The Fall of Io

by Wesley Chu

  Whatever Io was doing worked. Everything replayed vividly in Ella’s head as if she were right there experiencing them again for the very first time. By the time the scenes had finished running in her head, she was grinding her teeth as the now-familiar rage bubbled up to the surface from a place she had thought long-buried. She focused on Nabin, who was now standing before her.

  “Ella, listen please, babe,” he said, offering his hand. “I really need to talk to you. This is serious.”

  She completed the motion and the knife flew from her fingertips. Her heart really wasn’t in the throw, so the knife flew lazily and sunk into the floor right between his legs. Ella pulled out her long dagger and took two steps forward.

  No, no. Just leave. Get out before it is too late.

  “Ella?” Lee’s voice blasted in her ear. “What’s going on? You’re breathing awfully heavy. Who is that talking?”

  “I thought the place was empty?” chirped Daiki.

  The crew began to clamor in her ear again. It all just became background noise. Ella’s attention was on Nabin. Finally, she found her voice. She couldn’t quite process all her emotions. She was somehow enraged and ecstatic to see him all at the same time. “What do you want?” she hissed.

  He wants to haul you back to the Prophus.

  “The Genjix are after you. You need to come with me so we can protect you,” he replied, taking a step toward her. Ella took a step back.

  He probably has orders to take you in for raiding the safe house.

  “We know it was you who robbed the safe house. If we could determine that, then so can they.”

  See! You need to flee now.

  Ella wavered. Everybody was yelling at her. Io, the Burglar Alarms, even her conscience, and they were all telling her to do different things. She pushed all the voices out of her head and asked what was really on her mind. What really mattered to her. “Did you come looking for me because you love me?”

  There was no hesitation. “Yes.”

  By the Eternal Sea, do not fall for that, Ella.

  She took a step closer to Nabin. “Are you trying to get back together with me?”

  Slight hesitation. “Maybe. I don’t know.” He paused. “I do miss you.”

  That was good enough. It wasn’t exactly the answer she was looking for, but Nabin was stupidly truthful with her, which was often annoying. She sometimes – most of the time – preferred he tell her what she wanted to hear. She took another step forward. Sure, the two of them had technically broken up, but there was still something there. And he came looking for her. That had to mean something. Ella took a few more steps forward. She was almost at arm’s length.

  Ask him if he is under orders to find you. Ask him!

  Io seemed on the verge of panic. That was a good question. It never occurred to her that he was here for any other reason than to see her because he loved and missed her, and was really, really sorry he broke up with her, and wanted to make up and be together.

  Ask. Him.

  “Oh fine, Io.” She was absolutely convinced he came only for her, regardless of all that negativity Io was putting into her head. It took Ella a second to find her voice again. “Are you on the job?”

  The hesitation was long this time. “Yeah, Ella. I am.”

  Her heart stopped. “You’re not here for me?”

  “I am. It’s both. You’re in danger. The Prophus need to take you to a safe place.”

  Remember what I told you about how they want to control and imprison you?

  His words cut into her chest. She whispered. “Io was right.”

  “What? No. Don’t listen to that asshole.”

  They had never gotten along. A few months ago, Ella would have agreed with Nabin. Now that she was on her own again, and Io was the only one in Ella’s life who hadn’t abandoned her – even if it weren’t by choice – Nabin speaking badly of Io felt like a personal attack. Ella’s rage ticked back to boiling.

  She stomped up to him, shaking her fist. “Don’t you dare talk about my Quasing that way. Only I can. What are you even doing here? You don’t want to be with me any more, remember? Go do your stupid important Prophus thing.”

  I appreciate you coming to my defense, but I would much rather you just follow my instructions for once.

  Nabin took a step backward, just staying out of her blade range. “Can we sit and talk? In private?”

  “If you’re on the job, then we have nothing to talk about.” She bent down and picked up her knife. “I just wanted this back.” She turned to leave.

  Nabin’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. “Ella, you have to hear me out. You’re in danger. The Genjix are looking for you.”

  “You better watch what you’re doing with your hand.” Her voice quivered with rage.

  Nabin hastily let go. “There’s a price on your head.”

  “How large?” That was the first question that popped into her mind.

  “Big enough that every bounty hunter, mercenary, and probably a few governments are looking for you.”

  “It seems I’m finally moving on up in life. No thanks to you.”

  More like I am. I wonder why.

  “Why are they after me?” she asked.

  “We’re not sure,” admitted Nabin. “It has something to do with the Bio Comm Array, but we haven’t cracked it yet. In any case, you need to come with us. We need to protect you.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Who is we? Did a whole bunch of you come to kidnap me?”

  “No,” he stammered. “Look, we’re just trying to keep you safe.”

  “How would you do that?” she asked. “How would you go about protecting me?”

  “We’ll move you someplace where they can’t reach you. We’ll hide you to make sure they can never find you.”

  Ella’s eyes narrowed. “Some place like Greenland? With guards watching over me all day?”

  Nabin nodded. “Around the clock security for your protection.”

  Ella loved him, but he could be so dumb sometimes. “No thanks.”

  She sheathed the knife with a hard push into its sheath and stomped toward the exit. She was just about to leave the room when a figure appeared at the doorway, blocking her path. “Why don’t you sit down and we can talk this through, maybe starting with exactly why the Genjix are looking for you.”

  “I told you I don’t know,” she spat. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Maybe you should take a breath and think it over. Dig a little deeper.”

  “I don’t need to–” Ella squinted at the wrinkling, old man. Where had she met this fossil before? “You look familiar. Have we met?”

  “No,” said the old man, rather defensively.

  Ella furrowed her brows. “Yes we have.”

  He crossed his arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Oh no.

  “Oh no what, Io?”

  This is more serious than we thought. You may have to fight your way out of here.

  “I’m not going to beat up this grandpa. My ancestors will never let me live that down.”

  That was when it hit her. Ella’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped. “Hey, we have met! On the plane out of India! You’re Cameron’s old man! You’re Roen Tan!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Watchers

  Not only was Ella at a disadvantage with her studies due to her lack of education and poor grasp of English, she was also far behind most of her classmates when it came to the physical aspects of her training. The girl was also small of stature and strength. Her health was delicate from a lifetime of malnourishment. She lost every single sparring match when she played by the rules. She was also the worst shot with a gun I had ever seen.

  Most of her peers had at minimum some level of military or combat training. Ella learned by surviving on the streets. That did not translate well into the classroom. Lacking the physical and intellectual tools, Ella’s opp
ortunities at the Academy were rapidly diminishing. That was not even considering the most important tool of all, which she of course lacked as well.

  “What did she say?” said Josie through the earpiece. “Did she just say Roen Tan? Who is Roen… oh crap. That Roen? He’s here? Where?”

  Roen Tan, currently undercover as Makita Takeshi on an off-book mission (sanctioned by his wife, until recently the Keeper of the Prophus) to the opposite end of the world to find and protect Ella Patel, sighed. He had a pretty terrible track record when it came to maintaining his cover. This time was no exception. He closed the sliding door behind him. “I guess we can skip the introductions. Why don’t we all have a seat? I’ll grab some beers. We’ll put our feet up and all have a nice chat.”

  Ella continued to stare at him. “You look awful. What happened?”

  “It’s called getting old and retiring. Something you’ll have the pleasure of not having to deal with if you keep up the stupid stuff you’ve been pulling.”

  “What happened to all your hair?”

  “It kept falling out, so I shaved it.”

  “You don’t look very good bald. Your head is lumpy.”

  Roen pointed at a cluster of chairs. “Thanks for that. Why don’t we sit down so you can tell me more about my ugly head.”

  Ella whirled on Nabin. “This is talking in private? You bring the Prophus boss?”

  “I was never the boss,” said Roen. “I’m also retired, so I’m not anything really.”

  “I’m retired too,” she spat. “So I’m leaving. You two can have your stupid Prophus talk by yourselves.”

  For a moment, Roen considered letting her go. Nabin obviously couldn’t even get the girl to have a conversation, let alone convince her to come with them. Roen had a feeling that if he did let her go, it could be the last time they ever saw her, and he couldn’t let that happen. But what was he going to do? Kidnap her and smuggle her to Greenland? That was probably the right call, but Roen didn’t sign up for this supposed vacation to kidnap little girls. Besides, he was pretty sure Jill wouldn’t approve.

  Damn Cameron and his “Dad, I can tell you’re bored. Want to do me a favor? You’ll get to go on vacation. To Australia!” And damn Jill and her “you should go. You need to get out of the house anyway. Every time I get on a video call with you, you look like a hobo who hasn’t showered in weeks.” His wife’s assessment wasn’t exactly inaccurate.

  Roen continued to block the exit as Ella tried to push past him. “Ella, at least hear what we have to say. If you don’t owe it to Nabin, you at least owe it to Cameron.”

  She scowled. Roen could tell Io was talking up a storm to her. The girl hadn’t learned to mask her internal conversations. Still, she hadn’t tried to flee or knife him yet. The Quasing must have convinced her to at least listen to what he had to say.

  Ella shook her head. “No, I have nothing to say to any of you.” When Roen didn’t budge, she reached for her knife. “Don’t tempt me, old man.”

  Roen rolled his eyes. “What are you going to do, draw your blade? Try to cut me? Sure.” He crossed his arms to prove his point. He added, a little bitterly, “And I’m not that old.”

  Ella drew her blade. She tried to cut him.

  The girl was fast, but years of experience and dumb luck had kept most of Roen’s blood in his body. Also, her heart probably wasn’t really into eviscerating him.

  Roen backpedaled to avoid a slice to the gut. As soon as the blade cleared, he scooted back toward her and gave her a little hip check, bouncing her off balance. He grabbed her wrist and looped an arm around her neck, then spun her around into a rear naked neck choke. She yelped and squirmed, but Roen held on.

  “Now,” he continued. “The Prophus aren’t in the business of kidnapping, so I’m going to let you go, but not before you hear what we have to say. Do we have a deal?”

  “Sir,” said Nabin, approaching. “I would move my arm if I were you. Ella has a habit of–”

  Ella opened her chompers and tried to take a chunk out of his arm. Roen let out a sharp cry and loosened his grip. Another blade materialized in her hand – she had gotten quite good with them – and she slashed horizontally, narrowly missing his carotid artery. She wasn’t messing around this time. That was a killing blow.

  Roen caught her return swing and twisted the blade out of her hand. “Look, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the fun way.”

  He was about to drag her down to the ground when something semi-hard struck him in the back of the head. Roen pitched and tumbled forward. It was not a graceful landing. He missed catching his fall and ended up face-planting on the bamboo floor. He found himself sprawled with his hands and legs spread out. He rolled onto his back to retaliate against his assailant and stopped. It was a kid, barely a teenager.

  He stared at the weapon that struck him. “Did you just hit me with your tennis racket?”

  “Racquetball,” the kid snarled. He leveled the racket at Roen with conviction. “You leave Bosu alone.”

  The room became uncomfortably packed as several more kids filed in, all wielding assorted sports equipment.

  “What the hell is this?” he sputtered. “Gym class?”

  “Wait,” yelled Ella. “Stop it, you guys!”

  It was too late. Both sides appeared to have lost control of the situation. One kid, the smallest in the group, pulled out a butcher knife and charged Nabin. Nabin looked more bemused than threatened as he yanked the knife out of the boy’s hand mid-swing and then flicked the kid across the side of the head with a finger as if he were testing a melon’s ripeness.

  Roen jumped back to his feet and stared down a young man charging at him with a lead pipe.

  “Here, sir.” Nabin tossed Roen the butcher knife.

  “Thanks.” Roen gently lobbed it at the onrushing teenager, sending it flying in a high graceful spinning arc. “Catch.”

  The young man’s eyes widened at the throw. He stopped dead in his tracks and actually tried to catch it, juggling both the butcher knife and lead pipe. Roen was in his face a moment later. Distracted, he grabbed the guy’s shirt, pulled him sideways, and then yanked hard in the other direction to send him flying off his feet.

  The boy with the racket charged him. Roen waited until the last moment, then stepped to the side and stuck his foot out. The boy continued running right past him and went flying into the opposite wall.

  Roen turned to Ella. “Are these jokers with you?”

  He never got his answer as a heavy thud to the side of his head sent him crumpling to the ground. Fortunately, whatever hit him was soft, and whoever hit him didn’t hit that hard. It was still hard enough to ring his head. Roen blinked away the ache and looked up to see a girl wielding what looked like a black rubber mallet. The girl grabbed Ella by the wrist and hauled her out of the room.

  Ella yelled to her little friends, and the rest of the kids began scurrying out. Roen considered giving chase but thought better of it. There was no way he was going to beat a bunch of teenagers in a footrace. He rubbed the welt growing on the crown of his head. His lumpy head was about to get lumpier. A sigh escaped his body. Roen was getting his butt kicked a lot on this mission. In fact, he couldn’t remember taking so many beatings since he first met Tao.

  He clambered to his feet and was immediately shoved aside by that smallest kid, whom he had tripped a few seconds before. Roen teetered, lost his balance, and fell on his rump a second time. He shook his fist after them. “That was unnecessary, you damn kids! Yeah, you keep running. Get out of my…” Roen closed his eyes. He promised he would never say that phrase.

  Nabin was at his side a moment later, offering his hand. He hauled Roen to his feet. “Should we go after them, sir?”

  He considered their options and decided to test an idea. “I’m not above kidnapping.”

  Nabin gave him a look.

  Roen sighed. “Fine. As long as she’s not in danger, we can bide our
time. She needs to want to come with us. I thought you said you could talk to her.”

  “I thought so too. I think Io got in the way. She has always hated my guts.”

  Roen put on his earpiece, which had slipped off during the melee. “Are you guys tracking the nerd herd?”

  “Yes, sir,” came the chorus of replies.

  “Follow them.”

  “Which ones?” asked Hekla.

  “All of them. Definitely Ella, and the rest if you can. Find out where they live, where they hang out, and where they eat their meals. If we couldn’t catch them this time around, we’ll nab them next time.”

  “Copy that.”

  “Hey, sir,” said Pedro, his voice breaking. “Did you guys wreck the place?”

  Nabin looked around. “No, your family’s summer home is still standing.”

  Josie burst into the room a moment later. She stared Roen down and put her hands on her hips. “Makita,” she scowled. “I need to talk to you.”

  That was not a request.

  “Sure,” he said. “What can I do for you Ms Perkins?”

  “Why did that girl call you Roen Tan?”

  He shrugged. “Probably because that’s what she knew me by.”

  Josie’s face darkened. “You’re the Keeper’s husband.”

  “For now,” he quipped. “We’ll see if that remains the case after she finds out what I’ve been up to.”

  “You’re a high-profile figure. You’re literally on every Genjix’s kill-on-sight list.”

  “Flattery works every time.” Roen offered her a slight bow. “To be fair, that list is a little outdated. After I retired, they moved me to the kill-when-convenient list.”