“We can help with that,” offered Daniil. “For generations we have slipped to the surface of their world and walked through their halls without being noticed.”
“Do they know you’re here?” asked Deklan.
“No.” Daniil shook his head in a dismissive gesture. “Our founders destroyed the scanners that would have let them find the sonar signature of the research stations, and the Tau Primans have never been able to rebuild them. Their technology is outdated. Without us the water would never have maintained the right balance to keep the atmosphere pure. They need us, even though they don’t know about us.”
“And you’ve never contacted them?”
“They are brutish and xenophobic. During the uprising they killed everyone who wished to remain in contact with the outside civilization.”
“If they’re that violent, why do any of you risk visiting the surface?”
“The young always want to see things firsthand. Before the event Veronika was our best operative. She blended in with them, and her accent came to resemble theirs.” Daniil gestured toward her mouth. “That’s not an option anymore. Darya has some skill with the brutes, however, and will be of some service.”
“Some service? How? We don’t have a plan or even an idea yet,” said Jamie.
“Then we’ll make one,” Calm replied before addressing Daniil. “Tell me more about what Veronika would do when she visited them. How did she get there?”
Daniil spread his hands. “Getting to the surface is easy enough, or so I understand. I haven’t gone in decades. One need only climb the wall from the ocean to the ground. Of course, that might take longer than you wish. In that case a faster method is available. We’ve been known to steal their flitters in emergencies.”
“Uncle,” said Darya, “they have a flitter here. They can use that.” Her voice was more feminine than Arkady’s.
“Ah, yes, of course.” Daniil turned back to Calm. “That trick with the water, how did you do that?”
“That’s my Keystone ability.”
Deklan noted that Calm didn’t reveal the extent of his ability. He wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t telling the whole truth either. Maybe that was best for now.
“It’s not, then, a technology from the Terra Rings?”
“No,” answered Calm. “People tried to replicate the effect, but no one’s managed to yet.”
Darya nodded but seemed disappointed. “Then our best course of action is to move quickly. Veronika has showed us the flitters that followed you, but the ocean is large. They haven’t had time to send out flitters everywhere, so now is the best time to escape unnoticed.”
This made sense to Deklan, but it didn’t explain what they would do once they got to the surface.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Surfacing
Arkady’s teeth again surrounded the flitter, and Darya used her Keystone ability to shrink its passengers so that they would fit better into the cramped conveyance. All wore garb suited to Tau Prime, namely red uniforms, and the men had to contend with covered heads. When Arkady’s massive jaws opened, water cascaded down like a frothy waterfall, revealing that they were on the ocean’s surface.
“Time to go, Mr. Day,” announced Calm.
As Arkady pulled away, the flitter floated briefly on the water.
“Everybody hold on,” warned Jonny as he fired the flitter into the air.
Deklan frowned at his diminutive hands as he clutched at the straps. With three people occupying the seating for two, he’d volunteered to make some alterations to the flitter, but he wasn’t comfortable with the work or his new size. Jamie was also smaller, a change that made the situation more tolerable. Darya had assured Deklan that the diminution in his stature was only temporary.
Arkady had brought them to the surface near one of the habitat’s huge end walls. Jonny hugged the wall, hoping to make their flitter less obvious.
At this distance Deklan could see access paths and handholds that could be used to climb to and from the water’s surface. Daniil had told them that once there had been elevators and airlocks but that his ancestors had destroyed them during the uprising to keep themselves safe.
Jonny then hurtled the vehicle toward the ground. Despite Darya’s worry they weren’t intercepted, and there was no alarm. Other flitters were in view over the ocean, but they were far away. She had been right: the Tau Primans hadn’t yet had the time to mount a proper search.
Darya told them that the building where they’d been taken to meet the council was called the First Freehold. The streets there had buzzed with activity. Even in this odd society people loved proximity to power. For safety’s sake the five interlopers from Sanctuary headed for a quieter region where fewer people lived. The area lacked the bustle of the other locale, and the landscape was dominated by greenery. The bushes and hedges there grew wild, an altogether more natural environment than anything else that Deklan had seen on Tau Prime.
Darya directed them to a small rooftop in the out-of-the-way neighborhood. Deklan watched as Darya’s fingers unclenched when the flitter finally touched down. She wasn’t as relaxed about this excursion as she had pretended. “We should be safe here,” said Darya. “This building has been abandoned as long as I’ve been alive.”
“Why?” asked Jamie.
“Rabid isolationists aren’t prone to large families.”
That explained a lot. The Tau Primans were a shrinking population. If that hadn’t been true, they would have been forced to leave the habitat and interact with the rest of humanity.
Calm let them all get out of the flitter before speaking. Deklan didn’t like the way he had to look up at Calm. He wasn’t used to being short. “Is everyone sure about this?” asked their leader. “Once we start, there’s no going back.”
Jamie cocked her head at him. “It’s a little late now, don’t you think?” she said. “Jonny and I will be fine. Just accomplish your mission. We’ll be waiting here for you.”
“See that you are, and be safe.” Calm shook both of their hands. “Stay close to me, Mr. Tobin. I don’t want you getting shot again.” It was hard to tell if he was being funny. Deklan played it safe and kept his mouth shut.
Darya led the way down the stairs on the side of the building. Their footprints left tracks in dirt and dust. The unused nature of the place made Deklan feel as though at any moment an angry custodian would appear to stop them from trespassing.
“Stay out of trouble, Deklan,” said Jamie with a wink. She and Jonny then headed toward the habitat’s wall, following the directions they’d been given to find an entrance like the one Eric had used to bring them into Tau Prime for the first time. It needed to be an entrance that would lead them to the shipyards.
Darya snapped her fingers to command Deklan’s attention. “This is the easy part,” she said, “but I don’t want you to lose focus. We’re taking a tram next. I want no talking and no looking around with more than idle interest. We need to blend in.”
There it was again. Deklan could sense the tension that she was trying to hide, but he joined Calm in nodding agreement.
“Let’s go then.”
The threesome walked to a tram stop and waited for fifteen minutes. With each minute Darya grew more impatient and her fidgeting more pronounced. She plucked at her clothes, looked around, and tapped her foot. Deklan was sure that she was unaware of all these signs of nervousness, and he was glad that they were the only people waiting there. It was odd that no schedule or digital readout indicated when the next tram was to arrive. The Tau Primans had the necessary technology, and he couldn’t think of a reason why they would not use it.
Darya became more composed when they saw the tram glide noiselessly into view on its magnetic rails. The tram was less than five meters long and designed to carry fewer than twenty people. It had no roof and no frills, each passenger having only an upright seat to lean against and a handle to hold for balance. The tram didn’t travel at a great speed, but it was faster than walking.
Dekl
an followed Darya aboard the transport, which had no driver and required no fare. Sensors must have alerted it of the need to stop. At least the Tau Primans used that much technology. When the three of them had found seats, it moved again, picking up speed at a gentle pace.
Deklan contented himself with looking straight ahead, anticipating their arrival at the First Freehold in the tallest building on Tau Prime. The trip lasted less than an hour, during which transit other riders got on or off without establishing eye contact or acknowledging other people. It was like being part of a soulless termite mound.
When the tram came to a stop a few city blocks from the First Freehold, Darya led the contingent off. From there they were to walk to their destination. Ten minutes later they had managed to avoid arousing suspicion in passers-by and arrived at the First Freehold.
“Remember,” cautioned Darya in a low voice, “flank me as though you’re guards and be deferential. Leave the talking to me. Otherwise your accents will give us away.”
As the trio reached the front of the building, a constant stream of people was entering it. All wore the same attire and facial expressions. Darya joined the stream, and Deklan and Calm walked behind her like lackeys. Inside the vestibule was a high ceiling covered in intricate designs.
Darya then guided them to an elevator bank, and they waited until the doors opened. She then ushered them to the back where they pressed against the cold steel wall. Deklan felt its comforting solidity and ignored the odor of sweat from a few of the people who stood near him.
The room in which Deklan had been attacked, and to which they were now headed, was on the ninety-second floor. As periodic stops thinned the elevator’s passengers, Darya’s group stood out a bit more. People gave them second glances as they exited, and Deklan became increasingly uneasy. When they came to the ninety-second floor, they were the sole occupants of the elevator. When the door slid open, and three men were standing guard at a heavy table positioned opposite the elevator door. Upon the table sat a computer-like device that Deklan could only assume was associated with security. Having seen many other passengers leave, Deklan knew that there weren’t checkpoints like this on the other floors. He also knew that there hadn’t been a checkpoint when Eric brought him there the first time.
The men were dressed like every other Tau Priman in flowing red cloth that revealed only faces and arms. Their arms were massive. Deklan felt scrawny by comparison, a feeling that he had experienced only since coming to Tau Prime. These men differed from other Tau Primans, however, in having guns strapped to their waists. The guards had the look of innate cruelty characteristic of bullies who as children probably tortured animals for fun.
“Security checkpoint,” said one thug. “Come forward.” His voice sounded like a sneer.
Darya handed her badge over to the man and maintained a façade of unconcern while he swiped it over the reader. A green symbol appeared, and the man grunted, a cross between disgust and disappointment. He returned the badge to Darya and said, “Go.”
Dismissed, Darya turned down the hallway and Deklan approached the table to present his credentials.
“I expect you to thank me for my time,” the guard called down the hallway after Darya.
Darya froze, and her spine stiffened. As she swiveled in place, her eyes were cold like those of a judge passing sentence.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” This time the sneer was present on the man’s face and in his voice.
A hand came up in response and twisted in the air. Deklan knew what that meant and shut his eyes in dread. Darya was going to blow their cover. He didn’t feel more than a trace of fear, since he was standing next to Calm and knew he was safe, but that didn’t mean he liked deviating from the plan. Mistakes were going to crop up after this confrontation, and then things were going to get desperate.
All three guards shrank in stature. Darya twisted her hand again and again, the guards shrinking below Deklan’s waist, then below his knee, then below his ankle. Throughout the process the men had their weapons out and pointed at her to no effect, courtesy of Calm.
Darya stopped when the men were less than a centimeter high. It was then that the first of them tried to run. Having become so small, they were too slow to escape her wrath. Darya stepped closer and gathered them together before raising a foot and crushing them against the floor. There was a squelching sound reminiscent of the crushing of grapes. She ground her heel against the floor, leaving a thick red smear behind.
Deklan’s skin turned to ice at the unexpected and unnecessary savagery .He had never seen anyone commit murder before. He’d been attacked by people who wanted him to die; he’d seen murderous Keystones wreak havoc on all around them; and he’d seen a city in its death throes, but this was something else. Darya’s cold malice chilled him to the bone. He hadn’t expected the sudden eruption of ruthless violence.
Darya neither smiled nor frowned. She didn’t move a single muscle in her face. “I hate these people,” she said.
“Do you think that was excessive?” asked Calm, an expression of disquiet marring his usual serenity.
“Spend a lifetime trapped as I have been,” replied Darya, “and then ask me again.” Her voice lacked even a trace of pity or regret.
A shiver coursed through Deklan. He didn’t like the Tau Primans, but he wasn’t sure that he liked the Sanctuarians anymore either. Darya and Arkady’s abilities as Keystones were geared for unstoppable violence, and Darya had just proven that she couldn’t be trusted with hers.
“Even so,” replied Calm evenly, “let’s try not to kill anyone else.”
Darya gave him a curt nod that acknowledged the statement but did not promise that she’d do as he suggested. As she strode down the hall, her body language made her look, if not happy, at least satisfied, like a cat that’s finished playing with its prey.
Calm gave Deklan a significant look. He obviously thought that Darya was dangerously unpredictable too.
All three of them stopped at the door to the room where the beacon was. Deklan tensed again. When Darya opened the door, instead of a few technicians they encountered five men with leveled guns.
The room was filled with all of the equipment that had been there on Deklan’s previous visit. This included six rows of tables, each row consisting of two long tables that held three screens apiece. Off to the side the beacon sat in a jury-rigged cradle.
The men stood behind the tables, three to the right and two to the left. Like the men whom Darya had just murdered, they looked steeped in cruelty. Deklan’s stomach turned at the thought of what he expected Darya to do to them.
The men’s gaze immediately focused on Calm. “Hello, tainted,” said one. Deklan had thought the hallway guards rude, but this man spoke as though the outsiders were garbage. “Hands in the air.”
With characteristic unconcern Calm entered the room with his hands up. Darya raised both hands in front of her, crossed at the wrist, and followed him.
When three of the men came forward with handcuffs, Darya waggled her fingers and shrank them to the same degree as the men in the hall. Expressions of shock and fear appeared on their faces as they zoomed to the floor.
Darya stamped her left foot three times in rapid succession, crushing a man with each impact. The sound of her boot’s hitting the floor wasn’t loud enough to cover the squelches of flesh and cracks of snapping bone.
“No!” one of the two remaining men called out, a hand extended before him, and the corpses sprang back to full size. A crunching noise was followed by Darya’s scream. It was the high-pitched scream of someone in extreme pain. Two bodies ran up the side of her leg, but the third body was the problem. Darya’s foot was embedded inside it. The bodies were flattened to half thickness with bones and organs and blood bursting from every inch of skin. The broken bones were jagged and sharp. Two ribs had forced their way through the sole of Darya’s boot and come out through the top of her foot.
Deklan jerked to his full height an instant afte
r the bodies on the floor, growing over thirty centimeters in under a second. It was as unsettling as teleportation. With the sudden growth, however, came a loss of strength. Deklan felt as though he’d sprinted a kilometer and not yet caught his breath. His heart beat like a war drum, and all of his muscles tensed. This was going to be bad.
The guard’s hand holding a gun took aim and fired. Darya’s head snapped back, and she collapsed backwards, her skull making a sickening crack as it hit the floor. A small hole had blossomed in her forehead.
“Tainted!” exulted the shooter, his yell filled with horror and disgust.
The remaining guard then discharged his weapon. Calm grunted and bent forward like a man who has been punched in the gut. His hands clutched at his torso before his legs folded beneath him.
“Deklan,” whispered Calm.
Deklan’s stomach churned. Calm’s power wasn’t working, and Darya’s had failed before she died. He didn’t know why, but if their powers were gone his could be too. He’d felt similarly tired and weak after Mutuari had deprived him of his Keystone ability earlier.
Just then the guard’s gun swung in his direction. He had to get either far away or so close that he couldn’t be shot. With Calm injured on the floor, Deklan opted for the latter. He lunged to the left of Calm, hoping that the guard’s arm would follow him. It did, and bullets tore into the wall behind him, missing by only millimeters. Phantom currents of air ran over the back of his neck, assuring him that the next shots would find their mark.
Deklan’s terror kept his legs pumping. When the sound of bullets peppering the wall was interrupted by a noise like a “whumpf,” Deklan risked a glance to his right. There he saw that the guard shooting at him had shot his companion, who had fallen to the floor with three holes in his back. Dark stains radiated out from the wounds, and the man was not moving.
The guard who had fired the gun stared down at his weapon, eyes wide with horror and the gun trembling in his hands. Deklan knew that he wasn’t going to get a better chance than this. He bolted toward the shell-shocked man in red.
Keystones: Tau Prime Page 16
