by Megan Hart
When they stopped for a breath, he put a finger to her lips to hush her again. "Listen."
She'd been so attuned to him she hadn't noticed the silence. "They're gone?"
"From there. But they'll be checking this roof next, I'm pretty damn sure. We've got to move."
But he didn't move. His cock remained stiff against the softness of her belly. Linna brushed her lips against his, but didn't deepen the kiss.
"Thanks for catching me."
"My pleasure."
She got to her feet, feeling suddenly giddy and silly. There was something deeper between them then friendship. She knew it. She saw it in his eyes and felt it in his kiss. They had no time to explore it now. Not with the SecOps on their trail. But later, she promised herself.
Del got to his feet easily enough for having been knocked over and squashed by a woman who probably weighed as much as he did. He dusted himself off and looked at the next building. It was a lot closer, but higher.
"I hope you can climb," he said.
"Me too."
She knew their escape couldn't be that easy. They might have kissed like people on the run always did in the viddy stories, but getting away without any trouble was entertainment, not real life. They'd just reached the doorway that led down to this building's inside when the door clanged open.
An armored SecOp burst through, stunner held high. Without hesitating, Del shot out an arm. It hit the Op in the throat and knocked him to the ground. Del dropped with his knee to the Op's chest and kept him from getting up with one quick punch to the face.
Seconds later, Del was on his feet again and grabbing her hand. "He won't be alone. We have to get out of here."
She didn't want to ask if he was dead. She didn't want to know. She followed Del without a backward glance at the downed Op, and when they got to the wall of the higher building, she put her hands to the grooves made by the windowsill and hoisted herself up.
She caught a glimpse of a startled face behind the plazglass, but she didn't stop. The windows of this building were longer than normal, with the bottom of one just a few inches above the top of the next. The building itself was made from concrete carved to look like stone, and her feet and hands found plenty of places to grip.
She'd have to remember to ask Del how he knew this building would be easy to climb. Later. Right now, all she could think about was hand, foot, hand, foot. Keep moving. Don't look down.
The next thing she knew, Del's big hands had wrapped around her wrists, and he hauled her over the edge and up onto the roof. Linna had never been so high up before. She struggled for breath, more winded than she'd realized, and burrowed in her pocket for a protein bar. She needed the energy.
"How do you do it?" she asked. "I've got help and I'm getting tired."
"You haven't been eating right." He shot her a grin. "Or sleeping right either."
She thought of how she'd dozed in his taxi and in his bed. "I haven't slept like a normal person in a long time."
"Ah, what's normal?" He rolled his head on his neck and stretched his shoulders before peering over the edge of the building. "The place over there is swarming with Ops. Won't be long before they have 'em on every roof."
"Where do we go from here?" Linna looked around. This was the tallest building in this district. She could see some taller in the distance, but nothing close enough to jump or climb to.
Del pointed up. "We go through."
Linna's gaze followed his finger. "What?"
"There's a zip along here somewhere. I've seen stars."
"You're not serious," she said, but could see he was. "The Dome really is going to fall down, isn't it?"
"I think so. When that happens, even Adar and his butt monkeys had better get their sunscreen ready."
The Dome had been erected to prevent the sun's harmful UV rays from beating down on Newcity. The electrical-chemical barrier, spread along a metal frame, had been the only part of the project, that also included heating, cooling and ventilation systems, to work the way it was supposed to. There had been times in the early days when the Dome failed, and despite the many repairs, millions of dollars and constant reassurances from the Ruling Council, it was a well-known rumor that one day the whole system was going to crash. It seemed that day was closer than any of them had believed.
"What about us?" Linna asked, certain Del would have an answer.
He didn't disappoint her. "We go through the zip. The Dome's only eighteen inches thick. This close to the edge of the city, we're right next to the Dome. We jump and hope we land on the roof of the Oldcity building on the other side."
"You're awful," she told him with a smile. She noticed an acrid tang to the air she didn't recognize. Her eyes had begun to water. "Where do we go through?"
He wiped at his eyes, which were also growing red. "Got to find the zip."
"I didn't realize we were that close to the Dome."
He laughed. "Two weeks ago, I doubt we were."
She followed him to edge of the roof on the side far from the building they'd climbed from. Below, the street looked like a ribbon of gray and black with tiny figures moving back and forth. She could hear System's soothing voice issuing the Code Red warning over and over.
"You've done this before?" She tried hard not to sound nervous, but didn't succeed.
Del captured her gaze with his. "I've never gone through here myself, no. But I've helped some others come through from the other side."
"Oldcitizens?" She shook her head. "That was a stupid question. Of course, Oldcitizens."
"Actually, no." He shrugged. "Offworlders who couldn't get a visa."
"From Xanderra?"
"No. Shaddran, I think. They were humanoid anyway. A family with a kid. They'd sent the kid through first. I heard him crying one day when I was doing some maintenance. I looked up and there was this kid, teetering on the edge of the building."
"You saved him?" She wasn't surprised.
Del didn't boast, just told the story matter-of-factly. "I got up here as fast as I could, the way we just came, and got him. His parents had sent him through ahead, but they were having trouble. I helped them both through. Got them a place to stay. Jobs."
"You could've lost your visa for that."
"Couldn't just let 'em risk their lives. They had a kid with them."
She marveled at his composure. "You're no Newcitizen, that's for sure. To thine own business attend means nothing to you."
He nodded. "That's a damn stupid motto, if you ask me. In Xanderra, there's no such thing as thine own business."
She slipped her hand into his and squeezed. "Let's get through this zip."
"Can you see it?"
She looked, but saw nothing but the hazy barrier of the Dome. Moving closer to the edge of the roof, her eyes burned and stung, and her nose did the same. "Yuck!"
"It kinda sparkles." Del pointed to a place in the air that seemed to ripple if she stared too long at it. "You need to hit it dead on, Linna. If you don't...."
She shuddered. "I know. My skin will peel off and my eyes liquefy and run down my face."
"So they say."
"Do you think it's true?"
"I don't want to find out," Del replied. "I do know you can get through this zip, though. Are you ready?"
She nodded, readied her stance, and clenched her fists. "I think so. Yeah. Yes. I'm ready."
"You need to run and jump straight for the middle of it. You'll fall through, but you need to get enough momentum to clear the downward edge. The building on the other side is the same height as this one. Can you land all right?"
Linna took a deep breath and ran an internal diagnostic check. "I'm enhanced, Del, but to tell you the truth, I'm not sure about my landing gear."
He laughed as she'd meant him to. His teeth, straight and white, gleamed in the dim emergency lighting. "Want me to go first? You can land on me again."
"I'd like that, for more than one reason." Flirting had become second nature to her, a ne
cessary survival trait, but she didn't have to force it this time.
"I'll go, then. You jump. I'll catch you."
She shivered again, despite the hot, muggy air. "I trust you, Del. But...."
"It's scary as hell."
"Yes."
He squeezed both her hands in his and drew her close. "I know."
He kissed her briefly, and when he pulled away, Linna forced herself not to search for signs of regret in his eyes. She took another deep breath, filling her lungs and creating a reserve of oxygen that would give her extra stamina. She let go of Del's hands, rubbed hers together, worked the fingers and bent her arms and legs to limber them.
"I'm ready."
"Straight for the center," he reminded her. "I'll be on the other side waiting."
From the street below the sirens cycled up. System's voice kept calling Code Red, over and over. A new noise added to the cacophony, a low grinding sound Linna had never heard before.
"Clear the streets," she heard System commanding, which was stupid since the streets had been cleared already. "Emergency equipment is managing the situation."
"What the hell?" Del said.
Above them, the Dome surface rippled. The building beneath their feet shook. The entire word filled with the sound of a rumbling, roaring hiss unlike any noise she'd ever heard. Linna looked over her shoulder, back across the building's roof toward the center of Newcity. This high, they could see for miles.
She blinked, knowing her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. The Dome appeared to be falling in. The haze above the city roiled and twisted, its normal gray color turning black. Sparks shot out of it and hit the buildings and streets.
"Lightning!" Del cried.
Linna had heard of it, but only seen it in viddy movies of Offworld cities that still had weather. In the next minute, a crash boomed throughout the city and made her stumble back into Del's arms.
Something fell out of the sky. Something large and glimmering with electricity. It crashed into the buildings beneath it, crushed them, breaking them into instant rubble. A column of fire shot upward, red and orange and surrounded by gouts of black smoke.
Linna couldn't speak, couldn't move. She felt Del's hands on her urging her back and her feet moved, but she couldn't stop staring. The sirens from below grew louder. Something shot up from the ground, a cloud of white that covered and extinguished the fire and hovered along the Dome's formerly invisible border.
"They're fixing it! C'mon, let's go!"
She had time to realize that he'd had to shout over the noise before he was pulling her again. He turned her body to face the still sparkling zip and readied himself.
"I'll go," he shouted, face intense. "You come next. I'll catch you!"
She nodded, unable to speak. Her body had reacted on its own, her enhanced organs and systems responding to the surge of adrenalin and going into overdrive. Time seemed to slow. She watched Del put his head down, fists at his sides, and launch himself toward the zip. She watched him disappear. From behind her, she heard another crash, another hiss, but didn't dare turn around to see what Armageddon looked like.
Linna ran. She jumped. She flew. And then she went through.
Del landed wrong on the crumbling rooftop, and agony speared his leg and ankle. He hit the concrete with a holler and rolled. Chips of concrete and glass ground into his skin, but he ignored them as best he could.
He barely had time to lurch to his feet again, weight resting on his uninjured leg, before Linna hurtled through the zip. From this side of the Dome, all he could see was a wall of black. The zip looked like a shining silver line. Then she leaped through, arms pumping, her face locked in an expression of horrified determination.
Her knees bent and she went down for a moment before gaining control and pushing up with her hands to stand. She took a stumbling step, but didn't fall.
"Sonofabitch!" she shouted, looking over her shoulder. "I made it!"
"You made it," Del said.
Her face had lit up like a neon sign. She grinned and punched the air, then did a little dance. Incredibly, she did a back flip and landed on her feet, fists still punching upward. "Whoo! What a rush!"
Del gritted his teeth against the pain in his ankle and admitted to himself he really needed to sit down. "I didn't even need to catch you this time."
Linna turned to look at the Dome. The wall of black curved up and away from them toward its pinnacle, where an occasional wisp of white drifted upward into the night sky. Her head tilted back, following the repair chemical's trail, and he knew the instant she saw them. The stars. A sight no Newcitizen ever witnessed unless they went Offworld.
"God-of-choice," she murmured. "They're beautiful."
He saw tears slide down her cheeks, silver in the bright moonlight. She was more beautiful than any star. He wanted to tell her that, but what came out instead was a groan.
She focused on him. "Del? Are you all right?"
He shook his head. For Xanderrans, there was no such thing as false bravado. When you were hurt, you said so. Pain made you stronger.
"My ankle," he told her. "I landed wrong."
"Let me see." She knelt in front of him. He stared at the top of her head, and even his pain couldn't keep him from imagining what she could do from that position. His groan this time wasn't completely from pain.
"You should sit down." Linna looked around the roof.
This building was in bad shape. Time and the elements had worn the concrete and metal and turned the rooftop into a hazard of pits and jutting spikes. He did need to sit, though, and so he did, wincing at the way the crumbles of concrete bit into his backside.
Linna knelt next to him and pulled up his pants leg to get a better look at his ankle. "Your boots are in the way."
"Don't," he told her when she moved to unzip the artileather boot. "If it's swelling, and I'm pretty sure it is, the boot will hold it down until we can get someplace and take care of it."
"Is it broken, do you think?"
"Nah." At least he hoped not. He'd had his share of broken bones. He didn't look forward to trying to find some Oldcity doc to patch him up. "I think it's just twisted."
Her face had creased in concern. "We need to get you someplace to look at it. Someplace down from here, too. Before sunrise."
She looked up at the sky, her eyes still soft with wonder. "Though I'd love to see the sun."
"You'd fry like an artiegg," Del told her. "Even Oldcitizens don't go out without protection."
She sighed. "I know. What's the plan from here?"
He pointed toward the open hole in the roof where the stairway had once been. "Down there, I guess. Find our way to the street. Find a hostel. Find a spacer willing to give us a berth on a ship. Get off this planet."
"You make it sound so easy." Linna's fingers on his calf were gentle as she pulled his pant leg down. "Can you walk?"
He'd have to, even if it hurt like a benizona. Linna stood and reached for his hand. Damn, but she was strong. All that power packed into a tiny female frame. Del shook his head as she hauled him to his feet.
"Lean on me," she said.
He hesitated for a moment, and she gave soft chuckle that made his stomach tighten.
"Del, I've got titanium alloy bones in my legs and arms. My spine's been enhanced with more of the same. I can hold you up, don't worry."
He put his arm around her shoulders. Her head only came up to his shoulders, but she didn't falter even when he put most of his weight on her. Together, they hobbled toward the hole where the stairs had been.
Linna peered down into the darkness. "I wonder what's down there."
"I hope a solid floor," Del replied. "This building hasn't seen residents in probably a hundred years. At least, not up on these upper levels."
Linna took a deep breath. "I guess we'll find out. It's going to be dark. Will you be all right? Xanderrans can't see in the dark, can they?"
"Nah."
"That's okay," she replied cheerf
ully. "I can."
He wasn't surprised. "That's pretty useful."
She twisted her head to grin up at him. "Until today, I never had to do it. When has Newcity ever been dark?"
"True." He pointed toward the hole. "Ready?"
"I'll go first this time," she said and helped him to the edge. "I'll let you know when to come down."
He spied the makeshift wooden ladder someone had propped up in place of the long-disintegrated stairs. "Be careful. That thing doesn't look too safe."
She sat on the edge of the hole and put her feet on the top rung. "Here goes nothing."
She disappeared into the darkness and called up to him to come down. Del followed her, hopping one his good foot from rung to rung. The last one splintered beneath his weight, but he caught himself before he could fall.
He smelled her, a scent he'd know anywhere, but could see nothing in the darkness. Then he felt her hand on his shoulder, and she took his arm to help him walk again.
"This way," she said. "Be careful. There are a lot of holes."
She navigated them through the unknown terrain, keeping up a commentary of what she saw the entire time. Even though his eyes adjusted to the darkness, without a glimmer of light, all he saw was black.
"This must've been an apartment building," she said. "Lots of doors. Careful, there's a hole here. Duck your head...there's some wires hanging down."
"I found the lift," she said a moment later.
Del felt the cold updraft. Linna shivered beside him. Neither of them was dressed for real climate.
"The stairs must be close by," he said.
"I see the door. Do you need to rest?"
"Nah. I'm okay."
She snugged her body closer to his. "Think you can do the stairs?"
He gritted his teeth. "Sure."
With Linna so close, he had something else to think about besides the pain in his ankle. His groin had begun to ache in a familiar way. He was semi-hard already from the smell of her hair, and when the lush curve of her breast rubbed against his ribs, his cock ignored whatever else he was doing and demanded his attention.