Phoenix Rising (24 page)

Nell stood still, her chest bared.

Ayla stepped closer to her mother. “I-I didn’t know. I’ve never seen—” She raised a hand and let it fall. “Does it hurt?”

“Of course it hurts.” Nell turned slowly, giving the crew a clear look at the hideous scarring that covered her whole left side, from just below her ear to the top of her trousers. The burn still looked agonising, as if it had barely healed.

“Some of you may be thinking that my second in command is right.” She spread her arms, showing herself. “Some of you might be asking yourselves if it would be good to have a
fleet
.” She spat the word. “To work with the
Phoenix
, who, after all, was once strong enough to fight us to a standstill. Well, do you really think it is a good idea to trust the man who did this to a woman he called
friend
?”

“Liar.” Toby jumped from behind Barnaby. “My father never touched you.”

Barnaby nodded. “The boy’s right.” He put a heavy hand on Toby’s shoulder, holding him back. “I never did that.”

Nell started to shudder and when she turned back to them Toby flinched at the expression on her face – she looked like a goddess, burning with fury.

“Years I’ve waited for you to see what you did to me, for you to feel my pain.” She talked only to Barnaby. “And now you deny it.” She raised her knife and stabbed it into the air, as though she was stabbing him in the eye. “You say you did nothing? You did this to me as surely as if you set the fire yourself.”

She turned back to her audience. “You know that I worked for St George. You know that I worked with this monster.” She pointed at Barnaby. “You know that he
called me
friend
,” she sneered.

“We
were
friends.” Barnaby strode forward, but Harris dropped Crocker and moved to block him.

“We were never friends.” Nell shook her head and spoke to her crew. “Barnaby argued with the Greymen. They wanted him to use his genius to make weapons for St George, but he wouldn’t. I was working late and I overheard them when they decided to take his son and hold him hostage to force Barnaby to do as they asked.”

“That never happened.” Toby shook his head.

“You wouldn’t remember, Toby,” Barnaby whispered.

Toby stared at his father, eyes wide.

“I told Barnaby their intention and he made a plan to escape,” Nell continued. “He was going to collect Toby from school and run with him to the
Phoenix
. I was to find his wife, take her to the shipyard and get her on board. He wanted me to join them, too, but I loved my job.” She shook her head incredulously. “I didn’t want to go on the run. So I planned to return to my own family afterwards and pretend I knew nothing.”

Ayla swallowed, never taking her eyes from her mother’s lips. “Family?” she murmured, but Nell ignored her.

“His
bitch
wife worked security for the facility. I found her but had to wait for her to leave her post before I could take her to the meeting point. Once there we found that
Barnaby had already left in the
Phoenix
with his son. He didn’t wait.”

“I had no choice.” Barnaby choked. “They were on to us. I tried to go back for her. For you. But sailing back into St George would have meant giving ourselves up. Once we were safe I tried to contact her, but I had no way of knowing if my messages were getting through. We never heard from her again.”

Nell ignored him. “When I realized he had abandoned her, I hid Judy in my own home. I thought Barnaby might get a message to me. I still thought to reunite him with his wife. Ben wasn’t happy. He said I was putting him and the girls in danger, but I disagreed.” Now Nell laughed, bitterly. “I said there was no way the Greymen knew I was involved.” She shook her head. “And it was true – they didn’t know I was involved. Not until Judy told them.”

Barnaby staggered backwards as if he’d been punched. “She didn’t.”

Nell sneered. “Judy decided that she didn’t fancy a life on the run any more than I did. She wanted you caught and your son returned to her. So she waited until we were asleep, went back to the facility and gave us up. The soldiers came at dawn. Ben was already dead and the house on fire when I woke. Freya burned in her bed.” Her voice was shaking now, barely comprehensible. Toby leaned closer, unable to stop
listening, but nauseated with horror.

“Astrid was on the top bunk, Ayla on the bottom. Astrid was already unconscious. I couldn’t carry both twins and with one of them unconscious and the fire already at the door. I had to choose. So I grabbed Ayla. I hid her in a bush outside the kitchen window. Then I went back for Astrid … but the flames.” She indicated her own body. “I had to let my family burn.” She swallowed. “I heard the soldiers laughing, but they hadn’t spotted us. A neighbour helped us escape. I knew where the
Banshee
was berthed so I boarded, worked my way up the ranks and here we are.” She pulled her shirt closed. “You still want to work with the man who abandoned his wife?” She looked at Ayla. “Who killed your sisters and your father?”

Toby tore his gaze from Nell to stare at Ayla. Her face looked as though it had caved in.

“Astrid,” she breathed. “I thought she was an imaginary friend. I didn’t remember.”

“You blocked it all out.” Nell lifted her coat and put it back on, closing it over her chest like armour. “You understand now why I hate him? Why I want him to suffer, as we have suffered, and why I will never,
ever
work with the
Phoenix
?”

Ayla nodded. Her eyes flickered past Toby’s and down.

“How could you blame me for this? I knew nothing
of it.” The deck rang as Barnaby strode forward. “Be reasonable, Nell.”

This time Ayla spun in front of Nell, her sword lifting. “Get off our ship, Captain Ford, while you have the chance.”

Toby touched his mouth with a trembling finger. “It’s over, then,” he murmured.

“How can it be anything else?” Ayla’s back was straight, but her voice was pricked with pain. “After what your family has done to mine.”

Toby shook his head but said nothing. He kneeled by Peel and Barnaby helped him lift the cook.

“Crocker,” Barnaby snapped. The
Banshee
crew, with no further instructions, allowed Peel’s brother to join his crewmates.

Nell growled. “What are you doing? I never said to let them go!”

Ayla held a hand to her mother’s arm. “Release them, Captain. This time.”

Nell glanced at the bridge and nodded, slowly, exhausted. “This time, Barnaby. But never again.”

“Download complete.” Polly’s squawk rent the air and Toby’s eyes widened.

“Polly!” He looked towards Nell, who was suddenly grinning and rubbing her hands.

“Bring it here.” She nodded to Harris, who entered the bridge and exited with Polly dangling from one hand. If it was possible for a metal bird to look bedraggled, Polly did.

“You gave it a personality, Barnaby, so it’s no use to me.” Nell took Polly from Harris and shook her. Her wings rattled and Boudicca went wild.

“You think you’re the only one to keep your old skills?” Nell continued bitterly. “I’ve hacked the AI’s system and downloaded everything it knows.” Nell grinned and tossed Polly overboard. “I guess it’s a race to those solar panels after all, Barnaby.”

Toby was already running to the gunwale, straining to see if Polly had managed to get herself into a glide.

“Now get the hell off my ship,” Nell screamed.

Toby looked back. Ayla was watching him, her face unreadable. He raised a single hand in goodbye and she dropped her chin in a tiny nod. Then Crocker boosted him into
Birdie
. The captain dragged Peel in.

“We need to winch ’er,” Crocker shouted as he leaped after them. “Quick before the bitch changes ’er mind.”

“Everyone hold on!” the captain roared. Then he drew his sword, cut through the rope and Toby screamed as
Birdie
dropped through the air.

A few hours later, Toby sat in the crow’s nest with Hiko at his feet. His eyes were covered by a light sun-gauze, but instead of watching the horizon, his eyes kept returning to
Birdie
. She had barely managed to get them back to the
Phoenix
. Her metal casing had been cracked during their brutal smash into the sea and Toby had been forced to bail frantically, his hands peeling from the acid salt, as Crocker and the captain rowed them home.

From habit, he reached a bandaged hand up to locate Polly’s soft feathers. When his fingertips met sun-warmed metal Toby hesitated, then stroked her anyway. She wobbled on his shoulder.

Toby strained to see the
Banshee
; she was a vanishing dot in the distance, but at least the
Phoenix
was able to sail in her wake. The lack of junk in the way meant the paddles could move them a little faster. But not fast enough – the
Banshee
was winning the race to the solar panels.

“They don’t have enough fuel to get them all the way.” Toby stroked her again. “You just wait and see. The
Banshee
will have to slow down to conserve energy and then we’ll pass her.”

Polly bobbed up and down, wildly anxious. “She set up a program to bypass my firewalls on that piece of trash she called a computer. Where did she even get the batteries? That’s what I want to know.” Polly rubbed her head on Toby’s cheek. “She immobilized me, Toby, or I would have escaped. Honestly.”

“No one blames you, Polly.” Toby stroked her and stared after the
Banshee
. His eyes supplied the outline of her shape, but he knew that he was seeing what he wanted to see. Although all the sails on the
Phoenix
were open and the paddles were working at full speed, she couldn’t compete with the engines of a warship.

Toby clenched his fists. Nell was almost out of fuel, running on fumes. He repeated the phrase like a mantra. Soon the
Banshee
would be dead in the water. She had to be, because if she got the solar panels fitted and found someone to translate the map, she would find the island first.

Hiko laid his head on Toby’s leg, quietly comforting him. Toby forced a smile. “I never said thanks, Hiko.”

“For what?” Hiko looked up.

“For telling the captain where I was. You were right
about Ayla all along. She was Banshee through and through.”

“She let you out, you said so.” Hiko fidgeted. “Maybe you’ll see her again.”

Toby nodded. “Probably. As an enemy.” He looked down at the deck again to find Simeon showing D’von how to coil rope. The former dock rat was laughing and his shoulders were relaxed. How quickly he had come to believe that the
Phoenix
was a safe haven. Simeon whooped and a cheer rose from all around the boat.

Toby grabbed the comms tube. “What is it?” He held the earpiece close to his ear and grinned as the garbled message reached him.

“What’s happening?” Hiko squirmed to his knees. His knuckles were white on the railing, but he looked down nevertheless.

“Dee woke up.” Toby felt like dancing, but instead sat down carefully. “Dee’s going to be all right.” He smiled. “I’m even happy that Peel won’t die on us.” His eyes tracked the celebration below. “Why don’t you go and join them?” he said to Hiko. “You’ve seen me abseil down. You can do it.”

“I-I don’t know.” Hiko looked down again. “Do you really think I can?”

“I know you can.” Toby handed him the rope. “I’ll hold
it from the top. If you freeze I’ll just lower you. You’re light enough.”

“All right,” Hiko stammered. He allowed Toby to wrap the rope around his legs and tighten the old leather hand protector that Nisha had found for him. One of Toby’s first, it fitted Hiko perfectly.

“Look at me, not at the deck,” Toby instructed.

Hiko nodded. His teeth were clenched and his hands trembled on the rope. His wide eyes fixed on Toby’s.

“Hold on tight and climb over the railing. You can do it.”

Hiko took a deep breath. Then, in a swift movement, he swung one leg over the crow’s nest, perching on the rail, his hands tight on the rope.

“Now the other one,” Toby said gently. “You’ll be fine. I won’t let you fall.”

Hiko looked down then he swung outwards. Toby held his breath as the younger boy planted his feet perfectly on the main mast. He started to walk down and Toby fed the rope through his hands.

“Halfway there,” Toby shouted. “Keep going, Hiko. You’re a natural.”

At the bottom D’von helped a shaking Hiko from the rope.

“I did it.” Hiko’s triumphant cry was almost whipped away by the wind, but it reached Toby and he smiled.

But he felt empty. “Ayla,” he whispered. Then he settled back in the crow’s nest to watch the horizon.

“Who’s a pretty Polly?” Polly nudged his face and Toby looked up, realizing that his attention had drifted. He tightened his gauze and stared. There was definitely a ship in sight – it was not a trick of his eyes.

“It’s the
Banshee
,” he cried. “I told Hiko we’d catch up. I said, didn’t I?” He grabbed the comms tube. “It’s the
Banshee
. We’re catching them.”

As his message made its way from the bridge to the crew, renewed activity transformed the deck. Her sails were adjusted and, if anything, the
Phoenix
flew faster towards their rival.

The Jolly Roger snapped above his head.

“You’re right, Bones, we’re going to make it.” Toby fixed his eyes on the ship. Somewhere ahead Ayla was working with Nell, helping her try and steal the solar panels out from under the
Phoenix
.

His memory flashed an image of Nell’s scarring. No wonder she had been so angry when Ayla had returned with burns. Toby swallowed. His parents had done that to her; had made her the way she was. Ayla had sisters once – a twin. There had been no need for her to grow up alone. That was the fault of his parents, too. Maybe the
Phoenix
didn’t deserve the solar panels, or the map to the island.

Guilt squirmed in his belly, sickening him. How could Ayla even begin to forgive? He tore his eyes from the
Banshee
’s deck. There was no hope for the two of them.

Only then did Toby realize that the
Banshee
was not alone.

“Polly, do you see that?” Toby leaned as far out of the crow’s nest as he could. “Is the
Banshee
under attack?”

Polly perched on the rail and her glowing eye grew bigger as the lens focused.

“It’s a St George ship. It must have been on its way to Tarifa to pick up the captain.”

Toby’s breath caught. “They’re fighting our battle.”

“The
Banshee
is a pirate ship.” Polly cocked her head. “They’re fighting their own battle. You think St George isn’t as keen on capturing Nell as they are Barnaby?”

As the
Phoenix
chugged closer, the sounds of fighting floated over the sea. Toby’s ears rang with shouts and screams, the boom of cannon, the smash of the
Banshee
’s trebuchet, and the clash of metal on metal.

“They’ve already been boarded! We have to help them.” Toby grabbed the speaking tube. “The
Banshee
is under attack from St George,” he screamed.

Below, the cheering intensified.

“We have to help them.” Toby swung from the crow’s
nest and raced down the pylon. “What are you doing?” he yelled, dropping to the deck. “We have to help them. They’re losing.”

“Good.” Crocker spat a gob of phlegm on to the gangway. “Hope they all die.”

“No.” Toby ran to the gunwale and gripped it hard. “We can team up and take the St George by surprise. They’re fighting the
Banshee
so they might not have seen us.”

A large hand dropped on to his shoulder. He looked up into his father’s eyes.

“We have to help them, don’t we?” Toby strained, as if he could reach the
Banshee
himself. They were close enough now to see pirates on deck and his eye was drawn to two black-coated figures, standing back to back, fighting like whirlwinds.

Captain Barnaby held him still and pinned him with a steady gaze. “Toby, do you really want to put our own crew in danger to help a captain who has promised to kill us the next time we meet? They don’t want our aid.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help them,” Toby pleaded.

The captain shook his head. “That’s exactly what it means.” He turned back to the crew. “Set a course to bypass the battle. Now we can get those panels.”

“It’s wrong.” But already the
Phoenix
was turning.

Miserably, Toby began to climb back up the pylon, automatically finding old hand- and foot-holds.

He watched from the crow’s nest until the two warring ships blurred into one and vanished over the horizon. Soon the only thing left to see behind the
Phoenix
was the junk clogging in their wake.

Ahead, waves were breaking in a pattern that showed Toby something large had sunk just below the surface of the ocean.

“What are our coordinates, Polly?” he asked.

“We should be almost there.” Her glowing eye pulled at him. “Have you spotted something?”

Toby nodded and reached for the speaking tube. “Salvage mission!”

He acknowledged the excited reply and replaced the tube on its hook, but he made no movement as the paddles slowed. Instead he rubbed his stubbled head. He should be running to get to the boiler room, but first he wanted one last look back.

“We haven’t seen the last of the
Banshee
, Polly, I’m sure of that.”

Toby helped Polly into his shirt, grabbed the rope and jumped. When he was a body length above the crew’s
heads, Toby swung outwards. A whoop burst from his chest.

“Let’s get those panels!”

They were alive and free and with the solar panels they would rule the seas.

It was the turn of the
Phoenix
to rise.