“I can’t believe they used bits from your speech,” he told Kara. “That was so crazy.”
“Lynx did say they’d seen the clip,” she said. “I guess they must have liked it.”
“But they twisted it,” Nate put in bitterly. “Your speech was about peace and they turned it into a declaration of war. They’re going to attack my people. They must be mad.”
Looking around, Joe wondered if he might be right. Hysteria had gripped the crowd, men and women weeping and hugging each other fiercely. A soldier fired into the air, screaming, “Death to the Mariners!” and Nate ducked behind Kara.
They reached the rear of the stage truck, black rubber tyres rising taller than Joe’s head. A steel barrier blocked the way but a man with a clipboard recognised Lynx and waved them through.
Beyond the barrier was a large enclosure ringed with fences and wagons, all lit by flickering floodlights. The place bustled with activity, people hurrying back and forth with bottles of water and crates of electrical cables. “They’re coming off stage,” a man barked into a short-range radio. “Get ten beers on ice and make sure those grapes are fresh.”
“There you are!” a voice called and Joe looked up. The rear of the stage truck was a tangle of wires and rigging, a chem-oil generator grinding noisily. Metal steps descended and five white-clad figures came striding down, soaked in sweat.
“So you found our little runaway.”
“You always come through, Lynx.”
“Totally trustworthy.”
“Totally reliable.”
“Whatever the mission.”
“It was my pleasure,” Lynx managed, blushing fiercely.
“But, hey, aren’t there a couple more than we asked for?” one of the men asked. “We only—”
He saw Kara and his mouth clamped shut in surprise. The man beside him looked too, and his eyes widened.
“It can’t be.”
“It’s impossible.”
“Kara Jordan?”
The Five pressed in, seizing Kara’s hands and shaking vigorously. Up close their similarity was even more striking – every blemish, every contour was precisely the same.
“What are you doing here?” they asked.
“Did you come looking for us?”
“Or is this just the wildest coincidence in history?”
Kara tried to explain what had happened, how they’d been on course for Frisco and ended up marooned on the Florida coast. “Your … thug kidnapped us,” she said, indicating Lynx.
“I knew you’d want to see her,” Lynx said.
“And you were right,” one of the men grinned.
“Showing terrific initiative there, Lynx,” another added.
“And besides, you’re better off,” the next told Kara.
“You’ll have a much better time with us than with those seaweed-eaters,” his companion laughed.
Kara’s face darkened. “We saw your speech. You’ve declared war on the Mariners.”
The Five nodded in agreement.
“We had to.”
“They deserve it.”
“Hiding back there in their flashy city.”
“Hoarding all the good stuff for themselves.”
“Letting folks out here starve.”
“You’ll lose,” an angry voice said and they turned as one, heads twisting like a flock of starlings. Nate stood with his fists clenched, staring furiously at The Five. “My people have technology you couldn’t even dream of. They’ll blast you back into the desert.”
The Five studied him. “Is he the one from the speech?”
“Your Mariner friend?”
“His name’s Nate,” Kara said. “And this is Joe.”
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Good to meet you.”
“The Mariner kid looks upset.”
“Didn’t he like the show?”
“It was disgusting,” Nate snarled. “I think you’re evil.”
Each of The Five raised a single eyebrow.
“We’re really not.”
“Honestly.”
“We’re just— Hey!”
Joe turned, but before he could see what was happening something slammed into his side, knocking him down in the dirt. He felt Lynx stagger on top of him, heard shouts and saw the prisoner sprinting away across the enclosure, shaking off her handcuffs as she ran.
Lynx cursed, snatching for the pistol, but one of The Five held up a hand.
“Let us handle this.”
“It’ll be fun.”
“Like old times.”
They sprang forward, heads lowered, sprinting side by side over the dusty ground. In the artificial light they looked like something from Joe’s nightmares, more like a pack of wolves than a group of men. The prisoner desperately sought a way out, but she was hemmed in by trucks and steel fences. The Five broke formation, two circling outward while the other three held the centre. The prisoner saw them and picked up the pace, her eyes wide with fear.
As Joe got to his feet he saw something shiny in the dust: an inch-long spike of rusty metal that might have been prised off the bus. She must have used it to pick her handcuffs, he thought, and slipped it into his pocket.
The prisoner reached the far fence, throwing herself against it, trying to scramble up. But The Five were closing in from all sides, hollering and whooping, their white shirts glowing in the electric glare. She tried again and this time she seized the top of the fence with both hands, dragging herself up just ahead of the first two men, their hands snatching at nothing.
But one of The Five had thought ahead; he vaulted over the hood of a nearby truck, bounding on to the roof. As the prisoner swung her leg over the fence he dived from above, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back into the enclosure. They fell together, slamming into the dirt.
Lynx hurried forward and Joe followed. The Five circled the helpless prisoner, the one who’d caught her picking himself up and mopping the dust from his brow. Just above his eye, Joe saw a small white scar. Then he stepped forward and kicked the prisoner, hard.
“You stole from us,” said the scar-eyed man.
“You lied to us,” his brothers agreed.
“Now you try to run away.”
“Haven’t you learned anything?”
“There’s no running from The Five.”
Scar-eye raised a booted foot, preparing to slam it down, but a voice shouted, “Wait!”
He stopped, turning. Kara had stepped in, her hands shaking. “Don’t, please. You could kill her.”
Scar-eye smiled coldly. “That’s the idea.”
“But you said you weren’t evil,” Kara pleaded. “Didn’t you?”
The others frowned quizzically.
“Why do you care about her?”
“Are you going to make another one of your speeches?”
“Tell us how everyone has the right to life?”
“Liberty?”
“And the pursuit of happiness?”
Kara growled in frustration. “This isn’t a joke, it’s someone’s life.”
One of the men shook his head. “We’re sorry, Kara.”
“But this is how we do things.”
“We can’t let people steal from us and go unpunished.”
“So punish her another way,” Kara said. “She looks strong – put her on one of those ranches. Make her work for you.”
The Five seemed surprised, glancing at one another.
“You know, that’s not the worst idea.”
“Why waste a good worker?”
“We could give her to the Austin grow-op.”
Scar-eye snarled. “She made a fool of us. She deserves to die.”
“I agree.”
“I’m not sure.”
“We should vote on it.”
“All those in favour of following Kara’s advice and letting her live, say aye. Aye.”
“Aye.
“Aye.”
Scar-eye s
tared at his brothers, then he sighed. “Fine. But it makes us look weak.”
“Lynx, get her cleaned up and back on the bus.”
“You can drop her at the ranch in the morning.”
Lynx’s face turned scarlet. “It took me weeks to track her down. And you’re just going to let her get away with it?”
“She’s not getting away,” one of The Five said.
“She’ll work for us.”
“Pay her debt.”
Lynx gestured bitterly at Kara. “And what about the girl and her friends? Should I lock them up too?”
“Oh no, they can stay with us.”
“The room at the back will be just right.”
“Lynx, don’t pull that face.”
“They’re kids.”
“How much trouble could they be?”
“Look at that one, he’s knee high to a sandcricket.”
Joe saw conflicting emotions race across Lynx’s face – frustration, bitterness, even jealousy. But the young smuggler said nothing, hauling the prisoner to her feet and stalking away across the enclosure. The Five watched, shaking their heads in unison.
“You might’ve made an enemy there, Kara.”
“Lynx has a tendency to take things sort of personally.”
Then they turned as one, beckoning. “Please, step this way.”
“We’ll take you to our command centre.”
“We think you’ll like it.”
At the far end of the enclosure was a large flatbed truck, and balanced on the back was the shiniest structure Joe had ever seen. It was wider than a shipping container and much longer, with square windows and wheels underneath. The exterior was corrugated steel and every inch was polished to a gleam.
“It’s a train carriage,” Nate realised.
“That’s right,” one of The Five grinned.
“An observation car,” another added, pointing to a transparent dome that rose from the roof.
“All the technical stuff is on the upper deck.”
“And down below are the living quarters.”
“We’ll get cleaned up.”
“Then we can talk.”
“We still can’t believe it.”
“Kara Jordan, right here in the flesh.”
They entered the train car through a sliding door, stepping into a long, narrow lounge with couches on both sides and a black marble bar at the far end.
“So Kara, did you notice we slipped a couple of your lines into our show?”
“If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.”
“It reminded me of Cortez too,” she said.
“Well, we watched his speech as well.”
“It was powerful stuff.”
“Highly motivating.”
They slipped out of their white jackets, washing their faces in a sink powered by a foot pump. Joe wondered how old they were – they looked in good shape, without an ounce of flab. But there was a tightness to their skin that seemed unnatural, a shiny, almost varnished surface.
They changed into loose-fitting black shirts stitched with the symbol of the golden hand, and as they buttoned their sleeves something caught Joe’s eye. One of the men had a red birthmark on his wrist – a large spot and a short stripe, like Morse code. He noticed Joe looking and tugged his sleeve down. So they’re not completely identical, Joe thought. That’s interesting.
“So why were you headed to Frisco?” Scar-eye asked. “Have you joined the Mariners now?”
Kara reddened. “No, I… They told me if I went and talked to their High Council, I might be able to get some aid for my people back in the Shanties.”
The Five laughed darkly.
“That sounds like the Mariners, all right.”
“Making you beg for their help.”
“Why do you hate us so much?” Nate asked. “What have we ever done to you?”
The Five looked at him.
“It’s not so much what you’ve done.”
“As what you haven’t done.”
“Not that we have to explain ourselves to you.”
“Or to anyone else.”
“Just trust us.”
“We have our reasons.”
“But let’s not get into them now.” The one with the birthmark was looking at Kara with concern. “They're already exhausted.”
“Of course they are.”
“They’ve come a long way.”
“Forgive us.”
“The guest room is this way.”
They were led into a steel corridor with open doors in either wall. Inside, Joe saw five identical rooms, the beds neatly made. At the end a sixth door stood wide.
“There’s only one bunk, I’m afraid.”
“But it should be big enough for the three of you.”
Joe yawned despite himself and Kara turned to face The Five.
“Thank you,” she said. “This is … good of you.”
The nearest one smiled – Joe thought it was birthmark again. “We’re really not so bad.”
“Once you get to know us.”
“Sleep well, now.”
They slid the door shut and Kara dropped on to the bed. Nate crossed to a small square window and stood there, his hands trembling.
“Those men are insane,” he said. “It’s the only explanation.”
“They’re certainly not fans of the Mariners,” Kara said. “But don’t worry, we’ll look after you.”
Nate shook his head. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about my people.”
Kara frowned. “But don’t the Mariners have all that advanced technology? Surely they’ll be able to deal with a bunch of guys in trucks.”
“Kara, this is an army,” Nate said. “If they launch an attack there’s no telling how much damage they’ll do, how many of my people they’ll kill.”
“And The Five might have tech of their own,” Joe pointed out. “They seem pretty confident.”
“We have to stop them,” Nate decided. “However we can. Before they reach Frisco.”
“But what can we do?” Kara asked. “Pop their tyres?”
“We could try sending a signal,” Joe said. “Warn the Mariners so they can get ready.”
“Frisco is nearly two thousand miles away,” Nate said. “No radio signal could reach that far – there’s too much interference. We could escape, though. Steal a car and get ahead of them, follow this DustRoad.”
“You heard Lynx,” Kara reminded him. “We’d be a target for bandits and slavers and even cannibals. And we’d need fuel and water and food.”
“So we’ll get those things,” Nate snapped. “But I’m not giving up just because it’s hard, Kara. I’m not scared like I used to be, and I won’t let these new friends of yours attack my people. You might not care about the Mariners, but I do.”
“I care,” Kara said defensively. “Of course I do. But look, we only just got here. We need to find out as much as we can about The Five and their plans, not just go off half-cocked and get ourselves hurt.”
Nate flushed and Joe stepped between them. “First we need to sleep,” he said. “You never know, maybe in the morning things won’t seem so bad.”
Nate grumbled but Kara got to her feet, pulling back the covers. “Joe’s right, we’re exhausted. Come on, both of you. Into bed.”
Nate coughed, blushing so hard that his cheeks glowed. Joe almost laughed, then caught himself.
“You know what?” he said. “I’ll go in the middle.”
8
The Tower of Lost Children
Soft, warm rain was falling as Cane approached the driftwood door and knocked firmly. The waterfront house was completely silent – through a glass frame she could see the entrance hall with its crossed flags and portraits of famous Mariner pioneers, and beyond that the stairs to the living quarters and the submerged lower levels. Down those steps and along a narrow hallway was her own bedroom. She wondered if it was still hers or if they’d removed every trace of her; bun
dled her clothes, torn up her books, stripped her posters from the walls and burned them.
She shut her eyes, telling herself to be strong. This was her grandmother’s house, the place where she’d stay whenever her father went away to sea. She’d always understood that he had to go, that his work was too important to be postponed, but somehow it had still felt like abandonment. She would try to lose herself in schoolwork, in seagoing adventure stories, but sometimes the loneliness was overwhelming.
And now he’d deserted her again. Or rather she’d deserted him, which must be why she was standing out here alone, with the neighbours across the street watching through their lowered shutters and her own family sitting inside somewhere, waiting for her to go away.
This was her third attempt to reach them since her return to Frisco, and each time it was the same. She knew someone was home: she could hear the faint thump of music and smell the back-porch barbecue; once she even saw the outline of a figure by the fence, out towards the water. All she wanted was the chance to explain herself. Even if it failed, and it almost certainly would, she wanted to tell her side of the story. But they wouldn’t even open the door.
Not for the first time she wished that Kara was here. She’d know what to say. But Kara was gone, swept out during that awful pirate attack and the night-long storm that followed. They’d tried to find them but there were so many beacons to track – by the time the pirates had been driven off more than ninety Mariners had gone overboard – over a search area of almost two hundred square miles. They’d rescued as many as they could but their first priority was returning Cortez to Frisco, Sedna was insistent on that. So after three days they’d reluctantly headed south, hoping beyond hope that the others were still out there. To Cane it just seemed horribly unfair. Kara and her friends had fought to save a city, and were lost to the waves. She had helped to murder thousands but here she was. Unharmed, and alone.
With a sigh she turned away from the door, trudging back along the tree-lined street. The houses here were broad and squat, built to withstand the titanic storms that battered the California coast. She turned into Telegraph Avenue, the thoroughfare bustling with solar-powered people carriers and plexi-frame bicycles, their design unchanged since the Tech Age. Cane remembered asking her father once why this was so, as they scrolled through images of Frisco before the waters rose, before storms flattened the old city and the Mariners raised a gleaming new one from the wreckage.
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