by Allynn Riggs
The man they were following stepped into one of those doorways. Renloret and Ani continued past it. Renloret glanced at the sign that hung overhead. In the time allowed he only recognized one of the words — medical. When he hesitated, Ani pulled him forward and resumed her inane chatter in the falsetto whine. She turned after passing the first store entrance and guided him into an alcove used for deliveries.
Ani pressed two fingers to his lips, forestalling his questions, and pointed at the door. “This is the delivery entrance for the building he entered. We can probably get in without notice.” She pushed the door open. Warmer air leaked out, and he could hear muffled conversation and the clatter of machinery.
“We only lose our advantage if we fail to take the risk.” She winked and entered.
Renloret followed.
The hall became a ramp into a large storage area. They stopped to study the behavior below them. Shelving stacked three or four times Renloret’s height formed a grid with passageways between, giving the impression of a maze. Rolling carts fronted by forked levers maneuvered crates or boxes onto or off the shelves. Renloret recognized the conversational buzz as instructions, questions, and replies issuing from the workers’ handheld devices. Clicks and pops punctuated the noise as each worker spoke or paused to listen. None of them glanced up at the delivery ramp. Ani tugged on his sleeve and pointed at a door adjacent to a counter at the end of the ramp.
Renloret offered Ani a smile after they slipped through the door — apparently without notice. She acknowledged his smile by mouthing, “I told you so,” then hurried toward the front of the building.
Signs directed them to a kiosk listing the businesses within the building. Ani ran a finger down the list as she mumbled each entry, then tapped a particular line. “Would this be an option?”
Renloret read it aloud. “Medical Equipment Research Foundation. Well, it is more plausible than Home Craft Supplies or Employment Clearance Center.” Another perusal of the list showed that the Medical Equipment Research Foundation occupied the entire fourth floor. “Is there a lift or do we take the stairs?” He was hoping for a lift.
“The lift to the fifth, then main stairs to the fourth.”
Renloret moved around the kiosk toward the lift alcove, but Ani held him back. “Wait.” After a quick look around the lobby area, she undid the elegant bun that held her hair off her neck and stuffed the beaded clip in a jacket pocket. Then she quickly worked the loose tresses into a thick single braid. The simple alteration changed her appearance from a noticeable businesswoman to a casual working girl, just like all the other girls Renloret had seen on the city walkways.
“Now it won’t get in my way if we get in trouble,” Ani said, flipping the braid over her shoulder and demurely tucking her chin before strolling to the lift.
Renloret paused to check the lobby for witnesses to her transformation. No one had passed through while they had been at the kiosk. She had timed it perfectly. He jogged up behind her as the door swished open. Two men exited, brushing Ani out of their way as if she was unworthy of their notice, though they both acknowledged Renloret. He gave them a tight-lipped smile and stepped into the lift.
Ani had mashed herself into a back corner, arms folded protectively, head down. Beads of sweat began to appear on her forehead. She did not look up until the doors closed and the lift rose with a tremble. “They might remember you, but I was invisible,” she muttered, tight-lipped.
The sudden change of behavior surprised him until he remembered the story Taryn had told him of how everyone discovered she had claustrophobia. The story had come out after Renloret had asked Taryn to help him put an unconscious Ani in a stasis bag for transportation to Lrakira. It had been Taryn who, on a dare, had locked her in a tiny closet to keep her from attending a blade training class. She probably didn’t need reminding of the incident, even though it was fifteen or more years in the past. This elevator compartment was much smaller than the one in the government building — just small enough to set off a claustrophobic reaction. He had to keep her talking.
“Who taught you to be invisible?” Renloret really did want to know because Ani had been demonstrating some pretty impressive impersonation skills since their arrival in the city. There was more to her than he imagined, and the topic would distract her from the confining feel of the small elevator.
“Uncle Reslo. After the blade ring championship, he decided I should know how to disappear in public.” She shifted her stance but kept her arms wrapped tight. She seemed to be consciously taking slow, deep breaths, and her eyes were locked on the floor indicator as if staring at it would make it rise faster. “We had worked on several techniques when mother got sick. After that, we concentrated on her, not me.”
“You’ll have to teach me some of those techniques,” he said.
The elevator bumped to a halt. She closed her eyes and inhaled, breath wavering as if coming across a washboard. The door slid open and she pushed past Renloret. Once in the hall, a shimmy of her shoulders seemed to release the anxiety and her stance straightened.
“Those tactics will have to wait until we’ve found Taryn. And if they’ve implanted him with the coma device, as I fear, based on what we overheard, he’ll be incapacitated. It may not be easy getting him out of this building.” She moved toward the stairway.
They made their way down the central stairs to the fourth floor. Renloret heard an audible sigh from Ani when they met no one in the stairwell and another after she cautiously opened the door to the fourth floor. The two soft-footed their way past several office doors. Lights brightening the sliver of space beneath one closed door gave them notice that at least one was occupied. They slipped by without notice.
The corridor ended in a double swinging door that signaled the entrance to a large open room. Looking through the windows, they took in the lights that glared over an array of tubing, wires, and metal cabinetry surrounding a solitary platform. Renloret mentally paced out the length of the hallway they had come down and surmised that the space beyond the double door was laid out across the back of the building. He could see the lighted emergency exit in the far right corner. It would logically be in the corner of the building away from the street entrance and not connected to the elevator shaft in the center of the building. He craned his head to see what lay on either side of the swinging doors. Several doors lined the walls, indicating more rooms or offices of some type. A second set of swinging doors on the left side of the space announced the possibility of a second hallway with rooms like the one they were hiding in. He perused the rest of the room. There was something under a white sheet on the platform between the long bank of equipment and monitors and the doors behind which Ani and Renloret hid. Renloret placed a firm hold on Ani’s arm as she began to step forward. The gleam of a wrist blade was noticeable against the palm of her hand. He shook his head and pulled her away from the door.
“It may not be Taryn,” he whispered.
“And it may be.” The hiss of her response sent a chill down Renloret’s spine.
Voices from the room brought them both to attention. Ani shook off Renloret’s restraining grip and stepped back to the window. Renloret looked over her shoulder and saw several men enter the spot-lit area from a room to the left.
“There he is.” He could barely hear her words.
Two uniformed men strode across the open area and took up positions facing the bank of equipment, their backs to the doors Renloret and Ani were peeking through. Flanked by two yellow-coated, file-bearing attendants, the man who had discussed the Star Valley sheriff’s condition with Senator Nelham followed and paused to study a screen of blipping lines. The attendants scribbled notes, and then they turned to the sheet-covered form.
When a gasp issued from Ani, Renloret clapped his hand over her mouth and pulled her close to his chest, dragging her away from the doors to keep her from charging through. She kicked him in the shin with her heel and though it had been almost three months since the crash that sl
iced that same shin to the bone, Renloret experienced a flash of concern about whether it had totally healed.
“Blades, girl, stop it, or we’ll never get him out,” he whispered into her ear.
She stopped struggling and he released her.
“Now what?” Her question was barely audible.
He glanced up and down the length of the corridor, and when he saw the darker opening of a recessed doorway, he began to slither along the wall, pulling her with him. A short sigh pushed past his lips when he saw the door lacked a window. There was barely room for the two of them, though it gave some concealment so long as no one opened the door or came down the corridor. For several breaths they just stared at each other.
Placing both hands on her shoulders, he gave her a gentle shake. “I know what you want to do, but neither one of us is prepared to execute a snatch and flee. Do you agree?” Despite speaking in a whisper, he put as much command as possible in his voice.
Her chin trembled and a quick swipe of her arm across her face soaked up the first trickle of tears as she swallowed and nodded. She straightened and shrugged off his shoulder grip. “Need a plan.” She checked the hallway, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. “Maybe some help.”
Renloret hadn’t seen any more than the two uniformed men he assumed were guards of some type. Were there others? He needed verification. “How many guards did you see, Ani?”
“Guards?” Her eyes widened, then became slits as she frowned.
“How many?” he asked again. Silence accompanied a green-eyed stare. He counted two slow breaths. Perhaps it was the shock of seeing Taryn on the table that delayed her response. He knew she would have noticed.
The frown dissolved into a tight-lipped grimace. “Two, both with scabbards and slings. There were none at the emergency exit behind the bank of equipment and obviously there are none at either end of this hallway. Even so, we’re going to need help. Gotta change appearance again.” She pulled the hair clip from the pocket, twisted and wrapped the braid into an artful bun, and fastened it into place.
The door Renloret leaned on opened inward and he barely caught his fall into the room.
“What! I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you knock.” The woman was garbed in yellow and had one arm wrapped about a stack of files. She backpedaled into the room.
Renloret nodded a greeting at her. “Didn’t have the chance.” He moved forward, backing her to the desk, hoping to give Ani time to finish whatever transformation she had in mind.
“Is Dr. Treyder here?” Ani asked as she strode up behind him. She had turned under the collar and unbuttoned the shirt, showing off what he considered to be an alarming amount of skin.
The woman winced from the high pitch of Ani’s falsetto. “No, he went to the valley to pick up some equipment and notes. I expect him back in the morn. Do you have an appointment?”
Ani cleared her throat. “Senator Nelham sent us. Something about the doctor’s latest test results. The senator needs them for his report. Are those the reports?” She reached out offering to take the files.
Renloret kept his mouth shut. How could Ani think so fast?
The woman hugged the files. “No. These are for the payroll department. I think you were sent to the wrong room. Let me get Dr. Treyder’s assistant.” She started toward the door.
Renloret and Ani shook their heads in unison.
“Don’t bother him. He seemed quite busy when we came through,” Ani said before the woman could make a move.
Renloret added, “We’ll come back in the morn.”
They edged out of the room and into the corridor.
“Our thanks,” Ani said as they headed away from the central laboratory.
“Wait. Let me show you the way out.”
“No need, really.” Ani pushed Renloret. “We’ll let the senator know he’ll have to wait another day or two.” She started walking faster.
Renloret chanced a backward glance. The woman was standing just outside her office frowning at them, her mouth working. How long before she figured out something was awry? They had almost made it to the lifts when the woman’s screech sounded. Ani broke into a run and skidded around the corner, slapped at both call buttons on the lift, and pointed to the stairway. They double-stepped down two flights and slipped through the door onto the second floor. Ani punched the down button on the elevator, and when it whooshed open, she pulled Renloret in with her. Apparently, any fear of small spaces had been supplanted by the need for quick action.
They had just enough time to catch their breaths and make sure they didn’t look disheveled from the run before the lift bumped to a stop. Ani finished adjusting the hair clasp in the twisted braid just as the door opened.
He watched as Ani nodded to the trio of men waiting. They returned the acknowledgement and all hesitated to watch her move into the hallway, her hips swaying just enough.
“Come along, Wiak. We’re going to be late.” She kept walking without looking back at him.
Renloret put on a fumbling assistant act and excused his brusque exit from the lift to follow a demanding wife. He heard the three men chuckle. Renloret caught up with Ani as they passed the directional kiosk. “Now where?”
She pointed across the street. They were almost out of sight of the building when a mass of sword carrying semi-milits or private guards spewed from its doors. The shout from one of them confirmed that the woman in payroll had given a good description. Without a word, they increased their speed and barreled through a grocer’s careful display of fresh goods. Renloret grimaced. The guards would have them pinpointed now even though they were almost two full blocks ahead. He hoped Ani knew her way amongst the towering buildings of the city as well as she knew her mountain property.
Scrambling into a narrow passageway between buildings, they slid to a stop at a trash bin barrier. Renloret cursed at their bad luck. He turned to look back down the street. The soldiers had just rounded the corner and spread out, methodically checking each doorway on both sides.
“Take off your shirt,” Ani said.
“What?”
“Take off your shirt!” Urgency hissed in her whisper.
He glanced behind him. Ani had already shed hers and was struggling to pull her pants down over her boots. Frustrated, she removed one of the boots and tossed it out of the way. “By the Stones, what are you doing?”
“Misdirection.” Leaning against the building, she jerked the remaining boot off with the pants. She tossed them under the trash bin. She stood brazen in only her undergarments. “Turn the shirt inside out and give it to me.” She unbuckled the wrist blade sheath and slid it under the bin, then unclipped her hair and began unwrapping the braid.
“Ah, brilliant.” If they changed what they were wearing, the soldiers might not recognize them. Buttons flew in all directions as he tore his shirt open. These garments did not have the smooth release closures of his usual Lrakiran attire. He pulled the sleeves through as he removed it and threw it at her. Pushing away from the wall, she caught it, spread the sleeves out, and whipped the body of the fabric over and tied it low around her hips. Following her action he removed his arm sheath and tossed it under the bin alongside hers.
He managed to look away from her long enough to see that one pair of guards had reached the alley on the other side of the street. “Hurry, we can just walk out. They won’t expect that. They’re looking for us to be running.” He felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning he found her green eyes bright with adrenaline and a sly smile on her lips.
Her hands clasped his head and she gave a slight push, slapping his bare back against the stone wall. “I have a better idea. Plus, Taryn told me to do this at the first opportunity.” She pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his. With a slight jump, she wrapped her legs around his hips. His attempt to protest ended as her tongue slid into his mouth. Sliding his hands up her back and under the cascade of her hair, he accepted her idea.
Two guards edged their way around the corner o
f the building and into the alley, blades first. The ardent couple earned stares from both. One sniggered. The other gave a disgusted snort and pulled his partner back to the walkway. “They must have taken the next turn, Napav. These two have other things on their mind.” He waved his blade to those behind. “Dead end, sir. Nothin’ but a guy gettin’ what he paid for.”
As the pounding boots and occasional shout faded, Renloret immersed himself in Ani’s distraction. The fierceness of her kiss changed to an urgency he didn’t want to stop. They should have done this moon-cycles ago. Her skin was hot and smooth under his hands. She loosed her legs to stand on tiptoes, lacing her fingers into his hair and crushing his attempt to take control. His heart raced for a different reason now. He thought he heard a whimper. Then her tongue entered his mouth again, asking for response. He answered by entwining his hands in her hair and taking control.
Ani?
Not now. Hells. She’d let down all her barriers and Kela knew.
Whoa, this is your idea of a distraction? I thought you were looking for Taryn, not having a meeting of tongues. Kela’s tone was hard, thoroughly destroying her mood.
The distraction worked. Now get out of my head. She tried to reclaim her enthusiasm. Blades, what was Renloret doing with his hands? Arching her back, she gave him permission to move them lower.
No. Stop it! Now! That scientist is here, but not for long. He’s collected some of his equipment and boxes of things and has packed them into his vehicle. I can’t keep him here. You’ve got to come back.
She had sent Kela to do some surveillance while she and Renloret were in Saedi City and it had evidently paid off . She sent a clipped thank you to Kela and pushed Renloret away. She could see the mirror of her frustration in his expression. “Sorry, shouldn’t have done that. Kela says Treyder is in Star Valley — packing.”