Phoenix Burning (6 page)

As the
Phoenix
passed what was left of the Balearics, Toby left Hiko filling the compressor in the boiler room, pulled his eye-gauze low over his eyes and climbed on deck to bask in the warmth.

“You’d better take that off, Toby.” It was Uma. Her own gauze was tight over her face. The crew had been
wearing it since they had passed the meridian and the sun’s brightness had become unbearable to their unaccustomed eyes.

He didn’t move. “Why?”

“True sun worshippers don’t use it. I believe it’s considered blasphemous to hide from the sun’s rays.”

Toby glanced at Ayla. She had long ago removed her jacket and now wore a light shirt for work on deck. The captain had her cleaning out the bilge pumps, but she made no complaint. In fact she had thrown herself into life on the
Phoenix
and did every job tossed her way with good humour. She had even earned a reluctant grunt of approval when she returned Peel’s fish to him gutted, boned and dressed for the crew’s dinner. Her own eyes were naked to the brightness.

Reluctantly, Toby unwound the light material.

“You need to get used to going without.” Uma smiled. “Start off with short periods of time, then go longer.”

Toby put the gauze in his pocket. “I feel exposed.”

The captain appeared behind him and huffed. “You’ll be all right.” His fingers vanished inside his jacket. “Here, I’ve drawn this for you.” He pulled a piece of slate from his pocket. There was a chalked image on it. “This is what an inverter is likely to look like – it’ll be small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. It should have a Solaris logo,
but most importantly there’ll be holes with pins inside that will fit these.” He opened his other hand to show Toby cables with connectors. “Got it?”

Toby nodded and the captain handed him the slate and wires. “Show Ayla later, make sure you both have it memorized.”

Ayla looked up at the sound of her name.

“What’s going on over there?” Toby slipped the wires into his tool belt and pointed to the solar panels, where Rahul, Nisha, Amit and Ajay were pulling tarpaulins tight and pinning them down.

“We’re covering the panels,” the captain replied. “We’ll be in sight of the island in a day or so and we don’t know how far their scopes can see. We won’t take the
Phoenix
all the way in, but we don’t want to risk them seeing what we’ve got here. They might attack us, or suspect you of foul play.”

Toby nodded. “I’ll help.” As Ayla went back to her own job he caught a rope and helped Nisha pull it tight. His eyes already felt sore and watery, but he would work for at least an hour before he put his gauze back on. Uma was right, if the con was to work, he had to look like a true sun worshipper.

Toby eyed the heat haze that hung over the tiny island like fog. Polly hunched on his shoulder, her weight a comfort, even as the sun glinted from her body.

“Have you been to Gozo before?” Ayla leaned over the gunwale, as if to urge the
Phoenix
to break through the junk faster.

Toby shook his head. “Last time we were here we brought Javier and Morris and I wasn’t allowed off ship.” He picked at some rust on the railing. “The
Phoenix
anchored in Malta, above the castle – you can see its remains under the salt when the tide shifts the junk – and the captain took them in. The Maltese hate St George because they refused to help with the evacuation when the tsunamis hit. There are hardly any survivors on Malta, so not much to trade, but they’re a safe anchorage for the
Phoenix
.”

Ayla rose to her toes and pointed. “Look, I can see the sanctuary.”

Toby jumped as Rita thumped into the rail beside him. Her blond hair tickled his cheek. “It’s bigger than I remember,” she whispered.

Ayla nodded. “Sebastiane told me they’re always building. It started off as a Catholic cathedral.”

“Now look at it,” Rita added. “Doesn’t it remind you of…”

Toby’s stomach lurched. Rita was right; there was a feel of Castle Guzman about the thick blocky walls, grey concrete paving and massive slabs that now surrounded the delicate stonework of the original structure. He closed his eyes, blinded, as the sun caught the massive bronze circle that adorned the bell tower.

“Wow,” Ayla muttered. “I guess we’re in the right place.”

With the sanctuary hidden by the glow of the bronze dial, Toby shifted his attention to the houses that clustered around its base like rats around a supply crate.

“They all work for the Order?” Rita murmured.

Ayla nodded. “The original islanders had to become sun worshippers, or move to Malta. They provide the sanctuary with most of its food and supplies.”

“What if they
couldn’t
leave?” Rita didn’t take her eyes from the houses.

Ayla said nothing. At one side of the building, the island had cracked. A huge chunk had slid downwards to create
a cliff leading to a narrow bay that backed right up against the rear wall. As Toby watched, surf crashed into jagged rocks and salt splashed the sanctuary, spraying white foam into the heat haze.

“Is that where they leave their dead?” Rita’s eyes widened. “We’ll be killed.”

Ayla rolled her eyes. “They put the dead out when the tide is low.
We’ ll
be long gone by the time the salt’s this angry, if it comes to it.”

D’von came running up to them. “We’re here?”

Toby nodded. “Are you sure you want to do this, D’von? It isn’t too late to back out.”

D’von frowned. “If you’re going, Toby, I’m going, too, don’t worry.”

Toby glanced at Ayla.

“He won’t get in,” she whispered.

He jumped as Arnav began to blow the
Phoenix
’s whistle; although the
Phoenix
wasn’t going to dock, they still had to get through the dam keeping the debris from Gozo’s waters and that meant announcing their arrival.

Although the Azure Window had long been destroyed, the sun worshippers had used the cliff to make one side of their dam, which stretched across the harbour. It was a rusting wall of lorries and old ships hammered and welded together to form a sieve that allowed fish and smaller
rubbish past, but kept the more dangerous pieces away from the main dock. The rest of the island was kept clear by currents or jagged rocks. There was only one way into Gozo and that was through the dam.

As the
Phoenix
approached, a system of pulleys and winches allowed attendants to lift the top of the outer barrier, like a swing bridge.

Amit and Ajay swarmed up the rigging and furled the sails, wrapping them tightly to banish the wind and hold the
Phoenix
back.

Slowly, using only her paddle power, the
Phoenix
passed the raised junk. Toby turned to watch as the shadow of the barrier fell over his face. His heart raced as the paddles propelled them forwards. Even Ayla had gone completely still. Toby barely breathed as the
Phoenix
chugged into the gap between the two walls. The junk that had been jostling at the dam wall flowed in alongside their ship. Rotting sofas, tumble driers and truck beds capered in the waves.

As the wall closed behind them Toby felt even more confined, as though the
Phoenix
had been imprisoned. They were surrounded by a dark well that seemed to be pressing closer with every pitch of the ship. In front of Toby the cab of a lorry peered into the ship, the windscreen a cobweb of shattered glass.

The
Phoenix
’s paddles still ran, trying to push her through the dam, but she couldn’t move and her frustrated churning rattled around them.

Ayla’s hand closed on Toby’s.

“What if the
Phoenix
needs to leave quickly?” D’von murmured.

“The
Phoenix
isn’t staying.” Ayla squeezed his fingers. “She’ll anchor close enough to the beach so we can go ashore then she’ll leave again, to meet
Birdie
. She’ll be waiting for us off the coast of Malta.”

“What’s your business in Gozo?” The voice from the top of the dam reverberated from the metal walls and echoed over the
Phoenix
.

Toby jumped as the captain replied through his bull horn.

“This is the
Phoenix
. We’re bringing Sun and Moon candidates for the festival. Two pairs.”

There was no reply and the
Phoenix
remained locked in suspension, tilting from side to side with the waves, her paddles pushing her nowhere.

“There’s something wrong,” Rita whispered.

Then there was a rushing sound as the sluice gates opened. The
Phoenix
banged against the inner gate as the tide pulled her forwards. Toby gasped as the deck jerked beneath him. He leaned over and watched the last of the
junk, a plastic shopping basket and a black bin bag that sucked and slid in the waves, slide through the gates, then the sluices closed.

Toby tightened his fingers around Ayla’s as the wall in front of them began to ascend. The rusting lorry lifted until its jagged windscreen stared down at Toby from above.

A sliver of light appeared at the bottom of the
Phoenix
and worked its way up her rusting sides, highlighting the faded bird painted on her, the hawsepipe from which the anchor emerged and, finally, the little skiff,
Wren
, the small boat Ayla had arrived in, which was now hanging from
Birdie
’s winches, the gunwale and the crew. Toby stared ahead.

In front of them was the harbour. Rubbish floated on the waves but nothing like as much as they had sailed through. A line of lobster baskets bobbed ahead of them and on the pier he could see children lifting crab lines and mussel nets from brackish water.

“We’re here,” he murmured.

“It’s time to go below.” Polly nudged his cheek. “We need to anchor, so you’ll have to put the paddles into reverse.”

Toby patted her with his free hand, his fingers still hesitant over her metal body.

“You know you can’t bring Polly into the sanctuary.” Ayla tilted her head at him.

Polly squawked angrily and Toby stroked her head. “She’s right, Pol. The sun worshippers might decide to keep you, or worse, destroy you.”

Polly bobbed up and down crossly. “I thought I was going. You’ll need me in there.”

The captain’s heavy tread made them all jump. His hand descended on to Toby’s left shoulder.

“This is the point when we have to trust that we’ve taught Toby enough to survive without us. Do you think we’ve taught him enough, Polly?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then that’s that.” The captain lifted Polly from her perch and placed the parrot on his own shoulder. “Go below, Toby, there’s work to do before we dock.”

In the boiler room, Toby found Hiko filling the compressor with combustibles.

“I wondered where you were. Didn’t you want to watch us sail through the dam?” Toby approached the control panel, pulling his goggles over his eyes.

“This needed doing.” Hiko kept his head down, his back to Toby.

“It could have waited.” Toby pressed the lever that diverted steam from one delivery line to another. He felt the
Phoenix
judder, stop, then, slowly, begin to reverse. On deck he knew the captain was directing Rita to steer the
Phoenix
to a safe anchorage, close to the shore.

He rubbed away the sweat that threatened to drip into his eyes. Hiko was determinedly shovelling, still refusing to look up. The light from the porthole showed his shoulders hunched and tension in the lines of his arms and back.

“Are you all right?” Toby stepped closer.

“I’m fine.” Hiko’s shovel jammed against the hull with a clang and he shook the vibration out of his fingers before he returned to his work.

Toby moved closer. “Stop for a minute.”

Hiko shook his head. “I’m your assistant, so I’ll be engineer while you’re gone. I’m getting started, making sure everything works right…”

“Everything here is shipshape.” Toby caught Hiko’s shoulder and he jumped.

“Just talk to me. I’ll be leaving soon.”

“I know.” Hiko threw the spade down and it clattered across the floor.

“You’re angry?” Toby blinked.

“You’re going without me,” Hiko blurted, finally turning. His eyes were rimmed with red. “Remember last
time you were on land. You can’t even
walk
straight.”

“I’ll have Ayla to watch my back.” Even as Toby said it, he realized that his words were probably no comfort to the boy who had been caged on the
Banshee
.

Hiko’s fists clenched at his side. “You don’t know everything, Toby,” he snapped. “You know the sea, but I know land better’n you. I should be going.” He pulled away and pointed to his own thick mop. “I have black hair.
I
could be your partner.” His voice dropped. “I’d have your back
and
I’m small. What if you need someone to crawl through a vent to get the inverters? Ayla can’t do that.”

Toby cleared his throat. “You’re right, you’d be a better partner.” He pulled Hiko to the floor and sat beside him, one arm around his shoulder. “But Ayla said it had to be a boy and girl.”

“Why? Two boys can be partners, so can two girls. I saw it in the slave market.”

“True.” Toby nodded. “But I think it’s a contrasts thing: sun, moon; light, dark; boy, girl. See?”

Hiko squirmed free. “I get it.” He kicked at a dried chunk of MDF. “What if you don’t come home?”

“I’ll be back,” Toby promised. “And knowing you’re here, doing my job for me means I’ll have one less thing to worry about.”

“Huh.” Hiko looked towards the porthole. “I won’t
know if you need help. Polly won’t even be watching.”

“I’ll have to rely on Ayla.” Hiko sneered at that. Toby touched his arm. “She was great in Tarifa, wasn’t she?”

Hiko sighed. “I’m going to keep translating that map. Maybe I’ll have it done by the time you get back.”

“That would be great.” Toby grinned.

“Don’t tell Ayla,” Hiko begged suddenly.

Toby shook his head. “I’m telling her you can’t do it. Just in case.”

“So you
don’t
trust her…” Hiko’s eyes glittered in the dim light.

Toby sighed. “She’s promised not to betray me while we’re inside the sanctuary.”

“Do you trust her to bring you home?” Hiko leaned close, looking for a lie in Toby’s face.

Toby shook his head. “I’ll bring myself home.”

For the first time in his life, Toby placed his foot on the gangplank of the
Phoenix
.

“What are you waiting for?” The plank shook as Ayla loped past.

The captain waited until Ayla had left the ship. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”

Toby shook his head. “I’m doing this.” He took a step.
The
Phoenix
tilted beneath him.

“Another adventure for us,” D’von lisped; then he put his arm through Toby’s and they walked down the plank together. The captain followed but his face was grim.

As soon as his toes touched rock, Toby stumbled, feeling disoriented as the land failed to move beneath him. He took his time to get his land-legs, stepping across the rocks and using D’von to help him balance. Ayla was already striding smoothly on to a short stone pier, her hair shining in the glow of the bronze sun that hung above the cathedral.