Twig

by wildbow

  “You think?” I asked, at the same time Mary gave him an incredulous, “No big?”

  “Nothing we can do about it here,” he said. “I thought I’d tell you I had to go to the Academy after you figured out where you were going, and I could brief Hayle while you went gallivanting off, but since we’re all going to the Academy anyway, let’s get going?”

  I didn’t miss the faintest hint of anxiety in his tone, however well he was working to hide it.

  “Let’s,” I said.

  ☙

  Dog was, as it happened, very useful when it came to forging a way through busy streets. People and horses were daunted by him, and a way naturally cleared as the ghost’s carriage took us to the Academy. Catcher rode on top with Mary, the others were in the back with the three kids, and Jamie and I were the designated lookouts, standing on a rail at the back, gripping the rail that ran around the top.

  The ghosts were nowhere to be seen. That was, perhaps, the entire point of them, to be evasive and subtle, but Jamie had good eyes, and I could be fairly alert when I focused on the task, and it didn’t make sense that they would be this hard to find.

  We passed the Lambsbridge Orphanage and started up the incline to the Academy itself.

  I stared at Mary’s bloodstained back. Her clothing was all stiff where the blood had dried on, and Lillian had ripped it at the side to have more room to work with. I could see the side of Mary’s stomach, painted in a mottling of blood.

  “What are you thinking?” Jamie murmured.

  “A lot of things. It’s how I work.”

  “Believe me, I know how you work,” he said. “I know you’re out here because you don’t want to be in there. You’re avoiding Gordon and you’re dodging the subject with indirect answers like that.”

  “Oh man, Jamie, no. You sound like me. Don’t do that to yourself.”

  He smiled. “For most of the day, you’ve had me working to emulate the other Lambs. You, mostly.”

  “We’ve ruined you,” I said.

  “Probably. But what are you thinking?”

  “You already asked that.”

  “Are you afraid to tell me?”

  I sighed.

  “You don’t have to. I know you care about us. You look after us more than you like to admit. Keep the balance, keep confidences, push us when we need pushing. But when it comes to you… well, I see it as my responsibility to ask you if you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, breezily.

  “You’re fine as long as the rest of us are fine. But we’ve gone without appointments for a stretch longer than normal. Things that were close to breaking down are breaking down, and it’s a little scary to see all at once. You’re struggling, Gordon’s struggling.”

  “Mary getting hurt had nothing to do with appointments.”

  “But she got hurt,” Jamie said. “And maybe you’re wondering if she would’ve gotten hurt if we were all in top form?”

  “Now I am.”

  “Sy,” Jamie said. “If something happens, today, tomorrow, in a week, a month, or a year…”

  “When,” I corrected. Odd to be the one correcting Jamie. “When, not if.”

  “When. Are you going to be okay?”

  “I’ve been bracing myself for this for years now. I’ve known the estimated dates since before we had Mary. I’ve mourned and made the most of my time with everyone. I’m fine. Really. But I’m not sure the group is.”

  Jamie was quiet. He didn’t look at me, still focused on his job, studying the surroundings, searching for ghosts in daylight.

  I swallowed. “Gordon was ready to leave, you know. Back with Fray?”

  “Things have changed since then.”

  “He’s always been more independent than the rest of us. If something happens, if the group cohesion breaks down, if there are hurt feelings, I really truly believe we might see Gordon break away.”

  “Okay.”

  “You’re not disagreeing with me.”

  “I don’t disagree.”

  I paused, taking that in.

  “Mary,” I said, lowering my voice so I could be sure Mary wouldn’t hear. “With the way things stand now—”

  “With Percy. Yeah.”

  “Yeah,” I said. Enough said. “And Helen?”

  “Helen?”

  “I just… I have this horrible image in my head about the way things are flowing.”

  “Explain? I don’t think about things the way you do.”

  “She’s loyal to Ibott. And Ibott is loyal to his aspirations, and Hayle probably told Ibott that if the man wanted an in with the nobility, working on something like Helen would be that in, and now the stars have aligned and Ibott is greedy and…”

  “…I see where you’re going. Nothing concrete.”

  “Nothing concrete, no.”

  “But it’s believable.”

  I nodded. I felt both relieved and horrified to speak my fears aloud and have them validated.

  “And there’s Lillian,” Jamie said.

  “I don’t see her running off, but I—I don’t see her staying?” I said. “I know it doesn’t make sense.”

  “I can see both,” Jamie said. “It depends what happens.”

  I heaved out another sigh.

  “You’ll feel better after an appointment,” he said.

  “I’ll feel tons worse after an appointment. Don’t lie to me.”

  “And after that, you’ll feel better,” he clarified.

  “I hope so.”

  The side door opened. The person within waited until we passed another cart going the opposite way, one that held an animal inside, then opened the door. It was Lillian.

  She gave me a fleeting smile before working her way along the side of the carriage, stepping up onto the cover above the wheel so she was beside Mary.

  Jamie and I were quiet as we watched Lillian poke and prod. She said something to the effect of, “—want to do a last-minute check in case someone grades my work.”

  Mary patiently sat through Lillian’s ministrations. She glanced back at us, and rolled her eyes, before a bump in the road made her have to reach out to catch her balance, and grab for Lil’s shoulder, to make sure Lillian didn’t bounce off.

  We were at the last leg. The group at the gate obediently got out of the way as Dog approached. They remembered last time. It put a smile on my face.

  Lillian hopped down to the step beneath the door, then crossed back to Jamie and I, where we stood on the rear end of the carriage, looking over the top.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “I wanted to thank you, Jamie. For backing me up. I think I did okay, and I wouldn’t have without you.”

  “You know it didn’t happen like that,” Jamie said.

  “If you’re talking about me having it in me all along, Jamie, I have to tell you you’re full of horse—”

  “No,” I cut her off. “Jamie didn’t help you.”

  “He—”

  “You know what happens if they find out he knows this much,” I said, and my tone was grim. “The project gets canceled. Or very heavily revised.”

  “I know that. I’m not going to say.”

  “Or hint,” I said. “Or thank Jamie, or mention it ever again. Because it didn’t happen. It won’t ever happen again. And if you happen to imagine something like that happening again, in dire circumstances?”

  “I’m only imagining it,” she said.

  Jamie nodded.

  “Good girl,” I said, my voice quiet. “And Catcher, Dog? I know your hearing is good enough to have overheard everything. I’m trusting you two to keep mum.”

  There was no reaction from either.

  “I didn’t even imagine they were listening in,” Lillian said, quiet.

  “They’re good guys,” I said. “Others aren’t. Be careful.”

  She nodded. She turned to go back inside the carriage, then stopped and turned back our way. “When Mary was fading out, she was babbling.”

&
nbsp; I nodded.

  “You had your chance? She said that to you.”

  “Uh huh,” I said.

  There was a long silence. We passed under the gate.

  “Okay then. I feel like I’m always one step behind,” she said.

  “Sy told you something before you performed the surgery on Mary,” Jamie said. “You have to be proactive. Step up and find the courage. Pay attention to the sentiment. You’ll always regret what you don’t do more than what you do.”

  “Technically Gordon said that.”

  “You said it too. It’s good advice. What I’m getting at is, if you want something, fight for it. If you’re falling behind, work hard and catch up. If you want to say something, then say it. But don’t waver.”

  “It’s not that easy,” Lillian said.

  “Of course not. It’s hard,” Jamie said. “But things worth having are worth the work, don’t you think?”

  He gave me a look. I thought about how we’d talked about group cohesion.

  Apt.

  “Yeah, Jamie,” Lillian said. “I think I understand what you’re saying. I’m going to think on it.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  It took her a few seconds to maneuver her way into the carriage without letting the door swing out to hit a bystander on the crowded street.

  “She is a bit of a scaredy cat, isn’t she?” Jamie asked.

  “I really need an appointment, because I’m not sure I got any of that,” I said.

  “She was asking about you and Mary.”

  “Uh huh. I got that much.”

  “And Lillian was trying to work up the courage to ask you about you and Lillian.”

  “Alright,” I said. “I don’t know if it’s really that important. We have bigger things to focus on.”

  “You have things you’re focusing on. You’re worried about the group. You’re worried everyone around you will fall apart if and when something happens. But this is important to her,” he said, voice firm. “You can’t string her along forever.”

  “I’m not stringing anyone along. I’m not even sure there’s a string,” I said. Images of Mary and the razor wires and knives in that little space under the stairs flew through my mind. “Or there is, I—I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s fair to ask me to be sure one way or the other when I haven’t even figured anything out.”

  “Maybe not,” Jamie said. He leaned forward, until his chin rested on the hands that gripped the bar at the top of the carriage. “I trust you, Sy. You’re smart enough to know when you’ve figured it out, and I hope you’re kind enough to let us know as soon as you do.”

  I frowned.

  “Us?” I asked.

  Jamie’s eyebrows went up over his spectacles.

  “You said us, not her. Not them. Am I reading too much into it?”

  “No,” Jamie said. “Us is right. You’ve been spared the Gordon infatuation, he’s very much into girls, as his fling with Shipman suggests. You’ve been spared the horrors of having Helen be attracted to you.”

  He gave me an impish look, smiling, as if expecting me to laugh along with him. My expression was still. I saw the expression fade.

  Dead serious, Jamie continued, “But half the Lambs have figured out what Gordon didn’t. Or maybe Gordon did figure it out and that’s why he broke it off with Shipman. We can’t expect any non-Lamb to really connect with us. I don’t think it works. They can’t keep up, they can’t draw close enough. They don’t understand. And with only six of us, it’s a pretty narrow pool to pick from.”

  “Jamie, no,” I said. “No.”

  He nodded. “I thought as much.”

  “I like girls. I am very sure I like girls.”

  “I know. I knew, before I even said any of this. But I thought I’d take the same advice I just gave Lillian. Thirdhand as it might be. I can hardly call her a scaredy cat if I’m keeping my own mouth shut.”

  He was being so cavalier about it.

  I had a lump in my throat.

  “They can fix that, you know,” I said.

  Jamie’s smile was a sad one. “No need. I’m okay.”

  “But—”

  “Sy.”

  The word was firm enough to shut me up.

  The moment the carriage started slowing down, Jamie was gone, hopping off the back of the carriage, to walk on the road below.

  The Duke was waiting, with Ibott beside him.

  I put it all out of my mind. I couldn’t afford distractions.

  I had to focus.

  We had an errant little birdy within the Academy. Our mole, letting supplies into the hand of the enemy, taking a hand, partial or in full, of our communications, and co-opting those same communications to serve the enemy. It was galling.

  I was legitimately spooked at the thought of what the Duke would be like if he was angry.

  I let my gaze fall on Jamie before I hopped down to walk around the other side of the carriage.

  You were supposed to be the one I didn’t have to worry about, I thought.

  Previous Next

  Lamb to the Slaughter—6.10

  Our approach as a group was somewhat staggered, as Lambs came in ones and twos to kneel before the Duke. Jamie first, then me a few seconds later, then Helen and Lillian as a pair, Gordon and Mary, with Gordon helping Mary ease down to her knees as he knelt himself. Dog didn’t kneel, but there were anatomical issues there. He bowed his head instead.

  “Stand,” the Duke said.

  We stood.

  “I heard you left as a group. I asked to be notified the moment you were seen returning,” the Duke said. “Dog, Catcher, it is nice to put faces to the names. Faces that aren’t from medical sketches, at least. From the injuries, I assume you found something out? Gordon, speak.”

  “Lord, there are at least twelve of the enhanced clones in the city. We found their base of operations with Catcher’s help. We couldn’t run down the clones, but we killed three and captured a different type of clone. Percy’s. They’re in the rear hatch of the carriage. Three rescued children are within the carriage itself.”

  The Duke indicated the carriage with a hand. Soldiers and one doctor approached it. “Continue.”

  “He’s distributed the clones to several cities or several points in this city, my lord, with his own clones producing further generations. They’re taking a viral approach. Occupying our cities, proliferating within, then spreading.”

  The Duke remained very quiet for a moment. Not a single person present dared speak. Many of the people on the road around the Academy campus were keeping their heads down, sharply aware of the Duke’s presence. People a third of the way across the Academy grounds probably sensed the shift in tempo and focus, all rippling from this one location.

  “How severe a problem do you believe it is?” the Duke asked.

  “At this stage, it might be manageable, my lord. They won’t have spread very far in the last year. They might only be working on the second generation now, but that could mean ten to twenty sites. Individually, they’re dangerous, they have incredible amounts of spatial awareness and tracking ability. They are training themselves in combat, but their ability isn’t high. Not yet. They rely more on their natural ability, their environment, and picking the place and time of their attacks to win.”

  “This ability?” The Duke cut in.

  “Lord, we think it’s echolocation, derived from the escaped experiment we named ‘Whiskers’.”

  “I know the one you’re talking about,” the Duke said.

  I was a little bit surprised at that. I was a little more concerned that Gordon hadn’t had the chance to finish speaking.

  He watched as people emerged from the carriage. Stitched soldiers carried one corpse each, and two more held the captive. High quality stitched. Elite guard?

  My eye passed over Jamie as it turned forward again. He was looking at me.

  I felt uncomfortable. It was a very hard uncomfortable to put my finger on and identify. I fe
lt angry more than anything.

  Anger was a bad emotion here, so close to the Duke.

  The silence lingered as the Duke seemed to take it in. Nobody was permitted to speak without permission, and there was more to say. It felt uncomfortable, having the things left unsaid hanging over our heads.

  I could tell how the conversation was going to go. I could play it through in my head, muddy as it was, and I could see several ways it could go poorly. We weren’t used to being around the nobility, and Gordon had made a tactical error. He hadn’t divulged the most critical, dangerous information, and now he wouldn’t get a chance to do it without being rude. Being rude could have repercussions.

  “This is effective work,” the Duke said. “I’ll allot you some time to rest and heal before assigning you another job.”

  “Thank you, my lord,” Gordon said.

  “My lord,” I said, quickly. I spoke at the same time I raised my eyes and saw the ruling body of Radham opening his mouth to speak.

  “Sylvester,” he said. His tone had the faintest hint of danger as he said, “You seem eager to speak. Don’t waste our time.”

  “Lord Duke, there’s another facet to this that needs mention. They were using Academy resources. Vats, chemicals, uniforms, this carriage, chemicals, and very possibly communication.”

  “Communication?”

  “My lord, it’s only speculation, but they were using birds. They tried to burn the cage and their papers as Dog and Gordon made their approach. I only recovered remains of the cage. There are no guarantees, but—”

  “Enough.”

  I couldn’t meet his eyes, but I was aware of how he was moving and how he stood. He seemed to assert himself, straightening. He began pacing.

  Having the Duke pacing before us was nerve-wracking. He was moving his hand, as if to punctuate thoughts he wasn’t sharing with us.

  “Your captive,” he said. “The clone of Percy. Will he respond to interrogation?”

  “He didn’t for us, my lord,” Gordon said.

  It was going out on a limb, to speak when I had the Duke’s attention. Had Gordon simply let me continue to hold the conversation, he faced a heck of a lot less risk. Now we risked sharing it, either as a pair or all of the Lambs together.