Angle of Truth

by Lindsay Buroker

  They made it past the people without anyone stepping out to oppose them. Judging by the fear and pain those hunkered souls were feeling, starting trouble with strangers was the last thing on their minds. Besides, they probably figured that anyone walking openly down here needed protection as much as they did.

  The tunnel narrowed and rounded a bend. Hoshi pointed to an open manhole up ahead, the air hazy in the light slanting through it.

  “That’s not good,” she said, heading for it. “People aren’t supposed to leave the lids off. Because the Opuntian spies could find us. There’s supposed to be guards at the manholes, too, but everybody was caught by surprise by the bombs this time. The forcefield was supposed to stay up, it was supposed to be imperviating this time. Impervitable?” She frowned back at them.

  “Impervious?” Jelena suggested.

  “Impervious, yes! It was—”

  A dark figure dropped through the manhole and landed in a crouch in the tunnel. Hoshi shrieked. Jelena almost did too until she sensed a familiar presence—a familiar presence carrying her staff.

  “Way to scare little children, buddy,” Erick said, sounding far less alarmed. “Why don’t you take out your sword and swing it menacingly a few times too?”

  “Thor,” Jelena blurted, chagrined that she hadn’t felt his approach. She had been too busy worrying about the people in the alcoves back there.

  She rushed forward and threw her arms around him. He straightened in time to receive the hug, though from the way he lifted his hands, he seemed to be thinking of deflecting it. She almost faltered, but he lowered his arms before they came up fully. She gave him a quick squeeze and let him go, not wishing to bother him if he didn’t want it, but relieved to see him.

  She started to step back, but he gripped her forearm to stop her.

  “Are you all right?” His eyes were intense as they met hers in the hazy light, and she thought she felt the brush of his touch on her mind. “I expected you to meet me at the POW camp in the water plant.”

  “She’s fine,” Erick said. “So is Masika, thanks for asking. I got shot, but don’t worry about me. It feels like my shoulder is being scorched from the inside out by the power of the sun, but I’m otherwise fine.”

  “We didn’t know where they were holding the POWs until just a bit ago, before the bombing raid,” Jelena told Thor. “You didn’t know where they were earlier, did you? And what do you mean we were supposed to meet?”

  “I found out where the POWs were being held from some of the soldiers on that ship. I assumed you would escape from the ones that caught you, find out for yourself, and meet me at the plant for a rescue.”

  “You saw us get captured?”

  “Not exactly. I saw it in the minds of people who’d witnessed it. I cracked my head against a pylon when that grenade went off.” Thor gingerly touched the side of his head—his hood was up, and she couldn’t tell if he had a knot there or any other injuries. “When I came to, I was tangled in some fishing net between two dinghies. It was, ah, not dignified.”

  “I imagine not.” Jelena plucked off a piece of seaweed dried to his shoulder.

  “Why didn’t the soldiers take you too?” Erick asked.

  “I guess they didn’t see me. I’m lucky I was lying there face up instead of face down. I never did figure out exactly what that robot threw at us, but there were other robots roaming the docks. These people were clearly expecting trouble.” He looked at Hoshi, who was staring wide-eyed at him, just as she had at Jelena and Erick earlier.

  “Not without reason,” Jelena said.

  “Agreed. We’re not the only team that was sent over.” Thor’s jaw tightened. “I suspect that General Chang and War Minister Sorel, not expecting us to succeed, maybe decided they could slip in teams of their own people to work while the locals were busy detaining us. It seems to have worked too. But they hadn’t yet rescued their own people when I was over at the plant. It’s well guarded.”

  “Is it well protected from bombs?” Masika asked. “Because those airplane bombers aren’t leaving a lot of buildings standing in the city. You may have noticed.”

  “I noticed.”

  “Does that mean you had nothing to do with their forcefield generator being blown up?” Jelena asked. “I’d thought… Well, I thought you might have believed it could be a good distraction while you came to rescue us.”

  “Rescue you?”

  “You weren’t planning to?”

  “I didn’t think you and Erick would need rescuing,” Thor said dryly.

  “Because I was there?” Masika asked, frowning at the exclusion of her name.

  “In part.” Thor bowed slightly to her. “To answer your question,” he said, turning back to Jelena, “no, I wouldn’t have deemed it wise to destroy the forcefield protecting the city I was currently operating in. I’m beginning to think the Opuntians are loons or don’t truly care much about their missing people. But since we were paid to retrieve them, we should get them, regardless.”

  “We’re planning on it,” Jelena said, “but Erick needs a doctor, and Hoshi has agreed to take us to one.”

  “Yes.” Hoshi brightened, seemingly glad to be included in the conversation again. “We’re almost there.”

  “If the Opuntians have teams of their own in the city, they may be sending one of them to retrieve the prisoners on their own.” Thor frowned at Erick and then back at the manhole, as if he wanted to head back out immediately. “If we want to be paid—”

  “Erick needs a doctor.” And Jelena had no intention of making him suffer in pain while they trekked to that plant.

  “Of course, but I thought you and I could go get the prisoners. Masika can escort Ostberg.”

  “I don’t need an escort,” Erick grumbled, though he did look shaky on his feet.

  “Assuming we are responsible for the rescue,” Thor pressed on, waving for Erick to follow Hoshi, as if it had already been decided that they would split up, “we’ll get paid. If someone else rescues those people, our journey will have been a waste.”

  “We can pay you,” Hoshi blurted. “If you help us stop the war and make the Opuntians go away, we can pay you.”

  “I don’t think it’s within our power to stop a war,” Jelena said sadly. She wished she could. Wouldn’t that be a nobler thing to do than simply helping one side or another?

  “But you’re Starseers.”

  The way she said it made Jelena’s heart ache. She’d never experienced this, a complete stranger having expectations of her, expectations of her to do great things, not just to be some inscrutable, mysterious, and likely dangerous kook in a robe.

  Another distant boom sounded. The tunnel didn’t shake, so Jelena hoped one of the airplanes had been struck rather than another bomb being dropped, but either way, it was a reminder that they shouldn’t linger.

  “We’ll all take Erick to see a doctor.” Jelena lifted her chin and looked Thor in the eyes. “After he’s fixed up, or we’re at least sure he’s in good hands, we’ll see about those prisoners.”

  Judging by the way Thor frowned back at her, he didn’t like the delay, but he didn’t object further. He returned her staff to her, and they headed off after Hoshi again.

  Are we sure he’s telling the truth? Erick asked into Jelena’s mind.

  Who? Thor?

  Yes. Do we believe him when he says he had nothing to do with blowing up the forcefield?

  Why would he lie to us? Jelena asked neutrally.

  She looked at Thor’s back. He was following after Hoshi while Jelena and Masika supported Erick who needed to move more slowly. Thor didn’t look back, but knowing he surfed through her thoughts regularly made her uncomfortable talking about him telepathically. She didn’t particularly want to talk about him behind his back, anyway.

  Because he knows you wouldn’t approve of actions he took that resulted in half a city being obliterated. A city full of people.

  I’m sure my approval doesn’t motivate him one w
ay or another. Besides, why would he have done that? As a distraction to rescue us? He wouldn’t have needed that. He could have taken care of those guards on his own.

  I don’t know, but I heard him talking to you about making a name for himself as some mercenary general or whatever. Maybe he has another deal with that war minister, one he made without moving his lips. He was certainly pulling their strings.

  For our sake.

  Are you so sure?

  Yes. Jelena glowered at him. Why are you so sure he can’t be trusted?

  Because he wants to overthrow the Alliance, is in the middle of assassinating all his father’s old enemies, and doesn’t get choked up about people dying at his feet.

  He’s not—he hasn’t had a simple life.

  Oh, is he a poor misunderstood assassin? Jelena—

  I don’t want to talk about this anymore. She stared forward resolutely, hoping he would drop it, both because Thor could be listening and because she believed that Thor, even if his methods sometimes made her cringe, was trustworthy and wouldn’t lie to them. Not to her.

  Erick gave her a pitying look. Just don’t turn into Bonnie Parker on me.

  Who?

  Didn’t you ever pick up a history book on the Nomad? You know, Bonnie and Clyde from Old Earth America. He robbed stores and banks and shot people, and she was along for the ride because she loved him.

  If Thor starts eyeing banks, I’ll give him a stern talking to.

  The police eventually caught up to them, and they were shot to death, Erick added. She died by his side. I think she was younger than I am now.

  Jelena almost told him that she could manage to get shot all by herself, but decided that might not be a great arguing point in the debate. Instead, she kept her mental lips shut, and followed their guide. She wasn’t in love, and she wasn’t someone who would ignore ethics and morality, even if she were.

  Chapter 11

  “Almost there” turned out to be false advertising. Hoshi led them from the warren of storm run-off drain tunnels directly under the city and into rougher passages that appeared to have been carved out long ago with dynamite and pickaxes. The young girl had grabbed one of several lanterns off a wall when they first entered the area and was now leading them by a wan flame fueled by kerosene or whale oil or something equally primitive. Erick made disgruntled and distressed noises as the journey continued on. Jelena and Masika were still walking to either side of him, offering support if he swayed.

  “This is the ahridium,” Hoshi said, pausing to hold her lamp up to a vein running through the stone, one that gleamed silvery as the light touched it. “You’re not supposed to touch it or disturb it. My sister says it’s really toxic.”

  “It’s pretty,” Jelena said, far more worried about Erick than toxic rocks, especially if they were minding their own business in a wall. Surely, they couldn’t have much farther to go. Why would Hoshi have been wandering so far from her family?

  “The ahridium?” Thor asked, an odd note to his voice.

  “You know, that the Alliance wants. I bet we could mine some to pay you if you saved Cholla.” Hoshi continued on, the lantern swinging beside her leg as she walked.

  Thor looked at Jelena, then frowned at the back of Hoshi’s head, and she imagined him sifting through her thoughts for more information.

  She doesn’t know much more, Thor said silently. But she thinks the war is about the ahridium.

  Is Fourseas known for ahridium? Jelena directed the question to Erick and Masika as well as Thor.

  It wasn’t mentioned in the sys-net entry, Erick replied.

  I didn’t think Fourseas was known for anything, Masika thought—Jelena had to pay close attention to her to pick up her response, since she couldn’t project her words outward the way a telepath did.

  Except culinary cactus delicacies, if that soldier can be believed, Erick added.

  Thor looked over his shoulder.

  Jelena started to explain it to him, but paused. One of the soldiers said the thieves might have come for ahridium and settled for cactus, didn’t he, Erick?

  The one who was flirting with you?

  No, the one next to him.

  Thor looked back again, his eyebrows higher this time.

  Did you see that big rock on the war minister’s desk? Jelena asked all of them. She could hear voices up ahead, and Hoshi added a skip to her step. Jelena was glad for Erick’s sake that they were about to reach the doctor, but now she wanted to go poking around in the tunnels, looking for ore. Maybe she could question some of the natives, preferably amenable ones who didn’t want to shoot her.

  I saw it, Thor replied.

  Do you know if it was ahridium?

  It might have been. Ahridium is rare. I didn’t think it came in chunks that large. It’s hard to imagine it being used as someone’s paperweight.

  “I thought ahridium was an alloy,” Masika chimed in. Jelena hadn’t realized the boys had been including her in their responses.

  Hoshi must have heard her speak because she glanced back, but she only waved and smiled. “Almost there.”

  The ahridium we use for spaceship hulls is an alloy, Erick said telepathically, but it’s named after the raw ore, which we discovered after arriving in this system. The alloy is more than eighty percent ahridium, and the rest is a blend that makes it lighter and more malleable.

  It’s valuable, right? Jelena asked.

  Very much so.

  Huh.

  What are you thinking? Erick gave her that concerned what-are-you-scheming-now look of his.

  That this war might not be about religion, after all.

  I suspect very few wars ever are, at least among those who start them. But let’s not worry about it, all right? This isn’t our world, and it isn’t our battle. Whoever fired the first shot or whichever nation is right or wrong, some people were kidnapped, and it’s not wrong for us to rescue them and return them to their homeland. Agreed?

  Of course. Let’s just keep our ears open.

  Erick sighed. What, did he think she was planning something crazy? They were going to hand him to a doctor, rescue the POWs, drop them off, collect some money, and make a payment on their loan. That was it.

  “This way.” Hoshi beamed a smile back at them and pointed through an opening in the tunnel wall. Artificial light streamed out from inside, dwarfing the flame of her lantern. “Kiyoko,” she called as she walked through the gap. “Kiyoko, are you here? I brought Starseers. And one needs your help.”

  “I’m beginning to think we shouldn’t have worn our robes,” Erick murmured.

  “I’ve had that thought too. It would have been easier to fly under the radar in spaceship pajamas.”

  “Spaceships and asteroids.” Though he radiated doubt, Erick shuffled toward the entrance. He was in pain, and he must be looking forward to having someone fix him up—and deliver a nice dose of Painpro. Assuming they had drugs down on this planet.

  Jelena entered on his heels. Ceiling lamps shone down upon rows of cots, all with people on them. Some sat, some lay down, and all were injured, some grievously so. Jelena swallowed and looked away from a woman missing her arm.

  Erick stopped short and lowered the hand he’d been using to hold his shoulder immobile. If there was only one doctor, he might have to wait a long time for attention. Maybe with some lighting and surgical implements, Jelena could clean his wound and remove the bullet.

  “Kiyoko is in surgery right now, Hoshi,” a weary woman said, coming forward and clasping the girl’s hands, but only briefly before straightening and peering at Jelena’s group. She wore a smock with dried blood on it, and her hair hung limply around her face, as if she hadn’t had an opportunity for personal care in a long time. The woman—a nurse?—gripped Hoshi’s shoulder, as if to pull her away from the strangers, and Jelena expected her to tell them to leave or to call for someone with a gun. The nurse couldn’t have known everyone in the city, but she would know from their clothes that they weren’t f
rom around here. She swallowed, glancing uneasily at Thor, even though he wasn’t doing anything menacing, then asked Jelena, “Are you in need of medical attention?”

  “He is.” Hoshi pointed at Erick.

  Erick looked toward the people on the cots and hesitated to speak.

  “He was shot,” Jelena said. “In the shoulder. If you’re too busy, I could help him if I could get some clean water, bandages, and a few tools.”

  “Shot?” The nurse’s eyebrows flew up, and Jelena could imagine her putting the pieces together, realizing that the four of them were not only strangers, but that they might be enemies.

  Maybe you should have told her I was injured in the bombing, Erick said silently.

  At some point, someone would have noticed the bullet in your shoulder.

  We could say it was embedded in a wall that fell on me. And then it fell out of the wall. And into my shoulder.

  That’s a lousy lie, Erick.

  Being a spy is harder than it looks in the vids.

  “I’ll let Dr. Ogiwara know,” the nurse finally said.

  “That’s my sister,” Hoshi said brightly.

  “Hoshi, where have you been?” a grandmotherly woman on a cot asked, and the girl trotted over to see her. Maybe she was Hoshi’s grandmother. “Come tell me my fortune, eh?”

  “Have a seat,” the nurse told Erick. “I’ll try to find you some water.”

  She hustled away, stopping first to duck behind some curtains that had been erected in the back corner of the chamber. To create a private operating room?

  Jelena sensed people back there when she checked, and almost jumped because one of them was familiar.

  “Uh oh,” Erick muttered, looking in that direction too.

  “What is it?” Thor squinted at the two of them.

  The curtains parted, and a black-haired woman in saffron and brown robes stepped out, her sunglasses now hanging on a cord around her neck.