The Assassins of Altis (36 page)

“That’s one piece of good news.”

They wove through a maze of crates of varying heights and finally reached the wall. Mari leaned against it, trying to calm herself, running through her plan in her mind to see if she could spot any flaws in the time they had left. “Having more than one Mage to use is very handy,” she said to Alain.

“Having extra Mechanics around is useful as well,” he replied.

“Yeah,” Mari agreed. “The bad part of all that, though, is that if I mess up I won’t be the only one who pays the price. It’s been that way for a while for both of us, hasn’t it?”

Alain nodded, his expression revealing tension to her even though others probably would have thought it calm. “A mistake would harm both of us. It has been like that for some time.”

“Hey.” Mari spoke in a quieter voice as he looked at her. “I’m a little crazy about that bonfire thing, but I do love you. Remember, if I fall, you—”

“Will stay with you.”

“Alain, you’re the only other person who knows all the things I know! The only other person who has a chance of fixing things if something happens to me!”

“I cannot bring the new day. You are the daughter. It is your fate.”

“I need you to stay alive.” Mari insisted. “We both have to make it back to Dorcastle, right? That’s what your vision showed.”

He shook his head. “The vision showed what might be, not what will be.”

“I say it will be, Alain!” She held his hand tightly. “We’ve made it this far.”

Mari heard the sound of running boots and dropped her grip on Alain to draw her pistol and ready it again. “Alli! Over here!” A moment later Alli appeared, one extended forefinger moving in a steady beat as she counted. Alli gave Mari a warning look. “All right, everyone. Stand by.” Alli’s forefinger came down one last time and she gave Mari a thumbs-up. “Now, Mage Dav. Go, Alain.”

The solid wall of the warehouse now held a hole the size and shape of a narrow door, through which pale light from the nearby Mechanic searchlights filtered into the warehouse. Alain took two steps and stood in the opening Mage Dav had created, one hand extended, the other arm covering his eyes. A loud explosion erupted at the far end of the warehouse as Alli’s charge went off, blowing out part of the wall down near the gate, and at almost the same moment Alain’s spell caused bright light to flare for an instant right outside, then vanish.

Mari blinked away spots. Even though she had been screened from most of Alain’s light, it had still been bright enough to dazzle her a little. “Let’s go!” She rolled around the corner of the opening, her pistol held ready, and sprinted across the street, coming even with Alain. In the middle of the street an apprentice was staring around, his young face panicky. “Kris? Fathima? Who’s there?”

Mari swung close to the boy, who she thought couldn’t be older than ten. “Guild business,” she snapped with the most attitude she could muster, mimicking a Senior Mechanic. “Don’t worry about us.”

The boy nodded in confusion, blinking around as the other Mages and Mechanics ran past. The Mage-created opening in the warehouse wall had already vanished as if it had never been. Mari heard a girl’s nervous voice call from down the street. “Kyl? What happened down there? Are you all right?”

“Guild business!” the boy called back. “Yeah, I’m all right.”

In the other direction, shots rang out. Mari pivoted that way, bringing her pistol up as a heavy lump formed in her guts, but the shots weren’t followed by the sounds of bullets striking nearby or going past. She stared down the street at the bright lights around the gate, able from this angle to see the figures of Mechanics behind the lights, some of them aiming into the cloud of dust raised by Alli’s explosive charge. More shots rang out as the Mechanics fired into the dust and the small opening the charge had made in the warehouse wall.

A hand grabbed her arm. Mari spun again, seeing Alain even as her pistol came around. He pulled at her urgently and Mari realized she had been standing still instead of fleeing. She ran with Alain after the rest of her tiny army, none of them stopping until the group had reached the minimal shelter of a side street. “Your plan worked!” Alli exulted. “Those guys are professional killers and you outsmarted them!”

“Yeah,” Mechanic Dav agreed, giving Mari the sort of look he had previously reserved for Mage Asha. “Alli was right. You’re brilliant.”

Mari stared at them, unsettled by the praise. “Oh, please. We’re not out of this yet. How do we get out of Altis alive?”

“There is a boat down at the landing,” Asha said with her unnaturally calm voice even though her eyes were glittering with excitement. “It will take us to a small ship in the harbor.”

“A small ship?” Mari asked. “What small ship?”

“My small ship,” Mage Dav answered. “The common members of my family are traders out of Gullhaven. I discovered that I had inherited a trading vessel, the
Gray Lady
by name, from one of them. The ship and crew await us.”

“We’ve got a ship,” Mari exulted. “If we can get to it. Alli, Mechanic Dav, you guys know Altis better than I do. How do we get to the landing?”

The other Mechanics exchanged glances. “The Guild’s got a ship in the harbor, too,” Alli told her.

“A ship? One of the steam ships?”

“Yes, but not one of the all-metal cruisers. There’s only one of those left right now since you crippled the
Queen
,” Alli explained.

“You really did almost sink the
Queen
, all by yourself?” Mechanic Dav asked with an awed expression.

“Alain helped a lot. Is this Mechanic ship in the harbor armed?”

“Yeah. A medium-caliber deck gun.”

“Is that bad?” Alain asked.

“That’s bad,” Mari confirmed. “All right. Fine. We’ll deal with that when we get there.” Mari led the way down the street at a fast walk, putting away her pistol. “First thing, we head for the entertainment district.” A few more shots rang out behind them, muffled by distance. Mari could hear more fire bells ringing, and when she looked back she could see at least two columns of smoke rising into the night sky, illuminated by the fires beneath the smoke, fires that had been caused by the fights near the hostel and the bar. Mari suspected that the Mechanics Guild and crowds drawn by the sounds of battle had prevented the local fire wardens from getting to the blazes and putting them out before the fires spread. Nearer at hand, a wide and growing pillar of smoke was rising from the warehouse area, this one lit up by the lights of the Mechanic assassins and from more flickering flames beneath it. As she watched, another explosion resounded from among the warehouses and a fountain of smoke and debris flowered skyward as tremors rippled through the street underfoot. “This is going to be a tough night for the city and citizens of Altis,” Mari said.

Alli squinted back the way they had come. “From what I can see, I’m guessing that marks the end of the warehouse we were inside. Good idea to use a short fuse and get us out of there fast, Mari.”

“Thanks,” Mari said. “Hopefully, now that I’m not hauling around that far-talker, the Mechanics Guild assassins will keep shooting at and blowing up warehouses for a while before they notice we’ve gone.” She glanced back at her group, Mage robes and Mechanic jackets intermingled. “Guys, this looks weird. Really, really weird. Alli and Dav, Mechanic Dav that is, get in front so the commons will clear a path for you. Alain and I will go next, because we still look like commons, then Asha and Mage Dav. That way we won’t look like we’re all together.”

They walked, trying to keep up a good pace but not so fast as to look like fugitives. Not for the first time, Mari envied the Mages’ ability to look totally emotionless no matter what was happening.

Alli turned her head to talk to Mari. “So, you’ve already got a plan for dealing with the Mechanic ship?”

“Uh…”

Alain’s hand came to rest comfortingly on Mari’s shoulder as he answered for her. “Yes, Mari has a plan.”

“Good.” Alli and Mechanic Dav both seemed reassured.

Mari leaned close to Alain. “I have a plan?” she whispered.

“Yes, you do. The same plan we used on the Mechanic ship.”

Mari gave him a baffled look. “The make-it-up-as-we-go-along plan?”

“I thought you preferred to call it improvising.” Alain indicated the others with them. “They have confidence in you, but still need the comfort of feeling that you have the situation under control.”

“Alain, tonight I wouldn’t even be able to recognize a situation that was under control,” Mari confessed.

“They only need to believe you can lead them and they will follow you anywhere.”

“Is that supposed to be comforting? Because it isn’t. It was bad enough when your life was my responsibility, Alain, but now there were four more riding on my decisions.”

Alli dropped back a little again, nodding her head in Asha’s direction, her voice a whisper that only Mari could hear. “Where did you find her?”

“She’s an old friend of Alain’s,” Mari replied.

“Oh.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing! If you’re comfortable with that, then—”

“Comfortable with what?” Mari demanded.

Alli gave her a doubtful look. “You have noticed how beautiful she is, haven’t you?”

“Duh. She’s got a great butt, too, in case you haven’t noticed that.”

“I haven’t had the chance, but I’m sure Dav of Midan has drooled over the sight of it.” Alli rolled her eyes. “You’re not worried about her and, uh…”

“No.” Mari turned a baffled look on Alli. “Alain thinks I’m better-looking than she is.”

“No way!” Alli grinned. “Maybe he’s seeing the inner you.”

Mari couldn’t help smiling, too, grateful for the distraction from her worries. “Oh, yeah, the inner me has to be one incredibly hot female, huh? If Alain could see the real inner Mari he’d have run away a long time ago.”

“I don’t think so. Why does Asha keep calling you ‘friend Mari’?”

“She is my friend,” Mari explained. “And that’s pretty special to her. She hasn’t had any friends, Alli. Not like you and me. Not ever. Asha can’t really show it, but she keeps calling me that because it means so much to Asha to have a friend.”

“Really?” Alli shook her head. “No friends. That must have been rough. Were you Alain’s first friend, too?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

“That’s our Mari.” Alli laughed, checked her rifle, then walked faster for a moment to catch up with Mechanic Dav.

Well-lit streets were visible ahead, a fair number of people still upon them despite the late hour, but many of those people were now ignoring the bars and nightclubs which tried to lure them in. Instead, most were staring to the west, where lights flared, the not-too-distant crack of Mechanic rifles sounded off and on, and an occasional deeper boom marked large explosions going off. The faint sound of fire bells ringing deeper in the city carried between the closer and louder noises of destruction.

Mari guessed that the Mechanic assassins were methodically blowing open warehouse after warehouse in search of her and Alain, while shooting at anything that moved. The rodent population of the warehouse compound was certain to be taking a serious hit tonight. It felt odd to know that the battle sounds Mari was hearing were aimed at her when she was outside the area of battle and trying to get farther away by the moment.

“This is the high-class district,” Mechanic Dav looked back to announce as they entered the crowded streets. “Most of the people here are citizens of the city. They don’t usually go down to the entertainment district by the port.”

“What’s the difference between the entertainment district in Altis and the one down by the port?” Mari asked.

Alli gave Mari an incredulous look. “Mari, don’t you know anything about sailors?”

“Not much, no.”

“Cheap booze, cheap entertainment, cheap food,” Mechanic Dav summed up. “Back home they’ve got nice families and nice houses. In a foreign port they’ve got good times.”

“But we need to get down to the port,” Mari said, exasperated. “Are you saying there’s not much traffic between here and there at this hour?”

“Not much, no. During the day we’d blend in. But at night we’ll stand out.”

Their group cut through a swarm of commons that split like a frightened school of fish to make way for the Mechanics in front and the Mages behind them. “At least all of the other Mechanics are busy trying to catch us and we don’t have to worry about being spotted,” Mari remarked.

“Unfortunately for that idea, one approaches even now,” Alain warned.

Mari turned to see a Mechanic hurrying toward them, her jacket easy to spot in the crowd. “I had to open my big mouth. Does anybody know her?” The Mechanic looked young, about Mari’s age.

“It’s Bev.” Alli waved in greeting. “I think she’ll be all right, but act casual, Dav.”

“Casual? We’re both armed and the city is being blown apart back there.”

“Just try.”

“Bev’s a little…high-strung, Alli,” Dav protested. “Are you sure she won’t blow her circuit breaker when she sees us?”

“I think she deserves a chance,” Alli said firmly.

The other Mechanic came running up, breathing heavily. “Alli, Dav? What’re you doing? They sent me to find you guys. The Guild needs every—” Bev’s eyes had been wandering across the group as she spoke and now came to rest on Mari. “Oh, no.” Bev’s hand went for her waist, where a holstered revolver was visible.

Dav was the closest and grabbed her arm. “Bev, it’s all right.”

“All right? Don’t you know who she is? That’s her!”

“I know.” Dav shrugged apologetically. “I’m with her now. Me and these others.”

“Dav, that’s crazy! Let go of me. If the Guild finds out, they’ll kill you!”

Told you,
Dav mouthed at Alli.

“Bev,” Alli insisted, “you can trust Mari.”

“We have to follow orders, Alli!” Bev pleaded.

Mari stepped forward, eyeing Bev. “Why are you working for people who want to kill your friends?”

Bev froze, staring at Mari like a bird viewing a snake that was ready to strike. “Don’t talk to me.”

“Mechanic Bev, you—”

“Don’t talk to me! I don’t know how you managed to get your hooks into Dav and Alli, but you won’t mess up my mind!” Bev struggled harder and Dav had to use both arms to restrain her. Commons walking past were averting their eyes, trying to avoid any involvement with this strange Mechanic altercation.

Alli came closer, her voice and face pleading. “Bev, you can trust Mari,” she repeated. “Mari is not like what the Guild says. I’ve known her almost all my life.”

“Trust her? And not trust the Guild? You’re turned inside out, Alli. We have to trust the Guild! The Guild is our only family, remember?”

Something broke inside Mari as those words tore the still-thin skin off a deep wound that had only lately begun to heal. “The Guild stole our families, our mothers and our fathers,” she almost shouted. “They did it to me and I’m sure they did it to you. You never heard from your common family after you went to Mechanics schools, did you? Neither did I, and our oh-so-nice Senior Mechanics told us that’s what commons did. Let me tell you, they lied. Your parents, my parents, tried to stay in touch, and the Guild destroyed every letter and package they sent and destroyed everything we tried to send. And all of you, like me, were too ashamed to admit that hurt and too brainwashed to realize that the Guild was lying to us. Is that who you want us to trust, Mechanic Bev? The Guild that stole our true parents so it could become a false parent that would use us as it saw fit?” She stopped speaking, her heart pounding with pent-up rage now released again. “Go to your true parents. They’ll tell you. They still love you.”

Alli and Bev were staring at Mari, their faces pale with shock. Dav, who Mari suspected had Mechanic parents, seemed both shocked and ashamed. Bev glared at Mari for a long moment before she could speak. “No! You’re lying! That can’t be true!” She suddenly collapsed in Dav’s grip. Dav pulled the pistol from her holster and let her slump to the ground. “It can’t be true,” Bev whispered. “It’s all I have left.”