Rise the Renegade (Rork Sollix Book 1)

by George Donnelly

  “Destination, Delhi Spaceport,” Rork said. His eyes closed of their own accord and he lurched forward, hitting his head on the steering wheel. “Ow!” Must stay awake.

  “Destination accepted,” a female voice responded.

  The car slowed, rolled gently right and headed in the opposite direction. The brilliant dome of the spaceport lay ahead. Landing platforms, some open, some sealed, branched off above the dome in a geometric if tree-like pattern. Ships came and went in straight lines.

  “We did it!” Rork grabbed Zero by the shoulder and shook him. “We’re getting out of here!”

  Zero refused to stir except for the mute movement of his lips.

  “I’m keeping our agreement, okay? I’ll take you around, alright?” He adjusted his pants and tucked a loose chain back into its metal cuff. “You can do your talking while I do my trading. It’s a good match, you and I.” He laughed.

  “A trader is a being of peace who gives value for value.”

  “Hercules Haddad! Love that guy!” Rork said.

  “Then why don’t you follow his philosophy?”

  “First, we get Lala, though.” Rork sighed and his mouth tensed. He had to get her out of there fast. Barbary’s compound would be no rocket ride, that was for sure. And he had to find her first.

  “But you took their most valuable possessions while giving nothing in return.”

  “They offered me death, Zero, and I gave it back to them.” When is this snoof gonna get it?

  Rork fell forward into the wheel. He looked around. They weren’t moving closer to the spaceport anymore. He pushed his foot onto the accelerator pedal but the car did not respond.

  “Destination: Delhi Spaceport.” Rork enunciated the words.

  “Destination denied,” the computer replied. The car rolled right and the doors clicked locked. “Vehicle rerouted to Delhi Police Headquarters Building, Parliament Street.”

  14

  “WHATEVER HAPPENS, just go with it.” Rork looked Zero in the eyes and nodded. “Follow my lead.”

  The stolen police car descended the last few meters to the police parking lot. Inside the high gates of the lot, dozens of police vehicles, from simple aircars like their own to matte blank stealth tanks with weapons turrets, waited alert for their chance to go into action.

  “I will not tolerate any more killing.” Zero crossed his arms and huffed.

  Outside the gates, a throng of chanting people shook the high metal enclosure.

  “Did they just say my name?” Rork flexed his abdominal muscles. The stolen police pulse pistol dug into his kidney under the loose belt. His eyes darted from side to side. He extended and retracted his fingers.

  “You are not your ego, Rork. You need to remember that.” Zero raised his hands in surrender and looked out his side window.

  “What the heck does that mean!”

  The car hit the ground and bounced. The door locks popped open and darkly armored policemen ran to the car from both sides, their laser rifles pointed at Rork and Zero.

  Rork drew his pulse pistol from his belt and pushed the barrel against Zero’s temple.

  Zero turned slowly and glared at Rork, his eyes wide.

  Rork shrugged. “Just bear with me, okay? Can you do that?”

  “I will not!”

  “Open door.” Rork passed the pistol to his left hand and wrapped his right arm around Zero’s neck. The computer released the door and he dragged Zero out. He held the mystic’s back against his chest.

  “I kidnapped this man, and I will kill him!”

  The crowd burst through the gate, almost all graying women in brightly-colored traditional dresses that covered them from chin to toe. They wailed, raised their hands and wagged their fingers at Rork.

  Rork stared down a bulbous-nosed older man in a navy blue uniform with gold epaulets. The man stepped to the side, his eyes bloodshot. Rork pushed through the other police. He turned his back to the howling mass and did a little dance of defiance, his buttocks wiggling, at the police.

  The police transformed into a semi-circle, their laser rifles pointing at Rork’s forehead. Rork pushed back against the old women but they pushed him forward again.

  “Who are these people?” Rork yelled.

  “Some consider me to be a holy man.” Zero closed his eyes and began to mumble.

  “Well, that’s ridiculous.”

  Zero swiveled his head to look Rork in the eye. The pulse pistol slipped from his temple and the police edged in closer.

  “What do you mean, ‘ridiculous?’ I have studied and meditated for many years, under the most revered masters. I am an honors graduate of St. Stephen’s College and hold a PhD in Hindu Studies from Oxford. How dare you, sir?”

  Rork smirked. “And you want me to watch my ego?”

  Zero pushed Rork in the chest and Rork re-aimed the pistol at the red dot between the swami’s eyes. The police stepped in closer, all at once.

  “I believe our deal is effectively canceled,” Zero said.

  “You can’t unilaterally cancel a deal.”

  “All deals have exit clauses!”

  “So you’re a lawyer now, too? If you know so much about the law, what were you doing in that cell?”

  Zero’s face flattened and his shoulders hunched forward. He stuck out his lower lip and frowned. “This is none of your concern, a private matter.”

  “Are you ready to go back to that cell?”

  Zero touched a finger to the side of his head. “A truly free man is liberated no matter his surroundings.”

  “Just another one of your convenient platitudes. But when you’re braxing in a bucket and eating rotten rice for the three-hundredth day in a row without even a look at a woman or a view of the sky, the cliche is no comfort, is it?”

  Zero looked at the policeman nearest him and folded his arms across his chest.

  “Is it, holy man? I know why you were in that cell.”

  “You know nothing. You are an empty head on a thieving stump of flesh.”

  “It was a woman.” For better or worse, it’s always a woman. He hoped his guess was correct.

  Zero balled his fists.

  “How many?”

  Zero stomped back over to Rork and turned his back to him. Rork put his arm around Zero’s neck and placed the gun once more at his temple.

  “We’ve got to stick together, you and I,” Rork said. “We got into this together. We’ll get out of it together. The deal stands.”

  Zero nodded. “And now?”

  A media drone zoomed in from the open sky and took a position to Rork’s right, its small blades whining like a busy bee. The forest green lens zoomed in silently on his face.

  Rork smiled. “Where’s your general?” He scanned the crowd for the big-nosed man with the epaulets. “We— I demand a civilian car take us to the spaceport now. I’ll release your fallen holy man there. But any false moves and that’s it.”

  The women around them covered their mouths and restarted their wailing.

  “Step aside, boys!”

  Rork craned his neck around the media drone to find the speaker. A woman appeared from the ranks of the rifle-wielding police. Her raven black hair fell on a parabolic curve down the back of her head and reached to her waist. A shiny, white mini-skirt revealed perfectly contoured legs that arched down from her firmament in a pose that caused Rork’s chin to fail.

  “Wow,” he mumbled.

  She stepped high towards Rork and Zero, a shimmering, red cape ripping through the air behind air. She cracked her cherry boot heels on the ground and stared intently at the newly imprisoned pair.

  “I know this woman from somewhere,” Zero mumbled.

  The media drone zipped up and spun in mid-air. It re-focused on the lady.

  “I am Sophia Patel, the Attorney General for the Indian Realm, and I am here to negotiate a deal with you.”

  Rork took in her generously lashed green eyes. His heart fluttered and he felt short of breath. “Goo
d, good, yes. Alright. You’re the... What?” He looked her up and down, from her uplifted boot heel to her parted red lips.

  “I told you I’d be back.” She ran a hand across her chest.

  Zero elbowed him. “She’s an actress!”

  “You are the rogue pirate Rork Sollix and you are holding our revered Guru Dr. Zero Malik hostage.” She arched her head to one side and made a duck face.

  “Yes, I am Rork Sollix.” Rork’s eyes fell on the gentle yet ample curve of her buttocks and he nodded.

  She walked closer. “Tell me what you need, Mr. Sollix. May I call you Rork?”

  Zero stomped on Rork’s toes and Rork frowned.

  “Right!” Rork said. “We want to go to the spaceport.”

  “Follow me,” Ms. Patel said.

  She walked past Rork, the edge of her cape flying up and tickling his nose. The crowd of old women stepped to one side. The gate opened, apparently on its own initiative. Zero turned to follow and Rork let his pistol hand fall to his side. A pink sedan pulled up to the street, its windows black. A tall, wide man stepped out. He wore a brown suede trenchcoat, a red scarf tossed around his neck.

  Rork startled and pointed the gun at him. “Boyfriend?”

  “Bodyguard.” She raised an eyebrow at Rork. “Would you like to drive, Mr. Sollix?”

  “Call me Rork.” He took the keys from the bodyguard and waved him away with his pistol hand. Rork pointed his pistol at Ms. Patel and slid into the backseat next to her.

  “Hey!” Zero remained outside the vehicle, his palms pointing at the sky.

  Rork turned away from Ms. Patel, careful to keep the pulse pistol on her, and tossed the keys to Zero. “You know where we’re going.”

  Zero slammed the back door closed and looked up. “Give me the strength!” He got in, inserted the key and piloted the luxury vehicle into the sky.

  Rork slid closer to Ms. Patel and put his arm on the back of the seat. He jammed the pulse pistol between his belt and his kidney and smiled up at the woman.

  Ms. Patel slid closer to the door and smiled. “I would very much like to have your endorsement, Mr. Sollix.”

  “Call me Rork!” He slid closer.

  “And yours as well, Guru Zero.” She put her palms together in front of her face and bowed her head towards the front seat.

  “For what?” Rork asked. “You are the Attorney General, aren’t you? That’s what you told us?” He looked at Zero.

  “I am running for Governor of the Indian Realm now and as you two gentleman are so well-respected among the masses of people, well...” She smiled and the light from her teeth mesmerized Rork.

  Zero looked back at Rork via the rear-view mirror. “It is unwise to mix the spiritual and the political.”

  Rork shook his head to break her spell and jerked his thumb backwards. “You free those prisoners back there and stop sending poor people to the colonies. Then I’ll think about it.”

  “I’m afraid it is an absolute requirement if you wish to get off the planet safely.” Ms. Patel put her hand between her breasts and then to Rork’s throat in one seamless movement.

  An icy chill assaulted Rork’s neck. His jugular pounded something hard.

  “It’s the ladies’ edition pistol but I can assure you, Mr. Sollix, that it is even more powerful than your stolen police issue.”

  Outside, a dozen media drones circled the aircar as it hurtled towards the looming spaceport.

  “Uh...” Rork’s eyes met Zero’s.

  “You will both tell the cameras that I am the best candidate for Governor now or I will expose what’s left of your brains to Delhi’s trademarked pure morning air.”

  15

  “WHAT THE hell did you do?”

  Rork stumbled and fell forward. His knee crashed into a rock and his lower back ached. He wanted to scream but only a low groan escaped his throat. He pushed himself back up and the world spun around him.

  “Rork! We gotta... We must...”

  Rork looked around. Who is that? He spun around and fell back into the aircar. His head landed in Ms. Patel’s lap and she mumbled something.

  “Where are you?” Zero’s voice came from far away.

  His life situation returned to him in a pop, like a change of pressure knuckling the inner hull of his old WORF-9. He sat up and pulled himself out of the broken car.

  The fallen wreck rested in a small yard protected by withering palm trees. He looked up and the vertigo forced him back. A skyscraper rose next to them and the front of the car was buried in its wall. Steam, smoke or both escaped from what must be a maintenance area.

  “Rork! Help me!”

  “Where the hell are you?”

  Ms. Patel slammed her arm against the car door and groaned. Her pistol lay on the seat next to her in a pile of safety glass squares and cubes of black plastic molding.

  “I can’t breathe!” Zero yelled.

  Rork jumped back into the car and climbed into the front seat. He stared into the gloom inside the skyscraper. There was no sign of the mystic.

  “I’m slipping!” The voice came from below the car.

  “Tell me where you are!”

  “Don’t leave me here, Rork, please! I’m going to fall.”

  Rork looked through the back window of the car. The curving bottom of the giant egg that was the spaceport lay just on the other side of the street. Traffic moved normally up and down the wide boulevard. Travelers walked in and out of the large front gate. Great targeting, Zero.

  Rork walked into the spaceport alone, found a luxury yacht and blasted off while the cops were busy digging these two out of this wreck. It was perfect.

  Ms. Patel’s hand crawled across the seat towards her tiny gun.

  Rork propelled himself forward and landed his pinky finger on its chilly metal handle. He dragged it just out of her reach. I can still get away.

  “My leg is broken. I’m no threat anyway.” She raised her head and with a flourish pushed her lush mane out of her face and over the top of her head. She smiled thinly.

  Rork pocketed the undersized weapon. “Don’t go anywhere.” He started to climb into the back seat.

  “I’ll let you out of the deal. Just don’t let me die here! It’s dark. I can’t see anything and I think it’s really deep. It’s like a giant hole. Oh God! Something is touching my feet!”

  “That’s the floor! Just let go!” Rork met Ms. Patel’s eyes and shook his head. He scanned her body for signs of deception and found none, for now. The floor was right there. Zero could let go, drop a few feet and be fine. He was happy in that cage. He’d be fine. But this bird won’t be caged.

  “I’m scared, Rork, please. I don’t want to be alone again and I don’t want to die down here.”

  “Blast it all, Jupiter.” Rork shot one last glance at Ms. Patel, then turned and tossed himself between the ragged edges of the broken viewport and onto the smooth hull. He inched forward and the car angled downward.

  Ms. Patel screamed.

  Rork slid forward. He hooked his feet against the top edge of the dashboard and forced the balls of his palms against the hull.

  Metal groaned. The car slipped forward then stopped with a screeching crash of metal and glass. Shiny bits slid off the front of the car’s hull and Rork waited for them to hit the cement or stone floor below.

  But no sound came.

  “You moron! I can’t die! Not like this!” Ms. Patel yelled.

  “Shh.” Rork cocked an ear. The glass tinkled en masse but it was far away.

  “Hold on, Zero.” Rork slid forward, searching for something to anchor his foot as he went. But there was nothing. He pushed on anyway and reached the edge.

  A hand reached up from below.

  Rork grabbed it and hazarded a look down. Pitch black, the abyss disoriented him and his eyes unfocused.

  “Focus on me.” Zero got his elbows up on the car and slithered across the hood and into the front seat.

  The car rocked backwards and Ms. Pate
l screamed again.

  Rork ripped his eyes away from the darkness. He slid down the hull and fell into the co-pilot’s seat. He grinned at Zero. “That was fun!”

  Zero flashed him a pained frown, then threw himself over the back seat and was outside. Rork followed and ran to the street, ahead of Zero.

  Zero caught up. “What about her?”

  Rork searched the sky. Flashing red lights hovered above the spaceport. A cloud of smaller craft surrounded them. He pointed up. “They’ll find here. Come on.” He grabbed Zero’s elbow and they darted across the street.

  Zero stopped outside the gate. “Why did you come back for me?”

  Rork stood in the gate, well-dressed people streaming in and out around him. He shot his companion a lopsided grin. “I wanted to teach you a lesson about faith, and fear.” He continued inside.

  Rork looked up. He wanted to just jump off and use his rockets to zoom up to a ship but this was high-grav. He’d have to hoof it up, step by painful step. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

  “Which one is your ship?” Zero stood at his side and looked up. “How big is it?”

  “It’s the closest one,” Rork mumbled with a wry grin. In the middle of the wide space people gathered around benches and tea shops. On the sides were closed offices behind ticketing counters. Straight ahead, travelers queued for immigration control.

  “Don’t we need papers? I’ve never been to space before,” Zero said.

  “Are you kidding me? You’re green? You at least had your inoculations, right?”

  Zero shrugged.

  “If you get sick and die, it’s not my fault.”

  “The Universe will provide. I have faith.”

  “Like your faith back there?” Rork jerked his thumb backwards.

  “To err is human but to throw people’s failings in their faces is just rude.”

  Rork followed his thumb backwards. A familiar red flash caught his eye. “Oh no.”

  “What?”

  They turned and Ms. Patel was between them, her arms around their shoulders, her ivory smile bared. A jet of air hit Rork’s cheek and bright lights blinded him from the front.