The guard pointed at Seb and yelled something he couldn’t quite make out. Not that he needed to hear the words to get his intention. “Come on!” he said, his voice raised as adrenaline lit the touch paper inside him. He ran at the nearby crowd, shoving several of them aside on his way through. The others followed him when he darted beneath a large ship to the shops and alleyways beyond it. From the sound of the footsteps behind them, the guards had given chase.
CHAPTER 41
Seb focused on an alley running between two shops in front of him. The same alley he’d ducked down when he’d had SA on his tail the last time he’d visited Aloo. If only he’d known then what he knew now. Everything would have been easier had he had her company from the beginning.
When he got to the entrance, Seb stood aside and looked back at his friends. SA, as always, moved like a gazelle—graceful, fast, and utterly calm as if she could run forever. Sparks’ little legs pumped, and for someone of her size, she had no right moving as fast as she did. Bruke had a wide frame to shift, so he took up the rear.
As SA got close, Seb called loud enough for her and Sparks to hear. “See you on the other side. I’m going to wait for Bruke.”
Before Bruke could get to him, Seb saw the first few of the Shadow Order guards emerge from beneath the large ship they’d ducked under. A mismatch of creatures, some ran on all fours, but most were bipedal. Some were taller than Seb and wider than Bruke, others smaller than Sparks. He recognised many of the faces but knew none of them by name.
By the time Bruke ran into the alley, Seb got a measure of exactly what chased them. Like he’d seen in the spaceport, there were about twenty in the pack. They all had blasters, but none of them had drawn them yet. Nobody needed to die today, but Seb needed to come up with a better plan than run. Especially as he’d told SA and Sparks to keep going. But climbing into the sewers might not work with so many guards on their tail. They wouldn’t have the time to get out of sight.
The sound of his own exhausted breaths came back at Seb as he tore up the alley. They accompanied the slam of Bruke’s clumsy steps and, ahead of them, SA and Sparks’ escape.
Although the twisting alleyway stood between them and their pursuers, Seb could hear the creatures behind them. And because he moved at Bruke’s pace, they were catching up. Taking a deep breath, he shouted ahead, his voice echoing through the alley. “Sparks, I need you to do something to slow them down.”
She didn’t reply, but Seb heard the pip of what sounded like an explosive being armed. He didn’t need to know any more than that. “Pick up the pace, Bruke.”
Everything still moved in real time for Seb. No advantage to slowing things down. It made it easier to communicate with his team at normal speed. Especially with them running like they were.
Several more sharp turns through the alleyway, Seb watched Bruke take each one, pushing off the walls to cope with the sudden shifts in direction.
They rounded another corner and Seb saw it. A small disc had been stuck against the brickwork. A red light pulsed in time with a pipping sound, the pips getting closer together.
A second after Bruke and Seb had passed the device, the pips turned into a continuous beep.
The thunder of footsteps following them through the alley stopped. A cry of “Explosive!” sounded out.
The air dragged on Seb’s back, but not enough to slow his progress. It suddenly changed direction, shoving him forwards into Bruke, making him trip and take down his friend in the process. Both of them fell forward out of the alley on the other side as a blast of fire ran over their heads. It burned itself out as a churning mass above them, the heat lifting sweat on Seb’s skin.
For the next few seconds, Seb remained on top of his friend, panting from the run and touching the back of his head to see if he still had all of his hair. He then turned to look at the alley to see the walls had collapsed, the bricks blocking the path of anything on their tail. Sparks and SA were getting to their feet about ten metres ahead of them.
“It won’t take them long to get through that,” Seb said as he stood up and groaned, his body aching from the fall. He helped Bruke up. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”
CHAPTER 42
A large expanse of open ground lay between the exit to the alley and Aloo’s fighting pit. SA and Sparks had opened up a good lead. Seb gave chase with Bruke close behind him.
It looked like SA was headed for the arena. Before Seb could say anything to her, another explosion sounded out behind them. A look back and he saw the Shadow Order guards had blown their way through the blockage. They couldn’t go into the pit now. They’d trap them in there like they’d done to the guards on Carstic.
With SA so close to the pit, Seb called through to her, Keep going. Don’t go in there.
Why not?
Look behind.
To watch the bioluminescent stare of his love widen in horror showed Seb all he needed to see. She got exactly why not and ran past the pit’s entrance. Find a way into the sewers that’ll give us enough time to get down there without them seeing us.
Quite a few seconds behind SA and Sparks, Seb and Bruke finally ran around the pit after them. The sight robbed Seb of his momentum and he ground to a halt. Nothing but choppy dark sea in front of them. “Damn!”
As he stared at the large body of water, the salty wind stinging his skin and leaving the taste of it on his tongue, Seb shook his head. “We’re screwed. We should have found a manhole sooner than this.” Then he looked at the others. “You guys go. Swim out to sea and you’ll be fine.”
None of them showed any sign of leaving Seb there. Before he could argue with them, the stampede of a small army rounded the corner.
Seb faced the mismatch of Shadow Order guards and stepped back towards the water. The mist from where the sea broke got thrown against him, swirling around him on the breeze. A cold line of pinpricks, it helped cool him a little after his run.
A deep breath to slow his world down, Seb pulled one of his weapons from his pocket. To see the sword’s handle made his frame sink. Wrong weapon. He reached for his blaster but couldn’t find it. He must have dropped it.
Seb pressed the button on the handle of his laser sword and the purple blade sprang from the hilt.
What appeared to be the leader of the group—a frant with long arms and a thick jaw—looked at Seb for a second before her top lip raised in mirth. “What’s that?”
A couple of the others next to her snorted laughs at Seb and his weapon.
Maybe Seb could take them down on his own with the sword, but he’d need to get closer. To do that, he’d have to avoid a barrage of laser fire. Not even he could dodge that many hostiles trying to shoot him.
“Look,” the lead guard said to Bruke, SA, and Sparks. “We’ve been sent to retrieve Seb. We don’t want a fight and we don’t want to hurt anyone.” The smirk of a second ago returned and she looked at Seb’s sword. “Besides, it wouldn’t be fair for us to pick a fight against someone with a weapon like that.” The others chuckled again.
A clenched jaw and tight grip on his sword, Seb nearly told them to screw themselves, but Sparks walked past him at that moment, crashing into him on her way through.
The small Thrystian removed her earpiece and put her mini-computer in her back pocket. “You don’t need to worry about fighting us,” she said. “We’re going to hand him over.”
A twist of nervous adrenaline ran through Seb’s stomach and Bruke said, “Whaaa … ?”
When Sparks turned back and looked at Seb, disgust twisted her small features. “I mean, look at him. He’s supposed to be our leader and he pulls out a weapon like that. Does he think he’s some kind of pirate or something?”
Seb’s head spun to be on the receiving end of Sparks’ vitriol. More of the Shadow Order guards laughed.
“I dunno about you two,” Sparks said to SA and Bruke, “but this clown hardly fills me with the confidence a leader should instill.”
As she turn
ed back to the Shadow Order soldiers, Sparks pointed one of her long fingers at them. “I mean, you lot need to watch out. I’ve heard he has a pack of cocktail sticks in his other pocket, he might throw a few of them your way if his sword doesn’t work out.”
Over half of the guards were now laughing at Seb. Heat spread through his cheeks. Such a tight clench to his teeth they hurt, he opened his mouth to reply, but SA cut him off.
Don’t.
But she’s making a fool of me.
Go with it.
What has she said to you?
Go with it.
It helped Seb calm down a little as he continued to watch Sparks. If SA said he could trust her, that was all he needed.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard of the mighty Seb Zodo before.” She had the guards in the palm of her hand as she turned and stared straight at Seb. “I’m talking to you, by the way. Because if you have, you’re certainly not living up to his legacy.”
Nearly every one of the guards had broken into hysterical laughter. They were so preoccupied they probably didn’t notice it. Seb did, though. The slightest glance from his small friend up to the sky behind him.
At that moment, Sparks jumped out of the way and Seb threw his sword at the Shadow Order soldiers. They stopped laughing and parted as the blade spun through the middle of them, narrowly avoiding several of them on its twirling trajectory.
A loud whoosh then sounded out and a ship appeared as if from nowhere. Seb saw Reyes piloting it through the large front windshield.
As Sparks ran back towards the others, Reyes lit up the ground with a spray of bullets. None of them hit the Shadow Order soldiers, but they forced them back far enough.
When Reyes stopped shooting, she spun her ship around, showing the open back to them as she dropped the vessel low enough for them to climb on.
Although Seb got there first, he waited for Bruke, SA, and Sparks to jump on. The doors closed when he leaped inside. He watched the Shadow Order guards aim their blasters at him. The shots hit the ship after the doors had closed, ineffective against the tough bodywork.
Seb fell into the nearest seat. A look at SA, Bruke, and then Sparks, he laughed. “As much as I don’t want to say this after the roasting I just got; well done, Sparks.”
The small Sparks winked at him. “I figured I owed you that after you deserted us.”
Then calling up to Reyes, Seb said, “I was worried you might have screwed us over.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
“Yeah, well, I have trust issues.”
Reyes didn’t reply, so Seb leaned back into the padding of his seat as she flew them away from there. Best to make the most of what would no doubt be a very short window of rest.
CHAPTER 43
“Damn!” Reyes said, the tone in her voice forcing Seb to snap straight in his seat. Not that he’d dozed off, but he’d certainly come close.
A look at SA, Seb quickly found his bearings and called to the front of the ship, “What? What is it?”
When he didn’t get an immediate response, Seb stood up and moved up the gangway to find Reyes pointing at a screen. It showed what was happening behind them at that moment.
Seb dashed to the back window. The sight forced him to exhale hard and he shook his head. “Damn! Guys, we’ve got company.”
Although Sparks got to Seb first, she couldn’t see out of the back window. “How many?”
If Seb picked her up, she’d see perfectly, but she’d probably swing for him too. A rough count of the ships, he said, “Fifteen. Maybe one or two more.” Another quick check. “No. Fifteen exactly.”
SA and Bruke were both on their feet, looking at Seb as if awaiting instruction. The ship had two turrets on the back of it, one on either side of the rear exit. It also had a laser on the front. While pointing at the turret on the right, Seb said, “SA, you take that one. I’ll take the other rear-facer. Sparks, you need to get on the blaster up front.”
“What do you need me to do?” Bruke said.
Already running towards the left of the two rear-facing guns, Seb said, “Be available for anyone who needs your help.”
The world in slow motion before him, Seb jumped into the turret’s seat and slipped a helmet on. It had comms built into it. “Can you all hear me?”
“Yep,” Sparks said.
“Yep,” Reyes echoed.
Yes, came SA’s sweet and calm tone.
Locked into place, Seb gripped both handles of his turret, pulled in a deep breath, and said, “Right, let’s do this.”
A line of fifteen ships, they were the Shadow Order’s latest fleet. Shaped like arrowheads, all of them were identical. They were sleek, chrome, and looked like they could turn on a speck of space dust. Every one of them could out dogfight the ship they were currently in, although their blasters might not be up to much against Reyes’ ship’s shields. Either way, Reyes’ flying skills would be well and truly put to the test.
When the ships drew closer and opened fire, Seb and SA let rip in response.
“I’d rather it didn’t come to this,” Seb said, “but they’re shooting to take us down.” Green blasts flew from their guns. They scored several hits, the arrowheads exploding from the blasts. Not so hard to take a few down with fifteen of them so close together. A shot in the general direction had to hit something.
For the briefest of seconds, Seb paused to watch the pilots from each of the destroyed ships. A spherical force field surrounded them and they floated in space, unharmed and harmless without their craft. If they were to return to the Shadow Order once they’d investigated the parasite, it would be good to go back knowing no one had died because of them. Moses could always invest in more ships. He had the credits.
The turret continued to shake with Seb’s blasts, but as the ships spread out, he found them harder to take down.
Each green blast Seb sent away from him went off like a cannon. A deep boom with every powerful shot. The ten remaining ships rushed at them, fearless on account of the force fields that would save their lives. No such protection for Seb and his crew. Although, some of the Shadow Order’s ship’s red blasts had already hit them and had little success against their force field. But how many shots before they did?
“Guess Moses doesn’t care if we live or die now,” Seb called out.
Sparks’ voice came through next. “Maybe he’s decided to cut his losses and be done with us.”
Another ship exploded to their right. Another force field filled with a shocked pilot like a fish in a bowl. “Well done, SA,” Seb called into his headset. “Six down, nine left.”
As the nine rushed in their direction, Reyes flipped the ship on its side, throwing Seb up so he sat highest of them all.
The arrowheads ran dangerously close to them as they passed, and Seb flinched in anticipation of one of them crashing into them. The collision would be as fatal for both of them. The Shadow Order’s force fields wouldn’t do well because when they were triggered, they blew their ship’s broken shells away from them. If they had another ship exploding next to them, the pilot might get taken out by burning shrapnel.
A moment’s pause, Seb wiped the sweat from his eyes. The sound of Sparks screamed through the radio. The nine ships were on her side now.
Several explosions, fire and debris in the air, Seb watched three more pilots float past in protective bubbles.
Sparks shouted, “Six to go.”
Reyes levelled the ship out, the sharp movement throwing Seb down again and leaving his stomach up where he’d been seconds before. “Get ready,” she called. “They’re coming back.”
But the arrowheads were too fast and neither Seb nor SA hit a single one as the six soared over them. They pelted their ship with red laser fire, but their shield continued to hold.
“We’ll get them on the next pass,” Seb said as he watched all six arrowheads throw U-turns in the sky. But instead of rushing them again, the six moved closer together. “What are they doing?”
/> “They’re forming,” Reyes said.
“They’re what?”
But before she could answer, the six crafts had pulled into two tight rows of three. They hovered in that formation.
Reyes shouted through the communication system again, “They know their blasts won’t take us down on their own.”
Although Seb sent a line of shots at the six—the rattle of his turret blurring his vision—they were too far out of their range for him to do any damage.
Instead of firing back, the six all sent a single continuous line of red light from their blasters. It gathered in the same spot in front of them, growing and turning into a glowing ball like a mini sun.
“Oh shit,” Reyes said.
Seb fought for breath. “Oh shit, what? What is it?”
But Reyes didn’t answer. Instead she shouted, “Hold on!”
The red ball exploded towards them, a beam of laser—as thick as the six ships combined—came straight at them. Seb heard SA’s voice a moment before it made contact. Not quite goodbye, but as good as.
I love you.
CHAPTER 44
The brightness of the explosion blinded Seb and he felt the power in their ship fail. The throb of the vessel’s great engines dissipated. Silence filled the space.
Seb rubbed his eyes to encourage his sight back and shouted, “Is everyone okay?”
Nothing through his headset. The power had gone.
SA, my love. Are you okay?
I’m fine.
It eased Seb a little to hear her. Thank god. His vision slowly returned to see the ship much darker than it had been moments before. What just happened?
We lost power.
Now Seb could see, he watched the six ships behind them charge another red blast, ready to shoot them again.
This one will take us down, SA said.
Fugitive: A Space Opera: Book Five of The Shadow Order Page 15