Sunspire (The Reach, Book 4)

by Mark R. Healy

  “That’s not our fault, Talia. Not in the least.”

  “We can’t just wash our hands of it that easily, Silvestri. We played a part in this. A major part.”

  “No, we were trying to liberate the Wire. If everything had gone to plan, these people might have one day been able to escape. While the Consortium was in control, they never stood a chance.”

  “Yeah, but–”

  “We didn’t plant the bomb,” Silvestri said adamantly. “We didn’t destroy the habitat. We were victims of that crazy bastard from the consulate, just like everyone else.”

  Talia watched the refugees around her. “Were we?” she said bitterly. “Were we really?”

  Silvestri was about to respond when Roman stirred beside them. He sat up, blearily rubbing his eyes, then shifted his weight, wincing.

  “I’ve slept on some hard floors over the years, but this one takes the cake.” He caught sight of the chessboard and shifted forward. “What’s this?”

  Silvestri exchanged a glance with Talia, as if to apologise for not finishing their conversation, then turned back to Roman.

  “Chess,” Silvestri told him. “Fancy a game?”

  “Looks boring,” Roman said.

  Silvestri smiled. “I had a commander once, when I was a boy not much older than you, who used to tell us that a fighting man should partake in a game of chess every day, without fail. Keeps the mind sharp, he used to say.” He placed the last piece on the board carefully, then sat back to survey it. “Battle is like chess, in many ways. It’s a game of planning, of thinking ahead. If your enemy has mapped out the next five moves, you have to map out six.”

  “So what do the pieces do?” Roman said.

  Silvestri began to point to each in turn. “This one on the end is the tower. It can move in a straight line, as long as there are no obstructions in its path. Next is the horseman. He moves two places forward, and one to the side.”

  “This is getting confusing already,” Roman said.

  “Next, the holy man. He may move only on the diagonal.”

  “Why?”

  Silvestri considered that. “Because the ancients once believed that the path to the heavens was found not by moving forward or to the side, but by moving somewhere in between.”

  Roman glanced at Talia, a quizzical expression on his face. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever–”

  “It was a joke,” Silvestri said. He gave them an awkward smile.

  “You have a gift for comedy,” Talia said drily.

  “Yeah, hilarious,” Roman agreed. “Just don’t forget to tell people when to laugh.”

  Silvestri feigned indignation. “Let’s see if you’re still laughing when I grind you into dust on the chessboard.”

  Roman settled before the board, implicitly accepting the challenge. “You’re all talk.”

  Silvestri outlined the rules of the game, then suggested some opening moves to help Roman get started. Several of the pieces were missing, but neither seemed to mind. The first game went quickly, with Silvestri emerging as the victor, and then they arranged the pieces into their starting positions and began again.

  Nearby, Talia saw Yun and Zoe deep in conversation about something. Yun still held the string of prayer beads, which he continued to thumb through as he spoke. Talia realised that their time with Zoe and Duran was almost at an end. They’d agreed to stick around until they’d made it through the Reach, but from there they would be making their own way.

  That was probably for the best, she figured. Duran and Silvestri seemed to find it difficult to agree on anything, and there would be less conflict after they parted ways. Even though the extra guns were a plus, there–

  She broke off her train of thought at the sight of Duran approaching. Peripherally, she noticed that white light was beginning to filter through the office windows.

  “Heads up,” Duran said. “The doors are opening. We’re getting out of here.”

  15

  Silvestri stepped through the loading dock and out into the weak sunlight, crossing the point where the Reach ended and Link began. As the other refugees shuffled past him, he turned to look upward one last time at the massive walls that stretched toward the heavens.

  It had seemed like a lifetime ago that he had been headed in the opposite direction, drawing together plans to leave Earth behind and start a new life in the outer colonies. It all seemed so foolish now, to believe that they could have succeeded in their mission.

  Don’t look back, he told himself. There’s no point now.

  He turned his attention back to the dock before him, where the exodus emptied out into a nondescript back alley, far away from the main entrance of the Reach. There were a series of secondary gates and defensive structures outside, evidently used to protect the entrance in the past, which were now torn apart and mangled. Fighting against the torrent were a smattering of individuals who were working their way inward, those who were crazy or desperate enough to still seek passage inside the Reach.

  “Don’t go in there,” Zoe warned one of them as she went past, but the man ignored her and continued on his way.

  In a matter of minutes, the crowd began to disperse, and Silvestri and the others regrouped under the sagging awning of an old pie shop further along the alley.

  “So, where to?” Talia said.

  Silvestri glanced up the alley. “First things first, we need to get to the relay and contact Captain Ngozi. He should still be orbiting the moon in his cruiser. He’s the only one who can get us off-world. None of this works if he isn’t there to meet us at the top of Sunspire when we reach it.”

  “Wait a minute,” Roman said. “Do we even know how we’re going to get to Sunspire yet?”

  “I have an idea,” Talia said. “I used to work in the dirigible business, putting together ballonets and supplying them to my boss, a guy called Bagley who lives out on the east side. I’m hoping we can make a deal with him.”

  “And what?” Yun said. “Fly there?”

  Talia shrugged. “That’s the plan.”

  “Those things are death traps,” Yun said.

  “They’re perfectly safe, Yun. You just need to know how to–”

  “Do whatever you want,” Duran interrupted, “but I think this is where Zoe and I step aside. We’re not part of this plan of yours. We never were.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Silvestri said.

  Duran seemed to consider that. “I’m going to find my father. Apart from Zoe, he’s the only one left in this place that I give a damn about.”

  “Is he holed up somewhere?” Silvestri said.

  “I don’t know,” Duran said, troubled. He lifted his holophone and began to scroll through a map of the city, stopping on a building on which a red marker had been placed. “I haven’t been able to contact him, so I’m going to check his home first. I’ll see what happens after that.”

  Zoe took the phone from him and checked the location. “Maunder Avenue,” she muttered. “How far is that?”

  Talia’s ears pricked up at that, and she edged closer to Zoe.

  “That’s east side as well,” she said. “Only about four blocks past Bagley’s.”

  Duran took the holophone back and shoved it in his pocket. “So what?”

  “So we’re heading in the same direction,” Talia said.

  Duran laughed derisively and shook his head. “I get it. You’re looking for an escort.”

  “No, just suggesting that maybe we should stay together while we can,” Talia said. “Safety in numbers.”

  “Talia,” Silvestri began, “this is a bad idea. We haven’t exactly been getting along–”

  “So what would you prefer?” she said hotly. “That we walk on the opposite sides of the street and pretend we don’t know each other?” She glanced around at the others. “We need to play this smart. Right now, we don’t know what’s waiting for us out there, but I have a feeling it’s not going to be pretty. So, we can either split up and dilu
te our strength, or we can stick together and give ourselves the best chance of reaching our respective goals.”

  Duran shook his head disdainfully, but Zoe seemed to mull over Talia’s words more thoughtfully. Silvestri tried to think of a retort, a counter to the argument, but he had to admit that what Talia said made sense.

  “I say we give it a shot,” Zoe said. “For now.”

  Duran sighed. “I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

  “Do you have a better idea?” she said.

  “Why waste my breath? I haven’t won an argument with you yet.”

  Zoe gave him a mocking grin and patted him on the cheek. “That’s the spirit.”

  There was gunfire at the opposite end of the alley, and people began running in all directions.

  “Shit, let’s just get out of here,” Yun said, already backing away. “The relay is this way.”

  “Go,” Silvestri said. They required no further urging. As they began to move away, Silvestri fell in beside Talia and lightly touched her arm. “I hope we don’t regret this.”

  She gave him a faint smile. “So do I.” She dialled a number on her holophone as they hastened along the alleyway, then began to speak into it. “Knile? Are you hearing this?”

  “Are you calling the longwave again?” Silvestri said.

  “Trying to. I’m not hearing anything back, so I’m probably wasting my time.”

  “There’s a chance he could be receiving you, but isn’t able to talk back. You might as well try.”

  She glanced behind them, where more shots were being fired as the dock doors of the Reach began to close.

  “Knile, we made it out of the Reach,” she said. “We’re okay. We’re going to try to get in touch with Silvestri’s contact off-world, and then head over to Bagley’s to see if we can get our hands on a dirigible. It’s the fastest way to get to Sunspire.” She paused. “Knile?”

  Hearing nothing but static in reply, and with more people entering the alley behind them, she was forced to stow the holophone in her pocket once more as they made it to the next intersection.

  Now they began to run in earnest.

  The streets of Link were chaotic. Although many of the commoners had seemingly fled, there was still a plethora of armed men and women marauding about. Sometimes they were grouped in threes and fours, but for the most part they hunted in packs much larger. Talia and the others were forced to respond to each encounter on its merits; at times they found cover and returned fire on those who sought to confront them, and on other occasions they were forced to run.

  It made for slow going across the city, and a journey that would normally have taken less than an hour ended up lasting far longer. Fortunately, having Talia and Roman’s local knowledge helped them find shortcuts and escape situations that might otherwise have resulted in them being captured or killed.

  Eventually they made it to the relay, a nondescript spire of metal and wires that stretched several storeys high, hidden behind an abandoned apartment block. Yun used a screwdriver to open a panel at its base, then began digging around inside.

  “What is this piece of junk?” Duran said. “It doesn’t look like it could send a message across the street, let alone off-world.”

  “This happens to be a smuggler’s best friend,” Silvestri said, slapping the spire’s metal housing. “I made plenty of deals with off-world contacts over the years through this thing, and others just like it across the city.”

  Duran smiled humourlessly. “Good for you.”

  Yun secured a thin cable to a slot on the panel, then handed the other end to Silvestri, who connected it to his holophone. Silvestri tapped the screen several times, then shook his head.

  “No signal, Yun.”

  Yun muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, then turned back to the panel and began checking the wires within. After a moment he leaned back again.

  “I’ll try a bypass.” He pointed upward to where a length of cable had been spooled around a hook. “Can someone climb up there and drop that cable down?”

  “On it,” Roman said, vaulting into action. He braced himself between the spire and the wall of the apartment block behind it, working his way nimbly upward until he reached the cable. He loosened it with a deft flick and sent it curling downward.

  “Got it,” Yun said, grasping the cable and feeding it in toward the panel. “This won’t take a sec.”

  Silvestri watched over his shoulder for any sign of trouble, but a moment later the sound of Roman’s voice drew his gaze upward.

  “Woah,” the boy said, looking out across the city. “This is…” He trailed off, and for a moment there was nothing to be heard but the distant chatter of gunfire. A flaming piece of debris lit the sky for a split second, then burned up above the city. “Oh, damn,” Roman said finally.

  “What is it?” Talia called.

  Roman pointed. “That smoke out there… that’s Grove.” The boy sounded distraught. “It’s got to be.”

  Talia watched the plume of smoke for a moment, then looked up at Roman compassionately.

  “I’m sorry, Roman.”

  “They destroyed it. Torched it. Fucking bastards.”

  “You should come down, Roman,” Silvestri said.

  “I had friends there,” Roman said, his grief turning to anger. “Good people who just wanted to live in peace.”

  “Grove would have been the first target hit by the slummers,” Duran said. “Your friends would have known that. If they had any sense, they’d have left before it happened.”

  Roman tilted his head downward at Duran, eyes blazing, but at that moment Silvestri’s holophone lit up.

  “That’s it!” he exclaimed. “I’ve got a signal!”

  “Then do what you have to do,” Zoe suggested from where she stood watch over the entrance to the alley. “We should keep moving.”

  Silvestri dialled the number he had memorised for Captain Ngozi, and Talia pressed close to him to get a better view of the screen. The call was answered almost immediately, and the face of a dark-skinned man with a glinting, shaven head appeared.

  “Mr. Silvestri,” the man said in a deep voice. He grinned, flashing a set of very white teeth. “What’s going on down there? Sounds like all hell has broken loose.”

  “Captain Ngozi,” Silvestri said. “It’s good to see your face.”

  Ngozi leaned back in his chair comfortably, taking a sip of blue liquid from a shapely glass container.

  “Is it, now? Why do you say that?”

  “Because you’re the one who’s going to get us off this rock.”

  Ngozi’s smile faltered. “Not from what I’ve heard, my friend. They’re saying the habitat was destroyed, that the Wire was cut.”

  “It was.”

  Ngozi frowned, perplexed. “So how exactly am I supposed to get you out, Mr. Silvestri? We were supposed to rendezvous at the Consortium habitat.”

  “Change of plan,” Silvestri said. “We’re going to meet you somewhere else.”

  “Oh really? Where?”

  “Another elevator, a placed called Sunspire.”

  “Sunspire?” Ngozi placed the drink on the counter before him and began to tap on his console. “What is that, exactly?”

  “A space elevator. It was decommissioned a few decades ago, but we’re hoping to get it working again. We have people up there who can help.”

  Ngozi seemed to pore over the data feed before him, then laughed. “This is some kind of joke, right? You’re not seriously asking me to try docking at this relic?”

  “Yes, that’s what I’m asking.”

  Ngozi sighed. “I’m sorry, old friend, but I was just about to pull the cruiser to somewhere safer. Things have gone nuts on Tranquility Two since that explosion at the habitat. In fact, the entire moon is a hotbed. Absolutely crazy. The Consortium is paranoid that–”

  “You can’t leave!” Talia said, grabbing the phone and tilting it toward her. “Please, Captain Ngozi!”


  Ngozi recoiled in surprise. “Well,” he said. “You’re keeping some attractive company these days, old friend.” He gave Silvestri a wink.

  “Captain, you have to meet us at Sunspire,” Talia insisted. “If I could tell you what we’ve been through…”

  “Yes? I’m listening.”

  “We fought all the way to the roof of the Reach and took down the Redmen who were stationed there. We protected it all through the night against the crazy bastards who were trying to take it from us, and then, after all that, it ended up being for nothing. The habitat was destroyed, and we were left stranded.”

  “I see,” Ngozi said pensively. “And where exactly are you right now?”

  “We just left the Reach,” Silvestri said.

  “According to the data I’m seeing here, Sunspire is a couple of hundred clicks away from Link,” Ngozi said, staring at the screen before him.

  “Yes.”

  “How are you going to get there?”

  “Leave that to us,” Talia said.

  Ngozi’s expression turned serious for the first time as he considered. “Do you really think this is possible, Silvestri?”

  “Absolutely. We’ll be there, I guarantee it.”

  Ngozi rubbed his brow. “If your friends can get the pinger working and activate a cruiser dock, then it might be possible. But I won’t even try unless they can guarantee the seals are still in order.”

  “We’ll do that.”

  “The dock needs to pass diagnostics, one hundred percent. I don’t want an explosive decompression blowing a hole in my hull.”

  “I promise, we’ll take all the necessary precautions,” Silvestri said.

  Ngozi inclined his head, then took another sip from the glass. “And one other thing. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I can only give you a window of forty-eight hours on this thing. There’s just too much heat up here. Patrols are everywhere. If they catch me smuggling illegals, it’ll be my ass.”

  “Forty-eight hours?” Silvestri said. “Is there some wiggle room in there?”