Wylan took his place, turning the drill as fast as he could.
Jesper grabbed the fallen guards’ guns and pointed them at the door.
“They’re coming!” he yelled.
On the glass, the two lines met. The moon was full. The circle popped free, tipping inwards. It hadn’t even struck the floor before Inej was backing up.
“Out of the way!” she demanded.
Then she was running, her feet light, her silks like feathers. In this moment she didn’t mind them.
She’d duped Heleen Van Houden. She’d taken a little piece of her away, a silly symbol, but one she prized. It wasn’t enough – it would never be enough – but it was a beginning. There would be other bawds to trick, slavers to fool. Her silks were feathers, and she was free.
Inej focused on that circle of glass – a moon, an absence of moon, a door to the future – and she leaped. The hole was barely big enough for her body, she heard the soft swish as the sharp glass rim sliced through the silks she trailed. She arced her body and reached. She would have only one opportunity to grab for the iron lantern that hung from the ceiling of the enclosure. It was an impossible leap, a mad leap, but she was once again her father ’s daughter, unbound by the rules of gravity. She hung in the air for a terrifying moment, and then her hands grasped the lantern’s base.
Behind her, she heard the door in the walkway burst open, gunfire. Hold them off, Jesper. Buy me time.
She swung back and forth, building momentum. A bullet zinged past her. Accident? Or had someone made it past Wylan and Jesper to shoot at her through the hole?
When she had enough momentum, she let go. She hit the wall hard. There was no graceful way around it, but her hands clung to the lip of the stone ledge where the ancient axes were displayed.
From there it was easy: ledge to beam to lower ledge, and down with a dull clang as her bare feet struck the roof of a massive tank. She slid into the metal dome at its centre.
She turned one knob then the next, trying to find the right controls. Finally one of the guns rolled upwards. She pulled on the trigger, and her whole body shook as bullets rattled against the enclosure glass like hail, pinging off in all directions. It was the best warning she could offer Jesper and Wylan.
Inej could only hope she could get the big gun working. She wriggled down in the cockpit of the tank. She rotated the only visible handle, and the nose of the long gun tilted into place. The lever was there, just as Jesper had said it would be. She gave it a hard pull. There was a surprisingly small click.
Then, for a long horrible moment, nothing happened. What if it isn’t loaded? she thought. If Jesper’s right about this gun, then the Fjerdans would be fools to keep this much firepower just lying around.
A thunk sounded from somewhere in the tank. She heard something rolling towards her and had the terrifying thought that she’d done it wrong. The mortar was going to roll right down that long barrel and explode in her lap. Instead there was a hissing sound and a shriek like metal grinding against metal. The big gun vibrated. A skull-rattling boom split the air with a puff of dark grey smoke.
The mortar struck the glass, shattering it into thousands of glittering pieces. Prettier than diamonds, Inej marvelled, hoping that Wylan and Jesper had found time and space to take cover.
She waited for the dust to clear, her ears ringing badly. The glass wall was gone. All was still. Then two ropes attached to the walkway rail swung down, and Wylan and Jesper followed: Jesper like a limber insect, Wylan in stops and starts, wiggling like a caterpillar trying to make its way out of a cocoon.
“Ajor! ” Inej shouted in Fjerdan. Nina would be proud.
She cranked the gun around. On the other side of the remaining glass wall, men were shouting from the walkway. As the barrel swivelled in their direction, they scattered.
Inej heard footsteps and clanging as Jesper and Wylan climbed onto the tank. Jesper ’s head appeared, hanging down from the dome. “You letting me drive?”
“If you insist.”
She moved aside so he could climb behind the controls.
“Oh, hello, darling,” he said happily. He pulled another lever, and the armoured wagon seemed to shudder to life around them, belching black smoke. What kind of monster is this? Inej wondered.
“That noise!” she cried.
“That engine!” cackled Jesper.
Then they were moving – and not a horse in sight.
Gunfire sounded from above. Apparently, Wylan had found the controls.
“For Saints’ sake,” Jesper said to Inej. “Help him aim!”