A Town Called Dust: The Territory 1 (27 page)

The High Priestess walked swiftly down a long corridor in the barracks of the Holy Order. Clergymen stepped aside to let her pass, bowing their heads as she continued on. She barely slowed her stride, not even acknowledging their existence. When she reached the office of Clergy-General Provost she turned the handle and entered without knocking.

“Your Holiness,” the clergy-general said, standing up from behind his desk. “I wasn’t expecting you. I thought we were due to meet tomorrow.”

“It is time, Provost,” the High Priestess said. “I am ordering you to begin the operation we have discussed. Send the Holy Order onto the streets and secure the city. The coup begins now.”

From the vantage point of her office window high in the cathedral, High Priestess Patricia watched the red cloaks of the Holy Order flood the streets. The citizens of Alice moved out of their way as quickly as they could, confused by the sudden show of force from the Church.

The clergymen would work their way through the entire city, leaving no one in doubt of their power now that the Diggers had been all but destroyed. They would post signs in shop windows and on every street corner outlining the Administrator’s betrayal in disobeying the word of the Ancestors and allowing the destruction of the Diggers. More importantly, the signs would declare the Church’s takeover of the government. The people of Alice would now live under the conditions the High Priestess had stipulated, a long list which included a nightly curfew, no gatherings in groups larger than six outside of normal employment, and the reassignment of all law enforcement and the rationing of food and supplies to the Holy Order. The High Priestess would have everything she needed to maintain control as she wrestled power away from the Administrator, allowing her, finally, to set about removing the impure from the world as God had intended with the Reckoning.

She turned away from the window and returned to her desk. There was much to prepare for and the coming days would be among the most difficult. She knew that despite his hopeless position the Administrator would not relinquish his power easily. The Holy Order should already be on their way to arrest him, but there would be those loyal to the government who would no doubt cause problems. Still, in that moment she wanted to finish her study of the Book of the Word. In particular she was trying to piece together everything she could about the boy Squid.

The High Priestess flicked a switch and rotated a small handle on the base of her desk-mounted gas lamp. A faint clicking started inside as the handle rhythmically lit the starting spark and a moment later the gas lamp flared to life. The High Priestess flicked through the Book of the Word with a vigor she rarely used on the fragile pages. When she found the passage of text she was searching for she stopped and read. She knew the faded words of this book almost by heart but until now she had never made this link. This obscure passage was about the boy, it had to be. She looked up, tapping her fingers on the text.

“
The small one holds the key to unlocking hope
,” she said to the empty room. “What key?”

A City Called Smoke
by Justin Woolley

The battle was only the beginning; the real danger is beyond the fence ...

The Diggers have been destroyed, a horde of ghouls is moving inland and the High Priestess has seized control of the Central Territory. Together with Nim, a Nomad boy seeking vengeance against the ghouls, Squid and Lynn begin their long journey toward the city of Big Smoke, a city that may not even exist.

Pursued by forces that wish to see them fail, facing threats on all sides and conflict from within, Squid, Lynn and Nim search for a weapon against the ghouls. It is a search that will lead them into forbidden lands where long-held beliefs about their world are tested and Squid may finally unravel the truth of his identity.

But even if they survive their journey, the teenagers on whom the fate of the Territory now rests have no idea what dangers await them beyond the fence.

For more information, please visit 
http://www.momentumbooks.com.au/books/a-city-called-smoke-the-territory-2/

Firstly to Holly, my wonderful wife, for the patience it takes to be married to someone who spends a lot of time with imaginary people running around inside his head. Thank you for all your love and support as I chased my dream.

To Mum and Dad thank you too for your love and support over the years and for all you did to foster my creativity while I “grew up.”

To Sianon (my biggest fan), Gary, Becc, Ella and Seb for reading various early drafts of this book and for your feedback that helped me make it better.

To my agent Ineke for our fortuitous meeting on a convention floor, you have all my gratitude for helping me achieve my dream of being a published novelist.

My thanks to the team at Momentum, Joel for enjoying the story of Squid and Lynn enough to want to publish it, for seeing its potential and for your help, support and guidance, Tara for guiding me through the editing process and answering all my questions, Brianne for your wonderful edit that made the book so many times better, and Patrick for leading me through the daunting world of marketing. I am so thankful that you guys were the team behind this book.

Finally to everyone who has inspired and encouraged me throughout the years whether you know you have or not. To authors I have read and met and the stories you have crafted that have made me want to make writing a part of my life. I am indebted to you. 

Justin Woolley has been writing stories since he could first scrawl with a crayon. When he was six years old he wrote his first book, a 300-word pirate epic in unreadable handwriting called “The Ghost Ship”. He promptly declared that he was now an author and didn’t need to go to school. Despite being informed that this was, in fact, not the case, he continued to make things up and write them down.

Today he is the author of several published short stories and has a number of graphic novels in development.
A Town Called Dust
is Justin’s debut novel.

In his other life Justin has been an engineer, a teacher, and at one stage even a magician. His handwriting has not improved.