by J. J. Green
Parthenia tried not to worry about it. They were on the other side of the country now, far from the Dirksens’ forest. If they were careful, they could stay out of danger long enough for Carina to find them. The whereabouts of her older sister was another thing Parthenia tried not to worry about.
They turned a corner into a wider space, and Parthenia halted in fear. Huge animals loomed in the semi-darkness. “You didn’t say they were that big,” she whispered fiercely at Ferne.
“Honestly,” he replied, “they seem to be harmless. I quite like them.”
The animals’ bodies were as tall as she was, but their heads were half as high again at the end of their long necks. They were short haired except for longer hair that grew from the backs of their necks and hung down over their eyes. All the animals were tethered to a bar by straps that connected to a kind of cage of straps around their heads and faces.
They were eating some of the same dead plant bits that were tangled in Ferne’s hair, and Parthenia noted that though the animals’ teeth were large they weren’t pointed like those of predators. Perhaps they weren’t dangerous after all, but she was sure she wouldn’t be going near one any time soon.
“I don’t suppose you brought any more food?” Oriana asked hopefully. It was clearly wishful thinking on her sister’s part. It was obvious Parthenia didn’t have anything else with her except the ranger’s shirt she was wearing. She’d even dropped the empty cup before she Transported.
“I’m sorry, Oriana,” she said. “Haven’t you or Ferne found anything to eat since we left the ship?”
“Here,” said Ferne, “let’s eat what we do have.” He unwrapped the cloth parcel Parthenia had given him and handed Oriana some bread.
“Can I have some?” Darius asked.
“Let Oriana and Ferne have it all,” said Parthenia. “We already ate, remember?”
“I remember,” her little brother replied. “But I’m still hungry.”
“Well Ferne and Oriana are hungrier.”
“Okay,” said Darius. His young mind flitted to another subject. “It sure was a big surprise to wake up here. Did you say goodbye to Jace?”
“Hmm… ” Parthenia said. “Yeah, kind of.”
“I’m glad we’re all together again,” Darius said, watching Oriana take another bite of bread. “But where’s Carina?”
Chapter Twelve
Carina had Transported herself to a spot outside the stadium where the Mech Battles were held. It was one of the few places she knew on Ostillon. As soon as she appeared, she checked all around her. The massive stadium wall stood to her right and spreading out between her and the town was the parking lot. A few hover vehicles dotted it, perhaps temporarily abandoned by owners too inebriated to find them in the crush at the end of the show. Carina also noticed for the first time the large workshops that jutted out from behind the stadium. She guessed that was where the giant mechs were built and repaired.
Then she recalled the odd ceremony she’d witnessed being held at the end of the Mech Battles. The origins and meaning of the ceremony were a mystery she would love to solve but she had other priorities.
Although she was exhausted from working through the night and ached all over due to Harmon’s ministrations, the earliness of the hour was counting in her favor. There was no sign of any movement nearby and she didn’t think her sudden appearance had been observed.
Carina checked the bottle she’d taken from the estate kitchen and tucked inside her shirt. The hard, smooth shape felt comforting to the touch. It was full of elixir. She finally felt somewhat relieved and hopeful for the future. She’d escaped Langley Dirksen’s estate and now she was free to find her mage siblings.
After following the stadium wall around, she hit the long road that led through the lot and into the metropolis. She set off down the road quickly. The sooner she reached the comparative anonymity of the city streets the better.
Somewhere on that large continent Parthenia, Darius, Ferne, and Oriana were probably struggling to survive. Carina had to find them before they did something that revealed their mage powers. Their mother would have drilled it into them that they were never to reveal their abilities to strangers, but her sisters and brothers had virtually no experience of the outside world. She wouldn’t have been surprised if one of them had already done something risky. If they were caught saving them would be a lot harder. Even if they were being very cautious, hunger, thirst, and exposure to the elements would tempt them to do things they shouldn’t and there were always evil people waiting to take advantage of others.
At the thought of evil people, Castiel popped into Carina’s mind. She’d successfully avoided thinking about her other half-brother over the last few days, but now she wondered what had happened to him. As with Parthenia, Darius, Oriana, and Ferne, Carina had Transported Castiel and her other half-sister, Nahla, to the planet surface while the Sherrerr shuttle was being boarded. She’d Transported Castiel and Nahla first, in fact, glad to say goodbye to them.
Carina felt a twinge of guilt at sending Nahla down to the surface with Castiel. The little girl didn’t seem to be naturally bad but she worshipped her older brother, and he enjoyed exerting his strong influence over her. Castiel was as malevolent and malicious as his father, Stefan Sherrerr. What concerned Carina even more was the fact that Castiel had asserted strongly that he could Cast. Like Nahla, no one thought he had inherited their mother’s mage powers. But after reluctantly taking the pair of them with her when she escaped from the Sherrerrs, Castiel had boasted that he could Cast if he were given elixir.
If he was right and by some quirk of nature his ability hadn’t developed until he’d hit puberty, the prospect was terrifying. He’d watched his siblings’ lessons on Casting. He probably knew all the characters and principles. All he would need would be some practice. Carina didn’t even want to think of what her oldest half-brother might do were he given the chance to act out his nastiest fantasies. What was worse, he hated her passionately and all his other siblings except Nahla. They were probably physical reminders to him of feelings of inadequacy he had experienced while growing up, unable to Cast as most of his brothers and sisters could. And if his ego and pride were anything approaching his father’s, those feelings would be unbearable.
Carina hoped she had Transported him and his minion sister far from everyone else in her remaining family.
She was drawing close the thoroughfare that would lead her into the city. The sun was coming up, and the city was wakening along with it. Every so often a hover vehicle would pass along the thoroughfare, usually high up and traveling very fast. The tall building complexes that Carina had seen from the spaceport were in the distance. She was heading toward a low-rise part of town that seemed poorer and older. She guessed this was a part of the city that the Dirksens hadn’t gotten around to developing yet.
It was a good place for her to be. She would probably be able to pay for things using the plaspaper money Reyes had given to her. First on her list of things she needed were new clothes. The ones she was wearing were so dirty and stank so bad she disgusted even herself. More importantly, she had to get rid of anything that identified her. Langley Dirksen would have the streets combed for her as soon as the matriarch knew she was missing. She should probably cut her hair too, she mused.
The obvious thing for her to do would be to get as far from the neighborhood of the Dirksen estate as quickly as she could. Yet Carina didn’t want to leave the place just yet. The metropolis was probably the capital of that region if not the entire continent, so it would be there that she would have the easiest access to useful information, news reports, and so on. Also, the Dirksens might have already put up road blocks, guessing that she would try to escape the city.
Carina reached the thoroughfare that formed a T with the road from the stadium. She stepped into it and turned left. A few pedestrians were already walking the streets, perhaps on their way to jobs that began early in the day or on their way home from late nigh
ts. As they passed her the men and women threw looks at Carina that she guessed were not only due to her disheveled state. Her clothes, which had been provided by the Sherrerrs, were not what was usually worn there. She had to blend in with the local population but she wasn’t sure how to go about it.
The local hover transports were beginning to fill the roadway. Though it was only two lanes wide, the lanes were three tiers high. The highest tier was the fast lane and slower vehicles occupied the lane that was just above the ground. The vehicles pulled off into parking spots at the road’s edge when they wanted to stop. In one of the spots was a stall selling handmade artwork. Carina glanced at the items idly as she passed by. The objects were beautiful: multicolored opalescent containers and simple decorative plaques.
Catching her looking at the display, the stallholder said, “See something you like? Special discount for my first customer of the day.”
Carina smiled, barely deciphering the man’s thick accent. She shook her head and walked on. But the encounter had sparked something in her. The elderly man running the stall reminded her of her grandmother. Nai Nai had collected pebbles in the wild lands around the slum settlement where Carina had grown up, polishing them to reveal their beautiful natural colors before offering them for sale. In truth, the stones were nearly worthless and the living that Nai Nai had scraped had been meager, but it had been just about the only time Carina could remember being truly happy.
She turned around and went back to the stall. The small stallholder was gazing upward absently at the expensive vehicles flashing past in the fast lane overhead. When he noticed Carina’s return, he grinned and stood up so quickly he knocked over his stool. As he stooped to pick it up, he said, “Changed your mind? Something caught your eye? Which piece is it you’re interested in. I can recommend—”
“Have you had breakfast?” Carina asked.
The stall holder's eyes grew so wide the whites showed all around. “Breakfast? I… why do you ask?”
Carina said, “You remind me of someone. She’s been dead a long time, but you would be doing me a favor if you ate breakfast with me.”
“Oh, well,” said the man. “I’m not going to turn down the offer of free food. Of course I’ll eat breakfast with you.”
“Thanks. Where can I buy it?”
The old man gave her directions to a shop down a nearby alley and in a few minutes Carina had returned with hot, filled buns and an opaque, smooth tea. The stallholder pulled out a second stool from underneath his stall, and after Carina sat down they ate.
She hardly knew the reason for her sudden impulse but she guessed it wouldn’t hurt to speak to a local and learn something of how people lived on Ostillon. She might learn how to avoid sticking out and how she might be able to find her siblings.
“This person I remind you of,” said the old man, “is it a grandparent?”
“Yes,” Carina said. “My grandmother brought me up. She sold pretty things too. Pebbles, though. Not like what you have here. Did you make all these things yourself?”
“Me?” The stallholder laughed. “Oh no. I could never make anything like this. My son is the artist. He had an accident as a child and he can’t walk.”
“I’m sorry,” said Carina. She guessed the man was too poor to pay a splicer to fix his son’s legs, but it would have been rude to mention it. “Your son is very talented.”
“Thank you. I’m very proud of him. I can tell by your accent you aren’t from around here. Are you visiting family in the city? Or perhaps looking for a job?”
The state of Carina’s clothes, and perhaps the bruises that Harmon had left on her face, told the old man that she probably wasn’t much better off than him. She decided to run with his impression of her—it wasn’t that far from the truth after all, and she might learn something useful. “That’s right. Do you know where I might find some work?”
“I guess you’re probably looking for something off the books?” He winked at her.
“Yeah, I am. Do you have that kind of thing around here?” Carina knew exactly what the stallholder was alluding to. The situation was the same everywhere you went. The clan-affiliated upper classes jealously guarded their wealth and privilege, the aspiring middle classes held a firm allegiance to the system and clung to the false hope that they might one day move upward, and the semi-illegal, shady underclass didn’t—or chose not to—fit in. Sometimes these lower-class individuals’ birth details had never been registered, they’d angered a clan member, or they’d committed a crime and were wanted by the authorities. Whatever the reason for their position, they lived outside the system.
“Of course,” the stallholder replied. “Isn’t that kind of thing to be found everywhere? There’s an agency that hires casual workers for all kinds of legitimate and less-than legitimate work about half a klick down this road. Just tell them you lost your ID. They’ll understand what you mean. They’ll give you a uniform and pay cash at the end of the day.”
A uniform would be a great disguise. Carina doubted the Dirksen thugs Langley sent out to find her would be looking for someone wearing a local uniform. “Thanks. That sounds like exactly what I need.”
“Thank you for the breakfast. I hope our little chat has brought back some happy memories for you.”
Carina smiled. “It has.” The stallholder didn’t only remind her of her dear, sweet, quick-tempered Nai Nai because of his age and situation: he was also just as kind and considerate. It was nice to feel looked after, rather than being the one who was looking out for everyone else.
Their breakfast was finished, and Carina had to get off the street and change her appearance soon before people came looking for her. She thanked the old man for his time and wished him good luck with his sales before leaving him.
Chapter Thirteen
Carina ran a hand through her newly shorn hair. She’d told the barber to cut it short. She had something resembling her merc’s military cut. It felt good.
Her head seemed lighter and she felt freer, though the sight of her battered face in the barber’s mirror had been a bit of a shock. It was probably twelve hours or longer since Harmon had worked her over and the bruises were really beginning to bloom. She wasn’t going to make much of an impression at the employment agency, but Carina had decided that a day or two’s work was her best option. The Dirksens would be looking for her in places where people went to lie low: cheap hotels, derelict buildings, seedy parts of town. The clan’s bully boys wouldn’t be looking for ordinary people doing ordinary jobs, unless they were a lot smarter than typical. Carina also hoped to become more familiar with life on Ostillon. A better knowledge of the world might help her locate her siblings.
The agency receptionist took in Carina’s disheveled appearance in one withering glance. She hadn’t been able to find anywhere open at that early hour that sold clothes. But Carina clearly didn’t look too awful to work. The receptionist pointed toward a row of interfaces along the wall of the shabby office. “Input your details. The system will match you with what’s available today.”
“I don’t have any ID,” Carina said. “I lost it.”
The receptionist frowned. “Where are you from?”
“Offplanet.”
“Oh. Makes sense. I couldn’t place your accent. Okay. Pick out a uniform that fits, put it on, and wait outside. Someone will be along to collect the day laborers soon.”
Carina noticed the box beside the receptionist’s desk that was full of old, worn overalls.
“You get paid when you return your uniform,” said the receptionist. “Dirty is okay but if it’s torn or damaged the repair cost comes out of your wages.”
Carina had thought it a little weird for the agency to provide a uniform but now the policy made sense. It was hard to avoid damaging your clothes while working manually. The agency probably used the uniform rule as a ploy to keep back some of the workers’ wages. Still, Carina was there mostly for camouflage, not for money. She still had the bills Reyes had given
to her.
As she rooted through the box to find overalls that wouldn’t look too ridiculous on her, she wondered if Reyes had gotten in trouble for letting her go. Was Langley’s mansion fitted with security cameras? She guessed not or Reyes wouldn’t have been so bold. For all his brave talk, he’d acted submissive while in his mother’s company.
The only overalls that didn’t come up too short on Carina’s lanky legs had a tear across one knee. “I’m taking these,” she said to the receptionist and showed her the tear. “But look, they’re already damaged.”
The receptionist said, “Sure. Okay.” From her manner, it was obvious she was going to deny ever seeing the tear when Carina returned later on that day.
Carina put on the overalls over her dirty clothes and went outside. Over the next hour, more people went into the agency and came out again wearing a uniform. They joined her and the group grew. No one spoke much, though nods passed between workers who knew each other. Carina didn’t talk either, not wanting to alert the others to her offworld accent. When a young girl smiled at her, however, she returned the smile. The girl reminded her of Parthenia, though she was a little older. In fact, the girl was probably her own age, Carina realized wryly. It was only that she thought of herself as older.
After another half an hour or so, as Carina’s sleepless night began to really catch up with her, a large hover transport arrived. Before it had even drawn to a stop, the workers raced to crowd around its rear entrance. The doors opened, and the people at the front of the crowd tried to climb aboard. Two men stood there, however, and they pushed the over-eager laborers back, pressing the men and women’s chests with the soles of their boots.
“We need thirteen today,” one of the men said. There were many more than thirteen people hoping for work. Carina guessed there had to be twice that number.
