Nobody said much on the way out of the prison. Connie wondered if the
kids were still watching them; if they had heard every word. If they
had, the Triumvirate didn't seem too worried about it.
Yasi had signaled that they keep the matter quiet while in company,
and they made their way through the Underside toward a more private
place. Connie wasn't sure if it was the fact that they were
underground, or if everywhere was like this, but the route they took
had them pressing through the crowds to get to the elevators.
Even in this wild circus, they made an odd group. Vincent and Connie
stood out the most. Archivist and Keeper were constantly being
approached by people who needed their opinion or ruling on whatever
day-to-day matters they had. People saw Yasi and Dorcan coming, and
stepped aside automatically.
Eventually though, they made their way to the basket lifts. There
wasn't room for all of them, so Yasi and Dorcan climbed ahead, going
up the ropes hand over hand, as the basket lifted them toward the
upper part of the dome to Keeper's chamber.
Keeper's room had maps and images all over the walls. Victorian Era
paintings, sepia toned photographs, the omnipresent cave drawings of
the Underside Gremlins. Every inch of wall space was a gallery of The
Underside through the years.
When they stepped off, Keeper went right to the largest single image,
essentially a blueprint of the Underside. Vincent looked at her out
of the corner of his eye as everyone found places to settle. Yasi was
pacing, Dorcan was over against the wall, not taking his eyes off
Yasi.
Long silence. Minutes passed as the only ones who knew in the entire
Underside turned the conversation over in their head, weighing their
options, considering their responses. After several heavy moments,
Keeper turned away from her blueprint and spoke, giving them all her
official opinion on the matter.
"We're screwed." She said profoundly.
A nervous chuckle went around the room, but the intensity of the
situation hadn't eased at all.
Connie spoke up suddenly and Vincent almost jumped. She'd been so
quiet he nearly forgot her presence. "Vincent told me that the
Steam Pipe plan might have exposed a few ways in and out of this
place during construction. The Company that wanted to do that was
based out of Germany... Vandark sniffing entrances?"
"More than likely." Yasi agreed.
"How long would it have taken to prepare that?"
"A while, probably." Vincent offered. "New York City
Construction... over a large area? Months, maybe years, for a project
that size."
"Then two years working another angle wouldn't have been a
significant problem for them, whoever they are. But there's one thing
I don't get." Connie said. "What's this got to do with us?
If Vincent hasn't been down here in three years... Vandark is clearly
willing to work a plan that long, but... why would it still involve
Vincent?"
"Your world and ours overlap in a few places." Keeper
explained. "For the most part, that doesn't matter because none
of you know it's here. But Vincent knows. He would notice if Wotcha
disappeared, or if Yasi showed up in his office looking for
something. He's a blip. A loose end to be tied up. And he's got
access to all the information Owen's been gathering. If somehow we
figured out their plan at any step, we'd come to Vincent. He was
Owen's barometer of how much we knew. And we knew squat."
"Hell." Yasi spat. "I feel like I've been walking
around with my eyes shut for three years. It's not about Vincent, or
Keist, or even about Owen. It's about that office. It's always been
about his job! How many times did you say it, Keeper? If Vincent
wanted to find a way in, all he'd have to do is put an hours thought
into it. Owen put two years into it... And there's only one reason in
the world you'd want to find all the entrances into a place."
Vincent said it for her. "Because you're planning to come in."
"Vandark played it perfectly." Archivist agreed. "He
prepared his way in without involving us at all. If we hadn't found
out about Keist's plan, our first hint of this would have been when
they came in the front door!"
"And if Owen's found all the ways in and out of the Underside…
All Vandark has to do is pick up a phone." Keeper whispered. It
was a tone Vincent had never heard from her before. She was scared.
"We're being held to Ransom here, Archivist. If Vandark comes
for us… He's got the Ace. He could expose us at will."
"He won't do that." Yasi told Keeper instantly. "That's
Rule Number One. He won't take it that far."
"He will." Vincent countered instantly. "He's willing
to go as far as he wants. The ultimate act of spite would be to
expose the Underground. You guys told me the first time we met: Being
remembered is the worst thing that can happen to this place. Yasi
told me about 9/11 down here. The fear that some paranoid person
would notice something. The Great Fear of The Underside is getting
the attention of the rest of the world, and Vandark knows that! It's
the heaviest bat anyone can use against you."
"No. He won't do it." Archivist put in. "I agree with
Yasi. You heard Owen: Vandark wants to capture us. He won't wipe us
out, and if he exposes us, then everything he wants us for gets
thrown down the riverpipe."
"They're right." Connie agreed. "Vandark wants to be a
Kingmaker, and he can't do that if anyone finds out about this
place."
Silence.
"Maybe we could call other Undersides for help?" Vincent
observed, not noticing Connie's sharp look at the word 'we'.
"The Round Table used to have over a dozen people talking from a
dozen cities." Archivist shook his head regretfully.
"Nowadays... we keep to ourselves."
"Berlin might send help, but… they probably don't know who to
trust either." Yasi shook her head. "Their main problem is
on the other side of the world. They're not gonna go out of their way
to make Vandark their problem again."
"So we're on our own." Vincent nodded, and Connie sent him
another fierce look.
"How long would it take to change the entrances?"
"Most of the entrances lead to the Labyrinth. We can change
those, but… We'll screw up the whole Rhythm of the place. We'll be
paralyzing ourselves. It's not like there's a border crossing where
you roll through trucks full of stuff. Everything gets carried in and
out by hand, by a hundred odd people, every day. That stops…"
"Well, we don't have to close all of them." Keeper argued.
"Find the places Owen would know about. We've got Vincent, have
him go back and see if he can find out what Owen found out…"
"What? Find two years worth of answers in two days?"
Vincent jumped up. "Eureka!"
Yasi jumped a little too. "What?!"
"Let me see that second photograph again. The message that's
only been there a week."
Yasi pulled the photo out and handed it to him.
EUREKA! 44-B L4-18
"It's a location." Vincent explained. "I didn't see it
sooner, because it's been years since I needed the floorplan, but...
44-B is a staff locker number in my office. L4-18, means Level Four,
Room 18. That's the staff room where the lockers are. Someone was
directing someone to one of our staff lockers."
Yasi was on her feet instantly. "Whose?"
"I don't know, but off the top of my head, probably Owen's."
"Owen's locker is a dropbox." Archivist boomed. "Yasi,
Owen's been here a full day and a half. I don't know who he was
supposed to check in with, or how often…"
Yasi nodded. "I'm already on the way." She paused and gave
Connie a quick hug, a warm smile on her face. Connie was surprised,
but didn't flinch. Yasi pulled back and looked her in the eye. "Give
this place a chance. This is a world where things must be Beautiful."
And then the Shinobi Captain swept around and gave Vincent an
identical squeeze. "Keep an eye on Connie." Yasi whispered
in his ear. "Somebody in here is helping Vandark, and she came
into your life around the time we did."
And then she broke the hug, like nothing was wrong, taking the exit
at a running leap.
"What's wrong?" Connie asked, worried at the sudden spike
of action.
"We didn't dare do anything that might focus their attention on
Vincent, but we knew about Owen, so we kept an eye on him."
Keeper explained.
Vincent was stunned. "Who did you have watching him?"
Keeper had a secret smile. "That would be telling." She
gestured at the opening. "Think you guys can handle the basket
elevators to get back to your chamber?"
Connie and Vincent rose and made their way back to the elevators. "I
think so."
~oo00oo~
Vincent selected one of the ropes and fed it through the gears. A
moment later they were moving.
"What the hell are you doing?" Connie demanded the second
they were alone. "Since when are 'we' finding help for 'our'
secret war?"
"We can't just walk away now…"
"Sure we can!" Connie retorted. "Why can't we?"
"Come on, Connie; you know what's coming for these people!"
"Exactly. For these
people. Meanwhile, we've been snatched, attacked, watched illegally,
dragged underground and the day is still young. Yes, I do know what's
ahead for this place. That's why I want to leave."
Vincent bit his lip.
"Well... I don't. I want to know where I can help out. Look
around, every inch of this place is... is magic.
One of the first things they said to me here... This world is made of
people our world threw away. And this place makes them... heroes."
"First things they
told you." Connie repeated. "You mean Yasi."
Vincent didn't answer.
"Vincent..."
Connie she said gently. "There are guys who jump across rooftops
with swords and crossbows, there are guys who run into burning
buildings with a hose… and there are guys who open their own
building to total strangers when it gets too cold for them on the
streets." She moved in closer, pressing herself against him
tightly. "You were already
my hero, Vincent… please?"
Vincent let himself embrace her for a moment, before realization
caught up and he froze, pulling back sharply, suspicion crossing his
face. "How do you know that? I never told you about that."
"Wotcha told me! She
was… ow.
Vincent, you're hurting me!"
Vincent released her instantly, horrified. "I'm sorry…."
"Wotcha told me."
Connie rubbed her wrist. "She was trying to talk you up when I
asked about you." She turned away from him, annoyed. "She
told me you were the most caring person she'd ever found. She told me
that if Vincent McCall was in your life, he'd be the one thing in
this world that you could be sure of. The one person who wouldn't
drop you when things got tough." Connie rubbed her wrist. "And
in all this time, you never did. It's ironic that the one thing
Wotcha didn't
consider
was the place she came from."
Heavy silence.
Connie noticed another elevator moving at an angle that would take
them past each other. "I… I need to think about things for a
bit." She declared. As the elevators passed each other, she
climbed over the side and jumped the three feet to the other basket,
suddenly going the other way.
Vincent felt his jaw drop. She had made the leap without hesitation.
He couldn't help but think about the last time he was presented with
such a leap, and he had chickened out.
And they looked sadly at each other, as the Lostkind ropes took them
further away from each other.
~oo00oo~
The night Janitor at the City Planner's Office collected Owen's
garbage, checked through it quickly, and put it into the hidden bag.
He left the cubicle to empty the next bin…
And walked into Yasi. He nearly passed out. "Shi… Shinobi."
He stammered.
Yasi glared at him. "Christen, I made it clear what your job
was."
"Yes Ma'am." He gulped. "To keep watch on Owen Niklos,
and all the ways he makes contact with people outside this office, as
well as anything he takes with him."
Yasi nodded. "And?"
"I check his bag every night, right here at his workstation. I
check his garbage every night, and turn over anything to the Watchers
and the Scroungers. If there's anything of value, I told them to take
it to Dorcan immediately. I know the man's passwords and check his
mail, business and private. He's not sending anybody any details that
could lead to us, and he's not carrying anything out in his pockets."
"Then anything he's taking an interest in, must be in his
locker." Yasi said logically.
"He doesn't keep a locker, Captain." Christen said
promptly. "I promise I would have checked it if he had one."
"Doesn't have a locker?" Yasi repeated, holding up a
keyring. "Then why does he have a locker key?"
Christen froze. "I swear, I looked at the roster, he didn't get
issued a locker when he was here, because he was only supposed to be
here temporarily."
Yasi nodded. "I know, I'm not blaming you. But the time for
subtlety has come and gone."
~oo00oo~
Connie wasn't sure if her watch was still keeping time correctly, or
if it was set to the right time at all. It felt like a lifetime since
she had last seen daylight, and she didn't have a clue what day it
was. The Underside was huge, and the open space above them was
criss-crossed with so many ropes, and so many people climbing them,
it felt like being in a circus. Down at this level there were crowds
of people going about their routines.
Now that she could see it from ground level, she could see that the
'street level' of the dome was broken up into ledges, like steps for
an impossibly huge giant. Each ledge created a 'wall', with a series
of stalls and tents against each of them, and room enough left for a
busy crosswalk. The next 'step' was the same, as was the one above
it. Above them all was the dome, and its many chambers, their
lanterns casting a permanent starlight glow. Here and there on the
edge of each enormous Step were iron streetlights, putting the
multilevel marketplace in twilight.
The stalls and tents were as varied as anything you'd find in any
metropolis, including New York. There were buskers, performers, and
street vendors every ten feet, except they all seemed to be working a
barter system instead of cash.
Connie would have been fascinated if it was a vacation, but her day
had started with a home invasion, graduated to kidnapping, and now
she was embroiled in an international conspiracy to take over the
world. She wished bitterly that Vincent was as terrified as she was,
but he was enthralled.
There were social classes, even here. She saw like staying with like,
and those that hadn't been named or described to her, she picked
names for them herself. There were the Amazons, the Urchins, the
Watchers…
Connie stared at the Watchers. They looked like homeless people.
Dirty, unashamed, slow moving… They would fit in under bridges, on
park benches. She wondered how many she had seen in her life.
Had they been watching her? Had they been following her when she came
into Vincent's life? When they had first started dating, there was a
homeless woman outside his building… Connie tried to think of what
she looked like, and couldn't picture it.
And then she was caught up in the movement. Yasi had mentioned the
Rhythm, and now Connie was part of it herself. Goods and people
coming in from all angles, the largest pieces staying at the higher
'steps', and the smaller items migrating down to the lower stalls.
The trickle-down theory was at work here, assembled over the course
of entire generations.
And the area where she walked was a riot of color and noise. Every
inch of the ground and ledge wall was covered in street-art and
cave-drawings done by the kids she had met, drawn in the style of
tribal paintings, as though generations of record keeping had twisted
into graffiti. One of the drawings was of her, and she couldn't help
the bitter smile.
"I know that look. Whoever he is, he's not worth it." A
Busker said as she passed. His voice was rich and smooth, and he
swayed on his feet like a snake-charmer. "And this is not a
place for heartbreak. This is a place where art meets means, and
beauty must be everywhere, or life is not worth living. Welcome to
The Seven Steps, surface lady." He started to play his
wind-pipes, a sweet Irish jig. A street drummer five feet away
started playing along, tapping away on buckets and pots and pans, and
everyone nearby made room for a few people who started to dance to it
brightly.
Connie almost joined in, but shyly stopped herself. She'd never been
to a place where people would start to dance in the streets at the
drop of a hat, just because somebody nearby began the tune.
And then she felt familiar hands on her hips, and turned to find
Vincent had tracked her down. And then they were dancing, swaying
together to the music. It suddenly dawned on her that dressed in
scuffed and torn clothes, still carrying the marks of a Riverfolk
attack, they both fit right in with the rest of the Lostkind.
Nobody had called the dance, none of them were dancing the same
steps; but it just seemed like a natural thing, to be in a crowd of
strangers, dancing in the twilight streets.
"You remember first time I came over to your place?"
Vincent said softly in her ear. "You made up all those romantic
stories about exotic places?"
"Yeah." Connie
nodded. "But that's what they were. Stories. My real life never
got in the way. Vincent… real life, our
real life, the life we built together, is not here. It's a few
hundred feet over our heads. And I think if Yasi offered to let us
stay, you'd hate me for wanting to say no."
Vincent pressed his face to her hair. "I'd never hate you. Never
could. Never will."
"I know." She admitted. "You'd even come back with me
if I insisted… but this is where you'd want to be, and I'd be the
one forcing you to… You would always resent that, regardless of how
your life here would turn out."
"Well… It doesn't matter." Vincent said finally. "Yasi
hasn't offered me a place here, and I think Keeper would kill me in
my sleep if she did."
Ordinarily, Connie would have been happy to go with that, but she was
not quite as content as he was to just go with the flow. She wished
bitterly that Vincent was as terrified as she was, but he was
thrilled.
"I am not smart enough to figure this out right away."
Vincent said finally.
"Me neither." She admitted.
Vincent dipped her back a bit as the music changed pace, and then
gave her a twirl. As they came back together, he let out a breath.
"We'll figure it out later, then. Let's just… enjoy the
music."
Connie was willing to accept that much, and tried to relax into his
familiar arms.
And then the screaming started.
~oo00oo~
Officer Grey was checking the numbers on each staff locker against
his notepad. When he found the one he wanted, he pulled the chain
around his neck, revealing a small key.
"So. That locker wouldn't be 44-B by any chance?"
Grey spun, one hand going to the gun in his holster, as Yasi and
Christen walked in. She was cool and confidently striding in,
Christen was nervous and shrinking against the door frame.
"It was you?" Grey said in surprise when he saw the man in
the janitor's uniform. "Owen was worried about being watched,
but he didn't know it was the Janitor."
"Nobody did." Christen took a slight bow. "Nothing in
the world that's harder to notice than the man holding a garbage
bag."
Yasi took a step closer. "So. Where is Vandark?"
"Who?"
"Don't pretend you don't know why Owen was all over this."
Yasi pointed to the locker. "You're NYPD, you wouldn't take part
in something like this blind."
"Owen Niklos is dirty, I know that. I'm not an idiot." Grey
scorned. "But he showed me proof. If there's a whole community
squatting illegally, taking part in organized theft, blackmail, and-"
Yasi swore colorfully. "You don't have a clue what you're into
here, do you?" She snarled. "Owen fed you a pack of lies
and you swallowed it whole. People are dying because you helped that
worm."
"What?" Grey was stopped short at that one. "What do
you mean, people dying?"
Yasi bit her lip, thinking.
Yasi had always felt a certain affinity for police. Serve
and Protect? That's what I do too.
The Shinobi and the NYPD were part of the same Brotherhood, even if
they didn't know the Lostkind existed. "I am bound by oath to
keep Rule Number One." She said calmly. "But I do need to
check a few things, so I will give you one part of the story; the
part that involves Owen Niklos, and what he was up to. After that,
you will tell me everything he told you in return. You may think
about hiding it, but don't worry: I think we've both heard the story
we're about to tell each other."
~oo00oo~
It was hard to see what was happening at first, with so many people
in the way, but at the bottom of the 'Seven Steps', the lowest point
of the level, was the water. It led out in several directions, and
was moving slowly enough that when he'd first arrived, Vincent had
thought the water still.
But this aqueduct led to to the Great River that even Yasi spoke of
in whispers. The ultimately necessary, but always feared part of The
Underside.
And now suddenly, rising from the still waters, were hulking
monsters.
"Riverfolk." Connie whispered.
The effect on the Lostkind was electric, they fell back from the
monsters, screaming in fear. Sheer panic and mortal terror ruled
every motion and action in the retreat, and what was orderly
pedestrian traffic, became a petrified mob. The few Shinobi that
Vincent could see where struggling to maintain order, keep the crowds
under control...
The reaction was visceral, instinctive. The Riverfolk were few in
number, but the mere sight of them sent the Lostkind into hysterics.
Vincent's brain was overloaded. A confined space, a thousand people,
everybody screaming, and monsters hunting him...
Connie was trying to stick with him, pulling him along as they tried
to stay with the crowd. Behind them, Vincent caught glimpses of more
Riverfolk climbing out of the River, emerging from the still waters,
weapons in hand. As the Lostkind fled from them, they tore apart
stalls, tents... fires broke out, and chaos reigned.
The crowd scattered in various directions, some of them scampering up
the ropelines, running along the thin lines with ease. Some clambered
over each other acrobat-style, climbing up the Seven Steps
themselves, despite their height. The rest, Connie and Vincent
included, pressed in toward the staircases, trying to get distance.
The crush of people slowed, and the Riverfolk grew closer, smashing
and slicing anything in their path.
Vincent couldn't get any closer to the steps through the crowds, and
looked over his shoulder. More Riverfolk were emerging, some armed
with crossbows, picking off the Lostkind that climbed the ropes. One
of them slashed the anchor points. The ropeline severed, and almost a
dozen Lostkind fell screaming...
The nearest Riverfolk were getting closer, close enough to smell
them. Connie looked at Vincent in despair. They were the target. It
was likely the last thing they would ever see.
And then Dorcan dropped out of the sky. Nobody saw where he came
from, but he landed in a cat-like crouch, halfway between the
civilians and the attackers, a blade in each hand. The Riverfolk
tensed, recognizing the first thing they met that could possibly face
them.
While the Lostkind fell back in panic, the Shinobi stood defiant,
ready for war.
The first Riverfolk charged him, blade out, howling as he ran toward
Dorcan. The Shinobi was more than willing to meet him halfway. They
charged, passed each other in less than a second... neither turned
around for another pass. After a timeless beat... The Riverfolk fell
to the ground. Dorcan didn't even glance back, already hunting a new
target.
The others were quick to attack, to avenge their fallen member.
Battle was joined, and for all Dorcan's skill, he was hopelessly
outnumbered.
The crowd was finally getting through the bottleneck of the stairs,
moving again. Connie realized Vincent was staring back at the fight
and started tugging on his arm. "Come on! We're the target,
remember?" She shouted at him over the crowd.
Vincent tugged back the
other way. "Exactly! We can't lead them toward
these people!"
"Well what exactly do
you intend
to do?!"
As the crowds moved further away from the Riverfolk, Vincent could
see people pushing their way through, trying to get closer. As they
escaped the crowds, he saw the weapons and leather vests. It was the
same style Yasi had. They were the warriors of the place, the
Shinobi.
The Riverfolk had emerged from the water, and had gathered into a
group. The Shinobi were gathering, forming a line, putting themselves
between the water's edge, and the retreating crowds.
There was a pause as both sides got ready for the inevitable, and
Vincent finally got a look at them. Fifteen Riverfolk, gathering
together against seven Shinobi. The Riverfolk were all identical in
features, the only notable difference was their height and build.
Vincent looked around for Yasi, and didn't see her. Dorcan stood in
the middle of the defensive line, looking in both directions,
checking his backup.
The Riverfolk Leader was a foot taller than the rest, and he let out
an inhuman roar, though his mouth wasn't visible. It was the signal
that the monsters were waiting for, and both sides exploded into
action.
The attackers had long range weapons. Crossbows and throwing blades.
The Shinobi were close combat warriors, getting inside their attacks,
too tight to shoot. The Shinobi were all about speed and agility,
glancing off their attackers, swooping around blows that could break
stone.
The Riverfolk were all about savagery, sacrificing agility for power,
smashing with brute force wherever they could land a blow. Against
the Shinobi, they couldn't land many, but the Riverfolk seemed barely
aware of any damage they took. Vincent caught a glimpse of one with
three bolts in his gut, and he barely seemed to notice.
Connie bit her lip,
unwilling to leave him behind, and knowing he was right about taking
the fight away from the civilians. Listen
to me. She
thought blandly. 'Protect
the civilians.' Like I'm not one of them myself.
Casting about as the combat shifted into a deadlier gear, Connie
found a place to hide, in one of the stalls. There were a variety of
things in the stall that she didn't have time to study, but a huge
pile of clothes were kept in a large crate. There was space enough
behind it for two to hide. "Vincent!" She hissed. "Over
here!"
Vincent started to follow, picking his moment to run from the
staircase to the stall... when he noticed the enemy that Dorcan had
dispatched. His eyes focused on the body... and the crossbow slung
across his back. Without thinking about it, he inched forward, and
pried the weapon loose.
Dorcan slashed at the leader, and missed, getting knocked flat on his
back a moment later. He landed less than two feet from Vincent. The
nearby impact shook Vincent out of his numb staring contest with the
dead, and Dorcan twisted to look up at him. "Run, you idiot!
Run!"
Vincent gripped the weapon tightly, as Dorcan twisted his body,
jerking himself fluidly off his back and up onto his feet. The
Shinobi reached out and grabbed the crossbow, pumping the handle
once, and shooting the nearest Invader. He tossed the crossbow back
to Vincent and moved swiftly back to the fight.
One of the Riverfolk looked at the two Upsiders, getting a clear look
at their faces. Vincent gripped the crossbow, knowing he was a dead
man. The Riverfolk looked straight at him...
And turned off to find something more interesting.
~oo00oo~
"It's an interesting story... When Owen told me the details, I
didn't believe a word of it." Grey said carefully. "Some of
the other things Niklos was up to? That was a surprise."
"Well, now you know. Everything you just told me? That's a long
list of things that nobody knows about, for obvious reasons."
Yasi challenged. "So. Will you help us?"
"I'm a cop, Miss Yasi." Grey said plainly. "If there
are crimes being committed, and people getting killed, then you
better believe I'll do my job. This is my city too, and I intend to
protect it."
Yasi smiled. "Thank you." She said gratefully.
"Anything else, we can sort out when this is over." Grey
nodded, holstering his gun.
Yasi paused. "Anything else? Meaning?"
"I work for The Law." Grey explained. He wasn't being
belligerent, he wasn't challenging, he was just stating the facts.
"If there are Laws being broken, then I will put a stop to it.
If the only way to sort that out is to drag the whole Secret World
out into the light of day, then that's what I'll do."
Yasi sighed, regretful. "Damn. I was afraid you'd say that."
"What do you mean?" Grey asked.
Faster than anyone could follow, faster than anyone could react, Yasi
snap-drew her sword and brought it around in a neat slash. There was
a sudden spray of blood, and Grey's head fell to the ground. The
death-blow was so fast it took a few moments for his body to
collapse.
"Did you have to do that?" Christen asked from behind her.
"It was bad enough that he knew, but he was planning to expose
the Underside to the whole world. That's the end of us, so I had to
stop him. I take no pleasure in it, Christen, but the First Duty of
the Shinobi is to protect the Secret. The First Duty is an Absolute."
Yasi cleaned her sword casually and sheathed it. Stepping over the
body, she collected the contents of Owen's Locker, and sent Christen
a look. "You can clean this up yourself?"
"Yes, Captain." Christen said, collected his cleaning
supplies. "I'll ditch the body in one of the usual places."
Yasi checked the package in her hand and smiled. "Well. This has
been a good night."
~oo00oo~
"This is bad!" Connie gasped. "This is very very bad!"
"They aren't after us." Vincent hissed at her. "One of
them got a good long look at my face, and he didn't recognize me, or
he didn't care. They're not after us!"
"Then what the hell do
they want?"
"I don't know."
The two of them were crouched in one of the stalls, unwilling to lead
the Riverfolk in closer to the terrified Lostkind, but unable to do
anything else.
"What the hell do you plan to do with that?" Connie hissed.
"Make a lot of noise
and act like Rambo." Vincent scorned sarcastically. He made a
quick study of the weapon. It was not like a medieval crossbow. It
had a frame in front of the trigger, with six bolts on a spring. The
grip had a pump action handle, and Vincent worked it. Pulling the
handle back drew back the string and raised a bolt, letting the
handle forward again notched it, ready to pull the trigger. A
pump action crossbow. Vincent
thought. Incredible.
Outside the stall, the sound of combat grew stronger, angrier. They
both ducked lower as they heard the sound of someone shouting in
pain, and an instant later a body was hurled into the stall.
The Shinobi flew in through the front of the stall, smacked into the
stone wall of the ledge, and flopped to the ground, dead already.
After a moment, the tent flap was thrown back, and one of the
Riverfolk came in with an animalistic growl, ready to push the
advantage. It saw its prey was dead... and then saw Vincent aiming
the weapon.
Vincent hesitated, gripping the handle so tightly it creaked.
"Do it, Vincent." Connie whispered, terror in her voice.
"Hurry!"
Vincent was frozen. His
finger was on the trigger, the bolt was aimed, and somehow he
couldn't make his brain stop screaming at him. Why
isn't he attacking? He's not moving, why isn't he killing us both,
what the hell am I doing here, I should be at home where things like
this don't happen, just pull the damn trigger, Vincent, squeeze your
finger a little tighter, oh my God, that's why he's not moving, I've
got the drop on him and he knows it, just do it, Vincent; what the
hell is wrong with you?
His target had suddenly realized that Vincent wasn't going to do
anything and lifted his mace, ready to take Vincent's head clean off.
"VINCENT, COME ON!!" Connie shouted, panic making her
scream.
There was the briefest sound of metal on bone, and the tip of a sword
emerged from the monster's chest. For a moment, everything froze.
Vincent realized before the Riverfolk did, and the monster fell to
the ground, slain by Dorcan's sword.
The Shinobi lieutenant wiped sweat off his brow, a trickle of blood
running from a cut above his eye. He was covered in bruises, and his
eyes were wild from adrenaline. "You guys alright?"
Vincent couldn't speak. It had happened again. The moment came, and
he froze.
"Fine." Connie said for him. "How's it going out
there?"
"We got them routed." Dorcan said shortly, and turned back
to the battle without another word to them. They followed and found
their way to a scene of total carnage. Riverfolk lay dead on the
ground, and more than a few civilians. Two Shinobi had fallen, with
knives in them.
"SHIINOBI!" Dorcan roared. "They're retreating!
ADVANCE! Drive them back to the water!"
And the New York Ninja proceeded to do exactly that, as the Invaders
drew back in full retreat, some of them nursing their wounds. They
went backwards to the water and vanished under the surface, barely a
ripple following them.
The ninja gave a bloodthirsty roar of victory. The battle for their
homes had been fought and won decisively. Dorcan kept his swords
drawn and ready, and Vincent couldn't help but stare at the water. He
had first entered the Twelfth Level chamber by those waters, the
small boat Yasi had punted along sat within view. It looked so
peaceful, so still... To look at it, nobody would have believed that
there were monsters so close at hand.
"Come on." Connie tugged at his arm. "Let's get away
from the water."
"That's good advice." Dorcan called over to them, and then
raised his voice to be heard by all of the people who were still
watching in worry from the upper levels. "We're putting the
River and all attached waters under surveillance, anyone not Shinobi
are to stay well back." He looked at Vincent. "That means
you too."
He started to answer, when he noticed one of their attackers was
still moving... But from the look of it, he wouldn't be for long.
Dorcan saw his gaze and held out a hand. "No."
"We can't just..."
"Yes we can. Riverfolk are dangerous, Vincent."
Looking at him was a bizarre experience. Just a few minutes ago this
creature and a dozen like him were attacking from all angles, rising
out of the water like something out of a demented horror story. But
now, on the ground and being very still, he looked like a man in a
Halloween costume.
The gleaming red eyes were goggles. The claws that rasped and gripped
the walls and ceiling were gloves, with grapple hooks sewn into them.
He looked back at the water's edge and could see the claw marks
scratched into the stone.
Emboldened, Vincent pulled off the mask, revealing the Riverfolk
attacker underneath. He was ghostly pale, having never seen the sun.
He had no hair on his face or head, having lived in his full wetsuit
costume, but he was unmistakably human. The man shifted, eyes
cracking open blearily. He looked up at Vincent for a few seconds...
before letting out a rasp, and going still.
After a long moment, Vincent reached out and closed the Riverfolk's
eyes.
"The Boogeymen of the Underside..." Vincent whispered.
"It's all just... Halloween."
Dorcan glared at him. "What
were you expecting? Goblins and trolls? You came to the Underground
and acted like you'd found some fantasy world full of magic and
fey-folk. Well, it ain't. There's no magic. There's just us. Could be
we're just different.
That's no great crime, y'know?"
"I agree." Connie
put in quietly. "Vincent, there's no magic here. This is another
neighborhood in New York. It's not even the weirdest one you'll find.
Not in Manhattan. Hell, not even in Brooklyn."
"What the hell is happening?" A familiar voice bellowed.
Vincent guiltily tucked the goggles in his hand away, and held the
crossbow low. He turned, knowing what he would see. Sure enough, Yasi
had returned to the Underside, and she looked madder than all hell.
"I was gone less than half an hour." She roared.
"Everything was still in one piece when I left!"
"We were hit." Dorcan said simply.
"Riverfolk?"
"Who else?"
"Who else is
there?" Asked a perturbed Connie.
"They never
come up this far." Yasi raged. "They stay where The River
is deep. Seriously, have they ever once
come up this far? We laid razor wire nets just for that reason!"
"The nets are gone." Dorcan said thickly. "Someone
winched them up out of the water enough to let a team through."
Yasi stopped short. "They had help? From the inside?"
"Sure looks that way, doesn't it?" Dorcan nodded, and
Vincent stepped back. This was a discussion between the two
Gatekeepers.
"What about our people?" Yasi asked with worry.
"We lost Muskrat and Minix. Pockets took a mace to the neck.
Lowen is on his way to the Chapel, but-"
"Lowen?" Yasi reacted. "I… I should go see him."
"Captain… I doubt he'll live long enough to make it that far.
Otherwise, it was far worse for them than us."
Yasi shivered. "I convinced Lowen to join the Shinobi. I told
him he'd be an asset."
Dorcan raised a hand very slowly, about to rest it on her shoulder,
but Yasi gave him a quick shake of her head. Her face was stone, and
he broke off awkwardly. Yasi looked around. "Very quietly, get a
count of all our people and find out where they all were when it
started. At least, the ones not already on assignment."
"Won't take too long, most of them were in combat with me."
Dorcan nodded, and headed off.
"Miss Connie!"
Connie turned and found Tecca pushing his way through the crowd, only
to be blocked by the Shinobi perimeter. "Are you okay?" He
called over to her. Connie sent Vincent and Yasi a quick look, and
made her way over to reassure the boy.
For a moment, Vincent and Yasi were left alone. "What are you
thinking?" He asked her.
Yasi's posture didn't change, and she looked around. Once she was
sure she was out of anyone else's earshot, her expression softened a
little. "I wasn't here." She confessed. "I blew it, I
wasn't here."
"It's not like you went out and got drunk on duty, Yasi."
Vincent said forgivingly. "Your job was to find out what an
enemy of this place was doing."
"My job
is to protect this place from those who seek to harm it." She
looked down, blaming herself. "I love this place, Vincent. I
wasn't here to save it."
"That's exactly what you were doing. You were going out to seek
out dangers so you could destroy them before anyone was hurt."
Vincent told her immediately, and then he sighed hard. "Something
I can't really say about myself."
Yasi looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"I… I froze." Vincent admitted. "I had the chance…"
He lifted the weapon, still in his grip. "I had this crossbow in
my hand, a clear shot, and my life was at stake, plus Connie behind
me…" He lifted the crossbow in his hand. "I froze. I knew
exactly what to do, and…"
Yasi nodded. "Vincent, the movies say that when a regular guy
gets his chance… he becomes a warrior. In real life… It's not
like that at all. You froze, because you were scared for your life.
That does things to a person. You hesitated because you didn't want
to be a killer, even if the stakes were that high. That doesn't make
you weak." She reached out and pulled his chin to make him look
at her. "You really think pulling the trigger would have made
you a better person?"
"No." Vincent admitted.
Yasi sighed. "Wish I could give myself a pass as easily. It's my
job to be here on the line when danger comes."
"Yasi, you were
here. Your training, your team, your lieutenant… You can't be
everywhere, that's why you train people to do the job as well as you
can. Six Shinobi, plus Dorcan should be about equal to one of you."
Yasi let out a little bark of laughter, despite herself. "Almost.
Maybe." She conceded.
She was still holding the side of his face. After a moment, they both
broke away, feeling awkward.
"It wasn't your fault." Yasi said kindly.
"It wasn't yours either." He returned simply.
"Captain?" Dorcan called over, and Yasi's shoulders
straightened. "We got the final casualty list. Only two losses.
Pockets and Lowen were the worst of the wounded."
Yasi wiped her eyes, and hid it under the pretense of adjusting the
collar on her coat. "I don't get it; it's a bad caper. They had
to know we'd fight back a dozen Riverfolk. This wasn't a serious
attack, it was a probing mission. So what were they after?" She
demanded of her lieutenant.
"Well they weren't after Vincent or Connie." Dorcan
reported. "They had time, they had opportunity... They didn't
take it. So what else is there?"
Yasi's eyes flashed. "Owen."
~oo00oo~
Owen was gone. The chain was left at the floor of the cell, along
with the keys used to release him.
Keeper looked to Yasi. "It's not a cell, it's an oubliette. The
only way out is for someone to open the hatch for you. There's no way
in hell he escaped on his own."
Yasi nodded. "I know. Somebody helped him." She raised her
voice. "Tecca?"
"Captain?" The boy was suddenly at her elbow, and Vincent
jumped. There was no sign of where he had come from, or that he'd
been there at all. The boy had a long rope coiled around his chest
like a bandoleer, and a knife at his belt. Everyone was getting edgy
after the brief invasion.
Yasi didn't even turn to look at him. "Tell me about Owen."
"He was living in a little old lady's spare room." Tecca
reported. "She thought he moved out yesterday, and was putting a
message in the paper about renting his room out. His things were
collected by a moving company and put into a storage space. There's a
letter apologizing for the inconvenience, and another one telling his
boss that he got a job somewhere. The stamp on both letters is at
least two years away from being new."
"He's been ready to disappear without a trace since he started
working at the City Planner's Office." Yasi concluded. "Nothing
there that will lead back to us, or to him being here."
"Which means he doesn't care about his day job any more..."
Connie bit her lip. "It could be he's done with us. Whatever it
was he needed Vincent for, I think we're past that now."
"Agreed." Archivist rumbled.
"In the meantime, we have a mole." Keeper said, calm and
deadly. "Who is it?"
Yasi seemed a good deal older. "Try a little common sense. Who
has the most to gain from a regime change in the New York Underside?"
Keeper nodded. "Anyone who was in line for a leadership role,
but didn't plan to get it."
"And what was Vandark's role before he promoted himself to a
Rebel leader?"
"He was the guy in your job." Keeper nodded. "So if
something happened to you, who would be in line for your job right
now?"
~oo00oo~
Dorcan looked up and found Keeper staring at him. "Ma'am?"
Keeper glanced past him, and Dorcan followed her gaze. Yasi was
behind him. As he turned to face her, she decked him.
~oo00oo~~oo00oo~~oo00oo~
If you're enjoying 'The Lostkind', but don't want to wait for the next chapter, you can get the whole thing here in ebook and paperback format.