Sunspire (The Reach, Book 4) (37 page)

She turned and found the next clump of blackness, entered within it, then did the same once again.  Then again, and again.  She became lost in the process of hauling those tendrils of illumination, repeating it over and over, dragging the light with her as she went, and time seemed to stand still.  She became almost like a machine, moving from place to place, never quitting until she could be sure that she was free, that the cold darkness had been eradicated and could no longer trap her here.

At some point, she reencountered the warmth once again, that feeling of being home, and then the space around her seemed to dissolve.

She awoke to find Tobias standing nearby, hunched over the console.  It took a moment for her to realise where she was and what had happened.  She’d become so disorient
ated within his mind that she’d forgotten about reality altogether.

Then it came back to her.

The railcar.  Had it already hit bottom?  Was Knile dead?

She struggled to her feet, and immediately saw that something was different about Tobias.  His cheeks were flushed, and there was a sharpness in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before.

And his fingers were working away at the terminal before him.

“Tobias,” she croaked, her throat dry, “what’re you–?”

“I remember,” he said breathlessly.  “I remember it now.  Almost all of it, I think.”

“Remember what?”

“I weren’t always no trash man, Ursalina Ballerina.  No,
not at all.  Good ol’ Tobias was part of the railcar maintenance crew, back in the days before his memory went bad.”  He tapped at the console.  “Now, I never was no engineer, but I used this system plenty of times for repair jobs.”  He looked at her, his eyes sparkling.  “I can work it.”

The console beeped, and a message appeared.

Remote location online
.  Then,
Warning, Earthside power low.

“What did you do?” Ursie said.

“
This end of the link is the master.  It can turn the other side off and on, as long as you know what you’re doin’.  So now we’ve got a link downstairs!” he exclaimed.  “Control from both ends.  We can do things with the railcar, no?”

She frowned uncertainly.  “By that you mean–
?”

“Your friends ain’t dead, and nor are we.  This might take me a minute, but… we should be able to touch that railcar down as soft as a duck’s behind.”

Ursie stared at
the old man in disbelief.  What exactly was going on here?  How had this happened?

She thought back to when she had entered his mind, how she had repeatedly banished the darkness within.  That act of connecting one part of light to another… had she somehow reconnected those damaged and broken neural pathways within Tobias’ mind, reforming links that had been eroded throughout the years?

Had she somehow reversed the process of decay that had crippled his memory?

Was that even possible?

At this point, she didn’t care how it had happened.  Their miracle had been delivered, with a fucking
bow
on top.

She fumbled for the comms button, almost falling over herself in excitement.

“Knile,” she said.  “Good news!”

45

The lightning flashed outside, and the silhouette of a man was briefly revealed over by the railcar landing dock.  Stoic and still, it almost seemed like a statue, a broad-shouldered gargoyle left to the whim of the elements.

“He’s still there,” Roman said, joining Talia at the window.  He scrubbed at the grime with his sleeve, then leaned forward for a better look.  “What’s he doing?”

Talia waited for the lightning to flicker again.  When it did, she saw that Norrey was in the same place as before, patiently standing and looking up at the sky as the rain tumbled down around him.

“I guess he finished his sweep of the area,” she said.

“So why hasn’t he moved the whole time he’s been out there?”

Talia considered that.  Since she and Roman had started their exploration of Sunspire’s interior fifteen minutes ago, they’d seen Norrey from three different vantage points – the window in what might have been a cafeteria, the dormitory, and now from this kitchen.  Each time he had looked just as he did now – standing still and straight, patiently awaiting the arrival of the railcar.

“Maybe he decided the railcar should be his main focus.”

Roman gave her a sceptical look.  “Come on, Tal.  Don’t tell me there aren’t alarm bells going off in your head right now.”

She glanced around the filthy
tiled floor of the kitchen and wrung her hands together.  Perhaps she hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself, but now that Roman had voiced his concerns, she couldn’t deny that she shared them.

“Okay.  I don’t entirely trust Norrey and Kolos.  But, in saying that, if they wanted to kill us or rob us, why wait until we’ve climbed all the way to the top of Sunspire Mountain?  They could have done it down in the lowlands and saved themselves the trouble.”

“Maybe they were hoping we’d lead them to a bigger score.”

“And if they were, what exactly could we do about that?  They’re toting assault rifles, for goodness sake.  Not to mention they’re built like brick shithouses
.”

“So we’re basically their prisoners?”

“I’m not saying that.  We just need to be careful about how we handle this.  Up to this point they’ve done nothing to suggest they mean us harm.”

“But you still don’t trust them.”

She gave him a little smile.  “I don’t trust anyone.”

Talia sensed someone had arrived, and a moment later there was a voice behind them.

“There you are.”  They turned to see Kolos standing in the doorway of the kitchen, shrouded in gloom, his assault rifle slung over his arm.  He looked about, a bemused smile on his face.  “What happened?  You getting some exercise?”

“Just taking one final look around the complex,” Talia said.  “Mak
ing sure we don’t have any last-minute surprises.”

“Smart move,” Kolos said.  “Although, we really should head back to the control room now.  Your friends are due any minute.”

“Yeah.  Sure.”  Talia lifted a hand to Roman’s shoulder and guided him toward the door.  “We’re coming.”

Kolos stepped aside.  “After you.”

She kept her head low as she passed the bodyguard, hoping to hide the growing uneasiness within her.  There was something predatory about Kolos now.  He was more confident, even brazen, as if all along he’d been wearing a mask of reservedness that was now beginning to slip.

They marched back toward the control room, through the dormitory foyer, Kolos not far behind.  Out the window she could now see shimmering light from above, and she realised that the railcar was now within view.  It was perhaps only a minute or two away from touching down.  She even thought she could hear the sound of it over the thrum of rain on the roof.

“Look!” Roman said, pointing.  “They’re here!”

“Told you,” Kolos said.  “Come on, let’s keep moving.”

Talia and Roman did as he suggested.  The sound of Kolos’ boots behind her
was like a
heavy drum beat, setting the tempo of a death march.  Now she felt sick to her stomach.  Her intuition was telling her that she’d made a grave mistake somewhere along the line, and that it was too late now to correct it.  Part of her argued that she was overreacting, that the excitement of Knile’s imminent arrival was screwing with her judgement, but it did not diminish her unease.

Not in the slightest.

They moved through the old cafeteria, and when they were half-way across, a voice suddenly emanated from the darkness.

“Stop.”

Her heart caught in her throat, and she wheeled about, trying to locate the owner of the voice.  The cafeteria was indistinct in the darkness, full of shadows, but she thought she saw someone standing at the edge of an old vending machine that had been stripped of its contents.

Kolos moved quickly, ducking down behind a table and swinging his rifle up into the ready position.

“Put the rifle down,” the intruder said.  “My partner has you covered from the other side of the room.”

Talia looked about helplessly.  Who was this?  What did they want?  And why in hell had they arrived right as the railcar was about to dock?

“Yeah, give me a reason to put a round through your skull,” said another voice, female this time, coming from behind a counter on the other side of the room.

“No chance,” Kolos growled, maintaining a low profile behind the table.

Something twigged in Talia’s mind, and realisation came to her.

She knew these voices.

“Duran?” she said, disbelieving.

Illumination blossomed overhead, and Talia turned to see Zoe over by a light switch behind the counter.  In the other direction, it was indeed none other than Alec Duran behind the vending machine.

Both of them were wet and bedraggled, their clothes clinging to their skin.

“Yeah, it’s us,” Duran said, never taking his sights off the table behind which Kolos had deposited himself.

“You know these people?” Kolos said.  “Are they friends?”

“I don’t know if I’d call them that,” Talia said.  She glanced between Zoe and Duran.  “What are you two doing here?”

“Believe it or not, we came to help you,” Zoe said.

“Help how?”

“The guys you’re with,” Duran said.  “The ones you met at the dirigible place.  Do you know who they are?”

“Norrey and Kolos?  They’re bodyguards–”

“No, they’re not,” Duran said.  “Far from it.”

“This one is treacherous,” Kolos said.  “He’s after something.  Isn’t it obvious?”

Zoe began to move away from the counter, attempting to flank Kolos, but the bodyguard responded by loosing a volley of rounds in her direction.  The noise
was thunderous.

Zoe scrambled back for cover.

“Hey!” Talia yelled.  “Don’t go killing each other before we’ve sorted this shit out.”

“He doesn’t want that,” Zoe said.  “He doesn’t want you to hear the truth.”

“Which is?” Talia said.

“They’re Redmen,” Duran said.  “Him and his friend.”

Talia almost guffawed at the absurdity of the notion.  She had a bad feeling about Norrey and Kolos, that was for sure, but Redmen?  That made no sense at all.

She looked at Kolos, but his face betrayed no emotion.

“These guys?” Talia said.  “I think you’ve got your wires crossed, Duran–”

“Their names are Nurzhan and Kazimir,” Duran went on.  “I promise you, they’re Redmen.  They served in the consulate under that bastard Jon Hanker.  We looked up their details.
”

“What?” Talia scoffed.  “No, they’re the bodyguards for a lowlife from Link.  You remember him back at Bagley’s?  A guy by the name of Gernot–”

Something came spinning out of Zoe’s hand, over the counter in Talia’s direction, and she snatched it out of the air.

It was a holophone displaying a still frame image from what looked like a television broadcast.  Three men were pictured therein:
Consul Jon Hanker, and behind him Norrey and Kolos, the latter two dressed in the garb of the Crimson Shield – impossible, but true.

She lifted her eyes and stared
at Kolos again.  Now he had a look of grim determination about him, like someone who knew the game was up and who was preparing for the fallout.

“What the fuck…?” Talia breathed.

“How many other Redmen are here?” Duran said.  “Did they meet anyone?  Is Hanker here?”

“No one else is here,” Talia said, numb.  She placed the holophone down on the table next to her, still not quite believing what she was seeing.

“Where’s Silvestri?” Duran said.  “Get him over–”

Kolos swung his rifle upward and fired at Duran, who ducked for cover as the vending machine was peppered with bullets.  Talia suddenly realised her own danger and slid behind the table, and from the corner of her eye she saw Roman diving over the counter to join Zoe.