Liam nodded and said, “Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a long road ahead.”
•
Liam tossed in the night, vivid images flooding his mind. Tiffany stood before him in the small room above The Sand’s Edge, dressed in her tight jeans and purple T-shirt, a thin hole piercing her skull so Liam could see through to the other side. As she stared at him, blood began to drip from her wound and down the bridge of her nose. She looked so sad standing there, her tousled red hair blowing with a nonexistent breeze.
She opened her mouth to speak and only managed to say, “Why?”
Liam’s eyes opened and he shot up to a seated position on his mat. Sweat seeped through his gray jumpsuit and down his clenched jaw, merging on his chin. He ran a hand through his blond hair, darkened with sweat, and slicked it back away from his eyes. His gaze moved to the window, where Nix stood examining the purple web enveloping the colony. Nix turned with a solemn look that didn’t suit him.
“Can’t sleep?” Liam asked him.
“My work at the spire has made me more nocturnal than I’m used to, but I have always enjoyed the night. Bad dream?”
“You could say that,” Liam said, lying back down on his mat.
Nix turned his gaze back out the window. Softly, he said, “We all have our burdens to bear.”
Liam’s eyelids began to droop and once again he fell into darkness. Nix’s words remained at the forefront of his mind. He wondered what secrets their Dinari friend held. Surely they were no worse than Liam’s destructive past.
•
“Take these,” Nix said, passing Liam and the crew rough brown cloaks similar to his own. “Keep your hands in the pockets and your hoods up, you’ll blend in better on our way to the hangar. The last thing we want is attention from the Ansarans.”
It was early morning when Liam unzipped his grey jumpsuit and stepped out of it, putting the cloak on over his head, its long brown fabric hanging down to his knees and curling around him like a cape. The loading bay had just about anything Liam could think of. More and more, Zega was starting to remind him of some of his old contacts at Vesta Corporation. They were never short of supplies and were found in places just as seedy as The Sand’s Edge.
Liam pulled on a matching pair of pants and pulled the ashen drawstring tight. Last, he strapped the energy weapon to his thigh. Liam felt odd wearing the Dinari outfit, but the oddest part about it wasn’t what he was wearing, but what he wasn’t. Even in this sandy environment, most Dinari didn’t wear shoes. Liam found himself thinking about how hot the sand was going to be on his toes.
As though reading his mind, Nix reached into a crate and pulled out a pair of thin boots. “These are meant for a Dinari teenager, but they might fit you.”
Liam tried on the tan boots, which conformed nicely to his feet and looked like something out of an ancient history book from Earth. They had several leather straps and made their way almost to his knees. There was a little extra room at the end where a Dinari’s claws would probably have fit. All in all they fit well, considering they weren’t even made for his species. Liam pulled the hood over his head, the tip of which hung down past his eyebrows.
Saturn and Ju-Long finished strapping on their boots while Nix checked them all over. Anyone getting a close look would know they weren’t Dinari, but the disguises were good enough that on a speeding hover bike they shouldn’t be noticed. Nix smiled in admiration of his work. “I think we’ll be fine. Let’s go.”
“What about Sestra?” Liam asked.
“She’s got other priorities. Besides, this kind of mission isn’t her style.”
Without offering any more explanation, Nix pressed a button on the wall and a corrugated metal garage door opened, morning light flooding the loading bay. Liam took the nearest hover bike, expecting Saturn to hop on the back. Instead, she took one of the other bikes, shooing Ju-Long away when he tried to get on with her. Dejected, Ju-Long walked up to Liam’s bike and got on. When Liam powered on the bike, Ju-Long put a hand awkwardly on his shoulder to steady himself. The hover bikes made whirring noises, quiet at first, but rising in volume until the loading bay was filled with their deafening hum.
Nix powered on his bike and fiddled with his console, projecting his face as a hologram on Liam and Saturn’s bikes. “When we get out there, if a patrol catches wind of us, split up. I’ll send a map with the location of the hangar. Don’t let them follow you, though. We can’t afford an open fight.”
Nix pointed his clawed toes, pressing down on the accelerator and quickly turned left out of the loading bay followed closely by Saturn. A holographic map appeared on Liam’s control panel, hovering above the display in a yellow outline, their destination flashing in red. Liam turned a copper knob, increasing power to his engine until the whir became a steady but deafening hum. He pointed the toe of his boot and sped out into the morning light.
21
In steep contrast to the night, the streets of Sector Seven were bustling with Dinari, open air markets littering the side streets. Ansaran guards clad in their tan camouflage patrolled the street in pairs, their eyes obstructed by dark visors. Liam saw some Ansaran guards shaking down a teenage Dinari male, punching his scaled face with sickening force. The purple web that owned the night was gone, replaced by a sun that seemed far closer than the sun on Earth. Its position in the sky was still low, but it took up far more of the yellowed atmosphere than Liam had expected.
Nix led them around a deep bend in the dirt road. Liam had to maneuver out of the way of a cart filled with foreign produce, purple in color and spherical in shape. The road was wide and there were few vehicles to clog it. Most Dinari seemed to travel on foot and there was only an occasional Ansaran craft, but they generally flew over the tops of the buildings. Their sleek vehicles were as wide as four of their bikes abreast and had two large fans on the sides which tilted back to accelerate the ship. Each held two Ansaran guards crammed tight in the clear glass cockpit.
Whenever they saw one Liam instinctively pressed down his foot and accelerated. There didn’t seem to be any speed laws on Garuda, though if there were, somehow he doubted Nix would follow them. Liam and Ju-Long caught up to Nix and Saturn’s bikes after a while. Watching Nix’s back, Liam thought that there must be a lot more to their Dinari guide. His persona from the day before was far different from the confident Dinari before him. It made Liam wonder how much truth there was in Nix’s words.
The Ansaran guards didn’t take any interest in them until they passed into Sector Eight. Two pillars on either side of the street illuminated as they approached, sending out a field of red gridded lasers in their path. Ju-Long grabbed both of Liam’s shoulders tight, crying out for him to stop. Liam tried to decelerate but ended up plowing right through the field of lasers.
He didn’t feel a thing as they passed through. Liam realized too late that they had been scanned. Two Ansaran crafts were on them in moments, their large rotors tilted forward, and the ships hovering ten meters off the ground. A wall of sand plumed up behind them as they pursued the three hover bikes. Up ahead, Nix broke hard and turned down a side street off to the right, far too small for the Ansarans but perfect for their small bikes. Saturn accelerated to her top speed, leaving Liam in her wake of dust.
On Liam’s dash the yellow holographic map gleamed, a red dot flashing straight ahead where the warehouse would be. From behind, a blue laser cut into the dirt road a meter to his right, blasting out a perfect line in the sand a half meter deep. Out of Liam’s peripheral vision, he saw Ju-Long’s hand pointing to the left. Liam turned hard, neglecting his brake and the hover bike shot up a few meters into the turn, sparking off the side of a clay building before Liam could level it out in the alleyway.
The Ansaran ships slowed, rising vertically into the air to get their bearings. Soon, they adjusted and followed him over the top of the buildings, their loud fans propelling them forward far faster than Liam’s bike was capable of moving. Liam knew he’d have to lose them i
n the alleys if he were to have any chance of getting rid of them before he reached the hangar.
“Hang on,” Liam shouted over his shoulder.
Ju-Long gripped Liam’s cloak tighter in response.
Liam broke hard and twisted the handles of the bike to the right, spinning the back end wide as he made the turn. He pressed his foot down on the accelerator, quickly accelerating until he started to get tunnel vision. The alley was becoming thinner, too thin to safely get the bike through. Above him the Ansarans had adjusted and were hot on his trail. Liam pressed the brake and turned to the left, the bike coming off the ground again and flipping upside down in a roll before finding the ground and hovering there once more, flying down the alley with blazing speed.
Liam made two more turns and checked over his shoulder. He’d lost them. A hundred meters ahead Liam could see where the alley dumped out into the main road. It looked like they were going to come out in the middle of one of the open air markets. Liam tilted his toe and the hover bike accelerated through the thin alley, the clay walls narrowing until less than a meter remained on either side. They burst out of the alley, making a quick turn. Out of the sky an Ansaran ship dropped down, sending a cloud of dust into Liam’s eyes and forcing him to brake hard. He lost control of the hover bike and it skidded across the sand, sending Ju-Long and Liam rolling to the side of the street. They tumbled to a stop and lay there, motionless.
Liam’s body ached as he began to check himself over for injuries. Remarkably, the sand was fairly forgiving and his rough cloak took the brunt of the impact. Its brown earthy color had become beige, the fine grains of sand seemingly woven into his cloak. Liam lay on his back shielding his eyes from the sun. The Ansaran ship had landed and the soldiers approached, dressed in their usual beige garb with an oblong helmet and a black slit to see. Their weapons were drawn and pointed at Liam and Ju-Long, who lay to his left, cradling the hand where Saturn had stabbed him. Apparently sand didn’t agree with his wound.
The street, once bustling with Dinari, was now empty. The doors of the clay buildings shut behind them as they took cover inside. Liam saw numerous pairs of eyes watching the scene through their windows. The Dinari he’d met didn’t suggest they were a meek race, but maybe Liam’s sample was skewed. The average Dinari looked terrified of the Ansaran soldiers.
“Halt, outsider,” one of the soldiers said. “You’re coming with us.”
Liam and Ju-long’s eyes met and they seemed to be on the same page. Ju-Long slowly sat up, his hands raised, and said, “What was our crime?”
The Ansaran soldiers both turned to Ju-Long with weapons leveled at his chest. “Hold it, don’t move.”
Liam’s hand traveled down his side and found his energy weapon. He put a hand on the grip and squeezed. He could feel it pulsate as it built up energy at the tip.
Ju-Long held his hands out defensively. “We haven’t done anything wrong. We’re here at the behest of the Caretaker.”
“Shut up, outsider. Put your hands behind your head and turn onto your stomach.”
Ju-Long complied and the Ansaran soldiers approached Ju-Long, but before they could reach him Liam pulled his weapon from its holster and released the pressure that had been building up at the tip. A ball of electricity hit the nearest guard square in the chest and he toppled over, convulsing on the sand.
Liam quickly gripped the weapon hard once more and released a smaller blast at the second soldier. It was enough to knock him to the ground and drop his weapon, but it hardly stunned him. Soon the soldier was reaching for his gun, his fingers wrapping around its handle and suddenly going limp. Ju-Long landed a crushing blow to the soldier’s helmet with his good hand, cracking the visor and sending the Ansaran’s head into the compacted sand.
Ju-Long fell to one knee with both hands hanging limp at his sides. The crushing blow he’d dealt sounded like it hurt Ju-Long as much as the other guy. Liam holstered his weapon and dragged Ju-Long to his feet by his forearm. He felt the eyes of dozens of Dinari on him as he led Ju-Long away.
“Let’s get out of here,” Liam said. “More will be on their way.”
22
With Ju-Long’s help, Liam raised the hover bike upright and powered it on. The bike sputtered before raising itself up half a meter. The two of them mounted it, Ju-Long grasping Liam’s cloak, and the hand he’d used to punch the soldier hanging uselessly at his side. The hologram of the Garuda Colony map flickered in and out, the red dot that marked the hangar jumped around to several locations, trying to get its bearings. Liam swung his hand through the image and hit the dash with a closed fist. The transparent lines of the map turned solid, clearly visible once again in the bright morning sun.
“Hold on,” Liam said before pressing down his toes and accelerating down the dirt road.
Liam veered the hover bike right along a bend and the street was once again full of Dinari. They were headed through the middle of a street market with countless carts and booths blocking their way. Liam slowed the bike and maneuvered around the stands. As he approached, the Dinari wisely moved out of his way. They were going slow enough that several of the Dinari stopped and stared at Liam’s face under his hood. A few of them pointed and spoke amongst themselves. Liam imagined seeing an alien roaming the streets of Toronto during the New Year’s Festival. The news would have traveled far faster on Earth, where the technology was primarily concerned with sharing information fast rather than more useful pursuits like feeding its people.
Liam broke through the far edge of the street market and accelerated once more, making a few turns through alleys out of caution. In five minutes they were approaching the red dot on their map. Liam came to a halt at the edge of an alley looking out onto one of the main streets. The red dot was flashing straight ahead. He looked across the street and saw a massive structure that was five stories tall and stretched for a few city blocks. The structure was metal with tendrils of clay creeping up from the bottom, as though it was being eaten by the sand. In front of them there was a large hangar door that was open several meters. Enough room for a hover bike.
“What are you waiting for?” Ju-Long asked.
Liam turned his head over his shoulder and replied, “I’m making sure we weren’t followed.”
They waited a couple of minutes without hearing any Ansaran ships in their vicinity. Liam nodded and pressed his foot down, jetting across the street and through the open hangar door. When they made it through the corrugated metal door dropped behind them, slamming on the ground with a thud that reverberated throughout the building. The sound caught Liam off guard and he broke hard.
The hangar was lit mostly by two rows of skylights several stories above them. Liam looked down the row of ships, unable to see the end. In front of them was a large craft with sharp wings that folded back over its frame like a bug. The body was rounded on the bottom and terminated at a sharp point where the cockpit would be. It was easily seventy-five meters long and twenty-five wide when the wings were back. The ship was a copper color, but made from an alloy unknown to Liam. Instead of being smooth like the Ansaran vessels, this ship was asymmetrical, with bits and pieces thrown together on the outside hodgepodge as though repairs had been frequent over the years. Sand was caked in the crevices making it appear even older.
A voice greeted them from behind.
“What took you so long?”
Nix stood with arms crossed, Saturn to his right and their bikes pushed into a corner behind them. His hood was down and the light from the skylights bore down on his tan scales. Liam and Ju-Long got off the hover bike and faced him.
“We got held up, but we took care of it,” Liam replied.
Nix’s expression turned grave and he dropped his hands to his side.
“You took care of it? Were you seen?”
“We’re here and we weren’t followed, so can we get on with this?”
Nix’s gaze moved to Ju-Long’s broken hand and he seemed to understand. He walked toward the craft and starte
d pushing buttons on a control panel off its starboard side. The computer terminal came out of the ground and appeared to control the hangar doors and the clamps that held the landing gear in place. When Nix pressed a button on the console a hologram appeared over it. Nix swiped his hand and the clamps were released. With another swipe, the doors opposite them began to open.
“Get inside,” Nix said. “We haven’t got much time.”
When Liam approached the ship a ramp came down from its underbelly and clanked against the concrete floors. Liam made his way up the ramp and was quickly joined by the others. At the top of the ramp, Nix pressed a red button on the wall and it retracted, the air compressing around it as they were sealed inside.
They were in a cargo area with several metal boxes strapped to the floor along the wall. The room was rectangular but rounded at the edges to conform to the ship. The walls curved up like the abdomen of a beetle. On either side of the cargo area were circular doorways. Nix immediately went to the right corridor and walked toward the front of the ship. Liam and the crew followed along the curved dimly lit path, looking to the left through several doorways as they passed. They passed a kitchen and some sort of meeting area on their way forward. The path curved in toward the center before a circular entryway marked the cockpit.
Inside there were four seats upholstered with cracked leather made from an unfamiliar animal. It was harder than cow leather and dried out from the desert planet. What would have been high quality at one time was now broken and uncomfortable. The cockpit was a good size with two chairs facing the front and two behind them facing each other, each with a console of their own. A center aisle a meter wide separated the pilot’s chairs.
Nix sat down in the pilot’s seat and powered on the craft. Above his console was a holographic image of the vessel in a soft orange color which grew brighter as the ship came to life. Liam could hear the whir of the engines and wondered how they were powered. Were they made with the same technology that powered the lifts in the spire? The alien technology was so foreign at times that it hardly seemed possible.
The Corsair Uprising Collection, Books 1-3 Page 10
