by Chele Cooke
“What are you doing?”
“Dhiren, get back here,” Georgianna hissed.
He stayed exactly where he was. Looking up, Georgianna glared furiously at him.
“Get—back—here,” she ordered.
Dhiren stared at her. His eyes were as round as the heat sun and his mouth dropped open. Finally, he gulped and stepped forwards.
“I’m blowing a hole in this wall,” she explained quietly, fixing her hold on the pod.
The device measured the length of her hand and felt cool against her skin. Under the electric lights of the block, it glowed a pretty peach colour. A series of markings ringed one end. She hadn’t even thought to ask what they meant. They were set deep into the metal and were the only things marring the egg-shaped pod’s absolute smoothness.
Cupping the wide bottom in one hand, Georgianna twisted her thumb in the hole she had created. A low hiss came from the pod as it had when they’d been practising and slowly, the four sides opened up. It reminded her of a flower opening its petals to the sun. Dhiren watched it as if it were about to start spitting venom.
“What are you doing?”
The centre of the pod, which had remained a clear rod while they’d been practicing, was now glowing the dark purple of lutiner hanging fruit. Turning her thumb in the hole, Georgianna held her breath, waiting for the click. There. She heard it. It was locked.
“We’re taking down the compound,” she breathed.
“You’re creating a hole in a wall. That won’t do anything. What about the fence?”
“Taken care of,” Georgianna said as she crouched, placing the pod next to the wall. From what Edtroka had said, if it was right against the wall, the cameras wouldn’t spot it unless someone adjusted their focus.
Slipping down onto her knees, Georgianna turned the pod around until she found the thin needle running through the rod. At least this part would be easier for her than Alec and Wrench. With her thin fingers, it was easier to grasp the pin without touching the glowing centre. She prised it out, and tossed it behind her.
“You need to explain this, Med.”
Georgianna grabbed the last handful of herb packets. She shoved them into her bag and tossed the strap over her shoulder. Grabbing Dhiren by the arm, she pulled him down the corridor of cells.
“There is a group working on it,” she said. “Just stay away from there until it goes off. Then run. The fence will be down.”
Dhiren didn’t look very confident. She squeezed his arm.
“I promise.”
“From what I remember, Med, your promises are not worth much.”
Ta-Dao stood before them, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Keeping a tight grasp on Dhiren’s arm, Georgianna’s fingers trembled against his skin. There had been many worries in preparing the escape: setting the pod, Alec and Wrench being trapped in the block, Edtroka being caught, Maarqyn. Those were the things she had worried about. Any fleeting thought of the brothers had been quickly pushed aside. There were worse things to be scared of. Now, however, she couldn’t think of a single one of them.
“What did you do this time, Medic?” Ta-Dao asked, stepping closer. “To be delivered back to us?”
“She’s not,” Dhiren said. “Just on a visit, isn’t that right?”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t make her voice cooperate. She wanted to sound positive, unafraid, but it gave her away with its crack and squeak.
Ta-Dao ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it back to reveal two furrows of baldness driving through his hairline. His eyes were lit up with excitement, and Georgianna cringed.
“No. No, I don’t think that’s it at all. You see, we made a bargain, you and I. Even Dhi here was there to hear it.”
“I had no choice.”
“In your sale, no, I doubt you did,” he mused. “But you owe a debt, Medic, and I would hate to have to hurt you because you refuse to pay. Who would help the other inmates if you had no hands to do so?”
He looked so innocent, even as the threat came easily from his lips. Vajra wasn’t as skilled at hiding his malice behind a kind, inviting smile as his brother. Under her fingers, she could feel Dhiren’s arm trembling. Though, from his gritted teeth and the tightening of his fists, she knew that it was not fear making him shake.
There was no escape. She was locked in this block until Edtroka came to get her. She was supposed to be by the door but she doubted Ta-Dao would simply leave her alone. They were not nearly far enough away from the pod. She didn’t know how strong the blast would be. If it was going to break through the thick wall, she couldn’t imagine it would be small. She looked back at Ta-Dao.
“You’re right,” she said, earning herself a furious look from Dhiren. “I still owe a debt, and it’s time I paid.”
Ta-Dao’s smile faltered for a moment, confusion and suspicion flicking through his face. He nodded just the same.
“Let’s go to your cell. We can discuss it further.”
The grin was back and he nodded, turning to lead the way. Georgianna kept her grasp on Dhiren’s arm and followed.
“What are you doing?” Dhiren hissed into her ear.
He slowed his steps and tugged her back, putting a few more feet between them and Ta-Dao. Georgianna didn’t think the brothers would appreciate any delay in her cooperation, not after she’d already evaded them once, but she was glad of the distance. Ta-Dao made her skin crawl in the same way Maarqyn did.
“We need to be away from that pod,” she breathed back. “Their cells are the other side of the block. I’ll talk to them, play along, and then we’ll be out.”
“George, they won’t…”
“Hurry up!” Ta-Dao ordered. “Suns, Dhiren, anyone would think you didn’t want to help us anymore.”
She glanced at Dhiren and shook her head, quickening her step to catch up. It wasn’t worth arguing about now. She couldn’t tell Ta-Dao the truth about why she was here and his cell would be good protection. It was also close to the door. She could wait for Edtroka there and then excuse herself when he called for her.
Counting back, she tried to work out how much time they had before the pod would activate. Edtroka had set the timer so that all of the devices would go off at once but already she couldn’t remember how long it had been. She was meant to be at the block door so that they could walk away before the charges went off, maintaining their innocence. Alec and Wrench would run with the other inmates, meeting up with them further north. She hoped that it wouldn’t take long to fake a deal with the brothers, though. If they saw through her as quickly as Edtroka and Dhiren had, it wouldn’t be easy.
Vajra leaned against his cell door, using a blade to scratch dirt out from beneath his fingernails. He looked so similar to his brother, the same dark, intelligent eyes and peppered hair slicked back against his scalp. He was bigger and broader than his younger brother, but she had little doubt that they both knew how to inflict the maximum damage. Even their smiles were the same though Vajra seemed more malicious. His pretence of nonchalance was not as well-honed as Ta-Dao’s. Georgianna shuddered and stepped closer to Dhiren.
“Sometimes I wonder about you,” Vajra announced, not looking up from his fingers. “You know the medic has returned to us and yet I have to hear it from Owain?”
“I guess I don’t need to earn your favour like he does,” Dhiren sneered. “How many beatings is he trying to work off from your gratitude?”
Vajra gave a laugh like the rumble of thunder. He looked up and smeared the dirt from his knife onto the side of his thumb.
“I don’t remember,” he said. “How many executions are you working off?”
Georgianna had known that Dhiren wasn’t happy with his situation within the compound, and that he had only agreed to it in order to save himself. Yet she had always seen Ta-Dao treat Dhiren with a twisted sort of kindness. Vajra, on the other hand, showed no such understanding. The two despised each other and, judging from their sneers, they had no troubl
e showing it. She supposed that as long as Dhiren did what he was told, the older brother really didn’t care whether he liked it or not.
Ta-Dao nodded towards the cell, almost polite as he held his hand out for her to enter ahead of him. Georgianna stepped forwards, sliding carefully past Vajra. Dhiren didn’t wait for an invitation before following her in. Slumping down onto the bed, he grinned at the brothers as he propped his boots up on a blanket.
“Tell me, Medic,” Ta-Dao began. “How exactly did you pass the message to the guards?”
Georgianna looked up in surprise.
“I’m sorry?”
“Your sale. It came at a very opportune moment for you. Another day and we would have been able to put our offer forwards.”
“I didn’t,” she murmured. “The sale had already gone through, I didn’t even know about it.”
Vajra used the point of the knife to pick a piece of food out from between his teeth.
“You want us to believe that on the very morning you agreed to our protection, a sale just happened to go through?” he asked. “Some vtensu who’s never met you just picked your name from a pot?”
He raised an eyebrow and shared a grin of disbelief with his brother.
“It… It wasn’t like that.”
“Oh, so they’d met you before and fallen in love?” he mocked. “No offence, Medic, but you are not the prettiest girl I’ve seen pass through these walls. That, coupled with your smart mouth. If I were them, I’d not have wasted the coin.”
“Hey!” Dhiren snapped. “Give her a break.”
“I give her nothing!” Vajra barked back, pointing the knife at him. “Remember who holds your leash, Yote!”
Dhiren looked ready to kill but he held his tongue and his fists. Georgianna pressed her back against the wall, clutching her bag to her side. Her fingers trembled and goose bumps erupted down her arms.
“Medic, I asked you a question. How did you do it?”
“I told you, I didn’t.”
“Now, be honest. You don’t want to know what happens to those who lie to us.”
She gulped. Maarqyn had used those words when he wanted information about Alec’s whereabouts. He had told her that it would be better for her, that he would make things better for her. She wished she’d listened to Alec and Keiran about not coming here.
“It was Edt… It was Grystch,” she said. “He bought me. Maybe he saw the commotion and knew he’d miss his chance if he didn’t…”
Beeping rang from inside her bag. Edtroka was messaging her, telling her to get to the door. Georgianna clutched the front of her bag, trying to muffle the sound. Ta-Dao’s eyes narrowed.
“Grystch is changeable,” Vajra insisted. “We will make him an offer. He can buy another toy.”
“Why would you want to?” she asked. “You said it yourself: you’d want your money back if you were him.”
“Because…”
He was cut off by the block door squealing against the concrete. Footsteps scattered in all directions outside the cell. Ta-Dao slipped past his brother and watched the door. Dhiren leaned across to the wall for a better look. Georgianna froze as Vajra’s knife came under her chin. He glared down at her, scraping the blade against the underside of her jaw. She gritted her teeth, her jaw quivering. Dhiren sat as still as stone.
“Grystch,” Ta-Dao announced.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his gaze flickering between his brother and the door.
“Good. We’ll be able to make our offer in person,” Vajra replied.
Georgianna gulped, regretting it when the blade slid against her neck.
“Be smart,” Dhiren insisted. “Grystch won’t accept your deal. Let her go.”
“He’s coming.”
Ta-Dao slipped back into the cell and Dhiren sat up a little straighter. Vajra pressed the blade a little harder against her skin.
“You stay quiet, you understand?”
She nodded. He slid the knife into his belt and turned away from her. She was trapped in the cell. There was no way to pass Vajra and keep out of his reach. If he spread his arms wide enough, his fingertips could probably brush both walls. There was only one way out, and he was blocking it.
“That way, Grystch,” she heard an inmate say. “She’s with the brothers.”
Edtroka rounded the corner, his jaw clenched. His gaze flitted over the scene, briefly pausing on Georgianna, before he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Lennox, get out here. I gave you a time, I expect you to stick to it.”
She wouldn’t have been able to hear the panic in his voice had it been anyone else. He hid it well, beneath layers of annoyance and disdain, yet she could hear a hitch in his throat. She opened her mouth but, remembering Vajra’s order, stayed silent. Edtroka’s fingers twitched against his arm and he turned his attention to the others.
“Is there something I’m missing?” he demanded of the brothers.
“No,” Vajra answered, as brashly as if he were talking to another inmate. “But we’ve been missing a medic. We hear that it’s your fault.”
“I’ll make sure to send the next one into this block then. This one, however, is not on the table.”
Edtroka stepped forwards into the cell. Extending his hand towards her, he stopped when Vajra’s knife came down on his wrist. His eyes widened and then narrowed, knitting his dark brow low over his eyes.
“You want to take that off me.”
“I don’t think I do.”
She’d never heard anyone talk to a guard the way Vajra did, yet Edtroka didn’t move to restrain Vajra, or draw his gun. Georgianna glanced past them, out of the cell. They couldn’t risk more Adveni coming into the block, investigating gunfire. Edtroka had said that before. This had to be done quietly, but she was all too aware that their time was ticking away.
“I allow you a lot. If you want that to continue, you will step back,” Edtroka said, keeping his voice even. “You’ve already forced me to step into this rat hole longer than I must.”
“You see, the medic owes us.”
“Lucky her, I’ll ensure she receives a thorough de-fleaing treatment after the next time you wish her to be of service.”
Edtroka’s voice was stiff and his fingers twitched back towards his weapon. Georgianna sidestepped along the wall.
“Vajra, let it go,” Dhiren insisted.
“Stay out of this.”
“He’s right. You should let it go,” Edtroka said. “The medic is leaving.”
A shrill squeal, unlike any Georgianna had ever heard, emanated from the tsentyl in Edtroka’s front pocket. It was so high-pitched, it screamed in her ears and made her shudder, though it wasn’t all that loud. They threw their hands over their ears, cringing away from the sound.
“What is that?” Vajra demanded, pointing his knife at Edtroka.
Edtroka’s cool restraint was forgotten as he slapped his hand over his pocket, panic clear on his face. Their time had run out. The countdown he’d put on the pods had come to an end. Shoving Vajra into the wall, he grasped Georgianna’s wrist and pushed her onto the bed.
She landed on Dhiren’s lap and Edtroka threw himself onto her as the world around them exploded.
Brick rained down as the walls rumbled and vibrated. Dhiren’s arms snaked around her stomach, holding her against him. Edtroka jolted and grunted against her shoulder. Trapped between them, Georgianna squeezed her eyes shut and bit down on her lip. She couldn’t move. All she could do was breathe and wait for the tremors to come to an end. Shrieks and yells echoed in every direction. Someone close by howled in pain. The walkways groaned with the weight of people running towards the stairs.
“I think that’s…”
Dhiren’s words were cut off as another explosion rocked the compound. Georgianna gasped, pressing her face against Edtroka’s chest. She clutched at his waist, pulling him closer. His fingers knotted into her hair, holding her against him, his other hand propping himself up. His b
reath felt hot and damp on her cheek.
“One more,” he mumbled against her ear.
She had been sure that he’d said that all the pods would detonate at the same time, but he’d also planned on them being out of the compound by the time they started going off. The first two had been close, most likely the two for the inmate blocks. Georgianna nodded against his chest.
When the third blast went off further away, she still felt the vibrations travel through the bed beneath them. The ceiling above groaned and a chunk of the sandmix concrete fell. It dropped through the air and hit her leg. Georgianna shrieked. The pain was instant as a sharp edge sliced into her calf.
Edtroka flinched and pulled his ear away from her cry, but didn’t seem fazed by the damage the explosions had done.
“That’s it,” he said, pushing himself up. “That’s all of them.”
Blood was dripping down his shoulder. She could see a blood-smeared piece of brick on the floor by his feet. Debris littered the ground. As Edtroka moved towards the door, she spotted another bloody wound across the small of his back.
Inmates sprinted for the hole in the wall, or to find cover. Panic was contagious and they had all caught it.
“You alright, Med?”
Dhiren’s breath flowed down between her shoulders. She wasn’t sure whether she was alright or not. Still, she nodded, and peeled herself from his body. Gingerly, she placed her foot on the floor. A spasm of pain shot up from her calf into her thigh. Whimpering, she supported herself on her other foot and reached to pull Dhiren to his feet.
“Dao?” Vajra asked, jumping forwards. “Dao!”
Vajra crouched over his brother who half-lay in the doorway. Ta-Dao was howling in pain, hunched over his leg in a pool of blood. The splintered end of a bone had sliced through his thigh. Edtroka threw his arm in front of Georgianna, pushing her back against the wall.
“We have to…”
“No!”
Vajra was on his feet, pointing Edtroka’s own gun back at him. Edtroka slapped his hand down to where the holster should have been, his lips parting in surprise. It lay on the floor, half hidden beneath a piece of brick. Georgianna covered her mouth with her hands as Vajra stepped forward. He kept the copaq aimed between Edtroka’s eyes and pressed the tip of his knife under Edtroka’s Adam’s apple, forcing his head back away from the blade.
