by John Daulton
“Yeah, it’s fantastic. Now get us in so we can get the hell out of here before they drop the ambush on us.”
“They’ll wait till we come out,” he said. “No lamps down the street there, and if we break into something like they probably heard we were doing, we might set off the alarms.”
“What kind of alarms?”
“Shrieker ferns, mostly. Enchanted as best they can pay for, smoke and fire, maybe breaking glass and shadows moving inside. But I got you covered. I been in Bleck’s before.”
They stopped at the back of the building, third from the end of the back alley. Squints left Roberto by the door and crept along to a small window, peering inside through the iron grate that covered it. Roberto could barely see him, and it was all he could do to resist pulling out his flashlight. Were it not for the dim moon, a clear sky full of stars and the light of a lamp bleeding through the narrow alley out onto the opposite street, it would have been pitch black.
Squints squared to the window and took two paces back toward Roberto, which brought him just short of the door. He placed his hand on the wall and began muttering. A moment later something dull thumped down onto the floor inside.
“You’re a wizard?” Roberto asked, under his breath.
“A-class transmute,” he said. “Not good for much more than warping wood, but it’s got its usefulness.”
He started chanting again, his hand on the door. He had just looked up at Roberto again when two gunshots rang out. Footsteps sounded, lightly running across the rooftop right above them, followed by a brief silence, then the sound of someone landing on the roof next door and running again. Another shot sounded, a single sharp crack.
Roberto gripped his weapon and went to the alley, peering around the corner, ready to smoke whoever came through. Nobody was there. He was just about to head into the street, when Deeqa dropped down behind him, near the door where Squints was.
“One got away,” she said. “We need to be quick.”
The boy didn’t even look sideways at her as he opened the door. He crept inside, holding a hand out behind him as he did, indicating that they should be silent for a time. He disappeared into the darkness. They waited, each of them watching warily into the dark on either side.
“Gorgon’s gaze,” came a curse from inside.
Roberto and Deeqa exchanged glances. It was clear she didn’t want to wait.
Roberto leaned into the door. “Hurry up, kid. We’re leaving in thirty seconds, homing lizards or not.”
The boy came toward him then; he could see him silhouetted in the front window, the lamplight coming from the street shaping his hunched form and that of a small cage swinging in his hand.
“You get them?” Roberto asked.
“Not exactly,” said Squints. He came out into the semi-light and held up the cage. “They’re gone.”
“Great. We pick the night the damn baker cooked all his damn lizards into a pie.”
“He probably sent them home with him or something,” the youth said. “They’re pretty hot these days.”
“Let’s go,” Deeqa hissed. She was already moving down the alley toward the far end of the street.
“Sorry, kid,” Roberto said. He fished a gold coin out from beneath his cloak. “You made out like a bandit anyway. Stay safe. That asshole that got away might bring his friends.”
“You got a cabin boy?”
“A what?” Roberto glanced back, but set out after Deeqa, Squints following.
“Cabin boy. Every ship has a cabin boy.”
“No, they don’t. And you’re too old to qualify.” He stopped long enough to wave him off, shooing him like a dog. “You need to go on, now. I can’t be dragging you around. This shit just got real. So, go. I can’t watch out for you.”
“I been watching out for me down here for a long time, Captain,” he said.
“Good. So good luck. And thanks for trying.”
He set off after Deeqa again.
The boy was still following him.
“Dude!” Roberto said. “You’re about to piss me off.”
“I can get you out of town without trouble.”
“You were going to get me a homing lizard too, remember?”
“I still can.”
“Really? Where, at that other place? The pigeon store? I got news for you, chief, we already went by there on the way down. It’s closed. And I’m sure they sent theirs home at night too.”
“Why you need one, anyway? You never said why.”
“That’s right, I didn’t. Now you need to get going. My friend up ahead there ain’t nice like me, and if she decides you’re just trying to lure us into the next trap, well, she’s liable to do some crazy Somali pirate shit to you.”
“You need a telepath, don’t you?”
“Fuck off, kid. I swear.”
“You’ll need to talk to someone from here while you are back at Earth. I heard they aren’t letting magicians go there. So you got no telepath on your ship.”
“Your information is old. They sent some wizards. And I’m telling you, if I have to tie your ass up and leave you in the street, you’re not going to have that gold I just gave you for very long. Just take what you got. Seriously, dude. Last time I’m asking nice.”
“I can do it.”
“Do what?”
“Be your telepath.”
“You just said you are just an A-class guy. Even I know that’s weak as hell.”
“Telepathy don’t work that way. You just have to know the other guy. And, well, you know, they have to let you in.”
Roberto frowned down at him, then looked back at Deeqa, who had just come back. She looked like she was actually considering what the kid said.
Roberto saw it in her eyes. “Dude, he’s a thief. He even said so.” He held his hands up as if to ward her off. “I’m not bringing a damn thief onto my ship. We’ve been trying to avoid that since we first got here, remember? No thieves. Period.”
She looked at him, one eyebrow arched and her head tipping sideways. She was waiting for something, waiting for him to figure out something obvious.
“What?” he said. She cocked the other eyebrow, patiently. Then he figured it out.
It was her. She was on the ship. He shook his head emphatically. “No. That’s different. You’re different.” He turned and pointed to Squints. “He’s different.”
“How many more bakeries do you want to break into?” she said. “Or would you rather wait until sunrise?”
“God damn it,” Roberto said. He looked at the boy. “How do I know you’re not just going to screw me somehow?”
Squints pulled out the coin. “You just paid me with this,” he said. “I’ve never even held one before.” He held the coin toward Roberto, giving it back. “I’ll work for food and a hammock. And if I work for you right, you’ll take me to Earth.”
Roberto pushed his hand, and the coin, back at him. “What the hell do you want to do on Earth? By the time I am dumb enough to drag your magic ass to that planet, it’s going to have to be legal to put you there. So you won’t be any more a big shot there with your A-class magic than you are here.”
“Yes, I will. It’s a planet full of blanks. There’s no way I won’t be something more than I am here.”
Roberto glared at him, and back to Deeqa, who gestured that he should make up his mind. “The clock is ticking,” she said.
“Shit.” He glared at the boy again. “Fine. But I’ll throw your ass out an airlock if you screw with me, even one time, you hear?”
“I won’t,” he promised. “Thief’s honor.”
“Well, how about you honor that first by getting us out of town.”
Chapter 39
“Well, Miss Grayborn, it seems that everywhere you go, you leave a trail of blood behind.” That was Lieutenant Hammond of the Reno PD who said it, and Pernie was pretty tired of the way he kept walking back and forth when he talked. Sophia and Don Hayworth had been called, and they were on their
way too. Pretty soon everyone was going to be lecturing her. Pernie thought maybe Sophia and Don could get in line behind the lieutenant, and they could all walk back and forth like a parade telling her how bad she was. “Do you understand that here on Earth, people don’t just go around beating everyone up?”
“Everyone doesn’t put a laser to Jeremy’s head,” Pernie said.
“You should have called for the police.”
“That would take too long. And I didn’t have my tablet anyway.”
“Well, that was reckless, too. You should never have been downtown. Little girls, no matter where they are from, do not go downtown all alone.”
Pernie rolled her eyes. Everyone on this whole stupid planet said that. They all sounded like dumb cawfrats, big poisonous parrots echoing back the same set of sounds over and over again. Don’t go downtown. Don’t go downtown. Squawwwwk. Don’t go downtown. Pernie had already been downtown three times, and the only bad thing that ever happened was that the stupid Reno PD always showed up and got her in trouble every time.
A knock on the door of the small room sounded. Lieutenant Hammond called, “Yeah,” and in came Sophia Hayworth and her husband, Don. Both of them looked worried, but Sophia mostly looked mad—mad in that calm way she had when she was going to talk a lot and talk like she thought Pernie was dumb.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hayworth,” said the lieutenant. “Please, sit down.”
They both looked from the uniformed man to Pernie sitting there. Pernie made a point of ignoring them. Mostly Sophia, though.
“I was just explaining to Miss Grayborn here,” said the lieutenant, “that we can’t have her running loose all over the city, leaving a wake of carnage everywhere. I’ve had a look at her file, and in barely three weeks, she’s already managed to collect quite a history of … wanderlust.”
“She is completely unmanageable,” Sophia said in the exact same moment Don Hayworth said, “She’s got heart, that’s for sure.”
The lieutenant looked back and forth between them and harrumphed. He looked back to Pernie. “So which is it, Miss Grayborn: are you unmanageable, or do you simply have too much ‘heart’ for your own good?”
Pernie’s heart was exactly the way it was supposed to be. Just like her brain was. The longer she stayed on this planet, the dumber they all seemed to be. Except Jeremy. And Don Hayworth. And maybe Gabby, but she didn’t know him very well. Mrs. Beckman, her teacher, was nice too.
“Well, I can’t do it anymore,” Sophia said. “I can’t. I volunteered to take her because Angela was in such a big hurry to get off world. Her people assured me she would behave, but as you can see, this child is completely out of hand. I can’t control her, and she clearly can’t be trusted to keep any of her own promises, much less those of her people back on Prosperion.” She glanced at Pernie when she said that last, and made a face at her as she pronounced “her own promises” like somehow Pernie had broken one.
“That’s a lie,” Pernie spat.
Sophia let out a windy sort of breath, and looked insulted. “You little brat!” she snapped. “How dare you? What single—”
Don Hayworth cut her off. “Honey, honey,” he soothed. “It’s okay.” Sophia glared at Pernie but allowed herself to be silenced.
“I never broke any promises,” Pernie said, looking to the lieutenant. “Not one single one.”
“Then why are we here?” muttered Sophia as she rolled her eyes up and stared at the ceiling. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked as if irritation might blow her to pieces from the inside.
“I didn’t,” said Pernie. “I only promised not to use magic, not to sneak out at night, and not to go downtown alone. I did not use magic; I did not sneak out; and Jeremy was with me today.” She crossed her own arms over her own chest and gave a smug, singular nod as she glared at the lieutenant again. Then she thought about it and amended, “And the sun was perfectly in the sky.”
The lieutenant looked from her to Sophia and then finally to Don. Both men sighed.
“So what now, Lieutenant?” asked Don.
“That’s up to you two. If you really can’t keep her, then I have to put in a call to the NTA. Her file is pretty specific with how we have to handle this, and it’s some kind of file, I’ll tell you. Seven layers of access in the thing, and six of them are above my pay grade.”
Don looked to Pernie, and his eyes were very sad. “Pernie,” he said. “Can’t you please just follow the rules?”
“Forget it, Don,” Sophia snapped. “I’m not going to live like this. This isn’t what we agreed to.”
“But honey, it’s only been three weeks. She’s from Prosperion, for crying out loud. She needs time.”
“No, Don.” That came out with ice on it. “No. You said it yourself, she’s no Angela. Well, she’s not. And I am too old to spend four years with … with some kind of alien sociopath.”
“Jesus, Sophia!” Don said. He turned back to the lieutenant, who seemed sad now.
Don got up and tugged Sophia up with him. She looked into his eyes and saw something there, and her expression softened. She glanced at the lieutenant, sighed, then turned and let Don lead her to the door. She paused and turned back to Pernie with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. She was sobbing as Don led her away. He looked back through the window glass as they passed down the hall, and Pernie could tell by the way he looked at her that he was sorry too.
Pernie didn’t care. Fine. She didn’t need them anyway. She could stay with someone else. Maybe Jeremy’s grandpa would take her. Gabby seemed very nice, and he looked out for Jeremy even though he was only one old grandpa. And he didn’t try to lock Jeremy up in a jail with prock-see-me alarms on the windows like a criminal. She would just ask Jeremy tomorrow when she went to school.
Assuming they let her go to school. It occurred to her they might not.
The lieutenant watched the Hayworths pass beyond the window, then went to the door and closed it again. He leaned on the table with both hands. He studied her for a time, not like a bug or something, not like Master Altin and Tytamon had that day the last time Pernie had tried to kill Orli Pewter again. But he clearly didn’t know what to do. Pernie had always thought that people named “Lieutenant” in the army were supposed to know what to do. But he didn’t. She could see it in his eyes. Djoveeve said that when people look like that, they are vulnerable.
But Pernie didn’t know what to do with his vulnerability. This wasn’t the kind of combat they’d trained her for. So she just watched him and waited to see what he would do next.
“You want a tablet or net visor?” he said.
“For what?” she asked.
“To play with until the major comes.”
“What major?”
“The one from Fort Reno. From the NTA.”
“Fine,” she said.
He brought her one. She couldn’t get access to the global net, or even call out to ask Jeremy if she could stay with him and Gabby and go to school. All it had on it were games for captured kids to play. Pernie knew what it was. But she didn’t care. She would wait and see.
She opened up the only game she recognized, Blades of Death XIV: Return of the Lich. She spent the next three hours turning all the other stupid game warriors into piles of guts with Starfaze. Starfaze with her big bosoms and her broomstick.
Chapter 40
The major came into the little room in the Reno PD headquarters and looked just like Pernie thought he would, just like all the other fleet officers she’d seen back on Prosperion. There was actually something comforting in that. He looked a little like Roberto, only taller and not quite so broad across the shoulders and back. He had dark eyes, but there wasn’t anything funny glinting in them, though, not like Roberto’s always had.
“Well, Miss Grayborn, it seems you’ve already worn out your welcome with your host family. Although, Lieutenant Hammond there has told me that you’ve had some bad luck in at least part of that.”
Pernie
thought he was going to lecture her about going downtown like everyone else did. But he did not.
“You’ve put us all in an awkward place,” he said instead. “But I’m not sure how we are going to find a new host family for you if you are going to continue running about drawing attention to yourself.”
“I didn’t draw attention to myself.” She didn’t really know what that meant anyway, but she didn’t care. She didn’t do it on purpose if she had.
“Well, sweetheart, yes, you did. I’ve got one Martin ‘Zest’ Boyle, a registered sex offender, still in a coma at Pfizer Corporate Hospital. I’ve also got a Calvin McLeary, Ryan Perkins, and Lashon Zaparto listed as hospitalized. The McLeary and Zaparto kids have been released, but it looks like the Perkins boy is probably going to lose his eye unless he can come up with enough money to get it regrown. That’s a lot of carnage for one ten-year-old girl in under seventy-two hours. If that’s not drawing attention to yourself, I don’t know what is.”
“They started it,” Pernie said.
He actually laughed. He reminded her of Don Hayworth in that way. Which was also comforting.
“Well, that may be so, but I’m afraid that, by our agreement with your government back on Prosperion, if you can’t be … kept in check, we are authorized to send you home.”
“I’m not going home,” she said. “I need to learn how to do all your sciences. Plus I am going to learn to fly the planes that go as fast as sound. And a starship.”
“Well, that’s just it, Miss Grayborn. That’s what we all want for you as well. But you can’t run around ramming broomsticks into people’s faces and putting them in comas.”
“I already told you: they started it.”
“Yes, that’s what you said. But they wouldn’t have started it if you were in your house where you were supposed to be.”
“They have alarms on my house and I can’t leave, like I am in jail.”
“But you aren’t in jail.”