The guard pants, seemingly unable to catch his breath. “They’ve taken the Office of the Ask.” He looks up at the Mayor, caught by his eyes. “They killed all the guards.”
“Of course they did,” the Mayor says, still holding the red-haired soldier’s gaze. “How many are there?”
“Two hundred.” The red-haired soldier isn’t blinking now. “But they’re releasing the prisoners.”
“Weapons?” asks the Mayor.
“Rifles. Tracers. Launchers. Siege guns on the backs of carts.” Still the stare.
“How goes the battle?”
“They’re fighting fierce.”
The Mayor cocks an eyebrow, still staring at him.
“They’re fighting fierce, sir,” the guard says, still not blinking, like he couldn’t look away from the Mayor if he tried. There’s another BOOM in the distance and everyone except the Mayor and the soldier flinches. “They’re coming for war, sir,” says the soldier.
The Mayor keeps the stare. “Then you should be trying to stop them, shouldn’t you?”
“Sir?”
“You should be taking your rifle and preventing the Answer from destroying your town.”
The soldier looks confused but he’s still not blinking. “I should . . .”
“You should be on the front line, soldier. This is our hour of need.”
“This is our hour of need,” the soldier mumbles, like he’s not hearing himself.
“Pa?” Davy says but the Mayor ignores him.
“What are you waiting for, soldier?” the Mayor says. “It’s time to fight.”
“It’s time to fight,” says the guard.
“Go!” the Mayor suddenly barks and the red-haired guard springs away, back down the road towards the Answer, his rifle up, yelling incoherently, running back to the Answer as fast as he ran away from them.
We watch him go in stunned silence.
The Mayor sees Todd staring at him, mouth agape. “Yes, dear boy, better at that, too.”
“You as good as killed him,” I say. “Whatever you did–”
“What I did was make him see his duty,” the Mayor says. “No more, no less. Now, as fascinating as this discussion is, we’re going to have to settle it later. I’m afraid I’m going to have to have Davy tie you both up.”
“Pa?” Davy says again, startled.
The Mayor looks at him. “Then you’ll ride to Captain Hammar, tell him to bring the army down the road with all speed and fury.” The Mayor casts his eyes to the far hillside where the army waits. “It’s time we brought this to an end.”
“I can’t tie him up, Pa, it’s Todd.”
The Mayor doesn’t look at him. “I’ve had just about enough of this, David. When I give you a direct order–”
Boom!
He stops and we all look up.
Because it’s different this time, a different kind of sound. We hear a low whoosh and a rumble starts to fill the air, getting louder as the seconds pass.
Todd looks at me, confused.
I just shrug. “Nothing I ever heard before.”
The roar starts to get louder, filling the darkening sky.
“That don’t sound like no bomb,” Davy says.
The Mayor looks at me. “Viola, is there–”
He stops and then turns his head.
And we all realize–
It’s not coming from the east.
“Over there,” Davy points, raising his hand towards the falls, towards where the sky is bright pink with sunset.
The Mayor looks at me again. “That’s too loud for a simple tracer.” His face tightens. “Have they got missiles?” He takes a step so big he’s almost on top of me. “Have they built missiles?”
“You back off!” Todd yells, trying to get between us again.
“I will know what this is, Viola!” the Mayor says. “You will tell me!”
“I don’t know what it is!” I say.
Todd’s shouting and threatening, “You lay a finger on her’”
“It’s getting louder!” Davy shouts, putting his hands to his ears. We all turn and watch the western horizon, watch as a dot rises, getting lost in the last of the sun before reappearing, growing larger as it comes.
As it comes straight for the city.
“Viola!” the Mayor shouts, through clenched teeth, sending some Noise at me but I don’t feel whatever it is that men feel.
“I DON’T KNOW!” I yell.
And then Davy, who hasn’t stopped watching it, says, “It’s a ship.”
[TODD]
It’s a ship.
It’s a ruddy ship.
“Yer people,” I say to Viola.
But she’s shaking her head, tho not to say no, just staring at it as it rises over the falls.
“Too small for a settler ship,” Davy says.
“And too early,” the Mayor says, aiming his rifle at it as if he could shoot it from this distance. “They’re not due for another two months at least.”
But Viola still ain’t looking like she can hear any of this, hope rising on her face so painful it hurts my heart just to see it. “A scout,” she whispers, so quiet I’m the only one who hears it. “Another scout. Sent to look for me.”
I turn back to the ship.
It clears the crest of the falls, soaring out over the river.
A scout ship, just like the one she crashed in back in the swamp, killing her parents and stranding her here all those months and lifetimes ago. It still looks as big as a house, stubby wings looking too short to keep it in the air, flames coming outta the tail end as it flies flies flies down the river, using it as a road hundreds of metres below.
We watch it come.
“David,” the Mayor says, his eyes still on it. “Get my horse.”
But Davy’s got his face up to the sky, his Noise opening up in wonder and amazement.
And I know exactly how he feels.
Nothing flies on New World except the birds. We got machines that go down the roads, fissionbikes, a few fissioncars, but mainly we just got horses and oxes and carts and our feet.
We don’t got wings.
The ship comes down the river, nearing the cathedral and flying almost right over us, not stopping, so close you can see lights on the underside and the sky above the exhaust shimmering with the heat. It flies right on past, down the river.