This is the place they told me to come if I was ever called to a meeting. This little room (an electricity substation, they called it) is nothing more than a concrete box with a door. The big bits of machine inside send creepy shadows further into the darkness. It’s right on the edge of the camp, and I’m praying it’s free of booby traps. My handler wouldn’t have had me come here if it was dangerous though. I pull the door closed behind me. The hinges creak like someone groaning. I shuffle into the shadows.
The air doesn’t move in here, and it’s dry and scratchy at the back of my throat.
I feel my way round some big metal contraptions attached to thick, rubber-coated wires that run across the floor, and, as I take a step into the darkness, I come face to face with my handler. My heart leaps about inside me. I throw my arms round his neck and squeeze him, trying to ignore the fact that he smells like he’s just stepped out of the shower. What must I smell like? Doesn’t matter; he won’t mind.
‘Meg, Meg!’ he says. He gently puts some space between us. In the darkness, I can see the curve of his smile. ‘You’ve done so well.’ He’s wearing his black uniform, his hair all neat and swept over to one side. Glossy. Good diet, good sleep. He hides his accent well, but I’ve spent enough time outside the camp to know he’s still got a twang, no matter how many airs he puts on. No matter how much he practises that Federated States hoity-toity voice.
I beam back at him. ‘Your Coalies almost ruined the whole thing though. Ran into them at the Pit and told them my name, but they gave me a tracker anyway.’
A flash of concern crosses his face, and he runs his fingers over the cuff on my ear. ‘Does it hurt?’
‘A bit,’ I say.
‘Ground personnel have no idea who you are. To them, you’re from the ship like the rest. I’m sorry you had to go through that, but it’s necessary for now. Don’t want to blow your cover with special treatment.’
‘I know. Rather not have their hands on me again though. So can you please sort it out?’ I say. I fold my arms to show him I’m serious.
He thinks for a minute. Then he pulls off the top button of his uniform. He presses it into my hand. It looks exactly like a button, shiny and smooth, but still a button.
‘What’s this?’
‘It’s my extraction-request button. Every Federated States officer has one somewhere on them if they’re going behind enemy lines.’
My ears prick at the word enemy. ‘Never thought about this being enemy territory before,’ I say. The button doesn’t feel any heavier than a normal button.
My handler runs his hands down my shoulders and pulls me close, resting his chin in my hair. ‘Well, it is. The Federated States has been invaded. You and I chose the right side to fight for. You’re so brave. You’re a warrior.’
‘Still don’t understand why they let the camp stay. Can’t they just give the ship people somewhere better to live?’
‘The Federated States doesn’t want Europeans walking about among them. But they won’t tolerate killing for no reason either.’
‘Those rich city people are OK with starving and freezing us to death, but draw the line at murder, do they?’
I realize for the first time that I still think of the people in the camp as us and the people outside it as them. I still think of this as home. I bite my lip. This is not home, and I owe these people nothing.
Concentrate on getting what you want, Meg.
‘Now you’re catching on.’
He rubs my arms and breathes into my hair, and I sink into the warmth of him. ‘Once we’ve got Nik and Esther, things will change. We’ll be able to make conditions better in the camp as soon as the danger of an uprising is gone. You’re doing good work, Meg.’
‘How does this button thingy work anyway?’
‘Press it until it clicks. It can record a short audio message if you speak into it. An extraction team will be with you in five minutes. For God’s sake, don’t do it now. The last thing I need to explain is an unnecessary pickup.’
I drop the button into my pocket. Might try and find a needle and thread later to sew it on to my clothes. ‘So can we go and see my brother now?’
‘Soon,’ he says.
My heart drops like a rock. ‘But I did what they asked. I found Crossland.’
‘I know, and they’re grateful. We’re all grateful.’ He dots a kiss on to the top of my head.
‘I completed my mission in less than twenty-four hours. I did what you’ve failed to do for months.’
He bends to look at me, skims my cheek with his thumb. ‘Try not to get grouchy. I’m so proud of you. Of the way you’ve performed. There’ll be a big pay-off for this. But I need your help for just a little bit longer, and then we can go somewhere else. We can get on with our lives.’
Butterflies beat in my stomach. He touches my chin so that I look up at him.
‘Meg, we can go anywhere. We can do anything. You and me. Sebastian will be released from the prison, we’ll go and collect him, and that’ll be it. We’ll be free. Just as soon as we finish our work here.’
‘Fine. Tell me what I need to do.’
‘Good girl. Your commitment will be rewarded. Now. Crossland will try to help you. She’s not above taking the shady path if she thinks she’s doing the right thing. I’ve got plans for her, but first I want to know if there’s any truth to the rumours that there are ways out of the camp.’
‘So what do you need me to do?’
‘Stay close to her. Make her feel bad about what she did to you. If she mentions anything about how people are getting out, gather as much info as you can. Try to find out who’s in charge of the escapes.’
‘That’s it?’
‘That’s it. As soon as we’ve gathered as much evidence as we can get, I’ll bring a team down to arrest her.’
‘How do you know she’ll want to help me?’
‘Because I know her,’ he says.
His face is half shadow in this light, and I wish we could go outside and sit in the moonlight together like we used to.
‘Can you stay a bit?’ I say. ‘I’ve missed you.’
‘I’m expected back at the base, and I can’t risk getting caught –’
There’s a noise behind me, a scraping like someone opening the outer door.
‘Quick!’ he says.
He pulls me further into the room, behind a tumbledown wall. He pushes my back against the wall and puts his finger to his lips to shush me. The next moment, the inner door opens, and fresh light falls in.
‘Meg?’
At the sound of Esther’s voice, my eyes snap up to my handler’s face. He looks as confused as me. He mouths go at me, and gives me a shove.
I stagger out from the hiding place, tugging at the bottom of my coat.
‘What are you doing in here?’ she asks, staring around like she might find the answer.
‘Just looking for somewhere a bit warmer to sleep,’ I say.
Thinking on your feet, Meg – nice.
Her eyes linger on the break in the wall behind me, right where he’s hiding.
‘Is someone else here?’
‘Course not. How did you know where I was anyway?’
‘We’ve got access to the Coalies’ tracking data so that we can plot the cholera outbreak.’
Her eyes are still lingering on the opening behind me. She knows something’s up, and I’ve got to get her out of here before she goes snooping any further. I’m so nervy my palms are sweaty. ‘It’s no good though. This place is freezing.’
‘What’s wrong with where you slept before?’
‘You ever slept in a warehouse with thirty other people hacking their lungs up all night?’
She shakes her head like she’s said something stupid. ‘No, of course. Sorry.’
I cross my arms and try to look pissed off, when all I’m really feeling is the need to get her out and away from my handler before this whole thing goes up in flames. ‘Don’t know of anywhere half decent, do you?’
‘You can stay with me tonight,’ she says.
‘Really?’
‘It’ll be better than the warehouses. And –’ she pauses, and it’s like she’s trying to decide what to say – ‘and I think I might be able to get you out.’
Well, knock me down. My handler was on the money about her. Was there a faint sigh from behind?
‘You want to help me?’
‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Call it restitution.’
‘Restitution?’
‘Yeah. It means I’m trying to make amends for what happened. For leaving you when I could have helped.’
‘I know what the word means,’ I snap.
Suddenly the old rage is back, and my voice crackles out of me like fire. She can’t ever make it right. Esther Crossland will always be the girl who left me behind. The girl who destroyed my home. The girl who took my family.
No matter how kind she is.
No matter what good deeds she does.
I will bring her down.
‘Lead the way,’ I say.