A City Called Smoke: The Territory 2 (8 page)

Squid turned and started walking toward the cluster of buildings on the other side of the road. He walked with determination, though exactly where he was going he wasn’t sure. Part of him knew he was overreacting but the other part, the much larger part and the part that was winning, didn’t care at all.

“Squid,” Lynn said again.

Squid looked back over his shoulder. He considering stopping but decided against it.

“It’s all right,” Squid heard Nim say. “Probably just needs to cool off for a bit.”

Squid walked down a narrow lane between the pub and the general store just wanting, at least for now, to get out of sight of Lynn and Nim. He didn’t want to face them. He was so angry. He could feel it bubbling up inside him. It made him feel sick. He was embarrassed by his outburst but most of all Squid didn’t want to face Lynn or Nim because he didn’t want them to see the tears that had started sliding down his face.

Wiping his eyes, Squid turned the corner and walked around the back of the general store. He stopped, sliding down a wooden wall next to an overfull bin of rotting fruit and vegetables. He wrapped his arms around his knees and lowered his head. The buzz of a hundred flies filled the air as they circled excitedly around the waste beside him. That’s what Squid felt like, discarded trash, and the large number of flies that moved over to investigate him seemed to agree. He sat there for some time before an unfamiliar voice spoke his name.

“Squid Blanchflower.”

Squid looked up. Two men stood in front of him. It was the short man in the round hat and the tall man in the leather vest he’d seen following them in Alice and then again through the slums. Squid had all but forgotten about them, but here they were again. They’d followed Squid and Lynn all the way out into the desert.

Squid stood and tried to run, forgetting his anger and wanting to hurry back to warn Lynn and Nim, but the tall man planted an open palm against his shoulder, pushing him back against the wall. He placed his other hand over Squid’s mouth, silencing him as he tried to call out. The man’s arms were thick and muscular; there was no way Squid could escape. The shorter man was carrying a small black case. He placed it on the ground at his feet.

“Uh-uh,” the shorter man said, pushing the front of his hat up slightly with one finger. “No need to attempt to flee, Master Blanchflower. My name is Mr. Stix. This is my associate, Mr. Stownes. We represent people who have concerns, and right at the moment, young Master Blanchflower, someone believes that
you
are a concern.”

Nim walked to where Lynn sat on the steps at the front of the Red Plains pub. The painted sign tacked above the door declared it “The Armless Ghoul.” This early in the morning the pub was closed, the door locked with a bolt and several heavy padlocks. Nim didn’t understand the Dwellers’ fascination with sitting inside a smoky room just to drink. But then, living in towns and destroying the country didn’t make sense to him either.

Lynn shuffled over to make room for him. The step wasn’t very large and he was forced to sit close to her. He didn’t mind, though. He liked the way their thighs rested against each other. It was a casual touch but he could tell they were both very aware of the contact, even through the fabric of their clothes. He saw color bloom in Lynn’s cheeks. Lynn looked at him and smiled. It was, at least in part, a forced smile, Nim could tell, exactly like the smile Nara would give when she was dwelling on something but didn’t want to seem distracted.

Lynn was like his sister in other ways, too. Obviously her fair skin and short blonde hair couldn’t have been more different from Nara’s dark skin and thick black hair, but there were aspects of her personality that were very familiar. She was loyal, he could tell that; she was amazingly loyal to Squid. Nim knew they had gone to battle against the ghouls together and maybe it was a result of that, but he found himself wondering where her fierce devotion to the boy came from. He wasn’t fast or strong, he didn’t know how to survive, he didn’t even know how to fulfil this quest he’d been given. He claimed he could help lead Nim to the Storm Man, but Nim suspected he didn’t really know any more about how to stop the ghouls than he did. At least Nim had set out to do this by choice. He was doing it for his people. He was doing it for Nara. Squid had just been dropped into it.

Nara had been less confrontational than Lynn. She would hold her tongue because that was what was expected by the elders of the mob, but Nim knew she had considered many things unfair. She may not have been as vocal with her opinions as Lynn, but Nara had possessed that same fiery passion, a burning desire for justice. Maybe it was this similarity that reminded him most of his lost sister, but in any case Nim felt very comfortable around Lynn. He enjoyed being with her.

“Are you okay?” Nim asked.

“Yeah,” Lynn said. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about Squid. That was so unlike him. He never goes off like that. That’s what I do.”

“He seems a bit crazy,” Nim said.

“What?” Lynn said. “No, it’s not that at all. I think he’s just … I don’t know.”

She obviously didn’t want to say it, but Nim was fairly certain they were both thinking the same thing. Squid was jealous. He didn’t like how much time Nim and Lynn were spending together and he felt threatened. He hadn’t exactly hidden his annoyance that they’d stayed up all night together. Nim wouldn’t bring it up, though. He wasn’t ready to ask whether Squid had a valid reason to be jealous.

Squid was probably right about it being his and Lynn’s fault that they got kicked off the bio-truck, but really, it wasn’t that big a deal – they could just sneak onto the next truck going east. Easy. No need to explode over it, no matter what other concerns Squid might have.

“I should really go and find him,” Lynn said. “Who knows what sort of trouble he could be getting himself into?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Nim said. He gently put his arm around her, patting her on the opposite shoulder. It felt awkward but at the same time he was fighting to keep his cool. “I’m more worried about you.”

He felt Lynn’s body stiffen under his touch but not, he suspected, in a bad way. This closeness caused an electric buzz to fill his whole body. There had been girls in the mob, of course, but fraternisation like this was expressly forbidden until adulthood. Lynn rested against him just the tiniest amount and goosebumps ran up his spine. She turned her face to look at him, meeting his gaze. Her eyes were so bright and clear, a green-blue that was so unlike the coloring of the people he had grown up around. He wondered what the mob would think if they saw this, him with a Dweller girl. They would not approve.

“Really, I’m fine,” Lynn said. “I promise.”

“So now we wait for another truck and do it my way,” Nim said, “sneak aboard?”

“I guess so.”

“And what about Squid?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, is he coming back?”

Lynn pulled away from Nim with a jerk and stared at him in shocked disbelief, letting her eyebrows furrow. “Of course he is,” she said. “Why would you think he wasn’t?”

Nim shrugged, pulling his arm away from where it had rested against her back. “I don’t know. He seemed pretty mad.”

“Of course he’s coming back,” Lynn said.

The goosebumps had faded from his skin, the butterflies had flown from his stomach. He hadn’t meant to upset her. He just wouldn’t have left Nara like that. He wasn’t sure Squid was the right person to be following into the east if he was simply going to run away from his problems.

“Last night you told me you didn’t even believe in his quest,” Nim said. “You said the prophecy probably wasn’t true and that Big Smoke might not even exist.”

“Yeah, well,” Lynn said, standing up. “I might have my doubts, but it’s no crazier than your ideas about the Storm Man and magic rain.”

Nim looked up at her. “Sorry.”

“Look,” she said, “Squid and I have been through too much to separate. We’re in this together.”

There was that loyalty again, a good trait, as long as she was bestowing it on the right person. As he looked up at her Nim caught sight of a shape in the sky. It was an airship, one of the Dwellers’ dirigibles, and it was heading toward them.

“What’s that?” Nim said, standing now and pointing. Lynn turned and followed his finger.

“It’s a dirigible,” she said, turning back to him, unconcerned.

“Yeah, I know that,” Nim said. “It’s coming this way, though.”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Lynn said. “It’s probably delivering supplies or something.”

“It’s coming fast,” Nim said, not taking his eyes off the airship. There was something he didn’t like about it. “And it’s flying very low.”

Lynn turned to regard the ship again. They both watched as it drew closer.

“Maybe we can sneak aboard a dirigible?” Nim said. “Probably that would get us east in no time.”

Lynn shook her head. “I don’t think so. It would be too hard to stay hidden. Plus, I’m not sure about flying on one of those things.”

“I’d like to try it,” Nim said. “See what it would be like to be a bird.”

“Or see what it’s like to hit the ground,” Lynn said.

The shape of the dirigible grew larger and clearer as it continued toward Red Plains at high speed.

“It’s not slowing down,” Lynn said.

As the airship approached it turned sharply to the right until it was full broadside to the town and traveling parallel to the main street. Nim saw a flag flapping from the rear of the vessel, a blood-red skull on a black background. Apparently Lynn had seen it too.

“Pirates,” she whispered.

And just as she finished speaking, as if wanting to confirm her suspicions, six loud booms filled the air as the dirigible fired cannons at the town. Lynn grabbed at Nim’s sleeve and pulled him down. Both of them hit the dusty ground as just above their heads the front window of the pub exploded inward, shattered by a cannonball. Up the street a hole was smashed through the wooden wall of a house, causing the ceiling to collapse forward, and further away again a large crater was blasted into the road, leaving a falling shower of clay and dust as the cannonball bounced before plowing into a heap of sacks filled with some sort of grain.

“Sin!” Lynn yelled. “God damn it!”

The sound of yelling was coming from the dirigible. It had slowed almost to a hover. Hooting, hollering and war cries filled the air as ropes dropped to the ground and pirates began to slide down.

Lynn pulled Nim to his feet. He’d heard about cannons before, but he’d never seen them in action. Why did Dwellers even need weapons like that? No good could come from those things.

“Let’s go,” Lynn said, “we’ve got to find Squid and get out of here.”

They took off down the lane between the pub and the general store as shouts began to spring up from the town around them.

The sound of the cannons still rang in Melbourne’s ears as he dropped the last few feet from the rope to the ground. Quickly getting his bearings, he drew his sword. It was an old thing, half-blunt and with awful balance, but at least they’d given him a sword this time.

He looked up to see Rabbit, the dirty, ponytailed pirate who had given him nothing but grief since he was first let out of his cage, coming over the side of the dirigible and beginning his descent. Rabbit scowled down at him, a look so full of hatred that Melbourne was forced to look away. Of all the crew Rabbit was the worst. He was the one Melbourne knew was furthest from being convinced of his intention to join them. Though most of the crew still referred to Melbourne as “Digger,” he knew that when Rabbit called him “Digger” he said it in a way that rhymed with “scumbag.” Melbourne had been careful to sleep as far from Rabbit as possible and, when he could manage it, not to sleep at all while Rabbit was awake.

Around him other pirates were already heading for the buildings of the town. Melbourne still found it hard to believe that the pirates had the audacity to attack a town of this size. But they needed to replenish their supplies of food and water, and it was quite understandable that the captain was confident of success. After the assault on
Ariel’s Pride
, Captain Pratt had continued to fly the
Blessed Mary
inland toward the center of the Territory, striking small outposts and transports more or less at will as they took full advantage of the destruction of the Diggers. This would be the third attack Melbourne had fought in as he continued to work his way toward being accepted as part of the crew. He felt like each day he got a little closer to this goal, that the pirates increasingly thought of him as a little less like a Digger and a little more like a pirate. It was as if, bit by bit, he was erasing his old life.

The one thing he really wished he could erase, though, was the killing of the deckhand from
Ariel’s Pride
. Each night since then Melbourne had seen the face of that young man in his dreams, seen the way he’d looked at him with pleading in his eyes and the way his face had changed when Melbourne had stabbed him in the throat with that serrated dagger.

The second attack had been two days ago. It had been a small outpost, a resupply point for travellers making their way east. The captain had brought the ship around in a similar way to now, firing on the settlement with a volley of cannon shots and then sending pirates down the ropes to plunder what they could. There had been very little resistance from the small population, and Melbourne was glad he’d had to do little other than fill a burlap sack with valuables from the few houses on either side of the street.

Glancing up, Melbourne saw that Rabbit had nearly reached the ground. Not wanting any sort of contact with him, he hurried away toward the town, scanning the main street for any local militia a larger center like this might have. Men in brown coveralls wielding ancient Leopald mechanical rifles or swords that looked more battered than Melbourne’s own began emerging from the bio-fuel plant. Melbourne made his way down the street toward a cluster of houses, the pub and the general store, a part of the town he hoped would be less well defended. The face of that deckhand from
Ariel’s Pride
flashed through his mind once again. It was his intention to avoid a repeat of that moment.

Melbourne saw pirates headed into the houses in front of him, kicking in the doors with gleeful violence. He chose to head for the general store. The captain had said they needed food and water, after all. He tried the front door. It was locked. He nudged the door with his shoulder but it wasn’t going to budge even under a solid kick. It must have been barred from the inside. Melbourne made his way down the narrow laneway beside the store, searching for another way in. He stopped as he reached the corner at the end of the building.

“No!” He heard a shout coming from in front of him, a girl’s voice. “Put me down!”

There was laughter. Melbourne peered around the corner to see one of the pirates holding a girl by the waist, lifting her off the ground. They were facing away from him but Melbourne could tell the pirate was Yokel, the tallest of the crew and a man with the intelligence of a cheese sandwich. He was laughing in his deep voice as he held the girl aloft. Melbourne could see the way she kicked her legs and thrashed her arms. She was putting up one hell of a fight. Eventually she landed a solid elbow on the pirate’s nose.

“You little –” Yokel started, but was cut off as the girl repeated the action, slamming her elbow into his face again. There was an audible crack as Yokel’s nose broke. Melbourne made to move forward, thinking that no matter how much he disliked the treatment this girl was receiving he should help Yokel, at least to keep up appearances. But when the pirate swung around Melbourne got a look at the girl’s face. He darted back around the corner, slamming against the wall of the store. Her hair was shorter and her face was dirty but he was sure it was her. He glanced back around the corner, trying not to be seen. Another pirate had arrived to help. It was Rabbit. The ponytailed menace punched the girl square in the cheek and her body stopped thrashing. As her head snapped to the side Melbourne saw that he had been right.

It was Lynnette.

Why was she out here? Why wasn’t she at home in Alice with their father? Melbourne felt paralysed. He knew he should do something. That was his sister. He couldn’t just stand by as these pirates did whatever they were about to do to her, but then again rushing out there and trying to save her was bound to get him killed, or at the very least expose him. Looking again, he saw that there was a boy with her, a Nomad. He was trying to tear Yokel’s arms open.

“Leave her alone, you bastard!” the boy shouted, but Rabbit grabbed him and tossed him to the side. The boy skidded across the dirt. Rabbit drew his sword and pointed it at the Nomad.

“Stay there unless you want more lines cut into your skin, you filth.”

Melbourne realised that he’d have to kill Yokel and Rabbit. Try and make it look like some of the townspeople had got the better of them. That was the only way.

Yokel began dragging Lynn’s limp body away. As Melbourne watched, trying to plan how he could get to Lynn, the back door of one of the houses burst open and a woman and two small children ran out, all dressed in the ragged clothes so common in the towns outside Alice. They were quickly followed by three pirates who watched them run, cackling loudly as they shouted insults.

Melbourne paused. There was no way he could get the better of Yokel and Rabbit without the other pirates seeing. He couldn’t do anything without getting killed or undermining all the work he’d done to infiltrate the crew. He was Melbourne Hermannsburg. He was the Academy’s greatest ever graduate. He had to survive, and because of that he did nothing but watch as Lynn was dragged around a corner and out of sight.