, please.'

  He turned off down Campden Avenue, which was lined with winter-flowering Jakral trees whose sky-blue puffball flowers were just budding. Water dripped of the encrustations of snow on their overhanging branches. There were a lot of whispers and longtalk queries behind him, which he ignored. They were heading away from Sampalok now; the avenue led straight to the Upper Tail Canal which bordered the Port district.

  'Dinlay,' Edeard called. 'Take Urarl's squad, and split off down the next alley.' He held up the map so only his friend could see it. 'That's the building we want; you come at it from this side,' his finger indicated. 'Make sure no one leaves, remember to watch the windows, and the roof.'

  'What's in there?' Dinlay asked.

  Edeard leant forward so his lips were almost touching Dinlay's ear. 'The ingots.'

  The switch had been made with considerable precision in the middle of the night. As the gondolas loaded with ingots made their way back from the Chemistry Guild yard to the safety of Sampalok they passed under several bridges along Roseway Canal, including the broad stone and iron archway at the end of Abad's Royal Boulevard, which led over to Nighthouse district. It took precision timing, but Ivarl made sure that another gondola was going in the opposite direction at exactly the same time. For a few seconds the gondolas were out of direct view of the ge-eagles which the constables were using to observe them. The solid bridge structure made farsight difficult especially when the gondolas were surrounded by a seclusion haze. Identical boxes were thrown between the gondolas.

  Edeard had to admire how smoothly they'd managed it. What Ivarl hadn't taken into account was for Edeard to know the plan in its entirety, and be using the sight of a ge-cat swimming idly under the bridge. Grand Master Finitan had been happy to help, loaning Edeard fifteen of the genistars so he could position several under each bridge. Once Edeard had confirmed the switch had been made, it was easy for him to track the new gondolas as they took a long route back round to Myco, where they landed the boxes at a slipway. Ivarl's men carried the boxes into a fisherman's warehouse.

  'Oh dear,' Chae's sardonic longtalk reverberated round Edeard's squads. 'Captain Ivarl seems to be upset about something.' His gifted sight showed the gang master rushing out of the house in Sampalok, his face red, almost running. Several of his lieutenants were following, their expressions anxious.

  Edeard grinned at the warehouse, twenty yards ahead now. The big doors were open, showing a gloomy interior filled with barrels. Several fishermen and women were sitting outside, mending nets. More nets were hung up in great loops inside, drying off.

  'Seal it up,' Edeard told his squads.

  The people working on the nets looked up in alarm as the constables appeared. Ge-eagles swooped low, keeping a keen eye on the slipway leading into the warehouse. Ge-hounds growled in warning.

  'Please remain where you are,' Edeard announced. 'I have a warrant to search the premises.'

  Dinlay and two constables blocked one of the fishermen who tried to sprint away.

  'Kanseen, take Macsen and Droal inside, have a scan round for me, please. You might want to check the cellars.'

  'You sneaky beast,' she muttered, grinning as she went into the warehouse.

  Then Edeard's farsight caught someone running down the slipway on the other side of the warehouse. He jumped off the side of the canal, holding the surface of the water firm as he landed. It held his weight, with only a slight dint under each foot as he ran round to the slipway. People on the other side of the wide canal stooped and stared. Fingers were pointed. Cheers echoed across the icy water. Children called their friends to watch. It was the Waterwalker, they cried, he's doing it again.

  Edeard arrived at the end of the slipway. Lian was there, trying to push a small dinghy into the water. 'Don't go,' Edeard asked nicely. 'We're only just getting started.'

  Lian was longtalking frantically. One hand went to the coat pocket with his pistol.

  Edeard gave him a warning look. 'It didn't do Arminel any good. Remember?'

  Lian glared furiously, but backed away from the boat, raising his hands. Droal came down the slipway behind him and removed the pistol before slapping on the handcuffs.

  'What is going on?' demanded the sergeant from Bellis station. Edeard's farsight observed them arriving at the house in Sampalok.

/>   'We farsighted them moving the stolen items earlier,' Edeard replied, keeping his mental tone level as he examined the dinghy. 'Didn't have time to tell you. Sorry. My runner has a list for you. It has the names of everyone involved in the Chemical Guild robbery. Most of them live in the tenements close to the hideaway. Would you arrest them, please?' He was aware of the callous humour shining out of Chae's mind as the Bellis sergeant snatched the envelope from Felax.

  'Oh, Lady,' Kanseen exclaimed. 'Edeard, you've got to see this.'

  'On my way,' he said.

  The cellar under the warehouse was one of Ivarl's clandestine stores. Edeard had only taken a fast sweep with his farsight a couple of days earlier for fear of attracting attention. He'd noted the crates, bottles, and sacks piled up in the three vaulting cellars underneath. There were a lot of them.

  Macsen and Urarl began opening crates, finding an astonishing array of expensive silverware. Smaller boxes contained jewellery. The sacks held bales of raw drosilk. There were bags of tea and spices from provinces hundreds of miles along the coast. Mottles of fortified wines were stacked to the arching ceilings.

  'It's going to take a week to list all this,' Urarl said in astonishment. They'd only opened the first few boxes in one cellar.

  'Help's on its way,' Edeard assured him.

  By wonderful coincidence Ronark arrived at the same time as Ivarl. The Jeavons captain led three gondolas carrying accountants from the Guild of Clerks, who had followed Edeard down the Great Major Canal at a leisurely pace. They moored to the slipway at the same time Ivarl came hurtling out of Campden Avenue, out of breath and very very angry.

  'I forgot you said you lived around here.' Edeard smiled at the gang master. 'How nice to see you again.'

  Ivarl glared at Edeard, then at the impassive Captain Ronark. His gold-topped cane was raised. He hesitated.

  'Is there something we can do for you?' Edeard asked as Dinlay and Kanseen carried the first boxes of ingots out of the warehouse. Ivarl's wild-eyed stare switched to the boxes with their precious contents.

  'Would you like to retrieve something in here, perhaps?' Edeard continued. 'We'll need to see an invoice of course. There are a great many items stored in the cellars. Strangely, the Mayor's port inspectors have no record of them being landed at Makkathran, and consequently no duty being paid. I'm sure the accountants will soon calculate how much is owed on them. Until then they'll be placed in a city store. Perhaps someone will come forward to claim them and pay the tax.'