I groaned. “Will they, though? They believe me to be dead, have Yan captured, and I promise you if Pivek and Ketellin got away from that imperial cruiser, they won’t come down here. They’ll jump from the system and regroup with whatever contacts they can dig up. So that leaves them waiting for Amara. It’s been four days. Either they captured her, or they gave up. She’s not exactly the highest on Xarren’s hitlist.”
“With that logic, won’t we also not find your friend, amshen?” Beleak asked.
My shoulders sagged from the somber thought that maybe I wouldn’t find any of them ever. That was of course a very real possibility, but I couldn’t let that stop me. There was still hope and I wouldn’t let it go just yet. “Maybe we won’t, but I have to try.”
He nodded. “Admirable.”
Rayvan handed me a bowl of the steaming slop. It was brown and gooey, and though I’d eaten it before and knew it was edible, it still wasn’t appetizing.
“I can’t let you go by yourself. It’s miles off and you have no way to walk there nor the money to hitch a ride. We’ll bring you there, but we do it on my terms, do you understand?”
I frowned. She was right. I couldn’t walk around the room, let alone ten miles. I didn’t have the money for a speeder or a sand strider and there probably weren’t any grav-tubes out this way. Even if I did try to walk, I was so weak that I was an easy target for whoever wanted to come at me. Not to mention that I was a wanted woman.
So, I gave in. No choice. “Fine. How are we getting there then?”
“Oh, don’t worry your pretty head. I have a speeder.”
“Materelle’s mercy, how did you manage to afford that?” I took a bite of the slop. I almost gagged.
She feigned offense, a hand over her heart coupled with a look of mild disgust. “I’m hurt that you’d assume I wouldn’t have the means to pay for one myself.”
I rolled my eyes and gave her a long stare. “Come on. I don’t know you that well, but it’s clear you’re not rolling in digits.”
“I’m messing with ya,” she said with a grin. “It was my father’s from before the gambling issues. He never sold it because it didn’t work and because he built it with my grandfather. So it has…sentimental value.”
“But if it doesn’t work—”
“Oh! Sorry, buried the lead.” She chuckled. “I fixed it up with Beleak’s help. Works perfect now, though she isn’t a pretty lady, that’s for sure.”
“Well, if it will get us to the rendezvous…”
“Oh, it will.”
I sighed. “Okay, let’s do this then.”
“Slow down, pretty hair. Let’s finish our meals and give your meds some time to kick in. As it is, you can barely walk. Once the painkillers go into effect, then we’ll head on out. And again, we do what I say.”
“Aye-aye, captain,” I said as a scooped another spoonful of the slop into my mouth and did my best to swallow it without showing too much discomfort.
“Don’t be cheeky, Jinx. It simply isn’t a good color on you.”
I swallowed and feigned satisfaction. “How would you know? And personally, I think I’m a lot more fun as a sarcastic minx.”
Rayvan laughed. “Maybe. You’re certainly not boring.”
“You two are so loud,” Beleak said with a harrumph. That just made Rayvan and I chuckle at his expense. Materelle knew that this was a bad situation, but it seemed that I’d made some new friends, so maybe there was a silver lining to all of this. And one could never have too many friends.
Now I just needed to get my other ones back.
A little under an hour later, I was on top of the world. The meds had kicked in and most of my pain went away. Not completely of course. There was still a distant ache in the pit of my stomach and every step sent a slight jab through my torso, but it was bearable. Nothing I couldn’t handle, since unfortunately, I’d dealt with far too much pain in my life.
So, after I changed out of my soiled and ripped Elexae servant’s uniform, we were ready to go. Naturally, I felt incredibly small wearing Rayvan’s clothes since she was broader and taller than me, but it was all she had. It was a lot more inconspicuous than wearing a torn Elexae uniform.
Rayvan led me out of the house with Beleak on my heels. It was evening now, though the sun had yet to set fully so the sky was still a bright orange. The street, however, was bathed in shadows. It was the first time I’d been outside since Rayvan rescued me. It was that perfect time of the Elarri day where it wasn’t so hot and humid and the cold desert night hadn’t set in quite yet, so my skin felt cool and excellent.
I just felt amazing, all things considered, so hopefully I could parlay that into some good luck.
I followed Rayvan down the street. The area still seemed as abandoned as I’d found it days before, but I did hear some murmurs from within some of the buildings, and then I saw a group of children playing some game in an alley. So, not as lifeless as I thought. Still, it would be best to stick close to Beleak and Rayvan.
After a few minutes, Rayvan took us down another street, one that had a few more people on it. They gave me some glances but nodded at Rayvan. I was sure everyone around here probably knew each other. Slums were often like that. Us smaller folks had to stick together in a galaxy that strived so hard to put us down.
We came to what I could only assume was a garage. A large, square sandstone building with titanium doors and trim, which made it look old and sleek all at once. There were three rusty garage doors. Two were shut and the one closest to us was open. Inside was a busted-looking fighter that could barely fit inside. It seemed like it was an imperial military model. How someone got that there, I didn’t know.
Working on it was a skinny Elarri man who was surprisingly short for the men of his species. Still a hair taller than me, though. He had long, blond hair tied back in a tail, which was odd, so he must have been mixed.
Upon our approach, he perked up from what he was doing. “Hey, Rayvan, how’s it going?”
Rayvan waved at him. “Same old, Marnis, same old. Gonna give my friend here a lift.”
“Hi,” I said.
He inclined his head. “A pleasure.”
“Did you seal off the coolant leak like I asked you?” Rayvan asked him.
“I did, but I expect payment soon. I like you, but my landlord is chewing off more of my rear than I can handle. I’m strapped right now.”
“I’m always good for payment, Marnis. I’ll get you when we get back.”
He nodded, gave me a polite smirk, then got back to work.
Rayvan went to the garage door on the far left and unlocked it with a key card, a surprisingly high-tech lock for such a rundown area. The rusty metal ground painfully as the door ascended. Not a pleasant sound.
The inside was dark, and the growing evening light didn’t help. Rayvan took a step in and flipped a switch. A large fluorescent light came on, though it was old and dim and flickered terribly, but it did manage to illuminate the area.
“Need to get that fixed,” Rayvan noted of it, as if reading my thoughts.
The speeder was in the middle of the space, covered by a ratty, stained cover. Workbenches lined the walls, a mess of tools and parts scattered about. Metal crates were stacked in one corner. It wasn’t a tidy area, but then nothing about this district was nice and pristine, so I shouldn’t have been shocked.
“Why do you keep your dad’s speeder so far away?” I asked as I paced around the room.
“I can’t exactly fit it in my house, Jinx.” Rayvan walked over to the speeder and pulled the cover off. “Besides, no one messes with my stuff. They know better.”
I’d have liked for her to elaborate on why no one messed with her things, same as I wanted to know how she managed to fix me up when she didn’t seem versed in medical skills or how she got those meds, but those questions left me when I saw the speeder.
“What a piece of junk,” I blurted without even thinking, then immediately clapped my hands over my mo
uth.
“Thanks, Jinx.”
“I’m sorry. Sometimes, I just burp out my thoughts.”
She laughed. “It’s fine. Trust me, I know that it isn’t the best. But it will get us where we need to go.”
I hoped so, because it looked pathetically unflyable. It was a small speeder, a standard four-seater with smooth, rounded edges and small fins along the doors. The metal was rusty, and the yellow paintjob was faded in most spots to a creamy color. There were gaps in some of the paneling, and the door by the pilot seat appeared ready to break off if we hit one patch of turbulence.
“I would replace the paint and totally refurbish the whole body, but it’s not in my budget right now. It flies, that’s all that matters.”
“Sure, sure, yeah.”
Rayvan shook her head with snort and punched my arm lightly. “Come on, climb aboard.”
I nodded and made for the backseat, but then Beleak cleared his throat beside me. I lifted an eyebrow at that.
“Do I look like I can fit in the front, amshen?”
“N-no, you do not.”
“This model speeder was not designed for non-humans.”
“Stop being so dramatic,” Rayvan sniped as she pulled the door open with a thwack. “He does this every time we go for a ride. You live on Elarra. Things are tailored to us.”
“You are not an accommodating people,” he replied.
“Oh, don’t I know it.”
I smiled. I liked these two.
Rayvan got in and I followed suit on the other side. Beleak stepped over the backdoor and spread his legs out over the seat. Even then, there was barely enough room for him. Yeah, the speeder was not meant for someone like him.
The interior of the speeder wasn’t as bad as the outside. The console and controls were all polished and in working order, and the carbon fiber seating was in good condition. A few scratches here and there, but nothing to be fussed over. All I cared about was if this beat-up thing could fly. Otherwise, we’d have to walk or find a strider.
My Elarri friend flashed me a grin. “Here we go.”
She flipped some switches and started the hover jets. The speeder hummed and shuddered for a moment, sputtering. It lifted lightly off the ground. I thought that at any moment, it would drop right back down, but it kept us up. Rayvan pushed down on the stick and took us out slowly. Then, once we were out of the garage and into the open street, we shot up into the air at such a sickening speed that my lungs dropped into my stomach.
“Yeah, you should probably buckle up,” Rayvan said with a snicker.
Yeah, she was probably right.
Once we were sufficiently high enough, we shot forward through the Elarri evening.
The buildings zoomed by below us, and far in the distance was the glittering cityscape at the heart of the capitol. A whole tenth of the planet’s surface was the one city—the massive capitol of the Elarri Empire. I’d never been that far into the capitol. All of mine and my friends’ dealings had been in the distant slum districts. Hell, even Xarren Elexae’s home was considered an “undesirable locale,” but I’d heard that he didn’t like the bustle of the city center. Besides, so far from the politics of the heart, he was free to reign terror and control over the outlying districts.
It was crazy that we’d even attempted to come at him.
Soon enough, the walls of the Koreth District came into view. From street level, they’d seemed so imposing, as most district walls did. But from so high up, I could see that they were crumbling in places and looked to be in general disrepair, a relic from another era before Elarri imperial dominion expanded to the far reaches of the stars.
“Almost there,” Rayvan chimed beside me.
We went over the walls. A couple of miles to the west, there was a gap in the buildings where a large manicured estate sat. Xarren Elexae’s estate. I gulped. It made me nauseous being so close, knowing that Yan could be in there right now, tortured and alone. Not dead, I thought. He’s alive in there.
The speeder started to slow as we neared the rendezvous. Others zoomed overhead and nearby. Some far too close. Air traffic wasn’t as controlled out here. In large cities though, everyone had to pilot on automated grids to avoid accidents.
We descended into a courtyard that looked abandoned, though some of the windows had flowerbeds spilling with ivy and small yellow flowers. I didn’t see any lights on, though, so who knew.
I was thankful that the speeder flew well and fast. I had to not judge things on their appearances, for they could be deceiving. Once we landed, Rayvan powered us down and hopped out. I followed suit, though a lot slower and without her grace. My wound still throbbed, after all.
“Alright, let’s get to it,” she said. She dug into a small compartment under her seat. “Here, wear this. It’ll hide your hair and your eyes.”
She handed me a thick wool cap with a low brim. I nodded. She was right of course. The Elexaes shouldn’t be on the lookout for me, but no need risking it. I took the hat from her, did my hair up into a messy bun and tucked it into the hat, pulling the brim down low so that I could barely see out from under it.
“Brilliant, you look positively suspicious.”
I snorted. “I’ve always been told I looked the opposite.”
“You’re right, far too innocent.” With a smile, Rayvan started for the gap in the courtyard. I followed after her. “Mind my baby, Beleak.”
He grunted in acknowledgment. “I wish you luck, amshen.”
“Thanks, big bird!”
Rayvan laughed.
The rendezvous was located in an abandoned storefront off a side street nearby. It wasn’t on one of the main avenues, so there wouldn’t be as many eyes on it. Of course, that also was predicated that no one knew we’d be meeting there, but if Rowan did tell the Elexaes about it, then there might already be someone watching.
As the storefront came into view, Rayvan pulled me into an alcove between two buildings. She shoved something heavy into my hand: a blaster.
“Take this. I assume you know how to use one?”
I gripped it gingerly in hand. It was too heavy. I didn’t want it. Violence wasn’t something I enjoyed. If it came to it and we were attacked my Elexae thugs, I would do my best to defend myself, but shooting… Shooting meant killing, and the thought of killing someone, even if they were a bad person, made me nauseous.
“Y-yeah,” I managed to say.
Rayvan pursed her lips and gripped my shoulder. “Hopefully, you won’t have to use it. I have one too.” I was glad to see that she understood my hesitation. She seemed like a good person, but since she lived and grew up in the slums, it was hard to know. Growing up in this background could mean a lot of things. It was a hard life; one I knew too well.
I nodded my thanks. “I’ll do my best.”
“Good.”
We continued around the building to an alley beside the abandoned storefront. There was an old door, a back entrance to the former… Well, I didn’t know what the store used to be, but it was abandoned and served its purpose. We stopped in front of the door, blasters in hand, shoulders tensed.
“Okay, ready?” she asked me.
I took a deep breath. My friend might be in there. She might be alive and well and everything would be okay. Or there could be some mobsters lying in wait. Was I ready? Probably not, but we couldn’t wait for me to be ready. So I nodded.
Rayvan nodded back and tried the door. The keypad didn’t work—wasn’t even on—so she pulled out a regular steel knife and shimmied the keypad off the side panel. She shoved her hand inside and started messing with wires before there was a spark and the door slid open with a groan.
I gulped. “When we scouted this place, the door worked.”
She looked at me. “So someone could have messed with the locking mechanism. Friend or foe?”
“Guess we’ll find out.”
Rayvan flipped the blaster’s safety button off and stepped inside the building. I followed her.
“That’s neat,” I said in a low voice.
The room we were in was small and metal and covered in dust and webs. Junk and old papers littered the ground. There were footprints in the dust on the floor. Someone had been here, and they weren’t Amara because the prints were far too big. I pointed them out.
“Not good,” Rayvan said.
“You were right, the Elexaes have been here.” My heart sank. “Could they still be here?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Look. There’s a layer of dust on the prints. It’s been a while. And they go both ways, in and out.”
She was right. “Amara could still be here.”
“Or they already got her.”
I didn’t respond to that, no matter how real of a possibility it was. I didn’t need that negativity. So, I stepped past her and into the next room, blaster out, ready to shoot, though my arms shook.
I called out to Amara, in a regular speaking tone. Shouting probably wasn’t called for. Even so, Rayvan cursed behind me.
“Is that necessary?” she hissed.
“Yes,” I said without looking back. “If Amara is here, she needs to know that we’re friends, not Elexaes.”
Rayvan must have understood, because she didn’t say anything. So from there, we went through the store and searched for my friend. The main store was empty save for broken tables and crates and some large chairs covered in dusty covers. But no Amara.
We searched the lavatories. No Amara. Some storerooms and back offices. No Amara. With each room, my heart sank further, my chest growing heavy. There was an upstairs. A long hall with several rooms. We searched each one. They were all empty.
No Amara.
No Elexaes either, but that wasn’t enough to make me feel any better. Rayvan sensed my distress, because she put her arm around my shoulder.
The Xarren Escape (Plundering the Stars Book 2) Page 5