by P. J. Sky
Chapter 27
Starla was still limping when they left the Angu village and began their journey onwards towards the city. Ari watched her cautiously. Ari wasn’t convinced she wanted the Angu as guides, but at least they might be some protection. After all, she had almost gotten Starla killed.
In all, there were five of them; Ari and Starla, Jirra and Doug, and Koora. Doug and Koora carried heavy sacks on their backs and spears in their hands. Jirra had his satchel, his round pendant hung from his neck and his bush hat wedged over his black hair.
On their first day, they made for the river and traced it at a distance through the valley. In the heat, the landscape grew drier and more arid again. They said little, their heads lowered. Ari watched the bulky packs wobbling on Doug’s and Koora’s backs.
The city, she thought. Ain’t no reason we won’t make it now. Not as long as Starla can keep going. And then there’s syntho and four walls and a roof.
She reached inside her pocket and felt the bristles of the lashes. Did anyone still know her, on the other side of the wall? Some long forgotten relative. They probably wouldn’t recognise her now, but still… maybe.
In the late afternoon, they made camp next to a group of large, red rocks. While Koora and Doug set about building a fire, Jirra beckoned to Ari and Starla. He led them along a worn path that cut through the rocks, to the entrance of a dark cave.
“I think ya’ll find this interestin’,” he said.
A cool breeze flowed up from the cave. At the back, breaking through from some chamber beyond, penetrated a thin ray of yellow light.
“Where’s it go?” asked Ari.
“Ya’ll see,” said Jirra, going ahead into the cave.
Ari looked at Starla and Starla shrugged. Well, she thought, we don’t have nothing to lose I guess.
Ari followed Jirra and she heard Starla limping behind.
The back of the cave opened into a large grotto with a high ceiling. Far above, a round aperture allowed a solid shaft of sunlight to illuminate one vast wall of red rock. Every part of this wall was covered in primitive looking drawings. Many overlapped, while others crowded to fit around each other. There were what looked like people and animals, buildings and trees; there were hand prints and spiral shapes and symbols of every kind. Some were small but others were huge. They were scratched onto the wall, or printed or painted, in black or red or white.
“What is this?” asked Ari, as her eyes worked their way up the rock face.
“This,” said Jirra, “is the story of the world as our shaman sees it.”
Ari’s eyes widened. She’d never seen anything like this before, that was, if she didn’t count the images she’d drawn onto the wall of her own cave. “Who made this?”
“Folks who came before us. We just found it. Now we keeps it safe, just as it is. Look here.” He pointed to a red figure, outlined in white, with a face that featured two big, white eyes. “This is the start. He comes from the sky, from the Maka star. First he makes day an’ night, an’ then he makes rivers an’ trees. He makes the animals, an’ he makes the people.”
Jirra pointed to images of people running and people hunting and many different animals, some of which Ari could recognise, like kangaroos and crocodiles.
Ari gasped. “It’s amazin’.”
She wondered how these people had drawn it. She wanted to take up a bit of the black rock and add her own images to it.
Jirra pointed to the images of tall buildings and what looked like vehicles and aircraft.
“Ya see, Maka builds cities everywhere. He makes the roads an’ he makes light when it’s dark. All the things he makes, he gives to us. See, he makes cars an’ he makes machines. All of these things, they were put underground an’ we brought them up.”
“You can’t believe that,” said Starla.
Jirra grinned. “I didn’ say I did. But this is how the shaman sees it. An’ ya know, perhaps it ain’t so wrong.”
“And what about the city?” asked Starla. “There aren’t cities everywhere. There’s only one.”
“Well, ya see, at first everyone shared the world. But then things changed, people stopped the sharing, they built walls, and instead of peace there was war.” He pointed to images of flames and people burning, and then to a mountain with what looked like fire and smoke bursting from its summit. “This was not how Maka wants it, and so thunder came from the sky’s an’ the world turned to fire. The mountains exploded an’ the rivers flowed with flames an’ all was lost. And now the world is broken.”
“Or a meteorite struck the planet,” said Starla.
“Perhaps Maka sent the meteorite,” said Jirra. “Folks who made this, they saw it as they saw it. But ya from Alice. Ya must see Maka is still angry with us. That’s why the message from the Maka star is so important.” He pointed back to the wall. “We must put it all back as it’s meant to be. Otherwise, there can be no more cities, not even Alice. There can be no more division. No more breaks in the world. We must take down the wall or the city will die.”
∆∆∆
As they left the cave, Starla hung behind. Ari got a little ahead and then turned back.
“Ya okay?”
Starla shrugged. She dropped onto the ground and began to massage her leg. “These people are crazy.” Dizzy, she rested her head against her knee.
Ari knelt down beside her. “I dunno. Maybe they know somethin’ we don’t.”
“I don’t trust them.”
“Well, I don’t trust no-one.” Ari glanced back at the three men. “But I kinda trust ‘em a little more ‘an I trust most folk.”
“Back there, he was talking like he thinks it’s my fault for the world dying or something. But we all heard the same message. And you know what, the people in the city are just trying to survive too. We’re all the same.”
“He didn’ mean it like that. Just, well, I never took much stock in the Maka. I never felt I needed too. But these guys? They put a lot ‘a stock in ‘im. They wanna know what happened to the world. I never cared that much, world is what the world is. But I dunno, maybe I shoulda’.”
Starla rolled her eyes. “Just know they can’t come in the city. That’s not part of our deal.”
“Well,” said Ari. “It’s just as far as the dam. Then we’re almost there. An’ we gotta better chance of makin’ it with these guys.” Ari smiled sheepishly. “See, I nearly got ya killed. An’ then what would I do?”
Chapter 28
The following afternoon, they made sight of the dam. The lazy river took a long meander and, between the two channels, the party cut across the rocks. At a high vantage, they looked down on the wide metal structure, rusty and tired, at the mouth of the river. It was hard to imagine it was still functioning. On one side a bulb of water was held back, while on the other water gushed down a series of metal channels into the basin below at the end of the valley. From here, the water cut hard into the open plain before it disappeared into an underground channel that flowed to the city. After that, the landscape between the swamp and the city was a dry and lifeless desert. The old course of the river was just visible as a shallow, dry channel.
In the middle of the dam sat a small metal building and beside it a hexagonal shaped landing platform, faded markings in red and white still visible on its smooth surface.
The party made their way down the rocks towards the dam. Half way down, a path had been marked out. The metal plates creaked underfoot. In places, the brown rust had eaten deep into the ancient metal and patches of the path would disintegrate underfoot with a satisfying crunch.
A short way from the dam, Starla felt a mild vibration from her left elbow to her wrist. She looked down just as the yellow light beneath the skin faded. Her heart leapt. She pressed the spot on her forearm and the familiar yellow and blue lights blinked. Instinctively, she pressed the communication button and raised her palm.
The Angu men had gone ahead but Ari hung back.
“Hello,” said the ro
botic voice of the operator.
She felt her cheeks flush while her fingers started to go numb. She let out a brief, nervous laugh.
“Excuse me, Miss Corinth,” said the operator.
“I…”
The operator was silent for a moment, as if afraid of interrupting the first daughter of the city.
“I’m at the dam,” Starla managed.
“Yes, Miss Corinth,” said the operator. “And it is an honour Miss, and don’t worry, we have your position. We’re sending a rescue craft. Just stay where you are.”
The signal broke and the lights on her arm faded. Starla exhaled slowly and the right corner of her lip curling upwards. “We made it,” she said. “They’re coming.”
Ari looked at her warily. “They’re comin’ ‘ere?”
“Yes. We just have to stay where we are, they’re on their way.”
Ari wiped the sweat off her shaven head and looked about. The Angu had disappeared onto the dam. “The city, eh.”
“Yes.” Starla’s heart skipped and the pain in her leg faded. She ran forward and hugged Ari. Ari’s arms stayed limp at her sides. “We’re going home. And you made it happen.”
“Yeah,” said Ari.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothin’,” said Ari and she grinned uneasily. “Just a lot to take, ya know.”
“You’ll love it Ari, I know you will.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Ari looked back towards the dam. “I wonder where they’ve got to.” She pulled away from Starla and continued along the path towards the dam.
Tonight, thought Starla, I’ll shower and eat syntho cubes. Maybe I’ll eat purple, or green, or blue. The sudden possibilities seemed endless.
Ari reached the metal steps and began to climb. Starla followed. The steps creaked underfoot. At the top, pockmarked with rusty welts, was a walkway that seemed run the length of the dam. Water roared beneath them, churning up a cool spray. The Angu men were up ahead. A platform ran beneath the walkway and Doug had climbed down to it. Koora was on his knees, emptying the sack he’d been carrying. Jirra seemed to be inspecting the channels than ran out from the dam.
They approached the men and Ari asked, “What ya doin’?”
Jirra looked up at her and grinned. “We’re puttin’ things back, just as Maka want’s it.”
“Puttin’ things back?”
∆∆∆
In the distance, beyond the horizon, a winged aircraft approached low. It banked over the wide, flat plain as it adjusted course for the dam.
∆∆∆
“Puttin’ things back,” confirmed Jirra. “The dam is destroyin’ the land. It’s ruinin’ the river.”
∆∆∆
The aircraft began it’s decent, black wings dipped forwards.
∆∆∆
From somewhere in the distance, a low hum grew louder.
“So?” asked Ari.
“So, now we use the fire powder to blow it up.”
Chapter 29
Jirra's eyes looked wild and excited.
These people are crazy, thought Ari. All this talk about putting things back the way the Maker wants it, and now they want to blow the dam? But it's only fair I warn them. They’d do that for us.
“That aircraft,” she said, and pointed at the humming black dot that grew larger in the clear blue sky. “That’s from the city.”
Jirra raised his eyebrows. “Then we’ll work faster.”
“Look,” said Ari. “Don’ blow this thing till they’ve gone, right.”
“They come ‘ere for ya?”
“Yeah, they’re our ride. But ya blow this now an’ ya gonna ruin it for us.”
Jirra nodded. “No worries. We know what we’re doin’.”
That’s what I’m afraid of, thought Ari.
Koora was down on the platform below, running a cord along the length of the dam. Doug was planting packages at regular intervals, close to the channels.
“Come on,” she said to Starla.
They left Jirra lowering packages down to Doug and headed for the small building in the middle of the dam. A flight of stairs led to a small room with windows that must have once held glass. Inside, the dusty panels still emitted a low hum. Starla reached forward and cleared red dust from a round, glass dial. Below the dial, a tiny red light still glowed.
“Ya know what this place is?” asked Ari.
Starla shook her head.
“Whatever it is, it’s still doin’ something.”
Through the window, Ari watched the men as they walked the length of the dam, seemingly inspecting their work. They better know what they’re doing, she thought. This place better not explode with us still on it.
The aircraft drew closer. Through the empty windows, its large, black shape took form in the pale blue sky; nose dipped, two broad wings with holes in their centres, and a forked tail. Hovering in the air, it reminded Ari of a poised scorpion. Ari had never been in an aircraft before. She watched it come down close to the dam, sunlight glinting on its glazed cockpit. The rumbling noise got louder and louder until it drowned out the sound of the water rushing beneath them through the dam.
ThwopThwopThwopThwopThwop…
The aircraft banked overhead and circled the dam.
“What’s it doin’?” asked Ari over the din.
Starla shook her head. “I don’t know.”
The aircraft slowed to a hover and gently circled above the dam. Then it opened fire.
∆∆∆
Bullets ricocheted across the top of the dam. The guns on the aircraft made a rattling fop-fop sound.
Ari and Starla dropped to the floor and hid beneath the open windows. Ari peered nervously over the top of the sill. Koora was lying face down on the bottom platform. He wasn’t moving. Jirra and Doug were running along the top of the dam. The aircraft’s nose followed them. Bullets hit the deck of the dam like tiny bursts of steam. Jirra fell to the floor and rolled over. Doug kept running and made it to the riverbank. Ari dropped back down behind the windowsill.
“They shot them.”
“Who?”
“The Angu.”
The aircraft’s guns paused. Its propellers thundered and the cabin vibrated as the aircraft moved directly overhead.
“What now?” asked Ari.
“I don’t know.”
They must have thought the Angu had abducted Starla, thought Ari. So what’s to stop them also shooting me? These are people from the city, they don’t care about anyone else. She thought of Jirra and Koora. That wasn’t fair. How could they just shoot them like that? A lump formed in her throat. She wanted to get up and see if they were alive. The longer they lay unattended, the less likely that’d be. Perhaps I could revive them. I could find emu-bush in Jirra’s satchel and press it into their wounds. I could save them.
The engines rumbled as the aircraft manoeuvred into a hovering position over the landing platform. Ari watched it cautiously.
And how could I get on that aircraft now, after I’ve watched it cut down our friends? And even if I did, they’d probably lift into the air and then throw me out the door.
Ari imagined the fall through the empty air, only to hit the dead earth with a thud.
Briefly, the black form hung in the air, its undercarriage unfolding, then it gently dropped down. With a high, unwinding sound, the engines slowed, then fell silent. Ari tugged Starla and they shuffled into a hiding position under the panels. Ari’s heart thumped against her breastbone.
Beyond the panel, a heavy clank came from the direction of landing platform, then footsteps; boots on a metallic surface.
Ari looked at Starla. This was Starla’s world now. These were Starla’s people, this was Starla’s plan. But Starla’s eyes were wide, her forehead frozen, the colour drained from her cheeks. She didn’t look like she had a plan.
A male voice rang out across the landing platform.
“Starla, where are you?”
Starla raised her eyebrows and,
when she spoke, it was almost a whisper. “That’s Max.”
Chapter 30
Max was on the landing platform.
Starla wondered, is he here to rescue me?
But he’d just gunned down the Angu. Why had he done that?
Not long ago, she'd wished for Max to rescue her, now she wondered why he had come at all. Now, time was collapsing, and the birthday party felt like only yesterday. Now, her time on the outside felt like a dream; some horrible nightmare from which she was only now waking. And with this coming morning came the instinctive feeling that Max was not a man to be trusted. Max was from the Panache family, her family’s closest allies and biggest rivals.
“Ya know ‘im?” asked Ari.
Starla nodded. “Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Starla paused. “Someone from the city.”
“Well?”
“Stay here.”
Ari nodded.
A chill came over Starla and her palms began to sweat. Slowly, she stood and looked out through the window towards the landing platform. Max stood in front of the large, black aircraft. His blue jacket bellowed in the warm breeze. He was flanked, on either side, by two members of the praetorian guard in blue uniforms, their faces covered by dark visors, and they each carried a large gun.
Max took a step forward and his green eyes glinted. “Starla Corinth, you know the hardest thing about finding you was making it look this easy.” He grinned sideways.
Starla inched around the panel to the doorway and stepped out onto the platform. She cleared her throat. “What are you doing here Max?”
Max’s smile widened. “Starla, I’m taking you back to Cooper. What do you think? I’m here to take you back to the city.”
“Really.”
“Honestly. Now come before I change my mind.”