My legs felt the square edge of submerged steps and I fought the person holding me. I awkwardly clawed my way out of the canal with one arm. Finally, hunched over on my knees with my head away from the misty surface, I coughed to empty the water from my lungs. Each wracking cough nearly turned me inside out. My lungs felt like I'd breathed in rocks and I wasn’t sure I would survive the day.
Dimly, I became aware of laughter.
"Liam Hoffen … danger." My rescuer had been Lifa.
"What do we have here?" The voice was human and the speech was standard. I looked up the remaining stairs joining the canal to the street. The man who spoke held a blaster pistol leveled at my head. "Get your wet ass up here and let me have a look at you. I didn't hear about any operations on this backwater crap hole."
I started to stand, but Lifa stepped in front, partially blocking me from the newcomer. Lifa spoke and my translator found very few words that were understandable, so I really had no idea what was said.
"I'm not talking to you, fraggin' tree hugger," the human said. "Now move out of the way so I can get a look at my boy here."
"Liam Hoffen." I winced, my broken right arm brushing against Lifa as I moved around him. "I'm with Belirand Security. We've decided to re-establish contact with this sector and you're in deep shite," I bluffed. "Even as we speak, your actions are being transmitted back to corporate. No doubt you'll be brought up on charges for your reckless actions today."
The man looked at me quizzically and finally laughed. "You're so full of shite and you ain't supposed to be talking like that in front of the monkeys. Now I gotta put that one down."
"Wait, no!" I cried, but I was too late. The man fired and hit Lifa, dropping the noble Scatter to the steps.
I hadn't realized a crowd had formed until I heard audible gasps. I knelt next to Lifa and inspected the wound. The particle round had torn through his chest, leaving a nasty black burn mark on the flesh.
"See what you made me do," the man said, clearly not upset by the turn of events.
A woman cried out from the quickly growing crowd and raced past the human. She looked up at me, her face a mixture of shock and horror. I placed my good hand on Lifa's wound, hoping to stop the bleeding. As soon as I felt his chest, I knew there was no hope. Gently, the woman pushed at me. A keening wail emanated from her as she attempted to revive the dead eagle rider. I allowed her to scoop Lifa into her arms.
Angry words from the crowd were hurled at the human who'd done the damage and he spun to face them with his gun leveled. "Get back, all of yah," he growled. "I'm within my right to defend myself and I'll kill any of yah that get any closer."
A Scatter with deeply-tanned skin and bright-green eyes broke from the crowd and spoke sharply to the gun-wielding man. With no warning at all, the human fired at the adolescent Scatter, catching him in the side and dropping him to the ground. Rage filled me. The Scatters presented no threat, yet this man seemed to have virtually no concern for their lives.
"Put your gun down!" I ordered, rushing up the steps, my broken arm erupting in pain.
The man spun back on me and fired a third round, this one catching me in my bad shoulder. I grunted as the blaster's energy partially dissipated across the grav-suit's fabric. Without power to stiffen and further deal with the blast, the suit was of limited effectiveness and the pain was excruciating, but I also knew I'd been mostly unharmed. As I closed on the man, I pulled Nick's knife from my belt.
"What?" he bellowed, backpedaling and firing again. That round caught me in my stomach, burning away animal skins and the robe Lifa had provided. Once again, it felt like I'd been lit on fire. Unartfully, he attempted to block my arm with his pistol, but I anticipated his move and buried the knife into his side, just below his armpit. It wasn't the killing blow I'd been after, but he dropped, screaming in agony, all the same.
I scooped up the particle blaster and turned back to where Lifa lay. A small group had gathered around his dead body, some trying to comfort the grieving woman, others tending to the dead man. Anger welled up. I screamed in rage and frustration. The murder was senseless and it seemed incomprehensible to me that the enemy I'd thought long ago gone was responsible. In that moment, I almost understood why Thomas Anino had tricked us, sending us to this place.
"You … come." A hand on my shoulder pulled at me. I turned to see the face of a female Scatter looking up at me earnestly. "Humans approach. Much danger."
I looked back to Lifa and then to the woman. There was nothing I could do for him, but it hurt more than my broken arm to leave him on the mossy steps. A shout from down the street broke me from indecision.
"Quickly …" the woman urged. My AI was finally starting to fill in useful words, an edge I desperately needed.
I ran after her, my canal-soaked robe dragging at my every step. The woman was small – less than a meter and a half – but had the light skin and fair hair of the taller clan. She ducked into a brick-framed opening that led below one of the many crystal structures. The tunnel structure quickly darkened to a point where I could no longer make out our path. Awkwardly, I stumbled into the woman and cried out in agony as my arm jostled against her.
"I can't see," I said, her hands pulling at me in a way I couldn’t understand. I grew aware of her eyes, glowing slightly in the darkness. She looked away and a moment later, a dim light appeared.
"Clothes … remove," she said, pulling at the cloak's lapel.
I might have whimpered as the material passed over my arm, but she ignored my pain, pulling next at the fur-skinned boots Marny and Nick had given me. I tugged them off and she wrapped the cloak and boots together, tossing the bundle off into the darkness. I heard a splash and realized there was a waterway running alongside our path.
"Must quiet," she said, watching my face for understanding. I nodded agreement.
I'd like to think that if I wasn't favoring my arm, I'd have kept up with her. The fact was, she was wicked fast, darting through the maze of subterranean passages. Originally, I'd assumed we’d keep to a single level, given the amount of water I’d seen and the groundwater's level. I was quickly disavowed of this idea as we careened down three different flights of stairs each separated by several hundred meters of twisting passages. At last, we entered a cavern roughly twenty meters in length and three to five meters across. Dim light played across the walls, reflecting off crystal structures.
"Human, sit," she instructed, eyeing the blaster pistol I'd stuck into my grav-suit's belt and gesturing to a long narrow bench that was pushed against the wall.
"I am Liam Hoffen," I said, patting my chest.
Before she could respond, we were interrupted by a voice from the opposite end of the room.
"Bongiwe. The Qinani rider, Lifa, is dead and the bell-e-runde thieves are organizing a search for …" The voice belonged to a male who I would have pegged as adolescent, if human. Given he was a native, he was more than likely adult. My AI outlined the male's body as he approached. It was as much energy as my suit could spare after the extraordinary efforts used to save my life in the last hour.
"… this human.” The male finished his sentence, turning in my direction. “Liam Hoffen?"
Bongiwe bowed slightly to the approaching Scatter male, who stopped and slowly held up his hands defensively. His eyes were affixed to my waistband where I'd stuffed the blaster pistol.
"You have brought the one who killed Lifa to our most secret place?" The man gasped. "We should not get involved in bell-e-runde madness. Although I would speak false if I were to say I was not glad to hear of thief Jared Thockenbrow's injury."
Multiple footsteps echoed off the walls, but I couldn’t see the people who approached.
"Thabini, Liam Hoffen was dressed in a Qinani rider's night uniform," the woman said. "I was there when he stopped the bell-e-runde thief, Jared Thockenbrow, from killing Langa on the street. And he did not want to leave Lifa, even though Lifa's daughter had found him."
"Frak," I said under my bre
ath. It was bad enough that Lifa had been killed, but for his daughter to have found him that way was a gut-punch.
"What is it you say?" Thabini asked, tearing his eyes away from the gun on my waist. While they'd been talking, a half-dozen Scatters had filled in behind him. I noticed a shift in the language he was using. While talking with Bongiwe, he'd been using one language and now in addressing me, he used an entirely different one. It was the language used by Jared Thockenbrow when speaking to Lifa. My AI, however, had finally heard enough and was translating both reasonably well.
"I, too, am sad for the death of Lifa, and for his daughter," I said, choosing to have my words translated to the language they used with Thockenbrow. "I know of Belirand's treachery. They murdered my father. I am no friend of Belirand."
As I spoke, my AI sent a noise canceling wave to interrupt my words and simultaneously added sounds that represented the Scatter spoken language. After losing almost all of the modern advancements I’d been used to, this technology stood out as a miracle, especially when trying to work with an alien species.
My words caused a murmur to course through the gathered Scatters, but Bongiwe didn't miss a beat. "Stop. We are not savages like the humans." She threw a glance my way as she realized too late that she was insulting me. Her words were directed at Thabini. "Liam Hoffen is injured. We will bring him to Nothando so he might be healed."
"Injured?" Thabini asked. "There is no blood. The people say he was shot twice. If this were true he would be dead."
"My arm is broken," I said, wincing as I attempted to move my right arm. "But there is something more important. My friend. She rests within a box that is in the city. I must find her."
"See. He has hurt himself," Bongiwe said. "He is unable to speak sensibly."
"Do you intend to harm us as you harmed the thief, Jared Thockenbrow, Liam Hoffen?" Thabini asked, looking at me earnestly.
"No, Thabini. I regret that my presence has caused the death of the Qinani rider, Lifa, and pain to his family. I would not harm your people further. If I were allowed to see my friend who rests in the suspension chamber, I would leave you now without the aid of your healer."
I have an uncanny ability to read people, which is probably my one and only superpower in life. It turns out, this has always translated well to aliens, but the Scatters were an open-faced people and appeared to have very little guile. When I used the words suspension chamber, my AI had translated it into a single word that I'd heard before from the Scatter guard who had agreed to take me as a prisoner into the city. This same word caused a significant reaction in Thabini's face.
"Take Liam Hoffen to the healer, Nothando," Thabini said. "But first, find a wrap to hide Liam Hoffen's face. Bell-e-runde will be looking for a human. We must not let them find him."
"Wait, Thabini," I said, reaching out with my left hand. Two Scatters who'd been standing close by jumped between us, making it impossible for me to touch him. I held my hand up, letting them know I understood my mistake. Thabini looked at me questioningly, unsurprised at the Scatters’ response. "You know about the suspension chamber. I saw it in your face. My friend. She's alive. I have to see her."
"Bell-e-runde will stomp around like angry adolescent maracats this day," he said. "I will speak to my mother on this matter. You must hide so that you might live."
"There's something else. We had a spaceship," I said, disappointed to realize my translator did not replace spaceship with a Scatter word. "The craft would give us a chance to stop Belirand."
"We will have time to speak later. Now you must move before bell-e-runde stops Liam Hoffen," he said. "They do not lack a desire to ruin and murder my people. I do not believe they would feel different about one that would fight back."
With that, he turned and left. I tried to follow, but the two Scatters standing close by stepped together to block my path.
Bongiwe tugged at my good arm. "Liam Hoffen, we must go. Nothando's home is not near and our path is dangerous. But first, we will hold stationary your arm and provide a disguise. I fear there is little that can be done for your smell."
I smiled at the slight. Just about every alien culture I'd encountered had some sort of taboo about showing a person's naughty bits. Oddly, it was mostly humans who were easily insulted by how they smelled.
"I mean no insult," she added. I guess Scatters didn't like to smell bad, either.
"My arm does not need anything," I said, slowly lifting my right arm. The grav-suit stiffened, preventing additional movement. If I could get the bones set, I wouldn't even need a splint. "My clothing will hold it."
"Is it not broken as you have said?" she asked.
"No, it's plenty broken," I said. "Please trust me on this for now."
She nodded and disappeared into the gloom of the cavern, my HUD tracking her outline as she moved. I'd have given just about anything for a decent charge on the suit, which would have allowed for low-light amplification. In a moment she returned with a long dark cloth, which she wrapped around my neck and then up into a turban. Apparently, it was a common way to wrap someone's head on Fraxus.
"We will move now," she said. "Try to appear less tall." She'd located a cloak, complete with large hood. The hem only made it to my knees, making the garment look more like a bathrobe.
I hoped my AI was recording as we ran through the myriad passageways that interconnected beneath the city. Occasionally, we had to move up to ground level where we would skulk, melding into the daily traffic of Scatters out doing their business. While trying to navigate in these areas, it was clear the Scatters recognized something was up. Instead of steering clear of us, they would instead come alongside, acting as if we were part of a larger group.
"How do they know to help us?" I finally asked Bongiwe after nearly being exposed to a search party of humans. The only reason we hadn't been discovered was – miraculously – a diversion occurred at precisely the right time.
"Bell-e-runde arrived on Fraxus a very long time ago," Bongiwe said. "At first they promised to share with us their wondrous technology. A lie. It is born into all Scatters to resist humans in all actions they take. Your disguise is as much for my people as it is for bell-e-runde. My people would not help you if they were to see your face."
"Why do you help, then?" I asked, following her back out of a subterranean passage and onto steps leading into a canal.
"Thabini has asked it of me," she said. She was shading the truth.
"You helped me after I struck down Jared Thockenbrow."
Bongiwe led me beneath a wide bridge and onto a long, narrow wooden boat. The boat had sets of wooden arches that ran from bow to stern. A translucent material hung from the aft arch and draped over the sides of the boat, providing privacy.
"I did not want to," she answered, picking a pole from the side of the boat and nodding at the bench seat obscured by the hanging sheer. As soon as I sat, she put the pole to good use and pushed us out into the still canal water. "Your actions were not that of a human. I saw your face when Lifa was killed. You were angry, yes, very human in that. But you felt great pain and sorrow. This I felt with my heart. There had to be a reason that the Qinani riders would be helping you."
"You're taking a great risk," I said.
"Not as great as Liam Hoffen," she said. "Bell-e-runde will bring more humans to hunt you. We will not be able to hide you for very long. I am sorry, Liam Hoffen. It is impossible to hide from them forever."
"Why wouldn't Thabini talk to me about the suspension chamber?" I asked.
"It is not his place to say," she answered, giving away more than she realized.
"Whose place is it?"
"You have many questions," Bongiwe answered. "But you must hold them for now."
We exited the city's canal system and pushed through shallow brackish water where the river came out of the mountain and met with the sea. The water was choked with plants, their broad green and purple leaves covering the surface. Passage seemed impossible until I watched the i
llusory scene change. The plants simply folded up as Bongiwe moved us forward, only to redeploy once we’d passed.
The thick growth at this part of the river delta obscured everything nearby. No trees grew in this wet area, but the bushes and grasses were thick and tall, struggling to grow higher than the invading water plants could reach. I was startled when the boat's hull scraped against what felt like solid earth. The verdant growth was so thick, it took me a moment to realize we had come to a stop next to slightly raised ground.
"We are here," she said, stowing the long pole on the boat's port gunnel. "Please, there is a path."
I stepped out onto the muddy bank and winced as my boot slipped, jarring my arm. Walking up to a raised portion, I could just trace a path through the vines. I followed the path and my eyes settled on a small structure not visible from the water. The outside was surrounded by small trees that had been artfully bent to provide shelter or to block being seen from above.
"I don't understand all of the mystery," I said. "Why won't you just answer a simple question?"
"Because it is not her place either." A haggard old man emerged from the building, startling me. The sight was unusual, as I had yet to meet a Scatter who looked to be more than thirty years old. This old fella looked like he was pushing a hundred. His worn cloak was mud caked and he supported himself with a gnarled staff. An old vid came to my mind and I struggled to name it. I could only recall the image of some old wizard who wore a bird atop his head and was as crazy as they got.
"I'm just looking for a straight answer," I said. "I'm trying to find my friend. She's been locked in a suspension chamber for twenty years. I need to get her out."
"The rumors of your arrival have preceded you." The man's voice sounded as if he were unused to speaking. He paused, looked me up and down, and continued, "I must say, I expected a human hero to be more substantial, but such is the nature of prophesy."
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