by Luke Arnold
I kicked at the back door of The Ditch until Boris came to the door.
First, he was angry. Then concerned. He hadn’t lived in Sunder before the Coda so he’d never had the pleasure of meeting Hendricks in his heyday. It didn’t matter, though. Boris had a kind heart and he could see that we needed help.
“My friend is hurt and people are trying to kill us. Can we hide here? Just for a while?”
Boris didn’t even stop to think about it. He took Hendricks from my arms and brought us in from the cold.
66
Boris carried Hendricks into the kitchen and put him down on a sack of flour. He was still breathing, and the cuts on his head weren’t so bad. Boris handed me some bandages, then signaled for me to wait.
One of the reasons I was so fond of The Ditch was that it was never strict about closing time. As long as there was one sorry soul that wanted to nurse his drink instead of going home alone, the bar was happy to stay open.
Boris broke tradition by going into the main room to clear out the last of the customers while we waited out back. The shirt that I’d wrapped around Hendricks’ shoulder was loose and wet. I took it off him, cleaned up the wound as much as I could, then covered it with fresh bandages. It didn’t take long for blood to mark the cloth.
“Where are we?”
His eyes fluttered open.
“The Ditch. As soon as Boris gets everyone out, I’ll call the surgeons to come stitch you up.”
He pulled the bandage from his side to inspect the wound.
“Nothing serious. Just a bit of skin and muscle. I’ll be fine.”
He tried to get up.
“Eliah, stay still. You need to rest.”
He didn’t fight me so I handed him my last Clayfield as a reward. When Boris came back, and signaled that the coast was clear, I went into the main room and used the payphone to call the surgery.
The Dwarf answered.
“Hendricks has been injured. He’s got a nasty hole in his shoulder and he’s bleeding like hell. Tell the ladies to come to The Ditch on the corner of Eighth and Main.”
He assured me that the Succubae would be on their way within the hour.
When I turned back around, Boris was behind the bar holding a bottle of tarix sap.
“That ain’t really the priority, Boris.”
He pointed back at the kitchen and shrugged in a way that said, It’s not my idea.
I suppose that made sense.
Before I’d even closed all the blinds, Hendricks stumbled out to join us. He was scraping himself along the wall, heading for one of the booths.
“Are you trying to kill yourself?” I asked.
“Of course not. That’s your thing. Where’s my drink?”
He collapsed onto a bench and propped himself up against a pillar. Boris placed two cocktails on the table in front of him.
“Come on, boy. You can’t sew me up just by looking serious.”
I took the seat opposite. We picked up our drinks and tapped them together.
It was like some kind of cruel joke. How long had I been dreaming of a night like this? To be back at The Ditch with Hendricks, enjoying cocktails and conversation. It was everything I’d wanted. Almost. He wasn’t supposed to have a new face and a hole in his shoulder that was dripping blood onto the floor.
“Exina and Loq are on their way,” I said.
“Good. I just hope the skin on my shoulder holds stitches better than my face did.”
I’d been worrying about the same thing. An injury like this would have been nothing back in the day, but his new body had been struggling even before he’d sprung a leak.
“You got any Clayfields behind there?” I asked Boris. The Banshee pulled out a pack from behind the bar and dropped them in the middle of the table. He went out to the kitchen and Hendricks and I each plucked a twig from the pack.
“They’ll be coming for us,” I said.
“That’s why we need to move on them first.”
I almost laughed. He was in pieces. I didn’t know which of my injuries was hurting the most. We were the sorriest pair of rebels that had ever been seen, and he wanted to go on the attack.
“And do what?”
Hendricks leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, and took a big sip of his milkwood.
“Take it all down.” There was no glint in his eye. No irony. He was dead-set serious. “I told you that I traveled all across the continent. I know what life is like since the Coda. It isn’t all lost. Not by a long shot. But it will be if we don’t fight for this world. The real world. The old world.” His eyes drifted in and out of focus but his voice strengthened with every word. “I was wrong about this place. Wrong to defend it. To feed it. It’s poison. Just like this!” He slapped his cocktail off the table and the glass shattered on the floor. “When my body was strong, the poison didn’t matter. I could contain it. A little whiskey and tobacco was nothing compared to the centuries inside my soul. But now? Well, look at me, boy. I’m an inch away from oblivion.”
“You just need rest. Let’s get out of the city. When you’re better we can—”
“We don’t have time! The whole world is just as sick as I am, and this city is the poison. We could contain Sunder when we were strong. But without the magic, this place is bleeding us out. It drags farmers away from the land. Doctors from their communities. It makes us forget the things we need to protect. Our traditions. Our connections. Out there, away from this place, there is a world that is waiting to be reborn but it will only happen if we stay out there and fight for it. We will find a way to move forward, I promise you, but not while Sunder City stands.”
I didn’t know where to look. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I thought that he just wanted to stop the Niles Company. To make sure that the city stayed in the hands of its people. But this?
“Sunder is the easy option,” he spat. “The short-term solution. If it continues to suck at the spirit of Archetellos, it will be our end. We must destroy it, Fetch. You and I. That is our duty. That is how we will make up for everything we’ve done to this world. For all our mistakes. It is the most important job we will ever do.”
His eyes were full of determination. Clear. Unwavering. Certain about the task ahead. He didn’t just want to stop Sunder from falling into the Niles Company’s control. He wanted to destroy it completely. Main Street and The Ditch and the House of Ministers and the Governor’s mansion. I didn’t even know how to fit that idea into my head. It was madness.
Hendricks looked into my eyes. Reading me. Daring me. I stared back, but I couldn’t pretend to agree with him. All I felt was fear and uncertainty. I watched him watch me. I saw the disappointment. Even worse, I saw his frustrated lack of surprise.
“What about Baxter?” I asked. “We tell them what the Niles Company is up to. We make sure the city takes control of the fires and we use them to… to do whatever you think needs doing. This city doesn’t have to be a poison. If we do things right, we can…”
He was shaking his head. Chuckling.
“For someone who expects so little of himself, you have so much faith in other people. All creatures, Humans especially, have a crippling inability to see past their immediate needs. We all have our ideals. Our beliefs about what we stand for. Our code. But when the bowl of food is placed in front of us, we act like the animals we really are.”
“I don’t think you really mean that.”
“Why would you expect everyone else to be better than you? You’ve been carrying around your killing machine, haven’t you? You told me that you were asked to destroy it. You didn’t. Because of that, people died. Now what do you think happens when they start selling those things on every corner? At first, when people see what they are, they’ll be disgusted by them. Rightfully so. Who wants to keep something like that in their house? With their children? But then your neighbor buys one. You see them stuffed into belts when you’re out on the street. You no longer feel safe. Not until you have one of
your own. They’ll be buying them straight off the production line, I promise you. Then what does this place become? What does this world become when every single one of us is preparing to go to war with each other? How will we claw our way back from that?”
I had no answer. I didn’t argue. I couldn’t. I was sure he was right but I couldn’t believe that destroying the city was the only way forward.
“Eliah, I’ve been here for six years. I know it looks bad but there are good people here, and if we—”
“You’re just saying that because you wouldn’t know what to do without this place. You have a frustrating inability to look past your own feelings. You always have. Made rash, dangerous choices because you wanted to follow a girl, or had your feelings hurt, or thought that somebody wanted to fuck you. But all you’ve ever cared about is looking like a man, and that’s what this place gives you. Who will you be without it? I have no idea. It doesn’t matter. I’m giving you a chance, for once in your life, to do the thing that’s better for everyone else.”
I had nothing to say. I couldn’t argue. But I couldn’t agree with him either.
Then he gave a horrible, all-knowing laugh.
“I was wrong,” he said.
“About what?”
“That thing I said when we were out by the fire.” He reached over and tapped a finger against my temple. “It turns out, I know exactly what’s going on in your head.”
He lay back in the booth and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he was snoring. I sat and stared at him till the surgeons arrived.
“Will he be okay?” I asked.
“His skin doesn’t like stitches but we’ll make it work,” said Exina. “Was it that machine you were talking about? The one they’re making down at that factory?”
I nodded and left Hendricks in their care while I went out to walk in the shadows, keeping my head down and my coat wrapped around my bare and bloody chest. I needed new clothes but I couldn’t go home. I needed help. I needed someone to talk to. Most of all, I needed to convince Hendricks that the soul of Sunder City could be saved.
I just needed to convince myself first.
67
The back door to the Steeme household was unlocked. Very little had changed inside. The detectives were likely expecting Carissa to return home at some point, unaware that she was already out in Lipha, hopefully sitting with her cousin somewhere on the coast.
Harold was smaller than I was but I found a shirt of his that fit me. I took new trousers and a black jacket and laid them out on the bed. I hung the holster on the doorknob and took a shower. The water between my feet was dark red: full of dirt and dried blood. When I toweled myself off, I found untold new sore spots and it was an impossible task to work out where each cut or bruise had come from.
“Well, this is a new one.”
Linda Rosemary was standing in the doorway of the bathroom with her switchblade in her hand. I wrapped the towel around my waist.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Waiting for a murderer to return. Or an accomplice. Which one did I catch?”
“Give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll explain.”
“No.”
“What?”
“You can get dressed but I’m not going anywhere. I don’t trust you not to jump out the window in your birthday suit.”
“Fine. My clothes are out there.”
We went back into the bedroom. Linda stood against the wall with her eyes on the floor, not leaving me alone but not making it any weirder than it needed to be. I finished drying myself off.
“Simms put you up to this?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“Well, it’s a waste of time. Carissa Steeme hopped a carriage out of town. She’s not coming back.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m the one who sent her away.”
“What?” She turned in shock, realized that I hadn’t got my trousers on yet, and looked away in similar alarm. “You’re not even going to try and lie to me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not important.”
“It is to me. I want Simms on my side. I need to find some regular work before this city eats me whole.”
“There won’t be a city to work in if I don’t decide what to do next.”
I got my pants and shirt on and she stopped averting her eyes.
“You found your saboteur?”
“Yeah.”
“Who was it?”
I still hadn’t worked her out. There were too many sides of Linda Rosemary to see them all at once. I took a gamble.
“Eliah Hendricks.”
She struggled to swallow that one. I didn’t blame her.
“The High Chancellor?”
“Yeah. He’s an old friend.”
“Bullshit.”
“I know. It’s never made much sense to me either.”
“Where is he?”
“Why? You wanna meet him?”
Another gamble, but I was beginning to see my next move. Hendricks had been alone for too long. Of course he could see why shutting this whole city down might be a good idea, and I’d never been good at changing his mind about anything. But what if we had a new group of smart minds? Like the old days, when we’d sit in the garden of the Governor’s mansion and discuss the best ways to live and serve and rule. Linda. Baxter. Hendricks. Me, to a lesser extent. I was sure that if I gave Eliah his sounding board and his drinking buddies and a bit of philosophy to chew on, we would be able to find a way out of this, together.
“The Ditch,” I said. “It’s a bar on Eighth and Main. It’ll look like it’s closed but if you say that I sent you, they’ll let you in.”
“But why?”
“Because the fires are still burning beneath this city and the Niles Company are trying to control that power for themselves. We need to find a way to stop them that doesn’t involve tearing all of Sunder to pieces.”
“That’s an option?”
“For some people.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“But where are you going?”
“To find some friends. I’ll meet you there soon.”
“Wait. How do I know you’re not just trying to get me off your back?”
“You don’t. But it’s worth the risk, right? You let me go but you have a chance to meet High Chancellor Eliah Hendricks. Didn’t you come here looking for a miracle?”
68
I didn’t know where Baxter lived so I had to wait for them to arrive at one of their many jobs. With everything that was going on, I guessed that they were more likely to go to the House of Ministers than the Museum. I hunkered down in the entrance of Prim Hall where I’d have a good view of Baxter’s approach.
Sitting next to me was a scruffy little pickpocket. I explained what I wanted him to do and he only needed to hear it once. While we waited for Baxter to arrive, he didn’t say anything at all. He was the perfect employee.
When Baxter’s inimitable silhouette came around the corner I gave the kid the signal. He was fast enough to cut Baxter off before they turned up the hill.
There might have been easier ways to do this but they would all give Baxter time alone to notify someone else. I was on the run; Thurston’s men would be looking for me, the Police Department too. I wish I trusted Baxter more. I wish I could trust anyone. But I’d screwed over too many people to earn any kind of allegiance.
The kid delivered the message and Baxter looked up at me, too far away for me to read their expression. They said something to the kid then took an admirably short amount of time to make a decision and come my way.
The kid ran back, ahead of Baxter, and when I handed him his coins he paused. It was like he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure if he should. I thought he might be weighing up whether to ask for more money.
“Sorry, it’s all I got.”
The kid shook his head and ran away. It seeme
d like I couldn’t make anybody happy today.
Before Baxter reached me, I went inside.
Prim Hall had closed with the Coda. Maybe not officially, but nobody had booked a concert there since.
The first row of seats had been ripped up and burned in the middle of the room. The black crater that it left behind was filled with garbage, right in the spot where that perfect horn player had once been sitting. I leaned against a wall and Baxter came in, shaking the snow from their coat.
“For heaven’s sake, Fetch. I can’t be seen with you. Thurston has all but put a price on your head.”
“How are things with the new Niles brother? His plans sure have put a spring in your step. You were one downhearted little Demon the last time I saw you.”
“Yes. It’s an exciting time,” they said, with no hint of actual excitement. “Soon the fires will be back in every home and the city will be alive again.”
“And you think we have the Niles Company to thank for that?”
“Who else?”
Baxter was a tough cookie. Trying to read their face was like guessing the emotional state of a roofing tile.
“Baxter, the fires are still burning beneath the city. They always have been. Niles is just bringing them up to the surface and stamping his brand on it. They’re selling our own power back to us so they can use the…” Baxter dropped their head and I trailed off.
“How did you find out?”
Damn it.
I knew Niles couldn’t be doing it all on his own but I never thought Baxter would be the one selling out.
“Really, Bax? You’re handing the whole city over to this guy? We could have captured the fires ourselves.”
“No, we couldn’t! We had nothing, Fetch. Even if we’d known it was still there, which we didn’t, we’d lost the technology. I couldn’t get five men to fill potholes last year, now we have hundreds of workers fitting pipes, building new businesses and going home to their families with food, wages and a purpose. This is everything I set out to achieve, far more than I’d hoped for, and nobody else could have made it happen.”
