Gaia's Brood

by Nick Travers

  Chapter 46

  “Nina, wake up. The Shonti Bloom is coming back for us.” Izzy shakes me violently to wake me from my slumber. “We are saved.”

  I prize open my sleepy eyes. In the distance, a small spec is just visible. It’s an airship with a whale tail—instantly I am awake. My heart leaps, but then drops again just as fast. The Shonti is not alone.

  I can now make out three dots progressing towards us. Who are the Shonti’s companions?

  Why would Trent return and who is he bringing with him? Should we run, or wait? I guess running is not an option in the open desert and they will soon overhaul us if we head for the hills.

  We stir ourselves and wait, impatiently, for the Shonti to arrive and our fate to be decided. I keep fingering my pistol in its holster, itching to use it on Trent, but knowing I shouldn’t, and probably won’t. Information is our greatest need at the moment and a dead Trent can’t tell us anything. Besides, a Trent screaming for mercy and spilling out the answers to all my questions is not a bad image to hold on to while I wait.

  Eventually, the other dots resolve themselves into two shark tailed constable ships escorting the Shonti. Intent on blaming us for Felix’s murder, Trent has betrayed us to the constables.

  As the Shonti sinks to the ground, I can see Trent is not alone in the gondola: Borker and Jack McGraw, weapons drawn, are with him. I’d love to take on Borker, though, I’d probably lose, but the satisfaction value would be high. Instead, I reluctantly help secure the airship’s anchors and suppress my anger.

  “Once again, Nina Swift,” Jack McGraw states, “I am arresting you with the authority of New Frisco. Please drop your weapon.”

  Gingerly, with thumb and forefinger, I retract my pistol from its holster. I have no worries about Jack, but Borker is eyeballing me like a Hawk. I’m sure he would love to fill me with bullets from his own compression pistol. I toss my weapon into the space between us and raise my hands.

  By this time, the remaining airships have disgorged their occupants. Eight rifles are now trained on us. There is no hope of escape.

  Jack McGraw politely invites me to board my own ship. At the top of the gangplank, Borker stops each of us and performs a full body search.

  “She’s a slippery, trickster, Jack.” Borker sneers. “You can never be too careful with the likes of her.”

  How did the likes of me come to be in the grip of the likes of him?

  Waiting for us in the gondola is Trent. As soon as Borker finishes searching me, and before he has thought to grab me, I step forward and smack Trent across the face as hard as I can. “Bastard. You betrayed us.”

  Trent winces, but takes the blow in silence. Then I notice another constable is holding Trent at gun point.

  “As you can see,” Trent mumbles, rubbing his smarting cheek, “I’m also a captive.”

  “Good. You deserve it.” I cannot keep the vitriol out of my voice—why should I even try.

  Borker divides us up. “Put Swift and the traitor in the map room together—that should make for an interesting conversation. Isolate the others in their cabins,” McGraw orders. “I want guards on every door.”

  Trent and I watch each other warily as we are herded into the map room.

  As soon as the door closes behind us. I launch myself at him. “Why?” I scream. “Why abandon us? Why betray us?”

  With surprising speed and strength, Trent grabs my battering fists. “Sit down, Nina.”

  I don’t want to talk, I certainly don’t want to listen, and I’m not going to sit. I want to bash him as hard as I can. “You’re a “Daughter of Gaia, Trent. You killed Felix and put the blame on me. I befriended you and took you into my crew, and now I’m a wanted for murder. All because of you. And all the time you knew my mother wasn’t dead.”

  “No, not at all.”

  I still can’t contact Trent with my fists, but I keep trying. “You knew the journal was fake and would lead us to a set—up.” I indicate the crash site outside the gondola.

  “No, that’s not how it is. We have a lot to talk about, Nina. Sit down, please.”

  “All the trust I gave you. All the kindness I showed you.” I have no intention of listening to Trent. All I want is to vent my anger. “Over and over, I gave you the benefit of the doubt, and championed you against the wishes of my crew. I stood up for you when no one else did. And this is how you repay me?”

  I struggle to hit him again with whatever I can, but he’s too strong for me, I can’t even get a knee close. It’s like he’s anticipating my every punch and blocking it before I’ve thrown it. I’m wasting my energy, but I carry on anyway, because I have nothing else to hit out against.

  Eventually, exhausted, I slump heavily to the ground, supported only by the bulk of Leanne’s box. The movement dislodges the stupid wigs that the stupid stall-holder forced Izzy to buy at that stupid market. Angrily, I throw them at Trent. He catches them easily, laughs, and chucks them into a corner. This just infuriates me more. Fine, if I can’t hit him, I shall ignore him. I fold my arms across my chest and turn my back to him. Yeah, I probably pout too, and sulk.

  “You’re incredible, Nina.”

  “No, I’m not.” His attempt at flattery just makes me furious. Then I remember my resolve to ignore him and clamp my mouth shut.

  “I didn’t murder Felix and I’m not a Daughter of Gaia.”

  I remember the Terrorist on Newtonsteign and the look she gave Trent before she jumped through the window. Another jigsaw piece falls into place. “The Terrorist on Newtonsteign recognized you.”

  “We’ll come to that later.” I hear him shuffle awkwardly behind me. “Everything I’ve done was to protect you and your crew, Nina, even taking the Shonti. I know you won’t believe me, so I’m just going to talk. Please do me the courtesy of listening until I finish.”

  I give no response, and smile to myself, pleased with my stubbornness.

  “We suspect your mother is behind the Daughters of Gaia. We have done for some time. We have no way of proving it, of course, and have never found her hiding place, though we have searched for years. Then the Daughters pulled off an audacious coup and we had to act—they kidnapped the White Woman.”

  “Leanne.”

  “Yes, Leanne. They unhooked her from the machines that were keeping her alive, put her into a coffin, and made off with her. The Daughters had good intelligence. They switched Leanne into different boxes during their escape and must have stashed her somewhere where she could be embalmed, intending to come back later. All we recovered was a room full of dead bodies and two empty boxes. After that the trail went cold. Until you suddenly acquired an airship and announced to the world your intent to investigate your mother’s last journey. So we followed you.”

  “Who is, we?”

  “Microtough. I’m an agent, Nina. A Microtough spy.”