“Jump!” he yelled. A grave yawned open in the ground just beyond the edge of the road and they were gone.
The grave closed over them and the darkness consumed her, penetrated her, broke her into component molecules and then broke each molecule into atoms. She floated in an airless, senseless void. Sabine could barely sense time, couldn’t even formulate thoughts. At some point her senses returned and she felt as if she’d slammed into a wall, chest first.
She opened her eyes to see a large room with off-white walls and plush, comfortable looking chairs. A number of disheveled individuals sat in them. Judging by the wings and battered finery, she’d have said they were fey—but in a sorry state. They shivered, they hugged themselves, and one did nothing but stare at the wall. They were clearly out of their element, and as she watched, two more appeared out of nowhere. Jonny wasn’t among them.
"Welcome to the airlock," an androgynous voice said.
“Thanks,” she muttered. The room wasn't huge, but the uniform color scheme meant she couldn't easily discern where the walls stood. She found herself disliking that. A lot.
"Hello?" she called out. With no answer forthcoming, she sat in a chair, and then a different voice floated from the ceiling.
"Welcome to Justice. May I have a moment of your time?"
Sabine looked up to see a flashing globe the size of a softball hovering above her. "Sure," she answered.
"Thank you.” The silver orb glimmered in a flashing pattern of colors which never played out twice in a row. "I have no record of your electromagnetic and astral identity, which is required for all visitors to the city. I have a few questions—"
"Who are you?" asked Sabine.
The ball flashed more brightly. "I am a node of Theopolis, the administrative megabrain," it said. "I process newcomers to the city.”
"How do I get out of here?"
The globe dimmed. "Do you wish to depart already?"
“No. I mean—I was with someone else. A friend. His name is Jonny Wonderful.”
“Just a moment.” The ball flashed more quickly and brightly. “Jonny Wonderful is currently in the Justice Terminal plaza.”
Sabine looked around her, beginning to understand. She was here. Jonny’s iron city. "This is just the vestibule for the real city, right?"
"Correct. May I ask some questions to properly record your arrival?"
Sabine nodded. "Sure, let's do the interview."
"Of course," Theopolis said. "What is your name?"
"Sabine Jade."
"Thank you, Sabine Jade. Please come this way." The globe floated to the opposite side of the room. It led her to a section of wall that became a darkened area roughly as tall and wide as she was. "Please stand still for a moment, Sabine. Be careful not to move, or you may disrupt the scanning process.”
Sabine followed the instructions, keeping her feet on the floor and her back straight. She felt a tickling inside her feet, which spread to her calves, knees, up her body until it reached the top of her head. Her entire form was alive with the weird sensation for almost a minute. It stopped all at once.
"Scan complete," said Theopolis. "I have assigned you a unique identification pattern for verification whenever you enter or leave the city."
She frowned and stepped away from the wall. "How do I use it?"
"It is an automatic response. If you are not cleared for city access, you will not be allowed admittance. If you attempt to force entry, the megabrain will alert the police and you will be detained."
"Sounds like the Dark Queen’s system," she grumbled.
"I do not understand that reference," said Theopolis. "The rule ensures maximum safety for all Justice visitors and residents." The voice paused a moment. "Do you wish entry to the city?"
"Can I leave whenever I want?"
"Of course. When you are ready to depart, simply alert the megabrain to your wish to leave."
"Then, sure, I want to enter. For a while."
"Enter at will, Sabine."
The wall glowed briefly, then cleaved, splitting into a dozen sections that slid away to show her a panorama of tall buildings. She felt her body being shoved out from the white room into a blizzard of activity. Cool air blew across her face and new smells and sounds crashed against her. When she glanced behind her, the airlock had disappeared entirely.
Sabine stared at her surroundings without seeing them, not understanding why she felt claustrophobic. The sense of being hemmed in was very powerful here. Finally she thought to look up and saw the city.
She would later learn exactly how Justice was laid out—a grid built around hexagons within concentric circles—but on first sight, her mouth dropped open and stayed like that for several minutes. Theopolis had released her into an open plaza, with fluted columns around the edges, and a path leading to an incredibly tall building that stood behind her. Tall buildings of chromed glass surrounded the plaza. A blue sky shimmered above her as a rainbow faintly passed overhead. A yellow-orange sun commanded the sky above. She didn’t recognize the architectural style—and in truth hadn’t known there was such as a thing as style when one created gargantuan structures. Softer, darker colors of grays, brown, greens, and tans surrounded her. A huge fountain bearing a statue of an angel with an upraised sword lay directly before her.
And the people that passed her defied logical description. Males, females, some with human features, some resembling animals such as birds, bats, foxes, or lizards, some she’d simply never imagined, walked past her. A few stared at her in return.
The air freaked her the most. It smelled clean and went down her throat smoothly, without burning, free of soot, smoke, or dirt. Only the infrequent smell of alien body odor found her nose. A strange sense of it lacking some background odor came to her, and it would be much later that she found she could identify it.
She could not smell the scent of fear surrounding her. The people here were not afraid of anything. It felt safe.
Finally, she saw Jonny’s familiar form rushing up to meet her. She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. “This is it!” she cried, wide-eyed with joy. “Isn’t it?”
His laughter rang in her ears like a sleigh bell. “Welcome to Justice, the city of iron and light!”
They left the plaza arm in arm. Behind them, a dozen more bedraggled visitors zipped into the city, while even more filled the Airlock.
“We have to tell him.”
Norma Phastlight, Chief Architect of Justice and daughter to its ruler, hunched over a wide glass table in her office within Cloudspire. Her catlike ears poked above her thick blonde hair. Her eyes were closed and her hands lay flat on the glass. Inside her head, numbers, equations, and schematics flashed more quickly than any human could hope to make sense of. She only heard Seow, Bat’s personal assistant, with a fraction of her attention. “Not until I have a fix for him to okay.”
Seow put his snout on her shoulder. Norma wasn’t tall, but the fox spirit stood a good deal shorter. Resting his chin on her shoulder forced her to look into his eyes. “If you don’t, then I will. It’s been three days. We need to address this problem before it becomes a real emergency.”
Norma nodded. He had that right. The Airlock was siphoning up every wandering soul within a hundred city diameters and gathering them like bundles of sticks of cordwood. Some were being released into the city but most weren’t coherent enough for that. Where the heck were they coming from? And why did they look like fae but register as humans on her instruments?
She straightened and opened her eyes, breaking the connection between herself and Theopolis. She needed time to assimilate what he’d imparted to her. “Give me an hour,” she said to the black fox. “One hour, just to get some air and clear my head. Then we’ll talk to my father together. All right?”
Seow narrowed his eyes. “Promise? You know I can find you. I have ways.”
“I know,” she said. “His office, one hour. Promise.”
They parted ways, Seow heading
upstairs to Bat’s office and Norma heading outside into the arcology. In a city filled with people to chat up, places to visit, and things to do, her options were limited by the time limit she’d given Seow. The Electric Banana was too far to walk, though she could have used a drink. The hospital was closer, but her sister, Celfy, wouldn’t be off shift for hours. The university food court was closer still, but she didn’t feel like dealing with the faculty or students right now.
The trouble with being Bat’s daughter, she thought angrily, was that everyone wanted to beg favors. Worse, she generally wanted to help out, but numbers were what they were and the cold math managed the workflow. It sucked being the city’s architect sometimes.
Screw it, she finally decided. The food court beckoned her with promises of a big bowl of ramen and a short beer. The walk down familiar streets lifted her spirits, got her thinking about the nature of the problem. The waves of new arrivals had a definite source, almost certainly nearby. Justice floated within a bubble of cyberspace, which had a way of intersecting other dimensions occupying the same space-time. So, what if—?
A shadow fell across her path as she rounded a corner. “Dear lady,” said a tall man in black armor, “a moment of your time, please.”
She struggled to keep the impatience from her voice and failed miserably. “Yes?”
“The most helpful soldiers at the city gate told me that you are the city’s designer. Is that right?”
She sighed. Couldn’t this joker see she was busy? “Look—sir—I’m on my way to lunch. If you need something, just ask—”
He waved his finger in an intricate pattern and suddenly Norma could barely breathe, much less speak. “I am no mere knight. I am Captain Jared Winhome of the Dark Queen’s Guard. I require your services. Now.”
Norma fought his influence, but her expertise lay in equipment, not magic. She managed to wiggle her fingers just so and released a cloud of digital messengers into the plaza. They accessed the city’s network and disappeared from view. They’d get to the police eventually but she still had to deal with this intruder.
“What do you want?” she croaked.
Winhome bent his face down to hers and whispered in her ear, “I want to know why you intend to attack us.” His eyes wandered upwards to settle on the bulk of Cloudspire. “The tall building. That’s the fortress where your father-king holds court, isn’t it? Let us approach. But slowly. No need to rush.”
Still barely able to breathe, she followed his lead, wondering how long it would take for Seow to make good on his threat to locate her if she were late. Well, she thought, this Winhome character wants to see the boss. She might as well introduce him.
“You know,” Sabine told Jonny, “When you said that fae never visit the city, I think you got it wrong. There are plenty of fae around. They don’t look happy, but they are here.”
Jonny twirled his ramen noodles with a pair of lacquered wooden chopsticks as if he’d been using them for decades. For all Sabine knew, he had been. Whatever Jonny was, he was certainly no stranger to Justice.
“It is unusual. The treaty allows us access, but we prefer the forest.”
They noticed the stares from passersby, even here in the university food court. Jonny’s whirlwind tour had taken them all over the city, but Sabine had insisted on seeing the school grounds. She’d have killed to go to a place like this in real life.
“I heard a few kids talking about the old days,” Sabine said as she slurped her own ramen. “Something about the students burning the mayor in effigy. What happened?”
“The Chief of Medicine at the hospital complained the students weren’t getting proper nutrition. Bat forbade the food carts from the school grounds during classroom hours. The vendors and the students took it badly.”
“That must have been incredible,” she said. “Kids who try that where I come from get hosed by cops and stuck in jail. Or sent to a mental ward and dosed until they can’t remember their names.”
“It was a long time ago. Before the arrival of Shadow Wings, and Dark Angels, and constant warfare. The fighting hardened the youngsters somewhat. Perhaps too much.”
Sabine nodded as she remembered the corpse horde’s attack. There were limits to paradise everywhere, she thought. The people they’d spoken to seemed friendly enough. Not very touchy-feely, maybe, but neither was Crestview. She swilled some more noodles, then looked up and nearly choked on her lunch. A figure in black armor was gripping a blonde girl by the shoulder, bending down to whisper in her ear—and the girl was obviously not enjoying his attention.
“Winhome,” Sabine sputtered. “Behind you.”
“That he is,” Jonny agreed. “Far behind us. We are beyond his power.”
She shook her head, still coughing. “No, you goof, he’s here. Behind you.”
He managed to look both alarmed and amazed. “I beg your pardon?”
“Don’t look! Jeez. He’s pissed off about something—probably us—and he’s threatening a student.” She risked another look. “They’re heading into the giant building.”
“That cannot be good.” Jonny’s face hardened. “We must follow. Can you be discreet?”
“Why can’t we just—”
“A violent outburst in public will only bring the police to us. That serves no one. At least, not yet. Come along.”
“I must say, this place is a marvel. How did you build it all?” Winhome asked.
Norma sensed her messengers flying through the cables and conduits that lined the corridors of the massive building. It would take time for a chance of escape to present itself, and on other floors, alarms were already flashing and beeping for attention. They’d get to her. They’d get him. She needed to stall a bit more.
“Know anything about resequencing photons on a massively parallel scale?” she whispered. “Or building logarithmically resistive tactile surfaces?”
“Do not beguile me with strong words, child,” Winhome ordered. “I am in a poor humor.”
“That makes two of us. Let’s avoid the plaza. This way.”
She led him through corridors and meeting halls, past guard posts where she flicked messages on screens. The Cloudspire PD was good; they stayed their hand and watched for opportunities to act while keeping civilians away. No one rushed in with guns blazing. Bat did not accept collateral damage in his city. When a shout erupted behind them, Winhome merely tightened his grip and swung them both around to show Norma an even stranger sight.
A man and a woman stood before them, looking more like tourists from the far realms of fantasy than anything Norma was used to seeing. The man stood there with sword drawn and green armor around him, while the woman wore a multi-hued gown and carried a long staff, a blazing red orb at its tip.
“Jared Winhome,” the man shouted, “cease and desist from this foul action!”
Winhome straightened, drawing his own sword. “Stand down, knave! Clearly these city dwellers intend invasion of our lands. I will have my answers from this girl’s sire.”
Jonny Wonderful shook his head. “Not true, Captain. What you are doing will foment war, nothing less.”
“We are done here.” Winhome dragged Norma back towards the end of the corridor, his eyes fixed on Jonny, when a fiery wave from Sabine’s staff erupted from the ground beneath him, throwing him and his captive to the ground.
Norma felt the pressure on her windpipe disappear and took her shot. She crawled away as he released her, bounced to her feet, and ran to the end of the hallway. She slammed her hand against a small glass plate set in the wall and jumped out of the way as a light-wall sprung into being inches from her.
More appeared on three sides of the trio and slid together, hemming them in, nearly pressing them against each other. She took a few deep breaths, hands on her knees as she settled herself. The woman—the girl, actually, Norma saw—seemed unhappy but the two men were visibly freaking out at their sudden and unexpected prison.
Within moments, a troop of blue-uniformed sol
diers appeared, weapons holstered. She waved them over. “Tall one with the fancy chest plate wants to see the mayor. I think we should oblige. “
Bat’s office was in the upper reaches of Cloudspire; even with an express elevator, it took time to get there. They crossed a set of double doors to see a strange trio at the room’s center. A knight wearing brightly polished armor stood to one side, while a tall, regal woman wearing shimmering robes stood to the left. In between them stood a creature the visitors could not have imagined. A tall, purple, demonic entity with barbed membranous wings, and garbed in a purple suit with matching shoes raised his arms in welcome. A third eye glowed rhythmically in the center of his forehead.
Bat.
“The Cothram Fae,” Bat said, approaching them as he spoke,“ have been our friends for nearly two decades now. They were instrumental in helping my troops and citizens repel the invading Shadows and Dark Angels. It was an honor to grant them their own lands on our border. They have kept to the treaty in word and deed.” He stopped a few feet from Winhome. “So who, exactly, are you?”
“They’re citizens of Feyland.” The knight approached, removing his helmet to reveal a boy with green eyes, and hair that fell into his face. “I’m here to take them back.”
Winhome glowered. “Ah. Tamlin. Why is it that you are the cause of so much of my queen’s trouble among mortals?”
Tam clipped the helmet to his belt. “Captain Winhome,” he said, “you’re in over your head here. It’s a very strange situation.”
“You two know each other,” Bat observed. “That’s wonderful. Speaking of which, Jonny Wonderful, may I present—”
“Aoife, the Queen of the Cothram Forest,” Jonny recited as he bent his knee in supplication. “My queen, I—”
“Stand.”
Jonny obeyed.
“’Jonny Wonderful’?” Aoife asked. “You have a wry humor. When last we spoke many years ago, you went by the name J’orham Winterstead.”
“That is true, my queen,” Jonny stammered. “I would like to explain—”
“Quit your vapid utterance, rogue,” Winhome ordered, drawing scowls from the others. “Mayor Bat,” he spat, “I demand the immediate release of myself and this prisoner.” He nodded toward Sabine.
Chronicle Worlds: Feyland Page 14
