Jobe wanted to continue playing this game of wits, but he could feel his essence draining away. ‘There’s not much time,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid I won’t be able to come with you to see Mr Nemo.’
Kal raised his hands in mock defence. ‘I don’t know anything about…’
Jobe coughed and spit blood onto his new clothes. His lungs were filling, which made breathing difficult. He wouldn’t be able to talk much longer. ‘Please listen,’ he said. ‘This will all be for nothing if you don’t let me finish.’
Kal nodded. ‘I think I understand,’ he said. ‘Go ahead.’
He talked quickly, stopping every once in a while to cough up blood.
‘Your friend,’ said Francks. ‘The scabby one. He has Bitten’s journal. Every evil deed Ignus – Crimson – ever committed is there. I leave it in your care. I know you will do the right thing. Be careful, though. Ignus is well-protected. If you go to his lair again, you will die.’
Kal opened his mouth to protest or to ask a question, but then shut it again.
Francks continued. ‘You will know what to do when the time comes. We all must play our parts. I thought mine was to find Bowdie. I now realise I was brought here to find you. I leave the fight in your hands. Bitten carried it as long and as far as he could. But now truth has its rightful champion.’
‘I’m no champion,’ said Kal. ‘I couldn’t even save myself this evening. I sent Crimson into a homicidal rage, and I practically forced him to throw you to your death. Believe me, you’re better off picking another champion.’
Jobe smiled. His time was almost up, but he felt warm, contented, complete. ‘I didn’t choose you,’ he said. ‘The Universe did. And it has its reasons. This fight needs someone like you, Kal Jerico. And we both know there’s no one else quite like you to choose.’
‘I don’t know what to say to that,’ said Kal. ‘I’ve never had much stomach for Cawdor or Redemptionists. Too preachy and holier than thou for my liking. I try to take people as they are, and not change them. But I can tell you’re different from Crimson and his ilk. Honest and decent. I would have liked to have had the chance to get to know you. I’m… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.’
‘Don’t worry about me,’ said Jobe. His left arm was numb and it felt like someone had placed a concrete block on his chest. ‘My mission is complete. Syris and I are done here. We can move on. We can have peace.’
He gazed into Kal’s eyes and his vision clouded over. ‘But you,’ he said. His voice sounded far away, as if echoing down a tunnel. ‘You won’t be at peace until you find Wotan. I understand. A man needs his faithful companion. I cannot go with you to Nemo, but I can give you two gifts that might help.’
Jobe pulled Bitten’s envelope from his pocket and held it up for Kal. ‘Take it,’ he said. ‘I have no need for it where I am going.’
Kal reached for the envelope. When he took it, Jobe grabbed him around the wrist. The clouds in his eyes swirled from white to grey to black like a sudden storm. ‘Here is your second gift.’
After a moment, Kal pulled away and blinked. ‘What the scav was that?’ he asked.
‘Information,’ said Jobe. ‘Memories. A vision of your cyber-mastiff, Wotan. Find him. Go to him. Finish your mission. Good luck.’
And then it was time to go. The blackness crept from his chest toward his head. The visions swirled and danced in his mind. His life. Bowdie’s. Crimson’s and Jerico’s. The entire tapestry. A scene in a bar hovered at the edges of his consciousness. He pushed the others away. This he wanted to see. At the end, he laughed and laughed and laughed.
He could hear Kal speaking to him from down the tunnel. ‘What’s so funny?’ he said. ‘What are you laughing at?’
‘Nothing,’ replied Francks, although he wasn’t sure if Kal could even hear him anymore. ‘You’ll find out soon enough.’
The tunnel brightened in front of Jobe Francks. He looked back at Kal once more and smiled. He then turned to his side and saw an infinite set of tunnels all running parallel to one another, but all headed for the same light at the end. He could see Syris walking down the next tunnel and knew they would meet at the end – at the hub. And it was good.
‘Kal?’
‘…’
‘Wake up, Jerico.’
Kal’s face was slapped. By the length of the fingers and the force behind the smack, he was certain Yolanda had done the slapping.
‘What?’ he asked. ‘Why are you hitting me?’ He sat beside Jobe Francks. Yolanda and Scabbs stood over him. Scabbs, at least, looked concerned.
‘You’ve been sitting there for several minutes, Kal,’ said Scabbs. ‘We were worried.’
‘The runt was worried,’ said Yolanda. ‘I just want to leave. Our friends the Goliaths are coming.’
Kal shook his head to clear away the fog. He looked down at Francks. Dead. How long? Had it all been a dream?
‘Now, Jerico, or I leave you as a peace offering to the Goliaths.’ Yolanda pulled Kal to his feet and pushed him toward the pile of rubble. ‘Up there. Maybe we can circle around and get back to the portal.’
Kal let Yolanda lead for now. He tried to sort out what happened as they climbed the hill. ‘My guns,’ he said. ‘I dropped them when I fell over the edge.’
‘They’re in your holsters, Kal.’
‘Odd,’ said Kal. ‘And where did everyone else go?’
‘The Wildcats retreated after Crimson went berserk,’ said Yolanda. ‘His craziness’s guards hustled him away after he killed Tavis. The Guilder guards lasted a while, but now we’re right back where we started, running from the scavving Goliaths.’
‘And I’ve got my laspistols?’
Scabbs slapped him this time. ‘Come on, Kal!’ he whined. ‘We need you out here with us. The Goliaths are at the bottom of the hill. We need a Kal Jerico plan to get out of this alive. There’s no one quite like you at coming up with hair-brained schemes.’
Kal smiled. ‘That’s just what he meant, wasn’t it,’ he said. ‘I’m Kal Jerico. I’m the hero.’
‘Right,’ said Yolanda sarcastically. ‘I guess that makes us sidekicks, huh?’
Kal nodded, but he wasn’t really listening. ‘I’ve got an idea,’ he said. ‘You two keep running. Turn right at the top of the hill. Don’t stop until you get to the wall of the dome. Bobo will know where to go from there.’
‘Bobo?’ said Scabbs. ‘I didn’t see Bobo come in with you.’
‘He didn’t,’ said Kal. ‘But he’s up there. He came in through the secret back door.’
‘Secret? What secret? How do you know all this, Jerico?’ asked Yolanda.
‘I don’t know how,’ said Kal. ‘I just know. Now go.’
Kal stopped at the top of the hill. The Goliaths were about halfway up and coming fast. Their long, thick legs made climbing the hill seem like running on level ground.
He grabbed his leather coat with both hands and pushed it open past his holsters. They were forty metres away. Kal blew gently on his fingertips and lowered his hands toward his guns. Thirty metres.
‘Kal,’ called Scabbs from behind him. ‘You can’t kill Goliaths with your las pistols. Come on. Run!’
‘Oh can’t I?’ said Kal.
Twenty metres. Bullets and laser blasts flew through the air, narrowly missing the stoic bounty hunter. Kal drew his guns and fired four shots in rapid succession. Not a single blast hit the Goliaths. He hadn’t even been aiming at them. Satisfied that it was enough, Kal turned and ran.
Behind him, he heard a loud crack, followed by a low rumble, and then a ground-shaking blast. Kal took a moment to glance over his shoulder and admire his handiwork. Large chunks of masonry and metal beams fell through the air as the ceiling and side wall of the dome collapsed on top of the last remnants of the Grak gang.
Kal smiled. ‘I do have a certain style,’ he said. ‘A certain unconventional way of doing things, don’t I?’
A few minutes later, he caught up with Scabbs and Yolanda, who stood n
ext to Bobo. ‘The back door is right over here, isn’t it Bobo?’ he asked.
‘You’re certain about this, Jerico?’ asked Yolanda, for about the tenth time.
Kal shushed her. ‘Yes, I’m certain,’ he whispered. ‘I see it all in my head. And don’t ask me to explain how or why. I just do. Okay? Francks said it was a gift to help me get Wotan back.’
‘You’re dog is in there,’ said Yolanda. The sarcasm was so thick he would have had trouble cutting it with his sabre.
Kal just nodded. He was tired of this discussion. He stepped out from behind the stalagmite where they hid and crept toward the cave opening. They were in a huge cavern two hour’s hike out from Down Town – the deepest, darkest settlement in the Underhive. Kal kept close to the wall of the cavern, though not for cover so much as to avoid falling into the pool of sludge that covered most of the floor.
Yolanda and Scabbs followed him after a moment. He heard a scuffle behind him and turned to see Yolanda push Scabbs into the wall to get around him. ‘And why would Nemo bring your dog all the way down to Hive Bottom?’
‘So the neighbours wouldn’t complain about his barking?’ suggested Scabbs.
‘And speaking of neighbours,’ said Yolanda. ‘Do you have any idea what kinds of things live in these caves down here? Mutants. Monsters. Things that make Goliaths look like kittens.’
Kal pointed his torch at a small niche carved into the wall ahead. ‘Screamer!’ he said. ‘Don’t get too close or you’ll set it off.’ He waded out into the sludge to avoid the proximity alarm. Two splashes behind him told Kal that the others had followed suit.
‘How did you know that was there?’ asked Yolanda.
Kal pointed at his head and kept moving forward. They zigzagged their way to the cave entrance, avoiding all the screamers. Kal switched off his torch. ‘Wait here for my signal.’ He said. ‘I don’t want them to see us coming.’
‘How will you see?’ asked Yolanda.
Kal didn’t answer. He moved into the cave with his eyes closed. If he concentrated, he could see every twist and turn in his mind. After a few minutes, he stopped and opened his eyes. Light spilled onto the floor from around the next turn. He waited, counting down from ten in his head.
When he reached zero, Kal slipped around the corner and came up behind the guard who had just turned to walk back into the lit chamber. Kal grabbed him from behind, wrapped his hand over the guard’s mouth and stuck the barrel of his laspistol into the man’s back.
‘Don’t make a sound and you’ll live. Understand?’
The guard nodded his head. Kal pulled him back around the corner and smacked him in the back of the head with the pearl handle of his laspistol. He lowered the guard to the floor and began counting again.
A few minutes later, Kal crept back to the cave entrance, switched on his torch and motioned to Yolanda and Scabbs to follow. He led them back to the edge of the lit chamber and crouched by the bodies of two guards.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Wotan is in there. There’s only two more guards and they won’t see us coming.’
‘How do you know?’ asked Yolanda.
‘Just trust me this once,’ said Kal.
He pulled out his pistols and stepped around the corner. When Yolanda came up beside him, he heard her stifle a laugh. Kal had to admit, it was pretty comical.
At the far end of the chamber sat Wotan chained to the floor. Beneath him lay one of the twin Delaque gangers employed by Nemo for grunt work. Wotan’s front paws held the twin’s leather coat to the floor on either side of his body. His haunches rested on the ganger’s groin.
The twin – Kal thought it was the one who called himself Destroy as he had a blue neckerchief around his neck – was in obvious discomfort.
Seek, the other twin, was flat up against the wall in front of Wotan. His arms alternately flapped in front of his face and groin as Wotan snapped and growled at him.
‘Get him off me. Get him off me,’ said Destroy over and over again.
‘If I move, he’ll kill me,’ said Seek. ‘Get him off yourself and help me.’
‘This is all your fault,’ said Destroy.
‘My fault?’ whined Seek. ‘You’re the one who got too close. I was just trying to help.’
‘Some help you are. Why didn’t you go get the guards?’
‘You could have yelled for them yourself. It’s not my job to get the guards. Besides, they’re gone.’
‘Gone? Where are they? Why didn’t you tell me they were gone? I’m gonna kill you when I get out of this.’
‘Not if I kill you first.’
Kal stepped into the room. ‘Need some help, boys?’
The twins looked at Kal. ‘Now look what you did.’ said Destroy from beneath Wotan. ‘You let Kal Jerico waltz right in here.’
‘I did that? I did that? Why did you have to get so close to the stupid mastiff?’
‘That’s it. I am so gonna kill you.’
Yolanda fired her laspistol into the wall behind them. ‘Would you two shut up?’ she yelled. ‘Or I’ll kill you both.’
‘Here’s what’s going to happen,’ said Kal as he moved into the middle of the room. ‘We’re going to tie you up. We’ll even knock you out if you’d like. Then, we’re going to take Wotan and leave you with the credits I owe Nemo.’
‘Credits?’ asked Yolanda. ‘You didn’t say anything about giving them credits. Where did you get credits?’
Kal ignored her. ‘Now I know you two will give this money to Nemo,’ he continued, ‘because it’s probably the only thing that will save your life once he finds out you lost Wotan.’
‘Fine,’ said Destroy. ‘Just get this crazy mastiff off of me. I can’t feel my legs anymore.’
‘Get him out of my face first,’ said Seek. ‘I’m in danger of losing my future here.’
‘Wotan!’ commanded Kal. ‘Down!’
Wotan stopped growling and snapping at Seek’s crotch and laid down on Destroy.
After he and Yolanda tied them both up, Kal reached into his pocket and pulled out the thick envelope Francks had given him. He took out a massive wad handful of credits and started counting. Less than a third of the way through the stack he stopped and put the rest back in the envelope.
He dropped the credits in between the twins. Then he got another idea, which made him laugh so loud it echoed around the cave complex for a minute. He turned to Scabbs. ‘Give me the journal,’ he said.
Scabbs looked at him blankly. ‘Bitten’s journal,’ said Kal.
Scabbs resisted. ‘A lot of people paid a huge price for this journal, Kal,’ he said. ‘People died over it. We can’t just give it to Nemo. It’s not right.’
Kal draped an arm around Scabbs’s shoulders. ‘I know you went through a lot these last few days,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine what it was like for you. But we have to do this. It’s the next best thing to giving Francks over to Nemo. Better, really. All Nemo wants is the information, so let’s give it to him. Otherwise, even with the money, he’ll still come after us. Trust me. I think this is exactly what Francks would have wanted.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Scabbs.
Kal pointed at his head again. ‘Just trust me for now, okay?’
Scabbs shrugged and pulled out the journal. Kal took it and picked up the money. He placed the credits in a pouch which he laid on top of the journal and dropped the whole package between the bound gangers.
‘We’re through now,’ he said. ‘Do you understand? The next time I see you two, I let Wotan off the leash. Make sure your boss gets this or Wotan and I will hunt you down like the rats you are.’
With that, Kal turned and strode out of the chamber into the darkness. On his way through, he made sure to pass by all of the screamers outside, setting them all off. A horrendous screaming wail reverberated through the cavern. It wouldn’t last very long, but it would certainly drive the twins into another screaming argument. Kal chuckled as he jogged into the darkness, his faithful cyber-mastiff
at his side.
The Hive City docks were a study in chaos. Hundreds of people hustled around in odd, unpredictable patterns, hauling goods to or from the transports; onto and off the docks or into the adjacent warehouses. Dock workers operated cranes, loaded crates onto skids, or just lounged on a convenient box while foremen ran around yelling and pointing and yelling some more. Large metal cartons were moved into and out of the warehouses, while men with clipboards wandered around, checking lists and getting signatures from other men walking around with their own clipboards.
Add to that the working girls and purveyors of other nefarious goods and services who made the docks their home and office, plus the guards who patrolled the area to safeguard the transportation system, and the average day at the docks began to resemble a beehive; a beehive the size of a small city.
At least that’s what Guard Creed always thought. It was fitting, too, he figured. This was a hive and the people in Hive City were little more than drones, moving through their lives with no purpose other than working for the queen – or in this case, Helmawr and the Emperor. And like drones, they got little compensation and had no prospects for a future that didn’t involve working until they died.
The drones would never even get a chance to enjoy or even see any of the wonderful goods shipped through these docks where they toiled. The goods either flew up to the Spire for the pleasure of the nobles, or into orbit to be loaded into interstellar transports that would take the hive’s goods to fascinating worlds where people weren’t forced to live in hives and work like drones.
Creed had time for such idle thoughts because he’d been posted at the far end of the docks between a broken down warehouse and a berth that was now only used for personal craft, and it was a rare event indeed when a personal craft landed in the docks. The last time had been some noble coming down from the Spire with some famous bounty hunter. Creed hadn’t been lucky enough to be on duty that day.
There had been that wild-haired, old man who had wandered through the docks a few days ago, but that had been on Juke’s watch, and everyone knew Juke was a little crazy. This post would do that to you, if you let it.
Cardinal Crimson Page 21