Gerrard Cowan - The Machinery

GERRARD COWAN

Harper Voyager

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street,

London SE1 9GF

www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by Harper Voyager 2015

Copyright © Gerrard Cowan 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2015. Cover image © Shutterstock.com

Gerrard Cowan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Ebook Edition © September 2015 ISBN: 978-0-00-810354-5

Version: 2015-08-10

For Sarah, Finn and Evie

Contents

Cover

Title Page The Machinery GERRARD COWAN

Copyright Harper Voyager An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk First published in Great Britain by Harper Voyager 2015 Copyright © Gerrard Cowan 2015 Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2015. Cover image © Shutterstock.com Gerrard Cowan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress. Ebook Edition © September 2015 ISBN: 978-0-00-810354-5 Version: 2015-08-10

Dedication For Sarah, Finn and Evie

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-eight

Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-one

Chapter Thirty-two

Chapter Thirty-three

Chapter Thirty-four

Chapter Thirty-five

Chapter Thirty-six

Chapter Thirty-seven

Chapter Thirty-eight

Chapter Thirty-nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-one

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Publisher

I am breaking,the Machinery said.

Alexander had not heard it for days.

I am breaking.

It sounded different tonight: like a child.

‘Again,’ said Amile. The tutor’s voice seemed distant, as if it came from another room. ‘Recite it again.’

Alexander looked to the window. His sister was below, playing with marbles in the courtyard. I’ll try to speak to father again tonight. He knew he would be called a liar. But there was no other choice; he had to make them understand.

The boy turned to face Amile, and started over again.

‘On the third day, the tribe gathered on the Primary Hill, to be entertained by the madman.

‘“This is when all shall change,” the madman said. But the people did not believe him, and laughed in their ignorance.

‘“You will be punished,” said one.

‘“Punished by the Gods,” said another.’

I am breaking.

Alexander paused, and looked to the ceiling. There was nothing there.

Ruin will come with the One. You know who it is.

‘ Continue. ’ Amile’s hooked nose twitched. ‘And mean it; as things stand, you are lying to us both.’

Alexander looked once more to the window. Clack, clack, clack, went the marbles.

‘The prophet Arandel lifted a stone. He held it before his people and said: “This is matter; it too has energy. It too is understood by the Machinery, which knows the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea, the rocks at the core and the reptiles of the South. These words have been spoken by the Operator.”

‘The people laughed again. “If he told you all this, Arandel – where is he?” Arandel dropped the stone and looked to the sky.

‘“He is here.”’

Amile was smiling.

‘In the centre of the ground, at the peak of the hill, ten paces from where they sat, a fire had started to burn, as if of its own accord.

‘“Arandel, what have you done?”

‘“What witchcraft is this?” But their talking ceased, for they had seen something in the fire. A man stepped forth from the blaze, his cloak burning with flames of its own, dark and cold. The people wept, for they saw in this cloak the reflections of their own souls.

‘“He has come from the ground itself,” said Arandel. “From the ground and into flame, to the salvation of us all.”

‘This man came amid them and, as the tribe fell back and cowered before him, opened his arms. “It is your first Selection year,” he said. “You have been chosen. Nothing will be the same for you now.”

‘He walked among them.

‘“I have come from the Underland. I have come to save the Plateau.”’

Amile clapped his hands. ‘In seven years, Paprissi, that is the best that you have read.’

Alexander bowed.

‘What happened next?’

The boy cleared his throat.

‘And so the tribe received the Machinery, the power of the Underland. It would choose the greatest leaders of the Overland, its Tacticians and Strategists, from now until the end of time, be they bakers or butchers, merchants or artists, boys or girls, men or women. And thus, the Overland would grow under their wisdom, to become the envy of all the great Plateau.

‘In return for this gift, the Operator asked only one thing; that the people must never question the Selections of the Machinery.’

‘And long may it continue,’ said Amile. ‘The Machinery knows.’

‘The Machinery knows,’ said Alexander. And I know the Machinery.

Before Alexander was a red velvet curtain, fastened by a golden knot. The boy stood still for a moment, wondering if he had been noticed.