Eye of the Storm (20 page)

‘Coming,’ she called. Then she added under her breath, ‘Let’s get this over with.’

By raptor standards, the building Sam was approaching looked positively ramshackle. There was certainly nothing that marked its importance. It was a plain, boring oblong
structure, made of the same structural materials as the rest of the city. David’s description of it as a shed appeared surprisingly accurate.

‘Not very impressive, is it?’ David whispered, grinning at the boys.

‘It’s not going to win any architectural awards, that’s for sure,’ Callum muttered back. ‘But I was always taught never to judge a book by its cover.’

‘A wise philosophy.’

‘Cut the chatter,’ Nathan hissed over his shoulder. ‘We’re getting close. Concentrate.’

Sam didn’t care if the guards heard them coming or not. He was carrying the rifle again. This time not only was it loaded, but he had more ammunition in a pouch attached to his belt. The
way he felt at the moment, he would welcome a fight. All he needed was an excuse to flick off the safety catch and start shooting. Previously, he might have been a bit wary of actually shooting at
raptors, but he’d wanted to hurt something, or someone, almost from the moment he had discovered his mother had been captured.

He watched as David gave a shrug and nodded at the bearded rebel leader. As far as Sam and the others knew, there were no audio or proximity sensors around the building. Nathan was simply being
ultra-cautious.

David had briefed them all on the raptor security system before they had left the cave. The main problem for the rebels if they had tried this raid on any other day would have been the DNA
sensor on the door, but luckily David’s was one of the few whose patterns would be recognised. Assuming the raptors hadn’t amended their security protocols immediately after his
abduction the night before, they were approaching through one of the blind spots in the security camera network and should be able to sneak through undetected. At the briefing, David had been
confident that the chances of their being seen during this phase of their approach were remote.

The group closed in on the building until they reached the wall. Then they turned left and, staying tight to the wall, sank down and crawled until they reached a small service door.

‘Ready?’ David whispered.

Nathan nodded.

Sam’s hands instinctively tightened round the stock of the rifle and he drew in a deep breath. If there were more than a handful of raptors on the far side of that door, the plan would
likely go horribly wrong in a hurry.

David lifted his hand to the sensor pad.

This was it. They were going in.

Nipper and Grunt had entered the city and taken a ride in one of the multitude of cabin cars heading for the plaza in front of the Imperium Tower. Nipper’s muscles
tingled constantly with the after-burn of prolonged exercise. Although he did not feel particularly weary, he knew he would not be at his peak for the challenge ahead. In his favour, he had made
more kills in the wild than most city-born raptors. He was counting on his experience and strong hunting instincts today. If they failed him, he would die.

For raptors like Nipper, death held no fear. He was content that if it was his time, he would die a worthy death. Defending his adopted humans felt natural. Sam and Callum were younglings and
Nipper felt a keen sense of responsibility for them. He had not yet forgiven himself for the Brad-human’s death on the train when they had first travelled from the Reserve to the city.
Although the man had been fully grown, Nipper had been protecting him for some years. The Brad-human had been special. Unlike most, Brad had taken the time to learn the raptor language and to
understand many of the raptor ways. That another raptor had killed him without observing the rites of the hunt was wrong. None of Brad’s flesh had been consumed and the killing had appeared
to be an act of bloodlust or plain prejudice against humans. Neither of which sat well with Nipper.

Although human ethics were different, and there were many things about them that Nipper still did not understand, he had come to admire much about them. He had observed that humans could be
every bit as honourable as raptors. They were physically fragile and their ways were strange, but humans had subtle strengths and he did not doubt their intelligence. Killing them for no reason was
an act without honour: an act not worthy of a raptor.

Nipper growled his frustration as the cabin car came to an abrupt halt. The tracks ahead were jammed solid. Everyone, it seemed, was trying to reach the Central Plaza. Some raptors were already
abandoning the cars to walk the final stretch. He glanced at Grunt and with unspoken agreement, they elected to join the crowds on foot. Time was running short. They had to reach the plaza and get
to the front of the crowds before the executions. For the first time since they left the cave, Nipper felt a pang of unease as he realised this might not be as easy to achieve as he had first
thought.

Nipper had never seen so many raptors in one place before. Shoving through the crowd was likely to spark confrontations and he needed to conserve his strength now for the challenge. Meaningless
spats would be dangerous. He turned to Grunt.

‘Clear me a path,’ he ordered.

Grunt bared his teeth in a grin of pleasure. Stepping in front of Nipper, he took a deep breath and began to growl. But this was no ordinary growl that rasped in the throat; it emanated from
deep within the raptor’s chest, reverberating and penetrating. It was a sound that oozed danger. The nearest translation in a human tongue would be:
Get out of my way or I’ll tear
you limb from limb.
It was not a threat that a raptor used lightly, nor was it ever treated with anything other than the utmost respect by others unless they actively sought confrontation.
Grunt knew there was always a chance he might meet a raptor who was spoiling for a fight, but he felt this less likely among the city-dwelling raptors than it would have been if he’d tried it
back in the Reserve.

He was right. The crowd parted ahead of him and raptors fell silent, moving aside as he approached, all giving him wary looks as he passed. Nipper followed tight in his wake.

As the two raptors entered the square, they could see that a gigantic holo-projection in front of the spire was showing a picture of the spire doors. Nipper grunted. The Council must have set it
up to ensure even those furthest from the main action could see what was happening. It was clear they wanted as many as possible to bear witness to the deaths of the rebels.

The closer they got to the front of the crowd, the more closely packed the multitude of raptors became. But even here, Grunt’s menacing warning penetrated and the bubble of space around
him, though smaller now, carried them right through to the barriers that had been erected to keep the very centre of the square clear.

The two raptors arrived not a moment too soon. As they reached the barriers, the doors to the spire at the heart of the City of the Imperium slid open and Claire, Alex and Einstein were led out
and down the steps into the Central Plaza. The three captives had their hands bound in front of them. The heads of Alex and Einstein hung down on their chests, but despite showing signs of having
taken a severe physical beating, Claire’s head was up, eyes flashing with defiance. A phalanx of raptors from the Imperium Guard followed them, spreading out on either side as they descended
the steps. On a raised dais in the centre of the square three sharpened impaling posts had been erected, each about two metres high.

The main doors to the spire, having closed behind the party of prisoners and guards, opened again and two by two, the eight raptors that formed the High Council of the Imperium emerged and
arranged themselves in a line at the top of the steps, resplendent in their ceremonial garb. Nipper looked up at them and a burning knot of anger ignited inside him. It was these eight raptors who
were responsible for hiding the true reason for the appearance of humans in this world. It was they, through their iron control over the holographic news network, who insinuated blame and shaped
anti-human public thinking. Yet they were also quick to use human technology and intelligence when it suited them.

He looked first at the Council, bloated with self-importance and power, and then at Claire Cutler walking upright and undeterred towards certain death. It was little wonder that some of the top
raptor scientists had chosen to follow this female human’s lead. She had admirable qualities, worthy of the greatest of raptor hunters.

The crowd around Nipper and Grunt were beginning a rhythmic chant, calling for blood, baying for the death of the rebels.

‘Try to get the crowd behind me,’ Nipper growled, preparing to make his move.

‘Fight well and live,’ Grunt responded.

Nipper could delay no longer. In a single enormous bound, he leapt over the barriers and roared. His mighty challenge cut through the chanting of the crowd like a claw through soft belly flesh.
Stillness and silence spread through the raptors in an outward ripple and Nipper repeated his roar, calling out the ritual raptor challenge with every fibre of his being.

‘Blood for blood. Life for life. I demand the right to challenge.’

Raptor guards sprang to surround him, but Nipper stood firm, looking up to the Council for a response.

He felt taut. He felt strong. Any doubts he had harboured about making this challenge had gone. This was the right thing to do. Not just for Sam and Claire, but for all of raptor-kind. Unless
voices like those of Claire Cutler were heard, the High Council would continue to manipulate public opinion unchecked. They had wielded ultimate power unquestioned for too long. It was time for
someone to test them.

The Council turned to one another, speaking quickly in low voices. At the front of the crowd, Grunt began a simple new chant.

‘Challenge! Challenge! Challenge!’

Raptors around him picked up on it, adding their growls to his, and the chant spread until it thundered around the plaza. Nipper bared his teeth in an expression of satisfaction. The Council
would have little choice. This was too traditional a ritual for them to ignore. The crowd had witnessed the challenge and supported it.

The holo-cube cut to the face of the Voice of the Council. The giant image looked down with contempt over the crowd.

‘Silence!’ it ordered, the voice so amplified that it boomed like thunder round the city centre. The eyes of the Voice flashed with anger as he waited for compliance. ‘What
right do you have to challenge here, citizen? These rebels are traitors. They have defied the Imperium and committed acts of terrorism. They are justly scheduled for execution. Do you wish to join
them?’

Nipper took a deep breath. He was preparing to shout his response when he realised that the holographic image above him had changed. The holocamera had been trained in on him. He could only
assume his voice would be amplified as that of the Voice had been. It was.

‘They are my kindred,’ he said, his voice sounding sure and unwavering. ‘I adopted the humans, and the raptor you hold captive is my blood brother. We have hunted together. I
claim family justice as is my right by tradition. I am the head of my house. I claim my right to judge and to set my own punishment for their crimes.’

The crowd murmured their approval and somewhere in the middle, the chant began again.

‘Challenge! Challenge! Challenge!’

It spread quickly. The High Council gathered into a huddle at the top of the steps. They did not discuss the matter for long. The voice of the crowd could not be denied. The chant was echoing
around the Central Plaza with one gigantic voice. They could do little but concede to tradition.

The Voice of the Council called once again for silence, the gigantic hologram of his face staring out over the crowd from above the plaza. Slowly, the chant died away.

‘We will honour your right of challenge, youngling. Is there one who would fight for the Imperium?’

‘I will,’ barked a raptor voice from near the base of the steps. ‘I will accept this human-lover’s challenge and see justice done here today.’

Nipper looked round to see where the voice had come from, but he didn’t need to find the source to know who had uttered the words. Sure enough, out from among the lines of guards at the
base of the spire stepped a familiar figure. Large, with dark scales and a line of puncture scars across his thighs, it was the raptor from the train: the one from the Imperium’s secret
police; the one Nipper suspected had killed the Brad-human.

A low, menacing wave of growls raced through the crowd as they saw who was stepping forward. It appeared Scar, as the boys had named this fearsome raptor on their first meeting, had a reputation
in the city.

The Voice of the Imperium nodded his approval. ‘Thank you, Captain. I’m confident you will ensure the will of the Imperium is upheld. Continue.’

Nipper glanced across at the prisoners. Claire Cutler mouthed the words ‘Thank you’ but he did nothing to acknowledge her. He could not afford to demonstrate anything other than
righteous anger until this was over. The guards ushered the prisoners to the side of the execution platform and changed formation to clear a large square area in the plaza for the two combatants to
face off in.