by R. K. Thorne
Ostrov’s footsteps moved to the door, stopped. The screen came to life. “What an interesting surprise this is,” he said smoothly.
“Jenny Utlis,” said a familiar voice from the door. “We want to talk to you. Think we have something you might be interested in.”
Ellen froze. What the hell was Jenny doing out there?
“C’mon in.”
Yeah, that bastard wasn’t afraid. He still had at least four functional robots, maybe way more.
Ellen shifted as silently as she could so she could see through a low floor grating. She peered up and out at the room above her.
Jenny was completely transformed. Her hair was jet black, cut sharp as a knife’s edge, makeup hiding her and smoothing her into a porcelain doll. And even crazier—Adan had nearly the same treatment in an expensive suit by her side. He held a tractor, and—
And as she realized why, her blood froze in her veins. They had Kael. That was what the tractor was carrying. She couldn’t see as much of him, but he was clearly unarmored and unconscious.
“We heard you were looking for him. He’s been nothing but trouble for us. We brought him to you, no problems. All we ask is our share of the bounty.”
Ostrov stepped back, then to the side, peering at Kael. Poking him. He gave him a hard jab in the ribs, making Ellen wince. Testing if he was really out, she realized. Kael didn’t move a muscle.
What the hell were they thinking? What the hell were they doing? Could they really be betraying her, and Kael—and for money of all things? The people she knew wouldn’t do that. But they wouldn’t dress that way either. What if she’d mistaken them—just like Paul—just like—
She forced her panic down. Kael needed her not to panic. He needed her to get him out of this, information be damned. But how the hell was she supposed to do that? After her first run-in with the droids, her plan had been to just sneak the hell out.
She did not need to go back to that bowl full of octopuses.
Jenny pivoted to face Ostrov, and Ellen could see her back now. A medical inhaler no bigger than Ellen’s pinky nail was resting in Jenny’s hand. Was that how they’d sedated him?
No—she was pressing it now, easing closer to him, hoping Ostrov wouldn’t notice. A stimulant perhaps?
“Well, well.” Ostrov applied an ident scanner to Kael’s finger and chuckled. “What have we here. You did bring me the real thing.” He nodded approvingly. “I’m sure some deal can be arranged.” He tapped the scanner once more, then smiled down at Kael like a man might admire a newly acquired flyer.
That was when Ellen knew something was wrong. She didn’t know what first exactly, but something.
The hum of the droids reached her ears.
Jenny whirled, drawing her multi, but it was too late. A droid’s steel arm backhanded her, sending her flying. The multi went another direction, skidding, bouncing off the wall, and landing about a meter away from Ellen’s grate. She eyed it. Now—or later?
At the same time, Adan danced away from the slash of another droid before it tackled him to the ground, leaving Kael floating and alone.
“Unfortunately,” Ostrov said mildly, “I’ve already summoned Dr. Arakovic and received a sizable payment. She’s on her way, and there are bounties out on you two as well. Probably your whole ship. Maybe I’ll head to the docks next and see what I can find. If I can find all six of you weaklings and hand you over, maybe I can even keep your ship as well.”
Ellen clenched a fist. If that asshole thought he was ever setting foot in that ship… well, she had a thing or two to teach him.
Jenny was struggling, but it was a losing fight. If she’d had an antidote for Kael, Ellen had no idea if it was working. Two more droids had just marched in.
Damn it, not these guys again.
Before she could second-guess it, she dove—smashing through the grating and angling for the multi.
She found it and kept her spin going, rolling to her back as she brought the weapon to ready and blasted a ballistic right through one android’s eye. The next shot took out the brain stem on one that was charging for Jenny—a lucky, but thorough shot. It fell down lifeless, just the eyes twitching.
She turned the multi toward Ostrov and lowered its aim almost immediately. Because while she’d been taking out androids, he’d been pressing his pistol to Kael’s temple. The freshly healed one. Lucky for him, he was barely awake to groan, but she did see his eyelids fluttering.
“Ellen,” Ostrov cooed, despite the force he was using to hold an inert Kael to his side. “How lovely of you to join us.”
“No thanks to you,” she grunted. She slowly sat up. She needed to get her feet under her. Shooting from the floor would put her at a disadvantage here.
“It seems you’ve been outmaneuvered. Strategic ‘genius’ or not. Winning fancy board games doesn’t keep you alive apparently.” He scoffed.
“Don’t call the game before it’s over.” She got her feet under her and rose straight up, nice and careful and slow. “Let them go.”
“It’s too late, Ellen. Arakovic’s men will be here any minute. And besides, you won’t shoot me for your information. You already had your chance.”
“I told you I don’t bluff.”
“And I told you I don’t believe you.”
“A feint is not the same thing. I’m warning you.”
“I’ll show you just how much I don’t believe you.” He popped the safety off the pistol pointed at Kael.
“She wants him.” She hated herself for the shake in her voice. She popped her own safety. “You wouldn’t.”
He grinned at her. “Wouldn’t I?”
A pounding rose up at the door. One of the androids bounded toward the noise. A moment later, scuffling noises erupted from the corner where Jenny had fallen.
“How will you choose?” Ostrov shook his head. “Your pilot? You probably need him. And I’m sure she’s an old friend. And this one—was this why you dragged your heels for me? How does a Theroki escape a life sentence for murder, anyway?”
He clucked his tongue at her as the pounding at the door grew louder.
“Not without powerful friends, I don’t think.” He tapped the muzzle against Kael’s temple, almost as if trying to rouse him, and indeed, Kael’s eyes opened slightly, groggy, and he squinted.
“Ellen?” he murmured.
“On a first-name basis with his commanding officer?” Ostrov glowered at her. “That’s what I thought. So choose. Arakovic wants him alive, but I’ll take her wrath on this one. The other two she cares less about. Who will you choose?”
“Don’t do this, Ostrov. We can work something out. We can—”
“Line up your shot now, Ellen. You can save one of them. Which will it be?”
She glanced at the one holding down Jenny. She didn’t have a clear shot of anything except its metal behind and maybe a thigh. But Adan’s was raised up at times—she could hit the brainstem if she tried, which might take it out like it had the other one. But if she went for that, Ostrov would fire. And Kael would be dead.
“Don’t do this, you sick—” she started.
“Kill them,” he snapped at the droids.
It was a decision. And it wasn’t really a decision. For the split second that he glanced over at his robots, she aimed the rifle and fired. Then dove. She barely had time to process the destruction the rifle had wrought, the spray of boiling blood and brain matter. She was tackling Kael away from Ostrov. Kael’s eyes had snapped open, seemingly full alert. They hit the ground hard.
A scream rang out from Adan, and Ellen was on her feet, rushing—
But no. She skidded to a stop as a wave of energy brushed past her, pushing her to the side. The wave blasted the robot off Adan and flattened it into the wall. Literally. She whirled toward Jenny as the same thing was happening to hers. She rushed to Adan’s side. One hand was pressed over his eye, and blood was everywhere. Jenny limped up beside them, and now Kael too, just as someone finally lost
their patience, and the door burst.
Men in wild, vicious armor, old and rusted, beaten and worn and jagged, rushed toward them like a flood, shouting, enraged. Voices screaming like the depths of a volcano.
Theroki.
Before they even had time to speak, a sudden wave of energy was hitting them. Or was it a grenade?
Glass shattered in a thousand directions behind them. To her right, a grenade took out part of the floor. On the left, a second destroyed that stupid juice bar.
A body collided with hers, arms wrapped around her. Somehow, insanely, none of the shrapnel hit. Waves of energy bombarded them—why? Hadn’t Arakovic wanted them alive? And hadn’t the Theroki banned working with her anyway?
Three solid waves thrust the rubble and bodies around her back, back again…
And then they tumbled over the edge.
She crushed against him so hard she realized she might break a rib. They tumbled, but she was finally able to catch a glimpse of Kael above her, glass shards and metal arching out like vicious angel wings behind him.
The wind whistled in her ears, screams lost into it.
As the air whipped past her, she had only one thought pounding in her head, above the shock of it all. Hell of a day for him not to wear his armor.
It took every bit of Kael’s concentration not to drop one of them as the team plunged into free fall. Bits and pieces of Ostrov’s former apartment followed them, vicious birds ready to peck. Falling out of a skyscraper had a remarkable way of clearing your system of sedatives, but four people was well beyond his limits, and that was without them getting battered on all sides.
But he’d be damned if he was giving up now.
He’d let the first wave push them, then added his own waves to finish the job. Further away was better, he’d figured, even if it meant a 140-story drop. That had been a lot of Theroki. And on Capital? What the hell? And why had they attacked if Arakovic had wanted him alive?
He could only think of one reason, and he didn’t like it. Maybe these weren’t Arakovic’s men, and the real ones were still in pursuit, but Theroki had intercepted Ostrov’s message. And after a deserter, Arakovic be damned.
Hopefully he wouldn’t find out which it was.
He crushed Adan and Jenny and Ellen together, and he felt Ellen return his grip, tightening her arms around him even as her eyes widened, her lips parted. Her armored strength hurt a little, but it was grounding, reminding him.
He had to do this. He had to find a way. Or they were all going to be jelly.
Pavement was racing toward his face.
Wave after wave, like knocking back enemy weapons, except this time the enemy was gravity. But slowly he began to brake their fall.
Of course, this meant the glass behind them was coming at them faster, so he had to slow its speed too. But it was more than glass. Metal shards, pipes, walls, concrete. He couldn’t expect to grab it all. He didn’t have the bandwidth to shove it aside, unless…
For a brief second, he let go of them, using the power instead to shove out and up, the ruined bits of the building thrusting farther away from them in every direction. His stomach twisted as their speed increased.
Swearing, he caught them up again. He still had to slow them down enough so they didn’t smash like melons—there was no time left for anything more. If the debris hit them, it hit them.
He threw his entire being into slowing that fall. If he could just switch at the last minute…
It was a long shot, but it was all he had.
They hit the debris-laden ground with a rib-aching slam, Ellen’s breath rushing from her lungs. She gasped, then choked, dust filling the air. Coughs racked her body.
A body that was pressed to another warm body, one that lay against her. Also coughing.
And also alive.
She forced her eyes open. Kael’s hair tickled her cheek as he coughed against her arm.
Hovering in the air less than a meter above her face were hundreds of shards of glass. They weren’t frozen, either, they twitched and spun, jerking slightly closer, then stopping. In time with his coughs, almost.
God. He was holding them up, wasn’t he?
She slapped his back, now trying in earnest to help him recover from the fall. A few more hacks, and his coughing stopped. He leaned on elbows over her. His face was coated with a pale, beige dust.
“Hey.” He smiled slightly.
“Hey.”
“We’re alive!” Jenny burst out beside them, rolling awkwardly away from the heap of concrete, metal, and glass beneath them. More debris was littered on all sides. Then Jenny’s own fit of coughs overcame her.
Adan only groaned, and Jenny stopped and rushed to him.
Ellen looked back at Kael. Death could be so close. Hovering a foot above her face, even. Or in a Theroki helicopter working for Arakovic hovering somewhere nearby.
There was so little time. No time at all, even.
She laid her fingers against his cheek, felt the brush of stubble forming there. His eyes changed, lit and widened, then narrowed again as the rubble slipped slightly and he refocused his concentration.
“Are we going to die?” Adan grunted beside them.
“Not if I can help it,” Kael replied through clenched teeth.
Not speaking, she ran her fingers down his jaw, stopping delicately at his chin, and then opened her mouth—but what was there to say? Especially with such close company? Should she start with an apology?
“Anyone alive in there?” called a voice from the other side of a debris pile.
Kael turned his head sharply, relief flooding his features.
“Yes!” Jenny shouted. “Yes! Please help!”
“Clear the debris!” Kael called. His voice was strained. “Make a path out! There’s four of us in here.” Outside she could hear whispers, but also the crashing of pieces of the building being pushed aside.
He turned his gaze back to hers. Clearly this was one moment where a distraction was literally a bad idea. Damn her own words. She was cursed to be haunted by them until the end of her days.
He turned his face back toward her as daylight poured in as a large piece of outer shell fell away. “What is it? Are you okay?”
Nodding was all she could muster.
Chapter Fifteen
Ellen hadn’t been on her feet for five seconds before she was flagging down a flyer. It couldn’t take those Theroki long to catch up, especially since they also could just jump out the newly created “window.”
She got lucky, grabbing a big flyer made seating ten and herding them all in before there were any signs of pursuit. The door slammed, and she ordered it directly to the ship. And then she collapsed back against the seat in exhaustion, surveying the damage.
She herself had cuts on her face and two giant metal bracelets that didn’t match her armor, but she was the luckiest of them.
Kael was exhausted to near delirium, eyes glazed and unfocused as he stared at the ceiling. She found a d-bar in her hip compartment, opened it, and forced it into his hand. Jenny had hurt her leg somehow, through the armor, but she was clearly trying to hide it.
Adan, however, was getting blood just everywhere. The robot had done a number on one whole side of his face, and Jenny was doing her best to stop the bleeding.
Which was a big job. She wasn’t close to stabilizing him when the flyer glided to a stop at the base of the damn staircase. Ellen glared up at the fifty flights of catwalk stairs.
“The hell with this.” Pushing past Kael, she grabbed the manual override and whipped the thing up into the air. She ignored the bleeps and boops and protests over the comm from traffic control.
She had the flyer out front of the Audacity in under a minute, and they climbed out. They sent the poor vehicle on its merry, bloody way. Hopefully the Foundation would pay for the cleaning service.
She threw Kael’s arm over her shoulder, although his exhaustion did seem to be waning. It was mostly an excuse to feel in her own
cells that he was really still alive. But she stopped short a few steps later.
Two figures stood between them and the ship. The blue cloak flapped in the wind like a serpent writhing, orbs of a deeper cobalt light shining out from under the hood. At her side was the young Ursa.
“Kentt.” Ellen’s voice was hard. “Get out of the way. We need to get out of here. Now.”
She didn’t move. “So do I.”
Kael straightened and squared his shoulders at her, clearly threatening. “Stand aside.”
She held up a surprisingly normal-looking palm. “There’s no need for feats of telekinesis. I come in peace. Salam, as they say.”
Kael narrowed his eyes.
“Sure, you do,” Jenny muttered.
“Take me with you.” Kentt raised her voice. “We can be powerful allies. We must work together, if we wish to survive.”
“Survive what?” Ellen said.
“Arakovic, of course.”
“She’s the one who needs to worry about surviving,” Ellen growled.
“It doesn’t matter. Take me with you,” Kentt prompted.
“You can’t take her on the ship without being cleared,” Jenny whispered. “She’ll know everything. Everything. We can’t give everyone one of Persad’s chips.”
Kentt smiled bitterly, her cherry lips just visible in the shadow. “Arakovic is your enemy. She is also mine. You will need my help to face her.”
“How do we know you can be trusted?” Ellen said.
Kentt took a deep breath. “Trust must be mutual and built over time—time that we do not have. And someone always has to go first.”
Ellen scowled. “Trust me is what Ostrov said before he locked me in a room full of killer octopuses.”
They all froze in unison.
“What the—” Kael snapped.
“There’s no time to explain now.”