“Is he?” Kelbara asks, not horrified but just checking. We've both taken lives today, although there's a difference between shooting someone and breaking their neck. She closes the door, pulling out the communicator, nodding. “I'm getting something. We go fifty meters out; we'll be able to contact Tauren.”
I turn the guard back over checking him, and I see he's not dead yet, his eyes still flicker over my face as I pat down his pockets, looking for anything that will help us with surviving until we can be picked up. The guard's mouth works silently, he's starting to suffocate as his brain stops talking to his lungs via his spinal cord. Unfortunately, I know, it will still be a while. The lungs and the heart have been going on their own for so long that they keep going even after the brain's signals stop coming.
“I'm sorry,” I tell the guard, trying to make him understand this isn't personal. Another life, we could have been colleagues, if not friends. “I really am. I hope... I hope you find peace in the next life.”
The guard mouths something, but I can't make it out, and in the middle of it his eyes lose focus, the brain finally going to sleep, death isn't that far off now. I strip him of his jacket and bring it over to Kelbara, who gives me a doubtful look. “He's too small for me, you need something. And you take the other pistol, I'll keep the rifle.”
Kelbara pulls off her lab coat and hands it to me while I shoulder the guard's rifle, unslinging it just long enough to slide the second thin coat on top of the one I'm already wearing before we're up and running, speed our ally now. As we run Kelbara triggers the communicator. “Kelbara to Tauren, Kelbara to any royal forces, come in please!”
“Kelbara? It's Tauren, what's your situation?” Tauren's voice comes back, and both Kelbara and I nearly yell in excitement. “Turn on your video signal if you can.”
“Okay... just a moment,” Kelbara says, coming to a stop beside a short bush that at least blurs us from being seen a little. She finds the right control and the tiny video screen lights up, Tauren obviously in some sort of vehicle. “How's that?”
“Better, wanted to make sure it really was you,” Tauren replies. “What's your situation?”
I interrupt, taking the communicator from Kelbara who hands it over. “Tauren, they've got automated defenses, at least missiles if not more. But you need to strike hard and fast. They've got a rocket, they're planning on sending Tauria up to Platform Omicron. If she gets up there....”
“Understood. I can start the assault in thirty minutes.”
I shake my head, insistent. “Tauren, you may not have thirty minutes. I lost track of how long we were in the fort, but before we escaped Cassell said that they were not that far away from launch. Their original plan was to launch at night, but they could speed it up. I don't think they have yet, but...”
“There's been no rocket launches from the mesa,” Tauren says. “We detect no launch facilities.”
I shake my head, pointing behind me back at the mesa. “They've honeycombed the whole area, Tauren. And it's high enough, they could fit a two-person orbital rocket in it easily. And until just now, they've had a Faraday field active, and the rock's naturally some sort of shield. We couldn't get a signal inside the facility.”
Tauren's face goes grave, and he nods. “Jensen.... if what you're saying is true, I'm going to have to use extreme measures. Do you understand?”
I nod, the irony not lost on me, or the gravity of his words. To prevent orbital Q-weapons from being used to destroy the capital, Tauren might have to turn a Q-weapon on the mesa. “If you have to, do it. It's the only way to be sure.”
“I'll hold off as long as I can. Tauren out.”
The comm link goes dead, and I turn to Kelbara, whose face is gray. She understands too. “Come on, we need to get away from the mesa.”
“Why?” she whispers, her voice dejected. “If Tauren launches against the mesa, he'll have to use something powerful enough to wipe out dozens of kilometers in each direction. Q-weapons aren't exactly narrow beam laser cutters, you know.”
I grab her by the arm, pulling her with me. “Because as long as there's breath in my body and strength in my limbs, I'm going to protect you and love you. That's why. Now move it, that's an order.”
Kelbara takes heart from my tough talk and starts to keep up, pushing through the bitter wind and cold. We move quickly, trying to follow the terrain as best we can to stay out of the wind. We're about a half kilometer from the door when suddenly Ambaris steps out from behind a tree, twin stun batons in his hand. I don't have time to react and he jabs my rifle, the shock going through my arms and numbing them while at the same time making the weapon useless. “Ah!”
Ambaris ignores me though and whips his baton in an arc, catching Kelbara even as she brings her pistol up, knocking it into a pile of snow. I don't see the other pistol, it must be in her pocket or she dropped it at some point. Either way, it's useless to us.
“Pretty good, Kelbara,” Ambaris says as I circle around, trying to keep them both in my field of vision. “But I trained you, I know how fast you are. This time, not quite fast enough.”
“You rigged the door,” Kelbara says, rubbing her numb hand before lashing out with a kick that Ambaris dances out of the way of. He might be bald, his face might be starting to line with age since he didn't have the money for heath extension drugs for a long time... but the man's no slouch, he's still in his athletic prime.
“I did,” Ambaris says, flourishing his stun batons. The ends glow in an electric yellow, and I already know how much they hurt, another hit with those and I'm probably going to be knocked out. “Cassell's money has uses.”
“Still tight-assed I see,” I grunt, trying to dart in but Ambaris drives me back with a sweep of his baton. “How'd you get around us so fast?”
“Skill. I've been hunting animals like you for decades, boy.”
I nod, smiling. It was another of the things that made me famous, I was always smiling in the Arena. In fact, the harder the fight, the bigger the smile. “Don't I know it. In fact, I still bear the mark even. I owe you for that one.”
“Too bad I can't keep your hide on the wall. You're quite a prize,” Ambaris says. Kelbara attacks again, she's found a stick somewhere, and while her diminutive size and the stick helps her get under his baton strike and deliver a slashing hit against his leg, he's still able to deflect the follow up swing that was aimed at his head.
It's an opening though, and I'm glad for it. I reach down, snatching my own stick while finding a rock which I palm in my left hand, he's not distracted enough to use it yet. Instead I swing my own stick, high enough that Ambaris blocks it and I kick, thrusting my left leg out to try and blast him in the stomach.
Ambaris reacts perfectly though, sweeping my leg out with his other baton, the glowing end just barely missing my right shin in the way it arcs. Still I'm knocked off my feet and I kick out with my left leg again, trying to make sure he can't follow up. Thankfully Kelbara is right behind me, trying with her own stick to hit her father somewhere. Again she gets through, she's been fighting with him since she was a baby, and she knows his every move, but the stick bounces off his slaver armor almost uselessly, merely distracting him without hurting him, but it gives me a chance to move.
I roll backwards, gaining my feet and switching my rock to my other hand. Ambaris is half turned away and I throw hard, aiming for his head. He has amazing reflexes though, and gets a hand up to deflect the rock. Still, it hits him in the right hand and he drops his stun baton, making him back away. Kelbara dives, snatching up the dropped weapon before getting to her knees, and we're at a stalemate.
“Give it up, Ambaris,” I pant, more tired than I've been since my last Arena fight. This has been the day from the heaven and stars, and it's not over yet. “We outnumber you, and we have the edge now in weapons.”
“You must be...” Ambaris says, his words cut off as a loud pop shatters the air. We all freeze, shocked as Ambaris looks down, his fingers going to the hole that's a
ppeared in his chest, just below his armor.
“Stars, I missed, I was aiming for his head,” Tauria says, stepping out from behind a tree with an ancient pistol in her hand. Did she just really fire a gunpowder weapon? She's dressed for the first time I've ever seen her in pants and a parka, her feet nestled in thick furred boots, and the smile on her face is more wintry than even the weather around us. “It must be the cold.”
Ambaris drops to his knees, his stun baton tumbling from his hand to land in the snow. Kelbara runs to him, her repulsion at the way he's acted overcome by eighteen years of being his daughter. “Father!”
“So..... that's.... what it took.... to be forgiven.....” Ambaris rasps, blood bubbling on his lips as he talks. “I'm sorry, Kelbara. I.... always....”
“Shh, I know,” Kelbara replies, I don't know if she's lying or not, but they're the words that Ambaris needs to hear. She kneels down, while I step towards Tauria, who raises her pistol to me. My duty is to Kelbara, to keeping her alive, and if that means I get to stare down a sociopathic bitch with a pistol, then I guess I get to stare down a sociopathic bitch with a pistol.
“Ah ah ah, gladiator. While this little toy was something not as deadly as a powerlance, I find it.... elegant,” Tauria warns me, the barrel of her pistol almost ridiculously wide in the afternoon light. A Gauss pistol is mostly handle; the actual barrel is small. Not this one, this one looks like I could stick my finger in the end of it easily. “Now step back until the guards get here.”
“Tauria.... why?” Ambaris burbles, his eyes filled with pain.
“Because she knew the same thing that I knew,” Cassell says, limping slightly but otherwise happy as he puts an arm around Tauria's waist and chuckles. He's wearing a splint on his finger, but other than that he's the cat who just got the cream. “She knew you just wanted to use her to become the power behind the crown. Grand Vizier and Consort.... bah! You wanted to be King in everything but name.”
“And you?” I ask, raising my hands. I see Kelbara lift Ambaris' upper body, whispering something in his ear, and he whispers back. Whatever they're doing, I need to keep the attention on me, which means I need to risk getting shot some more. “What are you going to become, Cassell?”
“Me? I just want a hereditary noble title, nothing big. I don't even need to be a Lord, I'll let my own merits decide that,” Cassell says, smirking. “Besides, I don't use drugs to take advantage of people like Ambaris does. I just indulge.”
“What the stars are you talking about?” I growl, risking taking a half step forward. Tauria raises her gun, but doesn't fire. She thinks she has control of this situation, and she hasn't had enough fun yet.
“Ambaris here knows of my appreciation for the former Lord Neyton's medical skills,” Tauria says, and I see it. She might not be physically addicted anymore, but she's been pickling her brain for so long with them that she's mentally addicted, she has to have them in order to escape the reality that is her own life. “He was going to try and control me through them, feed them to me over and over until I was his plaything. The only problem is Ambaris, I'm not the plaything, I'm the player.”
“F....fuck you!” Ambaris says, sticking his hand out from under Kelbara's armpit, a Gauss pistol in his hand and with no hesitancy at all he fires.
Chapter 25
Kelbara
The hole appears in the middle of Ambaris' chest almost as if it was what made the echoing crash that pierces the cold air, and Ambaris looks surprised, his hand going to the wound and staring at his bloody fingertips for a moment before he drops to his knees, and I dart forward. “Father!”
“So..... that's.... what it took.... to be forgiven..... I'm sorry, Kelbara. I.... always....” Ambaris whispers, his voice weak. Maybe he's lying, maybe he wants last second absolution, but it doesn't matter, this is no time to hurt a man who's probably dying, so I nod, and force myself to smile.
“Shh, I know,” I whisper back, kneeling down next to him. I hear Tauria and Jensen talking behind me, but I'm focused on Ambaris, whose face is written in a rictus of pain and betrayal, obviously he's listening to what's being said behind me.
“Tauria.... why?” Ambaris chokes out, and I glance behind me to see Tauria and Cassell. Tauria's carrying an ancient style gunpowder pistol, shocking me. What is she thinking? I know that some craftsmen make them for collection purposes, but then again there's craftsmen who make authentic ancient style bladed weapons too. What is she doing carrying that relic?
I look back at Ambaris, who's eyes are a reflection of my anger and pain. I start to pick him up, whispering in his ear. “I have a Gauss pistol in my left pocket. Do you know what to do?”
Ambaris' voice is watery, he's obviously been hit in one of his lungs, but he can still whisper, his voice barely audible over the wind and what Tauria and Jensen are saying behind me. I understand what Jensen's doing, trying to draw Tauria's fanatic, psychotic attention on him instead of me and Ambaris. “so.... yes...”
His hand slides into my left pocket, which is half hidden by being pressed in between our bodies, and his grip is shaky even as he withdraws it. Ambaris' eyes find mine, and for an instant I'm swept back, not to the years of pain and shame, of the times that I wasn't good enough for him, but the early years, when I was his little girl and we were still together, Ambaris, my mother, and I. Then, he would sometimes look at me with love in his eyes. There were other times too, later on when he'd look at me after I'd done something well, and I could see that even though I wasn't a son, he was proud of me for that instant. Now it's his turn to do something to make me proud. I feel tears in my eyes, and Ambaris nods. He's ready.
Tauria's still talking behind me, her shrill rant cutting through the wind as she yammers at Jensen. “He was going to try and control me through them, feed them to me over and over until I was his plaything. The only problem is Ambaris, I'm not the plaything, I'm the player.”
Ambaris' eyes blaze, and I realize something else. Whatever else he may have been, Ambaris truly cared for Tauria, and her betrayal cut him to the bone nearly as much and my harsh words to him earlier. His hand thrusts out underneath my armpit, the trigger on the Gauss pistol already halfway pressed. “F....fuck you!”
Whether it is the pain, the fact he's firing while I'm half holding him up, or maybe because Tauria's mostly turned away from him, Ambaris' round misses Tauria and hits Cassell in the side, the huge slave merchant doubling over in agony. The second round hits him in the head, his skull exploding like a rotten melon that's been dropped from a tall building, and Cassell's body stands there frozen for a moment before he starts to fall.
Tauria doesn't even wait for Cassell to fall however, taking off running in fear. Jensen takes after her for a few steps before stopping, knowing he'd be charging off unarmed towards what most likely is Tauria's guards. Instead he stops, coming over to Ambaris and I, kneeling down next to us. “Okay, just relax Ambaris. We'll get some pressure on that, and get you patched up in no time.”
“no..... done.....” Ambaris whispers, his voice failing at the end, the damage to his lungs is too much, he's not getting enough air in to talk any longer. Still, he can mouth words. It's okay.
“No....” I whisper back, my eyes filling with tears. “You're going to live, a long time.”
Ambaris shakes his head, smiling softly. No. Kelbara....
He lifts his blood covered hand and I take it in mine, giving him a squeeze. He's starting to drift, his eyes clouding some and I give his hand a squeeze, saying goodbye as best I can. “It's okay, Father.”
His eyes clear for a moment when I call him Father again, and he nods weakly. Thank you. Daughter, I....
Ambaris' eye loses focus again, the light going out of it and his grip weakening. His head sags back, and his chest hitches one more time before it stops forever. A tear falls from my eye to splash onto his armor, freezing almost instantly in the cold, and it's over. Ambaris..... my father is dead.
“Kelbara.... the guards,” Jensen says
gently, putting his hand on my shoulder. I understand, we have to go, but I can't let go just yet.
“Give me a few seconds?” I whisper, and Jensen nods, picking up the Gauss pistol along with one of Ambaris' stun batons, his eyes focused on the direction Tauria ran. I lay Ambaris' head gently on the snow, closing his good eye and folding his hands over his chest. I can't pretend that he's sleeping, but still, he looks more at peace in death than I ever remember him looking when he was alive. I offer a quick prayer to the stars, or whatever supernatural beings that might be interested in our lives. “May the demons that haunted you in life not follow you into death.”
I get to my feet and grab the other baton after checking to see that Jensen's rifle is toast, the electronics readouts fried. “I'm ready.”
“So which direction do you want to go?” Jensen asks quietly, his pistol ready. “Towards the danger or away from it?”
“You know the type of girl I am,” I reply, stepping forward. “I don't run away from danger.”
We start after Tauria, her footsteps are clear and sharp in the snow, but before we cover even a hundred yards, there's a scream of sonic booms above us, and then the roaring blast of a railgun round crashing into the mesa.
“The attack's begun,” Jensen notes, and we pick up our pace. I know that whatever we do will be minimal, but I want just one shot, one chance at Tauria. We pick up the pace, but she's had enough of a head start that there's nothing until we get within visual distance of the motor pool, where guards are scrambling, trying to figure out what to do. “Let's fall back.”
“Give me a minute,” I reply, getting behind a tree. At nearly a hundred and fifty meters, this isn't perfect conditions for firing a pistol, but at least I know a Gauss round will fire straight and still be able to damage at this far away. I check the pistol, it has twenty rounds, we can save five.... just in case. I level the pistol, drawing aim on the first thing I see, a truck of some type. “Take this.”
Red Planet: The Revolt (Tamarians Book 2) Page 20