Chapter 3

Snow Alert

‘HONESTLY, TEA-LEAF, IT was classic!’ bragged Hoax. ‘When I shoved the ID-belt in the trash, I had no idea things would turn out so well. I was just hoping a fake alarm would stir the supervisors up a bit, maybe buy us a break from chores.’ He grinned broadly. ‘But it was way better than that!’

‘Why? What happened?’ Tea-Leaf was always the most eager admirer of Hoax’s pranks. She recognized a fellow artist. Deception and trickery were key to her own survival on the tough streets of Nu-Topia.

‘Well, when the alarm went off,’ continued Hoax, ‘they tracked the signal to the slops wagon easily enough. They called it back into the loading bay. Pretty soon there were supervisors all over it. Rake and I were on packing duty, so we got to watch.’

He chortled to himself.

‘Picture the scene. By now, some of the Gladiators are helping out with the search. Our fat-headed friend Stamper is one of them. When they figure out that the signal is coming from inside the wagon’s load chamber, he goes marching up to its main hatch, bold as brass, and wrenches it open to get at whoever is in there. And the slops wagon dumps pretty much its entire load right on top of him!’

He doubled up with laughter, delighting once again in Stamper’s humiliation.

‘It couldn’t believe it,’ he said, wiping his eyes. ‘I nearly died!’

Rake was listening to his friend’s account too. He looked anything but amused.

‘What Mr Comedy here hasn’t told you,’ he said bitterly, ‘is that after he played his oh-so-hilarious prank and then completely gave the game away, we spent most of last night clearing up the mess.’

‘Yeah, sorry about that, mate,’ said Hoax, looking not very sorry at all. ‘And thanks for sticking up for me. “Stand Together” and all that . . .’

Rake snorted. ‘I’m pretty sure that the Armouron founders didn’t intend their code of honour to be interpreted as “cover up for your dunk-head friend”. Still’ – his scowl gave way to a sly grin – ‘it was pretty sweet seeing Stamper standing there up to his neck in rubbish. Worth a few hours shovelling slops, I guess.’

Tea-Leaf laughed heartily. ‘Nice one, Hoax! That muscle-bound bully deserves all the humiliation you can dish up!’

‘Salt wasn’t impressed when you two missed training, though,’ said Oddball. He too was waiting in the Old School chamber. It was late evening, time for the young knights’ next session of secret instruction with their Armouron mentor.

Tonight, it had proved safe for Tea-Leaf to join them. The large freight shuttle that had been so heavily guarded by White Knights over the past few days was no longer parked in the garage. Its police guard appeared to have left with it.

‘The old man won’t be too chuffed with Snow, either, if she doesn’t turn up soon,’ said Tea-Leaf. As yet, there was no sign of the team’s other female member. ‘We ought to be getting our gear on in a few minutes. Where’s she got to?’

‘That, Balista,’ growled a low voice, ‘is a matter of some concern.’

The four youngsters turned to find Salt behind them. For a big man with a dodgy leg, he had an uncanny ability to appear out of nowhere.

‘What do you mean, master?’ asked Rake.

‘Alida has gone missing,’ said Salt. ‘When I returned to the armoury workshop this evening, I found her absent and the task I assigned her unfinished. This struck me as out of character. She is the most reliable of all of you.’

The others didn’t protest. Snow was completely dependable.

‘When I sought her out, to request an explanation, I could not find her. I wondered if for some reason she had come here, to the Old School.’ He frowned. ‘I found her armour out of storage and her medallion and helmet missing.’

‘I thought it was a bit odd when she didn’t show up in the canteen at tea,’ said Rake.

Oddball looked puzzled. ‘Why would she want just her medallion and helmet?’

‘What about her cadet ID belt?’ asked Tea-Leaf. ‘Had she taken that off?’

‘Not to my knowledge,’ replied Salt.

‘’Cos if she’s still wearing that,’ continued Tea-Leaf, ‘she must be in the Academy somewhere. Otherwise the alarm would have gone off again.’

Hoax looked a bit shifty. ‘Not necessarily. Last night, after Stamper got slimed and I blew my cover, they realized it was a false alarm – that there was no escapee. So they stopped searching for the ID belt. But they couldn’t get the alarm to stop. In the end, they decided to shut down the system temporarily. I don’t think it’s back on yet.’

‘It isn’t,’ confirmed Salt. ‘Which means that Alida could have left the complex, even wearing her belt. If she has, we need to find her as soon as possible.’

‘But why would Snow go off without telling anyone?’ said Rake. ‘Like you said, master, she’s the reliable one. It’s just not like her.’

Salt let out a long sigh. He scanned his trainees’ concerned faces, uncertain how much to share with them.

‘Alida has been experiencing some unsettling mental disturbances,’ he said slowly. ‘I believe she may be in a somewhat troubled state of mind.’

The others exchanged knowing glances. Rake spoke for all of them.

‘There’s something different about her, isn’t there, master?’

‘She can make stuff move without touching it, for starters,’ blurted Oddball. ‘I’d swear she made that PShooter ball swerve last night—’

‘And sometimes it’s like she knows what’s going on in someone else’s head,’ put in Tea-Leaf. ‘She saw through that creep Ulcer way before the rest of us.’

Ulcer was a Byelon shape-shifter. The knights had recently had a near-fatal encounter with her.

Salt paused again. Then he nodded his heavy head slowly.

‘I have reason to believe it likely that Alida will indeed prove to have . . . unusual abilities.’

‘Freaky mind powers, more like,’ Hoax murmured.

Salt chose to ignore him. ‘But now is not the time to speculate on what those might be. Our priority is to find her and bring her home.’ He addressed Oddball and Tea-Leaf directly. ‘False-Light, Balista – get suited up immediately. I have an assignment outside the Academy for the pair of you.’

‘Why not me and Oddball?’ complained Rake. As always, he was keen to be at the heart of the action.

‘This particular mission requires your comrades’ specialist skills in stealth and deception,’ replied Salt.

‘Why? What are we going to do?’ asked Tea-Leaf eagerly. She could already sense the familiar mixture of nervousness and excitement rising inside her.

‘If Alida is out in the city,’ growled Salt, ‘our only real chance of tracing her is to assume that she is still wearing her identity belt. The Corporation police scanners in SeeBlock can pinpoint any specified ID belt anywhere within the Limits. I want the pair of you to find a way inside SeeBlock and secretly access the scanner data.’

Hoax blew out his cheeks. ‘Is that all?’

SeeBlock was the centre of police surveillance, from where the Chairman kept a close eye on each and every one of Nu-Topia’s citizens. It was a high-security Corporation facility. The knights wouldn’t just be able to stroll in and ask to borrow the tracking system.

Salt looked unapologetic. ‘I have every faith that you and Balista can fulfil the mission. And we have little choice. Without using the Corporation scanners, we have no way to locate our friend.’ He raised his bushy eyebrows. ‘Unless you have a better suggestion, False-Light?’

Hoax shook his head meekly.

‘So how do we get from here to SeeBlock?’ asked Tea-Leaf.

Salt gave a wry smile. ‘You have False-Light’s . . . ingenuity to thank for my proposed solution to that problem. You will travel via refuse vehicle.’

‘Huh?’ Hoax frowned. ‘The slops wagon?’

‘Its nightly collection round takes it to most of the buildings in the city’s central sector,’ explained Salt. ‘Even SeeBlock. If you can slip on board when it calls at the Academy, you should be able to hitch a ride to the police building undetected. Find the scanner consoles, obtain a fix on Alida’s location, then make your way back here, as quickly as possible. And don’t be seen.’

Ignoring Hoax’s dismayed look, Salt turned to Rake and Oddball.

‘In the meantime, you two will help me scour the Academy once more. It’s still possible that Alida is somewhere in the compound – though I am all but convinced otherwise.’

He scanned their faces.

‘Everyone clear?’

They nodded.

‘And remember,’ rumbled Salt, ‘Stand Together  . . .’

‘Battle as One,’ chorused his team.

For whatever reason, Snow had put herself in danger.

It was up to them to bring her in.