“If you’re talking about the ones in the citizens’ settlements behind Fence, then they might as well be on the moon,” said Donnell. “We may be able to trade you for the privilege of walking peacefully along the outside of Fence, but there’s no way in chaos that the citizens will let us go inside and use their portals. They won’t have forgotten the citizens who died defending the New York barricades, or that some of our division members were the ones who killed them.”
“I’m sure that’s perfectly true,” said Tad, in a cautious voice, “but I’m actually thinking of the portals in Philadelphia. There’s another portal relay centre there, and it’s definitely still working because the portals in the settlements behind Fence are linked into it.”
“You mean we could go to Philadelphia and hardwire a portal there to travel wherever we wanted?” asked Donnell.
Tad nodded. “You wouldn’t have to risk hardwiring the portals though. I’ve cancelled the security block that was stopping you from using them.”
I stared at him. Donnell stared at him. Even Machico looked stunned.
“How did you cancel the security block?” asked Machico.
“I used the old Wallam-Crane family security codes to access the global portal control systems,” said Tad.
Donnell seemed to be struggling to speak. “Can you get the wall vids working again as well?”
“I’ve already tried and failed,” said Tad. “A major solar storm in 2389 caused a failure of the technical area of the Earth data net across most of Earth Europe and Earth America. The repair work afterwards was patchy and there are still big areas without coverage, particularly abandoned city areas like this.”
“Fixing them could be a bad idea anyway,” said Donnell. “We need people working, not sitting staring at wall vids all day. The important thing is that we may not have to walk all the way to our new home, just to Philadelphia.”
He paused for a moment, before asking in an embarrassed voice. “Where is Philadelphia anyway?”
“It’s south-west of here,” said Tad. “I’m looking at old maps now. I wish I could show them to you.”
Donnell stood up, went over to a cupboard, came back again, and tossed some paper and a couple of pencils onto the table. “Draw us a map.”
Tad picked up a pencil and studied the pointed end. “Pencils. How … historic. I see you’ve got genuine paper too.”
“This was a United Earth government building,” said Machico. “Certain things needed to be physically written or printed on paper for legal reasons, so we have huge amounts of the stuff. We also have a fair number of pencils, and about a million pens that no longer work because the ink dried up years ago.”
Tad started making a clumsy drawing. “This line is the coast. New York is this big blob here, and Philadelphia is this smaller blob inland to the south-west of us.”
He added a series of small crosses. “When the citizens abandoned New York, they moved southwest and settled in a string of smaller places running from Old Bridge Township all the way to Washington Township. The defences around that area are what you call Fence.”
He paused and frowned at his piece of paper. “Once you’re past the southern tip of Fence, you’ll need to find the remains of a road leading to the old New Jersey Turnpike. That should take you close enough to Philadelphia to find working portals.”
“There aren’t any major rivers blocking that route, are there?” I asked anxiously. “Given how long the roads have been abandoned, we can’t depend on the bridges still being usable.”
“You’d be staying south of the big Delaware river, but you might have to cross smaller creeks,” said Tad.
“Is there anywhere closer than Philadelphia that might have working portals?” asked Donnell.
“I’ll check.” Tad was silent for two minutes before speaking again. “Saratoga Springs is a lot further away than Philadelphia, but it might be possible to reach it by taking boats up the Hudson River.”
Donnell shook his head. “The Hudson River is blocked at Bear Mountain.”
“In that case, Philadelphia is your best option. The portal relay centre in New York covered a huge area to the north and east. When it stopped working, the settlements behind Fence had huge problems, because it took months to link their portals to the Philadelphia portal relay centre.”
He paused before continuing in a puzzled voice. “I still can’t find any mention of the New York portal relay centre being bombed.”
Donnell and Machico exchanged glances. “We knew it was off-worlders, not Earth citizens, who gave Seamus the bomb,” said Machico, “but I thought the citizens would at least know about it.”
“I suppose we should be grateful my son chose to plant that bomb in the New York portal relay centre instead of in this building.” Donnell’s voice had a harsh note to it. “I expect that was because of Blaze. I’m sure Seamus would have loved to kill me, he blamed me for his mother dying when London burned, but he wouldn’t harm his little sister.”
Tad’s eyes widened, and he glanced at me. I gave him a warning look, and was relieved when he didn’t say a word.
“The off-worlders promised my son a place on a new world in exchange for betraying us,” said Donnell. “Do you know if they kept their side of the deal? Is there any record of a Seamus Donnelly leaving Earth in 2401?”
There was what seemed like a long silence before Tad answered. “No record of any deal with Seamus Donnelly. No Seamus Donnelly on the America Off-world departures listing for 2401 or 2402.”
I clenched my hands together. The off-worlders had lied to Seamus. He’d betrayed us for nothing. What had happened to him after that? Was he still alive in some civilian settlement somewhere, or was he dead? I shouldn’t care. I didn’t care. I …
“I’ve found him now,” said Tad. “A Seamus Blaze leaving for Pyrrhus in Beta sector. Half the standard departure records for him are missing. It looks like someone sneaked him through illegally.”
Seamus Blaze! My brother had taken my name. Chaos, I could see he wouldn’t want to keep using the name Donnelly, but why did he have to drag me into his treachery?
“So Seamus is living on Pyrrhus in Beta sector now,” muttered Donnell.
There was a long silence. I disentangled my clenched hands, and examined the little dents left by my own nails pressing into the skin.
Donnell finally spoke again. “Let’s forget the past and concentrate on the present. If we can reach working portals, then we can pick a new home anywhere in the Americas. Tad, will you be able to find out the portal codes for places, and check there aren’t people already living there? It would be a very bad idea for us to portal into the middle of an existing citizen settlement.”
“That’s easy,” said Tad. “I can use the portal network diagnostic systems to check when a portal was last used. I can also remotely activate a portal to check it’s still working. I’m currently checking a random sample of portals in Philadelphia. So far none of them have been activated for over a decade, but about half of them are still functioning.”
Donnell gave a slight shake of his head, as if he couldn’t believe that. I felt the same way. Tad was standing here in this room with us, but he was remotely activating portals in another city. However impossible that seemed, it had to be true. Tad had no reason to lie about it. In fact, if he’d had any sense at all he’d never have mentioned it. I could understand why Phoenix had been so worried about what Tad might say to us.
The ritual chant from the children’s portal game ran through my mind. “Dial it! Dial it! Portal, dial it! We’re ordering you by Newton. We’re commanding you by Einstein. We’re conjuring you by Thaddeus Wallam-Crane!”
I had a mad urge to say it aloud. If Tad could control portals with his thoughts, the children’s idea that the name Thaddeus Wallam-Crane had magic powers over portals wasn’t totally silly after all.
“Right,” said Donnell, in a bemused voice. “Well, we have a rough plan now, but we need to work out a lot more
details before I announce the threat of a firestorm to the alliance. Until then, nobody says a word about it to anyone outside this room.” He turned to look pointedly at Tad. “That includes you, Thaddeus Wallam-Crane!”
“Can’t I even tell Phoenix and Braden about it?” asked Tad. “They’re totally trustworthy.”
“They’re also totally terrified already,” I said. “I don’t think it would help them to learn that New York is likely to burst into flames at any moment.”
Tad sighed. “You’re probably right.”
Donnell turned to me. “Blaze, I’m sending you and Tad away on a supply run for the next few days.”
“What?” I stared at him. “I can’t go on a supply run when Cage is on the brink of starting a war.”
“A war?” Tad gave me a shocked look. “What do you mean?”
“Quiet!” Donnell snapped the word at him before turning his attention back to me. “Yes, Cage is on the brink of starting a war, and that’s exactly why you have to go on a supply run, Blaze. Cage has a calculating nature, and has always prepared his bids for power very carefully. I’m hoping he’ll take at least a few days to prepare his challenge for the alliance leadership, so I have time to talk Major into joining our side, but everything depends on Cage keeping his temper under control.”
Donnell pulled a face. “If you stay here, then the mere sight of you will bring Cage to fury point. Brooklyn will be celebrating having a female officer at last, and they just have to make one badly timed, gloating remark about it, to trigger Cage into taking instant violent action. Even if that didn’t happen, Major is fervently opposed to having female officers, so he’ll be nearly as angry about your appointment as Cage. I’ll stand a much better chance of getting Major to join our side if you’re away on a supply run.”
I frowned as I thought that over. I didn’t want to run away like a coward, but Donnell was right. My presence here would just add to his problems.
“You can’t go alone,” said Donnell, “and taking Tad with you will give the rest of my officers time to get over any lingering urges to throw him off the roof.”
I reluctantly nodded. “All right, we’ll go.”
“I’m not sending you off on foot in midwinter,” said Donnell, “so you’ll have to take a boat somewhere. I’m not sure what supplies to send you after, but …”
“Medicine,” interrupted Tad, in an eager voice. “You said that you ran out of medicine years ago.”
“We’d dearly love to have more medicine,” said Donnell, “but the citizens took almost all the medical supplies with them when they left New York. We visited all the hospitals long ago, scavenging every oddment they’d left behind.”
“Let me check the Earth data net.” Tad was silent for several minutes. “The citizens might not have known about Military storage facilities. There’s one on the riverbank between Yonkers and the Kerr Monument at Tarrytown. That includes a big medical area, and if the stock records are accurate, then there was still a lot of medicine there when it was abandoned. Everything was stored in stasis cabinets so should still be in good condition.”
“It sounds worth a look,” said Donnell. “If you’re lucky enough to find any medicines, remember we’ll need full instructions on how to use them.”
“If they don’t have detailed labels, I can look up the information on the Earth data net,” said Tad.
“You can also use the Earth data net to do some research on possible new homes for us.” Donnell turned to me. “Blaze, I think you’ve been upriver as far as Tarrytown twice already.”
“Three times,” I said.
“Then you know what to do,” said Donnell. “In other circumstances, I’d ask you to send up a green flare at sunset and sunrise each day, so we know you’re all right, but it might be better not to advertise your location to Cage. If you have any problems, send up a distress flare at once.”
“Yes.”
“You, Tad, Phoenix and Braden can have an early dinner before Cage gets back from hunting. After that, you have to come back up to the sixth floor and stay here. Machico and I will fetch everything you need for your trip and store it by the back door of the Resistance wing.”
He paused. “You and Tad can get up before dawn tomorrow, take your supplies, and sneak away at first light. You should be far upriver before Cage finds out that you’re gone. When you come back, make sure you arrive while the hunting parties are out.”
Donnell paused for a second. “Tad, can you please wait outside while I have a quick word with Blaze?”
Tad obediently headed out into the corridor. Donnell waited for him to close the door behind him before speaking.
“Do you have any worries about going off alone with that boy, Blaze?”
I gave a startled laugh. “Tad’s not dangerous.”
“Personally, I think someone who can remotely activate any portal on Earth isn’t just dangerous but absolutely terrifying,” said Machico.
“Yes, that was a stunning revelation,” said Donnell. “I don’t think it changes anything though. We know Tad can’t do any magic tricks with the dead portals in New York. If he could, he’d have portalled out of New York after damaging his aircraft instead of coming to ask us for help. Whether he’s here or upriver with Blaze, Tad’s effectively still our prisoner.”
“There’s the one extra detail that Blaze would make a perfect hostage,” said Machico drily. “I know Tad’s being almost embarrassingly helpful, but that could be an act to fool us into trusting him.”
“Perhaps I should send Luther or Aaron with them,” said Donnell.
“You need Luther and Aaron here,” I said. “Besides, we don’t want anyone else discovering Tad is webbed. Anyone who comes with us would be bound to work that out, because Tad will be constantly looking up information about medicines and new homes on the Earth data net.”
“That’s true,” said Donnell.
“I don’t think Tad’s acting a part,” I said. “I think he’s genuinely eager to help us. It’s not as if he’s capable of taking me hostage anyway. A five-year-old child could beat him in a fight.”
Donnell nodded acceptance, and I went out of the room to collect Tad.
Chapter Twenty-two
My sleep that night was haunted by firestorm nightmares again, but this time it was New York burning rather than London, and I kept waking up, gasping in terror. I got into a routine after a while. I’d wake in panic, peer out of my window to check New York was still peacefully dark rather than glowing red with flames, and then go back to sleep for another half an hour.
My interrupted night meant I was awake in plenty of time to help move the off-worlders’ belongings back to their own rooms before we left. Phoenix and Braden seemed deeply relieved by the news that I was taking Tad away on a supply run for a few days. They obviously thought he’d be a lot safer at a distance from Donnell, so he couldn’t say anything to annoy him. Quite possibly, they thought they’d be safer too.
When Tad and I headed downstairs, we found Machico waiting by the back door to the Resistance wing. He gestured at the two carts by his side.
“We’ve got you all the standard items like thermal mattresses, sleeping bags, and flashlights. The small flexiplas box holds a list of the most common injuries and illnesses we have to deal with, as well as plenty of spare paper and pencils for Tad to write notes about any medicines you find. The active stasis boxes at the bottom hold your meals and the signal flares.”
“I see.” I’d only expected us to be taking one cart to the boathouse, but there was a whole pile of inactive stasis boxes as well as the other supplies. Of course we’d need those if we were lucky enough to find medicines.
“I’ve given you a lot of useful information,” said Tad. “Can I ask one question in return?”
“That rather depends what it is,” said Machico.
“When Donnell went to London to negotiate an alliance, he ended up marrying one of the London division members. Was that marriage part of the alliance
negotiations? A marriage of convenience?”
“Believe me,” said Machico, “there was nothing convenient about Donnell and Keira falling for each other. Most of the Resistance had been trying to catch Donnell’s attention for years without the slightest success. We’d all decided he was only attracted to planets, preferably blue and white ones, when Donnell portalled into London, took one look at Keira, threw himself on his knees and started kissing her feet.”
Machico laughed. “I’m not exaggerating what happened back then. I portalled to London with Donnell, and that’s literally what he did. For the next few days, I was convinced that something had gone wrong with our portal transmission, and Donnell’s brain had been scrambled in transit.”
“So it wasn’t arranged, Donnell and Keira just got together.” Tad frowned, as if he was trying to work something out.
“Those two didn’t just get together. They collided, and everyone around them was caught in the explosion. It added a host of extra problems to the alliance negotiations. Keira had been about to marry someone else, so the man was naturally furious. Ice thought Donnell was just playing games with Keira, planning to have a few days’ casual entertainment before dumping her and going back to New York. The Resistance were all in shock, and …”
Machico broke off because the back door had opened and Donnell was coming in. He stopped when he saw us, swung a bag off his shoulder, opened it, and handed Tad and me our knife belts.
“Marsha wishes you a successful trip.” He hesitated, and then stepped forward to give me a nervous, split-second embrace.
“Be careful,” he said, as he released me.
“I will.”
Donnell held the door open while Tad and I pushed the carts through it. I shivered as the bitter cold dawn air hit us, but kept moving along the path. Once we’d gone round the corner of the Parliament House, I spoke in a frosty voice.
“If you insist on asking nosy questions about my parents, I’d rather you asked me than other people.”