“Industrial units,” Hans said, pointing at a sign.
“That's why they haven't been hit,” Rilk replied.
We saw no sign of life, which somehow made me more nervous.
Only the echoes of our footsteps broke the silence, returning from the walls above to dog our heels.
Suddenly Hans stopped dead, left hand raised in warning. Rilk and Guy reacted in an instant, hugging the walls, weapons at the ready. For what seemed like an age we stayed frozen in a tableau of violence, staring at the rectangle of light that marked the end of the narrow street. The seconds crawled by. I fought an urge to break the silence, to ask what was happening, but then I heard it, from the open space beyond came a voice. Hans crept forward then, as he reached the end of the wall, he stopped and crouched down. I caught sight of something shiny as he extended one arm right to the very edge and I realised he held a small mirror in his hand. A quick glance and he pulled back, nodding to himself, as with one sinuous movement he sprang to his feet and jogged lightly back to where we stood.
“Simbardo's troops,” Hans whispered. “They're covering the entrance to the palace complex, but they don't look like they're expecting to fight.”
Rilk swore softly to himself and looked back to the junction. “If only we knew what was going on,” he said. “I really don't want to fight for nothing.”
“How many are there?” Guy asked, his whisper almost sepulchral.
“I only had a quick glance,” Hans replied, “but I would say around six, certainly less than ten.”
“Only six?” Guy snorted in contempt. “We can take them!”
“Probably,” replied Rilk. “But there's a good chance one of us would get hurt.”
“I've been shot before,” Guy sounded dismissive. “It doesn't hurt that much!”
“Easy for you to say!” replied Hans. “Personally, I'd rather not try it.”
“Maybe we should talk to them,” I suggested.
There was an awkward pause. Guy rubbed his chin. Hans stared at me and then turned to Rilk.
“Tell me again,” he said. “What's this guy doing here?”
“What?” I asked.
“You walk out there, what do you think's gonna happen?” Hans emphasised his question by jabbing his finger into my chest.
“They shoot you!” Guy added helpfully.
“It's not such a bad idea,” Rilk came to my support.
“What? Shooting him?”
“Fuck off!” I replied.
“Talking,” said Rilk. “Maybe it's worth a try.”
“You've been spending too much time with this civilian!” Hans jabbed a thumb in my direction.
“You gone soft Rilk?” asked Guy.
“Hey!” Rilk bristled. “You want to find out?”
“Fuck it,” I muttered as I started walking. I was almost at the end of the alley before they realised and by then it was too late.
“Will!” Rilk hissed, trying to shout without raising his voice. Maybe I was so tired of killing that I would risk my life to prevent more. Maybe I was just careless of my own life. I ignored Rilk, put my hands above my head and stepped out into the light.
They didn't notice me at first. The narrow street by which we had come opened onto a much wider road, neatly paved and lined with trees. It led to an ornate gateway of four pillars topped with statues: two handsome men, two athletic women, all semi naked. The statues stared loftily out into the city, their unceasing watch an elegant addition to the heavily-armed guards below. I walked slowly towards them, five paces, six, wondering when they would see me. Seven paces.
“Stop!” The shout echoed down the street. I stopped and counted the muzzles pointing straight at me. I could see six, but I suspected there were more.
“I want to make a deal!” I shouted back.
“What?”
“A deal. I want to talk!”
“So talk!” came the reply. I shook my head.
“One on one,” I shouted back. “You come out here.”
A moment of silence. I imagined the whispered discussion taking place. Time stretched out and I was starting to think I had made a mistake. It was only when one of them stepped out into the road that I realised I had been holding my breath.
“Keep your hands where I can see them,” she warned. She was wearing the same brown camo as the bodies at the gate but the addition of body armour made her seem more formidable, that and the automatic rifle she carried. She also wore a handgun on her left hip, had a knife strapped to her right thigh, and she moved like a shark in search of prey.
“So talk,” she said again.
“If we're having a conversation,” I replied, “can I put my hands down?”
“Sure,” she drawled, “just make it slow.”
I did as she asked, hyper aware of the gun pointing at my stomach.
“Now talk.” She gestured with her gun.
I took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly.
“The way I see it,” I said, “is that we've got somewhere we need to go, but you're in our way.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So we could fight our way through...”
“Maybe!”
“... but we'd lose some people...”
“That's the truth!”
“... but then so would you.”
“Also true,” she admitted.
“So why fight when pretty soon we may be on the same side?” I finished.
She said nothing for a moment, then sighed, looked up at buildings that rose on either side and then lifted her rifle until it was pointing straight at my head.
“You know what I think?” she said. “I think you're either very clever or very stupid. Crews like ours never do deals, you should know that. It's really bad for business, I mean when someone hires us we need to stay hired. No trust, no reputation, and no reputation means no money.”
I looked straight back down the barrel of the gun, right into her eyes.
“Kill me and you're a dead woman.” I said it with more confidence than I felt.
“What I figured,” she replied. “Nobody's dumb enough to walk out here without back up.”
“So let's deal.”
The gun remained motionless as she gave a tiny shake of the head.
“Uh-uh,” she said. “We're on camera, everything we do is being recorded.”
“So what we doing?”
“Well I guess we got ourselves a stand-off,” she drawled. “Tell me about Luca.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well I might end up working for him, be good to know what I'm dealing with.”
“He's a psychopath,” I said.
“Figures,” she replied. “Most of them are.”
“No, I mean for real,” I insisted. “He killed his wife!”
“Lotta people kill their partners, don't make them psychopaths.”
“I watched him cut her head off!”
She blinked at that.
“Yeah, that's kind of extreme,” she replied. “Mind you...”
She was interrupted by a two-tone chime that seemed to echo throughout the city. To our left a big screen blinked into life and there was Luca himself wearing a smart business suit and a reptilian smile.
“Former employees of the Simbardo Company,” he began. “I'm delighted to tell you that after a brief period of negotiation, your leader has resigned. Permenantly!”
At this point the screen switched to a picture of a man lying in a pool of blood. The camera zoomed in on his face, before zooming out again and switching back to Luca.
“And as a result,” he continued, “the entire company has now been taken over by the Luca Interplanetary Trading Corporation. All employees are required to re-register with their supervisor and will get a one-off ten percent bonus on completion. Just my way of saying how much I value you all.”
Luca leered at the camera.
“By the way,” he added, voice dropping as the camera zoomed in until the screen was fille
d with a huge image of Luca's face, “any employee failing to register will follow their former leader into an early and everlasting retirement.”
The camera zoomed again until only Luca's cold dead eyes were visible, and then flicked off.
“How do you like your new boss?” I asked. She shrugged, clicked the safety on her rifle and slung it over her shoulder.
“Same as the old boss,” she replied.
Twenty
“OK, THAT WAS BETTER.”
“The fuck it was!”
The combat knife lay on the deck at Rilk’s feet. Bex sat slightly further away, her left hand massaging her right shoulder. Along with a camo jacket that Bex now wore constantly, the knife had been a present from Martha. Bex had pestered Rilk to teach her how to use it until he grudgingly gave in, saying that as she was going to wave it around anyway, she might as well learn how to do it properly.
Rilk smiled. “Up you come!” he said, reaching out and hauling the girl to her feet. “Let’s give it another go.”
I sat on the edge of the fishing platform and watched as they went through the drill again. Above the open deck of the Fading Sun, the stars disappeared one by one as the long tendrils of dust reached out to envelop us. We were making our way into the nebula, Drd at the helm with Ariadne by his side. Between them they had everything under control, and I would just be in the way, but I felt uncomfortable. Part of it was the fact that we were nearing the end of our journey, but I was also struggling with the conversation Rilk and I had as we walked through Simbardo’s headquarters.
STEPPING THROUGH THAT gateway had been like stepping from winter into summer. Before us spread out a palace built of glass and steel, an eclectic mix of pathways and courtyards, fountains and ornamental trees. Birds sang gently and the smell of blossom hung in the breeze.
“What do you think?” asked Rilk, sweeping a proprietary hand.
“Impressive!” I said.
“It should be!” Rilk replied. “It cost a fortune. Simbardo built the whole city just to support this, his headquarters.”
“Why here?” I wondered.
Rilk stopped walking. “Look up,” he said.
I glanced upwards and stopped dead, staring at the sky. Regius, the great gas planet, filled half the sky, its surface a swirling kaleidoscope of colour. Beyond the light of three suns lit up the dust, creating a backdrop that rivalled the planet.
“It’s the best view in the system,” Rilk stated. I simply nodded.
We walked through an ornate archway festooned with flags and down a marble path into the complex. To either side the buildings rose like ziggurats of glass.
“So what was he like?” I asked.
“Simbardo?” Rilk raised an eyebrow in my direction. “Why do you ask?”
“Well,” I thought for a moment and then shrugged. “It’s not what I expected, that’s all.”
Rilk pulled at his chin and then scratched the stubble with his thumb.
“Well what did you expect?” he asked.
“I don't know,” I replied. “But it's nothing like Luca's place. I look around here and wonder if we chose the wrong side.”
“Wrong side?”
“Well, there’s no disembowelled corpses lining our route are there? I just think Simbardo seems a lot better than Luca.”
“Hmm.” Rilk thought for a moment. “Superficially maybe, but they’ve got a lot in common. Luca, Simbardo, they’re fairly typical of the guys who run these companies. On the one hand they pride themselves on being extremely civilised. I mean, look at this place!”
“And on the other?”
“Scratch the surface and you’ll find the ruthless gangster that fought his way out of the slums.”
“They can’t all be that bad, surely?”
“Oh, wise up Will. These guys have money and power and they always want more. Being a nice guy don’t pay!”
“But you fight for these men!”
“Actually, I don’t anymore.”
“Yeah, but you used to.”
“No, I never fought for them!”
“What?”
“I fought for money!”
I grabbed his arm and pulled him to face me.
“And that’s better because?”
“It’s just a job, Will!” Rilk’s stared straight into my eyes. “Money is the only honest reason for fighting.”
“You really believe that?”
“Oh yes!” Rilk took me by the shoulders. “I’ve met plenty who fought for their tribe or their politics, mouths full of slogans and battle cries, each one just an excuse for killing. Then there are those who want revenge, that force for hate bred by guilt and fear, and of course some kill because they just enjoy the power, the ultimate power of taking another’s life. It’s all sick, and I’m sick of it. Yes, sick of death, but most of all, sick of excuses from those who deal in it.”
He stopped. I reached out a hand but he pulled away.
“Do you want to know what I’m fighting for now?” he said quietly. “I’m fighting for the worst reason of all. I’m fighting for love.”
“Love?” I echoed.
“Yes,” he replied. “Love. That most selfish of reasons. I love you Will, and so now I fight for you, because all I know how to do is fight. So I will fight to keep you safe, and to help you do whatever it is you need to do. I don’t need reasons of my own anymore, your reasons are enough.”
“Wait,” I said. “You love me?”
“Yes!” he replied. “I’ve just torn down an empire for you! What other proof do you need?”
“None,” I said as I pulled him close, as I felt his strength against me. “Nothing else is needed.” I put my hand on the back of his neck, felt the muscle as I pulled his lips down to mine and kissed him fiercely.
“What if my reasons are just as bad?” I whispered we pulled apart.
“Do you even know what your reasons are?” Rilk murmured in my ear.
Maybe Rilk was right. Maybe I didn’t know what I was fighting for. Maybe I’d never known. I pulled out my comm unit and flicked up the clip. I watched it twice through, then paused it. That blurred image in the palm of my hand felt like a talisman of something I couldn’t express. This man I was hunting, why was he fighting? What would happen when we found him? I was scared, even if I didn’t like to admit it, but what I felt more than anything was the need to confront him.
“WILL?” ARIADNE’S MELODIOUS voice pulled me from my reverie. I walked over and pressed the button on the intercom.
“Yup.”
“You should come to the bridge. I’ve got something to show you.”
Walking onto the bridge I was struck by the vision across the panoramic viewing screens. The Fading Sun was entering a tunnel of cosmic proportions, a landscape sculpted from the dust by the laws of the universe.
“That’s amazing!” I breathed.
“Wait,” Ariadne replied. “They’re coming.”
I was about to ask what she meant when something started to emerge from the dust above us. I had paid my dues coasting over the surface of the great cloud, hunting the creatures that lived within, but I had never seen anything like this. The creature was vast, long sinuous limbs and body curving and flexing as it broke clear of the dust in a cloud of multicoloured particles. To my amazement it was followed by another, and then another until there were at least twenty of the great creatures filling the space before us.
“What are they doing?” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else. Neither Ariadne nor Drd answered. Each was enraptured by the creatures as they started to move together in an intricate pattern.
“Look at this.” Ariadne pointed at a screen playing a complex set of wave signals that jumped and faded according to some unfathomable pattern.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s measuring gravitational flux,” she answered. “I think...”
“What?”
“Let me get it in audio.” She punched some buttons on the console and
then typed in a series of commands. Suddenly the cabin was awash with noise, a burst of unintelligible sound that resolved into a tapestry of sighing calls and mournful replies.
“Yes.” Ariadne nodded. “They’re singing.”
We listened to the haunting sound as the leviathans of the gravitational tides spun and played in a dance of astonishing beauty.
A succession of sharp chimes broke the spell.
“Frth brt trip!” Drd was immediately busy at the controls.
“Show me!” I replied. Ariadne made a quick adjustment to the viewer and there before us was the planet, hanging in the void and wreathed in cloud.
“Status?” I asked.
“Breathable atmosphere, gravity near normal, but...” She broke off as her fingers danced over the controls.
“What is it? “
“It’s quite unusual. There appear to be minor fluctuations in the gravity readings. Either there’s something wrong with our instruments...”
“Or?”
“That planet is very unstable.”
“Unstable?”
“It’s not surprising,” Ariadne replied. “This area is subject to gravitational pull from all three suns. That’s why the dust collects here and the planet may have been sucked in too.”
“Can that happen?”
“According to my mistress’s research, most planets in a three-star system won’t have a truly stable orbit, the change may be minuscule but over millennia the planets can shift dramatically. It’s theoretically possible that a planet could be trapped in an ever-decreasing orbit around a point in space between the three stars.”
“And the dust gets trapped in that orbit as well?”
“Exactly.”
I thought of the planet all that time ago, dragged into this position as the dust cloud accumulated around it. The change must have been imperceptible but eventually the dust would have filled the sky. I tried to imagine how it would feel to see your sun fade and die, covered by an encroaching darkness that was unstoppable. No wonder the Kwa left their home world and spread through the system. The words of Drd’s poem came back to me: Thus falls the shadow over Eden.
Twenty-One
Thus Falls the Shadow Page 10