When they were done, Pelaru picked up Jez once more. ‘We ought to get her to safety,’ he said, his voice flat.
Crake frowned at him. ‘Are you sure you want to leave your partner’s body lying back there? I mean, you seemed rather upset when we found him.’
Pelaru gave him a steady look. ‘We should be concerned with the living now,’ he said, and walked off, taking Jez with him.
Ten
They made their way back through the sewers and up to the pumping station. Frey waited at the top of the caged spiral staircase for the rest of the group to catch up. The old mechanical pumps loomed half-seen in the lantern light, disapproving guardians in the dark.
He tapped his foot nervously. He was on edge. The doc’s rum had helped him out, but not much. It felt like there was some pressure inside him, growing steadily, and only an effort of will could keep it in.
The daemon had scared him witless. The run through the dark had been worse. But it was hanging over that abyss that had done him in. When he’d clung to a rope above that appalling chasm and only the failing strength of his arms had stood between him and the end.
He looked at his hand. It was shaking.
Malvery joined him and they watched Pelaru carry Jez past. The Thacian didn’t look at either of them.
‘Was it worth it?’ Malvery asked.
The tone of his voice made Frey bristle. ‘Don’t. Let’s do this later.’
‘No, I reckon now’s a good time,’ said Malvery. ‘Before she wakes up and you forget again. You oughta look at her. Look how close we came.’
‘I see her, Malvery. I’m not blind.’
‘When’s it gonna stop, then? When one of us is really dead?’ Malvery rumbled. ‘How much treasure do you want?’
‘It’s not about the bloody treasure!’ Frey cried, his voice echoing through the pumping house. He was too loud, and he drew the attention of the others. Suddenly he found he had an audience.
‘Then what is it about, Cap’n? Why’d you bring us here? Reckon you owe us that, at least.’
His crew watched him, waiting for a response. He felt isolated and hunted, accused. Anger came quickly. His fragile control faltered, and he turned on Pelaru. ‘This is your mess, not mine!’ he snapped at the whispermonger. ‘You brought us here! You strong-armed me into it! Tell them! Go on! Tell them why we’re here.’
The accusation sounded feeble even to him, and that made him more frustrated. He just wanted to lash out at something. He was sick of secrets; he’d be reckless, and damn the consequences. If the crew wanted to know so much, he’d give them what they wanted. And if they didn’t like it, they could all just suck it up.
Pelaru just gazed at him calmly. He didn’t address the crew, but spoke directly to Frey. ‘Trinica Dracken is with the Awakeners,’ he said. ‘She has been working as a mercenary for them since the conflict began. Presumably, their previous relationship and the death sentence hanging over her from the Coalition side made her choice easy.’
Frey was aware of the silence from the crew. Suddenly he wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing at all. But he was committed now. ‘Where is she?’ he said.
‘The Awakeners have a base in the Barabac Delta. It is hidden in a vast area of bayou, hundreds of miles wide, without track or trace. She is there. But you won’t find her, Captain Frey. Nobody knows where that base is. The whole area is laden with anti-aircraft guns. Even the Coalition Navy don’t dare fly over it.’ He adjusted Jez’s weight on his back. ‘And now I believe our business is concluded.’
‘It’s not concluded!’ Frey said. ‘You were supposed to find her!’
‘I did,’ said Pelaru. ‘I’ve told you where she is. How you get to her is your-’
He hadn’t finished his sentence before Frey had his revolver out and was pointing it at his forehead. ‘I’m not in the mood, mate.’
‘Hang on,’ said Malvery, apparently oblivious to the fact that Frey had a gun to another man’s head. ‘Am I hearing him right? Did he just say that you dragged us into the middle of a warzone and risked all our lives on account of your hopeless romantic fantasy? Tell me it ain’t true, Cap’n. Tell me you got more respect for us than that.’
Frey rounded on him furiously. ‘You’re getting paid, aren’t you? Between these relics and the last lot we lifted off the freighter, we’ll make a fortune! Isn’t that what you lot want? Didn’t I get it for you? So where’s the bloody problem?’
There was something like pity in Malvery’s eyes. ‘You think I stick with you for the money?’
‘Only reason I’m here,’ Pinn volunteered.
‘You shut your cake-trap,’ Malvery said. ‘No one asked you.’
‘Well, I’m asking me,’ Pinn retorted.
‘Can we have this little family spat later, d’you think?’ Ashua put in. ‘Right now we need to get back to the Ketty Jay.’
The attack came so unexpectedly that Frey didn’t register what it was at first. He heard a crack, and Crake lurched forward and crashed to the ground. Then Ashua shouted ‘Gun!’ and it all fell into place.
Suddenly everyone was moving. Malvery had Crake by the hands and was dragging him away along the floor. The others scattered for cover. Frey threw himself against the corner of a pump, Silo alongside him, searching for the source of the attack.
‘Here! They’re over here!’ yelled a high voice from the other end of the hall. Frey caught sight of a shadowy figure running between the pumps. He aimed quickly and loosed off a shot. There was a scream — he sounded like a young man — and the figure stumbled, fell and rolled out of sight behind cover.
‘One thing I hate more than daemons, it’s grassers,’ said Frey. ‘Doc! How’s Crake!’
‘He’s fine!’ Malvery called back. ‘Got a leaky battery though!’
The news, and Malvery’s jocular tone, made Frey feel better. They fell easily back into the old banter and camaraderie in a gunfight. What differences they had were soon forgotten when danger threatened. Frey was big on sweeping things under the carpet.
They heard footsteps approaching. Ashua tossed a flare out into the hall. Red light swelled with a hiss of sparks, painting the chamber bloody. Frey spotted movement: a robed Sentinel with a rifle, and a couple of grizzled old men. He pointed them out to Silo as they took cover behind a pipe.
‘Same lot we were shootin’ on earlier,’ Silo muttered. ‘Must’ve been lookin’ for us.’
‘They don’t learn, do they?’ said Frey. He leaned out around the corner and fired a couple of times. Bullets sparked off the pipes. He drew back as more gunfire came their way.
‘Silo,’ he said while he waited for them to stop shooting. ‘About what I just said. .’
‘I figured, Cap’n,’ Silo replied. That was why he liked Silo. The man understood him.
‘Think the crew’ll be okay?’
‘Most of us here cos there’s nowhere else’ll take us, Cap’n. They’d follow you. Maybe they’re hurtin’ ’cause you weren’t straight with ’em, but they’ll get over it.’ He thought for a moment. ‘Ashua, she don’t got that loyalty, but she’s happy long as you provide. Just the doc and Crake you gotta watch for. They got issues with conscience, and you ain’t helpin’.’
‘What about you?’
Silo leaned out of cover, aimed his shotgun and fired. Half the Sentinel’s head erupted in a mess of red mist and bone shards.
‘I ain’t got no issues,’ he said. ‘Ain’t my people killin’ each other.’
‘You lot out there!’ Frey called. ‘We’re not with the Coalition! Your fight’s not with us! So why don’t you go home before you end up like your mate?’
Frey waited for a response. He didn’t get one. Instead, he heard the scuffling of feet, and the two old men went running off back towards the pumping house entrance, and away.