by Anna Carven
“That doesn’t belong to you,” Kail growled as the Human lunged forward, aiming for his chest. Kail caught the blade of the dagger in his hand. It sliced through the Callidum-impregnated surface of his armor, drawing blood across Kail’s palm, but he didn’t care. He wrenched the dagger away from the Human and spun it in his palm.
The Human scrambled backwards as the land-vehicle swerved from side-to-side. There was a loud, metallic thunk as they hit something hard, and the vehicle listed to one side before righting itself. It seemed to run on some sort of semi-functioning auto-nav.
Kail’s arm shot out, grabbing the Human by the neck. He tilted forward, forcing the Human back into his navigator’s seat. Kail willed his helm to retract, and the infinite number of nano-particles covering his head and face separated and dissipated, passing through skin and bone and soft tissue, returning to their resting place in his bloodstream. The pain was momentary, and it was nothing compared to the multiple blasts Kail had just endured.
“Wh-what the fuck are you?” The Human’s dark eyes widened as he watched Kail’s transformation. Sweat coated his face, making his pale skin glisten.
“Sit down.”
The Human didn’t know any better. He tried to force his way out of the chair, but Kail squeezed tighter, cutting off his air. He watched the Human’s eyes carefully, releasing his grip just as they started to droop - a sign that loss of consciousness was imminent.
When the Human finally went still, he was trembling slightly. There was no more resistance there, only terror.
Good. Kail could work with that.
The vehicle was still careening forward, although terrain had become flat, making their ride less bumpy. Kail took his hand away and the Human coughed and spluttered. He was about to open his mouth to speak, but Kail held up a finger, shaking his head. “No,” he said softly. “Try it again and I’ll kill you.”
He bent down, and with a quick slice of his knife, he severed his leg restraints. The Human didn’t dare move. Kail stood and watched him.
“Why were you attacking my Humans?” he said finally, bringing his dagger close to the man’s face.
“Your…” The man’s mouth opened, then closed again as he shook his head, disbelief mingling with his fear.
Kail was also mildly surprised at his own choice of words. Protection detail wasn’t his strong suit, but here he was, suddenly responsible for the safety of two Human females.
One was Rykal’s mate, and naturally, he would guard his brother’s woman as if she were his own. The other was an unknown quantity, a soft, defenseless creature who seemed to need his protection more than ever.
What in Kaiin’s Hells had she done to piss off her own people so badly that they wanted to kill her?
Free of his shackles, he leaned in, studying his prey.
The man was big for a Human, with a stout, muscular body endowed with several layers of fat. His eyes had glazed over, and his breathing was coarse and rapid. A few stands of lank, greasy hair escaped from underneath a soft cap, sticking to his moist skin.
Kail knew his type well. Bounty hunter, mercenary, pirate. Scavenger. The Nine Galaxies were infested with vermin like this one, who sold violence in exchange for credits.
“Why do you want them dead?” Kail didn’t want to waste any more time. A sense of calm settled over him as he stared at the mercenary. He would get the truth out of this Human.
A sliver of defiance crept into the Human’s eyes. Kail couldn’t allow that. He slammed the dagger into the man’s left shoulder, drawing a shriek of pain. “You fucking—”
“Don’t waste my time.”
“I’m already dead, what does it matter? You’re going to kill me anyway, so just fucking get it over with.”
The mercenary wasn’t far from the mark, but Kail could at least try and extract something useful from him before killing him. He twisted the knife.
“Aargh! You motherfu—”
He twisted again, his blade meeting slight resistance as he encountered bone. The man howled.
Kail looked into the Human’s eyes, maintaining the pressure. “You were saying?”
“C-contract. It was a contract kill. I don’t know who she is or what she’s supposed to have done. They just told us to make it look like an accident.”
“She?”
“Contract’s only on one of them. We couldn’t care less about the other.”
“Who sent you?”
“D-don’t know. The job was put out on the Darkweb. We were just supposed to take the contract, send proof of satisfactory completion, and get paid. The more plausible the accident, the higher the reward.”
“How did you find her?”
“The people who put out the job; they always know where to find her. They must have figured out some way to track her.” The Human’s voice faded as pain took over. “Y-you’re going to fucking bleed me to death.” His pale skin had turned almost-white, and it was slick with moisture. That was another strange thing Kail had noticed about Humans. Their bodies secreted moisture when they exerted themselves. Sweat, they called it.
Kail pulled out his dagger, tearing through flesh and sinew.
“Eeugh!” The blood spilling over the man’s desert-colored clothes was a peculiar shade of red. Its scent was rich and metallic and distinctly Human. Kail had never seen anything quite like it.
Sheathing his knife, he contemplated the difference between life and death for this alien, and settled narrowly on life. “Send a message to your masters,” he said softly. “These particular Humans are under my protection now. I will kill anyone who tries to harm them.”
The Human blinked and swayed, blood gushing from his wound. Kail ripped the cap off the mercenary’s head and pressed it into the man’s shoulder.
“Argh!” He screamed in protest.
“Here.” Kail pressed the man’s hand against the fabric. “Pressure. Before you bleed to death.”
“Y-you’re fucking insane!”
Kail shrugged and turned towards the dead one. He gently extracted his plasma gun from the man’s hand before turning to retrieve his other weapons; a long sword, several throwing knives, and a curved dagger called a sikkor, a blade designed for close-quarters combat.
The Human vehicle had found its way onto a flat surface, a road of sorts. Kail secured the last of his weapons and leaped out the smashed rear window, not bothering to glance back and check if his last victim was dead or alive.
Chapter Ten
Something was pounding Riana’s skull. The pain started in her right temple and radiated all the way down to the base of her neck.
The constricting neo-fiber helmet she wore didn’t help. Her data display flashed blue and fluorescent green, searing her vision with lurid color. She wanted to take it off, but they were traveling at breakneck speed.
“What the hell just happened?” Her helmet’s comm system patched through to Arin, who sat in front of her. Arin had switched the hover-bike to manual operation, and once again, they were speeding across the sand.
Kail, who had just saved her from death’s jaws, was gone.
“Your hunters caught up with you.” Arin’s tone was grim. “I thought we’d been ultra careful on the way here, but it was far too easy for them to find us. That’s why it’s good to have a Kordolian around.” Static crackled through the comm as she paused. “You… you really think this has something to do with your monitoring implant?”
“I told you, no system is impossible to break into.”
“But this is Federation data. No network on the planet is more secure.”
Riana laughed softly. Her friend was a tough cookie; smart, kick-ass, and practical, but when it came to the Networks, she, like most of the general public, was a little bit naive. “Don’t believe all that Secure Systems propaganda the Federation puts out. Most of it’s bullshit they feed to the citizens to promote a false sense of security. Remember what I did on the Hendrix II?” Riana had hacked into a military server and patched
into a secure line in record time. It had been a lot easier than she’d anticipated.
“But space networks have security holes because of the huge distances. Everyone knows that. This is Earth we’re talking about. There’s no way hired guns should be able to access Federation data.”
“There are ways,” Riana muttered, squinting to try and block out the harsh glare of her dataview. Signs of civilization began to appear. They cruised over a disused highway that her dataview identified as the old road into Tamanrasset. Most of the cracked tarmac was hidden beneath swathes of desert sand.
A weird sensation rippled up and down Riana’s spine. Even though her head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton wool and pounded with a rubber mallet, she couldn’t shake the memory of Kail’s unwavering presence as he’d shielded her from the fall.
With his powerful arms wrapped around her, she’d felt as if nothing in the world could harm her. That was a bit strange, considering he was the most dangerous thing this side of the Sahara desert.
“Where did he go?” Amidst all the chaos, he’d disappeared.
“The Dark One?”
“Dark One? Is that like his callsign or something?” A shiver coursed through her. It wasn’t unpleasant.
“That’s what Rykal calls him sometimes. It’s their nickname for him. I’m not sure why. Probably because he doesn’t play well with others, doesn’t talk much, and fights like a demon.” Arin glanced over her shoulder. “Nobody’s following us, thank Jupiter. Kail went after the sniper. We were supposed to slip back into town covertly, but that’s probably not an option anymore.”
“You think we’re being followed?”
“Hard to say.”
“Maybe you should just drop me off in Tamanrasset and go back to Naea,” Riana said quietly. “You shouldn’t have to put yourself through all this just because of me.” Guilt coursed through her. Arin didn’t know even half the things Riana had done. The institutions she’d hacked, the money she’d diverted… If Arin knew, would they even be friends?
It was becoming increasingly obvious that whoever wanted her dead had deep pockets and deep connections. Off the top of her head, Riana could think of at least a handful of potential enemies.
“Don’t be stupid, Ri. I’ve got your back, and so does he.”
“The Dark One.” She couldn’t help but sound a little bit skeptical, a little bit freaked out, and a little bit awed.
“Trust me.”
As they passed an abandoned cluster of twenty-second century concrete buildings, Arin swore.
“What is it?”
“Over there.”
Riana looked up and was instantly blinded. Exquisite pain shot through her skull. White light seared her vision. She blinked, trying to adjust. The hover-bike slowed, and a faint mechanical roar started overhead, becoming louder and louder. It was the sound of big hover-drones.
It was the sound of the law.
“10357X, you are in violation of Regulation 96B. Surrender immediately, or prepare to be tranquilized. Disembark the vehicle and lie on the ground with your hands above your head.”
“What the?” Riana groaned as her eyes adjusted to the artificial glare. The light and noise weren’t helping her throbbing migraine. A line of armored Enforcement Landtrak vehicles blocked their path, forcing them to a complete stop.
Her eyes widened and her heart sank. Riana was just a nonstandard offender, guilty of minor crimes. Enforcement weren’t supposed to send a full tactical squad after her. It was totally excessive, bordering on ridiculous. She wasn’t a murderer or a terrorist.
Arin deftly landed the hover-bike and thrust her hands into the air. Riana dismounted, her ankle threatening to buckle again as she swayed on her feet. The fall with Kail must have aggravated her injury again.
“Riana,” Arin hissed. “Activate your link. I’ve patched through to Legal Defense. We’re on live streaming. They can’t fucking do this. It’s completely inappropriate. When I find out who’s behind this, someone’s head is going to roll.” She raised her voice a little, speaking into her comm. “Connect Rykal and Kail. Send location details.”
“Arin?” A deep male voice crackled through the link. It was suffused with anger. “I told you! You shouldn’t have… I’m going to fucking kill… Where’s Kail? Screw that. I’m coming.”
“I am close, brother. Do not worry.” Kail’s voice cut through the noise and the chaos like a razor.
And through all the pain and confusion, Riana suddenly felt calm.
She looked up and saw countless guns trained on them. Multiple blue dots danced over her torso, a warning that a hail of electric fire was only a split second away. “They want me,” she said softly. “I’m going. Don’t do anything rash, Sergeant. So far, your record is clean. Don’t give them anything.” She was confident they wouldn’t go after Arin. She was the daughter of a prominent Spacefleet General and an international hero. Arin had never received official recognition from the Federation for her actions on the Hendrix II, but the Networks had blown up after her return to Earth. She’d achieved Minor Celebrity status.
They couldn’t go after Arin, because that would invite too much scrutiny, but it was a different story where Riana was concerned.
On Earth, Riana Alara was a nobody.
She had to buy time. She had to take their attention off her friend. She walked forward, slowly, unsteadily, her boots sinking into the fine sand. She ignored the pain in her ankle and the pounding in her head as she advanced, her steps slow and deliberate.
“10357X, remove your helmet. Do not make any sudden and unexpected moves.”
Slowly, Riana removed her helmet. To her surprise, her hands weren’t even shaking. The wind caught her hair, whipping it around her face. Without the protective shield of her visor, the lights were impossibly blinding. She couldn’t see a thing.
“Get down on your knees.”
She sank to her knees, grunting in pain as her ankle protested.
“Lie down on your stomach.”
Riana lowered herself even further, pressing her torso into the ground.
“Hands behind your back.”
She complied, closing her eyes and wishing the pain in her head would go away.
She heard the crunch of boots over sand, then something hard dug into her ribs. Someone’s boot. Riana gasped, fighting the scream that threatened to burst from her lips. Now she could add a cracked rib to her growing list of aches and pains. “Riana Alara, subject 10357X, you are under arrest for violation of the Traffic and Property Act. You are to be detained and transported to the nearest Processing Center for review of your microsurveillance conditions.” The speaker was male, and there was a smug note in his voice that made her skin crawl.
“Prepare to be restrained.”
The pit of her stomach dropped. The first time she’d been arrested, it had been a tame, civilized affair. So what the hell was all this now? Restraints, hover-drones, and guns? Those things were reserved for only the most dangerous felons; antisocial criminals with Morality Quotients bordering on zero.
How could the Federation, with all its checks and balances, get away with this? All those promises of accountability, of justice, of fairness; were they just an illusion?
The man knelt beside her, digging a knee into her back. Riana wanted to scream at him, to tell him this was totally unnecessary given she hadn’t put up any resistance, but she couldn’t. His gloved hands slid up and down her bare forearms before pausing at her wrists. “Pass me the cuffs.”
Cold synthetic material wrapped around her wrists, binding them together. There was a mechanical click and the cuffs tightened, cutting into her bare skin. Her head felt as if it would explode. With every breath, sharp pain shot through her side. She must have broken a rib. Her ankle throbbed, and she imagined that inside her boot, it would be swollen and tender.
“On your feet.” The asshole kicked her again, and this time she couldn’t hold back her cry of pain. He’d kicked her in the ri
bs again, in the same fucking spot.
Riana got to her knees, glancing around wildly. All she could see was blinding white light and dark uniforms. Pain was everywhere. Her mouth was dry. The roar of the hover-drones drowned out everything else.
Despair unfurled in her chest, its dark tendrils snaking into her paralyzed mind. Her throat constricted. She couldn’t take a proper breath because of the pain slicing through her ribs. With her arms brutally twisted behind her back, she felt as if her shoulders were about to pop out of their sockets.
She couldn’t see Arin; she didn’t know what had happened to her friend.
A dark haze of panic descended upon her. The last vestiges of her sanity were about to be sacrificed to a full-blown panic attack. She was losing control.
I am close. Do not worry.
The only thing preventing her from having a complete meltdown was the memory of Kail’s simple statement.
He hadn’t been speaking to her. His voice had been as cold as winter frost, betraying not a shred of emotion.
She couldn’t imagine him being anything but cold.
But he was coming.
“Let’s go.” And as she was frogmarched towards the line of armored Landtraks, all hell broke loose.
Frantic shouts erupted behind her, followed by a hail of bolt-fire.
Her heart hammered. He was here.
She was pushed to the ground. Someone swore. She was hauled up again. “Move.” Pain was her constant companion. Then they were running, and Riana had no choice but to move, because there was a gun pressed between her shoulder blades. With every step, her ankle grew more and more painful, until she thought the ligaments holding it together were going to snap. Once, twice, three times, she stumbled, eating sand on the third occasion. But still they forced her to get up and keep moving, even as screams echoed all around her.
“Kill him!” someone yelled. “Don’t fucking let him get away!”