Angel Stations (47 page)

They were over the mountains now, the last of the peaks slipping away behind them. Only the Citadel now lay ahead. ‘So I guess if you’ve been here before, you know where to head for,’ said Elias.

‘I’m . . . not sure,’ she said. ‘I know where the main entrances are, but the whole thing is so vast. I—’ They both realized that the message light on the console was blinking. They looked at each other questioningly, then at the light again. As Elias reached out and touched it, a message appeared on a screen, followed by a set of coordinates.

It was apparently from Trencher.

Elias stared at the message, thunderstruck. Maybe it was from him. Maybe it wasn’t.

‘What are those coordinates?’ asked Kim, after a moment.

‘Give me a second and I’ll find out.’ He looked down. ‘Okay, straight ahead.’ Straight ahead? It could be a trap, he thought.

What the hell
, he figured.
If you’re going to go, you’re going to go
.

‘So, you think it’s really him?’ she asked. Elias had already redirected the shuttle, aiming for the coordinates listed. The craft tilted until pointing at the eastern rim of the Citadel.

‘Haven’t a clue. Let’s go find out.’

He’s looking forward to this
, she thought.
He doesn’t care if he gets killed or not
.

Curious, Kim touched the console to bring up magnified images of the precise section of the Citadel they were aiming for. A great maw of an entrance appeared above a tunnel, leading far underground. There was movement there.

‘Somebody’s home, all right,’ said Elias, intently watching the image. ‘Any exploration teams still meant to be down there?’

‘No, I don’t think so,’ said Kim. ‘I would think they’d all have been called back.’

‘I’d think so too, Kim. Do we have any weapons on board?’

‘Weapons?’ She stared at him.

‘I want to stay here and keep an eye on things. It’s pretty obvious our being here is no secret now, or we wouldn’t have been able to get our hands on this shuttle in the first place. The crew who tracked me down were well armed, but clearly not very experienced. That suggests people unused to combat situations, which gives me some advantage. But they might have kept other weapons too on board this shuttle.’

‘I’ve never used a gun before,’ she confessed.
Before I pointed one at you
, she silently added.

‘You seemed pretty enthusiastic a couple of days ago, but it probably won’t come to that. But it’s good to know we can defend ourselves, if it does come to that.’ His tone was calm and reassuring, which worried Kim.

Elias had already described to her how he had appropriated the shuttle. This alone brought up many unanswered questions for her, concerning the nature of the human beings who had found their way here so long ago.

She glanced back, through to the cargo bay. ‘You want me to look?’

He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘That would be useful, thanks.’

There were arms back there. Mainly standard projectile weapons with clips attached, plus some atmospheric shock guns, like the sonic slammers Kim had seen the bad guys using in interacs. Plenty of ammunition too – not enough for an army but maybe enough for a massacre.

She went back fore to give Elias the news. The Citadel filled the sky in front of him.

‘Right,’ said Elias. ‘Keep an eye on things here while I go take a look myself.’ She nodded, resting her fingertips on the back of the pilot’s seat, while the shuttle propelled itself towards the coordinates Elias had entered.

Everything had turned around so fast. Not so long ago, she’d have looked on those weapons as a way to overcome Elias. She wasn’t quite sure when she’d decided to throw her lot in with him, perhaps when Sam had spoken to her while she had been under the thrall of the Book. Hearing a noise behind her, she turned to see Roke still sitting quietly in the corner.

A pang of sympathy filled her. Despite the blank eyes, she imagined he felt lost, out of place. She got out the smartsheet and went over to the Kaspian. Explaining certain things wasn’t going to be easy, but he deserved to be allowed some idea of what was about to happen.

Twenty

Sam Roy

Things were going to move fast now, thought Sam. So many decisive moments in history were decided almost in the blink of an eye, with most people none the wiser. Because that’s what it sometimes came down to in the end: blood, and death, and pain – and possibly that great void he’d never yet been able to see beyond. Perhaps death was the only fitting reward he could hope for.

Sam and Ursu and Trencher had spent time going over what would happen when the moment came. The Facilitator was the key to everything: the only Facilitator which Ernst Vaughn had not prevented from reaching the Citadel, the place from which it originated.

The Citadel itself grew organically from the continental bedrock of Kasper. In external appearance it resembled a tree trunk severed close to the ground, with twisted roots reaching out to plunge into the ice and rock all around it. That geomorphic tangle gave them plenty of potential hiding places close to the spot where they had landed, near an abandoned base camp at the edge of the Citadel.

Unfortunately, Ernst Vaughn and whatever forces he’d been able to assemble would enjoy the same advantage. They were all now deep into that blank, empty void which none of them had been able to see beyond with all their precognitive powers. Sam could not even be sure Elias had received their message. Now he could only hope.

There were others there, barely a dozen, whom Matthew had trusted to side with them, and who had used the confusion of Trencher’s disappearance to slip away in another of the shuttles. All were young, all eager to rejoin the human race – to travel to a home-world they’d never known. Sam felt stronger and healthier than he could ever have believed. Though his body still bore the marks of years of abuse, if he only had his freedom for a few hours longer, it would have been worth it to feel so healthy again.

Sam knew that Ernst would be on his way here by now; there was only one place the last Facilitator could go. Stepping out of the shuttle, Sam watched all the young people embracing and chattering around him, clearly amazed that they had come this far and still survived. Some of them, he suspected, might well soon be dead.

He buttonholed Matthew. ‘You’re going to have to arm these people – are they ready for that?’

‘Of course.’ Matthew nodded. ‘I did everything you said. We’ve got weapons and supplies, although I’m not sure they—’

‘If we don’t pull this off, and the radiation does come, the Citadel should be able to shelter us for some weeks at least.’

‘It won’t come to that,’ said Matthew confidently, but Sam could see how pale and drawn he was. The youth seemed to have shrunk within the parka he wore.

‘Matthew. Something on your mind?’

‘He’s my father,’ Matthew said quietly, ‘and I just wish there was some way we could settle this differently. Make him see this isn’t right. Look, I know that seems—’

‘Your father’s been locked into what he believes for far too long for him now to accept anything else,’ said Sam. ‘I used to believe in the same things too. But I changed.’

Was it possible to avoid an armed contest? Sam hoped so, hoped there would be some way. It might be simple: they might just walk in, activate the shield, and that would be it. Or it might take a lot longer – and Ernst would do everything he could to stop them.

And then, so suddenly that it seemed wrong, it started. Sam felt almost betrayed, as if all this business were some kind of game with rules that had been broken. A shot rang out. People screamed, some yelled, most just ran for cover. Another shot.

Screw this, thought Sam, and walked out into the open, shielding his eyes against the harsh polar sun to try and locate where the shots were coming from. Somewhere higher up, he surmised. Somebody yelled at him to take cover, but he ignored them. He heard the distinct whine of a bullet ricocheting off stone.

Trencher came forward and pulled him to one side, joining several others crouching beneath a stone outcrop. Sam peered up, saw a distant figure retreating from a high vantage point where the ground rose to meet the nearest entrance into the Citadel. The shots ceased.

‘Well, that settles it,’ said Trencher. ‘Ernst isn’t in a mood for debate.’

‘A couple of us have gone off to try and flush them out,’ said a girl called Michelle. ‘But we’re going to have to keep our eyes open.’ She looked pale and shaken, as they all did. These kids had rarely come into contact with real violence before. Perhaps they felt betrayed, thought Sam, that one of their own people would shoot at them.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘We need to get moving. We have to get the Kaspian in there before Ernst gets his act together.’ Perhaps, he thought hopefully, Ernst was still on his way, having sent just a small advance contingent to guard the Citadel.

‘We might have to take some chances, you realize.’ Trencher was echoing Sam’s own thoughts. ‘If you don’t mind risking the golden calf, that is,’ he added. Sam knew he meant the Facilitator, and the Kaspian who had brought it.

‘We’ll take no more chances than we have to.’
I’ve learned so many secrets here
, thought Sam.
And now the Kaspian gets to find out too
.

Perhaps, he thought, it was best that the alien creature has no idea what he had in mind for it.

Kim

Kim watched as Elias brought the shuttle in for a final landing beside the Citadel. The whine of its engines dropped rapidly as the craft settled on a smooth patch of rock, near two other landed shuttles with people standing by them. People where people shouldn’t be, she reflected. Somehow she felt sure none of them had anything to do with the research station here.

‘Elias, do you know any of these people?’

He snapped out of his reverie. ‘No, I don’t. But I know Trencher’s here. I can feel it.’ He saw the anxious expression on her face. ‘They don’t mean us any harm, if that’s what you’re thinking, or they’d have started shooting by now.’ He moved towards the airlock door. ‘We need to get those guns ready now.’

Kim looked at him uncertainly. ‘You really think we’re going to need them?’

He shrugged. ‘Better safe than sorry.’

Elias

He saw Trencher standing there as soon as he disembarked. The man was looking a lot older than he remembered.

Trencher looked past Elias towards Kim and the alien emerging from the shuttle behind him. ‘There’s some things here I didn’t see in my mind,’ he commented to another old man with horrific scars criss-crossing his face, where visible under Arctic-style survival gear.

‘Trencher,’ said Elias, his expression volatile. ‘I . . .’ He choked, not sure what to say. Powerful emotions warred deep within him. ‘I came,’ he said at last.

‘You did good, Elias,’ Trencher smiled gently. ‘We’ve both come a long way from the streets of London. Now, do you understand what’s happening here?’

Elias felt uncertain. ‘Only what you told me before you . . . before you disappeared. I know that Ernst Vaughn brought you here,’ he said. ‘But I still don’t know why. And I don’t know who all these other people are.’

Trencher sighed. ‘Freeing me wasn’t the reason I wanted you to come after me. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be – where I should be.’

Elias shook his head, still confused. Trencher laid one hand gently on his arm. ‘Remember what I said, Elias, one of the last times we spoke? I wanted you to do just what you had to – what you would do anyway. Come with me. We’re both going to have a long, long talk.’

Sam Roy

Kim stood alongside the alien, Roke. Sam Roy saw her glance in his direction, her eyes suddenly growing wide in recognition.

‘You’re Sam,’ she said, approaching. ‘I – you don’t look the same.’

‘I’ve been feeling a bit better lately,’ he admitted with a smile. ‘I tend to heal very fast.’

‘So, it’s true? There’s something there inside the Citadel that can protect us?’

Sam nodded. ‘But we do have opponents. People who want to stop us. You should know that in advance.’

‘Yeah. I sort of got that impression already.’

He motioned to her to follow him, and to bring Roke with her. Its ear-jewels sparkled in the bright crisp air, most of its frame barely visible under a voluminous parka designed for the human frame. He’d healed so much, Sam realized, that Roke hadn’t recognized him.

Sam could see Trencher and Elias conversing off to one side. Ursu sat nearby, with the Facilitator, seemingly fascinated by this other Kaspian. Matthew was going amongst his people, huddled in tight little groups, explaining what was ahead of them, cajoling, encouraging.

It seemed to Sam that Matthew’s people might, for all their initial spirit, be wavering. Sam could see it in their eyes. They wanted their own future, but he suspected not all of them were prepared to pay the price that might be asked of them.

Elias

Trencher gathered them all together: Sam, Elias, Roke, Ursu and Kim.

‘Okay. So where do we head for when we actually get in there?’ asked Elias.

‘Inside the Citadel? Sam’s the one who knows it best, him and your friend Kim,’ said Trencher, looking over to where they stood beside each other. ‘I’m under the impression either one of them could find their way around in there blindfolded.’

He turned back to Elias. ‘But it’s dangerous, Elias. There are precise routes to follow. Space and time . . . they don’t operate the way they should, once you get in there.’

‘I only know parts of the Citadel,’ warned Kim.

‘But I know almost all of it well,’ said Sam. ‘It’s not going to be a problem.’

‘And then?’

‘We all foresee things, Elias – you, me, Sam, Ernst. It’s not completely accurate, it’s sometimes misleading, but most of the time it’s more than any of us can bear. You must know that by now.’ Elias nodded grimly. ‘We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen in there, but we do know what we have to do.’

Elias looked sharply at Sam. ‘Someone else arrived here with me and Kim, but he didn’t make it. He warned me about some kind of explosion that’s coming.’