76
She were outta the earth gaspin. Night sky an the faint light that couldnt reach nowhere near the bottom. Her visor was off but she were still in the suit an she were gaspin. Howd she got there? She were slumped against the wall of the building, sittin to the side of the big openin an in front of the flat, glassy waste with them strange rings of cooked sand glitterin in the dirty moonlight stared back at her. Them bones specked here an there like markers. The last thing she recalled were the beast takin her breath down below. What had happened? Howd she got topside? Were she dead? Were she poisoned? Her legs musta carried her up spite her mind goin. She’d been dyin in that suit, strugglin for breath all the way down but now even the dead air of this desolate spot were like cool water to her. She’d been right when she went in, there were a lifestealin monster down there an thered been a fight out here not longago an all them bones was markin the spot. Sumhow theyd got them doors open an headed down inta the pit. Prolly dint have no fancy suit like hers neither an theyd breathed in all that poison an sum of them unlucky fellas had walked out inta that water an worked with pick an shovel at the walls for who knew how long it took to get through concrete an metal like that. Theyd stuck with it though, theyd made sure they got through an that meant they kinda knew what they was doin or they thought it were worth sumthin real valuable. It were a fool whod think that stuff were gunna be good for anywun though. Theyd buried it down real deep an made sure nowun knew where it were for who knew how long. What had happened out here? There werent nowun smart enough to be findin this place an then greedy enough to be diggin into it. Anywun who knew the full tale would never do such a thing. The full story. There were sumthin funny about that when she turned it over in her head. It were quite a story. The Old Woman had spent years tellin it to her in fact. Repeatin parts of it so she dint never forget. Remindin her over an over again that it were out there an it were close. That it were an old, bad, powerful thing from a time gone past. Over an over. Sittin in the readin room at the System. While she counted stones next to the window, lamp lightin the little piles an the sun droppin over the yard. Dust on the floor. Always dust. Couldnt never get it clean, dint matter how often Karra clipped her ear. Karra. She figgered shed known for years that he were huntin the same thing as her but the truth of it were sumthin different altogether. The truth were he’d got there first an gone about it his own way.
The Orphan were standin there on the outside, doors gone an surrounded by bones. The thoughts come to her real slow but they wasnt lettin up an it were comin clear, all too dark an clear to her an she started pullin off the suit an walkin towards the Open Road all at once. She were in her own head. Lost past an present. She dint see the fella sittin on her ship until he spoke.
Sister.
Her blud turned to ice an she felt for her blade but she knew she were done. Caught up in the suit she werent doin nuthin. She looked an saw her maras come real. Ghosts behind him an ghost blade on him an she was caught cold. She was gunna join them bones an the weariness an frustration of it all hit her in the gut an she wrenched her arm out the sleeve an drew her bayonet just the same. She were gunna go out hard like she’d promised the Block since they was yungens. It settled on her an she felt her blade waver an she dint know if it was the suit, the place or that she were ready to die but evrythin swam together an she heard him speak again, markin the word proper this time though it dint make no sense to her.
Sister.
77
She were glad he’d lit a fire. She couldn’t stop starin at him. Not sure what he were. Reckoner? Brother? Both? She’d heard him call her sister but it dint stick. She weren’t nowuns sister no more. Weren’t nuthin like that to nowun save Block mayhap an a daughter to the Old Woman, dust rest her bones. She were woozy from the pit an not sure it weren’t all a dream. That she weren’t dead an gone back to dust. He’d made the fire normal enough. Tinder an kindle just like she woulda done but she still couldn’t fix her eyes on him proper. Her brother were long dead an this fella was claimin he were him. Too much made sense an too much dint. Why he’d let her live again an again. But how he still lived himself? He beckoned her sit opposite him at the fire an she dint know how to run or say no so she sat crosslegged, blade in reach. The other Ghosts sat watch around em like they’d dun before. Just whitish blurs on the edge of the firelight an theyd turned their backs to the brightness, their eyes dint like the flames. There were so much she dint unnerstand, so much she dint know. They sat in silence for a long time an he let her be until she were ready to speak.
You carried me out the pit? An yer me brother? Jon.
She said it a near whisper.
He took a while an she weren’t sure he’d heard her but eventually he nodded.
An yer a Ghost?
I am.
All this time?
For a long time.
Another wait. Coulda been a minute but more like an hour. She weren’t sure of time an what were happenin but nowanthen she looked up an it mightve been her brother sittin opposite.
But where have ya been? Why dint ya come home?
I been home.
But why dint ya come for me?
He lowered his gaze. Dint know you was alive.
The size of the thing hit her in the gut an she leaned forwards an retched. Brung up nowt but drool an bile an then retched again in the sand. He looked at her worried but that were worse an she hacked again, eyes waterin an head spinnin. It were like she felt nuthin from the flames in front of her.
What about Mum?
He looked into the fire a while an then met her look.
She been on the wind these three years past. She got a strange kinda sick and there werent nuthin nowun could do for her. Im sorry.
Three times an orphan.
It werent real that she were sittin here with Jon. It werent real that her mumd been alive. While she was lernin her letters and catchin the lash from Karra her mumd been in the Glows. They mighta even crossed paths down there in the dark while she was scavvin. Thinkin on it made her gorge rise an her mouth fill with spit like she was gunna chuck again. Long wait fore she spoke again, swallowin it down this time.
How come ya stayed so long with the Ghosts? Couldnt ya have got away?
I dont unnerstand.
You remember that day? All them years ago. When youse got took by the Ghosts.
Jon stared at her a long time, then looked back inta the fire like he din wanna be lookin at her when he talked next. You poor fucken orphan. Thats what they told ya dint they? That you was a Ghost orphan?
She just looked at him.
We wasnt never taken by Ghosts you poor fucken kid. We was taken by fellas, slavers, from that fucken place ya call home. They been doin it for years. Not enough women an kids in the System, not enough slaves. We was rescued by them you call Ghosts while they was tryna take us back. They come upon the caravan we was in an took em to pieces an brung us back to the Glows. Them Ghosts kilt evrywun of em, left em bleedin out on the sand an Im still glad they did. Them slavers was snatchin up kids and women what couldnt fight for themselves. Been doin it for years. Takin them wuns what was easiest to take. We was rescued by the Ghosts sister, not taken. An I aint never once wanted to go to yer System an yer fucken slavers an yer badfellas, special as I were certain up until not long ago that my little sister was kilt by em. Them Ghosts been good to me, was good to Mum too an we aint never forgiven the System. Soon as I could I come back out to where we was but you was gone an nowt left. We marked ya dead and et, you was so little there werent even bones left behind. Never figgered you was took. Woulda come for ya. Believe it.
He was breathin hard an he stopped talkin for an age but she knew he werent done. After a while he spoke real soft an she hadta lean in to hear him.
Them Ghosts is just fellas like any others but they been cut off an deep dark a real long time. I mean a real long time. A real long time close to the Glows as well, an sum strange things happen down there in the dark. Far as I can t
ell them first wuns, the ancestors callem, was fellas what dug the Spirals, an they went under to get away from all what was goin on up top. They aint real fond of the sun no more, an it dont do sum of the older wuns eyes no good. Sum of the younger wuns is OK though an theres others like me what got picked up or rescued an aint had no reason to return to the light.
It were all too much for her. Too much histery all at once. She looked across the fire, seein the little boy she’d thought was so tall and catchin only dust for memories. He were sorta there but in his place was a grim fella whatd lived a long time in the dark. She could only guess what she looked like to him, recknin the long years of servin an livin day by month by year in the System by her wits prolly hadnt left much of the little girl he remembered neither.
The sun come up an they was still sittin, parlayin now an then. Her head still werent right with all she’d heard an she knew it werent gunna be right a long time. The Ghosts around the edge of the fire had disappeared silently in the night to sum dark place they preferred. Jon started to take shape again in her head as it got brighter an sumwhere along the way she found herself errin towards callin him Jon in her head instead of the Reckoner. There were still so much she dint know an the weight of it were heavy on her heart. She wanted to know about their mum, how she moved, how she talked, evry little bit, but at the same time it were too late for all them things an she might be better off just not knowin for now. She aint even started thinkin on them slavers an all the things she thought was writ in stone shiftin an changin like the sand.
Do ya know this place?
She nodded slow in the clear dawn light, lazy smoke comin off the last of the fire as it burned out.
Jon took a long breath.
We got stories of this place, sister. In the unders we call it the Section, or Woomera or Maralinga or the Totem or the Scorch. Unnerstand? The Scorch. Fellas already been here, fellas from where yer from. Diggin. Openin. Meddlin. Theres a poison here from them old times, but ya know that dont ya? They scorched this place, burned it outta memory, off the map, an made this a place of forgettin, unnerstand?
Why Im here.
Whatcha want with it?
Make sure it dont spread again.
The fire cracked an flickered an she could see him wrestlin with himself.
Too late for that sister. Fellas come an gone.
He took a deep breath like he were clearin his heada sumthin.
I come out here to find ya, to find out if you was who I reckoned you was. To tell ya I was alive an that ya had family left. Im real sorry I dint know you was still breathin until I saw ya out there on the flats. Nearenough kilt ya an I still couldnt make meself believe it were you. That aint all of it though. I come out here to give ya fair warning. I aint gunna stand in yer way, special if comin heres sumthin ya gotta do to make yer rights with the dead. I gotta tell ya though sister, I know what they call me in the System, I heard em call it at me sumtimes when wes movin among em in the dark. I heard slavers out there pleadin an sayin Reckoner this an Reckoner that an I bled em wun an all. I aint the first wun to carry the name but they aint wrong callin me it. Theres a recknin comin for the System an its been comin a long time. Elders thats been waitin on this recknin a real long time. Thats why I come all the way out here too, so yev got yer warnin. Soon as I get back, we’re comin.
Jon were lookin at her, waitin an after sum thinkin she spoke.
I dunno what to say about all them things ya told me. They ringin true but I come up in the System an I know for meself that theres sum peeps worth savin in there. Not many but a few. That aint the why of it though. I dint have no mum like you did for moren a few years an the closest thing I got to family is that fella you crossed blade with, the old fella what was me boss and the peeps that live in the Stacks. I promised meself a hundred times over that I was gunna find this place an I dunno, seal it up, I dunno, make sure it werent gunna bring no more sufferin.
Jon hung his head low like he wanted to be speakin only to the sand.
But it aint sealed sister. An it aint secret. Them what came will come again an again until they figger out how to use whatevers down there or it ets us all. I got no more time to stay the recknin. Unnerstand? Im here to give ya the word. But that place? Yer home? Theres a storm comin an even if I wanted theres no stoppin it.
They sat in the quiet a long time an then he stood up an the ashes of the fire was glowin at his feet an he were wreathed for a second in blue smoke like he werent really fixed to the earth. He looked square at her an she realised she aint seen him smile the whole time. His face though, sumthin in it made him look like the yungen that he once was an she felt all of a sudden like she were gunna cry but nuthin came.
Gotta go sister. Im sorry.
She had plenny to say, wanted to ask him to stop an wait but the words died in her throat an she knew she’d be wastin her breath anyways. He waited an when she dint speak he dipped an threw half a wave, lookin like he wanted to say more but what she couldnt guess. Then he were off, movin in that way what had become sorta familiar to her cept now she knowed what he carried on his hip an it werent nuthin to be trifled with. She went to stand but the dizziness hit her an she sat back down hard. Hadta watch him move away, knowin she couldn’t follow straight away. She dint know what had happened to her down the pit but her head weren’t right. Her legs was slow to obey an she felt short of breath. Dint know if it were real or in her head but she sat at the fire, desert wakin up slow, watchin Jon cover ground real good as he loped away. She were all outta shape an it were slow comin to her that he were headin back to put blade an torch to the System. She hadta follow, were gunna haveta go spite her shakes an murky thoughts. Block were back there. The Stacks was back there. Meant sumthin dint it? She watched the speck that were Jon out on the plains reckonin the Ghosts was gunna meet him out there. It were a real long shank all the way back home but she hadta admit that if anywun was gunna walk that way it were probably her brother, or the Reckoner or whatever he really were. She tried to clear her head, the heat comin over as the sun got higher until he were just a speck an then the haze hid him an it were just her sittin there head spinnin, alone again.
78
He’d been dreamin of it a long time he were thinkin. The time werent right an the Orphan were gone an the System seemed to be foldin in on itself but Block reckoned a settlin between him an Karra had been a long time comin. Maybe even all the way back to the day he’d seen the bald bastard take the Orphan off the auction block an back to the old fellas place. Maybe all the way back to when he’d seen her show up at the market with stripes on her back an he’d made up his mind he werent gunna get lashed like that an nowun else were gunna neither. Maybe the dreams of runnin Karra through went back a real long time an only now they was ready to be spoke out loud. Block had sent the others away to check the arvees again an he were sittin in the shade of a rotten old shed thatd been left to collapse a long time. He were realisin itd been a powerful long time since he’d had any kinda rest an it were startin to take its toll. On his feet four days he could count, maybe more. He dint wanna nod but there werent much he could do without a solid plan an the plan were gunna need eyes on, an right now that werent possible. Nah, best thing to do was hope the Orphan were figgerin sumthin out for herself in that dead place an that she werent rushin back. He reckoned she’d have her work set just findin exactly what it was she were lookin for an he hoped them sunshy monsters had left her be an that fella theyd faced aint come back. Even if the winds was good, he reckoned he had just a scrap of time. Just a scrap that he were gunna have to use to get to Karra an make his move. It were years ahead of time an normally he’da had his war room around him but instead he were gunna do it in the shadow of the Stacks with rats and dust an rot for company. Behold the great Block, feared an knowed all over the System an beyond. Were a joke now. He shook his head to clear it an tried to fight the sleep. Hopin the years hadnt been for nuthin.
79
Three of his fellas was
standin in front of him an nun of em had nuthin worth sayin. Gone to ground they was sayin. Turned to dust, gone Ghost, out in the Glows, disappeared. Werent that many peeps in the System and they was all livin crowded cheek by jowl an now Block had turned inta smoke. Peeps was afraid they said. Stayin in, fraid of catchin whatever it were that was layin em out sick. Sum had it, sum not. The wuns that did was dyin quick though. Rotten from the inside out, blind an blackmouthed. Nuthin was makin sense. His fellas was useless. Half of em was sick themselves, werent enough left fit to hunt the Block proper. Karra kept the lads standin while he sat beind the desk. Lookin up an down the row, lettin his gaze settle real heavy on em. These fucken smartfellas were the wuns who dint get it done. Now they was coughin an hackin, eyes all red from the smoke an whatever grog theyd got their hands on. Lotta stealin the last week, lotta fellas leavin out the front gate an takin their chances an the cando men wasnt knockin on his door as much, they was too busy bleedin out an takin dust naps. Still he dint have no clue. Orphan gone an Block disappeared. One of the lads coughed hard again an it turned into a fit of wheezes that was rattlin in his chest like chains bein dragged. Karra watched as he dropped his hands to his knees an then pitched forwards slow onto the floor, racked, blud comin out his mouth. Peeps were powerful sick an for the first time Karra felt sum kinda fear of whatever it were out there. He banged hard on his desk an more boys came in. He gestured to the fella on the floor, still tryna suck in whoopin breaths twixt coughs an rattles. His hands was shakin as he signed the lads.
Get him outta here. An get as many fellas together here as ya can, sick or well dont matter none. Tell em theyre stayin here till I say otherwise. Gold in it for em. Take all the names of them that dont come, we gunna remember em.
The boys nodded, draggin the fella out by his arms. He’d stopped breathin Karra reckoned, looked for all the world like he were asleep.
Year of the Orphan Page 19
