Greenshift

by Heidi Ruby Miller

  “Dale is part of a human trafficking ring. Apparently, some sick asshole has a thing for raping Deleinean women, then killing them.”

  For the first time David saw a flicker of concern cross Sean’s face, but the mech tech remained silent.

  “Maybe I should have contacted the authorities,” David said.

  “Because they were so helpful the last two times you encountered them?” Sean asked. “I wouldn’t trust the contractors’ guild here with Mari’s life, and if what we suspect is true about Dale, he’s had a man on the inside covering up his shit for so long that nothing is going to stick to him now.”

  Sean suddenly motioned David back behind a massive support pillar. A maintenance woman strode within a few meters of them, but never looked up from the data on her palm. As soon as she moved into another section of the shipyard, David and Sean headed straight to the nearest slip.

  The smell of the salt water usurped all other smells, its freshness invigorating David as they took the next step to completing their mission. He had to keep thinking of Mari in such a way, otherwise his emotions threatened to paralyze him and steal his ability to strategize. She had come to mean so much to him over the past month, and he would be damned if Dale Zapona was going to take her away from him.

  “Can you drive one of these things?” Sean asked.

  “Yeah.” David’s boat back home was similar to the fast track.

  “Then get ready to move out as soon as I disable the slip’s electro-magnetic leash.”

  “Better do it fast,” David said, jumping into the speed boat and engaging the starter. A brief glance over the controls made him confident he could handle the craft in open water—he’d powered up and down Cheat Lake hundreds of times.

  “Move,” Sean said.

  David pushed the throttle full tilt, kicking up a blinding spray and throwing Sean to the floor as they jumped away from the slip.

  “Shit,” Sean said.

  “Thought you’d know to hold on,” David said as Sean stumbled to stand beside him at the controls.

  Squinting against the salty wind, David assessed the water traffic zigzagging ahead. The ferries had the right of way in every instance, but since they had their own lanes, he wasn’t worried as much about them as the smaller commercial craft. He’d skirt the closest ones and make a straight path to the industrial docks. Hopefully even the larger commercial shuttles would give way to an official craft.

  You’ll get her back.

  David battled to control his emotions with each minute that slipped passed. But his concentration waivered as he spun the fast track away from an oncoming shuttle at the last minute. He received a blast from their horn in reprimand, but the tinted fishbowl cover hid the angry expressions of whoever rode inside.

  Keep it together.

  Traffic thinned as the fast track approached the industrial docks. Even as the boat skipped across the small waves of the bay, the trip felt excruciatingly slow. Dale had a head start on them. Plus, the Thrall would have already been prepped for departure this morning.

  David scanned the dock area. “You see a spot close to the six hundred block of berths?”

  “I don’t even see any signs coming in from this side,” Sean said.

  Neither did David so he headed for the nearest slip.

  He killed the throttle at the last minute, bumping the fast track into the slot without any of the finesse the sleek boat deserved. Both men hit the dock and bolted. Onlookers jumped out of their way as David and Sean pushed past. Once inside the main flow of pedestrian traffic, they stopped for a moment, confused as the docks split off in a half moon with six different spokes leading to hundreds of huge berths.

  This industrial side of Shiraz looked like its own city, some of the larger space-faring ships looming so high they created pockets of dark shadows along the boardwalk. It was intimidating in its immensity—lights flashed in a spectrum of colors from ships all around them, signaling various stages of docking or launching, and the noise level was nearly deafening. Exhaust fumes wafted over them from several faulty converters as David cast a glance over the signs.

  “Six hundred block is this way.” Sean took off down the closest boardwalk.

  Each time an in-atmosphere engine roared to life, David’s heart stuttered. He watched each ship slowly drift out over the open water, clear of the docks and ferries, until they could safely engage their break away engines and punch out of the atmosphere. Each ignition flare made him realize that Mari was already too far away. His only relief came from knowing the Bard was a faster ship than the Thrall.

  They came up on berth six-one-seven when David spotted four contractors on patrol ahead. Maybe he should enlist the authorities’ help after all. He almost changed course when he saw the third cender strapped to one contractor’s thigh.

  Killian zeroed in on David before he could duck away.

  David gave Sean’s arm a small punch. “This way. Company up ahead.”

  They veered around a towering science vessel—the real kind, not what the Bard pretended to be. Multiple antenna arrays and in-atmosphere vents bristled along the ship’s black metal shell, casting shadowy quills along the stained concrete. David and Sean wove around the reinforced titanium beast.

  Though the docks would connect on the other side, David wanted to move past one more berth in case Killian or the others had decided to cut them off. He led Sean between a cargo loader’s huge claw, which sported only a smudge of its original yellow paint, and the dingy freighter it was unloading. This should be far enough from their original position to merge back into dock traffic.

  There was only one more freighter left. It had to be the Thrall 7. David’s heart sped up with hope. Then he saw the bright glow of warming engines. The ship could make its run for the lift-off area any time.

  He broke cover. The quickest way to Mari was straight down the main pedestrian thoroughfare. He could deal with Killian later.

  David felt the hairs on his arms and on the back of his neck stand on end and try to pull away from his skin. Only one thing caused that dreadful sensation.

  “Cender!”

  He and Sean dove for cover behind a weathered cargo container, but the concentrated bolt of static electricity caught David across the back, scorching his shirt and a strip of skin underneath.

  “What the hell?” Sean asked.

  “That little shit Ward is scratching an itch.” David barely felt the burn on his back as he heard the Thrall‘s secondary engines whine into high gear, the last stage of pre-flight.

  SIXTEEN

  “Get away from me.” Mari’s panicked voice echoed around the metallic walls of the commonway as big hands grasped her forearm and yanked her back hard.

  Carlos dragged her away from any possible escape. The freighter shook as the engines powered higher—they were going to take off.

  She pounded her fist against Carlos’ bicep and pulled at his thick fingers to free herself, but it was like fighting a boulder. She kicked at his leg, managed to lose her balance and fell. He never stopped, banging her knees off the floor and rubbing away the skin on her ankles. She lost her shoes in the scramble to regain her footing.

  “Let go of me. Someone help me. Please.”

  Trying a new approach, she grabbed at the corrugated walls, but the metal only sliced into her fingers as Carlos continued unimpeded. Out of desperation, she threw her foot in front of his, tripping him. He stumbled but didn’t go down. Jerking her toward him, he slammed her against the wall so hard her teeth shook. The cold steel sucked the warmth from her body.

  Mari couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream, just stared into Carlos’ hazel eyes, trying to see a glimmer of mercy.

  “Don’t be stupid, you freaky-eyed bitch,” Carlos said. “We’re in the last stages of takeoff. You’d never be able to breach that seal if you tried. All you’re doing is hurting yourself and making me look like a fool.” His grip tightened around her shoulders, his fingers pushing into her muscles until she
wanted to cry. “I won’t play the fool for anyone.”

  He slammed her into the wall again, then dropped her. The hard rubber surface stung against the balls of her bare feet.

  “What are you going to do with me?” she asked, hating the dread she heard in her own voice.

  Carlos snatched her by the back of the neck and jostled her ahead.

  Dale waited for them where her failed escape attempt began. She didn’t expect him to give her any more answers than Carlos, but she needed to ask.

  “What are you going to do with me?”

  “We’re going to strap you in for takeoff.” He motioned for Carlos to drive her forward again.

  “Why are you doing this? I don’t want to be here with you. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

  Dale gave a harsh laugh. “And you think I want anything to do with you? I can have any woman I want. There’s nothing that interests me about you except that some rich psychopath is willing to pay for a Deleinean woman with orange eyes.”

  “My eyes aren’t orange.” The snip surprised her. She had had to deal with insults and teasing all her life. The defensiveness from childhood bullying came back easily, almost involuntarily.

  “Well, whatever color you want to call them, they’re not natural.”

  That’s how Dale looked at her, like some diseased mongrel, even though her blood was as pure Upper Caste as his. But if her genes had been strong, he would reason, her eyes wouldn’t have changed.

  “To my client, your un-natural state makes you an oddity. He collects oddities, uses them, destroys them for his own pleasure. And do you know what he does to women with orange eyes?”

  “What?” Mari asked in a whisper.

  “He plucks them right out of their heads.”

  She couldn’t process what Dale was saying. This wasn’t real. She was having a nightmare. All she needed to do was wake up and David would be sleeping right beside her. She could curl up next to him, and he’d make this horrible dream all go away.

  Reality crashed down upon her as Carlos pushed her toward an open door on their left where a crash couch waited.

  “Who’s this guy you’re talking about? Why would he want to do that to me? Please tell me where we’re going,” she shouted.

  Panic overtook her. As soon as Carlos loosened his grip, she twisted free and pummeled Dale in the head. Drawing her arm back, she punched him in the nose, sending a blast of pain through her knuckles. Dale recoiled, covering his face. She rained blow after blow on his head, fighting like a wild woman and somehow evading Carlos, who was caught on the other side of the fight. Dale brought his elbow up to block her assault, then jammed the edge of it into her jaw. The blow sent her head snapping backward, ending her struggle and allowing Carlos to restrain her.

  He held her arms pinned behind her. Dale wiped blood from his nose. “You stupid, little bitch.” He slapped her across the cheek, then shoved his face so close to hers she smelled the eggs he had had for breakfast. His face burned bright red.

  “This is my ship,” he screamed, spittle flying from his lips. “You do what I say.”

  She flinched and shook from the sudden surge of adrenaline.

  “I thought your Armadan would have taught you more about obedience.”

  Mari mustered a defiance she didn’t feel and stared at Dale. “David’s not like that.”

  “Well, Carlos is. He won’t hesitate to give you a lesson in respect.”

  She stared at the big man, knowing from the scowl on his face that this was no idle threat.

  Carlos shoved her into a seat as though she were a child and pulled the heavy canvas restraints across her chest, smashing her breasts with his forearm. She bit her lip against the pain, not wanting to give either of the men the satisfaction of seeing her hurt and humiliated. He cinched the straps down so hard she fought for shallow breaths. Her hands fumbled at the straps.

  Carlos forced them down at her sides. She kicked at him as he secured her arms with the adjoining strap. When she made contact with his groin, he grabbed her by the throat.

  “Before you leave this ship,” he whispered, “I’m going to hurt you in ways you never knew a man could hurt a woman.”

  She couldn’t move—she could hardly breathe.

  Carlos and Dale settled in beside her.

  The surge of takeoff pushed her further into her seat, making it almost impossible to draw a breath. She tried to suck air into her lungs, her heart pounding in her ears, but the restraints crushed her. She feebly tried to dislodge them with her hands. The g-force worked against her and the blackness of suffocation sparkled in front of her vision. This couldn’t be happening. Her mind went blank as a freakish calm swept over her and she lost her battle with consciousness.

  SEVENTEEN

  I lost her.

  The Thrall‘s engines pitched higher and the concrete beneath David’s feet vibrated. A huge shadow passed overhead as the big ship pushed away from the dock and drifted out above the ocean. It hit the launch lane in a matter of seconds. Once its main thrusters kicked in, the Thrall 7 lifted into the cloudless blue sky. It accelerated with every kilometer, powering toward escape velocity.

  “We have to get back to the Bard. I can catch that ship.” David spun around, right into a cender planted in his chest.

  “The only place you’re going is a holding cell.” It was the female contractor from earlier today. The icy blue of her eyes matched her tone.

  “On what charges?” David asked. Had they already found out about the stolen fast track?

  “An illegal docking.”

  “Sounds kinky,” Sean said. “I don’t think he’s into that kind of shit.”

  As soon as the dark-haired woman glanced in Sean’s direction, David grabbed her wrist and twisted. The cender tumbled to the concrete where Sean scrambled for it, but this contractor wasn’t as green as Ward. She kicked the weapon under the cargo container and jammed the top of her head into David’s jaw.

  Blood swam in David’s mouth. He squeezed her wrist tighter, working her bones against the tendons. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she went for her full holster. Sean got to it first. But as he drew the pistol, the contractor used David’s own weight against him and spun him into Sean, knocking the two men into the metal container wall.

  David lost his grip on her wrist, allowing her to curl away and land a kick to Sean’s chest. Before he could recover, she smashed his hand against the ungiving cargo container to disarm him. Another contractor swung around the side.

  The last thing David saw before tackling the female was Sean jamming his elbow into the male contractor’s face.

  The female went limp when David’s weight slammed her to the concrete. He scanned the area for her second cender. All he saw was Ward running straight for him, both cenders aimed at his head. David rolled off the female just before a pair of static bolts sizzled by. He scrambled for cover behind a pile of discarded pallets.

  Sean and his opponent exchanged blows and kicks in David’s periphery, but David kept his focus on Ward.

  “You want to find out who the better man is, Ward? Put down those guns and face me in a fair fight,” David yelled. “Or don’t you have the balls?”

  David hoped to goad the young man into a hand to hand engagement. A seasoned contractor would never take the bait because they’d know better than to give up a tactical advantage and their weapons. But David counted on Ward’s need to prove himself to the big kids.

  “Guns are holstered, Anlow. Any time you’re ready.”

  “Not that I don’t trust you, but I want to hear them hit the dock.” He didn’t have time for this. Mari was hurtling further away from the planet each second he spent dicking around with these assholes. And every second it became more difficult to hold his anger in check.

  Two clunks of metal on concrete prompted David into action. He flew from behind the pallets, knowing Ward could have drawn him out with only the promise of fighting fair, but David’s rush to get to Mar
i made him chance it.

  He wasn’t prepared for the scene in front of him.

  Sean stood over the male contractor’s body. Blood trickled from the blonde hair at Sean’s temple, out of one side of his nose, and down his right arm. But David was most concerned that Killian stood behind Sean, one of his cenders pointing at the mech tech’s head, the other trained on David.

  How could you be so stupid, Anlow?

  He’d given up his advantage and broken a cardinal rule of engagement by rushing back into this fray blind. Now Killian had him right where he’d wanted him since they borrowed that berth space. So David was more surprised than anyone when Killian lowered his weapon, at least the one he held on David.

  “Go ahead,” he said. “I’ve been waiting to see you and Ward go at it for two days.”

  David exchanged looks with Sean to see if there was something he was missing. Sean’s expression was guarded but he gave a little shrug.

  Ward didn’t need an invitation. He rushed David, slamming his shoulder into David’s side and forcing him backward. But the impact hadn’t knocked him down, so Ward landed a round house kick to David’s chest, followed by a chop to his neck with the knife edge of his hand.

  All control snapped inside of David. He blocked two more quick jabs from Ward, then took the offensive.

  The contractor might be younger and faster, but David was pissed. He absorbed Ward’s blows not worrying about injuries, concentrating only on punishing Ward for keeping him from Mari. David held onto Ward’s arm, then buried his fist in Ward’s kidney.

  Ward returned the favor with a knife slash across the scorched skin on David’s back. So much for fighting fair. The pain was a good focus—David spun Ward around by his trapped arm and threw him to the ground.

  Ward scrambled away and lunged for his cender, but David was right there, forcing Ward’s arm above his head. The static tingled through David’s body a second before a sizzling shot thudded into the cargo container, blasting hot shrapnel across the boardwalk and barely missing Sean and Killian. David jammed his thumb into the tendons of Ward’s wrist. Reflexively his hand opened, dropping the cender to the concrete.