Take Back the Skies

by Lucy Saxon

  Alice kissed the woman on the cheek as she took the garments.

  ‘Thank you, ma’am,’ Cat said, and the woman smiled at her.

  ‘Just returning the favour you’ve done us, dear,’ she replied.

  Cat really didn’t think she’d helped that much, and she was touched that these women owned so little, yet they were perfectly happy to give her some of what they did have.

  In the distance, Cat heard four loud gongs, and her eyebrows rose; was it really four in the afternoon already? Harry looked back in the direction of the clock tower, his brows furrowed.

  ‘We should get going, I think,’ he declared, looking at the men gathered around him. ‘We need to get these furs to our buyer.’

  They waved him off, smiling good-naturedly. With a boost from Harry, Cat climbed back on the mule, startling the dozing animal. Several of the children raced forward from the shadows to hug the older couple goodbye; a few braver ones even waved to Cat, who smiled hesitantly and waved back.

  Clicking her tongue and digging her heels in, she turned the mule and cart around and the three of them set off.

  ‘They were nice,’ Cat said quietly to Harry, who was holding the mule’s reins as they walked.

  Harry nodded.

  ‘Yeah, they’re a decent sort. Had a hard lot dealt to them and they’re just trying to make the best of it. They’ll probably benefit the most if we succeed in our ventures.’ He was being purposefully vague, which she could understand; you never knew who was listening in Breningarth.

  ‘Why’s that?’

  ‘Well, if we’re correct, most of the upper classes will be in a sticky situation. The perfect time for those less fortunate to take back some control and get what they need,’ he pointed out.

  Cat pursed her lips, thinking about it. Of course, if they did go ahead with blowing up the main compound building, it would leave the country with no government. Everything would change.

  ‘What were you and the men talking about, while the women were practically undressing me?’ she asked.

  ‘Be nice, Cat,’ Alice chastised.

  ‘Leave her be, love. Even I could see the lovely ladies were being a little … overenthusiastic,’ Harry said with a chuckle. ‘I was letting them know to spread the word that something’s going to be changing soon, and that they should be prepared.’

  When they returned to the shipyard, Cat easily slipped down from the mule, and Harry clapped her on the shoulder. ‘Go on in and find the boys, lass. Alice and I can finish up here.’

  Cat looked at him, surprised.

  ‘Are you sure?’ she asked. ‘I don’t mind …’ She trailed off, but Harry smiled.

  ‘We’ll be fine, go. We’ll see you at dinner,’ he insisted. She sighed but relented, and hurried up the narrow gangplank and towards her bedroom. She was surprised to see Fox outside her door, looking uncomfortable.

  ‘Oh, good, you’re back,’ he started, taking a step towards her. ‘I, uh, thought I’d best apologise,’ he said somewhat awkwardly. ‘For earlier.’

  Cat raised an eyebrow, edging past him to get to her room.

  ‘Go on, then.’

  To her surprise, he stepped into the room, nudging the door shut behind him.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said earnestly. ‘I was rude. That … wasn’t my intention.’

  She couldn’t help but snort, looking at him incredulously.

  ‘You seem to do a lot of things that aren’t your intention, don’t you?’ He shifted, obviously uncomfortable, and Cat decided to take pity on him. ‘You’re forgiven, and I admit I overreacted a little back in Greystone. But in future, don’t accuse me of being like them. I’m not.’

  ‘I didn’t mean it that way!’ he insisted. ‘I’m just trying to figure you out. And another thing … I’m sorry about your mother too.’

  She froze at his words, tensing visibly.

  ‘What’s wrong with her? If you don’t mind me asking,’ he added hastily.

  Cat sighed, clambering on to the bed.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ she admitted. ‘I don’t think the doctors know either. She’s been ill for as long as I can remember, getting worse the older I got. I always knew she wouldn’t live long, but … that’s the only time I regret leaving. When I think of her. She wasn’t home when I went back. I think she’s in the hospital.’ She willed herself to believe her own words.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Fox said again. ‘I wish I could say I know how you feel. I lost my parents quickly, so it’s not really the same.’

  Cat was silent, expecting him to elaborate, but when he didn’t, she shrugged.

  ‘I just wish I could have had more time with her.’ She swallowed the lump in her throat, and was surprised when Fox reached out, squeezing her knee for the briefest of moments.

  ‘Maybe you will,’ he replied supportively. ‘You have no idea what’ll happen in the future. You could get home and, well, see her off peacefully.’

  Cat frowned.

  ‘I don’t know if I can go home again,’ she confessed quietly. She didn’t even know where home was for her any more.

  ‘We’ll see,’ Fox mused, shrugging. Silence stretched between them, before he cleared his throat. ‘I should, um, leave you to your evening.’

  ‘When did it happen?’ she blurted out. He looked at her, confused. ‘Your parents. How … how old were you?’

  ‘Nine years ago,’ he replied, voice somewhat hollow. ‘I had just turned eight.’

  Cat’s heart clenched in sympathy; she couldn’t imagine being alone at such a young age.

  ‘I … I’m sorry,’ she murmured.

  His lips quirked wryly, and he pulled the door open.

  ‘Yeah. Me too.’ He left before she could say anything, and she sat for a while, stunned. She didn’t know how long it would take her, but she was determined to get to the bottom of the puzzle that was William Foxe.

  Chapter 13

  Cat didn’t spend long in her room, not wanting to dwell too much on Fox’s apology. It only made her wonder what his life might had been like before the Stormdancer. Instead she went to the engine room, finding Matt and Ben down there working on several devices she didn’t recognise.

  ‘What are those?’ she queried, startling them.

  ‘Nothing you need to worry about just yet, lass,’ Matt assured her. ‘Something for when we’ve got plenty of proof about what the government is up to.’ Cat’s mind cast back to Harry saying they would need to destroy the building once they were done gathering evidence, and it clicked; they were explosives. She hadn’t expected them to have so many.

  ‘We won’t need one for East Gate, will we?’ she queried, dreading the kind of commotion blowing up the gate would cause.

  ‘No, no, not at all. We went to check it while you were out in Danley, and it’s well and truly done in,’ Ben assured, scratching at the scar on his cheek.

  ‘Looks like some brave sod took a sledgehammer to it,’ Matt mused. ‘Makes it much easier for us, I have to say.’

  They were interrupted by Harry’s voice crackling over the loudspeaker.

  ‘Meeting in the galley, lads and lass. We need to figure out a plan of action for tomorrow. Also, dinner is up,’ he added.

  ‘Fantastic, I’m starved!’ Matt exclaimed, and Ben snorted, helping his taller friend to his feet.

  ‘You’re always starved.’

  As they walked towards the engine-room door, the side door opened and Fox emerged, purple staining his fingers and jaw, the telltale shimmering of violet tyrium dust in his hair. He nodded to them in greeting, wiping at a streak of tyrium residue on his chin.

  ‘What do you get up to in there?’ Cat queried.

  ‘Lots of things,’ he replied evasively. ‘Tinkering, mostly. Keeping an eye on the secondary propeller rotors, experimenting with a few bits and bobs.’

  ‘Fox and I should go and wash up,’ Matt said, cutting in before Cat could demand a better answer. Ben and Cat carried on to the galley. When they entered, a ture
en of stew sat on one end of the table, next to a plate of crusty bread and six bowls – the rest of the table was taken up by Harry’s blueprints. His head was bent low, and he was alternating between marking things on the blueprints and scribbling things down in his notebook.

  ‘Matt and Fox are just cleaning themselves up,’ Ben told Alice, dropping down on to the bench. ‘How’s it looking?’

  Cat settled beside Harry, kneeling on the bench to look at the blueprints. They’d changed a lot since she’d looked at them the day before; there were several rooms with pencil crosses through them, or little notes in messy handwriting she couldn’t read. East Gate was circled, and a thick black ink line led from there to a door on the side of the main compound building.

  ‘Pretty good. We’ve ruled out a fair number of the rooms on the top two floors as the more public offices, so they’re off the list – it’s far too dangerous. They won’t likely be hiding anything there anyway.’ Harry gestured with a wave towards several pages of folded blue paper that Cat assumed were the two higher floors. She knew those floors well, and Harry was right; they were busy, and not likely to be of use. ‘Any lower, however, is a bit more difficult. I’ve heard a little bit about these, but Cat was never allowed in. If the government is hiding anything, it’ll be there.’

  She frowned, leaning over to take the pencil from Harry, trying to visualise things.

  ‘These two are out,’ she murmured, crossing through two rooms. ‘They’re the stairwells down from the upper level, if I remember correctly. And all these over here are far too close to North Gate to risk investigating – they’ll be full of people.’

  Fox and Matt entered, and Alice started ladling thick stew into the bowls.

  ‘Put those away would you, love? At least while you’re eating,’ she said to her husband, who nodded, folding the blueprints away.

  Alice slid the plate of bread into the centre of the table, and Fox, sitting down next to Cat, reached past her unceremoniously, grabbing the nearest hunk of bread. Cat shot him a look, which was ignored, and she sighed, reaching for her own bread.

  ‘So how are we doing this, then?’ she asked, swallowing a mouthful of delicious hot stew.

  ‘Explosive canisters are sorted,’ Ben piped up, his grin barely restrained at the thought of being allowed to cause large explosions. ‘We’ll take a look at the blueprints in a bit, figure out where to put the canisters to cause maximum damage.’

  ‘Could you save the talk of explosives until after we’ve eaten, please?’ Alice sighed, causing Cat, Fox and Matt to snigger in unison.

  ‘What happens if we get caught?’ Cat asked. This was all suddenly becoming very real. Matt paused, looking at her as if he hadn’t even contemplated the prospect.

  ‘We die,’ Fox said simply.

  Alice gasped, looking at him aghast.

  ‘William!’ she exclaimed. ‘There’s no need for that!’

  ‘What? I’m only being honest. If we get caught, do you really think they’ll let us trot home after a slap on the wrist? They’ve killed people for less,’ Fox pointed out bluntly.

  Cat winced; he had a point.

  ‘He’s right, love,’ Harry piped up reluctantly, patting her hand. ‘It’s a risky business. But we have a chance to try and we’ll keep our wits about us. Would you really want to leave things as they are? There’ll be no sprogs left within a decade if we do.’

  Alice’s expression was unreadable, and she tugged at a stray curl that had come loose from her bun, before eventually nodding.

  ‘I … I suppose you’re right,’ she admitted with a sigh. ‘I just don’t like the thought of everything going so wrong.’

  Harry wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to his side. Cat bit her lip, wishing she hadn’t brought up the subject, and nearly fell off the bench in shock when fingers brushed the back of her hand. Looking down at her lap, she followed the arm up to Fox’s face. He was determinedly staring into his stew, even as his hand closed around hers, squeezing it gently in reassurance. The hand left almost as suddenly as it had arrived, and her eyes stayed fixed on Fox’s face for a long moment, waiting for him to turn and look at her. Eventually, he did, and their eyes met; his surprised and guilty, hers simply confused.

  They were all silent and contemplative as they ate. When the bowls and plates were cleared away, Harry spread out the blueprints once more.

  Matt and Ben had their heads together as their eyes scoured the paper, Ben marking points with little crosses. They passed the pencil between them without any words, working as one person rather than two.

  ‘There,’ they murmured in unison, not seeming to realise they had done so.

  ‘That should wipe out the majority of the building with only nine canisters. I can’t say for sure. I don’t know how deep it goes down. If we’re sending someone in, it might be best to have them plant a few more on the inside, just to be safe,’ Ben said.

  Matt slipped the pencil from his friend’s fingers, circling a small outbuilding on the map, which had a cross drawn against one wall.

  ‘That is the newscast centre. That’s where we can contact the foreign authorities, so we’ll need to get in there before we send it up in flames. Fox, we’ll need your hacking skills for that.’

  ‘Doable,’ Fox assured them. ‘If it’s anything like East Gate, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes. Ten if I’m having a particularly difficult day.’

  Cat half smiled, knowing that Fox could quite possibly hack whatever locks they had in a matter of seconds, let alone minutes.

  ‘Not just the foreign authorities,’ she cut in quickly. Her brain was racing. ‘If there were a way to film whatever was going on inside the compound … we could broadcast it to the entire country, if we kept the government out of the loop. Maybe the whole world. Anglya, Siberene, Erova, Mericus, Dalivia, Kasem, they all need to know. The last two might not be able to help, but … Father told me once that when Anglya ruled the six kingdoms, the newscasts shown here were broadcast across the entire world, with constant stationary skyships acting as relay towers. I don’t think those skyships were ever moved, even after the war began. Fox, how hard would it be to hijack the signal and take advantage of those?’

  Despite Matt being the engineer, she knew Fox was the real mechanical genius on this ship. She’d seen him fashion a working miniature skyship out of a few scraps of metal and a half-melted gear plate.

  His blue eyes narrowed in thought, and Cat could practically hear his brain whirring.

  ‘Presuming they’re arrogant prats who assume that no one could ever hack their locks, once we get in it should be wide open. Then it’s just a matter of dismantling whatever protections they’ve set up against broadcasting worldwide … I can handle it. Matt, you’ll need to help me, though,’ he admitted.

  Matt nodded.

  ‘Not a problem. And, Cat, don’t you worry about filming evidence. Fox here has it all covered, don’t you, Foxy?’ he said with a grin, clapping him on the shoulder.

  ‘Completely. And don’t call me Foxy,’ he snapped.

  ‘There’s just one question, then,’ Harry said, a grave look on his face as he eyed his crew carefully. ‘Which one of us is going in with Fox?’

  Cat bit her lip, steeling herself.

  ‘I am,’ she announced.

  ‘Absolutely not,’ Fox retorted, turning to look at her. ‘I – we’re not risking you in there. You’re too young.’

  Cat huffed.

  ‘Who else will likely recognise every man in that compound? You said it yourself – my knowledge of the government is disturbingly good. I can identify every person involved in whatever we find, and tell you who you’ll be wasting your time following. I might not have accessed all the levels, but I’ve been sneaking around that building since I was old enough to walk! I know what I’m doing. Face it, Fox, you need me. Besides, this was my idea, and I’m not going to sit on the sidelines like a good little girl and let you have all the fun.’

  ‘Fun?’
Fox scoffed, rolling his eyes. ‘You think risking our lives like this will be fun? Admittedly, you have inside knowledge, but Matt and I can manage just fine,’ he retorted.

  ‘Matt? Can you really see Matt managing to sneak around a top secret government compound? No offence, Matt, but you’re hardly built for stealth,’ Cat added with an apologetic glance.

  Matt shrugged, smiling ruefully.

  ‘She has a point,’ he said to Fox, whose scowl deepened. ‘Admit it, Fox, if she was a boy, you’d let her go. She knows what she’s doing, and she’s a darn sight better at going unnoticed than I would be. Stop being so bloody overprotective and give the girl a chance.’

  ‘I won’t be responsible for her,’ Fox argued.

  ‘I’ll be responsible for myself, thanks,’ she snapped. ‘So that’s it, – me and Fox.’

  ‘I’d better go and prepare, then,’ Fox declared, getting up.

  Cat looked at him inquisitively.

  ‘Prepare what?’ she queried, and he stared at her for a long moment before sighing.

  ‘Come on,’ he muttered, gesturing for her to follow.

  She grinned, bouncing up from her seat and following Fox out into the corridor. Her eyebrows rose when they walked past his bedroom door.

  ‘Do I finally get to see what’s in this mysterious room of yours?’ she asked, as they reached the manhole. He shrugged, dropping down without using the ladder. Huffing in frustration, she jumped down behind him.

  Fox pulled open the engine-room door and turned left. Cat couldn’t help but grin as he pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the mystery door.

  He slipped inside and she followed tentatively. It was dark, with two low gas lamps in the furthest corners, a long workbench between them. Almost every inch of wall space was either covered by shelves, or had papers pinned up, all with drawings and blueprints on them. The shelves were full of boxes, and on the workbench sat a half-finished piece of machinery, while next to it a soldering iron leaned on its stand.

  ‘Impressive,’ Cat murmured, eyes wide. She yearned to study the schematics on the walls in more detail, but Fox was reaching up for a box on the highest shelf, his shirt riding up to expose a slim strip of pale flesh above the waistband of his trousers.