I rolled onto my side and sucked in a painful breath as an explosion of torment writhed through my hip. My suit administered some painkillers and flashed a silent warning about broken and fractured bones. I ignored most of it. If it was bad enough I wouldn’t have been able to move. It wouldn’t do well for me to think too much about how much pain and injury the adrenaline had been masking.
Mustering as much strength as I could I dragged myself to the nearest building wall and propped up against it. I took in a deep breath and tried to relax. My head stopped swimming, and in spite of everything else I felt a little better. Whether it was the meds or the sitting still for a few moments to collect myself I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t thought it would have been so soon after my trip on the shuttle, but it felt good to not move.
I tried to figure out my next step. Nellinon, like the Vantagax on Station Ter, left me bread crumbs. According to him, the ancient P’You shuttles had come to Free. I was in the right spot to figure out where I needed to go to next, but what that next was I didn’t know yet. It should be easy to find out if the shuttles were still docked. I assumed that would be public information.
However, that would require logging into the local network. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that. It was unclear if the Free Authorities knew my involvement in the fight with the Vantagax at Nellinon’s place. If they did, searching for shuttle information on the local network would pinpoint my location and probably make them think I was trying to escape.
I ordered my suit to give me another dose of painkillers and stimulants. It warned me about the dosage and mixing medication. I overruled it. The faint pinprick of administering medicine subsided, and I started to feel a little better. With a grunt and a mighty heave, using the wall as support, I got to my feet and began searching through the feeds.
There was nothing of any importance. It was all general drivel. I took in a deep breath, ready to sigh in relief when a video feed window popped up on my screen. The window’s occupant had almost transparent skin. I could see its blood vessels spread out and what looked like its internal organs underneath. Watching its cue ball sized eyeballs move around in its sockets was disconcerting. It wore a uniform almost identical to the authorities I’d seen take down Martel except this one had more medals and bars. Whoever it was, it was high ranking.
“People of Free,” it said in a wet, soupy voice, “this is a station wide alert. We are looking for an escaped fugitive. If you see this being report them immediately. Do not engage. Do not confront. They are dangerous and presumed armed.” The occupant disappeared and a 3D rotating figure appeared.
My stomach dropped. It was me. The whole place looked for me.
Chapter Six
The fatigue and the pain dropped away. My throat tightened, and I had trouble swallowing. My tongue went dry and filled up my entire mouth. Sweat ran down my neck and face. I had to focus on controlling my breathing to prevent myself from hyperventilating.
I muted and tried to close the video feed window, but it refused to be shut down. Every time I tried to escape it popped back again, the volume a little louder. Its insistence to remain open and alert me made me grind my teeth in frustration.
Trying my best to ignore the transparent skinned being, I looked up and down the narrow street. There was no one as far as I could see. It was a small consolation, but I had no idea where I wanted or needed to go. My shuttle would have been confiscated by now, under lock and key by the Free Authorities. If it wasn’t then it was a trap, and I would be the biggest idiot in the galaxy to try and go back to it. I didn’t know anyone on the station. My only ally would be The Hive, but I hadn’t felt it reach out to me at any time I was in Free.
There must be residents of Free that knew where the humans had gone or were. They came here for a reason. I needed to figure out what that was so that I might be able to find someone or something that could help me. The only way to do that, besides asking random people in hopes of finding something, would be to find the P’You shuttle docking records.
Hopefully the given reasons for visiting were legitimate.
My head was on a swivel as I moved down the street. I set up my suit to send me proximity alerts to avoid having someone sneak up on me. It was all I could think to do at the moment. Of course, if they wanted to come from above or shoot me from a distance my warnings would provide me with nothing of value.
I couldn’t think about that though. I couldn’t think about all of the horrible things that could happen. I couldn’t think about all of the ways I was outgunned and outmanned or how I could be outmaneuvered and outwitted without even knowing it.
Right now I had to keep moving forward which is what I did. I controlled my breathing, and I kept putting one foot in front of the other until I came to a crossroads.
I heard conversation coming from one direction off to my right. No one was in front of me, and I didn’t see anyone down the branching roads. I continued going forward.
As I slunk through the streets I kept a look out for something that was a public access terminal. I knew there had to be people who were unmodified or who didn’t have suits that could provide them with a HUD of some sort. Even people who did have the capability might have some kind of problem or the signals would be overloaded. There could be any number of reasons why someone would need to use a public access terminal.
My search proved fruitful a few blocks later. A worn, grey metal box with a scratched screen inset in it greeted me from in front of an out-of-business storefront. The “Public Access” virtual sign spun slowly above it, flickering and fuzzy like a distance radio signal, looking ready to blink off at any moment. I took a deep breath and touched the screen hoping it worked.
The screen lit up but part of it was pixelated to the point it was unreadable. I had to scroll through several different menus, and the search function made me want to tear my hair out. It was as if the creators made it purposefully awful in order to get people to stop using the terminals. After several anxious minutes I found what I searched for, and it wasn’t helpful.
According to the reason for visiting all of the P’You shuttles were on Free to “resupply”. There were no other explanations. A simple one word answer for every single shuttle.
The logs showed the shuttles weren’t on Free anymore either. They had left as a single unit seven days earlier, heading for somewhere called Bucktoop. There reason was to “visit”.
I slammed my fist into the screen then grabbed the sides and shook the terminal. My suit whined and complained as I pushed it to its limit trying to pull the damn public access point out of the ground. Nothing could be easy, not even destroying property.
“Hey,” yelled someone. Their voice cut through my rage and deflated it like a pinprick to a balloon.
I let go of the terminal and took a big step backwards. The voice didn’t have any authority to it, but I didn’t want to be mistaken. I knew I’d made a blunder by causing a scene. It didn’t have to get worse by starting a fight.
“What are you doing to the terminal?” the someone said. Their voice wavered. They sounded afraid. “People have to use that.”
I turned to see who spoke to me. Across the deserted street, about three quarters of a block away, stood an individual about three and a half feet tall. They had saucer sized eyes, buck teeth, small red nose, ears on the top of their head and very fine golden hair covering all of their exposed skin that at this distance was almost impossible to see. If memory served me correct it was a woman Corse.
“Sorry,” I said, putting my hands up, palms out. “I just received some bad news. I shouldn’t have taken it out on the terminal. I’ll be going now.” I took a step backwards.
“You could’ve destroyed it,” she said. Her nostrils flared to almost the same size as her eyes then collapsed shut. “People have to use that. They have a right to a working…” She trailed off, her nostrils flaring again.
Her eyes went wide. She pointed at me with shaking finger.
I took
another step back and tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. “I’ll find the appropriate venue and pay for any and all repairs that may be needed,” I said.
“You --” She stuttered and couldn’t get her words out. They started to be formed, but it looked like she choked on them mid-utterance. Even without speaking coherent words she continued to point at me and took a step forward.
“I’m going,” I said as I continued to back away.
“You’re the Terran,” she managed to say at last. It came out no louder than a whisper. “The Terran,” she said a little louder. Her pointing became more insistent. She jabbed her finger at me as if it could stab me across the distance between us.
“The Terran,” she said with a harsh, guttural tone.
Her first steps toward me were hesitant. As I continued to back away, hands in the air, trying to get her to calm down, she began to cover the distance at a more rapid pace. Her voice became louder and louder until it sounded like she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Heads popped out from around corners and out of windows. Someone came running out into the street through a door that slammed against a wall. The bang startled me, and I jumped. My proximity warnings went off, and I turned spun around. An old Planarium came down some steps, swaying back and forth, his mouth agape, neck frill opened.
My pulse pounded. People began to funnel into the streets. It seemed that even with the danger warning I was still a huge curiosity to them. They were afraid. I could see it in their eyes, but they still crowded together a bit of a distance away from me. It was like they knew I wouldn’t hurt them, but they didn’t trust their instincts.
I trusted mine, and mine said, “Get the hell out of there,” so I ran.
A group parted as I ran through the small knot. I saw an open street behind them and took the chance. The yelling and shouting of the crowd faded as I pounded down the pavement. My suit whirred and hissed, assisting me into great bounding steps as I tried to create as much distance between the crowd and myself as I could.
At my instruction to look for anything relevant my suit went through as many feeds as it could. The general feed showed nothing, and as far as I could tell the authorities hadn’t raised any kind of area alert. I couldn’t trust that though. Someone must have called them, I assumed, which meant they were probably communicating on a closed signal.
I cursed the Vantagax. If The Hive had been here they could have done something to help me. It knew how to get into private feeds or run interference. Then again, if The Hive had been with me I probably wouldn’t have blundered into the mess I found myself in now. It shocked me a little bit how much I had come to rely on it when I got into scrapes.
Around another corner I went, running blind, unsure of where to go. I skidded to a halt and almost slammed into the back of someone. They turned around, eyes going wide as they saw me. Someone else screamed and took off running. I ran back the way I’d come, rounding a different corner to get away.
I kicked myself and started to slow down. My suit stopped on a livestream feed. Someone filmed me from above and just behind me. I craned my neck up and caught a flash of someone ducking back into a building. The feed went dark.
Breathing became labored as I took off again. It felt like I ran through quicksand. The livestream feed switched to another point of view of me running. It didn’t matter where I went there was someone filming. It felt like an out of body experience watching myself running on video while at the same time struggling to keep moving.
I skidded to a halt. The current video zoomed in on me leaning over and resting my hands on my knees. Phlegm came up and without thinking I spit it out. It dripped down the inside of my helmet and mixed with my sweat.
I stood up straight, chest heaving, and looked up and down the street. It was more of an alleyway just wide enough to accommodate two people walking side by side. If the authorities were after me their personal vehicles wouldn’t be able to get in here. It was the type of place I needed to stay in for now.
The livestream dropped out and another one immediately picked me up heading into a narrow space no wider than the width of my shoulders. It was difficult to pump my arms, and I wasn’t covering as much ground as before, but the livestreaming had stopped once more. I hoped the lack of local information would hinder the ability of the Free Authorities to track my movements.
Talking and the sound of people and vehicles moving became louder and louder as I continued. The buildings began a gentle curve that obscured any view of the end of my path. The commotion continued to increase in volume as I came closer.
The curve of the buildings stopped, and I got a clear view of the area ahead of me. My spirits sank. Driverless transports with their oblivious passengers flashed by. People moved at a brisk pace along moving sidewalks. Virtual signs that played targeted advertisements hung in the air. Some moved about stopping in front of people just long enough to play their message.
I had come to a main thoroughfare.
Going forward meant running through throngs of people. It meant running through traffic that slammed on its brakes and flashed warnings at me over a local feed. It meant once more running into a dark alleyway. It also meant the livestream feeds picked me up again.
I watched myself run into the new alleyway and disappear into the darkness as the gloom enveloped me. The sounds of the thoroughfare disappeared as I made my way deeper down the alleyway. Something skittered through the refuse that had been missed by automated collectors and liquid dripped from cracked pipes. No one followed me down the alley, and the livestream feed died again.
An ear splitting whir started. It came from above. A small craft with four sets of rotors flew just above the rooftops heading in my direction. My suit zoomed in on it and highlighted a small camera panning around on the craft’s underside.
I started running again.
The whirring followed. I did my best to lose it, but every time I succeeded another one popped up and continued the chase.
I had to get off the streets. As I went I tried to open doors. Every few doors I tried to shoulder one open, but whatever they were made of, even with the help of my suit, I couldn’t break through.
The whirring died away once more. I tried to open another door. Like all the rest it didn’t comply. I kicked it in frustration, letting out a scream.
The door shuddered then swung open. I didn’t know what to do. A figure appeared in the doorway, and I made a move to take a step back, but it darted out and grabbed my arm. Before I could react I was pulled inside, and the door slammed shut behind me.
The figure restrained my arms. I couldn’t move, so I tried to lash out with my feet. Something kicked my legs out from underneath me, and I ended up on my knees. A single light illuminated the figure, catching its visor just long enough for me to see its face.
It was a human.
Chapter Seven
I gulped, and my mouth hung agape. My hands reached up and pawed at the helmet of the human. He, it was a he with short brown hair, wrinkles around his eyes and a close cut black beard, jerked his head away and pushed me away. I fell backwards onto my butt, supporting myself with my arms.
“You’re…” I trailed off.
“I’m human,” he said. I caught a hint of a sneer. “And you’re the great Terran Representative.”
I nodded. My mind was a blank on what to say.
Another figure appeared from the shadows with a rifle strapped to its back. The light didn’t illuminate their face.
“They’ve got the drones out. They’re circling the block,” it said in a higher pitched voice. It sounded like a woman. She inclined her head once towards me. “That the Rep?”
The man looked down at me then to her. “Yes,” he said. I could almost feel the disappointment.
I popped up to my feet. The urge to wrap the man up in a bear hug and jump up and down was almost too much. Instead, without giving it much thought about how stupid I would look, I held out my hand. “It’s so nice to fi
nally meet another human,” I said and laughed. “Meet one that isn’t crazed I mean.”
The man curled his upper lip. I pursed my lips and lowered my hand. My cheeks felt hot.
“I suppose we should get out of here,” I said.
“Yes, we should,” said the woman. Her voice hid it a little better, but I could still detect some chagrin in her voice. I could tell they already regretted meeting me.
The buzzing of drones whizzed by on the other side of the door. The woman headed into the darkness and beckoned us to follow.
“Where are we going?” I said.
“Underground,” said the man.
We headed deeper into the building. The woman’s headlamps snapped on. For the first time I got a good view of the building we moved through: holes in the walls, sloughing videopaper, dripping water, scurrying things just outside the field of light. There was probably a smell that would make me wretch if my suit wasn’t sealed.
“What are your names?” I said.
“Shaaban,” said the man.
“Asel,” said the woman.
I nodded. My fear and confusion was tamped down by giddiness. It had been a long time since I’d felt so happy. This was true, real happiness. It made my steps feel light like I walked on air. If I was in an animated movie the birds would be singing, the sky would be blue, the trees would be dancing and the sun would have a huge smile. In this moment of time the finer details of my situation didn’t matter, like how they had found me.
The squealing of rusty hinges being abused by a door opening brought me out of my reverie. Asel held a trapdoor set in the floor open. Shaaban’s headlamps flicked on, and he looked down into the dark hole before jumping down.
The Terran Shepherd (The Terran Series Book 2) Page 4
