Salute the Dark

It was raining in Solarno, a light, lukewarm drizzle coming in off the Exalsee and clouding the streets with mist. Late in the evening, the setting sun was striking rainbows far off over the water, and Nero was hurrying. The Wasp-kinden had imposed a curfew now, and for the next tenday. They were turning the screws of their power, constantly raising the pressure in the city as if to see what steam might escape.

We’ll show them steam. But Nero himself was not a fighter by choice, and this entire plan was looking more and more like a wild gamble.

He ducked past an imperial patrol, making himself just one more Fly-kinden in a city full of them, worse dressed than most and nothing remarkable. His path took him down an alley, and then he went straight up, flying along the vertical wall, into a second-storey window carelessly left unshuttered.

Jemeyn and Wen, the resistance fighters, were already there. Wen studied him, eyes hooded, from her seat in the corner. Jemeyn had been pacing the floor.

‘Where is everyone else?’ Nero demanded. ‘What’s gone wrong?’

‘Mostly downstairs,’ Wen explained briefly, and added, ‘Nothing is wrong.’

‘You might say say nothing,’ Jemeyn snapped at her, ‘but three of my men were arrested only today. Clearly we’ve been compromised-’

‘They were arrested while agitating against the Wasps, what else do you expect?’ Wen shot back angrily.

‘Can they lead the Wasps to you if interrogated?’ Nero asked nervously.

‘I don’t think so. The only place they know, I’m not there any more,’ Jemeyn said, and would have said more had there not been footsteps coming up the stone stairs. Nero shifted closer to the window just in case, but relaxed when he saw Taki enter. She spared a glance for the two resistance fighters, and then looked at Nero.

‘Not dead yet?’

He gave her a smile and it was returned. ‘If you want me to stop saving your city, you can ask any time.’

A Spider-kinden had slipped in with Taki, and Nero recognized her as Odyssa, Teornis’ agent. Alongside her was a heavily built halfbreed who presumably must be one of the free pilots of the Exalsee.

‘We’re all here?’ Taki enquired.

‘Not quite,’ Nero said. ‘I was expecting someone from the reds at least.’

‘They’re lying low, trying to get the Wasps to like them,’ Jemeyn said disgustedly.

‘We can’t do this without them,’ Nero pointed out. ‘We just haven’t got the numbers.’

‘If it kicks off,’ Wen decided, ‘they’ll join in. They just won’t help us start it.’

‘That’s a shaky place to stand,’ he said, looking to Taki for support.

‘For what it’s worth, I’ll get a message to Domina Genissa. I think the Satin Trail will rise,’ she said.

‘We’re all on the wire if they don’t,’ Nero insisted.

Taki nodded, shrugged. He was right but what could they do?

‘In four days’ time the Wasps will stamp their image on this city,’ Wen explained. ‘They’re doing it in proper Solarnese style: a full ceremony right out in front of everyone. They’re testing our boundaries. If they can perform their inauguration without trouble and get their governor installed, they’ll know we’ll stay beaten.’

‘So we strike later?’ Nero said. There was a silence; he looked from face to face. ‘What, now?’

‘You’re not Solarnese,’ Taki said.

He gave her an aggrieved look. ‘I’ve been risking my skin for Solarno, though.’

‘That’s not what I mean.’

‘Solarnese pride,’ said the big halfbreed. ‘That’s what she means. The Wasps know their business. Wait until it’s done, and no one will follow your flag.’

‘So…’ Nero took stock. ‘You’re saying now that the Wasps will be expecting trouble at the inauguration, and we should give it to them.’

It was indeed what they were saying. He shared a glance with Odyssa, and saw that she was as unhappy about this as he was.

‘There will be soldiers there, most of the garrison and-’ he started.

‘Precisely,’ interrupted Wen. ‘Which means that, if we can strike hard enough, we’ll finish them then and there.’

‘If,’ Nero echoed. ‘If. We’re going to need something pretty special to deal with that kind of opposition.’

‘I have pilots and machines,’ Taki said. ‘We have Spider troops and mercenaries ready to land at the docks. We have the resistance inside the city.’

‘Most of whom you hope will join you,’ Nero pointed out.

‘We can cut and cut at the Wasps forever, and that means they’ll just tighten their grip,’ Taki said, annoyed with him now. ‘The more time we give them, the deeper they’ll dig in. Your Lowlands is fighting them now, but for how long? If Solarno is to free itself, we have to break the chains before they can add any new ones.’

They were all in agreement. Nero ground his teeth. ‘If that’s the way you want to play it,’ he said, reluctantly. ‘We’ll need a signal…’ Before he could be pelted with their ideas on the subject, he raised a hand. ‘I’ll arrange the signal. Leave it to me.’

‘What will it be?’ Wen asked him.

‘Well, if I can’t arrange anything else, it’ll be me baring my buttocks and mooning the new governor. But let me work on it,’ he told them.