“How do I find out where the United Council team are right now?” she asked eventually, recalling the scientists often spoke into wrist units at the facility.
She'd never seen any of them with a handheld, had never been offered one of her own, but that was clearly because they didn't want her to understand just how illegal, even in their own system of laws, what they were doing to her was.
She'd spoken in Tecran, but the handheld obviously had trouble understanding her, because suddenly there was a keyboard option, and with a sigh of relief, she began tapping in search terms.
She sipped at the grinabo with one hand as she read the information, although it was a struggle, because she could speak Tecran far better than she could read it.
The food smelled sour, but not disgusting, and she lifted up a spoonful of what looked like black rice and gave it a nibble.
It was okay.
She wasn't hungry enough to chance getting sick, though, so she pushed it away.
She started searching for more information about the Earth women who'd been taken, but nothing came up.
She frowned, wondering why that was when she'd seen that clip of them singing on stage in a magical city, looking both at home and at ease.
A sudden longing swept over her. She wanted to go home.
She'd started to dream in Tecran, and that frightened her.
She tried a few alternative phrases, trying to find the clip, when her screen went blank and then a sentence popped up.
“Who are you?”
She stared at it, feeling winded. As if every bit of breath had been sucked from her lungs.
She wheezed and her hand shook as she reached out a finger to touch the words.
They were in English.
Which was impossible. The Tecran alphabet was nothing like the English alphabet.
The virtual keyboard that came up didn't even have the letters for her to respond in kind.
Carefully, heart thundering, she typed back in Tecran. “Who are you?”
There was no immediate answer.
“Seriously, how do you know my language?” Lucy typed. “How are you even communicating with me?”
“Are you Lucy Harris?”
She leaned back in her chair so sharply, the front two legs momentarily lifted off the ground.
“Yes.”
There was another delay. Lucy wondered if it was a connectivity issue, or whether the person communicating needed time.
And then, suddenly, her Tecran keyboard was replaced with an English one.
“Where are you?”
“I don't think it's wise for me to say.” She lifted her gaze from the screen. The open area in front of the cafe was thick with people now, far more crowded than it had been when she first sat down.
It gave her a start that the situation had changed so much, so quickly, and a little thrill of fear ran down her arms and lifted the hair at the back of her neck.
Things were getting worse.
The security officers weren't chatting in a friendly way anymore.
She watched as one walked around the crowd, hand on the weapon strapped to his thigh.
The shouting in the square was louder now, too, as if there were people competing to have their views heard, and she could no longer see the benches through the press of people.
The screen gave a chirp, and she started, looked back down at it.
The sentence “Are you there?” was repeated five times.
“Yes! Sorry. Got distracted.” She almost stumbled at typing in English. It was a QWERTY keyboard. It was impossible, and yet, it was right in front of her. “Please. Are you one of the women they took from Earth?”
Another delay, so long, her knuckles were white where she gripped the sides of the handheld.
“No. I'm a friend of those women, though. I have been looking for you. I am happy to find you alive, Lucy Harris.”
Tears burned suddenly in her eyes and she had to swallow down the lump that stuck in her throat. “I'm happy to be found.”
Her hands were shaking again.
“My name is Bane. I was also a prisoner of the Tecran once, but an Earth woman the Tecran stole, just like you, called Rose McKenzie, helped me escape. I'm here with the United Council group.”
“You're here in Fa'allen?” Hope soared in her chest. She had an ally right here!
“Not quite. The Tecran don't trust me, they think I'm dangerous, and that I'm probably holding a grudge, so they asked me to stay out of sight of Tecra. But I have a friend in the UC team who I can send to you. And I'm not as far off as the Tecran think I am.”
Lucy wondered why the Tecran were so afraid of him, and then recalled the argument about thinking systems in the square this morning.
“Are you one of the thinking systems I heard about?”
Another long delay. “Yes.”
“Thank you for looking for me. How did you find me?” A sudden chill ran through her. If Bane could do it, what was stopping the military?
“I was curious about your search terms, and then I hopped into some of the portable lenses being carried around the square, and saw you, and thought you might just be an Earth woman under that hood, scarf and cloak.”
She tried not to look suspicious as she glanced around again. “Do you think the Tecran military might be using the same methods?”
“I'd say most definitely. I can't block them too obviously, because right now being invisible in the system is more useful, but I'm going to have something delivered to you in a few minutes, so don't be surprised when a courier approaches you, please.”
“What have you ordered for me?” She lifted her gaze, and saw that sure enough, a Tecran was dodging through the crowd with a small package in his hands.
She raised her hand as he came closer and he stopped at her table with a nod and put the package down. She was afraid she would have to look up at him, sign for it, and thus give herself away, but he just turned and walked back the way he'd come.
She opened it, and lifted out an earpiece.
Huh.
Clever.
She put it in her ear.
“That's better.” The voice was smooth. Deep.
“Much better,” she answered, the words catching a little in her throat. “Nice to meet you, Bane.”
“Very nice to meet you, Lucy. Let's get you somewhere safe.”
Chapter 14
“How did you manage this?” Lucy tapped the earpiece.
“I paid three times the price for it, to get it delivered as I specified.”
“Thank you.”
“There is very little I wouldn't do to get you safe and free.”
The words were said so matter-of-factly, but they were everything she hadn't had before.
A sob shuddered through her and she bit down hard on her lip, bent over and covered her face in her hands.
“Lucy? What's wrong.”
She struggled to answer, fighting against the constriction of her throat. Eventually she felt composed enough. “Nothing is wrong. I'm reacting to the sudden realization that things are finally going right.”
He was quiet, and then made a funny sound she thought might be a laugh. “I understand that.”
She smiled at his tone as she looked up and then went still.
Someone was staring at her.
As soon as she noticed him, he started moving forward.
“They found me,” she murmured.
“I can't see you now. Those in the crowd are all focused on filming what's happening in the square.” Bane's frustration was clear. “What do they look like?”
“One Tecran, tall, in black, wearing a cloak like mine.” She stood up, looking around for possible escape routes.
She had chosen the table closest to the shop, as far back from the street as possible while still being outside, but that meant there were two rows of tables between her and the crowd, and as she began to sidle to the right, she saw the Tecran lift his arm and say something into a
wrist unit.
Calling for backup.
“Hang on, I've found a way to get eyes on you.” Bane's voice was not as calm as it had been.
And suddenly there was a sound of someone shouting overhead, and a hover skimmed over the crowd, the security officer riding it struggling with the controls.
The hover stopped above the tables, between Lucy and the Tecran approaching her.
He stopped moving forward as a number of people turned to look at what was happening.
“You're using the lens on the hover to see what's going on?” Lucy asked.
“Yes. It's had the unexpected benefit of making it difficult for the military to grab you anonymously.”
Except, she could see the Tecran military officer weighing up the risks, and realized the moment he decided that grabbing her anyway and running, what with the growing chaos on the street, would be worth it.
He lunged forward, batting chairs out of his path.
Lucy flicked a final look at the solid wall of bodies a few meters away and jumped onto the chair, and then stepped up onto the table.
“Bring the hover lower and toward me.” She didn't take her eyes off the officer as he shoved people sitting at the tables aside. He was nearly on her, a step or two away, and she jumped, grabbing the hover's stabilizer bar, and as her hands closed over it, it shot up into the air.
A hand grabbed her ankle and she wrenched her foot up, lifting her legs by bending them at the knees. His fingers couldn't get a grip and suddenly she was free.
He was shouting in fury and frustration, but she didn't look at his face. The hover was still moving, flying over the crowd, and she gaped at all the people below her. It seemed as if the antagonism was growing, spreading and getting worse as people shoved at each other and the security forces tried to separate them.
There was a sudden flash of light, and her arms wrenched as the hover jerked to the left.
Below, people in the crowd started screaming.
“Someone shot at you,” Bane said. “I'm getting you away from here.”
The hover sped up, and her arms began to shake with effort.
“You need to set this thing down, I'm going to fall.” She hoped he heard her, because she could barely gasp the words.
The crowd was at last behind them, and Bane lowered the hover, but kept it moving, turning a corner so suddenly her arms wrenched again and the pilot above nearly lost his balance.
“Hey!” The pilot looked down at her, and she blinked up at him. “Are you doing this?” He lifted his hands. Then his eyes widened as he finally looked at her face. His mouth fell open.
“No.” She could feel her fingers starting to loosen their hold. She was going to fall any moment. “Does it look like I'm doing it?”
The hover dipped as she lost her grip, and her fall was short. She landed in a crouch.
The hover shot back up, heading for the square.
“I don't want the pilot to see which way you go. Run.” Bane's words were urgent in her ear.
She started at a shamble, but managed to get up some speed by the time she hit the next corner.
She looked behind her and saw two figures in black chasing her.
“I see them.” Bane's voice was like a balm to her, even though this was the most danger she'd been in since the night she'd escaped.
Just having someone on her side made all the difference.
“Go right,” he told her.
She turned right, down a narrow alley, and slowed because she couldn't see anything.
“Move faster,” Bane ordered.
“I can't see,” she whispered back.
“Oh. Put your hand out, touch the wall, and move as fast as you can until you get to the steps. Then go up them.”
She did as he asked, the wall smooth under her fingers, but the sound of footsteps at the entrance to the alley made her freeze.
“Keep going.”
She started again cautiously, quiet as she could, and then heard the footsteps stop.
She stopped again, straining to hear over the whistle of the wind.
“We see you. We don't mean to hurt you. We just need to get you out of sight for a while.” The officer who called to her from the entrance to the alleyway tried to sound sincere.
If she'd been in less danger, she'd have snorted out a laugh.
And why would they think being put 'out of sight' was in any way okay with her?
She began to move again, slow and smooth.
She hadn't realized the steps Bane told her about were so close, and almost cried out in relief when she bumped into them.
She swallowed the sound and started up them.
“You sure she's down there?” A voice called down the alley from the main street.
“I think so.” The officer who'd tried to reassure her was a lot closer than he had been. He'd been moving forward faster than she had. He was almost at the bottom of the stairs.
“Door's open, push it.” The voice in her ear snapped her out of her panic, and she shoved at the door, but it didn't budge.
She slapped at it, looking for a handle, heard the sound of the officer right behind her, and turned it just as he grabbed her.
She cried out as she fell inside, with him landing on top of her.
Panicked, she kicked back, closing the door, so that she only had one to contend with.
“Lock it,” she shouted at Bane, and then twisted, drawing her legs up to her chest and kicking out.
She caught him by surprise, hitting him in the stomach, and it was enough to shove him off her.
He grunted as he fell back, and she scrambled up on her knees, leaning over him as she tried to snatch his weapon from his hand. When she couldn't, she grabbed his arm and banged it against the floor.
The weapon slid away.
He bucked against her. He was taller than she was, but she had muscle and bone density in her favor.
She swung her elbow at his face and whimpered at the pain when it connected, but it had connected.
She edged back and felt a surge of satisfaction when she realized he was stunned.
“What's happening?” Bane's question was panicked.
“He's down. But he'll be back up soon.”
“Go through that door to your right,” Bane said, his voice more monotone again.
She jogged to it and stepped through into a dark stairwell that lit up as soon as the door closed behind her.
“Take the stairs down. It's a pedestrian passageway to the main street, so the tenants don't have to fight the weather in winter. There're a few exits before the square. I'll try to get my friend in the UC to meet you outside one of them.”
Lucy nodded, then realized he couldn't see her down here. “Okay. Thanks.”
She reached the bottom of the stairs and then leaned against the wall.
“Are you moving?” Bane asked.
“In a minute.” She leaned over, hands on knees, and squeezed her eyes shut.
“You don't have a minute, they're breaking through the alleyway door.”
The sound of his distress forced her upright, forced her to take a deep breath. She started jogging.
“I'm going to need to rest soon,” she whispered. Every muscle in her body hurt, and she could feel a bruise on her hip where the officer had landed on top of her.
“I'll look for somewhere for you,” Bane said.
And although he couldn't see her, she lifted her fingers to her lips and blew him a kiss.
Chapter 15
Dray looked down on the chaos in the square below him, and then glanced at Cossi.
She was leaning against the window, looking down herself.
“They sound as if they're getting louder,” Chep spoke from his place at the desk. He looked up from the screen. “Don't they have crowd control here?”
“You need to want to control the crowd, first,” Dray said, and watched as the security forces withdrew a little more as the crowd surged.
“What are
they protesting, exactly?” Cossi asked. “There are so many different slogans and signs down there, I can't work it out.”
“Maybe they don't know themselves. Or they're too divided.” Dray frowned.
The streets leading to the square were choked with people, and the square itself had reached capacity. People were chanting and shouting, and the security officers were simply lending their presence, doing nothing constructive to break things up.
A flash that was unmistakably shockgun fire lit up the corner of the square, and panic set in to the crowd.
“Do you see that hover?” Cossi asked, and there was something urgent in her voice.
Dray squinted, and then saw where she was pointing. A security forces hover seemed to have a hanger-on, as if someone in the crowd had grabbed hold.
“The shot seemed to be aimed at whoever is hanging on, and the pilot doesn't look like he's in control. He's been waving his hands for at least a minute.” Cossi cupped her hands on either side of her face against the window to get a better look. “The hover's gone round the corner.”
“What's this about?” Chep pushed away from the desk and came to stand beside them.
“Not sure, but I think we should go find out.”
“You think that's wise?” Cossi waved at the crowd below. “No one on the UC team is exactly a favorite down there by the looks of things.”
“Who's the head of security for this part of Fa'allen?”
“I just looked them up.” Chep lifted his handheld, and Dray saw he'd created a flowchart of who reported to who.
He gave a nod of appreciation at Chep's efficiency. Tapped his earpiece.
“Captain Subre.” He waited longer than he thought was necessary for the connection. “This is Commander Helvan, from the UC leadership team. We're watching what's happening down in Fa'allen Square.”
“This was a spontaneous event, Commander.” Subre sounded tense and hostile. “This wasn't a planned gathering. From what the first officers on scene could gather, it started after an incident in the square earlier this morning, where some citizens insist they spoke with an Earth woman.”
“An Earth woman.” Dray kept his voice even, and then flicked the conversation onto the handheld, so Chep and Cossi could listen in.
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