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Authors: Bryony Pearce

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BOOK: Phoenix Burning
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“How’d she get on board?” Dee ignored Ayla and spoke to Rita, who ran to peer over the side.

Rita gasped. “There’s a lifeboat tied to the anchor cable. It looks like she climbed it…”

“And from there, I caught the pulley for the winch.” Ayla strutted forwards with a swing in her hips.

“Amit, Ajay, we need razor wire around the top of the hawsepipe. Get on that,” the captain shouted as he marched to intercept Ayla. “How did you find us?” he growled, blocking her view of the solar array. “Rahul, check her for weapons.”

Ayla held out her arms so that Rahul could frisk her. “Once we found out where you’d offloaded your spare panels – and thanks for those, by the way – all I had to do was work out where you’d go to install yours. Faroe Rocks are the nearest safe cove.”

“Where’s the
Banshee
?” The captain scanned the horizon.

“Reykjavik,” Ayla said. “We wanted more supplies and there’re none in this barren place.” She still hadn’t looked at Toby. “Don’t worry, Captain, we’ve a lot of repairs to do – we’re in no position to take you on right now.”

“So you escaped the St George warship. I’m glad.”

“Sure you are.” Her almond eyes roved over the ship’s crew and finally came to rest. “You’re looking well, Toby.”

Toby forced ice into his voice. “You, too. Your arm?”

“Getting better.” Ayla opened and closed her fist to show him. She was wearing a new long jacket over her old leather jerkin. Her hair remained lopsided where the explosion had taken it off – on her left side it formed spikes around her ear, on the right it swung down to her elbow, mixed with the braids that kept it off her face.

“You took your cast off early.” Uma pushed her way forwards. “It’s only been three weeks. That break won’t heal right.”

“Nell wanted it off. A cast on her second in command? It shows weakness.” Ayla’s eyes flickered.

“I’ll take a look at it, assuming…?” Uma looked at the captain.

“We’ll see. What are you doing here, Ayla?”

“Yeah, your invitation was rescinded.” Crocker hopped on to the steerage to glower down at their visitor. “We offered you a berth on our ship and you shoved it in our
faces, got Toby jailed on the
Banshee
. Got Peel stabbed an’ me almost keelhauled by yer crazy mother. You ain’t welcome on the
Phoenix
any more. No way, no how.”

The sun caught in Ayla’s hair, sparkling among the beads and creating a slick of colour in the black. She was thinner than when Toby had last seen her, her eyes shadowed with dark circles. Toby could see she was in pain even as she straightened her back against the crew’s jeers.

Something inside her had been broken by Nell. She had said she never wanted to see him again, yet here she was. Toby was drawn to her as if she had a fishing line and he was hooked on the end of it.

Ayla sneered at the shouting crew. “You know, we saw the
Phoenix
leave us to the St George Greymen. Saw you sail past, with your paddles churning as fast as they could go – you couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Cowards.”

“We offered Nell the chance of working together against the Greymen, dint we?” Peel’s fingers traced his stab wound. “She turned us down flat. Your captain can’t complain when she gets what she wants.”

“Oh, she’s not complaining,” Ayla retorted. “In fact it worked out well for us. Slimmed down the crew of course, but we picked up some decent salvage from that ship before we sank her. And we got the panels anyway. That Dorah was a friend of yours, wasn’t she? Very helpful.”

“What did you do to Dorah?” The captain’s voice was low, dangerous.

Ayla turned her smile to him. “We traded honestly. More or less.”

“Less, I’m guessing,” Uma spat, and the crew surged forwards.

“I’ll show you cowardice,” Crocker yelled.

“That’s enough.” Toby moved to Ayla’s side. “She’s no threat – we know she’s alone.”

“We’ve only her word the
Banshee
’s in Reykjavik,” Oats yelled. “And we know what
her
word is worth. They could be preparing an ambush.”

“Then why would I be here, warning you?” Ayla shook her head. “You really aren’t that bright, are you, Oats?”

“You’re the one being a fool.” He lifted his hook. “Coming here after what you did.”

The captain raised his fist. “
Enough!
I’m going to get to the bottom of this. The best way to find out what the damned
Banshee
wants this time is to talk to its second in command. Take her below, Toby.”

Toby turned to Ayla. “I’ll take you to the mess.”

“Not the mess – the galley,” the captain snapped.

Toby realized instantly that Ayla could not be allowed to see their map and Hiko’s translated text.

“I’ll join you in a few minutes,” the captain added.
“There are a few issues left to deal with up here.”

Toby gestured towards the nearest hatch and Ayla marched across the deck, the eyes of the crew boring into her as she passed.

“Be careful.” Dee touched Toby’s shoulder. “Don’t get drawn into her scheming.”

Toby only nodded as he followed Ayla into the bowels of the ship.

“You said you wanted nothing more to do with the
Phoenix
. Why are you here?” Toby sat on Peel’s butcher’s block, Ayla on the work surface beside the oven. He frowned as Polly shuffled on his shoulder. “You said you got our spare panels from Dorah. Did you install them?”

Ayla gave him a measuring look. “Yes, just like you did. And just like you, we found out a key component was missing.”

“You were coming to steal our inverter.” Toby’s eyes narrowed.

“It crossed my mind.” Ayla shook her head. “But as you don’t have one either, we have to go straight to plan B.”

“Plan B?” Toby’s breath caught. “You have a way to get an inverter?”

Ayla pushed the long side of her hair back over her shoulder. “Obviously.”

“Tell me.”

Ayla’s eyes flashed. “I’d say stop ordering me around, Ship’s Engineer, but as I wanted to talk to you without your captain anyway…”

“I won’t hide things from him.”

“You don’t have to. I just want to tell
you
my plan first. Then we can talk your captain into it together.”

Toby frowned. “You mean he won’t like it.”

“I mean that whatever I suggest, he’s likely to shoot it down without thinking it through. You’re more … visionary.”

“You mean gullible.”

“No, that’s not what I—”

“Fine,” Toby growled. “Tell me.”

Ayla folded her arms. “You’ve heard of the sun worshippers?”

“Of course – the Solar Order.” Toby thought of Morris and Javier, the two crew members who, long ago, had been so entranced by the sight of the sun returning to the sky, they had gone blind staring at it. “The captain dropped off some crew at their sanctuary near Malta a few years ago. They were a friendly port.”

“They’re less friendly now.” Ayla licked her lips.
“We have a sailor who used to live on Gozo. He got out when the Order gained complete control of the island. It’s theirs now and they’re strict. The islanders either agree to worship the sun, or are exiled.”

“From their homes?”

“Most stayed,” Ayla said.

“So they were all blinded!”

“Not all.” Ayla shook her head. “The sun worshippers consider those who’ve gone sunblind the most holy in the order, but they allow others to worship the sun and keep their vision. They need workers: traders, gardeners, fishermen, cooks, cleaners, same as any other place. The point is, Sebastiane told me that even when he lived there, anything dredged from the sea or traded that was remotely related to the sun had to go to the sanctuary. They were particularly keen on collecting items showing the Solaris logo.”

Toby gasped. “There might be inverters inside.”

Ayla nodded. “Almost certainly. The sun worshippers believe the old-world reliance on solar power was an affront to the sun. They say that’s why Yellowstone erupted and blocked it out for so long – a punishment and a warning of worse to come. By collecting everything related to the sun, they think they’re protecting us from another cataclysm.” She laughed. “Idiots.”

Toby’s mind was racing. “Even back then the sanctuary was like a fortress. We can’t do a straight raid.”

“No.” Ayla grinned. “But I’ve got a plan.”

Toby leaned closer, caught on her hook. “What sort of plan?”

“On the longest day of the year, the sun worshippers have a festival.”

“That’s in a month,” Polly mumbled.

Ayla ignored her. “At the festival a specially chosen couple, representative of the Sun and Moon, will hand out gifts to the pilgrims. For the weeks beforehand this couple will live in the sanctuary to prepare for their big day.”

“So?” Toby frowned.

“In one week, the Order will choose that couple.”

“You’re suggesting we send someone in for this choosing,” Toby said. “Whoever gets picked will have a couple of weeks in the sanctuary to find the inverters and smuggle them out.”

“We can’t just
send someone in
,” Ayla air-quoted his words back at him. “The couple have to fit the criteria in order to be selected. There are rules.”

Toby raised his eyebrows.

“The couple has to be male and female – to represent the different energies of the Sun and Moon.”

“Easy enough.”

“For the same reason, one must be blond and one dark haired.”

“And?” Toby pressed Ayla.

“The couple also have to represent the New Year, which they measure from the longest day: youth, innocence, rebirth and so on.” Ayla mocked the idea with a curled lip. “So only those between the ages of thirteen and sixteen are considered.”


That’s
why you need us,” Polly squawked matter of factly. “You and Toby make the perfect couple for this festival.”

Ayla smiled winningly at Toby. “We’re the right age, your hair is growing back and if anything you’re even blonder than when I last saw you.”

“That’s because he hasn’t been blowing soot out of the boiler room,” Polly muttered. “He still isn’t going though. Right, Toby?”

“I don’t—”

“Listen,” Ayla said. “On the longest day, the crew of the
Phoenix
visit the sanctuary as pilgrims – all we need to do is hide the inverters among the gifts and hand them over. It’ll be easy.” She bent closer, the long side of her hair dangling to her knees. “We go in, we get chosen.” Here she lifted strands of her own black hair and let them fall
through her fingers. “We spend a couple of weeks living in the lap of luxury while we look for the inverters. Where’s the problem?”

“I—”

The doorway darkened and Toby looked up. The captain and Dee stood in the passageway.

“So,” the captain began. “Why are you here?”

Ayla looked at Toby, silently demanding his support. Then she turned to the captain. “I’ve got a plan to get us both an inverter, if you’ll hear me out.”

The captain paced the room, stroking his beard. “If these zealots find out we’re fitting our ships with solar panels…”

“We’ll have the sun worshippers after us as well as the world’s navies.” Ayla laughed. “They’re blind prayer-mongers, we’re pirates. I’m not worried.”

The captain thumped the counter beside Toby. “And what does Nell think of this? I can’t believe she’d ask anything of the
Phoenix
.”

Ayla bit her lip.

“Ayla?” Toby frowned. “What are you hiding?”

Dee leaned on the doorjamb with her arms folded.

“Nell already tried her way.” Ayla refused to look Toby in the eye. “She sent a crew member into the sanctuary
disguised as a medic. We never heard from him again.” Ayla sighed. “I liked Hideaki.”

“You think he was caught stealing?”

“Must have been.” Ayla still did not look up. “It’s been over a week. He’d have been out by now.”

“That still doesn’t explain…”

Ayla raised her head, her eyes blazing. “Nell doesn’t know I’m here, OK. She wants nothing from the
Phoenix
. Last I heard she was planning on sending a full raiding party into Gozo. Stupid.” She leaped up and pressed her forehead on to the cloudy perspex porthole, as if her mother watched through her own reflection. “The crew’s still recovering from the battle and, like you said, that sanctuary’s a fortress.”

BOOK: Phoenix Burning
13.12Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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