And All the Stars by Andrea K Höst Read Free Book Online Page B

approached, all his
attention focused out, and up. Madeleine
paused before speaking because she still didn't have her sketch pad and she
badly wanted to draw all five of her new acquaintances, but this one most of
all. With those dark, straight brows he
must always appear a trifle severe, but right now, his light brown eyes fixed
on the Spire, he looked positively murderous.
    "Plotting revenge?" Her attempt at lightness fell flat as he jumped, then clutched his head
all the harder. "Sorry. Try this." She pressed the serviette against his head,
then almost dropped it when he tried to bat it away. Once he'd realised what it was and took hold,
she stepped back because now his glare was directed at her.
    "What are you talking about?" he asked.
    "I just – well, you looked angry."
    The glare faded, and he glanced back at the Spire. "Aren't you? All this useless death. Don't you want to tear that down and stamp on
the pieces?"
    "I–" Madeleine felt off-balance, and wondered if there was something wrong
with her for not feeling that way. "I guess I've been thinking of it as a natural disaster," she
said. "Though I suppose 'natural'
is entirely the wrong word for giant starry towers."
    "Fish!" Pan
led the others out of the restaurant, and slid a box of food onto a nearby
table. "Damn, you had us
worried. What happened? Were you attacked?"
    The older boy stared at him blankly, then his mouth twisted
with sudden amusement. "Did he fall
or was he pushed?" he asked. "I wish I could pretend to something less feeble than feeling
dizzy. Where's Gavin?"
    "Gone to get his car. Madeleine and Noi here found you."
    Fisher seemed a unhurried sort of person, taking his time
looking first Noi and then Madeleine up and down. His gaze lingered on Madeleine's starry feet
and she self-consciously tucked them beneath the hem of her dress, prompting a
quick look of comprehension.
    "You both have stain covering at least a quarter of your
bodies, yes?" he said, with an air of a theory confirmed. "Only the stronger Blues seem to be
fully recovered, even though the surge initially left us barely able to
move."
    "Lucky us." Noi held up her hands, the palms glimmering with light. "I can't stand not knowing what comes
next. Will that thing spit out more
dust? Will we keep changing?"
    "What happens next is rotting corpses," Fisher
said, surveying the city skyline, window upon mute window. "Because people went home to die, it
isn't as bad as it could be, but at the very least it will be unpleasant. It may even be a bigger problem around the
city fringes, where the survival rate is higher, and the living are more
thoroughly mixed with the dead. The
government needs to stop futilely trying to ban travel, and start finding a way
to arrange corpse disposal. Or at least
ensure that the water supply isn't compromised, so we don't exchange one
sickness for another."
    "They'll stop flailing eventually," Pan said. "Maybe. It's better to still have the government than be like the US, anyway,
with all its new presidents. And
China. And Pakistan and...and...hey,
nuclear weapons aren't kept near big cities, right?"
    "If it's nuclear you're worried about, concentrate on
power plants," Nash put in. "And, see that?" He
pointed at a distant thread of smoke rising beyond the parkland which blocked
their view of the harbour centre and the North Shore. "That is our now. Non-automated, high manpower vital services,
like fire fighters and doctors – none of those are here. International transport is...not necessarily
gone, just limited. In the medium term
we will see fuel rationing. At this time
there are thousands of functioning towns and cities worldwide, with police and
hospitals and all that we're used to, but they're overwhelmed by all the people
who've fled out of the Spire cities, and transport of food will be
limited. Add to that the dust still
circulating on the wind, meaning there will continue to be outbreaks, anywhere
and everywhere. But...so far there has
been no sign