The Tremblers

by Raquel Byrnes

  “He was a benefactor. I rarely saw him and when I did it was because I’d risen in rank or passed a gauntlet; always for official reasons, never personal. That is why I didn’t know he had a child.” He rubbed his face with both palms, clearly nearing exhaustion. “I—I never knew about you…not one thing. I had to find out when he went missing and The Order sent me to locate him. I never even knew he lived in New York. I only saw him in Missouri. He kept his personal life very hidden.”

  “How long,” I repeated. “When did you first meet my father, Ashton?”

  “Since my eighth year.”

  The enormity of Ashton’s revelation hit me, took my breath away. All those years of my father’s constant traveling. Those times my mother and I spent holidays alone were finally made clear. I was not his only child. Not really. Nor was I the one he meant to belong to The Order.

  “You are why he told me nothing of this,” I said and finally understood. “He never meant me to succeed him. I was never his legacy.”

  Ashton held my gaze, comprehension in his eyes. “It was me.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Perhaps he had doubts all along,” Ashton murmured. “And I was the one he was willing to sacrifice if he was wrong.”

  “A trade.” My soul ached for Ashton, for the boy who trusted in benevolence despite all he’d been through. “He traded you for me.”

  16

  A distant rattle startled me awake. Blinking in the night, I listened to the mournful wail of the Trembler but a few rooms away. The memory of its shuddering limbs sent a trill of fear through me and I pushed the image from my mind. It was cold and I wished for my father’s cloak as I huddled in the gauzy blouse and leather bodice. Curling my legs underneath the muslin skirt, I hugged myself and tried to keep my teeth from chattering.

  A soft snore to my right pulled my gaze to Ashton’s prone figure. Long and lean, his legs stretched over the end of the cot. Refusing to speak, he’d left me alone to my tortured thoughts. I could not correlate what I knew of my noble father with what I’d just learned.

  The Order, Ashton, the Tremblers…he’d left me in the dark; unprepared and ignorant to what I now faced. How could he have kept such important knowledge a secret? A rueful laugh escaped my lips. It appeared he’d made a habit of doing that. Keeping secrets must be second nature to a spy.

  Sheriff Riley’s words came back to me; the break in his voice when he spoke of them as friends and brothers. This was more widespread than I’d realized. Under the dome, up here in Outer City, they were everywhere. What could cause such a treacherous affliction?

  I thought of the way the toxic vapor from the quake chasms affected our lives. The masks and filters in the electro-rail cars, all the precautions to keep the acrid mist at bay, but it still seeped in. You could never really keep anything out. Sick dawning spread through me as I realized the only two possibilities.

  The Tremblers were all exposed to the same thing, or whatever caused the deformities was spreading.

  We had to stop this, soon. Before the death sentence struck the whole population.

  Commotion outside the window snagged my attention and I climbed onto the cot, trying to peer over the ledge.

  Screams rose, the din of panic growing louder.

  “Ash,” I rasped.

  “Charlie?” He sat up, rubbing his eyes. “What is the matter?”

  “Something is wrong.”

  Ashton hefted himself up by his arms to look out. He dropped back down, his face going pale in the wan light through the window. Running to the cell door, he craned his neck, attempting to peer out. “Riley!”

  “What are you doing?” I hissed. My cell afforded me a better look and I spied a lawman asleep at the Sheriff’s desk. “Don’t wake him up.”

  “Yes, wake him up. Make as much noise as you can.” Ashton banged on the bars with both hands. “Riley!”

  “It’s not the sheriff. It’s his ogre with the lightning wand.” I didn’t like the concern on Ashton’s face. “Tell me what is wrong.”

  “The soldiers found you.” He shook his head. “This doesn’t make sense…”

  “What do you mean—?”

  A blast rolled over us, the explosion slamming me against the bars. Outside debris rained against the window and a violent shudder rocked the jailhouse. I tensed, a scream caught in my throat.

  The lawman startled awake, his gun drawn before his feet hit the floor. Keys in his hand, his mouth fell open as the whole jail rocked violently.

  “Let us out,” Ashton yelled. “Unlock the doors.”

  “Stay quiet,” the lawman shouted and ran from view.

  “What’s happening?” I screamed. The whole floor tilted and I grabbed onto the bars to keep from toppling back. “It’s the Security Force, isn’t it? Why are they doing this? Why not just come and take me?”

  Ashton reached through our adjoining bars. “They know Riley wouldn’t give up without a confrontation.” His gaze snapped to the window with another blast. “It’s a distraction. They’ll be here any moment.”

  “But we’re trapped!”

  “Hold on, Charlie,” he panted, straining to get to me. Equipment flew off the shelves and our cots skidded across the floor. Sparks from bursting incandescents bit at my arms and I yelped.

  Riley appeared at the threshold, keys in his hand. He unlocked my door, swinging back with it as another explosion rocked the walls. He dropped the keys and grabbed at me. “Give me your hand,” he demanded.

  “What about Ashton?”

  Riley trained his gun on me as I scrambled for the keys.

  “They want you,” Riley snapped and yanked my arm.

  I wrenched free, tossing the ring of keys to Ashton.

  Riley growled, grabbing me again and pulling me toward the door. “Now, let’s go!”

  We fought our way to the main room and when I looked through the window, I gasped as everywhere, everything jolted in the moonlight.

  A bloom of red and orange lit up the far sky as people ran, shouting and grabbing onto vessels and falling wares. The gas lamps nearby toppled over, breaking open with the smell of sweet oil.

  An igniter flared next to me in Riley’s hand, lighting up his face. “Watch her,” he snapped to the lawman and ran to the front of the jailhouse. He peered outside, bracing himself in the door jam. “I’ll bring the craft around. Keep her here,” he shouted and was gone.

  I staggered as the floor shifted, nearly throwing me to the ground.

  “Charlie!” Ashton yelled as he tore from the jail room.

  I lunged for him, falling to my hands and knees.

  The whole building shook, wracked with unseen force. The chandelier filaments burst, flashing shadows as it snapped from the chain, crashing inches from my face. Papers and books, equipment and furniture tumbled across the ground banging into me as I clawed just to keep from hitting the walls.

  Ashton crawled toward me, his hands brushing my legs just as I skidded in the other direction. The groan of metal vibrated through me as the roof beam twisted overhead.

  “Move. Get under cover,” he shouted.

  “An explosion,” I panted. “I saw it, one of the tower propellers!” Scrambling to my feet, I ran to him, but the lawman was there, shoving me to the floor again.

  “Run, Charlie.” Ashton’s arms shot out, driving the lawman backwards. “She’s going down.”

  “What?” I froze, my thoughts a tangled web of panic. “What’s going down?”

  “The whole port.”

  Through the doorway, illuminated by circling Aero Squad ships, the south tower’s propeller billowed with black smoke. It wobbled in rotation as the blades quivered with every pass.

  Riley’s form filled the entryway again. “Union Soldiers,” he shouted, his face tight, enraged. “How did they find you? Your foolish loyalty, Ashton! Countless will die for it.” Growling he pounced for Ashton who snapped to his feet a moment before their bodies flew into a tangle of blows.
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  The lawman lumbered toward them, his large frame careening off the wall as he tried to help Riley.

  Across my vision, the lightning stick rolled just out of reach. I dove headlong across the floor, my hand closing around the shaft as I brought it up and connected it with the lawman. Blinding sparks flew and he shuddered, going down. He swiped at me with a meaty fist and I jabbed him again, gritting my teeth at the smell of burning flesh. He went limp.

  “Ash,” I shouted and his gaze snapped to me as I brandished the stick.

  With a feral shout, he shoved Riley back, his hand extending toward me.

  I tossed the weapon.

  Riley drew a gun, firing as he fell, the blast lashing pain through my head. He missed by millimeters but Ashton was already moving, parrying with the stick as if it were a sword, shocking Riley in the chest before striking the pistol out of his hand. Riley surged forward and Ashton jumped back, arms out to his sides, just out of reach. He lunged with the stick, searing Riley’s shoulder.

  “They will use her against Blackburn. They’ll torture her for what he knows. If he gives up that information it will destroy any hope of stopping the plague,” Riley yelled, his lip bloody.

  “You don’t know that.” Ashton scooped up the Sheriff’s pistol, holstering it as he fought the sway of the building. “You don’t know what is causing this.”

  “I know the Governors,” Riley spat. “I know they tore this country to pieces to seize control after the quakes.” He pulled a dagger from his waist, his eyes locked on mine. “Tell me what your father told you.”

  “Riley, no,” Ashton shouted as he swung the lightning stick, connecting with the sheriff’s back. The jolt threw him to the floor with wracking seizures.

  Riley moaned, still trying to reach me, dragging himself along the planks.

  I scrambled to my feet, clinging to a beam, my eyes locked on Riley. The feel of my father’s journal was snug against my chest. I clutched at my bodice, holding it close.

  “I will stop it,” I promised Riley. “I will.”

  Overhead, a creaking grew so loud it filled my ears with pain. My heart nearly stopped at the sight of a fissure skittering across the roof. The tether. The cables to the tower would surely snap.

  “The ceiling—it’s tearing,” I cried. Ashton moved toward me, leaving Riley where he writhed.

  “We have to get to a vessel. Something with its own power...a dirigible at the slips.” He took my hand.

  Stumbling on shaking legs, I fought the tilt of the jailhouse to get to the door. A final crack and one of the ceiling cables broke. The whole room shifted sideways and everything tumbled through the breadth of the room to the other end. I flailed in the emptiness, falling.

  Ashton’s hand shot out, grabbing my wrist, catching us with his other hand clutching the foot rail of the counter. The thick metal pipe resonated with our weight.

  Pain streaked through my shoulder. I cried out, flailing for Ashton with my other hand.

  Riley dangled from the same rail, his face a mask of fury as he made his way, hand over hand, toward us.

  The jailhouse swung wildly on the final tether, ramming us against the floor at our side.

  “One for many,” Riley shouted. “That is what your precious Order believes.” He closed his gloved hand around my arm, yanking. “Time to choose, Ashton, save her or escape. You cannot have both.”

  I looked up at Ashton hanging above me, his hand slipping. He shook with the strain of holding us, and anguish played across his face. “Charlie…”

  Below, the open door of the jailhouse lent a view of the vast drop from the sky.

  My teeth chattered, quaking to the core.

  Rotors vibrated from far off as airships and dirigibles disconnected from the port and pulled away from the crumbling structure.

  A fire whooshed to life behind the counter, the flames licking along the wood just above our heads.

  Riley grimaced in the wavering light. “If you drop with her, you’ll rip her in two.” He squeezed with the mech-glove sending a flare of pain through me. “I won’t let go.”

  Panic rising, I saw Ashton’s gaze flit to the gun at his waist. Lips tight, his eyes found mine. “Will you trust me, Charlie?”

  I shouldn’t. I knew that, but I had no choice. Blinking back the tears, I nodded just enough. “Yes,” I cried.

  In one motion Ashton let go of the rail, drawing his weapon as he fell. He fired, and in the blinding flash, I tumbled with him into the expanse.

  17

  I screamed as we cartwheeled along the furniture and counters of the jailhouse like ragdolls. Clawing at the falling debris, I floundered for a hand hold as the open door rushed toward me.

  Ashton hit the door frame first, cushioning the impact as he rolled us to the side of the doorway against the wall.

  I lay along his torso, stunned, every bone in my body aching.

  The fire overhead, the only light in the building, sent shaky shadows throughout the devastated jailhouse.

  “Are—are we dead?” My eyes watered with pain. I tried to get my bearings, blinking in the near dark.

  “Not yet,” Ashton said, his jaw at my ear, breath coming in labored gasps. “Are you injured?”

  “Where is Riley?” My gaze snapped overhead, to the rail where he’d been hanging. He was gone.

  “He’s fine,” Ashton groaned and scrambled to his feet, taking me with him. “He most likely climbed to one of the windows. Riley won’t let them get away without a few holes in their armor.”

  “You missed?”

  “I don’t miss.” His hand slid over my fingers. “I wasn’t trying to kill him. Besides…” He peered upwards. “He’s not what worries me.”

  Overhead, a groan of metal sounded followed by the low twang of the frayed cable. It was breaking one strand at a time and the thought sent a chill through me. Swaying on shaking legs, I stood looking down at the skiffs and rotor bikes passing beneath the jailhouse door. A wave of nausea assaulted me and I teetered. Grabbing for Ashton’s shirt, I knotted my fingers in the material, swallowing down the panic. “We have to get to a craft,” I said, pulling my hand away and trying for calm. I could panic later. Right now, I had to manage not to die. Dusting my skirt off, I righted my bodice, checking to make sure my father’s journal remained secure.

  “Yes, and quickly,” Ashton said and I followed the line of his worried glance.

  Above us, near the jail cells, a grappling hook lowered on a rope through the ruined window. Once inside, the rope snapped taut and the iron claws ripped the barred window from the wall. Wood and glass rained down on us and I scrambled for cover.

  Ashton caught my arm, and shielded me beneath his bowed body. I looked up in time to see the purple flash of a tracer gun. The Security Force was coming for me. I hesitated.

  “Charlie…” Ashton’s hand slipped to my nape, forcing me to peer into his gaze. “Listen to me. If they take you now, they will have the journal by force. You’ll lose all bargaining power.”

  “How did you—”

  “We need to climb down.” He pointed out the door. “To the porch and railing.”

  “But…”

  “For once, please try to believe we are on the same side.” Only a whisper apart, our noses nearly touched. His gaze bored into mine, imploring.

  I nodded. “Yes, very well.”

  Taking my hand, he led us along the chairs and upside down tables, gingerly but swiftly picking the way through the litter.

  I took each step with weak knees, my insides roiling with every sickening sway of the dangling jailhouse. How much longer could the cable hold? Smoke from the fire swirled over us, and I coughed, my eyes watering. I tripped, sinking into a pile of rubble.

  A horrible odor engulfed me. Something moved under my hands; a sliding wetness that smelled of rot. I reared back, recognizing the bent bars of a cage. Hot panting blew putrid air across my face boring into my lungs with sickly sweetness. Trying to right myself, I screamed
as a Trembler’s jaws snapped a hairsbreadth from my face.

  “Charlie!” Ashton scrambled toward me, tripping in the wreckage.

  It shuddered beneath me, its bones cracking as a screech pierced my eardrums. Pale arms whipped at me, grasping at my clothes as I thrashed in a panic. Blood sprayed from its ragged mouth as it bit at me, the teeth breaking with the force of its own tremors.

  Frantic with fear, I grabbed a piece of wood, deflecting the blows of its quaking limbs the best I could. Nearly hysterical, I fought Ashton as he pulled me from the Trembler. Pinning the creature, he held it down with one boot and shoved me over the pile of debris.

  “Go!” He yelled, reaching for his holster and finding it empty.

  “Ashton…” I pled for him to follow.

  “Move, Charlie, keep going.”

  Turning with a sob, I climbed along the side wall, using the windows as handholds. The Trembler moaned and I chanced a glance over my shoulder. Behind Ashton, pulling itself with ripped and bloodied fingers, it gained on him. My hand hit something cold and metal and I grabbed it, laughing with relief at the gun in my grasp. I stopped, aiming over Ashton’s shoulder.

  He looked up, batting my hand away at the final moment and sending the shot awry.

  “What are you doing?” I screamed, again taking aim at the encroaching Trembler.

  “He’s a man!” Ashton put his hands out, moving between me and the creature. “Charlie…he’s a person.”

  “What?” Hands shaking, I stared at him with disbelief.

  The Trembler gnashed at Ashton’s boots, its eyes rolling back as another quake sent it into a wailing frenzy of lashing limbs.

  Ashton crawled to me, pulled me to my feet and took the gun. “That’s pain, Charlie,” he panted, as he pulled me further along the jailhouse. “He’s crying out in pain.”

  “It tried to eat my face!” I shuddered, nearly vomiting.

  “He knows not what he does.”

  I looked back and the Trembler moaned, twisting as it looked up with menacing black eyes.

  Baring it’s teeth, it reached for us with grasping swipes as it continued to crawl steadily toward us.