Allie's War Season Three (140 page)

As we passed through the automatic doors leading out of the atrium, I saw that planter boxes filled most of the enclosed circle
around
the atrium, as well, which used to provide a wide promenade lined with padded benches facing high-end shops. Surprisingly...to me, anyway...the shops themselves still appeared to be intact, and some even looked open.

I knew that couldn’t possibly be the case for much longer, though.

The promenade itself was now only a narrow corridor, rimmed with dirt-filled planters along with heating lamps and what must be irrigation pipes feeding in through openings in the organic-paned walls.

Glancing down that curved corridor, I felt like I'd been transported onto an alien spaceship.

Then we passed into the main lobby, and I forgot about that, too.

The high glass doors that used to lead out to Central Park South and Fifth Avenue had been covered over in dark green panes. Clearly some kind of dense organic, I assumed the panes must be bullet-proof, too, although the more practical side of my nature began turning over just how much firepower they could likely withstand, if we got hit by anything serious. They didn't let in so much as a beam of natural light, which dimmed the room significantly, despite the crystal chandeliers that blazed from iron chains bolted into the vaulted ceiling.

The ceiling itself ended against the largest of three banks of elevators, still visible through the four or five stories of glass partitions, but now only to us. Remembering the dramatic view those elevators used to create from the street outside, I sighed internally a little.

The giant wall mural remained, as imposing as ever, depicting the Old House on the Hill in India, as well as its garden of white-limbed trees and seer statues of some white, hard stone I'd never managed to identify. The mural's mountains stood tall and dramatic in the background, behind the lower foothills of the Himalayas, which also housed the mud and tile-roofed buildings that made up Seertown, along with something like three hundred thousand seers, during its peak. The whole thing had been done out of a mosaic of colored stones and in such vivid detail that I found myself lost for a moment, staring at it, even as I felt an inexplicable coil of grief.

It wasn’t about Seertown itself, really.

I missed Vash.

Seemingly more every day, I missed the kind-hearted, insightful, and scarily-talented old guy. I missed his light.

More selfishly, I also missed his ability to bring clarity to even the murkiest of situations, and to lift the group as a whole when we were at our most desperate and discouraged. Given everything, I had a feeling I would miss him even more in the coming weeks.

Before I could go any deeper into that thought, sounds erupted from the lobby floor, pulling my attention off the wall.

Someone had identified Revik and I, or noticed us, maybe.

Cheers broke out, startling me.

Those cheers turned into foot-stomping, whistles, even laughter.

Not all of the sounds came from faces I knew.

Even at that early hour, the lobby seemed to be filled to overflowing. People, luggage, furniture, boxes and carts covered the carpeted floor. I saw animals, too, including the dog and cat variety, which surprised me, given the food issues Oli just outlined. I didn’t see a
lot
of animals of that kind, certainly not compared to the number of people I saw lounging on the gold-fabric couches, curled up on jackets and bags and sitting by the hearth of the massive, gated fireplace that stood across from the stone mural, but I saw enough to double-take a few times. Since it couldn't have been much later than six in the morning, the sheer number of people staring at us baffled me, even apart from the cat-calls and clapping.

The applause and whistles died down after Revik gave a friendly wave to the room more generally, but I could still see the shining eyes of seers grinning at us, and murmurs as we passed. From the surprise and relief on the faces I saw, I had to assume they’d all thought we were dead, or else captured or stuck somewhere, or worse.

There were just so
many
of them.

"Yeah," another voice said, popping up next to me. "Spooky, that. Even for us. And we were here when they hauled most of 'em in..."

I turned, and that time found myself facing Torek, another ex-rebel.

He nodded to the people scattered around the room, pursing his lips as his dark gold eyes continued to smile at me.

"...We just got a new batch last night," he added to me, even as he gave Revik a one-armed hug. "Can't even tell you how good it is to see the two of you..." he continued in his crisp, British accent, smiling at me warmly. "When the walls came down over the city like that, I'm afraid we prepared for the worst. Including with the two of you."

“How many do you have?” Revik said.

Torek answered slightly more formally than before, and his seer accent came out when he did. “We estimate 46% of the seer list has been collected or otherwise accounted for, sirs. Last I heard, it was 67% of the humans...” He grimaced, shrugging with one hand. “...Of course, that includes the ones we know are dead, or who got killed during our attempts at extraction or prior to that, during the research phase. Still, not bad, all in all. We got a whole load of humans in right before the gates came down, which was lucky as hell...”

"You mean most of these are...human...?" I said, staring around the lobby in bewilderment.

Torek laughed, still touching both of us with his hands, as if compulsively. "How could you doubt it, Esteemed Bridge? Here we are facing war and probable starvation...that is, if the 'quakes, volcanos, floods and tsunamis don't kill us, first...and
this
lot's worried about whether they can bring their fifteen-year-old, arthritic cat, 'Fluffy,' along for the ride."

"I just mean...” I hesitated. “I mean. They clapped...”

Torek laughed louder, clapping me on the back in a friendly way.

“Well...yes!” he said, beaming. “Given everything, wouldn’t
you
clap? Most of this lot would be out in that hell right now if we hadn’t pulled them in, wouldn’t they? We still have access to the feeds. They see what’s going on outside these walls. They know there’s riots, no power, murder, disease, soon to be no food or water. They figure you saved ‘em.” He smiled. “...You did, too. They might be worms, but they’re not
totally
daft.”

I just stared around at faces, trying to take that in.

“They're all on the list?" I said finally.

"All but a few husbands, wives, siblings and whatnot," Torek confirmed with another deadpan scan of the room. "We just now finished processing all the humans through decontamination. All but a few of those on the actual list are totally immune. We had to turn a few of the non-listers away, which didn’t make us so popular, let me tell you...” He gave me a humorless smile. “...Now we just have to feed the rest. And find them rooms, of course. We've got more extras now that the hotel wing has been completely shut down, but still, at this rate, we're going to be assigning bunk-mates, soon enough."

"We brought more," Revik said with a faint grin.

"So I hear," Torek said with a returning smile, clicking at him in mock reproach. "Thanks a hell of a lot for that, by the way, brother boss. And here we'd already cleared you and yours a nice big table at the Third Jewel, and everything..."

"Thank you, God," I muttered.

"That's
gods,
pet," Torek grinned. "We can't go all human just because we're being overrun."

He kissed me on the cheek, reminding me again how different he was from the other ex-rebels, who’d primarily been raised in Asian work camps before being pulled by Salinse, and later, Revik.

Revik had recruited Torek into the rebels himself. He'd been one of Revik's few infiltrator pals back when he lived in England.

"Join us?" Revik said to Torek, grabbing my hand and motioning towards the restaurant with his head. Even so, I felt his light react to the kiss Torek gave me, which told me he really was feeling more deprived than usual. Enough that he was getting touchy, like he had been in Argentina, and really, ever since the wedding. I moved closer to him, merging my light deeper into his and felt him relax perceptibly, especially when I withdrew it in more than equal proportions from the vicinity of Torek's.

"Can't, mate," Torek said, winking at me. From his knowing grin, he must have felt the shift in light. Still smiling, he added, "...I'm in charge of sorting out this mess. At least until Balidor and Jon get here..."

Trailing, Torek hesitated suddenly, doing a quick double-take at me, right before he glanced down my body, a puzzled look on his face. He looked about to say something, when I felt a dense bolt of light leave Revik’s aleimi, strong enough that I flinched.

Considering I hadn’t felt anything even remotely sexual in Torek’s one glance, I was instantly annoyed.

“What the hell was that?” I said, looking up at Revik. “Seriously. What
was
that?”

Revik didn’t take his eyes off Torek, or stop frowning.

Torek just smiled, but I saw understanding touch his gold eyes, right before he saluted to Revik. “Sorry, boss,” he said. “...and understood,” he added. “I’ll pass the word.”

“What ‘word’ is that?” I muttered. “That he’s totally lost his mind?”

Torek laughed louder at that. When Revik gave him an annoyed look, I shoved at his chest, pushing him roughly in the direction of the Third Jewel.

“Okay, enough testosterone poisoning for you,” I said. “I need coffee.”

“Sorry, boss,” Torek called after us, winking at me. “Is it my fault your wife’s a dish?”

Revik clicked at him, his eyes holding an open anger that time.

I pushed at him again. “For crying out loud. You are a total piece of work right now,” I told him. “I’m not even sure if you should be allowed in public, honestly...”

Unapologetic, Revik only shrugged, giving Torek a last, warning stare when the British seer laughed again, probably from watching me push Revik towards the other side of the lobby. And yeah, true, I might have been shoving at him a little harder than strictly necessary, but as far as I was concerned, he deserved it.

Even so, not once did I see a flicker of remorse on Revik’s angular face.

7

BARBARIAN

"...DON’T WORRY ABOUT it," Revik said, waving off my words. He slid into the leather booth next to me, settling so he half leaned on my side. “It’s not a big deal.”

"Don’t worry about it?" I said, with a humorless snort. "You’re acting totally bizarre. Are you going to tell me why, or not?”

"No,” he said, smiling wanly. Seeing my deadpan look, he let his smile fade, motioning vaguely with a hand. “Not right now. After we sleep, okay?”

"You keep pushing back the time," I complained.

Revik only shrugged. "Husband’s prerogative,” he said, trying to get me to laugh. When it didn’t work, his voice turned matter-of-fact. “...I’m not up to a heavy discussion right now. Are you telling me that you are?”

Thinking for a minute, I felt my irritation deflate. “I guess not.”

He only nodded, but I felt a flicker of relief leave his light, strong enough that I stared at him again.

“Seriously...” I began.

"I promise I’ll talk to you, Allie,” he cut in, without looking up. “I promise I will. But not now. Let me just relax for a little while, okay? You should relax, too. We might not get another chance before things start up again..." He picked up a menu that had been left on the table and squinted at it. "...What do you want to eat?”