City of Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

much.”
    “Don't be too hard on her,” Dr. Diamond said. “We never really know what is going on in someone's head.”
    “What shall we do first?” asked Cati.
    “I think we need to wake some of the others,” the doctor said. “Do you think you can try, Owen? I know it's dangerous, but we need more help. How about Rutgar and Pieta? They both have strong minds and should be able to reach out to you as you wake them.”
    Rutgar was the head of the Workhouse guard, solid and dependable. Pieta was the subtle and dangerous warrior who had followed Owen to the north when he had been taken by Johnston's henchmen. Owen still remembered the magno whip she had wielded with deadly force.
    Owen took a deep breath. He remembered what had happened when he had woken Dr. Diamond, and he wasn't eager to experience it again. But then he found himself saying, “Yes, of course I will.”
    “Start with Rutgar,” Dr. Diamond said.
    “Maybe I should wake Wesley,” Owen said. “The Raggies are younger. They might be easier to wake.”
    Cati's heart lifted at the thought of seeing Wesley and the Raggies again. The Raggies were Resisters too, but slept in their own Starry in warehouses near the harbor. They were children who had been abandoned in time by a ship's captain who had been paid to look after them. The older children, like Wesley, took care of the younger ones. They dressed in rags and never wore shoes, but they were proud and resourceful, and were experts on anything to do with the sea.
    Dr. Diamond frowned. “That is the problem,” he said. “They are young. Rutgar is an experienced fighter.”
    “It has to be Wesley,” Owen said stubbornly, “or I won't do it.”
    Cati looked at him. It wasn't like Owen to behave so childishly.
    “All right,” Dr. Diamond said quietly. “If you fear to risk waking Rutgar, then Wesley it is.”
    There was another rumble beneath their feet and the Starry swayed again. The doctor leapt up and examined the machine in the corner. “Two point four on theRichter scale!” he exclaimed. “We must hurry! Go and wake Wesley if you can. I must think.”
    “We need a magno gun,” Owen said.
    “Then take one,” Dr. Diamond said, “but hurry!”
    Fifteen minutes later, Cati and Owen found themselves walking down along the river, Owen carrying a magno gun under his arm. He glanced at the tiny glowing blue chip that was fixed in the middle of the gun and wondered for the hundredth time how the Resisters had harnessed the power of magnetism, using it the way ordinary people used electricity.
    It had rained during the night and the river was in full spate, tumbling over the rocks. The leaves of the overhanging trees had turned red and brown and had started to fall, so the path was covered in them.
    “Why do you want to wake Wesley so badly?” Cati asked.
    “I don't,” Owen said. “I just wanted to get down here.”
    “I don't understand. And you never asked for a gun before. What are you up to?” Cati asked suspiciously.
    “I think Dr. Diamond gave it away.”
    “Gave what away?”
    “The location of the entrance to Hadima.”
    “But he didn't say anything. And it doesn't matter because the entrance is sealed.”
    “Maybe I can unseal it,” Owen said, patting the barrel of the magno gun.
    “You can't do that … it's dangerous.”
    “It wasn't dangerous for my father.”
    “But the Convoke! The Resisters will turn against you if—”
    “There won't
be
any Resisters if we don't do something,” Owen said angrily. “And your own father sent us the message to go there. So are you with me or against me?”
    Cati took a deep breath. “I'm with you,” she said at last. “So how did Dr. Diamond give it away?”
    “He said it was sealed with the sign of the fleur-de-lis.”
    “So?”
    “Look!” Owen said, pointing to the gable of a building that backed onto the river. On the wall there was a blue neon sign. “Look at it,” he said. “The shape is a fleur-de-lis!”
    Cati