Aquifer (16 page)

I
float into a fitful sleep.

Heavy eyelids rise and fall, and I drift away only to jerk awake. Always there is Seward, who whistles a tune I’ve never heard.

“When did you know?” I ask.

“What, mate?”

“That Phale was on our side.”

Seward turns. “I still don’t know.” His fingers grip and regrip the wheel. “You believe far too easily. Am I on your side?”

I chuckle at the thought. “Well, yeah, you’re my uncle.”

“But be I on your side? I work for them, you know.”

I nestle down into a pile of nets and rope. “I doubt you still have a job.”

“Luca, don’t trust anyone. Not even me.” He reaches for a balled-up windcoat and flattens it over his thigh before drawing it around his Water Rat garment. “We scratch by, trained to
fear, to doubt. It’s the way of the Topper world, and from what I saw of Etria, it may be the way below as well.”

I point down below the deck to where Talya sleeps. “Not Talya. She’s, she’s —”

“Captured your senses. Captured your heart. You be especially blind when it come to her.”

I shake my head. “You don’t know her like I do. But I don’t expect a pirate to understand those feelings.”

“Because castoffs and scoundrels never love.”

“I didn’t say that —”

“And we live only for ourselves.”

“Seward, I never meant —”

“And we never settle down, and never feel alone, and never long for the time when we return from sea and can rush into a woman’s embrace.” His eyes glaze and the mood about us grows heavy.

I pause. “I’m just saying I like her. That’s all.”

Seward licks his lips. “Okay, mate. But what do you know of her? What do you know of her that
she
hasn’t told you?”

She reads?

Seward raises his palm. “I rest my case before the judge. Oh, don’t feel bad. Talya’s easy on the eyes. Better to be betrayed by a looker —”

“Betrayed? What are you talking about? She’s totally dependent on me up here. She’s never been to the surface. She needs me.”

“Okay, lad, okay. Just speakin’ pirate to pirate. I’ve never known anyone to be who they say they are.”

“Even Massa?”

Seward breathes deeply. “My brother came close.”

“You mean comes close. He comes close, right?”

Seward winces. “Yeah, lad, to be sure, that’s my meanin’. You’ll find Massa.”

I’ll find him? You mean we
.

Uncle’s face lightens. “Ah, there it be. The lights of Freemanl Wharf! A sight for sore … eyes …”

“What’s wrong?” I push myself to my feet and join him at the fore.

Seward cuts his engine and turns off the floodlight. “Just days away, lad, and our world,” he rasps, “it burns.”

Fires dot the shoreline, licking the night sky. Blazes spring up, die down, and then reappear with new intensity. Small explosions, followed by shouts and cries, riddle the wharf.

“There will be no landing here.” Seward’s face turns grim, and he turns the wheel. The shrimper creaks and its prow turns out to sea. “I think we will not be able to tell friend from foe.”

“They’re just people. Lost and misinformed.” I yank the wheel back around, and the confused boat swings back. “This is our home. New Pert. I need to tell them all is well. That the water won’t stop after all.”

“Is all really well? The riotin’ is no longer the main concern. How long, now that you’ve escaped, until Mape begins blastin’ again? I tell you they’ve already begun. How much deeper can they dig until the weight of the ocean crushes in, flooding every last tunnel? Flooding every Rat below and destroying the Aquifer?” Seward turns. “I tell you, the end is nearer now than we think.” He presses his finger against my chest. “Your escape marked the beginning of it.”

I think hard. “Unless we can stop the blasting.”

“And, young mate, how would you propose to do that?”

“I don’t know, but Father might.”

Seward rubs his face and lowers his gaze. “You and the girl
have your path. I was never a world saver. That’s Massa. Me, I’m the back-stabber.” He nods at the chaos in front of us. “If this is my world, so be it. I will take my chances on the sea.” He gives me a quick glance, and the next word comes soft and weighty. “Alone.”

“You’re going to leave us,” I say.

He gazes at the coast. “Aye. At the first safe docking point. The rest of the journey is yours.”

Mine. My insides wilt. Thus far, there has always been Seward. Through every danger, every decision. At the same time his words don’t surprise me. He’s the unpredictable one. Father, the steady; Seward, the wild.

“Okay.” I try hard to sound brave, but my voice cracks. “Find us someplace solitary.”

“Thank you, mate.” Seward stares off, then spins the wheel and shouts.

Another craft rams into the shrimper, and Talya leaps up from below. “What did we hit?”

She joins us at the edge of the boat, and we peer into the darkness. I tap Seward’s shoulder. “Risk some light, Uncle.”

He flips the toggle and his floods illumine the sight.

Talya steps to my side, gasps, and covers her mouth. “Why?”

It’s a barge, though no captain stands at the helm. Motionless bodies litter the deck, forming a gruesome cargo. Yet the undone still speak, their dials whirring and spinning.

Twenty, maybe thirty undone Amongus on their final voyage out to sea.

Seward heaves a grappling hook over its railing and draws the barge close. “Arrows and knives, all. The mainland is lost, Luca.” He exhales hard. “I always dreamt of throwing off their
cursed authority, but never in my worst nightmares did the deed end like this.”

From the crimson deck, a groan. Soft and pained.

“Someone’s still alive.” Talya climbs onto the rail and leaps onto the vessel.

Seward glances at me. “Full marks for pluck and compassion. It will get her undone, but, full marks.”

I shove him and follow Talya. Together, we move from corpse to corpse. “Who’s alive here?” I say. “Please, I need more sounds.”

Another groan. Talya and I haul a carcass to the side, and there beneath lies an Amongus, blood oozing from his stomach wound and his eyelids fluttering.

“What’s happened?” Talya kneels and strokes his matted hair. “What’s done this to you?”

His hand shoots out and clasps her ankle. “Who are you?”

I jump to her side, and the Amongus stares with wide eyes. “Luca, you’re alive? All have been told that you perished —” Coughs rack his body. “It’s a hunt, and we are prey. The world has turned.”

“Are there more of you left alive?”

He lifts his eyebrows. “Downtown quadrant. On the Swan. A small group still holds. All our families are there.” His muscles shiver and twitch. “It’s the same everywhere. New Pert. The Outer Territories. Queland, Vittoria. Sydney has fallen.” He pauses. “But the worst is New Pert. Rioters beam their actions to Sowt Afrika, Sowt Amerika. It’s over. Leave here, Luca. Though I know of no place to flee.”

Talya turns to me. “We need to help them.”

“Excuse me, lass,” Seward calls from the boat. “But consider well the ones for whom you accumulate favors. You be speakin’
about helping those whose job it is to undo. You be speakin’ of the enemy.”

“Phale wasn’t an enemy.” She takes the Amongus’s hand. “What’s your name?”

His gaze wanders and then focuses. “My name? My name … It’s Connyr.”

“And do you have family, Connyr?”

He nods. “Aye. A wife and two daughters. Barricaded in the quadrant.”

“Luca will get them out.” Talya rests her hand on his heart. “You have my word.”

I cough hard, and Seward throws up his hands. “Ah, yes, we will waltz in and lead out a triumphant procession of the accursed —”

“Shut up, Seward,” I say. Talya looks at me with pride. I can see it — every ounce of her believes I will rescue Connyr’s family.

Such confidence from a girl is most disconcerting
.

I push my hand through my hair. “How do we get to them?”

“Through the Swan River. Streets are overrun. But you will not reach the inlet. You can’t.”

Talya cups Connyr’s cheek in her hands. “Rest now. Luca will deliver your family.”

Who is this young lady I brought up from inside the earth? Seward is right: I know nothing of her, except she is the bravest girl I know. That, and when I am with her I feel brave as well.

“We’ll get them out,” I whisper, hoping Seward doesn’t hear.

“I don’t blame the people,” Connyr rasps. “Not after the things I’ve done …”

Connyr is no more.

I stand. “Uncle, we have to go toward the museum. Wren
told me it was important to visit it again, and with the fear the building creates inside people, it would also be the Amongus’s last holdout. While I’m there, I need to greet Phale’s wife if she lives, and bring Connyr’s family to safety. I need a boat to do all these things, and I need a crazy pirate to captain it. Basically, I need you. After you help me, I’ll ask you for no more favors. You may disappear from my life if you want.”

“There will be no after,” he says dryly. “We’ll all perish in the attempt.”

I climb back into his boat and help Talya over the rail. “What would you do if you could see your brother again?”

My uncle raises his hand. “I’m not fallin’ for this manipulation.”

“What would you tell him?” I ask.

Seward glances warily at me. “I’d say, ‘Not a day passes without me bein’ proud. Not a day passes without me feelin’ regret.’ And I’d tell him he raised a son who puts me to shame … Blast it, Luca. Find one of the scum about my size. If we’re going to do this, I’ll need to look the part.”

I pull the red uniform off the nearest man and locate an intact dial. “Here you go. I bet you always wanted one of these.”

Moments later, Seward, every bit the Amongus, churns the boat toward the mouth of the Swan. My mind focuses. For the first time I have my own hopes, my own dreams. And I think I love Talya.

What a time for my world to end.

But the thought of Father still buoys me. I haven’t seen him for months, but every moment I feel it more strongly — he’s still the center of everything. What will I say when I see his face?

Not a day passes without me being proud. Not a day passes without me feeling regret. And I love you
.

S
eward idles the engine at the mouth to the Swan.

“Can you keep this lumbering jug of a boat in the center of the river?” Seward pulls me toward him. “If the shoreline be held by looters, then perhaps an Amongus like me running the shoot is a dangerous proposition.”

Seward sits low in the hull, and I move to take the wheel. “Anything I need to know?”

“Go fast, mate. Go fast. And do not stop. When you reach the inlet, I’ll take over, and you two become my children. If the Fates favor, we’ll be allowed into the safe zone Connyr spoke of. If it remains.” He winces. “But we’ll never get in with your hair … Talya, search below deck for some hats or hoods.”

We race toward the river, gaining speed and volume. Its mouth is not hard to find. Bonfires fueled by the keels of ships rage on either side, and kids stand, arrows in hand, waving us nearer.

Friend or foe? Friend or foe?

Seward covers himself in a blanket. “Just don’t stop.”

I reach the mouth and wave. From the left bank, a cautious wave back. I fly through the channel and peek over my shoulder at the boy who returned my gesture.

Lendi!

I slow and turn the wheel. Seward’s hand reaches up and yanks the boat straight. “What’s controlled you, lad? This is no time for delay.”

Shuff
.

An arrow pierces the bulkhead and I duck, throttle to full.
Shuff
. Another lodges in the seat behind me.

“Stay below, Talya!”

I drop to my knees and we churn forward. From the shore, I hear voices. “He shot the gap! To the boats!” A firing of distant engines, and soon I’m pursued.

“Going below, mate. You best not be seen with an Amongus right now.” Seward crawls toward the steps and tumbles into the hold. A moment later, he pokes up his head. “Just don’t stop.”

I grab Seward’s hooded windcoat and throw it over my shoulders.

Words. I need the words to speak
.

My pursuer’s speedboats make short work of my head start, and they quickly pull alongside both on the left and right.

“Ease, mate,” a boy shouts. “It’s only the water we want.”

“Then why shoot at me?”

“Because it’s a quicker way to the goal than to spend all this time gabbin’.”

I do not slow. I stare straight ahead and feel their gazes.

“A different look about this one, eh, Jerome? A sympathizer for sure.”

My mind whirs. “Been shrimping for a month off the eastern
coast. What’s happened here? Aren’t you concerned about an undoing?”

Jerome sneers. “By whom? The Amongus are the ones undone in New Pert.” A cheer goes up. “We live for today. And tomorrow. Not many tomorrows left, you know. Here, at the end of all things, the Amongus and soon the PM will feel what we have felt all our lives … the only feeling granted us. Fear!”

Shouts of support rise from his mates; I glance into the boat and quickly face forward.

Do I reveal who I am? Would that give them hope?

“Is it like this everywhere?” I ask.

“To be sure, and worse. Rallies are held each evening at the amphitheater. The sectors have fallen. The Council is silent, the Amongus isolated and controlled, except for the fortunate few airlifted from downtown by those accursed kopters.” Jerome pauses. “But enough. You seem a likable bloke. Give up your water casks and we’ll let you on your way, though I don’t recommend the way you’re heading.”

“I have none.”

He scoffs. “That was not the correct answer. Lendi, ready your bow!”

My thoughts spin.
I need help. I need it now!

“Tell me,” I blurt. “Has Glaugood fallen?”

“There is nothing to be gained in that refuge for the weak.”

I wipe my brow. “But have you checked the caves? There may be a stash. An ancient hoard. Especially in a lower cave, untouched by the sea. What’s found might be enough to send your best mate into a year-long wrinkle.”

A cry from the rear of the boat. Lendi presses forward. “P — p-perhaps we let this one by. Just this one. He’s one man,
and the water he would possess after a month away means hardly a swallow for each of us.”

I would embrace my friend if I could, no matter what the outcome might be. Lendi reaches out his hand and strokes the shrimper’s hull, then turns toward his companions, his voice strengthening. “So much blood already tonight.”

A calm surrounds us. “Lendi, I don’t know what’s filled you,” says Jerome, “but you’ve filled my barrel many times over this evening. Stay your hand.”

Lendi clears his throat. He will not look at me, but I feel his shame.

“How far do you intend to keep this course?” Lendi speaks, his voice tender.

My voice breaks. “Until I find a welcome.”

“If … if you carry on to the inlet, know that the north side — the downtown — remains in Amongus hands. There, I don’t think you’ll receive this kindness. Maybe … maybe you could turn aside now. There are places to rest, safe places I could show you …”

“You speak as though you’ve stumbled on your kin. The fool’s choices are his own. Death soon or death now. His choice to make. To shore!” Jerome shoves Lendi toward the aft of the boat, and the flotilla peels away from the shrimper. I risk one last look at my mate. He stands statued, his face buried in his hands. They lower toward me, cup and raise. I return the gesture.

“Thank you, mate,” I whisper. “Thank you.”

Seward crawls up on deck, with Talya close behind.

“Quick thinkin’, lad.”

Talya whacks Seward hard on the shoulder. “I knew he could lead us. When will you stop doubting him?”

“I just …” He massages his arm. “It seemed a might tough scrape, is all.”

But their compliments don’t take hold. Lendi. Blood? My childhood friend. It’s only been days since I’ve seen him. Since he was compliant, obedient. My best friend is corrupted by freedom, like the entire surface world. He has become a victim of himself.

I need to reach that museum
.

We motor on, and though shouts echo from each shore, no boats venture out to meet us and the water is strangely quiet. Ships have always been hard to come by in New Pert, but those with means spent their evenings on the Swan. Wrinkles were harder to detect, which made the waterway ideal for unauthorized trading and unregistered meetings. But tonight we own the river.

The Swan widens and the current slows. I breathe deep.
The inlet
. Seward rises and takes the wheel. I stand by Talya and stare to the south where fires rage, but to the north all is still.

“We go north, children. Luca, your name is Radney.” Seward folds his arms. “Do you like that name?”

“It’s a strong name.”

Seward looks away, and when he turns back he is not the same. “It was the name of my son.”

My mouth hangs, waiting. Waiting for an explanation, for a story.

You had a son?

“Close your yammer.” His face twitches. “You’ll get no satisfaction from me on the issue.” Moments pass, and his voice falls, his tone mocks. “Lass, you speak so well of Phale. You jump so quickly to Connyr’s aid.” He swallows. “But no father should have to pull his own son up from the depths.”

My eyes widen. I want to know what happened, but he says no more.

His silence speaks; that’s all for now.