Chapter 6

Tactics and Tactlessness

‘SO – LET’S RUN through it one more time,’ said Salt. ‘Just to make sure everyone is clear on their role. You first, Alida.’

The old armourer and his five students were still gathered in the foul-smelling chamber in the depths of the Academy. But now the children were fully clad in their Armouron suits and clutching their helmets. Four cadet identity belts lay in a pile in one corner of the chamber.

Their transformation was far more than just a superficial change of outfit. In removing their belts and donning their armour, the cadets had shed their day-to-day characters and adopted the mindset of the knight warrior. Salt took in their purposeful expressions approvingly. They looked worthy of their titles: Templer, the Fearless; Balista, the Shadow; False-Light, the Trickster; Sappar, the Inventive; and young Alida, the Shieldmaiden.

‘Rake, Tea-Leaf and I are responsible for taking out the containment field,’ began Snow. ‘We’re to find our way inside the field generator, without being detected, and disable the control system.’

‘But just so part of the field fails,’ chipped in Rake. ‘Not the whole shebang. And only temporarily too – for around a minute or so.’

‘Good,’ rumbled Salt. ‘The field is actually a geodesic dome – that means it is made up of lots of small triangular shield zones. If you can knock out just one of those zones, it should provide Griffin with the “door” he needs. And they won’t know it is sabotage.’

‘You’re hoping they’ll put it down to a technical glitch?’ asked Hoax.

Salt nodded gravely. ‘We must do everything we can to carry out this operation undetected. If the Chairman suspects foul play – particularly Armouron involvement – things will quickly turn nasty.’

He turned to Hoax and Oddball.

‘And you two?’

‘Me and Oddball are the contact team,’ began Hoax. ‘It’s our job to find our way to the Skirter base and tell Griffin when and where the containment field is going to fail. Then they can be ready and waiting when their chance comes to make a break for it.’

‘We get around the problem of not being able to go through the containment field by going under it,’ expanded Oddball. ‘Through the disused sewer system.’

Salt nodded again. ‘Fortunately, the abandoned system goes out far beyond the current Limits, from the days when it served the entire Old City. Its tunnels will take you right underneath the Epsilon site. And they can be accessed from the Old School drains – hence our current location . . .’

‘I get the bit about going under the field,’ said Hoax. ‘But how will we know where to find Griffin once we surface inside it? Judging by the news shots we saw, the isolated area is pretty big.’

‘No problem,’ said Oddball confidently. He slid open a panel in his leg armour and took out the clockwork courier beetle. ‘It was easy enough to work out the original departure coordinates of this little beauty from the way its navigation mechanism was set up. If we head for that location, we should end up smack bang in the middle of the Skirter camp.’

‘Why can’t we just use the beetle to get a message to Griffin?’ asked Tea-Leaf. ‘It must have found a way past the containment field on its way here.’

‘We probably could have – if you hadn’t shot it,’ replied Oddball. ‘I could reset the mechanism to retrace its route, at a push. But some of the tiny bubble-valves that control its flight direction are damaged. The optical cloaking is a bit of a mess too. It would take me a fair bit of time to fix.’

‘Time we don’t have,’ said Salt. ‘Besides, your role is more than just as message-bearers. Your suits and skills will allow you to assist Griffin’s people in other ways, I hope.’

Tea-Leaf seemed satisfied. But Snow too had a query.

‘Master,’ she said quietly. ‘Why do we need to risk taking out the field at all? Wouldn’t it be simpler for Griffin and his people to follow Hoax and Oddball back through the sewers?’

‘A good question, Alida,’ replied Salt. ‘But I think we can assume that for these individuals, an escape back into the city would be no escape at all. If they return, the Corporation will not rest until it has hunted them down. If Griffin has gone to the trouble of acquiring a ship of some kind, it must be because he feels unable to dodge the authorities any longer. We must help him and his friends get well clear of Nu-Topia.’

He paused.

‘Any more questions?’

Rake cleared his throat a little awkwardly. ‘With respect, master,’ he began, ‘do you think it’s wise for all of us to be involved? I mean . . . it sounds like a pretty risky assignment, and some of us’ – his gaze fell fleetingly on Tea-Leaf – ‘have had hardly any training . . .’

Tea-Leaf’s cheeks coloured.

‘If you mean you don’t trust me not to mess things up, why don’t you just say so?’

‘It’s not about trust,’ argued Rake, avoiding her fiery glare. ‘It’s just . . . well, to be honest, you’re still new to all this, aren’t you? The rest of us have had years of Academy training. And you’re not exactly the best at controlling your impulses. Look what happened last night – you nearly took my head off with that crossbow shot!’

‘I’m beginning to wish I had,’ snapped Tea-Leaf. Hoax failed to hide a snigger.

Rake’s tone became less gentle. ‘One reckless move like that under pressure and you could blow the whole mission! At the moment, you’re a loose cannon. I don’t want to find myself staring down a Kettle’s laser barrel because a hot-headed rookie—’

‘Enough!’

It was very rare for Salt to raise his voice. Rake fell instantly silent in the face of the old man’s formidable anger.

‘The armour in which you are fortunate enough to stand before me was crafted for champions of the Armouron ideals: Honour, Duty, Compassion and Justice!’ thundered Salt. ‘Not for a bunch of bickering infants!’

He glared at Rake.

‘You, my lad, will respect my judgement as to who is, or is not, fit for field operations. Balista is your comrade at arms and deserves your loyalty and respect, not your criticism. Or have you forgotten our code of honour? Stand Together, Battle as One!’

He turned away from the humbled teenager.

‘And you, young lady—’

But Tea-Leaf had vanished. The space beside Snow, where she had been standing only seconds earlier, was vacant.

Oddball looked totally bewildered. ‘Where’d she go? She can’t just disappear like that . . .’

Salt’s brow creased in a frown.

‘You forget – Balista’s medallion and the suit I crafted for her greatly increase her talents for disguise. If she chose to slip away, it is well within her powers.’

‘You shouldn’t have upset her, Rake!’ chided Snow.

‘You were a bit over the top, mate,’ agreed Hoax.

Rake said nothing, but looked down uncomfortably.

‘We don’t have time for this!’ growled Salt. ‘If we don’t act immediately, Griffin and his people are as good as dead. The last thing we need is one of our team, fully suited, going walkabout!’

He fell silent for a few seconds. Moments later, he had regained his usual composure.

‘We must focus on our main goal,’ he said decisively. ‘I want the four of you to go ahead with the mission as planned, setting off immediately. I’ll try to track down Balista and get her back onside.’

The four young knights nodded earnestly. They quickly slipped on their helmets, snap-locking them in place.

As Salt watched them hurry away in their pairs, he muttered anxiously to himself.

‘I only hope I find her before anyone else does . . .’