Trinity: Atom & Go

by Zach Winderl

  “Clair?” Margo held her hands up to Lilly. “There you be.”

  Atom pulled his mind back to watch the exchange.

  “Be careful,” he said after a momentary hesitation. “Please don’t play with her mind like that.”

  The smile drifted from Lilly’s face. “I understand.” She hugged Margo and then nudged the toddler towards Atom. “I’ll go change. It’ll only take a minute or so. I’m sorry if I made things harder for her.”

  A tight smile pulled at Atom’s lips as he wrapped Margo in his arms.

  Lilly pulled a small bundle from beneath the pram and padded towards a narrow alley flanking their courtyard.

  “Atom, what’s our move?” Shi commed from across the street.

  “Give me a span.” Atom rose and dropped Margo back in the pram. “We need to keep moving and find some place to hunker.”

  “Let’s hope we don’t cross no more patrols.”

  “You don’t think we could handle them?”

  Shi laughed. “I ain’t said that, but it’d give away our trail.”

  “I’m not sure how much of a problem that will be. Seems the locals don’t like the imps any more than we do. We’re just waiting on Lilly to slip back into her normal form before we head out. Any direction is as good as the other until we get a location from Bex.”

  A moment later, Lilly trotted around the corner, in her customary coveralls with Atom’s shirt slung over her shoulder. She strapped her gunbelt about her waist as she joined him.

  Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Kozue interjected.

  “Atom,” she said. “Bextiple has just contacted us.”

  “Patch him.” Atom pushed the pram out into the center of the deserted street, just as the ambushers emerged from their rooftop positions.

  “I’ve found an old-timer who might have a piece of that information you were looking for,” the broker said without preamble. “I’m stretched a might thin trying to keep all my clients safe and satisfied at the moment.”

  “I understand,” Atom replied.

  “I’ll send you his location, but I don’t have the manpower to set you up with a guide.”

  “That won’t be a problem.”

  “Even with the imps locking the city down?”

  Atom grinned. “It’ll just make things more fun for my crew.”

  “I wish I had your people on my roster.”

  “I’ll let them know. Perhaps when this is over, they might care to work for you if you make the offer sweet enough.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Bextiple said with a laugh. “Patching the info through now.”

  “Much appreciated.” Atom waited for the rest of the crew to join him as he stood and watched the ad hoc militia strip the imperials with scavenger efficiency. Several of the locals glanced in the direction of Atom and the company, but seeing nothing beyond fellow outliers, they continued with their work and disappeared into the rich, red later morning sunlight.

  “We should probably follow their lead.” Hither glanced up to the sky. “I’m guessing we’ll have company sooner than later.”

  “And we have a location,” Atom said as he pushed the pram away.

  ***

  Several hours, several detours, and more than a couple glancing firefights carried the group across the basin of the city proper. They snatched a late noodle meal on the fly. Most of the city maintained a semblance of operation, but the scattered people on the streets avoided the patrols like furtive rats.

  “I en’t seein’ why we couldn’t find proper transport,” Byron griped as he hitched his pack up on his weary shoulders. “I’m just sayin’ fings is runnin’ in spite a this lockdown.”

  Atom brought the group to a halt outside a broad, stone structure. “Simple,” he said. “Imps will have an easier time tracking a vehicle than they would a group like us. Plus, a transport makes it look like we have places to be instead of being a family that is just trying to get home. There are plenty of folks that got caught on the wrong side of town when this all went down.”

  “Too bad we couldn’t help out more than we did,” Shi chimed in.

  “You hate the imps that much?” Lilly asked.

  “Not so much.” Shi grinned. “I just like a good scrap.”

  “Enough.” Atom kicked up the pram to float up the wide stairs leading to the front entrance of the building. “The fighting has served its purpose. The imps are bogged down looking for us and the locals don’t like being pushed around. As long as we keep our heads down, we should come out of this ahead.”

  “You have a plan for getting off this rock?” Lilly asked. “I don’t see any ships going up or down at the moment.”

  “I have a couple ideas, but nothing solid yet,” Atom replied as they reached the top of the steps. “None of them matter if we can’t figure out where we’re going first. If we can’t find reasonable intel, then we might as well just sit this one out and wait for Toks to get a recall.”

  “Recall?”

  Shi turned to look back down the steps, scanning the neighborhood for any sign of imperial troops. Seeing no sign of the enemy, she turned to Lilly and said, “Locals must’ve winged a com relay with an official complaint.”

  “Everyone knows Toks is out of line,” Atom said. “Even though Stillwater is outside the normal travel lanes, they’re still part of the empire. Toks can’t come tear it up without cause.

  “She’s gambling,” Atom continued, looking to Shi to ensure they hadn’t been followed. She gave a clearing nod and he pushed the pram towards the front door. “She’s hoping she can land this treasure we’re all after before any sort of relief force can be deployed. Then she’ll disappear and leave her troops standing here with their pants down.”

  “How do you know that?” Lilly asked.

  Atom paused. “I don’t. I’m just theorizing,” he said with a shrug. “I can’t see any other play making much sense at this moment.”

  “You don’t think she’ll take this force with her and disappear down the Fingers?” Hither asked. “They could always find the treasure and retreat to some low-planet to live out their days.”

  “It’s possible, but what’s the point of treasure if you have to hide the rest of your life?”

  “You’re alive,” Hither said as she opened the door.

  Atom maneuvered the pram through the wide double doors into the broad foyer beyond. He looked over the fine, yet simple, craftsmanship of the large room as he crossed the polished stone floor to where a young woman sat behind a heavy wooden counter.

  She looked nervous.

  “Afternoon, Miss.” Atom smiled as he settled the pram beside the counter, allowing Margo to stand up and lean next to him. The others drifted to a waiting area beside the door and settled. “It’s not looking too pleasant out there.”

  “Say that again,” the woman said with a tentative smile. “We haven’t received any official word about what’s happening, but I’ve heard explosions and gunfire all afternoon. Imps say we’re in lockdown, but I haven’t heard anything from the local governor. Lucky for us, they haven’t bothered storming our doors.

  “I say, better off leaving us be.” She rose from her seat and looked down at Atom. Slender of waist and thick through the shoulders, the woman caused Atom to subconsciously lean back. “Granted, we’ve just a bunch of old gaffers and gams sitting around here, living out their lives. There’s not much reason for the imps to be bothering us in the first place.

  “Hopefully, they’ll just move along,” she said with a weary smile. Speak of which.” The smile faded, replaced by a suspicious look. “What brings you here?”

  “I’m just tracking down a couple old stories,” Atom said, once again leaning on the counter. “Just dropped the well last eve.”

  “You certainly picked a righteous time to drop in.”

  Atom shook his head in agreement. “That I did, but my broker, Bextiple, said there might be a couple old ones who might have some stories up their sleeves
that relate to the information I’m in search of.”

  The woman narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “Bextiple?”

  “That a problem, Miss?”

  “Not necessarily. We just have a history and it’s none too pleasant.”

  “Sorry to hear it.”

  “Not your concern,” the woman snapped. “Who did he send you for?”

  “Melvin Cheung.”

  “Cheung?”

  “That’s the name Bex gave me. Said he might still have enough faculties to remember the old days from before, and he might actually know what I’m looking for.”

  “And that would be?”

  “Just tracking an old story. Something about a right vein near Shepherd. I’m guessing it’s either a mountain or a ridge and Shepherd’s just a nickname, because it sure doesn’t show on any survey maps. If we could locate the spot, my crew and I had thoughts of buying a plot and staking a claim in the region.”

  “That a fact?” The woman glared at Atom, then she shifted her eyes to the company lounging behind him. “I don’t like folks looking to bother my charges. Asking tales of the glory days likely gets them stirred, and then we have to spend the rest of the shift trying to settle them.”

  Before she could continue, the front doors slammed open. A soldier stepped through. He dropped. Shi sat unmoved in her chair, a smoking pistol in her hand.

  She pulled back the hammer with a sharp clack.

  Everyone else hesitated.

  Atom broke first, diving headfirst over the heavy wooden counter, he left Kozue to button up the pram. As he dove, he caught the receptionist by surprise and tackled her to the floor.

  They landed just in time for a squad of imperial troopers to kick open the double doors.

  “Were you expecting company?” Atom asked as he pinned the woman to the floor amidst a hail of bullets and bolts that tore chunks from the wooden desk. “They weren’t behind us a minute ago.”

  The woman stared up at him with wide-eyed terror.

  Several more shots rang out from Shi’s guns before Atom lifted his head from the woman’s shoulder. Draped across her like a shielding blanket, he glanced up and waited for a lull in the firing.

  “I don’t know why they’re here,” the woman whispered as she clutched his coat with fear-strengthened hands.

  Atom rose to crouch above the woman. He stalled as her hands and bulk held him down.

  “I swear, sir.” Her voice rose in a panic. “I’d nothing to do with them.”

  “I know, darl. Imps show up when you want them least, and are never to be found when you could really use some order,” he soothed. “Now let me up, so I can see what this is all about.”

  Out in the wide foyer, more shots rang out. Atom held her clutching hands, pleading eyes locked into her fear. “Please, darl,” he whispered.

  With reluctance, her clamps released.

  He gripped her hand as he frowned and turned his attention away. Rising to the level of the counter, he glanced over just in time to see Hither shepherding Byron and Lilly towards the broad stairs beyond the reception desk. She kept one hand on Byron’s pack and fired on the run with the other.

  Shi stood tall, her ladies singing as they ripped shot after shot through the front doors. A rhythmic cadence called her siren-song of death.

  Atom pulled his own rail pistol as Hither ducked behind the desk. Lilly and Byron sprinted for the stairs as Hither darted around the desk and slipped to the pram, crouching as she scuttled. As Atom punched holes in the walls beside the door, she grabbed the pram and yanked it around behind the safety of the heavy wooden desk.

  Glancing over his shoulder, Atom caught the flash of Byron disappearing around the corner of the stairs.

  “Shi, fall,” he commanded.

  An imp poked his head around the corner only to be caught by a careful shot from Hither.

  Without hesitation, Shi turned and sprinted for the desk. She dropped to her knees and slid across the marble floor, taking the impact on her shoulder as she spun towards the danger bottlenecked at the double doors.

  Shi took a moment to run her guns through the auto-loader at her belt and then popped up to encore her song.

  The imperials lulled.

  Crouching down, Atom turned to the woman who had pulled herself up to huddle against the desk, holding her head in her hands. “Do you have a safe place you could get to?” he asked, making his voice as calm and reassuring as possible. “A back room or office, perhaps?”

  She stared at him, drifting towards shock.

  Atom snapped his fingers in her face. “Hey there, you hit?” he demanded.

  The woman trembled like a startled fawn. “No,” she croaked.

  “Good.” Atom gripped her shoulders and squeezed. “Is there some place safe you could get to from here?”

  The imperials, spread across the front of the building, smashed open windows and resumed their fusillade. Bullets and bolts resumed their regimented pummeling of the wooden desk. Chunks and splinters began cartwheeling over Atom’s head as the shots began taking their toll.

  The woman nodded. Her nostrils flared wide as her breath came in ragged spurts.

  “Breathe normal,” Atom soothed as if talking to a scared child. “Slow, deep breaths. I’m going to lead them away from you.” He glanced over his shoulder to where Hither hunkered with the pram. “When I do, I want you to wait for them to follow me and then get somewhere safe. I know you can’t leave your people, but you need to stay safe as well. You can’t help them if you don’t survive.

  “Don’t put up any resistance.” He gripped her chin and glared into her eyes. “Don’t give them any reason to hurt anyone.”

  “I’ll try,” she gasped.

  “Good. Where can I find Cheung?”

  It took a moment for her head to grasp the question. Then she pointed off to the left. “Third floor. That wing. Stairs here or at the end of the hall.”

  Atom nodded a thanks and called to the others. “Shi, Hither, stick to Byron and Lilly.” Without waiting for a response, he popped like a jackrabbit, bolting for the side door. He caught the pram as he sprinted by and ran before the imps could track his movement.

  Halfway across the broad foyer, he swung the pram around and engaged the runners. Hopping aboard, he boosted the suspensors and covered the remainder of the floor on the fly.

  The imperials hesitated, caught between two retreating groups.

  As he sailed through the door, he tripped his com. “Kozue, tell them all to get to the third floor. Have Shi and Hither delay at each landing. Give the imps something to think about.

  “Send Byron and Lilly ahead to find Cheung. I’ll meet them there.” He hit the far door like a floating torpedo, slamming it open, and screeching to a halt as he flew past the stairs ,and had to brake hard to avoid flying out an exterior door.

  Hopping off the pram, he backtracked and took the stairs three at a time.

  In a matter of seconds he made the third floor. He paused at the landing, giving himself a moment to collect his breath and holster his rail-pistol. Straightening his coat, he pulled the door open and powered the pram through at a leisurely pace.

  He stepped into the quiet of the dormitory-like building. Silence hung over the floor like an oppressive blanket of fear.

  Atom strode down the hallway with purpose. Fading afternoon light spilled from the rooms on his right, battling with the harsh lights of the hallway. As he walked, Atom scanned the names printed beside each door.

  Collins.

  Lin.

  Weir.

  Yuen.

  Cheung. Atom stopped outside the door.

  At the far end of the hallway, Byron and Lilly reached the top of the central steps and caught sight of Atom. He nodded to the door. From below came the sounds of small-arms fire, shouts, and the occasional scream.

  Atom looked through the door as Lilly and Byron trotted down the hall to join him. A low table occupied one side of the room, while bedding ha
d been meticulously folded and set on a shelf in the corner. The only other furniture in the room was a bookshelf, set beneath the window, and overflowing with manuscripts in a dozen languages and piles of loose-leaf notes.

  At the table, facing the wall, a wizened man sat, cross-legged with an unread book and neat stack of papers laid out before him. The man turned to stare at Atom, fear overflowing from him as the sounds of combat swirled into the room from down the hall.

  “What’s our timing, Koze?” Atom asked.

  “If the imperials do not receive reinforcements and the girls are smart, you could have over ten minutes before they are forced to retreat to this level . . . perhaps more.”

  “Three minutes,” Atom said as he smiled at the old man and held out his hands in a peaceful manner. “We need to be gone by then.”

  “I’ll keep the grains ticking.”

  Byron and Lilly joined Atom at the door.

  “Who are you talking to?” the man asked as Atom stepped into his room and tucked the pram beside the door.

  “My ship. Do you mind if I sit? I have some questions you might have the answers to.”

  “As long as you aren’t planning on shooting me.” The elder pointed to Atom’s pistol.

  Atom shook his head. “I’ve no quarrel with you,” he said as he dropped to sit to the man’s left. “My name is Atom Ulvan. As time is pressing, I’ll come right to it. We are looking for Shepherd. The name was given to us in reference to something of value in this system. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific, but that’s all that was given on my friend’s deathbed.”

  The man studied Atom. “I’m Cheung.”

  Wiping a hand across his bald pate, Cheung sat in silence. His thin frame, hunched over the table, told a tale of a hard life that carved people down to their sinews and left no luxurious excess to a body.

  His eyes remained sharp.

  “What do you want with Shepherd?” Cheung asked, his words clipped and cryptic.

  Atom shrugged. “First off, I’d like to know what it is. Secondly, I’d like to know where I can find it.”

  “It? Ever stop to think it might be a person?” Cheung asked.

  Atom exchanged a sharp glance with Lilly.