Tim Lebbon - Echo city

And now here Peer was, about to meet the Baker's daughter.

Really? she thought. Daughter? This woman had been chopped, not born. Grown in one of the womb vats she saw in the huge room before her, or one very much like them. Created, somehow, by her mother's strange art.

The vats were huge and bulbous. They seemed to cast shadows where the many oil lamps should shine. Moisture trickled down their sides and splashed on the stone ground, and when it hit it took on a sickly viscosity, spreading red as blood before slipping into floor drains. Pipes and tubes hung overhead, converging and spreading again from several points where cogs turned, gears scraped, and steam escaped from vents and flues. The steam fell instead of rising, dispersing to the air and giving the whole room a heavy, humid atmosphere.

The closest vat was a dozen steps away. Peer could hear noises from inside-mewling, scratching, and a grumbling so low that, rather than hear it, she felt it low in her guts.

"Gorham…" she began, but her old lover had already walked on ahead. There was a woman standing beside one of the vats, tending to an array of tools laid out on a wide table before her. She glanced up at Gorham's approach, offered him a half smile, looked beyond him, caught Peer's eye… and then she saw Rufus and dropped the curved metallic tool she'd been holding. The noise as it struck the table and clattered to the ground brought home the relative silence of that place. This was not a noisy factory but a quiet laboratory, its processes proceeding with a calm confidence.

"Who are you?" Rufus asked, and Peer noticed a change in him. It was as if he were a held breath, and with every glance around that amazing chamber he was about to scream.

"My name is Nadielle," the woman said. She was quite short and unassuming, but as Peer walked close to meet Nadielle, she sensed the power in her. Nadielle's eyes were fixed on their tall visitor, her mouth working slowly as if chewing words she could not utter.

"This is Rufus Kyuss," Peer said.

"Named after a god," Nadielle said.

Rufus remained tense, glancing from the Baker to those vats and back again.

"You're the new Baker?" Peer asked.

"New?" Nadielle glanced at Peer, her eyes instantly harsh and threatening.

"Yes," Peer said. She did her best to hold the woman's gaze and silently thanked Gorham when he spoke.

"This is Peer Nadawa," he said.

"Oh," Nadielle said. And she smiled. A smile? Peer thought. As if she knows my name. And then she saw the way Gorham was looking at the Baker, and she understood all at once. Oh, Gorham, after all this time you could have warned me.

"This man says he's from beyond Echo City," Malia said. "He says he walked in across the Bonelands. Peer was at the city wall in Skulk, and she found him. Brought him to us."

"From out of Skulk?" Nadielle asked. The surprise had gone from her face now, and she was hiding her excitement from the others well. Peer could see that.

"A friend helped me," Peer said. "It's not as difficult as you'd think."

"Oh, I know that," Nadielle said. She glanced at Rufus again, then turned her back on all of them. "You'll be hungry," she said quietly, before heading past the vats toward a door in the far corner. "If I'd known you were coming-"

"Nadielle!" Gorham said. "This is important!"

"Yes," she said, looking back over her shoulder as she walked. "It is. So what better way to discuss the end of Echo City than over a feast?"

Nadielle passed through the door without saying anything else, and Gorham looked nervously at Peer. But she could not find it in her heart to hate him anymore.

They entered a chaotic room where tables and benches were strewn with all manner of equipment and containers. A strange smell hung in the air, but Peer could not identify it. She saw Rufus sniffing, his nostrils flaring, his eyes half closed as he took in the scent. He saw her watching and smiled.

"That's not her," he said softly, and as Peer started to ask what he meant, Nadielle spoke again.

"Nowhere to sit," she said. "Perhaps if I'd known you were coming, but even then…" She waved her hand around the room. "I'm very busy."

"What are you working on?" Gorham asked.

"Many things."

"You don't seem surprised by Rufus's claim," Peer said.

Nadielle reached a table in the corner of the room, spread a pile of plates, and then went to a cupboard. Cool air misted out when she opened it, followed by the enrapturing smells of cheeses and fruits.

"You found him?" she asked.

"I saw him coming across the desert, yes."

"And you named him?"

How does she know that's not his real name? Peer thought, but she nodded.

"Why those names?"

Peer told her. Nadielle smiled.

"What does this mean?" Malia said. "After what we discussed last time we were here and-"

"Malia," Nadielle said, "calm. I've sent out my eyes and ears. I've seen and heard. And that's why I'm busy, because what you brought me last time is all true. It's been a long time coming, but I'm able to help at last."

"What's in the womb vats right now?" Gorham asked.

"More eyes," she said. "More ears. Better ones, and they'll be ready soon."

"So quickly?"

She shrugged, putting a slice of cheese into her mouth. "Some processes have been accelerated, yes, but they'll work fine." She looked at Rufus again, watching him take tentative bites from a chunk of bread, a slice of cheese. He was looking around cautiously, and every few beats his eyes would flicker back to the Baker.

"What's wrong, Rufus?" Peer asked.

"That's not her," he said again. The small group fell silent, but Peer saw no sign of confusion on Nadielle's face. She knew exactly what Rufus meant.

"He's been having dreams," Peer said. "Waking from them upset, disconnected. It's as if he's been here before."

"Of course," Nadielle said.

"And your Pseran called him chopped."

Nadielle smiled and nodded, waving a chunk of cheese at the air while she chewed. "I made them perfectly, for sure."

"Then tell us what you know," Gorham said. And in that plea, Peer saw the landscape of the bond between these two, and it pleased her. Gorham and Nadielle were lovers, yet she held him in the palm of her hand. Perhaps she welcomed him into her bed purely for the physical gratification, or maybe there was even a trace of affection or love about her for the Watcher. But the Baker was a woman removed from Echo City and in complete control of her own life. She was superior here, and she held the reins wherever their relationship went.

Nadielle finished the cheese and rubbed her hands. None of them had sat down, and an expectant air hung heavy. "I'll tell you," she said, nodding at Peer. "You seem to be his friend, and that's what he needs right now."

"What about-" Gorham began.

"Eat," Nadielle said, and she headed for a spread of tall bookcases against the far wall.

Peer glanced at where Gorham and Malia stood bristling, then she touched Rufus's arm lightly and guided him after Nadielle.

The Baker slipped a book from the case, plucked a key hidden in its pages, and went to a darkened corner of the room, behind her bed and hidden from view.

"We won't wait for long!" Gorham called, and Nadielle chuckled softly.

"Yes, you will," she muttered, and Peer realized that Nadielle didn't care whether Gorham heard or not. She and Rufus followed the Baker through a low doorway, waiting as she closed and locked the door behind her and lit several oil lamps. It was a small room, rarely used, musty and rich in cobwebs. Pushed against the far wall was a table, and on the table sat two bulky old books and a spread of large paper sheets. At first they looked like maps, but as the three of them stood around the table, Peer realized that they were schematic drawings of some vast… thing. She saw legs and arms, a head and a heart, but nothing else made sense.