Andrea Höst - And All the Stars

She had tried to think about the situation in wider terms, with words like love and belonging. But it was difficult to look beyond the now of allies facing an incredible situation. Too soon and too strange to be sure of more than wanting there to be another moment.

Stomach rumbling, she headed downstairs. The buzz of a newsreader’s voice was the only sound, and everyone was gathered around the television. No surprise – it was around the time when, if they stuck to schedule, the Moths announced the details of the next challenge. Which city would be their next plaything.

Everyone was so still. Statues, faces stiff with shock, staring at the screen. Only Emily looked around, and she jumped to her a feet with a cry and rushed to throw her arms around Madeleine’s waist. But by then Madeleine had joined the others in being frozen, staring at the newsreader, and the over the shoulder graphic clearly labelled "SYDNEY CHALLENGE".

The image was the figure of a girl, cut off at neck level. A noodle-like figure in short shorts and a crochet halter neck top, and all the rest of her, stars.

"Okay, enough freaking out. We need to think this through."

They had responded to the announcement as Blues: with a massive injection of sugar pretending to be hot tea. Madeleine had been firmly sat down on the couch, a steaming mug pushed into her hands, with Emily curled comfortingly along one side, and Fisher a more restrained support on the other.

"At minimum, one hundred and fifty-five Moths," Noi went on, eyeing Madeleine with open concern. "About sixty of them with Rovers, if they’re allowed to bring them along. Maybe the dragons as well, for better coverage. Given the first Rover found us at the garage, I think the wharf party’s over guys. Time to run."

"But," Nash said.

Noi looked at him, sitting tensely upright on the opposite couch, and sighed. "Yeah, big bloody but. I think we can guess what the Spire was singing about last night."

"A cordon."

"They’d be mad to announce a Blue hunt without putting up a fence first. You slept through it, Maddie, but another of the big Navy ships moved out around lunchtime."

"There’s no way there’s enough Blues and Greens in Sydney to guard every possible route," Pan said. "We’ve just got to pick the right direction to run."

"They’ve had days to drive cars across every back street," Min pointed out. "Along with that they just need spotters, and that dragon. If I were them I’d have spent the day setting up my own webcam network. At least given Greens a number to call and told them to lurk at all the through-streets."

"Why do they even think Maddie’s still in the city?" Pan asked. "Gav thought we were leaving. We all thought we were leaving."

"The film from the beach." Fisher reached for one of the laptops, and began typing in a search. "The discussion of Madeleine fending off one of the Moths has never completely died down. The uninfected are doing the Moths' job for them." He turned the computer so Madeleine could see her name on the screen. "My fault, ultimately, for posting the Subject M data."

He moved one hand to brush against her back, a gesture of apology or reassurance.

"Still a big assumption to base one of their challenges on," Noi said. "Though I guess they might consider Maddie prime suspect in Reasons Rover Didn’t Come Home."

"I should go."

The words were faint, finding their way out of Madeleine’s throat almost against her will. She made herself continue, facing up to the impossibility of any other choice.

"If I’m there, if I’m – if there’s no need to hunt me, then they won’t hunt you. I have to go."

During the chorus of protest which followed, Emily burrowed into Madeleine’s side, murmuring something. The words were indistinct, but it was sure to be some variation of all for one . Then Min tossed a screwed-up piece of paper at Madeleine, bouncing it off her forehead.

"Sorry to rain on your self-sacrifice parade, but if you give yourself up, you’re giving the rest of us up at the same time. As soon as you’re possessed they’ll know where we are. Can the melodrama and drink your damn tea. You’re in shock."

"Minnow, you make the best speeches," Pan said, wrapping his arms around Min’s neck. Min shoved him away, and they wrestled briefly, a flurry which had more relief than anger in it. It lightened the atmosphere, and Madeleine made herself sip obediently, then remembered her hunger and drank thirstily.

"Under no circumstances."

Fisher breathed the words into her ear as she lowered the mug, and when she looked at him a great many thoughts which fit neither time nor place rushed to the forefront of her mind. She had no idea what her face showed, but the betraying colour of Fisher’s ears revealed his mind had followed a similar course.

"Right, as I was saying," Noi said, too serious for more than the faintest smile in their direction. "Running away. Anyone have any arguments against it?"

"It’s the most dangerous option," Fisher said, firmly. "Don’t underestimate the difficulty of finding a route unseen when we’re the only cars moving, and every Green is primed to expect an escape. I’m not certain we could even drive off this Wharf without setting off the first alert. And if we get out of the city centre, it won’t only be the stained we’re hiding from. The whole of Australia will now be highly aware of the probability of Madeleine running, and as soon as she’s spotted it’s almost inevitable that someone in their excitement will tweet or post or share the news in some way."

"We could use that," Nash pointed out. "Create accounts. Post and tweet sightings. Very likely there are already false reports, errors of identity. Add to that to send Moths running in every direction."

"Good idea." Fisher looked approving. "We should do that anyway. But camera phones will highlight the true trail even if we manage to break the cordon. We have a head start, but we’ve also had a demonstration of the dragons' capabilities."

"I don’t see how that’s more dangerous than staying in Sydney with a hundred and fifty-five hunters and their Blue-sniffing glow dogs," Noi said.

"We’ve confirmed the Rovers are used to track. It’s a reasonable assumption to believe they home in some way on the energy Blues create. That gives us three options: gain distance, obscure like with like, or containment."

Fisher paused, and they all looked at the television, where Madeleine’s face was displayed, circled, on her last class photograph.

"Distance is the option the Moths will have prepared for, and thus where we will face the greatest opposition. But if they track the energy we produce, moving as close as possible to the largest energy source around, a place where a large number of Blues will be gathered, may have the effect of hiding a lamp by placing it in a room full of chandeliers."

"You mean sitting next to the Spire?" Noi’s brows lifted. "Somehow standing around Hyde Park doesn’t strike me as – oh, I get you. Maddie came out of the rail tunnels from St James, so we know we can access the Spire that way. You want to trace her path back, and sit beneath the Moths' feet while they run around in circles."

"St James even has dead-end tunnels concealed behind false walls," Fisher said. "It’s a gamble, of course. The energy created by a free Blue may be distinctive enough to distinguish despite proximity to the Spire and Mothed Blues. Or they may be guarding the tunnels."

"And containment would be, what, putting ourselves in a box? Something sturdier than the study?"

"Walk-in refrigerators," Fisher said. "Air-tight, insulated, offering an all-round metal shield. What few escape stories there’s been from still-free Blues in Rover cities have all shared a shielding factor – those deep in subways, someone hiding in the back of a container truck. But again a gamble, and it would be too great a risk to use those at the Wharf restaurants, even if they’re large enough, since the local Blues and Greens will link you to Finger Wharf. Size is a major factor, more than a question of how many of us can fit. We’ll need sufficient oxygen for at minimum twelve hours, if not twenty-four. The previous two challenges don’t give us enough information to know if there’s a time limit, but it is clear that the Moths have a territorial, hierarchical culture. The whole challenge appears to be an attempt to steal a…" He paused. "…to steal a highly desirable Blue from a clan which hasn’t yet claimed her."