Reckoning (16 page)

Imrin is so easy to talk to but, while we continue to meet when it is safe to do so, I feel an impending sense that my time is running out as two more boys and another girl disappear. She simply did not return to the dorm after work. No one told us anything, and none of us dared to ask. A day later and a bed and wardrobe are removed from our room. We whisper to each other about her being sent abroad and married off, or imprisoned and punished, but none of us knows. Perhaps she is just a reminder that we should never feel too comfortable.

As time passes, my clothes begin to feel looser, even though Imrin is bringing food for me almost every evening. I tell him not to but I can tell from the way he looks at me that he has noticed how thin I am becoming.

Eventually, after hours of talking through improbable, if not impossible, circumstances that could lead to our escape, between us we come to the conclusion that the only way we know that definitely provides a way out is the way we came in – on a shuttle train. Imrin says there is a delivery of food once a week on a regular time and day, but neither of us knows how we can get to it unseen.

Each day I walk a slightly different route from the dorm to the stairwell where we entered, before moving on to the laboratories. Most areas are covered by cameras but, in the short moments that Porter leaves me alone, I check the security system I had access to on my first day and note the angles and coverage of each device. It takes a few days but I am able to plot a route which can get me from the lab to the stairwell while only being caught on camera three times – in places which wouldn't be unusual.

It takes me longer to figure out something similar for Imrin as I am unfamiliar with the parts of the castle in which he works – and being spotted around there without a good reason is not a good idea. It takes a while, but eventually we have a way to get to the stairwell without raising suspicion.

On a morning on which the delivery isn't due, we do a test run. I tell Porter I have forgotten something in the dorm and then hurry along the route I have memorised, reaching the corridor by the stairwell a few moments after Imrin does. We pass each other with nothing more than a nod before returning to work but that night we talk excitedly about what we are going to do when we get out. It is still a fantasy, of course, but the feeling that we have achieved something worthwhile is enough to keep us planning.

The biggest problem is getting through the door that seals the passage to the train from the rest of the castle. On the wall next to the entrance stairwell is a scanner of some sort. It is a silver, square-shaped box fixed to the wall at waist height that has a white reflective panel on the front and looks a little like the surface of a thinkpad. Neither of us has seen one before, and there don't appear to be any others in obvious places around the castle. I find myself going out of my way to walk past it when I can, hoping there will be a careless Kingsman showing off its secrets but there never is. One time, I take a risk, brushing my think-watch against it but it doesn't even have the good grace to beep a warning at me. Instead it does nothing.

The nights have been getting colder, so when Imrin and I meet we sit a little inside the passage that leads to the girls' dorm. Our forays out after dark are now so frequent that we have amassed a small selection of blankets pilfered from our rooms and we huddle underneath them whispering to each other, our spot dimly illuminated by the faint trickle of white moonlight through the gap around the hidden door.

‘Talk me through your delivery day,' I suggest as we try to figure out a way around the problem.

‘It always happens at the same time,' Imrin starts. ‘We spend an hour and a half rearranging all the supplies we still have to make sure we have room for the new produce. There's loads of it from all around the country: frozen meat joints and fish, plus fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs and so on. Everything is divided up into the areas they came from.'

‘Why?'

‘I don't know. Perhaps it is to measure each area's usefulness? It's odd but I always get a little buzz when I see the crates from the West.'

I understand what he means. It is probably down to the years of growing up in one place, isolated from anyone who comes from a different Realm.

He sounds embarrassed, so I try to reassure him. ‘Last week, Porter received a crate of new parts which he said came from the North. When I saw the markings on the side, I felt that same spark.'

He shuffles closer so our shoulders are touching as he pulls the blanket up higher until just our faces are poking out. The passage is chilly and I can see small streams of breath escaping into the gloom as we talk.

‘What happens with the delivery?' I ask.

‘There are four Kingsmen – the same people each week.'

‘Are they from the castle?'

‘I don't think so. Their uniforms are slightly different colours and they don't have the King's seal that the ones around here do.'

‘So they probably come from the train?'

‘I suppose. They bring each Realm's produce one at a time because it takes the four of them to carry it all. It is a mixture of foods, most of it we use, some we don't. I'm not even sure I know what it all is.'

‘We know it takes roughly five minutes to walk from the passageway to the kitchen, so that's forty minutes or so for return journeys that take in all four Realms' food supplies. What do you do during that time?'

‘We all unpack and stack.'

‘Would you be able to sneak away?'

Imrin sighs. ‘I'd never be allowed to go for a toilet break, or anything official, but I suppose among all the madness, if I was careful, I could get out without being noticed. It would be risky.'

‘Okay, so let's say the third delivery has arrived and everyone in the kitchen is running around frantically. The Kingsmen leave and you manage to sneak out, following our route to the exit. Because you have to go the longer way around, you would be getting there more or less as the Kingsmen would be coming back out with the final amount of food.'

‘Right, so if you arrive at around that time, it gives us ten minutes or so to get down the steps and find our way onto the train.'

A faint breeze skims through the air. We are largely sheltered by the hidden doors at either end but the temperature still drops slightly. I start massaging my hands together but Imrin takes them in his and rubs them, instantly making me feel warmer. Despite the cold and the fact we are sitting, I feel far more comfortable here than I do in bed.

‘What haven't we figured out?' he asks.

‘Assuming the Kingsmen close it behind them, we are going to have to get through the door at the top of the steps – but we also don't know if there will be any other Kingsmen waiting at the bottom.'

‘What are we going to do if there are?'

I don't reply for a moment because there is no simple answer. ‘If we want to get out, we are going to have to take a risk at some point.'

It is Imrin's turn to stay silent as I watch his breath spiralling into oblivion. The light catches the browner parts of his eyes as they stare into the darkness across from us. I can almost hear his mind ticking over as he thinks the same thoughts as me.

‘Will there be anything in your system about that door?' Imrin asks.

‘Not on the machines I have access to but Porter has far more on his. I've seen things over his shoulder before and occasionally he has set things up for me to use. It might be on there.'

‘Will you be able to get access to it?'

‘Not easily.'

‘You don't have to, we can find another way.'

Imrin sounds sincere but I know he is simply trying to give me a get-out; we both know what I am going to have to do.

‘I'll make you a deal,' I say. ‘On this week's delivery day, you try to disappear for five minutes and see if you're missed. Meanwhile, I'll do what I can to find out how to get through the door.'

‘Are you sure you'll be okay?'

‘No … are you?'

‘No.'

We turn to face each other and have to stifle our giggles as somehow the prospect of being caught seems hilarious.

I spend the rest of the week trying to watch Porter as much as I think I can get away with. On one occasion, he allows me to use his computer to complete a task but he spends the whole time hovering around the office, although I don't think he is suspicious. Imrin and I have agreed not to meet until after that week's delivery as it isn't worth pushing our luck until we have the information we need. As I spend the lonely evenings surrounded by people who either won't talk to me, or who I am too embarrassed to talk to, I start to miss him but my dreams are a cluttered mish-mash of memories. Some nights I am with Opie, laughing and joking in the secret passageway, while others I am fighting and playing with Imrin in the woods outside Martindale. The two are interchangeable in my thoughts and I don't know how to separate them.

The morning before the next food delivery, I arrive in the labs to find Lumin sitting at Porter's desk, tapping away at a thinkpad. I try to act casually, scanning my thinkwatch to get onto my machine before continuing with my work in the silence I am so used to before I finally ask the obvious. ‘Where's Porter?'

‘Kingsman Porter,' Lumin snaps back.

‘Where's Kingsman Porter?' I correct myself, trying to sound calm.

‘Not here.'

His tone is dismissive but I don't want to push him too much by trying to undermine whatever authority he thinks he has over me.

‘Do you know how long he's going to be?'

‘Yes.'

‘How long?'

‘Until he gets back.'

Lumin is still tapping away and hasn't looked up. It is pretty clear he is unwilling to tell me anything, so I try a different track. ‘I'm working on a project for him and need a bit of help.'

‘What project?' Lumin still doesn't look up but his fingers have stopped fizzing around the thinkpad. I know I've got him.

‘I'm not supposed to say.'

‘Why not?'

‘He told me not to.'

It is a complete fabrication but Lumin reacts as I hoped he would, spinning around to face me and glaring in annoyance.

‘Why would he trust you with something and not me?'

‘I don't know. If it's any consolation, he didn't mention you personally – he just told me not to tell anyone about it.'

The lie flows easily and I know Lumin won't follow it up with Porter. He will be too annoyed at the prospect of Hari finding out.

‘He probably feels it is something beneath me.' Lumin's eyes flare across the room, daring me to dispute it and tell him it is because I'm better than he is. I know how easy it would be to push his buttons but let it go with a shrug.

‘So do you know when he is going to be back?'

Lumin looks at his thinkwatch. ‘Around an hour.'

That means I have an hour to get onto his machine. I could tell Lumin I need to use it for the project but that seems too obvious, plus it wouldn't get him out of the room.

I walk across to a workbench where the crate from the North I mentioned to Imrin is placed and start to rummage through it. There are replacement thinkpad screens, touch sensors, springs, and anything else I would need to rebuild our thinkpads and thinkwatches from scratch. Towards the bottom, I find what I'm looking for and carry it across to where Lumin is sitting.

‘Can you help me with this?' I ask.

He looks at the object and then at me, his eyebrows arched in annoyance. ‘What do you need?'

‘I'm working on a repair job and need this sticky silicon to put it back together but I can't get the lid off.'

The can has a long thin nozzle with a plastic cap, a looped handle at the other end and a trigger that squeezes the gel out. Lumin huffs but takes it from me and tries to pull the lid free. What he doesn't know is that I have already squirted a small amount of the liquid into it and then pushed the lid down hard. It works like a springy glue, holding the cap in place. Lumin struggles as he holds the can and tries to yank it off one-handed. Annoyed at looking weak in front of me, he asks me to hold it and then uses two hands to tug.

I crouch, which allows me angle the nozzle towards his face as he pulls and then, as the cap slips free, I squeeze the trigger hard, shooting a jet of the liquid into his face. To make it seem like more of an accident, I rock backwards, falling until I am on the floor ending up against the wall. My exaggeration is unnecessary as Lumin is shrieking.

It is hard not to feel sorry for him as he tries to claw the liquid out of his eye. As I reach towards him apologising, he brushes me away. ‘Get off,' he yells, pushing me roughly.

‘You should go to medical,' I reply and don't have to fake my concern. I know it won't cause any lasting damage but, having had an accident with an old piece of kit I fished from the scrap outside Martindale, I know it hurts. At first I don't think he is going to listen but then he storms towards the door without a word, slamming it as he leaves.

I check my thinkwatch and know I should have at least fifty minutes before Porter returns. The door to the second part of the lab is firmly closed from this side, so Hari and Mira cannot emerge without knocking, which means there is only one door I have to focus on – the one Lumin just left through.

I sit in front of Porter's machine and work as quickly as I can, scanning through the documents and files and looking for any blueprint or list of specifications that may relate to the scanner by the stairwell. A clatter in the adjacent laboratory makes me pause but there is no knock at the door, so I ignore it. Around half of Porter's files are protected by passwords which I don't try to get through. I do stumble across a floor plan for the boys' dormitory and notice there is no hidden passage on it. I would like to take longer to try to figure out the exact route of the passage to the girls' dormitory but force myself to close the file and keep searching for what I am looking for. I see blueprints for various pieces of technology, some I know, some I don't, before I finally notice a folder marked ‘access' that was hidden away within a list of others.