Empire State Read online

  "The cape!" he shouted, hoping his gesture would be understood. "Lose the damn cape!"

  The Science Pirate nodded briefly, then fumbled with something under her chin with her free hand. Her faceplate drooped forward a little, then her helmet, cloak attached, was yanked off her head as the cloak caught the wind again and pulled it into the void. Suddenly free of resistance, Rad fell backwards, taking the Science Pirate with him. For the second time his back hit the decking, and the Science Pirate landed on top of him. Rad yelled as the weight of her suit compressed his cracked ribs painfully. Face to face, Rad blinked and spat as her long brown hair swirled around them and into his mouth.

  "What in the hell?"

  The Science Pirate rolled off before Rad could grab her. She hit the wall and stood, then sliding along reached a panel of levers and glowing buttons. She jabbed one button and threw one of the levers up, and with a rocky grinding that drilled into Rad's skull, the hold door began to close. The clang as the two edges met was deafening, and was followed by near total silence, as far as Rad could tell with the tinnitus in his ears.

  Rad opened his eyes, and pulled himself to his feet. He shook his head and instinctively pressed his hands against his ears, trying to judge whether there was any permanent hearing damage. He could hear the squishy sound of his palms as he pushed them against the side of head, which was enough to satisfy him that the partial deafness was at least temporary.

  The Science Pirate was slumped over the control panel, her back heaving as she panted for breath.

  Rad walked towards her, then stopped. Call him old-fashioned, but he hated it when the bad guys were bad girls. He frowned. Whoever she was, she was not only a co-conspirator in the Skyguard's plan to destroy the city, but was responsible for the death of Grieves and Jones. Rad wondered whether Nimrod had been able to watch, up here in the clouds.

  He reached out to her shoulder, but she turned before he touched her. Rad jerked back a little then, when she brushed the hair out of her face, he took another step back, and swore.

  "That's nice," said the woman. She wasn't smiling.

  Rad lifted an eyebrow, then stepped closer to her as he felt his temper ignite. Without the helmet, he could see how the armour inflated her bulk and height. Out of it, she would have been a very petite thing.

  He said, "You're awfully alive for a dead girl."

  "Nice and charming. Are all men like this in your grey excuse for a city?"

  Rad frowned.

  "Don't tell me, you like to call New York your home?"

  The woman looked Rad up and down, an expression of sour distaste on her otherwise handsome features.

  "I don't like to call New York anything, but it's a darned sight better than this wet shithole."

  "Got a smart mouth too, lady."

  "Lady?" A smile appeared. "Oh my!" she said, sarcastically fanning her face with one hand.

  Rad grabbed her arm at the elbow. She pulled away, but without power the dead armour was heavy and she couldn't struggle much. After a few seconds she stopped pulling, and her arm went limp in Rad's grip.

  He said, "New York or the Empire State, take your pick, you can be tried in either place, or in both places. I imagine we can work out an extradition treaty."

  "What are you, some kind of cop?"

  Rad nodded. Now it was his turn to smile. "I'm a licensed private investigator, so that means yes. And apart from terrorism, conspiracy to commit genocide, and a dozen other crimes I'm sure I can think up, I'm holding you responsible for the death of those two agents."

  The woman smiled again. It was an unpleasant expression. Rad's eyes narrowed. His leg was hurting, and he knew he was in danger of blowing his stack the longer he stood here pissing in the wind with the Science Pirate. He thought of Grieves and Jones and wondered how long it would have taken to hit the ground. He wondered again if Nimrod had been watching.

  The floor tipped, throwing Rad onto the woman. She yelped and punched him weakly in the chest, but Rad righted himself quickly and yanked her arm again.

  "Come with me. Carson will want to see this."

  The door was open. Carson and Byron were at the bridge controls, gazing out into the darkness. Rad entered, dragging his prisoner behind him, then he stopped, and stared.

  The entire city was laid out in front of them as they hovered, apparently stationary, just under the cloud deck. It was bright and surprisingly symmetrical, the spire of the Empire State Building forming the tall central spoke from which the illuminated city blocks radiated out into the characteristic oblong island. Rad watched as bright white spots moved around the city's heart like flies. Police blimps orbiting the damaged onehundred-and-first floor of the Empire State Building.

  "We safe?" he asked.

  "In all practical aspects, yes." Carson didn't turn around. Rad noticed that neither he nor Byron were moving. The detective stepped up behind the Captain, who turned at the sound of a second pair of heavy footsteps clattering awkwardly on the metal grille decking.

  Carson continued: "Sam Saturn, I presume? Or rather, her New York equivalent."

  The Science Pirate jerked her arm free from Rad's grip.

  "Lisa Saturn. Ms Saturn to you. I kinda guessed you'd be here."

  The Captain turned fully towards Rad and Lisa. His moustache bristled as he grinned widely and clapped his hands like he was trying to keep warm.

  "Actually, I don't think we've met. My name is Captain Carson. I believe you have me confused with someone else."

  Lisa Saturn shrugged like she didn't care and looked Carson up and down with an expression of distaste.

  Rad tapped his knuckles on the bulkhead impatiently. He nodded at the spectacular city view out of the main window.

  "We safe?" he repeated.

  Carson's smile tightened, and he wrung his hands together. He then pursed his lips, and glanced over his shoulder at Byron.

  "Status?"

  Motionless at the controls, Rad saw that one of Byron's arms was up to the elbow in an open panel underneath the main control deck. Rad swore he saw something flash inside Byron's helmet, but it must have been a reflection of something outside.

  "Safety margin at thirteen minutes," said Byron. His voice was even and calm, as if he were offering brandy from a tray back at Carson's hilltop mansion. "Allowing for clearance, I estimate approximately twenty-one minutes."

  The Captain turned back to Rad, and smiled, which Rad found infuriating. He looked out of the window again. They were way off the Skyguard's intended target, out of range of the city by at least a couple of miles.

  "Twenty-one minutes until what?" Rad prompted.

  "Until, Mr Bradley, this airship ditches into the water." Carson glanced back at the control panel. "Time we were leaving, I think." Carson headed for the door, pausing to glance at Lisa.

  He said, "Does the armour function without the helmet?"

  Lisa looked from Carson to Rad, then at Byron. She winced as she looked the exposed wiring connecting Byron to the control panel, then turned back to the Captain.

  "Yes, but my actuator is gone, thanks to your friend. There's no power coming from the cell."

  "Ah," said Carson. "Always a weakness, I thought, making the entire power system dependent on a single component, but some people just wouldn't listen. No matter, it should be easy to fix. Can you carry three?"

  Lisa snorted, sending a fleck of spit arcing through the air.

  "Like I'm going to lift a finger to help you, pal."

  Carson smiled tightly. "You are most welcome to meet your fiery doom on board this craft, young lady. However, I had not intended to end my days in a hydrogen explosion. I would not like to speak for Mr Bradley here, but I would presume he shares my view."

  Rad folded his arms, staring at Lisa. "Hell no," he said.

  Lisa poked a tongue into her cheek and moved her jaw like she was chewing gum. She looked Rad up and down, her eyes stopping at his waistline. "Landing might be rough, but we should be able to get to th
e city."

  "I think our landing may be rougher if we remain here," said Carson.

  Rad held both arms up, palms facing outwards. He closed his eyes and took a breath.

  "Folks, hold on. We're still going to crash? What about the Nimrod?"

  The Captain shook his head. "The Nimrod is the only thing holding this contraption afloat. Our young friend here is going to have to rocket us to freedom."

  Rad blinked. "We're leaving Rex to crash?"

  "No, Rex is coming with us. Go and collect him, there's a good chap. And hurry. Meet us in the hold. I'll fix the actuator of Ms Saturn's armour."

  "What about Byron?"

  Carson shook his head and pointed. Rad leaned over Byron's shoulder, then understood. Byron wasn't so much keeping hold of the controls, he was wired into the airship's system.

  "It was the only way to override the system," Carson said quietly.

  Byron said: "Eleven minutes, Captain."

  Rad sighed, and felt the Captain's hand on his shoulder.

  "Fetch Rex. Hurry."

  FORTY

  RAD PRESSED HIS LEG WOUND, and his hands came away spotted with blood, but perhaps less than he had expected. The landing had been rough, but they were in one piece. The grass was wet, as was the air.

  Carson stood, hands in the pockets of his jacket, at the end of the park. There was a concrete wall, then a drop to a blackshingled slope which descended into the still water. Ahead of them, the fog barrier that surrounded the Empire State was clearly visible. Against the orange glow, higher, the misshapen collection of outlines that was the Nimrod tethered to the Enemy airship was silhouetted.

  "I thought it was going to crash?"

  The Captain half-turned at Rad's voice, then looked back at the two ships. Their altitude was dropping, but they still had some height and were moving away at a steady pace. Carson clicked his tongue.

  "Byron is piloting the ships as far away from the city as possible. There are several million cubic feet of hydrogen in the iron ship, and a smaller but still substantial amount in the Nimrod." He paused, and rubbed his moustache. The conglomeration of ships was very close to the fog barrier. "I wonder?"

  Rad saw it too. "He's gonna get through the fog? What happens then? He crashes into the Enemy city?"

  "Perhaps. Who knows? The physics of beyond the fog are shaky. At least the Empire State will be safe."

  The fog barrier popped around the two airships, then after a few seconds all that remained was a greyish swirl bruising the otherwise dark orangey wall. Rad and the Captain continued to watch, looking at nothing, for the best part of a couple of minutes.

  "Gee, I'm all cut up." Lisa broke the silence. Captain Carson appeared to ignore her, but Rad turned, fists clenched at his side. Lisa was standing, arms folded, just behind them. Behind her, Rex sat cross-legged, looking at nothing, his face blank.

  "You got a nerve," said Rad, taking a few steps towards Lisa. He towered over her, but she just looked up into his face with a smirk. "Add another murder to the list, shall we?"

  Lisa hissed through clenched teeth. "Not sure you can murder a machine, can you? Not a hunk o' junk like that thing."

  "Hmm!" It was the Captain. He was still looking out to the water, but his shoulders moved with the exclamation. He turned, walked towards Lisa, smiled – then punched her in the jaw. Rad flinched as there was a sharp crack, which he was pretty sure came from the old man's hand, but Lisa fell onto the soft ground on one elbow, smile wiped from her face. She touched her lip as a trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth, her cheek a livid scarlet from where Carson's punch had landed. She spat on the grass, but didn't get up. The Captain bent double over her, sticking his nose in her face.

  "You are a particularly unpleasant young woman. I am not a vindictive man, but I will hold my rage in check as I know – and you know – full well that you will not escape justice. Whether it be in New York, or at the hands of myself and Mr Bradley here."

  Someone coughed. Carson kept his attention on Lisa, but Rad turned. Rex shuffled uncomfortably on the ground where he was sitting.

  "Someone want to tell me how a dead girl can be walking around and flying through the air and stuff?" he asked.

  Rad and Carson exchanged a look. Rex made to stand up, but Rad pushed him back down with a foot to the shoulder.

  Rex sighed. "Please, get me out of this nightmare."

  Carson straightened, and rubbed his fist with his other hand. He shook it, and flexed the fingers. All seemed to be in working order, Rad saw.

  The old man said, "If only it were that simple. You don't get out of a murder charge so easily. Your victim is still dead, lying on my mortuary slab." He looked down at Lisa. "Care to fill in our friend, here?"

  Lisa spat blood again. "Go to hell, Nimrod."

  The Captain laughed. "You really don't pay attention, do you?"

  "I think I know," said Rad. Carson gestured for the detective to speak.

  "Sam Saturn went missing from the Empire State, landed in New York, swapped places with her." Rad pointed at Lisa, who just scowled. "Rex found her in New York, thinking she was the Science Pirate, and killed her. Her death sucked both Rex and the body back to the Empire State, but didn't touch the real Science Pirate, who was stuck." Rad paused and pulled at his bottom lip. "Why'd you kill her, anyway?"

  Rex glanced at Rad, then looked away like a petulant child.

  "She got in my way. Goddamn city will give me a medal."

  Rad sighed. "Huh. You may have to do better than that at your trial."

  Carson stroked his moustache. "Fascinating. So the Science Pirate and the Skyguard opened the Fissure and were pulled through at the same time, but while the Skyguard arrived shortly after the Empire State had been established – just long enough for Crater to have anticipated his arrival and arrange his detention anyway – Ms Lisa Saturn got catapulted forward nineteen years. Sam Saturn was likewise sent backwards nineteen years. Right into the path of a killer."

  Rad sighed. "Tricky-dicky." He nudged Lisa Saturn's leg with his foot. "How did Kane contact you?"

  Lisa rolled her tongue behind her lips, sighed, then gave in.

  "I've been here about a few days. Maybe more, it's hard to tell. I thought this was something planned by the Skyguard, some kind of trick. But my suit didn't work properly. I tried to fix it, but the only thing I could get working was the emergency receiver. That's when I picked up the Skyguard's signal. I followed it to him. He said we were both trapped in this place, that it was some kind of mirror of New York and that he knew how to get us back home." She paused, and rubbed her eyes.

  "Except it wasn't the Skyguard you knew, was it?" Rad prompted.

  She shook her head.

  "Because the Skyguard from New York was dead in jail in the Empire State," said Rad.

  Lisa tried to stand, but Rad shifted his foot and stood on her calf. It wasn't enough to keep her on the ground, but she got the point and instead drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

  "This guy was wearing the Skyguard's suit – not a copy, the real thing. I should know, I helped build it. He was the same, but... younger, different. Said he'd been given the mantle of the Skyguard."

  Carson hrmmed loudly, and folded his arms. He looked at the ground, as if he was embarrassed about something. Rad rolled the story back in his mind to pick up on a loose thread.

  "Rex killed Sam Saturn, thinking she was Lisa Saturn. So how'd they both wind up back here?"

  The Captain looked up. "We don't understand the links between the Pocket and the Origin. Every event, every person is threaded through both worlds. Perhaps..."

  "There was a flash." Rex broke into Carson's theorising. "I thought I'd hit my head in the fight, but you know, she didn't fight at all. She was like a rag doll, small, thin. She... she broke in my hands. Dammit, I didn't know it would be like that. But when I woke up, I was in the same alley, but in a different place." He looked up at the night sky. "Here." He shru
gged.

  Rad rubbed his prickly scalp. "So the very act of Sam's murder pulled her – and her killer – back into the Pocket."

  Captain Carson nodded. "Sam Saturn did not belong in the Origin. Perhaps the Pocket was just bringing her home."

  Rad continued: "So the Skyguard was arrested as soon as he arrived in the Empire State. He's always been in jail, right from the beginning."

  "Crater arrived before he did, and knew that if the Skyguard arrived, he'd be a threat," said Carson.