"We got trouble."
Paul turned around to find Jacque standing in the doorway.
[ "Something's happening over by the temple," he
| said. "Looks like they've brought somebody to the wall."
Paul followed him out the door and up the
narrow stairway. Selmer and Karyn crouched at the edge of the crumbling roof. Karyn stared through the binoculars, her mouth set in a hard line. She handed the binoculars to Paul.
"They've got Sabastian," she said tersely. 162
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"They're putting him on the wall. Looks like they're getting ready for a public execution." Paul could see people streaming along the roadways toward the temple. He focused the binoculars on the raised section of wall behind the temple. The bodies from the day before had been removed. Two white-robed deacons held a man up against the wall while another bound his wrists to protruding pegs.
"Are you sure it's Sabastian?"
"Yes. We'll have to go after him." She had already begun cinching up her pouch.
"That's exactly what High Elder Brill wants us to do."
"Then we'll give him what he wants," Karyn said savagely.
Ten minutes later they were moving at a fast jog through the tubeway. Jacque and Karyn were in the lead, and Paul and Selmer struggled to keep up. Paul had convinced Dorland to stay in the building at the river and continue his efforts to get useful information from Elli.
Karyn was adamant that they reach Sabastian as quickly as possible, and they hadn't taken the time to work out a plan. According to her, the execution would probably take place at sunset, barely an hour away. They would have to assess the situation and figure out what to do after they reached the temple. Karyn called a halt at one of the tubeway intersections.
"This is as close as we can get to the temple," she said. "Once we're on the ground, we'll follow what's left of Tube Three till it runs into one of the roads from Fairhope. I have an idea of how to work it." She tilted her head toward Jacque. "You and I will mingle with the crowd and get as close as we can to Sabastian." She turned to Selmer. "You and Paul stay back by one of the gates so you can get out fast. When we're in position, create a diversion. Jacque and I will cut Sabastian down and take him over the wall behind the temple."
"What kind of diversion?"
She waved a hand. "Think of something. We'll only need a few minutes."
"Will that be enough?" Paul asked. "The deacons will be waiting for us to try something like that."
"Of course they will. So you'll have to create a very good diversion." Her eyes went back to Selmer.
"There's a big crowd out there and only a few deacons and Sons. The rest must be in a prayer meeting or something. Try to keep your eyes on them, and put as much distance as you can between yourself and them when you make your move.
Leave yourself enough time to get away. When it's over, head back to the river. Don't try to find us, just get back whatever way seems best." Selmer nodded, but Karyn was already on her way up the rope ladder to the platform.
They descended from the spiral tube into an area of rubble and heavy vegetation. Off to the right Paul could see the curved spire of the temple. Within a few minutes they had worked their way through the vegetation under the tube until they reached a roadway that was crowded with people. They crouched in the brush, then, one by one, merged into the crowd.
Paul was the last to leave the cover of vegetation, and as he stepped up onto the roadway he suddenly became aware of a weight in his pocket. He checked with his hand and felt a round disk. A Godstone?
He remembered the disk he had taken from Selmer when they'd first found them in the building by the river. At some point he must have unconsciously dropped it into his pocket.
If they catch me and find that disk. . .
He refused to let that thought go any farther. Trying to keep his jangling nerves under control, he 164
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followed Selmer when Jacque and Karyn angled off toward the God Wall.
Paul and Selmer worked their way along the
perimeter of the courtyard. The people from Fairhope were strangely quiet—Paul could hear only a few low murmurs among the sounds of
shuffling feet. None of them looked particularly happy to be here. Paul caught a glimpse of a young boy in a gold-and-scarlet uniform a few meters away. He averted his face and hurried past. He realized Selmer was edging over toward an open gate. Past the gate Paul could see a narrow roadway and crumbled ruins. With luck, he and Selmer should be able to carry out their task, then lose themselves in the ruins long enough to reach the access port to David's Tube.
He stopped beside a low stone bench and turned to look toward the wall. After a moment he spotted Jacque and Karyn in the crowd near the place where Sabastian hung in the straps.
Paul felt something touch his arm and jerked around.
"Easy," Selmer said softly. "Do you have an idea for a diversion?"
Paul stared at him. "Don't you?"
The blank look on Selmer's face was answer
enough.
Paul looked again at the God Wall. They had rushed into this, and now his worst fears were realized. They had to do something, but they didn't have a plan. He knew they didn't have much time; a row of deacons was already beginning to form in front of the temple.
As he turned back to Selmer, he bumped into a woman in a gray shawl. He murmured an apology. She gave him a wary look, then another. She was tall and thin, with a beaked nose punctuating a suspicious-looking face.
Then Paul suddenly realized how he could create a diversion. A very good diversion, Karyn had said. He touched Selmer's elbow and whispered,
"Back me up."
Selmer nodded. Paul thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out the round disk. The woman in the gray shawl stood only a short distance away, still eyeing him warily. He opened his hand to show her the disk.
The reaction was immediate. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. The blood drained from her face. She took a stumbling step backward, her lips working soundlessly. Then she got her breath and released a piercing scream.
A surprised murmur broke out around them.
"It's the GodstoneF a man yelled. It took Paul a moment to realize the voice belonged to Selmer Ogram. He thrust the silver disk high up for others to see. A space widened around him. Another man shouted. Paul glanced back at the God Wall and saw that Karyn and Jacque had moved into position in front of Sabastian. Several boys in gold and scarlet were close to them, craning their necks toward the commotion at the gate.
But Paul could see that he would have to buy Karyn and Jacque more time. The low stone bench beside the path gave him what he needed. While the woman in the gray shawl was still trying to collect her breath, Paul stepped up on the bench and held up the disk.
"People of Clarion!" He had to shout to be heard above the increasing murmurs of the crowd.
"There's a new way coming. A new way\" He consciously tried to put power and authority into his voice, speaking the first words that came to his mind. More heads turned. Several of the uniformed boys near the wall began pushing their way through the crowd. Just a few more minutes. "Lord Tern 166
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came to me last night! He gave me the holy
Godstone, and a message to pass along to his children!" He turned the disk back and forth so the silver face would catch and reflect the sun. The murmurs died away as the people around him