Whisper Gatherers (21 page)

Dashing to the pole, I fell onto my hands and knees and scuffed the dirt around until my fingers touched the indented outline of a large square. A little more probing and I came upon a metal ring lever. I pulled, it opened. Out popped my bro pointing a knife at my face.

“Hi,” I said and swatted the weapon from his shaky hands.

“Adara, but I thought…”

“Yep, me. Who else?”

“Oh, no one.”

“Did you expect someone else?”

He lowered his gaze for a sec. I felt a hair tingle crawl up my back. “Nope.”

“Look at me Deogol.” He did. “Do you tell the truth?” Before he could answer the glowstick stuttered and went out. Then a brighter light shone.

“Grangran gave me this excellent torch,” Deogol said in a pathetic attempt at changing the subject. He threw it from hand to hand as if it were a toy.

“Give that to me, you are attracting who knows what and giving away our whereabouts.”

He reluctantly did, but not after waving it around as if to attract the attention of someone nearby. Grabbing onto the collar of his tunic, I pulled him out of the dark hole. He brushed his troos and grinned. “You should see what the oldies have down there. I swear I have never seen such treasures. Comps, slabs, choc, and other goodies. I ate some. Do you think they’ll notice?”

“Oh yeah, for sure. But I don’t suppose it will matter just yet, what with all the skirmishing that is going on. I would say, let’s get back quick, but forgot to ask Grangran how to access the inaccessible.”

My bro grinned wider. “Oh, I know how to open the door. Grangran told me.”

I let out a goodly sigh. “Does the hatch lock?”

“Yep.” He closed said lid and twisted the handle until I heard a clunk.

“Not very secure.”

“Don’t need to be Sis, no one knows it’s here.”

A low boom caused us to look in the direction of Goldenagehomes. “Come on,” I said and together we ran back from whence we came.

When we reached the great wall of the oldie building, a waft of smoke billowed past us. Carrying with it, a stench of something sweet and sickly. Deogol stopped.

I held the torch high so that we and the wall became illuminated. He looked around for some time. When I glared at him, he fell to the ground all quick-like. He pushed his hands along the bottom of the wall and to my surprise up popped a touch panel like the one on the pot.

“Shine the torch so I can see the pad to tap in the numbers.”

I did so and my bro tip-tapped. The small, barely visible door, opened. Then I heard a familiar voice.

“I told you it was best to hide and wait.”

What the huff?

Out from the gloom walked Lilith and Mayor Eldwyn. “Indeed Lilith, you are wiser than you look. Do not move, Auger, that goes for you too Meek,” he said and shone a light into my bro’s face.

“Wa? What did he call me?” Deogol said. His mouth thinned, and he clenched his hands. “That’s what they called me before they took me to the Decontamination Centre.” He spat and walked towards the mayor.

“Stay where you are.”

“Or what?” I said and also made my way to the two Agro collaborators.

The floor made contact with my back. All the air in my lungs spluttered out. I scrambled to my feet and as I lifted my torch, saw the claw-like mitts of Lilith before my eyes. I smacked them away, she threw herself towards me, I sidestepped, she fell on her face. I placed my foot on her behind. She gave out a fierce screech when I bent down and pulled her head up by the hair.

“Take your filthy heathen hands off me!”

“Not likely, wolfbitch.”

She made more ear hurting noises before quieting down. Then she said all menacingly-like, “More will come.”

“Yeah, yeah, heard that before. Keep it shtum Lilith.”

She growled a bit then fell silent. I took my foot away, yanked her arms around her back, and pulled her up.

“Let her go,” Mayor Eldwyn said.

“Don’t think so.”

“Now.” He held up one of those nasty Agro guns. “I will fire unless you do.”

“Go ahead,” I said and placed Lilith’s bod in front of mine. She wriggled with force, and before I could slap her, thrust her head back sharp, and banged me in the noggin. I staggered backwards, blood streaming from my conk.

“Shoot her Eldy, shoot her.”

The mayor raised the gun. I closed my eyes. There was a loud bang. When I did not feel pain, I opened my lids. I blinked and saw Mayor Eldwyn crumple to the ground. Deogol stood over him. He looked at me and dropped the weapon. Before I could take in what was going on, Lilith staggered forwards, grabbed the gun from the ground and pointed it at me.

“Drop it Praisebee, or you will be nestling close to your chum.”

I swivelled round. “Santy Breanna.”

 
“Lower your torch Addy.”

“Sorry,” I said and shone it on Lilith instead.

With a roar, Lilith lurched forward and grabbed my bro. She held the Agro gun to his head.

“Let us both go. I will not harm the kiddle if you do.”

“Drop the weapon,” Santy said.

“No.” Lilith took the gun away from Deogol’s head then pointed it at me. “Let me and the Meek go, or I will kill him and the Auger.”

Faster than a sanitary door spray squirt, Santy threw her special knife at Lilith’s mitt. She dropped the Agro weapon, and sank to her knees clutching her injured paw. Deogol raced over to us.

Santy took a restraining tie from her sleeve pouch. She walked over to the simpering fem, pulled out her knife, causing more wailing, wrapped the cord around her wrists and yanked her to her feet. Then she took a mediswab from her sleeve pouch, placed it on the wound her blade made in the Praisebee’s flesh, and pushed her towards the door in the wall.

“More will come.”

“Be still.” Santy tightened the restraint. Lilith grimaced then grinned.

“Eldy contacted them you know. He was the one who let us in. His idea to give me the knife. He bargained with the Agros, they want something you have.”

“Ta for spilling Lilith, but pretty much figured that bit out. What with him trying to kill me and all.”

“He wasn’t going to kill you.”

“Really? Looked like that was exactly what he was going to do.”

Lilith smirked, cocked her head to one side and stared at me. “They wouldn’t let him. Plans for you girlie.”

Santy snorted and shoved Lilith towards the entrance. “Hey, what about Mayor Eldwyn?”

“Let the clean up minions deal with that garbage.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

A Different Threat

When we returned to the oldie place, all was relatively calm. Except for Elijah, who on seeing Santy shove Lilith into the room, shot out of his chair next to Grangran and hid under a table. There were more medifolk than before too along with S.A.N.T.S. the two Firstaiders, and Meilyr, all busy bandaging folk and the like.

Orva entered from the foodprep room. Her mouth was a slit, her eyes too. On clocking our presence, she lost the look of worry and smiled. “I see you found more than your bro, Adara. Good to see you Breanna,” she said touching Santy on the shoulder. Lilith tugged at her restraint and gave out a low growl.

“Silence, Agro collaborator. Orva, do you have a room to stash garbage?”

She nodded in the direction of the foodprep room and took hold of the Praisebee’s bonds. “I’ll leave her with the other Agro wannabees,” she said and dragged a hissing Lilith to said place.

We heard much scuffling before all went quiet, then Orva returned.

“How goes the battle?”

“Better than before.”

“Much better. In fact it is all but finished, ye will be glad tae hear.”

We all turned as Dreng entered. He was grubby and scuffed about, but walked steady with had a swagger that would suggest the battle was won.

“What? Is it over?”

“Aye, it is, Deogol.” My bro cast his eyes down. I swear he looked disappointed. Nah, my imagination was racing and then some. Dreng continued, “Agros make a lot of noise to be sure, but they sent too few to make much of a dent in our defences.”

“They are not Agros, Carnies. Paid in meat to do Agro nastiness,” Orva said.

“Carnies. Aye, that would make sense. I thought they crumbled too quick.”

“Will more come?” Elijah’s high voice cut through our convo. He stood before us, shivering and pale.

“Maybe, laddie, but this time, we are ready. Word has gone forth, the Wilderness S.A.N.T.S. are primed.”

Elijah stepped forward. He stared at Dreng and Orva. Breathing in a stutter breath, he said almost in a whisper, “You left us to die in those chambers. May god have mercy on your soul.”

“My what?”

“The thing that their god gives you when you are born. Apparently it goes back to him when they expire,” I said.

“Oh, well then, thanks.”

“I don’t think it was meant to flatter.”

“How could you do such a thing?”

Orva sighed and faced the trembling Elijah. “Look, you and that other Praisebee were a danger. We did not, in fact, leave you down there to die. We left you down there with provisions, so that we could come back and free you when the time was right.”

“How long?”

“What?”

“How long before the time would have been right?”

“I don’t know for sure.”

He held out his left hand. The tip of his little finger was missing. It oozed yellow pus. “Lilith chewed it off whilst I was out of it.” He waved it under Orva’s nose. She winced, turned her head and called to Arla.

With a quick glance at the disfigured digit and his scrawny bod, Arla, swift as a spider’s bite, jabbed a hypo into his arm. She blocked his fall with her chest and shook her head. “Sheesh, there’s nowt to the poor thing.”

Meilyr came over and picked him up as though he were a tot. “I’ll take him to the Medicentre for treatment,” he said and carried him out. Arla cast her eyes to the ceiling and followed them.

“He’s had much to cope with,” Deogol said.

“How would you know?”

“The look of fear in his eyes, Sis.”

“I see that look on many other folk.”

“Not as much as he.”

Santy exhaled loudly. We knew to cease our chat. She beckoned for us to move away. We did and went through the entrance hall out into the dark. The bangs and whooshes were no more. Clouds that had been heavy were gone . A half moon that looked like a crooked smile in the starless sky shone a thin light upon us three. “There is something in the air that makes me anxious. Agros sending inferior warriors to shake folk up? They want us broken and weak.”

“So that they can send in real troops to finish the job?”

“What job, Addy? What do they really want?”

“Thought it was to free the Praisebees, but they have. So now what? All this for Deogol?”

“Nah, they do not want me. What for eh?”

Furrowing her forehead and raising one eyebrow, Santy looked at my bro. “How did they get in so easily? Are our perimeter defences so puny that in less than two moons loony Praisebees and Carnies pretending to be Agros, have gatecrashed us? How did the fence that is hooked to alarms, manned at all times, stop being live and guarded? Cityplace was built specifically to desist and detract any outsiders coming in without special invitation.”

I shrugged. “It is a puzzle all right. I mean, how can we fight back when any folk who choose to can saunter in and do what the huff they like?”

“At least the guards and Wilderness S.A.N.T.S are here now to man the fences. Ah, it is all Mayor Eldwyn’s doing. What he hoped to gain from this I do not know.”

“Perhaps he wanted meat? Perhaps he was a Carnie too? He wanted Adara to bring down the birdies.”

I turned to my bro. “Goodly thinking. You may be right.”

A chilly wind stirred up some dusty earth. It swirled around our bods and up into the air. We watched it blow away towards the Minion quarters and beyond to the perimeter fence. Not such an oddly thing for sure, but something in the way it moved all uniform, full of purpose, made us shoulder twitch.

“Are we safe?”

“I thought so, Deogol. Go inside.” Santy turned to me. “Something is not right. Inside Deogol, now.”

My bro frowned so deeply that I thought his brow would drop off.

“No, I want to stay here.”

“Go sit with your grangran little earwig. Now is not the time to rebel. Stay with her and do not leave this complex.”

“But…”

“Deogol, do as I say.”

“Huffin’ hell,” he said and slunked away into the main building. He paused at the entrance, looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes. I did not like the expression on his face. He snorted and went inside.

A low whiz-bang sound came from far away. A cloud of smoke rose high into the sky. “When will they cease? Does that cloud come from Centralplaza?”

Santy shook her head. “Looks likely. We must end this, somehow. We must.”

I put my hand on her arm, she gave me a sad smile.

“Hey, hey,” Orva called and walked briskly towards us. Her face was pale and her mouth twitched as though she had swallowed something nasty. “I have received news. They have let incendiaries scatter around Cityplace. These devices have tore and slashed and stung like hornets. Inside homes, Breanna. They came into folk’s homes. Not enough to strip the Seedbank bare it would seem. They think they have taken all our seedless, but they have not. They merely robbed us of our excess.”

“There is much carnage without?”

Orva nodded. “There will be much to repair.”

A large stone fell at my feet, then another. “What the huff?” I said and saw more rocks hurtling through the air. They fell near to the outer gate. One struck the S.A.N.T. guard on the cheek. He staggered forward and Santy went to him. His wound spouted profusely. She pointed at the Medicentre. He stumbled off and the stone throwing ceased.

“Who is doing is?”

“Dunno,” I said and looked around, but saw nowt. Then we heard a crashing sound.

“Did ye see her?”

We turned.

Dreng raced down the ramp. His mouth bled, his right hand between thumb and forefinger too. “That Praisebee wolfwhore, has escaped.”

“What? How?”

“She said she wanted tae relieve herself so I untied her bonds. She back nutted me, hurled the chair she was sitting on through the window. When I grabbed her, she turned and bit me,” he said and held up his tooth marked mitt. “Did ye see her?”