Part 8 (1/2)

*They've given you a standard miner's licence, probationary for three months. You're subject to the same regulations I was.'

*So?'

*That means you're rated to carry a pa.s.senger.' She folded the papers and put them in the envelope, which she stuffed in a pocket at the back of her pants. *Ready? Good. Let's use some of that Interior coin of yours to fill our bellies. And then, my friend -' she clapped his back loud enough to make his head ring, *- you and I are going to soar like birds.'

The first stop after breakfast was a small storage facility near the base of the Wall. Skender was acutely conscious of the fact that the Divide was just a stone's throw away as he followed Chu down steep staircases and along circuitous lanes, angling further and further downhill. The memory of sky retreated until barely a glimmer of natural light filtered down through the layers of awnings, overhangs and walkways.

Laure, he was beginning to realise, was a city that had been built over, over and over, since the Cataclysm. Once the Wall went up and protected the land inside it from the depredations of the Divide, reconstruction had been vigorous and long-lasting as people moved from the tilted buildings of the Old City and created the New. Bridges and ramps overlapped streets, which in turn wound around stairwells and buried accessways. The air was thick and heavy down there, drenched in many different scents, perfumed and pungent both. They were headed for the very bottom.

*I know it doesn't look like much, but it is secure,' Chu said as they came to a series of small, locked metal doors, none of them matching, at a dead end that looked like it was a home for stray cats. The ancient cobbles were buried under years of acc.u.mulated grime and rubbish.

Chu pulled a key from a pocket and used it to open the third door along. Inside was her wing, neatly folded and collapsed like a moth in a coc.o.o.n. She told him where to grip, and together they lifted it up. It was as large as a person, yet surprisingly light. One person could have lifted it easily, but two definitely made the task easier.

He carried the rear end as they retraced their steps through the city. The light grew brighter, and the wing seemed to come to life. Faint traceries of colour appeared on the thin fabric, s.h.i.+fting and blending like oil on water. Its many struts and control surfaces were a translucent amber colour and flexed smoothly under his fingers. What he had a.s.sumed at first to be wood and canvas turned out to be something very different indeed. It looked organic rather than man-made, as if its many pieces had a.s.sembled naturally. But as well as its beauty, he saw where it had been damaged. The skin had torn away from the struts in several places; the central, largest strut was kinked in the middle, like a hunchback. Instead of a newborn b.u.t.terfly waiting to inflate its wings and take to the sky, it seemed more like an injured bird, huddling around itself for protection.

*Where are we taking it?' he asked Chu.

*The armoury.'

*Is it far?' Although lightweight for its size, the folded wing was growing heavier with every step.

*Remember that tower we looked at yesterday? The one you reckon you'll drop like a stone from?'

Skender rolled his eyes. *Yes.'

*The armoury is on ground level.'

*Why is it called the armoury? Do you carry weapons when you fly?'

*Why would you? When you're above someone, all you really need is a rock and a good eye. And you're usually too busy flying to fight anyone. We've just always called it the armoury. It's where we go to be kitted out for mining.'

*Will I have to wear a suit like yours?'

*Don't you like the look of it?'

*I didn't say that.' On her it looked good, but the thought of wrapping all that tight leather around himself made him sweat in advance.

She laughed. *You only have to wear it if you want to; otherwise, we can tie your robes to your legs so they won't tangle. That's sure to impress the girls.'

*You know that's the least of my concerns.'

*I doubt it. You are sixteen, after all.'

*So are you.'

*No argument there. I'm wearing the leather, aren't I?'

He s.h.i.+fted his grip uncomfortably. *Tell me how you damaged your wing.'

*Ah. Well, it was a dare. Someone said I couldn't steal an egg from the nests at the top of Observatory Tower, and obviously I had to prove him wrong.'

*Obviously. What was his name?' he asked, wondering if this was the same *some people' she had been complaining about the previous night.

*Kazzo Niclais. Do you know how high Observatory Tower is?'

*Not exactly. I've seen it, though.' There was no way he could miss it. The tower speared upward from the centre of the New City and stood at least twice as high as any of the other buildings. It was circular, externally featureless, and tapered slightly as it rose. Just below the top was a fat sphere, like a fish egg impaled on a pin, which he a.s.sumed contained the instruments that earned the tower its name. What the yadachi did with them he didn't know; bent the weather to their collective will, or tried to, he a.s.sumed. *Bird's nest up there?'

*Safest place for hundreds of kilometres,' she said. *Safer than the mountains. The only predators are each other. The eggs are supposed to be particularly potent, medicinally, masculinely speaking - if you know what I mean.'

*I get the idea.'

*Even the broken sh.e.l.ls that fall naturally from the nests fetch a fair price on the black market. So there were sufficient incentives to give it a go.'

*You don't have to justify yourself to me.'

She glanced at him, sharply, perhaps wondering if he was mocking her. He wasn't. *We're a compet.i.tive bunch, miners. There's hardly anyone over twenty, for a start, and there are a lot of boys, because they're stronger and have a natural advantage. That's a bad mix. When you're a girl trying to make her way, you have to take these things seriously because everyone else does - even if it's completely stupid. Even if it means trying to capture a stationary target at speed in high winds, when the slightest mistake would mean falling a horribly long way to your death.'

*Sounds worse than the Divide.'

*Exactly. At least there we don't have eagles pecking at us for trying to steal their eggs.' She shrugged. *Anyway, that was the problem. I got the winds right; I managed the ascent perfectly, spiralling from updraft to updraft until I was level with the nests; I dodged the worst of the turbulence around the big ball and found a nest with eggs in it that I could reach okay. I even got my fingers on one of them - a big blue egg with brown spots, as wide across as my palm. It was so warm against my skin; I can still feel it.

*And that's when it happened. This giant bird attacks me from above - the one direction I can't see. Puts holes all along my dorsal stabilisers and sends me cras.h.i.+ng into the tower. Next thing I know, my wing is almost useless and I'm falling. Not a good position to be in.'

*I can imagine.' And he could, all too well. It wasn't the sort of thing he wanted to think about prior to his first attempt.

*Luckily, the safety charms caught in time, giving me a measure of control. I crash-landed through the roof of a water tower. Hurt like b.u.g.g.e.ry and torc the wing up a little more, but at least I wasn't dead.'

*And the egg?' he asked.

*I must've let it go when the bird attacked, so I had nothing to show for my efforts except a bunch of scratches and broken wings - and then a maintenance bill for the water tower, fines for polluting a city reservoir, repair costs on the wing, and a licence renewal final notice. It really wasn't my week.'

*What about Kazzo?'

*If you listen carefully,' she said sourly, *you can still hear him laughing.'

Skender felt for her, knowing the power of peer group pressure. He had seen and been involved in many foolish pranks at his father's school. One boy had been lucky to escape with his life after a similar stunt went wrong: slipping down a barren cliff face while searching for a rare type of beetle supposedly imbued with supernatural powers. In his case the goad had been unrequited love, not prestige, but the effect was the same. People pushed themselves to the limit for no good reason, and in the process either got themselves killed or learned a lesson about their limitations that would stop them getting killed the next time.

Skender had a perfectly good reason for going out on his particular limb, but he still didn't feel happy about it.

*So we go to the armoury and get the wing fixed,' he said. *Then what? You're not seriously suggesting we fly across the Divide together, are you?'

*Well, that's the obvious plan. I'll admit I'm having trouble thinking of another one. How about you?'

*I'll let you know if I do.'

*Don't take offence, but I'm not holding out much hope of that.'

*I won't,' he said. *Neither am I.'