Free The Shadow of the Soul by Sarah Pinborough Page B

Bellew returned Mr Bright’s smile.
    ‘Childish game to play, Mr Bellew.’ Mr Bright carefully pushed his coffee cup aside. ‘The First is sleeping. But it is what he
did
think. And look at us. We’re perfectly healthy.’
    ‘Some are saying that perhaps there’s been a change of leadership, and that’s why these punishments are falling on us now.’
    ‘
Some are saying, some are saying
… There is always talk, and much of it is ridiculous, even if you won’t tell them so. Who would have led this supposed coup?’ Mr Bright asked. ‘Even you, Mr Bellew, the perennial politician, know that all the serious challengers are here.’
    ‘Since we allowed ourselves to become smaller,’ Mr Dublin sighed, running one hand through his ash-blond hair, ‘I find the notion of time has changed.’ He paused. ‘Sometimes I find it hard to be myself any more. It gets more difficult to remember.’
    ‘We’re still everything we once were, and this is still our kingdom.’ Mr Bright leaned forward, his eyes sharp. ‘Ifanything, we’re
more
than we were then. We chose this place, and I –
we –
built it.’
    ‘We were glorious.’ Mr Dublin finally smiled. ‘Weren’t we?’
    ‘We
are
glorious. And if we go back, then we go back to fight, not to beg forgiveness.’
    ‘Always
if, if, if
.’ Mr Craven sneered. He was the youngest of the four, perhaps in his early thirties, showing only the first hint of lines around the corners of his narrow, suspicious eyes. ‘
If
we find the walkways,
if
we can get back,
if
this crumbling
kingdom
doesn’t collapse around us before then.’
    ‘Speaking of getting back, how is the Experiment?’ Mr Bellew asked.
    ‘Complicated as expected,’ Mr Bright said. ‘We’re using the Hubble. The Bank’s scientific subsidiaries are also working on the development of a more powerful global deep-space remotely powered telescope. However, I’m hoping that won’t be needed. We are making some progress.’
    ‘We’re trapped, aren’t we?’ Mr Dublin’s voice had lost its wistful edge. ‘How ironic that we’ve had to wait for them to develop their crude skills to even think about getting back.’
    ‘If you remember,’ Mr Craven said, ‘until the First started sleeping and death found us, no one was interested in finding the way back.’
    ‘We’re lucky,’ Mr Bellew added, ‘that they turned their attentions
heavenwards
at all.’
    ‘It’s never luck,’ Mr Bright said. ‘We pushed them that way.’
    ‘Sometimes I wonder if – after everything – they are still a mystery to us,’ Mr Dublin said. ‘Perhaps some part of them remembers.’
    ‘Who knows?’ Mr Bright leaned back. ‘But the Experiment is not why we’re here. We discussed that a fortnight ago with the full Cohort.’
    ‘So why exactly have you dragged us here?’ Mr Bellew lit a thin cigarette. ‘We’re all busy.’
    ‘These bombings in London and Moscow are a concern.’
    ‘I don’t see why,’ Mr Craven said. ‘We know they’re violent. They always have been. They were always more like us; that’s how we all came to be here in the first place.’
    ‘Don’t you find it somewhat peculiar that no one knows who’s responsible? That none of their terror groups have come forward?
We
don’t even appear to know …’
    ‘We’ve been distracted,’ Mr Dublin said. ‘And London is your responsibility.’
    ‘To be honest,’ Mr Craven said, frowning, ‘this was never about looking after them. We all have our own ventures to manage.’
    ‘This is true,’ Mr Bright conceded, ‘but the leaders of these nations were suggested by the House to have the capacity to calm the current downward spiral. We all worked hard to ensure they found power. Now it looks like these attacks have been aimed at unsettling the balance we’re creating. There are some far more hot-headed candidates eagerly waiting in the wings …’ His eyes lingered on both Mr Bellew and Mr Craven for a second before he continued, ‘And