Part 31 (1/2)

*Stop them!' yelled Shusti as the last of the wardens climbed up the ladder and s.h.i.+lly prepared to follow. The three guards had moved off to another ladder, not waiting to deal with her. She only hoped for enough time to get up top before reinforcements arrived.

She climbed as fast as her gammy leg would allow. Holding onto her stick also slowed her down, so the gap between her and the last warden grew steadily greater. The pounding of feet on the ramps above vibrated through the ladder, becoming louder the higher she climbed.

She reached the first series of ramps and hurried along them. The next wave of guards was already climbing the ladder behind her. She cursed under her breath and stepped up the pace. They could, if they moved fast enough, cut ahead and catch her.

And then what? Would Marmion halt the mission on her behalf? Or would he keep going and leave her behind?

She gritted her teeth against a growing ache in her thigh and swore to save him from having to choose. She had two more ladders to climb before she reached the gangplank level. Already wardens were swarming across it to the gondola.

*Hurry, s.h.i.+lly!'

She didn't need Chu's shout of warning, and she didn't waste breath replying. She reached the next ladder and heaved herself upwards. It was shorter than the last, but still looked daunting. The entire length of her leg was aflame by the time she hauled her leg over the top of the ladder.

The shouts of the guards followed her along the walkways. They were converging on her rapidly, from behind and along the second route. To her dismay, she realised that the group coming up the other ladders was going to arrive before her. Marmion would have to cast off or be boarded.

The gangplank swayed as someone ran across it from the direction of the gondola. She heard banging as she started to climb the last ladder. A nut pinged from the scaffolding before her, then bounced off metal stanchions and tumbled through s.p.a.ce to the ground far below. The guards' ladder wobbled precariously and their yells turned from anger to alarm.

*Another step,' yelled Tom, *and I'll let you fall!'

The guards cursed him and began to retreat.

s.h.i.+lly gratefully crawled over the top of the ladder, onto the gangplank level. Tom was instantly beside her, pocketing a large wrench and taking some of her weight with a hand under her shoulder. s.h.i.+lly forced herself to concentrate on her footing and not think about the distance to the ground as she limped across the swaying gangplank. The moment they were aboard, the two remaining ties fell away.

*Stand back!' Chu's voice echoed through the hangar as the guards on s.h.i.+lly's heels reached the edge of the gantry. The lifter rocked and began to rise. The sound of its engines grew to a roar. The propellers disappeared into a glowing blur. s.h.i.+lly let herself be pressed into a seat, her weight suddenly seeming greater than normal. Sunlight fell across her face, momentarily blinding her.

Then they were away. With the grace of a sailing s.h.i.+p, the heavy lifter surged upwards, clearing the sides of the hangar's hatch and ascending into the open sky.

Literally breathless, s.h.i.+lly marvelled at the city laid out around and below her. It seemed to get darker the further inward she looked, going from a faded brown at the edges to a gleaming tower at the very centre. Beyond its walls, natural and human-made, she saw wrinkled brown land and the vast scar of the Divide to the south. Grey mountains to the northeast were wreathed in white. A strong wind blew across her face, stealing her words.

*Well, we're committed now.'

Tom had moved off, not waiting to be thanked for his a.s.sistance. The gondola's pa.s.senger area was smaller than it had looked from the ground, barely wide enough for two people to stand together; long curving benches hugged its interior walls and took up valuable floor s.p.a.ce. Chu had said it would seat twenty but half that number seemed to completely fill it. Panelling carved from a warm red wood covered the metal frame connecting the gondola to the dirigible overhead. Its sides were open to the air from waist-height upwards, apart from at the very front where curved sheets of clear gla.s.s protected the pilot. There Chu sat, frantically pulling at the controls. At the opposite end of the gondola, Banner and Tom crouched head to head, talking loudly over the throbbing of the engine. A rolling, driving vibration shook the entire frame.

*Are you unharmed?' Marmion stopped to check on her as he moved forward to consult with Chu. s.h.i.+lly nodded, although her leg ached and her hip was on fire.

*What happened back there?' she asked. *Did you tread on someone's toes?'

*We bucked the system. That never goes down well with people who care about such things.'

*Could it really be as simple as that?'

He shrugged. *Maybe. We'll find out when we get back, I suppose.'

s.h.i.+lly was reluctant to think that far ahead. As Marmion went aft to talk to Banner, she moved forward to watch Chu. The flyer was working up a sweat at the controls, moving levers and adjusting dials at a furious rate. s.h.i.+lly didn't know what any of them did, but they looked fiendishly complex.

*Can I help?' she asked.

*You can watch out for company,' Chu told her. *Let me know if anyone gets too close.'

s.h.i.+lly scanned the sky. Several flyers were visible, circling through the morning air over the city. *What will we do about them if they do?'

*Gesture rudely. There's not else much we can do in this thing. I left my slingshot at home. But it's not as if they're going to shoot us down or anything. The lifter is too valuable.'

*How long until we reach the Aad?'

*An hour or so. I'll push it as fast as I can.'

Hearing defensiveness in Chu's tone, s.h.i.+lly stopped talking. She divided her time between keeping an eye on the sky and watching the city creep by beneath them. She tried to find the Black Galah as the city streets rolled past, but she missed it. The dirigible sailed clear over the Wall, and then there was nothing but the Divide and its strange geography below them. She saw the hair-thin line of the Fool's Run angle away to the west and fade into the distance. Dry creek beds and sandy plains reminded her of home, but there was no sea nearby. Water hadn't visited the canyon for years, by the look of it. It was as parched as the deepest desert.

She spotted four low brown clouds: more man'kin were on the move. Grateful she wasn't down among them, she performed a rough mental tally of how much time had pa.s.sed since Sal had called her. It had been an hour at least, and another hour would pa.s.s before they reached the Aad. From there they had to find him and Skender.

She only hoped Sal could hang on that long. It was the best she had to offer.

The Liberators.

*Animals have minds that exist entirely in the present, with little or no thought of tomorrow or yesterday. Humans travel from past to future in a dynamic tension between the two extremes.

Man'kin exist in all times at once, hence their ability to foretell or reveal things that are not known to us.'

MASTER WARDEN RISA ATILDE:.

NOTES TOWARD A UNIFIED CURRICULUM.

D.

on't come any closer,' shouted Pirelius, *or I'll break your friend's neck!'

*Skender?' Sal froze at the entrance to the dungeon. He could feel his fragile grip on the Change slipping, which meant that either the Homunculus was close or the sink was rea.s.serting itself. He squeezed every last drop out of the charm Master Warden Atilde had taught him, making the fog as thick as any he had ever seen. That was more important than trying to call s.h.i.+lly again - and for once he didn't care if the charm went out of control completely.

*Skender!'

Through the dense, echoless air, he heard a strange choking noise, then a gruesome thud. The fog billowed in the lamplight, and he rushed forward, unable to stand impotently by while Skender was being hurt.

What he found was Skender sitting up on the rough floor, rubbing his throat. A familiar face hovered at his side. Sal hadn't seen Kemp for five years but he had changed only in details. Apart from thick jet-black tattoos on his wrists and forearms, his skin was still utterly white and he still looked utterly intimidating.

*Glad you could make it,' Kemp said, helping Skender upright with a tight, almost pained expression. His colourless eyes took in the fog. *This is your doing, I presume?'

*The best I could manage under the circ.u.mstances.'

*Well, it helped. Got me close enough to clock the guy trying to tie Skender's neck in a knot.'

*I hope,' gasped Skender, *you gave him a thump from me.'

*Don't worry. He won't be getting up for a week.'

The fog thinned further. Sal looked down at the ground, but could see no fallen man. *Are you sure about that?'