Incarceron

'Familiar?' He looked sharply at her.

'I've heard it before, Master.'

'You imagine that. Don't make this assumption, Claudia.'

She was still a moment. Then she shrugged. 'In any case we need to try again.'

Jared nodded. He went over and locked the door, clipped a small device to its back and adjusted it. Then he turned.

Claudia had the Key ready. She activated the speech channel, and then the small visual circuit that they had discovered. He stood behind her, watching the hologram of the eagle flap silent wings.

'Did you delete the pad?'

'Of course. Completely.'

As the Key began to glow, he said quietly, 'They had no problem spilling the old man's blood, Claudia. They may already know we searched his house. They must fear what we found.'

'By they you mean my father.' She looked up. 'He won't hurt me. If he loses me, he loses the throne. And I'll protect you, Master, I swear.'

His smile was rueful. She knew he didn't believe she could.

Very quietly, the Key spoke. 'Can you hear me?'

Claudia said, 'It's him! Touch the panel, Finn. Touch it! Have you found it?'

'Yes.' He sounded hesitant. 'What will happen if I do?'

'We'll be able to see each other, we think. It won't hurt you. Try k, please.'

There was a second of dead air, a few crackles. And then Claudia almost jumped back.

Out of the key a beam projected silently. It opened to a square, and crouched in the square, startled and dirty, was a boy.

He was tall and very thin, his face famished and anxious. His hair was lank and long, tied back in a knot of string, and his clothes were the drabbest she had ever seen, muddy grays and greens, badly worn. A sword and a rusty knife were stuck in his belt.

He stared at her in astonishment.

FINN SAW a queen, a princess.

Her face was clean and clear, her hair shone. She wore a dress of some lustrous silk, and a pearl necklace that would be worth a fortune if a buyer could ever be found rich enough.

He saw at once that she had never been hungry, that her mind was clear and intelligent. Behind her a grave dark-haired man watched, wearing a Sapient's coat that put Gildas's rag to shame.

Claudia was silent so long, Jared glanced at her. He saw she was stricken, probably by the boy's condition, so he said softly, 'It seems Incarceron is no paradise then.'

The boy glared at him. 'Are you mocking me, Master?'

Jared shook his head sadly. 'No indeed. Tell us how you came to have this artifact.'

Finn glanced around. The ruin was silent and black; Attia's shadow crouched in the doorway, watching the darkness outside. She gave him a small nod of reassurance. He looked back at the holoscreen, afraid that its light would give them away.

As he told them about the eagle on his wrist, he watched Claudia. He was good at reading faces, but hers was difficult, so controlled, so unrevealing, though the faintest widening of her eyes told him she was fascinated. Then he slipped into lies, about finding the Key in a deserted tunnel, obliterating the Maestra, her death, his shame, as if none of it had ever happened. Attia glanced over, but he kept his face away. He told them about the Comitatus, about the terrible fight he had fought with Jormanric, how he had defeated the giant in single combat, stolen three skull-rings from his hands, led his friends out of that hell. About how they were following a sacred trail out of the Prison.

She listened intently, asking brief questions. He had no idea if she believed any of it. The Sapient was silent , once only raising an eyebrow, when Finn talked of Gildas.

'So the Sapienti still survive? But what happened to the Experiment, the social structures, the food supply? How did it all break down?'

'Never mind that,' Claudia said impatiently. 'Don't you see what the eagle mark means, Master. Don't you see?' She leaned forward eagerly. 'Finn. How long have you been in

Incarceron?'

'I don't know.' He scowled. 'I ... only remember ...'

'What?'

'The last three years. I get... memories, but—' He stopped. He didn't want to tell her about the seizures.

She nodded. Her hands were clasped in her lap, he saw. A diamond ring gleamed on one finger. 'Listen, Finn. Do I look familiar to you? Do you recognize me?'

His heart leaped. 'No. Should I?'

She was biting her lip. He felt her tension. 'Finn, listen to me. I think you may be ...'

'FINN!'

Attia's scream was stifled. A hand grabbed her and clamped down on her mouth. 'Too late,' Keiro said gleefully.

Out of the darkness Gildas strode in and looked into the holoscreen. For a second he and

Jared shared a startled stare.

Then the screen went blank.

The Sapient breathed a prayer. He turned and looked at

Finn and the obsession was back in his hard blue eyes. 'I saw! I saw Sapphique!'

Finn suddenly felt very tired. 'No,' he said, watching Attia struggle wildly out of Keiro's grip. 'It wasn't.'

'I saw, fool boy! I saw him!' The old man knelt painfully before the Key. He reached out and touched it. 'What did he say, Finn? What was his message to us?'

'And why didn't you tell us you could see people with it?' Keiro snapped. 'Don't you trust us?'

Finn shrugged. He, not Claudia, had done most of the talking, he realized. But he had to keep them guessing, so he said, 'Sapphique ... warns us.'

'Of what?' Nursing his bitten hand Keiro gave the girl a sour look. 'Bitch,' he muttered.

'Of danger.'

'What sort? The whole place is—'

'From above.' Finn muttered it at random. 'Danger from above.'

Together, they looked up.

Instantly Attia screamed and threw herself aside; Gildas swore. The net collapsed like the web of an uber- spider, each end weighted; it crashed down on Finn, flattening him under its impact, a crumpling of dust and screeching bats. For a moment the breath was knocked right out of him, then he realized Gildas was struggling and tangling next to him, that the two of them were meshed in heavy ropes sticky with an oozing resin.

'Finn!' Attia knelt and pulled at the net; her hand stuck and she pulled it hastily away.

Keiro had his sword out; he pushed her aside and slashed at the cables, but they were threaded with metal and the blade clanged. At the same time a shrill alarm in the ruin began to whine, a high, wailing note.

'Don't waste your time,' Gildas muttered. Then, furiously, 'Get out of here!'

Keiro stared at Finn. 'I don't leave my brother.'

Finn struggled to get up but couldn't. For a moment the whole nightmare of being chained before the trucks of the Civicry crashed back into his mind; then he gasped, 'Do as he says.'

'We can get that thing off you.' Keiro looked around wildly. 'If we had some sort of pivot.'

Attia grabbed a metal strut from the wall. It fell to rust in her hands and she flung it down with a wail.

Keiro hauled at the net. The dark oil blackened his hands and coat; he swore bur kept pulling, and Finn heaved from below, but after a second they all collapsed, defeated by the weight.

Keiro crouched at the net. 'I'll find you. I'll rescue you. Give me the Key.'

'What?'

'Give it to me. Or they'll find it on you and take it.'

Finn's fingers closed on the warm crystal. For a moment he saw Gildas's startled gaze through the mesh; the Sapient said, 'Finn, no. We'll never see him again.'