No Life But This by Anna Sheehan

Author:Anna Sheehan
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780575104785
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 2014-11-11T16:00:00+00:00

chapter 11

‘A bomb?’

‘Terrorists,’ Xavier said. ‘They get a lot of them up here, but the villages are usually safer than this. They usually restrict themselves to the city ships. Easier to hide in a throng of millions.’

‘Then that … that light …’ Rose’s breath was coming in gasps. I wondered if Xavier had forgotten that Rose was still physically fragile, or if he just couldn’t be chivalrous in a crisis.

‘Firebomb,’ Xavier said. ‘Probably a hydrogen IED. They get a lot of those too. Waste gases from drawing oxygen from the water.’ He pushed someone aside. ‘Move! Moriko! Kenji!’ he called.

We were nearly at the skating rink now. We were also near the site of the attack. I could see the impact of the firebomb on the village. One of the gorgeous ice buildings was on fire, or whatever synthetic material inside it was. The ice was half melted, leaving a skeleton of a burning building, crackling with smoke. The heat had carved a crater in the ice ceiling above us, and water was steaming around the floor of the building, so we couldn’t tell if the fog in the air was mist or smoke. ‘God damn it!’ Xavier muttered.

‘What?’

‘They took out the cell tower. That’s why there’s no signal.’

‘What?’

Xavier turned to her. ‘No satellites can penetrate the ice shield. No radio waves, no cell feeds, nothing. That’s why it’s safe down here – the ice shield protects the colony from the radiation. Every connection from outside Europa comes down through the elevators, and is distributed through that tower. Every connection from the city ships is caught at the docks, and distributed through that tower. The cell tower allows our cells to link and our screens to connect. That tower,’ he pointed to the simmering building, ‘was what enabled us to communicate. The whole village is cut off.’ He stood back up to his full height. ‘Moriko!’

A terrible thought struck me. I grabbed Rose away from him. ‘What about Quin?’ He’d gone out – I didn’t know where. He could have gotten caught in this … thing.

Rose was a blank. This was not a crisis she felt prepared to handle. ‘We’ll find him,’ she said. ‘We’ll find all of them.’ She turned back to Xavier. ‘Moriko! Kenji!’ she cried out, her shrill, clear voice very small in the hubbub.

Xavier’s wasn’t much louder, aged and wavery as it was. And I couldn’t shout for Quin. I didn’t know what to do.

‘The clinic,’ Xavier said suddenly. ‘If they’re hurt, they’ll have been brought there.’ He took hold of Rose again and dragged her through the throng. I followed at her heels. We were getting farther from the site of the attack, and now there were signs beyond smoke and melting ice. Victims of the fire were being carried away, their bodies burned, their hair singed off. The moaning was terrible. I found myself in a bit of an odd position as eyes started staring at me and whispers carried up and down the rows.

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