“So, here’s how it is, kid.” He said. “This whole place is surrounded, and we’ve got your lady friend- so just come quietly, okay? I know you’re a Noble, but you wouldn’t be the first Noble I’ve taken down, and to be honest you don’t look like much of a fighter.”
The kid casually balled up the towel and tossed it into the recycle bin, then looked back at Kyle. “Looks can be deceiving,” he answered coldly. “For example, my lady friend has already neutralized the three people you left with her, and the two who were following behind at a distance.”
What? Kyle did his best not to let his surprise show on his face, immediately sending out link requests to his men. He got no replies.
“She a Noble too?” He asked, fishing for time and answers.
The Lieutenant just smiled a knowing smile. “That would be telling,” Tysen answered. “And, I can see on your face you’re having trouble contacting them. Don’t worry, you’ll see them soon enough when port security arrives. That must have caused quite a mess.”
So much for hiding it. Kyle had filed this kid as careful the moment he’d met him, now he knew this one was smart- dangerous smart.
“I’ve still got you.”
“No,” Tysen shook his head. “Actually, I’ve got you. I’ll be turning you over to the port authorities once we walk out that door. The rest of your men will disappear, as your kind always does, and while they’re checking for new orders my friend and I will be on our way.”
“Could be,” Kyle agreed. “Could be. You have things pretty well worked out, don’t you Lieutenant?”
The kid’s reaction made it clear he did. He was good at this, but luckily Kyle was better.
“Well,” explained Kyle. “Here’s the thing- I really do work for security- Fedrin Planetary Security. And, my ID will trump yours with the port people.” He motioned past Tysen toward the entrance with his head. “When we walk out of here, they’ll be arresting you under my authority, and both of you will be charged with assault. We’ll have you bundled up in no time.”
Kyle let his mouth curve into a confident grin, and he and Tysen stared at each other.
“Then,” said Tysen, his voice lowering. “I will need to get out of here before security arrives.”
“You can try.” Kyle said, making one last attempt to avoid the oncoming confrontation they both knew was coming.
It happened so fast that even someone watching it would have trouble saying which of the men had moved first. Kyle’s gun went from his holster to his hand in a fraction of a second, but before he could aim it Tysen had closed the short gap between them and was pushing aside Kyle’s gun arm. The gun went off, a slug hitting the polished metal mirror beside them, but even as it was, Kyle was already being lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall behind him like he’d been hit by a truck.
Tile shattered, and Kyle fought for consciousness as the world seemed to explode into color and then blackness. When he regained his wits, he was lying in a pile of broken tiles on the bathroom floor- alone.
Kyle began to pull himself up, but when his head swam he thought the better of it. There was pain in his chest- broken ribs maybe? He opened a link to his operations man on the outside.
“Vong! You there? I need the port locked down.” He sent.
A worried young man with reddish-brown tanned skin popped up in an AR window in front of him, looking concerned. “You want me to put out a port-wide announcement?”
“Hell no!” Kyle cursed. The last thing he needed was for this quiet little rendition to become a full blown incident that he’d have to explain to people outside of the loop. “Just get security on them- quietly!”
“You got it, Chief!”
“I’ll be there,” Kyle tried to move again and winced as the pain shot through his chest again. “…As soon as I can. Kyle out.”
He let himself settle back again, giving his body another moment for the shock to subside. Once they caught those two, he was going to enjoy this interrogation, he really was.
* * *
Tysen walked at a brisk pace down the concourse, Esther at his side.
He’d found her standing over the bodies of the security men in the middle of a circle of onlookers and gotten her out of there as quickly as he could. Now, he was trying desperately to come up with a way to get both of them out of the port.
“Did they lock you out of the network, yet?”
“Not yet,” Esther replied. “They may not be aware I can penetrate it.”
It was an advantage, a small one, but Tysen would take it.
“Keep your connection light, and break it at the first sign of trouble.”
Esther nodded, then asked, “Why is Fedrin Planetary Security pursuing us?”
“I don’t know. Someone’s paid them, probably. They will want the files I’m carrying for the Admiral.” Then he paused. “Ahhh…I’m sorry I got you involved in something this dangerous.”
“No,” she shook her head. “It is my duty to be here to help you.”
“Yes,” Tysen answered, not wanting to discuss her status again at the moment. “You did great back there, by the way.”
“I was made to help Sir Fawn in any circumstance.” She answered, then Esther suddenly reached out and roughly grabbed his arm, pulling him next to a line of people waiting at a coffee stand. She had quite a grip for something so willowy. “Stop here. Two security guards are about to pass.”
Tysen nodded, glancing casually through the line of people to see two women in blue walking in their direction. He looked away, waiting to see if they passed and preparing in case they didn’t.
He waited a minute, and then when he looked again he saw their backs. “They’re gone, is it safe to move?”
“Yes,” she said, taking him by the hand. “I will guide us.”
“I’ll have to remember to thank Sir Fawn next time we meet. Speaking of whom, do you think we could get help from his company- The Halloway Concern? I can’t seem to reach the Admiralty, and I don’t know who can be trusted on this world.”
The old knight had shown a great deal of goodwill toward Tysen until now, no harm in seeing how far it went.
“I could try, but I believe they can offer us little help while we are still inside the port.”
Tysen couldn’t argue with that, “We’ll have to get out of here if we want to have a chance.”
“The strikers have made that rather difficult.”
“Yes,” Tysen said, thoughtfully. Port security was tightening on them, and they weren’t likely to last long as neither of them were armed. “Too many people want to get out of here…”
Then an idea struck him- he knew how they were going to escape.
* * *
Kyle found his lead operations man, Vong, waiting at the Southeast exit with a team of men.
“Chief Kyle, you okay?”
When Kyle looked at Vong, the man blanched and almost took a step back. Sighing, Kyle tried to tone it down a notch. It wasn’t the younger agent’s fault Kyle’d botched the mission, and making the man afraid wasn’t going to help the situation any.
“Yeah Vong, I didn’t need those ribs anyways.” He croaked, hoping the pain killers he’d just loaded up on kicked in sooner than later. “Any news?”
Vong shook his head. “We’ve got the port security looking for them; it’s just a matter of time.”
“Better be, we can’t afford to fumble this one. Any links from HQ?”
“None. Should I call in?”
“Hell no!” Kyle barked. “Just keep them as in the dark as we are. The last thing I need is someone from the bureau micromanaging one of my operations because it looks like we screwed up.”
Vong looked chagrined, which suited Kyle since he was still trying to train him to be more independent. Suddenly, Vong paused, his unfocused eyes telling Kyle that he was receiving a link.
“Sir,” Vong reported. “We’ve got a hit from the port security station- they’re approaching Exit 4. Should I h
ave security forces move in?”
Kyle made a quick decision. “No,” he said. “Tell security to shadow them, but don’t move in yet unless they’re going to get out. Also, get a sniper up on the dais in just in case. I’m going to handle this myself.”
Then he checked his gun and ran for the other exit.
There wasn’t going to be a second time.
* * *
“There are twelve security people behind us moving in, and three plainclothes agents guarding the exit ahead of us. A sniper has also taken position to our upper left.”
Tysen gave a casual nod. “Just keep slowly moving through the crowd toward the door, Esther. Act like you don’t know they’re there.” He sent back.
Nearby, a baby cried as its mother sat on a bench trying to sooth it. All around them, people were standing about, restlessly waiting for a way to leave the place that should have been a point of departure, but which for many had become a kind of purgatory.
“I am.” Came Esther’s reply. “However, I cannot understand what you think it is we can accomplish by walking into their trap.”
Tysen let himself smile faintly. “It’s all about how you think about it, Esther. What seems like a trap can also be our way out. Perception is everything.”
“So you say,” said Esther. “However, I will be most interested to see the results.”
“You’re about to,” Tysen replied, seeing Mr. Kyle step into view a dozen meters ahead of them. The agent was now standing between them and the exit, which explained why the other security people hadn’t moved in to arrest them yet.
“Tysen…” Esther’s grip on him tightened.
The security man had his arms crossed, and stood like a bouncer standing in the doorway at a nightclub, daring to be challenged. He wore a mirror sun visor now, but Tysen could almost feel his stare.
“C’mon Esther, let’s go say hello.”
Together the two fugitives made their way up to where the security agent waited, stopping just a few meters short of the man, but close enough to talk.
“Good day, Mister Kyle.” Tysen said in a cheerful tone.
“Lieutenant,” the agent said coldly. “Let’s not make this any messier than it needs to be. Come with us and nobody needs to be hurt.”
Tysen shook his head. “Thank you, Mister Kyle. I appreciate your offer, however- I don’t believe I’ll need your help today.” As he said it, Tysen gave Esther the signal they’d pre-arranged.
He saw Kyle’s jaw tighten.
“I’ve got two snipers, and twenty men with me this time, kid. This ends here.”
But, while Kyle spoke, another voice echoed from the announcement system while messages began to appear on the holo-displays that hung around them. The message read-“Would all those waiting for transport please proceed to Gate 4, free complimentary bus service will be provided to those going into the city center on a first-come, first-serve basis. Thank you, and have a nice day.”
Not noticing the announcement, Kyle continued. “This is your last chance, Lieutenant. Come with me, now. I don’t want to make this any bigger and issue than it already is.”
But, Tysen didn’t hear him. Tysen was too busy listening to the rhythm of the crowd around him. Listening to the sound of people suddenly bolting upright in their seats, listening to the sound of wheeled carriers turning quickly around, listening to the sound of footsteps rushing toward perceived freedom.
* * *
Kyle was rapidly losing patience with these two, and was just about to order his men to close in and take them when the first woman with her luggage in tow raced by him. Feeling something was wrong, he spared a glance around, seeing other people doing the same.
In fact, it seemed like the whole crowd had begun to move for the exit.
The exit he was standing in front of.
Then he looked at Tysen, and he knew. That kid had that look again, the same one he’d had in the bathroom. The cocky one that said everything was going according to his plans.
The hell it was!
Kyle drew his gun from his jacket holster as he advanced- leveling it at the kid. Crowd or no, he wasn’t letting them go anywhere.
“Don’t move!” He screamed at them.
And, for his part, the kid didn’t move. He and the girl just stood there, watching him calmly- waiting.
Then a family, two men and three women, passed between them, not noticing Kyle in their rush to get to the door. Kyle dashed forward, pushing past them, but by then it was too late.
The pair was gone.
Kyle spun around, trying to spot them, but the rush of the crowd had become a deluge of humanity, and it was only getting worse. Bodies were now jostling against him, bumping, pushing- shoving. There were faces everywhere- determined faces, anxious faces, young faces, old faces. He searched them desperately, trying to find the two he had come to get.
Kyle began to yell, he cried out through the link to his men to move in, to find them, to catch them.
But, in his heart he knew he had already lost.
Again.
* * *
They were free, but Tysen knew it wasn’t likely to last long.
Port Fedrin was a broad, open city that had been built on a large grassy plain near one of Fedrin’s larger freshwater lakes. The city itself sprawled across the plain and around the North end of the lake, filled with wide streets and lots of open areas. In such a low-density city, the public surveillance network wasn’t as strong as in an orbital station or major urban center, but it was still present, and would eventually find them if they didn’t move quickly.
They were also limited in that they couldn’t actively spend credit, or make any links to the city network without being traced. Or, at least Tysen couldn’t, they seemed largely unaware of Esther.
“Shall I try reaching the Admiralty?” Esther asked as they turned down a sidestreet, trying to blend in among the lunchtime crowd of a street food vendor’s market.
Tysen shook his head. “They’ll just trace it back to our location if you try. I can’t link to them either, there’s too much chance our opponents will arrive before the Admiral’s men can.”
He took Esther’s nod to mean she agreed. “Then what course of action do you deem best?”
Tysen tried to focus, the sweet smell of roasting sausages and cooking dumplings tugging at his empty stomach. They needed help, and he couldn’t escape it, but to ask for it directly would just get them handed over to Mr. Kyle. He decided that they’d have to take the indirect approach.
“Alright, link to The Halloway Concern and see if they can help us.” With luck, Esther would be able to do it surreptitiously enough that she wouldn’t be traced, if they were even looking for her in the first place.
“Understood, linking to them now.” She reported. “Do you have a specific request for them?”
“Yes,” he said. “We need transport to a resort in the mountains North of the city. We’ll need someone who can protect us until we get there- preferably several someones.”
“I am informing them of your request.”
Tysen nodded, then looked up as he felt the first drops of rain.
The already gray sky was getting thicker, and he could hear distant thunder now.
One thing after another.
* * *
Several kilometers away, Bara Rodgers, chief of Fedrin operations for the Empire-wide conglomerate known as the Halloway Concern, was just getting into the elevator to leave for lunch when the link came.
She knew it was trouble the moment she saw the look on her assistant’s face, and stepped back out of the elevator, motioning for the rest of the executives to go ahead without her. Then she stepped away from the doors and focused on the link.
“What is it, Jennifer?”
“Ma’am, we’ve got a situation. I just received a coded link message from The Founder’s Squire.”
Bara’s mind suddenly dropped into panic mode. The Founder’s Squire was here? Did that mean…”
Is it an inspection?” She asked quickly. “If it is I want Volo and Beihn on the link, right now.”
Jennifer shook her head, “No ma’am. Not an inspection. She said she’s here on some kind of courier assignment, but the local authorities have tried to intercept her.”
A courier assignment? Bara’s panic shifted to concern. If the local authorities were trying to stop the Squire, that was a pretty big step. The Halloway Concern was one of the most powerful entities in the Empire, and had tremendous influence- to risk a confrontation with them for even a large government like Fedrin’s was a highly dangerous move. If they got to the Squire first, they would make sure there was no evidence left behind to accuse them of anything.
And that meant she had to act quickly.
“Jennifer, link to Chief Brubaker in security and tell him I need a package of flowers delivered. Give him the information he needs, and then tell him after it’s done to erase all records of this request. When we’re done, I also want you to erase all records of this link we’re in now.”
“Yes ma’am.” The girl said, having been with Bara too long to be surprised by such an order. Then the AR window snapped shut, and Bara stood there frowning.
She’d done what she could, and she’d covered her own trail in case there was any blowback. She wondered what The Founder’s Squire could be doing in Port Fedrin that the locals would want her so desperately, but in the end it didn’t matter. She’d done her job, and sent the best she could to help without getting directly involved. That would have to do.
Bara looked at the elevator, then turned away- her appetite was gone. She’d just order in and get back to work. If the Squire was near, The Founder might be as well, and she needed to make sure everything was in order. She began sending link requests and making notes of things to be done.
* * *
“Here, Esther. You stand under the bus shelter.”
The rain had started just as they’d arrived at the appointed place- a bus stop in front of a local elementary school. The stop itself was little more than a sign attached to a light pole, but the wall behind it had a covered nook just big enough for one or two people.
Twin Stars 1: Ascension Page 13
