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There were crowds everywhere. I tried to avoid them. I didn’t want to get tangled up in anything, so I slipped across the river at Tower Bridge and worked my way up to Tower 42 via Dock Street.
Inside, the commons were crowded and the stairwells were scattered with knots of people, heads close together, talking in hushed voices. I got an itch between my shoulders; there was going to be a world of trouble if the news had got out. Not for the Dags, but for us. If people started trying to attack the dome, or any of the food stations, the Dags could wipe us out without thinking about it.
In my old commons, the usual crowd was chewing the fat, mouthing off, and generally doing what old folk did. I look around for Aunt Trude or Jenny, but they weren’t there. The door to our room was closed though, and I walked through the commons to get to it. The place fell silent, then a soft muttering set up behind me as those who ‘knew’ brought those who didn’t up to speed. I ignored them, and tapped gently on the door.
It cracked open and I saw an eye wide strip of Aunt Trude’s face. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if she was going to let me in, then her face moved away from the gap and the door swung open. I stepped through, and pushed it shut behind me.
The first thing I noticed was that there were only two mattresses on the floor, which told me I wouldn’t be sleeping there again. Jenny looked up at me from the floor, eyes full of resentment and hurt, and I couldn’t look at her for more than a second. I knelt in the space between the beds.
‘I wanted to make sure you were both OK.’
‘We had the Proctors question us, Jaxon. Twice.’
‘I’m sorry.’
There was an awkward pause. ‘Do you have enough food? Looks like things might get a bit short.’
‘We’ll get by.’
Jenny still hadn’t spoken, and when I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, she was looking at the floor. Seemed there was no welcome for me here, and I couldn’t really blame them. I took one bottle and one ration from the bag the Dag’s had given me, then dropped the bag at arms-length on the floor. ‘You can have these.’
I didn’t get a thank you, but it was good knowing they were well. ‘I didn’t mean for any of this. Neither of us did. Perhaps it worked out for the best, though. Things are changing. Stuff’s going to happen, and you should stay up here as much as you can.’
‘What stuff? What things?’ Aunt Trude sounded angry and worried at the same time. I thought about telling them the whole story, but I didn’t know the end yet, and if the wrong people got the wrong idea, the riots would start. When they couldn’t hurt the Dags, they would start taking it out on their own. Enough people had already suffered.
I got up and put my hand on the door catch. ‘Stay away from crowds if you can. Be well.’
I let myself out, closing the door behind me, and walked quickly across the commons. The lifts were still running, so I punched a button and waited. I had the car to myself, and I made my way up to my secret place.
It wasn’t so secret any more. Both doors had been kicked open and, when I got to the engine room, the place was a jumbled mess. Cupboard doors had been torn open and ripped off, boxes had been trashed, and everywhere there were loose pages of books, words and pictures. What was left of my collection, drifting on the stray breezes from the lifts.
There was nothing for me there now, just anger and grief, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to leave yet. I went back out onto the main floor, found myself a corner out of the wind, and made myself as comfortable as I could. I was weary, and the days were catching up on me. I drifted off into restless sleep.
They came out in their thousands. Dagashi, wearing the same breather tubes I had worn, walking in streams from doors opened in the hull of the ship. From other openings in the hull came transports, some carrying groups of Dags, others hauling huge machines. Little scooters ran back and forth right up to the edge of the perimeter field, topped by sticks with cones on top. They stopped every hundred yards or so and the Proctor driving it would stand up and read aloud out from a sheet he held. I pushed through the crowds to get closer.
‘It has been determined that the Dagashi fleet are occupying this planet without legal reason and are engaged in illegal activities. Not all Dagashi approve of this, and many have chosen to leave their ship in protest. Equipment will be provided to continue to feed and sustain the indigenous people, and work will begin on repairing the damage caused by the Dagashi fleet.’
So that was the other message Corina had sent. My heart wanted to burst with pride, and yet the news picked the scab off the pain that still lurked inside. She must have broadcast her message inside the ship, or ships, as well. I wondered how close the dissenters had come to taking over. There seemed to be no end of them streaming out of the doors, and I guessed there were already two of them for every one of us. They had no need to fear we would rise up against them, and the way the message was worded hid the worst of the truth.
I found somewhere that gave me a good view and watched. The outpouring stopped around mid-afternoon and the space around the dome began to empty as they moved away. Teams were already setting up new food stations, whilst others were swarming over one of the bigger machines, and I would have bet a food ration that was something to do with putting the power back on.
And then it all went eerily quiet. The background bustle of noise faded to nothing and, without a sound, the Dagashi ship lifted slowly into the air. Later, people said they had felt the ground shake and heave, but I didn’t. I wasn’t that far away and I didn’t feel a thing. Not a building fell, nor a pane of glass shattered. The ship rose higher and higher, shrinking into a dot as they ran away.
Chased off the planet by a little girl and a dozen humans.
That night I couldn’t stay inside. The building confined me, smothered me, and I used the wind-up light I still had from the Tech Mercs to find my way to the little garden where Corina had first spoken to me. I wasn’t tired, but I lay down on the cool grass and looked up at a clear night sky. Working by touch I reached into my bag then held Corina up to watch the night twinkle through the cold crystal, and hoped that one, just one, of the lights wasn’t the sparkle of a star.
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