Harmonics: Rise of the Magician (Harmonics Series Season One)

by Chris Snelgrove

  "Your mom was from the Jade Empire?" Cammie blurted out, looking amazed. "NO WAY! I've always wanted to go to the Jade Empire. How did your mom and dad meet?"

  Adam chuckled, warm and low. Sam wanted to put her head on his chest and listen to him laugh or breathe, or just listen to the thump of his heartbeat. Adam took another sip of wine. "The Post War constrictions aren't as tight as you might think. While the Chancellor and Emperor have a lot of bad blood, they also understand that if they don't deal with each other there isn't exactly a third market option. I mean, there is some business with rogue states, but the smugglers garner most of the profit from that."

  "So where in the Empire is your mom from?" Cammie's enthusiasm surprised Sam. She didn't know that Cammie was so into geography.

  Adam hesitated briefly, then whispered, "The Seven Cities."

  The table went silent. Howard looked just as shocked as the two girls. Cammie, having no filter, almost combusted from excitement and was halfway out of her chair when Sam placed a hand on her arm.

  "Thanks, Sam," Cammie sat back down. "So your mom is from the Seven Cities. Unbelievable. Why would she ever leave?"

  "Why indeed, Camille, why indeed?" They all waited, each holding their breath in anticipation. Adam paused again, the hesitation becoming that much more obvious. "She had her reasons, trust me." He looked directly at Sam. "Important ones. That's partly the reason I'm at Academy City 676. For my mom."

  The rest of the evening melded into an endorphin-induced blur. They talked. They laughed. They touched. They flirted – a lot. They flirted a whole lot. Sam couldn't remember the last time she had piled on so much charm. She laid it down thick and was rewarded with Adam's full and undivided attention. It was truly a night to remember, a night that Sam would share with her and Adam's children on family vacations to the mountains.

  Oh girl, Sam chided. Don't get too ahead of yourself.

  ***

  Sam, Cammie, Howard, and Adam separated at the underground parking structure on the North end of the Mega Lots Shopping Center. They said their goodbyes, Cammie and Howard locking lips in a fervent attempt to devour each other's faces while Sam and Adam stood across from each other awkwardly. He smiled and put out his hand.

  "It was nice to formally meet you, Sam."

  "Umm, yeah it was great talking with you as well." Sam took his hand. "We should do it again sometime."

  They released their handshake.

  "I'd like that. You have my ID, right?"

  Sam nodded. "Yeah, I'll ping you."

  Adam looked around. "You know it's pretty late. Are you sure you don't want me to take you home?"

  Sam tried to control her grin. She was about to say yes but then saw Cammie shake her head. She answered before she could get her tongue around the words.

  "No that's ok, we've got it. The tubes aren't far."

  "As you wish, my lady."

  Adam grabbed her hand and kissed it. Sam could have died right there. She was never going to wash that hand again. Ever!

  With a last look and smile, Adam moved off in the direction of his transit bike. Howard and Cammie only broke off their PDA when Adam called out, "You'd better hurry Howard, or I'm going to leave you behind."

  Howard wiped his mouth. "Um, well it was nice to meet you, Miranda."

  "Samantha, Howard. My name is Samantha."

  "Yeah, Samantha," answered Howard, preoccupied. He looked to Cammie. "And you, my little lotus blossom, I will hit you up later."

  Cammie looked off into the distance thoughtfully. "Yeah, we'll see."

  Howard's eyebrows rose in confusion. "What do you mean--?"

  "Howard, I'm leaving you," Adam called out from a considerable distance.

  Howard gave Cammie a torn look then marched off after Adam. Sam and Cammie watched him descend into the darkness of the lot. As soon as Howard was out of sight, she pulled out her screen and started hammering at it.

  "What are you doing Cammie?"

  "I'm updating my status, duh."

  "Your Vii S? Why are you doing that?"

  "Because I was just totally smackin' with Billy Bob there."

  "Don't you mean Howard?" Sam asked.

  "Yeah, that's his name," Cammie replied distractedly.

  "You forgot his name?"

  "I'm not sure I ever knew it."

  "I'm so confused," Sam sighed.

  "Sam, hello! I was just smacking with him to make Coda jealous."

  Sam couldn't hold back her sarcasm. "Oh, now it all makes sense. Why do you think it will make Coda jealous?"

  "Because he totally wants me, he just doesn't know it."

  "Keep telling yourself that. And just so you know, what you said just now didn't sound crazy at all. So topic change, why didn't we go home with Adam?"

  Cammie touched her nose. A stupid gesture if there ever was one. "Too fast. You need to build it and then take him for everything he's worth."

  Sam didn't get it but felt too happy to argue.

  The girls started to move off to the tubes. It was well into the evening now and noticeably less crowded.

  "So what about you and Adam? You two seemed to be getting along swimmingly."

  "'Swimmingly'?" asked Sam mockingly.

  Cammie sighed. "I've been hanging out with that walking dictionary you call a friend too much. Swimmingly. Who says stuff like that? Anyway, you've made some progress; I'm impressed."

  Sam giggled idiotically.

  The girls rounded a corner on the far edge of the lot leading away from Mega Lots. They followed a long, dimly lit pathway that would take them to the underground transit.

  Sam hated walking at night. She hated the dark, hated not knowing what could be watching her this very second. Her body shivered involuntarily. The sensation was creepy, until she realized that the shaking was originating from her bag. She pulled out her tablet, shifting it to get around the weird silver box that she was almost surprised to see. She had forgotten to take it out again. While she didn't understand it, somehow it felt wrong to leave it behind. A small envelope sat on the screen.

  Hey, did you get home ok?

  Sam flinched as if the message had stung her. She couldn't tell Richard that they had stayed and were just now leaving. Public transit could be dangerous at night, and Richard would definitely be paranoid. She couldn't tell him the truth. She started to type back.

  Yeah I'm fine; I'm home already. It's a long story. I will catch you up tomorrow.

  Sam waited for the reply. She really hoped he wasn't paying attention to her Vii S locator ID. If he saw that she really wasn't home…. Richard's message came quickly.

  Bravo then. We'll converse tomorrow.

  Sam put her tablet away as the guilt set in. She hated lying to Richard, but she didn't want to admit that she had completely disregarded Richard's long-standing advice, "Get Home Before Dark." He was awfully paranoid about potentially dangerous situations. But even beyond that, she really didn't want to have to discuss Adam with him. She didn't know how Richard would react if she got a boyfriend, and for right now she just wanted to enjoy the small victory.

  A sudden noise startled her from thoughts.

  Tap, Tap, Tap.

  The odd percussion displaced the sounds of the normal concrete jungle. The sound stirred her insides, creating a certain amount of anxiety in her otherwise relaxed state.

  Tap, Tap, Tap.

  Sam stopped, throwing out a hand to halt Cammie as well. The noise…it was closer, more distinct. Cammie pulled her head out of the social clouds.

  "Sa-man-tha, what is your deal? I'm trying to give Ashley a play by play on of our date with Adam and Leonard."

  "You mean Howard."

  "How about I call him Sheldon?"

  "Cammie!"

  "I was just kidding."

  "So you don't hear that?" asked Sam, instinct telling her to lower her voice.

  "Hear what?"

  A strange intrusion swept over every synapse of Sam's senses. She could feel it
bristle on her skin, hear the rumble of it in her ears, and could taste the musk of it on her tongue. Her heart started beating faster, the pounding of her blood flowing with her anxiety. She turned around and stared off into the darkness. She tried to hear the noise and separate it from the background.

  Then Sam's throat closed up in fear.

  In the bushes, just beyond the light of the walkway. She could hear…she could hear…breathing.

  Sam casually turned back around, making eye contact with an unnerved Cammie.

  "Something is here," she mouthed. "Get ready to run."

  For once, Cammie didn't argue.

  Sam took a step towards the tube station. One. Two. Three steps. The rustling in bushes was accompanied by the snap and crack of small twigs. Sam had taken a fourth step when a dark mass emerged from the shadow just beyond the walkway light. Sam had had enough. "Run!" she yelled.

  Sam and Cammie took off, running full out. More crashing came, followed by the smacking of boots on metal. Sam didn't look back, but could again feel the presence of whoever was behind them. She knew that their pursuer was not alone.

  The end of the pathway was in sight. Another ten meters maybe. If they could get around the corner, they might be able to get to a guard post and--

  Sam's flight came to an abrupt stop as an iron grip clamped onto her hair and jerked her back. Pain erupted in her scalp and neck as she whiplashed back. Unable to stop her momentum, Sam felt her body slip out from under her. She hit the ground with a thud.

  She looked up into the face of a person she hadn't expected to see again for the rest of her life, let alone that evening. Rob, the supposed captain of Southern University's Combat Tag team, stood over her, still holding a handful of her hair.

  "Hey there pretty girl." Rob touched her face, stroking her cheek gently. "Oh yeah, we are going to get a sweet credit for you."

  Slavers. These men were slavers. Modern day human traffickers! She and Cammie were in big trouble. These were the kind of guys that didn't mess around. If they didn't get away, they were going to disappear forever.

  "Arrgh!"

  One of Rob's goons backhanded Cammie across the face. His hand was bleeding.

  "What the hell Samuel! You're going to mess up the merchandise."

  Samuel scowled. "The little beast bit me. Took a chunk of my hand."

  Rob and the others started laughing as they lifted a dazed Cammie to her feet. She didn't fight back. Briefly they took their eyes of Sam, not noticing her slow movements towards her bag. Sam knew they had one chance to get out of this, just one. If she didn't take it, there wouldn't be another opportunity. Sam found what she was looking for and slowly slipped it into her hand, palming it out of sight. She steadied her own breath.

  Rob looked down at her again. She curled up in a defensive but defeated position that Rob took as acceptance of a hopeless situation.

  "Good girl. I know some Plantation owners who are going to pay top dollar for a looker like you. It won't be so bad, you know. Once they break you in." He pulled her up from her hunched position. Sam stood, waiting for the chance.

  Once he turned his head to talk to the other guys, Sam struck Rob with the gas blaster square in the jaw as hard as she could, knocking him back. As soon as he stumbled away, she discharged the can right into his face. Rob starting choking and spewing everywhere. In the confusion, the others looked towards their choking boss, attempting to get a handle on what had happened.

  Cammie, without any prompting, sprang back to life. She kicked one of the guys standing directly in front of her, putting the tip of her very pointy shoe squarely between his legs. The strategy seemed to work and she repeated it, driving her fist into the crotch of the guy behind her. Cammie broke free.

  Sam fired another dose of the gas blaster at the remaining two goons, emptying the contents. The effect was far less potent. They reacted better than Rob, who was still choking. Sam knew that it wouldn't be enough so she turned and ran, Cammie not far behind her.

  "Get them," spewed Rob, choking on his vomit.

  Behind them, in the distance, Sam could hear the shuffling of bodies and the pounding of boots. She was at a loss. If these men closed in again they would be beaten and gagged. They couldn't get caught. It was all over if they did. They ran down long stretches of walkway, the men coming fast behind them. Two discharged energy rounds struck the wall next to them.

  "Sam! What are we going to do? We can't outrun them!"

  "I know Cammie, I know! I'm working on it!"

  Sam tried a door out of the building. Locked. She tried another, and this one opened. They both ran through and dodged around a corner. They came to a skidding halt at a dead end. If they didn't find another path it was all over. They searched to their left, then their right, only to see concrete walls and a zoned off workspace. Sam ran to the only other door in the area, pulling on it desperately. The door didn't budge. They turned back to run the other way. Maybe they could try to get back to the corner.

  Too late. The men were already in sight. There was nowhere left to go.

  Sam looked around for something to defend themselves with. She grabbed a couple of steel pipes from the edge of the work area and moved back in front of Cammie, handing one to her.

  "I'm going to try to create an opening. When you see it, run," Sam whispered.

  "I'm not going to leave you."

  "I'm not giving you a choice. Do it, and tell…well…tell…you know."

  Cammie's eyes welled up with tears. "Yeah, I know."

  The men slowed as they closed in, Rob in the middle, the others fanned out around him.

  "You've been bad girls, you know," said Rob, his tone playful but his eyes deadly. "I'm going to have to punish you now."

  "Bring it!" growled Sam, swinging her steel pipe in front of her.

  Rob's face lost its playful quality. He pulled a small metal rod from his pocket. "Enough messing around, girl. Drop it or I kill your friend."

  Sam's mouth ran away with her. "Wow, only thirteen centimeters? I thought alpha males were supposed to be better equipped."

  Rob's grin broke out again, but this time it was slightly demonic. He moved a slider forward. A thin plastic-looking rod shot out of the handle.

  "So it's a bit longer," said Sam. "Still not very impres…"

  Her voice trailed off as a yellow glow formed around the energy lines that stretched out and connected on different points, forming the outline of a blade. Rob put his arm straight out and swept the blade across his body. Instantly the smell of ionized air wafted towards Sam.

  "Oh…oh no. Sam, that's a Light Shiv! He's ex-military," Cammie moaned.

  Sam looked over at Cammie. "What are you talking about, Cammie? I thought the UWC didn't use Light Shivs!"

  "I wasn't talking about our military, Sam."

  "Excuse me folks, what seems to be the problem here?"

  A man walked out from the other hallway. He was wearing a disheveled shopping center security uniform, complete with goofy hat and sunglasses. The man looked like he had just crawled out of bed, uniform and all. He had a small firearm and he was pointing it directly at Rob. All but one of the men turned to face him; one remained staring at Sam and Cammie. Rob stepped forward and addressed the officer, seemingly unperturbed by the small gun leveled at him.

  "This isn't where you want to be, rent-a-sec. We’ve got a job to do and you're in the way. So back off or I'm going to introduce you to Sally here."

  Rob swung the blade, charring some nearby construction.