Winterbay Read Online Free PDF Page B

water was cold enough to kill her in less than ten minutes. She was trapped.
    “I know what you’re thinking.” The girl stepped away from the railing and inched closer to Mira. “Do I lie to her? Tell her the truth? Deal is, there’s only two things traded here worth anything. Electronic stuff, but that’s only good in Winterbay, and you ain’t looking to stay. That leaves option two. Information. Which I happen to be a purveyor of. And any piece of information that’s worth you risking your life most likely would involve a pretty profitable trade.”
    Mira studied the girl again. What choice did she really have? She’d bet everything coming here; maybe it was time to show her hand.
    She reached into her coat and pulled something out: a patch, the old iron-on kind, like her mom used to put on her school jackets. It was a round symbol, divided into six yellow and black triangles pointing at a black circle in the center. In the World Before, it had been the universal warning for radiation. It still was, she figured, but the implications it brought with it were much different now—and in this place, much more dangerous.
    Mira handed it to the Asian girl, and her eyes narrowed as she took it. “Well. You don’t disappoint, do you?”
    “Can you help me or not? I’m running out of time.”
    “Only one person in this whole city that can help with something like this,” the girl said, flipping the patch over between the fingers of her left hand. “Armitage.”
    The name meant nothing to Mira. She just stared at the girl, her impatience beginning to overpower her anxiety.
    “Heedless guy, been here since the beginning.” The patch kept flipping between the girl’s fingers. “Started as a trader; now he runs all the merchants, keeps them in line, keeps the trade fair, sort of like an overseer. Everyone gives him a percentage, because a system needs somebody to run it. And Armitage is real good at running things.”
    “Shouldn’t the Quorum be doing that?”
    “The Id?” The girl laughed. “That’s their tower over there. It look lived in to you?” Mira followed her nod to a black, hulking shape that hung over the eastern end of the city, near the edge, where the icy waters beat against the Underworks. She hadn’t noticed it before. It was foreboding, a shadowy obelisk, and unlike every other building in Winterbay it was dark and unlit. It looked dead.
    “Hasn’t been lit up in years,” the girl continued. “My guess is they’re all gone now. Tone probably took ’em. Then again, maybe not. Maybe they’re still in there, maybe they just don’t give a damn. No one knows for sure, ’cause no one knows how to get in to ask. No doors, no windows until you get to the very top, surface is smooth, no handholds to climb. Whatever their secrets were, they died with them.”
    “If the Quorum doesn’t run the city anymore, this Armitage does?” Mira asked, confused.
    “Armitage runs the trade. The city runs itself,” the girl replied. “Winterbay’s like a well-oiled machine. Just keeps going, no matter what, because it has to. Just like the rest of the world, I guess.”
    Whoever he was, this Armitage sounded like Mira’s first real lead. The feeling energized her; the trepidation about the girl lifted a little. Maybe she was what she said she was, just a purveyor of information. In order to get her help, though, Mira was going to have to make it worth the girl’s while. “How can I find this Armitage?”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.” The girl held up the yellow and black patch. “You’ve been flashing this thing around the trade district all night? Then I’m betting, sooner or later, he’ll find you. ”
    That didn’t sound particularly comforting. “Is he dangerous?”
    The girl gave Mira a dubious look. “He can get you what you want, most likely, but honestly? If I were you? I’d take this patch and leave. Right now. Cross back over and never look back. Trust me, any deal you