And All the Stars

"And business of their own." Nash ran a hand over his eyes. "How very unspecific."

"Two years." Noi tapped the lid of the box the Take Him Away Lady had given her, thenabsently began to pull loose the bow.

"If they leave in two years, what happens to the peoplethey've taken over?" Madeleine asked. "Do they keep them? Or unpossess? Dispossess?"

"Not a gamble I'm willing to take." Noi lifted the lid off the box, revealing acolourful array of cupcakes, exquisitely decorated. She held one up, studying piping work sodelicate it was like lace. "Well,she knew just the thing to give to a Blue. And it's a nice illustration of our primary problem – we all eat likehorses. We've enough food for a few months,particularly if we collect everything in the other North Building apartments,but two years is going to mean a lot of scouting forays."

They debated longer-term options. Staying at Finger Wharf. Finding another location in the city or outersuburbs. Trying to hide in a countrysidefearing a second release of dust. Getting out further, to an island, or Spire-free Tasmania. But for now, not knowing the abilities of thethings calling themselves En-Mott, or the position the uninfected would take,they could only stay and watch.

Pan reached suddenly and turned the sound up on thetelevision and they all turned to see freckles, strawberry blonde hair and blueeyes.

"...the Clan Ul-naa," afamiliar voice said. "The Ul-naa are Hundred and Fifth in this cycle of primacy amongthe En-Mott. We come to this world tosettle primacy for..."

Pan muted the sound again, and then threw the remote at thetelevision. It bounced, and thebatteries flew free, but no-one made any move to rescue it. Noi's shoulders hadhunched, Emily was trembling with anger, Fisher withdrawn, and Minuncertain. Nash–

"Are you okay?"

A grey tinge marred the warmth of Nash's finely cut features,and his usual grace had leached away. Pan turned sharply, and sucked in his breath: "Damn, it was Gav'sday, wasn't it? Why didn't you sayanything?"

"Testing limits." Nash lifted one hand, failing to hold back a tremor. "It is a pitiful thing, to be sodependent. I would not last a dayalone."

"Here."

Pan held out his hand, but Nash moved his own away. "We've already established that two daystogether is an excellent way to knock you to pieces."

He turned his head toward Fisher, but stopped when Madeleineheld out her hand.

"I've nothing if not energy to spare," shesaid. "Do I need to do anything inparticular?"

Nash hesitated, then said: "Not at all. Thank you."

"Shall we go clear more space in the hidden room?"Fisher asked, and led the others away, leaving Madeleine with an uncomfortableimpression she was about to do something intimate.

She studied Nash's hand, admiring the clean lines, thensuppressed a murmur of surprise at the warm sensation which swept through her.

For some reason she'd expected it to hurt, and on one levelit did, but the way ru

He fetched her cupcakes and super-sweetened hot chocolate,and carefully ignored her pink-cheeked confusion, and by the time her mug wasempty she'd recovered and was able to be amused at how he was energeticallystriding about, tidying things up.

"You'd probably best take first watch," shesaid. "You'll never sleep afterthat."

Nash agreed, and then made sure she was able to get up thespiral staircase without falling over. It wasn't quite yet sunset, but Madeleine was more than done for theday. After a quick shower in her room'sen suite, and several futile attempts to reach Tyler, she removed her phone'sbattery, and dreamt of ru

Chapter Ten

Someone – Noi, most likely – had come into Madeleine's roomovernight and arranged a tray of snacks and drinks on the bedside cabinet, sowhen piercing hunger woke her in the pre-dawn grey she needed only to situp. Once the first urgency was met shenoticed the cold, and escaped to another warm shower and an attempt to manageher hair.

Descending to the main floor, she found the lounge darkexcept for the glow of the muted television, and the clear, pale note providedby a vast, water-lapped sky. Pan wassitting in the open doorway to the patio, legs curled against his chest, chin restingon his knees, staring out at the water. He looked cold, small and defeated, all his mercurial energy drained.

Quietly putting together two steaming cups of over-sugaredtea, Madeleine handed him one, then sat to share the dawn. A seagull was hovering in the distance, thefirst she'd seen since the dust.

"Gav was captain of the soccer team," Pan said,when tea or company had warmed him a little. "And he could act the socks off half the school. Fantastic at the comedic roles – did a great Bertie Wooster. Really generous on the stage, too, not fiddling about drawing attentionto himself during someone else's good lines." Pan tipped the last of his tea into hismouth, and swallowed heavily. "Justbefore, they were showing...Madrid, I think it was. Spain somewhere. You know how we were wondering if the Mothscould body-hop? Go from person toperson? They can. They'd caught two Blues and – I guess some ofthem must shop around for Blues with the most stain? They came out, and moved into the new Blues. The people they'd been in just dropped. Some Greens carried the bodies off."

There was nothing Madeleine could say. She sat turning her empty mug and listeningto the sounds the ocean made in a quiet bay. Soft, secret noises, large yet gentle.

"Gav's dead." Pan was barely audible. "Hemight still be in his head right now – or not. He might walk around being the Core of the whatever the hell clan forthe next two years. But he doesn't getto come back."

He sat a little straighter, putting his mug downcarefully. "I agree withEmily. Fuck the ru

"I'm open to suggestions."

"Would you do it?" Pan shot Madeleine a quick glance. "Any plan we come up with is going to involve us hiding behind youand your metal-crushing awesomeness."

"It's not metal I'm worried about crushing,"Madeleine said. "Fighting the – arewe calling them Moths now? – fighting these things means attacking the peoplethey're inside. Hurting people who'vedone nothing wrong. I don't know if Icould try to hunt down and kill possessed Blues. I think I could maybe fight back if we wereattacked, if it meant stopping...to stop the people here from beingtaken."

"Oh, God, yeah. It's hard enough with Gav. Iwould have gone spare if they'd gotten Nash."

"Are–" Madeleine hesitated. "Areyou two a couple?"

Pan gave her a Look, and she started to stutter an apology,but then he gri

"Hah, that's okay. You're just the first person who's ever asked me that outright. Nash is – I met Nash my second year at Rushies, Year Eight. I'm a scholarship student there, and while most of the guys are fineabout that, there's always a few, you know? My parents run a petrol station, and you'd think that it was some kindof personal affront the way a couple of twits reacted.

"Year Seven was pretty hellish. I wanted to prove myself. You know, be the underdog who comes in andgrabs the lead role. Didn't manage itthat year, but I snagged speaking parts in a couple of productions. And kept ending up with black eyes. I was a little squitback then, and it was always an elbow to the face, sorry didn't see you thereRickard, ha ha. Then they'd trip me up on stage, put rubbish in the props I was supposedto use. They'd drive me into a fury,then ask me Can't you take a joke? I swear, I have to hold myself back from anyone who says that thesedays. Can't you take a joke? Onlycomplete fuckwits say that.