Heart of Tartarus

by Lucy Smoke

  "Who is it from?"

  I groan, wanting to slam my head back. "Arch," I snap. "You should fucking know better. Pay first, then info."

  "Maybe I don't want it," he says.

  "Fine," I grunt and roll my shoulders back, shaking my head as Haze and Thayer widen their eyes at me at the same time. "See ya."

  I take a step out of the peephole's line of sight and after only a few seconds, I hear Archie cursing me as he unbolts all the ridiculous safety locks on his door. "Hold on, dammit!" he snaps.

  I remain out of sight until the door cracks open. When it does, Thayer and Haze shoulder their way in amidst Archie's squeaks of fear and umbrage.

  "You little lying—who are you? What do you want? I don't know nothing!"

  Archie Billford is a scrawny and gangly man in his mid-thirties with a shadow of a goatee that contrasts with his quickly balding head. His sunken eyes and reed-thin frame make the common observer think he suffers from some sort of anorexic illness, like the ones that are common on Basra. It’s a place to see and be seen, or so I’ve heard. And it wouldn’t do to look bulbous and gluttonous in one of the most gluttonous cities that exist. From the empty packets of soup powder and every other precooked meal under the sun, I know he's not starving. He should be too large to fit through his doorway with as much junk food as the man consumes and the lack of physical exercise he gets.

  One glance around his filthy studio pod and I know the guys don't understand it. They are probably thinking, how can a man who lives in squalor be infamous for his keen intellect? But Archie is incredibly talented at making people see what he wants them to see. Only a few people know him for who he really is.

  Archie slants a mean look my way as Thayer manhandles him back into the main space of the one room apartment. I ignore the look as I take in the apartment that I had only caught glimpses of before. Thayer urges Arch to sit on a sagging couch pushed into a corner and then proceeds to sit next to him. I smile in private amusement as Thayer settles in, looking fairly comfortable while Archie grimaces in distaste and tries to sidle away. I glance around, looking for Arch's plan B. A guy like Archie Billford—a paranoid conspiracy theorist with a whole host of enemies, both real and imagined—always has a plan B, an escape.

  I find it in the corner behind an equally sagging chair that matches the decrepit couch. Archie nearly leaps out of his seat even with Thayer sitting right there as I push against the chair and the wall, simultaneously, to reveal a large square shaped vent. I easily pop off the cover and smirk back at him.

  "Too bad you couldn't reach it in time, Arch," I say with a chuckle. "I don't think Thayer could've chased you down through this thing."

  "If this is about Kida, I don't know where she is," Arch says quickly. "I swear I don't."

  Haze’s and Thayer's gaze snap to the fragile looking man cowering from them in the corner of the couch while I stare at him with a frown. "How did you know she's missing?" I ask slowly.

  He scoffs at me despite his fear. "Well, of course she's missing," he says. "I warned her. I tried–" Archie looks at me and wags one long bony finger at my expression. "You can't say I didn't try to warn her. But does anyone listen to me?" He drops his hand, looking around the room before folding his arms over his chest. "No, no one ever listens to me when I tell them not to stick their nose where it doesn't belong. You're the same as her."

  "We need to know what you told her, Mr. Billford," Haze says.

  Archie's eyes trail nervously to Haze's arrow-sharp gaze before glancing at me pleadingly. "I won't," he says. "She told me not to. Said you might come looking for her here. She told me not to tell you. I've known that girl for a long time now. She's been a messenger for me just like you." He nods at me quickly, his head tilting in quick jerks to keep glancing towards Thayer and Haze.

  "Arch, I–"

  "That's fine, if you won't tell us what you told her," Thayer says, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "You don't have to."

  Archie blinks big, confused eyes at Thayer suspiciously. "I-I don't?"

  "No." Much to my shock, Haze readily agrees.

  "Wait, doesn't he–"

  "Why don't you tell us why you were exiled here instead," Thayer suggests.

  "W-why I was exiled?" Arch looks just as confused as I am.

  I frown at the guys, but slowly move to sit in the sagging chair where Haze has perched himself on the arm. There must be a reason for them to ask, and I have to admit, even though I've known Archie, The Architect, for a while, I still haven't found out why he was exiled here, though I also know that's how he came to be on Tartarus. Unlike Kida and me, who were both born here.

  Archie continues to regard us with suspicion. "I worked on Dendera," he admits. "You know, Dendera—the city of intelligence, of intellectual prosperity, of universities, and scholars. It was a beautiful place. There were streets filled with academics of all ages. Geniuses. Inventors. Architects." Archie sighs in a mixture of yearning and nostalgia.

  "And you worked where on Dendera?" Thayer nudges him.

  "At a university, obviously," Archie scoffs again as though it should have been plain.

  Despite the fact that I have never traveled to Dendera myself, I am sure there are other places of employment aside from universities. Surely there are restaurants and pod complexes like there are here, on Tartarus. But from the way Arch reacts, it's clear the only place worth being employed at is, in fact, a university.

  "I was a highly sought-after Professor of Architecture. I had commissions from governors on both Basra and Corvallis. They all wanted me to design new additions to the city. Ways to reshape the older housing pod units on Corvallis—that was a charity case, mind you—but I took that as well."

  "What happened?" I ask. I can picture everything he's saying. He looks the type to stand in front of a classroom and lecture. But none of what he's saying makes sense with where he is now.

  Archie's demeanor dims and his bubble of nostalgia pops as he sinks back against the couch cushions. "The Imperator happened," Arch mumbles.

  I don't miss the dark look Haze and Thayer exchange, or the way Haze tears his gaze away and looks to the door. I lean around him and see that they've locked it behind us. Before I can comment, Arch interrupts with his continued story. "My life's work has been to examine the cities and the possibilities of expansion," he says. "It's a big undertaking, you know. It's not easy to gain permission to send teams down to the Earth's surface for new materials. It's not easy to plan for the creation of something new. The cities are basically all just hovering ships that have weighted anchor in one place for hundreds of years."

  "You've been to the surface?" My attention is piqued, and I lean forward as though that will draw me closer to the answer.

  "Oh yes, once or twice. It was before I was exiled," Arch replies.

  "What was it like?" I ask.

  "Oh, it's a wasteland," Arch says, his eyes having found some far off spot in his mind, his gaze unfocused. "A barren moor of nothing. No life remains, save for what exists on the sky villages and cities. Everything from the old world is gone except for the buildings and inanimate remains. Those are plentiful. But they need to be washed thoroughly with saline and a type of acid that wipes away all bacteria and remnants of the toxicity below. It was quite a riveting–"

  "What of the Imperator?" Thayer interrupts. I cast him an irritated look. He ignores me, focusing completely on Arch. "What did the Imperator want you to do?"

  Arch flinches. "It wasn't possible," he says quickly.

  "What wasn't possible?" Haze snaps. "What did he want?"

  I stand, looking down at them. "What do you want him to admit?" I ask. "What are you looking for? I thought we were here for Kida?"

  Thayer frowns, but doesn't look away from Archie.

  Haze grabs my arm as I move toward them. "Let–"

  "He wanted me to build a new city because, with the way things are going, each city is already overpopulated, and the engines are too old to
hold much more. He informed me that if I did not build another city that could take more of the population, one or more of the current sky cities would fall."

  I freeze in the act of grabbing Haze's hand—the hand gripping my arm—and turn to Arch. The three of us stare at him in shocked confusion. After several moments of silence, I manage to be the first one to reply. "We're going to fall?"

  Arch nods solemnly. My eyes find Thayer's and I realize, yes, we're looking for Kida, but there's something far deeper going on. Arch wouldn't have told us this if he thought it had something to do with Kida. There's more beneath the surface. The guys know a lot more than they have admitted to me. I am both horrendously angry and terrified to know that they lied to me. A lie by omission is a lie all the same. Still, though, I'm scared to find out what else I don't know.

  "Tartarus is the oldest city," Arch says slowly. "It was the first built, the prototype per se. All the experts say it will be the first to fall. Imperator Balor thought that by exiling me to Tartarus, I would have more of a stake in making this work. I cannot build a city out of nothing. There are mountains of materials on the surface, but it would take years to make them ready to be used. Even when they are ready there is no guarantee that they will hold. To place thousands of lives in my hands..."

  Those very hands shake as he stares down at them before burying his face in his lap, his bony frame hunched over in the imitation of a kicked animal. I pity him. So much resting on his skinny shoulders, it's no wonder he's so paranoid and isolated.

  I take a breath and then take a chance. "Is this what you told Kida?"

  Arch’s gaze doesn't rise from his lap right away, but he does shake his head in a negative. My shoulders droop in disappointment. The idea of Tartarus' engines failing, sending the half a million or so people living on its surface plummeting to their—our—deaths, is too much for my brain to handle right now. It's the thought of nightmares and it only makes me want Kida even more.

  "Please, Arch," I plead. "I need to know where she is."

  "I really don't know where she is," he repeats as he sits up.

  My chest aches. My eyes burn as I stare at his lean, haggard, face.

  "But you did tell her something," Haze says, "something that might have to do with her disappearance."

  Arch's nostrils widen, a sure sign that Haze hit the mark. "I won't tell you." Arch looks directly at me. "I swore to her that I wouldn't. She's a good woman—your Kida. I won't betray her like that."

  "Thayer, take Cass outside in the hallway," Haze commands.

  Thayer doesn't say a word as he stands and takes my arm. I let him, but as he reaches up to unlock the door, I look over my shoulder and the way Arch avoids my gaze makes the acid in my stomach churn.

  Six

  Down the Rabbit Hole

  It feels like an eternity before Archie's door opens and Haze steps out, shutting it quietly behind him. He and Thayer exchange another look that I notice but don't understand.

  "What did he say?" I demand immediately.

  Haze shakes his head. "Not here." He turns and heads back the way we came.

  "What's the plan?" Thayer asks, deferring to Haze.

  "We're meeting back with the group and then we'll go to Vincent. He will want to know the information we've found today."

  "You don't think he already knows?" I ask.

  Thayer and Haze freeze on the steps as we exit the building, heading out to the alleyway. They both look back at me with expressions so identical, it would be funny if this weren't such a serious matter.

  "He's a governor," I say. "He's in contact with the Imperator."

  "Imperator Balor doesn't always give information freely. It's entirely likely Vincent doesn't know," Haze says.

  "What if he does?"

  That question seems to stump them, and I sigh as Haze frowns, opening his mouth, preparing to launch into what I'm sure is a perfectly good reason why Vincent Diamond is so trustworthy. He doesn't manage to get even a syllable out when a hulking figure charges down the alley and body slams him as he steps out of the doorway.

  A startled scream slips from my lips and I'm jerked back against Thayer as Haze flips the man pummeling him over and slams his own fist into the man's face. "Go!" he yells. "You know where to meet!"

  Thayer bodily picks me up and slings me over his shoulder before taking off. My stomach bumps repeatedly into his muscles as he jogs to the mouth of the alley and turns a corner. There's a masculine grunt echoing behind us in the alley and I look up just in time to see Haze put the other man—whose pale face is rough with determination—in a headlock.

  "What's—why's he—umph!" Thayer jostles me as he takes another corner and speeds up. Some people look up as we pass, their eyes widening at the sight. No one tries to stop him. "Goddammit, Thayer! That hurts!"

  "Hold still, Firecracker. We're almost there," he pants.

  "Almost where?!" I grunt as he hits a set of stairs that leads to the lower streets.

  I recognize the area he's heading for and struggle to be let go.

  "Just give me a few more minutes. You won't be able to keep up with me," he says quietly as he hits the bottom of the stairway and takes a left towards the poorest residential area of Steamer Town.

  "I... don’t... ugh... fuck…” I huff and puff as his shoulder jams into my stomach for what feels like the billionth time. I gasp out a breath as Thayer finally stops and pulls me up, letting me slide along his strong body until my feet hit the ground. I groan and lean over, clutching my stomach with one hand and prop myself up on my knee with the other.

  "Tunnels?" I ask as he moves past me and bends to the sewage drain wedged between the ground and the wall. Thayer nods as he lifts the metal casing for the drain away and offers me a hand. "Who was that guy?" I demand. "Why'd he attack Haze?"

  "Tanks," Thayer says, shaking his hand at me until I huff and take it. "They don't like Vincent and they recognize Haze and me. We've been working as go-betweens for the Tanks leader and Vincent for a few months now."

  Thayer helps me down into the drain, taking my other hand before slowly lowering my body down until my feet touch the wet bottom. "Doesn't look like you're doing too good of a job if that's how they greet you," I reply.

  Thayer lets go and turns to lower himself down, dragging the cover with him until it settles back into its proper place. "Things are volatile with the Tanks right now," Thayer says. "They want Vincent replaced with one of them. They made it very clear the last time we had one of our 'peace' talks that their goal is to kill Vincent and take over."

  Even if I can hardly see him in the dim lighting of the sewage tunnel, I can hear the air quotes around the word "peace.” What light we do have grows even more muted as Thayer moves me along, heading away from the drain. I shiver as the air grows colder.

  When I first got back from my juvenile detention center on one of the lower sky villages, Kida's first order of business had been to reacquaint me with Tartarus. Though I had assured her that I knew all there was to know, she had disagreed. In the weeks following my return, she had trained me as a messenger and showed me all the secret hiding places and paths one could take to get around Tartarus undetected. The tunnels were one of those places and paths.

  "What do you think Arch told Haze?" I ask as we move along in the near darkness. My voice echoes back and I lower my tone. "Why did you guys ask so much about Arch's past?"

  "It has something to do with Kida," he assures me and though I'm relieved that they are keeping Kida as one of their priorities, I don't understand how Kida can be involved in Arch's past and what he told us.

  It doesn't escape my notice that he doesn't answer my first question, but I resolve to wait until we're somewhere more comfortable before I beat the information out of him.

  "Tell me what it was like growing up on Tartarus," Thayer whispers.

  I pause, unsure. "Why do you want to know?"

  I feel more than see his shrug. "From what I have seen so far, it doesn't seem li
ke a place children can freely grow up. It's nothing like what I experienced and yet, it's not exactly something I..." he trails off, but I understand his meaning.

  "It’s not like you didn’t expect it?” I ask. “You’re not surprised to learn that Tartarus is a heartless wasteland.” When Thayer doesn't reply, I laugh quietly. "You didn't offend me, Charming."

  "Charming?"

  I laugh again. "Yeah, Charming. Like the prince. You're too charming for your own good. At least, you were when I first met you."

  He's quiet for a moment before I feel his hand touch my shoulder and slide down to my elbow and then my hand. Startled, I don't resist him as he weaves his fingers through mine. "I wasn't sure what you thought of me," he admits. "After you told us you were Kida..."

  "You did get kind of distant," I say. "But I can't fault you for that." I realize I mean it. He had just been trying to do his job. Forgiveness had already been his when I realized that they were on my side, that they were looking for Kida too. For now, we're all partners in crime. Until my real partner is found at least.

  "So, you think I'm charming then?" Thayer asks after a short silence and I swear if I could see his face, I knew he would be wiggling his eyebrows at me.

  "To a fault," I agree. "It's disconcerting, but you asked me a question and I'm going to answer it." As soon as I figure out how.

  We walk further, our boots squeaking against the wet floor of the sewage tunnels. A musty odor lingers in the air making me scrunch my nose, but I don't dare let go of Thayer's hand just yet. It's warm.

  "If it makes it easier, you can just tell me about school," Thayer offers. "I'm sure there's not much difference between schools here and other places."

  I shake my head, chuckling. "I didn't go to school," I admit.

  There's a shocked silence before I feel Thayer's eyes burning on my face in the darkness.

  "My mom died or left when I was really young," I say. "And my dad didn't think there was anything important to learn in school that couldn't be learned while working. And he got away with it too. I guess Mom never recorded her pregnancy or maybe she didn't go to a clinic. They're pretty expensive. For all I know, she might have decided to do a home birth."