Shades of Grey

Ball Lightning

I found Dorian in his photographic studio after breakfast and told him about the Colorman’s offer of a safe passage to Emerald City.

“A thousand?”

“That’s what he said.”

“We might scrape all that together,” he said, “but not have enough for an Open Return as well.”

“How was the harvest?”

“Negative fifteen ounces all told,” he said, “considerably worse than last year.”

I told him to stay tuned as the situation might improve, and he thanked me for my time.

Soon after that I bumped into Carlos Fandango, who was cleaning out the mechanism in the village arc light.

“Did you send word to your Purple contact?” he asked, after demonstrating how the mechanism worked and explaining how constant maintenance was required to keep the streetlamp from flickering or, worse, going out altogether—the janitor’s worst possible faux pas.

“He’s at a leadership convention at Malachite-on-Sea,” I lied, reasoning that if Fandango at least thought Bertie was in the cards, he’d delay other potential suitors, “but I’ve requested the name of his hotel.

Tomorrow, perhaps.”

“Jolly good! Did you see Courtland? He wanted to talk to you about something.”

After seeking directions, I walked out of the village to a large open pasture where I found East Carmine’s second-best Model T. This was a pickup, and far more battered than the sedan, if such a thing was possible. The bodywork had been dented and hammered out so many times that it resembled the skin of a baked potato, and the tires were homemade from scrap rubber, expertly stitched together with braided nylon. As Fandango had explained, the second T was used to neutralize ball lightning. Mounted on the flatbed was a swivel mount upon which sat a powerful crossbow, tensioned and loaded with a copper spike.

Sitting on a deck chair by the side of the vehicle was Courtland. He was dressed in herringbone tweeds and had a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits on a small table. Just a little way away, a Grey was staring toward the Western Hills through a pair of binoculars. Like Courtland, he would be on triple wages.

Fork lightning was fairly predictable, but ball was a law unto itself. Our team back home would lose a ball-trapper a year, almost without fail. Nasty business.

“Glad you could make it,” said Courtland. “Tea?”

“No, thanks.”

“Suit yourself. My man Preston does a smashing cuppa. Isn’t that so, Preston?”

Preston murmured, “Yes, sir,” but kept his eyes firmly glued to the horizon.

“Before they Leapbacked riding,” continued Courtland, “ball-lightning hunts were conducted on horseback. Fine sport, they say, although I don’t believe they neutralized a single one. Tricky business, throwing a harpoon at full gallop—and the earthing wires always ended up tangled in the horse’s hooves.”

He chortled to himself, then turned to me with a scowl. “Tommo tells me you didn’t double-order the Lincoln for us— despite his having wangled you a ride to Rusty Hill.”

I shrugged. “Double-ordering the Lincoln without Dad noticing was difficult.”

“Of course it was difficult,” snapped Courtland. “If it was easy, I would have asked Tommo, or done it myself.”

“Ball!” announced Preston, swiftly moving from his binoculars to a simple inclinometer mounted on a wooden tripod. We stared toward the horizon and saw a shining white orb slowly wending its way in our direction. Courtland put down his tea and picked up a stopwatch and clipboard.

“Bearing two hundred and sixty-two degrees,” recited Preston, “elevation thirty-two.”

Courtland wrote the numbers on a pad, then pressed the stopwatch. “Mark!” he called, then turned back to me. “So what are you going to do to make amends? Do you have anything else to bargain with, or will I simply take our favor off your account?”

“I have an account?”

“You most certainly do,” asserted Courtland, “and it’s already in deficit—by the cost of setting up the account. Mark!”

Ten seconds had ticked past.

“Bearing two hundred and sixty-seven degrees, elevation thirty-six,” recited Preston. “High and fast, I think, guv’nor.”

“I’ll be the best judge of that, thank you,” said Courtland, consulting a cardboard calculator before announcing, “Fast and high—it will probably land somewhere near Great Auburn, if it doesn’t wink out before then. Right, then,” he added, turning back to me, “to make amends I have decided you are to return to Rusty Hill and collect up as many spoons as you can. Even a dented teaspoon would be worth a hundred merits on the Beigemarket, and out of the fifty or so spoons kicking around there must be two or three carrying clear title postcodes we can sell to an underpopulated village. Now that would be some serious cash—and legal.”

But Courtland’s avaricious spoon talk had little effect upon me. I had something else on my mind, and I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“We found Travis.”

He stared at me intently before replying in a nonchalant manner: “Alive?”

“No.”

“Shame. Did you manage to swipe his spoons before anyone arrived?”

“I was more concerned about Travis.”

“That’s what happens when you accept friendships from other colors,” he chided. “It makes one unprofitably sentimental. What happened to him, by the way?”

“His head was half burned away.”

“That’s good news for the Council. It justifies the hideous cost of the crackletrap.”

“But not good news for Travis.”

Courtland shrugged, and I showed him the piece of molten metal I’d found in Travis’ skull.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Of course,” he replied evenly, “it’s a section of unburned Daylighter. Tommo could probably get you four merits for it as salvage. He could sell green to an Orange, that boy.”

“Do you want to know where I found it?”

“My dear fellow, you might enjoy grubbing around for scrap, but I have greater demands on my time.”

“I found it in Travis’ head.”

He stared at me with a blank expression for several moments, giving nothing away. He and his mother had gone out at night to look for Travis, armed with Daylighters. A magnesium flare would be hot enough when thrust into the head to emulate a ball strike. They said they hadn’t found him, but the evidence seemed to indicate otherwise. Courtland tapped his fingers together.

“Something on your mind, Edward?”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you kill him?”

He rose to his feet. I thought he was going to violent me, but he didn’t. He just laughed out loud and patted me on the shoulder.

“You’ve been listening to too much Renfrew, old chap. There isn’t any murder anymore—there’s no point to it. Why would we even consider such a thing?”

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly. Besides, what proof do you have? Did anyone see you take that from Travis’ head?”

I didn’t say anything, which was answer enough.

“You’re sharp,” he said, “and I respect that. And since they say you’ve got good red and will be here for a while, I guess you and I will have to get along.”

“I’m not staying, Courtland.”

He smiled.

“You really don’t get it, do you?”

He pointed at my NEEDS HUMILITY badge.

“Do you really think it was Bertie Magenta’s elephant trick that got you sent out here?”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to have to guess again. The Outer Fringes have a greater purpose than you credit them.

They are a receptacle for those who have done nothing against the Rules but are deemed ‘potentially problematical. ’ When it comes to Harmony, it’s far better to be safe than sorry. Counting chairs in the Outer Fringes is Reboot with a small r.”

A sudden thought struck me. Old Man Magenta hadn’t been annoyed about the elephant trick perpetrated on his son. In fact, he had laughed for the third time ever, and Mr. Blaupunkt, our Blue prefect, had privately told me that Bertie deserved it, as he was something of a clot, and everyone thought so.

“It was the improved queuing, wasn’t it?” I said in a quiet voice.

“Now you’re getting it. The Collective has a built-in resistance to change. Not just in technology and social mobility but in ideas. Queue modification isn’t an offense, but it’s enough to have you covertly flagged.”

“What about ‘Buy one get one free’ offers? Is that a flag, too?”

“Tommo’s out here for the same reason. But it was greed that had him flagged, not seditious thoughts about corrupting the sanctity of the dinner queue. Are you certain you wouldn’t like some tea?”

“Certain.”

“Designing flyable models, discovering the harmonics, an overly obsessive interest in history, talking about specific ideas at the Debating Society, uncovering certain artifacts—the list is long. You’re not leaving.”

“But I’ve an Oxblood to marry.”

“Your frustration and anger will become bearable in time. Most people in the Fringes eventually stop struggling and wear their defiance with a certain tattered pride. In a generation or two your descendants will forget why they are here and may once more circulate. Unless—?”

“Unless what?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He then opened it in a very obvious manner so I could see how many notes were stuffed inside it.

“There is no proof of your ridiculous assertions regarding Travis, but let’s just say I am willing to be generous to someone who is perhaps a little too nosy for his own good. What’s the going rate for Red silence at the moment? Three hundred?”

I stared back at him.

“I won’t be bought off.”

He sighed. “Your misplaced scruples are becoming wholly tiresome, Master Russett. Are you going to name a price, or do we have to indulge in a tedious series of negotiations?”

“I just want justice for Travis.”

Courtland laughed again.

“Good luck to you. What have you got? A piece of scrap metal and an outrageous story. What have we got? A prefect and a senior monitor who will swear on the Word of Munsell that we saw and found nothing.”

He leaned closer and lowered his voice to a growl.

“You have nothing, Russett. Nothing. In fact, since earning the ire of the Gamboges, you have considerably less than nothing.”

“Low and slow, west by south!” shouted Preston, running toward the Ford. “And it’s a binary pair!”

It was indeed. The two football-sized balls were orbiting each other as they moved across the treetops about five hundred yards away, drifting with the breeze. Preston had the Ford started in an instant, and Courtland jumped on the back.

“Come on, Russett,” he said heaving the heavy crossbow around on its mount and checking that the copper spike was still seated securely on the string. “Why not make yourself useful?”

After a second’s hesitation, I hopped into the cab. I was just in time. With a lurch and a cry of “Tally-ho!” from Courtland, the Ford leaped forward, sped across the grass and drove down an incline toward a spinney.

“Hello,” I said to Preston. “Eddie Russett.”

“First time to hunt ball?”

I nodded as we bumped over a rut.

“You’ll like it. We get plasma storms every thirty-seven days; they’re so accurate you could set your calendar by them.”

I lowered my voice so Courtland couldn’t hear, but I needn’t have bothered, as the Ford drowned out everything but a shout anyway.

“Is Courtland a bit . . . you know?”

“Dangerous? Violent? Insane? Definitely. And you, sir, are as stupid as a clodworm. Accusing Courtland and his mother of murder? Do you think they’re going to take that lying down?”

“In Jade-under-Lime,” I said, “everyone respects the Rules.”

“You’re in the Outer Fringes now, Master Edward. Quite a different fish kettle.”

He steered through an open gate, entered the spinney, swerved around some trees and drove across some brambles before coming to a halt. We were in a small clearing surrounded by silver birches; an old twin-rail locomotive was lying half buried on its side, with the roots of a mature oak embracing it tightly.

We expected to see the binary plasma spheres dancing close by, but the air was still, and they were nowhere to be seen.

“Burst?” asked Courtland.

“Nah,” replied Preston, licking his lips as he tasted the air. “Somewhere close. Metal’s a good attractor,” he added, nodding toward the rusty locomotive. “Feel that?”

Now that he mentioned it, I could feel something—a faint buzzing in the air and an odd metallic taste in my mouth. I followed Preston out of the cab and joined him at the back of the Ford, where Courtland was waiting silently. Our recent upset was for the moment forgotten. Hunting ball was more important, and besides, we could all sense that our quarry was near.

“There!”

With a rustle and a crackle, the two orbs slowly drifted from behind some foliage. Courtland lined up the sights of the crossbow while Preston jumped into action. He grabbed the drum around which the harpoon’s earthing wire was wound, then drove a copper stake into the ground a safe distance from the Ford. He clipped on the wire and yelled, “CLEAR!”

Several things seemed to happen at once. Courtland fired the harpoon, which took off with a twong, and the trailing wire ran out from the drum with a buzz. When the harpoon made contact, there was a bright flash as the energy coursed down the copper wire to the earthing stake, and with an ear-popping noise that sounded like a C-minor ninth, a massive hole was blown in the ground where the earthing stake had been. It took me a moment or two to recover, but Preston and Courtland were not yet done. There had been two balls, and bothof them were potentially destructive. I jumped onto the flatbed as Preston reversed out, and I helped Courtland re-tension the crossbow. Once we were back onto the pasture, it was easier driving, and we soon overtook the ball as it drifted toward the linoleum factory.

We stopped ahead of it, and with the crossbow now at full stretch and the string on the catch, Courtland placed a second copper bolt in the slide while Preston ran out the wire drum.

“Come on!” yelled Courtland impatiently as the ball floated overhead with a buzzing that could be felt rather than heard.

But Preston was having difficulties attaching the earthing wire to the stake.

“Quick!” said Courtland. “Help the idiot untangle it!”

I jumped off the flatbed and ran across to where Preston was struggling with the earthing wire. If the sun hadn’t been in the position it was, and casting Courtland’s shadow to my right, then I would not have lived to be eaten by the yateveo. But there it was, and I saw Courtland’s shadow as he swiveled the crossbow in our direction. I didn’t even think but moved rapidly to my left. There was a loud twong and I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my side as the harpoon buried itself in the grass in front of me.

For a moment, I thought it had gone right through me. I looked at Preston who by his expression, clearly thought the same. I paused for a moment, hardly daring to breathe, then brought up a hand to my midriff and felt around for a wound. I breathed a sigh of relief as I discovered that my swift avoidance movement had spoiled Courtland’s aim—the copper spike had merely nicked my side and done no more damage than a nasty cut.

“Oh, my goodness!” cried Courtland with a sense of shock in his voice that would have won a drama prize in any town of the Collective. “Are you okay?”

I stood up and turned to face Courtland. I had been a fool—again. I had so much still to learn.

“You piece of . . . shit,” I said, using a Very Bad Word for perhaps the third time ever. “You did that on purpose!”

“My dear fellow,” exclaimed Courtland with another liberal helping of faux concern, “an accident, nothing more! Ball hunting is a dangerous pursuit. Are you sure you are unhurt? I feel frightful about this.”

Saying nothing, I took my handkerchief from my pocket and pressed it across the cut, while behind us the missed ball evaporated harmlessly in midair—as they quite often do.

The ball hunt was over, but the Russett hunt had probably only just begun. I mused upon the irony of the situation. Courtland and Jane, poles apart from each other, yet united in their wish to get rid of me.

Somehow, it seemed unbelievably unfair.

“Master Edward,” whispered Preston, “watch your back. The Gamboges will place everything possible in your path to trip you up.”

I stared at him for a moment.

“Trip me up?” I echoed.

“Yes. Are you sure you’re all right? You look kind of . . . dreamy.”

“Aside from a vexing Yellow problem, I’m okay,” I replied, “but thanks—you’ve just explained the point of the wheelbarrow.”

He frowned. “Wheelbarrows don’t have points.”

“This one did.”