They Came First: In the beginning... by Paul McGowan

Author:Paul McGowan [McGowan, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Viceroy Press
Published: 2023-06-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

After the first feverish hours of checking every bit of the chamber’s surface and determining that the damage hadn’t spread, Laúm and Alluria pored over Piran’s copious notes. At some point, Sophus arrived with food, which they ate one-handed while skimming schematics and trying to figure out where the fatal mistake had been made.

Though he wore a Protector’s white uniform now, Sophus hunkered down beside them. Laúm clapped his friend on the shoulder and explained what they’d already discovered. Sophus tilted his head at the schematics, first one way, then the other, and ran a hand over his head. His eyes narrowed.

Over the comms, Raez barked an order for Sophus to return to his post. Without answering, without looking away from the sea of diagrams, Sophus detached the comm device, turned it off, and threw it to the side. It bounced twice before sliding to stillness at the base of a fuel pipe.

“I’ll say what no one else wants to,” Sophus finally said. “It was deliberate.”

“No,” breathed Alluria.

Laúm shook his head, but not to disagree. As this missing piece slid into place, the entire shape of the puzzle shifted, and the picture became terrifyingly clear.

Not a mistake. Not a miscalculation.

And not necessarily Piran.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Laúm whispered. “But who? And why?”

Sophus lifted his shoulders briefly. “We’ve all seen the different agendas on display. And that crowd outside just keeps getting bigger. Fires twinkling in the dark like stars.” His lips thinned. “Enough fires for everyone in our compound a dozen times over.” He shuddered. “The sound of their breathing is like a storm.”

Laúm pressed the heels of his palms against eyes gritty and watering from the constant smoke of Aradu.

Alluria ducked her head as a pair of engineers approached. “Any ideas what happened?” asked Jonne, the taller of the two.

Laúm hated that he immediately scanned the man’s face, his posture, the curl of his hands, looking for any clue that he might be a traitor. He liked Jonne; they’d eaten lunch together a few times, talked about innovations in thermal coating, ribbed each other about taste in music and clothing. Are the shadows under his eyes from sleepless nights spent making dark plans? Did he ever mention dissatisfaction with the Quondan government? Which faction has his vote? Is he pro-Sahu or anti-Sahu—and which is more likely to lead to betrayal?

“We’re still working through it,” Alluria replied. She offered a lopsided smile. “No one wants a repeat of what happened.”

Jonne took a step back and shot a fearful glance at the hoops of the chamber. “No. No one wants that. They—they screamed, you know. Just for a—long enough. They screamed.”

With this fresh image in his mind, Laúm left Alluria and Sophus to guard their work and went in search of his father.

Jaúl had climbed the scaffolding at the perimeter to a walkway that ringed the walls of the dome. He gripped the railing, knuckles white and jaw tense.

“We can’t fail,” Jaúl said by way of greeting. “We cannot fail.

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