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"Do you think we have any chance?"
"Every time I look at the TV the odds seem to godown. From what we know now, yes,there's a chance, but the body-hopping is a bad thing. If they're specifically looking for thestrongest Blues, well, you and I are some of the strongest Blues in thecity. That hidden room is a big bonus,but we don't have much time to get to it after the alarm goes off, andfood-hunting is going to be a huge risk. One of the biggest dangers is boredom."
"Boredom?" Madeleine stared. Here in thisluxurious home, filled with games and books, half a dozen computers, andmultiple televisions screening an alien invasion?
"Yeah, boredom. The longer this goes on, the more we'll struggle – both keepingourselves ready to hide on short notice, and not taking more risks. Pan particularly – he's the energetic typethat finds it hard to just stay put. I'mthat way myself. Don't you want to getout, do something?"
"I want to paint you and Emily."
"Really? NotScience Boy?"
"Fisher..." Madeleine glanced quickly at the door, but no-one was close. "I need to know him better, understandwhat it is I'd want to paint. If I hadunlimited materials, sure, but I've two canvases and I want to use themwell. You and Emily, I could really makesomething."
A warm tinge deepened Noi's skin,but she frowned. "Anyone cominginto the apartment would smell fresh paint."
"If I set the easel by the patio door, and move thecanvas to the safe room when I'm not working on it, it shouldn't be anissue. And I'd work on sketches thefirst couple of days. They're likely tosearch Finger Wharf early on, aren't they?"
"Given who Sydney's new alien overlord is, yeah."
Without warning she hunched down, motioning Madeleine to dothe same. Madeleine slid out of herchair to kneel on the patio deck, then turned to see why they were hiding.
A grey navy ship was easing backward out of the narroweastern part of the bay. Even though shecouldn't see anyone on the deck, Madeleine shifted underneath the edge of thepatio table, and Noi joined her, making a shooing motion at Min, who wasstaring out at them.
"Blues escaping?" Madeleine whispered, though therewas no way they could be overheard.
"Green navy waiting at the headlands for anyone sneakingout of the harbour?"
It was the more likely explanation. Madeleine and Noi waited until the ship hadgained reasonable distance, then slipped back into the apartment, joining theothers in watching through the glass.
"Chances are good they'll have something similar to stoppeople going up-river," Noi said.
"Not an insurmountable obstacle, however." Nash hadn't slept very late for someone who'dhad most of the night watch. "Asmall, unlit boat in the dark would have a good chance of–"
He broke off as Pan gripped his arm, and they all stared,speechless, at a ribbon of light following the ship.
Snake-like and perhaps the length of three buses, it waswidest along the front third, where what seemed to be a dozen layers ofdiaphanous wings marked a lazy, complicated beat. The wings were shaped like sails, trianglesof light which thi
"Is there someone riding that?"
The distance made it difficult to be sure, but there did seemto be two points of solidity near the very front, before the wings.
They watched until their view was blocked by the easternheadland, then Min said: "So, no going out on the patio except at night?"
"And I was worried they'd have possessed some survivorswho knew how to fly helicopters." Noi reluctantly slid the patio door shut. "Until we have some better idea of howoften those things will fly over, and whether they happen to have night vision,no going out at all."
Chapter Eleven
Madeleine had taken to biting her nails, unable to settle toanything, shifting from room to room, scouring the internet for news then notwanting to read it. She had a mostwondrous portrait boiling inside her and couldn't let herself progress now thesketch was transferred, couldn't immerse herself in paint and escape the newworld. Pan wasn't much better, debatingplans of action with Min, who seemed to delight in pointing out problems withevery idea, their squabbles getting on Madeleine's nerves until she realisedthat Pan was less edgy after these minor spats.
The television delivered a constant stream of bad news. Stain appearing anywhere and everywhere,infection blown on the wind. Families onthe fringes of dust zones where there'd been no rain, gambling with their liveswhen food supplies ran low. Millions ofdisplaced overwhelming non-Spire cities. Fights over food, water, face masks. Glimpses of Moths making themselves at home while Greens buried bodiesand restored services, even travelling out of their cities on errands. New religions, and established ones grownstrange and angry, calling disaster a judgment, a test. Very occasionally a sighting of a creature oflight, every description different from the last.
To Madeleine's surprise, not a single government,pre-existing or hastily formed, agreed to obey the Moths' demand forBlues. Officially. But Blues were handed over all the same:countless quiet betrayals.
Once, a spectacular battle on the fringes of Buenos Aires hadbeen streamed. Two girls ru
The phrase "the greater good" reachedfingernails-on-chalkboard frequency, and the fourth day after the attack at thebeach the robotic Warning! Warning! of Min's walkway alarm camealmost as a relief.
Madeleine, sitting on the rug near the closed patio door,glanced at the laptop set on an ottoman next to the television, but whateverhad triggered the alarm was already out of camera range, in the small foyerwhere they would have a choice of doors, an elevator, or stairs.
"Go! Go!"
Nash, voice sharp and low, was already scouring the room,while Pan turned off the television and bent to mute the walkway monitor andswitch the laptop to camera mode before tucking it out of sight. Madeleine grabbed her big sketchbook anddashed to the main floor bathroom.
They'd made it a rule to wipe down the shower after use, andby the middle of the day it had had time to dry thoroughly. It was quick work to swipe a handtowel aroundthe sink, and glance to ensure nothing looked out of the ordinary. Then a race for her bedroom, trying not topound the metal of the circular stair, to double-check her en suite, and closethe wardrobe doors before heading to the quickly-filling study.
She'd managed to be second-last, Fisher following her throughthe door with the garbage bag of kitchen scraps, which he tucked into apre-cleared file drawer after pulling the bookshelf door closed. And then they settled in, Noi sitting next tothe computer, Pan underneath the desk, and Emily perched on top of the filingcabinet. Min, Nash, Fisher and Madeleinesat on the floor, legs in a tangle because there really was no room – they'dhad to remove the chair after the first practice run so they could all fit in.
The computer was already set split-screen between the walkwayand lounge room webcams. Neither showedmovement, and there was a frustrating wait while they all wished they'd daredrisk more cameras, and wondered if it had been a false alarm. Minutes ticked by with no sign of movement.
Pan, playing with a laptop and headphones, suddenly satupright, knocking his skull against the underside of the desk. The noise wasn't truly loud, but in thestrained silence it felt like a shout.