Luther didn’t move.
“Luther, sit down!” snapped Donnell. “You threw a tantrum at breakfast time that embarrassed me in front of all four division leaders. If you embarrass me in front of them for a second time today, you won’t be an officer any longer.”
“Good!” Luther stalked to the door, opened it, walked out, and slammed it shut behind him.
Donnell turned to Machico. “Do I stick to that threat, Mac, or give Luther another chance?”
“Luther doesn’t believe your threats,” said Machico. “He thinks he can do anything he likes, and you’ll let him get away with it because he’s Kasim’s son. It’s not surprising he thinks that, because it’s what you’ve done every time so far.”
Donnell drummed his fingers on the table. “You’re saying it’s time I called a halt to Luther’s antics?”
“I’m saying you should have called a halt to them days ago, Sean,” said Machico. “Luther’s been creating minor scenes ever since he became an officer, but they’ve reached a whole new height of childish drama since Blaze got back from upriver.”
“I was a little unkind to Luther on the trip back,” I said guiltily.
Machico groaned. “It’s bad enough with Donnell constantly making excuses for the boy. Please don’t start doing it as well, Blaze.”
“I felt there was some excuse for Luther’s behaviour after he first saw Blaze had the gun,” said Donnell. “He was suffering from shock and disappointment.”
“Yes, but Luther’s had plenty of time to calm down since then,” said Machico. “He still threw that tantrum at breakfast, and now he’s walked out of this meeting. None of the division leaders will miss the significance of his empty chair. If Luther doesn’t see sense tomorrow, then you have to take action, Sean. You can’t have one of your officers spitting defiance at you like a sulky two-year-old.”
“I totally agree,” said Vijay. “Chaos knows I’m biased in favour of any young man as good looking as Luther, but even I’ve had enough of his lordship’s ego since he was made an officer.”
“I suggest that Vijay, Aaron, Julien, and I have a little talk with Luther,” said Weston. “We can take him up to the sixth floor of the Resistance wing, and explain that Donnell may be willing to put up with his behaviour but the rest of us have reached our limit.”
“I’m totally in favour,” said Machico. “Just don’t let Julien be the one to do the punching, because he’s bound to get over enthusiastic about it, and we don’t want the bruises to be too visible.”
I frowned. I’d never had any illusions about the Resistance being civilized, and it wasn’t in my nature to become a pacifist like Braden, but I felt we should find better solutions to internal disputes than having our officers beat each other up.
Donnell shrugged. “If you four want to have a private chat with Luther, then that’s none of my business. Just remember that losing Luther would mean I was short of one officer and with a second one still in an extremely debatable position.”
He turned to Julien. “You didn’t exactly help things there. I wish that …”
Donnell broke off as the door opened and Ice led in London division. The other division groups gradually returned as well, and settled down at their tables.
“You’ve all had plenty of time to discuss this, so we’ll move straight on to the vote.” Donnell looked at the first table. “London division?”
“London votes yes,” said Ice.
Donnell turned to the next table. “Queens Island?”
“Queens Island votes no,” said Major. “We were willing to accept your daughter as an officer so long as she minded her manners, but we’re not having a woman deputy.”
He looked pointedly at Luther’s empty chair. “I’ve no idea why you bothered proposing the girl as your deputy. You obviously can’t even get your own officers to accept her.”
I knew that Luther walking out on the meeting hadn’t helped the situation, but I was sure Major would never have voted for me anyway. Another man might have been relieved that my victory against Cage had freed him from being blackmailed, but Major would be furious at a woman saving him.
Donnell turned to the third table. “Brooklyn division?”
Ghost turned to look defiantly at Major. “Brooklyn division votes yes. We welcome the idea of Blaze as deputy leader.”
“Well, you already know you aren’t getting her,” said Major. “It takes three division leaders voting in favour to confirm a deputy leader appointment. We’ve voted against and so will Manhattan.”
“Manhattan will cast our own vote,” cut in Wall, “and we vote for Blaze.”
Major gave him a disbelieving look. “But you said …”
“We have the required three to one majority,” said Donnell. “Under the alliance rules, Queens Island must now either acknowledge the authority of the new deputy or withdraw from the alliance and leave Parliament House.”
Major sat in silence for a couple of minutes. He had no choice but to accept the majority decision – he couldn’t lead Queens Island off to find a new home in the middle of winter – but he was taking his time over it.
“Well?” prompted Donnell.
“We acknowledge Blaze as deputy,” snapped Major.
Donnell nodded. “You’ll all want to tell your people the news now. Please also tell them I’ll be holding a general conclave of the whole alliance next week.”
“To deal with the issue of Cage?” asked Major.
“Amongst other things, yes,” said Donnell.
“Good,” said Major. “Queens Island will have many questions to ask about the actions of Manhattan division in general, and particularly of its leader. This isn’t the first time Manhattan has been involved in murders in Sanctuary!”
The Queens Island group stood and walked out of the room, followed by London. Wall stood up, but headed towards us rather than the door.
“Congratulations, Blaze,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“You had me worried, Wall,” said Donnell. “In the closed session, you talked as if you were definitely voting against Blaze as deputy.”
Wall smiled. “Blaze has convinced Manhattan that she will use her authority fairly, so she has our whole-hearted allegiance, but it’s always enjoyable to raise the expectations of Queens Island before disappointing them.”
Wall went back to his own group. Donnell turned to me, his eyebrows raised questioningly, but didn’t have time to say anything before all eight of the Brooklyn division members came over to congratulate me.
“We’re making true progress at last,” said Ghost. “Donnell, if you’re replacing Luther as an officer, then we’d like you to underline things by choosing Natsumi.”
Donnell cringed. “I’m eager to have Natsumi as an officer too, but we have to let everyone calm down about Blaze’s appointment as deputy before we stir up more trouble. Now I must get back and announce this to the Resistance before the rumours start spreading. I expect Blaze is eager to get back to her patients too.”
I frowned. Tad was already upset about me being Armed. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to react well to the news I was deputy alliance leader.
Chapter Thirty-six
“You aren’t just wearing a gun on your arm,” said Tad gloomily. “It’s a leadership symbol. You’ve taken on the responsibility for over seven hundred lives.”
I paused halfway along the corridor to glare at him. “I’ve been deputy alliance leader for seven days now. You’ve said exactly the same thing on every one of those days.”
“I keep saying the same thing, because I keep thinking the same thing,” said Tad. “I go round and round the problem in my mind, but I can’t find an answer. Even if I could find a way to get that gun off your arm, or to make Zeus accept an Armed scavenger girl, you wouldn’t leave people who depend on you.”
“No, I wouldn’t.” I started walking again. “Now please forget about it. I’m tired of having the same conversation over and over again
.”
Tad chased after me. “It’s difficult to forget about the gun when it’s right there on your arm with its lights flashing at me.”
“I shouldn’t take you to this meeting. I should take you up to the roof instead and throw you off it.”
Tad sighed. “You’re really worried about this meeting, aren’t you?”
By now I’d learned a lot of things about Tad. His irritating endless questions were because he was used to having the local data net answer his every fleeting thought. His occasional unconscious arrogance was because of the way everyone had deferred to him on Adonis. His deep underlying insecurity was because he’d grown up knowing the future of five hundred worlds depended on him doing something that was virtually impossible. I even knew something he’d never shared with anyone else; his secret feelings about Ellie and the debt he owed her for the second-hand web implanted in his brain.
Tad knew a lot of things about me too, like the way that stress could make me lash out at the very people who were trying to help me.
We’d reached the door at the end of the corridor now, so I stopped and turned to face him. “Yes. Sorry. I’m worried sick. I know the Resistance will follow Donnell out of New York, but the divisions will each make their own decision.”
“You think some may want to stay?” Tad shook his head. “Donnell can’t let them do that.”
“Donnell can’t force the divisions to leave New York,” I said. “The leader of each division will decide what to do. If that leader doesn’t believe the firestorm is coming, then they’ll stay and make everyone else in their division stay with them. Today’s meeting will decide who leaves New York and lives, and who burns to death in the firestorm.”
I couldn’t stop myself picturing those deaths, populating my old memories of the London firestorm with the people I knew in New York. I realized I was on the edge of crying, and scrubbed the back of my hand across my eyes. Crying would only make things worse.
Tad reached out to hold me. “Nobody is going to burn to death, Blaze. I promise it won’t happen.”
I let myself relax against the comforting warmth of him for a moment, before stepping away and shaking my head. “You must know what the division leaders are like by now, Tad. They won’t all agree to come with us.”
I put my hand on the security plate of the door in front of us, and it obediently slid open. As we went through it, I heard Tad gasp.
“I suppose I should have expected this,” he said, in an awed voice, “but I didn’t.”
I was strangely impressed myself. This was a windowless area of the building, and when I’d been here before we’d been saving power, so I’d only seen it as a dimly lit place of shadows. Now every single light was blazing, so I could see the full majesty of it. The dark wood and gold splendour, the curved banks of seats, and the raised platform where Donnell and his other officers were already standing.
“The United Earth Americas Parliament used to meet here,” I said. “Now it’s ours.”
We walked down the nearest of the gently sloping aisles, and joined Donnell by the array of grand wooden seating on the platform. I noticed Luther giving me a painfully forced smile, and made myself smile back. Weston, Vijay, Aaron, and Julien had had their threatened chat with Luther after the vote on me being deputy. I’d asked Aaron what happened during it, and he claimed it really had been nothing more than a chat, with no punches thrown on either side.
I wasn’t sure I believed that. Whether it was true or not, Luther had been carefully behaving himself since then.
“I want Blaze and Machico sitting on either side of me, so they’ve both got working microphones,” said Donnell. “Tad, I’ve put a flexiplas chair behind the proper platform seating for you. You’ll be hidden from view, but able to whisper information to us if anyone asks any awkward questions.”
Tad vanished round the back of the seating, and I sat down in the place I still thought of as belonging to Kasim. I saw Luther frowning at me, and was worried that he’d throw another tantrum about me sitting in his father’s seat, but he sat down without saying a word.
Everyone else sat down as well, and I heard Tad whisper from behind me. “Can you hear me?”
“Far too often,” said Donnell.
People came streaming in through one of the six doors that linked this room to the wings of the building. I blinked in surprise. The Resistance were usually the first to arrive at a general conclave, but Brooklyn division had come in early. When they sat down, I understood why. Each division had their bank of seats, and the leaders of the other divisions always sat in the front row with their seven alliance representatives. The figures sitting in the front row of Brooklyn division with Ghost included three women.
Machico laughed. “Brooklyn have decided that a female deputy alliance leader means they can have female alliance representatives at last.”
Donnell groaned. “I appreciate their reasons for doing that, but I really don’t need extra complications in this meeting.”
Natsumi led the Resistance in next, and there was an outbreak of startled conversation as everyone saw the seating arrangement of Brooklyn division. When the Resistance finally sat down, I heard a whisper from Tad.
“I see the Resistance sit in the middle bank of seats. Does that symbolize your political position?”
“The Resistance always sit between Manhattan division and Queens Island division to stop them trying to kill each other during the meetings,” said Donnell, in a low voice. “You’re here to answer questions not ask them, so hush.”
Manhattan division came in next. They were halfway down their aisle when Wall saw the front row of Brooklyn division. He stopped so abruptly that a couple of his men bumped into him.
“And now the trouble starts,” muttered Donnell.
Wall stood perfectly still for about ten seconds, then shouted a single word. “Mist!”
There was some hasty shuffling of the crowd behind him to let through a girl with a more feminine version of Wall’s dark features and tightly curled black hair. Manhattan started moving again, and I watched in awe as Mist sat next to Wall in the front row.
“Chaos weeping,” said Donnell. “Why is Wall putting his favourite niece in the front row with him?”
“Wall has a long history of opposing women having power, but he voted in support of Blaze becoming deputy,” said Machico. “Now he’s following Brooklyn’s lead, and signalling Manhattan will be having female alliance representatives in future too. I’d love to know how Blaze talked the man into shifting his position like this.”
“I didn’t,” I said. “At least, I didn’t do it deliberately.”
I scanned the faces of Manhattan division, and winced as I saw Hannah sitting at the back, her right eye purple and swollen shut from where someone had punched her. Wall was working hard to unite his division after the recent events, generously treating most of those caught up in Cage’s plots as being victims rather than guilty parties, so I doubted Hannah had been punished for her past actions. Did that mean she’d already done something new to upset people in Manhattan?
Hannah saw me looking at her, and her depressed expression changed to something alert and calculating. I could tell she was hoping to use her bruises as emotional blackmail, to make me change my mind about having her back in the Resistance.
I met Hannah’s gaze and pointedly shook my head. She slumped down into her seat and I knew she’d got my message. I remembered all the times we’d played together as small children, and felt a stab of sadness mixed with guilt, but thrust it aside. I had far more important things to worry about today than Hannah having an uncomfortable time settling into Manhattan division.
Queens Island division were the next to arrive. Major didn’t seem to notice the women sitting in the front row until he was about to sit down himself. Like Wall, he reacted by shouting a single word, but this one was obscene.
“Do you have a problem, Major?” called Wall. “Unrequited love, perhaps? I’m sure there are pl
enty of lonely falling stars in New York that would be eager to cuddle you.”
Major glared at him, threw himself down in his seat, and folded his arms.
Ice had led in London division just in time to witness the exchange. He paused for a second, before carrying on down the aisle and turning to wave at someone. There was a moment of confusion, then a burst of laughter from London division, as a bewildered woman went to sit next to Ice in the front row.
“Isn’t that London’s washerwoman?” asked Donnell. “If she’s secretly part of London’s power hierarchy, I’ll eat an uncooked falling star.”
Machico laughed. “Ice must think this is another vote about Blaze. He’s responded by putting a woman in London division’s front row, but he’s deliberately made a joke of it by picking someone no one can possibly believe has any real power.”
Major stood up. “Can we start this meeting now?” he asked, in aggressive tones. “I want to know why Manhattan has stopped searching for Cage.”
Donnell groaned, and turned on the microphone in front of him. “I ordered Manhattan to stop searching for Cage,” he said, in a voice that echoed round the huge room. “Their search parties were obsessively hunting for him from dawn to dusk, even in heavy snow. It was only a question of time before someone was hurt or killed.”
“You can’t just abandon the hunt for Cage,” said Major.
“Cage may already be dead,” said Donnell. “We’ve found the spot where a falling star feasted on something large, but it’s impossible to be sure if the prey was a man or a deer, since falling star saliva liquefies everything including bones and teeth. If Cage isn’t dead, then he could be anywhere in New York by now.”
“Or he could be hiding nearby, even sneaking into this building,” said Major.
“Machico has spent three days working on the security system,” said Donnell. “If Cage tries to enter this building through any door or window, then alarms will start screaming. If we find any unexplained tracks in the snow when we’re hunting, then we’ll resume the search for Cage. Until that happens, we just have to accept it’s impossible to search a whole city.”