He lay back on the floor. After silently wishing for escape, he dozed off.
Luylla had been waiting anxiously for the startling bleep. The infinite purplish blue transformed before her tense gaze into the green nebula. The gold disc lay on the co-pilot’s seat. She reached over and snatched it up. The disc slipped and fell to the floor in her haste. The groaning came though the receiver. Her heart seemed to have a hyperdrive of its own.
Luylla scooped up the disc and set it on the console. Like before, the boarding tube came out to meet her. She turned her ship with the sub-thrusters and locked onto the complex. She pictured her goal. The mental images focused her mind. She tightened her holster belt, readying herself for combat. She checked the drowse inducer and moved its sliding switch to the appropriate setting. The hand-held, tri-pronged device activated and she clipped it to the back of her belt. She hurried to the terminal door and pulled the creaky hatch open.
The Freegu was right there, lying on the floor. Luylla advanced. Her hand wandered to the butt of her gun as she recalled Adel’s last words. His pointed ear twitched at the sound of her footsteps. His body writhed and stirred. He lifted and sat with eyes half open, yawning and stretching. When he glanced up and saw her, a smile lit his face. Before she could react, his arms were already wrapped around her neck.
‘Get off me, you disgusting creature,’ she yelled, squirming from his grip. She shoved him back, unclipped the drowse inducer from her belt and whipped it to his forehead.
‘Back to sleep,’ she said, holding the button.
It buzzed violently and the energy waves propelled into his head. He stood with his body shaking. His eyelids fluttered. His mouth dropped open with a slack tongue and a strand of saliva drooled out. She pulled the device away. The Freegu’s belly slapped the floor.
She glanced towards the complex. Nothing. She dragged him by the arm into the Inhibitan. Surprisingly, she had met with no resistance. Then again, she thought, who wouldn’t want to be rid of him.
Fifteen
Tazman rolled his heavy head. A distant sound vibrated through the floor and woke him. The sound was mechanical with a hydraulic squeal. He didn’t want to bother struggling against the weight of his eyelids; opening them was too much work at this point. His body heat made a warm spot where he lay. Stiff muscles couldn’t find the motivation to move, lest they touched the cold.
Tazman’s ear twitched. Footsteps, a double click of the heel and toe. He peeled open his eyes and found a dark and blurry dimension. Scuffed black boots came before his head. With his headache, they might as well have been walking on his skull.
A lady’s voice boomed from above. ‘Get up!’
A crushing grip enwrapped Tazman’s upper arm. He reluctantly followed its lead and started to push up off the cold floor. His hands, however, had been cuffed behind his back. He lost his balance and dropped, onto a much colder spot.
‘Move it,’ the voice commanded. He recognised the tone. The captain — Luylla. She violently plucked him up. Fighting a familiar level of gravity, his feet slid upright in contact with the floor and he stood.
Was this a dream? Had Tazman’s wish to escape the safe haven come true? He got his answer … A hand grabbed the scruff of his neck, keeled him over and pulled him along. Luylla marched on. He tried to stay upright but blood flow was lagging and sharp tingles swelled through his legs with every step. Even tail was out of it, dragging uselessly behind him, playing dead of course.
The floor passed by and was replaced with a descending metal ramp. The next surface was cold concrete. It was night. Why did everything have to be cold and dark? Tazman wondered. His shadow swooped in front of him as they passed under a light. A gust of frosted wind picked up; somewhere loose rubbish rattled along the ground. After a few more steps Luylla released him.
He stood. He blinked. His resolution became clear. A cityscape stretched before him. A stabbing fear skewered his spirits. Towards the main district he recognised the pyramidal spires. He was back on Greatek. His demons had found him and hijacked his wish.
‘It’s come down to this has it?’ Tazman said haughtily.
He saw a bench nearby and headed to it.
‘Hey!’ said Luylla.
‘Relax lady, I’m not going anywhere.’
Tazman eased onto the seat and threw his head back, letting out the contents of his lungs, which turned frosty. He closed his eyes. The pounding in his head was beginning to subside. The poking pricks flared in his legs again. He wiggled his toes and tightened his thighs to make his blood flow faster. Once that felt comfortable he tapped his feet, letting out a gasp as he fought his body for some mobility.
He opened his eyes and allowed them to defocus. One of the moons hung in the sky — the white one, half cast in shadow. Tazman had forgotten what it was called but he identified the dark blemish of its city, which had the cheapest accommodation around these parts.
Something buzzed across his sight. He looked to the side. The lamp above swarmed with flying insects. With noisy vibrating wings, they flew into the bulb, and bounced off, before trying again. The lamp was one of several evenly spaced around the area.
Luylla had taken him to a skyway platform. The glaring yellow spherical nodes of the gravi-track hovered off the drop side, dictating where the magtrain would fly. The nodes kept the skyway magtrains suspended so they could master rocket speeds without the need of navigation equipment. The dotted line trailed through and between the highrises of the city.
He looked over at Luylla’s shapely body, admiring the way she stood, with her arms folded and her long legs at an angle, staring down the track. She sighed, momentarily boosting her feminine features. She flitted her gaze down and adjusted her footing. The edge of her boots barely touched the marked safety line. Tazman couldn’t help but giggle.
‘Luylla, what are you doing?’ he asked.
‘Cashing in on your bounty,’ she replied swiftly.
‘You’re not sadistic enough to be a hunter. On Lubric you didn’t even remember to take the safety off your gun. So come on now, tell me the real story.’
‘Be quiet,’ she snapped. The moment lingered. ‘I don’t ask you questions. I don’t ask about your affiliation with the Tyde.’
‘I can tell you if you want,’ he replied.
‘I don’t care,’ she screamed. ‘You’re a criminal and that’s good enough for me.’
Tazman went silent and nodded at the ground. Her logic made sense. ‘You’re right,’ he muttered. ‘I deserve everything I get.’
He eased to the edge of the seat and in a quick movement tucked in his legs and brought his handcuffed arms out from under him. Tazman looked over and grinned, wondering if Luylla was impressed by his little manoeuvre.
She turned back to the magtrain path.
Tazman felt the stiffness subsiding. He lifted his arms over his head and blissfully stretched. Tail flopped over the front of the seat and wagged.
He looked up and noticed the insects above were more erratic. There were two kinds. One group had a red stripe across its abdomen and the other had smaller bodies. Both parties seemed to be territorial, swooping and fighting for the precious glow. Tazman’s brain instantly thought of taking bets, but none of his crewmates were around.
‘I hope it’s worth it then,’ he said. ‘Going around on your little ship, all alone. No mummy or daddy?’
‘Shut up!’ she said, raising her voice.
‘Whoa, hit a pressure point did I? Where are your folks anyway? Were they the ones that sent you packing? Or were you actually stupid enough to choose this profession?’
Luylla drew her pistol and stormed over. ‘Keep mouthing off, monkey, I dare you.’ The barrel levelled between Tazman’s eyes.
Given where he was headed, he might have thought a shot to the head would be a positive thing. He didn’t know what he wanted. His whole life consisted of making things up as he went along.
She flicked her thumb against a switch and the gun sounded its
threatening charge pitch. ‘Do it,’ he shrugged indifferently, disguising the effects of his raging heartbeat. ‘You might not get paid, though. The Composite will shell out for a dead body but the Tyde won’t. Just make sure the safety’s off.’
Luylla lowered the gun and uncocked it, cutting off the high frequency electronic buzz.
Tazman smirked, ‘You shouldn’t pull it out if you don’t intend using it.’
She whipped around and belted her gun across the side of his face. His head snapped to the side and he keeled over the seat, groaning. He rubbed his jaw, only half believing she’d actually hurt him. What was it with people and their parents? He looked up to see Luylla striding back to the platform edge. He laughed dryly and called after her, ‘See, if you were a real hunter, you would’ve shot me.’
Tazman heard the magtrain approaching. Luylla twitched her gun at him. He reluctantly stood and trudged in her direction. She made a clicking noise with her mouth and sighed in disapproval, grabbing his cuffs and rushing him to the safety line.
Beaming floodlights made Tazman wince. A gust of air slammed his face. The magtrain entered from the right and passed along the platform. Its sleek glistening form was a blur of black panelled surfaces. Not a regular skyway.
The whine of the hover pitch dropped and the magtrain gradually slowed. The back half crawled in front of them, coming to a complete stop and placing the pair in line with the last carriage. The door inched outwards and shifted to the side. Luylla grabbed Tazman by the back of his neck again and pushed into the carriage.
Tazman stepped over the gap to find two Tyde sentinels inside. Luylla stopped short. They circled around the pair. Mechanical parts slid and sheathed, foot pads clicked on the floor. The door hissed and closed with a seal. The magtrain started moving. Tazman shifted his weight to maintain balance.
Although lit too bright for comfort, the interior wasn’t much warmer than outside. The grimy floor, dusty with loose rust particles, had empty grooves for cargo. Two waist-high crates lined against the opposite wall in the back corner. One of the sentinels looked down at Luylla’s weapon, holding out its hand and prompting her to disarm. She quickly holstered her pulse pistol and surrendered her gun belt. The machine dumped it on the crates.
The door at the front of the carriage emitted a humming noise. It slid to the side to reveal Adel. Tazman was reminded again why he had a thing for Krusians. Her heeled boots reached high to her thighs, just below the hem of her short skirt. She was draped in a long leathery coat and held a precision rifle in one hand. She smiled and stepped in with green eyes beaming.
‘Tazman,’ she chimed in her phoney tone. One of the sentinels behind grabbed him by the upper arms. She stepped in close and darted her gaze to his eyes.
‘Where were you? I’ve been worried sick,’ she whispered. She ran a perfectly manicured hand softly across his cheek. ‘How is my little strategist?’ she asked warmly.
‘Get off.’ He squirmed and turned his face away. ‘Don’t think I’m coming back anytime soon.’
Adel smiled and turned to Luylla. ‘He used to work for us, you see,’ she explained. ‘Gathering and trafficking information — secret agent stuff.’ Adel pinched Tazman hard on the cheek. ‘And he was so good at it too, until he didn’t want to do it anymore.’
‘The health plan wasn’t the greatest,’ said Tazman.
Luylla’s head inched back, recoiling from the creepy display of affection and/or torture.
‘Modesty was never your strongest virtue, Tazman,’ said Adel. ‘Tell the rest of the story.’
‘Well,’ said Tazman, ‘when I resigned, I may have …’ he smiled and shook his head with wandering pupils, ‘led authorities to one of the Tyde’s higher ranking crime lords.’
‘Not just one of them,’ Adel pressed. ‘You cost the Tyde the control of an entire system.’
‘Details,’ he replied nonchalantly.
Adel turned away and reverted to her business-like demeanour. ‘Well done, hunter. I am pleased.’
‘Do you have what I need?’ asked Luylla.
The crime lordess gave a dirty smile and stepped back, lifting her rifle into both hands. With that, the other sentinel moved in and pulled Luylla into an arm lock.
‘What’s this?’ Luylla pushed forward and tried to wriggle free. ‘We had a deal.’
‘But, Ms Bounty Hunter, you’re a wanted felon. I can’t let you run unchecked.’
‘You wouldn’t sell out one of your own,’ said Luylla.
‘It’s nothing personal. I need to strengthen ties with the Composite somehow. Business is business. I trust you understand.’
Tazman decided his boyish charms wouldn’t work here. Frustrated, he swung around and moaned, ‘Oh! Repercussions ahoy! For a so-called hunter you don’t think much of yourself, do you? Why would you even think of dealing with the Tyde in your situation? Not to mention your complete and utter lack of experience.’
‘I had no choice,’ Luylla snapped.
‘There’s always another way if you bother to look, safety girl.’
He continued to criticise loud and sarcastically, twisting and kicking, driving his point.
Luylla turned to Adel, ‘Please put us in separate cells.’
Tazman paused, his muscles tensed. Tail was ready. ‘I take offence!’ He twisted and dropped, ejecting himself from the sentinel’s grip. The mechanical hands reached out. Tazman threw his weight forward and rolled into a crouch at Adel’s feet.
She huffed and her boot heels stepped aside. ‘Get him!’ she screeched.
With his newfound freedom, Tazman opted to do what he did best, the first thing that came to mind. He sprang to the door, hooked his cuffs over the emergency release lever and leaned back with all his weight.
‘Nooo!’ Adel howled.
The lever clicked down. Something snapped inside the wall. A reverberating creak sounded through the hollow. Tazman landed on tail. Luylla looked down at him wide-eyed. He gave a little wink. The door blew out. The cabin was overcome with an intense suction that devoured every piece of dust. Adel’s hair blasted forward unfashionably. She backed to the entrance from which she came.
Tazman backed along the floor, pushing against the cargo grooves. The sentinel advanced on him. He looked to Luylla and she returned the glance. When the sentinel passed her she heaved forward, stomping a boot into its side, sending it flying out into the night. At last she was on his side. The remaining sentinel pulled her back. She twisted with the aid of her stronger metal arm and wrestled for freedom.
Adel fidgeted with a moving part on the side of her rifle and swung her aim onto Tazman. He launched to his feet and slammed into her. She pulled the trigger. The diverted blast shattered one of the light sources and the weapon flipped from her hands. Tazman flicked back his foot and kicked the gun away. He crouched and pushed her up and back through the entrance. The crime lordess hit the carpeted floor of the next carriage.
Tazman smiled and bowed with all the fake chivalry he could muster. Behind Adel, three sentinels entered. They spread in formation and flung their arms forward. Tri-barrelled cannons folded out from the bulky limbs.
Tazman ducked back through the doorway and hit the control panel. The sentinels opened fire; burning plasma pelted the closing door. Once the door sealed, a spuckon passed before its mechanisms buzzed again to open.
Tazman spotted Adel’s rifle and dived. He wedged the weapon between the groove of the door’s panel and the frame of the doorway. The door hummed at a higher pitch, struggling against the piece of metal.
Meanwhile, the remaining sentinel hurled Luylla into the wall. She scrambled to her knees and reached across the crates for her gun belt. She grasped the leather band and was picked up again. The machine gripped her by the leg and upper arm and forced her through the open hatch. She reeled back through the frame and clutched its sides, paralysed by the cold vacuum. The sentinel’s right arm flipped closed, and its tri-barrel raised level to her face.
Tazman
slammed into the machine, knocking it off-centre. The wrist weapon fired off target, flashing past Luylla’s head. The sentinel twisted to face Tazman. He backed away in an attempt to lure it. The sentinel’s left arm extended from its wrist socket, snatching hold of his handcuffs.
Tail frenzied. Tazman pulled back. His feet slipped. The machine arm retracted, dragging him. He scrambled to his feet and slammed a foot on the sentinel’s chest, pulling back with all his might. The machine’s grip loosened and Tazman kicked off the chest plate, freeing himself and stumbling straight towards the magtrain exit. He fell into Luylla. She lost her grip.
He was halfway out when tail brushed against something. Instinctively, it wound on the object: the sentinel’s ankle. Luylla snatched Tazman’s leg. Their combined weight threw the machine off its feet and dragged it out with them. The plummet’s delay provided enough time for Tazman to hook his elbows over the train’s stability spoiler. The sentinel fell past; tail loosened and the machine was gone. Bright flashes of firepower exploded from its weapon as it spun uncontrollably into the city below.
Luylla’s grip slipped down Tazman’s ankle. He held her wrist in his opposable toes and hugged the spoiler tight. He could hear the sound of a beam laser above, coupled with the stench of heated metal.
‘Luylla, I think they’re trying to cut through,’ he yelled. ‘Take out the carriage link.’
‘Hold this!’ she screamed back.
Luylla thrust her flapping gun belt into his other foot. She unsnapped the clasp and drew her pistol. Through the turbulence, he could make her out below. Swaying in the breeze, she took aim and pulled the trigger. The shot went way off target.
‘We’re gunna die,’ said Tazman.
‘Shut up,’ she yelled.
She steadied her arm and fired blast after blast of heated energy, fighting recoil and wind. The shots riddled the carriage joints; chunks of metal chipped away in molten slag droplets. The link broke with a clang, and the metal whipped away. The skyway carriage separated and lagged behind the rest of the magtrain.
Rift Breaker Page 12