Skyfall (23 page)

Something pulls her hack.

One second she is walking as usual across the white plain, and then … not.

The round room is dim. The hard brightness has vanished from the light, leaving her awake in shadows.

Something else is different, too. It takes her a moment to realise.

The skyfire.

It's still there, of course, the pulse and hum of it tickling and pressing against her, but it's muted somehow, as though a wall has been drawn up around her. As though it's all of a sudden fighting just to be felt.

A deep tremor shudders through the round room, soundless, just a distant hint of disturbance.

The light grows even more dim, the skyfire weaker.

So she presses into it, against it, trying to push it even further, to crush it down away from her while it's still struggling.

And that's when it surges back.

The light bursts back into the room with fierce brightness, so intense that tears spring unbidden to her eyes. Around the walls the skyfire vibrates with more power than ever before.

But for a moment it doesn't hurt. For an infinitesimal eternity, while she's still pushing against it, it simply picks her up and carries her; it crashes though her mind and thrums along her thoughts.

She's riding the skyfire.

Then, almost before she has time to realise what's happening, she crashes back into her own mind with a searing burst of pain.

And even though her body is still, she hears herself scream …

Kes stepped out of the crowded ref and headed towards her building, furious. Almost all day she'd been waiting around for the Underground guy, and he hadn't shown. Around her, people jostled and shoved. It seemed like everyone in the dome was heading for the maglifts.

She saw a kid she knew vaguely. ‘What's going on?'

‘You didn't hear about the explosion?'

‘No. What explosion?'

‘Over at Port North Central. It's all over the webs. They've shut down the coms and mags and everything.'

‘What caused it?'

‘Sky knows. Sounded pretty bad, though. I gotta go. My dad works in Central and Mum's freaking out.'

‘I hope he's okay.'

‘Me too.'

The kid shoved through the crowd. Kes watched him go. An explosion in Port North Central wasn't good news. What if Lari …

Lari!

Kes bolted towards her building, but halfway up the ramp to the lobby a figure in a rumpled worksuit stepped out of a narrow alcove and positioned himself to meet her.

‘Kesra.'

‘You! I've been waiting at the ref all bloody day! You didn't show.'

The Underground operative shrugged. ‘You took too long to arrive and we had … other priorities today.'

‘Well, I can't talk now.' Kes tried to shove past, but the man easily blocked her.

‘What's the hurry?'

‘I have to call someone.'

‘Larinan Mann?'

‘None of your business.'

‘Ah, but you see, there you're wrong. It's very much my business. There's no hurry anyway. Central is completely blocked out of the system at the moment, so you can't com him.'

‘I'll find a way in.'

The man regarded her seriously for a second.

‘You know something, Miss Anatale? I actually believe you could. Doesn't make any difference, though. Come on.' He took her elbow to pull her aside. When she tried to shake his hand off, his grip only grew stronger.

‘Don't make me force you, Kesra.'

‘I don't have time—'

‘You've got all the time in the world. Now come. Somebody wants to meet you.'

His fingers dug into the pressure points on the sides of her elbow, sending a sharp spike of pain shivering up into her shoulder.

‘Shi! Fine. Just hurry, okay?'

The man nodded back towards the hub.

‘Let's go.'

He released his grip and her arm fell to her side, fingertips tingling.

‘Was that really necessary?'

‘Once you realise that being part of the Underground means that the Underground always comes first, then I shouldn't have to … reinforce the point so harshly.'

‘I've done everything you've asked …'

The man held up a hand to silence her.

‘There's no point trying to explain anything to me, Miss Anatale. I'm just a simple watcher. I do what I'm ordered and nothing more. I don't think about it, and I certainly don't question it. I just accomplish what I'm asked to. It's a lesson you could learn.'

‘If I had any choice …'

‘There's always choice.' They reached the hub and he waved his wristband across the allocation sensor.

‘Dome 87B.'

The reader chimed and he motioned Kes to do the same.

They waited ages for the lift. It was standing-room only in the waiting area and a grim silence pervaded the gathered crowd. Everyone, it seemed, was in a hurry to get home, or to work, or somewhere.

‘Here we are.'

Kes glanced up at the allocation screen. There were two names on it, both female, neither of them hers.

‘This isn't ours.'

‘Trust me, Kesra.'

‘It won't take unallocated passengers.'

‘You think I don't know that?'

The man stepped confidently into the lift and took up the first handgrip beside the door. Kes followed and the moment she grabbed her own handle the lift chimed softly, the doors slid closed and they dropped into the system.

‘How'd you do that?'

‘Do what?'

‘Steal a ride.'

‘We didn't. Strictly speaking we stole the identities. This lift was allocated to the two identities currently assigned to our wristbands.'

‘But nobody can alter the—'

‘Tell me, Kesra, do you always argue the point when all available evidence would seem to indicate that you are… misinformed?'

‘So how'd you do it?'

‘That would be telling.' He turned his attention to the newspanel, which was full of speculation about the explosions.

‘…early indications are that the explosions are the result of a catastrophic failure in the solar energy capacitors which regulate …
'

‘Tragic,' the man muttered.

‘The explosions?'

‘That too.' He threw her an infuriating smirk.

‘Where are we going?'

‘I told you. Somebody wants to meet you.'

‘Gregor?'

‘You'll find out.'

The lift continued falling, and as the man idly reached up and scratched the side of his nose his sleeve slipped slightly to reveal the twin tridents tattooed on his wrist.

‘Why do you do it?' Kes asked.

‘What?'

‘This. All the Underground stuff?'

She thought he wasn't going to answer, but then he fixed her with a long stare.

‘That's a question you shouldn't ask down here, Kesra. Everyone has their own reasons, just as you do, and most prefer to keep them private.'

They travelled the rest of the way in silence.

When the doors opened again, they stepped out of the lift into a gloomy common. Above them, the clearcrete was so smeared as to be almost completely opaque. The dome's utility towers were crumbling and ancient.

‘Took your time.'

A slight figure – a girl – stepped from the deep shadows and strolled towards them. Her face was masked and something in her voice sent a cold shiver through Kesra.

‘Did you talk to Larinan Mann this morning?'

‘Who are you?'

For a moment, the girl regarded Kes. It was unnerving, being stared at by someone whose features were completely hidden. Then the girl twisted her head slightly, pulling at the mask where it fitted around her neck, lifting it just enough to reveal the twin tridents tattooed on the side of her neck. Her skin was a peculiar colour, Kes thought.

‘That's all you need to know about who I am, mixie. Now, did you talk to him today or not?'

‘Only briefly. This morning.'

‘About?'

‘That thing on the webnews this morning.'

‘That's all?'

‘That's all. He wasn't in a chatty mood.'

‘Did he say what he was doing today?'

‘Going over to DGAP. He's been allocated.'

‘Interesting.' She turned to the man. ‘Go wait at the mag. We'll be a while.'

Her watcher nodded and walked back to the hub, leaving the two girls alone.

Kes was the first to speak. ‘Will this take long?'

‘Why?'

‘I have to go and make a call. To Lari. There was an explosion in Port North—'

‘I know. There's no point. They've locked the coms.'

‘I can get through the lock.'

‘No, you can't.'

The girl's tone was derisory. Kes bridled at it.

‘How would you know? I'm good with data systems.'

‘I know because if I can't get a com into or out of Port North Central at the moment nobody can. Especially not some jumped-up little mixie who thinks she's better than she really is.'

‘What's your problem?'

Once more, Kes found herself regarded by that disconcertingly blank face.

‘You.'

Without another word, the girl turned and strode towards the nearest tower and Kes, not seeing any alternative, followed.

Inside the dark foyer was a low table, with a portalamp in the centre, and beside it a couple of rough crates intended for use as chairs. A figure rose from one of the crates and in the sparse light she saw that it was Gregor.

‘You got her. Good.'

‘Did you know that Mann was allocated to DGAP this morning?' Speaking to Gregor, the masked girl's voice was completely different; it was softer.

‘I didn't. But I suspected it would happen eventually. So that explains why he was in Port North Central.'

‘But not what he was doing near the action.'

‘Listen,' Kes interrupted, ‘what do you want from me?'

‘Kesra, I'm sorry. Forgive my rudeness. Please, sit.' Gregor gestured at one of the crates, and Kes sat down. The girl in the mask hovered, half in the shadows, and Gregor lowered himself back onto his own crate. ‘Before we go any further, I'd like to thank you for your efforts in the res-rec dome the other day. I'm always pleased when things go as planned.'

‘Listen—'

‘No, Kesra, this is the bit where
you
listen. Can you think of any reason that Larinan Mann might have had for being near the explosions in Port North Central this afternoon?'

‘Lari was near the blast? Is he all right?'

‘We don't know, and frankly at the moment that doesn't interest us. What I need to know is
why
he was there and not in DGAP with his father and brother. Any thoughts?'

‘No.' Kes shook her head.

‘He didn't mention anything?'

Kes gestured towards the girl. ‘Like I told her, we didn't talk much this morning. Just long enough for him to tell me he'd been allocated.'

‘Was he happy about that?'

‘Not particularly.'

‘Hmm …' In the flickering portalight, Gregor's skin seemed unnaturally pale and yellowish. ‘I must admit, I'm intrigued to know what our newest recruit could have been doing, fleeing DGAP like that.'

‘Fleeing?'

Gregor made a dismissive gesture with his hand. ‘Just something we heard. But I think it warrants further investigation. Don't you, Jem?'

‘Of course. Either he knows something about us, or there's something significant going on in the department.'

‘Either way, we need to know. Kesra, you're absolutely certain you can't take a guess?'

‘No. Lari and I haven't exactly been on the best of terms the last couple of days.'

In the darkness behind, Jem snorted.

‘It makes no difference. But you do need to make up with him, Kesra, and soon. Now that he's been officially allocated to DGAP, your role in the Underground is really about to begin.'

‘And what role is that?'

‘Don't ask questions!' Jem snapped, but Gregor held up a hand.

‘That's good advice, Kesra. We generally discourage questions in our organisation. You'll be told what you need to know, and anything else could well be dangerous, so you shouldn't try and find out. But I do realise that you've been a member of our family in name only for all these years, so we'll allow you a little slack. Just this once, though. Your role, as it has been all along, is the cultivation of Larinan Mann to our cause. That boy could well prove to be the Underground's most valuable asset in the next few years.'

‘Asset?'

This time, Gregor ignored her question. Instead, he stood up.

‘That's all you need to know for now. I'll have Jem take you back to your handler and then you can return home like none of this happened. All you need to do now is make up with Larinan Mann. Find out what he was doing near the explosions and what exactly his father and brother are up to in DGAP.'

‘What if he won't tell me?'

Gregor smiled.

‘Miss Anatale, I have every faith in your ability to persuade him. But if you can't, don't worry too much. There are … other ways of achieving our ends. More difficult ways, to be sure, but I'm sure that, given your background, you'd be more than happy to … demonstrate your loyalty to the Underground, should the need arise.'

‘Of course.'

‘Good then. I'll look forward to our next meeting, Kesra. Take care.'

‘Come on.' Jem grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards the doorway. ‘Your handler's waiting by the mag. He'll get you back upstairs,
mixie!

The girl spat the final word and at the same time delivered a none too gentle shove in the middle of Kes's back, propelling her across the dingy common towards the hub.

‘Listen.' Kes spun round to face the masked girl. ‘I don't know what I've done to annoy you, but…'

The blank mask regarded her, emotionless.

‘You haven't done anything, mixie. That's the point.'

Without another word, Jem turned on her heel and melted into the darkness.