“They’re done, then?” Webb said.
August nodded gravely. “It took a long time. But we’ve run out the entire rats’ nest of them. With all that gunfire flying about we were bloody lucky we only lost a gatehouse.”
“I’m sorry, August,” Webb said, making himself look the older man in the eye. “We’ve really messed things up, I know. But…we had to do this. And we couldn’t have told you. You’d’ve stopped us.”
August frowned down the street to where Ariel had gone. “So you were after that blade? Simone reckons so. She remembered something you told her years ago, about your scars. Then when everything kicked off…she reckons you were after him the whole time.”
“She was always a smart cookie,” Webb said.
“Well I bloody hope it was worth it,” August said. “Your friend didn’t look too good.”
“No, he didn’t,” Webb said, rubbing his mouth. He took a breath and straightened. “I guess I better get going.”
“I would,” Simone said as she joined them. “You’ve caused us quite enough hassle for one lifetime.”
“We didn’t lie about spying on your yards for the Service, though,” Webb said, waggling his finger. “Shame on you, Simone, for thinking so little of me.”
“You watch it, lad,” Simone said. “There’s dozens of people here with fingers itching for your neck and we’re the only ones stopping them.”
“You wouldn’t let anything happen to me,” Webb managed a grin. “You like me too much.”
“Get your ass out of here, boy,” August growled, shoving at his shoulder. “Or I’ll kick it myself.”
Webb gave a nod, felt his grin melt into something warmer. “Thank you, both of you. I’m glad I got a chance to say goodbye this time.”
“Goodbye, Ezekiel,” Simone said, patting him on the shoulder. “Now go. Go quick, if you know what’s good for you.”
Webb threw them a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am. Look after yourselves, ok?”
“And you,” August said. “Watch your back, ok?”
Webb smiled for them again and then turned to hurry away. He jogged down the street, aware of all the heavy glances the remaining workers sent his way. He found himself searching the faces for Jazz’s, but she was nowhere to be seen.
He told himself that was for the best.
There was an Enforcer waiting for him at the corner and he fell into step next to him without a word. They hurried to the docks. Webb kept his mind reigned in and just thought about getting Hugo to Rami.
He stumbled once when he glanced into the darkness between two buildings and saw a tall figure standing there. The figure was shrouded in darkness but he could feel the eyes on him. There was a suggestion of blood red hair and light glinting off a naked blade. But he blinked and the vision was gone. He told himself he’d imagined her, but the chill the sight had set in his flesh lingered.
“What now?” The Enforcer said as he stopped.
“Nothing,” Webb said and allowed himself to be turned down another street. The docks lay ahead, loaders and lifters visible over the buildings and walls. There were yet more people gathered at the gates, but they just stood and watched as Webb was escorted through. The dock workers paused in their work to watch him pass. The gazes here too were a mix of curious, scornful or angry.
Webb sped up his pace.
He could see the wide doorway ahead and the sector’s docks beyond. He sped up even more as he caught sight of a Service-class transport navigating through the dock’s vacuum shield and into one of the bigger berths. He could see Dana commanding people who were lifting the prone Hugo onto a gurney and the Enforcers and dock workers were rushing about to guide Rami’s ship in.
It was only as Webb reached the gate he noticed a figure leaning against a customs shed, cap low on his face and a broad smile almost hidden in a white beard. Webb slowed then stopped.
“I’ll be right there,” he said to his Enforcer’s questioning glance and hurried over to the man. “You shouldn’t be here,” Webb said as Mac straightened. “We’re only alive by the skin of our teeth. If anyone realises -”
“Relax, lad,” Mac said clapping him on the shoulder. “I can take care of myself. Heard about everything and thought I’d be able to catch you here. Just wanted the chance to say a proper goodbye.”
Webb rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor. “This is it then, I guess?”
Mac sighed and lowered his head, face obscured by the peak of his cap. “Well we never say never, do we? But I’m going to have to disappear and disappear good.”
Webb nodded, wondering at the feeling of something slumping inside him.
“Maybe I’ll try Mars after all,” Mac said. “Sounds like that might shape up pretty nice. Reckon I could make myself a life out there. And it’s about as far as from the Service Headquarters as you can get.”
“I’d say.” Webb shifted on his feet, heard Dana calling and looked up and waved to her. “Look, Mac…” he said, turning back to the older man.
“Don’t say anything, lad,” the older man said. “You don’t have to. You owe me nothing and I owe you more than I can ever repay. So let’s just part on that and do the best we can, hey?”
“This has helped,” Webb said waving towards the motionless Ariel surrounded by Enforcers as the Service ship started lowering ramps.
“You don’t have to tell me how important these things can be,” Mac said with a sad smile.
Webb felt his chest tighten and nodded. Mac bobbed his head in reply and patted him on the cheek. “You’re a good lad. Look after yourself.”
“I will if you will,” Webb countered.
Mac chuckled. “Deal. See you around, son.”
Then he turned and strode back across the dock, head down and coat swirling around him. He disappeared in the crowd at the gate and Webb took a long time to get himself together.
It was Dana calling his name again that brought him back. He turned and ran across the dock as Hugo’s gurney was being wheeled aboard the Service ship. Rami stood at the top of the ramp, issuing orders. He felt a catch in his throat at the sight of her. She noticed him, visibly hesitated then smiled and came down the ramp.
“No word for years and then this,” she said, looking him and Dana over. “You both look like you’ve been through hell.”
“Is Hugo ok?” Webb asked.
Rami’s face fell. “I don’t know. What happened to him?”
“It’s a long story,” Webb said.
“Right, well you can tell me on the way back to Headquarters.”
“We can’t go with you, Anita,” Dana started. “I’ve got the Phoenix here. I promised Marilyn I’d bring her back.”
Rami smiled again, warmer than ever and put a hand on Dana’s shoulder. “She can come and get it herself, Dana. It may be a few more weeks before they reinstate her pilot’s license, but I’m sure she’ll be wanting to visit as soon as they do and see what a mess you’ve made of her colony.”
Dana blinked. “Marilyn…is she?”
Rami’s smile widened. “She’s getting there, at last. Doing much better.”
“How?” Dana looked like Webb had never seen her before, hope, relief and exhaustion making her eyes glimmer.
Rami shrugged one shoulder. “When the commodore stopped visiting, she somehow knew why. That thought led on to more. In her own words, she pulled herself back together so she had the strength to ‘tear his head off’.”
Dana pressed her lips together, eyes shining and all she could do was nod. “Good,” she managed. “That’s…good.”
“Come on then,” Rami said, nodding towards the ramp. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“Hugo’s going to kill us, isn’t he?” Webb murmured to Dana as they both trudged up the ramp.
Dana didn’t answer. She’d paused at the top of the ramp to look out over the docking bay. Webb followed her gaze as it swept over the collection of ramshackle ships and work-worn Havenites watching the remaini
ng Servicemen file aboard with suspicious looks.
“I’m glad I’m never coming back,” she said, softly, like she was thinking out loud. “But I’m glad I came.”
Webb couldn’t think of a reply to that but it didn’t look like Dana was after one. She gave him a half-smile then drifted onto the ship like someone in a dream. Webb took one moment to type a message to Jazz into his wrist panel:
Thanks for letting me borrow Nod. She’s in Sector 4 docking bay with a full tank of gas. Take care of yourself.
He stared at it for a minute, then pressed send and followed Dana in as the ramp started to rise.
*
Webb woke from a sleep deeper than any he remembered having for months. The fuzziness in his head from the drugs Rami had insisted on was pleasant and kept pain of her new stitches at bay.
He winced and got up on one elbow, looking across to the other medbay bunk. Hugo was motionless and pale, even against the pristine white sheets. He somehow looked smaller. His closed eyes looked sunken and cheeks hollow. The sight was enough to chase all good feeling from him like smoke in the wind.
He got up and pulled on the clean clothes he found at the end of his bunk, then spent a couple of minutes cracking the code on the drug lock-up and filling a syringe with the first vial he found. Hugo’s raspy breathing in his oxygen mask echoed in the confined space. Webb gave his unconscious friend one more glance then padded out the medbay.
Some level of him registered that the Assurance was a beautiful vessel. It purred around him as he navigated the passages with top-level displays and walkways shining-new and well-maintained. The few Servicemen he passed gave him wary glances but slid by, otherwise uninterested.
He found the brig without too much trouble. There were three cells. Webb glanced at the cameras over each door and knew he wouldn’t have long. He dredged up what he remembered of Rami’s favourite code patterns and opened the door of the last cell.
Ariel was sitting bolt upright on the plastic bunk. He was still in his filthy suit but he’d straightened his tie and smoothed his hair - blood, dirt and all - back behind his ears. He looked up as Webb entered, eyes black and empty. Webb pulled the syringe out of his pocket and stood with it in one hand, staring back at the blade with his heart clamouring against his ribs.
Not breaking the eye contact, Ariel reached up, loosened his tie, undid the top button of his shirt and folded back his collar, lifting his chin to expose his neck.
Webb felt his limbs start to tremble. One minute bled into another and still he didn’t move. He felt a scalpel lining fire down his ribs and saw a white face smiling above him. Ariel blinked once and it broke the spell and he stepped forward, grabbed the blade by his hair and pulled his head back. He pressed the needle to the skin.
“Don’t be tiresome,” Ariel sighed when Webb didn’t move. “Just get it over with.”
Webb tightened his grip in the Havenite’s hair and the man winced, then he stepped away, bitterness rising in waves up his throat. The blade put his head on one side and gave him a sardonic look.
“An attack of conscience? Really?”
“No,” Webb managed. “I just think this is too good for you.” He pocketed the needle again.
“I’m not going to talk,” Ariel said smoothly. “Far neater and less troublesome if it all just ended here.”
Webb heard booted footsteps somewhere outside the cell.
“You’ll talk,” Webb said, just as the sound of the lock controls and someone cursing his name came through the door. “You’ll talk and they’ll destroy you. And I’ll be there to watch.”
Rami stormed in and hustled him out. He managed to throw one grim smile at the blade before the hatch hissed shut again between them.
XVIII
There was pain, somewhere. A lot of it. And something…not right. He was aware of all this on some level he could ignore, if it weren’t for an itch that was forming. Once he was aware of the itch, it was like an anchor stopping him from sliding back into oblivion.
Awareness started to snake back through his mind, spreading like spilled fuel and gaining colour. Under the grey fog of drugs was sucking exhaustion, aching across his shoulders and a fierce ache in his chest. And the itch. The itch was becoming unbearable.
Hugo opened his eyes. They were crusty and the light felt like it was scouring channels through his brain. He tried to curse but his throat was dry and there was something hard in his mouth. He took a deep breath and it rasped and rattled. He took another, more carefully and became aware of the mask over his face, the tube in his throat and the stiff coolness of hospital sheets over his body.
He blinked again and brought a white ceiling into focus. Machines bleeped nearby and the window on his right looked out on a familiar cityscape. He tried to remember why he was here but the effort of thinking exhausted him further and he gave up.
“Kaleb?”
He frowned. It was a nice voice, one that made the uncomfortable throbbing in his chest skip about. There were some shifting noises, rustling fabric and someone scraping chair legs across tiles. The voice came again, closer, saying his name softly.
He turned his head and blinked. He could see yellow hair and a smile that lit fires along his veins.
“Kaleb,” she said again, as if she couldn’t believe he was there. Brightness pooled in the corners of her green eyes. She reached out cool hands and pressed them against the burning skin of his chest. “Can you hear me? Do you know me?”
He tried to say her name, he wanted to, so badly, but the tube stopped him. He felt wetness on his cheeks.
“It’s ok, love,” Harvey said, shuffling still closer and pressing those wonderfully cool hands against the skin of his face, neck and shoulders, like she couldn’t get enough of touching him. “Don’t speak. I’m here, love. I’m here and you’re ok.”
He managed a nod, unable to stop the tears trickling down his temples into his ears. They tickled. He lifted an arm made of lead. His fingers were stiff and all he managed was to brush the tips through the ends of her curls before it dropped.
Harvey’s smile widened, though her eyes were missing something and were set in grey circles. “That’s right, love. It’s me.”
Hugo lifted the arm again and padded at the mask, moaning in his throat.
Harvey glanced behind her, bit her lip then bent over and gently removed the mask. “Rami’s going to skin me for this, I hope you know,” she said.
Hugo gagged and coughed as the tube slipped from his throat. His mouth, jaw and throat were raw but it felt so much better. He swallowed a couple more times then croaked: “You’re ok?”
Harvey laughed. A tear escaped and fell down her face.
“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that? Yes, I’m ok. Or I will be, now.” She brushed his hair out his face and bent and kissed him on the forehead. “You now need to get better and quick, mister, because I owe you the butt-kicking of a lifetime.”
Hugo managed a smile. “It’s going to be different now,” he croaked. “I promise. I promise I won’t leave you again.”
Tears shone in her eyes. She put a hand on his face. “I know you won’t, my love. I won’t let you.”
His smile broadened but then grimaced and closed his eyes. Waves of heat were riding through him. He tried to rub at his chest but Harvey’s gentle fingers pulled his hands away. “Not yet, love.”
“What’s happened to me?” he croaked.
“I’ll explain everything real soon,” she said, patting his hand. He tried to open his eyes again but they didn’t seem to want to obey. “Just rest now. Sleep.”
“I…”
“Kaleb,” Harvey’s tone got firmer. “I said later. Just sleep now, ok?”
“Can you…” Hugo coughed and tried again. “My foot. Itches.”
He drifted back away to the sound of her chuckling and the feel of her gentle hands rubbing at his feet.
*
The next time he drifted awake, everything was clearer. His musc
les obeyed him more and he was able to shift about on the sheets, though it made fire dance through his chest. There were voices nearby and he managed to open his eyes and stay awake on the second try and keep Giles and Rami in focus.
“Kale,” Giles cut off what he was saying and came forward. “How are you feeling?”
“Shit,” Hugo croaked.
Rami pressed her lips together in a way that suggested she wasn’t saying what she was thinking, but Giles just let out a low laugh.
“That’s not surprising. You don’t look all that great either, truth be told. But Anita seems hopeful and that’s more hopeful than most things.”
“Marilyn?” Hugo croaked, trying to sit up.
“Not so fast, Commodore,” Rami came forward to gently push him back down. “There’s a long road to go yet. You need to take it easy.”
“Where’s Marilyn?” Hugo said again, fear building.
“She’s ok,” Giles said. “She’s gone home to rest.”
“It wasn’t a dream?” Hugo felt his eyes start to prickle again.
“Here,” Rami said. She pressed a control to raise the bed and him into a sitting position and pressed a straw between his lips. “Don’t gulp, just sip.”
All he could do was sip but the water felt better than anything he’d ever tasted and eased his sore throat and mouth.
“No, it wasn’t a dream,” Rami continued. “You’ll both be back to throwing things at each other in the Eclipse control room before you know it.”
“Thank you,” Hugo said, with a catch in his throat.
“Just doing my job, sir,” Rami said.
“I think it’s only fair to warn you,” Giles said, frowning at his wrist panel. “Mother’s on her way.”
Hugo felt his heart sink. “Can someone tell me what’s happened? Where’s Dana? Where’s Webb?”
“Never mind about Webb,” Dana’s said as she came through the door. “Or Mother either. I’m right after Harvey for kicking your ass, Kale. Mother can just get in line.”
Haven (The Orbit Series Book 2) Page 34