“Ciro,” he hissed, little more than a whisper. “Yesss.”
“I’ve waited for this a long time.” He climbed to his feet, and Rojas backed off slightly, the knife poised in his hand. “And how little has changed.”
Rojas’ eyes twitched, and he licked his lips. “No, old friend. You are wrong. Everything has changed–”
“You always feared me, didn’t you? That’s why you couldn’t save your mother. That’s why you couldn’t stop me.”
“What? No.”
“You feared me.”
“I was just a boy then–”
“You think you have power over me,” Roman went on in a quiet, intense voice. “But you don’t.”
“Is that so, Ciro?”
“I have something you want. Don’t you realise that?”
“The only thing I want is your blood. And I will take it from you one drop at a time.”
“No!” Roman shouted, and he was rewarded by a flinch from Rojas, who seemed utterly disconcerted by Roman’s transformation. “There’s something I have that’s far more powerful than that.”
Rojas sneered. “You can’t bargain with–”
“I have your mother’s last words. Her last message to you.”
Rojas froze, shocked, and suddenly there were tears glistening in his eyes. “You do not,” he said, his voice cracking. “Do not speak of her again.”
“Her thoughts were with you, even as the life left her body.”
“Do not speak of her!” Rojas roared, advancing and pressing the knife to Roman’s throat. “Or I will cut the tongue from your mouth!”
He was close, now. So close. With the right move, Roman might be able to turn that knife on him. He just needed–
At that moment, the door opened at the back of the room, and Rojas turned to look. Roman moved fast, gripping his opponent’s wrist and twisting savagely. Rojas grunted and recovered quickly. Larger and stronger than Roman, he was more than a match for the boy in a tussle.
But Roman had grown up on the streets, and he’d learned a few things over the years. He was used to slipping out of the grasp of bigger opponents, turning the tables on them.
He shifted his body weight downward, effectively throwing himself to the ground, while gripping Rojas’ wrist with all his might. Caught off-guard by the unexpected move, Rojas reached out with his free hand to break his fall. Roman twisted his wrist, and the knife with it, angling it in toward Rojas’ chest. As the two hit the ground, the impact caused the blade to dig deep. It slid between Rojas’ ribs as neatly as entering a sheath.
Dazed by the weight thumping on top of him, Roman lay there for a second, stunned, before pushing Rojas aside and rolling clear.
Rojas gasped, clutching feebly at the hilt of the knife, his eyes wide, then turned toward Roman.
“The Greatness…” he whispered. His lips moved again, but no sound came out.
Then his hand dropped away and he lay completely still.
Roman sat there, staring at Rojas and waiting for him to get up, but it didn’t happen.
“Vincent?” Yefim said, staring down at his boss, distraught. “Vincent?” He stood there, horrified, and slowly his gaze shifted to Roman. He lifted the handgun. “You little mother–”
A gun went off, three sharp cracks echoing across the plant room, and Yefim stumbled and fell to the side, the handgun clattering to the floor. Roman inadvertently cried out, wondering why he wasn’t dead, then looked about the room.
Alec Duran was standing over by one of the water pumps, a handgun pointed at Yefim’s prone form, and Knile was standing next to him.
49
Taking his fingers from Vincent Rojas’ neck, Knile turned and nodded at Duran, who then lowered his .38.
“It’s done,” Knile said. He stepped over the dead man and reached out for Roman, taking him in a strong embrace. It was only then that he realised the boy was bleeding from a wound on his face. “Shit, Roman. You’re hurt.”
“I’m okay,” he said, touching gingerly at his face. “Superficial cut. The guy wanted to take his time with me.”
“So who are these two?” Duran said, glancing between the corpses. “Colleagues of the Redmen?”
“No,” Roman said. “A crazy bastard called Vincent Rojas, some rich guy from Lux. He kidnapped me a while back, thought I was some evil spirit reincarnate. He and his henchman saw us as we passed through Lux, then somehow followed us all the way here.”
“The guys in hoods,” Duran said thoughtfully. “That explains it.”
“That’s quite a feat, to follow you all this way,” Knile remarked. “He obviously carried one hell of a grudge.”
“Yeah.” Roman glanced around the plant room. “How did you find us in here, anyway?”
“We heard voices,” Knile said. “You’re friend Rojas was shouting at the top of his lungs–” He stopped suddenly, then looked over at Duran. “Dammit. Talia! We’ve only got a few minutes to get her out and make it back to the railcar.”
Duran turned back toward the door. “Then we’d best haul ass.”
Zoe gritted her teeth and jammed the steel beam under the block of concrete. She heaved, her muscles straining, sweat running down her brow.
Try as she might, she couldn’t budge it.
She gasped, stumbling back, exhausted.
So close. So damn close.
“Zoe?” came Talia’s muted voice. “Are you still there?”
“Still here, man. Getting close now. Just hang on.”
In the last few minutes, Zoe had made good progress through the debris. She realised that she didn’t necessarily have to clear out the whole space – she just had to create a passage large enough to pull Talia through. To that end, she had gradually picked her way through the wreckage, being careful with her selections, mindful of not moving the wrong object and causing more debris to fall from above.
Now she could hear Talia not far away. She even thought she could see her with her flashlight through a gap in the debris.
However, there was a large chunk of concrete that needed to be moved aside in order to progress any further, and right now, she couldn’t seem to dislodge it.
She looked desperately back along the corridor. What the fuck were the others doing? How many men did it take to find a goddamn shovel?
Her frustration masked something else. Fear and uncertainty.
Something had happened to them. Maybe they were already dead at the hands of Redmen reinforcements, soldiers that were closing in on Zoe and Talia right now.
She gripped the steel beam again, a warped length of metal she had found in the debris, and tried to lever it into position. She pushed, and the concrete block moved slightly, but nowhere near enough.
She took a deep breath, steeled herself.
All right. You can do this. Focus. Mind over matter.
But the truth was, she was exhausted. The last few days had taken a toll on her, and now when she really needed her strength, it seemed to have fled.
“Talia, just move back a bit. I’m going to give this one hell of a heave, okay?”
“All right. Be careful.”
Zoe prepared herself for one last attempt, but she sensed movement behind her and spun on her heel.
It was a Redman, one she recognised immediately – the big guy, Lazarus. The one who had been fighting alongside Talia and the others back at the Reach. He was covered in mud and grit, and dried blood was streaked across his face. He looked as weary as Zoe felt, half-stooped and breathing heavily. He was unarmed.
“Our comrades are trapped?” he said.
“Talia. The others disappeared somewhere.”
He nodded, then drew himself up. “Stand aside. I will do what must be done.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Lazarus stepped past her and shouldered his way into place at the steel beam. He took it in his brutish hands and spread his legs wide, distributing his weight in order to keep balance.
In truth, he looked as thou
gh he could barely keep his head upright.
Zoe stepped back into the gap, taking her place beside the Redman and slipping her hands onto the beam. He looked sharply at her, his face a mixture of surprise and annoyance.
“We do it together,” she said. “On the count of three.”
“That is not–”
“Or we can do two, if you can’t count that high.”
Lazarus curled his lip and turned back to the beam. “Begin.”
Zoe jostled for space next to the Redman, positioning herself as best she could, then began the count. Lazarus tensed as they reached two, then on three they both heaved together.
At first, nothing happened. The concrete block remained stubbornly in place, just as it had before. Then, as the two of them strained with all their might, it began to lift – slowly at first, and then it seemed to reach its tipping point, easing upward and opening a gap in the debris.
Talia appeared on the other side. Her face was covered in white dust, except for a line of crimson where an abrasion on her forehead had leaked blood, but otherwise she looked okay.
“Talia,” Zoe grunted through clenched teeth. “Go!”
Talia glanced uncertainly at the quivering concrete block that was balancing on its end, but, perhaps realising this was her only shot at escape, began to scramble forward. The gap was narrow, barely enough for her to squeeze through, and for a moment it looked as though her hips might become wedged, but with a final lunge she was able to slip free. Zoe and Lazarus fell back, allowing the concrete block to thud back into place, and then the three of them landed on the floor amid the rubble.
“Welcome back… to the land of the living,” Zoe said breathlessly.
Talia smiled gratefully, but before she could respond, they heard footsteps coming from a nearby corridor.
“Damn,” Zoe said. “I hope that’s the good guys.”
“If it’s not?” Talia said.
“I cannot get up, but if you can force them to fall into my lap, I will crush their skulls,” Lazarus said as he gasped for air.
Zoe couldn’t tell if that was an attempt at a joke, or if he really meant it.
A moment later, Knile, Roman and Duran appeared around the corner. Their eyes lit up at the sight of Talia safe and well.
“Well, you three are a sight,” Duran said.
“Speak for yourself,” Zoe called back.
“What is this, siesta time?” Knile said, grinning. “We’ve got work to do.”
“Hilarious,” Talia said, but she too was smiling. The two women got to their feet, then each grabbed one of Lazarus’ hands and hauled him to his feet. They weaved their way through the debris, extricating themselves from the collapsed section of corridor, then Talia threw herself into the arms of Knile and Roman.
Zoe wouldn’t have called herself a friend of any of these people, but to see the tears in their eyes as they reunited touched her somewhere deep inside. It made her feel good that she and Alec had come all this way, that they’d risked their own lives to see justice done.
Maybe the world was going to hell in a handbasket, but, at least in some small way, they had done right. They had made a difference, taken the hard road when they could easily have turned their backs and walked away.
The next moment, Talia was pulling both her, Duran and then even Lazarus into the clutch, wrapping her arms around them and planting kisses on their cheeks.
“Thank you,” she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “Thank you all.”
Duran seemed embarrassed by the gesture, and Lazarus looked positively mortified to be caught in such an embrace, but she could tell that, deep down, they were pleased to share this moment.
A few seconds later, Knile pulled away. He glanced up the corridor and checked his watch.
“Group hugs are nice and all,” he said, touching Talia affectionately on the cheek, “but we’d better move it. The railcar is waiting.”
Outside, the rain had stopped.
Off in the distance, the black mass of the storm was drifting off toward the horizon. Staccato flashes of lightning continued to illuminate the landscape below, intermittently casting the lowlands in an eerie and somehow beautiful golden glow. Above, the sky had cleared, and the stars were glinting more brightly than usual, as if the rains had momentarily scrubbed the world clean of toxic residue.
This was the last view Knile would ever have of Earth, and, as it turned out, one of the better ones. It almost seemed as if the old girl were putting on a show in honour of their departure.
Or maybe I’m just getting sentimental, he thought.
They reached the ramp, and Knile moved on ahead, returning to the compartment he had occupied for the downward journey. He hit the comms.
“Tobias, two minutes,” he said.
“Nick of time, fella. We’ll be ready.”
Knile activated the doors on the other compartments, then jogged back down the ramp to where the others were waiting.
“It’s okay,” he told them. “You can come on up.”
Talia, Roman and Lazarus took a few paces forward, but Duran and Zoe stood their ground. Knile watched them awkwardly, wondering what he was going to say to them.
“I never thought I’d say this,” he said after a moment, “but there’s places for you two as well.”
Duran glanced at Zoe, and she gave him a knowing smile. “We’re not coming, Knile,” Duran said. “We’re staying here.”
Talia took a step back down the ramp. “Are you crazy? Why would you do that? This place is dying.”
“That’s all a matter of perspective,” Duran said.
“Duran, this offer isn’t going to come around again,” Knile said. “Ever. Think carefully about your decision.”
“We have.”
“Giving you a ride off-world is the only way we have to repay you for what you’ve done for us,” Talia said.
“We didn’t do it for you,” Duran said. “We did it for us.”
Knile spread his hands, nonplussed. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”
Duran smiled wryly. “You and I were never on the same page, Knile. We were always butting heads. It was only recently that I realised why. It’s because our goals were at opposite ends of the spectrum. You wanted to move on and embrace the new. I wanted to stay and fix the old.” He shrugged. “But I realised something else – that doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means we’re different. I can’t say I like you, or that I ever will.” He glanced at Talia and Roman. “But at least now I understand you. Maybe one day you’ll come to understand me as well.”
Klaxons began to sound on the railcar, and glowing orange hazards lights spun, indicating that launch was imminent. The vehicle began to power up, blasting out a jet of warm air along the ramp.
Knile stepped forward and held out his hand. “So that’s the way it is.”
Duran reached out and shook it firmly, looking him in the eye. “Hope you find what you’re looking for up there.”
“Thank you. For everything.”
Talia moved over and embraced both Duran and Zoe one more time, then they turned and hurried up the ramp.
“What’s it like going up in one of these things?” Talia said, sounding both excited and a little worried at the same time.
Knile simply smiled and guided her toward the closest passenger compartment. He watched her get settled, then gripped the door.
“See you at the top,” he said simply. He tugged on the door and it began to close. Roman and Lazarus had already taken their places, and Knile gave each the thumbs up as he closed their respective doors.
Then he settled into his own compartment.
“Tobias, we’re good to go.”
“All systems nominal. Strap in and hold on. Oh, and watch out for turbulence as you clear the stratosphere. Always a doozy.”
The door on the world closed, and Knile looked out upon the place he called home for the last time. The railcar shuddered, then began to rise, and Sunspire Mountain
began to recede beneath them.
This time he knew that he wasn’t coming back.
Duran stood watching the railcar speed toward the darkened heavens, its navigation lights becoming ever fainter. The roar that blasted across the mountaintop as it took off soon dulled to nothing more than a distant rumble, like rolling thunder across the horizon, and then it disappeared completely from view amid the background of stars.
“Any regrets?” Zoe said, finally tearing her eyes away from the sky.
Duran turned to look at her. He thought about their rollercoaster journey over the past few days, about the revelation he’d come to in Link as he’d stood at his father’s deathbed. In his mind he saw the different outcomes that he could have arrived at: one where he stood over Knile’s dead body, having claimed his revenge; the other, standing here now watching the railcar rocket into the sky.
He saw his mother and father on the day he left to join the Enforcers, their proud faces, and a kid called Jeremy Long, a boy whose life had changed the day Duran had stepped in to stand up for him when no one else would.
“No regrets,” he said. “We did the right thing. I’m certain of that.”
Zoe stepped over and slung an arm around his neck, then planted a kiss firmly on his lips.
“We made a difference,” she said. “We saw a wrong, and we made it right. That’s all I ever wanted to do, back when I was an Enforcer. Back when I was in Scimitar.”
“We’re only here because of you, Zoe.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You know that, don’t you? I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I know.” She stepped back. “But what do we do now?”
Duran looked past her, out across the mountaintop, toward the east where the sky was beginning to turn pale as morning approached.
“I don’t know what’s waiting for us out there,” he said soberly. “I don’t know if we can fix a world that’s as broken as this one. But maybe… maybe we can still make a difference out there, just like we did here. I’m not ready to concede that there’s no future on Earth.”
Sunspire (The Reach, Book 4) Page 29