A Shadow in the Flames (The New Aeneid Cycle)

by Michael G. Munz

  "Chief," said Altieri. "If I didn't know better, I'd say we were looking at a computer screen."

  "What," Marette replied in barely contained awe, "makes you think you know better?"

  XXXI

  It was ten thirty, and the Moon was nowhere to be seen. Romulus found himself searching for it despite the near-total cloud cover that wrapped the sky and reflected the dirty, amber light from below. He tried to guess where the Moon might be right then, but the truth was that he had not paid much attention to its location the previous night. As he and Diomedes flew over the city, he couldn't guess at where it might be.

  Romulus was unsure why he suddenly wanted to see it, other than the possibility that it could have helped him relax to look at it for a time. He still needed peace of mind, but the green of the park was gone. He sighed and tried to put the park and Felix out of his thoughts for the moment. He was just anxious about their plan for the night, he told himself.

  He and Diomedes were en route to the meeting point. Gideon and Felix would meet them there. Already he could see the vigilante's black floater waiting for them. Not looking forward to facing Felix after the previous afternoon, Romulus hoped he wouldn't arrive until the last moment. He turned away from the window to focus on checking the straps of the body armor Diomedes had loaned him. A few moments later, they landed.

  Romulus carried their equipment out of the back as his only mentor went to talk to Gideon.

  "What's he doing here?" he heard Diomedes ask. Romulus closed the door and looked up to see to whom Diomedes was referring.

  "I'm with Gideon," Brian answered. The reporter stepped around from the vigilante's side, dressed in black with an armor vest strapped over his jacket. He held a small news camera, currently off and at his side.

  "He's with me," the vigilante confirmed.

  Diomedes's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

  "He records what I do. He will show my justice to the public, and assure that Wallace is exposed."

  Diomedes advanced on the reporter, stopped just an inch away to glare down at the man, and then wrenched the camera from Brian's grip. "I see you point this at me, you're dead. I see me on the news, I'll hunt you down, and pull out your lungs."

  Brian shuddered visibly but eventually met Diomedes's gaze. He did not, however, reach for the camera. "I'm only shooting Gideon. That was already the plan."

  Diomedes frowned and continued his glare a few moments longer before he pushed the camera back into Brian's hands and turned away.

  "He's with you," he rumbled to the vigilante.

  "Diomedes is big on safety. Always handle a camera as if it's loaded. Looks like we're all here!" Felix appeared from the shadows with a grin. He stepped up to the reporter and remarked, "Hey! Disaster Man! I like the vest." Felix tapped the armor until Brian scowled.

  "Disaster Man?"

  "Sorry, inside joke." Felix turned to face them all. "So, it looks like we're all locked, loaded and armored up here. We missing anyone? Hello, Flynn." He gave Romulus a simple smile and nod. His left eye was bruised and purple.

  Romulus found himself nodding back. "Hi. Is your eye okay?" Damn it, why did he ask that?

  Felix touched a hand to the bruise. "Stings a bit, but it's nothing that can't be healed. At this point."

  Gideon spoke. "We're running out of time."

  "Yeah," said Diomedes. He turned to Felix. "You remember the plan?"

  The question was met by a laugh. "You're asking me if I remember the plan?" When Diomedes's expression didn't change, Felix continued in an imitation of him, "Yes, I remember the plan."

  "Get going."

  Felix gave a salute and an overdone, "Yes, sir, captain, sir!" and trotted to Diomedes's floater to climb into the pilot's seat. "You guys be careful," he told them. With a last look to Romulus, he closed the door. The engines rushed back to life.

  "Let's go," spoke Gideon. Moments later Romulus was ducking into the vigilante's black floater and watching Felix ascend.

  Diomedes sat in the pilot's chair with the vigilante in the seat beside him. The Ursa Minor was much smaller than Romulus was used to. It was flatter and shorter than his mentor's floater, and though he and Brian fit comfortably enough in the rear seats, there was room for little else beyond a very small storage space. As his mentor oriented himself to the controls, Romulus checked the safety on his weapon, a small assault rifle he held in his lap.

  The strange-looking weapon that Gideon brought out caught his attention. Shaped like a sniper rifle, it held a peculiar, wide cylinder at the end of the barrel. "What is that?" he asked.

  Gideon did not turn but simply told him, "Takes care of the first transport. Custom made."

  The reporter looked over at him. "Nervous?"

  Romulus paused a moment, and then gave a deliberate look at Brian's camera. "Why should I be nervous? I'm not the one without a gun."

  The reporter simply cocked his head and grunted. Romulus turned to the window, satisfied. He wasn't in the mood to talk to him. For a moment though, he wished he were the one with the camera. It was an odd thing to be wishing. He had a responsibility to cover Diomedes while he flew.

  He silently wondered if that would be possible without firing a shot himself.

  They flew across the city, making for the location where Gideon had claimed the stolen weapons were stored. Somewhere not far off, Felix was waiting for their signal. Romulus checked his weapon once more, cleared his mind, and waited.

  They circled the area once and landed on the side of a hill overlooking a span of private warehouses. As they waited in the darkness, seeing no sign of Wallace's transports, Diomedes twice used veiled threats to question the accuracy of Gideon's information. Twice the vigilante assured them that they need only wait.

  The minutes passed by. Brian drummed his fingers with an irritating half-rhythm.

  Drum-drum. . .

  Romulus watched outside and listened to his own breathing.

  Drum-drum. . .

  His mentor sat, radiating impatience.

  Drum-drum. . .

  Gideon adjusted his rifle.

  Drum-drum. . .

  "Oh, for crying out— Stop it already!" Romulus burst.

  The reporter shot him a scowl but stopped. "Touchy."

  "Both of you shut up," Diomedes whispered.

  Gideon opened his door and leaned out as it folded upward. He cocked his head as if listening. All Romulus could hear was the sound of far-off cars and other distant noises. "I think I hear them," the vigilante whispered. Brian lifted his camera and began to film the dark man.

  "Where?" Diomedes asked.

  "Close. Out there. I hear their engines starting."

  Diomedes brought their own floater to life as Gideon lifted the odd rifle.

  "Too soon. Can't hear them now."

  "They're coming," Diomedes said.

  "Stay down until I say."

  "Hurry up."

  Gideon said nothing but sighted down the rifle into the distance. Moments later, the blocky shape of a transport floater lumbered upward into the sky fifty yards away. From the silhouette it looked to be just larger than Diomedes's own—smaller than Romulus had expected. He leaned forward, his eyes searching rapidly for the second.

  The transport turned away from them.

  Gideon's rifle fired with an igniting hiss that sent the cylindrical object at its end launching off like a rocket and vanished into the darkness. The vigilante sat perfectly still as Romulus waited for. . . something.

  "It's marked," Gideon declared. "Lift off."

  Diomedes hardly waited for the vigilante to get completely inside. They ascended rapidly as the second transport, their main target, appeared from the buildings ahead of them. Romulus shifted in his seat and prepared to take Gideon's place, as was the plan. His pulse raced in his ears. They launched forward after the transport.

  "He's on course. Follow until he crosses the river, and get above him."

  "I remember the fucking plan," Diomedes growled. "
Shut up and get ready."

  The transport flew at an inconspicuous pace ahead of them. Somewhere beyond it was the first, and, in the distance beyond that, lay the river that crossed the city.

  Romulus released his safety belt as they crossed the river and pushed himself forward to hunch just behind the front seats. His mentor took them higher. He held on between the seats as they rose, their speed increasing to catch the transport. It was gone from view now, somewhere below them. He felt the reporter brush across behind him, sliding to Gideon's side for a better view.

  A rushing roar of wind filled the cabin as the vigilante released the hatch on his side. It opened out and upward to show the transport flying fifty feet beneath them. They continued to pass above it.

  With a jump, Gideon was out.

  Romulus scrambled up into the front seat so quickly that he nearly tumbled out himself. The whir of Gideon's spooling support line stopped abruptly as Romulus strapped himself quickly into the seat. The vigilante flew below, his arms open and steady as the floater towed him through open air just behind the transport.

  Watching in awe, Romulus had to shout above the wind to be heard. "He's not on yet!"

  His mentor said nothing, but he could feel the floater's acceleration as they pulled Gideon closer. Thus far they hadn't been noticed as anything but a passing vehicle passing rising to a higher vector. Romulus held onto the release for the support line, waiting for the vigilante to reach the transport and feeling vulnerable for how much the position exposed him. It would be difficult for those inside the transport to see Gideon flying in their blind spot, but if they held this course much longer. . .

  Gideon reached the back of the transport and grabbed on. "He's on!" Romulus shouted. He waited just a moment to be sure, and then released the line. "Cable off!"

  Everything happened at once. Romulus caught a glimpse of the line detaching from the vigilante's harness and whipping free behind them. A second later he yelled in surprise when Diomedes banked them into a turn while the transport veered evasively away below. Romulus clutched his weapon in one hand and grabbed the frame of the open door with the other as the safety belt strained against his chest. It was all he could do to pull back from the hatch.

  They sailed away through the sky.

  "Holy crap! Did you see that?" Brian hollered. Romulus took a second to breathe. The entire maneuver had taken less than ten seconds, and he hadn't yet had time to be impressed. "Damn it, I can't get a good angle!" the reporter cried from the back. His camera was up and shooting through the window.

  "Shut up or get out!" Diomedes ordered. They flew away from the transport until he turned them on a parallel course.

  "They're still on course—I think!" Romulus shouted when he could see the transports. "I don't even think they've seen—Uh oh."

  The transport, previously flying simply, suddenly began to pitch and weave. In the darkness, Romulus could only see its lights and a faint outline. The plan called for Gideon to now be clinging to the back and attempting to sabotage the engine, but it was impossible to tell if he was still there.

  "He'll be fine," Diomedes told him. His voice boomed without yelling. "Transports can't maneuver well. Watch if the first comes back."

  Romulus looked ahead. "I thought you said they wouldn't stop to turn around!" Both Gideon and Diomedes had previously agreed that two transports with stolen cargo would be too worried about attracting unwanted attention to risk a firefight.

  "I did. Watch for it."

  Romulus cursed again and tightened his grip on the rifle. Wind filled the cabin. Lights buzzed across the sky in front of them. None of the lights seemed to be heading for them.

  Sparks flew from the transport. "I think he's got it!" Brian yelled.

  Diomedes braked at once and swerved around behind it until they were following. It continued to weave and dodge, but Gideon—now visible—clung to it as he had to the subway train, standing on the bumper with one hand anchored on the side.

  "He's clamped on!" Brian told them as he shot. "His fingers are in the metal! Damn, that's some good hardware!" Blue light flowed from Gideon's other hand and reflected off the hatch where the sparks came. Romulus couldn't tell if it was from a tool in the vigilante's hand or the engine itself. The transport banked and shook in front of them. It tossed Gideon about like a rag doll, but what force the crippled and clumsy transport could muster was not enough to break his grip.

  A blast of sparks burst again around Gideon's hand from the tampered hatch. Immediately the transport began to drop in front of them. Romulus's stomach winced as he watched it plunge off course and out of view.

  XXXII

  "Damn!" Brian exclaimed. "Those things do not glide!"

  Romulus leaned out to watch as much as he dared. "They've still got landing thrusters, don't they?"

  "They'd better," said Brian. "Our psycho's still on there!" He was still filming. "Yep, there they go. It's slowing down. Gonna be a rough landing, though."

  Lightning flashed nearby, and thunder rolled in behind the light. The clouds were nurturing a storm. Diomedes banked them downward after their quarry. Romulus held on, rifle in hand, and tried to keep an eye on their target. It did appear to be slowing, and going down on the edge of the open land where a shopping center was being built. The ground below was sparsely lit, rough with dirt, and bounded by iron frameworks and stacks of materials.

  Diomedes had his phone out. "Hiatt, we're at the site. Dead on. Get here now." Felix's response was too quiet to be heard.

  The ground below twisted and turned as Diomedes took them in to land. Another peal of thunder rolled through them, and moments later the transport slammed into the dirt. The thrusters had slowed it, but not completely. The impact threw up a cloud of dust that followed the floater to a mound of gravel into which it slid with a crunch. Romulus tried to spot Gideon or the pilot through the dirt and dark.

  "I can't see anything! Can anyone see him?"

  "I can't tell!" the reporter called back.

  "Cover the transport!" Diomedes ordered.

  The dust rose higher. They continued to circle as the storm approached. Diomedes didn't seem willing to land yet.

  Their course took them around again where the dust was clearing. Romulus squinted and saw the door open. From behind it came a man with a gun. Instantly Romulus trained his rifle on him—and waited. The man looked about for them through the dust. A guard? Part of Wallace's operation, or just some unlucky guy like Romulus who needed the money enough to take a simple job for one night?

  "Shoot!" his mentor ordered.

  The guard, clearly dazed and shaken from the landing, seemed to catch sight of Romulus, yet only watched as if trying to decide who they were. The guard clutched his weapon but hadn't yet raised it. If he did, he would have a clear shot at Romulus.

  "Damn it, fire!"

  Romulus nearly squeezed the trigger just from the sound of his mentor's voice. Still the guard had not raised the gun. Romulus cursed, muscles tensed.

  The guard raised the gun.

  Romulus froze in surprise.

  A blinding light flashed from below and Romulus fired. His shots went wide from lack of control. No gunshots came from below. The light faded fast. A second later the guard slumped to the dirt.

  "About damned time," Diomedes said to Romulus.

  "It wasn't him." Brian pointed. "Look."

  Below, Gideon appeared from the shadows. He bent over the fallen man for a moment, and then waived them down. Romulus let out the breath he'd been holding. A short time later they were on the ground.

  They stood as a group around the unconscious guard. Gideon had already tied and gagged him with some rope he had apparently scavenged. Another man slumped in the pilot's chair.

  "Pilot's dead?" Diomedes asked.

  "Just out. From the crash."

  "I thought you kill everybody," his mentor said.

  "I kill for justice. You kill for money. Neither would be served here. Leave them be."

/>   Diomedes regarded the bodies. For a moment, Romulus thought he might kill them. A sudden knot tightened in his chest. Those men were helpless. Romulus moved forward without thinking, ready to protest or even push the gun away if it looked like Diomedes would fire. He tried to think of something to say.

  Before he could, Diomedes just shrugged. "Can't I.D. us." He turned to Romulus. "Tie up the pilot."

  Romulus nodded, relieved. It was silly to think Diomedes really would have killed the captured men, he told himself, and wasn't completely sure if he believed it. He took the rope as his mentor reached into the transport and opened the loading hatch.

  "Hurry. Hiatt should be here by now."

  As if on cue, the sound of a floater's engines came from above. Lightning flashed once again and thunder followed immediately. Romulus looked up just enough to make sure it was Felix, and then went back to tying the pilot. By the time he was done, Felix was out.

  The small man surveyed the area. "Transport's disabled, pilot and guard unconscious and bound, and all perfectly in the planned-on area with no sign that we've been spotted." Felix chortled. "You know, this is going way too well."

  A sudden rain rushed down from the sky. Wet drops shattered the dust on the ground below. Felix grinned. "Ah, that's much better."

  The transport's cargo door opened on hydraulic cylinders. Diomedes stepped up. "Open the hatch," he ordered, motioning to his floater.

  Felix walked back and did so as Gideon and Diomedes began to unload the crates from the transport. They were sealed to the rain, gray, and locked with bolts screwed into the sides. As the rain began to soak his hair, Romulus went to help.

  "Where's the other transport?" Felix asked.

  "Deaf and mute," came Gideon's reply. "And on its way to Wallace's exchange."

  Diomedes stopped. "I thought you said it was taken care of."

  "It is taken care of." Gideon turned to Brian. True to his word, since landing the reporter had stopped shooting. "It is time for you to go."