Rhonda had no answer for that.
The struggling breath of a man climbing the rubble pile behind them made her turn. Too late to avert her face, the man had already seen her, so she remained facing him and tried to look mean and masculine.
The approaching stranger, human and overweight, wore green overalls. “How did you get here from Level Sixteen?" He spoke in a raucous voice but the tone sounded jovial enough. “Is there an open passage to go down?”
“What’s it to you?” Cole answered in a gruff tone. “The exit is up, not down.”
The fat man smiled. “Depends on what’s down there. Do they have food?" From the looks of him he didn’t starve.
“Believe me, you don’t want to go there." Cole glanced around the immediate vicinity and lowered his voice. “Will your friends let us climb up to the Aqua level?”
Rhonda refrained from smiling. Cole had finally seen the advantages of her idea.
The man laughed and his belly shook. “Wait your turn, pal. There’s a long line and only three ropes.”
“What if I had my own rope?” Cole asked, matter-of- fact.
The man’s smile widened. “In that case, I can put in a word for you. What’s in it for me? Got anything to eat beside the usual slop?”
As Cole didn’t respond fast enough, Rhonda jammed her elbow in his arm.
Cole caught his breath and cleared his voice. “I’m sure we can find something you’ll like. Where is your leader?”
As the man didn’t move, Rhonda took two fruit bars from her pocket and handed them to the man.
The portly inmate snatched the bars and smiled as he stuffed them inside his green overalls then picked his way down the mound. “Follow me."
While Cole swaggered beside the man, Rhonda followed head down.
Sticking his thumb back toward Rhonda, the man whispered, “What’s the matter with him? Is he your bitch?”
Cole glanced at Rhonda over his shoulder, obviously worried, then he resumed his swagger and shrugged. “Yeah. He’s mute. A long story. Just show us the way.”
Unsure how she felt about the disparaging term, Rhonda bit her lips to remain silent. This was no time to share her opinion, and she’d never realized how much she enjoyed talking and expressing herself.
The man walked surprisingly fast for his heavy frame. He led them through corridor after corridor. Rhonda followed, amazed at how quickly the convicts had organized themselves.
They seemed to have figured out the lay of the floor. Graffiti on the walls, some very artistic, indicated various gangs’ territories. Arrows and creative graphics pointed the way to the important areas to find food, water and other useful places. One particular drawing could only indicate a brothel, marked by a smiling phallus in the shape of an arrow. Rhonda shuddered and kept walking, head down.
Other inmates stared at the yellow overalls with curiosity as they walked by, but none dared speak to the newcomers. Their guide also seemed to impose respect, and Rhonda wondered at his rank in this new society. Who exactly was the jolly fat man?
Soon, they reached the destroyed area beneath the jagged oval hole in the ceiling. In the center of the disaster zone blackened by the explosion, a bulky Juzzaar with golden skin and dark glasses collected bribes and directed the many prisoners waiting to climb the ropes.
Rhonda took it as a good sign. Juzzaars were big but not as vicious as Monacks or dominant Karatzins. There didn’t seem to be any shape-shifters on this floor of lesser criminals, and Rhonda felt better about suggesting cooperation.
As they closed the distance separating them from the leader, Rhonda kept a subdued attitude. No matter how unsavory, she had to play the part of Cole’s male bitch. She stooped slightly.
The fat man now fawned around the Juzzaar. “Master, I have brought you strangers who say they have supplies we want." Evidently, the portly man served as the Juzzaar’s main supplier.
Cole much shorter than the Juzzaar, looked like a peacock standing up to a bull. “It’s not free. We want something in exchange.”
“And what is that?" The Juzzaar’s golden face remained impassible and Rhonda couldn’t tell anything from his eyes, masked by the dark glasses.
Taking two confident steps, Cole accosted the leader. “I want to get up there now. I have my own cable.”
As the Juzzaar sized up Cole, the impassible face twitched with a glint of interest. “A real cable? With pulleys and mechanism? Strong enough to carry great weight?" As if he’d said too much, the Juzzaar turned away and watched the men climbing the ropes. “What else do you have?” he asked in a more detached tone, not even looking at Cole.
“Depends." Cole scratched his jaw as if thinking hard. “What do you need?”
A greedy smile lit the Juzzaar’s face. “Weapons?”
Cole laughed and shook his head. “Ask me for something else.”
“If you don’t have any weapons, what prevents me from killing you right here and now and take whatever you have?" The Juzzaar was a tough bargainer.
“I didn’t say I didn’t have weapons. I said they’re not for sale." Cole offered a disdainful smile. “Besides, jumping me wouldn’t give you much. My most valuable merchandise is not all on me.”
“So what have you got? Guns? Knives?" The Juzzaar looked confused.
“Possibly, but I said they’re not for sale.”
The Juzzaar approached Cole menacingly. “I don’t believe you have weapons.”
“Find out at your own risk." Cole’s arrogant attitude surprised Rhonda. He played a dangerous game and she didn’t like it.
“You’re bluffing." Despite the conviction in his words, the Juzzaar didn’t make any aggressive move.
“Am I?" Cole glanced around and his gaze stopped on Rhonda, as if to let her know he had full control of the situation.
But the Juzzaar also stared at Rhonda. “My price is your pretty boy. He has nice pale skin. I like pale skin.”
Rhonda bit her lips. This would complicate matters. She glared at the Juzzaar in hopes of discouraging him.
The gang leader chuckled in response.
Cole interposed himself between Rhonda and the Juzzaar. “The boy’s not for trade. Anything else you want?”
“Nah. It’s him or nothing." The Juzzaar waved Cole away, gesturing with vehemence. “Get out of here before I tell my men to get rid of you.”
At the edge of his flying sleeve, just above the wrist, Rhonda noticed an ugly wound on the Juzzaar’s forearm, already purple with a bad infection. She wanted to attract Cole’s attention to it but dared not speak. So she approached the Juzzaar in a submissive manner and gently took his hand.
The leader looked at her with delighted surprise but didn’t take his hand away.
Rhonda shuddered at the thought that he may have taken her gesture for a sexual advance. She pulled up his green sleeve to uncover a thick pale arm. The Juzzaar flinched when she probed the angry wound that already festered and smelled of putrefaction.
Reaching inside the cargo pocket of her yellow overalls, Rhonda pulled out an emergency pack, tore the package with her teeth, then pressed it against the wound and affixed it with surgical tape.
Bemused, the Juzzaar stared at his bandaged arm and smiled. “You are kind.”
Rhonda pulled out two more emergency packs, pressed them into the Juzzaar’s hand then bowed and regained her place behind Cole.
Cole smiled to the leader. “Now you know why he’s not for trade. How about we leave the cable behind, and you can use it to lift up the heavier men in your group.”
Rhonda appreciated Cole’s diplomacy. He didn’t mention the Juzzaar’s bulk or his weight too great for the makeshift ropes. On the contrary, he’d made the leader look as if he cared for the well being of the less fit members of his gang. A muffled cheer emanated from their guide, answered by that of several other convicts.
The Juzzaar tried to look stern, but Rhonda could see the hint of a repressed smile on his pale golden face. She could tell
he felt happy and grateful. She imagined his wound must have been extremely painful, and she knew the pack had numbed the wound instantly on contact. From the leader’s perspective, she’d just saved him from an excruciating death by gangrene. If he only knew what was in store for him and all the inmates of Zurin Five...
The Juzzaar didn’t glance at Cole but ordered his men gruffly. “Let them throw their cable.”
Rhonda rejoiced at her small victory. Compassion had won where threats had failed.
Cole pulled out the bundle of thin cable from inside his yellow overalls and aimed the tiny crossbow at a protruding block of durancrete spiked with many metal beams, high above the hole. The arrow sung through the air and pierced the cement with a metallic clang.
Cole pulled on the cable to test the anchor and check that the pulley actually functioned. He affixed the ascender handle mechanism to the cable then signaled Rhonda to go first.
She grabbed the handle and pushed the up button. She hoped she could cope with the convicts on the upper level without much trouble, as they should be less violent. The cable lifted her effortlessly above the crowd of onlookers, much faster than the inmates could climb on their knotted ropes.
This mode of climbing would certainly speed up the prisoners’ migration and help those who didn’t have the necessary fitness to climb. Technically, it would be a mistake to leave the cable behind, but Rhonda hoped Cole would keep his word to these derelicts. She’d feel disappointed if he didn’t.
As she rose above the circle of inmates, all the turned-up faces looked hopeful. They didn’t know they might all meet a horrible death in a few days or so. She wondered how much time was left before the planet exploded. Days? Hours? In any case, Rhonda couldn’t stand looking at these people.. She glanced up where other inmates waited for her.
When she reached the Aqua Level, she swung toward the edge and grabbing hands helped her find her footing. Her pant leg caught against a sharp edge and she heard it rip. She didn’t look down, for fear of bringing attention to the tear. But she feared her gray uniform or boot might show through the rent. Dear God, please let no one notice!
One aqua-clad inmate snatched the handle from her, unlocked the brake, and slid full speed down to the floor below with a hoot, to the cheers of his comrades.
Rhonda counted the seconds as she watched Cole take hold of the ascender handle. He came up slowly and must have seen the urgency on Rhonda’s face, because he increased the speed on the dial. Or could he see her guard uniform showing?
All eyes, including Rhonda’s, focused on him as he swung and landed on the edge of the hole. Cole saluted the Juzzaar below with a wave of the hand then took Rhonda’s arm and hurried away from the group gathered around the opening to help the climbers.
*****
Level Fourteen - Aqua Zone
Rhonda felt Cole’s hand digging into her elbow as he hastened her along the corridors. Once they were out of sight in the maze, she followed him into an empty cell.
“You’ve got to fix that pant leg. I can see your grays." He looked angry, or maybe worried? Did he really care about her? Since their flight from the infirmary he’d become unreadable, giving her no clue as to how he felt.
Rhonda sat on the bunk and examined the ripped pant leg. She couldn’t help wonder whether or not Cole had real feeling for her. “I didn’t bring a sewing kit,” she said in exasperation assessing the damage. What could she do? Suddenly she remembered her other supplies and fished inside her pants pockets. She came up with surgical tape. “This might work.”
“I’ll watch for unwanted visitors." Cole fished out his compad and turned it on. “We’re clear, but I’ll stay in the corridor and watch, just in case..." He didn’t finish the sentence but Rhonda remembered that Tomar’s men had ditched their locator chips and would not register on the compad.
Feeling safer with Cole watching, Rhonda turned up the bottom of the yellow pants and patched the tear from the inside with tape. She made a terrible job of it, but at least the repair would hold and hide the gray uniform underneath.
Just as Rhonda stepped off the bunk, her comimplant buzzed again. She tapped it and stared at Cole who tapped his implant as well.
The feminine voice at the other end came as a great comfort. “This is Garrison guard Nya. For those of you guards out there listening, we have good news. We found a ship...”
Chapter Fourteen
Infirmary of Level Sixteen - Yellow Zone
Frustrated at being trapped in the damaged bunker-like infirmary, Tomar had already killed two of his men for shooting medical Styx, when a faint sound from the intercom unit caught his attention. “Silence!”
The three remaining members of his gang immediately stopped foraging among the supplies and waited.
The crackling of the intercom didn’t provide a clear sound, but a woman’s voice seemed to have established contact. Tomar pushed a button and the sound amplified.
“ ...not a shuttle, not a Duran vessel... A mercenary ship. It’s been parked illegally on a hidden landing platform for quite some time. The coordinates are forty by sixteen in the Beta sector... Get there as fast as you can. There is enough room for the whole Garrison and more. But watch your backs. If the mercenaries are still in the vicinity, they won’t like us borrowing their vessel." The message drowned off in a flurry of interference.
“A ship?" Tomar had figured out the earthquake situation to be serious, but why were the guards in such a hurry to leave the planet? Was Zurin Five in critical danger?
“What does it mean, Boss?”
“The vermin jump ship only when it’s sinking." Anger churned inside Tomar’s every cell. “I bet you this stinking planet is going to blow, and soon.”
“Are we going to die, Boss?”
“Not if I can help it." Tomar lied. He couldn’t care less about his men, but he sure wouldn’t let the guards leave him to die on this forsaken rock. “If they believe they can get rid of me so easily, they are mistaken.”
“But we are trapped here.”
“Maybe YOU are." Tomar had to hurry. “Is there any small hole, even a pinhole in the wall that separates us from the main floor?”
The three convicts shook their heads disgustedly.
“Then let’s make one." The stupid humans didn’t understand his plan, but Tomar could pour himself through a small hole. He would gladly leave the morons behind. There were enough desperate inmates on the main floor to provide him with a suitable gang to fight his way out and steal that mercenary ship.
*****
Level Fourteen - Aqua Zone
“They found a real ship?” Rhonda whispered. Filled with new hope, she suppressed a hoot of joy and had to control herself not to jump up and down on the cell floor. She didn’t want to attract attention. Any sound echoed on the high ceiling and could travel far.
Cole’s square jaw suddenly tensed. He tapped his implant. “This is Riggeur,” he said in an earnest whisper. “Can you hear me? Nya?”
In Rhonda’s implant, static drowned all possible communication.
Glancing at Rhonda, Cole shook his head. “Nya? If you hear me, wait for us. Rhonda and I are on our way. Still on Level Fourteen but alive and well." Cole dropped his shoulders and sighed, “It’s no use.”
The flicker of hope dimmed somewhat in Rhonda’s mind. “If they don’t know we are still alive, they won’t wait for us." But she refused to give in to despair. She would not die trapped in this sinister place. “We’d better hurry, or we’ll be left behind." She straightened her pant leg, making sure her uniform didn’t show anymore.
“Right again, kiddo." Cole checked his compad and broke into a fast run.
Rhonda followed him into the corridor. “Still avoiding the convicts?” she asked between breaths. “Even with our disguise?”
“I don’t trust them." Cole kept running, eyes on his pad.
“Can’t blame you there." Neither did she. “But running might attract attention.”
Cole s
lowed to a walk, eyes riveted on the compad. “A dozen inmates coming up from the next corridor on our right.”
Walking beside Cole, Rhonda kept her head down, praying the encounter would prove short and uneventful. A group of aqua-clad inmates emerged ten meters ahead.
“The yellows!” shouted one of the convicts, referring to Cole and Rhonda’s overalls.
“Get them!” said a big burly inmate with badly soiled clothes, brandishing a length of pipe.
Rhonda blanched and pulled out her phaser.
“Watch out, they have guns!” yelled a scrawny convict who sounded like a woman.
“Told you they were guards!”
“Run!" Cole shot the big burly man then retreated the way they’d come.
Setting her phaser on explode, Rhonda aimed and fired in front of the group closing on them, then she ran after Cole.
The explosion reverberated in the lofty heights and carried down the walls. But it couldn’t be the explosion rattling the bars of the cells. Another quake rumbled and rolled.
Ignoring the ground moving under her feet and the pipes and debris tumbling from the ceiling, Rhonda ran after Cole. She tripped and fell and struggled to get back up. The floor still moved but she found some balance. Although she couldn’t run, she staggered, leaning on the walls to steady herself, holding on to bars, she kept moving in the direction Cole had gone.
As the quake subsided, she started to run again. Now she could see Cole not too far ahead. He didn’t look at his compad anymore but took one turn after another and Rhonda slowly gained on him. Did Cole know where he was going? It didn’t matter. Glancing over her shoulder, Rhonda could see no sign of their pursuers, only empty corridors behind them. No sound of pursuit either.
Cole stopped behind a broad square pillar and waited for Rhonda. He breathed heavily and clutched his side. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. That was close." Rhonda felt grateful for his concern, but she wondered how long the energy pills would keep him going. “How about you?”
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