City of Burning Shadows (Apocrypha: The Dying World) (10 page)

My stomach lurched. I wasn’t ready for that. “Since when?”

She kept her eyes on the screen, wouldn’t look at me. “Five years.” Her lips tightened and twisted. “He was a priest.” Her eyes flickered to meet mine, acknowledging the irony. “Jansyn’s, of course. But he left during an administration change. He didn’t care for the new Favored Son.”

“Before the Abandon.”

She nodded. “We both came to the company at the same time. Desavris had attempted a takeover of Arisia. I uncovered their maneuvers and obstructed their efforts. So they hired me. As we were both newcomers, it made sense to pool our resources, present a united political front, and establish the sort of personal stability that reflects well on the company.”

Of course, the company. “First in your thoughts, last in your thoughts, always in your thoughts.” Words I’d heard her say so often.

“Yes. You understand.”

I had understood. That loyalty, I’d found it beautiful. Even when it had taken her away from me. “So what about him?”

Once more, she touched the screen, then balled her fingers into a fist and dropped her hand to her lap. “We’ve both done well here. I’m director of security now, and Eddis is project manager of what may be the most important research Desavris has ever done. And while one can never be certain, our best intelligence reports that none of our competitors are anywhere close. This technology is revolutionary—critical not only to Miroc’s future, but the world’s.”

She hesitated. The next words she spoke were slow and deliberate. “We have a chance to save Miroc. The research is solid. Eddis believes we can bring water back to the city.”

I jerked forward in my seat. I couldn’t help myself. “How?”

Seana shook her head and leaned back in her chair. “I don’t understand the technology well enough to explain it. It ties in to the space program we started after the Abandon—after Ouliria wasn’t around anymore to knock things out of the sky. We have satellites. A prototype in the air, as of two weeks ago. It should have worked. It should have brought rain. It didn’t.”

Rain to Miroc. Spark’s technology. And Seana’s company was the one that stole it. So much for calm and comfortable. “I don’t see what I have to do with this.” Was I speaking too loud? Too fast? I had to breathe, to relax again, or Seana—who knew me every bit as well as I knew her—would know something was wrong.

Seana frowned, with that little line between her eyebrows that had always meant I was missing something she thought obvious. “The technology should have worked. We’re not making guesses and throwing them up into the sky. We know exactly what should happen and what shouldn’t. This was—there have been problems.”

I stared at the video feed of the lab, tried to look intent on the men and women in pristine white suits sitting at pristine gray desks, hard at work on the computers before them. “What sorts of problems are we talking about?”

“Minor accidents. Failures in models that had previously worked. Those were the most obvious issues.”

I risked a question. “When did this start?”

“About a month ago.”

About the same time Spark took her plans to the city council. But what did that mean? What could it mean? Could another company’s spies have learned about it then? “Could it be sabotage?” I wondered aloud.

“Ash.” Seana’s sharp voice forced me to look at her. “Focus, please.” She changed the camera angle so it no longer pointed at Eddis. “Sabotage is not a casual word. The security on this project is immense, and I’ve gone over every detail. There’s not a single hole. Unless….”

I held my breath. If she knew about Spark and Copper—Copper had already shown the ability to poke holes in Jansynian security. If Seana was suspicious…

She finished her sentence. “Unless we are betrayed from the inside.”

And I could breathe again. “Inside? You think one of your own people?”

Seana rested her hands on the desk. Her fingers laced together. It wasn’t like her knuckles could get any whiter, but I could see her fingertips digging into the back of her hands. I’d never seen her this distraught. “It is impossible to believe. We are Desavris. But I believe the data has been altered. Is being altered. Only a few have that level of access.”

“And one of those people is your husband.” Seana looked down and away and I revised my statement. “Not just one of—you think he’s the one.”

“I cannot find any evidence that Eddis is involved in this disruption, but I am aware my judgment may be compromised.”

She took a deep breath. “If he’s betrayed Desavris—if I misjudged the character of my husband so fundamentally—then I don’t deserve my position. I wouldn’t deserve any position here.”

I began to understand. “But you just said, you married him when you were both new here. You hardly knew each other. Maybe some other company made an offer—or a threat—I don’t know, he might have reasons—”

She cut me off with a wave of her hand. “No. That isn’t how we do things. We aren’t savages.” And by savages, she meant humans. “First, last, and always, Ash. If Eddis were to betray that trust—for him to turn against his family—no other company would pay for information obtained in such a fashion. He’d never work again. He’d be throwing away his future. It would be psychosis. For me not to have seen it….”

“Okay,” I said. I couldn’t take the pain in her voice. So despite the fact I still had no idea what I was agreeing to, I said, “I’ll help.”
 

She reached into a drawer and retrieved a sleek, black data stick. She slid it across the desk and I slapped my hand down to catch it. “What you have there are all the records and files associated with this project. Logs, technical files, communications, video surveillance—everything. I shouldn’t have to tell you how important it is that information never leave your person.”

I turned the stick over between my fingers. What would this data stick be worth to Copper, to Spark? And Seana trusted me with it. “You think something in here’s been messed with?”

“I’ve run every test, used every measure at my disposal. And believe me, Ash, Desavris wouldn’t be in the position it holds if we didn’t use the best security algorithms that exist. If anything on that stick has been doctored, they didn’t leave a pixel—not even an electron out of place.”

Now I understood. “You want me to use magic.” I closed my hand around the data stick, felt its smooth weight against my palm. I couldn’t deny the thrill I got at the idea. All this time lately being a mediocre secretary and a reluctant investigator—it would be nice to do something I was good at. Something I could sink my brain into.

And there were other reasons to help. “You’re going to owe me.”

She was all business again. “Yes, of course. The message you sent. A friend who needed help? What was it you needed?”

I squeezed the data stick. “We can talk about it after I’m done.” Whatever I found, I hoped it would be enough leverage to buy off the assassins chasing Spark. And maybe even get Seana’s help tracking down any plots against Miroc. The trick, of course, would be finding a way to ask Seana for that without her thinking I’d betrayed her.

That was going to be the trick with everyone.

#

Kaifail stands at the center of the Thirteen. The gods to his right live at odds with the gods to his left. Conflict in the heavens spills down to the world and we, their children, are driven to walk in our parents’ footsteps. Giants and lizards make war when their father-gods argue. Birds hunt boneheads. It’s not as though our world was at peace before the Abandon.

As Kaifail served as mediator for the rest of the Thirteen, so he taught his priests to do the same. Another Bright God specialty, of course, but even we priests of the Dark God who spent most of our days lurking in libraries and arcane laboratories received some amount of training. To the outside world, a priest of Kaifail was a priest of Kaifail and it wouldn’t do to embarrass the church if someone came to us in need.

Today I was the person in need. If Micah told Copper what he’d seen—and I had to assume he would—she wasn’t going to take it well. It wasn’t like I could tell her the truth. If Copper knew I was now working for Seana, that Seana trusted me enough to simply hand me a copy of the information that had put Spark’s life at so much jeopardy, what would she think? What could she think?

Seana’s guards escorted me back to the base of the lift and asked if I needed them to take me anywhere. They didn’t question when I said I would walk. “Talk to the officer at the gate,” one of them said. “You’ll need a security badge for when you return.”

The checkpoint agent expected me. She invited me inside her cramped booth filled with viewscreens and computers. I stood in the corner under the uncomfortable scrutiny of guards watching through the windows. “The director had a sample of your DNA to provide,” she said without inflection. A printer next to her came to life and spit out a thumbprint-sized disc. On one side, tiny metal dots connected to inner circuitry I could just make out through the semi-transparent plastic.

“Wear this against your skin,” was the only instruction she offered as she handed the disc to me.
 

When my fingertip touched the metal side, the disc lit up and then went dark. It stuck to the end of my finger; I had to pry it off. “Thanks.” I dropped it into a small pocket inside my shirt. No way was I wearing this thing to go meet with Copper.

Back out on the street, once I’d made it a couple blocks from the Jansynian compound, I ducked around to the shadowy side of a building and sat down against its wall. It wasn’t the best spot—the alley smelled of baking metal and I had to pull my hood up against blowing sand—but it was out of sight of the Crescent and that’s what mattered. I slid the data stick into the hidden pocket alongside the security disc. There they would both be safe from getting lost or stolen or accidentally discovered.
 

Just to be safe, I summoned the security pattern and worked the magic to make sure neither of Seana’s presents were broadcasting anything back to Desavris. Not only didn’t I want Seana’s people following me, but Copper seemed to have some way of picking out Jansynian spy devices, and wouldn’t that look suspicious if she found one on me? Both the data stick and security disc lay dormant. Good.

It felt like this morning had lasted a lifetime already, but when I checked the time, I was still on track for my meeting with Micah. Assuming he showed up at all. I hadn’t seen him on my trip back down the lift, so for all he knew, I was still a prisoner.

The warehouse was easy walking distance, even as the late-morning sun set the street temperatures to broil. I’ll admit I was distracted, my brain volleying back and forth between the magic Seana wanted and thoughts on Seana herself.
 

Stupid—I’d lived in Miroc all my life and I should have known better. Even in bright sunlight, even on an empty-looking street, I should have been paying attention to my surroundings.

I heard the click of the gun readying above my head. I squinted up to see Copper on the edge of a nearby roof, a serious-caliber weapon pointed in my direction. “Micah says I should hear what you have to say. Micah says I should trust you.”

Her arm straightened. “But given the state of things, if the Jansynians decided to let you live, I’m pretty sure that means I have to kill you.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Plans within Plans

I heard all three sounds at once. The scream, the screech, the explosive release of a three-burst round. I had trouble connecting those with the sight of a dark object streaking towards Copper from above, of Copper bringing the gun around, but not fast enough to stop Iris from ramming into her. Iris, shifting as she dove, from falcon to tiger. She landed atop Copper and knocked the gun away with one swat of a massive paw.
 

Another shift and Iris was Iris again, sitting with a knee on Copper’s chest. “Ash! Are you okay?”

I had to look at myself to be sure. I still stood. No blood I could see. “I think so.”

“Good. Now what the hell?” Iris stood and pulled Copper up with her. Twice the Fyean’s size, Iris had no trouble overpowering her.
 

“Don’t hurt her.” I spotted a fire escape I could use to get up there. “I can explain.”

“He betrayed us!” Copper struggled against Iris as I climbed. “The Jansynians let him go!”

Iris pulled Copper’s wrists behind her back, held her still. “What Jansynians?”

I pulled myself up over the edge of the roof. “They grabbed me in the tube station. Took me up to the Crescent. I spoke with
Director Seana Desavris
.”

Iris’s eyes widened and a wave of white rippled through her hair. She was as surprised to hear Seana’s name as I’d been to see her. “Listen to me, Copper.
Listen to me
. We have to talk to them. To protect your sister, we have to find out who’s after your sister, and this is the best way to do it. I swear, I didn’t tell her anything about you or Spark.”

Copper had stopped squirming. A cold look passed through her eyes, quickly hidden behind a considering squint. “You talked to Desavris,” she said carefully.

“They’re the ones who have Spark’s tech.” I kept my voice even, but unapologetic. “What I don’t know yet is if they’re the ones trying to kill you.”

Copper looked calmer now, but her eyes kept flicking over towards the gun that lay out of reach. I was glad Iris still had a grip on her. “What did they offer you? What’s the going rate on betrayal these days?”

“They didn’t offer me anything. Have you ever actually talked to a Jansynian? They’d never ask me to betray my employer, and wouldn’t want to work with me if I were the sort of person who would.”

“So they just brought you—a human—up into the Crescent, where nobody goes, all for a little chat? Forgive me if I find that hard to believe.”

She had a point, but it was the truth, so it was what I had to work with. “Remember what you said the very first time we met—that you were willing to work with us because of my past experience? This is why you came to us. Because I know about Jansynians. Because I
know
Jansynians.”

Outside of Copper’s view, Iris raised an eyebrow. And, okay, maybe I was stretching the narrative a little. Having contacts among the Jansynians was one thing. Getting invited into the Crescent…