Fugitive: A Space Opera: Book Five of The Shadow Order

by Michael Robertson

  The creature wore a deep scowl and moved with a heavy gait. At least nine feet tall, it looked like a Sasquatch but red. Bright red. Hard to miss it in a crowd, especially when it strode directly at him. Anticipation sent the air around him electric, and Seb noticed some of the others watching the inevitable coming together.

  As the monster drew close, Seb watched its entire large frame tense. It then twisted slightly, pulling its right shoulder back.

  Its jaw clenched, its eyes narrowed, the crimson yeti scowled as it brought the right half of its body towards Seb.

  Before it could connect with him, Seb jumped to the side. The air created by the red beast’s swing pulled on his clothes as it whooshed past him.

  Although Seb continued walking as if nothing had happened, he glanced over his shoulder in time to see the brute stumble into a family of hairy creatures with blasters. Even the children drew their weapons, the red creature raising its long arms defensively.

  Seb dipped his head into the strong breeze and quickened his pace. Although he watched the ground, he threw the occasional glance around him. Shoulder barges were fine. Sure, they hurt, but he could deal with them. If it didn’t escalate from there, he’d be okay. It also suggested he didn’t have a bounty on his head. Surely something more would have happened by now if he did.

  Another paranoid sweep of the area and Seb saw it. A shot of adrenaline forced a gasp from him. Through the crowd, in the shadow cast by one of the larger freighters, stood a figure. Maybe no different to many of the other figures around him—bipedal, similar proportions to a human, hell, it might even be a human—but he couldn’t ignore the feeling he had when he looked at them. The same feeling that had followed him since he’d gotten out of Owsk’s sub. The sense of someone sent by the Shadow Order to watch him. To bring him back to Moses. The crowd might not want him yet, but this creature certainly did. It had to be the same one he’d seen at the warehouse.

  Ships still lined either side of the walkway, funnelling the sea breeze along it and casting the crowd in shadow. One of the largest vessels he’d seen had parked to Seb’s right. A slow and subtle change of direction, he eased himself towards it. If he could get close enough, he could get under it and into the streets beyond before the silhouette twigged.

  At first, the silhouette showed no sign of reading Seb’s intention. He weaved and twisted to negotiate the crowded walkway, his heart rate lifting with the desire to run. The creatures around him still stared, but now he’d seen Moses’ spy, they already seemed much less intimidating.

  By the time Seb got close to the freighter, his body wound tight with his desire to get the hell out of there. He looked at the silhouette again. Something had changed in its form. It looked to have tensed slightly, like it had become more alert as it watched him.

  He couldn’t wait any longer. Seb shoved the first creature in front of him out of his way. The fat slug-like thing fell over from his push. The air around him lit up with indignation, cries of unrest and shock. Abuse aimed at his species.

  Before they had a chance to lynch him, Seb burst free from the crowd and ran for the large freighter. When he looked behind, he saw the silhouette had given chase.

  CHAPTER 12

  The hairy little creatures guarding the large ship Seb ran at might have been small, but when they filed out of the ship’s open cargo bay, they made up for in number what they lacked in size.

  Little black eyes, they stared an intent at Seb that suggested they would destroy him—and he believed they felt that. Not that they’d be able to back it up in any way. Sure, they had sharp little teeth and attitudes that looked like they thought they could take over the galaxy, but it wasn’t the first time he’d encountered diminutive creatures with illusions well beyond their abilities.

  But Seb hadn’t noticed the large block to the side of their cargo bay. Not until two of the creatures whipped the sheet away. He suddenly saw how they intended to back up their hostility. The confidence he’d felt only moments earlier drained from him, and he couldn’t take his eyes from the large wheeled cannon they’d now revealed. “Damn,” he muttered.

  The small beasts worked as a team. Each no larger than a domestic cat, they moved as if all of them were connected to a hive mind. Four of them manoeuvred the base of the cannon to help aim it at Seb. Two of them jumped up onto the weapon and adjusted the barrel’s trajectory. The two remaining critters stood on either side of the cannon. They held a pole between them, one on each end. To fire the weapon, it looked like they both needed to pull at the same time.

  Even in slow motion they moved fast, but Seb kept running at them, the fat barrel of the cannon pointing straight at him. The screech of what must have been the lead critter gave him a warning.

  “Halt, or we’ll shoot.”

  When Seb looked over his shoulder, he saw the silhouette. Still unable to identify it, he could see it closing down on him. Halt and he’d get dragged back to Moses and the Shadow Order’s base. Whoever chased him, if they came with Moses’ backing, they’d be ready to take him down in whatever way they needed to. Be it a net made from chains or something similar, Moses would have made sure they were prepared to deal with Seb’s abilities.

  Already breathing heavily from the run, Seb pushed on as he charged at the critters. He shook his head at them but said nothing. No time for a debate.

  The giant cannon had a barrel at least four feet long. It looked capable of issuing a laser blast large enough to vaporise his head. His steel-lined fists would do nothing against it. The two critters on top of it continued to make quick adjustments. Just metres separated them and Seb now. Slow motion helped, but he’d have to keep his wits to outsmart the tiny monsters.

  A bright flash went off to Seb’s right. It took his attention. Then a voice rang through his head. The loud instruction went off in his mind like a bomb.

  “Down!”

  So assertive, Seb followed it without thinking and dropped to the ground, rolling on the hard concrete. It reminded him of the kicking he’d only recently had from the mandulus, his face hurting the most, but the rest of his body still sore as it impacted the solid surface.

  As Seb rolled over and over, he saw the cannon kick, throwing the two critters off the fat barrel. The blast started as a red streak and then spread to twenty times the width. A large and flat disc of light designed to cut something in two flew over him. The flash to his right had been done to distract him. The beam would have cleaved through him had the voice not shouted at him.

  Seb rolled to a halt and watched the disc spin into the sky on an upwards trajectory. Although it would have taken him down, it travelled over the heads of those out in the spaceport and up into the sky. Then he saw the silhouette of his pursuer again.

  Already aching from his day, Seb jumped back to his feet and ran at the critters and their cannon. The eight little creatures gawked at him as he passed, their tiny mouths forming perfect Os of shock. No time to fight back, Seb booted the one closest to him for good measure. It felt like kicking a deflated football, and he sent it spinning back into the hull of their large cargo ship. Hopefully it didn’t kill it, but they needed to learn their lesson.

  After he’d passed beneath the ship and burst out the other side, Seb looked at the line of shops in front of him. A dark alleyway ran between two of them. The entrance to a rat run of walkways, it had to be the best place to lose his tail. He just needed to maintain enough of a lead to keep the advantage. Gritted teeth, sweat pumping from him, and breathing hard, he dug deep and found a little more speed.

  The thoughts of the voice in his head clouded his mind, but he shook them away. When he found safety, he could think about what had happened. Definitely not his own voice, but if he was losing the plot, he needed to deal with that once he’d gotten away from whatever chased him.

  CHAPTER 13

  The second Seb entered the alleyway, the slap of his footsteps bounced off the high walls and echoed away from him into the darkness. The noise made him a
n easy target to follow.

  Upon rounding the first corner, dodging a couple of creatures that reminded him of large caterpillars, Seb saw a shop that looked familiar. Still at full tilt, his lungs tight, his feet slamming down against the hard ground, it took for him to watch it for a few seconds before it sank in. The shop Sparks had killed the electricity in. It almost made him smile. Were he not trying to get away from Moses’ bounty hunter, his sore face contorting with the effort of his run, then he would have.

  Several more twists and turns led to several more near collisions with beasts of every shape and size. Seb’s legs ached to the point where he felt the strength draining from them. He couldn’t keep this up indefinitely. The sound of his own struggle ran through him as he fought for breath. It prevented him from hearing whether he still had a pursuer or not. Safer to assume he did.

  Just as Seb passed a kitchen on his left, a loud hiss burst from an open window. He jumped away from it. Without breaking stride, he looked back to see a cloud of steam. It stopped him seeing the table laden with fruit and veg in front of him. When he clattered into it, the cheap wooden structure broke, sending him and all of the stock sprawling.

  A monster of a creature with a horn in the centre of its face burst from the shop. Its features twisted into a contorted mess of fury. By the time it had opened its mouth to roar at him, Seb had already jumped to his feet and run off again. He called out, “Sorry,” as if it would make a difference.

  A moment to think when the alleyway straightened out, Seb’s body wobbled from the demands he put on it. He had to do something other than run.

  When he rounded the next bend, Seb stopped and rested against a cold wall. The wind from the sea barrelled through the tight walkways, blowing his hair back and cooling the sweat on his forehead.

  Then Seb heard it.

  Distant, but clearly the slap of his pursuer’s feet. Impossible to tell and probably more a reflection of his exhaustion, but they sounded like they could run forever.

  Seb’s chest rose and fell with his heavy breaths. His heart beat so hard it felt like it would burst. He couldn’t keep up this pace, but should he fight the creature? If it had been sent by Moses, it would be harder to beat than most.

  A manhole cover sat nestled in the ground by Seb’s feet. The sewers had been far from a pleasant experience the last time he went into them. Although, compared to the ones on Solsans, they were a stroll in a meadow.

  The sound of his pursuer grew louder.

  After another round of deep breaths to try to recover, Seb darted over to the metal circle and dragged it free. He bit down on his bottom lip as the large disc scraped over the concrete ground. A fine balance between removing it and not giving himself away.

  The cover halfway clear of the hole gave Seb enough of a gap to squeeze through. The collective smell of a thousand creatures’ excrement rushed up at him. It hit him on the back of his throat like two strong fingers and he gagged. Another look in the direction of his pursuer. Still no sign of them, but they sounded close. The last roll of the dice, he’d hide down below. If they followed him in there, he’d have to stand toe to toe with them.

  Another quick scan around, Seb then slipped backwards into the sewers.

  The temperature dropped as Seb descended. The metal ladder rungs were frigid and damp with condensation.

  Once Seb had climbed low enough, the smells increasing with every inch he dropped down, he pulled the metal cover back in place. The same scraping noise as before: metal against concrete. Hopefully he’d done it quietly enough to keep his whereabouts hidden. The sewers were lit up. Only a weak glow, but enough to guide his way now he’d shut the light out above him.

  At the bottom, the sound of rushing water louder than before, Seb waited and stared up. The back of his neck ached from looking straight up the ladder he’d descended, but he had to be sure he wasn’t being followed before he moved on.

  It only took a few seconds until the heavy stamps of something running over the manhole cover clattered above. Seb watched it, waiting for a spotlight as the cover was pulled back, but it never came. He heaved a relieved sigh. Maybe he’d gotten away.

  A few hours to kill before he returned to Buster, Seb walked away from the ladders and delved deeper into the sewers. A walkway ran along the side of the river, the shitty water about a metre below.

  The sewers in Aloo were similar to the ones in Solsans in many ways. But Aloo’s sewers had lighting, albeit weak lighting. Dim bulbs sat encased in dirty glass domes every ten metres or so. It showed Moses understood the need for infrastructure and some level of investment. Even if that level could have been much higher. Better to build and maintain a sewer than risk an epidemic.

  If Seb wanted to remain hidden, he’d have to tolerate the damp stench of shit and mould. But if it meant avoiding the Shadow Order’s complex until he had answers, he’d stay down there for days.

  Now Seb had stopped running, the aches and pains from the beating he’d taken in the docks, combined with the fatigue from his run, caught up with him. Were he to stop at that moment, he wouldn’t move again, so he plodded on, his steps heavy, his legs leaden.

  Seb’s breaths finally levelled out as he rounded the next corner. Although the sewage ran a loud course in the canal, he heard something else and stopped. Just to be sure, he held his breath and listened again. Voices. High-pitched voices. Either children or tiny creatures. Either way, they sounded distressed.

  Then it came back to him. So much had happened since he’d been down there last, what they’d experienced previously had slipped his mind. The being traffickers. Had they returned?

  His back against the cold and damp wall, Seb slid along it and edged towards the sound. When he got close to the next bend, he stopped and listened to a voice close by.

  “Shut up,” it barked, its deep baritone booming through the sewer’s tunnels.

  Where the small voices had been just noises until that moment, Seb’s heart twisted to hear one of them cry, “I want my mummy.” It drew the breath from his lungs. It took all he had not to charge around the corner.

  “You’re dreaming if you think you’re going back to her, boy.” This time a gruff female voice.

  Another female added, “You’d best get used to a life without her.”

  At least three beings around the corner, they all laughed. Their collective cackle sounded like sewage catching in a drain.

  The sobs of what sounded like more than one child called through the sewers. The haunting call of loneliness. Of fear. Of losing hope.

  When Seb peered around the corner, he saw a line of four small cages. Each one had two children in it. At least, they looked like children. The one that had spoken clearly was. Not many adults cried for their mummy, no matter how dire the situation. Three slavers stood in front of them, staring in at the wretched things. They all looked like they were the same species as the porcupine creature Buster had drowned. One of them raised a metal pole, stepped close to the sobbing child, stuck it through the bars, and jabbed it hard in the ribs.

  The child yipped and withdrew to another round of cackling laughter.

  Seb had only come down into the sewers to hide. To kill a few hours before Buster told him more about the parasite. He didn’t need to get involved in this. It would save him a lot of hassle if he just walked away. Slavery happened. Everywhere. Jeopardising what he had to do wouldn’t change that. Maybe he could tell Buster about it when he saw him. Yes, that would work. Buster sorted things like this out for a living. He’d know how to best deal with it.

  Seb pulled away from the bend, turned his back on the traumatised children, and strode off in the other direction. Then he heard one of the slavers say, “Anyway, your mum’s dead,” and he stopped in his tracks.

  The word that rang through his mind in the spaceport returned to him. Down! The female voice. The voice he didn’t recognise. Or had maybe forgotten. It had been so long since he’d heard it. It had to be her. It had to be—

&
nbsp; “Mummy,” the child cried out again.

  CHAPTER 14

  Seb clenched his steel fists as he looked back at the bend he’d just peered around. A quickened pulse, he clamped his jaw and headed back towards the slavers and their victims. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t walk away from this.

  Unlike his last approach, Seb showed zero caution as he strode around the bend. He appeared in plain sight of the three creatures and caged children.

  The child who’d called for its mum—a green frog creature—lay huddled in a ball. It whimpered but didn’t call out anymore. A deep breath to slow his world down, Seb watched one of the other children point at him.

  As one, the slaves and slavers looked at Seb.

  A brief glance at the incarcerated children, Seb then shook his head as he took in the porcupine beasts. All three of the fat little things were brown and wore dirty sneers on their devious little faces. The tallest—if tall should even be used when considering the odd species—barely made it to four feet. It held the metal pole it had prodded the child with.

  “There’s nothing to see here,” it said.

  “That normally works, does it?” A nod past the creatures at the cages, Seb said, “Looks like there’s plenty to see here.”

  The place looked like an underground plaza. The shitty water ran around the outside of the square of raised rock like a moat. Before the creature could reply to him, Seb strode directly towards it, closing down the few metres that separated them. Although he could have drawn his blaster, he kept it tucked into his belt. He hadn’t come here to kill anything.

  “Don’t say we didn’t warn you,” the tall one said, brandishing its weapon. At that moment, all three of them doubled in size. Not that any of them grew taller. Instead, their flat spines popped out in every direction, turning them into deadly balls. The two that didn’t have poles raised their fists to fight.