The Johnson Run

by Kai O'Connal

 

 

 

 

  By now the elf was only a few strides away, and he caught sight of Keandra despite her keeping her head down and hiding her face behind her hair. She cursed when he pointed at her, and the security guards stepped around him with their guns held at the ready. It didn’t look like this would end peacefully.

  “Keandra Tiernay, you are ordered to accompany us.”

  “For what reason?”

  “A corporate official wishes to speak with you.”

  “I thought the airport was exempt from corporate regulation. It falls under governmental policy. Or are you telling me that the corporations now have sovereign power over government property as well as their own spaces?”

  The guards hesitated and glanced at each other. It couldn’t escape their notice that a crowd formed around them. That was good for Keandra and would work to her advantage. They’d be less willing to push the issue with a bunch of innocent bystanders about. Especially when such an issue would infringe on corporate and governmental policies, both as convoluted as the circuit diagram for a simsense module.

  “Would you please accompany us? There’s no need for this to get ugly.”

  “So you’re asking now. That’s a pleasant change, rather than demanding that I relinquish my rights and go along with you because some corporation expects my compliance.”

  The elf shouldered through the crowd and drew up next to one of the security guards, cupping his hand around his mouth and whispering in the guard’s ear. Whatever he said must have had an effect, because the guard raised his weapon and chambered a round, leveling the barrel at Keandra’s head.

  “You will come with us now.”

  Several people gasped. A few turned and ran, knocking over others or falling down themselves. But most of the crowd remained to watch, filled with a morbid curiosity and unable to leave the scene.

  Paz moved into position behind the guards and the elf, reaching into the bag containing her gun. Keandra stood and held her hands out on either side of her head, showing that she surrendered. Paz backed down, slinking back behind the crowd.

  “Very well. There’s no need for violence.”

  One of the guards took the lead next to the elf, while the guard who had threatened her marched behind her as they headed back out of the terminal. The horde of people at the security line watched as she was marched out at gunpoint.

  Once they got past security and entered the front lobby, the elf turned and headed for one of the exits, forcing the others to follow. Outside the door, Keandra saw a limousine with the fake maître d’ from Elliot’s as the driver.

  Fearing they might be watching her AR, she pulled out her commlink, keeping it in front of her body so it was shielded from her escort. She typed a quick message before dropping it back into her pocket.

 

  Keandra didn’t dare move until she had backup. She marched along, trying to keep her pace steady and not think too much about the gun right behind her. When she slowed, the guard prodded her forward with the muzzle of his weapon. Her feet scuffed the floor as she hurried to quicken the pace.

  All the lights in the terminal went out, dropping the entire front lobby into darkness. The only lights were those on cars just outside the front entrance. People screamed in panic, and Keandra took advantage of the chaos. She dropped to her hands and knees, ducking her head to make sure she was clear of the weapon. Kicking out with her back feet, she knocked the guard onto his side. The impact of his body with the ground made him squeeze the trigger and bullets ripped into the air in front of her. Someone cried out in pain, but it was impossible to see who was hit.

  A hand grabbed her arm and she jerked away, rolling to the side and scrambling to her feet. She couldn’t see anything more than a meter or two ahead of her. People rushed all around her, a couple knocking into her in their panic and almost bowling her over. She stumbled, but kept her balance. Keandra rushed in the direction of the terminal wall, trying to get out of the main thoroughfare. The planes would never take off now, so there was no point in going back through the security station.

  “Boss, this way!”

  Paz’s call came from her left side. Keandra turned toward it, rushing in what she hoped was the right direction. After a few steps, Paz grabbed her wrist, pulling her along through the terminal.

  “Where’s E-jekt?”

  Keandra had to shout to be heard over the chaos all around them. Paz turned and looked halfway over her shoulder, shouting back. She didn’t slow her pace as she made for the stairs that led to the sky bridge.

  “Sent him ahead. He should already be in the parking structure by now. Old man’s slow, but not that slow.”

  “What happened to the lights?”

  “Our little computer boy shut them down. Said he saw you were in trouble, and wanted to give you a chance to get away. Glad he’s on our side.”

  By now they’d reached the stairs and Paz ran up them, using her cyberlegs to vault them four at a time. The lights in the sky bridge still worked, so Keandra no longer needed to be led by the hand. She sprinted upstairs as fast as she could, but couldn’t keep up despite her height advantage. A group of people huddled near the top of the stairs, staring down into the darkness, obviously trying to figure out what was going on.

  Paz waited for Keandra to join her and then they ran across the bridge heading to the parking structure. Before they reached it, a group of three guards fanned out in front of them, blocking the entrance. They raised their guns and Keandra slid to a stop, lifting her hands over her head. Paz planted her heel, carving a chunk out of the ground as she stopped and anchored herself. She still held her bag with the handle hooked over her thumb as she also lifted her hands.

  “Halt! If you attempt to continue, we will open fire!”

  A black blur dropped down behind the guard in the center and cut through his back, slicing his armor and spraying blood to the side as he fell on his face. Lance kicked at the other guard focused on Keandra, and he fell to the ground, firing his gun on the way down. The shots went wide, piercing one of the panes of glass on the sky bridge.

  Paz burst into motion, piercing the bag with her cyberarm and reaching through to grab her gun without bothering to remove it. She fired, and bullets burst out of the canvas container, hitting the sentry in the chest. He returned fire, getting a couple shots off before the impact knocked him down, groaning and rolling. Paz did her best to dodge, but took a few grazing shots to her arm and another bullet ricocheted off her right cyberleg.

  Keandra and Paz rushed forward, catching up to Lance just as he knocked out the final guard with a chokehold. He dropped the limp body and cleaned his sword and then tucked it back into its sheath. “I got your messages and found E-jekt in the parking lot. It seemed like you might require some assistance.”

  “Talk later. Now we need to get out of here.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Back to Seattle. To the train station. My backup plan.”

  Paz ripped her gun out of the bag as they ran, brandishing it in plain view. It cleared everyone out of their path and gave them a clear sprint to the stairs.

  “How many of those do you have?” Keandra asked as she slid her hands down the banisters of the stairs, clearing five or six at a time as she swung forward. Even still, she had difficulties keeping up with her enhanced companions.

  “Hopefully enough!”

  As she dropped over the last few steps to the ground, Keandra’s feet slid on the smooth surface and she tumbled forward. She’d have bruises and she’d scraped skin off in a few places, but her adrenaline was pumping hard enough that the pain bare
ly registered. She scrambled up and lurched forward just as she heard the metallic clatter of a grenade behind her. Out of habit she closed her eyes, barreling forward blindly. A loud disorienting series of pops sounded, the actinic flare flowering behind her eyelids. Now that the danger had passed, she opened her eyes just in time to swerve around a parking barricade.

  Ahead of her, Paz veered to the left while Lance cut right. Keandra followed Paz. While she’d done it before, she had no wish to ride on the back of Lance’s bike, especially during what could turn into a high-speed chase. The van sounded like a much more practical option.

  Now that they’d put some distance between themselves and the terminal, the shouts and chaos faded to a distant din. In their place, Keandra heard the sounds of several armored people running after her. They shouted, but she didn’t pay attention to what they said. They could’ve been barking orders at each other or demanding that she stop, but she didn’t care. She ignored it, keeping her attention focused on running, breathing, and following the dwarf.

  Two rows over, Paz ducked behind a row of cars. Keandra followed her and saw the van in the middle of the aisle. It faced away from them, ready for a hasty exit. E-jekt must have gotten it into position. The back doors flew open, revealing the grizzled ork waving at them to join him. In his other hand, he held Paz’s grenade launcher. He shot three grenades over Keandra’s head. They hissed as they went by, leaving thin trails of smoke. She heard them burst, and could smell the phosphorus as tendrils of the white gas reached past her. The organized running and shouting behind her changed to chaotic coughing and confusion.

  Paz was first to the van. She didn’t bother using the back doors, running around to the driver’s side and almost ripping the door off in her haste to climb inside. She tossed her rifle behind her, letting it clatter at E-jekt’s feet.

  As soon as Keandra vaulted into the back of the van and grabbed E-jekt’s hand for support, Paz stomped the accelerator. Keandra and E-jekt grabbed the handles near the back door to keep from being thrown out. After the initial lurch, they closed the doors before collapsing. Keandra panted as she tried to get her breath.

  “That was close.” E-jekt sounded as exhausted as Keandra felt.

  “We’re not out of this yet, old man.”

  18

  Keandra knew Paz was right. If Mr. Johnson’s people were putting this much effort into detaining them in the terminal, she was sure they already had vehicles dispatched to prevent them from leaving the airport grounds. Still swallowing air as much as she was breathing it, Keandra pushed herself up from the floor and climbed into the passenger’s seat. Paz burst onto the ramp heading toward the exit, but had to slow to take the spiral. While the van had many advantages, nimbleness was not one of them.

  “What do you have?”

  “Not much. Packed light since we were leaving town and I didn’t want to leave it for someone else to find, so I sold just about everything. Got the launcher, my rifle, and a bunch of grenades. That’s about it.”

  The van shook as Paz tried to speed up too much and scraped its side against the concrete siding of the ramp. A shower of sparks danced just on the other side of her window, and Keandra flinched.

  “Right. E-jekt, hand me the launcher. What kind of grenades do you have? Any HE?”

  E-jekt gave her the launcher and shoved two crates of grenades forward until they smacked against the back of her seat. Keandra offered a quick mental thanks that Paz was so organized. Both crates were labelled, making it clear even to her untrained eye which was which. She grabbed a couple smoke and a couple HE, tossing them into the seat behind her, then knelt on her own seat and faced the window. As soon as they exited the ramp, she rolled it down. Cold, wet air blasted her in the face.

  She loaded a smoke grenade into the launcher—might as well start with the less destructive option—then shouldered the weapon’s strap and leaned her upper body outside the vehicle.

  Behind her, several flashing lights danced across the parking structure’s walls and ceiling as emergency vehicles rushed around. She couldn’t see the vehicles themselves, so it was impossible to guess how many there were or where they were headed. One security car slid around a corner on the ground floor, tires screeching, and headed in their direction. Keandra fired a grenade, watching it bounce a few times on the pavement before it exploded in a cloud of white smoke.

  The shot was short, and the rain helped disperse the smoke more quickly than she’d hoped. The car drove right through the cloud, bursting through to the other side. Keandra grabbed another grenade, not paying attention to its type. She loaded and fired again, hitting the windshield this time. The grenade crashed through the glass and into the cabin, where it exploded in smoke. The car swerved hard as the driver slammed on the brakes. Two coughing people stumbled out, dropping to the ground as they attempted to breathe.

  “Eyes front!”

  Keandra twisted around at Paz’s command. They were approaching the garage’s toll gates. Four cars formed a barricade, blocking the entire width of the road. Security forces crouched behind the cars, using the engine blocks as cover and the hoods to steady their weapons as they aimed at the approaching van.

  “Stop your vehicle and come out with your hands up!” an amplified voice ordered.

  “Make me a hole!” Paz ordered.

  “Grenade!”

  E-jekt handed Keandra a grenade, and she loaded it. It better be HE. She debated where to place the shot when an idea fired like lightning through her mind. Even if she had a perfect shot, it wouldn’t clear the path, but only add rubble. But the wall on the side—that was an option.

  “Turn right and drive toward the wall!”

  “What?”

  “Trust me!”

  Paz did as instructed, swerving the van to the right. The sentries opened fire, the bullets ricocheting off the armored plating sounding like coins clattering down a copper pipe.

  Keandra leaned out the window and aimed the launcher at the short wall in front of them. There was a curb, then a concrete wall about one meter tall. If she remembered correctly, it was only a short drop to the main road from the terminal.

  If she didn’t remember correctly, they were about to experience a very painful end to their escape plan.

  She fired the grenade, and it slammed into the wall near the base. The resulting explosion sent concrete chips flying in all directions. Keandra dropped back into the van, trying to escape the shrapnel.

  Paz adjusted her course, aiming for the smoking hole. The van hit the curb and there was a wrenching sensation accompanied by a horrible scraping sound as the undercarriage dragged across the cement. Their momentum let them clear the rubble, and they soared off the edge, dropping down onto the busy road below.

  Luck was with them in that they didn’t land on another vehicle and actually hit pavement. However, that was where their luck ended: one side of the van struck the ground first, causing the van to bounce wildly and tip over. Metal sheared and snapped as they slammed down on the driver’s side. E-jekt and Keandra were thrown from their seats, rolling around as the van slid forward for several meters before screeching to a stop.

  At first, all Keandra could do was make sure nothing was broken. Pain overwhelmed her entire body, and she wasn’t sure she could see or hear straight. The van seemed to be still moving, and it hurt to even try and lift a leg. She twisted her head to one side and saw Paz, a large glowing light haloing her head, turning the dwarf into some kind of crazy, metal-limbed angel. As Keandra blinked and regained focus, she saw it was just a streetlamp hanging above Paz’s window. The dwarf punched her door open, then unbuckled herself to climb out.

  From somewhere far away, Keandra heard gunfire. The sharp sound rattled around in her brain, urging her to move, to do something. She got her feet under her and stumbled as she tried to stand on a loose grenade. Grabbing the driver’s seat for balance, she regained her footing and looked around. E-jekt was in a similar state on the side of the van. He sat with o
ne hand on the floor behind him, bleeding from several small cuts and obviously dazed, but appearing otherwise unhurt.

  “Boss, old man, get your asses out here and get moving. I got us a new ride.”

  Paz poked her head through the driver’s door opening above Keandra, who had to blink several times before she could focus on the dwarf’s face. The light behind her was distracting. With a grunt, Paz reached a hand down to her. Her body sluggish like she was moving through a dream, Keandra clasped her wrist. Paz pulled her up out of the van with enough strength that Keandra found herself standing on the side of the vehicle before she realized it. The cool air and misty rain helped bring her back to awareness.

  Cars were stopped all around them, and it was a complete gridlock in the direction of the terminal. Ahead, the road was empty for a fair distance, with red taillights visible in the distance.

  A sporty-looking compact car parked next to their van, a couple bullet holes in the hood. The driver’s door was open, but the driver was nowhere to be seen. Keandra turned back to look at Paz as she helped E-jekt out of the van.

  “I didn’t hit anything important,” the dwarf grunted.

  The group climbed down from the van, dropping to the pavement just as a few guards poked their heads over the improvised opening Keandra created. They fired on the fleeing trio, but the van provided cover as they got into the car. The larger vehicle went up in a blinding fireball as one of the guard’s bullets hit a grenade.

  “Couldn’t’ve planned that better myself.” Paz gunned the engine and the tires squealed before it lurched forward, leaving the terminal and the remains of the burning vehicle behind.

  Keandra’s head still throbbed, but she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain. She fished her commlink out of her pocket, glad to discover that it hadn’t been damaged in their impromptu escape.