Part 24 (1/2)

Three times Furey brings her fighter round to fire at the Crux anti-aircraft guns. Twice she swoops free, unscathed. That will please Ang Two-Times no end. On the third run she lets a last volley of bullets fly.

Umbra slides further across the sun. One fragile crescent of suns.h.i.+ne remains.

Furey's fighter trails threads of bioweave as it begins to lose height. She swoops past me and for a moment I have a clear view of her in the pilot seat, with Ang behind. Then the fighter tilts towards Crux gun-placements. Suddenly I know why I foretold Ang would win two Hero of Rodina Nation awards. Both of them will be well deserved. Furey is going to take out the Crux siege guns to give us clear pa.s.sage to Sea-Ways. One last mission. One final sacrifice.

I can't bear that! I strain all my thoughts, all my power, to reach the fighter in time. They're too far ahead. I'm not strong enough.

Birds sing their last song. The air chills and stills.

An explosion.

They die.

The day dies.

The sun is swallowed. It is a perfect disc of black. Night reigns.

Totality. Uncertainty. Darkness.

The black sun cannot warm us. The Nation s.h.i.+vers. The Storm staggers through this new night. Long before we spot the landing field the fuel indicator needle clunks to empty. The propellers stutter, the engine chokes and dies. We glide.

It's strangely peaceful to slide over Sea-Ways, lower, lower, ground-bound a” down. In a peacetime Eclipse the streets would be dazzling with lights. Now blackout rules and power-rationing leave the city dim. At a bombed warehouse, flames are the only illumination, alongside the lamps of fire-fighting teams. No other trucks are out on the streets. We see no people scuttling down the pavements.

I open up the Storm's landing gear and take a deep breath. Time to face the squadron . . . and rejection. Time to discover the true price of stepping off the path. I gaze at my hands. They look normal. I touch my face. It feels normal. The black feather I pick out of my hair is definitely not normal. The fronds are so soft. I stick it behind one ear. My corvil croaks in approval.

They must hear the b.u.mp of wheels on the ground. A rectangle of light appears as a door opens. Petra's got this amazing expectant expression on her face.

*I knew it!' she calls out. *I knew you'd come back!'

Another door opens. Fenlon peers into the dark with an unlit choke dangling from his lips a” a small affectation copied from Furey. He strides over, cursing very impressively. I think this must be his way of celebrating our safe return. It's less painful than the usual back-slaps he gives.

*First you're off to Corona without stopping to say good-bye-and-go-well, next we hear the siege is complete and no one can break out of the city, let alone into it . . . and here you are, large as life and twice as miserable. Don't tell me you're going to mope all the way through the Long Night. I've had enough of gloomy reports a” ration riots in the city centre, a spate of suicides already, and some hysteria about spies or something supernatural . . .'

Zoya pulls herself up from the c.o.c.kpit. *Someone should tell him,' she murmurs.

Fenlon's not done. *Before connection went scatty there was an update about a People's Number Forty-eight Fighter stolen from its hangar in Corona. Nothing to do with you two by any chance?'

I swallow. *Furey . . .'

*Might've known it! That woman was born to trouble as sure as the sun rises and sets, or in this case, gets blocked out by a great big gas giant of a planet. Sent you back without her, did she? Staying in Corona to live the high life in luxury, is she?'

*I'm really sorry. She was in the stolen fighter. Her and Ang escorted us to Sea-Ways. They didn't make it.'

Now, when time changes it's nothing to do with me, it's all about the way a man ages in mere moments. His shoulders slump, his spine curves, his skin goes grey.

*Ridiculous. A woman like Marina Furey doesn't die.' He fumbles for the choke, finds it, sniffs it for a moment then drops it to the runway and grinds it under his boot heel.

Petra sags too, as do the others who've gathered round.

Dee grabs Zoya as she climbs from the Storm.

*Ang's gone as well? Are you sure? She didn't look like she was going to die, and she didn't want to either. She always said my company would kill her off twice as fast as the Crux ever could.'

Zoya winces. *There was nothing we could do. I'm so sorry.'

*Come on,' says Lida. *We should go inside; the temperature's dropping.'

I blush. *Can you help me out, please?'

Petra's shocked when she sees the pool of bane-metal chain-links in the c.o.c.kpit.

*Yeldon, you'll have something to cut these, won't you?'

He leaps up and looks in. *What the . . . ? Zoya, what's going on?'

Zoya is as grey as death. *There's something a bit . . . abnormal . . . going on,' she begins.

It's at that point my strength seeps right away and I collapse.

The hiss of steam. The bubble of boiling water. The clatter of a spoon in a mug. These are the noises I wake up to. I open my eyes to a sweet-smelling cloud.

*Drink this . . .'

I scrabble to get out of the reach of Haze and whatever she's offering me.

*What . . . ?'

*Don't worry,' Haze says. *It's not poisoned. They say you're more useful alive than dead.'

*What are you doing here? Where are the others? Where am I?'

*Never mind, drink this.'

*How long have I been sleeping?'

Haze shakes her head. *Hard to say when this night goes on for ever.'

*How long a” tell me!'

*Four days' worth of night.'

Four days! The Long Night will soon be over and here I am, lying around like one big lump of uselessness! I throw off the covers. And nearly faint again. When I look down at my arms, my skin is so fine I can see right through it to a pattern of veins like black lace.

The room shakes. Haze hardly flinches. *It's just the Crux. They've been throwing bombs at us for ever. My papi . . .' She has the grace to blush. *He says the Crux will come into the city the moment the Eclipse ends.'

*And my . . . your mother?'

*Still at the factory a” the bit that hasn't been bombed. I was helping there till Zoya came and told me you were sick.' Haze frowns. *She was mean to me. She said I had to get you better or she'd tell your corvil to peck my eyes out. So this is medicine I used to make for the old mother in the forest in winter when she felt weak, until she got so bad she couldn't stop me running away.'

*You left her when she was sick?'