“Of course.” The mayor rubbed his hands one over the other, as if washing them. “This way.” He led them through the town and the crowd cheered as they passed. Alpha walked without looking left or right.
You had to act differently in settlements. On board, Alpha was strong, fierce, but still part of the crew. But, as she had told Coll: “When you’re dealing with Worms you have to show them who’s in charge.” Worms were the people stuck on the ground, grubbing along in their small lives. They looked up at the Constructs, but they would never be a part of them. Coll felt a bit sorry for them.
They entered Mayor Ruprecht’s offices, where the parlour had been set up ready, and sat drinking tea from tin, ancient, frail teacups. The cups were silly things that wouldn’t last five minutes aboard Wolf. The first time she broke into a run they’d be smashed to pieces. Dolph held his with an expression of mild terror, as if wondering how to not crush it in his huge hands. Coll watched Alpha and tried to copy her, with her straight back and her careful, watchful face.
Mayor Ruprecht smiled at him. “You’ve grown again, Coll,” he said. “And starting to look a lot like your mother, I reckon—”
“Report,” snapped Alpha, and the man recoiled.
“It’s been quiet here,” he said in a suddenly businesslike voice. “I understand you, ah, found Hyena?”
“Dealt with,” said Alpha. She didn’t add any detail, but the mayor beamed.
“Good! Good… But there are other rumours. Raven was spotted up towards Redwood. And something else, further north.” He shrugged. “Just rumours.”
Alpha nodded. “We’re looking for anthryl – do you have any?”
The mayor gave a rumbling laugh. “Not us! We hardly see the stuff – you could buy all of Scatter with what’s in there…” He nodded towards Coll’s arm.
Coll pulled his sleeve down.
The mayor frowned in thought. “There’s an Antoid colony a few klicks north,” he said at last. “They’ve been hanging around, scavenging for metal, causing trouble. They might have scraps…”
“Hmm.” Alpha seemed sceptical. “Show me.”
The mayor brought out a map of the region, much folded and covered with old pencil marks, and pointed out the location of the colony. Alpha and Dolph studied the map. Coll studied Alpha.
Alpha didn’t like it when people said Coll looked like her, or mentioned that she was his mother. And she didn’t like people pointing out his prosthetics. She was supposed to be Alpha to all the crew, without favour or special treatment. But any other crew member with Coll’s differences wouldn’t be allowed to stay on board, and certainly wouldn’t be given the resources used in his arm and leg… Coll tugged his sleeve down further, so that only the tips of his plastic fingers showed.
The discussion wore on. Now it was about details of trade routes and supplies, weather reports, crops… Coll became bored. Eventually he got up and slipped outside. The mayor gave him a small nod as he left, but Alpha and Dolph didn’t look up.
The banner and flags were still fluttering. It looked quite pretty, and the townsfolk smiled as he passed. Wagons were still rolling down the hill towards Wolf, where the crew loaded barrels of food, drink and material aboard. Coll wandered off the main street, exploring. Away from the centre, the town became dirty, and obviously poorer. Stone buildings with tile roofs were replaced by wooden shacks of corrugated iron. The air smelled of stale food and bad drains, and thin shoeless children peeked at him from round corners. The adults here didn’t smile. They stared at him without expression.
This was the real Scatter, he knew. Away from the mayor’s staff, this was life on the ground, as Worms, without shared unity or purpose. Squalid and dirty, living lives without discipline or meaning. This was why they needed Wolf – to look after them, protect them and give them purpose. Without Wolf they’d have nothing at all…
Returning to the main street, he saw a group of children on the other side of the wagons gathered in a circle. They were laughing, harsh, cruel laughter, and as Coll watched, one of them, a girl, raised her foot and stamped, and someone screamed.
“Oink, oink!” the girl shouted. “Filthy pig, oink!”
A small shape suddenly hurtled out of the circle, raced across the road, and shot straight into the path of the wagons! Coll’s breath caught in his throat, but the shape was so small it slipped right underneath, missing the wheels by a fraction. As it came out from underneath, one of the adults cursed and kicked it, and it spun.
“Run, piggy!” howled the children. “Oink, oink!”
The shape ran without looking up, smacked into Coll and bounced to the ground.
“Get him!” shouted the girl.
Coll looked down. It was a boy, winded, staring up at Coll. He was filthy. His face was a round mask of terror, and he had a shock of blond hair coated in mud. His clothes were torn and different from the other townsfolk. One hand was clenched into a fist, gripping something tight.
“What’s going on?” asked Coll. He reached down and the boy tried to squirm away, back into the path of the wagons. Coll grabbed him and lifted him up. The children surrounded them. The wagons had stopped, and Coll realised the adults were watching but not intervening.
“He’s a pig!” shouted the girl. “Get him!” She reached to snatch him, but Coll moved the boy away.
“What’s going on?” he demanded again.
“He’s a Boar runt,” said Mayor Ruprecht from behind him.
Coll turned. The mayor, Alpha and Dolph had come outside. Dolph was carrying the documents they’d been discussing. Alpha said nothing, but was watching Coll carefully.
“What do you mean?” asked Coll.
The mayor shrugged. “His parents were from the Boar Construct. They came past a year ago or so. Back when we were still a Freetown, of course—” He stopped. “I mean, before we were under Wolf’s protection, you understand.” He smiled his wide oily smile. “Anyway, they’d got sick, so Boar threw them off. You know the rules. No sick on board Constructs, no weakness—”
For a moment, his gaze slipped to Coll’s hand, then he looked away. “Erm. Well. Boar threw them off, and they made a camp out by the river.”
“What happened to them?” asked Coll.
The mayor shrugged. “Who cares what happens to Boars? Died, probably.” He waved an arm at the boy. “Now this runt comes into town and steals from us. Raiding our bins, getting in the way. I told the kids to watch out for him. Make sure he learns.”
Coll examined the boy. He could only be nine or so. His face was white under the mud. The girl was grinning, and her eyes gleamed with feral joy.
“We’re taking him,” Coll said.
Alpha’s face went blank.
The mayor gaped at him in confusion. “What? Why? Why would you want—”
“Are you questioning us, Mayor?” asked Alpha. Her voice was quiet, but it grated like tooth on bone. Beside her, Dolph straightened and seemed to grow even larger.
