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Inez and I hit the top of the staircase at the rear of the massive glass chamber of the Spin Zone and tear through the entrance lobby after the others, pausing only so that Inez can retrieve her knives. The same guards who vetted us earlier are laughing.
“Run, little piggies, run!” shouts one, and the others oink and squeal.
We hurry to the exit, where our friends are swinging across to the neighbouring pod. Baba Jen has already crossed and disappeared. Maiko has also crossed, but stands on the platform on the far side, waiting for Dermot, who is holding the rope and preparing to swing, not wanting to lose his grip and fall to his death in a panic.
Oleg is wringing his fingers and whimpering. “Hurry! Hurry!” he moans.
Cal sizes up the distance between pods and grunts. “Want to save some time?” he asks Inez as Dermot launches himself across.
“Do it,” Inez says, and Cal grabs her and throws her over the edge.
“What the –” I start to scream, but then Inez lands safely on the other platform, goes into a roll and tumbles smoothly through the open door.
“Archibald?” Cal asks.
I gulp as Dermot sends the rope back to an eager Oleg. “Is this really necessary?” I wheeze.
“It will only save a few seconds,” Cal says, “but we have lots of pods to cross, and the seconds will add up. They might mean the difference between escaping or being caught.”
“OK,” I say, then grit my teeth as Cal grabs me and tosses me across the divide.
It looks as if I’m not going to make it, and I open my mouth to shriek, but then I land on the platform alongside Oleg, and Dermot and Maiko haul us to safety.
Oleg hurls the rope back at Cal, then the three thesps scurry into the pod. I wait until the huge man has swung across, not wanting to leave until I’m sure he’s safe.
He lands heavily beside me and winks. “Exciting times, Archibald.”
“You think this is exciting?” I groan.
He shrugs. “When you’ve endured death once, it’s never that big a thing again. Let the mad empress do her worst. She might kill us, but we won’t let her scare us, will we?” He nudges me in the ribs when I don’t reply. “Will we?”
“No,” I manage to chuckle, despite the fear that’s tightened my stomach to the size of a nut.
Then we chase after the others and begin to make our way across a variety of pods. It’s late, and although there’s a smattering of gamblers at the betting tables, most people have retired to their quarters.
Cal continues to throw Inez and me across the gaps, while the others use the ropes, except for Baba Jen. The grumpy actress is six hundred years old but still inhabits the body of a child. With her short legs, she couldn’t keep up, so Cal scooped her up and settled her on his shoulders, and she’s remained there since, balanced like an imperious infant Raj on an elephant, leaning forward to cling to his ears when he’s swinging on a rope.
“The rest of our troupe should be sleeping,” Dermot pants as we’re huffing up a set of stairs, “but what if some of them are elsewhere?”
“Then we’ll have to leave them behind,” Maiko says.
“Abandon our people?” Dermot winces.
“Maybe we should leave them all behind,” Baba Jen says from her perch on Cal’s shoulders. “They might distract the empress and give us more time to get away.”
Dermot looks up at the tiny thesp, appalled. “You can’t be serious.”
Baba Jen maintains a poker face. “How about we collect most of them, but throw her the actors of little skill or purpose who won’t be missed, like Oleg.”
“You horrible harpy!” Oleg shrieks. “We should never have rescued you.”
“I didn’t ask you to,” Baba Jen says, then winks at Dermot.
“I’m glad you find this so amusing,” Maiko snaps.
“We need to joke while we can,” Baba Jen says. “We’ll all be cut down in our tracks soon enough. There’s no way we’ll escape. We haven’t a hope.”
We make it to the top of the pod, then start climbing the pole to a pod above.
“Is Baba Jen right?” I ask Inez as we’re waiting our turn.
“Probably,” she says.
“Then I should wait for Urszula here,” I mutter.
“Why?” she frowns.
“Maybe she’ll be satisfied once she’s dealt with me, let the rest of you go.”
Inez shakes her head. “She vowed to kill us all. If you stay, she’ll shackle you, have her guards drag you along, make you watch while she executes us, then torture you slowly before she kills you.”
I stare at Inez, horrified. “I’m sorry,” I whimper.
“Don’t be,” she says. “I involved you in this, so if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”
The pole clears and Inez starts up. After a moment’s hesitation, I follow, and the frantic exodus continues.