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I lay flat on the ground, my arms protectively over my head, and my eyes tightly closed.
“Blaze, are you all right?” asked Donnell’s voice.
I seemed to be physically uninjured, I couldn’t feel the pain of any burns, but I was frozen rigid in terror. I couldn’t see flames with my eyes closed, but I could smell and taste smoke, and hear the roaring sound of fire.
“Blaze?” Donnell’s voice nagged at me again, sounding much closer than before, and then his hand touched my arm. “There’s no need to be afraid. We’re quite safe here.”
I tried to speak but couldn’t make a sound. I was a child caught in the London firestorm. I was hearing my mother’s screams, and my brother yelling at me to run. I had that odd feeling plaguing me again. Something had happened back in London that didn’t make sense.
“Blaze, I’m getting scared here,” said Donnell. “Please talk to me.”
Donnell was getting scared? He’d made me set the world on fire, and now he was complaining about getting scared? I was hit by fury, opened my mouth to tell him to go pollute himself, but cut off the swear words in time.
I’d shouted those words at my father before. Two weeks after our arrival in New York, my brother had turned traitor, blown up the New York portal relay centre, and left forever. Donnell and I had had a cataclysmic argument afterwards, and with Hannah working to widen the rift between us, we’d been estranged for six years. We’d only just started to rebuild our relationship, so I daren’t risk swearing at him like that again now, but I couldn’t hold back my anger entirely.
“You claimed there’d be a few flames,” I said bitterly. “That’s a lot more than a few flames.”
“I apologize,” said Donnell. “I didn’t expect there to be such a massive explosion or so many flames. When I was inside that apartment block, I was confused by the fact I had to search three apartments before I found a power storage unit. Now it’s clear there wasn’t the usual arrangement of a standard power unit in each apartment, but a more powerful storage unit serving a whole group of them. When you shoot a more powerful storage unit ...”
He let the sentence trail off, and I finished it for him. “You get a more powerful explosion.”
I was still angry, but I was focusing my anger where it truly belonged. My fear of fire had begun in the London firestorm, but Cage had reinforced it when he dangled me over the cooking fire in Reception. Cage had used threats and blackmail to make a bid for leadership of the alliance. Cage had tried to murder me and the off-worlders, succeeded in killing Marsha, and attacked our hunting party with a sniper rifle. I was here to help rescue our people, not to lie in the dirt like a coward.
I used my anger to overcome my fear, opened my eyes, and cautiously lifted my head. The smoke in the sky was tinged with orange from the setting sun on the western horizon, and with red from the distinctive glow of flames straight in front of me. I got up on my hands and knees, and peeped over the top of the concrete barrier.
The nearest apartment block was burning fiercely. I saw a burst of flames shooting up from the roof. The safety features on a power storage unit were designed to make it gradually release power and melt in a fire, but one that was growing unstable from lack of maintenance could explode.
Donnell went to sit on the concrete barrier. “If Cage is in the second building, he should be making a run for it soon.”
I got to my feet and moved to sit next to Donnell. We watched the flames gradually engulf the first apartment block and start spreading to the second. There was no sign of Cage.
“I suppose this scene looks very like the London firestorm,” said Donnell.
I gave a choking laugh. “This is nothing compared to the London firestorm. When the power grid exploded, chains of fire spread across the whole city. Random buildings burst into flames and collapsed within seconds. The only reason any of us escaped alive was because the Europe Parliament House was surrounded by an ornamental lake, and had its own inter-continental portal room in the wing that was built on pillars and jutted out over the water. That didn’t stop the flames spreading through that wing of course, but it slowed them enough to give us vital extra minutes to escape.”
“I remember the balcony over the lake,” said Donnell softly. “We held outdoor concerts there on summer nights.”
My mind was on fire rather than concerts. “We have to leave New York before the power grid explodes here too.”
“I know,” said Donnell. “It will take us several days just to get the alliance clear of New York on foot, so we absolutely must leave by the end of April.”
We sat in silence for the next few minutes, watching the flames spread to the third apartment block. There was still no sign of Cage, but I saw the dark shapes of some falling stars glide away from the rooftop to seek safety elsewhere.
Donnell frowned and stood up. “The falling stars have fled the buildings. Cage must have fled them too by now, but I haven’t heard a sound from our guard groups. Whistle a message to find out what’s happening, Blaze.”
I took out my whistle and blew the status check signal. A moment later, a whistle responded from near the second building. It was followed by another to the east, and then two more, much fainter ones, from the northern side of the apartment blocks.
“Three division groups responding with all quiet signals,” muttered Donnell.
I gave him a puzzled look. “Four responding with all quiet signals.”
Donnell made a soft, moaning sound. “It’s time I admitted something to you. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been having problems hearing faint, high-pitched sounds. I’m not sure if it’s the legacy of me performing at too many loud concerts when I was a teenager, too many blows to the head in fist fights, or getting caught in an explosion soon after I formed the Earth Resistance.”
I was unnerved to learn that Donnell was suffering from hearing loss. I was used to thinking of my legendary father as flawless and immortal, but this was a reminder that he was as human as the rest of us.
Donnell had been born in 2351, so he would soon be fifty-seven years old. The growing number of silver strands among his brown hair just added distinction to his famous good looks, and a slight hearing problem wasn’t important, but they were both warning signs that the passing years would make it harder for him to do the demanding job of running the alliance.
I’d known that before. Donnell constantly discussed the fact I’d succeed him as alliance leader, and tried to prepare me for that day. Only minutes ago, he’d got me to set fire to an apartment block because a leader needed to be able to face their fears.
Becoming alliance leader had still seemed a comfortingly theoretical thing, which would happen at a distant future time, but now I was hit by a new sense of urgency. It would hopefully be another decade or two before I had to wear the title of alliance leader, but Donnell might need to call on my support at any time, and I had to be ready to help him in whatever way was needed. I had a huge amount to learn about things like negotiations, hunting, and battle tactics, and I needed to learn it all as fast as possible.
“My older officers and Aaron know about my hearing problem,” said Donnell. “I think Ghost has noticed it as well, because he was suspiciously helpful about those whistled messages earlier.”
He sighed. “Well, if all four division groups responded with the all quiet signal, then you’d better recall them.”
I whistled the command, and then Donnell and I walked back to the main path. A few minutes later, figures started appearing through the gloom. Donnell waited until everyone was back together before speaking.
“Cage won’t have stayed in those buildings to burn to death, and I don’t believe he could have sneaked away unseen. That means he must have left before we arrived.”
“Some people might have seen Cage and chosen to keep quiet and let him escape,” said Raeni acidly.
There was a groan from Wall.
“Donnell and Blaze had a good view of the first two buildings, and I was right next to the third,” said Ghost. “I’m certain that Cage didn’t escape to the south or east.”
“He didn’t escape to the north either,” said Ice.
“I can’t believe Cage went swimming across the lake,” said Ghost cheerfully. “I agree he must have left the apartment blocks before we arrived, though that’s a surprising decision. Cage would surely expect Donnell to lead a search party here, so why didn’t he stay to take a shot at us?”
Donnell shrugged. “Whatever the reason, Cage left the apartment blocks. There aren’t any other buildings with a vantage point where he can fire shots at the restaurant, so we can go and get Aaron’s hunting party now.”
People nodded rather than replying to that out loud, and we retraced our steps along the path in sombre silence. When we reached the graveyard, I couldn’t prevent myself from looking across at where Aaron’s wife was buried, and picturing us digging Aaron’s grave there tomorrow.
“It’s almost fully dark, and the clouds are covering the moon,” said Raeni. “Is it safe for us to use flashlights now?”
“Cage may still be lurking somewhere in this area,” said Donnell, “so I’d rather not advertise our location by using flashlights. Ghost can lead us along the paved path towards the restaurant and warn us of any dangerous holes.”
We moved slowly along the path, crossing open ground next to the lake, and then went on through a wooded area for a few minutes before Donnell stopped us. I saw a single-storey, circular building ahead of us.
“Blaze, tell our people it’s safe to come out,” said Donnell.
I whistled a message, and then Donnell stepped forward to wave at the restaurant. A group of figures came out of the door, but they didn’t walk towards us, just moved to stand at the side of the path. I bit my lip, because I knew the reason they were waiting.
A moment later, four more men came out of the door. They were carrying a makeshift stretcher that might have been made from a tabletop. It was too dark to see much of the man lying on the stretcher as they carried it towards us, but the depressed body language of the stretcher bearers, and the bowed heads of those watching it go past, made it clear he was dead.
“Queens Island,” said Ghost, in a mourning voice.
I realized Ghost was right. One of the two men carrying the front of the stretcher had a slightly dragging gait that gave away his identity. If Destin of Queens Island was carrying the front of the stretcher, then the dead man was from Queens Island too.
I glanced back at the door to check if a second stretcher was coming. No, there was only one stretcher, only one dead man, but another body could have been left behind in the rush to take cover from Cage’s sniper fire. I urgently studied the dark shapes of the men following the stretcher, and finally spotted the familiar figure of Aaron at the back of the group. He was alive!
I felt a split second of joy that Rebecca still had her father, before I heard Raeni’s scream and saw her run forward to meet the stretcher.
“Chaos weeping,” muttered Donnell, in a voice of despair. “Now I understand why Cage didn’t bother staying to shoot at us. He’d already fired the shot that would destroy the alliance. Cage doesn’t want to kill me now. He wants to make me watch as the divisions fight each other, and everything I’ve worked for is torn apart.”
Raeni stumbled to a halt by the stretcher, laid a hand fleetingly on the chest of the person lying there, and then turned to glare at Wall.
“Cage has killed Rogue,” she shouted, “and Manhattan will pay blood price for his death.”
