The hovertank ducked back behind cover as the oni used rifles to shoot at it. The barge was already listing as it took on water. The oni warriors rushed toward the smaller tugboat as the water became thick with feeding river sharks. A true blood was trying to detach the barge before it dragged the tug down with it.
“There,” the little-girl voice said from hovertank. “No more problem! You should go someplace safer. The oni are launching an attack on Oakland. Okay, got to go, bye!”
The tank soared off.
“We should go,” Olivia said after a moment of stunned silence. “Somewhere. Someplace safe.”
Tommy doubted that anywhere in Pittsburgh was safe. He needed to get back to his family. Motoko and Babe would still be asleep. Bingo and the others were distracted by the hotel; they might not notice the incoming oni until it was too late. At least with the human businessmen coming and going, no one who couldn’t pass for human should be in the lobby. They could discuss tactics after he warned his family.
He revved the engine on his hoverbike, adding power to the lift engines so he drifted upward to cruising height. “Follow me.”
22: GRANDVIEW
Jane’s little brother Marc had lucked into an insanely beautiful modern house on Grandview Avenue near the Monongahela Incline. Perched on the edge of Mount Washington, it had an unobstructed view for ten or twenty miles. The house was a blocky, white-walled, space-age-looking thing with multiple terraces and giant windows to make the most of the vista.
Jane had called Duff to let him know where she was headed and to double-check that Boo was actually with Marc. Duff had put her on hold, checked on Marc’s location, and let her know that Marc had just gotten home. The call had forewarned Marc; he opened up his garage doors as Jane pulled into the driveway. His repaired Hummer sat in the right bay, leaving the left bay empty for Jane’s SUV. Before Marc could close his garage doors, though, Nigel and Taggart and Hal walked out of the garage, heading across the street to the far sidewalk at the cliff’s edge. Chesty stoically stood beside Jane despite the fact that he’d spent most of the day so far penned up. The elfhound glanced up hopefully at Jane.
“Hal!” Jane snapped even though all three of men were guilty. It was probably Hal’s idea.
“It’s the first time Taggart has seen Pittsburgh like this!” Hal gestured to the vista even as he continued to walk toward the iron fence that lined the far sidewalk.
It was a stunning view. The cliffs of Mount Washington dropped off beyond the sidewalk, leaving nothing to obstruct the vista. In a single glance, one could see from Point State Park — where the Allegheny River met the Monongahela River to form the Ohio — all the way to the Cathedral of Learning rising over Oakland. At the foot of the cliff was Station Square, currently littered with train cars after the Oktoberfest derailment. Across the Monongahela River rose all the skyscrapers of Downtown. On the hilltops beyond the Allegheny River was the solid wall of green that was the virgin ironwood forest. Rainclouds blanketed the sky, threatening, dimming the entire vista.
Much to Chesty’s delight, Jane walked across to view it with the men. The big elfhound trotted in a wide circle around her, burning energy, tail wagging.
“We can see it even better from Marc’s,” Jane said, aware that Marc was following them across the street as if Hal had the gravity of a black hole. “It’s going to rain soon.”
Hal looked pained. “I wanted Taggart to get shots of the tower. From the street. It’s more impressive that way.”
“The tower?” Jane echoed in confusion. The only tower in the area was a block down the street from Marc’s house. It was tall, anemic, Eiffel-Tower-looking thing painted white and red. There was a little flat building tucked under it, housing WESA, which used to be the Pittsburgh NPR station. The public radio station had lost its US government funding, just like WQED. Whereas private investors had stepped in to take control of the public television station, the radio station had been abandoned. What was operating in its place was a pirate station, run by locals as young as twelve and as old as thirty.
Jane pointed just to be sure they were talking about the same thing. “The radio tower?”
Hal nodded and grinned in the way he had when he was trying to keep a secret.
“Why?” Jane let her voice to drop to a threatening level. All of the kids running the pirate station had joined the militia. Since the militia was using the spy cell model, Hal hadn’t been told that it was one of their communications hubs. Although it was possible that he’d guessed; he wasn’t a total idiot and the coded broadcasts were accessible by any radio.
Hal grinned tighter. “WESA appeals to a younger audience.”
Jane glared at him and he lost the grin.
Hal lowered his voice to a whisper. “Jane, I’ve been doing lots of research on successful rebellions. Historically, communication is key to any successful resistance. Radios have always played an important part in organizing coordinated action. KDKA is nice but it’s very public and very vulnerable and very…cowardly. Really. I haven’t been able to get in to see any of KDKA’s staff beyond your cousin. They’re afraid I’ll set the place on fire. Again.”
She was wrong. He hadn’t realized that they’d already taken over WESA. She shook her head. “I don’t want you drawing attention to the station.”
Nigel shifted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hal.
“No, no, no, don’t evil dead twins on me,” Jane growled.
Nigel gave her an apologetic look for siding against her. “Elf fusion music is blowing up on Earth. It’s part of what is fueling people’s interest in Elfhome. If Tinker domi does manage to open up a path back to Earth, an episode on a pirate radio station devoted to the music would be huge.”
Jane hadn’t considered that the radio station could be anything more than a communication hub for the militia. This was the problem of having two hosts. Hal alone was easy to ignore; his way normally led to madness, fueled by his overconfident ego. Nigel, on the other hand, was so reasonable that it was hard to counter him.
“We’re here to talk to Boo,” Jane said.
“We could split up,” Taggart said. “It’s probably better that only you deal with this.”
“This” being “find out exactly what Kajo did to Boo.” Yes, it would be better if Boo had privacy for this.
“I can cover your crew.” Marc wore his kidney holster under his tank top. He held out his keys to show that he wouldn’t be locked out if she closed the garage doors.
“We can take Chesty with us.” Taggart gave her a smile that did warm fluttery things to her heart. “He would enjoy the walk.”
“Okay. Fine.” She was trying to get Chesty used to the idea that Taggart was part of the family now. She pointed at Taggart. “Chesty. Obey.”
Taggart patted his leg. Chesty went without hesitation, which was an improvement since they had first started working on it two months ago.
“Good boy!” Taggart rewarded Chesty with affection.
Jane walked back to the garage and hit the wall switch to close the big doors.
It was a good thing that Marc’s place was all windows and outside views because it was minimalist bare. He had no art on the wall or rugs on the polished hardwood floors. The only furniture on the first floor was an ironwood coffee table made by Geoffrey and a leather recliner bought at the thrift store Once More With Feeling.
Jane grabbed a cold beer out of the kitchen’s refrigerator; she needed something to focus on other than her feelings. She didn’t want to have this talk with Boo. She didn’t want to drag Boo through the emotional minefield of her kidnapping. Jane didn’t trust herself not to react yet; Boo didn’t need her anger and revulsion. After a moment’s thought, she took a beer for Boo too. Her baby sister wasn’t a baby anymore. All the Kryskills started to drink alcohol when they were ten or eleven, probably on the theory that if it wasn’t forbidden, it wasn’t as enticing.