Roman led the way, speeding around people and obstacles towards the chain link fence that kept casual observers off the dock. On my map the safe house flared green, with concentric circles pulsing out from it. I toggled the public transport routes and they flashed up in red.
It was night and I couldn’t see much beyond the fence despite patches of light and various starport buildings picked out in grim concrete.
“How do we get out of here?”
“There will be a door for personnel somewhere,” Roman said, still shoving through shoals of people being herded in the direction of the main gates. Their raised voices and the all-port messages over the communications system made it hard to hear.
“Can we go through the gates?” I asked, my voice almost lost in the press of the crowd.
“Take forever to get through processing.”
“We were pre-vetted.”
“Tell that to a security guard with a flashlight and a metal detector. They like to use their standard issue equipment.”
“What’s the flashlight for?” Ryu asked, muffled where he was tucked into Roman’s chest.
“Dark places.”
“People don’t have dark places!” he said.
If only. Roman and I said together.
“Here,” I said.
There was a door marked, “Authorized Personnel Only.” Roman fiddled with the lock and I turned my back to scan for our pursuers. I could see people being jostled and pushed from across the port. We had a head start, but it wasn’t much. I shivered despite the press of bodies.
“Tell me when no one’s really looking,” he said, standing back a pace from the door and setting Ryu beside me.
“Now,” I said, as a flood of people pushed past with their backs to us.
Roman slammed the door with his bionic leg and with a crack the lock and part of the wall came free.
“Got it,” Roman said.
We slipped through the door, propping it back into place behind us.
Being in the marines was good for something, he said.
The cold hit me like a physical force. Winter in New Greenland. My old enemy.
Ryu whimpered and Roman and I both hissed as steam poured off our lightly clad bodies. We were in a vehicle maintenance yard, but it was unfenced.
“This way,” I said, hurrying towards the closest red line on the map. We needed to get on public transport. It was our fastest bet to find the safe house and the best way to keep warm until we could get somewhere safe. Driscoll and Kitsano would have to meet us there.
“Wait,” Roman said, pulling me to the side of a lit shed and cracking the door open. He handed me Ryu, put a finger to his lips and disappeared inside. I bit my lip. Our pursuers would be here any minute. He was wasting time. Ryu’s lips were trembling and his tiny frame was rigid in my arms. Kids complicated everything.
“Here,” Roman said, emerging from the shed and shoving something at me. I took it and watched as he shrugged into a huge duck-cloth coat. It was the standard grey of maintenance workers and two sizes too large. He took Ryu from me, tucking him inside the coat and then sealing it over them both. I shrugged into my own, suddenly grateful for his detour.
“Now we run,” I said, putting words into action. We jogged through the yard, avoiding the pools of light and drifts of dry snow that littered the maintenance yard.
A bang and raised voices behind me, quickened my heart, as I sped up. Our breath gusted white and thick in the sharp air and ice crystals hung in the light beams. Where our feet found snow it squeaked beneath our shoes. Not good. Years of time spent on New Greenland had taught me the types of cold that winter there can bring and squeaky snow put the thermometers somewhere around -30 Celsius. We needed to find that safe house.
Osatalik, the city we were navigating, was busy despite the frigid conditions. Light rail cars flashed by ahead and hover buses bumbled through the streets like glowing bees. Foot traffic was minimal, and as we left the shelter of the maintenance yard and sprinted into the open streets the reason was apparent. Wind wrapped around us like a tidal wave, nearly knocking me off my feet as I left the yard. Beside me, Roman stumbled, and both of us stopped, trying to catch a breath as the wind plucked it from our lungs.
I gripped Roman’s sleeve and dragged him across the street and behind the shelter of a megahousing building. The countergrav plates that allowed it to soar so high connected to a thick metal structure on the ground and we took shelter under it.
We should lure them here and take them on while there are only two tailing us, Roman said.
The safe house isn’t far if we can get on that transit line, I said, gesturing to the light rail ahead. Let’s go to the safe house and deal with them after. Then we won’t have to worry about police or security cameras or bodies in the streets.
We both glanced at Ryu, feeling the need to protect the small, shivering boy. His lips were blue and his arms around Roman were stiff with terror.
We need to hurry, Roman said, pushing me with one arm, and clutching Ryu with the other.
I nodded and we sprinted off again, dodging through alleys and around the bases of the ominously looming buildings. They were lit with the warmth of home, but no one was edging out of them at night and in this weather, so the streets were left empty as if we had cordoned them off for our desperate flight.
I followed the lit route on our implant, guiding us to a terminal for the rail. The rail line dipped down to ground level up ahead and we ran parallel to it, dashing for the stop.
Vera!
I turned my head, refusing to slow my pace, and saw our pursuers charging towards us with heads down and weapons drawn.
Quick!
The ground vibrated and I looked down the track. A train sped towards us, but there wasn’t enough time to jump the rails and arrive at the station. It wasn’t slowing, either, like it didn’t plan to stop here.
With a speeding train before us and enemies at our backs, I stopped running and spun around. My Tactical Interface went into overdrive.
The men stopped, looking back and forth between us, like they weren’t sure which was the greater threat . Behind me the noise of the train blocked out all other sound, but it was slowing after all.
I risked a glance back, and saw Roman staring down the track. One of the men had a cautionary hand held up to me. He was speaking, but there was too much noise to hear his words.
Forget them. Grab the train when it comes by, Roman said.
I stepped backwards, towards the track, dividing my attention between the track and the men. The wind from the train battled the wind from the weather for a brief moment and then it was upon us. Roman spun on his heels, running parallel to the light rail train. I sprinted after him, both of us leaping up and catching grab bars along the side of the train as it slowed to pass the stop and then continued to thunder along the rail.
Snowflakes as big as my fist broke from the clouds and floated slowly downward, gaining density and obscuring my vision as we picked up speed. My foot was on a stamped steel rest, and my arm gripped the handle. A full car ahead of me I saw Roman adjusting to shield Ryu in the same position.
So, how’s married life treating you? he asked me.
About the same, but now with twice as much at stake.
Well, when you’re not sure you have the cards and your opponent has a gleam in his eye that’s a good time to raise the stakes.
Really? I don’t play cards, but I guess that explains why you married me, I said, enjoying the lighthearted banter he was distracting me with, but still monitoring the map overlaid on my vision.
No. That was what we call ‘locking it down.’
Funny. I thought I mentioned that I won’t be chained.
A glimmer of laughter threaded through our channel. I liked having that teasing back in my mind. It made everything seem less grim.
Five stops later, as we neared the outer rim of Osatalik, we hopped off, dashing past the smattering of surprised commuters waitin
g there and pushing hard towards the dark of the streets beyond.
Two more blocks, I said.
The Hand, never ones for subtlety, had chosen a large colonial era home in an ancient high class neighborhood. The stone edifice would have cost a fortune even without the elaborate gargoyles carved into them.
Amazing they’ve stayed secret this long, Roman commented, as I sprinted for the front door and input the security code Driscoll had given me. The system also read my thumb print.
The house was dark. It worried me that we were the first to arrive. I shoved the door open, glancing side to side and then stepped in and waved the lights on. It felt weird not to have Roman entering first.
I know. Believe me, I’m torn about it. I just keep thinking of this little guy. We could all die and he could still be ok and live a good life and fall in love, you know? Plus, I look at these little brown eyes and he just knows I’ll save him from bad things, so how could I not?
I got it. After all, that’s why I wanted to tear Nigel down and take his place. I didn’t want to leave all of Blackwatch to his mercy. I guess I could handle losing a bodyguard since it meant gaining a husband.
Bodyguards come and go. With you around, they mostly go.
Hey! Be nice.
When am I not nice?
I closed the door behind him and he made a bee-line for a settee off to the side and set Ryu down on it, pulling him out of the maintenance coat and wrapping him up in the afghans that had been tossed there.
“Roman I scared,” Ryu’s tiny voice said, “and I cold.”
“Don’t worry little buddy,” I heard Roman say as he took care of him.
I locked the door and then snuck from room to room, checking each one to be sure it was secure. The Fleet officers were behind us somewhere, and as ominous as this house looked, it didn’t look particularly like the fort I had hoped it would be. It was just a house, although an elaborate one.
Stone facades swept up to the vaulted ceiling. A massive open fireplace dominated the entrance, close to the settee that Ryu was on. The furniture was sparse, but heavy and expensive. An entire ball could have been hosted just in the entrance. Someone had said, ‘Make it grand and large,’ when they were building the place. ‘Make it big enough for giants to bowl in.’
The next room I checked was through a stone arch to the side of the entrance. It was an old library, like the type you see in old records. With print books as valuable as they are today, you could have bought a starship with the contents. There was a butler’s pantry off the library and a set of stairs and drawing room off of that. Each one had been furnished by the same person who had the place built. It seemed their criteria was, ‘Only if it’s expensive.’
I was only three rooms into checking when the front door clicked. I sprang out of the drawing room and towards the door.
“Vera? Roman?” It was Driscoll. I breathed a sigh of relief too soon, because he followed it up with, “I really hope you aren’t here.”
Chapter Thirty
It was too late to do anything. Roman and Ryu were exposed on the settee on the other side of the entranceway, and I was too far down the hall to take anyone by surprise.
Driscoll was pushed in first with his hands above his head.
I see he’s happy to take one for the team. All of that talk about you being important to the cause was just that – talk, Roman said.
Kitsano was with Driscoll, looking dishevelled and standing with hunched shoulders. She’d put up a fight. Behind them were the men who had been tailing them as well as the ones who had tailed us. I let my hands reach up and I started to shuffle towards Roman.
Ok Zeta, do your magic, I said and released my hold on the shadows.
Nothing happened.
“It’s time to stop running,” one of the men behind Driscoll said. He braced his feet and squared his shoulders like he’d heard about me and was worried that an army was about to hit him square in the forehead.
Any time now, Roman prompted.
Zeta! Get your shadowy butt out here and fulfill your end of the deal. Zeta!
Footsteps echoed over the marble from behind me and I risked a look. Ch’ng walked out of the shadows and into the warm light of the massive crystal chandelier. I felt myself relax slightly at the sight of an ally.
“Vera. Driscoll,” he said, with the first full on grin I’d seen from him. He was holding a nettlegun in a casual way that suggested he wouldn’t need to use it, and there were five uniformed men behind him. I stiffened again. He wasn’t here as support. He was our betrayer.
Ten to four. Poor odds, and we had a child to defend and no weapons. What was Roman thinking scooping up a child?
I was thinking that he was valuable, and that of all the things I’ve ever done saving an innocent child from a miserable and lonely life might be the very best.
Sorry, I said, contrite. I did understand, but it was hard to shake the feeling that Roman was supposed to be protecting me.
You don’t need protecting any more. You can fight your own battles.
Excuse me? Do you not see this?
Go ahead. Fix it, he said, but his body language was tense despite the joking and he was crouched over Ryu like he would happily rip the eyes out of the first person to come close.
“I thought you were purely a back channels kind of guy, Ch’ng. This Establishment Barbie act doesn’t suit you,” I said.
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what gets you in more trouble, Vera, your arrogance, your mouth, or your lack of gratitude.”
He gestured and the Fleet officers spread out around us like they were following his orders.
“I’m not seeing much to be grateful for right now, Ch’ng,” I said. “And if I had to rank my worst traits I think ‘naïve’ might top the list right now. Have you been a plant all along?”
He laughed. “Why do you think McIsaac and I worked together? He liked knowing that I was secretly a Fleet operative. It made him feel less like a condemned traitor.”
Wow. That was so Ian.
“That’s why it didn’t look like Nigel was trying very hard to come after us. He didn’t need to, with you there keeping an eye on us the whole time.”
Ch’ng nodded. “I could have served you up on a golden platter any time I liked. Believe me, if it weren’t for orders I would have done it sooner. It wasn’t much fun to follow your incompetent orders and pretend I was as enamored with you as these fools. You always had to do it your own pig-headed way, didn’t you? Always ungrateful to those who gave everything to help you. Even now you aren’t worried about them or grateful for all they’ve done, you have eyes for nothing but your grand vision.”
“So now what? You drag us off to Nigel and receive a suitable reward?” I asked, catching Driscoll’s eye. He shook his head imperceptibly. He had no ideas. Great.
“And knowing you, this is where you try to negotiate for leniency for your little guardian dog and his new pup,” he said, still grinning.
One of the Fleet officers pulled out synth-cuffs and moved towards Driscoll and Kitsano. If I had any bright ideas now would be the time to use them.
“Or maybe now I tell you to go while you still can, before I call on a shadow army to sprout green fungus in your remains.”
Come on, Zeta! Remember, we get revenge together or not at all!
“If you could do that, little Vera, you would have already. I’ve always been a gambler – especially with lives – and so I gambled that your sweet little shadow army couldn’t save you so far away from their home. Turns out I was right to lay down the Big Blind, because now I get the Pot.”
The synthcuffs slid neatly on Kitsano and Driscoll as one of the men pulled out another set of them, moving purposefully towards me.
“If you’re going to betray me, Ch’ng, could you at least do it without the ‘bad guy’ monologue? Have some class.”
He crossed the room fluidly and slapped me across the face. The fake burn Driscoll had applied flew off my
face and the scarf slid to the ground. In front of me I heard gasps. I suppose Ch’ng hadn’t told his Fleet compatriots that he was cornering a Matsumoto. According to Driscoll, I was one of the last. If I was an animal they would be fundraising to keep me from going extinct.
Roman was a sight. My eyes found him immediately, worried for what he would do. He was a step away from Ryu, arms spread, posture low, like he was being physically torn in two between the two of us.
Don’t worry about me. Like you said, I’ll handle it.
I wasn’t a very good liar, but I thought he might have bought that one.
I focused my attention back on Ch’ng, matching his smile with my own icy one and I said, “How long have you been waiting to slap a Matsumoto?”
“I wouldn’t call you that,” he said, sneering dramatically.
If he would just lean in a little closer...
“And if you realized who I am,” he said, “you’d-”
“Say it to the hand,” I said, as he leaned in to gloat. I seized him by the throat, triggering the Tactical Interface, which positioned my fingers perfectly to make the best use of their tiny size.
He sounded like steam whistling from a kettle.
The shriek of nettles zipped around me and I expected to feel their sting and the blossoming pain that would tell me I was finally dying, but it was the Fleet men who were falling.
Roman stuffed Ryu under the settee, and threw his own body over the gap – always the body guard, even as a father. Driscoll slammed his body into Kitsano, and the two of them fell behind a pillar as the last Fleet man dropped to the ground.
I should have been upset to see members of my own military dying without warning, but their betrayal overwhelmed everything else.
“You can drop him now, Ms. Matsumoto,” a voice behind me said, in the same moment that my implant pinged.
Find Jin Ayumi complete. Initializing Phase Beta. Please stand by for further instructions. Setting operation parameters 14782.
The Matsumoto (The Matsumoto Trilogy Book 3) Page 19
