Free The Shadowlands by Emily Rodda Page B

he had seen what the others had not. Two words engraved on the metal side.
CARN POD
    ‘They are not dissolving,’ he said huskily, as he moved back to his friends. ‘They are
forming.
These are Grey Guards. They are not born, but
grown
! Here, in the Factory!’
    He stabbed a shaking finger back towards the engraved words. ‘We know that Grey Guards are always in groups of ten. Ten identical brothers, with the samename, who work and fight together. Do you not see? Every one of these trays is a pod! This is the Carn pod.’
    Barda gritted his teeth. ‘The Carns are out in the garbage mound, Lief! How could they be here also?’
    ‘Because—’ Lief began.
    Then, suddenly, the door at the back of the room began to open.
    Like a flash, the companions crouched behind the container.
    ‘… just a wild vraal, it seems,’ a young woman’s voice said. ‘The Baks will take care of it.’
    ‘Or
it
will take care of
them,’
an older male voice sneered in reply. ‘The present Baks are already ten days past their fail date. They are starting to make mistakes. And even without that, the Bak model was never up to standard, in my opinion.’
    Footsteps sounded on the hard floor. Peering through the legs of the containers, Lief saw two pairs of white-booted feet pacing slowly across the back of the room, inspecting the last row of compartments. He also saw that the door had not swung shut, but still hung half-open.
    ‘These new Baks are almost ready,’ the woman said gently, after a moment. Her voice seemed familiar to Lief, but surely that was impossible. She was clearly a Shadow Lord servant.
    ‘Not before time,’ the man snapped. ‘I told you! Guard supplies are running dangerously low. When we come to the Carns you will see how bad things are. Wehad to dispose of the old Carns weeks ago, while the new ones were barely formed!’
    Lief felt Jasmine and Barda’s eyes upon him and knew that his companions had at last understood. Grey Guards, made only to serve, made to be cruel, unquestioningly obedient, without a trace of warmth or pity, had only a limited life. When they began to wear out, they were simply thrown away and replaced with identical models.
    No wonder this room is forbidden to them, Lief thought. Blindly obedient they might be, but even
they
might react badly if they saw their replacements steadily growing in here.
    The white boots turned and began to move back across the room again. The newcomers were inspecting another row of emerging Guards.
    Cautiously, Lief, Barda, Jasmine and Emlis began crawling forward, keeping close to the containers. Moving was a risk, but it was a risk they had to take. If they remained where they were, discovery was certain.
    Fortunately, the inspectors were too interested in their work, and their conversation, to notice the tiny, shuffling sounds from the other side of the room.
    ‘These Perns are growing more slowly than the charts predict,’ the woman commented, as the feet reached the end of the second-last row.
    ‘Well, it is not my fault!’ exclaimed her companion. ‘The power was cut twice yesterday.’ His voice took on a complaining tone. ‘It is all the fault of the ConversionProject! It has taken too many materials and far too much of the master’s attention of late, in my opinion.’
    Conversion Project
? Lief paused, holding his breath, listening hard. The inspectors had moved forward to the next row and had started pacing slowly back towards the companions’ side of the room. It was dangerous to wait, but he had to hear this.
    ‘You seem to have many
opinions,
3-19,’ the woman said, her soft voice hardening. ‘If I were you, I would take care.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ the man asked peevishly.
    ‘Why do you think the Conversion Project became of first importance to the master, you fool?’ snapped the woman, finally losing patience. ‘It is because the recent disaster in Deltora made him lose faith in the whole idea of Grade 3 Ols. In
you
and your