by Eve Langlais
Bang. Titan ducked back in the cave and turned from the shower of rock shards that splintered. Only one shot was fired. In the disbelief that followed, he heard the roar of his ride’s engine and could only cower uselessly in the cave that kept him penned. Inaction burned, but he retained enough common sense to know that getting himself killed wouldn’t help Riella.
Someone had kidnapped her, which meant he could rescue her. If she didn’t rescue herself first. If he’d not heard the engine, he’d have expected her face to pop into view any second, mocking him for taking too long.
Except the sound of the motor faded, no rope dropped, Riella never reappeared. Time for him to move, and hope no one was left behind.
A quick peek showed no one waiting to take a shot. Angling his body, he examined the cliff face for handholds. It proved a challenge to find a spot he could climb. More than once it was just his extra strong metal fingers and their crampon on rock that kept him from plummeting. It took much too long to get to the top, and by the time he did, they were long gone.
“Fuck!” He kicked the ground, and something went flying. Her goggles. He’d absently grabbed them and stuffed them into his bag when he heard something.
“Mhpgh.”
The noise had him whirling. “Who is that? Show yourself!”
“Ghjfdd.”
He moved toward the sound and found a lump on the ground. A sticky pile of goo clung to a round object. He crouched down and wiped the gunk from it.
“Thank you for clearing that disgusting muck. The pirate spotted me and took me down before I could warn Riella.” Alfred’s metal body hummed in agitation.
“Did you say pirate?” Titan lifted the ball drone and cleared the remains that still stuck to it.
“Yes, pirate. His name is Darius, and he is captain of the Ocean Avenger.”
“You recognized him. How?”
“We met many years ago in the port during a visit to trade. He hired Riella to make him an eye after he lost one in a fight.”
“How did he find you?”
“I found him playing around with our vehicle when I came back from patrol.”
“How is it we didn’t hear him?” Because he’d sure as heck heard his wheels leaving.
Alfred grumbled, “Because he had his guys park in the forest, and he walked over to check out our stuff. I tried to stop him, and that’s when he shot me down and lay in wait for her.”
“Meaning he wanted Riella.” Titan rubbed at his scruffy jaw. “Could be he needed her skills with bionics.”
Alfred answered with a scoffing, “Then why attack me and not ask? He knows Riella works for hire.”
“Unless he doesn’t want to hire her but is after the bounty.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if that pirate sold her back to the queen.” Could a metal ball glower? Because Alfred sure did something.
“In order to sell her, he needs to meet with the queen.”
“And in order to meet or even inform the royal bitch he has her, he’ll need to send a message and transport,” Alfred continued. “He will head to the Sapphire Port City first.”
“And how far is it still from here?” Titan asked.
“Far enough,” Alfred grumbled. “I did some aerial scouting. According to my calculations, given they have vehicles, if they stick to the road through the woods, they’ll be there within the next two to three hours. It will take you most of the day and part of the night to the same distance on foot.”
“If I walk.” He shifted the pack on his back.
“How else do you plan to get there? Fly?” was Alfred’s acerbic reply.
“I’m going to run.” Titan flexed his metal leg and said to it mentally, I’m going to need you to move us faster than flesh can handle without killing us.
I thought you’d never ask.
Before he could warn Alfred, Titan leapt into a loping run. Bionic leg shoving harder and further, the flesh leg mostly just providing a quick balance before the metal moved again. It wasn’t as fast as a terrain vehicle, but it got them there in four hours.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he’d done it in two, because arriving didn’t mean he’d easily find Riella. Standing at the last hump behind the dirt-packed road, which swooped down into a busy valley, he gaped. Gaped at the biggest sprawl of homes and buildings he’d ever seen.
Mind, he’d only ever seen the outside of dome habitats and a limited section of the Marsh City. Wastelander camps, he’d visited more than a few, but he’d never seen a place like this.
For one, there was no covering over the city. No panels to protect it from dust and wind. Just like in Eden, the people lived outside a dome. Like the ancients once had.
As Riella had claimed, the land rose into a spire upon which sat a stone crenellated castle with high walls. In tiers going down the outcropping were more walls set in rings and, inside those rings, buildings big and small. Access appeared to be only via a winding road that went through gates in the walls.
At the base of the promontory, the road splintered into a few directions, which then splintered again as a mass of structures—some built with the same stone as the castle and others with wood—spread and clustered in strange sections.
There was more color than he’d ever seen, and this despite the mostly gray aspect of the buildings themselves. Roofs were bright shades, red and blue overlapping tile. The shutters on the windows framed in a riot of hues, pretty and functional. It seemed so lavish.
“You going to stare all day like a yokel or finish what you came to do?” Alfred nudged, soaring past him, his hologram a much smaller, subtle version of a bird. At least he was showing more caution than Titan.
“It’s a big place,” he said as he began to walk, still taking in details. For a city this size, it seemed nicer than expected. Wasteland camps tended to involve squatting in ruins, the inside of a truck or tents. He hated tents.
A glance at the sky showed no smoke, nor did he see any chimneys. It made him wonder how they heated and cooked. He’d heard in the domes they used electricity for most tasks, the kind harnessed from heat and the sun. Plenty of that in the most barren of places, but here, with the cloud over the sun and a breeze over the ocean, he had to wonder where their power came from.
He’d seen very little habitation during his loping run, having followed the line of the cliffs rather than the more meandering road Albert claimed ran through the forest. Entering the valley, though, he couldn’t avoid habitation. He passed a strange long and low building with doors that reminded him on the hangar that used to house Haven. “What is that?”
“Garage. No motor vehicles in the city. The streets are too narrow and too many people were getting hit by careless drivers.”
“Makes sense.” He eyed the many large garages. “Isn’t theft an issue?”
“Not often. The security to get a vehicle out is tight. As in, you’re more likely to be melted into slag than escape with it.”
“Don’t steal from here, got it. Can I buy a ride, though?”
“With what funds?” Alfred pointed out.
“Might have to get a job.” Wouldn’t be the first time he’d gotten stuck somewhere and had to slog at something to find his way out.
“Or maybe someone will be kind enough to loan you one.”
Titan snickered as he glanced at Alfred. “I might not be well versed in cities, but I doubt anyone will give me anything. That’s not how it works. You have to do something to earn it.”
Alfred bobbed ahead. “A belief like yours is rare. But admirable. Now you might want to stop talking to the air like a crazy man, because people are looking at you.”
He was well aware he’d drawn a few stares. An old woman sat on a porch rocking and watching. He felt the prickle long after he passed. “They’ll assume I’m talking to my comm unit.”
“Would help if you had one.”
“It’s called acting, Alfred.” He smiled at a couple as he passed them, holding his hand to his ear to make i
t seem like he spoke and listened. Then realized something. “Can they hear you talking?”
“My return speech to you is on a frequency only you hear.”
“Meaning I look crazy,” Titan muttered. “Great.”
“And looking crazier all the time.” Alfred might have actually sung those words.
Damned robot was just as alive as his bionic parts. Riella really could do magic with metal.
As he kept walking, and the houses and buildings began to grow closer together, he ran into more people outside, strange vehicles, too. Small, quiet, they didn’t move very fast on their two wheels, and they appeared to run on a preset track embedded into the ground.
He wanted to keep talking to Alfred because he wanted to know what he was looking at, but even he knew he should be careful about drawing notice. Most people glanced at him for only a moment and then away. He was just another person out and about. They didn’t know he was freaking out inside.
Seriously. This place was massive and the things…the stores with windows displaying the most insane things, from food that appeared decadent with thick icing and tempting bits to the clothing—from practical to outrageous. Three straps two fingers wide did not make an outfit.
He could have spent days wandering the streets, checking out the shops, just absorbing it. But worry for Riella kept him moving. It was only deep in the town he finally wondered, “Where are the guards?” He’d yet to see any. Surely it couldn’t be that easy?
The voice surprised him because he’d not seen Alfred hovering in a while, but he heard his hushed words. “They’re around, but their job is to intervene if necessary. Only once you reach the higher levels of the promontory will you run into resistance. But you won’t be going there.”
A glance overhead meant he saw the looming height that held the castle. He’d barely seen anything of this place yet. “What am I supposed to do if I am stopped?”
“Lie your face off. It’s what Riella usually does.”
“And that works?”
“Most of the time.” Alfred almost chuckled. Titan would have sworn it. “Don’t get noticed. and you’ll be fine.”
Not the most ringing endorsement. He’d reached the part of the city where there was no space between the buildings. The bustle of bodies was compounded by children running and screaming with laughter. It seemed wildly inappropriate, and the freest thing he’d ever seen a child do.
He’d have never dared run away from his parents, not in any camp.
A while back the roads had gone from dirt to stone. Then he entered the main thoroughfare where more of the wheeled transports and even animal-drawn carriages joined the melee.
In this section, the houses had evolved from rough mortared rocks to blocks of perfectly cut stone. Everything had straight lines and was fitted with carved wooden doors in a rainbow of colors and windows trimmed with the most ornate shutters.
He’d never seen the like. Nor so many people. It proved hard to not glance around in slack-jawed amazement. He did his best to stand straight, show no weakness, even if inside he worried about being alone and buried in a place this big.
Out of his depth wasn’t something he was used to. In Emerald, the biggest bazaar he’d visited had only about twenty tents, and he’d never been inside a dome. He doubted the domes were like this anyhow. This reminded him of the Marsh City. It tasted like freedom.
He had to tell Axel and the others. A place like this could swallow their number easily. But first, he had to find Riella, which meant locating this pirate Darius on his ship. What had Alfred called it? Avenger something or other.
A ship wouldn’t be in the city itself. He needed a place with water.
“The harbor road is the one by the shop with the red sign.” Alfred nudged Titan in hopefully the right direction.
“Have you found Riella?”
“Shhhh.”
He clamped his lips and quickened his pace, noticing the vendors in this area sold a lot of strange-looking meat and fish. The air had a pungent aroma that was somewhat offset by the scent of cooking spices. His rumbling stomach wished he had something to trade for the slab he saw sizzling on a grill.
They emerged from a busy section to a bunch of squat buildings. Giant hangars lined up by the docks where the ships sat lined, big metal sentinels perched atop water. They were impressive to see, the plated metal welded and smoothed. He drooled at the amount of firepower he saw mounted. He’d never actually seen a turret gun before, but he recognized it. Kind of concerning all those ships required that kind of weaponry. Just how bad were the monsters at sea?
He glanced out at the deceptively calm waters. Would a monster come this close to snatch a snack?
He’d rather not find out. But what if Riella and the pirate had already set sail? Would he still follow? For Riella? His child?
Right off the edge of the world if need be.
“Which ship belongs to Darius?” He eyed the line of nine ships and realized he couldn’t search all of them. A glance around showed Alfred nowhere near. Probably a smart thing given the only animals he’d seen in the city thus far ran on a few legs and didn’t fly. He should convince Alfred to be a hat next time. Something stylish that he could keep close by.
“Why are you snickering?” asked the snooty bot.
“Nothing. Where are you?” Because he couldn’t spot where Alfred hid.
“Close.” The voice by his ear startled.
He looked to his left, and the air seemed to shimmer. “That’s kind of cool.”
“Don’t be an idiot. I’m using my cloak, but it’s not perfect. So don’t draw attention. Use the goggles.”
“What goggles? Riella’s?”
“Yes, Riella’s. Do you want to see her, yes or no?”
“Of course, yes.” Did he still have them? He reached into his bag, and it took a bit of rummaging before his fingers closed around them. He pulled them free. “How do they work?”
“Put them on and I can show you Darius’s boat.”
“You know which one it is?”
“Only one Ocean Avenger.”
“Let’s locate it then.” He jammed the goggles on, opened his mouth to ask how they worked, then stumbled. Image overload on his left eye. He closed his lid against the dizzying feel of having two images fed to his senses at once.
“What the hell?”
“Not Hell, it’s a video. You’re seeing what I’m seeing,” Alfred said, the sound emerging from the goggles. “Think of me as your eyes in the sky.”
“More like vomit on the ground. It’s moving too fast.”
“Why must you plague me with complaints?” grumbled Alfred. “Riella has no problem following me.”
“Because Riella is radioactive.” The woman kept awing him with her skills. With practice, he might eventually catch up. “Give me a second to get used to it.”
Because it became quickly clear he could not walk and watch the camera feed at the same time. He had to find a place he could tuck and hide before he glanced again. It took only a moment to locate an out-of-the-way spot. Hunched and calm, he opened his left eye and closed the right one. Having only one image in front of him helped. He frowned. “What am I looking at?”
“A boat.”
“Obviously,” he sighed.
“That’s the Ocean Avenger,” Alfred remarked. “Darius has been her captain for nine years now, which is impressive for a pirate.”
“Meaning he’s due to get hit.” Luck only held on for so long.
“Or he’s the safest thing out there. Have to say, traveling with him was kind of fun even if he was arrogant. Then again, he could at least back up his claims. When they were attacked, he didn’t let her get kidnapped.”
An obvious jibe. Titan grumbled, “Whose side are you on?”
“Riella’s.”
Which wasn’t the answer he wanted, but if Alfred wasn’t going to have his back, then that was the next best thing.
The video moved, and he managed to hold
on to his guts as it rushed up and over to perch at the top of some kind of lookout post. He’d noticed a few of the ships had them, tall totems set into the deck with extending bars strung with rope.
From Alfred’s view, he also saw canvas strapped to the metal poles. Could this be sails like the ancient boats used in the olden days? But why bother if you had an engine?
Not a question for today. Titan muttered, “I want to see the deck.”
The sudden tilt almost had him lurching. He steadied and took in the details of the slick metal hull that rose to form a rail. A rubberized deck with bumps for grip he assumed. The turrets were bolted into the decking, left and right and at the nose. Another turret perched atop the house-like structure in the middle of the boat. It had doors on the side that appeared sealed shut and, in the front, a long slit, currently open and tempting for a peek.
“Alfred,” he whispered.
“What?”
He startled as the bird hologram landed by him.
He pushed up the goggles. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be spying.”
“I was. But then realized I should check in before you did something colossally stupid like barge onto the boat.”
“I thought you wanted me to rescue Riella.”
“First, never ever tell Riella you’re rescuing her. She hates feeling like she’s useless or not as good as anyone else.”
He blinked. “You just summed up how I feel every time I fail her.”
“When did you fail her?” Alfred asked and, for once, sounded genuinely curious.
“When her mother took her for one.”
Alfred made a noise. “That was her own complacency that got her caught. Nothing anyone could have done to stop it.”
“Darius took her.”