As he looked up at her bright emerald eyes, the thought came to him unbidden that they were on the run, but it was her wild, disheveled hair that looked like a fugitive sunset. He scoffed at himself as something stirred in him, but he found himself reluctant to push her away. “Old storage tanks for a fuel repository. A long, long time ago.”
Brigid climbed to her feet, standing ankle deep in dirt, brushing grit from her hair and clothes. Kane stood, scanning the area. He saw places where the soil had been disturbed and he silently heaved a sigh of relief. These were signs that Grant had come this way, and not too long before.
He took her hand and started to lead her, but Brigid dug in her heels, wresting herself away. “Wait.”
“Why?”
“Why are you doing this for me? You’re risking everything.”
Kane replied quietly, “Partly because I’m responsible. You were just doing your job, what a Magistrate told you to do.”
“Is that all?” she asked.
“No. I have to know what you learned, why it scared the shit out of Salvo.”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“All he told me was that this Dulce place figures very prominently in the plans of the Trust.”
“The Trust?”
“Tell me what you know, and if we have the time, I’ll tell you what I know.”
Brigid talked, quickly and quietly. Kane listened without interjecting comments or questions, not even when she mentioned the Archon Directive, the Totality Concept and the description of the PTBE.
“It’s obvious that the seeds of the baronies were planted back in the twentieth century, before the nukecaust,” Brigid said. “The Totality Concept, the redoubts, even this so-called Archon Directive were components of a far-ranging plan.”
“And the nuking interrupted it,” Kane said.
“Or was part of it,” she retorted.
“I don’t understand.”
“Think about it. The population was reduced to a manageable level, to a point where concerted resistance against the unification program was utterly futile.”
Kane gazed at her, even though she couldn’t see him. He didn’t know what to say; he wasn’t even sure of his feelings. But the one emotion growing within him wasn’t fear. It was despair.
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand again.
“What about your story?”
“Later. Someone is waiting for us.”
He led her down the hollow cylinder of the old fuel cistern. She stumbled over loose stones and chunks of concrete that had fallen from above. He should have been more observant about the obstacles in her way, but he was thinking about his beliefs, or more importantly, his disbeliefs.
After all, Kane hadn’t truly accepted what he’d been told by Baron Cobalt, Salvo or the members of the Trust. He swore at himself for his doubts and confusion. But in the final analysis, it really didn’t matter if everything or nothing at all he’d been told was true. What mattered was that he’d stayed alive, survived, eagerly eaten the crap he’d been handed and asked for more.
The issues now confronting him were of far greater import than his life or the lives of Brigid, Grant or even his father. He’d allowed primitive fears and angers and worsecuriosityto motivate him. Baptiste had given him fair warning, though. She had said only two days ago, “You brought all this up. Curiosity always has its price, you know.”
He, Grant and Brigid had paid the price, and now all three of them were on their own and on the run. It was far too late to ask for a refund.
He found the rungs leading to the hatch and, bidding Brigid to remain motionless, he clambered up. The heavy iron cover moved fairly easily, which proved Grant had already dislodged it.
Sliding the metal disk to one side, Kane poked his head up and took a quick recce of the foul-smelling alleyway. He saw no one, and he crawled out. Brigid followed a heartbeat later, blinking in the early-morning sunlight, almost overwhelmed by the odors.
“Welcome to the Tartarus Pits,” he said, striving for a light tone. “The tour starts immediately.”
Brigid didn’t reply. She didn’t have to, because her face displayed her emotions. Kane checked the mouth of the alley, found the lane clear and gestured for her to join him. They moved only in shadows, working their way toward the east wall. They stepped over dead rats and Pit dwellers sleeping under blankets of garbage.