‘What’s the lavender used for?’ I might as well get as much info as he was willing to give.
‘Luxury goods, perfume, medical.’
‘And who distributes it?’ Dawdle stared right at me, he knew what I was getting at.
‘The State, you know that.’
‘Not the Noiri?’
He shrugged. ‘Sometimes we get a wee bite or two fae here.’
We could clearly see the mound from the trees.
‘We should run there next,’ I said pointing to it.
‘Uh wonder what’s in there,’ Reinya said. ‘Don’t you think we should ‘ave a look?’
‘No,’ I said, putting on my most Privileged air. ‘We’ve instructions to take control of what’s in the hill. Let’s get going.’
‘Do you know what’s in that mound, Dawdle?’ Reinya wasn’t letting go.
‘Dae as yer leader tells ye, hen. Let’s get goin.’
This stopped me in my tracks. Dawdle backing me up. ‘Do you know what’s in there?’
‘Naw! Anyway, curiosity gubbed the cat.’ His gaze fell and I knew he was lying. I’d need to keep an eye on him.
We stopped a good stretch back from the hill but could see a huge windowless building, like a black box, wedged inside. Three-metre high fences, topped with spikes, the size and cut of scythes, protected the exposed area. We sat behind a boulder. I had a spyglass but there wasn’t much to see.
‘So, great warrior o the Blue Pearl,’ Dawdle said. ‘What does yer instructions tell ye now?’
‘Break in.’
‘That’s it, is it?’
I looked at the spyglass again, aware that all three were looking at me, expecting me to come up with a plan. They knew I was stalling.
‘Does your comms carry a laser?’ Dawdle asked.
‘No.’
‘A blade?’
‘No, but I have this.’ I held up my small penknife for inspection. The one I had stabbed Merj with.
‘Aw, great. We’ll still be sawin oor way in when they take us away fur oldie release.’
‘What about the grenades? Dawdle’s brought them,’ Reinya said.
‘Aw aye, we’ll just lob grenades at it. Wake up the whole region tae the fact we’re breakin intae a black box, wi nae idea o its purpose.’
‘But you know, don’t you, Dawdle?’ Reinya was wise to him.
‘Niver you mind what ah ken.’
‘Are there guards?’
‘How the snaf should ah ken, but aye, probably.’
‘Getting defensive now.’
‘Shut it, Sorlie.’
‘Maybe they’re robots.’ The thrill of this fluttered in my stomach. Robots were a thing of SnapTV fiction.
‘Fuck sake, Sorlie, aw that artificial intelligence stuff is makin yer heid soft.’
‘Well, where are they? The guards. I can’t believe something like this is lying unprotected.’
‘You broke into a prison, didn’t you?’ Reinya asked me. ‘’ow’d you do that?’
‘Through a water pipe, but Scud was on the inside to drug the guards, made it easy. Maybe we could dig.’
‘Oh brilliant,’ Dawdle snipped. ‘An even better idea than the knife.’
‘Why don’t we ‘ave ‘elp?’ Reinya asked.
‘Come again?’ But I knew what she meant.
‘Well, The Prince sent us ‘ere to Esperaneo Major to take over some source, presumably in there. But uh thought the Blue Pearl was an underground resistance organisation there to ‘elp us. So far all they’ve done is give us u canoe and take somethin out o Sorlie’s belly button. Where’s the rest?’
I thought about Vanora and the illusion of a great army. That Ticker Wall with operatives dotted all over Esperaneo. Dawdle sat with his back against the boulder, staring at the dirt. His jaw was taut, he was waiting for my question.
‘Well, Dawdle, where is the resistance? All the covert operations in Esp Major.’
‘How the snaf should ah ken?’
‘You know how you should ken. Ishbel made pickles to feed three coverts, including Kenneth, in Esperaneo Lesser. You or one of your operatives collected those goods from her and delivered them to the coverts. You and Monsieur Jacques knew the location of all the coverts because the Noiri made all the deliveries. Presumably you were also somehow involved when the Blue Pearl began to take over Vanora’s army of coverts. So, where are they?’
I felt my hand grip the penknife I still held but knew I wasn’t going to use. Dawdle eyed it with suspicion.
‘Ok, if ah tell ye, ye promise you’ll no tell yer Pa until after we take the source.’
‘For snaf sake, Dawdle, what ‘ave you done?’ Reinya said.
‘Ah niver did nothin. They did it themselves.’
‘What?’ I screamed at him.
‘Cool yer jets, Sorlie.’ He took a deep breath. ‘D’ye ken how mony years they coverts were in hidin?’
‘Get on with it.’
‘Twenty-five years. Longer than ah’ve been born. Dec, then Monsieur Jacques ran that side o the operation until ah took ower but even afore that, one by one the coverts disappeared.’
‘He killed them.’
‘No!’ He seemed outraged at the suggestion. ‘No, it wisnae that. They got fed up waitin for Vanora tae get her act thegether. She used them like some sort of toy. Her secret army that did nothin but hide and eat pickles.’
‘Where did they go?’ Reinya asked.
‘Remember where we took yer granda fur help, Reinya? The souterrain community.’
‘But there was only a ‘undred or so folk there.’
‘Aye but there’s hundreds o such communities. They just got fed up and decided tae fend fur themselves.’
My faced wooshed. ‘So who were we addressing when I made that speech at Steadie?’
Dawdle shrugged. ‘Steadie, Freedom and a few other legit reservations probably.’
‘No, that can’t be true.’ But I knew it was. I remembered when Con and I travelled to the tower. On the way we stumbled on Con’s brother and his wife living in the ruined castle, raising hogs to stay alive. That’s what they had done. And of the campfires in the wilderness that Con had told me were nothing to concern myself with. Why did it never occur to me before that others had done the same?
‘What about their comms? Vanora had a huge Ticker Wall relaying their messages.’
He shrugged. ‘Ah dinnae ken. Mebbes they set them tae automatic tae let her think they were still active. They were solar-powered, could huv lasted fur years.’
‘Or maybe someone else kept them active to keep the illusion alive,’ I suggested. But he didn’t bite. ‘What about the food?’
‘What food?’
‘You know what food. The food Ishbel and her like scraped and strived to provide for the coverts. Vanora never knew any of this. The food was still provided.’
Dawdle stared at me, trying to bluff it but the darkening colour of his face gave the game away. I could feel my fists ball.
‘You kept it and sold it, didn’t you?’
‘Dawdle, you bawbag.’ Reinya said.
‘I could murder you right now.’
‘Not now, Sorlie, look.’ Reinya pointed to the gate.
‘Oh no.’ Noni was crawling across the sand towards the gate. I started to go after her but Dawdle stopped me.
‘There might be mines.’
‘No, Noni,’ I hissed. ‘Come back.’ She stopped and twisted her body to look back, then continued crawling.
‘Look what she’s doin.’ Reinya said.
Noni dragged behind her a tarp laden with rocks. She must have collected them when we were arguing. She threw a rock half a metre ahead then crawled towards it, then threw another rock.
‘She knows about mines,’ Dawdle said
. ‘It’s incredible. She’s been trained tae dae this by the Military.’
My mouth filled with bile at the realisation of his words. ‘That’s monstrous.’
‘They probably believe she doesnae hae emotions nor feel pain.’
‘Like my mother.’
‘Your mother wis trained tae get near important personnel and blow them up. Different.’
‘Dawdle!’
‘It’s OK, Reinya, he’s right.’
‘Noni and her like ur used as mine sweepers.’ Dawdle explained.
‘Why can’t they get drones to do it?’
‘Maybe Nonis are less expensive.’
Noni was nearly at the gate, leaving behind a clear runnel with piles of earth at either side. Our safe path. When she reached the gate she turned round and signalled to us.
‘What about the gate though?’ I wondered aloud.
‘Just watch.’ Dawdle said.
She pulled herself to her knees, and used her hands to crawl up the gate to the chains. She took one chain in her grasp. I could see her shoulder blades straining under her t-shirt. She pulled the links apart as if she were pulling petals from a flower then took up the other one and did the same. She dropped back to the ground and with one finger pushed the gate open.
All three of us jouked along her marked path and rushed through the gate, dragging it closed behind us. We sprinted across a short yard to one of two doors on the front of the black box. Now what? But it was a redundant thought because when I placed my hand on the door, it swung open and a voice called.
‘Come away in and shut the door after you.’
Ishbel
Ishbel knew she had to get rid of Merj at the first opportunity before the whole mission was jeopardised. She also knew they had to make a quick turnaround. In the east, light bled into the inky sky. They would need to move. She watched Merj’s traitorous back as he breenged ahead to the settlement and wished she could shoot him. That would come later. He disappeared through the door just as Keats came rushing out. He put his arm around Ishbel’s waist and helped her limp to Lily’s cafe.
‘Lily, get some hot water and some packing.’
Merj helped Skelf to his feet. As Skelf stood, Ishbel saw just how emaciated he was. His western clothes had been tucked and crudely sewn to fit him but still they hung off him like ribbons. As he walked to the door he wobbled and Merj only just caught him from tumbling to the floor.
‘Come on, we need to get out of here, before that kid decides to bring the other craft to destroy ours.’
Keats barred his way. ‘Not before we clean that wound.’
‘She’ll just have to stay behind,’ Merj said.
‘Oh yes, like back at the border post,’ Ishbel spat. Merj’s face blackened. Keats stood his ground but he was small compared to Merj. As Merj tried to push him away Keats drew a gun and shoved it in his face.
‘If I kill you now it will be no loss to the cause.’
Lily helped ease Ishbel’s waistband low, exposing the wound on her hip. ‘It’s not gone in, you were lucky.’
Ishbel took the wet cloth from Lily and packed it against her skin, grabbing a wad of dry dressing.
‘Merj is right, we need to get out of here.’ Ishbel said, tucking the wet cloth into her trouser band, trying to ignore the cold dribbles down her leg. ‘Thanks,’ she said to Lily. She moved to Keats and placed her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to lower his aim on Merj. She kissed one of his cheeks and then the other and gently moved him from obstructing the door.
‘You are a great leader,’ she said.
‘As are you, Ishbel. Never forget that.’
Merj raced across the courtyard to the outer door, pushed it open and sprinted for the Transport. In the distance she could hear a roar.
‘Here they come,’ she said to Skelf. He was slow; he needed help to walk. He was big in height but so thin. Ishbel gritted her teeth against the expected pain, hoisted him over her shoulder and half-ran, half-hobbled to the craft. She bundled Skelf into the hold like a sack of oats, throwing herself in after him in case Merj had an idea to leave her again.
They hurtled into the air and swung violently northwards. A missile whistled underneath them. Merj swung eastward then south and Ishbel saw the dot of the pursuing Transport over the settlement. She closed her eyes expecting the worst. Those poor people. The explosion rocked them forward, flinging Skelf across the floor. He yelped in pain. Ishbel opened one eye to the scene. The dome stood proud while little specks of debris fluttered to the ground around it.
‘They blew up the Transport.’ She could hardly believe her own words.
Skelf shucked himself along the Transport floor, back to where Ishbel had dumped him, and rested against the bulkhead.
‘Of course they destroyed it. They are armed. Why do you think they’ve existed so near the border for so long?’
‘Will there be retaliation?’ Ishbel couldn’t see how that could be averted.
Skelf shook his head. ‘That old man back there is a great warrior and technician. They will clean up the site and make it look like both Transports were stolen by you.’
He closed his eyes. Ishbel thought he slept but after a few minutes he whispered. ‘It is ill-advised to mess with such a powerful leader as Keats.’ He squinted at her fleetingly and scowled at the cockpit and the back of Merj. He quickly glanced at Ishbel and smiled. Put his fingers to his lips and shook his head. She had no idea what he meant but Ishbel suddenly trusted this man.
‘We have enough fuel to reach the Desert States,’ Merj told Skelf.
‘And why would we go there?’
Merj whipped round in his seat and stared at Skelf. ‘Our intel told us that’s where the servers are.’
‘Your intel is wrong.’
‘Where are we going then?’
‘Just keep flying south. I’ll tell you when to stop.’
Merj’s face crimped with anger.
Skelf held out his hand to Ishbel. ‘Show me the map.’
She fired up the map on her comms and shuffled over beside him. She held her wrist out for him to see. His clothes smelled foosty and old, but layered over that was a powdery odour of dying skin. He held her hand and she was fascinated by all the loose skin hanging on his body. She wondered if his motivation to help was to gain access to modification technicians. He certainly needed modified. He leaned into her and she moved to give him space. He pulled her hand to him.
‘Where are we on this map?’
‘You can see,’ she said. There was a dot showing the mark of Ishbel’s comm on the map. She knew he could see. ‘We’re passing over the northern fertile land, we will soon be over the hot plains of Southern Esperaneo.’
He pointed to a spot on the map. ‘We go here.’
‘Where?’ Merj said.
‘Don’t tell him.’ Skelf said. ‘Don’t trust him.’
Merj dipped the Transport so steeply that Ishbel and Skelf rolled across the floor and landed in a tangled heap in the far corner. She pushed Skelf off her.
‘What the snaf, Merj?’ she shouted.
‘If you don’t tell me I’ll land right here.’
‘Don’t be stupid, Merj,’ she said, but Skelf grasped her wrist.
‘Let him,’ he said.
Merj brought the Transport down with a bump that almost sent Ishbel and Skelf to the ceiling.
‘You’re a maniac, Merj. We don’t even know if this land is safe.’
‘Well, you tell me.’
‘How would I know?’
‘You’re the one with the map.’
‘You have one too, remember. I pinged it to you.’
‘It’s disappeared. You erased it.’
‘What! That’s a crazy accusation.’
‘Children,’ Skelf said. He looked out the porthole and
smiled.
‘No need for a map. We are here.’ And he pressed the side button on Ishbel’s map erasing it from the comms.
The minute the Transport door opened blistering heat whooshed into the space. And with it the most delicious smell.
‘What..?’ Merj said.
‘Lavender,’ Ishbel whispered.
‘Gross. It smells like Vanora. It smells like oldies.’
‘It smells like the future,’ Skelf said as he followed Ishbel onto the hard packed earth.
They were in a basin at the head of a canyon. Something about the canyon seemed familiar to Ishbel. She knew she hadn’t been here before and yet she knew this place. It was as if her ancestors were guiding her. There were no Urbans or native settlements, only barren wasteland, sand and rock and the water that flowed from the canyon.
‘You sure it’s safe?’ she said to Skelf. He shrugged.
‘Wonderboy decided to land here so I’m guessing he knows the score.’
She wandered towards the canyon. There was something odd. Something out of place. Green paint amongst all this earth and rock – a canoe. And then she understood and backtracked to the others before they saw. She did not want them to know there was someone else around. She held her face up to the sky, closed her eyes and sensed it was Sorlie. She didn’t know how, but it was him.
Skelf and Merj had already left her. Merj helped the TEX negotiate the way up a rough track from the canyon floor. Ishbel’s hip was sore from the wound and the battering she’d received in the back of the Transport. Despite this she rushed to catch them up. As she climbed the smell of lavender increased, and as she topped out she gasped at the wondrous site. Merj and Skelf breenged ahead as if they had no interest in this phenomenon. Then Merj stopped and began flapping his hand in front of his face. He let out a roar. Ishbel caught up as he stood sucking his hand. Skelf rocked on his heels laughing.
‘Bees. It’s bloody bees. Hah! I thought they had gone for good. You want to’ve seen Wonderboy’s face when he got stung.’
‘Bees? How?’ she asked.
‘Don’t ask me, hun, but here they are.’
The joy Ishbel felt had to be contained. She would celebrate later. She needed to find Sorlie.
Star of Hope Page 17