by Elin Wyn
How to get there before him?
I scanned the area, wishing Kara was with me with her knowledge of the city’s alleyways and shortcuts, and...
Roofs.
That would do it.
I scaled the nearest building with a conveniently placed pile of trash, wincing as I went, wishing the damn scalp wound would stop bleeding.
If I didn't get a chance to heal, at least a little, there was no way I could win.
But the thing inside that helmet wouldn't hesitate to destroy the building, kids inside or not.
Heal later, fight now.
With a running start, I leaped from one roof to the next, in fast succession. Each landing jarred my bones just enough to decide this was one of those ideas that fell somewhere between lousy or brilliant, or maybe both.
With a start, I jolted out of my haze. I'd run out of roof. More exactly, the gap between my last roof and the refinery control center was too wide, even for me.
Fine.
I half-slid down the pipes, to stand in front of the building, listening. Nothing from inside, but from the direction of Xavis’ complex a commotion of angry shouts and frightened screams was headed my way.
I’d made it here before him, then.
I stuck my head inside and shouted, "Evacuate. Get out!" No response. “Bani! Hoyt! Get the kids and get out!”
With no more time than for that brief warning, the Hunter arrived.
It stopped across the street from me. "All results-”
I cut it off. "Yeah, I've heard it. Not happening."
"You were to be restrained." It seemed to be calculating, thinking.
"I'm sure I was. But that deal wasn't with me."
“You are in my way.”
“And I intend to stay here.”
It paused for only a moment, while I held my breath. If it really needed to return me to wherever its base was, did that mean it shouldn't kill me? That’d be nice, but it hadn't seemed to be holding back too much in either of our last two fights.
It took a step towards me. “You will be restrained, then I will execute the client’s request, and the payment to us will be increased accordingly.”
Another step, then a slow, implacable stride that sped up until it charged like a tank.
I braced myself. In the shape I was in, I couldn’t put on the speed to avoid it. Nothing to do but hope to use its own speed against it, turn it as it passed, hopefully into something large and solid.
But before it reached me, a wall of junk rose behind me. A bot, so battered I couldn’t tell its original purpose, dashed by on its low treads, one steel extension held in front of it like a spear.
The Hunter sidestepped, twisted the metal bar off, and threw it to the side, only to be hit by two smaller bots, both looking as if they’d been rescued from the trash heap.
It wasn’t until the tinny speaker on one of them began shouting that I snapped, recognizing the voice through the distortion.
Rati had joined the fight.
A third, larger bot stomped up, and I rolled out of the way, scooping up the discarded bar from the first. This one had a large jaw-like attachment at the front, probably for crushing ore, some detached part of my mind decided.
The Hunter threw the smaller of the bots at me, missing only by fractions of an inch. Shrapnel caught my back as it shattered on the exterior wall of the refinery.
No more time for catching my breath. Even if the bots were slowing it down, they weren’t enough to stop it.
I circled around while the Hunter grappled with the large bot, finally wrenching the jaws off it, flinging them away.
This time I ducked, springing back to crack it on the side of the head with my improvised polearm.
I couldn't afford to be caught in the Hunter’s grip again. If I could manage it, this would have to be a fight kept at a distance. But that was a pretty big if.
Before I could take another whack at it, another bot crashed into the Hunter's side, grinding its tires into the street, attempting to shove the Hunter back from the control center.
“Get it!” crackled from the speaker, and I thrust and spun in time with the barrage of bots until once again the Hunter freed itself and moved another pace forward.
I tripped back, still out of range, but panting from exertion.
It was halfway across the street now. Between the bots and myself, we'd made it fight for every step.
But how many could Rati send against the monster?
And how long could I stay standing?
And, damn it, how long until the kids got out? I hadn’t gotten much of a look at the building when Kara and I had been by, the lift tube had been gutted, so they’d have to take the long way, down the stairs.
But I heard nothing behind me, no movement. Not a sound.
The Hunter took on another bot, and we continued our dance, I struck but felt my blows doing less and less damage. I hadn't even cracked the damn helmet yet.
Another wave of bots and I darted closer. This time I’d knock the dome clear off the bastard’s head. This time I’d end this. This time…
I’d be just a little too slow.
The Hunter caught the bar in his hand and used the leverage to throw me over its shoulder. I skidded when I hit the street, pavement burning through the rips of my pants.
Slowly I pushed up on my elbows, then to my knees.
Not done, not done yet. Couldn’t let it past.
A low rumble caught my attention. Around the corner came an old roller wagon, pincer arms in the front, clicking and snapping, as it aimed for the Hunter
A wave of bots of any and all description came down the street, piling onto the Hunter as if he were magnetized, not doing much damage, but slowing him down long enough for the cavalry to arrive.
The pincers grabbed the Hunter, and this time the black-clad shape went flying, crashing into the wall of the control center.
A cascade of rubble showered down on it as it struggled to get up. The roller wagon pinned it, but the Hunter pushed back, inch by inch.
“Stay down, you bastard.” I pushed the rest of the way to my feet, grabbing up a length of pipe as I staggered towards the wall. This was my chance to finish it.
Until, with a scream of metal, a sheet of permasteel dislodged from the face of the building, plummeting edge first into the black dome.
Shrieking and kicking, the Hunter writhed and was finally still.
I took another step towards it, then closed my eyes to try to make the world stop moving.
But when I looked again, I realized it wasn’t my eyes, the building was swaying.
Between the bots, the Hunter, and age, the building had taken all it could, and was on the edge of collapse.
And I still hadn’t heard the kids come out.
I limped through the clouds of dust of the ground floor, “Bani, Hoyt!”
Finally, I heard them, scared whimpers, muffled sobs.
“Over here!” I shouted. “Get out!”
Eyes wide, faces smeared with dust, Hoyt and Bani emerged, herding the littles between them.
“Is that all of them?” I pushed them towards the door, too tired to try to soften my words.
Hoyt’s shoulders sagged as he shook his head. “The stairway collapsed. Mavi was on the other side.”
I froze. “And you left her?”
“I told her to get back to the window,” Bani shouted as he tugged me outside. “I can climb up, get her from there.”
I searched until I found her tiny shape framed in the window. All the way up. Of course.
The walls shuddered, and another section of permasteel crashed down.
“No way, it’s too unstable,” I said grimly.
“I’m light,” Bani argued. “I can do it.”
“Kid, Kara would kill me if anything happened to you. I’m going to count on you to take care of her.”
His eyes filled with tears. “But we can’t leave Mavi!”
“I’m not planning to.”
I looked at the window again. I was heavier than Bani, but faster, no matter what the kid thought.
I started figuring my approach. It could work.
Just as I started up, another crash drove me back.
There had to be another way.
“Can you catch me?” a small voice drifted down.
“Mavi,” I shouted. “Stay there!”
“What are you going to do?” Hoyt yelled.
“Shut up,” I growled, watching Mavi, listening to the creak of the building. The whole damn thing was going to come down. “Get the rest of those kids out of here.”
The tension spiraled in my gut as I weighed options. And then, like a kiss of light, a familiar hand was on my shoulder.
“You’ve got her,” Kara whispered from behind me. “She’ll be fine.” The tension disappeared with her touch, leaving only clear focus.
“Come on down, honey!” I shouted, and damn me if I wasn’t rewarded with a giggle.
“Catch me!” Mavi shouted, and she flung herself down.
I shifted, adjusted for her arc, grabbed her from the air and tucked and rolled with her down the street.
We rolled to a stop, and I unfolded from around her. She sighed and leaned her tiny body into my chest.
“We could do that again. But not for a while.”
I leaned back, searching the street until I found Kara, grinning like a mad thing.
Our eyes met, and even with rubble and dust all around us, all was right with the world.
Kara
I watched Davien’s chest as if each rise and fall was tied to my own heartbeat.
We’d made our way back to Rati’s - Davien, me, and all the littles, surrounded by an escort of bots. There was nowhere else safe to go.
Mavi curled up with him, having refused to leave his side except for the brief wash in the decontaminant chamber.
Hoyt and Rati worked the comms, muttering quietly while the rest of the littles sprawled out on hastily built pallets. Bani had finally lost the battle to stay awake, face smoothed in sleep, maybe cleaner than I’d ever seen him.
Hoyt dropped beside me. “Sary and his lieutenants are fighting among themselves for control of the city. No one’s noticed that Rati’s still inside the systems at the complex.”
I shrugged, too exhausted to feel much of anything. “I tried to tell you. Nothing will change.” I remembered a flicker of camo. “Did you know about the hit on Xavis?”
His jaw tightened and, in that moment, he looked older than any teenager should. “It was no more than he’d ordered for any number of people.” He reached over to flick a blanket back over a child. “Right now, there’s chaos, but it’ll work out for the best.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whoever wins, they won’t have real control for months. We can take them down, even if we have to do it one by one.”
I shut my eyes, leaning against the wall. The tiniest hope flickered in my gut.
“Take back the city.” I breathed, almost afraid to say it aloud. “Really.”
“But not you.” Hoyt’s voice was flat.
“What?” I blinked. “I can fight just as well, maybe better, than most of the citizens you want to get involved.”
“I’d like to have you.” The regret in his voice sounded genuine, enough for me to overlook his words for a second. Then it hit.
“You’d like to…” It just didn’t make sense.
“Kara, you really are slow sometimes,” Bani mumbled. “Who do you think runs Bedrock Core?”
I stared at Hoyt. “How old are you?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. Didn’t matter - once I stopped growing, I stopped counting. Smaller means it’s easier to stay fed.”
“And no one pays attention to you if you’re a kid,” muttered Bani.
I smacked his outstretched leg lightly, and he grinned. We were good again.
But the smile never made it to Hoyt’s face. “Sary’s got a big reward out for both you and Davien. Too big. You’re going to be targeted as long as you’re on Neurea until this all dies down.”
Well. I stared at nothing until a thump against my leg brought me back. Bani had moved to my other my side. “But I’m going to stay and fight, all right?”
My throat caught, and I couldn’t say anything, just wrapped my arm around him in an awkward side-hug. For a moment, he leaned against me, and I thought of all the things he could be, the other futures waiting for him, somewhere else. But he was right, back at the refinery. I hadn’t asked him what he wanted.
“You’re old enough to decide, kid.”
“Honey,” a low growl broke through my misery, “what are you doing?”
“I wanted to see your teeth again,” Mavi answered, as if it were the most logical answer in the world. Tonight, maybe it was.
Davien cracked one eye, peering up at the girl, who now sat perched on his chest. Apparently, she’d slept enough.
“Mavi, come over here, let him rest,” I coaxed. And let him heal, I hoped.
“I’m awake, been mostly awake for a bit.” Davien pushed himself up, and Mavi slid into his lap, giggling.
“What’s the plan?” The question was to the room in general, but his eyes were fixed on me.
We could stay, I knew. Davien would stay with me, help fight Sary and the rest. All I had to do was say the word.
But I’d promised. And he’d already done his best to make my family safe.
We should go find his.
I snagged the jump bag from the corner where I’d dropped it, and tossed it to him. “See if Rati can break that code.”
Hearing her name, Rati rolled into the room. “Of course I can”, she snapped, half distracted by Mavi climbing over the front of her chair, happily exploring a new device.
“I can’t believe you’re doubting my talents after I made you a present.”
A helper bot rolled up, carrying a dented gray box.
I took it from the tray, rolled it over in my hand, then looked up at her.
“It was on one of the old mining bots I took over. Didn’t take much to separate.”
“And it’s a…”
She rolled her eyes at me. “You wanted a sensor for antonium, right? Go finish raiding Xavis’ storeroom.”
My hand clenched around the device, and I laughed. “One last job.” I looked at Davien and knew I’d made the right choice. But before we started working... “I’ve got to get some clean clothes.”
I’d meant to get started early, before the streets were busy, but, by the time we slept, got the kids settled in the new space the bots had prepared, Rati started on the code, and talked over plans with Hoyt and Bani, it was mid-morning.
“You sure you don’t want to just get something new?” Davien asked. “I know how much you love shopping.”
I poked him in the side, then took his hand. “Save the credits for our tickets. Besides, I want my own, properly broken-in clothes.”
“I don’t think you’ll have anything that fits me,” he commented. His pants weren’t quite falling off, but close. The jump bag had held only the very, very basics, his datapad, and not much else.
“That’s a reasonable expense.” I stretched up to kiss his cheek. “Meet you back at my place.”
I wedged the door open to the apartment and looked at the chaos I’d left. Running after Davien seemed like a lifetime ago. Certainly, my life had changed.
I stripped down, tossed my coat on the bed and stepped into the refresher, letting the water wash away the stress and terror of the last few days.
Didn’t want friends, didn’t want entanglements. But I’d had them all along. Maybe not a family of blood, but one of choices.
The refresher beeped, and I cut the water before it turned cold, turning in the jets until I dried.
Rati would make sure I stayed in touch, and I’d threatened Bani’s fingers until he’d promised to work with the littles on the school apps Rati had found. The job would make him keep a unit ahead of them, a
t least, and keep him out of the worst of the fighting.
I dressed quickly, reveling in clean, untorn clothing. I stretched out on the bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to ignore a soft, persistent beep.
Depending on where the fighting was, another raid on the storeroom would be tricky. If someone else had already taken over the complex, we’d have to count on Rati being eyes and ears for us as we moved in.
Damn it, that sound wasn’t going away! Almost as if it were in the room… I stared at my coat, then fumbled through the pockets.
Rati’s device was going off. Had been going off, probably the whole time. Great.
I tossed it on top of my dresser. No sense lugging it around if it was broken. The sound increased in both frequency and volume.
That was strange.
I picked it up again, moved it away from the dresser and back again. Maybe some of the dust had gotten on my clothes during the job at Sary’s?
I moved it down the front of the dresser, and the noise got louder, only interrupted by Davien forcing open the door.
“I swear, if we stay here another night, I’m moving us back to the Imperial,” he grumbled. “What are you doing?”
“Figuring out how broken this thing is,” I called back. “We’re saving for tickets, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah.” He stood beside me, watching as I moved the device up and down. “Kara, what’s under there?”
“Nothing,” I shrugged. “Just the box…” I trailed off.
He squeezed my hand. “Just the box from your mother?”
I nodded and handed him the device. Kneeling, I pulled the battered plexi box out from where I’d shoved it so many years ago.
Davien sat on the floor next to me and, as he passed the sensor over the box, it went wild.
“Obviously, it’s calibrated to the wrong thing,” I mumbled. “Probably whatever she was taking at the end.”
“Let’s just take a look,” Davien said softly, as he put the sensor aside. “Ready?”
I lifted the top and stared into a pile of memories.
A pile of chips. Her papers, her research that she’d moved with us from tiny room to tinier room, unable to let it go.
“Did you ever look through it all?”
