“I warned you this had the stink of politics,” Jason said. “She doesn’t actually care about eliminating corruption. Cleaning up this branch is just her ticket into the upper ranks of the Adventure Society.”
“You were right,” Vincent said. “We just ended up pieces in someone else’s game. You only got involved because I asked you.”
“You were coming from a decent place, unlike Elspeth Arella. We need to look forward; there’s no point fretting over what’s done.”
“I’m still unclear on what’s happening,” Belinda said. “Jory just said we had to go and brought me here.”
“You didn’t explain it to me, either,” Jory said.
They spotted the tower. It would have been faster to cut straight across the grass, but Jason steered them onto the more meandering walkway.
“Stick to the paths,” Jason said. “We don’t want to draw Arella’s attention.”
“She can tell if people are walking on the grass?” Belinda asked.
“No, but rushing across the grass to the prison tower is something people might pay attention to. The longer before Arella finds out what we’re up to, the better.”
“What are we up to?” Jory asked. “You said we had to hurry a lot, but never actually said.”
“Sophie’s sentence-dispensation hearing is today,” Vincent said. “She’s already been sentenced to indenture, and today is when that indenture gets assigned.”
“I thought it was being assigned to you,” Belinda said to Jason.
“The rules are very clear on that,” Jason said. “Unfortunately, rules only matter so long as they matter to the powerful.”
“I could have told you that,” Belinda said.
“Lucian Lamprey has a legal advocate who will move that because the contract was an open one, the clause in the service agreement with the city doesn’t apply,” Vincent explained.
“Is that how it works?” Jory asked.
“Not even a little,” Jason said. “The argument is worthless.”
“Then what’s the issue?” Jory asked.
“That’s where I come in,” Vincent said. “The Adventure Society director is powerful, but she rose up very quickly and doesn’t know all the old networks. The Adventure Society’s legal advocate she ordered not to contest Lamprey’s court argument gave me a heads-up. The magistrate had also been handled, but that’s nothing new. I just don’t understand why Arella is working with Lamprey when she’s been trying to get rid of him.”
“Ousting Lamprey was always a means to an end,” Jason said. “If she can get him to fall into line, that serves her just as well. The sham court ruling is just gravy.”
“Is the court ruling that bad for the Duke?” Jory asked. “Can’t he just point out that the Adventure Society didn’t fight it?”
“There’s a hundred ways around that,” Vincent said. “Arella could claim the Adventure Society didn’t see the point of challenging over a minor case. She could throw the advocate under the wagon, claim incompetence or corruption.”
“She could have him killed off and claim no one knows what his motivations were,” Jason added.
“She wouldn’t go that far, would she?” Vincent asked.
“Her father is one of the Big Three,” Jason said. “She’d have her dad do it.”
“Dorgan?” Belinda said. “He’s the father of the Adventure Society’s director?”
“She’s been keeping it under her hat, for obvious reasons,” Jason said.
“Should you even be telling us this?” Jory asked.
“She lost discretion privileges when she lied to my face,” Jason said. “She told me she would help, then stabbed me in the back as I was congratulating myself over being such a political genius.”
They reached the prison tower, Jory and Belinda waiting outside while Jason and Vincent went in.
“Mr Asano,” Albert said. “Come to check on your prisoner?”
“I’ve come to check her out of prison, Bert,” Jason said.
“Since it was an open contract,” Albert said, “there’s a little extra paperwork. I can release her into the custody of the contracted agent, but with an open contract, you only count as the contracted agent if you’re the one that closed it. I’ll need the documentation that confirms your status.”
Vincent took a folder from his leather satchel, taking out a short stack of documents. He put them down in front of the security screen, pushing them under the narrow slot at the base.
“Copy of contract,” Albert checked off, leafing through the documents. “Confirmation of contract closure, registration of contract closure. Please hold your badge up against the security screen, Mr Asano.”
“No worries,” Jason said, taking his badge out and pushing it against the glass window between himself and Albert. Albert pressed one of the documents against the other side of the glass and it pulsed briefly with a yellow light.
“All in order,” Albert continued and turned back to the papers Vincent had given him. “Finally, order of release into custody of contracted agent. Which is now officially you, Mr Asano.”
Albert stamped the various forms.
“I can hand her over to you, then, sir.”
“Quickly would be ideal,” Bert,” Jason said.
“I will have to fit her with a tracking bracelet,” Albert said. “Wouldn’t want people just running off. Especially a pretty girl like that, sir. You could see how she might turn a man’s head. Get him to let her loose against his better judgement.”
“Perish the thought,” Jason said. “Fast as you can would be really appreciated.”
It was only a few minutes later that Albert, accompanied by an iron-rank guard, brought out Sophie. Around her wrist was a simple metal hoop.
Jason took out a bottle of the Norwich Distillery’s finest, handing it over to Albert.
“By way of apology,” Jason said.
“What for?”
“For what’s going to happen later.”
“Well?” Danielle asked as Thalia entered the command tent.
“Still nothing,” Thalia said. “That’s two hours overdue.”
“Then our scouting team is likely either captured or dead, and we still have no idea who by. How is camp readiness?”
“Still on alert but this is a large and undisciplined group. Too many people used to being captain and not enough willing to be crew. They’ve been on full alert since the team was due back and trying to keep them focused for hours at a time is making them inattentive and rebellious.”
“Damn Arella for handing me all this dross,” Danielle said. “All our good people are wasted keeping an eye on the bad ones. With half the number we’d be twice as effective.”
“You’re too used to only dealing with Gellers,” Thalia said. “You know better than to complain about what you want instead of dealing with what you have.”
Danielle flashed her a tired smile.
“You’re right. Thank you.”
“So what do we do? We have a missing scout team and fractious troops.”
“We give them focus,” Danielle said. “Get ready to mobilise in full force; we’re going to find out what happened to our people.”
“Heading into unknown territory, potentially against an unknown enemy?”
“Better than waiting for them to come to us. At least it gives us the initiative.”
Suddenly there was an explosion in the camp, followed by yells and screams. Danielle and Thalia went outside to see some kind of automaton army storming the camp. The enemies were not flesh and blood but built of wood, steel and stone. The majority were the size and shape of people, but there were towering golems standing two or three times the height of a person, and even stranger constructions. There was a huge, steel spider, on which a figure in robes could be seen. Other robed figures rode similarly outlandish creations, but there were only around a dozen robed figures in total, all at the rear of the enemy forces.
The pair were nonplussed for only a moment before they started loudly barking orders.