Code Noir (22 page)
Authors: Marianne de Pierres
‘You must know that.’ I stared down at my worn boots, filthy clothes and scratched and bleeding arms. Then, finally, back at him. ‘Such as it is, I owe them my life. I pay my debts. What’s it to you anyway?’
He blinked. ‘I care what happens to my people.’
My people.
Those two words stopped my heart. He considered me one of his people. What gave him the right to do that? And why, perversely, did the idea make me want to thread myself through him like macramé?
Those two words stopped my heart. He considered me one of his people. What gave him the right to do that? And why, perversely, did the idea make me want to thread myself through him like macramé?
I pulled the door open. ‘You and I got a bit of a problem with definition, Loyl.’
‘We got more than that.’
Chapter Fourteen
The quad was where I’d left it. We ferried the first few shamans across the poison dirt, leaving Mei and Schaum to watch the rest. Mei sulked openly and that improved my humour.
Smoke from Daac’s arson adventures made my eyes itch and weep but the flames helped to light our path. I wondered what the heat would do to Ike’s
polycephalum.
polycephalum.
When we reached the wall, I had my answer. The hatchway, destroyed by the cellar fire, was now covered in a thickening layer of
crawl
that glistened strangely in the moonlight.
crawl
that glistened strangely in the moonlight.
I held out my hand. ‘Let me use the sacred dagger on it.’
He refused and began carving into the
crawl
like it was a fresh carcass. ‘You know what this dagger represents, don’t you?’
crawl
like it was a fresh carcass. ‘You know what this dagger represents, don’t you?’
I shrugged, watching. He was going to tell me anyway.
‘
Goma.
Blood debt. You can never repay
goma
.’
Goma.
Blood debt. You can never repay
goma
.’
I stiffened. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘You owe
goma
for life. You can’t buy it back.’
goma
for life. You can’t buy it back.’
I narrowed my eyes at him. ‘You’re lying.’
He stuck his fingers in and sloughed bits of
crawl
off. The hole was big enough to open the hatch, but the
crawl
was already resealing it.
crawl
off. The hole was big enough to open the hatch, but the
crawl
was already resealing it.
‘Quick.’ I gestured to a small Polynesian
kapna
called Ness, and a young boy with startling blue eyes and feathers implanted in his scalp instead of hair. ‘Cover your nose and mouth, the smoke is still strong in there.’
kapna
called Ness, and a young boy with startling blue eyes and feathers implanted in his scalp instead of hair. ‘Cover your nose and mouth, the smoke is still strong in there.’
‘Where do we go?’ Ness asked.
‘Go up through the basement and out of the bar. Look for a bald kid with long hair on her arms named Glida-Jam. She’ll be watching out for you. Stay with her until I find you.’
She nodded, and pulled the boy down after her.
Daac stared at me fascinated. ‘What is it about you, Parrish? You collect people.’
‘No,’ I corrected. ‘They collect me.’
I wheeled the quad around and heard a clunk. Daac peered under the rim, then reached down. ‘Pretty.’
The Gurkha!
I’d lost it when I’d played gladiators with the Twitcher. Somehow it had lodged under there. ‘That’s mine,’ I said.
I’d lost it when I’d played gladiators with the Twitcher. Somehow it had lodged under there. ‘That’s mine,’ I said.
He scraped it clean on the faring and rested it over his knee. ‘Let’s get moving. We’ll negotiate over it later.’
Negotiate! Who was he kidding?
I twisted around, reaching for it, but he held it away with his prosthetic hand.
I twisted around, reaching for it, but he held it away with his prosthetic hand.
Note to self:
chop that damn hand off one day.
chop that damn hand off one day.
We repeated the journey and the hacking three more times, freeing ten shamans. That left another eight, plus the
karadji
.
karadji
.
Smoke thickened and the flames plumed as the sample shed collapsed. The smell was putrefying, like burning bodies.
I gunned the quad back to Ike’s building. Mei waited at the door, hopping from one foot to the next.
‘There’s something growing on the roof,’ she said. Her more than usually jaundiced skin was dotted with perspiration.
‘They call it
crawl.
It’s wild-tek,’ I said. ‘We’ve only got one knife that will cut through it.’
crawl.
It’s wild-tek,’ I said. ‘We’ve only got one knife that will cut through it.’
Schaum joined the conflab. I wondered how Ike had mistreated her, and what effect it had. She already carried a galaxy of grudges. The only thing that remained of Daac’s precious lady scientist was the dress that hung loosely on her emaciated body, and the cold eyes harbouring their own-brand sanity.
Daac shifted impatiently. ‘I’ll make this trip, you stay back this time, then I can fit one more,’ he said.
I shook my head. ‘No. It’s better if you stay with Mei and Schaum.’
He looked doubtfully between us all. He didn’t trust me not to hurt them. Good!
‘All right.’ Reluctantly he passed over the knife.
As soon as it touched my hand I relaxed. Six of us crammed on board and set off like a circus trapeze act. One thin Indian shaman with a tattooed face clung on to my shoulders. The rest tucked around us. That left four behind with Mei, Schaum and Daac. Too many for one last trip - Daac and I being the equivalent of two bodies each.
I put that worry aside and forced myself to concentrate on the present trip across the waste. We reached the wall without toppling but the quad motor sounded sick. The cutting was tougher, as if the
crawl
was resisting.
crawl
was resisting.
Two shamans leant elbow deep into it as I tried to find the hole beneath.
I got ready to push the Indian through. ‘Reach your hand back, you might have to pull the others through. It’s growing quicker than I can keep it apart.’
He nodded.
I repeated the bit about finding Glida-Jam. ‘Wait for me when you do. Mo-Vay’s no place for strangers.’
‘We have protectors,’ said the Indian, touching his shoulder as if to stroke an invisible pet.
‘So do I. Round here they’ve got their hands full though.’
He rewarded my weak joke with a smile. Then he slipped through the
crawl
and out of my sight.
crawl
and out of my sight.
I sent a quick prayer after him.
Who to?
Who knows?
By the time I got back to the shed, the quad was coughing up smoky phlegm of its own. I didn’t like its chances of one more trip, let alone two.
‘The stuff is getting harder to cut through.’
I glanced up. It was creeping down the wall on the inside.
‘The ambient heat from the fire seems to be changing its consistency,’ Schaum observed.
I couldn’t help it. I gave Daac The Look.
‘Can you stop it?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t know what it is exactly. I
lived
in this building. He kept me away from his cultures. ’
lived
in this building. He kept me away from his cultures. ’
Loyl held out his hand. ‘I know there’s another way through the wall. The way they brought me. Give me the dagger. I’ll do this trip and come back for you.’
‘No.’ I didn’t want the
karadji
out of my sight, especially with Loyl Daac. It also meant Mei, Schaum and I alone in shed of creeping
crawl.
Uhuh. No way.
karadji
out of my sight, especially with Loyl Daac. It also meant Mei, Schaum and I alone in shed of creeping
crawl.
Uhuh. No way.
‘You’ll never find the other entrance and we can’t all fit. I heard the motor, Parrish. You’re overloading it.’
Stubbornness tightened my lips. We glared at each other.
Mei forced her way in between us and thumped me in the ribs. ‘Quit stalling, you’re gonna get us all killed,’ she said.
She was right for once. I handed the dagger to Daac. Whoever possessed it had the best chance to get out of here and I didn’t trust him.
While he settled himself on the seat I turned to the old, half-blind
karadji
who’d spoken to me before.
karadji
who’d spoken to me before.
‘Your people sent me to bring you home. Wait for me once you’re through the wall. I’ll come as quickly as I can,’ I whispered.
‘I know.’ He placed a hand on my shoulder. It was like a boss-shot of tranq.
‘What did . . .?’
‘A gift,’ he said quietly.
Daac hauled the
karadji
on board and set off in a different direction. The old one twisted backwards, eyes trained unseeingly in my direction as the quad moved away.
karadji
on board and set off in a different direction. The old one twisted backwards, eyes trained unseeingly in my direction as the quad moved away.
Creation
. . . was that what he’d said?
. . . was that what he’d said?
The calm lasted even after I lost sight of them past the dim shoulder of the building.
‘Boy, you rolled over easy for a tough grrl, Parrish.’
I should have wanted to bury her face first in the
crawl
but I remained blissfully indifferent to her jibe. I’d been given a fragment of peace, a gift from a half-blind man. I couldn’t remember having felt like this before.
crawl
but I remained blissfully indifferent to her jibe. I’d been given a fragment of peace, a gift from a half-blind man. I couldn’t remember having felt like this before.
Ever.
Eventually the
crawl
grew across the door, sealing the shed. It left the three of us huddling together like kids on the concrete lip. Schaum hugged the flat drive like it was her baby. Her shoulders drooped, the adrenalin and the glucose starting to wear thin.
crawl
grew across the door, sealing the shed. It left the three of us huddling together like kids on the concrete lip. Schaum hugged the flat drive like it was her baby. Her shoulders drooped, the adrenalin and the glucose starting to wear thin.
I strained for the sound of the quad and began to wonder if Daac had left us behind. That thought shifted to anxiety, and then to straight-up paranoia.
My calm started to slip away. I mourned it like a death.
It didn’t help that Mei’s mouth got looser by the heartbeat. ‘He’ll never be yours, Parrish.’
At that remark my indifference deserted all together. ‘Tell someone who’s interested,’ I blazed. ‘Anyway, I thought you were Stolowski’s one true love. Or is that just more of your cheating?’
She wasn’t fazed. ‘Loyl is our dominant. He has first rights. Isn’t that right, Doc?’
Schaum had the grace to blush at the crass notion.
I choked on it. ‘
Dominant?
You’ve got tired case of boss infatuation, Mei. Wake up to yourself,’ I said.
Dominant?
You’ve got tired case of boss infatuation, Mei. Wake up to yourself,’ I said.
‘The problem with you, Parrish, is you’re too much of a competitor. You can’t get on with anyone. There’s no room for people like you in our new place.’
Curiosity got me to respond. ‘New place?’
‘We got plans. This’ll all be ours again. Clean the migrants out of Torley’s, Shado, The Slag. Plastique as well. Ours.’
Ours?
Daac’s timing was flawless. Just as I decided to toss Mei out on to the poisoned dirt and watch it eat away her skin, the quad lights spilled past the corner of the building.
He looked like he’d been wrestling inside a wild pig; clumps of wet stuff stuck to all sorts of places.
‘It’s sealing the wall off. Hurry.’
He sat Schaum between his thighs and Mei scrambled up on the pillion before I could think
sly bitch.
That left me the choice of hanging off Daac’s leg, or Mei’s waist. Both equally distasteful, especially in the light of her most recent commentary.
sly bitch.
That left me the choice of hanging off Daac’s leg, or Mei’s waist. Both equally distasteful, especially in the light of her most recent commentary.
I really might catch something.
I chose his leg and felt the warm tingle of body contact shoot to all parts of me like a shot of whisky after a week without food.
Maybe not so distasteful
. . .
. . .
The quad moped along, spitting and coughing like emphysema. Daac steered it more east of where I’d come in. As we closed the gap toward the villa perimeter we could see the shining spread of the
crawl
as if someone had pasted a luminous paint across the wall with a giant brush.
crawl
as if someone had pasted a luminous paint across the wall with a giant brush.
‘Did all the different factories get their fuels here?’ I shouted over the noise.
Daac nodded. ‘Was gonna cost the developers too much to clean it up and then no one wanted to live here anyway.’
Only Ike.
I thought of his geek glasses and neural webbing. I’d seen weird before, but there was something about Ike . . . ‘unwholesome’ is what my mum, Irene, would have said. But then Irene lived in a world where wholesome and unwholesome had their very own icons, and a definition in the help menu.
I thought of his geek glasses and neural webbing. I’d seen weird before, but there was something about Ike . . . ‘unwholesome’ is what my mum, Irene, would have said. But then Irene lived in a world where wholesome and unwholesome had their very own icons, and a definition in the help menu.
In The Tert, shades of grey was a code you lived by - you couldn’t afford to divide right and wrong into neat boxes. Take Loyl-me-Daac. Gorgeous, ’zine pixel-fold and carer of his own in a care-less world. Flip the coin and you get racial fanatic.
How would he describe me?
Impulsive and irrational on the one hand, and on the other
. . .
impulsive and irrational!
. . .
impulsive and irrational!
I quickly dropped that debate, and tried to ignore Mei’s busy hands wandering all over Daac’s body. If I didn’t want to throttle her so much, I’d be tempted to admire how well she pushed my buttons.
The quad died a few body lengths from the villa. We sat in silence for seconds, disbelieving.
‘Where is it?’ I asked finally, scanning the wall in front of me. A layer of
crawl
covered it. No openings in sight.
crawl
covered it. No openings in sight.
He pointed. ‘Up there, where the wall dips, a window has been chiselled in.’
‘How did you get them through?’
He stretched his arms above his head, miming a push. ‘With difficulty. I s’pose you thought I’d left you behind.’
‘Never crossed my mind.’
He grinned at me for the first time in a while. Genuine and warm.
I fended off a swell of pleasure by poking at the body of the quad. ‘Let’s strip the faring. Use it to walk on.’
I broke off enough for him to stand on.
‘Parrish, give me your tee.’
I had my crop underneath. Better mine than his, I decided, and for once didn’t argue.
He dismounted and tore off the mudguards using the shirt to protect his hands. I ripped the handlebar faring, salvaging only one piece intact, large enough to use as a body board.
Lucky Teece wasn’t here. He wouldn’t have trashed it, even if it had four wheels and might save our lives.
Teece!
I suddenly ached to be back in Torley’s, drinking tequila at Hein’s, listening to Teece and Ibis bicker and looking forward to a great whack of noodles from Lu Chow’s.
I suddenly ached to be back in Torley’s, drinking tequila at Hein’s, listening to Teece and Ibis bicker and looking forward to a great whack of noodles from Lu Chow’s.
Daac placed two mudguards on the dirt. ‘Parrish, you pull Anna. I’ll pull Mei.’
It might have been fun. If it hadn’t been poisonous dirt, if Mei, Anna and Daac weren’t my playmates
and
if we didn’t have a wall of thickening
crawl
to hack through.
and
if we didn’t have a wall of thickening
crawl
to hack through.
Last time Daac and I’d done something this foolish, he’d made me swim up an underwater pipe infested with icy, paralysing bacteria.
I guess this was an improvement.
We set off across the last, short distance like parents taking their kids for an evening sled ride. I reached the wall first, poison-dirt free, feeling as tired as the clothes I’d had on for the last few days. Daac moved slowly trying not to upend himself or Mei. Mei crouched on the faring, on all fours, like she might spring at me again.
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