by Casey Lea
“You okay?”
“Certain-sure. Thanks.”
“Great,” she said brightly, before craning back to stare at the hull rising behind them. “So what are we doing here? Stealing this ship?”
“What?” Wing gaping, but then found a grin. “No, no such. It’s too big an ask, but I like your idea. Next time, mayhaps. This time we’re here to steal into storage.”
“All right, we’re stowing away.”
Wing raised an eyebrow at her. “This is the t’ssaa command ship.”
“Oh.” Darsey stared at him blankly, trying to figure out why they were there. “The last place they’ll look?” she ventured uncertainly.
“For now,” he confirmed, ‘but we can't pass more than ten minutes without risk.”
“Then why are we here?” Darsey asked more sharply, but Wing was engrossed in his com display.
“There,” he said with quiet satisfaction, and looked up at the hull above their heads.
“Where?” Darsey wondered, and Wing answered by raising his com toward the ship. A line of data linked it to the vessel, then spread across its shimmering skin. The light flowed outward from that point of contact to form a glowing pool. Her lips shaped a silent “oh” and, at the same time, the puddle of light sank into the ship. It was swallowed by the hull and in its wake left a dark hole.
“Low priority cargo port,” Wing murmured. “I stole access to it from the t’ssaa leader’s com. It was little guarded and he was in-talk and distracted.”
“A-huh.” Darsey nodded in understanding. “You piggy-backed your way into his com by tracing his subordinate’s signal when they were tracking you.”
“I think so,” Wing agreed distractedly, “though I don’t know which part of my back is my piggy- ah, the hatch is sensor-off. Let’s go.” He reached up to the lip of that gaping circle to lever himself smoothly inside.
Darsey looked up at the hatch above her head and hesitated. However, the distant hiss of t’ssaa speech floating around the hull from the ship’s main exit galvanised her. She leapt to grip the edge of the hole and slithered into the darkness beyond.
The moment she entered the alien ship, its hatch closed behind her and everything became pitch black. She quivered when fright activated her com’s battle mode and flooded her body with adrenaline. Wing touched her reassuringly on the arm and she leapt convulsively away to slam into the now-solid wall behind her.
“Hey,” the kres murmured, but made no further attempt to touch her. “Easy now. It’s kay. I’m sorry you got a scare. I forgot your awesome startle response. Wait on.”
Darsey could hear him entering commands against his wrist and then the darkness eased. Gradually, her sight returned and she started to relax, then tensed again when she registered the strangeness of the images around her. Wing was crouched nearby, but was only partially visible. His features were blurred and his ill-defined outline filled with strangely pulsing colors.
“What the…?” Darsey wondered, but Wing raised a green-hued hand reassuringly.
“I’m sharing my frond-sight through our coms,” he explained. “You could program an infrared visual field yourself instead, but such would use power that you might need. I don't want to access any t’ssaa systems before we must, so the lights stay out for now. Okay?”
“Sure,” Darsey answered vaguely. She was staring around the storage hold in delight.
Wing’s image was the most obvious thing in sight, bright and pulsing, but even the floor had some residual heat and she could see it clearly as a dull brown underfoot. Her own feet were unrecognisable puddles of blue-green light. She looked up again and realized that the hold was packed with canisters. Piled ranks of different sizes and temperatures rose many times her height in all directions. They were surrounded by all of the goods the t’ssaa were unable to place in compression storage. The darkness was a hodge podge of different colors and black boxes, without a heat signature at all.
“Wow,” Darsey breathed, before the vast array of tightly packed goods reminded her of more important issues. “What is all this and what the hell are we doing here?”
“Looking,” Wing answered brusquely and accessed his com again.
“For what?”
“Eggs.”
“Eggs?” Darsey wondered briefly, before understanding hit. “Of course, the t’ssaa said they’ve got kres eggs.”
“Ye,” Wing answered grimly. He traced the lines of a schematic as they scrolled over the face of his com. “Here she is. A kres female, in stasis storage, thank the gods. She’s low secure, because they’ve no fear of her escaping. She’s far from conscious and little guarded. Well,” he amended without concern, “there are energy screens and filters, but such are easily passed.”
Wing paused and Darsey tried to make sense of the dark holes that marked his features while he stared at her. “Perhaps you should go soon-as. I’ve got to try a rescue, Darse. I can’t just leave her so, but you’ve no need to come. Should I open the exit?”
Wing stepped back toward Darsey, but she answered without hesitation. “No way. No, it was bad enough being caught and sold by Greon, but being held by the t’ssaa and then used for breeding experiments…” Her voice trailed away and she shuddered. “I want to help.”
“Good,” Wing answered, and Darsey could almost believe he sounded pleased. “I’ll go fetch the lady. If I’ve any problems, I’ll open this hatch and at least you can flee. So if the exit returns, take it. Quick-as. Use battle thrust from your com, and if you see trouble first, find me and let me know we need a different escape. Kay?”
“Understood,” Darsey said crisply, and tried a grin in the strange half light. “Don’t be long.”
“I’ll try not,” Wing whispered as he backed away, “but I’m worth a wait.” He squeezed between two rows of storage pods and his image quickly shrank. It was soon little more than a smudge that merged into the chequers of the cluttered hold.
Darsey stifled a sigh and tried to relax. All she had to do was sit tight until Wing got back, assuming she could recognise his blurred image. What if a t’ssaa found her instead? How quickly would she spot the difference? This strange form of sight was much less precise than normal vision, but a moment’s reflection convinced her she was unlikely to mistake the kres for anyone else. She knew how he moved and stood too well to be easily fooled. It’s simple, she reassured herself. If it has a crest, take it out.
Light abruptly washed past Darsey and she turned back to the hull in shock. The hatch irised opened behind her and her eyes watered at the brightness beyond. Outside the ship was the same deserted gray dock they had recently left, but her com had to filter its grimy light until her eyes could adjust. She quickly scanned the open decking, but there was no sign of a t’ssaa ambush and she moved at once. Wing had been explicit about her leaving if the hatch opened, so that was exactly what she did.
The hole was larger than before and Darsey straightened, to step onto its edge. She paused on the lip, judging her jump, and there was sudden noise behind her. The pounding of approaching footsteps vibrated through the hull. Someone was running toward her at combat speed and closing frighteningly fast.
Darsey leapt. She flew back onto Gratuity and landed cleanly, running forward with the last of her momentum to disappear into the shadows of the dock. She twisted to look back and a dark shape was already hurtling from the ship after her. It was taller and much bulkier than Darsey and she slipped into a defensive posture while com power flooded her body. Movement around her seemed to slow, as it always did in battle, and she had time to see more clearly what was flying straight at her.
Darsey’s eyebrows rose and she instantly moved forward to meet her pursuer. She ducked aside at the last second so that Wing could sail past her, but reached up to catch his burden. He had jumped from the ship with someone on his shoulder and he shrugged her off to Darsey just before landing.
He still hit hard, leaving heel prints in the dock plating, before rolling to lose the la
st of his momentum. Darsey grunted as she caught his passenger and staggered backwards after him.
The strange kres was hard to hold, despite Darsey’s com strength. The newcomer was an impossible mix of dead weight and frantic struggling, as she regained control over parts of her body. Darsey lost her balance and had to sit down with a thump, letting the kres fall to the dock beside her.
Wing rolled to a halt in a tangle of dock girders, but rose at once and turned to lope back toward the t’ssaa vessel. His attention was on his com, and he spared Darsey only a passing glance when he strode past. She bit back distracting questions and twisted to offer comfort to the rescued prisoner instead.
However, the stranger lying beside her hissed, while her golden hands clawed at the decking and she struggled to pull herself away from her rescuer.
“Hey,” Darsey protested. “Where are you going?”
The captive turned her head awkwardly and brown eyes, flecked with gold, glared at Darsey. “Noplace with you, Harvester.” The kres looked away again and continued trying to pull herself forward.
Darsey sighed and rose, then stepped across to block the stranger’s path. The kres gripped the foot stopping her and tried to shove it aside. Her grip was weak and after a second’s struggle she gave up. Her head flopped forward against Darsey’s boot in utter despair. Golden fronds tucked tight to disappear beneath dark hair and a low groan rose from the ex-prisoner.
“It’s all right,” Darsey reassured her quickly, crouching to pat a shaking hand. “You’re fine and I’m no Harvester. I’m here to save you.”
Darsey’s claim brought an instant response. The stranger’s head jerked up and a frond rose with it. “Save me?” the kres demanded, trying to hide the sudden hope behind her suspicion.
“Certain sure,” Darsey answered solemnly, and did her best to project reassurance.
The stranger’s frond twitched in response and she struggled to lever herself more upright. Darsey reached out to help, and at that moment Wing strode up to crouch beside them, staring back at the t’ssaa ship.
“They’ll find the break-free quick. We need to go-oh!” Wing’s terse comment became a strangled exclamation when the ex-prisoner threw herself at him.
She found a sudden reserve of energy to push herself forward and up. She rose far enough to clutch at Wing and then dragged herself higher, until she could cling to his neck. He responded automatically, holding her gingerly as he looked to Darsey for help. However, before either could move, the one-time captive started to sob.
“W-wing,” she choked. “Wing, Wing, oh, Wing.”
“She seems to know you,” Darsey offered dryly, but Nightwing looked perplexed.
He tried to draw back far enough to see the stranger’s face, but she held him with surprising strength.
“No,” the female gasped in renewed panic. “No, Wing, no. Don’t go. Be real. Please.”
“Sure, sure,” her captive offered soothingly. “I’m real-as.” He twisted gently in the ex-prisoner’s grasp and managed to catch a glimpse of her profile, seeing her clearly for the first time, and his mouth dropped in amazement. He stared helplessly, as if struggling to believe what he was seeing, then pulled her close again, holding her hard.
“Harrier? Harry? Gods. Gods, Harry. I thought you were dead. Hail, I was sure of it. I followed you while I was in-exile, scanned your promotion to court and then I saw you listed lost when the Epic Wanderer…” He stopped his frenzied recital to gulp for breath. “Definitely dead.”
He took another shaky breath and then pulled back from the mutual embrace. “Harry.” He smiled down at the pretty, young kres who offered a faltering smile in return.
“Nightwing, is it honestly you? Truly?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Darsey interrupted. “And we need to go.”
Both kres looked up at her uncertainly. “Go?” Wing wondered, and Darsey resisted the temptation to shake him.
“Yes. Leave, flee, get the hell out of here. Wake up, Wing.”
He blinked once, but then surged upright, dragging the female kres with him. “Go. Yes. Gods, yes. Go now. I’ve got to see you safe. Can you walk, Harrier?”
“I can try,” she grated, but swayed precariously, so he hoisted her into his arms.
“Darsey, lead us. The ch't'kar ship, quick-as.”
Darsey started to agree, but never got the chance. A ball of energy arced from the t’ssaa vessel and exploded against the girder above them. The plating buckled beneath their feet and they were slammed into it by the shockwave. Shrapnel screamed past, along with molten metal. Something ripped into the deck by Darsey’s head, rupturing it, and then something heavy hit her body.
A hand clutched her waist and she realized that Wing had landed on top of her. He wrapped an arm tight around her and she saw he had Harrier tucked under his other arm. His com screeched in Darsey’s ear, before blasting through the damaged plating. The deck opened beneath them and all three fell through.
They plummeted toward Gratuity’s heart and the world spinning past turned to fire again when another shot exploded close behind. Their fall became a chaos of twisting beams and screaming metal and Wing grunted when a broken tread slammed against his back.
“You okay?” Darsey yelled in his face, but he barely had time to grimace before they crashed.
The three of them struck a walkway at a glancing angle. Darsey’s com fended off the collision and they tumbled on, but the next contact was much worse. They fell straight toward a major gantry and she felt the pulse of a low power warning at her wrist. The next impact was going to hurt.
Wing twisted savagely in mid-air, managing to turn them all, so that he was underneath. They hit hard and metal buckled around them. Darsey’s com was overloaded and pain blinded her. Beneath her she felt Wing driven into the deck, which thrummed wildly at such an impact.
Silence gradually returned as a shocking contrast to their fall. The only noise was an intermittent creak of metal. That simple sound seemed to cut through Darsey’s skull and she could taste blood.
She heard Wing groan and tried to focus on him, but the moment of pained and helpless silence continued while they all struggled for their next breath. She needed to know how badly he was hurt, but her eyes refused to work. The world had become a vague place of twisted colors.
Darsey started when Harrier pushed herself up onto her hands. The kres was little more than a blur of movement beside her, until a soft hand settled firmly on Darsey’s shoulder. It was followed by the welcome touch of a regen field.
“Be still,” Harrier instructed calmly. “Your skull’s fractured and needs three minutes to heal.”
“Heal?” Darsey asked thickly, and the blur crouching over her made a soothing sound.
“Ye, soon-as.”
The ache behind Darsey’s eyes started to ease and she sighed with relief when the surrounding colors formed shapes again. “Wing?” she wondered, frustrated by the regen field, which was holding her head still and making it impossible to look past Harrier.
“He’s good, too. Three split ribs, plus one that broke and is in his lung-”
“What?” Darsey demanded with renewed concern. “A punctured lung? He needs a doctor.”
“Be still,” Harrier repeated, and Darsey’s mouth snapped shut. “Wing is healing well and I’ll speed all, once you’re fixed. I’m a Royal Physician and you’ll both heal well.”
“It’s kay,” Wing agreed in a laboured voice. “Harry’s a… most skilled healer. She can direct regen fields to work super well and super fast.”
Darsey sagged and stopped fighting her com's restraint. Thoughts fluttered randomly through her healing head. Great, great, great, she’s pretty and smart, just great.
She jumped again when Harrier leaned forward to cup Darsey’s face in a pair of golden hands. She frowned up at the healer, but Harrier’s eyes were shut while she concentrated on the regen field. “We’re near done,” she reassured her patient, who shifted irritably in her grip.
“What about Wing?” Darsey demanded, but Harrier had no chance to answer.
“Go,” Nightwing interrupted hoarsely. “Quick-as. T’ssaa.”
Darsey moved before Harrier could react, pushing aside the physician’s hands. The human twisted to crouch beside Wing and her jaw tightened at what she saw. His usually bronzed complexion was pale and there was blood on his lips. “C’mon, hero,” she ordered, “up you get.” She leaned forward to slip an arm under his neck, but a look from him stopped her.
“Go,” he gasped again. “Go now. I’ll follow.”
“You can't,” Harrier stated bleakly. “Not yet and I never-times leave a patient.” She knelt beside Darsey and gave her an authoritative look. “You can escape, though. Run quick and you’ll be safe. We kres can care for ourselves.”
Darsey snorted in response. “And you’ll fight off the t’ssaa, Doc? I don’t think so.”
“Both go,” Wing rasped and raised his commed wrist to show a visual of t’ssaa plummeting toward them.
Darsey recognised the square with the Bizzare Bazaar and realized the pursuers were almost on them. They had to flee, but Wing wasn’t going anywhere.
40
On The Run
“Too late,” Darsey snapped, and moved to Wing’s head to grasp him under the arms. She backed up fast, dragging him with com-enhanced strength. She pulled the kres under a ramp leading to a higher level, and Harrier squeezed into its illusory shelter with them.
“Stay,” Darsey ordered, and crawled over Wing back toward the open deck. However, before she could duck out from under the ramp, a hand gripped her wrist. The grasp was hard enough to stop her, hard enough to hurt, and she frowned back at Wing.
“No,” his lips shaped, but she shook her head.
“Have to.”
“Can’t we surrender?” Harrier wondered. “Don’t they wish to catch us alive?”
“Not Wing as a whole and not me,” Darsey pointed out, and tried to leave again, but Nightwing was holding her with desperate strength.