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He turned back to the screen and pointed to a ta
It was the woman standing beside the ta
"Asha." Sheexchanged a glance with Noi, then added for the benefit of the room: "Oneof the people we met going through Finger Wharf. We cooked di
"Every country – every Spire is sending two people tocompete?" Emily asked. "What wasthe little glowing animal picture for?"
"I guess we're about to find out."
The flow had stopped, the crowd forming into a loose circlearound the Spire. The weather in Manilawas a step up from Mumbai: only overcast and drizzling, and most of the Bluesmoved with an eager, alert step, though some must come from time zones whenthey'd normally be well asleep. The airfilled with oscillating song, and Madeleine wondered if they were just sayinghello, or were sledging each other, or boasting about their stolen bodies.
She glanced at Fisher, sitting attentively, and could almostfeel the roil of anger swelling in him. The room was thick with it, with resentment, and worry, and over it all,helplessness. Was this how it wouldbe? They would spend two years hidingand watching, feeling as though their faces were being rubbed in theirloss? The cheerful excitement of theManila crowd, and the wash of language impossible for humans to understand,seemed to declare the irrelevance of any audience but the Moths. They had co-opted cities, people, technology,and would use them as they pleased.
The chorus of song died away, and one Blue outside the circleclimbed onto a rock, raising a single thin warble.
"Speeches?" Min said. "Skip to the good stuff."
Quite as if she'd heard, the Blue standing on the rock raisedone hand, and produced three short notes.
Fireworks. All aroundthe circumference of the Spire, about twenty feet from the ground, balls oflight burst out in unison. But insteadof popping, or arcing to the ground, these zigzagged away, leaving a suggestionof a trail behind.
The circle of Blues gave chase, the sudden intensity ofmovement wholly at odds with their light-hearted cheer of moments before. One woman, particularly quick to react, leaptimpossibly high into the air to intercept the nearest ball.
"Shield jump!" Pan cried, while the ball curled atthe woman's touch, no longer trying to move.
A second Blue had followed the woman into the air, aiming notfor the ball, but for her. He hadn't quiteco
"Are they wearing any flags or colours to tell whichteam they're on?" Min asked, frowning at the screen.
"I guess all they'd need to know is their partner. Everyone else is on another team." As the two women sprinted for the Spire, Panleaned back, visibly resisting being caught up in the competition. "And maybe they can see something wecan't."
A different pair were trying to intercept the sprinters,gouging a cha
At the end of the muddy gouge her companion lay broken. She had been a short woman, maybe twenty,with dark braided hair and bronzed skin which set off the blue of thestain. The fine drizzle dewed her skin,and glimmered in the light of blooming wings.
The Moth lifted, a slow undulation, and swam through the raininto the stars.
"There's a leader board," Fisher said, and tiltedthe laptop so Madeleine could see a web page where a name had appeared in twodifferent scripts, with the number 2 beside it. "That's the São Paulo clan." He paused, looking across at Noi, who was grey, lips set, and added:"You don't have to stay."
"Yes, we do," she said. "They're showing us their limits. Their attacks."
Madeleine stared at the screen, as the image shifted toanother part of the golf course in Manila, to another group of Blues chasinglong-eared balls of light. The secondtime a Blue died, the Moth seemed to be fatally wounded as well, emerging onlyto slump to the wet grass, colour leaching from its blue pattern. Other Blues were merely injured, and limpedor were carried away, helped by Greens stationed near the cameras.
The chase for the long-eared balls of light was quick, brutaland efficient. There were many moreteams than balls, and soon the losers were returning to their home Spires, toface the widely varied reaction of their Cores. Two dozen corpses remained, human and alien, but it wasn't particularlycomforting that most of the Moths had died with their hosts.
"The garage," Madeleine said stiffly, when itseemed they were done. "Practice? If we use alook-out?"
They looked at each other, then at the screen at anothercrumpled, discarded shell which had been a person, and nodded.
Chapter Thirteen
"You do not understand me, gentlemen," Pansaid, throwing his head back. "Iasked to be excused in case I should not be able to discharge my debt to allthree; for Monsieur Athos has the right to kill me first, which must muchdiminish the face-value of your bill, Monsieur Porthos,and render yours almost null, Monsieur Aramis. And now, gentlemen, I repeat, excuse me, buton that account only, and—on guard!"
Min made a by-play of drawing a sword, and wincing as if hisshoulder was injured, but said: "When you please, monsieur,"and then skipped backward as Pan feinted, fist out. Extra layers of clothing bulking theirfigures, they circled each other, throwing out finger-punches, and then firmerblows, not full strength, but enough that they had to set their feet or beknocked backward by their smoothly responsive shields.
"The cardinal's Guards!" Emily calledsuddenly, and Min and Pan spun toward Madeleine and punched with dual force,and though Madeleine's shield automatically reacted to the punches, there wasno way to keep her footing and she struggled to bring up a second shield at theright strength before she collided with one of the support pillars.
Bouncing forward, she stumbled and dropped to padded knees,but managed to counter-punch at Min and Pan both, since they'd foolishlyclumped together. Min dived to one side,leaving only Pan to be slammed into a car door. The glass had been smashed in an earlier bout, but this time metalcrumpled.
"All right, Pan?" Nash asked from the east lookoutpost, as Madeleine held her hands out in the 'no attack' signal.
"Yeah." Panstepped out of the concave imprint he'd made. "I managed not to bounce! Though I'm not sure if I can claim credit, or if I just hit the rightpoint between too hard and too soft. Youweren't holding back as much that time, Maddie."
"Meant to only step up a notch," Madeleine said,shakily. "But I think I'm getting alittle better at judging." Hopefully she'd improve before accidentally killing someone.
"Rest and then we'll swap to Emily and Fisher for afinal bout," Noi said from the west lookout, and Madeleine obedientlyplopped down near the entry gate. Minplucked an invisible hat from his head, dipping into an elaborate, hat-twirlingbow, and joined her.
It was the fourth practice session. The garage under the North Building wassuitably isolated, entirely separate from the main apartment, with only oneperforated metal entry gate and a few ventilation shutters offering anyone achance of seeing what was happening. Andfor that they would need to walk most of the way down the wharf and peer intothe gloom of the garage.