Landfall (The Reach, Book 2)

by Mark R. Healy

  Knile, Talia thought. Is this about him?

  Capper waited for her to respond, but when she said nothing, he continued on.

  “Crumb said the two of you made your way over to Grove and then you went inside. Is that true?”

  Talia nodded. “Yes, it’s true.”

  “What were you doing there?”

  Were these guys hunting Knile? That must be it. Knile had racked up quite a tally of enemies over the years, and now they were trying to find him to settle the score. Why else would they have any interest in her?

  “He’s gone. The man you’re looking for is gone. He already escaped off-world.”

  Capper frowned and gave a little wiggle of his shoulders as he loosened his neck, struggling to keep his patience in check. Those thin lips pressed together again.

  “You’re not doing as I asked, Talia. Answer my question.”

  “We were going to see an old friend–”

  Capper’s hand lashed out and smacked across Talia’s cheek, causing her head to jolt backward painfully. Her vision swam for a moment, and she bit her lip to stifle a cry of pain.

  “This is not going to end well for you, Talia,” Capper said quietly. “Not the way you’re headed.”

  “What do you want to know, then?” she gasped.

  Capper leaned in close. “What were you doing in Grove?”

  She thought of Knile’s return, how she’d helped him get inside to visit Giroux.

  “Visiting an old friend. That’s all.”

  Capper’s eyes widened, incensed, and he lifted a hand as if he were about to strike her again, but then he seemed to think better of it. He straightened abruptly and began to walk back toward the bench with slow, deliberate steps.

  “I didn’t want to do this to you, Talia, but you’re leaving me no choice.” He began to rummage in the toolkit and brought out a pair of pliers that were stained with a dark fluid.

  Possibly grease, Talia thought. Or possibly something more sinister.

  “It’s the truth,” Talia said quickly. “I know people in Grove. I know Giroux.”

  Capper turned and began to walk back toward her.

  “How?”

  “We go back a long way. I used to run errands for him, things like that–”

  “You’re a bad liar, Talia,” Capper said menacingly, lifting the pliers.

  “No, it’s the truth!” she practically screamed at him. “I swear!”

  “Not good enough.” Capper extended the pliers toward her face.

  “I’m his whore, okay?” she lied. Capper stopped with the pliers poised and waited. “I’m Giroux’s whore. Is that what you wanted to know?”

  Capper digested this information thoughtfully, half turning back to Crumb to gauge his reaction.

  “I didn’t know she was no whore, Cap,” Crumb said. “Always thought she was too upmarket for that kinda business. But it make sense. Give her a look.”

  Capper turned back to Talia and ran his eyes along her slender form, pausing at the pulsing mound of her breasts as she breathed in and out rapidly.

  “His whore, is it?” Capper said, still mulling over the revelation.

  “Yeah. It’s a secret arrangement. He’s my only client.”

  Capper tapped his lip. “He pays you that well?”

  “Sure. He owns Grove. He’s loaded.”

  Capper nodded, finally swallowing the lie. “Of course.”

  Talia’s eyes darted toward the door. “Is that all you wanted to know?”

  “No, Talia, that’s just the beginning.”

  She swallowed involuntarily. “What else?”

  “We need to get into Grove. You’re going to help us.”

  Talia frowned. “Is that what this is about? You’re just trying to get into Grove?”

  “There’s a fortune in there,” Crumb said over Capper’s shoulder. “If we could steal some of Giroux’s loot, or even some of those teeny little plants and grow ’em ourselves, we’d be rich.”

  Except they’d probably die within days of you bringing them out of the habitat, you idiot, Talia thought, but she held her tongue.

  “Not to mention the creds that bastard must have,” Crumb said. “If we could get a slice of that, we’d be set for life.”

  “You kidnapped me so you could get into Grove?” she repeated, dumbfounded.

  “I want to know how you did it,” Capper said. “I want to know how you got inside. How did you make it through the security?”

  “I have ID.”

  A look of disappointment fell across Capper’s features, and then he reached out suddenly and forced her mouth open. Talia screamed and tried to thrash her head, but Capper’s grip was firm. She felt the pliers clamp around one of her upper incisors.

  “Stop,” Capper said calmly, and Talia went rigid, breathing hard. “I’ve lost patience with you, Talia. You think I’m an idiot but I’m not. Now you’re out of chances. Do you understand?”

  She nodded, her wild eyes staring up at him.

  “Crumb was watching you. He says they didn’t scan you or the man you were with for ID. So how did you get in without it?”

  Talia worked her mouth as she tried to talk, and in response Capper took the pliers out and held them just above her face as a gentle reminder of his intentions.

  Hildi got Knile and me through the entrance, she thought. But they’re not going to accept that as an answer either, are they?

  “We’re not leaving here until we get what we want,” Capper said. “Even if I have to pull every tooth out of your skull, Talia.”

  Talia blinked. We’re not leaving here until we get what we want…

  That was it.

  Capper’s words had stirred an idea within her, and finally a plan began to form in her mind. She knew what she had to do. She had to tell them what they wanted to hear.

  “Okay, we didn’t have ID,” she said. “I was let in because I’m a regular. The man I was with got in by using a password.”

  Capper arched an eyebrow and drew back the pliers.

  “See, I knew it,” Crumb said, edging forward eagerly. “I knew there’d be somethin’ such.”

  “Who can use this password?” Capper said.

  “Anyone. As long as you have the password, you can get in. It’s for visitors that Giroux wants to keep under the radar.”

  “And the guards won’t question it?”

  Talia shook her head. “No. They’ll let you through.”

  “What is it?” Crumb said. “What’s the password?”

  Talia hesitated for a moment. “Pumpkin seed.”

  “Pumpkin seed?” Capper said, adopting that thoughtful look again.

  “Well, that’s two words, ain’t it?” Crumb said. “Shouldn’t it be passwords if they–”

  “Shut up,” Capper said sharply, and the other man fell silent. Capper looked pointedly down at Talia. “Is that all?”

  She was about to nod, then thought better of it.

  Wait. Use more details. Convince them.

  “There’s two guards at the entrance. You need to speak to the one on the left. He’s the only one who’ll accept the password. That’s how they know you didn’t just steal it.”

  Capper nodded. “Clever. What else? Will they stop us if we try to take anything out of the habitat?”

  “Just use the password again. That’s how they know you’ve got clearance from Giroux. He does under-the-table deals all the time. The guards are used to it.”

  “Good.”

  “And you should also know that they change the password every four days,” Talia said, surprising herself with the amount of bullshit that was spilling from her mouth. “The one I gave you will work today, but it’ll expire tomorrow. You’ll need an update if you want to go back again.”

  “Can you get that for us?”

  “Yes, I could get that, as long as you let me go unharmed.”

  Capper worked his jaw as he considered this, and Crumb was so filled with excitement that he seemed
on the verge of humping the other man’s leg.

  “We’re gonna be rich, Cap!” he hissed under his breath.

  “Not so fast,” Capper said, holding up his palm. Crumb slunk backward sheepishly. “First we have to make sure that this is the real deal. I’m not going to start celebrating until we’re sure that the plan works.”

  “Sure, Cap,” Crumb said, bobbing his head.

  Capper walked back to the bench and replaced the pliers, then began to pull his gloves back on.

  “Crumb, you and I will go to Grove to see if the password gets us through,” Capper said, wiggling his fingers into the glove on his right hand. “Between us we should be able to carry out some valuables, enough to get us started.”

  “Our own garden?” Crumb said.

  “That’s the plan. We’ll talk to Felicia, she used to work there. She can help us get the plants established in our own plot.” He returned his gaze to Talia’s face. “If all is well, we’ll come back here and negotiate our arrangements going forward.”

  Talia nodded. “Yeah. That sounds all right.”

  “Winny, keep an eye on her,” Capper instructed as he headed toward the door. “We’ll be back soon.”

  The young man nodded, saying nothing, and Crumb gave him a companionable clap on the shoulder as he went past. Then the two of them disappeared down the corridor, and Winny was left alone with Talia as the sound of their boots on the concrete began to recede.

  Talia took a deep breath.

  She had maybe an hour before Capper and Crumb returned from Grove. When they arrived, they wouldn’t be happy. They would know that everything she had told them was a lie.

  Within that hour, she had to get the hell out of there, because there would be no escaping the pliers – or whatever else Capper had stashed in that tool bag – for a second time.

  8

  Knile was back in a maintenance uniform, back in an air vent.

  Story of my life, he thought.

  He pushed forward and stared out through the horizontal slats in the vent cover for maybe the hundredth time that day. He’d been here watching the entrance to Honeybul’s apartment for some time. The door to the place was a broad slab of mahogany that had been carved in ornate patterns, recessed behind a pair of marble pillars. A spherical stone water feature glinted in the centre of the broad path that led up to the door as thin rivulets of water cascaded over its sides and into a shallow basin beneath.

  Knile was waiting for the crowd to thin out. The old man had been hosting yet another social event, and Luxites in their finest garb had been coming and going in great numbers. There were far too many present for Knile to have a chance of seeing Honeybul one on one, so he’d hidden in the only inconspicuous place he could find – this nearby vent.

  Although he was aware of the time constraints he was working with, Knile knew that it would be unwise to rush into a confrontation with Honeybul while others were present. The last thing he needed was for one of them to sound the alarm and send more Enforcers his way.

  Knile sat back again and wondered, not for the first time, if there was a way he could expedite the departure of Honeybul’s guests, perhaps via a fire alarm or some other warning. However, every option he’d so far considered had been discarded. Such a ploy might get Knile inside quicker, but it would also draw unwanted attention. There was no clean way of getting rid of the guests, so he decided to wait and continue his vigil for a while longer.

  Knile slumped back against the wall. As he watched the light from outside filter through into the dark confines of the vent in long glowing stripes, his mind began to wander, and a memory from almost a decade ago suddenly pushed its way into his thoughts.

  Knile’s foot landed in a puddle that had formed in the broken concrete and a great arc of murky water splashed across the alleyway. He stumbled and almost fell, then kept running. He was breathing hard through the large black respirator that covered most of his face, sucking in as much as he could, but his lungs were still burning. He felt as though he were trying to breathe through a straw with that contraption on his face.

  Above, the roiling clouds that hung over Link were threatening to dump another load of toxic rain on the city. A dead pigeon lay half-submerged in another puddle as Knile ran past, its mottled grey legs sticking up like dead twigs from its exposed underbelly.

  Knile looked over his shoulder. The three Enforcers were still coming, their boots thudding on the asphalt where Knile’s gleaming footprints left a very obvious trail for them to follow. He might as well have been leaving glowing neon signs to point the way.

  Besides that, they weren’t giving up easily, these three. Not as easily as most other Enforcers. He’d really pissed them off this time.

  Knile turned and ran through a marketplace, where the street vendors who had set up their carts gave him little more than passing glances. Some did not even bother to look in his direction at all, preferring to fiddle with the makeshift canopies they were erecting to protect their goods from the weather.

  Who could blame them for their indifference? Enforcers in pursuit of fleeing townsfolk was an everyday occurrence in these parts.

  The men in black reached the marketplace as Knile exited the other end, and he turned into an adjacent clothing factory in an attempt throw them off for good. The place had been closed down and subsequently ransacked months before, and Knile had become accustomed to its layout in the time since. He shouldered through the doorway and then headed up the nearby stairwell, making it to the second floor before he heard the Enforcers follow after him through the entrance.

  He slowed his pace, favouring stealth over speed, as the Enforcers muttered amongst themselves at the entryway as they tried to plan how to proceed.

  Climbing nimbly along a crack in the wall, Knile pulled himself up into a crawlspace in the roof and squeezed through the gap above into darkness. He knew that if he followed the cavity along far enough, he would eventually come out onto the roof of an adjoining building. The Enforcers wouldn’t be following him through there, no matter how determined they were.

  Crawling through muck and pigeon shit just wasn’t their thing.

  Within the cavity there was almost complete darkness, but Knile did not want to give away his position by using a flashlight, so he slowed his pace accordingly and felt his way along the path. He found a cross-section that led toward the outer edge of the building, and as he came to the end of it he stopped.

  He’d heard a noise close by, the sound of movement. Something was in here with him.

  Knile nestled back into the corner with his back against the wall and waited for whatever it was to move again. He supposed that it was most likely a rat or roosting pigeons, but in the back of his mind he also wondered if it could have been something more sinister, such as a snake. He couldn’t think of anything else that would be moving around up here.

  It wouldn’t have been one of the Enforcers. No way. They were probably still down in the entryway deciding whether to continue the chase.

  He waited a few moments more, slowing his breathing and listening intently. Suddenly a shaft of light crept in from above through a vertical opening, glowing stripes that reached down into the cavity for a few moments like elongated fingers before sliding back out again.

  Knile almost cried out, startled.

  He thought he’d seen a dead child here in the cavity with him, half-covered in trash.

  He fumbled for his flashlight, in his panic not caring about being seen, and swept it upward.

  There was no body. Instead there was a young, pale-skinned boy sitting nearby surrounded by rubbish. The boy held up his hand and averted his eyes as the harsh beam of light fell upon him.

  “Stop it!” he complaining in a rasping voice.

  “Shh!” Knile hissed. “There’s Enforcers out there.”

  “It hurts my eyes!”

  Knile lowered the flashlight again, and the boy turned back to face him.

  “Better?” Knile said. He remove
d his respirator in an attempt to appear less threatening. He didn’t want the kid shrieking in terror and giving away their location to the Enforcers.

  The boy nodded, then looked at Knile uncertainly. He had messy raven-black hair that was clotted with filth, and there were a series of scratches down the side of his face. His clothes were in an appalling state, and his fingernails were so grubby they were almost black. He was painfully thin, his arms like twigs poking from his shirt.

  “Are you hiding here?” Knile said, softening his tone.

  The boy shrugged. “Kinda.”

  Knile glanced at the rubbish surrounding the boy, and realised that it was more than a random assortment of trash – there was a water canister, some blankets and an array of shiny trinkets strewn amongst food scraps and crumpled plastic bags.

  “Are you living here?” Knile said.

  The boy nodded. “Did you come to take my stuff?” he said uneasily.

  “What?” Knile said. “No. There were Enforcers chasing me.” The boy watched him warily. “I’m just passing through, kid. I don’t want your stuff.”

  “People always try to take my stuff.”

  Knile tried to weigh up the boy’s age. He couldn’t have been more than about five or six, he decided.

  “Where are your parents, kid? Who’s looking after you?”

  The boy simply shrugged. “Don’t know.”

  “Did you come here after the factory shut down?”

  “I guess.”

  “So where were you before that?”

  “The black house. Down the road.”

  Knile tried to imagine which house the boy might be referring to, but nothing came to mind. He realised that he was wasting time here, and considered continuing on his way, but he knew that the Enforcers might still be patrolling the perimeter of the building, waiting for him to emerge. He decided that if he waited a while longer they would call off the chase when the trail went cold, and that he might as well wait it out here with the boy.

  “Why aren’t you there now?” Knile said. “At the black house?”

  “Some men came. In the night. They were mean men.”