The Inferior

by Peadar O'Guilin

  ‘Why should the Roof people help you?’ He didn’t know what else to say. He felt completely numb.

  ‘Something was lost during the war. Something or somebody. A secret. Apparently I know what it is. Not consciously, but I may have it stored in the part of my memory that’s kept in the Roof. No one could access that but me. It’s probably why they wanted me dead in the first place, why they sent me here.’

  ‘But now they need it again?’ She was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. ‘Indrani…what’s to keep them from…from killing you when they have what they want?’

  Red-rimmed eyes rose to meet his. ‘They promised to stop the Diggers. To give you a chance, Stopmouth.’ She lowered her face again. ‘But I don’t believe them. I don’t believe anything they say now. I’m not…I won’t go meekly to the slaughter. I won’t let them hurt me and my…I won’t go. I know how to fight. If I time it right, I might be able to capture the Globe. Some of the rebels must have survived the war and they’ll want me and my secret, whatever it is. They’ll give me the weapons we need to save ourselves.’

  ‘I could go with you…’ he said.

  The relief on her face was too sudden, too strong to be faked and he realized she’d hoped for this all along, but for some reason had thought it impossible. ‘Oh, Stopmouth! Stopmouth!’ She pulled him close and tight for the first time in thirty days and both of them wept together.

  A few of the orphans ran in and found them that way, pestering the adults with the usual hail of questions and complaints over who had pulled whose hair. Even as he dried his eyes so as not to upset the children, Stopmouth remembered Indrani’s question from the previous night.

  ‘Who will look after them?’ she’d asked. And he didn’t know the answer.

  23.

  THE WEAKER HAND

  Varaha was waiting for them in an alleyway where no guard from Headquarters would see him. Roofsweat trickled down his forehead and onto the muscles of his upper body. They weren’t that impressive–little larger than Stopmouth’s. Rockface would have dwarfed the man. But then, Rockface could never have moved the boulder Varaha used to hide his food, let alone lift it off the ground! The man scowled when Stopmouth and Indrani arrived together.

  ‘Are you mad, woman? You know there’s not enough room in the Globe for him!’

  ‘I had to tell him, he—’

  ‘And besides, things are bad enough up there without bringing in a savage.’

  ‘You needn’t concern yourself, spy,’ said Stopmouth, his eyes cold. ‘My place is here.’ He didn’t like telling lies, but this one came out like he meant it. Earlier he’d asked Indrani why Varaha needed to know she wasn’t alone. ‘I could shadow the two of you until you—’

  ‘No, Stopmouth. You can’t sneak up on a Globe. Its machines will spot you straight away and the pilot will stay clear. We’d be stuck here for ever.’

  Varaha led them back past the room where he kept his food. His voice oozed the false cheer he’d worn throughout his mission. ‘Sad to be losing your best hunter, are you, Chief?’

  ‘A good hunter remembers to look behind him.’

  ‘Behind or in front, Stopmouth, it doesn’t matter. Your kind are no threat to me.’

  The chief was curious in spite of himself. ‘Would the Globes protect you as they did Indrani?’

  Varaha snorted. ‘I can look after myself. And no, they wouldn’t come, not for me. She forced them to intervene when she knew everyone would be watching.’ He cast a glance of pure hatred in Indrani’s direction and Stopmouth wondered that he’d ever considered Varaha a rival. It suddenly dawned on him that the spy must have realized Stopmouth’s fears all along, must have amused himself by encouraging them. All that talk of marriage could mean nothing else.

  Stopmouth grabbed him by the shoulder. ‘You’ve been playing with us the whole time!’

  ‘Stopmouth!’ said Indrani. Her eyes were pleading with him. Remember the plan, she seemed to be saying. She’d warned him not to fight Varaha. And of course she was right. Anybody who could punch holes in a solid wall shouldn’t be taken lightly.

  Carefully he removed his hand from the other man’s shoulder.

  ‘I’d kill you now, Stopmouth, if you weren’t so popular. But I warn you, tonight is the one night I’d get away with it.’ He pointed upwards to where a single Globe hung against the Roof. ‘That’s ours. The others have all been sent to watch the Diggers put an end to the Longtongues. Do not provoke me further.’

  The Globe shadowed them as they came into an open triangular area between three tall buildings overgrown with stringy moss.

  ‘Will it land here?’ asked Stopmouth.

  Varaha snorted, but Indrani answered the question, her voice and face tense. ‘Globes are deliberately made so that they can’t land on the surface. The closer you get to it the harder they are to control. I presume we’ll have to climb one of these buildings. It would be easier for the pilot that way.’

  Varaha turned back to Stopmouth, his tone mild. ‘I’ll be interested in seeing how long you can keep those fools alive. There are too few of them, you know that, don’t you?’

  ‘We have the Talker.’

  Varaha nodded, scanning the sky again. ‘It won’t do you much good when the Diggers come. They don’t negotiate with food. Their minds just couldn’t cope.’

  The three of them ducked into the door of a tower and headed up the stairs. It was utterly dark inside. A shame, thought the hunter, that they couldn’t take advantage of it to attack Varaha. The man needed to be conscious for the arrival of the Globe and maybe for a little while after that.

  The stairs seemed endless and pulled at the twinge in his leg. He kept seeing the faces of the orphans. Indrani was worried about them, he knew that, terrified of what would happen to them in her absence. And yet they were doomed anyway if she didn’t go. The battle must have convinced her of that. It seemed to be the turning point.

  Every step brought Stopmouth new worries. He wondered how long he’d be gone after stealing the Globe. Rockface would never run again and none of his other hunters were fit to go hunting without him. They were too few. Stopmouth knew they couldn’t afford all the mistakes they’d make in his absence. Even if he found a weapon to combat the Diggers, what would he come back to in the end? Nothing, probably. Nobody. It was a bitter thought.

  A square of pale light signalled the end of the climb. They emerged to an amazing sight. Normally Globes floated right next to the Roof, so far away a hunter could cover them with his hand. Stopmouth had only ever seen them up close in the form of wreckage. This one hung no more than the height of two men above the roof of the building. It seemed massive, as big as a house in its own right, its metal skin covered in protrusions and lights. It hummed, not loudly, but with a deep, deep sound that Stopmouth could feel in the cracked stone of the tower around him. And there was a smell too: like something smouldering and poisonous.

  The Globe didn’t land, of course. Stopmouth imagined it trying, collapsing the building or rolling off it altogether. He jumped when the shell opened up, like an eyelid.

  A man stuck his head out. He had hair across the top of his lip and a sharp voice accentuated by his hanging upside down.

  ‘Any trouble?’ asked Varaha.

  The man shook his head. ‘There are Fourleggers in the area, but they never saw you. Ha! You must be glad to get out of this place. I nearly wet myself laughing when the savage tried to get you to eat this morning.’

  ‘You saw that?’

  ‘Everybody saw that!’

  Varaha turned to Stopmouth with a vicious look on his face. The chief got ready to defend himself. He had brought a full stock of weapons, while his opponent, though incredibly strong, was unarmed.

  ‘No, Varaha!’ Indrani shouted. ‘I won’t go with you if you hurt him.’

  Stopmouth stood his ground, refusing to show any fear. He’d been raised to hunt, had faced creatures that were weaker but much more fierce than this man, much
more desperate.

  ‘You’re coming now, anyway, Indrani. Whether you like it or not.’

  ‘Yes, Varaha, you could force me aboard. But you know damn well you can’t use duress to get at my memories. The Roof would never allow it.’

  Varaha said nothing, but he backed up a step. Then he signalled the pilot, who nodded and disappeared inside. A clever contraption rolled out of the hatch: two ropes joined together by smaller cross pieces, perfectly spaced for easy climbing.

  ‘You’re going up first,’ said Varaha to Indrani.

  She nodded. So far, things were working out exactly as she’d promised. She looked towards the ropes and back to her lover.

  ‘I want to say goodbye to Stopmouth,’ she said.

  ‘So say it.’

  ‘In private.’

  He laughed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous: you know the Globe is recording everything. Say goodbye now or watch him bleed. You decide.’ But he didn’t object when she led Stopmouth over to the far side of the roof, following their every step with his sneer. ‘I wonder,’ said the spy, ‘how you could let one of those savages even touch you, let alone get you—’

  ‘Shut up, or I’m not coming! All right? Shut up!’

  And he did, shrugging and turning away. Indrani put her arms around Stopmouth and pulled him close. ‘Listen carefully. You’ll only get one chance to knock him out. Remember what I told you–he’s been altered. He’s at least as strong as Crunchfist.’

  Stopmouth stiffened. ‘I know, I—’

  ‘No stupid risks! Promise me.’

  He sighed. ‘I’ll hit him just as soon as you’ve got the pilot. Then I’ll climb up after you.’

  ‘Good,’ she said.

  He followed her back to the ropes. Their damp palms felt like they were stuck together. Varaha waved her up. She pulled away from her man and climbed onto the first rung while the body of the Globe rocked gently under her weight. Stopmouth hefted the Talker pouch. He’d hoped the spy would present the back of his head while watching Indrani ascend, but he seemed more interested in Stopmouth’s reaction.

  ‘You’ll never see her again,’ whispered Varaha. He was no taller than Stopmouth, really. ‘But she’ll see you. We’ll watch you die together.’

  Stopmouth kept his face expressionless. His woman’s legs had almost disappeared inside the craft.

  ‘Remember,’ Varaha continued, ‘it was me who sent her to you, and now I’m taking her away.’

  ‘Why didn’t you just kill her at the time?’

  ‘Nobody humiliates me, Stopmouth. That’s why. She deserved everything she got down here. And you–you deserve this.’

  Stopmouth had been waiting so carefully for an opportunity to attack, he hadn’t realized that Varaha was doing the same. The spy’s fist caught him hard in the face, driving him to the ground.

  ‘How do you like that? That was just a tap.’

  Stopmouth couldn’t answer. He tried to pick himself up, but his head rang and his vision seemed blurred. Vaguely he was aware that Varaha was still looking at him, saying, ‘Nobody humiliates me…’

  Then Indrani’s head popped out of the hatch. Varaha saw her too. ‘What are you doing?’ he shouted. ‘Get back in there! I didn’t kill him, all right? I just gave him something to remember me by. Hey! Hey!’

  For some reason Varaha had jumped onto the ropes and was rushing to climb them. Then he and the severed ropes were falling, the height of two men, onto the roof of the tower.

  ‘Hang on, Stopmouth!’ Indrani called. ‘I just need to—’

  But she had troubles of her own. The Globe suddenly took off, nearly throwing her out after Varaha. The craft sped straight up into the air and then flew erratically off in the direction of old Man-Ways.

  Stopmouth staggered to his feet, head throbbing, and made his way over to pick up his spear. In spite of his promise, he’d underestimated Varaha and ruined everything.

  ‘Think you’ll be able to use that sticker on me, savage?’ The spy’s voice trembled with anger. ‘You have a lot to learn.’ He stood up, gripping the severed ropes. Scratches covered him along one side of his body and his face was scraped raw.

  He’s not so pretty now, thought Stopmouth. But he didn’t let it distract him from what he had to do. He got himself into the correct stance and stepped forward, snapping the spear towards his opponent’s belly. Varaha leaped aside. He swung his nest of ropes, forcing Stopmouth to duck. He swung again, and this time he snared the spear.

  Stopmouth held onto it with all the strength of a lifetime of danger. He dug his heels against the rough surface of the rooftop and heaved. It didn’t matter–Varaha grinned savagely, not even breathing hard as he reeled the hunter in.

  The chief stopped resisting the pull and flung himself forward instead, his weight now behind the spear. The point cut a ragged line across Varaha’s chest before he could knock it aside. Both men went down in a heap, the ropes and spear between them. Stopmouth reached back for his knife, but Varaha roared and threw the chief off him as though he weighed no more than an empty skull. Then he surged to his feet and bent the thick spear-shaft in his hands until it snapped.

  ‘Your back is next,’ he hissed.

  Stopmouth knew the man could do it. He jumped into the skylight and didn’t let an awkward landing keep him from running down the dark stairs as fast as he could go. Curses and footsteps followed him all the way. He didn’t know what to do. Indrani was lost to him, kidnapped perhaps by the pilot of the Globe, taken somewhere he couldn’t follow. And yet, as far as he knew, she still lived and might find a way to come back to him. Even if she couldn’t and ended her days as a prisoner on the Roof, she’d want to know he was all right. She wouldn’t want Varaha crowing about how he’d killed her lover.

  He was already pulling out his sling as he reached the ground floor. He ran across the street and had a stone spinning back towards the doorway as Varaha emerged blinking. The shot missed anything vital. However, it did take part of an ear for its troubles and elicited a roar of pain. Varaha grabbed at his wooden necklace, but Stopmouth didn’t wait to see why. He ran on.

  Almost immediately he realized he was going in the wrong direction. He had allowed his enemy to come between him and Headquarters, where help might be found. At least he still had his sling. He tucked it into his belt for later, knowing he could—

  There was an intense flash of green light. The wall above Stopmouth’s head exploded, stones raining down to either side of him. He felt an impact, a burst of terrible pain in his shoulder. He cried out, but managed to keep his balance. He staggered on another few steps before falling into a doorway. Stones half blocked the alley he’d run through and a giant had taken a bite out of one of the buildings. His right arm, his hunting arm, brushed against the doorway. ‘By the ancestors!’ Agony ripped through him, blurring his vision. He couldn’t bend the arm at all, couldn’t bear to touch it. Pain throbbed deep inside it with every heartbeat.

  ‘I hope you’re not dead,’ called a voice. Somebody was scrambling over the stones in the alley. ‘I want to finish you with my bare hands.’

  The hunter stumbled into the back of the house, looking for a way out. The design was unfamiliar to him and he found himself in the wrong room even as he heard footsteps at the front door. His only escape was a waist-high window–awkward for a one-armed hunter in great pain. He had to back up to it and lever himself onto the sill with his good hand. However, his panic and the breathing he could hear in the corridor caused him to lose his balance. He tried to catch himself. His right arm refused to move and he tumbled backwards, landing on his injury with a scream, while the Talker rolled out of its pouch and came to rest against his bad shoulder. He knew he ought to pick it up, pick himself up and run. But suffering clouded his thoughts.

  ‘Well, well,’ said Varaha from the window. ‘I wonder–should I twist your head off straight away or play with that arm of yours first?’

  A memory came to Stopmouth then of the last time he’d thrown hi
mself out a window this way, many tens ago in Blood-Ways.

  ‘Brighter,’ he whispered.

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘Brighter than the Roof.’

  The Talker flared suddenly and so sharply that even with his head turned and eyes closed, Stopmouth still got spots in his vision. He didn’t wait to see what effect this had on Varaha. Weeping with pain, he rolled onto his good side and managed to make it to his knees and then his feet. He staggered towards a warren of alleys and narrow lanes that he didn’t recognize. But he could hear the river far to his left and realized that this time, at least, he was going in the right direction.

  A shout of rage and anger came from behind him. The green light flashed and a spray of stone erupted from the side of a building in front of Stopmouth. More explosions followed, but none came close to him. Varaha would need longer than that to recover his sight!

  That was when Stopmouth realized he’d left the Talker behind him, giving his Tribe even less chance of survival. And him too, for how could he explain the threat that followed him if he reached home before his enemy?

  He wandered for another tenth, down an endless maze of bone-filled alleys. Varaha would be moving far faster than he was and was bound to catch him soon. That’s if exhaustion didn’t pull him down first. Stopmouth had just reached the intersection of two twisty roads when he heard voices in conversation. He approached cautiously, checking above and behind, making sure he wasn’t walking into a trap–a child could have bested him in his present condition.

  Three Fourleggers crouched down at the entrance to an alleyway, their pointy faces all pressed together, one against the other.