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"Shouldn't you be called Puck, not Pan, if you're fromOberon?" Min asked, eyes lit with sudden delight.
"I've played him as well. But merry trickster junk aside, he spends histime being ordered around. Pirate-taunting's way more my style."
"What I'd give for a straightforward pirate rightnow," Noi said. "Okay, soeither west or up north. Oberon'scloser, but might be harder to get to since there's fewer access roads into themountains. How likely is it that a bunchof us could stay at either place for any measurable amount of time without theentire town knowing?"
Neither Pan nor Madeleine were very hopeful of thathappening, and they debated splitting into smaller groups, or whether it wasnecessarily that bad a thing to be known to be Blue, once you were out of thecity.
"Can't we stay and fight?" Emily asked. "We're letting them get away withkilling our families, and taking our friends, and our homes! It's not hopeless! Madeleine hurtone of them, and they couldn't take her over. We can punch and shield. Can't weat least try?"
"At this stage, we can only learn more beforeacting," Fisher said. He hesitated,then added softly: "I won't pretend I don't want to hurt them. I want – very badly – to bring that Spiredown. I'm trying to think of a way. That Madeleine was able to shield..." He gave Madeleine a measured glance, then anapologetic smile as she reacted with not u
"If nothing else, we can practice shielding andpunching," Nash said. "The carpark below this North Building will give us a relatively private space, thoughwe won't be able to use anything like full strength. But fine control, learning to shield quickly,it ca
"We brought some phones back from the otherapartments," Min told them. "Use them and turn your own off. And stay off the ground line. I'll set up a monitor and alarm in the lounge for the webcams – there'sa program I can use to make them motion sensitive. It'd also be best to go silent on any webidentities, and mask our IP for any family contact."
"You're starting to depress me," Noi said. "But more smart thinking. And I'm sure everyone can resist thetemptation to give out details. If youhave to tell them something, tell 'em we're out nearthe zoo."
Without a clear decision on what to do next, they finished updi
The gatherings of Blues near the Spires seemed to be breakingup, and there were signs of movement among the Greens, some of whom had atleast walked out of range of cameras observing them. Others were still standing, waiting, whilesGreens more than two hundred kilometres from Spires didn't seem impacted at allby the Spire song, even if it was played for them.
Fisher and Nash stacked the dishwasher while everyone elseshifted bags and tried to rearrange the pantry so it looked a little lessobviously stocked for a siege – difficult given the industrial-sized sacks ofsugar and flour. With the boys takingall the downstairs rooms, the parents' room was left for Madeleine. It was decorated in dark wood and anotherbeautiful lamp, but she felt uncomfortable, an intruder.
Folding her clothes into piles in the wardrobe, Madeleinehesitated over her backpack. She'dbestowed most of the packets of condoms on Noi, but had kept a few, vacillatingbetween thinking this very bloodless and unspontaneous, and acknowledging thatshe was not only keenly attracted to Fisher, but also in a situation where shewas more than ordinarily inclined to act on that attraction.
Or not. Shaking herhead at the thought of successfully advancing anything with Fisher, she tippedthe contents of the backpack into a bedside drawer and went to find Noi.
Pan had done so just before her. "You meant it about the Wonder Womanbedroom!" he was saying, standing in the doorway.
"It's the floor-to-ceiling gaming consoles which put thecherry on the cake," Noi said, nodding at the only wall not papered in anenormous wrap-around mural of Amazon princess against a silhouetted landscapeof temples and stars. "This is onelittle girl who wants to kick ass."
"You or her? Butyou're pretty much Wonder Woman already," Pan said, stepping forward toexamine the array of games available, and missing Noi'ssudden, painful flush. Noi had backedoff from Pan after learning that he was indeed only fifteen, and even the newsthat it was his birthday soon hadn't changed her mind. Since Pan didn't seem to have realised Noihad been pursuing him, her decision hadn't made a great deal of difference totheir interaction, but moments of vulnerability broke through.
"Did you see the lightsabers?"Madeleine asked, to give Noi longer to recover.
"Wai! Guys! Get down here!"
Min's summons sent them clattering down the stair. On the big television was an Asian womanwearing a strappy top which showed arms with only the occasional patch ofnon-blue flesh. Her tone was sedatelycalm, her posture relaxed, and the effect was one of casual conversation. Madeleine guessed the language to be Japanese.
"Why are we excited?" Noi asked.
"It's one of the possessed. They said she–"
The image flickered and jumped back to a point where thewoman was just sitting down. She turnedto the camera, and a man began translating in voiceover as she spoke.
"Listen now. I amthe Core of the Five of what you may call the Clan Taiee. The Taiee are Firstin this cycle of primacy among the En-Mott. We come to this world to settle primacy for the next cycle, and toconduct business of our own."
The woman smiled warmly. "Meaningless things to you. Deliver up to us all who are Blue, unharmed. Do not interfere with those who are Green. Neither hinder nor disturb us. Those who do not comply will bereprimanded." The idea of reprimandappeared to delight her. "Shouldinsufficient Blues be delivered to us, the Conversion – the dust – will bereleased until a sufficient measure achieved."
"Fuck." Pan, beyond Shakespeare, sat down heavily.
"Our business will take a matter of two of youryears. When it is complete, we willdepart."
The translation ended, and the screen switched to anon-stained woman. "Furthertransmissions have been made from four other Spire cities. São Paulo, Mumbai, Shanghai, and NewYork."
They crossed to the New York transmission, where a ski
"We are so completely screwed," Pan said.
"No leaving the city." Noi exchanged a glance with Fisher and Nash,who both nodded.
"People wouldn't..." Emily began, then shook herhead. "I guess they would. I guess...I guess people might even expect usto turn ourselves over."
"They can live in hope." Min waved a tablet computer. "These cities aren't quite an exact run-downof the most populated cities in the world, but it's pretty close. And they're the locations of the tallestSpires. This primacy they're talkingabout – they took over our planet to decide on a new pecking order." He was incredulous, losing the mildly-entertainedcalm he'd displayed till then.