Imperial Guard

by Joseph O'Day

  She was thrown brusquely into the street, but she felt no pain when she hit the hard surface. How odd!

  She picked herself up and looked around. Everything seemed distorted, as though she were looking through water. People began to close in around her. Some of them were Imperial Guardsmen. Someone shoved her. Hands groped for her. Panic rose in her throat.

  She pushed through the pack and started running. An eerie screech rose from the crowd, and they bounded after her. Her legs felt heavy.

  What is wrong with me? Why can’t I run?

  The cry of the crowd crescendoed behind her. Hands closed around her throat . . .

  Adriel lurched upright in the makeshift bed. She was clammy with perspiration. Disoriented, she looked around the room with wide, haunted eyes. Slowly realization sank in.

  “Ohhhhh, what a nightmare!” She lowered her face into her shaking hands. Gradually her breathing slowed, and she took a deep breath.

  She looked up and stared into the distance with unfocused eyes. “But it’s not a nightmare,” she thought out loud. “It’s real life. I am a nonperson.”

  As she sat there staring, her face slowly hardened with resolve. “But I don’t have to like it!” She gritted her teeth. “And I don’t have to accept it!”

  She got up and stalked out of her private area. She saw Willum on the far side of the terminal, bending over something. Circling around piles of personal belongings and junk, she soon came to stand beside the big man.

  Willum looked up. “How was your nap?” he asked with a smile.

  “I’ve had better,” Adriel snorted as she flopped down across from him. “I had a bummer of a dream.”

  “I guess an afternoon nap wasn’t such a good idea.”

  “It’s OK. I’m more determined than ever to get out of this pesthole. I don’t like being a nonentity!”

  Willum grinned. “When you’ve been somebody once, you never do get used to being a nobody. I never have.”

  “Well, it’s long past time you got out, too.”

  A noise made Adriel look up. Three figures dressed in the uniform of the Imperial Guard came through the front entrance. “Willum!” Adriel gasped as she leaped to her feet.

  Willum whipped around to find the source of her consternation. “Quick! This way!” he whispered hoarsely. He grabbed her arm and pushed her in the opposite direction.

  “Wait!” called a voice. “Don’t be afraid. We mean you no harm.”

  Adriel stopped even though Willum kept pushing her. That voice sounded familiar. She jerked against Willum’s grasp. “Willum! Stop! I think I know one of those Imperial Guardsmen.”

  “Are you insane? You don’t know any of that kind!”

  “I know it sounds crazy, but just wait. I think it’ll be alright.”

  She turned around and started back toward the approaching trio. Willum lagged behind reluctantly.

  As they got closer, the leader took off his helmet and put it under his arm. “Adriel?”

  “Timothy?” Adriel put her hand to her mouth. “Timothy!” She ran and threw her arms around him. Brogan responded in kind, but awkwardly because of the biopack on his left arm.

  “I’m so glad I finally found you!”

  Adriel released him, suddenly self-conscious, and stepped back. She looked him over.

  “You certainly are full of surprises, Timothy Brogan. Last time I saw you, you were a captain in the army. And now you’re an Imperial Guardsman?” She glanced at his insignia. “And a colonel no less? I can’t wait to hear this,” she said with a chuckle in her throat.

  “I’m afraid that will have to wait. We’re here to take you out of this place, and I don’t have time to explain. Let’s just say it’s for your own safety and a matter of the utmost urgency. By the way,” he said turning, “this is Lieutenant John Manazes and Sergeant Abigail Gonzales. She goes by Abby.” Brogan looked at his feet. “I thought it might make you feel better if another woman were along.”

  “Feel better about what, Timothy? What’s going on?”

  Brogan sighed. “Look, go get your things, and make it snappy. I’ll tell you on the way to the flyer.”

  “I’ll help,” volunteered Willum.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. This is Willum. We’ve become good friends here.”

  Adriel and Willum led the way, and within a few minutes, Willum, Brogan, and Manazes had bundles slung over their backs. They started for the front entrance.

  “OK, so tell me what’s going on,” Adriel persisted as she stepped around some debris.

  Brogan shifted his burden and said, “I can’t go into detail now, but some men may be searching for you. They want to kidnap you and use you against me. I can’t let that happen. You mean too much to me to see anything happen to you.”

  Adriel’s emotions were suddenly in conflict. Her heart leapt when Brogan’s last comment registered. But it also sank when she realized she could be in even greater danger than she thought. “Say no more, Colonel. I’m right behind you.”

  The small group stepped out into a street shadowed by late afternoon sunshine. As they turned to head for the flyer Brogan froze. “Hold it,” he hissed. Four Imperial Guardsmen were looking in and around the flyer.

  Brogan started stepping backward. “This way,” he commanded in a loud whisper. “Back to the entrance . . . slowly.”

  The stranded group inched back the way they had come, but a sudden shout brought them to a standstill. Adriel looked in the direction of the voice and saw another Imperial Guardsman serving as a lookout.

  “Drop everything!” shouted Brogan. “Back inside! Quick!”

  All five dove through the entrance as laser fire began lacing the sidewalk and building. Adriel felt pain shoot up her arm as Brogan grabbed it and yanked her along. They fled across the terminal lobby as fast as they could. When they had reached the far side, they all fell behind an assorted pile of junk and debris. Adriel was gasping for breath, as much from fear as from exertion.

  “Hold your fire, men,” Brogan ordered as shadows began to appear in the doorway. “We don’t want to reveal our position.”

  “Their thermal sensors will find us soon enough,” Manazes offered.

  Brogan turned around from peering at the entrance. “We can’t hold them off here,” he stated. “I’m open to suggestions.”

  Willum leaned his huge bulk forward. “I know this building well,” he said in a raspy, self-assured voice. “Follow me.”

  “Lead the way, big fellow. But keep your beef low,” Brogan added.

  Willum led the way, followed by Adriel, Brogan, and Abby. Manazes brought up the rear. Laser fire and projectiles began singeing the air above them.

  Brogan pitched forward, and knocked Adriel down. “Sorry,” he said. “Laser caught my cape.”

  Adriel’s eyes grew wide. He pulled her up, and they hurried on through a doorway and around a corner. When they were all safe, Willum pointed at a stairway.

  “We go down here.”

  Manazes said, “You folks go on. I’ll catch up. I’m going to give these goons something to chew on.” He pulled two small concussion bombs out of one of his cape pockets. They were effective up to a twenty-meter radius.

  “Good!” grunted Willum. “We need the time.”

  Brogan looked sternly at Manazes. “Don’t delay.” To the others he said, “Let’s go!”

  The four raced down the steps. Adriel looked back and saw Manazes roll one of the bombs into the lobby. As she turned to descend another set of steps, she saw him put the other bomb on the next to the top step. Then he raced after them.

  Willum led the fleeing party down a wide corridor that opened onto abandoned train bays. The sound of a blast made them all look back with a start.

  Manazes grinned. “That’ll make ’em more careful. Probably didn’t kill any, but I’ll bet some of ’em have a doozy of a headache.”

  They turned a corner as the second bomb exploded. Willum bent down and pulled at a square plate in the floor. �
�Give me a hand.”

  Brogan did have, literally, only one hand to offer, but he pushed in and helped Willum lift the cover. Willum looked down. “This is the storm drain system. It’s a drop of about four meters. Water’s not very deep this time of year.” He looked at Brogan. “You take Adriel down there and head east. We’ll draw the Guardsmen after us.”

  Brogan looked down the hole. Adriel said, “No way! You’re not going to get me down there!”

  “Stow it, Adriel,” Brogan admonished. “It’s the only way to get you outa here safe.”

  He turned and shook Willum’s hand. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

  Willum kept hold of his hand and stared him in the eye. “You just get Adriel to safety, and you won’t owe me anything. Now hurry!”

  Brogan nodded, gave his shoulder a pat, and turned to Adriel. “Give me your hands.”

  Adriel looked Brogan in the eyes for a long moment, the cold edges of fear brushing across her body. Then Brogan gripped her arm above the elbow and pushed her backward toward the dark, gaping hole. Adriel grabbed Brogan’s good arm with her other hand as he began to lower her down.

  As she eased herself over the edge, she thought wildly, What am I doing? Brogan lowered himself to his knees, and she watched him brace himself with his biopack. When he had lowered her as far as he could, he said, “When you hit, bend your knees, then get out of the way quickly. Now, drop!”

  Adriel let go, and as she did, she called up, “I hope there’s nothing living down here!”

  She hit with a splash, her legs jarring as her feet struck the concrete. She was up to her thighs in water. She barely had time to think and was just moving out of the way when Brogan splashed down beside her, giving her a complete soaking.

  The small circle of light provided by the manhole was blotted out and the two sewer rats looked up to see Manazes leaning toward them. “Good luck,” he whispered loudly.

  Brogan looked up at the circle of light. “Same to you,” he said hoarsely in reply. “Manazes, when you get outside, set off the special emergency signal.”

  “Right.” The cover grated back into position, and they were alone in the dark.

  Adriel wrinkled her nose at the smell and gazed around at the blackness. “How are we supposed to see down here?”

  Suddenly a beam of light nearly blinded her. “With this,” Brogan said with a chuckle. “My helmet comes equipped with a light beam for just such an emergency.”

  “How handy,” Adriel quipped. “But, seriously, it does beat splashing around in the dark and running into, ugh, who knows what.”

  Brogan snorted and grabbed her arm. “Come on!”

  Adriel soon discovered that trudging through the nearly waist-deep water was hard work—and slow going. Brogan kept pulling at her in his haste, but she was not in as good physical condition as he was. The water was bitter cold, and Adriel felt a chill coming on. In spite of the numbness attacking her legs, they felt like lead weights from the exertion.

  After about five minutes, she protested. “Timothy! I’ve got to rest. I just can’t keep up.”

  “OK,” he said as he looked back. The helmet beam flashed around the walls of the storm drain as Brogan searched his surroundings. He pulled Adriel along a little farther, continuing to cast his light around. Finally he spotted a shadow in the wall.

  “This way,” he urged.

  As they approached the shadow, Adriel saw that it was a recess in the wall and that it was above the waterline. Brogan pushed her up with his one hand, then climbed up with some difficulty beside her. It was a tight fit. They both had to stand up sideways, but they squeezed in facing each other.

  Adriel was panting hard. This is miserable, she silently complained. I’m cold, wet, and exhausted. On further reflection, she added, But I suppose that’s better than dead . . . or kidnapped!

  Adriel was shivering uncontrollably, so she was grateful when Brogan unfastened his cape and pulled her close to his body as he slid it between her back and the wall. Then he pulled it around her.

  “Thanks,” Adriel gasped.

  Brogan kept his arm around her in an effort to warm her up. She liked the feeling.

  “We’ll rest here for a few minutes,” he whispered. “If anybody’s following, they won’t hear any splashing. And we’re out of sight here. We’ll know soon enough if we’re safe.”

  Adriel felt fear rising in her breast. “You think they’ll know we’re down here?”

  “I doubt it. Their thermal sensors will pick up enough heat from the others that they’ll assume we’re all there. Whatever heat they pick up down here they’ll probably attribute to something else. At any rate, they’ll check out the others first.”

  “I hope they’ll be alright.”

  “Me, too. But Manazes and Abby are the best. And Willum seems to know his way around well enough.” Brogan smiled in the darkness. “He sure came up with a good plan.”

  “Speak for yourself!” Adriel retorted. “I’m half-frozen!”

  “I’ll warm you up.” Brogan pulled her closer. She felt her emotions stirring because of his nearness, his confidence, and his strength, and because of something else. She did not know what it was, but she sensed it.

  She looked up at his face. He bent down and kissed her on the lips. Startled, Adriel instinctively pushed him away with her hands against his chest.

  “I’m not that cold!”

  Nonplused, Brogan pulled her back and kissed her again. Adriel pushed away again but with less determination. “I’m attracted to you, Timothy, but . . .” She didn’t finish her sentence.

  Brogan laughed softly. Adriel stared at him in surprise. Again she sensed something different about him. “You’ve changed, haven’t you? There’s something . . . I don’t know. You’re not the same person.”

  “I’ve grown up. I’m not living for myself anymore. I’ve got a higher purpose now.”

  Lights went off in Adriel’s head. “That’s what’s different about you!” She paused and smiled coyly. “I like it!”

  She threw her arms around Brogan’s neck and kissed him passionately. As a result, they both nearly fell out of their perch into the water. When they had regained their balance, Brogan returned her kiss, both of them savoring their self-acknowledged love.

  After a couple of minutes they reluctantly disengaged, and Brogan whispered, “I love you, you know. That’s why I came to rescue you.”

  Adriel smiled, her heart bursting for joy. She gave him a hug and said, “I love you, too. I have for a long time.”

  They rested in each other’s arms for a few more minutes, then Brogan stirred. “Come on. It looks like we’re home free. But first we have to find a way outa here.”

  He lowered himself into the cold, dirty liquid and helped Adriel down. Then they began to push through the water at a more leisurely pace, hand in hand.

  *

  Manazes and Willum crouched next to the brown, dingy building as Abby zigzagged across the street and reached the side of the next building. They had just emerged from the terminal, and Manazes knew that it was more imperative than ever that they exercise caution. But they also had to push caution to the limits or their slow progress would allow their pursuers to catch up too quickly.

  Manazes motioned for Willum to go next, then he fingered the special emergency frequency that Mizpala had arranged as a precaution. Before Willum was across, Manazes began his running crouch. Abby was surveying the sky and buildings. When all three were across, they repeated the procedure, Abby leading off, while Manazes watched their rear.

  A few people were walking the streets listlessly. Occasionally one would stop and stare at the odd trio with curiosity, then trudge on, having barely enough emotional energy to care about themselves. Consequently they were indifferent to the plight of others.

  Everything went well for several minutes. They had put half a click between themselves and the terminal, and Manazes prepared to follow Abby and Willum in another zigzag sprint. As he sped off acros
s the open area, a flyer zoomed into view. As he ran Manazes turned his head to look at it just as it altered course and flew straight at him.

  Manazes looked ahead and sprinted with all his might for cover. The locals who were on the street also started racing for cover. People were scattering in every direction. A beam of light emanated from Abby’s position at the next building just as two lasers flared from the flyer. Manazes felt a searing pain in his left side. His legs buckled, and he tumbled onto the concrete in agony, rolling until his momentum was exhausted.

  He came to rest on his back. When he did, he saw that Abby’s shot had crippled the flyer. It was making an emergency landing some distance away.

  Manazes pushed himself up on his elbow to get himself to safety and screamed at the pain. He collapsed again onto his back, panting and screwing up his face as he pressed his arm to his side.

  Suddenly strong arms grabbed him and lifted him up, causing Manazes to nearly black out from the white-hot searing in his side. Willum tossed him over his shoulder and started running for cover. Manazes gasped as each jarring footfall conjured up more pain.

  They joined Abby and ducked into the doorway of the next building just as another flyer appeared. Laser fire began peppering the area as they squirmed down behind some debris. By this time the street was deserted except for the attackers.

  “Good work, Willum,” Abby said, punching him in the shoulder.

  “Yeah, thanks big fella,” grunted Manazes.

  “No problem. You’d have done the same for me.”

  “I doubt it,” gasped Manazes, trying to block out the situation with humor. “It would take three of me to lift you.” Manazes grinned through the pain, and Willum smiled back.

  Abby shouted, “We gotta get outa here, guys! We won’t last another two minutes in this exposed position.”

  As if in response, they were rocked by the explosion of a concussion bomb that had landed on the other side of the debris. Unidentifiable fragments showered down on them.

  “Next time you boys want to go on a little outing, do me a favor and leave me out of it,” Abby quipped.

  “I hope the cavalry shows up soon,” responded Manazes.