Her usual view of Touka was from the air, flying in with Iver. This ground-level perspective was wonderful; the city rising up out of the plains, the reflective silver and blue of the buildings a sharper, brighter pop of color in contrast to the soft grays and greens of the mountains behind them.
“You built Touka, didn't you?” She turned to Iver.
His jaw was even darker with stubble than it had been last night, his gray eyes watching her with such intensity she had to fight down a shiver. “I approved some of the plans.” At last he turned his gaze away, and it felt like she'd been given a reprieve.
“It's a sight.”
He nodded. “And Permeo has a different character, a charming contrast.”
She could hear the pride in his voice.
“Did you ever think you'd be head-of-planet?”
He gave a bark of laughter. “No. I'm a scientist and an engineer. I came to Faldine to help the VSC find the least invasive way to extract the minerals we needed, and somehow I ended up running the whole place when the war flared up.”
“Do you see yourself staying here?” She couldn't think of anywhere else she wanted to be, but she knew for a fact that was her upgrade talking.
Still, it was an exciting place to live. Full of possibilities.
It had been at least twenty years since Faldine had been discovered, but as it was originally colonized by smugglers, fleeing from the VSC after the crimes they committed during the Halatian disaster, the generally accepted rules for a new planetary discovery hadn't been followed.
The smugglers had stumbled on Faldine and used it as a hideaway, desperate to lay low while the VSC hunted them.
She knew for a fact they had been totally uncaring of the VSC's Do Not Disturb rule for precious livable planets that had no dominant higher sentient species.
When the VSC had caught up to the smugglers and the secret of Faldine's existence was out, the smugglers had tried to turn it into another breakaway planet like Garmen and Lassa.
Hana still thought the VSC was right to have answered that proposition with a hard no, even with the personal price she'd paid for that decision.
The war had only lasted three years--the smugglers turning rebels against the might of the VSC--but it had felt like a lifetime to her. Even without her strange upgrade, she was a different person.
She shook off the thought.
“Nowhere else I'd rather be than here.” Iver reached out and touched her cheek.
“I feel the same. Well . . .” She suddenly grinned. “Not here, here. I'd prefer to already be in Touka City.”
She was tired, and if she was any judge of distance, they were still at least three hours from Touka, but somehow the fact that Iver wasn't planning on leaving Faldine in a hurry gave her a boost.
There were no paths in the scrubby plains they'd been walking across and the going had been tough since they'd been walking last night. They'd only stopped to rest a few times.
She started walking again and Iver fell into step beside her. She couldn't tell if he was as tired as she was. He didn't look it.
Her own secret well of energy and focus was having to work harder than usual. The magnetic fields under the plains around Touka were obviously a little closer to the surface than the ones under the city itself.
Touka was as good as it got on Faldine as far as magfields went, with the exception of Iver's headquarters and Bero, the small village that serviced it. The city sprawled across a magnetic field buried so deep that it only interfered a little with day to day comms, although it was enough to make reaching up beyond the atmosphere difficult.
Satellites weren't much good here, which was why Iver lived where he did, in the middle of nowhere but with absolutely no magnetic interference at all. The one satellite circling Faldine was solely for him, connecting him to Admiral Carina Valerian, head of the VSC fleet in the Faldine System.
Most would assume that the admiral's job had been pretty easy for the last year and a half, with the war over, but Hana knew the Caruso had been circling, looking for a way to get to the rich resources on Faldine.
When Admiral Valerian had proved too difficult an obstacle to get around, they'd pretended to give up, when in fact they'd turned their attention to the VSC breakaway planets, Garmen and Lassa, and as had just been revealed, to Veltos as well.
The VSC had shut that down and gotten back control of all its vassals, but it was possible the Caruso were making a play for Faldine again.
And using someone like Lancaster to help them.
“You never told me what the Caruso offered Lancaster to make him betray everything he knew.”
Iver gave a slight shake of his head. “He never actually confirmed it was the Caruso. Whoever it was, and honestly, the Caruso are the most likely, they were blackmailing him.”
“Blackmailing him?” She stopped, her mouth open. “What were they threatening?”
“They were threatening to reveal details that would get him arrested.”
“So not money. Freedom.” She gave a slow nod. That made so much more sense. Money wasn't the motivator she understood it had been over a century ago, before the VSC restructured its society to be almost completely equal when it came to wealth. The Citizen Dividend had changed the VSC completely. Some earned a little more than others--most likely Iver was paid more for his job as head-of-planet than she was paid for piloting his Sig--but everyone had what they needed. There was no reason to betray their people for material wealth.
“Whatever the reason, I can't believe he was prepared to restart a war to keep his position and his reputation.” Iver slid his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders.
Hana reached out, hooked a hand around his bicep, interested and not a little flustered to find her hand didn't even cover half of it, and gave a sympathetic squeeze.
“I know he was your friend. I'm sorry he's dead, and that he betrayed you.”
He pulled his opposite hand out of his pocket and placed it over hers.
It should have been awkward, walking so close together, linked as they were, over the rough ground, but it didn't feel that way.
Hana felt herself settle a little.
They hadn't touched much since last night. They'd concentrated on getting as far from the wreckage of the Dynastra and Lancaster's crew as they could, pushing themselves through the night.
But this was . . . nice.
Like the moment on the river bank where they'd both been brushing their teeth.
She opened her mouth to say something, and then tightened her grip on Iver's arm and stopped walking.
“What?”
She lifted a finger to her lips, cocked her head. “Land runner.” She shouldn't call it that. It was called a lander here on Faldine.
“From?” He didn't ask if she was sure.
She turned toward where the sound was coming from, not directly from the city but to the west of it. She pointed, and he shaded his eyes to look.
She saw movement through the haze a moment or so later, and felt Iver tense a little more when he obviously saw it, too.
She started to move, looking for a good place to hide.
Iver's hand gripped her arm. “They've already seen us,” he said. “And we have no reason to assume they're part of this. We could use a lift to Touka.”
That was true.
She gave a nod and they stood side by side, watching. Hana took a step away from Iver, putting a little distance between them. She didn't like how hard it was to do.
He flicked her a look.
“They'll recognize you. Best we keep things uncomplicated.” She didn't know if she said it because it was a good idea, or because it kept what was between them secret a little longer, and after a moment staring into her eyes, Iver gave a tiny nod.
The lander was clearly in view now, and coming straight toward them; a small, open vehicle.
A man and a woman sat in the front seats, both wearing dark eye protectors, so Hana couldn't read their exp
ressions well. The lander rocked and bucked as it hit rocks and small bushes.
“Hello!” The woman, who had been sitting in the passenger seat, half-stood as they came within hailing distance, and swayed alarmingly as she waved. To Hana's surprise, Iver lifted a hand and waved back.
The driver, the man with her, focused on negotiating the rough ground, weaving the vehicle around as many obstacles as he could.
They came to a stop with a creak and a shudder.
Hana would never get used to these wheel-based vehicles. They seemed so clunky and impractical compared to the hovers in every other part of the VSC, but then, Faldine wasn't friendly to VSC tech.
“You're Iver Sugotti.” The woman stood and lifted her eye protectors to peer at them. She turned her head to her companion. “Si, it's Iver Sugotti!” She swung back to look at them. “What are you doing out here?”
“Our runner went down,” Iver said.
The woman turned to look at Hana, but the man kept his eyes on Iver, Hana noted. Even while pretending he wasn't.
“I didn't think the magnetic field was that strong around here.” She looked beyond them, as if looking for the downed runner. “You the pilot?”
“Yes.” Hana tried to smile. “We'd be grateful for a lift to Touka, if you're going that way.”
“Oh, sure!” The woman turned again to the driver, a little too bright and cheerful. “We can definitely give you a lift.”
“Of course.” The driver spoke his first words. “Where is your runner?”
Hana felt the tingle at the back of her neck, the flash of cold down her arms and spine. Her warning system going into full alert mode. It flared and then shut down, reacting to the magnetic field beneath her feet, but it had given her enough before it fizzled. “More than a day's walk away. We'd appreciate a lift. We've come a long way on foot.” She kept her voice light, her face neutral.
Iver must have sensed something in her tone. He sent her a quick, worried look.
“It's lucky you weren't hurt,” the woman said as Hana and Iver walked toward the lander.
Iver reached the back first, and before she understood what he planned to do, he put his hands on Hanna's hips and lifted her up, swinging her into the seat.
She slid over to give him room to climb in himself without looking at him, her heart knocking in her chest.
She liked his hands on her. A lot.
It was a pity they were in the presence of their enemies.
“Luck had nothing to do with our being in one piece,” Iver said as he pulled himself up. “Hana is just that good a pilot.”
“Oh.” The woman twisted in her seat to look at them. “Well, that's good. I'm Vannie. This is Simon. It was such a nice day, we thought we'd come out looking for saspri to use for decoration for the Dancing Lights Festival, but then we saw you and came over to see if you needed help. Not a lot of people this far out of Touka. Not on foot.”
“We're glad you did.” Iver leaned back in his seat, stretching his arm behind Hana's shoulder.
She kept her hands on her thighs, her whole body alert and ready.
She wasn't anywhere close to her full capacity with this strength of magfield, but at least she'd been forewarned. She concentrated on their rescuers.
The driver turned the lander around in a series of jerky movements, reversing and then going forward a few times until he was facing the city.
“I wish normal runners worked here.” Vannie hung on to the dash in front of her with white knuckles. “Aren't you working on that?” She flicked what Hana realized was a flirtatious look at Iver. “The sky lane, right?”
He gave a nod. “Trying to.” He gave her a polite smile. “You're Raxian?”
“Yes, what a clever guess!” Vannie smiled at Iver again.
Hana barely resisted a little snort. Vannie was clearly Raxian. From her style of clothes, to the way she spoke the common tongue.
When they'd first encountered each other, the inhabitants of what was now the Verdant String had been shocked and surprised by the fact that they shared the same origins, even the same root language. It had changed their knowledge of where they'd come from, what their history had been. But in spite of the real, undeniable common root each group had, the different planets they'd settled on had imprinted an indelible mark on them. They hadn't been separated as a species for long enough for clear genetic differences to present themselves, but the regional differences in the language and culture of each planet was unmistakable, and differences in food and minerals had made some subtle differences in physiology.
“And you, Simon?” Hana asked.
“Si is from Bodivas.” Vannie glanced at her companion. “We're quite the mixing pot here on Faldine, aren't we?”
Hana hummed in agreement.
Interesting that Simon let Vannie do the talking for him. She wondered what he was hiding.
Plenty, if she were any judge.
And she didn't think either she or Iver would like it when they finally revealed their secrets.
Chapter 9
Touka City didn't really have outskirts.
It wasn't because it hadn't been in existence long enough, although it hadn't. It was because it had been engineered in advance.
It always felt to Hana as if it had risen out of the plains fully formed--sleek and perfect and complete. It was built in concentric circles, and each time the population increased, a new ring road and accompanying buildings were added.
There were less than ten thousand people on the whole planet and most of them lived in either Touka City or Permeo, so there weren't that many rings radiating out from the skyscrapers at Touka's center, but the potential was there. Each new circle's buildings were a story lower than the ones closer to the center, so Touka looked like another mountain in the Spikes.
It never failed to delight her.
Still, the stark change from open plains to built-up city surprised her every time.
The lander bounced from uneven dirt, dust flying behind it, onto smooth road, as if leaping from one world into another.
Simon slowed the lander as soon as they hit the surfaced road, and Hana tensed.
Since they'd moved onto city ground, all her senses had improved, stretching awake. She used to feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude from whatever had invaded her when she reached a place with a weaker magnetic field, but as it had become less alien, more fundamentally part of her, she experienced the feeling as more a sense of deep satisfaction.
Nothing, however, was like the feeling she got when she flew high enough in a runner that she was completely free of the magnetic pull of Faldine. That was when she knew she was as strong, as smart, as capable as she could ever be.
And she knew she needed to understand why.
But that was a mission for another time, now.
“Where can we take you?” Vannie asked.
Even going as slow as he was, Simon had driven through a few junctions, where the concentric circles of the ring roads intersected with the spokes, the roads running from the center of the city to its outer circumference.
He didn't turn down any of them, keeping them on the outer ring road, where the population was sparse.
No one was visible, although there were a few landers parked along the street, and Hana heard music coming from a top floor window.
It felt to her like Simon was marking time, waiting for a signal of some sort.
“Just drop us off wherever you like. You've already saved us a lot of trouble.” Iver straightened in his seat.
So he'd noticed it, too.
The leap and sparkle of the afternoon sun off the Indura River caught her eye, and she glimpsed it up ahead.
They were approaching the bridge that curved over the deep, fast-running water, in perfect alignment with the other bridges lined up all the way to the city center. Simon slowed even more, almost coming to a stop as he reached the bridge.
Hana jumped down just as Vannie turned to look at them.
She saw the Raxian's face register surprise as Hana kept her hand on the lander, walking beside it as it rolled forward.
Iver started to rise. To follow her off.
“No, don't rush off. We could take you to your hotel.” Vannie's voice was as friendly as ever as she lifted her hand and shot Iver in the chest with a dart from such a tiny SAL, Hana almost stumbled as she stared at it in surprise.
She could run, but she couldn't leave Iver, and her hesitation cost her. She caught the hint of movement from the corner of her eye and jerked her gaze to Simon, but he'd already taken his shot. She felt the sting as a dart lodged in her throat, and then she let go of her hold on the side of the lander and fell.
Her last view was of the lander's wheel, covered in the brown-red dust of the plains, passing a whisper from her head as she landed on the ground.
From above her, she heard Vannie's voice.
“Did you see her face? She's one scary--”
The world went black.
"So what do we do with them now?"
Hana heard the nerves in Vannie's voice as she came to on a cold floor. She suppressed a shiver of relief at the word 'them'. Iver was still alive. Hopefully he was lying near her.
She wondered why they hadn't already killed them both.
Just over a day ago, they'd clearly wanted both Iver and her dead. They hadn't been messing with those SD3s.
Then again, Vannie and Simon could have shot and killed them on the plain and left their bodies out there. There had been no benefit to them in bringing her and Iver into Touka only to kill them in the city--it only increased their risk.
Something had changed, something that was keeping them alive. Either that, or Vannie and Simon were not Lancaster's lackeys at all.
What were the chances there was more than one group of people who meant them harm?
She cracked her eyes open just a little and caught sight of the feet and lower legs of five people.
There were stacks of containers against the walls, and a strange, sweet smell in the air, a little like rotting fruit, that made her think she was in a warehouse.
High Flyer (Verdant String) Page 6