The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [125]
‘Dammit, they’re here again!’ he said in a strangled whisper. Lithely he ducked back down and pulled the trapdoor shut with a muffled thud.
‘Harry, it was … ’
‘Ah, I think we’d best be on our way,’ said Harry. ‘Our pursuers are back.’
Julia peered over the balcony and saw that the green cloaks, now wearing pale, blank stage-masks, were leaving the scene of the accident and crossing the road.
‘Who or what are they?’
‘Can’t imagine that it’s the netlaw – they would land on us in overkill numbers and with a brass band playing.’ He frowned. ‘I fear they may be those who tracked us to Earth and assassinated the original Reski Emantes. In any case, we can’t stay here.’
‘But he was here a moment ago, the Trapdoorman … ’
Harry stared at her for a second. ‘Okay, but we still need to move – tell me about it on the way.’
The arcade was the topmost floor of a large building occupied by a mixture of offices and residences. It was also built into the side of one of Rome’s hills, so at the rear of the arcade was a set of marble stairs that climbed past walled gardens and homes to the crest of the hill. There was a temple of Hephaestus there, next to a small observatory, and a park from which they finally gained a view of the full magnificence of the imperial city.
Steam power had allowed the emperors of this sagaverse-Rome to build on a godlike scale. An immense palace with sloping walls sat atop ranks of huge pillars that stretched out along the Tiber. Banners flew from the towers and battlements and fabulous ornamentation flashed gold and silver in the sun. At ground level, however, shanty towns had clustered around the shaded bases of the great pillars, grey beneath veils of smoke. Other nobles and aristocrats had sought to build extravagant, similarly elevated villas but none could match the imperial residence’s dimensions.
Harry and Julia paused to take in the view for just a moment before descending the other side of the hill, hurrying down a winding cobbled street. At the foot of it a large bridge crossed a deep smoky vale crammed with lower-class houses, two- and three-storey buildings packed in close together. They were fifty yards or so from the bridge when three Vigiles Urbani stepped out into the street, faces masked, cudgels at the ready.
‘This way!’ Harry said, ducking left along a narrow alley.
Julia was only feeling a slight strain as she dashed after him, doing her best to avoid puddles and decomposing garbage.
‘Where are we going?’ she said as he slowed at what looked like a dead end and hurriedly peered into several lightless doorways.
‘I’m sure I saw a building with a platform where a basket balloon was anchored … further up and round the hill. If we find it we can cross the river and hope that Nicodemus catches up with us before those hunters. Or we just pull the plug and go look for another sagaverse … ah, knew there had to be … ’
Julia glanced back and saw their pursuers loping down the alley towards them.
‘Lead the way.’
One black passage led to a steep, winding rack of stairs that passed through arches and beneath overhanging floors and small connecting footbridges. After a frantic climb they finally reached the building in question, complete with a railed platform jutting out over a cliffside and a pair of basket balloons tied up and swaying in the fitful breeze. Harry paid the surprised-looking attendant a handful of sesterces and five minutes later they were aloft in one of the baskets, holding on to the thick wicker sides as the pilot, a taciturn, grizzled man, adjusted the burners and pulled on vent cables from time to time.
They were halfway across when there was a thud from the basket’s wickerwork floor. Julia and Harry moved to one side and a hitherto invisible hatch creaked open.
‘Quickly,’ came a voice from the dimness below. ‘Before they realise.’
Julia went first, smiling at the stunned balloonist as she climbed down, hastily followed by Harry, who pulled the trapdoor shut after him. They were in a small grey-walled compartment