Flood City

by Daniel José Older

  PROPERTY OF THE FLOOD CITY REBEL GUERRILLA SQUAD

  “You’ve lost your mind,” Ato said.

  Max shrugged. “Maybe I have. But I’m sick of the Star Guard ruining everything. I’ve had it. They took away my sister and now they’ve ruined my music. Hey, what is a guerrilla squad anyway?”

  “You say it guerrilla,” Ato said, pronouncing the el sound at the end instead of the y sound Max had used.

  “Oh. In Flood City two l’s together sound like ya.”

  “Well, not in space. Anyway, it’s a kind of warfare where a smaller army fights off a larger invading one by hiding out in the jungle or buildings or something. Back before the Floods there was an animal called a gorilla that was like a big muscley human covered in black fur that lived in trees.”

  “What does one have to do with the other?” Max asked.

  “Nothing actually,” Ato admitted. “I just love animals.”

  “Awesome. Anyway, Old Man Cortinas asked me to cause trouble the other night.”

  “Cortinas the rebel leader? You saw him?”

  “Yeah,” Max said. “The night we saw your twin. He asked me to help him cause some trouble for the Star Guard. Said I should bring you too, actually.”

  “He knows about me?”

  “I don’t know if he knows who you are, but he’s got spies everywhere, and I’m sure they’ve seen us hanging out.”

  Ato had nothing to say to that, so they jetted quickly away from the crime scene.

  “It feels good,” Max was saying as they rounded another corner. He’d tagged up three more Star Guard ships and it was getting toward dawn. “Like, I’ve never done anything really bad my whole life, because it never made sense to. But now …”

  Ato put up his hand very suddenly. They both let their jetboots simmer to almost nothing and slowly sank toward the wall. “You heard something?” Max whispered.

  Ato nodded. “Look!” Across from them, DOWN WITH THE STAR GUARD!!! was splattered in big angry letters across a wall.

  “Did you write that?”

  Max shook his head. “Did you see me write it?”

  “No, but …”

  “Shh!”

  Someone was coming. If it was a Star Guard patrol, they were done for. Even though they hadn’t done the tagging, they were standing right in front of it with a backpack full of spray cans. And whoever had done the tagging was probably long gone by now. Max tried to prepare himself for the worst. It had been fun, being completely reckless, but now that it was over he really, really didn’t want to get caught.

  Bartrum Uk rounded the corner in his little hovercraft. His eyes stared blankly ahead, but there was no way he could miss Max and Ato hovering right in front of him. Max felt his belly churn. It really was over.

  “Get back to your patrol, you mangy grunts,” Uk barked. His voice sounded squeakier in person, like he was fighting a cold.

  “Um … what?”

  “Get back to your patrol, you mangy grunts.”

  “Should we play along?” Ato whispered.

  Max shook his head, speechless.

  “Get back to your patrol,” Uk said again. “You mangy grunts.”

  “Something’s not right about this,” Max said, squinting at the Star Guard commander. He zipped cautiously forward. Uk didn’t move.

  “Get back to your patrol, you mangy grunts.”

  Max reached his hand out toward Commander Uk and watched in amazement as it passed right through him. “It’s a …”

  “Hologram,” Djinna said, jetting out from the shadows and pulling off the balaclava she’d wrapped around her face. “Not one of my best, but still, it usually scares off the Star Guard right quick.”

  “Djinna!” Max yelled, hoping he sounded just happy enough to see her that it didn’t seem desperate. “You made a life-size hologram of the Star Guard regional commander?” The idea was so audacious and brilliant, Max couldn’t help but smile even through his surprise.

  “Sure.” Djinna shrugged. “I just used an image of him off the regular holonet and blew it up. Enlarging a ’gram is like the easiest thing on the planet, so you know, no biggie. Then I cut together clips of his voice to get him to say something that’d scare off the troops, and voilà! Oh, I see you brought your suspicious friend!”

  Ato waved awkwardly at her.

  “And you did this too?” Max said, pointing at the wall behind Djinna.

  She looked around and then nodded enthusiastically. “And by the paint all over your hands I’d say I wasn’t the only one out here causing trouble in the name of Flood City.”

  Max grinned.

  “Well, then,” Djinna said. “What are we waiting for? Now we’re a team!”

  The walls all around Mephim were peopled with smiling, jetbooted superheroes and shooting stars.

  It was hideous.

  Even the bedsheets on all three beds had happy little cartoons on them. It was no wonder these petty holdouts had been so easy to infiltrate. If it hadn’t been for that asinine young Baron interfering, they could’ve dropped the nuke and obliterated the place and gone ahead with figuring out how to make Earth reinhabitable. If it hadn’t been for that … child … the Barons would probably already be sending exploratory missions by this time.

  Mephim took a deep breath, trying to push out all those negative thoughts as he exhaled. A big plastic star dangled from a cord in the ceiling and sent tiny light shards spinning around the room. The curtains dulled the streetlamps outside and so the room was mostly dark. Even better: It was blessedly quiet compared to the kitchen, where Clowns Number One through Five continued to bask in their own stupidity.

  In with the good, Mephim told himself glumly as he sat cross-legged directly beneath the rotating star. Out with the bad. That buffoon of a boy. In with the good, out with the bad. He’d come so close. Soooo close. The sounds of another useless argument came from the kitchen and Mephim winced, trying to block out the distraction and resist the urge to go tear someone’s head off.

  In with the good. Earth. He was on Earth. Home. Even if it wasn’t in the ideal circumstances—it was something. He’d made it home, after so many years in exile. After the shame of defeat. Somewhere, amidst all this water, there was solid ground. And somewhere beneath it all was the place he’d been born. The cradle of the Baron Empire. And he’d survived this long, which was no small feat considering the cards he’d been handed. Considering the ignorant, ridiculous, unstrategic, useless … Out with the bad.

  The argument in the other room dissolved into raucous laughter.

  Mephim fumbled with his robes and retrieved the iguanagull head, now dried out and crusty. He held it up so his eyes met with those empty sockets. Just that simple touch and already Mephim could feel the power surge through him.

  “Soon, my pretty little friend,” he whispered. It felt like electrical jolts were blitzing through his veins. His whole body convulsed one time, and then he put the shriveled talisman away with trembling hands. “Our time will soon come.”

  Djinna had her back pressed against a crumbly stucco wall when Max and Ato rounded the corner. “We gonna do things a little differently this time,” she said.

  “What do you mean?” Ato asked.

  “The lookout can stay right here while we tag up the transporter.”

  “But the transporter’s way up ahead on the other side of the square,” Max pointed out. “How’s Ato gonna let us know if someone’s coming?”

  “He’s gonna use one of these!” Djinna pulled two little black boxes strapped to wristbands out of her knapsack.

  Both Ato and Max’s eyes got big real quick. “Holowatches!” they yelled at the same time. “Coool!”

  Djinna beamed. “See, there’s a little holocam on this end and the top is a deck. It’s pretty low-tech really, but you know there’s some advantages to being—”

  Max snatched one of the holowatches out of her hands and brought it up close to his face. “Amazing!”

  “—a holograp
her’s daughter.” Djinna rolled her eyes. “Sure, you can look at it. No problem.”

  “Oh, sorry, Djinna,” Max said without looking up. “I’ve just never seen one of these before.”

  “Well, there it is. Can you give it to Ato now?”

  Max looked up. “Oh. Right. Here, Ato.” He handed over the holowatch, keeping his eyes on it as Ato strapped it around his wrist and fiddled with the controls.

  “Your dad really is pretty much one of the coolest people in the world,” Max said.

  Djinna shrugged. “He’s alright. Now … let’s move.” She nodded at Ato and headed across the open square. Max sped after her. For that wild couple of seconds they were in the open, all by themselves. It was after midnight, well past curfew, and if anyone had seen them, they’d have been in huge trouble, probably thrown into prison or who knew what else. The Star Guard had been upping their patrols, threatening worse and worse punishments for anyone caught damaging their property or engaging in “rebel activity.” And Max was terrified, it was true. But somewhere beneath all that terror there was something else, a rising tidal wave of excitement that got bigger and bigger every time the stakes got higher. He couldn’t help it; as much as he knew it was ridiculous to risk everything just to draw some words on the side of a spaceship, it felt right to finally have a mission. And every time the Star Guard issued new angry proclamations about the rebels and their scoundrel pranks, he felt a little thrill of pride that he’d actually gotten to them some.

  “You comin’?” Djinna hissed.

  Max snapped out of it and swooped against the side of the transporter. He nodded. “Let’s do this.”

  “Wait,” Djinna said. She raised the holowatch (Max still peering at it in total amazement) and a shimmering blue Ato appeared in front of them. “All clear?”

  Ato looked confused for a second, squinting at them and scratching his head. Then he glanced around a few times and nodded. “Clear!”

  “Okay, now let’s do this!”

  They turned and pulled out their spray cans in one fluid motion. Max had to marvel at how easily things seemed to flow with Djinna. They’d only been going out on runs for a few nights and already they’d fallen into a smoothness that barely required speaking. And now they had holowatches? It was almost too much.

  Max did a quick outline of the letters in an obnoxious metallic green, and Djinna started filling them in using dark blue for shading and a thick goopy orange for highlights. They were finishing the first word when a soft whizzing noise rang out and Max felt himself stuck fast to the wall he had just been painting.

  “What happened?” he yelled, squirming against what felt like a hundred thick ropes wrapped around his whole body.

  “I don’t know!” Djinna said.

  Max could tell from the strain in her voice that she’d been tied down too. He shook his head back and forth a few times and managed to get it free enough so he could turn and look at her. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Can’t move though.”

  “Me either.”

  “The holowatch?”

  “Can’t reach the button.”

  This was it, then. Well, not it necessarily, but close enough. Max tried to take a deep breath, but the net wrapped around him made it hard to do anything. He felt oddly calm for about ten seconds, as if his mind hadn’t quite caught up to the sudden turn of events. He took another breath and then panic set in. Whatever was about to happen, it was going to be awful. That much was certain.

  The wall rumbled painfully against his face and he realized one of the giant Star Guards must be approaching. Or maybe a few. Hopefully Ato was smart enough to get out of there before they showed up. He only hoped Djinna would be okay. Djinna. Her face took over his thoughts like a perfume cloud, blotted out all his terror and uncertainty. She looked so peaceful over there, even in the midst of all this mess.

  “Pssst!”

  Max wrestled his head back to the other side, his heart pounding away in his chest with sudden hope.

  “Max!” It was Ato, hovering in the air a few feet from him. “What are we gonna do?”

  “You have to go, Ato!” Max hissed. “They’re gonna be here any second!”

  “I’m not leaving without you guys! What kind of a friend would I be? Besides, your mom would kill me!”

  “He has a point,” Djinna said.

  Max sighed. “But what are we gonna do? No one has a knife. The Star Guard’s on their way.” The ship gave another rumble as if to confirm this. “And you’re … you know.”

  “What?” Djinna asked.

  “Nothing,” Max said. “I’ll tell you later.”

  Ato leaned backward, pointing his feet at the edge of the net. “I’m gonna try using my jetboots to singe it off.”

  Max winced; the burst of flame was so strong he could feel it cover his body like an instant sunburn, but when Ato zipped back over, the net was still intact. The rumbling got louder.

  “They’re here!” Djinna whispered. “Hide!”

  But it was too late: Two ugly blue heads appeared over the top of the transporter ship like a pair of big annoying moons. Max groaned. Ato just hovered there looking up at them, his mouth opening and closing uselessly. Neither of the Star Guards moved, and for a few seconds, Max thought maybe nothing at all would happen—they’d all just stand there gaping at one another until the sun came up.

  Then one of the giants said: “Hello, sir.”

  Max sputtered. Who was the giant talking to? He couldn’t tilt his head enough to tell where they were looking.

  “Hello?” Ato said doubtfully.

  “What are you doing out and about so late?” the other giant asked.

  “Um …” Ato said.

  “Gathering more intelligence, eh?” the first Star Guard said. “Right. Is that other fellow around? The skinny robed fellow?”

  Realization dawned on Max with such a confusing mix of emotions he didn’t know what to do at first. “Oh, he’s asleep right now,” Ato was saying, somewhat unconvincingly. At least he seemed to have caught on. And not a moment too soon.

  “And who might these two be? Some Flood City rebels you’ve caught, eh?”

  “No!” Ato yelped. Then he got himself together. “Um, no. They’re actually my men. Um, my troops. Barons, that is. Disguised as rebels! To, you know … infiltrate. The rebels.”

  Good thing the giants aren’t too bright, Max thought. Both the Star Guards were nodding and shrugging. “Oh, but they’re all caught up in our booby trap,” one of them pointed out.

  “Yes,” Ato said. “Would you mind just, um, er, letting them out? Now?”

  “You’re sure they’re Barons?”

  “Absolutely!” Ato sputtered. “And without a question.”

  With a blip and whir, all the horrible pressure on Max’s back suddenly released and he almost hurtled down into the building ravine before igniting his jetboots and stopping himself. He exchanged a very confused glance with Djinna, who must’ve been completely lost, and then smiled up at the Star Guards. “Thank you, good gentlemen!”

  “Give our regards to the robed fellow,” one of the Guards said with a little salute. “Hope the negotiations work out for you folks.”

  Max had to fight the urge to hurl his spray can at them. Negotiations?

  A quiet whir sounded, not too far away, like the sound of an approaching hunterfly except … shriller. Max, Ato, Djinn, and the two Star Guards looked around just as a magnificent bolt of lightning tore through the night and slammed into the side of the ship, vaporizing a huge chunk of it.

  “Yeegads!” one of the Star Guard yelled.

  The ship caught fire.

  “Rebels!” shouted the other.

  Max, Djinna, and Ato dove out of the way as another bolt sizzled past.

  “Greetings, huge blue clowns!” It was Tecla, zooming through the night with a long metal cylinder perched on her shoulder. “Your ship looked a little musty, so I decided to help you clean it with my trusty
sharazar!” She let out another bolt, demolishing the cockpit. “Ayo.”

  The Star Guards’ big blue heads poked up behind the flames. “Call for reinforcements,” one said. “And load up another netblaster.”

  “Oh, hey, kids,” Tecla said, gazing down. “You guys might wanna scatter right about now. Things about to get—”

  The thunder of approaching Star Guard troopers filled the air. It sounded like a whole lot of them.

  “Messy.”

  A sharp, wet sound rang out, like a fresh bag of dougies smacking into a wall at light speed, and long, sticky tendrils filled the air above them—it was the same material that had pinned them down a few moments ago.

  “Go!” Tecla yelled, spinning into a midair cartwheel as she released an extended blast from her sharazar. It shredded flaming gashes through the netting, which then floated in cinders out of the sky. Max, Djinna, and Ato blasted down the nearest alley as the shouts of Star Guard peacekeepers grew louder.

  The sproinging slap of those netcasters kept bursting out around them. Every time Max looked up, another tendril was stretching across the sky. Plus, the whole world kept shaking beneath the boots of those huge snells. A few jetbooted rebels whizzed past overhead, and then the sound of more sharazars blasting away echoed through the night.

  “This way!” Djinna ducked down a narrow alley. Max and Ato zoomed after her. The whole place was all shadows and the trickle of running water somewhere nearby.

  “Do you think they’re following us?” Ato asked.

  “No idea,” Djinna said. “They probably have their hands full now.”

  “Those rebels … are … so awesome,” Max panted.

  Djinna flashed a wily grin. “I legit wanna be Tecla when I grow up.”

  “Me too,” Max said. “What happens now?”

  The booming footsteps and sharazar blasts sounded like they were getting farther away.

  No one said anything for a few minutes.

  Then Ato spoke: “If the Star Guard thought—”

  “Shh!” Djinna snapped. The whole place was shuddering again, ever so slightly. “They’re coming back.”