The Severed Tower (15 page)

The Mix Master. The place where she had failed. The source of all her fear and self-doubt. But that was the last thing she wanted to think about now.

Mira’s light shone across the bus, and she felt a chill looking at it. There was no way to know if it had been full of kids when the Strange Lands formed, but still, the black windows that stared lifelessly outward were haunting.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ravan studied the crude writing on the bus. The line of Menagerie stretched back behind her into the dark, and Max watched them warily from the hood of an old Mercedes. One thing about having the pirates with them, they drew the dog’s suspicions more than Mira. She was kind of getting used to having the mutt around. And he didn’t smell all
that
bad, she guessed.

“It’s an Anomaly warning.” Mira pulled her Lexicon off her shoulder and set it down on the hood of the Mercedes next to Max. “Catalogued so Freebooters can look it up.” The large book was sealed shut by two metal locks on either end, and she used a tiny key hanging from one of her necklaces to unlock it. Inside the front cover, three different names were scrawled along with Mira’s. The book’s previous owners. Other Lexicons had more names, only because Mira had managed to survive the Strange Lands much longer than most.

The book had three bindings that unfolded into separate parts, each with its own collection of papers, notes, drawings, and diagrams. The first section held artifact combination schematics, instructions for building them. It was the largest section in Mira’s Lexicon, but that wasn’t a surprise. Artifact creation was her specialty.

The second section contained maps of the Strange Lands. Illustrations for each ring and for the Core, as well as detailed maps for important areas of each one. But it was the third section Mira turned to now, a catalog of Strange Lands Anomalies. Mira’s was complete, for the most part, with the exception of a few inside the Core.

The Anomalies were organized by type (stable or unstable) and the ring they existed in. Mira shuffled through the pages for ring one until she found
R1-3, Grindhouse.
She folded out the section and studied it. She knew how the Anomaly worked, but Ben had always led her through it. If she was going to have to take point, she wanted to cover her bases.

There were drawings and notes, information on what she should expect, and Mira tried to ignore the queasiness she felt as she studied the pages. Her fingers moved over a specific diagram that showed a crude representation of a sphere, with writing underneath it:

Sub-Anomaly:
Condenser Spheres.

Effect:
Violent compaction of mass.

Catalyst:
Touch only, no draw effect.

Movement:
Very slow drift, random direction, direction is constant.

Natural Visibility:
Invisible.

Incidental Visibility:
Visible after direct contact, three to five seconds.

Suggestions:
Reveal location from distance, map locations, determine route through Anomaly, move fast.

That last part was what bothered her. “Move fast.” That was going to be a real problem, with all the people behind her. It was ironic, actually. This would have been worth a lot of Points back at Midnight City.

“What does it do?” Ravan asked, looking ahead of them into the dark.

Mira looked up from the Lexicon. “Shoot off a few rounds.”

Ravan unslung her rifle, raised it, and fired in an arc. Bullets fanned forward from the muzzle, but they didn’t make it very far.

The Menagerie winced as perfect spheres of bright white energy crackled to life and absorbed the slugs. Each was the size of a beach ball, filling the air with intense light. About a half dozen of them, at various distances and heights.

Seconds later the spheres vanished, fading out and plunging everything back to black, leaving no indication they were there at all. Max whined uneasily.

“Condenser Spheres,” Mira said, closing and locking her Lexicon. “Touch one and they suck you inside. What’s left gets compressed into something about the size of a marble.”

Ravan laughed. “That doesn’t sound pleasant.” Her men didn’t laugh, however. They looked at each other nervously. “How do we get through?”

“Tediously.” Mira zipped open the black bag with the red
δ
on her hip. “The Condensers are moving, just really slowly. Means the path through them’s always different. I’ll have to find them and mark a trail for your men to follow.”

“And how long will that take?”

“An hour, probably.”

Ravan’s eyes thinned in thought. “If these things are moving, how long will the path be safe?”

Mira was surprised. People didn’t immediately catch that wrinkle. Menagerie or not, Ravan was smarter than most.

“I don’t know,” Mira admitted. “All depends on the spheres. Long enough, hopefully. Never tried moving through a group this large.” Of course, the reality was, she’d never moved
anyone
through the Grindhouse, but she didn’t mention that.

Mira forced herself not to think about it. She had to do this. Zoey and Holt were depending on her. This was a first ring Anomaly, it would be no problem as long as she took it slow. The thoughts, however, felt hollow.

Mira pulled out the tools she’d need from the waist pack: a notepad and pencil; a mass of metal pegs strung together with red wire; a small hammer; and a leather pouch full of nuts and washers.

“Hold your men here,” Mira told Ravan. “Keep them on the highway.”

Mira started to move ahead, but Ravan grabbed her arm. “Make sure you know what you’re doing, little one. I lose any of my men because of a mistake you made, you won’t like the results.”

A stirring of emotion filled Mira. Not because of the implied threat, but because of what it reminded her of. Instinctively, her eyes looked at one of the white pillars of light in the distance, but then she pushed the thoughts away. She had to be strong.

“As I said,” Mira told her, “I’ve never moved a group this big. Far as I know, no one has. The Strange Lands isn’t the Barren, it has a million ways to kill you. Frankly, I’d be surprised if you make it to Polestar with half your men, but you should have known that. And if you kill me, the farther in we are, the less chance you have of getting out.” Mira ripped her arm free and stepped toward the Anomaly. Ravan didn’t say anything more.

Mira opened the leather pouch and grabbed a handful of nuts and washers, staring at the dense field of ruined cars that stretched into the dark.

So it was finally here. What she’d been dreading since leaving Midnight City—facing a Stable Anomaly on her own. Her hands shook, and she clenched them tightly before anyone behind her could see.

Damn it, it’s just the
Grindhouse,
she told herself. She’d been through it a hundred times. She was good, she was skilled. So … why didn’t she
believe
it?

Whatever the answer, it didn’t matter. She didn’t have a choice.

Mira put the pencil to the notepad and started drawing. A grid, ten-by-ten squares, with a rough map of the freeway and the cars in front of her. She only drew the immediate ones now; anything in front of that, the perspective was distorted. She had to wait until she got closer.

When she was done, she knelt on the ground and pulled something else from her pocket. It was her stopwatch, tarnished and old, but it worked flawlessly. The sight of it was comforting. She and it had been through a lot.

Her hand froze on the watch. It was now or never.

She took a breath … and clicked a button. The watch clicked as it began to count time. Mira hung its cord around her neck, then threw one of the washers forward into the air.

It traveled just a few feet before it was yanked hard right and disappeared in a flash of energy as the Condenser Sphere flared to life, lighting up the night.

She marked its location on the pad, then threw another washer. Another sphere flared brightly, this one closer, and she felt the slight tingle of static electricity before it vanished out of sight again.

She marked it, too, then hammered in one of the metal pegs through the asphalt at her feet.

Mira tried to stay calm. She could
do
this. Another breath …

… and she moved forward into the blank air between the two invisible Condensers just feet on either side of her.

The hair on her arms stood on end from the Spheres’ proximity. It was the only indication of the hovering death surrounding her. But she’d routed it correctly. It was only the first step into the Anomaly, but it filled her with relief all the same.

Mira knocked another peg into the asphalt then started the process all over, throwing more nuts and washers, finding the flaring Spheres, marking their locations, moving forward in a zigzag pattern between the Anomalies and the cars, and laying down pegs and red wire to mark the route.

Time seemed to slow, but her heart never stopped beating wildly. Eventually, she found herself so far ahead that the flashlights from the Menagerie were just pinpricks of light behind her.

Mira threw another washer. This time nothing happened. She threw another. The same result. She threw a handful of nuts in a cloud in front of her. There was nothing but blank air now, no giant crackling spheres of deadly light.

Mira exhaled and looked down at the stopwatch. Fifty-four minutes. Not bad, she thought, even Ben had done it slower a few times. But it wasn’t over. Now was the most dangerous part.

She turned and headed back into the Anomaly, following her path of metal pegs and red wire back through. Each step was nerve-racking. What if she laid it wrong? What if she miscalculated? Figuring out the drift of Condenser Spheres required a lot of math. She kept moving, one foot after the other. She could see Ravan ahead, sitting on the hood of an old pickup, her men nearby. Mira concentrated on seeming confident, on looking like she actually wasn’t—

The hair on her arms stood up. A Condenser Sphere flared to life right next to her.

Mira gasped but froze in place like she’d been taught. In a Stable Anomaly like this, going still was the best idea if something went wrong. And something was definitely wrong. The gleaming ball of energy was literally only a few inches from her shoulder. She felt her heart thudding in her chest.

Mira swallowed, staying as still as she could, and looked down at her notebook. She could see which Condenser this was, and there was supposed to be another to her right, about five feet away.

Slowly, very slowly, Mira took a step in that direction. The flickering sphere disappeared as she did, fading away to nothing. Nothing materialized on her right. She was back in the safe zone.

She exhaled, knelt, picked up the peg and moved it about a foot over.

Her heart continued to pound, and she felt a surge of doubt and fear that replaced any sense of victory she might have felt before. How did she think she could do this? Mira forced herself to stand and move forward again, following the rest of the path. No other Condensers appeared, the rest of the route was safe. For now.

Ravan hopped off the car as she approached, and Max lazily opened an eye. The damned dog had been napping the whole time.

“Well?” Ravan asked.

“It’s ready,” Mira said. She was surprised by how little her voice shook. “I just tested it, but we need to hurry. Tell your men to stagger their entry about twenty steps per person, and keep that distance. Walk, don’t run, and follow the
path.
Any deviation … and they’re dead.”

“My men can be precise
and
fast,” Ravan replied. “We don’t have to stagger them that much. Might save us time.”

Mira shrugged. “Your call. I’ll go last, follow behind and collect the pegs. If things go bad in there, that’s where I need to be.”

Ravan gave her an unreadable look, then shouted for her men to line up, yelling instructions.

In moments, the Menagerie were moving, filing past Mira and Ravan. Just like the Captain had said, they were making good time, following the path precisely. Ravan joined the line in the middle, walking into the Anomaly and disappearing into the dark.

Mira looked at Max. “Come on, it’s our turn.”

The dog looked back but didn’t move.

Mira sighed. “Look, mutt, this is dangerous,” she told him. “I have to hold your collar. You go running off course, you’ll get us both killed. If you want to see Holt again, you have to trust me.”

Max stared back with a noncommittal look. Then he hopped off the Mercedes and stood next to Mira. She slowly reached down for his collar. He stared up at her, but didn’t object when she grabbed it.

Mira smiled.
How about that.
She moved forward after the pirates, and started down the path, stepping into the Anomaly after the others. The hair on her arms stood up again, and the effect felt stronger. But there was no way to know if it was just her imagination or if the Spheres really were closer.

As she moved, she gathered the pegs from the ground, wrapping them up. Max walked next to her without complaint, and the Menagerie kept moving ahead, even faster than they had before. They were about three quarters of the way through, and, to her surprise, they hadn’t triggered a single sphere. Mira smiled, maybe they were going to make it out of this in one—

The old mirror of a crashed motorcycle reflected bright light behind her.

Mira turned and saw the Condenser Spheres flashing to life at the far end of the Anomaly, where they’d started. Had they left someone behind? No, she’d checked. The spheres were exploding to life, though, one after the other, and moving forward, which meant something was approaching and triggering them, as it did.

A second later she saw what it was.

A group of dark figures, maybe a dozen, rushing through the Anomaly at full speed. Flashes of different colored light glowed around them as they moved, and they weren’t just running, they were leaping and flipping through the air like gymnasts.

“What the hell…” Ravan mumbled from ahead. The pirates froze and turned, staring behind them as the spheres continued to flare to life and the figures darted between them with almost superhuman agility. It implied a perception of the Anomalies that was like a sixth sense. And it could mean only one thing. A chill ran down Mira’s spine.