The Cleanway

by Tim Niederriter

Bay doors on the bottom of the ship above us opened. Ropes fell from the ship to the ground, and soldiers in black scrambled down them.

  I glanced at Rebecca.

  She swore under her breath. “That’s our cue to leave.”

  “You mustn’t leave! The sentry is mine.” Yashelia leaped toward us.

  Celsanoggi and I ducked. Rebecca darted to the side.

  Yashelia landed on two legs in the field of broken glass.

  We ran for the back door. The little girl grabbed my hand, and I lifted her as best I could as we raced inside.

  “What do we do now?” I asked, hugging the little aeon to my side.

  “Get out of here,” Rebecca said, “Sudhatho’s people will be all over this house in minutes at most.”

  “Find Thomas,” said Celsanoggi, sounding dazed.

  “Right,” said Rebecca, “then we bug out.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “We need to move fast.” Rebecca led the way into the bloody entrance hall.

  “Don’t look,” I said to the little girl. Then I nodded to Rebecca. “Maybe we could use one of the motorcycles Damien and Miranda left out front.”

  One engine roared in front of the house, then a second.

  Rebecca shook her head. “We need another option.”

  I panted for breath as I looked up the large staircase to the second floor.

  “Thomas,” Celsanoggi called, “get downstairs! You can hear me, I know you can.”

  Rebecca holstered the revolver under her coat. She turned to me as Thomas’ footsteps thundered down the stairs.

  He joined us in the hall, looking worn and battered. I nodded at him.

  “Jeth, we’re running out of time,” said Rebecca.

  “I know a way,” said the little aeon girl.

  Rebecca’s brows bent as she looked at the young aeon. “What did you say?”

  “I know a way to go fast,” the girl said.

  “Where?” I asked, leaning toward her.

  “Downstairs, our garage.”

  Rebecca stared at the girl, incredulous.

  “It’s our best chance,” I said.

  “You may be right.” Rebecca crouched in front of the little girl. “How do we get downstairs?”

  She pointed down a hallway off the entrance where we stood. Rebecca led the way. Thomas supported Celsanoggi for me, and we moved as fast as we could, following the girl’s directions through a door halfway down the hall. We went down a flight of concrete steps into a basement garage lit by pale sparsely distributed blue light veins in the ceiling.

  Rebecca kept moving, checking the locks on each of four small black cars without luck. Thomas jingled a pair of keys on chains.

  “Here,” he said, tossing one set to Rebecca. “Found them in the study.”

  She caught the keys and hit the button on its grip. Light’s flashed on and off in one of the rear vehicles. Thomas unlocked another with his key.

  Shouts echoed from above us. My heart and lungs felt like two hammers banging together in my chest. Rebecca took the wheel of one car, and let me and the little girl into the passenger’s side. Thomas pulled his car out, Celsanoggi beside him.

  Ryan contacted me in the next moment. “Where are you guys?”

  Rebecca turned the car around, and we followed Thomas along a tunnel toward a surface ramp visible ahead.

  “An underground tunnel,” I said, looking down the passage ahead of us. “We’ve got cars. Looks like we’ll be up top north of the garden.”

  “North, got it. I’ll tell Kamuek to follow you once you’re topside.”

  “Alright, but be careful. Sudhatho has a big ship up there.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” said Ryan. “Well, maybe, you can’t. I can see everything from up here.”

  Our cars roared up the surface ramp and out onto a mostly vacant street a block north of the walled garden. Kamuek’s small light ship cruised past us, flying low on the same street.

  Ryan said, “Follow us. We’re heading downtown.”

  “Why that way?” I asked.

  “There’s a military base that way, where the officer who had me on the renegade’s case works.”

  “Guess we’ll be dropping in on him,” I said.

  Ryan did not reply. Streaks of hot energy burned through the air overhead with a loud hiss. Two of Sudhatho’s smaller light ships were in pursuit and aiming for Ryan and Kamuek.

  I took a deep breath and glanced at the girl sitting to my right. Sudhatho would know she was with us, so I hoped he wouldn’t order his ships to use their beam weapons on our cars. If he did, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

  “Dad won’t shoot,” she said softly, “He won’t hurt me.”

  “Can we bank on that?” asked Rebecca.

  We accelerated after Thomas.

  A roar of engines to the driver’s side drew my attention. Miranda and Damien sped by, going the same direction we were. A wail of sirens followed. I looked over my shoulder. Three black, private security armored cars lumbered after us.

  “We’re gonna have company when we get there,” I said.

  “If we get there.” Rebecca gritted her teeth.

  One of the smaller light ships broke off its pursuit of Ryan’s team and descended toward street level ahead of us. Thomas’ car rushed under the arched belly of the flying ship. He got clear, along with the two renegades on their bikes.

  Rebecca and I had our lane blocked in seconds.

  She cursed and swerved to avoid the ship. A beam of energy scored along the hood of the car, melting and fusing parts it touched. Lucky for us it didn’t go deep enough to destroy the engine.

  We slid by the ship. The mirror on my side sheared off against the ship’s hull with a tearing sound.

  Rebecca accelerated north.

  The light ship lifted off the street and followed us but did not take another shot.

  Elizabeth reached out to me mentally.

  “Jeth, where are you? I’m covering a chase by Sudhatho’s garden.”

  “I’m in it,” I said, “sorry, I didn’t tell you.”

  “You’re in one of the cars?” she said. “Jeth, they’re closing a cordon. You need to get two blocks before they cut you off.”

  I looked straight ahead at the barriers unfolding from both sides of the street ahead of us, and said to Rebecca, “We need to go faster.”

  “I see them,” she said.

  “We’ve got two blocks.”

  She flattened the power pedal to the floor. The car roared and we blasted the last two blocks in seconds. Fortunately, not many people drove anymore, because there was no way we could maneuver at such speeds. We nearly caught up with Thomas and the renegades just ahead of him.

  Ryan contacted me. “Jeth, I talked to the commander. Security should let you in when you get there.”

  “Right,” I said. “How far is it?”

  “You’re almost there. Just three more blocks.”

  We whipped past food carts and newsstands. The tower of Command Center Alpha appeared before us, highlighted by Ryan with a golden halo.

  His light ship circled around the building and came back toward us.

  “Hold on, Jeth,” Ryan said, “we’re gonna take a shot.”

  “What?” I said. Apprehension filled my voice.

  Sudhatho’s crescent light ship hauled ass after us, heading straight for Ryan.

  “Don’t worry about us,” he said, “Kamuek won’t miss.”

  The crescent released a scorching energy shot from its center, blazing toward Ryan’s ship. The lift cut out in Ryan’s vessel for a split second and it dropped twenty meters before buoying. The enemy beam sliced skyward.

  A whip of searing light from our allies smashed the crescent from the air.

  The crescent-shaped ship careened into the street just behind the car, tearing loud divots in the pavement. It bounced and bucked and slid after us. The air stank of burnt ozone. I held onto the girl. Rebecca’s knuckles turned whit
e on the wheel. A tortured mechanical scream. The engine sounded dull.

  We stopped, all of us breathing fast.

  “Don’t get out,” said Rebecca. “We’re there, but we’re not alone. I can feel them.”

  A small army of cleans was there to welcome us.

  Unregistered Memory, Ryan Carter, Command Center Alpha

  Astra III floated in the air dock as Alesia and Ryan approached the pair of guards at the door.

  “Detective Carter,” said one of them, “Colonel Cannwald is expecting you.”

  “Damn it, soldier, I know,” he said. “Can you let us through?”

  The soldiers waved them past with a frown.

  Ryan and Alesia met Cannwald in the hall just inside the dock.

  “The renegades are downstairs,” he said, “Miranda and Damien. Do you know where Carol is?”

  “She’s with us. Kamuek and Conner are bringing her in now.”

  “You actually caught her?” Cannwald raised his eyebrows. “Impressive.”

  “Save the faint praise for later, Colonel,” said Alesia. “Right now, we have bigger problems.”

  “This command center is not fully staffed for defense,” said Cannwald. “That said, I don’t think Sudhatho will risk attacking us with his private forces.”

  “Optics would be bad,” said Ryan, “but if the terrorists attack first, he’d have a reason to storm the building.”

  “Damn it, but you’re right,” said Cannwald, looking pale and sweaty. “We need to reinforce the lower floors.” His eyes clouded as he sent messages to his troops.

  “Miranda and Damien will be enough trouble if they try to invade, and I doubt we can handle Sudhatho’s troops as well.”

  “Oh God,” murmured Alesia, eyes glazed. “They’re already inside.”

  Ryan checked the lower floors and found to his horror that she was right.

  Unregistered Memory, Elizabeth Ashwood, Outside Central Garden

  “As you can see through the sensory feed, the light ships have moved away from the garden now. Keep in mind, we do not know the nature of any of the four ships at this time.”

  Elizabeth kept her eyes on the park and the ships moving over it as she spoke.

  “Public security is preparing to enter the garden,” said the field reporter as she returned from the security command trucks.

  Elizabeth nodded to the reporter.

  “As we reported earlier, the terrorists have made no demands, but there have been shots fired inside the perimeter. Security has been warned a rogue star may be present, as well. The chase on the roads to the north has led to what we’re being told is a military installation. The street has been cordoned off. If you are in the area, stay in your building for your own safety.”

  The reporter picked up for Elizabeth when she left off. That gave her more time to worry.

  Damn it, Jeth, what’s next?

  Cleans shambled by my window, ignoring both our cars as they headed toward the doors of the command center.

  Sudhatho’s tall light ship lumbered through the air overhead, like a flying building of its own, parallel to the military building beside it. I scowled at the hovering ship. The eyes of the girl beside me were wide.

  “Dad’s up there,” she said.

  “You can tell?” I asked.

  The girl nodded. “He’s angry.”

  “We need to get inside,” said Rebecca. “These cleans aren’t up to anything good.”

  “You have a plan?” I asked.

  “Go upstairs. Stop Miranda and Damien. Get Sudhatho. Finish this.”

  I took a deep breath and turned to Sudhatho’s daughter. “Stay close to me.”

  As long as I stayed close to Rebecca, that might actually be safe for all of us.

  She nodded.

  “Good.”

  “Jeth, when we get out of the car the cleans will probably attack us. Let me slow them down. Then I’ll come to your side.”

  “Sure,” I said, unlocking my safety belt.

  She slipped outside. In a flurry of motion, she threw back a clean who rushed her. A second she smashed into the window where she’d been sitting. She appeared on my side of the car. I got out with the girl. I took Rebecca’s hand in one of mine and the girl’s in the other.

  Rebecca and I sensocycled. She concealed our presence from the cleans. We made for the doors.

  Inside, the building was chaos. Blood speckled the security desks at the front. Bullet holes cratered the floor tiles. The ceiling light veins flickered as some unseen aeon or other fought for the stability of the power source.

  Thomas crouched beside Celsanoggi to one side, holding her hand and projecting illusions to ward off the cleans standing at guard here and there over the bodies of fallen soldiers. The first floor was overrun.

  I tried to steady my breathing. In. Out. It all seemed too fast.

  A loud boom echoed overhead. Flames blossomed in red from a floor halfway up the tower. Sudhatho’s tall vessel had opened fire.

  I stared through the skylights as debris rained down. Rebecca tugged me away from the view and toward Thomas and Celsa.

  “We can’t let Sudhatho cut us off,” she said.

  “Did you notice the army of mind-wiped killers between us and the elevator?” Thomas said. “Celsa and I couldn’t get there on our own.”

  Rebecca reached for his hand. “The situation just changed.”

  Thomas helped up the wounded aeon beside him, and then took Rebecca’s hand. We flowed with our illusions until we reached the elevator doors on the far side of the security desks. The cleans did not notice us. I hit the call button.

  The loud ding of the bell echoed in the quiet. Cleans turned toward us as the doors slid open. We piled into the elevator as they shambled in our direction.

  I contacted Ryan. “Which floor are you on?”

  “Twenty-third,” he said. “Where are you?”

  “The elevator,” I said out loud. “Headed up to you. Floor twenty-three.”

  Rebecca hit the floor button. The doors closed. Up we rode.

  The building shook with another blast. I staggered, still holding the girl’s hand.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, “we won’t fall.”

  “How does she know that?” asked Thomas, his expression nervous.

  “Dad won’t hurt me,” she said.

  “That’s assuming he knows you’re in here,” said Thomas.

  “He knows or he wouldn’t be shooting.” The girl looked at me. “How can I help you?”

  “You need to help us stop your dad. He won’t hurt you, but he will hurt a lot of other people to get to you.”

  “I could go back,” she said.

  Rebecca shook her head. “Not an option with all these controlled cleans around.”

  “Besides,” I said. “Your dad would still want to hurt us.”

  The girl frowned. “Why would he want to hurt you?”

  Thomas put a hand to his mouth as if to hold back a retort.

  I took a deep breath. “He doesn’t like us.”

  “If he doesn’t like you, maybe you’re bad people,” she said.

  I met her green eyes. “Do you think we’re bad people?”

  The girl shook her head.

  I nodded. “So, your dad is up to something. Do you know any of his secrets?”

  “I don’t think so,” said the girl. “I’ve never— I’ve never left the garden before.”

  Celsanoggi scowled. “A prisoner?”

  “It’s not like that,” said the girl. “He told me it’s not safe outside.”

  “He’s right about that,” said Thomas with a glance at the lights overhead.

  We made the 18th story, then the 19th. Another blast shook the building, almost muffling the sound of the bell. The elevator doors opened.

  I stared past a pair of cleans and into the face of Damien. He held a pistol in each hand. A snarl contorted his face.

  “There you are.” He looked at the little girl. “J
ust in time to be our hostage.”

  “Don’t try anything,” said Rebecca. “We have you outnumbered.”

  “But I have you outgunned, miss one bullet left.” Damien lowered his guns. “Go ahead, take a shot.”

  Rebecca did not go for the revolver. She raised her hands.

  I realized I had left my shotgun in the car downstairs. Sloppy.

  We filed out of the elevator toward Damien. The little girl clutched my hand and cringed close to me.

  “Are you actually trying to defend this thing?” Damien asked. He pushed the barrel of one pistol to the girl’s bandaged forehead. “Not smart, even if it made sense.”

  The girl trembled, so fearful I could feel it through my leg and hand.

  She might be Sudhatho’s daughter, but I’d be damned if I let this thug kill her.

  “Leave her alone, Damien. It’s her father you want,” I said, unable to keep from stammering.

  “Oh yeah, but after what his people did to Carol…” Tears welled in his eyes, “he needs to pay. You all need to pay.”

  Thomas gritted his teeth. “Shut it. You’re not the only one whose lost people they care about. Besides, Carol isn’t dead, idiot.”

  “What do you know?” Damien glanced at Thomas. Then his eyes clouded.

  Thomas grunted in pain and then sank to his knees. Celsa, who he’d been supporting staggered, then slumped to the floor beside him. Damien smirked. “She’s here in the building,” he muttered. “This isn’t over.”

  He aimed one pistol at Thomas, “Thanks, buddy. And goodbye.”

  I read the motion in his hand, but Celsa, even bloody and beaten, was faster. She lurched toward Damien, one hand reaching. He darted back, abandoning his shot. Then he spun to aim both guns at me and the girl. His cleans hemmed us in.

  “Don’t look,” I told Sudhatho’s daughter.

  But I stared straight at Damien as he prepared to pull the triggers.

  Then he hesitated, fingers in the guards.

  “What are you saying?” he whispered. “Just like that?”

  I sensed Ryan’s connection in Damien’s mind.

  “Just like that,” Damien repeated. He laughed. “Fine. It’s a deal.”

  He lowered his pistols and sprinted to the elevator. Its doors opened. His cleans followed him inside at a slower pace, their eyes watching us.