Sunspire (The Reach, Book 4)

by Mark R. Healy

  “Afraid not, old friend. I’m sorry, but I just can’t take the risk.”

  “We’ll make it,” Talia said adamantly.

  Ngozi hoisted the glass. “I’ll have a round of Saturn’s Tears waiting for you if you do.” He checked the console again. “Give me another call when you’re closer and we’ll fine tune the arrangements.”

  “I don’t know if we can do that, Captain,” Silvestri said. “We might not have access to another relay between here and there.”

  “Damn. You’re really doing this the hard way, Silvestri.”

  “It’s the only way.”

  Ngozi shrugged. “So be it. I’ll be at Sunspire in forty-eight hours, on the dot, and that pinger better be loud and clear. It better be screaming as it guides me in.”

  “It will be,” Silvestri said.

  Ngozi’s face softened. “Good luck, Silvestri. I mean it.”

  “See you at Sunspire.”

  Silvestri closed the call as Roman dropped down beside them, and Talia took a deep breath.

  “I’m starting to believe we could actually make this work,” she said.

  “There’s still a long way to go, and not much time,” Silvestri said. “But yes, it might work.”

  Talia dialled the longwave again, unable to keep a smile from creeping onto her face. “Knile, we’ve spoken to Captain Ngozi. The cruiser is on its way.” This time she did not bother to wait for a reply before putting the phone away. “I sure hope he’s hearing this.”

  “So what the hell is a pinger?” Roman said.

  Silvestri grimaced. “I have no damn clue.”

  16

  An hour later, Talia waited as Silvestri surveyed the street behind them from the cover of a half-collapsed brick wall. He squinted toward the west, then rapped his knuckles on the brickwork as if to admonish himself.

  “It’s them, no question,” he said, loping back toward the group.

  “I told you,” Duran said.

  “What’s going on?” Roman said.

  “Our two friends wearing the hoods,” Silvestri said. “They’re still on our tail.”

  “What?” Talia said, incredulous. “You mean to tell me they’ve followed us all the way down the Reach and half-way across Link as well?”

  “That’s what I’m telling you,” Silvestri said.

  “I say we turn and face them head on,” Duran said. “Take them out. Why wait for them to make the first move? They obviously want something pretty badly if they’ve kept on our asses for this long.”

  “We may not have to risk it,” Talia said. “We’re only a few minutes from Bagley’s. If we can secure a dirigible and get airborne, we can leave them in the dust.”

  “You’re assuming they’re after you,” Duran said. “For all we know, it could be Zoe and me that they’re chasing.”

  “What are you going to do if that’s the case?” Silvestri said.

  “We can look after ourselves,” Zoe said. “Personally, I’d like to take them alive. Find out what the fuck they want, and who sent them.”

  “I agree with Talia,” Silvestri said. “We should avoid conflict if possible.”

  Duran gave him a half grin. “How did I know you were going to say that?”

  Silvestri gestured behind him. “If you want to charge at them, all guns blazing, be my guest. You might–”

  “We’ve got a crowd incoming,” Zoe said urgently, stepping back from the street. “From the east.”

  “Good,” Silvestri said. “Maybe they’ll take care of the guys in hoods for us.”

  “They’ll take care of us if we don’t haul ass,” Zoe said.

  “Come on,” Talia said, heading for a nearby alley. “We’ll take the backstreets to Bagley’s.”

  They continued on through the cluttered network of avenues, finding more evidence of the chaos that had enveloped the city. At the rear of a spare parts store, seven men lay dead amid a pool of dried blood. Crows had gathered in their multitudes. As Talia led the way through, gagging as she went, the birds cawed and took wing, alighting on the rooftops not far above as they watched the group pass by. Elsewhere, a tavern had been blown apart and ransacked, and more dead lay within. Talia saw a barmaid lying amid debris on the tiled floor, staring out at her from the gloom, and for a moment she thought she might still be alive. Then a crow hopped into view, clawing its way onto her head, where it proceeded to peck at the soft flesh of her eyeball.

  Talia looked away, bile in her throat.

  “This place is cursed,” Yun muttered beside her.

  They found their way back to the main thoroughfare, and before long they had arrived at Bagley’s. Talia proceeded up the pathway to the front door, while Silvestri hung back, looking out across the street at the stragglers who were making their way past.

  “Any sign of our friends?” she said.

  “I don’t see them, but I’ll guarantee they’re out there somewhere.”

  “Let’s get this over and done with,” Talia said, stepping up to the door and thumping loudly upon it. She experienced a moment of déjà vu, remembering the last time she had been here. On that occasion, she’d been pursued across Link by Capper and Crumb, lowlifes who had sought to capture her in order to gain access to Grove. Bagley had been less than helpful that day, angry that Talia had missed her shipment, and he had sent her away to fend for herself.

  She expected that she might very well receive a similar reception today.

  The slot in the door slid open, and a pair of eyes stared out at her, then flicked across at those behind her.

  “What do you want?”

  “Nice to see you too, Bagley.”

  “I thought I told you we were done, Talia,” Bagley said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I want to negotiate a deal.”

  “What deal?”

  “We need a dirigible.”

  “Yeah. You and everyone else. Get lost.” He began to close the slot again, but Silvestri stepped forward and jammed the muzzle of the rifle into the gap before the metal could hit home. He gripped the edge of the slot and shoved it open again.

  “There are two ways this can play out,” Silvestri said. “One, you open the door and we have a nice conversation. Two, we blow it off its hinges and then do something nasty to you.”

  Bagley glared out at Silvestri for a moment, then backed away. There was a series of thunks as he disengaged the locks, and then the door swung open.

  “Come on in,” he said sardonically.

  Talia indicated for the others to go ahead, then followed at the rear. Bagley waited for her to pass, then closed and locked the door behind her. He was as dishevelled as ever, his wavy, shoulder-length hair full of grease and sticking out in all directions. He wore a dark jacket and pants, and the shirt beneath was covered in grime and food stains. He’d always appeared to Talia like somewhat of a lowlife, despite the lucrative business that he ran behind these doors.

  “You’re wasting your time,” he hissed to her as he stalked past. He led them along a corridor and into his office, a bare concrete box with a plastic table covered in papers at its centre.

  Standing beside the table were three men that Talia didn’t recognise: a short man with a hooked nose and mottled skin flanked by two burly companions.

  “As it turns out,” Bagley said irritably, taking a seat behind the desk, “there’s not much I can negotiate with you. I just parted ways with the last floater in my possession.”

  “Yeah,” the short man said. “That would be ours.”

  “There’s no other dirigibles available?” Talia said.

  “You fuckin’ deaf?” Bagley snapped. “I said no. That’s what I was trying to tell you before you and your buddies barged in here.”

  Talia glanced at the two men beside the guy with the hooked nose – bodyguards, she guessed – and saw the bulge of weapons beneath their jackets. They were both tall and broad-shouldered, one with dark hair and a chiselled jaw, the other with hair so light in colour tha
t it was practically white. They looked like the type who could handle themselves in a fight.

  “Don’t even think of using that steel,” the man with the hooked nose said, eyeing the rifles held by Zoe and Silvestri. He jabbed his thumb at the men beside him. “Norrey and Kolos here don’t like surprises.”

  “Even better, why don’t you just get the fuck out of here?” Bagley said, taking a moment to look up from the terminal he’d been manipulating. “Like I said, this guy–”

  “Mr. Gernot,” the man with the hooked nose said.

  “Mr. Gernot bought my last floater. I’ve got nothing to offer you.”

  Silvestri looked across at Talia. “Ideas?” he said.

  Talia looked around the room, desperately trying to think of something. She didn’t know anywhere else that they might be able to obtain a dirigible, and with the clock ticking, they didn’t have a lot of other options.

  “You heard him,” Gernot said. “You’ve got no business here.”

  “Maybe there’s something we can offer you, Mr. Gernot,” Talia said.

  “Doubt it.”

  A grin spread across Talia’s face. “So you can fly one of those things?”

  Gernot shifted uncomfortably, and the dark-haired bodyguard, Norrey, leaned down and whispered something in his ear. Gernot listened for a moment, then nodded.

  “Are you saying one of you can?” Gernot said as his bodyguard resumed his position.

  “Yeah, I can fly a dirigible,” Talia said. “I’m an old colleague of Bagley’s. I started off doing aerial supply runs for him, before I changed over to helping out on the manufacturing side of things.”

  “I trained in a simulator a long time ago,” Norrey said. “I could figure out how to fly one, I think. But an experienced pilot might be a help.”

  “How many people can one of those things hold?” Gernot said.

  “A dozen or more,” Bagley said. “But like I told you before, this last floater, it’s damaged goods. There’s a leak somewhere that I haven’t been able to fix yet. One of the seams, I think.” He glanced at Talia. “It’s not going to stay in the air for long, and I’m not going to offer any guarantees about how far it will get you.”

  “Understood,” Talia said. She turned to Gernot. “So where are you headed?”

  “East. A place called Gardon. I’ve got family out there, and I figure it’s as good a place as any to run to.” Gernot’s eyes narrowed. “What about you?”

  “East,” Silvestri said quickly. “Doesn’t matter where. We’re just trying to get out of here.”

  “We heard there’s friendly territory out toward the coast,” Talia lied. “We figured we’d give it a shot.”

  Gernot turned and walked to the far side of the room to confer with his bodyguards, and Silvestri edged closer to Talia.

  “Can you really fly one of those things?” he said conspiratorially.

  “Yeah. I’ll get it in the air.”

  “And when that leak turns into a tear, and the whole thing rips apart?” Duran said, his voice full of irony. “Are you going to guide it gently back to earth?”

  “Do you care?” Talia said hotly. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

  Duran held up his hands placatingly and stepped back. “Whatever.”

  “Are we really going to do this?” Roman said. “I mean, is it safe?”

  Talia looked at Silvestri. “We don’t have any other way to get to Sunspire in time, do we?”

  Silvestri nodded. “We take the high road.”

  Gernot and his goons had returned, and now stood beside the desk once more.

  “So, we can make this work,” Gernot said. “You fly the contraption, and I’ll let you and your pals hitch a ride. But let’s make this clear – this is my gig. I make the decisions. If I decide I want to touch down to stretch my legs, then we touch down. If I decide we turn around, then we turn around. Got it?”

  “Yeah,” Talia said. “Got it.”

  “And another thing,” Gernot went on, “that steel you’re toting. All of that gets handed over to Norrey and Kolos. Right now.”

  “Don’t do that,” Duran muttered behind her.

  Talia glanced uncertainly at Silvestri. “I’m not–”

  “That’s fine,” Silvestri said, stepping forward and handing his assault rifle to Norrey. “We agree.” He gestured at the others, and one by one they came forward and handed over their firearms, all except Duran and Zoe.

  Gernot pointed two fingers in a V at the ex-Enforcers. “Come on. Don’t hold out on us.”

  “We’re not going,” Duran said simply.

  “Yeah,” Zoe agreed, patting her rifle as she might a pet dog. “Thanks all the same, but we’ll hang onto these.”

  “Suit yourself,” Gernot said.

  Talia moved over to where Duran and Zoe were standing and looked at each of them in turn.

  “So this is it,” she said. “I know we haven’t really gotten along, but I hope you keep safe out there just the same.”

  “Safer than you’ll be, most likely,” Duran said.

  “You’ve got guts, going up there,” Zoe said. “I’ll give you that.” She stretched out a hand and smiled. “Good luck, Talia. I hope you keep safe, too.”

  “Thank you, Zoe.” Talia offered her hand to Duran, who seemed surprised at the gesture. “Alec. Thank you for everything you’ve done for us.”

  Duran stared at her for a moment, clearly startled, then shook her hand. “Uh, sure.”

  “If you two are leaving, then leave,” Bagley said, hopping up from behind the desk and starting off down the corridor toward the entrance. “I need to close this deal and get the fuck out of this city.” He began to disengage the locks on the front door as Zoe and Duran fell in behind.

  Zoe turned and waved briefly to Silvestri, Roman and Yun, then disappeared down the corridor. Duran moved sluggishly behind her. He turned once, a puzzled expression on his face, and looked back at Gernot and his bodyguards, then at Talia and the others. He gave a slight shake of his head, then scowled and walked away.

  Silvestri clasped Talia on the shoulder and offered her a smile. “And then there were four,” he said.

  17

  Knile crouched on the handcar, a simple, flatbed monorail, and pumped at the manual crank, sending the vehicle lurching forward through the tunnel. Ahead he could see something appearing out of the gloom, and as he neared, he realised that he’d reached his destination.

  The others were still there at the sweepdrone in the place he’d left them a few hours before. As he coasted to a stop, he was greeted by a weary but jubilant Ursie, who seemed to have been on the verge of tears before he’d arrived.

  “Hey!” she called out to him, the relief in her voice palpable. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d be back.”

  “What? And miss out on all the fun?” he said. He locked the crank back in place and then dropped easily over the side of the handcar.

  “Well, look at that,” Tobias said appreciatively, moving over and running his fingers along the smooth edge of the handcar. “Where did you find her?”

  Knile shrugged. “It was just sitting in the middle of the tunnel, a couple of hours’ walk from here. Had some empty pallets stacked against the wall nearby. Maybe that was just where someone left it after its last supply run.”

  “Might just be,” Tobias said, nodding.

  “There’s a control panel on one end, but I couldn’t get it started.”

  “Nah,” Tobias said. “No power.”

  “Right. Luckily there’s a crank that gets it moving with a bit of elbow grease, just like you said.” He lifted his hand and touched gingerly at the blisters that had already formed due to the exertion. “I doubt I’m going to have any skin left by the time we get to Sunspire, though.”

  Tobias dug into his pocket and drew out a pair of sandy-coloured gloves, then tossed them across the flatbed to Knile.

  “Here. Use these.”

  Knile took the gloves and pres
sed the fabric between his fingers. It was smooth and supple and somehow pleasing to the touch. He’d never seen anything quite like it.

  “What material is this?” he said.

  “Deerskin.”

  He slipped them on. The fit was a little loose, but he wasn’t about to complain.

  “Where’d you get these?”

  Tobias shrugged. “Don’t remember. Had ’em kicking around forever.”

  At that moment there was an abrupt slamming sound in the distance, and the tunnel seemed to sway. A gust of wind swirled around them, ruffling Ursie’s dishevelled hair about her face. It died down as quickly as it had come, and then the three of them turned to look at each other.

  “That,” Ursie said, pointing a finger behind them, “has been getting louder.”

  “Another bulkhead closing, most likely. The Skywalk is still breaking up,” Knile said. He moved into action. “Come on. Let’s load Lazarus onto the handcar and get out of here.”

  The three of them wrestled with the comatose Redman, dragging him along the floor and then levering him up onto the flatbed. Tobias collected the container of water and some of the tools from the sweepdrone, then gave it a good-natured thump on the hood.

  “You done good, sweepy. You done real good. Happy trails.”

  The three of them climbed up onto the handcar, and Knile twisted a handle next to the crank, effectively reversing the direction in which it would travel. He wrapped a gloved hand around the crank and lifted it free of its locked position.

  “Everybody ready?” he said. The others nodded, and Knile began to work the handcar forward, slowly at first, but then at a more rapid clip.

  The sweepdrone disappeared behind them, and Knile turned his attention to the track ahead, wondering when their destination might come into sight.

  After an hour of pumping the handcar forward, Knile’s arms felt as though they were made of lead, and he reluctantly allowed Tobias to take a turn at the crank. Wringing out his hands, he dropped back to check on Lazarus. Ursie watched on from where she lay nearby.

  “Have you checked him lately?” he asked her, feeling at Lazarus’ neck for a pulse.