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Ice stood facing me in silence. He was as expressionless as usual, but I thought there was a hint of wariness in his stance.
“Yes, I’m sure that it’s me you’re protecting,” I said. “I think you would have called general justice against Cage months ago, but you gave in to his blackmail to protect me. When that led to me calling general justice against Cage myself, you bitterly regretted your decision.”
Ice was still silent.
“I’ve been reliving my memories of the London firestorm in my dreams for years,” I continued. “In those dreams, I’m eleven years old again and terrified. I’m with my brother. The smoke is choking me, blinding me, and the heat is making me feel faint. I can hear my mother screaming from behind a door. I try to reach her, but the door burns my hands. My brother tugs at my arm, and shouts at me to run, but my legs won’t move. Then there’s a blank in my memories.”
I rubbed my forehead. “I’ve always assumed that I passed out from the smoke and my brother carried me to the inter-continental portal room, because the next thing I remember is being in there with him. The portal room is crammed with people, and some men are desperately trying to hardwire a portal so we can escape to New York. Everyone is waiting to see if we’ll live or die, then suddenly the portal starts glowing.”
I paused. “That’s when my brother picks me up to carry me through the portal. I have a vivid memory of his arms holding me tightly, but something has been nagging at me about that moment. An oddness about the feeling of my brother’s arms holding me.”
I grimaced. “Now I know what that oddness was. Someone else had been holding me earlier. Someone with a much heavier build than my brother. My assumption about what happened in the firestorm was wrong. I did pass out from the smoke, but it wasn’t my brother who carried me to the portal room. It was you, Ice, wasn’t it?”
I waited for Ice to reply, but he still wasn’t talking.
“Cage somehow found out there was a point where you could have tried to save my mother from the firestorm, but didn’t do it. Cage would naturally think you’d chosen to run from the flames and save yourself, because that’s what he’d have done in your place. He was right that someone ran from the flames, but wrong about it being you. It was my brother who ran in fear, and you who carried me to the portal room.”
I shrugged. “You can tell me the truth now, Ice. I might have found it too hard to cope with six years ago, but I’m not a child any longer. Braden didn’t want to kill Shark, but it was the only way to save Phoenix. You didn’t want to leave my mother to die, but it was the only way to save me.”
Ice finally spoke. “I was on my way to your rooms, groping my way through the smoke, when your brother collided with me. I caught him by the arm, asked him where you and your mother were, but he just yanked his arm away and ran on in panic. I kept going, found you lying on the floor unconscious, and heard Keira screaming from the next room. She’d been trapped by the fire. The ceiling was about to collapse on us, and I wasn’t sure if I had time to reach Keira or not, but I knew I could save you.”
He shook his head. “Survivor guilt – knowing that you are alive because someone you care about is dead – can be a dreadful thing, Blaze. I understand that because I suffered from it myself as a child. You can blame me for choosing to save you rather than Keira, but you mustn’t blame yourself.”
“I’m not going to blame either of us,” I said. “If I wanted to blame anyone, then I’d blame my brother. Seamus was big enough, and strong enough, to either carry or drag me to safety with him, and then you’d have been free to help my mother. Seamus was only sixteen years old though, and too terrified of the flames to do more than yell at me before running away himself.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “And when we arrived in New York, you let everyone think that Seamus had heroically saved me. You did that to protect me and to protect him. It must have been a difficult pretence for both of you though, so you didn’t protest when Donnell said he wanted Seamus and me to move to the Resistance.”
Ice nodded. “It seemed the best solution for all of us.”
“Seamus was angry about having to leave London division, but appeared to genuinely like being in the Resistance. I never understood why he betrayed us back then, but it all makes far more sense now. Once Seamus was in the Resistance, away from the only person who knew the truth, he thought he could forget the past.”
I studied the palm of my right hand. Nadira had packed my wound with regrowth ointment, and bandaged it overnight. The ancient medicine had worked with magical speed, so it was almost healed already. I had full movement of the hand, but a faint white ridge ran across the patch of shiny new skin, and Nadira said that it would probably remain as a permanent scar.
“Seamus discovered it’s not that easy to forget the past though,” I said. “Both physical and emotional wounds leave scars. Moving to the Resistance wasn’t enough to free Seamus from his guilt. He decided the only way to escape it was to leave Earth itself. He made a deal with the people at America Off-world, agreeing to destroy the New York portal relay centre in exchange for places for him and me on one of the colony worlds.”
I winced. “Seamus came to talk to me before he left. He told me he’d arranged to take me to one of the new worlds. When I said that I didn’t want to leave Earth, he claimed that it was Donnell’s fault that our mother had died in the London firestorm. He said that if Donnell had taken his family with him when he went to New York, then she’d still be alive.”
I shook my head. “Thinking back on it, there was something wrong about the way Seamus said those things. Of course there was. He wasn’t trying to convince me with his argument, but to convince himself, and shift the guilt he was feeling onto Donnell’s shoulders. I still refused to leave Earth, so Seamus left without me. I was so stupidly upset at him going that it didn’t occur to me that he’d have had to do something in exchange for getting those places on the colony world. Then the New York portal relay centre exploded.”
There was a brief silence before Donnell spoke. “So, Seamus went off to his bright new world, leaving me with a hate-filled note, a broken-hearted daughter screaming abuse at me, and a city full of dead portals. I never questioned what had happened during the London firestorm. I didn’t see any point in me finding out the details. Seamus needn’t have bothered writing that letter blaming me for Keira’s death, because I was already blaming myself.”
“You blamed yourself for not taking my mother with you to New York,” I said. “Ice blamed himself for not saving her from the firestorm. Seamus blamed himself for running away in fear. In the end though, my mother’s death wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was the London firestorm that killed her.”
I turned to face Major. “You’ve used swords against us and been defeated. You’ve used blackmail against us and been defeated. I think you’re out of weapons now, Major, and it’s time we escorted Bronx division to join Cage.”
Major scowled. “Very well then, escort us to join Cage, but shouldn’t you be taking all of us there? We’re missing someone.”
“If you’re talking about Knave and Wasp,” said Donnell, “they fought on Blaze’s side on the roof, so they’ve been given new trial memberships of Manhattan, though Wall will be watching their behaviour very closely.”
Donnell glanced at where Luther was standing guarding the prisoners. “If you’re talking about Luther, then he was following my orders when he went undercover to spy on you, and as far as I could tell thoroughly enjoyed himself.”
Luther grinned at Donnell. “My father used to reminisce a lot about the days when he was a Military Security agent and went undercover. Now I understand why. I had a glorious time faking those quarrels with you and fooling Bronx division.”
Donnell laughed. “Yes, you especially seemed to enjoy telling me to go pollute myself.”
Luther nodded happily. “That was a particularly fun moment.”
“What possessed you to take the act as far as declaring allegiance to Bronx division though, Luther?” asked Donnell. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“I knew Blaze, Nadira, and the off-worlders were all in the Sanctuary wing. I guessed Major would take them prisoner, and made the split-second decision to join Bronx division so I’d be in a position to help them.”
“Excellent work.”
Donnell wandered over to ruffle Luther’s hair. I noticed that Donnell’s other officers were all looking amused, except for Julien who was watching with an oddly wistful expression.
“When I said there was someone missing, I wasn’t talking about your spy,” said Major. “I was talking about ours. Cage will want Hannah to go with us to the Citadel. She’s been useful to him in the past, and could well be useful in the future.”
Everyone turned to look at where Hannah was sitting at one of the Manhattan division tables. She got to her feet and spoke in an urgent voice.
“You can’t send me to the Citadel with Bronx division. I’m not their spy. Everyone knows that I was working for Cage before Blaze called general justice against him, but I’ve been working for Donnell since then.”
“It’s true that Hannah warned me about the meetings in the Banqueting Hall,” said Donnell.
Major gave him a startled look, and then laughed. “That’s utterly typical of Hannah. So, she warned you we’d been meeting in the Banqueting Hall. Did she tell you that she was present at all those meetings? Did she admit that she was one of the eight core members of Bronx division, and had earned her place by supplying information about you?”
Donnell frowned. “You’re saying that Hannah has been supplying information to both of us?”
“Yes,” said Major. “Hannah has been working for both sides at once, making sure that whoever loses she’ll be on the winning side. She helped Cage get control of the Citadel security system only days ago. That was the reason Cage was in the subway tunnel near Parliament House on the night that Blaze drove the ghost train. He’d come to talk to Hannah.”
“Major’s lying,” said Hannah fiercely. “It’s a stupid lie too. How could I possibly help Cage get control of a security system?”
Major laughed. “I don’t know how you did it, Hannah, because you wouldn’t tell me your precious secret information. You insisted on meeting Cage and telling him yourself, to make sure you got the sole credit and your rightful reward.”
“That’s not true!” shouted Hannah.
“Yes, it is,” said Major. “You wanted your rightful reward, and that reward is going to be imprisonment in the Citadel along with the rest of us.”
Donnell looked at Machico. “Mac and Blaze, come with me. Tad, you mentioned knowing something about security systems, so you’d better come too.”
Machico, Tad, and I followed Donnell through the Resistance curtain, and he turned to face us. “Which of them do we believe? Hannah and Major are both liars.”
“I’d believe Major,” I said, “but I don’t see any way that Hannah could have helped Cage get control of the Citadel security system.”
Tad hit the palm of his right hand against his forehead. “I thought Cage managed to get control of the Citadel security system because it was left without power at some point and came on again using the original installation settings. That surprised me because the Citadel internal stored power reserves were designed to last for over twenty years. I think Major must be telling the truth, and the power reserves never ran out at all, but Hannah told Cage a key piece of information that helped him get control of the security system.”
Tad turned to Machico. “Donnell told me that the only reason you managed to get control of the Parliament House security system was because you got help from an old friend who’d worked on it in the past. Who was that friend, and exactly what help did they give you?”
Machico hesitated. “Well, I suppose there’s no harm in me telling you who helped me. Savannah Graves was well over seventy years old back in 2375, so must have died by now. She’d been Head of Security here at the United Earth Americas Parliament House until a few months earlier, when she was forced to retire because of her sympathies with the Earth Resistance.”
Machico shrugged. “Anyway, she told me an incredibly complicated password that could authorize just about anything.”
“You’ve got a password written on the wall of the Security Control Room,” said Tad. “I assumed that was Donnell’s personal password. Is it actually the one that Savannah Graves gave to you?”
“Yes,” said Machico. “We still have to use it to authorize everything we do.”
Tad groaned. “Blaze told me that Hannah used to have the apartment next to hers on the sixth floor. There was nothing stopping Hannah walking into the Security Control Room and seeing that password.”
“Hannah couldn’t remember a password that hideously long for six years,” said Donnell. “I can’t remember it for six seconds.”
“Hannah would have realized it was potentially valuable and written it down,” I said bitterly. “As a core member of Bronx division, she must have learned Cage had found the sniper rifle in the Citadel. Perhaps a mention of the security system made her offer the password to Cage. I expect she was promised something important in exchange.”
I waved my hands. “The only thing that’s puzzling me is why a password that works on the United Earth Americas Parliament House security system would also work on the Citadel security system.”
“That’s puzzling me too,” said Tad. “If one of you reminds me what that password is, I’ll see if I can find out what’s so special about it.”
Donnell and I exchanged helpless glances, but Machico gabbled out a long series of letters and numbers.
Tad had a distant expression for a moment, and then made a despairing sound. “I’ve just used that password on the Citadel security system, and the acknowledgement message said ‘Welcome, Thaddeus Wallam-Crane Regnant.’ No wonder I had so many problems taking control of that system away from Cage. I was using the old Wallam-Crane family security codes, but Cage was using one of the security codes used by the head of the family, so his authority outranked mine.”
“How could this Savannah Graves have got hold of one of the security codes used by the head of the Wallam-Crane family?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll ...” Tad broke off his sentence, and made the despairing noise again. “Savannah Graves used to be the Head of Development at Wallam-Crane Security Systems, which was based in the Citadel. When the Wallam-Crane family left for Adonis, Wallam-Crane Security Systems was closed down, and Savannah Graves moved to be Head of Security at the United Earth Americas Parliament House.”
Tad sighed. “She must have either discovered or been entrusted with the Regnant override code for the security systems during her time as Head of Development.”
“Savannah held a grudge against the Wallam-Crane family for shutting down her company and leaving for Adonis,” said Machico. “It was one of the reasons she sympathized with the Earth Resistance.”
“So, thirty years ago, Savannah Graves gave this Regnant code to Machico, and last week Hannah gave it to Cage,” said Donnell savagely. “We had to climb the Wallam-Crane Monument and alter that camera because of Hannah. We had to fight all those drones because of Hannah. We nearly got killed because of Hannah.”
He groaned. “I suppose we’d better go and tell everyone a heavily censored version of this story.”
Donnell led the way back into Reception, and he and I went to stand with the division leaders.
“What’s been going on?” demanded Wall.
“After a discussion with Machico, I can confirm Hannah gave Cage a password that helped him take control of the Citadel security system,” said Donnell.
“That’s not true.” Hannah gave a desperate look in my direction. “Blaze, you know that can’t be true.”
“It is true,” I said, “but I don’t understand why you did it. We were both in London when it burned. You must believe that New York is going to burn too, and want to escape before it happens. Why have you been helping Cage and Bronx division when they don’t believe in the coming firestorm?”
“That’s exactly the reason I haven’t been helping them,” said Hannah.
“I can tell you the reason Hannah was helping them,” called an unexpected voice.
Wasp stood up from his seat in the Manhattan corner of the room, and limped across to stand looking down at Hannah. She had a familiar furtive expression on her face that gave me a sick feeling.
“I was one of the eight core members of Bronx division too,” said Wasp. “There were a lot of secrets that Major and Shark only shared with us. About ten days after Cage became a fugitive, Donnell warned the alliance about the firestorm threat. Major thought Donnell had just invented the story to frighten the alliance into doing what he wanted, but Raeni believed Donnell, and she used the danger of the coming firestorm to take the leadership of Queens Island.”
Wasp paused. “Major and Shark were already having regular secret meetings with Cage down in what they referred to as the subway room. Shark told me what happened when they explained to Cage about the firestorm threat and Major’s loss of the Queens Island leadership. Cage said that anyone with half a brain would have realized the firestorm threat had to be true, because Donnell wasn’t bright enough to make up a story like that.”
Donnell laughed. “How did Major react to that?”
Wasp laughed too, and threw a malevolent smile at Major. “He was furious about being insulted, and Cage was furious about him losing the leadership of Queens Island. They had a huge argument, and eventually Cage convinced Major there really was going to be a firestorm, and came up with a plan for the future. Major was to pretend he still believed the firestorm was a myth to keep everyone in ignorance of his real motives. He then had to either regain control of Queens Island or create a new division of Cage’s supporters.”
Wasp shrugged. “Once Major was a division leader again, they’d follow Cage’s plan for leaving New York. The reason Hannah has been helping Bronx division is that she thought Cage’s plan for escaping the firestorm had a far better chance of working than the alliance plan.”
Donnell frowned. “What was Cage’s plan?”
“They’d wait until the weather improved enough to travel, then Major would use his division leader status to get access to the prepared store of supplies. They’d steal whatever they needed for the journey, meet Cage, and leave for Philadelphia on foot.”
“But apart from stealing the supplies and meeting Cage, that’s exactly the same as the alliance plan,” said Donnell.
“Major pointed out there was one crucial difference between the alliance plan and Cage’s plan.” Wasp’s voice changed to a cruel imitation of Major’s pompous voice. “There may be very little time between the weather improving enough to travel and the firestorm hitting. We aren’t sentimental fools like Donnell and Blaze. We won’t burden ourselves with liabilities, like small children, the elderly, or the sick, so we’ll travel much faster than the alliance.”
Wasp glared at Major. “When I injured my leg, you said that I was your friend and wouldn’t be counted as a liability, but I knew you were just saying that to stop me telling Donnell your secrets. The truth was that if I still had any trace of a limp when it was time to leave, then I’d be left behind or killed.”
Knave was on his feet now, staring blankly at Major. “I didn’t know any of this. You were going to steal whatever supplies you wanted and leave without the rest of the alliance. Did you really think I’d abandon my wife and baby?”
“Cage and Major have been feeding you lies designed to divide you from your wife and child,” said Wasp, in a voice that had a surprisingly sorrowful note. “They thought you were gullible enough to believe everything they said. If you did refuse to go with them when the time came, then they’d have disposed of you the same way that they planned to dispose of me.”
“I think we’ve learned all we need to know,” said Donnell. “We now have to decide whether to send Hannah to the Citadel with Bronx division.”
Hannah gave a desperate look in my direction. “Blaze, you have to help me out of this mess!”
“You think I can help you out of this?” I waved my hands in despair. “You think I want to help you out of this?”
Hannah had her scheming look as she turned to Donnell. “I’m not a renegade. I never announced I was leaving Manhattan division. The alliance rules say that I’m entitled to a week to prepare my defence, and then have a proper trial.”
Donnell grimaced. “Technically, I suppose that’s true, but ...”
“I don’t want that girl on Manhattan territory for another second,” said Wall, “let alone a week.”
“I agree that we should deal with Hannah immediately,” said Ice.
“We could avoid the whole trial issue entirely,” said Ghost. “There’s an alliance rule that a united vote of all division leaders can expel an individual from the alliance. That wasn’t an option with Cage because Major was leading Queens Island back then, but now ... Brooklyn votes in favour of expelling Hannah from the alliance.”
Wall nodded. “Manhattan votes in favour.”
“London votes in favour,” said Ice.
“Queens Island votes in favour,” said Raeni, “and now we just need the Resistance to vote in favour as well.”
She looked expectantly at Donnell, but he frowned and didn’t say anything.
Raeni sighed. “Donnell, the alliance has to be united for us to escape New York and find a new home. You asked us to put aside past feuds, and we did. You asked us to stand with you against Bronx division, and we did. We are prepared to accept your decisions and follow your leadership in future, but there must be unity on your part as well. Hannah helped Cage get control of the Citadel defences so he could send those drones against us. She is just as guilty as the rest of Bronx division, and should face the same punishment.”
Donnell groaned and turned to me. “I know Hannah used to be your best friend, Blaze, but ...”
I looked at Hannah’s terrified expression. We’d been born within a few months of each other in London, and my earliest memories were of playing games with her. She was probably a genuine friend back then, but our relationship started changing when we were seven years old.
Once Hannah and her mother were expelled by Ice, Hannah’s interest in me had become focused on what food I could smuggle to them. I couldn’t blame her for that, or for wanting my help after her mother’s death, but I did blame her for her actions since we came to New York. I hated to think of the six years when I’d believed Hannah was my friend, but she was spying on me for Cage.
I’d learned the truth on the day Hannah helped Cage ambush Tad and me in the boathouse. Now I was torn in two. Half of me still loved the child who’d played with me in London. The other half hated the girl who’d coldly led me into a trap so Cage could torture me, and helped him send those drones against us.
Donnell knew that and was afraid to say the words that would condemn Hannah, worried that it would cause a new rift between him and me.
I wasn’t just the girl who Hannah had played with though. I was the deputy alliance leader. Hannah hadn’t limited herself to betraying me, she’d betrayed the whole alliance as well, and what Raeni had said was right. Hannah was just as guilty as the rest of Bronx division, if not even more guilty, and should face the same punishment.
This had to be done now, and Donnell didn’t dare to say the words so I said them for him. “The Resistance votes in favour of expelling Hannah from the alliance and sending her to the Citadel with Bronx division.”
