Scavenger Blood

by Janet Edwards

  “We saw the advantages of having Thaddeus Wallam-Crane the Eighth on our side even before we found out you could do all these startling things with the Earth data net,” said Vijay. “We’re hoping you could negotiate some sort of amnesty with the United Earth Government.”

  “Yes, there has to be something I can do,” said Tad thoughtfully. “I’ll think about it.”

  We continued down the tunnel in silence for a few minutes, and then I stopped walking and looked around. “We’re now at the point where Cage arrived in the tunnel. He seemed to have come through an entrance.”

  “I can’t see an entrance here,” said Weston.

  I couldn’t see one either, but I remembered how my tracking display had shown the two lines of the tunnel, with the red dot of Cage off to the left among some extra lines. I went over to the wall of the tunnel, and carefully thought a sentence. “Gun command tracking display on.”

  The tracking display appeared, showing what looked like a corridor at right angles to the tunnel. It was several paces further along the wall, so I faked studying the wall where I was standing, and then worked my way along to where the corridor had to be. The wall still looked perfectly solid to me, but Vijay and Weston came to stand next to me.

  “There’s a barely visible but suspiciously door-shaped crack in the wall,” said Vijay.

  Weston nodded. “That has to be a concealed door. I can’t see any way to open it, but Vijay is the expert in dealing with locks, safes, and concealed doors.”

  Vijay laughed. “It’s been decades since I did this. Stand back please, everyone.”

  He took off his gloves, and ran his hands slowly and delicately across the wall. “Yes, it’s a concealed door. Beautifully faked to blend in with the tunnel wall, but I can feel the slight difference in texture.”

  He worked his way downwards, checking every inch of the wall until he reached the ground, then stood up straight again and did some stamping.

  “Nothing,” he muttered. “Whoever built this was good. The door control isn’t on or near the door itself, or on the ground by it, but it can’t be far away. There has to be a sign to help users find it.”

  He stared up at the bright lights in the ceiling. “And there it is. All the light fittings are identical, long thin tubes, but one is noticeably shorter than the rest.”

  Vijay moved to stand by the shorter light fitting, tried some more stamping, and then ran his hands over the wall. “Found it!”

  He pressed the wall, and the concealed door opened in front of me. I applauded, then peered through the doorway into a shadowy passageway. I pictured Cage walking along it, and was reminded of the cockroaches in the main corridor of Sanctuary. They lurked in hidden places under the floor. Cage had been lurking in hidden places under the floor as well.

  “This passageway must lead to Parliament House,” I said. “Cage has been using this route to bypass all our carefully locked doors and windows, so he can go and meet his friends.”

  Vijay came to look through the door. “The passageway doesn’t seem to have any lighting, but if Cage came out of it, then it must be passable. Shall we explore?”

  My gun’s tracking display showed nothing but this one passageway running straight on to the edge of its range. “Yes, lead the way, Vijay.”

  We turned on our lanterns and started walking along what was a generously sized, but totally featureless passageway, its walls and ceiling made of fused rock like the subway tunnel we’d just left. I still thought this passageway had to lead to Parliament House, but something was worrying me.

  If Cage had been using this route to visit Parliament House, then surely either Donnell or I would have been warned of his presence by our guns. Their tracking range was only large enough to cover one wing of the sprawling building at a time, but Cage would have had to be remarkably lucky for us not to come in range of him at all.

  As we headed on, my gun’s tracking display showed the passageway ending in what looked like a single square room, with a knot of tangled lines in one corner. I was utterly confused now. There was still no sign of Parliament House on my tracking display. What was the point of a passageway that just led to one underground room?

  Then we walked into the room, and I saw the knot of tangled lines on my gun’s tracking display was a staircase at the far side of the room. In the corner next to us were three chairs, and a table piled high with blue protective suits that were covered in black stains.

  As I turned to look at the suits, the scent of smoke hit me, and I realized the black stains were soot. I was bewildered for a moment, wondering where it had come from, but then I worked it out. The subway tunnel had been deep underground, and we hadn’t gained any height coming along that passageway, so we were now far beneath Parliament House. I’d assumed the magic ancient technology of my gun’s tracking display was flawless, but all the solid ground above us must be limiting its range.

  I walked across to the staircase and peered upwards into the blackness. “This must connect with the old staircase at the back of Reception. The one that was blocked off to channel the smoke from the cooking fire and send it up to the roof. There’s a door from that staircase into the Banqueting Hall, which Cage’s supporters have been using as a meeting place. That door is only sealed with black tape, which could easily be removed and replaced.”

  Weston let out his breath in a long whistling sound. “Vijay and I didn’t know Cage’s supporters had been meeting in the Banqueting Hall.”

  “I only discovered it this morning.” I considered that statement. “Well, it’s several hours past midnight now, so technically that was yesterday morning. Donnell is working out what to do about it.”

  “I expect Sean’s discussed it with Machico,” said Vijay bitterly. “Sean will want to see this place himself. I’ll put one of these protective suits on, go up to the Banqueting Hall, and then into the Resistance wing to find him.”

  I opened my mouth to say that I’d go with Vijay, but the staircase stank of smoke, which was inevitably awakening unwelcome memories of the London firestorm. One person would be enough to fetch Donnell anyway, and Vijay was the best choice since he was the expert in finding and opening concealed doors.

  “Yes, you do that,” I said.

  Vijay leaned Cage’s rifle against the wall, dumped his coat and other equipment on the floor, and pulled a protective suit on over his other clothes. He tucked another protective suit under his arm, picked up his lantern, and headed up the staircase.

  It was going to take Vijay a while to fetch Donnell, so I sat down on the bottom step of the staircase to wait.

  Tad came to sit next to me. “Does capturing Cage’s sniper rifle significantly improve the situation?”

  I glanced across at where Weston was sitting by the table and nosily watching us. “It improves the situation a bit.”

  We sat in silence after that. Weston seemed to doze off, and I was struggling to avoid falling asleep myself, when I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the staircase.

  “I don’t know why you two are so jealous of me discussing things with Machico,” Donnell’s voice echoed faintly down to me.

  “We aren’t jealous,” said Vijay plaintively. “We just feel you should trust us as much as Machico.”

  The sound of footsteps stopped. “I discuss things with Machico because he’s my tactical advisor,” said Donnell. “I trust him with my plans, but it’s you two that I trust with my life. You’re the ones who guard my back when things get dangerous.”

  “It’s true that Machico isn’t at his best under fire,” Vijay sounded far more contented now. “I’ll never forget how he fell apart during the attack on the United Earth Parliament complex in Asia.”

  Donnell sighed in response to that. “It’s been over thirty years since that happened. None of us can ever forget it though, because it destroyed Machico’s confidence in combat situations. That’s why he’s limited to giving me tactical advice, while we do the actual fighting. You shouldn’t be je
alous of him, but sympathize with his problems.”

  There was a slight pause before Vijay spoke again. “Weston and I were a little concerned that Blaze might do a Machico on us. We wondered if the reason Cage escaped that time in Sanctuary was that Blaze had reacted to combat as badly as she reacts to fire.”

  I blinked, looked at Weston, and saw he was either genuinely still asleep or an incredibly good actor. Beside me, the thoughtful expression on Tad’s face showed he was overhearing this conversation too.

  “Well, what happened tonight shone a new light on things,” Vijay added.

  I tensed, waiting for him to make the obvious point that I’d let Cage escape a second time.

  “It took me right back to the early days of the Resistance,” said Vijay. “The way your daughter leapt into using that train was just like the way you leapt into using that submarine back in 2375. She even shouted the same words, threatening to leave us behind if we didn’t get on board. The girl’s just as bad as you, Sean. In fact, Weston thinks she’s even worse.”

  There was a laugh from Donnell, and the sound of footsteps started again. A moment later, Donnell and Vijay appeared, wearing matching protective suits, and Weston hastily sat up and yawned.

  Donnell nodded briefly at us before striding eagerly across the room to peer into the passageway. “This must have been built to be a secret escape route from Parliament House.”

  “I’d no way of knowing it was here,” said Tad defensively. “It isn’t shown on the original building plans.”

  “Secret escape routes don’t usually get shown on building plans,” said Donnell lightly. “I suppose I should have checked for secret escape routes when the Resistance first took over Parliament House, in case one was used to attack us. The United Earth Government never seemed very interested in reclaiming this place though. Probably because it was too close to the major trouble spots in Manhattan.”

  He shrugged. “Once we built the chimney in Reception, and had the cooking fire burning continuously, we were never going to discover this passageway. Perhaps Cage stumbled across a mention of it somewhere in the mountains of old papers in Parliament House. I wonder if he’s been using it to sneak in and out of Parliament House for years, or just in the last few weeks?”

  “Cage couldn’t have been using the blocked off staircase when the cooking fire was burning,” I said. “It would have been full of hot smoke.”

  “Cage seems to be capable of almost anything,” said Donnell. “The important thing isn’t the past but the present though.”

  He glanced around the room. “There are only three chairs here, which makes sense. I can’t believe that Cage would trust all his supporters with the secret of this entrance, or that he’d risk his own neck by going up to the Banqueting Hall. I expect Major and Shark have been coming down here to meet him. Cage could easily leave a signal, something as simple as a piece of wood in a building window, to show they should meet that night and ...”

  At this point, Donnell finally noticed the rifle leaning against the wall. His words trailed off, and he strode across the room to stare at it before turning to Vijay. “You told me that you’d used the subway train to catch up with Cage, but he managed to get away. You never mentioned capturing his sniper rifle.”

  Vijay laughed. “I only told you the bare outline of the story when we were upstairs, Sean. I wanted to save the most exciting bits until we were with the others.”

  I watched in amusement as Weston and Vijay took turns to tell the story, starting with Tad turning on the power to the third rail, and adding a lot of invented extra ghostly details about the subway train. When they finished, Donnell picked up the sniper rifle and examined it closely.

  “This looks damaged but is probably repairable. I’ll have to get Machico to use his welding equipment to turn it into a useless bit of scrap metal.”

  Weston made a pained noise. “That sniper rifle is a work of art, Sean. Turning it into scrap metal would be a crime.”

  “I agree, but we’ve no other choice,” said Donnell. “We have to tell the alliance that Cage is wounded and we’ve captured his sniper rifle. That means we have to show the rifle to the whole alliance, and it isn’t like the Armed Agent weapons that Blaze and I have, which are bonded to us and will self-destruct when we die. Anyone can use that rifle. If it looks remotely repairable, then the divisions will start fighting over who gets it.”

  Weston and Vijay nodded gloomily.

  Donnell looked around the room again. “I think we should pretend we haven’t discovered this entrance. Cage has no way of knowing that you found it after he’d gone, and we may be able to use it to trap his supporters.”

  He laughed. “It would be nice to use this entrance to trap Cage as well, but I don’t think he’ll ever set foot in a subway tunnel again after meeting you and that train. We’d better get back up to the sixth floor of the Resistance wing now, and you can all get a couple of hours sleep while Machico wrecks the rifle.”

  He turned to face Tad. “During breakfast tomorrow morning, we’ll stage a dramatic entrance of Blaze, Weston, and Vijay, making a heroic return from injuring Cage and capturing his rifle. I’m afraid you’ll have to miss out on the glory though, Tad. I fully appreciate how much you’ve helped us, but we can’t explain what you were doing on the trip.”

  “I don’t care about glory,” said Tad. “Being born with the Wallam-Crane name means I’ve had far too much glory, and dream of having an ordinary life one day.”

  “If we aren’t mentioning Tad and his web, then we’ll have to leave any mention of the train and the third rail out of the story as well,” I said.

  Weston shook his head. “We can’t leave the ghost train out of the story. It’s the most thrilling bit.”

  “I agree you have to include the ghost train,” said Donnell. “Tell the story exactly how it happened, but say that you used a power storage unit to electrify the third rail, and Blaze drove the train down the subway tunnel.”

  “But it’s impossible to use a power storage unit to electrify the third rail all along multiple sections of tunnel,” said Tad. “Nobody drives those trains either. They run automatically.”

  Donnell ruffled Tad’s hair. “The New York subway system was abandoned a hundred and eighty years ago, Tad. Nobody in the alliance will know the details of how it worked.”

  “I suppose that could be true,” said Tad.

  Donnell smiled. “It’s definitely true. And we’ll take the extra precaution of letting Weston and Vijay tell the story. If people notice anything odd, then they’ll just assume Weston and Vijay are exaggerating things as usual.”

  He paused. “The rest of you had better put on protective suits ready to go upstairs.”

  I slowly peeled off my coat. My mind was already imagining climbing the staircase that had been used as a chimney for nearly two decades, picturing the walls and floor covered with ashes and soot, and the choking scent of fire.

  This was going to be like walking through one of my worst nightmares, but I could do it. I had to do it. Vijay and Weston had been worried I’d freeze up in combat, and the events tonight had reassured them. I mustn’t mess everything up by showing I was afraid of a little soot.

  “Actually, on second thoughts, Weston, Vijay, and Tad can take the rifle upstairs, and explain the plan to Machico,” said Donnell, stripping off his protective suit.

  Vijay gave him a puzzled look. “Aren’t you and Blaze coming with us?”

  “Blaze is going to show me the subway train, and then take me to the point where Cage left the tunnel,” said Donnell. “Lend me your coat and lantern, Vijay.”

  Vijay picked up his coat, and tossed it to Donnell.

  Weston frowned. “Do you think that Cage is still in the area?”

  “No, I just want to have a quick look at these subway tunnels.” Donnell pulled Vijay’s coat on. “Blaze and I will then use the above ground route to return to the back door of the Resistance wing. There’s no need for the rest of yo
u to come along. We’re highly unlikely to find Cage, but if we do then two people with Armed Agent weapons should be more than enough to deal with a wounded man.”

  Weston and Vijay exchanged glances, shrugged, and headed up the stairs. Tad threw a doubtful look in my direction before following them. I put my coat back on, slung my bag on my shoulder, and then hesitated, wondering if I dared to say anything.

  Donnell picked up Vijay’s lantern. “Show me your subway train, Blaze.”

  I picked up my lantern too, and led Donnell to where the train stood, dark and silent, in the subway tunnel. He climbed inside for a moment, before jumping down again, and I finally managed to speak.

  “I let Cage get away for the second time.”

  “I sent you to explore the subway tunnels,” said Donnell. “I thought Cage would be safely tucked up in bed in a new base near the graveyard. I thought he had no reason to enter the subway tunnels until after the snow melted. I thought there was no chance of you meeting him, but you might discover a clue to the location of his base.”

  He paused. “I was wrong about everything. Cage’s new base wasn’t near the graveyard but near the boathouse, and Cage wasn’t staying there until the snow melted. He entered the subway tunnels to meet one or more of his followers in his secret entrance to Parliament House. You used a subway train to get back down the tunnel and caught Cage just as he was leaving his meeting. You hit Cage with the train and wounded him. You captured his sniper rifle. You found his secret entrance to Parliament House.”

  Donnell groaned. “I know I haven’t told you how incredibly well you’ve done, but that’s because I’ve got a huge emotional conflict between my feelings as your father and my feelings as alliance leader. As your father, I’m terrified by the risks you took, and want to shout at you to be more careful. As alliance leader, I’m delighted by the initiative and decisive action shown by my deputy.”