Whisper Gatherers (20 page)

I did not know what to make of his food-starved babble, so just helped him to his feet. I walked with him to the entrance, but he refused top go in. “I will linger here. I would rather die in the open.”

“You won’t die. At least not just yet.”

“Really?”

I heard something, not unlike foot stamping and looked to the main gate. I gasped. It was open. Before my disbelieving eyes, four helmeted Agros marched up the pathway. I grabbed Elijah and pulled him inside. “Danger!” I cried.

Swifter than a shooting star, Orva and Dreng flew to the door and pressed themselves against it. A forest of faces turned to me. “Agros! Agros are here!”

Folk scattered.

Urged on by Orva, I helped Elijah hobble through the mayhem to sit in a chair. After taking it from a perfectly healthy juve by kicking his shins until he budged. The sound of heavy pounding caused folk to scream and scuttle to the nearest wall. They fell to the ground and hid behind tables or vidscreens. How they thought that would help I don’t know. I pushed over chairs, through huddled bods in search of Deogol. I did not find him, but caught sight of Greatgrangran slumped over a small table underneath a window at the far end of the great high-ceilinged room. I raced to her and put my hand on her head. She gave a faint moan and I heard a high-pitched chuckle.

Looking up, I saw Lilith. She was standing next to the mayor, a piece of bread in one hand and a great hunk of cheese in the other. Where she procured such a rarity from I did not know. Milk curd being only issued once an orbit and not in such sizable chunks. I headed towards them. “Deogol, have you seen him?” The mayor scuttled sideways by way of response.

Lilith giggled harder then rammed more yellow stuff down her gob. I slapped the cheese from her hand. “Have you seen my bro?”

She scrambled on the floor and picked up the grub. “I don’t know who you are talking about.”

I turned to the mayor. “Have you seen him?”

He looked at the window. I hurtled to it. It was ajar. I put my head outside. Too dark to see anything. I pulled my head back in and ran about the room calling his name. Orva came to me. “Adara, what gives?”

“Deogol is not here. The window is open and the mayor…”

“The mayor?”

Through gulps, I spluttered out, “He is acting more than suspish. He and Lilith…” Orva stopped me with a finger to her lips.

“I think our mayor has some explaining to do,” she said and we walked to where he stood. He gave us a well-used grin. Orva scowled. “Agros are here. Should you not be safeguarding all in this place?” She grabbed his jacket lapel and pulled him close to her face. “What do you know of all this?”

“Nowt, nothing. How could I?”

Lilith guffawed so loudly that Orva released her grip. The Praisebee smirked at us then addressed the huddled masses. In a loud voice, she said, “Tell them about what lies below Cityplace.”

“I know nothing of the underground passageways.” The mayor slapped his hand across his mouth, went all pale and scuttled away.

I called after him. “Where is my bro?”

Lilith laughed again. “Gone to a better place.”

The front door burst open sending Dreng stumbling backwards. He soon righted himself and stood his ground as four Agros stormed in. Orva raced to his assistance. Before the enemy could raise their nasty nail spurting guns, they smacked three of them to the ground. Dreng hurled himself at another sending both ‘dults sprawling along the floor. Something switched on in my gut. An instinctive response to threat. I picked up a broken chair, smashed it against the ground so that only half the metal frame remained, and ran towards the remaining Agro scum.

Slamming the makeshift weapon across his chest, he slumped forward. I hit him twice more on the back. He fell face first to the ground and lay still. Orva and Dreng, having floored their Agro scum, were tying them up. When said foe were well and truly tethered, Orva came to me, stared at the prone Agro and said, “Nicely done.” She set about securing him and with the help of Dreng, dragged him to the middle of the room where the other Agros sat.

“More will come, be sure of that,” one of the bound said.

“Silence Agro filth.” Dreng thwacked him hard across the head.

The male snickered most horribly and I noticed when his lips slid upwards, that his teeth were sharpened. I nudged Orva. “I do not think these are Agros. Look to his mouth.” She did. “Carnies.”

“You are not Agro,” Orva said.

He ignored her declaration and simply said, “Surrender. If you do, you will be spared.”

“Spared what?”

The tethered male grinned. Dreng gave him a smack so hard that he fell sideways.

“There are to kill us!” Bigmouthed Hrypa’s voice ripped through the room like a fart, and caused an outbreak of vocal panic. Orva waved her hands in the air, called for quiet, but it did no good and folk began to head for the exit. I caught sight of Meilyr, the nursey that had been so kind to Grangran when the Praisebees nobbled my coming out ceremony. He was trying to push folk away from the door, but was too nice to use enough force.

“You are strong, give them a proper shove and they will yield,” I said.

“Adara, good to see you again. I am unused to giving out brute in this manner. The old ones complain and nag, but have never give us any trouble, not like this.”

“Here, do what I do.” I stood in a similar manner as Dreng had in Centralplaza and held up my big mitts. He did the same and when the scaredy ones came forwards, they were blocked by our combined bulk.

“Goodly plan. Many thanks.”

My thoughts turned to my bro. As much as I would have liked to stay and aid Meilyr, I could not, so I called to Orva and Dreng. They hurried over and relieved me of my duty. l went to Greatgrangran, who had recovered a little . She was standing by the table she sat at before. I looked around for the mayor and Lilith but couldn’t see them.

“He opened the window. They climbed out. Just like that. I reached for him, then all went dark,” Greatgrangran said and rubbed the side of her head.

Cowards.

The hubbub diminished somewhat as Orva, Dreng and Meilyr soothed the fleeing folk. They shushed them back into the room and set about distributing water and edibles. I turned to Grangran, her face showed signs of upset. Her small eyes were screwed up, her lips twitched and her chin wobbled.

“I will go and search for him, do not fret so.”

Greatgrangran wiped her eyes and took my hand. “He is lost Adara. They have him. More will be taken. More have gone before.”

“What are you saying?”

“Remember Aefre?”

“A bit. She came to see Deogol once or twice, then that was that.”

“Took.”

“Nah, folk would have said something.”

“Folk don’t care if a Meek no longer abides.”

“Not true.”

“Did you concern yourself when she stopped her visits?”

I looked at the floor.

“Find him, Adara.” She squeezed my fingers until they hurt and I pulled away.

“I will Greatgrangran, I vow most severely.”

She put her hand to her shoulder and slipped off her Synthbag. She opened a front pocket and gave me a handful of glowsticks. Then she looked to the ceiling and put her hand in front of her mouth. “Lean in close.” I did.

Pressing her lips almost against my ear, she whispered. “Silly me. I think I was dreaming when first I spoke of Deogol’s whereabouts. Fear not, he is not lost. The mayor and that nasty Praisebee fem were eyeballing him, muttering all suspish-like, so I sent your bro to a safe place until you returned. That is where you must go to bring him back. There is a small exit at the far corner of the site. Behind the Medicentre. A thorn bush in a big red pot marks the spot. Tap in the numbers, eight, three, five, eight and it will open.”

“To where?”

“The place where the menials abide.”

“But it is forbidden to go there.”

“I did not take you for a scaredykittle.”

“I’m not. In fact, I’ve sort of been there before.”

“Anyway, he isn’t amongst them. There is a hole in the ground just before their sector begins. You’ll know it by the lightning rod.”

“I do know where that is.”

“The hiding place is directly below it.”

“How do you know of this?”

Grangran chuckled and stepped back. I turned to her and she tapped the side of her nose. “Some of us oldie folk have need to store certain goodies from other oldies. Things that are hard to come by, that we have negotiated for with folk such as the Ladies. Where do you think your Synthbag came from eh?”

I blinked. Wow! My Greatgrangran was a devious fem indeed. I shook my head and said, “I’d best go get Deogol then.”

Orva approached with a solemn look upon her face. “You have news of your bro?”

“Yep. Greatgrangran knows where he is.”

“Is he far?”

“No.”

“Then you must go to him. If the onslaught becomes fiercer, all will be threatened.”

Mebbe folk heard what she said, for some began to shout out about threat, danger and not being safe no matter where they were. Orva sighed, waved her arms to quieten them and said, “Do not panic. We are safe within these impenetrable walls. I have sent Dreng back to the Centralplaza to see what gives there. Please remain here, stay as calm as you can.”

“What are you going to do with those Agros?” Hypra said all whiny-like.

“Firstly, they are not Agros. They are Carnies doing bad for their bosses. Secondly, I am going to gain valuable info. Now please, eat, drink, stay at ease.” Her words caused many more loud whispers. She put her fingers to her lips and the hissy noise ceased. She stepped down. “Amranwen, is there a place where I can take our hostages and interrogate them?”

“Use the foodprep room, it has a sink and a Firstaidbox.”

“Duly noted,” Orva said and gave me a soothing smile. She left and hauled the Agros, one-by-one, into the place for eating.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Wonder Of Goldenagehome

Grangran gave a sigh, coughed and plonked her rear on a chair. My belows began to quiver. I clutched at my tum.

“Got the reddies?”

“Yep.”

“Looks like you need to go change your sponge. There is a poo place just inside the entrance hall, left of the door. Do you have said sponges? Because if not, you’re doomed to bleed all over. Not much need of them in this place. Although, we do have some wee pants that are quite absorbent.”

“No ta, I have plenty of plugs,” I said and walked swiftly to the place Grangran mentioned. I opened the door. A soft orange light pinged on. There was a mirror above the washbasin. I caught sight of my face. All covered in muck, scratches and bits of dried blood, I looked more like a Woodsfolk fem that had rolled in mud, than a girlie from Cityplace.

I turned on the tap and out came hot water. I squeezed some softsoap from the wall dispenser and washed my filthy hands and face. Next I dried myself on the plump, white towels that hung over a heated rail next to the plop bowl. I lifted the lid of said receptacle, pulled down my troos and let whatever wanted to, come out. When I had finished and wiped my bot, pulled out my bloated reddy sponge, replacing it with a fresh one, I yanked my pants back up, sighed, washed again and went back to Greatgrangran.

She was fumbling around in her Synthbag when I returned. I touched her shoulder and she looked up. I grinned. “Hi, feeling much better now.”

“Look better too. I know what will make you feel even more so,” she said and took a bar of Sterichoc from her bag. She unwrapped it, broke it in half and offered said segment to me. “Ta.” I put it to my mouth, then paused. I caught Elijah’s eye. He was crouched against the wall by the exit, hands clenched together in prayer. He lowered his gaze. I walked over to him. He was muttering some kind of chant and lifted his head when I tapped him on the back.

“Here, eat this,” I said and handed him the choc.

“Most kind.”

“Nah, just not peckish.”

He ate the sweetie thing in one go. I itched to be free of him, to go find Deogol. Giving him a friendly grin, I turned and went back to Greatgrangran. She stared at me and nodded. “All set?”

“Yep.”

“Best slip out the window like those two degenerates.”

“About that. Do you think they know of the secret exit you told me of?”

“Wouldn’t be surprised. He’s a shifty one that mayor.”

I became apprehensive. What if they lingered and wanted to do me harm?

Or worse, they knew where Deogol was and had intentions unpleasant as regards to my bro?

“What do you wait for?”

“Nowt.”

“Off you go then,” Grangran said and gave me a shove with her gnarly fingers. I sucked in my fear. Then, when no one was looking at me, even Elijah, who was otherwise occupied picking a scab from his arm, I crept to and out of the window.

The darkness made a good cloak for me to make my escape. Once away from the glow of the lights from inside the oldie building, I was all but invisible. The Medicentre was not far and I made my way there quickly. Making sure I stayed away from the lit pathways and windows. Once past the building I was plunged into darkness. I cracked a glowstick and held it out. Just a few paces ahead I saw the thorn bush that Greatgrangran told me about.

I hurried over, knelt down, stroked the surface of the pot the bush was in, and felt a raised keypad at the back. I tapped in the numbers eight, three, five, eight. I heard a creaking noise ahead of me. Standing, I saw within the great stone wall, a small, hinged door open. With the glowstick held firmly, I ran to the exit and slipped through. The opening slammed shut.

Nad!

I’d forgot to ask Grangran how to get back in.

In the distance, I heard another bang. Without thinking, I ran forward towards the minion quarters. They were closer than I thought.

Distinct from other Citydweller abodes, they were single story accommodations, with windows in the roof instead of all around. Santy took us there once to do a sort of recon. It was a playtime thing, thinly disguised as a bit of S.A.N.T. training, so I knew my way around, a bit. I wondered, how much these folk that do all the nasty jobs and lived in relative squalor, fared in all this Agro assault. Then I saw the lightning rod and all thoughts of anything else, except getting my bro, left.