by Kir Lukovkin
Rick looked at them for a while, gathering his thoughts together and then cleared his throat and told them a very abridged version of everything that happened to him over the past several weeks, only omitting any mention of his native Thermopolis. Black Ant stood by his side and listened with interest. When Rick reached the point of telling them how he entered the city, he turned to the diagram on the wall and continued to explain and clarify which clusters he had visited and what he saw there. As he talked, he suddenly realized that the letters on the cluster walls that he saw along his travels throughout the city were arranged in reverse alphabetical order. He and Paul first traveled along the area of the great external ring marked as cluster Z. Then they came across the rollers and Paul escaped into the neighboring segment while Rick ended up in the cluster of the fords. He had no way of explaining why the people living there called themselves fords but he easily determined from the diagram that the letter of their cluster was O. His path went through the second inner ring next, through cluster E, which was by cluster F where they were now.
Rick fell silent, those listening to him staying silent as well. Most of their faces expressed surprise and amazement and only Klaus regaled Rick with a grim look.
Hans was the first of them to speak.
“It sounds too crazy to be a lie. I don't think I know anyone who could make something so complicated up. This is why we are going to have to believe it.”
“I wouldn't rush to any conclusions,” Klaus countered. “Did you hear what they said about the gray ones? They are advancing towards the core! Or at least they want us to think so. Isn't that right?”
He stared at Rick with disapproval again.
“Think what you want,” Rick calmly replied. He was sick of the endless suspicion and arguments and there was just one thing he wanted. “I need to get to the core.”
“What for? What's there that we don't know?”
Rick gathered his thoughts together. They really did not know anything about the purpose of the tower.
“I... The place where I lived was very cold and dark.”
“So what?” Klaus grinned. “Are you counting on finding a large oven inside the core?”
“No, not just that.” Rick had very little desire to explain his true goals to these people. “There are secret floors in the core from which you can control the city.”
“How do you know that?” Klaus immediately asked, his eyes suddenly shining like a bright lamp, as if he had caught Rick in a lie.
Rick suddenly understood how strange his words sounded. He restrained himself from shouting at Klaus because of his sudden feeling of powerlessness to persuade anyone of anything. He forced himself to forgive his ignorance and spoke as calmly as he could.
“From the archives beyond the outer limits. I know how to read the ancient language and I especially prepared for a far journey to make this city come alive again. All I need to do is launch the ancient machines.”
There was a hubbub as people started to exchange glances and discuss what they just heard.
“What would you say, Margaret?” Even Klaus seemed to have suddenly taken his side. It was as if he had quickly lost his aggression and probably believed Rick about the machines.
“Stupidity and madness,” the woman coldly replied, making everyone go quiet. “The ancient machines of the core are dead. There's nothing that could breathe life back into them.”
“Then why did the water start to flow?” Rick asked.
Margaret remained calm as she gave her answer.
“We expected this to happen. It already occurred once upon a time, many years ago. It always happened before us too. We prepared for it this time and we will keep preparing for the coming of the water in the future. The city lives according to its own laws. We just need to adapt ourselves to them.” She spread her hands. “You know, I heard many stories about this city, with some even saying it did not have any walls. Others tell that long caterpillar-shaped machines used to go along the highways and tunnels of the city which could be used to get from one end of the city to another, while other machines were winged contraptions that flew through the air like birds. Can you even imagine such a thing?”
“Yes. I have seen all of these machines and they exist. I believe that this is the way it was in your city. But that's now important right now. You still haven't explained why the water comes.”
“Does the sun need a reason to rise? It just appears in the morning, and that it all.”
“The city was created by ancient humans. That means that it's possible to understand how it works and learn how to control it,” Rick insisted.
He saw doubt mixed with the desire to believe him in the eyes of the others and saw that friendly Hans wanted to say something but seemed afraid of something.
Margaret chuckled coldly.
“We have heard all of this before. I have seen fools like this in the past. However, if you're so clever, on you go to the core and command the machines.”
Rick wanted to reply but there was a sudden distant rumble. The floor started to shake under their feet.
“Another shift!” Hans exclaimed. “We shouldn't be underground when this is happening.”
Everyone silently climbed to the roof of the hangar and watched the movement of the neighboring segment from the walkway. Faraway buildings crawled along the wall that divided the clusters.
“Is this something you can understand too?” Margaret asked Rick.
He had nothing to say to her. The Citadel held all the answers.
“Just as I thought.”
The buildings disappeared under the ground to be replaced by white domes and satellite dishes.
Margaret and the rest of her people set off along the walkway to the elevator. Hans noticed that Rick and Black Ant stayed where they were and decided to come back.
“Don't get offended by Margaret,” he told them, standing by their side. “She is our leader and she is responsible for the safety of the clan.”
“She is very forgiving with you for some reason,” Rick squinted as he looked at the tower in the rays of the setting sun. “Klaus is also less harsh, even though he's strict. Why is that?”
“Margaret is my wife.”
Rick turned to Hans — now everything was clear.
“Yes,” the pilot nodded. “And Klaus is her brother.”
Hans offered a friendly smile. Rick looked at the tower again. Black Ant shivered from the wind, but waited patiently by his side.
“So,” Hans started speaking again, “you want to get inside the core?”
“Yes, over there,” Rick pointed at the tower.
Hans stopped smiling.
“It's a damn complex task.”
“Why?”
“Nobody has been able to overcome the last wall yet.”
“We will try.”
Hans looked from Rick to Black Ant and said, “You are very strange people. Do you know that?”
“No,” Rick shrugged. “What's so strange about us?”
“Both of your eyes are alight in an unusual way. Especially yours.”
“You have fast cars. Are they from these hangars?” Rick asked, nodding at the nearest roofs. “The gray ones have no car and they walk through the city on foot.”
“The gray ones could also learn to use the silver arrows,” Hans explained, “but they are afraid of drones.”
“Yes, the large metal spheres.”
“Ah, that's what you call them. They call the spheres “rollers” in the cluster of the fords.”
“I see.” Hans nodded and continued, “Our arrows are useless outside the highways because the surfaces of the streets do not have gravitational code detection. It came about that our clan ended up owning the hangars. We know how to use all of the vehicles we found, but we can't understand what's inside or how it works. It's too complex.”
“Have you tried to study the blueprints and instructions?”
“Yes, many times. We even took the vehicles apart
but we could not put them back together so they would work again. When we come back from our missions, we save the graphs and technical status data in the database of the main navigation computer, but we don't know and can't work out why. If we don't save it, the control system will issue a warning and will block the interface after this happens three times. Sometimes we have accidents on our trips and sometimes the gray ones catch us by surprise and shoot at the cars, so pilots die and the cars are put out of commission. Sometimes they just break down and we can't repair them.”
“Let's get away from here, Black Ant is really cold,” Rick offered.
They went descended into the hangar, where the lamps glowed dimly and not a soul was around.
“This world is an interesting place,” Hans continued, as he unhurriedly crossed the hangar. “All the time that I have been living here I have been finding something new. The patrolmen drive along the radial canal from one wall to another. Sometimes we go on a long trip along the ring highway. When we go along this great circle, we stop and we observe and study the city.”
“What have you seen?”
Hans smiled mysteriously and answered, “People.”
“Shamblers? Those that lost their minds?”
“Not only them. Normal people. Some hide inside the buildings, while some of the braver ones try to attack us. The gray ones actually hunt us. The city seems empty, but it is not true. You saw for yourself that the segments have their own clans, tribes and groups, each one living by their own laws.”
They crossed the hangar and stopped in front of a pair of gates with “MAINTENANCE” written on them in faded lettering. Hans sat down on the striped railing that bordered the fire point zone, took out a clear plastic box full of little white pellets and put one in his mouth.
“Why don't people unite?” Rick asked. “They used to all be together before.”
Hans slowly swallowed his little white pellet. He sat for a while, trying to work out his feelings. Then his eyes went distant, as he answered, “We are used to living in danger. When death awaits you at every corner, no one wants to play fair, especially with outsiders. You told us yourself that you ran away from the gray ones.”
“I don't share their principles. The society of the Division is built on violence and the very idea of that disgusts me.”
“Hmm, the strong eat the weak is the principle of every creature.”
“No,” Rick said with determination.
“Then I'm really surprised how you managed to survive this far. You are either unimaginably clever or just very lucky.”
“But your clan is nothing like the gray ones,” Rick ignored Hans' words.
“You haven't even spent a day among us.”
“All right. What if I offer you to come with me?”
Hans hiccupped loudly in surprise.
“What for?”
“It doesn't matter. To achieve any kind of goal. Would you go?”
“I don't see the point. We have everything we need.”
“Oh, yes. Cars that constantly grow fewer in number. What are you going to do when the last one breaks down? Try to take it apart?”
Hans looked at him carefully.
“Some of us also think this way. But you know what the problem is? We can't change anything. This world is greater than our understanding. We have food, highways, arrows and lots of living space.” Hans spread his hands. “We don't need anything more. If the last car breaks down one day, then we will come up with something. But no earlier. This is why and expedition to the core won't give us anything. Let's go.”
“Where?”
“Are you leaving or will you spend the night in warm beds?”
“That depends on whether we are guests or prisoners.”
“You're stubborn and principled,” Hans nodded with approval. “Consider yourselves guests. It's pure lunacy to walk around the surface at night anyway. Let's go, I will treat you to a strong drink you're sure to like, but it's a bit too early for the boy.”
Rick and Black Ant exchanged glances, as Black Ant smiled with condescension.
“We're in.”
O
THEY DID NOT MANAGE to get a good night's sleep. They were awakened by a stranger that ordered Rick to follow him and for Black Ant to stay in the room.
It was noisy in the hangar where the strange took him as people crowded around a car that had been singed by fire in many places. Some of the people were engaged in an excited discussion while others were trying to open the canopy of the car. Once they finally managed to do this, they extracted a nearly dead and wounded pilot out, lifted him in their arms and carried him away. The voices immediately quietened down. The wounded man muttered something and then suddenly cried out, “...we had to! Do you understand?”
“Rocky,” Hans stepped out of the crowd near Rick and asked a tall young man who was following the procession with the wounded man with a dark glare, “Those bastards hunted you, didn't they? Tell me what happened to Kamensky, please.”
The man did not reply, so Hans touched him on the shoulder, “Rocky, did you hear me?|”
“Ah, yes, Hans... Of course... We... We stopped in segment C, in the branches that were not filled with water.” He nodded at the wounded man that was already being carried into the brightly lit doorway of the medical unit. “Fraser left the cabin to stretch and look around that section of the canal. Me and Kamensky stayed in the cabin according to instructions.”
Rocky went quiet, looking at Hans and obviously expecting approval.
“Keep going!” Klaus demanded, as he pushed his way through the crowd towards them.
“Then we... When Fraser was walking back towards the car, we saw a man at the edge of the flyover in the pedestrian zone. He was wearing gray... And looking at us.” Rocky swallowed and continued, “He waved his hand and shouted to us that he wanted to talk. Fraser got into the cabin, but we... We decided to stay. The gray one was unarmed. Yes, and he was far away and no one else was around. I swear it! The scanners were silent, and we decided that the stranger would not cause any harm.”
“What else did the gray one say?” Klaus clarified.
His face became even stricter than before. Hans shook his head with disappointment by his side.
“That he wants to come down into the canal and if we could wait for him.”
A disapproving hubbub spread through the crowd.
“However, we decided against delaying any longer, and started up the cars,” Rocky continued.
He went silent again, looking at the gathering as if he was counting on their support and approval, until he understood that everyone wanted him to continue.
“At first, I did not understand what happened. There was a flash, a roar and a sharp jolt. I immediately switched to the rear camera display and there was a strange wheeled car with a long horizontal tube protruding from its hull with gray ones all around it. When we started up, it was nowhere to be seen. They were probably hiding in the drainage tunnel, as it has wide gates that would let a vehicle through. Kamensky's arrow lay there on the side covered smoking and covered in soot, while Kamensky had somehow climbed out of the car but...” Rocky looked down for a moment. “The gray ones took him. Then they followed us and shot at Fraser's arrow. By then, we had accelerated and managed to turn onto a parallel flyover and get away.”
“How fast did the car of the gray ones move?” Hans asked.
Rocky shrugged his shoulders with a guilty look and it was obvious he did not know. A lot of people shook their heads with disapproval.
“So, now we know for sure that the gray ones can move around along the highways in armed transport vehicles.” Klaus gritted his teeth. “And they have Kamensky.”
He grimly looked over the gathering, stopping when he found Rick but did not have time to say anything.
“We must get away immediately!” Margaret declared behind their backs, so everyone turned around. “Announce the evacuation. There is one hour to get ready. Tell the people in the ne
ighboring hangars. We are going to a safe hideaway.”
The hangar came alive and only Rick and Klaus stayed in place, looking at each other tensely and waiting for someone to start first.
“This is all your fault,” Klaus finally squeezed out. “That's exactly how it is! It was calmer before, and then you came and...”
“What have we got to do with it?”
“Do you know what they will do to Kamensky?” Klaus stepped up to Rick and took him by the front of his jumpsuit. “What they do after they torture the information out of him? Do you know?”
“I can imagine,” Rick replied calmly and immediately added, “We will definitely leave today.”
“Oh no,” Klaus' lips twisted in an ominous grin. “You did not understand. Whoever you are, we are going to exchange you or trade you for Kamensky with advantageous conditions.”
“What if it doesn't work?”
“And what if you are even more valuable than I think and you hold a strong card in your hands?” Klaus shook Rick.
“What if the gray ones don't care about our fate at all?”
“That's possible, but they do care about us!” he gave him another shake, a harder one this time.
“You are just standing in their way. Their main target is the core!”
“So is it the core again? Then why did the gray ones lay an ambush on the highway?” spittle flew out of Klaus' mouth as he almost started to shout.
“Don't you understand? They think we have access to the core. The pilots of arrows that can move along the roads of the city with unbelievable speed are bound to know how to cross the barriers that divide the city up in to clusters. That's the way they think!”
“Enough arguing, Klaus,” Hans appeared by their side. “Time to get down to business.”
He took the angry pilot by the hands and made him let Rick go, with some force.
“Margaret ordered to take them with us,” Hans told him and turned to Rick. “Go to your room and collect your gear. Rocky will show you where to go.”
Rick was about to argue and stay to explain everything, but Hans suddenly gave him a strict look, showing that it would be best to obey.