Sunspire (The Reach, Book 4) (44 page)

This time he knew that he wasn’t coming back.

Duran stood watching the railcar speed toward the darkened heavens, its navigation lights becoming ever
fainter.  The roar that blasted across the mountaintop as it took off soon dulled to nothing more than a distant rumble, like rolling thunder across the horizon, and then it disappeared completely from view amid the background of stars.

“Any regrets?” Zoe said, finally tearing her eyes away from the sky.

Duran turned to look at her.  He thought about their rollercoaster journey over the past few days, about the revelation he’d come to in Link as he’d stood at his father’s deathbed.  In his mind he saw the different outcomes that he could have arrived at: one where he stood over Knile’s dead body, having claimed his revenge; the other, standing here now watching the railcar rocket into the sky.

He saw his mother and father on the day he left to join the Enforcers, their proud faces, and a kid called Jeremy Long, a boy whose life had changed the day Duran had stepped in to stand up for him when no one else would.

“No regrets,” he said.  “We did the right thing.  I’m certain of that.”

Zoe stepped over and slung an arm around his neck, then planted a kiss firmly on his lips.

“We made a difference,” she said.  “We saw a wrong, and we made it right.  That’s all I ever wanted to do, back when I was an Enforcer.  Back when I was in Scimitar.”

“We’re only here because of you, Zoe.”  He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  “You know that, don’t you?  I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

She smiled.  “Yeah, I know.”  She stepped back.  “But what do we do now?”

Duran looked past her, out across the mountaintop, toward the east where the sky was beginning to turn pale as morning approached.

“I don’t know what’s waiting for us out there,” he said soberly.  “I don’t know if we can fix a world that’s as broken as this one.  But maybe… maybe we can still make a difference out there, just like we did here.  I’m not ready to concede that there’s no future on Earth.”

Zoe regarded him coolly, and he thought he saw great admiration in her eyes, and something else… pride?  Respect?

After a moment she nodded and turned away, gazing out toward the horizon.  “I hear things are better out in the east.  Toward the coast.”  She smirked.

“Yeah, I heard that, too.”  He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her to him.  “I guess we head toward the rising sun.”

They stood together for a few minutes more, taking in the sight of the stars above, and then they started on their way, leaving Sunspire Mountain behind them.

50

With the railcar headed back up and the passengers safely on
board, there was nothing left for Ursie to do but wait.  She slid down with her back against the console once more, and unsurprisingly, sleep found her quickly.

It was the first time in a long time that she’d slept soundly and without interruption.  For once, she did not see Jodocus van Asch’s demonic visage leering over her, and nor did she see Knile’s face in the moment of her betrayal back at the Reach.  There were no nightmares at all, no horrific visions of things she’d done or people she’d killed. 

There was only blissful oblivion, and peace.

When she awoke, she came back to consciousness slowly, the transition into to the real world just as serene as her dreams.  The quietude of the transit control room was almost surreal, punctuated only by the intermittent beep of a system monitor – or beacon, or whatever it was – and the sound of her own breathing.

Despite the stiffness and soreness of her body, she felt surprisingly good.  That was due to her mental state more than anything, she decided.  After all of the regretful things she had done over the past weeks, she finally felt as though she had gone some way toward redeeming herself.  Knile and his companions were safe, and soon they would all be leaving here together.  Her role in that outcome had been admittedly small; Tobias was the real hero, saving the railcar from crashing into the ground.  But at least she had been here, been a part of it.  She had done everything in her power to help, and, in the end, she could ask for no more than that.

Beside her, Tobias sniffed loudly, interrupting her reverie.  She turned to see him sitting on the floor next to her, his cheeks wet with tears.

Her blood turned to ice, and a thousand possibilities raced through her head.

Something’s happened to the railcar while I was asleep.  Everyone is dead.

“Oh, god.  Tobias, what’s the matter?  What happened?”

He smiled sheepishly but did not look at her.  “Sorry, kiddo.”

“Sorry for what?”

“For goin’ to pieces on you.”

“Why are you crying?  What’s got you so upset?”

He gave a little chuckle.  “These ain’t tears of sorrow.  These here are tears of joy.”  Now he did look at her through those watery eyes.  “I
remember
.  I remember my little ones.”

“Your little ones?”

“James and Sali.  Little Cassie.”  He laughed, and more tears spilled down his cheeks.  “I remember their names, the sound of their voices.  I remember their
faces
.  You gave them back to me, Ursie.  I don’t know how, but… something happened when you touched me.  It’s like rediscoverin’ myself.  Rediscoverin’ who I am.  The real me.”

Ursie was assaulted by a strange emotion, something she wasn’t sure she had ever felt before – pride in herself
.  At the same time she felt incredibly humbled, and flattered.  She felt her cheeks flush, and tears welling in her own eyes.

She thought of the empty photo frames back in Tobias’ apartment, how he’d thrown out the pictures because he had no longer recognised the people therein.

“Your kids, huh?”

“Uh-huh.  You’d have liked ’em, I know it.  Cassie weren’t much older than you last time I saw her.  Had hair half-way down her back, like spun gold, it was.  James was a rascal as a kid, always gettin’ into trouble.”  He laughed again.  “Let a herd of pigs outta their pen over at the markets one Saturday mornin’, caused a stampede down Vulture Street.  Grew up to be a good man, though.  Smart, responsible.  Independent.  A good leader, I reckon.  And Sali… well, she was her mother through and through.  Kind, thoughtful.  Fussy and neat, mind you.  Particular.  You wouldn’t want to mess up her things.”  He shook his head.  “Always reminded me so much of Gwen that it made my heart ache.”

“What happened to them?  Where are they now?”

“They grew up, went on ahead.  Out into the stars.  I managed to save up enough creds, and more importantly favours, workin’ on the maintenance crew.  I got them a ride up the elevator, and they went on to a better life.”

“Why didn’t you go with them?”

“Didn’t have the creds back then, and it weren’t long after that my mind began to slip.  I lost track of time, of who I was.  I lost track of them, too.”  His smile slipped for the first time.  “I sure hope they forgive me, wherever they are.”

“I’m so glad you could remember after all these years.”

“Weren’t me at all, Ursalina Ballerina.”  He looked at her with what seemed like immeasurable love, making her blush again.  “It was you.”

“No, I–”

“Listen,” he said, sitting up
straight.  “Our time is drawin’ short now, no?  I want you to remember this.”

“What do you mean our time is running short?  We’re leaving here together.”

He smiled sadly.  “No.  Out there?”  He glanced at the window.  “That’s not where I’m headed.  In all the excitement I…”  He patted his chest.  “This old ticker is winding down, see?  I can feel it in my bones.  It won’t do me no good to catch a ride somewhere else, just to die when I get there.  All things being equal, I’d rather die right here.”

“But you can’t!” Ursie pleaded.  “What about your kids?  You can still find them out there!  They’re waiting for you.”

“Just listen to what I have to say,” Tobias said urgently.  “You’re different to everyone else, Ursie, but that don’t make you no monster.  It don’t make you no demon.  When you leave here, when you go on to the next place, there’ll be people who’ll try to bring you down.  They’ll try to make you think less of yourself, but you shouldn’t.”  He tapped his chest.  “You performed a miracle here today, see?  You gave me back the ones I loved when I thought they’d been lost forever.  You have the power to heal within you, to do things maybe no man, woman or child has ever done before.  You’re my angel.  You understand?”

Tears were flowing freely down Ursie’s cheeks now, and she reached over and wrapped her arms around Tobias’ neck.  He hugged her in return, and there they stayed for minutes on end, sharing tears of joy that washed away years of sorrow for them both.

When they eventually parted, Tobias gave her a final pat before climbing to his feet and returning to the console.  Ursie joined him, and after he composed himself for a few seconds, he began to manipulate the controls.

“Your friends will be here soon,” he said.  “Real soon.  And that cruiser you’ve been waiting for is inbound,” Tobias said.  “Hit the outer marker ’bout an hour ago.  Pinger is activated and guiding them in right now.  Looks like you’ve got all your ducks lined up, no?”

“Yeah,” she said.  “I guess I do.”

“Come on.  We’d better get a welcomin’ party together.”

The railcar docked, and the console in front of Knile lit up with all parameters green.  Impossible as it had seemed a few hours ago, they’d made it in one piece.  They’d done it.

“That’s the end of the ride, folks,” he said through his comms.  “Welcome to the top end of Sunspire.”

They disembarked, stepping out into the arrivals and departures area to find Ursie and Tobias there waiting for them.  The two of them stood awkwardly, as if not knowing quite what to do or what to say.  Knile drew Roman and Talia to his side, then guided them forward.

“Introductions,” he said with a smile.  “Ursie and Tobias, meet Talia and Roman.”

“Pleasure,” Tobias said, bobbing his head.  Ursie gave a little wave, remaining rooted to the spot.

“How’s it going?” Roman said.

“Hi,” Talia said.  “Nice to finally meet you.”

“Yeah,” Ursie said.  “Sorry for all the trouble I caused.”

“Trouble?” Talia said.  “From what Knile’s told me, we wouldn’t be here without your help.”

“I guess it all worked out in the end,” Ursie said, “but things could have been easier.”

“There’s no fun in ‘easy’,” Knile said with a wink.

“A most curious sentiment,” Lazarus mused nearby.  “I would think that the ease with which a task is accomplished is–”

“What the hell happened to
you
, Redman?” Ursie broke in.  “Why are you covered in dirt?”

“Because in order to kill a swine, one must sometimes cast oneself into the mud.”

Tobias waggled a finger at the Redman.  “Uh-huh.  My grandpappy used to say the same.  I’m with you on that one.”

Ursie arched an eyebrow, confounded.  “Sorry I asked.”

Tobias gl
anced over his shoulder.  “Well, guess I should mention that the cruiser you folks are waiting for is about to hit the dock.  You should be able to see it from the observation lounge.”