Skybreach (The Reach #3) (2 page)

Jozef spread his hands wide.  “For too long, the Consortium has held the strings over this world, crafting their own vision, imposing their own will.  They have dangled their illusion before the people of Earth for longer than any of us can even remember – the illusion that salvation lies above.”  He thrust his finger toward the ceiling.  “That the only way for us to survive is to escape this world and to occupy another.”

Jozef turned away from the boy.  “But I am here to tell you, Children of Earth, that they are
wrong
.  They preach this falsehood merely so that they may
continue to line their pockets and
stoke the fire of their own greed.  When we sever the wire that holds up this illusion, when we destroy the pathway to the other worlds, our brothers and sisters of this world will no longer waste their time and energy on their attempts to escape.  They will turn their gaze back upon the Earth.  They will look inward once again.  Only then will we begin to search for the remedy to the sickness that pervades this world instead of merely attempting to run away from it.

“We will heal this Earth,” Jozef said, and the belief, the conviction in his voice rang out across the room, lifting the hearts and minds of those around him.  “We will restore her to her former glory.”  Jozef smiled.  “We will do it the only way that it can be done – together.”

He looked among them again, and now he could see that they were ready.  They were primed for what they had to do.

“Andie,” he said, turning to a young woman beside him.  He gently touched the circular scar that had been carved on her forehead.  “For whom do you give yourself?”

The woman blinked and swallowed back tears.

“For my mother, out in the lowlands,” Andie said, her voice thick with emotion.  “I give my life today so that she may live tomorrow.”

Jozef nodded, turning to the next man, repeating the gesture.  “And you, Reinhold?”

“My brother and his family down in Link.”

“Good,” Jozef said, touching his hand to Reinhold’s cheek.  “Good.”  He turned back to the rest of them.  “You are about to stand toe-to-toe with these men in crimson, these demons who stand watch over our enemy.  You have heard the stories about them.  You have heard what they can do.  But do not forget that they are
men
.  Just flesh and blood, like you.  You have strength in numbers and you have the will to overcome them.  That is all you need.”

He returned to the head of the assembly and drew himself up, spreading his arms wide again and allowing his dark robes to dangle below him.

“Remember who you are.”  He touched the circle on his own forehead.  “You are Children of Earth, and you will not forget she who gave you life, who gave you sustenance.  You will not disown her or disgrace her memory.  You will not leave her behind.”  He closed his eyes and steepled his fingers together before his face.  “Mother, watch over us.”

Those before him followed his example, clasping their hands before them.

“Mother, watch over us,” they said in unison.

Jozef nodded.  “It is time.”

A door opened and the Children of Earth gathered up their motley assortment of tools – rifles, knives, handguns, packs of explosives – and began to solemnly file out and into Gaslight.  Jozef followed them, watching as the last exited, then stopped at the threshold.  Andie turned and hurried back to him, bowing before him reverently, and he reached out and touched her forehead again.

“Go,” he said gently.

She smiled, then opened her mouth as if to say something, then turned and joined the others without another word.  Jozef watched the
m leave
, and his eyes fell upon their destination on the other side of the marketplace.  It was an innocuous-looking storefront with a glowing red letter ‘C’ over the doorway, the symbol of the Consortium.

“We are coming for you,” Jozef whispered to them, now that this small fragment of his flock had gone on ahead.  “Today we cut the first string.”

2

The klaxon sounded, booming from the heights like distant thunder, and another day in the Reach began.

Knile and Roman watched the gates as the Enforcers began to configure entrance panels along the wall, causing them to fold neatly into one another.  Sunlight spilled through the resulting doorways, and beyond that Knile could see the faces of those standing in line, waiting patiently to enter.

“I don’t see her,” Roman said, craning his neck as his eyes darted from one portal to the next next.  The two of them were positioned a good distance back from the gates against a wall, keeping well out of the way of the Enforcers, and from here the view was limited.

“She’ll be there,” Knile said reassuringly, although he couldn’t deny that he too was uneasy.  Gaining access to the Reach was never a thing to be taken lightly – it only took one cranky or overzealous Enforcer to ruin the whole
operation.

“Where did Silvestri get the fake IDs, anyway?” Roman said.  “How do we know they’ll work?”

“Just relax, Roman.  Silvestri knows what he’s doing.”  He glanced down at the youth.  In the week since he’d been poisoned, Roman had made a good recovery, becoming stronger with each passing day until he was now looking relatively fit and healthy again.  Perhaps he wasn’t one
hundred percent yet, but he was getting there.

Knile still hated to think of how close his young companion had come to death up there in the Consortium Infirmary.
  Although the entire incident had been unpleasant, they had at least come out of it unscathed.  He was grateful for that.

The first visitors were now being processed by the Enforcers, and some were even walking briskly through the open space of the ground floor on their way to their destinations.  Knile looked from gate to gate in search of Talia’s face, but he could still see no sign of her.

The last time he and Roman had waited here for her to reach the gates, things had not gone well.

She’ll be fine
, he reassured himself. 
Follow your own advice.  Relax.

“You’ve been talking to that guy a lot,” Roman remarked all of a sudden.

“Who?”

“Silvestri.”

Knile noted a hint of disdain in his voice.  “Yeah, I have.  There’s a lot of planning to do.”  He placed a hand on Roman’s shoulder.  “You have every right to be distrustful of Silvestri and the rest of Skybreach, Roman.  It’s only natural after what they put you through.”

“I don’t know if there’s anyone I can trust at all, apart from you and Talia. 
Everyone else I’ve met lately has turned out to be an asshole.”

Knile grimaced, thinking both of Hoyer Honeybul and of Emil, and how the machinations of those men had almost ended not only Roman’s and his own life, but Talia’s as well.

“I can understand what you’re saying
.  But if we’re going to leave this place we’re going to have to trust someone eventually.  We can’t make it out of here on our own.  Not all three of us together.  And besides, without Silvestri, none of us would be alive.  He led us to Lazarus, didn’t he?”

“Yeah.”

“And without Lazarus we’d all be dead.”

“I guess,” Roman said reluctantly.  Then his eyes widened and he stood up straight, pointing.  “Look!  There he is!”

Knile followed Roman’s gaze and saw Silvestri striding across the floor, having successfully negotiated the Enforcers at the entrance.  As he approached he removed his respirator and stowed it in his backpack, then stopped and looked around.  Knile and Roman started forward cautiously, and Knile made a surreptitious tilt of his hand as he tried to catch Silvestri’s attention.  As Silvestri spotted them, he veered in their direction and broke into that easy, relaxed swagger, complete w
ith his trademark roguish smile.

“Greetings,” he said, extending his hand to each of them in turn.  “Nice to see you both in the flesh, and in one piece, no less.”

“That’s how we generally prefer it,” Knile said with a grin.

“Where’s Talia?” Roman demanded.

“She’s in the queue,” Silvestri said, glancing over his shoulder.  “We thought it best not to come through together, just in case–”

“Just in case the ID you gave her doesn’t work,” Roman snapped.  “You wouldn’t want to be dragged down with her
when she gets caught.”

Silvestri glanced at Knile uncertainly, as if attempting to ascertain if he approved of the boy’s hostility.

“That’s enough,” Knile said quietly to Roman.

“No, I understand,” Silvestri said.  “If someone had given me Brimstone and tried to kill me, I wouldn’t be too trusting of their former associates.”  Silvestri nodded at Roman.  “You are right to doubt me, Roman.  I hope that in time I can earn your trust.”

“Get Talia in here,” Roman said.  “That would be a good start.”

Silvestri was about to respond when Knile brushed past him, staring at one of the gates.

“There she is,” he said.

They turned as one to watch as Talia appeared at an entrance labelled Gate Five.  Even from a distance she looked nervous and sweaty as she raised her hand to present her ID.  The Enforcer lifted his scanner and touched it against her fingertips, reading the data on the chips embedded therein, then turned back to the terminal behind him.  He asked Talia something and she nodded, then glanced around her.  She hadn’t spotted the three of them yet.

At that moment Knile thought he heard something – a far off rumble, like a distant landslide, and he sensed a slight change in the air around him.

Vibrations?
 
What the hell is this?
he thought, looking around, but Roman and Silvestri had not reacted in the slightest.  In fact, Roman had a stupid grin plastered across his face.

“She’s through,” the boy said, his relief obvious.  Over by Gate Five, Talia was making her way hesitantly forward, a black duffel bag slung over one shoulder.  Roman took a few steps forward and managed to catch her eye, and then she too smiled.

“Wait, Roman,” Knile said.  “Those Enforcers might still be looking for us after the stunt we pulled last week at the gate.”  He turned to Silvestri, frowning.  “Hey, d
id you just hear something?”

Silvestri’s smile faltered, sensing Knile’s unease.

“No.  What is it?”  He glanced around.  “Do you think they’re onto us?”

“No, it’s not…”  He shook his head.  “I don’t know.  I just thought I heard something strange.”

“Should we get out of here?”  Silvestri inclined his head toward the gates, where more people were filtering through.  “The rest of the Skybreach team are coming through now.”

“No, it’s fine,” Knile said dismissively.  “I’m just on edge, that’s all.  Hypersensitive.”

“If you say
so,” Silvestri said, but Knile’s sense of doubt seemed to have rubbed off on him.  He looked about nervously as if expecting a threat to come at him from the gloomy corners of the Reach at any moment.

Knile turned and was surprised to see that Talia was already upon them.  She linked one arm around Roman’s neck and the other around Knile’s and drew them tightly to her in the mother of all bear hugs.

“Hello, men!” she said joyously, planting a kiss on each of their cheeks.  She held them both to her, then gave them another squeeze before allowing them to draw back.

“About time you made it, Tal,” Roman joked.  “What took you?”

“Well, I didn’t get the express ride into the Infirmary for a start,” she said with a grin.  “Quite a stunt you pulled there, Roman.”

“Believe me,” he said earnestly, “I don’t recommend using Brimstone for fun.  I’m going to try some Breeze to get my kicks next time.”

Her face softened as if she were on the verge of tears, and she reached out and touched his cheek.

“So good to see you well,” she said affectionately.  Then she turned to Knile.  “And you, Redman killer–”

“Hey, don’t say that out loud,” Knile smirked.  “You wouldn’t believe the number of autograph hunters I’ve had to escape this week.”

“I’ll bet.”

He shrugged.  “Besides, that was more Lazarus’ work than mine.  I can’t really take credit for it.”

“Where is he, anyway?” Talia said.  “Your friend the Redman.”

“He’s a little difficult to move around unnoticed,” Knile said.  “He’s hard to miss.”  He smiled at her quizzical expression.  “Just wait till you meet him, it’ll all make sense.”

Silvestri had broken away, but now he returned to them, looking pleased with himself.

“Almost everyone has come through,” he said.  “They’re breaking off into their assigned teams.  From there they’ll gather the equipment and make their way up to Gaslight so that we can regroup.”

“What about Aksel?” Talia said.  “Isn’t he with us?”

“Aksel?” Roman said, disgusted.  “You mean the kid who hacked the Consortium network and activated the alarm while Knile and I were in the Infirmary? 
The kid who tried to
kill
us?”