The Severed Tower (12 page)

One of the walkers shot out a new mass of netting that wrapped around Holt. He moaned but didn’t awaken as it scooped him under its body.

The world rocked up and down as Zoey’s walker moved with the others and formed into a line. Laser light streamed from each of them, red and purple triangular beams lighting up the night and the endless length of dead, ruined vehicles.

Zoey followed the lasers into the distance … and gasped.

Things hovered in the air ahead of them, hundreds of them. They looked like perfect spheres of crackling energy. Some were absorbed into the old vehicles or buried in the ground, but most floated heavily in the air. If she watched them long enough, Zoey almost felt like she could see them moving, slowly drifting one way or another.

They were invisible, Zoey figured out, only appearing when the lasers touched them, and when they did, they flared to life in brilliant color. The walkers were using the beams to
find
them.

They were beautiful, but something about them was also menacing. She had little doubt that touching any one of them would be very bad. They must be more Anomalies, like the cubes back at the Crossroads, and the realization made her remember Echo. A chill went down her back.

The bold walker trumpeted again—and Zoey held on as the line of tripods burst forward into sprints, their lasers streaming ahead, finding the Anomalies as they ran faster and faster.

Zoey, eyes wide, watched as her walker leaped on top of cars, jumping back and forth, dodging in and out of the floating spheres of crackling energy. The wind whipped through her hair. Bright waves of red and purple and white light streamed all around her as the strange spheres lit up and then went dark, over and over, as the walkers dashed through them.

Zoey felt the machine’s legs under her, pushing it powerfully forward. Sensations reached her from the walkers. More elation, more joy, but this wasn’t about her. It was because they loved to run, to move fast. It was a love of something foreign to them, she somehow knew. A love of something not of their own nature, and it accentuated the experience.

In spite of herself, Zoey smiled, watching the flickering spheres of energy whip past as the walkers jumped and dashed nimbly forward through the night. It was … exhilarating.

It wasn’t until much, much later that Zoey realized that right then she had no longer been scared.

10.
SOLID

MIRA LAY OUT OF SIGHT
at the edge of the tree line, staring at two black boats moored on the riverbank. They were big, and looked like they’d been river ferries at one time, before being extensively modified. Extra decks and levels had been constructed, and they held huts and shacks, probably crew quarters and cargo holds, and the hulls were lined with gun ports.

Each boat flew the same flag, red with a white, eight-pointed star in its center. It was what Mira had been looking for.

Menagerie boats, the ones Holt had seen on the way to the Crossroads. The Menagerie were bad sorts to deal with normally, and Mira hated having to approach them. It wasn’t smart, but she’d been doing a lot of not so smart things lately.

Gear and equipment sat on the riverbank where it had been unloaded—packs and supplies, guns and ammo. It looked like a military operation, and it meant one thing: The Menagerie were going into the Strange Lands. But why? Mira had never heard of them doing that before.

Max whined at the sight of the ships, not liking it. She didn’t blame him.

“Yes, I have a plan,” she told him. Max looked up at her skeptically. “And you’re not gonna like it.”

On the riverbank beside the boats, a crowd had formed in a tight circle, watching something happening in the middle, amid cheers and yells. Mira couldn’t see what it was, but she’d bet it wasn’t a friendly game of horseshoes.

She took a deep breath, grabbed her pack, and stood up. None of the pirates noticed, the crowd was too busy. Even when she and Max started walking toward them, no one sounded an alarm or even glanced in their direction.

More than three dozen kids, none of them older than twenty, had made a ring around two others in the center who were circling each other warily. Both held knives. One was a boy sporting a goatee and a wicked looking scar down one side of his face. He had a tattoo on his right wrist, like all Menagerie members, his a blue shark. He also had several cuts across his arms and a larger one on his chest, presumably recently acquired from the person he was facing.

And that person was not what Mira expected.

A very fit, lithe girl, about Mira’s age, with olive skin and obsidian-black hair that trailed down her back, tied into a tight braid. She was beautiful, but in a hard-edged way. She wore black cargo pants, a T-shirt, and a single utility belt across her waist. A black crow or raven was tattooed on her right wrist, and on the left was an eight-pointed star, just like on the flag above, with four of its points colored in. It marked her as a Captain, Mira knew, the fourth leadership rank of the Menagerie, and it entitled her to run her own ship.

It meant she was in charge here. It meant she was who Mira needed to talk to.

The girl moved with quick, controlled steps. Her eyes never blinked, only watched and calculated.

The boy lunged for her like a charging bull—and the girl sidestepped and kicked him in the rear with a disappointed frown. The crowd cheered and laughed and the boy whirled around with hatred in his eyes. The girl didn’t seem to care.

“This is already boring me, Leone,” she said.

He moved for her again, slashing wildly with his knife.

The girl dodged the strike, then another, then kicked out with a knee, caught the boy in the stomach and sent him reeling backward. As he did, she twirled the knife in her hand and threw it.

The boy howled in pain when it stuck in his leg. He fell to one knee.

The girl was a blur as she closed the distance. Her momentum fueled a kick that sent her opponent crashing on his back, and then she stomped down on the kid’s stomach with her boot. The air burst from his lungs. He shuddered, tried to move, but couldn’t.

Slowly, the girl kneeled down, yanked the knife out of his leg. The boy screamed again—and then went silent as he felt the cold blade on the scruff of his goatee, near his throat.

“So tell me if I’m wrong, Leone,” the girl spoke with a hint of amusement, “but I’m sensing a formal removal of your challenge to my leadership.”

The boy nodded. Quickly. Agreeably. There were laughs from the crowd.

“Good,” the girl said—and then rammed down the knife. Leone flinched as it punctured the sand just inches from his head. “Now get your ass back to your post.”

The boy leaped up and hobbled toward the boats as fast as he could, jeers from the crowd following him. They didn’t last long, however.

“And would someone—
any
of you idiots really,” the girl yelled, a new hint of menace in her voice, “like to tell me who
that
is.” She looked right at Mira on the outskirts of the circle. Mira swallowed nervously as the pirates all whipped around toward her. “I posted lookouts for a reason. Or at least I thought I did.”

The looks of surprise on their faces were quickly replaced with anger. They started moving for Mira. They were all armed, she noticed, all about her age. Mira took a step back, but Max growled next to her. He didn’t budge. The advancing boys stopped in their tracks, eyeing the dog warily.

“Oh, don’t bother,” the Captain said in annoyance, standing up, wiping the blood from her knife before sheathing it. “If she was trouble, we’d know by now.”

The black-haired girl pushed past her crew, studying Mira a moment, before looking down at Max.

“Looks like you brought us dinner,” she said. “Been a long time since we’ve had dog.” The pirates all around her laughed.

“You’re welcome to try eating him,” Mira said evenly, “but I wouldn’t recommend it. His bite’s a lot worse than his bark.”

“I might eat you both, you don’t tell me who you are and why you’re here.”

Mira had to play this right, the Captain wasn’t like the others. She was smarter, and dangerous, it was obvious. If Mira seemed too eager, the girl would sense weakness. If Mira dragged it out too long … she’d grow impatient. Neither was a good thing.

“What was all that in the circle?” Mira asked, ignoring her question, trying to seem unintimidated. “Somebody slip too many notes in the complaint box?”

The pirate girl’s demeanor was anything but warm. “Leone was trying to get his third star point,” she said. “One of the more fun ways you can do that is to challenge and kill your Captain. It’s how
I
did it. He miscalculated, though. Just like you are by playing games with me, little girl. I like your red hair. Maybe I’ll take some for a trophy.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that either.” Mira casually opened her pack, reached inside it.

The Menagerie all raised their weapons, but the Captain didn’t move. She just studied Mira with growing impatience. Mira pulled out a square piece of metal about the size of a dog tag. On it was stamped the same symbol as on the flag, the eight-pointed star.

Mira tossed it on the ground in front of them. When the pirates saw it, they slowly lowered their weapons. Even the Captain raised an eyebrow.

“A Solid,” she said with genuine curiosity, “and where did you get that, little one?”

Her repeated use of the word “little” irked Mira. “You know, you and I are pretty much the same size, right?”

“If there’s one thing Leone just learned, it’s that size is a relative thing. Where’d you get the Solid? Steal it from someone—or stumble across it on a corpse?”

“Look closer,” Mira said. The Captain frowned, then knelt down and picked up the small piece of metal. When she saw what was on it her eyes widened. She looked back at Mira in a different way. It was the reaction Mira had hoped for. That was no ordinary Solid. On it, the eight-pointed star had been colored in with metallic red paint. Only one person in the entire Menagerie gave Solids like that.

“I’m a Freebooter,” Mira said, holding the girl’s gaze. “Did a job for your boss, found something he was looking for a few years ago. Wasn’t easy. He was grateful. Next time you see Tiberius, tell him Mira Toombs says hi.”

“And what if I say you don’t look like the kind that’d be palling around with Tiberius Marseilles? What if I say I don’t buy it?”

“Then you can come find out for yourself,” Mira said, trying to sound confident. “But I guarantee you won’t have as good luck as you did with that dimwit a second ago.”

The Captain studied Mira intently, weighing things, calculating. Then a slight smile formed on her lips. “Well…” she said as she stood back up and the Solid disappeared into a pocket, “color me convinced. How exactly were you hoping to cash this in?”

A Solid was a token given out by high-ranking Menagerie leaders to non-Menagerie who did them important favors. They could be presented to any other Menagerie leader, and that leader was obligated to help them in some task as repayment. It was never that simple of course, but Solids were rarely given out, and it was assumed anyone possessing one must be in the good graces of someone important. At a minimum, a Solid would usually ensure your safety.

“Two of my friends have been taken by the Assembly,” Mira said. “They’re headed northwest, and I need help rescuing them.”

The pirates all stared at her a moment—then burst into laughter, the sounds filling the air. Even the black-haired girl chuckled.

“Well why didn’t you just say so?” she asked. “I was expecting something difficult or out of the question.”

“What’s so funny?” Mira asked in a low voice. She had to stay firm, had to be strong.

“What’s funny is that getting killed isn’t part of honoring a Solid, no matter who it’s from. Even the Menagerie don’t tangle with Assembly unless we can’t avoid it, and you’re talking about chasing down a group of them. Trust me, if the aliens have your friends, they’re good and gone. So drink to their memories, and spend this Solid on something nice for yourself.”

Mira sighed. It had been too much to hope that the Solid alone would get their participation, but there was another approach.

“You’re going into the Strange Lands,” Mira observed, studying all the gear that had been offloaded nearby. “Why?”

“What, we’re best friends all of a sudden? It’s nothing you need to stress about,” the Captain replied. “We’re here for something special. It’s another reason I can’t just go off looking for your friends. Of course … the way it’s looking now, we might be experiencing something of a delay.”

Mira smiled. It was as she’d hoped. “You need a guide. And all the Freebooters you would have hired at the Crossroads are gone now. There’s nothing left of that place.”

The girl spat. “That’s about the long and short of it, yeah.”

“You hoping to get to Polestar?”

“Among … other places.”

Any other time Mira would be incredibly curious what the Menagerie’s goals might be here, but right now she had other things to worry about.

“The Assembly took my friends
inside
the Strange Lands,” Mira said carefully. “It’s not totally the direction you need to go, but it’s close. You help me find them, I’ll help you get to Polestar, and you get to turn in one of Tiberius’s Solids when you get back to Faust.”

There were murmurings from the pirates around her. The Captain stared at Mira intently. “You any good?”

“I’m not the best, but I can get you where you need to be. Either way, looks like I’m the only chance you’ve got.”

The Captain’s stare hovered on Mira a few seconds more, then she smiled again. It was disturbing. “My name’s Ravan. If I agree to this it means three things. I’m in charge, you’re a hired hand; you do what I say, when I say it. Fighting Assembly’s a deadly game, and I can’t have you running around on your own.”

Mira nodded.

“Two: If we don’t find your friends—if the Assembly makes it to a Presidium or a processing center or an Osprey den—it’s
over
 … and I keep the Solid for my trouble, and you’re still taking us to Polestar. Agreed?”