A World of Ash: The Territory 3 (12 page)

The Administrator had been readying himself, preparing to follow Lynn and Knox through the door in the Wall. He’d tried to seem enthusiastic about heading out into the slums despite it being something he’d managed to avoid for the past fifty-two years. But he’d known that what Lynn said was true. The people outside the Wall hated him. He hadn’t done enough for them during his time as Administrator and now he would need to face that. No one knew how hard it was, though, trying to balance everything, trying to keep the Insiders happy, the Church happy and keep the citizenry unaware of the dry forsaken world behind their doorstep. Still, he knew he should have done something about the slums a long time ago. People had certainly raised the issue enough times.

As he’d taken a final steadying breath and made to move through the gate after Lynn, he’d felt Kook grab his arm. He’d turned to look at the ex-Digger, thinking that something had gone wrong, but the look in the man’s eyes immediately told him this wasn’t the case.

Kook had pulled him back from the door, grabbing both his arms and holding them pinned behind his body as Cod nodded and the two large Diggers, Whale and Jackson, had pushed the heavy steel door closed. They’d slid the steel bar back down between the rings, sealing the door shut, sealing Knox and Lynn outside, and sealing the Administrator inside, alone with these ex-Diggers who suddenly seemed very much like the enemy.

“What in Ancestors’ sin are you doing?” the Administrator said now, trying to free himself from Kook’s strong grip. “Let me go.”

Cod turned back from the closed gate. “You,” he said, sliding his sword out from the sheath hanging from his black uniform and pointing it at the Administrator, “have crimes to answer for.”

“What?” the Administrator said, struggling again but unable to free himself. Cod pulled the Administrator’s sword from his belt and tossed it into the soil some distance away. Then he did the same with his rifle, slipping it off his shoulder and throwing it aside. One of the other ex-Diggers collected the weapons.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” the Administrator said. “What you’re jeopardizing here?”

“How many of our friends did you send to their deaths?” Cod said, keeping his sword held toward the Administrator. “How many of our Digger brothers are you responsible for killing?”

“None!” the Administrator said.

“All of them!” Cod roared in return as he moved on the Administrator. Kook let the Administrator go just before Cod swung the fist he had clenched around the hilt of his sword. It connected hard and the Administrator felt the heavy crack on the side of his jaw. It knocked him off his feet and into the red-brown dirt. “You ordered the entirety of the Digger army to attack the ghouls. You are responsible for the death of every single one.”

“It was the High Priestess,” the Administrator said. “She manipulated events. She fed us false information. I believed that attack would be successful.”

“You cannot pass off responsibility for this.”

“Who will hold me responsible then?” the Administrator said, pushing himself to his hands and knees. “Who will pass judgment against me? You? Here?”

Cod shook his head. “No,” he said. “As much as I would like to enact our own justice right now, and that was my suggestion, Kook convinced me we should hand you over to the Holy Order, to the High Priestess herself if we can.”

“You would hand me over to her? To our enemy?”

The Administrator felt a bead of sweat rolling down his spine as he stood. Flares of memory sparked a sudden rush of anxiety. He couldn’t go back into the custody of the Holy Order. They had starved him, abused him, left him to rot in a cell. He couldn’t go through that again. This time he was sure it would break him.

“Do you know what they’ll do to me?” the Administrator said.

“Oh,” Kook said, “it’ll be worse than what we could do.”

“And whatever it is,” Cod added, “it’s too good for you.”

“You are willing to sabotage our mission to save the Outsiders for this?”

Neither Kook nor Cod answered him, but some of the other men stirred uncomfortably.

“All those innocent people out there,” the Administrator continued, pressing the point, “and you’re going to let them die just so you can drag me to that witch in her tower?”

“They might still succeed,” Kook said. “Just because you’re not with them doesn’t mean they’ll fail.”

“You’re not with them either. None of you are.” The Administrator looked around at the other Diggers. “You’re supposed to protect them. The slums will eat them alive.”

“Maybe,” Cod said. “Maybe not. But we want justice for our slaughtered brothers.”

“Continue this mission,” the Administrator said, “go along with the plan Knox developed. When we’re done and the Outsiders are in the city you can do whatever you want with me. I’ll turn myself over to you.”

Knox and Cod looked at each other and for a moment the Administrator thought he’d managed to get through to them, but Cod shook his head.

“No,” Cod said sternly, as though he was using the word to convince both himself and all the ex-Diggers around him. “There’s no telling what will happen soon. You’re coming with us. We made an oath to our fallen brothers.”

The Administrator gave up. He clenched his teeth and drew a breath through his nose. “Very well,” he said, and all he could picture was that dank cell beneath the Supreme Court, the fists of the Holy Order stained with his blood and the smug, smiling face of High Priestess Patricia.

The traitorous ex-Diggers led the Administrator toward the cathedral with its over-designed façade that dominated Steven Square. It was intended to be an imposing sight, a reflection of the power of the Church, a reflection of the power of God himself, and he supposed it succeeded in this, yet the Administrator saw nothing but an ugly gothic monstrosity of arches and pillars and engravings of demonic ghouls. He couldn’t help but turn his attention across the square to Government House, his house, the house that had been taken from him. The building was abandoned now, the front gates chained shut. The High Priestess had ensured that it remained unused, a clear reminder to the people of Alice that their Administrator, and his government, had been overthrown. The government that had existed since the time of Prophet Steven himself had been hollowed out and left to decay.

People in the streets, the citizens of Alice going about their business as if a horde of moisture-hungry ghouls wasn’t descending on their city, did a double take as they passed. Nine men dressed in black uniforms with guns and swords drew attention. In the middle of them was a man who no doubt looked old and worn but vaguely familiar. Some of them, the Administrator thought, those who hastily turned their gaze elsewhere, recognized him but knew better than to engage with the High Priestess’s most wanted man.

As they neared the cathedral several Holy Order clergymen stepped out from the guardhouse that had been recently erected as part of the High Priestess’s heightened security measures. After the explosion at the Supreme Court she had turned the cathedral into the single most heavily guarded place in the city, perhaps even more so than the Great Gate. The red-cloaks that filed out from the guardhouse raised their mechanical rifles to their shoulders as Kook and Cod approached, flanking the Administrator, with the other ex-Diggers spaced around them.

“Weapons on the ground,” one of them said, a corporal, “don’t come any closer.”

Kook and Cod moved slowly and deliberately, not making any sudden movements as they removed their swords and rifles and dropped them with crunches and metallic rings onto the paved ground in front of them. The others did the same. The clergymen watched carefully, keeping their own weapons trained on the group.

“What business have you at the cathedral?” the corporal asked.

“This,” Cod said, pushing the Administrator forward. He stumbled but tried to stand tall as he recovered, hoping he could evoke some of the authority he’d once had. “A gift for the High Priestess.”

The clergyman’s thick brow furrowed over his eyes and then, as it became clear he recognized the Administrator, lifted again in surprise. He turned to another clergyman standing nearby. “Summon Clergy-General Provost.” The other men turned to stare at him.

“The general?” one of them said.

“Yes, the general. Go!”

The clergyman nodded and hurried away.

The Administrator stood with the Diggers behind him and the clergymen in front of him. Everyone maintained a tense silence as they waited for Provost. The Administrator held back his smirk. He didn’t turn to look at Kook and Cod but he wished he could. They knew as well as he did that Clergy-General Provost was a member of the Free, an ally, and someone who would not be pleased to find these members sacrificing Operation Front Door for their own twisted attempt at justice.

After a few long moments the clergyman returned with Provost walking beside him. The general stopped before the Administrator.

“Well,” Provost said, “I didn’t expect to see you again, Administrator. I thought you’d vanished for good. I certainly would have disappeared from the city if I were you. Nonetheless, the High Priestess will be very pleased to hear that you haven’t.”

Was Provost making a comment on his apparent inability to play his part in Operation Front Door? Was this some sort of coded reprimand? It’s not like he had intended this to happen. It was the Diggers behind him that Provost should be directing his criticism at.

“No,” the Administrator said, his voice similarly dark and coded. “I didn’t expect to be back here either. Things appear to have gone awry. I guess you never know who you can trust.” The Administrator was sure that the tone of his voice would be understood by the Diggers. He hoped they suddenly realized what an enormous mistake they’d made. They would pay for this with their lives.

“And what do you want in exchange for him?” Provost said, turning his attention to Cod and acting as if he didn’t know him. The Administrator knew he had to do this. He couldn’t reveal the truth of their collective involvement with the Free here in the open with other clergymen intently watching what was happening.

“Nothing,” Kook said, stepping forward. “We only want justice for what was done to the Diggers under this man’s orders. Nothing more.”

“And where, if I may ask, did you come across him? Were you responsible for the attack on the Supreme Court?”

Kook shook his head. “No, Clergy-General, we just found him. He was trying to escape through the Wall. He had no intention of staying in Alice. He said he would be long gone when the ghouls got here.”

“What?!” the Administrator said. He could see what they were trying to do. They were trying to convince Provost that he, the Administrator, was the one betraying the Free, that he was planning on vanishing and saving himself. “I never said that. I want the best for the people of the Territory. I will be here when the horde arrives.”

“Silence,” Provost snapped. “The High Priestess will have questions for you. Not the least of which is about who set you free. You,” he said, turning his attention to the Diggers, “get out of my sight.”

“General, sir,” the clergy-corporal in charge of the guardhouse interjected, “surely we cannot just allow them to leave.”

“They are just the dogs who have left a present on our doorstep, Corporal. Besides, perhaps if they are let back out into the wild they may bring us more gifts.”

“Will he receive the justice he deserves?” Kook said.

Provost glared at the man. “I suggest you leave before I change my mind.”

For the first time since arriving outside the cathedral the Administrator turned to look at his betrayers. They were looking on him with scorn but he hoped that was nothing compared with the hot fury he could feel leaking from his own eyes. “I’m going to find you,” he said. “You know that, don’t you?” There was a flicker of fear in their eyes, a sudden second-guessing of themselves, something the Administrator was happy to see.

The Diggers made to pick up their dropped weapons.

“Leave them,” Provost said.

The ex-Diggers hesitated before they turned and left, leaving the Administrator in Provost’s custody. He knew this hadn’t been what they’d intended. The Administrator didn’t know what ranks Kook and Cod had been when they were Diggers – he’d never thought to ask – but he didn’t think they could have been overly high. They certainly hadn’t thought this endeavor through too well.
Idiots
. He turned back to Provost, wondering how long they would need to continue this charade of captor and captive before the clergy-general would set him free.

“Shall I restrain the prisoner, sir?” the clergy-corporal asked.

“That won’t be necessary, Corporal,” Provost said. “I’ll escort the Administrator to the High Priestess myself.”

“At least let me provide an armed guard.”

“Again, not necessary, Corporal,” Provost reassured the clergyman. “He doesn’t look to be in peak condition. I’m sure I can handle him.”

“As you wish, sir.”

Good
, the Administrator thought,
Provost will escort me away alone and then we can discuss what’s going to happen here
. Maybe they could get Operation Front Door back on schedule with only a slight hiccup. And of course they’d send some of those loyal to the Free to apprehend the rogue Diggers.

Clergy-General Provost reached out and took the Administrator by the arm. He pulled him roughly past the guard checkpoint, obviously continuing the show for the clergymen. He led him through the entrance to the cathedral, two clergymen pulling the heavy double doors open for them and letting them shut with a resounding boom behind them.

It was cold inside. The Administrator had always thought of the cathedral as the coldest place in the Territory. In fact, when he was younger, on especially hot days, he’d come into the cathedral on some official pretext to escape the heat, and wander the cold stone corridors. That was until he realized avoiding the cathedral and the Sisters was even wiser than avoiding the heat of a Central Territory summer. Several of the white-dressed Sisters moved across their path now, busy doing whatever it was the Sisters of Glorious God the Redeemer actually did. Provost led him on without stopping.

As they moved down a gas-lit corridor and up spiraling stairs they were finally away from wandering Sisters and stiff clergymen.

“All right, you can stop now,” the Administrator said. “If I manage to get a team together and get outside the Wall in the next few hours, perhaps Knox and Lynnette will be safe and we can continue with Operation Front Door.”

But Provost didn’t stop and he didn’t release the Administrator’s arm.

“I said, that’s enough!” The Administrator pulled his arm, trying to free himself, but the clergyman’s grip was unrelenting. His fingers dug into the Administrator’s arm with such force that it was all he could do not to cry out.

Provost spun, closing his free hand around the Administrator’s throat and slamming him against the stone wall, both of them almost losing their balance on the stairs. “What did you do?!” Provost demanded. “What scheme has gone wrong for you this time?”

“Nothing!” the Administrator said. “Those idiots wanted revenge for what happened to the Diggers. I had nothing to do with this.”

“I never agreed with Soilwork’s inclusion of you in all this,” Provost said. “The High Priestess is going too far, but that doesn’t mean I have any love for you or your government. I have served the Church in the past and I serve the Church now. What the Free do is too important for your scheming.”

“I have no scheme. I’m trying to do the right thing for the Territory. I swear it.” The Administrator felt his heart rate quickening.

“I don’t believe you,” Provost said, “and even if I did it’s too late now. We are in a predicament with only one outcome. I must take you to the High Priestess. Word that you were brought here will travel quickly. If you do not appear before her, my betrayal will be clear.”

The sudden realization that Provost wasn’t going to set him free caused something bitter and burning to rise up the Administrator’s chest and into his throat.

“No!” he cried out. “No! If you hand me over I’ll tell the old bitch everything about your role in the Free.”

“Then you will be doing the opposite of what you say you want. Unlike you, I retain my position of influence. That is my most important contribution to the Free. I can influence the Holy Order during our ongoing operations. You, however, have no influence. You are purely a toppled figurehead. If you truly wish to serve the Territory, you will keep your mouth shut and let me continue my work.”

He wanted to argue and fight and scrap so that he wouldn’t be taken to the High Priestess, but the Administrator knew that Provost was speaking the truth. The clergy-general was one of the few members of the Free in the Church, and he was in the very highest echelons. The Free needed him there. He was their best asset. If the Administrator wanted to uphold the vow he had sworn to Knox when his friend and mentor had rescued him then he would not betray Provost to the High Priestess.

The Administrator knew that Provost saw the moment his resistance crumbled and the resolve to do his duty took its place.

“Good,” Provost said. “Believe me, Administrator, you are doing the right thing. A noble sacrifice.”

The Administrator didn’t answer, he simply followed Provost up the stairs to the door of the office that overlooked Steven Square, the office where that haggard old crone would be waiting for him.

As Provost pushed the heavy doors inward and led the Administrator into the room, High Priestess Patricia stood and moved to stand beside her desk. She grimaced, moving slowly and looking to be in pain as she leaned her weight against the furniture. But she straightened quickly, her face dropping into its usual stony stillness. When she looked up and saw the Administrator she smiled like a spider watching a fly creep into the center of its web. This was a place from which he was sure he would never wrestle free. Not this time.

“I’ve missed you, old friend,” the High Priestess said. “It hasn’t quite been the same without you.”

“I can’t say the feeling is mutual,” the Administrator replied. Provost stood, unmoving, beside him.

“Oh, Harold, don’t be like that. We’ve a long history, you and I. It would have been unfortunate if that had been the end of our time together. There was no closure.”

“Because I escaped? Can’t say I was disappointed.”

“Escaped seems like a rather inflated description,” the High Priestess said, pouring dark tea from a decorative teapot into a china cup on the corner of her desk. “Rescued, perhaps.”

The Administrator didn’t reply. He could see where this was going.

“Who was it that came to your rescue?” the High Priestess asked. “Where can we find them?”

“They never revealed themselves to me,” the Administrator said. “They simply let me go. I’ve been trying to escape the city since.”

“Lies,” Provost said, playing his role to perfection. “Obvious lies.”

“Provost,” High Priestess Patricia said, turning her attention to the clergy-general for the first time, “why don’t you ensure the accommodations are ready for His Honor here.”

“I don’t think it’s wise that I leave you alone with him, Your Holiness,” Provost said. He was frightened, and the Administrator didn’t think it was for her safety. He didn’t want to be out of earshot in case the Administrator really did give him up as a traitor.

“Nonsense, Provost, the Administrator and I are old, old friends. I have nothing to fear from him. Please see to his accommodations.”