The Last City

by Nina D'Aleo

  ‘I’ve considered it and you’re probably right, but we’re out of options and time,’ Copernicus replied. ‘You can stand aside if you want – wait until we have a fixed location on your brother.’

  Shawe shook his head. ‘I’m in.’

  ‘Final checks, then,’ Copernicus said. He took out the rings, bounced them jingling in one hand, then slipped them back inside his jacket. He didn’t like going in with them on him, but he couldn’t leave them behind either. They were too important. As long as they had the rings, they could stall the Skreaf’s plan, which gave them longer to figure out how to destroy them. The others stood watching him.

  ‘Diega, go lead. Have the transflyer ready,’ he instructed.

  The Fen nodded. She jumped up the ladder and pushed out through the hatch.

  Copernicus and the others followed her, moving silently through the pipes back up into the church. Once everyone was out, Copernicus replaced the tile and glanced around at the Catadral. The flickering flames from millions of tiny candles lit the great building. It was empty save for one human-breed. She stood at the front, singing before a statue of the Great God. Her voice rose, echoing, haunting. Copernicus saw Silho staring up at the painted ceiling of the church. She was clenching and unclenching her fists and her heat signature flared around her head and hands as she struggled for control. She was stronger than before, but still far from stable. He had grave doubts that the five minutes of training he’d given her would be enough to get her through going back out into the city, but they had little choice now. Silho’s fate and their world’s survival were inescapably intertwined. Copernicus could only hope that the power he’d glimpsed in her would surface and overcome. Silho managed to drag her eyes downward. She shook her head once as though to clear her mind then headed towards the front entrance of the Catadral, where Diega had morphed the stolen transflyer EnvyMe back to shape and had it hovering, waiting. Copernicus moved to follow her. Before he reached the entrance, Shawe stepped out in front of him, blocking his path. Copernicus tried to sidestep him, but the gangster grabbed his jacket and held tight.

  ‘I want a word,’ Shawe said.

  ‘We don’t have time.’

  ‘Tough,’ he spat. ‘I need to say . . . We can’t change what happened back then and I don’t see any point in crying and moaning about it now – but I shouldn’t have done what I did with Marley.’

  Copernicus felt a knife twist in his back at the mention of her name.

  ‘I regret it,’ the gangster continued with difficulty, an apology as uncommon and uncomfortable for Shawe as giving birth to a beer keg.

  Copernicus swallowed slowly. Because of him, Shawe’s father was dead.

  ‘Your father —’ Copernicus began.

  ‘Trutt that old sod,’ Shawe cut him off. ‘He ran out into open fire and got the end he wanted. I couldn’t care less. He didn’t give me a damn thing except bruises. But Stacy . . .’ He cleared his throat. ‘My point is, I can’t make up for what I did, and you can’t change what you did, but I’m asking you now – for the mates we used to be. If I die, find my brother, just . . . find him.’ Shawe’s hands slipped off Copernicus’ jacket and the two stepped apart. Diega revved the engines of the transflyer and they both hurried towards the craft.

  Copernicus paused just before he left the church. He drew his blade and studied the worn ebony pearl handle. All his life he’d been denying what he was – what he could do. When his father had found out that Copernicus had true Illusionist skill, he’d tried to kill him in a jealous rage – but now Silvan Kane was dead and he can’t hurt me anymore. As soon as the thought entered his mind he felt stupid, having to reassure himself the way he had every night as a child after Shawe had helped him escape. He’d survived the memories by pushing them away, by distracting himself first with his life in the gangs and then with his job, all the while understanding that one day he would have to face up to everything that happened if he ever wanted to really escape. That day was still to come – but not today. Today was just about surviving. If they survived then he would worry about emotional cleansing.

  Breathing in deeply, he held his blade to the snake pattern of his arm. The weapon vanished into his skin. They were going into combat blind, and if it was a trap, he wanted to have a few counter-tricks of his own.

  Copernicus ran the last few steps to the entrance of the Catadral and climbed into the waiting craft.

  ‘Take us up,’ he said to Diega.

  She lifted the flyer up to roof level beside the Catadral belltower. The commander sent out his senses. He found a concentration of body-heat signatures he recognised as United Regiment soldiers all along the major skyway between their level and Level 420, where the Castlereagh Holding was located.

  ‘We’ll have to take the backroads,’ he told the Fen.

  She veered the craft to the right and took off.

  They were forced to take several more detours to avoid subsequent skyblocks and their path took them to the outskirts of the Gangland. A massive cloud of smoke hung over Greenway and fires still glowed inside many buildings. Shawe said nothing. He just stared down at his fallen kingdom, his home, flames reflecting in the green of his eyes.

  Beyond the Greenway breakwall, a storm had gathered over the Matadori. Electricity ripped through heavy black-green clouds. A savage wind whipped acid rain towards the city. The closer the team flew to the holding, the more skyblocks appeared. Soon there were no flight options left and they had to land and go on foot.

  Copernicus led the team through the backstreet shadows of Castlereagh until they reached the outer perimeter fence of the prison. They crouched beneath a sign that warned trespassers would be shot on sight. A fine spatter of rain began to fall and a steamy scent rose from the concrete.

  Copernicus pulled his hood over his head and studied the holding security. Squadrons of state soldiers patrolled the area between the outer perimeter fence and the inner fence that penned in a cluster of square concrete buildings. The soldiers moved in a crisscross formation to minimise unguarded ground and blind spots. Rain hit the inner fence and sparked away from the electrified razor wire. Guard towers stood on either side of the entrance gate, both with spotlights roving over the prison facility. A military surveillance craft made continual droning fly-bys over the Holding buildings. The security was beyond intense, and that was just the measures they could see. Who knew what traps and tricks the witches had laid? The only way in that Copernicus could see was to distract the soldiers and guards long enough for them to break into the building. He hated the messiness of a smash and grab, but his personal preferences were irrelevant.

  Diega squeezed his arm and he glanced at her. SevenM, strapped to Diega’s chest, had started to twitch. The robot’s red eyes flickered on and off. It meant Jude was alive and near. Copernicus reached his senses towards the buildings and felt an unusual drag of air, as though he were pushing through a net of magics. He glimpsed Jude’s heat signature inside the largest of the buildings and pulled back immediately. It was possible the witches had already sensed him. They had to make their move. He turned to Diega.

  ‘Have you ever tried to control a craft without having physical contact with it?’ he asked his soldier.

  The Fen shook her head. ‘Not sure it’s possible, but I can try.’

  ‘Then try,’ Copernicus said. ‘We need that sky patroller brought down into one of the guard towers. And Raine,’ he addressed the spectral-breed standing in the wall beside them. ‘Can you use your magics to call up the water out of the ground and down from the sprinkler system inside all the buildings? We need as much water as possible to cover us.’

  The Wraith gave a silent nod.

  Copernicus saw the flyer making another pass over the buildings and said, ‘Diega, now.’

  The Fen scrunched her eyes shut and gathered her electrosmith strength. Her hair sparked and the lights around the perimeter fence began to blow one after another as the force of her skill intensified. Copernicus and the
others watched the military flyer start to struggle. Its tail lagged down and its engines roared to maximum capacity as the pilots fought to keep control. The flyer started to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster. With the strength of her mind, Diega brought the distressed craft down into the right-hand guard tower, crashing the structure to the ground with an explosion of metal and fire. Panic erupted, alarms screamed, lights flashed and squads of soldiers ran towards the crash site. The spotlight of the left tower remained focused on the debris of its twin.

  ‘Now!’ Copernicus said. He grabbed the metal-cutter blade from his belt and slashed a hole in the perimeter fence. The team dashed across the concrete as the ground ruptured all around them and powerful jets of water exploded into the air, concealing their body-heat.

  They reached the inner electrified fence. Copernicus cut the razor wire, his hands protected by his electro-proof gloves. They went through one by one, careful not to touch the sharp, zapping sides. The commander led them along the side of the main building, towards an entry door where two guards, wearing anti-stunning electro-proof armour, held their posts. Diega fired a sleeper dart into the exposed neck of each guard and they fell instantly, silently. She morphed the locks on the side door and they entered the building.

  Water gushed from the overhead sprinkler system and the alarm sirens blared. The building lights had failed, leaving only a blue glow from backup generator globes. As soon as they were inside the building, SevenM’s eyes flared. The arachnid robot dragged himself out of the sling and, jumping down, took off. The team followed him, keeping to the sides of the corridor. Soldiers ran past them, distracted, unseeing. SevenM led them through the facility, bringing them to the prison area. Two heavily armed guards stood on either side of the cell block door. They were huge: three-eyed gargantuan special-ops commandos. Shawe charged towards them. One of the soldiers got a shot off, but it didn’t breach the gangster’s skin. He hit them front-on and took both of them down, grappling with them on the ground.

  Copernicus hurdled over them and smashed through the door into the prison area. He paused. Thousands of Androts – men, women and children – packed the prison cells with standing room only. They gripped the bars and stared at him with fear. He nodded to Diega. She ran to the control panel beside the door and fried the central locking system. All of the barred doors slid open and the Androts poured out. Over the top of the surging masses Copernicus spotted the shimmer of red lights. Jude stepped into sight at the other end of the corridor, with SevenM riding his shoulder. The soldier moved unsteadily, gripping the bars to support himself.

  Copernicus cut through the crowd with Diega and Silho right behind him. When he was within reach, he grasped Jude’s metal arm and the Ar Antarian jolted. His silver skin was a sickly pale grey and he had a deep cut in his neck, spilling white Androt blood all over his clothes. The wound revealed a faint half-caste Androt barcode reading 939994, which had been hidden by fake skin. The numbers immediately brought to Copernicus’ mind the barcode of the Androt Kry, who had been missing from Fortitude Hill. It was 939993. This coding match meant Kry and Jude were half-brothers.

  Copernicus felt a ripple of surprise. He’d known from his interrogation of the Vice-Standard that Jude was a half-breed of some kind, and had suspected, since they’d discovered the white blood in Moris-Isles, that he was part Androt. Now he knew for sure why the Vice-Standard had tried to kill Jude. He and the rest of the king’s people would never have allowed a machine-breed to take the throne. And it didn’t feel coincidental that Jude and Kry were related and that the witches had targeted both of them. It suggested to Copernicus that the Skreaf needed someone from their bloodline, but for what purpose?

  Diega hugged onto Jude and Shawe crashed into both of them. He grabbed the injured soldier by the front of his shirt and shouted over the noise of the alarms and escaping Androts, ‘Where’s my brother?’

  Jude just stared at him, his electric blue eyes glowing in the muted light.

  Raine appeared in the wall just ahead of them and hissed, ‘They’re coming. She’s here – Bellum.’

  As she spoke the words, Copernicus felt the awful prickling sensation of the High Skreaf’s presence. Diega snarled and Shawe armed his electrifier. Both of them turned to face the door where they’d entered.

  ‘No time!’ Copernicus said, shoving them all towards the back of the prison area. Jude stumbled and Diega grabbed his arm to support him.

  They found a door and joined the stream of escapees running through the back corridors towards the building’s exit. They soon hit an assemblage of guards blocking their path. The guards opened fire and Androt civilians fell screaming all around them. Shawe ran out in front of the team, electricity glancing off his skin. Diega morphed everything she could see into weapons, which Raine, using Cos magics, turned into projectiles. Those guards who managed to dodge the missiles Silho hit hand to hand. She drew from their body-lights and smashed them backwards. Copernicus ran upside-down along the ceiling, gunning down whoever was left standing. The guards tried to target him, but were disorientated by his position. A shot struck him at waist level, snapping the locking gauge of his weapon belt. It crashed to the ground, but he didn’t stop to retrieve it. They finally hit the exit door and burst out of the building.

  The fury of the storm had broken over the city. Booms of thunder trembled the ground and explosions of electricity struck rooftops and transflyers in mid-flight, obliterating whatever they touched. A brutal wind drove rain into their faces and gigantic hailstones dropped like ice bombs from the sky. Through the confusion of running people, Copernicus spotted the hole where they had entered. Diega staggered under Jude’s weight. Copernicus grabbed the Ar Antarian’s other arm and the two of them dragged him towards the fence and through the hole. Shawe and Silho ran right behind them, but before they could pass through, the fence’s backup security kicked in, replacing the cut-out section with a virtual fence that would carve them into pieces if they tried to jump through.

  ‘Keep going, we’ll find another way!’ Shawe yelled. He took off with Silho in the opposite direction.

  Copernicus cursed, but they had to keep running as electricity zapped all around them and the spotlight of the guard tower swung their way. He and Diega fled with Jude across the stretch towards the perimeter fence. They crashed through where they had entered and didn’t stop. It was unsafe for Diega to launch the transflyer until they were clear of the guard tower’s gun range.

  They ran through the backstreets, taking corner after corner until one turn brought them to a sudden stop. Two cloaked Skreaf witches stood blocking their path. Diega reeled back and she and Jude toppled onto the road. Copernicus instinctively grabbed at his weapon belt, but it was gone. He snatched the knife he’d hidden in his arm and slashed at the witches while they were still forming their curses. They both fell. One was hurt but started to regenerate straightaway, the other he’d mortally injured. The demon ripped out of the dead host body and discarded the skin like a wet coat.

  Copernicus didn’t pause to a have a good look at the sinewy demon dripping mucus and blood. He grabbed Jude and Diega and hauled them at a sprint up the side of a nearby building all the way to the roof.

  ‘Diega, launch now!’ he yelled over the scream of the storm. The rain had turned to acid and bit at their faces. The Fen dragged the silver coin out of her pocket and morphed it back into its original transflyer form. In a sudden rush of movement, Jude grabbed Copernicus’ blade from the commander’s hand. He backed away from them and held it up to his own neck.

  ‘It’s my blood they need. It’s my blood . . . I can’t let them get it. This is the only way. I’m sorry,’ he said, the tip of the knife drilling into his flesh.

  Copernicus detected the vibration of the demons climbing up the side of the building after them. With no time to reason, he struck out and grabbed Jude’s arm. He spun the Ar Antarian around and pinned his arms behind his back. Diega snapped restraints around his metal wrists. Cop
ernicus dragged open the transflyer door and threw Jude onto the backseat. SevenM scuttled in with him and Copernicus slammed the door shut. In a momentary pause of storm sound, he heard a scream echoing into the night. He recognised the voice.

  ‘It’s Shawe,’ he said to Diega. ‘I have to find Brabel. Go back to the hide. We’ll meet you there. Don’t release Jude until I’m back.’

  Diega panted, dripping wet, her skin a pale grey.

  ‘Go!’ He pushed her.

  She scrambled into the flyer and took off, dodging blasts of electricity from the sky. Copernicus ran across the building and leapt from that rooftop onto the next. He headed towards the screams, sensing the net of a trap closing in all around him.

  30

  Eli stumbled out of the Murk and into a room at the Scorpia State Hospital. He tripped on a bed leg and fell flat on his face on the cold floor. Ev’r’s boots thudded down beside his head and she dragged him up.

  ‘You have serious problems, don’t you?’ she said unhelpfully.

  ‘Yes, and I’m not alone.’

  A shadow appeared at the frosted glass panel in the door and they both dropped behind the bed. The door handle rattled and the hinges creaked open. Eli peeped around the metal bedframe and saw two uniformed guardians standing in the doorway. Their faces were vaguely familiar, as though he might have seen them in the corridors once or twice. They scanned the room, waited there a moment then backed out, closing the door behind them. Eli sighed in relief. The sheets near his nose smelt of bleach and were coarse to the touch. Machines peeped and bleeped above them, the robotic monitoring systems positioned in a circle around the bed like concerned relatives.

  Eli stood up and gazed at the survivor of the Galleria attack. He felt a jolt of surprise to see a young Androt man lying still, his eyes restfully closed. A black stain, identical to the darkness on the dead Galleys’ faces, spread over the pale skin of the Androt’s cheek and down to his neck, smudging the tips of his barcode numbers – 939963. Newly formed grey scars covered his chest and arms. A more serious wound on his shoulder was still healing, tendons, muscles, flesh and skin re-knitting as they watched.