Lafier’s eyes widened with shock. “You are a cruel and brutal man — I don’t count ‘taking my time to kill people’ among my hobbies!”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“Listen, you two,” said Bill from the driver’s seat, his voice weary and fed up. “I hate to butt in on your delightful little chat, but do you feel like closing the door for me? The Abh’s footsy’s stuck in it!”
“Feh! I suppose I must.” And with that, Lafier correct her posture in her seat. Then she looked at Jinto’s left shoulder, her expression turning concerned for the first time. “Are you okay, Jinto?”
“It’s just a scratch,” he said, acting tough, while at the same time chagrined she didn’t ask sooner.
“It’s not just a scratch,” said Marca, also glancing at the shoulder. “Your collarbone’s popped clean off. If we don’t treat it quickly, your whole left arm will need regenerating.”
“Please,” said Jinto, scowling once again. “I don’t need to hear the details. I feel like I could faint any second.”
“You can faint. Daswani, dress it for him,” said Marca, switching seats with the big lug.
Wordlessly, Daswani stopped the bleeding and applied local anesthesia to Jinto’s shoulder, then rubbed on some regeneration stimulant. Next, he wrapped his arm in bandages and sprayed it with a hardening agent, thereby holding it in place. Jinto endured.
“I feel like you’ve got something to say,” said Undertaker. “And if I had to guess, it’d maybe be words of thanks, or maybe words of thanks, or maybe even words of thanks.”
“I thank you a million fold,” said Lafier.
“Thanks for treating my wound.” Jinto rubbed his shoulder, whose pain had dulled. “But you’re still planning to hold us hostage, aren’t you?”
“Of course we are. We still want our spaceships,” said Marca, as though it’d been foolish to ask.
“Well I’m against it.” A shudder went down Undertaker’s frame. “I don’t need any more misfortune in my life.”
It was then Jinto realized their unfavorable position. No weapons left.
“I don’t get it. Why didn’t you run?”
“We did run. But the situation changed.”
“What do you mean?”
“A while after we left the caves and Bill picked us up, there started to be radio jamming,” she explained. “Seems the soldiers at the checkpoints withdrew to the city center, too.”
“Which’d mean...”
“Just look at that,” she said, pointing out the window.
Six points of light left complex traces in the night sky as they repeatedly assembled and separated.
“Only the Abh do those kinds of meaningless maneuvers.”
“They’re not meaningless,” said Lafier. “That’s the dance of victory . A show of force to send the message that they’ve taken over the skies. That’s how you learned of the Star Forces ’ return, is it not?”
“What an obnoxious custom. Very Abh-like,” Bill remarked.
“Then the Empire ’s retaken the planet!” Jinto rejoiced.
“Not yet on the surface, they haven’t. But they’ll be touching down any moment.”
“Everybody together! All officers, get in your rides. We’re going after them!” shouted Entryua.
Though much of the mist had cleared, they had to search for their vehicles by memory and blind fumbling. Suddenly, the ground rumbled, and the mist fluctuated.
“What now!?” Entryua was getting sick of this. “Is it them ? No one else it could be, huh? All right people, hurry up, unless you’re in for another headache.”
But the sound of their disciplined march came slightly quicker than the cops could manage to depart. “Stop right there,” rang a high-handed voice. “Move and we shoot.”
“You’re talking to the police!” Entryua barked right back. “We were about to tail the suspects. Don’t get in our way!”
“We’ll shoot, police or not.” Green-brown uniforms appeared from within the fog, eyeing the convoy of cars. “I hear you have an officer of ours?”
Kyte saluted. “Military Police Lieutenant Kyte speaking. And you are?”
“Lieutenant Sleet. Where’s the Abh? Didn’t she come to this area?”
“She escaped.” Kyte knitted his brows and frowned.
“Escaped? You mean to say she got the better of this place’s police?”
“They’re useless. Nothing more than the lapdog dupes of the slave democrats. I must say, though, that you let her slip away despite your regulation equipment.”
“This is not regulation equipment. Due to needing to give chase through the caverns by foot, we had no choice but to stow all heavy weapons behind.”
“So you say, but...” Then Kyte realized that the machine translator had been left on.
Afterward, both commissioned officers turned off their translation devices, so he couldn’t understand the conversation from there on out. Of course, he had no interest in their game of blame-shifting anyway. That said, he couldn’t shake his ominous feeling... which turned into reality in short order.
“Inspector,” said Kyte, flashing a superficial smile, “we must chase and catch the Abh.”
“We were about to until they stopped us!”
“No, WE will be chasing them. And commandeering your cars to do it.”
“You’ll WHAT!?”
“Our proud army has no means of transport,” added Sleet. “That is why we’re in need of you folk’s vehicles. We’ll take only the drivers among you, and have the rest stay here.”
“And we don’t get a say in this? By what authority do you—”
“By this authority.” Sleet pressed a handgun to the tip of Entryua’s nose. “We have no time. Make it snappy.”
“You tell him!” Kyte was overjoyed by this turnabout. “Don’t worry, we’ll take you, too, Inspector. You can give us directions. Oh, and I’d like to have you hand me my weapon back, while we’re at it.”
“But how’d you know we were going to be there?” wondered Jinto.
“The chances were fifty-fifty,” shrugged Min. “But it would have been tougher to find you if you ended up exiting through the main cave system. Too many possible exits. That’s why we put up a net for you on the Dream Park side. We knew we were right on the money when they started evacuating people from the park, and from there we could choose the perfect time to strike.”
“Would’ve loved it if you kidnapped us before I got shot.”
“Well aren’t we the little prince,” said Undertaker disgustedly. “I’ll have you know we tread on some damn dangerous ground ourselves.”
“Never mind that, there’s something we’d like to ask the little Abh lady.” Marca placed a hand on her forehead.
“What?” Lafier looked away from the glorious dance of victory unfolding in the night sky to face her.
“Earlier, before we entered the caves. I saw your ear. And it’s been bugging me ever since, but it wasn’t the right time to ask.”
Jinto’s heart raced.
“It only came back to mind after we’d gotten separated. I can be a big ditz sometimes. But I still can’t believe it. I just can’t.”
“What’s the question?” Lafier egged her on.
“Here goes: Are the Abliar ears allowed outside the imperial family ?”
“They are not,” she replied with clarity.
“I thought so. Then may I ask you your name, Honorable Fïac ?”
“I am Ablïarsec Néïc-Dubreuscr Bœrh Parhynr Lamhirh .”
A solemn pall of silence.
The militants of the Clasbule Anti-imperial Front were too busy processing this fresh revelation to make a sound. It was Jinto who broke the silence, concluding that now that Lafier’s social status had come to light, there would be no point keeping his own hidden.
“As for me...”
“Nobody asked for your name, imperial citizen ,” Bill butted in.
“All right then.” Jinto clamme
d up. On second thought, while it was true that keeping it hidden would be pointless, he realized revealing it would be just as much so.
“I did think it was strange,” said Min. “I looked into it, and the Marquessate of Sfagnoff has two ïarlymec (noble princesses); the oldest of them is eight years old.”
“Oh, things’re strange, that’s for damn sure,” griped Undertaker. “The hell’s a royal princess of the Empire doing in a place like this!?”
“Did you hear that, Jinto?” Lafier’s eyes sparkled. “Even terrestrial citizens know the difference between an imperial princess and a royal princess .”
“Hold a grudge much? You’re just that type, I guess. It’s not like I meant anything by it, so whatever.”
“‘Whatever’ is right; just answer the question,” Undertaker grumbled.
“We were aboard a certain patrol ship ,” said Jinto, taking it on himself to explain. “That patrol ship got attacked. I wasn’t a starpilot , so...”
“Must’ve been an NCC ,” said Bill.
“Nope, not an NCC , either. I was just hitching a ride.”
“Hitching a ride?” Marca cocked her head. “You can hitch a ride on a patrol ship ?”
“I can. Just so happened to be of noble rank ,” he said nonchalantly. “And as I’m not a soldier , I was told to flee from the field of battle. But I can’t work a connecting vessel ’s controls, so Lafier was assigned to me. Aboard the patrol ship , she was just another trainee starpilot , you see.”
“Hold on,” said Marca, confused. “You’re a noble , too?”
“Yep. Least, that’s what I ended up becoming.”
Bill whistled. “You really don’t look like one.”
“I get that all the time,” he quipped. “Wonder why.”
“Lots of questions today,” said Marca. “But let’s narrow question time down to what I’m more immediately interested in. Our hostages are a member of the Imperials and a noble . Plus, I’m fairly sure ‘Néïc-Dubreuscr’ is a surname associated with the monarchy to which the Empress belonged. Am I off the mark?”
“I am Her Majesty the Empress ’s granddaughter, and Jinto is the noble prince of a countdom ,” said Lafier. “We are not, however, your hostages.”
“I assure you, you are,” she said flatly. “How could we possibly let such valuable hostages go? Forget about exchanging you for spaceships; we might even be able to come by Min’s ultimate dream — independence.”
“I am grateful to all of you,” said Lafier. “As such, I must tell you the truth. Misfortune has dogged all who have attempted to extort the Empire to the ends of their days. Referring, of course, to those few who survived to see another day.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Yet another shudder ran down Undertaker. “I’m miserable enough as it is.”
The windows gleamed. The peak of the mountain that towered over the horizon was brightly aglow. Lightning whipped the peak from the heavens above, sending rays of light out into a crazed dance each time.
“Must be the Abhs’ above-surface assault...” muttered Min.
As though any one of them didn’t already know.
“What could they be attacking, in a place like that?” Jinto wondered aloud, spellbound by the sheer spectacle.
At last, the rumble of thunder reached them.
Something dawned on Marca. “Bill, is the jamming still in effect?”
White noise permeated the car.
“Still no good,” said Bill, shaking his head.
“I see. And I thought for sure they were attacking the radio stations.”
“No, you’re probably right. There used to be a really strong signal source until a bit back, but now it’s gone. Looks like they paid the wider-area station a visit.”
“Any other places?”
“Dunno. Weak radio waves are coming in from all over the place. No clue how many sources.”
“All likely the work of daimbusec (EM wavebugs),” Lafier conjectured. “The Star Forces possess similar devices.”
“EM wavebugs ? Bugs that generate EM waves?” said Min, curious.
“They’re self-propagating nanomachines, and they’re a pain to exterminate.”
“Now I know. By the way, I wonder if the Abh will attack the capital?”
“I don’t think they will.”
“You don’t ‘think’?” Min had been expecting a more concrete reply.
“Full-scale land war is the endgame stage for the Star Forces . Before reaching that stage, they generally destroy means of communication and transport, or might send in the byrec üacér (aerial fleet). I doubt they’d attack the capital so suddenly.”
“Where do you plan to imprison us?” Jinto asked, apprehensive. They could very well be exposed to Star Forces fire depending on the area.
“We plan on using Undertaker’s place. You yourself must be well aware—”
“I told you, no way in hell,” Undertaker protested.
“Then we’ll have to make it where Undertaker works.”
“Why’s it always me!?”
“Where else could we? Besides, you want to go tell outside cells about a get this juicy?”
“I say Min’s holiday home’d be way better.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Think about it, they’d never suspect we’d choose to go back right after what happened...”
“It’s just too much to hope for.” And with that, Marca shot down the idea. “It’s settled, Bill. We’re headed for the funeral hall.”
“I think for the time being, we’d maybe better focus on giving this place the slip,” urged Bill. “It’s the heat. They’re on our tails.”
“Eh cohn! Eh cohn! ” barked Sleet.
After the large curves in the road drivers inevitably encountered upon leaving Guzonh Dream Park, the way to the streets of Guzonh-proper continued dead straight. Entering that unbending stretch, the hovercars zipping in the distance would then come into view.
“Do you not have vehicle-equipped weaponry?” asked Kyte.
“No, of course not.” Entryua folded his arms and pressed a foot against the seat in front. “No need. The crime’s not that serious ‘round these parts.”
“That’s a shame.” Kyte pushed the gun he’d regained to Entryua’s head. “In any case, I do believe you ought to adjust your posture, Inspector. You’re our prisoner.”
“Is that right,” he replied, cocking an eyebrow. “I thought you hired me to give directions.”
“DON’T DEFY US!” Kyte shouted in his face. “Just do as we say, you mental slave.”
Entryua concluded that open opposition was inadvisable. After all, he was dealing with an unstable child. If he was stupid enough to persist in stubbornness, then theirs would amount to no more than a spat between schoolboys. Only in this playground quarrel, one of the kids held a lethal weapon.
“As you wish, master.” Entryua dropped the foot.
“Eh brik !” Sleet commanded.
At that cue, the occupation soldiers leaned out the windows and started firing.
“Those aren’t police! The police don’t pack that kind of weaponry!”
Incessantly, the bullets pelted. With explosive power despite their small caliber, the crusher-bullets gouged holes all over the shining roadway. Yet none reached their car. So far, the bullets were only hitting spaces of road that they’d already passed.
“Shouldn’t we, I dunno, go off road or something!?” screamed Undertaker.
“There’d be no point,” said Min calmly. “They must have detectors that allow them to take aim. Going off road would only hurt, by causing us to decelerate.”
“But there’s still that radio jamming!”
“You know nothing. Communications and detectors work over different bandwidths.”
“‘Fraid he’s right,” said Bill, who picked up speed. “Don’t worry, Undertaker. I removed all of the safety mechanisms for a time like this.”
“But driving straight ahead’s basically ASKING th
em to snipe us off the road!”
“Aerodynamically speaking, we should be too far away for them to ever hit us,” said Min, as composed as ever. “I don’t know what their guns are capable of, but judging by the fact that we haven’t gotten hit yet, I don’t think I’m mistaken. In fact, the bullets haven’t even reached that close to us.”
“I’m praying you’re not mistaken,” said Marca, who had her hands clasped in front of her chest.
“Have you got anything to add, Lafier? You know, as an expert in war?” said Jinto.
“I’m not an expert on war in terrestrial worlds .” Lafier seemed wounded for some reason. “Regardless, I suggest you prepare your phasers . At this distance, the damping is not enough.”
“Do you have anything, Min?” asked Marca.
“I do. Should be able to make use of the smokescreen rounds. Former Republic of Camintair military issue, K211 model. It’s made out to have the best EM wave absorption rate in cosmic history.”
“Then why didn’t you pull ‘em out sooner!?” Undertaker blasted.
“Because they took a great deal of effort to acquire,” said Min.
“Now’s the time, if you don’t mind,” Marca ordered.
Min reluctantly drew the satchel closer, retrieved what looked like a can, and tossed it out the window. “I might as well throw these in for good measure.” Min grabbed from the satchel ten-odd disks, each around three dagh in diameter, and scattered them over the road.
Bill looked back from the driver’s seat. “What’re those?”
“Sensor mines. They’re designed with killing people in mind, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t work against cars.”
“Holy hell, where the good goddamn did you get this stuff!? You’re nuts for weapons, nuts!”
“Oh, those I made myself. Already tested them, too. They may seem small, but they’re high-performance, and with extremely low incidence of mechanical error,” he boasted. “But never mind that. Bill, can you shake them off?”
“Leave it to me. This baby’s the fastest ground-crawler in Clasbule. And we’ve got a lead.”
“Won’t this thing go any faster!?” Sleet shouted at the officer driving.
“No can do,” said Entryua, having the back of his cowering subordinate. “This is a command car. It’s not built to be able to catch up to a speeding car. That’s why we send the patrol cars first.”
The Return to Strange Skies (JNC Edition) Page 12